A/N: new chappie! enjoy!
Chapter 37: Daleks
"Odd," the Doctor murmured, standing at the console and staring at his scanner above it, Olivia sitting in the jump seat next to it, flipping her new Sonic Screwdriver in the air and catching it to amuse herself.
"What's odd?" she asked, flipping her Sonic again.
"This message," he murmured as she stood and stepped toward him to look over his shoulder. "Someone needs my help."
"Well, let's go help, then," she smiled, pressing a kiss to his cheek and moving to start helping him drive the TARDIS.
"No," he murmured, distractedly as he still stared at the scanner, making her stop and frown at him.
"No?" she echoed.
"Oh, sorry," he replied, coming out of his thoughts and stepping around the console to fly the TARDIS. "I meant, no, you can't go with me. But you can't stay here, either. I'll drop you off your mum's house."
"Why can't I go?" she questioned, placing a hand on her hip, defiantly. "I always go everywhere with you. You might need me."
"Olivia," he sighed, stepping toward her to take her hands in his as he spoke. "The coordinates they gave me…it's Scaro."
"Scaro?" she frowned in wonder. "Is that a planet or a system?"
"It's…the planet of the Daleks," he replied, making her eyes widen.
"Oh…" she breathed.
"Exactly," he nodded.
"Drop me off at mom's," she agreed.
"I'll be back for you as soon as I can, I promise," he said, cupping her face with his hands and pulling her close to place a kiss on her forehead. "I won't make you wait too long."
"I'm not worried," she murmured, managing a smile as she lifted her hands to his bowtie, straightening it. "I don't like being away from you, but I'd be useless to you around Daleks. Save the world, Highwayman."
"I plan on it," he murmured then added. "Quietly, though."
"Of course," she nodded as they both turned to fly the TARDIS back to Los Angeles.
Felton Home...
"Mom, it was amazing!" Olivia grinned as she told Joyce about one of her adventures over a glass of their favorite wine. "You'll have to come with us to Gemsyti one of these days, it's gorgeous. And Aurora, too."
"Maybe one of these days," Joyce nodded in agreement as she took a sip of wine. "So how long will you be here this time?"
"Just as soon as the Doctor helps whoever it is that needs his help," Olivia replied, setting her glass down after taking a sip. "He's going to the Dalek home world. Someplace I could really go without seeing."
"Still afraid of them?"
"Still," Olivia nodded, twirling her glass on the table. "And I had to go and fall in love with their mortal enemy."
Joyce chuckled as she took a sip of wine just as there was a knock at the door, making them both frown.
"You expecting someone?" Olivia asked, standing.
"No," Joyce replied, then a light bulb seemed to go off as she added, "Oh! I ordered something from Amazon. That might be it."
She stood to go to the door but Olivia stopped her, saying, "I'll get it."
She made her way to the door and opened it casually, but remained on guard as the mailman smiled at her.
"Joyce Felton?" he asked, glancing up from the package in his hand.
"Yeah, that's my mom," Olivia nodded and he handed the package to her. "Thanks."
"Oh, here's the rest of your mail, too," he said, handing her a small pile of envelopes and she grabbed onto them, thanking him again, but he didn't let them go.
"Hey, I got them," she said, trying to tug the mail from his hand, but he kept a firm grip on them, even as his head bowed low. "What the hell—?"
The porch light flickered above her head, making her look up at it in wonder before she looked back at the mailman as he lifted his head again. It wasn't his blank expression that made Olivia stare at him in terror…it was the blue eyestalk that emerged from his forehead that made her scream.
"Olivia! What's wrong?!" Joyce called, running for the door.
"Mom! Run!" was all Olivia could muster and turned to usher her mother up the stairs, but a familiar sound came from behind her as something hit her back, launching her forward. Her head bounced off one of the stairs, and she heard her mother scream just before she heard a terrible voice that had haunted her nightmares since she first heard it.
"Olivia Felton is acquired!"
Later...
