Disclaimer: This is a fan based creation. Doctor Who, Torchwood, and the Sarah Jane Chronicle are the property of the BBC and their assorted creators. Please support the official release.

A/N: Sorry about that long wait. This chapter, along with life and the world, seemed to fight me more than it should have. But here we are, a new chapter! Yay! Thank you to everyone who left me comments, joined our little family as a follower, or simply made my day by favoring this story. We are coming up on the end of this season. The next Season of Once More will be in a separate story, starting with Christmas Invasion! Outlining is already completed!

If anyone wants to see an adventure with Rose and Nine, please send me a message or leave a comment/review! I would be happy to do what I can do everyone who has stuck around this long.

For now, we return to the situation aboard the Game Station. Enjoy!

Once More With Feeling

Chapter 47: A Horrifying Twist

Chaos.

"I order you to stop this show!"

Pure chaos.

"Doctor! Watch out!"

Disbelief.

"You killed her! You stupid fucking—"

Grief.

Screams, shouts from so many sources. Someone calling for security.

This couldn't be happening, was all Jack Harkness could think as he sat in the little holding cell with the Doctor, Lynda and Strood.

An all out brawl between a group of people who neither Jack nor the Doctor knew and security.

Lifting his blue eyes, he gazed over at the other two holding cells. Each one had four people in them as well. Those eight people, all of them were former contestants on Ninja Warrior. Eight lives that the light that was once Rose Tyler touched. Eight lives that threw themselves at security in protest of what happened, defending a man they did not know.

All because they killed Rose Tyler.

Jack closed his eyes against the pain. Rose was dead. She was gone. He could still see her bright brown eyes as she raced towards them. He could still hear her scream and the Doctor's roar of pain as he collapsed over a pile of ash. It was all that was left of their girl. All around them was pure chaos as the cameras continued to roll, broadcasting their grief and reactions. Lynda was at the Doctor's side instantly. Strood had jumped on the back of a guard that got too close to the Doctor. There had been a group of people off to the side who jumped into actions as well.

Some made a break for the open door.

Others, including three active contestants, jumped the security guards. The brawl was hard, fast, and bloody. The Doctor never once seemed to register what was going on, or the snap of guns going off. Three died in the fight before someone was able to get to the Doctor. Jack still shuddered at the thought of that gun pressed against his best friend's temple, or the sight of that same friend just staring at the ash on the ground. The man looked numb, disconnected.

Jack didn't blame the Doctor.

Rose Tyler was dead.

His head was still ringing, as he ignored the guard speaking. Instead he was holding Lynda's trembling hand as the guard said something about them bound for the penal planets in the Justicar system. Strood was sitting, looking like he was made of stone. In the other holding cages, the others looked the same. Jack really couldn't care less what the guard was on about. His mind was focused.

In the other people's eyes he noted the same look he had.

They were all just waiting for something.

Someone.

The Doctor.

Jack Harkness knew the Doctor. And he knew from the cold set in his eyes, the tightening around his eyes, the tightness of his jaw all said that he was just waiting to act.

…

The Doctor saw nothing.

All he knew was a blackness that was seeping into every part of his mind.

The last time he felt that, he had the TARDIS to help push it back. And Rose.

His precious mate.

'They took her from me.'

'It was an accident!'

'They will pay. For taking what is MINE.'

If the Time Lord had been paying attention, he would have noticed two things. One of those was the second mind buzzing in his trying to soothe his rage. The second thing would have been the increasing look of panic that was washing over Lynda's face. What he never knew was the fact that she could see and feel the void in his mind where their race would have dwelled. And the ever widening mass of darkness that was spreading out in his mind where it should have been his mate. She had seen this before.

In her father.

Harold Saxon lost what little of his mind was left when his wife and mate disappeared a hundred years ago. Or so people would say.

'Listen to Papa, my little Time Lady,' he told her once in a moment of grief as they watched the stars. 'People all over the stars and time think we are emotionless, creatures of rational and intelligence. They are wrong. So, so wrong.'

The Doctor might have seen all that if he had not been planning, plot after plot, on ways to make these humans pay for taking what was his away from him. For daring to imprison him, the Doctor, a Time Lord. Superior in every way to these pathetic, apathetic apes. He reached out to Jack as the guard droned on and on. The Doctor just wanted the man to shut up.

Permanently.

"Why don't you just leave them alone?" he heard Lynda speak up, huffing in annoyance he both heard and felt from the other Time Lord.

The guard took one step forward and gripped Lynda's jaw tightly. The Doctor swallowed the growl that threatened to escape, he and Jack had a plan now and he was very tempted to act too early. Instinct, it was a dangerous thing in a pissed off Time Lord who survived Hell and more. The guard stepped back and addressed the whole group once more and silence was his answer.

