A/N: Every episode posted gets me closer to my favorite of season three, but I'm not telling you which one that is. But I encourage you to leave a review with your guess as to which it is! Also going to start taking suggestions for the wedding of the Doctor and Rose Tyler. Details still being planned include: place, guests, date, and customs followed during the ceremony. I look forward to your suggestions and will give credits out to those whose suggestions I use!

Season Three: "Daleks in Manhattan"

The TARDIS and its occupants were on a lovely planet with purple grass and a yellow sky, and Martha was thrilled with the scenery.

"I still can't believe the grass is purple," she said, for the fourth time.

Rose laughed, pulling up a handful and flinging it at her. "I can't believe that's what you're hung up on. You do realize there's a tree that has marshmallow fruit, right?"

The Doctor coughed. "Well… technically it's not marshmallow, but a similar organic structure, not unlike…"

He stopped at the look in the eyes of his fiancée and grinned. He had a fiancée. The blonde lay back in the grass and giggled. "I can't believe we managed to spend three whole days somewhere and no one tried to kill us."

The Doctor sat near her, not even trying to hide his grin when she wriggled around and placed her head in his lap. He stroked her hair lovingly as Martha flopped down.

"So what are we going to do next?" she asked. "Don't tell me it's time to go home."

"Oh, don't take Martha back yet," Rose pleaded. "She didn't even get to see anything truly wonderful yet. Sure Shakespeare, and New New York… but… can't we go somewhere… glitzy?"

"Yeah, Doctor," their friend chimed in. "I want to see something glamorous before I have to go back to my ordinary life."

He pretended to consider it, even though he'd agreed in his mind the moment Rose asked him. "Well… I imagine we could go one more place…"

Martha whooped in victory, but Rose just grinned. She knew by the look on his face she was getting spoiled. Who knew her dream man would turn out to be a 900 year old alien? She pulled him down for a kiss and whispered, "Thank you Theta."

He smiled widely at her before getting up. "Alright then, let's go to our next destination!"

He pulled both women to their feet and they ran to the TARDIS, laughing. He whirled knobs and pressed buttons, and flipped levers.

"Where are we going?" the medical student asked, leaning against the rail near the captain's chair that Rose had claimed.

"Oh no," the Doctor laughed. "I'm not about to ruin the surprise, Martha Jones. And don't you ask either, Rose. I am allowed some secrets."

She grinned. "I've no intention of asking, love. I like being surprised."

He just shot her a grin and continued his adjustments.

When they arrived at their destination, Martha was the first out the door, and called back in to the pair who were still at the console, kissing. "Where are we?"

The Doctor smiled, and followed her out, holding Rose's hand. "Ah, smell that Atlantic breeze. Nice and cold. Lovely. Martha, have you met my friend?"

He gestured up and the medical student's jaw dropped.

"Is that-? Oh my God! That's the Statue of Liberty!"

Rose smiled at the symbol of America.

"Gateway to the New World. 'Give me you tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to break free…'"

"Show off," his fiancée nudged him. "You think you're so impressive."

He beamed at her, the old taunt now just made him want to laugh, or kiss her. "I am so impressive."

Martha missed the exchanged. "That's so brilliant. I've always wanted to go to New York. I mean the real New York, not the new, new, new, new, new…"

The three of them walked to the edge of the island and admired the view of the Manhattan skyline.

"Well, here's the genuine article. So good, they named it twice. Mind you, it was New Amsterdam originally. Harder to say twice. Now wonder it didn't catch on. New Amsterdam, New Amsterdam," the Doctor teased.

"I wonder what year it is 'cause look, the Empire State Building's not even finished yet," she marveled.

"Work in progress. Still got a couple floors to go, and if I know my history, that makes the date somewhere around—"

Rose answered. "November 1, 1930."

The Doctor beamed with pride. "You're getting good at this."

She shook her head and held up a newspaper. "I've learned to read the papers."

"Eighty years ago," Martha grinned, taking the paper. "It's funny 'cause you see all those old newsreels in black and white like it's so far away, but here we are. It's real. It's now. Come on, you two. Where do we go first?"

"I think our detour just got longer," he frowned, suddenly taking the paper and showing them the headline.

