I watched the Doctor stroll out of the Tardis with a soft sigh. I felt bad for how I'd shouted at the man and lost my temper earlier, but with everything that had happened, I was more than frustrated. Now though, I was exhausted. It'd been a couple of days since I'd gotten a good night's rest—not counting the moments I'd passed out—and bouncing from adventure to adventure like this was beginning to take its toll. I was waiting for Amy to return from the wardrobe and the Doctor leaned back into the Tardis to call out to us both; loud enough that I could hear without my hearing aid, which was wrecked thanks to the Star whale vomit.

"Leon, Amy."

I headed over cautiously with Amy poking her head out first, as the Doctor introduced us to the large man smoking a cigar.

"Winston Churchill."

The man removed his cigar and said something, too low for me to hear, but the Doctor looked pleased and reached a hand out in excitement as I closed the Tardis doors.

"Winston my old friend." He smiled, but Churchill held out his hand for something and the Doctor chuckled. "Ah, every time."

"What's he want?" I asked and the Doctor turned to me as I walked up beside him with a small frown.

"Tardis key, of course."

I glanced at Churchill who spoke up a bit.

"Think of what I could achieve with your remarkable machine, Doctor. The lives that could be saved."

Figures. I silently mused. A time machine is worth a lot, no matter the time period. People have been dreaming about what they could do with them for centuries. It's no wonder he wants it.

"Doesn't work like that." The Doctor mused as I looked around and finally noticed the guns aimed our way, making me stiff.

"Must I take it by force?" Churchill lightly threatened, though I got the feeling he wasn't entirely serious.

Thing is, he sort of slurs his words together. It's hard making out what he's saying, much less, whether he's being sarcastic or not. The Doctor responded too low for me to hear, but Churchill made the men lower their weapons as the Doctor addressed the phone call we'd gotten earlier. The man led us through a corridor, making me glance up at the ceiling as dust flecked down from it and there was a deep rumble that I barely heard over the chime of a phone.

"So you've changed your face again." Churchill commented over the noise and I turned to the Doctor in confusion.

He never did explain that back at Leadworth. Changed his face how?

"Yeah, well, had a bit of work done." The Doctor answered and I grew more confused.

But I could have sworn…

"Got it, got it, got it!" Amy chimed in, looking excited. "Cabinet War Rooms, right?"

"Yep. Top secret heart of the War Office, right under London."

"You're late, by the way!" Churchill called back to us as a woman headed over with a clipboard.

I glanced at her briefly, getting the feeling that she wasn't too pleased about something. With little to no hearing, reading facial expressions was a must.

"Late?" The Doctor questioned, looking at his watch.

"I rang you a month ago." Churchill replied, making me raise a brow at the Doctor.

"You got the date wrong?"

The Doctor turned to me affronted. "I did not! It's a Type Forty Tardis. It's… I'm just running her in."

We stopped as the woman went to take the clipboard and Churchill must have noticed what I had a moment ago.

"Something the matter, Breen? You look a little down in the dumps."

She smiled and replied, but I didn't catch it over the chiming of yet another phone, making me turn to the room it was coming from. If my stupid hearing aid wasn't covered in Star whale vomit or messed up by the Doctor's little sonic, then I might actually be able to hear what's going on.

"We'll give them what for!" Churchill exclaimed then, making me turn back with a bit of a start as the man addressed the Doctor. "Coming, Doctor?"

"Why?"

Churchill took back his cane that the Doctor had been holding. "I have something to show you."

The Doctor turned to us, looking smug and Amy chuckled as he turned to me, only for his smile to falter.

"Everything alright, Leon?"

I opened my mouth, prepared to tell him that I couldn't hear much of anything with all the background noise and a busted hearing aid, but changed my mind last minute, trailing after Churchill.

"No. I'm fine."

We ended up in a lift with Churchill facing the Doctor and I as he smoked his cigar. The Doctor waved at the smoke, but I ignored it, planning on taking a smoke myself once outside. Churchill was rambling on about something, but the noise of the lift blocked any sound I could hear and upon entering the roof area, things didn't improve like I'd expected. A loud siren was going off, blocking out even Amy's loud voice as I took out a cigarette. The Doctor waved up at some man in a white coat and binoculars, but without hearing, I couldn't tell what was going on and I tapped Amy.

"What's happening?" I asked her, but she didn't respond before flinching at the flash of a bomb going off nearby.

The Doctor strolled over to us then, taking the fag out of my mouth before I had a chance to light it. He shouted something at me—myself catching the word "bad" via lip reading—and I begrudgingly abandoned my quest for a smoke while he was around and crossed my arms as the three of us looked out over the city. It was weird, seeing the barrage balloons flying over London and all the black smoke coming from the chimneys and smoking bomb sites. I became more solemn at the sight and Amy leaned into me for comfort as I draped an arm around her shoulders. There was a sound then, that cut through everything and I turned to see beams shooting out from behind a barricade and destroying German planes flying overhead like flies. The sound though, sent chills through me.

"Doctor, what was that?" I asked, though I don't think he heard me as he rattled on something to himself, too quick and quiet for me to follow. "Doctor—"

I cut myself off as he hurried up the ladder to see what had caused the destruction, but I knew something was wrong when a robot of some kind rolled out from behind the barricades of sandbags. The Doctor faced it head on, but I could see from where I was, the stiffness in his body and when the robot spoke, even I could hear it clearly over the noise.

