"How long have we been gone?" Rose asks and she leaves the Tardis with Layla and the Doctor following.
"About twelve hours." He tells her with a smug and pleased smirk on his face. Layla admits to herself that it is a good look on his face, and the confidence was sexy.
"Well, we won't be long. I know I want to get some of my stuff and maybe we should tell Jackie that we are going to travel a bit? Backpacking? So, we can be gone longer." Layla directs her last questions towards Rose.
"Yeah, makes sense to me, plus it would help explain any souvenirs we get."
"What are you going to tell her to explain being gone for the last twelve hours?" The Doctor raises his brow in curiosity as he leans against the Tardis.
"I don't know, we've been to the year five billion, and only been gone, what, twelve hours? No, I'll just tell her I spent the night at Shareen's. See you later, and don't you disappear!"
"Wait Rose, Jackie knows I can't stand Shareen." Layla huffs. With a wink towards the Doctor as they both walk towards their flat. "Oh well, I can just tell her I stayed the night at Mickey's place, gaming.
The Doctor stares after her, growls lowly and presses his lips flat; his muscles are tense. But he lets out a big sigh and relaxes. He knows that Mickey is Rose's boyfriend, but he doesn't like the idea of Layla spending the night with any male. He walks around to try to distract himself from the negative thoughts and starts daydreaming about Layla, when he sees a picture on a concrete pillar that catches his eye. Getting closer he sees papers for both Layla and Rose, 'Police Appeal for Assistance. Can You Help?' He grabs them and sprints towards the girl's flat to try to catch up to them before they go in.
xxxxxx
Rose opens the door to their flat, explanation on her lips. "I'm back! I was with Shareen. She was all upset again. Are you in? So, what's been going on? How've you been? What? What's that face for? It's not the first time I've stayed out all night." Rose rapid fires questions and her mother's face gets more distressed with each word coming from Rose. Rose is looking at her mother dumbly while Layla looks around the flat and sees a bunch of posters. He is so dead. He is such a terrible driver. Poor Jackie.
Seeing Layla move off to the side, Jackie realizes that she is not hallucinating and drops her mug of tea. It smashes on the floor startling Rose. "It's you…" Jackie whispers, her mouth slackens and eyes widen. She looks between Rose and Layla at a loss for words.
Rose looks confused. "Of course it's us." Why is mum crying and upset?
"Oh my god. It's you. Oh my god." Jackie runs up to the girls and wraps her arms around the both of them. Behind Jackie's back, Layla holds up the posters for Rose to see and Rose's eyes widen in disbelief.
They all hear the door open and the Doctor runs in. "It's not twelve hours, it's twelve months. You two have been gone for a whole year. Sorry." Seeing a vaguely familiar man snaps Jackie out of her disbelief and has given way to fury. The Doctor looks like he wants to stay to apologize to the girls, but at the same time, run from the interaction that will obviously be domestic.
xxxxxx
No one says much as they wait for the police to arrive. Since Jackie has hung up the phone from calling them, she hasn't said anything to them. The girls look remorseful but don't know what to say to make it better. Jackie's face went through a range of expressions, but went somewhat blank after Rose said they were just traveling. The Doctor just looks uncomfortable after being forced to stay in the flat.
After the police finally arrive and ask what is going on, Jackie's rage explodes. "The hours I've sat here, days and weeks and month, all on my own. I thought you both were dead, and where were you? Traveling. What the hell does that mean, traveling? That's no sort of answer. You ask them." She commands the police. "They won't tell me. That's all they say. Traveling."
"That's what we were doing." Rose says unconvincingly.
"With your passport's still in the drawer? It's just one lie after another." She throws her hands up in the air.
Layla winces. There wasn't a lot of places they could go for a year without their passports in England. The Doctor sees her wince and sends her an apologetic look. Layla's lip twitches slightly. She should be mad that this happened, but she is really just numb about it. She is sorry that Jackie suffered, but she doesn't regret going with the Doctor. He has given her what she has always wanted, to travel and see things in the world and as a bonus, the universe. She doesn't say that to Jackie though, she doesn't want to send her into another fit. She decides to let Rose do the talking for them, while she has been living with them for years, she isn't Jackie's daughter, and she might not get the same reaction that Rose gets for defending their explanation, she didn't want Jackie to blame her for Rose going missing.
"We meant to phone. Really. We just, forgot. Got tied up seeing what's out there." Rose is imploring her mum to just take her word for it, but she knows how protective her mother is, and she doesn't think her mom would take it well if she said that they were traveling with an alien that can go through time and space.
"What, for a year? You forgot for a year? The both of you? And I am left sitting here. I just don't believe you. Why won't you tell me where you've been?" Tears are clouding Jackie's eyes and the girl's hearts clench. Of course, the Doctor decides to put his foot in his mouth. Really, he was just trying to speed up the domestic event so he can escape.
The Doctor stands up slightly gaining everyone's attention. He gives them an innocent grin, that actually makes him look like slightly scary. His eyes are almost bugged out and his smile is a little too wide. "Actually, it's my fault. I sort of er, employed Layla and Rose as my companions."
"Danger Will Robinson, danger." Layla mutters under her breath. Did the Doctor not realize how bad that sounds to the police and Jackie along with that smile he is giving them?
"When you say companion, is this a sexual relationship?" The policeman asks nosily and without any reason to seeing that they were all adults.
The Doctor and Rose both shout no, but however Layla mutters. "I wish". No one hears her except the Doctor and he has to fight down the blush with both arousal and awkwardness to not make the police suspect that he was lying. His feelings are hot and cold. One minute he is heated and devouring Layla with his gaze, and the next he is like a blushing, virgin, schoolboy.
