A/N: I think I'm going to buy one share in the BBC. That way, I would own a little bit of Doctor Who ;)
Ellis Island, 1901
When the agitation caused by land-sight being made turned to a near-riot, and the entire complement of passengers ran up on-deck, the boy didn't immediately understand what was going on. It didn't help that most of the passengers didn't speak his language. By the time he had caught enough to understand what the fuss was about, it had become impossible to find a spot near the railings, and people were crammed to the limit on any upraised element of the deck the crew let them climb on, hungry for their first sight of the Statue of Liberty – the first visible sign that they had made it to the New World. The first sign that they had made it to their new lives.
There would be a new life beginning for the boy as well, but not one he'd chosen. He'd barely escaped Sicily thanks to the goodwill of a few people from his hometown, who had been willing to defy the unofficial ruler of the town and surrounding villages after the boy's father, brother and mother had all been killed. The boy would have been too, had he not run off. Don Ciccio hadn't cared that the boy was only nine years old, just that would he would grow up and become a man, and may very well attempt to avenge his father and brother – and the mother he'd killed in front of him when she'd tried to parlay for her youngest son's life.
Don Ciccio was right. The boy certainly intended to avenge his family. But there would be a very long road ahead, and at the start of it he would be nothing, a lonely boy with no place in the world, bereft of any importance, with very little understanding of his new world, and with very little strength of his own. Not even the strength to make a little room for himself and watch-
"Want to take a look?"
The question in Italian caught the boy by surprise. He swung round, bracing himself reflexively, only to see the young woman who'd addressed him was offering a mischievous tongue-touched grin and the warm look of strange golden eyes. The boy was wary, and the all-black, leather jacket look and the mane of snow-white hair made the woman stand out even further among the throngs of the migrants who crowded the deck. Yet none really paid attention to her; their focus was on the sight the boy was being deprived of.
The woman noticed his wariness, and her look turned sad. "You've been hurt a lot already by the adults around you, haven't you?" she said with pity. It stung the boy's pride a little, but at least it seemed the woman wasn't going to be immediately threatening, although she did intrude in his personal space as she crouched to look him in the eyes.
"You know why everybody is standing on top of one another right now, don't you?" she asked rhetorically. "The first sighting is a wonderful experience, a really enchanting one, the kind you remember for the rest of your life. I got on deck a little late, though", and the young woman grimaced, "so I won't get to see it this time around, but there's no reason why you shouldn't, right?"
The woman gestured at the boy in a clear invitation to climb on. Truth be told, the boy didn't really have much heart for enchanting sights at the moment. But he knew she was right about this being a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and he nodded, signifying his acceptance. The woman hoisted him with surprising ease, and the boy found a precarious perch on her shoulder, supported by the woman's cool hand. Then the woman turned around, and the boy looked in silence at the Statue of Liberty standing ahead and the city beyond, drinking in the sights.
"Like it?" the young woman asked him. The boy looked down briefly; the white-maned woman was giving him a warm smile. He nodded back, before returning his attention to the display he now could enjoy. And it was only a while later, after the kind stranger had left him and he was disembarking, that the boy realized he had been smiling for the first time since his mother had died.
The boy saw the young woman again an hour later – she had joined one of the very long lines leading to the officers clearing migrants for admission, right behind the young boy. The young woman clearly wasn't a very patient person, judging by the light four-beat tap of her foot on the floor when the queue was still, but she didn't engage him in conversation again. Not being addressed suited the boy just fine, but the presence of a person well-disposed towards him and who could speak Italian brought him a feeling of safety he hadn't enjoyed for months. Her kindness manifested again when a nurse approached them, and she explained they were doing a quick check to see if the boy was sick – and he certainly was, although he'd done his best to hide his weakness from the other passengers, afraid they'd take advantage and take what little he had with him.
The woman also offered to interpret for him once he finally reached the counter and the desk officer asked him a question in English. The boy would have to learn English fast, if he didn't want to stay helpless and uncomprehending in this unfamiliar new world, but for now he had to rely on his chance helper, who had just reached for the cardboard tag that had been attached to him and said aloud "his name is Vito Corleone".
For an instant, the arbitrary changing of his name felt like a betrayal, and the boy was tempted to speak his first words since his mother had died to protest, to say his name was Andolini – but for an instant only. He was marked for death, and changing his name would offer a solid measure of protection from anyone who might attempt to track him based on information given in Sicily, even by people who lived in his hometown. Corleone.
