And here's chapter two! Thank you for all the reviews/follows/favourites. I'd been worried that I'd lost a lot of readers after so long. It's great that many of my regulars are still around, and also great to have new readers joining.

Ps; thank you to those who pointed out the spelling mistakes in the last chapter. I've since corrected them. One reviewer added that it's like a scavenger hunt, and I like that.

I'm not 100% satisfied with this chapter, but I've done all I can with it. I hope you enjoy!

Chapter Two: Into The Dalek

Ember spent Christmas and Boxing Day with the Ponds and the 11th Doctor, but just as they were getting ready to leave, she jumped.

When she could look around again, she found herself in the Twelfth Doctor's Tardis, on the upper level. The place was vibrating just slightly, proving that it was in flight, and she could hear someone walking on the level below. But just as she reached the stairs leading down to console level, there was a flash and a thud. Ember peeked over the edge of the platform, deciding to stay hidden until she knew what was going on. On the platform were two people.

The first was the Doctor, his hair short and neat, wearing his 'magician' getup while holding a cardboard tray with two takeaway coffees in it. He was looking across at where a young woman In a military uniform was scrambling to her feet, pointing a handgun at the Doctor.

"You'll probably feel a bit sick." The Doctor said calmly. "Please, don't be."

"Where's my brother?" The woman demanded.

"Hello, I'm the Doctor."

The woman had tears in her eyes. "He was right beside me. Where's Kai?" She looked around. "How did I get here?"

"I materialised a time capsule exactly round you and saved your life one second before your ship exploded," the Doctor explained quickly and neutrally as the woman went down the stairs and looked around. "But do please keep crying."

"My brother's just died!" She snapped, pointing her gun up at him again. Ember ducked behind a chair to avoid being seen.

"His sister didn't." The Doctor replied. "You're very welcome. Put the gun down."

The woman didn't. "Or what?"

"Or you might shoot me. Then where will you be?"

"In charge of your vessel." She made her way back up to console level.

"You'd starve to death trying to find the light switch. And that's the best scenario. God knows how cross Ember would be if she turned up and found me dead at your feet."

Ember smirked. Yeah, she'd be very cross.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Lieutenant Journey Blue of the Combined Galactic Resistance. I demand you take me back to my command ship, the Aristotle, which is currently located-"

The Doctor, who got a 'wtf' look when she said the word demand, cut her off. "No. Hey, not like that."

The woman - Journey - hesitated. "You will take me back to my command ship, which is currently positioned-"

"No, no. Come on. Not like that. Not like that. Get it right!"

Ember had to cover her mouth with her hand to keep herself from laughing.

After a moment of quiet, Journey slowly lowered her gun. "Will you take me back to my ship?" The Doctor made a small gesture with his hand as if to say 'more'. "...Please?"

Nodding in satisfaction, the Doctor turned to the console and began to put in the instructions one handed. "The Aristotle's the big fella parked in the asteroid belt, yeah?"

"It's shielded." Journey tried to warn, moving to watch.

"More or less."

She watched him for a few moments more, before something he'd said came back to her. "Who's Ember?"

"My wife. Well, sometimes." The Doctor shrugged.

"How can someone be your wife 'sometimes'?"

"Because it's hard for someone to be your wife when they haven't been to the wedding yet."

Ember decided now was the time to announce her presence. She walked down the steps as she spoke. "Good thing I've been to the wedding then, or that would have been a spoiler."

Both of them turned to face her. The Doctor smiled while Journey instantly held her gun up, though the former immediately pushed her arm down.

"The wedding could have been better, but then again reality was crumbling around us." Ember continued as she reached the Doctor's side. "Honeymoon was okay, though."

The Doctor leaned down and kissed her gently. "Hello."

"Hi."

Journey shook her head. "What are you on about? Crumbling reality?"

Ember shrugged. "Long story. But we've got better things to do."

"Yes, like dropping you off before you shoot someone." The Doctor agreed, turning back to the console and pressing a button. The Tardis groaned as it landed, and the Doctor gestured to the door.

Journey slowly moved to the door, opening it and staring wide-eyed at the sight of the interior of her command ship. Her fellow soldier were going about their business like usual, unaware that she was there.

"Dry your eyes, Journey Blue." The Doctor said, putting the coffee cups on the console before approaching the door. "Crying's for civilians. It's how we communicate with you lot."

As he and Ember stepped out of the Tardis, Journey finally noticed the blue box, or rather its size as it was tucked neatly into a corner of the bay. "It's smaller on the outside."

"It's a bit more exciting when you go the other way. This isn't a battleship." The Doctor pointed to a symbol. "Medical insignia. It's a hospital."

"We don't need hospitals now." A new voice made them turn. A man in uniform approached them with two armed men behind him. He had a beard and looked to be in charge. "The Daleks don't leave any wounded, and we don't take any prisoners."

The Doctor did the first thing he could think of; take Ember by the hand and pull her slightly behind him. "I saved your little friend here, if that's in any way relevant to mention."

"That's true, sir. He did." Journey confirmed.

The man eyed them carefully. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." The Doctor replied. "I wish I could've done more."

"Then you should have."

Ember bristled. She didn't like it when someone threw the Doctor's kindness in his face.

The Doctor must have felt her bristle, as he squeezed her hand twice without looking at her. "Okay."

"But you did save Journey, and for that I am personally grateful." The man began.

"Well-"

"However, the security of this base is absolute. So we're still going to kill you."

"Oh, it's a roller coaster with you, isn't it?"

The man ignored the jibe, addressing his soldiers. "Shoot them, bag them and throw them outside."

The armed soldiers stepped forward. Ember tensed, ready to raise flames in defence if Journey didn't speak up...

Which she did, thankfully. "No! Stop!"

The commander almost sighed. "I'm sorry. He might be a duplicate."

"He's a doctor! And we have a patient, don't we, Uncle?"

Ember squeezed the Doctor's hand twice.

"Why does a hospital need a doctor?" The Doctor asked as he and Ember were led along a corridor.

The commander, who had introduced himself as Morgan, replied. "The Aristotle wasn't always hidden. The Daleks got here before us."

Journey noticed that the Doctor tended to tense up when a gun was near him, though more so when said gun would get near Ember. "You don't like soldiers much, do you?"

"You don't need to be liked." The Doctor said. "You've got all the guns."

They reached what looked like a lab. There was a door marked '78' that two soldiers guarded. In the centre of the room was a large machine that looked like a decompression chamber for divers. It's main body was a clear tube with bench seats on the inside.

The Doctor saw it and recognised it. "Wow! A moleculon nanoscaler."

"You know what it does, then?" Journey asked, apparently surprised that he knew.

"It miniaturises living matter. What's the medical application, though? Do you use it to shrink the surgeons so they can climb inside the patients?"

Morgan nodded. "Exactly."

"Fantastic idea for a movie. Terrible idea for a proctologist. Are you going to miniaturise me?"

"You're a doctor, aren't you?" Morgan stopped at a secure door further along. It opened with a hiss. "And this is your patient."

Inside, the room was a little dark, but not enough to be unable to see what was within. Wires trailed along the floors, leading up and attaching to...

"No," the Doctor murmured, taking a step back and pulling Ember with him. "You don't understand. You can't put me in there."

It was a Dalek. It looked heavily damaged, its gold armour dented and scratched with rust in places. The blue lens on the end of the eyepiece was scratched and dim, but still on.

