This chapter covers the Aliens of London/World War Three, and also has the return of Rose, Jackie and Mickey.
Also...there is a lot of Doctor/Aliya goodness in this chapter. And we get to see the Doctor's room!
Aliya searched through racks of clothes in the London store, and dumped any that she liked on the Doctor, who didn't stop complaining the entire time. He watched impatiently outside her dressing room cubicle as she tried the different items of clothing on, showing off every single one for him.
"Yes, you look lovely," He said in a bored tone, "But can you hurry up? We haven't got all day."
Aliya came out of the cubicle wearing a very short and tight teal dress. "What do you think of this one…?" She frowned at her reflection before looking at the Doctor expectantly.
The leather clad man was gaping at her. "You..." He tried to say but failed. The blonde woman tilted her head to the side in confusion.
"What? Is it...oh." A strangely satisfied grin spread across her face as realisation hit her. Aliya approached him with an amused smile and put her hand under his chin before closing his open mouth.
"What do you know; I finally found a way to stop you complaining. You are such a man!" She said with amused surprise.
"Excuse me, I am not some hormone ridden ape that-" The Doctor began to protest indignantly.
Aliya gave him a coy smile, a teasing glint in her eyes as she stood in the doorway of her cubicle. "Of course not, you'd never want to come in here with me and-" The Doctor saw the invitation and she had no need to finish her sentence as he purposefully pushed her further into the cubicle so that he could follow and lock the door.
"Tempting me? Never a good idea." The Doctor said firmly. In the small space they were very close to each other, and the large amount of clothes hung up on the sides did nothing to make the space bigger.
"So you don't like the dress?" Aliya deducted in a falsely serious tone while trying not to grin.
"I think I like it a little too much, if you catch my drift," He replied as he swept his eyes over it again. He shifted a little closer.
"Good…you had me worried there for a second." Aliya joked.
"But I would rather if you didn't buy that or anything like it, if it's all the same to you." He said with unusual cheer.
"Why not?"
"Don't want anyone else looking at you, remember? That dress doesn't leave anything to the imagination," He said.
"Oh, and it's Jealous Doctor, out to play again." Aliya pouted and wound her arms around his neck. "Perhaps you need reminding of how ridiculous he is…"
She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him softly. His hands gently wound around her waist as he backed her up against the wall of the stall.
The kiss deepened immediately and her fingers caressed his head through his very short hair. The Doctor held her closer to him in response, but just as her hands began to wander down to massage his collarbone, he pulled away.
"Alright, point taken." He said with a cheerful grin as though nothing had happened. "You finish up, I'll be outside." He swaggered out of the cubicle, leaving Aliya leaning against the wall, breathing heavily and seeing stars. She eventually rolled her eyes and started getting changed back into her original clothing.
"Bastard," She muttered under her breath.
In the end, their shopping trip was cut short.
They had just left the store when a huge roar rang through the air, coming from above their heads. Along with every other person around them, the two Time Lords tilted their heads to the sky, where they saw a spaceship zooming.
"Ooh, I'd know that descent pattern anywhere…" Aliya murmured. The Doctor shot her a questioning look. "Crashing."
He chuckled. "So, are we off then?"
"Where, exactly?"
"To go see what's going on of course!" The Doctor said as though it were obvious, throwing her an exasperated look.
"More adventures?" Aliya teased with a playful roll of her eyes.
"Maybe." He said cheerily. "Maybe we'll just get to see history in the making. Maybe this is the day humans really find out they're not alone…"
"So then…how are we going to see what's going on when every human in the area is trying to get there too? TARDIS? I don't personally think that would be a brilliant plan. " Aliya frowned thoughtfully.
"No…with one spaceship already at the centre of attention, we hardly need to bring another one into it." The Doctor said.
"Exactly," Aliya agreed.
"But then what are we going to do?" The Doctor looked impatient, as Aliya knew waiting never had been, wasn't, and would never be his strong point.
"What about Rose?" Aliya suggested.
"Who?" He questioned vaguely while not really thinking about it, his own mind reeling with his own ideas.
"Blonde human girl who saved our alien butts from the Nestene…" Aliya reminded him patronisingly.
"Oh…that Rose…what about her?"
"Well, from what I've seen of all these humans, they always film stuff like this, don't they? She's bound to have a television, or whatever it is they use for that sort of thing." Aliya explained.
"Oh. Alright," The Doctor said unsurely.
They set off down the road back to the TARDIS, which would get them to the Powell Estate much faster than walking would.
Rose Tyler heard the doorbell ring and she pulled herself off the couch and opened the door, only to reveal the man in the leather jacket and the blonde woman in the dark denim one.
"Oh my god, it's you," She breathed, "It's really you, you're really here!"
"Yep, plain old us. How long's it been for you?" The Doctor asked casually, forgetting she knew nothing of time travel. Aliya elbowed him and he shot a glare her way as he rubbed his ribs soothingly. Rose looked confused by his words.
"What do you mean?"
"How long has it been… since you last saw us?" The Doctor looked impatient again already.
