With a huge effort, the Doctor managed to yank his lanyard off and tossed it away, then he helped the Artist get hers off. Green and the Slitheen stopped laughed as the two Time Lords staggered to their feet, the Doctor holding the Artist's lanyard in his hand. "Deadly to humans, maybe." he ground out and plunged the lanyard into the Slitheen's chest, electrocuting it, and Green too, meaning he was a Slitheen too.
Taking advantage of this, the Time Lords dashed to the door.
———————————————————————————
In the Cabinet room, the Margaret Slitheen was also affected by the electricity, causing her to drop Indra's body and howl in pain. Seizing the opportunity to escape, Rose took the shocked Harriet's hand and led her to the door, the older woman whimpering slightly.
———————————————————————————
In the kitchen of the Tyler flat, the Slitheen who was menacing Jackie was affected too. Jackie could only crouch on the floor in fright. Suddenly, Mickey entered the flat. "Jackie!" he yelled, grabbing a chair and rushing to the kitchen, then he gave the Slitheen a good whack with the chair, knocking it aside and allowing him to grab Jackie's arm and pull her out of the kitchen. He paused in the doorway to take a picture of the convulsing Slitheen with his mobile phone's camera. He grinned in satisfaction then ran to join Jackie and get away to safety.
———————————————————————————
In 10 Downing Street, the Doctor and the Artist ran into reception, where armed police were gathered. "Oi, yer want aliens, you've got 'em!" the Doctor called to them, "They're inside Downing Street. Come on!" He clapped his hands and led the way back to the briefing room, the Artist and the officers right behind him.
———————————————————————————
Inside the conference room, Green managed to get the lanyard off the Slitheen and grabbed Asquith's skins-suit. "Reinstate my disguise!" the Slitheen hollered, "Hurry up! Hurry! Hurry!"
———————————————————————————
Upstairs, Rose and Harriet ran along a corridor when Harriet suddenly remembered something. "No, wait!" she said as she screeched to a halt, "They're still in there! The emergency protocols, we need them!" She began to head back towards the Cabinet room, Rose following her, but they were soon forced to reconsider when the Margaret Slitheen came bursting out of that room, so the two humans raced down the hallway, Rose shutting a door behind them in an effort to slow down their pursuer. It made no difference for Margaret just demolished the door like it was made of paper and charged after them.
———————————————————————————
The Time Lords and armed police reached the conference room just seconds after the Asquith Slitheen finished getting back into it's skin-suit. "Where've you been?" Green demanded to the officers as they started checking the experts' bodies for signs of life, "I called for help, I sounded the alarm. There was this... lightening. This kind of, er... electricity, and they all collapsed!"
The officers found no life signs from the experts. "I think they're all dead." the commanding officer, Sergeant Price, informed everyone sadly.
"That's what I'm saying. They did it!" Green said, pointing an accusing finger at the Time Lords, "That man and woman there!"
"I think yer'll find the Prime Minister is an alien in disguise and..." the Doctor began, only to realise just how absurd that sounded. "That's never gonna work, is it?" he asked the Artist.
"No." the Time Lady shook her head
"Fair enough." the Doctor nodded and with that, he and the Artist took to their heels and ran back out of the room.
Unfortunately, they didn't get very far for they ran into another bunch of officers right outside the room who promptly backed them against the wall at gunpoint. The first group of officers came bursting out of the conference room and aimed their weapons at the two Time Lords too. However, the officers didn't realise that the wall their suspects were standing in front of was actually the lift. The Doctor raised his hands with a manic grin on his face, hiding the Artist from view as she subtly hit the call lift button.
Green and Asquith pushed their way to the front of the crowd. "Under the jurisdiction of the emergency protocols, I order you to execute that man and woman!" Asquith ordered.
The officers readied their weapons. The Doctor was completely unfazed by his apparently imminent execution. "Uh, now, yes. Yer see the thing is..." he chuckled, "If I was you, and I was gonna execute someone by backing 'em up against the wall, between you and me, little word of the advice..." The lift dinged open and the Artist swiftly backed into it. "Don't stand 'em against the lift!" the Doctor finished and backed in after her. The Artist quickly flashed her sonic screwdriver on the control panel and the doors shut before security could stop them.
———————————————————————————
Upstairs, the Margaret Slitheen was still chasing Rose and Harriet. Rose kneed a locked door in a desperate attempt to escape. Suddenly, the lift dinged open and the Slitheen turned to see the Doctor and the Artist inside. "Hello!" the Doctor waved cheerfully before the Artist soniced the controls again, sending the lift up to the next floor.
Rose got the door open and she and Harriet found themselves in a lounge. There was another door, so Rose tried it, but found that it was locked and it opened the other way, so she couldn't knee it open. "Hide!" she urged Harriet, who took refuge behind a screen while Rose hid behind a cabinet.
———————————————————————————
The Time Lords stepped out of the lift on the second floor and began to make their way to the stairs to head back to the first floor to help their friend.
———————————————————————————
On the ground floor, Green and Asquith were standing by the lift the Time Lords had escaped in. "I repeat, the upper floors are under quarantine." Asquith ordered security, "You will stay where you are. You will disregard all previous instructions. You will take your orders directly from me."
The lift arrived and Green and Asquith stepped into it. "Mr Green, sir, I'm sorry but you've got to come with me." Price said, "We should evacuate the entire building."
"Sergeant, have you, uh, read the emergency protocols?" Green countered.
"No, sir."
"Then don't question me." Green told him, stepping back into the lift, "Seal off No 10, secure the ground floor, and if the Doctor and that girl make it downstairs, shoot on sight!"
He shut the door and Price turned to address his men; "Well, you heard him! Move out!" And they did so.
———————————————————————————
"Let the sport begin." Asquith crowed as he and Green rode the lift to the first floor.
Green broke wind loudly. "I'm getting poisoned by the gas exchange." he moaned, "I need to be naked!"
"Rejoice in it!" Asquith encouraged, "Your body is magnificent." And they both undid the zips on their foreheads.
———————————————————————————
On the first floor, Margaret entered the room where Rose and Harriet had gone into. "Oh, such fun!" she gurgled playfully, "Little human children, where are you? Sweet little honeykins... come to me... let me kiss you better." Rose snuck out from behind the cabinet and hid behind the curtains. "Kiss you with my big green lips." Margaret finished.
———————————————————————————
Outside the room, the Doctor and the Artist were approaching when they heard the lift ding, so they hid either side of a door as Green and Asquith walked past, both shed of their skin-suits, revealing them as Slitheen. "It does us good to hunt." Green said, "Purifies the blood."
"We'll keep this floor quarantined as our last hunting ground before the final phase." Asquith replied.
They joined Margaret in the lounge. "My brothers." she greeted.
