Hey readers : ) We're finally here! After months of trying to get this episode done, Aliens of London is finally at an end! It might sound silly, but I am just so glad to be done with this episode, and I'm so excited to finally be posting the last part of it : )

Lots of stuff happening in this chapter. I know a few people have had enough of the domestics that I've presented in this episode, but they were important to the story overall, and there's less of them in this chapter. It's more about getting everything drawn together for the start of World War Three : )

Anyway, thank you to everyone that reviewed the last chapter and this story in general. The support means a lot and I really appreciate it so thank you : )

Please remember that Doctor Who most certainly is not mine, but my OCs are : )

Enjoy the final part of Aliens of London : )

Aliens of London - Part 5

It seemed absurd, but Kate had been telling the truth.

Not ten minutes later, the jeep was arriving at their destination. Craig couldn't help but gawk in astonishment as their escort car pulled up outside Ten Downing Street. Even after everything he had seen - the Autons and Platform One and Cardiff in 1869 - he still couldn't believe it. But it was real!

He - Craig Tyler of the Powell Estate - was actually going to be allowed in Ten Downing Street, probably the most famous building in the country after Buckingham Palace.

It was almost inconceivable.

Judging by the expression on Rose and Lee's faces, they too were having a little trouble believing it, but like Craig, they were also grinning excitedly. Whilst none of them really cared for politics all that much, this was still a moment the three of them would remember for the rest of their lives.

The paparazzi was there of course, snapping off photographs by the second, and dozens of police officers were there too, keeping any over-eager journalists back behind the cordon they'd set up. The atmosphere was practically electric.

Naturally, the Doctor was the first to get out of the car, and cheerfully waved at them all, grinning manically.

Kate was next, although she exited with much more decorum. She politely nodded at the journalists in acknowledgement, but pointedly ignored any question put to her. This was a situation that U.N.I.T did not need the press involved with, thank you very much.

Finally; Craig, Rose and Lee all exited the car as well. Whereas the other two seemed perfectly calm under all the attention of the media, the three of them had absolutely no experience with the glamour of it all whatsoever. Ducking their heads embarrassedly, they all smiled at each other nervously before following after the Doctor and Kate, up the steps of Ten Downing Street.

"Oh my God!" Rose suddenly squealed, grabbing her brother's arm.

Craig couldn't help but grin down her in excitement.

"Baby Sis... we are actually going into Ten Downing Street!" he cheered in amazement.

"I know!" Rose laughed excitedly.

Lee just stared at them both with a thoughtful expression tugging at his lips. He was a messy jumble of nerves - what with all the cameras and people asking questions and police officers and everything - but next to him the Tylers seemed perfectly calm, or were masking any nerves they may have had expertly. They'd both changed so much.

And Lee wasn't sure he liked it.

After her children had gone off with that damn Doctor again, Jackie had silently seethed in her kitchen for a full twenty minutes, before finally coming to the conclusion that she really needed a distraction to ease her panicking nerves right now.

To be fair though, she had every right to be panicking.

Her children, the people she loved the most in the whole wide world, who she would gladly give her life for to keep safe and sound, had been running around the universe with an alien, in a box that frankly was just straight down weird, getting into dangerous situations they had barely escaped by the skin of their teeth.

As a mother, nothing had ever terrified her quite so much.

Still, there was precious little she could do about it right now. They'd run off again, with the Doctor and that Kate woman, and Lee and Mickey had gone after them. She just hoped she'd get another chance to try and talk some sense into her kids before they ran off with that Doctor again.

Who knew how long it would be until she saw them again if she didn't?

The fact that she might never see them again if they went with the Doctor again had crossed her mind a lot too, but she kept pushing the dark thought away, otherwise she'd end up crying and probably wouldn't stop all night. Sighing in absolute exhaustion, Jackie decided that she needed to do the one thing she did best to try and take her mind off it all.

She needed to brew a cuppa.

Thankfully Shareen was still there with her, as were the two U.N.I.T soldiers standing guard outside her flat. With herself included, that meant she needed to brew four cups, which would keep her busy for a little while longer.

Heading outside Jackie saw the two soldiers turn to face her as she opened the door.

"I'm brewing up if either of you two boys want a cuppa" she offered kindly.

"Wouldn't say no, thank you" Private Coles smiled gratefully, "Milk and two sugars"

"Got it" Jackie nodded, before turning to the other soldier with towered over her and was built on the large side, "And how about you sweetheart?"

"I'm fine, thank you" he said gruffly.

"Oh come on Strickland!" Private Coles laughed, "When do we ever get someone offering us a cuppa whilst out in the field. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth!"

Private Strickland looked annoyed, but shrugged his massive shoulders.

"Fine" he relented, "I'll take it as it comes".

Jackie nodded and retreated back into the flat. Within five minutes, she had supplied Shareen - who was sitting in the living room flicking through the news channels for anything new about the UFO - with the coffee she liked, before exiting the flat again, holding two cups of tea to the soldiers, before taking a sip of her own.

"Thank you Mrs Tylers" Private Coles said gratefully.

"Thanks" Private Strickland grunted.

"It's no trouble" Jackie shrugged, "Glad for the distraction to be honest" she paused thoughtfully, glancing up and down the corridor of the floor her flat was on, before taking the plunge, "Look... I've gotta ask. Your boss, that Kate Stewart woman - my kids are gonna be alright with her aren't they? They're not in any kind of trouble?"

"They shouldn't be" Private Coles shrugged after taking another sip of his tea, "Kate Stewart is one of the best, and she isn't the type of woman to leave things to chance. If she thought your children were in danger for even a second, she'd do everything she could to ensure their safety".

Jackie gave him a strained smile.

That was a small relief, although she'd feel much better when she talked to her kids herself. She was just praying she'd be able to get through to them and convince them both to leave all this nonsense behind them.

"I think it's also important to point out Mrs Tyler, that your son and daughter might be in a position to help the country" the gruff Private Strickland added bluntly, much less compassionately then Private Coles, "We'll need to know how they made contact with the Doctor. It would be useful if you could provide us with that information, if you have it"

"Well... they've told me a bit" Jackie confessed, "I don't know much of the details though. Rose and Craig were both a bit vague about it".

