A/N: I do not own anything relating to Doctor Who. I only own the ideas of my OC. Just a forewarning, it might be a bit before I post again. I've been feeling a bit sick so I haven't been able to write much lately. I just felt like updating the last chapter of this episode. So sorry if it's a little while before I update again. Like always, I hope you enjoy
Previously: "Hannibal crossed the Alps by dissolving boulders with vinegar." She explained. Rose and I nodded, though I still wasn't completely sure of what she was talking about.
"Oh. Well, there you go then." Rose held up her glass in a toast. We all joined her. They all took a sip. I simply finished mine off.
"You alright?" Rose asked me, looking worried.
"Yeah. Besides being stuck in a room with no way out of it and a massive headache, I'm great." I groaned. She frowned. "Sorry. I don't mean to be so rude. It's this stupid headache. You know how I get when I get a bad one?" She nodded. "Well this is the worst yet."
"Even worse than in 1869?" She asked. The Doctor had told her about bringing me into the sitting room. I had later told her about falling asleep on the chair.
"Yeah." I nodded.
"Why don't you take your medicine?" The Doctor asked me, having been listening to us talk.
"No chance I'm risking falling asleep with all this going on. If we survive this, then I'll take the stupid pills. I won't take them before." I explained. He was about to say something else when Mickey's voice interrupted him.
"Listen to this." He said. The sound of a newscast came over the line.
"Our inspectors have searched the sky above our heads and they have found massive weapons of destruction capable of being deployed within forty five seconds." One of the male Slitheen said.
"What?" The Doctor asked.
"Our technicians can baffle the alien probes, but not for long." The Slitheen continued. "We are facing extinction, unless we strike first. The United Kingdom stands directly beneath the belly of the mother ship. I beg of the United Nations, pass an emergency resolution. Give us the access codes. A nuclear strike at the heart of the beast is our only chance of survival. Because from this moment on it is my solemn duty to inform you planet Earth is at war." This concluded the speech.
"He's making it up. There's no weapons up there, there's no threat. He just invented it." The Doctor complained, starting to pace around the table.
"Does that really surprise you?" I asked.
"Do you think they'll believe him? Harriet added.
"They did last time." Rose admitted.
"That's why the Slitheen went for spectacle. They want the whole world panicking, because you lot, you get scared, you lash out." The Doctor explained. Realization dawned on me.
"They release the defense codes." I frowned.
"And the Slitheen go nuclear." He agreed, making his way to the door.
"But why?" Harriet asked. He didn't answer. He simply kept walking. We followed quickly behind. He pressed the button in the small panel. The metal shutters opened. Three Slitheen stood there waiting.
"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." The Doctor said as the woman from before came forward smiling.
"And we can sit through it safe in our spaceship waiting in the Thames. Not crashed, just parked. Only two minutes away." She smirked.
"But you'll destroy the planet, this beautiful place. What for?" Harriet demanded.
"Profit. That's what the signal is beaming into space. An advert." The Doctor explained for us.
"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." She giggled. I frowned at her.
"At the cost of five billion lives." The Doctor growled at her.
"Bargain." She said simply.
"I give you a choice. Leave this planet or I'll stop you." He said darkly.
"Why give her a choice? Do you really think she'll listen?" I said quietly from behind him. He didn't respond to me, and the woman didn't react as if she heard me at all.
"What, you? Trapped in your box?" She scoffed at him before starting to laugh.
"Yes. Me." He said simply before turning and pressing a button on the wall, closing the metal shutters. We walked back around the table. The Doctor went to lean against a window. I stood across the table from the Doctor, not watching anything in particular. Rose and Harriet continued walking around. Harriet was messing with the alcohol. Rose was pacing.
"Alright, Doctor. I'm not saying I trust you, but there must be something you can do." Jackie tried.
"If we could ferment the port, we could make acetic acid." Harriet tried, looking at the decanter in front of her.
"Mickey, any luck?" Rose asked, leaning on the table.
"There's loads of emergency numbers. They're all on voicemail." He huffed.
