Chapter Text
Monty hummed as she helped Jackie with decorating the apartment for Christmas. It had been a long couple of months since she’d moved in. While she felt exhausted from work and the move, she still felt cheery for the holiday season. She picked a bauble from the box and hung it on the tree, smiling, and turned to call to Jackie for opinions on the tree. Her voice died in her throat as she saw Jackie sitting on the arm of the sofa, staring at the gift she’d gotten for Rose.
“She’ll be back, you know,” Monty assured, and Jackie looked up to see a small smile on her face. She adjusted an ornament on the tree, “I’ll betcha 15 quid she arrives in the next hour.” Jackie chuckled a little, and Monty’s smile grew in triumph.
“If you throw in dinner tonight, I’ll take it,” Jackie agreed, and set the gift under the tree. Monty handed her the others to arrange as she saw fit. There weren’t many, but it felt nice seeing the tree all done.
“You want some tea, Jackie?”
“I only trust you to boil the water, you Yank.” Monty’s laugh echoed from the kitchen as Jackie hung Christmas cards on the wall, before stopping. “Monty, do you hear that?” There was a pause, with a faint, almost grinding sound in the air.
“Yeah, what is that?” Jackie blinked before gasping
“Rose!” With that, she flew into action, slipping on shoes and flying towards the door, Monty calling out for her to slow down, but Jackie didn’t care. She ran outside as fast as she could, and ran into Mickey in the alley. “Mickey!”
“Jackie it’s the TARDIS!”
“I know, I know, I heard it! She’s alive Mickey! I said so didn’t I?” Jackie and Mickey both kept turning to see if they could spot the TARDIS as Monty caught up.
“Is it Rose?” She asked, panting, and Jackie spun to face her.
“She’s alive!” Jackie cried, and hugged Monty who didn’t even have time to hug back before Jackie let go.
“Just shut up a minute,” Mickey shushed them, and they were quiet for a few seconds as Monty caught her breath.
“Well, where is it?” Monty asked, and as if on cue, the TARDIS burst through the sky. It flew haphazardly between the buildings, bumping and crashing into the sides. A truck swerved out of the way, and when the TARDIS finally landed, it knocked several trash cans out of the way.
While Mickey and Jackie ran towards it, Monty approached with a little more caution. It wasn’t her first run in with the Doctor, and she’d read plenty of reports and files and testimonies about him. Even so, she wasn’t feeling prepared for her first actual encounter.
Luckily for her, her presence was ignored entirely.
“Here we are, then. London! Earth! The solar system! Lookit it!” She heard him call out. Stepping forward she got the view of a tall, lanky, and admittedly very handsome man stumbling from the TARDIS. When he saw the two people standing outside, he straightened up and looked shocked. “Jackie, Mickey, blimey-no, no, no no, hold on.” He stepped back, holding his hands out, keeping his distance. “Wait there - what was I going to say?” He began to walk around them, and Monty stayed about ten feet away, close enough to intervene but giving some privacy. “There was something I had to tell you. Something important. What was it? No, hold on.” He reached forward and grabbed Mickey and Jackie’s shoulders as he hunched in concentration. “Hold on, hold on, shshshsh…” Monty started taking a step forward when “Oh! I know!” And she started walking towards them, concerned when the man gave an erratic smile to the pair. “Merry Christmas!” And he promptly collapsed.
Monty rushed forward, catching him before he hit his head as Mickey reached out to steady him. They laid him down and Monty opened her mouth to ask who this was, but the door opening once more stopped her. She looked up, alarmed, to see a face she’d only seen in the pictures in the hallway. This was definitely the infamous Rose Tyler.
“What happened? Is he all right?” She asked, before locking eyes with Monty.
“I don’t know, he just keeled over,” Mickey replied before she had a chance to ask who this other girl was. “But who is he? Where’s the Doctor?”
Rose decided whoever this girl with her mother and boyfriend was, she could wait. “That’s him.” She gestured to the man on the ground. “Right in front of you. That’s the Doctor.” She stared at him, feeling overwhelmed. Jackie scoffed.
“What d’you mean, ‘that’s the Doctor’? Doctor who?”
With Jackie and Rose holding doors, Monty and Mickey carried the Doctor upstairs. Once inside, Jackie fetched some pajamas Howard kept there. The girls went into the living room while Mickey dressed him, Monty sitting on the couch as Jackie sat in the chair. Rose opted to pace, biting her nails and rubbing her face.
“We need something to check how he’s doing, like a stethoscope or something,” Rose told Jackie, and Monty stood.
“Our neighbor Tina has a roommate, a medical student. I’ll go see if I can borrow hers.” Rose ignored her, and Monty hesitated before heading out.
The walk didn’t take long, but when she arrived, the student was asleep. She sighed, before Tina shuffled in.