The man spit on the ground at the Doctor's feet before turning to leave. As soon as the alien male heard the click of the lock opening, he looked at Jack. "Do it."

Then the Doctor was on his feet.

Jack had no time really to react as he watched the Doctor stand up smoothly, reach out, gripping the stunned guard's head with both hands.

Snap.

The guard's body dropped to the cement floor and the Doctor just stepped over him like he wasn't there.

Jack was moving, like the Doctor, running on pure instinct while his mind screamed at the fact he just watched the Doctor deliberately kill someone. The second guard who came forward towards the leather jacket wearing man met the same fate as the first man as Jack, just a lethally, took out a third guard. The difference between the former Time Agent and the Doctor, Jack punched the guard in the throat; the move breaking the windpipe and leaving the guard to choke to death. Turning away, Jack did note that that was the same guard that had threatened to kill the Doctor. Good for him.

The Doctor took his sonic back as he passed the table that had all their stuff. Stopped at the door, he looked back at the others as Jack gathered up two machine guns and his jiggery pokery gun, Lynda was opening the other two holding cells, and Strood was snatching up the guards' keys and guns. The others each took one, before turning to the Doctor as Strood came forward, the keys to the kingdom in his shaking hands, so to speak. The former housemate merely looked into the Doctor's ice blue eyes and nodded. He knew very well how the Doctor was feeling. And he was completely on board.

No matter what it took, justice was coming.

The control room was in a frenzy.

Every security measure they tried to stop the hostiles were simply overruled by either the system itself or the group. There was no stopping this Doctor and his small armed force as they were already in the lift heading to floor 500. Matani was furious. One would have thought the manager woman would be a little scared, fearful for her very life, but she was angry. The group heading their way was being given free access to her Game Station, undermining her authority, a number of them survivors from what she now suspected was a cheat from the Tyler woman, and they were coming here. Floor 500 was off limits to everyone except her carefully selected employees.

And she couldn't get security to respond to her.

Walking over to her desk, she carefully removed a hand gun she kept there, just in case something like this happened during her reign over Game Station. There had been an incident years before she arrived where something like this happened. It was when the housemates decided to walk out. She swore she would never be taken like the Station Manager at the time was.

All around her, the employees were scrambling to enact the pre arranged protocols. She just watched them all with ice in her eyes. None of them mattered to her, only her orders to keep the station running at all costs. She, alone, was responsible to the increase in broadcasting, shows, ratings and extended transmat range. No one knew she was able to pull people from Mars and the Moon colony now.

Only the Masters knew that. And they had rewarded her handsomely for that feat. They made her Station Manager after all. Then they gave her the Controller.

Moving to stand in front of the Controller, she waited.

Lifting her arm, she took aim at the lift doors.

The doors started to open and the employees ran for whatever cover they could find.

Matani saw the Doctor, standing on point. The defabricator that had been tampered with and stolen in his hands. Her empty dark eyes locked with his shards of ice.

Time seemed to slow down to everyone who was watching. Pavel would later swear that it was like time slowed and everything then happened at the same time. He watched, horrified as his boss aimed her gun at the enraged man in leather. He didn't react but the handsome man in the leather duster stepped forward, aiming his own gun over the Doctor's shoulder at Matani. Out of the corner of his eye, Pavel noted that the door to Archive Six slid open.

"YOU ARE THE WEAKEST LINK," a mechanical voice shouted, more commanded at Matani. A weapon went off, Matani seemed to light up a moment before she dropped to the ground, dead. "GOOD BYE."

The thing that came from Archive Six glided forward, looking all the world like a brilliant shade of blue pepper pot holding a whisk and a plunger from the 20th century.

"Thorn!" The Doctor's accented voice broke the strange effect in the air. Time resumed to its normal run and Pavel could breathe again. "Where have you been?"

"LOCKED DOWN. SHOWS IN THIS PLACE ARE STUPID," the pot answered, turning the eye stalk towards the Doctor as the man walked forward, his army fanning out behind him. "SEXY IS NOT PLEASED WITH THE TREATMENT OF THIS PLACE, EITHER. WHERE ARE WE THIS TIME? ...DOCTOR. WHERE IS MY ROSE TYLER, DOCTOR…? WHERE IS ROSE TYLER?"

Pavel thought that the voice seemed to soften, worried as it looked at the group. It greeted the handsome man briefly before looking back at the Doctor.

"HARKNESS."

The human man watched the pain flash in the eyes of the Doctor before it was hidden by a darkness that made Pavel shiver as he was moved back towards the other employees, some who were actively crying over the death of their boss.

Thorn watched the Doctor clench his jaw and his heart rate pick up as well as a drop in some hormonal levels when he asked where his ward was. Thorn knew that look, he saw it often from other Time Lords during the Time War. The eye stalk lowered.

The Doctor walked forward, stopped at the body of Matani and aimed his gun at the young woman connected to the system itself. "Who's in charge?"

