Shareen vs the Universe

Aliens of London

Doctor Who is copyright to the BBC. I own nothing.

20 year old Shareen Costello made her way up the stairs of Bucknall House until she reached the 2nd floor and made her way along the balcony. She paused near a pillar with a missing poster of Rose Tyler on it. Rose was Shareen's best friend and had mysteriously disappeared exactly one year ago today. Shareen still couldn't believe how Rose had vanished off the face of the Earth the way she had. Exactly one year ago, Britain was menaced by a group of terrorists who went on a rampage dressed as shop window dummies, resulting in many casualties. Shareen had missed all of this, being stuck at home after injuring her ankle playing football. Although Rose had survived the terrorists' rampage, she'd completely vanished in the confusion that followed it. The police's inquiries had gone nowhere and no one had seen neither hide nor hair of Rose.

Shareen gave a sad sigh at the poster of her missing friend and continued on her way to flat 43, where Rose's mother Jackie lived. Shareen rang the door bell and Jackie answered. "Oh, hello, Shareen, love." she greeted

"Hi, Jackie." Shareen acknowledged, "Just thought I'd pop in and see how ya doing."

"I'm alright." Jackie said bravely, "C'mon on in. I'll make us both a cuppa, yeah?"

"Sounds like a plan." Shareen replied, and entered the flat. Jackie then went into the kitchen and put the kettle on, while Shareen settled down in the living room. The coffee table was covered with more missing posters of Rose.

Suddenly, the front door of the flat flew open and none other than Rose Tyler herself entered. "I'm back!" she called, seemingly acting as if she'd just gone down the shop, "It was Shareen. She was all upset again. Are ya in?" She entered the living room and saw Shareen staring at her as if she'd seen a ghost. "Oh, Shareen! Hi!" Rose blustered, "Didn't see ya there! How's the ankle?"

Shareen found her voice. "Jackie, come quick!" she hollered, and Jackie came back in from the kitchen.

"So, what's been goin' on?" Rose asked, still oblivious to anything being wrong, "How've you been?" Jackie could only stare at her daughter in disbelief. "What? What're the faces for?" Rose asked, puzzled as to why her mother and friend were both surprised to see her, "It's not the first time I've stayed out all night."

Jackie abruptly dropped the tea cups in shock. "It's you." she breathed

"Of course it's me." Rose frowned, wandering what was wrong.

"Oh, my God. It's you." Jackie said tearily, "Oh, my God." And she promptly threw her arms around her surprised daughter.

Rose peered over her mother's shoulder at Shareen, who was rooted to her spot and looking completely shell-shocked. "Shareen, what's goin' on?" Rose asked

All Shareen could do was point to the missing posters on the table.

At that moment, the front door flew open and a tall man in his early forties came charging in. The man had a brown crew-cut, piercing blue eyes, rather prominent ears and was dressed in a battered black leather jacket, a navy blue V-neck jumper, black trousers and black doc martins. "It's not 12 hours, it's er... 12 months." he said to Rose in a thick Lancashire accent, "You've been gone a whole year. Sorry." he chuckled apologetically, while the three women could only stare at him stunned.

Shareen was the first women to find their voice. "Who the hell are you?" she demanded

"I'm the Doctor." the man said sheepishly, "Hello!"

Jackie's shock and joy at seeing her daughter again suddenly turned to anger. "You!" she glowered at the Doctor, "You were here the day before she disappeared!" And she promptly stormed off to her room to call the police.

~8~

Half an hour later, the Doctor, Rose and Shareen were stuck in the flat listening to a furious Jackie rant and rave. The poor police officer that had been sent couldn't get a word in edgeways. "The hours I've sat here." Jackie burst out, giving Rose all she'd got, "Days an' weeks an' months on my own. I thought you were dead. And where were you? Travelling! What the hell does that mean? Travelling? That's no sort of answer." She turned to the policeman. "You ask her. She won't tell me! That's all she says, 'Travelling.'"

"That's what I was doin'." Rose said, trying to keep the situation under control

"With ya passport still in the drawer?!" Jackie challenged, "It's just one lie after another!"

"I meant to phone." Rose said, "I really did, I just... forgot."

"What, for a year?!" Jackie retorted, "You forgot for a year? An' I am left sitting here! I don't believe you. Why won't ya tell me where you've been?"

"Actually, it's my fault." the Doctor spoke up, "I sort of, er, employed Rose as my companion."

"When you say 'Companion', is this a sexual relationship?" the policeman questioned, finally able to get a word in.

"No!" the Doctor and Rose both said hastily

"Then what the hell is it?!" Shareen spoke up, standing in a corner of the room with her arms folding and sending the Doctor a death glare.

"Yeah. Cos' you, you waltz in here all charm an' smiles, an' the next thing I know, she vanishes off the face of the Earth!" Jackie said, advancing dangerously on the Doctor, "How old are ya then? 40, 45? What, you find her on the internet? Did ya go online an' pretend you're a doctor?"

