Rebels of the Fallen

by AuthorA97

Rose is gone. It's just Terra and the Doctor now. That was when Martha became involved. Sweet Martha... There are these signs, about Saxon. She's seeing her a girl in a blue following them. How can Terra keep it straight in her head? (Part 3 of Fallen Star Series)

6. Daleks In Manhattan

'I know I promised-'

'Don't say it.'

'But hear me out-'

'We're going to Vanriepra. You already said.'

'What if we went to a place just like it?'

'?! No?!'

'Classic New York, it's bound to be raining there. Isn't that exciting?'

'Why?!'

'Because! I just think it would be better.'

'New York is better than Vanriepra?'

'Yes. How would you know? You've never been.'

'This. This is why your decisions were revoked.'

'It'll just be a quick detour. I will let you pick up your...son...'

'...honest?'

'Yes.'

'If you're lying I'll kill you.'

'I know.'

==ROTF==

The TARDIS landed with her usual fanfare.

When it made its final this, I rushed to the door. Already I could feel the chill of New York November air. Throwing the door open I leapt outside.

At the chill, I cheered in delight. The Doctor and Martha followed me. The Doctor grinned at me, happy to see me taking this so well. Martha was more curious about the atmosphere.

"Where are we? Doesn't look like Van- Whatever." Martha pointed out.

"Can't you smell it?" I asked, a beaming smile on my face. Taking a deep breath, I could smell the Atlantic Ocean. "That beautiful Atlantic breeze."

At that moment, a breeze blew in our faces. My hands went to my arms, rubbing in the cool air. "That chill that lasts until the afternoon."

I turn around, seeing a great big green lady behind us. "And the piece de resistance." I made a sweeping gesture towards the Statue of Liberty. "Which makes sense, since she's French originally."

Martha turned to the statue, and her jaw dropped. She burst out laughing.

I looked over at the Doctor. We both grinned.

"Is that?" Martha kept on laughing. "Oh, my God. That's the Statue of Liberty."

"Gateway to the New World. Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free." The Doctor recited.

"That's so brilliant." Martha cheered, exhaling in delight. It made a white cloud into the air. "I've always wanted to go to New York. I mean the real New York, not the new, new, new, new, new one."

"But this is the real deal!" I cheered. "The original Big Apple! The great city of New York, New York!"

Martha laughed. "Woah. I don't think I've ever seen you that excited for...anyplace."

"Cause this is my land!" I shouted, taking a few steps closer to the shoreline. I spread arms out, doing a little twirl. "Good NYC! So good they named it twice." I cheered, almost ready to burst. I turned back to Martha and the Doctor. "America. Land of the free, home of the brave. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." I took another deep breath. "This is home."

"You're from New York?" Martha asked, curious.

"No- it's just where I ended up the most. Like him with England." I replied. "Mostly anywhere in America. Well the South was a favorite. They've got Disney World down there."

The Doctor walked up to my side. 'Are you alright?'

'You promised next would be the puppy planet. I'm just trying to be excited like you said.' I half scolded him, keeping a smile directed at Martha.

'Excited, not jittery.'

"Is that why your voices are different?" Martha noted.

"What do you mean?" The Doctor asked, smiling innocently.

"It's just...her's is American." Martha pointed out.

"Yeah it is." The Doctor replied, still smiling.

"But...why though? When your's is English." Martha explained. "You're both Time Lords. Shouldn't you- I don't know- have the same accent?"

"Oi. That's a bit rude. Just thinking all Time Lords sound the same." The Doctor chided lightly. It took work not to show off a smirk. "We can talk however we please."

I nodded in confirmation.

Martha looked properly chatized. She held up her hands in defense. A small quirk of her lips took away any feelings of guilt. "Alright! I get it."

"Now as I was saying, Martha Jones there is the original New York City." I introduced.

The Doctor pointed off towards the skyline. Martha gawked at it. "Mind you, it was New Amsterdam originally. Harder to say twice. Now wonder it didn't catch on. New Amsterdam, New Amsterdam."

"I wonder what year it is, because look, the Empire State Building's not even finished yet." Martha noted. "When is this, then, Terra?"

"Why would I know?" I asked innocently.

"You said you lived here." Martha told me.

"And that means I know everything about it?" I questioned. Martha stared for a moment, trying to figure out where that conversation had gone. At her confused expression, I gave her a grin. Martha rolled her eyes at me, walking back towards to a bench. "Well I do. However I believe in delegating tasks. Doc Brown, Empire State Building. More floors to build. When's that?"

The Doctor hummed. He slid his hands into his pockets. He looked out towards the city. "Well-"

"Did you have to change suits?" I interrupted him. The Doctor glanced at me. "It's throwing me off."

"Don't see why. It's just a suit."

"Yeah but it's blue."

"Why? What's wrong with the blue?"

"You're always in brown. I've never seen you in blue. Even when you were Magoo, you never wore blue. Why change it?"

"Thought it looked nice. Good change. I like it. Don't you?"

"You really want me to answer that with my opinion?"

The Doctor made a face of full offense.

"November 1, 1930." Martha reported. We looked back her way. She held up a newspaper in her hands.

"You're getting good at this." The Doctor praised. He walked towards her.

"I'm so proud." I praised too, standing at Martha's other side.

"Eighty years ago." Martha notes. The Doctor and I looked down at the newspaper, reading the headline. "It's funny, because you see all those old newsreels all in black and white like it's so far away, but here we are. It's real. It's now. Come on then, you. Where do you want to go first?"

"I think our detour just got longer." The Doctor showed the headline to Martha.

"'Hooverville Mystery Deepens'. What's Hooverville?" Martha asked us.

==ROTF==

We were taking a quiet stroll through Central Park.

"Terra. What can you tell Martha about your old homestead?" The Doctor requested.

