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The Last Ones

Author's Note: So sorry for the slow update on this one, especially with that cliffhanger (I'm such a terrible person). But it's just not easy to write for the Daleks … and I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry.
And in reply to guest reviewer The TARDIS, (chapter 4) I am aware of Doctor Who's interpretation of Earth in the future, but yes, this is my own version that I've crafted, a semi dystopian society which I think is a more realistic course for our world to take given what's going on right now.

Disclaimer: Dear BBC and Steven Moffat, I'm not pretending to own Doctor Who so please don't sue me.

::

Chapter Ten: In the Safest of Places

Fear.

Confusion.

Shock.

Anger.

There was all that, she could sense it in him. But mostly fear.

Elodie watched from her place on the floor, feeling hopelessly confused herself, but mostly she watched Daddy. And she could just feel the fear in him, she could see it. She thought he might be trying to hide it, but she could sense it. It was all over him. In the way he stared at the monitor with his mouth half-open, and the look in his eyes. It was in the way he was standing, all tense and a little hunched over and his fingers digging into the railing on which he now leaned. Daddy was feeling a lot of things right now, but mostly he was scared.

Not that Elodie wasn't scared, too. Naturally, she was. She didn't know what was on that monitor and she didn't know what exterminate meant — probably something bad — and she didn't know what was capable of such a strange voice, but whatever it was, it scared Daddy.

But between her and her brother, she was the bolder of the two, and she knew it. And she was curious, too. She stood up, abandoning her colouring and approached the monitor to see what had scared Daddy so much. His order came suddenly, like he was lashing out: "Stay back!" Instinctively she flinched, and his voice softened. "Stay back, love."

"Daddy?" she ventured softly. She didn't move; she remained rooted to the spot and kept her eyes fixated on him. "Daddy? Daddy, what is that?" Elodie's eyes wandered to the monitor. If she tilted her head a teeny bit to the left, she could see the screen. And on it was the last thing she expected to see: those silly monsters from Daddy's book, the ones that looked like pepper mills. She couldn't remember what their names were anymore, but it was obviously them. Hastily she scuttled back to her brother, who was watching the scenario unfold with wide, confused eyes, but Ethan being Ethan, he didn't get up to see.

The strange shrill voice came out of the speakers again. "We will speak to the Doctor!" It made Elodie want to flinch; she didn't like the voice. But she stayed still and frozen, her eyes fixated on Daddy. She couldn't ever remember seeing him like this, actually. When he spoke to the pepper monsters, his voice was so taut with rage that the seven-year-old was tempted to turn away. Even when he'd gotten angry at her before, it hadn't been anything like this, and that confused her beyond measure.

"Well, what do you know? You're speakin' to now, and isn't it an honour." He surged forwards and slammed his fist down, and this time Elodie jumped back. "How did you survive the Time War? I burned you, burned all your ships. I killed you. You should all be dead!" Daddy all but screamed the last word, and again, Elodie stepped back. Her curiosity had definitely been wiped out, replaced with sheer terror. Out of instinct, she turned to her brother, who was already reaching for her. They clung to each other and watched the scene unfold, not knowing what was to come next.

The pepper monsters responded in that same shrill voice that didn't seem to differ between them with all the syllables broken up. "The Daleks will always sur-vive!"

Daddy was starting to shake even more violently, and he suddenly slammed his fist down on the console again, hard. When he drew his hand away, staring, still stricken, at the monitor, Elodie noticed his knuckles were bloodied. She had no idea what to do or think; she wanted to go to Daddy and make him better but she didn't know how, and she was scared he'd be angry at her for it. So she just clung desperately to Ethan, and she could feel her twin brother was holding onto her just as tightly. Elodie and Ethan had lived through a lot, had spent many nights holding onto each other for warmth when the cold had set in, and had clung to each other while hiding under a bed on the night when the firebombs fell from the skies while Auntie Sakura kept her hands clasped over their ears, and Elodie's mind suddenly flashed back to a fraction of an image.

The dirty and cracked mirror in their room trembling in its frame.

An explosion.

The tinkle of broken glass.

Elodie was familiar with all of it, as was her brother, but neither of them had ever experienced anything like this.

There came the sudden grinding, whirring sound that Daddy's blue box — the TARDIS, she remembered, as Auntie Sakura and Daddy himself called it — made whenever they went somewhere. She wondered, for a second, if Daddy was flying them away where the pepper monsters couldn't get them, but then she saw him panicking. Diving onto the controls and pushing buttons, jiggling levers, helplessly, and then stumbling backwards again while looking at the monitor with the pepper monsters in horror. "What've you done?" he shouted. "What the hell've you gone and done? How are you controllin' my TARDIS?!" A short pause, in which Elodie waited with bated breath. "Answer me!"

The whirring stopped. There came the dull thud of the TARDIS landing.

Daddy froze.

And the pepper monsters answered, "Your ques-tions are irre-le-vant! We have trans-por-ted your TAR-DIS on-to our ships! You shall board or you will be exter-min-ated!"