"Perhaps we could talk about it, inside that is?" Private Strickland requested, before turning to his colleague, "You don't mind standing guard on your own for a while, do you Coles?"

"Not at all" Private Coles shook his head.

"Suppose you'd better come in then" Jackie shrugged, heading back into her flat with Strickland following her.

As the huge hulking man shut the door behind him, Jackie completely missed the menacing smirk etching its way on to his face.

The Doctor couldn't help himself.

Bounding up the steps like a big overgrown kid, he knocked teasingly on the front door of Ten Downing Street, making a light joke despite the seriousness of the situation, before turning to look at his companions, a huge cocky grin plastered all over his face.

Their reactions were priceless.

Rose and Craig were both laughing incredulously at his silly antics, whilst Kate shook her head exasperatedly, although her lips twitched in amusement. Lee was just gawking at him in utter disbelief.

Before anyone could comment on his childish sense of humour however, the door was violently thrown open, and the small group of five were all yanked inside by their clothing. The door was harshly slammed shut again before any of them knew what was happening.

Disorientated, Craig quickly shook it off, and found himself in probably the grandest hallway he'd ever set foot in, and that was including those on Platform One in the future. Whoever had built Ten Downing Street must have been dripping with money, Craig thought vaguely. Nothing in it was cheap, and everything was sleek and stylish.

He had never felt quite so out of place in his entire life, and he was the gay lad from the scruffy old estate!

Shaking those thoughts away, Craig focused his attention more closely on what was happening around him. He found that the people who had dragged him and all the others into the building were soldiers, although these ones were dressed in fully black uniforms as opposed to the typical camo-style ones the soldiers outside had been wearing.

"Oi! Watch it!" the Doctor cried from next to him, shaking off the soldier manhandling him as the others all did the same, "What's the big rush?"

"Apologies" a new voice said from further down the corridor.

Turning, the Doctor, his companions, Lee and Kate all saw a young man in his thirties briskly walking towards them with purpose. He had dark hair combed neatly to the side and wore an expensive-looking suit. His forehead shone with the first signs of sweat and everything about him radiated urgency. He was clearly run off his feet.

"We're trying to keep everyone coming in and out of the building out of the media's spotlight as much as possible" he explained as he came to a stop before them, "For that reason we thought it best you're weren't lingering on the doorstep for too long".

"It's fine" Kate told him politely before anyone else could reply. She then held up her identification for the man to see, "Kate Stewart, head of scientific research at U.N.I.T. This is my Scientific Advisor, Doctor John Smith - known simply as the Doctor - and his research assistants Mr Craig Tyler, Miss Rose Tyler and Mr Lee Matthews. I believe you're expecting us".

A soldier handed the man in the suit a clipboard, and his eyes quickly scanned over it.

"Yes, I see" the man nodded, "U.N.I.T have sent several of its higher-ranking officers so I'm not surprised to see you. I just didn't realise there would be so many of you. Anyway, everyone is gathering through here, if you'd like to follow me".

"Sorry, but who are you?" the Doctor asked.

"Oh of course, forgive me" the man said distractedly, "My head's been all over the place today with what happened this morning. It's been hectic around here. I'm Indra Ganesh, junior secretary with the Ministry of Defence. Anyway, this way please".

The man, Indra Ganesh, turned sharply on his heel and began leading the way down the corridor. Kate and the Doctor both followed him with purpose, looking completely at ease, but Rose, Craig and Lee couldn't help but gawk around at everything incredulously. They still couldn't quite believe it.

They were inside Ten Downing Street!

None of them had much time to process their shock at the current situation however, for soon enough Indra had delivered them to the waiting room, which was already packed with a crowd of very official looking people who were all conversing with each other. Muttering a haggard 'excuse me', Indra then hurried away again.

"Bloody hell" Lee whispered under his breath.

Craig couldn't help but excitedly grin up at his best mate.

"Bet you didn't think you'd end up here today" he couldn't help but tease.

"I didn't think I'd end up here ever" Lee scoffed back, before giving him a strained smile, "Then again, I'm still not sure I believe anything I've seen today".

"It's not a hallucination" Craig told him quickly, "I promise you it's not".

"I didn't mean that" Lee said, nudging Craig's shoulder gently, "I just meant that... well, I didn't think today would be the day I'd find you again".

Craig's smile faded and he swallowed hard.

"But I'm so glad I did" Lee nudged him again, making Craig smile again.

"So what do you think?" the Doctor broke into their conversation, and the two human men turned to look at him.

"It's nothing at all like I'd thought it would be" Rose commented, looking around excitedly, "I mean, you only ever really see the outside of it on the tele, you don't see the inside all that much".

"Well to be fair Rose, this is the building where the British government meets to make plans for the entire country's future and welfare" Kate reminded her with a smile, "They're hardly going to advertise what's going on in here to the general public in case anything confidential is exposed".

"Fair do's" Rose chuckled in response.

"Still, it's all very nice, isn't it?" the Doctor asked cheerfully.

"I've never felt more out of place in my entire life" Lee admitted sheepishly.

"That's because you are out of place" the Doctor scowled at him, still annoyed that he'd pretty much just tagged along with them in the first place, "You should be back at the estate with the others and leave this to the grown ups".

Lee bristled with insult, but Craig put a hand on his arm to sooth him.

"Doctor... enough" he said sternly.

The Doctor looked surprised for a moment, but quickly realised that this was the man that Craig had grown up with and loved like a brother. Naturally, Craig seeing him treat the man with such little respect was upsetting for him. Scowling, the Doctor quickly realised he'd probably have to stop putting Lee down so much now.

Oh, the things he was giving up just to make his companions happy!

Before anyone could comment on the situation further, the man from before, Indra Ganesh, came back into the room and clapped his hands together loudly, cutting over the buzz of conversations in the room to get everybody's attention.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, could we convene? Quick as we can, please" Indra called out so that everyone could hear, "It's this way on the right and can I remind you, ID cards are to be worn at all times".

People began filing out of the room, following Indra's instructions. The man himself approached the Doctor, Rose, Craig, Lee and Kate with a handful of small laminated white ID cards. As he got closer, it became apparent however, that he was only carrying four of them.