Rose looked at them weirdly. "A year…and a pretty long one. I thought you'd come back sooner, you see. But I suppose when you could be anywhere in space, this place might not look so interesting."
Aliya was about to reply when an older female voice came from inside the apartment.
"Rose? Who is it?" A middle-aged woman in a sweatshirt and tracksuit bottoms came out towards the door.
"Oh, just some friends, they were the ones to get me involved with my travelling and that," Rose said dismissively before turning back to the two Time Lords. "D'ya want to come in?"
"Yes please." The Doctor grinned and went inside without further invitation. Aliya smiled at Rose and quickly followed, noticing the middle-aged woman who was clearly Rose's mother bustling out of the room with a strange look on her face.
"Did you come because of the spaceship?" The girl asked quickly.
"That's the one. We thought we might borrow your telly and have a look." The Doctor sat down on the couch as if he owned the place and switched the TV onto the news channel.
It wasn't until the police arrived ten minutes later that the Doctor realised they may have outstayed their welcome a little. Rose's mother Jackie had called the police when they arrived.
"Mum! What have you done this for?" Rose asked Jackie in disbelief, while Aliya and the Doctor stood awkwardly on the side waiting for the questions to turn to them.
"Three months, you moped around, and all after that day when he showed up at our house. Then you disappear on me for six months, and all I got was the occasional phone-call, and all you would say is that you were travelling, studying something that 'a couple of friends had got you onto'. I want to know who the hell these two are, that they could have such a horrible effect on you! They had no right to ask you to do anything!" Jackie told Rose angrily, shooting glares at the Doctor and Aliya. "So I want them questioned, because I think you were travelling with these two, and I want to know who they are!"
That was how the policeman came to interrogating the Doctor and Aliya, who stood behind the chair Rose was sitting on, and the Doctor could see that Aliya was edgy at the idea of a mere human having so much authority over them in this place.
"How do you know Rose Tyler, sir?" The policeman asked.
"Well, I don't know her that well, really. We've only met a couple of times. The three of us got into a really tight spot, and Rose helped us get out. Brings you closer more quickly, that sort of thing," The Doctor explained.
"And when you say the three of us, you mean yourself, Rose and Aliya?" The officer confirmed.
"Yep. Aliya's my travelling companion," He said simply.
"When you say companion, is this a sexual relationship?"
Aliya's eyes widened at the forwardness of the question and found herself blushing. Were humans always so blunt about such private things?
"Not any of your business," The Doctor said. "When we met Rose, we offered for her to come travelling with us – and before you ask another stupid personal question, no, not in a sexual way – but she said no. So we took down her address in case we needed her again for whatever reason, and then we went on our way."
"I find that hard to believe," Jackie retorted angrily. "Because you, you waltz in here, all charm and smiles, and next thing I know, my Rose moping, everywhere, says she 'can't see the point' and then, just when I'm getting really desperate, she disappears! Like you didn't have something to do with that."
"We didn't!" Aliya argued, but Jackie wasn't done.
"And that's another thing. You and your younger girlfriend…does it make you feel young? How old are you, forty? Forty five? She can't even be twenty four, you're just about old enough to be her father!" Jackie turned to Aliya. "Did he find you on the internet? Tell you he's a doctor?"
The two Time Lords spoke at the same time.
"He is a Doctor!"
"I am a Doctor!"
"Prove it! Stitch this, mate." Jackie slapped him across the face, hard. The Doctor clutched his face and instinctively leaned into Aliya, who shoved Jackie backwards with a murderous expression.
"Don't you tempt me to slap you right back," She warned, before turning back the Doctor and gently touching him on the cheek where he now had a faint hand print.
They were all in the living room, watching the news on television. The Doctor had claimed the seat nearest the television and Aliya had chosen to sit on his lap.
"I had to wear this shirt today," She muttered, pulling at her yellow t-shirt uneasily. "Like I need to look any younger than I already do...Twenty four years old? It's ridiculous…"
"Look, I'm trying to watch, go complain about your stupid t-shirt to Rose if you have to, alright?" He retorted grumpily. She frowned but stopped talking.
"No need to be rude about it," she murmured, and he looked at her apologetically.
"Sorry."
"And I'm sorry for going on about it, okay? I know we're both on edge right now…"
"Tell me about it," The Doctor grumbled before looking back to the television.
The room began to gradually fill with more and more people, and the two people trying to watch the news intently found it hard to hear with all the unceasing chattering around them.
The Doctor – who had his arm around Aliya – found his right hand automatically finding its way to the small patch of skin on Aliya's lower back that had been revealed as her shirt had ridden up a little. His fingers gently brushed her skin, and she shivered from the touch, as it was a ticklish spot. She tried to hold in fits of laughter, and giggled under his relentless torture, wriggling on his lap like a worm. He quickly clasped his hand over her mouth and grinned at her.
She lent her head on his, as sitting on his lap gave her some height advantage, closing her eyes and enjoying the familiar closeness amidst a room full of alien strangers. Both of them could feel others in the room watching them occasionally, and they could sense the judgemental disapproval in the air. The Doctor kept a tight grip on her hand, not caring overly much.