The young woman continued to count out.

"Who killed Rose Tyler?" the Doctor growled now. "I want answers! Who killed my wife!?"

Pavel took a breath before stepping forward, "Um, sir, she can't answer you."

Both the Doctor and Jack turned towards what seemed to be the only person with a lick of sense in his head, his hands up. "She can't answer or really hear. The Controller, her," Pavel motioned to the young woman as she warned again of the incoming solar flare, "she's linked to the transmission. Everything goes through her brain. Since you aren't a member of staff, she doesn't recognize your existence, sir."

"Jack!" Lynda called out suddenly from one of the terminals she and Strood were working at, "Security incoming up the lift."

"Got it," Jack nodded and turned to deal with the exits. "You all, with me." He motioned to the other armed people who nodded and followed.

The Doctor stared at the Controller, pity entering his mind for the first time since he last saw his Rose. "You, what's her name?"

"I don't know," Pavel offered, sounding sincere which seemed to calm the Doctor more. "She was installed in the system at five. No name or origin, just plugged in."

The Doctor turned towards the employees, his eyes dark as an oncoming storm. The group jumped, some huddling together and whispering prayers, but Pavel's hands just shot up more. "Don't shoot, please…"

The Doctor growled before turning and tossing the large makeshift weapon to a tall Japanese man. "Don't be thick. Not going to shoot you. She was the one I wanted. Thorn took care of it."

"What I want to know, right now," the Doctor murmured as he moved to another console, "is what is this place? It's more that a broadcasting butcher house. So what is it?"

It was cold, was the first thing that came to mind as Rose Tyler started to regain conscious. She didn't remember it being this cold last time.

With a groan, the blond hybrid rolled to her side, holding the back of her head. Bloody hurt, the shielding around this place. She couldn't feel the Doctor or the TARDIS at all. The resulting headache she was feeling as a result of the transmat, the fall, hitting her head, and the hard stop on their bond was much like the last hangover she ever had. It had been at John and Melody's wedding. She had triumphed, drinking everyone, even a few aliens under the table. But oh, did she suffer the next day.

"THE FE-MALE AWAKES," the cold, terrifyingly familiar voice commanded. "STAND, FE-MALE. YOU WILL STAND!"

Growling low in her throat, Rose stumbled to her feet weakly, holding the wall. "The female has a name, you know, ya bloody pepper pot," she grumbled, peeking an eye open. Even knowing what was going to be there, it was still blood chilling to see the Dalek in front of her.

One that was not TARDIS blue.

Suppressing a shudder, she stood straight and leaned back against the cold, metal wall. Looking around, she shivered as she witnessed once again one of the truest moments of terror she ever experienced in her long life. Everywhere her eyes went, she saw nothing but Daleks. This was simply not one of the things she missed while she had been in Pete's Universe. Swallowing hard, she made the eye stalk that was focused on her, trying to suppress the trembling in her body. While she was dangerous, these things are/will always been far more dangerous than she could ever be.

"YOUR NAME DOES NOT MATTER," the Dalek announced at her as two more joined it. "YOU WILL OBEY. THIS IS AN ORDER FROM THE DALEK. WE ARE THE SUPEIOR LIFEFORM."

Oh, I could debate that one with you, mate, Rose thought to herself.

There was an answering vibration almost in the quiet empty spot of her mind. It was almost like the TARDIS was trying to break through the shielding. A sudden movement interrupted her thoughts as a young woman, possibly about eighteen years of eyes was dropped beside her. Frowning, Rose immediately knelt to help the other female up. The young woman turned empty eyes towards Rose then towards the Daleks as she stood straight on wobbly feet. It was like she had never stood on her own before. Frowning, Rose wracked her memory for who this woman could possibly be.

"Are you the Controller?" Rose asked softly.

The young woman turned those empty, sightless eyes towards Rose as a soft smile curled her thin lips, making her look so much younger. "You are Rose Tyler. Your Doctor is looking for you." Turning this time towards the Daleks a fierce look took over her features. "My Masters, I defy you."

Rose watched as the woman seemed to steel herself, as the Controller grinned at her masters. "Oh, my Masters. You may kill me, but I have brought you your destruction."

The Daleks said nothing as they fired at the Controller. Rose jumped back, swallowing a scream of her own as the younger woman light up. The Controller never made a sound, no scream, not even a grunt as her life was stolen from her. She collapsed to the hard floor, all the while a smile frozen on her face.

"You… killed her," Rose breathed. "She was blind and unarmed and you just killed her."

"YOU ARE CORRECT," the Dalek told her. "SHE WAS NO LONGER USEFUL. SHE WAS TO BE EXTERMINATED FOR HER DEFIANCE."

"You're crazy," Rose blinked. "Bunch of nutters, all of you. Bloody wankers."

