The Doctor and Star stood in the shadows in a run down building. The Doctor had gotten a dream message from a woman, Darla, telling him her daughter was in danger. That was all the Doctor needed to go and help, had tried to sneak off without Star, not wanting to put her in danger considering what planet they were in but she caught him and refused to let him go alone. So here they were on Skaro hiding in the shadows, watching a woman in a cloak, looking out of the window out to the ruins of the planet.
"First there were the Daleks..." the woman spoke, "and then there was a man who fought them and a girl who helped destroy them, and then, in time, he died and she never existed. There are a few of course who believe this man somehow survived and this girl is real...and that one day they WILL return. For both our sakes, dearest Hannah, we must hope these stories are true."
"I got your message," the Doctor called and the woman turned. "Not many people can do that. Send me messages."
"I have a daughter. Hannah." the Doctor tensed, and held Star closer. "She's in a Dalek prison camp. They can you can help."
"Do they? I wish they'd stop." he walked over and looked out the window, "Helluva voice of meeting place."
And he did wish they'd stop. How hard was it to just see the universe in peace with his daughter without being sent to life threatening situation because people think they can help.
"They said I'd have to intrigue you."
"Skaro." Star sighed, looking down as the rain fell, "The original planet of the Daleks," she let out a small scoff, "Look at it now." It disgusted her how Skaro still existed while they lost Gallifrey, their enemies still had their planet, not that it was habitual, but still it was there.
"Who told you about us?" the Doctor looked at Darla.
"Does it matter?" she countered.
"Maybe not," he walked over and pulled off her hood, revealing her straight ginger hair and pale skin, "But you're very well informed," he walked back away to the window, to Star, "If Hannah's in a Dalek prison camp, tell us, why aren't you?"
"I escaped."
Star chuckled bitterly, "No one escapes the Dalek camps," she gripped the woman's hand, "You're very cold." she put a hand in the woman's cheek before stepping back, looking around nervously.
"What's wrong?"
"It's a trap." she looked at the Doctor, wide eyes.
"What is?"
"You are and you don't even know it," the Doctor pulled Star behind him as an eyestalk appeared in Darla's head. She lifted her hand and fired at them from the Dalek gun that appeared in her palm, knocking them both out as a Dalek ship appeared in the sky.
"The Doctor and Star are acquired," the Dalek ship announced.
~.~
The Doctor walked in front of Star as they were led by a Dalek through the halls of the ship, two more Daleks were behind them. They had been more alarmed when they had awoken to discover that Amy and Rory had been 'acquired' as well as them.
As they walked they could hear Rory speaking, "...How much trouble are we in?"
The door opened and they blinked as they entered a white room, Amy and Rory inside.
"How much trouble Mr Pond?" the Doctor asked entering the room, the Daleks surrounding them. "Out of 10? 11."
The ceiling above opened like a circle, and the floor rose, taking them up to find themselves in a room surrounded by thousands of different kinds of Daleks. On a pedestal was a mutant in a clear case, watching them.
"Where are we?" Amy looked around, "Spaceship right?"
"Worse," Star murmured, "Much worse."
"How much worse?" Rory asked.
"This isn't just any spaceship," the Doctor told them, "The Parliament of the Daleks. Be brave."
"What do we do?" Amy looked at them.
"Make them remember you," Star whispered.
The Doctor stepped forwards, "well come on then. You've got me! What are you waiting for? At long last, it's Christmas!" he threw his arms out, "Here I am!" and closed his eyes, Star escaped Rory's hold and ran to his side. They wanted to kill him, they'd have to kill her too.
"Save us," the mutant cried, "You will save us." the Doctor cracked an eye open, "You will save us."
The Doctor blinked, "I'll what?"
"You will save the Daleks."
"Save the Daleks! Save the Daleks!" the Daleks chanted. "Save the Daleks! Save the Daleks! Save the Daleks! Save the Daleks!"
"This is new." Star remarked.
~.~
Star paced back and forth with the Doctor. Well it was more he was the one pacing, but he refused to get go of her hand and so she was forced to pace as well, it was quite amusing actually.
"What's he doing?" Rory hissed to Amy.
"He's chosen the most defendable area in the room," Amy watched them pace, "Counted all the Daleks, counted all the exits and Stars calculating the exact distance we're standing apart and both are starting to worry. Something's wrong with Amy and Rory, and who's going to fix it? And they straighten their bow ties!"
"We have arrived." the white Dalek that had been created from when they met Winston Churchill stated.
"Arrived where?" the Doctor glanced at the Dalek.
"Doctor..." the mutant Dalek called.
"The Prime Minister will speak with you and your daughter now." Darla stated, gesturing for them to walk forwards.
The Doctor stiffened not wanting Star near the Daleks anymore than she already was but she just strode forwards.
