A/N: I decided to start writing new chapters for this fic, although I'm still working on the revised version. If you've liked this fic so far, please check out my profile for the one I'm re-writing. The main plot will remain the same, with some small tweaks in the details.

"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving."
― Albert Einstein

Christmas Special: Voyage of the Damned, Part One

In the end, the three of them returned to Cardiff Bay.

Susan was standing next to Martha, trying to keep her distance from Jack, who had been ignoring her the whole journey there. She hadn't tried to approach him either, as she didn't want to start a fight.

"Time was, every single one of these people knew your name," Martha said, looking around at all the people walking around the bay.

"Good," the Doctor said.

"Back to work," Jack said and went through the railing to the other side.

"I really don't mind though," the Doctor said, "Come with us."

"Had plenty of time to think that past year," Jack said, looking at him. "The year that never was." He glanced at the bay. "And I kept thinking about that team of mine." He smiled. "Like you said Doctor. Responsibility."

The Doctor crunched up his face, shrugging, "Defending the earth. Can't argue with that."

Jack smiled at the Doctor, until the grabbed the vortex manipulator on Jack's arm. "Hey, I need that!"

"I can't have you walking 'round with a time-travelling teleport, you could go anywhere." He gave Jack a look and sonicked the vortex manipulator. "Twice. Second time to apologise."

Susan stiffled a giggle.

"And what about me?" Jack asked, "Can you fix that? Will I ever be able to die?"

The Doctor shook his head, smiling, "Nothing I can do. You're an impossible thing, Jack."

Jack laughed. "Been called that before." He took a few steps, then turned around and saluted. "Sir." He turned to Martha. "M'am."

He then glanced at Susan, who stepped around the railing and ran the few steps towards him before he could say anything.

"Wait!" she said, steeling herself. "Don't say anything before I've said what I need to say, okay?"

Jack nodded.

"I know you probably hate me, because I didn't change it, but seriously, there was nothing I could do without messing up everything," she said, "But there is something I can do for you."

Jack raised an eyebrow.

Susan gestured for him to come closer. When he did, she whispered, "When you go to the Thames House, don't take anyone with you. Evacuate the building first, if you can. If you don't they will flood the building with poison gas, and Ianto will die."

Jack flinched like he'd been slapped.

"I'm only telling you this because you have to change it," she said, looking him in the eye. "I don't know where the hell the Doctor was during that time, but you need to change this. Don't let Ianto die."

Jack nodded, his eyes glinting. "Susan..."

"If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it," she said, frowning.

"I was going to say: are you really going to let me go without a hug?" Jack asked.

Susan laughed, and launched herself at Jack, hugging him with all her with everything she got. He hugged back.

Susan joined Martha and the Doctor behind the railing, wiping away a tear that was threatening to fall. She was so glad Jack didn't hate her anymore. Maybe he hadn't completely forgiven her, but it was a good start.

"What did you say to him?" the Doctor asked.

"Spoilers," Susan whispered.

Jack turned to walk away. Then he turned back. "But I keep wondering, what about ageing? Cos I can't die, but I keep getting older, the odd little grey hair, y'know?" He gestured to his hair and put his hands to his hips. "What happens if I live for a million years?"

"I really don't know," the Doctor said, smiling.

"Okay, vanity, sorry, yeah," Jack chuckled, "Can't help it. Used to be a poster boy. When I was a kid, living in the Boeshane Peninsula. Tiny little place. I was the first one ever to be signed up for the Time Agency."

The Doctor nodded, impressed.

"They were so proud of me. The Face of Boe, they called me." He smiled. "I'll see you," he said, pointing at them and jogged away.

Susan was closely following the expressions on Martha's and the Doctor's faces, which turned from amused to baffled.

"It can't be," Martha gasped.

"No." The Doctor said, watching Jack jog away, "Definitely not. No." He swapped glances with Martha, who started laughing. "No!"

