It doesn't take long for the alien to recover and take chase. Layla and Rose are handling this pretty well considering the few adventures that were on with the Doctor. However, Harriet and the secretary were scared out of their minds. When Layla and Rose realized that they were lagging behind, Layla reached back and grabbed the secretary's hand and pulled him up towards her. Rose grabbed Harriet's hand and did the same. They were gripping the girl's hands like lifelines.
They run to a door and try to open it before the alien gets there but they are too late. Luck is on their side though. The lift opens and they all see the Doctor in it. He sees them, his eyes narrow on the secretary holding Layla's hand and his eye twitches. He then sees the alien chasing them and sees that they are trying to get in the next room. "Hello!" The Doctor gives them a cheesy grin and a wave, but it is enough for the alien to be distracted giving the others time to escape.
They all look around the room they are in and don't see another way out. They run to different parts of the room to hide. Rose hides behind one set of curtains, Harriet hides behind the folding screen, and Layla pulls the secretary towards another set of curtains and they hide behind those. Layla is gasping lightly and gripping her chest in pain; blood is seeping between her fingers. The secretary looks at her worried.
They all hold their breath as they hear the door open. "Oh, such fun. Little human children, where are you? Sweet little humeykins, come to me. Let me kiss you better. Kiss you with my big, green lips." They all shudder in revulsion at the aliens' words. They hear more alien's come into the room. "My brothers." The one that was chasing them, the female, said.
"Happy hunting?"
"It's wonderful. The more you prolong it, the more they stink." She sounds so happy to the humans in the room.
They hear an intake of breath. "Sweat and fear."
"I can smell an old girl. Stale bird and brittle bones." The brother says, while not pleased with the quality of the smell, he won't turn down a meal.
"And three ripe youngsters, all hormones and adrenalin. Fresh enough to bend before they snap. One of them is also wounded and her blood smells delicious." The female alien exclaimed with a smile that couldn't be contained.
The alien pulls back the curtain that Rose was hiding behind and she screams. Harriet quickly jumps out from behind the screen. "No! Take me first! Take me!"
Luckily, for Harriet, the Doctor bursts in with a fire extinguisher. He sprays them with a fire extinguisher. "Out, with me!" Rose quickly grabs the curtain and pulls it down over the female alien and they all leave the room running quickly.
The Doctor takes in the secretary and Harriet running with them. He sees that the secretary is still holding onto Layla's hand and is running pretty close to her. His eyes were so focused on that, causing him to miss the blood on Layla's hands. "Who the hell are you two?"
"Harriet Jones, MP For Flydale North." She huffs out in between gasping breaths.
"Indra Ganesh, sir." His squeaks out from the fear he was feeling.
"Nice to meet you." The Doctor snarks in sarcasm.
It goes over Harriet's head though. "Likewise."
"We need to head to the Cabinet Room." Now they knew where the Doctor was leading them.
"The Emergency Protocols are in there. They give instructions for aliens." Harriet says helpfully.
"Harriet Jones, I like you." The Doctor sends Harriet a smile.
She looks pleased. "And I like you too."
"Enough flirting, more running please." Layla snarks out, feeling a twinge of jealousy at their banter.
They finally make it to the Cabinet Room and run in, but the aliens catch up before they can close the door. The Doctor grabs a decanter from a side table and stands in the doorway. "One more move and my sonic device will triplicate the flammability of this alcohol. Whoof, we all go up. So back off." The aliens take a step back from the room, but they don't leave.
"Right then. Question time. Who exactly are the Slitheen?"
"They're aliens." Harriet answers helpfully.
The Doctor makes a face. "Yes, I got that, thanks."
One of the male aliens looked at the Doctor. "Who are you, if not human?"
"Wait, who's not human?" Harriet looked around confused as if an alien like the Slitheen would pop out of a skin suit.
Rose points to the Doctor. "He's not human."
"He's not human?" She looks at him trying to find anything alien like on him. "He looks like he is human."
"Can I have a bit of hush?" The Doctor snapped at them. Was this really the time to be discussing his non-human status?
Harriet looks meekly at the Doctor. "Sorry." However she couldn't let it go. "But he's got a northern accent."
"Every planet has a north, now hush so the Doctor can finish with them 'cos I need a little first aid here." Layla snarked. The bleeding has slowed, but it needs to be cleaned and she might need stitches. Plus, her shirt was partially cut open and she thinks that her bra was sliced in half so without her hand there, she would be giving everyone an eye full.
"You're hurt?" The Doctor growled out through clenched teeth, but he didn't turn around to see due to him keeping an eye on the other aliens.
"Focus Doctor, it's not important right now and isn't too bad. You can tend to it when we have time."
The Doctor reluctantly continued his questions. "Come on. You've got a spaceship hidden in the North Sea. It's transmitting a signal. You've murdered your way to the top of government. What for, invasion?"
One of the male aliens' scoffs in derision. "Why would we want to invade this god-forsaken rock?"
"Then something's brought the Slitheen race here. What is it?" The Doctor tries to speed this conversation up so he can tend to his Promised One.
"The Slitheen race? Slitheen is not our species." It is said like the Doctor was stupid for thinking that. "Slitheen is our surname. Jocrassa Fel Fotch Pasameer-Day-Slitheen at your service." He mockingly bows towards the humans and Time Lord.
"So, you're family." The Doctor was having a hard time trying to find their end goal. His mind was split between worry of what they wanted and worry for Layla. She might have said it was not important, but she is his Promised One. She is the most important in the room to him.
"A family business." It was impossible for the Doctor and everyone else to know which Slitheen was which, they can barely tell the male voices from the female.
"Then you're out to make a profit. How can you do that on a god-forsaken rock?" The Doctor sneered in anger; they were killing people for money. It always comes down to money.
One Slitheen got tired of answering the Doctor's questions "Ah, excuse me?" He asked in mock politeness. "Your device will do what? Triplicate the flammability?"
The Doctor looks confused. "Is that what I said?"
"You're making it up." One male Slitheen growls out.
"Ah, well! Nice try. Harriet, have a drink. I think you're gonna need it." The Doctor tries to pass the decanter to Harriet, but she is clutching the red box with the protocols to her chest.