"Voicemail dooms us all." Harriet added with a frown.
"If we could just get out of here." Rose muttered.
"There's a way out." The Doctor said, not quite looking up.
"What?" I asked. "Say again?"
"There's always been a way out." He reiterated. I frowned at the look on his face. He looked torn. The happy cocky persona he usually had, was gone.
"Then why don't we use it?" Rose asked. She didn't seem to notice the change in him. He pushed himself off from the window and walked over to the table. He looked down at the phone, still hooked up to the conference phone speaker.
"Because I can't guarantee your daughters will be safe." He said darkly. Rose and I looked at each other. We both knew what we were going to do. We gave each other a nod.
"Don't you dare. Whatever it is, don't you dare." Jackie demanded.
"That's the thing. If I don't dare, everyone dies." He said sadly.
"Do it." Rose and I said in unison. The Doctor's head snapped up at us. He looked confused.
"You don't even know what it is. You'd just let me?" He asked.
"Yeah." Rose said simply.
"Doctor, there's one thing I've learned since I met you." I said simply. His eyes still held worry. "Peoples lives are always in some kind of danger. I don't worry about my own. I do worry about every other person on this planet. If you have a way of saving them, just do it." I finished.
"Please Doctor. Please. They're my daughters. They're just kids." Jackie cried. I could hear the pain and fear in her voice.
"Do you think I don't know that? Because this is my life, Jackie. It's not fun, it's not smart, it's just standing up and making a decision because nobody else will." He said darkly.
"Then what are you waiting for?" I asked him. He looked from Rose to me.
"I could save the world but lose you two." He said sadly. I looked him in the eyes. He didn't want to make that decision.
"It's fine. We've made up our minds." I said, before looping my arm through Rose's. She nodded in agreement.
"Except it's not your decision, Doctor. It's mine." Harriet said, standing.
"And who the hell are you?" Jackie demanded.
"Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North. The only elected representative in this room, chosen by the people for the people. And behalf of the people, I command you. Do it." She said sternly. The Doctor looked from her to us and smiled. It was a dark situation, but I couldn't help but smile as well. He opened the red box in front of him. Harriet joined him by his side while Rose and I sat on the table watching.
"How do we get out?" Rose asked as he flipped through papers.
"We don't. We stay here." He didn't look up as he found the paper he was looking for. He told Mickey to go to a website. "Use the buffalo password. It overrides everything."
"What're you doing?" Jackie demanded.
"Hacking into the Royal Navy." Mickey explained to her. "We're in. Here it is. HMS Taurean, Trafalgar Class submarine, ten miles off the coast of Plymouth."
"Right, we need to select a missile." The Doctor told him.
"We can't go nuclear. We don't have the defense codes." Mickey explained.
"We don't need it. All we need's an ordinary missile. What's the first category?" The Doctor asked.
"Sub Harpoon, UGM-A4A." Mickey replied.
"That's the one. Select."
"I could stop you." Jackie cried.
"Do it, then." Mickey told her.
"You ready for this?" The Doctor asked. There was a long pause.
"Yeah." Mickey said quietly.
"Mickey the idiot, the world is in your hands." The Doctor said encouragingly. "Fire." There was a pause before we heard the click of the mouse. Harriet started pacing.
"How solid are these?" She asked as she felt the metal shutter covered window.
"Not solid enough. Built for short range attack, nothing this big." The Doctor admitted. Rose and I started looking around. She looked at the cabinet and then to me. I nodded.
"Worth a shot." I said softly.
"Alright, now I'm making the decision. I'm not going to die. We're going to ride this one out." She said going over to the door, I quickly followed. "It's like what they say about earthquakes. You can survive them by standing under a door frame. Now, this cupboard's small so it's strong. Come and help me. Come on." Harriet came over and helped Rose and I empty out the cupboard.
"It's on radar." Mickey called out. "Counter defense five five six."
"Stop them intercepting it." The Doctor told him.
"I'm doing it now." I could hear typing as I set a couple boxes on the floor outside the cupboard.
