Time and Space with My Best Friend

by StrikeMoonstone9387

When the Doctor and Rose answer a plea for help in Utah, 2012, they meet Siani Jones, a blind Archivist in Henry van Statten's museum. However, there is more to this young woman than meets the eye. First in the 'The Belle of Gallifrey, The Converging Wave and The Herald of Dreams' series. Series 1 - Special - Series 2. Female Ianto Jones/ The Doctor.

2. Dalek

Notes: Siani looks like Dove Cameron with sapphire blue eyes.

Dalek

10 years later...

October, 2012

Utah, USA, Earth

Dr. Siani Gwawr Jones walked down the hallways of Henry van Statten's museum with the man's aides, behind Diana Goddard. Around them, four of van Statten's armed security personnel lined the hall as their escort while van Statten himself walked in front of the group at a fast pace.

The young, brilliant Welshwoman had hip-length golden blonde hair that typically came up to her waist in loose curls with large, unseeing sapphire blue doe-eyes framed by long thick eyelashes and gently rounded eyebrows set in a dainty heart-shaped face. She had flawless, milky snow-white skin, high cheekbones with a permanent light pink tint of blush, a button nose and cupid bow lips. Standing at 5'1 and with an hourglass figure that was toned, graceful and lethal from a decade of learning how to defend herself despite being blind, she walked with a dancer's grace.

Siani was dressed in a mint green sari decorated with metallic mint green embroidery and a short metallic light silver, short sleeved blouse*. The drape was pleated and pinned on her left shoulder, allowing her to use her arms freely as she worked while on each wrist, a small set of mint green bangles* tinkled musically with each step she took and a pair of mint green diamond flower earring studs* in her ears while two pairs of small white diamond studs glimmered directly above them in her second and third piercings. She had her golden curls tied into a simple yet elegant twisted bun* at the back of her head with a few shorter strands framing her face, keeping the long locks out of her way while she worked. Her face, clear of any makeup except a light dusting of powder and a line of kohl lining her waterline, was adorned with a small mint green bindi* on her forehead, directly between her arched eyebrows. On her tiny feet were a pair of mint green 4" heeled strappy sandals*.

Around her neck, tucked into her blouse and hidden from sight aside from the fine, white gold chain, was the locket watch she had been found with as a teenager in the streets of Cardiff.

"On behalf of all of us, I wanna wish you a very happy birthday, sir." The newest aide, Polkowski, said to van Statten, walking beside the man and successfully managing to keep up with the fast-paced stride. "And the President called to convey his personal best wishes-"

"The President is 10 points down." Van Statten interrupted. "I want him replaced."

"I don't think that's very wise, sir." Polkowski said, glancing at the man before looking back at his PDA.

Siani winced imperceptibly at the aide's words, tightening her hold on her cane.

"Thank you so much for your opinion, you're fired." van Statten said without breaking his stride or even looking at the aide. "Get rid of him." He ordered over his shoulder to the guards.

"What?!" Polkowski exclaimed as a guard grabbed his arm and began hauling him away.

Knowing what was going to happen without needing to be prompt, Siani pressed herself against the wall, as did everyone else in the corridor except for van Statten, while the gentleman was forcibly removed.

"Wipe his memory, put him on the road someplace." van Statten continued without breaking his stride or thinking about the livelihood he was destroying. "Memphis, Minneapolis. Somewhere beginning with 'M'." Siani held back a sigh as Diana quickly took Polkowski's place beside van Statten. "So, the next President, what do you think? Republican or Democrat?"

"Democrat, sir." Diana replied unflinchingly, staring directly ahead. However, there was an undercurrent of uncertainty in her voice and a tenseness in her shoulders that belied her seemingly calm façade.

"For what reason?" van Statten asked.

Siani's gut twisted for the tall blonde. With van Statten, it wasn't a simple matter of being fired – the man would erase your memories, take your livelihood and destroy your family without losing a wink of sleep. Polkowski, a rather nice man with strong family values who had started only a few days earlier, would likely wake up in two days in a place beginning with 'M' as an addict or a junkie with no memory of who he was, who his husband was or who their two sweet children were. The family meanwhile would spend the next several months searching for him before eventually giving up the hope that they would ever see him again, believing that he had abandoned them.

"They're just so funny, sir?" Diana replied nervously, more of a question than a statement.

Van Statten stopped abruptly and the rest followed suit as the man looked up at the tall blonde with a scrutinizing gaze. To her credit, Diana didn't show any fear at the gaze, though her heart was racing within the confines of her chest.

"What is your name?" He asked her.

"Goddard, sir." Diana replied, turning to face him. "Diana Goddard."

"I like you Diana Goddard." van Statten said with a smirk, running his gaze over her slim form before resuming the walk. "So where's the English girl?"

"I'm Welsh." Siani muttered quietly in irritation before quickening her pace to walk alongside van Statten, the group parting to let her pass. "Sir, I bought ten more artifacts at auction."

"Bring 'em on. Let me see 'em!" van Statten ordered, giving her lithe body his customary leering onceover.

"Sir, with respect, there's something more urgent." Diana spoke up, drawing the man's attention away from the tiny Welshwoman on his other side. Siani shot a grateful look in the direction of her voice and she returned it with a small, imperceptible nod even though the younger woman wouldn't be able to see it. "We arrested two intruders 53 floors down. We don't know how they got in."

"I'll tell you how they got in." van Statten said. "In-tru-da-window." He raised his voice slightly, "In-tru-da-window. That was funny!" A wave of painfully forced laughter echoed through the hallways. "Bring 'em in, let's see 'em. And tell Simmons I wanna visit my little pet." He snapped his fingers. "Get to it!"

Siani separated from the group and went to her office. Selecting the most interesting items from the collection she had recently purchased, she hurried back to van Statten's office to show him the new 'toys' for his museum.

Henry van Statten was a man who had coffers filled with money and used it to satiate his petty greed, expecting every scrap of debris to be bought, scavenged or even stolen and put on display in his museum. However, the man had little interest for any of it, demanding it simply because he could. Siani, on the other hand, had a great love for all the items collected, and a genuine curiosity and drive to learn about what she didn't know despite her extreme dislike of the man who afforded her the opportunity. It was that drive and passion that enabled her, despite the chaos of her personal life, to gain a double Master's in Biology and Archival Sciences along with a PhD in Chemistry before she turned 23, one of the youngest people (even with her disability) to ever accomplish such an achievement.

It was these qualifications, along with her mysterious past, that drew van Statten's scouts to her door in Cardiff, Wales with 'a job offer of a lifetime'. Initially hesitant, she accepted for the sake of her family, for the benefits the job would offer them, more than out of any desire of her own to work for a man like Henry van Statten.

Entering the extravagant office, she made her way to the side of van Statten's desk and began explaining the items she had procured, setting her folded cane within reach on the table.

"This had been found during a scavenging dive of the Indian Ocean seabed." Siani explained to the American, carefully holding up a thin device made of a completely clear plastic-like material. She lightly tapped the screen, causing a soft blue light to appear where her manicured index finger had been before a string of symbols appeared on the right, looking as though it were some kind of content list. "It could be some form of identification method, accessing a population database."

van Statten took the device from Siani and pressed his finger to the clear plastic. Unlike when Siani pressed it, an angry red glow lit up the screen while another string of symbols appeared along the side. He perused the symbols for a moment before putting the device to the side, the light fading away, with the clear intention of toying with it more closely at a later date.

"Next." He demanded and Siani hurriedly picked up the last item, an oddly shaped metal device with tubes along one side.

"This is the last one, the most expensive of the collection." Siani said, holding the device delicately in her small, dainty hands. She was the one that did the monthly expenditure reports and left out the easy $800,000 the device cost, knowing it would be of no interest to the man.

"What does it do?" van Statten demanded, boredom and irritation seeping into his voice as he snatched the device from Siani's hand; she didn't need to be able to see to know that he was probably holding it carelessly, like he did with just about everything he owned.

"Based on the tubes and the design," Siani began as the door opened and Diana entered with a group of security personnel and the two intruders – a young blonde girl who couldn't be more than a teenager and a tall gentleman who looked to be around mid-40 with almost European-like features. Unfazed by the sound of their entrance, she continued, "I'd assume it's a type of musical instrument."

The tall gentleman, with sparkling blue eyes, a slightly large nose and big ears that stuck out from his head, smiled at her briefly before turning his attention to the device. He was dressed in a pair of black trousers, an olive green jumper with a well-worn dark brown leather jacket over top.

