Thanks for all the lovely reviews guys! They really do spur me on to update sooner!
So yes, we're now travelling with The Doctor and Rose! There are going to be multiple time skips throughout all the seasons really as I don't think we need to rewrite all of the episodes out ;) But if anyone has any special requests I'll maybe pop them on my list!
Over the next few days, Hally had let herself be dragged all over Platform One and Cardiff, 1869 with The Doctor and Rose. She was starting to see the appeal. It was all rather addictive. The constant adrenaline, the danger and then the rush of endorphins when they finally made it back to the TARDIS alive.
The human was starting to grow on her too. She was honest and she never let The Doctor have the last word, which Hally was enjoying immensely. She supposed things were getting a little less hostile between herself and her father. She was still angry at him, for, basically everything. He seemed to be angry at her too but she didn't know why. He'd shouted at her on Platform One for not having followed him into the engine room.
"If you had been where you were supposed to, Jabe would still be alive!"
Hally sighed, she'd understood his anger. It was easier for him to blame her than to admit that the tree had willingly sacrificed herself for him.
Anyway, after all that running, the human was beginning to smell funny and The Doctor had suggested a quick trip home so she could pack a few of her things. Plus it would give him some time to take a look at the TARDIS.
Hally followed the pair out of the TARDIS and onto the Powell Estate, having a quick look around she couldn't help wrinkling her nose slightly in distaste. Why did humans live in these?
"How long have I been gone?" Rose asked turning back to face them.
The Doctor looked around, pleased with himself. "About twelve hours."
"Oh. Right, I won't be long. I just want to see my mum." The blonde nodded, going to head off to one of the flats.
"What're you going to tell her?" The Doctor raised an eyebrow.
"I don't know. I've been to the year 5 billion and only been gone, what, twelve hours?" Rose quipped back, Hally couldn't help but smirk. "No, I'll just tell her I spent the night at Shareen's. See you later. Oh, don't you disappear." She pointed back at them, running off.
Hally pushed her hands into the back pockets of her jeans, mooching about. She'd found the TARDIS wardrobe and upon a recommendation from Rose had tried on the pair of skinny black jeans. She'd rarely taken them off since, they were so comfortable. Perfect for running. Hally frowned, cocking her head as a handmade flyer caught her attention. She walked over to the poster that was stuck on the side of a post, flattening it out so she could read it.
"Ummm…" Her eyes widened. "Doctor?!" She pulled the paper off the post, jogging back over to The Doctor, who was just looking at her expectantly. She flattened the paper out into his hand.
"Oh…" He muttered, looking up to where Rose had just disappeared to. Then he began to run. Hally followed quickly, calling after him.
"Do you actually know how to fly the TARDIS?!"
Hally ran into what must have been Rose's flat a few seconds after The Doctor had burst in, just in time to see him grin awkwardly at Rose, who was in the arms of her mother.
"It's not twelve hours, it's twelve months. You've been gone a whole year. Sorry."
It had taken at least 30 minutes for Rose to calm her mother down. There had been tears, so many tears, and shouting and even a broken teapot. Hally had stood awkwardly by the walls of the Tyler living room while most of it had occurred, trying to stay as far away as possible from the crazy woman in front of her. The Doctor had taken a lot of the brunt of Jackie Tyler's anger. Hally shifted from one foot to the other, trying to put her best apologetic smile on. Rose had forced her mother to sit down, making her a tea. Hally had watched as Jackie had visibly relaxed upon taking a sip, she'd cocked her head to one side, wondering what could be in such a powerful drink. Rose had called the police to inform them that she wasn't actually missing. They'd insisted on sending an officer round to the flat to take her statement.
Jackie had jumped straight in with the questioning. "The hours I've sat here, days and weeks and months, all on my own. I thought you were dead, and where were you? Travelling. What the hell does that mean, travelling? That's no sort of answer. You ask her. She won't tell me. That's all she says. Travelling." She was motioning wildly at the police officer. Hally almost felt a little sorry for the man. He had no idea what he'd walked into.
"That's what I was doing." Rose tried to shrug it off.
"When your passport's still in the drawer? It's just one lie after another!"
