A/N: I can't tell you all how utterly thrilled I was with your reviews! It warmed my heart so much, I just sat right down and finished this part for you. There wasn't a fluffy original bit at the end, because I just like the ending so much, but there will be more in the coming chapters. For instance, Blink will be almost entirely original, as we will be following more of what actually happened with our favorite time travelers in 1969, and there will be a quick extra adventure after the next episode, speaking of which, I need to get my little hands to work on that. Well, enjoy, and don't forget there's still a poll on for wedding details. Which reminds me, I did want to address one of the reviews. Someone asked if there was still a bit of the Time vortex in Rose, and I really thought I had put in a few details, but in case you missed them here's what has been revealed. 1) Rose did not lose all connection to the Time Vortex and Bad Wolf, because if she had, it would have killed her. 2) Rose is connected to the TARDIS and will live without aging until the TARDIS dies. 3) Rose, while still having been born a human, technically is not anymore as her cells have mutated and part of her exists outside of time. 4) When Rose, or someone she loves, is threatened, she can call a little of the Bad Wolf to help, but it takes a lot out of her. Hope that helps. She is not immortal, and she can die. She cannot control time and space. And she doesn't suddenly know everything. She just got a bit of a boost that made her able to stay with her Doctor.

Season Three: "The Evolution of the Daleks"

The creature gestured to Martha, Frank, and the others. "These…humans will become like me."

The Doctor slipped unnoticed behind some machinery.

"Prepare them for hybridisation."

The pig slaves closed in on Martha, Frank and the other prisoners.

Martha jerked away from them. "Leave me alone! Don't you dare!"

Dalek Sec stepped toward Rose. "You will watch as we control the world, then we will destroy you. You are the Abomination."

"Right," she countered sarcastically. "I'm the freak in the room."

"We can exterminate you quicker, if you wish," he whispered darkly.

'Happy Days are Here Again' began playing and everyone stopped, wondering where it was coming from, except Rose, who grinned.

"What is that sound?" Dalek Sec asked, looking around.

The Doctor stepped out, a radio in his hands. "That would be me. Hello. Surprise. Boo. Et cetera. You didn't really think she would be here without me, did you?"

"Doctor," Dalek Sec named him.

"The enemy of the Daleks!"

"Exterminate!"

Dalek Sec held up a hand. "Wait."

The Doctor approached, "Well, then. A new form of Dalek. Fascinating and very clever."

The hybrid nodded. "The Cult of Skaro escaped your slaughter."

He frowned thoughtfully. "How did you end up in 1930?"

"Emergency Temporal Shift."

"Oh, that must have roasted up your power cells, yeah?" He moved about the lab, looking around. "Time was, four Daleks could have conquered the world but instead your skulking away, hidden in the dark, experimenting. All of which results in you."

The creature spread its hands. "I am Dalek in human form."

The Doctor looked closely at the hybrid. "What does it feel like? You can talk to me, Dalek Sec. It is Dalek Sec, isn't it? That's your name? You've got a name and a mind of your own. Tell me what you're thinking right now."

After a moment's thought, Dalek Sec answered, "I…feel…humanity."

"Good," the Doctor encouraged. "That's good."

"I…feel…everything we wanted from mankind, which is ambition, hatred, aggression and war. Such…a genius for war."

Rose stepped up, taking the Doctor's hand as the others in the room watched in horrified amazement. "No, that's not what humanity means."

The human Dalek shook his head. "I think it does. At heart, this species is so very…Dalek."

"All right, so what have you achieved hen? With this Final Experiment, eh? Nothing! 'Cause I can show you what you're missing with this thing. Simple little radio." The Doctor moved over to the radio, patting it with one hand while the other clung to Rose.

"What is the purpose of that device?" one of the Daleks demanded.

The Doctor laughed a bit. "Well, exactly. It plays music. What's the point of that? Oh, with music, you can dance to it, sing with it, fall in love to it. Unless you're a Dalek of course. Then it's just noise."

He aimed the sonic screwdriver at the radio and a high pitch wail emanated from it. Dalek Sec held his head in pain while the other Daleks spun and waved their probes erratically. The Doctor turned to the prisoners.

"Run!"

The prisoners ran for escape and the Doctor followed them, holding Rose as tight as he could grip her hand.

Behind them came yells, "Protect the hybrid! Protect. Protect. Protect."

Martha led the prisoners running through the sewers, the Doctor and Rose last, until they found themselves at a junction. The medical student skidded to a stop, unsure of which way to go. The Doctor rushed past, his fiancée grabbing her friend's hand.

"Come on! Move, move, move, move, move!" he shouted.

The next turn found them running into Tallulah, who shrieked.

"And you, Tallulah! Run!" the Doctor cried out.

"What's happened to Lazlo?"

"No time now, Tallulah, we have to go!" Rose exclaimed.

The pig slaves and two of the Daleks were following. The Doctor led everyone to a ladder. "C'mon! Everyone up!"

After entirely too much running for some people, the party of prisoners returned to Hooverville. They gathered around a fire, Martha and Tallulah sitting on crates, Rose hugging the Doctor as fiercely as he held her. Solomon paced slightly as he tried to get the information straight.

"These Daleks, they sound like the stuff of nightmares. And they wanna breed?"

"They're splicing themselves into human bodies," the Doctor corrected. "If I'm right, they've got a farm of breeding stock right here in Hooverville. We've got to get everyone out."

The man shook his head. "Hooverville's the lowest place a man can fall. There's nowhere else to go."

"I'm sorry, Solomon," Rose said softly. "You've got to scatter. Go anywhere. Down to the railroads, travel across state, just get out of New York."

"There's got to be a way to reason with these things," Solomon argued, unwilling to tell these people that their last resort was no longer an option.

"There's not a chance," Martha shook her head.