"Happy hunting?" Green asked.
"It's wonderful." Margaret replied, "The more you prolong it, the more they stink."
"Sweat and fear." Asquith observed.
"I can smell an old girl." Green sneered, "Stale perfume and brittle bones."
Behind the screen, an offended Harriet glared.
"And a ripe youngster." Margaret said, walking towards the curtains, "All hormones and adrenaline. Fresh enough to bend before she snaps." She pulled the curtains aside to reveal Rose, causing the blonde to screen in terror.
Harriet promptly jumped out of her hiding place. "No! Take me first! Take me!" she shouted.
Just then, the Doctor came crashing in with a fire extinguisher, the Artist right behind him. The Doctor promptly blasted the two male Slitheen with the extinguisher, stunning them while the Artist ran over to Rose, pulled the curtains off the rail and threw them over Margaret before she and Rose hurried back over to the Doctor, Harriet joining them.
"Who the hell are you?" the Doctor asked the MP.
"Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North." she replied.
"Nice to meet yer." the Doctor nodded.
"Likewise." she nodded back.
"Can we save the introductions till later?" the Artist urged, so the Doctor gave the Slitheen one last blast with the extinguisher, then the Time Lords and humans ran for it.
"We need to get to the Cabinet room." the Doctor advised as they ran through the corridors.
"The emergency protocols are in there." Harriet agreed, "They give instructions on aliens."
"Harriet Jones, I like you." the Artist commented.
"I like you too." she replied.
They reached the Cabinet room and the Doctor swiftly bypassed a locked door with his sonic and the quartet hurried in. Once they were all in, the Artist shut the door and used her sonic to lock it again, then they rushed to the other door, only to find the three Slitheen charging towards them. Thinking quickly, the Doctor grabbed a decanter of port off the sideboard and held his sonic to it. "One more move and my sonic device will triplicate the flammability of this alcohol. Whoof! We all go up. So back off!" he warned. The Slitheen took the hint and halted their advance. "Right then, question time." the Doctor continued, "Who exactly are the Slitheen?"
"They're aliens." Harriet said rather obviously.
"Yes. We got that, thanks." the Doctor said flatly.
"Who are you two, if not human?" Green questioned the Time Lords.
"Who's not human?" Harriet asked Rose.
"They're not human." the blonde replied, nodding to her two friends.
"They're not human?" Harriet blinked in surprise.
"Can we have a bit of hush?" the Doctor asked sternly.
"Sorry." Harriet said quietly.
The Doctor turned back to the Slitheen. "So, what's the plan?"
But before they could answer, Harriet interrupted again; "But he's got a Northern accent."
"Lots of planet have a North." Rose shrugged.
"Rose, Harriet, please!" the Artist told them firmly, moving to stand beside the Doctor, who brandished the port threateningly.
"Come on! You've got a spaceship hidden in the North Sea." he said to the Slitheen, "It's transmitting a signal. You've murdered yer way to the top of the government, what for? Invasion?"
"Why would we invade this god-forsaken rock?" Asquith scoffed.
"Then something's brought the Slitheen race here, so what is it?" the Doctor demanded.
"The Slitheen race?" Asquith snorted.
"Slitheen is not our species. Slitheen is our surname." Green elaborated, "Jocrassa Fel-Fotch Pasameer-Day Slitheen at your service."
"So your all family?" the Artist quizzed.
"It's a family business." Jocrassa Fel-Fotch confirmed.
"Then yer out to make a profit." the Doctor worked out, "How can yer do that on a 'God-forsaken rock'?"
The Slitheen hesitated for a moment than Asquith spoke; "Uh, excuse me? Your device will do what? Triplicate the flammability?"
"Is that what I said?" the Doctor asked innocently.
"You're making it up!" Asquith accused.
"Ah, well, nice try!" the Doctor shrugged, "Harriet, have a drink. I think yer gonna need it." He offered Harriet the decanter.
"You pass it to the left first." she told him, since her hands were full with the emergency protocols case.
"Sorry." the Doctor mumbled, passing the decanter to Rose.
"Now we can end this hunt with a slaughter!" Asquith crowed, flexing his claws menacingly.
The Doctor just folded his arms nonchalantly while the Artist stuffed her hands in her pockets, both of them standing their ground. "Don't ya think we should run?" Rose urged them.
"Fascinating history, Downing Street." the Doctor said calmly, "Two thousand years ago, this was marsh land. 1730, it was occupied by a Mr Chicken. He was a nice man. 1796, this was the Cabinet room. If the Cabinet's in session and in danger, these are about the four most safest walls in the whole of Great Britain." He nodded to the Artist, who lifted up a light switch to reveal a red button hidden underneath. "End of lesson." the Doctor finished as the Artist hit the button and every entrance to the room was immediately blocked by steel shutters.
"Installed in 1991." the Doctor told the humans, "Three inches of steel lining every single wall. They'll never get in."
"And how do we get out?" Rose asked.
"Ah." was all the Doctor could say. He hadn't thought of that.
"We'll think of something." the Artist said, "At least we're alive, unlike those poor souls." She gestured to the bodies of Indra and the Prime Minister, which were still lying on the floor.
———————————————————————————
Outside the room, the Slitheen weren't too bothered about their prey's escape. "They are safely contained." Jocrassa Fel-Fotch told his siblings, "Now, cut off communications inside that room, then summon the family. It's time we finished with this insane planet for good." And they waddled away.
———————————————————————————
On the Powell Estate, Jackie and Mickey cautiously snuck out of Bucknall House and crept past the police towards the block where Mickey lived.
———————————————————————————
Outside 10 Downing Street, Andrew Marr was reporting on the latest news as a group of black cars arrived. "And there's still no word from inside Downing Street, though we are getting even more new arrivals." He looked round to see a rotund man in an RAF uniform get out of one of the cars. "That's Group Captain Tennant James of the RAF, though why he's been summoned, I've no idea." A portly man in a suit left another car. "And that's, uh, Ewan McAllister. Deputy Secretary for the Scottish Parliament. And this is most unusual." A dumpy woman in a suit left the third car. "I'm told that is Sylvia Dillane, chairman of the North Sea Boating Club. Quite what connects these people, we have no idea."
———————————————————————————
Inside No 10, Margaret, now back in her skin-suit, greeted Tennant James. "Group Captain, glad you could make it. We're meeting upstairs." Tennant James broke wind as he passed her. "That's the spirit." she smirked, then turned to the other two new arrivals. "Good to see you. Come on through."
Sergeant Price was walking down the corridor when Asquith, also back in his skin-suit, stopped him. "Ah! Sergeant, now that the Doctor and his accomplice have been taken care of, the upper floors are out of bounds, to everyone."
"Then who are they?" Price questioned, gesturing to the newcomers, who were making their way upstairs.
