AN: I'm so sorry, I was on holiday and had no data or wifi. I offer this very long chapter and another one afterwards in hopes of forgiveness :) - Fleur.
As Doc and the scientist study the deceased creature, I stand off to the side taking slow sips of some water I had been given. I pull my pills out of my pocket, the five remaining rattle in their container; I remain holding the pot with a vice grip, contemplating whether to take them. I way the pros and cons in my head; Pros - the daydreams reduce or stop altogether, I'm not constantly tormented by daytime nightmares, or Cons - i'm thrown into a pit of sometimes crippling pain, I get migraines and mood swings. I might as well try. I throw one into my mouth, gulping down water which rinses my mouth of the tangy bitter taste. The effects take place almost instantly, with a minute delay. Sharp chest pains and a searing headache, after a while I had gotten used to the pain but since I haven't taken them in a while the pain is intense. Inhaling sharply I focus on the Doctors back, facing the murdered creature and not me.
Requiring some support I walk over to the pair, sliding my hand into my companions hoping he'd assume that I'm just after support since Steven (the pig) died. He gently squeezes my hand, rubbing his thumb back and forth across my knuckles before turning to Sato the scientist as she struggles to grasp the concept of the truth right now.
"I just assumed that's what aliens look like, but you're saying it's an ordinary pig from Earth." she states, clutching a notepad and pencil to her chest.
"More like a mermaid." Doc clarifies, "Victorian showmen used to draw the crowds by taking the skull of a cat, gluing it to a fish and calling it a mermaid. Now someone's taken a pig, opened up it's brain, stuck bits on, then they've strapped it in that ship and made it dive bomb."
"It must've been terrified. They've taken this animal and turned it into a joke." I grumble, staring down at Steven with pity.
"So it's a fake, a pretend, like the mermaid." Sato starts, Doc gently begins to lead me away as the scientist becomes oblivious to our presence, "But the technology augmenting its brain, it's like nothing on Earth. It's alien. Aliens are faking aliens. But why would they do that? Doctor? Luna?" I faintly hear her call as we stroll down the corridors. We then hurry back to the TARDIS as Sato tries to chase us.
Once inside Doc sets the time machine to take us back to Powell Estate, I slide onto the captain's chair and bring my legs to my chest. After witnessing the innocent animals death all I can think of is Rocket. We land calmer than before only a small few bumps. Barely seconds after we land Rose comes running in, I stand up preparing for her to go off at us for taking a short trip down the road without her.
"All right, so I lied. We went and had a look. But the whole crash landing's a fake." Doc starts, glancing at Rose briefly, "I thought so. Just too perfect. I mean, hitting Big Ben. Come on, so I thought let's go and have a look," he continues, "And Alula was already in the TARDIS so we went-"
"My mum's here." Rose interrupts, I spin leaning on the console to see both Jackie and Mickey awkwardly standing in the doorway. Jackie looks like she's about to keel over and Mickey looks like an angry mouse.
"Oh, that's just what I need. Don't you dare make this place domestic. Or you." he complains, spinning to me as well.
"What got your knickers in a twist Mickey Mouse." I drawl crossing my arms, I watch amused as he seems to blow up at my comment.
"You ruined my life, both of ya. They thought she was dead. I was a murder suspect because of you." he shouts, pointing his finger at the two of us.
"You see what I mean? Domestic." Doc exclaims, turning back to the monitor on the console.
"Why didn't you just say she was travelling, I mean everyone thought I was." I state, watching as the man approaches us.
"I bet you don't even remember my name." he continues completely ignoring me.
"Ignore me then you bastard."
"Ricky." the Timelord replies simply, smirking as he answers wrong.
"It's Mickey." he corrects.
"No, it's Ricky." I add, watching in amusement as he grows evermore frustrated.
"I think I know my own name."
"You think you know your own name? How stupid are you?" I snap at him, turning back to the console. Jackie then runs out, overwhelmed by the impossible police box.
"Mum, don't!-" Rose starts, taking a few steps in her direction. She turns to us before ordering, "Don't go anywhere. Don't start a fight!" she adds pointedly looking at us. I roll my eyes before sending her a cheeky grin. She then runs back in looking at the screen.
"That was a real spaceship." she questions, looking at us. I nod, answering.
"Yep."
"So it's all a pack of lies? What is it, then? Are they invading?" she continues, trying to catch up with what we know.
