The plot thickens as the Doctor, Willow and Donna gain more clues into what they are facing this Christmas.

***

The Doctor sighed, about to wander back over to the bar when someone caught his eye. A nearby cameraman was looking through what he had recorded earlier in the day, something the Doctor wanted to see.

He waltzed over and asked to see the footage of Donna's disappearance; the cameraman gladly complied. "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 News. Here we are."

The replay showed exactly how Donna vanished. For just a few seconds, golden particles emerged from her as she began to scream. Then she vanished, most likely being transported into the TARDIS. "Can't be. Play it again?"

The cameraman rewound it, the Doctor leaning in for a closer look. "Clever, mind. Good trick, I'll give her that. I was clapping."

"But that looks like Huon Particles." He said.

"What's that then?"

"That's impossible. That's ancient. Huon energy doesn't exist anymore, not for billions of years." He removed his glasses, confused. All of a sudden, he glanced back and over at Donna, finally realising the problem. "So old that it can't be hidden by a bio-damper!"

The Doctor quickly sprinted out of the room, heading down a corridor that led towards the entrance; he found Willow nearby who had clearly been sobbing. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"She's got Huon Particles in her, meaning she can still be traced." He recounted to her as they gazed out a window to find robot Santas approaching fast with their instruments of death.

He grasped Willow's hand, pulling her back into the room filled with all the wedding guests. They ran up to Donna, scared for what the Santas had planned for them. "Donna, they've found you!" She exclaimed.

"But you said I was safe."

"The bio-damper doesn't work. We've got to get everyone out." The Doctor told her.

She glimpsed around the room, fear growing inside her. "My God, it's all my family."

"Out the back door!" They all ran over to back exit of the building, opening the doors, only to find that the robot Santas had anticipated their escape and blocked it off. "Maybe not." Swiftly closing the back doors, they sprinted over to the nearest window, but they were there also. "We're trapped."

In one of the Santas' hands was a remote control, similar to the one they used last year to control the Christmas tree. Both the Doctor and Willow glanced over to the nearby Christmas trees, recognising what they had done to them. "Christmas trees." muttered Willow.

"What about them?" Donna wondered.

"They kill." The Doctor stated. The three quickly sprung over to the guests that were nearby and ordered. "Get away from the tree!"

Willow started to pull the children away, afraid they would get hurt during the crossfire. "Don't touch the trees! Get away from the Christmas trees! Everyone get away from them!"

"Everyone stay away from the trees! Stay away from the trees!" The Doctor commanded.

The panic they were causing allowed the guests to understand that they were in some kind of danger, they just didn't know what. They all backed up slightly. However, Sylvia, Donna's mother, scoffed. "Oh, for God's sakes, the man's an idiot. Why? What harm's a Christmas tree going to... oh!"

The trio turned around to find the baubles had started float off the trees, surrounding them. The guests watched in awe, believing that it was all one big party trick for the Christmas season. For a moment, everything appeared fine and dandy.

Abruptly, one of the baubles zoomed into the crowd and exploded upon collision with something. Panic began erupt as more baubles flew down and hit the ground like bombs. They ran for their lives, attempting to take cover. The bride and groom hid together under a table as the Doctor and Willow sprinted over to the DJ's sound desk, ducking behind it.

Eventually, the carnage ceased and the Doctor stood back up to discover the robot Santas had now entered the room, lining up in formation. "Oi! Santa! Word of advice. If you're attacking a man with a sonic screwdriver," He put the microphone up to his mouth, talking into it. "Don't let him near the sound system."

He plunged the sonic screwdriver into the deck, jamming it in to interfere with the harmonics and raise the frequency. Everyone, including Willow, covered their ears as the sound intensity increased and the robot Santas began to shake. Their mechanics were pulled apart, their robotic features ripped out of their systems. This lasted for a few minutes until they all finally collapsed and the Doctor ceased his sonic frequency to everyone's relief.

Everyone ran out from their hiding places, re-joining their family members and checking that they were alright. The Doctor and Willow approached the broken Santas, picking up one of their heads. "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."

"You mean, they weren't after the Huon particles, someone else was?" asked Willow.

"Never mind all that. You're a doctor. People have been hurt." Donna told them.

"Nah, they wanted you alive. Look." He threw one of the baubles at her, now returning to their original state. "They're not active now."

She dropped it onto the floor. "All I'm saying, you could help."

