ROSE AND LYLA STEPPED out of the Tardis to find that they were back at the Powell Estate. Rose looked around while Lyla leaned against the Tardis door beside the Doctor. "How long have we been gone?" Rose questioned.
"About 12 hours," the Doctor answered back with a smile.
Rose and the Doctor chuckled at the statement, but Lyla walked away from both of them with a smile and a wave thrown over her shoulder, she exclaimed, "See ya in a few hours I guess."
"Oi! Where are you going?" The Doctor questioned as he reached out quickly to grab her hand to pull her to a stop. Clingy… Well, I have gotten hurt after leaving him or helping him so I guess I can see why.
"I have my own apartment to handle Doctor," she told him, and a realization flashed in his eyes as he released her wrist, "I'll be back in a couple of hours." She turned back the way her apartment was and shouted over her shoulder, "Don't get into trouble you two!"
Lyla rounded the corner before she saw the missing person flyers for Rose. She took off at a run to her apartment building and hoped that the landlady did what she promised she would do.
She stopped running as she reached her building and made the climb up to her floor. She stuck her key into the lock and flung open the door. The first thing she noticed was the musty stale air, then the pile of mail on her kitchen table, finally she noticed a couple of house plants that she didn't have before she got on the Tardis sitting in her window and on her end table by the couch. Thank you, Mrs. Brown! You will be getting some cool random piece of alien art or trinket next time we stop at a bazaar. She flipped through her mail and deemed the important things access to her bigger on the inside backpack, and the junk was thrown into her trash. She looked around her living space and decided on a quick shower before she was whisked away on their next adventure.
As she stood in front of her bathroom mirror, freshly showered and towel dried her hair, she wondered if she would have time after Downing Street to get the next installment on her tattoo. She turned in the mirror and scrutinized the many pieces of art that adorned her body.
She had angel wings on her back that she finished when she was still in her teens. They looked almost fluffy, soft to the touch, and done in black and grey shading. They reached from top of the shoulder to the dimples on her lower back.
Her next big tattoo was a phoenix on her right forearm. The bird was done in blues, greens, orange, reds, and yellows. The tips of the feathers transitioned into the lightest part of the flame while the blue was stationed closer to the center of the body on the wings.
On her other arm was a simple infinity sign with strength written in the center along with a cross adorning the edge of the right loop of the infinity. There was also a bible verse on her ribs on the same side of her body as the infinity symbol. The verse was from the book of Proverbs 31:25. Both done in black ink.
She had another bible verse on the outside of her right thigh. This one being from her granddads obituary and was from the book of Psalms 23. This was the tattoo she wanted to add to. She wanted the grim reaper done in black and grey shading situated on top of her thigh. She wanted the whole nine yards too; the crow, hood, scythe, and watch. Symbolic, I think. Even though I have death close to me I will still fear no evil and all that jazz. She sighed and shrugged as she thought of the possibility of a new tattoo.
She went to her closet and pulled out an old worn black off the shoulder long sleeve sweater with a pair of dark wash jeans and her lavender low-rise Converses. Cute but functional for running away from the Slitheen.
As she pulled on her clothes the phone rang within the depths of her backpack. Hair still in a towel, she reached armpit deep in her backpack searching for the ringing device. Once she wrapped her fingers around it, she gave a noise of triumph and pulled it free before flicking it open and placing it under the edge of the towel and ear. She spoke with a huff as her towel began to slip out of its twist, "Yeah?"
"It wasn't 12 hours. It's been a year," Rose sighed dismayed over the phone.
Lyla rolled her eyes as she fixed her hair in the mirror only having paid little attention to Rose, "I noticed. You should have seen the mail that was on my table. My landlady was nice enough to place it there after she noticed I was no longer picking it up."
"Well, that's nice. My mom filed a missing person report, and we are now waiting for a copper to show up. My mom is fuming," Rose confided.
Lyla laughed out loud as she held the phone with her ear and shoulder now, both hands needing to be used for her massive amounts of hair, "I can imagine her face. I bet you 10 quid that she slaps him."
"I'll take that bet. I don't think she'll do that with a copper here."
"Oh, I don't know. She'd do a lot for you." Lyla huffed irritatedly down the line.
