The Doctor hurried to the console and started adjusting things as needed, checking a monitor nearby.

"6 P.M… Tuesday, October, 5006. On the way to Barcelona!" He turned back to Rose with a grin, though she was hiding just behind a pillar, eyeing him suspiciously. "Now, then, what do I look like?" He held up a hand then, stopping her before she could even think of a response. "No, no no, no no no no no no no. No. Don't tell me. Let's see. Two legs, two arms, two hands." He circled his wrist with a hum. "Slight weakness in the dorsal tubercle."

Rose jumped when he snapped his hands up to his hair in shock.

"Hair! I'm not bald! Oh, oh! Big hair! Sideburns, I've got sideburns! Or really bad skin." He patted his stomach then. "Little bit thinner. That's weird. Give me time, I'll get used to it." He paused then, looking stunned. "I've got a mole. I can feel it. Between my shoulder blades, there's a mole. That's all right. Love the mole. Go on then, tell me," he says to Rose, not seeing her confusion. "What do you think?"

"Who are you?" She muttered, surprising him.

"I'm the Doctor."

"No... Where is he? Where's the Doctor?" She demanded, her voice rising as disbelief started to turn to panic. "What have you done to him?"

"You saw me, I-I changed right in front of you," he said, gesturing to where he'd burst into gold.

"Rose," Asher said, drawing both their attentions to her as she stood near her own pillar with cautious eyes still on the Doctor. "He's the Doctor."

"No. No, there's no way. I saw him sort of explode, and then you replaced him, like a… a teleport or a transmat or a body swap or something." She turned to Asher. "You're not fooling me."

"Why would I lie about this?" Asher asked, finally looking away from the Doctor and toward her. "You saw him ranting on about Barcelona just like he was a minute ago. He was setting course with the controls. Only the Doctor could—"

"Because you always lie!" Rose snapped at her, making her stiffen. "You lie a-and you never say anything! T-Then, people die and the Doctor gets hurt a-and… and I just can't trust you!"

Asher went quiet, giving her a small nod of acceptance and turning her gaze to the ground as the Doctor lightly frowned, eyeing her. Things were still a bit fresh, his mind and emotions scrambled. He could feel a hint of frustration and bitterness rolling around in his gut when he looked at her and tried to remember why, but most of all, he felt guilty for something. It distracted him for a moment and he only turned back to Rose when she sucked in a gasp.

"Oh, my God, are you a Slitheen?"

Where did that— "I'm not a Slitheen."

"Send him back. I'm warning you; send the Doctor back right now!" Rose shouted at him.

"Rose, it's me," he pressed, leaning forward slightly. "Honestly, it's me. I was dying. To save my own life I changed my body. Every single cell, but… it's still me."

'"You can't be," she whispered and the Doctor stepped toward her, staring down at her with as much sincerity as he could.

"Then how could I remember this? Very first word I ever said to you. Trapped in that cellar. Surrounded by shop window dummies… Ooh…" He glanced away, reminiscing on that moment. "Such a long time ago. I took your hand…" He took hers. "I said one word… just one word, I said… Run."

"Doctor," Rose gasped, tears welling up in her eyes as he smiled.

"Hello."

"Oh my God," she breathed out, faltering back to steady herself as he rushed back toward the console.

"And we never stopped, did we? All across the universe. Running, running, running. One time we had to hop. Do you remember? Hopping for our lives." He hopped on one foot with a mad grin. "Yeah? All that hopping? Remember hopping for your life? Yeah?! Hop? With the… No?" He asked upon seeing her still looking upset.

"Can you change back?" She asked.

"Do you want me to?"

"Yeah."

"Oh."

"Can you?"

"No," he said, a little disappointed because he'd thought he'd explained it well enough.

Again, his eyes sought out the other person in the room. She was trying to be ignored, he noticed. Keeping to herself, saying nothing, not moving an inch as though to try and blend in with the background. Yet, he kept looking to her for… something. Answers? A reaction? Was she as upset about his change as Rose was? Nah, course not. She'd met this version of him before probably. She knew it was going to happen. Ah. There. That hint of frustration again. Was he upset she hadn't warned him? He couldn't remember or hold onto the feeling long enough to figure it out. He was practically bursting at the seams with energy… which might be a problem now that he thought about it.