She wasn't afraid of them, they were Daleks, they'd faced them so many times before and she just...she had given up even thinking about being afraid of them, they were afraid of them. To her they were just talking pepper pots that killed their people and planet. Honestly they shouldn't let her near the Prime Minster.
The Doctor followed her but paused when he came up to Darla, "Do you remember who you were before they emptied you out and turned you into their puppet?" he asked her quietly.
"My memories are only re-activated if they are required to facilitate deep cover or disguise." she said.
"You had a daughter." just too forget the daughter you had and not care. It disgusted him.
"I know. Ive read my file."
He glanced at her for a moment longer before continuing up the ramp and joining Star before the Prime Minster, "Well?"
"What do you know do the Dalek Asylum?" the Minster asked them.
"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 sense..." he turned away and looked at the other Daleks.
"Why not?"
"Why not just kill them?" Star wondered. It was what Time Lords did, kill them and then pretend they never existed.
"It is offensive to extinguish such divine hatred."
The Doctor turned back to the Minister, "Offensive?"
"Does it surprise you to know the Daleks have a concept of beauty?"
The Doctor bent forwards and looked into the Daleks eye, "I thought you'd run out of ways to make me sick, but hello again. You think hatred is beautiful."
Star pulled the Doctor away, wanting to get out of there.
"Perhaps that is why we have never been able to kill you."
The Doctor stopped and turned back at this.
'Don't' Star called to him, 'It's what they want.'
They both looked over hearing a mechanical whirring and saw the floor by Amy and Rory opening. They walked over and peered down to see at a planet in the distance directly below them.
"The Asylum," Darla joined them, "It occupies the entire planet. Right to the core."
"How many Daleks are there?" Star tilted her head looking down.
"A count has not been made. Millions, certainly."
"All still alive?" the Doctor asked.
"It has to be assumed. The Asylum is fully automated, supervision is not required.
"Armed?" Amy wondered.
"The Daleks are always armed."
"What colour?" Rory questioned earning a look from them, "Sorry. There weren't any good questions left."
"The signal is being received from the very heart of the Asylum," Darla pressed a button and the Habernera from Carmen came over the speakers.
The Doctor smiled pretending to conduct as Star laughed and swayed with the music.
"What is the noise?" the white Daleks demanded, "Explain! Explain!"
"It's me!" the Doctor smiled.
Rory blinked, "Sorry what?"
"Hes playing the triangle," Star laughed as the Doctor dinged an air triangle.
"Ok, I got buried in the mix. Carmen! Lovely show. Someone's transmitting this." He pulled out the sonic and used it on the small transmitter, "Have you considered tracking back the signal and talking to them?"
"He asked the Daleks." Star joked.
He stuck her tongue out at her, before turning back to the controls, "Hello? Hello, Carmen? Hello? Come in, come in, come in, Carmen."
"Hello," a young woman answered, "yes, yes, sorry, do you read me?"
"Yes, reading you loud and clear. Identify yourself and report your status."
"Hello! Are you real? Are you actually, properly real?"
"Yup," Star nodded, "Confirmed, actually properly real."
"Oswin Oswald," she reported, "Junior Entertainment Manager, Starship Alaska, Current status, crash and shipwrecked somewhere…not nice. Been here a year, rest of the crew missing. Provision good, but keen to move on."
"A year?" Star eyes widened, "Are you ok? Are you under attack?"
"Some local life-forms, I've been keeping them out."
"Do you know what those life-forms are?"
"I know a Dalek when I hear one, yeah."
"What have you been doing, on your own, against the Daleks for a year?"
"Making soufflés."
"Soufflés?" the Doctor laughed, "Against the Daleks?"
"Where do you get the milk?" Star wondered, and they all looked at her. "What?"
"This conversation is irrelevant!" the white Dalek declared.
"No, it isn't!" the Doctor argued, seeing what Star had realised. Where did she get the milk for a whole year?!
"No," Oswin called, as the Daleks tried to cut her off, "Hello. Hello!"
"Because a Starliners crashed into your Asylum, and someone's got in. And if someone can get in, then everything n get out, a tsunami of insane Daleks. Even you don't want that."
"The Asylum must be cleansed." The white Dalek agreed.
"Then why is it still here?" Star countered, "You've got enough firepower on this ship, to blast it out of the sky."
"They Asylum force-field is impenetrable."
"Turn it off." The Doctor shrugged.
"It can only be turned off from within the Asylum," Darla told them.
"A small task force could sneak through a force-field, send a couple of Daleks."
"Cowards." Star muttered, knowing what they wanted.
"Oh!" the Doctor stopped and clapped, "oh, 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?"
"The Predator of the Daleks will be deployed." The white Dalek stated.
"You don't have a predator."
