As soon as Arthur landed, he was in the corridor of the Tardis.
The corridor looked old. Both the left and right sides had metal studs. Not to mention, the floor was slightly warped, as if it hadn't been repaired in a very long time.
Arthur knew immediately that he was in the Tardis before Eleventh. The question was, did he land in the Ninth or Tenth version?
Rose's voice sounded faint. "How long have I been gone?"
"About 12 hours," the Doctor answered in a northern accent.
Ah, the Ninth.
Arthur walked over to the Tardis control room. His eyes caught the loading computer screen. The number 12 kept appearing from the date March 6th 2005.
"No, I'll just tell her I've spent the night at Shareens. See you later!" Rose said before adding, "Oh, don't you disappear."
Arthur refocused on the date on the screen. When he tapped the screen, the words 12 months later appeared instantly.
"What are you doing?!" The doctor shouted. Arthur looked up and found the Doctor's face very annoyed. He pushed him away from the controller and gave him an angry look. "Are you messing with my Tardis?"
"Your Tardis? Oh my, Idris is right, that's very childish," Arthur crossly replied in an exasperated tone.
"What?"
"Why is it said 12 months later?"
The doctor looked back and was slightly taken aback by what was displayed on the screen. Before Arthur could ask, the Doctor had fled the Tardis in a hurry. Arthur just resigned himself to following him.
They both entered the apartment building by taking the stairs. Then, the Doctor went straight into an apartment. Arthur followed behind and his eyes immediately noticed Rose Tyler and a woman who looked like an older version of Rose.
"It's not 12 hours, it's er...12 months. You've been gone a whole year," the Doctor told Rose before laughing apologetically.
Rose and Jackie both look at him, stunned.
"Not the time," Arthur hissed, folding his arms.
"Shut up," he retorted, not in the mood.
▪︎︎︎︎▪︎▪︎
Rose is sitting in an armchair while Jackie is scolding her. A policeman is sitting in the other armchair. The Doctor and Arthur are standing not far from the living room, watching the whole situation with awkwardness.
"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," Jackie seethed and talked to the policeman, "You ask her. She won't tell me! That's all she says. 'Travelling.'"
"That's what I was doing," Rose insisted.
"I can vouch for that," Arthur added, deciding to help Rose from getting into a complicated situation.
"When her passport is still in the drawer? It's just one lie after another, don't you dare patronising me!" Jackie barked.
"I'm not. Rose had been travelling with us. She wants to call you, but the service is terrible."
"I really meant to phone, I really did, I just...I forgot," Rose replied weakly.
"What, for a? You forgot for a year? And I am left sitting here?" Jackie growled. "I just don't believe you. Why won't you tell me where you've been?"
"Fine, you wanna know she's been?" Arthur questioned her. Rose had hinted how her mother can be quite feral, but he's really underestimated her temper. "She's been travelling across time and space with a time machine. If you think I'm a lunatic or full of lies, then go ahead. Slap me, beat me, I don't care. I know how much you care for your daughter, and right now, I'm telling the truth, so this whole situation can be cleared up soon and you don't treat like a stranger."
Jackie just hung her head, looking straight at his grey eyes. The anger's still there, but she seems to calm down a bit.
"Actually, it's my fault. I sort of er, employed Rose as my companion," the Doctor tried to explain.
The policeman frowns. "When you say 'companion' is this a sexual relationship?"
"No!" the Doctor and Rose declared.
"That's gross!" Arthur uttered, not liking the question this man just said.
Jackie quickly advances dangerously on the Doctor. "Then what is it? Because unlike that man," she gestures to Arthur, "you waltz in here, all charms and smiles, and the next thing I know, she vanishes off the face of the earth! How old are you then? 40? 45? What, you find her on the Internet? Did you go online and pretend you're a doctor?"
"I am a Doctor!" the Doctor insisted.
"Prove it! Stitch this, mate."
Arthur closes his eyes as Jackie slaps the Doctor around the face. The Doctor groans loudly while Rose rolls her eyes, not even surprised by her mother's outburst. "I'll be out," he suggested to Rose and dragged the Doctor away. Jackie needs to be alone with Rose, and needs to assess what's happening.