"I meant to phone. I really did. I just... I forgot." Rose begged, running a hand over her face, she looked at The Doctor for a bit of support.
"What, for a year? You forgot for a year? And I am left sitting here. I just don't believe you. Why won't you tell me where you've been?"
Rose opened her mouth to respond but she obviously couldn't think of a decent enough excuse.
"Actually, it's my fault. I sort of, err, employed Rose as my companion." The Doctor chimed in cheerfully. Hally shook her head, this guy really needed to learn how to read a room.
The policeman jotted that down in his notebook, looking up at The Doctor. "When you say companion, is this a sexual relationship?"
Both Rose and The Doctor responded quickly.
"No."
"No!"
Hally let out a strangled noise, unfortunately, this drew the policeman's attention to her.
"And what about you ma'am? What is your relationship with this man?"
Hally looked at The Doctor awkwardly. "Umm, he's my da-… I'm his daughter." She corrected quickly. The Doctor sighed at her obvious discomfort which would only cause the policeman to think she was lying.
Jackie rounded on her next. "So who are you then….? You went off travelling with them too? A 40-year-old man, my 19-year-old Rose and what…? You must only be 18?!"
Hally frowned. "Umm, no… I'm three hun-"
The Doctor cut her off quickly. "18 yes! She's 18! 18 and my daughter. My very annoying daughter." He grinned proudly. Hally shot him a look, crossing her arms.
"And you…" Jackie turned back to The Doctor again. "…you waltz in here all charm and smiles, and the next thing I know, she vanishes off the face of the Earth! Is this some weird Stockholm type thing? What, did you find them on the Internet? Did you go online and pretend you're a doctor?"
The Doctor looked hurt. "I am a Doctor."
"Prove it. Stitch this, mate!" Hally had to cover her mouth to hide the laugh as Jackie slapped The Doctor around the side of the face. Hard.
Rose had groaned loudly, standing up to check that The Doctor was ok. After the policeman had asked all of his questions he'd left, looking very relieved to be doing so. Eventually, Hally had grabbed The Doctor by the elbow, pulling him out of the flat and onto the small balcony. She could sense that mother and daughter needed a little bit of alone time and The Doctor's weird presence wasn't doing them any good.
Hally leant against the railings, looking down onto the estate below. The Doctor hovered behind her, she could feel him watching.
"What's up?" She asked, peering over her shoulder to look at him.
He frowned, looking down at his feet. "You never call me Dad…?"
Hally bit the inside of her mouth, looking away from him. "Oh… you picked up on that in there…" She muttered, clearing her throat. "Well." Hally let out a loud sigh. "You've never shown any interest in being my dad, a father. So I thought…" She shrugged, not sure how to finish the sentence.
She heard him put his hands in his pockets, he appeared in the corner of her eye, looking out over the estate as she was.
"No, I suppose I haven't have I?" He was rocking backwards and forward on his feet.
"Sorry."
Hally couldn't help the quiet laugh that she let out. She shook her head, gripping at the railing in front of her. She wanted to scream at him, years of pain and anger burning in her mind. Instead, she just let out a long breath.
"I suppose that's a start…" She muttered. After a moment, she felt The Doctor move away from her, she was alone. Hally frowned, her thumb began to tap gently on the railing, the constant rhythm was a comfort.
One, two, three, four.
One, two, three, four.
One, two, three, four.
"Oh! Hey… where'd The Doctor go?" Rose's voice made her jump. Hally turned and nodded her head in the direction The Doctor had gone.
"No idea, he went off that way…" Rose nodded and smiled, running off after him. Hally watched her go. She could see why he'd left, there was so much to see and do out here. In the big wide universe. She smiled to herself.
No, that's not what hurt anymore. What hurt was the fact that he seemed to so easily form attachments to these humans. These little blips in time, who existed for such an insignificant interval. Somehow he could make them his friends, he could grow attached in a few days. Yet in three hundred years he still looked at her like she was foreign to him. Even now, travelling with him. He always grabbed the humans hand when they ran…
A deep horn sound brought Hally's attention to the sky. From the horizon, a spaceship was crashing. Plumes of black smoke trailed behind the ship, which was hurtling right over them. Hally leant further over the railing but the ship had passed just out of sight. She ran in the direction Rose and The Doctor had gone, rushing up a tall staircase. She almost collided with the pair as they bounded down the stairs, obviously having seen the spaceship crash from the roof.
