Chapter LXXIII

Martha's POV

Martha had went back to the Empire State Building, followed by Tallulah and Frank. She still had only a vague idea at best what to do, but it was something about this building, of that she was certain.

"I always wanted to go to the Empire State," she said to her companions as they were in the lift to the top. "Never imagined it quite like this, though."

"Where are we headed anyway?" Frank asked.

"The top, where they're still building," she replied, managing to sound more confident than she actually felt.

"How come those guys just let us through? How's that thing work?" Tallulah wanted to know.

"Psychic paper," she replied, turning it in her hands. "Shows them whatever I want them to think. According to this, we're two engineers and an architect."

Then the lift came to a halt and they went on until they came to a room with a drawing board with some blueprints on it. She shot a quick glance to the still unfinished walls. Nothing was secured, and she didn't even want to imagine how far down it was going.

Tallulah on the other hand didn't seem to mind too much. "Look at this pace. Top of the world," she said and went straight to the whole in the wall.

"Okay, now this looks good," she said as she leaned over the plans, accompanied by Frank.

"Hey, look at the date. These designs were issued today," he said. "They must've changed something last minute."

"You mean the Daleks changed something?"

"Yeah, could be."

"The ones underneath, they're from before," she said as she went through the pages. "That means that whatever they changed must be on this top sheet but not on this one. We need to check one against the other."

"The height of this place!" she heard Tallulah from behind her. "This is amazing."

"Careful, we're a hundred floors up," she warned her after looking over to her. "Don't go wandering off."

I sound like him.

This thought crossed her mind so suddenly that she almost startled. She could only hope that he was alive and well.

"I just want to see," Tallulah replied. "New York City. If aliens had to come to Earth, oh, no wonder they came here."

Little later she had spread out the plans on the floor. She still didn't know what to look for, but she couldn't give up now.

"I'll go and keep an eye out," Frank said. "Make sure we're safe up here. Don't want nobody butting in."

She looked after him for a moment as he left.

"There's a hell of a storm moving in," Tallulah said casually, now sitting next to her on the floor.

"I wish the Doctor was here," she said, more to herself. "He'd know what we're looking for."

"So tell me, where did you and him first hook up?"

"It was in a hospital, sort of."

"Of course, him being a doctor."

"Actually, I'm a doctor. Well, kind of."

"You're a physician? Really?"

"I was training," she replied. "Still am, if I ever get back home."

"You could be doctors together," Tallulah said enthusiastically. "Oh, what a partnership. Oh, it's such a shame. If only he wasn't so different. You know what I mean?"

"Oh, you have no idea how different he really is," she sighed.

"Yeah, he's a man, sweetheart. That's different enough."

For a moment there was silence as she looked at the plans. But then she decided to speak on, to that woman who was long dead at her own time.

"He was travelling with her before we met, you know – alone I guess," she said and, as she saw the puzzled expression in Tallulah's face, added, "Mira."

"Ah, don't know what's it with her," Tallulah said and waved with her hand, "but she's just as different as him."

"True," she replied with a lob sided grin. "She's nice and all, but sometimes... Anyway. Don't know what was between them. I just know there's still something between them. Sometimes I say something or do something and he looks at me, and I just sort of think that he's not seeing me. He's just hearing what I say, but it could be anyone saying it. Then he turns away again as if I'm not there. But I see how he looks at her. Don't know who dumped whom with them, but I think he still wants her."

"Oh. Listen, sweetheart. You want to get all sad? You want to have a contest with me and Laszlo?"

"No. But listen, if the Doctor's with Laszlo now, there's every chance that he could get him out."

"And then what? Don't talk crazy. There's no future for me and him. Those Dalek things took that away. The one good thing I had in my life and they destroyed it."

"We'll find a way, I promise!" she said to Tallulah, and wished she would only feel half as confident as she sounded.

She turned her attention back to the plans, and then she saw it. It had been there all the time, right in front of her eyes.

"Gotcha. Look. There, on the mast. Those little lines? They're new. They've added something, see?" she said to Tallulah.

"Added what?"

For a short moment the stared at each other as it dawned on them, then they said together, "Dalekanium!"