"Funny way to invade, putting the world on red alert." Mickey comments. I nod looking back at him suspiciously.
"Good point! So, what're they up to?" Doc answers, briefly glancing at the man standing behind us all and back at the screen again.
~1~
The Doctor now remained lay under the console and grating on the floor, I sat cross legged nearby watching curiously as he works and occasionally helping where two pairs of hands are needed. We sit contently in silence until Mickey comes over. I giggle slightly as the Doc places the sonic into his mouth instead of giving it to me.
"So, what're you doing down there?" Mickey questions, moving near me.
"Ricky." Doc starts, his words though slurred from the device still in his mouth. I lean down taking it from her lips and hold it for him.
"Mickey." he tries to correct, glaring down.
"Ricky," I begin, irritated with his attitude to the Doctor and I. "If we were to even begin to explain what Doc is doing to the controls of this frankly magnificent ALIEN ship. How on God's green earth would you a man with barely passed gcse's and no job even begin to understand?" I snark, glaring heatedly at the man.
"Alright I was just asking, no need to be a bitch." he retorts, glaring at me.
"Well, shut it." Doc snips from under the console.
Mickey thankfully leaves us alone to badger Rose, I huff rolling my neck before looking down at the Doctor. He was already watching me before looking back at his work.
"You took the pill." he states, glancing back at me.
"Mhmm." I reply, nodding.
"Is this why your heart is running quicker than normal?" he asks, holding a hand out for the sonic. I pass it to him before answering,
"Yup, one of the many side effects."
"Why take them then."
"I'd rather be lucid for the majority of my life rather than trapped in daydreams which are more like nightmares." I sass, sighing at my own tone. "I'm sorry, its the drugs, mood swings are a side effect." I apologize the best I can. He nods returning to his work. "Do you think you could me what ya doing?"
He looks up at me before grinning. He shimmies over, making room for me to crawl under with him and lay under the console together. After a few explanations and directed fixes, together we sort out the rest of the radar.
"Got it! Ha, ha!" I exclaim, bearing the sonic screwdriver above me. I turn to the Doctor, rolling to meet a very thoughtful looking expression only an inch away from me. "I did it." I state, smiling at him, he shakes his head before grinning wildly at me. We clamber out of the grating before running over to Rose and Mickey disturbing their conversation.
"Patched in the radar, looped it back twelve hours so we can follow the flight of that spaceship." Doc briefly explains, his face illuminated by the blue green hue from the TARDIS console. "Here we go. Hold on." he orders, I slide around the console, flipping a few common switches that do minimal functions. "Come on."
"That's the spaceship on its way to Earth, see?" I state to the other humans, I point at the monitor in front of me. A diagram of the ship doing a slingshot around the Earth.
"Hold on. See? The spaceship did a slingshot round the Earth before it landed." Doc points out, I nod in agreement.
"Meaning it came from Earth originally."
"What does that mean? Is it alien or not?" she questions, looking between us.
"It means it came from Earth in the first place like Alula said. 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 have they been doing?" the Timelord responds. Doc begins to flick through the Earth channels hoping for some more information about what's happening right now. I take over flicking through as Mickey steps forwards.
"How many channels do you get?" he questions, briefly perking up as football blips across the screen.
"All the basic packages." Doc replies simply. Crossing his arms as he watches the different channels flash by.
"You get sports channels?"
"Yes, we get the football." I answer his unasked question.
"Hold on, I know that lot." Doc states, placing his hand over mine to stop me from flicking past a group of army looking members. I glance at him curiously, and how does he know them?
"It is looking likely that the Government's bringing in alien specialists - those people who have devoted their lives to studying outer space." the woman presenting explains.
"UNIT. United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. Good people." Doc adds, pointing at the members on the screen.
"How do you know them?" Rose pipes up, glancing at our companion before scanning the men and women.
"'Cos he's worked for them." Mickey answers, his face now plastered with a smug grin. "Oh yeah, don't think I sat on my backside for twelve months, Doctor. I read up on you." he continues, a shit eating grin covering his face. I roll my eyes at his arrogance. "You look deep enough on the Internet or in the history books, and there's his name, followed by a list of the dead."
"That's nice. Good boy, Ricky." Doc replies tightly, his fists clenched.
"Mickey get your head out of your ass, if the Doctor wasn't around we'd all be dead by now. He can't save everyone, no one is capable of that." I snap, standing almost protectively in front of the Doctors body. Chest to chest with Mickey, my brows raised just daring for him to say something stupid. Doc places a warm hand on my shoulder, his thumb rubbing the base of my neck; my tense shoulders unravel.
