Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who. Just Ivy my o/c.
A/N: And, a third series… hmm. Didn't think I'd be doing a third, but then I got a PM with a prompt idea and here we are with Ivy Prentice. Thanks goes to Time-Twilight for the prompt, I'm rather excited to see how I go with this. If you guys would like to see the prompt that I'm using, it got tweaked from the original with Time-Twilight's permission let me know and I'll either put it up on my profile or in the next update.
Also, thanks goes to Maethoriel Artemis and Saberbladeprime for taking the time to pre-read and offering feedback as always.
And on a last note.
For anyone who's interested in my updating plans/schedule. I'm going to be working on Part 2 of the Christmas Invasion for this fic next.
Then I'm going to go back to 'The Lost Girl Chronicles' and work on 'The Evolution of the Daleks' (really, I'm sorry about the wait on that one).
Then I'll be going to 'Wanderlust Chronicles' and working on 'Aliens of London' then 'World War Three'. (I want to from now on do the double episode chapters one after the other so cliffhanger's won't be left hanging too long)
Then I'll be back with this fic with 'New Earth'.
Blimey, this is a long A/N. I hope I haven't bored you all. I just wanted to let you know just in case you were wondering. Now, I'm gonna shush, lol.
CHAPTER 1
Christmas Invasion
Part 1
It's funny. How your life can be irrevocably changed in the blink of an eye.
A bus pulled up at a street in Central London and Ivy stepped off the bus, shivering a little at the chill in the air and huddled into her grey and white windbreaker jacket a bit more as she hurried down the street, that was teeming with people.
One accident.
Ivy paused at the street lights, jabbing at the button and waited, green eyes glancing up and down the street, observing the traffic.
One phone call.
The lights changed and Ivy swiftly started across the road.
And everything that made your little world tick was abruptly gone, leaving you cast adrift with nothing to hold onto as you gasp for breath as the tidal wave of change threatens to pull you under with the current.
She reached the other side as car horns blared loudly and she turned her head, swallowing heavily at the sight of two cars, a short distance away, that had barely missed having a head on collision. The two drivers having managed to hit their breaks just in time.
The day of my parents accident... The day my parents died was one of those days. It was the first time anything so drastically and devastatingly life altering had ever happened to me.
Ivy turned away, sad troubled eyes looking down at her feet for a moment as she heard the two drivers shout frustrated expletives at each other before taking off once more, wanting to be on their way. Ivy took a steadying breath as she pulled herself out of memories that had the constant ach in her heart sharpening painfully with loss. She started down the street again, focusing on getting to her destination.
Ivy came to a stop and reached the door of the small salon she'd taken to favouring and paused at the sight of the cheery Christmas wreath that was hung on the door. Unable to ignore it like she'd been doing with all the other decorations that had been put out to celebrate the festive season. She eyed the wreath solemnly, before she blew out a low breath and reached out placing her hand against the door doing her best to brace herself against the festive cheer that would no doubt greet her when she stepped inside.
She pushed open the door and was immediately greeted by a soft gust of warm air and the cheery tones of Christmas Carols as they played from a CD player stationed in a corner on a shelf behind a counter, that was trimmed in gold tinsel.
The door to the salon swung shut behind her and her gaze went to a tall brunette, low heeled boots clacking across the linoleum.
"Merry Christmas," the woman, Lisa, if Ivy remembered her name correctly, greeted with bubbly brightness.
"Merry Christmas," Ivy murmured giving Lisa a small half-hearted smile in return for the happy grin she was giving her, "Uh," she continued, "I'm Christie's 1 o'clock. Ivy Prentice?"
"Of course," Lisa nodded and led her across the salon to one of the comfy salon chairs, "If you'd like to take a seat here. Christie will be with you in just a moment. Would you like a tea? Coffee? Hot chocolate?" Lisa asked as Ivy sat down in the indicated chair.
"No, thanks," Ivy murmured and Lisa walked away. Ivy swallowed as her eyes went to the mirror she was seated in front of, her gaze drawn to the pink of her hair and she reached up, pulling the hair-tie from it allowing the length of it to fall about her shoulders, before she all but snapped her eyes away from her reflection and reached for one of the magazines, flipping it open, focusing her attention on it instead.
"Hi Ivy," Christie greeted as she walked over, "Just getting your roots done today, right?" she asked as she came to stand behind Ivy's chair hands going to her hair.
"Yeah," Ivy nodded flipping the magazine closed as she turned her attention to the hairdresser she'd been seeing for the past three months since coming to live with her cousin Jackie Tyler, "And just a general touch up of the colour. It's faded a little," she fingered the ends of her pink hair, "And a trim, please," she reiterated what she'd stated over the phone when she'd booked herself in for the appointment, and in the next couple of moments Christie's hands where in her hair and Ivy relaxed back into the chair, avoiding looking at her reflection as much as possible, more listening to her hairdressers casual cheerful chatter than actually verbally contributing to the conversation as Christie set about working her magic on her hair.
The second time my life changed so irrevocably, it was just as merciless and unapologetic in its abruptness.
Ivy let herself back into the Tyler flat, casting her eyes about it as she made her way through the entryway, her eyes sweeping over the Christmas decorations that where decorating the living room along with the white Christmas tree as she made her way through it and into the kitchen where she could hear Jackie puttering about. The older woman turned at Ivy's entrance, "Oh, that hair," she sighed.
"What's wrong with pink?" Ivy asked a little bit defensively as Jackie turned back to the kitchen bench with a shake of her head.
"Nothing, love," Jackie replied, flicking on the kettle, before she moved to open a cupboard grabbing out a couple of mugs as Ivy sat at the table, "I just," she sighed out a low quiet breath, "I just miss seeing your natural hair colour is all," she missed seeing a lot of things in regards to her cousins only child. Her great big beaming smiles for one... her earnest and joyous laughter for another. She hadn't seen or heard much of either since her cousin Malcom and his wife Gale had so suddenly and tragically died.
Ivy swallowed heavily, "I like the pink," she muttered and fiddled with the end of a lock of her hair, looking down at the redone pink, because truthfully she missed her natural colour too, but the pink… the pink made looking in the mirror a little easier. It gave her something to focus on other than the green of her eyes that she'd gotten from her dad, and from her nose that was similar to her mum's… from the dimples she got when she cracked even a small smile. Something else that she'd inherited from her mum. Her features these days… all she could see was her parents in them, and it hurt. It just hurt… some days worse than others. She missed them… missed them more than ever right now… it was Christmas in a couple of days. She swallowed heavily again, feeling tears prick hotly at the backs of her eyes. Her first Christmas without them…
She felt a gentle comforting hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Jackie staring at her with understanding eyes. Ivy reached up and placed her hand over hers, giving it a grateful squeeze, her cheek dimpling as her lips quirked up into a small half smile, the best she could muster at that moment, "I'll be alright," she murmured.
"Course you will be," Jackie nodded, giving Ivy's shoulder another squeeze before she moved back over to the counter as the kettle flicked off, "Prentice women are tough as nails," she stated as she started pouring the boiled water into the mugs she'd prepared.
"And Tyler women," Ivy murmured smiling a little wider at Jackie's back as the older woman bustled about as she made them tea. Her expression fell however, turning solemn again as she turned her gaze away from Jackie, eyes landing on the living room that was chockfull of Christmas cheer and blew out a low breath.
"That goes without saying," Jackie agreed, before turning the two mugs in hand and paused briefly, taking in Ivy's expression, "We can take 'em down," she offered as she started towards her young cousin, drawing her attention.
Ivy shook her head as she accepted the steaming mug of tea from Jackie, "It's Christmas, they should be up. Besides," she continued as Jackie sat down at the table with her, "If Rose does manage to make it home from uh…" she hesitated, "Wherever she is…"
"You still don't believe me do you?" Jackie huffed as she rested her elbows against the table tea mug suspended in the air as she held it between her hands.
"What, about the alien called the Doctor and his strange bigger on the inside blue box that travels through time and space?" Ivy questioned as she eyed Jackie, fingers tapping about her hot mug of tea.
"You believed me about the aliens in Downing Street!" Jackie complained, leaning back against her chair.
"I saw that spaceship crash into Big Ben though," Ivy retorted, before she sighed, her eyes going down to the contents of her mug, "It's not that I don't believe you. You and Mickey were very convincing," she murmured looking up from her mug, "It's just… if he really does have a Time Machine. Why hasn't he brought her home yet?"