A beep, then the sound of static.

Daddy circled the console, his eyes full of an emotion Elodie had never seen in him before, even when he'd gotten so cross with her. Then he slowly sank down to his knees and wrung his hands before finally looking up. His eyes met with Elodie and Ethan's, and he grimaced just as a shrill cry was heard from behind the doors. Exterminate. Exterminate. Exterminate. That same strange word over and over. Daddy's eyes flicked over to the doors, then back to the two of them and his gaze softened. He held out his arms, and Elodie didn't need to be told. She got up and ran to him, throwing her arms around his neck and burying her nose in the leather of his jacket, with Ethan close behind. She hugged her father tightly, and felt comforted by the feeling of his arms coming around her to pull her closer in, though his hands were still shaky.

"Oh, kids," he muttered, voice cracking. He suddenly pulled away and held them both at arm's length. "Listen to me, Elodie, Ethan. It's important." Elodie nodded, and her brother followed suit, and Daddy took a deep breath before continuing. "Daddy has something real important to do now. Something dangerous. And I need you two to … to stay safe. I'm going to go out of the doors now, and I want you to stay in the TARDIS. Just wait for me in here and don't go out the doors. Just stay right here in the console room. You've gotta do that for me, yeah?"

Next to her, Ethan nodded gravely with his lips pressed together. And all that Elodie could do was nod too, feeling ready to cry. She didn't ask any questions. She didn't think Daddy was going to answer her anyway. "Okay, Daddy," was all she whispered. "Are you gonna die?"

A chuckle. "Hell, no. I'll be damned if I die here and leave you two alone. I'm gonna come back. I promise." Daddy gathered them both in another hug and when let go, he took a moment to give Elodie and Ethan a kiss each on the forehead before getting up on shaky legs and uttering one last order. "Keep each other safe." Then he squared his slumped shoulders, crossed the room, and opened the doors. The monsters started to shriek again, but the doors shut behind him, and that was the last the children heard.

::

When Elodie was four, she and Ethan once had to run and hide from some coppers. Auntie Sakura had nicked a couple of dried food packets from the front of a shop and she'd been caught on camera. Everyone always had to set up cameras if they could afford them because food was expensive and it was always getting nicked by the hungry and destitute. Sometimes there were armed robberies conducted by the gangs, too, gruff teams of young adults who lurked in dodgy alleyways with their cigarettes and knives. And it wasn't just adults, but children Elodie's own age, too, and younger still. Little ones who weren't lucky enough to have an aunt to look after them and lived on the streets. Elodie and Ethan had seen the street urchins, with more soot visible than skin, and clothing even more ill-fitting than their own. Most of them had bad teeth, and overgrown hair that went past their waists. Their eyes were always so hollow and empty, like they'd lost all hope and were clinging to life by their fingernails. In comparison, the twins were well off, and those kids scared them.

Yes, there was a reason that food was always getting nicked.

But this shop had been in absolute shambles with cracked windows that hadn't been washed in a decade, torn and dusty awning, a neon sign that didn't light up, and a sad-looking stand in front of it rotting and collapsing in on itself, so Auntie Sakura had decided to take the risk. They'd been caught, and Auntie Sakura had taken Elodie and Ethan at arm's length and told them to run fast as they could and hide somewhere, and that she'd find them, before racing off in the opposite direction.

Elodie didn't remember it all very well, but she did remember the confusion she felt, and the fear as she ran. She could recollect hearing shouts and the trill of whistles behind her. The rest was hazy. But Ethan had grabbed her hand and the both of them had done as they were told; they'd run as fast as they could down the streets of London, and after a while had climbed into a gutter, where they'd remained until Auntie Sakura found them. Elodie didn't know how Auntie Sakura had known where they were until she realised that she and her brother had run towards home and they were in an alleyway just a block away. They'd all gone inside, sitting on the floor and eating the stolen food, and Elodie had just been old enough to understand they were all very lucky not to have been arrested.

That was how she felt right now. Petrified, confused. Elodie stared after the closed doors for a good thirty seconds as the lights on the console blinked frantically. The seven-year-old clung tightly to her brother's hand, and she glanced over at him, met his gaze. Ethan looked just as scared as Elodie, if not more so. The twins took another moment to evaluate what was happening, and silently communicated in the way they were used to, and the silence stretched between them like an elastic, filled only with wobbly breathing from the pair of them. They squeezed each other's hands, fingers entwining. One more squeeze.

Elodie had the bedroom she shared with Ethan, and the kitchen, and the library, and she'd been in Daddy's room a few times. But of all the rooms, her favourite was the console room. She liked the lights, and all the funny buttons. The corals going up to the ceilings were nice to curl up against, and the jump chair was the most comfortable thing she had ever sat in. It was soft without being too soft, and the material covering it was smooth. The jump chair was torn and leaking foam in a few places, and had been put back together by silvery tape, but it was still comfortable. Best of all, the console room was the first room she'd seen, and what was more, it was all those buttons and levers that took her places with Daddy, like London before her time and the place of snow. It was only natural for Elodie to like the console room best, and she knew Ethan felt the same way.

