Series 3 AU with Rose! This is a sequel to my stories, "The Girl in the Stalking Spaceship" through "Daleks In Manhattan" (but without "Through the Gloom and Doom").

June 2018: re-edited since its original posting. This story, especially, was originally a very rushed, stick-Rose-into-the-transcript affair. I hope you enjoy the very significant changes that I've now made.

As yet un-beta'd.

Disclaimer: Surprise, surprise, I don't own Doctor Who. Nor do I get anything from writing these stories-except wonderful, constructive reviews! Wink, wink; nudge, nudge ;)


Chapter 1 - EX-TER-MI-WAIT!

The Doctor looked on in wonder. A Dalek without a shell. Standing on his own, two feet - well, not quite his own...

"What is that?" Rose asked the Doctor quietly, echoing Martha's astonishment. "How's he a 'human Dalek'?"

"Looks like Dalek Sec has somehow merged with a human - Mr. Diagoras himself, if I'm not mistaken." The Doctor's eyebrows climbed as he spoke,"Never seen anything like it; not from a Dalek. Cult of Skaro's full of surprises."

He watched Dalek Sec look over the group of prisoners. "These humans will become like me," Sec declared.

The Doctor ducked back with Rose, and took in the space about them: the genetic splicing equipment; the racks upon racks of Tommy guns fitted with Dalek gunsticks.

"Got a plan?" Rose asked quietly.

"Oh, plans are overrated," he whispered, "but, as a matter of fact," he told Rose, retrieving a radio from his trench coat pocket with a grin, "I have." He pulled out his sonic screwdriver. "I'm gonna talk to them. Find out what this is all about. A-and," he drawled, "if that doesn't work, I'll distract them. You make sure the way's clear back into the tunnel?"

"Know what you're doin'?" Rose asked, but didn't wait for an answer before leaning up to quickly kiss the corner of his mouth. "Good luck," she told him, then turned to make her way to the back of the room.

The Doctor turned on the radio, then stepped out from his hiding spot once he'd gained the Daleks' attention.


Rose moved quietly to the edge of their hiding place, waiting for her chance. The pig-men who had been wrangling Martha, Frank, and the other prisoners had halted, apparently waiting for orders from their preoccupied Dalek masters.

She looked back to the Doctor, her heart in her throat as she watched him standing calmly in front of the Daleks. They recognized him immediately, but she was amazed and relieved to see Dalek Sec order the other Daleks not to exterminate him - at least not right away.

After only a couple minutes' discussion, however, the Doctor aimed the sonic screwdriver at the radio. Rose darted for the doors as it emitted a high-pitched wail, causing both Sec and the pig-men to grasp their heads in pain.

"Run!" the Doctor shouted at the prisoners.

"This way!" Rose called, throwing the doors open to the sewer tunnel.

While the armored Daleks moved to protect Sec, the prisoners ran towards Rose and followed her out.

Martha and Frank were quickly at her side. "Ya know the way?" Rose asked Martha as they ran. A junction was coming up, and Rose had no clue which way to turn.

"I was kinda hopin' you did," Martha admitted.

Rose skidded to a halt at the junction, but the Doctor suddenly appeared at her side, taking her hand and pulling her to the left. "Come on! Move, move, move, move, move!" he encouraged the group behind them.

Just a few turns later, the Doctor had led them to a ladder. He sent Rose up first with the sonic to open the cover in case it was locked. "Come on, everyone up!" she heard him shout from below.

Thankfully, the cover was open, and Rose climbed quickly out into Tallulah's theater, seeing the woman, herself, waiting nearby. Rose helped everyone up after her, until the Doctor finally emerged. He accepted the screwdriver back, sonic'ing the manhole cover in place. "How's everybody?" he asked, turning to survey the group huddled in the props room. "Martha?"

"Fine," Martha answered.

"Where's Laszlo?" Tallulah asked, stepping up to the Doctor.

"If we're going to have any chance of helping him," the Doctor replied, classically side-stepping her question, "we have to get all of you to safety, first."


Martha fell in between Frank and Tallulah, following Rose and the Doctor, as they all struck out along Fifth Avenue. As all the former prisoners in their small group had come from Hooverville, they were making their way back there, as quickly as possible.

"The Empire State Buiding. We were really underneath the Empire State Building?" she asked, glancing back at the towering structure behind them.

