Danielle pressed the cold towel against his forehead, trying to bring down his temperature. They'd managed to move the Doctor back into bed once he'd collapsed, but he began burning up the moment he'd passed out and she just wanted to cool him down. She supposed it had something to do with the neuron implosion he had mentioned, which was terrifying.
Rose pulled the stethoscope away from his chest. "Only one heart's beating, now," she told the redhead as she wrapped it back up. Unlike Danielle, who had immediately fallen back into helping him, Rose had withdrawn into herself and she didn't seem as concerned as she once had been.
"That's not good, is it?" Danielle replied and Rose shook her head.
"I really don't know what to do," the blonde said bluntly. Danielle looked up at her and tried to smile reassuringly.
"You don't need to," she said. "We've just got to look out for him and hope he comes out the other side."
Rose didn't feel like that was enough, and she couldn't stand being in the room with him much longer, so she stood up and left to the living room where her mum and Mickey were stood around his laptop. Her mum had two cups of tea in hand, one which she handed off to Rose.
"It's midnight," she commented. "Christmas Day. Any change?"
"He's worse. Just one heart beating," she replied. Jackie grimaced – even if she was still getting to grips with the whole 'being alien' thing – that didn't sound particularly great.
She took the other cup of tea in for Danielle, placing it on one of the bedside tables. It was Christmas Day, she really should have been with her own family, but Jackie wasn't about to turn her out. She just gave her shoulder a squeeze then headed back into the living room to watch the news.
She was pretty much sick of space at this point, but all that was on television was the news that Britain had sent a probe to Mars and they were expecting a message from the probe at any moment.
As Rose and Mickey looked up what the Doctor meant by pilot fish, the broadcast came through. It was grainy and a bit blurry, but the image still caused Jackie to frown. "Funny sort of rocks," she stated.
Rose turned and saw the television flicker, but she shook her head the moment she saw the image. "That's not rocks," she stated, walking close to the television to see if she could get a better look. It was definitely a face, not rocks, and Mickey was quick to her side.
Then the face snarled and roared, startling them all before the broadcast was immediately cut. They all jumped back in unison, yelling in surprise.
Rose did the first thing she thought of. "Danni!" she exclaimed. A moment later the redhead appeared, wet towel still in hand.
"What? What is it?" she asked.
Rose pointed at the television. "It-It was an alien. I didn't recognise it, but you know the probe? It's found an alien."
"The Mars probe?" she asked. Rose nodded. Mickey quickly turned the channel over a couple of times until he reached the BBC news channel, where they were already reporting on it. The image of the face was on a large image behind the reported. It was white, with deep set eyes that seemed to be reddish in colour.
She looked down at the towel in her hand, then back at the bedroom. "Something is coming," she repeated. She looked to Rose. "He knew. This is what he meant."
"Pilot fish don't swim too far away from their protector," Mickey added and she nodded before biting her lip. What were they supposed to do, exactly?
She gestured with the towel at Rose. "We need more information," she said. Mickey nodded.
"On it," he declared, sitting down at his computer.
"How are we supposed to do anything, though?" Rose asked. "Just because we've been into space a couple of times doesn't mean we can actually stop anything coming."
"The Doctor warned us they were coming. He didn't say hide, he didn't say run, he just said they were coming. He believes in us, we have to trust that even now he knows what he's doing," she reasoned. "Plus, what else do we have to do?"
~0~0~0~
Mickey managed to find more information on the aliens by hacking into the military. They still had no idea who the aliens were, but they did find out that they were tracking a spaceship that was heading straight to Earth. It wasn't hard to put two and two together and work out that the aliens were heading straight for them.
Danielle laid down next to the Doctor, who had started to shiver slightly despite still being much warmer than he should have been. She wiped a little bit of the sweat off his face, but he didn't react at all.
"And there was a broadcast," she explained to him, just in case he could hear her. "And we had no idea what they were saying. The TARDIS has stopped translating for us, which can't be a good sign." She sighed, rolling onto her back. "We should be able to help ourselves, I know, but everything feels so much scarier without you there with us. I just… I wish you could tell us what you need. I wish you could tell us that you're going to be alright."
She shifted slightly. "As I'm sure you can imagine, the world is arming up ready for an attack. So who knows how that is going to turn out. Reports are that NATO is getting in on the action. Oh!" She rolled back onto her side. "It's Christmas. You did manage to crash us close to it. Not that we'll be celebrating much, I imagine, but it's nice to be home for the holidays. I don't tend to see them much; my mum is usually away."
Rose stood in the doorway – or what was left of it from the Christmas tree attack – and listened to Danielle ramble to the unconscious Doctor. She wished she could have the optimism that her friend seemed to have, but with aliens fast approaching and the TARDIS no longer functioning, she couldn't help but feel a little bleak about everything. Her mother had gone to bed to get some sleep, and even Mickey had passed out on the sofa for a little while, but she hadn't been able to find any rest.
Was he really the Doctor? How could he be, when he wouldn't wake up? The Doctor saved everyone; the Doctor saved them.
"Jason!"
She frowned and looked towards the front door, where a woman's voice was crying out in distress. Danielle heard it to as she sat up, and Mickey stepped out of the living room. They shared a look before heading out.
A woman in the robe was following a man similarly dress, grabbing his arm in an attempt to stop him walking. "What's wrong with you?" she exclaimed. "Jason? Jason!"
"Sandra?" Rose called after her and she turned around.
"He won't listen. He's just walking. He won't stop walking! There's this sort of light thing," she explained frantically before taking off after her husband. "Jason? Stop it right now! Please, Jason, just stop."
Danielle rushed to the edge of the walkway and looked down at the ground. "Oh my god," she breathed. Down below were a lot of people, all shimmering blue, and all walking in the same direction. There were other people trying to stop them from walking, but it was obvious nothing was.
