Begin Again

by loulouflowerpower

12/OC-Time Lady. The Doctor and the Hatter have done it again, and survived against the impossible, gaining two whole new regeneration cycles in the process, but that is just the start. A new mystery lurks in the shadows in the form of this Promise Land and a Danny Pink appears in Clara's life, disrupting the once happy flow of the TARDIS team. Just what can go wrong?

3. Chapter 3 Into the Dalek, Part 1

Into the Dalek, Part 1

The Hatter laughed as she knelt on the floor of the TARDIS console, shaking her head fondly as she used a lightly damp dark blue dish cloth to try and clean up the chocolate ice cream smeared all over Astra's chubby little cheeks and mouth, while the Time Tot pouted slightly at being forced to have the sticky mess she had made of herself cleaned up. She even had melted chocolate ice cream dabbed on the tip of her lightly upturned nose and her little hands had already received a good clean, only after Astra had managed to smear chocolate all over the Doctor's once clean white shirt, which now had two small handprints smeared over his shoulders and back. He sighed slightly as he turned slightly sideways to get a better look at the mess that had been made of his new shirt, checking out his own reflect in the Time Rotor, distorted as it was, while Jen laughed from her seat on the steps leading up to the upper level of the controls, coffee cup sitting beside her as she giggled.

"Oh, the joys of parenthood," the Doctor moaned lightly, plucking at the front of his shirt, which had largely come away unscathed, which couldn't be said for the rest of the shirt.

"I didn't mean it," Astra huffed slightly as she glared down at the floor, little arms crossed over her chest and bottom lip sticking out.

"Daddy knows that, darling," the Hatter reassured her with a light laugh, finding the whole thing almost as funny as Jen apparently found it to be. Usually, she was one who ended up getting chocolate or honey or jam smeared over her clothing from Astra, so it was rather refreshing that it was the Doctor and his new shirt that ended up the victims of Astra's sticky hands. She lightly dabbed at Astra's nose with the cloth, making the little girl scrunch up her face. She laughed again.

"It's not a bad look, Dad," Jen commented as she observed the Doctor with a grin, still trying to turn and twist on the spot to get a better look at the extent of the damage. The Doctor glanced over to her with a flat look, making her grin morph into a teasing smirk, "Adds a nice dash of colour, I think..."

The Doctor spared her a rather exasperated look, which only sent her off into peals of more laughter...his own lips lifted lightly at the corners as he looked away from her, revealing that for all of his seemingly mild annoyance at the chocolate stains to his shirt, he wasn't nearly as upset about it as it might seem. The Hatter glanced up at him and caught his eye, and his lips rose fully into a proper little smile and his eyes lightened with light amusement. She smiled gently back at him. She was coming to learn that for all of this Doctor's slight apparent gruffness and even impatience, he was truly still a very tender hearted, loving person who adored his family without question and was still the same father who would do anything and everything for his children, chocolate mishaps aside.

"Mummy?" Astra loudly whispered, then, peering up at the Hatter with big, worried green eyes. She leaned right into the Hatter's face, until their noses were nearly touching, still having that childish lack of understanding of personal boundaries or space, nor the ability to comprehend just how loud she was truly speaking.

The Hatter indulged her, giving her a gentle smile, "Yes, my love?" she asked in a similar, rather loud whisper, which could still easily be heard through the room.

"Is Daddy mad at me?"

"Of course not, little star," the Doctor said hastily before the Time Lady had a chance to speak. He looked quite startled and a little upset by the thought that Astra even worried about that, and almost instantly came to kneel by the Time Tot. He gently turned her to face him and gave her a sweet, tender smile, "A little bit of chocolate could never make me cross. Come here..."

Astra grinned widely at him as he swopped her back up into his arms, her little arms wrapping around his neck and clinging to him as he hugged her tightly, even as he stood back up. The Hatter shook her head fondly and also rose, heading back over to the controls to pick up her own cup of hot chocolate, since she had rather quickly discovered that she wasn't overly fond of coffee in this body. She cast the Doctor a glance as she brought her paper travel cup up to her lips and her hearts lightened at the sight of the Doctor still carrying Astra on his hip, while he chatted away to the Time Tot about the many benefits of chocolate and random facts about it, while the Time Tot soaked it all up eagerly, listening intently. The chocolate handprints and smears on his shirt still plainly visible to all, though seemingly forgotten.

"You're both really great with Astra," Jen remarked quietly, pulling the Hatter's attention to her. She had, at some point, stood from her seat on the step and climbed down to stand by her mother, absently turning her own travel coffee cup in her right hand. She wore a wistful look on her features, pale blonde hair pulled back in a long ponytail, draped over her right shoulder.

"Are you alright, darling?" the Hatter asked her, eyeing her in concern.

"Just...thinking".

"About?"

Jen sighed slightly and looked to her, "I guess...what it would have been like if I'd been born to you and dad, rather then...well, you know," she shrugged slightly, frowning vaguely, "Popped out of a giant machine. I guess...seeing Astra growing up, kind of just gives me a glimpse of what it would have been like for me".

"Oh, Jen," the Hatter's expression crumbled slightly, and she instantly wrapped her arm around her, pulling the shorter girl into her side firmly. She was still a little taller than Jen, but not by much, which had the benefit of being able to lean her head comfortably against the top of Jen's head without having to duck her knees slightly. She squeezed her tightly, "No matter how you came into this Universe, never think for a second that you're any less precious to us then Astra," she lifted her head to press a tender kiss to the side of her head, "You are so incredibly dear and loved by both of us, always,always, loved. And while we might not have been able to cradle you in our arms as we did with Astra, you are still our child in our eyes, physically grown woman or not".

"Thanks, Mum," she smiled slightly, glancing at her with baby blue eyes that looked slightly more glossy than normal, but then she blinked and it was gone, replaced with the bright, happy glint that she normally wore in her gaze.

The Time Lady grinned at her proudly and hugged her just that little bit tighter, just as the time machine gave a low, rumbling, warning groan. She frowned as Jen tensed in her arms, both women turning sharply to look at the controls, while the Doctor also stopped his jabbering to Astra to look over to the console, thick, silvery eyebrows furring in concern. The Hatter dropped her arm from Jen to move for the monitor, spinning around to get a closer look...her eyes widened slightly in alarm.

"Oh, dearie me..." she sighed loudly, apprehension and alarm rolling over her swiftly, "It's a distress call from a fighter spaceship heading directly into the path of a Dalek battle fleet in an asteroid belt. They're going to be torn apart..."

"How many on bored?" Jen asked worriedly, stepping up beside the Time Lady.

"Two..." she trailed off, paling slightly as one of the tiny blinking red dots on the screen, representing the two individuals within the fighter ship in the middle of being fired upon by the Dalek ship, suddenly disappeared off the screen. She swallowed, "Make that one".

It was all they needed to burst into action, the Hatter swiftly set to work at the controls, while Jen immediately moved around to the next panel, clearly wanting to do whatever she could to try and help, having come quite far in her TARDIS training over the past few months. The Doctor helped as much as he could with Astra still cradled in his arms, working one handed alongside the girls, while Astra clung tightly to him and frowned worriedly. It would be all about timing for this, they had to act quickly, but they also couldn't rush it, or else they would alert the Daleks to their presence, and right now that was the last thing the Time Lords needed when they had Jen and Astra with them, so it would all come down to within a three second margin of error between when the spaceship would be blown-up and rescuing the only living person left on board the ship. Everything was set up and in place, they just had to wait for the moment...the Hatter looked at the monitor screen, waiting with battered breathe for just the right second, when she saw it.

"Incoming!" she shouted, and hit a button on the controls.

There was a brief flash of light, right before it faded to reveal a young woman lying suddenly on the floor just on the other side of the console. Her skin was dark and her black hair was tied into a low, messy ponytail, while she wore a pair of black overalls with fighting style boots and a brown belt sat around her hips, full of many pockets and pouches. The Time Lords all gathered together to observe the woman as she gave a startled little gasp and slowly moved to sit up, only for her eyes to widen in shock as she got onto her knees and caught sight of them. She immediately scrambled for her bulky gun on the floor by her and clasped it in gloved hands as she jumped hastily onto her feet, aiming it at them, as if it would actually work in the console room, since the Hatter had ensured that the temporal grace was fully working since Melody Ponds little incident. They would not have a repeat of that ordeal.

"You'll probably feel a bit sick," the Doctor said to the young woman, eyeing her with a rather cool, disapproving frown, "Please, don't be".

"Helpful, Doctor," the Hatter rolled her eyes slightly, sighing as she offered the clearly shaken, probably slightly traumatised woman, a sympathetic smile, "Please, take a seat and lower that ridiculous weapon, before you take out your own eye or something. There's really no need for..."

"Where is my brother?" the woman cut her off sharply, gun still aimed, not wavering.

"Rude, but I'll let it pass," she gave her a grim look, smile slipping. So the other person had been her brother, that was quite sad and unfortunate. She felt for the girl, she truly did, "I'm the Hatter, by the way, and this is Jen..."

Jen gave the woman a tense nod, but offered little else, regarding the gun with concern, evidently not aware of how useless it was in the TARDIS at present. It would be more useful as a very ugly paperweight.

"And I'm the Doctor," the Doctor introduced himself, still eyeing the woman with obvious disapproval, holding Astra a little more protectively to himself, "You really should lower that gun, I don't like it being waved around in front of my wife and children, thank you..."

The woman barely seemed to hear a word of what they said, "He was right beside me," she shook her head, looking around hurriedly, almost frantically...she suddenly looked back up them and glared fiercely, "Where's Kai?" she demanded threateningly, waving the gun, "How did I get here?"

"I am truly very sorry," the Hatter said softly, levelling her with a grim, but sympathetic look, "But I think you already know what has befallen your brother...but we were able to save you," she knew it would give the woman little comfort, but it was what she wanted to know, and she sighed, "We were able to materialise the TARDIS around your ship within the same second before yours exploded...I am terribly sorry".

She grimaced as the woman looked up at her sharply, tears filling her eyes and a horrified expression crossing her features, seemingly finally hitting her that her brother was truly lost to her.

"Oh, not the tears," the Doctor frowned deeply, looking rather uncomfortable, "Why is it always crying humans?"

"Shut up, Doctor!" the Time Lady hissed at the, throwing him a glare, "Let me handle the crying humans, would you? Since clearly you're not capable..."

"My brother's just died!" the woman shouted at him, her eyes widening in shock and outrage at his lack of sympathy.

"His sister didn't," he replied with a pointed look, ignoring the rather annoyed glare the Hatter fixed with him, as if to say, 'Shut up, you're not helping here,' "You're very welcome".