"What are you doing? Wait," Rose took the phone away from her ear as she addressed someone on the other end, "Doctor wants to talk to you." There was a commotion on the other end while Lyla waited for the phone to be passed off.
Once the phone switched hands, Lyla interrupted whatever the Doctor was about to say, "You were a whole year off. You really need to read the manual for that ship of yours."
"I don't have the manual anymore. Threw it in a supernova," he stated with a huff, that held faint embarrassment, down the line.
"Well, that was stupid. Just like my uncooperative hair at the present moment," she moaned in despair as her unrulily locks failed to cooperate.
"Must we talk about your hair? Don't answer that. Shut up for a minute and listen. I need you to come over here and help us out. I don't do domestics," He requested and demanded in a rush.
"No can-do sweetness," she laughed, "You are on your own. Plus, I've got money on you being slapped. So, in the interest of me winning, I'm staying out of it." She gave her reflection a final once over and deemed it the best that she was going to achieve. "See you in a bit Doctor," was her parting message as she snapped her phone closed.
She cleaned up the bathroom, and what little needed to be done in the other rooms as well before she locked up and made her way down to see the landlady.
Later, she was knocking on a familiar door. A minute later, the door swung open and revealed the hunched figure of Mrs. Brown. When the older lady saw who was standing at her door, she gave a large smile and immediately pulled the younger girl into a bone crushing hug that only grandmas can achieve.
"Lyla! My darling! How was traveling?" She questioned, finally releasing Lyla.
Lyla gave a laugh, "It was amazing! I wish I could show you, but we didn't have a camera at the time."
"Oh, that's quite alright dearie. If you had fun that is all that matters," Mrs. Brown said with a gentle pat of the arm.
Lyla remembered the plants that were left and quickly thanked her again, "I just wanted to come down here and thank you for the plants and for watching my place while I was traveling."
Mrs. Brown shook her head, "Don't you worry Deary." She reached over and patted Lyla's arm as she continued, "I have a green thumb and figure you would like to see something green in your place when you finally returned from your travels. My husband always tells me I have too many anyway." She gave a final pat and pulled her hand away and questioned, "Enough about me, how long are you in for?"
"Just a couple days, I'm afraid," Lyla answered with a small smile, "But I will be back in a couple of months. Probably sooner, most likely."
"That's ok dear!" Mrs. Brown reassured the younger women, "You are young so don't be afraid to live your life. This boring place will still be here when you return"
Lyla pulled the older lady in for a hug before she said, "Thank you for being amazing! I'll see you in a couple of months. We'll have drinks okay." She pulled her Landlady in for one more hug before she made her way to the Powell Estate.
oOoOo
Lyla made her way up the stairs to Rose's apartment but when she stepped in and looked around the flat, she noticed that neither the Doctor nor Rose were present. So, she made her way to the roof. Once she pushed open the door, it took her a minute to find the other two but when she did, she gracelessly flopped down on the left of the Doctor. Lyla saw the reddened cheek that the Doctor wore, and her face split into a massive, pleased smile. They looked over at Lyla to see that she sported a huge grin. She looked to Rose as she announced smugly, "You owe me 10 quid."
Rose laughed as she shook her head, "You should've seen his face Lyla."
"Nine hundred years of time and space, and I've never been slapped by someone's mother," he explained as he rubbed his cheek.
"That's hilarious!" Lyla exclaimed as she leaned against the Doctor.
Once everyone calmed down, Rose asked the Doctor, "When you say nine hundred years?"
"That's my age," he answered with a serious look in his eyes as he gazed at Rose.
"You're nine hundred years old." She clarified in mild disbelief.
"Yeah," he confirmed.
"My mum was right. That is one hell of an age gap," She huffed and jumped up from her seated position but continued to ramble, "Every conversation with you just goes mental. There's no one else I can talk to except Lyla, and she is experiencing it at the same time too." She sighed and looked out over the estate, "I've seen all that stuff up there, the size of it, and I can't say a word. Aliens and spaceships and things, and us two are the only people on planet Earth who knows they exist."