"YOU WILL STAND," another Dalek yelled at her as she started to sag. "YOU WILL BE SILENCE! YOU ARE NOT AUTHORIZED TO SPEAK! DO NOT SPEAK! DO NOT SPEAK!"

Rose had to actively stop her eyes from flaring up when she turned to glare at the Dalek.

"ALERT! ALERT!" Another Dalek glided up to the little group, "WE HAVE BEEN DETECTED!"

"Let me guess," Rose smirked, bluffing away her fear despite the fact they could monitor her heart rate, "the Doctor?"

"YOU WILL BE SILENT!" the first Dalek snapped at her. "OPEN COMMUNICATIONS!"

Rose lifted her face as the window opened up and she nearly moaned at the sheer relief at seeing both her mate and Jack were safe and whole. She was a bit concerned about the darkness and ice she could see even from there in the Doctor's eyes.

"I WILL SPEAK TO THE DOC-TOR," the first Dalek announced in a hard voice.

"Oh, will you now?" came the Doctor's voice. Rose shivered at the sheer ice and rage she could hear there. "That's nice. Hello."

The Daleks paused a moment, as if they were not sure what to make of the tight smile and the threat behind it unspoken. Rose just grinned at her lover's face.

"YOU WILL NOT INTERVENE," the first Dalek announced. "THE DALEK STRATAGEM NEARS COMPLETION. YOU WILL NOT INTERVENE!"

"Is that so? Really?" the Doctor quipped, the blue of his eyes darkening with every word. "Why's that?"

The Daleks turned towards Rose who backed up a little, not sure where this was going to go. Last time, she didn't remember the Doctor being so hostile towards the Daleks in the call. Lifting her eyes again, she looked to the Time Lord, his eyes locking with hers as the Daleks started to speak again.

"WE HAVE YOUR COMPANION," the Dalek that was doing all the talking announced. "YOU WILL OBEY OR SHE WILL BE EXTERMINATED!"

Rose's eyes darted past the Doctor to a flash of blue, bright, beautiful blue in the background of the transmission feed. A slow, secret smile curled the corners of her full lips as she turned her attention back to the Doctor. Her fear was starting to fade into anticipation.

"No," the only word that came from the Doctor, the only word that echoed in his mind and soul at the threat. It was stated in a flat, icy, final. All around him people snapped to stare at him. Even Jack was staring at him in disbelief. On the scene, his eyes were only on his mate. She was staring back at him with that little smile she would show him when she knew something amazing was going to happen. That he was about to do something amazing, something she had experienced before. It was that look of knowledge, trust, faith and love in those enchanting brown eyes that had the rage calming down.

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS NEGATIVE?" the lead Dalek asked, sounding as confused as a Dalek could be.

"Means no," the Doctor stated simply again. To the side of his vision he caught Jack looking back up at the scene, eyes locked on Rose for a moment.

"YOU WILL EXPLAIN YOURSELF!" the Dalek demanded.

The sound of someone smothering laughter in the back of the room almost broke the Doctor's concentration.

"I said," the Doctor stated like he was speaking to a dull child, "no."

The other people watching turned their gazes towards the scene now as the Dalek fell silent, looking at its companions for help. To Lynda, who knew all too well what these things were thanks to the stories of her youth, could only muse at the power of the Doctor. Not only do that fear him, they respect him, and ultimately, they are confused by him.

"BUT SHE WILL BE EXTERMINATED?" the leader stated again, the tone was lifted in the end as if in question. Behind it, which it and the others chose to ignore, Rose snorted and muttered something.

The Doctor was able to hear it loud and clear in his mind.

Not bloody likely, ya wankers.

Even with the thought managing to reach him for a moment across the span of space, through the shielding, the little touch of Rose's golden light against his mind was not enough to swallow the pure rage that raced through him at the threat against his mate. Rage surged through him as he stood, his chair clattering loudly to the metal floor.

"No!" the alien all but snarled this time at the screen. Every eye in the room turned to him again, some in fear, some in confusion, a few were sporting little grins as if they just knew they were about to see something fantastic. "Instead, this is what I'll do. I am going to take back Rose Tyler. Right from the middle of your little fleet. Then, I am going to save the Earth. And then, when that is done, I am going to wipe every last fucking Dalek out of the existence!"

The room was silent as all eyes turned back to the screen, the people around him were smiling in anticipation. The Doctor was breathing heavily, his eyes flashing. The smell of ozone, like that moment before lightning strikes, faintly filled the room as the Doctor waited.

"BUT… YOU HAVE NO WEAPONS," the Dalek who was speaking started, as if afraid. "NO DEFENSE. NO PLAN."

The smile the Doctor sent was a terrifying one. "And doesn't that scare you to death. Rose?"