When a tired mother arrived bearing an energetic toddler, Aliya had immediately volunteered to look after him, and held the child on her lap with her arms wrapped around him gently. She found that holding the child calmed her anger and discomfort considerably.
Oh great, She thought irritably, this regeneration is maternal.
She wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing.
When the child stole the remote off the Doctor and changed it to a cooking channel, Aliya giggled and apologised as she battled with the toddler for possession for it before handing it back to the Doctor. She laughed at the spaceship cake the man on the cooking show had made, though sobered a little when the news came back on. Still, she was a little disappointed when the Doctor sent the child off to his mother. And now without him, that left the Doctor's fingers on her back as her only distraction from the disapproving looks people kept sending at her, and while it was a good distraction, it was in view of almost everyone else, not helping the situation at all.
The Doctor got up to get them both a drink of water, leaving Aliya sitting awkwardly in his chair waiting for him to get back. She looked around to meet the eyes of a middle-aged woman with black hair, who then whispered something to Jackie, and the two of them shot her a dirty look before looking away and talking again.
Aliya looked away and bit her lip, deliberating for another moment before getting up from the chair abruptly and storming out of the room, and out of the apartment, rushing down the stairs with the aim of getting to the TARDIS.
Rose watched her go worriedly, but decided to wait and let the Doctor handle it first, then come in afterwards. The Doctor came back to the room with two large glasses of water, only to stop in confusion when he saw the chair empty.
"Where's Aliya?" He asked Jackie, who rolled her eyes at him rudely.
"Wouldn't you like to know," She replied with disdain.
"Mum!" Rose scolded her mother, and shot an apologetic look at the Doctor. "She went outside." She jerked her thumb in the direction of the door.
He put down the cups of water and ran down to the ground floor before racing across the paved ground to where he could see Aliya wandering near the TARDIS.
"Aliya!" He called out, and she turned her head back to look at him with mild surprise. "What are you doing out here? Too human in there for you?" Now only a few metres away, he could see her nod slowly. "I know the feeling," He agreed, "History just happened, and they're sitting in there, talking about where you can get dodgy top ups for half price!" He took another look at her downcast eyes. "But it's more than that, isn't it?"
Aliya bit her lip briefly. "They're just…so judgemental!" She aimed a kick at a puddle, spraying a few droplets on his pants. "How can you like them, when they look at us like that?"
"It's just different for them, that's all. They only get one body, one life, for them physical age is important, and they find it morally wrong for there to be a large age group between couples who are…sexually involved." The Doctor tried to explain, defending the humans despite his own feelings matching her own.
"They could still mind their own business," Aliya mumbled. "And we aren't… …sexually involved."
"No, but we're close enough, and they tend to assume." He shrugged. "Don't worry about it."
He wrapped his arms around her in a comforting embrace, and while it started off innocent enough, his fingers once again found their way to her lower back, trailing along the edge of her t-shirt.
"You just can't keep your hands off me, can you?" She teased as she tilted her head up to look at him, closing her eyes for a brief moment at his touch.
"Off you? Never," He said with a grin before he kissed her fiercely. Her hands fisted in his jacket lapels and she pulled their bodies closer together. "Don't worry about what they think. You and me, here and now is what matters, not their stupid little human opinions that don't apply to us."
"I just feel like we'll never be free from judgement," Aliya said as they stopped for breath, "First the Time Lords, now these gossipy humans."
"They don't know anything," The Doctor said, kissing her again and backing her up against the TARDIS doors. "And certainly not anything about us."
"But-" She managed to wrench her mouth from his to stare at him, "Sometimes I'm not entirely sure that I know anything about us either."
There was only an inch or two between their faces – she was still squashed between him and the panels of the TARDIS. His lips quirked, and his clear blue eyes regarded her with tenderness and amusement.
"Sometimes it's more fun like that. The falling, no idea what's going to be at the bottom," He remarked.
"Falling? What kind of falling?"
He just held her gaze. "Like you don't know."
Aliya suddenly felt short of breath. "Oh," She managed to get out. "Well, yes, I suppose I've been falling for quite a while. I'm not sure that I'll ever stop."
"Good, because I wasn't looking forward to falling on my own."
It was the closest thing to a blatant statement of sentiment that she was ever going to get from him. She knew that when it came to feelings, words suddenly became the opposite of a strong point for him.
Besides, she could read between the lines. It didn't need saying.
But she had been hoping for some kind of confirmation for a while, and upon getting it, couldn't hold back. She pulled his mouth back to hers and kissed him with such a passion that it made her feel she should be embarrassed to be doing it in public, but in that moment couldn't bring herself to care.
She pulled away and her hands rose to cup his face, her different coloured eyes staring into his beautiful blue ones with obvious adoration and tenderness.
"I love you too. I never stopped," She whispered. Just because he couldn't say it, didn't mean that she had the same reservation. She knew that he could use all the love he could get, with how he was so used to ending up alone. She certainly had every intention of changing that.
