Chapter Text
"Jack, come on!" the Doctor yells out, waving at him from the doorway of the Tardis.
They’re on Satellite Five in the year 200,100 and they had just defeated the Daleks. Jack stands up, wincing at his aching body. He stumbles over to the Tardis and steps inside, the Doctor shutting the doors behind him.
"What the hell just happened?" Jack asks while the Doctor puts the Tardis into flight.
"Rose looked into the Tardis and killed all the Daleks, bringing you back to life in the process."
"What? Wait, but you saw what it did to that Slitheen, it could hurt her!"
"I know. That's why I already took care of it. She'll be fine, Jack."
Rose wobbles as she stands, still delirious from becoming the Bad Wolf. "Doctor?" she asks, trying to piece together what had happened.
“Rose!” The Doctor rushes over to her, holding his arms out to make sure she doesn’t fall.
“I'm right here, don't you worry," he reassures. "You're safe. You're inside the Tardis."
She looks at him, confused. "But I was.. what happened?"
"You looked into the heart of the Tardis. No one's supposed to see that, Rose. Not even me,” he says grimly. He’s hiding something and it shows.
"Doctor. When you said you took care of it.. what did you mean by that?" Jack questions, seeming suspicious about the whole situation.
The Doctor looks at him, and then back at Rose. He smiles despite everything. "Rose. I was going to take you so many places. Like Barcelona, not the city, the planet Barcelona. You would've loved it."
"Why can't we still do all that? What are you talking about?" Tears are beginning to form in her eyes, dripping down her face against her will.
"We still can. Well, you still can. So can I, it just won't be the same me," he looks down at his hand, which has a yellow glow to it. "Time Lords have this trick, this way of cheating death. Except it means I'm going to change. I'll still be me, but... I'll be different."
"Can't.. can't you do something to stop it..?" She asks with shaky breath.
Jack stares at the Doctor, unsure how to respond to the situation before him. Part of him wants to lash out, to tell the Doctor that he's being stupid. Most of him knows that he can't do anything to prevent whatever is about to happen.
"I'm sorry, Rose, and you too, Jack. Before I go, I just want to say.. you were fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. You both were. And do you know what?" he grins, "So was I."
"Doctor!" the two of them scream as bright flames shoot out from his body, almost resembling the rebirth of a phoenix. Jack and Rose stare at him with concern as the Doctor burns. As the fire slowly dies down, they can see someone new being revealed.
The Doctor, the new Doctor, is just sort of.. brown. He has brown hair that sticks up, being as untamed as the person it sits on. He has brown eyes that are deep and filled with color, holding so much complexity and yet still remaining soft. If you look closely, you can see freckles dotting his face, making their own constellation on the man who has seen them all.
Jack and Rose stare at him, with him staring back. It takes a minute for any of them to speak, still processing what had happened. The Doctor is the one to break the silence first.
"Hello, uhm.." he pauses, "New teeth, that's weird.. okay." He speaks slowly, cautiously, as if it's his first time doing so. Maybe there's some truth in that. "Where was I? Oh, right! Barcelona!" He grins brightly.
Before anyone can object, the Doctor stumbles out of the Tardis in a hurry.
"Did he just-" Rose asks, exasperated.
"Yeah." Jack answers, breathing heavily.
"But he-"
"Yeah."
They hear something from outside the Tardis that vaguely sounded like 'Merry Christmas!' followed by a loud thump. Jack and Rose both run outside to make sure the Doctor is okay, only to be greeted by none other than Mickey Smith and Jackie Tyler.
"What happened?" Rose screeches, kneeling down next to where the Doctor is lying on the ground. He appears to be unconscious.
"I- I don't know, he just collapsed!" Mickey says in a hurry.
"Rose, who is he?" Jackie asks, "And where's the Doctor?"
"That is the Doctor! He just.. I don't know." She looks down at the sleeping man, a mix of confusion and worry etched into her face.
"What do you mean that's the Doctor? Doctor who?"
"He said it was some sort of Time Lord trick, a way of cheating death," Jack offers.
"He needs to rest, mum. Let's get him inside," Rose states. The others join in to help her as she attempts to pick him up.
The four of them carry the Doctor inside, setting him down in the guest bedroom. They all watch him over him for a couple minutes to make sure that he's okay, and then they head out to the living room to discuss the situation.
"Would someone mind explaining to me what's going on? If that's the Doctor, then what's happened to him?" Jackie demands.
"It's a long story. Captain Jack Harkness, by the way-"
"Jack! That's my mum!" Rose cuts in.
"I was just saying hello!"
"So, what are we supposed to do with him?" Mickey interrupts.
"He seems fine for now, we should just let him sleep." Rose is trying her best to calm them down, but you can tell she's just as worried about the Doctor, if not more.
Eventually they settle down. Rose and Mickey go out shopping to buy last minute Christmas gifts. Jackie starts cooking dinner, making sure to include extra portions for her unexpected guests. Jack decides to stay by the Doctor's side, thinking that someone should watch over him while he sleeps. Just in case.