Frank shivered. "You ain't seen 'em, boss."

The Doctor stared into the fire, angry and frightened. "Daleks are bad enough at anytime, but right now they're vulnerable and that makes them more dangerous than ever."

Rose hugged him again as a whistle blew.

"They're coming! They're coming!" the sentry shouted, running to warn everyone.

"A sentry. Must have seen something," Solomon said.

"They're here! I seen 'em! Monsters! They're monsters!"

The Doctor simply intoned, "It's started."

Solomon shouted, "We're under attack! Everyone to arms!"

The men started passing out the guns and other weapons they had collected.

Frank glanced between Solomon and the Doctor. "I'm ready, boss, but all o' you! Find a weapon! Use anything!"

The residents he addressed ran off in terror.

"Come back!" Solomon shouted. "We gotta stick together! It's not safe out there! Come back!"

The pig slaves then invaded Hooverville, attacking those who tried to escape.

"We need to get out of the park," Martha realized desperately.

The Doctor shook his head. "We can't! They're on all sides. They're driving people back towards us."

"We're trapped," Tallulah cried.

"Then we stand together. Gather 'round. Everybody come to me. You there, Jethro, Harry, Seamus, stay together," their leader shouted.

It didn't take long before the pig slaves had forced everyone into a tight circle by the fire.

"They can't take all of us," the village head said confidently as he started firing.

Martha glanced at the Doctor. "If we can just hold them off till daylight…"

"Oh, Martha, they're just the foot soldiers," he answered her, looking skyward.

Everyone turned and looks up.

"Oh, my God," the black woman said in quiet terror as a Dalek flew above, heading towards them.

The people of Hooverville quaked with terror.

Solomon gaped. "What in this world—"

"It's the devil. A devil in the sky. God save us all. It's damnation," sobbed the man who had been sentry.

Frank frowned, "Oh yeah? We'll see about that!" He fired at the Dalek but the bullets did no damage.

The Doctor pushed his rifle down. "That's not gonna work."

Rose pointed. "There's more than one of them, love."

The Daleks began to attack, firing upon the settlement causing explosions and starting fires

"The humans will surrender!"

The Doctor stepped forward, waving his arms. "Leave them alone! They've done nothing to you!"

"We have located the Doctor!" a Dalek screamed.

Solomon stepped ahead of the Doctor and he grabbed the human by the arm.

"No, Solomon. Stay back."

Shaking his head, the man spoke, "I'm told that I'm addressin' the Daleks, is that right? From what I hear, you're outcasts, too."

"Solomon, don't," the Doctor begged.

"Doctor, this is my township, you will respect my authority. Just let me try," the man said, full of stubborn courage as he pushed the Doctor firmly back. "Daleks…ain't we all the same? Underneath, ain't we all kin? 'Cause, see, I've just discovered this past day God's universe is a thousand times the size I thought it was. And that scares me. Oh, yeah. Terrifies me. Right down to the bone. But it's got to give me hope…hope that maybe together we can make a better tomorrow. So I…I beg you now if you have any compassion in your hearts then you'll meet with us and stop this fight. Well…what do you say?"

"Exterminate!" the Dalek screamed before firing upon Solomon, killing him.

The inhabitants of Hooverville screamed in horror.

Frank rushed to Solomon's side. "No! Solomon!"

"They killed him. They just shot him on the spot," Martha gaped, failing to fully comprehend the cruelty of this race.

"Daleks!" the Doctor shouted, moving forward, arms out to his side, to confront the Daleks. "All right, so it's my turn! Then kill me! Kill me if it'll stop you attacking these people!"

One of them turn its weapon on him. "I will be the destroyer of our greatest enemy."

"Doctor! No!" Rose screamed in anguish.

Forcing himself not to turn and run back to her, he shouted, beating at his chest, "Then do it! Do it! Just do it! Do it!"

"Extermin—" the creature stopped. "I do not understand. It is the Doctor… The urge to kill is too strong… I…obey."

"What's going on?" the Doctor asked the Dalek.

"You will follow."

Rose struggled against Martha, who held her. "No! You can't go! Theta!"

He looked at her, tortured. "I've got to go. The Daleks just changed their minds. Daleks never change their minds. Rose… you know that."

"But what about us?" Martha asked as Rose sagged.

The Doctor looked back at the people of Hooverville before facing the Dalek. "One condition! If I come with you, you spare the lives of everyone here! Do you hear me?"

"The humans will be spared. Doctor…follow."

"I'm coming with you."

He looked at Rose, absolute heartbreak in his eyes. "No, I need you to stay here, to protect people, to help them. Please. Just this once, don't follow me, my darling girl."

She gave a sob. "I love you."

He turned back taking both of her hands. "I love you, Rose Tyler… and, I trust you."

The Doctor gripped her hands with his and winked. As he walked away with the Daleks, Rose looked down and saw he had given her the psychic paper

"What do we do with that?" Martha asked, staring at Rose, who seemed to compose herself incredibly fast.

"Save my fiancee, New York, and the world," the blonde woman replied with a shrug.

Tallulah had moved to their side. "Oh right, is that all?"

Rose grinned. "Oh I've seen worse."

The Doctor arrived in the Dalek lab and immediately started in on Dalek Sec. "Those people were defenceless! You only wanted me, but no, that wasn't enough for you! You had to start killing 'cause that's the only thing a Dalek's good for!"

The human Dalek nodded. "The deaths…were wrong."

The Time Lord gaped in shock. "I'm sorry?"

"That man, their leader Solomon, he showed courage," Dalek Sec said.

"And that's… good?" the Doctor clarified.

"That's excellent."

The Doctor tipped his head. "Is it me or are you just becoming a little bit more human?"

You are the last of your kind and now I am the first of mine," Dalek Sec replied cryptically.

"What do you want me for?"

