NicoleR85: thanks!
SaberbladePrime: I'm glad you love it.
frosty600: chapter 9 – I'm glad you liked this chapter too.
chapter 10 – yep he's facing them on his lonesome.
An: as it's a bit of a pain to keep putting first army green Dalek and second army green Dalek I've abbreviated them:
First army green Dalek – 1st AG Dalek.
Second army green Dalek – 2nd AG Dalek.
"How about that cuppa now, then?" the Doctor asked rubbing his hands together as he stepped out of the TARDIS.
"It is the Doctor", the gold Dalek announced.
"Exterminate!" 1st AG Dalek shouted.
"Wait, wait, wait. I wouldn't if I were you!" the Doctor warned pulling out a jammy dodger from his pocket and held it out in front of him "Tardis self-destruct, and you know what that means. My ship goes, you all go with it"
"You would not use such a device", 2nd AG Dalek said, not believing him.
"Try me", the Doctor challenged. 1st AG Dalek rolled forward, the Doctor turning towards it, holding out the jammy dodger "Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah. No scans. No nothing" he said looking between each one "One move and I'll destroy us all, you got that? Tardis bang bang, Daleks boom!" the Dalek moved back "Good boy". The Doctor looked at the instrument panels "This ship's pretty beaten up" he remarked eyeing the rusted panel "Running on empty, I'd say, like you" he walked around it "When we last met, you were at the end of your rope. Finished"
"One ship survived", 2nd AG Dalek informed him.
"And you fell back through time, yes?" the Doctor nodded "Crippled, dying?"
"We picked up a trace. One of the Progenitor devices", 2nd AG Dalek told him.
"Progenitor? What's that when it's at home?" the Doctor asked, not having heard of it before.
"It is our past, and our future", 2nd AG Dalek replied.
"Ohhh, that's deep. That is deep for a Dalek", the Doctor remarked a bit surprised at that "What does it mean, though?"
"It contains pure Dalek DNA" the gold Dalek explained "Thousands were created. All were lost, save one"
"Okay, but there's still one thing I don't get, though. If you've got the Progenitor, why build Bracewell?" the Doctor asked.
"It was…necessary", 2nd AG Dalek admitted.
"But why?" he asked, then it hit him "I get it. Oh, I get it! I get it. Oh ho, this is rich!" he laughed "The Progenitor wouldn't recognise you, would it? It saw you as impure. Your DNA is unrecognisable as Dalek"
"A solution was devised", 1st AG Dalek said.
"Yes, yes, yes. Me. My testimony. So you set a trap" the Doctor said figuring it out, why they needed his testimony "You knew that the Progenitor would recognise me, the Daleks' greatest enemy. It would accept my word. My recognition of you". The 1st AG Dalek turned to the instrument panel behind it. "No. No, no. What are you doing?" the Doctor demeaned holding out the jammy dodger.
"Withdraw now, Doctor, or the city dies in flames", the gold Dalek threatened.
"Who are you kidding?" the Doctor scoffed "This ship is a wreck. You don't have the power to destroy London".
"Watch as the humans destroy themselves", the gold Dalek said. A dish on the outside of the ship lowers and shoots out a beam of energy towards London.
~Map room~
The Map Room was thrown into what Melanie described as chaos as the generators came on, lighting up London, making it an easy target to the Nazis. "The generators won't switch off" an officer said flicking a switch on the wall "The lights are on all across London, Prime Minister"
"It has to be the Daleks", Amy guessed. It was the only thing that made sense.
"The Germans can see every inch of the city. We're sitting ducks" Churchill said worried for the people in the city above. He turned to one of the officers "Get those lights out before the Germans get here!" he ordered. The officer nodded and hurried off.
Melanie watched all the panic, getting the feeling that the only way to turn the lights off would be from the Dalek ship. Where the Doctor was. If only there was a way to… her thoughts trailed off as she suddenly remembered something the Doctor had told her about the Bond, how Bonded couples are able to read each other's thoughts. It was a long shot but she had to try. She closed her eyes and thought as hard as she could about the lights being on all over London.
"We can't just sit here" Amy said not noticing what her friend was up to "We've got to take the fight to the Daleks".