"If you know them, why don't you go and help?" Rose pips in, glancing warily between Mickey and I.
"They wouldn't recognise me. I've changed a lot since the old days." Doc answers quickly, I look up at him. My brows furrowed. How can he have changed that much? "Besides, the world's on a knife-edge. There's aliens out there and fake aliens. We want to keep this alien out of the mix." he adds, pointing at himself. "I'm going undercover. And er, I'd better keep the Tardis out of sight. Ricky, you've got a car. You can do some driving." he orders, sliding his hand down my arm to take ahold of my hand.
"Where to?" Mickey begrudgingly asked.
"The roads are clearing. Let's go and have a look at that spaceship." I state, bouncing on the balls of my feet. We all leave the TARDIS, Doc still holding my hand.
As our group walked onto the street torch lights illuminate the dark street, the sound of a helicopter above us causing me to jump slightly. A speaker shouts out, "Do not move!"
I watch as Mickey dives away behind some bins, I flip him off before raising my hands. "Move away from the box and raise your hands above your head!"
Multiple police cars and Saxon personnel surround us. Guns raised threatening us to do anything deemed threatening. We all turn at the sound of Jackie shouting,
"No! Rose!" she's intercepted by a soldier, who grabs her and refuses to let her go. "That's my daughter! No!"
Doc looks up at the helicopter, smiling like the cheshire cat before shouting out,
"Take me to my leader." he then turns to me muttering "I've always wanted to say that." I roll my eyes fondly before allowing them to drag me away and into a police car.
I'm shoved into the middle, Doc on my left and Rose on my right. The car's a bit small for three people though therefore leading to my legs slightly lying on top of the Doctor's. I huff, overwhelmed slightly with the amount of physical contact occurring. Rose shifts slightly, making herself comfortable on the leather seats.
"This is a bit posh. If I knew it was going to be like this, being arrested, I would have done it years ago." she comments, looking over the car.
"Rose we most definitely are not getting arrested, they aren't this nice. Don't you remember me being arrested?" I question looking over to the blonde, she furrows her brows slightly before nodding.
"Yeah you were in handcuffs."
"We're not being arrested, we're being escorted." Doc answers Rose, turning to me with a look of surprise. "You've been arrested, what did you do?"
"Beat someone with a bat. Apparently you're not allowed to beat up sex offenders." I grumble, still pissed with the fact that I was arrested for getting revenge on someone who hurt my at the time girlfriend.
"Where are we going?" Rose questions, watching amused at the Timelords facial expression.
He snaps out of his stupor answering, "Where'd you think? Downing Street."
"You're kidding." we both gasp,
"Why the fuck are we going there?" I question, my jaw dropped.
"I'm not joking."
"10 Downing Street?" Rose repeats in disbelief.
"That's the one." Doc answers, looking out the window to his left.
"Oh, my God. I'm going to 10 Downing Street?" Rose excitedly exclaims I cough loudly at her numbering, "Sorry, we're. How come?"
"I hate to say it, but Mickey was right." Doc starts, I scoff loudly at his sentence causing him to glare at me. I simply stick my tongue out in response. "Over the years I've visited this planet a lot of times, and I've been," he hesitates before admitting, "noticed."
"And now they need you?" I ask, nudging his shoulder with mine.
"Like it said on the news. They're gathering experts in alien knowledge." he says not quite so humbly, "And who's the biggest expert of the lot?"
"Patrick Moore?" I giggle, watching satisfied as his ego is knocked down slightly.
"Apart from him." he answers, his grin dropping looking almost upset.
"NASA?"
"Oh, don't you just love it." Rose happily states, smiling at us.
"I'm telling you. Lloyd George, he used to drink me under the table." Doc randomly informs before turning to us and asking, "Who's the Prime Minister now?"
"How should we know? We missed a year." I answer, grinning up at the man, his excitement contagious.
Our vehicle finally pulls to a stop, I curiously peer across the Doctor and through the window. An overwhelming crowd of reports stand nearby, their cameras flashing already. I sigh heavily, my stomach knotting as I follow Doc out. He reaches down gently taking my hand before waving and smiling confidently at the crowd. This caused the journalists to shout out questions whilst rapidly snapping photos of us. I wince at the flashing brightly lights, smiling briefly before closely following the Doctor.