"We tried everything to survive when we found ourselves stranded in this ignorant age. First we tried growing new Dalek embryos but their flesh was too weak," the Dalek leader explained.

"Yeah, I found one of your experiments. Just left to die out there in the dark," the Doctor said, shaking his head in disgust.

"It forced us to conclude what is the greatest resource of this planet—its people."

Dalek Sec lifted a giant switch on the wall and the ceiling above them lit up to show hundreds of human bodies lying suspended. Dalek Sec lifted another switch and one of the bodies was lowered, shrouded. He continued talking with enthusiasm. "We stole them. We stole human beings for our purpose. Look…inside."

The Doctor opened the shroud to reveal a man who couldn't be more than thirty. He recoils just a bit.

"This…is the extent of the Final Experiment."

The Doctor looked closer. "Is he dead?"

The Dalek shook his head. "Near death with his mind wiped ready to be filled with new ideas."

"Dalek ideas," the Doctor said distastefully.

"The Human-Dalek race." It was spoken with pride, as though this was something to be pleased about.

"All of these people. How many?" the Doctor asked, suppressing the urge to scream.

"We have caverns beyond this storing more than a thousand."

All those lives… lost. And they wouldn't stop there. They'd continue until every member of the human race had become Dalek. He thought of brave Frank, and Martha who wanted to be a doctor and save lives. He thought of Rose, and how he would do anything to prevent this from being her future. "Is there any way to restore them? Make them human again?"

"Everything they were has been lost."

He shook his head sadly. "So they're like shells. You've got empty human beings ready to be converted. That's going to take a hell of a lot of power. This planet hasn't even split the atom yet. How're you gonna do it?"

The Dalek leader began what looked like a smile. "Open the conductor plan."

Inside Solomon's tent Rose and Tallulah were searching through papers, while Martha paced, tapping the psychic paper in her hand.

"Wait a minute. Down in the sewers the Daleks mentioned this…energy conductor," she said, eyes wide.

"Right, they need power, and lots of power," Rose agreed, looking up.

"So what does that mean?" Tallulah asked.

Martha shook her head. "I don't know. Maybe like a…lightening conductor or…Dalekanium!"

Rose stood. "Right. They said the Dalekanium was in place."

The chorus girl shook her head. She wasn't as dumb as most people thought, and being around these two strong, independent women was giving her the confidence to speak her mind. "In place where?"

"Frank might know," Martha said.

"We need to talk to Frank then," Rose decided, heading for the exit.

The women moved through the camp determinedly, finding Frank mourning beside Solomon's body. Rose looked to Martha, as the black woman had a friendship and closeness that the other two just didn't have.

Martha nodded, moving to his side and kneeling. "Frank?"

He looked up, listless. "Hm?"

She placed a hand on his arm. "I'm so sorry, Frank, but we can't give up just yet. We need information. That Mr. Diagoras, he was like some sort of fixer, yeah? Get you jobs all over town?"

The man nodded. "Yeah. He could find a profit anywhere."

"But where, though? What sort of things?"

He shrugged. "You name it. We're all so desperate for work, you just hoped Diagoras would pick you for something good. Building work. That pays the best."

Rose nodded. That made sense, they wouldn't have to know what they were building, so long as they could follow plans.

"But what sort of building work?" Martha pressed him.

"Mainly building that." Frank pointed to the Empire State Building, and the women looked at each other.

Dalek Sec was showing the Doctor an animated graphic of their plan, but he was shaking his head impatiently. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. The Empire State Building. We're right underneath that. I worked that out already, thanks. But what, you hijacked the whole building?"

"We needed an energy conductor," the Dalek told him again.

"But what for?"

The hybrid gestured to himself. "I…am the genetic template. My altered DNA was to be administered to each human body. A strong enough blast of gamma radiation can splice the Dalek and human genetic codes and wake each body from its sleep."

The Doctor frowned. "Gamma radiation? What are- Oh, the sun. You're using the sun."

Dalek Sec nodded. "Soon…the greatest solar flare for a thousand years will hit the Earth. Gamma radiation will be drawn to the energy conductor and when it strikes—"

"The army wakes," the Doctor finished. "I still don't know what you need me for."

"Your genius. Consider a pure Dalek; intelligent but emotionless."

The Doctor sneered. "Removing the emotions makes you stronger. That's what your creator thought all those years ago."

"He was wrong."

Now that was a shock. "He was what?"

The hybrid gestured between them. "It makes us lesser than our enemies. We must return to the flesh. And also…the heart."

He missed the agitation of his fellow Dalek over this statement, but the Doctor didn't. He wondered if the other Dalek would allow Dalek Sec to continue.

"You wouldn't be the supreme beings anymore," he tested.

Dalek Sec nodded. "And that is good."

"That is incorrect," one of the others said.

Another chimed in, "Daleks are supreme."

"No, not anymore," the Dalek leader corrected them.

"But that is our purpose."

The hybrid slammed his hands on the table, snapping at his followers. "Then our purpose is wrong! Where has our quest for supremacy led us? To this. Hiding in the sewers on a primitive world. Just four of us left. If we do not change now then we deserve extinction."

Intrigued, the Doctor tipped his head at the hybrid Dalek. "So you want to change everything that makes a Dalek a Dalek."

"If…you can help me."

Not far from the Doctor, his fiancée, Martha, Tallulah and Frank were in a service lift of the Empire State Building, heading up to the construction area.

"I always wanted to go to the Empire State. Never imagined it quite like this, though," Martha cracked to Rose.

The woman grinned back at her, her abnormal love of adventure cheering her. "Well, we don't exactly get to snap pictures and pick up postcards, but I suppose saving the world will have to make up for it."

"Where are we headed anyway?" Frank asked them, shaking his head at their jokes.

"To the top where they're still building," Rose answered, glancing up at the ceiling.

