A/N: Hey guys! Welcome to the sequel to The Heart Within. If you haven't already read that story, I recommend you do because it won't make sense otherwise. To returning readers, thank you for your continued loyalty. Uploading may take a while, as I'm still writing chapters. So, patience will be appreciated while I write those and juggle my studies at university at the same time.

I do not own Doctor Who. All I own is this sequel and my OC.

This chapter takes place during The Christmas Invasion. A very warm welcome to the Tenth Doctor!

Please review and no flaming will be tolerated! Enjoy!

HOMECOMING

"Every time that I look in the mirror.
All these lines on my face getting clearer.
The past is gone.
It went by like dusk to dawn.
Isn't that the way?
Everybody's got their dues in life to pay."
– Matthew Morrison (feat. Neil Patrick Harris) 'Dream On' (Glee Soundtrack [2010] – Originally recorded by Aerosmith)

South London
December 24th, 2005

Several months had gone by since Jackie and Mickey helped Katy and Rose get the TARDIS started so they could go back and help the Doctor on the Game Station. Now it was Christmas Eve, and like every other Christmas it was busy. In the Tyler's flat, Jackie is decorating a white plastic Christmas tree and placing wrapped presents beneath it. She pauses for a moment to look at the ones for Katy and Rose and gazes wistfully into the distance.

At Mickey's work, Noddy Holder AKA 'Slade', was singing Merry Xmas Everybody over the radio behind the loud hammering Mickey's friend John was doing. But there was also another sound that could be faintly heard over that, and Mickey's head instantly shot up when he recognised the sound; a very familiar wheezing, groaning and chain-grinding noise.

"Hey, turn that down." Nobody immediately complies with Mickey's request. He tries again. "Turn it off, Stevo. Turn that off!" Somebody finally listens to him, and Mickey snaps impatiently at John. "John, shut up!" Once everybody goes silent, looking at Mickey with confusion, said boy pricks up his ears once again to confirm what he was hearing … before taking off at a run out of the Mechanic's shop.

Jackie hears the noise too.

"Katy! Rose!" She immediately rushes out of the flat and meets up with Mickey out in the courtyard. "Mickey!"

"Jackie, it's the TARDIS!"

"I know, I know, I heard it." Jackie exclaimed excitedly. "They're alive, Mickey. I said so, didn't I? They're alive!"

"Just shut up a minute." Mickey asks, impatiently. Both look around for a glimpse of the blue box, but so far nothing appears.

"Well, where is it then?" Jackie asks, in confusion. The TARDIS suddenly comes out of the vortex in mid-air and bounces off one block of flats, a second and a third, before narrowly avoiding a post office van and finally crashing into a set of waste bins. The Doctor opens the door, still dressed in his predecessor's black jeans, t-shirt, leather jacket, and biker boots.

"Here we are then." He says, cheerfully. "London, Earth. The Solar System. We did it." He stumbles out of the TARDIS, followed closely by a very concerned Katy who was shadowing him in case he got hurt. The Doctor takes notice of a perplexed Jackie and Mickey who were staring at the Doctor in confusion. "Jackie. Mickey. Blimey! No, no, no, no, hold on. Wait there. I've got something to say. There was something I had to tell you, something important." He leans against Jackie and Mickey's shoulders for extra support. "What was it?" He frowns momentarily. "No, hold on, hold on. Hold on, shush, shush, shush, shush." Then he grins triumphantly as though suddenly remembering. "Oh, I know! Merry Christmas!" The Doctor exclaims before his eyes roll up into the back of his head and he pitches forward in a dead faint. Thankfully, Katy was there to quickly grab him around the middle and gently lower him to the damp ground, with some help from Mickey.

"Katy? What's going on?" Jackie immediately questions her daughter who doesn't immediately respond. Rose comes out of the TARDIS and looks down at Katy cradling an unconscious Doctor in her arms, with a scowl.

"What happened? Is he all right?" Rose demands.

