*Forest*
Snow is falling all around as the Doctor, Clara and I beam in.
"Oh, cold. Very cold" Clara says.
"Ok, don't worry. There's a heat loss filter in your hologram shell. It'll kick in, just give it a moment" I say trying to warm Clara up, before walking off to the side.
"So, sweet little town covered in snow, half the universe in terror. Why? Why?" the Doctor asks.
"Oh, my God!" Clara says.
"What?" the Doctor asks, Clara has spotted an arm sticking out of the snow.
"There's something under the snow. It's..."
"What is it?" I ask.
"It's cold."
"Ok, just stand back please, Clara," the Doctor says.
"It's stone. It's just stone. It's only a statue" Clara says.
"Clara, step away from it!" I say, the hand grabs her ankle.
"Clara, keep looking at it. Don't look away. Don't even blink!" the Doctor says.
"What is it?" Clara asks.
"There is a Weeping Angel under the snow. It looks like a statue, isn't a statue. Can you get your foot out?' I ask.
"Only if I get it out of my shoe."
"You're not wearing a shoe," the Doctor says.
"Good point."
"Ok, pull hard. One, two, three!" she comes free and we tumble backwards. Lots of Angels are starting to emerge from the snowdrifts.
"They're climbing out of the snow. Oh, God!" Clara says.
"Keep looking at them. At all of them" I say.
"Why?"
"Quantum locked lifeform. It can only move if it's unobserved" the Doctor replies.
"What is it doing here?"
"Same as everybody else. Must've got past Tasha's shield" I say.
"Keep looking!" the Doctor says, the Angels advance.
"I can't. I can't see. The snow's in my eyes."
"I just need to bring the TARDIS down," the Doctor says.
"You can't fly it remotely" Clara replies.
"No, but it can home in on the key."
"But she took your key!"
"She took one of them" the Doctor pulls off his wig to reveal a spare glowing TARDIS key, Clara gasps.
*TARDIS*
"Engines activating" the TARDIS materialises around them.
"The old key in the quiff routine. Classic" the Doctor says as he puts his wig on Handles "ok, homing in on the mysterious message. Ooo yes, I like that. The mysterious message."
"You've shaved your head?" Clara asks.
"Yep. Clever plan to get us past the shield."
"You got bored one night, didn't you?"
"Yeah, tiny bit bored"
"Is that what happened to your eyebrows?" Clara asks, I laugh.
"No, they're just delicate. Right, setting us down near the signal source. I'm going to turn the engines on silent. Don't want to make a fuss."
"Put it back on," Clara says throwing the wig back at the Doctor.
"Why?"
"Your ears are like rocket fins."
"I know."
*Town*
"Oh, it's good to be wearing clothes again. That's so much better, don't you think?" Clara asks the Doctor and I scan everything with our screwdrivers. The trees are decorated with lights.
"Now, what do we make of this place? It's two o'clock in the afternoon. Must be very short days here" I say.
"The message is coming from that tower," the Doctor says, two residents walk towards them "hello! Hello, there. Right, we're from the next town. My name's probably Hank or Rock, something like that."
"Or Daisy?" Clara says.
"Shut up. Hello, good to meet you. Nice snow" the Doctor says as the couple stop in front of them.
"Most pleasant to meet you too."
"Most pleasant. Most pleasant."
"I'm the Doctor this is the Seer. We're Time Lords from the planet Gallifrey. We stole a time machine and ran away and we've been flouting the principal law of our own people ever since. That wasn't quite what I was meant to say!" the Doctor says covering his mouth, everyone laughs.
"I'm an English teacher from planet Earth, and I've run off with a man and women from space because I really fancy..." Clara also covers her mouth.
"I think, perhaps, you should stop talking till you get used to it."
"Used to what?" I ask.
"What did you say your name was?"
"Bubbly personality masking bossy control freak" Clara once again covers her mouth
"I'm wearing a wig!" the Doctor says.
"Yes, of course. It's a truth field. Oh, that is so quaint. I haven't seen a truth field in years" I say.
"I'm wearing a wig!"
"No one can lie in this town. Especially this close to the tower" the couple walk on.