The Time Lord was ignoring everyone as his gaze focused on his mate. Her eyes were faintly stirring with a golden mist as she looked adoringly back at him. The amount of trust and love he saw there, made the smile turn genuine. He would have her back at his side. Soon, where she belonged.

"Yes, Doctor?"

Taking a moment to allow the sweet sound of her voice sooth his rage, he smirked a little. "Sit tight, you. I'm coming to get you. Don't have fun without me."

Before he could cut the line, he saw that smile blossom over her face and one word reached him as the screen went black.

"Fantastic."

The whole of the group around him turned to stare at the Doctor now, awaiting instructions. At that moment, the Doctor realized the group had grown a bit since the conversation started. Security had made it to them. The Doctor blinked at the guards then lifted a hand and gave a goofy smile that never touched his eyes.

"Hello," he quipped as beside him Jack facepalmed with a groan, "I'm the Doctor."

A chorus of groans and mutters from his little army shifted around him as he waited. It always happened.

"Doctor…who?" Ah, there is was. Opening his mouth to give the standard reply, he was interrupted by a mechanical menace.

"JUST THE DOCTOR," Thorn interrupted, sounding very annoyed. "YES, THE DOCTOR. IT IS HIS NAME. FOR WHATEVER REASON. DO NOT QUESTION FURTHER. WE ARE ON A TIME TABLE."

"Was that completely necessary?" the Doctor growled at Thorn who just stared at the Doctor.

"Yes!" a number of voiced shouted at him, Jack's the loudest.

After that the room erupted in shouts, people yelling back and forth, security guards demanding to know what is going on, Jack trying to calm everyone down. Even sweet, sweet Lynda was yelling at someone, likely Strood who said something rude and insensitive. A low shrill whistle spilt the noise levels like a blade. Everyone went silent and turned as one towards the source of the sound. A tall, handsome red haired man stood next to the lift doors, hands on his hips, frowning.

"One," his smooth tones broke over the silence easily, "no matter the situation, there is never a need to shout or bad manners. Two, let the man talk."

The gathering all seemed to be stunned.

"Beast?" the Doctor asked, curious. "What are you doing here?"

"We just saw you!" Jack put in nearly at the same time.

"Did you now?" the Beast asked with a grin, strolling forward like he owned the place. He paused briefly at the body of Matani and wrinkled his nose. "Now that is just unhygienic. Anyway, you say you just saw me? Wonderful!"

"We just left Kyoto," Jack sighed as the Doctor was rubbing his forehead growling.

"Oh! That was so close for you? Funny that," the Beast chuckled, looking over the group around the screen.

"For a second time," the Doctor growls, making the Beast's violet eyes snap to him and narrow, "what are you doing here?"

The other Time Lord looked like he wanted to make a retort in a snarky way, but refrained as he looked the Doctor over. Something was off here, he could tell. And it had nothing to do with why he was there. Again he looked over the crowd, mentally counting the people before pausing.

Ah, that was what was the problem, he thought.

"I am here because a Paradox is currently being formed in this area," the Beast stated as he moved to stand with the Doctor and Jack. "A rather nasty one, at that. Not like the storm that hit Kyoto, by any means. More… a universal implosion kind of one."

The people in the room who understood that stiffened and looked at the Doctor. The older Time Lord merely frowned, more like a scowl as he considered what was being told to him.

"It could be the fact there are a half a million Daleks sitting at the edge of the system," the Doctor offered.

The Beast blinked, "Half a million?"

"LONG STORY SHORT," Thorn broke in, gliding forward, "THIS PLACE IS THE MOJO VERSE ON CRACK. DALEKS ARE HERE, PEOPLE ARE SLAUGHTERED LIKE IN TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE AND WE HAVE NO ROSE TYLER."

"Where … is Rose?" the Beast asked softly, as if he already knew what was hoping he was wrong for once.

"Heart of that fleet," Jack put in.

"You have to get her right now, Theta," the Beast turned towards his old friend and commander. "My people have a Multi Dimensional Gravity cannon currently aimed at that very fleet."

"What!?" Jack exploded, getting to his feet. The other people in the room were just standing to the side waiting this play out. At least everyone but Pavel and three others. They had taken to the consoles and were in the process of shutting down each show, sending information and instructions to the varying stage managers. In addition they were attempting to reach Earth to prepare them for the worst case scenario and to let them know shuttles will be coming down shortly.

"That cannon is used to take out planetary clusters! Not ships!" Jack growled. "That's overkill, even for Daleks!"

"You said there are only a half a million, correct?" the Beast asked, turning towards Jack. "Where did you get that information?"

"We saw it, on the screen," Lynda stepped forward, recognizing another Time Lord. This one, she had no idea who he was. "About a dozen ships and a flag ship."

"My dear girl," the Beast sighed. "That was not all of them. There are roughly four times that hidden behind that fleet. What you saw was the advance group. That is why we are here, I refuse to believe they are not the source of the incoming Paradox since all Daleks should be dead."