"Yeah… aliens…" Hally muttered, The Doctor nodded and brushed past her, running out of the estate. Hally and Rose had to sprint to keep up with him, but it wasn't long before he'd slowed into a walk. All the traffic had come to a standstill, people were shouting angrily at the military soldiers up ahead.
The Doctor felt the two women as they approached. "It's blocked off." He said disappointed.
"We're miles from the centre." Rose frowned. "The city must be gridlocked. The whole of London must be closing down!"
"I know. I can't believe I'm here to see this. This is fantastic!" The Doctor grinned back at them, Hally was sure that he would be jumping for joy if there weren't so many people around.
"Did you know this was going to happen?" Rose took a step forward, trying to get some straight answers from The Doctor.
He grinned proudly. "Nope."
"Do we know who it is?" Hally asked, cocking her head to one side.
"Nope." He clapped his hands together happily.
"Oh, I'm so glad I've got you." Rose muttered sarcastically.
"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," Rose whined. "Never mind the traffic, we've got the Tardis." She grinned excitedly.
The Doctor shook his head. "Better not. They've already got one spaceship in the middle of London. I don't want to shove another one on top."
Hally crossed her arms over her chest. "You know it'd be able to sneak in if you fixed that Chameleon Circuit." She shot him a glance.
"No!" He huffed. "Emergency like this, there'll be all kinds of people watching. Trust me. The Tardis stays where it is."
Hally sent an apologetic look to Rose, who looked dejected.
"So history's happening and we're stuck here?" She looked up at him frustrated.
"Yes, we are." He countered.
Rose's face suddenly brightened as she had an idea. "We could always do what everybody else does. We could watch it on TV!" She grinned back at Hally who laughed.
Rose dragged the two Time Lords back to her flat, turning on the small black box. Hally took a seat on the sofa as The Doctor pulled an armchair closer to the TV, he leant in close, trying to hear the news over Jackie's animated wittering. Hally smiled, watching Rose's mother instantly busy herself about the flat. One of her friends had come round after she'd heard the news about Rose. Jackie was making everyone tea, well everyone except The Doctor. Hally grinned thankfully as Rose passed her a mug of the steaming hot liquid. Hally looked at it, swilling the murky brown liquid around, she leant forward, sniffing it.
"Mmmm…" Hally took a tentative sip. "That's hot!" She flinched back, Rose turned back to her and laughed.
"You never had tea before?" She looked at her incredulously.
Hally laughed softly, shaking her head. "Why would you make a drink that you can't drink…?" She frowned up at Rose.
Rose just shook her head in amusement. "It'll cool!"
Hally scrunched up her nose, humans were weird. She held the mug in between her hands, flicking a look at The Doctor who was engrossed in the TV, she gently flowed a small amount of energy through her hands, cooling the drink until it was just warm. She smiled to herself, taking a large sip.
The Doctor huffed. "Oi, I'm trying to listen!" He cried, cutting off the conversation Jackie had been having with her friend Ru. He turned back to the TV irritably.
Hally took another gulp. It was nice, like a little hug in a mug. Hally smiled to herself. Her smile dropped when the all familiar ache in her head flared up. She sighed. She'd hardly used her energy since she'd woken up with The Doctor. It'd taken a good few hours before anything had worked at all. Now, well now things were shaky, to say the least. Sometimes, if she concentrated really hard she could just about bring up a shield, or break down a door as she had done on Platform One, but she was considerably weaker than she'd ever been. Hally looked at the TV screen, a reporter was standing on the river embankment, in front of the crashed ship.
"They've found a body. It's unconfirmed…" The reporter said, looking behind him. The camera zoomed in slightly on the ship.
"It doesn't look too high tech…?" Hally started, leaning forwards.
"Shhh. Thinking." The Doctor muttered. Hally rolled her eyes and got up off the sofa to go and see if any of the humans were doing anything amusing.