"Miss Stewart, here's your ID card" he said, handing the first card to Kate, before turning to the Doctor, "I'm sorry Doctor, but only you and two of your research assistants had the proper clearance levels for me to allow them into the meeting room, those being Mr Tyler and Miss Tyler. I'm afraid Mr Matthews will have to wait out here".

"Suits me just fine" the Doctor smirked nastily at Lee, whilst taking his ID card and pinning it to his chest.

"Well it doesn't suit me!" Craig snapped back at him before Lee had a chance to start a fight, "This is to help the whole country. Does his clearance level really matter right now?"

"I'm afraid it does" Indra said, passing Rose an ID card which she also placed on her chest, "You and Miss Tyler have official U.N.I.T clearance, but Mr Matthews doesn't. Even I don't have the clearance to go in there. I can't let him in and that's a fact".

"Such a shame" the Doctor drawled, "See you later Lee. Come on".

He grabbed Craig's arm and tried to pull him along, but Craig pulled his arm free and refused to move.

"After everything that's happened today, do you really think I'm just gonna leave him here on his own?" Craig snapped at his friend angrily, "Not happening. No way in hell".

"So you wanna miss something totally fantastic, just to babysit him?" the Doctor scoffed.

"He is right here you know!" Lee snapped at him, "And I don't need a babysitter!"

"I don't care" Craig turned his glare on to Lee now, unwilling to back down, "If you're staying out here then I am too. You three can go into the meeting. Those people are the experts, you should hear what they've got to say".

"The meeting is due to start any second and we really should be in there" Kate agreed, urging them to hurry up and make a decision.

The Doctor scowled at Craig, but his companion remained defiant.

Eventually, the Time Lord sighed in defeat.

"Fine, just don't get into any trouble" he grumbled in annoyance, "Rose, Kate - come on".

Indra looked relieved that the dispute had been settled, and gestured towards the hallway the others had all gone down. The Doctor, Kate and Rose all moved to follow his directions.

"See you boys later" Rose smiled before disappearing around the corner and out of sight.

After they were gone, Indra glanced down at the last ID card he still had in his hand.

"I guess this won't be necessary now then" he commented softly to himself, dropping the card down onto an empty desk, before looking back up at the two men, "I'm going to have to leave the two of you with security".

He began to lead the two men out of the room, but before they could even take a step, a middle-aged woman with brown hair wearing a pink blazer over a smart shirt and black skirt came bounding up to them. Indra couldn't quite hold back a groan of annoyance.

"Excuse me?" she greeted them, "But are you two of the experts that were summoned here tonight?"

Indra looked positively exasperated at the sight of her, making Craig wonder what the woman had done to annoy him so much.

"Not now, we're busy" Indra snapped at her bluntly, "Can't you just go home?"

"I just need a word with them in private" the woman said pleadingly, "It won't take a minute".

"You haven't got clearance, now leave it!" Indra shouted at her, clearly losing his patience with her now, "I've got a lot of work to do so will you please just give it up?! Now you two, come on. I'm leaving you with security".

Taking the hint, Craig and Lee began to follow him again.

"It's alright. I'll look after them both" the woman piped up from behind them.

Indra threw her another exasperated look.

"Oh go on, let me be of some use" she wheedled, but when Indra still looked unconvinced, she let out a soft sigh, "If nothing else it'll keep me out of your hair for a while".

Her words worked like a dream.

Seizing upon the opportunity, Indra all but pushed Craig and Lee back towards the woman, trying to be subtle but failing miserably. He was clearly very eager to be done with this woman... whoever she was.

"Fine" he agreed, "But keep out of the way and don't you dare go in that meeting room. You may be allowed in Mr Tyler, but you two are not!"

And with that, Indra hurried off, no doubt having a thousand and one other jobs he needed to attend to.

"Walk with me" the woman requested with a strained smile, so Craig and Lee both did as she asked, "Just keep walking..."

They came to the guards at the door, and stepped passed them. Neither Craig or Lee sensed anything was wrong, but the woman was looking at the guards fearfully, almost as if she didn't trust them.

It made Craig think that something else was going on around here.

God, he hoped to hell and back that he hadn't just dragged Lee head-first into danger. He'd never forgive himself if something happened to him. At least Rose was with the Doctor, so if there was anything dangerous inside Downing Street, Craig trusted that the Time Lord would keep her safe.

"That's right..." the woman muttered in a hiss to the two of them. Lee went to look back at the guards, "Don't look round!"

Lee snapped his head back around.

"Excuse me... but who are you?" Craig couldn't help but ask, "And... well, why do you seem so... well, afraid?"

The woman didn't answer straight away. Instead, she steered the two men into another corridor, one of the precious few that didn't have any guards or in fact anyone else at all in it. Relaxing at being alone, the two turned to look at Craig and Lee.

"Harriet Jones" the woman announced, flashing her identification, "MP Flydale North".

Craig and Lee looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Okay..." Craig said slowly, uncertain as to why this woman had all but dragged the two of them off with her, "Well my name is Craig Tyler, and this is my friend Lee Matthews".

"And... err... I don't wanna be rude or nothing" Lee said with a confused frown, "But why do you seem so freaked out?"

For a moment, the woman made no effort to reply.

Then, she promptly burst into tears.

Following after the other so-called 'experts', the Doctor entered the meeting room with Rose and Kate flanking him on either side. Due to the minor disagreement with Craig, they were the last ones in, and thus had to take the only remaining empty seats at the back of the room.

Sitting down, they each picked up a leaflet that had been left on their seats. Rose toyed with her's idly, but the Doctor flipped his open and began reading it. In less than a minute, the Time Lord had finished it in its entirety.

"Oh you're just playing silly beggars now" Rose chuckled quietly.

"What?" the Doctor looked at her.

Kate also turned around to see what they were talking about.

"There's no way you read through this whole thing that quickly" Rose shook her head, shaking her own copy of the leaflet at him.

"I did!" the Doctor protested, "Time Lord remember? My brain can absorb information much quicker than you stupid apes".

Rose scoffed and shook her head, but a smile tugged at her lips.

"There's that thing again" she told him playfully.

"What thing?" the Doctor questioned.

"That 'I'm so impressive now be impressed by me' thing again" Rose smirked in amusement.

