A Chiswick Christmas Carol 8/8 + Epilogue
Title: A Chiswick Christmas Carol 8/8
Author: pippnfrodo
Beta: The wonderfully amazing glory_jean. Thanks again *so* much!
A/N: Well, here we are folks. The end of the road. Thanks to Mrs. Roy for giving me the chance to join you guys in this rewrite, it was lots of fun, and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Also, thanks to everyone for the wonderful feedback, it was really appreciated. See you on the flip side! (Epilogue posted tomorrow)
While they were making fun of him, the Doctor turned back towards the Empress, decorations still in hand.
“I gave you your last chance, Empress. What happens now is your own doing,” he told her sternly, holding up the baubles for her to see.
The Empress stared horrified at the decorations, but then seemed to recover herself. At least enough to tell him, “My children are hurrying towards the surface as we speak! They will be here before you can even try to defeat me!”
“Oh, we’ll see about that.” Rose said from beside him, and Donna stepped up next to her.
“You can do nothing!” The Empress declared again, glaring at the three of them.
Wordlessly, the Doctor raised his hand into the air, still holding the decorations. He then drew his arm back, and threw the baubles across the chamber and in the Empress’ general direction.
In theory, the decorations weren’t actually supposed to do much destruction at all; just enough to take care of the Empress’ children and to scare the Empress back to her ship.
But, his theory didn’t actually follow through as planned. There was a lot more water, and more explosions in general than he’d expected.
“What’s with you and blowing things up?” Rose asked him, only partially teasing. “First my job, and now this.”
Donna turned to stare at him. “You blew up her job?” She asked in sharp disbelief.
“I didn’t mean to!” The Doctor protested. “And I didn’t mean this either!” He said, waving his hand at the chamber below them.
In the chamber, several of the baubles had landed and then exploded at the Empress’ feet, causing a small fire to start right in front of her. But the major damage had been caused by most of the decorations landing near the hole, and their following explosions turning most of the hole and the ground around it into pure rubble.
That would probably have been enough to stop the Empress’ children from escaping the hole and coming to the surface, but their fate was sealed when a few of the stray baubles smashed into the walls of the corridor. The walls were destroyed once the baubles exploded, and water began rushing in torrents through the rubble of the walls.
The Empress wailed grief-stricken as the water flooded into the chamber, and then down through the rubble of the hole and the ground. “My children! No! No!” She wailed as her children were drowned and suffocated by the rubble and water.
“Wow, you really are good at blowing up things,” Donna commented, staring at the destruction the baubles had caused. “I’m impressed.”
The Doctor sighed noisily, running a hand through his hair. “I didn’t mean to! It wasn’t…” He flinched as the Empress continued wailing hysterically, mourning her children.
Rose gently tugged him into an embrace, and held him tightly against her. “Know you didn’t, it was just a mistake,” she reassured him, before pulling just far enough away to kiss his cheek. “But there’s nothing more we can do here.”
“Rose…” He began to say, but then Donna interrupted him as the rest of the wall crumbled and they began to be sprayed with water.
“I hate to interrupt you two, but we’d better get out of here before something happens to us!” Donna warned them, ringing out her drenched hair and trying to ring out her dress.
The two of them quickly sprang apart, suddenly aware of being drenched with the water, but continued to hold each other’s hands.
“Right!” The Doctor agreed, turning away from the destruction to look at them, wet hair plastered against his forehead. “Let’s go!” He said, heading for the stairs and pulling an equally drenched Rose along with him.
Donna quickly followed them up the stairs, slipping once or twice, with the wails of the Empress ringing in her ears. As they left the chamber, the last thing she heard was the Empress demanding to be transported somewhere.
~~~~
The Racnoss Empress teleported herself back to her web in the sky, and sat fuming at the head of her ship. “Oh, they will suffer! So suffer!” She announced, hissing angrily as she glared down at the Earth and its people who dared defy her. “This planet shall be scorched!”
~~~~
Once they returned to the corridor, which was also wet with spray, Donna had expected they would escape to the surface in the Doctor's spaceship. But when they came to the door with the ladder leading to the Thames, the Doctor turned and ran towards it instead.
“Doctor!” Rose called after him. “Where’re you going?”