"Good boy." The Doctor praised him.
"Five five six neutralized." I put the last box on the floor. The Doctor pulled the phone off the cord connecting it to the speaker, before he joined us in the cupboard. He sat in between Rose and I with Harriet on my left.
"Here we go. Nice knowing you three. Hannibal!" Harriet said as she grabbed my hand. The Doctor took my other hand.
"Likewise." I agreed. We weren't waiting long before there was an explosion around us. The room was quickly tossed into the air. We were launched around the small cabinet. Finally we landed. The Doctor had fallen on top of me. He looked into my eyes before he quickly got up and helped me stand. He went to help Rose up as I offered a hand to Harriet. She nodded a thanks. I rubbed the back of my head as the Doctor began to open the Door.
"Everyone alright?" He asked.
"Yeah." We all agreed. He gave the door one final shove and it toppled over. We slowly emerged.
"Made in Britain." Harriet joked. We all laughed. A police officer in swat gear came running up to us.
"Oh, my God. Are you alright?" He asked.
"Harriet Jones. MP, Flydale North. I want you to contact the UN immediately. Tell the ambassadors the crisis is over. They can step down. Go on, tell the news." She said, flashing him her badge. He looked at it then at her.
"Yes, ma'am." He nodded and ran off again.
"Someone's got a hell of a job sorting this lot out." She said gesturing to the rubble around us. "Oh, Lord. We haven't even got a Prime Minister."
"Maybe you should have a go." The Doctor suggested.
"Me? Huh. I'm only a backbencher." She chuckled lightly.
"I'd vote for you." Rose said.
"Me too. You'd be great. You handle stress well." I patted her shoulder.
"Now, don't be silly. Look, I'd better go and see if I can help. Hang on!" She called out as she started making her way through the rubble. "We're safe! The Earth is safe!" We started making our way down the rubble hill as well.
"I thought I knew the name. Harriet Jones, future Prime Minister. Elected for three successive terms. The architect of Britain's Golden Age." He beamed. She went over to talk to some reporters and we started walking away. We walked onto the estate. "Go check in with your mum. I'm going to move the Tardis." He offered. We simply nodded and walked back to the flat. Jackie came up and wrapped us both in a tight hug. It took her forever to let us go.
"What am I going to do with you two?" She asked as she walked into the kitchen. Rose and I sat down in the living room. Rose sat in a chair, I draped myself over the couch. Rose turned on the TV. Harriet was talking to reporters.
"Mankind stands tall, proud." She announced. Jackie came back into the living room.
"Harriet Jones. Who does she think she is? Look at her, taking all the credit. Should be you on there." She told us before talking to the TV "My daughters saved the world!" She huffed and sat in the chair between Rose and I.
"I think the Doctor helped a bit." Rose said.
"Alright then. Him too. You should be given knighthoods." Jackie said.
"That's not the way he does things. No fuss. He just moves on. He's not that bad if you gave him a chance." I tried.
"He's good in a crisis, I'll give him that." She admitted. Rose and I both sat up and stared at her.
"That's scary." I chuckled.
"Now the world has changed. You're saying nice things about him." Rose added with a laugh of her own. We fell into fits of giggles at the thought of Jackie being nice to the Doctor.
"Well, I reckon I've got no choice. There's no getting rid of him since you're infatuated." Jackie didn't look at either of us.
"I'm not infatuated." Rose said with a huff.
"Wasn't talking about you." They both turned and looked at me.
"Me? I'm not infatuated either." They both laughed at me. "Why does everyone seem to think that? Seriously?" I huffed.
"You two argue like an old married couple." Rose countered with a laugh. I huffed and laid back down on the couch.
"I simply correct his rudeness." I pouted, knowing nothing I said would change their opinions of what I felt. Mind you, I honestly couldn't exactly say what I felt. I wasn't quite sure how I felt. I worried about the Doctor, cared about him, but I didn't think I fancied him. We had just met.
"Well, what does he eat?" Jackie interrupted my thoughts. I raised an eyebrow at her.
"What do you mean?" Rose asked.