"I am a doctor!" the Doctor protested

"Prove it!" Jackie spat, "Stitch this, mate!" and she promptly slapped the Doctor hard across the face. The Doctor groaned loudly, while Rose cringed. Jackie then stormed off to the kitchen to cool off. With her gone, Rose was able to convince the policeman that nothing untoward had happened to her. He seemed to accept it and left. Shareen left too, deciding that Rose and her mother needed some time to talk to each other and sort things out by themselves.

~8~

Presently, Shareen was coming out of the Powell Estate's sandwich shop, having gotten herself a snack and intending to visit Rose's boyfriend Mickey Smith and tell him that Rose was back. As she was halfway across the estate, she suddenly heard a strange noise from above and looked up just in time to see a bona fide spaceship roar by overheard, belching black smoke from it's tail. "What the hell?!" Shareen stared, nearly dropping her lunch in shock.

Meanwhile, the ship nearly crashed into the Thames near Tower Bridge, but pulled up just in time. It careened wildly over the city before turning near St Paul's Cathedral and dived towards the river again. The ship sliced open the Westminster clock tower with it's starboard wing before finally landing in the river with an almighty splash.

Shareen stood rooted to the spot she was standing, unable to believe what she had just seen. She loved watching Sci-Fi as much as anyone, but she had never imagined that she would actually a real spaceship. She snapped out of her shock when she saw the Doctor and Rose charging out of Bucknall House. "Rose! I know this is gonna sound crazy..." Shareen began, "But I've just seen a..."

"Spaceship? Yeah, we saw it too." Rose said excitedly, "It went down in the river. C'mon!" And she and the Doctor sped off, Shareen following them out of curiosity.

They didn't get very far, for they soon saw that the military were cordoning off the streets and stopping traffic. "It's blocked off." the Doctor grumbled

"We're miles from the centre." Rose added, "The city must be gridlocked. Whole of London must be closing off."

"Well, a bloody great spaceship did just drop from the sky." Shareen said lamely

"I know. I can't believe I'm here to see this!" the Doctor grinned, "This is fantastic!"

"Fantastic?!" Shareen stared at him, wandering if this man was missing a few screws.

"Did you know this was gonna happen?" Rose asked the Doctor

"Nope." the Doctor replied cheerfully

"D'ya recognise the ship?" Rose tried

"Nope." the Doctor repeated

"D'ya know why it crashed?" Rose continued

"Nope!" the Doctor repeated

"Oh, I'm so glad I've got you(!)" Rose huffed sarcastically

"I bet you are." the Doctor said, oblivious to the sarcasm, "This is what I travel for, Rose! To see history happening right in front of us."

"Well, let's go an' see it!" Rose said, "Never mind the traffic, we've got the TARDIS!"

"The what?" Shareen furrowed a brow, having completely lost track of what the others were talking about.

"Better not." the Doctor told Rose, "They've already got one spaceship in the middle of London, don't wanna shove another one on top."

"Yeah, but yours is like a big blue box. No one's gonna notice." Rose argued

"You'd be surprised, an emergency like this, there'll be all kinds of people watching." the Doctor told her, "Trust me, the TARDIS stays where she is."

"Oh, for God's sakes, what the hell are you two on about?" Shareen demanded, having had enough of them ignoring her and talking rubbish.

"Oh, sorry, 'Reen. It's kinda a long story." Rose said, having forgotten that her friend was there, "But the Doctor's got this... well, spaceship of his own. Looks like a blue box."

"Oh, come on." Shareen snorted

"It's true!" Rose persisted, "It's called 'the TARDIS' and it can travel in time, but apparently we can't use it so history's happening and we're stuck here." she finished in a disgruntled way.

"Yes, we are." the Doctor confirmed

"We could do what everybody else does." Rose suggested, causing the Doctor to look at her questioningly, "We could watch it on TV."

The Doctor looked as though this was a completely foreign concept to him.

"Who is this guy?" Shareen asked Rose, somewhat befuddled at the Doctor's eccentric behaviour.

"He's just the Doctor." Rose shrugged, "C'mon." And she led the way back to the Powell Estate.

~8~

The trio were soon back at the Tyler flat watching the news, with the Doctor sat in an armchair with the remote, and Rose and Shareen sharing a settee. The first news channel the Doctor tried was BBC News. "Big Ben destroyed as a UFO crash lands in Central London." the newsreader announced, "Police reinforcements are drafted in from across the country to control wide-spread panic, looting and civil disturbance. A state of national emergency has been declared. Tom Hitchinson is at the scene."

The screen changed to show a reporter at Westminster Bridge. "The police urge the public not to panic. There's a helpline number on screen right now if you're worried about friends or family."

The Doctor flipped over to an American news channel where Trinity Wells was doing a report. "The military are on the lookout for more spaceships. Until then, all flights in North American airspace have been grounded."