"I am your soldier." It said in a monotone, metallic voice. "I am your soldier." It repeated as the Doctor spoke with it. "Your identity is unknown."

I was confused again. Identity? Does the Doctor know it? Or… is it supposed to know him? Better yet, how the hell did that end up here? Future or alien or whatever it is, it doesn't belong here. Anyone can see that.

"To win the war!" The creature screeched then, pulling me from my thoughts as the Doctor watched it for a moment longer before hurrying down and getting in Churchill's face about something.

Amy and I exchanged glances before hurrying after him as we returned back downstairs; myself attempting to get some answers once we were in Churchill's office, which was much quieter than the rest of the base.

"Doctor? Doctor, what's going on? What is that thing and why's it here?"

"Not now, Leon. I don't have time for you right this moment." He dismissed me and I winced.

"What? It's nothing. It's not important."

"It'll take too long to explain. I don't want to repeat myself."

"Couldn't you just pay attention the first time I say it?"

"What a pain."

I grit my teeth and moved away from the Doctor to go stand off in a corner out of the way; ignoring Amy's concerned look as I took a seat. I simply watched Churchill's mouth to read what he was telling the Doctor as they apparently argued, since it was too hard for them to tell me what was going on in the first place. The Doctor obviously recognized that… thing and knows it's bad news. Just wish I knew how bad the news was or at least a name to call the stupid things. I'm beginning to regret agreeing to come with them. My partial deafness is only proving to be a hindrance… as usual.

"They are Bracewell's Ironsides, Doctor." Churchill attempted to explain to the man, giving me something to call the rolling creatures. "Look. Blueprints, statistics, field tests, photographs. He invented them."

"Papers can easily be faked." I replied, gaining a brief glance from Amy and Churchill, but nothing more.

"Yes." Churchill pressed to the Doctor, who must have argued the point as well. "He approached one of our brass hats a few months ago. Fellow's a genius."

"A Scottish genius too." Amy piped in, attempting to ease some of the tension in the room. "Maybe you should listen to—" She was cut off as the Doctor lifted a finger at her; shushing her was my guess.

The move didn't please me. The Doctor wasn't the only one losing his temper.

"Alien?" Churchill said then, making me straighten as I was finally getting information.

Unfortunately, that's where my information gathering ended, because off we were, back down the noisy halls towards the map room. The whole way there, the Doctor and Churchill were arguing. I had no way of reading their lips in their heated discussions and the background noise was too loud. One of the Ironsides rolled past us and the Doctor gave it a look before glancing at me, but I turned away from him. If he wants to brush me off like that, then why the hell should I pay him any attention? The Doctor stopped us as Churchill entered the map room though, asking something, but giving Amy a strange look for some reason. He then turned to me and said something, but was speaking too fast for me to lip read and I frowned minutely.

"Look, I don't know what the hell you're saying."

He said something more, grabbing my upper arms to emphasize whatever it was, but I pulled him off me.

"I can't hear you!" I snapped, making his eyes widen as I pulled a hand through my hair in frustration. "I can't hear much of anything in this building with the phones going off and the rumbling and sirens and background noise. Then you're mumbling and Churchill's slurring and my hearing aid is useless thanks to your trick earlier and the Star whale vomit. You can't expect me to just keep up. I'm not like you."

Those words hurt more than I wanted them to and I brushed off the apology I saw forming on his lips.

"Don't…" I let out a long breath. "Don't apologize. I don't know why I expected something different from you." I grimaced at the harshness of those words. "Sorry. I... I think I'll just wait in Churchill's office. Least it's a little quieter there." I muttered, turning and walking off; unable to hear him calling after me.


"Leon! Leon, wait!" The Doctor called after the man, but he couldn't hear and the Doctor let out a long frustrated groan. "Agh! I really need to make a water-proof hearing aid or something for him. Things are never going to go well if I can't communicate with him."

"Yeah, well, you're not exactly communicating." Amy complained and the Doctor raised a finger at her, before grumbling and dropping it.

"Come on."

They entered the map room and the Doctor waited with Amy off to the side, bouncing ideas off her in the hopes of some inspiration; though he wished he'd paid more attention in order for Leon to be around to help as well.

"So, they're up to something, but what is it? What are they after?"

"Well, let's just ask, shall we?" Amy said, bounding towards a Dalek before the Doctor could stop her.

"Amy. Amelia!"

She ignored him and tapped on the Dalek, making it turn as she stepped back to prevent getting hit by its eyestalk.

"Can I be of assistance?" It said.

"Oh. Yes, yes! See, my friend reckons you're dangerous." Amy said, sort of mocking the Doctor. "That you're an alien. Is it true?"

"I am your soldier." It responded.

"Yeah. Got that bit. Love a squaddie. What else though?"

"Please excuse me. I have duties to perform." It said, rolling off and the Doctor went over to Churchill, pulling away his cigar.

"Winston. Winston, please." He begged.

"We are waging total war, Doctor. Day after day the Luftwaffe pound this great city like an iron fist."