"Seriously, could you lower the gun?" Jen cut in with a stern frown at the woman, regarding the gun with an apprehensive, sharp eye, her entire body held rigidly. She looked torn between lunging at the woman herself and wrestling the weapon off her, or perhaps trying to use a weapon of her own, though aside from maybe a paperclip, the Hatter truly had no idea what Jen thought she was going to use as a weapon. It was their agreement that Jen didn't use any weapons in their presence; she might on her own adventures with Vastra, but never around them.

"Or what?" the woman shot back, turning her attention onto Jen.

"Or nothing," the Hatter replied swiftly, before Jen could say another word, or the Doctor, for that matter. She gave the woman a rather tired frown, "That thing is about as helpful to you as a paperweight might be, but I tell you what...threatening your only chance of getting back home again is a really stupid move to make right now. I mean, if you could actually kill us, what good will that do for you?"

"I'll be in charge of your vessel!"

"You'd starve to death trying to find the light switch," the Doctor rolled his eyes, looking rather bored, "Who are you?"

The woman held her head higher, still refusing to lower the gun even an inch, "I am Lieutenant Journey Blue of the Combined Galactic Resistance," she rattled off, full of the same demanding and arrogance of a solider of some statues...the Doctor and the Hatter merely looked at her flatly, far from impressed, "I demand you take me back to my command ship, the Aristotle, which is currently located..."

"Excuse me," the Hatter cut in, holding up a finger, her tone soft, but undeniably firm at the same time. She felt for the girl, she truly did, she had just endured a terrible loss and barely escaped with her own life, she would need time to grieve, however, this was her home and her family. She was not going to be bossed about by some child in her own home, not ever again. She levelled Journey with a pleasant, but slightly warning look, "Would you care to repeat that again? I must say, I don't at all like your tone, might I suggest changing it slightly?"

She adjusted her grip on her gun, narrowing her eyes, "You will take me back to my command ship, which is currently positioned..."

"Stop," she cut across her, slightly sharper. Her expression grew slightly harder, "This is my home and my family, and you are currently a guest. You will not throw your weight around and try to force us to do anything. You ask, so...ask, respectfully".

Journey blinked slowly at her in confusion, slowly lowering her weapon as the Time Lady softened her features slightly, giving her an encouraging, gentle smile...she swallowed, visibly, and briefly licked her lips.

"Will you take me back to my ship?" she frowned as the Time Lady gave her another expectant look, while the Doctor made a little 'More' gesture with his hand, "...please?"

The Hatter broke into a wider smile, "Of course," she said brightly, "More than happy to give you a lift, right, Doctor?" she glanced at the Doctor pointedly.

The Doctor, still eyeing Journey with a rather stern frown, slowly nodded in agreement and turned towards the controls, Astra turning slightly to look over his shoulder to Journey, regarding the young woman curiously. Jen cast her mother a slightly puzzled glance, thought the Hatter merely gave her a smile in return and shrugged lightly, knowing that Jen was likely confused about the whole exchange with Journey, and she supposed she would be right to be. In the past, the Hatter might have just shrugged off the woman's demands and rudeness and allowed it to go, simply and purely because Journey had just suffered a great loss, but that apparently wasn't her style anymore. She wasn't entirely sure if she liked that trait or not, but she supposed that Rose Tyler was quite lucky not to cross paths with this version of her.

"The Aristotle's the big fella parked in the asteroid belt, yeah?" the Doctor cast Journey a raised eyebrow look, while he reached out and grasped the handbrake with his hand that wasn't supporting Astra, pulling the lever down sharply.

The Time Rotor came to life, moving up and down, while the grinding, wheezing of the engines filled the room and the lights flickered briefly. The Hatter didn't bother to move towards the controls, the time machine already had a lock on to the ship and a flight path set; she'd land them without any assistance from them this time. Bit different if they were flying, of course.

Journey looked uneasily around the room, frowning, "It's shielded," she warned them.

The Doctor threw her a slightly mocking look, "More of less".

"You might want to grab your waistcoat and coat before we head out, Doctor," the Hatter said lightly, sparing him a mildly disapproving look. She was all for setting Journey right about being respectful, but the mocking wasn't needed, "You're still covered in chocolate Time Tot handprints".

He grimaced slightly and glanced down at his front, while Jen laughed and quickly covered her mouth, almost looking surprised with herself. Journey blinked and seemed to give the Doctor a double-take, too, while Astra smiled toothily at the Doctor, who glanced at her. He sighed.

"Right..." he muttered, "I'll just...change..."

"Probably best, sweetheart," the Time Lady smiled knowingly, and held out her hands to take Astra. It never hurt to take the Doctor's ego down a peg or three, from time to time.

...

The Doctor, slightly ironically, didn't have much time to fully change his shirt, but the waistcoat and coat covered up the evidence of Astra's chocolate fingers, just in time for them to land smoothly aboard the rather large ship that sat nestled in the heart of the asteroid belt, tucked right behind a rather large rock, likely keeping them at least largely secure from any sneak attacks for the Daleks, should they discovered their location, which was really only a matter of time. The Hatter wasn't sure if the humans realised that yet, but it was bound to happen. She wasn't going to burst their bubble quite yet. Wardrobe complications aside, however, the moment they landed Journey headed for the doors and opened them. The distant, muffled voice of someone speaking over a load speaker broke through the air, while the woman took in the fact that she truly was back home. The Doctor and the Hatter calmly strolled passed her, Journey having paused in the doorway to look out in surprise, and stepped out of the time machine. Jen followed them out, Astra holding her hand, and slowly Journey slipped out after them, only to pause and stare back up at the time machine, eyes widening in shock and disbelief.

"It's smaller on the outside," she gasped, pointing back at the time machine in shock.

The Doctor sighed slightly, disappointed, "It's a bit more exciting when you go the other way," he remarked, exchanging a look with the Time Lady.

The Hatter laughed lightly, very slightly disappointed herself not to see Journey do the whole running around the box routine, it felt like an age since they had someone do that and she never stopped getting a kick out of it. But she shrugged and let it go, casting curious eyes about the ship they had landed in. It looked as though they hand landed directly in the heart of the carrier of the ship, full of spare parts of battle ships and storage, while people in overalls moved about the place without a second glance at them as they worked on ships, some more damaged then others. But it was plain to her that this ship had not been originally meant for the purpose of being a battleship HQ; everything was painted in slightly dirty now white and light hues, while the entire wall to their right was covered by windows that had been covered by film to obscure the view from the outside. Little signs stuck to walls about the place gave it away too, and she frowned slightly as she took note in them.

"How interesting," the Time Lady said as she observed everything around them, all the clues adding up to only one thing, "This ship wasn't originally intended for war, it's a hospital ship. You can still see the medical insignia around the place..."

"We don't need hospitals now," a deep, male voice spoke up from behind them, causing them to all stop and turn around. An older, rather worn looking man was marching towards them, flanked by two heavily armed soldiers. He looked directly at the Doctor and Hatter, a cool, determined glint in his eyes, while his beard was patchy with grey hair, "Daleks don't leave any wounded," he went on, stopping before them, "And we don't take any prisoners".

The Hatter frowned at that, eyes narrowing slightly as she instantly took a dislike to the lack of any seeming regard in his gaze, he had been fighting for so long, he almost seemed as though he had become more Dalek then human. She recognised the look in his eyes well and knew of its destructive abilities to let the whole world burn, if it means destroying the enemy. The Doctor seemed to note it too, because she felt him tense beside her and felt him swiftly take in the man, and the two soldiers flanking him.

"We saved your little friend here," the Doctor told the man, eyeing the man carefully, "If that's in any way relevant to mention".

"That's true, sir," Journey spoke up, looking rather reluctantly to the man, but her gaze was steady and firm, "They did".

The man looked back to the Time Lords, barely blinking, "Thank you".

"Happy to have helped," the Hatter said with a small, tight smile, "I merely apologise most sincerely for not being able to prevent the death of your other man..."

"Then you should have saved him".

She stopped short at that and blinked, lips still parted in slight shock, while the man simply stared at her coolly, tone flat and uncompromising. She could sense Jen bristling and from the corner of her eye, she could see Jen positively glaring dagger sat the man, while even Astra was eyeing he man with a slightly confused little frown. The Doctor seemed just as startled by the man's response as she did, but she still tried to regain some sense, taking a deep breath and giving the man a politely confused look.

"I'm terribly sorry, truly, there was..."

"I have no interest in apologises, ma'am," the man cut her off swiftly, causing the Hatter to again find herself gaping slightly in disbelief. Oh, if he cut her of one more time..., "But..." he went on, something in his stony glare softening just slightly as he considered the Time Lords, "You did save Journey, and for that I am grateful".

"Sure sounds like it," Jen scoffed bitterly, still glaring angrily at the man. The Hatter shot her a slightly warning look, which made her sigh and drop her gaze, vaguely sheepish.

"However..." the man ignored Jen, any hint of softness or gratefulness instantly vanishing from his features, replaced by iciness, "The security of this base is absolute. So we're still going to kill you".

The Hatter sighed and briefly closed her eyes...she couldn't say she was impressed by the threat, not even a little bit alarmed by it, quite frankly, though she was rather disgusted that anyone would throw such a threat around in front of a child as young as Astra so clearly was, and don't even get started on threatening Astra's life. She knew this man had been fighting this war to long, he'd lost somewhere along the way his ability to see anything beyond the fighting usefulness of someone. Unless you could fight in his battles, you were of no use to him; she'd seen it happen time and time again, too many of the higher ups of the Time War and to the War Council. It was still as frustrating and disappointing to come across it today

"Oh, it's a rollercoaster with you, isn't it?" the Doctor said flatly, looking almost as impressed by the whole display of power and authority as the Time Lady felt.

"Yes, very frightening," the Hatter rolled her eyes, giving the man a thin, humourless smile, "I suppose the security of your super-doper base is truly at threat from the likes of a three year old, isn't it?"

The man's eye flickered briefly down to Astra, still clinging to Jen's hand, though now standing partly behind her bigger sister, who had placed herself in front of the Time Tot the moment the threat was delivered. The man barely seemed to have any reaction to the sight of Astra, but the Hatter, who was watching him intently, did note that he seemed to hesitate, just slightly...

"He's a doctor," Journey suddenly cut in, stepping forward and between the man and Jen and Astra. The second the words left her mouth, the man blinked and looked sharply back around to the Doctor, interest flickering in his eyes. Her tone grew pointed, while she glared at the side of his turned face, "And we have a patient, don't we, uncle?"

There was a brief, lingering pause that followed as the man seemed to stiffen just slightly, eyes darting sharply to his apparent niece and then back to eye the Doctor curiously. The Hatter could practically see his mind swiftly turning over the pros and cons of allowing them to live for the sake of this 'Patient'. She saw it the moment that his mind came to a conclusion, his expression hardening and his lips briefly pressing together, almost reluctantly, as if he regretted having to let them live.