On second thought, the boy didn't mind being named after his hometown. Besides, he rather liked how Vito Corleone rolled. It sounded like a name you could respect.
Presently, Vito was being taken away to a medical examination area, at the entrance of which graphic signs clearly indicated sexes would be segregated, and he realized he had just been parted from his chance companion; he was surprised that the fact upset him. The boy understood better later, after being told he had been diagnosed as having caught typhoid fever, and that he would be quarantined three months (unspoken were the words "if you survive"). The white-haired woman had been kind to him. He wouldn't have wanted to infect her; it made that separation more acceptable.
Later on, as he grew up and learned to adapt to the New World, the boy would reflect on how he would have liked to know the name of his protector of a couple of hours. It was the one thing taunting him on the scrap of paper she had somehow slipped inside one of his pockets, telling him to have heart, thanking him for letting her do a little for him, and promising him that one day he would be able to smile again. The note had been signed in English, which Vito had had translated for him as soon as he could. But all he had to remember the first stranger who was kind to him in the New World was a nickname – the Bad Wolf.
Retrospectively, Vito Corleone would understand the woman must also have had her secrets, and reasons not to want to be known by her own name either, a fact inferring there was more to the confident young woman than met the eye. But he didn't think he would ever truly find out who she was, and doubted he would meet her again.
Doctor Who – The Wandering Wolf
III. Daleks in Manhattan
Rose stepped out of the TARDIS to find herself buffeted by a strong gust of wind which blew strands of mid-length white hair in her face. She giggled and shouted for the two people following her out of the time and space ship.
"Atlantic breeze, got to love it!"
"You certainly seem to be enjoying yourself" Ian Chesterton said with an amused look at the young woman. His wife Barbara seemed a little less enchanted by the scenery than he was.
"You've been here before, haven't you?"
"In New York?" Rose replied, turning around to face the couple. "Nope, never came here before – not that I shouldn't have, but somehow the Doctor always managed to miss his mark and land somewhere in the good old UK. And look!" the young woman added, her eyes gleaming with excitement and gesturing. "There she is, the Statue of Liberty herself! Good thing she's not a Weeping Angel" she added in a ramble, "thing this size, I don't want to imagine how many people it'd need to send back to last until its next meal."
"You're not making sense. Again" Barbara said flatly.
"And I told you it's rude to ask a lady her age" Rose replied with a tongue-touched grin. "I told you, took some time off, fixed the TARDIS, travelled around a bit, came back for you when I felt ready. The rest is just little things in between."
Barbara was about to fire a reply off, but held back when her husband laid a hand on her arm. "Want a solid reason to tell Miss Wolf off?" Ian said lightly, earning himself a puzzled look from his wife. "She said we'd get to enjoy the view from the top of the Empire State Building, but construction is still ongoing."
"You've got to be kidding me" Rose said, whipping around to look at the skyline, and spinning back on her heel just as quickly to glare at the TARDIS. "Old girl, when I meant the 30s, it meant I wanted to visit the finished thing, not take a look at the works."
To which the TARDIS replied by slamming her door shut, prompting Ian to laugh and Barbara to stare.
"Did we just get shut out of your ship by your ship?" the woman asked, and Rose huffed before she replied.
"Old girl's grown temperamental ever since the Master messed with her."
"The Master?"
"Still not telling" Rose groused, fingers drumming briefly on crossed arms before she whirled around again. "So, let's figure out when we are."
"November 1st, 1930" Ian said casually as he strolled over to a nearby low park bench.
Rose looked at him with a frown. "Have you already been there on that day?"
"No, he spotted the newspaper that stayed behind on the bench" Barbara commented as her husband liberated the pages from where they'd stuck and stayed flapping in the breeze.
"Little damp but legible" he commented.
"Let me guess, we're going on an adventure?" his wife said lightly.
"You two don't have to act so blasé about this, you know" Rose groused.
"We just happen to have prior experience" Ian said with a grin, before folding the newspaper and tossing it over to his wife, who caught it deftly. "There you go, honey."
"Thanks" Barbara replied, unfolding the pages again. "Hooverville mystery deepens" she read with a light frown. "Now that sounds like the kind of thing nobody else would bother investigating."
"Where's Hooverville?" Rose asked, and Barbara gave her a sad look.
"Central Park. A lot of people ruined by the Great Depression found refuge there, and the local authorities know better than to just kick them out."
"Oh, right. One year after Black Tuesday, and Johnny Aspirator is twiddling his thumbs."