Rose read aloud, "'Hooverville Mystery Deepens'. What's Hooverville?"

He led them away, and soon they were on a casual stroll through the park.

The Doctor explained. "Herbert Hoover, 31st President of the USA, came to power a year ago. Up till then New York was a boom town, the Roaring Twenties, and then…"

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

"Good," he praised her knowledge. "Whole economy wiped out overnight. Thousands of people unemployed. Suddenly the huddled masses doubled in number with nowhere to go. So they ended up here in Central Park."

"What? They actually live in the park? In the middle of the city?" Rose said.

They arrived at Hooverville; a collection of quickly put together shacks and tents with random fire barrels placed throughout.

The Doctor seemed sad. "Ordinary people. Lost their jobs. Couldn't pay the rent and they lost everything. There are places like this all over America. You only come to Hooverville when there's nowhere else to go."

They heard shouting from another part of Hooverville. Two men were fighting.

"You thievin' lowlife!"

People were trying to break up the fight as the three travelers got closer. An older man, Solomon, steps out of his tent and tried to stop the fight.

"Cut that out!" He shouted, even though the two men ignored Solomon and kept fighting. "Cut that out! Right now!" He pushed the two men apart.

"He stole my bread!" one of the men yelled.

"That's enough! Did you take it?"

"I don't know what happened. He just went crazy," the other man shouted.

The first man lunged but was held back.

"That's enough!"

Other residents of Hooverville were beginning to wander over to see what was going on. The Doctor and the women among them.

"Now think real careful before you lie to me," the leader said carefully.

"I'm starvin', Solomon."

The man identified as Solomon held out his hand and the man reached under his coat and pulled out the bread, handing it over to him.

"We're all starvin'," Solomonsaid simply, breaking the bread in half and giving one half to each man. "We all got families somewhere. No stealin' and no fightin'. You know the rules. Thirteen years ago I fought in the Great War. A lot of us did. And the only reason we got through was because we stuck together! No matter how bad things get, we still act like human beings. It's all we got."

The men nodded shamefully and went their own way.

"I suppose that makes you the boss around here."

The man looked surprised. "And, uh, who might you be?"

"He's the Doctor. She's Rose. I'm Martha."

"A doctor. Well, we got, uh, stockbrokers, we got a lawyer, but you're the first doctor. Neighbourhood gets classier by the day," Solomon laughed, warming his hands over a fire.

"How many people live here?" Rose asked, looking around.

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

Later that day, after having looked around Hooverville, the Doctor and Rose approached Solomon as Martha helped out in the infirmary for a while.

"So…men are going missing. Is this true?" the Doctor asked, holding up the newspaper.

"It's true all right," the man said, going into his tent.

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

"C'mon in. This is different."

The Doctor and Rose entered and sat closely on a crate.

Rose asked. "In what way?"

The leader of the makeshift village shrugged. "Someone takes them. At night. We hear something. Someone calls out for help. By the time we get there, they're gone. Like they vanish into thin air."

"And you're sure someone's taking them?" the Doctor questioned him.

The man gave him a look. "Doctor, when you got next to nothing, you hold on to the little you got. Your knife, blanket, you take it with you. You don't leave bread uneaten, fire still burning."

"Have you been to the police?" the woman wanted to know, understanding. She'd grown up without a lot. You didn't leave behind useful things without good reason, unless there was no choice.

"Yeah, we tried that. Another deadbeat goes missing, big deal," he snorted bitterly.

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

A young man stuck his head in the tent. "Solomon, Mr. Diagoras is here."

Solomon nodded. "Thanks Frank."

They headed out to where people had gathered around a wealthy looking man.

"I need men," he called. "Volunteers. I got a little work for you and you sure look like you can use the money."

"Yeah. What is the money?" the young man from before called out.

"A dollar a day."

Martha rejoined them as the men grumbled.

"What's the work?" Solomon asked the man.

"A little trip down the sewers. Got a tunnel that collapsed needs clearing and fixing. Any takers?"

"A dollar a day? That's slave wage. Men don't always come back up, do they?" Solomon pressed on.

The man shrugged. "Accidents happen."

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

"You don't need the work? That's fine. Anybody else? Enough with the questions."

