Aliens of London
Powell Estate, London
The TARDIS landed outside Rose's flat as said person walks out, with the Doctor and Clara behind her. Rose was now dressed back in her normal clothes while Clara was dressed in a leather jacket over a grey sweater and a green polka dot shirtdress with tights. "How long have I been gone?" Rose asks.
"About twelve hours." The Doctor says.
Rose gives a laugh, making the Doctor and Clara snigger. "Right, I won't be long. I just want to see my Mum."
"What're you going to tell her?" Clara asks.
"I don't know." She shrugs. "I've been to the year five billion and 1869, met a talking trampoline and Charles Dickens and I've only been gone, what twelve hours? Nah, I'll just tell her I've spent the night at Shareen's. See you two later." She calls. "Oh, don't you two disappear."
They nod at her, making her run to the stairs and up to her flat. The Doctor paces for a moment before seeing something pinned to a nearby pillar, making his face fall.
"Doctor, what's wrong?" Clara asks.
He simply motions her over to a piece of paper, which was a missing person's paper, but on Rose. His eyes widened in shock.
"Oh dear. I think we went too far forward." He says, making him and Clara rush towards Rose's flat. Rushing inside, they see a bewildered Rose being hugged fiercely by Jackie, surrounded by large bundles of missing person's papers, which all had Rose's picture. "It's not twelve hours, its's twelve months. You've been gone a whole year. Sorry." He says sheepishly, him and Clara catching their breath while Jackie looks at them with clenched anger.
Rose slouched in a sofa in guilt, while the Doctor and Clara stood awkwardly by her side as Jackie ranted at them with a bewildered police officer in the room. "The hours I've sat here, days and weeks and months, all on my own! I thought you were dead and, where were you?! 'Traveling'! What the hell does that mean, 'Traveling'?! That's no sort of answer!" She turns to the police officer. "You ask her. She won't tell me. That's all she says, 'Traveling'."
"That's what I was doing." Rose mumbled.
"With your passport still in the drawer?! It's just one lie after another!"
"I meant to phone, I really did, I just…I forgot."
"What, for a year?! You forgot for a year?! And I am left sitting here?! I just don't believe you." She throws her arms up in a huff. "Why won't you tell me where you've been?!"
"Actually, it's our fault. We sort of employed Rose as our companion." The Doctor interjected, Clara nodding with him.
"When you say "Companion", is this a sexual relationship?" The officer asked.
"What on Earth makes you think that?" Clara scolded, making him gulp as he looked down at the floor.
"What else could it be?!" Jackie shrieked, moving closer to the Doctor. "You waltz in here, all charm and smiles and the next thing I know, she vanishes off the face of the Earth. How old are you then, 40? 45? Did you find her on the internet? Did you go online and pretend you're a doctor?"
"I am a Doctor." He shrugged innocently.
"Prove it. Stitch this, mate." She growled before slapping him hard across the face, making Clara snigger at his moan of pain, before Jackie turned to look at her. "What about you then? You wouldn't be more than ten years older than her, so how did this come about? Does your parents even know where you are?" Jackie admonished.
"My parents died in front of me when I was 19, thank you very much." Clara growled, making everyone look at her in shock. "What me and the Doctor are to Rose is friends, nothing more. But don't you dare talk about my parents like that ever again." She then pushed past her and stormed out of the room, slamming the front door as she headed up to the roof. The Doctor hurried after her with a concerned expression, closing the door behind him but more gently than she did. Jackie went into the kitchen with a slightly guilty look on her face, making Rose follow her before they enveloped each other in a hug, Rose starting to get tears in her eyes.
"Did you think about me at all?" Jackie asked softly.
"I did. All the time, but…" Rose said, her voice cracking.
"One phone call. Just to know that you were alive."
"I'm sorry. I really am."
"Do you know what terrifies me is that you still can't say. What happened to you, Rose? What can be so bad that you can't tell me, sweetheart? Where were you?" Jackie said, she now getting tears.
"You'd never believe me, Mum. And you'd never forgive me."
"Do you really believe that? I could never forgive you. I'm your Mum, Rosie. It's part of the job." Jackie quipped weakly, before enveloping her in a hug. "You going to see those friends of yours later?"
"Yeah."
"Can you tell Clara that I'm sorry for what I said?" Rose nodded against Jackie's shoulder, making her relax slightly.
The Doctor came up the top of the stairs to the roof of the building, where Clara leaned against the wall, breathing deeply to calm herself. "You alright?" He asked. Clara looked at him but didn't answer, making him move over and softly wrap her in a hug. "It wasn't her fault; she just didn't know." He mumbled.
"I know." Clara said softly, her face buried in his chest. "It's still…"
"And it wasn't your fault that they died, okay? Do we have to go through this again?" He admonished lightly.
"I may go through all that just to see you get slapped again." She teased.
"It hurt!" He whined, yet he smiled at her giggling, seeing her mood improve.
"Well then, if she can't do it, then I might." She flirted.
"Watch it, missy."
"I'm sorry?" She said innocently.
"Will you two please stop?" Rose groaned, making them jump and her giggle. "Seriously, when you two are 'In the Zone' it's like everything else ceases to exist. It would be cute if it wasn't so bloody annoying."
"Language!" They admonished.
"You two can talk!" She poked back, making them laugh. They fell into a comfortable silence for a moment.
"How did your mother take it all then?" The Doctor asked.
"She didn't. I couldn't tell her. I can't even begin, otherwise she won't ever forgive me, if she'd believe me."
"She'll forgive you." Clara disagreed. "The believing? No idea." She teased lightly.
