Chapter Forty Four: The Runaway Bride

The Doctor shook his head, blinking rapidly. "What? You can't do that. I wasn't—" He checked the scanner. "We're in flight. That is, that is physically impossible! How did—?"

The bride glared at him. "Tell me where I am. I demand you tell me right now, where am I?"

"Inside the TARDIS," Alex replied. She had decided it would be better to focus on getting this woman home rather than just mope about Rose. There'd be time for that later.

"The what?"

"The TARDIS."

"The what?"

"The TARDIS!"

"The what?"

Alex rolled her eyes. "She's called the TARDIS, okay?!"

The bride snorted. "That's not even a proper word. You're just saying things."

"How did you even get in here?"

"Well, obviously, when you kidnapped me. Who was it? Who's paying you? Is it Nerys? Oh my God, she's finally got me back. This has got Nerys written all over it."

The Doctor poked his head around the rotor from where he was working with the controls, trying to figure out what happened. "Who the hell is Nerys?"

"Your best friend," the bride replied, crossing her arms.

"Hold on, wait a minute. What are you dressed like that for?" Both the bride and Alex gave him incredulous looks for that.

"I'm going ten pin bowling," the bride said sarcastically. "Why do you think, dumbo? I was halfway up the aisle! I've been waiting all my life for this. I was just seconds away, and then you, I don't know, you drugged me or something!"

"We haven't done anything!" Alex stressed, running a hand through her hair exasperatedly.

"I'm having the police on you! Me and my husband, as soon as he is my husband, we're going to sue the living backside off you!"

Alex took her perception filter off, right in front of the bride, to get her to shut up more than anything. The Doctor moved to stand by her, watching the ginger's reaction warily.

"Oh my God," she whispered, ogling the shorter girl's wings. "You're one of them Avengers... from New York..." She backed away slowly, before bumping into the doors, and hurried to open them. Alex narrowed her eyes. Twice, that had come up now.

"No, no, no! Wait!" the Doctor shouted, but it was too late. The bride stood in the open doorway, staring wide-eyed at the remains of a supernova. He sighed, moving with Alex to stand on either side of the bride. "You're in space. Outer space. This is my... spaceship. She's called the TARDIS."

"How am I breathing?" the bride whispered, shell shocked.

"The TARDIS is protecting us," Alex explained briefly.

"Who are you?"

She swallowed, hesitating. After everything that had happened at Canary Wharf, she knew she'd been added to the list of the dead. Officially, Alex Tyler was a dead woman. So who could she be? "McKenzie Di Angelo," she decided. Her middle name, the Doctor's joke name... and maybe just a little of the woman who'd saved her life in Utah. Someone to live up to. "He's the Doctor. You?"

"Donna," the bride replied.

"Human?" the Doctor checked.

"Yeah. Is that optional?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Well, it is for us."

"You're an alien?" Donna seemed to have no problem believing that of Alex—or rather McKenzie—but that could have been something to do with her wings.

"Yeah, I know. That's what I first thought," McKenzie joke, making her boyfriend pout at her.

Donna smiled. "It's freezing with these doors open."

The Doctor slammed the doors shut in front of her, and ran back to the console, typing at the keyboard whilst staring intently at the screen, running a hand through his hair frustratedly every so often. "I don't understand it, and I understand everything. This—this can't happen! There is no way a human being can lock itself onto the TARDIS and transport itself inside. it must be impossible." He grabbed some kind of medical instrument off the console (it had been lying around for so long, McKenzie had thought it was a part of the ship) and used it to look into Donna's eyes, leaning pretty far into her personal space. "Some sort of subatomic connection? Something in the temporal field? Maybe something pulling you into alignment with the Chronon shell. Maybe something macro-mining your DNA with the interior matrix. Maybe a genetic—" He was cut off when Donna slapped him, making McKenzie roll her eyes. He had earned that, if she was honest.

The Doctor reeled back, clutching his cheek. "What the hell was that for?!"

"Get me to the church!" Donna yelled back.

"Right! Fine! We don't want you here anyway! Where is this wedding?"

"Saint Mary's, Hayden Road, Chiswick, London, England, Earth, the Solar System!" Donna replied, getting louder with every syllable.

As the Doctor plotted the journey at the console, McKenzie doing all she knew how to with the console's many levers and buttons, Donna picked up a denim jacket that had been hanging over the railings. Rose's denim jacket.

"I knew it! Acting all innocent." She held up the jacket as evidence. "This'd be way too long on her!" Donna nodded to McKenzie, whose eyes had widened. "I'm not the first, am I? How many women have you abducted?"

"That's my sister's," McKenzie muttered, her eyes pricking with tears.

"Where is she then? Popped out for a space walk?" Donna questioned sarcastically.

"She's gone," the Doctor replied quietly, putting his arm around McKenzie's shoulders.

"Gone where?"

"We lost her."

"Well, you can hurry up and lose me!" Even the Doctor looked away at that, closing his eyes. Donna frowned. "How do you mean, lost?" she asked tentatively.

McKenzie sighed, grabbing the jacket from Donna's hand and throwing it over her shoulder into a corridor leading towards the kitchen. "Right, Chiswick," she said, concentrating back on piloting. The TARDIS landed with a thump a few minutes later, and Donna immediately marched for the doors.

Outside, she looked around in annoyance, McKenzie having moved to the doors to see where they were. "I said, Saint Mary's. What sort of Martians are you? Where's this?!"

"Something's wrong with her," the Doctor murmured, still by the console. At McKenzie's questioning expression, he elaborated. "The TARDIS, it's like she's recalibrating. She's digesting." He placed his hand against the rotor. "What is it? What have you eaten? What's wrong?"

McKenzie called over her shoulder to the bride as she walked towards the console, concerned for the TARDIS. "Donna? You've really got to think. Is there anything that might've caused this? Anything you might've done? Any sort of alien contacts? I'm sorry, but we can't just let you go wandering off. What if you're dangerous? I mean, er, have you seen lights in the sky, or did you touch something like... something, something different, something strange? Maybe something made of metal, a, a metal box or ... Who're you getting married to? Are you sure he's human? He's not a bit overweight with a zip around his forehead, is he?"

The Doctor rolled his eyes at her, then blinked as he realised the bride hadn't said anything in some time. "Donna?!" The aliens looked at each other, before the Time Lord took McKenzie's hand and they sped out of the TARDIS, the door swinging shut behind them. They caught up to the ginger in a few seconds. "Donna."

She jumped, but sighed. "Leave me alone. I just want to get married."

"Come back to the TARDIS," McKenzie pleaded.

"No way," Donna scoffed. "That box is too weird."

"It's bigger on the inside, that's all," the Doctor shrugged, oblivious to the looks he was getting off the girls.

"Oh! That's all?!" Donna sighed again. "Ten past three. I'm going to miss it."