"I don't know, he just keeled over." Mickey explains, gesturing at the Doctor. "But who is he? Where's the Doctor?" He asks, looking inside the TARDIS as though expecting him to just come stepping out with his big ears, buzzcut hair and cheerful smile, ready to give an explanation about who this stranger Katy holding in her arms was.

"You're looking at him." Katy responded softly, frowning down at the Doctor with concern. Jackie crouches down beside her daughter, frowning at him.

"What do you mean, that's the Doctor? Doctor who?" Jackie demanded, sternly.

Katy just let out a sigh.

"Rose and I will explain more when we get into the flat." Katy reassures her mother and her best friend. "Now, c'mon. Help me get him up. He's heavier than he looks." She requests, wrapping her arms around the Doctor's middle once again and attempting to stand up. Mickey stoops down and grabs one of his legs, and Rose grabs the other one, albeit a little more reluctantly, and together they head straight for the Tyler's flat, with Jackie running on ahead to open doors.

The Tyler's Flat
Guest Bedroom

The Doctor was brought inside and taken into the guest room. Jackie retrieved a pair of men's pajamas from out of nowhere and handed them to Katy who hesitated, looking between the Doctor and the pile of clothing in her hands and back again. Mickey rolled his eyes and held out his hand for the pajamas.

"Give it here. I'll get him changed." He volunteered and both Katy and Rose looked relieved and left the room to give Mickey the privacy he needed to strip and redress the Doctor. Once it was safe to come back into the guest room, Katy and Rose came back in, seeing that Mickey had put him in the bed where the Doctor was currently sleeping. Katy pulled up a nearby chair beside the bed and reached over to grab the Doctor's hand, while Rose perched on the other side and glared at the hand holding.

Jackie suddenly comes in, carrying a stethoscope.

"Where'd you get that?" Katy asked, frowning in question at her mother.

"Tina the cleaner's got this lodger, a medical student, and she was fast asleep, so I just took it." Jackie explained, shrugging as she handed the stethoscope to Rose, who immediately puts the listening buds into her ears. "Though I still say we should take him to the hospital." Jackie insisted.

"Not a good idea." Katy immediately protests.

"They'd lock him up. They'd dissect him." Rose adds, poised to check the Doctor's hearts to see if they were still functioning.

"Besides, one drop of his blood could change the future of the human race." Katy explains, recalling this information from one of the many books the TARDIS had loaned her during their temporary reprieves from adventures. She still couldn't get over the fact that her's and the Doctor's blood had the power to do something like this. Jackie opened her mouth to say something else, but Rose levels her with a look.

"No! Shush!" Rose listens to both side of the Doctor's chest with the stethoscope, and nods in confirmation that so far everything was alright. "Both working."

"What do you mean, both?" Jackie raised an eyebrow.

"He's got two hearts." Rose explained.

"Oh, don't be stupid." Jackie snapped, disbelievingly.

"He has." Katy backed Rose up, and Jackie scoffed. But then she paused and examined the Doctor curiously.

"Anything else he's got two of?" Jackie queried, and Katy could swear that she felt the Doctor squeeze her hand and felt unexpected revulsion that certainly didn't come from her. She looked at the Doctor curiously, wondering if that emotion had come from him.

Rose bristled at her mother's words.

"Leave him alone." She suggested as she and Jackie leave the room. Jackie turns and looks at Katy questioningly.

"Are you coming?"

"Yeah, I'll be out in a moment." Katy smiles at her mother who returns the smile and leaves, shutting the door behind her. Katy turns her attention back onto the Doctor. "Was that you before, Doctor? Were you reaching out to me somehow?" The Doctor doesn't respond. Not that Katy had really expected him to, but he did squeeze her hand once again, which told her that he could at least hear her.

Sighing, Katy gets to her feet and pulls the Doctor's blankets up a little higher, trying to make him comfortable before turning to leave. What she hadn't expected nor anticipated was the Doctor to open his mouth and exhale some of the TARDIS's golden energy. "What the hell?" Katy straightened up and reached out to touch the energy with her fingers, staring at it with wonder. But instead, the golden wisps playfully danced and weaved their way around her fingers, as though recognising her somehow, before flying out of the window and up into the air.