"Wait till the Daleks get started." The Doctor grumbled as he continued.

"Men, women and children, slaughtered. Families torn apart. Wren's churches in flame."

"Yeah. Try the Earth in flames."

"I weep for my country. I weep for my empire. It is breaking my heart."

"You're resisting, Winston." The Doctor pressed. "The whole world knows you're resisting. You're a beacon of hope."

"But for how long?" The man challenged as they walked around the map table. "Millions of innocent lives will be saved if I use these Ironsides now."

A Dalek rolled up then. "Can I be of assistance?"

"Shut it." The Doctor snapped at it before turning back to Churchill. "Listen to me. Just listen. The Daleks have no conscious. No mercy. No pity. They are my oldest and deadliest enemy. You cannot trust them."

"If Hitler invaded hell, I would give him a favorable reference to the Devil." Churchill replied. "These machines are our salvation." He let out a sigh of relief as a siren sounded. "Oh, the All Clear. We are safe, for now."

He left and the Doctor glared at the Dalek rolling after him as Amy headed over, watching him uncertainly.

"Doctor, it's the All Clear. You okay?"

"What does hate look like, Amy?" The Doctor asked her and she furrowed her brows.

"Hate?"

"It looks like a Dalek." He said with a frown. "And I'm going to prove it. Grab Leon. We're going to the laboratory."

The trio entered—Leon not looking pleased, but relaxing a bit upon how little interference noise there was in the lab—and the Doctor went right over to the professor in charge; Bracewell.

"Alright, Prof. Now, the PM's been filling me in. Amazing things, these Ironsides of yours. Amazing. You must be very proud of them."

"Just doing my bit." Bracewell said with a smile as the Doctor sat down with a folder and Leon idly looked through the papers beside him.

"Not bad for a Paisley boy." Amy hummed, making the man look up and smile with a chuckle at her.

"Yes, I thought I detected a familiar cadence, my dear."

"How did you do it?" The Doctor cut in. "Come up with the idea?"

"Well, how does the muse of invention come to anyone?" Bracewell mused.

"But you get a lot of these clever notions, do you?" The Doctor asked, tossing the folder back

"Well, ideas just seem to teem from my head. Wonderful things, like. Let me show you. Some musings on the potential of hypersonic flight. Gravity bubbles that can sustain life outside of the terrestrial atmosphere, came to me in the bath." Bracewell informed him, smiling as the Doctor lifted the blueprints and tossed them back down.

"And are these your ideas or theirs?"

"Oh no, no, no. These robots are entirely under my control, Doctor. They are…" Bracewell took his tea from the tray a Dalek brought him, thanking it. "…the perfect servant, and the perfect warrior."

"I don't know what you're up to, Professor, but whatever they've promised, you cannot trust them. Call them what you like, the Daleks are death." The Doctor said sternly, poking the man in the chest as Leon looked at him with a frown.

"Yes, Doctor! Death to our enemies!" Churchill chimed from the doorway loud enough for Leon to pick up in the quiet lab. "Death to the forces of darkness, and death to the Third Reich!"

"Yes, Winston, and death to everyone else too."

"Would you like some tea?" A Dalek offered, but the Doctor suddenly turned around and slapped the tray from its appendage angrily.

"Doctor!" Leon scolded, but was ignored as the man faced down the Dalek.

"Stop this! What are you doing here?! What do you want?!" He shouted angrily as the Dalek shuffled back.

"We seek only to help you."

"To do what?"

"To win the war."

"Really?" The Doctor chuckled darkly and everyone's gaze shifted back and forth between the two. "Which war?"

"I do not understand." The Dalek replied.

"This war, against the Nazis? Or your war? The war against the rest of the universe? The war against all life forms that are not Dalek?"

"I do not understand. I am your soldier."

The Doctor pointed a finger at the Dalek. "Oh, yeah? Okay." The Doctor picked up a large wrench. "Okay, soldier. Defend yourself."

"W-What the devil—?!" Bracewell shouted as Amy winced and the Doctor slammed the wrench repeatedly against the Dalek as it shuffled; unsure of what to do.

"You do not require tea?" It questioned as Bracewell shouted.

"Stop him! Prime Minister, please!"

"Doctor, what the devil—These machines are precious!" Churchill tried, but was ignored.

"Come on! Fight back! You want to, don't you? You know you do!" The Doctor shouted.

"I must protest!" Bracewell tried again.

"What are you waiting for?"

"Doctor!" Leon called out, stepping closer.

"Look, you hate me. You want to kill me." The Doctor continued.

"Doctor, stop this!" Leon tried again, moving closer still.

"Well, go on. Kill me."

"Doctor, just think about this!"

"Kill me!"

Leon grabbed him and pulled him back, but the Doctor shoved him off as the Dalek scooted half an inch forward.

"Please desist from striking me. I am your soldier."

The Doctor lifted the wrench again. "You!" He hit it. "Are!" And again. "My enemy!"

The third time though, someone got in the way. Leon grabbed the wrench with a grunt and stopped the Doctor.

"Move!" The Doctor shouted at him, but Leon glared at him.

"Shut up and look at yourself! Who the hell are you, because you sure aren't the Doctor! The Doctor I know wouldn't be doing this! He'd be figuring out a way to fix things! Not letting his temper get away from him!"

