Alright here's the next chapter. Thankfully this one was a bit longer. Also, I'd just like to say that I'm really happy today. I have 50 people following this story. I know that to most people that isn't a big deal, but it just makes me happy knowing that 50 people are waiting to see what happens next. Idk, it just made me really happy. Also thanks for the great reviews! I'm gonna try to get more chapters out before I have to go back to school.
Please remember to review! Enjoy!
The Doctor tugged Nyla into a filing room outside of Winston's office and started shuffling through papers as they waited for Amy and Winston to catch up. "Nyla, I'm about to do something you probably won't like, but please, just let me do it. We don't have time for arguments."
Nyla stared at him cautiously, "What are you going to do?"
Before he could explain, Amy and Winston caught up finally.
"Right, testimony accepted. That's what they said. My testimony." As he spoke he started to pace around the small room, rubbing his hands together and trying to think.
"Don't beat yourself up because you were right," Amy piped. Amy's eyes followed the Doctor's pacing, "So what do we do? Is this what we do now? Chase after them?"
"This is what I do." He stopped his pacing to peer at the two women. "It's dangerous, so you two wait here."
Amy's eyebrows rose at that, "What, so you mean we've got to stay safe down here in the middle of the London Blitz?"
The Doctor shrugged, "Safe as it gets around me… Nyla are you alright? You haven't spoken a word."
Nyla nodded and gave a small laugh, "You're a grown… man?... uh- you're a grown thing. Anyway, I think you can take care of yourself. Honestly if that's all you're going to do then go on. I'm not going to cling to you like a lost puppy." She had flipped out the last time he had left them back when they first met, and because of it had gotten into a huge fight with Amy and had been alone for nearly two years. Basically, she learned that she shouldn't cling to someone, especially someone who knows what they're doing (most of the time- okay some of the time).
"Oh oka- Oi! I will have you know that just because I'm not human doesn't mean I'm not a man."
Amy and Nyla both laughed out loud at that one. When Amy and Nyla's laughs finally calmed, Amy replied, "We'll keep that in mind," at the same moment that Nyla retorted, "You really shouldn't have said that."
The Doctor was still pouting, but he knew he really didn't have time for this. "Right. This man is going to save the world, thank you very much," he sniffed. He swiftly entered the Tardis and left.
Amy glanced over at Nyla and Winston, "So what's he expect us to do now?"
Winston laughed this time and gave her a warm smile, though the smile didn't quite reach his eyes. "K B O, of course."
Amy's eyebrows scrunched together, "What?"
"Keep buggering on!"
Amy and Nyla followed Winston into the Map Room, where a few a Winston's staff was waiting.
"Sir," a man who could be no more than twenty-five spoke rapidly, "The generators won't switch off. The lights are on all across London, Prime Minister."
"Has to be them," Amy said fervently, "It has to be the Daleks."
Winston shuffled over to the man worriedly, "The Germans can see every inch of the city. We're sitting ducks. Get those lights out before the Germans get here."
The engineer nodded and saluted before running out the door, supposedly to where the generators were located. The men and women around the room began sending troops out and arranging emergency measures to attempt to keep the citizens of London safe. Still everyone knew it was all in vain if they couldn't get the lights to go out.
Nyla glanced at Amy and Winston before looking back to the door the engineer had walked through. She could be of more use with him than she would be here, right? It was justified for her to run off and be the genius again when the Doctor wasn't here, right? Before she could argue with herself or anyone else she ran out the door and followed the engineer. Amy would be fine, she had Winston. She could be of more use with the engineer.
When she sprinted into what she assumed was the engineer room she stopped in her tracks. The generators looked completely dead, with wires hanging everywhere and sparks flying- yet apparently they still weren't off. Blueprints, statistics, tests, and more were laid out among the small tables gathered around the room. Tools of every kind were scattered on top of the papers and on the floors, as about 15 men gathered around the generators. It seemed none of them were able to turn the machines off, however.
Nyla carefully pushed her way around some of the men, but soon after she pushed past the fifth or sixth man everyone turned to stare at her. Nyla sighed. "Look, I majored in physical engineering at Cornell. Just move, I might be able to fix this." When no one moved she demanded forcefully, "Just move out of the way!" When the engineers finally moved, Nyla squatted down next to the generators and muttered, "God it's like talking to five year olds." At least they let me through, a small voice in her head reminded her. "Alright," she called, "I need a torque wrench, a 600kw Cummins Genset, and an axles slide hammer with a jaw puller." She held her hand out waiting, and then glanced up in realization. "Rightttt. You don't have any of that yet. Okay, you know what? Just pass me every tool you have."