"It's a bit of an exaggeration and it's Herbert Hoover" Barbara corrected.
"So, nicknaming people you don't like isn't a one-time occurrence" Ian observed, and Rose shrugged.
"If the shoe fits…"
Barbara was now smiling. "I almost wish you'd known and travelled with our Doctor."
"Not sure I would have enjoyed it that much after meeting misters Three and Five" Rose groused, and Barbara's smile turned mischievous.
"We would have enjoyed it. All those sparks flying."
Rose gave the woman an indignant look, and Ian chuckled. "Let's head on to Central Park before the good Doctor Wolf decides we need a nickname too."
"Bad Wolf" Rose stated firmly. "As far as everybody is concerned, I'm the Bad Wolf."
"That's a little weird and rather noticeable" Barbara pointed out.
"I want it to be noticed" Rose said fiercely, golden eyes glinting. "It's a message for people with bad intentions out there. Bit like how they should be worried about the Doctor being around. I'm not quite him, know a lot less than he does, but if that name can stop people messing with other people when it's heard, being noticed saves this many more lives. And the Bad Wolf is beginning to rack up quite the count of bad people stopped."
"You could have gone around using Doctor Wolf" Ian pointed out, and Rose shook her head.
"I'm not the Doctor" she said matter-of-factly. "And I don't want people to think I could be him. I have to do things he wouldn't approve of to get by."
Ian and Barbara weren't uncomfortable making their way through the Hooverville shanty town any more than Rose was – the trio were all experienced time travellers, used to far worse aggressions on their senses. It didn't stop Barbara from being a bit saddened.
"It's one thing to know Central Park housed such a community intellectually, but it's quite another to see it with your own eyes."
"That it is" Ian agreed, his eyes wandering about. "There's a lot of tension here."
"Lots of people thrown into poverty and having to adjust, and it's hard" Rose mused. "Does an awful lot to your sense of self, poverty."
"How long does it last?" Ian asked, and his wife offered.
"1934. The people who live here are evacuated after the new mayor restarts cheaper plans for the Great Lawn. But that's just one Hooverville. There were hundreds of those across the United States, and some of them lasted well into the 40s."
"You thieving lowlife!"
A crash followed the words, and a scuffle broke between an angry black man and a stick-thin white man.
Rose leapt into action before his companions realized her intentions, getting to both men in a few quick strides and pushing them apart with surprising strength.
"What's the matter with you?" the black man growled, pushing against Rose, and the other man tried to take advantage to get away – only to get grabbed at by his collar by the young woman's hand.
"Not so fast, mate, you've got some explaining to do."
"You're just as crazy as he is!" the white man protested indignantly.
"And you're a goddamn thief! You stole my bread!"
The angry man tried to get at the other once again, only to be held back by the significantly smaller woman.
"The pair of you cut that out" she growled, before turning her attention to the white man. "You're going to give the man back his loaf of bread."
"I didn't take it!"
"You goddamn liar!"
"And you", and Rose now looked at the other man, "are not going to kick that man down" she said before sharply tugging at both collars and letting them go. The white man's eyes darted around, but Ian was now behind him.
"Don't try it" Rose's companion advised, and finally, sulking as he did so, the man fished out a somewhat damaged loaf of dark bread from where he'd stowed it, handing it over to the smaller woman.
"I'm starving" the man grunted.
"I know" Rose said calmly. "I've been there. Poverty sucks. But you guys are all in this together. You can't steal from one another. You're hungry, but if you steal from the next man, he's going to go hungry too, and if enough people steal to get by you'll end up at one another's throats before you know it, people are going to die, and this messed-up world wins. You don't want that, do you?"
"No" the man agreed reluctantly. "I don't want that."
The gathered onlookers parted just enough to let a bearded man pass and approach the group.
"What's going on, here?" the man asked levelly.
Rose gave the man a significant look at the thief. The man looked down.
"I'm starving, Solomon. I stole the bread."
The man shook his head. "You know the rules. No stealing and no fighting."
Rose held out the loaf to the bearded man, who took it and looked at her, and then at her companions. "You stopped the fight?"
"The whitehead did" a man in the crowd answered. "Thought she was gonna get squished, but she held 'er own."
"Thanks, Phil" Solomon said with a nod. "And thank you, Madam…?"
Rose grinned at her interlocutor. "Wolf. Bad Wolf."
Ian snorted, and Barbara tutted a "Honestly" before stepping up to address Solomon. "She's on the run and doesn't use her name. I'm Barbara Chesterton, and this is my husband Ian."
