"When you say 'They've taken her', who's they exactly? And who are you anyway? I never asked." Tallulah questioned softly, after they'd walked for a couple of minutes in silence.
"Shh," the Doctor murmured, as Cass tensed suddenly, eyes flaring a bright gold as she sensed the there presence approaching.
Feeling her apprehension and worry rush through him, he tightened his grasp around her, as she whispered, "There's something else here."
"I don't hear anything." Tallulah stated, still quite loud, only to mime zipping her mouth when the Doctor shot her a glare, hissing, "Shh!"
"Okay," she whispered back, as a familiar looking shadow appeared in the light in front of them.
Immediately, the tether couple hissed out similar deaths of hatred and anger, as the clueless human continued, albeit in a whispered tone, "I mean, you're handsome and all.." Only to get cut off when she was pulled suddenly into a corner, Cass laying an insistent hand on her lips, eyes wide and glowing lightly.
They watched as the Dalek slid past them, and the Doctor shook his head, murmuring furiously, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no. They survived. They always survive while I lose everything."
Cass understood what he'd meant, but she couldn't help but flinch at the pure waves of grief and guilt and regret and rage flowing from him. She knew they weren't aimed at her, knew how much pain the Daleks had caused him, but she still felt guilty.
Guilty that she'd known they'd survived, and couldn't tell him.
Guilty that she was as bound by the rules of time as he was.
Guilty that she couldn't bear the consequences of disrupting the timelines, even for him. That the memory of the pain, though a long time ago, had never diluted or receded.
Just, so, so guilty.
His grip tightened around her hand, a flash of his love soothing the warring storm inside her, as the blonde scoffed, "That metal thing? What was it?"
"It's not metal," she replied, voice tight with memories and anger of her own, "It's called a Dalek, and its very alive."
"You're kidding me.," Tallulah chuckled, only to quiet down when they both turned to glare at her, realising the true seriousness of the situation.
"Does it look like we're kidding?" The Doctor hissed, "Inside that shell is a creature born to hate," his eyes closed suddenly, and he turned to his tether, whispering, "You tried to warn me. You told me, the building was hiding hatred, and I just didn't get it."
Cass shook her head, "I had to keep it vague. You couldn't have known or guessed this, so don't blame yourself. Blame me if you must, but don't take on that guilt." Looking back at the performer, she finished his earlier sentence for him, "Daleks... their 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," Tallulah replied, "that kinda implies it's from outer space." The two looked at her meaningfully, their silence confirmation enough, and she whistled lowly between her teeth, "Yet again, that's a 'no' with the kidding. Boy... Well, what's it doin' here, in New York?"
The Doctor grabbed her arm with is free hand, beginning to pull her down the tunnel, clearly looking for some way out, "Every second you're down here, you're in danger. I'm taking you back right now."
They rounded the corner, only to stop when they noticed a pig-man, huddled quietly in the corner. At the sight, Tallulah screamed, and the creature flinched, trying to huddle into itself tighter, to hide.
The Time Lords hurried to it, the Doctor barking, "Where's Martha? What have you done with her? What have you done with Martha?"
"I didn't take her," it responded quietly.
Cass stopped, laying a hand on her tether's chest, forcing him to stop to as she said into his mind, he's not fully converted, the others, they couldn't speak.
He nodded, the angry expression on his face dropping to one of pity, "Can you remember your name?"
It winced, begging, "Don't look at me."
Tallulah came closer, moving her head to look at it from behind the couple, "Do you know where she is?"
At the sound of her voice, the pig-man huddled deeper into himself, yelling pleadingly, "Stay back! Don't look at me!"
"What happened to you?" Cass whispered sadly, kneeling beside him, her hand reaching softly for his shoulder, hoping to offer him a measure of comfort.
He whimpered, "They made me a monster."
"Who did?" The Doctor asked.
"The masters."
"The Daleks, why?"