A horn blared behind them, and they turned around to see a spaceship that was billowing black smoke and flying close to the roofs of the estate and surrounding buildings. The Doctor pulled Lyla from her seated position by her hips, and they both crouched to avoid the low flying ship. As it passed over their heads, they watched it bob and weave through London avoiding different notable structures like the Tower Bridge and St. Paul. They watched as a plume of black smoke rose in the air about where Big Ben stood. Rose stared in disbelief at the crashed ship. Lyla laughed uncontrollably while the Doctor produced a large face changing smile. And it begins.
Rose sighed unbelievingly, "Oh, that's just not fair."
The Doctor pulled the still laughing Lyla up and grabbed Rose's hand as he pulled the two toward the stairs. Lyla pulled him to a stop. Laughter in her voice still, she questioned him, "Where do you think you're going?"
"To see it! This is history in the making. This is why I travel! To see history happening right in front of us," he exclaimed as he resumed pulling the girls down the stairs.
"Doctor, it's gonna be gridlocked and by the time we get there the military will have all the interesting bits blocked off." Lyla reasoned.
Rose interjected, "We could always do what everybody else does." At the Doctor's confused look and drawn eyebrows she continued, "We could watch it on TV."
The Doctor paused and looked back at the two girls with lowered confused eyebrows and lines between his brows. As they made their way to Rose's flat, Rose asked the Timelord, "Did you know this was going to happen?"
"Nope," he answered.
"Do you recognize the ship?" She asked again.
"Nope," he repeated with a pop of the 'p' and a smile forming on his lips.
"Do you know why it crashed?" She tried one last question.
"Nope," he laughed at her put-out expression.
"Oh, I'm so glad I've got you," Rose muttered as they walked into her flat. The doctor took over the TV and started flipping channels to see which were broadcasting the crash landing first. He flipped channels every couple of minutes causing Lyla to groan in annoyance at the wishy-washy channel surfing. Rose was busy explaining the situation to her mother who instantly reached for the phone and started calling up her friends to gossip.
oOoOo
A short time later, the flat was slowly filling with people as Jackie invited everyone over for the alien watch party, or that was her excuse. Anything for a party and to gossip about something. Lyla was sitting on the floor in front of the Doctor. She was reclined back leaning on one of his legs and head resting on one of his thighs as he stared intensely at the news broadcast. He absent-mindedly played with a flyaway chocolate curl of Lyla's as he flipped channels from an American station and back to local British news. She sighed in contentment as she relaxed further into his leg. As she relaxed, her thoughts were a jumbled mess. Trying to bring some order to her mind she reviewed the current episode and attempted to come up with a game plan.
Ok, in a bit the Doctor is gonna get claustrophobic with all the domestic hoopla happening around him. Pig. The pig comes after. Can I save the pig? Do I need to? Well, it depends on if I go with him. What do I miss here if I do? Um, fuck Lyla think. You love this episode. Oh yeah, Mickey starts bitching about the murder suspect thing. So, nothing much really. Ok, what's next? Downing street. Fuck can I save the experts? Just as that thought entered her mind her wolf bracelet warmed to a noticeable heat. She stared down at it and let out a body shuddering sigh. Guess not then. Fuck this is hard. Don't think about it. What happens while that is going on. Rose meets Harriet. Indra… Can I save him? When she felt no heat come from her now cold bracelet, her face split into a large smile and she relaxed minutely again. Yes! OK, operation save Indra is a go! What's next, What's next, What's next. Running. Then the control room. Mickey and Jackie with the Slitheen. Vinegar. Jackie and Rose arguing. Missile. Closet. Boom. Then back home to the Tardis. OK, somewhat of a plan.
Lyla tuned back into the present to watch as the tv flicked to a cooking show that was ironically about spaceships. She looked over and saw the small boy smiling. She laughed as she watched the Doctor wrestle the remote away from the toddler. He pulled the small boy into his lap and finally liberated the remote to switch it back to the news. The boy huffed and got up from the Doctors lap to stand in front of the tv. Before the Doctor could say anything, Lyla reached out to the child and pulled him into her lap with a gentle, "Come here, sweetheart. Let me tell you a story."
Once the boy was settled Lyla launched into the first adventure with the Doctor on platform one. She added lots of embellishments and tickles when she started to lose the toddlers attention. Just as she finished her tale, she let the little guy wander back to his parents. She leaned back on the Doctor; he gave her hair a tug to grab her attention. When she finally looked up at him with a questioning look, he gave a light smile but with sad old eyes as he commented, "You're good with kids."