The Doctor flipped back to BBC News. "The army are sending divers into the wreck of the spaceship." Tom Hitchinson reported as the screen showed a dinghy heading for the crashed ship, "No one knows what they're going to find."

Back to the American channel. "The President will address the nation live from the White House." Trinity announced, "But the Secretary General has asked that people keep watching the skies."

Jackie entered the living room with a cup of tea for Rose. "I've got no choice." she complained to her friend Ru, "Either I make him welcome or I run the risk of never seeing her again!" And she and Ru then proceeded to babble on angrily to Rose, who wasn't paying any attention.

"Oi! I'm trying to listen!" the Doctor told them as the front doorbell rang.

Jackie just scowled at him and went to answer the front door.

The Doctor then turned back to the telly and flipped back to BBC News, which was now broadcasting from outside No 10 Downing Street. "... his current whereabouts." the newsreader said, "News is just coming in. We can go to Tom at the embankments."

The shot changed to show Tom Hitchinson. "They've found a body." he announced, getting the Doctor's interest, "It's unconfirmed but I'm being told that a body has been found in the wreckage. A body of non-terrestrial origins."

Meanwhile, the flat had filled up with several of the estate's other residents, Jackie having invited them over. Jackie was now handing out beers to everyone. "Oh, guess who asked me out?" she asked rhetorically as she handed a beer to Shareen, "Billy Crewe."

"What, that creep?" Shareen snorted as she took the beer, "You can do better than him, Jackie."

The Doctor shook his head at them and turned back to the news. "Unconfirmed reports say that the body is of non-terrestrial origin." the BBC newsreader said, "An extraordinary event is unfolding here live in Central London. The body is being transferred to a secure U.N.I.T mortuary. The whereabouts is yet unknown."

The telly suddenly jumped through several channels before landing on Blue Peter, where Matt Baker was showing viewers how to make a spaceship cake. This was because a boy had jumped on the Doctor's lap and hijacked the remote. The Doctor wrestled with the boy and managed to retrieve the remote, then changed the channel back to BBC News, where Tom Hitchinson had moved to outside a hospital. "We still don't know whether it's alive or dead." he reported, "Whitehall is denying everything. But the body is being brought here, Albion Hospital. The roads are closed off. It's the closest to the river."

The boy jumped off the Doctor's lap and stood in front of the telly. "Go on!" the Doctor said, pointing violently sideways and the boy scampered off back to his parents.

Rose and Shareen had seen all of this. "Not exactly kid-friendly, is he?" Shareen commented dryly to her friend, who gave a laugh.

The Doctor meanwhile watched as the news showed a stern, rotund man in military uniform getting out of a police car. "I'm being told that General Asquith is now entering the hospital." Tom Hitchinson reported, "The building's evacuated. The patients have been moved out onto the streets. The police still won't confirm the presence of an alien body contained inside these walls."

~8~

Presently, the news showed the latest from Downing Street. "Mystery still surrounds the whereabouts of the Prime Minister." Andrew Marr reported, "He's not been seen since the emergency began. The opposition are criticising his leadership. Hold on..." The camera turned to show a car pull up and a portly man in a suit got out and walked towards No 10. "Oh, that's Joseph Green, MP for Hartley Dale." Marr explained, "He's chairman of the parliamentary commission on the monitoring of sugar standards in exported confectionary. With respect, hardly the most important person right now."

At this point, the Doctor decided that he'd done enough sitting around and slipped out of the Tyler flat. He'd just emerged from the doorway when Rose emerged after him. "And where d'ya think you're going?" she called

"Nowhere." the Doctor replied innocently, "It's just a bit Human in there for me. History just happened and they're talkin' about where they can buy dodgy top-up cards for half price. I'm off on a wander, that's all."

"Right, there's a spaceship on the Thames an' you're just 'wandering'." Rose raised a brow

"Nothing to do with me." the Doctor assured her, "It's not an invasion. That was a genuine crash landing. Angle of descent, colour of smoke, everything! It's perfect!"

"So..."

"So maybe this it!" the Doctor grinned, "First contact. The day mankind officially comes into contact with an alien race. I'm not interfering cos' yer've gotta handle this on yer own. That's when the Human race finally grows up. Just this morning you were all tiny an' made of clay! Now you can expand! Yer don't need me. Go an' celebrate history. Spend some time with yer mum." And he began to walk away.

"Promise ya won't disappear." Rose called after him

The Doctor stopped and turned around, fishing in his jacket pocket. "Tell yer what..." he said as he produced a key on a chain, "TARDIS key." He handed Rose the key. "It's about time you had one. See yer later." And he turned on his heel and walked away.

Rose looked down at the key in her hand, closed her fist around it and walked back inside the flat, feeling distinctly chuffed. She returned to the living room and plopped down on the settee next to Shareen. "So, Richard Ashcroft gone?" Shareen asked

"Yeah, he's off on a wander." Rose replied, "So, what I miss?"