"She did mean to say-"
"It's not her fault." Clara dismissed, making Rose nod slightly.
"So, I missed a year? Was it good?"
"Middling." The Doctor dismissed.
"You're so useless." Rose groaned slightly.
"If it's going to be a lot of trouble, would you stay?" He asked.
"I don't know. I don't want to, but I can't do that again to my Mum."
"Well, she's not coming with us." He grumbled, making them chuckle. "I don't do families."
"She slapped you."
"Nine hundred years of time and space and I've never been slapped by someone's mother."
"Did you see his face?" She giggled to Clara.
"Oh yeah." Clara said, struggling to stand from her giggling.
"It hurt!" He whined, holding a hand to his stung cheek.
"You're so gay!" Rose admonished. "Hold on, when you say nine hundred years…"
"That's my age."
"Damn, Clara. I didn't know you were into older men." Rose giggled.
"I'm not!" Clara blushed.
"Even then, nine hundred years is one hell of an age gap." Rose then stretched with a groan as she looked at she looked distantly. "Every conversation with you two just goes mental. There's no one else I can talk to. I've seen all that stuff up there, the size of it and I can't say a word. Aliens, spaceships, time travel and…I'm the only person on planet Earth who knows they exist."
*BURRR*
They looked up behind them to see a large, grey spaceship with smoke flowing out of its engines hurtling down over London, watching as it tried to maintain balance before its right wing tore a large chunk out of Big Ben and crashed down into the river Thames, making Rose groan. "That's just not fair." She whined. Clara smirked before they looked at the Doctor in confusion as he burst into gleeful laughter, before he grabbed their hands and rushed off to follow the ship.
Ending up in a crowded street, filled with unmoving cars and an army vehicle blocking the road, Clara and Rose gave a groan while the Doctor stood with a childlike grin. "It's blocked off." Rose mumbled.
"We're miles from the centre, so the scene must be gridlocked." Clara deducted. "Could even be closing down the whole of London."
"I know. I can't believe I'm here to see this. This is fantastic!"
"Did you know this was going to happen?" Clara asked.
"Nope."
"Do you recognize the ship?"
"Nope."
"Do you know why it crashed?"
"Nope."
"Oh, fat lot of good you are."
"Oi! Clara, this is what I travel for, to see history happening right in front of us!" He whined.
"Well, let's go see it. Never mind the traffic, we've got the TARDIS." Rose pointed out.
The Doctor and Clara winced in unison. "Better not. They've already got one spaceship; you don't want to shove another on top. There'll be all kinds of people watching." Clara said.
"So, history's happening, and we're stuck here."
"Afraid so." The Doctor mumbled.
"We could always do what everybody else does. We could watch it on TV." Rose said. Clara shrugged slightly while the Doctor shifted awkwardly.
"Big Ben destroyed as a UFO crash lands in Central London. Police reinforcements are drafted in from across the country to control widespread panic, looting and civil disturbance. A state of national emergency has been declared. Tom Hitchinson is at the scene."
"The police urge the public not to panic. There's a helpline number on-screen right now if you're worried about friends of family. The army is sending divers into the wreck of the spaceship. No one knows what they're going to find.
"I'd rather be in the action than watching it." Clara groaned.
"Me too." The Doctor mumbled as they sat together in the couch of Rose's flat in front of the TV. Rose sat on the sofa while Jackie's friends gathered round the table, conversing indistinctly.
"I've got no choice." Jackie said, entering the room. "Either I make them welcome, or I run the risk of never seeing you again."
"Oi, we're trying to listen, please!" The Doctor said, making everyone grumble slightly before lowering their voices.
"News is just coming in. They've found a body." The Doctor and Clara looked at each other with raised eyebrows. "It's unconfirmed, but I'm being told that a body has been found in the wreckage, a body of non-terrestrial origins. It's being brought ashore."
"Oh, guess who asked me out? Billy Croot." Jackie said to her friends, making Clara roll her eyes and the Doctor chuckled slightly, allowing her to punch him in the shoulder.
"Ow. That hurt." He whined, drawing some raised eyebrows at him.
"Aww, you big baby." Clara mocked cooed, making Rose laugh.
"Unconfirmed reports say that the body is of extra-terrestrial origin. It's an extraordinary event here in London, the body is now being transferred to a secure U.N.I.T mortuary, whose whereabouts are unknown. Roads in Central London-"
"And when you've stuck your fins on, you can cover the whole lot."
Clara burst out in laughter as the Doctor tried to wrestle the remote from a giggling toddler, looking at her every so often for help. Calming herself down, she reached over and picked up the toddler to place him in her lap. "Come on, hand it over." She cooed, making him giggle before placing the remote in her grasp, which she handed to the Doctor, before returning to briefly play with the kid. The Doctor looked at her with a soft smile before he flicked the channel back again.
"Albian Hospital. We still don't know whether it's alive or dead. Whitehall is denying everything. But the body has been brought here to Albian Hospital. With the roads closed off, it's the closest to the river. I'm being told that General Asquith is now entering the hospital. The building has been evacuated and the patients moved out onto the streets. The police still won't confirm the presence of an alien body contained inside those walls."
Asquith, a middle aged, somewhat overweight man, walks into a small room with a covered body on a metal table. A Japanese woman in her 30's and a lab coat is waiting. "Let's have a look, then." Asquith says, making her peel back the top of the cloth, allowing him to see the body's face. "Good god. And that's real? It's not a hoax or a dummy or…"
She shook her head. "I've x-rayed the skull. It's wired up inside like nothing I've ever seen before. No one could make this up."