"Need to know." Asquith waved him off, "Sergeant, I want you to liaise with communications, the acting Prime Minister will be making a public address. He will speak to the nations of the world." He walked off, leaving Price looking confused and bewildered.
Upstairs, Margaret led the newcomers into a room. "There you are, if you'd just like to go and get changed." She ushered Sylvia into the room and grabbed a coat hanger on her way to the other door, then grabbed a skin-suit that was handed to her from a Slitheen that was just leaving via that door. "Now, if you'd like to head down to the end corridor, it's first on the left."
"Thank you." the Slitheen acknowledged, and headed off that way while Margaret hung the skin-suit up.
———————————————————————————
In Mickey's flat, Mickey and Jackie were in the kitchen, with Mickey getting ready to make a cup of tea to calm Jackie's nerves. "Have ya got anything stronger?" she asked him.
"No chance, I've seen you when you've had a few, this ain't the time for a conga." Mickey retorted.
"We've gotta tell someone." Jackie said, sitting down on a chair.
"Who do we trust?" Mickey countered, "For all we know, they've all got big bog monsters inside of 'em. I mean, this is what he does, Jax. Everywhere he goes, death and destruction, and he's got Rose in the middle of it."
"Have he and that girl got great green things inside 'em, then?"
"I wouldn't put it past him." Mickey replied, taking some milk from the fridge, "Dunno about her. She seems alright. But like it or not, they're the only ones who know how to fight those things."
"I thought I was gonna die." Jackie breathed and broke down in tears.
Mickey gave her a quick hug. Although she'd made his life a living hell for the past year, he could see that she was genuinely shaken up by her experience. "Come on, yeah?" he encouraged, "If anyone's gonna cry, it's gonna be me. Now, ya safe in my flat, Jax, no one's gonna look for ya here. Especially since ya hate me so much."
"You saved my life." Jackie realised, "God, that's embarrassing!"
"You're telling me." Mickey commented, then they both laughed slightly.
Jackie sobered up again. "He wanted me dead. And he's still out there, Mickey. That policeman... that thing."
———————————————————————————
And indeed, at that very moment, the Slitheen that had terrorised Jackie was back in his Strickland skin-suit and out on the estate sniffing the air "Right, you head off." he told his officers, "You're in full control. I've got one or two things that still need doing. I haven't finished with Mrs Tyler yet." The other officers nodded and got back in the police car while Strickland strode away, a malicious look on his face.
———————————————————————————
In 10 Downing Street, Margaret finished hanging up her family's skin-suits when Jocrassa Fel-Fotch arrived. "Is that all of us?" he asked.
"All the family except Sip Fel-Fotch." Margaret replied, "He's found a hunt of his own."
"Ah!" Jocrassa Fel-Fotch grinned and walked away, deciding to let his sibling have his fun.
———————————————————————————
In the Cabinet room, the Time Lords and Humans had debriefed each other on what had happened to themselves and Harriet was now looking at the emergency protocols, while Rose was looking around the room and the Time Lords were moving the bodies into the cupboard. "What was his name?" the Doctor asked as they moved Indra's body.
"Which one?" Harriet asked.
"This one, the secretary or whatever he was called."
"I don't know." Harriet admitted regretfully, "I talked to him. I even brought him a cup of coffee. I never asked his name."
"His name was Indra Gannesh." the Artist said, checking his ID card, "He was a junior secretary."
The Doctor closed Indra's eyes. "Sorry." he said softly in respect for the deceased man.
"We're sorry we couldn't save you." the Artist added gently, "But we'll find a way to stop the Slitheen from hurting anyone else. I promise." Then she and the Doctor re-entered the room.
"Right, what we got?" the Doctor said as they took out their sonics and started scanning the room for anything useful, "Any terminals? Anything?"
"Nope, this place is antique." Rose replied, "What I don't get is, when they killed the Prime Minister, why didn't they use him as a disguise."
"He's too slim." the Artist replied, "The Slitheen are huge. They can only body-snatch large Humans, like Green or General Asquith."
"But the Slitheen are about eight feet, how do they fit inside?"
"That's the device around their necks, compression field." the Doctor explained, "Literally shrinks 'em down a bit. That's why there's all that gas, it's a big exchange."
"Wish I had a compression field, I could fit a size smaller." Rose joked.
The Artist stopped her sonicing and gave Rose an 'are you for real?' look.
Harriet wasn't amused either. "Excuse me, people are dead. This is no time for making jokes." she scolded.
"Sorry. Ya get used to this when ya friends with them." Rose shrugged, indicating the Time Lords.
The Artist frowned. She hoped that Rose wasn't starting to become blasé about the dangers of the life the Time Lords lived. She knew that with complacency came carelessness.
"Well, that's a strange friendship." Harriet remarked, turning back to the protocols.
The Doctor stopped his sonicing, something occurring to him. "Harriet Jones, I've heard that name before. Yer not famous for anything are yer?" he asked Harriet.
"Huh! Hardly." she scoffed.
"Rings a bell, Harriet Jones..." the Doctor frowned, looking as if he was struggling to remember something.
"Lifelong back bencher I'm afraid." Harriet said, "And a fat lot of use I'm being now, the protocols are redundant. They list the people who can help and they're all dead downstairs."
"Hasn't it got, like, defence codes and things?" Rose asked, "Can we just launch a nuclear bomb at 'em?"
That earned her more pointed looks from the other two women in the room. "You're a very violent young woman." Harriet commented.
"I'm serious! We could!" Rose persisted.
"Well, there's nothing like that in here." Harriet told her, "Nuclear strikes do need a release code, yes, but it's kept secret by the United Nations."
That caught the Doctor's attention. "Say that again."
"What, about the codes?"
"Anything. All of it."
"Um... well, the British Isles can't gain access to atomic weapons without a special resolution from the UN."
"Like that's ever stopped 'em!" Rose scoffed.
"Exactly, given our past record." Harriet agreed, "And I voted against that, thank you very much. The codes have been taken out of the government's hands and given to the UN. " She noticed the Doctor deep in thought. "Is it important."
"Well, right now everything's important." the Artist replied.
"If only we knew what the Slitheen wanted." Harriet mused, "Listen to me, I'm saying 'Slitheen' as if it's normal."
"What do they want, though?" Rose wandered.
"Well, it's just one family so it's not an invasion." the Doctor pondered, "They don't want Slitheen world... They're out to make money, which means they wanna use something, something here on Earth... some kind of asset."
"Like what? Gold? Oil? Water?" Harriet suggested.
"Yer very good at this." the Doctor commented.
"Thank you." a pleased Harriet smiled.
"Harriet Jones, why do I know that name?" the Doctor asked the Artist, who just shrugged. She felt that she'd heard that name before too, but couldn't quite put her finger on it.