Tallulah was still shocked at their easy access to the building. "How come those guys just let us through? How's that thing work?"

Martha explained. "Psychic paper. Shows them whatever we want them to think. According to this, we're two engineers, an architect, and a safety inspector."

Frank took the psychic paper and flipped the empty paper over in his hands. "Amazing."

Oblivious to their intruders above, the Daleks continued their work below.

"Your knowledge of genetic engineering is even greater than ours. The new race must be ready by the time the solar flare erupts," Dalek Sec said to the Doctor.

"But you're the template," the Time Lord argued. "I thought they were getting a dose of you."

The Dalek leader surprised him yet again. "I want to change the gene sequence."

"To make them even more human?"

He nodded. "Humans are the great survivors. We need that ability."

"Hold on a minute. There's no way this lot are gonna let you do it," the Doctor said, gesturing to the other Daleks.

"I am their leader," Dalek said as though that explained everything.

Oh, and that's enough for you, is it?" he asked the rest.

"Daleks must follow orders," on intoned.

Another added, "Dalek Sec commands, we obey."

Dalek Sec faced the Doctor, palms up. "If you don't help me…nothing will change."

He had to check one more thing. "There's no room on Earth for another race of people."

"You have your TARDIS. Take us across the stars. Find us a new home and allow the new Daleks to start again," the Dalek leader begged.

"When's that solar flare?" he couldn't believe he was going to do this.

"Eleven minutes."

Nodding, he moved to the panel. "Right then. Better get to work."

Frank and the three women entered the top floor, the same room that Diagoras had been using as an office.

Tallulah whistled as she looked out the windows. "Look at this place. Top of the world."

Martha spotted the architectural plans on the desk and moved over to check them. "Rose, now this looks good."

Rose and Frank joined her, checking the plans.

Frank pointed something out. "Hey, look at the date. These designs were issued today. They must've changed something last minute."

"So the Daleks changed something?" Rose mused. "What was it?"

Frank moved the plans. "The ones underneath, they're from before. That means that whatever they changed must be on this top sheet but not this one. We need to check one against the other."

The chorus girl was still mesmerized by the New York skyline. "The height of this place! This is amazing!"

"Careful, we're a hundred floors up. Don't go wandering off," Martha warned.

"I just wanna see," she reassured her, walking to the open area overlooking the city. "New York City. If aliens had to come to Earth, no wonder they came here."

In the lab, the Doctor checked the equipment and readouts, "There's no point in chromosomal grafting. It's too erratic. You need to split the genome and force the Dalek-human sequence right into the cortex."

"We need more chromatin solution," Dalek Sec said to the others.

"The pig slaves have it," one of the Daleks answered.

Within moments, the pig slaves walked into the room carrying a large crate. Lazlo was one of them.

"These pig slaves, what happens to them in the grand plan?" the Doctor asked, meeting Lazlo's eyes briefly.

Dalek Sec shrugged a bit carelessly. "Nothing. They're just simple beasts. Their lifespan is limited. None survive beyond a few weeks. Power up the engine feeds."

The Doctor moved to the man who had helped him rescue Rose. "Lazlo, I can't undo what they've done to you, but they won't do it to anyone else."

"Do you trust him?" Lazlo asked, seeming resigned to his fate.

The Doctor hesitated, not quite sure himself. "I know that one man can change the course of history. Right idea in the right place at the right time is all it takes. I've got to believe it's possible."

Martha and Frank had spread the plans out on the floor and were kneeling, studying them. Rose and Tallulah were standing nearby, neither one knowing how to read blueprints.

Frank stood, looking toward the lift. "I'll go and keep an eye out, make sure we're safe up here. Don't want nobody buttin' in." He walked out the door they'd come in.

Tallulah glanced at the window. "There's a hell of a storm movin' in."

Martha sighed. "I wish the Doctor was here. He'd know what we're looking for."

"So do I," Rose murmured, looking at the papers.

"SO tell me, where did you and this pair first hook up?" Tallulah asked Martha.

"It was in a hospital, sort of."

"'Course, him bein' a doctor," Tallulah nodded, kneeling beside Martha.

"Actually, I was the doctor. Well, kind of," the black woman corrected. "Rose was a patient."

"You're a physician?" the chorus girl gaped while Martha nodded. "I was training. Still am, if I ever get back home."

Rose smiled at her friend, nudging her shoulder. "You're a great doctor, my friend. And I promise you'll get back home."

"You could be doctors together!" Tallulah gasped. "What a partnership! Oh, it's such a shame. If only he wasn't so attached to Rose here. You know what I mean?"

"Hey!" Rose laughed. "Don't I get a say in this?"

Martha shook her head. "Believe me, Tallulah, you haven't got to see them together much, but what the Doctor and Rose have… it's just… out of this world, no pun intended. There's just nothing that compares to the way they're just drawn to each other, the look in their eyes when they're just focused on each other. I would hate to see how he'd be if he lost Rose."

"Or if I lost him," the woman in question said sadly, lowering her head. She wanted so badly to know how he was and what was happening.

The other blonde woman put an arm around her new friend. "Aw, listen sweetheart. You wanna get all sad? You wanna have a contest with me and Lazlo?"

"But listen, if the Doctor's with Lazlo now, there's every chance that he could get him out," Martha said hopefully.

"And then what? Don't talk crazy. There's no future for me and him. Those Dalek things took that away. The one good thing I had in my life and they destroyed it," Tallulah sniffed, standing and walking back to the open area.

"The line feeds are ready," a Dalek announced in the lab.

The Doctor rushed to a bunch of tubes and extracted the solution inside with a syringe. "Then it's all systems go."

Dalek Sec studied a screen. "The solar flare is imminent. The radiation…will reach Earth in a matter of minutes."