"Got to think of the bigger picture. There's still a signal!" The Doctor sprinted out of the room, leaving Donna dismayed.

Willow returned to her feet, turning to her. "Sorry. He's like that sometimes." She jogged out of the hotel to join him, Donna distantly following behind.

Outside, the Doctor was using the sonic screwdriver to investigate where the signal was coming from. "There's someone behind this, directing the roboforms."

"But why is it me? What have I done?" Donna questioned, infuriated.

"If we find the controller, we'll find that out." His sonic pointed to the sky, tracing it. "Ooo! It's up there. Something in the sky."

Nearby, the ambulances arrived to examine the guests and help anyone they could as the Doctor, Willow and Donna made plans for the next step of their journey. "I've lost the signal. Donna, we've got to get to your office. HC Clements. I think that's where it all started." They spotted Lance, having come out to check on his fiancée. "Lance! Is it Lance? Lance, can you give us a lift?"

***

They arrived at HC Clements, a normal-looking office with many hidden secrets to uncover. There was something about this building that Torchwood wanted to hide. Whatever it was, they had left it behind after the Battle of Canary Wharf.

"To you lot this might just be a locksmiths, but H C Clements was brought up twenty three years ago by the Torchwood Institute." He explained.

"Who are they?" asked Donna.

"They were behind the battle of Canary Wharf." The Doctor stated, however, Donna seemed clueless about it. "Cyberman invasion. Skies over London full of Daleks?"

"Oh, I was in Spain." She mentioned.

"They had Cybermen in Spain." Willow pointed out.

"Scuba diving." responded Donna.

"That big picture, Donna. You keep on missing it." He told her. "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?" She asked.

"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. See? That's what happened. Say, that's the TARDIS." The Doctor grabbed a nearby coffee mug, using it as an example for his travelling machine. "And that's you." He picked up a pencil. "The particles inside you activated. The two sets of particles magnetised and whap." He shook both items in his hands before dropping the pencil into the mug to demonstrate how Donna ended up in the TARDIS. "You were pulled inside the Tardis."

"I'm a pencil inside a mug?"

"Yes, you are. 4H. Sums you up."

"Rude." indicated Willow. 

"Not ginger." He fired back. "Lance? What was HC Clements working on? Anything top secret? Special operations? Do not enter?"

Donna's husband-to-be was unsure. "I don't know, I'm in charge of personnel. I wasn't project manager. Why am I even explaining myself? What the hell are we talking about?"

The Doctor managed to get one of the computers to work, showing a plan of the entire building. "They make keys, that's the point. And look at this. We're on the third floor."

Next, they all headed over to a nearby lift, to point out what the Doctor was trying to explain. "Underneath reception, there's a basement, yes?" He stepped inside, peering at the floor numbers. "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?"

"Are you telling me this building's got a secret floor?"

"No, I'm showing you this building's got a secret floor."

Willow smirked as Donna mentioned. "It needs a key."

"I don't." He sonicked the lower basement button, activating it as Willow stepped into the lift to join him. "Right then. Thanks, you two. We can handle this. See you later."

However, Donna protested. "No chance, Martians. You're the people who keep saving my life. I ain't letting you both out of my sight."

He inhaled. "Going down."

"Lance?" She demanded.

"Maybe I should go to the police." He suggested.

Nevertheless, she wasn't having any of it. "Inside!"

Hesitantly, Lance followed his bride into the lift. The Doctor softly smirked at Willow before speaking. "To honour and obey?"

"Tell me about it, mate."

"Oi!"

Willow couldn't help but giggle as the lift began to go down, finally getting closer to the truth behind HC Clements.

***

Once they reached the right floor, the group found themselves in a lower basement corridor. The lighting was a dimly lit green, increasing the eerie atmosphere around them. "Where are we? Well, what goes on down here?"

"Let's find out." said the Doctor.

"Do you think Mister Clements knows about this place?" She wondered.

"Oh, I bet he does," Willow mentioned with enthusiasm. "I'm guessing that Torchwood must have paid him a lot of money to keep quiet about all of this."

"Oh, look. Transport." The Doctor spotted four segways nearby, not exactly the best form of transport but it certainly saved walking.

They all hopped on and started to travel down the large corridor. There was nothing but silence for a moment until Donna burst out laughing. She couldn't help it and neither could Willow, her being the next one to go. Finally, the Doctor joined in with their cackles. Lance, on the other hand, did not; most likely believing it to be ridiculous.