The Doctor had raised his hand, and smiled cheerfully at the man in the suit.

"Oh, n-n-no. I'm volunteering."

Rose raised her hand, her other hand gripping his tightly. "Where you go, I go."

Martha raised her hand and looked at the Doctor. "I'll kill you for this."

Solomon and Frank raised their hands as well.

Soon enough the small group were in the sewers, and Diagoras was giving them instructions.

"Turn left. Go about half a mile. Follow Tunnel 273. Fall's right ahead of you. You can't miss it."

"And when do we get our dollar?" Frank asked.

"When you come back up."

With a cheeky grin, the Doctor asked, "And if we don't come back up?"

The man smiled coldly. "Then I got no one to pay."

"We'll be back," Solomon nodded.

Martha couldn't help but mutter, "Let's hope so."

The two men from Hooverville started down the tunnel. Martha and Rose took a few steps, but the blonde woman stopped, waiting for the Doctor, who just stared at Diagoras before turning and joining them.

"We just gotta stick together. It's easy to get lost. It's like a huge rabbit warren. You could hide an army down here," the young man said grimly.

"So what about you, Frank? You're not from around these parts, are you?" Martha asked.

"Oh, you could talk," he teased. "No, no, I'm from Tennessee, born and bred."

"So how come you're here?"

He shrugged. "Uh, my daddy died. Mama…couldn't afford to feed us all. So, I'm the oldest, up to me to feed myself, so put on my coat, hitched up here on the railroads. There's a whole lot of runaways in camp younger than me. From all over; Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas… Solomon keeps a lookout for us. So, what about you? You're a long way from home."

"Yeah, I'm just a hitcher too."

He offered her his arm with a wry grin. "You stick with me, you'll be all right."

"So this Diagoras bloke, who is he then?" the Doctor asked, walking along with his fiancee's hand firmly grasped in his own. He could feel her ring, turned inwards to discourage any unfortunate people around the camp from trying to steal it.

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

"How did he manage that, then?" she asked curiously.

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

"Whoa!" the doctor exclaimed, seeing a blob lying on the ground giving off a sick green light.

Martha moved forward. "Is it radioactive or something?"

The Doctor sat down his torch and crouched beside it. A finger poked into the mass.

" It's gone off, whatever it is," Martha said with a frown.

The Doctor slipped on his glasses and carefully picks up the slimy blob.

Rose covered a laugh. "And you've got to pick it up. You lick that thing you'll not be kissing me for a week."

He grinned while he sniffed it. "Shine your torch through it. Composite organic matter. Martha? Medical opinion?"

"It's not human. I know that," she said.

Solomon and Frank looked on, puzzled.

Rose frowned. There was such a familiar feeling to the blob the Doctor was holding. Something niggled the back of her mind, but she couldn't place it.

"No, it's not. And I'll tell you something else. We must be at least half a mile in and I don't see any sign of a collapse, do you? So why did Mr. Diagoras send up down here?"

"So where are we now? What's above us?" Martha wondered.

The Doctor looked up. "Well…we're right underneath Manhattan."

"We're way beyond half a mile. There's no collapse, nothing," Solomon said, frowning deeply.

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

The Doctor stood. "Looks like it."

Frank frowned. "So why did he want people to come down here?"

"Solomon, I think it's time you took these two back," the Doctor said grimly, indicating Frank and Martha. "I'll be much quicker on my own."

"Don't you want me to take your lady also?" the man asked the Doctor pointedly.

Glancing at his fiancée, he cringed, "Ahhh, no thanks. I quite like my body the way it's currently arranged."

"Quite right," Rose nodded. "You leave me behind now, I'll trigger your next regeneration, love."

He started to say something, but they heard a squealing echo in the tunnels.

Solomon looked up in surprise. "What the hell was that?"

Frank shined his torch down the way. "Hello?!"

Martha put a hand over his, lowering the light as she shushed him.

"What if it's one of the folk gone missing? You'd be scared, half-mad down here on your own," the young man tried to reason.

A sad look on his face, the Doctor asked him bluntly, "Do you think they're still alive?"

He shrugged, still hopeful. "Heck, we ain't seen no bodies down here. Maybe they just got lost."

More squeals echoed off the damp walls.