"You can phone them. Tell them where you are," the Doctor suggested.

Donna stared at him. "How do I do that?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Haven't you got a mobile?"

"I'm in my wedding dress!" The Doctor blinked, while McKenzie snickered. "It doesn't have pockets. Who has pockets? Have you ever seen a bride with pockets? When I went to my fitting at Chez Alison, the one thing I forgot to say is give me pockets!"

"Er, this man you're marrying, what's his name?" McKenzie asked, trying to change the subject.

"Lance," Donna replied, a dreamy smile on her face.

"Good luck, Lance," the Doctor couldn't resist quipping.

"Oi!" Donna exclaimed. "No stupid Martians are going to stop me from getting married. To hell with you!" She ran away in the direction of the high street.

"We're, we're not, we're not, we're not from Mars," the Doctor sighed.

McKenzie rolled her eyes. "We should go after her," she suggested.

"Probably," the Time Lord agreed. She held her hand out for him to grab so they could run faster, but when he took it, the Doctor pulled her to him and kissed her.

"Not that I really mind, but, er, what?" McKenzie asked when they pulled apart.

The Doctor shrugged. "It'd been a while since the last time." He smirked. "That and the fact you're gorgeous."

McKenzie blushed. "Thanks," she said in a small voice, looking down. Then, stronger, "Come on, let's find Donna." This time, the Doctor allowed her to run with him once she replaced her perception filter.

When they found Donna, she was standing on the pavement trying to hail a cab, unsuccessfully.

"Why's his light on?!" Donna complained as another taxi drove right past.

"There's another one," the Doctor pointed out.

"Taxi! Oi!"

"There's one!"

"Oi!"

McKenzie, who had been interestedly watching her boyfriend get more and more invested in the rather human process of hailing a cab, spoke up with a smirk. "Do you have this effect on everyone? Why aren't they stopping?"

"They think I'm in fancy dress," Donna suggested.

"Stay off the sauce, darling!" one cabbie shouted as he drove past.

Donna frowned. "They think I'm drunk."

"You're fooling no one, mate!"

The ginger looked offended. "They think I'm in drag!"

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Hold on, hold on," he muttered. "You might wanna cover your ears," he added mentally to McKenzie. She did so just in time as the Doctor let out a piercing whistle. A taxi did a dangerous U-turn in the middle of the road to pick them up.

"Saint Mary's in Chiswick, just off Hayden Road. It's an emergency. I'm getting married. Just hurry up!" Donna ordered as the trio piled into the taxi.

"You know it'll cost you, sweetheart? Double rates today," the driver called over his shoulder.

"Oh my God. Have you got any money?" Donna turned to the Doctor and McKenzie.

"Er, no," the Doctor shook his head, turning to his girlfriend. "Angel?"

McKenzie looked a him incredulously. "I haven't needed money since the day I met you!"

"Haven't you got any?" the Doctor asked Donna.

"Pockets!" she reminded him, annoyed.

***

Five minutes later, the taxi driver had dropped them back off where he'd picked them up, and Donna was ranting at his retreating number plate.

"And that goes double for your mother!" The ginger turned back to the Doctor and McKenzie, grumbling. "I'll have him. I've got his number. I'll have him. Talk about the Christmas spirit."

"Is it Christmas?" McKenzie wondered, grinning.

Donna rolled her eyes. "Well, duh. Maybe not on Mars, but here it's Christmas Eve, 2012." She spotted a red telephone booth and smiled. "Phone box! We can reverse the charges!"

The aliens followed her as she ran over to the booth, stepping inside with the door propped open against her ankle. "How comes you're getting married on Christmas Eve?" the Doctor asked.

"Can't bear it. I hate Christmas. Honeymoon, Morocco. Sunshine, lovely." Donna pulled a face. "What's the operator? I've not done this in years. What do you dial? 100?"

The Doctor sighed and buzzed the telephone and got a dialling tone. "Just call direct."

"What did you do?" Donna spluttered.

"Something Martian," McKenzie joked, smiling cheekily at her boyfriend. "Now phone! We'll get money!" The pair walked over to the ATM outside a bank as Donna dialled.

The Doctor frowned at all the options on the ATM screen, lifting his screwdriver, when McKenzie pushed him aside. "Watch and learn, handsome." The Time Lord watched, stunned as McKenzie worked with the machine, her hands a blur as she fed a little green energy into the slot when the screen asked for a credit or debit card. Within minutes, the ATM was spewing out a wad of twenty pound notes into the redhead's expectant hand.

"Wow," was all the Time Lord said, glad he hadn't had to struggle with the money side of things. He never had been able to figure currency out. As the couple turned to go back to Donna, they noticed a trio of Santas playing as a brass band, then Donna getting into a cab, also driven by a Santa.

"Thanks for nothing, spaceman, pixie! I'll see you in court," Donna yelled as her cab drove off.

"Donna!" McKenzie yelled after her, but the ginger bride was already gone. The Doctor grabbed the redhead's hand as the Santas pointed their instruments at them.

"My turn," he muttered, sonicing the ATM, which sent banknotes flying into the air across the street. A huge crowd of people rushed to grab the money, forcing the Santas to relinquish their aim as the aliens escaped, darting back to the TARDIS.

"Right, I'll drive, you get Donna," the Doctor stated, setting up the TARDIS to track Donna. He found her in less than a minute, and McKenzie ran to the doors as the Doctor started to actually fly the TARDIS along the motorway beside Donna's taxi. Sparks flew from the console, and the Doctor pounded against it with a hammer. "Behave!"

McKenzie threw the doors open to see Donna staring at the TARDIS through the window as the younger girl clutched onto the doorframe for stability. "Open the door!" she yelled.

"Do what?" Donna asked, cupping her ears.

"Open the door!"

"I can't; it's locked!"

McKenzie held out a palm facing the cab and concentrated, closing her eyes. Slowly but surely, a stream of golden energy bridged the gap between the two vehicles, and the door unlocked.

Donna opened the window. "Santa's a robot!" she exclaimed.

"Donna, open the door!"

"What for?" the ginger questioned, frowning.

"You've got to jump!" McKenzie implored, pleading with the bride. No way was she losing somebody else.

Donna gaped. "I'm not blinking flip-jumping. I'm supposed to be getting married!"

The robot accelerated, making the cab pull away. The Doctor, who had been watching on the scanner, adjusted a lever, and the TARDIS soon caught up, with more bangs and sparks in protest.

As they came into parallel again, McKenzie shot a concentrated energy beam through the passenger window, incapacitating the robot driver. "Donna, listen to me. You've got to jump."

"I'm not jumping on a motorway!" Donna protested.

"Whatever that thing is, it needs you," McKenzie explained. "And whatever it needs you for, it's not good! Now, come on!"

"I'm in my wedding dress!"

McKenzie rolled her eyes. "Yes, you look lovely! Come on!"