Eventually, they arrived at a bulkhead door which was labelled 'Torchwood'. This was their correct destination. All of them hopped off, the Doctor turning the wheel of the door and opening it to find a ladder that led back up to the surface. 

"Wait here. Just need to get my bearings. Don't do anything." He advised.

"Like we would." said Willow. "Don't go anywhere."

"I couldn't get rid of you if I tried." He started up the ladder, Willow blushing below. 

As he climbed, Donna and Willow were watching him intensely. "Donna, have you thought about this? Properly? I mean, this is serious! What the hell are we going to do?"

Although, Donna wasn't listening. "Oh, I thought July."

After a few minutes, the Doctor returned to the lower basement level and described their surroundings. "Thames flood barrier right on top of us. Torchwood snuck in and built this place underneath."

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

"Oh, I know. Unheard of."

***

Soon enough, after wandering down the corridor for some time, they found themselves in a large laboratory. Several bubbling tubes were stuck into the floor, still running like normal. "Oo, look at this. Stunning!"

"What does it do?" She queried.

"Particle extrusion." He described. "Hold on. Brilliant. They've been manufacturing Huon particles. Course, our people got rid of Huons. They unravel the atomic structure."

"Your people? Who are they? What company do you represent?" demanded Lance.

"Oh, we're just freelancers. But this lot are rebuilding them. 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." Willow grasped a container from the side, observing it closely.

"And that's what's inside me?" She turned a knob on top of the container, watching in astonishment as Donna lit up. The golden hue of the Huon particles was embedded into her skin, freaking her out. "Oh, my God!"

"Genius. Because the particles are inert, they need something living to catalyse inside and that's you. Saturate the body and then. Ha!" The Doctor threw himself backwards in excitement, finally figuring it out. "The wedding! Yes, you're getting married, that's it! Best day of your life, walking down the aisle. Oh, your 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!"

All of a sudden, his rambling ended with another slap to the face by Donna. Willow grimaced but understood that he deserved it. "What did I do this time?!"

"Are you enjoying this?" She was angry, full-on. Donna didn't want any of this to happen to her, especially on the happiest day of her life. "Right, just tell me. These particles, are they dangerous? Am I safe?"

He paused, uttering. "Yes."

It clearly wasn't the answer she wanted. "Doctor, if your lot got rid of Huon particles, why did they do that?"

"Because they were deadly." He responded.

"Oh, my God." She muttered, sickened.

Willow embraced her comfortingly. "Listen to me, Donna. We'll sort it out. 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 raspy female voice said overhead. The wall in front of them slowly slid up to reveal a giant hole that descended 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!"

Suddenly, black-robed robots aimed their guns at them from above, ready to fire. The Doctor glanced into the hole curiously. "Someone's been digging. 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 exclaimed.

"Really?" The Doctor squinted, surprised that Torchwood had that capability. "Seriously? What for?"

"Dinosaurs." said Donna, trying to guess.

"What?"

"Dinosaurs?" She no longer sounded sure with herself, and she was right not to be.

"What are you on about, dinosaurs?" The Doctor wondered.

"That film, Under the Earth, with dinosaurs. Trying to help." She explained.

Willow sighed. "Listen, Donna, I think it's best just leaving all the thinking to us."

"Such a sweet trio." The voice hissed.

"Only a madman talks to thin air and trust me, you don't want to make me mad. Where are you?" He questioned.

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

The Doctor began to raise his voice ever so slightly. "I 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."

"Prepare your best medicines, doctor man, for you will be sick at heart." Suddenly, on the other side of the hole, a giant red spider appeared. It appeared to be a mix between a humanoid and a spider-like creature, one with pitch black eyes that pierced through her crimson skin.

The spider hissed and growled at them, the Doctor and Willow looking on in astonishment whilst Donna was shocked and fearful of the alien creature. "Racnoss? But that's impossible. You're one of the Racnoss?" Willow uttered.

"Empress of the Racnoss." The Racnoss stated.

"If you're the Empress, where's the rest of the Racnoss? Or, are you the only one?" He questioned.

"Such a sharp mind." She commemorated, somewhat answering his question. 

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

The Empress snarled at him. "Racnoss are born starving. Is that our fault?"

"I mean, everyone is so you shouldn't be offended by that." Willow responded with a harsh tone.

