So, this is my first Doctor Who FanFic so I hope it has some sort of justice to it. I've always wanted to write a story like this and well...now I have. It will follow only a few episodes to give the character a proper introduction as it takes place in Season 7 of Doctor Who, but don't worry, it will eventually become it's own story and slip away from the episodes in it's own time. But for now, here ya go!
Chapter 1 : Asylum of the Daleks
The Doctor walked around the console of the Tardis, flipping switches and tapping buttons while thinking to himself. He froze in his movements as a memory of red hair and a soft, white smile flashed within his memories, joined with another figure with short and messy sandy blonde hair with a crooked smile. Squeezing his eyes tightly shut, he sighed with remorse at the thought of his two friends. He had recently left them messages to stay in contact but hasn't heard back from them in awhile. The Doctor couldn't help but feel that something was off with his past two companions but surely they would have contacted him if something was the matter, wouldn't they?
Hearing footsteps climb the small steps up to the console room from the Tardis's hallway entrance, The Doctor blocked his thoughts quickly and threw a smile onto his face and turned to look at his current companion aboard the Tardis. The figure was a man in his mid-twenties with short, messy brown hair that looked unbrushed as if he just rolled out of bed, with soft gray eyes and a pointed chin that was covered with a five o'clock shadow. He was as tall as the Doctor as he walked up to stand next to him by the console. He rolled his broad shoulders and leaned against the console with the palms of his hands, inspecting the screen of the monitor.
"Where are we off to Doctor?" The man spoke with an American accent; one the Doctor hasn't heard in awhile aboard the Tardis since Jack.
The Doctor smacked his hands together excitedly before brushing his hand through his brown hair that flipped to one side of his face. "Well James, I'm not quite sure but that's always the fun part isn't it?" He started flipping switches again before pointing his finger at the monitor. "I've been getting this signal from an unknown source, as always I thought 'What the hell' so I began to trace it."
James nodded. "And what was the source?"
The Doctor shrugged. "No clue yet, but we will know in just a few seconds…" With a few more flips and switches a light bell noise was heard as the Doctor quickly spun the monitor towards him and froze, face falling from a gleeful smile to a horrified frown.
James looked the the screen and back to the Doctor worried. "Doctor, what is it? What was the source?"
The Doctor sighed and started to fidget. "It's Skaro. Home of the Daleks. There's a distress signal coming from it, one not of Dalek origin." He started to play with the controls as the Tardis started to make a loud, screechy noise that indicated its flight.
"And you're just going to accept it? What if it's a trap?"
A loud bang was heard as the Tardis landed while the Doctor walked to the front door. "Of course it's a trap, but what can I say? I'm a sucker for calls of distress. Coming?" James followed the Doctor outside of the Tardis as they shut the door behind them. They were inside a metallic building where the ground was covered in old debris and dirt, metallic fragments and small shards of glass scattered across the area along with small fires that burned lightly. He followed closely behind the Doctor, taking in the sight of the destroyed ruins before him as the Doctor approached a cloaked figure that turned to see them, face barely noticeable.
The Doctor became tense as he approached the hooded figure. "I got your message. Not many people can do that, send me messages." His voice was quiet but stern as he walked closer to the figure.
"I have a daughter, Hannah. She's in a Dalek prison camp. They say you can help."
"Do they? I wish they'd stop." The Doctor walked to stand in front of the figure as James stayed quiet as he moved to the window to look outside at the view. There were more metallic buildings that stood tall as the orange sunset covered them, mountains visible within the distance. Much of the buildings were destroyed or partially collapsed. James remembered the Doctor once speaking of the Great Time War and how Skaro was destroyed beyond repair and his home planet Gallifrey was blown up by his own hands in an effort to cease the fighting. "Hell of a choice of meeting place." The Doctor's voice rang out from behind him.
The figure didn't budge from their spot. "They said I'd have to intrigue you."