The Tyler's Flat
Kitchen

Rose made a beeline for the kitchen, rummaging around in the fridge for something to eat. Jackie follows her, still fixated on the fact that the Doctor had somehow changed his face. Something that still bothered Rose, as she retrieved a can of Coke and shut the fridge door.

"How can he go changing his face?" She wondered. "Is that a different face or is he a different person?"

"How should I know?" Rose snapped, then realises who she was talking to and takes a moment to calm down. "Sorry. The thing is I thought I knew him, Mum." Katy comes out of the guest room and walks down the hallway to the living room. She pauses when she hears the conversation between Rose and their mother. "I thought me and him were…" Rose trails off, sounding upset, and Katy scowls when she hears Rose implying that she and the Doctor supposedly had a thing with each other. "And then he goes and does this."

'Well, Rosie. It's not as though he probably had a choice. The process is probably automatic…' Katy couldn't help but think as she continued walking towards the living room, half-listening to their conversation. "I keep forgetting he's not human." Rose continues as Katy takes a seat on the settee and makes herself comfortable as she watches what was currently on the telly. "The big question is where'd you get a pair of men's pyjamas from?" Rose was curious, and Katy had been wondering the same thing herself.

She turns and looks at the kitchen, waiting to hear what Jackie had to say about that.

"Howard's been staying over." Jackie promptly explains.

"Howard from the market?" Katy pipes up, drawing both blondes' attention. "How long's that been going on?" She asked, curiously.

"A month or so." Jackie replied, shrugging at the fact like it was no big deal. "First of all, he starts delivering to the door and I thought, that's odd. Next thing you know, it's a bag of oranges—"

"Is that Harriet Jones?" Rose interrupts coming into the living room and taking a seat on the settee also. Jackie rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Oh, never mind me." She complains, flatly. Katy gives Rose a dirty look before turning her attention to the telly, where Harriet Jones was indeed on screen, dressed very smartly in black business attire.

"Why's she on the telly?" Rose asks, surprised.

"She's Prime Minister now." Jackie explains coming over and perching on the armrest of the settee next to Katy. "I'm eighteen quid a week better off. They're calling it Britain's Golden Age." She grins happily. "I keep on saying my girls have met her."

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

"Prime Minister, what about those calling the Guinevere One Space Probe a waste of money?" A reporter asks Harriet who frowns slightly at the question. But Katy was more interested in the fact that a space probe had been sent up in the first place.

"Now, that's why you're wrong. I completely disagree if you don't mind." Harriet argued. "The Guinevere One Space Probe represents this country's limitless ambition. British workmanship sailing up there among the stars." Katy smiled at the enthusiasm on Harriet's face. She was happy for the woman she and Rose had met all those months ago. Another business attired man appears on screen.

"This is the spirit of Christmas, birth, and rejoicing, and the dawn of a new age, and that is what we're achieving fifteen million miles away. Our very own miracle." The man states proudly before the camera turns back to the news anchor.

"The unmanned probe Guinevere One is about to make its final descent. Photographs of the Martian Landscape should be received by midnight tonight." Looking disinterested, Rose merely sighs and gets to her feet disappearing down the hallway towards her bedroom.

"Where're you off to?" Jackie asks, cradling a mug of tea in her hands as she looks back at her daughter curiously. Rose shrugs.

"I'm gonna go and do some Christmas shopping with Mickey." She looks at Katy. "You coming?"

"I think I'll stay here. I haven't really slept since that bloody incident on the Game Station. Plus, I've gotta change these clothes." Katy stated, realising that she had yet to change from her Stars in their Eyes costume, due to all the mayhem. It was way too chilly for no sleeves.

"Suit yourself. I'll be back soon." Rose says to Katy and Jackie before grabbing her coat and walking out of the flat. Jackie waited until the front door closed before speaking up.

"And what is the real reason you're not going shopping with your sister?" Jackie asked, using a firm parental tone that made Katy curse underneath her breath. Damn her for her exceptional observational skills. Katy turned towards her mother, who was eyeing her sternly.

