Aries rolled her eyes as she stepped out of the car, noticing the Doctor grinning like a loon as the reporters took photos.
She turned back to look into the vehicle and glanced at Nick, "Are you coming?" she questioned, rather unsure about what his own orders were.
Nick shook his head, "No. My orders were only to drop you off and then pick you up later. I have some paperwork that needs my attention that I'll do as I wait."
Aries nodded, "Thank you," she said before closing the door. She watched as Nick drove off before she straightened and headed towards 10 Downing Street where the Doctor and Rose were already heading, though the Doctor had fallen behind his companion as he noticed Aries hadn't been following them.
"Everything okay?" he asked Aries as they entered the building, noticing her unreadable face and straight posture. He couldn't help but notice that her posture seemed rather closed off, but put it down to being surrounded by officials.
Aries glanced to him and nodded. "Fine," she replied.
The Doctor frowned at her reply, finding it so much different than how she was in the car. She had seemed almost relaxed on the ride over, but now he saw the signs as her eyes scanned the room. He knew a soldier when he saw one, and everything Aries was doing was ticking every box. Not one thing was missed by her gaze and he couldn't help but wonder how someone who looked so young could have such a distinct reaction to a room full of people, officials or not.
As Aries swept her gaze around the room, she recognised a few UNIT officers she had trained when she was under the alias of Eris. She couldn't help but feel proud at how far some of them had come, especially when she spotted Reynolds amongst the crowd. She did frowned slightly, however, as her gaze fell on a brunette woman, recognising her as Harriet Jones. It wasn't that the woman shouldn't be there, but the fact that she looked startled. She was about to see why the brunette looked startled, when a voice spoke up, gaining her attention.
"Ladies and gentlemen, can we convene?" a males voice cut through the chattering officials, "Quick as we can, please. It's this way on the right, and can I remind you ID cards are to be worn at all times."
The man handed an ID card to the Doctor, "Here's your ID card," he said before noticing Rose, "I'm sorry, your companion doesn't have clearance."
"I don't go anywhere without her," the Doctor said as Aries approached them.
The man didn't seemed persuaded by the Doctor as he continued, "You're the Code Nine, not her. I'm sorry, Doctor," he seemed to pause for a second, "It is the Doctor, isn't it?" he asked before glancing at Rose, "She'll have to stay outside."
"Is everything okay here, Indra?" Aries questioned as she reached them, keeping a subtle gaze on Harriet as the brunette approached them.
Indra seemed startled to see Aries, but he quickly recovered. He had seen the position she was using and knew that if she was only here as an advisor that she didn't want it known that she held a higher position then everyone in the room. The only other person in the room that seemed to hold the same position was the Doctor, but he had been informed that the man couldn't know. "Ma'am, I was just telling the Doctor here that his companion didn't have the clearance to enter the conference," he explained.
"And I'm saying that she stays with me," the Doctor said, glancing between the two. He couldn't help but notice how Indra reacted to the sight of Aries, and he was confused as to why.
Aries nodded to Indra before her eyes found Harriet again, noticing that the brunette was close enough to hear their conversation.
"Look," Indra said, turning to the Doctor and Rose, "Even I don't have clearance to go in there. I can't let her in and that's the fact."
Rose, who had been frowning at the conversation, rather unsettled as to how they were speaking as if she wasn't even there, finally spoke up, "It's all right. You go," she said to the Doctor.
"Excuse me. Are you the Doctor," Harriet asked as she finally made herself known to the others.
The Doctor didn't seem to notice her as he turned to Rose, "Sure?" he asked his companion who nodded.
Aries looked to Harriet in slight concern, hearing her voice waver slightly. It made her curious as to what was troubling the MP.
Indra frowned when he turned to Harriet, "Not now. We're busy. Can't you go home?" he said, rather frustrated by the brunette.
"I just need a word in private," Harriet explained.
"I suppose so," the Doctor decided, "Just don't get into any trouble," he added before leaving the four of them, giving one last glance to Aries. He was rather hopeful she would follow him inside the room, but she didn't seem to notice his leaving as she had turned her attention onto Harriet.
"You haven't got clearance. Now leave it," Indra told Harriet before turning to Rose, "I'm going to have to leave you with security."
"That's okay, Indra," Aries spoke up and the three of them looked to her, "I can deal with this. I know you're rather busy."
Indra nodded at her, "Of course, Ma'am," he said before moving off.
Aries turned to the blonde and brunette, "I believe we should go somewhere private," she said before leading them away through the entrance hall.
Harriet seemed relieved at those words as she followed the red head. Rose, however, was feeling a little put out, not understanding why she couldn't go into the conference with the Doctor. She was also surprised that Indra would have left her with Aries and she felt like she was being babysat by someone who looked not much older than herself.
