A/N: I do not own anything relating to Doctor Who. I only own the ideas of my OC. Like always, I hope you enjoy. :-)
Previously: "And who told you that, hmm? Me." The woman smiled and reached up to her hairline. There was a zipper which she began to pull. A blue light emerged from the zipper and filled the room. A green creature with black eyes and long talon like fingers emerged from the body suit. We all froze. The creature came closer. I shoved Rose and Harriet further behind me and tried to pull Ganesh back but was too late. The creature grabbed him and held him up against the wall. Harriet screamed and I heard even more screams from down the halls.
Suddenly the creature in front of us was surrounded in a blinding light. It started convulsing, seeming to be electrocuted. She released Ganesh. His body crumpled to the ground. I couldn't see him breathing at all. Seeing our moment. Rose and I each grabbed one of Harriet's hands and pulled her with us and out of the room. We ran down a couple hallways before Harriet stopped.
"No, wait. They're still in there. The emergency protocols. We need them." She turned around and started running. I gave Rose a 'is she serious' glance before we quickly hurried after her. She screamed as the green creature came bursting through a set of oak doors.
"Yeah, not such a good idea. Come on!" I pulled both of them down another hallway. We continued to close the doors behind us but the creature kept breaking through them. Down one of the hallways we reached a door that we couldn't open. The creature was right behind us. I kicked the door but it did nothing. The elevator dinged. The creature stopped to look at who it was. I saw the Doctor smiling.
"Hello!" He smiled. We got another door opened and ran through it. I heard the elevator door close and the creature ran after us again. We tried the doors in the room we entered. There was no way out.
"Hide!" Rose called out. Harriet ran behind a screen. I pulled Rose down with me behind a drink cabinet. I heard the creature come into the room.
"Oh, such fun. Little human children, where are you? Sweet little humeykins, come to me. Let me kiss you better. Kiss you with my big, green lips." She called out. I saw her facing away and pointed to a large curtain. Rose nodded and we made a run for it. She hid behind one side, I was on the other side. I tried calming my breathing. I heard two more large sets of footsteps come into the room. "My brothers." The woman beamed.
"Happy hunting?" One asked.
"It's wonderful. The more you prolong it, the more they stink." She giggled.
"Sweat and fear." The other added.
"I can smell an old girl. Stale bird and brittle bones." The first called out.
"There's two ripe youngsters. One is all hormones and adrenalin. The other is adrenalin and anger. Both fresh enough to bend before they snap." The woman giggled. She was close. I closed my eyes while holding my breath. Suddenly both curtains were pulled away. Rose screamed. I didn't have the air left in me.
"No! Take me first! Take me!" Harriet jumped out from behind her screen. Suddenly the Doctor ran into the room. He had a fire extinguisher. He sprayed the two new creatures with it.
"Out with me!" He called at us. Rose and I looked up and pulled the curtain down over the woman creature. We ran around her and joined Harriet behind the Doctor as he continued to spray the creatures. He looked over at Harriet. "Who the hell are you?" He asked.
"Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North." She said, not taking her eyes off the creatures.
"Nice to meet you." He smiled.
"Likewise." The extinguisher ran out and we ran out of the room. We ran down random corridors trying to get away. The sounds of the creatures following got closer and closer.
"We need to head to the Cabinet Room." He said as we rounded a corner.
"The Emergency Protocols are in there. They give instructions for aliens." Harriet piped up.
"Harriet Jones, I like you." He beamed at her. I smiled.
"And I like you too." We continued to run until we reached the Cabinet Room. The creatures were right behind us. The Doctor quickly grabbed a decanter from a table just inside the room and held the sonic up to it. The creatures stopped in front of him.
"One more move and my sonic device will triplicate the flammability of this alcohol. Whoof, we all go up. So back off." He growled at them. They took a step back. Right then. Question time. Who exactly are the Slitheen?" He asked them.
"The who?" I asked, hoping for some kind of clarification.
"They're aliens." Harriet breathed.
"Yes. I got that, thanks." He muttered.
"Who are you, if not human?" One of the Slitheen asked.
"Who's not human?" Harriet was freaking out a little.
"Him." I pointed at the Doctor.