"Do you want to leave?" He asked Rose, turning back to her given how upset she was about his current self.

"Do you want me to leave?" She questioned, shocked.

"No! But… your choice. If you want to go home…" He moved over to the console, adjusting the coordinates solemnly. "Cancel Barcelona. Change to London, the Powell Estate. Uh, let's say the 24th of December. Consider it a Christmas present… There."

He stepped back, arms folded over his chest as she took a hesitant step forward.

"I'm going home?"

"Up to you. Back to your mum… It's all waiting. Fish and chips, sausage and mash, beans on toast. No, Christmas! Turkey! Although having met your mother, nut loaf would be more appropriate," he rattled on, catching her crack a hint of a smile. "Was that a smile?"

"No."

"That was a smile."

"No, it wasn't."

"You smiled.

"No, I didn't."

"Oh, come on, all I did was change, I didn't—" He jerked then, startling her and drawing Asher's gaze.

"What?" Rose asked.

"I said, I didn't—" He retched again, taking a small step back. "Uh oh."

"You alright?" Rose questioned as Asher started to head over and the Doctor breathed out a golden wispy breath. "What's that?"

"Oh, the change is going a bit wrong and all—" He choked again, doubling over as Rose panicked slightly.

"Look, maybe we should go back. Let's go and find Captain Jack, he'd know what to do."

"Gah, he's busy!" The Doctor argued. "He's got plenty to do rebuilding the Earth!" His gaze drifted toward the console then. "Ooh, I haven't used this one in years."

He reached out for the switch only for a hand to grab his wrist, surprising him as Asher held firm to stop him.

"The regeneration is going a bit wrong," she informed him. "You shouldn't touch the controls."

"Bah, what do you know?" He scoffed, jerking her around and flipping the switch with his other hand with a cheeky grin as the Tardis shuddered. "Didn't foresee that one, did ya?"

"You utter—"

"What are you doing!" Rose complained as he pulled Asher along with him to mess with more controls.

"Putting on a bit of speed! That's it!"

"Asher stop him!" Rose complained as Asher grunted; her back hitting the console rather harshly as the Doctor twisted her arm up behind her head in a rather painful position.

She glared at him as he smirked with a wiggle of his brows from in front of her; his knee pressed between hers to keep her from moving behind him in any direction as his other hand snaked behind her back to fiddle with more knobs.

"I would love to if he wasn't trying to pop my shoulder out of place," she hissed out with a grimace. "Believe it or not but Time Lords are rather stubborn and stupidly strong right after regenerating."

"Come on! You always boasted about those martial arts classes you took," he teased her, pulling her free and swinging her out away from the console to tumble into the jumpseat as he kept going. "My beautiful ship! Come on, faster! That a girl!"

Asher groaned, rushing back at him again and using the swing of the Tardis for momentum as she grabbed hold of his arm and leather jacket. "I took those lessons years ago! I barely remember a thing and it's a hell of a lot harder in practice!"

"Wah, wah, wah," he drawled, unimpressed as she attempted to swing him off balance.

He easily unhooked her grip from his suit, forcing her to suck in a gasp of pain when he used a bit too much pressure to slam her gut-first into the console again. He leaned over her as she clenched her teeth; one arm pinned beneath her trying to keep her from pressing into any more buttons while the other he had twisted up behind her back.

"You aren't even trying. Typical Asher. When are you going to start being useful? Taking some risks, saying things you should've said ages ago before people get hurt," he snarled before bursting out in a mad cackle again. "Faster! We wanna break the time limit?"

"Stop it!" Rose shouted as he clicked his tongue at her.

"Ah, don't be so dull. Let's have a bit of fun! Let's rip through that vortex!"

He'd yanked on Asher's arm brutally, finally enticing a cry of pain from her and a round of curses before he'd abruptly released her and took a small stumble back; sobering up for half a second.