"The three of you British?" Solomon asked with mild interest.
"Yes."
The man snorted. "Hooverville's getting a little more international every week."
"I'd like my bread back" the black man cut in, and Solomon made to speak, but Rose beat him to the punch.
"I know you're angry, but look at the man" she said.
A harrumph. "I'm looking. He's a thief."
"A good number of us are" Rose replied, earning herself a few protests she cut off by a stern "We are. Shoplifting's thieving even when you're hungry, and I'm dead sure I'm not the only one who's had to do something like that to get by. But what you don't do," and she stepped up to the would-be thief and prodded him in the chest, "is steal from your mate. Baker can live without a loaf of bread or three, he's got plenty more where those came from. Your mate doesn't. And you, him, the rest of the folks here, you're all mates."
"He tried to steal from me, we aren't going to be mates" the black man growled, and Rose turned up to him, staring him down.
"You already are" she said quietly, and she gestured towards the gathering around them. "You all, you're like soldiers stuck together in a war against misery, like your folks were in 1863 and again in 1918. Only difference being, misery, she has no guns, she's never there so you can shoot back at her, but that doesn't mean she's not trying her damnedest to kill you all, and she doesn't care who goes first. All you're doing when you fight each other, when you steal from each other, you're helping misery win. Sure, you might win yourself respite for a day or two, but that's not gonna work. See, the thing is, misery, she's patient. She's gonna pick off that guy you stepped on, and then she's coming back for you, and those other guys who know you don't care about them, they're just gonna toss you at her just so they don't have to worry about you anymore. You still lose, only a bit later, and misery, she wins twice." Rose looked around at the crowd, and then her gaze went back to the pair she'd stopped. "You're in this together."
The black man looked at Solomon, who nodded back at him. He grunted. "Give him half of my loaf, Solomon."
The bearded man cut the bread in half, handing the black man his share first, and then the would-be thief's own. The latter man looked at Solomon, who pointedly looked at the black man.
"Thanks" the white man mumbled. The black man grunted, and the crowd began to disperse, leaving the man named Solomon looking upon the newcomers.
"You're not just on the run, you've been living on the streets" he said to Rose, who frowned.
"I did once." She made a quick computation. "Shortly after the war. Tough times in England."
"You lived on the streets as a kid?"
Rose gave a non-committal shrug, and Barbara cut in: "She doesn't like to talk about her past."
"I can imagine" Solomon grunted. "And the pair of you?"
"We're teachers" Barbara replied.
Solomon gratified her with a sardonic smile. "Bit surprised we didn't get any of you before today. We've already got stockbrokers, we got a lawyer. Would be nice if we got a doctor, we could use one."
"Sorry, you're stuck with a wolf" Rose said with a faint smile.
"How many people live here?" Ian inquired, looking around at the shantytown.
"Hundreds at any one time" Solomon replied with a shrug. "Don't exactly keep a head count. A few more folks come in every day, to join our little egalitarian society."
"Doesn't matter who you are, what you were or what colour you are, you're all starving" Barbara muttered.
"Right on" Solomon said. "The two of you are people of learning, right?" Barbara nodded, and he went on. "Explain this to me. That there's going to be the tallest building in the world" he said, looking towards the nearly erect Empire State Building. "How come they can do that, when we got people starving in the heart of Manhattan?"
"Because the people building that aren't the ones who're starving" Rose commented quietly, catching Solomon's look again. "You're still noticeable enough to make the morning papers" the young woman added. "There's talk of a Hooverville mystery. People are going missing?"
"How would journalists even notice?" Ian commented, puzzled. "People come and go all the time."
"Witness accounts, I guess" Rose said.
"How would the witnesses know?"
Rose's eyes went back from Ian to Solomon. "They're leaving their stuff behind, right?"
The bearded man nodded. "Someone takes them, at night. We hear something, someone calls out for help. By the time we get there, they're gone like they vanished into thin air."
"Have you been to the police?" Barbara asked, and Solomon snorted.
"Yeah, we tried that. Another deadbeat goes missing. Big deal."
"But someone's taking them" Rose said thoughtfully, her fingers idly drumming on her forearms. "Who takes them, and what for?"
Another man came, hollering. "Solomon! Mister Diagoras is here."
"Mister Diagoras?" Rose asked the bearded man, who grunted.
"One of the foremen who come every now and then and offer work for a pittance."
"Do people survive the jobs he offers?"