"A doctor, you say?" he narrowed his gaze on the Doctor, "Doctor of what?"

"Everything," the Doctor replied immediately, without any ego. It was stated merely as a simple fact.

He seemed to weigh that up, a little dubiously, before a dark frown crossed his features, "If you can help us," he began slowly, carefully, "We might be able to come to an agreement about whether or not you get to leave here or not".

"How generous of you," the Hatter remarked grimly, her lips briefly flashing in a thin, sarcastic smile. The man glanced at her and she lifted an eyebrow, "Do we at least get to learn the name of our possible future killer, or do we get to call you 'Uncle' too?"

"Colonel Morgan Blue," the man said with a slightly withering glare aimed at the Time Lady, apparently not appreciating her sarcastic humour. She merely smiled a little more brightly back at him...he swiftly switched his gaze back to the Doctor, "This way".

He turned on the heel of his heavy combat boots and began marching them away, his two sidekicks following into step with him. Journey spared the Time Lords a little glance as she hurried to follow her uncle, leaving the Doctor and Hatter to exchange a look. How did they always get themselves into this position? Not that the Hatter was complaining, she was rather curious to see what this mysterious patient was all about...the guns and soldiers and death threats against her family, not so happy about that, however. But they had a chance to make it work for them; they'd managed with much worse odds.

So, they followed Morgan and his little gang of soldiers through what was once a likely very busy hospital now turned into a makeshift battleship. Boxes and crates of weaponry stored against walls, tables set up with tools and partly dismantled guns seemingly in the process of being cleaned and put back together. It reminded the Time Lady a little too much like her own time in the Time War, even the air reminded her of her old lab, the scent of metal and grease. She wasn't overly fond of it, nor the visual reminders that she saw everywhere, though she tried to ignore it all as Morgan led them into a narrow hallway, large enough for only one adult at a time to walk comfortably down it in single file. Behind her, she felt a little hand reach out and grasp the edge of her coat and a small smile crossed her face, knowing it was Astra's little hand gripping onto her, while her other hand probably still clung to Jen. It made her all the more eager to figure out what was going on around here so she could make sure Astra and Jen were safe.

"Why does a hospital need a doctor?" the Doctor asked after a short while, walking just in front of the Hatter.

"The Aristotle wasn't always hidden," Morgan informed them, marching along at the front of their little group, "The Daleks got here before us".

Perhaps Journey was more perspective then they had given her credit, because the young woman glanced back to them when neither Time Lord commented on that, her gaze flickering from the Doctor, directly behind her, who was more than likely frowning very slightly, to the Time Lady over his shoulder. The Hatter caught her gaze and lifted an eyebrow back at her, though her body was held slightly more tense than normal. She was acutely aware of the fact that Astra and Jen were literally just behind her back while they were in the very middle of a war between humans and Daleks, painfully aware of the fact that they were considered to be something of a possible threat by these humans and therefore, likely also considered to be traitors at any given moment, if Morgan decided it. Right now, they were useful, or rather the Doctor possibly was, but that could change so fast. The Hatter was very on edge and wary. They didn't have friends here, just themselves.

"You don't like solders much, do you?" the woman said slightly knowingly, eyeing the Time Lords.

"I'm not overly fond of anything that takes orders," the Hatter said with a slight sigh, her expression growing grim, "Taking orders is all well and good if it's from the right person, but the right person is only right depending on what side you're standing on".

"Isn't there only one right side in a fight?"

She gave her a an almost pitying look, "Oh, dear girl..." she shook her head slightly, "Every side can both be right and wrong, it is all a matter of who is doing the asking. War is never so black and white".

They passed through a doorway and the two soldiers that had been closely trailing behind their group, fell back to stand over the door. Journey fell silent at the Hatter's words and the Time Lady hoped she was seriously considering them, though she was not so naive to think it would likely have much impact, not now. Maybe when she was older, but not when she was in the thick of battle. They rounded a corner, then, and what she saw was enough to pull her from her own thoughts, her eyes widening very slightly, impressed despite herself.

"Wow!" the Doctor breathed, seemingly just as delighted.

The room was very clean and clinical, filled with pieces of machinery and equipment that stood against the walls, while the middle of the room held a very large device. It was made from glass and white metal, looking rather like a large clear tube that could have easily have allowed several adults to squeeze inside and sit one little benches within the tubing, while a ladder stood at the end of the machine to let people climb inside it. The machine almost looked like a larger, clear version of a Earth decompression chamber used for divers upon their return to land from deep dives in the ocean. It was not quite used for the same function, however.

"Now that is pretty cool," the Hatter commented brightly, immediately moving to peer more closely at the machine, "It's been ages since I last saw a moleculon nanoscaler".

"You know what it does, then?" Journey looked at them hopefully, if a little surprised.

"Jen?" the Doctor looked around to Jen with an encouraging look shining in his silvery blue eyes, "What do you think?"

Jen looked briefly thrown, but she immediately rose to the challenge, fixing her eyes firmly on the machine, "Well, I'd say it's a machine that...miniaturises stuff, right?" she glanced at her father with a slightly unsure look, but the moment she saw the Doctor's bright smile and nod, she practically swelled with confidence, smiling a little brighter herself and nodding as she turned to Journey, "Yeah, that's it. It's right in the name and I'm guessing that it's probably used to shrink people down, too".

"Well done, darling," the Hatter gave her a proud look, which practically made Jen glow with praise. She frowned slightly thoughtfully, sparing the machine a glance before turning her attention to Morgan, "Let me guess...you use this beauty to shrink down surgeons to take an in-depth look at patients, yes?"

"Exactly," Morgan nodded, giving little away as to how he felt as he turned on his heel and began to lead them away from the machine.

They swiftly moved to follow him once more.

"Fantastic idea for a movie," the Doctor remarked, pulling a slight face, "Terrible idea for a proctologist..."

"Let's not go there, sweetheart," the Hatter cut in hastily, shooting him a slightly stern glare. He flashed her a grin, which only made her slowly smile back, unable to help herself. She shook her head and threw Morgan's back a slightly narrowed eyed, suspicious look, "So, I take it you wish to miniaturise us for some purpose?"

Morgan glanced behind him to level the Doctor with a sharp look, almost seeming to be weighing him up dubiously, "He's a doctor, isn't he?" he said, though he didn't seem to bother to wait and hear confirmation of that, swiftly turning back around to press his gloved hand against a panel beside a door that they had just arrived at. The door was large and made of thick metal, and as he hit the panel it immediately slid open with a mechanical hiss, "And this is your patient".

The Hatter very nearly turned around, right then and there, and grabbed Astra and Jen and dragged them back to the safety of the TARDIS. She felt all of the colour drain from her cheeks, her hearts positively stilling in her chest out of shear dread, before slamming right back into life, pounding furiously in her chest. She looked slowly to the Doctor beside her and he looked back to her, his own cheeks pale and his eyes wide with silent horror. The room before them was small and darkened, before slowly a small, circular blue light flared into life within the eyestalk of their greatest enemy. Of course, it would be them, how could it not be them?

"No, you don't understand," the Doctor said darkly, his eyes fixing firmly on the Dalek that stood before them, chained up but no less deadly, hooked up to large cables and wires, "You can't put me in there, and you're not putting my wife and daughters anywhere near that thing!"

"God," Jen breathed, sounding quite shocked.

"You didn't think it might be wise to mention your patient was a Dalek?" the Hatter rounded on Morgan furiously, her voice practically a low, icy hiss, utterly outraged and shocked that someone would fail to mention that little detail. Her children were here with her, for God's sake!

"Doctor..." the Dalek spoke, then, and its robotic voice sounded weaker and almost gravelly, as if it was an effort, "Doctor".

"Mummy?" Astra tugged on the Hatter's sleeve, causing the Time Lady to swallow, hard, her eyes briefly darting down to the top of Astra's head, while the Time Tot peered out from behind her to the Dalek, more curious than anything else.

The Doctor suddenly stormed forward towards the Dalek, his entire body held tightly, "How do you know who I am?" he demanded angrily, because there was no way that the Daleks should even know that name, let alone place his face to it, there was just no way and he wanted to know what was so bloody special about this Dalek for it to know him.

"He doesn't," Morgan cut in from his position still within the doorway, causing the Hatter to glance at him sharply, her eyes instantly narrowing into an angry glare, "We promised him medical assistance".

"Are you my doctor?"

"We found it floating in space," Journey informed them, observing the Dalek with a cool frown.

The Hatter scoffed slightly, her eyebrows shooting up sharply in disbelief. So they thought it was a good idea to bring it on board? Humans, they had their own form of logic sometimes.

"We thought it was deactivated," Morgan added, almost grimly, "So we tried to disassemble it".

"Right up until you learnt that evil actually is a living thing, I'm guessing," the Time Lady surmised easily, though her tone was full of disgust and bitterness, quite unlike herself, but she was starting to learn that if she had hated Daleks before...it was nothing compared to how she felt about them in this regeneration, even just looking at this battered and broken Dalek didn't arouse any pity. She just felt sickened.

"Help...me," the Dalek pleaded, almost sounding as if it was groaning out the words in pain.

The Doctor laughed bitterly and narrowed his eyes darkly, "Why would we do that?" he asked it, almost sneering he words, "Why would any living creature help you?"

"Daleks will die".

"Why are you telling us?" the Hatter gave the Dalek a cold, almost bored look, "We're the last people in the Universe who will morn that, Dalek. You have a nice day, now..." she flashed it a sarcastic grin and moved to turn away, ignoring the rather wide eyed look that Jen was giving her, shocked by her apathy...Jen was still far too young and naive to understand.

"Daleks must be destroyed".

She took a step, before she froze on the spot and her entire body almost seemed to run cold with ice, as if someone had just chucked of bucket of ice cubes down the back of her dress. She blinked and frowned slowly, positive she must have misheard; utterly certain she couldn't have heard what she thought she had. There was no way; it simply wasn't possible...was it?

The Doctor heaved an exasperated sigh and rolled his eyes, "Daleks must be de..." he trailed off sharply, as it seemed to hit him just what the Dalek had said a second later. His mouth open and he seemed to stare at the creature in disbelief and confusion, before slowly glancing at the Hatter, who met his eyes with a rather shocked, bewildered look of her own, before slowly, they turned back to eye the Dalek, carefully. He frowned, warily, "What did you just say?"

"All Daleks must die," the Dalek replied, as passionately as that awful monotone voice could possibly sound, "I will destroy the Daleks," it began almost shouting, then, shaking and shuddering on the spot, "Destroy the Daleks! Destroy the Daleks!"

The Hatter inhaled sharply in disbelief, blinking rapidly as her mind struggled to come to terms with what she was actually hearing. Well...this was new. A Dalek with a hatred for their own kind...how the hell did that work?