Mira's POV

"What's happening?" Mira heard Sec ask. "Is there a malfunction? Answer me!"

"No, no, no," the Doctor yelled after looking around. "The gene feed! They're overriding the gene feed!"

"Overriding it with what?" she asked, but of course it remained unanswered.

"Impossible. They cannot disobey orders," Sec replied, a hint of panic in his voice now.

Well, seemed as if even he was getting it by now.

"The Doctor will step away from the controls!" the Dalek commanded.

"Stop!" Sec said. "You will not fire."

"He is an enemy of the Daleks!" the other Dalek screamed.

"And so are you!" the first Dalek added, and they both pointed their guns at him.

"I am your commander. I am Dalek Sec," Sec tried it again, sounding more and more desperate.

"You have lost your authority!"

"You are no longer a Dalek!"

"What have you done with the gene feed?" The Doctor yelled at them.

"The new bodies will be one hundred percent Dalek!" one of the Daleks replied.

"No. You can't do this!" Sec said.

But they didn't care. Their leader was fallen, no pure Dalek any more, and so he was no more to them than any other individual that wasn't Dalek. Instead they commanded their Pig slaves to restrain Sec, the Doctor and herself.

"Release me. I created you. I am your master!" Sec yelled, but to no avail.

Just then, another alarm was sounding, distracting them somewhat.

"Solar flare approaching!" one Dalek yelled.

"Prepare to intercept!" the other one screamed.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw that Laszlo had grabbed the Doctor, obviously with no intention to actually restrain him. Instead he was whispering something to him. She herself wasn't even struggling and trying to get free, hoping that would lull the Pig slave holding her into some false security. And actually, it seemed to work. It was really more of a natural reflex, almost everyone tended to subconsciously slightly loosen their grip when their victim wasn't struggling.

As soon as she saw Laszlo releasing the Doctor, she kicked out with her heel, hitting the Pig slave right in his knee. He grunted and for a moment she had enough free moving space to ram her elbow into is stomach. She heard how all air left his lungs, and a second later she managed to get free.

"There's the lift!" Laszlo yelled.

She started to leap forward, pulling the Doctor with her, who had just reached her. It would have been better if he had tried to make it to the lift instantly, instead of trying to help her, but well.

Seconds later all three of them had made it to the lift and the Doctor tried to open the doors with his Sonic Screwdriver.

"The Doctor is escaping. Stop him! Stop him!" the Daleks screamed frantically.

But they were too late. The doors opened, they jumped inside, and the doors slammed shut again, right in the Pig slave's faces.

"We've only got minutes before the gamma radiation reaches the Earth," the Doctor said, not losing any time. "We need to get to the top of the building-"

She turned her head as she heard Laszlo breathing heavily. "What is it?" she interrupted the Doctor and took Laszlo's arm, because it seemed as if he would faint any moment.

"Out of breath. It's nothing," Laszlo replied. "We've escaped them. That's all that matters."

There was no time to discuss it any further, even though it was clear to see that Laszlo was everything but all right. The lift arrived, the door opened, and the next thing she heard was Martha's voice.

"Doctor!"

"First floor, perfumery," he said smilingly and walked over to her.

Well, at least Martha was still alive and well, and had somehow managed to come to the right place, accompanied by Frank. Tallulah was also with her. She had obviously spotted Laszlo, and a moment later they hugged each other.

"We've worked it out," Martha said. "We know what they've done. There's Dalekanium on the mast. And it's good to see you too, by thy way."

"Oh, come here," the Doctor said, before he swept her right off her feet.

It could have been a great reunion, but right at this moment she caught the lift doors closing out of the corner of her eyes. She ran over to them, but it was too late. The Doctor was at her side immediately, trying to stop the lift with his Sonic Screwdriver.

"No, no, no. See, never waste time with a hug," he whined. "Deadlock seal. I can't stop it."

"Shit. So we have how much time? About five minutes? Until the Pig slaves and the Daleks will follow us," she said. It would be hard enough to deal with the Pig slaves, but with the Daleks? Without any weapon? Impossible. Hopefully they were stuck down there with their experiment.

