"YOU ARE AN ENEMY OF THE DALEKS. YOU MUST BE DESTROYED."

He waited for the pain, because while he'd never had the pleasure of feeling a Dalek's ray that was meant to kill, he'd heard stories from those lucky enough to regenerate after a glancing blow. He thought of Rose, stuck seven years ahead of her time, in a country with a man he didn't want to even think about her being near. He thought of the Time Lords lost in another Universe and how he was likely to meet the same fate as those other twelve that were unfortunately caught in the cross fire of their clever plan.

But nothing happened.

He turned away from the door and looked at the Dalek. If such a creature could express emotion, if it could even have emotion, it would have looked quite befuddled. As it was, the way the eye stock kept looking down at its blaster and back at the Doctor, the way the blaster moved about, was pathetically adorable on the tin-can menace.

Laughter came from the Doctor before he even realized it was happening. Peels of it, making his chest ache for lack of breath and his eyes stretch wide with madness of it all.

"Oh, look at you." He said, shaking his head. Bitterness twisted his smile and colored his voice as he slowly stalked toward his greatest enemy. "Here we are, in a room with no way for me to escape, and you chained down but your blasters free, and you can't kill me. If you lot could feel anything more than hate I bet you would be raging right about now." He threw his arms wide as if to make himself a bigger target as he stared down the eye stock. "Your one function in life, and you can't even do that properly." He ran a hand through his curls, tugging them a bit before letting his hands fall against his side with a thud. "You're useless. Last of the Daleks, and you can't even carry on the prime directive. Best thing to happen to the Universe, really. But still…."

His mind trailed off, thinking of the moment Gallifrey disappeared and the entire Dalek fleet wiped itself out.

"LAST OF THE DALEKS?" The Dalek questioned. "EXPLAIN! EXPLAIN!"

The Doctor chuckled darkly. "You destroyed yourselves, with a bit of my help. Well, mine and a few other Time Lords that you were trying so desperately to destroy. You lost the war. But then again, so did we."

"YOU LIE." The Dalek retorted.

"I only wish. We're it, you and I. There are no more Daleks out there, no more Time Lords. That's why I was the one who picked up your distress call, because it was yours, I know it was. And they were treating you horribly in here, I cannot deny that. But …." He turned away, pulling at his hair again. "But knowing everything you've likely done since the moment of your creation, I'm almost willing to believe it's for the best. Letting them destroy you in this way, slowly making you go insane." He looked at the switches to the side, following a wire from the back of the controls to where it connected to part of the chains holding the Dalek.

The Doctor went to the switch and caressed it.

"It would be so easy to wipe you from existence. Flip this switch, up the voltage, and no more Daleks. Just like I should have done a very, very long time ago."

"HAVE PITY." The Dalek stated.

"Why? Dalek's have never shown pity, I don't think you even know what it means to pity. You're a danger to this planet, these people. Functioning or not, I don't doubt you'll find a way to get what you want in the end, your kind have always been a bit crafty."

He ran his fingers over the handle of the switch one last time, and on impulse, flipped it.

He couldn't say that he felt guilty over the screams of agony, not when he knew the terror the bloody Daleks had spread throughout the universe. But there was a sick, twisting knot in his stomach that made him throw the switch back off just as Van Stattan and the Dalek's tormentor came back in.

"You're absolutely right, there's something inside," He said to the both of them, his big Time Lord brain forgetting who said what not fifteen minutes before. "It's nasty, I'm not sure you want to see it. But I will tell you this," He pointed to the golden shell protecting the mutation inside. "That is the most dangerous creature in the universe. If it gains power, if it gets out, it could wipe out half the country before your president even has a chance to issue a state of emergency. Destroy it, for the love of Rassilon, don't let it live with all these innocents in this base." He stepped from the room, hearing Van Statten starting to spout orders but not really hearing what they are.

"Doctor?" Rose's voice cut through some of the fog, and he turned to see her approaching him cautiously. The young man who barely took his eyes off of her from the moment they entered Van Statten's office was hovering close by as if he could somehow protect Rose from whatever harm the Time Lord could cause her.

As if he would.

"I'm alright." He said without feeling, meeting Rose's warm brown eyes. He could tell she knew he was lying, and took a step toward her.

The young man advanced as well, narrowing his eyes a bit.

Rolling his eyes, the Doctor took another, larger step to close most of the distance between he and Rose. Cupping her cheek a moment before he realized how forward such a gesture was, he dropped his hand on her shoulder and put on an insincere grin. "I promise, I will be alright."

"Didn't look alright in there." She said with a forced joviality that warmed his hearts.

"It's …." He couldn't find the words, and he didn't have the time as Van Statten came around the corner.

"Doctor," he said with a smarmy grin that made the Doctor's lip want to curl in disgust. "Walk with me."

"Why?" He asked with a sigh.

"I want to discuss this Dalek with you." He replied, hands behind his back, rolling on his heels a little.

Another sigh, and the Doctor looked to Rose once more. She looked torn, chewing her lower lip and wringing her fingers. He wanted to pull her close, hold her, but didn't think she would appreciate that.

It was nice to realize he was coming back to himself, especially after the war. He'd always been physically affection with his companions in this body. The ones he called friends, even more so, but that had changed as he entered the war. And yet, despite realizing he was becoming himself again, he didn't want to push things with Rose. He didn't want to hug her, hold her hand too much, in case she thought him forward, or maybe some sort of creep like Van Statten seemed to be.

"I could show her my workshop." The young English man volunteered. Rose stopped ringing her fingers as she went rigid at his statement. "I mean, if she wants to, that is."

Rose barely looked over her shoulder at Van Statten's employee, before she leaned toward The Doctor. "I can." She said with uncertainty. "I mean, I think … I think you need some space, yeah?" She whispered to him. "And if this Van Statten bloke can help you with the Dalek, thing …."

"Are you comfortable with being on your own with this …." He eyed the eager young man, suspicious of his motives for getting his Rose, his friend, alone. There was no polite word on the top of his tongue, so the Doctor left it, allowing Rose to fill in the blanks where she would.