"1930. Current president is 31st- Herbert Hoover. Everything was going okay for the country, Roaring Twenties came to a close, then it all crashed."

"The Wall Street Crash, yeah?" Martha recalled. "When was that, 1929?"

"Yeah. Everything fell apart real fast. Everyone panicked. The whole economy of the country fell apart. Thousands lost their jobs. No job, no money, no rent. A lot of people around here were homeless. They needed somewhere to go. So, Central Park."

"What, they actually live in the park?" Martha questioned. "In the middle of the city?"

I nodded. "Named it Hooverville, mainly because everyone blamed Hoover for it."

Martha hummed.

As we continued walking I looked out towards the skyline. Suddenly I was reminded that- quite possibly- Amy and Rory Pond were in this city right now. They were just existing their new everyday life, moving forwards like they'd hadn't given up everything for each other.

It was surreal.

==ROTF==

After a few more minutes of walking, we saw the camp. It even had a quaint little welcome banner with Hooverville written across. Dozens of people were walking about, all dressed in worn out clothes. The entire thing was a page from my old history books. This was a surreal experience.

"Ordinary people lost their jobs. Couldn't pay the rent and they lost everything." The Doctor explained to Martha. He kept his voice low enough that the passing people couldn't hear. It was generally seen as rude when someone spoke about the cause behind your lack of funds in a public setting. "There are places like this all over America. No one's helping them. You only come to Hooverville when there's nowhere else to go."

"You thieving lowlife!" A man shouted from up the camp.

I walked towards the oncoming fight. A small crowd gathered around two men. The fight was- as shouted very loudly by them- about a stolen loaf of bread. The Doctor walked to my side, watching.

Before it escalated a dark skinned man walked out from a tent. Solomon. "Cut that out! Cut that out right now!" He ordered.

"He stole my bread!" The first man in the fight shouted.

"That's enough!" Solomon ordered. He turned to the other fighter. "Did you take it?"

"I don't know what happened. He just went crazy." The man defended.

"That's enough! Now, think real careful before you lie to me." Solomon cautioned.

The second man wilted. "I'm starving, Solomon."

Solomon held out his hand. The second man pulled out a loaf of bread from his coat. He handed it to Solomon. "We all starving. We all got families somewhere." He splits the bread in half. He handed one half to each man. "No stealing and no fighting. You know the rules. Thirteen years ago I fought in the Great War. A lot of us did. And the only reason we got through was because we stuck together. No matter how bad things get, we still act like human beings. It's all we got."

The two men walked away with their half.

"Come on." The Doctor suggested.

The Doctor and I walked up. Martha joined us.

"I suppose that makes you the boss around here." The Doctor mused.

"And, er, who might you be?" Solomon asked.

"He's the Doctor, she's Terra. I'm Martha." She introduced.

"A doctor. Huh." Solomon hummed. "Well, we got stockbrokers, we got a lawyer, but you're the first doctor. Neighborhood gets classier by the day."

"How many people live here?" Martha asked.

"At any one time, hundreds. No place else to go." Solomon answered. "But I will say this about Hooverville. We are a truly equal society. Black, white, all the same. All starving. So you're welcome, all of you." He looked to the Doctor, a look of fierce protective fury his face. "But tell me. Doctor, you're a man of learning, right? Explain this to me. That there's going to be the tallest building in the world. How come they can do that, when we got people starving in the heart of Manhattan?"

The Doctor had no answer for him.

==ROTF==

A few minutes later, we followed Solomon to his tent. He was pouring out old water onto a fire.

"So, men are going missing. Is this true?" The Doctor held up the paper to him.

Solomon confirmed. "It's true all right." He walked into his tent. A silent invitation to follow him.

"But what does missing mean? Men must come and go here all the time." The Doctor explained. "It's not like anyone's keeping a register."

"Come on in." He invited. The three of us walked in. I sat across from Solomon, Martha at my side. "This is different."

"How so?" I asked.

"Someone takes them, at night. We hear something, someone calls out for help. By the time we get there, they're gone like they vanished into thin air." Solomon answered.

"And you're sure someone's taking them?" The Doctor pressed.

"Doctor, when you got next to nothing, you hold on to the little you got." Solomon pointed out. "Your knife, blanket, you take it with you. You don't leave bread uneaten, fire still burning."

"The police ain't helping, I take it?" I reasoned.

"No." Solomon confirmed. "Another deadbeat goes missing, big deal." He shook his head. The lack of value in human life clearly disgusting him.

"So the question is, who's taking them and what for?" The Doctor wondered.

'That's two questions.' I pointed out. It was easier than answering the questions- those frankly disgusting answers that even thinking them sent a chill through me.

'Shut it.'

The tent opened. Frank stepped in. Still a young man, go Andrew Garfield. "Solomon! Solomon, Mister Diagoras is here."

Outside, a crowd was gathering around three men in black pinstripe. Diagoras stood in the middle, smiling out at the crowd of Hooverville residents. Seeing him there, knowing that they existed over there...it was wrong.

"I need men. Volunteers." Diagoras explained. "I've got a little work for you and you sure look like you can use the money."

"Yeah. What is the money?" Frank asked.

"A dollar a day." Diagoras answered.

"What's the work?" Solomon asked.

"A little trip down the sewers." A lot of the crowd scoffed. They turned away, walking back into camp. "Got a tunnel collapsed needs clearing and fixing. Any takers?"

"A dollar a day? That's slave wage." Solomon countered. More men left the crowd at his statement. "And men don't always come back up, do they."

"Accidents happen." Diagoras excused.

Plunger wielding accidents, I'm sure.

"What do you mean? What sort of accidents?" The Doctor asked.

Diagoras ignored him. "You don't need the work? That's fine. Anybody else?"

I held up my hand. The Doctor did as well.

"Enough with the questions." Diagoras snapped.