Then, the sound of a phone going off filled the room. "Oh! That's me." Rose said, pulling her mobile out.
"But we're sealed off, how did you get a signal?" Harriet asked.
"He zapped it, superphone." Rose replied, looking at her phone.
"Then we can phone for help." Harriet suggested to the Doctor, "You must have contacts."
"Dead downstairs, yeah." the Doctor said gloomily.
Rose looked at the message she'd just received. "It's Mickey." she informed the Time Lords.
"Oh, tell yer stupid boyfriend we're busy." the Doctor huffed, earning himself a whack on the shoulder from the Artist.
"Yeah, he's not so stupid after all." Rose said, showing them a photo Mickey had sent her. It was the photo of the Slitheen in Jackie's kitchen.
———————————————————————————
Rose was soon on the phone to her boyfriend. "No, no, no, no, no, not just alien, but proper alien." Mickey said as he entered his bedroom, "All stinking, and wet, and disgusting. And more to the point, it wanted to kill us!"
"I could've died!" Jackie shouted from where she was standing in the doorway.
"Is she alright, though?" Rose asked, "Don't put her on, just tell me."
But before Mickey could answer, the Doctor snatched the phone from Rose. "Is that Ricky? Don't talk, just shut up and go to yer computer."
"It's Mickey." the person in question huffed, "An' why should I?"
The Artist took the phone from the Doctor. "Because we need you, Mickey." she said, "Can you help us, please?"
———————————————————————————
The Artist's more polite manner did the trick and Mickey was soon on his PC looking at the U.N.I.T website. "It says 'password.'" he said into the phone.
"Say again." the Doctor said, putting Rose's mobile on speakerphone.
"It's asking for the password."
"Buffalo. Two F's, one L." the Doctor instructed.
Jackie entered Mickey's room with two cups of tea. "So, what's that website?" she asked.
Mickey finished typing in the password and turned to her while he waited for the page to load. "All the secret information known to mankind." he explained, "See, they've known about aliens for years, they just kept us in the dark."
"Mickey, you were born in the dark." the Doctor snorted, earning him whacks on both shoulders; one from the Artist, the other from Rose.
"Leave him alone." both women scolded.
"Thank you." Mickey said, then checked his screen, "Password again."
"Just repeat it, every time." the Doctor told him.
Mickey passed the phone to Jackie and began typing.
"So, Big Ben. Why did the Slitheen go and crash a ship right into Big Ben?" the Artist wandered.
"You both said to gather the experts, to kill them." Harriet reminded.
"That lot would've gathered for a weather balloon, yer don't need to crash in the middle of London." the Doctor remarked.
"The Slitheen were hiding, an' then they put the entire planet on red alert, what would they do that for?" Rose wandered.
"Oh, listen to her!" Jackie scoffed.
"At least I'm trying!" Rose retorted.
"Well, I've got a question if ya don't mind." Jackie said sharply, "Because ever since that man walked into our lives, I have been attacked in the streets. I have had creatures from the pits of hell in my own living room, and my own daughter disappears off the face of the Earth!"
"I told you what happened." Rose tried to pacify her mother, but Jackie was having none of it.
"I'm talking to them. Cos' I've seen this life of yours, Doctor. And maybe you get off on it. And maybe you think it's all clever and smart, but you tell me. Just answer me this; is my daughter safe?"
"I'm fine." Rose insisted.
"Is she safe? Will she always be safe?" Jackie persisted, "Can ya promise me that?" Neither the Doctor nor the Artist could answer that question. If they were being honest, they couldn't guarantee Rose's safety. She'd only been on two trips with them and she'd nearly died both times. "Well, what's the answer?" Jackie grumbled.
At that moment, Mickey interrupted the awkward moment. "We're in." he said, taking the phone off Jackie.
Let off the hook, the Doctor snapped back into action. "Right then, on the left, there's a tab, an icon, little concentric circles. Click on it."
Mickey did so, and he heard a strange noise. "What is it?" he asked.
"It's the Slitheen." the Artist replied, "They've got a ship hidden in the North Sea and it's transmitting a signal. We need to work out what it's saying." She and the Doctor leaned in closer to the phone to listen carefully. Rose noted that both Time Lords were leaning rather close to each other, with the Artist's hair barely an inch from touching the Doctor's cheek.
"They'll have to answer me one day." Jackie commented to Mickey, who just waved her off.
The Doctor narrowed his eyes as he listened to the signal. "It's some sorta message." he noted.
"What's it say?" Rose asked.
"Dunno, it's on a loop, keeps repeating." the Doctor replied. Then, the sound of Mickey's doorbell sounded over the phone. "Hush!" the Doctor scolded.
"That's not me." Mickey told him and turned to Jackie, "Go and see who that is."
"It's three in the morning." Jackie pointed out.
"Well, go and tell them that." Mickey rolled his eyes.
Jackie huffed and got up to answer the door.
———————————————————————————
Meanwhile, the Time Lords were still focusing on the signal. "It's beaming into space." the Doctor observed "Who's it for?"
———————————————————————————
In Mickey's flat, the doorbell rang more persistently. "Alright." Jackie grumbled as she went to answer. She pulled the door open to reveal Strickland, or rather Sip Fel-Fotch the Slitheen, wearing a skin-suit of Strickland.
"Mrs Tyler." he grinned wickedly.
Jackie promptly slammed the door shut again and ran back to Mickey's room squealing; "It's him! It's the thing, it's the Slickeen!"
"They've found us!" Mickey hollered into the phone.
"Mickey, I need that signal." the Doctor told him.
"Sod the signal." the Artist countered, "Jackie, Mickey, get outta there now!"
"Mum, just get out!" Rose urged, "Get out! Get out!"
"We can't, it's by the front door." Mickey said, picking up a cricket bat. Then he saw a blue glow coming through the cracks around the door and realised that Sip Fel-Fotch was shedding his skin-suit ready for attack. "Oh, my god. It's unmasking. It's gonna kill us!"
———————————————————————————
"There's got to be a way of stopping them!" Harriet hollered, "You're supposed to be the experts, think of something!" she shrieked at the Time Lords.
"We're trying!" the Doctor insisted, trying to rack his brains to think of something.
———————————————————————————
Jackie and Mickey heard worrying noises from the other side of the door. "I'll take it on, Jackie." Mickey said bravely, "You just run. Don't look back, just run." He squared himself in front of the door as Sip Fel-Fotch began to batter it.
———————————————————————————
"That's my mother." Rose said worriedly as they heard the sound of splintering wood on the phone.
The Artist, who had been looking at the floor trying to think of something, lifted her head suddenly. "Okay, if we're gonna find their weakness, we need to find out what planet they're from."