After they're on the roof, the Doctor quickly yanks his hand away from Arthur. He simply leaned against the wall, looking at the sky. By the look on his face, Arthur already knew that the Doctor was inwardly blaming Arthur for this whole mess. He admitted the thought was a bit ridiculous and unfair. But he understood that for this version of the Doctor...Arthur needed to look at him dispassionately as a colleague or family.
He would never trust Arthur and he would have to get used to all the accusations.
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
After some time has passed, Rose joins them.
"I can't tell her the full truth. I can't even begin...she's never gonna forgive me," she muttered as she sat on the wall beside Arthur. "And I missed a year? Was it good?"
"No," Arthur admitted. "But even if we travelled back to the past with the Tardis, it would cause a serious paradox."
"That's useful."
"Well, if it's this much trouble, are you gonna stay here now?" The Doctor asked.
"I dunno," Rose doubted. "I can't do that to her again, though."
"Well, she's not coming with us."
"That's rude," Arthur noted, but chuckled as the Doctor and Rose laughed.
"No chance," Rose agreed with the Doctor.
"I don't do families," the Doctor remarked. Arthur refrained from looking hurt by those words. If only he knows…
"She slapped you!"
"900 years of time and space, and I've never been slapped by someone's mother."
"Your face."
"It hurt!"
"Something tells me it won't be the last," Arthur guessed.
"It better be the last!" The Doctor scoffed, rubs his cheek, offended.
Rose's brows are knitted. "When you say 900 years…"
"That's my age," the Doctor confirmed.
"You're 900 years old?"
"Yeah."
"My mum was right. That is one hell of an age gap," Rose acknowledged and jumped off the wall. "Every conversation with you and Arthur just goes mental. There's no one else I can talk to. I've seen all that stuff up there, the size of it, and I can't say a word. Aliens and spaceships and things, and I'm the only person on planet earth who knows they exist."
Arthur smirks, looking up at above. Right on cue, a spacecraft narrowly misses their heads as it falls from the sky and heads for Central London. It smashes into Big Ben, then lands with a splash in the Thames. The Doctor and Rose stand up with their mouths open, while Arthur just keeps smirking. "What do you know, apparently the universe had another plan," he mused.
"Oh, that's just not fair," Rose complained.
The Doctor laughs gleefully, grabs her hand, and pulls her off in the direction of the action. Arthur rolls his eyes and quickly follows them behind, avoiding many people before arriving on the scene.
"It's blocked off," the Doctor realised.
"We're miles from the centre. The scene must be grid locked. The whole of London must be closing down," Rose concluded.
"I know, I can't believe I'm here to see this! This is fantastic!"
Rose glances at both of them. "Did you know this was going to happen?"
"Nope!" The Doctor grinned.
"Yep," Arthur nods.
"Do you recognize the ship?" Rose added.
This time, both the Doctor and Arthur say the same thing. "Nope!"
"Do you know why it crashed?"
"Nope!" The Doctor repeated.
"I guess?" Arthur shrugs. His sense feels odd about all of these. He's not sure why, but he can tell that this whole situation isn't what it seems. As if…there's more to see.
"Oh, I'm so glad I've got you two," Rose huffed.
"I bet you are!" The Doctor rejoiced. "This is what I travel for, Rose! To see history happening right in front of us."
"Well, let's go and see it! Never mind the traffic, we've got the Tardis!"
"I'm not sure having another spaceship suddenly appear will get us in a good situation," Arthur stated.
"Yeah, but the Tardis looks like a big blue box. No one's going to notice."
"You'll be surprised, an emergency like this, there'll be all kinds of people watching. Trust me, the Tardis stays where it is," the Doctor insisted.
Rose looks distinctly disgruntled. "So, history's happening and we're stuck here."
"Yes, we are."
"Well, there's a TV?" Arthur suggested.
Both of them stare at him before looking at each other.
"TV it is," Rose mumbled.
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
And so, the trio find themself back in Rose's apartment, watching the news on the TV. They're not alone. Some of Jackie's friends also join them, watching the news as Jackie gives them some refreshments.
"Big Ben, destroyed as a UFO crash lands in Central London," a reporter announced. "Police reinforcements are drafted in from across the country to control wide-spread panic, looting and civil disturbance. A state of national emergency has been declared. Tom Hitchinson is at the scene. The police urge the public not to panic. There's a help line number on screen right now if you're worried about friends or family."
Arthur, who has the remote, changes the channel over to an American news channel. "The military are on the lookout for more spaceships. Until then, all flights in North American air space have been grounded."
