Prove Them Wrong

The Time Lords, rather quickly, had reached a point of equilibrium inside the TARDIS. The Doctor, having newly discovered a talent for playing the guitar, strummed away to himself at various points while Adelaide found her own hiding places to read in peace. Sometimes, they ended up in the same room, him composing songs based on random sentences she read him – including the ones that just listed the qualifications of various Earthen stones.

This new Doctor, much like this new Adelaide, was less into the contact form of closeness. They still liked to sit near each other, but they didn't need to be in each other's arms. Granted, the previous Doctor hadn't needed that either, but his constant arm-over-her-shoulders made it seem that way. Really, they had always been more comfortable just being in each other's presence over cuddling...not to say they didn't end up cuddling some days, particularly when one of them fell asleep.

Adelaide had discovered newfound enjoyment in tracing the veins on the Doctor's hand, while the Time Lord liked to count her freckles. They did the activities in silence unless the Doctor wanted her opinion on if her freckles made the shape of a constellation or if she was wondering if his veins resembled a particular plant's roots.

But after centuries alone together on Christmas, the most important thing seemed to be that they knew the other was safe...especially when they were on an adventure, which they spent quite a bit of time on.

It had taken some time before Adelaide had returned to how she'd been before in terms of her temper, as she'd had centuries of saved up adventuring to use up.

The Doctor had, of course, attempted to keep her slightly-more-rude qualities for as long as possible because she was less likely to scold him, but his efforts were for naught.

Adelaide was Adelaide, just like the Doctor was the Doctor.

They were each just different now, though she hadn't regenerated.

And different was okay.

Different was good.

|C-S|

Adelaide stepped into the console, having just woken up from a quick nap. The Time Lords still had separate bedrooms, though that didn't mean that some nights they didn't end up in the same room. But she would never have expected what appeared in the console just as she entered...a human, pointing a gun at the Doctor.

"You'll probably feel a bit sick," the Doctor said, working on the console. "Please, don't be. Adelaide doesn't like sick."

"Where did you get that impression?" Adelaide called, making him spin.

"Sick is messy?"

"I mean, you are right. I was just surprised you knew that." Adelaide studied the human who'd appeared, who still looked incredibly terrified. "Who is this?"

"Where's my brother?" the woman asked them.

"Hello," the Time Lord grinned, "I'm the Doctor, this is Adelaide."

"He was right beside me. Where's Kai? How did I get here?" the woman looked around the ship.

"I materialized a time capsule exactly round you and saved your life one second before your ship exploded, but do please keep crying."

"Doctor," Adelaide said sharply.

The woman shook her head. "My brother's just died."

"His sister didn't. You're very welcome. Put the gun down." The Doctor made a lowering gesture.

"Or what?"

"Or you might shoot me, or Adelaide, and likely both. Then where will you be?"

The woman shrugged. "In charge of your vessel."

"You'd starve to death trying to find the light switch."

Adelaide shook her head. "What is your name?"

"I'm Lieutenant Journey Blue of the Combined Galactic Resistance. I demand you take me back to my ship, the Aristotle, which is currently located..."

"No." The Doctor frowned. "Hey, not like that."

"You will take me back to my command ship, which is currently positioned..."

"No, no, come on," the Doctor prompted. "Not like that, not like that. Get it right."

Journey clenched her jaw, but she lowered her gun. "Will you take me back to my ship? Please?"

"A note," the Doctor said, "be polite. Adelaide doesn't like it when you're not polite, and you want Adelaide to like you."

Adelaide just shook her head, moving to the console. "The Aristotle is the ship in the asteroid belt, yes?"

Journey nodded. "It's shielded."

The Doctor shrugged. "More or less." They brought the TARDIS down rather quickly and it was Journey who moved to open the door. "Dry your eyes, Journey Blue," the Doctor called. "Crying's for civilians. It's how we communicate with you lot."

The woman was the first one out, though the Time Lords joined her quite quickly. They'd landed in the corner of a large hangar which shocked Journey enough until she noticed their ship. "It's smaller on the outside."