"We'll be ready for it," The Doctor assured him, inserting the syringe into one of the main feeding tubes and injecting the solution. "That compound will allow the gene bonds to reconfigure in a brand new pattern. Power up!"

One of the pig slaves turned on a power switch as did Lazlo.

The Dalek leader instructed. "Start…the line feeds."

One of the Daleks started the machinery and they could see the solution start moving through the tubes.

"There goes the gene solution," the Doctor said with a small amount of satisfaction.

"The life blood," Dalek Sec nodded as the solution started coursing up to the bodies.

"Gotcha! Look!" Martha exclaimed, slapping the paper.

Tallulah rejoined them looking at the plans.

"I don't see it," Rose admitted.

Martha pointed it out. "There, on the mast. Those little lines? They're new. They've added something, see?"

"Added what?" Tallulah asked.

Rose studied the plans. "It looks like… a Dalek…"

All the women exclaimed it at the same time. "Dalekanium!"

A klaxon sounded and red warning lights flashed in the lab.

"What's that?" the Doctor asked, alarmed, studying the readouts.

"What's happening? Is there a malfunction? Answer me!" Dalek Sec shouted.

"No, no, no. The gene feed! They're overriding the gene feed!" he shouted as he rushed to the controls in an attempt to fix the feed.

The Dalek leader gasped. "Impossible. They cannot disobey orders!"

Another Dalek trained his weapon on the Time Lord. "The Doctor will step away from the controls."

The Doctor backed away, hands up.

"Stop! You will not fire," Dalek Sec ordered.

"He is an enemy of the Daleks," the other Dalek informed his leader.

Another pointed its weapon at their leader. "And so are you."

The hybrid said desperately, "I am your commander. I am Dalek Sec."

"You have lost your authority."

"You are no longer a Dalek."

They had been so close! The Doctor swore mentally. "What have you done with the gene feed?"

"The new bodies will be 100% Dalek."

Dalek Sec begged them. "No. You can't do this!"

"Pig slaves, restrain Dalek Sec and the Doctor."

Two pig slaves grabbed Dalek Sec and two more moved to take the Doctor, one of whom was Lazlo.

"Release me. I created you. I am your master," Dalek Sec cried to the pig slaves.

"Solar flare approaching."

"Prepare to intercept."

The Daleks turned towards the machinery, ignoring their prisoners. The lift bell pinged behind them.

"There's the lift," Lazlo said softly.

With a wry grin, the Doctor nodded. "After you."

With a sudden wrench, they pushed their way clear and headed for the lift.

One of the Daleks screamed out. "The Doctor is escaping! Stop him! Stop him!"

The pig slaves followed but the lift doors were already closing. Inside the lift, Lazlo leaned against the side, panting heavily.

"We've only got minutes before the gamma radiation reaches the Earth. We need to get to the top of the building," the Doctor glanced over. "Lazlo, what's wrong?"

"Out of breath. It's nothing. We've escaped them, Doctor. That's all that matters," the brave young man insisted.

The lift doors opened at the top floor and three women turned to see the Doctor and Lazlo.

"Doctor!" Rose cried happily.

"First floor, perfumery," the Doctor grinned, crossing the room quickly to scoop Rose in his arms as she ran to him.

"I never thought I'd see you again!" Tallulah rushed over to Lazlo and he met her halfway where they hugged.

"No stopping me," Lazlo promised.

"I hate to interrupt," Martha said, leading the Doctor over to the plans. "We worked it out. We know what they've done. There's Dalekanium on the mast. And it's good to see you too, by thy way."

"Oh, come here," he grabbed Martha in a big hug and twirled her about. However, he dropped her abruptly as the bell dinged and the lift doors closed. He ran to try and stop it. "No, no, no. Can't even hug a person around Daleks."

He tried to use the sonic screwdriver on the panel. "It's a deadlock seal. I can't stop it."

Rose frowned. "Who's at the bottom, Doctor?"

He looked back at her, "The Daleks. And they're not going to leave us alone up here. What's the time?"

Frank reentered, pleased to see him. "11:15."

"Six minutes to go. I've got to remove the Dalekanium before the gamma radiation hits," the Doctor said grimly.

"Gammon radiation? What the heck is that?" Tallulah asked.

Rose led the Doctor outside, Frank, Martha, Tallulah and Lazlo following. The Doctor looked out on the city.

"Oh, that's high. That's very- Blimey, that's high."

"And we've got to go even higher, love," Rose told him. "That's the mast up there, look. There's three pieces of Dalekanium at the base. We've got to get 'em off."

He shook his head. "That's not 'we'. That's just me."

His fiancée scowled fiercely. "You expect me to just stand here and watch you?"

He kissed her quickly, his hearts swelling with love at her determination to stay at his side. "No, you're gonna have your hands full, anyway. I'm sorry, my love, but you've got to fight."

She watched as the Doctor climbed up the scaffolding, hanging on as high winds and rain blow around him. He reached the base of the mast, took out his sonic screwdriver and used it on the bolts holding the Dalekanium in place

The others go back in, picking up makeshift weapons and facing the lift.

"The lift's coming up," Martha announced.

Frank moved to stand next to her. "I shoulda brought that gun."

"Tallulah, stay back. You too, Martha and Rose. IF they send pig slaves, they're trained to kill."

"The Doctor needs me to fight. I'm not going anywhere!" Rose snarled.

Lazlo shook his head. "They're savages. I should know. They're trained to slit your throat with their bare teeth."

"Lazlo, I've faced a lot worse than pig men," Rose promised him. "I haven't run yet, and I'm not about to start now."

Nodding, suddenly dizzy, Lazlo collapsed to the floor. Tallulah immediately was at his side. "Lazlo? What is it?"

He struggled to stand. "No, it's nothing. I'm fine. Just leave me."

