Chapter 20: Dalek

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who, it belongs to BBC

Everywhere- Bows

Everywhere I go there's trouble

Everywhere I look it's doubled

"Kittredge! Get up! We have places to be!" Kit heard the Doctor shout as he pounded on her door.

Kit groaned. She turned onto her stomach and buried her head under her pillow. She was having a lovely dream about being back with her Doctor when this Doctor started shouting at her to get up.

"These places can wait another hour!" Kit yelled back.

"Come on, Kit! You've been asleep for almost half a day. Rose has been up for a couple of hours now."

"Good for Rose," she muttered into her pillow. She sighed. She knew the Doctor. It didn't matter what regeneration; the Doctor was very persistent. If he wanted her up, he would get her up. She sat up. "Alright! Give me ten minute!"

"Fine, ten minutes but if you're not up by then, I'm coming to get you." Kit heard the Doctor walk away.

She moved her swore body out of the bed and rubbed her tired eyes. After crying for a couple of hours last night, she managed to pick herself up and get into the shower. It was the longest shower she had ever taken. There, she was able to check her injured body. Her hands were healed except for a bit of scaring like the Doctor said. Her body, though, was covered in bruises and there was a large bump of her head. After the shower, she found her pajamas and crawled into bed. It didn't take her long to fall asleep.

Kit stumbled to her closet and threw open the door. She looked over her clothes. She wasn't going to be able to wear her leather jacket as it still was covered in Slitheen. Instead, she grabbed a black hoodie and a pair of jeans. She looked over at her cowboy boots to see how dirty they were but they seemed to be fine.

She walked over to a mirror and cringed. Her red hair was a frizzy mess. She took a brush and tried to brush it out but it did nothing to aid the rats nest. She sighed and took a hair tie and tied it up. It didn't help any more. Her hair was still all over the place and strands were falling out of her ponytail. Kit shrugged. It was going to have to do for now.

She left her room and hoped the Tardis wouldn't play any tricks on her. After a couple of minutes of navigating her way, she finally got to the control room. There she saw the Doctor and Rose talking very intimately. She raised her eyebrow as she watched Rose giggle about something the Doctor said.

Kit cleared her throat and they both jumped back from each other. "Am I interrupting something?"

"What? No! We were just waiting for you," the Doctor rambled out.

"Right," Kit smirked, watching his face go red.

"We were just talking about where we should go," Rose piped in. "I was suggesting a planet and he was telling me about all the ones we could go to."

"And what did we land on?"

"I don't know. He just keeps saying that it's a surprise," Rose grumbled.

"A surprise? Really?"

"Oh, don't be so boring. It's a good surprise! I promise," the Doctor reassured them.

Kit and Rose glanced at each other skeptically as they watched the Doctor start up the Tardis. She knew that sometimes the Doctors surprises ended up leading to trouble but she thought she should give this Doctor the benefit of the doubt.

Everything was going smoothly. The Tardis was its usual shakiness and the Doctor was running around the console trying to pilot. Everything was fine, which really should have indicated to Kit that something would go wrong soon.

Before Kit could think about what could go wrong, the Tardis suddenly jerked forward, sending everyone flying. The Tardis was jolting this way and that; way more then it should be. After some time, the Tardis finally stopped.

Kit groaned. She rubbed her head. She could feel another bump forming. "What the hell was that?"

"Don't know," the Doctor replied as he walked down the ramp.

Kit and Rose followed him out the door. "What do you mean you don't know?" She questioned.

Kit looked around. They seemed to have landed in a large dimly lit room with carpeting and display cases. She was curious on why the Tardis brought them here.

"It must have been some kind of signal drawing the Tardis off course," the Doctor explained.

"Where are we?" Rose asked.

"Earth. Utah, North America. About half a mile underground."

"Okay, next question, when are we?" Kit asked.

"Two thousand and twelve," he told them as he looked at something in the display case.

"God, that's so close. So I should be twenty-six," Rose said thoughtfully. "And Kit would be nineteen."