"Thanks, I had a big family," she said with her head still tilted back to look at him. She faced forward again with a sad smile and listened to the commotion around her waiting for the inevitable.
With a heavy annoyed sigh, the Doctor slowly stood trying to avoid the glances of unwanted company and the unavoidable questions. Lyla watched as he headed for the door and slowly snuck out. She stood and caught the eyes of Rose, who saw the same thing as her. They made their way to the door quickly before he swanned off. As they walked out Rose spoke up, "And where do you think you're going?"
He turned with innocent eyes and replied, "Nowhere. It's just a bit human in there for me. History just happened and they're talking about where you 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 and you're just wandering," Rose questioned with an air of sarcasm attached.
"Nothing to do with me. It's not an invasion. That was a genuine crash landing. Angle of descent, color of smoke, everything. It's perfect," he tried to reason.
"Don't count your cards yet Doctor," Lyla finally spoke with a smile as she leaned against the wall of the building. He gave her an assessing look before Rose grabbed his attention again.
Rose interjected, "So-."
She was interrupted by the Doctor furthering his reasoning, "So maybe this is it. First contact. The day mankind officially encounters an alien race. I'm not interfering because you've got to handle this on your own. That's when humanity finally grows up. Just this morning you were all tiny and small and made of clay. Now you can expand," he laughed. "You don't need me. Go and celebrate history. Spend some time with your mum," he said as he pushed Rose back to the front door of her flat.
Rose faltered and quickly said before he could wander off, "Promise you won't disappear."
He smiled and searched his pockets before pulling out a key and handing it to Rose, "Tell you what. Tardis key. It's about time you had one. See you later." He turned and walked down the hallway toward the stairs. What, no key for me? That's rude. Rose looked down at the key with a shocked but happy look as she finally pocketed the key and turned toward Lyla.
"Are you coming back in," Rose asked the Texan.
Lyla sighed and shook her head, "I think one of us should go with him. Seeing as I don't have a family that would worry about me, I'll go and keep an eye on him." She pushed off the wall and walked down the hallway and took off at a sprint when she hit the stairs to catch up with the fleeing, overly curious Doctor.
She caught up to him just as he was unlocking the door and gave an out of breath laugh, "You didn't think that you could leave without me, did you?"
He gave her a soft smile as he turned to push open the door. He stepped aside to allow her entrance first as he finally replied, "Just waiting on you to catch up."
Once they both entered, he ran up the ramp and started flicking switches and turning dials. He came to a stop in front of the monitor as he turned another device and concentrated on what was running across the monitor. Lyla spoke up, still standing at the closed door, "Where are we going?"
"Albion Hospital. We're gonna go check out that alien," he declared, his focus never leaving the monitor. He looked around in a panic and started walking around the console and flipping large breakers and levers. He reached under the console and pulled out a mallet and started banging on a circuit board. With sparks flying, the column started moving up and down as the whole console started to smoke from the Doctor's rough handling. As the time rotor gained speed, he kissed his rubber mallet as his face split into a wide smile.
A couple seconds later, the Tardis landed with a slight bump. The Doctor made his way toward the waiting woman who was still by the doors. He grabbed her hand and pulled the door open only to find that they had landed in a storage closet and a rack full of boxes that partially blocked his way. He maneuvered out of the door pulling the Lyla behind him. She turned back and pulled the door close as he weaved toward the storage room door. She stepped up behind him just in time to hear him shush his sonic as he used it to unlock the door.
They stepped out and a full 5 seconds passed before the army finally pulled out their weapons and aimed them at the two intruders. The Doctor was quick to push Lyla behind him and moments later they heard a scream from down the corridor. The Doctor was quick to grab his companions' hand and shout out orders to the soldiers, "Defense plan Delta! Come on." He rushed toward the door with Lyla trailing after him, "Move! Move!" They ran down the hallway toward the scream with the Doctor and Lyla leading the soldiers.
They blew through the doors of the mortuary to see one of the cold lockers torn open. The Doctor turned and started to look for the terrified women. They found her cowering behind a table with a gun pointed toward the cold lockers. She babbled as her hands shook, "It's alive."