Without a word between them, the trio followed Sandra and Jason up to the roof where they weren't the only people. They were all in various states of dress, but not one of them was responding to the calls for them to stop. They had all walked to the edge of the building and stood there, staring straight ahead. Lines and lines of people stood together. "Look," Danielle breathed. They're all on every building."
"What do we do?" Mickey asked.
Rose just shook her head. "Nothing. There's no one to save us. Not anymore."
Danielle looked up and down the line of people, all of whom she had grown up around. Faces she recognised; names she'd heard shouted out before. A mass of people stood, as if waiting for orders, and Rose was right. There was no one to save them. Whatever had happened seemed to be indiscriminatory, picking young and old alike. Mothers, fathers, sons and daughters all stood at the edge of every building, ready to jump. Who knew if anyone in actual power was left to help them? They really were all on their own.
She stepped away, reaching into her pocket and pulling out her phone. For the first time she had an immediate and overwhelming to call her mum to see if it was happening to her as well. She had no idea if she was at home, or away, but as she called again and again the phone continued to ring out. No one answered. She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes as she turned to Rose.
"I need to go home," she apologised. "I need to find my mum."
Rose just offered her a nod and Danielle rushed away, down the stairs until she reached her house. Luckily, she had her keys on her so she could get into the flat without having to bang her way in.
There were no decorations up. No tree, no bunting, no ornaments and no presents. There was a small gathering of dust on every surface that suggested that no one had been there for quite a while. She looked in her mum's bedroom, and her own, and even checked the bathroom but it was obvious that no one was at home.
She tried to call her mum again, but after a few rings she was sent straight to voicemail. "Mum, mum, it's Danielle," she stuttered out. "Where are you? Are you okay? Can you please call me back and let me know you're okay? I'm back at home now, and I'm fine. Whatever is happening out there isn't happening to me. Will you please let me know it's not happening to you too?"
She headed back into the hallway, where she expected a note to be waiting for her. She was right, and there was a piece of paper waiting for her.
Danielle,
I've been invited away for a few weeks and I probably won't be back for Christmas. We'll have one when I'm back, promise.
I'll call you on the day, try not to sleep too late. I've left the money in the usual place.
Love, Mum.
Her mum hadn't even tried to call her, again, and now the world was in danger as she just really needed her mum. She felt all of her resolve fall away and very quickly she was sitting on the floor like a small child.
"Why do you always do this?" she asked quietly into the phone. "Why can you just never be here and be my mum?"
She hung the phone up and, feeling lost and broken, she cried.
~0~0~0~
Danielle was exhausted. She had gone to lie down with the Doctor yet again, but she just couldn't quite bring herself to do anything apart from occasionally wiping his cold sweat away. "Some Christmas this is," she muttered to herself. "I hope you've had better ones, sweetie. Cause I sure have."
She had always had a strange relationship with her mother, but it had worked for the most part. She had just never expected to be left in the middle of an alien invasion. Part of her knew that it was irrational to think that her mum had left on purpose – after all, who saw this coming? – but there was a childish part of her that just wanted her mum to offer her some comfort. Or, at least, pick up her bloody phone.
The Prime Minister had put out a national call for the Doctor, but he didn't reply. He didn't reply to Rose, and he didn't reply to Danielle, so really she didn't have much hope of him waking up now for her. The world was in chaos, and there was a little bunch of humans on a council estate in London that knew that their only hope was slowly dying in a pink bedroom.
Danielle sniffed. Her tears had dried, but she still felt on the brink of crying constantly. "What do you need, Doctor?" she asked him. "How can we help you, when we can't even help ourselves?"
They all screamed as the building shook, shattering all of the windows and mirrors. "What the hell was that?" Jackie shouted over the ringing in their ears.
"I don't know," Mickey replied. He ran out of the flat and Rose followed. Jackie dipped her head into the bedroom to assess the damage.
"How am I supposed to pay for all this?" she asked, motioning to the mess her flat was in. "Any change, love?"
Danielle shook her head. "I don't think he's going to wake up," she whispered. "I think he's gone."
"Oh, sweetheart," Jackie sighed, walking over to sit on the bed next to her. She placed a hand on her back, giving it a comforting rub. "He doesn't need you giving up on him. He'll be fine, you'll see."
Danielle didn't reply, but she really did appreciate the comfort of a mother, any mother. She rolled over and huddled up against Jackie, who immediately made her feel safer than she had in a while.
Rose and Mickey came rushing back in. "Mickey, we're going to carry him," she declared, appearing in the bedroom. "Mum, get your stuff, and get some food. We're going."
Danielle sat up, frowning. "What's happening?" she asked.
"There's a giant spaceship in the sky. It must be covering most of London," Mickey explained.
"So, TARDIS?" she asked and Rose nodded.
"Help my mum, would ya?"
Danielle nodded, getting off the bed with Jackie, who was still very confused. "What're we going to do in there?"
"Hide."
"Is that it?" she exclaimed and Rose paused, trying not to get too mad but feeling herself slowly losing all of her patience.
"Mum, look in the sky. 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," she explained. "Now, all we can do is run and hide, and I'm sorry. Now, move. Oh, lift him up."
Danielle and Jackie scrambled for bags of food, shoving everything they could find into carrier bags before running to catch up Mickey and Rose, who were barely keeping the Doctor off the ground. The moment they got into the TARDIS, they placed him on the ground, surrounded by bags of food that the other two women had brought in. Jackie, ever practical, handed out cups of tea that she brought in a flask before she darted back out to get everything that she and Danielle hadn't been able to carry.