...

A supposedly 'Good Dalek' still wasn't enough to make either Time Lord feel in any way comfortable having Astra and Jen around for what they planned to do, so a quick visit to Sarah Jane to ask her if she could babysit the Time Tot was swiftly decided and taken care of. Jen, however, was far less eager to leave her parents side, insisting that she wanted to stay and help...the Hatter was rather disgruntled and proud to find that Jen even managed to make a good argument about how it was probably a good idea if she did stick around and got to see the Daleks in action herself, in case she encountered them again in the future by herself. Even the Doctor hadn't quite been able to fault that one, though both Time Lords had desperately wished to. In the end, it was agreed that Jen could stay, but only if she remained with either the Doctor or the Hatter at all times. The Hatter just hoped they'd be able to keep that agreement, but Jen was happy.

After that, Clara. They'd last left the girl to find them some coffees, the Time Lords having taken what was supposed to be a quick trip to the best coffee shop in the Universe to grab their drinks. Their coffees, by the time they returned to the TARDIS, had gone cold, but a little heating up and they were ready to go, the Time Lords setting off in search for the girl. It probably should have rung alarm bells that they found Clara at Coal Hill School, rather than on the Glasgow street that they had left her on. To be fair, though, they did have a lot going on.

Clara very nearly ended up walking face-first into the cardboard coffee tray that the Doctor had proudly held out before him, the girl blinking and briefly staring at the tray, the smile that had been positively making her entire face glow, freezing in place. Slowly, her eyes narrowed and lifted up to focus on the Doctor, her expression growing slightly tighter and her lips pulling into a thin, humourless smile. She quirked her eyebrows.

"Where the hell have you been?" she demanded, tone perfectly level and calm.

"You said you wanted coffee," the Hatter reminded her with a cheerful smile, standing beside the Doctor, "So…we got coffee," she made a pointed wave towards the coffee held by the Doctor, practically beneath the girl's nose, "See?"

"Yes, I did send you, three weeks ago, Hatter," she nodded, her tone still level, if a little tight, "In Glasgow".

Her smile slipped and she grimaced, slightly, "Oh, right…" she sighed.

"Three weeks, that's a long time," the Doctor remarked, rather unhelpfully, lowering the coffees with a nod of agreement.

"In Glasgow! That's dead in a ditch!"

"It's not our fault," he shook his head, looking very slightly defensive, "We got distracted".

"By what?" she almost immediately cringed and squeezed her eyes shut, pulling a face as she shook her head sharply, "Actually, you know what, I don't wanna even know, knowing you two…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" the Hatter blinked slightly, her eyebrows shooting up sharply, unsure if she ought to feel offended or not.

"Oh, come off it. I seriously don't need to know what you two get up to when no one's around, Hatter. There's not enough brain bleach in the Universe for that one".

"I'm not sure I like what you're implying, Clara," she huffed slightly, giving her a disapproving look.

The Doctor merely looked blankly between them, "What's she implying, dear?" he asked, looking truly confused and lost.

She gave her him a brief glance, "You're not old enough to know, sweetheart," she told him firmly, before throwing Clara a stern look, "Nor am I, for that matter, but here we are. Come along, Clara, enough of this nonsense. We have work to do".

The Time Lady reached forward and, without waiting for Clara to respond, grasped the girl's elbow and pulled her forward, before easily spinning her around ahead of her, half-marching her towards the TARDIS. Clara simply threw her a slightly bemused look over her shoulder, but let herself be guided along, while the Doctor fell into step behind them. They strolled inside the time machine, where Jen looked up from the controls to give Clara wide, warm grin of welcome and lift a hand in a little wave.

"Hiya, Clara".

"Hey, Jen," Clara grinned widely back at her, still letting the Time Lady lightly push her along.

"So…" the Hatter began as she finally released her hold on her elbow, moving to lightly walk past the girl, up towards the controls, joining Jen. She shot Clara a slightly teasing look over her shoulder as she did so, "Why so smiley before?"

Clara blinked at her and hastily arranged her face into an innocent look, bringing her hand up to subconsciously cover her lips, "Was I?" she asked, before quickly adding, "No, I wasn't".

"You're so busted," Jen laughed, smirking as she pointed at her accusingly.

The Doctor shut the TARDIS door behind him, "You were smiling at nothing," he lifted a grey, bushy eyebrow at the girl, moving to step around her, moving for the console, too, "I'd almost say you were in love, but to be honest…"

"Honest?" Clara gave him a narrowed eyed frown, when he trailed off and shrugged.

He glanced at her, smiling faintly, "You're not a young woman anymore," he replied, placing the coffee on the edge of the console, before grabbing Clara's cup and holding it out towards her to take.

Jen threw him a slightly puzzled, confused look, while the Hatter simply rolled her eyes affectionately and shook her head, deciding that it would take far too long to try and correct him on that score right now. She had come to learn that this version of the Doctor had a slightly odd way of looking at the world, like his mental view of everything around him had been warped very slightly. He seemed to have an impression that he was much younger, physically, than he actually was, she suspected it was due to the great shift in physical age difference, from the very youthful, bright eyed Eleventh Doctor to this grey haired, stick-insect looking Twelfth Doctor. Body-dysmorphia, Time Lord style. The Hatter wasn't sure if it would be a permanent thing, but it made for some curious conversations, like this one.

Clara sighed slightly, reaching out to take the offered cup, "Yes, I am," she insisted, a little exasperated.

"Well, you don't look it".

"I do look it," she shook her head, frowning at him.

He smiled faintly and glanced sideways to the Hatter, looking almost indulgent, "Oh, that's right," he nodded, turning back to give Clara an amused look, as if she was just being rather cute…he seemed to miss the frown Clara was still giving him and the indulgent look the Time Lady was giving him, in return, likely mistaking it for one aimed at Clara, "Keep your spirits up, Clara".

The Doctor turned and wondered away from them, slowly heading over to sit heavily down on the stairs of the console, which headed down to the lower levels of the ship. The Hatter gave Clara a sympathetic look and reached out to pat her arm, before moving to join the Doctor, sitting down beside him on the small step, reaching out to take his hand, pulling it across into her own lap, fingers entwining. He looked up to her and gave her a small, tired smile, which she returned, sensing Clara and Jen's curious eyes on their backs.

"Mum?" Jen asked quietly, a little unsure sounding as she edged closer to them, "Dad? You…alright?"

"Of course, darling," the Hatter said softly, smiling warily, though it was tinged with a hint of sadness, "But there is something that the Doctor wishes to ask Clara, a important question only she can answer, no offence, Jen".

There was a brief moment of silence, she could just picture the girls over her shoulder exchanging a confused look, before the sound of a pair of heeled shoes lightly moving across the steel flooring sounded, moving closer to them, broke the silence.

"Why me?" Clara questioned carefully.

"Because you'll be honest," the Doctor replied instantly, almost grimly, "And you won't try to protect me from the truth, and I need the truth right now".

"Okay," she said slowly, sounding briefly hesitate, before she sighed, "Right, what is it? What's…" she paused sharply and the Hatter could feel her gaze positively piecing their backs, running over how the Hatter held the Doctor's hand tightly in her own, how he sat with his shoulders slightly hunched and turned away from them all, but the Time Lady. There was a small intake of breathe from behind them, "You're scared".

He sighed, "I'm terrified," he corrected, his voice soft.

"Dad…" Jen breathed, startled and shocked.

He smiled gently, bowing his head very slightly, "Everyone gets scared of something, Jen," he murmured, "Even me, especially me," he laughed humourlessly and glanced across to the Hatter, just very slightly lifting his head to do so, "Sometimes I reckon I've always been scared of something".

The Hatter squeezed his hand, her lips lifting into a sad little smile, "There's nothing shameful about being afraid," she reminded him gently, "Nothing bad or silly to admit that you're afraid, fear makes us stronger. It's important, because without fear, like love and hope, it helps give life meaning, but you can't let it control you or stop you from being you," she peered into his face, eyes tracing the lines and grey hair tenderly, "And you've always been so much more then whatever you may fear, Doctor".

"What are you afraid of, Doctor?" Clara asked quietly.

"Today?" he glanced down at his knees again, his eyebrows arching, "Right now?" he sighed heavily, "The answer to my next question, which must be honest and cold and considered, without kindness or restraint," he took a deep breath and reluctantly slipped his hand back from the Hatter's grasp, looking almost physically pained to even do so, but he did and slowly, he moved to stand back up from the stair he sat on, turning to look directly to Clara, pinning her with a calm, steady gaze, "Clara, be my pal and tell me…am I good man?"

She stared at him, "Shouldn't you ask the Hatter that?" she visibly swallowed, throwing the Hatter an almost pleading look, as if asking her to step in and save her from having to answer.

The Hatter smiled warily down at her own lap, "I've always known the answer to that question, Clara," she told her, her voice light, full of certainty, "I know it in my hearts, I feel it with every breathe that I take, and I've never doubted it, even at his darkest and worst moments, but that is also exactly why I can't give him the answer he seeks right now, nor can Jen," she shook her head slowly, almost grimly, "Our history and my affection for him doesn't allow me to doubt".

Clara slowly looked back to the Doctor, still staring at her, waiting with those steely grey-blue eyes of his, intently gazing at her, his lips very slightly pulled against his teeth, almost in fear of what she might say. She stared at him and slowly shifted uncomfortably on the spot, frowning deeply as the answer, which should be so simple and easy, seemed to just…slip away. She looked into those familiar, but yet alien eyes, and saw a glimmer of the Doctor she once knew, but also something else that she still had yet to come to terms with and just felt…lost.

"I…" she shook her head slowly, "Don't know".

The Doctor huffed out a small sigh and briefly rolled his eyes in annoyance, throwing his hands up in the air, "Neither do I," he gritted out in almost anger, at himself, and slight bitterness.

Abruptly, he stepped around Clara and Jen, both girls staring at him, startled and confused by what had just happened, while he ignored their expressions to march back over to the console. The Hatter rose from the step and spun around to move to join him at the controls, sparing the girls a small, tired smile, knowing that neither of them truly understood what had just happened. But the Daleks brought out the worst parts of herself and the Doctor, they made them doubt just who and what they were, what they believed in and what they valued, and given that the Doctor was still somewhat struggling to fully come to terms with this new regenerations, it was only made harder by this Dalek. It couldn't have come at a worse time for the Doctor, really.

"Are we heading back now?" Jen asked, clearing her throat slightly as she came to step up beside the Hatter, eager to try and help them pilot.

"Back where?" Clara blinked and frowned at the Time Lords, before her eyes widened slightly, seemingly only just noticing what they were doing, "Er, hey, no offence, but I've got plans…"

"Clara," the Doctor cut across her, his voice soft as he simply looked across to her, giving her a look, "We need you".