The Doctor joined James sight-seeing out the window. "Skaro. The original planet of the Daleks. Look at the state of it." He turned back to look at the figure. "Who told you about me?"
The figure looked away quickly before making eye contact with the Time Lord again. "Does it matter?"
"Maybe not, but you're very well informed." He once again walked towards the figure. Raising his hands, he pushed off the hood to reveal the face of the figure. It was a woman with red hair that fell past her shoulders with chopped bangs and brown eyes. The Doctor's eyes narrowed as his voice rose with suspicion. "If Hannah's in a Dalek prison camp, tell me, why aren't you?"
"I escaped."
Her comment made the Doctor chuckle lightly. "No. Nobody escaped the Dalek camps." He reached out to grip the woman's hands. "You're very cold." He let go of the woman and grabbed James's arm, bringing him towards him as they walked backwards, away from the suspicious woman.
James swallowed a lump in his throat. "See, it's a trap."
The woman looked questionably at the man who stood next to the Doctor. "What is?"
The Doctor grit his teeth together. "You are. And you don't even know it."
Before they could continue, the woman's neck started to crack as a Dalek eye stalk broke out from her forehead. Stunned, the Doctor didn't have time to react as the woman rose her hand upwards as a Dalek laser broke out from the palm of her hand and shot the Doctor in his chest, knocking him to the ground unconscious. James quickly knelled next to the Doctor, checking for pulse. As he found one, he began to shake him by his shoulders. "Doctor? Doctor!" James let out a pained scream as another beam was heard and a hard, sharp pain struck him in the back, knocking him down next to the Time Lord. Before losing consciousness, he heard a robotic scream state that the Doctor and his companion were acquired.
James slowly opened his eyes and quickly shot upwards into a sitting position as he looked around the see nothing but white walls, white floors and a white ceiling. He groaned as he scratched the nape of his neck, squinting his eyes at the bright color. "Damn, can this room be more white?" He was startled by a slight chuckle and turned to his side to see the Doctor casually leaning against the white wall with his arms crossed.
"The Daleks aren't really ones for decoration. They don't have much emotions besides hatred, I guess having a bland color that matches their bland emotions is almost perfect for them." James rose to his feet as a swishing noise was heard as a door slid open, a bronze metallic Dalek rolling through the doorway.
"You two will follow me to be reunited with your friends." A high pitched robotic voice rang out from the machine.
James looked at the robot confused. "Friends?" The Doctor brushed past him, murmuring how it was about time. They followed the Dalek out of the room as another trailed closely behind. They were lead through a long, narrow white hallway as another door opened and a male voice was heard, questioning how much trouble they were in.
"How much trouble, Mr Pond?" The Doctor spoke as they walked into the room that held a pale skinned, red headed woman along with a tall but lanky male. All their eyes had met as the Doctor continued, a slight glimmer noticeable in his eyes at the sight of his old friends. "Out of 10? 11." They all looked above them as a hatch started to open up and the ground turned into a lift, pushing them slowly upwards and through the hole in the ceiling. They all stayed quiet, unsure of what was going on. Above them, higher up, was a glass skylight that showed the stars and the infinite amount of space that surrounded each individual star. The ground stopped moving as they entered a new room, as James was sure everyone's stomachs dropped at the same time, as they were greeted by hundreds of Daleks, that were all staring right back at them. The Tardis was only just a few feet away from them but everyone was much more concerned with the hundreds of Daleks that surrounded the room, as the four of them stood directly in the middle, eye-stalks facing them.
Amy was the first to speak up. "Where are we? Spaceship, right?" James noticed the Scottish accent layered in her voice. He heard the Doctor gulp next to him, nervously.
"Not just any spaceship. The Parliament of the Daleks." He turned to look at his three companions. "Be brave."
James fidgeted as he instantly felt sick to his gut. "What do we do?"