He took of his hat to wipe the sweat from his brow. "We've got experts being flown in. Until they arrive, keep that out of sight." He then moves to leave the room.
"Excuse me, sir. I know it's a state of emergency and there's a lot of rumour flying around, but is it true, what they're saying about the Prime Minister?" He looked down in sadness before leaving the room, his silence being his confirmation.
"I'll be right back; I'm going to the bathroom." Clara says as she stands up.
"Okay." The Doctor said as she left.
"Mystery still surrounds the whereabouts of the Prime Minister. He's not been seen since the emergency began. The opposition is criticizing his lack of leadership and…hold on." On the tv, a car pulls up outside of 10 Downing Street, where an overweight man steps out of the car and into the building. "Oh, that's Joseph Green, MP for Hartley Dale. He's Chairman of the Parliamentary Commission on the monitoring of sugar standards in exported confectionery. With respect, hardly the most important person right now."
Rose chuckled at this, making the Doctor raise his eyebrows at her. "Sorry." She mumbled.
Joseph steps into the cream and pink coloured building, being immediately met by a man with a red case. "Indra Ganesh, sir. Junior Secretary with the M.O.D. I'll be your liaison." He says, shaking his hand before motioning to follow him out of the room.
"Where the hell is he?" Joseph asks in concern.
"If we could talk in private, sir, follow me upstairs." They arrive to the foot of said stairs.
"Excuse me." Turning around, they see a middle-aged woman standing there, who immediately pulls out an I.D card. "Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North."
"I'm sorry, but can it wait?"
"I did have an appointment at 3:15." Harriet said.
"Yes, and then a spaceship crashed in the middle of London. Priorities changed." Indra shrugged with a slightly apologetic look before moving Joseph up the stairs with him. "You've heard about the alien body, sir?"
"Never mind that. Where is the Prime Minister?"
"No one knows, sir. He's disappeared. I have to inform you that with the city gridlocked and the cabinet stranded outside London, that makes you Acting Prime Minister, with immediate effect."
"Oh, dear lord." He mumbled in shock, before letting out a rather loud fart, making Indra look at him in bewilderment. "I'm so sorry, it's just a nervous stomach."
Indra shrugged slightly before moving to the top of the stairs and into another room, where an overweight, blonde woman awaited them.
"Margaret Blaine. She's with MI5." Indra introduced.
"There's no more information, sir. I personally escorted the Prime Minister from the cabinet room to his car. This is Oliver Charles, transport liaison." She motioned to another overweight man beside her.
"The car's disappeared. There's no record of it, sir, it literally vanished."
"Right…uh…inside, tell me everything. Better not let it all get leaked out, eh?" Joseph clicked his tongue with a wink, making them nod in agreement as they moved into the cabinet room.
"Sir?" Indra called, making them turn back slightly as he held up the red case. "The emergency protocols; Detailing the actions to be taken by the government of Great Britain in the event of an alien incursion."
"Right, sorry." Joseph mumbled, before taking the case from him as he let out another loud fart. "Blimey! Pardon me. Shall we get to work, eh?" He said, before moving into the room and closing the door, missing Indra waving his arms up in bewilderment. Inside the large room, filled with curtains, chandeliers, paintings along with a long table with glasses and alcohol adjoined with a small cupboard, he placed the case on the table, before looking at the two before him. They started to laugh amongst themselves in gleeful satisfaction.
Stepping out of Rose's flat silently, the Doctor moved to the stairs in haste. "And where do you think you're going?" Rose called, making him turn around to see her standing with her arms crossed.
"Nowhere." He squeaked, giving a cough and hoping she didn't notice. "It's just that…uh…a little too Human in there for me. I mean…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', without Clara, might I add."
"Oh, she won't notice that I've been gone. Besides, this is nothing to do with me, 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 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, small and made of clay, now you can expand!" He said gleefully. "You don't need me, Rose. Go spend some time with your Mum and celebrate history."
"Promise you won't disappear?"
He glanced around a bit before padding his pockets to find the right one, taking out a TARDIS key and handing it over. "Tell you what. TARDIS key, it's about time you had one. See you later." He said with a grin before moving away, leaving Rose to look at the key softly as she moves back into her flat. Heading out of the building, he moved towards the TARDIS, ignoring the loud rock music blaring out on people's speakers.
"Oi, gorgeous! Come back and join the party!" A woman called, but he ignored her as he got to the TARDIS, looking up in surprise to find it unlocked as he opened the door, seeing Clara sitting by the console, fixing some of the controls with-
"When did you get my sonic, missy?!" He called, making Clara jump and drop what she was working on.
"Jesus! Don't do that!" She said with a slight blush, making him laugh. "I will kill you, Doctor, if you breathe a word of that to anyone, you hear?"
"Scouts honour." He said with a laugh, as he moved up to the console. "But you didn't answer my question."
"I took it when you were too busy gawping at the spaceship." Clara said with a sly smile.
"You could rival Robin Hood in his level of pickpocketing." He complimented.
"Is he real?" She asked in childlike excitement.
"No, he isn't!" He denied as he moved about the console to pilot the TARDIS away.
Outside, Mickey was running towards the TARDIS. "Oi, Clara! Doctor!" He yelled, before slamming into the wall as the TARDIS left, standing up with a cough and looking around to see if anyone noticed, before walking off to Rose's flat.
Harriet walked up to Indra's desk with a cup of coffee, placing it down which made him look at her in surprise. "I bet no one's bought you a coffee."
"Thank you." He smiled. Taking a sip, he placed it down before shaking his head knowingly at her. "I'm sorry, but you still can't go in."
"Damn, you've seen through my cunning plan." She quipped, making them chuckle.