"Rose Tyler - I am so impressive" the Doctor assured her, playfully serious.

"Yeah, yeah" Rose fondly rolled her eyes.

Kate couldn't help but smile as she watched the interaction between them.

Before any more could be said, the door to the meeting room opened one last time, and in marched two more people. One of them the Doctor recognised right away. He was General Asquith, the man he had met earlier that night down by the Thames, but the other man was unknown to him. He was tall, dressed in a black suit, and had receding curly black hair. Like General Asquith, he was built on the heavy side, and as he reached the front of the room, he flopped down in a chair whilst General Asquith stood in front of him. Both of them observed the experts with narrowed eyes.

"Guessing those are the ones in charge?" Rose whispered to the Doctor.

"Yes" Kate answered her question instead, "The man who sat down, I recognise him. His name is Joseph Green. Normally he's on the Parliamentary committee for the monitoring of sugar standards in exported confectionery, but right now he's our acting Prime Minister since the regular one seems to have vanished into thin air since this whole thing started".

"That isn't suspicious or anything" Rose arched an eyebrow.

"Definitely" the Doctor agreed, "His disappearance has got to be a part of this. Anyway, the other man is General Asquith".

"You know him?" Rose questioned, interested to learn more about the Doctor's past and the people he knew from it.

"Only just met him tonight" the Doctor shook his head, "He was controlling the cordon down by the crash site before he came here".

"Ah" Rose nodded in understanding.

Any other comments or questions she may have made never got chance to be voiced, for at that moment, the other experts stopped their own conversations, as General Asquith began addressing them, starting the meeting.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I'd like to have your attention please" the General said in a voice that demanded obedience and respect, "As you can see from the summaries in front of you, the ship had one occupant..."

And it seemed that the Doctor could no longer contain himself.

"Now, the really interesting bit happened three days ago" the Time Lord interrupted him, jumping to his feet and grabbing the attention of everyone else in the room, "Filed away under every other business. The North Sea, a satellite detected a signal, a little blip of radiation at one hundred fathoms like there was something down there... you were just about to investigate and the next thing you know, this happens, spaceships, aliens, massive diversion, from what?"

The experts all stared at him in confusion.

Rose on the other hand couldn't help but shake her head at him.

"Can't ever let anyone else have a go at being clever, now can ya?" she drawled sarcastically.

"Rose Tyler, find me someone cleverer than me, and I'll be more than willing to sit back and watch them at work" the Doctor smirked at her.

Rose couldn't help but laugh at him.

"Would you heck?" she giggled in amusement, "You'd either sit there and pout, or try your damnedest to show 'em up".

"Probably" the Doctor smirked in agreement.

"I'm sorry" General Asquith looked at them both as if they were stark raving mad, "But what the devil are you two talking about?"

"Right, yeah, sorry" the Doctor shook his head, trying to focus on the situation at hand, "Got distracted - Rose tends to do that to me - anyway, as I was saying - The North Sea. Blip of radiation. What if that blip, was actually the spaceship that crashed down in London this morning".

"Well I don't see how that would be possible" the acting Prime Minister, Joseph Green, scoffed derisively, "Now perhaps we could return to..."

Whatever he was about to say was cut off.

"I tracked the trajectory of that ship's flight path" the Doctor cut across him, causing the man to look slightly miffed in the process, "It did a slingshot around the Earth before it came down in London. That wasn't a crash-landing, it was an elaborate hoax!"

"You're sure?" one of the other experts asked.

"Positive" the Doctor confirmed with a firm nod of his head, "Now ask yourselves this - If aliens fake an alien crash, what do they get?"

The room fell silent as everyone pondered the answer.

A sharp gasp drew the Doctor's attention, and looking over, he saw Rose covering her mouth with her hand, her eyes wide.

"Rose?" he looked at her in concern.

Rose swallowed hard, glancing around the room at all the others.

"Them" she whispered.

"What?" the Doctor frowned at her.

"They get them" Rose said more confidently, gesturing around the room at all the experts gathered, "Them and us. People that know about aliens. Doctor, that means that this isn't a diversion like you thought!"

"It's a trap!" Kate realised with horror.

The Doctor's eyes widened, hoping that they were wrong but knowing they weren't.

This had all the hallmarks of a trap.

And he'd just led Rose and Kate by the hand right into it.

Craig and Lee shared a startled look, before the former stepped closer to the woman, Harriet Jones, and awkwardly patted her arm in a rather lame attempt to calm her down.

"It's okay" he said gently to the distressed woman, "You're okay now. Please, just tell us what's wrong, and we might be able to help".

Harriet swallowed hard, trying to pull herself together, at least enough to be able to communicate.

"I... you're experts, aren't you?" she asked desperately, grabbing hold of Craig's arm, "You know about aliens?"

"Well, not me" Lee shook his head, "Though if the crazy shit I've learnt today is anything to go on, my mate Craig's your man".

Harriet looked at Craig hopefully.

"I'm far from an expert" Craig glared at Lee for raising Harriet's hopes like that, but his friend just shrugged back at him, "But I know a little bit more than an average person about them. Why? Is this about that spaceship this morning?"

"N-no" Harriet stammered, looking around frantically, "But they're here! Here in this very building! I saw them!"

Lee stared at her incredulously, wondering if she'd lost her marbles.

Craig on the other hand frowned thoughtfully, and ran a hand over his face as he took in her words. A week ago - from his perspective at least - he'd have written her off as a raving lunatic, but after seeing the Autons and the Nestene Conscious, Cassandra and everyone on Platform One, and the Gelth in Cardiff... well, Craig was having a hard time doubting her.

Plus it made sense.

If this was all some big hoax like the Doctor thought it was, but a hoax caused by actual real aliens, than wouldn't said aliens be right here to oversee their plan to the letter?

Perhaps sensing their disbelief, Harriet broke down in tears again.

"It's okay" Craig gently assured her, patting her on the shoulder kindly, "I believe you".

"You what?!" Lee gawked at him like he'd lost it too.

"Kinda hard not to after all the things I've seen" Craig retorted with a shrug, before turning his attention back to Harriet, "Were they hiding somewhere in the building, and you found them by mistake?"