She sighed, "Right," she nodded, instantly stepping forward, looking from him to the Hatter, "Where are we going?"

He gave her a grim look, reaching out to grasp the hand break lever, "Into darkness," he replied mysteriously, pulling the lever down, setting them back off with a sharp jerk of the room around them…

Clara hastily grasped the edge of the console to balance herself, very nearly dropping her coffee in the process…it seemed to remind her that she was still holding the drink, though, and as the shaking of the console room began to settle down, she took a large gulp from her cup.

"We should be there in a few moments," the Hatter informed her, turning around to lean back against the console, crossing her ankles together ahead of her and crossing and arms over her chest, fixing Clara with a steady, calculating stare, one made all the more unsettling with her sharp blue eyes, "Clara, dear, just how much do you recall from your past lives? Specifically…Dalek related?"

She hesitated, cup poised up to her mouth, before she very slowly and carefully swallowed her mouthful, lowering her cup to look at each Time Lord, carefully, and then back to the Hatter, eyeing her warily. She sighed.

"I remember enough, Hatter," she said grimly, darkly, shifting uneasily on the spot, "Please tell me this isn't about Daleks?"

"Oh, believe me," the Doctor cut in, almost bitterly, "No one's happy about it, Clara".

"Have you ever heard of a good Dalek?" the Time Lady lifted an eyebrow, still eyeing the girl closely, trying to make sure that Clara was okay, that this wasn't about to trigger some truly shocking and horrific memories from her past life when she was turned into a Dalek. She seemed to be handling it perfectly well now, but who knows just what could trigger a memory, if it was even possible for Clara's human mind to retain such memories. She didn't think so, not fully, at least, the human mind had a certain capacity, but still…

She blinked, "A good Dalek?" she repeated dubiously.

"There's no such thing," the Doctor said instantly, scowling darkly, eyes narrowing.

She cast him a glance, eyeing him carefully, before shifting her focus across to the Time Lady, who nodded firmly in agreement…her eyebrows rose. It was no shock to anyone that the Doctor and the Hatter hated the Daleks and they had very good reason to, the fact that the Hatter hated them with an icy fury was hardly shocking, either, when one considered all that the Daleks had taken from her, but it was still a little odd to hear and see the Time Lords just so black and white about a matter. Usually, the Hatter could find a grain of lightness or positivity, even if the Doctor couldn't, but not this time. Neither of them even seemed willing to even hope that maybe, somehow, a Dalek could be good.

"That's a bit inflexible," she remarked quietly, frowning slightly, her gaze lingering on the Hatter, "Not like either of you," she glanced down and scuffed the toe of her shoe on the floor, "I'd almost say prejudiced".

The Hatter grimaced at that and almost flinched, as if the word had come as a physical blow to her, her eyes snapping up sharply to pin on Clara, displeasure darkening her eyes. The Doctor sighed, too, and glanced at Clara, too, who took another sip from her coffee and gave them both a level look over the top of her plastic lid. He dropped her gaze quickly, frowning across the room.

"She's right," Jen said with a small frown at her parents, watching them, arms crossed over her chest, "The Daleks might be foul and evil, I get that, even if I've never really had any experience with them, but you two always say that anything's possible," she lifted a pale eyebrow pointedly, "Maybe this is just one of those rare times when something amazing happens. Maybe it is possible for a Dalek to turn good, isn't that worth being vaguely hopeful about?"

The Time Lady looked between Clara and Jen, her lips slowly lifting into a proud smile, even if she still felt doubtful in her hearts that trusting a Dalek to be wise. She just…couldn't do it, they had taken too much from her for her to do that, but she could accept that she didn't know everything and that, maybe, possibly, there could be something very faintly good in a rouge, single Dalek. Nothing could be totally good or totally evil, even if it went against everything she believed, she had to try and stay hopeful. It was basically the only way she got through life in the past, hope was a incredible gift and she would cling to it today, until proven a fool.

"Do we pay you?" the Doctor looked to Clara and then Jen, giving them both a wary little smile, "We should give you raises".

The TARDIS came to a gentle stop.

Clara grinned at him, "You're not my bosses," she told them, "You're one of my hobbies".

"You could always give me some pocket-money," Jen held up her hand, smiling widely at her parents, "That's a thing they do on Earth".

The Hatter gave Jen an amused look, moving to drape an arm around her shoulders, pulling her onto her side, "We'll discuss it later, darling," she said cheerfully, dropping a quick kiss to the top of her head, "Now, off we go. We've arrived".

They swiftly turned and headed for the doors, Clara quickly leaving her coffee behind as they left, slipping back outside of the doors of the time machine. No one stopped them as they made their way back through the old hospital and to the laboratory room, finding Morgan and Journey standing within the room. Journey looked up at their entrance and her eyes widened slightly in surprise, shooting her uncle a startled look.

"That was quick," the young woman commented, eyeing them as they neared.

"We said we would be," the Hatter gave her a tight lipped smile; one that didn't reach her eyes and that almost looked like a grimace. She kind of wished they hadn't promised to come back, nor felt curious enough to have to come back for their own satisfaction.

Clara eyed Morgan and Journey, while they glanced at her, too. The Doctor sighed slightly.

"This is gun girl," he waved a slightly lazy hand towards Journey, for Clara's benefit, "She's got a gun, and she's a girl…"

"Very descriptive, Dad," Jen laughed lightly, while Clara waved to the pair.

"Also known as Journey, Clara," the Hatter cut in with an amused eye roll, "Journey, Clara, Journey, this is our friend, Clara".

"…and this is sort of boss one," the Doctor continued, gesturing to Morgan, before pausing and frowning at the man, almost suspiciously, "Are you the same one as before?"

Morgan gave him a slightly bewildered look, "Yes," he confirmed, seemingly trying to decide if the Doctor was being serious or not.

"I think he's probably her uncle," he went on with a slight shrug to Clara, ignoring Morgan as he slipped his hands inside his trouser pockets, flipping his long blazer aside to reveal the silk red lining, "But I may have made that up to pass the time while they were talking…"

"Evidently, some things do manage to slip through," the Hatter said lightly, mildly amused as she glanced sideways to the Doctor, rather fondly. She shrugged, then, "Anyway, this is our dear friend, Clara…" she waved a hand back towards Clara, for Morgan's benefit.

"Yes, yes, friend and not-our-assistant. She's, er…some other word…"

"I'm his carer," Clara supplied helpfully, smirking very slightly…Jen made a suspicious coughing sound, while the Hatter grinned and ducked her head. Well, okay, then, that's works, too.

"Yeah, my carer," the Doctor pointed to Clara, seemingly utterly missing her smirk or implication of her remark, looking more relieved by having a label to give the girl, then anything else, "She cares so I don't have to and takes some of the pressure off the Hatter having to care about everyone…"

The Hatter lifted an eyebrow thoughtfully, "I'm not sure it works that way, sweetheart," she said slowly.

He merely shrugged and gave her a smile, seemingly convinced that, yes, it did work like that, and the Hatter really didn't have the time, nor in this moment, the patients or a large drawing board to try and explain to him why he was wrong, so she merely gave him an indulgent smile, one she might have given Astra, and patted his arm lightly. Her smile swiftly slipped off her lips as they returned to the small locked room that held the battered, broken Dalek within it.

"Doctor," the Dalek spoke in greeting.

Clara stopped slightly behind the Hatter with Jen beside her, both girls eyeing the Dalek warily. The Hatter's expression instantly grew stony, her lips pulling into a tight line and her eyes darkening, looking at the creature before her. Even looking at it made her skin crawl and a chill run down her spine, and judging by the uncomfortable frown that settled on the Doctor's face, even as he took a half-step inside the small room, he felt exactly the same way. Unsettled and disturbed.

"Hello, again," he nodded to the Dalek, his tone grim.

"Will you…help me?"

Neither Time Lord answered, not right away, merely regarding the Dalek warily. Clara and Jen exchanged a look behind their back, unsettled just by the Time Lords lack of immediate reaction to a plea for help, even from the likes of a Dalek. It just wasn't like them, not at all, they never ignored a cry for help, never just walked away from someone in need, and as vile as a Dalek might be, it was still a living thing. The fact that the Doctor and especially the Hatter, showed little reaction to someone in need, was simply unheard of.

Clara glanced back to the Time Lords, eyeing them closely, "Will you?" she asked, quietly.

The Hatter sighed heavily, almost sounding deeply resigned, "We stand before the most evil creature in this Universe," she said flatly, "A creature that has no understanding or comprehension of anything, but hatred…and it's so damaged that it's pleading for help?" she frowned, narrowing her eyes slightly on the Dalek, "A supposedly 'Good' Dalek…how could we possibly just walk away from that without at least giving it a poke, Clara?"

And, maybe, just maybe, find the very first Dalek in the Universe to truly have morality and ethics. If it was true, then maybe they could find a way to replicate the same fault in the other Daleks, maybe they could find a way to finally beat the Daleks that didn't have to result in death and destruction, maybe…they could save the Daleks, rather then continue the never ending cycle of hatred. It was likely just a fleeting hope, but wasn't it worth grasping onto, even with the slimmest possibility that it could work?

"Daleks must die," the Dalek insisted, "Daleks must die!"

"God, that's…just weird," Jen grimaced slightly, looking rather unsettled as she regarded the Dalek closely, feeling almost as if a deep instinct inside of her was rebelling against the whole idea of a Dalek wanting to destroy its own race. She'd never encountered Daleks herself, but she'd heard enough from those who had, her parents had educated her enough about the Time War and their longer history of fighting Daleks for her to know just how wrong all of this was. She looked to her parents, frowning warily, "What are we supposed to do with a supposedly 'Good' Dalek?"

"We get inside its head," the Doctor replied, still considering the Dalek intently.

"Mmm," Clara hummed thoughtfully, eyeing the Dalek, "How do you get into a Daleks head?"

"Quite literally, actually," the Hatter remarked, almost oddly cheerfully.

Clara didn't seem to hear her at first, merely gazing thoughtfully at the Dalek, before she blinked and looked sharply to the Time Lady and the Doctor. The Hatter flashed her a broad grin and winked.

…

Less than ten minutes later, the Doctor and the Hatter found themselves back within the laboratory room, where the molecular nanoscaler machine was located. The room was transformed in to a flurry of movement; more armed guards were brought in to stand off to the side of the room, carrying seemingly extra weapons that the Hatter was a little unsettled to note Jen was eyeing curiously, while Morgan set to work organising everything. They were all issued a thick, metal bracelet that were going to aid them to remain miniaturised once they were initially compressed down by the machine and deployed into the Dalek. The Hatter couldn't say she was overly thrilled by the whole idea, frankly, the idea of being compressed down and transported inside a Dalek was a rather sickening thought to her, but hey, curiosity made you do very strange things, sometimes.