"They eat people?" 

The Doctor gazed up at the webbing on the ceiling, noticing something. "HC Clements, did he wear those, those er, black and white shoes?"

"He did. We used to laugh. We used to call him the fat cat in spats." As Donna chuckled, the Doctor pointed up at the webbing. Tucked neatly into the strings was the dead body of HC Clements. Donna stopped laughing, crying out. "Oh, my God!"

"Mmm. My Christmas dinner." The Empress stated.

"Hold on, but you shouldn't even exist. Way back in history, the fledgling Empires went to war against the Racnoss; they were wiped out." Willow recalled.

"Except for me."

Then, as the Empress chuckled, the trio noticed Lance near her. In his hand, he was holding a fire axe and gesturing for Donna to keep quiet, to which she nodded. However, Willow felt that there was something off about him and she couldn't help being untrustworthy.

As a distraction, Donna started to argue with the Empress. "But that's what I've got inside me, that Huon energy thing. Oi! Look at me, lady, I'm talking. Where do I fit in? How comes I get all stacked up with these Huon particles?" The Racnoss almost looked at Lance until Donna distracted her again. "Look at me, you! Look me in the eye and tell me."

"The bride is so feisty." She retorted.

Lance continued to sneak up on her, ready to strike. "Yes, I am! And I don't know what you are, you big thing, but a spider's just a spider and an axe is an axe! Now, do it!"

He was about to swing it at her, drawing the giant spider's attention. When he was about to kill her, he paused. Then, to Donna's surprise, starting guffawing.

The Empress then joined in. "That was a good one. Your face."

"Lance is funny." She pointed out.

"What?"

The Doctor and Willow glanced at each other, having quickly gathered what was going on. "I'm sorry."

She didn't even realise what was happening, it made Willow feel even more terrible. "Sorry for what? Lance, don't be so stupid! Get her!"

"God, she's thick." He spat. "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." stated Donna.

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

"In the office." She answered, confused.

"He made you coffee."

"What?!"

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

"You had to be dosed with liquid particles over six months."

That's when it finally clicked and Donna understood completely. "He was poisoning me."

"It was all there in the job title. The Head of Human Resources." He replied.

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

"But, we were getting married." She sobbed, tears forming in her eyes.

"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 offering you? Well, it what's they all offer don't they? A chance to escape. Are you her consort or something?" Willow questioned.

"It's better than a night with her." He responded.

Donna was clearly upset, feeling betrayed by someone she had trusted. "But I love you."

Lance smirked. "That's what made it easy. It's like you said, Doctor. 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 two understand that, don't you?"

"Who is this little physician and... ginger tree?" The Empress queried.

"Ginger tree?!"

"She said Martian." Lance recalled Donna saying earlier, even though it was the wrong answer.

"Oh, we're sort of homeless." The Doctor remarked; a statement never truer. "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?"

"I think he wants us to talk."

"I think so too." The Empress chimed in.

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

"Kill this chattering little doctor man and his lady!" The Empress ordered.

"Don't you hurt them!" cried Donna.

However, the Doctor remained instinctively calm. "No, no, Donna. It's all right."

"No, I won't let them!"

"At arms!" The Empress hissed, ordering her robots to prepare their weapons.

"Ah, now. Except-"

"Take aim!"

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

"They won't hit the bride. They're such very good shots." She emphasised, blinking every eye their way.

The Doctor was still trying to get his words out. "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 particles activated in Donna and drew her inside my spaceship. So reverse it, and the spaceship comes to her."

Then, when he turned the knob on the Huon container, they were to bring the TARDIS back to them. They were quickly surrounded by the console as the Empress' lair disappeared before their very eyes.

They were safe for now, that was all that mattered. "Off we go." 

The TARDIS began to dematerialise, the Doctor sending them far away from the Empress. Willow stood aside, tending to Donna who was clearly shaken. "Oh, do you know what I said before about time machines? Well, I lied. 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 just brilliant. Molto bene. I've always wanted to see this. Donna, we're going further back than I've ever been before."

Willow shyly embraced her, shooting a look of concern at him. He swiftly understood before pulling every lever and pushing each button to take them through time and space.

"We've arrived. Want to see?" He wondered.

Donna broke away, wiping away her tears. "I suppose."

"Oh, that scanner's a bit small. Maybe your way's best." The Doctor sprinted over to the doors, opening them. "Come on. No human's ever seen this. You'll be the first."

