The moment the group entered the Cabinet Room, the Doctor led Aries to a chair before he grabbed a decanter from a side table and stood in the doorway as the Slitheen reached them.
He held the decanter out threateningly towards them as he pulled out his sonic and pointed it at the bottle. "One more move and my sonic device will triplicate the flammability of this alcohol. Whoof, we all go up. So back off," he threatened.
The Slitheen took a step back into the outer office, rather alarmed at the threat.
"Right then," the Doctor continued, "Question time. Who exactly are the Slitheen?"
Aries frowned at the name. There was something familiar about it, but she couldn't place it. She was about to name the species, but Harriet spoke up.
"They're aliens," the brunette said.
"Yes. I got that, thanks," the Doctor said rather sarcastically. He couldn't help it, though, as he was standing before three aliens that looked nothing like humans.
"Who are you, if not human?" Green asked.
His gaze flickered to Aries momentarily before looking back to the Doctor, but it was enough to make the Doctor pause in surprise. He fought the urge to look back at his Nesdra, wanting to know what they had meant, but it wasn't the time. Once again he was annoyed that he couldn't question her.
Aries frowned as she looked to the Slitheen. It hadn't been missed by her either when Green's gaze had turned to her momentarily. Her thoughts then turned to her test she had forgotten about since all this mess had started. She couldn't help but wonder what the result was, or even what the sample was of.
"Who's not human?" Harriet asked, breaking the Doctor and Aries from their thoughts.
"He's not human," Rose said, gesturing to the Doctor.
"He's not human?" Indra asked in surprise, causing Aries to jump slightly as she realised he was standing behind her.
"Can I have a bit of hush?" the Doctor snapped, rather irritated by the interruptions.
"Sorry," Indra replied sheepishly.
"So, what's the plan?" the Doctor asked, turning his attention back to the Slitheen.
Aries groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose as Harriet interrupted the Doctor again.
"But he's got a Northern accent," the brunette remarked.
"Lots of planets have a north," Aries said, "And he said hush."
Harriet looked to Aries in surprise. She was even more surprised, however, when she noticed Indra looking down at his feet as if he had just been given an order.
The Doctor turned to Aries in surprise as well before focusing on the aliens before him. "Come on. You've got a spaceship in the North Sea," he stated, causing Aries to grow alert at the information, "It's transmitting a signal. You've murdered your way to the top of the government. What for, invasion?"
Asquith scoffed, "Why would we invade this God-forsaken rock?" he asked.
The Doctor frowned slightly, "Then something's brought the Slitheen race here. What is it?" he questioned.
"The Slitheen race?" Asquith asked, rather confused.
"It's not their race," Aries said as she stood up from the chair and approached the aliens, earning surprised looks from all, "They're from Raxacoricofallapatorius. Slitheen is their surname," she continued as she remembered where she had heard the name, "They're a family who's only goal is to make a profit as they murder their way through the universe. My question, however," she paused as she glanced between the three aliens, "Is what kind of profit can you make on this God-forsaken rock?"
The Doctor looked between Aries and the Slitheen, rather confused as to how she knew who the aliens were.
"You've heard of us?" Margret asked in surprise.
Aries levelled her a look that clearly was saying that the Slitheen had just asked a stupid question.
Margret was about to lunge at Aries in response to the insulting look, but the Doctor stepped in front of the red head, his look telling the Slitheen that she had made the wrong move.
Margret's eyes widened in surprise as she took a step back at the amount of rage she could see in the Doctor's eyes, even though it never appeared on his face. She had never seen such controlled anger before and it honestly frightened her.
"Ah, excuse me?" Asquith spoke up, rather unsettled himself by the look in the Doctor's eyes, "You're device will do what? Triplicate the flammability?" he questioned, hoping to break the tension that had built between the man and his sister.
Like a switch had been flipped, the Doctor blinked and glanced at Asquith, the anger no longer showing in his eyes. "Is that what I said?" he asked.
"You're making it up," Asquith accused.
"Ah, well!" the Doctor said, his voice unsettling the Slitheen further as it almost sounded cheerful, "Nice try. Harriet, have a drink. I think you're gonna need it," he continued, not noticing that Harriet was clutching the red box that held the Emergency Protocols.
Aries sighed as she took the bottle off the Time Lord, "You pass it to the left first," she muttered, earning a confused look from the Doctor until he noticed Harriet holding the case.
"Sorry," he said, tugging on his ear.
"Don't you think we should run?" Rose asked the Doctor, even though the Slitheen had made no move towards them.