"You can still go back to the TARDIS, Jen," she said slightly hopefully to the girl, giving Jen a small, gentle smile as she fussed over straightening out her coat, brushing her long, blonde ponytail over her shoulder, letting her fingers brush through the smooth hair tenderly, "You don't have to do this, darling…"

"I'm fine, Mum," Jen gave her a confident smile, looking vaguely exasperated, in a way that only a child could possibly look over a parents fussing, "Stop worrying about me. I'm not a little kid".

She gave her a stern look, "You're also not nearly as grown-up and all knowing as you might think, either," she reminded her, placing a hand on her shoulder, frowning, "I was young once, too, I remember well the arrogance and over-confidence that comes with youth, and the danger that posses," she sighed, shaking her head, giving Jen a worried look, "I just want to make sure you're safe…"

"I'm fine," she insisted, actually rolling her eyes slightly, this time, "Besides, look around, Mum…" her eyes shifted from the Hatter to rest on the man and woman that stood over by the machine, busy checking over their weapons, armed to the teeth, by the look of the pair. She eyed the pair with a slightly overly curious, excited glint in her baby-blue eyes, "Those two have enough weapons to take out even a Dalek".

"Jen…" she sighed, exasperated and more than a little wary.

"We'll be fine".

"They're not here to protect us, Jenny," the Hatter said firmly, giving her a slightly flat frown…Jen blinked and looked back to her in surprise, seemingly having been quite under the impression. She gave her a humourless, tight smile, "They're here to keep us in check…am I right?"

She turned, then, and looked directly across to the two soldiers, fixing them with a slightly narrowed eyed, disapproving frown.

"We're not babysitters," the female guard confirmed, levelling the Hatter and Jen a rather hard, stony glare, while still confidently fastening her weapons to her person.

The man spared them a slightly more aggressive, vaguely hostile look, "We're here to shoot you dead if you turn out to be a Dalek spy," he said with a hint of iciness.

Jen's eyes widened very slightly in shock and the Hatter gave her a sympathetic, if slightly pointed look, squeezing her shoulder, as if to silently say, 'Mummy knows best, darling'.

"Well, that's a relief," the Doctor remarked from the other side of Jen, eyeing the human soldiers with a look of slight disdain, "I hate babysitters".

The Hatter cast him a look over Jen's head, frowning faintly at him, "And that's one perfect way to offend half of our friends, sweetheart," she said lightly, "Who, might I remind you, happen to frequently and generously agree to babysit Astra for us, but if you dislike it so much…"

He grimaced, "I take it back," he hastily said, wincing visibly, "I love babysitters, greatest people in the world…" his gazed flickered over to the two soldiers and he scowled, "…just not armed ones, with big guns and rubbish attitudes".

"Mildly better, Doctor. I give you a half-gold star for that speedy take-back. Does your neck hurt?"

"It is a little sore, dear. I suppose now is a bad time for a message?"

"We're about to be miniaturised and sent into a Dalek, I would imagine so, sweetheart…"

"Okay, listen up," Journey called loudly throughout the room, turning and walking away from where she had been chatting to Clara, over by the end of the machine. She looked around the room, her gaze stern as they all fell silent, giving her their full attention, "Now, remember, do not hold your breath when the nanoscalar engages. You'll feel like you want to, but you must keep breathing normally during the miniaturisation process".

"Why?" Clara asked, slightly nervously, sitting perched on the stairs leading up into the machine.

The Doctor moved forward to open the circular, metal door of the machine, pausing to give the girl a slightly flat look, "Ever microwaved a lasagne without pricking the film on top?" he lifted his eyebrows at her.

She glanced over her shoulder to him, "It explodes".

The Hatter stepped up behind the Doctor, giving Clara a look, her lips lifted into a humourless smile, "Same thing happens if you don't breath normally in here," she nodded to the machine, making the girl blink slightly, a look of horror crossing her features. She reached over to pat her shoulder lightly, "Breath, Clara. No one's turning into lasagne today…and that really sounded a lot more reassuring in my head…"

Clara simply stared at her silently, still looking rather appalled by the likely visual image that had popped up in her head. The Hatter grimaced slightly, awkwardly patting her arm again, before she moved to follow the Doctor up into the glass tubing on the machine, slipping into a seat beside the Doctor. Jen soon joined them; sitting down beside her, and the Time Lady gave her a gentle smile and took her hand, squeezing it, while she reached out to take the Doctor's hand in her left. Soon, Clara, Journey, and the two solders also slipped into the machine, sitting opposite from them, and the circular door was being sealed shut.

"Nanoscaler engaging in five…," Morgan's voice came over all of their comm., "Four…three…two…nanoscaler engaging now!"

"Nanoscaling in progress," a computerised voice announced, just as a loud whirring noise of machinery activating filled the air, right before a large arm-like machine, almost like something out of a car wash, came zooming over the outside of the glass tube, emitting a bright blue light, growing faster and faster each time it passed over them.

The Hatter felt as if there was a pressure building up inside her chest, the urge to hold her breath almost washing over her like an instinctual urge, like when you're thrown into water, but she pushed through it. She felt Jen squeezing her hand so tightly, it almost hurt, while the Doctor looked directly ahead of himself, a rather resigned, tense frown in place, while Clara sat directly across from her, brown eyes wide and full of apprehension. She tried to smile at her, but she couldn't quite make her lips lift, while the pressure seemed to grow in her chest, until she almost felt as if someone was sitting on it…and then, just like that, the pressure was gone and there was a great, shuddering jolt that shook everyone in the tube, jolting everyone's shoulders against one another, and it was all over.

"Nanoscaling complete".

She looked around the small space quickly, just to make sure everyone was okay…Jen looked pale and a little shaken, her right hand rubbing at her chest, as if still sore from the pressure, while Clara looked deeply relieved. The soldiers and Journey hardly seemed bothered at all. She looked to the Doctor, who was already eyeing her with a flicker of concern and she gave him a small, weak smile. He returned it, barely, his hand squeezing her own tightly. Neither of them wanted to do this, but no one else could or would. It was up to them.

"Nanoscaling successful," Morgan's voice buzzed through the comm. link again, "Everyone okay in there?"

Something metallic loudly clicked against the glass and metal outside of the cylinder, right before they all swayed and jerked around, an odd sensation of being picked up washing over them all. The Hatter glanced over her shoulder to see what looked like giant tweezers delicately picking up the glass cylinder they sat in and lifted it up, walking them across the lab towards the Dalek, or so she assumed. Everything on the outside world looked oddly distorted and from their tiny vantage point, it was hard to make out just what was happening.

"We made it," Journey spoke into her walkie-talkie that was strapped to her upper vest, "Nobody popped".

"Whoa," Clara grinned, looking delighted and full of wonder as she looked outside, everything around them looking a hundred times bigger, "Ha! I can't believe this".

"God," Jen breathed, peering wide eyed through the window, looking caught between curiosity and bewilderment, "This is unreal".

The Hatter sighed warily, her eyes falling to the glass flooring of the pod, seeing the edge of the Daleks casing starting to slowly come into view as they neared the creature. She cringed very slightly, deep down inside, it all just felt so completely wrong that they were even doing this, she couldn't believe she was allowing Jen to come with them. She must have utterly have lost the plot, truly lost it.

"It's about to get a whole lot stranger, girls," she murmured grimly, trying to brace herself for what would come next, while the Doctor sat rigidly beside her, peering down at the floor with a dark, apprehensive frown on his own features. Was it too late to change their minds?

Suddenly, the pod gave another sharp jolt and a loud groaning sound filled the air, metal grating against metal. At the end of the pod, closest to where the Doctor sat, the end of pod slowly began to slide downwards, revealing a deep blue, misty surface of the Dalek eyestalk, right up and personal for them to see. They all peered at it warily and slowly the Doctor reached out towards it, placing a hand against the blue, cloudy surface and his fingers and hand slowly disappeared into the blue mist, sending almost a ripple across the surface, almost like someone tossing a small pebble into a still pond.

"We'll be following you all the way, Rescue One," Morgan's voice buzzed over the speakers again, "Good luck all of you".

The Hatter truly didn't want to do what came next, nor did the Doctor, but he still bravely began to push his hand deeper and deeper through the blue abyss of the Dalek's eye, his features held tensely. She still had his other hand firmly held in her own and as he inched forward, she was forced to follow, teeth on edge with uneasiness as she watched the Doctor slowly disappear through the blue mist and then, her own hand was slowly pulled through. It was very odd, almost like she was moving through thick, heavy water, cold and clinging, but yet her flesh and clothing remained utterly dry as she squeezed her eye shut and stepped through entirely, wind briefly ruffling the skirt of her dress and her hair, tugging threateningly at her hat...and then, she was stepping onto solid ground again, blinking in the gloomy lighting of a long stretch of narrow, rounded hallway. She looked at the Doctor and he gave her a grim look in return.

It took the others only a few seconds to follow them through, each one of them, even the soldiers, looking rather startled and shocked by the whole ordeal, but it didn't make Journey and her small crew of two pause for long, the two soldiers swiftly taking up positions ahead of them all and starting to clear the path ahead of them, guns at the ready. Clara and Jen came through last, Jen grimacing and rubbing her upper arms uncomfortably, while Clara shivered.

"That was weird," she commented, throwing the blue film behind them a wary look.

"Yeah," Jen agreed, shaking her head slightly, almost as if she was trying to shake away the weird, cold, wet feeling, "I really don't want to do that again. Please tell me there's a back exit or something?"

The Doctor gave them both a sympathetic, if rather grave look, "You've seen nothing yet," he warned them, squeezing the Hatter's hand as he turned and began to walk down the narrow, single-file corridor ahead of them.

A white mist hung in the air around their lower legs as they slowly walked, while occasionally a bright white light would flare across the surface of the walls, providing little snippets of light for them.

"What are the lights?" Clara asked curiously, peering at the flashes of lights.

"We're in the eyestalk of a Dalek," the Hatter replied quietly, resisting the urge to cringe, just admitting to where they currently stood, where they were walking right now, "Much like a human eye takes visual impulses of what it sees and sends it to the brain, so does a Dalek. Those lights are literally images of what the Dalek is seeing right now, messages travelling directly to its brain".

"That's...kind of cool," Jen breathed, peering around as another light pulse buzzed across the surface of the walls, briefly illuminating her face, her lips lifted in a faint smile.

"It's a Dalek, darling," the Time Lady reminded her, her voice tight, "Let's not forget that, interesting as it might be," she licked her lips uneasily and cast a dark glance around the corridor, "This is the most dangerous killing machine in the Universe, the perfect murderer...and we're inside it. Let's not lose focus of that".

