Author's Note
I do not own Doctor Who.
Big thank you to Eleganceiris for the follow and favourite and to the Guest for the review.
They both proved unable to get Bessie going again, so the Brigadier pushed her to the side of the road for his men to pick up when they came to deal with the bodies. Liz lounged in the back of the jeep and scrubbed the blood from her hands.
The Doctor met them back at the Space Centre, where he was still working on the Recovery Pod. Miss Shaw assured him of her condition and accepted his offer of taking his jacket to replace her own torn and blood soaked blouse.
"At least we know one thing," the Doctor said.
"And what's that?"
"Someone is definitely trying to interfere with matters." He went back to working on the pod. The Brigadier cleared his throat. "Ahem."
"Not now Brigadier," called the Doctor, "this is important."
That couldn't be denied, so he left them to it, but they would need to have words about this. The report he got back from the soldiers who investigated the scene where he found Miss Shaw said it looked like the two men had been ripped apart by some sort of animal.
Taltalian tried to blow them up, which no one saw coming, though it did at least remove the problem of him seeing her, and they finally managed to see one of the so-called astronauts, which had just killed Sir James, which was… unfortunate. The thing stank of radiation and space and non-humanness. Liz growled at it. The Doctor touched her arm and shouted for the Brigadier to let it leave.
"Do you know what it was?" Liz asked.
"No," the Doctor replied. "But I'll do my best to find out."
He went ahead with piloting the recovery pod himself, and Liz again tried to tell herself she shouldn't care, she should never have got so close, as first an issue with the fuel nearly blew the thing up and then being taken by a mysterious UFO once in space.
Stranded on Earth, the wolf under her skin snarled and gnashed its teeth at its inability to help its packmate.
Things worsened from there. The Doctor was kidnapped from the pod when he landed and General Carrington took charge of the Space Centre, determined to blow the UFO from the skies. He smelt more of radiation and space and deceit with every minute that passed. Liz pulled the Brigadier aside. "There's something wrong with Carrington."
"Yes, he does seem rather… pragmatic."
"No, I mean there's something really wrong with Carrington. He smells like the aliens, and he's been lying to us."
The Brigadier frowned. "He smells like the aliens Miss Shaw?"
Liz shrugged. "Later Brigadier. Just… watch out for him."
She was proven all too right not an hour later when they started picking up SOS signals and Carrington had all the UNIT men detained, took control of the Space Centre, and ordered them arrested. Liz exchanged a look with the Brigadier as they were marched down one of the tunnels under the Space Centre and flashed him her fangs as a half-question, half-warning before slamming her elbow into the stomach of the man holding her and spinning round to sink her fangs into his shoulder. The impact threw them both to the ground and she ripped through his uniform and chest with her claws. Behind her, the Brigadier disabled the other man and took his gun. "Miss Shaw!"
She sprang to her feet and charged after him to the car a short distance away. Bullets impacted against the walls and doors as they threw themselves inside, lodging in the engine and bodywork. Liz growled softly as the Brigadier floored the accelerator and the vehicle shot away from the Space Centre. There was silence for a long time as several soldiers stationed on the road took pot shots at them.
"Stay down Miss Shaw!"
She did so, keeping herself tucked beneath the window. There was blood coating her hands and face, dripping down her throat. Liz licked it from her fingers.
"Are you hurt?"
Of all the first questions, that was not the one she was expecting.
"No. I'm quite fine."
Depending on the definition of 'fine' of course. The Brigadier glanced at her and Liz wondered what he was seeing, what with her covered in blood and still with her claws out.
"Am I allowed to ask what exactly you are Miss Shaw?"
"So far, werewolf is the best description, although it does annoy the Doctor some."
"I see."
They were silent for the rest of the thankfully short trip to the radio communication centre. Liz licked the blood from her hands.
From there things became a lot more straight forward, though she did give a few of the men, Sergeant Benton in particular, rather a scare when she walked in covered in blood.
"Don't ask," muttered the Brigadier. "Those SOS signals. Did you get a fix on them?"
It was army land, a firing range.
"Carrington," the Brigadier said.
"Mm," agreed Liz. She had warned him.
There were only two men at the Radio Communication centre. Most of them had been over at Space Control.
"I could go as well," Liz said.
"Absolutely not Miss Shaw. I need you to stay here and help Sergeant Benton."
Liz raised her eyebrows. "It would give you another man Brigadier."
"I believe the Doctor would be most displeased if I let you get shot."
Liz ran her tongue over her fangs. "I believe you'd appreciate another person on your side."
The Brigadier relented. He requested a revolver and a jeep, only one of which was possible. There were no jeeps. They were all at Space HQ, and the staff car they had come in had taken one too many bullets to make it reliable.
That left Bessie, which the UNIT men had brought back after the tried and failed kidnapping of her. The Brigadier was not best impressed, but they needed the transport and took the car anyway.
They found the Doctor and two of the aliens being held captive in a small lab on the firing grounds. He was surprisingly ungrateful to be rescued. After explaining the situation to him, the decision was made to have the aliens help get them back into the Space Centre to stop Carrington's broadcast and return all three alien ambassadors home.
"Are you alright Liz?" the Doctor asked during the drive. She tugged on a bloodstained sleeve.
"I ruined your jacket."
"Oh, don't worry about that! Are you hurt?"
"None of it's mine." She stared at Bessie's dashboard. "I told the Brigadier."
"And how did he take it?"
She nodded. "Surprisingly well actually, although that could be because we're in the middle of a crisis."
"Yes."
The aliens helped them break back into the Space Centre and they shut Carrington's broadcast down. He continued insisting that the aliens were dangerous and it was his moral duty to destroy them. He was marched away as a threat to national security and the Doctor left her to help coordinate with the alien ambassadors.
It took them nearly twenty four hours to get the alien ambassadors back to their ship and the three human astronauts back to Earth. Liz changed into a clean lab coat, though there was nothing to be done about her skirt and boots, which were still splattered with blood. Most of the employees at the Space Centre gave her a bit of a berth. She had to admit it was a relief when she finally got back to her flat and stepped under the shower.