A/N: Uh, hi. Yeah, remember me? I'm the write who has been disappearing for long periods of time after uploading 1 or 2 new chapters, even though I promised things would get better. I'm sorry. Real life has taken over, you don't want to hear all the details, even I don't like thinking about it all. Here is the next chapter, the final part for Asylum of the Daleks. Enjoy.
"So, Doctor, I've been looking you up. You're all over the database." Oswin announced, quickly changing the topic and doing what she could to avoid answering the Doctor's question. "Why do the Daleks call you the Predator?"
"I"m not the Predator. I'm just a man with a plan." The Doctor ended up saying, glancing down at Kari and noticing how she was raising one eyebrow at him. He was slightly concerned, she was being too quiet, and that wasn't like her at all.
"Well it better be a good plan, Doctor." Kari told him, nodding towards Amy a little. She was worried about her, she was worried about everything. Changes always happened when she was around, so what was she going to change this time? Was it going to affect Amy and Rory at all? "It better be a really good plan."
Oswin had been listening, and watching of course. "You've got a plan?"
Rory, however wasn't as excited as Oswin had sounded. "We're all ears." He wanted to find a way out of there as well, he just hoped that it really was a plan that was going to work.
Amy was still looking a bit rough, she still seemed to be in a bit of a daze as well. "There's a nose joke going if someone wants to pick that one off." Kari couldn't help but chuckle a little as the Doctor led her back over to their friends. It was good that Amy was still being sarcastic and trying to make jokes, it meant that she was still Amy.
It didn't take long for the Doctor to start rambling on about his great plan that was being built in his head. "In no particular order, we need to neutralise all the Daleks in this Asylum, rescue Oswin from the wreckage, escape from this planet and fix Amy and Rory's marriage."
There was silence for a few seconds while Amy and Rory looked at each other. "Okay, I'm counting three lost causes, anyone else?" All Kari wanted to do was give her friend a massive hug and tell her that everything was going to be fine, that all she needed to do was talk to Rory, to tell him how she really felt. It was so difficult for Kari to just stand there and watch them both when she knew that it was all wrong and that they should never have broken up in the first place.
The Doctor could clearly see that something was wrong was Kari, and he quickly slipped his arm around her waist, grasping her attention and just letting her know that he was there. "Oswin, there's a Dalek ship in orbit." Oswin was quick to inform him that she had it on the sensors. "The Asylum has a forcefield. The Daleks upstairs are waiting for me to turn it off. Soon as I do, they'll burn this whole world and us with it."
"Something which I highly object to, I'd just like to say." Kari pointed out, just making sure that her voice was heard. She knew that she was being too quiet now as well, and she had to change that before the Doctor started to worry and think that something was wrong. "I don't fancy being blown up today."
"Exactly. So, Oswin, my questions is this, how fast can you drop the force field?" The Doctor finally asked, letting go of Kari and bouncing over to where the camera was, the one that Oswin was using to watch them from.
"Pretty fast, but why would I?" Oswin replied, sounding a little confused.
Kari quickly decided to take the reigns. "Because we're standing at the teleport, right? But at the moment it's only for internal use. However, we can boost the power and once the forcefield is down we can use it to get us all off this planet and far away from this place." She explained rather quickly. As far as she was concerned, it was time to get the hell out of there. The Doctor was already scanning the teleport with his sonic screwdriver and messing around with the wires.
Rory has a slight issue with what Kari had said and quickly glanced at the Doctor. "You said when the forcefield is down, the Daleks will blow us up." He was right, he had said that.
"Well, we will just have to be super quick and beam back to the only place that is in range." Kari said, watching the Doctor's face light up with pride in her and their friends faces turn down with more worry. "Yeah, the Dalek ship."
"Where they'd exterminate us on the spot." Amy pointed out, and quite rightly too.
But she wasn't the only one with something to say. "Oh, so this is the kind of escape plan where you survive about four seconds longer?" Rory retorted, not at all impressed with the plan.
"What's wrong with four seconds?" The Doctor ended up protesting. You can do loads in four seconds." He added, before turning back to the camera once more. "Oswin, how fast can you drop the forcefield?"