The Doctor lowered his voice. "Make them remember you." The three humans looked to each other confused as the Doctor returned to his stern stature, most likely filled with more fear than them. He stepped slightly forward towards the front of the room as he rose his arms. "Well, come on, then. You've got me. What are you waiting for? At long last, it's Christmas!" Every Dalek in the room turned their attention to the Time Lord. "Here I am!" He closed his eyes tightly as if waiting to be shot. As they all waited in anticipation, a light robotic voice rang out among the crowd.
"Save us." They all looked around confused as if unsure if they heard the Dalek correctly. "You will save us."
The Doctor looked to the front of the room, more confused as ever. "I'll what?"
"You will save the Daleks." The entire room of Daleks started to chant the repeated phrase almost religiously.
A small smirk spread across the Doctor's face. "Well...this is new." As the chanting stopped, the Doctor started to pace while periodically staring at the watch on his wrist.
Rory leaned towards Amy curious. "What's he doing?"
Amy crossed her arms across her chest as if almost annoyed by the question. "He's chosen the most defend-able area in the room, counted all the Daleks, counted all the exits and now he's calculating the exact distance we're standing apart and he's starting to worry. Oh! And look at him frowning now. 'Something's wrong with Amy and Rory and who's going to fix it?'." The Doctor continued to stare at them before raising his fingers to his bow-tie. "And he straightens his bow-tie."
James looked to Amy astonished. "Wow, you really got him down flat."
She shrugged. "He's my best friend. I've known him ever since his tastings for fish fingers and custard." She smiled lightly as she heard James gag in disgust.
A Dalek voice rang out from behind the Doctor. "We have arrived."
The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Arrived where?"
"Doctor?" James looked to the source of the voice and was freaked out when his eyes met a squid-like creature that was enclosed in a glass casing. The same red headed woman that was in the building from before walked over and stood next to the un-sheltered Dalek. "The Prime Minister will speak with you now." The Doctor slowly walked up to the woman before whispering to her quietly.
"Do you remember who you were before they emptied you out and turned you into their puppet?"
She shrugged. "My memories are only reactivated if they are required to facilitate deep cover or disguise."
"You had a daughter."
"I know. I've read my file." She stretched her arm outwards towards the Dalek Minister as the Doctor was shocked at her emotionless response. He walked up to the Dalek Prime Minister and sighed. "Well?"
"What do you know of the Dalek Asylum?"
"According to legend, you have a dumping ground. A planet where you lock up all the Daleks that go wrong. The battle-scarred, the insane, the ones even you can't control. Which never made any sense to me."
"Why not?"
The Doctor started to walk aimlessly in a circle, thinking. "Because you'd just kill them."
The Dalek Prime Minister did not seem pleased by the Doctor's statement. "It is offensive to us to extinguish such divine hatred."
The Doctor turned to look back at the Dalek Minister, appalled. "Offensive?"
"Does it surprise you to know that Daleks have a concept of beauty?"
The Doctor walked back up to the glass case, his face inches from it as he was eye to eye with the Dalek. "I thought you'd run out of ways to make me sick. But hello again. You think hatred is beautiful?"
The Doctor walked away disgusted as he quickly froze at the Dalek's next statement. "Perhaps that is why we have never been able to kill you."
Before the Doctor was able to retort, the three human companions jumped backwards as a small hole opened up at their feet, as a gray metallic planet surrounded by a blue force field was below them. Curious, the Doctor rejoined his companions at the center of the room to also gaze down at the planet below. The woman joined them as well and spoke to answer their confusion.
"The asylum. It occupies the entire planet, right to the core."
James looked at the planet in wonder. "How many Daleks are in there?"
"A count has not been made. Millions, certainly."
The Doctor spoke up, nervously. "All still alive?"
"It has to be assumed. The asylum is fully automated. Supervision is not required."
"Armed?" Amy asked, gaining the woman's attention. She turned to look at the similar haired woman. "The Daleks are always armed."