And now they had to wait. Wait for Daddy to come back.

If he came back.

They couldn't hear anything beyond the doors anymore; not a single sound, nor were the speakers on. And the monitor screens, which, from what Elodie understood, usually showed what was going on outside like they were hooked up to a camera, were blank. She really had absolutely no way of knowing what was happening to Daddy, and that was terrifying, too. She dearly wished to be able to turn one of the monitors on but she had no idea how. So she and Ethan were left to wait in silence and tension.

Suddenly the lights on the console blinked rapidly; a humming sound emitted from the TARDIS, and it seemed to reach into Elodie's head, easing her and cradling her, telling her all would be alright in the end, like a message, though there were no words. It burst in her mind, like lights that danced and twirled in beautiful streams. It was the most comforting feeling the young girl had known. She would be kept safe, she knew and understood that now more strongly than she ever had before. Her mind flashed back to something Auntie Sakura had told her. Your Mummy told me that your Daddy's ship is so marvellous, it's alive. And it can communicate with you in your head, Elodie, Ethan, with just feelings, no words. Your Mummy said that once it sung to her with no voice, and it was just the most beautiful thing she'd ever heard. It had been one of many tales, but that one had always been a favourite of Elodie's. And now she knew it to be true.

She recalled also her first night here, when she'd been so much more afraid and confused and missing Auntie Sakura. Daddy's TARDIS had whispered to her, again without words, but still, it had been just like Auntie had told her. Elodie had been disoriented and dazed that she'd forgotten much of what she'd been told, but all the same, she'd allowed the whispers to lull her to sleep that first night.

Now, Elodie drew her knees to her chest and rested her head on her brother's shoulder. Ethan put an arm round her. And that was where they waited, with the humming in their heads, quietly, impatiently.

Waited for the Daddy they had, over the past fortnight, come to trust and love and might not ever see again.

::

Elodie hadn't meant to fall asleep, but she'd been waiting for a long time now. She woke up, blinking against the light. Next to her, Ethan was already asleep and showed no signs of waking anytime soon, so she carefully climbed down from the jump chair and stretched, taking a moment to recall everything that had happened. "Daddy?" she called out softly, praying he would emerge from one of the side corridors, back and safe.

He didn't.

She circled the console, like he sometimes did, with her hands at her sides, occasionally reaching out a finger to timidly stroke a button or lever. She leaned into the dead blank screen of the monitor and tapped at it, but got no signal. No nothing. Elodie went as far as going near the doors and pressing her ear against them, only to hear what sounded like the mechanical hum of engines. She tried to stand on her tiptoes to see through the little windows at the top of the doors, but she wasn't tall enough, and after vainly jumping many times, she gave up, stepping back in distress and childish frustration.

Elodie wanted to do what she was told. For the most part. She was used to it, used to being good. There was a big difference between surviving and following all the rules, but being good was the best way to get by in the London she knew. She did as Auntie Sakura told her, and that was that. And in the past two weeks she'd listened to Daddy and followed all his orders. Yes, Elodie and Ethan both knew they fell into a category of obedience. But on the other hand, now Daddy was in a kind of danger Elodie could barely comprehend, understanding only that he was in deep trouble he might not get out of. And she didn't want to sit and wait in the TARDIS console room anymore. She wanted to go out and help her father.

In a word, she wanted to be defiant. To save him.

Before she knew what she was doing, Elodie ran across the console room and shook her brother awake. Ethan blinked open blue eyes blearily, sitting up and rubbing at them. "Is Daddy back?" he asked simply.

"No," Elodie answered. "But I think I want us to go and save him. He's in trouble, Ethan. He might die." These last words she spoke with great fervour and wide eyes.

Ethan opened his mouth to protest. "But didn't Daddy say — "

"Daddy's in danger," Elodie repeated insistently. "We have to, Ethan." She might have been just seven, but she'd seen enough to be more than a little wise beyond her years. She could be bold when she wanted to be, she'd had reason to a few times in the past and this wasn't much different. And besides, although she didn't fully know it, she had the genetics of a Time Lord. Of course she was no ordinary seven-year-old.

And Ethan was just like her. What was more, he was her twin. Some things didn't quite need full saying between the two of them. It had always been like that. After pressing his lips together in a moment's thought, he nodded, his overlong blond hair falling in his eyes as he did so, which he brushed away. "Okay," Ethan agreed. "Let's rescue Daddy." He climbed down from the jump chair and fumbled with the zipper of his blue jumper, eventually giving up as Elodie watched with a giggle.

The twins took hands, and they walked out of the console room, pulling open the doors. The TARDIS hummed and beeped frantically; she didn't want them to go. But Elodie and Ethan closed the doors behind them, to find themselves on some kind of a spaceship, and all of a sudden they felt very, very small.