He wrapped his arms around her, hugging her for all that they were worth. They clung to each other, just content with feeling the other person with them and being close to them. The Doctor had his face buried in her hair, and Aliya had her head resting against his shoulder, inhaling the warm scent of the leather.
"Now…how about we take a look at this alien body?" He suggested wryly, and as they pulled away, Aliya looked at him with eyes full of curiosity and interest. The two of them walked into the TARDIS.
Mickey, upon turning up at the Tyler's council flat, was very quick to tell Rose, rather smugly, that the Doctor and Aliya had left, and she ran outside to see if it was true.
Sure enough, the space where the blue box had once stood was now empty.
"Why would they just leave? I bet it was because of Mum, all her nagging…" Rose muttered, pacing a little.
"Nagging?"
"You know…about how they're together even though he's older…Mum and her friends don't like it, kept shooting 'em dirty looks. They might have just decided to be done with it." Rose shrugged.
"Yeah, but they're weird alien people, things like that might be completely normal to them!" Mickey said in confusion.
"Well…yeah, exactly."
"Rose?" Jackie's voice called from a distance, and they saw her heading towards them. "What are you doing out here? Why does it matter if those two have left? It's not like they're your best friends!"
"No, Mum, they're not, but I'm the only friend they've got here, so I'm going to look out for them," Rose defended.
Words were cut short as the sound of the TARDIS materialising rang though the air.
"Mum, go back inside…" Rose told her mother quickly, and she kept trying to urge her mother away, to no avail.
Jackie watched the TARDIS appear with wide eyes.
Rose mentally kicked herself for letting it happen and ran into the TARDIS to give the two Time Lords inside some warning.
"Hello Rose," The Doctor greeted cheerfully. "We went and had a look, the whole crash landing's a fake…" He continued to ramble, while Aliya saw the other two humans behind Rose and raised an eyebrow.
"Doctor…" She said quietly.
"What?"
Rose looked bashful. "My mum's here."
The Doctor looked behind and saw it was true. "Oh, that's just what I need. And now that I think about it, I think I have earned the right to do this: Jackie Tyler, get out of my TARDIS now!" He said firmly, his voice rising a little.
She flinched and quickly left, seeming rather glad to do so. Rose stared after her before looking at the Doctor and Aliya.
"I should probably go after her, check she's okay. I'll try and make her understand," Rose said, and walked out the doors, leaving Mickey alone with the two Time Lords.
"What was your name again?" Aliya asked the human man.
"Mickey," He replied uneasily, looking around the ship.
"What do you think about all this?" She inquired, gesturing towards the scanner which was showing the scene at the Thames with the spaceship. He peered at the screen.
"Are they invading? Because it's a funny way to invade, putting the world on red alert." Mickey pointed out, and Aliya nodded as she accepted his logic.
"Right…good point, Rickey." The Doctor admitted.
"Mickey!"
"Like I care."
The three of them left the police box to find themselves immediately in a helicopter spotlight, and Mickey ran off, leaving the Doctor and Aliya with their hands raised.
"Why are we being escorted to this Downing Street place?" Aliya asked as the car drove them there.
"Mickey was right, about when we talking about me working for UNIT, over the centuries I've visited this planet a lot of times-"
"And been exhiled here…" Aliya put in helpful, smirking at him.
"-and I've been noticed."
"Right…gathering alien experts, like they said on the news, and who would be a better export than you, an actual alien?" Aliya deducted, nodding.
When the car arrived, they got out at Downing Street to find cameras flashing everywhere, and Aliya blinked multiple times at the flashing lights, getting blinded by them, while the Doctor just soaked up all the attention.
"Here's your ID card…I'm sorry, your companion doesn't have clearance." The man said, handing the Doctor an ID card and indicating to Aliya.
"Clearance? I know almost as much as him-" Aliya protested, and the Doctor slapped his hand over her mouth before she could say anything that would get them in trouble.
"Where I go, she goes," He told the man, sending a glare at his friend.
"You're the Code 9, not her. I'm sorry, Doctor."
"Don't worry about it," Aliya said, her moment of indignance over, "Frankly, I'd probably just get completely exasperated with everyone in there anyway…I'll stay out here."
A woman in her late fifties appeared, trying to speak to the Doctor and then offering to look after Aliya when she was told she couldn't.
It wasn't until the Doctor had gone with the other alien experts and the two women had gone through to a more secluded area that Harriet began confessing of what she had seen upstairs in the cabinet room, of aliens committing murder right in the cabinet room itself.
They quickly went upstairs, where Harriet showed Aliya the suit and explained what the aliens had used it for, but becoming upset as she talked.
"It's alright, we're going to find the aliens that did this and stop them." Aliya assured her. The two of them went upstairs and Harriet showed Aliya the skin suit that the aliens had used, explained what had happened.
Aliya ran her hands over it, a little disturbed by what she was doing. She said nothing, trying to think if she knew any species which did anything like this.
"You do believe me, don't you?" Harriet asked worriedly when Aliya said nothing.
The blonde woman looked at her. "Of course."
"Such fun. Little human children…where are you?" The Slitheen said, as she scoped out the room slowly.