"You pass it to the left first." Even in this situation, manners should obviously be upheld.
"Sorry." The Doctor going with it passes the decanter to the person on his left, who happened to be Rose.
"Thanks." She doesn't drink it though, just clutches it tightly.
"Now we can end this hunt with a slaughter." They start to prowl closer to the room ready to fix the loose ends.
"Don't you think we should run?" Rose asked worriedly.
"Oh." Layla mumbled. "You must really be worried if you're willing to do more running." Both the Doctor and Rose snort at her attempt to relieve the tension.
"Fascinating history, Downing Street. Two thousand years ago, this was marsh land. 1730, it was occupied by a Mister Chicken. He was a nice man. 1796, this was the Cabinet Room. It the Cabinet's in session and in danger, these are about the four more safest walls in the whole of Great Britain. End of Lesson." The Doctor lifts a small panel by the door and presses a button. Metal shutters slam down across the windows and doors. The Doctor looked satisfied. "Installed in 1991. Three inches of steel lining every single wall. They'll never get in."
Layla's brows raise. "And how do we get out?"
"Ah." The Doctor's satisfied look doesn't disappear until he looks at Layla and see blood on her hand that is against her chest.
The Doctor rushes over to her and pulls her hand away from her chest. He sucks in a breath when he sees all the blood and that she had been sliced basically in the same spot as the scar she got as a child. It doesn't even register in his mind how much of her chest was actually showing because he was so worried, at least he didn't realize it yet.
He pulls her over to the table and lays her down on her back with her legs hanging over the end. He steps in between her legs and rummages around in his pockets for a first aid kit that he always has on hand. He pulls out anything he could possibly need, gauze, needle and thread, alcohol wipes, and ointment. When he has everything set out and within reach, he takes an alcohol wipe and starts to clean the area to see exactly how bad the cut is. He so distracted and focused he doesn't realize that her chest is almost on display or that Indra was looking at her in admiration.
"You know, when two people are in this position, it is for a more pleasurable activity." Layla quips quietly so only the Doctor hears. He freezes and realizes the position they are in and where his hands are and how close his face is to her chest. His ears start to burn and his hearts race. He hears a husky chuckle and looks up at Layla's face. Even though the Doctor could see the slight pain in her features, she gives him a cheeky wink and darts her eyes to his mouth when he absentmindedly licks his lips. His eyes start to dilate.
He clears his throat roughly and glances around the room to see if anyone was paying attention. Rose and Harriet are looking through the Protocol box, but he growls lowly when he sees Indra looking at his Layla, more so at her chest, which he belatedly realizes is almost on full display for his viewing. He gets even closer to Layla, his legs rubbing against her inner thighs and his torso with his jacket hanging covering her frame from Indra's gaze and gets back to dealing with her wound so she could cover up. He misses Layla's cheeks redden as she had heard him growling and became heated at the sound.
The Doctor finishes cleaning the area and sees that it had mostly stopped bleeding, but that it needed stitches. "It is in the same spot as your scar, it is about six inches long and has stopped bleeding, but it needs stitches, and I'm sorry, but I don't have any anesthetic. The stitches and ointment that I will put on the cut though will accelerate the healing and the stitches will dissolve. As long as nothing happens, it should be healed by tomorrow. Hold your shirt closed while I get it ready."
"It's alright, I have had to get and give myself stitches without anesthetic before. I can handle it."
The Doctor's eye narrow at the reminder of her childhood and sanitizes the needle. He looks over to Indra who was still staring at Layla when he feels the Doctor's gaze on him. Indra flinches from the look on the Doctor's face and looks away from her. Satisfied, and ready to do the stitches, he bends back over Layla and nudges her hands away, accidentally seeing more of her chest than before. Before he can get too aroused, he focuses on the cut and starts to stitch her up. As he is stitching her up, she is wiping her own hands with an alcohol wipe to clean the blood off. She twitches every once in a while, but doesn't make a sound during the process. With her mixed martial arts and what she went through as a child, she has a high pain tolerance.
When the Doctor finishes the stitches, he wipes around it again with an alcohol wipe and then puts a small amount of ointment, gauze and tape to cover the wound. He pulls Layla up, but doesn't move away from her as he wipes his own hands with another wipe. In doing so, he watches with hooded eyes as she examines her shirt and they see her bra has been cut. She pulls it out, glad that she had put on a strapless one with the shirt she was wearing. She then grips the rest of her shirt and rips it the rest of the way down. In doing so, she wasn't paying attention to the Doctor and she accidentally flashes him her chest when she rips the shirt open. The Doctor's eyes fully dilate and he swallows roughly while breathing heavily. His hearts are pounding and his hands twitch, wanting to touch her skin that looks soft. He also noticed that she has two other piercings besides what is on her face and her belly button and it looks erotic. He sees that she has another tattoo as well barely poking out of the waistband of her skirt that is resting low of her hips.
She takes her shirt ends and tie them together into a crop top, she notices her nipples are showing, thanks to her piercings and no bra, but she doesn't care about that. She notices that the Doctor hasn't moved; she sees his twitchy hands and hears him breathing heavily. She looks up at him from under her lashes and sees his heated gaze on her. It sends a shot of heat straight to her core and she licks her lips lightly, watching him hone in on the action.
"Thank you, Doctor." She purrs to him. "I'll have to find a way to pay you back." She winks at him and puts her hands on his lower stomach and pushes him back slightly so she can stand up. She feels the Doctor's muscles stiffen under her hand. "Later of course, Darling. Right now, we have another problem to deal with." She rests her bottom along the edge of the table facing the others with her arms behind her on the table holding her up at an angle.
The Doctor nods jerkily and looks around the room assessing. He sees that Rose and Harriet weren't paying attention to them, but remembers Indra and snaps his neck to where he had last seen him. His lip curls up in a sneer and his eyes harden. He sees the blush on the secretary's face and realizes that the secretary had probably seen more of his Promised One than he hoped he did. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about that, but stay close to her to discourage the crush that the Doctor could see him have for Layla.
The Doctor walks over to the Prime Minister and drags him to the closet in the room and lays him out gently. He walks back out. "Right, what have we got? Any terminals, anything?"