"No questions. We're volunteering." I corrected. "We'll go."

Martha raised her hand. "I'll kill you for this."

"Go after Doc Brown first. He's older and therefore slower."

"Oi."

"Anybody else?" Diagoras asked the crowd.

Frank raised his hand. After a moment, Solomon did too.

==ROTF==

I hopped down the ladder. Yes, I regret every decision that brought me to this point in life. This was a dark day for me. Literally, could not get any lower.

...that's a sewer joke.

In this place I need any joke I can make.

"Turn left. Go about a half a mile. Follow tunnel two seven three. Fall's right ahead of you, you can't miss it." Diagoras reported to us.

"And when do we get our dollar?" Frank asked. His Southern accent standing out like a light in the tunnel.

Again, any joke I can make.

"When you come back up." Diagoras answered him.

"And if we don't come back up?" The Doctor countered.

Diagoras gave a shrug of disregard. "Then I got no one to pay."

"Don't worry, we'll be back." Solomon told Diagoras. He wouldn't let himself show fear to this man.

"Let's hope so." Martha mumbled.

The humans started off down the tunnel. The Doctor stayed a moment to watch Diagoras in the eye as they left. I had no want to look into the eyes of a man who would be a perfect match for a Dalek. Especially a Dalek that helped kill Rose. The next time I would see Diagoras, he'd be long dead. Or the worst thing behind dead: Dalek.

I walked with my fellow Southern man. Martha just ahead of me. The Doctor walked past us both to walk beside Solomon.

"We just got to stick together." Frank told me. Obviously saying it more to assure him than myself. "It's easy to get lost. It's like a huge rabbit warren. You could hide an army down here."

'You have know idea how right you are.' "Yeah? You sound like you know what that's like." I remarked. Frank gave me a warm smile. "Notice you don't sound like the city folk. Where's your old homestead?"

"Oh, you could talk." Frank countered. I grinned at him. "No, I'm Tennessee born and bred."

"What brought ya north?" I asked.

"Oh, my daddy died. Mama couldn't afford to feed us all. So, I'm the oldest, up to me to feed myself." Frank explained. "So I put on my coat, hitched up here on the railroads. There's a whole lot of runaways in the camp, younger than me, from all over. Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas." Frank nodded up ahead to Solomon. "Solomon keeps a lookout for us. So, what about you? You're a long way from home. How'd you end up with these two?"

"Nah, I like to think they got stuck with me." I countered with a proud grin. "Martha was a pick up we had a few stops back. She helped us get out of a bind so we owed her."

"And the Doctor?" Frank prompted. "How'd you end up with him?"

"I just had to get away." I told him.

Frank made a face of sympathy. He had on a sincere expression. He wanted to hear why. "Get away from what?"

"I-" A lie was ready. It was lying in wait at the base of my tongue, yet I held it in. Why? Why couldn't I let a lie slip out?

Because I don't like lying when I don't even know the truth.

Why don't I know the truth?

But for some odd reason, the worry vanished from my head before I could show any more concern over it.

Up ahead, the Doctor kept an ear on our conversation. Though I had no idea, he was remembering the exact reason that I ran to his TARDIS. He was doing his best to keep from showing it. He wanted to tell me why- had for awhile- yet the fear on my face was not something he wanted to see again.

"Just...away." I answered. "Kindred spirits, and the like."

"You stick with me, you'll be all right." Frank promised. He bumped his arm against mine.

"Much obliged." I tipped an imaginary hat to him.

"So this Diagoras bloke, who is he then?" The Doctor asked Solomon.

"A couple of months ago, he was just another foreman. Now, it seems like he's running most of Manhattan." Solomon answered.

"How'd he manage that then?" The Doctor asked.

"These are strange times. A man can go from being King of the Hill to the lowest of the low overnight. It's just for some folks it works the other way round." Solomon reasoned.

"Whoa!" The Doctor called out. He held up an arm, blocking the path.

Not far ahead of us was something on the ground. It was glowing a specific green. I rushed past Martha, then Solomon to reach the brain.

The Doctor knelt down with me. The Dalek hybrid brain was a unique specimen to see. I picked it up, holding it for the Doctor to see.

"Is it radioactive or something?" Martha asked. She walked up towards us. She coughed, holding her arm up over her face. "It's gone off, whatever it is. And you've got to pick it up."

"Here." The Doctor shined his flashlight through it. I hummed. "Composite organic matter."

"Yeah. Definitely for a lifeform. Though want kind of lifeform I can't tell. Definitely experimental." I mused.

The Doctor nodded. "Martha? Medical opinion?"

"It's not human. I know that." Martha stated.

Behind us, Solomon and Frank stared as if we were the oddest thing they were seeing right now.

"No, it's not." The Doctor mused.

"Sonic?" I prompted.

The Doctor slipped it out of his coat pocket mindlessly. He handed it to me. As I scanned the brain, he stood up to his feet. "And I'll tell you something else. We must be at least half a mile in. I don't see any sign of a collapse, do you? So why did Mister Diagoras send up down here?"

I was scanning the brain. The results were no different than the Doctor would see later. However I was picking up some familiar genetic markers that reminded me of the old days when searching for these kind of genetic oddities was a fun afternoon with Pops.

"Where are we now? What's above us?" Martha asked.

"Well, we're right underneath Manhattan." The Doctor guessed.

"Beneath the Empire state." I stated easily. "Reckon another hundred yards or so."

"Know Manhattan that well, do you?" The Doctor countered.

'After hearing Barney's millions of plans to seduce a chick, you'll find anything to do to pass the time.' "Something like that. Let's keep moving."

The group agreed. I passed the brain to the Doctor. He tucked it into a coat pocket. It was easy to grab wipes from my Bag to get the brain off my fingers. That thing was rancid.