“Take it, I know you’re good for returning it, dear.” Monty whipped around, surprised, before smiling.
“Thank you so much, I’ll bring it back as soon as we’re done. If she wakes up before then tell her I’ll pay her for any damage or if it’s lost.”
“Of course, Monty. Now, you get on home. I don’t know what you need it for, but it must be important.” With that, Monty was ushered out and she headed back home. Once there, she stepped into what was her bedroom and handed Rose the stethoscope.
“I still say we should take him to the hospital,” Jackie said, and Monty shook her head.
“We can’t, they’d lock him up. They’d dissect him,” Rose explained, “One bottle of his blood could change the future of the human race.” Jackie opened her mouth to argue but Monty stepped in.
“Jackie, let’s let Rose check his heartbeat. Then we can ask questions.” When Rose looked back, Monty gave a small, understanding smile. When Jackie left the room, Monty approached Rose. “This may not be helpful, but I have basic medical training. Admittedly, it’s based on, y’know, humans but I figure it’s better than nothing. I can watch over him if you want?”
“Sorry, who exactly are you?” Rose snapped, and Monty stepped back a bit, hands up.
“Whoa, hey, just tryin’ to help. My name’s Monty, I’m your mom’s roommate. Well, part-time, anyway,” Monty introduced herself, and held out a hand, the other still in the air. “If you recognize me, it’s because I was in Downing Street when the whole...green people thing happened. Sli-teed?”
“Sli- theen . Why are you living with my mum?”
“Ah, right. I was in need of a place to live whenever I was in the country and happened to make friends with Jackie. She offered, and I accepted. I pay half of the rent whenever I’m here, and a third of it whenever I’m not-”
“Yeah well you can find some other flatmate that isn’t somebody’s mum, thanks.” Rose bumped her shoulder roughly on the way out, and Monty gulped.
“Okay then,” she nearly whispered, and sat on the couch. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Jackie, who gave a small squeeze before joining Rose in the kitchen.
Monty took this opportunity and grabbed the stethoscope. She remembered a coworker that she'd briefly met, one Lethbridge-Stewart. He'd provided plenty of information about extraterrestrial beings, including the one in front of her. As she stared, she remembered he'd said the man had two hearts and an ability to save himself from death, using ‘regeneration.’
“Hm, you must’ve been in a pickle then, huh?” She grabbed a flashlight she kept in her nightstand and sighed. “I don’t know if you can hear me or not, but we used to talk to my gramps when he lived with my family. He was a veteran, and complained it was too silent if nobody was talking, especially when he was going to bed or taking a nap.” She chuckled, and put on the stethoscope. “He found it comforting. So, just in case you’re in there, and listening, I’ll talk to you.”
She carried out a few basic checks, talking to the man beneath her the entire time. When she was satisfied he wasn’t braindead and his heartbeat wasn’t deteriorating, she gently touched his hand.
“I’m gonna head into the living room so Rose doesn’t want to tear my head off more than she already does." The small chuckle that followed was half-hearted at best. “I’ll be back a bit later to watch over you, make sure you don’t do anything... weird while you sleep.”
As Monty entered the living room, Rose and Jackie were watching the TV. Rose glanced at her when she walked in, before blushing and looking away. Harriet Jones was on, speaking about the space probe that was launched earlier.
“Oh I know her! She’s amazing! One of the best leaders I’ve met so far, in my own personal opinion,” Monty smiled at seeing PM Jones on the screen. And a minute later, a man appeared, being interviewed about the project. “Oh, him too! Awfully anxious but otherwise pretty nice.” She glanced at the two women next to her only to see she was receiving strange looks. “Oh, sorry, work stuff. I’ll explain in a moment, I wanna watch the broadcast.” She leaned on the chair across from them.
“... and that is what we’re achieving 50 million miles away, our very own miracle.” It cut to an animation of the probe. “ The unmanned probe Guinevere One is about to make its final descent. Photographs of the Martian landscape should be received by midnight tonight. ” Rose looked at Monty, taking the time to notice that she was staring hard at the TV, her leg bouncing. She couldn't help but smile a little as she raised her thumbnail to her mouth, staring at the TV.
“D’you like space?” she asked, and Monty glanced at her, a grin appearing. Rose noticed how it looked a lot like her old Doctor’s smile, like a kid had stepped into a sweet shop. The thought caused her face to fall, but it seemed to have gone by unnoticed.
“Yeah! My dad was an astronomer, worked for NASA for a long time. I guess it passed onto me and my brother.” Her gaze unfocused, drifting upwards in thought. “Amazing that we can send a probe to Mars, barely 30 years after landing on the moon.” She stood straight before looking back at Rose. “Do you like it? I mean, I know you travel in the TARDIS and all, but did you like space before that?”