Donna stopped abruptly, and her wet shoes squeaked on the wet floor as she turned. “You’re ship's still this way!” She told him hurriedly, taking a few steps back towards them.
“I know that!” The Doctor yelled back to her as he spun the wheel once again to open the door. “But we’re going this way!”
Rose frowned, staring at him as he finally opened the door. “But what about the Tardis?” She asked as he pulled it open and then darted inside.
His voice came back slightly muffled as he paused at the base of the ladder. “She’ll be fine! C’mon!”
“Doctor!” Rose protested, but then gave up when he disappeared from her view up the ladder. She sighed noisily and turned to look at Donna who had been slowly picking her way back towards them. “Well, we’d better follow him.”
Donna paused next to Rose, and said with a laugh, “Someone still needs to keep him out of trouble.”
Rose laughed as she walked over to the room, and then went inside, “Oh you wouldn’t believe the trouble he can get into, even without trying.”
“I bet,” Donna agreed with a snicker, following Rose.
By the time Donna was at the bottom of the ladder, Rose was already hurrying up it after the Doctor. Apparently neither of them was very concerned by the water that was pouring down on them here, too.
Donna sighed and began slowly going up the ladder, trying to ignore the water getting in her eyes and the slipperiness of the metal ladder under her uncomfortable shoes. The wedding dress didn’t help make it very easy either.
Eventually Donna got the hang of it and was soon only a few rungs behind Rose.
When they were a little over halfway and still climbing, Rose called up the Doctor, “But what about the Empress?”
“She’s used up all her Huon energy,” the Doctor explained, yelling down to her. “She’s defenseless!”
~~~~~
As Rose, Donna and the Doctor continued climbing, the condition outside was a different matter.
Huge army tanks were rumbling down the now empty streets of London, the citizens of London having hidden indoors once the “star” in the sky turned out to be more than just decoration.
Once the star was within shooting difference, the tanks stopped and aimed all of their cannons up at the star.
One of the commanders, who had been walking alongside the tanks, finished talking to someone through their earpiece and turned towards a soldier who was sitting at the head of the tank next to him. “Orders from Mr. Saxon, fire at will!”
The solider nodded and spoke into his radio. “Fire!”
From all directions, cannon balls from all of the tanks shot out at the star. A few seconds later, they all hit their target, and the star quickly fell to pieces until it finally burst into flame and disintegrated completely, the Empress and all.
By then, Rose, the Doctor and Donna had reached the top of the ladder and were clambering out into the night.
The Doctor, who had been the first one out, placed a hand on their shoulders and turned Rose and Donna in the direction of the star as he pointed it out to them.
“Look! Look,” he said, staring at it as if transfixed.
Rose and Donna turned just in time to see the star as it disintegrated into the night sky. Once they realized what’d happened, the two women turned to grin at each other, and then promptly began cheering and whooping at their success.
“We did it!” Rose declared happily, spinning in place. “We did it!”
Donna clapped her hands. “Yes, we did! We showed that Empress lady who’s boss!” She shouted happily, waving her fist in the air.
The Doctor grinned at them. “I think congratulations are in order,” he declared, and then caught Rose when she leapt at him. “We were brilliant.”
“Yes, yes we were.” Rose agreed, and then proceeded to snog him.
Once a few long seconds went by, Donna stopped cheering and turned towards them. Once she saw what they were doing, she rolled her eyes and then loudly cleared her throat.
They continued for a few seconds longer before finally pulling away from each other, grinning happily.
As the Doctor gently lowered Rose back to her feet, Donna commented, “Well, no guessing what you two are anymore.”
Holding Rose against him with his arm around her waist, the Doctor asked, confused, “What do you mean?”
Donna shook her head at him, crossing her arms across her chest. “You’re not just a spaceman, you’re a dense spaceman. Listen Martian boy, if you kiss her like that, there’s no way you’re just friends. No guy kisses a girl who's just a friend like that.”
The Doctor lightly squeezed Rose. “I never said she was just a friend.” He looked down at Rose, seeing the happy grin that now seemed permanently etched onto her face. “She’s…. She’s Rose.”
Rose’s grin widened. “Aw, such a sweet talker, you are,” she teased, reaching up to kiss him on the cheek.