Susan cracked up. "You should have seen your faces!"

The Doctor and Martha both turned to her. "You knew?!" the Doctor asked, laughing. "Is it really him?"

Susan grinned, "I'm not completely sure, it's a huge possibility. It's very Jack though."

"It is," the Doctor said, cracking up again.

Martha went to see her family, who fortunately didn't remember a thing after the President had gotten assasinated. But as it turned out, Martha had still gotten enough of adventures.

Susan was poking at the Doctor's hand in a jar as the Doctor came back inside and sat on the couch, seemingly deep in thought.

Few minutes later Martha came through the doors.

"Right them! Off we go!" The Doctor bellowed, already running around the Tardis controls. "The open road! There is a burst of starfire, right now, over the coast of Meta Sigmafolio. The sky is like oil on water, fancy a look?"

Susan looked at Martha, who looked sad. She bit her lip to keep herself from stopping the Doctor's rant.

"Or we could, back in time... I don't know, Charles II, Henry VIII? I know, what about Agatha Christie?!" He exclaimed. "I'd love to meet Agatha Christie, I bet she's brilliant."

The Doctor looked at Martha and fell silent.

"Okay." He said, solemly.

"I just can't." Martha said.

"Yeah."

"Spent all these years training to be a doctor. And now I've got someone to take care of. They were kidnapped, they saw the president assasinated, they're devastated. I can't leave them."

The Doctor nodded. "Of course not."

They stared at each other for a few seconds. Then the Doctor smiled. "Thank you." He drew her in for a hug.

"Martha Jones, you saved the world!" the Doctor said brightly.

"Yes, I did," Martha said, smiling, her eyes glinting with unshead tears. "I spent a lot of time with you, thinking I was second best, but you know what? I am good!"

Susan whooped. "Yeah, you go, girl!"

Martha laughed at her. "You, keep an eye on him, yeah? Don't let him get into too much trouble."

"We are going to be all right," Susan said, pulling Martha into a hug. "Take care of yourself."

Martha pulled back, and looked at the both of them. "Right then. Bye."

She ran out of the door.

Then she came back.

"Coz, the thing is, it's like my friend Vicky. She lived with this bloke, student housing, there were five of them, all packed in, and this bloke was called Shaun." Martha rambled, walking towards them. "And she loved him, she did, she completely adored him. Spent all day talking about him."

"Is this going anywhere?" the Doctor asked.

"Yes!" Martha yelled.

The Doctor nodded hastily, crossing his arms, swapping glances with Susan, who grinned.

"Coz he never looked at her twice." She said, nodding her head at him. "I mean, he liked her, that was it. And she wasted years pining after him, years of her life, coz while he was around, she never looked at anyone else. And I told her, I always said to her, time and time again, I said, 'Get out.'"

The Doctor nodded.

"So this is me." Martha said. "Getting out." She dug around her pocket for a mobile, and tossed it to the Doctor. "Keep that. If that rings, when that rings, you'd better come running, got it?"

The Doctor nodded, "Got it."

Martha walked to the door and turned to glance back. "I'll see you two again." She smiled.

The Doctor smiled back, and Susan waved at her.

When the Tardis doors closed, Susan turned to the Doctor. "Where do you want to go? Coz Henry VIII sounds good to me."

The Doctor glanced at her, pulling a lever, "Maybe."

Susan bit her lip, realising the Doctor wasn't really on a mood to talk.

The silence was interrupted as something crashed through the wall of the Tardis. Susan and the Doctor both lost their footing, falling down on the floor among the debris.

Susan's ears were still ringing as the Doctor picked up a life preserver, with TITANIC written on it.

"What?!" he exlaimed.

"Oh no," Susan groaned, getting up. "I was hoping we could skip this one. I get sea sick."

The Doctor threw her a look, still baffled. "What?"

Susan brushed off dust from her clothes, and noticed that the Tardis wall was repairing itself. "I guess I don't get a choice though," she sighed. "Let's go."

