Chapter One : The Christmas Invasion

♥✰♥

SAM WINCHESTER'S SACRIFICE hit his family hard.

After promising they wouldn't try to rescue him, Dean found solace in his ex-fling, Lisa, and helped raise her son. Castiel was dead, blown to smithereens by Lucifer himself. Claudia looked for months, in hopes of finding a way to help Sam, ignoring her promise. She knew he would have done the same for her.

But she found nothing.

By November, she'd given up on hopes of bringing him back, and her connection with her living brother was practically severed. They'd gotten into a terrible fight after Sam's death, parting ways not long after. Nothing was the same anymore. Hunting, fighting, killing; it was all over. Claudia poured herself into hours of research, hunting monsters and finding Sam.

Only after Thanksgiving did she finally give up. Perhaps he wasn't meant to be found, she told herself. He sacrificed himself for the greater good, and no matter what happened now -- the war was over. They'd won. The angels would leave them alone, Dean could be happy and she...she'd find something to do.

She thought about continuing their family's legacy: saving people, hunting things. But she couldn't bring herself to do it without her brothers. Dean was her right-hand man, her best friend. She'd stayed with him when Sam went off to college. Sam was always the brains of the family, always used logic over emotion. It didn't matter though, he was her twin brother, her other half. And with both of them out of her life -- what good would she do? People would survive without her, she didn't need to kill herself in the process.

They'd travelled all over the United States, and there wasn't a single town Claudia could see herself living in. She saw Sam everywhere. The only choice of escapism was out of the country.

She found herself in London, England, as far from her old life as she could get. She went to an old friend who owed their family a favor, and started a new life. No longer Claudia Winchester, burned were all the aliases and fake ID's.

She was now Claudia Jameson. She picked the name herself, after Sam's middle name; James. After sending a quick text message to Dean, to let him know of her plans — in case he felt a need to reach her — she packed up the few items she had and moved over.

Claudia already had a passport and Visa, thanks to the man who changed her name, so it wasn't too hard to find a cheaper apartment. She got a normal job, a receptionist in a small dentist's office.

She moved in across the hall from a friendly, chatty middle-aged woman named Jackie, who invited her over for dinner more often than not, and Claudia found a friend in someone other than her family. At times, she missed the old life, hunting, and fighting, killing anything that breathed wrong — but more often than not, her heart was full.

Sam's words repeated in her mind almost daily, how happy he was to be in college, how the best times of his life were also the most boring and normal. She felt good about keeping her promise, living up to his hopes for her. She knew he always wanted more for her, more than the constant death and destruction that controlled their lives.

Christmas was just around the corner, only the next day, and Claudia wasn't sure how to feel about it. She hadn't celebrated since her family's small Christmas in a motel room, cramming over books with her brothers and Bobby.

Now she sat in a barely furnished flat in the middle of London, with nothing more than some of her brother's old clothes and a small futon to her name. She was alone.

A knock at the door brought Claudia from her thoughts and she looked up from her book, setting it on the couch and walking to the front door. She'd stolen Sam's collection of books, along with pretty much everything else he had, and taken it with her. Dean didn't mind, he didn't want any of it, claimed he didn't need stuff to remember his brother by -- he didn't need reminders of his death.

Claudia had read through most of his books already, but she was finally managing to get through is personal favorite: The Hobbit. She'd never been a fan of the fantastical aspect of science-fiction, or the fantasy genre alone, though both her brothers were, but a quarter of the way through the book and she found herself enjoying it more than she thought.

"Hey, Jackie," she greeted with a smile as she opened the door. "What can I do for you?"

Jackie grinned, pointing behind her to her own flat. "I'm just wondering, 'cause I'm not sure if Rose'll be home and I don't want to spend Christmas alone. Are you doing anything for Christmas? Got any family coming 'round?"

Claudia shook her head as Sam's face flashed before her eyes. "No, they all live in the US. It's just me."

Jackie's face softened a fraction. "Oh, bless, come over, then! We'll figure out food and Mickey'll be 'round!"

