Disclaimer: I don't own "Doctor Who" or "Twilight", and the essential details of the original concept of this fic came from a video posted on YouTube by heroesdwtw- which has unfortunately now been taken off YouTube- and is used with their permission
Feedback: Much appreciated
Prisoner of the Daleks
Looking back on the events of the day or so that had elapsed since we left Arkheon, I still found it slightly hard to believe that we'd managed to get out of that whole mess that we'd found on Hurala only losing Cuttin' Edge.
Admittedly, the whole situation after we got off the Dalek ship- during which I'd spent most of my time trying to help the others comfort Kulli as much as we could; there was only so much you could do to help a girl you'd never met before a few hours ago- was all a bit of a rushed blur, but the essential details were still fairly clear.
The moment when Cuttin' Edge had sacrificed himself to give the rest of us time to run away from the Daleks by attacking one of them while we were still on the stairs was something I thought I'd always remember- the fact that he was able to grab a Dalek while another one was shooting at him was particularly impressive if what I'd heard on the Wayfarer about Dalek weaponry being specifically designed to cause pain was accurate-, even if those moments I'd spent hurrying through the ventilation system with Kuli in a desperate attempt to reach the TARDIS without the Daleks finding us were more of a blur than anything else.
I still wasn't certain if the key the Doctor had given me had actually done anything to help my chances to escape- I trusted him, but all that stuff about the key having a 'perception filter' seemed a bit unlikely to me-, but we'd finally made it to the TARDIS, the two of us waiting inside the ship- after I'd managed to calm Kuli down after her initial reaction to the interior- before the Doctor and Koral came to the ship.
After the Doctor had taken a quick hop to pick up Bowman from the lower levels of the base, we'd departed from the planet just as something had apparently exploded outside the TARDIS, the blast so powerful that the entire ship had been apparently knocked over at least- we'd definitely not been standing at the usual ninety degrees for a few moments there- before the Doctor had regained control and set the coordinates for Earth in the present.
Since then, I'd been sitting outside the large building that apparently housed Earth Command Headquarters- I tried to take encouragement from the fact that we'd managed to get our act together long enough to form a unified world government, even if I wondered what that meant for us in cultural terms-, watching the park outside the building as the various children played with their friends, a world of innocence so far removed from what we'd seen mere hours ago on the front lines of the Dalek war it was almost hard to believe that this was the same time. Judging by Kuli's wide eyes and hesitant smile as she sat alongside me, she was finding it equally hard to believe, which went some way towards making me feel better, even if she still seemed slightly reluctant to actually go out and join them.
"It's moments like this that make it all worthwhile, really," the Doctor said, smiling as he sat alongside Kuli and I, staring out at the various flying car-like vehicles- it was good to know that some 'future stereotypes' would come to pass- and distant spaceships flying through Earth's sky.
"The moments of peace in between the instances of mind-numbing terror?" I said, looking teasingly over at the Doctor as I spoke.
"Well, I-" the Doctor began awkwardly.
"Don't worry about it," I said, holding up a hand to half whatever negative spin he might have been about to put on what I'd just said. "Trust me, I... had a couple of close calls back before you picked me up that make some of the things we've run into practically relaxing by comparison."
It was a slight exaggeration, but the principle was sound; my confrontations with Laurent and James might not have been as scary as my recent time as a Dalek prisoner on Hurala, but there was still a difference, however slight, between facing beings who were definitely going to kill me immediately and beings who were at least willing to let me live for the moment if it was 'convenient' (Weird logic, I knew, but given that I'd fallen in love with somebody who should have been trying to eat me if he'd been a conventional member of his species, I felt that it was safe to say I wasn't exactly normal when it came to issues like that).
"Besides," I continued, indicating the scene before us with a smile, "when it gives me a chance to see something like this, I can't exactly complain about minor details like occasionally poor company, can I?"
"That's not including me, right?" Kulli asked, looking over at me with a slightly apprehensive manner.
"No, of course not; it's been great meeting you," I reassured her, smiling warmly back at her as she grinned at me in return. "Daleks, on the other hand... not exactly who you want to run into on a good day, are they?"
"Not if it's a day like this, anyway," the Doctor said, smiling as he studied the world before us, nodding in approval as another couple of spaceships flew off towards the upper atmosphere. "That's what I like about you lot, really; for all your faults, when it counts, you really manage to come through."
For a moment, we sat in silence, until Kuli spoke at last, a slight sniff to her voice as she looked sadly at the park.
"I just..." she said, swallowing slightly as her eyes gleamed with unshed tears. "I wish Mum was here..."
Looking at the Doctor, I was suddenly struck by the intensity in his eyes as he looked at this little girl between us, this little girl who, like him, had lost all of her family in such a short space of time...
"I know what you mean," the Doctor said at last, moving over to sit down beside Kuli, a sympathetic smile on his face as he looked at the young girl. "When I first started travelling after I lost my family, one of the things I most regretted was that I'd never be able to share what I was seeing with them... but you do have something I'd have given anything to have."
"What?" Kuli asked.
"A mother who loved you," the Doctor replied, smiling at the young girl. "My family... well, they weren't bad, but they just didn't understand me; from what you've told us, all that mattered to your mother was your happiness, and that gives you something that you can always remember even now."
"Good thing to remember," another voice said from behind us; glancing back, I wasn't entirely surprised to see that Bowman and Koral were walking towards us, although Bowman's scars and crutches made it clear that he still had a long way to go before he was back to normal (I tried not to think about what it said about humanity if we still hadn't improved our medical abilities to help us treat that kind of damage better; I'd prefer to think that the Daleks were just that good at causing pain rather than think that we were that bad at healing it). "That's one thing the Daleks can't take away from us."