Much to The Doctor's dismay, Jackie had invited many of her friends over, a sort of welcome home party for Rose. She'd even gone out and bought little snacks from the corner shop. Hally was having the best time trying all the little strange concoctions of food. Rose came over and handed her a mug, this time it was filled with a dark red liquid that smelt strange.
"What is it?" Hally cocked her head, sniffing at the liquid.
"Oh, it's red wine. Sorry about the mug, we've run out of glasses!" Rose called as she flopped down on the sofa.
Hally looked back down at it, going to take a sip.
The Doctor shuffled in his seat on the armchair, someone had decided to dump their baby on him and he was struggling to get the remote off it. He sniffed and glanced over his shoulder at her.
"You won't like it." He said sharply, tugging gently at the remote in the infant's hands.
Hally narrowed her eyes and took a large sip out of spite. She instantly regretted it, making a face and spitting the liquid back out into the glass.
"Told you." The Doctor muttered, not looking at her. She huffed, putting the mug down and coming to lean over The Doctor, tuning into the television.
"A body of some sort has been found inside the wreckage of the spacecraft." Said the reporter. "Brought to the nearest shore. Unconfirmed reports say that the body is of extra-terrestrial origin. An extraordinary event unfolding here live here in Central London. The body is being transferred to a secure unit mortuary, the whereabouts is yet unknown. The roads in Central London are being…" The TV cut over to a children's TV show, The Doctor huffed, struggling with the human infant to change it back.
"…Albion Hospital. We still don't know whether it's alive or dead. Whitehall is denying everything." Hally straightened up as Jackie's friend Ru pulled on her elbow.
"So Jackie says you're from abroad. Whereabouts?" Ru smiled kindly, but Hally could see the suspicious glint in her eye. The Doctor stood up from behind her and made a swift exit through the front door. Rose quickly followed him.
"Oh… right, yeah. It's a tiny island, middle of nowhere. You won't have heard of it…" Hally smiled awkwardly, trying to make it past the woman. "Sorry… I just need to…"
Ru raised her eyebrow, Hally managed to squeeze her way past, laughing apologetically as she backed out of the flat.
She came out to Rose and The Doctor on the balcony. "You don't need me. Go and celebrate history. Spend some time with your mum." The Doctor was trying to edge away from the door.
"Promise you won't disappear?" Rose demanded.
Hally frowned. "Woah, Woah, you're not leaving me alone in there!" She hissed at him.
The Doctor waved his hands. "You've got Rose!" He turned back to his human companion. "Tell you what. Tardis key. It's about time you had one. See you later. Plus I'm leaving my daughter with you… so I have to come back." He grinned.
Hally raised an eyebrow sarcastically. "Really?"
The Doctor winced. "Fair enough. I deserved that." Before Hally or Rose could say anything else he'd disappeared from sight.
Hally crossed her arms sighing, she turned to Rose. "Do you have anything to drink that isn't wine?"
Rose chuckled slightly, heading back inside to test out the contents of her mother's alcohol cupboard on the young Time Lord.
The Doctor had been gone for around an hour now and after Rose had tried and failed to find Hally an alcoholic drink that she'd liked, the pair had sat themselves on the sofa. Rose, because she wanted to be closer to TV to see if she could hear anything useful that she could tell The Doctor, Hally because she wanted to avoid the rest of the humans.
Jackie held up her wine glass, she was swaying slightly. "Here's to the Martians!"
The small crowd in the room, cheered and raised their own glasses. "The Martians!"
Hally frowned. "I don't actually think they're from Mars…." Rose just sent her a look and Hally trailed off. "Right…ok." But Rose wasn't looking at Hally anymore, she was looking behind her. Hally turned around to see what Rose was looking at. It was Mickey. "Oh…" Hally whispered, turning back slowly to send Rose a look that said 'this is awkward'.
"I was going to come and see you…" Rose started quickly, standing up.
Ru piped up. "Someone owes Mickey an apology."
Rose looked at the floor. "I'm sorry."
"Not you." Ru muttered, giving Jackie a pointed look.
"Well, it's not my fault. Be fair. What was I supposed to think?" Jackie shrugged.
Mickey came further into the room and pulled Rose into a tight hug. Mickey motioned towards the kitchen, obviously wanting to reunite with Rose in private but Jackie got up too. Rose turned around to Hally and quickly motioned for her to follow them.