"Yeah, don't think they're going to leave us alone up here. What's the time?" the Doctor asked.

"Er, eleven fifteen," Frank said.

"Six minutes to go," the Doctor said. "I've got to remove the Dalekanium before the gamma radiation hits."

"Gammon radiation? What the heck is that?" Tallulah asked.

"Never mind that now," she said and followed the Doctor who ran to the open area and looked out.

"Oh, that's high. That's very," he said. "Blimey, that's high."

"Yeah," she said as she peered down. "Almost four times the Saturn V, I might say..."

She caught his eyes and saw the flash of remembrance on his face. She had dreaded that year, 1969, so much, but after all they had gotten closer there. They had had quite a fight, but in the end... How she had taken his hands in her own, their fingers intertwined, and-

"And we've got to go even higher," Martha said and pulled her right out of her own memories, back to the problems at hand. "That's the mast up there, look. There's three pieces of Dalekanium on the base. We've got to get them off."

They all looked up. It was high indeed. Really, really high.

"That's not we, that's just me," the Doctor said suddenly.

"I won't just stand here and watch you!" Martha protested.

"You're certainly not going up there all alone," she said now, way more quiet than Martha had spoken, fully aware that he could hear her perfectly. She would not let him go up there on his own, not after he had just asked that Dalek to finally kill him.

"No, you're going to have your hands full anyway," he protested. "I'm sorry, but you've got to fight."

"Fight? Sure, we just most kindly ask the Daleks to please jump!" she said, her voice raised, pointing to the open area and down. "What in hell-"

"They'll most likely stay down, they have to deal with their experiment," he said. "Please, Mira," he continued and looked in her eyes intently. "Try to stop those Pig slaves. You have to. And take care of Martha."

"What? No! You take care of her, once-" His eyes were still locked with hers, and she knew it was pointless. He would go up there anyway. Apart from that, they were running out of time. "Be careful," she whispered finally.

He didn't answer, but instead took both her hands together in his, and placed them on his chest, right between where his two hearts must be. Then he released them, but not before pressing a gently kiss on them. She stood absolutely dumbstruck as he turned and went out to climb further up the building.

With everyone else this slightly antiquated gesture would have seemed utterly awkward, but not with him, for whatever reason. But what was it supposed to mean? Hopefully not his way of saying goodbye?


Martha's POV

"The lift's coming up!" she yelled, just as the Doctor was gone. She had watched the scene with growing confusion and vanishing hope. It had looked so close and intimate.

"I should have brought that gun," Frank mumbled.

"Yes, indeed," Mira said.

Slowly but surely it dawned on her what the Doctor had meant with: They had to fight.

"Tallulah, stay back," Laszlo said. "You too, Martha. If they send Pig slaves, they're trained to kill."

Weirdly enough, he didn't include Mira in his list of weak females.

"The Doctor needs me to fight," she protested. "I'm not going anywhere!"

"Martha, seriously, do you even know how to defend yourself?" Mira asked.

No, she didn't. Not really. But did it matter now?

"They're savages," Laszlo said. "I should know. They're trained to slit your throat with their bare teeth."

He tried to lift a hammer, but instead he stumbled and fell.

"Laszlo? What is it?" Tallulah was at his side at once, trying to support him.

"No, it's nothing. I'm fine. Just leave me."

"Oh, honey, you're burning up. What's wrong with you? Tell me."

"Great. One man down, we ain't even started yet," Frank pointed out the obvious.

"One way of putting it...," Mira said quietly.

"It's not looking good, Frank," she said, just for the sake of saying something.

"Nope."

"We're going to get slaughtered," she realised.

"No one is going to get slaughtered," Mira said, but it sounded a bit rehearsed. Slightly, but still, rehearsed. How often had she said things like this?

She almost jumped as she heard thunder rolling through the air, shortly after a blinding lightening.

The thunderstorm. She saw how Mira had turned her head to the open area, and now looking right in her face.

"Wait a minute..," she said, and then, together with Mira, "Lightening!"