"The Prime Minister's vanished so they've made that Green bloke acting Prime Minister." Shareen replied, "About this 'Doctor', who the hell is he? I mean, Doctor what?"

"He's just... the Doctor." Rose shrugged, "That's all I can say about him really."

"Oh, thanks. That really explains everything." Shareen said sarcastically, "Jackie said he showed up the day you vanished. So what's the story?"

Rose swallowed, deciding that she might as well come clean. "Ok, 'Reen, look, what I'm gonna tell ya sounds crazy but it's the truth. The Doctor's an alien."

"What?" Shareen snorted, "He don't look like an alien. He's a bloody Northerner for one thing."

"He says lots of planets have a north." Rose shrugged, "Anyway, he's a Time Lord and he has a spaceship called 'the TARDIS' which can travel in time."

"Yeah, and it looks like a blue box." Shareen said somewhat sceptically

"It does." Rose persisted and began telling Shareen about her adventure with the Doctor and the Autons.

~8~

"... and that's about it." Rose finished, "So ya see, it's only been a few days for me. The Doctor was s'posed to get me back in 12 hours but he's obviously messed it up."

"I'll say he has." Shareen remarked dryly, still somewhat disbelieving of the whole thing, "Rose, why'd ya decide to just run off like that? I mean, you could've at least phoned ya mum an' told her you were gonna travel. And what about Mickey, hmm? You just upped and left him!"

"I know, and I'm sorry about it." Rose sighed, "Tell ya what, I'll go an' see him later, see how he's doing."

By now, the living room of the flat was absolutely rammed. "Here's to the Martians!" Jackie said, raising her beer bottle in the air.

"The Martians!" everyone except Rose and Shareen cheered.

Silence suddenly fell in the flat and the two young women looked round to see Mickey Smith standing in the doorway staring at Rose. The blonde promptly sat bolt upright at the sight of her boyfriend. "I was gonna come an' see ya." she said quickly. She had planned to pop in on Mickey after seeing her mum, but it had slipped her mind after seeing the spaceship crash.

"I think someone owes Mickey an apology." Shareen said in a sing-song voice

"I'm sorry." Rose told Mickey sincerely

"Not you." Shareen told her, and looked at Jackie.

"It's not my fault!" Jackie huffed, "Be fair, what was I supposed to think?" She gave Mickey a look and went into the kitchen.

Rose, Shareen and Mickey followed her and Mickey was soon giving his girlfriend a piece of his mind. "You disappear, who do they turn to? Your boyfriend. Five times I was taken in for question', five times!" he fumed, "No evidence, course there couldn't be, could there? An' then I get her." He pointed an accusing finger at Jackie who just rolled her eyes. "Whisperin' round the estate, pointin' the finger, stuff through my letter box, an' all cos' of you."

"I didn't think I'd be gone for so long." Rose sighed, feeling awful at this news.

"And I waited for you, Rose!" Mickey continued, "12 months. Waiting for you an' the Doctor to come back."

"Hold on, you knew about the Doctor?" Jackie spoke up, "Why didn't ya tell me?"

Mickey noticed someone trying to eavesdrop through the serving hatch so he slammed it shut with a huff. "Yeah, yeah. Why not, Rose? Huh?" he sneered, "How could I tell her where ya went?"

"Tell me now." Jackie said, crossing her arms.

"I might as well cos' you're stuck here." Mickey told Rose spitefully, "He's gone. Just now, that blue box thing just faded away."

"What d'ya mean?" Rose questioned

"He's left you." Mickey sneered, "Some boyfriend he turned out to be."

Rose just grabbed her jacket from the back of the door and hurried out of the flat, Mickey following smugly. "D'you know what they're on about?" Jackie asked Shareen

"I honestly don't know what anyone's goin' on about today." the young women sighed, then she and Jackie set out to find Rose and Mickey.

~8~

Meanwhile, Rose and Mickey were standing at an empty spot on the pavement outside Bucknall House. "He wouldn't just go, he promised me." Rose frowned

"Oh, he's dumped you, Rose." Mickey scowled, "Sailed off into space. How does it feel, huh? Now you are left behind with the rest of us Earthlings. Get used to it."

"But he would've said." Rose countered

Just then, Jackie and Shareen joined them. "What you two plonkers on about?" Shareen questioned

"Yeah, what's goin' on? What's this Doctor done now?" Jackie added

"Oh, he's vamoosed!" Mickey answered gleefully

"He's not!" Rose snapped, "Cos' he gave me this!" She showed him the key the Doctor had given her. "He's not my boyfriend, Mickey, he's better than that. He's much more important than..." Suddenly, the key in her hand started to glow and a strange wheezing and groaning noise filled the air. "I said so." Rose told Mickey triumphantly and turned to her mother. "Mum! Mum, go inside. Mum, don't just stand there, just go inside. Just, mum, go..."