"How?" Churchill asked "None of our weapons are a match for theirs"
"We must have something", Amy said running her hands through her hair as she tried to think. Coming up with nothing, she turned to Melanie surprised to see she had her eyes closed, her face scrunched up in concentration. Amy reached out and touched her friend on the shoulder making her jump and open her eyes. "What were you thinking so hard about?"
"Nothing", Melanie replied.
"Well maybe instead of thinking really hard about nothing, you could think of ways we can stop the Daleks", Amy suggested lightly.
"Sorry", Melanie apologised "you couldn't think of anything Ames?"
"Nope" Amy shook her head "I'm drawing a blank"
"Ok" Melanie started to pace "something to stop the Daleks", she murmured. She stopped pacing when she got a rather crazy idea. She turned to Amy and Churchill "Bracewell claimed he invented the Daleks, right? Well I just had a crazy thought, what if Daleks made him instead?"
"The Daleks did say they created him", Churchill told them both, confirming what Melanie thought.
"If the Daleks created Bracewell…" Amy began.
"Then we can use him to stop to them!" Melanie finished.
~Spaceship~
The Doctor eyes widened slightly when he heard Melanie's voice whisper two words in his mind. Lights London…
Melanie must've remembered what he had told him about how Bonded couples can project thoughts to each other, tried to do just that… and it had worked. Her voice had been very quiet but he heard it all the same. He felt slightly proud that she'd managed to project a short message to him. It meant that with time and practice, they'd be able to mentally communicate just like Bonded couples were supposed to be able to do.
Then a thought struck him. The Daleks had just turned on all the lights in London. They made the city an easy target for the Nazis to attack. They made Melanie a target. "Turn those lights off now!" the Doctor demanded brandishing the jammy dodger "Turn London off or I swear I will use the Tardis self-destruct!"
"Stalemate, Doctor" 2nd AG Dalek said. It knew the Doctor wouldn't use the self-destruct just it knew they weren't going to turn London's lights off "Leave us and return to Earth".
"Oh, that's it. That's your great victory? You leave?" the Doctor spat out.
"Extinction is not an option. We shall return to our own time and begin again", 2nd AG Dalek said.
"No, no, no! I won't let you get away this time! I won't!" the Doctor shouted. He couldn't let them go. If he did they could come back, stronger than ever. He HAD to end it, here and now.
There was a mechanical whoosh and then a soft thrumming.
"We have succeeded. DNA reconstruction is complete", 2nd AG Dalek announced.
The three Daleks moved back from a set of doors, now glowing with a red energy. The doors slide open a moment later. "Observe, Doctor, a new Dalek paradigm" 1st AG Dalek said sounding as excited as a Dalek could get.
The Doctor watched in horror as five new, larger and brightly coloured Daleks emerge one by one from the Progenitor cabinet "The Progenitor has fulfilled our new destiny. Behold, the restoration of the Daleks. The resurrection of the master race" 2nd AG Dalek declared.
Amy, Churchill and Melanie walked into Bracewell's lab in time to see the scientist place a gun to his head. "Bracewell! Put the gun down!" Churchill ordered.
"My life is a lie, and I choose to end it", Bracewell wept.
"In your own time, Bracewell because right now we need your help", Melanie said as they walked over.
"But those creatures…my Ironsides…they made me? I…I can remember things. So many things. The last war- The squalor and the mud and the awful, awful misery of it all. What am I? What am I?" Bracewell demanded, the gun shaking in his hand.
"What you are, sir, is either on our side or theirs. Now, I don't give a damn if you're a machine, Bracewell. Are you a man?" Churchill asked giving him a look which made Bracewell hesitate.
"Listen to me", Amy said softly "I understand. Really, I do" she reached out and gently took the gun from him "Look, there is a spaceship up there lighting up London like a Christmas tree. Thousands of people will die tonight if we don't stop it, and you are the only one who can help take it down"
"I am?" Bracewell asked surprised that he was the only one who could stop the Daleks.
"Yes, you are", Melanie replied "You're alien technology".
"You're as clever as the Daleks are, so start thinking" Amy added "What about rockets? You got rockets?" she questioned.