Lazlo fell back to the floor and leaned against the wall. Tallulah knelt beside him and put her hand to his forehead.

"Oh, honey, you're burnin' up. What's wrong with you? Tell me."

Frank looked to Martha grimly. "One man down and we ain't even started yet."

"It's not looking good, Frank," Martha nodded.

"Nope."

Hearing the storm through the open end of the room seemed to jar Rose and she spun.

"Wait a minutes. Lightening!" she exclaimed, running to the other end of the room.

The Doctor struggled with the Dalekanium. He pulled off one panel and moved to the second, hoping Rose was still safe.

Martha and Frank caught on almost immediately and were helping Rose arrange long metal rods from the outside across the room to the lift, making sure they don't touch the floor. Tallulah was with Lazlo.

"Aw, you'll be all right, sweetheart. Don't you worry," she promised him before looking at the others. "What the hell are you clowns doin'?"

Rose explained while she worked. "Even if the Doctor stops the Dalekanium, this place is still gonna get hit. Great big bolt of lightning, electricity all down this building. Connect this to the lift and they get zapped."

"Oh my God, that could work," the girl gasped.

"Then give us a hand," Martha told her.

The Doctor was still working on the second panel when the sonic screwdriver slipped from his fingers and over the edge. The Doctor leaned over and saw that it was gone.

The metal rods now reached the lift, and Rose and Martha were looking at it worriedly.

"Is that gonna work?" Tallulah asked nervously.

"It's got to," Martha insisted.

"I've got it all piped up to the scaffolding outside," Frank said, confident in the idea.

Rose looked at the four of them. "Come here, Frank and sit in the middle and don't touch anything metal. Tallulah, help Lazlo over. I'll protect us from stray voltage."

Martha touched her arm. "Rose, can you do that?"

The woman who had become her closest friend looked at her, determined. "I'll do what I must."

Martha nodded, her heart racing a bit as the increasingly familiar gold swirled in Rose's hazel eyes.

Above, the Doctor tried to pull off the panel with his bare hands, grunting with effort. Knowing there was no way he could get the panels off in time, he stood and looked up to the sky

Martha, Frank, Tallulah and Lazlo huddled in the corner of the room. Rose standing in front of them. Frank leaned close to Martha's ear.

"How's she gonna protect us from stray lightnin', Martha?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you, Frank."

The Doctor climbed the mast and wrapped his arms about it, clinging tight, whispering an apology to Rose in case this caused him to regenerate.

The lift arrived and the doors slid open just as a bolt of lightning struck the mast coursing down it and through the Doctor who screamed into the storm.

The lightning passes along the pipes to the lift, striking the pig slaves, Rose suddenly burst into gold, holding her arms out as the electricity crackled around the room, arching close but held back from the group in the corner.

The pig slaves began to fall as energy charges down the whole of the Empire State Building and into the lab. Once it subsided, Martha, Frank, Tallulah and Lazlo opened their eyes and saw the dead pig slaves in the lift, Rose on her hands and knees in the floor, gasping for breath. Martha moved to check her over, worried. Frank put his arm over her shoulders and helped her sit up.

"How did you do that, Rose?" Tallulah asked, a bit afraid of the woman.

Martha looked into the lift. "They used to be like Lazlo. They were people and I killed 'em."

"No," Lazlo told her. "The Daleks killed them. Long ago."

"What about the Doctor?" Tallulah asked, her eyes darting to the scaffolding.

As though she'd done nothing extraordinary herself, Rose was on her feet in a moment, rushing outside and climbing. By the mast, the Doctor was lying on his back unconscious when Rose, Martha and Frank found him. Martha gasped, the man holding her as Rose rushed to his side.

"Doctor! Doctor!" she gasped out, kneeling next to him, and placing her hands on his chest."Theta, you'd better open your damn eyes."

He groaned, but it was a beautiful sound to her. "Oh my head."

Rose placed a hand on his cheek, beaming at him in relief. "Hiya."

He reached up and covered her hand. "Hi yourself. You all survived then."

"So did you. But look what we found halfway down," she teased, pulling out the sonic screwdriver. "You aren't getting careless, are you?"

He smirked at her, sitting up slowly. "Are you kidding? I promised this woman a wedding and she's not the kind to disappoint."

She kissed him gently, then looked over at the mast. "Doctor, I can't help noticing….there's Dalekanium still attached."

"Yeah, that…" the Doctor said, getting up. "Well, you won't like what I did, instead."

Back inside, the Doctor hugged Rose tightly as he explained to them what he'd learned. "The Daleks will have gone straight to a war footing. They'll be using the sewers, spreading their soldiers out underneath Manhattan."

"How do we stop them?" Lazlo asked.

"There's only one chance. I got in the way. That gamma strike went zapping though me first."

Rose pushed away from him. "That's what you said I wasn't going to like? You put yourself in the path of that bolt of lightning?!"

He looked at her seriously. "It was the only option."

"It could have killed you!"

"The Daleks will certainly kill everyone else."

The two of them stared at each other, connected on a level that almost embarrassed the other people in the room to witness. Finally Rose sighed. He pulled her close again and kissed her forehead.

Sensing it was safe to talk, Martha asked, "But what does that mean for us?"

"We need to draw fire. Before they can attack New York, I need to face them. Think, think, think, think. We need some sort of space, somewhere safe, somewhere out of the way. Tallulah!"

She brightened at the chance to help. "That's me. Three Ls and an H."

"The theatre! It's right above them, and, what, it's gone midnight? Can you get us inside?" the Doctor asked.

She shrugged. "Don't see why not."

"Is there another lift?" he asked, glancing at the dead pig men.

"We came up in the service elevator," Rose told him, pulling away and taking his hand, certain they were moving.

"That'll do. Allons-y!"

After a bit of running, the small band of warriors arrived at the darkened theatre.

