"Kate, why did you even bother to have me there if you were just gonna have others overrule my decisions," Aries huffed as she walked inside her house, her door slamming behind her before her wards snapped into place with a red flash.
It was later in the evening and Aries wasn't happy about how her day had gone. She had been dropped of at Kate's office hours ago and had tried to get some semblance of order going, but since her position wasn't known to the general public or even other government branches, a lot of her decisions seemed to have been overlooked. And to add to all of that, Aries had found information on something called the Black Archives.
"Aries, I know what you're thinking," Kate sighed on the other end of the phone, "But you have to know that UNIT holds its secrecy for a reason. If the general public were to know what we know, there would be chaos."
Aries clenched her jaw, "You know that I am not talking about the general public, Kate. Those news reporters should have been contained immediately, but instead, they were left to run wild. People are going to panic anyway and there was no need for them to build onto that. What in Merlins name was the Secretary General thinking telling people to watch the skies. Have they got any idea about what that would cause."
There was a heavy sigh on the other end of the phone, "Aries, you know that UNIT doesn't have control over everything."
"Oh, I know, Kate. You don't have to remind me what I know and don't know. I've watched this organisation grow over the last decade and I have to say that what it has become it's not the organisation that your father helped build," Aries snapped, her magic curling around her as her anger grew. It had been building up all day and now that she was finally home, she let it out.
"Of course it's not," Kate exclaimed, "UNIT needs to move with the changes. It cant-"
"Do not try and explain it to me, Kate Lethbridge-Stewart," Aries cut her off with a hiss, "I've seen enough change in my life to know that the way you are going about it is wrong. What you are doing to, what you have become is not the same UNIT that I joined, not the same UNIT your father created."
It hadn't been just the spaceship that Aries had been researching that day. She had also taken the opportunity to do a quick sweep of the UNIT database. Since Aries really only got information from Alistair in regards to most cases or from Kate when she was working in the field, she rarely had time to actually see what was happening with other parts of the organisation. And what she had found had her furious.
"Of course it's not. What my father created was not capable of keeping up with changes of the world. UNIT needs to expand. The way that UNIT had been running and containing the knowledge of alien lifeforms would have eventually gotten out and then where would we be?"
The paperwork on Aries coffee table flew across the room and her empty mug of tea that had been left there earlier shattered as her temper grew. "When I joined this organisation, I agreed to help you with understanding alien life. I had implemented orders that anything too advanced or dangerous to handle should be destroyed, not left in one place that would give any alien race with the knowledge on how to use them an armoury to overtake the Earth."
There was a pause on the other end of the phone before Kate spoke up again, "You may hold the position of Royal Commander, Aries, but that gives you no right to tell me how to run this organisation. Those decisions were made with the wellbeing of everyone involved. The Black Archives are protected by the highest security measures known to man."
Aries shook her head as she sighed, realising that she wasn't going to get through to Kate, "And that will be your downfall, Kate. You have placed anything and everything in one place and have left it under a lock and key that most alien species had probably played with as children," she walked into her kitchen, but not before clearing up the mess she had created in her living room, "But enough about that, Kate. It's clear that you're still as stubborn as you father. My question now is, why did a spaceship land in the middle of the Thames, almost taking Big Ben out with it, only to find that it was piloted by a spliced pig?"
There seemed to be a relieved sigh as Kate answered, "We're working on it as we speak," there seemed to be some shouting occurring in the background, "I've got to go, Aries. Just make sure you're ready to head off to Downing Street. It'll help us to try and figure this out having you there."
Flicking the kettle on, Aries sighed, "I'm only going as another advisor, Kate," she told the woman, "It'll be easier to mingle with the others if they don't know my position."
"Alright. I'll send a car around in fifteen," Kate told her before hanging up.
Aries placed the phone on the counter and made her way to her bedroom to get changed quickly. By the time the kettle had finished boiling, Aries had changed her top and gotten another coat. Another ten minutes later had Aries sitting at her kitchen table waiting for her escort that'd take her to Downing Street.
Exactly fifteen minutes after Kate hung up, there was a knock on Aries' front door.