"Not always. It's often dangerous work that gets offered, and not everyone can afford to say 'no' to the foremen. When you're hungry, you've got to do what you've got to do."
"Yeah, I'm familiar with that" Rose let trail, and she headed off towards the man who'd hollered, Ian, Barbara and Solomon following.
Mister Diagoras turned out to be an impeccably suited man in his late thirties or early forties, with short black hair, a square jaw and cold brown eyes. The moment enough people had gathered within hearing range, he went straight to the point.
"I need men. Volunteers. I've got a little work for you and you sure look like you can use the money."
"What is the money?" the man who'd come to fetch Solomon hollered.
"A dollar a day" Diagoras replied flatly.
Solomon stood forward. "What's the work?"
"A little trip down the sewers. Got a tunnel collapsed that needs clearing and fixing. Any takers?"
Solomon shook his head. "A dollar a day? That's slave-wage. And men don't always come back up, do they?"
Diagoras shrugged. "Accidents happen."
"What sort of accidents?" Rose asked, stepping forward, and Solomon held out a hand to stop her.
"I can't let you do that" he said sternly. "It's not a job for someone your size, Miss Bad Wolf."
Rose missed the reaction from the man who'd come to get them. She opened her mouth to protest, but Ian cut her off.
"I'll go, and I'll tell you." The man raised his hand and spoke louder for Diagoras. "I'm volunteering!"
"I am so killing you for this" Barbara mumbled as her hand also went up, and Ian grinned back at her.
"Anybody else?" Solomon's hand was the only other that went up. Rose made to raise her own hand anyway, but the man who'd got her there laid a firm hand on her shoulder.
"What the-"
"You've got somewhere else you should be" the man said quietly. "And it's really not a good idea for me to let you take that risk."
"You're being threatened" Rose deduced, but the man shook his head.
"You'll understand after I've introduced you to my godfather."
Nobody particularly cared about two people walking out of Hooverville; the few glances the pair received were due to Rose's distinctive white hair. They made their way towards the Italian part of town, and stopped in front of a nondescript looking office of a small company named Genco's Olive Oil. A burly tanned man went to stop the two from Hooverville.
"What are you doing here, Frankie?" he asked in Italian, getting a response in the same language.
"I found a Bad Wolf."
The burly man looked at Rose in surprise. "She's not even Italian."
"No, but from what I saw, she could be the article."
The burly man shook his head. "She's clearly too young."
"She's also there, in case you failed to notice" Rose said tartly. The burly man attempted a scowl, but flinched when he found himself having to hold the glare of gilded irises.
The man tried to gather himself, but was cut off when the glass door to the offices opened, letting through a thin, elegant, moustachioed man, his hair a lustrous black. The burly man turned at the newcomer and looked at him with surprise.
"Godfather?"
"You can let her in, Vincenzo" the man replied in English, with a voice that went barely above a murmur. He turned to Rose's escort. "Thank you for bringing her, Frankie, I'm most grateful."
Rose was surprised to see the man incline his head respectfully. "Godfather."
The thin man turned his attention to Rose. "Do come in" he said, and then he went to hold the door for her in a simple and elegant gesture.
The office looked almost like any other ordinary ground floor office with a street view, just cosy enough for its occupants to endure longer work days. The one exception to the ordinary picture was the pin another thin, affable looking man removed from under the door handle after it had been closed. Rose decided to let it slide – she could easily sonic the door open again if needed – and turned back her attention to the 'godfather', who held out a hand towards the man.
"This is Genco Abbadando, a long-time and very close friend. Genco", and the man then looked at his friend, "meet the Bad Wolf, the woman to whom I owe being called Corleone."
"Do you?" Rose said with surprise, and Corleone chuckled.
"It will have been twenty-nine years tomorrow, but for you, helping a mute and sick boy through customs and offering him his first view of the Statue of Liberty must have felt like any ordinary day." The man looked her over. "You haven't changed."
Rose tensed a bit, and the 'godfather' added a "You can trust our silence. On my honour as a Sicilian, nobody will find out what you have to tell us."
"Mind if I think what to say while we get seated?" Rose asked back quietly.
"Of course not" Corleone said. "Shall I interest you in a drink?"
"No, thank you" Rose replied, seating herself on the visitor's side of the desk. The man named Genco took another chair and seated himself to her left, while Corleone sat down across from them.
Rose looked at the two men for a moment, getting small, friendly smiles back. "Today's the first time I've ever seen the Statue of Liberty" she finally said. "Better you don't tell me anything about what happened when we met before, it's still in my future."