The Doctor looked around with a satisfied smile. "This should do it. Here we go." The Doctor switched on the sonic screwdriver.

"There ain't nothin' more creepy than a theatre in the dark," Tallulah insisted. "Listen, Doctor, I know everyone loves a good show, but there's a time and place, huh?"

Lazlo fell into one of the chairs beside them.

"Lazlo, what's wrong?" the chorus girls asked, sitting next to him.

"Nothing. It's just so hot," he gasped.

She was confused. "But…it's freezing in here. Doctor, what's happening to him?"

The Doctor was listening to the sonic screwdriver, checking its frequency, "Not now, Tallulah. I'm sorry."

"What are you doing?" Martha asked curiously.

Rose watched him, knowing exactly what he planned. "If the Daleks are going to war, they'll wanna find their number one enemy. He's just telling them where he is."

The Doctor held up the sonic screwdriver and turned it on, shooting her a grin as the rest of them looked at the pair as though they were insane.

He looked back at them. "I'm telling you now to go. Frank can take you all back to Hooverville."

Martha shook her head. "I'm not Rose, I know, but I'm telling you I'm not going."

"Martha, that's an order."

She frowned at him, "Who are you, then? Some sort of Dalek?"

The doors to the theatre burst open and the human Daleks arrived, flanking them.

"Oh, my God! Well I guess that's them then, huh?" Tallulah gasped.

Rose murmured, "Humans…with Dalek DNA."

Frank moved to attack them but the Doctor pulled him back. "It's all right. Just stay calm. Don't antagonize them."

Lazlo groaned as he sat up, looking around. "But what about the Dalek masters? Where are they?"

There was an explosion on stage and the Doctor and the others ducked behind the seats for cover. The Doctor and Rose peered over the seats, and, as the smoke cleared, saw two Daleks with Dalek Sec chained and walking on all fours. The Doctor stood slowly motioning for Rose and the others to stay down.

"The Doctor will stand before the Daleks. The Abomination will stand with him."

The Doctor stepped over a chair and walked forward on the backs of the rows until he reached the front row. "There's no need to drag her into it."

"She is guilty of murdering Daleks, and is connected to the Doctor. She will join you!"

Rose stood, frowning. "Calm yourself, yeah? I'm right here."

She moved to his side, taking his hand. The Doctor sighed, hating that she was almost as big a target for the Daleks as he was.

"You will die, Doctor. And this creature will die with you. It is the beginning of a new age," one of the Daleks announced.

"Planet Earth will become New Skaro," the other intoned.

"Oh, and what a world," the Doctor sneered. "With anything just the slightest bit different ground into the dirt. That's Dalek Sec. Don't you remember? The cleverest Dalek ever and look what you've done to him. Is that your new empire? Hmm? Is that the foundation for a whole new civilization?"

"My Daleks…just understand this. If you choose death and destruction, then death and destruction will choose you," Dalek Sec tried to reason with them.

"Incorrect. We will always survive."

"Now we will destroy our greatest enemy, the Doctor, and the Abomination that is so important to him."

"Why do you keep calling me the Abomination?" Rose snapped. "It's rather insulting, you know?"

"You are human, and not," the first Dalek replied. "You are outside of time, and your emotions are dangerous. You are an Abomination to the superior Dalek, and are classified dangerous."

The Doctor smirked at her, "Just another reason I love you."

"The Doctor will die now!"

Dalek Sec cried out, "But he can help you."

"The Doctor must die."

"No, I beg you, don't," Dalek Sec begged, crawling in front of the Dalek aiming at the Doctor.

"Exterminate!"

Dalek Sec stood just as the Dalek fired. He died instantly, falling to the stage.

The Doctor curled his lip in disgust. "Your own leader. The only creature who might have led you out of the darkness and you destroyed him." He turned to the human Daleks. "Do you see what they did? Huh? You see what a Dalek really is?"

The Doctor looked at Rose, silently asking her to trust him. She smiled at him, and squeezed his hand confidently.

He looked at the Daleks. "If we're gonna die, let's give the new boys a shot. What do you think, eh Rose? The Dalek-Humans. Their first blood. Reckon we ought to baptize them?"

She nodded, shooting a challenging look at the two Daleks in front of them. "Definitely. I'd say it's the perfect test."

The Doctor held his arm out to his side, still grasping Rose's hand. He was banking his life, and something much more important, Rose, on his theory.

"Dalek-Humans, take aim."

The Dalek-Humans cocked their weapons and aim them at the Doctor and his fiancée.

"What are you waiting for? Give the command!" the Doctor taunted.

"Exterminate!"

Both the Doctor and Rose closed their eyes and Martha ducked her head against Frank's chest. But nothing happened.

A Dalek screamed, "Exterminate!"

Still nothing happened, prompting everyone to open their eyes.

"Obey. Dalek-Humans will obey."

Martha gasped. "Not firing. What have you done?"

"You will obey. Exterminate!"

One of the hybrids turned. "Why?"

The Doctor looked at the former foreman.

"Daleks do not question orders," the Daleks snapped.

"But why?"

Rose grinned up at the Doctor.

"You will stop this," the Dalek insisted furiously.

"But…why?"

"You must not question!"

The hybrid shook his head. "But you are not our master. And we…we are not Daleks."

"No, you're not, and you never will be," the Doctor grinned at the Daleks. "Sorry, I got in the way of the lightening strike. Time Lord DNA got all mixed up. Just that little bit of freedom."

"If they will not obey, then they must die," the Daleks insisted coldly, shooting the man.

"Get down!" Rose shouted, yanking the Doctor down out of the line of fire as both factions fire on each other.

"Exterminate! Exterminate!"

Both the Daleks on the stage were destroyed and the human Daleks stopped firing. Everyone stands, and the Doctor and Rose moved over to one of the hybrids.