Donna opened the door tentatively, and McKenzie reached out to her. "I can't do it!"

"Trust me," the redhead pleaded.

"Is that what you said to her? Your sister? The one you lost? Did she trust you?"

McKenzie smiled through the tears welling up in her eyes. "Yes. Yes, she did. With her life. And she is not dead. She is so alive! Now, jump!"

Without another thought, Donna launched herself out of the taxi and landed on top of McKenzie in the TARDIS. The younger girl slammed the doors shut with her feet, and the Doctor piloted the TARDIS onto a rooftop near where they had originally intended to go: Saint Mary's Church.

***

McKenzie and Donna sat with their legs hanging off the roof as the Doctor emptied a fire extinguisher in through the TARDIS doors. Judging by the smoke billowing out, things weren't good in there.

"So, McKenzie," Donna began awkwardly. "It's a pretty name."

The girl smiled. "It wasn't always mine."

Donna frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I've changed. So has my name." McKenzie started coughing as some thicker smoke reached them, making the Doctor poke his head out to check on her. She waved away his concerns, clearing her throat shakily.

"Asthma?" Donna asked sympathetically.

McKenzie shook her head, scrutinising the bride. She wasn't faking her concern. "Old bullet wound."

The girls jumped as the Doctor let the TARDIS doors slam shut, dusting off his jacket as he sat down next to McKenzie, rubbing her back soothingly as he knew the coughing must have hurt her lungs. "The funny thing is, for a spaceship, she doesn't really do that much flying. We'd better give her a couple of hours. You all right?" He directed his question to Donna as his girlfriend relaxed against him, rubbing her chest in discomfort.

"Doesn't matter," Donna shrugged.

"Did we miss it?" the Doctor asked sympathetically.

"Yeah."

"Well, you can book another date," the Time Lord suggested optimistically.

"'Course we can."

"And you've still got the honeymoon."

Donna sighed. "It's just a holiday now."

"Yeah. Yeah. Sorry."

"It's not your fault."

"That's a change," McKenzie commented, smirking a little.

"Wish you had a time machine, the we could go back and get it right," Donna sighed again.

"Yeah, yeah. But even if I did, I couldn't go back on someone's personal timeline. Apparently," the Doctor lied. "Ooh, you'd better put this on." He held up a gold ring he'd grabbed out of the TARDIS.

Donna stared at it. "Shouldn't you be giving that to McKenzie?"

The girl blushed, and the Doctor looked momentarily confused. "What? Oh, no, this is a bio-damper. Should keep you hidden." He slipped it onto Donna's left ring finger. "With this ring, I thee bio-damp."

Donna smiled. "For better or for worse. So, come on then. Robot Santas, what are they for?"

"Ah, your basic robo-scavenger," the Doctor replied. "The Father Christmas stuff is just a disguise. They're trying to blend in. I met them a few years back. Christmas, 2006."

"Why, what happened then?"

McKenzie looked at her weirdly. "Great big spaceship hovering over London? You didn't notice?"

"I think I had a bit of a hangover," Donna explained.

"We spent Christmas Day just over there, the Powell Estate, with Kez's family." The Doctor pointed. "Well, they were... Still, gone now."

Donna frowned. "Your sister, who was she?"

McKenzie swallowed, ignoring the question. "The question is, what do camouflaged robot mercenaries want with you? And how did you get inside the TARDIS? I don't know, what's your job?"

"I'm a secretary."

The Doctor scanned her with the sonic screwdriver, frowning. "It's weird. I mean, you're not special, you're not powerful, you're not connected, you're not clever, you're not important."

Donna looked outraged, but McKenzie just rolled her eyes, knowing he didn't mean what it sounded like he meant. "This friend of yours, just before she left, did she punch you in the face? Stop bleeping me!"

McKenzie sighed, changing the subject. "What kind of secretary are you?"

"I'm at HC Clements. It's where I met Lance. I was temping. I mean, it was all a bit posh really. I'd spent the last two years at a double glazing firm. Well, I thought I'm never going to fit in here. And then he made me a coffee. I mean, that just doesn't happen. Nobody gets the secretaries a coffee. And Lance, he's the head of HR! He don't need to bother with me. But he was nice, he was funny. And it turns out he thought everyone else was really snotty too. So that's how it started, me and him. One cup of coffee. That was it."

"When was this?" McKenzie asked.

"Six months ago," Donna replied.

"Bit quick to get married," the Doctor noted.

"Well, he insisted," Donna lied. "And he nagged, and he nagged me. And he just wore me down. And then finally, I just gave in." The TARDIS, though injured, made the equivalent of a snort in the aliens' minds.

Trying not to laugh, the Doctor smiled. "What about the company, what do they do?"

"Oh, security systems. You know, entry codes, ID cards, that sort of thing. If you ask me, it's a posh name for locksmiths," Donna replied

"Keys," the Doctor mused.

"Anyway! Enough of my CV. Come on, it's time to face the consequences. Oh, this is going to be so shaming!" Donna groaned. "You can do the explaining, Martian boy."

"Yeah, neither of us are from Mars," McKenzie pointed out as they headed for the stairs.

"Oh, I had this great big reception all planned," Donna continued, ignoring the aliens.

***

When Donna, McKenzie, and the Doctor entered, the reception was in full swing, the guests dancing to Slade's Merry Christmas, Everyone.

"You had the reception without me?" Donna gaped.

"Donna, what happened to you?" a young man—who, judging by his attire, was the groom—asked, his eyes full of concern.

"You had the reception without me?!"

"Hello, I'm the Doctor, and this is McKenzie Di Angelo," the Time Lord introduced cheerfully, his arm around his girlfriend.

Donna turned to them. "They had the reception without me!"

McKenzie raised her eyebrows. "Yes, we gathered."

"Well, it was all paid for. Why not?" a blonde in a short blue dress shrugged.

"Thank you, Nerys," Donna groaned.

An older woman, probably Donna's mum, stepped forwards. "Well, what were we supposed to do? I got your silly little message in the end. 'I'm on Earth'? Very funny. What the hell happened? How did you do it? I mean, what's the trick, because I'd love to know."

All of a sudden, everyone was talking all at once, except the Doctor, McKenzie, and Donna, who all looked around, startled. Finally, Donna burst into fake tears, effectively ending the arguments. Lance hugged her, and everyone applauded except Nerys, who just rolled her eyes. Donna sneaked a wink to the Doctor and McKenzie, who grinned.

***

Later, as the bride and groom danced, the Doctor and McKenzie were stood leaning against the bar, looking up HC Clements on McKenzie's new phone.

As she read the HC Clements, McKenzie's face got steadily paler and paler. When the Doctor realised she was just staring at a few words on the screen, he frowned. "What's wrong?" In reply, McKenzie held up her phone, showing just five words: HC Clements, sole proprietor - Torchwood.