The jaw of the man seated next to Rose nearly dropped, but the 'godfather' seemed to take it in stride. "I knew all this time there was something very different about you. You're a time traveller."
"I am" Rose corroborated. "I'm also travelling with two friends who are busy investigating what's going on in Hooverville, I'll need to get back to them and help as soon as is possible."
Besides her, Genco had recovered. "Should I call Frankie back?" he said, half-standing.
The 'godfather' shook his head. "We already know what he knows, and that's not very much."
"You're investigating the disappearances in Hooverville?" Rose asked, and the man shook his head.
"I'm just making sure it's not affecting my paisans. I don't have the resources to look after everyone in New York; I need to look after my own."
"These people have nobody looking after them" the time traveller pointed out.
"I don't think that's true" Genco said next to her, and his friend nodded, before turning back to Rose.
"They have you, now."
"And I have a feeling they couldn't have a better protector" Genco added, making Rose wince.
"Laying it a bit thick, aren't you?"
Genco chuckled, and the 'godfather' smiled.
"Genco has always been good at reading people." His smile faded. "There's a man you need to be careful about if you're going to be looking around Hooverville, a Mister Diagoras."
"I've seen him" Rose commented. "Quartermaster of sorts, but really looking to hire temp slaves."
"He's more than that" Genco said. "There's a very high rise building that's nearly done being built in Manhattan, tallest in all of New York. Diagoras is the man who says who can work there and who can't, and there's nobody we know that can influence him."
Rose quirked an eyebrow. "That's weird, he definitely looks the type you can buy off."
Corleone nodded. "Whoever is behind him is very dangerous, not just because they're rich or influential, but because nobody can find out who they are, and a lot of people who know a lot of things have been looking."
Rose winced. "Then I really need to get back to Ian and Barbara" she said tensely. "Then I'll try and get to the bottom of things regarding mysterious Mister Diagoras."
"I knew she was going to say that" Genco said with a smile, which his friend returned.
"And I have a feeling she knows what she's doing" the man replied, before turning to Rose again. "When you're back in Hooverville, if you need something done you or your friends are too busy to handle, talk to Frankie. Tell him his Godfather owes you a favour, and tell him what you want. If it's within my possibilities, I'll do it."
Rose frowned a bit. "You'll want to know what's really going on in return, won't you?"
The Godfather shook his head. "I'm the one who owes you already. I owe you for setting me on the path I now walk, and I owe you for a kindness to a complete stranger."
Rose flinched a little at that. "I'll have to ask you to tell me a little more about this when I'm done in Hooverville, but right now, I really need to go."
"Of course" the man said, standing up. "Genco, would you…?"
"Don't bother" Rose said as she rose and reached to shake both men's hands. They both watched with a hint of curiosity as the young woman made a show of rummaging through her pockets and took out… a pin, to replace the one that had gone out of the door. Rose let herself out, followed by Genco's chuckles.
"She is indeed quite something, that woman" the man said after closing the door again. "I wonder what exactly, though."
"She's a benevolent force in a dark and cruel world" the Godfather replied seriously. "And that is all I need to know."
Ian was waiting for Rose when she returned to Hooverville. The man looked a bit worse for wear, and his attitude was all-business when he addressed the time traveller.
"Pig men" the man said without preamble. "That's who's behind the kidnappings, pig men. They're hiding in the sewers."
"Hold a sec', pig men, as in, half pig, half men?"
"More like men with pig heads and a violent disposition. They took Solomon."
Rose groaned. "Oh no… Tell me this isn't another attempt at blowing Earth up by the Slitheen."
"I have no idea" Ian admitted. "There's something else we found down there, just not sure what. I've left it with Barbara back at a show hall."
"I have a feeling you've had quite the adventure. Fill me in on the way to the hall?"
Ian did just that as the pair made their way to a close and rather seedy part of town, explaining about how there was actually no blockage to clear out for Mister Diagoras, and how this had instead been a trap. He also explained that the finding made down in the sewers was some kind of alien organism neither Barbara nor him had ever encountered before. And he briefly explained their escape until they managed to climb into the hall, and ended up encountering a Tallulah, "with three L's and an H", whose fiancé had apparently vanished.
All this made Rose rather curious as she was ushered backstage inside the rickety show hall, to meet with a cleaned-up but disgusted Barbara. "The thing Ian told you about is over there" she said, pointing at a props table where some sickly green and putrid-smelling thing was lying. Something Rose nevertheless managed to recognize as she came close – the general shape and the position of the eye gave it away.