"No, this place is antique. What I don't get is, when they killed the Prime Minister, why didn't they use him as a disguise?" Rose sat down and rested her head on her hand.
"He's too slim. They're big old beasts. They need to fit inside big humans." The Doctor also sits down, but closer to where Layla was resting up against the table.
"But the Slitheen are about eight feet. How do they fit inside the humans?" Rose was glad that she couldn't be used as a skin suit.
"Does it have anything to do with that collar on their necks? I thought it might have been a translator, but with the Tardis, we wouldn't need it, but they wouldn't know that. Could it be both?" Layla points out and asks at the same time.
"Very good. Yes, it is the device around their necks. Compression field. Literally shrinks them down a bit. That's why there's all that gas. It's a big exchange." The Doctor pats Layla's hand that was resting against the table.
"Wish I had a compression field. I could fit a size smaller." Rose, already becoming apathetic to the numerous deaths she has been around in a short amount of time comments.
"Excuse me, people are dead! This is not the time for making jokes." Harriet scowled at Rose and reprimands her.
"Sorry. You get used to this stuff when you are friends with him." Rose was sorry she upset Harriet, but making jokes helps her relax in the tense environment.
"Well, that's a strange friendship." Harriet mutters while looking at the Doctor and Rose oddly.
"Not really, Harriet. It is very common when someone is around a lot of death to make jokes." Layla says, standing up for Rose. "It is a coping mechanism for dealing with the stress and can allow you to look at the situation in a different way that may be helpful. It is commonly used by police, soldiers, and even EMT's and doctor's that deal with death a lot. If making jokes to keep us from breaking down from the grief helps, then that is what we do." Layla looks at Harriet seriously. Layla had known about this coping mechanism since she was a child and had employed it along with the other foster kids to keep from breaking down after the abuse they suffered. That is why she would crack jokes or quote movies during tense times to try to calm down making it seem like she wasn't taking things seriously.
Harriet and Indra look at her mystified. They have never had to deal with it obviously, based on their reactions, and hopefully they never will. But maybe, with time, they would understand what she said a bit better. "Harriet Jones. I've heard that name before. Harriet Jones. You're not famous for anything, are you?" The Doctor cuts in to lighten the conversation. He could see that Layla was thinking back to her childhood when going through her explanation of the dark humor.
Harriet was grateful for the topic change. She didn't want to think about all of the deaths involved in this fiasco and she hoped she never became apathetic like Rose, Layla, and the Doctor were. She didn't think should could handle what they apparently are used to. "Oh, hardly." She scoffs.
"Rings a bell. Harriet Jones." He hums.
"Lifelong backbencher I'm afraid, and a fat lot of use I'm being now." She sighs dejectedly and her shoulders were slumped. "The Protocols are redundant. They list the people who could help and they're dead downstairs."
"Hasn't it got, like, defense codes and things? Couldn't we just launch a nuclear bomb at them?" Rose asked without realizing the consequences of that action.
Harriet looked at Rose disturbed. "You're a very violent young woman."
Layla snorts in amusement. "Rose, I don't think you are making the connection that if we launched a nuclear bomb at them, we would also be caught in the blast as well." She doesn't see the Doctor stiffen; he knows that a missile may be their only option if he couldn't think of another plan.
"Oh, right. Well, I am out of ideas." She huffs and slumps back in her seat.
"Besides, there's nothing like that in here. Nuclear strikes do need a release code, yes, but it's kept secret by the United Nations." Harriet hammers in the final nail to the coffin that Layla had puts Rose's idea in.
The Doctor has a moment of clarity. What Harriet said triggered a memory, but it was just on the edge of his consciousness and he couldn't grasp it yet. "Say that again."
"What, about the codes?" Harriet tilts her head to the side and purses her lips.
"Anything. All of it." The Doctor mumbled distractedly, trying to connect the dots in his mind.
"Well, the British Isles can't gain access to atomic weapons without a Special Resolution from the UN." Harriet was wondering how this would be helpful.
Layla sneers and Rose scoffs. "Like that's ever stopped them before."
Harriet points at her. "Exactly, given our past record. And I voted against that, thank you very much. The codes have been taken out of the government's hands and given to the UN." She turns to the Doctor. "Is this important?"
His eyebrows are pulled close, creating a forehead crease while shifting his position to having his arms crossed over his chest. "Everything's important."
Lamenting, Harriet too sits down. "If we only knew what the Slitheen wanted. Listen to me. I'm saying Slitheen as if it's normal."
"Well, they're just one family, so it's not an invasion. They don't want a Slitheen World. They're out to make money. That means they want to use something. Something here on Earth. Some kind of asset." The Doctor explains.
"Like what, gold? Oil? Water?" Harriet names off some of the thing's humans fight over.
The Doctor turns a beaming smile onto Harriet. "You're very good at this."
She looked pleased at the praise. "Thank you."
"Harriet Jones. Why do I know that name?" The Doctor went back to thinking of something apparently more important. Indra looked at him in bewilderment that he was more concerned with here he heard Harriet's name than finding a way to get out.
Before anyone can say anything in response, they hear a phone beeping. Rose realizes it is hers and she takes it out to see who was trying to get a hold of her. "Oh, that's me."
"But we're sealed off. How did you get a signal?" Harriet's eyes are wide and her thoughts are scrambling, trying to understand.
Rose looks smug and points to the Doctor. "He zapped it. Super phone."
"Which in reality doesn't make sense. Why would they make a secure room, in Downing Street, without any type of communication inside? If the Prime Minister had to be sealed in, how would anyone know if they couldn't make contact? Especially if they are able to cut the phone lines, there should be a way to contact someone when they are in here that doesn't rely on that." Layla scratched her head in confusion, and winced when her stitches pulled a little bit.
"Then we can phone for help. You must have contacts." Harriet obviously forgot what happened downstairs.
The Doctor reminds her. "Yeah, dead downstairs."
"Not all of the experts came today. There would still be some out there that might be able to help. I'm sure there is a list with their numbers on it, but we don't have anyway to access it in here." Indra gave them a bit of good news about the experts, but their hopes fell about not being able to get a hold of anyone.
"It's Mickey." Rose tells them while looking opening a text message from him.