The Doctor turned to Leon furiously. "You know nothing about me! Now get out of my way!"

The Doctor shoved him harshly before beating on the Dalek some more; missing how his powerful shove knocked Leon off balance and into a table full of parts.

"Leon!" Amy cried out, hurrying to him as the Doctor raged at the Dalek.

"You are my enemy and I am yours! You are everything I despise. The worst thing in all creation. I've defeated you time and time again. I've defeated you. I sent you back into the Void. I saved the whole of reality from you. I am the Doctor. And you are the Daleks."

The Doctor shoved the Dalek back and it rolled to a stop before turning to the second Dalek in the room.

"Correct. Review testimony." It said as the other Dalek played a repeat of what the Doctor had told it.

"I am the Doctor. And you are the Daleks."

"Testimony? What are you talking about, testimony?" The Doctor questioned, worry beginning to outdo the anger from a few seconds ago.

"Transmitting testimony now." The second Dalek replied.

"Transmit what, where?"

"Testimony accepted."

The Doctor's eyes widened and he held out his arms to those behind him. "Get back, all of you."

"Marines! Marines, get in here!" Churchill called out and two men hurried in, only to be easily shot down.

"Stop it. Stop it, please. What are you doing? You are my Ironsides." Bracewell nearly sobbed as a Dalek corrected him.

"We are the Daleks."

"But I created you."

"No." The Dalek shot off his arm to reveal sparking wiring. "We created you. Victory! Victory!"

The Daleks teleported away as Amy spoke up from the ground next to Leon.

"What just happened, Doctor?"

"I wanted to know what they wanted." He breathed out. "What their plan was. I was their plan."

"You idiot." Leon snapped and Amy turned to him in concern.

"Leon…"

He glared heatedly at the Doctor, a cut above his right eyebrow and his teeth grit in anger. "You just couldn't shut up, could you. Couldn't keep your temper long enough to think that getting you angry was exactly what they wanted. You're a moron. A big, stupid, idiotic moron!"

He grimaced when he tried to get up and the Doctor went over to help, but he smacked his hand away.

"Don't touch me. Just finish fixing this mess and take me home."

The Doctor looked hurt, but Leon forced himself up on his own and even brushed Amy off as he left the room. And the only thing the Doctor could think of, was what had he done…


I cursed as I dabbed at my forehead with a handkerchief, sitting on Churchill's desk with a fag hanging out my mouth as Amy entered the room.

"You shouldn't be smoking, you know. The Doctor wouldn't be happy." Amy commented, trying to lighten me up, but I frowned at her as she took the cloth and got a look at my injury. "Nasty cut, that."

"And a headache to go with it." I complained, letting smoke out of my mouth and snuffing out the cigarette; knowing Amy doesn't like me smoking while she was around either.

"I saw a first aid kit around here. Hold on a sec."

She went around searching and I could feel my anger from before slowly fading, making me feel like a hypocrite after telling the Doctor to cool his head.

"Ah-ha! Found it." Amy chimed, heading over and pulling out some alcohol swabs to clean my wound with, though her eyes softened as I winced. "Are you alright, Leon?"

I knew she didn't mean the injury.

"Why am I here, Amy?" I asked her. "You, I understand. You had the crack in your wall when you were a girl and he showed up, but I was just a friend who he decided to take along too."

"He thought you were clever." Amy informed me, but I scoffed as she placed a bandage on my forehead.

"I can be as clever as I want, Amy, but because of my stupid hearing problem, I'm hardly worth anything."

"Leon, that's not true. You've helped us loads!"

"By sheer luck." I argued. "My hearing aid has been busted every adventure with him and he's constantly taking us places where I'm useless. This is like law school all over again."

"That's not true, Leon."

"Amy, I haven't had any idea what's been going on since the beginning because I can't hear anything and no one will explain to me what's been said. You saw me ask the Doctor and his response was like everyone in school. 'Not now,' 'I'm busy,' 'I don't want to repeat myself,' 'It's nothing.' My hearing's not getting any better, Amy. It's getting worse. And if no one's going to bother explaining things to me, then what's the point in even coming along? One day something's going to happen and I'm not going to hear, and someone's going to get killed. I'm not stupid. Travelling with the Doctor's not just a game or a holiday. People die, people get hurt, lives are at stake. And I don't want to be the one responsible for that because of my disability."

"Have you told the Doctor this?" She inquired and I turned away.

"He can't even tell me what's going on. Why the hell would he care about my hearing insecurities?"

Amy draped an arm across my shoulders. "Because he likes you, Leon. He went to your workplace to pick you up and he didn't have to. Like you said, this was him losing his temper over those Dalek things."

"Dalek?" I questioned and she nodded.

"That's what he's been calling them. Bracewell's Ironsides."

"Just making sure I didn't misread that earlier."

"Look, all I'm saying is that maybe he can help you somehow. Travel to the future and get a better hearing aid, maybe even see if someone can fix it, but if you don't let him know what's going on with you, then he doesn't know what to do. I mean, look at him. The man's an idiot. Who wears a bowtie?"

I quirked a small smile at that and Amy nudged my shoulders.

"There, see? Now come on. We could use your smarts."