The next minutes Mira, Frank and herself were gathering pieces of metal scaffolding, using chairs to trail them in from outside. All the time being fully aware that the Pig slaves could come up any second. She knew she had to fight, but at the same time she knew that she wouldn't stand a chance. She could kick them. Hit something over their heads, but that was basically it. Yes, she was frightened, absolutely terrified. That fear was driving her even more. It was her only chance. This had to work.

"Aw, you'll be all right, sweetheart," Tallulah, who was tending Laszlo said. "Don't you worry. What the hell are you clowns doing?"

"Even if the Doctor stops the Dalekanium, this place is still going to get hit," she explained. "Great big bolt of lightening, electricity all down this building. Connect this to the lift and they get zapped." She felt slightly proud that she had had this idea, even if it had been at the same time as Mira. She just didn't want to think about the fact that she was just trying to kill someone.

"Oh my God, that could work!" Tallulah yelled.

"Then give us a hand," Frank said.

A few minutes later they were done.

"Is that going to work?" Tallulah asked.

"Most likely," Mira said. "Electricity tends to go the way of the least resistance, and metal, in this case, in opposite to the wooden floor-" She stopped for a moment and Martha could see the clueless expression on Tallulah's face as well. "Well, it just works."

"I've got it all piped up to the scaffolding outside," Frank said.

"Come here, Frank," she said. "Just sit in the middle and don't touch anything metal."

Not a second later the lift doors opened, and the Pig slaves stormed out. She just hoped they weren't too early. But before she had quite finished this thought, she almost jumped. A thunder, far louder than the earlier once tore the air, and at the same time she could see a lightening running through their makeshift conductor. She immediately closed her eyes at the brightness of it, but could still see the after-image of it. She heard the Pig slaves squealing in pain, and then, suddenly – nothing.

She slowly opened her eyes, and saw it. They were dead. All of them. A slight and almost disgusting smell hung in the air. Essentially it was just the smell of burned meat; it became disgusting because she knew where it came from.

"You did it, Martha," Tallulah said. "We did it!"

"They used to be like Laszlo," she said and slowly walked over to them. "They were people, and I killed them."

"It was us. Not you alone. And it was either them or us. I know that probably doesn't help much, but...," she heard Mira next to her.

"No, it was them. The Daleks killed them. Long ago," Laszlo said.

Then it stroke her like a lightening, "What about the Doctor?!"


Mira's POV

Mira was running up to the lightning conductor, followed by the others. She found his Sonic Screwdriver half way down. He was dead, for certain. If he had been anywhere near the conductor, he must be dead now. Not even he could survive that.

And then she saw him, lying flat on his back on his back, eyes closed and not moving at all. For a second she was so shocked she felt the world spinning and had almost lost balance.

Then she gathered herself, ran over to him and crouched next to him. She took his hand, his wrist, and was thinking that she could feel a pulse. But more important, she could feel him. He was alive.

"Doctor! Doctor?" Martha yelled, standing behind her. "Look what we found halfway down."

She remembered that she was still holding his Screwdriver.

Suddenly, he moved, opened his eyes and sat up, much too fast for being knocked out a moment ago.

"Oh my head," he said between gritted teeth.

"Well, you could keep it down just once?" she said to him. She had wanted to hiss at him, but instead her voice was shaking with relief.

"Hi. You survived, then," he said, and managed to smile at her.

That was one of these moments, where she either wanted so slap or to kiss him.

"Yes. Seems the Pig slaves are not as resistant to electrocution as you seem to be," she replied. Ouch, there it was again, but right now she couldn't think of anything but cynicism.

"Doctor?" Martha said and stopped her oncoming rant about climbing up a conductor right during a thunderstorm. "I can't help noticing there's Dalekanium still attached."

They all turned their heads and looked up.

"So, as the did actually lightening strike – We have a whole new race Human-Daleks right now? Just as the Daleks wanted them?" she finally broke the silence that had fallen.

"We'll see!" the Doctor yelled as he jumped up.

She gave the Screwdriver back and then they all followed him as he ran back inside.

"The Daleks will have gone straight to a war footing," he said. "They'll be using the sewers, spreading the soldiers out underneath Manhattan."

"How do we stop them?" Laszlo asked.

