When Aries stepped through the other side of the vortex, she blinked in confusion when she found herself in a corridor.
She turned around to figure out where she had come from, only to her eyebrows to fly upwards as the vortex started to close and she reached towards it, only to stumble back in alarm when she noticed her arm was covered in red tendrils of energy.
"What the...?" she muttered, watching as they disappeared before her eyes.
When they had faded, Aries looked back to where the vortex was, only to find it was also gone and a frown formed on her lips, wondering what had just happened. It should have frightened and alarmed the red head about finding herself wherever she found herself, but as Aries glanced around, she was hit with an odd feeling. It was as if Aries knew that this was where she needed to be, but she just couldn't remember why.
"...did you make it?"
Aries' eyebrows furrowed when she heard a muffled voice and she looked around again, trying to figure out where it was coming from and spotted a phone. She picked it up and held it to her ear, only to quickly pull it away when someone shouted through it.
"Rose, where are you?!"
"Doctor?" Aries asked, recognising his voice and wondered what was going on.
The Doctor froze in horror, feeling as though he had been doused with cold water at the sound of his Nesdra's voice on the other end of the phone.
"Aries?" his voice was barely heard as he prayed to whatever deities out there that who he had just heard was not Aries. It couldn't be her. There was no possible way that his Nesdra was here. But when she replied, the Doctor sank back into the chair he had jumped out of not moments earlier, feeling as though the wind had been knocked out of him.
"Doctor, what's going on?"
"Doctor?" Aries repeated when she didn't get a response. Her eyebrows furrowed, thinking that something was wrong when the Time Lord stayed silent. "Doct..."
She didn't get a chance to ask him what was going on as her answer came around the corner in the form of a Dalek.
"Impossible," Aries breathed, her eyes wide as a Dalek stopped a few metres in front of her, its eyestalk moving up and down as it looked at her.
"Aries," the Time Lords voice finally came through the phone, but Aries was barely listening to him as she stared at the alien, unable to tear her gaze away from it, "Where are you? Aries?!"
"Doctor," Aries said quietly as she took a slow step away from the Dalek, freezing when the alien twitched at the Time Lords name, "There's a Dalek here," she told him, trying to keep her voice level as one of the most deadliest aliens she had ever read about continued to stare at her, unmoving.
"Aries, get out of there!" the Doctor shouted, causing the red head to wince at his pitch and she quickly spared a glance behind her, finding some sort of closed bulkhead there before looking back to the Dalek when she heard it move.
She could apparate, but without knowing exactly where she was, that idea was quickly disregarded.
"You will cease communications or be exterminated," the Dalek stated, its voice sending shivers down her spine.
"Doctor?" Aries took another step away from the Dalek, though she stiffened when her back hit the bulkhead door.
"Ari-" the Doctor was cut off when the Dalek suddenly screeched, "Exterminate!" and fired at the red head, though she was quick to throw up a shield and apparated to the one place she could think of.
"Aries!" the Doctor shouted, only to realise that the line had gone dead and he ripped the earpiece from his ear.
There was a stunned silence in Van Statten's office before it was broken by the Doctor. "I killed her," he breathed, the earpiece slipping from his hand. His face was twisted in horror at the thought of having lost Aries, his Nesdra, his soulmate to his worst enemy.
"I'm sorry," Van Statten said, though his expression was confused, rather unsure as to who the Time Lord had been talking to.
The Doctor spun to the man, his horror being replaced by fury at the thought that the man. No, the stupid ape had stopped him from killing the Dalek when he had had the chance.
"You're sorry?" he spat, causing Van Statten's eyes to grow wide at the sudden shift in the Time Lord's emotions, "I could've killed that Dalek in its cell, but you stopped me," the Doctor took a step towards Van Statten, his fists clenched at his side, shaking, "Now the one person that meant everything to me...my Nesdra is dead because of you!"
"It was the prize of my collection!" Van Statten exclaimed, only to find himself shoved up against the wall behind him when the Doctor grabbed him by the throat.
"Doctor!" Goddard called out in surprise, though the Doctor took no notice of her, his eyes locked onto the ape in his grip.