Jackie's attention turns on him instantly. She gets a good look at him and the image he paints. She jabs her finger in the Doctor's face. "Then what is it? Because you, you waltz in here all charm and smiles, and the next thing I know, they vanish of the face of the Earth. How old are you then? Forty? Four-five? What, did you find them on the internet? Did you go online and pretend you're a doctor?"
The Doctor's hearts clench slightly at the thought that he looked too old to be with Layla, but becomes indignant at her questioning him. "I am a Doctor!"
Jackie's lips pull back and bares her teeth. "Prove it! Stitch this, mate!" She, quick as lightening, slaps him across the face so hard his head turns to the side from the power of it and he cries out in pain. His skin instantly reddens and he places his hand against his cheek and feels the warmth from the impact. The Doctor quickly leaves the flat and heads up to the roof to wait for the girls. The policemen just look uncomfortable being there. Seems like a simple case of an adult leaving with their boyfriend and not telling the mother. They too, quickly make their escape from the craziness.
Jackie goes into the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea to try to calm down and not cry. The girls look at each other and go after her. They form a three-way hug and all are holding on tightly. Jackie's lip is quivering. "Did you think about me at all?"
Rose's eyes tear up, and Layla looks at her sadly. "We did, all the time."
"I'm sorry Jackie. I should have let you know we were going traveling before we left. There was just an opportunity that we couldn't pass up. We hadn't anticipated being gone so long." Layla said as she was gently rubbing Jackie's back.
"One phone call. Just to know that you two were alive. That's all I wanted. Not knowing was the worst."
"We're sorry, we really are." Rose is able to choke out, her throat tightening at the thought of her mother not knowing if they were safe or not.
"Do you know, what terrifies me, is that you still can't say. What happened to you two. What can be so bad that you can't tell me, Sweethearts? Where were you?" She pleads with them to tell her, but they can't know she wouldn't believe them or handle it well at all.
After Jackie calms down, she sits down with her tea and calls her friends to let them know that Rose and Layla are back. Layla and Rose decide to take quick showers and change clothes before they meet with the Doctor. Rose goes first since it takes longer for her hair to dry, but she isn't long then it is Layla's turn. Rose leaves her hair down and straight while wearing a simple, pink, t-shirt, and baggy blue jeans with her almost worn-out sneakers, and her makeup simple. Layla styles her hair and does her makeup quick and dresses in a black long sleeve shirt with lace for the arms and lace on the top above her cleavage and shoulders that is solid black and form fitting from her breasts down and pairs that with a black pleated skirt and her black converses. They look each other over and both nod in satisfaction. They might not have the same taste in clothes, but agree that the look they wear works for them.
xxxxxx
The Doctor is sitting close to the door that gave roof access. He is staring at the clear sky in deep thought. Will they still want to come with me? He was more worried that Layla wouldn't come, but he has come to like Rose, as a friend of course. He is wondering what is taking them so long to come up when the door opens and they both come out. He notices that they have changed clothes and can smell their shower gel since it is still fresh on their skin. Rose looks the same as she has been, but the Doctor discretely looks Layla up and down admiring her outfit and how it fits on her. The skirt is slightly short so he sees a lot of her legs and can now get a good look at the tattoos on her thighs, and on one it looked like a garter belt from what he could see and his eyes widened at how appealing it was on her leg. He sees on her other thigh, on the outer side of it she has an array of flowers and thorny vines that go down towards her knee and up under her skirt and he wonders how far it goes up. She leans against the door next to the Doctor and he side eyes her legs again. I wonder why she doesn't have more tattoos on her legs after seeing the collection she has on her arms. But the ones she has on her legs are very stimulating to him. He wants to bite at the garter belt and run his tongue up the length of the flowers and see how high it goes up. He has to bite his lip to stop a groan from escaping and is so grateful when Rose starts talking and distracts him from these arousing thoughts of Layla.
Rose sits along the concrete wall and throws her hands up in the air. "We can't tell her. Can't even begin."
"That's why her hair is so big, it's full of secrets." Layla fake whispers to the Doctor.
Rose snorts. "Don't Mean Girls me. Mum is never going to forgive us. And we missed a whole year." She ponders this. "Was it good?"
The Doctor quickly looks away from Layla and looks towards Rose. He pursues his lips. "Middling."
That shocks a laugh out of Layla, but Rose just gives him the stink eye. "You're so useless." She teases.
"Well, if it's this much trouble, are you going to stay here now?" He finally asks the question he is dreading an answer to. He crosses his fingers in a human gesture he has picked up.
"I'm definitely going with you. I want to travel and see the universe. I love Jackie, but I am not going to let that hold me back from experiencing life." Layla finishes her statement with a nod of her head. The Doctor gives her a cheesy grin in happiness. He had been so worried that she would stay. Oh, he wouldn't have given up so easily and would have constantly tried to convince her to come with him, but he is glad there was no hesitancy in her answer. He barely knows her, but he can tell he will grow to love her and that it wouldn't take long. He isn't fighting it either. Promised Ones bonds were sacred, and two souls are meant for each other, there is no reason to fight it or deny it. To find the one person that was made for you, well, that was the most beautiful thing in the universe.
Rose however hesitates. "I don't know. I can't do that to her again, though."
"Well, she's not coming with us." He was adamant of that and refused to budge for Rose.
"No chance." The girls say together.
"I don't do families." As the Doctor says this, he has a moment of panic. He had a family, a wife, and children before the war, but it was an arranged marriage. He has a feeling that he will probably change his mind if Layla wanted a family with him, but he is hoping that it won't be for a while so he can spend many years with her alone before he has to share her.