"Right." the Doctor agreed, "So, judging from their face and shape, that narrows it down to five thousand planets within travelling distance. What else do we know about 'em? Information!" he urged.
"They're green." Rose said.
"Yep, narrows it down." the Doctor nodded.
"Uh, good sense of smell."
"Narrows it down."
"They can smell adrenaline."
"Narrows it down."
"The compression technology." Harriet piped in.
"Narrows it down."
"That ship on the Thames had a slipstream drive engine and they hunt as a ritual." the Artist fired off.
"Narrows it down." the Doctor nodded just as a crash sounded over the phone.
———————————————————————————
"It's getting in!" Mickey hollered as he saw Sip Fel-Fotch punch a hole in the door.
———————————————————————————
Then Harriet realised something; "Wait a minute! Did you notice, when they fart, if you'll pardon the word, it doesn't just smell like a fart, if you'll pardon the word, it's something else, what is it? It's more like, uh... um..."
"Bad breath!" Rose chimed in.
"That's it!" Harriet agreed.
"Calcium decay!" the Doctor grinned, "Now that narrows it down!"
"We're getting there, mum." Rose said into the phone.
"Too late!" Mickey replied, seeing that Sip Fel-Fotch had nearly made a hole big enough to get through.
"Calcium, organic calcium, living calcium, creatures made of living calcium. What else?" the Doctor said as he paced.
"Hyphenated surname." the Artist suggested.
"Yes!" the Doctor grinned, "That narrows it down to one planet!"
Both Time Lords' eyes lit up as it dawned on them. "RAXICORICOFALLAPATORIUS!" they shouted in unison, turning to the humans.
"Oh, yeah, great. We could write 'em a letter!" Mickey said sarcastically as Sip Fel-Fotch kicked what was left of the door in.
"Get in the kitchen!" the Artist ordered him, and Mickey and Jackie complied, bolting into the kitchen and barring the door shut with a bin and a chair.
"My god, it's gonna rip us apart!" Jackie shrieked as they heard Sip Fel-Fotch throwing his weight against the door.
The Doctor racked his brain to think of a Raxicoricofallapatorian's weakness. "Calcium, weakened by the compression field, acetic acid. Vinegar!"
"Just like Hannibal!" Harriet cheered.
"Just like Hannibal." the Doctor confirmed, "Mickey, have yer got any vinegar?"
"How should I know?" Mickey grunted.
"It's your kitchen." the Doctor reminded.
"Cupboard by the sink, middle shelf." Rose called.
"Oh, give it here." Jackie said, snatching the phone off Mickey, "What d'ya need?"
"Anything with vinegar." the Artist told her.
Jackie grabbed a jug and started rifling through the cupboard. "Gherkins! Yeah, pickled onions!" She poured the items in question into the jug while Mickey raised his bat in readiness as the Slitheen began to break through the door. "Pickled eggs!"
"You kiss this man?" the Doctor commented to Rose as they listened to Jackie rattling off what she was finding.
Sip Fel-Fotch finally demolished the door and advanced on the two humans, roaring at his impending triumph. Jackie promptly chucked her vinegar cocktail all over him. Sip Fel-Fotch halted his advance and stood where he was for a moment then promptly exploded in a burst of green goo which splattered everywhere.
Mickey slowly lowered his and wiped some goo off his mouth. "It worked. We're okay." he said into the phone.
The quartet in the Cabinet room all collectively let out the breaths they'd all been holding. "Hannibal?" Rose asked Harriet.
"Hannibal crossed the Alps by dissolving boulders with vinegar." Harriet explained.
"Well, there ya then, cheers." Rose sighed, raising a glass of port in a toast. The others joined in the toast and they all drank up, the Artist promptly spitting her drink out as she found that port wasn't to her liking.
———————————————————————————
Elsewhere in the building, a solemn Asquith approached a shaken Jocrassa Fel-Fotch. "He's dead." Asquith said, "Sip Fel-Fotch Pasameer-Day Slitheen is dead."
"I felt it." Jocrassa Fel-Fotch replied sadly, "How could it happen?"
"Somebody must've got lucky." Asquith said bitterly.
"That's the last piece of luck anyone on this rock will ever have." Jocrassa Fel-Fotch spat angrily and the two Slitheen went outside to address the crowd. "Ladies and gentleman." Jocrassa Fel-Fotch began, "Nations of the world, Human kind. The greatest experts in extra-terrestrial events came here tonight. They came in the common cause. But the news I bring you is grave indeed."
———————————————————————————
In his flat, Mickey wiped himself off with a towel and entered the living room to see Jocrassa Fel-Fotch's broadcast on the telly. "The experts are dead. Murdered, right in front of me by alien hands. Peoples of the Earth, heed my words. These visitors do not come in peace."
"Listen to this." Mickey said into the phone and held it against the telly so that Rose and the Time Lords could hear the broadcast.
"Our inspectors have searched the sky above our heads and they have found massive weapons of destruction, capable of being deployed in 45 seconds."
"What?!" the Doctor and the Artist both said in disbelief.
———————————————————————————
"Our technicians can baffle the alien probes but not for long." Jocrassa Fel-Fotch continued, "We are facing extinction... Unless we strike first. The United Kingdom stands directly beneath the belly of the mother ship. I beg the United Nations, pass an emergency resolution. Give us the access codes! A nuclear strike at the heart of the beast is our only hope of survival because... from this moment on... it is my solemn duty to inform you... Planet Earth is at war."
———————————————————————————
Despite Jocrassa Fel-Fotch's convincing performance, neither the Doctor or the Artist believed him. "He's making it up." the Doctor said, pacing around the table, "There's no weapons up there, there's no threat. He just invented it."
"Do you think they'll believe him?" Harriet asked.
"Why shouldn't they?" the Artist answered grimly, "Green's the acting Prime Minister. He's got the whole world wrapped round his finger."
"That's why the Slitheen went for spectacle." the Doctor realised, the Slitheen's plan all coming together now, "They want the whole world panickin'. Cos' you lot, yer get scared, you lash out."
"The UN release the defence codes..." the Artist added.
"And the Slitheen go nuclear." the Doctor finished grimly.
"But why?" Harriet wandered.
The Doctor released the shutters to see Margaret and two unmasked Slitheen standing by the door. "You get the codes, release the missiles." the Doctor said, "But not into space cos' there's nothing there. You attack every other country on Earth, they retaliate, fight back. World War Three, whole planet gets nuked."
"And we can sit through it in our ship on the Thames." Margaret said smugly, "Not crashed, just parked. Two minutes away."
"But you'll destroy the planet, this beautiful place." Harriet stared, "What for?"
"Profit." the Doctor answered darkly, "That's what the signal's beaming out into space, an advert."