"He's not human?" She asked with widened eyes.
"Can I have a bit of hush?" He asked.
"Sorry." She muttered.
"So, what's the plan?" He continued, only for Harriet to continue with her questions.
"But he's got a Northern accent."
"Lots of planets have a north." Rose added as a sad attempt at an explanation.
"I said hush. Come on." He turned back to the Slitheen. I gave Harriet a gentle squeeze on her arm. She was clutching a red box. I hadn't noticed her grab it before. "You've got a spaceship hidden in the North Sea. It's transmitting a signal. You've murdered your way to the top of government. What for, invasion?" He asked.
"Why would we invade this God-forsaken rock?" The other Slitheen asked.
"Then something's brought the Slitheen race here. What is it?" The Doctor demanded of them.
"The Slitheen race?" The second asked.
"Slitheen is not our species. Slitheen is our surname. Jocrassa Fel Fotch Pasameer-Day-Slitheen at your service." The first mock bowed.
"So, you're family." I tried to keep up but felt the anxiety rising.
"A family business." The one called Jocrassa explained.
"Then you're out to make a profit. How can you do that on a God-forsaken rock?" The Doctor used their words against them. They decided to do the same.
"Ah, excuse me? Your device will do what? Triplicate the flammability?" The unnamed male asked.
"Is that what I said?" The Doctor asked.
"You're making it up." The male refuted.
"Ah, well! Nice try. Harriet, have a drink. I think you're gonna need it." He tried to pass the alcohol to Harried. She was still clutching the Red Box.
"You pass it to the left first." She said quietly.
"Sorry." He passed it to Rose.
"Thanks." She took the decanter.
"Now we can end this hunt with a slaughter." The unnamed male Slitheen said victoriously. I pulled Rose and Harriet behind me and behind the Doctor.
"Don't you think we should run?" Rose questioned the Doctor carefully. He ignored the question and started talking once again.
"Fascinating history, Downing Street. Two thousand years ago, this was marsh land. 1730, it was occupied by a Mister Chicken. He was a nice man." He started rambling. I chuckled at the thought of a man being called Mr. Chicken. He continued. "1796, this was the Cabinet Room. If the Cabinet's in session and in danger, these are about the four most safest walls in the whole of Great Britain. End of lesson." He smirked and opened a small panel on the wall, pressing a button. Metal shutters closed over the windows and in the doorway. It gave a sense of doom. "Installed in 1991. Three inches of steel lining every single wall. They'll never get in." He smirked like he had won.
"And how are we supposed to get out of here?" I asked him, annoyed. He raised an eyebrow and frowned.
"Ah." He said simply.
"You saw a button and just decided, 'hey lets press this' without even considering how we would get out?" I groaned. We retreated further into the room. I helped the Doctor move Ganesh's body into the small store room off to the side along with the body from the cupboard.
"What was his name?" The Doctor asked as we moved Ganesh's body.
"Who?" Harriet questioned, coming over to us.
"This one. The secretary or whatever he was called." The Doctor continued.
"I don't know. I talked to him. I brought him a cup of coffee. I never asked his name." She said sadly, walking over to the table to look through the papers.
"His name was Ganesh." I said softly.
"What?" Harriet asked, looking over at me as I stood in the store room doorway. I stared at the young mans body and frowned. If I had only acted a couple seconds sooner, I could have saved him.
"His name was Ganesh. I asked him when he came in here." I offered. "I could have saved him. Why didn't I act sooner?" I muttered to myself. The Doctor looked at me after crossing Ganesh's arms. He stood and put his hands on my shoulders.
"Don't blame yourself. You couldn't have saved him. You tried and you gave him a name." He reassured me as we moved away from the room, closing the door behind him. He started walking around to the windows, using his sonic on them. "So, what have we got? Any terminals, anything?" Rose walked around checking things. I sat at the table and took a swig of the alcohol. It was a very strong whiskey. It burned on the way down. Not my favorite drink but it helped keep me from losing it.
"No. This place is antique. What I don't get is, when they killed the Prime Minister, why didn't they use him as a disguise?" Rose asked, still looking for anything out of the normal.