"Your collection?!" the Time Lord snarled, the Oncoming Storm having been released at the apes audacity at thinking his collection was worth more than Aries. Worth more than the one person he had never thought he would ever get to meet after what he had done. "You collection is nothing compared to all those men's deaths. And..." his hand tightened around Van Statten's throat, causing the man to gasp for breath, his hands clawing at the Time Lords as he tried to get the Doctor to release him, "It is nothing...nothing compared to Aries."
The lift doors opened and Rose and Adam stepped out, only to freeze at the sight of the enraged Time Lord holding Van Statten against the wall by his throat.
"Doctor!" Rose exclaimed as she tried to rush over to the pair, but Adam stopped her. "Let me go!" she snapped at the young man before turning back to the Doctor, "Doctor, let him go!"
When Aries reappeared, she was now behind the Dalek. She glanced at the phone in her hand, frowning at the fact that it had been destroyed by her hasty apparation, knowing that she now had no way to communicate with the Doctor.
The Dalek must have sensed her as it was quick to turn and face her, and Aries straightened, dropping the ruined phone in the process. If it was going to try and kill her again, she wasn't going to go down without a fight.
She was confused however, when the Dalek just watched her, not even making an attempt to kill her.
"What do you want?" Aries asked, but was only met with silence, "How are you even here?" she continued, growing equally confused and alarmed as the seconds ticked by. From what she had read of Daleks, and there had been quite a bit she had found in the books left for her, they were known as a species that had no qualms about wiping anyone whom they found to be impure. Which was everyone that wasn't a Dalek.
"You are not of this world," the Dalek stated, causing Aries to stiffen.
"Neither are you," she replied bluntly, not wanting to show how much just standing in front of the alien was affecting her. It was hard, but Aries dug deep, using every lesson her father had taught her to bury her emotions.
"Why haven't you killed me?" she asked after another few moments of silence from the alien, understandably confused as to why the Dalek hadn't.
"I am armed. I will kill. It is my purpose," the Dalek screeched.
"I know," Aries said flatly, though her eyebrows were creased slightly, "So what are you waiting for? What's stopping you from killing me?"
"I felt her fear," the Dalek replied, causing her eyebrows to crease further and a small frown to appear on her face as it sounded...scared.
The red head wasn't certain, but from what she had read about Daleks, they didn't feel anything but hatred and anger. So, why is this one afraid? she asked herself.
Aloud, she asked, "Who's fear?"
"Rose Tyler," the Dalek stated, "I fed off her DNA, extrapolating the biomass of the time traveller to survive. But Daleks do not fear. Must not fear."
Aries didn't have a chance to say anything as she threw up a shield when the Dalek fired its laser wildly, though none of the shots came even close to hitting the red head.
"She gave me life," the Daleks voice grew slightly hysterical as it continued, "What else has she given me? I am contaminated!"
"Doctor," Rose managed to get out of Adam's hold and rushed over to the Time Lord. She hesitated, seeing the look on the Doctor's face before placing her hand on the arm that was holding Van Statten, gently pressing down as she tried to get him to release the man. "Doctor, it's fine. I'm fine," she told him, "I got away."
The Time Lord didn't even acknowledge her as he glared hatefully at Van Statten as the man continued to struggle in his hold. It would be so easy to just squeeze, to get rid of the ape that thought that his Nesdra was nothing compared to his collection.
But, a small voice whispered in his mind, causing him to pause, What would Aries think?
He could see it in his mind, the expression that was on his Nesdra's face as she hesitated at telling Mickey how to kill the Slitheen. The way her determined gaze met his when she realised his plan to blow up Downing Street. She was willing to sacrifice herself, just as much as he was willing to sacrifice himself, if it meant that they could stop the threat of another World War.
No, he told himself, his grip loosening around Van Statten's throat, She wouldn't want this.
The Doctor let the man go and stepped away, his face twisting in disgust as Van Statten dropped to the floor, gasping for breath as he rubbed his throat. He looked at the man for a moment longer before turning and walking away, deciding on focussing his anger towards the one who had taken his Nesdra from him.