==ROTF==

"We're way beyond half a mile." Solomon noted a short while later. "There's no collapse, nothing." He was only confirming what the Doctor had already said, so no arguments came.

"That Diagoras bloke, was he lying?" Martha reasoned.

"Looks like it." The Doctor replied.

"Anything to spare five bucks." I clicked my tongue at the ceiling.

"So why'd he want people to come down here?" Frank

The Doctor and I exchanged a look. 'He was leading us into a trap- like all the others that vanished.' The Doctor reasoned.

'And there wasn't time to wait for darkness. Solomon said fires were still going, so it's logical to assume they weren't taken in broad daylight. Diagoras needed us for something- and he needed it fast.' I agreed.

The Doctor turned to Solomon. "Solomon, I think it's time you took these two back. Terra and I'll be much quicker on our own." The Doctor advised.

A loud pig squeal echoed up the ways. Everyone tried to search for the source.

Solomon "What the hell was that?" Solomon wondered.

"Sounded like a-"

"Hello?" Frank called oud.

"Shush." Marth hushed.

"Frank." Solomon chided.

"What if it's one of the folk gone missing? You'd be scared and half mad down here on your own." Frank countered.

"Do you think they're still alive?" The Doctor prompted.

"Heck, we ain't seen no bodies down here. Maybe they just got lost." Frank countered.

'Oh you poor country boy...'

More pig squeals went off up ahead.

"I know I never heard nobody make a sound like that." Solomon said to Frank's idea.

"That's a pig. That is totally a pig." I stated.

"You sure?" Martha asked.

"Worked on a farm a few times. You know what a pig sounds like." I replied. Of course I said nothing that most of those visits didn't involve any farm work, but rather police work. Did you know a pig could eat a whole person? Yeah. But not the shoes...that bit was weird.

"We should go check on Penelope sometime." The Doctor mused.

"You know what, you're right. We should." I grinned, knowing fully well that we wouldn't for awhile. At least not without my canine son.

"Where's it coming from?" Frank wondered. "Sounds like there's more than one of them."

"This way." The Doctor pointed his flashlight up a hall.

"No, that way." Solomon shined a light down another hall.

The light- unbeknownst to them- landed on one of the pigmen.

"Doctor? Terra?" Martha called out. She had also noticed the pigman.

The Doctor walked to my side. He shined his light where I shined mine.

"Who are you?" Solomon asked them.

'Terra.'

'It's a pig but it's a man.'

'I know.'

'Think that's the species that owned the brain?'

'Could be. This is part of the reason Diagoras sent us down here.'

'Without a doubt.'

"Are you lost?" Frank asked. "Can you understand me? I've been thinking about folk lost down."

"It's all right, Frank. Just stay back. Let us have a look." The Doctor suggested. He walked ahead of Frank. I walked beside him, keeping my light shined on the pigman. "He's got a point, though, my mate Frank. I'd hate to be stuck down here on my own. We know the way out. Daylight. If you come with us."

The Doctor knelt in front of the pigman. The pigman looked at him with big sad eyes. He was already dying, falling apart from the lacking design the Daleks had given him.

"Oh, but what are you?" The Doctor wondered.

"Is that, er, some kind of carnival mask?" Solomon asked, hoping we confirmed.

"Nope. That's real." I informed him. I stayed behind the Doctor, as a guard.

"I'm sorry." The Doctor apologized to the pigman. He said nothing in reply, wilting against the wall. "Now listen to me. I promise I can help. Who did this to you?"

"Doctor? Terra? I think you'd better get back here." Martha warned.

"Doc Brown." I confirmed while grabbing for his shoulder.

More pigmen were coming down the hall. The Doctor stood up to his feet. He made sure to keep just ahead of me.

"Doctor! Terra!" Martha called out.

"Actually, good point." The Doctor agreed.

We backed towards the group. The multiple pigmen continued their advancement.

"They're following you." Martha warned.

"Got that." I replied over my shoulder.

"Yeah, I noticed that, thanks." The Doctor replied at the same time. "Well then, Terra, Martha, Frank, Solomon."

"Usual?" I prompted him.

"Yep."

"And what's that?" Martha asked.

"Eh? Er, basically, run!" The Doctor yelled.

The five of us rushed back the way we came. The pigmen called out in loud squeals as they chased behind us.

==ROTF==

It was a maze down here. We kept turning to avoid the pigmen. They were gaining ground. It wouldn't be long- the sewers were their domain.

"Where are we going?!" Martha yelled.

"This way!" The Doctor shouted.

We went down another hallway.

'Gonna guess I shouldn't bring out my gun?' I guessed.

'We can't risk it!' The Doctor replied.

'Ladder!'

He paused, turning back in his running. "Ah good eye Terra! It's a ladder! Come on!"

The rest of us followed after him. I gave him back the sonic. He used it to unlock the grate at the top of the ladder. The Doctor made it out first. Myself and Martha next. Solomon last.

"Frank! Frank!" Solomon called out.

Frank stayed down to hold off the pigmen. At Solomon's call of "C'mon, Frank! C'mon!" Frank rushed to the ladder. The pigmen took advantage of that.

The Doctor and Solomon reached down to him. Frank grabbed their arms. The pigmen grabbed his legs.

He'll be fine. I reminded myself. He doesn't get changed. Not yet. He'll be fine. You know he will.

"I've got you. C'mon! Come on!" The Doctor yelled.

Frank screamed as the pigs dragged him down.

"Frank!" Solomon screamed.

"No!" The Doctor screamed.

The Doctor reached out. I grabbed the grate, throwing it down. Solomon helped me lock it down.

"We can't go after him." Solomon told the Doctor.

I took the sonic. The pigmen were grumbling and growling down below. The grate locked shut.

The Doctor snatched the sonic from my hand. He was seething. "We've got to go back down. We can't just leave him."

"You know we can't." I told him.