The Doctor shook his head. "It's a bit more exciting when you go the other way." He looked around the hanger. "This isn't a battleship. Medical insignia," he pointed. "It's a hospital."

An older man, surrounded by soldiers, walked up to the trio. "We don't need hospitals now. The Daleks don't leave any wounded, and we don't take any prisoners."

"I saved your little friend here if that's in any way relevant to mention."

Journey nodded. "That's true, sir. He did."

The man nodded to the Doctor. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. I wish I could've done more."

"Then you should have."

The Doctor blinked. "Okay."

"But you did save Journey, and for that, I am personally grateful."

He shrugged. "Well..."

"However, the security of this base is absolute. So we're still going to kill you."

The Doctor frowned at him. "Oh, it's a roller coaster with you, isn't it?"

"Shoot them, bag them, and throw them outside." The man moved to walk away, the soldiers stepping forward, but Journey stepped forward.

"No! Stop!"

"I'm sorry," the man told her. "They might be duplicates."

"He's a doctor," she nodded at the Doctor. "And we have a patient, don't we, Uncle?"

|C-S|

The Time Lords followed the man and Journey through the ship. "Why does a hospital need a doctor?" the Doctor wondered out loud.

"The Aristotle wasn't always hidden. The Daleks got here before us."

Journey glanced back at the Time Lords, who both looked rather uncomfortable with the number of weapons and soldiers around them. "You don't like soldiers much, do you?"

"You don't need to be liked," the Doctor told her. "You've got all the guns."

They entered a sort of laboratory, guarded by even more soldiers. Adelaide raised her eyebrows at the machine inside. "A moleculon nanoscaler?"

Journey glanced at her. "You know what it does, then?"

"It miniaturizes living matter," Adelaide nodded.

"What's the medical application, though?" the Doctor frowned. "Do you use it to shrink the surgeons so they can climb inside the patients?"

The man nodded. "Exactly."

"Fantastic idea for a movie. Terrible idea for a proctologist. Are you going to miniaturize us?"

"You're a doctor, aren't you?" the man asked the Doctor, before opening a set of doors at the back of the room. "And this is your patient."

A Dalek.

The Doctor froze, grabbing Adelaide's hand. "No, you don't understand. You can't put us in there."

The Dalek began to move, hearing the voice. "Doctor...Doctor."

The Time Lord frowned. "How do you know who I am?"

"He doesn't," the man said. "We promised him medical assistance."

"Are you my doctor?" the Dalek said, proving him correct.

"We found it floating in space," Journey continued.

"We thought it was deactivated, so we tried to disassemble it."

Adelaide nodded. "And you didn't realize there was a living creature inside."

"Not till it started screaming."

"Help me..." the Dalek said.

The Doctor stepped forward. "Why would we do that? Why would any living creature help you?"

"Daleks will die."

He shook his head. "Die all you like. Not my problem."

"Daleks must be destroyed."

"Daleks must be de..." the Doctor paused, the Dalek's words hitting him. "What did you just say?"

"All Daleks must die," the Dalek said. "I will destroy the Daleks. Destroy the Daleks! Destroy the Daleks!"

The Time Lords glanced at each other. This...this was not what they'd expected.

|C-S|

Clara had just stepped into the supply cupboard when she almost collided with the tray of coffees that the Doctor was holding out. Once she'd stumbled back, she could see that the Time Lords had managed to fit the TARDIS perfectly into the back of the cupboard, with Adelaide standing in the doorway looking like she'd just been cut off speaking by Clara's arrival.

"Where the hell have you been?" she asked both of them, crossing her arms.

"You sent us for coffee." The Doctor gestured at what he was holding.

"Three weeks ago. In Glasgow."

Both Time Lords' eyes widened. They knew that, in their timeline, they'd spent a few weeks in the TARDIS adventuring just to get used to each other, but they'd been aiming to be a bit closer to when they'd left Clara...which Adelaide hadn't been that happy about in the first place. "Three weeks...that's a long time."