Jackie shook her head and looked down, "I don't know," she murmured, her brow furrowing as she stared down at her mug that she was now resting on her lap.
"I'm sure she's fine, though," Ivy added taking in her cousins worried expression and Jackie looked up with a nod.
"Of course she's fine!" she stated adamantly , "I know she is. She'll be home any minute with a smile…" Jackie sighed and took a sip of her tea, "I just – I swear, if that man is 12months late again. I'll slap him so hard this time he'll be seeing more than just those stars of his," she vowed… she didn't think she could take another 12months of not knowing… not truly knowing. Not seeing living proof that her daughter was alive.
Ivy set down her tea and got up, stooping slightly so that she could hug Jackie as she sat in her chair, "I'm sure Rose will be home soon," she murmured.
"Yeah," Jackie sighed, "Just do me a favour and keep an ear out for any weird sort of wheezing," and Ivy blinked, a small burst of laughter escaping her as Jackie attempted to imitate the sound she meant.
"I'll keep both ears pricked for any 'weird sort of wheezing'," Ivy promised, hugging Jackie tighter for a moment, before the phone was ringing and Jackie was up out of her seat, heading towards the phone.
Ivy picked up her tea and headed out of the kitchen, picking up the book she was in the middle of reading on her way through the living room. Jackie's voice following her through to the entryway as the older woman spoke to the person on the other end of the line. She quietly closed the front door of the flat behind her before she started away from the door, heading for the stairs that'd take her up to the roof of the Powell Estate. Where a concerned Jackie would find her an hour or so later when she came looking for the younger woman after she'd gotten off the phone to Howard, the bloke she'd started seeing.
*O*O*O*
"Do I need to get my sexy ass up there?" Jay-Jay asked Ivy as she shuffled about her room in fluffy warm flannel jim-jams, her phone against her ear.
"No," Ivy replied quickly as she tossed the red shirt she'd been wearing under her windbreaker earlier that day into her laundry hamper.
"Ivy Prentice."
"Your fine sexy diva ass can stay where it is," Ivy assured as she sank down on the edge of the bed that had become hers since moving into the Tyler flat, "I'm doing ok, considering," she added,
"Really."
"Ok," Jay-Jay murmured, "You just say the word though and my butt is on your doorstep. It'd only take me two hours," Ivy made a low scoffing sound, "Alright two hours if I'm flooring the gas pedal and you can bet your sweet little butt, that I'd be speeding."
"Don't you dare!" Ivy snapped and silence came from the other end. She took a calming breath before speaking again, "No speeding, Jay. Not ever…"
"Sorry," Jay-Jay apologised, his usually flamboyant voice softening with his sincerity, "I'd drive like an old grandma and be there in five hours."
"I know you would," Ivy murmured, "But I'm alright, honestly," she assured again, "And I've got Jackie here. She's not my best friend mind, but she's awesome. And," Ivy swallowed fingers toying with a long slender silver chain that was about her neck, "It's Christmas, you should spend it with your family."
"Alright," Jay-Jay agreed after a short silence, "If you're sure, Ivy."
"I'm sure," Ivy replied, before hearing the sound of a woman's voice shouting for Jay in the background.
"Ah, gotta go," Jay-Jay murmured, "I promised mum I'd help her out in the kitchen tonight."
"You better get to it before she slaps ya over the head, then," Ivy murmured lips quirking up slightly as she heard Jay-Jay mutter something unintelligible under his breath, "Say hi to them for me."
"Yeah, will do," Jay-Jay replied, "And, call me if you need me, for anything," he ordered and Ivy could just seem him pointing a finger like he could actually see her.
"Promise," she sighed, before she heard more shouting for Jay-Jay coming from the other end of the line, "Now, go help your mum like you promised," she ordered lightly, "She needs your mad culinary skills."
"More like she needs someone to do the hard stuff to save her manicure… but what about my manicure, Ivy? What about my manicure?" Jay-Jay mock pouted and Ivy let out a small amused laugh, "Chow for now."
"Chow for now," Ivy echoed before hanging up the phone and sighing out a heavy breath and dropping it down onto her nightstand, before she shifted up further onto the bed leaning against her pillow and the headboard of the bed and sliding under the covers. She sat like that for a moment, fingers toying with the thin silver chain of her necklace again before she tugged it out from under her jammy shirt and cupped the small oval locket in the palm of her hand. She dug her nails into the seam and got it open, swallowing heavily as she took in the two small pictures hidden inside, she brushed her fingers over the beloved faces of her parents as they smiled up at her, "I miss you," she murmured quietly before she clicked the locket closed again. She lifted it up and over her head, setting it down on the nightstand with far more care than she had her phone, before she reached for the lamp switching it off, plunging the room into darkness and got herself comfortable under the warmth of her covers.
It was the day my second cousin, Rose Tyler, came home in the wake of a big blue box that came crashing out of the sky on Christmas Eve.
A strange man collapsed at our feet…
*O*O*O*
Ivy sat outside on the roof of the Powell Estate, the book she was trying to read open on her lap as she leant her back against the wall. The 20 year old having felt the need to retreat from all the Christmas cheer of the Tyler living room, just for a little while… she'd been hoping to distract herself and just forget that it was Christmas… just for a little while. She'd thought the book she was trying to read would help, but...
She grimaced slightly, it wasn't a bad book, she actually found it enjoyable… she was just struggling to focus enough on it to actually read. Her thoughts kept intruding, distracting her, dragging her focus back to things she was trying not to think about.
A light gusting breeze had her splaying one hand against the pages of her book to keep from losing her place whilst the other went to her hair, tucking some of the strands back behind her ear as the wind blew them across her face.
The sudden breeze quieted again and she sighed out a low breath. Her eyes closing as she leant her head back against the wall, the fingers that had been tucking her hair behind her ear lowering to her collarbone, toying with the slender sliver chain of her necklace instead, before it slid down further, hand clasping about the locket that was hidden under her shirt and jacket.
She released the locket and opened her eyes. Her gaze going back down to the book and she blew out another breath, before snapping it shut, giving up on trying to read. It wasn't working and Jackie would no doubt come looking for her soon. The older woman worried about how she was coping and Ivy couldn't blame her. She hadn't been the cheeriest of housemates on the build up to Christmas… she just couldn't help wishing that things were different. That her parents hadn't gotten into an accident. That they'd lived.
She sighed again and slowly shifted, getting back up to her feet. There was no point wishing for what wasn't mean to be as her dad used to say. And she'd always agreed, there wasn't any point. It couldn't be changed. It had happened and she had to live with it. Live with the pain of their loss and the sense of guilt… the illogical little sense of guilt that plagued her. Nagged at her. Made her blame herself.
So many regrets…
Ivy shook her head trying to shake the detrimental thoughts away as she scowled at herself, hand tightened about the book she was holding, "I hate Christmas," she muttered under her breath as she turned for the door, starting towards it. Only to pause as she suddenly heard a strange sound… a strange type of wheezing. She turned away from the door her eyes darting about… searching for the source of the noise. She looked up, eyes widening and mouth dropping open in shock as a big blue box appeared in the sky out of thin air, careening haphazardly through the air, hitting a block of flats and bouncing off, spinning back through the air. Ivy dropped her book thoughtlessly as she raced back across the roof bracing her hands against the ledge, leaning over it a bit to keep watching the blue box as it hit into another building that sent it careening in another direction and out of her line of sight, "Oh my God…" she breathed with shock and awe, "It's real…" she gasped, "It's really real…" she murmured… she'd known Jackie hadn't been lying but… "Oh, my God… Rose!" she turned and ran towards the door of the roof, fumbling with it, her hands trembling slightly. A wide grin on her face, not sure in that moment if she was more shocked or excited. She managed to get the door open in the next moment and all but dash out of it swiftly making her way down…
*O*O*O*
Meanwhile, the Doctor was stumbling out of the Tardis, his brow furrowed slightly and mouth hanging open a bit confused as he glanced around the familiar street just outside the Powell Estate where the Tyler's had a flat. He'd done it. He eyed the building in front of him. This was the Powell Estate and… it was the 24th of December, he was certain of it… but something was off… no not off just… oh, he couldn't think! He couldn't focus! There was something… something… He… he frowned deeper trying to place what he was sensing. His gaze landed on two familiar humans standing a short distance away gawping at him with confusion and he grinned, wildly spiralling mind diverted for the moment at the sight of them, "Jackie! Mickey! Blimey!" he frowned again, eyes staring at a point past them as that feeling niggled at him again. A feeling that had his hearts beating oddly about in his chest… "No, no, no, no…" he stumbled back a couple of steps, "There's something…" he frowned harder trying to place it. Trying to think, "What is it…?" he mumbled and sniffed heavily at the air, trying to scent it out, scent out the difference, "What is it…" there was something… something… a change, a… "That's it!" his gaze focused back on the two stood in front of him and pointed a finger at them, "There's something different here!" he hesitated as he eyed Jackie and Mickey's rather flummoxed expressions, "Is there something different here?"