"It's just impossible."
"Not even for two minutes?"
"I'm afraid not."
"Look, I don't get many chances to walk these corridors. I'm hardly one of the babes, just a faithful back-bencher. And I know we've had a brave new world land right on our doorstep, and that's wonderful. I think that's probably wonderful, but nevertheless, ordinary life keeps ticking away. I just need to enter this paper-Oh." On this, the door opened with Joseph stepping out. "Mr. Green, sir. I know you're busy, but could you put this on the next cabinet agenda?" She said, pulling out a file.
"What is it?" He said, feigning interest.
"Cottage hospitals. I've worked out a system whereby cottage hospitals don't have to be excluded from centres of excellence. You see, my mother's in the Flydale infirmary. That's my constituency, it's a tiny, little place. You wouldn't know it, but it's given me a chance to-"
"By all the saints! Get some perspective, woman! I'm busy!" Joseph groaned impatiently, moving away with the two behind him and an apologetic Indra, missing Harriet's hurt look. She glances into the empty cabinet room, moving hastily into it, looking ahead of her for watches before closing the door silently. Moving to the red case, she opens it to place the file inside, before pulling out a red folder with files inside entitled 'Emergency Protocols'.
"Rose not coming?" Clara asked as they paced around the console, flicking the switches to maintain flight.
"Oh, we won't be long. Besides, after all that debacle, she should spend some time with her Mum."
"So, Albian Hospital, is it?" She asked.
He smiled at her fondly. "You were paying attention, despite all the…humanness in that room." He added with slightly shudder.
Clara sniggered. "Is it bad to say that even I wanted to get out of there?"
"I don't know. Are you Human?" He teased.
"Shut it." She warned, making them laugh. "So, where do you think that ship came from?"
"Not sure."
She raised her eyebrows at him. "You seriously don't know?"
"Well, I can't know everything, can I?"
"Yes, like how you can shave without cutting yourself."
"Shut it." He warned.
"Excuse me?"
"I said, shut it, missy." He grabbed a mallet and went to whack the console.
"Make me." She said, grabbing the mallet and stepping closer, making them invade each other's space.
"Be careful what you wish for, Clara."
"You haven't done anything yet. You too scared?"
"No. Are you?"
"I think you are scared."
"I am not scared. Are you scared or impatient?"
Before she could retort, the TARDIS landed, making them move towards the door. "This isn't over." She said, making a "I'm watching you" motion, which he reciprocated before they moved to the door and found themselves in a small, packed cupboard. They moved to exit, repeatedly bumping into each other thanks to the lack of room. "Watch it."
"Sorry." He mumbled.
"Seriously, watch it." She said as he bumped into her again.
"I said I'm sorry." As he went to the door- "Ow!" He winced as he felt her foot slam on his.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I hit something?" She said innocently.
"Was that the payback you had in mind?"
"I think you should be glad, because I could do worse." She said boldly.
"I don't believe you." He said, pulling out his sonic to unlock the door, which made a noise louder than normal. "Shhh!" He reprimanded, making Clara giggle. "Shhh!" He said to her, making her giggle harder.
"You seriously are a…dolt." She finished hesitantly as he opened the door to find a room full of soldiers staring at them incredulously, before they rushed to grab their rifles and aimed at them. "I will smack you if you laugh at our situation." She growled to him.
"Yes, ma'am." He said, trying to stifle a snigger.
"AHHHH!"
They looked up upon hearing the shriek, before moving from the room in haste. "Defence plan Delta. Come on, move! Move!" He ordered, making the soldiers follow his instructions as they raced from the room, through a long corridor into a small lab. They found a Japanese woman huddled in the corner in fear, as they looked upon a series of body lockers, with one opened and empty.
"It's alive!" She cried in fear.
"Spread out. Tell the perimeter it's a lockdown." He said, moving to the woman, missing the confused looks on the soldiers.
"My god, it's still alive."
"Do it! Now! " Clara orders to the soldiers.
"Yes ma'am!" They said in unison before moving from the room.
The Doctor looked at her with an impressed look, making her shrug at him before she knelt beside the woman, who was nursing a cut on her forehead with a cloth. "I swear, it was dead."
"Coma, shock, hibernation, anything. What does it look like?" He asked. His answer was a rattling noise from behind the table, making them look to the other side of the room. "It's still here." Clara got up to investigate. "Careful." He said softly.
"When am I not?" She quipped, making him grin. She moved around the table and knelt to see a wide-eyed pig in a typical, grey spacesuit who was snorting quietly. "Hello." She said softly despite her confusion. The pig then squealed as it raced from the room, making the soldier at the door cock his rifle.
"Don't shoot!" Clara said as she moved to follow the pig who ran down the hallway towards a group of soldiers, screaming as it did. This attracted their attention who looked at it in confused fear, which grew to terror as it got closer, making one raise his rifle and fire a single shot into the pig, who fell to the ground instantly.
"What did you do that for?! It was scared!" Clara growled as she knelt beside the pig, cooing softly as it died. The Doctor came rushing to her side, placing a hand on the pig's head to close its eyes with a sad look on his face. Clara stood up, facing the soldier with a blazing glare. "You, fucking idiot! It was scared! It had no idea where it was, and you murdered it!" The soldier looked down in shame as the Doctor moved by her side, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Clara, please don't." He said softly, rubbing her shoulder to calm her down. "Come on." He said, the two of them moving away as he picked up the pig's body and returned it to the lab table, where the woman looked at them in quiet sadness.
"What is it?" She asked.
"It's a pig, from Earth." He said simply.