"What a shame," the dark-haired man mumbled and turned the channel back.
"The army are sending divers into the wreck of the spaceship. No one knows what they're going to find."
"Change it," the Doctor stated.
Arthur quickly changes the channel back to the American channel. "The President will address the nation live from the White House. But the Secretary General has asked that people watch the skies."
Jackie comes in to give Rose a cup of tea. "I've got no choice! Either I make him welcome, or I run the risk of never seeing you again!" She hissed.
"That's not gonna happen," Arthur hinted, startled Jackie.
"Oi! I'm trying to listen!" The Doctor scoffed.
"...his current whereabouts. News is just coming in, we can go to Tom at the embankments."
"They've found a body," Tom shared, earning attention to the Doctor and Arthur. "It's unconfirmed but I'm being told a body has been found in the wreckage. A body of non-terrestrial origins. It's being brought ashore."
"Can you tell what it is?" Rose whispered to Arthur.
He frowns, closing his eyes. "It looks non-terrestrial…but something's off. Something's not right."
The Doctor shakes his head. "So much help for that."
Rose smacks his head from behind, earning a giggle from Arthur. As time went on, Rose became increasingly annoyed with the Doctor's behaviour towards Arthur.
"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 TV suddenly changes into many channels, before finally stops at Blue Peter. "And when you've stuck your things on, you can cover the whole lot…"
"What?" He mumbled, looking at his empty hand and noticed that a toddler had taken the remote. "Oh."
"Oi!" The Doctor reacted and tried to take away the remote from the child.
A young woman walks into the hospital, showing her ID to General Asquith in the lobby. "Toshiko Sato from Torchwood. I'm here to help UNIT regarding the discovery of the alien."
"On whose authority?" He warily asked back.
"Captain Jack Harkness of Torchwood Three."
He gulps. "One condition. Torchwood didn't interfere with UNIT's investigation in this matter. Do you understand?"
Arthur shook his head and stood up. That's his clue. "I need to go," he decided.
"Where?" Rose wondered.
"Visiting an old coworker."
The Doctor raises his eyebrows. "At this time?"
"Yeah. They know one-two things about aliens. I want to hear some suggestions, just to be sure."
"I doubt you'll find anything."
"Maybe," Arthur simply shrugs and mutters to Rose. "Keep the orange juice for me."
Rose huffs, shaking her head, but winks at Arthur as he walks away.
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
A group of soldiers enter the mortuary inside the hospital. General Asquith approaches the table where the alien lies covered with a cloth. "Let's have a look then," he said. Toshiko 'Tosh' Sato, a member of Torchwood who fills Dr. Owen Harper (due to a hangover), pulls back the cloth. "Good God. That's real?" He gasped. "It's not a hoax or a dummy, or a...?"
Tosh shakes her head. "I've x-rayed the skull. It's wired up inside like nothing I've ever seen before. No one could make this up."
"We've got experts being flown in. Until they arrive...get that out of sight."
She nods and covers the alien again, letting two scientists put the alien on a mortuary shelf. Not a surprise that most people seem rather afraid of non-terrestrial. She's not perturbed by this only because she had gotten used to them.
Remembering something, Tosh runs after Asquith as he makes to leave. "Excuse me, sir!" She called. The man stops and turns to face her. "I know it's a state of emergency and there's a lot of rumour flying around, but is it true, what they're saying? About the Prime Minister?"
The captain does not answer her. He leaves without another word, followed by soldiers. She stares after them then hurries in the opposite direction, into another room, where another figure sits on an old chair.
Arthur nods at her. "Thank you for letting me in."
"Jack said I can trust you," Tosh revealed, looking nervous. "Oh, I wish Owen was here."
"Hangover in 2 weeks, what a record."
Tosh shook her head, not sure if he's truly impressed or just wants to cheer her up. "In any case, you said that you felt odd about the alien. Can you tell me why?"
Arthur sighs, remembering when Tosh showed him the alien before Asquith came. "It looks like an alien, but it's not. I can't tell why," he said, taking a handkerchief and wiping a small blood from his nose as he stood up. He didn't have time to fully check the condition of the alien's body due to his sudden nosebleed and Asquith's sudden arrival. "My sense isn't as strong as it used to be. I think I should check the body again. Just to be sure."