"I can do it from here. As soon as you come and get me." There was something in her voice that Kari recognised, fear.
Unfortunately, the Doctor wasn't able to pick up on it. There was only one person whose emotions he could pick up, and that was Kari's. "No, just drop the forcefield and come to us." He replied without much hesitation at all.
"There's enough power in that teleport for one go. Why would you wait for me?" Oswin doubted them, she doubted that they would wait for her, even if they did give their word to her.
The Doctor suddenly turned very serious. "Why wouldn't I?"
Kari knew what Oswin was going to say next, and she was getting herself ready. She was not going to let the Doctor walk there on his own, she was not going to let him make that discovery alone. She just had to be there for him. "No idea, never met you. Sending you a map so you can come and get me."
"This place is crawling with Daleks." Rory was still as good as ever at pointing out the obvious, and it really did make Kari smile.
"Yeah, kind of why I'm anxious to leave. Come up and see me sometime."
While the Doctor was taking a look at the map, Kari was standing beside him, Rory on the other side. "So, are we going to get her?" He asked, not really sure what was going on. His mind was still focused on Amy and what was happening to her.
"I don't think that we have a choice." The Doctor admitted, not exactly happy about the whole situation. "Okay, as soon as the forcefield is down the Daleks will attack. If it gets too explody-wody in here, you go without me, okay?" Kari frowned at him, and cleared her throat. The look she gave him made him realise that she was not happy with him. "No, you need to stay here and look after Amy and Rory."
Kari didn't relent her gaze at him. "No, I'm coming with you. Rory can look after Amy, and besides, they have a lot that they need to talk about, they have things to sort out." Her gaze switched from the Doctor and to Rory, just to make it clear that she was serious. "I'm with you, Doctor. Always."
With a heavy sigh he nodded at her. "Okay. Okay, you can come with me." He said, before reaching down a kissing her lightly on the top of her head. After that, he get working on the teleport, making sure that his tinkering would take them to the ship and not somewhere else in the Asylum.
"Wait, we go and leave you both to die?" Rory said, finally catching up on what was happening and what they were both saying.
A smile slipped onto Kari's face. "Yeah, don't worry about us. I mean, you're the one beaming up to a Dalek ship to get exterminated." She pointed out, trying to lighten the mood even though it all seemed bad whatever way they looked at it.
"Fair point. Love this plan." Rory ended up saying, clearly not meaning a word of it. "What about Amy?"
"Keep her remembering, keep her focused. That'll hold back the conversion." The Doctor told him, now underneath the clear platform of the teleport, still tinkering around with it all.
Finally, Amy had moved, although she was still sitting down and not standing up. Kari could see that she was confused, and that her head was hurting her. "What do I do?"
"You heard what Oswin said." Kari said to her softly. "They are subtracting love. Don't let them, Amy." She told her, quickly glancing at Rory. "I know you, Amy, I know everything that is going on. Things really don't have to be this way, trust me." She took a hold of her friends hand, hoping that no one noticed what she was doing. If the Doctor saw her, then she would be in some serious trouble.
Lucky for Kari, he was still far too busy to notice what she was doing, and the moment he announced that everything was ready, he grabbed her hand and pulled her away. Soon enough they were walking down a darkened corridor, the muffled cries and calls from mad Daleks reaching their ears. The banging that was going on really wasn't helping either of them with their nerves.
"It's going to be fine." Kari ended up whispering, more to herself than the Doctor, but he still hear her. "Amy and Rory will fix everything, it's all going to be fine."
While the Doctor wanted to stop, he knew that they couldn't. "You're scared." He instead announced while the continued their slow and cautious walk. "More scared than normal."
She chuckled a little. "Of course I'm scared. We could be walking right into a trap for all you know. Like Rory said, this place is crawling with Daleks, Daleks who know us and want to kill us." Kari said, her whole attitude letting him know that she was still scared. "Not exactly what I had in mind when I woke up this morning, or yesterday morning, I can't even remember now."
"And now you're rambling." The Doctor whispered to her, holding her hand just a little tighter.
