Chapter Text
After a few moments of panicked silence, Monty took a deep breath.
“We should get him back to bed. His condition seems like it’ll be worse now, but it’s good that we woke him up.” Rose stood at her words, scared and desperate and fuming.
“Good? It’s good that we woke him up too early, good now that he’s dying on the floor because we woke him up too soon?! How can you say-”
“Because now we know to keep our eyes and ears open. We had no idea what we were dealing with before, and now we do.” Rose was shocked at Monty’s tone.
“What are you, some kind of soldier? Who do you think you are, ordering me around like that!” Rose stood up to Monty, getting in her face
“I think I have the clearest mind of the four of us right now.” Rose blinked, not expecting the calm and quiet tone. “I understand you’re upset and scared but right now we need someone who’s gonna be the rock in this very uncharted and stormy sea.” She paused, taking a small step back, and when Rose didn’t follow, she continued. “Right now, it has to be me because the person who would normally be the one in charge is currently screaming in my face. Now, we should get him inside.”
Something about the way Monty spoke, the harsh words wrapped in the soft volume of her voice snapped Rose out of her frustration. Meekly, she helped Monty and Mickey move the Doctor back into the bed, and Monty trusted his care to her.
“Right now he’s got a small fever, so let’s try and cool him down from that,” she diagnosed, standing back up as Rose sat on the bed. “I’ll get you some ice bags and a moist rag.”
As Monty did that, Mickey headed out to grab his laptop from his apartment. By the time he came back, Rose was gently pressing a cloth to the Doctor’s forehead. As he settled onto the dining room table, he looked over and saw Monty collapsed on the couch.
“Jackie, I’m using the phone line. That alright?”
“Yeah, keep account of it.”
“Is Monty asleep?” He asked, and a small scoff sounded from the couch.
“I wish I could sleep. I’ll crash from the constant up and down of my adrenaline soon enough, I’m sure.”
Mickey chuckled. “Keep those eyes open, Montgomery. You’re our rock, remember?”
“Only until Rose feels like she can take it up, then I’m sleeping for five hundred years.”
“Any change?” Jackie asked as Rose stepped in, passing her the mug of tea in her hand. Monty sat up, allowing room for others to sit.
“He’s worse. Just one heart beating,” came her answer, and the group felt their mood dampen a bit. Monty looked at the TV, tuning in to the fact the Guinevere One had disappeared earlier that night, blipping off the radar.
“Scientists in charge of Britain’s Mission to Mars have re-established contact with the Guinevere One space probe. They’re expecting the first transmission from the planet’s surface in the next few minutes.” The scene cut to Llewellyn, looking a bit worse for wear, jacket gone and sleeves rolled up.
“Yes, we are. We-we a-we’re back on schedule, we’ve received the signal from Guinevere One. The Mars landing would seem to be an unqualified success,” he stumbled through his statement, looking ready to bolt off stage right then and there.
“But is it true that you completely lost contact early tonight?” A reporter called, and Llewellyn nodded.
“Yes, we had a bit of a scare. Guinevere seemed to fall off the scope, but it was just a blip. Only disappeared for a few seconds, she is fine now, absolutely fine. We’re getting the first pictures transmitted live any minute now. I’d better get back to it, thanks.” And as he walked off, reporters clamored for more time.
“Here we go! Pilot fish,” Mickey called, and Rose stepped to look at the screen. “Scavengers, just like the Doctor said. Harmless, they’re tiny, but the point is, the little fish swim alongside the big fish.”
“Do you mean like sharks?” Rose asked.
“Great, big sharks,” Monty piped up from the couch, not looking over. “Along with other predators or big fish in the ocean, but sharks are where they’re most commonly seen. I think the Doctor meant that we had the little fish as a cursory threat, now we’re gonna get the shark.” Even though she didn’t see the computer from where she was sitting, it was like the universe had prompted her to say it. In time with her words, an animation on Mickey’s laptop showed a shark biting at the screen.
Mickey glanced between his laptop and Monty. “Spooky,” he muttered.
“‘Something’s coming.’” Rose repeated, and Monty quickly sat up as she stared at the TV.
“Oh, here it is!” She chirped, and they all watched the TV screen start getting fuzzy.
“How close?” Rose asked, and before Mickey could answer, Monty did.
“Pilot fish never stray far. Whatever the shark is, it’s nearby.” The image began to clear up a bit here and there on the TV.
“Funny sort of rocks,” Jackie said, and Monty’s stomach began to sink.
“That’s not rocks,” Rose murmured, staring at the screen.
“This is being transmitted via Mission Control and it’s coming live from the depths of space on Christmas morning." Monty, Jackie, Rose and Mickey all stood staring at the screen, watching the transmission clear up to reveal some sort of creature. It growled at the camera, making them all jump back from the screen in surprise.
“Well, Rose was right,” Monty said after a few moments. “Those aren’t rocks.”
A ringing interrupted the stunned silence they found themselves in, and Monty shot up, running to her room and grabbing her phone.
“Hello?”
“Miss Montgomery, have you been watching the dog?” Monty went rigid, and didn’t notice Mickey or Rose standing behind her, watching her shift in posture and listening to her conversation.
“I have, and I made sure to feed her for tonight. Why are you calling?”
“Something has come up, and we need you to come back to watch over her for a couple of days.”
“I’m sorry, but I have family in out of town. I’ll have to take care of them first, but I’ll check on her soon.” There was a pause.