Claudia perked up at the mention of Mickey Smith, her newfound friend. Jackie introduced him as her daughter, Rose's, boyfriend, but Claudia just came to know him as Mickey. They'd hung out a few times, watched games together and she'd even told him about losing her brother, claiming it was oversees and he was in the army.

Claudia smiled, touched by the invitation. "That sounds great, Jackie, I'd love to come over. Do you want me to bring anything? I can make a mean apple pie."

Jackie waved her off. "You don't have to bring anything but yourself."

"Sounds good," Claudia nodded. "Do you need anything else or will I see you tomorrow?"

"See you tomorrow, love."

♥✰♥

Claudia woke up the next morning to a loud squeaking sound, as though a key were scraping against a wire, or a car wouldn't start up right. She heard Jackie's door slam across the hall and frowned; it was unusual the woman to leave so early in the morning.

She rubbed her eyes sleepily, getting ready quickly and rushing out of the apartment to see where the sound originated from. She spotted Jackie on the ground outside, next to Mickey, and they both chatted excitedly, pointing at a big blue Police Box crashing into multiple buildings. Claudia raised an eyebrow, walking downstairs hurriedly and ran up to her friends.

"What's going on? What is that?"

Mickey glanced at her but didn't reply, and Jackie just kept repeating about how 'she's alive.' Claudia presumed the 'she' in question was Rose, but what did a flying blue box have to do with that?

The box finally crash-landed into a bunch of bins, knocking them over. The door opened a moment later and a skinny man in a leather jacket peeked out, looking awed by everything. Claudia raised her eyebrows, following Jackie and Mickey over to the man and the box.

"Jackie, Mickey, blimey!" He looked between the two excitedly. They stared at him in shock, as though they'd never seen him before in their life. But how did he know them? Sensing no immediate threat, Claudia kept her pistol in her boot, watching him curiously. "No, no, no, no. Hold on," he stepped back, pointing at them. He glanced behind them, over at her, his smile widening. "Oh, hello! I don't think we've met, hello. You are?"

Claudia couldn't help the smile that formed on her lips -- his own was quite contagious. "I'm Claudia," she told him easily and his grin widened.

"Oh, American? I like it. Wait there," he told them all walking around them. "What was I going to say? There was something I had to tell you. Something important. What was it?" He grabbed Mickey and Jackie by the shoulders. "No, hold on. Hold on. Hold on," he shushed them, even though they hadn't said anything. "Oh!" He shouted, startling the pair. Claudia observed, not too shaken up by the entire situation. She'd seen much more surprising things. "I know. Merry Christmas!" He grinned, before immediately falling forward.

Mickey caught his head before he fell and Claudia blinked. What a strange man. Perhaps Jackie and Mickey had more mysterious things going on than Claudia realized. The door opened again and a younger blonde woman came out. Claudia recognized her immediately as Rose, Jackie's daughter. She'd seen numerous pictures of the girl during her time at Jackie's and she perked up a bit.

"What happened? Is he all right?"

"I don't know," Mickey answered her. "He just keeled over. But who is he? Where's the Doctor?"

Claudia frowned. The Doctor? Did he have no real name, no surname? Was he a man of medicine? She didn't know any doctor that could exit a flying police box and collapse to the ground with no warning. Then again, she was new to London. She didn't exactly know what the 'normal' thing was yet.

"That's him," Rose answered solemnly. "Right in front of you. That's the Doctor."

"What do you mean, that's the Doctor?" Jackie asked disbelieving. "Doctor who?"

♥✰♥

Claudia helped Mickey take 'the Doctor' into the spare bedroom in Jackie's flat, and left Mickey to change him into spare pajamas. Jackie had made them all tea, and Claudia sipped on it slowly as Jackie rushed back into the room where the Doctor slept. She still hadn't grown accustomed to tea yet, it didn't give her the same kick that coffee did.