"It's only been a few hours. How can this be happening again so quickly?" McKenzie sighed, tears in her eyes.

"It's been six years for these people," the Doctor informed her sadly.

"What?"

"Turns out we're back in 2012." He watched McKenzie look down, then took her hand, leading her out to dance. "Come on."

"Really?" McKenzie groaned. "I can't dance."

"Good. Me neither. Ha!" The Doctor grinned, twirling the redhead into his arms. She let out a startled laugh.

"Hey! No fair!" She put her hands around his neck, and he put his around her waist, and they swayed like that for a few minutes, humming the Christmas songs that were playing. "I love you," she murmured as she leaned her head against his chest, listening to his double heartbeat.

"I love you too, Kez," he whispered, pressing a soft kiss to her hair.

The song changed to the quicker-tempo of Fairytale of New York, and all the other couples adjusted their dances, but the two aliens continued to sway slowly amidst everyone else spinning and twisting and cha-cha-cha-ing, as if in the eye of a storm.

***

Later still, the Doctor had spotted the camera man in the corner and had engaged him in conversation, while McKenzie was making full use of the free bar and her alien metabolism, challenging half-drunk guests to try and drink tequila shots quicker than her for money. She was mainly attempting to make enough to get a burger after the reception, since the party only offered nibbles, and she couldn't remember the last time she'd eaten. But it was also very fun.

"So did you see the bride disappearing?" the Doctor asked, looking past the camera to the bar when he heard a loud groan from someone he thought had been introduced as Donna's father losing against McKenzie. He smirked fondly.

"Oh, I taped the whole thing. They've all had a look. They said sell it to You've Been Framed. I said, more like the Avengers. Here we are." The two men watched the replay as Donna turned into gold energy and flew off.

The Doctor frowned. "Can't be... Play it again?"

"Clever, mind. Good trick, I'll give her that. I was clapping," the camera man stated honestly.

"But that looks like Huon Particles."

"What's that then?" the camera man asked curiously.

"That's impossible. That's ancient," the Doctor explained. "Huon energy doesn't exist anymore, not for billions of years. So old that... it can't be hidden by a biodamper!" He sprinted to the nearest window and looked out to see five or six robot Santas approaching holding their brass instruments as weapons. He ran back to find Donna and McKenzie at the bar chatting as McKenzie pocketed £300 in twenties. "Donna! Donna, they've found you."

"But you said I was safe," Donna whined, while McKenzie got off her stool, carefully stretching her wings, getting ready in case they'd have to fight the robots.

"The bio-damper doesn't work on Huon particles. We've got to get everyone out," the Doctor explained briefly.

"My God, it's all my family!" Donna cried.

"Try the back door," the Doctor said in an aside to McKenzie; she nodded and sped off. A second later, she was back, shaking her head. "Maybe not."

The trio hurried over to the French windows to see more robots, one holding what looked like an Xbox controller.

"We're trapped!" Donna gasped.

"Christmas trees," McKenzie murmured.

"What about them?"

"They kill!" The Doctor remembered. The trio ran back to the party.

"Get away from the trees!" McKenzie ordered, speeding past to pick up children and deposit them safely out of the way.

"Don't touch the trees!" Donna begged.

"Get away from the Christmas trees! Everyone get away from them!" the Doctor shouted.

Donna's mum, who had introduced herself as Sylvia Noble, rolled her eyes. "Oh, for God's sakes, the man's an idiot! Why? What harm's a Christmas tree going to—?" She cut off as the baubles began to float away from the trees. "Oh," Sylvia smiled pleasantly. That is, until the baubles began flying at people and exploding whenever they hit something.

Soon, the entire party was in a complete panic, running around and screaming and hiding behind tables while McKenzie made herself useful by shooting as many of the baubles harmlessly in mid air as she could. Meanwhile, the Doctor ran over to the sound system, seeing all the Santas lined up between his girlfriend and the guests, McKenzie's back facing them.

"Oi!" the Doctor yelled, grabbing the robots' attention over the sound of exploding baubles. "Santa! Word of advice. If you're attacking a man with a sonic screwdriver, don't let him near the sound system!" He jammed said screwdriver into the deck, letting loose an ear-piercing screech. Just in time, McKenzie launched herself into a reverse somersault, using her wings to aid her, and as she turned in mid air, she thrust out her hands to put up an energy shield behind the Santas to lessen the blow of the sound for the humans. By the time she hit the ground, the Santas were in pieces on the carpet before her.

She stood up shakily, staring at them and breathing heavily, as the Doctor vaulted over the sound system to join her.

"You okay?" he asked, quite frankly impressed that she'd pulled the move off, especially without losing any of the twenty pound notes she'd stuffed haphazardly into her back pocket.

"Yeah." She looked at him with an exhilarated smile. "That was pretty cool, huh?"

The Doctor grinned. "It was awesome."

Donna made her way over to them as the rest of the guests emerged from their hiding places and began bustling around worrying over each other. The Doctor squinted at the robots as someone kicked a piece by accident, and bent down to grab a second remote control out from the wreckage.

"Look at that. Remote control for the decorations, but there's a second remote control for the robots. They're not scavengers anymore. I think someone's taken possession," he theorised, raising his eyebrows.

"Never mind all that," Donna said, rolling her eyes. "You're a doctor. People have been hurt."

The Time Lord shook his head. "Nah, they wanted you alive. Look." He tossed a bauble to Donna, who caught it, noting how McKenzie's eyes followed it carefully—in case it was still a danger.

"Thank you," the ginger said, looking to the shorter girl. "What you did back there, that was amazing. You're a hero." The Doctor smiled at McKenzie's blush. "Nothing's changed from New York, I suppose."

McKenzie frowned. "Sorry, what?" She'd never been to New York in her life. New New York, maybe, but...

"With the Avengers," Donna elaborated, not seeming to notice the aliens looking at each other in confusion. Who were these 'Avengers', and why did everyone think at least McKenzie, if not the Doctor too, was a part of them?

"Anyway, there's still a signal," the Doctor stated, changing the subject as he soniced the remote control. He ran outside, McKenzie and Donna on his heels, all three ignoring Sylvia calling after them.

"There's someone behind this, directing the roboforms," McKenzie explained to Donna as they reached the Doctor again.

"But why is it me? What have I done?"

McKenzie tilted her head. "If we find the controller, we'll find that out."

"Ooh!" the Doctor grinned, pointing his sonic upwards. "It's up there! Something in the sky!" He pouted. "I've lost the signal. Donna, we've got to get to your office. HC Clements. I think that's where it all started."

Lance walked out past them, and McKenzie quickly grabbed his arm, putting on a contrite smile. "Lance! Is it Lance? Lance, could you give us a lift to your office? Me, my boyfriend, and your lovely wife-to-be, that is? Really? Thanks." She started leading him to the car park, still smiling and small-talking, giving him no room to object. The Doctor grinned, following them with Donna walking by his side, both of them laughing at Lance's dumbstruck expression.