As Willow followed him over, Donna huffed. "All I want to see is my bed."

Nevertheless, she strolled over and looked out at the vastness of space. Rocks tumbled through an assortment of gases, light coming from all around and creating a beautiful aesthetic of colours. "Donna Noble, welcome to the creation of the Earth. 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."

"Where's the Earth?" She asked.

"It hasn't been cooked yet. It's all around us in the dust and rocks. A whole future ready to be created." Willow described, thinking how beautiful the universe truly was.

"Puts the wedding in perspective. Lance was right. We're just tiny." She stated.

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

"So I came out of all this?"

"Isn't that brilliant?"

A large rock passed their view, drifting endlessly through space. "I think that's the Isle of Wight."

The trio giggled, appreciative of the joke. "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 finished.

"But the question is, what was that first rock?" As the question was asked, a seven-pointed star spaceship emerged from the clouds of gas. 

"That must be the Racnoss." stated Willow.

As the girls watched the ship closely, the Doctor ran back to the console. "Hold on. The Racnoss are hiding from the war. What's it doing?"

"Exactly what you said." Donna answered.

In front of them, the spaceship attracted every chunk of rock and dust in the atmosphere. This was how they hid themselves. "Oh, they didn't just bury something at the centre of the Earth. They became the centre of the Earth. The first rock."

"That means the Empress isn't the last of her kind. That's why she wants Donna." Willow surmised.

Abruptly, there was a loud bang that shook the TARDIS. "What was that?"

"Trouble." The Doctor said, slamming the doors shut and racing back over to the console. 

His fiancée joined him, trying to stop the Racnoss from pulling them back. "What the hell's it doing?" Donna yelled, firmly holding onto the railing.

"Remember that little trick of mine, particles pulling particles. 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?"

"Backseat driver. Oh! Wait a minute! The extrapolator!" He pulled out the device they had take taken from Margaret the Slitheen two years earlier. "It can't stop us, but it should give us a good bump!"

She could feel the TARDIS materialising in the Empress' lair as the Doctor raised a hammer high. "Now!" He smacked the extrapolator hard, sending them further away from the Empress. "We're about two hundred yards to the right. Come on!"

The trio sprinted out of the TARDIS and ran through the lower basement corridor, towards the same door they accessed earlier. "But what do we do?" asked Donna.

"I don't know. I make it up as I go along. But trust me, I've got a history." He remarked, using his stethoscope on the door.

"He does." Willow added.

"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." However, as he was talking, Donna was taken from behind them by a robotic guard. The pair were too distracted to notice, however. "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 you have never been so quiet..."

They both turned to find her gone, the Doctor groaning in anguish. "Well, stopping two hundred yards away didn't help, did it?"

Ultimately, the Doctor opened the door to find another robot pointing a gun at both of them. The Empress had planned all of this out to its exact detail.

***

Donna was ensnared within the Racnoss' web, unhappily tied next to the man who betrayed her love. "I hate you."

"Yeah, I think we've gone a bit beyond that now, sweetheart." He commented, annoyed himself by the Empress' betrayal.

"My golden couple, together at last. Your awful wedded life. Tell me, do you want to be released?" She questioned.

"Yes!" They yelled at the same time.

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

Lance shook his head. "Huh. No chance."

"Say it!"

He paused, facing Donna for a second with a look of disgust and frustration. "I do."

Donna followed. "I do."

"I don't." The Empress hissed. "Activate the particles. Purge every last one." The pair began to glow gold, light squirming through their bodies. "And release!"

The Huon particles shot out of their bodies, shooting down the deep hole to awaken the Empress' sleeping children. "The secret heart unlocks, and they will waken from their Sleep of Ages."

"Who will? What's down there?"

"How thick are you?!" He shouted.

"My children, the long lost Racnoss, now reborn to feast on flesh! The web star shall come to me." Screeching sounds erupted from below, plenty of Racnoss children ready to feast on humanity. "My babies will be hungry. They need sustenance. Perish the web."

Lance knew exactly what was coming and tried to persuade the Empress otherwise. "Use her, not me! Use her!"

"Oh, my funny little Lance! But you are quite impolite to your lady friend. The Empress does not approve." With one gesture of her legs, the web around Lance broke and he fell down into the pit.

"Lance!" Donna screamed, still caring for him slightly.