"Spread out. Tell the perimeter it's a lockdown," the Doctor commanded the soldiers.
But before the soldiers rushed off to do what they were told to do, Lyla spoke in a commanding voice as she threatened the soldiers, "If any of you fire your weapon, I will have your nuts in a vice." The soldiers, looking scared of the angry American, scampered off.
Sato kept mumbling to herself as the soldiers checked the hospital, "My god. It's still alive."
The Doctor rushed toward the downed ME and started questioning her as he held her hands in comfort, "Coma, shock, hibernation, anything. What does it look like?" Before the ME could answer, they all heard metal falling to the floor. He looked around before standing and whispering, "It's still here." They slowly fanned out and moved cautiously toward the sound. The Doctor rounded a cabinet and looked upon a pig. He gave a brief and harmless "Hello." But just as the last syllable left his lips the pig squealed and took off running. The Doctor fired out a loud, "Don't shoot!" He followed the pig as the animal ran down the hallway and into a mass of soldiers. One scared looking soldier fired and shot the pig just as Lyla and the Doctor rounded the corner.
"What. The. Fuck. Did. I. Say." Lyla spoke through her teeth as she advanced on the soldier. He backed away quickly letting his gun fall to his side and raised his hands in defense. Her arm shot out before the soldier could deflect or even think about moving away from the oncoming fist. He gave a grunt as Lyla's fist connected and broke the man's nose with a snap.
The Doctor spoke up from behind Lyla as he bent down to look at the pig, "What did you do that for? It was scared! It was scared." He stroked down its snout and the pig gave a final grunt before falling silent.
Lyla was standing off to the side with a murderous glare aimed at the soldiers. Her hand, which she used to break the nose of the neanderthal, shook as she kept opening and closing her fist. She growled out as she glared at the other soldiers waiting for one to oppose her commands, "Get a gurney and get him back to the ME." When no one moved she took a slow step forward and gave a harsh order, "NOW." They jumped and took off to gather the alien and take him back to the ME.
Once the pig was stationed back on the examination table Sato spoke up in a quiet voice as she clutched her clipboard to her chest, "I just assumed that's what aliens look like, but you're saying it's an ordinary pig from Earth."
"More like a mermaid. 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 its 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," the Doctor explained to the ME. His arms were crossed over his chest as she put some of the puzzle pieces together.
"So, it's a fake, a pretend, like the mermaid. But the technology augmenting its brain, it's like nothing on Earth. It's alien. Aliens are faking aliens," As the female doctor was coming to the conclusions, the Time Lord pulled Lyla out of the room and back to the Tardis. They could just faintly hear Sato continue talking not realizing her audience was gone. "But why would they do that? Doctor?"
oOoOo
Once back on the Tardis, the Doctor quickly put them into the vortex and pulled Lyla down the hall and entered the first door on their right. He steered her toward the bed and she just jumped up on it. He mumbled, "You are becoming my most jeopardy friendly companion."
"I swear you cursed us to always end up here at some point during an adventure, but I do have to admit that this time it was all my doing. I don't go looking for trouble normally," Lyla replied through a small smile. She watched as he made his way to a heap of metal do-dads.
"But it seems to find you anyway," he said, distracted as he pawed through the pile of devices. He made a sound of triumph as he pulled out a small scanner from the pile. "I'm gonna have to start carrying a complete med kit just for you." He walked back over to her and held out his hand and waited for her to relinquish it into his grasp.
"Well, you are a Doctor. I'm surprised you don't already," she sighed and gently placed her injured hand into his waiting one.
Once she did, he ran the device over the back of her hand. With a few beeps and a purple light that beamed out of the bottom, he released her hand and looked over the results.
"I've never had this much need for one," he mumbled as he picked her hand up again and started twisting and turning the wrist and pulling and playing with the fingers. "Everything is fine now. Just a small fracture in one of the knuckles."
"Thanks," she looked down at her hand and opened and closed it a couple times for experiment purposes before nodding and jumping off the bed. He took her hand and pulled her back toward the console room.
When they walked back into the main room, Lyla made her way to the Captain's chair and flopped down. The Doctor started rushing about flying the Tardis back to the Powell Estate. Once they landed, the door flew open to reveal Rose with Mickey and Jackie quickly following her in. Lyla reclined back and got lost in her thoughts as the world moved around her.