"Olivia…"
The voice was faint, and familiar, but she couldn't seem to open her eyes. They were heavy, and her head was throbbing in protest at her thoughts.
"Olivia!"
The voice was stronger now, and she definitely knew who it was, even as she felt the throbbing in her head worsen.
"Olivia! Wake up!"
Her eyes shot open as she gasped and sat straight up. Big mistake. She groaned as she grabbed her head, shutting her eyes again to will the pounding in her brain to stop.
"You alright?" Amy hoped, kneeling next to her as Olivia nodded.
"Just…headache," was all she could say before finally opening her eyes to have a look at her surroundings. The first thing she saw was Rory lying on his back, unconscious then looked to Amy still kneeling next to her, noticing she was dressed a bit glamorously with dramatic makeup caked onto her face. "Where's the Doctor?"
"I was just about to ask you that," Amy admitted, making Olivia's heart thump in panic before she jumped when Rory came to with a loud gasp and sat up as well. He looked to the two women, instantly asking, "Where are we?"
Olivia shook her head as Amy only nodded toward the wall in front of her, making Olivia frown before they all stood and looked to the window they found in the wall. Her eyes widened and her heart nearly stopped as she swallowed hard trying to moisten her suddenly dry mouth. She instantly recognized the spaceships surrounding them outside and guessed where they were being held as she groaned and turned to lean back on the wall and sink down to curl up into a ball as Rory remained staring at the ships outside.
"So, how much trouble are we in?" Rory asked as Olivia only shook her head, willing it all to be a nightmare.
On cue the only door to the room slid open, catching all their attentions as they looked up to see a Dalek roll in, making Olivia cry out in fright as she backed away to the other end of the room, still on the floor until she froze at the sound of a familiar voice.
"How much trouble, Mr. Pond?" the Doctor echoed, stepping in after the Dalek with another Dalek right behind him. "Out of ten? Eleven."
"Doctor!" Olivia shouted, launching off the floor and into his arms as he caught her and she trembled, uncontrollably. "What, the hell do these tin cans want?"
"What do they ever want, Liv?" he whispered, holding her close and glaring at the two Daleks with them. "Me."
The ceiling above them suddenly opened, and the three looked around as they felt themselves being elevated up, Olivia keeping her face buried in the Doctor's chest. The platform they stood on stopped in a room filled with Daleks, the TARDIS to the right of the room and ahead of them was an aisle leading to what looked like a capsule, holding a Dalek without armor. The Doctor gripped Olivia's arms, making her look up at him then around at the Daleks surrounding them and she shuddered, violently, tears of panic filling her eyes.
"Where are we?" Amy asked, then guessed, "Spaceship, right?"
"Not just any spaceship," the Doctor replied, still holding onto Olivia. "The Parliament of the Daleks." He looked down at Olivia as tears rolled down her cheeks and he murmured, "Be brave."
"What do we do?" she shuddered as he lifted a hand to brush her tears away, then looked up at Amy.
"Make them remember you," he told them all before gently urging Olivia toward Amy and Rory.
"No! Don't leave me!" Olivia cried, gripping the Doctor's sleeve as he turned toward the Daleks. Amy gripped Olivia's arm to pull her back and wrapped her arms around her as Olivia shook her head at the Doctor's back. "What are you doing?"
"Well, come on, then," the Doctor called to the Daleks, stepping away from the three and lifting his arms to present himself. "You got me. What are you waiting for? At long last…it's Christmas! Here I am!"
"No!" Olivia sobbed as the Doctor shut his eyes tight, waiting for the Daleks to fire as they stared at him and Olivia turned to bury her face into Amy's shoulder.
"Save us."
Amy and Rory frowned at the Dalek sitting in its capsule who had spoke and even Olivia's head shot up to stare at him as the Doctor opened an eye to peek around at the Daleks.
"You will save us," the Dalek said again, confirming what the four thought they heard, but couldn't believe it.
"I'll what?" the Doctor questioned, turning to the Dalek that was speaking.