"The sale of the century." Margaret said smugly, "We reduce the Earth to molten slag, then sell it. Piece by piece. Radioactive chunks, capable of powering every cut-price starliner and budget cargo ship. There's a recession out there, Doctor. People are buying cheap. This rock becomes raw fuel."
"At the cost of five billion lives." the Artist growled, balling her fists in disgust at the Slitheen's atrocious plan.
"Bargain." Margaret jeered.
"Then I give you the choice." the Doctor said in a low and dangerous voice, "Leave this planet or I'll stop you."
The Slitheen all tittered at this. "What? You?" Margaret scoffed, "Trapped in your box?"
The Doctor did not look remotely abashed and stared Margaret out. "Yes. Me." he said darkly and closed the shutters.
———————————————————————————
As dawn broke out over London, the whole world was waiting on tenterhooks. The streets were deserted as everyone stayed in their homes, gathered round their tellies as the future was decided by the United Nations in New York.
———————————————————————————
In Mickey's flat, Jackie sat anxiously on a chair watched AMTV. "It's midnight here in New York." Trinity Wells reported, "The United Nations has gathered. England has provided them with absolute proof that the massive weapons of destruction do exist. The security counsel will be making a resolution in a matter of minutes. And once the codes are released, Mankind's first interplanetary war begins."
Mickey was on his phone trying to contact the authorities to warn them of the Slitheen's deception.
———————————————————————————
Inside 10 Downing Street, Margaret and Asquith made their way upstairs while Jocrassa Fel-Fotch paused to talk to Sergeant Price. "Sergeant, we'll take the call in the Prime Minister's office. Maintain your position. Good luck." They shook hands and the three Slitheen went upstairs while the sergeant maintained his post.
Once they reached the PM's office, the three Slitheen dropped their façade. "Oh, look at that! The telephone is actually red!" Margaret giggled excitedly.
Jocrassa Fel-Fotch sat down in the chair, breaking wind loudly as he did so. "How long till they phone?" he asked eagerly.
"Counting down." Asquith replied, barely containing his excitement.
———————————————————————————
In the Cabinet room, Rose was on the phone to Mickey and Jackie while the Doctor and the Artist stood in a corner conversing in an alien language that neither Rose or Harriet could understand. The two Humans didn't know that the Time Lords were in fact discussing their options. They had only one, and it was a long shot.
"Alright, Doctor, I'm not saying I trust you, but there must be something you can do." Jackie said over the phone.
"If we ferment the port, we could make acetic acid." Harriet suggested.
"Mickey, any luck?" Rose asked.
"There's loads of emergency numbers, they're all on voicemail." Mickey replied gloomily.
"Voicemail dooms us all." Harriet commented.
"If we could just get out of here." Rose sighed, slumping down in a chair.
The Doctor spoke up at last; "There's a way out. There's always been a way out."
"Then why don't we use it?" Rose asked eagerly.
The Doctor strode over to the table and leaned over to speak into the phone; "Because we can't guarantee your daughter will be safe."
"Don't you dare!" Jackie said immediately, "Whatever it is, don't you dare!"
"That's the thing, if I don't dare, everyone dies." the Doctor said earnestly.
"Do it." Rose said determinedly.
"You'd just let us?" the Artist said, moving to stand next to the Doctor, "You don't even know what we're thinking and you'd just let us?"
"Yeah." the blonde replied firmly.
"Please, Doctor, please!" Jackie pleaded, "She's my daughter, she's just a kid!"
"D'yer think I don't know that?" the Doctor replied, sounding sombre. "Cos' this is my life, Jackie. It's not fun, it's not smart, it's just standing up and making a decision cos' no one else will."
The Artist rubbed his shoulder in comfort. She knew about the Doctor's travels in the centuries before they'd met, and she knew about the innumerable difficult decisions he'd had to make
The Doctor turned to her. "I could save the world but lose you." he said gently before continuing, "Lose you both." Looking back at Rose.
The Artist blinked in surprise at that. The way the Doctor had said that caught her by surprise. They were good friends true, but the Doctor's tone implied that maybe there was something more. Then she dismissed those thoughts, deciding that maybe it was because they were the last of their kind so he was just being protective. "I'll be fine." she told him, "I don't care what happens to me as long the planet's safe."
"Me too." Rose added bravely.
Harriet had wisely been silent during the time travellers' little moment, but then she spoke up, authority in her voice; "Except it's not your decision, Doctor, it's mine."
"And who the hell are you?" Jackie scowled.
"Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North. The only elected representative in this room, chosen for the people, by the people, and on behalf of the people I command you. Do it."
The Doctor grinned and got to work.
———————————————————————————
In the PM's office, the Slitheen were waiting eagerly for the phone to ring. Jocrassa Fel-Fotch got to his feet. "Victory should be naked." he declared and began to unzip his forehead, his siblings following suit.
———————————————————————————
In the Cabinet room, the Doctor was rifling through the emergency protocols case. "How do we get out?" Rose asked him.
"We don't. We stay 'ere." the Doctor told her, then he pulled out a paper with the relevant information he needed and instructed Mickey on what to do. "Use the buffalo password, it overrides everything."
———————————————————————————
In his bedroom, Mickey typed the relevant password into his computer. "What ya doing?" Jackie asked him.
"Hacking into the Royal Navy." Mickey replied and turned back to his screen. "We're in." he said into his phone, "Here it is, uh, HMS Taureen, Trafalgar-class submarine, 10 miles off the coast of Plymouth."
"Right, we need to select a missile." the Doctor instructed.
"We can't go nuclear, we don't have the defence codes." Mickey pointed out.
"We don't need it, all we need's an ordinary missile." the Doctor told him, "What's the first category?"
"Sub harpoon UGM-84A." Mickey replied.
———————————————————————————
"That's the one. Select." the Doctor directed while the Artist scanned the room with her sonic.
———————————————————————————
"I could stop you." Jackie told Mickey as he complied with the Doctor's instructions.
"Do it, then." Mickey replied determinedly.
"Ready for this?" the Doctor asked over the phone.
Mickey and Jackie stared each other down for a few seconds, but Jackie made no move. "Yeah." Mickey said into the phone, while Jackie sat back down.
"Mickey the Idiot, the world is in your hands." the Doctor told him, "Fire."
Breathing heavily, Mickey steeled himself and pressed the fire button.
———————————————————————————
10 miles off the coast of Plymouth, a missile launched from the sea, destination: 10 Downing Street.
———————————————————————————
"Oh, my god!" Jackie breathed as the missile's progress appeared on Mickey's screen.
———————————————————————————
In the Cabinet room of 10 Downing Street, Harriet tapped the armoured shutters. "How solid are these?" she asked.
"Not solid enough." the Doctor replied gravely, "Built for short range attacks, nothing this big."