"It's all right. It's all right. It's all right. You did it. You're free," the Doctor said with a smile.

Suddenly, all the hybrids gripped their heads and screamed in pain.

"No!" he cried out as the human Daleks crumbled to the ground. "They can't! They can't! They can't!"

Rose wrapped her arms around him as they knelt next to a body.

Martha walked over to them. "What happened? What was that?"

The Doctor barely held back a sob. "They killed 'em. Rather than let them live. An entire species. Genocide."

"Only two of the Daleks have been destroyed. One of the Dalek masters must still be alive," Lazlo pointed out.

The Doctor stood. "Oh, yes. In the whole universe, just one."

He left, heading for the lab.

When he entered the last Dalek was still attached to the computer.

"Now what?" the Time Lord asked bleakly.

"You will be exterminated."

The Doctor waved dismissively. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Just think about it, Dalek- What was your name?"

"Dalek Caan."

He walked torward the Dalek. "Dalek Caan. Your entire species has been wiped out. And now the Cult of Skaro has been eradicated. Leaving only you. Right now you're facing the only man in the universe who might show you some compassion. 'Cause I've just seen one genocide. I won't cause another. Caan…let me help you. What do you say?"

Rose watched from the doorway.

"Emergency Temporal Shift!"

Dalek Caan disappeared leaving the wires hanging and a very angry Doctor who charged too late. Rose was halfway across the room when Martha and Tallulah entered, helping to support Lazlo.

"Doctor! Doctor! He's sick," Martha cried out.

Lazlo was breathing heavily, wheezing. They lowered him to the floor, Tallulah cradling him on her lap.

"It's okay, baby. You're all right," she crooned.

The Doctor approached them and knelt. He felt his hearts breaking for them. Seeing them, he knew that he would be dying if that were Rose in his arms.

Martha began describing symptoms. "It's his heart. It's racing like mad. I've never seen anything like it."

The chorus girl looked up in terror. "What is it, Doctor? What's the matter with him? He says he can't breathe? What is it?"

Lazlo gasped out, "It's time, sweetheart."

"What do you mean 'time'? What are you talking about?"

He groaned, trying to make her understand. "None of the slaves …survive for long. Most of them only live a few weeks. I was lucky. I held on 'cause I had you. But now…I'm dyin', Tallulah."

"No you're not. Not now, after all this. Doctor, can't you do somethin'?"

He looked up at Rose, who looked pointedly around the lab. With a brilliant grin, he said, "Oh, Tallulah with three Ls and an H…just you watch me."

The Doctor stood and took off his coat, tossing it aside like he did in his TARDIS. Rose caught it deftly and grinned.

"What do I need? Oh, I don't know. How about a great big genetic laboratory? Oh look, I've got one. Lazlo, just you hold on."

He ran about the lab, mixing up a solution, talking all the while, "There's been too many deaths today. Way too many people have died. Brand new creatures and wise old men and age-old enemies. And I'm tellin' you, I'm tellin' you right now, I am not having one more death! Got that? Not one! Tallulah, out of the way."

The Doctor took a stethoscope out of his pock and put it on. "The Doctor is in."

The night was long, but the next morning found all of them walking toward Hooverville. Frank went on ahead, but he met them at a bench just a ways from the settlement. The form of Lazlo was bundled in an overcoat and hat, but Tallulah held his arm devotedly.

"Well I talked to 'em and I told 'em what Solomon would've said and I reckon I shamed one or two of 'em," Frank said as he returned.

"What did they say?" Martha asked.

"They said yes," he smiled.

Tallulah hugged Lazlo.

Frank nodded, "They'll give you a home, Lazlo. I mean, uh, don't imagine people ain't gonna stare. I can't promise you'll be at peace but, in the end, that is what Hooverville is for, people who ain't got nowhere else."

"Thank you. I—I can't thank you enough," Lazlo said, his voice thick with emotion.

"Hey, least I can do for a friend, right?" the man replied.

They exchanged hugs and goodbyes. Martha and Tallulah hugged and the chorus girl whispered to her.

"I see what you meant now," she nodded at the Doctor and Rose, who were clinging to each other still. "But still, that someone is just out there waitin' on ya. Don't you go givin' up on him before you even find him."

"Believe me, Tallulah," Martha said with confidence. "When I find the guy that makes me feel like that, I know now to hold tight as I can."

When the three time travelers returned to Liberty Island, they paused to look out at the Manhattan skyline.

"Do you reckon it's gonna work, those two?" Martha couldn't help but ask.

"I don't know," the Doctor admitted. "Anywhere else in the universe, I might worry about them, but New York, that's what this city's good at. Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, and maybe the odd pig-slave-Dalek-mutant-hybrid too."

She laughed. "The pig and the showgirl."

"The pig and the showgirl," he repeated with a smile.

"Just proves it, I suppose. There's someone for everyone," the medical student nodded.

The Doctor pulled Rose into his arms, his smile falling as he thought over all the times and ways he could have lost her already. His hold tightened a bit.

"There is," Rose confirmed. "Even crazy, danger prone non-humans."

He looked down at her, smiling a bit at her cheeky grin. "They could have killed you."

She nodded. "And you could have killed yourself with the lightning gag. I don't ask you to stop being who you are, don't even consider asking me to."

Dropping a kiss on her lips, he turned and entered the TARDIS, the two women following.

"Meant to say…sorry," Martha said.

"What for?"

"Just 'cause that Dalek got away. I know what that means to you. Think you'll ever see it again?"

Rose sighed. "Oh yes. One day."

The Doctor moved to set the controls to take them off.

"They always return, don't they?" he murmured.

A/N: Please leave lots of reviews, telling me what you think. It really encourages me to continue this project when I hear from the people who read it. I'm going to go work on The Lazarus Experiment now. Love and kisses to all!