OK, so I couldn't save the pig. It felt so good to punch that guy though. Haven't done that in a while, the last person being the Master. We get escorted to Downing street in a bit. I can't save the specialist, but I can save Indra, and I get to meet Harriet Jones.
She was pulled from her thoughts by the Doctor tugging on her hand to pull her to the grates on the floor as he pulled up a section of the flooring to reveal a crawl space and exposed wires. He started messing with wires and splicing them together and taking some apart. Lyla sat in front of him and had her feet dangling down the hole. She was lightly tapping the Doctors' thigh with her foot that was swinging back and forth between his legs as she watched him work. Mickey came over and peered at the two with a question forming before his mind could catch up with him, "So, what're you doing down there?"
The distracted Doctor mumbled around the Sonic that was in his mouth, "Ricky."
"Mickey," The said man huffed.
Lyla reached down and pulled the sonic from the Time Lords mouth so he could still talk and mess with the wires, "Ricky," he rolled his eyes and Lyla gave him a rougher kick to the thigh with her heel, but he continued without pause, "If I were 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-"
The Doctor interrupted with a rude, "Well, shut it, then."
Lyla whispered, "Rude," to him as she shoved the sonic back into his mouth. He grumbled and gave her the stink eye but went back to his work. Lyla watched as Mickey huffed and wandered off toward Rose. She kept swinging her feet as she looked back at the Doctor. He would pull the sonic from his mouth occasionally, to finish splicing wires and turning off some. A fair bit of smoke rose from the sonic as he continued with his messing. Lyla started humming a song as she watched, beating out the beat against the Doctor's thigh with her feet.
He grabbed her ankle just as she was coming down for another tap. Lyla looked up and met his eyes to see that he was slowly sitting up. She pulled her legs out of the hole in the floor and stood up. Lyla leaned back against the console as she watched him push himself out of the hole. He rushed back to the monitor as he proclaimed, "Got it! Ha, ha! Patched in the radar, looped it back twelve hours so we could follow the flight of that spaceship. Here we go. Hold on. Come on." The monitor beep and started playing the radar feed of the crashing spaceship. "That's the spaceship on its way to Earth, see? Except. Hold on. See? The spaceship did a sling shot round the Earth before it landed."
Rose asked confusedly, as she watched the screen, "What does that mean?"
"It means it came from Earth in the first place. 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?" He asked as he stood up straight and crossed his arms to think.
Lyla huffed, "Making a mermaid. Obviously." At the confused looks from Mickey and Rose, Lyla explained about the pig in the spacesuit at the hospital.
The Doctor leaned over again and started flipping through news stations on the screen, distracting everyone until Mickey spoke up, "How many channels do you get?"
"All the basic packages," the Doctor said as he stood up straight again.
"You get sports channels?" Mickey wondered.
The Doctor rolled his eyes and said condescendingly to Mickey, "Yes, I get the football." He focused back on the screen as they watched a group of people in military uniforms get out of some cars, the Doctor said, "Hold on, I know that lot."
They listened as the news women explained who the Doctor recognized but it was the Timelord that put a name to the group of people, "UNIT. United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. Good people."
"How do you know them?" Rose asked.
Mickey answered for the Doctor, "'Cos he's worked for them. Oh yeah, don't think I sat on my backside for twelve months, Doctor. I read up on you. You look deep enough on the Internet or in the history books, and there's his name, followed by a list of the dead," he sneered at the alien.
The Doctor answered his sneer with a sarcastic smile, "That's nice. Good boy, Ricky."
Rose, having ignored Mickey, asked the Doctor as she stared at the screen, "If you know them, why don't you go and help?"
The screen blinked out and the Doctor started flicking switches on the console as he explained, "They wouldn't recognize me. I've changed a lot since the old days. Besides, the worlds on a knife-edge. There're aliens out there and fake aliens. We want to keep this alien," he gestured to himself, "out of the mix. I'm going undercover." The Tardis gave a ding that reminded Lyla of a hotel service bell, but the Doctor continued to talk, "And er, I'd better keep the Tardis out of sight. Ricky," he patted Mickey on the shoulder as he passed, "you've got a car. You can do some driving." He walked to the doors with the other occupants following close behind. "The roads are clearing. Let's go and have a look at that spaceship," were his last words before his opened the Tardis doors.