***

At the office, the Doctor was fiddling with a computer, trying to access some files, while McKenzie was sitting on the corner of the desk, talking to Lance and Donna.

"To you guys, this might just be a locksmiths, but HC Clements was brought up twenty three years ago by the Torchwood Institute," she informed them.

"Who are they?" Donna asked curiously.

"They were behind the battle of Canary Wharf," the Doctor replied without looking up.

McKenzie frowned at Donna's blank expression. "Cybermen invasion? Skies over London full of Daleks? About six years ago?"

"Oh, I was in Spain..."

"They had Cybermen in Spain," the Doctor pointed out, raising an eyebrow at the bride.

"... scuba diving."

McKenzie snorted. "That big picture, Donna. You keep on missing it. Torchwood was destroyed, but HC Clements stayed in business. I think someone else came in and took over the operation."

"But what do they want with me?"

"Somehow you've been dosed with Huon energy. And that's a problem, because Huon energy hasn't existed since the Dark Times. The only place you'd find a Huon particle now is a remnant in the heart of the TARDIS," the Doctor explained. "See? That's what happened. Say, this is the TARDIS." He picked up a coffee mug. "And that's you." A pencil. "The particles inside you activated. The two sets of particles magnetised—" He shook the mug and the pencil, then McKenzie used energy to pull the pencil from his unresisting hand into the mug. "—and whap! You were pulled inside the TARDIS."

Donna raised her eyebrow. "I'm a pencil inside a mug?"

"Yes, you are. 4H, sums you up," the Doctor smiled. McKenzie rolled her eyes.

"Play nice."

The Doctor grinned. "I love it when you get all stern like that."

"Down, boy." She winked, before turning to Lance. "Lance? What was HC Clements working on? Anything top secret? Special operations? Do not enter?"

Lance shrugged. "I don't know, I'm in charge of personnel. I wasn't project manager." He blinked. "Why am I even explaining myself? What the hell are we talking about?!"

The Doctor made a noise of discovery when he got into the blueprints of the building on the computer. "They make keys, that's the point. And look at this. We're on the third floor."

***

The Doctor and McKenzie stood in the lift, showing Lance and Donna what they'd discovered. "Underneath reception, there's a basement, yes? Then how come when you look on the lift, there's a button marked lower basement? There's a whole floor which doesn't exist on the official plans. So what's down there then?"

Lance shook his head. "Are you telling me this building's got a secret floor?"

McKenzie smiled sweetly. "No, we're showing you this building's got a secret floor," she replied earnestly.

"It needs a key," Donna pointed out.

The Doctor snorted. "I don't." He soniced the LB button. "Right then. Thanks, you two. We can handle this. See you later."

"No chance, Martian. You two keep saving my life. I ain't letting you out of my sight." Donna stepped into the lift.

"Going down," McKenzie quipped, raising her eyebrows.

"Lance?" Donna prompted.

"Maybe I should go to the police," he suggested uneasily.

"Inside," Donna ordered, and Lance got in.

"To honour and obey?" the Doctor asked, smirking.

"Tell me about it, mate," Lance grumbled.

"Oi!" Donna exclaimed.

The lift came out onto a corridor lit in eerie green emergency lighting.

"Where are we?" Donna wondered. "What goes on down here?"

"Let's find out," McKenzie shrugged.

"Do you think Mr Clements knows about this place?"

"The mysterious HC Clements? I think he's probably part of it." McKenzie rolled her eyes as she saw what the Doctor had found.

"Transport!" he exclaimed cheerfully, standing by a few Segways. He, Donna, and Lance climbed aboard one each, but McKenzie just shook her head.

"I think maybe I'll stick to the conventional methods," she said, before disappearing in a blur of red hair and black jeans.

The others followed her up to a door marked "Torchwood—no entry" as she turned the wheel on the door to reveal a ladder. She then climbed up as the Doctor, Donna, and Lance dismounted their Segways.

While they waited, Lance turned to his fiancée. "Donna, have you thought about this? Properly? I mean, this is serious! What the hell are we going to do?"

"Oh, I thought July," the ginger replied conversationally as she watched the ladder for McKenzie's return. The Doctor snorted.

McKenzie dropped back down all of a sudden, startling the humans. "Thames flood barrier, right on top of us. Torchwood snuck in and built this place underneath."

Donna looked shocked. "What, there's like a secret base hidden underneath a major London landmark?"

"Oh, I know," the Doctor said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "Unheard of." He took McKenzie's hand, and the two of them led the way down the corridor, all of them on foot this time.

***

Several minutes later, the quartet had reached a laboratory full of bubbling tubes that made the Doctor grin in excitement. "Ooh, look at this," he exclaimed, grabbing something off a workbench. "Stunning!"

"What does it do?" McKenzie asked curiously.

"Particle extrusion," he replied happily. "Hold on." He shook the device, and the liquid inside lit up gold. "Brilliant. They've been manufacturing Huon particles. 'Course, my lot got rid of Huons. They unravel the atomic structure." McKenzie threw a quick glance to Donna. Would that happen to her?

Lance frowned. "Your lot? Who are they? What company do you represent?"

McKenzie smirked. "We're sort of freelancers."

"This lot are rebuilding them," the Doctor continued. "They've been using the river. Extruding them through a flat hydrogen base so they've got the end result, Huon particles in liquid form."

"And that's what's inside me?" Donna asked, frowning. The Doctor turned a knob on top of the device, and as the liquid turned gold, so did Donna, before they both went back to their normal colouring. "Oh my God!"

"Genius," the Doctor breathed. "Because the particles are inert, they need something living to catalyse inside, and that's you. Saturate the body and then—Ha!" he exclaimed loudly, making McKenzie jump. "The wedding! yes, you're getting married, that's it! Best day of your life, walking down the aisle. Oh, you're body's a battleground! There's a chemical war inside! Adrenaline, acetylcholine. Wham! go the endorphins. Oh, you're cooking! Yeah, you're like a walking oven. A pressure cooker, a microwave, all churning away. The particles reach boiling point. Shazam!" He was cut off when Donna slapped him. "What did I do this time?!"

"Are you enjoying this?" the ginger demanded aggressively. "Right, just tell me. These particles, are they dangerous? Am I safe?"

"Yes," the Doctor lied; McKenzie winced.

Donna sighed. "Doctor, if your lot got rid of Huon particles, why did they do that?"

"Because they were deadly," he replied resignedly.

"Oh my God," Donna breathed.

"We'll sort it out, Donna," McKenzie promised, determined. "Whatever's been done to you, we'll reverse it. I am not about to lose someone else."

"Oh, she is long since lost," a female voice echoed around the laboratory. The wall beside them slid up to reveal a tiered hole descending deep into the earth. "I have waited so long, hibernating at the edge of the universe until the secret heart was uncovered and called out to waken!"