"She slapped you!" Rose bursts out laughing and Layla can't help but join when she sees the look on his face.
"Nine hundred years of time and space, and I've never been slapped by someone's mother." He crosses his arms over his chest and turns his head to the side in a pout. Rose and Layla get a clear view of the slap from Jackie and see a red handprint on his cheek. Rose laughs again, but Layla winces in sympathy. "It hurt!" His sulking isn't helping Rose calm down though.
"I got to give it to Jackie though, that looked like one mean slap. I am actually proud of her for the strength she exhibited… no offense Doctor." Layla's mouth twitches as she looks at the Doctors indignant look.
"You're so lame. When you say nine hundred years?" Rose asks at the same time that Layla asks, "wait you're over nine hundred years old?"
"Yeah, that's my age." He looks at the girls worriedly.
Rose looks on in disbelief and Layla has an impish grin on her face. "Well, you look really good for being way older than sliced bread." But then thinks to herself, how does one keep track of their age in a time machine where time is irrelevant? I don't think he would be one to keep track either way, at least not accurately.
"Oi!" But he can't help but laugh with them. He sends Layla a fond smile as she has her head thrown back in laughter.
"My mum was right. That is one hell of an age gap." The Doctor's face twists at this. He doesn't want Jackie to think he has the hots for Rose, but Rose doesn't notice and keeps on going. "Every conversation with you just goes mental. There's no one else I can talk to. We've seen all that stuff up there, the size of it, and we can't say a word. Aliens and spaceships and things, and we're the only two people on planet Earth who knows they exist."
Layla scoffs at Rose. Does she really think that we are the Doctor's first companions? She can't have expected him to be alone for an unknown number of years, because she really doesn't think he knows his own age, without having other companions. However, she doesn't say this out loud knowing that it would put Rose in a strop that she may not be as special as she thought she was. As if being able to travel the universe doesn't make her special. "I doubt we are the only ones who know. I'm sure with the government, that they would know about aliens too. The Doctor can't be the only alien to come to Earth."
Rose nods her head at the possibility and goes to reply when there is a deep horn and a spaceship, trailing black smoke, passes overhead and heads for the city. It misses Tower Bridge, weaves around St. Paul's, then with a nasty back-fire and a splutter, dives for the Thames, taking out the clock tower. Big Ben chimes once and then the spaceship crashes into the river. They watch a plume of black smoke rise into the air on the horizon.
"Oh, that's just not fair." Rose sputters while the Doctor and Layla laugh in excitement. He grabs Layla's hand tightly, sighs quietly, and pulls her down the stairs yelling for Rose to hurry up, he wants to see this up close.
They get as close as they can, but have to stop because the army has already swooped in and closed down the area and are preventing people from getting closer. The Doctor, with his height, tries to see anything that would give him information, but they are too far away for him to see. "It's blocked off." He pouts.
Layla chuckles and pats his hand. "You'll live."
"We're miles from the center. The city must be grid locked. The whole of London must be closing down." Rose gives up trying to see anything and turns towards Layla and the Doctor.
"I know. I can't believe I'm here to see this. This is fantastic!" The Doctor was giddy and full of excitement.
"Did you know this was going to happen?" Rose questions, but her face falls at his reply.
"Nope."
"Do you recognize the ship?" She tries again.
"Nope." He says with a big grin, excited at not knowing something for once.
"Aren't you supposed to be super smart?" Layla asks slyly hoping he wasn't paying attention.
"Nope." The Doctor stops and realizes what she asked. He turns towards her in mock annoyance. "Very funny."
"I thought so." She is laughing at him again, but seeing her smile, makes it worth it.
"Do you know why it crashed?" Rose should be an interrogator, Layla thinks, she sure does as a lot of questions and it is less work for me to have to ask them.
"Nope." The Doctor is bouncing on his toes, oblivious of Rose's annoyance at him.
"Oh, I am so glad I've got you."
The Doctor doesn't notice her sarcasm. "I bet you are. This is what I travel for, Rose. To see history happening right in front of us."
"Well, let's go and see it. Never mind the traffic, we've got the Tardis." She pleads. She was really excited and wanted to explore something that others couldn't.
"I doubt that a big blue box from the mid 1900's would be ignored if it just happened to materialize in front of the government while dealing with another spacecraft." Layla says dryly.
"Yeah, better not. They've already got one spaceship in the middle of London. I don't want to shove another one on top." The Doctor was being pretty logical for once, usually he wouldn't hesitate in trying to get closer.
"So, history's happening and we're stuck here?" Rose pouts.
The Doctor also pouts. "Yes, we are."
Layla pats the both on the arm. "You poor babies. I want to know what is going on too, but there isn't a lot we can do right now."
"Well, we could always do what everybody else does. We could watch it on TV." Rose suggests.
Layla grimaces. "You do realize that your mom will probably throw a party don't you? It doesn't take much to be her excuse to throw one."
The Doctor looks like he is contemplating if he wanted to deal with Jackie and her parties and get more information, or be in the dark. Rose makes the decision for him when she grabs his and Layla's hands and pull them back towards their flat. The Doctor holds back a flinch. While he is starting to get comfortable with Rose around, it still feels wrong to touch another, especially when he hasn't started and finished the bond with Layla.
xxxxxx
Layla was right. By the time they got back to the flat, it was already bursting with Jackie's friends, celebrating the 'Martians' in their toasts. The Doctor was rapidly flipping through the different news channels. He was so concentrated on the TV that he didn't realize that Layla was looking at him. She was taking in his features and the determined eyes and felt heated.