"Tea. Like we're having a picnic while the world comes to an end. Very British," Mickey commented. There was no response from Danielle or Rose, the former sitting down by the Doctor whilst the latter leant against the console, defeated. "How does this thing work?" he asked as he looked at the monitor for the console. "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 sighed in exasperation, walking over to his side to poke at the monitor as well. "I don't know. It sort of tunes itself."
The screen didn't bring up much more than some spinning shapes on a blue background. "Maybe it's a distress signal," he suggested.
"A fat lot of good that's going to do," Rose muttered and he shot her a look.
"Are you going to be a misery all the time?"
"Yes."
"You should look at it from my point of view," he told her. "Stuck in here with your mum's cooking."
Both Danielle and Rose looked at the door at the same time, as if in their misery they hadn't realised that Jackie still hadn't returned. It wasn't as if she had a lot to carry. "She's been a while," the redhead pointed out.
Rose headed out to the door. "I'd better give her a hand," she replied. "It might start raining missiles out there."
"Tell her anything from a tin, that's fine," Mickey called after her and she paused.
"Why don't you tell her yourself?"
"I'm not that brave."
Rose smiled and, for a moment, they were just two people teasing each other. "Oh, I don't know."
She stepped out the door and, a moment later, screamed. Danielle shot off the floor, chucking her tea down in time with Mickey. "Rose?" they both called, suddenly very worried.
They dashed out and found themselves not on the estate, but in a large room made of dark red rocks. They were surrounded by rows and rows of the same aliens that had been on the television, all being very loud and incredibly intimidating.
Danielle quickly pulled the door behind them shut before they could see inside, and the pair were grabbed and marched to where Rose was stood. With the Prime Minister and one of her aides, apparently, who also seemed to have been taken by the creatures.
"The Doctor, is he with you?" Harriet Jones asked Rose hopefully as they hugged, but Rose just clung to her tightly.
"No. We're on our own."
The language the creatures spoke was sharp and almost violent sounding, so when the one that was obviously the leader pointed at Rose, they all knew it wasn't anything good at all.
"The yellow girl. She has the clever blue box. Therefore, she speaks for your planet," Harriet's translator told them.
"But she can't!" Harriet protested.
"Yeah, I can," Rose replied, stealing her nerves. "Someone's got to be the Doctor."
Harriet reached out and grabbed her arm, but Rose just shrugged her off. "They'll kill you!"
"Never stopped him," she replied, which was a very true statement. She stepped forward into the middle of the open space, looking around at all of the eyes staring down at her as the creatures started to cheer. How did the Doctor do this all the time? She felt tiny, but she also wasn't about to back down now.
"I, er, I address the Sycorax according to Article Fifteen of the Shadow Proclamation. I command you to leave this world with all the authority of the Slitheen Parliament of Raxacoricofallapatorius, and er, the Gelth Confederacy as er, sanctioned by the Mighty Jagrafess and, oh, the Daleks! Now, leave this planet in peace!" she demanded. There was silence for a moment, then the room broke out into what was quite obviously laughter.
"You are very, very funny," the translator said for the leader. "And now you're going to die."
Danielle was very open at the fact that she'd had a very long day. She'd been left behind, heartbroken. Jack had died, the Doctor had died, they'd been almost killed by a Christmas tree and her mother was either up on the edge of a building somewhere or just not answering her phone because she didn't care.
Whatever the reason was, her patience and her calmness snapped at the threat towards Rose. Whist the Prime Minster and Mickey were held back from helping Rose, she flew past everyone in a flash of red hair.
"Oh, will you just shut the fuck up!" she exclaimed, standing between Rose and the leader of the Sycorax. "Who the hell do you think you are?"
The leader made a noise, before speaking again. "You, child…" the translator started but Danielle wasn't listening to him or to the alien.
"I said shut up!" she shouted back. Her hands were clenched and she glared angrily at the creature that was suddenly the focus of her rage and grief. "I'm sick and tired of all this fucking noise you are making! You are nobody, do you know that? I'm just this stupid little girl from this stupid little planet, but I've met Daleks, and Mighty Jagrafesses, and a Time Lord… And… and I've seen Cyberman heads and I've been told stories about something called a Slitheen. And I've never, not once, heard of you! You come here with your spaceship, and think you're so special, but you're not! You think you're terrifying, but you're not! And if you think, for one moment, that the world is going to back down and play your stupid little games then you are wrong!"
The leader stared at her for a moment, and Danielle was sure she was going to be killed as well. And she really didn't care because she was so angry that the creature in front of her really didn't scare her, it annoyed her. However, much like Rose, the leader started laughing and the rest of the stadium followed suit.
"Next to us you are but a wailing child," he hissed and Danielle immediately frowned. "If you are the best your planet can offer as a champion…."
She held her hand up and started shushing him before pointing straight at him. "You're speaking English," she declared.
Rose nodded her agreement. "He's talking English."
"I would never dirty my tongue with your primitive bile," he spat out.
Danielle nodded. "But you are, I can hear you. You're speaking English." Her heart suddenly skipped a beat. "And if you're not actually speaking English, but I can hear you, and Rose can hear you, and they all can hear you, then…"
She turned around slowly to face the TARDIS, and there he was. Stood in the door, a cheeky grin on his face, dressing gown still on. The Doctor was awake. The Doctor was alive. Her anger dropped away instantly. "Did you miss me?" he asked.
She nodded as Rose broke out into a giant grin. The leader cracked his whip at the new man, but the Doctor caught the end and yanked it straight from his hand. "You could have someone's eye out with that," he scolded like he was talking to a child who was messing about and not some alien trying to take over the Earth.
"How dare…" the leader started, raising a staff to attack. Again, though, the Doctor snatched it from him and broke it across his knee.
"You just can't get the staff," he continued. "Now, you, just wait. I'm busy." He shot a look at the Sycorax, before pointing at him in warning. He then turned to the group of humans and grinned at them all.