His companion, a pretty blonde girl with hazel eyes who looked only a few years younger than Siani was dressed in a pair of well-worn light colored jeans, a white body top with a red and grey hoodie over top. Her hair was pinned away from her face and hanging loosely around her shoulders.

"I really wouldn't hold it like that." He said in a Northern accent, nodding towards the careless way van Statten was holding the device.

"Shut it." Diana ordered, evidently having fully embraced her new position.

"Really though, that's wrong." The man insisted, glancing at Diana before turning back to van Statten.

"Is it dangerous?" Siani asked, looking in the direction of his voice with a small frown furrowing her brows. She was worried that she might have been wrong about the device and that it was not a musical instrument like she had believed.

"No, just looks silly." The man replied, smiling brightly at her.

Siwan gave a sigh of relief at the reply. One of the fears she had regarding their meddling with things they did not know was that one day they were going to meddle with something that could prove disastrous.

The man reached forward, holding his hand out for the device in a classic 'let me see' gesture. He froze when the sound of guns cocking filled the room in a syncopated rhythm, the security personnel aiming their weapons at him. He smiled again, this time tightly and aiming it at van Statten who quelled the guards with a silent wave of his hand, casually handing the device over. The man took it carefully, holding the device gently in one hand.

"You were right." He said, looking at her with a mildly impressed look in his eyes. "It's a musical instrument. You just have to be…" He gently ran his fingers over the device, making it produce a breathtaking sound. Siani smiled, listening to the music the man was making and looking at the instrument in his hands. The man in turn had his gaze trained on Siani, taking in her amazement and wonder. "…delicate."

He tore his gaze away from Siani and grinned down at the blonde beside him before glancing around the room.

"Let me see." van Statten ordered, reaching out and all but yanking it away from the man. He began running his fingers over it. The sound he produced had everyone wincing, the noise almost akin to claws being scratched on a blackboard – harsh and unforgiving.

"I did say delicate." The man said, slightly more successful than the rest of them at holding back his wince.

"Why are the sounds so different?" Siani asked, her eagerness to learn something new clear on her face.

"It reacts to the smallest fingerprint." The man explained as van Statten slowed his movements and the sound became more bearable. "It needs precision." Slowly, it began to sound similar, though not quite, like it had when the intruder had played it. "Very good. Quite the expert."

"As are you." Van Statten said, looking at the intruder before carelessly tossing the instrument to the side. The man lost his grin and Siani instinctively reached out for the instrument. "Who exactly are you?"

Sensing everyone's attention on the two intruders, the male in particular, Siani discreetly flicked her wrist slightly and levitated the instrument into her hands, making it seem as though she had caught it. She really hated the way van Statten carelessly handled everything in his possession. The man was truly arrogant and narcissistic, and it drove Siani crazy at having to put up with him just so she was able to support her family.

"I'm the Doctor." The man replied, an almost cold expression on his face as he looked at van Statten. Turning her attention back to the intruders, silently placing the instrument back on the table, Siani had to admire the intruder's ability to sound both stern and unimpressed at the same time. "And who are you?"

"Oh, like you don't know." van Statten scoffed. At the Doctor's blank look and raised eyebrow, he continued, "We're hidden away with the most valuable collection of extraterrestrial artifacts in the world, and you just stumbled in by mistake."

"Pretty much sums me up, yeah." The Doctor said, chuckling lightly.

"Question is, how did you get in?" van Statten asked, walking around his desk and stopping in front of the Doctor and his companion. "53 floors down, with your little cat-burglar accomplice." He looked towards the blonde, a leer on his face before turning back to the intruder. "Quite a collector yourself, she's rather pretty."

"She's gonna smack you if you keep calling her 'she'." The blonde retorted sassily in a Cockney accent.

Siani smirked briefly before quickly masking it.

"She's English, too!" van Statten exclaimed with a grin. "Hey English," he called over his shoulder to Siani. "I found you a playmate."

Siani's eyebrow twitched, the only outward sign of her irritation at being referred to as English again. Two years of working for the man and he still didn't understand that she was Welsh.

"This is Mr. Henry van Statten." Siani introduced, all traces of her earlier wonder and amazement gone from her face as a bland smile took its place.

"And who's he when he's at home?" The blonde asked looking at Siani, evidently deciding that talking to her was better than talking to the pretentious and arrogant man in front of her.

"Mr. van Statten owns the internet." Siani explained.

"Don't be stupid." The blonde girl scoffed, looking at Siani like she was completely mental. "No one owns the internet."

"That's what I thought too." Siani said sheepishly, not at all blaming the younger blonde for thinking that she was mental.

"And let's keep the whole world thinking that way, right kids?" van Statten said with a smug grin, quite proud of the blonde intruder's reaction.

"So you're just about an expert in everything, except the things in your museum." The Doctor commented with a smirk. "Anything you don't understand, you lock up."

Siani had to hand it to the Doctor, he really was quite spot on with his summarization of van Statten's museum. She had to bite back the urge to snort in amusement, though she couldn't completely mask the upturned quirk of her lip in a smirk.

"And you claim greater knowledge?" van Statten asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't need to make claims." The Doctor retorted. "I know how good I am."

It wasn't said arrogantly or superiorly, it was just a simple statement of fact. Siani, having witnessed how the Doctor had handled the musical instrument, and also one to listen to her gut instincts, was inclined to believe him.

"And yet, I captured you right next to the Cage." van Statten pointed out smugly. "What were you doing down there?"

"You tell me."

"The Cage contains my one living specimen." van Statten revealed.

Siani shuddered imperceptibly at the mention of the living being down in the bowels of the bunker, deep beneath the Earth. She didn't know why, but there was something about the metal creature that frightened her to her very core. But every time she peeked into the Cage via the CCTV footage for a listen, she couldn't help but feel sorry for it, despite her fear, for what it was being put through at the hands of van Statten's scientists.

Though she only suspected what the poor creature was constantly having to endure based on what she had heard, from the security footage and from the scientists and the guards, it had been enough to ensure Siani's need to keep her own powers hidden from the man, lest she too become one of his experiments. She would often go down to the Cage when the scientists weren't present and, while under the supervision of the guards, she would talk to the metal-cased being and sing to it, just try and be there in someway despite her unexplainable fear of it. Even though she didn't know exactly what the scientists would do, she could hear what the guards would say as well as the creature's screams, leading her to believe that they were torturing the poor creature. However, even with her powers, she was still powerless to help it, only being able to talk to it whenever she was down there.

"And what's that?" The Doctor asked, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"Like you don't know." van Statten scoffed.

"Show me." The Doctor demanded.

"You wanna see it?" van Statten challenged.

"Blimey, you can smell the testosterone." The blonde girl commented sassily.

Siani burst out laughing, the peals sounding like a tinkle of bells. Everyone turned to look at her, her colleagues and employer staring in surprise as she had rarely laughed in their presence, especially with such amusement. "Nice one, sassy and witty." Siani said, her laughter slowing to giggles as she turned in the younger blonde's direction.

"Thank you." The younger woman said, smiling brightly at her. "I'm Rose. Rose Tyler."

"I'm Jones. Siani Jones. Charmed to meet you." Siani replied with a bright, innocent smile.

Rose and the Doctor smiled back, taken in by the innocence of the young woman's face and sincerity of her greeting. The Doctor noticed the misted look in her eyes and frowned slightly, getting the feeling that there was something wrong with her sight.

"Dr. Jones here is our resident genius." Diana said with a look of pride on her face, speaking up for the first time since she had told the Doctor to shut up. The Doctor and Rose turned to her while Siani frantically shook her head at the taller woman from behind them, trying to get her to stop talking. "She earned a Double Master's in Archival Sciences and Engineering, being granted the opportunity to advance her third Master's, this one in Chemistry, to a Doctorate without additional schooling. All before she turned 23. And she's now 25."

"Seriously?" The Doctor asked, turning back to the now furiously blushing blonde with a very impressed expression on his face.

He knew it was possible to hold degrees in multiple disciplines, but to achieve three vastly different degrees within a short time frame is astounding – made even more so when taking into account that the degrees were Masters and a Doctorate.

"That is impressive." Rose said in amazement.

"Thank you." Siani said softly, her cheeks a bright red from the strength of her blush. She had always been proud of her achievements but was incredibly shy at the same time. She never liked boasting about them, only mentioning them when people asked what her salutation was. "I just… really like learning new things. And reading." She took a breath and looked around, feeling incredibly uncomfortable with everyone's gazes on her. "Can we change the subject now? Please?"