"Or some kind of missile?" Melanie suggested.
"It isn't a fireworks party, Miss Pond, Miss Hannigan" Churchill said "We need proper tactical…." The man's eyes lit up as a thought came to him "A missile…Or…?"
"Or what?" Amy asked.
"We could send something up there, you say?" Churchill asked, turning to Bracewell.
"With a gravity bubble, yes" Bracewell showed him the plans, the man taking them and looking them over "Theoretically it's possible that we could actually send something into space"
"Bracewell…it's time to think big!" Churchill said before slapping the design back onto the table.
On the Dalek spaceship, the old Daleks were praising the newly created ones. "All hail the new Daleks. All hail the new Daleks!"
"Yes, you are inferior!" the white Dalek announced, its voice deeper and more menacing.
"Yes"
"Then prepare"
"We are ready!" the three old Daleks stated.
"Cleanse the unclean! Total obliteration! Disintegrate!" the white Dalek ordered.
The blue and red Daleks fired at the two army green Daleks and the lone gold one, destroying them completely.
"Blimey. What do you do to the ones who mess up?" the Doctor remarked.
"You are the Doctor!" the white Dalek said turning back to him "You must be exterminated!"
The Doctor held out the jammy dodger "Don't mess with me, sweetheart", he warned.
"We are the paradigm of a new Dalek race", the white Dalek announced "Scientist, Strategist, Drone, Eternal and the Supreme".
"Which would be you, I'm guessing?" the Doctor said eyeing him "Well, you know, nice paint job. I'd be feeling pretty swish if I looked like you. Pretty 'Supr-eme'"
~Map Room~
Upon hearing this through the screen on the device Bracewell had rigged up, Melanie shook her head. Only he could say that to a Dalek she thought. She wouldn't be able to strike up a conversation with a Dalek, not after what happened a few years ago. She shook her head, her hand slipping into her pocket to grip her locket. She was not going to get pulled back into her past. Not when the others were counting on her to be just as focused as they were.
~Spaceship~
"Question is, what do we do now?" the Doctor asked "either you turn off your clever machine, or I'll blow you and your new paradigm into eternity".
"You would not kill yourself, it would hurt your Bonded", the white Dalek said making the Doctor tense up.
"How could I have a Bonded? My home planet is gone. No Time Ladies left to be my Bonded", he said calmly trying to ignore how his hearts started beating a little faster.
"Hearts rate is increased" the white Dalek told him "Brain activity, levels of adrenaline and testosterone are also increased. These are indications that you have a Bonded"
"Scan also reveals the item in your hand is not a TARDIS self-destruct device" the blue Dalek added "It is non-existent".
The Doctor put the jammy dodger away "All right, it's a Jammy Dodger, but I was promised tea", he said his hearts still hammering away at the fact that his worst enemy knew he had a Bonded. All those things the white Dalek had listed off as being increased were all signs of a recent formation of the Bond.
Suddenly an alarm sounded. The blue Dalek goes to the scanner "Alert! Unidentified projectile approaching!" it announced. The Doctor went over to a second scanner "Correction, multiple projectiles!" the blue Dalek said correcting himself.
"What have the humans done?" the white Daleks asked.
"I don't know", the Doctor replied as he looked at the multiple blips on the scanner.
"Explain! Explain! Explain!" the white Dalek demanded.
"Danny Boy to the Doctor!" a pilot's voice called over the speakers "Danny Boy to the Doctor! Are you receiving me? Over"
"Oh ho! Winston, you beauty!" the Doctor cheered happily.
"Danny Boy to the Doctor! Come in. Over" the pilot repeated.
"Loud and clear, Danny Boy!" the Doctor called back "Big dish, side of the ship. Blow it up! Over!" and with that he made a run for the TARDIS, the Dalek's opening fire on him.
By the time the Doctor had made it to the TARDIS and patched into the transmission so he could communicate with the pilots, only one was left. "Danny Boy to the Doctor….only me left now. Anything you can do, sir? Over"
The Doctor picked up small microphone and spoke into it "The Doctor to Danny Boy. The Doctor to Danny Boy. I can disrupt the Dalek shields, but not for long. Over".