"Right, now it's my turn to make the decisions." the Artist spoke up, having finished her scan of the room, "There's one chance. A very slim one, but better than nothing." She jerked a thumb over her shoulder at the cupboard. "That cupboard's the strongest part of this room. If we hole up there, we might survive this."
"Like riding out an earthquake." Rose realised.
"Exactly." the Artist confirmed, "Help me, come on!" And so the Humans rushed to help the Time Lady clear the cupboard out.
———————————————————————————
In the PM's office, all the Slitheen were now gathered round the phone. "Ring, damn you!" Jocrassa Fel-Fotch grumbled.
———————————————————————————
In his flat, Mickey checked the missile's progress. "It's on radar." he reported, "Counter defence 556."
"Stop them intercepting it." the Doctor instructed.
"I'm doing it now."
"Good boy."
Mickey tapped a few keys. "556 neutralised."
———————————————————————————
The Doctor disconnected Rose's mobile from the speaker and joined the woman in the cupboard.
———————————————————————————
Sergeant Price rushed over to a computer. "What d'you mean, 'incoming'?" he asked the operator, who pointed at the screen to reveal the missile on radar. His training kicking in, Price raced over to a fire alarm and activated it. "Everybody out!" he hollered, "Now! Get out!" All Humans scarped to the door as fast as their legs would let them.
———————————————————————————
In the PM's office, the Slitheen heard the alarm. "What's that for?" Jocrassa Fel-Fotch grumbled.
Price burst into the room. "Sir, there's a missile!" he began but promptly stopped in his tracks when he saw the huge, hulking green aliens gathered in the room. "Sorry." he said weakly and ran out again.
———————————————————————————
On the Powell Estate, Jackie went out onto Mickey's balcony and saw a small black streak race through the sky, heading for Central London.
———————————————————————————
On Downing Street, staff and security all raced out of No 10. "Everybody run!" Price hollered, firing his pistol into the air to catch the press' attention. Everyone cleared the street just as they heard the tell-tale screech of a missile on it's final approach to it's target.
———————————————————————————
Inside No 10, The Time Lords, Rose and Harriet all bundled into the cupboard and crouched in a corner, with Rose on the left, the Artist next to her, the Doctor next to the Artist, and Harriet next to the Doctor. "Nice knowing you three." Harriet said as they all gripped hands, "Hannibal!" They all braced themselves for impact.
———————————————————————————
In the PM's office, the Slitheen all heard a screech from above and looked up through the skylight to see a missile coming straight for them. "Oh, bol..." Jocrassa Fel-Fotch began, but was cut off as the missile struck home.
———————————————————————————
10 Downing Street was engulfed in a huge fireball, completely obliterating the building. When the dust settled, all that remained of No 10 was a smoking pile of rubble and a metal box sitting atop of it. The door of the box was pushed open to reveal the Doctor, the Artist, Rose and Harriet, all a bit bruised but very much alive and well. "Made in Britain." Harriet commented, proudly patting the wall of the cupboard that had saved their lives.
Sergeant Price came came hurrying over to them. "Oh, my god! Are you all alright?" he asked.
Harriet flashed her ID card at him. "Harriet Jones, MP, Flydale North. I want you to contact the UN immediately, tell the ambassadors the crisis is over and they can step down. Go on, tell the news!"
"Yes, ma'am." Price nodded and hurried off to see to that.
Harriet took a moment to survey the devastation. "Someone's got a hell of a job sorting this lot out." she commented, "Oh, Lord! We haven't even got a Prime Minister!"
"Well, maybe you should have a go." the Doctor suggested.
"Me?" Harriet laughed, "I'm only a back-bencher."
"I'd vote for ya." Rose encouraged.
"Now, don't be silly." Harriet chided, "Look, I'd better go and see if I can help." She climbed down from the rubble and headed over to where the emergency services and press were arriving. "The Earth is safe!" she shouted to them.
The three time travellers casually followed Harriet out onto the main road. "I though I knew the name." the Doctor said to Rose, "Harriet Jones, future Prime Minister. Elected for three successive terms, the architect of Britain's golden age."
"The crisis has passed!" Harriet called to the press, "Ladies and gentlemen, I have something to say to you all." The press all turned their cameras on her. "Mankind stands tall, proud and undefeated. God bless the human race."
The Doctor, the Artist and Rose watched her give her speech for a moment, then they turned and began the long walk back to the Powell Estate.
———————————————————————————
In the Tyler Flat, Jackie was waiting when Rose arrived. A very relieved Jackie promptly threw her arms around her daughter and pulled her into a massive bear hug, both women relieved that each other was safe and sound.
———————————————————————————
Outside, the Doctor and the Artist approached the TARDIS, only to stop in their tracks when they saw the words; 'Bad Wolf' graffitied onto one of the side panels. "Kids." the Doctor grunted in annoyance, then went inside the box. The Artist just shook her head at the graffiti and followed the Doctor inside.
———————————————————————————
Presently, Rose was sitting on the settee in the Tyler flat watching a repeat of Harriet's speech when Jackie came in. "Harriet Jones." the elder Tyler said contemptuously, "Who does she think she is? Look at her! Takin' all the credit. Should be you on there." Then she shouted at the telly; "My daughter saved the world!"
"I fink the Doctor and the Artist helped a bit." Rose remarked dryly.
"Oh, alright, them too." Jackie said begrudgingly, sitting down, "You should all be given knighthoods."
"That's not the way they do things." Rose replied, "No fuss, they just... move on. The Artist's lovely, and the Doctor's not that bad if ya give him the chance."
"He's good in a crisis, I'll give him that." Jackie conceded.
"Oh, now the world has changed, you're saying nice things about him!" Rose laughed.
"Well, there's no getting rid of 'em since they're ya new best friends." Jackie replied, "What do they eat?"
"How d'ya mean?"
"I was gonna do shepherds pie. All of us, a proper sit down. Cos' I'm ready to listen. I wanna learn about 'em and that life ya all lead. Only, I dunno, they're aliens. For all I know, they eat grass and safety pins and things."
"They'll have shepherds pie." Rose sniggered, "What, ya gonna cook for 'em?"
"What's wrong with that?"
"The Doctor's finally met his match." Rose chortled.
"You're not too old for a slap, ya know." Jackie retorted, and got up to go to the kitchen, "You can go and visit ya nan tomorrow. You'd better learn some French, I told her you were in France. Said you were au-pairing."
Rose's mobile suddenly rang and Rose pulled it out to check the caller ID. The screen said 'TARDIS calling' complete with an icon of the blue police box. Rose answered the call; "Hello?"
———————————————————————————
Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor was lounging against the console with a phone in his hand. "Right, we'll be a couple of hours and we can go." he said.