Star cleared her throat, and he looked at her, stunned before turning back to the Dalek, "But she's young, she's a child! You're scared of her more than me?!" now that surprised him.
"I did hurt them down." Star reminded him, "I mean come on, I went after Dalek Caan for Gods sake, surely that was obvious!" she was insane after all, and not all the Daleks survived for one day on the crucible, she did keep getting out of her prison on the ship, and she was pretty sure she annoyed the hell out of the Daleks.
"Ok," the Doctor nodded, taking her hand, feeling her relax, not even knowing she was tense, "But why would she turn off a force-field for you?"
"Because you will have no other means of escape." It said.
Even the Daleks knew that Star would do anything for her family and those she cared about.
Star squeezed his hand, tightly. The only way they could leave would be to turn of the force-field, and with them all there, the Daleks were going to send them all down.
"You will need this," Darla called, nodding to two male Dalek Puppets who came and snapped a band on they're wrists, a blue light turned on, "it will protect you from the Nano-cloud."
"The what?" the Doctor frowned, "the nano-what?"
"Nano-cloud." Star repeated for him.
"The gravity beam will convey you close to the source of the transmission." Darla remarked, "You must find a way to deactivate the force-field from there."
"You're going to fire us at a planet?" the Doctor cried, as they moved to Amy and Rory, "that's your plan? We get fired at a planet and expected to fix it?"
"In fairness, that is slightly you MO." Rory commented.
"Don't be fair to the Daleks when they're firing us at a planet! What do you want with them?"
The bands were also placed on Amy and Rory's wrists, "It is known that the Doctor and Star require companions." The white Dalek reported.
"Oh, brilliant." Rory rolled his eyes, "Good-oh!"
"Don't worry," Star whispered, "we'll get through this. Promise. Don't be scared."
"Scared?" Amy smirked, "Who's scared? Geronimo."
The Doctor chuckled before on of the men pushed him into the beam, "Oi!"
Star, Amy and Rory were pushed after him.
"Wrong way up!" Rory yelled as he fell upside down, "Wrong way up!"
"RORY!" Amy tried to reach him.
"Dad!" Star screamed as the beam split into two.
"Star!" he cried as she and Amy went one way and he and Rory, the other.
~.~
Star blinked herself awake, looking up at the clear sky above her, snow all around, and a small Dalek eyepiece staring at her from the snow.
She blinked and looked at it, "Hello."
The comm. opened and Carmen played through it.
Star laughed and looked back up at the sky as Oswin spoke through it, "Sorry, sorry," the music stopped, "Pressed the wrong switch."
"Hello, Soufflé girl."
"Could always call me Oswin, seeing as that's my name. You ok?"
"How are you doing that?" she tapped the eyepiece, "its Dalek technology."
"Well, it's very easy to hack."
"No, it really isn't. Where are you, anyway?"
"Ship broke up when it hit. Somewhere underground, I think. You coming to get me?"
"Doctor?" she heard Amy shouting from the distance, "Star?!"
"Hey!" she cried, as static sounded, the connection failing, "Oi! Soufflé girl! Come back..."
"Star!" Amy spotted her.
She turned and jumped up running to the woman, to see a black man in a white snow suit following her, "Amy!" she hugged her tightly; "Have you see dad? Or Rory?"
"There was another beam," the black man told them, "there," he pointed, "over there." they ran off following where the man pointed, "Are you the rescue team?" he asked, following them as they ran through the snow to a small hole that had formed.
"Rory?" Amy called down, "Rory? RORY!"
"Dad!" Star screamed, 'Daddy! Answer me or I swear...'
'Im fine!' he assured her. 'Nova! It's ok, I'm alright.'
'Are you with Rory?'
'Yes. He's here. We're...underground...somewhere. Where's Amy?'
'She's fine. She's with me. Are you safe?
There was a moment of silence before he replied, 'Perfectly fine! But Rory's not waking up..."
'Hold on.' she sighed and called into Rory's mind, 'RORY!'
'That got it.' she heard the Doctor laughed, obviously Rory had jumped awake at the sudden sound of her voice in his mind, 'He says he wished you'd stop doing that.'
'Never.' she smirked.
Star sighed, the Doctor and Rory were together, she and Amy were together, they were apparently fine. But the Doctor had lied to her she could hear it in his mental voice, it was higher than normal...and he had lied to he! He had actually lied to her! How dare he. He and Rory were somewhere down below with Daleks nearby.
"We came down two days ago," the black man remarked to them as he led them to his ship, "There are 12 other escape pods. I don't know what happened to them." he opened the hatch and Amy wiped some of the snow surrounding it to see the name of the ship.
"Alaska?" she frowned and looked at Star, "That's the same ship as soufflé girl."
Star nodded, "Yeah...but she's been here a year."