The Doctor went over to a light switch and turned the lights on. Kit was surprised to see rows and rows of display cases with, what she assumed, was parts of aliens and other artifacts. Some of the things in the cases she recognized.

"Blimey. It's a great big museum!" Rose exclaimed.

"An alien museum. Someone's got a hobby," the Doctor muttered.

"Or a lot of time on their hands," Kit commented.

They moved down the rows. "They must have spent a fortune on this. Chunks of meteorite, moon dust. That's the milometer from the Roswell spaceship."

"That's a bit of Slitheen! That's a Slitheen's arm," Rose pointed out. "It's been stuffed."

"Oh, look at you!" The Doctor gushed as he walked over to a different case.

Kit looked over at it. It kind of looked like a Cyberman but it couldn't be. It looked way too retro for the Cybermen she was used to.

"What is it?" Rose asked.

"An old friend of mine. Well, enemy. The stuff of nightmares reduced to an exhibit," the Doctor explained. "I'm getting old."

"And how old are you exactly?" Kit couldn't help but ask.

"Nine hundred."

Kits jaw dropped. "Nine hundred?!"

"Don't look half bad, huh?"

Kit shook her head. She knew she was far into the past but she didn't realize she was that far. Her Doctor was in the billions now. This Doctor was so young, had so much more to learn and so much more heartbreak ahead of him.

"I couldn't believe when he told me either," Rose piped in. "So, is that where the signal's coming from?"

The Doctor shook his head and turned back to the retro looking Cyberman. "No, it's stone dead. The signal's alive. Something's reaching out, calling for help."

The Doctor reached out and touched the glass. Suddenly, alarms rang out. Armed guards rushed in from all sides and cutting them off from the Tardis.

Kit glared up at the Doctor. "You just had to touch something, didn't you?"

The Doctor shrugged and gave her an apologetic look. "You really shouldn't be surprised that something like this would happen by now."

"Um, Doctor?" Rose cut in. "If someone's collecting aliens, that makes you Exhibit A."

"Well, let's not tell them that!" Kit stressed.

"Sir, we have three intruders on the third level. What should we do with them?" One of the guards asked into his com. There was static and a muffled voiced. "Roger that." He turned to the three of them. "You three, you're coming with me to see Mister Van Statten."

"Who?" Kit questioned.

"Mister Van Statten."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh wow thanks, that explains so much."

The guard glared at her. "Shut up and move!"

They were escorted down a narrow hallway. They walked in silence and every time they tried to talk, one of the guards hushed them. Finally, they came to their destination. They were led into a big office with a middle aged man behind an oval desk.

A young man handed him something. "Well, you see the tubes on the side? It must be to channel something. I think maybe fuel."

"I really wouldn't hold it like that," the Doctor told them.

"Shut it!" A young women who came up beside the Doctor snapped.

"Looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed," Kit noted.

"I said shut it!"

"Listen lady, I didn't ask to be here so maybe instead of bitching you could—"

"Kit!" The Doctor interrupted, giving her a stern look.

She looked down at her feet. "Right, sorry."

The Doctor shook his head and turned back to the man. "Like I was saying, it's wrong."

"Is it dangerous?" The young man inquired.

"No, it just looks silly." The Doctor tried to reach for the device but the guards tried to stop him. The man didn't seem to care and handed the Doctor the object. "You just need to be… delicate." He ran his fingers down the surface and it made a melody.

"It's a musical instrument," the man marveled.

"And it's a long way from home."

"Here, let me." The man grabbed the object out of the Doctors hand. He tried but nothing happened.

"I did say delicate. It reacts to the smallest fingerprint. It needs precision." The man tired again and this time got it to make noise. "Very good. Quite the expert."

"As are you," he smiled and then tossed the object to the side.

"And apparently a short attention span," Kit muttered.

"Shh!" The women hushed her.

"You Shh!"

The man looked between the Doctor and her then at Rose. "Who exactly are you?"

"I'm the Doctor. And who are you?"

"Like you don't know."

Kit crossed her arms. "If we did, we wouldn't be asking."

The man snorted. "So you're telling me, we're hidden away with the most valuable collection of extra-terrestrial artifacts in the world, and you just stumbled in by mistake."