"The regeneration's going wrong. I can't stop myself. Ah, my head," he grunted in pain, bowing over before suddenly snapping back up again. "Faster! Let's open those engines!"

"You…" Asher spat angrily, expression tinged with pain as she stormed toward him. "You better damn well not be pissed about this."

"Pisseed? I'm not drunk," he complained with a frown of confusion as she snarled.

"You'll wish you were in a minute."

She suddenly rushed forward, dropping slightly lower before swinging back up, hitting him solidly in the gut with a fist. He doubled over with a choked gasp before she grabbed him by the back of the head and snapped his forehead into her knee. He fell to the ground with a thud as Rose stared in shock and Asher breathed heavily; faltering back against the console with a grimace of pain.

"W-What did you do!"

Asher shot a glare at Rose, turning around and gripping the console tightly. "What's it look like? I knocked him out."

"But he was flying the Tardis!"

"He was crashing the Tardis!" She argued as an alarm went off and she started messing with the controls; grinding her teeth tightly against the pain rolling through her after her tussle with the Doctor. "I'm trying to fix it."

"But you can't fly the Tardis!"

"You're right," she said blatantly, still going around and flipping switches and pressing buttons. "But the Tardis can and even if I don't know what the hell I'm doing, she certainly does."

"I-I don't understand! What are you doing?"

Asher looked over at Rose, startling her as a flicker of gold shimmered in her once-blue eyes; matching the eerie golden glow of the tattoo on her arm. "I'm taking a backseat to the Tardis in the hopes we won't crash. Just be lucky I'm able to."

The ride wasn't the smoothest. There was very little I could do after whatever the Doctor did on top of what little time I had, but I managed. Or, well, the Tardis managed. I didn't even know what was happening really. One minute I'd knocked the Doctor out and stumbled back to the console, the next my body was moving on its own. I only knew it was the Tardis because of the warm feeling in my head reassuring me that it was. I didn't appreciate being used like a puppet by the ship but I didn't exactly have much of a choice. Once the ship landed, I was shoved back forward with the soft feeling of an apology and sagged against the console with a sharp gasp.

"O-Oh, that was… not okay. Never again," I breathed, resting my sweat-covered forehead against the edge of the console. "Please tell me that never happens again."

The Tardis let out a groan which didn't bode well but Rose hurried over, stopping between the Doctor and I in concern.

"W-Where are we? What happened?"

"We… We should be in London. The coordinates he last put in," I offered her weakly, sinking down to sit back against the console, closing my eyes to try and just breathe.

"I'm home?"

"S-Should be. Sorry, I just… I need a minute."

She didn't seem to really care, hurrying toward the doors and giving the Doctor one last fleeting look before rushing out into the arms of her mother and Mickey, most likely. I cracked my eyes open and looked over at the Doctor, lifting my lips in a bit of a snarl.

"Y-You deserved to get knocked out, I hope you know that," I complained, shifting slightly and cringing at all the aches and pains I'd gotten while trying to fight with him. "I didn't use my goddamn skills because they hurt people, idiot. But when you're nearly dislocating my shoulder and breaking my wrist, you better bet I'll knock your ass out."

He, of course, didn't respond in any way and I huffed, having said my piece and lightly checking my wrists. Dark, finger-shaped bruises were forming on both of them but my left one looked swollen, and trying to move it sent sharp rivets of pain rippling up my arm. I sighed and dropped my head back to lightly hit it against the console in annoyance. My shoulder was throbbing as well as my back and stomach—How many times did I hit the console—and a migraine was pounding behind my eyes, most likely because of the Tardis. Add that to the still-aching and heavy feeling in my arm from whatever Bad Wolf did and I was more than ready to pop off somewhere else where I could just sleep.

Not that I would ever be lucky enough for my little popping-off trick to work when I wanted it to. The door opened then and I wearily looked over as Mickey, Jackie, and Rose stepped into the Tardis.

"That's the Doctor?" Jackie questioned and Rose nodded.

"I… I don't know what happened. He just said he changed. I don't know how it works."