She looked away and seen that Jackie brought Rose and her friend some tea and complain. "I've got no choice, but I'm not going to make him feel welcomed." Her friend was putting in her two cents trying to make Rose feel guilty for something that wasn't technically her fault.
"Oi, I'm trying to listen." The Doctor complains. Layla laughs when Jackie gives the Doctor the stink eye.
She sees a toddler waddling his way towards the Doctor and snatch the remote from him since he was so focused on the TV. He changes the channel to a show about making cakes that is surprisingly about spaceships. The Doctor looks confused for a second before he realizes the toddler was in control of the remote. The Doctor picks the toddler up and puts him in his lap and tries to wrestle for the remote without hurting him. While she knows that the Doctor really wants to know what is going on, he isn't showing any annoyance at having to deal with the kid. Domestics and no families indeed, she thinks. Based on how he is acting, she thinks that he has experience dealing with children. Well considering he is 'nine hundred', I would be more surprised if he didn't have children.
The Doctor succeeds in retrieving the remote but lets the toddler continue to sit on his lap, while he idly plays with the boy's hair. It makes Layla's heart melt. While she isn't ready to have children now, she does want them eventually, and she wants to be with someone who would be a good father. She slightly blanches that she is thinking about the Doctor and kids at the same time. Way too soon to be thinking that way.
Lost in thought, she doesn't see the Doctor give her a curious look before he looks around shiftily, puts the toddler down, and walk towards the door. However, she does hear Jackie ask Rose where she is going and sees that she is leaving the flat. She looks around for the Doctor and see that he is gone and figured that Rose was going after him. She lets Rose deal with it since she knows that Rose would make sure that he wasn't leaving without both of them. A few minutes later she sees Rose come in holding her hands to her chest and a wide smile on her face. I wonder what made her so happy.
Xxxxxx
The Doctor couldn't take it anymore. There were aliens here! Aliens! And these humans wanted to party. He just didn't understand them sometimes. And now there was a body discovered. He wanted to go look and get information about it. Something didn't seem right about this who thing, it seemed almost… too perfect. Maybe a little… trip was in order. A solo trip. The girls wouldn't mind. They could spend some time doing domestic things, they have been gone for a year after all. He looks at Layla and sees that she is lost in thought and was curious on what was going through that wonderful brain of hers. Getting back on track, he looks around checking to make sure no one was looking at him. Seeing that the coast was clear he heads for the door and makes for the stairs quickly going down them, seemingly escaping without being noticed.
"And where do you think you're going?" Shoot, so close, the Doctor thought. He turned towards Rose.
"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. I don't like to sit around doing nothing, you should know that by now."
Rose looked at him skeptically and crossed her arms over her chest. "Right. There's a spaceship on the Thames and you're just wandering."
The Doctor tries to look nonchalant and put his hands in his pants pocket. "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."
"So?" Rose didn't know what his point was.
He got an excited smile on his face. "So, maybe this is it. First contact. The day mankind officially comes into contact with an alien race. I'm not interfering because you've got to handle this on your own. That's when the human race finally grows up." He looks at her like a proud parent. "Just this morning you were all tiny and small and made of clay. Now you can expand. You don't need me. Go and celebrate history. Spend some time with your mum."
Rose looks at him worried. "Promise you won't disappear?" She didn't want him to leave and not come back. She never had a desire to travel before, that was always Layla, but after meeting him, seeing the stuff he does, and that first adventure, she can't get enough. She wants to see and do more. She doesn't want to be stuck on earth being limited on what she can see and do.
The Doctor looks at her kindly. "Tell you what, here take this." He pats around his pockets trying to remember which one had Rose's key and which one had Layla's. Oh right, Layla's is in the pocket by my hearts and Rose's is in my right pocket. He reaches in and pulls out her key on a chain and dangles it in front of her. "Tardis key. It's about time you had one. See you later." I'll give Layla hers later.
The Doctor walks away from Rose towards his Tardis and hears a woman call out to him. "Oi, gorgeous! Come back, and join the party!" And he shivers in disgust. He only wants to be hit on by Layla now. Going into the Tardis and working on the console, he misses Mickey yelling at him and coming towards him as he dematerializes.
xxxxxx
It is a short time later when the door opens and Mickey comes in, a look of disbelief on his face. Layla makes her way towards him at the same time that Rose stands up. "I was going to come and see you."
"Someone owes Mickey an apology." Jackie's friend says snottily.
"I'm sorry." Was Rose's immediate response, but doesn't really look like it. Layla knows that Rose has been having doubts about herself and Mickey. Otherwise, she wouldn't have gone into the Tardis with a total stranger to travel and leave him behind as easily as she did. Layla knows that she gave Rose the push by saying it was a time machine, but it was Rose who made the final decision, but she also didn't think they would be gone a year either. But this is their relationship and she doesn't want to interfere with it and generally people only want to listen to advice when it suits them or it is something they want to hear. She also knows that Rose has been having fun traveling and doesn't want to stop.
"Not you." The friend cuts back in while pointedly looking at Jackie.
"Well, it's not my fault. Be fair. What was I supposed to think?" She tries to defend herself.
Mickey nods his head towards the kitchen and Rose, Layla, and Jackie, all follow him. "You two disappear, and who do they turn to? Your boyfriend and best friend. Five times I was taken in for questioning. Five times. No evidence. Course, there couldn't be, could there? And then I get her, your mother, whispering around the estate, pointing the finger. Stuff through my letterbox and all 'cos of you two."
Layla can see the anger he is trying to portray, but she can also see the devastation as well. Mickey has had enough people leave his life, and then his girlfriend and best friend take off with an alien and don't come back for a year. "Mickey…" Layla says softly getting his attention. "We're sorry. We weren't supposed to be gone so long. I know that it doesn't excuse us, but we never meant to hurt you."
