Time Can Be Rewritten

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

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Bad Wolf

Rose's head throbbed as she woke up, she massaged her temple gently with her hands as she sat up, as she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Rodrick. It was time to face the Daleks, her breath hitched as she realised, it was also the last adventure with her leather Doctor.

"What happened?" She heard herself ask Rodrick absently.

"It's alright…" He gently touched her shoulder, "It's the transmat. Does your head in." He helped her to her feet, "Get a bit of amnesia. What's your name?"

"Rose." She looked around, feeling faint."

"Just remember – do what the Android says," Rodrik warned, if she hadn't already lived through this, she would have thought his voice was kind, "Don't provoke it. The Android's word is law."

Someone shouted from the back, "Positions, everyone! Thank you!"

Rodrick patted her shoulder, smiling slightly, though it didn't hide the calculating look in his eyes, "Come on. Hurry up!"

He dashed behind his podium as Rose stood behind her own. The Anne Droid suddenly sprung to life, "Welcome to 'The Weakest Link'!"

"17… 16… 15… thank you people, transmitting in, 12… 11… 10…" Rose closed her eyes and tried not to panic, "3, and cue!"

"Let's play 'The Weakest Link'! Start the clock." The Anne Droid turned to face the first player, "Agorax – the name of which basic food stuff is an anagram of the word 'beard'?"

"Bread."

"Correct. Fitch in the Pan Traffic Calendar, which month comes after Hoob?"

"Is it Clavadoe?"

"No, Pandoff. Rose, in maths, what is 258 minus 158?"

"One hundred." Her voice sounded distant, her tongue heavy in her mouth. All these people would die, she had forgotten about them, all of them when the Doctor had rescued her, but the Daleks would kill them all. And she couldn't save them.

"Correct, Rodrick-"

"Bank."

"Which letter of the alphabet appears in the word 'dangle' but not in the word 'gland'?"

"E."

"Correct. Colleen, in social security, what D is the name of the payment given to Martian Drones?"

"Default."

"Correct. Broff, the Great Cobalt Pyramid is built on the remains of which famous Old Earth Institute?"

"Er, Touchdown."

"No, Torchwood. Agorax, in language, all five examples of which type of letter appear in the word facetious?"

"Vowels."

"Correct. Fitch, in biology, which blood cells contain iron? Red or white?"

"White."

"No, red. Rose, in the holovid series 'Jupiter Rising', the Grexnik is married to whom?"

"I don't know." Her head was pounding, her hands were gripping the podium tightly as she tried to stop them trembling. She barely noticed as the round ended. Absently writing a name on her board.

"So, Rose." The Anne Droid questioned, "What do you actually do?"

"Travel."

"Another way of saying unemployed."

"No."

"Have you got a job?"

"Yes."

"Are you going to enlighten us?"

"No."

"Why Fitch?" The Anne Droid gave up as Rose just gave one-word answers.

"Because I can't vote for myself or the twisted bastards who came up with this."

The poor woman was in tears, "Let me try again. It was the lights and everything. I couldn't think."

"In fact," The Anne Droid replied, unsympathetically, "With three answers wrong, Broff was the weakest link in that round, but it's votes that count."

Fitch started begging, "I'm sorry. Oh, please… oh God, help me!" She looked around wildly, Rodrick looked away, Broff sobbed silently into the board he was holding up and Rose met the poor woman's eyes, tears running down her own cheeks.

"Fitch – you are the weakest link. Goodbye!" The Anne Droid's mouth opened, and a gun protruded from it. Without a moment's hesitation, it fired and where Fitch had stood, a pile of dust lay in her place.

"And we've gone to the adverts. Back in three minutes…"

"This is sick." Rose muttered; Rodrick rolled his eyes at her as the others glanced at her.

Broff whimpered, crying and terrified, "I'm not playing! I… I can't do it!" The Anne Droid turned to him slowly, as he leapt off his podium and tried to run for it, "I'm not – please, somebody let me-"

"You are the weakest link." The Anne Droid announced as she shot at Broff, "Goodbye."

Rodrick turned to look at Rose, "Don't try to escape. It's play… or die."

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"Colleen was clever," Rose protested, "She banked all our money, why'd you vote for her?"