The woman stares at Arthur as they walk back to the mortuary. "Are you really okay?"
"Just tired, that's all," he lied, letting Tosh open the door before he joined her. Even after much resting, his condition didn't get any better. It seems to be getting worse than ever.
"Are you suggesting that the alien…isn't an alien at all?"
"Yeah."
"Is that even possible?"
"With the right equipment, it could be." They hear a thumping noise in the distance. "What was that?"
The thumping noise can be heard again. They both turn around. The thumping repeats itself over and over again. It seems to be coming from the place where the alien was put. Tosh stares at it warily before she and Arthur edges towards the door of the alien's cupboard. The thumping has become even more frantic, as though something is running around inside, banging against the walls.
"Oh," Arthur realised.
"What?" Tosh whispered.
"It's alive."
He snaps his fingers. The door opens widely and the pig suddenly bursts out of the mortuary, knocking both Tosh and Arthur that got her to scream, while Arthur clutches his head from getting headbutt.
He hears someone yelling at him. It took him a moment to see the confusion yet furious glare of the Doctor. "It got away," he muttered.
The Doctor turns to the men behind him. "Spread out. Tell the perimeter it's a lock down," he commanded, running to Tosh's side and holding her hands.
"My God, it's still alive," Tosh gasped.
The men are still standing there watching them. Arthur rolls his eyes. "Do as he said!" He yelled, making all soldiers run off and start searching the building.
The Doctor turns to Arthur, not expecting his outburst like that. But, he's focusing back to Tosh, who's blood is leaking out from under her hairline. "I swear it was dead."
"Coma, shock, hibernation, anything," the Doctor pointed out. "What does it look like?"
"Like a pig," Arthur replied before they briefly heard a slight sound from behind the Doctor.
The Time Lord turns around quickly. "It's still here." He stands up and beckons another soldier into the room. He walks forward quietly, looking for the source of the sound. When he hears another rattling, he drops to his knees and crawls to peer behind the desk. "Hello!"
Arthur winces as the pig squeals in terror and runs across the room. The soldier readies his gun.
"Don't shoot!" Both Time Lords shouted at the same time.
The pig runs along the corridor. One of the soldiers points his gun at it and shoots before anyone can stop him.
Arthur quickly grabs the pig fiercely. Then, he puts his hand on the pig's head, using a tiny portion of his power to put the creature to sleep. He winces, holding his head as he lets go of it.
Stunned, the Doctor asks him. "What did you do?"
"Put the poor thing to sleep," Arthur responded before coughing. Luckily, his nosebleed has stopped. He didn't want any of them distracted from the main problem just because of his sickness.
"How?" It was impossible for a human to do so. Yet, Arthur Jonas had proven, once again, that he's not remotely human at all. He's something else. Something…powerful…and dangerous.
"You taught me."
"I never taught you."
"Not now. Later."
The Doctor huffs. "That's really explanatory."
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
Several minutes later, Tosh, Arthur, and the Doctor are standing over the pig's body.
"I just assumed that's what alien's look like," Tosh confessed. Jack had told her to help the Doctor when he comes, but also said to never reveal anything regarding Torchwood to him. Timelines and stuff. "But you're saying it's an ordinary pig? From Earth?"
"More like a mermaid," the Doctor explained. "Victorian showmen used to draw the crowds by taking the skull of a cat and glueing it to a fish and calling it a mermaid. Now, someone's taken a pig, opened up its brain, stuck bits on...then they strapped it in that ship and made it dive bomb. It must've been terrified. They've taken this animal and turned it into a joke." He glances back at Arthur. "And that's why you feel off about it. You sense the oddness of it."
"But can't figure it out like you did," Arthur added with a shrug. It was quite worrying for him. Why couldn't he see it? Has his illness begun to affect his mind as well?
"So it's a fake. A pretend. Like the mermaid. But the technology augmenting its brain...it's like nothing on Earth. It's alien. Aliens are faking aliens. But why would they do that...?" Tosh pondered.
"A distraction," Arthur concluded, threw his hands in the air, and closed his eyes. "He's gone, isn't he?"
"Yeah."
"That man," he grumbled. "Well, tell Jack everything you found. Also, tell him I said hi."
Tosh grabs his hand. "What will you do?" She wondered.
"Figuring this out."