They stepped out to the sound of helicopter blades slicing through the air and a spotlight shining in their face. They heard the police shouting over the intercom, "Do not move! Step away from the box and raise your hands above your heads."
Sirens wailed around them as cop cars flooded the place with red and blues flashing. Military personnel stormed the place with guns attached to their hands and combat gear on. Mickey took off running down an alley with a couple of officers running after him. K9 dogs barked and growled trying to break from their handlers. They heard Jackie scream Rose's name but was detained by some soldiers as she was running at the three that were left standing in the spotlight.
Lyla raised her hands slowly as she whispered, "Don't say it."
The Doctor looked back at her but was distracted by the police coming back on the intercom, "Raise your hands above your head. You are under arrest."
All around them the soldiers were taking up defensive positions with guns trained on the three. Rose and the Doctor slowly raised their hands and the Doctor spoke up, "Take me to your leader."
Lyla sighed, "And you fucking said it."
oOoOo
The police escorted them to a waiting car and ushered them in. The Doctor slid in first followed by Rose taking the middle and Lyla against the door. Once settled the car took off and Rose looked around at the treatment, "This is a bit posh. If I knew it was going to be like this, being arrested, I would have done it years ago."
Lyla laughed, "Being arrested is nowhere near this fun or posh."
"And how would you know?" The Doctor gave her the eye.
Lyla smiled and winked as she replied off handedly, "Arrested when I was 19. Hush now and tell us where we're going."
"Downing Street," he smiled and laughed loudly at Rose's shocked look.
"You're kidding."
"I'm not."
"10 Downing Street," Rose wanted confirmation.
"Yep," he popped the 'p'.
Rose laughed in joy and disbelief, "Oh, my God. I'm going to 10 Downing Street. How come?" Lyla laughed along with her as she watched the excitement cross her face.
"I hate to say it, but Mickey was right. Over the years I've visited this planet a lot of times, and I've been, er, noticed," the Doctor explained.
"Now they need you?" Rose asked.
"Like it said on the news. They're gathering experts in alien knowledge. And who's the biggest expert of the lot?" he questioned her with a smile.
Rose gave him a tongue and cheek smile as she replied, "Oh, don't you just love it."
"I'm telling you. Lloyd George, he used to drink me under the table. Who's the Prime Minister now?" the Doctor questioned with a fond smile.
"How should I know? I missed a year." Rose answered with a smile of her own.
Lyla finally interjected into the two's conversation, "So Downing Street is like the White House, right?"
"Kinda, the current prime minister resides there and that's where the cabinet rooms are as well." The Doctor explained.
"So essentially like the White House but not." Lyla confirmed with a half-smile and laughter leaking through her words.
The car pulled in front of 10 Downing Street. News stations and paparazzi cameras flashed in a blazing work of lights and shouted questions as the door opened. Lyla shuffled out as Rose followed with a quiet, "Oh, my God," escaping her lips. The Doctor was quick to get out next and started waving and posing for some of the flashing cameras, to Lyla's chagrin.
The three made their way inside and were escorted again to a room full of the alien experts from earlier and some of the Slitheen. Lyla watched as Harriet Jones made her way into the room. She chuckled quietly as she saw the flash of the infamous badge come out.
"Ladies and gentlemen, can we convene? Quick as we can, please. It's this way on the right, and can I remind you that ID cards are to be worn at all times," Indra commanded as he walked into the room. He made his way over to the Doctor and his two companions. He handed the Doctor his badge, "Here's your ID card. I'm sorry, your companions don't have clearance."
The Doctor looped the badge around his neck while he replied, "I don't go anywhere without them."
"You're the code nine, not the girls. I'm sorry, Doctor. It is the Doctor, isn't it? They'll have to stay outside," Indra answered.
Lyla watched as Harriet made her way closer to the group but still held back from interrupting yet. She vaguely heard the Doctor refuse to go anywhere without us again to just be reprimanded by the secretary again. "Look, even I don't have clearance to go in there. I can't let them in and that's a fact."