At the edge of her vision, McKenzie watched as Lance ran away before her attention was drawn to the robots surrounding them with guns and wearing long black robes.

"Someone's been digging," the Doctor remarked, taking a closer look at the hole, completely unfazed by the robot firearms. "Oh, very Torchwood. Drilled by laser. How far down does it go?"

"Down and down, all the way to the centre of the Earth!" the voice replied gloatingly.

"Really?" McKenzie asked, surprised. "Seriously? What for?"

"Dinosaurs," Donna suggested.

"What?" The Doctor and McKenzie both looked confused.

"Dinosaurs?"

"What are you on about, dinosaurs?" the Doctor asked, frowning.

"That film, Under the Earth, with dinosaurs. Trying to help," Donna replied.

McKenzie frowned, realising it must have been a movie in the six years she'd missed. "That's not helping," she and the Doctor stated at the same time, before grinning and pointing at each other.

"Such a sweet couple," the voice remarked.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Only a madman talks to thin air, and trust me, you don't want to make me mad. Where are you?"

"High in the sky. Floating so high on Christmas night."

"Oh, come on! We didn't come all this way to talk on the intercom. Come on, let's have a look at you!"

"Who are you with such command?"

"I'm the Doctor."

The voice cackled. "Prepare your best medicines, doctor man, for you will be sick at heart." There was a blurry outline in the air for a moment, before a giant red spider woman transmatted in.

"Racnoss?" The Doctor seemed surprised. "But that's impossible. You're one of the Racnoss?"

"Empress of the Racnoss," the spider corrected.

McKenzie blinked, before shrugging. "If you're the Empress, where's the rest of the Racnoss? Or are you the only one?"

"Such a sharp mind," the Empress acknowledged.

McKenzie smirked. "I think so too."

"That's it. The last of your kind," the Doctor continued, before glancing back to Donna and McKenzie. "The Racnoss come from the Dark Times, billions of years ago. Billions. They were carnivores, omnivores. They devoured whole planets."

"Racnoss are born starving. Is that our fault?" the Empress asked innocently.

"They eat people?" Donna asked, sounding disgusted.

"Er, Donna, that HC Clements, did he wear those, those er, black and white shoes?" McKenzie inquired, craning her neck up at a huge web spanning the ceiling.

"He did. We used to laugh. We used to call him the fat cat in spats," Donna laughed. McKenzie pointed up at a pair of feet sticking out of the web, wearing said black and white shoes. "Oh my God!"

"Mmm." The Empress licked her lips. "My Christmas dinner."

"You shouldn't even exist. Way back in history, the fledgling Empires went to war against the Racnoss. They were wiped out," the Doctor recalled. The trio spotted Lance on a balcony behind the Empress, making the shush gesture and wielding a fire axe.

"Except for me."

McKenzie frowned, before trying to buy him some time. She knew the Doctor didn't want to kill the Empress—after all, she was the last of her kind too—but neither of them wanted Lance to die either. "But that stuff Donna's got inside her. That Huon energy stuff. Where does she fit in? How comes she gets stocked up full of Huon particles? What's that for?"

The Empress smirked. "The girl is so curious."

"Yes! I am! And I may not know exactly what you are, Racnoss, but there is no way we're letting you hurt the people of this planet." Lance started to swing his axe, but the Empress whipped round and hissed at him. After a minute, they both started laughing.

"That was a good one. Your face," Lance chuckled.

"Lance is funny," the Empress chuckled.

"What?" Donna asked, shocked.

"I'm sorry," the Doctor sighed, glaring at Lance. He should have known.

"Sorry for what? Lance, don't be so stupid! Get her!" Donna yelled.

"God, she's thick," Lance spat. Donna recoiled. "Months I've had to put up with her. Months. A woman who can't even point to Germany on a map."

"I don't understand," Donna said quietly.

"How did you meet him?" the Doctor asked.

"In the office..."

"He made you coffee," McKenzie realised, her shoulders slumping. How could she not have seen that? This was how she'd lost Rose and Jackie, and even Jack: by being so stupid to not make the connection. She hadn't deserved them.

"What?" Donna stared.

"Every day, I made you coffee," Lance reminded her.

"You had to be dosed with liquid particles over six months," the Doctor explained, putting his arm around McKenzie's shoulders. He had heard those thoughts.

"He was poisoning me," Donna sighed, looking down.

"It was all there in the job title. The Head of Human Resources," the Doctor stated.

"This time, it's personnel," Lance punned.

"Oh, fuck off!" McKenzie snapped, having had enough.

"But, we were getting married," Donna protested.

Lance shrugged. "Well, I couldn't risk you running off. I had to say yes. And then I was stuck with a woman who thinks the height of excitement is a new flavour Pringle. Oh, I had to sit there and listen to all that yap yap yap. Oh, Brad and Angelina. Is Posh pregnant? X Factor, Atkins Diet, Feng Shui, split ends, text me, text me, text me. Dear God, the never ending fountain of fat, stupid trivia. I deserve a medal."

"Is that what she's offered you? The Empress of the Racnoss?" the Doctor questioned. "What are you, her consort?"

"It's better than a night with her," Lance nodded at Donna.

"But I love you," Donna cried.

Lance looked at her pityingly. "That's what made it easy." He looked back to the alien pair. "It's like you said, McKenzie. The big picture. What's the point of it all if the human race is nothing? That's what the Empress can give me. The chance to go out there. To see it. The size of it all. I think you both understand that, don't you?"

"Who is this little physician and his girl?" the Empress inquired.

Lance shrugged. "She said Martian." He pointed to Donna.

The Doctor waved a hand. "Oh, we're sort of... homeless. But the point is, what's down here? The Racnoss are extinct. What's going to help you four thousand miles down? That's just the molten core of the Earth, isn't it?"

The Empress and Lance shared a glance. "I think he wants us to talk," Lance noted.

"I think so, too."

"Well, tough! All we need is Donna."

"Kill this chattering little doctor man and the small girl!" the Empress ordered.

Donna jumped in front of the pair as McKenzie winked at her boyfriend, making an almost invisible forcefield in front of the trio. "Don't you hurt them!"

"No, no, Donna. It's all right," the Doctor said in his best 'soothing a startled deer' voice.

"No, I won't let them!"

"At arms!" The robots all pointed their guns at the trio.

"Ah, now, except—"

"Take aim!"

"Well," the Doctor began. "I just want to point out the obvious."

"They won't hit the bride. They're such very good shots," the Empress assured them.

"Well, I'm glad to hear it," McKenzie grinned. "Just, just, just, just, just, hold on. Hold on just a tick. Just a tiny little, just a little tick."