Outside the generator room, things weren't going quite so smoothly. Bracewell, Amy, and Winston had sent up spitfires to the Dalek ship to help the Doctor, but already two of them had been shot down.
"Danny Boy to the Doctor. Only me left now," the last pilot spoke. "Anything you can do, sir? Over."
The Doctor smiled grimly and leaned against the Tardis console. "The Doctor to Danny Boy, the Doctor to Danny Boy. I can disrupt the Dalek shields, but not for long. Over."
"Good show, Doctor. Get to it. Over." After a moment, the pilot could hear the shields breaking down. "I'm going in. Wish me luck. Over."
Winston, Amy, Bracewell, and the Doctor all held their breath in anticipation. After a few seconds the lights outside flashed back off; reports sailed in through Winston's officers of the darkness now encasing the city once more.
"Yes! Well done my boy!" Winston cheered into the com.
"Sir," the pilot responded, confusion lacing his voice. "That wasn't me. Over."
Amy grabbed the microphone from Winston, "What do you mean that wasn't you? The lights are all off now."
"I hit the target dish, but after the lights had already turned off."
The Doctor whooped in the Tardis and spun around the controls. He had no doubt to who turned off all the lights. He really wanted to hug Nyla right now, although considering the circumstances, it would have to wait.
"Hm." Winston shook his head. "We'll figure it out later, I suppose."
"Danny Boy to the Doctor. Going in for another attack."
The Doctor beamed. "The Doctor to Danny Boy, the Doctor to Danny Boy. Destroy this ship. Over."
"What about you, Doctor?" the pilot questioned in concern.
"I'll be okay." He patted the Tardis console and started to set the coordinates.
"Call off the attack, Doctor." The white dalek appeared on the Tardis console screen, making the Doctor shake his head in disbelief.
"Uh huh. What, and let you scuttle back off the future? Nope. This is the end for you. The final end."
"Call off the attack, or we will destroy the Earth."
The Doctor rolled his eyes at that one, "I'm not stupid, mate. You've played your last card."
"Bracewell is a bomb."
Nyla wiped her hands on her jeans and stood up. She looked like she just came from fixing he Dad's old car all day, with old smudges on her jeans, her shirt, and especially her face and hair. Even still, she didn't really care. It was worth it. Not only for the world, but for the faces around her. The men stared at her as if she wasn't even possible. "Right," she proclaimed, "now that that's done, I'm going to rejoin my friends. Make sure the generators stay off though. If they turn back on just readjust the stabilizer until it hits orange. Should turn it back off." With that she picked up a towel that one of the men had gotten for her and sauntered back down to the Map Room.
Nyla realized as soon as she walked in that something important was happening, she had no idea what it was though and decided to wait it out.
"You're bluffing," the Doctor argued, his voice echoing around the small room that had been filled with tense silence. "Deception's second nature to you. There isn't a sincere bone in your body. There isn't a bone in your body, actually."
"Bracewell's power is derived from an Oblivion Continuum," she heard a dalek all but brag. "Call off your attack, or we will detonate the android."
"No. This is my best chance ever," the Doctor cried tensely. "The last of the Daleks. I can rid the Universe of you, once and for all."
"Then do it. But we will shatter the planet below. The Earth will die screaming."
"Yeah, and if I let you go, you'll be stronger than ever. A new race of Daleks," he bit out angrily.
"Then choose, Doctor. Destroy the Daleks, or save the Earth. Begin countdown of the Oblivion Continuum. Choose, Doctor. Choose. Choose."
The Doctor rested his head against the console and gripped the bar under the scanner tightly. "The Doctor to Danny Boy, the Doctor to Danny Boy. Withdraw."
"But sir-" the pilot entreated.
"There's no time. You have to return to earth now. Over. Oh and Nyla?"
"Yeah?"
"Nice job on the lights."
Nyla beamed at the microphone in her hand and felt a faint blush crawl up her cheeks. "Thanks," she peered over at Bracewell, "so what are we going to do with Bracewell?"