Clara nodded. "In Glasgow. That's dead in a ditch."

"It's not our fault," the Doctor shrugged, "we got distracted."

"By what?"

"Come and see," Adelaide gestured for them all to step back into the TARDIS.

The Doctor glanced at Clara as he walked up to the console. "Why were you smiling?"

"Was I? No, I wasn't."

"You were smiling at nothing." He shrugged. "I'd almost say you were in love, but to be honest..."

Clara raised her eyebrows. "Honest?"

"You're not a young woman anymore."

"Yes, I am." Clara took the coffees from him, putting them on the console.

The Doctor shrugged. "Well, you don't look it."

"I do look it." She leaned to look at Adelaide. "Do I look it?"

"You're still quite youthful, Clara, no need to worry," Adelaide told her, shaking her head at the Doctor as she did so.

The Doctor leaned back against the console. "Clara...I need something from you. I need the truth."

She frowned. "Why not ask Adelaide?"

"I've already given my opinion. And it's always best to get multiple."

Clara nodded. "Okay. Right, what is it?" The Doctor sat on the console steps, Clara coming to join him. Adelaide leaned on the console behind them, watching. "What's...you're scared."

"I'm terrified."

"Of what?"

"The answer to my next question, which must be honest and cold and considered, without kindness or restraint." Adelaide nodded behind him. "Clara, be my pal and tell me...am I a good man?"

Clara was quiet for a moment, because this was a new Doctor, a new man, and no matter what Adelaide had told her...he was different. Adelaide was different too, after so long on Christmas, even if she hadn't regenerated. People changed. Good men became bad, bad became good. "I don't know."

The Doctor shook his head. "Neither do I." He stood, joining Adelaide at the console as they both began to work on piloting the TARDIS.

"Er...hey, no offense," Clara said, standing, "but I've got plans."

"We are sorry," Adelaide said, "but we need you. Both of us."

Adelaide hadn't changed so much that she would just ask for help when she didn't really need it. Clara nodded. "Right. Where are we going?"

The Doctor pushed a lever. "Into darkness."

|C-S|

Clara took a sip of her coffee, the only one doing so, as Adelaide refused to give the Doctor caffeine and didn't like the taste herself. To be honest, Clara already found this combination of the Doctor and Adelaide cuter than the previous one, even if this was only the second time she'd actually seen them together.

The 11th Doctor and Adelaide had been cute because he constantly seemed to need to hold her hand and to wrap an arm around her when he wasn't. The man would just bounce around, excitable, and Adelaide would be slightly more restrained. They'd seemed like people who'd had crushes on each other but hadn't admitted it, always rotating around each other but trying to convince themselves they didn't need the other.

But this combination just seemed more...confident with each other. They didn't need to hold hands all the time, but they still drew together whenever they could. They looked at each other with a look in their eyes that Clara could only describe as love – which made her very pleased with herself.

Even if she hadn't really done anything to push the Time Lords together, she felt she could take some of the responsibility for what had happened between them...even if she hadn't been there for the centuries they'd been stuck together on Christmas that had no doubt lead to this connection.

"A good Dalek?" she asked, the Time Lords having just finished describing their discovery.

"There's no such thing," the Doctor pointed out and Adelaide made no attempt to contradict him.

Clara frowned at both of them. "That's a bit inflexible. Not like either of you. I'd almost say prejudiced."

"I believed in the Daleks once," Adelaide said. "Time Lords killed me for it in my third regeneration." Clara glanced at her. "I was traveling to see how Skaro was developing after their Thousand Year War and the Time Lords shot me down. Showed me actually what Daleks were." She sighed. "One of the few times I actually ended up agreeing with them."

"Do we pay you?" the Doctor asked, reaching across Adelaide to flick something on the console. "We should give you a raise." The TARDIS gave a bit of a jolt as it landed.

"You're not my bosses, you're one of my hobbies."

The Doctor grinned. "Come on." They stepped out of the TARDIS, Clara putting down her coffee before joining.

Journey eyed all of them. "That was quick."