The Doctor panted, looking lost. He knew I was right.

'They won't kill him.'

'Can you prove that?' The Doctor countered.

'No.' I replied, mentally smacking myself for saying anything at all. 'But Frank was right. We never saw any bodies. Not even any signs of any bodies having been there. If they were going to kill Frank, we'd've seen more evidence.'

As I talked with the Doctor, Solomon was off doing his own thing. "No, I'm not losing anybody else. Those creatures were from Hell. From Hell itself! If we go after them, they'll take us all! There's nothing we can do. I'm sorry."

The Doctor was only partly listening. 'Yes. We didn't see anything.'

'Exactly.'

'But if they won't kill him, then what did they take him for?'

'The same thing they took everyone else for.'

"Are they alright?" Solomon asked Martha.

Martha glanced at us. "Think so. They...get like this. Sometimes."

'We still don't know what that is.'

'Only that they need able bodied people. And they need them in droves.'

The Doctor nodded in confirmation. He stood up, away from the grate. I did too.

That was when Tallulah came back. She held up the prop gun. "All right, then. Put them up. Hands in the air and no funny business." The humans and the Doctor did so. I stared flatly at Tallulah. "You too, girlie."

"No." I countered.

Tallulah swallowed.

"Terra-" The Doctor began.

I reached into my Bag. It was easy to find a glock then pull it out. Tallulah inhaled sharply. But she kept up her weapon. Gotta admire her dedication to the act. Solomon flinched back behind us. "How about I don't?"

"Blimey! She really does have a gun!" Martha gawked.

"Now tell me, you schmucks, what have you done with Laszlo?" Tallulah demanded.

"Better question: who is Laszlo?" I countered. "Also: quit pointing a fake gun at my friends- they're panicking."

Tallulah huffed. She lowered the gun. "How'd you tell?" She asked in a heavy 1920's New York accent.

"I know my way around a gun." With that, I tucked mine away. I beamed at the Doctor, who was giving me a scolding look. "What? It was fake."

"Your's wasn't." The Doctor noted.

"I wasn't gonna use it!" I argued.

"It was either that or the spear." Tallulah walked back the way she came. The Doctor and I went after her. The remaining humans joined in.

Tallulah went to her makeup vanity. "Laszlo's my boyfriend. Or was my boyfriend until he disappeared two weeks ago. No letter, no goodbye, no nothing. And I'm not stupid. I know some guys are just pigs but not my Laszlo. I mean, what kind of guy asks you to meet his mother before he vamooses?" She asked.

"Oof, sounds bad." I nodded sagely.

"Yeah! It was." Tallulah pouted.

"You have a gun." Martha stated.

"Yep." I confirmed. "Bigger iss-"

"You actually have a gun." Martha repeated.

"Actually have another missing person. Do you mind?" I countered.

Martha clapped her mouth shut. The Doctor put his hand on my shoulder. I calmed myself down.

"When was the last time you saw Laszlo?" I asked Tallulah.

"It was the weirdest thing! One minute he's there, the next, zip. Vanished." Tallulah recalled.

"Listen, ah-what's your name?" The Doctor began.

"Tallulah." She introduced.

"Tallulah-"

"Three Ls and an H."

"Right." The Doctor nodded, completely disregarding that tidbit. "We can try to find Laszlo, but he's not the only one. There are people disappearing every night."

"And there are creatures. Such creatures." Solomon spoke softly.

"What do you mean, creatures?" Tallulah asked, a scared look on her face.

"Look, listen, just trust me." The Doctor explained. "Everyone is in danger. I need to find out exactly what this is." He pulled the brain out from his coat pocket. "Because then I'll know exactly what we're fighting."

"Yuck." Was her reply.

"So she's never seen it either. Grate." I turned tail, walking into backstage. "I'm going back to the grate."

Again- I can't stress this enough- any joke I can take.

==ROTF==

I pried out the piece. "This good?" I offered it to him.

The Doctor grinned. "Yes." He pressed it onto his newest gizmo. He sonciked it into place.

I took a place against the wall, beside the grate. The shelves were good to lean against for a time.

Solomon walked up. He held up a radio. "How about this? I found it backstage."

"Perfect. It's the capacitors I need." The Doctor ripped off the back panel. He pulled out the pieces to find the one he needed. "I'm just rigging up a crude little DNA scan for this beastie. If I can get a chromosomal reading, I can find out where it's from."

"Definitely not Earth tech. At least not tech for this time period." I mused.

"How about you, Doctor, Terra?" Solomon asked. "Where are you from? I've been all over. I never heard anybody talk like you both. Just exactly who are you?"

"Oh, we're just sort of passing by." The Doctor answered.

"I'm not a fool, Doctor." Solomon warned him.

The Doctor "No. Sorry." The Doctor apologized.

"You've had a scare. We don't want to overwhelm you." I explained to him.

Solomon looked at the grate by my feet. "Yeah. Yeah I was scared, Terra. I let them take Frank because I was just so scared." He turned away- shamed. It was hidden away in the next moment. "I got to get back to Hooverville. With these creatures on the loose, we got to protect ourselves. Ain't no one else going to help us."

That almost made me smile. He was saying 'else'. He knew we were going to help him. It was better than people thinking we were to blame, or that we wouldn't do anything.

"Good luck." The Doctor and I told him.

Solomon nodded. "I hope you find what you're looking for, for all our sakes." He left us then, alone with our DNA device.

In his retreat, the sound of the Doctor's sonic was all one would hear.

"Where's Martha?" The Doctor asked.

"Interviewing Tallulah. It's a woman thing- talking about stuff like that. Why your boyfriend might've ditched you." I explained.

"Ah." The Doctor knelt down on the ground. He grabbed more pieces, putting them in.

I picked up the brain. Though it was disgusting, I still toyed with it.

"Are you alright?" The Doctor asked.