Some of Mickey's anger deflates at the sincere apology. While Layla is his best friend, he knew she always wanted to travel. However, Rose is his girlfriend who never really expressed wanting to travel, and she left him for another guy who came in and swept her off her feet. After everything he read up on the Doctor, he had been worried for both of them, more so Rose since Layla could take care of herself and kick arse when needed. He turns to Rose, a heartbroken expression on his face now replacing the anger. "And I waited for you, Rose. Twelve months, waiting for you, Layla, and the Doctor to come back. I looked for you every day."
"Hold on. You knew about the Doctor? Why didn't you tell me?" Jackie buts in.
"Would you have believed him? You obviously didn't believe him when you were accusing him of murder." Layla looks at her accusingly. Layla knows that Jackie was scared and upset about them being gone, but Jackie knew how Mickey practically worship the ground Rose walked on. In a time of uncertainty, she should have stuck by him and realized he was just as devastated.
Mickey looks at Layla gratefully knowing that Jackie wouldn't have believed him no matter what he said. "Yeah, yeah. Why not, Rose? Huh? How could I tell her where you went?" It was a mixture of grief and anger in the way the Mickey asked her.
"Tell me now." Jackie demanded. If Mickey could tell her the truth when Rose wouldn't, she was going to get it out of him.
Mickey gives her an unkind smile, a flat look in his narrowed eyes. "I might as well, 'cos you're stuck here. The Doctor's gone. Just now. That box thing just faded."
Rose is shaking her head in denial. "What do you mean?" Layla didn't think that the Doctor would leave without at least saying goodbye, especially since they said they were wanting to still travel with him when he asked. Why would he leave now?
He smirked cruelly at the look of shock on Rose's face. "He's left you. Some boyfriend he turned out to be."
Rose quickly runs out of the flat while Jackie, Mickey, and Layla follow after her. Rose looks around for the Tardis but sees it is gone. "He wouldn't just go, he promised me."
Layla didn't think that the Doctor would break a simple promise like this. She thinks about it and rationalizes that he probably went to investigate that spaceship. Layla decided to stay out of their argument though. She feels that Mickey has a right to be upset and wants to let him get it all out because upset people don't want to talk rationally, they want to lash out. Similar to how Rose attacked the Doctor on Platform One. She would also know, it happened to her a lot when she was recovering from the abuse when she came to live with Jackie.
"Oh, he's dumped you, Rose. Sailed off into space. How does it feel, huh? Now you are left behind with the rest of us Earthlings. Get used to it. He's vamoosed"
"What're you two chimps going on about? What's going on? What's this Doctor done now?" Jackie was confused, and while she wanted to get onto Mickey for the way he was talking to Rose, she also wanted answers, and Mickey seemed to have them. She also remembered how Layla was when she was recovering from the abuse she lived with and it was similar and knew that he was hurting and lashing out. She knows she didn't help with accusing him of murder and not sticking with him in this last year of uncertainty.
"He's not, because he gave me this." She showed him a key and Layla's heart lurched, why did Rose get one and not me? "He's not my boyfriend, Mickey. He's better than that. He's much more important than…" She stops as they all hear the Tardis materializing.
Mickey looks on in shock that it came back and Jackie looks like she had just seen a magic trick and turns to the girls. "How'd you do that, then?" Rose opens the door and walks in, Layla follows and Jackie and Mickey stand in the doorway seeing the inside, one remembering from a previous traumatic event and the other looking on in disbelief.
"Alright, so I lied. I went and had a look. But the whole crash landing's a fake. I thought so. Just too perfect. I mean, hitting Big Ben. Come on. So, I thought let's go and have a look." The Doctor rambled on oblivious of the two extra people nearby.
"My mum's here." Rose looks to the Doctor for help but he is just annoyed.
"Oh, that's just what I need. Don't you dare make this place domestic." He is pointing his finger at her with a stern look on his face.
Layla is going around and touching the columns and greeting the Tardis. She feels a warmth in her mind as she is greeted back. Mickey comes storming in and goes up to the Doctor. "You ruined my life, Doctor. They thought they were dead. I was a murder suspect because of you." Layla gives him a remorseful look.
The Doctor feels slightly bad for the kid. However, that feeling goes away when he glances at Layla's face and sees the look she is giving to Mickey. Did he say something to upset Layla? He looks towards Rose and slightly blames her; this was her boyfriend. "You see what I mean? Domestic."
"I bet you don't even remember my name." Layla goes to towards Mickey and lays her hand on his arm, wanting him to calm down and to know that even if he is upset with her, she is there for him when she knows he is hurting. He grabs her hand and holds it tightly for the comfort.
The Doctor sees her touching him and sneers at the kid. "Ricky." He says petulantly.
"It's Mickey." He grits his teeth.
"No, it's Ricky." The Doctor's jealousy is getting the best of him and he is resorting to acting immature because he wants them to stop touching each other.
"I think I know my own name." His other hand clenched into a fist and squeezes Layla's fingers tightly.
"You think you know your own name? How stupid are you?" He winces mentally when he sees the angry look on Layla's face.
"That's enough Doctor. Quit antagonizing him. He has done nothing wrong and was wrongfully accused of murder. He has a right to be angry. You did get us here a year late."
The Doctor just turns his head to the side, chastened. He looks and sees the smug look on Mickey's face and that he is still holding Layla's hand. He gives him a sneer and a dark look. He turns away from them so he doesn't have to see and starts working around the console.