Aliya and Harriet were hiding in separate spots, both trying not to breathe too heavily as the suspense caught up with them. The creature continued to monologue a little, taunting them all the while.
Then the Slitheen was joined by two more, her 'brothers'.
"I can smell an old girl…" One of them said gleefully. "Stale, and brittle bones. "And the other…more than I thought, not even human, more than a mere ape…with a smell so rare…running off adrenaline and euphoria. What is it that has made her so happy, I wonder?"
Harriet frowned at both the insult to herself and their words about Aliya, making her out to be non-human when she clearly was, though, if the Slitheen were anything to go by, perhaps it was possible for aliens to look human, at least some of the time? And really, what would she know?
"I wonder how long it would take for her to snap…" The Slitheen continued, but just as it pulled back the curtain to reveal Aliya, Harriet burst out of her own hiding spot.
"No! Take me first!" She declared, throwing her arms up in the air.
The Doctor then chose that moment to conveniently turn up with a fire extinguisher. "Out, with me!" He called as he sprayed them. Aliya pulled down the curtain on the Slitheen before rushing over to the Doctor, who looked at Harriet and exclaimed, "Who the hell are you?"
"Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North." She replied automatically.
"Nice to meet you!"
"Likewise!"
The Doctor gave one last spray before the three of them ran out of the room. They made it into the Cabinet room, and just as the Slitheen were about to enter, the Doctor grabbed a flask of alcohol and held his sonic up to it.
"One more move, and my sonic device will triplicate the flammability of this alcohol. Woof! We all go up! So back off." He bluffed, and it took all of Aliya's self-control not to laugh. He grinned when the Slitheen did as he said. "Right, now. Question time. Who are the Slitheen?"
"They're aliens!" Harriet said urgently. He turned around to roll his eyes at her, exasperated.
"Yes, I got that, thanks."
"Who are you two, if you not human?" One of the Slitheen countered.
"Who's not human?" Harriet asked, thinking of the words the Slitheen had said while hunting.
"We're not human." Aliya replied simply.
Harriet raised her eyebrows in disbelief. "You're not human?"
"Can I have a bit of hush?" The Doctor asked.
"Sorry," Harriet said quickly before turning to Aliya and lowering her voice. "But he has a Northern accent, and you sound like a Londoner."
"Lots of planets have a north, and frankly, it's all luck of the draw," Aliya replied. Harriet frowned.
"I said, hush." He told them again, then turned back to the Slitheen. "Come on! You've got a spaceship hidden in the North sea, you're transmitting a signal, you've murdered your way to the top of government, what for? Invasion?"
"Why would we invade this godforsaken rock?" One of the Slitheen retorted.
"Well something has brought the Slitheen race here, what is it?"
Aliya frowned. "No, Doctor, the Slitheen are a family!" The Slitheen which had tried to attack her and Harriet in the cabinet room earlier had referred to itself as 'a member of the Slitheen family' when she had asked it to identify itself.
"She is correct, Slitheen is not our species, it is our surname! Jocrassa Fel-Fotch Passameer-Day Slitheen, at your service." The one on the right agreed.
"So you're a family."
"The family business."
"Then you're out to make a profit! How can you do that on a god-forsaken rock?"
"Ah…your device will do what, exactly?" The Slitheen on the left said slowly, and the two Time Lords both knew that the Doctor's bluff was discovered.
"That's it." The Doctor answered weakly.
"You're making it up!"
"Oh well, nice try!" The Doctor passed the alcohol back to Aliya behind him. He then proceeded to ramble on about the history of the cabinet war room, and eventually pressed a button, and steel traps closed over the doors of the room, trapping the Slitheen on the other side.
"I am so glad that you know so much about this planet," Aliya said with a sigh of relief.
"See? I knew you would eventually!" The Doctor grinned, and kissed her forehead quickly. "That's for not getting yourself killed."
"I suppose it's a good thing that the Prime Minister was so skinny…" Aliya speculated.
"Why?" Harriet asked.
"Because otherwise the Slitheen would have been able to use his body as a suit – they need big ones, you see, because they are so huge – and they would have been in control too early, we wouldn't have gotten here in time," Aliya explained.
"We would have been swanning off, oblivious to the world ending," The Doctor said, nodding.
"Maybe we would have had another lot of banana splits," She considered, grinning.
"Definitely for the best then, that could have led to us getting a bit distracted."
"I happen to be very fond of that kind of distraction," Aliya said, eyeing him with mischief in her eyes.
"Excuse me, people are dead, this is not the time to be making jokes!" Harriet protested, and Aliya looked bashful.
"Sorry," She apologised, but looked up and caught the Doctor cheekily grinning at her, and smirked back, "You get used to this sort of adventure and danger when you're friends with him."
"Well that's a strange friendship," Harriet exclaimed. "And by the sounds of it, more than a friendship. Forgive me for asking, but are the two of you a couple?"
Aliya shot an unsure look at the Doctor, who gave a small nod. "Yes, I suppose we are," She said.