"Goddard!" van Statten snapped, drawing the woman's attention to him. "Inform the Cage that we're heading down." Diana nodded and tapped her earpiece. "You, English." He said, turning to Siani who turned to him. "Look after the girl. Go and drink tea or gossip or whatever it is you British do." Siani smiled tightly at him in response, her irritation only being expressed by her twitching eyebrow as she began gathering up the artifacts she had brought. "And you, Doctor-with-no-name." He looked at the Doctor while heading towards his private lift. "Come and see my pet!"

The Doctor glanced back at Rose and Siani, both blondes now standing beside each other, and turned to follow van Statten into the lift. As the doors closed, he found his gaze being drawn to Siani, taking note of the mint green sari and silver blouse that seemed to flatter her hourglass figure and the bun that inadvertently drew attention to her neck and back. He shook himself out of his thoughts as they began their descent, unable to help but think that there was something incredibly familiar about her.

Siani reminded him of-. He cut himself off before he could continue that train of thought. She had died, just as all the others had.

Behind him, Diana hid her smile, recognizing that the Doctor was already mesmerized by their resident genius even though their encounter had only lasted a few minutes. Glancing at van Statten, she wondered if the Doctor would be the one who could take Siani away from van Statten's leering gaze, the only thing that had protected her from him was her connections and her son.

What Siani had been completely oblivious to, at least in the beginning, was that van Statten had also hired her because of her beauty, because he wanted her in his bed. However, she had repeatedly avoided and ignored his overtures, several members of the staff actually helping her avoid the man as well, until he finally got bored of chasing her. He still leered at her on a regular basis, but he no longer tried to get her into his bed, which was a big relief to the younger woman who already had so much responsibility on her dainty shoulders.

Almost everyone on the base was drawn to the tiny Welshwoman, feeling the unexplainable desire to protect the mysterious blind girl who had been through so much in only the past ten years – the only time of her life that she was even aware of. Her amnesia of the first fifteen years of her life was well known around the base, the mystery behind her past being one of the reasons van Statten had hired her, but they were all protective of her because of the way she still seemed so innocent despite everything.

Meanwhile, the blonde Welshwoman in question led Rose to the break room; she didn't have her cane out, knowing the facility like the back of her hand and only keeping it with her out of habit.

"Have a seat." Siani said invitingly, gesturing to the comfortable chairs that surrounded a round table in the middle of the rather nicely furnished and equipped room. She placed the artifacts in her arms on the table carefully, making sure that none of them became damaged. "Would you like coffee or tea? Or something cool?"

"Coffee, please." Rose replied, sitting down and looking around in amazement at the furnishings of the room. "This place is nice."

"Yes, Mr. van Statten expects only the best." Siani replied, her tone almost bland as she began the process of making the caffeine brew. "One of the perks of working for him, I suppose."

"If you don't mind my asking, why do you let him treat you that way?" Rose asked curiously. She had noticed the leering glances the man had shot the smaller woman and it made her shudder. "I mean, he looks at you like you're a piece of meat!"

Siani sighed and set the timer on the coffee maker before taking a seat across from Rose. She absently pulled her locket watch out from her blouse and began playing with it, not even realizing that she was. "I stay for my sister and for my son." Siani said softly. "My older sister Rhiannon has cancer, Stage 4 Leukemia, and she's on a very aggressive chemotherapy routine. Our parents died a few years ago as did Rhia's husband and her two children."

"Oh, my God. I'm so sorry." Rose said softly, her eyes shining with sympathy for the older girl.

"Thank you." Siani said with a small smile. "Working for Mr. van Statten affords me the ability to pay for my sister's medical bills as well as having a full-time live-in nurse/ nanny that looks after her and my son, Carwyn. There isn't anything in this museum that could help Rhia, but at least I can afford to pay her medical bills without having to dip into our trust funds." She snorted lightly. "There's also the small fact that Mr. van Statten doesn't take very well to those who try to resign, if you get my meaning."

Rose frowned for a moment in confusion before realizing that if van Statten treated those that were under his employ so rudely, then he most certainly wouldn't treat those who wished to leave any better. "I-I see." Rose said, swallowing thickly. Wanting to change the subject, she asked, "How old is your son?"

"He's 3 months old now." Siani replied with a soft smile on her face.

"You look amazing for a woman who gave birth three months ago." Rose commented, gesturing to her hourglass figure that was partially hidden by the table they were both sitting at.

"Oh! No, no, no, Carwyn is adopted." Siani said, realizing what the younger woman thought.

"Oh, sorry." Rose said apologetically, looking embarrassed at her assumption with a slight blush on her cheeks.

"That's okay." Siani said with a reassuring smile, getting to her feet when the timer on the coffee machine rang. She went about mixing the coffee and pouring it into two cups for them as she continued to speak. "I adopted him when he had been a few days old, in July. I had gone back to Cardiff for vacation and he had been found abandoned on the side of the road by a police officer. The officer that found him is a friend of mine, and coincidentally enough is the same one who had found me ten years ago wandering the streets." She turned and set a cup gently in front of Rose along with a plate of biscuits before retaking her seat. "Once Carwyn had been cleared medically and time passed with no notice or alert going out for a missing newborn fitting his description, I was allowed to adopt him. That we shared a similar past and he had bonded with me allowed the court to rule in my favor over placing him in care."

"Why were you wandering the streets?" Rose asked, confused, wrapping her fingers around the hot china tea cup and letting the warmth seep into her hands.

"I don't know." Siani replied, shrugging delicately and taking a small sip of her coffee. "The first 15 years of my life are a complete blank. I have complete amnesia and the doctors all unanimously agreed that it was highly unlikely I would ever regain my memories of those years."

Rose looked at Siani sympathetically, struck by the strength the woman seemed to possess in her tiny body. To lose not just 15 years of your memory, but your entire life until that point was a frightening thought, yet here was this woman who had come out stronger because of it, who didn't let it hold her back and instead achieved something that very few people could achieve at such a young age. It was inspiring and astounding.

Rose raised the china tea cup to her lips and took a sip of her hot drink, her eyes going wide at the taste.

"Blimey! This is amazing!" She exclaimed, looking across the table at the older blonde who chuckled lightly at her reaction. Rose blushed lightly at her overly enthusiastic display but couldn't find it in her to apologize for it. "I'm serious! This is amazing."

"Thank you." Siani said, her chuckles fading to a genuine smile as a slight blush painted her high cheekbones at the praise. She took a sip of her coffee before looking at Rose. "Um, would you like to see some more artifacts?"

"I'd love to." Rose said excitedly, beaming at her.

"It's almost time for the scientists' coffee breaks, so I can show you once I've done the coffee run." Siani offered, rising to her feet and proceeding to make a fresh pot of her wonderful brew.

"You make… the coffee for everyone?" Rose asked somewhat incredulously. She didn't understand why someone so brilliant and clever would allow herself to be reduced to being the coffee girl.

"Yeah." Siani said with a nod, not noticing Rose's incredulous tone. "Apparently, I'm the only one that can use the coffee machine without it blowing up." She chuckled lightly. "I don't really believe them, but honestly, I like looking after them." She pulled out a large tray and several teacups, setting them neatly on the tray. "They often would get so caught up in their work that they'd forget to eat or drink unless someone made them."

"I see." Rose said slowly, nodding.

"You don't really get it, do you?" Siani asked knowingly, turning to face the blonde with a small smile on her face.

"No, not really." Rose admitted, shaking her head.

Siani laughed lightly and turned back to filling the cups with coffee. With practiced movements, she quickly filled the cups, washed the ones she and Rose had been using and tidied up the remnants of their snack all while keeping up an idle conversation with the younger girl.

"Do you want me to carry the artifacts while you carry the tray?" Rose offered, seeing that the older blonde's hands were full with the large tray she was carrying.

"That'd be great, thank you." Siani said with a smile, setting the tray down and helping Rose carry the artifacts properly.

Once the younger girl had a hold of the items and wasn't going to drop them, Siani picked up the tray with one hand and unfolded her cane with the other, not wanting to take the chance that she could trip while ladened with the hot beverages. Passing several labs as they walked down the halls, Siani went into each one and handed out the coffee to the scientists and technicians before they finally reached her office.