And so he sits there, waiting. Part of him feels like he's always waiting for the Doctor. There was a moment back on Satellite Five when Jack thought he was being left behind. The funny thing is, it wasn't being trapped in space hundreds of thousands of years in the future that he was afraid of. He was afraid to lose his friends, the first people he really bonded with after leaving the Time Agency.
He really was much better off as a coward.
Not long after Jackie brings tea for the Doctor and him. Jack takes a sip of his tea, feeling the warmth of the drink spread throughout his body. His eyelids grow heavy, shuttering closed after a moment. He's been so busy all day, he never realized how tired he actually was after the battle with the Daleks. He can feel the rest of the world fading away, but right before he falls asleep he hears a voice. It’s quiet, he doesn’t quite register the sound at first until he hears it a second time, this time louder than before.
"Jack?"
He quickly opens his eyes to see the Doctor awake and sitting up, holding the cup of tea that Jackie set by his bedside. He seems relatively fine, not looking to be in any pain or discomfort.
"You're awake," Jack says.
"Am I? I hadn't noticed." He smirks. "Tea! That was all I needed, a nice cup of tea. What are you doing sitting there, by the way?"
"Waiting for you to get up, since you decided to go and pass out on us,” he counters, matching the Doctor’s energy.
"Oh, I wasn't asleep for that long! Where's Rose?" he asks, leaning over to try and peek out of the door.
"She went shopping with Mickey. You're stuck with me for now, sorry Doctor." He grins.
The Doctor looks at him with a strange expression, like he still has a question to ask but doesn't say anything. Jack decides not to think about it too much. If he doesn't want to talk about it then he won't try and force it out of him.
After a moment of silence the Doctor smiles and says, "That's unfortunate. I would have stayed asleep if I knew you were my only option." It's clear there's no malice behind his words, apparently not even regenerating can stop the Doctor from being sassy.
"Hey!" Jack shouts. They quickly fall back into their usual bickering. It's the only way they know how to communicate. It's not so bad, though. Part of why they got along so well from the start is because of their ability to constantly joke with each other. They continue like that for a while, not quite keeping track of time. In the middle of their laughter and lighthearted insults they don't notice the sound of the front door opening and closing, or Rose standing in the doorway smiling at them. Shortly after she clears her throat, gaining the attention of the two boys. They stare at her dumbly once they realize she had been standing there watching them. However it wasn’t long until they finally go to greet her.
"Rose, hello!" the Doctor says happily. He climbs out of bed and pulls her into a hug. She returns the gesture in an instant, wrapping her arms around him tightly.
"How are you feeling?" she asks as they separate. She appears more relaxed now that the Doctor is awake, but wants to be sure he's really okay.
"Good as new. Which I am! New face, new Doctor. Well, new new new…" He cuts himself off from rambling as Rose raises an eyebrow at him, trying to suppress a smile. New Doctor or not, she still knows how to communicate with him without saying a word.
"Looking good, by the way," Jack says with a grin.
"Wait!" the Doctor exclaims, rushing into the living room to find the nearest mirror. He examines his new appearance for a moment before loudly announcing, "Oh, I'm still not ginger! I wanted to be ginger this time, I've never been ginger before." He frowns, looking mildly upset. However, he quickly recovers as he turns back to the rest of the group. "Well then, where were we?"
Over the next hour or so the Doctor proceeds to answer all the questions that the others have, along with him asking some of his own questions (because really, why is there an apple in his dressing gown?) He ends up explaining Time Lord regeneration, and the events that happened at Satellite Five. Everyone understands, for the most part. Some more than others. Now, there's just one question left.
"Hey, mum? Where did you get that Christmas tree?" Rose asks. They turn their heads towards the tree in the corner of the room. Nothing too strange about it, other than the fact that it hadn’t been there when they had first arrived.
"I thought it was you? The delivery man came earlier," Jackie says, seeming just as confused as Rose.
"It wasn't me, how could have it been me? I was out with Mickey."
"Shhhhhh," the Doctor says, giving the tree a suspicious look. He carefully pulls out his sonic screwdriver out of his dressing gown, aiming it at the tree to scan it. He stares at it intensely before yelling at the others to run, waving them away towards the door. The Christmas tree comes to life with a loud whirring sound. It begins spinning rapidly while approaching them. It damages everything it touches, throwing furniture around, knocking things off the walls. They run as quickly as they can out the door, eager to get away from it.
They all get outside without a scratch, but the Christmas tree is still following them. They tense up when they see it reach the doorway and then relax when they realize it can’t fit through it. However their peace is quickly interrupted by the sound of wood breaking. They turn to see the tree sawing through the doorway, slowly making its way towards them. Everyone except the Doctor gets ready to start running again when suddenly sparks fly from the tree. It makes a popping noise before its movement stops and it falls to the floor. They look and see the Doctor putting away his sonic screwdriver.
"…Is that it?" Jackie asks, "That wasn't so bad."
The Doctor shakes his head. "That was just the beginning, there's something much bigger coming. It would look like…"
"Doctor," Rose interrupts, pointing to a giant spaceship hovering above the city. Hard to miss, really.
"…That."
Oh, boy. This was going to be a long day.