"If you think about it," the Doctor continued. "The particles activated in Donna and drew her inside our spaceship. So reverse it, and the spaceship comes to her." He turned the knob on the Huon container he still held, and the TARDIS built up like smoke around them. "Off we go!"

McKenzie turned to Donna after letting her forcefield drop. "Oh, do you know what he said earlier about time machines and them totally not existing. Well, he lied. It happens. And now we're going to use it. We need to find out what the Empress of the Racnoss is digging up. If something's buried at the planet's core, it must've been there since the beginning. That's brilliant. Fantastic! Always wanted to see this. Donna, we're going further back than we've ever been before." After a few short minutes of dashing round the console with the Doctor, she let out a happy squeal. "We've arrived. Want to see?"

The Doctor, however, noticed that Donna was rather unusually quiet. "You okay?" he asked softly.

"Suppose," Donna replied, to both questions.

McKenzie smiled, calming down a little. "That scanner's a bit small. Maybe your way's best." She walked over to the door. "Come on. No human's ever seen this. You'll be the first."

"All I want to see is my bed," Donna moaned, but she took the Doctor's proffered hand to get up and they both joined McKenzie at the doors.

"Donna Noble, welcome to the creation of the Earth," the redhead said as she opened the doors, she herself gazing around the nebulae  and rocks in utter awe.

"We've gone back four point six billion years. There's no solar system, not yet. Only dust and rocks and gas. That's the Sun, over there. Brand new. Just beginning to burn," the Doctor smiled, putting his arm around McKenzie's shoulders.

"Where's the Earth?" Donna asked.

"All around us in the dust," McKenzie replied, leaning her head against the Doctor comfortably.

"Puts the wedding in perspective. Lance was right. We're just tiny," Donna sighed.

"No, but that's what you do. The human race makes sense out of chaos. Marking it out with weddings and Christmases and calendars. This whole process is beautiful, but only if it's being observed."

"So I came out of all this?" Donna inquired.

"Isn't that brilliant?" McKenzie smiled, looking out with childish wonder.

A large rock drifted past, and Donna pointed at it. "I think that's the Isle of Wight." The trio chuckled.

"Eventually gravity takes hold. Say, one big rock, heavier than the others, starts to pull other rocks towards it. All the dust and gas and elements get pulled in. Everything, piling in until you get—"

"The Earth," Donna cut him off.

"But the question is, what was that first rock?" McKenzie wondered, putting on a mysterious voice.

"Look." Donna pointed as a seven pointed star came out from behind a dust cloud.

"The Racnoss," the Doctor identified. He frowned. "Hold on. The Racnoss are hiding from the war. What's it doing?"

"Exactly what you said," McKenzie realised, her eyes growing wide and the spaceship became the centre of the Earth, rocks and dust being clumped together around it.

"Oh, they didn't just bury something at the centre of the Earth. They became the centre of the Earth. The first rock," the Doctor sighed in realisation.

Suddenly there was a loud bang from the console as sparks flew. The two aliens looked back, worried for their ship.

"What was that?" Donna questioned, her eyes wide with nervousness.

"Trouble." The Doctor gritted his teeth before slamming the door and returning to the console. As he began piloting, McKenzie chipping in where she could, the TARDIS started throwing them about, reacting to being dragged back to 2012 Earth by the Empress.

"What the hell's it doing?" Donna yelled as she had to cling onto the railings.

"She!" McKenzie corrected as she nearly did another backwards somersault—this time into the wall—the power of her wings saving her just in time.

"Remember that little trick of mine, particles pulling particles?" the Doctor prompted. "Well, it works in reverse. They're pulling us back!"

"Well, can't you stop it? Hasn't it got a handbrake? Can't you reverse or warp or beam or something?" Donna shrieked.

"Backseat driver!" the Doctor exclaimed, rolling his eyes.

"Hel-lo beautiful!" McKenzie's eyes lit up, before she used a few powerful beats of her wings to allow her to reach under the console and pull out something she hadn't seen in around a year: the tribophysical waveform macrokinetic extrapolator! "It can't stop us, but it should give us a good bump!"

The Doctor helped her connect it up to the console, and then, after a well timed "Now!" they flicked the final switch, making them dematerialise again. They all hurried outside.

"We're about two hundred yards to the right," the Doctor located, sniffing. "Come on!"

"But what do we do?" Donna asked as they ran over to the bulkhead Torchwood door again.

"He doesn't really know," McKenzie grinned. "We make it up as we go along. But we've got a history."

The Doctor used a stethoscope on the door, and Donna rolled her eyes. "But I still don't understand. I'm full of particles, but what for?"

"There's a Racnoss web at the centre of the Earth, but my people unravelled their power source. The Huon particles ceased to exist, but the Racnoss were stuck," the Doctor explained, failing to notice as, behind him, McKenzie and Donna were drugged and carried off by robo-forms. "They've just taken hibernation for billions of years. Frozen, dead, kaput. So you're the new key. Brand new particles, living particles! They need you to open it and—neither of you have ever been so quiet." He turned, realising they were gone. "Oh."

***

The girls woke up ensnared in the web next to each other and Lance, hanging over the cavern. McKenzie opened her eyes, looked down into the laser-drilled hole, and closed them again with a quiet "Nope".

"I hate you," Donna hissed to her ex-fiancé.

Lance rolled his eyes at her. "Yeah, I think we've gone a bit beyond that now sweetheart."

"My golden couple, together at last, and flanked by the revenge bait. Your awful wedded life. Tell me, do you want to be released?" the Empress asked.

"Yes!" All three shouted.

"You're supposed to say, I do."

"No chance," Lance snorted.

"Say it!" the Empress snarled.

"I do."

"I do."

"I do."

"I... don't! Activate the particles. Purge every last one," the Empress ordered. Both Donna and Lance started to glow. "And release!" The Huon particles zoomed straight down to the centre of the Earth through the hole carved by Torchwood. "The secret heart unlocks, and they will waken from their Sleep of Ages."

"How many?" McKenzie asked warily.

"Millions of them. My children, the long lost Racnoss, now reborn to feast on flesh! The web star shall come to me. My babies will be hungry. They need sustenance. Perish the web."

"Use them, not me!" Lance yelled. "Use them!"

The Empress cackled. "Oh, my funny little Lance! But you are quite impolite to your lady friends. The Empress does not approve."

The web fell away where it held Lance, and he fell straight down to the hungry Racnoss. "Lance!" Donna cried.

"Harvest the humans! Reduce them to meat. My children are climbing towards me and none shall stop them. So you might as well unmask, my clever little doctor man."

The Doctor, standing on a staircase across the way, removed a robot mask and robe, shrugging. "Oh well. Nice try. I've got you, girls." He pointed his sonic screwdriver at the pair, and the web started to give way, freeing McKenzie's wings first, as was most important.

"I'm going to fall!" Donna wailed.

McKenzie shook her head. "I'm going to catch you. I've got you."