But Kari wasn't really listening to him, she was too busy running over everything else that was going on. "Amy and Rory, they will sort it out. It was so stupid of them to break up in the first place. Amy kicked him out, she kicked him and gave him up. And you don't know why, do you Doctor?" She asked, but not giving him time to respond. "Kids. Rory has always wanted children, always, for as long as Amy can remember. But after what happened, after all they did to her at Demons Run, she couldn't. Amy gave him up so that he could find someone else and still have children."
Suddenly the Doctor stopped and looked at Kari. "How long have you known all of this?" He asked her, but already knowing the answer. "You couldn't have done anything to prevent it, Kari, you know that. And like you said, they're sorting it all out now."
"I know. Yeah, I know. It's just… the pair of them have just wasted so much time fighting." It kind of reminded her of some of her times with the Doctor, back when he was just that little bit younger.
"We've wasted enough of our own time fighting in the past." It seemed that he was thinking the same thing. "But we can't change it now. Even with a time machine, this is something they need to sort out on their own. And like you said, they are, and they will." The Doctor told her, before giving her a big hug and kissing her hair lightly.
But there was something else that was bothering her, something that she knew Amy and Rory will have worked out, and something that she would probably tell the Doctor. "Um, yeah. There's something else you should know." She said, before picking up her wrist and showing it to him. It was the wrist that once had the device on it that stopped the nano could, and it was now gone.
The Doctor let out a sigh. "Oh, Kari…"
"It's fine, Doctor, okay. It's all fine. Amy needed it more than I did. You seem to forget, I have the time vortex flooding through me, that has to be something." Kari wasn't entirely sure, but she was just going to go with it, plus she knew that she was stronger than she though. "And besides, I've got you here, haven't I?"
There was silence between them as they continued to walk, but not an awkward one. The Doctor understood why she had given Amy the device, and he couldn't object, because he was planning on doing the exact same thing. Now, however, he could understand why she was being so quiet, not only was she scared because of the situation, she was worrying about her friends.
"Oswin, I think we're close." He suddenly announced, feeling a slight shift in the air around them. Things seemed a lot bleaker now around them, there was much more decay around them.
"You are." Oswin told them, but her voice a little distant, like she wasn't sitting at the computer. "Less than twenty feet away. Which is the good news." Now her voice was louder and clearer, and her words were not helping.
"Okay. And the bad, which I suddenly feel is coming?" The Doctor hadn't failed to pick up on that, neither had Kari and she slightly tightened her grip on the Doctor's hand.
"You're about to pass through Intensive Care." Oswin announced, which actually sent a shiver down Kari's spine. She knew about the Daleks that were in there, she knew what made them all ever so special to the rest of the Daleks.
The door clunked and rolled upwards, leaving the way clear for the pair to enter through. The lights started coming on, and Kari could feel both her hearts beating just a little bit faster. The Daleks that they were passing were all caged and chained up, as well as dusty and rusty.
"What's so special about this lot, then?" The Doctor ended up asking, only risking glances at the metal monsters.
"Survivors of particular wars." Oswin replied. "Spiridon, Kembel, Aridius, Vulcan, Exxilon. Ringing any bells?" She had no idea about any of them, none of the names meant a thing to Oswin, but they certainly did to the Doctor.
"All of them." Kari replied, doing her utmost best to keep herself calm. "These are all the Daleks who survived him."
"No, these are all Daleks who survived us." The Doctor corrected her, already knowing that she probably hadn't been to most of those places yet in her timeline.
All of a sudden, the Daleks seemed to come alive. "Doctor…" The dragged out screech of a Dalek called, followed by another and another. The lights on their heads started lighting up, the blue light at the end of the eyestalk glowing eerily. Kari was not impressed, or any less scared.
"That's weird. Those ones don't usually wake up for anything." It was easy to hear the confusion in Oswin's voice.
"Yeah, well, special visitors." The Doctor replied, his grip now tightening on Kari's hand. With his grip more secure, he dragged Kari through the rest of the room and to the door at the end. "Okay, door, but it won't open." He announced, before whipping out his sonic screwdriver. "We can't be far away now, though."