"You will save the Daleks," it said again.
"Save the Daleks!" they all started chanting, making the four stare around the ship at them all, but Olivia was starting to panic again.
Too many Daleks.
Too many Dalek voices.
It was more than she could handle and she threw her hands over her ears, shaking her head.
"Well," the Doctor chirped with a smirk. "This is new."
"Stop it!" Olivia screamed, making him rush toward her again as she sobbed, "Make it stop!"
The Doctor gripped Olivia's shoulders to pull her into him as he shouted, "Alright, you lot! Shut it!"
The Daleks finally quieted down as the Doctor tried to look at Olivia's face, but she kept it buried against his chest.
"Let her into the TARDIS," the Doctor requested.
"Olivia Felton is to remain here," the Dalek nearest them refused.
"Doctor, I'm…I'm ok," Olivia shuddered then sniffled and wiped her face with her hands. "But if they do that again…"
"Just stay with me," he murmured.
"We will proceed to our destination," the Dalek in the capsule announced, and the Doctor glanced around the room before taking Olivia's hand to stand her next to Amy who wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
"What are you—?"
"I'm not going anywhere," he assured Olivia. "I have to think."
He stepped away to begin pacing at the end of the aisle and Olivia felt like she'd failed him. Of all the things to be afraid of she had to be afraid of Daleks. He would argue she had every reason to be, but did the fear have to be so debilitating?
"What's he doing?" Rory asked, standing a foot or so away from Amy on the opposite side of Olivia, making her frown in wonder at why they weren't standing closer.
"He's chosen the most defendable area in the room, counted all the Daleks, counted all the exits, and now he's calculated the exact distance we're standing apart and starting to worry," Amy replied, confirming Olivia's suspicions but she said nothing. "Oh! And look at him frowning now. 'Something's wrong with Amy and Rory and who's gonna fix it?'"
The Doctor stopped pacing as he looked to the three then straightened his bowtie.
"And he straightens his bowtie," Amy observed, knowingly.
Olivia opened her mouth to ask Amy something but she was cut off by a Dalek.
"We have arrived," it announced as the Doctor looked at his watch.
"Arrived where?" the Doctor questioned.
"Doctor," the Dalek in the capsule called.
"The Prime Minister will speak with you now," a red-headed woman with a blue light on her forehead told him, gesturing that he head up the aisle as he turned to her.
Without a word the Doctor lifted a hand toward Amy, Rory and Olivia, his palm down, not looking at them. Olivia took that as her cue and rushed from under Amy's arm to grip his hand with both of hers. He stepped down the aisle but turned to the red-head before they passed her.
"Do you remember who you were before they emptied you out and turned you into one of their puppets?" he asked.
"My memories are only reactivated if they are required to facilitate a deep cover or disguise," she replied.
"You had a daughter," the Doctor recalled, making Olivia frown in wonder, guessing she was the one that had captured him.
"I know," the red-head replied, then added. "I read my file."
She held a hand toward the Dalek Prime Minister again and the Doctor turned to head toward it.
"She's like the people on Tumoii that were turned into Daleks?" Olivia whispered to him, recalling one of their adventures together.
"Those people were in one of the phases of being emptied out," he confirmed. "She's the finished product."
Olivia nodded in understanding as she held tightly to his arm when they stopped right in front of the Dalek Prime Minister, making her sneer in disgust at the sight of the small thing that looked like a brain with tentacles and an eye.
"Well?" the Doctor prompted.
"What do you know of the Dalek Asylum?" the Prime Minister questioned.
"According to legend you have a dumping ground," the Doctor replied. "A planet where you lock up all the Daleks that go wrong. The battle scarred, the insane…the ones even you can't control. Which never made sense to me."
"Why not?"
"Because you'd just kill them."
"It is offensive to us to extinguish such divine hatred."
"Offensive?" the Doctor echoed in astonishment, and Olivia could tell, he was getting angrier by the second.