Solomon shook his head. "I know I never heard nobody make a sound like that."

The Doctor walked a little ahead of them, careful to keep Rose just a half step behind.

"Sounds like there's more than one of 'em," Frank said, a bit wary now.

"This way."

Solomon stopped him, having shined his light down another tunnel. "No, that way." The light of Solomon's torch caught a huddled figure on the ground.

"Who are you?" the town leader called out.

"Are you lost? Can you understand me? I've been thinkin' about folk lost…" Frank tried, starting to walk forward but the Doctor stopped him.

"It's all right, Frank. Just stay back. Let me have a look," he walked toward the figure, trying to ignore Rose two steps behind. "He's got a point, though, my mate Frank. I'd hate to be stuck down here on my own. We know the way out. Daylight. If you want to come with us. Oh, but what are you?

As he said the last bit, he shined the light on the creature's face, revealing some sort of hybrid pig-man creature. Rose gasped and knelt beside it.

Solomon jerked at the sight. "Is, uh, that some kind of carnival mask?"

"No, it's real. I'm sorry. Now listen to me. I promise I can help. Now, who did this to you?"

"Doctor, Rose, I think you'd better get back here," Martha said in a warning tone as more pig men fill the opposite end of the tunnel.

Rose looks up and gasps, grabbing his arm tightly. "Doctor!"

He looks, then stands, gripping Rose's hand tight. "Actually…good point."

They backed toward the others. The pig men advanced.

"They're following you," Martha pointed out.

"Yeah, I noticed that, thanks," the Doctor gave a forced laugh. "Well then, Martha, Frank, Solomon…"

Martha was afraid to ask. "What?"

"Um, basically…" the Doctor hesitated.

Rose shook her head, tugging at him. "Run!"

The group raced down the tunnel to a cross-section where Martha stopped in confusion. "Where are we going?!"

"This way!" the Doctor shouted, veering right.

The pig men continued chasing them through the sewers to a joining tunnel.

"There's a ladder!" Rose shouted. "Quick now!"

The Doctor climbed the ladder and used the sonic screwdriver on the lid. Rose then Martha followed. Solomon hesitated when he saw Frank pick up a metal rod to try and hold them off.

"Frank!" he shouted as he climbed the ladder.

Seeing that the others are safe, Frank ran for the ladder and started climbing. The Doctor and Solomon reached down their hands.

"C'mon, Frank! C'mon!" Solomon urged.

Clasping his hand, the Doctor gasped out, "I've got ya. C'mon!"

They pulled, but the pig men grasped Frank's legs. Rose and Martha grabbed the men on the surface as they started to topple forward from the sudden tug. Martha screamed as the creatures pulled the young man out of their hands.

"Frank!"

"No!" the Doctor cried out.

Solomon shoved the Doctor aside and closed the lid before one of the pig men could climb up.

"We can't go after him," the man said firmly.

The Doctor argued, "We gotta go back down! We can't just leave him!"

Solomon shook his head. "No, I'm not losing anybody else! Those creatures were from Hell! From Hell itself!"

Rose hugged him, understanding why he hated losing people better than most. "Love, if we go after them, they'll take us all! There's nothing we can do right now. I'm so sorry."

A blonde woman stepped out from behind a shelf in the prop room, a gun pointed at them. "All right then. Put 'em up."

Without hesitation, Martha put her hands up.

The woman cocked the gun. "Hands in the air and no funny business."

The rest put their hands up also.

"Now tell me, you schmucks, what've you done with Lazlo?"

"Who's Lazlo?" Rose asked, exchanging confused looks with the rest of them.

She ushered them to her dressing room, but still had the gun aimed at them. "Lazlo's my boyfriend, or was my boyfriend until two weeks ago. No letter, no good-bye, no nothin'. And I'm not stupid," she waved the gun carelessly while she explained. "I know some guys are just pigs but not my Lazlo. I mean, what kinda guy asks you to meet his mother before he vamooses?"

The Doctor kept trying to shield Rose, watching the movement of the gun. "It might, might just help if you put that down."

"Huh?" She looked down at the gun and tossed it onto a chair. "Oh, sure."

The four people cringed and ducked away.