The man climbed down the ladder and into the ship. "We should have some climbing rope long enough for that hole."
Star followed him down, followed by Amy and eyed the crew in similar snowsuit, their backs to them, "Won't you introduce us?"
"Ah, yeah, sorry," the man smiled, "Guys. This is Star and Amy."
Star grinned, but didn't get a reply or reaction, her grin turned into a frown, 'Keep back.' she warned Amy silently.
The woman not disturbed in the slightest at having her in her mind, kept back.
"Guys." the man eyed his crew.
"That's very rude," Star huffed, pouting, before patting the shoulder of one of the crew closest to reveal a dried-out corpse.
"Oh my god..."
"Are they dead?" Amy swallowed.
"What do you think?" Star snapped before sighing and rubbing her temples, "Sorry...just worried. Yeah, they're dead."
"That's not possible," the man shook his head, "I just spoke to them. 3 hours ago. We were doing engine repairs."
"I'd say they've been dead longer than 3 hours. A lot longer."
"But...but they can't have..." the man shook his head rapidly.
"Well they didn't get in that state in 3 hours." Amy remarked.
"Oh, of course!" the mans eyes widened, "Stupid me."
"Of course, what?"
"I died outside and the cold preserved my body. I forgot about dying." an eyestalk grew out of his forehead and he advanced on the pair.
"Amy!" Star called, her eyes locked on the man, "Door!"
Amy pushed the button to open the door and Star flashed her eyes, using her mind to push the man through it. Locking him away.
"Explain!" Amy ordered, "You like to talk. Do talk! How did he get all Daleked?!"
"He wasn't wearing this!" she held up her wrist with the band on, and then she laughed, "Clever! The nano-cloud. Micro-organisms that automatically process any organic matter, living or dead, into a Dalek puppet. Anything attacks this place, it automatically because on side security. These wrist bands protect us."
"Star!" Amy cut her off, "Living or dead?"
"Yes. Living or dead."
"Living or DEAD?"
"That what I..." she trailed realising what Amy meant they looked at the corpses to see eyestalks coming out of their heads, "Said."
"Now what?"
"Run!" she ran across the room, shoving the corpses out of the way as Amy followed right behind her.
But one of the corpses grabbed Amy wrist, Star shoved it back and pushed Amy through the door, locking it behind them.
"Is it bad that I've really missed this?" Amy asked with a laugh.
"Good isn't it?" Star grinned wildly.
"Unauthorised personal may not enter the cockpit." Oswin called over the comm.
"Oh shut up!"
"Ooh, Little Miss Grumpy! Bad combo! No sense of humour and ginger."
"I'll have you know that I have a great sense of humour...and daddy's very jealous of my hair."
"Is that her?" Amy asked, "Soufflé girl?"
"Or Oswin."
"I'm scanning you." Oswin said, "You're on another of the escape pods from the Alaska, right? Same ship I was on."
"How can you hack into everything? It's impossible; you're in a crash ship."
"Long story. Is that a word for total screaming genius that sounds modest and a tiny bit sexy?"
Star smiled smugly, "Star. Im Star."
"I see what you did there. But I'm going to call you Gingerbread. Check the floor. I'm picking up a breach at floor level; there could be a way out. See you later!"
Star looked down, seeing a hatch, she knelt next to it, "Looks like its been used already and they tried to block it off behind them."
"Can't imagine why." Amy muttered.
"The lower part of the pod is buried, so this must go straight down into the Asylum."
"Where Rory and the Doctor are?"
"Mmm," She looked at the woman sharply, "Anything you wanna explain?"
"Don't give me that look. We split up. What can you do?"
"You'd be surprised." She murmured, thinking back to the Dream Lord incident.
"You can't do a thing. It's not one of those things you can fix like how you and the Doctor straighten your bow ties. Don't give me that disappointed look. It's life. Just life. That thing that goes on when you and the Doctor aren't there."
Star merely opened the hatch and they looked down to see a ladder hanging down.
"Ok," Amy nodded, "So someone else got out this way then?"
"Let's go find out!" Star grinned.
There was a banging in the door and Star looked at the screen to see the corpses waving something at the camera, "What have they got...?" she walked over to see them holding a wrist band.
"What's that?" Amy moved to join her.
"One of these," she held up her wrist with the band on, "Where did they get it..." she trailed and slowly moved her head to looked at Amy and pulled up her jacket sleeve to see her arm bare.
"Star?" Amy tensed at her expression, "What going to happen to me? Seriously, tell me, what?"
She glanced back at the corpses as the waved the wrist band tauntingly, "Lets go down, then I'll explain."
~.~
"So tell me," Amy ordered softly, as they headed down the ladder, "What's going to happen to me? And don't lie, cos I know when you're lying to me and I will definitely fall on you."