“Very well. We expect you to keep in touch, and let us know if there are any problems.” Monty deflated as the caller hung up, visibly relaxing and sighing as she put her phone down, leaning on the dresser she put it on a bit.
“Watching someone’s dog?” Rose asked, and Monty whipped around, before breathing out a small chuckle, her hand resting over her heart.
“Wow, guess the aliens got me a bit jumpy. Yeah, a nice woman from work has been busy lately, so I’ve offered to watch over her dog.”
“You’ve never mentioned this before, Monty,” Mickey pointed out, and Monty shrugged.
“Never needed mentioning. A cute dog though, a bull dog. Sweetest thing ever, hates the mailman though,” Monty chuckled. “Sorry for running out, thought it might have been my-” her phone cut her off as it rang again. She picked it up without looking at the caller.
“Hel-”
“ALICE DID YOU SEE THE NEWS?!” Monty flinched and held the phone from her ear as both Mickey and Rose’s eyebrows rose at the volume.
“Hi Ben, yes I saw-”
“THEY’RE REAL ALICE, DIDN’T I SAY SO FOREVER AGO? C’MON MAN, YOU SAID ‘NO WAY, BEN’ WELL GUESS WHAT?! I WAS RIGHT!!” Monty continued to hold the phone away from her ear. Rose and Mickey headed back to the living room.
“I’ll have to talk to you later, squirt, I’m in the middle of something right now. Don’t do anything stupid!”
“Right, right, don’t do anything you would do. My survival instincts are stronger than that, jerk. Can you at least say that I was right?”
“You called me, at midnight my time, to brag.”
“I mean, when else am I gonna do it?”
“...you were not wrong,” Monty ground out, but before long added, “But I’m serious, I gotta go. I’ll see you later, okay?”
“Is everything okay?” Monty glanced down at the Doctor, looking worse for wear.
“Everything’s fine, Watson.”
“I’m holding you to that, Crick.”
“Rose, Monty!” Mickey called, and Monty turned.
“I love you, Benji.”
“I love you too, Alice. Are you sure-” Monty hung up, and rushed over to Mickey, and looked at his screen.
“Take a look, I’ve got access to the military-”
“Hang on, you got access? How?” Monty cut him off, astounded.
“The Doctor gave me passwords forever ago.” Monty scoffed at that. “ More importantly, they’re tracking a spaceship. It’s big, it’s fast, and it’s coming this way.”
“Coming for what, though?” Rose asked “The Doctor?”
“I don’t know, maybe it’s coming for all of us.”
“In all likelihood, they’re probably just following where the Doctor’s energy came from. They wouldn’t know he himself was the source, since they don’t seem to know much about us,” Monty said, standing up straight. “That is, however, only conjecture. God only knows what they actually think.”
The screen changed, tuning into a much clearer picture of the aliens. Monty felt her brows furrow, noticing the UNIT symbol in the corner as the creatures on screen began to speak. At least, she guessed it was some sort of speech. The sounds sounded too intentional to be random grunts or growls, but nowhere close to anything she'd heard before.
“Have you seen them before?” Mickey asked, and Rose thought for a moment, staring at them.
“No.” They watched the transmission continue. “I don’t understand what they’re saying. The TARDIS translates alien languages inside my head, all the time, wherever I am.”
“So why isn’t it doing it now?” Mickey questioned, but Rose just shook her head.
“I dunno. Must be the Doctor. Like he’s part of the circuit and…” Rose trailed off, but Monty mumbled the last part.
“Now he can’t complete the circuit. He’s not in working order,” Monty stood, only for her phone to ring again, “Oh, what now?” She picked it up and stepped outside for a little more privacy.
“Agent Montgomery! You promised me UNIT would work with me, not against me!” A voice nearly howled in her ear and she had the discipline to hold in her sigh of annoyance.
“Mr. President, currently UNIT is working with Britain’s Prime Minister to determine and handle the threat. I am not in charge, nor do I have any say in what she or UNIT decides is the best course of action.”
“I insist that I take charge of the situation! Jones isn’t prepared, and America has better defensive and offensive strategies-”
“Sir, I’m afraid I can’t do anything. If you’re so insistent, talk with someone else in UNIT. I gave you the information you need to contact them, and this is in their hands.”
“Then I’ll call the highest authority on the list you gave me. Goodbye, Montgomery.” Monty went to reply but the dial tone sounded. She held her phone tightly in her hand, and took a moment to calm down before dialing in a familiar number.
“Agent Montgomery, what’s the matter?”
“Blake, prepare yourself to be bombarded by the President of America. He called me and the highest number he has on my list of contacts is yours.”
“I’ll handle it, thank you for the warning.” Monty heard someone speaking with him and there was a rustle.
“Major?”
“Not quite. Harriet Jones, Prime Minister.” Monty snapped up to stand straight out of habit.
“Yes, I know who you are, PM Jones.”
“Do you have any information we could find useful? I know you said earlier you have matters of consequence you must attend to but we are in a bit of a dire situation.”
“I noticed, ma’am.” She hesitated, glancing back to the bedroom window where the Doctor was lying in bed. “I know those aren’t Martians, but so do you, and…” she glanced once more at the window before steeling herself and looking out at the town. “I don’t know if we can depend on him to show up in time. I really hope so, Harriet, but I don’t know if the Doctor is going to arrive in time.”