"Oh? Is he okay?" Layla asked concerned.
Annoyed, the Doctor snarks. "Oh, tell your stupid boyfriend we're busy."
Rose waves the phone in the Doctor's face. "Yeah, he's not so stupid after all." The Doctor sees that Mickey had sent them a photo of a Slitheen on the floor in Jackie's flat.
xxxxxx
Rose's phone starts to ring and she quickly answers it; and before she can say anything, Mickey is already talking. "No, no, no, no, no. Not just alien, but like, proper alien. All stinking, and wet, and disgusting. And more to the point, it wanted to kill us!"
They can all hear Jackie butt in. "I could've died!"
Rose frowns hearing the terror in her mum's voice. "Is she alright, though? Don't put her on, just tell me." She might be worried, but she knew her mum would go off on a tangent if she got ahold of the phone.
Realizing that they could use Mickey and his computer, the Doctor snatches the phone away from Rose. "Is that Ricky? Don't talk, just shut up and go to your computer."
Rose and Layla look at each other and sigh, even in a situation like this, the Doctor can't help but be rude. Petulant, Mickey grumbles. "It's Mickey, and why should I?"
The Doctor grimaces and has a look of distaste on his face, he sighs heavily. "Mickey the Idiot, I might just choke before I finish this sentence, but, er, I need you." The Doctor starts telling Mickey what he wants him to do: hack into the UNIT website.
Mickey was glad to be of help and to show that he was not an idiot. "It says password."
The Doctor however didn't catch that due to having to plus in the phone to the conference phone speaker. "Say again."
Mickey sighs but dutifully repeats himself. "It's asking for the password."
"Buffalo. Two f's, one l." The Doctor felt he had to spell it, since he believed Mickey to be an idiot.
Jackie was curious as to why Mickey was being told to do this. "So, what's that website?"
Mickey gives her a wide grin. "All the secret information known to mankind. See, they've known about aliens for years. They just kept us in the dark."
The Doctor snaps at him. "Mickey, you were born in the dark."
"Oh, leave him alone." Rose defends Mickey.
"Doctor, that's enough." Layla reprimands him.
Mickey feels a warmth in his chest and is pleased that his girlfriend and best friend are standing up for him. "Thank you. Password again."
The Doctor sulks at being scolded and muttered. "Just repeat it every time." He quickly gets over it though. "Big Ben – why did the Slitheen go and hit Big Ben?"
"You said to gather the experts, to kill them." Harriet reminds him.
The Doctor waves her off though. "That lot would've gathered for a weather balloon. You don't need to crash land in the middle of London."
"I still don't understand why they had to kill the experts though. Even if it is an invasion, there isn't really a lot the experts could do, right?" Indra directed his question towards the Doctor.
"They could have just wanted the attention that they would get by killing so many at once." The Doctor shrugged. Indra made a good point, but he was still annoyed by the man and his constant glances at Layla.
"The Slitheen are hiding, but then they put the entire planet on red alert." Rose couldn't see their goal plan.
"What would the Slitheen get out of causing a public display of aliens, and then have the alien experts killed?" Everyone looks towards Layla. "They want to cause a panic. So, that leads to the question, what do they get with causing a panic to the world?"
"Oh, listen to them." Jackie mutters in derision.
Rose looks hurt, while Layla was annoyed, at least we are trying, all she is doing is whining. "At least we are trying." Rose tells her mother, and Layla thinks that they think alike too often.
"Well, I've got a question, if you don't mind." Now that Jackie has had time to think, she wants answers from this Doctor. "Since that man walked into our lives, I have been attacked in the streets. I have had creatures from the pits of hell in my own living room, and my daughters disappear off the face of the Earth."
"We told you what happened." Exasperation coats Rose's tone.
"I'm talking to him." Jackie tells her sharply. "'Cos I've seen this life of yours, Doctor and maybe you get off on it, and maybe you think it's all clever and smart, but you tell me. Just answer me this. Are my daughters safe? Will they always be safe, can you promise me that? Well, what's the answer?"
"We're fine mum." Rose just wants her mum to accept that she was going to be traveling with the Doctor and not make a fuss out of it.
At the same time Layla gives Jackie an answer. "No." The Doctor's head snaps to Layla and looks hurt, but she doesn't look at him. "No matter where we are or where we go, Jackie, we will never be one hundred percent safe. There is no guarantee of that in life, even if we were to not travel with him and stay on earth. With the Doctor though, even though we aren't one hundred percent safe, he always protects us and everyone around to the best of his abilities. He puts forth the effort that others would run from to try to save the people, the planet, and all those in between." Layla looks at Rose and they have a silent conversation for a few seconds. "We trust the Doctor with our lives Jackie. You know, as well as I do, that I would not say that about many people."
The Doctor's look of hurt turns into adoration. His lips were parted and his eyes were bright and glossy. Mickey cuts in before Jackie can say anything back. "We're in."
The Doctor sits up straight and focuses on the next item on the to do list. "Now then, on the left at the top, there's a tab, an icon. Little concentric circles. Click on that."
"Alright. What is it?" The screen changes from a map of the world to an oscilloscope reading, with sound.
"The Slitheen have got a spaceship in the North Sea and it's transmitting that signal. Now hush, let me work out what it's saying."
"He'll have to answer me one day." They hear Jackie huff in annoyance.
"Hush!" Mickey reprimands her.
"It's some sort of message." The Doctor's eyebrows are furrowed.
"What does it say, shouldn't the Tardis have translated it for us? I thought you knew millions of languages too." Layla inquires, but the Doctor doesn't hear her, he was so focused on trying to figure out the message.
"It's on a loop, keeps repeating." The Doctor leaned towards the phone, like getting closer would help him understand what was being said better.
"Well, they said that they were a family business, and if they want something from this planet, couldn't it be an advert telling those interested what they are selling?" Layla looked around at those in the room to see if her idea had merit.
They hear the doorbell from Mickey's flat ring and the Doctor couldn't hear the message with the doorbell interfering. "Hush!"
"That's not me." Mickey says while rubbing his chin absentmindedly. He looks towards Jackie. "Go and see who that is."
Jackie frowns, but heads towards the door. "It's three o'clock in the morning."