The look they had previously gotten from the Doctor had them rather unsure with how to proceed with their hunt. They weren't just dealing with humans, and as they glanced between the Doctor and Aries who was still slightly behind the man, they also knew that whatever they were, the Doctor could become very dangerous.
"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. 1796, this was the Cabinet Room. If the Cabinet's in session..." the Doctor's ramble was cut off when Aries lifted a small panel and pressed a button.
Rose and Harriet both jumped in surprise as metal shutters crashed shut across all the windows and doors.
"What did you do that for?" the Doctor asked Aries, pouting slightly as he looked to her.
"I was getting a headache," Aries shrugged as she moved back to the large table and sat down.
Rose looked around the room, a frown appearing on her face as she looked to the Doctor, "How do we get out?" she asked.
The Doctor, who was still pouting at Aries cutting his explanation short, glanced around as he realised the blonde was right. The Slitheen may not be able to get in, but with the metal shutters in place, they also couldn't get out.
"He'll think of something," Aries said, causing the Doctor to look at her in surprise, only to see Aries pouring herself a drink.
The Doctor was quick to remove her glass, causing her to raise an eyebrow at him. "You've got a headache. Alcohol is not helpful at dealing with them," he told her with a small smirk.
She wasn't the only one who could ruin someone's fun.
After laying the body of the late Anthony Blair out in a small store room, the Doctor noticed Indra watching Aries with concern. It brought back the knowledge that she had been injured.
He made his way over to the pair. "I didn't quite catch you name earlier," he said to Indra.
Indra turned to him with a small smile, "Indra Ganesh," he introduced himself.
"Indra," the Doctor repeated before he frowned slightly, "Can you tell me what happened?" he questioned, glancing at Aries.
Indra nodded and proceeded to tell him what had occurred after he had went to give Aries her ID card.
When the man was finished, the Doctor turned to Aries in surprise. "That was you?" he asked. He had been surprised when he had managed to get the ID card off from around his neck, only for the Slitheen to become electrocuted themselves. His surprise was immediately replaced with concern when he realised that his Nesdra had also been electrocuted. "Are you okay?" he questioned.
Aries nodded slightly. She was fine as far as she could tell, but she also knew that the amount of electricity that had passed through her from the ID card should have done a lot more harm than it did. Once again she was reminded at how little she knew about herself, about what she was.
The Doctor frowned at Aries response, once again noticing the difference between how she was now from when he had met her on the ride to Downing Street. The frown deepened when he noticed her face flicker though various emotions before going blank as she stared down at her hand, running a finger across the back of it as if tracing something only she could see.
Rose, who had been watching the three of them, couldn't help but scowl slightly at the fact that the Doctor had gone to check on the red head and hadn't even taken any notice of her. She had just been attacked by a bunch of Slitheen and thought that since he had known her longer, the Doctor should have checked up on her first. She seemed to have forgotten, however, that it had been Aries who had saved their lives and had done it while being electrocuted.
"Doctor?" she called out, gaining their attention, "What are we going to do?" she questioned.
The Doctor glanced at Aries, noticing that she had dropped her hands and was frowning in concentration. He furrowed his brows, "Right, what have we got?" he asked as he walked around the table, "Any terminals, anything?"
"No," Aries said, glancing at the Doctor, "This place is antique."
Rose looked between the two with a frown, "What I don't get is, when they killed the Prime Minister, why didn't they use him as a disguise?" she questioned.
"He's too slim," the Doctor replied, "They're big old beasts. They need to fit inside big humans."
"But the Slitheen are about eight feet," Rose exclaimed, "How do they fit inside?"
"That's the device around their necks," Aries said as she stood up and stretched her legs, feeling rather stiff, "Like I said earlier, it's a compression field. Literally shrinks them down a bit," her nose wrinkled in disgust, "That's why there's all that gas. It's a big exchange."
"Wish I had a compression field. I could fit into a size smaller," Rose muttered.
Aries blinked in surprise at the blonde, not having even expected a response like that from her, before she frowned.
Harriet looked to Rose, rather aghast at what the blonde had just said, "Excuse me, people are dead! This is no time for making jokes."
"Sorry," Rose said, though to Aries she didn't sound it, "You get use to this stuff when you're friends with him," she continued as she gestured to the Doctor as he was scanning the walls around the room with his sonic.
Aries' eyes narrowed on the blonde, "That is utterly disrespectful and I would have thought that travelling with the Doctor, you'd have learnt some compassion along the way," she hissed as she took a step towards the blonde.
Harriet, Indra and the Doctor all stoped in surprise when they heard Aries' tone.