Aries may be dead, but there was still a Dalek alive and there was no way in this universe that the Doctor was going to let it leave this museum alive.
Rose glanced at Van Statten before turning to follow the Doctor, silently wondering what had happened since she had lost her phone. Something caught her eye and she paused. "Doctor," she said as she stepped towards the screen, seeing the Dalek on it along with...
The blonde scowled, unable to help herself when she noticed Aries standing beside the Dalek, wondering how the hell the red head could have been there. It was bad enough that the woman seemed to know the Doctor, but the moment the Time Lord had met her, it was as if Rose hadn't even existed.
The Doctor turned to see what his companion wanted, only to notice the screen as well.
"Open the bulkhead, or the hybrid dies," the Dalek stated, confusing everyone in the office, as well as Aries herself.
The Doctor however? He took no notice as he took a few step towards the screen, his eyes on Aries as relief and joy spread through him.
"You're alive," he breathed, taking another step closer to the screen. He didn't see Rose's scowl, though if he did, the Doctor probably wouldn't have even cared. Aries, his Nesdra, was alive and that was all that mattered to him.
"Can't get rid of me that easily," Aries replied, her lip twitching upwards somewhat, though her gaze flickered to the Dalek beside her. She was still rather uncertain as to what the Dalek wanted and felt as though she was in uncharted territory after its outburst about being contaminated.
"I thought you were dead," the Doctor replied, causing Aries to look back to him when she heard his tone.
"Open the bulkhead!" the Dalek exclaimed, cutting off anything Aries was going to say.
"Doctor, don't," Aries quickly interjected, "You open that bulkhead and there's no telling what the mutating Dalek would do."
The Doctor paused at her words as his gaze went to the Dalek. He wasn't too sure as to what Aries had meant about the Dalek mutati...Oh. His eyes widened minutely, realising that the Dalek may have picked up more from Rose than even it had anticipated. But that also meant it was possibly even more dangerous than it was before.
"What use are emotions if you will not save the hybrid you care about?" the Dalek asked, and this time the Doctor did take notice of what the Dalek had called Aries, though he didn't let his curiosity and surprise appear on his face.
It was the second time he had heard that Aries wasn't fully human and although he wanted to know what the Slitheen and the Dalek had meant, now was not the time to think on it. The Daleks words had also confirmed what Aries had hinted at, telling him that it had been affected more by absorbing his companions DNA to heal itself.
The Time Lord glanced at Van Statten, internally rolling his eyes when he noticed Rose scowling before looking back to the screen. Aries was standing there silently as she wondered what he would do while the Dalek was waiting for his response.
The Doctor frowned, feeling torn. If he let the Dalek out, there was no telling if it would kill Aries the moment it was free. And even with her odd abilities, he highly doubted she would survive another confrontation with the alien. But, if he didn't, he could lose her anyway.
It was his hearts that made the choice for him and he looked to Aries with an expression the red head wasn't to sure what to make of, willing her to understand his decision. "I'm sorry," he said before moving to the computer. He looked back to the screen, only to see Aries' eyes widen when she realised what he was going to do and her mouth opened to say something. The Time Lord was quick to continue, cutting her off. "I can't lose you," he told her, causing Aries' mouth to snap closed, her eyebrows creasing in confusion.
The red head didn't have any time to think over his words though, as the Doctor hit the return key and the bulkhead started to rise. She gave the Doctor one last look before she walked through the now opened corridor, the Dalek close behind her.
The Doctor dropped his gaze from the screen, hoping he had made the right decision, though he knew that there was no way he was going to leave his Nesdra locked in the vault with a Dalek, even if it was changing.
Rose was glaring at the screen. She had no idea why the Doctor had let the Dalek go free. She would have been quite happy to leave it trapped in the Vault with Aries. She just wished the red head would leave her and the Doctor alone.
"What do we do now? You bleeding heart, what the hell do we do?" Van Statten questioned, his voice a little scratchy though desperate as he looked to the Doctor.
The Time Lord levelled a hard gaze at the man that had Van Statten taking a wary step away from him. "We kill it when it gets here," he stated coldly.