"What?" the Doctor repeated.

Susan grinned at his expression. "Come on, Doctor, the Titanic awaits!"

They snuck outside to take a closer look, leaving the Tardis in the hanger. "Sounds like Christmas music," the Doctor observed.

"Yeah, this was the Christmas special for season three," Susan muttered. "I never really liked this episode that much. Apart from a few bits." She only liked the amusingly incorrect knowledge about Earth, and of course Wilfred's foreshadowing appearance.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "A Christmas special? What's next?" he grumbled, "An Easter Special?"

Susan stopped and glanced at him. "Well..."

The Doctor rolled his eyes, "Not another word."

They made their way past the festive guests and the crew. The Doctor eyed one of the angel droids strangely, while Susan shuddered and kept her distance.

They arrived at a window, looking straight at planet Earth from space. "Right," the Doctor said, "That explains the aliens."

"Attention all passengers, the Titanic is now in orbit of Sol 3, also known as Earth. Population: human. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Christmas."

"Cue the titles," Susan muttered. She looked around them, and poked the Doctor in his side. "I think we should change into something more festive."

The Doctor blinked, "Right! Back to the Tardis."

The Doctor ended up going with a smart tuxedo, while Susan wore a long, green dress-like tunic with black leggins with golden detailing on the neckline.

"Sir Doctor," Susan said, grinning and offered her arm to him, which he took with an answering grin.

"Let's find out more about this ship," the Doctor whispered as they walked through the restaurant. "I managed to watch the video playing on one of those screens while I was waiting for you," he said.

"Doctor, are you saying I took too long?" Susan asked playfully.

"Well..." The Doctor started, but shut his mouth at the look on her face.

"I'm not taking offence, but for the future reference in the case of other women, you should probably shut up," she said, thinking of the future companions like Donna Noble and Amy Pond. "I realise that you don't really get women, Doctor, but there are some people who like to put effort into their appearance. And that's nothing to scoff about."

He nodded and straightened his bow tie. "All right," he said, "I won't say a word."

Susan grinned. "Now, what was that about the autoplaying informercial of that bald guy?"

"It wasn't informative at all," the Doctor grumbled, leading them past the other passengers, including one guy who was nearly yelling into his phone. "We better ask one of those droids."

Susan sighed, resigned, but nodded as they headed towards one of the angels.

"Evening, passenger 57, terrible memory, remind me, uh... you would be?" the Doctor asked.

"Information: Heavenly Hosts supplying tourists information," the droid supplied.

"Good," the Doctor said, swapping glances with Susan, who was still a bit creeped out by the angel. And for a reason. She might not have remembered much about this episode, but she remembered that these guys weren't good news. "So, um, tell me, cos I'm an idiot, where are we from?"

"Information: the Titanic is en route from the Planet Sto in the Cassavalian Belt. The purpose of the cruise is to experience primitive cultures."

"Hey, who you're calling primitive?" Susan grumbled.

"Titanic, erm, who thought of the name?" the Doctor asked, scratching his head.

"Information: It was chosen as the most famous vessel of the Planet Earth."

"Did they tell you why it was famous?"

"Information: All designations are chosen by Mr. Max Capricorn, President of Max- Max- Max- bzzttzzz- bbzzztttbbzzzzzz- Max-btzzz..."

Susan took a step back.

One of the crew members noticed the bot malfunctioning and ran over just as the Doctor was about to sonic it. "Oops! Bit of a glitch. Sorry sir, we can handle this."

The Doctor smiled at them politely.

"Software problem, that's all, leave it with us, sir. Merry Christmas!" They said and dragged the the blasted thing away.

"Fishy?" Susan asked, swapping glances with the Doctor.

"Definitely fishy," the Doctor agreed.

The sound of glass breaking caught their attention, as the man who'd been speaking on his phone earlier started yelling at a waitress.