Lyla interrupted the Doctor's next comment with a quiet but firm, "Let it go Doctor. He's just doing his job."
Harriet finally made her appearance as she stepped in and posed a question to the Doctor, "Excuse me. Are you the Doctor?"
Indra gave an aggravated sigh, "Not now. We're busy. Can't you go home?"
"I just need a word, in private," Harriet tried to explain.
Lyla watched as the Doctor left with a pang in her heart at the deaths that would occur in a couple of minutes. Deaths that she couldn't stop. Deaths that would haunt her for a couple of weeks after this. She looked back at Indra with renewed vigor in saving his life.
"You haven't got clearance. Now leave it," Indra said in a finalized manner before turning to Rose and Lyla, "I'm going to have to leave you two with security."
"It's all right. I'll look after them. Let me be of some use." Harriet looped one arm with Rose's and the other with Lyla's as she pulled them away from Indra. She whispered as she walked, her steps getting faster the further away they got from the others, "Walk with me. Just keep walking." They reached the door and she commanded in a fearful voice and strained smile, "That's right. Don't look around." She flashed us her badge with the familiar phrase, "Harriet Jones, MP Flydale North." She put her badge away again but continued her questioning as her voice wobbled over her next words, "This friend of yours, he's an expert, is that right? He knows about aliens?"
Rose asked cautiously, "Why do you want to know?"
Harriet broke down crying, in shuddering breaths as she tried to explain but gave up in a failed attempt. She then decided to lead the girls to the skin for proof of what she had witnessed earlier in the day.
She laid the body on the table as she talked, "They turned the body into a suit. A disguise for the thing inside." By the time she was done explaining what she had seen she started crying again.
Rose, always the more compassionate one, comforted Harriet, "It's alright. I believe you. It's… it's alien." She went off around the room hitting and opening compartments as she talked, "They must have some serious technology behind this. If we could find it, we could use it." She opened a cupboard and a balding man fell out onto the floor. "Oh, my God! Is that the-."
She was cut off by Indra walking into the room, "Harriet, for God's sake. This has gone beyond a joke. You cannot just wander…" He finally saw the body lying on the floor and gasped, "Oh, my God. That's the Prime Minister!"
Lyla, knowing that the operation to save Indra was quickly approaching, stood close to Indra. Her body tensing in preparation for the upcoming lifesaving and running portion of this adventure.
"Oh," the four turned to the newcomer, "Has someone been naughty?"
Margaret walked into the cabinet room. As she slammed the door shut behind her, Lyla pulled Indra back toward Rose and Harriet. As she was pulling, he gave little resistance, but his mouth continued, "That's impossible. He left this afternoon. The Prime Minister left Downing Street. He was driven away!"
Margaret advanced on the small huddle of people as she talked, "And who told you that, hmm? Me." She reached up to her hair line and started pulling the zipper found there. Blue light flooded the room and the four humans watched in horror as the skin suit started slipping down her hulking figure.
While the unmasking was happening, Lyla pulled Indra further away and pushed him behind Rose and Harriet. Lyla stayed upfront and consequently being the closest to Margaret.
When Margaret stood tall in all her green glory, Lyla quickly spotted the difference between real life and TV make up and CGI. The creature was shining with a thin layer of moisture from being inside a skin suit. The eyes would put any close-up shots of fly eyes to shame in the creepiness. Her claws gave a dull shine when they caught the light from being so sharp. The size of them was nothing to smile about either. The creature easily reached nine feet tall. The size of them was staggering especially when you got the faint whiff of bad breath and the odd clinking noises that she made. The creature could be featured in the realm of nightmares and horror stories.
Once Margaret stood tall, she lunged with her claws toward Lyla. She quickly dodged the attack and ducked and scooted backward. Adrenaline flooded her system as she picked up a chair and heaved it over her head to bring it down on Margaret's back. She wasn't quite lucky enough to dodge the next swipe of claws as they swept low and slashed across her stomach. She felt white hot pain but ignored it to the best of her abilities as she quickly backed away from the quickly recovering Slitheen. Any day now Doctor.
Just as Margaret raised her claw again, she was consumed in a blast of electricity that arched around her.
Lyla blindly reached back and grabbed the closest hand, which ended up being Indra, and began pulling them toward the door.
oOoOo