Jackie quirked her brows quizzically at the man she'd never seen before in her life, rather perplexed by him, "No, nothin'. Except you mate."
"Oh…" the Doctor mumbled, a bit crestfallen. He could've sworn that there was something different a sort of change in the air and then he blinked rapidly, the chaotic spiralling mess of his mind abruptly shifting tracks, "Hold on!" he pointed a finger at them again, "Wait there!" he ordered, "There was something… something else… something I had to say. Something I had to tell you, something important. What was it?!" he frowned at them thinking hard on it trying to recall exactly what it was he needed to say, "No, hold on, hold on…" he stumbled back towards them hands coming up to rest on their shoulders, "Hold on. No, hold on, hold on. Shush, shush, shush," he urged them, he almost had it, almost… "Oh!" he exclaimed making the two he had by the shoulders jump slightly, "I know!" he grinned at them brightly, "Merry Christmas!" he exclaimed before he collapsed forward, falling to the ground unconscious. A second before the sound of someone running came from behind Mickey and Jackie and the pair looked up from the strange collapsed man to see who it was, eyes landing on Ivy as she dashed into view.
"It's real!" she panted as she came up beside them, staring at the big blue box, "It's really real!"
"Told you," Jackie said, a bit smug.
"I know!" Ivy nodded glancing at Jackie, "And I believed you…" she turned her eyes back to the big blue police box, "But, it's real!" she exclaimed, before she took note of the man collapsed on the ground at their feet, "Oh," she crouched down by him, frowning with concern, fingers reaching for the pulse in his throat, "Who's he?"
"No clue," Jackie shook her head, staring down at the collapsed man with some concern again, "Some nutter," she muttered, a second before the Tardis door creaked open again and Rose stepped out.
The blonde's eyes landed on her mum and Mickey and then went lower, and blinked at the woman with pink hair in confusion for second before she looked up and her eyes widened in a bit of surprise and recognition, "Ivy?"
"Hi, Rose," Ivy murmured.
Rose shook off her questions and her shock as her eyes went to the Doctor whom Ivy was crouched beside, "What happened?" she asked moving towards them, "Is he alright?"
"I dunno," Mickey shook his head, "He just sort of keeled over," he stated.
"Well, he's got a pulse," Ivy murmured and Rose nodded, staring down at him with troubled eyes, teeth sinking into her lower lip as relief crashed with guilt inside of her at the sight of him collapsed on the street.
"But, who is he?" Mickey questioned glancing back at the Tardis expecting the man to step out any second, "Where's the Doctor?"
"That's him," Rose muttered nodding down at his collapsed form, "Right in front of you. That's the Doctor."
"What do you mean, that's the Doctor?" Jackie questioned with confusion, flicking her eyes down to the unconscious man, "Doctor who?"
"I mean, that's him!" Rose gestured at the man with her hand, frowning, not exactly completely certain herself that it truly was, no matter what he had said, what proof he'd given… she swallowed he was just so different so… not him.
Ivy blinked down at him, really taking in his features for the first time with a curious gaze, "He looks different to what you told me," she murmured.
Rose frowned at her cousin before turning accusing, confused eyes up to her mum and Mickey, "You told her?!"
"Well, it's not like I had much of a choice," Jackie huffed a bit defensively at the accusation in her daughter's tone and eyes.
"She's a bit of a horrid liar," Ivy murmured looking up from the man to look at Rose.
"I am not," Jackie huffed, her arms crossing over her chest.
Rose glanced from Ivy to her mum and back again a bit confused, not understanding why it had even come up… her mum wasn't that bad of a liar. She forced herself to shake it off in the next instant her eyes going back to the Doctor, she could figure it out later, "Just…" she took a breath, swallowing as she stared with troubled eyes at the Doctor's unconscious form, "Just help me get him inside," she muttered.
Ivy nodded, immediately shifting to help the blond get the man up off the ground. Mickey shifting to help as well.
*O*O*O*
Rose swallowed as she tore her eyes away from the Doctor's prone form as he lay in the bed in a set of striped pyjamas her mum had seemingly pulled out of nowhere, to glance at Ivy as she stood with her in the doorway to the Tyler flats spare bedroom, "So," she broke the silence between them, "Why are you here?" she questioned.
Ivy shrugged, eyes going from the prone unconscious form of the Doctor to look at Rose, "It's Christmas," she murmured a bit evasively.
"Right," Rose nodded looking away again, eyes going helplessly to the man in the bed who claimed to be the Doctor, "Of course. Right," she'd sort of forgot that that was what he'd said, that he was taking her home to Christmas. And, she'd completely spaced on the decorations they'd passed on the way through the flat. She'd been a bit distracted trying to get him into the corridor and into the closest bedroom. She stepped out of the doorway, moving towards the bed staring at the man's face as she slowly sat herself down on the edge of the bed, desperately trying to see the Doctor in his face.
"And," Ivy swallowed, shifting a bit uncomfortably, her tongue flicking out past her lips, wetting them as she stared at her cousin, forcing herself to continue, anticipating the questions the blond would have, "I live here."
Rose stiffened with surprise and her head whipped around to look at Ivy, frowning heavily with confusion, "What?! Why?" she questioned.
Ivy glanced away from her, casting her eyes down to the carpet beneath her feet, trying to get herself to speak. To answer the questions, but the words that she needed where sticking in her throat as it tightened.
Rose stared at her for a moment longer taking in her downcast expression with continued confusion, the silence stretching between them, before she looked away again eyes going over the room taking in what she hadn't noticed before. The lived in look to it. The stuff strewn about it, and not in the a travel bag tucked in the corner kind of way, but the more permanent resident sort, "Oh…"she muttered shifting a bit in her perch on the edge of the bed, her eyes going back to the Doctor, who was tucked cosily into what she now realised was her cousins bed, "That's just brilliant," she groused lowly, unable to help but not like the idea. As much as she knew that it didn't really matter that he was… she couldn't help the feeling though.
Ivy swallowed heavily, and shifted in the doorway uncomfortably again, not missing her cousins tone, but before she could get any sort of reply past her still tight throat, Jackie was stepping past her and into the room she'd so graciously given to her.
"Here we go," Jackie said, holding out the pink stethoscope she had clutched in her hand to Rose who took it from her, "Tina the cleaner's got this lodger, a medical student, and she was fast asleep, so I just took it," she continued as Rose started to place the ends of it into her ears, "Though, I still say we should take him to the hospital."
"We can't," Rose huffed taking the pieces out of her ears again, shooting her mum a mildly irritated look, "They'd lock him up. They'd dissect him. One bottle of his blood could change the future of the human race," Jackie opened her mouth, "No!" Rose cut in before her mum could say another word, "Shush!" she ordered and Jackie shut her mouth whilst Ivy sighed out a breath as she eyed the younger blond as she turned away again as she stuck the ends of the stethoscope back into her ears, before putting the rounded end against the Doctor's chest, listening first to one side and then shifting it so that she could listen to the other.
"Both working," Rose sighed with relief a brief moment later.
Ivy quirked her brows curiously at her cousin, "Both?"
"Well, he's got two hearts?" Rose replied with a bit of a shrug as she took the ends of the stethoscope out of her ears and set it down on the nightstand.
"Oh, don't be stupid," Jackie scoffed.
"He has!" Rose insisted as she got up and started for the door.
"Anything else he's got two of?" Jackie asked, unable to help herself.
The question made Rose pause just before the doorway and she turned back to her mum, "Leave him alone," she demanded before brushing past her cousin as she stalked out of the bedroom. Jackie stared at the Doctor a moment, before she sighed and turned to the door starting from the room, touching Ivy's arm gently as she passed her giving it a bit of a comforting squeeze before stepping from the room completely.
Ivy turned her head looking after Jackie's retreating form for a brief moment, before she turned away again. Her eyes returning to the Doctor as she stepped into her room as she lingered, wanting to give Jackie and Rose some time together. It had been a long three months of wondering and hoping for Jackie.