Hally shook her head, eyes widening. "Err, I really don't think you need me…" She tried to sink further into the sofa but Rose bent down and pulled her up by the arm, dragging her into the kitchen with her boyfriend… and her mother.
Hally groaned inwardly, standing herself in the corner of the kitchen, as far away as possible from the little domestic scene that was about to happen.
"You disappear, who do they turn to? Your boyfriend. 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." Mickey explained, Jackie sipped her wine, looking slightly guilty.
"I didn't think I'd be gone so long." Rose tried to explain, again her excuses coming out rather pathetic.
Hally coughed awkwardly, trying to skim along the wall to the exit. "I can wait outside…" She tried to put on a kind smile but Rose cut her off.
"No! No. It's fine. You can be in here. You can tell 'em, about The Doctor." Rose nodded. Jackie shot Hally a suspicious glare.
"I waited for you, Rose! Twelve months, waiting for you and the Doctor to come back!"
Hally slumped back against the wall as they started fighting again, she spotted a bottle on the table, she picked it up and turned it around. Malibu. She hadn't tried that one yet. She took a swig as Mickey exclaimed triumphantly.
"I might as well, 'cos you're stuck here. The Doctor's gone. Just now. That box thing just faded away."
Hally coughed from the burn of the alcohol, although she had to admit, it was less disgusting than the others.
Rose frowned, shooting Hally a look. "What do you mean?"
Mickey continued, gaining confidence. "He's left you. Some boyfriend he turned out to be!" He added smugly. Rose looked questioningly at Hally. Hally shrugged awkwardly, putting the bottle down slowly as if the humans wouldn't notice she'd had a swig.
"It wouldn't be the first time…" She added, a little too bitterly. She instantly felt bad because Rose's eyes flashed in panic and she ran out of the flat. Mickey followed her out, calling after her.
Hally let out a soft groan, pushing herself off the wall, resigned to follow Rose. They'd run down to the alleyway where The Doctor's TARDIS had been parked.
"He wouldn't just go, he promised me!" Rose was walking around anxiously, staring at the empty space where the TARDIS had been.
Mickey crossed his arms, smirking. "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."
Hally raised an eyebrow.
"He would have said…" She sent another desperate look at Hally.
Hally winced, she wanted to make the human feel better. "I am at least 70% sure he'll come back?" Hally offered. This only seemed to make thing worse.
The three began bickering again, Rose was getting increasingly anxious. Then, Hally heard the unmistakable sound of the TARDIS materialising and she grinned. "See! 70%!"
But Rose wasn't listening, because Rose was hopelessly trying to get her mum to go back inside the flat.
Jackie stared. "How'd you do that, then?"
Rose ignored her mother heading quickly to the doors of the TARDIS, she turned back to Hally apologetically. "Could you just… keep them out here?" Hally's mouth opened to shout a definitive NO, but Rose had already disappeared.
There was no way Hally would have even had a chance to stop both Jackie and Mickey as they barged their way past her to the doors of the TARDIS. She whined and followed behind them.
Rose looked back as she heard the TARDIS door open again, she shot Hally an irritated look which Hally returned before Rose approached The Doctor.
"My mum's here." She looked back, biting her bottom lip.
The Doctor turned to see the small convoy of humans Rose had brought with her. "Oh, that's just what I need. Don't you dare make this place domestic!"
Mickey stepped up, wanting in on the action. "You ruined my life, Doctor. They thought she was dead. I was a murder suspect because of you!"
"You see what I mean? Domestic." He said, pointedly at Rose.
Hally climbed up to the console, standing on the other side of The Doctor. "Please don't leave me with them again…" She muttered irritably.
"I bet you don't even remember my name." Mickey chirped.
"Ricky"
"It's Mickey."
"No, it's Ricky."
Hally sighed. It was like he was trying to make her life worse…
"I think I know my own name."
"You think you know your own name? How stupid are you?!" The Doctor countered. Hally rolled her eyes.
Rose interrupted the spat, running out of the TARDIS after her mum. "Mum, don't!" She turned back to the two men fighting. "Don't go anywhere. Don't start a fight!" She pointed a finger at The Doctor before running after her mother.