His words caused Rose to tear her eyes away from the screen and she looked to him, rather startled at what he had said. Except for the time when he had let Cassandra die, the Doctor had seemed to be the last person who wanted to kill anyone. And although she knew a little about the Time War, the blonde was getting the feeling that it wasn't only the Dalek being alive that had him acting this way.
"All the guns are useless, and the alien weapons are in the vault," Goddard spoke up, having stayed silent since the Doctor had shoved her boss against the wall. Though she thought Van Statten had deserved what he had gotten, she could see that whoever the red head was, the Doctor felt very deeply for her.
Adam cleared his throat, causing the others to glance at him. "Only the catalogued ones," he informed them and Van Statten raised an eyebrow, to which he returned with an apologetic expression.
Adam had taken the Doctor and Rose to his workshop and the Time Lord was going through a basket of the young man's un-catalogued weapons.
Rose watched the Doctor, a small frown on her face. She had wanted to ask the Doctor why he had attacked Van Statten, but had thought better of it. The Doctor didn't seem like he would have told her anyway, having not really said a word after opening the bulkhead and she was still confused and jealous of what the Doctor had said earlier.
"Broken," the Doctor's voice cut through her musings as he tossed a weapon aside before pulling out another. "Broken," he repeated, doing the same thing as the first before taking out another. "Hairdryer," he commented with a roll of his eyes. That one joined the others on the bench.
"Mister Van Statten tends to dispose of the staff," Adam explained. Rose glanced at him, but the Doctor continued on in his search, ignoring the young man. "And when he does, he wipes their memory. I kept this stuff in case I needed to fight my way out one day."
The Time Lord scoffed, looking over his shoulder at the man, "What, you in a fight? I'd like to see that."
"I could do," Adam was quick to reply, a little offended by the Time Lord's words.
The Doctor rolled his eyes again, going back to searching for a weapon that was suitable for taking the Dalek down. "What're you gonna do, throw your A-levels at 'em?" he asked sarcastically before his eyes fell upon a weapon that was exactly what he was looking for. "Oh, yes," he said, pulling out a large gun and causing Rose's eyes to widen, "Lock and load."
Aries and the Dalek were in the lift heading up to Van Statten's office. The atmosphere, for Aries at least, was very tense.
The red head glanced at the Dalek when she noticed its laser arm twitch and she couldn't help but wonder if it could feel the tension as well. For her, it was thick enough to cut with a knife.
"What do you plan to do when you get up there?" she asked after a moment, only to duck out of the way when the Dalek's eyepiece spun around to look at her.
"I...do not know," it replied, causing Aries' eyebrows to furrow as once again the alien was showing another emotion. Confusion.
"Well, I hope you don't plan on killing them," the red head stated, "Because for whatever reason, you didn't kill me."
"But why not?" the Dalek asked, its voice raising a few octaves, "Why are you alive? My function is to kill. What am I? What am I?"
Aries frowned when she felt a small twinge of sympathy for the alien. The Dalek may be one of the most dangerous creatures in the universe, but a small part of her felt sorry for it. Sure, it may have used Rose to heal itself, it may have even killed people, but so had Aries. She wasn't innocent when it came to taking a life and although their circumstances may have been different, the red head could understand that it was frightened and confused.
It hadn't known that in absorbing Rose's DNA, it would be absorbing so much more than just energy to regenerate itself. The Dalek had no idea what to think, or even do about the emotions that it was now feeling. But Aries also knew that she would have to tread carefully. This Dalek was becoming something new, unknown and she didn't know if that made it more dangerous.
"I don't know," she said truthfully.
When the lift doors opened, Aries noticed that the room was empty, save for two people she didn't recognise. She mildly wondered where the Doctor was, but movement had her pushing that thought away.
"Don't move!" she was quick to order, "Don't do anything. Just stay put."
The Dalek advanced on Van Statten and Aries watched it closely, though she stayed beside the lift. She knew if she had to, she would take both her and the Dalek back to the vault if it even thought of harming another, though she was uncertain if the alien would even survive the trip if she did so.
"Van Statten. You tortured me. Why?" the Dalek asked and Aries' eyes flew to the man.