"Everybody wants to visit the top," the Doctor replied without turning. "How many people can say they've been to the secret Dalek transgenic laboratory in the basement?"

In different circumstances, she might have been tempted to laugh. "An' those are the Daleks?" Martha asked as they walked. "The Time War Daleks?"

"The very same," answered the Doctor.

"But I've seen them before," Martha said. "Not in person, but they were part of the Battle of Canary Wharf, right?"

"Yeah," Rose answered, "that's the 'slaughter' Dalek Sec was talkin' about; we trapped the rest of 'em in the Void with the Cybermen."

Martha did a double-take. "You what?" she asked. "Weren't they helpin'?"

"Helping?" the Doctor asked.

"To fight the Cybermen," Martha explained.

"They're the reason the Cybermen got through to begin with!" the Doctor answered. "Punched a hole right between realities, so they could start over, conquering a new world."

"I thought -" Martha began, "we all thought - I mean, they came in and started fightin' the Cybermen from the skies. Thought they were savin' the city - there's tee-shirts an' toys of 'em an' everythin'."

The Doctor looked over his shoulder at her. "You're kidding. Seriously?" Martha nodded and he rolled his eyes.

"They didn't give their names," Martha defended with a shrug. "Wouldn't have meant anythin' if they did, anyway, before I met you."

"Sorta makes sense," Rose mused. "Too busy exterminatin' the Cybers to kill that many humans, an' then they all disappear together... Wow. Daleks: the heroes of Canary Wharf."

The Doctor shook his head. "One of the most terrifying killers in the galaxy, and what do you lot do? Turn it into a bobblehead."

"Really," Tallulah spoke up, ""I'm not gettin' any of this. Creatures from outer space? Whadda they want? An' what've they done to my Laszlo?"

"They want," the Doctor replied, "to conquer the universe. And not only to rule it, but to be the only lifeforms left in it. That was their creator's twisted idea of peace: no one left to fight if there's just plain no one else left."

"But now," Rose joined in, "it's just the four of 'em. They wanna increase their numbers, an' that's where the disappearances come in."

"Snatchin' up anyone they think won't be noticed if they go missin'," Martha observed.

"And the Daleks are controlling them by splicing in a part of themselves," the Doctor explained. "Daleks are bred to obey. The pig-slaves are just intelligent enough to execute the Daleks' orders, and just brutal enough not to question or hesitate. The process was incomplete with Laszlo," he told Tallulah. "He suffered a partial, physical transformation without losing his mind. As for the rest, their 'Final Experiment', that's the real Dalek army. Human beings, consciousnesses wiped, and overwritten with pure Dalek. Even the Cult of Skaro will have more free will than the human-Daleks they're creating." He looked over at Rose. "Seems they took a page outta the Cybermen's book, come to think of it."

"An' they're buildin' their army," Frank asked, "by kidnappin' folk from Hooverville?"

The Doctor nodded. "Kidnapping, luring, any way to get people away without being missed. Except now, the Daleks have been found out. They're vulnerable and oh, so desperate. Right now, tonight, is the Daleks' last chance to swell their numbers uncontested; and not a single resident of Hooverville will be safe."


As the Doctor and Rose stood with Solomon by the fire, trying to explain their situation, Martha heard a shout rise up from the perimeter.

"They're coming! They're coming!"

A few of the sentries came running into the Hooverville camp, followed by the distinct squeals of the pig-men.

Martha stood close to Frank as the young man raised his rifle, aiming into the surrounding darkness. The pig-men were approaching on all sides.

Tallulah moved closer to the fire. "We're trapped," she said, staring out into the darkness.

"Then we stand together," said Solomon, proudly. "Gather 'round."

A few shots were fired at the surrounding pig-men, as the Hooverville residents were pressed into a tight circle around the fire.

"If we can just hold them off till daylight -" Martha began.

"Oh, Martha," said the Doctor. "They're just the foot soldiers."

Martha saw him staring up at the sky, and turned to see what he was looking at.

Two Daleks had appeared, heading right towards them.

"Still powerful enough for the flyin', then," Rose said from behind her.

"What in this world..." Solomon trailed off.

Frank trained his weapon on one Dalek, and fired. Completely unharmed, the Dalek aimed its gunstick, and blasted Frank with its energy beam.