"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 Martha?" Cass questioned softly, "The girl in the theatre, the one who followed you."
"They took her. It's my fault."
Tallulah narrowed her eyes at him, "Were you in the theatre?"
"Yes," he whimpered, flinching again at the sound of her voice.
"Why? Why were you there?"
"I never wanted you to see me like this." He breathed.
"Why me? What do I gotta do with this? Were you following me? Is that why you were there?"
He slowly unfurled from around himself, turning to face the blonde, allowing her to see his face, "Yes."
"Who are you?" She murmured.
"I needed to see you."
"Who are you?" She repeated.
"I'm sorry." He turned away, only for her hand to latch onto his arm, voice tinged with desperation as she whispered, "No, wait. Let me look at you." She moved him under the light, her voice breaking in realisation, "Laszlo?" He nodded slowly, "My Laszlo?" Her voice cracked, a tear dripping down her cheek, "Oh, what have they done to you?"
"I'm sorry. So sorry." He whispered sadly.
Cass closed her eyes sadly, moving her face into her tether's chest for comfort, one of his hands moving to her hair, holding her to him tightly, whispering worriedly into her mind, You don't have to do this with me, love.
Immediately, she shook her head, glaring lightly at him, not a chance in hell, Theta. I go where you go. Also, between the both of us, I'm the badass warrior, you've got a sonic screwdriver honey.
He withheld his chuckle, pressing a kiss to her forehead instead, as he looked back at the man, asking, "Laszlo, can you show us where they are?"
"They'll kill you," Laszlo murmured.
Cass raised her head, replying, "If we don't stop them, they'll kill everyone. Please."
A beat passed, then the pig-man nodded resolutely, standing up, "Then follow me," as he began leading them deeper into the tunnels.
—
They turned a small corner, and the Time Lords straightened, as they could just make out Martha's voice saying, "I've just got a nasty feeling that we're being kept in the larder."
Laszlo lead them through the tunnels to where they could see Martha and Frank, being guarded, along with other prisoners, by pig-men who'd begun squealing nervously.
"What're they doing? What's wrong? What's wrong?" Frank yelled in panic, looking around.
"Silence!" A tinny voice commanded, and both Cass and the Doctor tensed, eyes narrowed in anger and fingers tightening around one another's as a Dalek rolled into the room, "Silence!"
Laszlo ducked out of sight, as Martha gasped in horror, "What the hell is that?"
"You will form a line, move!" The Dalek ordered, the pirg-men immediately complying, pushing the prisoners to form a line.
Noting the panic, Martha steeled her shoulders, yelling, "Just do what it says, everyone, okay? Just obey."
"The female is wise. Obey!"
Another Dalek rolled in, "Report!"
"These are strong specimens. They will help the Dalek cause."
Martha's eyes widened, "Dalek?" She remembered the name, from her various conversations with both Cass and the Doctor of their planet and their world. These pepper-pot-looking creatures were the Daleks, the aliens that had led to the extinction of the Time Lords.
"What is the status of the Final Experiment?" The first Dalek asked.
"The Dalekanium is in place. The energy conductor is now complete."
"Then I will extract prisoners for selection."
A pig-man pushed an older, black man forward, and the Dalek raised it's sucker arm towards his face, "Intelligence scan. Initiate. Reading brain waves. Low intelligence."
"You calling' me stupid?" The man snarled.
The Dalek ignored him, simply ordering, "This one will become a pig slave." As the pig-men pulled him away, paying him no mind as he yelled desperately, "No, let go of me! I'm not becoming one of them!"
The Dalek moved to the next prisoner in line, as Laszlo explained to the group of three, "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," Tallulah said, only to look sheepishly apologetic when Cass shushed her, glaring lightly.
Leaning closer to Laszlo, she continued in a whisper, "You're the smartest guy I ever dated."
"And the others?" The Doctor asked, bringing them back to the topic at hand.
"They're taken to the laboratory."
"Why? What for?"