"Sorry about the mess." Siani said apologetically, entering her office/ lab and gently putting the now empty tray to the side along with her cane. "I usually keep it very organized, more out of necessity because of my blindness, but today was rather chaotic."

Rose looked around the room, carefully placing the artifacts on the waist-high table in the middle of the room and wondered what mess the older woman was talking about. The place was neat and tidy, everything in its place and nothing out of order. All the drawers and shelves were neatly labelled in beautiful calligraphy and braille, marking where everything was meant to be. She wondered what the older girl would think of her flat on the Powell Estate, with dishes strewn about in the kitchen and clutter lying around in the sitting area.

"What's that?" Rose asked, catching sight of a small, curious looking spherical object in the middle of the table. She noticed Siani looking at her questioningly, not knowing what she was referring to. "Sorry, I mean on the table?"

At the clarification, a bright, excited smile crossed Siani's face. "Watch." She said with an almost childlike grin, picking the sphere up carefully and setting it in the palm of her hand.

For a single heartbeat, she just held it in her hand before tossing it lightly in the air and stepping back as the sphere fell towards the ground. Rose gasped, her eyes widening in amazement when the sphere hovered above the stone floor instead of hitting it.

"Wow!" Rose exclaimed in amazement.

The two blondes laughed excitedly, tracking the sphere as it hovered around the room, moving back and forth between each girl and staying just out of their reach when they tried to catch it.

For several minutes, the girls' laughter echoed in the room as they tried to catch the sphere before giving up. Both of them leaned against the table, side by side and watched the artifact hover around them, staying just out of reach.

"I think it's either some sort of toy or a kind of therapeutic object." Siani said, her laughter fading into giggles. "But it's hard to be certain."

"Well, if it's up to a vote, I vote for it being a little of both." Rose said, her hazel eyes sparkling as she smiled brightly. "How long will it hover around for?"

"A few more minutes." Siani replied. "It doesn't last for more than five to ten minutes." She sighed wistfully. "Sometimes, I just imagine what it's like out there in the Universe, all those Races that have so much knowledge, so much they can impart." She smiled sheepishly as a light blush filled her cheeks. "I know it sounds daft."

"Not at all." Rose said, shaking her head and smiling reassuringly at the older woman. "What would you do, if you had the chance to go out there?"

"Learn, explore." Siani replied honestly, a wistful look on her face as she played with her locket absently. Rose, seeing the action, noticed that the older girl had been playing with it for the past several minutes and didn't seem to realize that she was. "See if there's a safe way to cure my sister's cancer."

"You wouldn't try to recover your missing memories?" Rose asked curiously, knowing that if she had been in the older girl's position, recovering the missing memories would be what she would want more than anything. "Or cure your blindness?"

"Honestly, no." Siani replied, shaking her head. "I spent 10 years without my memories and my sight. Frankly, it wouldn't make a difference to me if I do end up regaining them or even getting my eyesight back. But trying to save my sister's life, if it was possible, I would do it. I would pay whatever price so long as it's my price to pay and no one else's."

Rose stared back at Siani, stunned at the strength and honesty in the Welshwoman's words. She understood the underlying words in Siani's response; Siani would willingly pay whatever price it took to cure her sister, however she wouldn't do it if it meant someone else would suffer because of her actions.

It struck her just how different the older woman was to her. Only recently, Rose had gone back to 1987 and saved her father without thinking of the consequences. As a result, she brought Reapers down on them all and the Doctor had been sterilized along with most of humanity. Her father, Pete Tyler, had been the one to make the ultimate sacrifice to save them and bring those that had been sterilized back - he let himself get hit by the car that was supposed to have killed him in the first place. Her friendship with the Doctor had become temporarily strained, the two only just beginning to go back to the easy camaraderie they had shared when she had first begun to travel with him.

Shaking herself out of her thoughts and looking at Siani, Rose saw that she was looking in the sphere's general direction while absently playing with her locket again. She noticed that the older girl had done the same thing in the break room, playing with the locket without really realizing it.

"That's a beautiful locket." Rose commented.

"What?" Siani asked, startled out of her daze and turning to the younger blonde.

"The locket." Rose prodded, nodding to the necklace the Welshwoman was playing with.

"Oh, thank you." Siani said, smiling as she tucked it back into her blouse without really noticing it. "I was wearing it when I had been found."

"It must've been hard." Rose said softly, feeling a wave of amazement surge through her at the strength the petite woman in front of her displayed. "Not knowing who you are and not being able to see."

"That's just it, Rose. I do know who I am." Siani said with a gentle smile, facing the younger girl with large sapphire eyes that expressed nothing but acceptance of her past in their unseeing gaze. "Right here, right now, this is me. An ordinary Welsh girl living in America, working to provide for her family. It doesn't matter that none of us share blood. We're a family in every way that counts. And as far as seeing… well, there is more than one way to see. Where you see with your eyes, I see with my fingers, my ears, my nose."

Once again, Rose was awestruck by the strength Siani possessed, rendered completely silent by the words. The older girl truly had accepted what had happened to her and used it as a means to move on with her life rather than letting it hold her back. At the same time, she never let anyone else use her past or her disability to hold her back either, instead using it to prove that she was just as capable as anyone else to achieve the unexpected and the seemingly impossible.

It was a strength that Rose had seen only in one other person, her mother. Jackie Tyler had pushed through every ordeal that had come her way in order to provide for her daughter, to teach her daughter right from wrong and was ready and willing to move Heaven, Hell and everything that lay between to protect her loved ones, especially her daughter.

"Anyway, enough about me." Siani said, shaking her head and moving around the table to put the sphere away. "How did you and your friend end up here?"

"We caught a signal, a cry for help." Rose replied honestly. "We were actually headed somewhere entirely different."

"You're sure the signal came from this base?" Siani asked, a small frown on her face.

"Yep." Rose replied, nodding.

"Must have been the Metaltron." Siani said thoughtfully. "It must have finally been able to store enough strength to send out a call."

"Metaltron?" Rose repeated in confusion.

"It's what everyone calls Mr. van Statten's living specimen." Siani replied. "Personally, I wish they had given it a catchier name."

"Do you ever go down there or do you stay up here with the artifacts?" Rose asked, curious yet with a hint of a challenge in her tone.

"Sometimes, when I take the coffee and food down to the guards, they let me inside the Cage." Siani admitted softly.

"Can we see it?" Rose asked eagerly, curiosity shining in her eyes.

"I may have taken the liberty of patching into the CCTV network." Siani said with a sly smile, moving around the table and stepping up to the computer that was in one corner. She began rapidly typing as she continued speaking, "Fair warning though, it isn't in the best of conditions."

"What do you mean?"

"I think the scientists tend to get overzealous when trying to get it to talk."

A video feed appeared on the screen of the Cage, showing the hulking Metaltron bound in its chains. From an objective point of view, it looked like a big pepper pot with a stick jutting out at the top of the dome. It was copper-colored with large bulbous protrusions on the lower half with a plunger and a whisk on either side of it, just below the dome where limbs might have been.

"It looks like a big… pepper pot." Rose said, cocking her head to the side.

"Yeah, that was what I was told." Siani said in agreement. "But for some reason, it terrifies me." Rose looked at her with a raised eyebrow, unable to make the connection between the 'pepper pot' and the sense of terror that the older woman was talking about. Sensing the look, Siani shrugged sheepishly. "I know, it doesn't make sense, but for some reason, it just does."

"How did you mean, 'overzealous'?" Rose asked with a frown, looking back at the video feed.

"See those markings and scarring on the body work?" Siani asked, zooming in on the Metaltron and pointing out the markings she was talking about. Rose nodded and she continued, "I'm not entirely sure, but I think it's from the scientists' attempts to open the casing and get it to talk. But all it does is scream."

Before Rose could respond, a man dressed in an orange hazmat-styled suit entered the Cage carrying a massive saw. The two girls could only watch and listen as the man, Simmons, began sawing at the Metaltron's casing, causing the creature to emit a metallic sounding screech, filled with pain.

Siani gasped in horror, her large eyes widening even further at hearing the creature in the bowels of the museum get tortured. She had only ever suspected it, based on what she had overheard from the guards and the scientists, but she had never been faced with the proof before.

"What's he doing?!" Rose asked in alarm and disbelief, her eyes wide in shock. "Why doesn't anyone do anything?!"

"Because everyone is terrified of van Statten, Rose." Siani reminded her gently, her own horror at her suspicions being confirmed clear on her fair features. "It's either speak up and lose everything or stay silent and pray you can live with your conscience. Those are our only options."