"Harvest the humans! Reduce them to meat. My children are climbing towards me and none shall stop them." She declared as two robots ascended the staircase nearby. The Empress turned their way, snarling. "So you might as well unmask, my clever little doctor man and ginger tree."

Willow huffed, unmasking and de-robing. "Stop calling me a "ginger tree"! I have a name."

The Doctor followed in her wake, sighing also. "Oh well. Nice try. I've got you, Donna!"

He pointed his sonic screwdriver at the web, beginning to release her from the Empress' prison. "I'm going to fall!"

"You're going to swing!" She grabbed ahold of a vine-like string, clinging it tightly as she swung over the hole. "I've got you!"

However, she did not land where he anticipated, crashing into wall below. "Sorry, Donna." Willow said.

Laying on the floor in a state, Donna growled. "Thanks for nothing!"

"The doctor man amuses me." The Empress stated.

"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."

"These men are so funny."

"What's your answer?"

She dramatically gasped. "Oh, I'm afraid I have to decline."

"What happens next is your own doing." He affirmed, his hands in his pocket whilst Willow held onto the railing tightly.

"I'll show you what happens next. At arms!" She readied her robots to take them out. "Take aim! And-"

"Relax."

When he uttered the command, the robots slumped and were deactivated to the Racnoss' shock. "What did you do?" Donna questioned.

"Guess what I've got, Donna?" The Doctor removed a remote control from his pocket, revealing his handy little trick. "Pockets!"

"How did that fit in there?"

"They're bigger on the inside."

"Roboforms are not necessary. My children may feast on Martian flesh." She exclaimed.

It was obvious that she did not quite understand where they were from, and the Doctor and Willow were satisfied when they had the chance to clarify the truth. "Oh, but we're not from Mars."

"Then where?" She demanded.

"Our home planet is far away and long since gone. But its name lives on. Gallifrey." Willow stated with enough malice to scare the Empress.

She cried out in fear. "They murdered the Racnoss!"

"I warned you. You did this." From his other pocket, he took some Christmas baubles which now worked as functioning bombs against her.

"No! No! Don't! No!" She screamed.

He threw them out, aiming them at the walls with the remote control. The thin walls exploded within the lair and in the corridors, releasing the water from the Thames. Fires broke out as the Racnoss screamed in terror.

Water flooded the area and flowed down the hole, killing all of the Empress' children. "No! No! My children! No! My children! My children!"

Donna observed from below the callous darkness that harboured in both of them. Their eyes stared soullessly out at the destruction, not even trying to spare the Empress' life. 

She wanted it to stop, the horror of it all was too much. "Doctor! You can stop now!"

The Doctor glanced down, breaking out of his trance. He quickly understood that, if they remained, they would die too.

He turned to his fiancée, who was still entranced by the devastation. "Willow! Willow, we have to get out of here!"

Upon yanking her arm, she awoke from her trance. He shouted at Donna. "Come on. Time I got you out."

She climbed the stairs, catching up with them. Swiftly, they sprinted out of there as fast as they could, entering the cupboard and scaling the ladder to escape. 

Water flowed either side as they climbed. "But what about the Empress?"

"She's used up all her Huon energy. She's defenceless!" The Doctor exclaimed as they heard the lair explode. The hole Torchwood had dug was no more.

As they reached the top of the barrier, the Doctor climbed out of the hatch of Gate 8 and helped the girls also. They stood on the edge, looking out at the city. Although, the river below their feet was noticeably no longer a river.

"Just there's one problem."

"What is that?"

"We've drained the Thames." She cackled, looking at the drained river.

It was honestly surprising how they managed to survive all the carnage that interferes with the Doctor and Willow's lives. However, they were merely used to it by now.

***

They parked the TARDIS near the place Donna wanted to be the most; her home. The trio stepped out, Donna relieved to see her front door. "There we go. Told you she'd be all right. She can survive anything."

"More than I've done." She commented.

The Doctor used his sonic screwdriver on her, scanning to see if there were any rogue particles left swarming in her body. "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."

"We're really sorry Donna, but we couldn't save him." insisted Willow. "Then again he was a scumbag that played you. I knew a guy like that, which is why I got this one instead.

He smiled at her, happy that she was still here with him. "He deserved it." Donna said before pausing, re-thinking her statement. "No, he didn't. I'd better get inside. They'll be worried."