"Mickey, hello!" he greeted happily before turning to the Prime Minister. "And Harriet Jones MP for Flydale North. Blimey, it's like This Is Your Life." He then moved to Rose. "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 rattled off.
His eyes continued to dart around, though, as he sounded slightly distracted. That was until he turned to face Danielle. She hadn't been able to move as he'd walked around, frozen on the spot in timid shock that he was suddenly up and about after being so close to death. The moment he saw her his whole face lit up and she couldn't help but reflect it. "How long were you stood there?" she asked him.
He shrugged. "You were very cross, I didn't want to interrupt," he explained as he walked over to her. "Not sure I approve of the swearing, though."
"It's not something I do often," she replied. The whole conversation was very surreal, and she could feel her heart racing as he stood very close to her, looking down with a smile on his face that she could tell she was going to like. "Are you okay?"
He nodded. "Right as rain, now," he replied. "But, first thing's first. Be honest, how do I look?"
"Good," she replied instantly before blushing at her own words. "I-I mean well, you look well. You don't look ill anymore."
He beamed at her and her skin darkened. "Am I ginger?" She shook her head and he groaned. "I wanted to be ginger. I've never been ginger," he complained before pausing. "Although, we might have looked related, can't have that."
She didn't know if she could flush any more at his words, or the wink he shot her, before he spun on his heel and headed straight for Rose. "And you, Rose Tyler, fat lot of good you were. You gave up on me!" he exclaimed before catching himself. "Oh, that's rude. That's the sort of man I am now, am I? Rude. Rude and not ginger."
Harriet Jones leant into the conversation. "I'm sorry, who is this?"
"I'm the Doctor," he replied.
"He's the Doctor," both Danielle and Rose said at the same time.
"If I might interrupt," the leader of the Sycorax snarled and the Doctor walked over, hands in the pockets of the dressing gown. He stood next to Danielle, who couldn't quite stop smiling, and used one hand to push her slightly back towards Rose and Mickey. Rose immediately pulled her backwards.
"You could have been killed," she hissed.
"I know," Danielle replied. "But he was being mean to you."
The two shared a giant smile, both so happy that he was alive and seemingly better now. It was strange to see him walking and talking, with both of them expecting a Northern accent even though they'd heard him speak before. But, somehow, that voice didn't suit him anymore and the new body worked for the personality he was already showing.
"I demand to know who you are!" the leader exclaimed.
"I don't know!" the Doctor replied, mocking his voice before falling back into his happy-go-lucky tone. "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." He started pacing, looking thoughtful. "Am I funny? Am I sarcastic?" He paused next to Danielle and shot her another wink that made her cheeks burn yet again. "Sexy? Right old misery? Life and soul? Right handed? Left handed? A gambler? A fighter? A coward? A traitor? A liar? A nervous wreck? I mean, judging by the evidence, I've certainly got a gob."
He was about to continue rambling when something caught his eye. He pointed towards a large, glowing, red button that was partially hidden behind some of the rocky scenery. "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?"
He dashed up the platform to the button and they were all quick to follow him. "Let me guess. It's some sort of control matrix, hmm? Hold on, what's feeding it?" He dropped to the floor and opened the pillar underneath, exposing the mechanics. "And what've we got here? Blood?" Much to everyone's disgust, he stuck his finger in it and tasted it as he stood back up again. "Yeah, definitely blood. Human blood. A Positive, with just a dash of iron. Ah, but that means blood control. Blood control!"
It was strange to see anyone be amused at the thought of blood control, but it seemed to fit whatever his new personality was quite well. As did slamming his hand down on the button to the horror of all of the humans there.
"You killed them!" the translator exclaimed, which was what they were all thinking.
"What do you think, big fellow?" the Doctor asked the leader instead. "Are they dead?"
"We allow them to live," he snarled.
"Allow?" the Doctor repeated, almost mocking him. "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."
The Sycorax was not happy at being dismissed so readily by the strange man. "Blood control was just one form of conquest. I can summon the armada and take this world by force."
"Well, yeah, you could, yeah, you could do that," the Doctor agreed. "Of course you could. But why? Look at these people. 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…"
Danielle frowned as she listened to him trying to argue their case with words that sounded vaguely familiar, that she couldn't quite place. She looked to Rose, who actually seemed to recognise them and was staring at the Doctor with a slightly incredulous look.
The Doctor himself also seemed to realise he was speaking stolen words. "No, hold on. Sorry, that's The Lion King."
She giggled to herself, both out of the fact that she was a bit of an idiot not being able to place the words, but also at the fact he was reciting them in such a serious situation. The small noise brought his attention to her and she ducked her head. He seemed younger, happier, lighter almost than his previous body but he still had such intense looks.
"But the point still stands. Leave them alone!"
"Or what?"
"Or…" His actions seemed both calculated and very much thought up on the spot. This time he grabbed a sword of another Sycoraxian and rushed back into the main section of the arena. He held it aloft. "I challenge you." The arena once again exploded into laughter, but much like Rose he didn't back down. "Oh, that struck a chord. Am I right that the sanctified rules of combat still apply?"
"You stand as this world's champion?" the leader asked, pulling out his own sword and holding it aloft to show his intent on taking him up on the challenge.
"Thank you," the Doctor replied as he shrugged off the dressing gown, leaving him in just the pyjamas. "I've no idea who I am, but you just summed me up." He chucked the dressing gown at Rose, who barely caught it before Mickey moved her back out of danger. "So, you accept my challenge? Or are you just a cranak pel casacree salvak?"
Whatever he said was obviously quite insulting, because the leader roared in anger, and too rude for the TARDIS to translate for them. They both knelt down in front of each other, their swords pointing at the ground.
"For the planet?" the leader asked.
"For the planet."