"NOT ALL," Thorn snorted. "I STILL LIVE. AND THE CULT OF DAVROS ESCAPED THE WAR AS WELL. COWARDS."

The Beast took a deep breath and looked at the Doctor. "You are going to need weapons, better than the ones these people carry and you know it, Theta. If you refuse to fight, these people will all die. And the Doctor I know is no coward."

The Doctor growled at that, because he was, in fact, a coward. He hated fighting, hated killing. But for his Rose, for his family, he would commit genocide again to keep them all safe. "Jack, Thorn, with me. We're going to get Rose. Beast, can you stay here and see about some kind of defense?"

"As you command," the Beast gave a small, mocking small and a bow.

"I'm going with you," Lynda announced following the Doctor. "I'm a Time Lady too, it's my job to protect time and space against threats, right? I'm going to help you."

The other two Time Lords looked at her with smiles and nodded.

"Alright, let's go get my Rose back," the Doctor grinned a feral smile as he and his team turned towards the TARDIS.

The TARDIS groaned in protest after the first wave of missiles hit the shielding. They never touched her haul but the wave of force that the explosions were doing a number on her already damaged circuits. Inside, her passengers were racing to protect her from the next wave of missiles that were already on their way. Her Thief was giving commands to the little Time Lady he brought along while her precious Jack was working with Darling to get the extrapolator working with her system. It was primitive by her building standards, but it was working.

My Thief, another incoming wave, she sent to the Doctor as she shifting her axis to avoid the things altogether. She could feel her Wolf getting closer and closer, feel the other's fear and anxiety.

Just need another moment, the Doctor sent back to her. His mind was tightly shut off from her, which always worried the ship. The last time he did that, a button was pushed.

Inside the main console room, the voice of the Beast giving a warning that they had passed the line of his ships and was in their firing range now rang out. The TARDIS ignored him. She had no fear from those baby ships. She could all but taste their curiosity when she passed by their cloaked locations. Now was not the time for explanations or greetings she told them as she sped passed. A part of her dearly wished she could drop her current guise, for the first time in over a millennium, and show what her true form was. But, that was fine with her. The old police box form made her a smaller target for the Daleks to aim at.

"Careful, Theta," the Beast called out again. "It looks like parts of the fleet are mobilizing. I am shifting my fleet to intercept them should they dare. This part is on you, my old friend."

"Thanks, Beast," Jack called out as he finished his work. "Doctor! Now!"

"BETTER WORK, HARKNESS," Thorn warned as he shifted, holding the extrapolator up for the human to work on.

"Ten seconds to impact," Lynda called as she danced around the console, almost gleeful. She had always wanted to help pilot one of these.

The missiles hit dead on the TARDIS and she let out a growl at the same time her Thief threw another switch, sparks raining down around her riders.

"And now for my next trick," the Doctor quipped in a voice that was close to a snarl.

Rose stood to the side, watching in horror as time as she knew it was changing.

Instead of a single wave of missiles launched at her beloved family, she watched as multiple waves were sent out. Her heart felt like someone closed their fist around it and squeezed until nothing could beat. All around her, the Daleks were talking back and forth. The fear and anger, the anxiety of watching this was forcing her own knee jerk reaction. She was forced to swallow it, keep it down lest she lashed out and got herself killed.

"IMPACT DETECTED," a Dalek informed anyone who cared to listen. "TARDIS HAS BEEN EXTERMINATED!"

"No!" Rose cried out.

Even as the word left her mouth, the feeling of warmth and love surrounded her mind, along with an achingly familiar song. The wind around her kicked up as the much needed sounds of gears grinding filled the air. Everywhere the Daleks started shouting out, almost sounding worried, if they could sound worried. Rose stepped back as the wind concentrated around her, almost growling when a Dalek got to close to her again.

"YOU WILL NOT MOVE!" the Dalek shouted at her, aiming it's gun at her.

Rose just smiled at the alien as the TARDIS solidified around her. She did not even wait for the warning to be shouted to her. As soon as she felt the grating beneath her shoes, she dropped down. The Dalek fired once at her direction, before turning at the sound of the Doctor yelling out.

"Rose!"

The Dalek fired off at the Doctor, missing him completely. Jack shifted to the left of the console as Thorn shifted to the right. Rose never saw the two fire at the same time before her Dalek captor exploded with a scream. She lifted her head to look at the smoking mess just as large, rough hands grabbed her by the shoulders and hauled her up. Leather arms wrapped around her tightly as the Doctor's presence and scent filled her.

"Doctor…" she breathed out softly, clinging to him as he laid his forehead against her own. "I thought I wouldn't see you again…" the soft words made him tighten his arms. The fact she was afraid of that meant this was not something familiar to her, he thought.