"Why wouldn't I be?" I countered.

The Doctor shrugged. "It's nothing. You just haven't complained that we're still here."

I tilted my head in confusion.

"I said it would be a quick visit- keeping you from your 'son'. You've not stopped complaining that I'm keeping you from him for days." The Doctor explained. "Now this detour has turned into us running from pigmen in the sewers of 1930 Manhattan. Usually you have something to say about that by now."

Ah, so it was my lack of complaining that made me suspicious? Good to know.

"It's just..." I glanced to the grate again. "There was a problem. Course we wouldn't leave until we fixed it. We were gonna come here anyway- before or after we got him back. My son will understand. Especially because he wasn't chased by the pigmen."

The Doctor smiled with a resigned fondness at that. He went back to his tech. "He's not your son."

"Prove it." I countered.

The Doctor only laughed. He was giving in.

==ROTF==

The Doctor flipped on the stagelight. The light landed on our device, warming up the Dalek hybrid brain.

I cheered. "The reverse microscope is complete!"

"That it is!" The Doctor cheered in agreement. He hopped down. He came up to me. I was already kicking the thing into gear, scanning it over. "We need to heat you up."

The show started downstairs. The two of us paid it no mind. There was something bigger on our minds.

"This is artificial." The Doctor noted.

"Genetically engineered, like I said." I mused. "Who could've done it?"

The Doctor shook his head. "No idea. But whoever this is, oh, you're clever."

I kept scanning it. The song downstairs got loud. I kept on with it. "Fundamental DNA in."

The Doctor looked at the sonic. "Fundamental DNA type four six seven dash nine eight nine. Nine eight nine." He paused, pressing his fingers beneath his glasses. "Hold on, that means planet of origin." He thought it over. Soon his expression dropped.

"Doctor. Talk to me." I prompted him.

The Doctor kept looking off in the distance.

"Skaro."

My face dropped too.

The Doctor and I leapt to our feet. We rushed out from the room to Martha.

Downstairs, the chorus girls and Tallulah were all fretting. They'd spotted Laszlo hiding on the side of the stage. Martha had revealed him to the women. Now everyone was scared.

"Where is she? Where's Martha?" The Doctor questioned Tallulah.

"I don't know." Tallulah replied. "She ran off the stage."

"Why?"

"She was chasing that-"

A loud scream came from down the hall.

"Martha!" The Doctor and I yelled.

We rushed to the room. Martha was long gone by the time we were there.

The Doctor's mind was sending out waves of rage. I mean, so much rage. It was perfectly reminding me of the time we fought that first Dalek in the museum. His rage then was just as strong- no, stronger, this was so much stronger. It was actually scaring me more than the Dalek- exactly as it had back then.

He was putting on his coat. I moved the grate, starting to climb down.

Making my way downtown- climbing fast

"Where are you going?" Tallulah asked, rushing in.

"They've taken her." The Doctor growled.

Climbing faster cause the Oncoming Storm is here.

"Who's taken her? What're you doing?" Tallulah asked.

I hopped down the last few pegs. The Doctor climbed down, joining me. My flashlight from before was still in my Bag so I pulled it out. The Doctor flipped his on. His expression nothing but a barely contained mask.

Tallulah climbed down the ladder. She'd put on an overcoat to her white chorus girl beaded corset. Yeah, that would hide her.

"No, no, no, no, no way. You're not coming." The Doctor snapped.

"Tell me what's going on." Tallulah countered.

"There's nothing you can do. Go back." The Doctor ordered.

"Look, whoever's taken Martha, they could've taken Laszlo, couldn't they?" Tallulah countered. The worst part was that she was right.

"You don't want to see what they do." I warned her.

"Tallulah, you're not safe down here." The Doctor warned.

"Then that's my problem. Come on. Which way?" Tallulah snapped at us both. She started off down the wrong tunnel.

"Wrong one." I told her, going down the tunnel we'd escaped from earlier.

We were Dalek hunting now.

Author help the Daleks.

Cause the Doctor sure won't.

==ROTF==

"When you say, they've taken her, who's they exactly?" Tallulah asked, barely thirty seconds into our walk. "And who are you two anyway? I never asked."

I heard something whirring from down the hall. My feet stopped, just about to touch a puddle.

The Doctor heard it too. "Shush."

"Okay, okay." Tallulah huffed.

"Shush, shush, shush, shush, shush, shush, shush." The Doctor hushed.

Up the hallway, the shadow was cast.

The shadow of a Dalek.

"I mean you're handsome and she's a pretty dame all-" Tallulah began.

The Doctor clapped his hand over her mouth. He dragged her back the way we came, ducking into a small alcove. Tallulah was watching this all with fearful wide eyes. I ran back too. There wasn't room for me in it too. I had to take the one across from them.

The wall was cold.

It was constricting.

It was freedom.

The Dalek rolled past my hiding spot. The Doctor glared at it the way the Dalek glared at the world.

The secrets of the universe existed all around me. In reach but so far away.

The universe was so far away.

I wanted to go home.

I was home.

When the Dalek was gone, I realized I was going into a panic attack. Well that had to not be a thing. I made my lungs take in air- not allowing myself to forget to breath. This world had air. That was an option. Breathing was an option here.

The Doctor walked into the tunnel. He released Tallulah so he could glare without restraint at the retreating Dalek.

My legs were starting to shake as I stood up. Wobbling I went to the Doctor's side.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no." The Doctor muttered.

"Of course they're back."

"They survived."

"Of course they're back. Why aren't I surprised?"

"They always survive while I lose everything."

"First time? That's just weird. Second time? Terrifying, but hey, probably another outlier. Third time? Pattern- much hated pattern but probably the last, right? Wrong. Fourth time?! Not even surprised. This doesn't even phase me. Look at me- I'm not even phased." I babbled.