But Jackie wasn't listening. Both she and Shareen stared transfixed as a blue police public call box from the 1960's appeared out of thin air right before their eyes. Mickey gestured to the box with a meaningful grunt, while Jackie and Shareen could both only stare in amazement. "How d'you do that then?" Jackie gaped

"This... this is it, isn't it?" Shareen breathed, "This is the Doctor's spaceship, that 'TARDIS' thing. Blimey, it is a blue box an' all!"

Rose could only bit her lip warily, then she opened the door and went inside the blue box. Mickey, Jackie and Shareen followed and both women could only stare in utter disbelief at what was inside. It was a vast dome-shaped room that was far bigger than what the outside implied. The room had an organic look to it, with golden walls studded with roundels, coral Y-shaped beams that reached from the metal grille floor to the ceiling, an overhead gantry in one corner of the room and a mushroom-shaped console that stood prominently in the centre, with a transparent column that sprouted out of it and reaching up to the ceiling. Inside the column, there was a series of transparent tubes that gave out a cyan light, while the panels on the console also gave out a cyan light and there was a monitor attached to the console that was displaying strange circular markings and was covered in post-it notes that featured more circular markings.

The Doctor was standing with his back to the doors, looking at the monitor. "Alright, so I lied." he said to Rose, not turning round, "I went and had a look, but the whole crash landing's a fake. I thought so, it's just too perfect. I mean, hitting Big Ben, come on. So I thought, 'Let's go an' have a look...'"

"My mum's here." Rose said, and the Doctor turned round to notice the newcomers.

"Oh, that's just what I need." the Doctor huffed, "Don't you dare make this place domestic." He pointed a warning finger at Rose.

"You ruined my life, Doctor." an irate Mickey accused, "They thought she was dead. I was a murder suspect because of you!"

The Doctor didn't care a bit. "See what I mean?" he said smoothly to Rose, "Domestic."

"I bet you don't even remember my name!" Mickey fumed, taking a few steps closer to the uncaring Time Lord.

"Ricky." the Doctor waved him off, turning back to the monitor screen.

"It's Mickey."

"No, it's Ricky."

"I think I know my own name!" Mickey glowered

"You think you know yer own name?" the Doctor snarked, "How stupid are you?"

Jackie and Shareen meanwhile had been looking around the TARDIS in complete bewilderment. Overwhelmed by what she was seeing, Jackie turned on her heel and ran out of the box. "Mum, don't!" Rose called after her, "Don't go anywhere." she told the Doctor, "Don't start a fight!" she told Mickey, and pursued her mother out of the doors. "Mum, it's not like that!" she called after Jackie, who was already running back up the stairs of Bucknall House, "He's not... I'll be up in a minute, hold on!" She went back inside the TARDIS and joined the Doctor by the monitor. "That was a real spaceship?" she questioned

"Yep." the Doctor nodded

"So, it's all a pack of lies? What is it then, are they invading?"

"Funny way to invade, putting the world on red alert." Mickey commented from behind them

"Good point!" the Doctor conceded, "So, what're they up to?" he asked rhetorically

Rose then turned to Shareen, who was still standing by the door in a state of shock. "You ok, 'Reen?" Rose asked her

Shareen snapped out of her trance. "What the hell is this thing?!" she spluttered, "Some kinda fun house?!"

"Why? Having fun?" the Doctor called over his shoulder

Rose rolled her eyes at the Doctor. "I know how ya feel, 'Reen." she said to Shareen, "I was the same the first time I stepped in here. Ya get used to it, though. Tell ya what, you sit down there an' I'll make us a cuppa, yeah?" she offered as she led Shareen to the jump seat by the console.

All Shareen could do was nod numbly as she sat down on the jump seat. Rose then disappeared through a door in the corner of the room. Mickey began to pace irritably around the room, still in a bad mood, while the Doctor began fiddling about with various buttons and knobs on the centre console. Presently, he moved some of the floor grating and climbed down to tinker with some wiring using a small silver metal cylindrical device with a blue light on the end. "What's that thing?" Shareen asked him

"Sonic screwdriver." the Doctor answered, putting the device in question in-between his teeth.

"Right." Shareen raised a brow, still not sure what to make of this strange man.

Mickey then strode over to where the Doctor was working. "So, what ya doin' down there?" he asked

"Ricky." the Doctor grunted, his voice rather muffled due to the sonic screwdriver in his mouth

"Mickey." the young man huffed, growing irritated at the Doctor deliberately getting his name wrong.

"Ricky." the Doctor persisted, removing the screwdriver from his mouth, "If I was to tell you what I was doing to the controls of my frankly magnificent time ship, would you even begin to understand?"

"I suppose not." Mickey huffed

"Shut it, then!" the Doctor said rudely

"Oi! Don't talk to Mickey like that, alien git!" Shareen snapped, having composed herself enough to regain her dislike for rudeness to her friends.