"Told you I was coming to get you, didn't I?" he murmured back before pressing a kiss to her crown.

"ARE YOU UNHURT, ROSE TYLER?" Thorn asked as he glided to her side. She found it interesting how he never once looked at the remains of one of his race.

"Yeah, Thorn," she smiled, reaching for him and laying a hand on the top of his dome head. "Thank you for coming to get me."

"Aw how cute," she heard Jack drawl, the smile in his voice. "Don't I get one of those?"

Before Rose could turn on him, a petite blonde launched herself at Jack, laughing happily. Rose blinked twice before her memories kicked in. That was Lynda. Lynda with a Y was in the TARDIS…

In the TARDIS, hugging Jack Harkness.

Hugging Jack while laughing to the point of tears while crying out "We did it! We got her back!"

Lynda with a Y who she remembered being a human, who's mind was currently buzzing in the back of her mind along with the Doctor like another Time Lord would.

Rose looked up at her mate to ask when Lynda suddenly turned towards them, "Wait, my Dad said these guys were all killed during the Time War. How are they here now?"

"I mean, honestly until I saw Thorn," Jack put in, his arms hooked around Lynda, "I thought they were just a myth. One minute they are the greatest threat of ever, then they were just… gone."

"Is this really that most appropriate time for this chat?" the Beast's voice cut thought the chatter. "Need I remind you of the very dangerous guns currently pointed at your location?"

Rose turned towards the console, ready to ask more questions. This was nothing like she remembered it being.

"Good point!" The Doctor cheerfully broke through her thoughts. For once, she did not feel his terror at the thought of the Daleks. No, there was rage and curiosity but none of the fear. "No good standing around here chin wagging. Humans, gossip all day, if you could. Never figure out how you get anything done. Well! Let's go out and meet the neighbors!"

"Oy!" Lynda snapped. "Not human, thanks. Time Lady."

"RUDE," came from Thorn.

"As the only human in here," Jack huffed, "I find that offensive."

"Remember Doctor," Rose added in with a smirk, "no matter the situation, there is no need for bad manners."

The answering growl was answer enough for the group. The Doctor gave them off a half glare before stepping out the door. Rose watched as Jack and Lynda sprinted towards him, yelling about not going out there. Rose looked at Thorn, shrugged.

"Coming?" she asked her Dalek protector.

"MIGHT AS WELL," the alien sighed. "NO KNOWING WHAT TROUBLE THEY WILL FIND WITHOUT US."

"Pretty much, yeah," Rose smiled as they stepped out together, to the Doctor taunting the Daleks in gold that surrounded them. Rose just shook her head. This was playing out similar at least. Lynda was staying close to the doors of the TARDIS, looking more scared than anything. Reaching out, Rose touched her shoulder before sending soothing waves of calm through the contact point. Lynda looked at Rose before offering a small smile of thanks. Watching the Doctor and Jack pull their comic duo routine, Rose shook her head before tilting it towards the door. Lynda understood perfectly, she was being offered sanctuary within the magnificent space and time ship.

Lynda smiled and shook her head. She came this far, she planned to see it through.

"-know what I'm called on Skaro?" the Doctor was saying as Rose joined his side. "The Oncoming Storm. You might've removed your emotions, but still there is a spark. It's part of your DNA, nature. It's called fear. And that little spark burns when facing me. So! Let's get to the point, shall we? How did you survive the Time War?"

"THESE CHILDREN ARE NOT OF THE TIME WAR," Thorn suddenly announced, drawing attention to his presence at the Doctor's side.

"THE TRAITOR IS CORRECT," a deeper voice boomed over the assembly. "THEY SURVIVE THROUGH ME."

Rose closed her eyes against the wave of fear that voice brought her, the Doctor stiffened. Turning together, they both looked up at the massive golden housing apparatus that housed the speaker. Massive compared to the others, more powerful that all of them combined. This being was old, his voice echoed with a thousand lifetimes and knowledge from even more. A true child of Skaro.

The pure son of Davros.

"Rose?" the Doctor asked softly, the true question in their minds.

The blonde hybrid could only nod once.

"Thought so," the Time Lord sighed. In a voice filled with fear, and begrudging respect, the Doctor made his introductions. "Lynda, Captain… meet the Emperor of the Daleks."

Lynda turned white.

Thorn remained silent.

"MY DESTROYER," the Emperor greeted the Doctor in kind. "YOU KILLED US ALL, DOCTOR, WITH YOUR INFERNO. BUT NO, I WOULD SURVIVE. FALLING THROUGH TIME, CRIPPLED BUT ALIVE."

"I can see that," the Doctor murmured. Beside him, Rose stiffened. Under normal circumstances, he would never do this in front of his sworn enemy and featured stars of his nightmares, but the Doctor reached down and grabbed Rose's hand. Immediately her fingers laced with him, squeezing back. Behind him, he was aware of Thorn shifting slightly and Jack pulling sweet Lynda behind him.