Poking fun at her, Mickey retorts. "Well, go and tell them that."
The Doctor continued to listen to the message trying to figure it out. He wasn't paying attention to Mickey and Jackie anymore. "It's beaming out into space, who's it for?"
"Alright already!" They hear Jackie snap as she opens the door. Next thing they hear is her scream and her slamming the door shut. "It's him! It's the thing, it's the Slipeen!"
Those in the cabinet room hear Mickey breathing harshly. "They've found us."
With all the noise going on at Mickey's flat, the message becomes inaudible to the Doctor. The danger they are in doesn't register to him at this point. Unfortunately, it happens when the life of the planet is more important than the life of a few. "Mickey, I need that signal."
Layla and Rose look at each other, their eyes widens and mouths slackening. Rose looks towards the Doctor. "Never mind the signal, get out! Mum, get out! Get out!"
Mickey grabs a baseball bat and faces towards the door. "We can't, it's by the front door." His voice is monotoned. More emotion comes into his voice next though. "Oh, my god, it's unmasking. It's going to kill us."
Harriet looks towards the Doctor who had a vacant look on his face and was slouched down. "There's got to be some way of stopping them! You're supposed to be the expert, think of something!"
"I'm trying!" The Doctor's voice slightly cracked from the pressure. His stomach felt heavy and was frustrated with himself.
"I'll take it on, Jackie. You just run. Don't look back." They hear Mickey say bravely even though they can hear the terror in his voice. "Just run."
"That's my mother." Rose pleads. She's already lost her father; she can't lose her mum too.
The Doctor looks at Rose and sees the desperation on her face. He looks towards Layla and sees the same. He knows how much Rose loves her mum and he knows that Jackie is the only mother figure that Layla has. "Right, if we're going to find their weakness, we need to find out where they're from. Which planet. So, judging by their basic shape, that narrows it down to five thousand planets within traveling distance. What else do we know about them? Information!"
"They're green." Indra says the obvious.
The Doctor nods his head. "Yep. Narrows it down."
Layla gently touched the bandage on her chest. "Good sense of smell, blood and adrenaline."
The Doctor sees where she made that connection and grits his teeth. "Narrows it down."
Harriet snaps her fingers. "The pig technology."
The Doctor is thinking hard, they have it narrowed down a lot, but not enough. "Narrows it down."
Rose, more determined to save her mum thinks back to everything that he said about the aliens and spaceship. "The spaceship in the Thames, you said slipstream engine?"
He was getting closer to the answer. "Narrows it down."
Everyone is holding their breath when Mickey screams. "It's getting in!"
"They hunt like it's a ritual." Rose blurts out in panic.
"Narrows it down." It was getting repetitive, but he was almost there.
"Wait a minute. Did you notice? When they fart, if you'll pardon the word, it doesn't smell like a fart, if you'll pardon the word, it's something else. What is it? It's more like, er…" Harriet trails off trying to think of what the smell reminded her of.
"Bad breath!" Rose exclaims, her nose scrunched up in disgust.
"That's it!" Harriet was happy she wasn't the only one to notice the smell.
"Calcium decay! Now, that narrows it down!"
"We're getting there, mum!" Rose said close to the speaker.
"Too late!" Mickey was trying to be brave, but he couldn't help but whimper in fear.
"Calcium phosphate. Organic calcium. Living calcium. Creatures made out of living calcium. What else? What else? Hyphenated surname. Yes! That narrows it down to one planet. Raxacoricofallapatorius!" The Doctor jumps up in excitement that he figured it out.
"Oh, yeah, great. We could write 'em a letter." Was Mickey's sour response.
The Doctor scowls and demands. "Get into the kitchen!"
"My god, it's going to rip us apart!" Jackie screeched.
"Calcium, weakened by the compression field. Acetic acid. Vinegar!" The Doctor was grinning, and it got even wider when he felt Layla squeeze his hand in gratitude.
"Just like Hannibal!" Harriet threw in some history.
"Just like Hannibal. Mickey, have you got any vinegar?"
"How should I know?" If Mickey wasn't so scared, he would have realized the stupidity of that question.
"It's your kitchen." He really is an idiot, the Doctor thought.
"Cupboard by the sink, middle shelf." Layla said quickly remembering the layout of his kitchen that she highly doubted he changed from last year. The Doctor's head snaps to her, how often is she in his flat that she remembers the layout a year later? The Doctor had to swallow a growl at the thought of his Promised One being in another male's home.
"Oh, give it here. What do you need?" They hear Jackie clearer as she takes the phone from Mickey.
"Anything with vinegar!"
They hear sounds of liquid being dumped and Jackie giving a commentary of what she is grabbing. "Gherkins. Yeah, pickled onions. Picked eggs."
The Doctor looks nauseas and looks towards Rose. "And you kiss this man?" A few seconds later they hear the Slitheen breaking down the door to the kitchen. Jackie throws the vinegar over the alien. It stands around for a few seconds before a loud fart is heard and the alien explodes.
Rose looks towards the Doctor with her eyebrows scrunched together. "Hannibal?"
Harriet was the one that answered her though. "Hannibal crossed the Alps by dissolving boulders with vinegar."
Rose says a quiet "oh." While Layla nodded her head in understanding. "Well, there you go then." Indra walked over to everyone and gives them a glass of port from the decanter. They all toast together and drink except for Layla. She snickers when she sees the Doctor spit his back into the glass. Layla slides her glass back to Indra who had the decanter. He gives her a shy smile. He feels like someone is staring at him and he looks towards the Doctor. He flinches at the glare the man is sending him. He is noticing that when he gives attention to Layla, the Doctor always glares at him.
"The experts are dead, murdered right in front of me by alien hands. Peoples of the earth, heed my words. These visitors do not come in peace."
Mickey and Jackie are wiping themselves off when they see the conference about the aliens on the TV. Mickey grabs the phone and puts it close to the TV. "Listen to this."
"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."
The Doctor tilts his head to the side and purses his lips. "What?"
"Our technicians can baffle the alien probes, but not for long. 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."
The Doctor rubs his hand over his head. He is standing up with his hip cocked to the side as he thinks about what he just heard. "He's making it up. There's no weapons up there, there's no threat. He just invented it."