"Daddy will kill you if you do that." Star tried to joke.
"Just tell me!"
She sighed, "the air all around is full of micro-machines, robots the size of molecules, nanogenes. Now that you're unprotected, you're being…rewritten."
"So, what happens?" Amy asked as they reached the bottom of the ladder, "I get one of those things sticking out of my head?"
"That will come later." She took her hand and they walked off.
"What comes first, how does it start?"
"With your mind. Your feelings, your memories. Sorry but it's already started."
"How do you know?"
She looked around at her and stopped walking, "Because this is the forth time we've had this conversation."
"Ok. Scared now."
"Good," she hugged her, "Scared isn't Dalek. Hold onto it."
A door opened in front of the duo.
"What's that?" Amy asked.
They couldn't see any Daleks but called hear them. They backed up and the door slid shut.
"Soufflé girl?!" Star called, "Can you hear me, Oswin?!"
"Hello, Gingerbread!" Oswin answered, "I have visual on you!"
"Why don't I have visual on you? Why can't I see you?"
"Limited power, bad hair, take your pick. There's a door to your left, open it. Going to send you a map to that screen. I've put your little friends somewhere safe; I can get you to them."
"You've found daddy!" she cheered, "and Rory?"
"I call him Chinny and Nina. It's a personal thing, hush now."
"Rory!" Amy gasped, "You found him?"
Star scoffed as she open the panel Oswin told her to and found the map.
"What?"
"Now you care about him." She laughed lightly.
"I always care about him."
"Then why are you giving him up?"
"Because…you wouldn't understand."
"Because you can't have kids?" she guessed.
"Yeah." She admitted quietly, "Whatever they did to me at Demons Run…I can't have kids."
"Im sorry. But that's a stupid reason to get a divorce."
"You know nothing!" Amy glared at her.
She slammed the panel close, "Amy I am the only Time Lady left as dad is the only Time Lord. You really think I have no idea what its like to never have the chance to raise a child. You have a daughter. You may not have raised her but she is alive and…and I'll never be able to have a child…because there's no one else. I used to live in hope that others escaped and there are more Time Lords out there. But I soon quit, I gave up looking, I stopped believing. There's no one else. Every adventure we had, everywhere we went I tried to sense them, but…nothing. It's just us. And I don't know how I feel about that." She blinked and shook her head, "So how many Daleks are in that room?" she called to Oswin.
"Im sorry." Amy whispered. But Star ignored her, waiting for Oswin's reply.
"10, 20, hard to say." Oswin replied, having stayed silent while she ranted, "Some of them are catatonic, but they do have firepower."
"How do I get past them? Not that I can't…" she turned around and saw a Dalek approaching "Come on. Run!" she took Amys hand and they ran back to the ladder only for the corpses to come down it. "Oh, come on!" she groaned, turning back to the Dalek.
"Intruder!" it cried. "Intruder! Intruder!" it fired its weapon but nothing happened.
"It's damaged..." Star laughed at it.
"But what do we do?" Amy asked.
Star just bent down to look the Dalek in the eyestalk, "Who am I? Be a good boy and identify me."
"Don't treat it like a dog!"
"Come on boy, identify me. Who am I?"
"You…are…the Predator." The Dalek stated.
"Yes I am. Access your standing orders concerning the Predator."
"The Predator must be destroyed."
"But how? Dalek without a gun, you're a tricycle with a roof! Have fun trying to destroy me!"
"Self-destruct initiated."
"What's it doing?" Amy demanded.
"Its going to blow itself up, thinking it'll take me with it."
"Wont it?"
"Self-destruct cannot be countermanded." The Dalek stated.
She continued grinning, "Oh, I don't need to countermand it." her grinned faded into a dark look with her 'dark eyes' as she called them, "I can do this!" and just by looking at the Dalek, it began moving backwards, the countdown of the self-destruct still going. It arrived in the room with the Daleks and collided with one, exploding.
"Wow…" Amy breathed.
Perfect.
~.~
"Who killed all the Daleks?" Rory asked as he and the Doctor entered the room with the exploded Daleks.
"Me." Star said, as she half carried, half dragged Amy's body into the room, weak from the nanogenes. "Its actived self-destruct. I got bored."
"Amy!" Rory rushed over and scooped her in his arms as she fainted, heading to the teleport room.
The Doctor whistled, "Nicely done."
"Thank you." a small, dazed smile appeared on her face something the Doctor didn't like the look off.
"Star." he snapped his finger in front of her face, "Snap out of it."
She blinked and shook her head, "Sorry." She grinned sheepishly, "got...a bit carried away…" she looked at the damage she did and bit her lip.
"You're ok." He breathed, hugging her tightly.
"Course im ok. Im the queen of ok, remember. As you're the king of ok." She nudged him playfully.