"Oh, c'mon. It's not real. It's just a prop. It was either that or a spear," she said with exasperation.

Rose moved around the Doctor and took the woman's hand. She could sympathize, remembering how she felt being separated from the Doctor on New Earth. "What do you think happened to Lazlo?"

"I wish I knew. One minute he's there, the next, zip—vanished."

The Doctor didn't care for his fiancee holding hands with a woman who had pointed a gun at them, fake or not. "Listen, ah—what's your name?"

"Tallulah."

He nodded. "Tallulah."

"Three Ls and an H."

"Right," he nodded. "Um, we can try to find Lazlo, but he's not the only one. There are people disappearing every night."

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

"Whaddaya mean 'creatures'?" Tallulah asked sharply.

The Doctor shot the man a quelling look. "Look. Listen, just trust me. Everyone is in danger. I need to find out exactly what this is because then I'll know exactly what we're fighting." He pulled the blob they had

Rose sighed. "In your pocket, Doctor? Really? "

Tallulah jerked back. "Yech!"

The Doctor smiled a bit at his Rose and moved out of the room to the props ares, scavenging for pieces of equipment. Solomon followed, leaving the women in Tallulah's dressing room.

Solomon brought him a radio. "How about this? I found it backstage."

"Perfect. It's the capacitors I need. I'm just rigging up a crude little DNA scan for this beastie. If I can get a chromosomal reading, I'll find out where it's from," the Doctor smiled, immediately starting to take it apart with the sonic screwdriver.

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

The Doctor took out a piece from the radio and blew on it.

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

Solomon frowned. "I'm not a fool, Doctor."

"No. Sorry," he said, working with the peices.

Solomon walked over to the sewer lid and looked down at it. "I was so scared, Doctor. I let them take Frank 'cause I was just too scared. I gotta get back to Hooverville. With these creatures on the loose, we gotta protect ourselves. Ain't no one else gonna help us."

The Doctor looked up at him and nodded. "Good luck."

"I hope you find what you're looking for. For all our sakes," he sighed before he turned and left.

Tallulah had changed into her costume, and was now putting on her makeup for the performance. Martha was sitting in a chair, watching, while Rose paced impatiently.

The chorus girl was telling them about her boyfriend. "Lazlo…He'd wait for me after the show, walk me home like I was a lady. He'd leave a flower for me on my dressing table. Every day, just a single rose."

Martha moved over near the girl. "Haven't you reported him missing?"

The chorus girl laughed harshly. "Sure. He's just a stagehand. Who cares? The management certainly don't."

"Can't you kick up a fuss or something?"

Rose shook her head at Martha's question. It was clear she'd grown up in a nicer neighbourhood than the Powell Estates. She could recall, growing up, how once in a while one of the neighbour kids would run off, or get mixed up in stupid stuff, or a woman with a mean boyfriend would disappear for a few days and turn up with bruises and who knew what else. The police never did anything unless they had to. Not for them. Not unless they turned up dead.

Apparently it was much the same for Tallulah. "Okay, so then they fire me."

The medical student reasoned, "But they'd listen to you. You're one of the stars."

She smiled, a bit sadly. "Oh, honey, I got one stone in a back street revue and that's only because Heidi Chicane broke her ankle—which had nothin' to do with me whatever anybody says. I can't afford to make a fuss. If I don't make this month's rent, then before you know it, I'm in Hooverville."

Rose moved over and hugged her. "It's okay, Tallulah. I understand."

"It's the Depression, sweetie. Your heart might break, but the show goes on and if it stops, you starve. Every night I have to go out there, sign, dance, keep goin'. Hoping he's gonna come back..." the starlet began to cry.

After a moment, Tallulah pulls out of the hug and wipes her eyes. Rose moved to the door to peek out at the Doctor.

"Hey, you're lucky, though," the chorus girl said to Martha. "You got yourself a forward thinking guy with that hot potato in the sharp suit."

"Uh, he's not—we're not…together," Martha corrected her, flustered.

"Oh, sure you are. I've seen the way you look at him. It's obvious."

She shook her head. "No! He's a friend! Just a good friend. He and Rose are engaged. Even if I did want him that way, there's nothing going to come between them."