There was a short silence. Finally, Harriet said, “We’ll wait until circumstances are at their worst.”
“Of course, ma’am. Good luck, and Godspeed.”
“Take care, Alice.” With that, Monty hung up. She took a moment to collect herself before stepping back into the apartment.
Stepping into the Doctor’s bedroom, she gently laid a hand on Jackie’s shoulder. “Get some rest, I’ll watch him for a while.” They switched positions, and Monty grabbed a pillow from the ground, laying it in front of her. Within ten minutes, she had passed out.
She woke up, noticing the sun had risen but that it must still be early in the morning. Her phone was ringing, and she picked up, groggy.
“Hello?”
“Oh thank God. Miss Montgomery, what blood type are you?”
“I’m O+, ma’am. Isn’t this on my file?”
“Everyone with A+ blood types are standing on the roof. I needed to ensure that you were alright, you are someone who knows almost everything UNIT has on file for aliens. Is there anything that you can think of that explains this?”
“If it’s all A positives, we know they’re controlling the blood. I’m not sure how far they can take it, UNIT has nothing like this recorded. It could be like hypnosis, too weak for any real danger, but..." She held in a sigh, struggling to remain professional. "At the same time, ma'am, it could control the blood to any number of degrees. I’m sorry, but all I have is conjecture.”
“Understood. You wouldn’t happen to have a Code 9, would you?” Monty looked down at the Doctor, biting her lip.
“No, ma’am. I can’t say for sure whether or not he’ll be in time.” She heard the dial tone, and knew PM Jones had just hung up on her. She sighed, and gently poked the Doctor in the arm. “You are being extremely inconvenient, and I hope you know that.” She stood and met Rose, Jackie and Mickey in the hall.
“How is he?” Rose asked, and Monty sighed.
“Dunno. Woke up to a phone call. We should probably watch and see if they’ll broadcast any information.”
Sure enough, an emergency broadcast was starting, and they all watched as Harriet Jones solemnly addressed the nation.
“But, ladies and gentlemen, this crisis is unique, and I’m afraid to say it might get much worse. I would ask you all to remain calm. But I have one request: Doctor, if you’re out there, we need you. I don’t know what to do. If you can hear me, Doctor, if anyone knows the Doctor, if anyone can find him, the situation has never been more desperate. Help us. Please Doctor, help us.” Monty stared at the screen, mind blank, everything becoming too much. Rose was crying, Mickey was shaking, Jackie was moving, Harriet's voice echoing out and she suddenly felt overwhelmed. All she could do was stand there, trembles working upwards from her hands to the rest of her body.
“Monty, you alright?” Mickey sounded thousands of miles away, but what jerked her to her senses was when he gently laid a hand on her shoulder.
“Yeah! Yeah, yeah, I’m...I am fine, Mickey,” she breathed, and it felt like someone had punched her in the gut, and she wasn’t gasping but it felt like she should.
“You sure?”
“No, but, I’m gonna be.” Mickey rose a brow at her statement, and she shook her head a little. “Let’s just say my job has trained me for situations like this, I guess it just all came rushing to me at once." Monty took a second to breathe, but was knocked off her feet as the glass in the window shattered inwards. Whatever had broken it sent them all stumbling backwards.
“What the hell was that?!” Mickey cried.
“Sonic wave! It’s how the glass shattered, the spaceship must have hit the atmosphere!” She called, rushing out with Mickey in tow, only for the both of them to turn and stare into the sky.
Monty heard the glass crunching next to her and guessed Rose or Jackie must have joined them. They stared up at the giant, rocky looking hull of a spaceship flying slowly overhead, nearly transfixed. By the time it stopped, it looked as if they were beneath the middle of it, and it covered the majority of the sky above them.
Rose took a deep breath and nodded once. Then she rushed upstairs, and Mickey and Jackie followed, with Monty close behind.
“Monty, Mickey, you two are gonna carry him,” Rose assigned as they entered the Doctor’s room. “I’ll carry whatever you think we might need, Monty.” She turned as Monty nodded, and she looked at Jackie. “Mum, get your stuff and some food. We’re going.”
“Well, where to?” Mickey asked.
“The TARDIS. It’s the only safe place on Earth.”
“What are we gonna do in there?” Jackie questioned.
“Hide.”
“Is that it?!”
“Mum, look in the sky. There’s a great, big, alien invasion and I don’t know what to do, all right? I’ve traveled with him and I’ve seen all that stuff, but when I’m stuck at home, I’m useless. Now all we can do is run and hide and I’m sorry. Now, what do I need to grab, Monty?”
After giving Rose a list of essentials, Monty and Mickey began to carefully carry the Doctor to the TARDIS. On the way down, they heard Rose and Jackie have a small dispute, but it wasn’t long before Rose caught up with them, unlocking the door to get into the ship.
“Where should we set him, Rose?” Monty asked, and Rose gestured to the floor next to the console-looking thing.
“We can move him later.”
“No chance you could fly this thing?”
“Not anymore, no.”
“Well you did it before,” Mickey grunted as they shuffled over and laid him down.
“I know, but it’s sort of been wiped out of my head, like it’s forbidden. If I try it again, I think the universe rips in half,” she answered, helping them to put the Doctor down gently.
“Cool, okay, keep you away from the steering wheel...” Monty teased, and Rose laughed a little bit, before Monty properly took in her surroundings.