"New face, new personality, new everything," I rattled off, carefully starting to get up as they looked over at me. "It's messy but he's still the Doctor. Same memories, same morals, same person. It's just… gone a bit wrong. He'll be out for fifteen hours if he's lucky."

"Fifteen hours?" Rose questioned in shock, looking ready to melt into tears as I forced my gaze away.

I didn't do well with crying people.

"And what happened to you?" Mickey asked, eyeing me. "You honestly look like shit, mate."

Least Mickey is friendly. "Doctor was being stubborn and I had to… deal with some things. Someone had to make sure we landed after I knocked him out." I shook my head before grimacing at the flaring headache; bringing a hand to my head. "W-We should bring him inside if we can. I'd say take him to a bedroom here but if he's like this, the Tardis won't have anything available."

Mickey nodded and waved Rose over to help him get the Doctor up off the ground. Jackie, surprisingly enough, came over to help me as we left the Tardis and made our way into the flat. Jackie sat me on the sofa in the front room and hurried off to help get what Rose needed with a small apology to me that I lightly waved off. They weren't busy long before coming back out into the kitchen and Jackie headed over to me.

"You sure you're alright, dear? You're awfully pale."

"I'm fine, really," I lied with a small polite smile. "Just a bit sore with a headache."

"Right. I'll get you something to drink then," she hummed, shuffling into the kitchen. "You like fizzy drinks, yeah?"

I looked over surprised, half expecting her to have offered me tea. "Y-Yeah, how did you…"

"You wouldn't touch the tea last time and the Doctor told me you don't care for it. Here," she came back and handed me a can of cola. "I made sure I had something for you last shopping trip out. Can't thank you enough for keeping Rose safe while she's running off with him."

"Mum," Rose complained in the kitchen, shooting me an uneasy look as Jackie rolled her eyes and went back in to make tea for herself.

"Well, she does better explaining it all than you do and I trust her better than him. He already hurt you once and now he's all different. How can he go changing his face? You said he wasn't all different though, yeah, Asher?"

"He… He's still the Doctor. It's um… It's a bit complicated. I don't know a lot of specifics. Something to do with this Artron energy sort of exploding out and changing every cell in his body when he's seriously injured."

"You said fifteen hours though," Rose piped up. "Where'd you get that then? What's that mean?"

I winced, setting down the soda on the coffee table and wishing I could rub my aching wrists without further pain. "It's just that after a Time Lord regenerates they have a sort of settling period. They just changed everything about them and it's got to work itself out. They'll have to figure out food preferences, clothing, that sort of thing. But physically they're all sort of out of whack. They're not invulnerable but they can handle injuries far better like um… a super healing sort of thing? Their head's a bit scrambled though. Ten—" I cut myself sort there, adjusting what I was about to say. "This Doctor just needs a sort of hard reset. The energy he had to deal with sort of went haywire so he needs to rest and recuperate. It wasn't going wrong really. He regenerated just fine but he was still… cooking, I guess? Doing too much too soon and it all went to his head for a minute. It's why he was going kinda mad."

Rose still looked uncertain and still choked up about everything. "The thing is… I thought I knew him. I thought me and him were… and then he goes and does this. I keep forgetting he's not human."

"He's still the Doctor," I pressed, knowing that even if she was upset with me about this whole thing, her understanding that much would help her and the Doctor in the long run. "He's still that big idiot space moron who talks a mile a minute about random things. He just… isn't all bald, leather jacket, big ears anymore."

She looked as though she wanted to say something sharp but chose not to—probably because Jackie's here—and instead changed the topic completely to ask about her mother's new catch. I just let her, not feeling up to any more arguing, and idly clicked the TV on. Harriet Jones was addressing a group of reporters on a space probe and Rose must've heard her voice and came hurrying back in to see.

"Is that Harriet Jones? Why's she on the telly?"

"She's Prime Minister now," Jackie explained. "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."

"Did more than that. Stopped World War Three with her. Harriet Jones."

I eyed the screen uneasily, wondering if I should say anything about the mess that was coming up. Another alien invasion threat, the Doctor out of commission, Rose being extra volatile, and—I grimaced again, bringing a hand to my head as it throbbed. Jackie noticed and gave me a light pat on the shoulder.