The Tardis materialized right next to Nyla and the Doctor stepped out stiffly before running up to Bracewell and socking him on the jaw. Bracewell collapsed to the floor in shock.
"Doctor!" Amy hollered.
The Doctor jumped up and down lightly while waving his hand in the air. "Ow, ow. Sorry, professor, you're a bomb. But you heard that already."
The Doctor and Nyla both squatted down on either side of Bracewell, Amy following suit at his head.
"What's an Oblivion Continuum? The dalek kept mentioning it." Nyla commented curiously.
"An Oblivion Continuum is a captured wormhole that provides perpetual power. Detonate that, and the Earth will bleed through into another dimension. Now keep down." Using his sonic screwdriver, the Doctor tore open Bracewell's shirt and torso. There were five blue segments that formed a circle, and one of the segments had already turned yellow.
"Well?" Amy inquired.
"I don't know, I don't know! Never seen one up close before."
Nyla began to inspect the sides of Bracewell, but there was no paneling, no wires sticking out, nothing. There was nothing she could do.
"So what, they've wired him up to detonate?" Amy questioned.
"Oh no," the Doctor disagreed. "Not wired him up. He is a bomb. Walking, talking, pow, exploding, the moment that," the Doctor pointed at Bracewell's chests and the segments that were sunken into him, "flashes red."
"There's a blue wire or something you have to cut isn't there? There's always a blue wire. Or a red one," Amy added.
Nyla glanced up at Amy and shook her head, "Yeah, not really helping Amy, sorry."
"It's incredible," Winston spoke finally, "He talked to us about his memories. The Great War."
"Someone else's stolen thoughts, implanted in a positronic brain," the Doctor answered distractedly. His eyes widened slightly as an idea came to him, his words going a mile a minute to try and stop Bracewell from exploding. "Tell me about it, Bracewell. Tell me about your life."
"Doctor, I really don't think this is the time," Bracewell objected.
Nyla looked up at the Doctor as well, "I agree."
The Doctor rolled his eyes, "Just do it.. Tell me, prove you're human. Tell me everything."
"Alright well 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 there was a storm," Bracewell answered awkwardly.
"And your parents? Come on, tell me," the Doctor pried.
"Good people. Kind people." Bracewell sniffed, "they died- scarlet fever."
Nyla rocked back onto her heels at that and glanced away, praying that the Doctor would let this man continue on with his life story, and not linger there. Of course, he did the exact opposite.
"What was that like? How did it feel? How did it make you feel, Edwin? Tell me." The Doctor glanced down at Bracewell's chest and started to panic; there were only 2 ½ segments left blue now. "Tell me now, Bracewell!"
Bracewell sucked in a breath shakily and continued, "It hurt. It hurt, Doctor, it hurt so badly. It was like a wound. I thought it was worse than a wound," he admitted. "It was like I'd been emptied out. There was nothing left." His eyes had started to tear up a bit, and although no one noticed it, so did Nyla's.
"Good," the Doctor replied quickly- there were now 3 segments that were red and two that were still blue. "Good, good, brilliant. Embrace it. That means you're alive. They cannot explode that bomb. Believe it. You are Professor Edwin Bracewell, and you, my friend, are a human being." Another segment turned red and now only one blue segment was left, sending everyone into a panic. "It's not working! I can't stop it."
Amy squeezed Nyla's shoulder in support before turning to Bracewell. The movement in itself surprised Nyla. No one had given her any comfort or support when her parents died. In the decade or so her parents had been dead, Amy had been the first to actually give some kind of support, even if it was just a passing squeeze on the shoulder.
"Hey, Paisley. Ever fancied someone you know you shouldn't?"
Nyla's head snapped up to stare at Amy. She didn't…
"What?" Bracewell asked in confusion.
"It hurts, doesn't it? But kind of a good hurt," Amy urged knowingly.
Bracewell blushed slightly and glanced off to his right, "I really shouldn't talk about her."
"Oh," Amy grinned slyly, "There's a her." As she spoke, one of the segments slowly dropped down; only 3 segments were red now.
The Doctor's eyes widened when he realized what she was doing and quickly continued, "What's was her name?"
"Dorabella," Bracewell breathed.
Nyla took a deep breath and quickly swiped at her eyes, "Nice name."
"What was she like, Edwin?" Amy inquired.