"Good show, Doctor. Go to it. Over", the pilot said. The Doctor flung down the microphone and frantically worked on the controls to disrupt the shields to the Dalek ship.
"The Doctor to Danny Boy the shields have been disrupted", the Time Lord said into microphone.
"I'm going in. Wish me luck. Over"
"Good luck Danny Boy". The Doctor only had to wait a moment before the pilot shouted happily
"Direct hit! The dish is gone!" The Doctor laughed in delight at the news. No more dish meant that London could be plunged into darkness once more, making it no longer an easy target. It also meant that his Bonded was currently safe, which was a big relief for him. "Danny Boy to the Doctor….going in for another attack", the pilot told him.
"The Doctor to Danny Boy. The Doctor to Danny Boy. Destroy this ship!" the Doctor commanded "Over"
"What about you, Doctor?"
"I'll be okay", the Doctor replied.
Suddenly the white Dalek appeared on the large circular screen in the TARDIS wall "Doctor, call off your attack", it ordered.
"Ah ha, what?" the Doctor laughed "and let you scuttle off back to the future? No fear. This is the end for you. The final end", he said leaning against the railing.
"Call off the attack, or we will destroy the Earth" the white Dalek threatened.
"I'm not stupid, mate. You've just played your last card", the Doctor said not believing their threat.
"Bracewell is a bomb" the white Dalek informed him.
"You're bluffing", he said "Deception's second nature to you. There isn't a sincere bone in your body" he thought about what he said and then corrected himself "there isn't a bone in your body"
"His power is derived from an Oblivion Continuum" the white Dalek told him "Call off your attack, or we will detonate the android" it threatened.
"No. This is my best chance ever" he walked over to the console, turning on the scanner to address the Dalek on it "The last of the Daleks. I can rid the Universe of you, once and for all". He would never have to worry about them ever again. It could end, right here, right now. So many lives would be saved as a result. And Melanie would be safe. That's all that really mattered to him, that she was safe. She wouldn't become a target for the Daleks which is what she'd become if he let them go.
"Then do it" the white Dalek challenged "But we will shatter the planet below. The Earth will die screaming as will your Bonded"
"Yeah, and if I let you go, you'll be stronger than ever" the Doctor countered glaring at the screen "A new race of Daleks".
"Then choose, Doctor. Destroy the Daleks or save the Earth" the white Dalek taunted "Begin countdown of Oblivion Continuum. Choose, Doctor! Choose! Choose!"
The Doctor snatched up the microphone "The Doctor to Danny Boy. The Doctor to Danny Boy. Withdraw", he ordered. As much as he wanted to destroy the Daleks once and for all he couldn't sacrifice his Bonded. That was something he could never do.
"Say again, sir. Over"
"Withdraw! Return to Earth. Over and out"
"But sir…!" the pilot protested.
"There's no time" the Doctor snapped "You have to return to Earth now! Over!" he dropped the microphone and frantically piloted the TARDIS back to earth.
The moment it landed in the storage room, the Doctor was out of the door, racing down the corridor to the Map Room. He ran in and punched Bracewell hard on the jaw, knocking him to the floor.
"Doctor!" Amy exclaimed, appalled as the Time Lord shook his hand in pain.
"I can't believe you just did that!" Melanie said rather shocked at the fact he just punched Bracewell. What was he thinking? The guy was an android for god sake! That had to have hurt.
"Ow! Sorry, Professor, you're a bomb! An inconceivably massive Dalek bomb", the Doctor said kneeling down next to him.
"What?" Bracewell asked shocked.
"There's an Oblivion Continuum inside you. A captured wormhole that provides perpetual power. Detonate that, and the Earth will bleed through into another dimension" the Doctor explained quickly "Now keep down"
He flashed his sonic over Bracewell's torso to open it up. "Well?" Amy asked as one of the five blue segments of the circle turned yellow.
"I dunno know, I dunno know, I dunno know" the Doctor said panicking. He had good reason to be. His Bonded was in the room with a very powerful bomb that could destroy the Earth "Never seen one up close before"
"So what, they've wired him up to detonate?" Melanie questioned.