As we step into the building we're escorted down the corridors and towards a room, many other officials lining to get inside the same room. Armed guards stand scattered around all against a wall. The room is filled with chattering men and women, all anxious to know why they were called here. A man enters the room, instantly gathering everyone's attention.
"Ladies and gentlemen, can we convene? Quick as we can, please." he begins, he then pulls out a ID card holding it up for everyone to see. "It's this way on the right, and can I remind you, ID cards are to be worn at all times." he turns to us holding out two to us. One with the Doctors name on it and the other with mine. I stand there confused before gently taking the card. "Here's your ID card's. I'm sorry, your companion doesn't have clearance."
"I don't go anywhere without her." Doc states, looking down at the ID.
"You're the code nine, not her. And I'm under strict orders to not let you and Alula separate. I'm sorry, Doctor. It is the Doctor, isn't it? She'll have to stay outside." the man states, looking truly sympathetic.
"She's staying with me." Doc repeats, his tone flat.
"Look, even I don't have clearance to go in there. I can't let her in and that's a fact." the official tries again.
"What's your name?" I lean forward, reading the ID card he had pinned on his jacket. "Indra Ganesh. Right Indra, either we all go or none of us go so what's it going to be?"
Indra goes to answer but Rose interrupts him, placing a hand on my shoulder, "It's alright. You two go."
"No Rosie,I'm not leaving you by yourself." I retort, looking at my blonde friend, "You know what I'll stick with you whilst Doc goes in."
A random woman approaches our group interrupting the Doc's and I's eye contact, "Excuse me. Are you the Doctor?"
"Sure?" Doc questions us, we both nod and smile.
"We'll be fine, we can do some independent detective work." I answer, smiling up at the alien. He sighs still looking a bit unsure about leaving us. "Go, find out some more information you'll be more use in there." I encourage.
"Alright, I suppose so. Don't get in any trouble." he orders, glancing back at us as he disappears into the room. I clutch the ID card in my hands, turning to face Indra and a new woman.
"You haven't got clearance. Now leave it." he snaps at the woman, seemingly fed up with her. He turns to us slightly uncomfortable with my presence, "I'm going to have to leave you with security."
"It's all right. I'll look after them. Let me be of some use." the woman pipes up, taking our arms in her grip before guiding us down a random hall. "Walk with me. Just keep walking." she then orders to us, her voice low. "That's right. Don't look round. Harriet Jones, MP Flydale North." she introduces herself, pulling out her own ID card.
"Hi." I answer, wrenching my arm out of her grasp. She has a really strong grip.
"This friend of yours, he's an expert, is that right? He knows about aliens?" she frantically questions, her voice wavering slightly. I nod slightly uncomfortable at the sudden emotions.
"Why do you want to know?" Rose questions watching the woman with distrust. Harriet then begins to sob, covering her face with her hands as her shoulders shake as she cries. I stand there unsure on how to act causing Rose to roll her eyes before gently gripping Harriet's arms, drawing her into a hug. Once she calmed she led us into a drawing room, she ran over to a cabinet opening the oak doors. She hesitantly grabs something from inside before dropping it onto the table in front of Rose and I. I stare down in horror as the skin of a man lays on the table, clothes on with a zip at the forehead.
"What the fuck?!" I exclaim, poking the squidgy material in disgust.
"They turned the body into a suit. A disguise for the thing inside!" Harriet frantically explains, before whimpering.
"It's alright. I believe you." Rose assures, comforting the lady.
"It's alien. They must have some serious technology behind this." I state, picking up the skin to inspect it. "If we could find it."
"We could use it." Rose finishes, I nod in her direction.
"Look at us, proper detectives we are." I state, high fiving Rose as I pass her. Rose grins at me before moving over to another cabinet. She swings the doors open, squealing when a body in a black suit falls out. I run forwards, pressing two fingers to the limp man's neck.
"No pulse." I state, standing up again.
"Oh, my God! Is that the-" Rose starts as she gets a look at the man's face. Indra suddenly walks in, probably hearing Rose's squeal earlier.
"Harriet, for God's sake. This has gone beyond a joke. You cannot just wander." he reprimands, walking over to our group. "Oh, my God. That's the Prime Minister!"
"Oh! Has someone been naughty?" a high pitched feminine voice calls out, we collectively spin around to see a large woman with an emerald green skirt and blazer walk into the room. A slightly unnerving smile plastered across her lips. She proceeds to close the door behind herself, trapping us in the room.