"Mum, don't! Don't go anywhere." Rose shouts after her mum making them realize that during their own conversation, Jackie had still been there and having a meltdown. Not even a minute later and Rose has returned. "That was a real spaceship?" She stands close to the Doctor looking at what he is seeing on the screen.
Layla glares at Rose. Mickey is here, the one who waited, and she is getting in the personal bubble of another man right in front of him. She ignores the slight jealousy she is feeling when she sees them standing together. For the Doctor, he is too busy looking at the screen to realize how close Rose is standing next to him. If he had noticed, he would have put some space between them instantly. "Yep." He replies absentmindedly.
"Wait, it was a real spaceship, but it was planned to hit the way it did? Why would they want to draw attention to something that would obviously cause a panic and curiosity? Invasion?" Layla lets go of Mickey's hand and stands on the other side of the Doctor, whose body unconsciously leans towards her a bit.
"Funny way to invade, putting the world on red alert." Mickey was resigned to the fact that the Doctor was apparently staying around.
Seeing that Layla and Mickey separated has cooled some of his ire towards the kid. "Good point! So, what're they up to?" The Doctor bends down and opens a grate on the floor and slips inside. The others are just standing around waiting for him to do whatever he needs to do.
Not wanting to have a talk with Rose just yet, Mickey wanders over to the Doctor. "So, what're you doing down there?" He might as well try to make nice with the guy. Rose and Layla are already attached to him.
The Doctor however doesn't want the kid around, he knows that Mickey is Rose's boyfriend, but considering she left with him and Layla, they don't seem to have a strong relationship and he doesn't want Mickey to put his attentions on Layla. "Ricky."
Mickey glowers and huffs. "Mickey."
The Doctor ignores him. "Ricky. If I was to tell you what I was doing to the controls of my frankly magnificent time ship, would you even begin to understand?"
Mickey concedes that he is right. "I suppose not."
"Well, shut it, then." If the Doctor is unpleasant to Mickey, maybe that will keep him away. However, it backfires when he sees Mickey walk over towards Rose and Layla who had been talking about Jackie and her reaction to the Tardis.
"Some friend you've got." He twists his mouth into a sour expression.
"I'm sorry, he likes to wind people up." Layla gives him an apologetic look, but Mickey waves it off, it is not her fault her friend is an ass.
"I am sorry Mickey." Rose says grabbing his hand.
"Every day, I looked. On every street corner, wherever I went, looking for a blue box for a whole year." His voice catches and his lip slightly trembles remembering the last year that he was alone.
"It's only been a few days for us. I don't know. It's, it's hard to tell inside this thing, but I swear, it has just been a few days since we last saw you.
His shoulders slump and gives them a bitter smile. "Not enough time to miss me, then?"
Layla doesn't know what Rose is feeling, but her heart hurts for the pain they put Mickey through. "We are used to seeing you every day Mickey, these last few days have been odd without you."
Mickey gives Layla and smile in appreciation and looks towards Rose. Rose nods her head in agreement. "I did miss you." Mickey looks at her happily.
"So, er, in the twelve months, have you been seeing anyone else?" Rose didn't know if she wanted the answer or not.
"No."
"Okay." Rose feels a mixture of happiness and slight disappointment, but doesn't know why. Maybe because she is happy that he stayed loyal to her, but disappointment because he wasn't happy, even if it was with someone else?
"Mainly because everyone thinks I murdered the both of you." He says it simply, but with pain in his eyes. Layla and Rose hug him in apology and hold him tight. He grips them tightly and trembles slightly.
The Doctor looks up from finishing his work under the grate and sees them all hugging. He grits his teeth, but puts on a happy smile and exclaims in happiness. "Got it! Ha, ha! Patched in the radar, looped it back twelve hours so we can follow the flight of that spaceship. Here we go. Hold on. Come on." He relaxes when they all let go of each other and walk towards him.
They all look at the trajectory on the monitor. "That's the spaceship on its way to earth, see? The spaceship did a sling shot round the earth before it landed." The Doctor is pointing at the screen educating them on what was happening.
"What does that mean?" Rose questions, not understanding what he was saying.
"It means that 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?"
"What makes you say it is aliens and not someone from Earth? The technology? Or that alien you went to go look at? Also, how did no one notice a spaceship leave earth in the first place before it landed here?"
"Bit of both. The alien on the ship was an earth pig that had been cut open and had other bits placed inside it to make it look like an alien with alien technology, the ship itself is of alien origin. And I have no idea, maybe it was cloaked, or where they took off from was uninhabited? Could be many different reasons."
xxxxxx
Layla was sitting on a chair by the console checking her message from the last year, the Doctor was messing around the console, and Rose and Mickey were channel surfing on the TV. "How many channels do you get?" Mickey asked the Doctor.
"All the basic packages." Was his bland response.
Mickey perked up intrigued. "Do you get sports channels?"
"Yes, I get the football. Hold on, I know that lot." The Doctor took the remote from Mickey to keep him from changing the channel.
"It is looking likely that the government's bringing in alien specialists- those people who have devoted their lives to studying outer space."
"UNIT. United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. Good people."
"How do you know them?" Rose was curious, seemed like the Doctor knew a lot of people.
"How do you become an expert on something that half the people believe to be a myth, and where the government has all kinds of coverups?" Layla pondered, not really expecting an answer.
Mickey cut in before the Doctor could answer her though. "'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."
The Doctor swallows harshly. Typical that humans only focus on how many died and not how many were saved. "That's nice. Good boy, Ricky."
"Mickey, I have only been on three adventures with the Doctor, but he saves more people than the amount of people that die. He isn't all knowing and powerful, he can't protect everyone. He does what he can to save as many as he can." Layla gently scolds him, missing the grateful look the Doctor sends her.