"N-no" Harriet gasped through her distressed tears, although she sounded relieved that Craig believed her and was taking her seriously, "I... I was hiding. I was supposed to have an important meeting here today before all this UFO stuff happened".

"Let me guess" Lee drawled knowingly, rolling his eyes, "You got cancelled?"

"Y-yes" Harriet looked at him in surprise, "I did. Anyway, I just thought I'd slip a copy of the agenda I'd wished to speak to the Prime Minister about into his briefcase, but I wasn't really supposed to be wandering the building... so I hide in a cupboard".

"I'd probably have done the same" Craig smiled at her.

Harriet returned the smile, seemingly getting a little calmer now, and Craig gestured for her to continue.

"Anyway, these three people came in and... and..." she trailed off with a whimper, "They took off their disguises and killed a man! Right in front of me! They're here, right now! Aliens! Honest to god aliens! And they're pretending to be important people!"

"Important people?" Craig repeated, "What important people?"

"I-I don't know" Harriet stammered out, looking distressed again, "But you have to believe me! I can show you proof!"

"Oh, this I gotta see" Lee sniggered.

"Stop it Lee" Craig scolded him in annoyance, "This isn't funny. Can you show us what you mean by proof, Harriet?"

Harriet nodded frantically, grabbing them both by the arm.

"Yes, I can" she said, trying to pull herself together, but it was just so damn hard, "It's this way".

All but dragging the men along with her, Harriet navigated her way through the lower floor of Downing Street, quickly leading the two men into the Cabinet Room. Looking around, they saw that it was empty, and Harriet heaved a sigh of the utmost relief.

"Thank god" she breathed, "Nobody's here. Now look at this and tell me it isn't proof of aliens".

Harriet hurried across the room and stepped inside a large closet. A moment later, she emerged with something in her hands. Stepping closer for a better look, Craig saw what appeared to be a full-body costume of a grey haired man wearing a suit.

The blonde man blinked in confusion.

That was just a rather lame halloween costume, wasn't it?

"A costume of a weird looking guy?" Lee drawled sarcastically, "That's your proof? Of aliens? Of aliens in Ten Downing Street?"

"Touch it!" Harriet ordered.

Trying not to look as though he agreed with Lee's blunt assessment of the situation, Craig reached out and ran his fingers across what he assumed to be the face-mask of the costume.

He frowned in confusion.

That mask had felt like... well, it had almost felt like...

His blood turned to ice in his veins.

"No" he breathed, looking pale, his eyes wide with horror, "No way!"

"Yes!" Harriet nodded, looking distraught.

"What?" Lee scoffed, "Craig, what is it? Tell me!"

Craig turned to face his best mate, who was surprised to see just how disturbed he looked considering everything he'd learnt about Craig over the course of this bizarre day.

"Lee, whatever you do, do not touch that thing" he said slowly.

After everything Lee had already been put through, Craig was terrified that this would be the one that tipped him over the edge.

"Why not?" Lee questioned, still confused.

"Lee... please, just ignore it" Craig pleaded, but his words were not heeded.

Tilting his head to the side in confusion, Lee reached out to touch the costume in Harriet's arms.

"No!" Craig tried reaching out to stop him, "Lee, don't!"

Lee batted his hand away, and touched the face of the costume, just like Craig had done. For a moment, he didn't see what the big deal was. Then he caught on to what Craig and Harriet both clearly had, and recoiled in disgusted horror.

"Oh god!" Lee swallowed harshly, "That is... that is just..."

Turning on the spot, Lee darted in the cupboard, and violently vomited all over the floor. Grimacing, Craig stepped up behind him and rubbed his back soothingly.

"I'm sorry" he whispered, "I tried to stop you but..."

Lee vomited a little bit more bile out, before he groaned weakly and rubbed his mouth with the back of his hand. Whirling on the spot, he looked at the thing in Harriet's arms in utter horror.

"It's real!" he whimpered, tears shining in his bright blue eyes, "It can't be... but it's real!"

"Not such a joke now" Craig said to him gently, "Eh, buddy?"

"N-no" Lee whimpered, "O-okay... lesson learnt".

"Do you see now?" Harriet asked in a choked voice, "This is real. It's a real person. I saw them do this to somebody else when they got rid of this one... they turned the body into a suit! A disguise for the thing inside!"

Again, she broke down in tears.

Craig swallowed hard as he stopped to really process what she was saying.

He could scarcely imagine it, because it was simply too awful. But hadn't the universe already taught him that life was awful and filled with horrible things? Harriet had seen a person murdered and skinned by alien life forms and... god knew what they'd done with the rest of the body. Craig had already seen some pretty nasty things on his few adventures with the Doctor, but to witness something like that was a whole different level of horror.

"I... I'm sorry you had to see that" he told Harriet sincerely, reaching out to give her shoulder what he hoped was a comforting squeeze, "Are you going to be be okay?"

Harriet sobbed as she looked up at him.

"I don't think I'll ever be able to get that image out of my head" she admitted weakly.

"I..." Craig trailed off, having no idea what to say to her, "I'm sorry".

"Not your fault" Harriet said kindly, before looking stricken as something else occurred to her, "Oh god! What if they do this again? To someone else?"

Craig bit his lip thoughtfully. What would the Doctor do right about now?

Harriet and Lee were both looking at him expectantly, causing Craig to swallow hard. They were both looking at him for leadership... but Craig had never had that kind of responsibility thrown at him before. What was he supposed to do?

"I know you said you're not an expert, but don't you have any ideas?" Harriet asked him pleadingly.

"I..." Craig trailed off, thinking desperately, "Maybe if we showed this suit to the Doctor, he'd know what type of aliens have the technology to do this... I dunno though".

"The Doctor?" Harriet questioned curiously.

"He's my friend" Craig explained, wringing his hands nervously, "Me and my sister travel with him, except sometimes we come across things like this" he gestured at the skin-suit, "He's the real expert, not me".

"So..." Lee said slowly, watching his friend carefully, "You haven't come across anything like... that... before then?"

"No, thank god" Craig shook his head, "I mean, I've seen aliens try to take over human bodies before, but that wasn't anything like this".

"So what was it like then?" Lee wanted to know. He'd be the first to admit he was very curious about this whole new life Craig seemed to have adopted without his knowledge.