"Yeah, fine. Let's go."

We got up and headed for the map room where Churchill was, myself grimacing at the background noise covering up the voices I could hear, before all the lights suddenly went on. That's not good. It's night outside. Having lights on is like painting a target on us. I looked over to see a man attempting to use the switches, but the lights remained on.

"It's the Daleks." I said out loud, turning to Amy who nodded and used sign language to speak with me.

"Has to be."

Churchill was talking then, but I couldn't read his slurring rapid speech and settled for thinking about what we could do as I signed back to Amy.

"What do we know?"

"Just where the Doctor is."

"How much time before the Germans get here?"

"Ten minutes max."

I winced, looking around. "Weapons?"

"Nothing that can work on them."

"No, of course not." I said out-loud this time. "They're aliens out of this time period. We wouldn't have anything that would work. They're probably armored with shielding of some kind, so we have to come up with a distraction. But they're up high in our orbit. Too high for planes to reach. They have to be using a signal of some kind to keep the lights on. Do we know if it's a radio signal or not?"

Amy shook her head and I clicked my tongue, starting to pace as the others in the room grew quiet to hear what I was saying.

"Right, no way to block the signal. But how do we fight aliens? We're only human. The Doctor can fight them because he's alien, but we—" I stopped, eyes widening. "Wait. Wait, wait, wait, wait. Amy. Amy, what did I just say?"

"The Doctor can fight them because he's alien?" She repeated and I snapped my fingers, pointing at her with a grin.

"Alien to fight alien. And what do we have?"

Amy started to realize it. "A gift from the Daleks."

"Yup."

Churchill though, was still lost. "What the devil are you talking about?"

I actually heard him too, thanks to the silence that had come over the room as I was ranting.

"The Daleks that were here were alien, but made by Bracewell. Bracewell has knowledge of alien technology. Shouldn't be hard to whip up one of his inventions and use that to get a distraction up to the Daleks. The only way to fight aliens is with aliens. And we've got the robot of an alien down in the lab."

"Leon, you're brilliant!" Amy shouted, rushing over and attacking me in a hug.

"Someone has to be with the Doctor being an idiot." I replied easily. "No time to waste though. We've got a moron to save."

We hurried down to the lab, only to find Bracewell holding a pistol towards his head.

"Bracewell, put the gun down."

"My life is a lie, and I choose to end it." Bracewell said, but Amy hurried over.

"In your own time, Paisley boy, because right now we need your help."

"But those creatures, my Ironsides, they made me? I can remember things. So many things. The last war. The squalor and the mud and the awful, awful misery of it all. What am I? What am I?" He cried and I frowned, watching him and remembering something from so long ago.

"What am I? I can't hear anything anymore. I can't go to school, I can't work I can't do anything with my life because of this damn disability! Why do I bother at all?"

"What you are, sir, is either on our side or theirs. Now, I don't give a damn if you're a machine, Bracewell. Are you a man?" Churchill exclaimed, drawing me from the depressing thoughts of my past at home.

"I get it." I said, drawing Bracewell's attention to me as I looked down at him slumped over in his chair, defeated. "Anyone can say they understand, but I really do. I've been where you are right now, Bracewell. Not for the same reasons, obviously, but…" I stopped, looking at Amy who glanced down sadly. "I've considered it, more than once."

"But why?"

"I'm mostly deaf, Bracewell. The only reason I can even understand you right now is because I'm reading your lips. Can't hear a bloody thing upstairs with all the noise and my hearing aid busted, but I didn't stop living. You know why? Because I meet people who said they needed me. And right now, we need you."

"Y-You do?"

I nodded. "Those Daleks are aliens from another planet and the only thing that can stop them or at least distract them, is alien technology. Your alien technology. And I've only started thinking because Amy has pushed me to do so despite my anger towards the Doctor, because there are thousands of millions of people that could die if we don't do something. So stop looking at me like I'm the cleverest person in the room and think."

"What about rockets?" Amy piped in. "You got rockets? Because you said gravity whatsits, hypersonic flight, some kind of missile."

"It isn't a fireworks party, Miss Pond. We need proper tactical…" Churchill gasped. "Oh. A missile. Or."

"Oh." I hummed to and Amy looked between us both.

"Or what?"

"You can send something up there, you say?" Churchill asked Bracewell.

"Yes, well, with a gravity bubble, yes, but…" Bracewell handed over his blueprints. "Theoretically it's possible that we could actually send something into space."

"So how about some pesky planes?" I offered.

"What?" Amy questioned.

"Well, the weapons on the planes might not actually do much to the ship, especially if it has shielding, but just sending them up there and shooting at it could at least buy the Doctor some time. It's like a fly constantly buzzing around your head. Hard to ignore."

"Excellent idea! Leon, was it?"

I nodded. "Leon Travinsky."

"T-That is an excellent idea, but fitting the devices to the planes will take time."

"I can help." I offered. "Great at fixing things. Quick learner. Show me how to do it, and I can help you out right quick."

Churchill nodded as Amy grinned. "Right then. You lot work on those while I'll keep an eye on things up above."

"And I'll see about finding a way to pick up their commands as well." Bracewell nodded.

"Let's get a move on then."