"Hang on. Not quite sure, but there's a release code. Let me just…" Oswin was trying her best to figure it all out, because she was starting to realise just how dire the situation was for the Doctor and Kari. "Anything happening out there?"
"Uh, not just yet, but I'd really appreciate it if you got this door open, Oswin." Kari said, knowing exactly what was going to happen next. "We're not exactly on good terms with this lot, and I would really like to make it out of here in one piece."
Even Oswin could hear the desperation in her voice now. "Hang on, I'm trying to think."
The part that Kari was not look forward to came far too soon, as the Daleks began breaking free of their chains. "Any time now would be great, Oswin." She cried, while the Daleks continued to break free of their bonds. The metal chains were old and rusted, it wasn't too hard for them to break free, and now that they were free they were heading straight for the Doctor and Kari.
"Doc…tor. Doc… tor." One of them screeched, repeating it over and over again.
Kari was about to make a joke about how they only seemed to be after the Doctor, when one of them said something she really hadn't expected. "An…gel." One of them cried, sending a shiver down her spine. To make things better, it called the same word out again, and she knew it was referring to her.
"Oswin! Open this door!" The Doctor shouted, starting to panic now. He could feel the fear radiating from Kari now, and he wanted nothing more than for the pair of them to get the hell out of there.
"I can't!"
Not only was Kari filling with fear and panic, but the Doctor was as well. "Just get this door open!" He shouted, watching as the Daleks slowly moved closer towards where the pair were backed up against the door. Kari safely behind Doctor. "Oswin! Oswin please! Get this door open!" He shouted, finally noticing exactly how frightened Kari was getting. There was a strange glow coming from behind him, and he knew that it was Kari and the time vortex trying to protect her.
The moments passed, and the Daleks were still approaching, their suckers point towards them, getting closer and closer to the Doctor. "Doctor…" Kari whispered, her voice so full of fear. Suddenly, all the overgrown pepper pots stopped. Then something even more bizarre happened, they turned away from the Doctor and Kari, who were completely backed up against the metal door, and simply rolled away.
"Oh, that is cool." Oswin announced, before giggling slightly. However, her giggle didn't relieve the fear and panic that both the Doctor and Kari were feeling. "Tell me I'm cool, chin boy."
The Doctor was just shocked, he had never seen the Daleks act like that before, it just wasn't right, it didn't make sense. "What… what did you do?"
Oswin, however, did not answer him. "Hang on, I think I've found the door thingy."
"No, tell me what you did." The Doctor demanded, wanting to know how the woman had managed to turn the Daleks around and protect both himself and Kari.
"The Daleks, they have a hive mind. Well, they don't, but they have a sort of telepathic web." Oswin explained, still sounding pretty pleased with herself.
The Doctor knew exactly what she was talking about. "The path web, yes."
"I hacked into it, did a mass delete on all the information connected with the Doctor, and Kari. Who they also call the Angel." While Oswin was still proud of herself, Kari knew that there were going to be massive repercussions coming because of it all, because of what the woman had done to save them both.
"But you made them forget us." It was plain to see that the Doctor was still in shock, and he was now holding Kari tightly in his arms. She knew that he was relieved, she was as well, but there was so much more going on inside that Time Lord head of his.
"The thing is, he's been trying to hack into the path web for a very long time. Now he is a genius, my genius I'd like to add, and even he couldn't do it." Kari said, watching as the door slowly lifted up, disappearing into the ceiling. "But you could."
"Come and meet the girl who can." Oswin said, just as the door fully opened. Kari was the first one to look inside the room, since she had been the closest to the door. What she saw made her close her eyes and turn around, her head colliding with the Doctor's chest. He had seen exactly what she had, and even he was in shock. Both of them were stunned by what was there in front of them. "Hey, you're right outside. Come on in." Oswin didn't know there was a problem, she was too happy to know that there was someone there, that they had kept their promise and came to get her.
"Oswin, we have a problem." The Doctor finally said, getting her attention.