Just then, Rose returned with Shareen's cup of tea. "Some friend you've got." Mickey grumbled to her

"He's windin' you up." Rose tried to pacify him

"Well, if he keeps on, I'm gonna smack him one." Shareen said as Rose handed her the tea.

Rose then took a breath. "I am sorry." she said to Mickey

"It's ok." Mickey waved her off, though he was still very upset.

"I am, though." Rose told him earnestly

"Every day, I looked. On every street corner, wherever I went, lookin' for a blue box for a whole year."

"It's only been a few days for me. I don't know, it's... hard to tell inside this thing, but I swear it's just a few days since I left ya."

"Not enough time to miss me, then?"

"I did miss you." Rose smiled

"I missed you." Mickey said sincerely

"So, erm, in 12 months, have ya been seein' anyone else?"

"No."

"'kay..."

"Mainly cos' everyone thinks I murdered you."

"Right..."

"So... now that you've come back... are ya gonna stay?" Mickey asked

Rose was saved from having to answer by the Doctor's voice. "Got it! Haha!" he laughed as he climbed out of where he'd been working. Rose then moved round the console to join him by the monitor. "Patched in the radar, looped it back 12 hours so we can follow the flight of the spaceship, here go... hold on." the Doctor said, giving the monitor a good whack, "Come on!" The monitor showed a graphic of Earth, with a line moving towards it. "That's the spaceship on it's way to Earth, see?" the Doctor explained to Rose, "Except... hold on." The line moved in a half-circle. "See? The spaceship did a slingshot round the Earth before it landed."

"Wos' that mean?" Rose questioned

"Yeah, ya mind putting that in English for those of us who don't speak technobabble?" Shareen added

"It means it came from Earth in the first place." the Doctor explained, "It went up and came back down. Whoever those aliens are, they haven't just arrived. They've been here for a while. The question is, what've they been doing?" he asked rhetorically, certain that the answer couldn't be good news.

~8~

Presently, the Doctor was busy flipping through news channels on the monitor, hoping to get some more information on what was going on. "How many channels d'ya get?" Mickey asked out of curiosity.

"All the basic packages." the Doctor replied

"Ooh, does that include the sports and movie channels?" Shareen smirked

"Yes, I get the football and the movies." the Doctor rolled his eyes, then looked back to the screen. "Hold on, I know that lot."

The screen showed a group of people in black uniforms with red berets entering 10 Downing Street. "It is looking likely that the government is bringing in alien specialists." the newsreader said, "Those people who have devoted their lives to studying space."

"U.N.I.T. United Nations Intelligence Taskforce." the Doctor observed, "Good people."

"How d'you know 'em?" Rose asked

"Cos' he's worked for 'em." Mickey spoke up, beating the Doctor to the punch, "Yeah, don't think I sat on my backside for 12 months, Doctor. I read up on you. You look deep enough on the internet and in the history books, an' there's his name. Followed by a list of the dead." he finished bitterly

The Doctor seemed unfazed by the accusation. "That's nice. Good boy, Ricky." he said patronisingly

"If ya know 'em, why don't ya go an' help 'em?" Rose asked the Doctor, wisely changing the subject from the touchy topic of death

"They wouldn't recognise me." the Doctor told her "I've changed a lot since the old days. Besides, the world's on a knife-edge. There's aliens out there, and fake aliens. We wanna keep this alien..." He gestured to himself. "... out of the mix. I'm goin' undercover, and, eh, better keep the TARDIS out of sight. Ricky! You've got a car, you can do some driving."

"Where to?" Mickey scowled

"The roads are clearing." the Doctor replied, "Let's go an' have a look at that spaceship."

The quartet stepped out of the TARDIS to find themselves surrounded by armed police and a helicopter hovering overhead. Mickey promptly made a run for it and hid behind some bins. Jackie ran out of the flats and tried to get to Rose but the police restrained her. "Raise your hands above your heads." an officer on the helicopter ordered, "You are under arrest."

The Doctor and the women obeyed. "Take me to yer leader." the Doctor grinned. Rose and Shareen could only look at him as if he'd gone mad.

~8~

The police escorted the Doctor, Rose and Shareen to an unmarked black car and instructed them to sit in the back seat. The Doctor got in first, then Rose and finally Shareen. "This is a bit posh." Rose remarked as the car drove off, "If I knew it was gonna be like this, being arrested, we should've done year ago. Eh, 'Reen?"

"Yeah." Shareen agreed

"We're not being arrested, we're being escorted." the Doctor told them

"Where to?" Rose asked

"Where'd yer think? Downing Street." the Doctor replied

"You're kiddin'." Rose stared

"I'm not!"

"10 Downing Street?" Shareen stared, "As in the 10 Downing Street?"

"That's the one." the Doctor confirmed

"Oh, my God! We're goin' to 10 Downing Street!" Rose laughed with glee, "How come?"