She rolled her eyes, humor sparkling in them as her lips gave just the barest hint of a smile. "This one's harmless compared to some of the blokes I've been around." The humor and smile faded as she placed her hand on his extended arm. "Just worried about you."

"Don't be." He said, wondering to himself if maybe it wasn't the best thing in the world that he felt a flicker of something that he hadn't since Charley left. "I'll talk some sense into this …."

"Doctor." Van Statten said with a touch of impatience that had the Doctor huff quietly.

"All will be well." He said, squeezing Rose's shoulder. With a nod, he turned to face the private collector, weary of the wicked delight in the man's eyes.

"So, tell me about this Dalek, Doctor."

~DW~

"Sorry about the mess," Adam said. And Rose knew his name because the introduction was one of the first of many things he spouted off the moment they were alone. Adam Mitchell, the youngest graduate with a double masters some university-that-Rose-couldn't-give-two-figs-about had ever seen had been head hunted by the oh so great Henry Van Statten nearly the moment the diploma was in his hand.

He never once said exactly what those masters were in, but Rose was sure they were quite impressive.

"Mister Van Statten sorta lets me do my own thing," Adam continued as he cleared a spare chair in the room. He turned to smile at Rose, all cocky charms and self-assurance. Like far too many other blokes she'd met in her life. "So long as I deliver the goods." He added with a subtle wink that could pass for an eye twitch if Rose wasn't receptive.

Which she really wasn't.

Oh, he was her type in the physical sense. He was fit, tall, dark hair and eyes, charming smile and all that. But for some reason she didn't want to think on too much, he was lacking. And maybe just a bit appalling. The latter could have been because of his mannerisms and the like, she never did find guys who knew they were clever attractive.

Except for the Doctor.

Who wasn't her type at all.

And alien to boot.

But she still found him attractive, even though she didn't want to admit it even to herself.

"What do you think that is?" Adam broke her inner thoughts, and she frowned at him before realizing she had been walking along the work bench, running her fingers over random bits of alien things as she went. Her fingers had come to rest on a chunk of something cool, and she picked it up to look at it.

"A lump of metal." Rose said, though her voice inflicted to sound like a question. It was an old habit from the days of Jimmy, and even before. Never make a boy or man look stupid, that's what her Mum always said, their egos couldn't handle it.

"Yeah, yeah but I think, well, I'm almost certain, it's from a hull of a spacecraft."

Rose looked down at the metal in her hand. It looked like a part of a car, or a building. Honestly, it could have come from anything, and likely had. So, she smiled and nodded, carefully placing the metal piece down on the table.

"The thing is," Adam said, leaning against the table in a way that Rose imagined he thought made him look casual and relaxed. She wondered if maybe he idolized Van Statten for more reasons than simply giving him a job. He continued without noticing the slight, quick curl of revulsion Rose's lips took. "The thing is, it's all true. You've seen it, that Dalek thing. It's things like that the United Nations tries to keep quiet. Spacecrafts, aliens, visitors to Earth, it's been going on for years. The Universe is teeming with life, and the average person walking down the street doesn't think on it at all."

"Right." She said simply to fill in the moment of silence.

"And I get to come here, each day, and be amongst this magnificent collection of things from worlds away."

"And you catalogue it." She tried not to sound patronizing.

"Best job in the world." Adam said with a lift of his chin.

"Right. So, someone with a double … masters, or something, from … somewhere. Best job in the world for you is something my mate Shireen does after going through a foundations course?"

Adam looked gob smacked, and Rose tried her damnedest not to snicker. She may have smirked a little, but quickly tamed it down.

Adam shrugged, "Well, you see, Van Statten has agents. I was head hunted, remember? Anyway, agents all over the world looking for geniuses to recruit."

"And you're a genius?" She said, her smirk threatening to emerge once more.

"Sorry, but yeah. Can't help it, I was born clever."

"You were born something." Rose mumbled under her breath as she turned to look at other artifacts spread out on the work bench.

"When I was eight, I logged onto the US Defence System, nearly caused World War Three." He bragged with a glint in his eye and a smug grin on his face.

"What, and that's funny, is it?" She asked, furrowing her brow as she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Well you should've been there, just to see them running about! Fantastic!"

"Doesn't sound it to me." Rose replied as neutrally as she possibly could.

"Oh, but it was." He sobered. "But I suppose if you're with that Doctor bloke from UNIT, probably shouldn't be bragging about hacking the government." He chuckled, and Rose forced a smile. She tried to remember if she'd heard about it in passing, but it wasn't ringing any bells. Before she could think of something to deflect her lack of knowledge, Adam started looking shy. "So … is it just through work that you're with the Doctor? Or are you two …?"

She blinked, stunned silent for a moment before her brain finally caught up to what he was saying. "No, we're just friends." She replied, a wave of disappointment crashing on her as she said the words. But it was fine that they were just friends.

Yes, there was likely some sort of spark on her end. He was lovely, after all. But being "just friends" was likely still for the best. After all, they still didn't know one another as well as they should. She knew he had a dark streak, it showed up when facing the merciless. But the extent of it that he demonstrated today proved they still had a ways to go before they could….

No, he was a Time Lord, far too good to even have a fleeting thought about a Chav from the estates.

"Good." Adam said with a firm nod.

"Why's it good?" Rose asked.

She regretted it the moment Adam beamed at her like she'd just promised him a date. "Just is." He said, attempting to sound relaxed and failing miserably.

Rose cleared her throat, inching away from him a slight bit.

"So, up here with these bits of metal and stuff, but there's an actual alien below. Must be a bit of a blow, not being able to work with him."

"Well, heard your Doctor say it's dangerous, yeah? And we all know it is. The thing that happened a few years back? I still remember seeing it on the news, though it didn't get down here, obviously." Adam said a bit smugly. Then he got a mischievous look about him as he headed toward the computer on another work station. "Although, if you're a genius, it doesn't take long to patch into the comms system and watch the ones who do get to work with it."