"This is gun girl," the Doctor said, gesturing to Journey. "She's got a gun, and she's a girl."

"Journey Blue," Adelaide told Clara.

They hurried down the corridor to where the man, whose name was Morgan, was waiting for them. "This is a sort of boss one." The Doctor frowned at the man. "Are you the same as before?"

"Yes."

"I think he's probably her uncle," the Doctor shrugged, "but I may have made that up to pass the time while they were talking. This is Clara, not our assistant...maybe Adelaide's, actually, but most of the time she's...er...some other word."

"I'm his carer," Clara provided. "Her assistant." Vastra had called her their assistant once before and, honestly, while Clara didn't like to be the Doctor's she didn't mind being Adelaide's. Made it feel like the two of them were ganging up on dealing with the Doctor. Also, it made her feel a bit like a scientist.

The Doctor nodded. "Yeah, my carer. She cares so I don't have to." He pressed a button, opening the door to the Dalek's room.

"Doctor..." the Dalek said.

"Hello again."

"Will you help me?"

Clara glanced at the Time Lords. "Will you?"

"A Dalek that's been so damaged, it's turned good." Adelaide nodded. "Morality as malfunction. Tempting." And Clara had the distinct impression that the Time Lords had slightly different reasons for wanting to investigate the 'good' Dalek.

"Daleks must die," the Dalek added. "Daleks must die."

"So, what do we do with a moral Dalek, then?"

"We get into its head."

Clara nodded. "How do you get into a Dalek's head?"

"That wasn't a metaphor." The Doctor closed the door, stepping back to bring Clara to the moleculon nanoscaler, where Journey was waiting.

"These are nanocontrollers," she held out the bracelets, the Time Lords taking them. "Once we're miniaturized, they take over the molecular compression. When the mission's over, hit the button." She put it on Clara for her as the Time Lords stepped away, Morgan having wanted to give them more information. "Are you sure you understand?"

Clara frowned. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Because this is a dangerous mission and you" she eyed Clara "look like a school teacher."

"I am a school teacher." Clara set her shoulders. "Adelaide said your name was Blue, right?"

Journey frowned. "Problem?"

"No. I just met a soldier called Pink."

Journey chuckled. "Lucky fella."

"Lucky."

"From the way you smile."

Clara glanced at the Time Lords, who didn't look as though they were coming over anytime soon as they climbed into the nanoscaler. "So...who makes you smile or is nobody up to the job?"

"My brother." Journey's face fell. "But he burned to death a couple of hours ago, so he's really letting me down today. Excuse me." She stepped back, leaving Clara to walk up to the entrance of the nanoscaler at the same time as two soldiers, who the Doctor was frowning at.

"What are those ones for? We don't need armed babysitters."

The woman soldier frowned. "We're not babysitters."

"We're here to shoot you dead if you turn out to be Dalek spies." They all took their seats inside the machine.

"Well, that's a relief," the Doctor nodded. "I hate baby-sitters."

Journey shook her head at him, climbing in as well. "Okay, listen up. Now, remember, do not hold your breath when the nanoscaler engages. You'll feel like you want to, but you must keep breathing normally during the miniaturization process."

"Why?" Clara frowned.

"Ever microwaved a lasagna without pricking the film on top?" the Doctor asked.

"It explodes."

"Don't be lasagna." Clara's eyes widened at that.

"Nanoscaler engaging in five...four..." Morgan said, starting up the machine "three...two...nanoscaler engaging now."

A bright light shone around them. "Nanoscaling in progress," the computer said. It felt as though something was squeezing their lungs, but it only lasted for a few seconds before it vanished with a bump. "Nanoscaling complete."

"Nanoscaling successful," Morgan called. "Everyone okay in there?"

The people outside used tweezers to pick up the capsule, lifting it closer to the Dalek's eyestalk. "We made it," Journey told him. "Nobody popped."

Clara looked out at the people, still normal-sized, out of the capsule. "Whoa...ha, I can't believe this."

