Chapter 15: Aliens of London
The Doctor came back slowly.
The first thing he became aware of was the fact he was on his back in the console room of the TARDIS. As his vision cleared, he noticed the pulsing green light of the time rotor in the center. His sense of touch returned next. He could feel the cold metal of the grating below him. His head was propped up slightly on something soft. Smell followed quickly as his mind cleared up more and more. A soft vanilla scent that was tinted with something like an exotic spice that was intoxicating to his nose filled his mind, making him close his eyes and breathe in it. Sound was the last to return to him. His ears were ringing with the sound of his own anguish roar of grief.
Memories of what he saw came crashing into him, making him sit up quickly. Scrambling up, he turned to see Rose staring at him with wide frightened eyes. The trembling began then as he reached out to lightly touch her face.
"R-Rose?" he breathed out on a shaky breath.
"Doctor," Rose answered him, looking him over for injury. "Are you okay? You just stopped suddenly and went limp. You kept making weird noises and twitching."
Closing his eyes tightly, he let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding. It was a dream. She hadn't been taken from him after all. She was still here, still with him.
"You're here," the Doctor breathed out with shaky lungs. "You're alive."
Not bothering to think about it, or even study what that could have been, the Doctor wrapped his arms around Rose and pulled her tightly to him. The hug was desperate as he clung to her smaller frame, keeping them pressed so close he could feel the beating of her single heart against him. The Doctor could not say if he had ever experienced something like before. All he knew was that he never wanted to see that again. Not his precious girl, not like that. He didn't need something showing him that he could lose her so easily as that. The fact she was human was something he knew all too well. The thoughts of losing her, either by him sending her from his sight or her being taken beyond where he could ever go caused him to tighten his grip on her, whimpering softly against her neck.
Rose could only blink and hugged the Time Lord back tightly. She had been so terrified when she saw him collapse to the grating and start twitching a little. It was like little jolts of electricity were running through his limbs. She didn't even register her movements as she scrambled forward, pulling his head onto her lap, calling out to him. His shields went down long enough for her to feel his confusion followed by the first pangs of fear followed by bottomless grief and anguish. He had actually cried out then. She couldn't see what he was seeing, no matter how hard she tried to. Something was keeping her out.
Screaming at the TARDIS for help proved to be useless. She merely sent waves of rolling comfort and calm at Rose. The space and time ship seemed distracted as Rose begged her for help, to tell her what was wrong with the Doctor. But for once, the TARDIS remained silent, her humming soft and minimal. Had Rose been in her right state of mind, she would have recognized the signs that the TARDIS was up to something again. The magnificent time ship's attention was elsewhere.
Now he was awake and holding her so very close to him, one hand was gripping the back of her head and the other pressed between her shoulder blades. Their chests were crushed together, the Doctor was still pulling at her bodily, trying to bring her even closer to him. Shifting a bit, Rose soon found herself on the Doctor's lap, her knees on either side of his thighs and his face buried in her neck. She could feel him breathing in her scent in his desperation.
"I saw," he tried to explain after a moment of frantic silence, "I saw you dead, Rose. You, you were taken from me."
His golden girl was in his arms, breathing, her heart was beating. The Doctor fought to let those two facts break through his terror fogged mind. As the seconds ticked by and he found himself relaxing more and more, he discovered he had tucked his head against her shoulder and his lips were against the soft skin of her neck again. Rose shivered in his arms, but held him just as tightly as he was holding her.
"I'm sorry, Doctor," Rose was whispering. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you. It's not your fault."
Pressing a soft kiss to her neck, the Doctor pulled back to look at his precious girl. Her eyes were wide with fright and sorrow, yet there was a darkness growing behind her eyes he couldn't identify. Her mind was pulsing against his, yet keeping separate from him. She was terrified of angering him again, of him sending her away once this was over. She was afraid for him, of whatever it was that made him collapse and have that terrible dream. And yet, she was craving his presence, his arms around her, holding her like she was the most precious thing in all of time and space. Pressing another tender kiss to her forehead, he laid his against hers.