“I dunno. I thought it was interesting, but I didn’t take a big fancy to it." There was a brief silence, and Jackie glanced between the two. She mumbled an excuse as she stood, moving to the kitchen for a cup of tea. “Sorry for snapping earlier. My mum and I tend to get angry when we’re scared or upset.”
“Hey, it’s alright. I don’t blame you for getting frustrated or riled up, this is a...difficult situation at best, and an extremely stressful one at worst. But, thanks for apologizing. It means more than you know.” Rose looked at Monty in disbelief; she had snapped at her earlier for coincidentally living with her mum, and she was already forgiven? Monty caught her gaze and nervously glanced away. "I was more afraid you'd insist that I leave, y'know? Force me to find some other place to live."
Rose shook her head, looking away wit a small smile. "I wouldn't do that, not at Christmas. Besides, I think..." She looked back up at the other girl, meeting her gaze. "I think my mum and I could use all the help we can get 'round here."
And for the first time since her arrival, Rose and Monty shared genuine smiles.
Rose and Mickey had left to go shopping, and shortly after a Christmas tree had been left at the door. After helping Jackie set it up in the living room, Monty sat down next to the Doctor’s bed and began reading. She was quiet for the most part, with occasional mumbles about the plot, or explaining the latest twist to the Doctor. Jackie was bustling about the apartment, chatting with someone. Monty had already had a chat with her brother earlier, and after that plugged her phone in to charge.
“It’s obvious that the professor murdered her, he might as well just wear a sandwich board reading ‘I am the murderer!’. Of course, Penny doesn’t think so, though I think that’s mainly because she’s distracted by the woman who--” Monty stopped as she noticed his mouth open. She nearly threw her book down, standing up to lean over the Doctor. As she checked for any sign of consciousness, he blew out a wave of golden smoke into her face.
“Oh, ew , I just breathed in your alien glowy extract! ” She tried to cough it up but none of the glowing air she breathed in came back out. “Okay, pal, you owe me for taking care of you now. Before it was a favor but now it is official, I will demand compensation of some kind-” Monty stopped again. “Oh god that wasn’t like when gas escapes from corpses, was it?!” She scrambled for the stethoscope and quickly checked his heartbeats. A sigh of relief sounded as she found both hearts beating away.
“Oh no, don’t come ‘round darling. No, the flat’s all topsy-turvy.” Monty looked up at Jackie when she stepped in, and mouthed ‘thank-you’ as Jackie handed her the cup. She could hear someone on the phone chatter back. “Yeah, she just barges in and litters the place.” Monty tuned her out and held the mug as she leaned on the bed, but her thoughts were interrupted by Rose and Mickey nearly breaking down the door. She watched them run in like bats out of hell, panting and clearly panicked.
“Get off the phone!” Monty sprung up at Rose’s shouting, and set the tea on the dresser on her way out. By the time she got to the living room, Rose had hung up the phone. “Right. It’s not safe, we’ve gotta get out. Where can we go?”
“My mate Stan, he’ll put us up,” Mickey offered.
“That’s only two streets away. Monty, do you know anyone?”
“The only people I know well enough to ask are in this room or across the world.”
“Right, okay. What about Mo? Where’s she living now?” She turned to Jackie, who stumbled a bit.
“I dunno, Peak District.”
“We’ll go to Cousin Mo’s then,” Rose decided, but Jackie intervened immediately.
“It’s Christmas Eve! We’re not going anywhere! What are you babbling about?” Jackie cried, but Rose wasn’t looking at Jackie anymore. Rather, she was staring behind her.
“Mum...where’d you get that tree?” Everyone turned their eyes towards it. “That’s a new tree, where’d you get it?”
“We thought it was you,” Jackie answered, looking to Monty for confirmation.
“How can it be me?”
“Well, you went shopping, someone rang the doorbell and it was just sitting there.” Monty inspected the tree more carefully now.
“No that wasn’t me,” Rose said, getting a little nervous.
“Then who was it?” Jackie asked after a pause, and the lights began lighting up. Monty felt someone grab her jacket, and turned to see Mickey pulling her back slowly, eyes locked on the tree.
“Oh, you've got to be kidding me,” Rose mumbled, but the tree began to spin and play a song. It spun faster and faster, slowly moving towards them, kicking up quite the breeze. Monty gulped as the table sitting in the tree's path didn't provide a shred of resistance to its branches.
“Let’s go! Quick, get out!” Mickey yelled, and Monty maneuvered Rose and Jackie in front of her. Yet, as Jackie ran to the door, Rose ran to the bedroom the Doctor slept in.
“We’ve got to save the Doctor!” Rose cried, and Monty tried to get her to the door. Jackie exclaimed something was in the background, but Monty didn’t pay any attention.