“...wherever that steering wheel is,” she finished with a mumble. Rose blinked before grinning.
“You’ve never been inside before, right?” She asked, and Monty nodded slowly. She spun around, studyign everything from the engine beneath her feet to the uneven and oddly carved walls. She knelt for a better look, feeling the heat gently waft onto her face from below.
“I’ve read everything that UNIT knows about it, but it wasn’t, er, much. I’m surprised that it’s this much bigger inside than outside,” she stood up, her eyes shining with curiosity. “I am dying to find out how you work, but today isn’t the day for that.”
Mickey walked around the console, “So what do we do? Just sit here?”
“That’s as good as it gets.” Rose leaned against the console and huffed.
“Here we go. Nice cup of tea.” Jackie poured tea from a thermos into a mug.
“The solution to everything,” Rose muttered, frustrated and annoyed.
“Now stop your moaning,” Jackie scolded, and turned to Monty. “I’ll get the rest of the food.”
“Need a hand?”
“No, I can handle it, thanks.” Jackie rushed out, and Mickey looked down at the cup in his hand, glancing at the thermos.
“Tea,” he chuckled, “Like we’re havin’ a picnic while the world comes to an end.”
“It’s very British,” Monty teased, and they both laughed a bit, but Rose was obviously distracted. Mickey wandered over to some sort of screen on the console.
“How does this thing work?” He asked, and Rose turned. “Cause if it picks up TV, maybe we can see what’s goin’ on out there.”
“Maybe we’ve surrendered,” Monty pondered, staring at the walls of the room.
“What do you do to it?”
“I don’t know, it sort of...tunes itself,” Rose shrugged, but joined Mickey at the screen.
“Maybe, if we don’t know how it works, we shouldn’t mess with it,” she called, but when she turned to read the reaction to her words, they were annoyed at best. She threw her hands up, “Or not, go wild, I don’t know.” She moved from where she was leaning to lay on part of it. Rose sat next to her.
“Maybe it’s a distress signal?” Mickey proposed, and Rose scoffed.
“Fat lot of good that’s gonna do.”
“Are you gonna be a misery all the time?”
“Yes.”
“Sounds conclusive to me, Mickey.” Monty sat up, and Mickey smirked.
“You should look at it from my point of view, Rose, stuck in here with your mum’s cooking.” Rose sat up at that.
“Where is she?”
“She left to get food, but she should’ve been back by now,” Monty’s brows furrowed.
“I’d better give her a hand. It might start raining missiles out there.” Rose sauntered over to the door.
“Tell her anything from a tin, that’s fine!” Mickey called, and Rose smirked at that.
“Why don’t you tell her yourself?” she asked, and Mickey walked to the other side of the console, making sure to put down the thermos of tea.
“I’m not that brave.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Rose smiled a bit, and Monty watched Mickey’s grin grow.
Only for both of them to freeze as Rose screamed. Mickey raced towards the doors as Monty fell off of the seat and onto the Doctor, scrambling to get up. She saw outside the door and they weren’t in the same place...but none of them knew how to fly the ship or even realized they'd moved. The aliens, she realized. Rose and Mickey must have sent out a signal when fiddling with that monitor.
She faintly heard Rose shout, “The door! Close the door!” and she and Mickey raced to the door.
He got there first, and shut it, and when Monty tried to open it, it was locked.
“The hell?! C’mon, they’re in trouble!” She turned to the middle of the ship. “I don’t know how or why, but whatever this is, you need to unlock the door!” She shouted at the console, and with one last violent shove, realized the door wouldn’t budge.
“Dammit!” Monty kicked the door out of frustration, before taking a deep breath. “Okay, okay, this is okay. I just have to figure out how to get out of here,” she started pacing in front of the console. “Taking every single liberty available, he,” she gestured at the Doctor, “has to get up because both Rose and Mickey have no idea what to do and I have even less of one when it comes to these particular aliens...” She paused in her pacing, squeezing her eyes shut in memory before she started mumbling.
“...neural implosion, neural meaning brain, his brain was collapsing-oh!” She clapped her hands, gasping in realization, “A jumpstart! Wait,” her face screwed up, “I don’t have any equipment or anything like electricity to restart the brain, what else makes the synapses fire…”
Her head snapped up in realization, “The senses! The senses connect directly to the brain and get the synapses firing! He can’t feel or see, who knows whether he can hear me...I really don’t want to get near his mouth again...Oh! Smell!” She gasped, whirling around, and scrambling for the console. “The tea! The engine’s hot, I felt the heat earlier, so if I just-” she paused, opening the thermos and kneeling next to the Doctor, but she hesitated.
“Listen, uh, TARDIS, if you can understand me, I’m really sorry about dumping tea onto, or into, your engine, I’ll make him help me fix anything that breaks, okay?” And with that, she dumped the tea into the grill, moving the Doctor’s head to the side to breathe it in.
After a few moments of nothing, she stood, biting her thumbnail, frequently glancing at the Doctor. She started mumbling ‘please’ over and over again, trying to think of a plan, any plan, just in case this doesn’t work. She even began to pace before--
“Hello!”
Monty made a sound in between a screech and a yelp, falling in surprise onto the railing behind her. There, sitting in all his glory, was the Doctor. His smile fades and he blinks, staring at her for a moment.
“Who are you?”