"You did what?!" she questioned in disbelief, but no one seemed to take any notice as Van Statten was slowly backing away from the Dalek, terrified.
"I wanted to help you, I just..." the man tried to explain his actions, "I don't know, I, I was just trying to help. I thought if we could get through to you, if we could mend you...I wanted you better, I'm sorry," he continued pitifully as the Dalek still advanced, causing Van Statten to back into the wall behind him. "I'm so sorry!" the man continued, his voice coming out as a shrill, "I swear! I just wanted you to talk!"
"Then hear me talk now," the Dalek said, "Exterminate! Exterminate!" it shouted, causing Van Statten to wince, "Exterminat-"
"No," Aries said quietly, startling the Dalek when she stepped up beside it and placed a hand on its outer shell. She took a step away when the Dalek turned to her and looked directly into its eyepiece as she continued, almost as if she was seeing the alien that was inside.
"You don't have to do this anymore," she continued when it stayed silent, watching her. Aries was quite surprised that it did actually seem to be listening to her and it made her wonder why. "There must be something else you want. Not just killing and rage. Has anyone ever asked what you want?" she asked.
The Dalek turned back to Van Statten, causing Aries to stiffen slightly, unsure what it would do. But it didn't do anything before looking back to her.
"I want freedom."
Unknown to Aries and the Dalek, the Doctor was running up the stairs with the alien gun held tightly in his hands, Rose trying to keep up as she followed.
He had no idea what the Dalek was doing and every second that it was alone with his Nesdra was a second too long.
He couldn't help the thought that continuously swirled through his mind, What if it decided to kill her? and his grip on the weapon tightened as he ran even faster.
"Doctor! Wait up!" Rose called, sounding out of breath, but the Time Lord continued as if he had never heard her.
When the Dalek and Aries reached Floor One, the red head followed it out of the lift, silently thinking if this had been such a good idea.
She had no idea what the Dalek was planning on doing, nor even how to stop it. As she followed it out of the lift and into a corridor, the only thing that Aries could think of was that she really couldn't let it leave wherever she had found herself. Even if it was changing, the Dalek was still a Dalek and she would not be responsible for it getting loose and killing anyone.
The Dalek fired it laser at the ceiling and Aries tensed, ready to take it, and herself, back to the vault. But when the Dalek just stood there, sunlight bathing both her and the Dalek in light, she found herself again surprised and confused about what its intentions were.
The red head looked up to the hole, seeing the blue sky outside. She looked to the Dalek as she raised one of her hands, seeing the sunlight hit it. "Have you ever felt sunlight?" she questioned, trying to keep it occupied until she could figure out what to do, or for the Doctor to show up. She hoped that he had an idea on what to do with a mutating Dalek.
The Dalek didn't respond, but before the red heads astonished eyes, it opened up its casing to reveal its mutated body inside. It, like Aries had done, raised its feelers into the sunlight, feeling the warmth upon them.
Aries continued to watch it, rather shocked by what she was seeing until a voice behind her had her spinning on the spot.
"Get out of the way."
"Doctor?" the red head asked, surprised for an entirely different reason as she saw the Time Lord hold a very large gun that was aimed in her direction...or more specifically, the Dalek behind her.
"Aries, get out of the way, now!" the Doctor continued when she didn't move.
There was a flicker of confusion that passed over Aries' face, wondering how someone she had known to save an entire hospital, possibly the world could want to kill someone before realisation set in. Rose had told her that they had met her before. Well, not specifically told her, but Aries could hear what the blonde hadn't said.
"Doctor, what are you doing?!" Rose shouted as she appeared from the stairwell, still out of breath. She couldn't help but wonder who he was aiming the gun at, though she really didn't care.
"That thing killed hundreds of people," the Time Lord continued, trying to get Aries to understand why he had to do this. Why he couldn't let it live.
Aries looked back to the Dalek, a little surprised though she really shouldn't have been. When she looked back to the Doctor, she shook her head. "And yet, you're the one pointing a gun at me," she replied, her eyebrows creasing slightly.