"Doesn't that make life a bit difficult?" I ask.
"Not at all."
"Yes."
"This town, what's it called?" the Doctor asks.
"It's Christmas."
"It's July."
"No, the town. The town is Christmas. That's what it's called."
"Be happy here. Be well."
"How can a town be called Christmas?" Clara asks.
"I don't know. How can an island be called Easter? Maybe it's just nice here. We almost hate to find out what's wrong."
*Time skip*
"There you are. What took you so long?" I ask looking at Clara.
"What's wrong? It's only a crack in the wall" Clara says
"I knew. I always knew it wasn't over" the Doctor says.
"What is it?" Clara asks.
"A split in the skin of reality" I say "a tiny sliver of the 26th of June 2010. The day the universe blew up."
"Missed that," Clara says.
"I rebooted it, put it all back together" I say.
"That's good."
"Well, it was the TARDIS that blew it up in the first place. I felt a degree of responsibility. But the scar tissue remains. A structural weakness in the whole universe."
"Whoa! And someone's trying to get through it from outside our universe, from somewhere else. Of course. Of course. It makes sense" the Doctor says.
"It does?"
"Yes. If you were trying to break through a wall, you'd choose the weakest spot. If you were trying to break into this universe, you'd choose this crack, because. No. If you were trying to break back into this universe" the Doctor and I look to Handles.
"You said Gallifrey. Why did you say Gallifrey?" I ask.
"Analysis of message composition indicates Gallifreyan origin, according to TARDIS databanks."
"You said Gallifrey was gone," Clara says.
"No. We said it was in another universe. The message is coming through here. The truth field is too, at a guess. If it's the Time Lords. If it's the Time Lords" I take a large round item from my pocket.
"Seal of the High Council of Gallifrey. Nicked it off the Master in the Death Zone. There is an algorithm imprinted in the atomic structure. Use it to decode the message" the Doctor puts the Seal on Handle's forehead.
"Message decoding. Message analysis proceeding. Information available. The message is a request for information."
"It's a question. Why can't you just say it's a question?" I ask.
"It is being projected through all of time and space on a repeating cycle."
"The oldest questions in the universe, hidden in plain sight," the Doctor says.
"Warning. Translation will be available to all lifeforms in range. Translation follows. Doctor and Seer who?" Handles starts talking in a slightly different voice each time "Doctor and Seer who? Doctor and Seer who? Doctor and Seer who? Doctor and Seer who? Doctor and Seer who? Doctor and Seer who?"
*Tower*
"A question only we could answer. A truth field to make sure we're not lying. If we give our name, they'll know they've found the right place and that it's safe to come through" I say.
"The Time Lords? Ok, so what then? If you both answer the questions and they come back, what happens?" the Doctor gives Clara a short round device.
"Er, you need to take this to the TARDIS and put it in the charger slot for the sonic" the Doctor says.
"Why?"
"Hell. All hell, that's what happens if the Time Lords come back. There's half a universe up there already, waiting to open fire. Now please, go to the TARDIS and just do as we say" I say, Clara, runs.
"Doctor and Seer speak with me" Tasha's holographic face hangs large in the sky "Doctor! Seer! Face me now! Doctor! Seer!" the Doctor and I go up to the bell chamber above the clock face.
"Mother Superious, there is only one thing we need from you. This planet, what's it called?" I ask.
"Trenzalore. If you speak your names, the Time Lords will return."
"If they return, they will come in peace," the Doctor says.
"It doesn't matter. They will be met with a war that will never end. The Time War will begin anew. You both know that."
"They're asking for our help!" I say.
"And if you give the answers, war will be the consequence. I will not let that happen, at any cost. Speak your names and this world will burn."
"No, this planet is protected" the Doctor rings the bell, the residents gather. The Doctor and I come out of the Tower.
"So, you lot, a quick word, thank you. Spot of news. Christmas has new sheriffs. Hello, everyone. I'm the Doctor and this is the Seer."
"In the time that followed, the Papal Mainframe strove to maintain the peace between the Doctor, the Seer and their enemies."