Rory placed his hands on his hips. "What color?" They all looked at him confused as Rory fidgeted. "Sorry, there weren't any good questions left."
James patted his back humorously as the woman continued. "This signal is being received from the very heart of the asylum." A record noise was heard as Bizet's song 'Carmen' started playing. One of the Daleks screeched out in annoyance, asking what the noise was and demanded an explanation.
The Doctor rose his hand. "It's me." They looked at the Doctor confused. "It's me playing the triangle." He starts to laugh as he imitates holding a triangle and striking it with a small metal rod. "Okay, I got buried in the mix. Carmen, lovely show." He started to wave around his sonic screwdriver, examining the music. "Someone's transmitting this. Have you considered tracking back the signal and talking to them?" The Doctor looked around and mentally smacked himself in the face for even asking such a question. He turned his attention to the speaker as he called out for a response. "Hello? Hello, Carmen! Hello! Come in, come in, come in Carmen."
James was surprised when the music instantly shut off as a female voice rang out among the speakers in a rushed panic. "Hello! Yes, yes! Sorry. Do you read me?"
The Doctor threw his hands up happily. "Yes! Reading you loud and clear. Identify yourself and report your status."
The girl was quiet for a second before speaking again. "Hello. Are you real? Are you actually, properly real?"
The Doctor laughed to himself. "Yeah, confirmed. Actually, properly real." He looked back to his friends with a playful smirk on his face.
"Oswin Oswald. Junior Entertainment Manager, Star-ship Alaska. Current status, crashed and shipwrecked somewhere...not nice. Been here a year, rest of the crew missing, provision is good but keen to move on."
The Doctor looked puzzled. "A year? Are you okay? Are you under attack?"
"Some local life forms. Been keeping them out."
"Do you know what those life forms are?"
"I know a Dalek when I hear one, yeah."
James shifted his feet as he crossed his arms intrigued, as the Doctor continued to question Oswin. "What have you been doing on your own against the Daleks for a year?"
Oswin was quiet before embarrassingly admitting that she had been making souffles. James laughed lightly to her comment, while slightly wondering if when they got down there he could try a souffle. He had never had one before and wondered if they were any good. The Doctor also laughed at her comment. "Making souffles, against the Daleks? Where do you get the milk?"
A Dalek voice broke their conversation to state that the conversation was irrelevant as the Doctor spun around annoyed. "No, it isn't! Because a star-ship has crashed into your asylum and someone's got in. And if someone can get in, then everything can get out. A tsunami of insane Daleks. Even you don't want that."
The Dalek rolled closer to the Doctor. "The asylum must be cleansed."
"Then why is it still here? You've enough firepower on this ship to blast it out of the sky."
The women spoke up from behind the Doctor. "The asylum force field is impenetrable."
"Turn it off."
"It can only be turned off from within the asylum."
The Doctor waved off the woman. "A small task force could sneak through a force field. Send in a couple of Daleks." The Doctor paused in his ranting. "Oh!" He started to clap as he looked to all the silent Daleks. "Oh! Ah, that's good, that's brilliant. You're all too scared to go down there. Not one of you will go, so tell me. What do the Daleks do when they're too scared?"
A silver metallic Dalek screeched out from the front of the room. "The Predator of the Daleks will be deployed."
"You don't have a predator. And even if you did, why would they turn off a force field for you?"
The Prime Minister of the Daleks spoke up. "Because you will have no other means of escape." The Doctor looked around confused as the woman walked up to him. "May I clarify?" The Doctor nodded for her to continue. "The Predator is a Dalek's word for you."
"Me?"
Two men walked up to the Doctor. "You will need this. It will protect you from the nano cloud."
One of the men attached a black metal wristband to his wrist that had a blue light in the middle as the Doctor questioned what she meant. "The gravity beam will convey you close to the source of the transmission. You must find a way to deactivate the force field from there."