Claudia hovered outside the room, watching as Jackie pulled a stethoscope out and handed it to Rose. Claudia felt a bit out of place, but was too curious to leave. Besides, Jackie had invited her for the day, and she didn't really want to go back to her own flat with everything going on here.

Rose watched the Doctor with concern, heartbreak filling her face. Claudia looked between her and the Doctor, a small smile forming on her face. Rose was obviously in love with the strange man, but Claudia didn't understand why she was so devastated. The man wasn't dead, yet, at least. No one had any idea what was happening to him or what was wrong with him, but she hoped he'd live. She didn't want her past to catch up with her. She didn't need to see anyone else die.

"Here we go," Jackie told Rose. "Tina the cleaner's got this lodger, medical student. And she was fast asleep so I just took it."

Rose put the stethoscope in her ears and held the bottom piece against the Doctor's chest.

"I still say we should take him to a hospital," Jackie told Rose. Claudia wondered briefly why they hadn't yet -- but the numerous cuts and bruises she and her brothers faced without a hospital, she understood not wanting to go.

"We can't," Rose told her mother flatly. "They'd lock him up. They'd dissect him."

Claudia stiffened, watching the pair with interest. Dissect him? What sort of species was he? She tried racking her brain for all the different possibilities -- but nothing seemed to make sense. Had she discovered a new monster in the UK? Was he a monster? He didn't seem like a monster, then again, not many of them ever did.

"One bottle of his blood could change the future of the human race."

"No--"

"--Shh," Rose cut Jackie off, shaking her head, resuming listening to his heartbeat. Claudia's eyes widened as Rose checked both sides of his chest, not just the left side. "Both working."

"What do you mean both?" Jackie asked.

"Well, he's got two hearts."

"Oh, don't be stupid."

"He has." Rose got up from the bed, stopping abruptly when she saw Claudia standing at the door. "Oh, hello."

"Hey," Claudia nodded. "He's got two hearts, then?"

Rose nodded. "Yep."

"Anything else he got two of?" Jackie asked, staring down at the Doctor.

"Leave him alone," Rose told her mother seriously. "Claudia, you doing okay? This is a lot to take in."

Claudia shrugged. "I've seen worse. Why's he called the Doctor? Does he have an actual name?"

Rose shook her head. "That's his name. The Doctor. It's just what he's called."

Claudia nodded, looking over at the man again as Rose and Jackie left the room. Claudia sipped her tea again, very aware of the mysterious aura this man held. She bit the inner part of her cheek, eyes narrowed in suspicion, acutely aware of the pistol ready in her boot. She ignored the instinct to shoot first, ask questions later.

Dean would've done it as soon as the man stepped out of the blue box, but Sam would have waited until the Doctor woke up to ask him questions. Claudia leaned her head agains the doorframe. Perhaps he wasn't a monster. After all, surely there were cases of humans with two hearts. Perhaps this was a similar situation?

The interesting thing about it all though, was that Claudia felt no danger from the man. There wasn't the usual hair-raising, skin crawling feeling she got with everything else. Even meeting Castiel for the first time, she felt scared and shaken. But the Doctor? He just smiled at her, like she fascinated him, for the briefest of moments.

She shook her head, walking back into the living room. The entire situation didn't make any sense. Who was this 'doctor' man? What was wrong with him? How did he know Rose? Where did he come from? Why was he in a police box, and how did it fly?

"I keep forgetting he's not human," Rose said shakily as Claudia entered the kitchen.  

Claudia's eyes widened. That answered one question, but only brought up a few dozen more. If not human, what was he? Rose glanced up at her, stiffening and wiping her tears. Claudia's heart went out for the younger woman, obviously distraught and upset. She felt guilty for being there -- this wasn't her family, she didn't need to burden them. But at the same time, she couldn't leave them. What if they were in danger? Jackie was so kind to her, she didn't want to see her hurt.

"The big question is, where'd you get men's pajamas from?"

"Howard's been staying over," Jackie answered, turning around and messing with things in the kitchen.

"What, Howard from the market?" Rose asked dubiously.