"Scan reveals nothing. Tardis self-destruct device non-existent." A blue Dalek screeched, having scanned the Doctor's Jammy Dodger while he'd been arguing with the white Supreme Dalek.

Nice try though. The Doctor winced, taking a bite out of the cookie.

"Alright. It's a Jammy Dodger, but I was promised tea."

Just then, an alarm went off and the Doctor hurried to a panel nearby as the Daleks scrambled.

"Alert. Unidentified projectile approaching. Correction. Multiple projectiles."

"What have the humans done?" The Supreme Dalek demanded to know and the Doctor wasn't even sure.

"I don't know."

"Explain. Explain. Explain."

Then, a voice came over the Dalek intercoms.

"Danny Boy to the Doctor. Danny Boy to the Doctor. Are you receiving me? Over."

The Doctor grinned. "Oh, ho! Winston, you beauty!"

"Danny Boy to the Doctor. Come in. Over."

"Loud and clear, Danny Boy! Big dish, side of the ship, blow it up. Over." The Doctor chimed happily, bounding towards the Tardis as the Daleks shot at him.

"Receiving orders to stay back, Doctor. Something about shielding. Anything you can do? Over."

The Doctor looked at his Tardis console with a grimace. "Ooh, must have been Leon thinking that quickly." He muttered, picking up the radio in the Tardis. "The Doctor to Danny Boy. The Doctor to Danny Boy. I can disrupt the Dalek shields, but not for long. Over."

"Good show, Doctor. Go to it. Over. I'm going in. Wish me luck. Over."

The Doctor made quick work of disrupting the shields and the planes managed to destroy the dish with a cheer.

"Danny Boy to the Doctor. Going in for another attack."

The Doctor grinned. "The Doctor to Danny Boy. The Doctor to Danny Boy. Destroy this ship! Over."

"What about you, Doctor?"

The man couldn't help but smile at the action. Such a human action… "I'll be okay."

Just then though, the Supreme Dalek came over the intercom.

"Doctor, call off your attack."

"Ah, ha. What? And let you scuttle off back to the future? Now fear. This is the end for you. The final end."

"Call off the attack, or we will destroy the Earth."

"I'm not stupid, mate. You've just played your last card."

But the Daleks had one more trick up their sleeves.

"Bracewell is a bomb."

The Doctor's grin faltered. "You're bluffing. Deception's second nature to you. There isn't a sincere bone in your body. There isn't a bone in your body."

"His power is derived from an Oblivion Continuum. Call off your attack, or we will detonate the android."

"No. This is my best chance ever. The last of the Daleks. I can rid the universe of you, once and for all."

"Then do it, but we will shatter the planet below. The Earth will die screaming."

"Yeah, and if I let you go, you'll be stronger than ever. A new race of Daleks." The Doctor breathed out.

"Then choose, Doctor. Destroy the Daleks, or save the Earth." The Supreme Dalek announced. "Begin countdown of Oblivion Continuum. Choose, Doctor. Choose. Choose."

The Doctor hated this. The big decision. A planet or ridding the world of Daleks. He hated what he was about to do. Hoping against all hope that he would have time enough to stop them.

"The Doctor to Danny Boy. The Doctor to Danny Boy. Withdraw."

"Say again, sir. Over."

"Withdraw." The Doctor repeated begrudgingly. "Return to Earth. Over and out."

"But sir—"

"There's no time. You have to return to Earth now. Over."

The Doctor quickly rematerialized back in London and hurried into the map room where the others were watching the radio in concern, punching Bracewell in the face.

"Doctor!" Amy exclaimed as the Doctor waved his hand about.

"Sorry, professor." The Doctor apologized to the man gasping on the floor. "You're a bomb. An inconceivably massive Dalek bomb."

"What?"

"There's an Oblivion Continuum inside you. A captured wormhole that provides perpetual power. Detonate that, and the Earth will bleed through into another dimension. Now keep down." The Doctor ordered, using his sonic to open up Bracewell's chest to reveal a segment of circles in blue.

"Hold on. I'm missing bits again. Amy?" Leon asked, who quickly turned to explain.

"Bracewell's a bomb."

Leon frowned, looking between the man and Amy. "Can we stop it?"

"I don't know, I don't know, I don't know. Never seen one up close before." The Doctor rattled on quickly, making Leon frown at him, but Amy repeated in sign to Leon.

The blue segments though, were starting to turn yellow, then red; working around clockwise.

"I take it when the thing turns rad, he goes off." Leon said simply. "And I don't see wires or anything, but if he's a bomb, why does he have memories and a personality and everything?"

The Doctor turned to Leon, mouth gaping, before standing up and grabbing him by the shoulders.

"You are brilliant."

Leon blinked, before the Doctor's lips suddenly pressed themselves to his. It was quick, but Leon was in a sort of daze as the Doctor quickly knelt by Bracewell once more.

"Tell me about it, Bracewell. Tell me about your life."

"Doctor, I really don't think this is the time."

"Tell me, and prove you're human. Tell me everything."

Seeing no other choice, Bracewell did. He told them about his home, his parents and where they worked. The Doctor, seeing the emotions running through Bracewell over his parents' death, pressed harder, but Leon finally caught hold of himself and smacked the Doctor upside the head.