She felt a tiny burst of guilt in her chest, even as the words left her mouth, sensing Clara and Jen's startled eyes on her back, but she couldn't allow either girl to forget just where they were, what they were doing right now. Being inside a Dalek was the last thing in the Universe the Hatter ever wished to do, which was saying something, but it was the truth. To her, the Daleks would always be nothing but stone, cold, killers who had destroyed what was precious to her and almost destroyed her, too, Jen and Clara might look at all of this and think it was 'Cool' or interesting, but the Hatter just wanted to get them all out of here alive and safe. That was all she cared about right now, she'd do what they had to do, but that was it. They were not here for fun or laughs, for once.

They slowly made their way down the corridor of the eyestalk, Journey taking up the front with her gun firmly aimed ahead of her, face alert as she looked around. Ahead of them, the corroder seemed to end and open up into a massive, expansive room, which loomed high above the very centre of the space in a large dome, while the very heart of the chamber had a steep drop, thick cables running across the empty space.

"Entering the cranial ledge now," Journey reported over the comm., pausing briefly, slightly ahead of them all to check that it was safe for them all, before she quickly gestured over her shoulder, "Here".

They all came forward and moved to stand on the very edge of the chamber, peering down at the sight of a large, slimy looking mutant that sat deeply below them, tentacle and cables sticking out from it, running back up all around them, the flesh of the true Dalek looking almost red in the harsh lighting that shone brightly above it, illuminating it and, the Hatter assumed, helping to keep the true creature warm. She felt sickened as she looked down at it.

"Oh, my God," Clara gasped, staring down at it in shock.

"Is that...?" Jen began slowly, looking torn between being sickened and horrified, pointing a finger down at the creature.

"Behold," the Doctor sighed, grimacing in disgust, "The belly of the beast".

"It's amazing," Clara murmured, looking more transfixed, now that the shock had worn off, peering down at the creature curiously...the Hatter sighed warily and cast her a mildly disapproving look. Did she waste her breathe reminding her and Jen not to get caught up in the coolness of all of this? She was kind of feeling like she had.

"It's huge," the male solider commented from a few feet away, sounding quite startled.

"No, Ross," the female solider shook her head, sounding exasperated, "We're tiny".

Clara looked curiously to the Time Lords, "So how big is it?" she asked them, almost eagerly, "That living part, compared to me and you, right now?"

"Put it this way, Clara," the Hatter sighed heavily, her voice grim, "Do you see those rather long, reddish cables over there?" she pointed to the cables stretching across the open space above the creature below, some stretching up the walls, but all clearly connected to the creature. Clara nodded; following the movement closely...she pulled a face and gave Clara flat look, "They are not cables at all. They are part of the true mutating that is a Dalek".

Clara glanced up to her, blinking slightly...the Doctor lifted his hand up and gasped dramatically, making the girl laugh and Jen smile. The Hatter, however, remained painfully tense, frowning deeply down over the edge of the pit. She didn't think she'd be able to find much humour in anything for as long as they remained inside this Dalek, she just wanted to get out as fast as possible. Her very skin tingled with disgust.

"Does it know we're here?" Ross, the male solider, questioned.

"It's what invited us in," Journey reminded him tensely, rigidly grasping her gun before her, looking ready to fire if anyone so much as sneezed.

"Quite right," the Hatter murmured, shifting uneasily, her eyes slowly moving to roam around the large space, wary and alert, "I assure you, it knows exactly where and what we're doing right now...sets your teeth on edge, does it not?"

She smiled thinly back to the others, Journey seemingly agreeing with her, while the Doctor gave her a concerned look and reached out to place a hand on her lower back, his hand warm and large, gently pressing against her back, instantly warming her. It didn't exactly relax her or make her feel happy, but she was grateful for the attempt, sighing as she gave him a tired smile. She moved to step away from the ledge and the Doctor followed her closely, hand still on her back as they moved away, a section of wall catching the Hatter's eyes and her eyebrows rose, peering at the rows and rows of illuminated lights that ran across the wall, many, many of the walls, in fact. Some of the lights were darkened, seemingly with little pattern as to which lights were on or off, and there was no indication of what the lights meant, but she recognised them instantly.

"Ah," she eyed the lights carefully, thoughtfully, "The cortex vault. Basically..." she glanced back to the humans and Jen, who had turned to watch her; too, "It's like a giant memory bank, to put it into simple terms, though it's also so much more than just that".

"This is what keeps the Dalek pure," the Doctor added with a slight drawl to the last word, pulling a disgusted face, full of mocking and derision.

"How are Daleks pure?" the female solider asked with a slight scoff, gun raised ahead of her, eyes narrowed on the Doctor and Hatter, almost suspiciously.

"Dalek mutants are born hating," he explained, his tone hardening, "This is what stokes the fire..." he waved a hand towards the slits of illuminated lights, throwing the lights an icy glare, "Extinguish even the tiniest glimmer of kindness or compassion. Imagine the worst possible thing in the Universe, then don't bother, because you're looking at it right now," he sighed, grimly, "This is evil as engineering".

"Doctor?" the Dalek called out, voice echoing all around them and causing the glow of the memory bank to flicker. They all looked up, startled.

"Oh, hello, Rusty," he blinked very slightly, peering up at the low ceiling...Clara and Jen spared him a glance at the little nickname, "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".

"Don't you dare crack a joke about coughing, Doctor," the Hatter muttered warningly, narrowing her eyes on him, almost threateningly...he flashed her a small grin, telling her he had been considering it.

The female solider frowned, "You want to examine those tentacles and things?" she questioned dubiously, lowering the gun lightly to peer down over the edge of the ledge.

"How close do we have to get?" Journey gave the Doctor and the Hatter a slightly wary look, looking truly disturbed by the idea that she may have to get closer than they already had.

"Quite close, I'm afraid," the Hatter gave her a sympathetic smile, knowing well enough that same desire to remain as far away from the Dalek as possible, even while standing within its very body, right now. She was going to take a very long, hot, hot shower after this, just to try and shake away the cold, yuckie feeling that seemed to have sunk into her very clothing, like an icy coat.

Journey's lips pressed together tightly and she turned to look across to Ross, the male solider, giving him a quick, stiff nod. Ross immediately adjusted the end of his gun, before the Hatter could even blink, her eyes widening just a split second too late, when he had already fired a harpoon into the floor of the ledge that they stood on. Her hearts positively dropped through the floor in horror.

"No!" she cried, and rushed forward, while an ear piercing, low scream seemed to ring out all around them, sounding almost like a very distant, pained squeal of a wounded animal, "Stop it! Stop! No!"

Ross fired another harpoon, utterly ignoring her frantic shout, only turning to look at her as the Hatter came within a few feet of him, hands outstretched to try and grab the gun...Journey threw herself between them, shoving the Time Lady back a step, hard. She stumbled, but the Doctor was already there to steady her, his own eyes widened in horror.

"We need a way down!" Journey defended, almost angrily as she glared at the Doctor and the Hatter, "The only way!"

"You fools!" the Hatter gasped, shaking her head, feeling so frustrated and angry, she could have almost have physically pulled her own hair out, the only thing stopping her from doing so was the Doctor, who clutched her upper arms to help balance her from her near fall, "This isn't just a robot or machine, it's a living creature, a Dalek!" her voice dropped, growing colder, "A living, evil creature that you have just shot and wounded, what the hell do you think is going to happen next?"

Journey didn't say a word, merely staring back at them as the Hatter and the Doctor looked around warily, the Time Lady feeling a flicker of fear wash over her, followed closely by nausea. As if this whole thing couldn't get any worse, it had just gone and plummeted straight off the cliff of bad-bad and into an deep abyss of shockingly terrible.

"Oh, God," Clara breathed, paling and freezing on the spot, just a few steps behind the Time Lords.

"Mum..." Jen swallowed, hard, looking apprehensively to her parents, "When you say this is a living creature...and it's been wounded...you don't mean..." she trailed off.

"Oh, yes," the Doctor replied darkly, pulling the Hatter back beside him, while the Time Lady reached out and grabbed Jen's hand, tugging her closer to them, neither of them looking at either girl.

"What?" the female solider demanded, a flicker of fear crossing her face, which was quite wise...still, she turned her gun on them, as if they were somehow guilty, "What is it?"

Clara grimaced, looking nervously to the back of the Time Lords, "Antibodies?" she asked, almost weakly from fear.

"Not just antibodies, Clara," the Hatter shook her head, her voice soft, while her eyes were sharp and alert, fixed directly ahead of her, as if waiting for something, "Dalek antibodies...and I assure you, they are nothing to be sniffed at. If you all wish to live..." she raised her voice slightly, full of warning, "I suggest you all still yourselves, right now".

The warning had barely left her lips before a humming noise filled the air, growing louder as, from down the hallway behind the humans, several small, bronze, spheres appeared, floating through the air towards them. As they grew closer to them, the metal outside opened and an eye-like light was revealed, peering back at them, before they moved to surround Ross, encircling the solider, one-by-one, just as the Time Lady feared they would. She watched as the man stiffened on the spot and eyed the spheres fearfully, already feeling her hearts sinking. Antibodies were intelligent things, most especially those of a Dalek...they knew who was guilty for inflecting harm to their host.

"Nobody move," the Doctor reminded them all hastily, regarding the antibodies and Ross closely, "Any attempt to help him, or attack those things, will identify you as a secondary source of infection. Stay still!"

"But the Dalek wants us in here," Clara said through slightly clenched teeth, not quite daring to even move her lips, "Why is it attacking?"

"It's not a conscious choice, Clara," the Hatter replied grimly, watching the antibodies swirl around Ross, who stood painfully still on the spot, though it was unlikely to be of any help for him..., "Even a Dalek can't control what it's antibodies get up to".

"Ross, stay calm," Journey tried to reassure the man, her gun raised before her, her tone even and level, "We're going to get you out of this".

"Please tell me you can help him," Jen breathed, just barley moving her lips, staring at Ross in slight horror and shock.

The Hatter didn't say anything, though she wished she could, but the truth was that there was truly little that could be done to save Ross. The antibodies had targeted him, he had caused harm to their host and they perceived him as a threat to said host, they were just merely taking the time now to process that fact, but it wouldn't be long. In the mean time, however, those antibodies could swiftly decide to also perceives them to be guilty of the same crime, they may decide to simply dispose of them all and while the Time Lady hated that fact, and felt a horrible sense of dread and guilt bubbling inside of her, knowing that there was nothing they could do to save the foolish man, she also knew that they needed to do what they could to protect themselves now.

"Ross," the Doctor called loudly, not answering Jen's whispered plea, either, "Swallow that," he tossed him a small pill-like object.

Ross caught it from the air and immediately froze, once more, "What is it?" he asked quietly, looking frightened and tense.

"Trust me".