"No," the Doctor said, his voice hard, "neither can I." And for one of the first times in this regeneration, the Time Lords grabbed each other's hands, squeezing tightly.

The capsule was injected into the eyepiece. "We'll be following you all the way, Rescue One. Good luck all of you."

The group exited the capsule, the Time Lords being the first ones to step up to the blue film that separated the interior of the Dalek from them. They pushed their way through into the small tunnel within. "Integration complete," the computer reported. "Dalek levels steady."

Clara glanced behind them. "That was weird."

The Doctor shook his head. "You've seen nothing yet."

Clara gestured at the pulses of lights on the sides of the tunnel. "What are the lights?"

"Visual impulses traveling towards the brain," Adelaide told her.

"Beautiful."

"Welcome to the most dangerous place in the universe." The group exited the stalk, finding themselves in a large open area that was clearly the main interior of the Dalek.

"Entering the cranial ledge now," Journey reported. "Here."

"Oh my God," Clara gasped, looking down into the Dalek and seeing the physical creature below. All of the cables surrounding them connected to the thing that could only be described as a flesh blob.

"Behold, the belly of the beast," the Doctor mumbled.

"It's amazing."

The male soldier frowned. "It's huge."

"No, Ross," the other said. "We're tiny."

"So how big is it, that living part, compared to us, right now?"

"You see all those cables?" the Doctor nodded to some of them.

"Yeah."

"They're not all cables."

Ross adjusted his gun. "Does it know we're here?"

Journey glanced at him. "It's what invited us in."

The Time Lords moved to a side corridor, finding what looked like banks of lights on the internal section of the ledge. "This is the cortex vault," Adelaide said. She remembered, in quite specific detail, the diagrams the Time Lords had given her about the interior aspects of the Daleks. "A supplementary electronic brain."

The Doctor nodded. "Memory banks, but more than that. This is what keeps the Dalek pure."

The female soldier frowned. "How are Daleks pure?"

"Dalek mutants are born hating." The Doctor glared at the memory banks. "This is what stokes the fire, extinguishes even the tiniest glimmer of kindness or compassion. Imagine the worse possible thing in the universe, then don't bother, because you're looking at it right now. This is evil refined as engineering."

"Doctor?" the Dalek called out.

"Oh, hello, Rusty," the Doctor looked up. "You don't mind if I call you Rusty? We're going to need to come down there with you. Medical examination, and all that."

"What," the female soldier made a face, "with those tentacles and things?"

"How close do we have to get?" Journey asked.

"Well, you know, we're never going to insert a thermometer from up here." Journey nodded to Ross and the man fired a harpoon into the ledge. "No!" the Doctor rushed forward. "No, no, no, no! Stop, stop, stop, you idiot!" he shot another harpoon.

"We need a way down, the only way..."

"This is a Dalek, not a machine," Adelaide told him. "It is a perfect representation of a living being, and you just harmed it. What's going to happen next?" she pointed at Clara.

The human's eyes widened. "Oh God..."

"What?" the female soldier frowned. "What is it?"

"Antibodies?"

Adelaide nodded. "Dalek antibodies."

Small round objects flew towards them, specifically around Ross. "Nobody move," the Doctor called, freezing himself. "Any attempt to help him, or attack those things, will identify you as a secondary source of infection. Stay still!"

"But the Dalek wants us in here. Why is it attacking?"

"You can't control antibodies," Adelaide reminded her.

"Ross, stay calm," Journey tried. "We're going to get you out of this."

Clara glanced at the Time Lords. "Can you?"

The pair glanced at each other before the Doctor pulled something from his pocket. "Ross, swallow that," he tossed it to the man.

"What is it?"

"Trust me."

Ross swallowed the something. "Now what?"

The antibodies hit Ross with a bright beam of light just as Journey called out, "Ross!". The man disintegrated.

A/N: An interesting episode for Adelaide. Morality as malfunction...

Notes on reviews:

TheBlueRiver: Couldn't just have Adelaide there and not have her take the chance to explain to Clara what happened.

gossamermouse101: I remember squealing when she first appeared :)