Rose followed him, a bit too curious in a morbid sort of way to see what was going on when it was thought no one was looking. Part of her didn't want to see it, not after the way the Doctor attempted to electrocute it. The Dalek had screamed in agony, but the Doctor didn't even flinch. But then, she also remembered him saying it had caused all kinds of trouble, of pain and suffering, and she wasn't so sure the Doctor was entirely in the wrong.

She was reminded of the Gelth, and how Gwyneth couldn't see how they were trying to use her. Perhaps, in a way, the Doctor's view was like hers but in the opposite way. He couldn't help but see that the Dalek would only be trouble.

Adam had the screen up, showing the Dalek in the room with the man in the haz-mat suit. The man was doing something to the Dalek that sounded a lot like drilling, and the high-pitched screams coming from the tin-can alien sounded far, far worse than anything the Doctor had been doing.

She cringed, wondering where the Doctor was and how he could possibly think this was a good idea. She remembered him saying it needed to be destroyed before it wiped out the planet, but wasn't there a more … humane way to go about it? Did the Dalek need to be in so much pain while it happened?

"Talk, and this stops." The man on the screen said as he paused his assault for a moment. When the Dalek remained silent, the man chuckled wickedly and went back to his torture.

"I can't … I can't handle this. I need to get down there and stop that." She said, turning away from the computer.

"But the Doctor said it needed to be destroyed." Adam said, smiling in confusion.

"Yeah, but I bet he didn't think it'd be tortured like that." She said over her shoulder as she made her way out the room and back down toward the cage.

~DW~

It didn't sit well with the Doctor that Van Statten's armed guards followed them into the lift. Goddard, he could understand, but those men at their backs did nothing to make him assured this was merely going to be a discussion. He wasn't precisely thrilled over Rose heading off with that brown-noser, but seeing where this was going, it was for the best that she had.

"So, tell me, Doctor of UNIT, what's the outside of this Dalek, if what's inside is the actual creature?"

"It's battle armor." The Doctor replied, eyes on the gun nearest to him.

"And what's it look like?" Van Statten asked.

"Revolting. Like melted, putrid flesh of something that hadn't quite been formed before its creator gave up it. Which, I sometimes wonder if that was actually the case. They were genetically engineered with every single emotion stripped away, all but hate, anyway. Hate for every and anything that isn't a Dalek or its creator."

Van Statten smirked. "Genetically engineered by whom?"

"His name was Davros, and he was a genius. The king of his own little world, much like you. Believed things should only ever be his way, damn the consequences. Just remember that the death and destruction he caused was not limited to one planet or race, and certainly not just to his time." The Doctor warned, hoping a stern gaze would wipe the smug grin off Van Statten's face. When it didn't work, he turned to Goddard. "How long has it been here?"

"It's been on Earth for over fifty years, sold at a private auction moving from one collection to another. It's never done anything since its recovery from a crater in Ascension Islands. It screamed for three days, and I think people thought it'd gone insane."

"Be thankful it didn't. A sane Dalek is a bit mad."

"But why would it wake up now? Why is it such a threat?" She asked with genuine curiosity.

"I'm afraid it came to life because I arrived. I have a history with the Daleks, one that goes back much further than I care to admit. And sadly, nothing spurs life back in to anything than facing down an old enemy."

"You said something about a war?" She asked kindly.

The Doctor smiled, "Ruthless when needed, but a gentle and understanding when it counts. You are going to go quite far, Diana Goddard. Yes, I mentioned a war. It was a battle, the final battle, really, between my people and the Dalek race. That creature fell through time somehow, hit by a temporal weapon or pushed through a portal of some sort. The only survivor."

"But you survived, too." Van Statten noted, trying to sound casual. Maybe he did to the average observer, but the Doctor knew better. He hadn't survived in this body for over a millennium by not being aware of his surroundings or people.

Slipping his hands in his leather jacket pockets, his fingers wrapped around the sonic screwdriver within. He thumbed the settings as he gave a casual shrug and a put-on frown.

"It wasn't my intention. I was hardly suicidal, but it wasn't my intention to be the only survivor, apart from our friend there." He said, finding the setting and pushing the button on his device to disable the weapons.

The gentle whir of the sonic baffled Van Statten, and he looked to the lights accusingly. The guards didn't seem to notice anything, and they likely wouldn't until they went to fire only to find the clip jammed.

"That means," Van Statten said, returning his stare to the Doctor, "that the Dalek isn't the only alien on Earth, Doctor. There's you. The only one of your kind in existence."

"And I bet you're just itching to add me to your collection, aren't you?" The Doctor turned to face him, hands coming out of his pockets so he could cross his arms over his chest. "You want to run scans and tests, do everything but dissect me, then put me in a glass cage so you can admire me any time you wish. You want to claim you have an alien to those you discern to be worthy of the knowledge. But you see, Van Statten, I am the sole survivor of a war, and what do you think it takes to accomplish such a feat?" The lift chimed, and when the doors opened to reveal what the Doctor could only describe as another torture chamber, he wheeled around to look at Van Statten.

Fury moved through his veins, causing his fists to clench and his nostrils flare. A muscle in his jaw twitched, and Van Statten visibly recoiled.

"You are the worst kind of coward, aren't you?" He asked as he heard the guns click but not fire. "They say I am for running from the war, for refusing to fight. But you? Oh, you march me down here to your little room for a bit of exploratory surgery. Want to learn what is different about me, what sets a Time Lord apart from a human?" He stalked forward, seeing Goddard step between him and the guards in the corner of his eye while he focused on the quivering beast before him. "But you can't ask with polite curiosity, can you? No, you need to use what you learn for profit. I bet you don't just collect wonderful pieces of life beyond your atmosphere, you scavenge it."

"I … I found a few things, yeah."

"And what, exactly, did you think the Dalek could give you, huh?" The Doctor challenged. When Van Statten didn't answer, he shook his head. "I'm going to hazard a guess and say Military advancements. But not just the American government, your greed and ambition is too great for something so patriotic. Highest bidder, I'd wager."

