"So, out of curiosity," the Doctor started, watching Rose carefully, "how did you know that you traveling with me was compliant with the timelines?" He had an idea; a terrible, wonderful, impossible idea that he didn't dare hope for, and yet…
Rose looked up from her place by the console, where she'd been running her hands across various buttons and levers, apparently taking inventory. She looked at him for a moment, and the Doctor got the impression that she was arguing with herself. "I have my sources," she said at last.
He frowned; of course. He really shouldn't have expected anything other than a cryptic answer. But still… "everything you never thought possible" and all that. He had to ask. "You're not, ah, a…a Time Lord, or Lady, rather, are you?" He asked, hoping she missed the slight note of hope in his voice. He tried to squash that hope, knowing it would most likely only hurt him in the end.
Her face fell, a look poorly concealed pity crossing it. "Never mind," he said quickly, turning away. He had his answer right there, and he certainly didn't want to be pitied; didn't deserve to be pitied.
"Right, so where to, then?" He asked, forcing a note of cheerfulness into his voice. He felt her—slightly hesitant—hand on his shoulder, and moved to the other side of the console before it could completely settle. "Past, future, another planet? How about Saturn, the rings are supposed to be lovely this time of year…" he trailed off, pausing in front of the screen and frowning.
"What is it?" Rose asked, moving to stand next to him again. He was grateful that she'd apparently given up trying to comfort him.
"Dunno. Looks like a distress signal, but it's in Utah, 2012. So far as I know, nothing of importance happens in Utah of 2012. Now, Ledworth, there's an exciting place in 2012. But Utah? Nothing." He turned to grin at Rose. "Let's check it out!" She smiled back at him.
They walked out a few minutes later into a place that looked like a concrete bunker. "This is kind of creepy…" Rose muttered, looking around in the little light. Her hand ghosted along a wall until she found a light switch. The lights lit up a section at a time, revealing row upon row and case upon case of alien artifacts and, in a few cases stuffed aliens. "Okay, this is really creepy," she muttered, looking at a stuffed Slitheen arm.
"Oh, look at you!" The Doctor murmured, making his way to a glass display case. The head of a Cyberman was inside, staring back at him with exactly as much emotion as it had managed while it was alive.
"Cyberman…" Rose murmured, almost making the Doctor jump; he hadn't realized she'd come to stand next to him.
He stared at the Cyberman for a moment longer. "I'm getting old," he muttered, and reached out to touch the case. Rose smacked his hand away.
"Someone went to a lot of trouble to gather all these, I'm willing to bet there's security," she said in response to his unanswered question (and his indignant glare. Honestly, He'd only really known her for a few days and this would be the third time she'd slapped him!).
"True, but springing security is the easiest way to figure out who owns the place!" He said with a grin, then tapped the glass. Immediately, alarms went off and soldiers with guns appeared, lining the Doctor and Rose up in the cross hairs.
"Great plan," Rose muttered to him sarcastically, lifting her hands over her head.
The Doctor just grinned at her, mirroring her position with his hands over his head. They were led down a hall and deeper into the bunker. Finally, they were led into a room where a younger man, who looked to be about Rose's age, was handing a small metal object to an older, pompous looking man.
"I think it may be to channel fuel," the younger man was saying, while the older one turned the object around in his hands.
"I wouldn't hold it like that, if I were you," Rose commented. The Doctor glanced at her for a moment, her knowledge of alien technology once again catching him by surprise; he kept forgetting she wasn't just another stupid ape.
"Shut it," one of the guards said.
"Really, though," the Doctor added, watching the older man, and ignoring the soldiers around them. "You're holding it wrong."
"Is it dangerous?" The younger man asked, a bit nervously.
"No, it just looks silly," the Doctor grinned, then reached for it. The soldiers around them all cocked their guns, aiming for the Doctor's head. Rose made a faint growling noise, clearly annoyed with the current situation. The older man, the boss apparently, handed the Doctor the small object. "Care to do the honors?" He asked Rose, moving to hand it to her.