"He's too slim. They're big old beasts. They need to fit inside big humans." The Doctor explained. I got up and helped look for something different. There was nothing in the room.
"But they're, like, 8 feet tall. How do they. . . you know?" I didn't want to articulate what we all knew I meant.
"That's the device around their necks. Compression field. Literally shrinks them down a bit. That's why there's all that gas. It's a big exchange." The Doctor replied, checking another window.
"Wish I had a compression field. I could fit a size smaller." Rose tried to make light of the situation. I couldn't really blame her trying.
"Excuse me, people are dead! This is not the time for making jokes." Harriet chastised her. Rose mumbled an apology.
"Sorry, Harriet. You kind of get used to situations like this when you're friends with him." I gestured to the Doctor.
"Well, that's a strange friendship." She muttered.
"That it is." I sighed.
"Harriet Jones. I've heard that name before. Harriet Jones. You're not famous for anything, are you?" He asked her, moving to check a small fireplace behind her.
"Oh hardly." She replied.
"Rings a bell. Harriet Jones?" He continued to ramble.
"Lifelong backbencher I'm afraid, and a fat lot of use I'm being now. The Protocols are redundant. They list the people who could help and they're all dead downstairs." She frowned at the papers before putting them down with a huff.
"Hasn't it got, like defense codes and thinks? Couldn't we just launch a nuclear bomb at them?" Rose asked. I turned to her.
"Ooh. I kind of like that. A bit dangerous, but probably better than whatever they're planning." I smiled at her.
"You two are very violent young women." Looked shocked at our attitudes.
"Sometimes violence is the only thing that keeps you sane." I explained softly. I wasn't quite sure why I said it. It just came out. All the same, it felt right. Sometimes, getting angry, violent even, is the only way to keep yourself from breaking down and falling apart. I realized that they were all staring at me. I rubbed my neck nervously. "Anyway. We could do that, couldn't we? Launch something at them?" I asked, trying to break the uneasy silence. The Doctor gave me a strange unreadable look before going back to the fireplace.
"Well, there's nothing like that in here. Nuclear strikes do need a release code, yes, but it's kept secret by the United Nations." Harriet explained. The Doctor snapped his head toward us.
"Say that again." He said.
"What, about the codes?" Harriet asked.
"Anything. All of it." He said quickly.
"Well, the British Isles can't gain access to atomic weapons without a Special Resolution from the UN." She explained.
"Like that's ever stopped them." Rose scoffed.
"Exactly, given our past record. And I voted against that, thank you very much. The codes have been taken out of the government's hands and given to the UN. Is it important?" She questioned.
"Everything's important." The Doctor stared off at the wall, seemingly deep in thought.
"If we only knew what the Slitheen wanted." She paused and gave a scrunched up face. "Listen to me. I'm saying Slitheen as if it's normal."
"You get used to it." I gave her arm a pat.
"What do they want, though?" Rose asked the Doctor.
"Well, they're just one family, so it's not an invasion." He spoke as he began to pace slightly. "They don't want Slitheen World They're out to make money. That means they want to use something. Something here on Earth. Some kind of asset." He paused, thinking.
"Like what, gold? Oil? Water?" Harriet questioned.
"You're very good at this." The Doctor beamed at her. I was glad that he was getting along with someone other than Rose and I.
"Thank you." She smiled at him.
"Harriet Jones. Why do I know that name?" He thought out loud again. There was a phone beeping. Rose felt her pockets.
"Oh, that's me." Rose explained.
"But we're sealed off. How did you get a signal?" Harriet questioned.
"He messed with them a bit. Turned hers and mine into super phones." I explained, pointing to the Doctor. Harriet turned to him quickly.
"Then we can phone for help. You must have contacts." She tried excitedly.
"Dead downstairs, yeah." He frowned. Rose walked around the table and looked at her phone.
"It's Mickey." She said, still looking at the phone.
"Oh, tell your stupid boyfriend we're busy." The Doctor huffed.
"Yeah, he's not so stupid after all." She held up the phone. He took it and I looked over his shoulder. There was a picture of a Slitheen. Rose took the phone back and quickly called Mickey. "Is she alright, though? Don't put her on, just tell me." She said quickly. The Doctor took the phone from her.