"Do you think they'll believe him?" Harriet was biting on her thumbnail.
"They did last time." Rose shrugged.
"Unless someone else is going to look for this 'probe', they don't have any reason not to believe them, especially with the experts dead." Layla said. "Besides, with us stuck in here and no way to prove they are lying, they most likely will give them the codes."
A lightbulb goes off in the Doctor's head. "That's why the Slitheen went for a spectacle. They want the whole world panicking because you lot, you get scared, you lash out. Layla was right about them wanting to cause a panic."
"So, they release the defense code." Rose starts, but Layla finishes her sentence. "And the Slitheen go nuclear."
"But why?" Indra was sweating, his skin was flushed and the was shaking a little bit.
The Doctor goes over to the metal shutters and opens them up. They see a few of the Slitheen standing there, the female one back in her skin suit. "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 female Slitheen gives him a smug smirk. "And we can sit through it safe in our spaceship waiting in the Thames. Not crashed, just parked. Only two minutes away."
"But you'll destroy the planet, this beautiful place. What for?" Harriet pleaded.
The Doctor was the one to answer her. "Profit. That's what the signal is beaming into space. An advert like Layla said."
"The sale of the century. We reduce the earth to molten slag, then sell it piece by piece. Radioactive chunks, 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." It was said plainly, as if they should have already realized that and seen nothing wrong with the plan.
This is my Promised One's home. I won't let what happened to my planet happen to hers. The Doctor's eye narrow and he clinches his teeth. "At the cost of five billion lives."
The Slitheen waves her hand carelessly. "Bargain."
A storm is brewing in the Doctors eyes. They are hard like stone. "I give you a choice. Leave this planet or I'll stop you."
A startled laugh escapes the Slitheen. "What, you? Trapped in your box?"
The Doctor doesn't say anything for a few seconds, just looks at her. "Yes. Me." He then closes the shutters on the Slitheen's laughing face, but they see that she started to look worried.
Everyone sits down at the table and the humans in the room start to doze lightly. The Doctor is watching Layla as she sleeps without fear of being caught. She has been on his mind since the moment she came into his life. Thinking about her has kept him from thinking about the war and the guilt he felt. However, right now, even while he gazes at her, his eyes go out of focus and thinks about the war, his choice, and the choice he might have to make in the situation they are in right now. His hearts clench at the thought of the only thing that could save the planet, just like what he had to do to his planet to save the universe.
A few hours later, everyone has woken up from their little cat nap. They had stayed on the phone with Jackie and Mickey all night in case something came up, plus it kept Jackie and Mickey calm knowing that Rose and Layla were safe for the moment. Jackie gives a great big sigh. "Alright, Doctor. I'm not saying I trust you, but there must be something you can do."
"If we could ferment the port, we could make acetic acid." Harriet mumbled out.
Indra looked at her. "Unfortunately, that would take too long and we don't have enough anyways."
"Mickey, any luck?" Rose asked.
"There are loads of emergency numbers. They're all on voicemail."
"Makes sense, between the deaths of the experts and what the current wanker Prime Minister is saying, they have more important things to worry about than answering from an unknown number." Rose and the Doctor snort at Layla calling the stand in Prime Minister a wanker.
"Voicemail dooms us all." Harriet moaned in despair.
"If we could just get out of here." Rose said, but wasn't really expecting a response.
The Doctor holds his hand together across his stomach but refuses to meet anyone's eyes. "There's a way out. There's always been a way out."
"What? Why didn't we use it before now?" Indra questioned him.
The Doctor sighs heavily and looks towards the phone. "Because, I can't guarantee your daughters will be safe."
"Don't you dare. Whatever it is, don't you dare!" Jackie was practically spitting fire at the thought of her girls being hurt.
The Doctor's face falls and his tone turns into a pleading one. "That's the thing. If I don't dare, everyone dies."
"Do it." Rose says. She has faith in the Doctor after everything she has seen him do. Layla nods her head in agreement.
The Doctor looks surprised and looks between the two of them. "You two don't even know what it is. You'd just let me?"
"Yeah." Rose stares at him intensely. Layla just looks at him understandingly and accepting.
"Please Doctor. Please. They are my daughters. They are just kids." Jackie pleads with him to understand like he was pleading with her to understand his side.
"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 snaps in agitation and rubbing the back of his neck.
"Then what're you waiting for?" Rose looks at him tenderly making the Doctor feel uncomfortable.
"I could save the world but lose you two." He looks to Rose first, but stares intensely into Layla's eyes when he looks at her. Both of the girls hearts quicken at his statement.
"Our lives are not worth five billion Doctor." Layla sensibly comments fully believing that. The Doctor's face twists into a grimace. The Doctor was thinking how wrong she was and in a moment of selfishness the thought of sacrificing a planet he loves if it meant that she would be safe with him. Then the guilt hits him for putting his wants and needs above the people on earth. He knows she is right logically, but to him, she is worth everything.
"Except it's not your decision, Doctor. It's mine." Harriet had been watching the Doctor and seen that he was somehow connected to Layla. She could also see the guilt of having to decide like this and decided to take the decision away from him.
"And who the hell are you?" Jackie snarled.
"Harriet Jones. MP for Flydale North. The only elected representative in this room, chosen by the people for the people. And on behalf of the people, I command you. Do it." Her hand twitched to flash her badge out of habit but she was able to restrain herself. The Doctor smiles blindingly at Harriet, appreciating that she was taking the responsibility off of him this time.
"How do we get out then?" Rose looked around like there was a secret door to go through or something.
Layla looks at the Doctor, if it is something that he can't guarantee our safety, then it is an attack that would hit both the Slitheen and us. "We don't do we? We stay in this room?"
The Doctor looks at her and sees that she has a slight understanding of what his plan was. He nods jerkily and gets the Emergency Protocols form the Red Box. "Use the buffalo password. It overrides everything." He instructs Mickey.
Mickey thinks he knows where this is going, but Jackie is confused. "What're you doing?"
"Hacking into the Royal Navy. 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 was still searching through the Protocols to make sure there wasn't anything else that could be useful.
"We can't go nuclear. We don't have the defense codes."