"I'm sorry, too," the Doctor admitted. "Bit reactionary, me. Should've trusted you more."
With his apology, he let the last of his shields between them drop and brushed his mind against hers with the same tenderness he was caressing her cheeks. The pair both let out a sigh of pleasure at the contact. Both wanted more than these lingering caresses, but neither was willing to move first. That was, after all, exceptionally intimate. Instead they settled for this level between them.
"Come on," Rose whispered softly. "Let's head over to Mickey's and see what he's found. Okay?"
The Doctor nodding and waited until Rose got to her feet before he got to his. Rose took a moment to dust off his jumper and jacket, grinning up at him softly. He chuckled softly, the sound moving through Rose at the sound of such a tender noise coming from the normally very animated alien. His long fingers combed through her hair, trying to smooth it out from his fingers trespass. Once the two were settled, they offered the other a smile before the Doctor curled his fingers around Rose's smaller and warmer hand.
"Alright!" he was beaming, back to his normal manic self. "First we stop by Rickey's place, see what he found."
"Mickey," Rose corrected with a grin.
"Then he can give us a lift," the Doctor continued as they walked down the ramp, telling his plan to Rose who was just giggling at his excitement now.
Neither of them heard the TARDIS trying to get their attention as they pushed the doors open and stepped outside.
Well, the TARDIS sighed, they know now. Children, I swear.
The night lit up, blinding the pair. Faintly the Doctor was aware of men shouting at them, surrounding them on all sides. Rose clung to his hand. Turning slightly, he tried to pull her behind him as his other hand tried to shield his eyes from the blinding white light that was beamed directly at them from a helicopter that was hovering overhead. For a second, he sent the chopper a deadly glare, trying to get Rose at least back into the TARDIS. Then he could feel Rose's amusement. She wasn't even the slightest bit worried. She was actually entertained by all this. Her emotions rolled over to him, as her mind tickled his, and the Doctor found himself very quickly grinning his manic smile at the people around them.
'I was wondering if this would happen when Mum tore out of the old girl,' Rose's thoughts laughed in his head.
'Another thing you remember, I take it?' the Doctor asked, surprisingly more at ease with the answer. It could have been her amusement affecting him.
'Sort of, yeah,' was her reply and he could all by see the tongue touched grin on his face.
"Do not move!" someone ordered gruffly to the right.
"Raise your hands above your head!" was another yelled order. "You are under arrest!"
Faintly over all the noise, the Doctor and Rose could hear Jackie screaming for her daughter. Yelling at some poor officer to unhand her; that she needed to get to her daughter. Rose's thoughts shifted now from the bright laughter to a solid golden light in the Doctor's mind. Glancing at her a moment, he just grinned again and put his hands up.
"Take me to your leader!" the Doctor called out. He still had a hold of Rose's hand, making her raise her hands as well. "Always wanted to say that."
'We got this,' she heard the Doctor whisper into her mind.
The pair were escorted to a rather nice car as Jackie was taken back to her flat for questioning. Looking behind her, Rose noticed Mickey standing off to the side, watching carefully. He threw her a playful grin and nodded in the direction her mum was taken. Nodding back, she squeezed the Doctor's hand as he ushered her into the back seat of the waiting vehicle. Mickey watched as the Doctor's piercing gaze sought out his and nodded. The door closed behind the Doctor and Rose before the car sped off with its precious cargo. After the majority of the police cleared the area, Mickey headed to collect Jackie. He would stop the hunt, this time, long before it got to the point it did before. Unlike before, he was no longer the Tin Dog to the Doctor. He was not the scared, angry little boy he once was. And he did not play around with aliens that threatened his family. No second chances, like another Doctor once told him, "I'm that sort of man".
In the car, Rose was tensing up again. The Doctor drew her to his side, wrapping his arm around her tightly. Brushing a kiss against the crown of her head, he let his mind reach out to her. Ever since she gave him the warning of the enemy already here and she didn't remember their faces, he was cautious.
'You know where their taking us?' he asked, leaning his cheek against the top of her head to maintain the contact.