"I've got to do this. I've got to end it," the Doctor stressed, his grip on the gun tightening, his knuckles turning white, "The Daleks destroyed my home, my people," a brief flicker of shock and surprise appeared on Aries' face before it was gone, being replaced by something else, "I've got nothing left."
Rose was glaring at Aries, wondering why she was defending the Dalek. It had killed almost everyone in this museum, but the red head was acting like it didn't deserve to die. The blonde had seemed to 'accidently' forget that it was her that had released it in the first place.
"Look at it," Aries said softly, stepping aside and revealed the Dalek as it continued to feel the sunlight.
The Doctor looked decisively confused as he watched the mutant. "What's it doing?" he asked, looking back to Aries.
Aries took a few steps towards the Doctor, though she kept an ear on the Dalek in-case it tried anything as she spoke, "Enjoying the sunlight."
"But it can't..." the Time Lord trailed off, his voice shaking. The Dalek couldn't be enjoying the sunlight. It just couldn't.
Seeing the hold on his gun slacken a little, Aries continued to approach the Doctor as she continued, "It didn't kill Van Statten. It didn't kill me," she placed a hand on the top of the gun, pushing it down slightly, "It's changing, Doctor. Into what, I don't know, but it's changing nonetheless," Aries paused as she let her hand fall from the gun, "But what about you?" she asked.
The Doctor lowered the gun, looking at Aries completely lost. "i couldn't..." he trailed off and Aries' expression softened, "I wasn't..." he looked to the Dalek that had turned to face them before back to Aries, "Oh, Aries. They're all dead."
"Why do we survive?" the Dalek asked, causing Aries to turn back to it.
"I don't know," the Doctor replied as he shifted the hold on the gun and Rose scowled when the Doctor grabbed Aries hand with his now free one, causing the red head to startle slightly and glance back to him.
How the red head had gotten the Doctor to listen to her, even to the point of deciding not to kill the alien was beyond Rose and it was starting to irk her as to how everyone she had seen Aries talk with always seemed to listen. It was even to the point that both Harriet Jones and Indra had ignored *her* in favour of Aries, listening to her ordering them, as well as the Doctor about like she was someone important.
"I am the last of the Daleks," the alien stated, though they could all hear the strain that had appeared in its voice, almost as if it took a great effort to get the words out.
"You're not even that," Aries told the Dalek, "Rose did more than regenerate you. You absorbed her DNA. You're mutating."
"Into what?" the Dalek asked.
The Doctor glanced at Aries as he spoke, "Something new. I'm sorry."
"Isn't that better?" Rose piped up, causing the others to look to her and her scowl deepened when it seemed like they had forgotten she was even there.
"Not for a Dalek," Aries explained, looking back to the alien. Though her eyes held no pity for the creature, she did understand why it was scared.
"I can feel so many ideas. So much darkness..." the Dalek looked at Aries, "Give me orders! Order me to die."
Aries' eyes widened in shock at what it wanted her to do and shook her head. "I...I can't do that," she said, taking a step away from the Dalek.
Her words only seemed to enrage the Dalek as it screeched, "This is not life. This is sickness. I shall not be like *you*" it almost spat the last word, "Order my destruction! Obey! Obey! Obey!"
Aries expression was conflicted as she stared at the Dalek, though when she felt the Doctor's hand tighten around hers, she sighed, her shoulders dropping. She knew it was the right thing to do. The Dalek was begging for its death and as much as she did not want to say the words, she did anyways.
"Do it."
"Are you frightened?" the Dalek asked Aries and she nodded her head, unable to say anything less her words betray her feelings. "So am I," it said, unknown to the rest if it actually believed her.
"Exterminate," the Dalek said as replaced its shell before levitating into the air. The golden knobs that lined the bottom half of it shell detached and surrounded the Dalek, making a perfect sphere and it glowed briefly before exploding inside, vanishing into nothing.
The Doctor and Aries stared where the Dalek had been, stunned. Neither could believe what had just happened. Rose wasn't looking at where they were. She, instead was staring at the Doctor and Aries, her eyes narrowing when the Doctor let Aries hand go and wrapped an arm around the red head's shoulders.