"I almost assumed that this is what aliens looked like, but do you mean it? It's just an ordinary pig, from Earth?"
"Like a mermaid." Clara and the woman looked at him in confusion. "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 and stuck bits inside. Then they strap it inside the ship and made it dive bomb. It would've been terrified."
"They took an innocent animal and turned it into a joke." Clara growled, the Doctor wrapping an arm around her for comfort.
"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, it must be. But why would aliens be faking aliens?" The woman asked, turning around to see the Doctor and Clara no longer standing there. She moved from the room to find them, before stopping in bewilderment as she heard the TARDIS dematerialising.
"I've got the White House phoning me direct because Downing Street won't answer their calls. This is outrageous!" Asquith said in admonishing anger, making Harriet place the papers back inside the case and move into the cupboard to hide. She heard the door open and a few figures enter the room, but she could only see Margaret and Asquith through the crack in the barely open door. "We haven't even started the vaccination program. This is appalling. The nations of the world are watching the United Kingdom."
"Well, it has all been a bit of a shock." Joseph defended.
"This is the greatest crisis in modern history, and you've done nothing! Your behaviour has been shameful, sir. You're supposed to be in charge, and we need positive leadership. The capital has been ground to a halt. Furthermore, we can only assume that the Prime Minister's disappearance is the direct result of hostile alien action and what've you been doing? Nothing!"
"Sorry, sorry. I thought I was Prime Minister now." Joseph said, dropping his attitude into smug satisfaction.
"Only by default."
"Oh, that's not fair. I've been having such fun."
"You think this is fun?" Asquith asked incredulously.
"It's a hoot, this job." Joseph said gleefully, making Margaret and Oliver chuckle to themselves.
"Honestly, it's super." Margaret said.
Oliver drew attention to himself as he let out a few loud farts. "Oh, excuse me." He mocked.
"What is going on here? Where's the rest of the cabinet? Why haven't they been airlifted in?"
"I cancelled it. They'd only get in the way." Joseph said dismissively.
"Sir, under section 5 of the emergency protocols, it is my duty to relieve you of command. And by god, I'll put this country under martial law if I have to."
"Oh, I'm scared. I mean, that's hair-raising." Joseph said sarcastically. "No, I meant it literally. Look." Harriet frowned in confusion as a blue light filled the room, before glancing at Asquith who looked at Joseph in terror while Margaret and Oliver laughed evilly. A large, green arm with three claws suddenly stabbed into Asquith, making him yell in pain as Harriet turned away to hide her horror before she heard a crunching followed by a sound like rushing water as a body collapsed to the ground.
"Here's to the Martians." Jackie said, holding up a glass while Rose reclined in the sofa in boredom.
"The Martians!" Everyone exclaimed in unison before utter silence fell into the room, making Rose look to see the cause, which was Mickey standing in the doorway, looking at her with wide eyes.
"I was going to come and see you." Rose said hurriedly.
"Someone owes Mickey an apology." One of Jackie's friends says.
"I'm sorry." Rose mumbled.
"Not you, dear." Everyone turned to look at Jackie.
"Well, it's not my fault. Be fair. What was I supposed to think?" Jackie said, motioning Rose and Mickey into the kitchen as everyone returned to their gleeful attitude.
"You disappear, who do they turn to? Your boyfriend. Five times I was taken in for questioning, five times. No evidence, of course, there couldn't be could there? And then I get her, your own mother, whispering around the estate, pointing the finger, putting stuff through my letterbox and all because of you." Mickey ranted.
"I didn't think I'd be gone for so long."
"And I waited for you, Rose. Twelve months waiting for you, the Doctor and Clara to come back."
"Hold on. You knew about them two?" Jackie asked suddenly. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Yeah, why not Rose? How could I tell her where you went? But we might as well tell her cause you're stuck here. The Doctor's gone. Just now, that box thing faded away."
"What do you mean?"
"He's left you. Some boyfriend he turned out to be."
Rose rushed out of the flat and down to the ground floor, finding Mickey to be correct that the TARDIS was indeed not there. "He wouldn't just go. He promised me."
"Oh, he's dumped you, Rose, sailed off into space. How does it fell, huh? Now you're left behind with the rest of us Earthlings. Get used to it."
"He would've said. And he wouldn't leave Clara."
"What you two chimps going on about? What's going on? What's this Doctor done now?" Jackie asked.
"*Chuckle* He's vamoosed."
"He's not, because he gave me this." Rose said, pulling out the TARDIS key. "He's not my boyfriend, Mickey, he's my friend. And he wouldn't leave Clara behind. He wouldn't do that to her, not after all they've been through." She looked down suddenly to see the key glowing a golden light before they heard the TARDIS materialising back where it had left, only with the words "Bad Wolf" graffitied on the side. "I said so." She shrugged before gaining a look of shock. "Mum! Go inside! Don't stand there, just go inside!" It proved fruitless as she just stood still, looking in wide eyes as the TARDIS materialised in front of them.
"How'd you do that, then?" Jackie asked incredulously. Rose simply bit her lip sheepishly before rushing inside, Mickey and Jackie following her.
"Alright, so we lied. I didn't go to the bathroom and he wasn't going for a wander. But you see, the whole crash landing's a fake. Even he thought so, it's just too perfect."
"Yeah, hitting Big Ben, come on." The Doctor rolled his eyes. "So, I thought "Let's go and have a look"-"
"My Mum's here." Rose interrupted, making them turn to see their new guests.
"Oh, that's just what we need." The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Don't you dare make this place domestic."
"You ruined my life, you two. They thought she was dead. I was a murder suspect because of the both of you." Mickey glared.