Her eyes widened as the Doctor's lips parted and he exhaled and wisping golden energy escaped curling through the air. She blinked, eyeing it as it wended through the air towards her. She lifted a hand as it started a circuit about her head and attempted to wave it away only for it to sort of skitter and dance almost playfully about her hand before wending its way towards her open bedroom window, escaping out it.
Ivy walked over to the window, poking her head out of it, tracking the wisping golden light as it floated through the air with a perplexed gaze, until it had floated out of sight, "Well," she murmured as she turned from the window, leaning against the frame, her eyes going back to the Doctor's unconscious form, "If I wasn't sure you were an alien before," she continued a bit musingly, "I am now."
*O*O*O*
"How can he go changing his face?" Jackie asked as she entered the kitchen where Rose was investigating the fridge in an effort to distract herself, "Is that a different face or is he a different person?"
"How should I know?!" Rose retorted sharply almost slamming the fridge door shut as she turned to face her mum. She paused, "Sorry," she murmured guiltily. She hadn't meant to snap. Jackie nodded her acceptance and Rose took a shaky breath, "Thing is… I thought I knew him, mum," she murmured, voice trembling as her eyes filled with tears, "I thought me and him were… and then he goes and does this," she wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand, sniffling, "I keep forgetting he's not human," she let out a shaking breath and took her mum's hand and tried to lighten her tone, "The big question is… where'd you get a pair of men's pyjamas?"
"Howard's been staying over," Jackie replied as she moved a couple of steps away from Rose.
"What," Rose blinked, "Howard from the market?" Jackie nodded eyeing Rose a bit cautiously, "How long's that been going on?"
"A month or so," Jackie replied, "First of all, he starts delivering to the door and I thought, 'that's a bit odd'. Next thing you know it's a bag of oranges…"
"Ivy said she's living here," Rose cut in, not wanting to hear about how Howard had wooed his way into her mum's life.
"She is, yeah," Jackie murmured, taking a seat at the kitchen table as Rose eyed her with a quizzically furrowed brow.
"Why? Last I heard she had a nice little house…" Rose trailed at the look on her mum's face, "Mum, what is it?"
"Her parents, Rose," Jackie murmured softly, eyeing her daughter with a solemn gaze as she stilled at her mum's tone, "They died."
Rose swallowed heavily, her eyes widening with shock and sadness, her cousins Malcom and Gale they were… "Died?" she asked carefully.
Jackie nodded, "It was about a week after you left again, to save the Doctor. Just out of nowhere, an accident…" she trailed with a low solemn sigh, toying with the sleeve of her jacket as she recalled memories of just after the accident, the look on Ivy's face in the hospital, "And, I didn't want her staying on her own…" she trailed again.
Rose sat down heavily in a chair at the table, feeling her eyes pricking again with tears, recalling her cousins downcast expression in the bedroom with a heavy heart. She glanced at her mum after another moment of silence had passed between them, "Is that why you told her? About the Doctor, I mean?"
"Reasons, had nothing to do with it," Jackie sighed, eyes returning to her daughter, "She figured out I was lying about something fairly early on."
"How…?" Rose began and Jackie shot her a mildly irritated look for her persistence, honestly what did it matter if she had? "I just mean, you're not that bad of a liar…"
"She has the same tell as dad does…" Ivy grimaced, pained at her slip, "Did," she corrected lowly as Rose and Jackie's head whipped about to look at her from where she was standing in the doorway, "The uncomfortable sort of," she moved into the kitchen, moving towards the fridge, "Scratchy eyebrow thing…"
"I do not," Jackie protested.
Rose blinked, "Actually you kind of do," she made a scratching her eyebrow motion, "Well, sometimes," she murmured uncomfortably her eyes going back to her cousin who was studiously not looking at them as she opened the fridge and peered at what was inside. Rose opened her mouth wanting to say something to her… to tell her how sorry she was… but the words wouldn't come in that moment as she eyed the stiff posture of Ivy's shoulders and the stiff way she moved as she closed the fridge as empty handed as she had been. Then sound, a voice coming from the living room reached her ears and she turned her head, "Is that Harriet Jones?!" she queried, getting up and starting from the kitchen.
Ivy let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding, her posture loosening slightly as she glanced back to see Jackie following Rose out of the kitchen, before she turned herself starting for the doorway with slower steps, no longer recalling why she'd wanted to come into the kitchen in the first place.
"Why's she on the telly?" Rose was asking as Ivy came out of the kitchen, the blonde's eyes glued to the screen.
"She's Prime Minister now. I'm eighteen quid a week better off," Jackie stated and Rose couldn't help but smile incredulously, "They're calling it 'Britain's Golden Age'. I keep saying 'my Rose has met her'."
"Did more than that. Stopped World War Three with her," Rose murmured, still with a bit of a smile as she watched the telly, "Harriet Jones…"
"That was the Slitheen, right?" Ivy commented as she came up on Rose's other side.
Rose glanced at her, before glancing at her mum, "Was there anything you didn't tell her?" she attempted to chid jokingly.
"She talks about you a lot," Ivy shrugged trying to make the action light-hearted whilst Jackie shrugged herself not at all ashamed of the fact that she talked about her daughter so often… she was proud of her, "You're her all-time favourite subject, ya know," she murmured in an attempt at teasing, though just like Rose, she wasn't sure it quite reached the mark. Though, the two did exchange a tiny smile as they glanced at each other, before their eyes returned to the telly as a man addressed Harriet Jones.
"Prime Minister, what about those calling the Guinevere One Space Probe a waste of money?" he questioned.
"Now, that's where you're wrong. I completely disagree if you don't mind," Harriet responded and Rose let out a small laugh, "The Guinevere One Space Probe represents this country's limitless ambition. British workmanship sailing up there among the stars."
"This is the spirit of Christmas," Llewellyn spoke up, "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," he stated before the image on the telly cut away to a computerised image of the probe as it soared up into space, zooming away from the Earth.
"The unmanned Probe Guinevere One is about to make its final descent," a news reporter stated, "Photographs of the Martian Landscape should be received by midnight tonight."
*O*O*O*
Ivy walked across the roof of the Powell Estate, the sun starting to set. She came to a stop by the book she'd dropped earlier in her shock at seeing the big blue box falling out of the sky and bent picking it up. She turned it over in her hands, opening it at the pages that had been creased in the landing. She flattened them out with her palm, frowning slightly as she smoothed her hand over them again and again, straightening them out in an attempt to undo as much of the damage done to the pages as possible.
Behind her the door to the roof opened again and Rose stepped out onto the roof, her eyes immediately finding Ivy, "There you are," she called and Ivy looked up, eyes going to her cousin and she closed the book, "You hiding up here?" Rose asked as she moved towards her.
"Not really," Ivy replied, "Just taking a break from all the… Christmas," she finished in a low mutter, gaze going down to the book in her hands.
Rose blinked a bit quizzically, "You used to love Christmas…"
Ivy nodded, she did, or she had… "Yeah – just, not this year," she murmured.
Rose's eyes widened in realisation and she nodded quickly, shifting uncomfortably, that had been stupid, she berated herself, of course she wouldn't be… "Right, sorry," she murmured, "And," she focused on Ivy again, hand reaching for her cousins and squeezing, she still couldn't quite completely wrap her head around the fact that Malcom and Gale where gone, when a day ago for her, they'd been alive and well and yet they'd been dead for three months… three whole months and she hadn't known, couldn't have as it had only been a day and yet it hadn't been… God, the Tardis and time travel could be confusing, "I'm sorry."
Ivy squeezed back, after a brief moment, swallowing heavily against the lump that had lodged in her throat, "Yeah. Me too," she slipped her hand from her cousins and cleared her throat, trying to dislodge the lump, "Um, where you looking for me for any reason in particular? Or did Jackie send you?"
Rose's lips quirked up slightly at that, "Mum been mother hen-ing you?"
Ivy shrugged slightly, "A little… or a lot," she admitted with another shrug.
"That's mum," Rose murmured her small smile turning fond, before she focused on Ivy again, "Mickey's coming over soon. We're headed out… Christmas shopping," Ivy gave a small nod, "I was going to ask if you wanted to come but..." Rose trailed, if her cousin was trying to take a bit of a break from Christmas. She doubted that she'd want to.