"I hate to say it, but Mickey was right." the Doctor said, "Over the years, I've visited this planet a lot of times, and I've been, er, noticed."

"Now they need ya?"

"Like it said on the news, they're gatherin' experts in alien knowledge. An' who's the biggest expert of the lot?" the Doctor asked, puffing his chest out arrogantly.

"Patrick Moore?" Rose teased

"Apart from him!" the Doctor grumbled

"Steven Hawking?" Shareen tittered

"Huh." the Doctor grunted sulkily

"Ah, don't ya just love it?" Rose giggled

"I'm telling yer, Lloyd George, he used to drink me under the table." the Doctor reminisced, "Who's Prime Minister now?"

"How should I know? I missed a year." Rose replied

"The Prime Minister's Sydney Lambert now." Shareen told her

"When did he get in?" Rose questioned

"Last September." Shareen replied, "We had a snap election and everyone was quick to vote Blair out."

"Good riddance." Rose remarked.

~8~

Presently, the car arrived at Downing Street, where hundreds of police and paparazzi were waiting. The Doctor got out of the car and waved at them all, grinning manically and clearly relishing the attention, while Rose and Shareen looked around, both smiling nervously at all the attention they were getting before they followed the Doctor inside No 10.

Once inside, the trio were instructed to wait inside a reception area with all the other experts, who were standing around talking amongst themselves while they waited for the meeting to begin. Soon, a liaison entered the room. "Ladies and gentlemen, could we convene?" he announced, "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." He then approached the Doctor and gave him an ID card. "Here's your ID card. I'm sorry, your companions don't have clearance."

"I don't go anywhere without her." the Doctor told him, referring to Rose.

"You're the code nine, not them." the liaison told him as he looped the ID card around the neck, "I'm sorry, Doctor... it is the Doctor, isn't it? They'll have to stay outside."

"Rose is stayin' with me." the Doctor told him firmly

"Look, even I don't have clearance to go in there." the liaison said, "I can't let either of them in there and that's a fact."

"It's alright, you go." Rose said to the Doctor, not wanting to cause any trouble.

"Are yer sure?" the Doctor asked her in concern

"Yeah, they're the experts, you should hear what they've got to say." the blonde said, "I'll stay with Shareen."

Just then, a woman appeared at the liaison's shoulder. "Excuse me, are you the Doctor?" she asked the Time Lord

Before the Doctor could answer, the liaison got there first. "Not now, we're busy." he told the woman rudely, "Can't you go home?"

"I just need a word in private." the woman said reasonably, but the liaison was having none of it

"You haven't got clearance, now leave it!" he snapped

"Oi! Leave her alone, Yuppy Boy!" Shareen spoke up, coming to the woman's defence, "She only wants a word!"

The liaison ignored her and took both hers and Rose's arms. "I'm going to have to leave you both with security." he said as he began to lead them away.

The woman then stepped in. "It's alright. I'll look after these two young ladies." she offered, "Let me be of some use." She turned to Rose and Shareen. "Walk with me. Just keep walking..." She led them past the security guards and into the hallway while the Doctor headed off into the meeting. "That's right. Don't look round." the woman told Rose and Shareen as they slipped out into the hall, "Harriet Jones, MP Flydale North." she said as she showed them her ID card.

~8~

Inside the conference room, the experts were sitting down in their seats. Joe Green and General Asquith made their way to the front. The Doctor entered last and took a seat at the back of the room, then began reading the booklet he found on the chair very quickly. The booklet told him pretty much everything that he already knew, but there was one detail that caught his attention.

~8~

Outside in the corridor, Harriet was talking to Rose and Shareen. "This friend of yours... he's an expert, is that right?" she asked, "He knows about aliens?"

"Why d'ya wanna know?" Rose asked, a little suspicious

Harriet suddenly broke down in tears. Rose took her arms awkwardly in an attempt to comfort her.

~8~

In the conference room, Asquith began the meeting, "Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to have your attention, please. As you can see from the summaries in front of you, the ship had one porcine occupant..."

"Now, the really interesting bit happened three days ago, see, filed away under 'any other business.'" the Doctor interrupted, deciding not to waste time and get to the point, "The North Sea, a satellite detected a signal, a little blip of radiation at 100 fathoms like there's something down there." He stood up and walked down the centre aisle to address everyone. "You were about to investigate an' the next thing yer know, this happens. Spaceships, pigs, massive diversion. From what?"

Green and Asquith shared a look, which went unnoticed by the Doctor as he had his back to them and unnoticed by the Human experts as they were all looking at the Doctor.

~8~

Meanwhile, Harriet had taken Rose and Shareen upstairs to the Cabinet Room and showed them what appeared to be the body of man that appeared to have been completely hollowed out and had a zipper attached to the forehead. "They turned the body into a suit!" Harriet cried, "A disguise for the thing inside!" And she burst into tears again

"It's alright!" Rose soothed, "I believe ya."