She took it from him delicately, then softly started to stroke it. Faint music started to play; quiet, like wind chimes.
"It's a musical instrument!" The bossman said, a bit of awe in his voice.
"And it's a long way from home," Rose answered quietly, stopping the music.
"Here, let me," the man said greedily, reaching for it like a small child. Rose handed it over obediently, and the man promptly made the instrument screech.
"Delicately, Delicately," the Doctor said, wincing and covering his ears. The man managed to make the instrument play, though not quite as prettily as Rose had. "Very good," the Doctor said, removing his hands from his ears. "Quite the expert."
"As are you two," he replied, tossing the instrument into a corner and causing Rose to make a noise of protest, then turn a glare onto the man; he ignored it. "Who exactly are you?"
"I'm the Doctor, and this is Rose," the Doctor answered, and looked the man over curiously. "And who are you?"
"Like you don't know," the man scoffed. The Doctor was starting to like him less and less the more he opened his gob. "We're hidden away with the most valuable collection of extra-terrestrial artifacts in the world, and you just stumbled in by mistake."
"Pretty much!" The Doctor said cheerfully.
"The question is: how did you get in? Fifty three floors down, with your little cat burglar accomplice. You're quite a collector yourself, she's rather pretty," he added, turning to leer at Rose.
"She's going to smack you if you keep calling her she," Rose growled.
"I'd listen to her, if I were you," the Doctor added seriously. "Been on the receiving end of some of her smacks; not pleasant."
"He's Mr. Henry van Statten," the younger man said quickly, interrupting Mr. van Statten from saying something that most likely would have ended with him having Rose Tyler's hand print on his cheek.
"And who are you?" Rose asked, looking the boy up and down for a moment. The Doctor felt a slight flare of jealousy, which he quickly stamped down.
The boy swallowed. "Adam," he muttered. Rose nodded and looked away. The Doctor tried to stomp down the bit of victory he felt, too.
"So you're just about an expert in everything except the things in your museum. Anything you don't understand, you lock up," the Doctor said, turning back to van Statten.
"And you claim greater knowledge?" van Statten sneered.
"I don't need to make claims, I know how good I am," the Doctor answered simply; he could almost feel Rose rolling her eyes next to him. He frowned; when had he gotten to know her so well?
"And yet, I captured you," van Statten smirked, puffing up a little. "Right next to the cage. What were you doing down there?"
"You tell us," Rose responded, lifting one blonde eyebrow.
Van Statten spared Rose the most cursorary of glances, before turning back to the Doctor; Rose huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, the Doctor worked very hard to fight down a smile. "The Cage contains my one living specimen."
"And what's that?" The Doctor prompted.
"Like you don't know," van Statten scoffed, apparently enjoying himself.
"Show me," the Doctor all but ordered, growing tired of the game.
Van Statten stood up, and started gesturing to one of the soldiers. "Goddard, inform the Cage we're heading down." He turned to Adam next, snapping and pointing at Rose. "You, English. Look after the girl. Go and canoodle or spoon or whatever it is you British do." Rose growled again. "And you, Doctor with no name, come and see my pet," van Statten grinned, and began to lead the way out.
"Um," Adam said shyly, coming up to Rose.
"Nope," she said simply, and followed the Doctor (who was working very hard not to laugh right now.)
Van Statten turned to glare at Rose, who glared right back. "I know just as much, if not more than, him, so don't even think about it, mate," she snapped.
"Whatever," van Statten muttered, turning back around to lead the way.
The Doctor moved to walk next to Rose. "You know more than me, huh?" He whispered, leaning down a bit to reach her shorter frame.
"Don't you start with me," she muttered back, apparently still annoyed with her treatment. The Doctor chuckled, and stood up straight again; quite the wolf, his companion was.