"Where is the Doctor?" Rose asked. "He can stop them."

"I don't know." Siani said, shaking her head. A worried frown crossed her face. "But I suddenly have a really bad feeling about this."

"Take me down there." Rose ordered, already heading out of the lab.

Siani hurriedly closed down her computer and followed after Rose, quickly taking the lead.

Striding into the lobby just outside the Cage, the two blondes walked with purpose.

"Siani, you shouldn't be down here right now." A security officer, Bywater, said, shooting to his feet when he saw the two of them.

"I saw the video feed." Siani said, looking in Bywater's direction for a brief moment before turning to face Simmons, a fierce glare crossing her features. "I know what is being done to the Metaltron, what you all were keeping from me. Rose and I would like to see it, please."

Bywater sighed. He and the other security officers had adamantly refused to let Siani come down while the scientists were inside with the creature, however they all knew that the young woman suspected what was really going on. Even an idiot would be able to suspect what was being done to the creature and Siani was anything but.

"Fine." Bywater said after several seconds, sighing again. He went to the keypad and entered the code, opening the massive door to let the two girls inside. "But be careful. We'll keep watch from outside. And you'll need to leave your cane out here."

Siani nodded in understanding. She folded her cane up and handed it to Bywater before stepping inside the Cage with Rose. Simmons closed the door behind them as Rose stepped towards the chained creature.

"Careful." Siani cautioned Rose, the sense of fear growing inside her even though the creature was chained and helpless.

"Hello." Rose called in gentle concern, giving an almost imperceptible nod to Siani at the caution. "Are you in pain? My name is Rose Tyler. I've got a friend, he can help. He's called the Doctor." She stepped closer towards the Metaltron, barely a foot away from it. "What's your name?"

"Yes." The Metaltron said slowly.

"What?" Rose asked, confused.

"I am in pain." The Metaltron said. "They torture me, but still they fear me. Only the golden child does not fear me."

Siani frowned, wondering who the Metaltron was talking about. Everyone on the base was afraid of the Metaltron, some were just slightly more adept at concealing it.

"I think he means you, Siani." Rose said softly, looking at the older woman.

"Do you fear me?" The Metaltron asked, drawing Rose's attention back to it.

"No." Rose replied honestly, actually pitying the creature instead.

"I… am… dying."

"No, we can help you." Siani said, shaking her head in denial but not moving from her spot. "I'm sure that there is something in this museum that can help you."

"I welcome death, golden child." The Metaltron said, turning its eyestalk on her. Rose and Siani exchanged looks at the name, getting the confirmation that the creature thought Siani wasn't afraid. "But I am glad… that before I die… I have met another human who was not afraid."

Siani frowned, unable to help but feel that there was something wrong with the Metaltron's words. It sounded a bit too manipulative, almost like it was trying to evoke sympathy from them. She shook her head, brushing the thought aside as paranoia; the creature had spent at least the better part of 50 years in confinement, experiencing nothing but fear from the humans it encountered while being subjected to unimaginable pain and torture. Even she was afraid of it for all that she spent time with it when she could. If it felt that it had to manipulate them to receive some kindness and sympathy, then she couldn't blame it.

"Isn't there anything we can do?" Rose asked softly, filled with compassion for the pitiful creature.

"My race… is dead." The Metaltron said. "I… shall die… alone."

Rose bit her lip for a moment and then, before Siani could process what the younger girl was doing, reached out her hand. Gently, she rested her palm against the Metaltron's dome, just to the side of the eyestalk.

"Rose, no!" Siani cried seconds too late as Rose pulled her hand back with a quiet hiss, a golden handprint left where her hand had been.

Rose cradled her hand, scrambling back towards Siani. The handprint glowed for a single second before fading into the Metaltron and both girls watched with wide eyes as it became more animated.

"Genetic material extrapolated. Initiate cellular reconstruction!"

The girls could only watch, their shock giving way to horror and Siani moving to stand protectively in front of Rose as the Metaltron broke through the chains binding it in place. Sparks flew as it caused minor explosions at the stone bases where the chains had been secured to the ground.

Simmons entered the Cage, carrying his drill. "What the hell have you done?" He snarled, glaring at the girls as he stepped around them. The Metaltron raised its sucker at him threateningly and Simmons scoffed. "What are you gonna do?" He asked haughtily. "Sucker me to death?"

The Metaltron extended its limb, covering Simmons' mouth and nose with the sucker and creating a vacuum within its confines. His screams were muted but the sound of his facial bones being crushed echoed into the stone room as his life force was absorbed.

Siani couldn't move, becoming completely paralyzed with terror. All she could think of was her dreams, the dreams that had haunted her nights for the past 10 years. The dreams were filled with screams, fire and blood, the sound of 'Exterminate!' being shouted over and over again while the air was filled with smoke.

"Siani! Come on!" Rose shouted to the older girl. She grabbed Siani's arm and pulled her unresisting form out of the Cage.

"Siani!" Bywater cried in alarm, seeing the pure, unadulterated terror on the Welshwoman's face.

"It's killing him!" Rose shouted to him, still holding firmly to Siani's arm supportively and drawing the man's attention to her. "Do something!"

Bywater pressed a button on the console, doing the only thing he could do – raise the alarm.

"Condition red! Condition red! I repeat, this is not a drill!"

The sound of the alarms blaring and Bywater's voice echoing through the bunker drew Siani out of her panic induced thoughts. Shaking her head and looking at her surroundings, she saw the guards sealing the Cage while aiming their guns at the door.

Behind her, the communication screen came to life.

"You've got to keep it in that cell." The Doctor said, drawing Rose's attention to the screen.

"Doctor, it's all my fault." She said guiltily, looking at his image on the screen.

"Doctor, are you okay?" Siani asked with a frown, having also turned at the sound of his voice. She could hear the minute traces of pain in his voice, masked by what she assumed was years of practice. However, Siani was quite adept at noticing details through video feeds from working with the Cardiff Police while in high school, her heightened hearing also playing a part in that ability.

"I've sealed the compartment." Bywater informed the Doctor through the screen before the Time Lord could respond to the question or Rose could ask what Siani meant. "It can't get out, that lock's got a billion combinations."

"A hundred billion combinations." Siani corrected automatically.

"A Dalek's a genius. It can calculate a thousand billion combinations in one second flat." The Doctor told them.

"That's exactly what it's doing." Siani said, hearing the quiet tones of the combinations being rapidly run through. Rose and Bywater turned to look at the keypad as well, their eyes widening at the evidence of the Doctor's words. "Um, Doctor?" Siani asked, turning back to the screen. "On a scale of 1 to 10, how screwed are we?"

"100." The Doctor replied honestly.

"You had to ask." De Maggio muttered, swallowing loudly as her face became several shades paler. Despite this, her hands never wavered as she kept her gun aimed at the Cage door.

Before anyone could say anything else, the klaxon alarms blared in warning as the Cage door opened. The Dalek slowly made its way out.

"Open fire!" Bywater ordered, firing his own gun at the Dalek with the rest of the guards following suit.

Siani and Rose stepped back towards the hallway, inching along the table and staying out of the way of the ricocheting bullets. To their ever-increasing horror, the bullets did nothing to the Dalek, not halting it nor even scratching it in anyway.

"Don't shoot it! I want it unharmed." van Statten shouted through the still live video feed.

"In case you hadn't noticed, the bullets aren't actually doing anything!" Siani shouted, for the moment completely uncaring that this was the man that enabled her to support her family. "Even I can see that and I'm blind!"

"Rose, get out of there!" The Doctor shouted frantically.

"You too Siani, get out!" Diana yelled as well, losing her calm façade in the face of the danger posed to the young Welshwoman.

Regardless of the fact that the bullets didn't seem to have any effect on the Dalek, the guards continued firing their guns until their clips ran out. Like Siani, they too didn't particularly care at that moment that Henry van Statten basically held their lives, and the lives of their loved ones, in his greedy hands.

"De Maggio." Bywater said, reloading his gun with a fresh clip. "Get Siani and the girl out alive. That is your job, got that?"

De Maggio nodded, turning to Siani and Rose. "Both of you, with me." She gestured to them to follow her, handing Siani her cane at the same time.

"What about Bywater and the others?" Siani asked, worried for her friends and colleagues. She held her saree up over her knees with one hand, her drape billowing behind her, and used her cane with the other, the strap looped around her wrist as they ran through the maze of corridors.