"People have died," the red head continued, her voice turning to a quiet purr as her anger at the blonde grew, "I would have thought that, out of anything you've seen in this universe, you'd have some sympathy for the people who lost their lives," her eyes flashed dangerously and a slight breeze started to circle her, causing Rose to take a step away from her in fear, "But I guess I was wrong," she sneered in disgust, "You only care about yourself and what you can gain from a crisis."
The wind picked up around Aries as she took another step towards the blonde. All that was on her mind was the people she had lost over the years she had lived, none more painful then when she had watched her father die before her. "Those people had families. Sons, daughter's, mother's, father's. Those families will never see their loved ones again," her face took on a dark look as she continued, her mind playing back her father's murder, "But all you can think about is fucking dress sizes," she snapped.
The Doctor was quick to break out of his surprise and shock and made his way to Aries, realising that she had been much more effected by Rose's words than anyone. And as much as he wanted to question Aries about her ability, he needed her to calm down. Something was telling him that she had become lost in her own memories and it pained him when he realised that she had most certainly witnessed a loved one die.
He stepped in front of Aries, blocking Rose from her line of sight and caused her to stop and look at him. He was momentarily surprised when he noted that her silver grey eyes had small little flecks of red in them that seemed to be glowing slightly.
Their eyes were locked as he tentatively held out his hand as he took a step towards her before taking another slow step. He could see her anger leaving her as the red flecks in her eyes seemed to soften and when he was standing right in front of her, he grabbed her hand, linking his fingers through hers. He didn't say anything, only waited as he squeezed her hand, hoping to help ground her to the presence and not wherever her mind was at.
It took a moment before the Doctor felt her fingers curl around his hand and a large exhale was heard. The wind that had been blowing around her vanished and she blinked a few times. She seemed rather confused as to what had happened, confirming the Doctor's thoughts on that she had been lost in a memory.
Aries frowned at the Doctor. She looked down to their linked hands before she realised what had happened. She unlinked her fingers from the Doctor's, though he didn't let go, before looking to him again. "Sorry," she muttered before looking away, feeling rather ashamed by her actions. She knew she had better control than that and to lose it at a few words seemed almost childish.
The Doctor squeezed her hand, drawing her gaze back to him. "Don't apologise," he told her softly, "What Rose said was wrong. Losing a loved one is painful and hard. The pain, guilt, sadness and loss never truly leave you, but I know that even though those feelings may never leave, it does get easier to live with them when you find something that gives you purpose."
Aries frowned slightly at the Doctor's words. She was about to say something about how he could understand what she had gone through when she remembered the vision that his TARDIS had shown her, causing her frown to deepen as the memories flashed through her mind. Her eyes started burning when they changed to the wars she'd lived through and the lives she had seen been taken or had taken herself.
The Doctor squeezed her hand in concern when he noticed her eyes start to water, but the reaction he got from trying to comfort her was unexpected.
Aries head dropped, her long red head falling over her face. She closed her eyes, fighting back the tears as she occluded, pushing the memories away along with the emotions associated with them. When she was sure that they were hidden behind her occlumency walls, she lifted her head slightly. "I'm okay," she said.
The Doctor frowned at the tone of her voice, suddenly wondering if he had said the wrong thing. He fought down the urge to groan when he realised that Aries didn't know about the Time War and that he had just told her that he understood what she was going through, even though they had just met. She had know idea what he had lived through, what he had lost, and he knew better than most what it was like for someone to say they understood.
He gave her hand one last squeeze before letting it go, feeling rather foolish at his choice of words. Of all the things to say, he thought as he watched her turn away from him and walk to a corner of the room. The Doctor had to fight down the need to comfort her, knowing that she just needed a moment.
Thinking on the spot and needing to move away from the subject, the Doctor turned around to the other three who were watching him. He took no notice of Rose's scowl, knowing that if he said anything that Aries could grow angry again. His eyes then landed on Harriet and something seemed to niggle at the back of his mind, "Harriet Jones. I've heard that name before," he remarked, earning a confused look from the three humans, "Harriet Jones. You're not famous for anything, are you?"
Harriet looked between the Doctor and Aries, the latter leaning against the wall. She was quick to realise that the Doctor was looking for a distraction to take away any attention off of Aries, and as much as she wanted to question what she had just seen, she realised that it wasn't the time. She looked back to the Doctor and scoffed, "Oh, hardly."
The Doctor furrowed his brows, "Rings a bell. Harriet Jones?"
"Lifelong backbencher I'm afraid," the brunette said as she began looking through the case, "And a fat lot of use I'm being now. Aries was right, these Protocols are redundant. They list the people who could help and they're all," she paused, noticing the Doctor frowning at her, "Unreachable," she finished, changing what she was originally going to say.