"You moron. Pain and hatred doesn't make something human."

Amy understood that and knelt down to Bracewell as well. "Hey, Paisley. Ever fancied someone you know you shouldn't?"

"What?" He questioned, four of the five segments on his chest red and the final one slowly going yellow.

"It hurts, doesn't it?" Amy said quietly, glancing at the Doctor. "But kind of a good hurt."

"I really shouldn't talk about her."

"Ooh, there's a her." Amy smirked, getting somewhere as the fifth segment began to reverse back to blue; something the Doctor noticed and joined in as well.

"What was her name?"

"Dorabella."

"Dorabella?" The Doctor nearly scoffed, but a dark look from Leon had him clearing his throat. "It's a lovely name. It's a beautiful name."

"What was she like, Edwin?" Amy pressed.

"Oh, such a smile. And her eyes. Her eyes were so blue. Almost violet, like the last touch of sunset on the edge of the world. Dorabella." He breathed out and the final segment turned back to blue; almost going white as the Doctor grinned.

"Welcome to the human race." The Doctor then snapped his fingers back at Churchill. "You're brilliant." Then to Bracewell. "You're brilliant." Then to Amy. "And you are brilliant!"

He grabbed her and kissed her forehead, before standing up and grinning away at Leon.

"And you're the most brilliant of them all. Excellent job with the planes. Don't know how I forgot about the shielding." The Doctor chuckled and Leon raised a brow, arms folded across his chest as though waiting for something.

The Doctor's smile faltered as he realized this and his smile fell.

"Ah, right." He muttered, spotting the bandage on Leon's forehead from when he pushed him. "I am… I am terribly sorry."

"We'll talk later." Leon replied, seeing that the Doctor was antsy to get somewhere. "Go on, you moron."

The Doctor grinned, patting his shoulders before bolting for the door. "Now. Got to stop them. Stop the Daleks."

"Wait, Doctor. Wait, wait." Bracewell said, stopping him. "It's too late. Gone… They've gone."

"No. No! They can't. They can't have got away from me again." The Doctor argued, but Bracewell shook his head.

"No. I can feel it. My mind is clear. The Daleks have gone."

The Doctor was devastated, leaning against a post as Amy stepped forward to try and cheer him up.

"Doctor, it's okay! You did it. You stopped the bomb." She smiled, but saw that it wasn't working. "Doctor?"

"I had a choice. And they knew I'd choose the Earth. The Daleks have won. They beat me. They've won."

Leon stepped forward now, looking annoyed. "Doctor, don't be stupid."

The Doctor frowned, but Leon wasn't finished.

"You can fight the Daleks again. You know you will, so you can be prepared for it when it comes, but there will never be another Earth."

The Doctor lightened up at that and Amy came up next to Leon with a small smile.

"You saved the Earth. Not too shabby, is it?"

The Doctor hesitated, but soon nodded, standing tall once more. "No. It's not too shabby."

"It's a brilliant achievement, my dear friend." Churchill smiled, holding out one of his smokes. "Here. Have a cigar."

"No." The Doctor grumbled with a wrinkle of his nose before turning to Leon. "You smell like smoke too. Have you been smoking?"

Leon turned away, waving over his shoulder. "I'll be in the lab taking alien parts off planes!"

"Leon! Leon!"


"Where's the Doctor?" Amy asked, looking around now that day had broken. "And Leon?"

"Tying up loose ends!" The Doctor chimed, pulling a reluctant and grease covered Leon along behind him. "We've taken out all the alien tech Bracewell put in."

"Won't you reconsider, Doctor?" Churchill asked as the Doctor pointed to a spot on his face while looking at Leon; trying to point out a smudge of oil on his cheek. "Those Spitfires would win me the war in twenty hours."

"Exactly." The Doctor hummed, pulling out a handkerchief and attempting to wipe Leon's cheek with it.

"But why not? Why can't we put an end to all this misery?" Churchill pressed and Leon took the handkerchief from the Doctor with a grumbled complaint; wiping his own face.

Neither of them seeing Amy's furrowed brows at the sight of their antics.

"Oh, it doesn't work like that, Winston, and it's going to be tough. There are terrible days to come. The darkest days. But you can do it. You know you can." The Doctor told Winston seriously.

"Stay with us and help us win through." Winston pushed. "The world needs you."

"The world doesn't need me."

"No?"

"The world's got Winston Spencer Churchill." He grinned and Churchill couldn't help but smile in return.

"It's been a pleasure Doctor, as always."

"Too right."

"Goodbye, Doctor."

"Oh, shall we say adieu?"

The two hugged, though Leon spotted Churchill reaching into the Doctor's pocket briefly.

"Indeed." Churchill smiled, turning to Amy. "Goodbye, Miss Pond."

"It's… It's been amazing, meeting you." Amy gushed.

"I'm sure it has."

She kissed his cheek and Leon held out his hand.

"Couldn't forget you, Leon. Excellent work." Churchill mused, shaking his hand and turning to go, but Leon stopped him.

"Churchill? I was actually asking for the Tardis key back. The one you snuck out of the Doctor's pocket while hugging him."

The Doctor frantically checked his pockets after sipping some tea, realizing Leon was right and Churchill turned back, handing it over.