He must have hit a nerve, as Van Statten sucked in a breath and looked quite put out.

"And what are you going to tell your little friends at UNIT, huh?" Van Statten asked, jabbing the Doctor in his chest with a pointed finger. There was a flinch of pain from the former that both the Doctor and Van Statten ignored as he ranted on. "Anything you think you're going to walk out of here knowing is going to be wiped from your brain. In fact, I'd like to wager you're going to forget so much of what's happened you'll forget what your name even is."

"I'd love to see you try." The Doctor retorted.

"It can be quite easily arranged." Van Statten smiled smugly.

Before another word could be said between them, the overhead lights turned red and flashing, and a voice came over an intercom: "Condition red! Repeat, condition red! This is not a drill."

"Condition red?" The Doctor asked as Van Statten lost a bit of his coloring.

"It's the cage."

"The Dalek."

"Something's happened."

"As I knew it would. It found power somehow, and now we're in trouble."

"Nothing can escape the cage."

"Are you willing to put your life on the line with that knowledge?"

There was barely a pause.

"To my office, we can find out what's going on there." Van Statten said, turning to the elevators.

"Make it so," The Doctor said with a sigh, earning a quirk of an eyebrow from Goddard, but no reaction from the idiot that got them into this new and dangerous mess.

~DW~

She imagined that Adam felt right impressive, flashing his level three badge around and claiming special access. Which, really, only proved more to Rose that he likely was too terrified to see what was actually inside "the cage" before this moment since he clearly could have at any point.

The Dalek's torturer refused to leave, assuming Rose and Adam needed protection. Maybe they would, she had seen how the Doctor reacted, heard what he said. But what was happening to it, the sounds it was making ….

"Hello?" Rose said to the Dalek, approaching slowly and keeping eye contact with the part of the top she assumed it saw with, the telescope bit that followed the Doctor about the room when he was in it. It seemed focused on her as well, which wasn't as odd as she may have found it a month ago. When the Dalek didn't say anything, she licked her lips and took a fortifying breath. "Are you in pain? My name's Rose Tyler, I'm a friend of the Doctor's, but I don't want to hurt you. Do you … do you have a name?"

"YES." It replied.

"What?" She asked, tilting her head to the side.

"I AM IN PAIN." It said quite slowly, it's voice crackling. "THEY TORTURED ME. BUT THEY STILL FEAR ME. DO YOU FEAR ME, FRIEND OF THE DOCTOR?"

She shook her head. "No." She said honestly.

It lowered its telescope thing as if trying to hang its head.

"I AM DYING."

"No, can't be." She said gently.

"I WELCOME DEATH. BUT I AM GLAD … THAT BEFORE I DIE … I MET A HUMAN WHO WAS NOT AFRAID."

Rose's heart twisted in agony. Maybe this Dalek wasn't like the others? Maybe he'd (or she, really) ran from the wars like the Doctor had, tried to find another way to end the feud without bloodshed. Perhaps the Doctor was blinded by hate and pain and poor memories and couldn't see this one was different.

"Isn't there anything I can do?" She asked softly, eyes stinging.

"MY RACE IS DEAD. I SHALL DIE ALONE." It said.

"No," She said, sniffing and making sure the tears in her eyes did not spill over. "No, not alone. I'm here, I'll be here with you." She said, giving it a sad smile before reaching out to touch it on the top of its head.

"Rose, no!" Adam yelled, but her hand was already on the warm metal surface.

And then it was hot enough to burn, and remembering hearing the last person to touch it caught fire, she pulled her hand back immediately. It was red and sore, like she'd touched her hand on a hot pan, but nothing worse.

There was a hand print on the shell where she'd touched, and it seemed as if the Dalek was coming back to life from her kindness.

"GENETIC MATERIAL EXTRAPOLATED, INITIATE CELLULAR RECONSTRUCTION!"

The chains around the Dalek began to snap as its body seemed to partly repair itself before their eyes, sparks flying in the process.

"What the hell have you done?" The Dalek's torturer demanded, shoving Rose back where she landed against Adam's chest. They stumbled back, and he grabbed her arms to steady her as they watched the haz-mat clad man approach the restored mini-tank. "What are you gonna do? Sucker me to death?" He asked it mockingly.

His scream of surprise was cut off by the plunger like part of the Dalek as it suctioned itself to his face. As Adam turned Rose around to run from room, the sound of bones crunching halted any cries the former torture might have made.

The door slammed shut behind them, and another man who was at the controls and monitors got on the PA and sounded the alarm.

"Is this all that can be done?" Rose asked.

"We can't do anything else," The Man retorted as they waited to hear from someone of a higher authority.

In a space of time that felt like hours and seconds at once, the Doctor, Van Statten, and Miss Goddard appeared on the screen.

"What's happened?" The Doctor asked.

"It's my fault." Rose confessed immediately, keeping her emotions in check as best she could between the panic, fear, and pain all struggling against the agony of possibly disappointing the Doctor in this. "I felt sorry for it. I wanted to comfort it when it was dying, I didn't know I could …."

"Rose, none of this is your fault, even if you were somehow the catalyst." The Doctor reassured.

"Says you." Van Statten snapped. "Anything that happens is on you, crumpet."

"No," The Doctor said through clinched teeth. "Anything that happens is on you, Van Statten, for having that thing here alive in the first place."

"I've sealed the compartment," the man at the controls spoke up. "It can't get out. The lock's got a billion combinations."

"The Dalek's a genius, a real one. It can calculate a trillion combinations in a second. You all need to get out of there now. Don't wait for anything, just go." The Doctor locked eyes on Rose, pleading with her.

"We should wait until the guards get here," Adam said, putting a hand on her shoulder to get her attention. It was oddly comforting considering everything that happened and just how obnoxious he was before. But his genuine fear and concern showed Rose a bit of what she hoped was the real Adam.

"Alright." She said with a nod.

"Rose," The Doctor urged her, and she turned back to him.

"Thing gets out, Doctor, pretty defenseless down here. Least with a guard we might have protection, yeah?"