"We've tried everything. The creature has shielded itself but there's definite signs of life inside," van Statten explained as they drew closer to a large concrete structure with a lot of computer equipment outside of it.
"Inside? Inside what?" The Doctor asked, in business mode now.
"Welcome back, sir. I've had to take the power down. The Metaltron is resting," a scientist said, coming forward.
"Metaltron?" Rose asked, that blonde eyebrow going up again.
"Thought of it myself. Good, isn't it?" Rose (very poorly) hid a bark of laughter behind a cough. "Although I'd much to prefer to find out it's real name," van Statten added, with a glare at Rose.
"I can pretty much guarantee you it's not 'Metaltron,'" Rose mused, a perfectly innocent smile on her face.
"Go ahead, then, impress me," van Statten said, still glaring at Rose, and motioned the scientist to open the doors to the "Cage."
"Seems you've found yourself an archenemy," the Doctor remarked casually to Rose as they stepped inside.
Rose scoffed. "He's not worth my piss," she muttered distractedly, peering through the darkness, and trying to get a glimpse of whatever poor alien they'd trapped down here.
The Doctor turned to the darkness as well. "Look, I'm sorry about this," he called into the gloom, watching for signs of life. "Mr. Van Statten might think he's clever, but never mind him. We've come to help. I'm the Doctor, and this is Rose."
"DOC-TOR," an electronic voice said slowly.
"No…" Rose whispered, something like terror in her voice.
"DOCTOR!" the voice repeated, just as the lights started to come up in the room.
"Impossible," the Doctor whispered, staring at the Dalek.
The Dalek started pulling against the chains that held it in place, screaming exterminate all the while. "YOU ARE AN ENEMY OF THE DALEKS, YOU MUST BE EXTERMINATED!" The Dalek yelled. Its gun twitched to shoot them, and the Doctor automatically pulled Rose behind him. They waited for the blast of light that would be the end of the both of them, but it never came.
"It's not working," the Doctor murmured, finally noticing the broken gun. He let out a startled laugh, and started to stalk towards the chained Dalek. "Fantastic! Oh, Fantastic!" The Doctor said with dark excitement, glaring at the useless lump of metal before him. "Powerless! Look at you. The Great Space Dustbin. How does it feel?" He growled as he drew closer.
"KEEP BACK!" The Dalek yelled; and, to the Doctor at least, it sounded frightened.
He continued to stalk towards it until he was only inches away, just out of reach, and leaned over to glare into its eyestalk. "What for? What're you going to do to me? If you can't kill, then what are you good for, Dalek? What's the point of you? You're nothing," he said darkly, taunting it. "What the hell are you here for?" He demanded after a moments silence.
"I AWAITING ORDERS!"
"What the does that mean?" The Doctor snapped.
"I AM A SOLDIER! I WAS BRED TO RECEIVE ORDERS!"
"Well you're not going to get any. Not ever," he sneered. Oh, the rage this monstrosity inspired in him! How it made him want to scream and yell and destroy.
"I DEMAND ORDERS!" The Dalek yelled, struggling against its chains once more, almost in agitation.
"They're never going to come! Your race is dead!" The Doctor screamed, spittle flying from his mouth. He would crush any hope this Dalek had, was capable of having. He would destroy it from the inside out. "You all burnt, all of you. Ten million ships on fire. The entire Dalek race wiped out in one second," he said slowly, as if savoring the words.
"YOU LIE!"
"I watched it happen! I made it happen!" And for one small moment, the Doctor felt an ounce of pride.
"YOU DESTROYED US?"
Us. That us meant more than the Dalek thought. The Dalek meant the Dalek race; when the Doctor heard it, he heard it as the Daleks and the Time Lords both. He stood up from his bent position, and turned away a bit, the pride and anger vanishing from his face. "I had no choice…" he said softly.
"AND WHAT OF THE TIME LORDS?"