"Hasn't it got, like, defence codes and things?" Rose spoke up, "Couldn't we just launch a nuclear bomb at them?" she added before noticing the looks she was receiving from the others, "What?"
Harriet glanced at Indra as he made his way over to Aries, noticing the Doctor watching the man's every move. She couldn't help but notice the look on the Doctor's face and it didn't take a genius to realise that the man seemed to have some sort of feelings towards Aries. More so with the way he had helped calm her down. Harriet shook her head and looked back to the blonde, "You're a very violent young woman," she stated with a frown.
Rose, not seeming to realise that the others weren't agreeing with her view, continued, "I'm serious. We could."
"And I'm telling you that were not," Aries spoke up as she looked towards the blonde.
Rose scowled, "And who are you to tell me what to do?" she questioned, not liking the way the red head was speaking to her.
Aries pushed herself off the wall and took a step towards the blonde, "I'll tell you exactly who I am," she started to say before Indra stepped in front of her, also noticing the Doctor had step towards her, his face etched in concern.
"Ma'am, I found this by the doorway," Indra said, holding something out to Aries.
Aries frowned at the man before she looked at his hand, noticing the ID card he had tried to give her earlier. She took it off him, wondering why he had given it to her, but she realised the reason why as she read it. "Thank you, Indra," she said before stepping back towards the corner. Why in Salazar's name did I decide to be a Scientific Advisor, Aries internally groaned as she leaned against the wall again. She looked at the four people in front of her and realised that three of them were waiting for an answer. "If we were, and we're not," she said, shooting a glare at Rose, "Nuclear strikes need release code and they are kept secret by the United Nations."
The Doctor frowned as he looked to Aries, "Say that again," he told her. There was something about the way she had said it, something he couldn't place and the more he thought about it, the further it slipped from his mind.
Aries blinked and glanced at the Doctor, rather confused, "What, about the codes?" she asked, furrowing her brows. She would have thought he'd be the one person who knew about them more than anyone.
"Anything. All of it," he replied, hoping he could figure out what he was missing.
"Well, the British Isles can't gain access to atomic weapons without a Special Resolution from the UN," Aries told him, still rather confused.
"Like that's every stopped them," Indra said.
Aries looked to him, "Exactly, given our past record," she grimaced at the thought, "The codes have been taken out of the government's hands and given to the UN," she turned back to the Doctor with a frown, "Is this important?" she questioned, still wondering why he wanted to hear about the codes. From what she knew about him, nuclear weapons were the last thing he'd want to use.
The Doctor frowned as the feeling left him, having not had anything that helped him figure out what it was. "Everything's important," he told her.
"If only we knew what the Slitheen wanted," Harriet said, gaining their attention, "Listen to me. I'm saying Slitheen as if it's normal."
"What do they want, though?" Rose spoke up. She was feeling very put out that the Doctor had been keeping his attention on Aries. She had noticed that his eyes very left the red head and he barely spared herself a glance. It also didn't help that she had noticed him looking at Aries like she was the most important person on the planet.
"Well, they're just one family, so it's not an invasion. They don't want a Slitheen World. They're out to make money. That means they want to use something. Something here on Earth. Some kind of asset," the Doctor said.
"Like what, gold? Oil? Water?" Harriet suggested.
The Doctor blinked and looked to Harriet, "You're very good at this," he remarked before noticing Aries frowning in concentration again.
"Thank you," Harriet said, feeling rather helpful for once.
"Harriet Jones," the Doctor muttered in thought, "Why do I know that name?"
Aries was deep in thought as she tried to work out the reasons as to why the Slitheen were there. She was shifting through her mind, trying to find the book she had read about Raxacoricofallapatorius and the Slitheen family. There had only been a small mention of the family in the book, but she hoped it could help figure out what they were up to.
A phone suddenly beeped, drawing everyone's attention.
"Oh, that's me," Rose said as she pulled out her phone, causing Aries to look at her in surprise.
"But we're sealed off. How did you get a signal?" Indra asked, just as surprised as Aries.
"He zapped it," Rose answered, gesturing to the Doctor, "Super phone."
"Then we can phone for help," Harriet said, turning to the Doctor, "You must have contacts."
The Doctor grimaced, "Downstairs, yeah," he said, glancing at Aries.
"It's Mickey," Rose spoke up as she checked her message.
The Doctor rolled his eyes, "Oh, tell your stupid boyfriend we're busy," he said.
"Yeah," Rose said with a grin, "He's not so stupid after all," she showed the Doctor the picture Mickey had sent her.
It was of a Slitheen being electrocuted.