"Me too." Shareen said, comforting Harriet, "You've got some pretty damning evidence." She squirmed at the body on the floor.

"It's... It's alien." Rose said, taking charge, "They must have serious technology behind this. If we could find it, we could use it." She began rummaging around the room. She opened another cupboard and another body fell out, only this one wasn't a skin-suit, but a body that still had all it's internal organs. "Oh, my God!" Rose gasped as she, Shareen and Harriet examined it, "Is that...?"

Just then, the liaison entered the room. "Harriet for God's sake!" he grumbled, "This has gone beyond a joke, you cannot just wander..." Then he saw the body on the floor "Oh, my God. That's the Prime Minister!"

And indeed, the body on floor was that of Prime Minister Sydney Lambert.

~8~

In the conference room, the Doctor was stil lecturing the experts, Green and Asquith. "If aliens fake aliens an' an alien plot what do they get?" he pondered, then had a sudden realisation. "Us. They get us. It's not a diversion, it's a trap."

~8~

Rose, Shareen, Harriet and the liaison were all staring at Lambert's body when they were joined by a a plump blonde woman. This was Margaret Blaine from MI.5. "Oh, has someone been naughty?" she smirked deviously

"We... we just found him there." Shareen began nervously.

"That's impossible." the liaison blustered, "He left this afternoon. The Prime Minister left Downing Street, he was driven away!"

"And who told that, hmm?" Margaret crowed, walking over to the baffled liaison, "Me!" And she pulled her fringe aside to reveal a zip on her forehead, just like the one on the skinsuit.

~8~

"This is all about us." the Doctor stated as he put the pieces of the puzzle together, "Alien experts, the only people with knowledge how to fight them gathered together in one room." Joe Green suddenly broke wind loudly. The Doctor raised a brow, turned round and fixed Green with a pointed look. "Excuse me, d'yer mind not farting while I'm savin' the world?" he chided

"Would you rather silent but deadly?" Green smirked, and he and Asquith sniggered like immature children.

The Doctor could only look at them in complete bemusement. Considering what he'd just worked out, Green and Asquith both seemed far too laid back.

Asquith then stood up, removed his hat and undid a zip on his forehead, while Green laughed manically. Once the zip was opened, Asquith pulled his skin-suit down to reveal an enormous, hulking green-skinned alien with sharp claws and black eyes that blinked sideways. The Doctor and the experts could only stare transfixed.

~8~

In the Cabinet room, Margaret removed her skin-suit, to the disgust and shock of Rose, Shareen, Harriet and the liaison.

~8~

Asquith finished shrugging off his skinsuit, while Green continued to cackle like a mad man as the Doctor and the experts continued to stare in amazement.

~8~

Margaret was now fully out of her skinsuit and stood before the astounded Humans.

"My God." Shareen breathed in shock at the hideous creature that stood before her.

~8~

Now fully unmasked, the alien that had been inside Asquith straightened up and addressed his audience "We are the Slitheen." he rasped

~8~

The alien that had been inside Margaret roared and grabbed the liaison between her claws, pinning him against the wall. He cried out as the alien throttled him. Rose and Harriet were too shell-shocked to intervene, but Shareen managed to remember herself. "Hey! Get off him!" she yelled, charging forward to help the liaison.

The alien responded by simply swatting Shareen away with her other arm, sending the young woman flying across the room like a ragdoll. Shareen's back collided with the door frame and she slumped to the floor, the wind knocked out of her.

~8~

Joe Green got to his feet. "Thank you all for wearing your ID cards." he said as he took a device out of his pocket, "They'll help to identify the bodies." He pressed the button and everyone in the room was bathed in electrical energy.

The Doctor fell to his knees in pain.

~8~

Margaret finished the liaison off by snapping his neck like a toothpick. Rose and Harriet winced while Shareen struggled to her feet, grimacing from the pain in her back.

~8~

The Doctor groaned in pain as his whole body convulsed from the electricity. Green looked on with savage pleasure while Asquith laughed evilly.

To be continued...

Author's notes: And after a bit of a break, I'm back with yet another Doctor Who OC story. This is one that I've been giving some thought to for a while. As we all know, Shareen Costello is a friend of Rose's who is mentioned several times in series 1 and 2 but never appears on screen, so I thought, "What if Shareen actually did appear?", and voila! This story was heavily inspired by some chats with DarkSideofParis and The Stargate Time Traveller, so many thanks to them for giving me the inspiration to do this. Regarding Shareen's characterisation, I know she doesn't get much plot involvement or interact much with the Doctor here, but she will get both of those things in due course. I like to flesh out my OCs gradually and I intend to follow that same approach here. As for Shareen's appearance, I picture her as looking like Victoria Moroles, but speaking with a working class London accent instead of American. So, off we go with a new story and I hope you like it. See ya next time!