'Yep ,' came the reply. 'They are gathering experts on aliens at 10 Downing Street. The masterminds are there. Three of them, last I knew.'
'Alien experts huh?' the Doctor chuckled softly out loud. 'Suppose that means they want to best expert of all then.'
'Who's that? Patrick Moore?' Rose teased with a grin, closing her eyes.
"Oi!" the Doctor burst out loudly. His ears turned a fetching shade of pink in embarrassment.
At his side, Rose just laughed out merrily. He could feel the tension leaving her as she laughed.
"You love it," Rose poked him in the side playfully.
Settling back in the car, the Doctor kept her tight to his side. "I'm telling you, Lloyd George? Oh he used to drink me under the table. Impressive feat, that is. With me being a Superior Time Lord and all."
Rose just swatted his chest and he made a play of being hurt before lapsing back into a grin. "Who's the Prime Minster now?"
The look Rose gave the Doctor made him blush, feeling a bit like a stupid ape himself for a moment.
"How would I know?" Rose retorted, dryly. "Someone went and brought me home a little late, so I missed a year."
As Rose fell silent, the Doctor watched her chew on her thumb nail and stare out the window. He didn't need to be in her head or touching to know she was thinking about something. He leaned back in the car, letting his long fingers gently run over her shoulder absently as he thought over what she had told him. He didn't really like walking into a place with no plan. The problem was he wasn't even sure what these aliens were. There were too many worlds out there that used the same technology as the engine on the crashed ship. His mind kept circling around to the vinegar comment that Mickey made earlier in the evening. As well as the comment about keeping an eye out for overweight looking humans with gas problems. Those facts did help him narrow down the list of races it could be, but not enough.
The Time Lord also knew well enough that what he saw there, in that dream like state, was likely a possible future. It was so much like when he would use the Matrix back on Gallifrey, that he was almost convinced that it was what he feared. If that was the case, whatever he did, he needed to make sure that Rose was safe.
Even if it meant this world burned.
Rose sat forward suddenly, as the car was slowing down. Beside him, she tensed again and took a deep steadying breath. "Looks like it time for the show to begin," she murmured softly, glancing at him with a little smile.
"Everything will work out," he reassured her. "We just need to stay together, yeah?"
"Yeah," she gave him a wider smile, but it didn't reach her eyes. She didn't correct him.
The Doctor slid out of the car and turned to face all the camera crews and photographers, grinning manically and waving at them good naturedly. Still inside the car, Rose laughed. She could only guess at how confused the media was, trying to figure out who he was and why he was at 10 Downing Street. Holding out his hand to her, Rose slid out after him and looked around. With years of training from Pete and her Mum, Rose Tyler sent her best smile at the cameras and waved daintily. She also knew she was throwing them for a loop, because her actions and expression where one better suited for an heiress and member of nobility than a chav from the Estates.
Keeping her hand in his, the Doctor followed someone who was trying to usher the two of them inside quickly. Pulling Rose to his side, he let his eyes take in their surroundings. He noted at least three people who were of the plumper side of humanity that he immediately found he didn't trust. They walked ahead of him and Rose, entering the room they were being lead to.
'Do you recognize any of these people?' the Doctor asked silently as he swept the two of them to a corner to watch the room.
'Yeah,' Rose's soft voice whispered for him alone. 'Those people over there are with UNIT. They won't live another hour. That woman there is Harriet Jones, amazing woman she is. The little man that sent us in here is Indra Ganesh.'
Together they looked around the room, Rose not able to hide her anguish at the knowledge many of these people, if not all of them were about to die. Then her eyes stopped on Mr. Green.
'Him!' Rose nodded towards the overweight male with dark curly hair. 'He is one. The little blonde woman next to him is Margret Blaine. Both of them are aliens.'
'You sure?'
'Yes, trust me. That woman held me by my throat and threatened to snap me,' Rose growled into his mind. 'I remember her. And that man with the black hair. That's Joseph Green. He's like the leader or something.'