"I'll see if I have anything for ya. Feel free to have a lie-down, Ash. I'd give ya a bed if the Doctor wasn't laying in it."

I reluctantly agreed and she shuffled off before I turned my gaze to Rose. "Could you… get me some ice?"

"Sorry? Am I your waitress or something now?" She snapped and I gingerly lifted my wrist.

"I just figured you'd be less worried about me than your mother."

Her eyes softened slightly in guilt at the sight and she reluctantly nodded and soon brought back an ice pack for me. Her mother came back in as well and handed me some pills as Rose spoke up.

"I'm going to head out with Mickey. Last minute shoppin' or something. You need anything, mum?"

"No, no. I've got everything. I'll keep an eye on the Doctor for ya."

"Be careful," I warned, drawing her confused and suspicious gaze toward me before she stepped out and Jackie went and picked up the phone.

I sighed lightly and sagged onto the sofa, lying down and closing my eyes against the pounding headache wondering what would change if I just gave the Doctor a bit of tea.

I was usually a very light sleeper. When I'd gotten my first dog she was up every few hours to go to the bathroom because of an unknown chicken allergy so I was used to waking up at any little sound of fussing from her. Then, it got worse when any little shuffle would wake me up to keep people from cooking in the kitchen all hours of the night. So, I was surprised when I had somehow slept through an ongoing argument between Rose and Jackie.

I pushed myself upright feeling sluggish and warm, sticky with sweat, and physically exhausted and sore. My vision was foggy as I brought a hand to my head, which had thankfully gone from a full-blown migraine to a light throbbing in my temples. I definitely felt terrible though and their shouting wasn't helping, but then my eyes caught on something. Jackie's Christmas tree which had once been white was now a dark green and that was ringing some sort of alarm bells in my head.

"Mum, where'd you get that tree?" Rose asked, having noticed it the same moment I did. "That's a new tree. Where'd you get it?"

"I thought it was you," Jackie said.

"How can it be me?"

"Well, you went shopping. There was a ring at the door, and there it was!"

I started to get up, stumbling slightly when my vision swam, and catching myself on the wall. "W-We need to go. We need to get the Doctor out now."

"What do you mean?" Jackie asked, though she stepped back with me as the tree lit up by itself and Rose breathed out in disbelief behind me.

"Oh, you're kidding me."

The tree started to spin, fast enough to easily destroy the coffee table as I shouted at the screaming women.

"Get out! Go!"

"We've got to save the Doctor!" Rose protested. "We can't just leave him!"

"We don't have time to carry him out," I argued, mind spinning as I faltered into the room he was in, looking around. "Where's his sonic?"

"Shirt pocket!" Jackie called out as she and Rose tried to get Mickey to fall back.

I found it soon enough and grimaced at how much more complex it was than expected. Damn it. I don't know how to work it. I could try point and think but I-I don't know if that works. It has settings for things. How do I set it? I glanced at the Doctor in worry as the others gathered in the room and Mickey pulled the wardrobe across the door.

"We need to wake up the Doctor!" Rose shouted and I grimaced, hoping that this would work.

"No. We can't."

"Are you daft! He's the only one who can stop it!"

"If we wake him up now, he'll get worse!" I argued, ignoring the way that shouting made my head feel a little weightless. "I-I just need to use the sonic."

"Then do it!" She bellowed as the Christmas tree smashed through the door and wardrobe.

I lifted the sonic and pointed it, desperately hoping that it would stop the Christmas tree, that my blurred vision and headache wouldn't matter if I just pleaded with the device hard enough. Please, please just spark it out or something. Stop it. Stop it! The tree sparked and blew apart at the last second, drawing a relieved breath from me as I instantly sagged and fell back against the foot of the bed. I chuckled for a second, unable to help myself as I dropped my head back against the mattress.

"I-I did it. H-Holy shit."

"What about those Santa things?" Mickey asked as I lightly waved a hand, ignoring the twinge of pain the action sent up my arm.