"Thanks," Ivy murmured, "But, no. No, thanks…" and Rose nodded, the slightest bit disappointed it had been ages since she'd really spent any time with Ivy, "Besides ," Ivy continued with a lighter tone, "I'm sure Mickey would like some time with just you and him," she murmured, before she eyed her cousins not exactly thrilled expression, "You did want to spend some time with Mickey, yeah?" it had been pretty much been three whole months… and Mickey was her boyfriend... or, he was supposed to be…
"Yeah. Yeah," Rose agreed, nodding quickly, before she smiled a little again. It would be nice to spend time with Mickey. Just Mickey. Normal, completely human, Mickey, "I'm just worried, you know. The Doctor, he's…"
Ivy nodded, still eyeing her cousins expression, "I can keep an eye on him… you know, whilst you're out with Mickey."
Rose swallowed heavily, hesitating only briefly, "Would you?"
Ivy nodded, "Yeah…" and gave her a smile, "Gladly," she assured, "It's the least Christmas-y room in the house, so…" she shrugged.
"Ah, an excuse," Rose nodded sagely, before she let out a small laugh, before sobering, "Thanks, Ivy."
Ivy nodded, before hesitating briefly, "I'm sure he'll wake up, Rose," she murmured, taking her cousins hand again and giving it a squeeze as Rose sniffled, tears welling again, "From what I've heard. He's a bit of a miracle worker."
"Yeah," Rose nodded wiping at her eyes with her free hand as she squeezed Ivy's hand back with the other, lips quirking up fondly in remembrance, "He is," her expression fell again, "Or he used to be. The old him. This new him…" she shook her head, "I just dunno…" she slipped her hand from her cousins and turned starting back across the roof towards the door, shoulders slumped with the weight of her concern and guilt. She'd done this. She couldn't really remember how… but she knew it was because of her. He'd had to go and change because of what she'd done and now. Now, he wasn't him anymore.
Ivy stared after Rose a moment, before she turned her head staring up into the rapidly darkening sky, stars beginning to twinkle faintly above them. She lingered on the roof another moment, before she turned and started for the door herself, heading back down the Estate to the Tyler flat.
*O*O*O*
Ivy stepped into her bedroom, her eyes going to the Doctor who looked like he hadn't so much as shifted position on her bed. She walked over to him, eyeing him a brief moment before she reached for the stethoscope that had been left on her nightstand. Her promise to Rose to keep an eye on him in mind as she put the ends in her ears, before stooping over him, lightly pressing the rounded bit to his chest. Listening to the beating of his heart, along with an odd sort of echo, coming from the other side of his chest. She shifted the rounded bit to the other side of his chest and listened again, hearing the second heart along with the echo of the first she'd listened to. She blinked, brows quirking, he really did have two! And, both were beating. She took the stethoscope from her ears and placed it back down on the nightstand, before returning her concerned gaze to his prone form. He had been out for a long while now.
Slowly, she reached out a hand, gently touching the backs of her fingers to his forehead to check his temperature. He shifted slightly, his head turning into her touch and Ivy lifted her hand away watching him intently for any further signs of movement, "Um, Doctor?" she tried, he remained still and Ivy breathed a low disappointed breath, chalking the movement down to an instinctual reaction to a soft touch. She supposed, it was understandable, who didn't want a comforting touch when they were sick and… he did seem rather sick. If that was even the proper word for what was wrong with him. She reached out again, fingers brushing his forehead again, hoping to offer some comfort to him. She always hated being sick, especially being really sick and alone. She'd always used to find herself at her parent's house and snuggled up in her childhood bedroom if she got really ill… just not wanting to feel all miserable and alone. She turned her mind from the thought, swallowing heavily as that feeling of loss threatened to rise up and choke her, fingers still gently brushing over his temple and forehead, copying the movements her mum used to do. The feeling one that used to always bring her comfort, no matter what age she was.
"How is he?" Jackie asked from the doorway and Ivy jerked her hand away a bit startled as she turned her head to look at the older woman.
"Doesn't seem to be any change," Ivy murmured softly with a shake of her head, before turning from the bed to face Jackie completely.
"Figures," Jackie sighed lowly, eyeing the unconscious form on the bed. He hadn't looked any improved, but at least he didn't look any worse either. That was something. She stepped further into the room and held out the steaming mug in her hands, "Here."
"Thanks," Ivy murmured accepting the mug, not needing to look to know that it was a cup of tea.
Jackie nodded, "You sure you… oh, that's the door," she murmured, diverted from what she was going to say as she turned and walked from the room to see just who was at the door on Christmas Eve.
Ivy glanced down at the mug in her hands before setting it down on the nightstand by the stethoscope. She moved over to a chair, picked it up walking it over to the bed and setting it down by it.
Ivy settled herself on the chair, getting comfortable, before she picked up the mug again and took a sip of the hot liquid. If only to busy herself with something as she eyed the rather human looking alien on the bed as his chest continued to rise and fall with his steady breathing.
*O*O*O*
"So, er, what do you need?" Mickey asked as he and Rose strolled down the street that was crowded with last minute shoppers, "Twenty quid?" he offered, pulling a note out of his wallet and holding it out to her.
"Do you mind?" Rose asked as she accepted the note from him, "I'll pay you back," she assured him, tucking it away.
Mickey shrugged, "Call it a Christmas present."
Rose shook her head, "God, I'm all out of synch," she muttered, it honestly didn't feel like Christmas to her. Christmas was supposed to be months off still, "You just forget about Christmas and things in the Tardis," she sighed, "They don't exist. You get sort of timeless," she explained.
"Oh yeah. That's fascinating, because I love hearing stories about the Tardis," Mickey muttered with sarcasm, "Oh, go on Rose, tell us another one because I swear I could listen to it all day. Tardis this, Tardis that…"
"Shut up!" Rose huffed with very little heat, her lips quirking up into a small smile as she eyed Mickey.
"Oh!" Mickey carried on with a bit of sarcasm, "And one time the Tardis landed in a biiig yellow garden full of balloons."
"I'm not like that!" Rose exclaimed.
"Oh, you so are," Mickey retorted.
"Mmmm," Rose hummed, eyeing him, "Must drive you mad. I'm surprised you don't give up on me," she murmured.
"Oh, that's the thing, isn't it?" Mickey responded offering her a smile, "You can rely on me. I don't go changing my face."
Rose smiled again, this time the action coming easier. "Yeah," she agreed, she could rely on Mickey to always be Mickey. He'd just always be… him, no sudden surprises, no face changes… no… no… weird alien stuff just Mickey… Rose's thoughts stuttered as another thought hit her one that had her heart freezing in her chest uncomfortably, "What if he's dying?" she asked, God, what if he really was and she was out here. With Mickey… not, not by his side where she should be… but she couldn't… because he wasn't really him anymore. He was someone else… and it hurt to look at him and not see that man she'd known.
"Ok…" Mickey sighed as he stopped in his tracks just staring at her.
Rose paused and turned to look at him, gazing at him with guilty apologetic eyes as she met his quiet disappointed ones, "Sorry!"
"Just let it be Christmas," Mickey urged her as he took her hands in his own, "Can you do that? Just for a bit," he pleaded, "You and me, and Christmas. No… no Doctor, no… no bog monsters… no life or death."
Rose took a breath, "Ok," she nodded.
"Promise?"
"Yes!" Rose smiled.
"Right!" Mickey beamed a delighted grin and they started walking around the market again.
"So…" Rose began casting about for something to say. Something that wasn't the Doctor, even as her mind lingered on him, worried, "How long has Ivy been dying her hair pink?" she asked the first thing that popped into her head.
"Uh," Mickey frowned thinking back, "She started a couple of days after she started living with your mum. Came home after being down the street with pink hair and a new haircut. Thought your mum was gonna flip, but she was just quiet for a couple of moments and then went over and gave her biig hug," he wrapped an arm around Rose's shoulders and squeezed, before glancing at her with a quirked brow, "Why?"
"Dunno," Rose shrugged, "It's not the Doctor…" she murmured and Mickey smiled again nodding, just really grateful that she was trying even if she was talking about hair, "I didn't recognise her for a moment there."
Mickey nodded, "I think that's the point."
"Oh…" Rose mumbled, turning her eyes from him to look ahead her brow slightly furrowed as she took that in.
There was a beat of silence between them before Mickey spoke again, "What're you going to get your mum?"
"Oh, um…" Rose mumbled distracted as her gaze caught on the brass band, dressed up as Santas complete with mask that hid their faces, a brass band that they'd walked past a little earlier, and frowned again this time with suspicion. She could have sworn they were further down... where they following them?