Rose lifted her eyes to the Doctor, curious what his plan would be. She knew he didn't like to kill, neither did she if it can be avoided. But in this situation, could they give the alien family a chance to leave? They did before, and the aliens laughed at them. The Doctor was watched the group that Rose had pointed out. There was a third man with them talking. He looked important, a man of rank within the military. Narrowing his eyes a bit, the Doctor turned suddenly to block Rose from the rest of the room.
'Take this,' he urged her, still silent to the room, but speaking loud in her mind.
He pressed a small blue handgun looking thing to her hands. It fit easily and looked like it had a reservoir on it where the chamber for bullets on a six shooter would be.
'Use this if you have to, Rose,' the Doctor told her, looking into her eyes and letting her feel the tension was that forming in him now. 'It's full of vinegar, like Rickey warned.'
"Excuse me!" the man who escorted them in, Indra, called out loudly, getting everyone's attention. The Doctor could have committed murder on the little man for interrupting him. He wanted to talk to Rose more and ask her a few more questions. Looking over at the man, Rose quickly pocketed the alien gun.
"Ladies and gentlemen, could we convene? Quick as we can, please," Indra ushered all the experts from the room, handing each an ID tag as they pass by. "It's this way, second door on the right. Can I remind everyone that ID cards are to be worn at all times. Thank you."
The Doctor narrowed his gaze at the three he noticed did not have ID cards on them. In fact the dark haired male, the one called Green seem to be grinning with something close to manic glee. The only people in the room left were him, Rose, the woman Rose called Harriet Jones, and the heavily armed guards. Indra approached the Doctor like a man walking up to his idol.
"Here's your ID card, sir," Indra held one out to the Doctor. Taking it, the Doctor slung it over his neck one handed. "I'm sorry, sir, but your companion doesn't have clearance. She'll have to stay here."
Alarm shot through both Rose and the Doctor. They exchanged looks as his grip on her hand tightened.
"I don't go anywhere without her," he tried to not growl at the little man, he really did.
Indra shook his head, looking apologetic and not a little bit worried, "You're the Code Nine, not her," the look he received from the Doctor made him want to cave and let her go in. "I'm sorry, Doctor… erm. It is the Doctor, isn't it?"
The tall man before him only nodded once, still glaring down at him. "She'll have to stay outside, sir."
"She stays with me," the Doctor insisted, started for the door with Rose with him. "They want me, then they accept her too."
Indra stepped in front of them, really hating his job right now,
"Look, even I don't have clearance to go in there," he tried to reason with the Doctor. "I can't let her in and that's a fact."
The Doctor actually took a step forward towards Indra. His eyes had iced over and his glare was the stuff of nightmares. In that moment, he was truly the Oncoming Storm. He was beyond caring at that point. This little human man thought to tell him, the last of the Time Lords, the Oncoming Storm, that he was not allowed to keep his ma- his companion with him. That he would have to trust someone he didn't know, or frankly trust, with her safety while aliens were threatening his second home and her. No, he would not be separated from her. He would not allow that nightmare of a vision come true. He would never allow her to be taken from him. Ever.
Only the Wolf can calm the Storm.
Rose blinked and looked around, trying to figure out who had sent that thought to her. Scanning the area, Rose realized with a jolt that the guards had shifted positions and were raising their firearms towards the Doctor. Harriet Jones was nearby, watching with wide eyes as she witnessed the Doctor become angry. Wetting her lips, Rose made a fast decision she hoped she didn't live to regret. Laying a hand on his shoulder, the enraged Time Lord paused and looked towards her. Rose offered him a soft smile and cupped his cheek. She could feel the muscles there flexing and twitching. Running her thumb over his cheek, under his eye, she pulled him down to rest her forehead against his.
'Let me in,' her mind begged him.
He didn't need to be asked twice. His mind opened and welcomed her in, just as hers did. They both struggled to suppress the shudder that threatened to run down their spines, or the spikes of want and desire this caused them. With their eyes closed, the two just enjoyed the depth of the connection, even as Rose pulled physically back.
"There you are," a stern female voice interrupted. "What are you two playing at now?"
Everyone turned to see one of the members of UNIT had returned to the room. She was tall, pale skinned with dark hair and eyes. She stood, straight back, staring at Rose specifically. Her stern expression did not change as she spoke to the young blonde.