"There's only one chance," the Doctor replied. "I got in the way. That gamma strike went zapping though me first."

"Yeah, but what does that mean?" Martha asked.

"Wait," she said. "You can't change the gene feed by just getting in the way of the gamma strike."

"We need to draw fire," the Doctor said instead of answering. But then again, probably that was his way of answering. So either she was being incredibly stupid by asking that or it actually happened like that. "Before they can attack New York, I need to face them. Where can I draw them out? Think, think, think, think, think. We need some sort of space. Somewhere safe. Somewhere out of the way. Tallulah!"

"That's me. Three Ls and an H."

"The theatre! It's right above them, and, what, it's gone midnight? Can you get us inside?" he asked.

"Don't see why not."

"Is there another lift?"

"We came up in the service elevator," Martha said.

"That'll do. Allons-y!"


Doctor's POV

They arrived at the Theatre and went straight to the stalls.

"This should do it. Here we go," he said and looked around.

He just hoped he was right and it all worked out. If only a little bit of his DNA got mixed up, then he could stand a chance. Otherwise that would be it. Not only for him, but also for his companions. And Earth. But at least he could give his companions a bit more time, by sending them away.

"There ain't nothing more creepy than a theatre in the dark," Tallulah said. Oh, she could be a bit annoying, but essentially she was why he liked humanity so much. Always able to adapt and their single little heart on the right side. "Listen, Doctor, I know you got a thing for show tunes, but there's a time and place, huh?" Then suddenly Laszlo sat down – or rather, collapsed on a chair. "Laszlo, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. It's just so hot."

"But it's freezing in here. Doctor, what's happening to him?"

"Not now, Tallulah. Sorry," he said, and he really meant it. There was nothing he could do for Laszlo, and certainly not right now. And it was all the Dalek's fault.

"What are you doing?" Martha asked.

His gaze fell on Mira before he answered Martha. She hadn't said anything so far, but he could guess that she had a vague idea.

"If the Daleks are going to war, they'll want to find their number one enemy," he finally replied. "I'm just telling them where I am."

Then he held the Sonic Screwdriver up in the air. They should be able to pick this up. Then he turned to Martha again.

"Martha, I'm telling you to go. Frank can take you back to Hooverville."

"And I'm telling you I'm not going," she replied wilfully.

"Martha, please," Mira fell in. He had wanted her to leave as well, but he knew even starting trying to convince her would be in vain. "Go. You can't help here, it's not some Pig slaves, but the Daleks this time."

"I'm not leaving you!", she repeated, glancing at him fiercely.

"Martha, that's an order," he yelled at her, louder than he had wanted to.

"Who are you, then?" she asked. "Some sort of Dalek?"

He just stared at her, utterly shocked, but then the doors broke down. He could see people marching in from both sides. They were surrounded.

"Doctor!" Tallulah yelled. "Oh, my God! Well, I guess that's them then, huh?"

"Humans, with Dalek DNA?" Martha asked, with panic in her voice.

"It's all right, it's all right," he said. "Just stay calm. Don't antagonize them."

"But what of the Dalek masters? Where are they?" Laszlo asked.

And just at this very moment there was an explosion on stage. There they were. Two of the three remaining Daleks, and their fallen leader. They had chained him, and he was crawling in front of them, like a dog.

"The Doctor will stand before the Daleks!" one of the Daleks screamed.

Without hesitation, he walked forwards over the top of the seats. He noticed out of the corner of his eyes that Mira was following him. And he could do nothing to stop her without angering the Daleks or the Human-Daleks.

"You will die, Doctor. It is the beginning of a new age! And you too if you have to stay with him! Your courage is nothing but stupidity caused by emotions other than hatred!"

"I just want to remind you to consider very carefully which universe to invade next," she replied coldly. "My death doesn't matter. There are others."

She didn't just stand beside him to tell the Daleks that, did she?

"Planet Earth will become New Skaro!" the other Dalek yelled.

"Oh, and what a world," he said quickly. "With anything just the slightest bit different ground into the dirt. That's Dalek Sec. Don't you remember? The cleverest Dalek ever and look what you've done to him. Is that your new Empire, hmm? Is that the foundation for a whole new civilization?"