"Oh," Harriet said mildly, not sounding surprised, merely thoughtful. She did not appear to be bothered by the information, something that made Aliya like her intensely. She was completely out of tolerance for judgement humans, and Harriet was a lovely piece of fresh air.
Aliya's phone beeped, and she pulled it out of her jeans pocket. "It's Rose," She told the Doctor.
"Look, can you tell her we're busy-" He replied impatiently.
"No, Doctor, look!" Aliya held up the picture on the screen, showing the Doctor the Slitheen covered in the electricity.
She quickly rang Rose.
"We're sealed off, how did you get a signal?" Harriet inquired in confusion.
"He gave it a sonic upgrade," Aliya replied.
"It looks more sophisticated than anything I have ever seen…is it alien, from your world?" Harriet asked unsurely, the idea of the people she was with being alien still not quite fitting inside her head.
"Nope, it's from Earth." Aliya said.
"But it looks like nothing I've ever seen!"
"23rd century Earth!" Aliya retorted, and Harriet's frown returned. "Don't ask," the Time Lady added.
She then started talking to Rose, asking if the three of them were alright, but then the Doctor snatched the phone and began talking Mickey through getting onto the UNIT server.
The three of them listened to the three humans preparing to be attacked by the Slitheen policeman.
"Doctor, that's our friend, they are innocent people, we have to do something!" Aliya said urgently.
"Right, if we're going to find their weakness, we've got to figure out where they're from, which planet. Right, judging by their basic shape, that narrows it down to about 5,000 planets within travelling distance, what else? Information!" The Doctor said.
"Green, incredible sense of smell, they can smell adrenaline and species, and even euphoria!" Aliya relayed.
"Narrows it down!"
"The pig technology!" Harriet put in.
"The slip stream engine…" Aliya said.
"Narrows it down…"
"Ritualistic hunting!"
"Narrows it down!"
Harriet pitched in the idea about farts, and Aliya and the Doctor both shouted at the same time, "Calcium decay!"
The Doctor kept going, when finally the information he had was enough.
"That narrows it down to one planet!" He exclaimed, and Aliya's eyes widened as she realised that he had the answer.
"Raxacoricofallapatorius!" The Doctor exclaimed, and Aliya grinned. The Doctor coached Rose and Jackie through using vinegar as a weapon, and there were cheers on the other end of the phone.
"If we could just get out of here!" Aliya said in frustration, kicking the table.
"There's a way out," The Doctor said suddenly, his voice quiet. "There's always been a way out."
"What? Then we need to use it!" She retorted angrily, walking over to him.
"No!" The Doctor said too quickly, raising his voice, his face staring down at her with a dangerous spark of defiance in his blue eyes.
"Why not?" Aliya challenged. "Give me one good reason why the hell not!"
"Because I won't be able to guarantee that you'll be safe!" He shouted, his face inches from hers.
Aliya's facial features twisted into an angry mask. "How dare you? How dare you even think about putting me before an entire planet?"
"I can't lose you!" The Doctor yelled desperately, his facial features dropping a little as his expression turned to one of defeat. "I just can't." His voice was now a whisper. "Not again. I won't risk it, not for anything."
"If you don't risk it, everyone will die!" Aliya argued.
"You don't even know what it is, and you just let me," He said softly.
"I trust you, Doctor," She replied simply.
"I know…" He said sadly, "And I'm afraid that maybe one day it's going to kill you. But this is my life, it's always been my life, it's standing up and making a decision, because no one else will. I could save the world, but lose you."
"I'm not going anywhere," Aliya said, her eyes locked with his.
"But how can I live, knowing that I made a decision that put you in mortal danger?" He asked.
"Except it's not your decision, Doctor, it's mine," Harriet interrupted. "I'm the only elected representative in this room, chosen by the people, for the people, and on behalf of the people, I command you. Do it."
The Doctor closed his eyes momentarily, and when they opened again, his face split into a large grin, one which Aliya immediately mirrored.
He began talking to Mickey again, this time instructing him on how to launch a nuclear missile.
The door of the steel bunker fell open and Harriet stepped out, followed by the two aliens.
The Doctor and Aliya shared a huge grin, and before any words could be exchanged, he picked her up in a tight hug and swung her around gleefully, kissing her forehead as he put her down.
A soldier came up to check if they were alright, and Harriet took charge, handling it brilliantly.
The Doctor stood by the TARDIS, watching the young boy scrubbing off the words 'Bad Angel' from the panels.
"Good, graffiti that again and I'll have you, okay?" He said, and the boy nodded before running off with his bucket. At that point, Aliya and Rose arrived, chatting, though they stopped when they reached the Doctor.
"Guess you'll be off again," Rose said, staring at the box with admiration.
"Yep." The Doctor said happily. He shot her a look. "The offer still stands, you could come with us. And it travels in time as well."
Rose's eyes widened, and she placed her hand on the wood. "Wow…" The temptation in her eyes was obvious. "I would love to so much…but I can't. I just…can't. I've got this new job lined up, and there's…well…someone new in the picture – Mickey and me were over ages ago, you see – and I can't leave. Especially not after the Slitheen. You might not always be here, Doctor. What if something happens and you're not here, and some other aliens attack us? I may not know a lot, but I could at least try."