Claudia smirked. "He's smitten with her, Rose, literally follows her around like a puppy."

"Oh, hush, it you," Jackie rolled her eyes at Claudia's remark.

"How long's that been going on?"

"A month or so. First of all he starts delivering to the door and I thought, 'that's odd,' because he doesn't deliver to anyone else, Claudia made sure to tell me that," she gave Claudia a pointed look and she winked cheekily. "Next thing you know, it's a bag of oranges--"

"--Is that Harriet Jones?" Rose cut her off, turning around and walking towards the television in the living room.

"Never mind me," Jackie muttered quietly to Claudia and she gave her a sympathetic smile. Rose did seem a bit uncaring about her mother's feelings. Jackie followed her out but Claudia dumped the rest of her tea in the sink, rinsing out the mug and putting it on the drying rack before she followed the pair in.

"Why is she on the telly?"

"She's Prime Minister," Claudia filled in. "So weird saying that."

"I'm 18 quid a week better off," Jackie pitched in excitedly. "They're calling it Britain's golden age. I keep on saying my Rose has met her."

"Did more than that," Rose agreed with a smile. "Stopped World War III with her."

Claudia made a face in disagreement. Sure, she might've done something humane and helped Harriet Jones out, but Claudia and her brother's stopped the end of times. Literally stopped the entire apocalypse from rolling out and fought angels and demons, and the devil himself. She kind of one-upped Rose a bit in that regard.

Claudia went to ask Rose what she meant, but was interrupted as Mickey entered the flat.

"Hey, hey, everyone!" He waved at them all, shutting the door quickly so as not to let in the cold air. Claudia smiled over at him and he pulled her into a small hug, before hugging Rose tightly.

"Hey, you wanna come shopping with me?" He asked Rose. "I'm about to head out."

Rose hesitated but Claudia waved her off. "Don't worry," she reassured. "I'll hang out with your mom, and we'll keep an eye on the Doctor. We'll phone if something happens, okay?"

Rose nodded, giving Mickey a smile. "It'd be nice to get out and do something simple." She grabbed her coat from the rack and followed Mickey out of the flat, leaving Claudia and Jackie alone.

♥✰♥

Claudia took another bite of the apple pie she'd brought over, though no one else had eaten any, and jumped as the door burst open and Rose barged in frantically.

"Mum!" She shouted. "Get off the phone!"

"It's only Bev. She says hello."

Rose grabbed the phone from Jackie's hand, holding it to her ear. "Bev? Yeah, look, it'll have to wait." She hung up, putting the phone on a table and looking at Mickey and Jackie. Claudia shoved the final piece of pie in her mouth, walking over slowly and watched Rose cautiously.

"Right," Rose told them. "It's not safe, we've got to get out. Where can we go?"

"My mate Stan. He'll put us up."

"That's only two streets away."

"What about Mo? Where's she living now?"

"I don't know," Jackie answered. "Peak District."

Claudia cleared her throat. "Sorry," she cut in. "What's happening, why do you need to leave?"

An irritated look crossed Rose's face. "Look, this is all a bit much for you and--"

"--I've seen worse than your non-human doctor friend, okay? What's going on? Why do we need to leave?"

"It's Christmas Eve," Jackie shook her head. "We're not going anywhere. What are you babbling about?" She asked Rose angrily.

"Mum..." Rose started, looking up at the Christmas tree that arrived while she and Mickey were shopping. "Where'd you get that tree? That's a new tree. Where'd you get it?"

"We thought it was you," Jackie replied.

"How can it be me?"

"You went shopping, there was a ring at the door and there it was."

"It was a little weird, but we figured you didn't like the old one," Claudia added.

"No, that wasn't me."

Claudia turned to the tree, feeling herself move in front of Jackie slightly, prepared for anything that could happen. At the slightest sign of danger, she'd get these three out of here. Who knows what was going on.

"Then who was it?" Jackie asked.

The lights started flickering on the tree and Claudia stiffened, pushing the three behind her.