"Oh, for Tov's sake, look where you're going!" the man rambled, "This jacket's a genuine Earth antique!"

Susan raised an eyebrow at the ridiculous statement.

"I'm sorry sir," the blonde waitress said, bowing her head.

"You'll be sorry when it comes off your wages, sweetheart!" he said, looking down his nose at the woman as she kneeled down to pick up the pieces of the broken glasses. "Staffed by idiots. No wonder Max Capricorn's going down the drain!" he muttered as he stormed off.

The Doctor jumped in to help. "Careful. There we go."

"Thank you sir, but I can manage," the blonde said.

"I never said you couldn't," the Doctor grinned. "I'm the Doctor by the way, and this is Susan," he said nodding his head towards her. Susan waved.

"Astrid, sir," she said and smiled, "Astrid Peth."

"Nice to meet you, Astrid," the Doctor said, collecting another piece of glass, "Merry Christmas!"

She smiled brighter. "Merry Christmas, sir."

"Just Doctor," he said, "Not sir."

"You enjoying the cruise?" she asked, glancing at Susan.

"Yeah, I suppose, I dunno," the Doctor said, shrugging.

Susan crossed her arms and shook her head, "I get sea sick."

"It's a spaceship," Astrid pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

"I just don't like boats," Susan grinned. "Especially ones named Titanic."

"Your husband should have booked something else for the two of you, then," Astrid said, picking up the last piece of the glass and standing up.

"Oh, no, we're not," the Doctor said, his eyes widening, his hands pointing and waving around in the air.

"We're just friends," Susan said, giggling. "He's all yours," she said and winked.

Astrid looked bemused.

"Long away from home, Planet Sto," the Doctor quickly changed the subject, scratching his neck.

"Doesn't feel that different," Astrid said and leaned in, "Spent three years working at the spaceport diner, travel all the way here, and I'm still waiting on tables."

She walked towards the big window to pick up a glass.

"No shore leave?" the Doctor asked.

"We're not allowed, they can't afford the insurance," Astrid explained.

Susan snorted. "Typical."

"I just wanted to try it, just once..." Astrid said, smiling and looking down at planet Earth. "I used to watch the ships heading out to the stars. And I always dreamt of..." She trailed off. "It sounds daft."

"You dreamt of another sky," the Doctor and Susan said in sync and both trailed off. They looked at each other for a brief second, then back at Astrid.

The Doctor continued. "New sun, new air, new life, a whole universe teeming with life." He leaned against the window sill. "Why stand still when there's all that life out there?"

Astrid was startled out of her thoughts. "So... you two... travel a lot?"

The Doctor and Susan nodded. "All the time," he said, "Just for fun. Well, that's the plan, never quite works."

Susan smirked, "You love it though."

"You must be rich," Astrid continued.

"Haven't got a penny," the Doctor said, grinning.

Susan nodded, looking around and leaned in conspiracially towards Astrid. "Stowaways," she whispered and winked.

"You're kidding," she whispered back.

"Seriously," the Doctor whispered.

"No!" Astrid continued.

"Oh, yeah," the Doctor nodded.

"How'd you get on board?" Astrid asked, interested.

"Accident. I've got this, sort of ship-thing, I was just rebuilding her, left the defences down, bumped into the Titanic, and here I am," the Doctor explained.

"Ship-thing?" Susan asked, "Ship-thing? Is that the best you can do?"

"Shush," The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Bit of a party, I thought, why not?"

"I should report you," Astrid said, smiling.

"Go on then," Susan said. "Do it."

Astrid pursed her lips and smiled, "I'll get you drinks. On the house."

They watched her walk off. "So, you like her?" Susan asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What?" the Doctor asked innocently, "She seems nice."

Susan rolled her eyes, "Of course, she's also blonde."

The Doctor gave her the look which told her to drop it, so she did. People bursting into mocking laughter few feet away from them made the two of them look up.