"My Daleks, just understand this," Sec said. "If you choose death and destruction, then death and destruction will choose you."

And there it was. It could have actually been the dawning of a new age. The beginning of a new era. The end of the hate and pain that had been inbred into the Daleks from the very beginning. They could have evolved. Lived. But, just in its very beginnings, it was over. Doomed. Even now they just couldn't change.

"Incorrect. We will always survive!"

"Now we will destroy our greatest enemy, the Doctor!"

"But he can help you," Sec tried it again.

Suddenly he felt a soft, warm hand in his. Mira. What...?

"The Doctor must die!"

"No, I beg you, don't!" Sec yelled and stood up.

"Exterminate!"

But instead of firing at him, they killed Sec. Their own leader, their only chance to survive, just dead.

"Your own leader!" he yelled with barely controlled anger. "The only creature who might have led you out of the darkness and you destroyed him. Do you see what they did? Huh? You see what a Dalek really is?" He looked around. The Human-Daleks stood and watched quite indifferent. "If I'm going to die, let's give the new boys a shot. What do you think, eh? The Dalek humans. Their first blood. Go on, baptise them."

He shortly considered to just push Mira, so that she would fall between the seats, but that would have given her only a few more minutes, in case his plan – which really wasn't a plan, but mere calculations and a lot of hope – went wrong.

"Dalek humans, take aim!"

And so they did.

"What are you waiting for? Give the command!"

He felt how Mira's grip tightened. Wait, was she about to push him down? Prevent him from sacrificing himself, again? He didn't have time to think about it any further.

"Exterminate!"

He tensed, and so did Mira, but nothing happened.

"Exterminate!"

"Obey. Dalek humans will obey!" the Dalek screamed

"They're not firing," Martha exclaimed. "What have you done?"

"You will obey. Exterminate!"

"Why?" one of the Human-Daleks asked, as if he just had woken up. And in some way that was the case.

"Daleks do not question orders!"

"But why?"

"You will stop this!"

"But why?"

"YOU MUST NOT QUESTION!"

"But you are not our master. And we, we are not Daleks."

"No, you're not," he said quietly. It had worked out as expected. "And you never will be." He turned to the Daleks. "Sorry, I got in the way of the lightning strike. Time Lord DNA got all mixed up. Just that little bit of freedom."

"If they will not obey, then they must die!" the Dalek yelled and shot the Human-Dalek who was asking questions.

"Get down!" he yelled, and he and Mira jumped down together, ducking between the seats.

Firing started, with the Daleks screaming, "Exterminate! Exterminate!"

And then the almost impossible happened. The destroyed the two Daleks. Suddenly silence fell over the place.

"It's all right, it's all right, it's all right," he said and got up again. "You did it. You're free."

He had no idea what would happen to the mutants now, but he was certain he could work something out. With a lot of Human and a bit of Time Lord DNA they could overcome the Dalek-part. But suddenly, there was a high-pitched sound. The mutants clutched their heads, and then, one after the other, every single one of them, died.

"No!" he yelled in sheer terror. "They can't! They can't! They can't! They can't!"

"They just killed them?" he heard Mira's voice.

"What happened? What was that?" Martha asked.

"Mira's right. They killed them, rather than let them live. An entire species. Genocide," he said and clenched his fists. They could have had a life of their own. Could have evolved. But no, they had to end it. Destroy it, just as everything else.

"Only two of the Daleks have been destroyed," Laszlo said. "One of the Dalek masters must still be alive."

"Oh, yes. In the whole universe, just one."

Now he was in the laboratory again, with the others waiting in the background.

"Now what?" he asked the only remaining Dalek in the whole universe.

"You will be exterminated!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Just think about it, Dalek what was your name?"

"Dalek Caan."

"Dalek Caan. Your entire species has been wiped out," he said, suddenly feeling incredibly tired again. Tired of all the killing, tired of the same discussion over and over again. Did they never get tired of it? But maybe, just maybe there was a slight chance this time, and so he continued. "And now the Cult of Skaro has been eradicated, leaving only you. Right now you're facing the only man in the universe who might show you some compassion. Because I've just seen one genocide. I won't cause another. Caan, let me help you. What do you say?"