"No we don't." The woman replied, not sure she was going to like whatever he would say next. "Don't even say that. Joined the Alaska to see the universe, ended up stuck in a shipwreck first time out. Rescue me chin boy and Angel, and show me the stars."
Kari couldn't take it anymore, it was far more painful than she had ever imagined it would be. "Oswin, I'm sorry. Does it look real to you, where you are right now?"
"It is real." Oswin replied, while the Doctor and Kari both looked around the dome shaped white room they were not standing in.
"It's a dream, Oswin." The Doctor said, knowing that Kari was struggling a little. "You dreamed it for yourself because the truth was too terrible."
This was the part that Kari hated the most, the part where Oswin came to realise the truth, where she completely fell to pieces. "Where am I?" Oswin called, as both the Doctor and Kari look sadly at the Dalek that was chained up before them.
"Where am ?" The Dalek called, the bulbs on its head lighting up as it spoke. "Where am I?"
As if a switch had been flicked, the Doctor's attitude suddenly changed. "Because you are a Dalek." He announced, taking a step closer to the chained up machine. Kari knew that he didn't know what to think, he didn't know whether this whole thing had been a trap that Oswin has led them to or not. He just didn't know.
"I am not a Dalek. I am not a Dalek! I'm human." In her head, Kari could see Oswin sitting inside of the pod, her red dress on and tears beginning to form in her eyes.
Even the Doctor could tell that something was quite right, especially when he saw the tears building in Kari's eyes. "You were human when you crashed here. It was you who climbed out of the pod. That was your ladder." He said, actually touching the casing of the Dalek.
"I'm human." The Dalek protested once more.
"Not any more." Kari said softly as she came closer to the Dalek and the Doctor. "Because you were right, Oswin. You're a genius, and the Daleks need genius. They didn't just make you a puppet, I'm so sorry, they did a full conversion." The first wave of tears fell from Kari's eyes, because she knew the truth, she know a whole lot more than either of them did.
The Doctor quickly wrapped an arm around Kari, understanding that it was hard for her. "Oswin, I am so sorry, but you are a Dalek. The milk, Oswin. The milk and the eggs for the soufflés. Where… where did it all come from?" It all led back to that, where did she get the milk and eggs from, unless she had a animals living in there with her, it didn't make sense. "It wasn't real, it was never real."
"Eggs…" The Dalek called, "eggs… stir… min… ate…"
Now the Doctor was worried, he knew what it was saying, even if it was slightly broken up and sounding slightly different, he knew a Daleks main function would always kick in. "Oswin…" He called, pushing Kari behind him and back towards the door.
"Exterminate! Exterminate!" The Dalek cried rolling forward, breaking out of the chains that were holding it with ease. "Exterminate! Exterminate!"
The pair were backed up against the door now, a door that was closed with no chance of it opening any time soon. "Oswin!" Kari shouted, hoping that inside the Dalek shell the woman could hear her. "Oswin, please, stop this!"
All of a sudden the Dalek did stop, with its plunger pressed against the Doctor's chest, and a sobbing sound followed. "Why do they hate you so much? They hate you so much. Why?"
"I have fought them many, many times." Kari knew that it was hard for the Doctor, it was hard for her as well, even more so since she knew who it really was inside of that Dalek casing.
"We have grown stronger in fear of you." Oswin announced, mainly focusing on the Doctor. It was hard to focus on Kari since she was still being shielded by the Doctor.
Those words really hit home with the Doctor, and he knew there was no escaping. "I know. I tried to stop…"
Even though Kari knew what was going on, and what was going to happen, her emotions were still all over the place. For brief moments she forgot what was going to happen next, like she had never seen it all happening before. Her head was a lot more messed up than it usually as, and that was a big worry for her.
"Then run." The Dalek suddenly said, shocking both Kari and the Doctor.
They both looked up at the glowing blue eyestalk. "What did you say?" The Doctor asked, hardly able to believe what he had just heard.
"I've taken down the forcefield. The Daleks above have begun their attack. Run!" The Doctor wanted to say something, to tell Oswin how grateful he was, so say sorry once more, but he didn't have the chance to. "I am Oswin Oswald. I fought the Daleks and I am human! Remember me."