"I'm around there all the time now, you know," Mickey continued to chat, eager to fill her in on his life whilst he had her to himself, promise and all. "She does my dinner on a Sunday, talks about you all afternoon, yap, yap, yap, yap, yap…"
Rose nodded, still distracted as she glanced at the brass band again… they were… they were following them. The Santas as if realising they'd been caught stopped playing… and then blue flames shot out of the ends of the bands instruments and pandemonium ensued as the Christmas crowds in the market place panicked…
"It's us! They're after us!" Rose cried as she and Mickey fled as the Santas continued to fire flames from their instruments, one hitting an enormous Christmas tree, sending it crashing to the ground, right on top of one of the Santas, knocking it's mask off in the process…
*O*O*O*
Ivy paused on her way to the kitchen as her eyes fell on the Christmas tree… the green Christmas tree that was situated in the living room. They'd had a white one when she'd last come through the living room, "Jackie… where'd the tree come from?" she asked, starting for the kitchen where she could hear Jackie puttering about.
"That's what was at the door," Jackie replied glancing up and over her shoulder from where she was bustling about with mugs, to look at Ivy who was in the doorway, the water in the kettle starting to boil, "I figured Rose got us a new one."
"Why would she get us a new one?" Ivy asked quizzically as she stepped into the kitchen depositing her mug in the sink.
"I don't know," Jackie replied with a shrug.
"Doesn't it seem a bit odd to you, though?" Ivy asked turning from the sink leaning her back against it, "I mean, she went out for present shopping not a tree…"
"Well, who else could it be?!" Jackie questioned with a bit of a huff, eyeing Ivy with a slight frown before the phone rang as she turned away stepping out of the kitchen, heading for the phone that had been left in the living room.
"I dunno…" Ivy murmured, moving back towards the kitchen doorway herself, having deposited her dirty mug in the sink like she'd intended.
"Hello?" Jackie answered the phone and then beamed a grin, "Bev!" she exclaimed as she started away with the phone.
Ivy stared at the green tree a moment longer, eyeing it with a slight thoughtful frown. It just seemed weird to her that Rose would buy a tree when they had one already… she glanced at Jackie as she started back towards the kitchen as she chatted away to Bev, completely engrossed in her conversation to the other woman as she walked past her and back into the kitchen. Ivy sighed, yeah she wouldn't be getting much out of Jackie for a bit. She glanced back at the tree and shook her head before she started out of the living room, heading back towards her bedroom. It was a bit strange but it was still just a Christmas tree… it wasn't like it was deadly. Still, she'd ask about it again later when Jackie had gotten off the phone or Rose, if she got home first...
*O*O*O*
"What's going on?" Mickey demanded as he and Rose ran from the brass band that was still firing flames at them from their instruments, "What've we done? Why are they after us?!" he exclaimed a bit frantic.
Rose's eyes landed on a Taxi as it drew up along the street, "Taxi!" she hollered and in the next moment they were clambering inside, Rose giving a hurried address to the taxi driver, before she turned back to Mickey, "They're after the Doctor."
"I can't even go shopping with you," Mickey muttered eyeing Rose as she dug about in her pockets, searching them, "We get attacked by a brass band," the blond pulled out her phone and started tapping at the keypad as the taxi drove off, "Who're you phoning?"
"My mum," Rose replied as she brought the phone up to her ear, teeth worrying her lower lip as she waited for it to connect.
*O*O*O*
"She turns up – no warning," Jackie continued chatting on to Bev as she wandered the flat, "I've got nothing. I said, 'Rose, you want a Christmas dinner of meat paste, then so be it'," she fibbed as she picked up a mug of tea.
*O*O*O*
"Get off the phone!" Rose growled as she got an engaged sound, jerking the phone away from her ear with irritation as police sirens sounded in the distance.
"Who were those Santa things?" Mickey asked.
"I don't know! But think about it. They were after us. What's important about us? Well, nothing, except the one thing we've got tucked in bed. The Doctor…" Rose hesitated a brief moment before she started tapping at her keypad again.
"Who're you calling now?" Mickey asked.
"Ivy," Rose stated simply searching through her contacts for her cousins number, not knowing it by heart like she did her mum's, frowning as she scanned down the list... why did she have so many bleedin' contacts! She barely spoke to half these people anymore! And who the bloody hell was Dana? When had she ever met a bleeding Dana?!
*O*O*O*
Ivy looked up from the book she'd been half-heartedly perusing as she sat by the Doctor's bedside again. Her gaze flicking briefly up to him, no change – not even a twitch apart from the rise and fall of his chest. Her eyes went to the door as she heard Jackie coming down the corridor towards her, "Oh, no. Don't come round, darling," she was saying to Bev as she wandered into the bedroom, "No, flat's all topsy turvy," she held out the mug to Ivy.
Ivy blinked at it, "I've just had one," she reminded the older woman.
"Hold on a sec, Bev," Jackie told her friend before she placed the phone against her shoulder, "For him," she nodded at the Doctor, still proffering the mug at Ivy, "Case he wants one when he wakes," she explained and Ivy took it with a small slightly bemused smile as Jackie turned without another word to her, phone back up to her ear, "Bev, I'm back," she said as she started out of the room, "Yeah, she just barges in and litters the place. Yeah, no, I'll come round and see you on Boxing day," she promised as she left the room.
Ivy set the mug of tea down on the nightstand, her gaze returning to the Doctor as his lips parted and he exhaled another wisping stream of golden energy. She watched it, brows quirking at it more curiously this time as it once again floated through the air towards her. She raised her hand towards it, holding it still and watched with a small smile as it wended around her fingers lazily, it was really rather pretty, and warm… alive… she wiggled her fingers and smiled wider a soft laugh escaping her as it danced about her fingers in response before drifting away again, floating through the air, wending its way out the window. Her phone rang and Ivy's gaze snapped to where it was on the nightstand on the opposite side to the bed she was sitting on. She placed the book still resting on her lap down on the nightstand beside her and got up starting to round the bed only for it to stop ringing almost as quickly as it had begun.
She frowned…
*O*O*O*
"Forget it," Rose muttered shoving her phone back into her pocket, "We're practically there anyway," she said eyes on the street they were on as the taxi rounded a corner bringing the Powell Estate into view.
*O*O*O*
Ivy looked at her phone, staring at the missed call from Rose with her brow still furrowed, a bad feeling clawing at her. Why had Rose called then hung up barely after one ring? What had happened? She swallowed heavily, her gaze going briefly to the Doctor's prone form, before she turned and started out of the room, her phone still clutched in one hand, wandering down the corridor, teeth worrying her lower lip, and into the living room where Jackie was puttering about still on the phone.
"Jackie?" she called, a second before the front door burst open and Rose and Mickey ran in and Ivy let out a breath of relief at the sight of them, alive.
"So, save us a chipolata…" Jackie continued even as she turned questioning eyes going from Ivy to her daughter and Mickey.
"Get off the phone!" Rose exclaimed as she marched towards her mum with a deep irritated frown, before she blinked as Ivy was suddenly hugging her tightly. She glanced at her, returning it with a bit of confusion.
"You're ok," Ivy mumbled.
"Yeah…" Rose agreed and glanced at Mickey as he shifted placing a comforting hand on Ivy's shoulder a look of horrified understand flitting across his face and Rose let out a low sigh not quite getting exactly what had happened but vaguely connecting the dots of what her cousin may have been thinking, "For now…" she muttered.
Ivy frowned with concern and pulled back from the hug, glancing from Rose to Mickey and back again, "For now?"
"It's only Bev!" Jackie stated cheerily and the three's attention returned to her, "She says hello," she blinked startled as Rose snatched the phone from her.
"Bev?" Rose spoke into the phone, "Yeah," she hurriedly cut in as the woman started rapidly talking at her, "Look, it'll have to wait," she hung up.
"Rose, what's going on?" Ivy asked.
"Don't have time to explain right now," Rose replied quickly, "But, it's not safe. We've gotta get out. Where can we go?"
"My mate Stan, he'll put us up," Mickey suggested.
"That's only two streets away," Rose shook her head, "What about Mo?" she asked urgently, "Where's she living now?"
"I dunno!" Jackie exclaimed eyeing her daughter with increasing confusion and a touch of irritation, "Peak District?"
"Yeah. She's in Peak District," Ivy confirmed with a nod.