"Right now, my job is to get you both out alive." De Maggio said briskly. She glanced at Siani over her shoulder, not breaking her stride. "You have Carwyn and your sister who need you, focus on getting out of this and getting home to them. Nothing else."

Siani looked at her unseeingly for a moment before nodding slowly. It was clear that she was still worried for her colleagues but trusted them to be able to look after themselves. Right now, that was all she could do.

Rose was silent, listening and seeing the protectiveness Siani inspired in those under van Statten's employ. She couldn't help but think that if van Statten was any less of a creep, he may have inspired the same loyalty in his employees that the young Welshwoman beside her did without any effort at all. When the guard, Bywater, had issued De Maggio her orders and referred to Rose as 'the girl', she had been momentarily irritated before realizing that the guard didn't know her, not like he knew Siani. As far as the guard was concerned, she was one of the intruders that had been caught earlier that day.

As they continued running through the corridors, De Maggio picking up her pace and prompting Siani and Rose to do the same, the lights flickered for a moment before dying out completely. Seconds later, the emergency lights flickered to life.

From the opposite direction, several guards ran towards them, each of them armed with assault rifles.

"Civilians!" De Maggio shouted without breaking her running stride. "Let them through!"

The troop separated from their formation, allowing De Maggio to lead the girls through while still running. Once they had passed, the guards took up positions blocking the corridor, some kneeling while the rest remained standing. All of them had their weapons aimed and ready, waiting for the Dalek to approach.

Meanwhile, De Maggio herded the girls to the nearest stairwell, a few feet behind them having let the two pass her so she could cover their backs.

"Stairs!" Rose gasped with a cheer, stopping at the foot of the staircase and hope blooming in her heart. "That's more like it." She gripped the railing, catching her breath; despite having spent the past few months travelling with the Doctor, she still wasn't quite used to high-speed running even if her stamina and endurance had increased out of necessity. "It hasn't got legs. It's stuck!"

Siani on the other hand wasn't the least bit winded, having endured the same training Cardiff police put their officers through as well as the training regime that the guards in van Statten's employ had to go through before being assigned weapons or even a uniform. If nothing else, van Statten was a stickler when it came to his own personal safety. Even though it hadn't been required for Siani to go through the training that the guards did, being a civilian, she willingly agreed to it when one of them had suggested it; she didn't know it was so that she could protect herself against van Statten if there ever was a need.

"It's coming!" De Maggio shouted, running up to them. "Get up!"

Not needing to be told twice, Siani and Rose ran up the stairs with De Maggio right behind them. They skidded to a stop after running halfway up the second flight, turning to look back at the stairwell doorway; each of them was apprehensive, watching (or listening in Siani's case) with trepidation.

"Where is it?" Siani asked quietly, gripping her cane tightly with one hand and holding her sari up with the other.

"It stopped at the stairs." Rose told her. She breathed heavily, not completely from exertion.

De Maggio aimed her gun at the stationary Dalek. "Now listen to me." She said firmly. "I demand that you return to your cage. If you want to negotiate then I can guarantee that Mr. Van Statten will be willing to talk. 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? I demand that you surrender. Is that clear?"

For a single moment, there was silence. Then… "Elevate." The Dalek said.

"Please tell me it's not flying!" Siani pleaded, her unseeing eyes darting back and forth.

"It's flying." De Maggio said faintly; the response was given purely out of habit otherwise she was just as stunned as Rose.

"Oh, Duw." Siani breathed in horror. She took a breath and steeled her nerves, making a snap decision in the face of what they were dealing with. She folded her cane and let it hang from her wrist by the loop, holding her hands out in front of her. "Where is the Dalek?" She asked.

"A little to the right." De Maggio replied, exchanging a confused look with Rose.

"Here?" Siani asked hurriedly, moving her hands slightly to the right.

"Yeah. Siani, what are you doing?" De Maggio asked in confusion.

Siani didn't reply, instead flicking her wrists purposefully in the Dalek's direction. "Anything happen?" She asked hopefully.

"No, it's still flying up towards us." De Maggio replied, completely confused.

Siani flicked her wrists again. "What about now?" She asked.

"Nope." Rose replied, just as confused as the American woman. "What were you trying to do?"

The Dalek reached the first landing and turned, making its way up the last flight between it and its targets.

"Never mind that now. Both of you, get out of here." De Maggio ordered urgently before Siani could respond.

Siani whipped around to look at the soldier, her friend. "You're planning on staying back." She stated rather than asked, knowing the woman all too well.

"What?" Rose asked in alarm, looking at De Maggio. "You have to come with us, you can't stop it!"

"You only have your sidearm. Not even the MP-5's and the P-90's that Bywater and the others had was enough to stop it. Hell, I couldn't even freeze or blow it up!" Siani pointed out. "Please. You can't stay back. It'll kill you just like it killed the others." Siani begged tearfully.

"Oh, kiddo." De Maggio said with a sigh, ignoring the partial explanation of what Siani had been trying to do a few minutes earlier. "Someone's gotta try." She gently pushed Siani towards Rose. "Now get out!" De Maggio ordered firmly, leaving no room for argument. "Don't look back! Just run!"

Rose grabbed Siani's hand and tugged her up the stairs urgently. The two blonde girls ran through the stairwell doorway situated one flight above De Maggio's position, emerging in a corridor. It was dimly lit by the fluorescent lighting, making the flashing yellow klaxons all the more brighter.

They had only gotten a few feet away from the doorway when the sound of De Maggio's pain-filled screams reached them. Siani faltered, turning back towards the sound but Rose caught her arm.

"We can't stop!" Rose told her firmly. "I'm sorry, but we have to keep going."

Siani gasped tearfully and nodded. "Are we still on Floor 53?" She asked, pushing her grief aside in favor of focusing on the task at hand; of everyone in the compound, Siani was the only one who knew it better than anyone, except perhaps van Statten himself.

"Uh… Yeah." Rose replied after a few seconds. "Why?"

"You're absolutely sure?" Siani pressed. "And we turned right?" She asked to confirm.

"Yeah, why?" Rose asked again.

"There's a door at the end of the corridor." Siani replied. "It leads out to the loading bay. There's another stairwell that we can use on the other side and it might buy us time to get farther away from the Dalek."

"Got it." Rose replied, nodding. She turned in the direction they were headed and continued running, Siani keeping pace with her even though they were no longer holding hands. "Door!" She exclaimed, skidding to a stop. Rose pushed open the door and poked her head out, checking to see if the path was clear. "Okay, clear. Which way do we go?" She asked, looking at Siani who had stopped next to her; the Welshwoman was breathing slightly more heavily than before.

Endurance was all well and good to keep the heart rate steady during any situation, but it didn't do much when fear and sorrow were the more prominent emotions being felt by an individual.

"In a slight diagonal line." Siani replied, indicating the direction with one hand at the same time.

Rose nodded. "Kay." She said, belatedly remembering that the blind girl couldn't see her response.

Both girls began running once more, Rose leading the way in the direction Siani had indicated. Racing into the loading bay, Rose tugged Siani to a stop at seeing the weapons aimed at them; looking around, the blonde Londoner noticed that it wasn't just the soldiers who had the weapons, but people clearly dressed as civilians.

"Hold your fire!" The commander ordered urgently. "Siani, you shouldn't be here!" He shouted in alarm.

"We were running from the Dalek." Siani explained quickly, turning towards the sound of the commander's voice. "It was in stairwell 3, behind us." She didn't mention that it had killed everyone so far since that had been all it was doing. Also, with the open comms, Bywater's orders to De Maggio had been heard by everyone and the lack of the female soldier's presence was a telling indicator of her fate.

The commander looked at Rose. "You, girl, get Siani out of here." He ordered briskly.

"Yes, sir." Rose replied automatically, not bothering to tell him her name or even get annoyed at being more of a second thought to the commander. "Come on, Siani." She said, gently tugging the blind girl forward.

Siani let Rose pull her along but turned back to look unseeingly at the people closing ranks as they passed. She could hear their movements and knew that it wasn't just soldiers preparing to cover their escape to safety, but the civilian personnel as well.

Rose pulled them to the doorway before stopping and turning back, seeing the Dalek approach.

"Siani, go!" One of the soldiers in front of them said urgently, aiming her weapon at the Dalek.

Siani tugged on Rose's hand still clasped within hers and pulled her away from the loading bay.