"That's impossible. He left this afternoon." Indra starts, refusing to comprehend that he had just found the body of the Prime Minister. "The Prime Minister left Downing Street. He was driven away!"
"And who told you that?" I question, watching the new woman warrily.
"Me." she calls out before raising her hand to her forehead. She brushes aside her blonde hair to reveal a zipper. I wince as she unzips her head, a blinding blue light filling the room. We all watch entranced as the woman starts to pull the skin off of herself, revealing a tall green alien with bug-like eyes. Its neck is abnormally long and its fingers hold three dangerously sharp long talons. The creature reaches forwards grabbing Indra with its claws, it pushes him high up on the wall, squeezing the life out of him. I'm suddenly encased in electricity, the voltage coursing through me. I scream out, looking down to see the ID card still tightly gripped in my left hand. Gasping out in pain I use all my strength to throw the card away, it flies towards the alien just missing its body. I gasp, breathing heavily as my body recovers from the sudden current. My limbs twitch slightly, electricity running through me. Rose goes to reach for me but is held back by Harriet,
"She still has electricity flowing through her, it might pass to you if you get too close." she explains, I gasp on the floor. Still watching in horror as the alien kills Indra, suddenly it's body is encased in and electric field much like mine earlier. It screeches in pain as the voltage floods it. Rose grabs my arms hoisting me up as we all begin to run, we form a line of sorts each holding the person in fronts' hand. Our group race through identical corridors with no clue on where we're going until Harriet abruptly stops. "No, wait. They're still in there. The emergency protocols. We need them." She then runs back leaving Rose and I to roll our eyes before chasing after her. As we enter the room again, the alien is no longer electrified and begins chasing us. We turn tail and sprint out of the room.
We enter another room with an exit on the other side, I turn briefly to close the door only for it to be broken open by the green monster. We collectively yelp as it proceeds to chase us, way too close for comfort. We proceed to race down a corridor full of suits of armour, vases and another door nearby. I reach said exit tugging at the handle only for it not to budge. Behind us I hear the lift bell ding, I spin around to see the Doctor smiling up at the alien whilst keeping it distracted. I grab Rose's hand before dragging them out and back through the way we came. We reach another room, one filled with furniture.
"Hide!" I call out, running to hide behind some curtains. Harriet hides behind the folding screen nearby whilst Rose crouches behind the sofa. We all flinch as the door bursts open, the only sounds being my pulse and the aliens weird crackling noises.
"Oh, such fun. Little human children, where are you? Sweet little humeykins, come to me. Let me kiss you better. Kiss you with my big, green lips." seh taunts, I grimace at her sentence before taking a big breath as I watch Rose stand up from her hiding spot and run over to the closest curtain. I press a hand to my mouth hoping to muffle my panting. "My brothers." the alien suddenly calls out, I take a quick glimpse from behind the curtain to see two more joining us.
"Happy hunting?" one asks, its voice crackly.
"It's wonderful. The more you prolong it, the more they stink." the female answers, hissing afterwards.
"Sweat and fear." the male adds, snarling.
"I can smell an old girl. Stale bird and brittle bones." the other new comer insults.
"And two ripe youngsters except maybe not, although both hormones and adrenaline. One human whilst the other unknown with some sort of heat. Both fresh enough to bend before they snap." the female alien describes, it suddenly pulls away a curtain, Rose lets out an ear piercing scream. I jump out of my spot watching in horror as the creature swings its arm down, I lung into the claws path, taking the injury instead of Rose. Both Rose and Harriet cry out, I whimper as pain ricochets through my arm.
"No! Take me first! Take me!" Harrie shouts out as the alien goes to grab both Rose and I. I lean against the wall nearby, my hand wrapped tightly around my shirt, trying to draw my focus away from my throbbing arm. As the aliens go to attack Harriet Doc bursts through the door, a fire extinguisher in hand. He sprays both of the male green aliens, covering the pair in CO2.
"Out, with me!" he orders, Rose thankfully thinks quickly and pulls the curtain and its railing over the female, preventing it from grabbing either of us. We both run over to the Doctor, said man turns to our new friend. "Who the hell are you?" he demands.
"Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North." Harriet replies, reciting her status.
"Nice to meet you."
"Likewise."