The tree began spinning from the bottom up and Claudia's eyes widened and Rose gasped behind her. Jackie yelped in fright and the three hugged behind her as Claudia pushed them further behind her. The tree picked up speed, rushing towards them at a ferocious speed.

Jackie screamed as the tree cut the coffee table and Claudia pushed the trio behind her towards the exit. "Get out here!" She shouted. "We've got to go!"

Mickey held up a chair, and Claudia grabbed the pistol from her boot, aiming it at the tree. She didn't think it would do any damage, but it was worth a try.

"Woah!" Mickey shouted, moving away from her slightly. "Where'd you get that?" He shouted over the noise.

Claudia gave him a look. "Not the time, Mickey!"

"We've got to save the Doctor!" Rose shouted from the spare bedroom. "Mickey!"

Claudia nodded at him. "Go, I'll do my best, okay?"

Mickey nodded, rushing back to help Jackie and Rose get the Doctor out of the flat and Claudia searched for a weak spot on the tree, shooting the bottom once, rolling her eyes as it did nothing. What sort of demon could do something like this? And why would it?

"Claudia! Get out, get out of there!" Jackie shouted and Claudia ran back to the spare room, just as Mickey and Jackie began pushing a dresser against the door.

"Doctor, wake up!" Rose shouted at him.

Claudia gave her a look. "What's he going to do? Knock the tree out with anesthesia?"

"Better than shooting at it!" Rose shouted back. She ran to the coat he wore before, grabbing a small metal stick from it and placing it in his hand. Claudia shoved Mickey behind her as the tree broke through the dresser, and she held up her hands as she fell back. It sliced through Sam's old flannel, digging into her forearm and she winced, moving back on her legs in hopes of getting away from it.

"I'm gonna get killed by a Christmas tree!" Jackie whimpered against the wall.

Suddenly, the Doctor sat up, pointing his silver stick object at the tree and it blew up. Claudia gasped, putting the gun back in her boot and turning to look at him in shock.

"How did you do that?"

"Sonic screwdriver."

"How do you make a screwdriver sonic?"

"Not important," he disregarded. "Remote control. But who's controlling it?"

The Doctor stood up quickly, grabbing a dressing gown and rushing from the bedroom quickly. Claudia followed behind him eagerly, fascinated by the entire day's events. She'd seen incredibly unbelievable things throughout her life, and had been to Heaven and Hell -- but she'd never seen a remote controlled Christmas tree taken down by a sonic screwdriver and a man with two hearts.

They all walked outside to the balcony, and spotted three creepy people standing in Santa costumes. Claudia blinked.

"This is crazy, even for me," she muttered. "And that's saying something."

"That's them. What are they?" Mickey asked the Doctor.

"Shh," Rose quieted him.

The Doctor aimed his sonic screwdriver at the creepy Santas and they backed away, before disappearing into a beam of light that shot through the sky.

"What the hell was that?" Claudia asked.

"They've just gone!" Mickey said disbelievingly with a laugh. "What kind of rubbish were they? I mean, no offense, but they're not much cop if a sonic screwdriver's gonna scare them off."

"Pilot fish," the Doctor answered simply.

"What?"

"They were just pilot fish," he answered, before groaning in pain and falling back against the wall. Claudia caught him easily, helping him down and he stared at her in surprise. "You're taking this quite well," he said through his pain, wincing and groaning. "I'd have thought you'd left."

She shrugged. "This is strange, but I've seen weirder."

"What's wrong?" Rose asked him, watching him with concern.

"You woke me up too soon," he replied, panting. "I'm still regenerating. I'm bursting with energy."

Regenerating?

He opened his mouth and a golden dust exited, floating up into the sky. Claudia's eyes widened. "Okay, I'll give you that, that's weird."

"You see?" He ignored her, speaking to Rose. "The pilot fish could smell it a million miles away. So they eliminate the defense, that's you lot, and they carry me off. They could run their batteries off me for a couple of, years!" He gasped, falling forward and Mickey caught him.