"Pretty much sums me up, yeah," the Doctor replied.

"The question is, how did you get in?" The man inquired, rounding the desk to stand in front of them. "Fifty-three floors down, with your little cat burglar accomplice and the short spitfire over there."

Kit glared at the man. "I'm not short!"

The man laughed. "Have you looked in a mirror? I thought you were a leprechaun when you walked in."

"Oh, fuc—"

"Kittredge!" The Doctor warned her again.

The man just smiled. "I like this one. She's fun." He walked over to Rose. "And she's very pretty. You're quite a collector yourself."

"She's going to smack you if you keep calling her she," Rose snapped.

"She's English too! Hey, little Lord Fauntleroy. Got you a girlfriend," he told the young man.

"This is Mister Henry Van Statten," the boy told them.

"And who's he when he's at home?" Rose asked.

"Mister Van Statten owns the internet."

Kit snorted. "He owns the internet? Yeah and pigs can fly."

Rose shook her head. "No one owns the internet."

"And let's just keep the whole world thinking that way, right kids?" Van Statten smiled.

"So you're just about an expert in everything except the things in your museum. Anything you don't understand, you lock up," the Doctor probed.

"And you claim greater knowledge?"

"I don't need to make claims, I know how good I am."

"And yet, I captured you. Right next to the Cage. What were you doing down there?"

"You tell me."

"The cage contains my one living specimen."

"And what's that?"

"Like you don't know."

"Show me."

"You want to see it?"

"Oh, for the love of God! This is pointless and getting us nowhere! Are you going to show us this specimen or not?" Kit fumed.

"I will but not you or the English girl."

"What?! Why not?"

"Because I said so," he crossed his arms. "Goddard, inform the Cage we're heading down," he told the women. "You, English. Look after the two girls. Go and canoodle or spoon or whatever it is you British do. And you, Doctor with no name, come and see my pet."

...

Kit was not happy. She wasn't happy being left behind. She wasn't happy not being able to see Van Statten's specimen. Most of all though, she wasn't happy being stuck watching Rose flirt her way across time and space. No, happy was not the word she would describe herself at the moment.

She stayed a couple of steps behind them as they walked and watched them flirt. Kit rolled her eyes when she heard Rose giggle at something the young man, Adam, said. She couldn't believe this was what she was doing instead of helping the Doctor.

They came to a stop outside an office. When they went in it was cluttered with bits and pieces of space junk.

"Sorry about the mess. Mister Van Statten sort of lets me do my own thing, so long as I deliver the goods," Adam told them as Kit and Rose walked around the room. "What do you think that is?" Adam handed Rose a piece of metal.

Rose looked over at it. "Er, a lump of metal?"

He laughed. "Yeah, more or less. What about you?" He asked Kit. "What do you think it could be?"

Kit took the object from Rose. She held it up to the light. "Could be part of a spacecraft," she shrugged.

Adam nodded enthusiastically and took the object from her. "That was my first thought too. The thing is, it's all true. Everything the United Nations tries to keep quiet, spacecraft, aliens, visitors to Earth. They really exist."

Kit and Rose glanced at each other. Both were thinking the same thing; just smile and nod. They knew they shouldn't bring unnecessary attention to themselves or the Doctor. Especially with a guy who collects aliens.

"That's amazing," Rose forced out.

Kit put on an innocent smile. "Yeah, really cool and totally new information that I didn't already know before."

"I know it sounds incredible, but I honestly believe the whole universe is just teeming with life," he added, not noticing the two girls' awkwardness.

"I'm gobsmacked, yeah," Rose muttered. "And you do what, sit here and catalogue it?"

"Best job in the world!"

"Imagine if you could get out there. Travel amongst the stars and see it for real."

Kit eyed Rose. "Yeah but too bad that's very unlikely."

"Oh, you don't know. Maybe its not."

Kit gave her a pointed look that said, I know what you're doing and stop!

Rose gave her an innocent look that said, I have no idea what you're talking about.

"Maybe but not in his life time," Kit stressed.