They spotted a table that had one couple, in purple clothing that reminded her of cowboy costumes, sitting around it eating buffalo wings. They sat down with them.

"Just ignore them," the man said to the woman.

"Something's tickled them," the Doctor said, nodding to the group of people who were laughing their arses off at something. Susan scowled at them.

"They told us it was fancy dress," the woman said between bites. "Very funny, I'm sure."

"They're just picking on us because we haven't paid," the man said. "We won our tickets in a competition," he clarified.

"I had to name the five husbands of Joofie Crystalle in By The Light Of The Asteroid," the woman said proudly. "Do you ever watch By The Light Of The Asteroid?"

"Is that the one with the twins?" The Doctor asked, wracking his brain for TV knowledge.

"That's it! It's marvellous."

"But we're not good enough for that lot, they think we should be in steerage."

"They're idiots," Susan said, frowning. "Don't mind them."

"We can't have that, can we?" the Doctor said, and pointed his sonic screwdriver at the champagne bottle on the table behind them. It popped open, spraying all over the group of people that had been laughing like hyenas.

"Did you do that?" the woman asked, amazed.

"Maybe," the Doctor said, shrugging.

The couple burst into laughter, and Susan grinned.

"Oh, we like you," the woman said.

"We do," the man agreed and held out his hand. "I'm Morvin Van Hoff, this is my good woman Foon."

"Foon. Hello!" the Doctor beamed, "I'm the Doctor."

"Ooh, I'm going to need a doctor by the time I've finished with that buffet," Foon laughed.

Susan waved a hand, "Hi, I'm Susan. Nice to meet you." Morvin and Foon echoed hello's.

"Have a buffalo wing," Foon said, "They must be enourmous these buffalo, so many wings!"

Susan let out a laugh as she and the Doctor tucked in. They only managed to eat one wing each when they were interrupted by an announcement.

"Attention please, shore leave tickets Red 6-7 now activated, Red 6-7..."

"Red 6-7, that's us!" Foon exlaimed, looking at the ticket and getting up along with Morvin, "Are you Red 6-7?"

"Might as well be," the Doctor grinned at Susan.

Susan grinned back at him, "I love this bit!"

Morvin put an arm around Foon as they walked, laughing. "We're going to Earth!"

On the way, they met up with Astrid, who had two drinks on her tray.

"I got you those drinks," Astrid grinned.

"And we've got you a treat," the Doctor said, taking the tray and laying it on a table near by. "C'mon."

Susan and the Doctor both took out their psychic papers.

"Red 6-7, plus one," the Doctor said, showing his 'ticket'.

"Red 6-7, just me," Susan repeated, also showing her fake ticket.

The tour guide looked at them, his appearance a bit nervous. "Quickly sir, ma'ms, please take three teleport bracelets if you would."

"I'll get the sack," Astrid hissed.

"Brand new sky!" the Doctor hissed back.

"To repeat, I am Mr. Copper, the ship's historian. And I shall be taking you to old London Town in the country of Yookay. Ruled over by the Good King Wenceslas."

Susan snorted and elbowed the Doctor, who was looking very solemn, probably trying not to correct anything.

"Now, human beings worship the great God, Santa, a creature with fearsome claws and his wife Mary. And every Christmas Eve, the people of Yookay go to war with the country of Turkey," Mr. Copper explained, "They then eat the Turkey-people for Christmas dinner. Like savages!"

Susan had to bite her fist so she wouldn't laugh out loud.

"Excuse me, sorry, but..." the Doctor interrupted, raising his hand, "But where do you get all this from?"

"Well, I have a first-class degree in Earthonomics," Mr. Copper explained, "Now, stand by."

"And me! And me! Red 6-7!" yelled a squeaky voice, as a short, red creature with spikes all over his head ran towards them.

"Take a bracelet, please, sir."

"But, um, hold on, hold on..." the Doctor interrupted again, "What was your name?"