Aries got up from the kitchen table and placed her cup in the sink before walking out to open the door. "Commander Aspen," she said in surprise when she recognised the blonde haired man from earlier.
"Good evening, Miss Prince," the man greeted, "I hope you don't mind, but I volunteered to take you to Downing Street."
Aries shook her head, "Not at all, Commander. I was just surprised to see you, that's all," she said with a small smile, "And please call me Aries."
"Only if you would call me, Nick," he said before gesturing to the sedan in the driveway, "If you're ready, I suggest we should get going."
"As ready as I'll ever be, Nick," Aries said as she headed to the car and getting into the passenger seat as Nick sat in the drivers seat.
He started up the car and as they left the driveway, he spoke up, "There will be a slight detour to Downing Street. I was informed that I had to pick up someone else as well."
Aries glanced at the Commander before shrugging, "That's fine, Nick," she said before looking out the window, only to frown slightly when she noticed a large number of police vehicles and a helicopter, "Okay," she started, looking back to Nick, "Who is this other pick up?" she asked.
Nick glanced at her with a smirk as he stopped the car, but didn't say anything.
Aries frowned as she looked back outside and she raised an eyebrow when she spotted the TARDIS with the Doctor, Rose Tyler and Mickey Smith step out of it and straight into the helicopter spotlight. She quickly got out of the vehicle when she heard the orders from the police.
"Do not move! Step away from the box and raise your hands above your heads."
Aries watched as Mickey, who had been standing beside the Doctor run off, but made no motion of having seen where he hid as, who she guessed was Rose's mother, shouted out the blondes name before being held back.
"Raise you hands above your head. You're under arrest," the policeman continued.
The Doctor and Rose complied and Aries groaned when she managed to hear the Doctor's voice as he grinned, "Take me to your leader."
Nick, who had also gotten out of the car, asked her, "Everything alright?"
Aries glanced at the blonde as she noticed the Doctor and Rose being escorted to their vehicle, "The man's ego is big enough. Did they have to make it bigger?" she muttered before straightening when they reached them.
Nick also straightened as the pair reached them, "You're to come with us," he ordered.
The Doctor furrowed his brows as he glanced between Nick and Aries, " And who might you two be?" he asked.
"Commander Nick Aspen, MoD," Nick introduced himself as he shook the Doctor's hand.
"Ministry of Defence," the Doctor muttered with a slight frown, rather confused as to what they were doing here.
"I've been called in to liaison with UNIT during this investigation," Nick explained.
The Doctor nodded in understanding before looking to Aries. There was something about her, but he couldn't place it. "And who are you?" he asked, "MoD as well?"
Aries shook her head in the negative, "No, sir," she said, "Aries Prince, UNIT's Scientific Division," she held out her hand.
The Doctor's brows furrowed as something seemed rather familiar in the way she spoke, but the moment he grabbed her hand, all previous thoughts were forgotten when he felt a jolt pass through him. His eyes widened in surprise at the feeling and felt rather at a loss for words as it was then followed by a warmth that flooded his system.
Aries was confused as the feelings passed through her, but as she gazed into the Doctor's blue eyes, she found that for the first time in over a century she didn't want to question it. There was a completion that seemed to fill those empty holes in her heart and a warmth that seemed to caress her very soul.
Her senses seemed to go into overdrive and she found herself smelling a unique smell of something that seemed painfully familiar. It was the scent of leather, books, some sort of oil that reminded her of engines and a distinct overpowering smell of sweet electricity. It only took Aries a moment to realise that the sweet smell was something she had always associated with her time-turner and realised that it was the smell of time.
Aries quickly jerked her hand back and jumped in surprise when her phone started ringing. "Sorry," she muttered when she noticed the Doctor frown slightly before she looked to her phone. For some reason she felt annoyed when she noticed it was Alistair. She glanced at the Doctor and Rose, the former still staring at her, "I've got to take this," she muttered before she stepped away back to the car.
"Alistair, how can I help you?" she said as she glanced back to the Doctor and Rose as they were led to the vehicle by Nick.
