The moment River left Katrina; the red head couldn't even voice her annoyance at being possessed without her permission. Even as she felt her heart pounding in her chest and adrenaline coursing through her veins, Kat knew that River had most likely just saved her life. Though a frown tugged at her lips as she stared at the spirit.

"What?" River asked, noticing her expression.

Katrina's eyes only narrowed as a smirk played upon the curly-haired ghost's lips.

"Doctor, it's all my fault," Rose's guilty voice cut through the pairs staring match, and Kat turned to the blonde and noticed that she was talking to an image of the Doctor on a screen.

"I've sealed the compartment," a guard beside Rose explained, "It can't get out; that lock's got a billion combinations."

"Like that would stop it," River scoffed as she turned her head towards the Cage door, causing Kat to do the same. The red head, however, wasn't exactly too certain as to what she was looking for as she did so. All that she knew was that ever since she had met the curly-haired blonde, she had felt as though she could trust her.

"A Dalek's a genius," the Doctor explained, and Katrina's eyes darted back to the screen at his tone. "It can calculate a thousand, billion combinations in one second flat," he continued.

"Oh, that's just fucking wonderful," the red head remarked as the Cage door slid open; much to the horror of everyone watching. Kat was forced to cover her ears when not even seconds after to door opened, one of the guards gave to order to open fire and guns went off as the alien rolled out of the Cage.

"Don't shoot it!" Van Statten's voice was heard next, "I want it unharmed."

"Are you serious?!" Kat exclaimed as she turned to the screen, glaring darkly at the man before suddenly being pulled away by one of the guards.

"Rose! Kat! Get out of there!" she heard the Time Lord shout, but she was frozen in fear as the Dalek retaliated, firing its laser just like she had seen in the vision she had glimpsed from River.

"De Maggio, take the civilians and get them out alive," the guard that had dragged Kat away from the screen ordered, "That's your job, got that?"

Maggio was quick to comply, turning to the three young adults. "You lot, with me!" she shouted as she left the room, grabbing a hold of Kat's arm as she passed, having seen how pale the red head was looking.

Kat was quick to break out of her shock as she was dragged along, quickly regaining her balance after she stumbled and Maggio glanced at her before letting her arm go, seeing that she was now moving on her own.

The trio followed after the guard, though Kat couldn't help but wince when she glanced back, not only hearing the screams of the other guards as the Dalek killed them, but also saw the newly dead. It was really the only time she could see spirits without them knowing, most usually only showing themselves to her when they needed something; whether that be help with doing something, or even just someone to listen to them as they ranted about ghostly dilemmas, which seemed to happen more often than not. But when someone had just passed...

"Come on," Rover urged the red head onwards, appearing beside Kat and grabbing her hand.

Kat didn't say anything, bit nodded to the curly-haired blonde as a tear rolled down her face. There was nothing she could do for the others and she gripped River's hand tightly, using the cold touch of the spirit to ground herself. Just like she had done not an hour earlier with River's presence when she had appeared in the desert before the barn.


"Civilians!" Maggio shouted when the small group rounded a corner, coming face to face with a larger group of armed guards, "Let them through!"

They ran passed the guards as one of them shouted, "Cover the north wall. Red division, maintain suppressing fire along the perimeter. Blue divisi-Argh!" the guard was cut off when the Dalek killed him.

"Don't stop!" River told Kat when the red head started to turn towards the screams of the dying. "Just keep running, Kat," the spirit added, tugging the younger woman along.

It wasn't long before they reached a staircase that led to the upper floors and Rose's face lit up at the sight.

"Stairs!" she exclaimed, "That's more like it. It hadn't got legs. It's stuck!"

"Yeah, and I highly doubt that an advanced killer alien could be thwarted by something as primitive as stairs," Kat snarked, unable to stop herself.

"It's coming!" Maggio told them, "Get up!" she added as she pushed Kat and Rose towards the stairs, though neither needed much persuading as they ran up without hesitation, closely followed by Adam and the guard.