"If you know them, why don't you go and help?" Rose wondered because he seemed like he would be the first in line to figure out this mystery.
"They wouldn't recognize me. I've changed a lot since the old days. Besides, the world's on a knife-edge. There are aliens out there and fake aliens. We want to keep this alien out of the mix. I'm going undercover. And er, I'd better keep the Tardis out of sight. Ricky, you've got a car. You can do some driving." The Doctor takes charge and moves past the talk of his regenerations. It wasn't important right now anyways.
Mickey huffs but asks in a dull tone agreeing to drive them. "Where to?"
They all walk towards the door to leave the Tardis. When they all step outside they are blinded by all of the lights being pointed at them. The Doctor hears guns cock and reaches behind him to find Layla and pulls her behind his body.
"Do not move! Step away from the box and raise your hands above your heads." The policeman gives contradicting orders.
Mickey makes a run for it and Rose looks after him in exasperation. "Rose! Layla!" They hear Jackie scream and see her being held back by a couple of soldiers.
"Raise your hands above your head. You are under arrest."
The Doctor laughs in amusement and raises his hands with a cheesy grin on his face. "Take me to your leader." Rose would have facepalmed had she not been at risk of being shot should she move unexpectedly.
"Hey! Quoting things is my bit." Layla protested with humor. "But I guess I can let that one go, since you are the alien. I get to say it on the next planet we get captured though, since I will be the alien! I call dibs!"
Soldiers crowd around the three of them and manhandle them into a waiting car. First went in Layla, then the Doctor, and lastly, Rose. The Doctor wishes they had put him in first though. His body is wanting to scoot away from Rose, but there isn't much room for his to move and he doesn't want to squish Layla against the side of the car. He clears his throat roughly at the thought of him pressing Layla against the side of a car with his body for a different reason. He was never innocent before he met Layla. He has been alive a long time and been with a lot of women, but being around his Promised One is making him feel like he is becoming a sexual maniac. He has been having a lot of fantasy's since meeting her. But he isn't going to rush into anything until he secures her heart.
"This is a bit posh. If I knew it was going to be like this, being arrested, I would have done it years ago." Rose looks around in wonder at the treatment they are getting for being arrested, being with the Doctor was so much fun.
"Rose, did you forget how Jimmy was treated when he was arrested? It was nowhere near as nice as this." As Layla says this, Rose looks confused as to why they are being treated differently.
"We're not being arrested, we're being escorted." The Doctor corrects her.
"Where are we going then?" She asks.
"I'm assuming where the alien specialists are. If the Doctor has helped them before, and they knew he was here, they would want his help, yes?" Layla points out logically and the Doctor gives her a proud look.
"10 Downing Street?" Rose's eyes had widened and her jaw dropped in surprise.
"That's the one." The Doctor says happy.
"I just wonder how they knew you were in town and where." Layla wondered.
"Oh, my god. We're going to 10 Downing Street? How come?" This was turning out to be a good day, another adventure after the disaster this morning.
The Doctor rubs the back of his neck and looks sheepish. "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."
"I am assuming because you can't stay out of trouble and are nosey when things like this happen, am I right?" Layla smirked at him, amused. Rose laughs in agreement.
The Doctor perused his lips and wouldn't meet her eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about." He denied.
"You sit on a throne of lies." Layla says with a smirk.
"Now they need you though?" Why else would they arrest us and bring us to 10 Downing Street, Rose thought.
"Like it said on the news. They're gathering experts in alien knowledge. And who's the biggest expert of the lot?" The Doctor's smile was smug, but it quickly fell at their response.
"Patrick Moore?" Rose teased.
"Men in Black?" Layla deadpanned.
"Apart from him and they aren't even real!" He grumbled.
"So cocky." Layla winked at him. "Confidence is a sexy trait." It was said to where only the Doctor heard her.
His head snaps to her and he looks at her with wide eyes and pink cheeks. He knows that Layla finds him attractive, and it seems like these little remarks are her honest feedback. However, he knows it is too soon for her to really develop deep feelings for him and he wants her heart, not just her body. And he isn't sure if she is just saying it to tease him or not. So, he turns away from her to keep from doing something that will ruin the progress he seems to be making.
Rose, oblivious to what just happened. "Oh, don't you just love it." She flirted.
"I'm telling you. Lloyd George, he used to drink me under the table. Who's the Prime Minister now?"
The girls look at him in disbelief. "How would we know? We missed a year." They eerily say at the same time. They arrive at 10 Downing Street and all exit the vehicle. The girls are looking around in bewilderment while the Doctor is lapping up the attention and waving to the cameras.
xxxxxx
"Ladies and gentlemen, can we convene? Quick as we can, please. It's this way on the right, and can I remind you ID cards are to be worn at all times." They all hear as they walk into the main area. The place is swarming with employees, experts, and security.
The junior secretary walks up to the Doctor and hands him an ID tag. "Here's your ID card, cards are to be worn at all times. I'm sorry, your companions don't have clearance."
The Doctor stiffens and narrows his eyes at the man. Fake and real aliens are around for a reason and he doesn't want to leave Layla and Rose by themselves. "I don't go anywhere without them."
"You're the code nine, not them. I'm sorry, Doctor. It is the Doctor, isn't it? They'll have to stay outside." The man knows how important the Doctor is, but he is just trying to do his job.
The Doctor's jaw clenches. "They're staying with me."
The secretary swallows thickly. This man is very intimidating when he stares like that. "Look, even I don't have clearance to go in there. I can't let them in and that's a fact." He is practically pleading with the Doctor to not make a fuss.
"It's alright, you go." Rose steps in, saving the man from the Doctor.