"Is that Ricky? Don't talk, just shut up and go to your computer." There was some noise from the other side. "Mickey the Idiot, I might just choke before I finish this sentence, but, er, I need you." He pulled a face before giving Mickey some instructions on going to a website. After a minute, he plugged the phone into the conference phone speaker. "Say again."
"It's asking for the password." Mickey said.
"Buffalo. Two F's one L." He explained. I could hear Mickey typing on the computer.
"So, what's that website?" I heard Jackie ask.
"All the secret information known to mankind. See, they've known about aliens for years." Mickey explained to her. I could imagine him pointing to the screen and Jackie still looking at him confused. "They just kept us in the dark."
"Mickey you were born in the dark." The Doctor snipped at him.
"Oh, leave him alone." Rose pouted. She gave me a confused look. I just shrugged and shook my head. For the time being, I wasn't going to chastise him about being rude to Mickey.
"Thank you. Password again." Mickey said.
"Just repeat it every time." The Doctor explained. "Big Ben. Why did the Slitheen go and hit Big Ben?" He started thinking out loud once again.
"You said to gather the experts, to kill them." Harriet suggested. He shook his head.
"That lot would've gathered for a weather balloon. You don't need to crash land in the middle of London." He explained.
"The Slitheen are hiding." Rose started.
"But then they put the entire planet on Red alert." I added.
"What would they do that for?" She finished.
"Oh, listen to them." Jackie huffed.
"At least I'm trying." Rose retorted. I wasn't about to get into this argument. I hated arguing with someone that I couldn't see. I prided myself in reading a persons body language and eyes to gauge what to say and when. Over the phone, it wasn't the same. It's why Jackie always called Rose. I used my phone as simply an emergency device other than when texting Rose.
"Well, I've got a question, if you don't mind. Since that man walked into our lives, I have been attacked in the streets. I have had creatures from the pits of hell in my own living room, and my two daughters disappear off the face of the Earth." Jackie said darkly. Harriet came up and handed us each a glass with another kind of alcohol in it. Rose and the Doctor accepted theirs but set the glasses down.
"Thank you." I told her softly. She smiled at my acknowledgment.
"You're welcome." She went back and got her own drink before sitting down. I quickly took a large swig of the burning liquid. She gave me a questioning look but I just shook my head.
"I told you what happened." Rose tried.
"I'm talking to him. 'Cos I've seen this life of yours, Doctor. And maybe you get off on it, and maybe you think it's all clever and smart, but you tell me, just answer me this. Are my daughters safe?" I could hear the worry in her voice. The Doctor was frowning.
"Mum, we're fine." I tried to comfort her but she ignored me.
"Will they always be safe? Can you promise me that?" She asked. He looked at us both. I could see in his eyes that he couldn't promise that to her. The look he was giving us was almost a question of whether he should lie to her or not. I wanted to tell him that everything would be fine, that I didn't mind that he couldn't promise that I'd be safe. I could see that Rose felt the same. Still, neither of us knew what to say to him. "Well, what's the answer?" I could hear a beeping sound from their end of the phone line.
"We're in." Mickey's voice came through. I was thankful for the distraction.
"Now then, on the left at the top, there's a tab, an icon. Little concentric circles. Click on that." The Doctor instructed. A strange noise came over the phone.
"What is it?" Mickey asked.
"The Slitheen have got a spaceship in the North Sea and it's transmitting that signal. Now hush, let me work out what it's saying." The Doctor snapped, focusing on the sound. The noise made my head hurt slightly.
"He'll have to answer me one day." I heard Jackie faintly.
"Hush!" Mickey snapped at her.
"It's some sort of message." The Doctor explained.
"Whats it say?" Rose questioned. I sat back down, rubbing one of my temples.
"Don't know. It's on a loop, keeps repeating." He said softly. A sound of a bell came through the phone. "Hush!"
"That's not me. Go and see who it is." Mickey said, addressing the second part to Jackie.
"It's three o'clock in the morning." Jackie whined.
"Well, go and tell them that." He huffed. The Doctor ignored him.