"Does it surprise you to know the Daleks have a concept of beauty?" the Prime Minister questioned, and Olivia felt the Doctor's grip tighten on the hand he held.
"I thought you'd run out of ways to make me sick," the Doctor sneered. "But hello, again. You think hatred is beautiful."
"Perhaps, that is why we have never been able to kill you," the Prime Minister shot back, making him stop and stare at it in astonishment.
The floor near Amy and Rory parted in a circle, making the Doctor turn to it and pull Olivia with him to see what Amy and Rory were looking at, the Dalek red-head following them.
"The Asylum," she explained. "It occupies the entire planet, right to the core."
"How many Daleks are in there?" the Doctor asked.
"A count has not been made. Millions, certainly."
"Still alive?" Olivia wondered, staring down at the planet through the hole.
"It has to be assumed. The Asylum is fully automated. Supervision is not required."
"Armed?" Amy asked.
"The Daleks are always armed."
"What color?" Rory asked, making them all look to him in wonder and when he didn't get an answer he looked up, explaining, "Sorry, there weren't any good questions left."
Olivia couldn't help but giggle, making the Doctor pull his arm from her grip and wrap it around her shoulders.
"This signal is being received from the very heart of the asylum," the red-head explained before music played over the PA system. Music both the Doctor and Olivia recognized.
"What is the noise?" one of the Daleks demanded. "Explain! Explain!"
"It's, uh, me," the Doctor smiled, lifting his arms to wave his hands in front of him as Olivia, Amy and Rory frowned at him in confusion.
"Sorry, what?" Rory questioned, incredulously.
"It's me, playing the triangle," the Doctor chuckled, waving his hands as if he were playing it before adding, "Ok, well, I got buried in the mix."
"It's Carmon," Olivia smiled before stumbling behind the Doctor as he dragged her after him, using his Sonic on the panel one of the Daleks stood near where it had played the signal. "It's a wonderful show!"
"Someone's transmitting this," the Doctor explained, looking to the results on his Sonic as Olivia ducked behind him, staring at the Dalek that rolled back when they approached the panel. "Have you considered tracking back the signal and talking to them?"
"He asked the Daleks," Olivia muttered before the Doctor worked on the panel to track the signal back.
"Hello?" he called as the music still played. "Hello, Carmon? Hello? Come in, come in. Come in, Carmon."
"Hello! Yes, yes! Sorry!" a girl's voice came from the speakers and the music stopped before she asked, "Do you read me?"
"Yes, reading you loud and clear," the Doctor replied as Olivia remained next to him, listening and trying her best to ignore the Daleks around them. "Identify yourself and report your status."
"Hello," the girl said again in relieved astonishment. "Are you real? Are you actually, properly real?"
"Actual and proper," Olivia smiled.
"Oswin Oswald," she introduced. "Junior Entertainment Manager of Starship Alaska, current status crashed and shipwrecked somewhere…not nice. Been here a year, the rest of the crew are missing, provisions good but keen to move on."
"A year?" the Doctor drawled before asking, "Are you ok? Are you under attack?"
"Some local life forms," Oswin explained. "Been keeping them out."
"Do you know what they are?" Olivia wondered.
"I know a Dalek when I hear one, yeah," Oswin replied.
"What have you been doing, on your own, against the Daleks…for a year?" the Doctor asked.
"Making soufflés?" she replied, unsure of what he might say next and Olivia couldn't help but smile as did the Doctor.
"Soufflés?" he giggled. "Against the Daleks." He giggle before glancing at one of the Daleks them instantly sobered as he asked, "Where do you get the milk?"
"This conversation is irrelevant," the Dalek that had been at the panel snapped, rolling toward them and Olivia squeaked in terror as she ran behind the Doctor when he turned to face it.
"No, it isn't!" he snapped back, and the feedback indicated they lost the signal. "Because a starliner's crashed into your asylum and someone's got in. And if someone can get in then everything can get out. A tsunami of insane Daleks. Even you don't want that."
"The asylum must be cleansed!" the Dalek argued.