"...Doctor?" It spoke slowly, as though it couldn't make the effort. "Doctor..."

The Doctor stepped forward, cautious. "How do you know who I am?"

"He doesn't." Morgan replied, unaware of the truth. "We promised him medical assistance."

"Are you my... doctor?" The Dalek asked.

Journey noticed the Doctor's confusion. "We found it floating in space."

"We thought it was deactivated," Morgan added, "so we tried to disassemble it."

The Doctor pursed his lip. "You didn't realise there was a living creature inside."

"Not till it started screaming."

"Help... me..." the Dalek said.

"Why would I do that?" The Doctor challenged. "Why would any living creature help you?"

"Daleks will die..."

"Die all you like. Not my problem." The Doctor turned, fully intending to walk away, but the Dalek's reply stopped him.

"Daleks must be destroyed!"

"Daleks must be de-" he'd begun the reply as a sassy remark, but then he caught up to what was actually said. "What did you just say?"

"All Daleks must die. I will destroy the Daleks. Destroy the Daleks! Destroy the Daleks!"

The Doctor stared at the Dalek like he couldn't believe what was looking at. It was only when Ember took his hand again that he snapped out of it. He turned to the soldiers behind him. "I need reinforcements. None of you, you're useless."

It was odd how the Doctor had managed to convince Morgan to allow him to leave to get these 'reinforcements', but he somehow did it, and now he and Ember were back in the Tardis, heading for the school where Clara worked.

"Ember," The Doctor said after a long quiet. "What's wrong with that Dalek? Why is it suddenly against its own kind?"

Ember, who was sat at the bottom of the steps leading to the upper galley, tilted her head in thought. "It's been damaged in battle. Sometimes perspective changes."

The Doctor looked at her carefully. "And if I help it? What will happen then?"

"It'll recover."

"But will it stay good?"

Ember paused, looking at her hands that were in her lap. "Whatever happens, this is a turning point. This has to go the way it did in the show."

"And if it doesn't?"

"... I don't know." Her answer made the Doctor pause, watching as Ember put a hand to her head and closed her eyes. "It'll mean something in the future, I think, but... I don't know what. This will lead to something important, but I... can't seem to remember what..."

"You don't know how this affects the future?"

Ember shook her head again. "No. It's like... I have an idea, but it's right there on the edge, and if I try to reach for it, it fades even more..."

The Doctor frowned and turned away, looking thoughtful. "Can you tell if it'll be good or bad?"

"It's important that that Dalek survives whatever happens today. That's all I can tell."

The Doctor flipped another lever, and the Tardis stilled. He grabbed the takeaway coffees and went outside, closing the door behind him. Ember didn't bother to follow, deep in thought, only to snap out of it when the Doctor kicked open the door to let himself and Clara in a minute later.

"Why were you smiling?" The Doctor asked Clara. She was wearing black slacks and a red top with flowers on it, evidently having been at her teaching job when she'd been picked up.

"Was I? No, I wasn't." Clara wiped her mouth as though to get rid of the smile before she spotted the brunette opposite. "Hey, Ember."

"You were smiling at nothing. I'd almost say you were in love, but to be honest..."

"Honest?" Clara prompted when he trailed off. She had a feeling she wasn't going to like the end of that sentence.

"You're not a young woman any more."

Yep. She didn't like the end. "Yes, I am."

The Doctor shrugged as he handed Clara the coffees, which she then put on the console. "Well, you don't look it."

"I do look it."

"Oh, that's right, keep your spirits up, Clara. Clara, Clara, Clara." He moved to sit on the steps leading down. "I need something from you. I need the truth."

Clara, sensing how serious he was, moved to sit next to him. Ember crossed the room to kneel behind the Time Lord with her hands on his shoulders. "Okay. Right, what is it? What's..." She paused when she realised something based on his body language. "You're scared."

The Doctor rubbed his face with his left hand while taking one of Ember's in the other. "I'm terrified."

"Of what?"

"The answer to my next question, which must be honest and cold and considered, without kindness or restraint. Clara, be my pal and tell me... am I a good man?"

Clara was about to automatically answer yes, but then she hesitated, knowing that it was not that simple. She thought carefully before slowly answering. "...I don't know."

The Doctor sighed deeply before standing up, leading Ember to the console. "Neither do I."

"I do," Ember replied, squeezing his hand twice. "The answer is yes, and anyone who says otherwise is an idiot."

The Doctor felt his hearts lighten a bit at that as he began flipping switches and pressing buttons.

"Er, hey, no offence," Clara said as she got up to join them, "but I've got plans."

"So did I, but plans change." The Doctor replied before he looked right at Clara. "I need you."

"...Right. Where are we going?"

"Into darkness."

Clara looked at Ember, knowing that she'd get a better answer from the brunette. And she wasn't disappointed as Ember handed her one of the coffees.

"There's a group of resistance fighters going up against the Daleks," Ember explained as she offered the other coffee to the Doctor. She took it for herself when he declined. "They found a Dalek drifting in space, damaged in battle. Instead of leaving it or finishing it off, they brought it on board. Now, here's the kicker: this Dalek wants to see the other Daleks destroyed, even if it has to do it itself."

Clara took a moment to think on that. She herself had never faced a Dalek before, Unless she counted the one time when she had three Doctors to hand, but she knew of them. Not only was it from jumping into the Doctor's timeline and seeing them in his memories, but she had a distinct feeling that some of her 'echo' selves had encountered them. But from what Ember was describing, it sounded like... "A good Dalek?"

"There's no such thing." The Doctor shot that down quickly, much to her surprise.

Ember shook her head. "Maybe not naturally, but there have been cases where a Dalek has become... less evil. Dalek Sec, for example. Dalek Caan after it got exposed to the Time War..."

The brunette missed it due to being on the other side of the time rotor, but Clara saw the Doctor's face darken at the mention of Caan. Whatever that one had done, it definitely left a sore spot as he grumbled, "They still weren't good in the end."

"That's a bit inflexible." Clara pointed out. "Not like you. I'd almost say prejudiced."

The Doctor sighed deeply, the tension leaving him before Ember could notice it was there, and landed the Tardis. "Do I pay you? I should give you a raise."

"You're not my boss, you're one of my hobbies."

"Come on."

The trio exited the Tardis where it had landed exactly where it had been on the ship, surprising Journey and Morgan.

"That was quick." Journey said. She'd expected them to be hours, not minutes.

The Doctor didn't bother to correct her as he led the way back to the lab where the Dalek was waiting, all the while filling Clara in. "This is Gun Girl. She's got a gun, and she's a girl." He pointed at Morgan. "This is a sort of boss one. Are you the same one as before?"

"Yes."

"I think he's probably her uncle, but I may have made that up to pass the time while they were talking. This is Clara, not my assistant. She's, er, some other word."

"I'm his carer." Clara said smoothly.

"Yeah, my carer. She cares so I don't have to."

Ember shook her head with a small smile. She - and anyone else who knew the Doctor - could see under the blasé shell he was putting up.

The group reached the room where the Dalek was stationed, and were greeted by it immediately. "Doctor..."

"Hello again."

"Will you help me?"

Clara looked at the Doctor. "Will you?"

"A Dalek so damaged, it's turned good. Morality as malfunction." The Doctor shrugged. "How do I resist?"