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
Rose enters the Tardis where the Doctor is looking at the computer screen. "Alright, so I lied!" The Doctor began. "I went and had a look, but the whole crash landing's a fake, I thought so, it's just too perfect. I mean, 'hitting Big Ben'? Come on, so I thought let's go and have a look—"
"My mum's here," Rose interjected.
The door creaks open. Jackie, Mickey, and Arthur enter. The Doctor looks around, rather annoyed that Arthur has managed to find him. He's been very sure to quickly leave him, not wanting to be close to the mysterious man. But the Tardis somehow got into trouble for a while, making him stranded somewhere else before finally landed near Powell Estate. That alone gave Arthur a chance to catch up with him. "Oh, that's just what I need. Don't you dare make this place domestic!"
"You ruined my life, Doctor," Mickey accused him. The Doctor spins smoothly around to face him, not caring as Mickey continues. "They thought she was dead. I was a m*rder suspect because of you."
"See what I mean? Domestic." The Doctor spins back to face the computer screen.
Mickey takes a few steps towards him. "I bet you don't even remember my name!"
"Ricky."
"It's Mickey."
"No, it's Ricky."
"I think I know my own name."
"You think you know your own name? How stupid are you?"
"Jackie?" Arthur called her. The woman has been looking around the Tardis with a bewildered expression. "Just take a breath. Don't worry—"
The woman shook her head, turned and ran outside again.
"Mum, don't!" Rose shouted, then looking at the Doctor and Mickey. "Don't go anywhere! Don't start a fight!"
"What is her problem?" The Doctor grumbled.
"She just discovered that you're an alien," Arthur replied with a deadpan expression.
"But you told her!"
"Doesn't make her feel any better."
The Doctor shook his head. "Humans."
Rose runs back inside the Tardis and back to the Doctor's side, where he is looking at his monitor again and turns to Arthur. "That was a real spaceship?"
"Most likely, yeah," Arthur responded before his brows knitted.
Jackie reaches for the telephone, dials the number on the screen. "Yes! I've seen one. I really have, two aliens. And she's with them! My daughter, she's with them. And she's not safe. Oh, my God...she's not safe. I've seen two aliens. And I know their name. One's called the Doctor. Another is called Arthur Jonas, an explorer or something. It's a box. A blue box. She called it a Tardis."
Inside a cupboard, Harriet Jones watches something from her hiding place before leaning back against the wall of the cupboard, horrified to hear Asquith's scream.
Everyone in the room is bathed in electric light, including the Doctor, who falls to his knees in pain.
"So, it's all a pack of lies? What is it then, are they invading?" Rose pondered, cutting Arthur back from his visions.
Mickey is on tip-toes peering at the screen over their shoulders. "Funny way to invade, putting the world on red alert."
"Good point!" The Doctor admitted. "So, what're they up to?"
"Distraction," Arthur repeated what he said to Tosh before rubbing his nose.
Rose frowns. "Distraction for what?"
"Something big and dangerous, for sure."
Mickey peers curiously down at the Doctor, where he is once again wedged under the console. "So, what're you doing down there?"
"Ricky," he replied with a muffle voice.
"Mickey."
The Doctor takes the sonic screwdriver out of his mouth to make himself clearer. "Ricky."
Mickey rolled his eyes, irked, then looked at Arthur. "Is he always like this?"
"Depends on his personal taste," Arthur remarked.
"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?" The Doctor asked them.
"I suppose not…" Mickey said.
"I would," Arthur replied.
"Shut it, then—what?" The Doctor inquired, glaring at Arthur. "You? Understand?"
"Yeah."
"I don't believe you."
"The Tardis would disagree."
He puts off the sonic screwdriver away from his teeth. "You…talked to the Tardis?"
Arthur nods. "She's very cross with you earlier."
"That's nonsense."
"So she didn't send you somewhere else?"
His face goes flustered, focusing back on fixing the console. "Shut up."
The dark-haired man smirks, simply walks away, waiting for the police to get them to Downing Street.
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
"Got it! Haha!" The Doctor beamed. Arthur walks to join him with Rose. "Patched in the radar, looped it back twelve hours so we can follow the flight of the spaceship, here we go...hold on…" he whacks the computer screen. "Come on!" The screen shows them the graphic of the spaceship coming down. "That's the spaceship on its way to Earth. See? Except...hold on...see, the spaceship did a sling shot round the Earth before it landed."