The Doctor turned to me. I flinched back, expecting to see his anti-Dalek glare. It was something not as hateful but just as fierce. His protective glare.

"That metal thing? What was it?" Tallulah asked. She didn't break through the storm.

The Doctor seethed for a moment. He could see it. He could see my shaking legs, see my wide eyed look that I couldn't hide. He knew what I was reliving. The feelings that I couldn't shake off my body because they wouldn't let me go-

"It's called a Dalek. And it's not just metal, it's alive." The Doctor countered.

"You're kidding me." Tallulah laughed.

"Does it look like I'm kidding?" The Doctor snapped. Tallulah stopped laughing. The Doctor looked back towards the Dalek. "Inside that shell is a creature born to hate, whose only thought is to destroy everything and everyone that isn't a Dalek too. It won't stop until it's killed every human being alive."

"But if it's not a human being, that kind of implies it's from outer space." Tallulah laughed off. The Doctor gave her a flat look. I gave her my best- it was pathetic with how much I was shaking. "Yet again, that's a no with the kidding. Boy. Well, what's it doing here, in New York?"

The Doctor looked back to me. I let out a shaking breath.

"Terra. We will get her back." The Doctor promised.

I nodded- too shaken now to speak.

The Doctor noticed. "You're not there anymore. You came back, remember?"

Back? Back? There was no back. The Void was everything it was nothing it was a nonexistence that seeped into your bones-

"Terra. You came back." The Doctor repeated to me. He reached for my arms, squeezing them. I gasped. Oh. Apparently my lungs had decided breathing wasn't an option. Didn't I tell them not to do that? "You feel that? That's me. You're still here. You're not there."

"Ca-" I croaked. Taking another breath I tried again. "Can I complain now?"

"You can complain all you like." The Doctor agreed. "Once we get Martha back.

"Yeah...knew there'd be a catch." I huffed, feeling some relief come back to me.

"Is she alright?" Tallulah asked.

"She's fine." The Doctor snapped at her. He started off down the tunnel, taking me with him. Tallulah followed us. "Every second you're down here, you're in danger. I'm taking you back right now."

A pigman was down the hall. Laszlo. Tallulah screamed at the sight. The pigman-unlike any of his brethren so far- rushed off to hide.

The Doctor marched to him. Laszlo was hiding himself in corner. He didn't want Tallulah to see his face.

"Where's Martha?" The Doctor demanded at him. He shined the light at Laszlo's face. "What have you done with her? What have you done with Martha?"

"I didn't take her." Laszlo swore.

"What's your name?" I asked him, curling my arms around myself. "Do you even remember it?"

Laszlo winced, hiding deeper into the corner. "Don't look at me."

"Do you know where she is?" Tallulah asked.

"Stay back! Don't look at me." Laszlo yelped.

I held up my hand toward Tallulah. She took a step back.

"What happened?" I asked him.

Laszlo glanced out from the corner. He looked at us, his eyes sad. "They made me a monster."

"Who did?" The Doctor asked- barely above a growl.

"The masters." Laszlo answered.

"The Daleks." He sneered. "Why?"

"They needed slaves. They needed slaves to steal more people so they created us. Part animal, part human." Laszlo explained. "I escaped before they got my mind, but it was still too late."

"Do you know what happened to Martha?" The Doctor asked.

Laszlo face- while resembling a pig- answered for him. She was going to end up like him. That's what he feared. "They took her. It's my fault. She was following me."

"Were you in the theatre?" Tallulah recalled. She walked further.

"I never-" Laszlo denied. He realized it was futile. "Yes."

The Doctor understood. His rage calmed somewhat. He lowered the light from Laszlo's face. I took a step back. It gave space for Tallulah to walk up.

"Why? Why were you there?" She asked him.

"I never wanted you to see me like this." Laszlo admitted.

"Why me? What I got to do with this?" Tallulah pressed. "Were you following me? Is that why you were there?"

Laszlo braced himself. He turned in his corner. It was still darkened but you could make out the features. "Yes."

Tallulah's eyes were wide. She was beginning to understand but she was hoping she was wrong. "Who are you?"

"I was lonely." Laszlo revealed.

Tallulah's lips were trembling. "Who are you?"

"I needed to see you." Laszlo excused.

"Who are you?" Tallulah repeated, knowing the answer already but needing him to say it.

"I'm sorry."

"No, wait. Let me look at you." Tallulah brought him into the light. Her breaking heart was written all over her face. "Laszlo? My Laszlo? Oh, what have they done to you?"

"I'm sorry. So sorry." He apologized.

Tallulah moved her hands to his cheeks.

"Laszlo, can you show me where they are?" The Doctor requested, letting himself so sympathy for another life ruined by Daleks.

"They'll kill you." Laszlo refused.

'Yeah but they would've done that anyway.'

"If we don't stop them, they'll kill everyone." The Doctor explained.

Laszlo braced himself. He looked at Tallulah, who hadn't run off screaming in fear of him. Tallulah, who was staring at Laszlo like someone who'd waited an eternity for the sun to rise again. "Then follow me."

==ROTF==

He brought us down more hallways. Just when one would think we were lost, we turned a corner to see pigmen herding a group of humans. Martha's red jacket was spotted in the group.

"Silence. Silence." A Dalek ordered.

Laszlo ducked against a wall. The Doctor and I did the same.

It was so cold-

'Stay with me, Terra.' The Doctor spoke in my mind. I let out a tense breath. 'Thatta girl.'

'Fuck this whole day.'

'There's a good sailor.'

'I will shove the sonic up your ass. Fuck you from this whole detour. I could've been dancing in the rain praising Rain Gods or holding my son-'

'Alright are you done yet?'

'No! I'm complaining until both my hearts are content!'

"What the hell is that?" Martha asked loudly.

"You will form a line. Move. Move." The Dalek ordered.