"I was going to do shepherds pie. All of us. A proper sit down, 'cos I'm ready to listen. I wanna learn about you two and him and that life you lead. Only, I don't know, he's an alien. For all I know, he eats grass and safety pins and things." Jackie explained. I snorted at her.
"He'll have shepherd pie. You're going to cook for him?" Rose questioned.
"What's wrong with that?" Jackie asked.
"He's finally met his match." She said. I snorted in laughter again. Jackie gave me a quick half hearted glare. I bit my lip trying to hold back my laugh. Rose started giggling at my attempts to stop laughing.
"You two aren't too old for a slap, you know. You can go and visit your gran tomorrow. You'd better learn some French. I told her you were in France. I said you were au-pairing." She said, walking off into the kitchen. We burst into giggles.
"Do you know any French?" I asked while giggling.
"None, you?" She giggled back.
"I know 'Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir'." I snorted. We were interrupted by my phone ringing. We were both confused since the only people who ever called me were Rose and Jackie. Mickey didn't even call me. I wasn't sure if he even had my number. Rose came over as I looked at the caller ID. TARDIS CALLING.
"Hello?" I asked.
"Right, I'll be a couple of hours, then we can go." The Doctor replied. I put the phone on speaker.
"Ok you're on speaker. Wait, you've got a phone?" I asked.
"You think I can travel through space and time and I haven't got a phone? Like I said, couple of hours. I've just got to send out this dispersal. There you go. That's canceling out the Slitheen's advert in case any bargain hunters turn up." He told us.
"Uhm, Mum is cooking." I told him.
"Good. Put her on a slow heat and let her simmer." He teased. I rolled my eyes.
"Not like that you idiot. She's making tea. For us." I told him.
"I don't do that." He said nervously.
"She wants to get to know you." Rose tried.
"Tough. I've got better things to do." He said quickly.
"It's just tea." I tried.
"Not to me it isn't." He replied.
"She's our mother." Rose retorted.
"Well, she's not mine." He huffed.
"That's not fair." She pouted.
"Well you can stay there if you want," He paused. "but right now there's this plasma storm brewing in the Horsehead Nebula. Fires burning ten million miles wide. I could fly the Tardis right into the heart of it then ride the shock waves all the way out. Hurtle right across the sky and end up anywhere. Your choice." He hung up after a pause. We looked at each other.
"What do you want to do?" Rose asked me.
"It's your choice. I made mine a long time ago." I explained.
"You're always going to run, aren't you?" She didn't sound upset. Instead she genuinely sounded curious. She had always known that sitting still didn't suit me very well. Hell, she met me because I ran, though I'm not sure what from. I had been planning on running again but I didn't think she had known about that. I stayed because I cared about her and Jackie and I wanted to make sure they were taken care of. There was just something inside me that was screaming for me to run. Being with the Doctor made that feeling go away. We were always running. We never stayed still. That was perfect for me. "Well, we should go pack." She smiled at me. I smiled back, glad that she was coming with. We went to our bedrooms to start getting ready. I quickly packed a bag. I didn't put a lot of clothes in it, since the Tardis seemed to have almost all of the clothes that I would want. When I finished packing I started walking out my door. I stopped when I saw Jackie standing in Rose's room.
"I was wondering whether he drinks or not." She asked Rose.
"Yeah, he does." Rose replied simply. I figured she was still packing.
"Don't go, sweetheart. Please don't go. I always knew Nix was going to leave, though I tried to prolong it as much as possible. You're both my daughters. I don't want to lose either of you." I finally walked out of my room, closing the door behind me. Jackie turned to see me.
"Oh, mum." I went over and hugged her. She set down the two mugs she had been holding and hugged me back. Rose joined us a moment later. We made our way out of the flat and down to where the Tardis was parked, the whole time Jackie tried to convince us to stay. We came closer to see Mickey sitting on a bin, talking to the Doctor.
"I'll get a proper job. I'll work weekends. I'll pass my test, and if Jim comes round again, I'll say no. I really will." Jackie tried to beg us. We each put a hand on her arm.