“Not really the time for introductions--”
“You were the one who talked to me! A godsend, that’s what you were, curing me of my boredom I’ll tell you that,” he talked a mile a minute, bouncing up off of the floor. He came to hold her shoulders, his smile morphing into a proud and impressed grin. “Clever you for figuring out the tea, I thought we were doomed!”
He whirled around, heading for the doors, and before he opened them he turned again, “Quick question, Monty!”
“How do you know--”
“I heard in my sleep.”
“Uh, okay, what’s the question,” she responded, a bit flustered and dazed at just how rambunctious he was.
“Have we met before?”
She blinked, “Oh, uh, yeah. Well, not really - I was in Downing Street when the whole, er, Slitheen thing happened. I was just an intern, so I was ushered out before they all died. I guess it’s more accurate to say I know of you.”
“Well then!” He bounded back up the stairs and hugged her before sticking out his hand. “It’s an honor, Miss Monty!”
“My pleasure, Mr. Doctor,” she smiled, shaking his hand..
“Ooh, good firm handshake. Now then!”
“Allons-y!” Monty said, and he paused.
“I quite like that, allons-y. I’ll have to remember that.” With that he walked confidently down to the doors, and opened the both of them, and Monty stayed a little behind, giving him his moment.
“Did you miss me?”
As he stepped out, Monty closed the door behind herself, pressing herself to the doors as he stood in front of her. There was a battle cry from the being in charge, and he lashed out with his electrified whip, only for the Doctor to catch it and yank it out of his hand.
“You can have someone’s eye out with that,” he chided, walking toward the apparent leader.
“How dare-” the leader growled, raising his staff to hit the Doctor. The Doctor, however, was having none of it, and grabbed the staff. Pulling it from the grasp of the leader, he broke it over his knee and tossed it away.
“Just can’t get the staff. Now,” he pointed violently at the leader, “you just wait. I’m busy,” he ordered, and turned to face the small audience behind him.
“Mickey, hello!” He greeted, and looked to his right to see Harriet, “And Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North. Blimey, it’s like This is Your Life.” He swung back around to face Rose.
“Tea! That’s all I needed, a good cup of tea! Clever girl Monty was, figuring that out, we just met by the by!” He turned and waved to her, and she awkwardly waved back a little bit. “Superheated infusion of free radicals and tannin, just the thing for healing the synapses. Wrong method, but same conclusion, Monty-girl!”
He turned back to face Rose, face falling to a serious gaze, “Now, first things first. Be honest...how do I look?”
“Um…” Rose hesitated, looking at his face, “Different.”
“Good different or bad different?”
“Just...different.”
“Am I...ginger?”
“No, you’re just sort of...brown,” Rose gestured to her hair a bit.
“Oh I wanted to be ginger, I’ve never been ginger,” he whined, before quickly moving on, “And you, Rose Tyler! Fat lot of good you were, you gave up on me!” He stopped, realizing what he had said. “Oh, that’s rude. Is that the sort of man I am now, rude?” He pondered.
“Rude and not ginger,” Monty answered.
“It wasn’t a question!” He cried, offended, and she snickered.
“I’m sorry, who is this?” Harriet asked, and the Doctor frowned.
“I’m the Doctor.”
“He’s the Doctor,” Rose repeated, a smile ghosting her face.
“What happened to my Doctor?” she pressed, “Or is it a title that’s just passed on?”
The Doctor approached Harriet, “I’m him. I’m literally him. Same man, new face-well, new everything.”
“But you can’t be,” she took in the Doctor’s appearance.
“Harriet Jones, we were trapped in Downing Street and the one thing that scared you wasn’t the aliens, wasn’t the war, it was the thought of your mother being on her own.”
“Oh my God.” The Doctor smiled at that a bit.
“Did you win the election?” She smiled at that.
“Landslide majority.” Before he could properly react, the alien leader stepped forward once more.
“If I might interrupt,” he ground out, clearly aggravated. The Doctor turned, and nodded.
“Yes, sorry. Hello, big fella.”
“Who exactly are you?”
“Well, that’s the question,” the Doctor smiled, but it was tense at best.
“I demand to know who you are!”
“I DON’T KNOW!” The Doctor finally shouted, in a poor impression of the leader. “See, that’s the thing, I’m the Doctor but beyond that, I just don’t know.” His hands found their way into the pockets of his robe, and his posture relaxed. “I literally do not know who I am. It’s all untested,” he began to walk forwards, “Am I funny? Am I...sarcastic?” he glanced at Monty who rolled her eyes, before looking at Rose, “Sexy?” he winked, and she smiled as she looked down.
“A right old misery? Life and soul?” He stepped past the leader, and continued his rant, “Right-handed, left-handed, a gambler, a fighter, a coward, a traitor, a liar, a nervous wreck?” He continued forward up the ramp. “I mean, judging by the evidence, I’ve certainly got a gob.”
“That’s underselling it,” Monty muttered, and he gaped, pointing at her.
“Now who’s rude and not ginger?!” he accused, before turning around, and scoffing with a huge grin. “And how am I gonna react when I see this?” He now pointed at something Monty couldn’t see from her position, and she started slowly making her way forward to try and see it. “A great big threatening button!” The Doctor laughed, and made his way to the button as the group rushed forward to watch. “A great big threatening button which must not be pressed under any circumstances, am I right?”