Donna rolled her eyes again. “If you two lovebirds can tear yourself away from each other for just a moment, you’d realize we have a problem.” When they just stared cluelessly at her, Donna told them, trying not to laugh, “We’ve drained the Thames.”
“No… really?” The Doctor asked disbelievingly.
“See for yourself,” Donna said, pointing at the river around them.
Rose and the Doctor moved a little closer to the edge and stared at the sight around them.
“Oh my gosh, she’s right!” Rose exclaimed with a laugh.
“We drained the Thames!” The Doctor announced with a wild grin, and then burst out laughing.
Rose quickly followed suit, doubling over with laughter. Donna held out for a few seconds more before she slipped and smiled before starting to laugh as well.
For a few good long minutes, they simply stood on top of the flood barrier, collapsed in laughter as the events of the day caught up with them, and the realization of just what they’d done. Nearby, the boats that were now stranded in the dry riverbed began honking at each other pointlessly, making the trio begin to laugh all over again.
When they finally managed to get themselves under control again, the Doctor helped first Rose and then Donna back to their feet.
“Let’s get you home,” he told Donna with a smile.
~~~~
The Tardis materialized on an ordinary-looking Chiswick street just a few minutes later. It was dark out still, and the lights on all the houses down the block were blaring bright.
As they stepped out, the Doctor proudly announced, “Well, here we are then. Chiswick.”
Donna turned to smile at him. “Good to know you finally got it right.”
He opened his mouth to protest, but then decided he’d be better off not saying anything.
Rose was the one who came to his rescue. “He does sometimes,” she said, then rested a hand against the side of the Tardis. “Will she be all right, Doctor?” Rose asked worriedly.
“Oh, she’ll be fine,” The Doctor quickly reassured her. “She can survive anything, my old girl can.”
Donna sighed unhappily. “More than I’ve done,” she said softly.
“You did a lot, today!” Rose reassured Donna, resting a hand on her shoulder. “We would’ve been lost without your help.”
The Doctor slipped his sonic back out of his pocket and ran it up and down Donna’s body, scanning her. “Nope!” He announced. “All the Huon particles have gone.” He smiled at her. “No damage, you’re fine.”
Donna didn’t look too reassured. “Yeah, but apart from that…” She said unhappily. “I missed my wedding, lost my job and became a widow on the same day.” Donna wrinkled her nose. “Sort of.”
“Oh, Donna.” Rose said softly, lightly hugging the woman. “No need to worry about it, I’m sure you’ll be fine,” she pulled away again to smile at Donna. “Not a lot of people could do what you did today.”
Donna managed a weak smile. “Yeah, I guess.”
The Doctor shifted uncomfortably. “I couldn’t save him,” he told her gently, hands in pockets.
“He deserved it,” Donna said unfeelingly with a light shrug, nodding.
When Rose looked reproachfully at her and the Doctor raised his eyebrows, Donna’s face softened and she sighed. “No, he didn’t.”
Donna ducked her head and then looked around at her house. “I’d better get inside,” she told them. “They’ll be worried.”
“You’re the best present they could have,” Rose reassured Donna honestly.
The three of them were silent as through the window they watched Donna’s mum and dad embrace each other.
“Oh, wait,” the Doctor said abruptly. “You hate Christmas.”
Donna nodded, turning back to them. “Yes, I do.”
“Even, if it snows?” the Doctor asked, looking at her curiously as he walked backwards towards the Tardis. He stopped at the doors and reached up to some point inside and just above the frame.
Before Donna could say anything, the light on the top of the Tardis glowed brightly and then a ball of light shot out from it and up into the sky.
It rose against the darkness of the night before exploding like a fireworks display, and becoming softly falling snow.
Donna laughed with delight. “I can’t believe you did that!”
Rose lowered her head from the sky to look over at the Doctor. “What’s with you making it snow on Christmas?”
He frowned at her. “What, don’t you like it?”
She grinned at him. “I love it!”
The Doctor smiled at her, leaning back against the doors as he took in the looks of delight on Donna and Rose’s faces.
“Merry Christmas,” Donna said finally, but she was still smiling.
“Merry Christmas!” Rose exclaimed happily, twirling in the snow.