"Bannakaffalatta," the alien said.

"Okay," the Doctor continued, "Bannakaffalatta, but it's Christmas Eve down there, late night shopping, tons of people, he's like a talking conker!" he exlaimed, receiving looks from the people around him for that comment. The teleport went off. "No offense, but you'll cause a riot coz the streets are gonna be packed with shoppers and parties..." He trailed off, seeing the empty streets. "Oh."

"You were saying?" Susan grinned, prancing around the empty street.

"Now, spending money," Mr. Copper exlaimed while everyone looked around, "I have a credit card in Earth currency, if you want to buy trinkets or stockings or the local delicacy, which is known as beef." He gave them a last warning, "But don't stray too far, it could be dangerous. Any day now they'll start boxing!"

"It should be full," the Doctor said, "It should be busy, something's wrong."

"But it's beautiful," Astrid said.

"Really?" the Doctor asked, his eyebrows reaching for his hairline. "Do you think so? It's just a street. The Pyramids are beautiful, and New Zealand..."

Susan shrugged. "It's London. It's okay as far as sights go. I prefer Edinburgh though."

"But it's a different planet!" Astrid gasped out, "I'm standing on a different planet! There's... concrete! And shops! Alien shops! Real alien shops! Look, no stars in the sky!"

Susan and the Doctor looked up.

"And it smells... It stinks!" Astrid exclaimed, getting excited, "Oh, this is amazing! Thank you!" She hugged the Doctor.

"Yeah?" he said smugly, "Come on then, let's have a look."

They ran to a kiosk near by.

Susan had to keep a grin off her face when she saw Wilfred Mott. He was even wearing one of those ridiculous Christmas hats.

"Hello there, sorry, obvious question but... Where's everybody gone?" the Doctor asked.

"Oh, ho, scared," Wilfred said.

The Doctor nodded. "Right, yes...scared of what?"

"Where've you been living?" Wilfred asked, "London! At Christmas! Not safe, is it?"

The Doctor and Astrid looked baffled. "Why?"

"Well, it's them!" Wilfred said, pointing up. "Up above. Look, Christmas before last, we had that big bloody spaceship. Everyone standing on the roof! And then last year, that Christmas Star, electrocuting all over the place, draining the Thames," he said.

"This place is amazing," Astrid said.

"And this year, Lord knows what," Wilfred huffed out. "So everybody's scarpered, gone to the country. All except me, and Her Majesty." He stood up and gestured to the little TV.

"Her majesty the Queen has confirmed she will be staying in Buckingham Palace throughout the festive season, to show the people of London, and the world, that there is nothing to fear."

"God bless her," Wilfred said and saluted. "We stand vigil."

Susan copied his salute, grinning.

"Well," the Doctor said, "Between you and me, I think Her Majesty's got it right. As far as I know, this year, nothing to worry about-" he said and disappeared in a beam of the teleport.

Poor Wilfred.

"I was in mid-sentence!" the Doctor bellowed.

Mr. Copper looked apologetic. "Yes, sorry about that, bit of a problem, if I could have your bracelets?" he said.

Susan took of her bracelet and handed it to Mr. Copper, as two members of the crew arrived to address the passengers.

"Apologies, ladies and gentlement and Bannakaffalatta, we seem to have suffered a power fluctuation," one of the crew said. Astrid hid behind the Doctor so they wouldn't spot her. "If you'd like to return to your festivities, and on the behalf of Max Capricorn Cruiseliners, free drinks will be provided."

As the other passengers walked away, pleased, Astrid whispered to the Doctor: "That was the best! The best!" She then slipped away.

The Doctor smiled after her, and swapped glances with Susan before approaching the crew member who had spoken earlier. "What sort of a power fluctuation?" he asked.

"It's under control, sir," the crewmember said and walked off.

Susan glanced at the Doctor. "Time to snoop around?"

The Doctor grinned. "Yep."