"I don't know. The masters only call it the Final... Experiment."
Beyond them, the Dalek had moved onto Frank, scanning him and concluding, "Superior intelligence." Before moving onto Martha, "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 yelled, angry and desperate and disgusted.
The Dalek intent mechanically, "We are not human. Prisoners of high intelligence will be taken to the transgenic laboratory."
As they began moving, Cass pushed herself against the wall, pulling her tether beside her, flattening them together as she hissed, "Look out, they're moving!"
"Doctor. Cass! Quickly!" Laszlo yelled in a hushed whisper, holding onto Tallulah's hand, beginning to tug her down the tunnel.
The Time Lords shook their heads in unison, the Doctor saying, "We're not going. I've got an idea. You go."
They quickly snuck beside the line, Laszlo joining them soon after, and as soon as the Dalek had passed them, they joined in, moving behind Martha and Frank, Laszlo acting like one of the guards.
The human turned to the pilots with wide eyes, and Cass winked, whispering, "Don't draw attention to us, just keep walking Marth."
"I'm so glad to see you." She whispered gratefully, turning back around.
"Yeah, you can kiss me later, if you wanna." Cass joked back, "I'd say you too Frank, but my husband is already tensing beside me. So you two can kiss, and I'll kiss him." Glancing beside her at her tether, she smirked, whispering through his head, jealous, possessive Time Lord.
Mine. Was all he said back, tightening his grip around her hand, his love stroking across the folds of her mind tenderly.
—
They were herded to a lab of some sorts, where two more Daleks were waiting, Cass tensing when she recognised them.
Sec and Caan. Fuck's sake, will these fuckers ever die? She hissed angrily, the Doctor tightening his hold on her hand, whispering back, the other two must have been Thay and Jaast. Guess that's where the Cult of Skaro went.
"Report." A Dalek, Thay or Jaast based on what they knew wheeled in.
Caan turned to him, "Dalek Sec is in the final stage of evolution."
"Scan him. Prepare for birth."
"Evolution?" The Doctor whispered in confusion, and Cass closed her eyes, knowing she had to say something.
Clenching her jaw, she reached for his mind, already beginning to feel her veins burning, the vortex revolting against her actions, the pain warning her against her current actions. But she pushed through it, whispering instead, hybrids. They're making Dalek-human hybrids.
He'd turned to her with wide eyes, noting the pained expression on her face, the tension in her shoulders, and the way she'd violently flinched after speaking, a small trail of blood beginning to leak from her ear.
Tugging her to him, he swallowed at her stubbornness, stealthily wiping the spot of crimson away, as Martha turned to them with curious eyes, "What's wrong with old Charlie boy over there?"
"Ask them." Cass whispered, the pain she was feeling leaking into her voice.
When Martha looked at her with concern, she shook her head, pushing forwards, "We can't risk them noticing us, so you need to ask them."
"What me? Don't be daft."
"Sound authoritative, and they'll most likely listen," the Doctor advised her, his eyes still on his tether, hands cupping her cheeks softly, as he used their bond to check on how much damage she'd done to herself.
I'm okay, she whispered softly, pain's already receding.
You gave yourself a minor brain bleed, he admonished her tenderly, you need to be careful, please Luna.
She nodded softly, looking back forward as Martha yelled out, voice filled with command, "Daleks, I demand to be told. What is this Final Experiment? Report!"
Caan and Thay wheeled themselves to face her, the latter stating, "You will bear witness."
"To what?"
"This is the dawn of a new age."
"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, the casing opening to reveal a human-dalek hybrid, as Cass had warned. The clothing was unmistakably that of Diagoras, the black suit being recognisable. The head was similar to that of a Dalek, with a mouth, one eye, and tentacles, while the hands were almost claw-like.
"What is it?" Martha breathed in horror, as the creature, Dalek Sec in his new and improved form, crawled out of its casing, "I am a human Dalek. I am your future."