The Doctor seemed torn for a moment before relenting. "Okay, wait for the guard."

"Make sure they know not to actually kill it." Van Statten said to the guy at the controls. "Disarm it, subdue it, do what you have to to render it useless again. I want it alive."

"So you can torture it again?" Rose asked as the heavy tread of running soldiers reached her ears and grew louder.

"I want information." Van Statten said, eyeing the Doctor with a near lustful expression.

"De Maggio," The guy at the controls said as soon as the footsteps stopped. There was a click, and the doors to the cage began to open. "Take the civilians and get them out alive. That is your job, got that?"

One of the guards, a woman, nodded once and turned to Rose and Adam. "You two, with me."

Rose didn't have to be told twice, and without looking back, she took off with the guard.

~DW~

Seeing her leave had filled the Doctor with both relief and unease. He hated not seeing for himself that she was alright, but as the Dalek escaped the cage and came toward the monitor from which they were able to communicate with, he was glad she wasn't there to witness everything else that was happening.

The guards fled when it became apparent that nothing was going to stop it, and the Dalek had smashed the two-way monitor, causing Diana to tap into the security system to monitor what was happening.

"We're losing power, it's draining the base." She said, a nervous crack to her otherwise business-toned voice.

Wait for it, the Doctor thought to himself with a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"It's raiding the power supplies for the whole of Utah." She said, a bit more shocked now.

There we go.

"Sir, the entire West Coast has gone down."

"That's because it's downloading all the information it can get. Not just from this base, it's accessing Earth's Internet, drawing from it all the available information, probably in an attempt to find other Daleks. It likely doesn't believe it's the only one to survive."

Diana and Van Statten exchanged looks of concern.

"What is it?" The Doctor asked.

"Well, it's just that," Goddard said, "Well, a few years ago there was the battle of Canary Wharf. There were the Ghosts."

"Cybermen," The Doctor corrected absentmindedly, recalling the display in the main exhibit.

"And the Metaltrons, or the Daleks." Goddard corrected. "It was quite heavy in Europe, here less so. But there was news coverage, and while it all happened in a span of …."

"Don't say. Don't tell me." The Doctor cut her off. He took a deep breath. "So, the Dalek will see that there were, not long ago, other Daleks on Earth. But the thing is, the Daleks could have come here from any point in their time line, and it would know that. Seeing them here even months ago will mean nothing if there are no other Daleks to communicate with now that it has the ability to."

"Sir, the cameras in the vault have gone down." Diana said when the Doctor paused.

"So, there is only emergency power left, then. I'm sorry, but you have to destroy it now before it gets out, and it will." The Doctor said, giving only a glance to Van Stratten.

Diana looked to her boss who remained quiet, staring off into space. When he didn't seem to want to issue a command, she got on the communicator and gave an order.

"All guards converge in the Metaltron cage, immediately."

"Let's just hope that whatever fire power your guards have, it will be enough." The Doctor said, watching the monitor, already knowing it was likely hopeless.

~DW~

Every single soldier that moved to face the Dalek was dead. And the Dalek, of course, sustained no damage at all. Bullets melted before it even made it near the shell. And Van Statten … he called them dispensable. The Doctor had never been more disgusted with anything in his entire life. In that moment, the Dalek was the second worse thing in the bunker.

With fists clenched, he asked Diana as calmly as he could after she showed him where the Dalek happened to be within the compound, "Are there any alien weapons in the museum?"

"Lots of them," she said softly. "But the Dalek is between us and them."

"We've got to keep that thing alive." Van Statten said firmly. "We could seal the entire vault, trap it down there.

"And what good would keeping it alive do you if you have to explain to hundreds of families why their mothers, fathers, sons, daughters aren't ever coming home? How is it going to help you when you have to detail why an alien life form whose sole purpose is to kill and destroy was worth saving and the human beings who work for you are dispensable." He sneered at the idiot man. "And if you think for one moment, even a microsecond, that I am leaving Rose locked up with it you are going to wish you had never encountered me."

"You don't scare me, Doctor. If you were really as high up in UNIT as you claim, if any of this was really a problem, then we'd have been dealing with them right now instead of this. And since you're an expert, and an alien yourself with past dealings with the Dalek, why not just reason with it? It must be willing to negotiate. There must be something it needs, everything needs something."

"There is something it needs: to kill. It honestly doesn't care what you have to offer it, it wants you dead and that is that. If Daleks could be reasoned with, would I really be standing here before you, the last of my kind? Don't you think that my people would have reasoned or negotiated to avoid a war that spanned nearly the entire Universe? Time itself was altered, whole races and planets wiped from existence. But you're absolutely right, Van Statten. We should've had a sat down, had a cuppa tea and some biscuits and chatted about how life would be better if we all just got along.

"You're a fool to think that you'll somehow buy your way out of this, a fool to think that if you do get out you'll somehow remain unscathed, and the absolute worst kind of human for believing you can toss away someone's life because you give them a paycheck." The Doctor turned back to the screen as he huffed. He narrowed his eyes, tracing the path the Dalek was going to take. "What area is this?"

"Weapons testing," Diana replied.

"Okay, spread the word: everyone, absolutely everyone, needs a weapon. I don't care if they are a soldier or the janitor, they need to be armed if they want even the smallest hope of surviving an encounter with the Dalek. Pass on the word with the soldiers, with all of them, that there is a force field around the Dalek, but not to be discouraged. If enough bullets hit the same spot, perhaps it will somehow weaken the force field enough to let one bullet pass through. One may be all it takes."

~DW~

It had wanted them to see. By Rassilon it was more twisted and sadistic than even the cult of Skaro at the height of the war. It purposely re-rooted power just to put on a show, to prove how powerless they all were. It hadn't even killed all those soldiers by normal means, instead using the sprinkler systems and electrocuting all but two. And those two didn't even make it out.

His hearts pounded, and he stopped breathing. He managed to check the screen, a quick glance in its direction to ensure the two dots that were Rose and the young man with her were still moving as quickly as they could away from the Dalek, even as its blue light followed at a steady pace.