"What happened to Amy?" Rory demanded, "She won't wake up."
She swallowed and took the Doctors hand heading into the teleport room where Amy laid on the pad, "she lost her wristband and the nano-cloud is making her into a Dalek puppet."
"Will sleeping help her? Slow down the process?"
"You'd better hope so." Oswin called, "Because pretty soon, she's going to try and kill you."
"Amy," Rory called gently, seeing her coming around, "Amy, you're still with us," he stroked her hair, "Do you remember me?" she slapped him, "She remembers me."
The Doctor smiled, "Same old Amy."
"Do you know how you make someone a Dalek?" Oswin asked them, "Subtract love, add anger. Doesn't she seem a bit too angry to you?"
"Well! Somebody's never been to Scotland." Amy grumbled.
"What's about you though, Oswin?" the Doctor questioned her, "How come you're ok? Why hasn't the nano-cloud converted you?"
"I mentioned the genius thing, yeah?"
"To me," Star reminded her.
"Shielded in here."
"Clever of you," the Doctor nodded, "now this place, the Daleks said it was fully automated. But look at it, it's a wreck."
"Well, I've had nearly a year to mess with them and not a lot else to do."
"A junior entertainment manger, hiding out in a wrecked ship…hacking the security systems of the most advanced warrior race the universe has eve seen."
"But what really gets me about you, Oswin. The soufflés!" Star commented, "Where do you get the milk for the soufflés? Seriously, is no one else, except me and dad, wondering about that?"
"No. frankly, no." Rory shook his head, "Twice."
"So, Doctor, I've been looking you up. And you Star, you're all over the Database. Why do the Daleks call you the Predator?"
"Ah!" she grinned, "I like destroying them."
"And im just a man with a plan." The Doctor added.
"You've got a plan?" Oswin asked.
"We're all ears." Rory spoke up.
"There's a nose joke going, if anyone wants to pick that one off!" Amy added.
"In no particular order," the Doctor continued, "we need to neutralise all the Daleks in this Asylum, rescue Oswin from the wreckage, escape from this planet and fix Rory and Amy's marriage…"
"Ok, im counting 3 lost causes, anyone else?"
"Amelia!" Star snapped as Rory slapped his knee and walked away in his frustration, "You need to shut up!"
"Oswin," the Doctor cut in, pulling Star closer to him and away from Amy before she tried to kill her, honestly he was surprise she had lasted this long without trying to kill her, "There's a Dalek ship in orbit."
"Yeah, got it on the sensors."
"The Asylum has a force-field." Star stated, "The Daleks upstairs are waiting for me to turn it off. Soon as I do, they'll burn this world and us with it."
The Doctor clapped his hands, "so, Oswin, my question is this. How fast can you drop the force-field?"
"Pretty fast." Oswin answered, "but why would I?"
"Because this is a teleport, am I right, Oswin?"
"Yeah. Internal use only."
He snapped his fingers, "I can boost the signal." He grinned and knelt on the teleport, "once the force-field is down, and we can use this to beam us right off this planet."
"But you said, when the force-field is down, the Daleks will blow us up." Rory pointed out.
"We have to be quick."
"Fine, we'll be quick, but where do we beam to?" Amy asked.
"The only place within range. The Dalek ship."
"Where they exterminate us on the spot."
"This is the kind of escape plan where you survive 4 seconds longer?" Rory sighed.
"What's wrong with 4 seconds?" the Doctor looked insulted at that remark, "you can do lots in 4 seconds."
Like finally become a monster, Star thought. She blinked rapidly, what…what was that? Why did you just think that? She shook her head trying to forget that thought. "Oswin!" she called, "How fast can you drop the force-field?"
"I can do it from here. As soon as you come and get me."
The Doctor stood back up, "no, just drop the force-field and come to us."
"There's enough power in that teleport for one go. Why would you wait for me?"
"Why wouldn't we?" Star countered.
"No idea, never met you. Sending you a map so you can come get me."
"This place is crawling with Daleks." Rory reminded them.
"Yeah. Kind of why im anxious to leave. Come up and see me some time."
Rory leaned over the panel as the Doctor and Star looked at the map, "So? Are we going to go get her?"
"I don't think we have a choice." Star sighed. Something wasn't right with Oswin, no one could survive a crashed ship for a year, let alone the Dalek Asylum and where did she get that milk from? It didn't make sense.
"Ok," the Doctor nodded, "soon as the force-field is down, the Daleks will attack. If it gets too explodey-wodey in here, you go without me. Ok? He handed Rory the teleport control.
"And leave you to die?" Rory frowned.
"Oh, don't worry about us." Star waved him off, "You're the one beaming up to a Dalek ship to get exterminated."
"No!" the Doctor exclaimed, "You're going with them!"