The Hatter couldn't speak; she just couldn't find it in her hearts to lie, though she wished she could have given the man some comfort. But in doing so, she knew it would only bring him further fear and pain, knowing that he was doomed. It was better if he still had a glimmer of hope of getting out of this, even if it made her guilt worse. Ross nodded to the Doctor and hastily popped the pill into his mouth, dry swallowing it as he looked hopefully back up to them.

"Now what?" he questioned.

"Jen, Clara," the Hatter murmured quickly, reaching out to grasp Jen by her elbow, "Close your eyes, right now".

"What...?" Jen began, confused.

She didn't let her finish, already seeing the antibodies starting to circle Ross faster and faster, while one seemed to just hover before his face, almost eye level, as if it was peering right into his face. She used Jen's elbow to whirl the girl around, right before a loud humming sound filled the air, followed swiftly by an awful scream of agony. She cringed and closed her eyes, tightening her grip of Jen to stop her from instinctively trying to look behind them, while hoping that Clara had listened to her.

"Ross!" Journey cried out, horrified.

The Hatter risked opening her eyes and glanced behind her, grimacing with regret as she witnessed Ross disintegrate away on the spot into a small pile of ash on the floor, leaving nothing else behind. She loosened her grip on Jen and slowly turned around on the spot, hearts heavy. She caught the Doctor's eye, his lips pressed into a tight line.

"Oh, my God!" Clara gasped, eyes wide and all the colour drained from her cheeks, gaping with a stricken expression at the pile of ash, "What's it doing?"

The blue eye-like opening of the antibodies had turned bright red and flashed a red light over the ash, pulling the ash up off the floor and into the small device. The Hatter sighed slightly; she was going to assume that Clara hadn't listened to her, after all.

"The hovering," the Doctor replied grimly, though he barely seemed to notice the horrified and appalled looks that the humans threw him, even Clara looked quite startled by his almost casual remark. Jen, however, just stared at the spot that Ross had been moments before, looking far to shocked to react. All of the antibodies, however, seemed to finally notice them and spun in the air in their direction, turning those almost eye-like screens onto them. The Doctor ignored the humans and whipped his sonic out of his pocket, checking it, "Gotcha!"

"What did you give him?" Clara demanded angrily, rounding on him.

"Oh, just a spare power cell," he shook his head, frowning slightly as he toyed with the sonic screwdriver, not seeming to notice her glare, "But I can track the radiation signature. We need to know where they dump the bodies".

"Doctor," the Hatter levelled him with a disapproving frown at his bluntness, as Jen blinked sharply and turned her stunned, slightly shaken eyes onto him, looking rather thrown by his words, too.

"I thought you were saving him!" Journey shouted, throwing the Doctor an accusing, furious glare, licking her lips anxiously, while still trying to keep an eye on the hovering antibodies.

The Time Lady shot the Doctor a warning look, noticing him opening his mouth to respond, "There was no saving him, Journey," she told her grimly, giving her an apologetic look, "I'm deeply sorry for the deception, but it was better that he thought we could save him, rather than admit the truth. But right now, we need to focus on those that we can save," she looked warily back across to the antibodies, reaching out to take Jen's hand, "Everyone, we need to move! Run!"

She whirled on her heel and, towing Jen right behind her, took off down the hallway. The Doctor swiftly fell into step alongside the pair, while Clara and the other humans followed, though Journey and the remaining solider seemed to hesitate briefly. The loud humming sound of the antibodies trailing right on their heels filled the air, urging them onwards, while the Doctor held the sonic screwdriver out before him, using it to find them a path to escaping the antibodies. They had only gone a short distance, ducking beneath a large, thick cable along the way, before they came a stop before a large hole cut into the ground of the hallway, snaking all the way down, like a large pipe. They stopped at the edge of the hole and peered down it as the humans caught up to them.

"They've dumped him in here," the Doctor looked back around to the others, pointing down at the hole, "Organic refuge disposal. We need to get in there".

"Why?" Clara shook her head, giving him a confused frown.

"Because they're not going to stop coming after us, are they?" Jen said quietly, her young face hardening with resignation, baby blue eyes almost steely as they lifted to give Clara a grim, steady stare, "The antibodies aren't just going to let us go, Clara. But I'm guessing that we can trick them into thinking we're already dead, right?" she looked to the Doctor and the Hatter.

Journey and the solider began firing at the approaching antibodies, the sounds of their energy weapons blasting through the air making the Time Lady grimace, throwing them a disapproving look. Right, because shooting had helped them so much. Honestly, humans.

"Exactly, Jen-Jen," the Doctor flashed her a brilliant grin, pointing at her, "That's why we need to go down there..."

"You don't know where it goes!" Journey called over the sound of her firing, throwing him a dubious glare.

"Of course we do," the Hatter rolled her eyes slightly, "Don't be so quick to assume, Journey. Clara, Jen..." she looked to the girls, giving them a calm, reassuring look, "Be brave and swift, now. Go!"

Jen immediately moved into action and hurried right over the edge, squeezing her eyes shut before she took a step forward and allowed herself to fall right down the hole. Clara looked far less eager, giving the Hatter a slightly wary frown, but she still followed Jen, sitting herself on the edge of the hole and delicately pushing herself over the edge, her squeal echoing back up the pipe back to them.

"I can hold them off!" the solider shouted, bravely facing down against the antibodies, firing shot after shot.

"No, you can't!" the Doctor argued right back raising his sonic screwdriver, flashing it at the antibodies...it caused several of them to explored, but more would swiftly follow and those that remained, would only grow fiercer in their attack.

"Journey!" the Hatter called loudly, "Solider girl, come on! Get down the hole!"

Journey hesitated, but she lowered her weapon and made a dash for the opening, throwing herself down into the pipe, her own cry echoing back up to them. The other solider looked more than ready to keep on fighting, but the Doctor rolled his eyes in annoyance and grabbed the back of her combat suit, shoving her back towards the hole...the Hatter easily sidestepped the woman, who lost her balance with an alarmed gasp and fell straight down the hole. It might have been rather comical, if the antibodies weren't hovering so closely.

"I don't imagine this is going to be very pleasant, sweetheart!" the Hatter flashed him a small grimace as she moved to stand by the edge of the hole, peering down at it apprehensively.

"I can always push you in, if it makes it easier, dear".

She laughed slightly, almost surprised and threw him an amused look, "And humanity claims that romance is dead," she grinned, blowing him a kiss, right before she stepped forward and felt herself free falling through thin air, her stomach lurching from the unpleasant sensation.

The Doctor's laugh echoed back down to her.

Hey, guys...been a while, huh? I apologise, life has been busy, but hey, I'm officially an owner of my very own patch of land! Just gotta save up to build now, which is awfully grownup, but also pretty frigging awesome and fun to think about. It's been my goal for two years now to buy land and save to build, so I'm pretty delighted to finally see it happening and all on my own, too. Anyway, tell me what you thought, please review! :)

Guest Reviews:

Guest (1): I think the Hatter would be quite shocked to see Ten back again...but also thrilled. I mean, that's such a special regeneration to her, it's the one she physically married and she has so many sweet, tender memories of him. I almost feel like the Doctor purposely changed back into Ten for that reason.

Izzy (1): I do really enjoy this version of the Master, he's just so crazy and you have no idea what he's going to do next. I guess, I can see the self-loathing, but I also wish they would explore it more, honestly. I do kind of miss a more calculating, cold, classic Master, but this version of him is fun and he made me giggle a few times...which I'm not sure is really the goal, but his little Russian dance? It got me, hard. I mean, I was still giggling after the scene had changed.

Izzy (2): I'm personally delighted to see David back, but I can kind of see why people might be upset. It is clearly fan-service, bringing back a beloved Doctor when the show is struggling and I kind of feel bad for Jodie that she didn't really feel like she got that big impact when she left, like I kind of feel like Ten coming back overshadowed it, at least it did for me, because I was so happy to see him back again. I'm curious to see what happens next and how it'll all play out.

Izzy (3): One hundred percent, the Hatter's companions meet up, those who can, anyway. Max and Alice can't, since they're back in the nineteenth century, but everyone else, for sure. I also very firmly believe that they would hang out with the Doctor's companions, too, I mean, quite a few of them also travelled with the Doctor's companions and knew them well, and I've always had it in my head that they probably meet up and have fish 'n' chips or something, and swap stories about the Doctor and the Hatter's antics. Maybe that's the one-shot I should write :)

Izzy (4): I was so delighted to see the classic actors back; it made me smile so widely. I do wish we'd seen Tom and Matt, but I suppose Matt had schedule conflicts with House of the Dragon, which he's brilliant in, by the way, and I suppose Tom...well, he's getting on, now days. Last time I saw him he looked awfully frail and he had clearly lost weight, so I can't blame him if he decided not to appear, for his health, which I think is more likely than anything to do with outshining anyone. But Colin and Paul! Lovely to see them again. It was just such a nice moment, probably one of my favourites of the episode.

Guest (2): I think the Hatter would be furious that the Master would try to steal the Doctor's body, but not exactly surprised. I mean, he's tried to do it in the past, right? I think she'd just be more disgusted and angry than anything else. Tricky question to answer, to be honest, given how far into the future it is, so I apologise for likely how vague my response feels.

Izzy (5): I'm kind of disappointed we didn't see the regeneration inside the TARDIS, but I suppose it is refreshing and it's nice to have a new take, so I'm not exactly complaining to much about it. I do wish they had kept the clothing the same, rather than changed them, that kind of bothered me, but hey, yeah, maybe they'll explain it away.

Izzy (6): Well, the Hatter saw Tegan at her wedding, while I don't think Ace was there...again, might be wrong. Regardless, I think she's always delighted to see old friends again and happy to have the chance to work with them again, and I think she would have such a sentimental moment seeing the old Doctor's pop up again. She always loves to see their familiar faces.

Izzy (7): Oh, God, you're going to make me have to really think here, I feel like I have a list somewhere. The First Hatter died from old age, Second was forced to regenerate, the Fourth Hatter was shot by a Cyberman weapon, while I don't believe I ever really settled on how the Sixth and Seventh Hatter's regenerated. And as for all of the other Hatter's, aside from Modern Who...I'm having a mental blank. I know I've written about their deaths before and I tried to find it, but I couldn't at this point and coming off working a night shift, my brain's not fully functioning right now, so I do apologise. I need to start making lists.

IZZY (8): Oh, God, that scene with the Master doing that Russian dancing, it got me, hard. I was still laughing after the scene had changed. I feel like the Hatter would have a surprised little giggle over it, but kind of a guilty one, too, with the Doctor giving her a look, kind of like "Don't laugh while the Master is trying to take over my body, Hatter!" and she's just sitting there, tied up, giggling away and sheepishly apologising. I mean, she can appreciate a little spontaneous dance, even if it is the Master.