"Oh, I shoulda realized," the starlet smiled. "Ain't she the lucky one, then? Still, ya gotta live in hope. It's the only thing that's kept me going 'cause… look," She picked up the white rosebud from her table. "On my dressing table every day still."

Martha took the rose. "You think it's Lazlo?"

Tallulah sighed. "I don't know. If he's still around, why's he bein' all secret like he doesn't want me to see him?"

The Doctor was up in the balcony with the blob hooked up to his hand-made scanner. He set the beam from one of the stage lights on it.

"That's it. Let's warm you up," he mumbled to himself, slipping on his glasses and examining it.

Tallulah took both Martha and Rose's arms. "Girls, it's showtime! Ya ever seen one of these shows?"

The Doctor was deep in thought over his find. "This is artificial. Genetically engineered. Whoever this is, oh, you're clever."

Down below, Tallulah's show begins, with her in a sequined angel costume, singing. As the dance started, Martha and Rose, watching from the wings, saw a pig man who looked different from the others standing in the opposite wings, seemingly just watching. Martha cut across the stage, followed by Rose, trying to hide behind the chorus line.

"What are you doing?" one of the dancers snapped.

Martha moved to the next girl, accidentally grabbing her tail, causing her to fall.

"What are you doing?" Tallulah hissed.

"You're on my tail! Get off my tail!" another girl groaned.

The Doctor missed this little debacle, and had a stethoscope on the blob. "Fundamental DNA type 467-989. 989. Hold on, that means planet of origin..." He looked down at it in horror. "Skaro. No... Rose!"

The Doctor leapt to his feet and rushed toward backstage. The only person the Daleks hated as much as him was a certain pink and yellow human that he couldn't live without.

In the show he hadn't been watching was a pair of ladies who were not dancers and one annoyed star who ordered, "Get off the stage! You're spoilin' it!"

"But look!" Martha insisted, pointing to the wings. "Over there!"

The pig man realized he'd been spotted and was startled. Tallulah screamed and he ran, followed by Rose and Martha.

Rose called out, "Wait! But you're different than the others! Just wait!"

The rushed into the prop room, but there was no sign of the pig man. The two just looked at each other, hearing a noise behind them.

The Doctor rushed backstage, looking around at the chorus girls.

"It was like something out of a movie show. Oh, that face. I ain't never gonna sleep," one of them said.

"Tallulah," he cried. "Where is Rose? Where's Martha?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. They ran off the stage."

There was a scream, then two, and the Doctor felt his hearts plummet. "Rose!"

He immediately ran to save them followed by Tallulah. They reached the prop room, but there was no sign of either woman.

"Rose!" he shouted, furious with himself for leaving her side for even a moment. The Doctor noticed the sewer lid is crooked so he grabbed his coat and puts it on.

"Oh, where are you goin'?" Tallulah asked.

"They've taken her," he said, the expression in his eyes ready to destroy anything and everything that tried to stand between him and Rose.

"Who's taken her?"

The Doctor began to climb down into the sewer.

"What're y' doin'? I said, what the hell are ya doin'? Crazy guy," Tallulah found a long coat to put on over her costume and followed.

"No, no, no, no, no way. You're not coming," the Doctor insisted.

She poked him in the chest. "Tell me what's going on."

He scowled. "There's nothing you can do. Go back."

"Look, whoever's taken your Rose, they could've taken my Lazlo, couldn't they?"

"Tallulah, you're not safe down here."

She scowled at him. "Then that's my problem. Come on. Which way?"

Tallulah walks down a tunnel to the left.

The Doctor sighed heavily. "This way."

He went down the tunnel in front of them and Tallulah followed.

In another tunnel, Rose and Martha were being held by pig men.

"No! Let us go!" Martha cried out.

They pushed the women against a wall. More pig men came with humans in a line, one of who was Frank.

"Martha!"

"Frank! You're alive!" the medical student cried out, rushing over and hugging him.

"Hey," he said softly, hugging her back.

"I thought we'd lost you." She gave a sharp cry as a pig man pushed them to keep moving.

"All right! All right, we're moving," Rose snapped. "Just leave her alone."

"Wait. Where are they taking us?" Frank asked.

"I don't know, but we can find out what's going on down here," Rose said grimly.