"Can we fucking run instead of exchanging pleasantries. It's life or death!" I grit out, they take the hint thankfully and proceed to run. I follow closely, lagging slightly due to a sudden dizziness blurring my senses. Our group runs down familiar corridors, Doc shouting out:
"We need to get to the Cabinet Room."
"The Emergency Protocols are in there." Harriet informs, "They give instructions for aliens."
"Harriet Jones, I like you." Doc compliments, my stomach twist with a foreign emotion.
"And I like you too." Harriet replies, grinning up at my companion. I roll my eyes as annoyance infects my blood. We make it to the room, the green creatures still chasing us. We pause in the doorway, Doc grabbing a nearby decanter filled with some sort of alcohol. The three aliens reach us, each twitching to grab us.
"One more move and my sonic device will triplicate the flammability of this alcohol. Whoof, we all go up. So back off." he threatens, holding is sonic screwdriver up to the beverage. The aliens all take one step back, believing the lie. "Right then. Question time. Who exactly are the Slitheen?"
"They're aliens." Harriet answers, mistaking the question, Doc rolls his eyes in annoyance.
"Yes. I got that, thanks." he glances back. I wince as I shift my injured arm, I finally decide to maybe take a look, glancing down at the injury I huff at the sight of my torn up hoodie, I then notice a long pale thing sticking out of my arm; gripping it I tug the foreign object out.
"Who are you, if not human?" one of the male 'Slitheen' asks.
"Who's not human?" Harriet questions, glancing around at the three of us.
"He's not human." Rose informs, nodding her head at Doc.
"He's not human?" she repeats, not believing her.
"Can I have a bit of hush?" Doc demands, sending an annoyed glare back.
"Sorry." the elder lady apologises.
"So, what's the plan?" the Timelord questions, returning his focus back to the enemy.
"But he's got a Northern accent." Harriet continues, Doc's request of silence forgotten.
"Lots of planets have a north." I snap, quoting the Doc from when we last asked the question.
"I said hush." Doc repeats, "Come on. You've got a spaceship hidden in the North Sea. It's transmitting a signal. You've murdered your way to the top of government. What for, invasion?"
"Why would we invade this God-forsaken rock?" one of them answers, grimacing at the idea.
"Then something's brought the Slitheen race here. What is it?" Doc questions, the aliens start cackling.
"The Slitheen race?" one of the male's repeats.
"Slitheen is not our species. Slitheen is our surname. Jocrassa Fel Fotch Pasameer-Day-Slitheen at your service." the other male, Jocrassa, continues.
"So, you're family." I state, leaning on the doorway.
"A family business." Jocrassa answers.
"Then you're out to make a profit. How can you do that on a God-forsaken rock?" Doc questions, sucking up all of the new information.
"Ah, excuse me? Your device will do what? Triplicate the flammability?" the other male pipes up, his belief in the Docs threat dwindling.
"Is that what I said?" Doc answers, well there goes that.
"You're making it up." the alien points out.
"Ah, well! Nice try." Doc concedes. He turns, offering the decanter to the MP. "Harriet, have a drink. I think you're gonna need it."
"You pass it to the left first." she points out.
"Sorry." he replies, passing it to me.
"Thanks." I mutter, taking a large swig of it. Hoping to take the edge off of the pain.
"Now we can end this hunt with a slaughter." the unnamed male alien calls out.
"Don't you think we should run?" Rose anxiously questions, eyeing the bloodthirsty creatures.
"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." Doc rambles, I anxiously move backwards stumbling slightly. "1796, this was the Cabinet Room. If the Cabinet's in session and in danger, these are about the four most safest walls in the whole of Great Britain. End of lesson." he then proceeds to lift a small panel and press a button. A metal shutters slide down blocking all the windows and the doors. "Installed in 1991. Three inches of steel lining every single wall. They'll never get in." he proudly announces. I wince leaning against the table.
"And how do we get out?" I angrily demand, the pain in my arm causing my mood to significantly drop.
"Ah." he states, wincing when he catches my glare. A wave of dizziness causes my legs to buckle slightly, I hold my body up with both of my arms. "Alula. Woah, hey whats wrong?" Doc questions, rushing forwards to hold me up. I lean against him, sweat growing on my brow.
"The Slitheen caught her, she jumped in front to take the attack instead of me." Rose answers, worriedly looking down at me.
"So worth it." I answer, smiling softly at my friend.
"You need to rest, I'll figure out what's wrong with you." Doc orders, he gently picks me up moving me to the table.