"See what I mean? Domestic."
"I bet you don't even remember my name."
"Rickey."
"It's Mickey."
"No, it's Rickey."
"I think I know my own name."
"You THINK you know your own name? How stupid are you?" Clara giggled into her mouth, making the Doctor grin at her.
Jackie then rushed out of the doors, Rose moving to follow her. "Don't start a fight, you three." Rose said. "Mum! It's not like that! He's not…" She looked outside to see Jackie already at the stairs of the flat. "I'll be up in a minute, hold on." She mumbled to herself before closing the door. "That was a real spaceship?"
"Yep."
"Why the pack of lies? Are they invading or something?"
"It's a funny way to invade, putting the world on red alert." Mickey pointed out.
"Good point. So, what would they be up to?" Clara asked.
Jackie sat on her bed with her face in her hands as she racked her brain while her personal TV was going. "As the crisis continues and the government shows a remarkable lack of leadership, paranoia sweeps the country. There have been at least three reports of public assaults on people falsely identified as aliens. Now back to Tom Hitchinson."
"Are there more ships to come? And what is their intention? The authorities are now asking if anyone knows anything. If any previous sighting has been made, then call this number. We need your help."
Jackie looked at the TV before grabbing her phone and inputting the number. She waited before rolling her eyes and pressing a few numbers to get through voicemail, jumping as she did. "Yes, I've seen one. I really have, an alien and she's with him. My daughter, she's with him and she's not safe. Oh my god, she's not safe. I've seen an alien and I know his name. He's called "The Doctor". He lives in a box, a blue box. She called it a TARDIS."
"So, what're you doing down there?" Mickey asked as the Doctor lay underneath the console fixing wires.
"Rickey." He said, his mouth currently holding his sonic.
"Mickey."
"Rickey," he pulled the sonic out and looked at him, "If I was to tell you what I was doing to the controls of my frankly magnificent time and space ship, would you even begin to understand?"
"I suppose not-"
"Well, shut it then." He said with a grin.
Mickey rolled his eyes at him before moving over to Rose. "Some friends you've got."
"He's winding you up. Look, I am sorry."
"Okay." He said absentmindedly.
"I am though."
"Every day I looked. On every street corner, wherever I went looking for a blue box, for a whole year."
"It was only 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 you."
"Not enough time to miss me, then?" He quipped.
"I did miss you." She smirked. "So, in twelve months, have you been seeing anyone else?"
"No. Well, mainly because everyone thinks I murdered you, so…yeah."
"Right."
Clara, who stood at the monitor with her arms crossed, exchanged a glance with the Doctor that screamed "Awkward", forcing them to contain their sniggers.
"So, now that you've come back, are you going to stay?" Before Rose could answer, electricity crackled at the console making them jump.
"Got it! Haha." The Doctor said proudly.
"Took you long enough." Clara fake yawned.
"Oi! You can have a go fixing this ship if you want."
"Well, some of those were unnecessary."
"And how would you know, missy?"
"Because old girl told me so." Clara smiled slyly.
*Beeps* (Waaay too long)
"Don't you both go ganging up on me!" He whined, making Clara laugh. Mickey mouthed to Rose 'Did the ship just-' and she interrupted with a hasty nod. "So, patched in the radar and looped it back twelve hours so it followed the flight of that spaceship and…Oh come on." He mumbled, going to whack the monitor as Clara slapped his hand. "Ow! What'd you do that for?"
"Give it a moment." She breathed as a video of the Earth from space appeared. "There you go, that's the spaceship on its way to Earth." She said, going into teacher mode as on the monitor the same ship in the Thames that was flying perfectly. "Now, give it a mo." Then a clock appeared as the ship reappeared again, which cycled through twelve hours as the ship looped in space before heading down to Earth in a crash landing. "The spaceship did a slingshot around the Earth before landing again, this time in the Thames."
"What does that mean?" Rose asked.
"The ship was already here on Earth for three days before another twelve hours passed and it appeared before the world. So, whoever these boys and girls are, they haven't just arrived. They've been here for a while."
"Now, the question is what they have been doing?" The Doctor asked.
"No." Clara shook her head.
"What?" The Doctor asked incredulously as Rose and Mickey raised their eyebrows at each other.
"Wrong question, Doctor."
"Alright then, Miss Oswald, what is the real question?"
"Why are they here?" She said, making him furrow his eyebrows. "They've been here already for a while, then just twelve hours later appeared as if they're crash landing in front of the world, putting it on red alert. So, they want something that either humanity must give up or fight for. We answer why they're here, that gives the answer to what they've been doing and what they want."
Rose and Mickey look at her with an impressed face while the Doctor gave a defeated sigh. "Alright then, why are they here?" He grumbled yet flashing her a soft smile, making her wink cheekily.
Harriet watched in terror filled confusion as Asquith stood up, placing the loose skin of Oliver on the table, complete with clothes and a zip in his forehead. "What do you think?" Asquith said, holding up his arms as Margaret straightened his clothes while Joseph shrugged. "I think I've got too much ballast around the middle." He let out a loud fart, making him cough in surprise. "Sorry about that."
"We've really got to fix the gas exchange, it's getting ridiculous." Margaret grumbled.
"I don't know. It seems rather Human to me." Joseph quipped.
"Yes, and it gives us away." Margaret growled, making him look sheepish.
"Sorry, sister."
Harriet didn't need to see her rolling her eyes. "Let's just fix it when this is all over. Now, we should get rid of Oliver's skin."