Rose let herself be tugged along for a few feet before stopping, making Siani stop and turn to her in confusion. "It was looking at me." Rose told her.

"I'm pretty sure that's because it wants to complete its self-assigned task of killing all of us." Siani pointed out.

"I know, but it was looking right at me." Rose said.

"Okay." Siani said slowly, taking the younger girl at her word. "What makes you say that? Makes you so certain that it was looking at you?"

"I don't know." Rose admitted with a contemplative frown. "It was sort of looking in all directions, but it's as if there's something inside the armor. Something that's looking at me, like it knows me." The sound of weapons fire reached them, and Rose grabbed Siani's hand, tugging her down the corridor. "We can talk while we run!" She called in explanation.

"It extrapolated your genetic material. Your DNA." Siani reminded Rose, using her free hand to hold her sari up while her folded cane swung from her wrist. "That might be why it seems to know you." Siani suggested.

"Okay, that makes sense." Rose said with a shrug. She stopped at a door and pulled it open, poking her head to peek around the corner. "Okay, stairwell." She said, going inside and holding the door open for Siani. "Up or further down?" She asked.

"Up." Siani replied. "Mr. van Statten's office is where the Doctor and Diana are."

"How do you know?" Rose asked curiously as they began racing up the stairs.

"The visual comm system is linked directly to Mr. van Statten's office. All of the screens go directly there, nowhere else." Siani explained.

"Somehow, I get the feeling that it wasn't for any altruistic reason." Rose said dryly.

"Not in the least." Siani confirmed, rolling her large, unseeing eyes.

The girls fell silent and focused their energy on running up the stairs and trying not to trip in their frantic haste, using the railing to propel themselves along.

They had only just turned up yet another flight of stairs when Rose's mobile phone began ringing shrilly. The blonde teenager pulled it out of her pocket and answered the call. "This isn't the best time." She said without preamble or stopping her stride, putting it on speaker so that Siani could hear the conversation as well.

"Where are you?" The Doctor asked, also skipping the preamble.

"Level 49!" Siani called over her shoulder, having kept count of their ascent out of habit.

"You've both got to keep moving. The vault's being sealed off, up at level 46." The Doctor told them urgently.

"Can't you stop them closing?" Rose asked in alarm.

"Either he's closing them, or Mr. van Statten is." Siani told Rose before the Doctor could reply. "The bulkhead doors are massive; they should be able to seal off the Dalek."

"She's right." The Doctor confirmed. "I can't wait, and I can't help you. Now for God's sake, run! Both of you!"

"Run, Siani!" Diana cried desperately.

"We're running!" Siani screamed as she turned on the landing and headed up another flight of stairs.

Up and up, the two blonde girls ran, Rose keeping her mobile in hand and the call connected.

"Done it. We've got power to the bulkheads." van Statten said.

"Girls, the Dalek's right behind you!" Diana said in alarm. "Hurry!"

They exited on Level 46 and began running down the corridor. Siani was able to maintain her fast pace while Rose was starting to lag behind, despite her best efforts to keep up with the older girl.

"Come on, Rose! We're nearly there!" Siani shouted over her shoulder. "One more corridor!"

"We're nearly there." Rose said into the mobile "Give us two seconds."

"Doctor, I can't sustain the power. The whole system is failing." van Statten said. "Doctor, you've got to close the bulkheads." He urged the ancient alien.

There was a silent pause. "I'm sorry." The Doctor said softly.

The klaxon alarms blared in warning of the slowly descending bulkhead doors. Siani and Rose turned the final corner and raced towards the door.

"Roll!" Siani shouted dropping to the ground and using her momentum to roll beneath the bulkhead door with only just enough space for her to slip through. "Come on!" She shouted, turning back to Rose whom she could hear running towards her. Siani waved her hand in the younger girl's direction, trying to telekinetically pull her to the door.

Rose gasped as she felt herself being pulled forward but didn't fight against it as it was bringing her closer to the door. She stopped in front of it but before she could slip through the rapidly closing gap, the door fell closed completely.

"Rose! Rose!" Siani shouted banging uselessly on the bulkhead door.

"Exterminate!" A voice that haunted Siani's dreams shouted.

"NO!" Siani screamed, tears streaming down from her unseeing eyes.

Rose, the first person other than Siani's family and close circle of friends to see her as a person in her own right and not as a blind girl or a mystery that needed solving, was dead.

For several minutes, Siani stood against the door, sobbing as tears streamed down her face. Eventually, she turned around, unfolding her cane and began using it to walk the short distance to the lift and entered it once the doors opened, pressing the button for van Statten's office floor. If nothing else, she needed to tell the Doctor of what had happened to Rose so that he could inform the girl's family if she had any. The box started the ascent with a quiet hiss and she leaned back against the wall while she waited.

It only took a few minutes before the bell gave a quiet 'ding' to indicate its arrival at their destination. Siani exited the lift outside van Statten's office, and swiped her security pass that she still had hanging around her neck. She entered the office and was barely able to hold back her wince at the tense atmosphere that filled the room.

"She's gone." Siani said quietly, her voice hoarse from her earlier screams. She was barely aware of the tears that still streamed down her cheeks. "I'm sorry. I couldn't help her."

"Oh, Siani." Diana breathed softly, hurrying around the table and up to the young Welshwoman. She drew Siani into a gentle hug, trying to comfort the young woman who had been through far too much for someone so young. "It wasn't your fault." Diana said firmly.

The Doctor, who had initially been ready to tear into the young woman for not protecting Rose, found the words dying on his lips at the sight of her genuinely distraught face and the tears that she wasn't even aware of streaming down her face. He had heard the young woman try, heard her words of how close they were to the bulkhead, and for a moment had forgotten that she was blind because of it. But seeing her with her cane out and her face turned in his general direction brought the realization back with startling force.

"She's right, Siani." The Doctor said softly instead. "It isn't your fault."

"There's something I don't understand." Siani admitted, turning in the direction of the Doctor's voice. "I had tried freezing the Dalek and blowing it up, but neither worked. That's never happened before."

"What do you mean?" The Doctor asked with a frown, a faint memory inching towards the forefront of his mind.

"I have… powers." Siani admitted slowly and reluctantly; it was obvious that the reluctance was more due to van Statten's presence than Diani and the Doctor's, something neither could fault her for considering what they knew about the man. "Molecular Acceleration and Molecular Immobilization. It's never not worked before."

"I knew someone who had the same powers." The Doctor said softly, his memories threatening to overwhelm him. Memories of-. He firmly pushed them aside and focused on Siani, on the present and not the painful past. "Even she had trouble using them against the Daleks after the War began. They had adapted to what we threw at them, and unfortunately it included her powers too."

"War?" Siani repeated in confusion.

"My people against the Daleks, for the sake of all creation." The Doctor said softly.

"No side won." Siani stated rather than asked.

"No. Everyone died." He admitted.

"I'm sorry." Siani said sincerely. She slipped out of Diana's arms and walked towards the Doctor, reaching out and putting her hand on his arm comfortingly.

The Doctor looked down at her and gave a small smile, for the first time since the War ended feeling a small bloom of peace and calm sprout in his weary heart. "Thank you." He replied.

"Open the bulkhead or Rose Tyler dies." A hauntingly familiar voice called.

Everyone turned to the visual comm screen, seeing it on where it had previously been off. On the screen, the Dalek was clearly visible and next to him was -.

"You're alive!" The Doctor breathed with wide-eyed relief.

"Can't get rid of me." Rose joked nervously.

"We thought you were dead!" Siani said, her hand still on the Doctor's arm though she was facing the general direction of the comm screen just like everyone else.

"Open the bulkhead!" The Dalek repeated its order.

"Don't do it!" Rose shouted.

"What use are emotions if you will not save the woman you love?" The Dalek demanded tauntingly.

The Doctor frowned at the question, surprised at it. Yes, he loved Rose as a friend, as a Companion. But for a Dalek to ask a question about love was unheard of.

"Please, Doctor. You can't let her be killed!" Siani cried desperately.

The Doctor looked down at Siani. "I killed her once." He said softly. He walked back to the table where the computer sat. "I can't do it again." He pressed the 'Enter' key on the keyboard.

Everyone turned their attention to the comm screen where they could see (hear) the bulkhead door open. The Dalek proceeded to move forward with Rose, the girl's posture stiff.

Van Statten shot to his feet and glared at the Doctor. "What do we do now, you bleeding heart?" He asked angrily. "What the hell do we do?!"