"We're not leaving because of you." Rose started.
"We're just traveling, that's all." I added.
"Then we'll come right back." Rose finished.
"But it's not safe." Jackie cried.
"Mum, if you saw it out there you'd never stay home." I told her gently. She frowned sadly. We walked over to the Doctor.
"Got enough stuff?" He asked Rose. She put her large bag in his arms.
"Last time I stepped in there, it was spur of the moment. Now I'm signing up. You're stuck with the both of us now." She started laughing before she walked over to Mickey. I tried to take Rose's bag from the Doctor but he wouldn't let me.
"Come with us. There's plenty of room." Rose asked Mickey. He looked uneasy.
"No chance. He's a liability, I'm not having him on board." The Doctor quickly answered. I looked at him then back to Mickey. Mickey looked almost relieved. He saw me looking at him and shook his head. I went back to looking at the Doctor.
"We'd be dead without him." Rose tried.
"My decision is final." The Doctor replied simply. Rose turned back to Mickey. I quickly walked over to Jackie.
"Try not to worry mum. I'll look after her. Promise." I gave her a hug. Instead of letting into me, she went to the Doctor.
"You still can't promise me. What if they get lost? What if something happens to you, Doctor, and they're left all alone standing on some moon a million light years away. How long do I wait then?" She demanded. Rose walked over to her and started trying to soothe her. I waved goodbye to Mickey and quickly followed the Doctor into the Tardis.
"You packed lighter." The Doctor said as he set Rose's bag on the floor. It hit with a thud. I looked down to my small duffel bag. It was nearly half the size of Rose's.
"Well, the Tardis has already given me clothes so I only packed stuff I really wanted. I don't really have much that I value. Nothing really except my locket." I pulled my long chain from beneath my shirt and ran the small locket between my fingers. I was still messing with it when Rose came in.
"Right then. Where to next?" Rose asked excitedly.
"Get some rest. We'll go somewhere when you two have gotten some sleep. We agreed. We said goodnight and we went to our rooms. I set my bag down on my desk.
"Is Rose asleep or distracted?" I asked the Tardis.
~She is nearly asleep.~ The Tardis explained. ~And yes the Doctor is still in the console room. Would you like me to let him know you are coming?~ She asked.
"No, that's alright. Thank you though." She hummed in my head and I slowly opened my door. I quietly made my way to the console room. Sure enough the Doctor was at the console, looking at different things on the screen. He looked over when I came into the room.
"Everything alright?" He asked.
"Yeah. Just had a question about earlier. Didn't want to ask around Rose." I started he nodded. "What happened between you and Mickey?" I asked.
"What do you mean?" He gave me a confused look.
"Before we came to the Tardis. You were talking to him. When you said he couldn't come with, he looked almost relieved." I was confused and curious.
"You're quite observant." He beamed.
"I try. I've always noticed the things that others try to hide. Call it a gift or talent." I chuckled softly. He quirked an eyebrow. "People feel the need to classify how I'm able to do it. Rose calls me the human lie detector." I chuckled softly.
"I can see why. As for your question, I asked him to come with. He was worried about yours and Rose's safety. I suggested that he come with. He said that he couldn't, that this life wasn't for him, but he didn't want Rose to know. He didn't ask that you didn't know, just Rose." He explained.
"He probably knew I would pester you until I found out." I smirked. "Well, I should get some sleep. I just wanted to know what was going on." I turned to leave, but he grabbed my arm.
"Just a sec. How's your head?" He asked carefully. I thought for a minute. My head felt fine. I hadn't even noticed when it went away.
"Good. I didn't need the medicine after all. Maybe the tumble in the cabinet fixed it." I chuckled. He smiled.
"Alright. Just wanted to check." I gave him a nod.
"Thanks. Have a good night Doctor." I smiled at him.
"Goodnight Phoenix." I walked back to my room and put away the things in my bag. Once everything was put away, I changed into some sleep clothes and crawled into bed. The light turned off and the familiar galaxies swirled on the ceiling.