Asquith picked up said skin and went over to the cupboard, Harriet moving into a dark corner to hide. "It's a shame, I rather enjoyed being Oliver. He had a wife, a mistress and a young farmer. God I was busy." He said with a sly smile, making Joseph and Margaret chuckle. "Now, back to work eh. I have an army to command-"
"Not yet." Margaret correct.
"Alright, I will have an army to command soon." Asquith said with a nod as they left the room, only to nearly bump into a racing Indra.
"General Asquith, sir. We've had a priority alarm. It's Code 9, a confirmed Code 9." Harriet moved to the barely open door, being careful not to nudge it.
"Remind me again, please?" He said sheepishly.
"Well, in the event of the emergency protocols being activated, we've got software which automatically searches all communications for key words and one of those is "Doctor". I think we've found him, sir."
"What sort of "Doctor"?" Margaret asked.
"Evidently, he's some sort of expert in extra-terrestrial affairs, in fact THE ultimate expert. And we need him, sir. We need him here right now."
"Well, if all the experts are being brought in, be sure he comes then." Asquith said.
"Sir." Indra said with a nod as they left the room, Harriet moving silently back downstairs.
"How many channels do you get?" Mickey asked as the Doctor flicked through them on the monitor.
"All the basic packages." He said simply.
"You get sports channels?"
"Yes, I get the football." He rolled his eyes, making Clara crook an eyebrow at him which he merely shrugged at. "Hold on, I know that lot." He said, seeing on the monitor a group of soldiers with familiar uniforms. "U.N.I.T: United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. Good people they are."
"How do you know them?" Rose asked.
"Because he's worked for them." Everyone looked at Mickey. "Don't think I sat on my backside for twelve months. I read up on you, Doctor. You look deep enough on the internet or in the history books and there's his name, followed by a list of the dead."
"Yeah, good boy Rickey. You did your homework; now can we return to work?" Clara grumbled sarcastically, making him look down slightly and the Doctor snigger at her choice of name.
"If you know them, why don't you go and help?" Rose asked.
"They wouldn't recognise me. I've changed a lot since the old days. There are aliens and fake aliens out there, I want to keep this alien out of the mix. Currently, the world's standing on the edge of a knife-"
"Stray but a little and it will fail to the ruin of all." Clara finished with a soft smile, making him furrow his eyebrows. "What?"
"Nothing." He said, now gaining her smile. "Good movies, they are."
"And good books." She added.
"That too. We should meet old Tolkien some time."
"That would be nice." She said dreamily.
The Doctor flicked a few switches, turning down the TARDIS' power. "Let's just keep her out of sight. Rickey, you've got a car. You can do some driving." He said, leading them to the doors.
"Where to?" He asked.
"The roads are clearing. Let's go and have a look at that spaceship." The Doctor opened the doors as they were met with the spotlight of a helicopter and racing police cars with army vehicles encircling them.
"Do not move. Step away from the box and raise your hands above your heads. You are under arrest. Do not move."
Mickey then raced away before the officers could get out of their cars. "Oi! Get after him! Get after him!" One of them called, sending a small squad to follow Mickey as he disappeared.
"Rose!" They looked to see Jackie rushing out, only to be held back a few soldiers. "Rose! That's my daughter!"
"Raise your hands above your heads. You are under arrest."
"You ready, Clara?" He asked with a beaming grin.
"Sure." She said with the same look as they glanced up at the helicopter.
"Take us to your leader." They said in unison before high fiving each other, making Rose literally face palm herself.
"I'm in the company of children." She grumbled as they complied and raised their hands above their heads, before being led into a rather clean and black car, almost like a small limo.
"This is a bit posh." Rose said with an impressed smirk. "If I'd known being arrested was like this, I would've done it years ago." She quipped, making them laugh.
"We're not being arrested. We're being escorted." The Doctor corrected.
"Where to?" Clara asked.
"Where do you think? Downing Street." He said laughing.
"You're kidding?!" Rose said with a childish grin.
"I'm not!"
"10 Downing Street?!" Clara said, mimicking their manner.
"That's the one!"
"Oh, my god. We're going to 10 Downing Street?!"
"Yup!" They coughed and took a breath to calm themselves despite their grins.
"How come?" Rose asked.
"I hate to say it, but Mickey was right. Over the years that I've been around this planet, I've been…uh…noticed."
"Now they need you?"
"Like it said on the news, they're gathering experts in alien knowledge. And who's the biggest expert of the lot?" He asked with a wide, smug smile.
"Patrick Moore?" Rose teased.
"Apart from him." His smile deflating slightly.
"The Men in Black?" Clara teased.
"Come on! They're not even real!" He whined.
"You and your ego must love this kind of attention, eh?"
"I'm telling you. Lloyd George used to drink me under the table. Hold on, who's the Prime Minister now?" He asked.
"How should any of us know? We skipped a year." Clara poked.
"Oi!" They pulled up at Downing Street, currently being photographed by reporters who were indistinctly exclaiming for questions and attention. The Doctor and Clara grinned and waved, earning many responders while Rose looked starstruck by it all as they moved into the building.
"So, she's all right then? She's not in any trouble?" Jackie asked as a few officers stood in her flat, one of them was another overweight man who sat on her sofa.
"All I can say is that your daughter and her companions might be in a position to help the country. We'll still need to know how she contacted them." His stomach gave a loud grumble, making him glare distantly, trying to withhold a growl. "Right, off you go. I'll need to talk to Mrs. Tyler on my own, thank you."
The Doctor, Clara and Rose stood awkwardly in a crowded room as Indra entered. "Ladies and gentlemen, if we can convene, thank you." Indra said, silencing the room. "It's this way on the right." He said, motioning his hand through the door he just walked through. "And can I remind you that I.D cards are to be worn always, please? Thank you." The people filtered through the door slowly as he walked over to the trio. "Indra Ganesh, sir. Here's your I.D card." He handed it over to the Doctor. "Now, I'm sorry, but your companions don't have clearance."