"Oh no, not wired him up. He is a bomb" the Doctor corrected her "Walking, talking" he made an exploding sound effect "exploding! The moment that flashes red"
"There's…a blue wire or something you have to cut, isn't there?" Amy offered, trying to help "There's always a blue wire" the Doctor stood up "Or a red one"
"You're not helping!" he snapped.
"She's trying to help", Melanie said.
"I know, I know", the Doctor muttered. He felt bad for snapping at Amy, he knew she was trying to help but he was too worried about the current danger to his Bonded to be polite.
"It's incredible. He talked to us about his memories. The Great War…"Churchill said looking down at Bracewell in wonder.
"Someone else's stolen thoughts, implanted in a positronic brain", the Doctor said, tossing the sonic back and forth between his hands, his mind and hearts racing as he tried to figure out how to disarm Bracewell "Tell me about it. Bracewell. Tell me about your life!" he knelt back down.
"Doctor, I really don't think this is the time!"
"Tell me, and prove you're human. Tell me everything", the Doctor ordered. If Bracewell believed that he was human then the bomb wouldn't explode. Or at least he really hoped that was the case.
One of the sections was already red, the second segment of the circle now turned yellow.
"My family ran the Post Office. It's a little place just near the abbey, just by the ash trees. There used to be eight trees but…but there was a storm", Bracewell said in a strained voice.
"And your parents? Come on, tell me", the Doctor encouraged.
"Good people. Kind people. They died. Scarlet fever", Bracewell told them, tears in his eyes. Melanie stuck her hand in her pocket and grasped her mother's locket.
"What was that like? How did it feel? How did it make you feel, Edwin? Tell me. Tell me now", the Doctor urged.
"It hurt. It hurt, Doctor, it hurt so badly" Amy took hold of Melanie's hand as she saw the brunette tear up "It was like a wound. I though it was worse than a wound. Like I'd been emptied out" Melanie closed her eyes, tears slipping down her face "There was nothing left", Bracewell said as he cried, remembering.
The second segment of the circle turn red, the third turning yellow.
"Good. Remember it now, Edwin" the Doctor pressed "The ash trees by the Post Office and your mum and dad, and losing them, and men in the trenches you saw die…Remember it. Feel it. You feel it because you're human" the third segment turns red "You're not like them. You're not like the Daleks!"
"It hurts, Doctor! It hurts so much!" Bracewell gasped as he continued to cry. Melanie tightened her grip on her mother's locket and opened her eyes.
"Good! Good! Good! Brilliant! Embrace it" the fourth section turned red "That means you're alive! They cannot explode that bomb, you're a human being! You are flesh and blood! They cannot explode that bomb! Believe it! You are Professor Edwin Bracewell! And you, my friend, are a human being!" the fifth section turned yellow "It's not working! I can't stop it!" the Doctor exclaimed.
"Go on", Melanie said to Amy, seeing the look on her face "help him". The ginger woman let go of her hand, went over and knelt beside Bracewell.
"Hey" she said softly "Ever fancied someone you know you shouldn't?"
"W…what?" Bracewell looked at her.
"It hurts, doesn't it?" Amy asked, the last segment of the circle remained yellow "But kind of a good hurt"
"I really shouldn't talk about her"
"Oh. There's a her", Amy teased with a smile as the fifth section turned back to blue.
"What was her name?" the Doctor asked seeing where Amy was going.
"Dorabella", Bracewell breathed out.
"That's a beautiful name", Melanie commented kneeling beside the Doctor "What was she like, Edwin?"
"Oh…such a smile…And her eyes….Her eyes were so blue…Almost violet, like the last touch of sunset on the edge of the world….Dorabella…" Bracewell sighed with a dreamy look on his face. Then all the segments turned blue.
"Welcome to the human race", the Doctor said happy that the bomb had been disarmed. He glanced at Melanie, his smile dropping at the sight of tear stains on her cheeks. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"Parents", she replied simply. The Doctor's eye widened at that, realising she'd lost her parents too. Bracewell talking about losing his made her remember. And he didn't exactly help either by urging Bracewell to talk about it.
"Elle I'm sorry", the Doctor breathed putting his arms around her "I'm so sorry". Melanie closed her eyes, seeking the comfort his embrace provided.