Rose glared at her. "But anything is possible! Maybe he will in the next ten years or maybe at the end of the day."

Kit glared back. "Not going to happen."

"It could happen. It's not up to you!"

"No."

"Yes."

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Um guys?" Adam interrupted, looking beyond confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing!" They both said at the same time.

"Right," he said slowly looking at them suspiciously.

"So, how'd you end up here?" Rose asked, changing the subject.

"Van Statten has agents all over the world looking for geniuses to recruit."

Rose bit back a smile. "Oh, right. You're a genius."

"Sorry, but yeah. I can't help it. I was born clever. When I was eight, I logged onto the US Defence System. Nearly caused World War Three."

Kit raise an eyebrow. "And how exactly is almost starting World War Three funny?"

He shrugged. "Well, you should've been there just to see them running about. Fantastic!"

Rose bit her lip and looked away. "You sound like the Doctor."

"Are you and him?"

"No, we're just friends."

"Good."

Kit rolled her eyes. And we're back to flirting, she thought with annoyance.

"Why is that good?" Rose asked.

"It just is."

They stared at each other for awhile until Kit couldn't take it any more. It was like they were undressing each other with their eyes and Kit felt like she shouldn't be there.

"Hi—sorry—but I'm still here so if we could not do this flirty thing, that would be great," Kit interrupted their moment.

This seemed to snap them out of their daze. Rose looked at her feet, her cheeks were burning red.

"So, wouldn't you rather be downstairs?" Rose asked, walking over to stand next to Adam. "I mean, you've got these bits of metal and stuff, but Mister Van Statten's got a living creature down there."

Adam frowned. "Yeah. Yeah, well, I did ask, but he keeps it to himself. Although, if you're a genius, it doesn't take long to patch through on the comm system."

Kit smiled excitedly. She went over and pushed in between the two of them before they could have another moment.

"You finally said something actually intelligent! Come one, let's see, genius boy," Kit teased.

This earned her a harsh glare from Adam and an annoyed look from Rose. She didn't really care though, in fact, she felt quite happy with herself. She'd like to think it was revenge for making her watch them flirt.

"Fine," he grumbled. "But it's not like the alien does anything. You might be disappointed."

"I'll be the judge of that," Kit responded.

He grumbled something under his breath that she couldn't hear. He tapped on a few keys on the keyboard. A video popped up and Kit's mouth went dry. In Van Statten's possession was an actual Dalek. Kit couldn't figure out how it was possible that he captured one.

They watch the screen as a man in an orange body suit walked over to it with a big drill. It used the drill on the Dalek. She wasn't sure if these people were brave or incredibly stupid. Kit was surprised to hear the Dalek scream out in pain.

She felt slightly pleased when she heard it. With everything that the Daleks have done, watching this made her feel content. She knew that it was wrong but she'd lost people because of them. The Doctor had lost even more. Plus, it was thanks to the Dalek that she was here in the past in the first place.

"It's being tortured!" Rose hissed. "Where's the Doctor?"

Adam shook his head. "I don't know."

"Take me down there now."

Rose started to walk away but Kit grabbed her arm before she could leave.

"Rose, I don't think that's a good idea," Kit tried.

"Not a good idea? You saw what was happening!"

"I know but—"

"It needs out help!"

"You need to listen, it's not—"

"It's in pain!"

"Rose, I—"

"It's being tortured!"

"Maybe it deserves it!" Kit snapped in frustration.

Rose looked at Kit in disgust. "What?"

She shook her head violently. "No—that's not—I didn't mean—what I meant to say is that maybe it's dangerous."

"How could you say that? You don't know anything about it!"

"Neither do you!" Kit yelled. She took a few deep breaths trying to calm herself. "We should find the Doctor and see what he says."

"I know what he'll say. He'll say we should help it. Now, you can help me or you could stay here but I'm going!"

Kit sighed and pinched the ridge on her nose. "Rose, it's a bad idea."

Rose rolled her eyes. "What's the worst that could happen?"

She watched Rose stormed off with Adam hot on her heels. Kit bit her lip and shook her head. Famous last words, she thought.