Both Danielle and Rose watched, concerned and worried as the pair started to fight. It became obvious rather quickly that the Sycoraxian leader was much more skilled than the Doctor was, who was spending most of his time dodging swings than being on the offensive. Eventually he stumbled down a tunnel, but the leader just chased him up it.
"Bit of fresh air?" the Doctor called as he headed outside, the humans all following to be the audience.
Outside wasn't much better. They were on top of the space ship and the leader moved the Doctor closer and closer to the edge until he raised the hilt of the sword and smacked him in the nose with it.
"Doctor!" Danielle shouted as she and Rose darted forward. The Doctor quickly held up his hand to stop them.
"Stay back! Invalidate the challenge and he wins the planet," he explained and the two skidded to a stop. Danielle's heart thumped painfully in her chest and she cried out in horror again as the leader took a swing and knocked him to the floor. He was dangling over the edge and Rose had to grab her again to stop her running over to help.
"You can't," she hissed. Danielle knew she was right, but she just shook as she watched the alien swing at the Doctor and chop his hand off. It fell to the Earth, along with the sword and the leader knew he had won. He turned to the guards that had also followed and raised his sword, cheering in his victory.
"You cut my hand off," the Doctor exclaimed, with a tone that wasn't quite upset enough considering his hand had been chopped off. He stood up from the ground and walked away from the edge. "And now I know what sort of man I am. I'm lucky. 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 to do this."
He held his hand up and, like magic, a brand-new hand began to grown from the stump. It made a little bit of a noise, but otherwise didn't look painful and he flexed the fingers to make sure that they worked correctly.
"Witchcraft," hissed the leader.
"Holy shit," Danielle whispered in another rare instance of swearing.
"Time Lord," the Doctor corrected them both.
Rose looked around, wondering how to help, and spotted that more of the guards had swords. She snatched one and rushed forwards. "Doctor!" she cried and chucked it to it.
He caught it without issue and got back into pose. "Oh, so I'm still the Doctor, then?" he asked.
She nodded with a grin. "No arguments from me!" she cried over.
"Want to know the best bit?" he asked them all. "This new hand? It's a fighting hand!"
And indeed it was. This time the Doctor could force back any attack until the Sycorax was the one on the floor, dangling over London. He pointed the sword at the leader's neck. "I win."
"Then kill me," he commanded.
"I'll spare your life if you'll take this Champion's command. Leave this planet, and never return. What do you say?"
The leader nodded. "Yes."
"Swear on the blood of your species."
"I swear."
The Doctor smiled, moving the sword away. "There we are, then. Thanks for that. Cheers, big fella."
"Bravo!" Harriet cheered as they realised the fight was over and the Doctor had definitely won.
"That says it all," Rose agreed as she and Danielle rushed over. "Bravo!"
Danielle couldn't help but chuck her arms around him, and he did the same back, lifting her up in an enthusiastic hug. "That was amazing," she praised as he put her down.
"Ah, not bad for a man in his jim-jams," he agreed, letting her go only to put on the dressing gown Rose held out to him. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her up against his side. "Very Arthur Dent. Now, there was a nice man," he started as he put his free hand in his pocket. "Hold on, what have I got in here?" He pulled out another piece of fruit, just like he had done the night before. "A satsuma." He sounded confused before he pointed it at Rose. "Ah, that friend of your mothers. 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?"
Behind them was a roar and the leader charged at them, sword raised, ready to attack. The Doctor's face hardened as he chucked the satsuma at a button on the wall. With a scream, the floor opened and the leader fell to his death. "No second chances. I'm that sort of a man," he commented lowly.
He glanced down at Danielle, who had tensed up against his side at the sudden violent act and he gave her shoulders another squeeze as they all headed back into the arena. "Now, I really think we need to have a talk about your vocabulary, Danni-Girl," he teased lightly.
She rolled her eyes, appreciating the change in tone again. "I'm not a child, don't talk to me like I'm one, Spaceman," she warned.
Once again, the Doctor stood in front of the arena, looking up at all the of the aliens that knew that he'd won the fight. He held himself firm, with a confidence that came with his ancient age. It was mesmerising to watch as he left them with a single message before they were all beamed down to Earth.
"It is defended!"
Mickey and Rose cheered happily as the spaceship above them zoomed off, following the Doctor's command. Rose jumped on Mickey's back and pointed up at the sky.
"Yeah! Don't come back!" Rose called up at them.
"It is defended!" Mickey shouted as well. The pair hugged tightly before Rose turned to do the same with Danielle. She stepped forward, ready to run into the blonde girl's arms when her pocket began ringing.
She pulled her phone and out and her mouth dropped; it was her mum.
"Mum!" she cried as she answered.
"Sorry I missed your call, sweetie," she replied as Danielle stepped off to the side, away from the celebration. "The strangest thing has been happening around here."
"Tell me about it. Are you alright, though? Were you on the roof?"
"Oh no, I was fine. A few of the other staff were up there, but the rest of us were told to stay away. We're just about to have dinner, actually."
"You never said where you were," Danielle pointed out. "Why didn't you call to say you wouldn't be back for Christmas?"
"I know, I know, I should have," her mum said. "You're a big girl though, now, Danielle. You can wait a couple of weeks."
"I know, but…"
"Did you need something, sweetie? You shouldn't be calling such long distance; it costs so much."
Danielle opened her mouth to protest, but then just let out a sigh. "Oh, no, I just wanted to say Merry Christmas," she replied in defeat.
"Merry Christmas, sweetie. I'll let you know when I'm home. Love you."
"Love you too, mum."
She held the phone tightly in her hand even though the conversation had ended. She should have known that her mother wouldn't have been concerned for her. She hadn't even asked if she had been in any danger. Why would she, though? If she'd had a missed call then it was obvious that she hadn't been caught up with the unresponsive people on the roof.