"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…" Bracewell gave a content grin and closed his eyes, "Dorabella." On the last word all of the segments returned to blue, causing the Doctor to stand up and hug Amy tightly.
"How did you think of that?" He cried in amazement.
Amy shrugged, "Just brilliant I suppose." When the Doctor hugged her, Amy stared pleadingly at Nyla, who was currently glaring at Amy.
When the Doctor finished hugging her and went over to talk to Winston, Nyla swung her arm around Amy's shoulder and gave a forced grin. "You do not. Please tell me you don't…" she spoke through clenched teeth.
"Nyla it's nothing I swear. It's completely normal for a girl to fall for someone they're traveling with," Amy tried.
Nyla rolled her eyes and let her grin fall, "Not when they're engaged!"
"It's fine, seriously. And you know Rory would be okay with it. I mean we haven't done anything… he doesn't even know I-"
"Amy do you honestly think Rory would be okay with it? How would you feel if you saw Rory staring longingly at another woman?" Nyla pointed out.
Amy faltered for a moment, "I mean I wouldn't be that upset…"
"Amy, it happened a month after I moved in," Nyla objected, "and you slapped him. That was before you were even engaged. You're seriously telling me that you'd be okay with it?"
"Okay, maybe I'd be a little annoyed," she admitted.
"Exactly. Please Amy, let it go. You are getting married to an amazing man, who loves you a lot."
Amy inhaled deeply, "Alright, I'll let it go. And why do you care so much anyway? I know you and Rory were close but…"
Nyla pulled her arm off Amy's shoulder as she retorted, "Because he's my best friend and I want him to be happy. Never really had a best friend before," she commented with fake lightness. "Just want to make sure I do it right I suppose."
Amy couldn't help but feel a surge of pity and guilt go through her; she and Nyla would probably have been close friends had they not gotten into that argument so long ago… "Sorry," she murmured.
Nyla gave a slight smile back and professed, "It's alright Amy, I've moved on. Honestly it's amazing how much happier having friends make me, you know, when I'm not arguing with them."
Amy beamed and bumped her shoulder with Nyla's, "glad I could help."
Bracewell looked at the Doctor guiltily, "Gone. They've gone."
"No. No! They can't. They can't have got away from me again," the Doctor contested.
"No, I can feel it," he reported sullenly, "My mind is clear. The Daleks have gone."
Amy and Nyla entered the room quietly a few moments before and moved to stand by the Doctor. Both of them hearing the Doctor's unfortunate news.
"Doctor, it's okay. You did it. You stopped the bomb," Amy consoled. The Doctor couldn't look at her though. He just could believe he had allowed the Daleks to get away yet again. "Doctor?"
"I had a choice," he finally responded dejectedly. "And they knew I'd choose the Earth. The Daleks have won. They beat me."
Nyla shook her head at his pickiness and reached down to squeeze his hand again, "but you saved the Earth. That's not too bad, right?"
Nyla and Amy both beamed when they each saw a small smile blooming on the Doctor's face. "No, it's not too shabby," he conceded.
Winston grinned as well and patted him on the shoulder. "It's a brilliant achievement, my dear friend. Here, have a cigar," he offered, holding out a cigar he had grabbed.
"Ah, um no thanks."
"So, what now, then?" Amy wondered, directly the question at Winston. Winston, Amy, Nyla, and the Doctor all stood around the storage room that the Tardis had landed in; three of the four bodies in the room preparing to leave.
"I still have a war to run, Miss Pond," Winston reminded her, suddenly reenergized.
Amy and Nyla both glanced over as a woman in the hallway outside the room burst into tears. Nyla remembered noticing her when they first arrived; she was one of the many assistants to Winston.
"Is she alright?" Amy asked, nodded towards the woman.
"What?" Winston spun around in confusion.
"She looks a little upset," Nyla noted sarcastically.
"Ah," Winston nodded in understanding, "Miss Breen? Her young man didn't make it I'm afraid. Just got word. Shot down over the Channel." After a moment of silence, Winston continued, "Where's the Doctor?"
"Tying up loose ends. I've taken out all the alien tech Bracewell put in," the Doctor interjected as he sauntered in.
"Won't you reconsider, Doctor? Those Spitfires would win me the war in twenty hours," Winston pleaded.
The Doctor nodded in agreement, "Exactly."
"But why not? Why can't we put an end to all this misery?" Winston whined.