"Indra." I randomly say, I receive a few confused glances. I lift my hand to point at the body of him crumpled on the floor. "Indra Ganesh." I then lose consciousness.
~1~
I wince as I'm awoken by the sound of shouting. I rise my head slightly to see Rose, Harriet and Doc all facing one another at the other end of the table. I squint slightly at the sight of the Doctor without his leather jacket. I slowly sit up, looking to where I was lying to see said jacket bundled up to act like a pillow. I gently pick it up, noticing a cloth tightly wrapped around my wound, another extremely wrapped just above, cutting the blood circulation.
"Right, If we're going to find their weakness, we need to find out where they're from. Which planet. So, judging by their basic shape, that narrows it down to five thousand planets within travelling distance. What else do we know about them? Information!" Doc demands, his hands on the table and his head down.
"They're green." Rose shouts out,
"Yep, narrows it down." Doc answers, looking up. He meets my eyes, a large smile splitting his face.
"Good sense of smell." I say quietly, smiling as Doc nods.
"Narrows it down, good girl." Doc answers, moving around the table towards me.
"They can smell adrenaline." Rose calls, sending a bright smile towards me.
"Narrows it down." the Timelord nods.
"The pig technology." Harriet calls out sat down at the table.
"Narrows it down." my companion repeats.
"The spaceship in the Thames, you said slipstream engine?" Rose recalls, her face scrunched up as she remembers.
"Narrows it down." Doc calls, his face lighting up as we get closer to the species. Our little contest is broken when an other voice calls out,
"It's getting in!" I do a double take, confused at why the hell Mickey Smith is on speaker.
"They hunt like it's a ritual." I add, still confused.
"Narrows it down."
"Wait a minute. Did you notice? When they fart, if you'll pardon the word, it doesn't just smell like a fart, if you'll pardon the word, it's something else. What is it? It's more like.." Harriet starts, struggling.
"Bad breath!" Both Rose and I shout.
"That's it!" the MP exclaims.
"Calcium decay! Now, that narrows it down!" Doc shouts, he moves around almost pacing as his mind works overtime.
"We're getting there, Mum!" Rose calls, I frown looking at the phone as Mickey calls out.
"Too late."
"Calcium phosphate. Organic calcium. Living calcium. Creatures made out of living calcium. What else? What else?" Doc questions, his hands on his head.
"Hyphenated surname." I state, the Doc rushes over.
"Yes! That narrows it down to one planet. Raxacoricofallapatorius!" he kisses my forehead, a pink blush colour my cheeks at the affection.
"Oh, yeah, great. We could write them a letter." Mickey sarcastically answers, I roll my eyes at the man.
"Get into the kitchen!" Doc orders, helping me down off the table.
"My God, it's going to rip us apart!" Jackie's shrill terrified voice shouts out.
"Calcium, weakened by the compression field. Acetic acid. Vinegar!" Doc brainstorms, I nod along understanding where this was going.
"Just like Hannibal." I add.
"Just like Hannibal. Mickey, have you got any vinegar?" Doc answers, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.
"How should I know?" Mickey replies incredulously.
"It's your kitchen." Doc answers, eyebrows raised.
"Cupboard by the sink, middle shelf." Rose informs, I turn to her brow raised in question.
"Oh, give it here. What do you need?" Jackie calls through now in possession of the phone.
"Anything with vinegar!" I answer.
"Are you better now Luna, they told me you were injured." Jackie questions, the sound of the alien attempting to get in seeping through the call.
"Yes, thanks Jackie."
"Right, gherkins. Yeah, pickled onions. Pickled eggs." my face twists in disgust at the number of revolting foods. Doc and I share a disturbed look before turning to Rose.
"And you kiss this man?" he asks, Rose simply sticks her tongue out.
The sound of the door breaking down causes us to stop, it's silent then there is a large bang and a wet squelching sound. I gag slightly at the noise. Even though disgusted we all relax, sighing in relief.
"Hannibal?" Rose questions, now a bit more relaxed.
"Hannibal crossed the Alps by dissolving boulders with vinegar." I explain, leaning against the Doctor feeling sleepy.
"Oh. Well, there you go then."
We all raise glasses, toasting before drinking the contents of the decanter. Our little celebration though is interrupted as Mickey brings the phone close to the television, one of the Slitheen talking through it.
The new 'Prime Minister' orders for all of the nations to attack. We listen intently annoyed at the aliens.