"Daleks must die. Daleks must die!" The Dalek said.

Clara stepped back a little. "So, what do we do with a moral Dalek, then?"

"We get into its head." The Doctor replied simply.

"Mmm. How do you get into a Dalek's head?"

"That wasn't a metaphor."

Morgan and Journey led them back to the Nanoscaler, getting ready for the next step. Journey put what looked like a metal bracelet on Clara's wrist as she explained. "These are nanocontrollers. Once we're miniaturised, they take over the molecular compression. When the mission's over, hit the button." She showed her where the button was before tilting her head. "Are you sure you understand?"

Clara raised a brow. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Because this is a dangerous mission and you look like a school teacher."

"I am a school teacher. Still didn't catch your name."

"Journey Blue."

Clara blinked. "Blue?"

"Blue, yes. Problem?"

"No. I just met a soldier called Pink."

Journey looked at her carefully. "Lucky fella."

"Lucky?"

"From the way you smile."

Ember had to move away from the conversation. Now that she'd witnessed the death of Danny Pink, and Clara's anger regarding it, she felt that she couldn't listen in.

The Doctor felt Ember take his hand and turned to look, just in time to see the brunette cast an almost sad look at their companion. "Ember? Are you alright?"

"Yeah." Ember replied, but the Doctor could see that she was lying. Perhaps she knew it too, as she turned her attention to what was going on in front of them. "Oh look, more soldiers."

The Doctor wanted to press, but he knew that she probably couldn't tell him what was bothering her, so he took her hint and looked at the two soldiers that were gearing up along with Journey. "What are those ones for? I don't need armed babysitters."

One of the soldiers, a female, looked at him. "We're not babysitters."

"We're here to shoot you dead if you turn out to be a Dalek spy." The second, Male, added.

"Well, that's a relief." The Doctor replied with a shrug that concealed his motion of squeezing Ember's hand in comfort: He'd felt her tense at the threat. "I hate babysitters."

After introducing the soldiers (the female was Gretchen and the Male was Ross, but the Doctor seemingly didn't care), Journey led them to the massive pod that would shrink them. "Okay, listen up. Now, remember, do not hold your breath when the nanoscaler engages. You'll feel like you want to, but you must keep breathing normally during the miniaturisation process."

Clara blinked, her curiosity peeking. "Why?"

The Doctor glanced at her. "Ever microwaved a lasagna without pricking the film on top?"

"It explodes."

"Don't be lasagna."

"And now lasagna is on The List," Ember grumbled from where she was already inside the chamber.

Journey looked at her. "What list?"

"The list of food I can't eat without imagining it's something worse. Spaghetti is still number one; kinda off putting after you've seen a man puke up a bunch of tentacles."

The Doctor smirked. "Ah yes. The man who became an Ood."

Clara swallowed hard. "What else is on The List? And please, leave out the why."

"In no particular order," Ember replied, "spaghetti, soup, lasagna, prawn sandwiches..."

"If we could focus," Morgan cut her off firmly. Once the team were inside the giant capsule, which reminded Ember of a very compact train carriage, he began to process. "Nanoscaler engaging in five four three two. Nanoscaler engaging... now."

"Nanoscaling in progress." The computer spoke in a female voice, as a crossbeam began to pass over the chamber they were in, going back and forth and picking up speed.

Ember swallowed hard, fighting the impulse to hold her breath. The Doctor took her hand in both of his and caught her gaze, reassuring her.

Then with a bump that resembled a bus stopping, it was over. They looked normal, but outside, everything was giant. The equipment, the people, even the pair of tweezers that was reaching for them.

"Nanoscaling successful." Morgan's voice came over the radio Journey had on her. "Everyone okay in there?"

"We made it." Journey replied as the chamber jolted slightly curtesy of the tweezers that now lifted them up. "Nobody popped."

"Whoa." Clara breathed, looking out at the now giant world around them. "I can't believe this."

The Doctor looked down through the glass at their feet, seeing the Dalek, now also giant, getting closer. "No, neither can I."

Ember couldn't help but notice the slight tremble in his voice, though he seemed to have been able to keep the others from noticing. She squeezed his hand twice to give him the reassurance he'd given her.

The chamber stopped moving once it was attached to the eyestalk of Rusty, and the end nearest Ember turned into what looked like a wall of water. Curious, she reached out to touch it, feeling a cold sensation over her fingers as the surface rippled.

"We'll be following you all the way, Rescue One." Morgan said. "Good luck all of you."

With the Doctor's encouragement, the team slowly passed through the 'wall'. Everything was distorted, like they were walking through water, but Ember didn't feel wet. It was more of a chill, and though it felt like they were moving very slowly, it only took a few seconds before they reached the other side, fully inside the Dalek eyestalk that at the moment was the size of a narrow corridor to them. While a bit dark, it was illuminated by a blue pulse of light that traveled along the walls in a regular pattern.

Clara glanced behind them at the 'wall' and shivered, no longer cold but remembering it. "That was... weird."

"You've seen nothing yet." The Doctor replied.

Ember bent her knees and pressed her hand on the floor, feeling the hum of machinery beneath her fingers, but when she reached out, she could barely sense the natural elements around them. "Looks like some of my powers aren't going to work here."

She'd said it low enough so that only the Doctor could hear her, and he acknowledged that by taking her free hand and helping her back up. With the physical contact, he reached out and spoke to her mentally. "Possibly a blessing. Don't want these soldiers getting the wrong idea."

"What are the lights?" Clara asked, unknowingly interrupting.

"Visual impulses," The Doctor replied out loud, "travelling towards the brain."

"Beautiful."

Now the Doctor gave a cold smirk. "Welcome to the most dangerous place in the universe."

They went quiet as they walked carefully along the 'corridor', and soon reached the edge of it in a matter of minutes.

"Entering the cranial ledge now." Journey said into her radio. "Here."

"Oh, my God..." Clara breathed in awe.

Ember knelt at the edge, silently agreeing with her. Far below them was a massive chamber, with cables coming and going in every direction. Most of those cables led down to where Rusty's tentacled blob rested. Everything was tinted red, and they could feel the humidity in the chamber. The brunette almost felt sorry for the creature, to be trapped in this sauna.

"Behold, the belly of the beast." The Doctor mused, looking down.

Clara knelt near Ember. "It's amazing."

"It's huge!" Ross said.

"No, Ross. We're tiny." Gretchen corrected.

Clara stood straight and looked at the Doctor. "So how big is it, that living part, compared to me and you, right now?"

"You see all those cables?"

"Yeah."

"They're not all cables." The Doctor did a mock gasp that made Clara laugh quietly. Ember smiled, but didn't verbally react.

Ross leaned slightly over the edge as though to try to see the Dalek better. "Does it know we're here?"

Journey was looking around the ledge they were on, which circled all the way around the chamber. "It's what invited us in."

The Doctor looked around as well, noticing what looked like banks of vertical lights that were around the inside wall of the ledge. They could have also been mistaken for vents or light panels if one didn't know any better. "Now, this is the cortex vault, a supplementary electronic brain. Memory banks, but... more than that. This is what keeps the Dalek pure."

"How are Daleks pure?" Gretchen asked, finding the concept ridiculous. Ember couldn't help a slight snort, holding herself from pointing out that they were inside a 'good' Dalek right now.