Harriet also looked very curious about what he'd said as well.

"Well... we were in Cardiff, and these creatures called the Gelth were trying to take over dead human bodies" Craig explained.

"Ergh!" Lee grimaced in disgust, "What the bloody hell did they wanna do that for?"

"They were ghosts... well, aliens... alien-ghosts" Craig shrugged lamely.

Lee and Harriet both stared at him incredulously.

"The point is they can't be behind this" Craig squirmed uncomfortably under their scrutinising gazes, "The Gelth needed bodies because they were made of gas, they didn't have physical forms. These creatures have skinned humans to use them to blend in... but why? What the hell are they up to?"

The three of them all fell silent as they tried to come up with an answer.

"How did they do this?" Craig suddenly asked, surprising Harriet, "I mean, they would have had to use some kind of technology to make the guy into one of these suits. Did you see what it was?"

"Err... no, I'm afraid not" Harriet regretfully shook her head, "But they were in here for a while. Perhaps whatever they used is hidden somewhere close by?"

"Then start looking" Craig instructed.

He went over to a cabinet and started rummaging through it. On either side of him, Lee and Harriet mimicked his actions. Personally, Craig thought they were only doing it to try and take their minds off that creepy skin-suit. Craig shuddered just thinking about it.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Lee couldn't help but ask.

"Anything that looks alien" Craig shrugged, moving away to a rifle through some drawers, "Anything that just looks weird or out of place or... I dunno, different".

"And why do you want to find it?" Harriet wanted to know.

"Well, maybe the Doctor or U.N.I.T will recognise the species by their technology" Craig shrugged his shoulders, "And once we know that, we might be able to figure out what the hell they're doing here on Earth".

He moved to a cupboard and opened the doors.

Instantly something tall and thin toppled out of the cupboard. Letting out a rather unmanly yelp of surprise, Craig jumped back, before recoiling in horror as he realised what the thing that had almost fallen on him was.

A body.

Lying on the floor at his feet was the body of a lanky, thin man, his neck clearly snapped.

Lee and Harriet both hurried over to him, Harriet leaning down to examine the body whilst Lee wrinkled in his nose and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Oh good god!" he cried, his tone crazed and frantic as his stress-levels skyrocketed. Craig instantly put an arm around him and gave him a one-armed hug, "I... that's a dead body! And... oh my god! That's the Prime Minister! Oh my god!"

"I know" Craig turned to look at him, "Just breathe Lee. Come on".

Lee swallowed hard, before taking a deep breath. For a moment, it didn't seem to work, but after a few more deep breaths, Lee managed to get himself under control again.

If there were any more nasty surprises though, Craig wouldn't be surprised it Lee went spiralling off of the deep end.

"But... how did this happen?" Harriet breathed in horrified shock.

"Looks like his neck was snapped" Craig grimaced.

Harriet opened her mouth to reply, but she never got the chance to. Instead, the door to the Cabinet Room slammed open, and almost jumping out of their own skin, Craig, Lee and Harriet all whipped around to see Indra Ganesh storming in.

"Harriet, for God's sake!" Indra snapped angrily, "This has gone beyond a joke, you cannot just wander..."

He froze as he spotted the body lying on the floor at their feet.

"Oh, my God" Indra gasped in the same horrified surprise that was practically drowning Craig, Lee and Harriet right now, "That's the Prime Minister! But that's impossible!"

And yet the reality of the situation was lying dead on the floor at their feet.

Craig just continued peering down at the dead body on the floor at his feet in horror. He didn't recognise the man who was apparently the Prime Minister, which meant he must have come to power during the last year, during the time he and Rose had accidently skipped.

Harriet, Lee and Indra were also all still staring at the corpse in horrified confusion as well. None of them noticed when a new person entered the room.

"Ohhh!"

Craig, startled to the point where he almost jumped several inches clean off the floor, whipped around and saw a middle-aged blonde woman swaggering into the Cabinet Room. She was quite short and rather dumpy, overall not very intimidating. Except her eyes.

Her eyes chilled Craig right down to the bone.

"Has someone been naughty?" the newcomer questioned in a mocking tone.

Craig was thrown off entirely by her demeanour. She was far too calm and almost happy about the dead body on the floor. Something was very wrong here.

Judging by the bewildered expressions on Lee's, Harriet's and Indra's faces, they too were all put on edge by this woman and her creepy presence.

A feel that only intensified when she shut the door behind her.

Clearly, none of them were leaving.

Jackie was still talking to Private Strickland, an annoyed frown on her face.

She had tried her best to be helpful, but the man just kept on at her, eventually making her feel like she was under arrest or something. She didn't appreciate it one bit.

His gruff attitude and blunt remarks weren't helping her mood much either.

Unwilling to seat opposite him any longer, she had got up and started cleaning up the mess left behind by the party, still answering his questions, but feeling less overwhelmed now that she had something else to focus on.

Currently, Jackie was in the kitchen, washing up and putting some things away. Shareen had gone to the bathroom, leaving Private Strickland alone in her living room.

"It was bigger on the inside" Jackie called through the serving hatch, her back to it, "I dunno, what do I know about spaceships... shouldn't you know all this anyway? I thought that Doctor bloke worked for you U.N.I.T lot!"

"He does, Mrs Tyler" Private Strickland's voice confirmed from the living room, "However we have come to suspect that the Doctor is keeping secrets and certain pieces of technology from U.N.I.T's knowledge. It's forcing us to re-evaluate if the Doctor really is loyal to U.N.I.T, or if he himself should now be considered an alien threat".

"You think he's dangerous?" Jackie swallowed hard.

She hated even the idea that her babies might have put themselves in danger by aligning themselves with this man.

"I'm afraid that's a very real possibility" Private Strickland's voice replied to her, "And if the Doctor really has turned on us and this planet, then he could be very deep trouble for U.N.I.T. Which means that anyone associated with him is trouble"

Unbeknownst to Jackie, Private Strickland was capitalising on his moment alone.

"And that's my job, Mrs Tyler" he said gruffly, reaching up and removing his red beret, revealing a zipper across the skin of his forehead, "Eliminating trouble".

Pulling at the zipper, Private Strickland's face contorted, as a flickering blue light filled the room.