He bent over the button, studying it, “Let me guess, some sort of control matrix. Hm?” he frowned, “Hold on, what’s feeding it?” He knelt down, opening some sort of panel, “And what have we got here, hm?” When he stood back up, there was something on his finger. “Blood?” he guessed, and tasted it, “Yeah, definitely blood. Human blood. A+, with just a dash of iron,” he stuck out his tongue in distaste, wiping the rest on the robe he was wearing, “but that means...blood control. Blood control! Oh!” He looked at the button with a fondness that comes from looking at antiquated technology.
Monty knew the feeling rather well.
“I haven’t seen blood control for years!” He turned to the leader. “You’re controlling all the A positives. Which leaves us with a great big stinking problem, ‘cause I really don’t know who I am. I don’t know when to stop. So if I see a great big threatening button, which should never ever ever be pressed, then I just wanna do this--” With no hesitation, he slammed his hand on the button, and everyone except Monty cried out in fear.
“You killed them!” Alex shouted, and the Doctor just looked to the leader. Monty shrunk at the accusation, remembering all the people on the roofs of the world. And if he had just killed them, then the Doctor showed an astounding lack of remorse.
“What do you think, big fella? Are they dead?” He asked the leader of the Sycorax.
“We allow them to live,” the leader ground out.
“Allow? You’ve no choice! That’s all blood control is,” he turned to the humans in front of him. “Cheap bit of voodoo. Scares the pants off you but that’s as far as it goes. It’s like hypnosis,” Monty mentally patted herself on the back for her earlier guess, “you can hypnotize someone to walk like a chicken or sing like Elvis, but you can’t hypnotize them to death.”
“Survival instinct is too strong,” she mumbled, and he snapped and pointed at her.
“Exactly!”
“Blood control was just one form of conquest. I can summon the armada and take this world by force.”
“Well yeah, you could, yeah. You could do that, of course you could. But why?” He paused, and gestured to the small group of humans between them. “Look at these people, these human beings. Consider their potential. From the day they arrive on the planet, and, blinking, step into the sun, there is more to see than can ever be seen,” Monty’s brow furrowed, and her mouth opened slightly, “more to do than--no, hold on.”
There was a pause as the Doctor looked down in thought, confusion knitting his eyebrows together. “That’s The Li--” Monty began before he cut her off.
“The Lion King! Thank you Monty. But,” he faced the leader again, “the point still stands.” He stepped away from where he’d been leaning on a bit of the ship. “Leave them alone!”
“Or what?” The leader challenged.
“Or…” the Doctor reached over and took a sword from the belt of a nearby Sycorax guard, running down to stand in front of the TARDIS once more. “I challenge you!”
The ship broke into a cacophony of ragged and, in Monty’s opinion, ear-grating laughter. The Doctor and others looked up into the stands of the Sycorax’s ship, seeing many of their people moving with their amusement.
“Well, that struck a chord.” Monty mentioned.
“Am I right that the sanctified rules of combat still apply?” the Doctor asked.
“You stand as this world’s champion?!” The leader of the Sycorax unsheathed his sword, swiping off what seemed to be a cloak, with the humans close behind.
“Thank you,” the Doctor slipped off the robe Jackie had lent him, “I’ve no idea who I am but you’ve just summed me up.” He tossed it to Rose. “So, do you accept my challenge, or are you just a--” he continued in Sycoraxic, but from the hiss and roar of the crowd, Monty assumed it was something offensive. Both fighters knelt with their swords.
“For the planet?”
“For the planet.”
They stood and the battle commenced. The circled around each other, steel clanging, and at one point the Doctor was shoved backward.
“Look out!” Rose shouted as he dodged an incoming swipe.
“Oh yeah, that helps, I wouldn’t have thought of that otherwise, thanks!” he called back to her, and Monty rolled her eyes.
Eventually, the Doctor lured the leader outside with a taunt. The fighting continued, but Rose and Mickey rushed forward to help the Doctor in a dangerously close moment, Monty grabbed them both.
“We need to stay back--” she started but Rose was squirming and nearly broke free until the Doctor called back to them.
“Invalidate the challenge and he wins the planet!” Rose listened to that immediately, and stopped struggling against Monty’s hold.
There was more fighting, until it looked sure that the Sycorax would win, forcing the Doctor onto his back before he swung his sword at his hand and--
“Oh I’m gonna be sick,” Monty turned away immediately. The Doctor said something, but she didn’t catch it as she tried to focus on something else. She felt a nudge in her side and looked up to Mickey, who was staring ahead, as the Doctor’s fingertips reappeared.
“Witchcraft,” the leader accused, shocked at the recovery.
“Time Lord.”
Monty heard an unsheathing sound to her right and heard Rose shout ‘Doctor!’ before throwing him a sword.
“Oh, so I’m still the Doctor then?”
“No arguments from me!”
As he turned back to the leader, he swung the sword around with his wrist a bit. “You wanna know the best bit? This new hand-it’s a fightin’ hand!” He called in what had to be an imitation of a Texan accent, but Monty huffed in amusement.
“That’s one of the best and worst I’ve heard so far,” she joked to Mickey, who chuckled.
The Doctor must have been right, because the fight didn’t last much longer. Monty couldn’t hear what he was saying over the wind, but when he turned back, he looked pleased enough.
“Bravo!” Harriet called, clapping.
“That says it all, bravo!” Rose agreed, practically skipping to the Doctor to return his robe.
Monty didn’t hear the rest of what he said to Rose, caught up in celebrating with Mickey with a hug. But then, the leader rose, and tried to charge the Doctor from behind.
