Rose woke up with her head pounding. The bright lights and people yelling was not helping one bit. She couldn't yet register what they were saying due to the pounding in her head. What was going on? She was finally able to open her eyes and move a bit, which caused her to let out a groan, when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"It's alright." Said a man. "It's the transmat, does your head in. You get a bit of amnesia."

No, oh god, no.

"What's your name?" He asked.

"Rose." She replied in a shaky voice. She wasn't ready for this. She needed more time, but she was all out.

"Just remember, do what the android says. Don't provoke it. The android's word is law."

"Positions, everyone! Hurry up!" Yelled a woman from a distance.

"C'mon, get up." Said the man as he helped hoist her up on her feet.

Rose was shocked silent. She and the man, Rodrick if she remembered right, made their way to the podium in silence. She should've known when she put on that outfit that morning. Looking in the mirror, she had thought she felt some déjà vu, now she knew why. She looked exactly like how the Bad Wolf appeared to her.

"Android activated." Yelled the technician.

"Welcome," came the Anne-droid's warbled voice from the machine woman before them. "to The Weakest Link."

The questions started immediately, but this time, Rose wasn't laughing. She was in panic mode the whole time; she was surprised she could answer anything. Luckily, she got pretty standard questions. A few questions about alien pop culture stumped her, but other than that she was doing alright. The longer the game went, the less panicked she became. She knew this was going to happen, she knew what was going on, but being apart from the Doctor and Jack made her uneasy when Daleks were afoot.

At the end of the round is when she really sobered up. As the game is played, she had to write down the name of a contestant to eliminate. Rose knew that while the beam didn't really kill anyone, where they were going was a death sentence. Hesitantly, she wrote down Fitch's name, hating every stroke of the marker.

"So, Rose, what do you do?" Asked the android.

"I'm a…. traveler." She finished lamely.

"Another way of saying unemployed."

"For the moment." She replied sheepishly.

"And yet, you can still afford peroxide." The droid commented, making Rose bristle at the blonde joke. "Why Fitch?"

"I had to pick someone for your twisted game, didn't I?" Rose grumbled. She looked at Fitch, who was now crying, and her expression softened. "I'm so sorry."

"Let me try again, it was the lights and everything, I couldn't think!" Fitch pleaded.

"In fact, with three wrong answers, Broff was the Weakest Link in that round. But it's the votes that count." Fitch began crying harder, pleading for her life. Rose could feel tears in her eyes as the droid continued. "Fitch, you are the Weakest Link. Goodbye."

The Anne-droid opened her mouth and a disintegrator took her. Just as quickly as Rose remembered, Fitch was gone. Nothing but a pile of dust remained.

"And we've gone to the adverts. Back in three minutes." Yelled the technician.

And the game continued. One after another, each player was picked off. Rose didn't bother talking to Rodrick this time, knowing what a complete ass he was last time. Every disintegration hurt Rose to her core. She knew the Doctor would be there soon, but at what cost? Watching her get disintegrated, ending up in the hands of the Daleks, everyone would die.

Then, of course, there was the Bad Wolf. She couldn't guarantee everything would go off without a hitch, but she knew that much was fixed. She would become the Bad Wolf, she would turn every Dalek to dust, and she would kill the Doctor. The very thought made her sick to her stomach.

The Lightning Round came and went as quickly as the name would suggest. She tried as hard as she could, but panic was lodging its way up her throat again. But, of course, Rodrick won. Rose was practically shaking when Rodrick boasted. As the Anne-droid spoke, the door burst open and Rose heard the shouts of the Doctor.

"Rose! Stop this game! I order you to stop this game!"

"Doctor, the Anne-droid, its armed!" Rose shouted as she ran to him. If they tried to shoot him, she had to get in the way.

She was only a foot away when she felt the beam pierce her entire being. She couldn't stop the scream from ripping out of her throat. When she awoke again, her brain felt fuzzy. The amber lighting felt better on her head, but this time she was acutely aware of where she was.

She stood quickly, right as a Dalek made its way toward her. Rose balled her hands into fists to stop the shaking. She could hardly register what it was telling her, but she knew she had to obey. She stood, back to the wall, out of their way. She was their bargaining chip, their leverage, no use killing her now.

All the Daleks then came flooding in, making their way to their stations. Good little soldiers, Rose thought bitterly. That's what she needed right now; rage, not fear. She swallowed the rising panic and focused on the Daleks. All of them, once human. It engulfed her body in rage like fire. All these innocent human lives, stripped away of everything they were for an army of these creatures. They lacked everything that made a person who they were, stuffed into a metal shell, and forced to do the bidding of an overgrown lunatic they called emperor.

"ALERT. ALERT. WE ARE DETECTED." A Dalek said as he entered the room.

"IT IS THE DOCTOR. HE HAS LOCATED US" The Dalek closest to Rose responded.

"OPEN COMMUNICATIONS CHANNEL." The first Dalek ordered.

"THE FEMALE WILL COME FORWARD." The nearest Dalek barked at Rose, training its gun on her. She moved into the line of sight of the communication hologram. The image appeared and there they were. The Doctor was practically fuming with hatred, Rose could tell behind his calm demeanor.

"I WILL TALK TO THE DOCTOR." A Dalek commanded.

"Oh, will you? That's nice. Hello." Replied the Doctor in an airy voice. Immediately as it came, his grin vanished.

"THE DALEK STRATAGEM NEARS COMPLETION. THE FLEET IS ALMOST READY. YOU WILL NOT INTERVINE."

"Oh, really? Why's that, then?" The Doctor spat.

"WE HAVE YOUR ASSOCIATE. YOU WILL OBEY OR SHE WILL BE EXTERMINATED."

The Dalek's around her pointed their guns at her. She was getting tired of it at this point. Rose looked at the screen, into the Doctor's eyes, and shook her head no subtly as she could. Nothing was going to stop the Doctor from saving her, but she had to make sure he knew that she had faith. She believed in him.

"No." The Doctor said, and everyone's heads whipped around to look at him.

"EXPLAIN YOURSELF"

"I said no."

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS NEGATIVE?"

"It means no."

"BUT SHE WILL BE DESTROYED."

"No!" The Doctor stood, all eyes, and eyestalks, trained on him. "Cos this is what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna rescue her. I'm gonna save Rose Tyler from the middle of the Dalek fleet, and then I'm gonna save the earth, and then, just to finish off, I'm gonna wipe every last stinking Dalek out of the sky!"

"BUT YOU HAVE NO WEAPONS. NO DEFENSES. NO PLAN."

"Yeah, and doesn't that scare you to death." The Doctor then looked right at Rose; his expression still fierce but softened at the sight of her alive. "Rose?"

"Yes, Doctor?"

"I'm coming to get you."

A/N: And finally, we're here! You have no idea how emotional writing these last few chapters has made me. The end of my first Doctor and the beginning of my favorite. It's a bittersweet moment. But, anyways, hope you enjoy!