“Rose we gotta go!”
“We can’t just leave him!” Rose shouted at Monty and she sighed.
“Then let’s move him-” Monty stopped as she noticed she was being ignored and rolled her eyes. “Brilliant, let’s hide in a room, the table didn’t stop it but I’m sure the wall will,” she nearly yelled, but the argument fell on deaf ears. Deciding that right now, her frustrations were unimportant, she ushered Jackie into the room. “Mickey! Get into this room or so help me god I will help you into the room!” She called, and Mickey hesitated, trying to hold it back with a chair, before giving up and running inside.
Monty closed the door and helped Mickey move her empty dresser in front of it, and the pair held it there. “Rose whatever plan you have in mind had better start going better or we might have just killed ourselves as well as him!” When the wardrobe began to shake, Monty stopped paying attention to the rest of the room and tried to hold it in place, only for it to fall apart shortly after. Jackie cowered in the corner and Mickey hid in the other, and Monty stood in front of the Doctor’s bed, trying to protect him until the last second.
Right when she was about to face her death, the tree exploded right in front of her, and she quickly shielded her face. She looked at the figure on the bed to see him sitting up, which was new, but not as new as the weird blue...wand in his hand?
“Remote control.” She gaped at him, even more surprised that he seemed perfectly fine for a guy who was comatose before.
Aliens , she thought with an internal roll of her eyes.
Before she had the chance to ask any questions, he spoke again, “But who’s controlling it?” and he sprung out of the bed, rushing out of the apartment like he knew where he was the whole time. He headed outside with Rose on his heels, and Mickey right behind her. Monty let Jackie head through first and sighed at the massive damage the tree had caused.
They walked down the hall a bit before looking out at the apparent…Santas… standing in the street below. Monty stood, watching them, and then watched as they disappeared.
“They’ve just gone,” she heard Mickey mumble, “What kind of rubbish were they? I mean, no offence, but they’re not much cop if a sonic screwdriver’s gonna scare them off.”
“Pilot fish.” Monty froze.
“What?” Rose asked.
“They were just pilot fish.” There’s a moment and Monty looks back out to where they were standing, only to hear the Doctor suddenly gasp and groan in pain. Turning around, she sees him collapse against the wall, gripping his head. She rushes over, standing near the back, before stepping back a little bit. If he’s collapsing, Rose would know better about what to do, and crowding him would just irritate the issue.
“You woke me up too soon,” he says to Rose, nearly hyperventilating, “I’m still regenerating. I’m bursting with energy.” With that, he lifts his head and Monty watches as that orange dust floated out of his mouth again. She assumed that was the energy from his regeneration, pent up inside him.
And now me .
Her nose scrunched.
“You see? The pilot fish could smell it a million miles away. So they eliminate the defense, that’s you lot, and they carry me off.”
“Use you to power whatever they need?” Monty asked, and he nodded.
“Exactly, they could run their batteries on me for a couple years-!” He cut himself off with a shout of pain, pushing off the wall and onto the floor, leaning on the railing of the balcony, Jackie fretting as she balanced him. “My head-! I-I’m having a neural implosion,” Monty could see that. “I need-”
“What do you need?” Jackie interrupted.
“I need-”
“Just say. Tell me tell me tell me tell me! Painkillers?”
“I need-”
“D’ya need aspirin?! Codeine?! Paracetamol?! Oh I don’t know, pepto bismol?!! Liquid paraffin. Vitamin C, vitamin D, vitamin E!”
“I need-”
“Is it food? Something simple. Bowl of soup? Nice bowl of soup? Soup and a sandwich? Oh soup and a little ham sandwich?!”
“ I need you to shut up! ” The Doctor finally cried out, and Jackie looked annoyed.
“Well he hasn’t changed that much, has he?” She mumbled, but there wasn’t time for a reaction, as the Doctor spasmed again, catching himself on a window sill.
“We haven’t got much time,” he gasped, heaving for air. “If there’s pilot fish then,” he trailed off, looking down, “Why is there an apple in my dressing gown?”
“Oh that’s Howard, sorry,” Jackie answered.
“He keeps apples in his dressing gown?”
“He gets hungry.”
“What, he gets hungry in his sleep?”
“Sometimes-”
“I hate to break this up but we have more important things to discuss,” Monty interrupted. The Doctor looked at her, confused, before collapsing again, crying out in pain.
“Brain...collapsing…” he weakly grabbed out for Rose, pulling her close as he fought to stay awake. His chest was heaving, his breathing erratic and desperate. “The...the pilot fish...the pilot fish mean there’s something...something…” he centered himself, making one last effort to look at Rose. “ Something’s coming .”
His eyes shut as his body fell slack, collapsing the rest of the way to the floor.