Maggio, Adam, and Rose all stopped at the top of the first flight of stairs, causing Kat to pause in her ascend of the second flight as they all looked back down at the approaching Dalek. The red head was quick to backtrack, not wanting to leave them behind, though when she saw the alien, she couldn't stop the shiver that tricked down her spine as it stopped at the bottom of the stairs.

"Great big alien death machine defeated by a flight of stairs," Adam gloated, which only resulted in Kat giving the back of his head a whack when River tried to do the same thing and failed. He shot her a glare, though was distracted when Maggio addressed the alien.

"Now listen to me," the woman said, "I demand that you return to your Cage. If you want to negotiate, then I can guarantee that Mister Van Statten will be willing to talk."

"Doubtful," River remarked as she stared at the Dalek, and Kat found that she wasn't too sure if she liked the look that was on the spirit's face.

"I accept that we imprisoned you and maybe that was wrong, but people have died, and that stops right now. The killing stops. Have you got that?" Maggio questioned the Dalek, although it didn't respond, "I demand that you surrender. Is that clear?" she tried again.

The Dalek was silent, unmoving as it stared at the group before it spoke, "Elevate," and it rose off the ground before starting to glide up the stairs towards them.

"Oh, my god!" Rose exclaimed, her face draining of colour as she watched, horrified as the alien ascended the stairs.

"Now she gets it," River muttered with an eye roll as Maggio turned to Adam.

"Adam, get them out of here," she told the young man.

Kat shook her head, realising what the woman was going to do. "No, you're coming with us," she told the woman, and before Maggio could do anything, the red head grabbed her hand and was already dragging her up the stairs.

She may be scared shitless, but if there was one thing that Kat had learnt over the years as she helped out the dead, it was life was short. And she had seen enough deaths to last her multiple lifetimes, so if she could save just one life, she was going to do so.


As the group rounded another corner that led to the loading bay, they froze in their tracks when they came face to face with another lot of guards, though this time there was also a vast array of guns aimed in their direction.

"Hold your fire!" someone shouted from a catwalk above, "De Maggio, get them the hell out of here!" the man continued to shout, and the group wasted no time to do just that.

As they left the loading bay though, Rose stopped when the Dalek entered and it turned its eyestalk towards her, almost as if it knew she was there. Maggio, thankfully, dragged the blonde out of the loading bay, though the blonde once again paused when they were in the clear.

"It was looking at me," she stated, sounding rather startled and confused.

"Yeah, it wants to slaughter us," Adam told her, and Kat couldn't help but look to River questionably, noticing that the spirit was still by the door that led to the loading bay.

"I know," Rose agreed before she added, "But it was looking right at me."

Adam shrugged, "So? It's just a sort of metal eye thing. It's looking all around," he tried to console her.

"I don't know," Rose sounded doubtful, "It's like there's something inside, looking at me, like, like it knows me."

"Well, whether if it was looking at you or not," Kat cut in, her gaze continuously being drawn to the loading bay that River was still watching, almost expecting the Dalek to appear at any moment, "But can we leave. I'm not too fond of sticking around to ask it."


"Perhaps it's time for a new strategy," Statten remarked after watching the Dalek effectively wipe out his guards that had been in the loading bay. He turned to the Doctor and Goddard as he added, "Maybe we should consider abandoning this place."

"Except there's no power to the helipad, sir," Goddard informed her boss, her tone holding the disbelief and anger she was feeling towards the man, "We can't get out."

"You said we can seal the vault," the Doctor spoke up, looking to Statten who nodded.

"It was designed to be a bunker in the event of a nuclear war," the man explained, "Steel bulkheads."

"There's not enough power," Goddard informed them, "Those bulkheads are massive."

"We've got emergency power," the Doctor corrected as he moved over to the computer, "We can re-route that to the bulkhead doors."

"We'd have to bypass the security codes," the woman pointed out with a frown, "That would take a computer genius."

"Good thing you've got me, then," Statten said as he approached them, causing the pair to look at him in disbelief.

"You want to help?" the Time Lord asked, thinking of how the human, from the moment the Dalek had escaped, had done nothing but be a hindrance, wanting to keep his precious alien alive.