"Dalek…" she said tensely.
Barbara looked at her with shock. "What?"
"That's a Dalek" Rose replied, fingers drumming nervously together. "A dead Dalek, that's what they look like inside their shell – was there a shell?"
"No, that thing was just dumped on a pile of other refuse" Ian replied with a grimace.
"Okay, this is getting worse by the minute" Rose gritted out. "Not too many things can take a Dalek out of its shell, and all of those things are really, really bad news, and pig-human hybrids definitely aren't on that list."
Barbara and Ian exchanged looks. "She is about to try and send us off" Ian said conversationally.
"And we're not going to let that happen" Barbara replied pleasantly. "After all, we've got quite a bit of experience with regards to confronting and escaping Daleks."
"Definitely. Even been on their homeworld and escaped one of their fortresses."
"Oh, right, we did tell her about that!"
Rose shook her head. "I can't believe the pair of you. Have you forgotten how dangerous Daleks are?"
"No, we haven't" Ian replied, just as serious, and Barbara had the same tone when she spoke.
"We never abandoned anyone because they had to face the Daleks, and we're not going to start now."
"I just said what's here could be a lot worse than Daleks" Rose said through gritted teeth.
"Which probably isn't going to stop you from going down into the sewers and attempt to get caught by those pig men to see who's controlling them" Barbara pointed out.
"I just hope it's not really Daleks again" Ian said with a wince. "That'd be the second time we can't enjoy a visit of the Empire State Building because of them."
Rose was about to say something when a piercing shriek resounded in the hallway outside. The trio of time travellers ran out, arriving in sight of a panicked blonde woman wearing a spectacle outfit. "I jus' saw a pig man!" the woman exclaimed herself the moment she spotted Ian and Barbara, making a beeline for them. "What exactly's goin' on?"
"If you tell us where it went, we're going to find out" Ian said.
"Storage in the back, where you two came from" the woman replied, now breathing rapidly. "Who's the white-head?"
Rose grinned at her. "Just a wolf, off to hunt with my pack, Tallulah with three L's and an H".
"How'd'you know my name?"
"Tell you another time, I need to go and get myself taken prisoner."
Rose broke into a run and brushed past the woman, who squawked in protest and turned to Ian and Barbara. The time traveller dropped more than she climbed down into the sewers, landing just in time to catch a glimpse of the pig man turning a corner.
"Oh no, you don't" she growled, taking off at a run, trying to follow the sounds of the creature getting away. Except there was a little problem – a good few more humanoids were running about in the vicinity, and most of them were heading towards Rose, and a couple of oinks informed her precisely about who was after her.
The young woman stopped, and she blinked. "Ah well. Getting what I wanted either way." She waited for the pig men to round on her, foot idly tapping on the floor. "What took you so long?" she said to the one who advanced on her.
The pig man didn't reply; he grabbed hold of her with rather less strength than what Rose had expected, and frog-marched the time traveller to join with a small column of terrified humans, among which she spotted Solomon. The man looked like he'd taken quite the beating, but he was capable of standing up, and apparently of making grim humour. "I thought the wolf was the one going after the pigs in the children tales" he said.
Rose smiled faintly before she let out a bleat, catching most of the people around by surprise. "Sorry" she said as a pig man nudged her forwards. Solomon must have gotten her message, going by the shrewd look she caught him giving her. A wolf in sheep's clothing indeed. That would work better for Rose, be it Daleks or Dalek hunters she was going up against.
The group was led to a collector and made to stand in a line, and Rose got her answer: a pair of Daleks arrived, one of them missing part of its casing, and they began exchanging.
"Re-port!" the one with the full casing ordered.
"These-are-strong-specimens. This-will-help-the-Da-lek-cause."
"I was going sheep, not guinea pig" Rose muttered next to Solomon, fingers drumming nervously.
"What-is-the-sta-tus-of-the-Fi-nal-Ex-pe-riment?" the leading Dalek asked again.
"The-Da-le-kanium-is-in-place. The-energy-conductor-is-com-plete."
"Then-I-will-ex-tract-prisoners-for-se-lec-tion."
A pigman pulled the black man at the end of the line closer to Rose. The man struggled, and Rose winced as she saw the Dalek extend its plunger arm towards the man's face, sucking it in.
"In-telligence-scan-i-nitiate. Rea-ding-brain-waves. Low-intelligence."