"He's making it up. There's no weapons up there, there's no threat. He just invented it." Doc exclaims, pissed at them.
"Do you think they'll believe him?" Harriet asks, worried at the idea.
"They did last time." Rose points out.
"That's why the Slitheen went for spectacle. They want the whole world panicking, because you lot, you get scared, you lash out." Doc rants, ironically lashing out at us.
"They release the defence code." I add.
"And the Slitheen go nuclear." Doc finishes.
"But why?" the MP questions, Doc ignores her. Moving past us and towards the door. He opens the metal shutters, the three aliens outside turn to us.
"You get the codes, release the missiles, but not into space because there's nothing there. You attack every other country on Earth. They retaliate, fight back. World War Three. Whole planet gets nuked." he riddles off, explaining it out loud helped his brain add the pieces.
"And we can sit through it safe in our spaceship waiting in the Thames. Not crashed, just parked. Only two minutes away." the female Slitheen, now in human form, gloats.
"But you'll destroy the planet, this beautiful place. What for?" Harriet demands, appalled.
"Profit. That's what the signal is beaming into space. An advert." Doc explains, his contempt for the creatures clear in his voice.
"The sale of the century. We reduce the Earth to molten slag, then sell it piece by piece. Radioactive chucks, capable of powering every cut-price star liner and budget cargo ship. There's a recession out there, Doctor. People are buying cheap. This rock becomes raw fuel." the lady explains, smile manically.
"At the cost of five billion lives." I exclaim, glaring at the creatures. The woman looks over at me, her brows shooting up.
"Bargain. And how are you alive? Any human would be dead from my poison." she answers, her head tilted. I shoot her a questioning look before the Doctor regains control of the conversation.
"I give you a choice. Leave this planet or I'll stop you." he threatens. The aliens burst into unbelieving laughter.
"What, you? Trapped in your box?" she taunts, not believing the Timelord.
"Yes. Me." he states darkly, closing the door on their disbelieving faces and yet slightly unnerved expressions.
~1~
We all sit huddled in the cabinet. Doc had previously explained that to prevent World War 3 we have to blow up Downing Street. Rose then proposed we ride it out in the solid metal cabinet. After the Doctor admitted that he didn't want to do it due to potentially killing me and Rose, Harriet ordered him into explaining. We sit waiting, clutching each others hands. I sat between Doc and Rose, clutching their hands for the last time.
"Here we go. Nice knowing you." Harriet states, I nod. Looking up at the Doc to see him already watching me.
"We'll be fine." I comfort him, squeezing his hand. He remains unconvinced, I'm unable to say anything else before Harriet states,
"Hannibal!"
We're flung around, I shout out in pain as I knock my injured arm. We finally stop spinning, landing with a big thud. I open my eyes, finding my floor rather comfortable. I look down to see myself sprawled on the Doctor, his arms wrapped securely around my waist. I blush crimson, watching as he also opens his eyes. He looks down to see me lay on him, thankfully it's too dark to see my flush. He tightens his hold before releasing me, I swiftly rise helping him up. His eyes instantly snap to my arm which I'm cradling. He gently guides me out after kicking the door open. If I wasn't injured and slightly dizzy I would have ogled over him as he did it since anyone kicking down doors is hot.
A guard runs up to us, assisting Harriet in her descend.
"Oh, my God. Are you alright?" he questions, the MP nods before pulling out her identification.
"Harriet Jones. MP, Flydale North. I want you to contact UN immediately. Tell the ambassadors the crisis is over. They can step down. Go on, tell the news."
"Yes, ma'am." he answers after reading the ID.
"Someone's got a hell of a job sorting this lot out. Oh, Lord. We haven't even got a Prime Minister." Harriet realises, looking around at the rubble.
"Maybe you should have a go." I offer, smiling at the woman.
"Me? Huh. I'm only a back-bencher." she denies, I smirk not believing her.
"I'd vote for you." Rose encourages.
"Now, don't be silly. Look, I'd better go and see if I can help." she states before rushing off. Doc turns to us a knowing smile on his face.
"I thought I knew the name. Harriet Jones, future Prime Minister. Elected for three successive terms. The architect of Britain's Golden Age." he explains before we turn and head back to the TARDIS.
Rose had decided to go back to her mother, I remain with the Doctor since I didn't have anyone to check in with.
"Hey Doc imma go get the rest of my stuff. I'll be back in like 10 minutes." I inform him, stepping out of the Time and Space machine.