"This just isn't possible" Indra shook his head, horrified and beyond confused by the sight of the dead body sprawled across the floor at their feet, "He left this afternoon. The Prime Minister left Downing Street, he was driven away!"

"Oh yeah?" Craig frowned, narrowing his eyes at the mysterious blonde woman, "Well apparently he didn't. Who told you that he left?

"Yes" the woman giggled in amusement, "Who did tell you that? Hmm?"

Indra watched, completely baffled, as the woman strutted closer to him, closer to them all. So bewildered he was, Indra just shook his head, unable to form an answer. In the end though it didn't matter. The woman did it for him.

"Me" she giggled delightedly.

Craig narrowed his eyes until he was glaring darkly at the woman.

There was no doubt in his mind now that this woman was responsible - not only for the Prime Minister's obvious murder, but for the horrible and gruesome scene Harriet had witnessed, and most likely the UFO crashing into Big Ben and the Thames too.

Judging by the smile on her face, she was only just getting started.

"And who are you?" Craig asked, bravely stepped forwards, putting Lee, Harriet and Indra all behind him.

The woman just smiled at him, regarding him with intense eyes.

"Err... she's Margaret" Indra managed to stammer out, still looking at the woman opposite them, "M-Margaret Blaine... she's one of the most senior members of MI5".

Craig shook his head in denial.

"Maybe she is, but I'm not talking about the human. I'm talking about you" he said, glowering at the woman still smiling at him as if he was absolutely fascinating, "The creature inside the suit. Who are you?"

The creature hiding beneath the skin of Margaret Blaine let out a tittering little laugh.

"Such a clever little boy" she cooed at him tauntingly, "Much cleverer than all the other stupid apes I've encountered on this planet so far".

For a moment, Craig was almost reminded of the Doctor. He would have said 'Stupid Apes' with a hint of fondess. This creature before him said it with unadulterated disdain.

Craig swallowed hard, nervous, but unwilling to back down.

"You're not the first alien I've met" he informed her, causing her to raise an eyebrow in interest, "Who are you, and what planet do you come from?"

The woman did not reply.

"Okay... then why are you here?" Craig tried going a different route with his questioning, "Why come to Earth? Why make the people of this world panic by faking the UFO crash?"

"Wait... the UFO crash... was fake?" Indra asked incredulously.

"How is that possible?" Harriet gasped in surprise.

Craig didn't bother explaining it to either of them. It didn't matter right now. He just kept staring the woman before him down, unwilling to take his eyes off her. He had no idea what type of alien she was, but clearly she wasn't the sort that came in peace.

For a moment, no one said anything.

Then at last, the woman was the one to break the silence.

"You know, not a single human so far has seen the wolf in the sheep's clothing and lived to tell about it" the woman said pleasantly, as if discussing tomorrow's weather, "I wonder if your heart is strong enough to take in my real form".

"It's strong enough" Craig assured her darkly.

The woman giggled again.

"Perhaps yours is, interesting little boy, but what about them?" she gestured at Lee, Harriet and Indra, all of whom were staring at her with varying degrees of confusion on their faces, "They look rather frail to me".

Craig didn't dignify that with a response.

Scoffing in his face, the woman smirked at him again, before stroking her blonde hair away from her forehead, revealing a large zipper concealed there. She began pulling it back, revealing a flickering blue light.

Lee, Indra, and even Harriet - who had witnessed this once already - all gasped and took a step back in fright.

Craig on the other hand remained firmly in place, watching in fascination, as the creature responsible for all this chaos continued to unmask right in front of him.

"Okay" the Doctor said, turning to keep himself from panicking at the idea of placing his friends in a cleverly constructed trap, "Let's say you two are right, and this is all just a trap for us... how do we manage to break it?".

The experts all looked at him nervously.

"Any ideas?" Rose whispered to him anxiously, afraid.

"Alien experts" the Doctor said to himself aloud instead of responding to Rose's question, "The best people with knowledge on how to fight them gathered together in one room... Surely they'd realise that these people would see a trap coming?"

"Well, we didn't" Kate reminded him with a frown.

"Exactly, which means that they're clever" the Doctor deduced, pacing up and down with a sense of urgency, "Think, think think... oh..."

"Oh?" Rose looked at him in concern.

"Think about it Rose" the Doctor said grimly, "What's the simplest way you would get someone to just walk into a trap of their own free will?"

Rose shrugged, perplexed by his question.

"Kate?" she turned to the other blonde woman.

"I... I don't know" Kate admitted nervously.

"By inviting them in" the Doctor revealed darkly, "Like we were invited into this room".

Before anyone could reply to the Time Lord's ominous declaration, a loud farting noise echoed throughout the room. Raising his eyebrows in absolute disbelief, the Doctor turned around and fixed the culprit with a pointed look.

"Excuse me" the Doctor narrowed his eyes at Joseph Green in disbelief, "But do you mind not farting while I'm saving the world?"

Something in Joseph Green's nasty smirk was very unsettling as he retorted.

"Would you rather silent but deadly?" he sniggered tauntingly.

General Asquith also began laughing, much to the bewilderment of the Doctor and everyone else in the room, many of whom were staring at the men as though they'd lost the plot entirely. Here the experts were, trying to defend their planet, a matter of the utmost seriousness, and here were their leaders, laughing about something so silly and childish.

They were still sniggering as General Asquith straightened up and removed his hat. To the astonishment of everyone - except for Joseph Green that was - there was something emblazoned across his forehead.

A zipper.

General Asquith had a zipper across his forehead.

"What the hell?!" Rose gawked in disbelief.

"Doctor?" Kate looked at the Time Lord, deeply concerned by what she was seeing in front of her, "What is that?"

The Time Lord didn't get a chance to reply.

"That, my dear" General Asquith cut in, smiling unpleasantly at Kate, "Is the gateway to your destiny".

And with that, he began pulling back the zipper. A faint flickering blue light began spilling out of the gap, illuminating the entire room.

The Doctor, Rose and everyone else in the room all stared at him, transfixed, as he started pulling back his skin to reveal a very alien face beneath.

"My god..." Rose breathed in horrified awe.

"He's an alien" Kate whispered in disbelief, "How can he be an alien? Reginald Asquith is human!"