"Dalek mutants are born hating." The Doctor explained. "This is what stokes the fire, extinguishes even the tiniest glimmer of kindness... compassion. Imagine the worst possible thing in the universe, then don't bother, because you're looking at it right now. This is evil refined as engineering."

"Doctor?" Rusty's voice echoed around them.

"Oh, hello, Rusty. You don't mind if I call you Rusty? We're going to need to come down there with you. Medical examination, and all that."

Gretchen continued to look ill. "What, with those tentacles and things?"

"How close do we have to get?" Journey asked.

The Doctor shrugged. "Well, you know, we're never going to insert a thermometer from up here."

"You don't have to," Ember said, gaining their attention. She was still knelt at the edge, but now had her right hand out and her eyes closed. "I can sense the heat from here. He's running a very high temperature, but without knowing what his 'normal' should be, I can only guess that it's bad."

Journey, after giving the brunette an odd look, turned to Ross and nodded. The soldier set up what looked like a harpoon and took aim. The bolt shot across the chamber and hit the far ledge with a crunch, and everyone jumped at the echoing cry of pain from Rusty.

"No," the Doctor cried. He ran to Ross, but not in time to stop the second harpoon that struck. "No, no, no, no! Stop, stop, stop, you idiot!"

"We need a way down," Journey stepped between them to stop him from interfering. "The only way-"

"This is a Dalek, not a machine!" The Doctor cut her off. "It's a perfect analogue of a living being, and you just hurt it! So what's going to happen now?"

"Foreign bacteria, defence mechanism," Ember muttered, getting up and rushing to the entrance of the eyestalk they'd come from. As she crouched in the entryway, a faint humming that was different to the machinery sounds began to get louder.

Clara, having heard her muttering as she passed, paled in realisation. "Oh, God..."

"What?" Gretchen asked. "What is it?"

"Antibodies?"

"Dalek antibodies." The Doctor confirmed as he pulled Clara to the wall with him, away from Ross and nearer to Ember. At that moment, several small spheres that look to be made of metal appeared, hovering in the air as they swooped and swirled. "Nobody move! Any attempt to help him or attack those things will identify you as a secondary source of infection. Stay still!"

Everyone froze, even Ross, as the spheres began to surround the latter. Each sphere opened to reveal a big blue eye, similar to the eye of a Dalek.

"But the Dalek wants us in here." Clara said, keeping her voice low so as not to attract attention. "Why is it attacking?"

"Can you control your antibodies?" The Doctor countered.

"Ross, stay calm." Journey said. "We're going to get you out of this."

Clara looked at the Doctor as he began searching his pockets. "Can you?"

The Doctor found what he was looking for, and tossed what looked like a small capsule toward the surrounded soldier. "Ross, swallow that."

Ross caught it with one hand. "What is it?"

"Trust me."

Ember closed her eyes, already knowing what was going to happen. No one noticed.

Ross nodded, popping the capsule in his mouth and swallowing it. "Now what?"

One of the spheres hovered closer, and then sent a bright beam at him. He screamed as his body was disintegrated into a fine sand.

"Ross!" Journey cried.

"Oh, my God!" Clara yelped, watching as the sphere that had attacked lowered to the floor and began sucking up the dust that had been a person. "What's it doing?!"

"The hoovering." The Doctor replied, getting his Sonic out and activating it as the sphere finished the hoovering and its blue eye turned red and began to fly away down an adjacent corridor. "Gotcha!"

"What did you give him?" Clara asked as she and the others turned to follow him.

"Oh, just a spare power cell, but I can track the radiation signature. I need to know where they dump the bodies."

Journey looked angry. "I thought you were saving him!"

"He was dead already. I was saving us. Follow me and run!"

Clara spotted more of the spheres following them at a distance. "Run!"

The Doctor and the team stopped at a large hole that the red-eyed sphere had disappeared into. There was wisps of smoke that prevented them from seeing where it led or how deep it went. "They've dumped him in here! Organic refuse disposal. We need to get in there."

"Why?" Clara asked. Journey and Gretchen turned and held up their guns, shooting that the approaching spheres.

"Those antibodies won't give up until we're inside there. I'd rather go in alive than dead."

"You don't know where it goes!" Journey called back.

"Yes, I do. Away from here. Now in. In! In!"

Clara looked at Ember, seeing her nod in encouragement, and then jumped down the hole.

"I can hold them off!" Gretchen yelled as she shot at the spheres.

"No, you can't!" The Doctor waved his Sonic, but it had no effect on the spheres. Ember threw out her hand and made flames appear near the spheres, managing to catch one and make the others scatter. "Ember, go!"

The brunette took a breath, turned and jumped into the hole, knowing that the others would follow.

After about ten seconds of sliding down a tunnel, Ember reached the bottom, but even knowing what was waiting didn't prepare her for the landing. The small chamber was halfway full of a slimy substance that felt horrible. The brunette was only just able to land in a way that kept her head above the surface, but she could feel her stomach churning at the sight, smell and sensation.

Journey, Gretchen and the Doctor soon joined them, though the latter ended up splashing Ember a bit on landing. She gave him a dark look as he straightened and smiled sheepishly at her.

"Urgh!" Clara cried. "What is this stuff?"

"People." The Doctor replied. "The Daleks need protein. Occasionally, they harvest from their victims. This is a feeding tube."

Ember cringed, suddenly thankful that soup was already on The List.

"Is Ross here?" Journey asked, letting the slimy substance slip between her fingers.

The Doctor nodded, waving his Sonic around them. "Yeah. Top layer, if you want to say a few words."

Apparently that was the wrong thing to say. Journey grabbed him by his coat and shoved him against the wall. "A man has just died! You will not talk like that!"

"A lot of people have died." The Doctor shot back. "Everything in here is dead, and do you know why that's good?"

"There is nothing good about that!"

"Nothing is alive in here, so logically this is the weakest spot in the Dalek's internal security. Nobody guards the dead." The Doctor moved when Journey let him go with a growl, wadding his way through the soup to a ledge. "Mortuaries and larders, always the easiest to break out of. Oh, I've lived a life. Tell Uncle Stupid that we're in." He climbed into the ledge and looked around, finding Avery large bolt screwed into the wall. "Ah ha! A bolt hole!"

Clara sighed as they watched him use the Sonic to turn the bolt. Ember moved to climb onto the ledge with him as their companion looked at the remaining soldiers. "He'll get us out of here. The difficult part is not killing him before he can."

"And don't bother with the killing part," Ember added, turning to face the soldiers with a firm look. "You'll have to deal with me if you try. And trust me; you don't want me as your enemy."

Something about the way her silver eyes glinted in the limited light made them very certain that she would follow through with that thinly veiled threat.

The bolt fell away at that moment, making them turn their attention to the Doctor as he spoke. "Bolt hole. Actually, a hole for a bolt. Does nobody get that?"

"Also, there's the puns." Clara added quietly as she and soldiers moved to follow.

The Doctor went first, followed by Ember, crawling through a narrow, round passage that felt warm in some places and worse in others. "Watch it, decontamination tubes are hot."

Ember didn't bother, having learnt ages ago that she could handle the heat. She was also glad for it, as it was drying their clothes and hair as they crawled: by the time they would reach the end, they'd be dry. She could also hear Journey talking on her radio, but she didn't bother paying attention to the words.

"Are you all right back there?" The Doctor called back. "It's a bit narrow, isn't it?"