"I don't go anywhere without either of them." He said simply as he put the card around his neck.
"You're the Code 9, not them. I'm sorry, Doctor, but they must stay outside. Even I don't have clearance into that room."
"They're staying with me." He protested.
Clara placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's alright. We'll be fine." He exchanged a soft glance with her before kissing her palm. "You be careful, okay?"
"Yes boss." He said with a smile.
"Excuse me. Are you the Doctor?" Harriet interrupted.
"Not now, we're busy." Indra said with a roll of his eyes.
"I just need a word in private."
"It'll be fine." Clara interrupted. "She can be with us."
Indra sighed before nodding. "This way, sir." He motioned the Doctor out of the room, who kept exchanging worried glances with Clara as he left.
"Come on, walk with me. Harriet Jones, MP, Flydale North." She said, leading the two into a quiet and empty room. "This friend of yours, he's an expert, is that right? He knows about aliens?"
"Why do you want to know?" Rose asked before they looked at each other with soft confusion as Harriet started to cry, making Rose rub her shoulders in comfort.
"Sorry. It was in the cabinet room, this way." Harriet said, leading them up the stairs into said room as she pulled the skin out of the cupboard, Clara and Rose look at it with wide eyes. "They turned his body inside out. A disguise for the thing inside." Harriet said, trying to hold back her tears.
"It's alright. I believe you." Clara said, Rose nodding beside her. "But why would they need suits?" Clara looked closely at the skin before gaining an idea. "This man was a bit…let's say loose. That must mean that these aliens are rather big, needing…similarly sized Humans to fit inside. But what if they had rejects? People they wanted but couldn't use?" Clara asked, motioning for Rose to help her rummage through the room until they got to a large wardrobe, which when opened revealed the dead body of a middle-aged man, making Rose gasp in shock.
"Oh my god." Rose breathed.
"Harriet, for god's sake!" Indra said with a groan, moving into the room. "This has gone beyond a joke. You can't just wander…" He trailed off upon noticing the body. "Oh, dear lord. That's the Prime Minister."
"Ohhh. Has someone been naughty?" They turned to the door, seeing Margaret enter with an evil smirk.
"That's not possible. He left his afternoon. The Prime Minister left Downing Street; he was driven away." Indra protested.
"And…who told you that?" Margaret asked as she placed her hand bag down. "Me." She said with fake innocence before moving her hand to her forehead.
"Ladies and gentlemen, if I could have your attention, please?" Asquith called in the packed room. The Doctor held a red slip with a handful of files inside which he flicked through quickly before rolling his eyes and setting it down. "As you can see from the summaries in front of you, the ship had one porcine pilot."
"Never mind that." The Doctor interrupted as he stood up and started to pace the room, drawing everyone's raptured yet confused attention. "The really interesting bit happened about three days ago. Filed away under any other business: In the North Sea, a satellite detected a signal, a small blip of radiation at one hundred fathoms like something was down there. You were just about to investigate but the next thing you know, this happens; Spaceships, pigs, all creating a massive diversion, but why? If aliens fake an alien crash and an alien pilot, what do they get?" After a moment, a look of dreadful realization crawled onto his face as his posture stiffened. "Us. They get us. It's not a diversion, it's a trap. It's all about us, the alien experts. The only people with the knowledge of how to fight them, all gathered together in one room." A loud fart from Joseph makes him turn around with an offended glare. "Excuse me, do you mind not farting while I'm saving the world?"
"Would you rather silent but deadly?" Joseph said before bursting into maniacal laughter. Asquith chuckled darkly with him before removing his hat then rubbing a thumb on his forehead, causing a small, blue blur to appear which revealed a zip straight across his forehead. He then pulled it back, gleaming a bright, blue light into the room as he fully unzipped his head, pulling the top back to show a dark, green head inside, with the suit crackling with electricity. Grabbing onto the suit, he tugged hard which pulled it down, revealing a large, 8ft tall creature with eyes as black as night and large, sharp claws on its three fingered hands. "Asquith" gave a deep, menacing growl, sending shivers down the Doctor's spine as he looked on with wide, blinking eyes. He glanced towards its long neck which wore a black collar with a variety of buttons and tech, making his eyebrows furrow slightly.
"We are the Slitheen." "Asquith" said with a growling, animalistic voice.
"It was bigger on the inside. I don't know. What do I know about spaceships?" Jackie said, moving into the kitchen, missing the officer's hardened look.
"That's what worries me. You see, this man is classified as trouble. Which means that anyone associated with him is the same." He said, hiding his gleeful growl as he moved to unzip his forehead. As he removed his skin suit, Jackie came out of the kitchen and looked upon him before screaming in horror as he moved in a predatorily manner towards her.
"Well then, it has been a pleasure." "Margaret" mocked before she pounced on Indra, shoving her claws through his chest before pushing him far up the wall as he screamed in agony, the three looking on with horrified faces.
"Thank you all for wearing your I.D cards. They'll help to identify the bodies." Joseph taunted darkly as he pulled a small, black switch out of his pocket and pressed the button, causing said cards to burst with electricity, making everyone except for the Doctor to collapse in agony and even he struggled to stand against the onslaught of pain, clenching his teeth hard as he did. "Asquith" and Joseph looked on with maniac laughter, missing the Doctor's face turning into stern rage.
AN: Thank you so much for reading and please leave a review if you wish. :)