"I don't want to die, Doctor," Statten admitted simply, "Simple as that. And nobody knows this software better than me."

"Sir," Goddard cut in, and the two men turned to her, only to find her watching the screen that the Dalek had been on moments earlier and they looked to see what had caught her attention.

The Dalek was now back on the ground, though it was now staring at the camera. "I shall speak only to the Doctor," it spoke and the Time Lord took a step forwards.

"You're going to get rusty," he remarked, eyeing the wet alien.

"I fed off the DNA of Rose Tyler," the Dalek stated, and the Doctor felt disheartened at the knowledge that it had been his companion that had released it. "Extrapolating the biomass of a time traveller regenerated me."

"What's your next trick?" the Time Lord asked, brushing his thoughts on his companion away. Rose had no idea what a Dalek was before today, and had no idea that touching it would reanimate it; giving it a boost to repair itself. He couldn't fault his companions compassion for trying to help someone who was injured.

"I have been searching for the Daleks," the alien stated and the Doctor raised an eyebrow, already knowing that.

"Yeah, I saw," he replied, "Downloading the internet. What did you find?"

"I scanned your satellites and radio telescopes."

"And?"

"Nothing," the Dalek said, and the Doctor paused when the alien's tone seemed to hold something he had never thought he'd encounter in a Dalek.

Feelings.

"Where shall I get my orders now?" the Dalek questioned and the Time Lord was quick to break from his surprise.

"You're just a soldier without commands," he told the Dalek, wondering what else it might have absorbed from his companion.

"Then I shall follow the Primary Order, the Dalek instinct to destroy, to conquer."

"What for?" the Time Lord asked, "What's the point? Don't you see it's all gone? Everything you were; everything you stood for!"

"Then what should I do?" it asked, and just for a moment, a single millisecond, the Doctor was once again surprised at the depth of emotion he could hear in the Daleks voice.

It was gone as quick as it appeared however, as a different look appeared in the Doctor's face; a darker look that appeared in his eyes. "All right, then," he said as he straightened, "If you want orders, follow this one. Kill yourself."

"The Daleks must survive!" the alien exclaimed, its voice screeching as its pitch rose.

"The Daleks have failed!" the Doctor shouted, taking a step towards the screen, "Why don't you finish the job and make the Daleks extinct. Rid the universe of your filth. Why don't you just die?!"

Goddard and Van Statten jumped at his words, hearing the venom and contempt behind each syllable that came from the Time Lords mouth as the Doctor stood there, his chest rising and falling quickly as he waited for the Dalek to respond.

It didn't say anything for a moment, just seeming to stare at the Time Lord before it spoke, and the Doctor felt as though his hearts had stopped.

"You would make a good Dalek."

The screen went blank and the Doctor turned to Van Statten.

"Seal the Vault."


"Is this really the time to answer your phone?" Kat questioned in disbelief as Rose pulled out her ringing mobile as they headed up another flight of stairs.

They were running for their lives, not on some leisurely jog!

"It's the Doctor," the blonde told her before answering the device, "This isn't the best time," she told the Time Lord.

No shit, Sherlock, Kat couldn't help but think, rolling her eyes.

"Where are you?" the Doctor questioned, causing Rose to glance around.

"Level forty-nine," she quickly informed him when she spotted the floor number on the wall of the staircase they were running up.

"You've got to keep moving. The vault's being sealed off up at level forty-six."

"Can't you stop them from closing them?" the blonde questioned in alarm, causing Kat to glance at her with a frown.

"He's closing the bulkhead," Rover explained to her, as if knowing what the red head was about to ask.

"Why the fuck would he do that?!" Kat exclaimed, looking to the spirit as her pace slowed in her shock.

"He can't let it escape," River replied calmly, "If that Dalek got out, there wouldn't be anything to stop it from slaughtering its way across the universe."

Kat swallowed at that information, glancing back down towards the way they had come from. She could tell that Rover was being truthful, and when she looked back to the spirit and nodded, her pace picking back up, the curly-haired blonde's eyebrows furrowed.