"It's beaming out into space, who's it for?" He rambled. The sound of Jackie screaming and the door slamming came through the phone.
"It's him! It's the thing, it's the Slipeen!" She cried.
"They've found us." Mickey echoed.
"Mickey, I need that signal." The Doctor called to him
"Never mind the signal, get out! Mum, just get out! Get out!" Rose called.
"We can't. It's by the front door." Mickey replied. "Oh, my God, it's unmasking. It's going to kill us." He cried. My headache was growing. I wasn't going to take my medicine. I couldn't risk falling asleep.
"There's got to be some way of stopping them! You're supposed to be the expert, think of something!" Harriet yelled at the Doctor.
"I'm trying!" He quickly replied.
"I'll take it on, Jackie. You just run. Don't look back." Mickey yelled. "Just run."
"That's my mother!" Rose cried when we heard a loud bang.
"Calm down! We can't get anything accomplished by freaking out. And I can't handle any more yelling. It's making this headache worse." I snapped. Everyone stopped yelling.
"Better?" The Doctor asked me after I finished yelling. The quiet helped a bit.
"Much." I replied simply.
"Right. If we're going to find their weakness, we need to find out where they're from. Which planet. So, judging by their basic shape, that narrows it down to five thousand planets within traveling distance. What else do we know about them? Information." He turned to us.
"They're green." Rose suggested.
"Yep, narrows it down.
"Good sense of smell, they can smell hormones and adrenalin." I added.
"Narrows it down.
"The pig technology." Harried pipped up.
"Narrows it down"
"The spaceship in the Thames. It has a slipstream engine." I pointed out.
"Narrows it down."
"It's getting in!" Mickey cried.
"They hunt like it's a ritual." Rose continued.
"Narrows it down."
"Wait a minute." Harriet paused. "Did you notice? When they fart, if you'll pardon the word, it doesn't just smell like a fart, if you'll pardon the word, it's something else. What is it? It's more like, er-" She couldn't seem to come up with an idea.
"Bad breath!" Rose exclaimed.
"That's it!" Harriet agreed.
"Calcium decay! Now, that narrows it down!" The Doctor agreed.
"We're getting there, mum!" Rose cried.
"Too late!" Mickey yelled.
"Calcium phosphate. Organic calcium. Living calcium. Creatures made out of calcium. What else? What else?" He rambled excitedly.
"Hyphenated surname?" I asked.
"Yes! That narrows id down to one planet. Raxacoricofallapatorius!" He was thrilled.
"Oh, yeah, great. We could write 'em a letter." Mickey called.
"Get into the kitchen!" The doctor ordered. We heard them running then barricading themselves inside.
"My God, it's going to rip us apart!" Jackie cried.
"Calcium, weakened by the compression field. Acetic acid. Vinegar!" The Doctor explained.
"Just like Hannibal!" Harriet added. I gave a questioning glance but she didn't say anything.
"Just like Hannibal. Mickey, have you got any vinegar?" The Doctor agreed before speaking to Mickey.
"How should I know?" He asked.
"It's your kitchen you idiot." I added.
"Cupboard by the sink, middle shelf." Rose added. I turned to her. She shrugged. "I help with the shopping." She explained. I rolled my eyes.
"Oh, give it here." Jackie called. "What do you need?" She asked.
"Anything with vinegar!" The Doctor told her.
"Gherkins. Yeah, pickled onions. Pickled eggs." She started rambling off a list of overly disgusting things. The Doctor and I scrunched up our noses at the list, each one sounding worse than the last.
"And you kiss this man?" The Doctor asked Rose. She didn't answer. We heard the door open and the Slitheen hiss at them. Then there was a splash of what I assumed was the vinegar concoction Jackie had made hitting the Slitheen. There was a moment of silence before there was a rumbling sound and a splattering of the Slitheen exploding. We all breathed a sigh of relief. I finally looked at Harriet.
"Hannibal?" I asked her.
"Hannibal crossed the Alps by dissolving boulders with vinegar." She explained. Rose and I nodded, though I still wasn't completely sure of what she was talking about.
"Oh. Well, there you go then." Rose held up her glass in a toast. We all joined her. They all took a sip. I simply finished mine off.