"Everything alright?"
She looked up and saw the Doctor stood there, hands in both his pockets, looking at her with the mildest bit of concern. She pointed the phone at him. "A third of the world was about to jump off the roof, and she was worried I was wasting money calling her," she explained softly. "Jackie missed Rose for the whole year she wasn't there, she never stopped looking. My mum's upset that I interrupted her tea."
The Doctor had never noticed how much pain she was carrying from her mother. He'd never noticed a lot about her it, it seemed. He stepped forward and was incredibly pleased when she let him pull her in for a hug. "Probably because she knows you can survive anything," he offered. "You do have a habit of telling off vicious aliens and coming out unscathed."
She chuckled slightly and it caused him to grin more. "Well, I just can't stand bullies," she explained. "No one has any more right to life than anyone else."
He pulled back slightly so he could look down at her. He'd heard her talking to him through the darkness. Not all the time, but little bits of the conversations she'd had with him as he'd been trying to heal. She'd never left his side, not for one moment, and even though she'd had no idea how to help she still had wanted to. He wanted to tell her how much he'd appreciated that. How he'd appreciated the fact that her doubt in him had come from seeing an impossible thing in him changing bodies, not a disbelief that he could be the same man.
He didn't though, as five beams of electricity shot up over head. She screamed in surprise and grabbed hold of him tightly as they joined together and shot a beam of light upwards, towards the sky. There was an almighty bang as something above them exploded.
Rose and Mickey, now joined by Jackie who had come looking for them, rushed over. "What is that? What's happening?"
Danielle looked up to the Doctor for answers, but his happiness had fallen away to pure fury. "That was murder," he told the Prime Minister, who was looking decidedly guilty.
"That was defence. It's adapted from alien technology. A ship that fell to Earth ten years ago," she explained. She had given the order and, even though the Sycorax were leaving, they had blown up the spaceship anyway. Hundreds of creatures were dead in an instant, because Harriet Jones had thought it the best course of action.
Suddenly she didn't look so great in the eyes of the group, who listened to her defence and felt varying degrees of disgust and shame. She had done it in the name of the human race, but they didn't agree.
"Then I should have stopped you," the Doctor retorted at her reasoning.
"What does that make you, Doctor? Another alien threat?" she asked.
"Don't challenge me, Harriet Jones, because I'm a completely new man. I could bring down your Government with a single word," he warned.
"You're the most remarkable man I've ever met, but I don't think you're quite capable of that."
He nodded along. "No, you're right. Not a single word, just six." He left Danielle's side to walk over the Harriet's aide and whispered something in his ear before joining the group again. He reached out and took Danielle's hand, holding onto it tightly as he led them all away.
"What did you say, Doctor? Doctor!" Harriet called after him but he didn't reply. Instead, as they turned the corner, he looked up at the block of flats they were heading towards.
"Oh, it's Christmas, isn't it?" he said cheerfully, as if he'd just remembered. "Oh, I do love Christmas. We should do something for it."
~0~0~0~
Jackie Tyler, happy that her daughter was alive and well, was more than happy to host Christmas Dinner. Her windows were smashed, her living room torn to pieces due to a killer Christmas tree, but she was so happy to not be alone that she welcomed both Mickey and Danielle with open arms.
The Doctor had disappeared for a while, apparently to head back to the TARDIS, so the foursome started food without him. Mickey was making a mess out of carving the turkey, and Danielle burnt herself on one of the bowls of potatoes, but it was very hard to be upset considering the win they'd had with the Sycorax. Well, the win the Doctor had. Even with him being unconscious for most of it, the end kind of felt like they were just along for the ride.
Danielle didn't have many fond memories of Christmas. Not that they were particularly bad, but as she'd gotten older her mum had, more often than not, shipped to her off to her grandparents. Then, last year, she'd spent it on her own. It was wonderful to have one with people who actually wanted her company.
She was the first to look up when the Doctor returned. It seemed that he'd gone to get some new clothes. He now wore a pinstripe suit underneath a long, tan jacket and he looked absolutely amazing in it. She was really going to miss the leather jacket of his old body – she was really going to miss his old body – but she had to admit it suited him wonderfully.
Their eyes met for a moment and she would never tire of seeing the grin he shot her. It lit up his whole face, and was highly contagious. Jackie forced him to sit down and enjoy the meal with them, and he didn't object, he just pulled up a chair next to the redhead and joined in with the festivities.
The phone rang and Jackie nipped off to answer it, appearing from the kitchen a moment later with a frown on her face. "It's Beth," she told them. "She says go and look outside."
"Why?" Rose asked her mum, taking a sip of wine.
"I don't know, just go outside and look. Come on, shift!"
They all bundled outside to see the ground covered in white. Snow drifted down for the first white Christmas in a long time and, as they stepped out onto the courtyard near the TARDIS, flashes of light streaked across the sky.
"It's snowing," Danielle breathed, grinning as she heard the crunch underneath her feet.
"Oh, it's beautiful," Rose added. "What are they, meteors?"
"It's the spaceship breaking up in the atmosphere. This isn't snow, it's ash," the Doctor explained.
Danielle immediately stopped enjoying it, her nose wrinkling up as she realised she was slowly being covered in ash from a massacred spaceship. It shouldn't have happened. None of it was right.
"Okay, not so beautiful," Rose muttered, echoing her thoughts.
The Doctor looked up at the sky, pondering the planet. "This is a brand-new planet Earth. No denying the existence of aliens now. Everyone saw it. Everything's new."
Rose and Danielle shared a look. They had both been concerned about what would happen if and when the Doctor recovered and left Earth again in the TARDIS. It seemed like that moment was barrelling towards them.
"And what about you? What are you going to do next?" Rose asked him timidly.
"Well, back to the TARDIS. Same old life."