"Our willingness to help each other for more than just the sake of warfare," the Doctor finished, smiling in approval at Bowman. "Good thing to remember."
"I try," Bowman replied, his arm linking with Koral's as he looked at the Doctor and I with a slight smile. "I thought you'd be long gone."
"Nah," the Doctor replied, indicating the scene in front of us. "There's something about Earth. I just can't seem to stay away."
"Come on, what's the real reason?" Bowman continued. "Don't tell us you weren't tempted to just take off in that TARDIS thing. What's the real reason?"
"I dunno," the Doctor said at last (I didn't mind; even when I'd asked him to give me a chance to look at what Earth had become since my time, I'd known that there was more to his reasons for agreeing to my request than the obvious. "Unfinished business, I suppose. How did it go?"
"Pretty good," Bowman replied. "The Dalek fleet is in complete disarray. The loss of the Exterminator has knocked them right back, along with any plans to use time-travel technology. The Supreme Dalek's Temporal Research Team bit the dust along with everything else on Hurala."
"That's good," the Doctor replied (Personally, I thought it sounded great, but given his knowledge of the future I accepted that the Doctor was probably comparatively less enthusiastic about something he was probably fairly sure wouldn't impact the Daleks' future). "And the prison?"
"Earth Command has a squadron of ships on its way to seize Arkheon and liberate the prisoners," Bowman replied.
Glancing over at the Doctor, I shared a smile with him at that news; even if the Daleks themselves weren't going to be defeated any time soon in this timeline, at least we could ensure that nobody else would have to endure what the five of us had endured in that nightmarish mine.
"That could be quite a battle," the Doctor added, although his slight smile as he looked over at our new friends.
"Yeah," Bowman replied.
"They asked Bowman to lead the mission," Koral added, pulling him closer to her with a warm smile. "But he refused."
"I'm too old for that kinda thing now," Bowman said, a slightly regretful tone to his voice even if he didn't exactly appear to be that broken up about it. "That's what Koral says, anyway. Besides, I've got better things to be doing with my time."
"He's taking me to meet his parents," Koral clarified.
"You old dog," the Doctor said, a slight laugh to his tone.
"Gotta start tying up some loose ends," Bowman said. "Earth Command's given me a full pardon. Seems I've pulled their fat out of the fire again. Now it's time to see my folks."
"I'm glad," the Doctor said.
I briefly thought about asking if anyone had been able to get in touch with whatever family the other members of the Wayfarer crew might have had on Earth- from what I'd heard Koral was the last of her kind, but there were still three other people who might have left someone behind-, but the solemn expression on the Doctor, Bowman and Koral's faces told me that they were already thinking about that; the fact that they hadn't mentioned it was only because it wasn't necessary rather than because they didn't care.
"Well, talking of loose ends... I've a few of my own to tie up before I get the TARDIS back on the right time track," the Doctor began, before he reached over to place his hand on Kuli's shoulder. "And among those loose ends is the fact that this young woman here needs a place to live..."
For a moment there was an awkward silence around the bench as we exchanged glances with each other, nobody clearly sure what the appropriate thing was to say after the Doctor's last 'offer', before Kuli broke the silence.
"Can I... stay with you?" she asked, looking uncertainly at Koral and Bowman.
A part of me was slightly hurt that she hadn't asked if she could come with the Doctor and I in the TARDIS, but on the other hand I could understand it; as much as Kulli had found the TARDIS interesting, she'd seemed more than slightly uncomfortable when inside it.
Here on Earth, on the other hand, while she was clearly just as much in awe of the planet as she was in awe of the TARDIS, it was the kind of amazement you felt when you realised you were somewhere incredible and safe... and, after seeing her mother die in front of her, I could definitely appreciate Kulli's desire to find somewhere safe to stay.
Besides... as much as I'd liked her company in the short term, I wasn't sure I was ready to have someone else become the 'junior crewmember' in the TARDIS; after my epiphany about my attitude towards my relationship with Edward in the Arkheon mines, I had come to the realisation that I had more than a few personal issues to deal with beyond the fact that I hadn't been enough for Edward.
It might have felt a bit like I was compounding my previous selfishness, but I couldn't help it; when I was still trying to figure out who I was, the last thing I needed was to have to try and be a 'role model' for somebody else (The Doctor would be there as well, but I was the older female; I'd pretty much have to be there for her for... certain issues... that might come up)...
"You'll be fine," the Doctor was saying to Koral and Bowman as he shook their hands.
"Thanks," I said, giving them a handshake of my own before I smiled down at Kuli. "And thanks for being there for back on Arkheon."
"But you were there for me..." Kuli began, looking at me in confusion.
"We were there for each other, Kuli," I said, smiling warmly back at her innocent confusion at my attempted praise. "Little things like who helped who more aren't important."
After I gave the little girl one last hug, the Doctor and I headed back for the TARDIS, the Doctor giving Bowman and Koral one last slightly ironic salute before we stepped through the doors, the Doctor promptly sealing them behind him as he headed for the console.
"So... where to now?" I asked him, as he began to activate the dematerialisation function. "Back to our... timeline?"
"Yep; just got one or two things to attend to here first, and then we can be off back home," the Doctor told me with a reassuring smile.
If it hadn't been for all the time I'd spent with Edward and his family over the months before they left me, I might not have noticed the slightly haunted expression in his eyes at that last statement...