"Oh, we'll go to cousin Mo's then," Rose decided and started moving deeper into the house needing to get to the Doctor.
"No, it's Christmas Eve!" Jackie exclaimed adamantly as she followed after her, "We're not going anywhere! What're you babbling about?"
"Mum…Ivy…" Rose paused, her gaze locked on the green Christmas tree in the living room, "Where'd you get that tree?" she asked and Jackie shifted turning to look at it, "That's a new tree," Rose continued a bit cautiously, "Where'd you get it?"
"I thought it was you," Jackie shrugged.
"How can it be me?" Rose asked staring at her mum perplexed.
"Thought it was odd if it was you," Ivy muttered as she stared at the green Christmas tree over Rose's shoulder.
"Well, you went shopping," Jackie huffed, eyeing Rose and Ivy both with irritation now, "There was a ring at the door, and there it was!"
"No," Rose began slowly, her eyes flitting back to the tree that was sitting all so innocently in her family living room, "That wasn't me."
"Then who was it?" Jackie demanded a second before the lights on the tree lit up all by themselves and 'Jingle Bells' started to play as it started to spin, sections of it beginning to slowly rotate in different directions.
"Oh," Rose breathed, eyes wide as she grabbed her mum and pulled her behind her, "You've gotta be kidding me!"
Ivy swallowed, staring at it wide- eyed as it started forward, moving towards them, rotating sections picking up speed, "No, no…" she gasped as it started chopping easily through the coffee table, "Not kidding!"
"Go, go, go!" Mickey shouted to them as he snapped up a chair close to him for defence as the tree continued forward, "Get out!"
"We've got to save the Doctor!" Rose exclaimed as she ran for the corridor.
"He's still unconscious!" Ivy exclaimed as she turned from the tree and followed after Rose, "How are we gonna get him out?!" she asked they ran into the bedroom.
"I dunno!" Rose fretted, her eyes on the Doctor's prone form, wishing that he'd suddenly just sit up… wake up… be the Doctor.
"What're you both doing?!" Jackie cried with fretful alarm from the doorway.
"We can't just leave him!" Rose shouted, turning back to the doorway too level a look full of desperation on her mum.
"Mickey!" Jackie shouted as she glanced back at him, hovering just outside the bedroom doorway, "Leave it!" she shouted as the tree's rotating sections started to shred the legs of the chair, "Get out! Get out!" she begged.
Her words making Rose and Ivy pause and turn back to look at the open door. "Mickey!" Rose shouted desperately.
"Mickey!" Ivy shouted, "It decimated the coffee table! I doubt a chair's gonna do much better against it! Come on!"
"Get out of there!' Jackie shouted and Mickey finally abandoned the chair as he moved to flee after the others.
"No, leave him!" Jackie cried as she watched from just outside the bedroom doorway as Ivy and Rose shifted about the bed, one on either side of him, trying to get the unconscious Time Lord up out of the bed, "Just leave him!" she begged as Mickey darted past her and into the room.
"Get in here!" Mickey demanded as he turned levelling a firm look at Jackie as she continued to hover undecided on what she should do.
Jackie hastily compiled a second later as the sound of Christmas tree grew closer and slammed the door shut behind her.
"We're never gonna get him past the killer tree like this!" Ivy exclaimed with concern as the sound of a glass pane smashing reached them, the tree getting closer and closer to the bedroom door. Whilst Jackie and Mickey grabbed Ivy's wardrobe and pulled it across the door as an added barrier between them and the tree they could hear advancing.
Ivy and Rose laid the Doctor's upper body back down against the bed, the blond conceding that they really wouldn't be able to. Not now, "Doctor, wake up!" Rose shouted urgently as she leaned over him, only to get nothing from him much to her frustration and fear. He needed him to wake up! They needed him to wake up! She needed him to wake up!
She glanced about and ran over to the Doctor's jacket, digging frantically about in a pocket before pulling out the sonic screwdriver. She rushed back over to him placing it into his hand as the Christmas tree smashed through the barricaded door almost as easily as it had the coffee table.
Ivy who'd been eyeing the strange slender tube thing a bit quizzically wondering what good it could do, lifted her eyes to the door in alarm at the sound, eyes landing on the rotating sections of the killer Christmas tree as it advanced into the room, heading for a cringing Jackie, "Oh, my God…!" she gasped horrified, heart pounding in her chest at the sight. She didn't want to lose anyone else. Didn't think she could survive losing another member of her family… and it was threatening to happen right in front of her!
"I'm going to get killed by a Christmas tree!" Jackie cried with horrified desperation as she pressed herself back against the wall she'd been blown back into by the door when it had exploded inwards under the trees assault.
Rose turned back to the Doctor's prone form, desperation burning up inside of her at the sight of her mum's impending doom at the tree. She leaned down to him again, "Help me," she whispered into his ear, "Come on, please I need you!" she cried when she got no reaction, giving his shoulders a desperate shake.
Ivy licked her lips anxious and desperate as the tree got closer and closer to Jackie, rotating sections cutting through the air, "Please!" she cried, eyes flitting to the Doctor's prone form, "Doctor, if you can hear us at all," she continued eyes going back to her cousin Jackie, desperation rising, "We could really use one of your miracles right about now – Jackie…!" she shouted as Jackie let out a desperate terrified scream.
And, the Doctor's fingers tightened about the sonic screwdriver Rose had placed in his hand and sat up, eyes landing on the advancing tree and raised the sonic, the blue tip flashed and the tree exploded. The Doctor lowered his arm, "Remote control. But who's controlling it?" he muttered, before his gaze was drawn to a woman he didn't recognise as she shifted, her eyes turning to him, green meeting brown and he stilled on the bed, "Oh…" he breathed with breathless wonder as he eyed her, the woman's expression turning quizzical as she eyed him back, "You're what's different," he murmured, his hearts beating rapidly in his chest with excitement and his chaotic mind racing with wonder and hope as he suddenly understood just what it was he'd been sensing when he first stepped out of the Tardis, before he'd collapsed. It had been her! He hadn't thought it possible… hadn't dared hope, not after the loss of his people and his planet… but there she was, right in front of him… a tantalising wondrous chance at a possibility. One that he wanted to latch onto with all his might and never let go of. His soul yearning for hers… for the deep close connection that could one day be made between them…
He swallowed heavily, his mouth feeling a bit dry, "What's your name?" he asked, his voice still a bit breathless almost awed now as the knowledge really started to sink in. His Soul Bond standing there, right in front of him.
"Ivy," she replied slowly, still eyeing him, rather perplexed.
"Ivy…" the Doctor repeated testing the name, lips quirking up into a warm smile as he stared up at her from the bed, fingers of one hand twitching about the blankets he'd grasped to throw off himself earlier before he'd spotted her… spotted Ivy. His smile widened, his Soul-Bond's name was Ivy, "Ivy," he repeated, grinning as he took in her face as she blinked at him, still perplexed. His eys drifted to her hair that was hanging loosely about her shoulders and blinked as he noted the colour, "You've got pink hair, Ivy."
Ivy's lips quirked up into a small rather perplexed smile, "Yes," she nodded slightly as she continued to eye him, "I'm aware…"
"That's alright," the Doctor nodded, still eyeing her hair, speaking almost to himself in that moment as he decided, "I love the pink hair."
"Umm… " Ivy mumbled, feeling rather thrown, "Thanks, I think…" she muttered shifting a bit uncomfortably now. Jackie had told her that he was a bit of a strange one, but this was something else…
The Doctor continued to stare his fingers twitching about the blanket again as he resisted the urge to reach out and drag her to him and start the process that'd make creating the bond between them possible. She was standing within arm's reach, right next to the bed. He could… his mind raced spiralling, fingers clenching about the blanket tighter as he struggled to remind himself of all the reasons why that would be a bad idea. She was human… and the process that'd make creating the bond between them possible would be strenuous enough for her with her permission… her acceptance… without it, if he just took the choice from her, he'd only hurt her… he shivered… and she'd hate him for it… completely.
And she'd be justified in her hatred…
"Hello?! Can we focus?!" Rose snapped with irritation as she eyed the Doctor and her cousin with a heavy frown. An irritation that only grew as the Doctor's gaze snapped to her and he merely blinked in mild confusion, "Remote control killer Christmas tree?!" she jabbed a finger at the remains of the tree that had tried to kill them, had almost killed her mum.