"Well, we can't argue with that," Aliya said with a smile. "A nice normal life. The sort of thing we could never have."
"I don't know if fighting aliens is normal," Rose chuckled. "Mind you, my boyfriend might disagree." The two Time Lords gave her a very similar inquiring look. "Those UNIT people, he works for them, that's sort of how Mickey knew about you. But yeah, Ian reckons that once I've finished getting my A Levels, that I could get a job with them too."
"I could put in a good word for you, if you like," The Doctor offered, "They'd listen to me, I used to be quite important back in day at old UNIT."
"I know," Rose said, smiling, "Ian said that his granddad worked with you."
He lifted an eyebrow. "What's your boyfriend's full name?"
"Ian Benton," The girl said, and the Doctor's eyes lit up.
"Good old Benton!" He exclaimed, making Rose grin. "Good to know that the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. Did he say how his granddad was doing?"
"Yeah, good, I think. I can ask for details and get back to you."
"Tell you what, Rose Tyler, next time we turn up, just bring this boyfriend of yours along. I'd like to meet him," The Doctor suggested, and got a nod for an answer.
"Sounds great. I better be off. You two go and save a few other worlds!" She headed back towards the flat, waving at them as they got into the TARDIS.
"By the way, there was one thing I have been meaning to ask you," The Doctor said casually as he manuevered the TARDIS through the vortex.
"What?" Aliya asked from her lounging position on the jump seat, watching him pilot with rare grace.
"You said that the Slitheen could smell euphoria," He said. "How did you know that?"
She shrugged. "Because one of them smelt it on me."
"Why are you euphoric while being chased by Slitheen?" He asked curiously.
"Because I'm travelling with you, seeing beautiful things, and it was only an hour or so after you told me…what I was hoping to hear," Aliya explained quietly, her eyes meeting his. "How could I not be?"
The corner of his mouth quirked. "You were about to be killed by a giant green monster."
"No, I wasn't," She said, getting off the jump seat, "I was not about to die there. I would have fought tooth and nail."
"Good to know."
"What do you expect? I still have a lot of things in the universe which I need to experience."
"Such as?" He lifted an eyebrow. She just smiled coyly.
"Well…" Her hand reached out to touch the leather of his jacket at the same time that she stared up at him with mischief. "I haven't had my wicked way with you yet. Not in these bodies."
That made him grin, a familiar glint returning to his eyes. "Oh really? What makes you think that I won't be having my way with you?"
"Because I have much better self-control." It wasn't strictly true, but she wasn't about to let him know just how his kisses and hands turned her body, brain and insides to mush.
"Prove it," He challenged. So she stretched up on her toes and took his face in her hands so that she could kiss him deeply, tilting his head down to hers. His arms settled on the small curve of her waist and pulled her in just a little closer.
But he wasn't one to relinquish dominance for long, and soon moved his hands to close around hers and shift them to his neck so that he could hook his under her legs and pull them apart to hitch them over his hips. He felt her go quite still, and he broke the kiss, though kept a tight hold on her.
"Sorry," He said, but she shook her head and gave him a tiny smile which took him by surprise. "This okay?"
She nodded. "Being taken off the ground just took me by surprise." She kissed him again, and he flipped them so that she was sitting on the console. Much easier, and now his hands were free to go wherever they liked. As it happened, where they liked to go was the base of her neck, where he took control of the kiss and deepened it, kissing her with the need and hunger that was starting to get very difficult to control around her at any given time.
Knowing that she was just there, all the time, just a few layers of clothes and – if they were so inclined – less than a minute away from being his. It was certainly a constant test of self-control, but one that he liked to think built character. Besides, they were still on slightly uneven footing. And he wanted them to be completely grounded before they crossed that last barrier.
In the meantime, prolonged periods of kissing did very nicely. So long as they didn't go so long that they threatened to go too far.
They parted somewhat mutually, and just stayed where they were, with her sitting on the edge of the TARDIS console, her legs around his waist and him practically standing between them.
"I could get used to this," She said, softly, sounding almost dazed, "Not that I want to, or think I will."
"I hope not."
"So, I think that we just managed to prove that neither of us really have any self-control," Aliya said with a small laugh.
"We stopped, didn't we?" He asked, grinning.
"True," She admitted, and hesitated for a moment before adding, "Do you ever wonder what we're…waiting for?"
The Doctor considered it for a moment. "Not sure. I think…we'll just know."
She nodded slowly, and suddenly remember something else that could be important to mention. "Actually, I meant to tell you earlier, but…I've been having trouble sleeping."
"What do you mean? Why?" He asked. Because they were still so close, his eyes searched hers for a moment before his hand took out the sonic, as if to scan her. She just pushed it away.
Embarrassed flickered across her features. "This is going to sound ridiculous…but I'm afraid of the dark."
He frowned, not comprehending it. "Since when?" He sounded as though he didn't quite believe her.