Aries glanced at Harriet as they walked, "What is troubling you, ma'am?" she questioned, noticing that the woman was about to burst into tears.
Harriet glanced at Aries in surprise, not having expected anyone to actually want to listen to her. "Harriet please, Miss..." she trailed off, not actually knowing the woman's name.
"Aries," the red head supplied.
"Aries," Harriet nodded before she looked to the red head hopefully, "This friend of yours, he's an expert, is that right?" she asked, "He knows about aliens?"
Aries frowned slightly, "What do you want to know?" she asked, her tone changing at the questions which surprised the two following her. It was both guarded and wary.
Instead of answering, however, Harriet broke down in sobs, causing Aries to shift uncomfortably as Rose started rubbing the brunettes back.
After Harriet had managed to pull herself together, she had explained to Aries and Rose about what she had seen as Aries led them to the Cabinet Room.
To say that Aries wasn't happy about an MP having access to the Emergency Protocols, was an understatement, but it wasn't her highest concern right now. To hear that the acting Prime Minister, who just happened to be an alien, had cancelled the Cabinet meeting and then murdered General Asquith was a bigger problem.
After hearing the description of the aliens and their comment on gas exchange, Aries had a fair idea what they were, but was confused as to why they were here. It wasn't an invasion, that much was certain, but to have them taking over such high positions of power was rather unsettling. She frowned as she led the other two into the Cabinet Room, trying to work out what the aliens were up too.
Harriet rushed passed Aries as she went to show them the remains of Oliver Charles that was left over the back of one of the chairs. "They turned the body into a suit. A disguise for the thing inside!" the brunette exclaimed.
Rose, who had followed after Harriet, glanced at Aries, only to find the red head standing near the door with a frown as she stared at nothing in particular. The blonde rolled her eyes before turning to Harriet, "It's all right. I believe you. It's, it's alien," she said as she tried not to become squeamish at the sight of the body, or what was left of it. She knew that if Aries wasn't going to do anything, that she, as the Doctor's companion, should. "They must have some serious technology behind this. If we could find it, we could use it."
Aries blinked, coming out of her thoughts and frowned as she watched Rose search the room. "Their technology won't help us stop them," she spoke up, earning a glare from the blonde, "And besides, compression fields are quite common and not as advanced as you think."
Rose shot Aries another glare, not liking the woman. The red head was making her feel rather stupid. Her attention was diverted, though, when she opened a cupboard and a man's body fell out. "Oh, my god! Is that the-" Rose started to say.
She was cut off when the door to the Cabinet Room opened and Indra walked in, "Ma'am, you forgot your ID card," he said, looking to a very troubled Aries before noticing the body, "Oh, my god. That's the Prime Minister!"
Aries stiffened when she noticed Margret enter the Cabinet Room after Indra and close the door. She immediately moved Indra behind her as she faced the alien masquerading as a large woman, taking the ID card he was holding out of his hand in the process. She wasn't to sure as to what was happening, but she was getting a bad feeling that this had been a trap to get all the experts in one room. And if that was the case, it made anything given to them a chance to become a weapon, and the only thing that had been handed out were the ID cards.
"Oh! Has someone been naughty?" Margret asked with a smirk.
Indra, who was still standing behind Aries, spoke up, "That's impossible. He left the afternoon. The Prime Minister left Downing Street. He was driven away!"
"And who told you that?" Aries asked, though she didn't move, keeping her gaze on Margret.
Margret's smirk seemed to grow, "Well aren't you a clever one?" she asked before reaching up to the zip hidden by her hairline.
The three behind Aries watched on in horror as a blue light flooded the room and an alien wiggled out of the skin suit. When the light faded, it revealed a green alien standing nearly eight feet tall with incongruous large black eyes on a small baby-like face.
Aries watched on warily as Margret flexed her three long fingers in relief, her mind already starting to work out how to get the others away as she slowly started backing up causing the others to do the same.
Margret lashed out at Aries, trying to get a hold of the red heads neck, but Aries managed to duck out of the way and get behind the creature. The alien turned to Aries and lashed out again with growl, but Aries was quick to get out of Margret's striking range.
She suddenly let out a cry of pain and fell to her knees as the ID card she was still holding suddenly released an electric shock.
"Ah, that would be my brothers," Margret said with a satisfied smile as she watched Aries writhe in pain for a moment before turning to the others.
Aries ground her teeth as she focused on blocking out the pain as she watched Margret advance on the others. Her eyes landed on the compression field that was worn around the aliens neck and she managed to get to her feet and advance on the alien. All that was running through her mind was metal and electricity didn't mix very well.
Rose, Indra and Harriet backed further into the room as Margret advanced on them, until she let out a cry as she seemed enveloped in electricity.
"Don't just stand there!" Aries voice cut through their surprise as she stumbled from behind the alien, "Run!" she ordered.