They watched her parents embracing one another, hoping that their daughter was alive and well. Her family didn't even have a clue what she had just been through.

"Best Christmas present they could have." He commented. "Oh, no. I forgot you hate Christmas."

"Yes, I do."

"Even if it snows?" The Doctor turned the TARDIS bulb yellow and fired a bolt of energy into the sky.

All of a sudden, it began to shower with white snow. Donna guffawed, shocked. "I can't believe you did that!"

"Oh, basic atmospheric excitation." He bluntly explained.

"Is there something you can't do?" wondered Willow.

"I can't stop loving you." He stated, his hand slipping into hers.

Although, to his surprise, she let go but still smiled thoughtfully. "Merry Christmas, Donna."

"Merry Christmas." She replied.

The Doctor awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "So, what will you do with yourself now?"

She shrugged, unsure herself. "Not getting married, for starters. 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..." He started.

"What?"

"Come with us...?"

Donna shook her head, declining his offer. "No."

"Ok."

"I can't."

"No, that's fine."

"No, but really. Everything we did today. Do you live your life like that?" She queried.

Willow dug her hands into her pockets, taking a moment of thought. "Not all the time."

"I think you do. And I couldn't." She disagreed.

"But you've seen it out there. It's beautiful." said the Doctor.

"And it's terrible. That place was flooding and burning and they were dying, and you were stood there like, I don't know, a stranger. And then you made it snow. I mean, you two scare me to death."

When she acknowledged how the both of them scared her, Willow's confidence dropped. Since she had returned to being a Timelady,  she had often questioned whether or not it was the best decision. She certainly wasn't the "old Willow", that version died all those months ago.

"That's fair." She stated.

"Tell you what I will do, though. Christmas dinner. Oh, come on." She pleaded.

"We don't do that sort of thing." The Doctor somewhat lied in order to spare Willow's feelings of having Christmas dinner with someone else, instead of her family.

Donna stood her ground, not taking no for an answer. "You did it last year. You said so. And you might as well, because Mum always cooks enough for twenty."

The couple shared a glance for a moment, communicating through their expressions. "Oh, all right then. But you go first. Better warn them. And don't say I'm a Martian. I just have to park her properly. She might drift off to the Middle Ages. We'll see you in a minute."

They wandered inside the TARDIS, hoping to make a quick and easy getaway. However, as he started the engines up, they heard Donna shouting outside. "Doctor! Willow!"

The TARDIS stopped dematerialising, the two popping their heads out of the doorway. "Blimey, you can shout."

"Am I ever going to see you again?" She wondered.

"If we're lucky." He commented.

"Just promise me one thing. Find someone."

Willow sighed, one of the many huffs of the day. "We don't need anyone else."

"Yes, you do." She insisted. "Because sometimes, I think you need someone to stop you."

The Doctor nodded, considering it for a second. Nevertheless, he cared about Willow's feelings more than his own at this point; she wouldn't like to think they were replacing Rose. "Yeah. Thanks then, Donna. Good luck. And just be magnificent."

"I think I will, yeah." As they were about to head back inside, Donna stopped them once again. "Willow?"

She turned back, confused. "Yeah?"

"That cousin of yours. What was her name?"

Her expression dropped, her small smile contorting into a depressed frown. "Her name was Rose." She gulped, her voice croaking a little from just the mention of her name.

And so, the pair wandered back into their time-travelling machine, leaving Donna to truly understand the meaning of Christmas. The TARDIS zoomed off into space, vanishing like a ghost.

Inside, Willow trailed her hands over the metal railing, her mind occupied. The Doctor looked at her longingly. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, fine." She responded, not even turning to face him.

He could sense that something was wrong with her, and it wasn't just because of Rose's predicament. Back in the Empress' lair, he remembered trying to tear Willow away from the view of the Racnoss dying.

However, in the split second when he was dragging her out, he could have sworn that she was smiling.

***

Finally finished! Not my best work but it's something.

So Willow is back but is a little different from how you remember her. There's a little darkness growing in her and, since she's not exactly human anymore, she's changed massively. I've hinted that there's a slight dark side from the moment she became a Timelord again though it's only being exemplified by Rose's departure and the Doctor can see it.

The next chapter, 'Smith, Hughes-Tyler and Jones' will be coming on New Years' Day when Doctor Who also returns to our screens. Don't forget my Sarah Jane Adventures book is being released the same day.

- Alice ❤