"Pilot fish. They'll leave but there's a bigger problem following after. It's why we can't wake up the Doctor. It's too early. Would've set his recovery back."

"What do you mean a bigger problem?" Rose asked, voice tight with unease and anger. "Why aren't you actually saying anything? Just tell us what it is! How we can stop it!" She threw a hand at the Doctor as I wearily looked up at her from the ground. "The Doctor can't do anything because of you a-and you're just going to stay quiet?"

"Rose—" Jackie started to scold her but Rose whipped to her in frustration.

"No, mum! Asher always knows what's going to happen! She knows and she never says anything and now look! He's like this because of her! She could've stopped all of this!"

"What do you want to know?" I asked, too exhausted to really argue and knowing that I could tell her everything that was about to happen and she would be just as useless as I was.

Rose turned to me cautiously, suspicious about the fact that I was just willing to talk now. "You're just gonna tell me? Just like that?"

"I keep my mouth shut because the future can change if I say the wrong thing," I explained, closing my eyes. "So, what do you think it means when I offer to tell you everything? It means there's nothing you can do."

"You don't know that," she argued, bristled in anger as I shrugged with a wince.

Damn shoulder. "You either believe me or you don't," I grumbled, cracking open my eyes to glare at her. "But you better damn well figure it out because I don't have the patience to keep arguing with you."

She hesitated for half a second before nodding. "Fine. Tell me."

"We're about to be invaded by an alien species called the Sycorax who found our space probe and caught a whiff of the energy the Doctor has been spewing out. They're going to use blood control to send a third of the population onto the roofs to act as a threat and demand we surrender or they'll destroy the entire planet. The Doctor is unconscious and will be for a better part of this mess so guess what? It's us against them with nothing but a sonic screwdriver. So, Rose Tyler, what should we do?"

She looked far more hesitant now. "W-What do you mean? Why are you asking me?"

"Because you demanded to know what I knew thinking that by somehow knowing what's supposed to happen I could stop the whole mess," I said sharply, temper flaring with my headache. "Fun fact, I've been with the Doctor for maybe a couple of months. I'm as human as anyone else in the room foreknowledge or not. So, if you're so convinced I could stop this, then I'd like to see you come up with something. Having a degree in fucking archaeology doesn't make me any more qualified to fix this mess than you. So, have at it."

I tossed the sonic at her feet and stubborn as she was, she scooped it up and stormed out. I sighed heavily, leaning back against the mattress as Mickey trailed after her and Jackie hesitated.

"Do you need anything?" She asked softly. "I can get you more meds if ya like."

"Asprin, if you have it," I requested and she nodded with a smile, glancing back at me from the doorway.

"She's not usually like that, Rose, I mean. She's changed since meeting the Doctor. It worries me."

I sighed lightly. "Rose will always be safe, Jackie. I promise you that."

She nodded, understanding what I meant, and stepped out. It took some doing but I managed to get up off the floor and into a chair beside the Doctor's bed. The room was warm and I kept wiping sweat off my face and neck, muttering an apology to the Doctor when I used the wet cloth nearby to try and cool down. Jackie stepped back in then, looking uneasy as she handed me the medication and a cup of tea, having forgotten I didn't like it.

"Did the probe video come out?" I asked quietly, taking the pills and grimacing at the bit of tea I used to wash them down; setting it aside.

She nodded. "Will we be okay? At the end of all this."

"So long as the Doctor wakes up, yes," I offered her, running a hand through my hair. "That's all I can really do… offer a bit of reassurance. I'm just human. I might know some things but I don't… I can't actually do anything and half the time I forget something important or something changes that I don't know about. I'm not… I'm not like him. I'm not some miracle worker who knows every alien out in the universe or has a fancy tool that can do what I want. I just… I'm frustrated too."

Jackie nodded and gave my shoulder a squeeze. "I know. We all are. You and Rose most of all but if you say it'll be alright, then I'll believe you. You might not say everything but… you always say what you can and you never lie about it. I appreciate that."

I grunted, muttering a small thanks as she let my shoulder go.