"Perhaps it's time for a new strategy." Van Statten's voice broke the silence, calm on the surface but with a hint of hysteria underneath. "Maybe we should consider abandoning this place?"

"Except there's no power to the helipad, sir." Diana seethed quietly. "We can't get out."

"You're right, we can't. And I imagine if there is no power to the helipad, there's no way to seal the vault, either?"

Diana shook her head. "The bulkheads are massive, there's not enough power."

"But we can re-route the power we have, can't we? It's not like you're going to need emergency lighting on the lower levels. If someone was lucky enough to survive, they can continue to do so without light for a little while. At least until we can figure out the best solution to the problem."

"We'd have to bypass the security codes," Diana said with a shake of her head. "That would take a computer genius."

"Good thing you've got me, then." Van Statten piped up, his egotistical attitude back in play.

"Oh, now you want to be part of the solution?" The Doctor mocked.

"I don't want to die, Doctor, simple as that. Nobody knows this software better than me."

"Except perhaps the alien race you stole it from." The Doctor quipped. When Van Statten glared back, he laid on the mock surprise thick. "You mean you thought of something all on your own? Didn't have to hijack the tech from Epsalor 12 to get your digital clock going?"

Before anything could be heard from Van Statten, the monitors brought up the image of the Dalek.

"Sir," Diana said, looking at The Doctor this time when she gave the title.

His lips twitched in a smirk before he stepped up beside her to see what the Dalek was up to.

"I SHALL SPEAK ONLY TO THE DOCTOR."

"Well, I'm listening." He replied.

"I FED OFF THE DNA OF ROSE TYLER. EXTRAPOLATING THE BIOMASS OF A TIME TRAVELLER REGENERATED ME."

"Yes, I imagine it did. So, what now? I know you search the databases on Earth for any sign of your fellows. Have any luck?"

"NO. THERE IS NOTHING. I AM ALONE. WHERE SHALL I GET MY ORDERS?"

"There are no more orders to be given. The war is over. We lost. You no longer have a purpose." He hoped, deep down, that this would encourage the Dalek into some sort of surrender. He knew the chances were slim, but he truly hoped it would be the case.

"I SHALL FOLLOW THE PRIMARY ORDER, THE DALEK INSTINCT TO DESTROY! TO CONQUER!"

"Then I shall follow what's become mine, to stop you. Whatever it takes, you will not leave this base, you will not make it above ground. By Rassilon, you will not harm anyone else."

The Dalek stared, then the screen cut off.

"Let's seal the vaults, now, before it has a chance to come up with some means of escape."

The Doctor shrugged off the leather jacket and sat down, getting to work on a computer by Van Statten. They were silent except for Van Statten's occasional mutter of glee at the thrill. The Doctor kept his mouth shut, knowing if he were to comment he'd be too focused on verbally lashing out then getting the work that needed to be done complete.

"Looks like the power's rerouted and ready to seal the vaults at the push of a button." The Doctor said, looking to Diana. "I need a phone, I should call Rose's mobile and see where she is."

"It looks like she and Adam Mitchell are on level forty-nine." Diana replied.

"The bulkheads are set to close at forty-six." He said as he got up and took the headset from Diana, then the handset to dial Rose's number. It rang as he watched her progress on the screen.

"This isn't the best time." Rose answered.

"Never is when you're on the run, is it? We're sealing off the doors at level forty-six, and you need to keep moving. The Dalek's catching up, and it will find a way through if there is even the slightest gap available to it."

"Right, 'kay." She replied with a bit of a pant.

He watched the screen, seeing Rose and Adam maintaining pace, but the Dalek gaining on them. Through the phone he could hear her footsteps on the stairs as she moved as swiftly as she could.

"You're close, Rose, keep going." He encouraged with a smile.

Then he heard the click of a key compressing on a keyboard, and the smile faded. Turning slowly, not wanting to believe he would see what he was expecting, the Doctor met Van Statten's eye as he lifted his finger from the enter key on the keyboard.

"What. Have. You. Done?" The Doctor asked.

"Doctor?" Rose asked, worried.

"Keep going, Rose." He said as he stalked toward Van Statten. "Now I ask again, Henry, what have you done?"

"I'm sealing the bulkheads."

"They weren't there yet!"

"The power was starting to fail and we need to keep that thing away from here!"

"Doctor!" Rose's voice came panicked through the headset. He heard Adam in the background, calling for Rose to hurry. The Doctor turned to the screen and watched the dots moving, the one in the lead putting more and more distance between it and the one in the middle, the Dalek's indicator closing in.

"Come on. Come on, come on, come on." The Doctor anxiously said to himself on nothing more than a breath, scared to ask Rose anything.

The dot in the middle stopped just as Van Statten announced the vault was sealed.

"Rose?" The Doctor ventured to ask.

She was panting, and he hoped that she was catching her breath in safety.

"Sorry, I was a bit slow." She said softly.

He didn't even know his knees gave out until they hit the ground. One heart seemed lodged in his throat as the other one dropped into his stomach before both shattered in a pain so acute it was as if he was reliving the loss of the Time Lords.

"No." He finally managed to gasp out.

"'S alright, Doctor. It's not your fault. Remember that, okay? It wasn't your fault." She took a breath, though it was shaky. "And do you know what? I wouldn't have missed it for the world."

He took a couple deep breaths. "I'm going to be with you, okay Rose? I'm right there, with you to the end." He stopped breathing, a dozen thoughts running through his head. He didn't know what to make of half of them.

She didn't say anything, and he closed his eyes, trying to picture her smiling that cheeky grin with her tongue sticking out. He recalled her eyes, full of warmth and life. Her laugh, either at or with him in conversation or adventures. Her genuine love of life, not just of her own but of others. She was so good, and he never deserved her.

"EXTERMINATE!" He heard the Dalek cry, and the death ray firing.

He covered his face with his hands, feeling the tears behind his shut eye lids as his head fell forward. He wanted to cry but felt he couldn't. He wanted to turn around and rip Van Statten limb from limb but knew it wouldn't bring Rose back.

