Exterminate!

"J where are we going?" River asked as she followed J down a dark, desolate hall, the man walking at a brisk pace, his hands in his pockets, trying to seem causal and calm though she could tell by the tension in his shoulders and the set of his jaw that he was anything but.

"There's something I need you to see Riv," he began after a moment.

"What?" she shook her head.

He hadn't given her much to go on, he'd just…popped up at her dorm as she'd been studying for a test and told her they needed to go. He'd been off for the last week or so, distant, disappearing on her more than usual. She didn't know what it was. She knew he'd had some sort of nightmare earlier, had run to her room, pounding on the door in a frantic state, before hugging her when he saw she was alright. Whatever it was, she knew it had alarmed him and since then he'd been…odd.

And now they were walking around, having teleported somewhere with her Vortex Manipulator and she hadn't the faintest idea why…nor did she know why he'd asked her to bring the sonic blaster his uncle Jack had given her the last time they'd met him.

J was a bit like his father in that he didn't like using weapons, though being around her and his godfather had made him realize it was alright to use them when absolutely necessary. But for him to ask her to bring her blaster…it was serious.

"I just…I need to know you'll be ok Riv," he murmured.

River frowned and reached out, grabbing his arm to stop him, "You're not really making a lot of sense spaceman," she added, knowing that the little title would get him to smile or at least calm down a bit.

He sighed and rubbed his face, "It'll be dangerous," he began, "Having adventures with mum and dad, travelling with me. We've got…enemies, lots of them."

"Tell me something I don't know J," she knew it was dangerous, she hoped it would be, she loved danger, it was exciting.

"Some of them will make you afraid."

"Still know that."

"Some of them will make you afraid instinctively."

Ok, that she didn't know.

"What do you mean?"

He looked at her, "Riv…being a Time Lady, even partially…some enemies…we have such a deep-rooted rivalry with them that…just seeing them, not even knowing what they are…will terrify you and I…" he swallowed, "I won't always be able to be there with you, especially if you run into mum and dad. They'll protect you, they'll do the best they can to do that, but…I need to know that you'll be ok even when I can't be there. I…I need to know you'll know what to do when you face our enemies. Some of them I can tell you how to handle…"

"So what do I do?" she asked, listening intently.

"Sontarans, aim for the back of the neck," he felt his own neck, "There's a hole there, a Probic Vent, that'll incapacitate them. They won't scare you, they look like trolls or walking baked potatoes," she laughed at that, "Then there's Cybermen, not too scary, more like big suits of armor, anything electric will stop them long enough for you to get away. There's plenty more I can talk about…"

"Don't I know it," she murmured, nudging him.

But he was serious still, "But there's one I need you to see," he continued, "There's one you need to experience first and I need to be there when you do. I need to be there when you face it first so that I know you'll be ok later, if I'm not there."

River nodded, growing solemn and serious as well, "Which one?"

He took her hand, "This way," he led her down the hall, further in, to an old door with a board across it, "It took me ages to track it down," he told her, moving to lift the bar, "I managed to immobilize it, it's frozen, remember that," he looked at her meaningfully, "It can't move, it can't fire at you, it's frozen. All it can do is talk, I even knocked out the communications array so it's alone, no reinforcements coming."

River nodded, pulling out her blaster, "Understood."

"Good," he let out a breath and pushed the doors open…

"Exterminate!" a metallicy robotic voice called.

River froze, her eyes wide, her heart racing, as she stared at what looked like a large pepper pot. That alone should have made her laugh, a pepper pot with a plunger sticking out of it and little ear things that lit up…but instead, all she felt was terror.

"It's a Dalek," J told her quietly, stepping into the room, forcing her to head in as well.

"You are the Captain!" the Dalek tried to move, only succeeding in twitching at most, "Exterminate!"

River flinched, seeing the laser arm twitch too, but nothing happened, "How…how do I fight it?"

J kept his eye on it, "You aim for the eye stalk," he pointed to it, "One firm blast through it, weakens it's shield. Another alpha level blast will destroy it."

"That's it?"

"Not as easy as it sounds Rive, Daleks never miss."

River nodded and lifted her blaster at it.

"Exterminate!" the Dalek tried, but nothing happened, "Emergency Temporal Shift!" but still nothing happened.

River fired, striking it in the eyestalk, her training by the Silence had made her a hell of a marksman.

"Vision impaired!" the Dalek cried, "Sheilds compromised!"

River let out a breath, seeing just what J had mentioned happening, and aimed again.

"Records indicate you will not fire!" the Dalek tried.

"And why not?" River frowned.

The Dalek's sucker twitched, "You are displaying signs of fear! You will miss!"

River looked at her hand, shaking a bit, and tightened her hold on the blaster, setting the power up to cannon level, "I'm River Song," she told it, "I never miss."

And with that, she fired once more…the Dalek powering down, the top of it blown off, only then letting out a breath she'd been holding.

"Brilliant Riv," J whispered, "I knew you could do it. And now you know, next time, no matter how scared you are, you'll be able to face it."

"I'm not scared," she said quickly, lowering her blaster to hide her still shaking hand, alarmed that the sight of the Dalek, something she'd never seen before, had gotten to her so badly, but as J had said, some things were instinctive.

"Right," J scoffed, "Then you might want to let go of my hand Timegirl."

River blinked and looked down to see she'd taken his right hand in her left the moment she'd seen the Dalek and quickly dropped it, "You tell anyone about this, and the Dalek will look better than you."

J just laughed, putting his arm around her shoulders and turning to lead her back. He'd had a nightmare earlier, that River had faced a Dalek, alone, and been…killed. He hadn't been able to stop thinking of that, knowing the instinctive fear that Time Lords felt at the sight of a Dalek, he hadn't wanted her to freeze up and be harmed. So he'd thought it would be best to find one and 'introduce' River to it, so she'd see it and know what it was, know how to fight it, know the fear that came with it and push past it. And now he knew she would be able to.

Which was all he wanted, his timegirl to be safe.

A/N: Sorry this was so late and short. I was debating between them having a mad escape from a Dalek, but I felt like I really wanted to show River's first encounter with one instead :) We might see another Dalek appear later, but so far this was all I could see happening. I couldn't see J just letting her enter a dangerous situation, he'd have all Evy's back up plans in store, wanting it to be as safe as possible for River to encounter a Dalek first and prepare her for the future :) And when Evy plans things, it goes very smoothly, so I think J would have the same talent ;)

And, just a note, this story will be updated on the 7th/8th of each month from here on out ;)