"Dead," The Doctor said flatly, memories of the Time War playing in his mind's eye. "They burned with you. The end of the last great Time War," he scoffed, quietly. "Everyone lost."
"AND THE COWARD SURVIVED."
That ignited the Doctor's rage again, and whirled around to glare at the Dalek once more. "Oh, and I caught your little signal. Help me," he taunted, his voice slipping into a higher pitch. "Poor little thing! But there's no one coming because there's no one left."
"I AM ALONE IN THE UNIVERSE," The Dalek said, lowering his eyestalk sadly.
"Yep," the Doctor smiled darkly.
"SO ARE YOU. WE ARE THE SAME."
The Doctor's smile fell away, and he looked equal parts horrified and enraged. "We're not the same! I'm not—" he was cut off as the Dalek was suddenly covered in electricity, screaming in pain; a scream that the Doctor hadn't heard since the Time War. "Wha—" he murmured, shocked (pardon the pun), and turning around. Hi eyes landed on Rose, who he had completely forgotten about. She was standing with her hand on a lever, tear stains marring her face as she stared at the Dalek, her face strangely emotionless.
"Rose, what are you—"
"It deserves to suffer," she whispered, her eyes never moving from the screaming Dalek. "It deserves to die and it deserves to suffer," she said, a bit louder, her voice cracking near the end.
The Doctor moved closer, and reached to take her hand off the lever. As much as he might agree, something about seeing Rose like this disturbed him; he'd seen anger in her, to be sure, but for the most part, he'd thought her a kind-hearted and innocent individual. To see her like this… "Rose, let the lever go," the Doctor said quietly, his hand resting on hers. He tried to pull it away, but her grip was too tight even for him.
"It deserves to suffer," she repeated, stiffly.
"HAVE PITTY!" the Dalek screamed.
"Why should I?" Rose asked, her voice hard. "You never did."
Guards rushed in, then, going for Rose mainly, but the Doctor as well. Rose pushed the lever higher to turn the voltage up, before turning to face the guards. In an impressive display of martial arts, she managed to take out three before several of them managed to get a hold of her limbs. One guard turned down the voltage on the Dalek.
"I saved your life, now speak to me, damn it!" Van Statten was yelling.
Rose smiled grimly. "It'll never speak again."
And the Doctor knew she was right; just before the voltage coursing over the Dalek had turned off, the Dalek has stopped screaming, and the light of its eyestalk had faded away; it was dead.
Van Statten whirled around, glaring and stalked towards Rose. He backhanded her when he got close enough, causing her head to whip violently to the side, her blonde hair covering her face for a moment. The Doctor yelled in fury, and tried to pull away from the men holding him, but with little success. Rose chuckled, turning her head back, with a little toss to move her hair, so that she was facing van Statten again. There was a bit of blood running from the corner of her lip, but she smiled at van Statten icily. "That all you got?" she taunted him.
Van Statten growled. "Take them to room 321A and chain them up," he ordered, stalking away.
The Doctor and Rose were chained to upright examination tables, the like of which are usually only seen in horror movies. The Doctor's jumper and jacket had been removed (for reasons he'd rather not postulate at the moment), but Rose had been allowed to keep her clothes.
The Doctor wiggled about, trying to slip out of his bindings. "I'm having no luck; anything on your end?" He whispered to Rose; he didn't know if there were cameras or microphones in here, but he'd rather not be overheard.
Rose didn't respond, and when the Doctor turned his head to look at her, her eyes were closed, and there was a look of deep concentration on her face.
"Gah," the Doctor grumbled, deciding Rose would be of no help at this point. And why the hell wasn't she working to get them out? She'd gotten them in this mess in the first place! Admittedly, if she hadn't done it, he probably would have; but she was supposed to be the reasonable one! He had the history with the Daleks! His people had been slaughtered by them! He should've been the one to go postal, not her! And now he was going to be dissected by some nutter who thought he owned everything that fell out of the bloody sky. Rassilon only knows what would happen to Rose.