The plunger withdrew, and the indignant man let out a "You calling me stupid?" that went ignored as the Dalek ordered him to be sent to become a pig slave.
The Dalek next moved onto Solomon, clearing him as having superior intelligence and calling for him to become part of the 'Final Experiment'. Then the Dalek arrived in front of Rose, and hovered back a metre the moment its eyestalk fell on her.
"A-lert! A-lert!"
Rose did a little wave. "Hello!"
"You-are-the-Abo-mina-tion!"
"And I'll have you know that's really not a nice thing to call a woman" Rose replied tartly as she prepared herself to dodge out of the way of an attack.
And sure enough, the Dalek went "Ex-ter-minate!"
Rose's rolling dive was for naught: the Dalek did not fire. Instead, it gritted out an "I-do-not-un-der-stand! This-is-the-A-bo-mi-na-tion, the-kil-ler-of-the-Emperor!"
"What did I just tell you?" Rose groused, getting back on her feet.
"I-obey" the Dalek let out in a clearly reluctant tone, before turning its attention back to Rose. "You-will-be-taken-with-the-pri-soners-to-the-trans-ge-nic-la-bo-ra-tory."
The young woman was baffled by that, but knew better than to protest the Daleks suddenly deciding to spare her. She fell back in line, and soon enough, the group started moving again, with only the Dalek missing part of its panels staying to escort them. And before long, the pack of captives had become enriched with three familiar individuals – Rose's two companions, and the woman with three L's and an H.
"I get that the two of you couldn't keep away, but why bring an innocent into this?" Rose muttered irritably as soon as she felt she could get away with it.
"Long story" Barbara muttered back, and when Rose glared at her, she added "Love story."
The younger woman had nothing to reply to that.
The column of prisoners made it to a vast chamber dug under New York City, nearly filled with human-sized pods and stinking pungently of chemicals. Another Dalek was standing vigilant next to one of its brethren, who had been connected to all kinds of strange machinery. Its shell was thrumming with energy, and tendrils of smoke escaped the trembling casing.
The Dalek who'd escorted them moved to the one waiting, who ordered its partner to report.
"I-have-brought-the-Abomi-nation-like-or-dered."
"Bring-her-for-ward" the intact Dalek ordered. Rose didn't wait for the pig men to push her. She walked forward, coming to a stop a short distance from the experimental setup.
"So, what is it you wanted to show me, Daleks?" she said with more confidence than she really felt.
"You-were-our-in-spira-tion. You-will-bear-wit-ness-to-the-dawn-of-a-new-age."
"What's going to happen, you're about to disappear in a shower of golden dust?" Rose ironized.
The Dalek connected to the machinery went silent, and its eyestalk's light went out. The casing opened, and a disgusting bipedal creature struggled out, wearing a disturbingly familiar suit. The humanoid had the single-eyed and stalk-surrounded head of a Dalek, and its hands were really clawed; it spoke in an accent Rose remembered as having been Mister Diagoras'.
"We have seen you transformed into the ultimate machine of destruction by the Doctor. Now that there are only four of us left, we must evolve."
The humanoid stood erect, its single eye fixed on a very pale Rose. "We will assimilate the greatest warlike species left standing in the universe. I am Dalek Sec, and I am the future. I am Human Dalek."
Rose felt disgust overtake her. "First the Master, then you. The more I see of Time Lords and Daleks, the better I understand why the Doctor felt he had to kill you all."
"And in that, too, you are our inspiration, Rose Tyler. No creature in this Universe hates so much they gave themselves the power to destroy an entire species."
It was wrong, and Rose knew it was wrong – she had done what she had out of love, not hatred, and she was about to say that, but stopped as she remembered she did hate the Daleks and the Time Lords, and that as the Bad Wolf, she was the ultimate machine of destruction.
And the notion she might have inspired the Daleks to become even more terrifying did not sit well with Rose Tyler.
A/N: Sorry, couldn't help myself with the crossover ^^
Jus Drein Jus Daun-Clexa, Rose is indeed in for the long haul before she meets the Doctor again, which would happen early in a third series (I will get there, eventually x) ) The Hybrid being mentioned already is me cheating a bit – I've watched ten seasons of New Who, only three were laid down when the original season three aired… :p
ELinkA, you're very welcome! Also love the Third Doctor. Him and the First Doctor are responsible for converting me to Peter Capaldi's Doctor ^^
BlueCandyMac, by a stroke of good luck, I'm updating today ^^
See you all later!