“And you,” the Doctor replied. “So…” he began, looking at Donna curiously, “What will you do with yourself now?”
Donna took a breath and then let it out again. “Not getting married for starters,” she said frankly, and Rose laughed from where she was wobbling a little next to the Doctor. Donna looked up at the snow, as if it held the answers. “And, I’m not gonna temp anymore,” she stated, shaking her head. Donna was silent then for a few long seconds as she thought, but finally she continued, “I dunno…travel…see a bit more of planet Earth…walk in the dust.” She listed off, and then shrugged. “Just… go out there, and do something.”
The Doctor smiled at her, “Sounds brilliant.” He looked down at Rose, who was standing upright now, mostly by aid of her arm looped through his.
She noticed him looking at her, and looked back at him confusedly. “What?”
He glanced at Donna briefly before returning his eyes to hers.
Rose stared at him for a few more moments before her eyes widened slightly. “Oh. Really?” She asked delightedly.
The Doctor nodded.
“What’re you two on about now?” Donna called to them curiously.
Rose turned towards Donna with a happy grin. “You could come with us, travel with us, I mean…”
Donna smiled, but shook her head. “Thanks, but no.”
Rose’s face fell a little at her response, but the Doctor looked like he’d half expected it.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t…” Donna began to explain before she trailed off.
Rose’s smile returned a little as she said, “No, its fine. We understand.”
“Maybe some other time, though?” The Doctor suggested lightly. “It’s so beautiful out there…” He told her earnestly, voice soft.
“It really is, Donna.” Rose agreed, nodding her head. “There’s so much out there, so much more than you could ever imagine.”
Donna smiled at them, “I’d think so.” She appeared to think for a moment before she said, “Maybe some other time.”
The two of them grinned happily at her.
“Well, that’s all right then,” the Doctor commented, relaxing slightly.
There was a short silence between them again, until Donna asked hesitantly, “I don’t suppose I’d have any luck inviting you two to Christmas dinner, would I?”
The Doctor and Rose looked at each other for a few long moments before Rose turned back to Donna first.
“Thanks, but we’d better get going,” Rose told the other woman gently. “Go enjoy being with your family,” she said, wincing barely noticeably.
The Doctor gently squeezed her hand, but said nothing.
“Oh, but tell you what I’ll do,” Rose said suddenly, and let go of the Doctor’s hand to begin rustling in his pockets.
“Oi! What do you think you’re doing?” He protested, stiffening, as he raised his arms out of her way.
Rose shushed him, continuing to dig. Finally she made a noise of delight and removed her hands from the Doctor’s pockets, holding a scrap piece of paper and a pen.
The Doctor blinked. “Where’d those come from?”
“It’s your pocket, you tell me,” Rose replied, but she was busy writing something on the paper. When she was done, she recapped the pen and put it back in his coat pocket.
“Here we are,” Rose said, walking over to Donna. “That’s my cell number, feel free to call whenever,” she told the other woman, handing her the piece of paper. “He jiggery-pokeryed it, so I’ll get your call wherever we are.”
“Nice,” Donna commented, glancing at the paper before curling her fingers around it.
Rose smiled at her before darting forward to wrap Donna in a loose hug again. “Thanks again for everything Donna. You were brilliant.”
Donna laughed, but raised an arm to briefly hug Rose back before Rose pulled away to stand beside the Doctor and take his hand. “Thanks then, Donna. Good luck, and just… be magnificent,” he told her encouragingly, giving her a small smile.
“I think I will, yeah,” Donna agreed smiling, and laughed a little.
The Doctor smiled back at her and went into the Tardis, pulling Rose along with him.
“Bye! See you soon!” Rose called, waving, as the doors closed behind them.
Even though she didn’t think they could see, Donna waved back and then watched as the Tardis shot up into the night sky, soon disappearing from sight.
Donna smiled, and thought silently, “See you soon, Spaceman, Rose. Safe travels.”
Then she turned and walked back home, her head buzzing with all she’d done on a day when all she’d planned was to get married.
After all, it wasn’t every day you got kidnapped by a skinny alien git and his blonde girlfriend before nearly getting killed just because a crazy bad-mannered spider Empress wanted to feed her kids.
~~~
Epilogue will be posted tomorrow! (Probably)
Epilogue
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