"You've got a phone?" Rose asked incredulously.
"Yer think we travel through time and space and haven't got a phone?" the Doctor retorted, "Like I said, couple of hours... I've just gotta send out this dispersal..." He pressed a button on the console. "There yer go. That's cancelling out the Slitheen's advert in case any bargain hunters turn up."
"My mother's cooking." Rose told him.
"Good. Put her on a slow 'eat and let her simmer." the Doctor joked.
"Oi, be nice!" the Artist scolded from where she was sitting on the jump seat, though she had to admit, that was a pretty funny joke.
"She's cooking tea." Rose explained, "For us."
"We don't do that." the Doctor said hastily.
"She wants to get to know ya both."
"Tough! We've got better things to do."
"It's just tea."
"Not to me it isn't."
"She's my mother."
"Well, she's not mine!"
"That's not fair!"
"Well, you can stay there when yer want." the Doctor shrugged, "But right now there's this plasma storm brewing in the Horsehead Nebula. Fires are burning 10 miles wide. We could fly the TARDIS right into the heart of it then ride the shockwave all the way out, hurtle across the sky and end up anywhere. Your choice." And he ended the call.
The Artist shook her head at him. "You're horrible, you are." she said dryly.
"Yep." the Doctor grinned.
The Artist stood up. "Well, while we're waiting, I'm gonna pop down the cafe. Fancy anything?"
"Cornetto." the Doctor replied. So the Artist set off to see to that.
———————————————————————————
In the Tyler flat, Jackie returned from the kitchen. "Rose, I was thinking..." She saw that Rose's seat was empty so headed to her daughter's bedroom. "I've got that bottle of Amaretto from New Year's Eve. Do they drink?" She opened the bedroom door to see Rose packing clothes into a travel bag. "I was wandering if they drink or not."
"The Doctor yeah, but I don't think the Artist does." Rose replied, continuing to pack.
"Don't go, sweetheart." Jackie said quietly. Rose stopped for a moment and looked at her mother. "Please don't go."
Guiltily, Rose continued to pack.
———————————————————————————
In the TARDIS, the Artist returned with the Doctor's cornetto and a sandwich for herself. "Is this gonna be a thing, you go to that cafe every time we come 'ere?" the Doctor asked as she passed him his ice cream.
"Why not? They do nice sandwiches." the Artist told him, "Besides, you can talk. Ya always going to that chip shop in Birmingham."
"They do nice chips." the Doctor defended.
"True." the Artist conceded, "We'll have to take Rose there one day." They settled down to eat their food.
———————————————————————————
Two hours later, the Doctor had found the boy responsible for graffitiing the TARDIS and made him clean it off under the Artist's supervision, while Mickey sat on a bin nearby reading the evening paper. "Good lad." the Artist said when they boy had finished, "Now, we'll say nothing more about this, but do anything like this again and ya parents will hear about it. Now, off ya go."
The boy scurried away just as the Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS. "I just went down the shop." Mickey said, "And I was thinking, ya know, like the whole world's changed. Aliens and spaceships all in public. And here it is." He showed the Time Lords the paper. The headline was 'Alien hoax'. "How could they do that?" Mickey questioned, "They saw it!"
"They're just not ready." the Doctor replied, "Yer happy to believe in something that's invisible, but if it's staring yer in the face, nope! Can't see it! There's a scientific explanation for that. Yer thick."
This earned him a whack on the shoulder from the Artist, but Mickey took it in good stride. "We're just idiots." he said.
"Not all of you." the Artist told him, "You did great today, Mickey. You saved the Earth from ya own flat, now that's quite a feat...Thank you."
Mickey smiled at the praise. Although he was on the fence with the Doctor, the Artist seemed to be a decent person.
"Present for yer, Mickey." the Doctor said, pulling out a disc from his pocket and giving it to Mickey, "That's a virus. Put it online, it'll destroy every mention of me. I'll cease to exist."
"Why would ya wanna do that for?" Mickey questioned.
"Cos' yer right, I am dangerous. I don't want anybody following me. I'd better follow Artist's example and keep a low profile."
Just then, the Tylers emerged from Bucknall House. "How can ya say that and take her with you?" Mickey asked the Time Lords.
"You could come with us, Mickey." the Artist offered, "You could keep an eye on her. Besides, we owe ya for ruining ya life for this past year."
"Thanks, but I can't." Mickey told her, "This life of yours... it's too much. I couldn't do it. Don't tell her I said that." he added quietly as the Tylers approached.
"I'll get a proper job." Jackie pleaded, "I'll work weekends. I'll pass my test an' if Jim comes round again, I'll say no. I really will."
"I'm not leaving cos' of you." Rose reassured her, "I'm travelling, that's all. And then I'll come back."
"But it's not safe." Jackie protested.
"Mum.. if ya saw it out there, you'd never stay home." Rose said, slipping off her travel bag.
"Got enough stuff?" the Doctor said sarcastically.
"Last time I stepped in there, it was spur of the moment." Rose replied, tossing the bag to him, "Now I'm signing up. You two're stuck with me! Haha!" She turned to Mickey. "Come with us, there's plenty of room."
"No chance, he's a liability." the Doctor told her.
"We'd be dead without him." Rose protested.
"Sorry, Rose, but our decision's final." the Artist said, though she decided to keep the invitation open in case Mickey ever changed his mind one day.
Rose turned to Mickey. "Sorry." she said and hugged him, while he secretly mouthed his thanks to the Time Lords.
Rose and Mickey kissed briefly then they pulled apart. "Good luck, then." Mickey said, giving her a small wave.
"You two still can't promise me." Jackie rounded on the Time Lords, "What if she gets lost? What if something happens to one or both of ya and she's left all alone standing on some moon?"
Neither the Doctor or the Artist had an answer for Jackie's question, but Rose came to their rescue. "Mum, ya forgetting, it's a time machine. I could go traveling around suns and planets and all the way out to the edge of the universe and by the time I get back, yeah, ten seconds would've passed. Just ten seconds." She put her hands on her mother's shoulders and smiled kindly. "So stop worrying. See ya in ten seconds, yeah?" She hugged her mother then followed the Doctor and the Artist inside the TARDIS.
"Right then..." the Doctor said, walking up to the console, "Onwards?" he asked the Artist.
"Onwards." the Time Lady nodded, taking up position on the other side of the console.
Then, both Time Lords looked to Rose. "Onwards." the human nodded
They all grinned and the Time Lords set to work operating the controls.
———————————————————————————
Outside, Jackie and Mickey watched as the TARDIS dematerialised before their eyes. When the box had faded completely from view, Jackie looked at her watch. "Ten seconds." she sighed and walked back towards Bucknall House, while Mickey perched himself back on top of the bin with the newspaper.