"Kat, what are you thinking?" she questioned, recognising the expression that had overcome the red head's face, but Kat didn't answer her as she just continued running. "Kat?"


"We're almost there," Rose informed the Doctor as they reached level forty-six, "Give us two seconds."

River continued to glance at Kat as they silently followed after the others, and when the klaxon sounded before the bulkhead that led out of level forty-six started to close, the spirit grew anxious when the red head frowned.

"Come on!" Adam shouted as he pushed himself to run faster, Rose following right behind him before they both rolled under the door. The blonde didn't realise that she had lost her mobile in the process, however, as Kat pushed Maggio towards the bulkhead right after them.

And the moment she saw the others disappear under the bulkhead, Kat stopped running, pausing to catch her breath as the bulkhead closed, leaving her trapped inside.

"What are you doing?" River exclaimed at the red head; her eyes wide in disbelief.


"Rose, where are you?" the Doctor asked through the phone the moment Statten informed him that the Vault had been sealed. "Rose, did you and Kat make it?" he continued when he didn't get a response.

He frowned, his eyebrows furrowing when he finally heard someone, but it wasn't Rose. It took him a moment to recognise the voice.

"You told me he couldn't let it escape," he heard Kat's voice say.

"Kat?!" he called, hoping the young woman could hear him.

"I know, but I couldn't see anyone else die," the red head's tone made the Doctor's blood run cold.

"Kat, what did you do?" the Time Lord tried again, but she didn't respond.


"Kat?!" River heard the Doctor call from the forgotten mobile that was laying on the ground next to the bulkhead.

"Do you know what it's like to see what I see every day?" Kat asked, causing the spirit to look at her and noticed that the red head's eyes were filled with unshed tears and horrors that River could only imagine. "To wake up in the morning, only to be confronted by a four year old who had been killed by his mother, or an innocent bystander involved in a car accident?"

River's eyes softened and she slowly shook her head. "No, I don't," she admitted quietly.

The red head managed a watery smile, "I'm sorry I won't be able to help your friend," she said, but River just shook her head again.

"You've done far more than you realise, Katrina," the spirit stated with a small, warm smile of her own.

Kat scoffed despite her tears. "How?" she asked the curly-haired blonde before glancing towards the way she had come, knowing that the Dalek would be arriving at any moment.

"I got to see you again," River replied, causing the red head to frown and look back to the spirit. River just shook her head though, not saying anything more.

Regardless of her situation, Kat couldn't help but roll her eyes at the spirit. "Let me guess, spoilers?" she said, and when River just smiled, Kat huffed, "Keep your secrets, then."

It was then that the Dalek trundled around the corner and the red head turned to face it, a grim look upon her face.

"I'm sorry, Kat," River apologised, causing Kat to glance at her.

"You have nothing to apologize for," the red head remarked, a little confused, though she was now looking at the advancing Dalek.

"No, Katrina," the spirit stated, causing Kat to turn to her, something in the ghost's tone catching her attention. "I'm sorry about this," the spirit corrected, and the next thing Kat knew was darkness.


"Kat!" the Doctor shouted into the phone as he listened to what she was saying. A small part of his mind was decisively confused as to what she was talking about, but his hearts beat rapidly in his chest, a stone settled in his gut and a feeling of dread filled him at the possibility that she had trapped herself with the Dalek on purpose.

There was nothing but silence on the other end of the phone for what, the Doctor felt, was forever, but he let out a breath he hadn't even known he was holding when he heard Kat's voice once more. Though he frowned, noticing that she sounded slightly different, her American accent no longer present.

"Now, where was I?"


River turned to the Dalek after having possessed Kat. The spirit knew that what she was about to do was dangerous not only herself, but Kat as well. But there was no way that she was going to let the red head die.

Not now. Not ever.

"We meet again," she remarked, eyeing the Dalek with nothing but disgust, rather wishing that she had her blaster. But Kat had something that River considered would be perfect for the alien's demise, and as she closed her eyes, focusing on the ability that Kat didn't even know she possessed, Kat's normally red hair streaked with black darkened until it the red completely faded.