The Doctor and Tallulah walked quickly.

"When you say 'They've taken her', who's they exactly? And who are you anyway? I never asked."

"Shh."

"Okay. Okay," she snapped.

"Shh, shh, shh."

In the weak light of the tunnel in front of them, a shadow was approaching.

The woman tried to explain, "I mean you're handsome and all—"

Frustrated, the Doctor put his hand over her mouth and pulls her back down the tunnel into a recess. A Dalek passed by without seeing them.

The Doctor scowled. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no. They survived. They always survive while I lose everything. Well, they can't have her."

She blinked. "That metal thing? What was it?"

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

She laughed. "You're kidding me."

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

"But if it's not a human being, that kinda implies it's from outer space," she said, cringing when he glared at her. "Yet again, that's a "no" with the kidding. Boy… Well, what's it doin' here, in New York?"

He grabbed her by the arm. "Every second you're down here, you're in danger. I'm taking you back right now."

They turned a corner and saw a pig man, the one that was at the theatre. Tallulah screamed and the pig man tried to hide.

The Doctor moved closer. "Where's Rose? What have you done with her? And what have you done with Martha?"

"I didn't take her," the creature said.

He jerked in surprise. "Can you remember your name?"

The creature shifted away from them. "Don't look at me."

Tallulah moved toward the pig man. "Do you know where she is?"

"Stay back! Don't look at me!" he shouted, moving away.

"What happened to you?" the Doctor asked, moving to look at the creature. A closer look revealed that he was more man than pig.

"They made me a monster," the man said, deeply ashamed.

"Who did?"

"The masters."

He corrected, "The Daleks. Why?"

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

"Do you know what happened to Rose?" he asked.

"They took them. It's my fault. They were following me."

Tallulah frowned. "Were you in the theatre?"

"Yes."

She frowned and tipped her head. "Why? Why were you there?"

The man hung his head, "I never wanted you to see me like this."

"Why me? What do I gotta do with this? Were you following me? Is that why you were there?" she asked, needing to hear the answer.

"Yes." He turned around and faced her, keeping to the shadows.

"Who are you?"

He hung his head. "I was lonely."

"Who are you?" she repeated.

"I needed to see you."

Tallulah stepped toward him. "Who are you?"

"I'm sorry."

She grabbed his arm, "No, wait. Let me look at you." She placed him under the light. "Lazlo? My Lazlo? Oh, what have they done to you?"

"I'm sorry. So sorry," he said, as close to tears as she was.

As touching as the reunion was, the Doctor was getting desperate for Rose. "Lazlo, can you show me where they are?"

"They'll kill you," the man told him flatly.

"If I don't stop them, they'll kill my Rose, and everyone else."

Lazlo nodded, recognizing the determination. "Then follow me."

The prisoners they were looking for were being held not far away by pig men.

"What are they keeping us here for?" Frank asked.

Martha shook her head. "I don't know. I've just got a nasty feeling that we're being kept in the larder."

She glanced over at Rose, who was quieter than normal and noticed a gold spark in her eyes. Something bad was about to happen…

Lazlo led the Doctor and Tallulah through the tunnels and took them to where they could see Martha, Rose, and Frank. The pig men guarding the prisoners started squealing nervously.

The young man looked around in fear. "What're they doing? What's wrong? What's wrong?"

A Dalek glided into the tunnel. "Silence! Silence!"

Lazlo ducked back out of sight in fear.

"What the hell is that?" Martha gasped.

"A Dalek," Rose answered in a cold voice.

The Doctor watched, barely able to restrain himself.

The Dalek prodded the people. "You will form a line. Move."

The pig men pushed everyone into line.

"Just do what it says, everyone, okay? Just obey," Rose told the people, frowning from experience.

"The female is wise. Obey!"

A second Dalek arrived in the tunnel. "Report."

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

" Dalek?" Martha murmured to Rose. The blonde just shook her head, eyes trained on the things before her.

The first Dalek asked the second, "What is the status of the Final Experiment?"

"The Dalekanium is in place. The energy conductor is now complete."

"Then I will extract prisoners for selection."

A pig man brought an older black man forward and the Dalek extended his sucker towards the man's face.