Just as she went to warn him, he threw a-Monty blinked-a mandarin at the button on the ship. It wasn't a moment later when the part of the ship the leader stood on retracted, causing him to fall to his death. She looked on in slight horror.
“No second chances.” The Doctor muttered. “I’m that sort of a man.”
As they arrived back in that main chamber, Monty headed straight for the TARDIS, only to see that everyone had lagged because the Doctor had stopped.
“By the ancient rites of combat, I forbid you to scavenge here for the rest of time. And when you go back to the stars and tell others of this planet, when you tell them of its riches, its people, its potential, when you talk of the Earth, then make sure that you tell them this: It. Is. Defended.” After that, a blue light shone, and Monty blinked to find herself and the others back on Earth.
“Where are we?” Rose asked, and Mickey grinned.
“We’re just off Bloxsome Road. We’re just ‘round the corner, we did it!” He began to cheer, but the Doctor kept his eyes on the sky, waving at Mickey.
“Wait a minute, wait a minute,” he called, and they watched with bated breath as the ship began to move away, and then Mickey and Rose began cheering in earnest. Monty smiled as she watched it go, standing back as everyone went around celebrating. She awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck as Mickey began to approach, only to be swept up in a hug. She laughed, and when he set her down Rose came in for an excited hug as well before she and Mickey both backed off. She approached Harriet’s assistant.
“How’s this for a memorable Christmas?” They both chuckled and Monty watched as Jackie and Rose reunited, smiling softly. Mickey and the Doctor both strayed that way as Harriet walked over, Alex stepping away to answer a call.
“Agent Montgomery.” At the formal address, she straightened up.
“Prime Minister Jones.” Monty noticed Harriet’s eyes were dim, her face tight.
“You said you didn’t have a code 9, agent. Were you lying to me?”
“No ma’am. He was unconscious until he stepped out of the TARDIS, I truly didn’t know if he was going to survive until then.” Harriet sighed and nodded, and they watched the reunion happening a dozen feet from them. Alex rejoined their small circle.
“It’s a message from Torchwood. They say they’re ready.” Monty’s face fell from a professional neutral to horror.
“Harriet you can’t be serious about what I think you’re suggesting what I think you are!”
“I am, agent.” She emphasized, and Monty lost all sense of professionalism.
“With all due respect, Minister, they’re leaving! It would be an act of--”
“Tell them to fire, Alex.” Monty turned to Alex, horrified, and he backed away from her before stepping away. Monty looked up in helplessness as she heard him utter ‘Fire at will,’ into his earpiece. She turned back to the woman she thought she knew, and backed away.
“That was murder!” The Doctor accused.
“That was defense.” Harriet glanced back up at the sky. “It’s adapted from alien technology. A ship that fell to Earth 10 years ago.”
“But they were leaving!”
“You said yourself, Doctor, they’d go back to the stars and tell others about the Earth. I’m sorry, Doctor, but you’re not here all the time. You come and go. It happened today. Mr. Llewellyn and the Major.” Monty tensed at the mention of someone she worked so closely with. “They were murdered. They died right in front of me while you were sleeping. In which case, we have to defend ourselves.”
“‘Britain’s golden age’.”
“It comes with a price.”
“I gave them the wrong warning. I should have told them to run as fast as they can. Run and hide, because the monsters are coming. The human race.”
“Those are the people I represent. I did it on their behalf.”
“And I should have stopped you.” They both turned at Monty cutting in. “I should have called for him, something to prevent you from spilling the blood of those who had agreed to retreat.”
“Would you have stopped me, Doctor?” Harriet asked.
“I would. I could.”
“What does that make you? Another alien threat?” That seemed to hit a nerve.
“Don’t challenge me, Harriet Jones, ‘cause I’m a completely new man.” He approached her, hands still in his pockets but his words harsh and biting. “I could bring down your government with a single word.”
Harriet met his scorching gaze evenly. “You’re the most remarkable man I’ve ever met, but I don’t think you’re quite capable of that.” There was a tense silence as the two faced off.
“She’s right, Doctor,” Monty called, and he looked at her in surprise. “You’d need six.” He blinked.
“I don’t think so,” Harriet called back to her.
“Six words,” he breathed out in understanding.
“Stop it!”
“Just six.” Harriet turned as the Doctor watched Monty walk over to Alex. She gently removed his earpiece and handed it to him, staring at Harriet and the Doctor as she did so.
“Don’t you think she looks tired?” She asked, and Alex blinked, before slowly looking at Harriet. As Monty walked away, Alex glanced one more time at her before settling his eyes onto Harriet. As she passed the Prime Minister, she kept eye contact, before smoothly moving towards Rose and company. The Doctor looked down at Harriet one last time.
“Six words.” He repeated, before following Monty’s lead and walking away, the rest of the group walking with him.
He caught up to Monty and glanced down at her, and saw the resolve in her face. “Not worried about being a bit harsh?”
“I can’t afford to be.” She sighed, and tucked her hair behind her ear. “My job’s gonna be hell after this, but I can’t let someone like that continue to lead.” He looked back ahead at that, a small impressed smile on his face. He may have just met Monty, but he was rather sure he liked her.
“What did you say to him?” Rose asked, joining the two of them in front. Monty glanced at her and gave a weary sigh.
“Very dangerous words for a politician. Nothing major for anybody else.” She shrugged. “Don’t worry about it.”