"Then why is it still here?" the Doctor questioned, calmly. "You've enough firepower on this ship to blast it out of the sky."
"The asylum force field is impenetrable," the red-head behind them explained.
"Turn it off," Olivia blurted, the hollowed out puppet people being the only things she could even think to speak to.
"It can only be turned off from within the asylum," she explained.
"A small task force could sneak through a force field," the Doctor explained, grabbing Olivia's hand to pull her back toward Amy, Rory and the TARDIS. "Send in a couple of Daleks."
When his response was met with silence he stopped halfway to Amy and Rory and turned to stare at them all, realization hitting him.
"Oh…ah, that's good. That's brilliant," he blurted before clapping, mockingly and he nudged Olivia to do the same. She obeyed with a confused frown before he lowered his hands and she followed as he took her hand, stepping back toward the Dalek they'd passed and announced, "You're all too scared to go down there. Not one of you will go. So tell me, what do the Daleks do when they're too scared?"
"The predator of the Daleks will be deployed," the white Dalek replied.
"You don't have a predator, and even if you did, why would they turn off the force field for you?"
"Because you will have no other means of escape," the Prime Minister Dalek explained, making Olivia frown before realization hit her.
"Theta," she whispered, making him look down at her in wonder as she met his gaze. "They mean you. Their predator…is you."
"Me?" he snapped, looking around at them all as two of the hollowed out humans approached them. "Me?"
"You will need this," the red-head explained as one of the men strapped something to his wrist that looked like a Dalek eye without the eyestalk. "It will protect you from the nanocloud."
"The what?" he questioned as it turned on and one man pulled him toward the center again, the other strapping a wristband to Olivia's wrist and pulling her in the same direction. "The nano-what?"
"The gravity beam will convey you close to the dissention. You must find a way to deactivate the force field from there."
"You're gonna shoot us at a planet?!" Olivia snapped as she and the Doctor were stopped next to Amy and Rory.
"That's your plan?!" the Doctor snapped as a beam of light shot down from the ceiling, through the gap they stood next to and toward the planet. "I get fired at a planet and expected to fix it?!"
"In all fairness, that is slightly your MO," Rory confessed.
"Don't be fair to the Daleks when they're firing us at a planet!" Olivia snapped.
"Wait, Liv's not coming!" the Doctor ordered, then saw Amy and Rory getting wristband's put on them as well. "What do you want with them?! Liv can't go down there! She has to stay in the TARDIS!"
"It is known that the Doctor requires companions," the Dalek explained.
"Oh, brilliant!" Rory growled before shouting, "Good-oh!"
"Theta," Olivia shuddered, making the Doctor look to her with wide eyes as she met his gaze, shaking her head. "I can't—I'll be worthless down there! They'll kill me!"
"Go to the TARDIS," he whispered, grabbing her arm and pushing her toward the box, and she ran toward it without hesitation but the two hollowed out men intercepted her. "Let her go!"
The men held onto her, pulling her close to the beam.
"The Doctor must have his wife by his side," the Dalek announced. "Olivia Felton must remain with the Doctor for success."
"Alright! Alright! Let me go!" Olivia snapped, remaining next to the beam as she shrugged them off.
"Liv, I'm so sorry—"
"Shut up," she muttered, straightening herself out. "It's my own fault." She looked up at him before swallowing and murmured, "I'll do my best to be brave."
"Don't worry," he murmured, pulling her closer to hug her then looked over his shoulder to tell them all, "We'll get through this. I promise. Don't be scared."
"Scared?" Amy smirked as the Doctor let go of Olivia so they all stood around the beam. "Who's scared? Geronimo."
The Doctor laughed before he was pushed into the beam, followed by Olivia, then Amy, then Rory. They fell through the white beam and Olivia watched them all fall around her, Rory head first and panicking, Amy and the Doctor the right way up and she screamed as they all fell until her world suddenly went dark.
A/N: Olivia's worst nightmare. reviews?