"We don't need it, nor do we want it. All we need's an ordinary missile." Mickey is just as violent as Rose, they are perfect for each other, the Doctor thought. "What's the first category?"
Mickey looked at the first category. "Sub harpoon, UGM-A4A."
The Doctor snapped his fingers. "That's the one. Select it."
"I could stop you." Jackie tried to threaten Mickey.
Mickey calls her bluff though. "Do it, then."
"You ready for this?" The Doctor asks Mickey softly.
Mickey takes a deep breath and shakily answers. "Yeah."
"Mickey the idiot, the world is in your hands." The Doctor said with approval in his voice at what Mickey had to do. "Fire."
Mickey clicks the mouse and they wait impatiently to see what happens. "Oh, my god." Jackie is holding back a sob of anguish. She already lost Pete, she doesn't want to lose Rose and Layla too.
"How solid are these?" Harriet was taking responsibility of this decision and she was trying to remain calm about the possibility of her death.
The Doctor looks at her with slight pity seeing her put on a brave face. "Not solid enough. Built for short range attack, nothing this big."
Rose puts a little pep in her voice. "Alright, now I'm making the decision. We're not going to die. We're going to ride this out. It's like what they say about earthquakes. You can save them by standing under a doorframe. Now, this cupboard's small so it's strong. Come and help me. Come on."
Harriet and Indra go to the cupboard and help clean it out. Layla started to go to help, but the Doctor wrapped his arm around her waist from behind. "No, you're injured and need to stay still. The three of them is more than enough." Layla shivers from the Doctor's warm breath on her ear and his hot hand on the skin of her waist and nods jerkily.
"It's on radar. Counter defense five-five-six." Mickey warned the Doctor.
"Stop them intercepting it." He ordered.
"I'm doing it now. Five-five-six neutralized."
"Good boy." The Doctor unplugs the phone and all head into the cupboard. The Doctor moves Layla away from Indra and Rose sits next to him, Harriet was next to Rose, then Layla and the Doctor.
Harriet gives a shaky laugh. "Here we go. Nice knowing you all. Hannibal!"
The Doctor had his arm around Layla, but when the cupboard started roll around, he quickly wraps one arm around her waist and with the other, he holds her head to his chest, cupping the back of her head, holding her tightly to him. When the rolling stops everyone is tangled up. Harriet is laying on top of Rose and Indra. Indra and Rose's legs are tangled. The Doctor is laying partially on top of Layla with his head now resting against her chest. He lifts his head up slightly and pulls the arm that is around her waist out from under her. He pulls her shirt away slightly and looks at the gauze to see if any of her stitches opened up and were bleeding.
Layla sees the care that he put into keeping her safe since she was already injured and smiles as him fondly. She takes her hand and runs it against the back of his head, gently scratching it and against his neck softly. The Doctor has to swallow a moan at her nails scratching him. The Doctor slowly and reluctantly gets off of her and pushes the steel door off and steps out pulling Layla with him.
Harriet pats the cupboard and smoothed down her clothes. "Made in Britain."
One of the soldiers come running up to the group. "Oh, my god. Are you alright?"
Harriet whips out her badge it flashes it to the soldier. "Harriet Jones. MP, Flydale North. I want you to contact UN immediately. Tell the ambassadors the crisis is over. They can step down. Go on, tell the news."
The soldier salutes her. "Yes, ma'am."
Harriet turns to the three, time travelers. "Someone's got a hell of a job sorting this lot out. Oh, lord. We haven't even got a Prime Minister."
Finally remembering where he heard her name before, the Doctor suggests. "Maybe you should have a go."
Harriet scoffs. "Me? Huh. I'm only a back-bencher."
"I'd vote for you." Rose tells her encouragingly. Rose thought she handled herself well in a crisis.
"Yeah, you handled this situation well, I think you would be good for Prime Minister." Layla gives her a kind grin and pats her on the shoulder.
Harriet looks bashful. "Now, don't be silly. Look, I'd better go and see if I can help. Come with me, Indra, I'm sure I could use your help explaining some things." Harriet starts to make her way down the pile of rubble with Indra following behind her after giving Layla a shy smile. "Hang on! We're safe! The earth is safe! Sergeant!"
The Doctor crosses his arms over his chest and grits his teeth at the man's attention to Layla. "I thought I knew the name. Harriet Jones, future Prime Minister. Elected for three successive terms. The architect of Britain's Golden Age."
They watch on with happy grins as Harriet is talking to the press. "The crisis has passed! Ladies and gentlemen, I have something to say to you all here today! Mankind stands tall, proud, and undefeated. God bless the human race."
Xxxxxx
They all walk back towards the flats. The Doctor goes to the Tardis and the girls go to their flat to see Jackie. When they walk in the door, Jackie embraces them tightly. Thankful that they are alright as far as she knows. The girls didn't want her to know about Layla's injury so they kept quiet.
They are sitting around the living room talking with the news playing on in the background. "Mankind stands tall, proud."
"Harriet Jones. Who does she think she is? Look at her, taking all the credit. Should be you two on there. My daughters saved the world!" Jackie was upset that they weren't getting recognition.
Layla laughs as Rose looks at her mum. "I think the Doctor helped a bit."
Jackie harrumphs but agrees. "Alright, then. Him too. You should be given knighthoods."
"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." Rose was practically pleading with her mum to accept him.
"Yeah, he does stuff like this because he wants to help, not for the fame." Layla agreed with Rose.
Jackie nods her head. "He's good in a crisis, I'll give him that."
The girls fake gasp, and Rose looked at her mum. "Oh, now the world has changed. You're saying nice things about him."
"Well, I reckon I've got no choice. There's no getting rid of him since you're infatuated." Jackie smirked at Rose and the blush that appeared on her face. Layla looks at Rose and feels a twinge in her chest that Rose seems to like the Doctor.
"I'm not infatuated." Rose tries to deny unconvincingly.
"What does he eat?" Jackie asked them out of nowhere.
"Food?" Layla says sarcastically.
"How do you mean?" Rose was confused.
"I was going to do shepherd's 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 are now leading. Only, I don't know, he's an alien. For all I know, he eats grass and safety pins and things."
Layla chokes on a laugh. "Oh please, put that on a plate for him and tell him to enjoy his dinner, that would be hilarious."