Clara, who was behind Ember, frowned as she shuffled. "Any remarks about my hips will not be appreciated."

"Ah, your hips are fine. You're built like a man."

"Thanks."

Ember smirked. "I dunno. I kinda like the view: your hips are nice too, Doctor."

It took a moment for that to sink in, and the Doctor paused to splutter for a moment before continuing. "Oi, hush you!"

Ember and Clara chuckled as they continued moving. It didn't take long for them to reach the other end, where the Doctor removed another bolt to allow them out. By then, he and Ember had noticed a crackling sound that was easy to recognise.

"What's that noise?" He asked as he helped Clara out. "Are you wearing a Geiger counter?"

Gretchen has been behind Clara, so she answered. "Standard battle equipment. That's just low level radiation."

Ember looked around. The space around them might have been mistaken for a disused factory with pipes and giant printed circuit boards, if it weren't for the fact that they were inside a Dalek. By now, they were nearly underneath the organic part and, if she remembered right, near the power cells.

"But stronger down here, for some reason..." the Doctor mused as he looked around before holding his hands out to Gretchen. "Gimme!"

Ember moved to his side as he now held the counter, looking at the readings and then around them as it began to make sense. Again, she heard Journey talking on her radio, and again she chose to ignore it in favour of the Doctor as he swept the counter over the circuit boards.

"I've got it." He said at last. "I know what's wrong with Rusty."

"Okay, that's good." Clara said with a smile before it fell. "Is that good?"

"Well, you know how I said this was the most dangerous place in the universe? I was wrong. It's way more dangerous than that."

The Doctor led them further into the maze, following the readings on the counter as they got stronger.

"Colonel, we have radiation indicators red-lining in here." Journey said into her radio. Ember was finally close enough to hear her properly. "Could be that the Dalek is badly damaged than we thought."

"Copy that." Morgan replied.

"Old Rusty here is suffering a trionic radiation leak." The Doctor explained as they moved, climbing over and sometimes under some tubing that looked like it had tendrils of flesh inside them. "It's poisoning the Dalek and us. Just as well we're here."

Journey looked at him incredulously. "Really? Perhaps we should get out while we can."

"We can't go until we've fixed Rusty." Ember said firmly without looking back.

"Why should we trust a Dalek? Why would it change?"

"Good question." The Doctor nodded before raising his voice. "Rusty? What changed you?"

"I saw beauty."

That reply made the Doctor pause and look up. "You saw what?"

"...In the silence and the cold... I saw worlds burning..."

Ember suddenly shuddered, like something had reached out and stroked against her very soul. It wasn't painful, but also wasn't pleasant.

"That's not beauty, that's destruction." Journey said, not noticing the brunette's reaction.

"I saw more."

The Doctor tilted his head curiously. "What? What did you see?"

"The birth of a star."

Ember shuddered again, closing her eyes. In her mind's eye, she could see exactly that: a star exploding into existence in the vastness of space. Somehow, it made her feel warm.

"Stars are born every day." The Doctor continued. "You've seen a million stars born. So what?"

"Daleks have destroyed a million stars."

"Oh, millions and millions. Trust me, I keep count."

"And yet, new stars are born."

"Every time."

"Resistance is futile."

The Doctor probably would have dismissed that statement under the assumption that it meant resisting the Daleks. But right at that moment, Ember caught his eye. She'd opened her eyes, held his gaze and mouthed the exact same statement at the same time. It made him realise there was more to it. "Resistance to what?"

It wasn't clear if he was asking Ember or Rusty, but the Dalek was the one that answered. "Life returns. Life prevails. Resistance is futile."

"So you saw a star being born, and you learned something." He felt a tiny bit of hope begin to blossom in his chest. "Oh, Dalek, do not be lying to me." He looked at the rest of the group. "Come on."

At his insistence, they moved on, making their way around and down until they were directly underneath where Rusty sat. It looked like a reactor that was getting stronger, lights flashing above them and sparks flying every few seconds. The humming they'd been hearing throughout the trip had risen to a point where they could feel it vibrating their bones.

"We're at the heart of the Dalek." The Doctor announced.

Clara looked up in awe. "It's incredible."

"Geiger counter's off the scale." Journey said, looking at her counter. "Looks like it's about to blow."

"Good." The Doctor replied, making her look at him in surprise.

"How is that good?"

"Well, I like a bit of pressure. Rusty, can you hear me?"

"Doctor?" Rusty's voice echoed from raw above them.

The Doctor saw it first; a vertical crack on an otherwise smooth shell. Yellow energy seeped out of the crack. "Rusty, we've found the damage. I'm sealing up the breach in your power cell." He got out his Sonic and ran it over the crack, causing it to slowly close up. "No more radiation poisoning. Good as new." The crack was finally sealed, and everything went quieter. Not completely silent, but at a more tolerable level, as the lights also dimmed. "There. Job done."

Clara blinked. "That's it? Just like that?"

"An anti-climax once in a while is good for my hearts. Rusty, how do you feel?" The Doctor had called up the last bit. But there was no response. "Rusty? Rusty? Rusty..."

"He feels better now." Ember murmured, leaning against the far wall, but everyone quickly noticed that she didn't look happy. She looked more resigned than anything, like she hadn't wanted to get to this point.

Before anyone could ask her what was wrong, Rusty suddenly spoke. "The malfunction is corrected."

"What's happened?" Journey asked.

"Not entirely sure." The Doctor admitted as the lights came back on and the reactor above began to glow more brightly again.

"It's like it's waking up."

"Rusty, come on, talk to me! What's going on?"

"The malfunction is corrected. All systems are functioning. Weapons charged."

"Oh, no, no, no..."

"I'm sorry," Ember murmured, getting his attention. "Rusty was using all of his energy keeping himself alive. But now that the damage is fixed, he can focus on other things."

"Exterminate. Exterminate!" Rusty was saying, apparently not bothered by their presence any longer. The whole place jolted, indicating that Rusty was on the move. "The Daleks will be victorious! The rebels will be exterminated!"

"What the hell have you done?!" Journey yelled at the brunette before she turned away, speaking into her radio. "Colonel? What's happening out there?"

"Dalek fleet! Communications open!"

Clara looked between Ember and the Doctor, but upon seeing the despair on the former's face, she decided that she'd stand a better chance of getting an answer out of the latter. "Doctor, what happened?"

"Do you see?"

"Do I see what?"

"Daleks don't turn good." The Doctor said resignedly. "It was just radiation affecting its brain chemistry, nothing more than that. No miracle."

Journey looked over at them, having been close enough to hear them. "Let me get this straight. We had a good Dalek, and we made it bad again? That's all we've done?!"

"There was never a good Dalek. There was a broken Dalek and we repaired it."

"You were supposed to be helping us!"

The Doctor didn't flinch as Journey got right in his face to yell at him. "I gave it a shot. It didn't work out. It was a Dalek, what did you expect?"

"No more talking. You are done!" Journey turned away. "Okay, new objective. We are taking this Dalek down."

Ember looked up, trembling at the cries of 'Exterminate' above them. "No..."

The Doctor was about to go to her side when Clara caught his eye. Her expression drew him closer to the dark haired girl. "What's that look for?"

Clara stared for another second before she spoke lowly. "It's the look you get when I'm about to slap you."

And she did just that, making the Doctor stumble sideways. "Ow! Clara...!"