Siani glared in the direction of her employer's voice, her jaw clenched. She stalked towards him, her steps sure and measured from all the times she had been in that very office, and stopped by his desk. "Mr. van Statten?" She called in a rather sweet voice.

"What, English?" He snapped, turning to look at her.

"Two things, sir. Firstly, I'm Welsh." She said in that same sweet voice. "And secondly, shut up!" She snapped, her voice becoming uncharacteristically hard.

Then, without warning, she raised the hand not holding her cane and delivered a slap to the American billionaire's face. The resulting 'Whack!' resonated through the room and Diana and the Doctor stared at Siani in amazement.

Diana looked between Siani and van Statten's rapidly reddening cheek. "About time." The American woman said unconcernedly.

The Doctor whistled lowly. "Nice." He said, looking at Siani appraisingly.

"Thank you." Siani said, a blush forming on her cheeks. "I have an idea about what we can do and honestly, it's not an idea I like very much, but it's all I have."

"What is it?" Diana asked, becoming serious once more.

"We kill the Dalek when it gets here." Siani replied.

"Siani, all the guns are useless, and the alien ones are in the Vault." Diana said with a sigh, her body once again riddled with tension.

"Only the ones I finished cataloguing." Siani refuted. "I still have two crates full of artefacts in my office."

"Show me." The Doctor said briskly.

Siani nodded. She smoothly unfolded her cane and began walking towards the office door. The Doctor followed behind her and watched as she easily opened the door and walked out into the corridor without waiting to be assisted; he had a feeling that if she needed help, she would have asked for it herself and wasn't particularly fond of people trying to assist her because she was blind. It was very similar to someone else he had known, so long ago; the woman who had never let her own blindness prevent her from accomplishing her goals and anything she set her brilliant mind to.

He was brought out of his thoughts by Siani's soft, melodic voice. "We're here, sir." She told him.

"There's no need to call me 'sir', you know." The Doctor remarked casually as Siani led him inside. He took in the well-organized room, everything categorized and labelled with rather exquisite calligraphy.

"It's a habit, but I'll try." Siani replied. "The weapons are over there." She said, pointing towards two large bins that were filled with artefacts. "It's the one on the right, with the dark blue ribbon tied to it. Fair warning, I'm not sure all of them even are weapons."

"Let's have a look." The Doctor said, going to the bin and looking through it. "Broken. Broken. Hairdryer." He tossed aside the ones that were useless and picked up another, not bothering to be neat.

"You could improvise with the hairdryer." Siani suggested, hearing him toss the artefact aside and resume digging through the pile.

"Good idea. But no time right now." He said, mildly impressed that she had thought of it. "And where did you get a Crucian hairdryer from anyway?" He asked incredulously.

"Cardiff." Siani replied matter-of-factly. "Most of what we have is from there; on the plus side, it allows me to go home with my sister and my son more often."

The Doctor made a sound of understanding; the Rift must still be active, especially if a human like Siani was gifted with powers. "Do you have any other abilities aside from Molecular Immobilization and Acceleration?" He asked curiously, deeming another item as broken and tossing it aside.

"Telekinesis." Siani replied honestly.

He glanced at her briefly before turning back to the bin, pulling out another item and looking at it. "Oh, yes." He said, hoisting it up. "Horizon-Energy Blaster. It blasts pure heat – hotter than the sun, even." He explained to Siani as he armed it, all the while praying that it was still operational. "Which is why it was banned from production and use by the Shadow Proclamation." He added as an after-thought.

"Blimey." Siani breathed, still stuck on 'hotter than the sun'.

"Lock and load." The Doctor said with a grin. He looked at Siani. "Stay here." He ordered.

Siani nodded. "The stairwell is your best bet to reach Rose since you don't have access to the lift." She said, walking him out of her office. "The closest one is four doors down that way." She pointed to her right. "The door itself is a bit wonky, you have to push against the middle of the handlebar as opposed to the sides like most people do."

The Doctor nodded before realizing that Siani couldn't see him. "Got it." He said.

He turned in the direction Siani had indicated and took off at a run, his hearts racing at the thought of Rose being with his greatest enemy on her own.

"Be careful." Siani whispered before turning and going back into her office.

Nearly two hours later, Siani had her travel bag packed after a conversation with Diana about their next steps in the wake of what they had experienced. Among other things discussed, Diana had freed Siani from her employment contract which, in all honesty, Siani was grateful for, despite the friendships she had made while working at the museum. Diana had also set aside a very sizable sum for Siani to go towards caring for Rhiannon and Carwyn until she could find suitable employment should she want to continue working (the money was enough that even if she didn't work, she could still live in luxury for the rest of her life as could Carwyn). A somewhat lesser sum had been distributed among each of the surviving personnel as well as a paid vacation to any destination of their choosing and counselling with a certified therapist who was on van Statten's payroll.

She exited the lift at the 53rd floor exhibit and followed the sound of Rose and the Doctor's voices; she had heard their voices on the CCTV footage of the exhibit floor despite it already having been evacuated.

"The museum's being evacuated." She told the pair, slinging the strap of her duffle bag onto her shoulder. "Mr. van Statten is being reported as missing to cover his memory being wiped and Diana is ordering the base to be filled with cement. We should get out before that happens." She added dryly.

"About time." Rose muttered.

"Mhmm." Siani agreed, nodding.

She didn't notice the Doctor looking at her contemplatively, but Rose certainly did. The blonde Londoner looked at him questioningly and he shook his head silently in response. "What'll you do now?" He asked Siani.

"Go back to my flat and make the arrangements for Rhia to be taken home to Cardiff." Siani replied. "I'll need to sort out the medical transfer and speak with her doctors to see if she's fit to travel, otherwise I'll be staying here until she is."

"We can give you a lift." The Doctor offered. "Plenty of room, eh Rose?" He looked down at the teenager who laughed as though it was a private joke shared between them.

"Sure, I'd love that." Siani accepted with a smile.

"Come on, then. Transport's just behind us." He said with a grin, opening the TARDIS door. "Three paces ahead and you'll reach the door." He added.

Siani nodded and used her cane to cross the distance, Rose walking beside her. They reached the door and stopped, Siani holding her hand out to touch the 'transport' that the Doctor had mentioned. She frowned, feeling the wooden panels.

"A box?" She asked curiously.

"There's a slight step before you enter." Rose said exchanging a grin with the Doctor over Siani's head.

Siani carefully entered and stood in the doorway, a quiet gasp escaping her lips at the strange sensation that filled her. It was like coming home after a long time away. A gentle hum filled her mind, the melody both beautiful and timeless and almost endless.

"Wow." She breathed; her unseeing eyes were wide in amazement as she carefully crossed the grated floor. "What's that humming?" She asked curiously.

"It's the TARDIS." The Doctor replied. "She's never done that with a human before." He said in surprise.

"She?" Siani repeated. "She's sentient?"

"Yes." He replied. "She's a time machine. She can travel anywhere in time and space and still have you home before anyone realizes you've gone."

"Really?" Siani asked a bit sceptically. "And there's no margin of errors?"

"There is a bit." The Doctor amended sheepishly. "But it's very rare."

"Why are you telling me this if you're just taking me home?" Siani asked dubiously.

"We could take you for a few trips before dropping you home." Rose said hopefully.

"I don't know." Siani said uncertainly. "I have Rhia and Carwyn to think about and they both need me.

"It's like the Doctor said, we could have you home before your family even realizes you had been gone." Rose said, still hopeful. "Only a few trips and we can drop you home."

"One trip." Siani said firmly. "At least for now. Then you take me home because being a mother is more important than having adventures. Even if it's something as amazing as this."

"Deal." The Doctor agreed, knowing exactly what she meant about being a parent. "Hold tight." He said, curling his hand around a lever. He watched as Rose took Siani's hand and put it on the railing before holding on next to her, the Welshwoman's bag on the floor by her feet. He grinned and flipped the lever, sending them into the Vortex.

Links (on Pinterest):

*Siani sari (mint green with metallic mint green embroidery and metallic silver blouse) - .ca/pin/474566879477537439/

*Siani bangles (mint green) - .ca/pin/474566879481571880/

*Siani earrings (mint green diamonds making up the petals) - .ca/pin/474566879481370983/

*Siani hairstyle - .ca/pin/341640321725476485/

*Siani bindi (mint green) - .ca/pin/474566879478522305/

*Siani shoes - .ca/pin/474566879476966254/