It seemed to break the trio out of their shock and they all quickly made there way out of the Cabinet Room.
Indra was quick to help steady Aries as she stumbled and felt her twitch slightly in his grasp. "Ma'am?" he questioned, rather unsure if she was okay. She seemed to be in a lot of pain moments ago and seeing the alien being electrocuted told him that she should either be unconscious or dead by how powerful it looked.
"I'm fine," Aries huffed as they continued to run through doors and unoccupied rooms.
Harriet paused, causing the rest to look at her, "No, wait! They're still in there. The emergency protocols. We need them," she exclaimed.
"Keep moving," Aries told them when the sound of Margret smashing through a door reached her ears, "We don't need them."
"But," Harriet started to argue.
"Run!" Aries shouted again, causing Harriet and Rose to jump before they all started moving again.
Moments later found them hiding behind a door as Margret walked passed. The four of them silently stepped out of the doorway when they were stopped when a lift suddenly opened.
The Doctor was surprised to notice another Slitheen as the lift doors opened. He was also surprised to see Harriet, Rose, Indra and his Nesdra trying to sneak behind the Slitheen. His eyes narrowed slightly at the sight of Aries seemingly leaning against Indra and had to fight down the jealousy that started to build in his gut. It vanished quickly, however, when he noticed her face flicker in pain.
His gaze went back to the Slitheen who had paused in surprise at seeing him. Managing a smile, he greeted it with false cheeriness, even though his jealousy was replaced by anger. "Hello!" he said, managing to distract the Slitheen which allowed the small group to sneak passed it before closing the lift doors as the Slitheen roared.
The group of four reached a sitting room that had a large settee, a large drinks cabinet and a folding screen by the window that helped to keep out the draughts.
"Hide!" Aries hissed quietly, making her way over to the screen with Indra.
Rose hid behind the cabinet and Harriet hid behind a curtain.
The four humans seemed to turn to stone as they heard the door to the sitting room open as Margret entered.
"Oh, such fun. Little human children, where are you? Sweet little humeykins, come to me. Let me kiss you with my big, green lips," the alien taunted as she moved further into the room.
Rose, noticing that the creature wasn't looking in her direction, quickly moved to the curtain that was near Harriet, having realised that the cabinet was to exposed.
Two more Slitheen entered the room, causing Margret to turn to them.
"My brothers," she greeted.
"Happy hunting?" the one that had been masquerading as Green asked.
Margret smiled a rather disturbing smile, "It's wonderful," she commented, "The more you prolong it, the more they stink."
Indra glanced at Aries with a concerned look as she stiffen slightly.
She shook her head at him, even though she was wanting to bang her head against something at forgetting that this species of alien had a rather superior sense of smell.
"Sweat and fear," Asquith commented.
Green sniffed the air, "I can smell an old girl and boy. Stale birds and brittle bones," he remarked, sounding rather happy.
"And a ripe youngster, all hormones and adrenalin. Fresh enough to bend before she snaps," Margret added.
Asquith seemed to frown as he also seemed to sniff the air, "There's something else," he said, "I'm unsure what it is," he continued, glancing at Green, "It smells similar to the man downstairs, but different."
Green nodded in agreement as Margret got closer to the curtain that Rose was hiding behind. She quickly pulled it back, revealing the blonde and causing Rose to scream.
"No!" Harriet cried out as she jumped from behind the other curtain, "Take me first! Take me!"
The door to the sitting room suddenly burst open as the Doctor appeared with a fire extinguisher. He sprayed it at one of the male Slitheen, covering it in CO2. "Out with me!" he ordered.
Indra was quick to guide Aries over to the Doctor, even though she seemed to be getting better. He wasn't going to take any chances, however, knowing that it'd be his head if anything happened to the young woman.
Rose pulled the curtain down over Margret before she also dashed over to the Doctor, followed closely by Harriet.
"Who the hell are you?" the Doctor asked when he noticed the brunette.
"Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North," Harriet introduced, pulling out her ID to show him.
"Nice to meet you," the Doctor said.
"Likewise," Harriet replied.
The Doctor used up all the CO2 on the aliens and was quick to drop the fire extinguisher. As they ran out of the room, he managed to get Aries away from Indra as he helped support her. Even if he knew that Indra was only trying to help her, she was his Nesdra and he couldn't help but feel jealous at the sight of her leaning against another man.
"We need to get to the Cabinet Room," Aries stated as they continued to run. She was feeling better after being electrocuted, but was still a little unsteady on her feet.
"The Emergency Protocols are in there. They'll give instructions for aliens," Harriet agreed.
Aries shook her head, "We don't need them," she said, only to get a confused look from Harriet, "They're redundant," she explained.
"How do you know that?" Harriet asked, frowning at the young woman who looked to be in her early twenties.
"Doesn't matter," the Doctor said as the sound of the Slitheen chasing them reached their ears.