"We are going to die in here, and there's a little bit of you that's pleased? 'The Daleks are evil after all. Everything makes sense. The Doctor is right.'"

The Doctor straightened. "Daleks are evil. Irreversibly so. That's what we just learned."

"No, Doctor, that is not what we just learned!"

Journey ignored them, moving with Gretchen and placing what looked like charges against flat surfaces. "We need to place these charges for maximum effect. I'm going to scan the rest of the architecture for weaknesses."

"You can't..." Ember muttered, seemingly unaware that she was speaking aloud, but Clara caught it and glanced at her before turning to Journey.

"One question."

"No time-"

"Why did we come here today?" Clara cut her off. "What was the point?" She turned to look at the Doctor, who hadn't moved from where she'd left him. "You. You thought there was a good Dalek. What difference would one good Dalek make?"

The Doctor frowned. "All the difference in the universe, but it's impossible."

"Is that a fact? Is that really what we've learned today?" Clara walked back over to the Doctor. "Think about it. Is that what we've learned?"

Ember closed her eyes tightly and shook her head, feeling her world turning white as a vision overwhelmed her...

They successfully destroyed Rusty from the inside, as well as stop the rest of the Daleks from wiping out the resistance. All seemed to go fine...

But then, somewhere far into the future, the Doctor reached the top of some kind of tower only to find it empty. Whatever he was looking for was not there, and therefore couldn't help him...

Ember snapped out of it just in time to hear Morgan's voice over Journey's radio. "I need you to destroy that Dalek... Whatever it takes."

Journey looked grim as she held the radio to her mouth. "...Understood, Uncle."

"...I'm sorry."

"Yeah. Me too."

Literally seconds later, the Doctor rushed to them after quietly talking to Clara. "Whatever you're going to do, don't do it! This Dalek must not be destroyed. We can do better!"

Journey looked at him. "Are you out of your mind?!"

"No, I'm inside a Dalek." The Doctor answered seriously. "I'm standing where I've never been. We cannot waste this chance. It won't come again."

"What chance? I have my orders."

"No!" Ember cried. "You can't!"

Journey turned to glare at her. "This thing is killing my comrades outside!"

"But this Dalek has to survive! It has to live!"

"Why the hell do you want to save a Dalek?"

"Because we have to!" Ember turned to the Doctor, grabbing his arm. "Rusty has to be there! He can't die here!"

Journey looked confused and frustrated at the same time. "What the hell are you talking about?! Why can't it die here?"

"Because..." Ember suddenly went from frantic to subdued, but her eyes shone in confusion. "I... I don't know..."

The Doctor ignored Journey's exclamation of 'what?!', instead focusing on the brunette who was still holding his arm tightly. "Ember... did you have a vision?"

Ember's eyes were shifting between normal and solid silver, like she was trying to see something they couldn't. "Y-Yes... But, it... I saw them kill Rusty, but then... then... I don't know! Something bad will happen, but I don't remember!"

Clara moved slightly closer, also ignoring the two soldiers who were watching them like they'd gone mad. "So if Rusty dies here, it'll effect something in the future?"

"Y-Yes..." Ember only then realised that she was holding the Doctor's arm tightly enough that it must have hurt, so she forcefully peeled her fingers away. "I... can't remember why, but Rusty has got survive this." She looked up at the Doctor. "He has to... please..."

The Doctor gave her a firm nod as he took her shaking hand in his, and then he looked at Journey. "We're not destroying Rusty."

Journey frowned, holding out one of the charges that had a pin in it. She took hold of the pin. "I have my orders."

"Soldiers take orders."

"And I'm a soldier."

"A Dalek is a better soldier than you will ever be." The Doctor pointed out. "You can't win this way."

There was a tense moment as no one dared to move. And then Journey lowered the charge with a groan of frustration. "Bah! So what do we do?"

The Doctor felt Ember relax in relief. "Something better. Come on."

The team followed the Doctor to a recess that looked suspiciously like a ladder, encouraging them to climb it.

"The Dalek isn't just some angry blob in a Dalekanium tank." The Doctor was explaining as they climbed onto a ledge, higher but still below Rusty's organic part. "If it was, the radiation would have turned it into a raging lunatic."

"It is a raging lunatic, it's a Dalek." Journey pointed out.

"But for a moment, it wasn't. The radiation allowed it to expand its consciousness, to consider things beyond its natural terms of reference. It became good. That means a good Dalek is possible. That's what we learned today. Am I right, teach?"

"Top of the class." Clara grinned. It was quick to fade, however, as she saw Ember. The brunette had not spoken since her outcry about saving Rusty, and from the expression on her face, she had a lot on her mind. Either that or she was having another vision, but she couldn't be certain.

"But now it's back to how it was." Journey continued the conversation.

The Doctor nodded. "But what it saw, what it felt, is still there."

"Yeah, I'm not really seeing that."

"Not here. There."

Journey followed his pointing finger with her eyes, looking up above. Though she could see it, she quickly figured out what he was pointing at. "You mean in the cortex vault?"

"The evil engineering?" Clara added.

The Doctor nodded again. "Every memory recorded. Some suppressed, but all still intact. We need to show the Dalek that star being born again. Recreate that moment. You need to get up there, find that moment and reawaken it."

Clara had been nodding along, but then she realised what he'd said. "Me?"

"Yes, you. Good idea."

"How?"

"Haven't the foggiest. Do a clever thing."

Ember finally spoke. "The memories are disconnected. Just reconnect them."

"And then once you've done it, the Dalek will be suggestible to new ideas. It will be open again. And I will show it something that will change its mind forever."

Journey looked at the Doctor. "What?"

"Not a clue."

"This is crazy! There is no way that we can get back up there in time!"

Gretchen but her lip, then straightened. "Yes, there is."

"What?" Journey looked just in time to see her setting up her harpoon. "No, Gretchen! It'll bring the antibodies back down on us!"

"Tell me the truth." Gretchen said to Clara. "Is he mad, or is he right? I've come this far. Probably going to die anyway. Wouldn't mind something to do for the rest of my life. Is he mad, or is he right?"

"Hand on my heart?" Clara paused. "Most days he's both."

Gretchen turned to the Doctor next. "One question, then. Is this worth it?"

"Yes," Ember said without hesitation.

The Doctor nodded. "If I can turn one Dalek, I can turn them all. I can save the future."

"Gretchen Alison Carlisle. Do something good and name it after me."

"I will do something amazing, I promise."

"Damn well better."

Ember put her hand on Gretchen's arm to stop her, lowering her voice so only the soldier could hear. "One more thing. When you get to the other side... don't let go of yourself."

Gretchen didn't know what she meant, but those gleaming silver eyes made her nod anyway. Ember seemed to accept it and moved to stand by the Doctor.

"I'm going with you." She said, holding up her hand when he opened his mouth to argue. "No time. You can't do what you're planning alone."

The Doctor couldn't ask her what she meant, as Gretchen fires her harpoon at that moment. The bolt hit the cranial ledge above, and Rusty cried out in pain. The Time Lords had no choice but to run away as Clara and Journey used the cable to go up, all of them having to hear Gretchen as she screamed her last.

The Doctor paused further down the tunnel they'd climbed through, looking back and listening. When the hum of the spheres didn't follow, he knew they were safe, so he turned to Ember. "You had another vision back there, didn't you?"