"I'm staying to watch over the Doctor." Katy replied truthfully.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that, sweetheart. I can do that for you." Jackie reassures her. "If you hurry, you can still catch up with Rose and Mickey—"

"With all due respect, Mum. I'd still rather stay here with the Doctor." Katy responded, firmly.

"Did something happen between you and Rose?" Jackie looked worried, and Katy drew in a deep breath, cursing herself for not being more guarded with her outward emotions. She smiles weakly at her mother.

"Not as such." Katy stated, hesitating a little. "I found out something about myself during my adventures, and it involves the Doctor." She explained, and Jackie's eyes widened.

"Please, don't tell me you're—"

"What! No!" Katy immediately caught on to what Jackie was suspecting and immediately corrects her. "Of course not, Mum. I promise you it's nothing like that at all. Don't worry, you're still a little too young to be a grandmother." Katy reassures Jackie who sags with relief. "No, it's something else. However, I need to get his permission to say something before I tell you." Katy states, earning a confused look from Jackie. "I promised Mickey I would tell you, but I still need his permission also." Katy said, as she took off towards her bedroom to change into something a little more comfortable for the frosty Christmas weather.

Jackie follows.

"Why do you need his permission? And how are you going to get it, he's sleeping." Jackie frowned, as she watched her daughter kick off her slightly dirty white jeans (since when she had white jeans and a white waistcoat-like top anyhow?) and pull on a pair of black fleece-lined leggings, with a brown turtle-necked skivvy top and an oversized crème woollen jumper, thick socks and her black UGG boots. Katy shoved everything into the clothes hamper to be washed later on, and made a beeline for the Doctor's bedroom, again followed by Jackie.

"Not exactly, mum." Katy explained, taking a seat on the chair beside the bed as she twisted her long brown hair up into a quick but messy bun on top of her head before grabbing the Doctor's hand. "It's a little hard to explain, but I think the gist of what I think it is, is that while the Doctor is sleeping, he can still hear us. Kinda like how a coma patient can still hear you, even if they can't open their eyes and talk."

"So he can hear exactly what we're saying right now?" Jackie looked a little bit freaked out.

"Yep." Katy answered, popping the 'p'. She looks at the Doctor's calm sleeping face, a little nervously. "Doctor, if you can hear me. Squeeze my hand." Both Jackie and Katy swivel their eyes down to the hand clenched in Katy's. Sure enough, the hand clenches a little and Katy grins with relief. "Awesome. We're in business." She focuses on him again. "I want to tell mum the truth, Doctor, about what I really am." The Doctor's hand clenches again, this time a little painfully and Katy winces. "I know it's not the ideal situation, but you've seen how Rose has been reacting lately; especially towards us."

"What do you mean how Rose has been reacting?" Jackie instantly interrupts and Katy looks over at her mother with a patient but stern scowl.

"I'm getting to that, Mum, I promise." She hastily reassures Jackie, who nods and falls silent but still looks suspicious. Katy turns her attention back to the Doctor. "If you want things to progress between us, Doctor, we need help. Do you understand?" There was no movement from the Doctor for a few minutes before eventually, he squeezes her hand again. This time a little gentler and his thumb strokes tenderly over Katy's hand. She smiles with relief. "Thank you, Doctor." Katy leans down and places a kiss on the back of his hand, and both she and Jackie could've sworn that they saw the edges of the Doctor's mouth curl up into a smile as a result.

"So what is it you need to tell me?" Jackie decided to just go with the flow, and deal with it after she'd heard everything that her (admittedly) more level-headed and reasonable daughter had to say.

"Go get us another cuppa each and maybe some chocolate digestives. You're probably gonna need something comforting to enjoy while I tell you this." Katy suggests with a weak smile as Jackie nods, looking wary and takes her cup and Katy's to the kitchen.

"But I do expect answers, young lady." Jackie stated, sternly.

Katy smirks at the irony of the label her mother had just given her.

A/N: Stay tuned for the next chapter :)