"On your own?" she pressed.
His face dropped. "Why, don't you want to come?"
"Well, yeah."
He looked nervous, like he didn't quite want to know the answer to his next question. "Do you, though?"
"Yeah!" she insisted.
"I just thought, because I changed…"
She cut in, shuffling side to side a little. "Yeah, I thought, because you changed you might not want me anymore," she admitted.
He grinned. "Oh, I'd love you to come."
She laughed, relieved. "Okay."
"You're never going to stay, are you?"
Rose turned to Mickey, trying to let him down as gently as she could. The Doctor turned to Danielle, still looking a little nervous. "What about you?" he asked. "Do you still want to come?"
"You couldn't stop me," she replied, a little boldly. "You need to do a lot more to get rid of me, Spaceman."
He reached out and grabbed her hand. "Good, that's good," he rambled. "Because I don't think I'd want to go without you."
She flushed again, wondering how he'd managed to change into someone who could make her feel so giddy and nervous as she did. "I wouldn't want to go without you, either. Not-Not that I could, cause you're the one with the time machine. But- well, you know."
"Oi, knock it off you two," Rose teased just to watch them jump apart slightly. She was sure neither of them had realised just how close they'd moved to each other. "Food's getting cold!"
~0~0~0~
Danielle couldn't have denied the nervousness he was feeling even if she'd tried. There were butterflies fluttering in her stomach, her palms were sweaty, and she was sure that her heart was going to beat straight out of her chest.
It had been… well, it had been an experience. The Doctor, her Doctor…
She'd watched him change in front of her eyes from the grinning Northerner who had found her in the TARDIS into a younger man with a southern accent who couldn't quite control himself due to the change. Regeneration, he had called it. Saved himself from dying by changing every cell in his body. It was… well, it was definitely something.
Now, though, they were all back on the TARDIS and it felt like nothing had changed at all. He was still the same man underneath his pinstripe suit and jacket. A little different, and yet still the same. That in itself was something she was going to have to get used to. Danielle, Rose and the Doctor, ready to travel the universe once again.
Except it wasn't the universe she wanted to see. It was the Doctor, and it was why she had dressed herself up slightly instead of getting into her pyjamas, and why she had done her hair. She'd stopped short of doing her make-up, but she really had tried to make a bit of an effort.
She watched him dance around the console, expertly doing everything. At least he hadn't forgotten how to fly the time machine. Maybe he'd have better aim this time around. No more Jackie Tylers waiting a year to see their daughter. Although it wasn't as if her mother had missed her whilst she had been gone. But, as always, that was just how her life was.
"Got the hang of it, yet?" she asked softly and he paused, turning to look at her with the biggest grin on his face. She couldn't help but respond. He still had that same silly grin that showed that he was really, actually, happy.
"Oi, what have I told you about making fun of my driving?" he replied, although he moved from the console, walking slightly towards her.
She shrugged. "I don't know what you mean," she replied cheekily, also slowly walking towards him. She felt so incredibly shy as she worried her hands in front of herself. There had been no denying the softly building relationship between her and the other Doctor. They'd shared kisses, but just as they were starting to fall into something that she might have been able to put a name against, she felt like she was right back at the start of that unknown. Would he even still want that?
He had his hands in the pockets of his suit trousers when they fell to a stop, a safe distance between them. They stayed silent, both just smiling at each other, even if Danielle couldn't quite look him in the eye. The fact that he hadn't sent her away, or started talking, or anything, was a very good sign.
She dared a quick glance up at him. He was incredibly good looking; she couldn't deny it. She had thought the same about his other body though - his other body - even if they were in completely different ways. His hair looked messy, but in a rather styled way which had always confused her whenever she saw it. She loved the suit, it definitely reflected him a bit better than the leather and jeans.
"Does-Does it take time to get used to?" she asked softly once they'd been stood not-talking about his regeneration for long enough.
He shook his head, still grinning like a fool to look at her. They'd not really had a chance to talk about what had happened. The regeneration had gone so wrong, and he'd been so manic, that it wasn't until he had woken up after finally getting some tea, that he'd even properly seen her,
Oh, and what a sight she was. Stood, back straight, eyes blazing staring down an alien race who had wanted to destroy her home, telling them off like she was their mother. Her own mother hadn't even tried to get home to be with her daughter, and it had upset her but she hadn't let it stop her. She still was so angry when people were rude, and threatening Rose had been the rudest thing she'd seen. The passion in that act alone had caused him to pause before stepping in. He didn't want it to stop.
"A little," he replied. "The teeth still feel a bit weird, and I haven't quite gotten used to the hair yet," he rocked slightly to one side, as if he was trying to nudge her despite being so far away. "What do you think?"
"I think it's amazing," Danielle replied honestly. "To-to be able to change like that, on such a large scale, and still feel like yourself is extraordinary. I can't even imagine what it's like."
His grin grew at her words, taking her amazement as a compliment. He took another step towards her, closing the gap between them more. Her eyes were shining now as well, but with her curiosity, her excitement, her awe at what happened rather than her want to do what was right.
"Well, no, I don't suppose you could," he agreed, taking another step closer. "But I mean; what do you think?"
Her cheeks heated up as she realised what he was asking. She took another cheeky glance up at him, her lips still pulled in a smile that was slowly changing into a smirk.
"I like it," she said. "I really like it. I love the suit."
They were barely stood apart now, and he reached out, grabbing her hands and holding them in his. "Really?" he asked as he dipped his head. "Not too southern for you?"
"Definitely not," she replied and he caught her lips with his own. She whimpered slightly at the feel of the new lips, a new mouth teasing hers with his own. Her eyes fluttered shut and she held onto his hands tightly to support herself. She'd expected the different feel of his lips on hers, the slightly different brush of his tongue on hers. She hadn't expected him to taste almost identical. A very unique taste she knew to be his, one that she missed when he closed his lips gently on hers, breaking away.