"You are sent for one simple errand and now I find you in here without your ID, is that it?" the woman asked, crossing her arms over her chest. Every inch of this woman screamed military.
"No, ma'am," Rose answered, only a slight tremble in her voice heard to indicate she was surprised. "I was trying to explain to the Doctor to go ahead. Since I don't have proof of who I am."
The woman closed her eyes and sighed. Turning to Indra, she spoke in clipped tones. This was a woman who was used to commanding and did not have the time or patience for this right now.
"This young woman is a member of UNIT under my command," the woman stated. "I sent her to collect the Doctor, seeing as she is his assistant. She is most certainly authorized to be here."
Indra looked at the Doctor and Rose, who were looking at the woman curiously.
"Sorry," the Doctor started to say but was cut off.
"Sergeant Rothberg," the woman announced. "I understand, Doctor, but now is hardly the time to try and make her a new companion, now is it? No, it is not." She turned to the shell shocked Indra now. "If you continue to have doubts, allow me to assure you. Major Wulf is not the Doctor's companion. She does work for UNIT and is under my command. If you have further issues, please feel free to contact my commanding officer. Until then, we have a potential hostile situation to attend to. Wulf, come along."
Sergeant Rothberg turned on her heels and walked from the room quickly, leaving a gapping Indra and an amused Doctor in her wake. Rose offered the junior secretary an apologetic smile as she followed her 'commanding officer' out of the room. The Doctor just grinned at Indra and followed after his golden girl and the very formidable woman. Chuckling, he couldn't help but be reminded of an old Time Lady she once knew. She had been tough as nails too. As he left the room, hurrying forward to reclaim Rose's hand, he could hear Indra's exasperated response to the woman, Harriet Jones, "You haven't got clearance, now leave it!"
Harriet Jones, where had he heard that name before?
Entering the room, the Doctor directed Rose to sit with him in the back of the room while Rothberg headed back to her seat at the front. She shot the pair a sharp look, the Doctor gave her a 'who me!?' look, his eye brows winging up high. Rose had to hide her face behind the files that were given to everyone about the situation. Glancing around the room, she noted Green at the front with the general. Narrowing her eyes a little, she sent the Doctor a mental nudge.
Glancing at Rose briefly, he studied the booklet that had been provided quickly. He gave an absent nod to her as she sat back, sitting cross legged in the chair. That sight made him smile. The fact he could still feel her in his mind without the physical contact almost brought him comfort. Neither of them were really paying much attention when acting Prime Minister Joseph Green announced they would begin since their last minute experts had decided to join them in the room. Rose snorted softly, narrowing her eyes in Green's direction. Her hands slipped into her hoodie pockets.
"Ladies and Gentlemen," General Asquith began, holding up the booklet, "if I may have you attention please. As you can see from the summaries in front of you, the ship had one porcine occupant-"
"Now, actually the really interesting bit happened three days ago," the Doctor interrupted, handing the booklet off to Rose. "See, filed away under every other business, a satellite detected a signal, a little blip of radiation at one hundred fathoms, in the North Sea."
Standing up, he started to pace a bit in the middle of the room, all eyes on him, but like normal when the Doctor was on a thread like this, he never noticed. Rose did, however. She watched the room as everyone turned to watch him work. The member of UNIT seemed to not be terribly surprised that he just up and took over the meeting like this. Green and Asquith exchanged glances as the Doctor continued on his lecture.
Rose set the booklet the Doctor handed her down on his empty chair and slipped her hand back into her pocket.
"It was like something was down there," the Doctor continued, unconcerned for the people around him. "You lot were just about to investigate it and next thing you know, this happens, spaceships, pigs, massive diversions."
"From what?" Rothberg asked, turning in her seat to address the Doctor. She had always been told, when you are with the Doctor and there is a crisis, ask questions and, for the love of God, pay attention.
The Doctor grinned at Rothberg and nodded, "Well done, Sergeant. That is an excellent question."
Green and Asquith started grinning now, making Rose tense up, lowering her feet to the floor.