"Yeah, besides we're not experts, maybe we can get some info from the people around here." Layla whispers to him quietly.
A woman who looks very nervous comes up to the group. "Excuse me. Are you the Doctor?" The Doctor gave the woman a "sure," but otherwise isn't paying attention to her at all, too focused on Layla and Rose.
"Not now. We're busy. Can't you go home?" The secretary moans at the woman, fed up with dealing with her since she came in.
The woman's hands are trembling and she looks pale. "I just need a word in private, please."
The Doctor gives into the girls. "I suppose so. Don't get in any trouble." He turns around and enters the conference room.
"You haven't got clearance. Now leave it." The secretary snaps at the woman. He then turns to Layla and Rose and starts to guide them away. "I'm going to have to leave you with security."
The woman, seeing her chance with the Doctor's companions, quickly cuts in. "It's alright. I'll look after them. Let me be of some use." She puts her hands on the girl's back and guides them down the hall. "Walk with me. Just walk with me." Her movements are jerky and her eyes are darting all around, not keeping them focused on one spot for too long.
The woman guides them further and further away from anyone to talk to them privately. "That's right. Don't look around. Harriet Jones, MP Flydale North." She flips them her ID card. "This friend of yours, he's an expert, is that right? He knows about aliens?"
Rose looks at her suspiciously. "Why do you want to know?"
Layla takes in all the physical signs she is showing. She recognizes the paleness, trembling lips, rapid blinking, and looking all around. This was something that she had dealt with as a kid: terror. Something scared this woman and she wanted to talk to the Doctor. "Is this about the aliens? Do you know something that the Doctor needs to know?" Layla looks at her knowingly, but with a look of sympathy and kindness.
Harriet looks at Layla and sees that look of knowing kindness and breaks down sobbing. She didn't think that she would be believed so quickly and without even saying a word. She brings the girls to the cabinet room and started explaining everything she saw. "They turned the body into a suit. A disguise for the thing inside!"
Layla was gently holding Harriet and rubbing her back in calm movements. This was how she comforted the kids in foster care. "It's alright. We believe you. You're safe."
"Yeah, it's alien. They must have some serious technology behind this. If we could find it, we could use it." Rose starts to search around the room looking for clues. She opens a cupboard and a man's body falls out. They all look on in shock. "Oh, my god! Is that the…"
Rose is cut off when the secretary comes into the room. "Harriet, for god's sake. This has gone beyond a joke. You cannot just wander." He freezes as he sees the body on the floor, stammering out. "Oh, my god. That's the Prime Minister!"
They all turn around quickly as another person enters the room behind the secretary. The middle-aged, large woman looks around at each of them and then the dead body. She looks up and smirks nastily. "Oh! Has someone been naughty?"
"That's impossible! He left this afternoon. The Prime Minister left Downing Street. He was driven away!" The secretary was freaking out, he just couldn't believe that the Prime Minister was dead.
The large woman laughed. "And who told you that, hmm? Me." She reaches up and pulls at what looks like a zipper and zips open the skin at her forehead. A bright light escapes the opening and they all watch in horror as they realize that she was wearing a skin suit.
When she was done, the alien flexes her three long fingers with claws? Nails? She looked like a giant, green, baby with big black eyes that blinked sideways. The alien goes to grab the secretary since he was the closest, but Layla quickly pulls him out of the way, accidentally getting too close to the alien herself. The alien didn't stop her arm though and while the alien couldn't grab Layla like she had planned to do to the secretary, she slashed down and caught Layla in the chest. Layla gasps in pain and puts her hand up to her chest to stem the flow of blood that is leaking from the cut. She quickly leaps back and gets as far away from the alien as she can. They all stare at the alien waiting for it to do something. They, however, weren't expecting for the alien to seize up like it had been tased and visible sparks coming from the collar on her neck. This gave them plenty of time to leave the room and get a decent head start before the alien was chasing after them.
Xxxxxx
In the briefing room right after the Doctor left the girls, the Doctor takes a seat at the back and sits in the seat sideways quickly flipping through the few pages they had put together for the experts. He raises his eyebrow in surprise at what he reads on the last page and waits for the meeting to start.
"Now, ladies and gentlemen, if I could have your attention, please. As you can see, from the summaries in front of you, the ship had one porcine occupant." Asquith was not able to continue talking because the Doctor had stood up and just had to take charge as he always did. Of course, he did, he was the cleverest in the room.
"Of course, the really interesting bit happened three days ago, see, filed away under Any Other Business. The North Sea. A satellite detected a signal, a little blip of radiation, at one hundred fathoms, like there's something down there. You were just about to investigate and the next thing you know, this happens. Spaceships, pigs, massive diversion. From what?" The Doctor is walking around as he is talking, the booklet in hand and head tilted down in thought. "If fake aliens fake an alien crash and an alien pilot, what do they get?" He stops walking and raises his head and looks grim. "Us. They get us. It's not a diversion, it's a trap. This is all about us. Alien experts the only people with knowledge how to fight them gathered together in one room." He stops talking as one of the men in charge up front farts. The Doctor looks at him in disgust. "Excuse me, do you mind not farting while I'm saving the world?"
Green smirks at him. "Would you rather silent but deadly?"
General Asquith reaches up to his forehead and removes his cap. He unzips his forehead. As he is doing this Green is laughing and a blue light is filling the room. A big green alien is wiggling out of the general skin suit. "We are the Slitheen."
Green looks at everyone with a menacing look. "Thank you all for wearing your ID cards. They'll help to identify the bodies." He holds up a remote activation switch and the ID cards emit electric shocks to the wearers, including the Doctor.