"I was worried that, because you liked…" he started, trailing off and she shook her head.
"I was worried, because you'd changed, that maybe you wouldn't like me," she replied in kind. His lips turned up on one side, a wonky warm smile that she instantly adored.
"Regeneration changes a lot of things," he told her. "But not what really matters," he reached out cupping her face with his fingers in her hair. "All that changed was that I could see you better."
This time the kiss was anything but gentle. He pulled her close, keeping that hand on her cheek as he wrapped his other arm around her. He tilted her head back, arched her back for her, and kissed her like he had wanted to the moment he'd seen her defiantly stare down the Sycorax. He'd always thought her good looking, but that sexy? That was definitely new.
Danielle just tried to focus on keeping up with the kiss. He quickly took her breath away with the change of intention. Usually their kisses were just kisses. Nice, lovely even, but just kisses. Now, it was like he was searching for something more. Her hands made their way to his arms, holding onto him tightly as if to keep him from getting away.
He brought her closer still with a press of his hand on her back, crushing her up against him and she frowned at the feeling of something hard pressing into her…
She squeaked, breaking the kiss and almost jumping back from him. Her eyes widened as she stared up at him. "I-I'm sorry!" she rambled. "I wasn't-I mean, I didn't- I wasn't expecting-sorry."
He smirked slightly. "That's quite alright," he purred. He had felt her brush up against him, knowing that she had been surprised by it, but he wasn't. He wasn't ashamed, he knew it was just another part of his new self. The part that had seen her properly for the first time wanted her, and he was more than happy to embrace it.
But he took in her wide eyes, her heaving chest as she panted lightly, the way her skin was pink but was starting to pale in panic. The smirk fell and his concern replaced it. "Danielle, what's wrong?"
She bit her lip, her foot nervously bouncing as she wondered if she should tell him. Jack hadn't laughed, he'd been kind but that still didn't mean that she wasn't worried. She'd seen enough and heard enough to know that most people would mind. But, maybe he wouldn't?
Who was she kidding? Of course he'd mind.
"When-" she started, clearing her throat. "When we kissed, after we picked up Jack," she looked at him and he nodded to tell her that he remembered. "That-That was my first- my first kiss."
Her voice dropped to a whisper at the end, and he realised what he'd mistaken for panic was actually a nervous reaction to a sensation she obviously wasn't used to. He moved her head towards him, but instead of kissing her, he gently rested his forehead against hers.
"I'm sorry, I never meant to frighten you," he told her gently and she felt herself relax against him.
"I know," she replied. "I just- I've never- Feeling like this, it's new, you know?"
"A new feeling with a new Doctor. Seems rather apt, doesn't it?" he declared, letting her go slightly so she could get any space she needed. He had known that he'd had a lot more experience than her – not just in this, but nine hundred years wasn't anything to scoff at.
"I just- I don't know what I'm feeling," she rambled, although he took it as a good sign that she didn't pull away from him. "Jack said that, maybe, it was alright that I didn't, you know, feel like that but… But I just know that…" She took a deep breath. Everything swirling around her head was confusing, but she needed to explain, because the one thing she did know was that she didn't want to lie to him. "I know that I like it when you kiss me, but I'm just not sure about anything else."
He didn't say anything for a moment, and she wondered if maybe she should have kept it to herself. But then she realised he was just watching her, still smiling slightly and that feeling of being safe didn't disappear. He wasn't laughing, he wasn't angry. He was just there. "I know that I don't want to be anywhere else but here. And I'm just glad you're okay, sweetie."
"Never better," he promised, giving her hands a squeeze. He knew that she'd told him something personal, something that made her nervous and he didn't want to press her by making her talk about it. He couldn't begin to explain how perfectly she'd slotted into his life. For now, considering how slowly they had been taking things before, he was happy to take her cues.
"And there's nowhere else I'd rather be, either," he continued. "Now, why don't you go get some sleep?" He pressed another kiss against her lips just because he couldn't help it. "And tomorrow I'll find you so proper snow."
She nodded eagerly. "Alright, don't stay up too late," she warned teasingly as she walked away. She then paused. "Do you still not need any sleep?" He shook his head and she rolled her eyes. "That's the weirdest thing to me. How can you not want to sleep?"
"How can you want to waste so much time doing it?" he countered.
"Fair point. Night sweetie."
She left the console room and immediately he started to miss her. He was so glad that both Danielle and Rose had wanted to come with him, he really couldn't see himself travelling without them right now. And he was so glad that Danielle didn't want to leave, either. He couldn't quite place it, but it almost felt like she had always been there. The TARDIS would feel so empty without her.
He turned to the console, because he'd promised her snow and he wanted a nice trip for their first one all back together. No monsters, no killer aliens, no danger of any kind. Just snow, and fun, and something amazing to take their breath away.
His pocket started heating up and he reached inside, pulling out his psychic paper. "Now why are you doing that?" he muttered to himself.
He flipped it open and saw the message change. Ward 26. Please come.
He frowned and, after a little bit of digging, found it was coming from New Earth. Specifically, for New New York. How interesting, he couldn't remember the last time he'd followed a lead from his psychic paper.
He was about to place it back in his pocket, ready for their next adventure when he watched the message change again.
Ward 26. Please come. Bring Danni.
He paused, his intrigue falling away to a worried anger. Who was contacting him that knew that she was travelling with him? He had made a bit of noise in his life, but no one should have known she was there. That was dangerous, and a message that felt like a cry for help suddenly felt like a threat.
He shoved the paper back in his pocket. That was the last place they were going to go now. He'd just have to find somewhere new.
~0~0~0~
Apologies for the super long chapter. I hope you enjoyed it :) x