"It doesn't work like that, Winston, and it's going to be tough. There are terrible days to come. The darkest days- but you can do it. You know you can."
"Stay with us," Winston proposed. "Help us win this. The world needs you."
The Doctor shook his head, "the world doesn't need me."
"Right now anyway," Nyla added.
The Doctor rolled his eyes, "No, the world doesn't need me. They've got Winston Spencer Churchill," he proclaimed.
Winston gave a sly smile and shook the Doctor's hand. "It's been a pleasure, Doctor, as always. Goodbye."
The Doctor and Winston both hugged, after which Winston turned to Nyla.
"It's been amazing meeting you," Nyla tried not to gush but she had just spent the entire day with Winston Churchill. "You're a hero you know."
Winston grinned modestly and shook her hand, "Thank you for all your help, Miss Mason. Hopefully we'll meet again someday."
Amy stepped up next and kissed Winston lightly on his cheek, "It's-it's just- it's just been great saving the world with you. But now, I guess it's time you save the world without us."
Winston nodded, "I'm sure it has been a blast being with me, but now my dear, I'm afraid we must both return to our lives. I'll save this world; you go and save some others."
Amy turns to walk away but spun around at the last moment, "Oi, Churchill. Tardis key. The one you just took from the Doctor."
At that news the Doctor nearly died choking on his tea and began patting down his pockets, while Nyla patted his back, jokingly trying to stop his coughing fit.
"Oh she's good, Doctor. As sharp as a pin," Winston complimented. "Almost as sharp as me." With a flourish Winston handed the key back and strode back out the doors.
After letting Bracewell know that he was free to live, the trio headed back to the Tardis quietly. Today had been a taxing day for all of them; the Doctor had allowed his worst enemy to escape, Amy had been caught looking at another man, and Nyla had been reminded of parents' death and her loneliness enough to the point where she knew she would have issues sleeping that night. She had told Amy she had moved on, and she had, but sometimes it would come back, and that was when it hurt the worst.
On top of all their issues, they had all seen the Doctor at his angriest once more, and the Doctor knew that it would have to have some kind of impact on his companions.
"So you have enemies then?" Amy inquired, breaking the silence as they stepped into the Tardis.
"Everyone's got enemies," the Doctor quipped.
"Yeah but mine's the woman outside Budgens with the mental Jack Russel," Amy retorted. Nyla snorted at that; the woman was absolutely nuts. "You've got, like, you know, arch-enemies."
"Suppose so," the Doctor said with a shrug.
"And here I am, thinking we'd just be running through time, being daft and fixing stuff. But no, it's dangerous."
"Yep. Very," he admitted. "Is that a problem?"
Nyla shook her head, "we're still here, aren't we?" Nyla noticed his far off look and sighed, "You're still worried about the Daleks." It was less of a question and more like a statement. They all already knew the answer.
"I'm always worried about the Daleks."
"It'll take time though, won't it? I mean, there's still not many of them. They'll need a while to build themselves up," Amy pointed out.
"It's not that. Something else," he answered. "Something we've forgotten. Or rather, you two have," the Doctor turned from where he was standing at the console to walk back down to the two girls who still stood by the door.
Nyla raised her eyebrows silently in question, while Amy tilted her head, "We have?"
"You didn't know them, Amy. Neither of you did. You'd never seen them before," he restated, annoyed. "And you should have done. You should."
Amy looked down, "Sorry… I guess." When he didn't reply, Amy awkwardly excused herself with the excuse-that-wasn't-really-an-excuse of needing sleep. After Amy left it was just Nyla and the Doctor.
"Amy shouldn't have had to apologize for that Doctor, it's not exactly something either of us can control," she reprimanded. If the Doctor heard her, he didn't respond. Nyla sighed, "Doctor, you can figure it out later just relax. You had a stressful day." Still, no response. "Hello?" Nyla poked the Doctor's chest, and when he responded, Nyla breathed a small sigh of relief. It was short lived however, when he turned and walked up to the console and stared at the console screen. Nyla gritted her teeth in annoyance. What the hell did she do? Nothing! She just wouldn't and couldn't deal with him if he got into a mood like this. "I'm not standing here talking to a statue. Goodnight," Nyla stalked out of the console room and returned to her bedroom, praying that he would get out of whatever mood he was in right now by their next adventure.