"Get some rest, if you can. I'll check up on ya."

Christmas morning had dawned and with it, people all over the world were walking up the rooftops to stand at the edge in wait. Harriet Jones had to make an announcement to the country and begged for anyone who might know the Doctor to find him. Rose stood with her mother and Mickey, watching it and she burst into tears as she stepped away to look at the man who was sleeping in bed beside Asher.

"He's gone. The Doctor's gone. He's left me, mum. He's left me, mum."

Jackie comforted her as best she could. "It's all right. I'm sorry but Asher said… she said it'd be alright. He'd wake up and fix it."

Rose adamantly shook her head pulling out the screwdriver Asher had tossed her the night before. "He can't. She's lying. She has to be and I… She was right. I can't do anything."

"Oh, Rose," Jackie murmured, hugging her daughter close before suddenly, the windows shattered and the world quaked.

They headed outside to see what it was, joining Mickey who was already looking up as a large meteor-like ship drifted through the atmosphere and blocked out part of the sky. Rose hurried back to the flat with the other two on her tail, barking out orders.

"Mickey, we're going to carry him. Mum, get your stuff and get some food. We're going."

"Where to?" Mickey asked, checking up on Asher with a hint of concern.

She was still pale as a ghost and sweating under a blanket Jackie had brought for her. He wasn't sure what was wrong with her and with everyone focused on the Doctor, he hadn't really thought about it.

"The Tardis. It's the only safe place on Earth."

"What're we going to do in there?" Jackie asked, confused as she went over to try and wake Asher up and shooed Mickey to help Rose.

"Hide."

"Is that it?"

"Mum, look in the sky. There's a great, big, alien invasion and I don't know what to do, all right? I've traveled with him, and I've seen all that stuff, but when I'm stuck at home, I'm useless. Now, all we can do is run and hide, and I'm sorry." She glanced at Asher as she started to stir, feeling guilt welling up in her before she brushed it off. "Now, move. Lift him up, Mickey."

They hefted the Doctor up and out as Jackie helped Asher to her feet.

"Are you sure you're alright?" She asked, brushing a hand over her forehead. "You're burnin' up."

Asher waved her off though. "Fine. Fine. Get… get some tea, Jackie, please."

"Tea? But I thought you don't like tea."

"It's… It's not for me," she muttered, bringing a hand to her head. "Just… please? It'll fix things. I swear."

Jackie hesitated, not trusting her to stand—much less walk—on her own but she held somewhat steady and she grumbled. "Oh, alright. Just be careful."

The group headed outside and Jackie hurried after them, hesitating at the door and questioning if she should grab bags of food but shook her head. Asher had said it would all be fixed with tea. Jackie was willing to risk it and rushed out, helping Asher as she sagged and leaned heavily on the railing, not moving.

"Come on, careful now," she murmured to the young woman who struggled even with her help.

"The tea…"

"I have some right here," she said, holding up the thermos and Asher nodded, going quiet as they got down the steps.

Everyone slipped into the Tardis and Mickey and Rose carefully set the Doctor down on the grating as Jackie helped Asher to the jumpseat.

"No chance you could fly this thing?" Mickey asked.

"Not anymore, no," Rose grumbled though she glanced at Asher. "She might have half a chance."

"Absolutely not," Jackie huffed at her daughter, setting the thermos down and wiping at Asher's face with a handkerchief. "Look at her, Rose! She's sick as a dog!"

"So, what do we do? Just sit here?" Mickey asked as Asher spoke up.

"Tea."

"Solution to everything," Rose muttered sarcastically under her breath but Jackie spoke up.

"No, I think we're supposed to do something with it. She didn't want me bringing nothing else. She said the tea would fix everything."

"The only one who can fix anything is the Doctor," Rose argued, but her eyes caught on Asher's tired ones and the frustration started to give way to understanding. "No. No, you're joking."

"What? What is it?" Mickey asked as Rose hurried over and took the thermos, holding it out in front of Asher in disbelief.

"Tea? The Doctor seriously needs tea?"

Asher opened her mouth to answer when someone else spoke up instead.