*Town*
A set of vehicle tracks is appearing in the snow on the road into town.
"We remain undetectable to the Papal Mainframe."
"Commander Skarr. That's the detection warning. Our invisibility cloak is compromised."
"What's wrong with it?"
"I don't know. I can't see it."
"Well, it looks invisible to me," Skarr says as he hits the side of the semi-visible vehicle, which then explodes.
"The Church of the Papal Mainframe apologises for your death. The relevant afterlives have been notified."
"As the days passed, and the years, the two stayed true to their word. On the fields of Trenzalore, they stood as protectors both of their own people and their new home" the Weeping Angels have mirrors placed in front of them written on the mirrors are 'With Love from the Doctor and the Seer'
*Time skip*
"Over the years, their foes would find new, stranger ways to enter the town called Christmas" the children are playing a game of blind man's bluff. The blindfolded boy wanders around a little, then hears timbers creaking.
"Are you there? Hello? Am I getting warm?" the lad removes his blindfold to look up at a dull brown creaking Cyberman. He runs away.
"There's another one!" the Cyberman's flame thrower misses him "there's another one! There's another one!" he rings alarm bells and the townspeople come out "there's another one! Doctor, Seer! There's another one!"
"Incinerate. Incinerate" an older Doctor, leaning on a cane, comes out of his Tower home, so do I "the Doctor is required" the Doctor throws a wooden rifle to the boy.
"There you go, Barnable."
"Thanks."
"Working fine. Nice action. Don't leave it out in the rain again" a wheeled toy is tossed to another child "fixed the wheels and the antigrav."
"The anti what?"
"Yeah, may have gone a bit far. Now then, what do we have today? Don't you move one step further. Wooden Cyberman. Nice. Like it" the Doctor and I limp over to the Cyberman "low tech, doesn't set off the alarms upstairs" there's a moment of silence until the Doctor and I zap it with our screwdriver before it manages to raise its creaky arm "only bit of tech allowed in. Got in before the truce. Now, I just sent an instruction to your firearm to reverse the polarity and fire out the back end. Now, as we're standing in a truth field, you will understand I cannot be lying. If you like, you can scan my screwdriver, verify that's the signal I sent."
"Signal verified" the Cyberman's arm weapon turns around and fires its flamethrower through its chest.
"Yes. I probably should have mentioned this doesn't work on wood. You send your friends up there a message from the Doctor and the Seer. You tell them the Doctor and the Seer stays" he prods the Cyberman with his cane and it falls backwards "next."
"With every victory, the town celebrated."
"And there's me arm-wrestling a Draconian. I remember that" the Doctor says.
"In time, the Doctor and the Seer seemed to forget they'd lived any other life."
"Christmas is defended" we pin up children's drawings of our defeated enemies in the Tower.
"And the people of the town came to love the man who stayed for Christmas."
"You've got to be the drunk giraffe. You've got to commit! Don't be cool, guys. Cool is not cool."
"Cool is not cool!"
"And what's the dance we're doing?"
"The drunk giraffe!"
"The drunk giraffe. Yeah, it is. Merry Christmas. Give me a hug. Bring it in."
"Yeah!" a while later the Doctor is mingling.
"How's your father's barn?"
"You've fixed the leak all right, but he says it's bigger on the inside now."
"Shush, they'll all want one" there is the sound of a wheezing time rotor.
"What is it? What's that noise?" the TARDIS is trying to materialise.
"Well. Where have you been for three hundred years? Ha!" I say.
"What's that?"
"It's our ship."
"You're what?"
"It's my TARDIS. That's how I got here in the first place."
"Does this mean you're leaving?" the TARDIS fully materialises, with Clara still on the outside holding her key in the lock. I tap her on the back with my cane and she gasps.
"What are you doing here?"
"I was in space."
"Well, you were in the time vortex. She must have extended the force field. No wonder. No wonder she's late, dragging you around" we walk away from the TARDIS.
"You tricked me," Clara says.
"We saved you," the Doctor says.
"You didn't even say goodbye!"
"I'm furious with you!"
"Well, I am not even talking to you!" We laugh and hug, Clara looks around.