Someone started pulling at his chains, and the Doctor's eyes snapped open (when had they closed?). Rose was working on the locks to his bindings with a hair pin, eyes glued to her work, and strangely silent. "How'd you get free?" The Doctor demanded, shocked, as one arm was freed and she moved to the next. She offered him a tired smile, and went back to work. The Doctor frowned, watching her face now as she worked. She was strangely pale, and drawn, as if she had just gone through intense physical exertion. "What did you do?" he muttered. Her only answer was to move to the bindings on his legs.
"The screwdriver's in my top pocket, in my jacket," the Doctor said after a moment, common sense returning to him.
"Already done," Rose said as the last lock popped open. Her voice was as tired as her face, and the Doctor felt concern bubble in his stomach. And curiosity; so much curiosity.
"Right then," he muttered, quickly throwing his jumper and jacket back on. "We better get going before they catch us, then."
Rose simply nodded. The Doctor grabbed her hand, and the two slipped out of the room, and took off down the hall.
Getting back to the TARDIS was extremely difficult for several reasons. The first being that the Doctor insisted they stopped at a computer so that he could wipe their system completely. After that, the alarms sounded, and the halls filled with guards looking for them. That made their progress towards the TARDIS slow enough; add on Rose's sudden unexplained exhaustion, and the Doctor began to seriously doubt they would make it back. Somehow, they did, though, and it was with relief that the Doctor unlocked the TARDIS and let them both in.
Rose collapsed on the jump seat, but the Doctor ran about the console, sending them into the vortex, before he allowed himself to rest. When he did, he turned to Rose, his face expectant.
"What do you want to know?" She sighed, not bothering to open her eyes.
The Doctor scoffed. "What don't I want to know, would be shorter," he answered.
Rose sighed again, and rubbed her forehead before she sat up, and opened her eyes. "There's a lot I can't tell you yet," she started, ignoring the Doctor as his eyes narrowed into a glare; he was really getting tired of hearing that. "How I got out…let's just say it's a little trick I have, and it's something I can't do very much of or very often because it completely wears me out," she motioned to herself, "obviously," she added with a small smile.
The Doctor did not return it. "And the Daleks? You completely lost it back there. That kind of rage, of darkness," he shook his head.
"It's no different than the darkness I've seen in you!" Rose protested, glaring now.
"But I have a reason!" The Doctor exploded, pushing off of where he'd been leaning on the console to march over to Rose. He put a hand on either arm rest so that she was trapped between his arms, and leaned down so that he was invading her personal space. "They destroyed my people, my family. They pushed my people to the absolute limit, and made me do what I had to do to end the war! They're the reason I'm alone!" He growled. He grew angrier when Rose refused to back down.
She shoved her way free of his arms, and wobbled for a moment on unsteady legs before turning to face him. "Yours aren't the only people they destroyed," she said coldly. "Mine were destroyed before I even got to meet them. You are not the only one allowed righteous anger." She stalked out of the room, leaving the Doctor alone.
He yelled in rage once she was gone, and kicked at a coral column, causing the TARDIS to hum at him in annoyance. He grumbled something that sounded like an apology, and set to pacing the TARDIS, muttering and cursing to himself in Galifreyan as he went.
Finally, after several hours, he collapsed into the jump seat and put his face in his hands.
A Dalek had escaped the carnage of the Time War. One had lived after the Doctor had set out to destroy both races. One had lived. He had failed.
"Rassilon, forgive me," he whispered brokenly to the memory of his people.
First of all, sorry this update took so long. We have a random baby in the house, and she cries A LOT, so that made writing hard. This chapter as a whole was difficult for me, too, as you might be able to tell. I like the end better than the beginning, definitely.
Thanks so much to everyone who followed, favorited, and reviewed! You guys are Fantastic!
Until next time!