"Oi! What's wrong with tea?" The Doctor questioned, getting to his feet with only a slight wobble before heading over; ignoring their stunned expressions. "Superheated infusion of free radicals and tannin. Just the thing for healing the synapses."

He took the thermos from Rose and downed it, letting out a sigh of wispy golden fumes before doing a full-body shiver.

"Ooh, that's the stuff. Now, first thing's first. Be honest, how do I look?"

Rose gaped like a fish for a moment before finding a response. "Um, different."

"Good different or bad different?"

"Just different."

"Am I… ginger?" He asked seriously and her gaze drifted to his hair.

"No, you're just sort of brown."

"I wanted to be ginger. I've never been ginger. And you, Rose Tyler, fat lot of good you were. You gave up on me," he complained before immediately wrinkling his nose. "Ooh, that's rude. That's the sort of man I am now, am I? Rude. Rude and not ginger."

Asher let out a small scoff, drawing his gaze to her. She immediately noticed and glanced away, stiffening when he headed over and only eyeing him when he brushed his knuckles across her cheek.

"You're burning up," he noted, eyeing her and seeing everything she didn't want him to see.

The exhaustion in her face, the pink in her cheeks from fever, how her eyes squinted slightly with the lights of the Tardis being too bright for her headache. What's more, he could tell by the way she was holding herself that she was hiding the pain. He couldn't remember everything right after regenerating but knew enough to know they'd had a scuffle. The sharp flash of pain in his nose and gut told him she'd retaliated rather fairly but he knew how volatile newly regenerated Time Lords could be. They don't know their own strength and when Asher shifted away from the hand reaching for her shoulder, he knew what he'd done. His gaze dropped to her hand, wrapped tightly around the bicep of her other arm, trying to hide it. He looked at her and just held out a hand, patiently.

"You can't hide it from me," he told her quietly and her eyes shifted away before she carefully turned and gingerly set her injured hand in his.

Dark, finger-shaped bruises marred her skin, nearly doubled in size due to swelling, and while her other hand wasn't nearly as bad, he could still see the bruises and damage there too. The guilt he'd felt before swirled uneasily in his stomach, all previous frustration toward her brushed aside because how could he fault her now? How could he blame her for what happened?

Well, not that he had blamed her. He'd said before that there was nothing anyone could have done to save all the people who died on Earth and on the satellite, and that was very much true. She could have told him exactly what was going to happen and it wouldn't have changed a thing. The only thing that had upset him was what happened with Rose but now… Now that he had his head on straight, he knew she couldn't have stopped that either. In fact, it was better she hadn't. The whole thing was a jumbled-up paradox and changing it could have caused all sorts of trouble. Yet, he'd said something terrible to her before regenerating, blaming her for what happened and demanding she take responsibility. The worst part was, she'd known he was going to do that from the start. That was why she'd been so cautious around him, why she tried to give him any sort of helpful answer to his questions that she could. She'd expected him to get angry and he had.

Then, he regenerated and she did everything she could to help. She tried to reassure Rose, tried to keep him from crashing the Tardis at the risk of herself, cared for him while he was unconscious to ensure that he wasn't woken too early, and all while dealing with her own issues. She was very much the type, now that he thought about it. Someone who sacrificed a lot to make sure that those around her were taken care of first. Well… we should change that. His hand started to glow gold and he was surprised when she abruptly jerked her hand out of his; teeth grit tightly with pain.

"Ash—"

"Don't," she said sharply before glancing away and calming down. "Not… Not right now."

He tipped his head, not sure what she meant and she turned back to him with a small frown of annoyance.

"You might need it," she grumbled. "First fifteen hours and there's an alien invasion happening on Earth. I can wait."

He wanted to argue that, given she looked ready to collapse at any moment but he sighed and nodded, tucking his hands into his pockets with a shrug. "Alright, but the first thing I'm doing is dealing with you once I'm done, got it?"

She hummed, turning away and leaning further into the jumpseat as he begrudgingly turned to face the others with a forced smile.

"So! Alien invasion, is it? Shall we meet the neighbors?"