"What? How?"

The shorter girl narrowed her eyes as she was fully freed from the web and her wings began to beat, keeping her hovering just below Donna. "What, you thought they were ornamental?" As Donna came away from the web, falling and screaming, McKenzie caught her, and flew them both over to the Doctor. "Please, just, just, just please stop screaming in my ear," McKenzie begged as they touched down, and she released the bride to put her hand to said ear, cringing.

"The Doctor man amuses me," the Empress observed, having quietly watched the whole process. 

"Empress of the Racnoss, I give you one last chance. I can find you a planet. I can find you and your children a place in the universe to co-exist. Take that offer and end this now," the Doctor pleaded.

"These men are so funny."

"What's your answer?"

"Oh, I'm afraid I have to decline!" the Empress said with a toothy grin.

"Then I'm sorry, but what happens next is your own doing."

"I'll show you what happens next. At arms!" the Empress called. "Take aim! And—!"

"Relax," the Doctor said calmly. All the robo-forms slumped.

"What did you do?" Donna asked, frowning.

"Guess what I've got, Donna?" he teased, pulling out a robot remote control. "Pockets."

"How did that fit in there?!"

"They're bigger on the inside," McKenzie replied, smirking.

The Empress scoffed. "Roboforms are not necessary. My children may feast on Martian flesh."

"Oh, but we're not from Mars," the Doctor pointed out darkly.

"Then where?"

"My home planet is far away and long since gone. But it's name lives on: Gallifrey!"

"They murdered the Racnoss!" the Empress cried, recoiling.

The Doctor shook his head. "I warned you. You did this." From another pocket, he took a few baubles, throwing them into the air despite the Empress' pleads, and used the remote control to explode them against walls, letting the Thames in. The river formed a whirlpool as it drowned the Racnoss children, and the Doctor and McKenzie looked on. They'd lost too much. They were never going to let something like this happen again.

"Doctor! You can stop now!" Donna yelled over the roaring water.

"Come on," the Doctor said, noticing for the first time the fact that McKenzie, Donna, and himself were all soaked to the skin. "Time I got you two out." They headed up the stairs towards a ladder and a roof hatch, the younger redhead climbing up first.

"But what about the Empress?" Donna asked as they waited.

"She's used up all her Huon energy," the Doctor explained. "She's defenceless!" Donna went up next, using McKenzie's offered hand to help her out.

"Babes, I think we have a problem," McKenzie called down to him.

"What's that?" he inquired as he emerged onto the Thames flood barrier.

The girl started laughing. "We've drained the Thames." The Doctor and Donna took a proper look around at the muddy channel, before bursting out laughing as well.

***

"There we go," the Doctor smiled as they exited the TARDIS later, outside Donna's family house. "Told you she'd be all right. She can survive anything."

"More than I've done," Donna remarked, still in her damp wedding dress.

The Doctor soniced her. "No, all the Huon particles have gone. No damage, you're fine."

"Yeah, but apart from that, I missed my wedding, lost my job, and became a widow on the same day. Sort of."

"I couldn't save him," McKenzie stated, looking down. She should've.

"He deserved it." The Doctor raised his eyebrows at the bride, putting his arm around McKenzie's waist. "No, he didn't. I'd better get inside. They'll be worried."

"Best Christmas present they could have," McKenzie promised, smiling a little. "Oh, wait. I forgot. You hate Christmas."

"Yes, I do," Donna agreed.

"Even if it snows?" the Doctor asked slyly, before reaching into the top of the TARDIS doorway and pressing a button which shot a bolt of energy into the sky from the lamp. Instantaneously, it began to snow.

"I can't believe you did that!" McKenzie gasped, grinning wide.

The Doctor smiled fondly. "Oh, basic atmospheric excitation." He raised an eyebrow. "Maybe I should do it more often."

"Definitely," she cheered.

"Merry Christmas," Donna smiled.

"And you," the Doctor returned, McKenzie opting for an infectious grin. "So, what will you do with yourself now?"

"Not getting married, for starters." The Doctor snorted. "And I'm not going to temp anymore. I don't know. Travel. See a bit more of planet Earth. Walk in the dust. Just go out there and do something."

"Well, you could always..." McKenzie trailed off, looking to the Doctor for confirmation; he nodded.

"What?" Donna asked suspiciously.

"Come with us?" the girl offered, shrugging as she leaned against the Doctor's side.

"No," Donna replied.

"Okay," the redhead replied easily, nodding, though a little crestfallen.

"I can't." The ginger bride was shaking her head apologetically.

"No, that's fine," the Doctor assured her.

"No, but really. Everything we did today." Donna sighed. "Do you live your lives like that?"

"Not all the time," McKenzie defended. "Not every day."

Donna smiled sadly. "I think you do. And I couldn't."

"But you've seen it out there," the Doctor implored, his eyes lighting up with childish wonder. "It's beautiful."

"And it's terrible," Donna countered. "That place was flooding and burning and they were dying, and you two were stood there like, I don't know, strangers. And then you made it snow." She laughed in shock. "I mean, you scare me to death."

"Right."

"Tell you what I will do, though. Christmas dinner. Oh, come on," Donna laughed when she saw McKenzie's doubtful face.

"We don't... really do that sort of thing," McKenzie trailed, sharing a look with the Doctor. They weren't ready for that. Not so soon.

"You did it last year," Donna pointed out. "You said so. And you might as well, because Mum always cooks enough for twenty."

"Oh, all right then," the Doctor pretended to give in, taking McKenzie's hand. "But, er, you go first. Better warn them. And don't say we're Martian. We just have to park her properly." He jabbed his thumb at the TARDIS. "She might drift off to the Middle Ages. See you in a minute."

The pair departed into the TARDIS, and the engines started up. Caught with sudden realisation, Donna yelled, "Doctor! McKenzie!"

The TARDIS door opened suddenly, and McKenzie poked her head out, the Doctor's making an appearance a little higher. "Blimey, you can shout," McKenzie muttered indignantly. "What do you want?"

"Am I ever going to see you again?"

She grinned. "If we're lucky."

Donna smiled. "Just promise me one thing. Find someone."

"We don't need anyone," the Doctor replied instantly, narrowing his eyes.

"Yes, you do. Because sometimes, I think you need someone to stop you," Donna said sadly.

"Yeah," the Time Lord admitted, his expression softening. "Thanks then, Donna."

"Good luck," McKenzie continued. "And you just be magnificent."

Donna nodded. "I think I will, yeah." The pair retreated into the TARDIS, but Donna wasn't done yet. "McKenzie?"

"Oh, what is it now?" she demanded, sighing.

"That sister of yours. What was her name?" Donna inquired.

McKenzie blinked, touched. "Rose. Her name was Rose."

And with that, the TARDIS door closed, and the blue box faded away with a majestic, grating sound, until it simply wasn't there at all.