All around him, in that same breath of a second, the world seemed to erupt with the mechanical voices of a hundred Daleks all yelled at him to not interrupt the Emperor. The Doctor's eye gave an involuntary twitch as he looked over his shoulder at the three closest Daleks.

Time held its breath.

"I think you lot are forgetting something," his voice started off deadly soft. "I'm the Doctor. The Destroyer, the Oncoming Storm. If there is one thing I can do, it's talk. Know over five billion languages, me. You lot haven't got one way of stopping me." Turning slightly towards the three most vocal Daleks, he continued, "so, if anybody's going to shut up, it's you!"

The three backed away quickly, fear taking over them.

"Right," the Doctor turned back to the Emperor, who had remained silent the whole time, "that's taken care of. Where were we? Ah, yes. Your ship, time. Go on."

Time breathed out.

If the Emperor of the Daleks was upset or even put out at the actions of the ancient Time Lord, he made no reactions. In fact, he was almost respectfully waiting. Even after all this time, Rose still found that fact strange. Instead, he simply continued as if there had been no break in the conversation.

"WE WAITED HERE, IN THE DARK OF SPACE," the Emperor explained. "DAMAGED BUT WE REBUILT. CENTURIES PASSED BY. IT WAS NOTHING TO INFILTRATE THE SYSTEMS OF YOUR BELOVED EARTH. I HARVESTED THE WASTES OF HUMANITY. THE PRISONERS, THE DISPOSSESSED. THE UNWANTED. SO EASY TO BRING THEM TO US."

Rose stared as horror started to wash through her. Unlike before, this was not a simply explanation. He was taking joy in the thought of what they did to those humans. What they did to the planet the Doctor loved so much.

"THEIR BODIES WERE PULPED, FILTERED, SIFTED THROUGH," the Emperor was almost grinning it sounded like. "THE SEEDS OF HUMANITY HAD BECOME PREVERTED. WATERED DOWN. ONLY ONE CELL OUT OF BILLIONS WERE FIT TO NURTURE."

"That… that makes them all part human." Lynda murmured, horrified as well.

"THOSE WORDS ARE BLASPHEMY, LITTLE TIME LORD," the Emperor growled dangerously at the other blonde.

Once again, all around the group the calls of "DO NOT BLASPHEME!" were raised. The Doctor finally started to show the disgust and horror that had been building up inside him during that little exposition.

"ANYTHING HUMAN," the word was spat out, "HAS BEEN PURGED. I CULIVATED PURE, BLESSED DALEKS FROM THE UNWORTHY, THE DIRTY."

"Since when do Daleks understand the concept of blasphemy?" the Doctor asked to no one in particular. The situation was starting to spiral out of control. Beside him, Rose stepped closer, squeezing his hand as she put her other on his arm.

"I REACHED INTO THE FILTH, THE DIRT, AND MADE NEW LIFE. I AM THE GOD OF ALL DALEKS!"

A chorus of "WORSHIP HIM!' was chanted all around the group.

Jack did not wait for the signal, he started backing him and Lynda into the TARDIS. She buried her head in his chest, tears dampening his shirt as she murmured, "My mother… they took my mother. Made her… oh Daddy."

"DOCTOR," Thorn moved to the Doctor's side. "THEY HAVE BECOME INSANE. ROUND THE BEND, MAD. BONKERS. WE SHOULD LEAVE. NOW."

"THE TRAITOR WILL REMAIN TO BE REBORN A NEW," the Emperor commanded. "HE IS ONE OF US."

"JOIN US!" the other Daleks began. "JOIN US! ONE OF US! ONE OF US!"

"Now that's creepy," Rose breathed as the Doctor wrapped a protective arm around her.

Thorn glided forward, but stopped before crossing the barrier that protected them.

"I AM NO TRAITOR," Thorn declared with pride. "ONCE I WAS LOCKED IN HATE. NOW I AM FREE. ONCE I WAS CALLED DALEK, AND WAS PROUD TO BE DALEK. I TOOK A NAME, MADE A LIFE. MADE A FRIEND. I WAS DALEK THORN. BUT NOW, I DEFY YOU! I AM DALEK NO MORE. I AM THORN!"

"HERETIC!" the Emperor bellowed as the three from the TARDIS started to back away. "YOU WILL BE PURGED! YOU CANNOT DEFY ME! I AM THE GOD EMPEROR OF THE DALEKS!"

"AND YOUR MOTHER WAS A HAMSTER," Thorn spat back as he entered the ship.

Rose was hard pressed to not laugh. Pity, the Doctor did not feel the same. He barked out a laugh, before calling out, "And your father smelt of elderberries! We're going now. Tra!"

The doors of the ship slammed shut on the cries of the insane Daleks behind them.