Hally grinned inappropriately at both Mickey and The Doctor, they both sent her a strange look, but it stopped the fighting. A few moments later Rose ran back in, throwing Mickey a small smile, she moved back beside The Doctor, who was rubbing his face, deep in thought.
"That was a real spaceship…" She muttered, looking at him questioningly after The Doctor had explained the 'fake alien' he'd found at the hospital.
"Yep." He replied, unhelpfully.
"So it's all a pack of lies? What is it, then? Are they invading?" Rose put her hands on her hips. Mickey scoffed.
"Funny way to invade, putting the world on red alert."
"Good point!" The Doctor nodded at him like he was congratulating a small child. "So, what're they up to?"
Hally leant against the console. "Sounds like they want someone's attention… broadcasting alien existence to Earth and all that." She waved her hands out in front of her. The Doctor nodded slowly.
"Exactly, but why…" He paused for a second before jumping up and ushering Mickey off of the grating he was stood on. He quickly pulled it up, jumping down in between the wires of the TARDIS. He got out his sonic screwdriver, starting to fiddle about.
Mickey leant over watching him. "So, what're you doing down there?"
"Ricky..." The Doctor began.
"Mickey." Mickey tried to correct.
"Ricky." The Doctor smiled patronisingly. "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 shuffled on his feet, shrugging. "I suppose not." He said finally.
"Well, shut it, then." The Doctor smiled unkindly.
Hally rolled her eyes. "He's only saying that because he doesn't really understand what he's doing either." She quipped. The Doctor snorted a laugh, shaking his head.
"Make yourself useful will you." He beckoned her down with one hand, the screwdriver in his mouth. "Put your finger over this." She slipped down into the small hole, The Doctor guided her hand to a wire and she held her hand over it as he'd asked. She could hear Rose trying to apologise to Mickey for The Doctor's terrible sense of humour.
The Doctor shifted slightly, putting his screwdriver in his mouth again, he fished around in his pocket for a second. He pulled out a TARDIS key.
"I realised I never gave you one…" He muttered, his voice was gentle and quiet enough that the two humans above them wouldn't hear.
"If you're staying?" He held it out to her, his face was sincere.
Hally smiled slightly, looking up at him. "Yeah…" She shrugged, pretending the gesture didn't bother her. "I'm staying." She added nonchalantly.
The Doctor smiled slightly, seeing straight through her act.
"Good." He plopped the key into her hand. He turned back to the wires in his hands, letting out a victorious yelp.
"Got it! Ha, ha! Patched in the radar, looped it back twelve hours so we can follow the flight of that spaceship!" He hopped out from underneath the console, bounding over to the monitor. Hally pulled herself up, looking over his shoulder. He showed the trajectory on the screen.
"That's the spaceship on its way to Earth, see? Except. Hold on. See? The spaceship did a slingshot round the Earth before it landed." He expanded the screen so they could all see the dot where the spaceship had taken off from.
"What does that mean?" Rose asked.
The Doctor pursed his lips. "It means it came from Earth in the first place. It went up and came back down. Whoever those aliens are, they haven't just arrived, they've been here for a while…" He looked up at them. "The question is, what have they been doing?"
The Doctor started to pull up the news on the monitor, pausing on a particular report.
"It is looking likely that the Government's bringing in alien specialists - those people who have devoted their lives to studying outer space." The reporter said.
"UNIT." The Doctor explained, Hally looked up at him, eyebrow raised. "United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. Good people." He nodded at her.
Rose leant in closer to the screen. "How do you know them?"
Before The Doctor could reply, Mickey chimed in. "'Cos he's worked for them." He nodded smugly. "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."
Hally frowned.
"That's nice." The Doctor tutted sarcastically. He shook his head. "Good boy, Ricky."
Rose brushed off her boyfriend's comment. "If you know them, why don't you go and help?"
"They wouldn't recognise me. I've changed a lot since the old days." The Doctor started pushing a few buttons on the screen, listening to the report.
Hally crossed her arms. "You mean all that time you were gone… you were hanging around this backwater-"
"Don't be rude." He cut her off. "Besides, the world's on a knife-edge. There's aliens out there and fake aliens. We want to keep these aliens 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!" He grinned at Mickey.