"Intelligence scan. Initiate. Reading brain waves. Low intelligence."

The man looked insulted. "You calling me stupid?"

"This one will become a pig slave," the Dalek declared.

Two pig men pulled him away while he screamed, "No, let go of me! I'm not becoming one of them!"

Ignoring his screams, the Dalek moved to the next in line. "Intelligence scan. Initiate."

Lazlo whispered to them. "They're divided into two groups: high intelligence and low intelligence. The low intelligence are taken to become pig slaves like me."

"Well, that's not fair," the show girl said.

"Shh," the Doctor hushed violently.

The woman whispered, "You're the smartest guy I ever dated."

Ignoring her, the Doctor asked Lazlo, "And the others?"

"They're taken to the laboratory."

Alarmed, he glanced back out. "But why? What for?"

"I don't know. The masters only call it the Final…Experiment," the man said helplessly.

The Dalek scanned Frank. Superior intelligence." It turned on Martha next. "Intelligence scan. Initiate. Superior intelligence. This one will become part of the Final Experiment."

"You can't just experiment on people! It's insane! It's inhuman!" she cried.

The Dalek told her, "We are not human. Prisoners of high intelligence will be taken to the transgenic laboratory."

Finally, the Dalek turned to Rose, and the Doctor held his breath.

"Intelligence scan. Initiate. Alert! This prisoner is to be taken to the Leader!"

Martha looked at Rose in shock, even more surprised when she didn't seem at all surprised.

"Attention, the Abomination is to be guarded!"

Pig men stepped up to take hold of both her arms.

"Abomination?" Frank asked.

Martha shook her head. "Rose?"

"It's all right, Martha," she said softly. "I kind of expected this."

"Look out, they're moving!" the Doctor hissed, flattening himself against the wall.

Lazlo took Tallulah and headed down the tunnel. "Doctor. Doctor! Quickly!"

"I'm not going. I've got an idea. You go," the Time Lord said quickly.

"Lazlo, c'mon!"

He looked between them, then turned to Tallulah. "Can you remember the way?"

"Yeah, I think so," she nodded.

"Then go. Please."

"But Lazlo, you gotta come with me," the show girl insisted.

He shook his head. "Where would I go? Tallulah, I'm beggin you, save yourself. Just run. Just go. Go."

With a kiss to his cheek, Tallulah left and Lazlo rejoined the Doctor. The Daleks passed by and the Doctor fell in line between Martha and his fiancee while Lazlo took the place of one of the guards holding Rose.

"Just keep walking," he murmured, shooting his love a tight smile when she glanced back.

"About time you joined the party," she winked.

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

"Yeah, well, you can kiss me later. You too, Frank, if you want," he joked.

"I don't think I'm going against Rose for that," the black woman shook her head.

They were brought into a lab, where two more Daleks were.

" Report," one of their captors said.

"Dalek Sec is in the final stage of evolution."

The Doctor and Rose both jerked at the name.

"Scan him. Prepare for birth."

"Evolution?"

The other pig man released Rose and moved away, so Lazlo was left holding her on his own.

"What's wrong with old Charlie boy over there?" Martha asked the Doctor.

"Ask them," he encouraged.

"What me? Don't be daft." She stared at him as though he were mad.

He raised a brow at her. "It's bad enough they've seen Rose, I don't exactly want to get noticed. Ask them what's going on."

Nodding, she took a deep breath. "Daleks, I demand to be told. What is this Final Experiment? Report!"

"You will bear witness," the Dalek, who seemed to be the second in command, said.

"To what?" she pressed.

"This is the dawn of a new age."

"What does that mean?"

The Dalek almost seemed to be bragging. "We are the only four Daleks so the species must evolve a life outside the shell. The Children of Skaro must walk again."

Dalek Sec's shell powered down then and the casing opened to reveal a human-dalek hybrid. The clothing was unmistakably that of Diagoras. The head was similar to a Dalek body with mouth, one eye, and tentacles. The hands were almost claw-like. The people in the room drew back.

"What is it?" Martha gasped.

The creature spoke slowly. "I am a human Dalek. I am your future."

A/N: Well, here's the episode. Rose has been recognized and captured! Please, please, PLEASE review!