"Yes, and I remember it fully this time." Ember replied, allowing him to move ahead of her so she could follow. "You're gonna meld your mind to Rusty's. But in my vision, you burn out before any difference is made. You need a buffer."

The Doctor glanced back at her. "What about earlier, when you said you couldn't remember? You didn't remember your vision?"

"I remembered it, but not all of it."

"How much do you remember?"

"They killed Rusty and saved the Resistance. Then it got hazy, but I remember getting a bad feeling." Ember took a breath. "Does that happen often? Me forgetting my visions?"

The Doctor found a set of bolts that they could climb to get closer to Rusty. "Sometimes. You've told me that some of your visions aren't always clear. I haven't figured out why yet." He looked at her. "I know you're confused and have questions, but this isn't the time or place to discuss it. We need to get to Rusty."

Ember nodded, allowing him to guide her to climb ahead of him. "But we're talking about this later. I get the feeling you're not telling me everything."

She didn't see his frown at that.

They climbed in silence, listening to the Rusty shouting as he continued to attack. They finally reached the top, and were greeted by a giant, tentacled blob with an eye twice their size looking at them. There was several holo screens around them, showing the outside world.

"Well, Rusty, here we are." The Doctor said as he pulled himself up into the ledge with Ember. "Eye to eye."

"You cannot save the humans." Rusty replied, his voice booming around them. "They will be exterminated! I shall join the Dalek units in the final attack."

"Are you sure about that?" Ember asked.

The Doctor was already examining some of the tubes that were lying about. "We saved your life, Rusty. Now I'm going to go one better. We're going to save your soul."

"Daleks do not have souls."

"Oh, no? Imagine if you did. What then, Rusty? What would happen then?"

Ember glanced up as there was a flash, and the images on the screens changed to show several attacks on humans. "Enjoy the show, Rusty. We're going down Memory Lane."

"Your memories. I'm about to give some back to you." The Doctor got out his Sonic and began to cut open one of the tubes, exposing what looked like tendrils of flesh inside, and pulled them apart. "See, all those years ago, when I began, I was just running. I called myself the Doctor, but it was just a name. And then I went to Skaro. And then I met you lot and I understood who I was. The Doctor was not the Daleks."

Another flash changed the images, showing Dalek ships in space, battling other ships.

"Oh, look. It's your memories again. It's like somebody's mucking about up there. Memories, all those memories. Do you remember the star you saw being born?"

"You're going to," Ember murmured. She was waiting for the next part.

And it came. One more flash, and then everything went dark for several seconds before the lights and power came back on.

"I..." Rusty said slowly, the pupil of his one eye widening. "I remember..."

"You saw the truth, Rusty." The Doctor said, the images of the star appearing on the screens. He cut the exposed tendril into two. "Remember how you felt. You saw a star being born! The endless rebirth of the universe!"

"No!"

"And you realised the truth about the Daleks!"

The while jostled slightly as Rusty began spinning in a circle in confusion. "Truth? What is the truth?!"

"Let me show you the truth. I've opened your mind and now we're coming in." The Doctor took Ember's hand, and together they spliced two pieces of cut 'flesh tendril' together, the energy surge making them both scream until everything went white.

A second later, they opened their eyes, feeling like they were in space. The images that had been on screens where now all around them.

"We're part of you." The Doctor said. "Our minds are in your mind."

"I see your mind, Doctor." Rusty replied slowly. "I see your universe."

"And isn't the universe beautiful?"

Ember closed her eyes and knelt, focusing on the sights and sounds that she'd encountered on her travels. The singing Ood and their beautiful snow-covered world, the deep space that would become Planet earth and the cosmos from outside a train, New Earth with its fields of Apple grass, The beautiful ice caps of the South Pole...

"I see beauty..." Rusty seemed to be entranced by the memories floating around them.

"Yes, that's good." The Doctor said, showing the Dalek some of his memories of the universe in all its natural glory. "That is good. Hold on to that."

"I see endless, divine perfection..."

"Make it a part of you. Remember how you feel right now. Put it inside you and live by it."

Ember flinched, her eyes squeezing shut as she felt a chill sweep over her. But she didn't want to break the connection yet; there was still so much Rusty had to see. She just had to focus...

"I see into your souls, Doctor." Rusty spoke again. "I see beauty. I see divinity. I see... hatred..."

"Hatred?" The Doctor repeated, puzzled.

"I see your hatred of the Daleks, Doctor, but there is more. I see... rage!" Rusty's one iris was barely a pinprick.

"Rage?"

"I see the rage of the Phoenix... and it is good!"

At the flash of silver in the Dalek's eye, the Doctor glanced over at Ember, who was kneeling beside him. Her eyes were open but her gaze was glassy, like she wasn't really there. Images flew by around them; war, death, destruction... people screaming only to be cut down, and a deep anger that grew with each life lost...

"No, no, no..." He murmured. He seemed to know exactly what and where these images were coming from. "You must see more than that, there must be more than that!"

"Death to the Daleks..." Rusty said, and if the Doctor had been looking, he'd have seen Ember's lips move to silently mouth the same words. "Death to the Daleks! Death to the Daleks!"

"No, there must be more than that!" The Doctor tried to show the Dalek better memories, but he was pushed back by more aggressive ones. "You're looking too deep, there must be more than that! Please!"

But Rusty either wasn't hearing him or was ignoring him, as it began to move down the hallway to where the sounds of battle were coming from. "Daleks are evil. Daleks must be exterminated!"

Because the Doctor was connected to Rusty's mind, he could see what the Dalek saw as it turned the corner and found several Daleks at a locked bulkhead door, one of the them burning through it with its weapon.

"Daleks are evil." Rusty repeated, gaining the attention of the other Daleks. "Daleks must be exterminated!"

Rusty then turned his weapon on his former comrades and fired, and the Doctor noticed something: the blasts from his laser looked more powerful, showing exactly that when said blast utterly destroyed the nearest Dalek, shrapnel flying everywhere.

But how was it more powerful? It only took a second to hit home, and the Doctor turned to look at Ember again. The brunette had both her hands on the 'floor' and her glassy eyes were completely silver as she seemingly watched the battle. But her face... her expression held nothing but pure rage.

"Ember," The Doctor knelt by her side, trying to get her attention, but was ignored. "Ember, listen to me!"

"Exterminate!" Rusty yelled around them, and this time he saw Ember mouth the words.

The Doctor took her left forearm and tried to pull her to her feet, but it was like she was simply far stronger than him, as she didn't budge. "Ember, fight it! You can't let it overwhelm you!"

Outside, Rusty continued to obliterate the Daleks, whom were helpless as the overpowered blasts easily dispatched them one by one.

The Doctor tried again, but Ember still didn't move. "Ember, come on, you have to stop!"

Then she spoke, her voice barely audible, but the words struck deep. "Not until... they pay... it must end..."

"No..." the Doctor moved to kneel in front of her, taking her face in both his hands. "Ember, stop! Please, I'm begging you..."

For a long moment, it seemed that his pleading was in vain. But then...

She blinked. Once quickly, and then she closed her eyes tight for a few seconds before opening them again. Her pupils were barely there, a pinprick in liquid silver, but they were growing, and the Doctor felt his hearts lift in hope as he watched.

"That's it," he encouraged. "Come back to me, Ember..."