"If aliens fake an alien crash," someone else from UNIT asked, looking over the maps in the booklet, "and their alien pilot…"
"What do you get?" the Doctor stopped his pacing. His widen, fear flickering through them. How has it not seen it before now! Looking at Rose, she slowly got her feet.
"Us," Rose piped up now, her soft voice filling the room. "You get us. It wasn't a diversion. This is a trap."
Walking towards the Doctor, he could feel her tension vibrating along his skin.
"This is all about us," Rothberg said, realization dawning on her now.
"Alien experts," the Doctor agreed, standing to shield Rose from the pair at the front of the room who seemed to be quietly snickering like a couple of children. "The only people with the knowledge how to fight them."
"All gathered together in one room," Rose added.
The occupants of the room were watching the pair, completely intrigued at how fast the two of them worked off each other. The conference room fell silent only to be broken by the sound of someone farting rather loudly. The Doctor turned slightly to look at Green, annoyed.
"Do you mind not farting while I'm saving the world?" the Doctor snapped at the man.
"Would you rather silent but deadly?" the acting Prime Minister grinned at the Doctor.
Turning to properly face the two sniggering men that headed the room, he kept Rose firmly behind him. General Asquith's smile seem to grow more and more evil as he took off his hat and set it on the desk Green was sitting behind. The seated man began to laugh now as Asquith revealed a zipper across the top of his forehead. With the utmost care, likely doing the action slowly to build anticipation and the tension, Asquith slowly began to unzip his forehead. The lights in the room where overpowered by a flickering electric blue light that was coming from the opening hole in the General's head.
Joseph Green's laughter filled the room as a green monster began to squirm free of the General.
The Doctor took a step back, towards Rose. He could only stare himself, transfixed in amazement as an alien he had never actually seen struggled for freedom of the skin suit that was once General Asquith. The members of UNIT seemed paralyzed by the display. The baby faced green monster from within let out a roar of glee as the skin suit slid down its extremely large and equally ugly body.
'That's a Slitheen!' Rose cried into the Doctor's mind, snapping him out of his trance at the display.
Standing up slowly, Joseph Green laughter settle from the manic evil sound of a murderer on the verge of victory to a dark chuckle as he looks the room over. He found the reaction of the people of this planet so very entertaining. Hopefully they would die just as amusingly.
"We are the Slitheen," the monster that was pretending to be Asquith told the room, standing tall, proud in its disgusting true form.
"Thank you all for wearing your ID card," Green grinned at the room, his gaze settling on the Doctor. Reaching into his coat, he pulls out what looks like a detonator switch and holds it up to the room. "It'll help identify the bodies."
Hitting the bottom, the room was filled with strangled screams and grunts as electricity shot through the people there. The Doctor dropped to his knees, grunting at the level of pain that was rocking through him. While it wouldn't kill him, it did hurt like a righteous bitch. Letting out a shout of pain, he can't hear anything other than the laughter of the Slitheen.
"You forgot someone," a voice broke through the grunts and shouts of pain.
Green's eyes widened to see the little blonde tag-along still standing, unaffected.
"No ID card, mate," Rose quipped, her voice like ice. Standing tall, she swiftly lifted her right hand, a silver tube like device in her hand. "No one hurts my Doctor." Her cold voice dropped into a growl as she calmly pressed a button.
A whirring sound buzzed faintly along with the sound of the electricity in the room. The device in Green's hand sparked, popped before exploding, burning the acting Prime Minster's hand. As soon as the device was destroyed, the electric currents that were shooting through the Doctor stopped, leaving him gasping for air on the ground at Rose's feet.
"How dare you?" snarled Green. "Kill her!"
Taking a single step back as Asquith started for her with a roar, Rose shifted her weight and lifted her left hand now. A small blue gun looking thing in her hand. Her smile was cruel and final.
"No chance," she growled and squeeze the trigger.
Asquith was stopped after only taking three lumbering steps towards the human girl. A spray of liquid coated the Slitheen. It smelled acidic and terrible. Blinking a few times once the spray stopped, the girl only lowered her arm and tilted her head to the side, studying the alien.