Rose sniggers and smirks. "He'll have shepherd pie. You're going to cook for him?"
"What's wrong with that?" Jackie asked indignantly.
Rose looks at her with a cheeky smile. "He's finally met his match." Layla nods her head in agreement, Jackie isn't the best cook in the world.
Jackie looks at both of the girls and their expressions, her face sours and gets up to go to the kitchen to start dinner. "You're not too old for a slap, you know. You can go and visit your gran tomorrow. You two better learn some French. I told her you were in France. I said you were au-pairing."
Rose's phone rings and she sees that is says Tardis, she looks at Layla in confusion and answers the call. "Hello?" Layla is glad Rose had her phone today, she left her phone in the Tardis today. They would have been sitting ducks without it.
"Right, I'll be a couple of hours, then we can go." Was the first thing the Doctor says. Layla gets close to Rose so she can hear better.
"You've got a phone?" Rose asks and Layla looks at her with a 'why wouldn't he?' look.
"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 cancelling out the Slitheen's advert in case any bargain hunters turn up."
"Er, my mother's cooking." Was Rose's way to say that he was wanted over to eat.
"Good. Put her on a slow heat and let her simmer."
Layla tries to not laugh, she does, but she busts up loudly giggling at his comment. After the day they have had, this has been the funniest thing next to Jackie not knowing if he ate human food and it was making her bend over from amusement. The Doctor hears her laughs and his hearts feel warm from it. Rose steps away from the laughing hyena and tries again. "She's cooking tea. For us."
"I don't do that." He won't be domestic for anyone except for Layla, not Rose or Jackie. And since Layla isn't the one asking, it's a no. And he is hoping she never realizes the power she has over him. They just met, the bond just started, and she already has him wrapped around her finger.
"She wants to get to know you." She whines.
"Tough. I've got better things to do."
"It's just tea." Rose was being stubborn.
"Not to me it isn't."
"Rose, he doesn't do domestic, plus he is probably still annoyed with Jackie about slapping him." Layla tries to get through to Rose.
Rose ignores Layla, she really wants her mum and the Doctor to get along. "She is my mother."
"Well, she's not mine."
"That's not fair." She pouts. Layla scowls, life isn't fair, I would know that more than you.
"Well, you can stay there if you want, but right now there's this plasma storm brewing in the Horsehead Nebula. Fires are burning ten million miles wide. I could fly the Tardis right into the heart of it then ride the shock wave all the way out. Hurtle across the sky and end up anywhere. Your choice."
The Doctor hangs up and Rose turns to see that Layla has already left, she goes to her room to see her packing and goes to do the same. Jackie walks to Rose's room. "I was thinking. I've got that bottle of Amaretto from New Year's Eve. Does he drink? I was wondering whether he drinks or not."
Rose doesn't stop what she is doing. "Yeah, he does."
Layla walks up behind Jackie to wait for Rose to join her. Jackie looks at them and sees their bags packed. "Don't go, Sweethearts. Please don't go." She pleads with them.
The girls feel bad about upsetting her, but they want to travel and see the universe while they have the chance. They have been having fun these last few days and don't want to come back to a boring life of working at shops all the time and not seeing the world. Rose avoids her mum's eyes and walks out towards the door. Layla gently pats Jackie on the shoulder and follows after Rose.
Jackie refuses to give up trying though and follows them out. She is saying anything she can to get them to stay. They get closer to the Tardis and she is running out of time. "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."
Rose gently takes her mums hands and squeezes them. "I'm not leaving because of you. I'm traveling, that's all, and then I'll come back."
"You should definitely give up on Jim though, you deserve better and he gives me the creeps. Just think of us like we are backpacking around the world. We will keep in touch better too." Layla hugs Jackie tightly and goes towards the Doctor to give Rose and her mum some time together. The Doctor sees them coming and can't help the smile that crosses his face, especially when he sees the rucksack that Layla is carrying, meaning she is planning to stay for a while.
"But it's not safe." Jackie doesn't want to stop them from living, but she wants them to be traveling earth, where it is safer, in her opinion and where they can always come home without the need of a spaceship.
"Mum, if you saw it out there, you'd never stay home." Rose throws her rucksack to the Doctor.
"Got enough stuff?" He snarks to Rose.
"Last time I stepped in there, it was spur of the moment Now I'm signing up. You're stuck with me." She smirks at him and turns to Mickey missing the sour look on the Doctor's face at the thought of being stuck with Rose.
Rose grabs Mickey's hands. "Come with us. There's plenty of room."
Layla sees the panicked look that crosses his face and him pleadingly looking towards the Doctor. "No chance. He's a liability. I'm not having him on board."
Rose gives the Doctor a glare. "We'd be dead without him."
The Doctor crosses his arms across his chest and turns his face to the side and up in the air. "My decision is final." Besides, why does this ape think she can invite anyone she wants on my ship?
Rose looks towards Mickey and gives him a kiss. "Sorry."
Mickey looks sad that Rose is once again leaving him. "Good luck, yeah."
Layla sees the sad look on Mickey's face and goes to give him a big hug. "I'll make sure she is safe, and I will bring you back some cool items from other planets." The Doctor knows that they are close friends, but it doesn't stop the feelings of the bond and he is tight with tension until they step apart and stop touching.
"You still can't promise me. What if they get lost? What if something happens to you, Doctor, and they are left all alone, standing on some moon a million light years away. How long do I wait then?" Jackie is jabbing the air at the Doctor.
The Doctor looks at her blankly, not able to give her any promise that things will work out the way she wants. Rose answers for him though. "Mum, you're forgetting. It's a time machine. I could go traveling around suns and planets and all the way out to the edge of the universe. And by the time I get back, yeah, ten seconds would have passed. Just ten seconds. So, stop worrying. See you in ten seconds' time, yeah?" Rose gives her mum a hug and follow Layla and the Doctor into the Tardis.
"Rose, I don't think you should have promised ten seconds to your mum." Layla jabs her thumb towards the Doctor. "Based on his record, it would be longer than that before she sees us again."
"Oi!" The Doctor says indignantly. The girls snicker as him, but his pouting doesn't last long before he is laughing with them.