"Like hell I am."
"You are going with them!"
"We can spend our time arguing or you can just accept that im staying. Deal with it."
"What about Amy?" Rory cut in.
"Keep her remembering." The Doctor sighed, knowing that Star won, "keep her focused, that'll hold back the conversion."
"What do I do?" Amy called.
"Don't let them subtract love." Star said as she and the Doctor left to get Oswin.
~.~
They walked cautiously through the corridors. In the distance Daleks could be heard, "Emergency, emergency! We are the Daleks! We are the Daleks! We are the Daleks…"
The Doctor took Stars hand as they continued walking.
The girl glanced into a camera and straightened her bowtie, knowing that the humans had now realised that she slid her wristband onto Amy. She didn't need it. She knew Rory would care about Amy enough to give her is band, she'd refuse, they'd find the band on her arm, and then make up. She was such a little matchmaker.
"Oswin," the Doctor whispered, "I think we're close."
"You are." Oswin came back on the comm. "Less than 20 feet away. Which is the good news…"
"Ok. And the bad, which I suddenly feel is coming…"
"You're about to pass through intensive care."
The door in front of them open and they entered the room. There was only a few Daleks, each in individual cells, some in chains.
"So, what's special about this lot then?" Star wondered.
"Dunno." Oswin replied, "Survivors of particular wars. Spiridon. Kembel. Aridius. Vulcan. Exxilon. Ringing any bells?"
Star eyes lit up, hearing those names, "oh, yes…"
"How?"
The Doctor stepped in front of a Dalek, "These are the Daleks who survived me."
"Then why aren't you the Predator?"
Star smirked, "Daleks don't survive me."
"Doc…tor…St…ar…Doc…tor…St…ar…" the Daleks began to awake.
"That's weird." Oswin remarked, "Those ones don't usually wake up for anything."
"Yeah, well," the Doctor tried to shrug off, "special visitors." They ran to the door at the opposite end, "Ok, door, but it won't open, he soniced it, "you can't be far away though…"
"Hang on, not quite sure...there's a release code, let me, let me just…anything happening out there?"
"No."
"Hang on, im trying a thing."
Star threw her hands out to open the door…but nothing happened, "ok…odd…"
They slowly turned to see the Daleks breaking out of their chains and slowly advancing, "Doc…tor…St…ar…Doc…tor…St…ar…"
"Oswin!" Star pounded on the door, "Get this door open! Now!"
"I can't!" Oswin cried.
"Oswin." She said, calmly, keeping a wall up, so the Daleks couldn't get too close, "Please, open the door."
The Doctor pulled Star behind him, slowly, so she didn't drop the wall. She was strong and he knew it but still…right now he was TERRIFIED. "PLEASE GET THIS DOOR OPEN!"
Star flinched as the Daleks pushed against the wall, slowly breaking it. She breathed harder, trying to keep it up and steady and then…the Daleks turned away.
"Oh, that is cool." Oswin laughed, "Tell me im cool."
"What did you do?" the Doctor breathed.
"Hang on, I think I've found the door thingy…"
"No, tell me what you did!"
"The Daleks, they have a hive mind. Well they don't, but they have a telepathic web."
"The Path Web, yes." Star agreed.
"I hacked into it. Did a master delete on all the information connected with the Doctor and Star."
"You made the forget us?" the Doctor gaped.
"Good, eh? And here comes the door!"
The door behind them opened and they stood where they were, not turning.
"I've tried hacking into the Path Web. Even I couldn't do it." Star murmured.
"And that's saying something." The Doctor remarked.
"I may be young, but im super smart. When I want to be. I'm daddy's little genius."
"Come and met the girl who can," Oswin laughed.
They turned, into a white honeycombed room, smiling, but they tensed not seeing a girl in need but a Dalek chained up.
"Hey!" Oswin called through the only comm. in the room, sounding like a Dalek now, "You're right outside, come on in."
"Oswin," the Doctor swallowed, "we have a problem."
"No, we don't. Don't even say that. Joined the Alaska to see the universe, ended up stuck in a shipwreck, first time out. Rescue me, Chin boy, Gingerbread, and show me the stars."
"Does it look real to you?" Star sighed. It wasn't a sigh feeling sorry for her but more…she should have expected this.
"It IS real."
"It's a dream, Oswin." The Doctor continued, "You dreamed it for yourself, because the truth was too terrible."
The Dalek/Oswin was silent a moment "Where…am…I? Where…am…I?"
"Because you are a Dalek."
"I am not a Dalek! I am NOT a Dalek! Im human."
"You were human when you crashed here." The Doctor rested a hand on the casing, feeling terrible, "It was you who climbed out of the pod, that was your ladder."