Rose, Mickey and Jackie were all preparing Christmas dinner, and they were laughing and chatting quite a bit. Monty was outside on the balcony, anxiously holding the phone and waiting.
“Hello?” She smiled, and felt the tension leave her shoulders.
“Hey, you.”
“Hey, you.” There was a long silence as Monty just breathed in the night air. “One hell of a Christmas, huh Crick?”
“The longest in my life, Watson.” She looked up at the stars. “Is dad okay?”
“He’s exhausted, nearly lost half the lab techs and the cool neighbors.” There was a small rustle. “He’s asleep right now, but I can wake him up if you wanna check in?”
“It’s fine, let him sleep.” Her hand formed a fist, forcing her voice to not quiver. “I’m just glad you guys are okay. I was….I was right in the thick of it, per se.”
“No kidding, that thing was right above you! I’ll make sure to let dad know you’re doing alright though. He was worried sick.” Monty glanced over to the stairs, hearing the echoing steps of the Doctor coming up.
“Yeah, I gotta go. Jackie’s daughter came home for Christmas with Mickey and a new friend, so we’re doing the whole dinner thing. Make sure you and Dad eat something, okay?”
“We will, I promise. I love you!”
“I love you too, kiddo.” She hung up, and a stray tear fell before she composed herself, right when the Doctor reached her floor. “Took you long enough, thought we’d never eat.”
“Quite the accusation, considering you’re outside and not inside.” She chuckled half-heartedly. “Everything alright?”
“Peachy. Just...haven’t seen my own family in a while.” She glanced at him to see him frowning. “Oh don’t be such a worrywart. If you come in looking that sad, I’ll be blamed, and I can’t have that.” They both chuckled, and she turned, opening the door, and gesturing inside. “After you, old man.”
“Oh now that’s low,” his voice faded from the balcony as Monty followed him in and shut the door.
After a successful dinner and a broadcast reporting on the Prime Minister’s health scare, Jackie walked in after hanging up the phone. “It’s Bev, she says go and look outside.”
“What?” Rose asked.
“I don’t know, just go outside and look. Come on, shift!” They all put on jackets and headed outside, only to see what looked like snow falling. Many of their neighbors joined them, all starstruck at the sight of snow, and Monty looked up, noticing a lack of clouds and multiple meteors. Her smile fell, and she looked to the Doctor for confirmation, who nodded. Rose and the others walked out, with the Doctor in tow, but Monty stayed behind, disgusted by the ash falling in the sky.
Mickey noticed and walked back, holding out his hand. “I’m not gonna let my best mate stand all alone looking miserable.” She smiled a little, and took his hand, joining the others as the Doctor rambled about how this was a brand new Earth.
“And what about you?” Rose fiddled with her glove, not looking at him as she asked. “What are you gonna do next?”
“Well…” He glanced behind him at the TARDIS before refocusing on her, “Back to the TARDIS, same old life.”
“On your own?”
“Why, don’t you wanna come?”
“Well yeah.”
“Do you?”
“Yeah!”
“Well I just thought, ‘cause I’d changed--”
“Yeah, I thought, ‘cause you changed...you might not want me anymore.” Rose admitted.
“Oh I’d love you to come,” he breathed out a smile, and she smiled back.
“Okay!” Her voice was shaky in relief, and Monty smiled at the interaction.
“You’re never gonna stay, are you?” Mickey asked, and Monty’s smile faded, remembering how hard it must be for him right now.
“There’s just so much out there…” Rose faced him. “So much to see, I’ve got to.” There was a moment before Mickey returned her gaze with a sad smile.
“Yeah.”
“Well I reckon you’re mad, the pair of you. It’s like you go looking for trouble.” Jackie shook her head, and the Doctor strutted over to her.
“Trouble’s just the bits in-between. It’s all waiting out there, Jackie. And it’s brand new to me. All those planets, creatures and horizons, haven’t seen them yet. Not with these eyes.” He walked back to Rose’s side, looking back up at the sky with her. “And it is gonna be…” He looked down to her with a grin. “Fantastic.”
There was a hopeful silence between them, and the Doctor turned, catching sight of Monty. “Ah, Monty! Never did thank you properly. I don’t really know what to do in return for putting that puzzle together.”
She waved him off. “Don’t worry about it, God knows I’ll probably have to save you again in the future.”
Rose and the Doctor exchanged a look, before she stepped towards her. “Do you...want a trip?” She nodded back to the TARDIS.
Monty blinked, face neutral for a second before she gaped at her. “Are-you can’t be…”She looked at the Doctor just to see him grinning back. “There’s no- I-” She laughed in shock, and Rose grinned.
“You said you liked space, and that’s a ticket to all of space right there.” She could understand why the Doctor liked offering this to other people. Monty’s reaction was priceless, like she’d offered free candy for life to a kid.
“The TARDIS can always use an exceptionally clever girl.” The Doctor added.
“I-I want to, don’t get me wrong!” She started, and both Rose’s and the Doctor’s face started to fall. “I really-I can’t even begin to say how tempting the offer is, but…” She gestured around. “This place is gonna have a change in leadership, real soon, and the chaos from that is gonna require an awful lot of cleverness to rein in.” She gave them a sad smile, and while Rose was disappointed, she couldn’t help but feel relief deep down.
“Besides, you two are likely to turn up again. I’m sure I’ll see more of you soon.”