It was all getting too much for Kari now, and the tears were freely streaming down her cheeks now. "Thank you, Oswin. And I promise, we will never, ever forget you." The Dalek screamed for them to run once more, which they did, without hesitation.
It was easy to see that the attack had started, the whole place was shaking and there were more than just a few explosions going on around them as they made their way back to the teleport where Amy and Rory were waiting for them. That was assuming they hadn't decided that it was too explody-wody and had already decided to get out of there. The Doctor kept a very tight hold of Kari's hand as they ran, occasionally having to dodge a few panicking Daleks and slight explosions.
Through all of it, the Doctor's grip on Kari's hand just tightened. He didn't even let it go when they finally made it to the teleport, where Amy and Rory were locked together by their lip. "Aww, look, the Ponds kissed and made up." Kari called, knowing that it wasn't going to get their attention at all. They were far too busy to notice the pair were back.
"Yes, right, go!" The Doctor said, not yet realising that the person who was holding the control pad was not listening to him at all. "Let's go! We're good! Let's go." Even after trying several more times and getting right up close to them, they just ignored him. "Oh, for God's sake." He ended up crying before snatching the device out of Rory's hand, which wasn't too difficult to do.
Nothing happened, and the Doctor frantically pressed the button again and again, harder and with more force each time. Suddenly it sprang into life, and a beam surrounded them all. Kari closed her eyes tightly as she held onto the Doctor's arm. All she could think about was the TARDIS, and how much she wanted to have a nice, long, hot bath before curling up in a soft warm bed.
Before she knew it, her ears were filling with that soothing humming sound that she loved so much. A smile slipped onto her face as she opened her eyes and was surrounded by that familiar orange glow. "Home…" She whispered, glad to be back in the TARDIS. It felt like she hadn't see the old girl for such a long time, even though she knew the most it would have been is a few days.
All of a sudden the Doctor lept around the console, flipping switches, a big grin on his face. The scanner was showing the debris of the destroyed planet, the Asylum had been utterly blown to pieces. "You know, you guys should really have seen this coming." The Doctor said, his voice echoing slightly. "The thing about me and teleports, I've got a really good aim. Pin-point accurate, in fact. Or, to put it another way…" He said, before dragging Kari over to the door with him and yanking it open. "Suckers!"
Kari couldn't help but let out a few giggles, while the Daleks all cried out, asking for the Doctor to identify himself. Their confusion, in his opinion, was amazing. She had never seen a Dalek confused like that before, and here she was witnessing a whole ship full of confused pepperpots. "Oh come on, you know him. He's the Doctor, the Oncoming Storm, the Predator. Ringing any bells?" Kari asked, already know what the answer was going to be.
"Titles are not meaningful in this context. Doctor who?" One of the part converted Daleks said, the one who had once been Darla, a mother. Her words seemed to have an impact, as every other Dalek, including the Dalek Prime Minister, all repeated what she had said, Doctor who.
The Doctor couldn't help but smile. "Oh, Oswin. Oh, you did it to them all. You beauty." Even after she found out she had been fully converted into a Dalek, she had still helped them both, she had shown that she still had more than just a spec of humanity within her.
"Doctor who?" Kari said, looking around at the Daleks. "Doctor who?" She really was about to burst out into a giggle fit, she really wanted to, she was struggling to hold it all in. After all that hd happened, she was laughing and she just couldn't stop.
Even the Doctor felt like laughing with her. "Fellas, you're never going to stop asking." He announced, before shoving Kari into the TARDIS and shutting the door behind them both. A few seconds later and they were being flung through the time vortex, and Kari finally let out all of her giggles.
A/N: All I can do is apologise for the long wait for this chapter. I'm not going to promise that I will have the next one up soon, because I don't know if I can keep that promise. I am working on all of my stories as much as I can, and I will update when possible.
Thank you to all of you lovely people who have been patient with me and have never given up hope that I will update, and to those who send kind words of encouragement. It is all most appreciated.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and I hope to be posting again soon.
Pippa.