"What does that mean?" Rose asked.
"It means it came from Earth in the first place, it went up and came back down," Arthur clarified. "Whoever those aliens are, they haven't just arrived. They've been here for a while."
"The question is, what have they been doing?" The Doctor queried, as he's switching the television from channel to channel.
"How many channels do you get?" Mickey wondered.
"All the basic packages."
"You get sports channels?"
"Oh look," Arthur switched the channel to the previous one, showing the news. "Apparently UNIT's in this too."
"It is looking likely that the government is bringing in alien specialists, those people who have devoted their lives to studying outer space."
The Doctor beamed. "UNIT! United Nations Intelligence Taskforce, good people."
"How do you know them?" Rose asked.
"'Cos he's worked for them," Mickey bragged. "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...and in the history books, and there's his name. Followed by a list of the dead."
"That's nice. Good boy, Ricky," the Doctor sarcastically replied.
"If you know them, why don't you go and help?" Rose prodded.
"He didn't trust them enough," Arthur answered.
The Doctor sighs. As much as he hates it, Arthur has a point. He doesn't fully trust them. "Besides," the Doctor added. "The world's on a knife-edge. There's aliens out there and fake aliens. We want to keep this alien out of the mix. I'm going undercover...and eh, better keep the Tardis out of sight. Rickey! You've got a car, you can do some driving."
"Where to?!" Mickey asked the moment Arthur and the Doctor walked towards the door.
"The roads are clearing. Let's go and have a look at that spaceship."
Yet, the moment they step out of the blue box, they are caught to the sound of helicopters and immediately caught out by a searchlight. "Do not move!"
Police cars and soldiers surround them, pointing guns at them and preventing their escape. Mickey makes a run for it. Arthur knows sooner or later, Jackie will make a phone call about the Doctor and Mickey will be hiding behind some dustbins to not get caught.
"Did you know about this?" The Doctor calmly questioned.
"Sort of," Arthur sheepishly denoted.
"Raise your hands above your head! You are under arrest!"
The Doctor and Rose obey. And before the Doctor can speak, Arthur beats him by saying it first. "Take me to your leader!"
"Oh come on!" He whined, hating that Arthur said it first, while Rose silently tried so hard not to laugh.
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
Rose clambers into the back of a police car next to the Doctor before Arthur joins. The door shuts and they drive off. "This is a bit posh. If I knew it was gonna be like this, being arrested, I'd have done it years ago."
"You can thank Jackie for that," Arthur informed.
"We're not being arrested, we're being escorted!" The Doctor pointed out.
"Where to?" Rose asked.
Arthur smirks. "Downing Street!"
The Doctor laughs. Rose joins in. "You're kidding," the blonde blurted.
"He's not!" The Doctor agreed with Arthur this time.
"10 Downing Street?"
"That's the one!"
Rose laughs with glee. "Oh, my God! I'm going to 10 Downing Street?"
"Yep," Arthur nods.
"How come?"
"I hate to say it, but Mickey was right. Over the years I've visited this planet a lot of times, and I've been, uh, noticed," the Doctor explained.
"Now they need you?" Rose guessed.
"Like it said on the news, they're gathering experts in alien knowledge. And who's the biggest expert of the lot?" He grins expectantly at her.
"Patrick Moore?"
"Apart from him!"
"Ah, don't you just love it…"
"I'm telling you, Lloyd George, he used to drink me under the table," the Doctor turns to Arthur. "Who's the Prime Minister now?"
"Tony Blair," Arthur answered. But not much longer, he silently added.
The car pulls up outside 10 Downing Street. The paparazzi and hundreds of police men are there. The Doctor gets out of the car and waves at them all, grinning maniacally. Rose smiles nervously and then looks up at 10 Downing Street. "Oh my God!" She muttered, following the Doctor inside.
Arthur also walks out of the car, using his hoodie and glasses to hide his face from getting in pictures of. He didn't want people to notice his presence. He's been trying so hard to keep his identity under the radar of the public. It would be a disaster if enemies across Earth and/or the galaxy spot him here.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, could we convene?" A man Arthur recalls as Indra called the moment he's inside the building. "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 approaches the Doctor and Arthur, and gives them each an ID card. "Here's your ID card. I'm sorry, your companion doesn't have clearance."
"I don't go anywhere without her," the Doctor insisted as he loops the ID card around his neck.