"Oh, right!" the Doctor muttered as his gaze landed on the remains of the tree his mind focusing back on what had been happening before he'd gotten a bit side tracked. He threw off his blankets and got up, snatching up a blue dressing gown and throwing it on as he started for the bedroom door.
Rose frowned at the Doctor's back as they followed him through the flat, her eyes troubled and hands clenched into fists as her sides. The way he'd been staring at Ivy. Like she was something completely and utterly fascinating to him. It unnerved and confused her… she didn't like it. Didn't like the implications she was drawing from it. She felt a hand touch hers and she ripped her hand away from the touch, shooting her cousin a quick glare, unable to help herself in that moment. He'd been looking at Ivy like she was fascinating and had barely spared her a quick glance so far! And it hurt! Rose internally flinched however, at the hurt look Ivy gave her in response, knowing that her cousin hadn't done anything to deserve her ire, but she just couldn't help it… it hurt that he hadn't looked at her. The blonde's eyes returned to the Doctor's back, a back that was completely different to the one she was used to seeing as she followed along behind him… and that hurt too. Hurt so much! And, that – that was her fault. Guilt clawed at her insides savagely, he was different, not himself and it was all her fault!
They followed the Doctor out onto the balcony, the Time Lord finishing securing the dressing gown closed about him, looking down their gaze landed on three Santa's that seemed to be staring up in their general direction, one clasping a radio controller.
"That's them!" Mickey declared, "What are they?"
"Shush!" Rose hushed him tersely, not wanting to provoke the Santa's into attacking them with fire once again.
"First, killer Christmas tree? Now, evil Santa's? Brilliant," Ivy muttered eyeing the three Santa's with the creepy masks dubiously.
"Shush!" Rose huffed again, still irritated, whilst the Doctor raised his sonic once again, aiming it at the Santa's threateningly, only for the three Santa's to back away a bit in response, before they vanished with a flash.
"They've just gone. What kind of rubbish were they?" Mickey scoffed, "I mean, no offence, but they're not much cop if a sonic screwdriver's going to scare them off."
"Sonic what?" Ivy blinked glancing at Mickey.
"Sonic screwdriver," the Doctor replied and Ivy's gaze returned to him to see him holding it up showing it to her, "It's a screwdriver that's sonic."
"Right," Ivy nodded, eyes on the sonic screwdriver for a moment before she glanced up at him, whilst Rose frowned at them as she glanced from one to the other, eyeing them intently, "And the evil Santa's are…?"
"Not evil," the Doctor replied, grimacing a bit as he felt a flare of pain shoot through his head, "Pilot Fish."
"What?" Rose asked, a bit diverted in her confusion and the four humans stared at him expectantly, waiting for an explanation.
"They were just Pilot Fish," the Doctor replied, before he coughed and was thrown back, colliding with the wall and the four rushed over to him with concern.
"What's wrong?" Rose asked, her heart in her throat.
The Doctor grimaced again, panting heavily as he stared at them, "You woke me up too soon," he said pained his gaze flicking from Rose to Ivy, "I'm still regenerating," Ivy frowned in mild confusion even as she put it together with the fact that he'd changed, "I'm bursting with energy," the Doctor grimaced in pain again as more regeneration energy escaped from his mouth, wending its way once more through the air towards Ivy. Ivy waved it away, the golden energy skittering about her hand for a moment, and Rose frowned at the sight.
The Doctor smiled through his pain at the sight of his regeneration energy dancing playfully about Ivy's fingers, having been drawn to the soul of his Bonded, before floating off through the air, if he'd needed confirmation, that was all he'd have needed, "You see? The Pilot Fish could smell it a million miles away. So, they eliminate the defence, that's you lot," he panted, grimacing again, "And they carry me off. They could run their batteries on me for a couple of years, ow!" he groaned as he lurched forward, hunching, his mind spiralling frantically, no! He couldn't pass out now! He couldn't! They were in danger, his eyes finding Ivy as hands came up to help support him, to keep him from falling to the concrete of the balcony. Terror threatening to grip him, if something happened to her… he'd only just found her… hadn't even had the chance to really talk to her, get to know her… get the chance to actually Bond to her.
"Oh! Oh! Oh!" Jackie fretted as she helped support him alongside Ivy whilst Rose stared at him through eyes filled with pain and guilt at the sight of him suffering like that… her fault! It was her fault! Tears threatened to well.
"My head!" the Doctor groaned through gritted teeth, "I'm having a neuron implosion. I need…" he trailed off a pained sound escaping him, his arm that was about Ivy's back shifting, tightening holding her protectively, instinct flaring as he fought to keep awake to not succumb to the healing sleep... he wouldn't need it if he just got… what did he need…? What? He couldn't think couldn't focus, what was it…?!
"What do you need?" Jackie urged, frantically.
"I need…"
"Say it. Tell me, tell me…"
"I need…" the Doctor tried again.
"Painkillers?" Jackie suggested.
"I need…" he panted, arm tightening further about Ivy's slender frame, darkness threatening to pull him under and into a healing sleep.
Ivy grimaced slightly, his grip almost painful now, "It's alright," she tried, staring at him with concern. The Doctor's eyes darting to her again, "You know what it is. You just have to tell us. We'll get it. Whatever it is," she assured.
"I need…" he panted, trying to think, desperately trying to think, it was on the tip of his tongue… if he could just…
"Do you need aspirin?" Jackie suggested fretfully, trying to be helpful.
"I…" the Doctor started again, he was losing it… he could feel the answer slipping away from him like so many grains of sand.
"Codeine?" Jackie interrupted frantically, "Paracetamol? Oh, I don't know… Pepto-Bismol?"
"I need…"
"Liquid paraffin. Vitamin C? Vitamin D? Vitamin E?" Jackie rattled off in quick succession hoping something would jog his memory.
"I need…" the Doctor tried again only for Jackie to interrupt his attempt to focus his spiralling mind once again, trying to call the answer to what he need back.
"Is it food? Something simple. Bowl of soup. A nice bowl of soup? Soup and a sandwich? Soup and a little ham sandwich?"
The Doctor focused an irritated look on the woman, "I need you to shut up!" he snapped, he'd lost it! it was gone and... he couldn't think!
Jackie gave him an irritated look of her own as she shifted back from him a bit in annoyance, "Oh, he hasn't changed that much, has he?" she grumped.
The Doctor lurched forward again as another bout of pain lanced through him sharply, before he leaned back a bit, choosing to rest his back against the wall, releasing his hold on Ivy in the process as he panted heavily, "We haven't got much time," he warned them. His mind jumping tracks again, truly unable to focus. "If there's pilot fish, then…" he reached into his pocket and blinked, diverted once more as his hand closed around something unexpected. He pulled the round object out and he stared at it in bewildered befuddlement, "Why is there an apple in my dressing gown?" he asked confused.
"Technically, not your dressing gown," Ivy murmured, eyeing him with continued concern and his confused eyes returned to her, "You're borrowing it."
"Oh, I am…" he muttered blinking down at the apple again… that still didn't explain why there was an apple in the pocket.
"It's Howard," Jackie shrugged, "Sorry."
The Doctor looked at the older blond once again, still confused and just a little incredulous, "He keeps apples in his dressing gown?"
Jackie shrugged again, this time a little defensively, "He gets hungry."
The Doctor blinked, still a little incredulous as he tried to wrap his spiralling chaotic mind around the concept, "What, he gets hungry in his sleep?"
"Sometimes," Jackie replied.
"Argh!" the Doctor cried out in pain, "…brain collapsing…" he panted out his eyes seeking out Ivy again as darkness creeped into the edges of his vision, consciousness fading as unconsciousness rose to claim him, "The Pilot Fish mean…" he continued to pant, struggling to keep from passing out... to keep his eyes focused as he stared at Ivy, hearts hammering, terrified in that moment he'd lose her after just finding her, "That something… something… something is coming…" he managed before he collapsed into Ivy's lap, passed out.
Ivy felt for his pulse and her eyes widened it was hammering harshly against her fingers, "Help me!" she urged urgently heart racing with concern for the strange alien passed out in her lap and Mickey and Jackie shifted into motion, moving to help her get the unconscious Time Lord up, and supported between the three of them, back towards Ivy's bedroom.
Rose stared after them, eyes wide, brow furrowed heavily, heart pounding against her ribcage, tears pricking hotly at the back of her eyes as guilt clawed at her insides sickeningly. She couldn't really remember but this was her fault! Her fault! He was suffering like this, so badly and it was her fault! All her fault!