Rodrick smiled nastily at her, "Cos I want to keep you in! You're stupid! You don't even know the Princess Vossaheen's surname. When it comes to the final, I want to be up against you. So that you get disintegrated, and I get a stack load of credits. Courtesy of the Bad Wolf Corporation."

"Who's Bad Wolf?"

"You really are stupid!" He looked at her incredulously, "They're in charge. They run the Game Station."

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Agorax screamed as he was disintegrated, the Anne Droid turned to the final two players, "That leaves Rose and Rodrick – you're going head-to-head… let's play, 'The Weakest Link'."

Rodrik smirked at her, "Right, that's the end of the tactical voting… you're on your own now."

Rose rolled her eyes.

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"Rose, in geography, the Grand Central Ravine is named after which Ancient Britain City?"

"Sheffield."

"Correct. Rodrick, in literature, the author of Lucky was Jackie who?"

"Stewart." Rose could feel Rodrik glaring at her.

"No, the correct answer is Collins. Rose, the oldest inhabitant of the Isop Galaxy is the Face of what?"

"Boe. The Face of Boe."

"That is the correct answer."

"Rodrick, in history, who was the President of the Red Velvets?"

"Hoshbin Frane."

"That is the correct answer. Rose, in food, the dish Gaffabeque originated on which planet?"

"I don't know."

"No, the correct answer is Lucifer. Rodrick, which measurement of length is said to have been defined by the Emperor Jate as the distance from his nose to his fingertip?"

"Would that be a goffle?" Some of his confidence had returned with Rose's wrong answer.

"No, the correct answer is a paab. Rose, in fashion, Stella Pok Baint is famous for what?"

"Shoes?"

"No, the correct answer is hats. Rodrick, in physics, who discovered the Fifteen Dash Ten Barric Fields?"

"San Hazeldine."

"No, the correct answer is San Chen. Rose, in history, which Icelandic city hosted Murder Spree Twenty?"

"Reykjavik?"

"No, the correct answer is Pola Ventura." The Anne Droid paused, "You both have two points each-"

Rose grinned as the Doctor and Jack barged into the room cutting off the Anne Droid, the girl from last time following them, she couldn't remember her name, "Doctor!"

"Rose!" He shouted back at her, relieved.

"Stop this game!" Jack commanded, aiming his gun at the workers.

The Doctor repeated, "I order you to stop this game!"

"We're live on air!"

The Doctor rushed forwards, Jack and the girl close behind, Rose pushed the podium out of the way, "Look out for the Anne Droid, it's armed!"

She heard Rodrick's cry of joy at the same time as the Anne Droid, "You are the weakest link." Rose screamed as the beam hit her.

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Rose's head felt fuzzy as she woke, she sat up noticing the Daleks surrounding her, though they didn't seem to be paying any attention to her.

"Alert! Alert! We are detected!"

"It is the Doctor! He has located us! Open communications channel!"

"The female will stand." A Dalek ordered, "Stand!"

Slowly, she stood as an image materialised in mid-air.

"I will talk to the Doctor."

"Oh, will you? That's nice. Hello!" Rose giggled as she heard his voice.

"The Dalek Stratagem nears completion. The Fleet is almost ready. You will not intervene."

"Oh, really? Why's that then?"

"We have your associate. You will obey, or she will be exterminated."

"No." Rose said at the same time as her Doctor, her tongue poking out between her teeth as he stared back at her.

"Explain yourself!"

"I said 'no'." The Doctor repeated.

"What is the meaning of this negative!"

"It means 'no'."

"But she will be destroyed!"

"No!" The Doctor stood, "Cos this is what I'm gonna do – I'm gonna rescue her." She grinned back at him, "I'm gonna save Rose Tyler from the middle of the Dalek Fleet, and then I'm gonna save the Earth, and then just to finish off, I'm gonna wipe every last STINKING Dalek outta the sky!"

"But you have no weapons! No defences! No plan!"

He grinned back, "Yeah. And doesn't that scare you to death… Rose?"

She beamed up at him, "Yes, Doctor?"

"I'm coming to get you." The communication line closed.

"The Doctor is initiating hostile action!"

"The Stratagem must advance! Begin the invasion of Earth!"

Rose jumped out of the way as the Daleks moved around frenzied.

"The Doctor will be exterminated!"

"Exterminate!" Rose looked around as the insane army of Daleks chanted the same word.