"I was wondering if Commander Aspen had arrived yet?" Alistair asked.
Aries frowned slightly, "Yes, he has," she told him, "And we've also just picked up the Code Blue," she added, looking back to the Doctor and Rose, only to find the Doctor watching her with an unreadable look.
"Ah, yes. Sorry about not informing you, but Kate had only got the notification that he had been sighted not that long ago," Alistair explained.
Aries nodded, "That would explain why she had to cut our conversation short," she explained, "And it's also why I have to go, Alistair. I'll talk with you later."
"I'll be waiting," Alistair replied before hanging up.
Aries sighed as she put her phone away and moved back to the car. Getting into the front again, she raised an eyebrow as she heard the conversation in the back between Rose and the Doctor.
"This is a bit posh. If I knew it was going to be like this, being arrested, I would have done it years ago," Rose commented.
The Doctor, who had being trying and failing at not staring at Aries, managed to tear his gaze away from the red head and looked to his companion, "We're not being arrested, we're being escorted," he explained. Before he knew it, however, his gaze had once again fallen to the passenger seat in front of him.
He couldn't really blame himself, however. Ever since the war and what he had done to finish it, he had thought he had actually lost his chance of ever finding his Nesdra. With the loss of his people, he had never thought he would ever get the chance to find his soulmate and had never even thought of the possibility that she could have been right here on Earth, and working for UNIT no less.
"Where to?" Rose asked, managing to break the Doctor from his thoughts.
The Doctor looked back to his companion with a raised eyebrow, "Where do you think? Downing Street."
Rose's face turned to a look of surprise as she replied, "You're kidding."
"I'm not," the Doctor told her, his gaze flickering to Aries as she turned slightly in her seat.
"10 Downing Street?" Rose asked.
The Doctor frowned slightly, finding his companions questions slightly annoying, "That's the one," he stated. As much as he may have been quite happy to entertain his companion previously, the Doctor found her persistent questions rather annoying right now. All he wanted to do was talk with Aries and try to get to know his Nesdra better.
"Oh, my god. I'm going to 10 Downing Street," Rose frowned slightly at the Doctor, "How come?" she questioned.
The Doctor sighed as he looked to his companion, knowing that he wasn't going to get a chance at talking with Aries if he didn't placate his companions curiosity, "I hate to say it, but Mickey was right. Over the years I've visited this planet a lot of times, and I've been, er, noticed."
Aries snorted when she heard that, unable to help herself. The thought of the Doctor being just noticed was an understatement.
The Doctor looked to Aries with a raised eyebrow as she turned her head towards them. "What?" he questioned.
"Noticed being the understatement of the year in that sentence," Aries said with a small smile.
The Doctor tugged on his ear as he fought down a grin. He couldn't help but wonder how much Aries had heard about him, knowing that she would have heard something as she worked for UNIT. As much as he didn't like some of UNIT's tactics, he couldn't help but feel slightly relieved that Aries had knowledge of aliens. It was almost unheard of to find ones Nesdra in another species, so it put him at ease a little at that thought.
"Now they need you?" Rose said with a small frown, realising that she wasn't as alone as she previously thought about being the only person on Earth that knew what was out there.
The Doctor merely glanced at Rose as he answered, "Like it said on the news. They're gathering experts in alien knowledge. And who's the biggest expert of the lot?"
"Patrick Moore?" Aries couldn't help but say, causing Nick to glance at her in amusement.
The blonde was feeling rather glad he was there as he listened to their banter and couldn't keep the small smile off his face as it continued.
The Doctor pouted, "Apart from him," he huffed, though he also couldn't help but smile. He was rather liking how easy it was to talk with Aries and was enjoying her teasing, even if it was at his expense.
"Oh, don't you just love it," Rose said, although she glanced to the red head with a frown. She didn't know the red head, but she was sure she didn't like her too much.
"I'm telling you. Lloyd George, he use to drink me under the table," the Doctor exclaimed, earning a choked laugh from Aries which only caused him to grin, "Who's the Prime Minister now?" he asked.
Aries glanced between the two front seats, "Tony Blair," she told him.