"Im…human…"
"Not anymore." Star shook her head, "because you're right, you're a genius. And the Daleks need genius. They didn't just make you a puppet, they did a full conversion."
"Where am I? Where am I? Where am I?"
"Oswin," the Doctor sighed, sadly, "I am so sorry. But you are a Dalek. The milk, Oswin. The milk and the eggs for the soufflés, where, where did it all come from?"
"Eggs…" Oswin began. "Eggs."
"It wasn't real it was never real."
"Eggs…term…in…ate." She slowly raised her gun.
"Oswin?" Star frowned.
"Eggs…term…in…ate. Exterminate!" she began to advance on them, breaking out of her chains.
The Doctor pulled Star behind him, backing away, "No, no, no, Oswin. Oswin listen…Oswin! You don't have to do this!"
"EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!"
And then a blue wall appeared, stopping her, he looked to see Star staring straight ahead at Oswin, with her 'dark eyes' at the Dalek. But she wasn't looking at her; it was like…like she had no control over it.
"Star!" he cupped her face in his hands, "Star no! Don't! Don't do this!" and this was what she was seeing, not a scared girl, but a Dalek who was attacking them, this was what made her the Predator, she only saw a Dalek, "Star, please!" he begged, needing her back…he looked back at the Dalek Oswin, "Oswin! Oswin!" he tried to get through to her, before turning back to Star as the wall kept up, "NOVA! Please, come back to me…"he rested his head against hers, as he called to her in Gallifreyan, "Please…" he pulled back feeling her blink and the wall fade away as she shook her head. He hugged her tightly, close to tears, he was close to loosing her, too close. he thought for a second that he had seen the orange energy of regeneration, he had be terrified that she would regenerate again.
"Exterminate!" Oswin cried, pulling them both back to look at her…and then she trailed off and they heard robotic sobbing..."Why do they hate you so much? They hate you so much. Why?"
"We have fought them. Many, many times. Me more than Star."
"We have grown stronger in fear of you."
"I know. I tried to stop."
"Then run."
"What did you say?" the Doctor blinked.
"I've taken down the force-field. The Daleks above have begun their attacks. Run!"
The door behind them reopened.
"Oswin? Are you…"
"I am Oswin Oswald." She stated, "I fought the Daleks. And I AM…human. Remember me."
"Thank you!" the Doctor told her, sincerely.
"Run!"
The Doctor took Stars hand and pulled her off.
"Run, you clever boy, you insane girl and remember…"
They ran through the explosions that hit and back to the teleport room to see Amy and Rory kissing passionately.
"Right, go, lets go!" the Doctor shouted, "We're good, lets go! Oh, for gods sake!"
Star grabbed the control from Rory as they continued kissing and hit it…
~.~
The Doctor grinned as they arrived in the TARDIS console room, "you know," the Doctor called into the speakers, "you guys should really have seen this coming. Thing about Star and teleports, she has a good aim," he winked at her as she gave a small, forced smile, "pin-point accurate, in fact. Or to put it another way…" he stepped outside, "Suckers!"
"Identify yourself!" the Daleks cried, "Identify! Identify!"
He blinked, "Well, it's me! You know me! The Doctor! The Oncoming storm?"
"And Star." she stepped out aswell, "the Predator?"
"Titles are not meaningful in this context." Darla frowned, "Doctor who?"
"Doctor who?" the Minster agreed.
"Doctor who?" the white Dalek also cried.
"Oh, Oswin," Star gave a small genuine smile, "You did it to them all! You are brilliant!"
"DOCTOR WHO?" The Daleks continued, "DOCTOR WHO?"
"Fellas," the Doctor smirked, "you're never going to stop asking." He closed the door behind them and dematerialised. The Ponds still kissing.
~.~
The Doctor spun around the console as Star sat on the jump seat after they dropped the Ponds of back home, and happily married.
"Doctor who!" he cheered, "Doctor who! Doc! Tor! Who!" he turned to Star grinned but it faded seeing her looked at the ground, "What's wrong?"
"I lost control," she admitted quietly.
"Nova…" he moved to hug her but she got up and moved around the console, avoiding his eyes.
"I've never done that before. I didn't even realise I was doing it until you snapped me out of it."
"And I'll always be there to snap you out of it."
"But what if you're not?" her eyes shot up to look at him, "What if you're not there and I lose control and hurt Amy or Rory or an innocent person…or you."
"You know that'll never happen."
"How can you be sure?"
"Nova…" he placed his hands on he shoulders, but she looked away, "You are stronger than that. Nova, look at me," she looked at him, "You are not a monster."
She pulled away from his grip and headed to the stairs, "I didn't say I was a monster." And walked off.
The Doctor winced, rubbing his face. The way he said that…she now thought that he thought she was a monster, but she wasn't. She really wasn't…she'd never be a monster.