He actually meant what he had just said. I some way it was not even their fault. They never had a chance. Sec was about to give them one, give them hope, but they had acted in the only way they could. Apart from that, who was he to judge? After destroying his homeworld... No, he couldn't kill the last Dalek in existence. Maybe someone else could do it. Maybe Mira would, if she just had a chance. But-

"Emergency temporal shift!"

The cables attached to it fell off and he disappears.

He ran towards it, but he was to late. As he reached the place where Caan had just been, it was gone. Again. One Dalek left, and he had no idea where it was and what it was hatching now.

Well, then, that was it then. Planet Earth saved again one Dalek survived, again, so, back to the TARDIS and-

"Doctor! Doctor! He's sick!" he heard Martha yelling.

He turned around and saw her and Tallulah help Laszlo, who was wheezing and sweating.

"It's okay. You're all right," Martha said, and then turned to him. "It's his heart. It's racing like mad. I've never seen anything like it."

"What is it, Doctor? What's the matter with him?" Tallulah wanted to know. "He says he can't breathe? What is it?"

"It's time, sweetheart," Laszlo breathed.

"What do you mean, time? What are you talking about?"

"None of the slaves survive for long. Most of them only live for a few weeks. I was lucky. I held on because I had you. But now, I'm dying, Tallulah."

"No, you're not. Not now, after all this. Doctor, can't you do something?" Tallulah said and looked at him.

Could he? Actually, probably he could. The Daleks might have one again, and even if he couldn't help himself, at least he could do something for Laszlo.

"Oh, Tallulah with three Ls and an H, just you watch me," he said and started running through the room. "What do I need? Oh, I don't know. How about a great big genetic laboratory? Oh look, I've got one. Laszlo, just you hold on. There's been too many deaths today." He got some stuff he could need. "Way too many people have died. Brand new creatures and wise old men and age old enemies. And I'm telling you, I'm telling you right now, I am not having one more death! You got that? Not one. Tallulah, out of the way. The Doctor is in!"

...

They were walking through Central Park, back on their way to the TARDIS. With them was Frank, Tallulah and Laszlo.

"Well, I talked to them, and I told them what Solomon would've said, and I reckon I shamed one or two of them," Frank said.

He had no doubt that Frank would find his way, just as Solomon would have wanted it. He needed to become a bit more sensible and less hot headed, but that would come.

"What did they say?" he asked.

"They said yes. They'll give you a home, Laszlo. I mean, er, don't imagine people ain't going to stare. I can't promise you'll be at peace but, in the end, that is what Hooverville is for. People who ain't got nowhere else."

"Thank you. I can't thank you enough," Laszlo said. And off they went, he and Tallulah.

"Do you reckon it's going to work, those two?" Martha asked later, when they were back at the island, already seeing the TARDIS.

"I don't know," he replied. "Anywhere else in the universe, I might worry about them, but New York? That's what this city's good at. Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, and maybe the odd pig slave Dalek mutant hybrid too."

He smiled slightly at her. He new he was still under the impression of what had just happened, but he knew it had to go on, somehow.

"The pig and the showgirl," Martha said and smiled back.

"The pig and the showgirl," he repeated.

"It just proves it, I suppose. There's someone for everyone," Martha said.

He looked at her, and out of the corner of his eye he saw that Mira had the same, slightly sad look on her face as there must have been on his.

"Maybe," he said quietly.

"Meant to say, I'm sorry," Martha said.

"What for?"

"Just because that Dalek got away. I know what that means to you. Think you'll ever see it again?"

"Oh, yes. One day," he said, and for a second he envied Martha. She still didn't really comprehend what that meant. Maybe wouldn't even live to see that day.

Then he hurried to follow Mira, who had already unlocked the door and was holding it open for him and Martha.


OneWhoReadsTooMuch, bored411, djmegamouth, AxidentlGoddess, Type40TARDIS, NeoMulder, and unknown Guest: Thanks for reviewing :-)