"Since the mountain…it was so dark in there, so dark and so silent for so long…it's in there, in my brain, and when I close my eyes all I see is darkness…and it terrifies me. I tried to fight it, I really have…but can't bear it for more than twenty seconds. I just…want to start screaming," She whispered fearfully. "Which means that I can't sleep, because you have to shut your eyes to do so."
"Really?"
She nodded slowly.
"Well, we'll have to find something to fix it, won't we?" He said cheerfully, taking her hands in his. "We can't have you not sleeping because you're afraid to close your eyes."
"But the thing is, that obviously when I'm kissing you, my eyes are shut. But I'm not scared then." She paused, still unsure how to ask her next question. "So…I was wondering if we could see what happened if I tried to sleep while I was next to you."
"That could work," He considered, "I sleep with the light on anyway…keeps away the bad dreams." He smiled, his eyes joking, but Aliya could see a hint of something more behind the humour. He was haunted by so many things, she knew that…the Time War, the death of Romana, and probably still the death of some of his companions as well…she knew that Adric's death had left a permanent mark on his Fifth self. "Alright, get into something more comfy and meet me back here then, and…I guess you'll be seeing my room."
He took a few steps back so give her some space to move, only to pause and take a few seconds to appreciate the sight of her sitting on the console in her jeans and yellow t-shirt, her hands having come to fold over each other on the edge of the controls in the space between her open knees. Her short hair was a little mussed and she was just dishevelled enough for him to smirk with satisfaction – after all, it was all his doing.
She just gave him a funny grin, having guessed his line of thought, and hopped off the console to go to the wardrobe. She browsed for a few minutes before eventually picking a loose t-shirt and cotton pajama bottoms. She returned to the console room to find the Doctor waiting there, in the same clothes that she had left him in.
He took one look at her and just sighed. "Are you trying to kill me?"
She looked down at her mostly exposed legs and shrugged. "Sorry, didn't have any Gallifreyan nightdresses handy. Wish I did, this stuff is scratchy."
He just shook his head and smiled fondly. "Come on, then." He nodded towards the corridor and started walking. She followed, but was unable to keep in her flirting as she did so.
"Is there where you take me to bed?" She asked him cheekily from several metres behind, making him turn around and give her a look.
"Don't tempt me," He retorted. She just smirked, pleased with the reaction, and followed him silently for the rest of the way, which involved an obscene amount of turns and corners. He clearly liked his room to be very private indeed.
Finally, they came to a door that read 'Doctor' on the front with the bold, arrogant handwriting that Aliya recognised from the later stages of his first incarnation. "This is it…I haven't let anyone in here for centuries…I think you were the last, actually." He pushed open the door, and Aliya stepped inside, awed by the fact that it was both so similar to how it had been the last time she had been in it in, and how much it had changed over the centuries.
The room was not very big, and every wall was lined with bookshelves – all of which were stuffed to bursting point with books, even the wall his bed was pressed up against. The place was cluttered, random objects such as old sonic screwdrivers, chunks of alien rock, some kind of whistle…and Aliya could swear that she could see a miniature clay model of what looked like a Zygon. The small light source of the room was a battered looking lamp which was near his bed, sitting on top of a large pile of books.
On a bookshelf near his bed, Aliya could see a very old and dusty picture of herself and him, when they were both in the early stages of their first incarnations, and so blissfully and ignorantly in love that the horrors of the universe were invisible to them. In the picture they were laughing, and Aliya's hearts ached for those easier days. Those teenagers had not had any idea of the heartbreak and fallout that lay ahead of them.
"So, what do you think?" The Doctor asked unsurely.
"I think that it's very you," She replied simply. "And it still...feels like your room."
The Doctor eyed the large double bed in the room, before pulled back the covers and indicating for her to climb in. She did so, and then watched as the Doctor removed his jacket, and then his jumper. She made no effort to disguise the fact that she was unabashedly watching from where she was sat up, leaning against the headboard.
His blue eyes flicked to her. "Enjoying the show?"
She just grinned. "Don't let me interrupt."
He grinned as well, amused by her boldness, and kicked off his shoes so that he could unbutton his jeans and slip out of them, leaving him in dark, plain boxers. When he looked back up, her eyes were still on him, drinking in the sight.
"This okay? I can put on some-"
"It's fine," She said, not flirtatiously, but just sincerely. Then it shifted and she was back to looking at him with mischief and appreciation. "And I'm getting a nice view."
The Doctor wanted to make her falter. "Just as well I'm not in my usual sleep gear, then," He said casually as he got into the bed next to her.
"Which would be what?"
"Nothing at all."
Sure enough, he succeeded in making her turn the tiniest bit pink. Her eyes darkened a fraction and he didn't miss the sharp intake of breath.
"Probably for the best," She managed to say after a few seconds, her bravado back, "Or else it would have been far too easy for me to seduce you in the middle of the night." She settled down properly into the bed and lay her head on the pillow. "As it is, I think I'll be able to restrain myself."
"That makes one of us," He muttered, making her smile to herself. He also got under the covers. He pulled her closer to him and wrapped his arms around her. "Hopefully this is close enough that you can sleep."
"Thank you," She whispered, meaning it.
"You're very welcome."