"You're the code 9, not her."
"And him?"
Indra glances at Arthur. "You're Arthur Jonas, the Explorer. Several higher-ups and the royal family gave him a high authority regarding the aliens."
"Higher-ups?" Rose frowns. She knew Arthur was no ordinary person. He could clearly see the future and knew many things about aliens. But having big access from government's higher-ups AND the British royal family? Definitely not something that crossed Rose's mind.
From the left side, Arthur saw the figure of Harriet Jones approaching them. Inevitably, Arthur smiled with relief. The woman who would become very important in the future and an important key in this conflict had finally arrived.
"I'm sorry, Doctor...it is the Doctor, isn't it? She'll have to stay outside," Indra persisted.
"She's staying with me," the Doctor maintained his answer.
"Look, even I don't have clearance to go in there. I can't let her in and that's a fact."
"She can keep her safe," Arthur interrupted, pointing at Harriet who looks startled by his acknowledgement of her.
Indra looks positively exasperated that Harriet's still around. "Not now, we're busy. Can't you go home?"
"She can help Rose with something. Isn't that right, Harriet Jones, MP Flydale North?"
"Yes, yes!" Harriet nods beyond relief. "I need her help."
"Arthur?" Rose called, confused.
"Just stay with her," he cajoled. "Trust me, she needs you."
"This is insane," the Doctor hissed.
"She can't be in that room, Doctor. Trust me, she's better off from that room."
Rose only met him twice, but so far, he's been very helpful. So the fact that Arthur hinted she's not safe in there might be something. "It's alright, you go."
"Are you sure?" The Doctor asked her.
"Yeah, they're the experts, you should hear what they've got to say. And Arthur's been helpful to us. We should trust him."
He hates that she trusts Arthur. But she's not wrong that he's been giving enough clues to help them. Doesn't mean he likes it. "I suppose so. Don't get into any trouble."
"Be careful," Arthur remarked. "Both of you."
"We will," Rose promised before they walked into the room.
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
The experts are sitting down in their seats. Joseph and General Asquith make their way to the desk at the front. Arthur sits on a chair behind, keeping an eye around. Meanwhile, the Doctor enters last and takes a seat at the back of the room, reading the booklet he finds on the chair extremely quickly.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I'd like to have your attention please," Asquith began. "As you can see from the summaries in front of you, the ship had one porcine occupant—"
"Which is fake," Arthur interjected.
"I beg your pardon?"
"The so-called alien you found? It's fake."
"Precisely," the Doctor agreed with Arthur and began his analysis. "Now, the really interesting bit happened three days ago. See, filed away under every other business. The North Sea, the satellite detected a signal, a little blip of radiation at one hundred fathoms like there was something down there...you were just about to investigate and the next thing you know, this happens, spaceships, pigs, massive diversion, from what?"
"Question. Let's say, for the sake of the argument, I'm right about the fake alien," Arthur stated. "If aliens fake an alien crash and an alien pilot, what do they get?"
"Us. They get us. Arthur…this is not a diversion. It's a trap. This is all about us," the Doctor realised, making the experts all look intrigued. "Alien experts, the only people with knowledge on how to fight them, gathered together in one room."
Joseph farts.
"Did you just fart?" Arthur demanded, not from disgust…but from finally piecing together all the clues who's responsible for all this chaos.
Crap. Not them. Please, not them!
The Doctor raises his eyebrows and fixes him with a pointed look. "Excuse me, do you mind not farting while I'm saving the world?"
"Would you rather silent but deadly?" Joseph asked before he and Asquith sniggered.
The Doctor stares at them. Asquith takes off his hat and undoes the zip on his forehead while Joseph laughs manically. Then, he pulls the skin suit down and reveals a giant green alien inside. The Doctor stares at him, transfixed, while Arthur just groans, exasperated that his worst nightmare of meeting the most disgusting alien in the entire universe becomes reality.
Asquith, also out of his skin suit, straightens up and addresses the room. "We are the Slitheen."
"Crap," Arthur cursed, glancing at the ID cards around the room.
"Thank you all for wearing your ID cards," Joseph said, taking a weapon from his pocket. "They'll help to identify the bodies—"
Before he can press it, Arthur quickly tosses over his ID card. Then, his eyes momentarily glowing gold before dispersing as he launches himself to both of them.