Mickey stuttered. "Where to?"
"The roads are clearing. Let's go and have a look at that spaceship." He clapped his hands together, heading to the TARDIS doors.
Hally was the last one out of the TARDIS, as soon as she shut the door behind her they were all lit up by a blinding light coming from above. Hally tried to shield her eyes with her hand, she could see the outline of two helicopters circling them. Police cars cornered them from both sides. Mickey didn't hesitate, he ran as fast as he could, dodging the policemen that lined the alleyway.
"Do not move! Step away from the box and raise your hands above your heads!" Hally realised then that they were also holding guns. Rose's mum came running out of the house crying out for her daughter, one of the policemen grabbed her, holding her back.
"Raise your hands above your head!" The policeman repeated when none of them moved. "You are under arrest."
Hally, Rose and The Doctor slowly raised their hands. Hally looked up to see that The Doctor was grinning like a madman.
"Take me to your leader!" He cried.
They had been escorted to Number 10, Downing Street. The apparent residence of the leader of the small country that Rose lived on.
As they got out of the car, they were circled by the bright lights of cameras as the reporters tried to get a good view of them. The Doctor grinned at the cameras, Hally winced as one of the lights went off in her face.
"Oh, my God." Rose muttered. Slightly bewildered at the attention.
They were quickly ushered inside and into an official-looking waiting room. It was full of important looking people. The red walls looked quite dated, especially with the half-way up wooden panelling. Hally wandered away from The Doctor to a little table of refreshments that had been laid out for the attendees.
Suddenly a thin, stressed looking man appeared at the doorway. "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." He was waving madly, herding all the important looking people into a room. Hally moved back over to The Doctor, who was being handed one of the ID cards by – Hally checked his ID card – Ganesh.
"Here's your ID card," Ganesh explained quickly, he looked awkwardly at Hally and Rose. "I'm sorry, your companions don't have clearance."
Hally crossed her arms, unimpressed.
The Doctor took the ID card, popping it on. "I don't go anywhere without them." He stated matter of factly.
Hally had to bite down the sarcastic comment that instantly rose to mind, it didn't seem like the time or the place.
"You're the code nine, not them. I'm sorry, Doctor. It is the Doctor, isn't it? They'll have to stay outside." He added firmly. Hally smiled, slightly impressed at the man's authority despite the glare he was receiving from The Doctor.
The Doctor huffed impatiently. "She's my daughter, how has she not got the same clearance as me?" He shook his head. "They're staying with me." He said.
Ganesh looked Hally up and down. "We know who she is… she's not going in. Look, even I don't have clearance to go in there. I can't let them in and that's a fact."
The Doctor looked ready to argue but Rose touched his arm gently. "It's all right. You go."
Hally smiled kindly at Ganesh. "We'll be fine here."
An older lady with a slightly stern face quickly approached the Doctor. "Excuse me. Are you the Doctor?"
Ganesh seemed to recognise her, he groaned loudly. "Not now. We're busy. Can't you go home?" He said rudely.
The woman added quickly. "I just need a word in private."
The Doctor gave Rose a look. "Don't get in any trouble." With that, he nodded at Hally and headed into the room with the other alien 'experts'.
"You haven't got clearance. Now leave it." He continued to berate the woman before turning back to Hally and Rose, he grimaced. "I'm going to have to leave you two with security."
The lady piped up at this, taking Rose by the arm. "It's all right. I'll look after them! Let me be of some use." She gave him a fake smile, grabbing onto Hally's wrist with her other hand, guiding them away from Ganesh. "Walk with me. Just keep walking…" The lady muttered, her tone completely changing to one of fear as she walked them out into the entrance hall.
"That's right. Don't look round." She continued pulling them along until they were out of anyone's earshot. Hally sent Rose a look, Rose gave her a confused smile. "Harriet Jones, MP Flydale North." Harriet held up her ID badge confidently.
She looked around, checking for any prying eyes. "This friend of yours, he's an expert, is that right? He knows about aliens?" She whispered to them both.
Rose raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "Why do you want to know?"