"Just do what it says, everyone, okay? Just obey." Martha called out to the humans.

"The female is wise. Obey." The Dalek ordered.

A second Dalek arrived. I heard it's voice. "Report."

"These are strong specimens. They will help the Dalek cause." The first Dalek reported.

"What is the status of the Final Experiment?" Asked the first Dalek.

"The Dalekanium is in place. The energy conductor is now complete." Reported the second Dalek.

"Then I will extract prisoners for selection." The Dalek answered. "Intelligence scan, initiate...Reading brain waves. Low intelligence."

"You calling me stupid?" A man argued.

"Silence! This one will become a pig slave. Next." The Dalek ordered.

"No, let go of me. I'm not becoming one of them. No! No." The man yelled as he was dragged away by the pigmen.

I shuddered beside the Doctor.

"Intelligence scan. Initiate." The Dalek began the scan again.

"They're divided into two groups. High intelligence and low intelligence. The low intelligence are taken to become pig slaves like me." Laszlo explained.

"Well, that's not fair." Tallulah huffed too loudly.

"Shush." The Doctor and I snapped.

"You're the smartest guy I ever dated." Tallulah admitted in a much quieter voice.

Laszlo actually looked proud of that achievement.

"And the others?" The Doctor prompted.

"They're taken to the laboratory." Laszlo answered.

"Why? What for?" The Doctor pressed.

Laszlo shook his head. "I don't know. The masters only call it the Final Experiment."

"Superior intelligence." The Dalek reported to the pigmen.

The Doctor and Laszlo looked around the corner. Whatever he saw made him squeeze my hand.

'You were right. Frank is alive.'

'La dee fucking do. He's in Dalek capture to be used in the Final Experiment. Is there a card for that in Hallmark?'

'I let myself into this. I told you to complain, that you were being quiet. Why do I get myself into these things?' The Doctor pondered. He wondering stopped cold. 'It's Martha's turn.'

I squeezed his hand back.

"Intelligence scan, initiate. Superior intelligence." The Dalek reported. "This one will become part of the Final Experiment."

"You can't just experiment on people. It's insane! It's inhuman!" Martha yelled.

"We are not human." Why do Daleks get all the good stingers? "Prisoners of high intelligence will be taken to the transgenic laboratory."

"Look out, they're moving!" The Doctor pushed me back against the wall. I pressed myself flat as possible.

The Daleks turned the corner the other way down. The crowd of pigmen and the select chosen were being guided by the Daleks. Behind us Laszlo was taking Tallulah away.

"Doctor. Terra. Doctor, Terra, quickly!" Laszlo prompted.

The Doctor squeezed my hand. 'You're not leaving.'

'Not even if my son was with him.' I promised.

The Doctor let go of my hand. "We're not coming." The Doctor told Laszlo. "I've got an idea. You go."

"Laszlo, come on." Tallulah insisted.

"Can you remember the way?" Laszlo asked her.

"Yeah, I think so." She replied.

"Then go, please." He begged.

Tallulah shook her head. "But Laszlo, you got to come with me."

"Where would I go?" Laszlo countered. Tallulah looked ready to say any answer that involved them in the same space. "Tallulah, I'm begging you. Save yourself. Just run. Just go. Go."

Unhappily, heart breaking all over again, Tallulah left. Laszlo came up to us.

Before the Dalek group could leave we rushed towards it. I slid it beside Frank, the Doctor beside Martha. He beamed at the sight of me.

"Just keep walking." The Doctor advised.

"Oh, I'm so glad to see you." Martha huffed.

"Yeah, well, you can kiss us later." The Doctor told her. "You too, Frank, if you want."

"I will only complain mildly."

"A saving grace."

"Frank kick him you're closer."

==ROTF==

The Daleks brought us into their lab. It was full of tables covered in used beakers full of colored liquid. Pigmen were standing at various posts, watching it all with rapid eyes. The humans in our group kept looking scared.

The two Daleks rolled up to a third. Behind them, the smoking Dalek Sec.

The Doctor had his rage face back on again.

I kept myself calm. It wouldn't do any good to show panic just yet.

"Report." A Dalek commanded.

"Dalek Sec is in the final stage of evolution." The third Dalek answered.

"Scan him. Prepare for birth." A Dalek ordered.

"Evolution?" The Doctor wondered.

"Daleks don't do that." I agreed.

"What's wrong with old Charlie boy over there?" Martha whispered to us.

"You think we know?" I questioned.

"Ask them." The Doctor countered.

"What, me? Don't be daft." Martha scoffed.

"We don't exactly want to get noticed." The Doctor hissed. "Ask them what's going on."

Martha braced herself. She stepped out from the line. "Daleks, I demand to be told." A Dalek turned to her. "What is this Final Experiment? Report!"

"You will bear witness." The Dalek answered.

"To what?" Martha replied.

"This is the dawn of a new age." The Dalek answered.

"What does that mean?" Martha pressed.

"We are the only four Daleks in existence, so the species must evolve a life outside the shell." The Dalek explained. "The Children of Skaro must walk again."

Dalek Sec's shell stopped smoking. The light in the eyestalk went out. The shell around it began to open.

A figure inside the shell crawled out. Boy, was he ugly. He stood taller than Diagoras did. His head was just what looked like a brain, held on by tentacles and membrane. The tentacles spread out, squirming like fat worms on his head. There was one single eyeball- the old body of the Dalek covering up Diagoras'- that twitched as it became used to itself.

"What is it?" Martha asked, shaking.

The one thing a Dalek has ever feared.

Something new.

But still Dalek.

"I am a human Dalek." Dalek Sec spoke to the humans. "I am your future." He warned them.

==ROTF==

AN: This was very, very late. I will blame college because college is a bitch. Also maybe a cold but fuck that.

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Thanks to draco7347 and Stenzle for following