Ember blinked again, her sclera reappearing afterwards, and slumped in his hold, her hands leaving the floor to weakly grab his arms in an attempt to hold herself up. "Wha...? Doctor...?"

"Easy, Ember," The Doctor pulled her to him, holding her tightly. "You're alright... you're okay..."

"What... happened...?" Ember murmured, suddenly feeling so, so tired. "I don't..."

"You gave Rusty a bit of a boost," The Doctor explained quickly, not wanting to get into the details. He really didn't want to think about it. "You're alright. That's all that matters."

Ember blinked hard and shook her head. Try as she might, she couldn't remember the last few minutes. She recalled getting into Rusty's mind, then she and the Doctor showing him the beauty of the universe, but then... it was a blur, like she'd been dreaming, before she found herself being held by the Doctor and feeling exhausted. "The other Daleks... what happened?"

"The Daleks are exterminated!"

Rusty's triumphant reply made the Doctor sigh and hold Ember tighter, tucking her head under his chin. "Of course they are. That's what you do, isn't it?"

It didn't take long for the remains of the team to regroup and get out of Rusty, returning to their normal sizes. It was only four of them left; the Doctor, Ember, Clara and Journey.

Ember still had a massive headache and felt like she'd been hit by a truck, but she'd recovered enough to be able to stand on her own. It didn't stop her from noticing two things: the fact that the Doctor stayed practically glued to her side, and the fact that both he and Rusty kept glancing at her when they thought she wasn't looking.

The team walked down the corridor until they met with Morgan and a few remaining soldier. Journey was quick to run to Morgan in relief.

"I have transmitted a retreat signal." Rusty spoke, having stayed behind the group. "The Daleks will believe the humans have initiated the ship's self-destruct."

Journey hugged Morgan as Clara stepped forward to address the Dalek. "What about you, Rusty?"

"I must go with them."

"Of course you must." The Doctor said bitterly. "You've unfinished work, haven't you?"

Rusty looked at him, the eyestalk straying to Ember again for just a few seconds. "Victory is yours, but it does not please you."

"You looked inside me and you saw hatred. Then you saw rage." he hesitated, taking Ember's hand. "Then you used Ember's power. That's not victory. Victory would have been a good Dalek."

"I am not a good Dalek. You are a good Dalek."

Rusty turned to leave, pausing to look back at Ember again.

The brunette frowned. There had to be a reason for the glances. She gently pulled her hand from the Doctor and moved to follow the Dalek, calling out "Hey, Rusty! I want a word with you!"

The Dalek stopped and turned to face her. "I must leave."

"Yeah, I know that." Ember replied. "But I have to ask. How did you manage to use my powers? Last time I checked, I kinda have to give permission."

"You did."

That made Ember pause. "What?"

"You granted permission. You lent me your strength."

"But... why would I do that?"

Rusty was silent for a moment. "You saw into me. I saw into you."

Ember almost didn't ask her next question, but she had to know. "What did you see?"

"I saw... the Predator."

Rusty turned to leave, thought he did look back at the Doctor as the latter murmured "Til the next time."

Ember let the Doctor take her by the hand as he walked away, but her thoughts were elsewhere. What did Rusty mean when he said he saw into her? Why did she get the feeling there was more?

She hadn't realised that they'd reached the Tardis until she heard Journey call for them. She blinked up at the blue box as the Doctor turned to face the soldier that was running to catch up.

"Doctor!" She called again as she reached them. "Take me with you."

The Doctor looked at her for a moment. "I think you're probably nice. Underneath it all, I think you're kind and you're definitely brave. I just wish you hadn't been a soldier."

With that, he gently steered Ember into the Tardis, followed by Clara.

After taking a shower and changing into a pair of black skinny jeans, a red long sleeved top and black trainers (her denim jacket had disappeared and reappeared properly dry cleaned. She assumed the Tardis had a hand in it), Ember returned to the console room in time to drop Clara off at the school thirty seconds after she'd left. The Doctor turned to the console to pilot them away. Things for quiet for several moments, until...

"He lied to me."

The Doctor looked up at those quiet words. Ember had been sitting silently at the top of the steps leading to the upper galley, her hands in her lap and her gaze thoughtful. "Who did?"

Ember didn't answer at first, but the Doctor was patient and waited until she spoke. "The Dalek. Rusty."

"What makes you think he lied to you?" The Doctor asked.

"I don't think. I know." Ember raised a hand and rubbed her face. "I don't know how I know or why he lied, but I know he did."

The Doctor moved around the console to stand at the bottom of the stairs. "Tell me."

"He said that when we linked with him, he looked into me as much as I looked into him. And that I let him use my powers to destroy the other Daleks."

"That sounds accurate."

"That's not what he lied about. I asked him what he saw when he looked into me." Ember finally lifted her head to meet the Doctor's gaze. "He replied that he saw the Predator. But somehow, I know that was a lie."

"I see the rage of the Phoenix... and it is good!"

The Doctor had to hide the flinch at recalling the words Rusty had said to him. He frowned. "What do you remember when we linked with Rusty?"

Ember rubbed her face again, her hand covering the scar on her cheek. "We linked, and you were showing him the beauty of the universe. But then he saw the hatred you had for the Daleks. I... the rest of it is blurry. I faintly remember seeing him destroying the Daleks, I think, with way more power than he should. The next clear thing I remember was you telling me to come back."

The Doctor sighed, moving up the steps until he could sit next the brunette. "You were getting lost in the link. Anger was fuelling you from him and probably feeding back in a loop. You wanted those Daleks to be stopped, so you probably used the connection to power up Rusty's weapons."

"And then you brought me back," Ember said. She'd lowered her hand and was staring at her shoes.

"Yes. You were both very deep in the connection."

"And then there's what happened before that. You weren't telling me the whole story about the visions..." Ember took a breath, about to ask another question, when the all too familiar burning sensation began in her chest. "What? Now?!"

She couldn't be certain, but for a split second she could have sworn she saw relief on the Doctor's face before she left.

An hour earlier, back on the ship, Rusty was about to leave via an emergency hatch when its sensors detected movement. It turned its eyestalk to the right, where shadows covered what looked like a person in a hood. "Identify yourself!"

"Who I am is of no importance," the stranger replied, his voice identifying his gender. "What is important is how much you saw."

"Explain!"

The figure stepped out of the shadows, revealing a red cloak that hid all his features. "You saw into the soul of Ember, did you not? I'd like to know if you saw something you shouldn't have."

Rusty's eyestalk wavered. "She knows you. You are identified as Arsene."

"Then you know that it is in your best interest to answer my question." Arsene replied. "What did you see?"

There was a long pause as Rusty lowered the eyestalk, seemingly in thought, before raising it to look at the cloaked man again.

"I saw... rage," it replied. "I saw her core..."

Arsene tilted his hooded head. "And when you saw that core, that rage... what message did that send you? What did it tell you?"

Another long pause. Then...

"She... will rise..." Rusty at first said it softly, but then his voice got stronger. "The Phoenix... will rise... the Phoenix will rise!"

Sorry once again for taking so long to update this. I had thought I could get back into my normal weekly routine, but it looks like it might not be that way. I have a fair few chapters written up already, but they're not in order, so some chapters may come quicker than others. I hope you all can forgive me and will hopefully stick around to see this to the end (as I do intend to finish it)

Next Time: Two of Ember's dreams come true, but she also has to save both. Can she put her anger aside this time? Stay tuned!