Harriet opened her mouth to reply but instead a quiet wail escaped her and she broke down into tears. Hally looked at her, mildly taken aback. Rose gently placed a hand on Harriet's shoulder, trying to calm her. She shot Hally an irritated look and Hally realised that her face had been pulled into a grimace. She coughed and tried to make her voice sound soothing.
"It's alright… why don't you show us?" She tried, Harriet pulled out a handkerchief, blowing her nose. She nodded quickly, leading them into a large room with a long rectangular table in the middle, she tried to vocalise as much as she could of what she'd witnessed in the room. Hally quickly scanned around, it looked like a room where important people did importantish things. Harriet moved directly to the other side of the table. She pulled out a floppy skin suit from the chair, showing them both.
"They turned the body into a suit. A disguise for the thing inside!" She held it up, Hally moved around the table to take a closer look.
"Woah, this is… well. It's a lot higher tech than the spaceship was anyway…" She trailed off, giving it a short sniff.
Rose had started moving around the room, opening all the cupboards she could find. She shrieked and Hally turned to see a man's body fall out of a tall cupboard.
"Oh, my God! Is that the-" Rose started, but she was interrupted by Ganesh entering the room abruptly.
"Harriet, for God's sake. This has gone beyond a joke. You cannot just wander…" He stopped upon seeing the dead body. "Oh, my God. That's the Prime Minister!"
Hally looked down at the body. "Oh… so he's meant to be in charge." A sharp giggle from the doorway got everyone's attention.
A short, plump, blonde lady with an unkind smile stalked into the room. She was looking at each of them like she was a cat who'd just caught four canaries.
"Oh! Has someone been naughty?" She giggled again horribly.
Ganesh looked between the woman and the Prime Minister. "That's impossible. He left this afternoon. The Prime Minister left Downing Street. He was driven away!" He tried desperately.
The woman smiled, it wasn't a nice smile. "And who told you that, hmm?" She raised an eyebrow. "Me."
Hally took a step forward, putting herself protectively in front of Rose and Harriet.
The woman smirked, reaching up to her hairline where she took hold of a zip and slowly began to unzip the top of her head.
"Skinsuit…" Hally muttered, turning to give Rose a worried look.
They all watched, transfixed as a large, green creature, easily over 6 foot tall, squeezed its way out of the skinsuit. Hally's eyes widened as it flexed its long arms, uncurling the sharp claws of its hands. Before Hally could move, the creature grabbed poor Ganesh in her massive talons, pushing him mercilessly against the wall.
Hally watched as the creature crushed the life out of him, turning its head to consider the three that remained. Hally quickly tried to throw up a shield between herself and the monster, with Rose and Harriet safely behind her. The shield flickered into life, a very thin golden sheen appearing between the alien and Hally.
Almost as soon as it had been raised, the shield flickered weakly and died. The green creature laughed cruelly, taking a step towards them.
ll
Hally looked closer into the mirror, finally noticing the thin, golden band that ran around her neck. She brought her fingers up to it, it didn't seem to have a clasp. No way to get it off. It shimmered brightly under the dim lights. She frowned at it, looked like some kind of dampener?
She lay back on the cot, staring up at the ceiling. Everything felt off, she couldn't quite put her finger on it. To be honest she couldn't really get her thoughts straight at all. Every time she tried to think, tried to work out where she was, or even remember the last place she'd been it was like the thought just floated away. Lost again.
Hally rubbed her hands over her eyes, trying and failing to get a clear picture of what had happened before she'd woken up here.
After what must have been hours, a skinny guard dressed in black approached the bars of her cell. Hally sat up, watching him. He unlocked the door to her cell, opening it out, he beckoned for her to move out. Hally's eyes flicked down to his belt where she saw handcuffs and what was probably Taser. She stood and calmly exited the cell. She frowned. Shouldn't she be running? A calm fog descended over her thoughts. No. Where would she run?
The guard escorted her quietly down the corridor. Hally realised that it was lined with cells just like her own, similarly dressed women in each one. She was led through multiple doors of the compound, there were minimal windows and the windows that were there had thick bars in front of the glass. Hally could see glimpses of a blue sky, green in the distance. She frowned.
The guard stopped outside a clinical, white door.
"The Doctor will see you now."