"Exterminate!" the Dalek cried, only for River to let out a chuckle as she reopened Kat's eyes, revealing them to be twin orbs of golden light.

"Oh, I don't think so," the spirit remarked as she took a step towards the Dalek, though her eyes were not focused on the eyestalk, but the casing that protected the mutated creature within. "'Cause I won't let you kill anyone else," she continued, taking another step forwards.

The Dalek rolled backwards and away from the blackette as Kat's shadow seemed to grow, reaching out towards the alien. Its laser arm twitched, but the moment Kat's shadow touched the aliens outer casing, the Dalek froze. "What did you do?" it screeched, fear now seeping into its voice as it realised that it couldn't move.

"Oh, it's just a little trick that my friend can do," River stated as she stopped in front of the alien. Kat's shadow continued to wrap itself around the Dalek, almost as if it had a life of its own and River fought off the urge to shiver when she could feel what the Dalek was feeling. No wonder Kat hated using this ability, the ghost thought to herself.

The Dalek tried to attack her with its sucker, but found that like its laser arm, it couldn't move that as well. In fact, the Dalek found that it couldn't move at all.

"They say that all living things have a soul," River smirked as she felt Kat's shadow make the final connection, "Let's see how true that is."


"Katrina!" the Doctor tried again to get the red head's attention as he shoved Goddard away from the computer she had been using and hastily tried to bring up some sort of image of what was happening inside the vault.

The next thing he heard through the phone only had him working faster, desperate to see what was happening as a cold shiver trickled down his spine.

"Mer-cy," the Dalek's voice cried out, followed by a dark chuckle from Kat.

"And why should I show you mercy?" Kat asked, "When you don't even understand the concept of the word."

"Kat, what are you doing?" the Time Lord muttered, giving up on trying to gain her attention as he listened.

The lift doors opened and Maggio, Adam and Rose entered the room, each one glancing at the trio before their eyes landed on the Doctor, finding Statten and Goddard staring at the Time Lord in worry.

"Doctor, what's going on?" Rose questioned as she watched the Time Lord continuously trying and bring up an image – any image – of the Vault.

He didn't reply, though he did pause at what he heard the Dalek say next.

"You are friends with the Doctor," the Dalek tried again, and the Time Lord in question frowned, confused by Kat's reply.

"I might be, but she isn't."

The Doctor dropped the phone the moment the Dalek started screaming, both horrified and curious at what the young woman was doing to have the Dalek begging for mercy. Never in his nine hundred years had the Doctor ever heard a Dalek beg for mercy; let alone from a human.

"Doctor," Statten broke the Time Lord from his thoughts and he turned to the man.

"What?!" he snapped, only for the American to point at a screen.

"Oh, my god!" Rose exclaimed, her hand flying to cover her mouth as she watched Kat, who now had jet black hair, standing in front of the Dalek as the alien screamed. One of the blackette's hands were placed upon the aliens outer casing, that the blonde thought looked a lot darker than she had seen.

"What is she doing?" Adam questioned as he took a step towards the screen, only to be pushed aside by the Doctor.

"Shush!" the Time Lord snapped as he moved closer to the screen; his blue eyes locked onto Kat's form as her hand fell away from the Dalek and took a step backwards. The Dalek's eyestalk dropped, flickering out as Kat shook her hand that had been placed against the creature's casing with an expression of disgust.

"Oh, I really can understand why she hated doing that," the young woman remarked before turning to face the camera.

The humans in the office watching gasped at the sight of her glowing, golden eyes; but the Doctor's only narrowed as the mystery behind Katrina only grew in his mind.

"I don't know if you can hear me, Time Lord," Kat addressed the Doctor, "But remember, you will always make a better Doctor."

"Doctor?" Rose looked to the man, wondering what the blackette on the screen was talking about, but paused at his surprised expression. "Doctor, what's she talking about?" she asked as the Time Lord continued to stare at the screen. She hesitantly reached out to place a hand on his shoulder.

"Oh, and while I have the ability," the blackette continued, a small smirk playing on her lips, "Not all clocks tell time."

Before anyone could question what Katrina was talking about, the screen suddenly went black.