The three companions jumped back once more as a white gravity beam shot out from the hole in the ground as the Doctor was pushed towards it, back near them. "You're going to fire me at a planet? That's your plan? I get fired at a planet and expected to fix it?"
Rory leaned forward to look at the Doctor. "In fairness, that is slightly your MO."
He looked up at Rory offended. "Don't be fair to the Daleks when they're firing me at a planet." James was shocked when he felt a tug on his wrist and looked down to see a similar metal wristband like the Doctors be placed on his wrist along with Amy and Rory. "What do you want with them?" The Doctor questioned about his friends.
The silver Dalek rose his voice to be heard over the force field, as he stated that the Doctor had always had his companions by his side in dangerous situations. Rory and James groaned at the same time as the Doctor tried to console them. "Don't worry. We'll get through this, I promise. Don't be scared."
Amy turned to the Doctor with a smirk on her face. "Scared? Who's scared? Geronimo." The Doctor laughed at the use of his catchphrase from his companion but was cut short when they were all pushed into the gravity beam. They all started to scream as Rory was upside down and covered his eyes, the Doctor screaming as if he was on a roller coaster and Amy screamed for Rory as James was falling back first, unable to see how close the ground was yet. As they neared the Planet, they were shot in different directions. Amy and the Doctor went one way as Rory was shot another. James fell in his own direction and landed with an 'oomph' at the sudden impact of the snowy ground. James slowly opened his eyes as he inclined his back, groaning in pain. He looked around to see if anyone else was nearby and jumped slightly when his eyes made contact with a Dalek eye stalk, poked out of the snowy ground, staring right at him. He let out a smirk as the song Carmen started playing. It was quickly cut short before Oswin's voice rang out.
"Sorry! Sorry, pressed the wrong switch."
James rose onto his elbows slightly as he inched towards the eye stalk. "Oswin?"
Oswin let out a chuckle. "Hey, you remembered my name. 10 points for you. Are you okay...um?"
James flipped his body to rest on his chest in the snow, facing the Dalek eye. "James."
"Ah, James. Nice name. Are you okay?"
James nodded. "Yeah, I think so. Hard landing but I'm good. Say Oswin, how are you doing this? Talking through an old Dalek eye stalk?"
"Well, it's very easy to hack."
James smiled. "Not only can you cook but you're a genius too. Where are you?"
"Ship broke up when it hit. I'm somewhere underground, I think. You coming to get me?"
James nodded. "Of course! Once I reunite with everyone, I'll make sure we come and get you but only if you promise one thing."
He noticed Oswin's slight hesitation before he continued. "What would that be?"
He tapped the glass of the eye-stalk. "You make me one of your fantastic souffles. Never had one."
Oswin chuckled. "I don't know, I'm not the best at making them. It was mom's secret recipe and I can't seem to get it right. Also, I doubt someone of your type has yet to have a souffle."
James pretended to look offended. "My type? What, the American type?" He laughed along with Oswin.
"Close. More like the handsome American type."
James scratched his head. "Handsome? Normally I would comment back but I can't see you. Does it help if I say that so far you sound pretty?"
Oswin smirked behind her monitor as a slight blush spread across her cheeks. "Wait until you see me."
He shrugged. "Brilliant, cocky and can cook? Can't wait." Before their conversation could continue the light in the Dalek eye shut off. "Oswin?" After getting no response, James groaned as he got back on his feet and looked around for any sight of his friends.
"James!"
James spun around to see the Doctor and Amy running towards him along with a black male in a snow suit following closely behind. He looked at the man confused, swearing that earlier he had heard Oswin state that her crew went missing. Shaking it off, he greeted his friends as Amy drastically asked if he had seen where Rory went. Nodding, he lead them in the direction of the other beam as they came across a crater. The crater looked endless as they knelled beside it as Amy shouted for Rory, afraid for him. The unknown male quickly stated that there might be another way down to Rory, which made Amy jump up without any hesitation.
"Lead the way."