He wanted to go down and meet the Dalek head on and let it wipe him out with the rest of the Time Lords. The rest could suffer in another Universe, for all he cared.

"Go on then, kill me."

Rose's voice had him whipping his head up so fast a part of his brain was surprised he didn't get whip lash. His hands came away from his face and he stared at the little Rose dot as his hearts picked up speed. "Why are you doing this?"

"I AM ARMED, I WILL KILL. IT IS MY PURPOSE." The Dalek's voice, quieter than normal from the distance, was still distinct enough that every strange word could be heard.

"They're all dead because of you." Rose snapped. Wonderful, vivacious, living, breathing Rose.

"THEY ARE DEAD BECAUSE OF US." It retorted.

"No," The Doctor said to himself, shaking his head. "Don't put this on her."

"And now what? What're you waiting for?" Rose asked it.

"I FEEL YOUR FEAR." It replied, and the Doctor was on his feet in a hearts beat. He still stared at the dot though he was aware of Van Statten and Diana staring at him.

"What do you expect?" Rose demanded.

"Dalek's don't have fear." The Doctor said as the Dalek replied in essentially the same way. His mind was racing fast enough that he heard but didn't acknowledge the sounds of the death rays, especially after hearing Rose's yelps of surprise.

"YOU GAVE ME LIFE. WHAT ELSE HAVE YOU GIVEN ME? I AM CONTAMINATED!"

"It's mutating." The Doctor said. "It's not Dalek anymore, not if it has emotions. What is it, then? And … and can it be helped? Would it want to be?"

He wasn't expecting anyone to answer, so when none came, he wasn't put off.

The doors to the lift in the corner opened, and Adam stepped out with nary a care it seemed.

"And how do you feel, Mister Mitchell, knowing you left a young woman to her death?" The Doctor asked him.

Adam looked up, frowning indignantly. "I wasn't the one who sealed the vault," He retorted.

"No, that honor goes to your boss. But lucky for both of you, Rose is still alive."

Adam's eyebrows shot to his hairline, and Van Statten looked a bit too frightened by this outcome for the Doctor's liking.

The screen that he'd been watching intensely with the indicators flickered and changed to an image of Rose beside the Dalek. Removing the ear piece and handing it back to Diana, the Doctor walked toward the screen to greet them.

"Hello." He said warmly with a smile.

"Hey yourself." Rose replied, her grin fleeting and shaky but genuine.

"OPEN THE BULKHEAD OR ROSE TYLER DIES." The Dalek attempted to threaten.

"Oh, well, we can't have that, now, can we? She's a one of a kind." The Doctor said, turning away and heading to the keyboard. A couple passes on the keyboard, and the doors started opening.

"What did you do that for, you bleeding heart? What the hell do we do now?" Van Statten asked.

"Kill it when it gets here!" Adam said firmly.

"Do you all remember how I said how much I hated violence? No, probably not, I don't think all of you were around when I mentioned that earlier." The Doctor said as he picked up his jacket and pulled it back on. "But I do, truly. I can be vicious when I need to be, and I can't say I don't have any blood on my hands, because that is quite far removed from the truth. But I did win the war against the Daleks, and I did so by being clever. And I think … I think that it's time I win another battle with wits over weapons." He looked to Diana. "No matter what either of these buffoons say, you're in charge."

And with that, he left the office to meet up with Rose and the Dalek.

~DW~

Freedom, that's all it wanted. Freedom.

Admittedly, from the moment the bulk head door closed, and Rose was stuck on the wrong side, she hadn't eased up at all. Not even a little. But her fear did not lessen her wanting to understand. Once it didn't kill her, once she realized it needed her, she'd thought to try to get to know it.

Rose asked what it wanted, really wanted, now that it didn't have to kill anymore as its only way of life, it came up with one answer: Freedom. It didn't want to feel anything, not the way she apparently caused it to. She didn't understand why, but she at least tried to be emphatic towards it.

It wanted to to go up, to feel sunshine, and she went along.

The lift only went up as far as Van Statten's office, and when the Doctor wasn't there, the Dalek started to lash out.

But it didn't kill, because she asked it not to.

They walked down the corridor toward the helipad using the directions given by the Goddard woman. Well, Rose walked, it glided or whatever Daleks do.

She was only partly surprised to see the Doctor waiting for her there, arms at his sides with no weapon to be seen. He gave her a gentle, nervous smile, eyeing the Dalek apprehensively.

It stopped, turning away as if to give them a moment. When it was clear that it didn't need Rose beside it, she moved as swiftly as she could to the Doctor.

"Hello," She said to him, tongue between her teeth.

His grin grew wider, warmer, happier. "Hello." He replied.

"How'd you know we'd be here?" She asked.

The Doctor looked up, eyes focused on the Dalek as its eye stalk turned toward the ceiling.

"I was still on the line when you and the Dalek began talking about it changing. It took on your DNA, after all, and it's being mutated by everything that makes you … you."

The Dalek shot a hole into the ceiling, startling Rose and causing the Doctor to pull her toward him, holding her slightly away from it as they watched. But it remained where it was as the sunlight from above flooded over it.

"Never thought I'd see the sunlight again." She confessed, both to the Doctor and the Dalek.

"HOW DOES IT FEEL?" It asked, curiously and broken.

Rose was trying to figure out how to respond when there was a hiss, and the Dalek's shell opened up.

There was something incredibly sad about the small creature inside. Like a squid or something that was never fully developed. Its singular eye squinted at the light, and it moved as if it was trying to absorb all the warmth it could.

"WHY DID WE SURVIVE?" It asked.

"Because fate can be a cruel mistress." The Doctor replied, slowly letting go of Rose before carefully inching toward it. "I wanted nothing to do with the Time Lords, and now … I'm the only one left."

"I AM THE LAST OF THE DALEKS." It replied.

"You're not even that, anymore. You're changing."

"INTO WHAT?"

"Something new." The Doctor replied regretfully.

"I CAN FEEL SO MANY IDEAS. IT IS … TORTURE."