"I think something else crawled inside and changed that Kate" the Doctor swallowed hard, not taking his eyes off the alien before them as it continued to unmask.

The skin-suit fell to the floor, revealing the monster inside.

"We are the Slitheen" it announced.

The only response the creature received was a ringing, endless silence.

Craig watched on, horrified but unable to turn away, as the creature pretending to be Margaret Blaine shed her suit and stepped out of it.

Lee and Indra both recoiled in terror at the sight of the alien, and Harriet - despite having seen this before - also cringed with fear.

"See what I mean?" the creature gurgled nastily at them, "Frail hearts!"

"W-what are you?" Craig whispered, frightened but trying his damnedest to remain calm.

"The last thing any of you are ever going to see" the creature boasted.

And with an unearthly shriek that was almost like a war-cry, the creature swung her arms around, grabbed Indra by the throat, and pinned him to the wall high over her head.

Indra screamed and writhed about as the monster started choking him.

Craig, Lee and Harriet could only watch on, their eyes wide with horror, completely helpless to do anything to stop her.

All they could do now was pray for a miracle.

Shareen finished washing her hands before exiting the bathroom.

She made to return to the living room, but noticing Jackie cleaning up in the kitchen, she changed course and stepped in there instead.

"Need any help?" she offered kindly.

"Oh thanks love" Jackie smiled at her daughter's best friend gratefully, "Would you just put some of this rubbish in bin bags for me?"

Shareen nodded and began gathering up some of the rubbish the party guests had littered the kitchen with, before something else drew her attention.

An ominous flickering blue light seemed to be emanating from the living room.

"Are your fuses on the blink or something?" Shareen asked curiously.

"Not that I know of" Jackie shrugged, her back to her as she was at the sink, washing up, "Why?"

"Cause your lights in the living room are flashing... and, well, blue" Shareen pointed out.

"Blue?" Jackie frowned in confusion, turning around.

She noticed for the first time the strange flashing light that seemed to be coming into the kitchen from the living room.

"Everything alright in there?" Shareen called to the U.N.I.T officer.

"Fine" came a gurgling response that vaguely sounded like Private Strickland, yet somehow... off.

Glancing at each other in bewilderment, and somehow sensing that something was very wrong, Jackie and Shareen both tentatively started walking towards the kitchen door.

Whatever it was they had been expecting, it wasn't what was looking back at them.

An alien. A huge, bright green monster with soulless eyes and a wide gaping mouth, claws like razors and thick leathery skin stood there towering over the two women. On the floor at the creature's feet was an empty skin-suit... one that looked just like Private Strickland.

"Oh. My. God..." Shareen breathed in astonishment.

Jackie tried to make a sound, but all that came out was a haggard gasp.

All either woman could think to do was stare at the... thing... in utter disbelief and horrifed awe.

Suddenly, the creature let out a fierce, bloodthirsty howl, raising its arms high above its head. The imposing figure's claws actually made marks on the ceiling, it was so impossibly huge and overpowering.

Shareen shrieked in surprise and Jackie screamed in terror.

Backing into the kitchen, the two women were completely trapped, both sinking to the floor against the counter as the monster that couldn't possibly but real but standing right there in front of them advanced on them like a hound would a fox.

The bloodlust in its eyes practically sealed their fate.

Considering how they were supposed to be 'experts', the Doctor was surprised at how many people in the room had all gone rigid with shock. Okay, the whole unmasking thing was a little unexpected, but they really shouldn't be quite so mesmerised to see a real living alien life form right in front of them.

In fact, the only people in the room that didn't seem to be completely overwhelmed were Rose, Kate and the Doctor himself.

The three of them just stared Joseph Green and the thing that had been pretending to be General Asquith down calmly, waiting to see what they'd try and do next.

They didn't have to wait long to find out.

"Thank you all for wearing your ID cards" Joseph Green smirked darkly, rising to his feet whilst also pulling a small pen-like remote device from his pocket, "They'll help to identify the bodies".

Kate's eyes widened in horror, before she all but hurled herself at Rose, unpinning the ID card on the girl's chest and throwing it to the floor, doing the same with her other hand to her own.

She was the only person in the room that managed to react in time.

Everyone else wasn't as fortunate, and when Joseph Green pressed the button, ripples of energy engulfed everyone in the room still wearing their ID cards, immediately electrocuting them.

The Doctor yelled out and tumbled to his knees, also bathed in the deadly light.

"DOCTOR!" Rose screamed in horror, lunging towards him.

Kate grabbed her arm and pulled her away, though Rose certainly didn't make it easy for her. She struggled against Kate's grip, desperate to save her friend before it was too late.

"Rose, don't!" Kate cried in anguish, "You mustn't touch him! It'll kill you!"

"No!" Rose yelled, struggling harder, "Let me go! Doctor!"

The Time Lord grit his teeth and tried his best to bare through the crippling agony that was blazing through him at the deadly energy's touch. He wanted to reassure Rose that he would survive this, but the words were simply too much effort.

Whilst this was happening, Joseph Green just looked on with a savage pleasure in his eyes, and the creature at his side let out a menacing laugh. They weren't bothered that Rose and Kate were both alive whereas all the other humans in the room were already dead. So what if they died at their claws instead of at the mercy of lethal electricity? It didn't matter to them in the slightest.

They, along with the rest of humanity and the planet itself, were now at the mercy of the Slitheen. And soon they would learn, that wasn't somewhere anyone wanted to be.

Planet Earth would burn and die.

Nothing could save it now.

And there's Aliens of London : )

So a lot of stuff happening here. First of all, Harriet is here! I'm not gonna lie, I really loved Harriet in the show, although I hated how things were left between her and the Doctor in The Christmas Invasion. Her 'redemption' in The Stolen Earth was brilliant though, but in this AU, I've got other plans for her ; )

I really hope you guys like how Craig stood up to Margaret in this chapter. I want to show growth with these characters and considering how badly things have gone for Craig on Platform One and in Cardiff, this time I really wanted to show a different side to how he deals with aliens, so hopefully that came off. I don't think Lee's enjoying his first encounter very much though ; )

Anyway, thank you for reading and please consider leaving a review as I always enjoy reading feedback from you guys on this project : )

Until the next time, keep on reading : )