"No!" Martha heard herself scream, as Frank screamed and crumpled to the ground. She crouched beside him, trying in vain to find a pulse.

Yeah, I'm just a hitcher, too.

You stick with me; you'll be alright.

He was gone. In an instant.


As the Daleks opened fire on the settlement, the Doctor did his best to shield Martha and Rose. The Daleks overflew the camp, destroying the surrounding shacks and whomever happened to be in their way; herding more of the Hooverville residents out into the open.

The Daleks came to hover over the clearing where they were gathered. "The hu-mans will sur-ren-der!" the first Dalek ordered, ceasing its fire.

The Doctor pushed his way into the open. "Leave them alone!" he ordered. "They've done nothing to you!"

"We have lo-cat-ed the DOC-TOR!" announced the second Dalek.

Rose stepped up beside the Doctor and firmly entwined their fingers. "Still know what your doin'?" she asked him.

"And the de-stroy-er of the Emp-er-or!" the first added, aiming its weapon at them.

"'Abomination', if ya like," she volunteered. "Save yourselves a few syl-la-bles."

Before the Doctor could speak again, Solomon stepped forward. "I'm told I'm adressin' the Daleks," he called. "From what I hear, you're outcasts, too."

"Solomon, don't," the Doctor begged him. "Get back." He was all for talking himself out of impossible situations, but did not think the sympathy card was quite the one to play, here.

"Doctor! This is my township; you will respect my authority," Solomon told him firmly. "Just lemme try," he added, lowering his rifle to the ground, and moving closer to the Daleks, who had trained their gunsticks on him. He pleaded his case, arms raised. "If you have any compassion in your hearts, then you'll meet with us and Stop. This. Fight."

In answer, the first Dalek swiveled its eyestalk back towards the Doctor. "I will be the de-stroy-er of our great-est en-e-mies!" it gloated, aiming at him, once more.

"No!" Martha shouted from behind them, as the Doctor tried to maneuver himself in front of Rose.

"EX-TER-MIN-" the Dalek began, but then unaccountably paused. "I do not un-der-stand," he said, as if to himself. "It is the Doc-tor."

The Doctor looked at Rose, then back at the group. They all looked as confused as he felt.

"The urge to kill is too strong," the Dalek said, but then, as if struggling with the words, said, "I... o-bey."

They'd changed their minds? The Doctor called up to the Daleks, "What's going on?"

"You will fol-low," the Dalek instructed him.

Had they actually changed their minds? He glanced at Solomon, who was still holding his hands up, a pleased smile making its way onto the man's face. Was there a chance? He had to take it. The Doctor turned to Rose. "You don't have to -" he began, but she cut him off.

"Don't even bother," she said, evenly, laying her hand on his arm.

The Doctor looked back up at the Daleks, and stepped towards them with Rose.

"No! You can't go!" Martha called.

"We've got to go," the Doctor told her. "The Daleks just changed their minds," he said, looking between Martha and Rose. "Daleks never change their minds." He turned to Solomon. "Thank you," he told him.

Solomon, looked away from the Daleks and nodded to the Doctor, lowering his arms.

"But what about us?" Martha asked.

The Doctor turned back to the Daleks. If they were more interested in him than in topping off their stock of humans... "One condition!" he told them. "If we come with you, you spare the lives of everyone here! Do you hear me?"

After a pause, the first Dalek agreed. "The hu-mans will be spared, Doc-tor. Fol-low!"

The Doctor made to do just that, when Martha stepped up beside them. "Then I'm coming with you," she announced.

The Doctor turned to her, seeing the terror in her eyes despite her brave words. "Martha, stay here," he urged her, quietly.

"Do what you do best, Doctor Martha Jones," Rose told her. "There are people hurt, an' you can help 'em."

"Let us go," the Doctor told her, gently. He turned back towards the Daleks and followed.

Rose turned, calling over her shoulder, "We'll be back."


To be continued.

Hmm. Solomon's alive with Martha and Tallulah in Hooverville... and they haven't got any psychic paper. What's going to happen next?

Sorry if anyone preferred Frank to Solomon. But in the episode, Frank did shoot the Dalek without any repercussions; and Sec was impressed with Solomon's courage, but just spoke too late to save him. And I'm thinking in this AU it's better for Martha to bond with yet another someone the Doctor doesn't save...