Rose frowned, and she inched closer to the Doctor. "Torture? Isn't changing a good thing?"

"Not for a Dalek." He said gently, shaking his head.

"ROSE … GIVE ME ORDERS! ORDER ME TO DIE!" It asked her, and her heart clenched.

"I can't do that." She said, shaking her head.

"DOCTOR?" The Dalek asked.

He met Rose's eye, and she could see he didn't want this anymore than she did. She could see the hope for something she didn't understand die as he moved to stand before the Dalek.

She watched as he didn't try to shield himself, walking into what could have been a trap without any fear for himself.

"You're relieved of duty, soldier." He said simply.

The Dalek seemed to give a sigh of relief. "ARE YOU FRIGHTENED, ROSE TYLER?" It asked, surprising her a bit.

"Yeah," She replied honestly.

"SO AM I. EXTERMINATE."

It wasn't the cry she'd heard it shout throughout the day, but a surrender with words.

The Doctor stepped back and returned to her side, slipping his hand in hers and stepping just a bit in front of her as if to shield her.

The Dalek replaced its armor before levitating a few feet above the ground. The knobs that had surrounded most of its body came loose, floating away from it and forming a sphere around it. There was a flicker of light, then a bright flash, and then nothing.

They stared at the spot where it had been, silent for a moment.

"I am never, ever letting you wander off again." He eventually said, breaking the silence with something that sounded so ridiculous given the weight of the moment that Rose laughed so she wouldn't cry. The Doctor chuckled, letting go of her hand and pulling her toward him, clutching her close so her cheek was pressed against his chest.

She didn't mind. Even if he was a bit cooler than she'd like right then, he smelled wonderful and she hadn't felt this safe in an embrace since she was a child. She could feel his nose bury itself in her hair and take a deep breath, causing her cheeks to turn the color of her namesake and a stupid grin to stretch so wide she had to bit her lip to make it stop.

"Where'd be the fun in that?" She asked as her arms wound themselves around his waist.

He didn't say anything, and she didn't think she needed to fill the silence, either. She simply remained content in his arms, listening to the speedy rhythm of his double heartbeat and willed her own to slow down to normal.

~DW~

They walked back to the TARDIS hand in hand, Rose leaning on his arm a bit more than he would have expected, but he didn't mind. A part of him never wanted to let her go, and if she wanted to press herself into his side, all the power to her, as far as he was concerned.

As the TARDIS came into view, the sound of footsteps running toward them echoed from the other end of the exhibit room. The Doctor looked up, continuing his stride as he watched Adam Mitchell coming toward them with a bag slung on his back.

"I'm glad I found you two," He panted as the three of them stopped in front of the big blue box. The TARDIS groaned quietly in something the Doctor swore might have been disgust. He frowned at the Old Girl, then turned to the young man half bent over and panting in front of them.

"Why do you say that?" The Doctor asked him as he pulled his key from his pocket.

"Because …." Adam panted, bending over long enough for the Doctor to fit the key in the lock and turn it. "Because Van Statten's disappeared, and Goddard's been on the phone with UNIT. Going to fill the bunker full of cement, like it never existed."

The Doctor looked around the room. "I suppose there's nothing in here that UNIT hasn't had a bit of a hand in or had information on. And if they're the ones filling it, they may just search the place first."

"For the best, yeah?" Rose asked.

"Most certainly." The Doctor agreed. "I never got to look at the weapons Van Statten supposedly collected, let alone the ones that were catalogued. If one of those ended up in the wrong hands, the results could be catastrophic."

"What about the families? Of those who died?" Rose asked, looking between Adam and the Doctor.

"Van Statten had a clause written in our contracts, pays off the family so they don't ask a lot of questions." A thoughtful expression came over Adam. "So many people died, he'd probably be bankrupt or near enough by the end. Not to mention all of us who are losing our jobs. Severance and all that." A smile pulled at his lips before he frowned. "I'll have to go home."

The Doctor studied him before reaching delicately for his time line. It seemed there were two distinct possibilities for the young man with many, many outcomes for both. He could be ruthless, taking after a man he would never admit to viewing as a mentor. Or he could be kind and thoughtful, an attempt to emulate Rose in order to win her over. Either fate could happen should he step on the TARDIS or not, though he didn't particularly like the idea that this young man would suddenly become some form of competition. It wasn't a thought he'd ever really had. Never had he a problem with bringing anyone new on board while he already had a companion. Bringing C'rizz along while with Charley didn't stir up these feelings.

Still, it was likely he'd become twisted if he didn't join them, and that wasn't a risk the Doctor was willing to take. Not when Van Statten was, by far, the worst human that Doctor had met in recent memory.

The TARDIS groaned again as the Doctor came to a decision.

"I suppose we could give you a lift. That is, if you want to see some real alien tech in action." The Doctor grinned, opening the door and allowing Rose to step in first.

Adam hesitated, then stepped in past the Doctor into the TARDIS.

"Blimey, it's bigger on the inside!"

The words were like a soothing balm on the Doctor's soul that warmed his hearts, and he entered the ship and closed the door.

"Have a gander, nothing's off limits really." The Doctor said as he moved to the controls to get them into the vortex before the UNIT techs showed up and spotted the TARDIS.

Adam ventured down below to look at the engines, and the Doctor had the decency to wait until he could no longer hear Adam on the stairs before throwing the lever and sending them into the vortex.

He would never admit he chuckled to himself at the sound of Adam's stumble and cursing.

"Doctor," Rose said quietly behind him, and he turned around to look at her. The lingering humor he'd had disappeared when he saw her twisting her fingers, chewing her lip. His hearts sank, knowing that Rose was about to tell him something he didn't want to hear.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Well, 's just. I got thinking, with what Adam said. And I was thinking … well, wondering if, umm."

He stepped up to her, gently cupping her cheek and causing her eyes to snap to his.

"What is it?" He asked, trying to discern whether she just happened to twist her head away from him a little more or actually leaned into his touch.

She sighed. "I want to go home."