"That's your answer?" Green laughed cruelly. "A water g-"
The scream from Slitheen was not of this world as it blew apart, interrupting Green.
"S'not water," Rose smirked. "It's acid to you. To us, s'just vinegar."
Green stared, grief stricken at what once was his family member. Turning disbelieving eyes to the blonde child, she was helping the Doctor up off the ground.
"We gotta get help," she was telling the Doctor who nodded and raced out the room quickly, shouting for the guards.
Rose pocketed her two toys, so to speak and went to Rothberg, checking for a pulse. Green was motionless, in shock doubly so now as he felt another one of his family cease to be. His eyes grew hard as he watched the stupid little girl turn her back to him and head over to the door as the Doctor returned with the guards the watched the first floor. Looking at the security that flooded the room, Green's gaze turned to stone.
"Where have you been?" the disguised alien snarled at the armed men. "I called for help!"
The Doctor stood towards the back, letting the men flow past him to check on the people who were laying limb and motionless for life. Rose came to stand at his side, taking his hand in hers again. For a second, they just took in each other's presence, watching as the scene unfolded. There was a sliver of hope in Rose as she watched one of the men, a man called Price if his name tag was any clue, announce that everyone was still alive.
"What is that on the walls?" someone asked in disgust.
"That's what I've been trying to tell you!" Green shouted, getting everyone's attention. "The aliens have killed General Asquith, replacing him and tricking me! The tried to kill everyone in the room, but I was able to stop the woman! She had some device that was electrocuting everyone!"
"I do not!" Rose cried out, offended that he would even suggest that.
Though it wasn't completely untrue, she thought. She did have two things that could be construed as weapons on her. Rose glanced at the Doctor, hearing him chuckling in her mind in respond to that thought. His face, however, was like stone and his lips a thin line again. His eyes once more looked like the center of an ice storm. Under the amusement she felt at her line of thinking, Rose could feel the roll of his thunderous rage building under the surface.
"That man there!" Green cried out, pointing at Doctor and Rose. "He did it! He commanded this all! Arrest him!"
"I think you'll find the Prime Minister is the one lying," the Doctor stated calmly, glaring at the other alien. "You'll also find he is an alien in disguise."
Everyone in the room turned to look at the Doctor like he had grown a second head. The silliness of his statement hit him a moment too late.
"That's… never going to work," the Doctor asked of a guard next to him, squeezing Rose's hand in warning, "is it?"
'Get ready,' he warned her silently.
"Nope," the man said simply, looking at the Doctor like he was insane.
"Ah," the Doctor sighed. "Fair Enough. Run!"
And like that he and Rose Tyler were off like a shot, out of the room and running down the halls. The thunder of running boots filled the air as the armed security gave chase. Rose chanced a glance behind her, rather grateful that no one thought to use their guns yet.
'They're British, Rose,' the Doctor chastised her. 'They tend to ask then shoot.'
'This may be one of those times they think to shoot then ask,' she points out reasonably.
Within moments, the pair found themselves surrounded. Everyone with a gun had it raised and at the ready as Green jogged up to the group. The Doctor gave a silly grin as he held his hands up in the air. Rose backed up behind him, noting how once more, he was trying to use his broader frame to shield her from the twitchy men.
"Under the jurisdiction of the Emergency Protocols, I authorize you to execute them!" Green snarled.
The Doctor fixed his gaze on Green, still offering up that daft smile as if he didn't have a care in the world. Green noted but frankly didn't care that the smile never reached those terrifying eyes.
"Ah, well now, yes," the Doctor started, shifting Rose back a little more. "You see, the thing is… if I was you, and I was going to execute someone by backing them against the wall," his eyes never left Green's "between you and me, a little word of advice."
A ding startled everyone and the lift behind the Doctor open. He swiftly stepped back into the lift, forcing Rose in first and out of the line of fire.
"Don't stand them against the lift!" Rose called out in a sing song voice. "Tra!"
Lifting her right hand again, the little silver tube was back in her hand. Pressing a button, the tip turned a soft pink and the doors closed tight.