"What are you, though?" Claudia asked quietly, the question burning inside her since she first spotted him.

"Oh, oh, oh!" Jackie shouted, worry flooding her face.

"My head," the Doctor said through gritted teeth. "I'm having a neural implosion. I need..."

"What do you need?" Jackie asked immediately.

"I need--"

"Just say. Tell me, tell me."

"I need--"

"--Painkillers? Asprin?"

"I need--"

"Codeine? Paracetamol? Oh, I don't know. Pepto-Bismol?

"I need--"

"--Liquid paraffin. Vitamin C, vitamin D, vitamin E!"

"I need--"

"Is it food? Something simple."

"I need--"

"Bowl of soup? Nice bowl of soup?"

"I need--"

"Soup and a sandwich? Oh, soup and a little ham sandwich?"

"I need you to shut up."

Claudia snorted at his response and Jackie flattened, pulling away from him.

"Oh, he hasn't changed that much."

He gasped again, lunging forward as if something was controlling him and Claudia caught him, holding him as he gripped her tightly. She winced at the contact with her arm and he looked down, concern flooding his features.

"Did you, ah," he gasped, "did you hurt yourself?"

"Tree cut me, but it's nothing, I'm fine."

He moved to say something but was taken over by another bout of pain and he gasped again, his grip tightening.

"We haven't got much time," he told everyone. "If there's pilot fish then..." he stopped, pulling out an apple. "Why is there an apple in my dressing gown?" He looked at Claudia and she shrugged.

"I don't know, it's not mine."

"That's Howard, sorry," Jackie supplied.

"He keeps apples in his dressing gown?"

"He gets hungry."

Claudia smiled at the encounter, her mind flashing to Dean. He used to be the same way, always keeping food in his pockets. He would keep things separate from her and Sam growing up, hiding it so their dad wouldn't find out. Claudia caught him snacking on a Snickers bar one but promised to keep it a secret. Later on, she let it slip and Dean didn't see daylight for a week.

"What, he gets hungry in his sleep?"

"Sometimes."

He dropped the apple a moment later, gasping as he fell back into Claudia. She lost her balance fumbling to the ground, holding him tightly, and leaning against the wall. Rose helped him off her, but the Doctor held tightly to Claudia's hand. She squeezed back, making sure he knew she was still there. Not that it mattered, she was sure he just wanted someone to be there. Or perhaps he thought she was Rose.

"Brain--" he groaned, letting out a painful scream, "collapsing. The--the pilot fish--" he told Claudia, looking into her eyes seriously as he spoke through gritted teeth, his hands gripping her own so hard she thought they'd fall off. "The pilot fish mean there's something...there's something...something is coming."

His eyes connected with her own and for a moment, she felt completely at peace, as though nothing in the world could ever harm her. His own eyes softened and for the briefest of moments, his face softened, as though he was no longer in pain. She didn't quite understand the look, but a part of her felt incredibly disturbed by it. Another part of her reveled in it, and she wanted to stare into his eyes forever, feeling secure for the first time in her life. And then he collapsed into her arms and she was brought back to reality.

What was going on?

♥✰♥

okieeee so first chapter's done. ik it's short and a lil slow but I'm about to write another chapter so yeah:) hope you guys enjoyed it!! let me know what you think and if you like Claudia! She's much more intense and muuuuch darker than Luna, so I'm really excited about this. I almost wrote Claudia with 9, but honestly, I love Rose and Nine together so much that I couldn't bring myself to do it. Like I'm not a fan of Rose but idk she hits different with nine and I ship them sm. okay anyways!! let me know what you guys thought about this and there should be another update for this and Spaceman and the Moon up today/tomorrow. I'm mostly focusing on these stories rn because they make me the happiest and flow the easiest so yeah:) don't forget to vote if you liked it, and please don't be a silent reader! I love to hear your thoughts and I promise I'll respond as fast as I can!! thank you guys for your support and stay safe! -osw