"Oh, he's good Doctor. As sharp as a pin." He turned to them all then, smiling away after lighting a cigar. "K.B.O."

The Doctor held out his hand and Leon rolled his eyes and handed the key over. After freeing Bracewell to do what he wished, the trio headed back to the Tardis, where Amy spoke up.

"So, you have enemies then?"

"Everyone's got enemies."

"Yeah, but mine's the woman outside Budgens with the mental Jack Russell. You've got, like, you know, arch-enemies." Amy said, leaning up against the Tardis alongside the Doctor, while Leon leaned on some filing cabinets.

"I suppose so."

"And here's me thinking we'd just be running through time, being daft and fixing stuff. But no, it's dangerous."

"Yep. Very. Is that a problem?"

"I'm still here, aren't I? Leon too, if you haven't noticed." Amy piped in, though the Doctor and Leon glanced at one another seriously. "You're worried about the Daleks." She concluded.

"I'm always worried about the Daleks."

"It'll take time though, won't it? I mean, there's still not many of them. They'll need a while to build themselves up."

"It's not that. There's something else. Something we've forgotten. Or rather you have." The Doctor said, before glancing over at Leon. "And possibly you as well."

"Us?" Amy questioned, confused.

"You didn't know them, Amy. You'd never seen them before. And you should have done. You should." He walked into the Tardis then, calling out behind him. "Leon! Our talk awaits!"


I sighed, climbing out of the shower that I insisted I take before the Doctor and I had our… talk. Already though, I felt like a childish idiot, remembering the kiss from earlier and telling myself that it meant nothing, seeing as he kissed Amy's forehead all the time. And he's an alien. Let's not forget that part. I don't even want to know how that would work. I towel dried my hair and walked out into the hall, only to nearly jump out of my skin to see the Doctor already there waiting for me with a smile; despite my upper half not being clothed.

"Perfect! You humans take forever to get clean. Amy's planning on heading to the console room, so let's drop by the kitchen and talk there. That way we won't be interrupted and you can get some food. You're too thin."

I looked down at myself before back up. Yes, I was a bit on the thin side, but not as bad as it could be. I still followed him though, begrudgingly dismissing the fact that a shirt was nowhere to be found and I was stuck wearing my trousers alone. The kitchen was a rather nice set up and the Doctor went about cooking something up as I sat down; pulling out my busted hearing aid from my pocket and placing it on the table.

"Can you fix this?"

He looked back, setting down his spatula and heading over to pick it up. He looked it over for a bit, squinting and twisting it around, before setting it back on the table.

"Nope. Sorry."

I sighed heavily and then a plate was slid across the table, holding an omelet.

"Do you still want to go home?" The Doctor asked, sitting down across from me and I turned my gaze to my plate.

"If my disability is going to become a problem—"

"No! No, of course not!" The Doctor argued, but I countered easily.

"Doctor, it already is. I had no idea what was going on today, because I couldn't hear or read lips or anything, and everyone was too busy to inform me about what was going on. And as you said, I know nothing about you. You're a stranger to me, just as much as I am to you. You don't have any idea what it's like for me, to be stuck in a panicked situation and not having the slightest idea what's going on. And with how dangerous things are around you, there's going to come a time where my disability will either kill me or get someone else killed. I can't be the one responsible for that and…" I paused briefly, looking at him. "And I'm not going to allow you to be either. So please, just take me home."

"…Do you enjoy doing this? Traveling with me?"

God, why does he have to make things so difficult. "Yes. Course I do."

"They why are you trying to leave?"

I frowned at him. "I just told you—"

"No, Leon." The Doctor said, grabbing my face in his hands. "Why are you doing this? You're smart and clever. You could have anything in the universe if you tried hard enough, but you're constantly giving up on yourself because of your disability. Dropping out of school, pushing away those who want to help, saying you're useless because of it, before you even try!"

"Because trying never did anything, okay?!" I shouted back, tears brimming in my eyes as I let out some of the frustration that had been piling up on me for years. "I tried to fight back in law school, but no one bothered to help! I tried to get a better job, but no one wants a mostly-deaf person working anywhere that pays well, much less one that was forced to drop out of the best law school around. People look at me like I'm fragile and will collapse any second! Like my hearing disability somehow makes me stupid! So how the hell do you expect me to go and fight aliens when I can't even hear when they're coming?! I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me, you big, stupid idiot!"

"Leon." The Doctor said quietly as I closed my eyes and let out a small choking sob. "Leon, look at me."

He tipped my face up and wiped at a stray tear with his thumb before pressing his forehead to mine.

"Leon, I think you're brilliant." He murmured softly. "You've been so strong, to fight this long against your disability, and I think it's amazing what you can do despite everything… But I'm not going to let you go. Do you hear me? I'm not going to let you go back to that, that boring flat and your tattoo job in a small town where people look at you strangely. I want you to be brilliant. I want you to push past that hearing problem and go out there and be amazing. But I need you to work with me to do that, do you understand? I need you to want to fight too."

I nodded, leaning into his hand as he kissed my forehead and let me go.

"Now, eat your breakfast and I'll see what I can do about this."

He tossed my hearing aid in the air and caught it, heading for the door as I spoke quietly behind him.

"Thank you."