02/03/2016
I released the Doctor's hand, feeling angrier as the minutes ticked by. Walking to Van Statten, I brought him to his knees with a swift kick. "This is your fault. My best friend is down there, running from that thing. All those people have died all because you wanted that damn thing without a scratch. Are you happy now?" I turned and returned to the corner. Closing my eyes, I tried to concentrate on my breathing, anything really that would keep me from hurting Van Statten. I wanted to run out of the room and try to find Rose myself but I knew the Doctor wouldn't let me, it and while I understood why, I didn't care.
"Perhaps it's time for a new strategy. Maybe we should consider abandoning this place."
"Except there's no power to the helipad, sir. We can't get out," Goddard snapped. Even she was over her moron of a boss, not that I could really blame her. He did nothing but worry about his own safety and lead a number of men and women to their deaths like it was totally okay.
"You said we could seal the vault." I whipped my head to the Doctor, not believed what he was thinking. There was no way in hell he was going to seal that vault with Rose in there. I refused to let him do something so stupid, I refused to let him murder her.
"It was designed to be a bunker in the event of nuclear war. Steel bulkheads."
"There's not enough power, those bulkheads are massive."
"We've got emergency power. We can re-route that to the bulkhead doors."
"We'd have to bypass the security codes. That would take a computer genius."
"Good thing you've got me, then."
"You want to help?"
"I don't want to die, Doctor. Simple as that." I snorted. Of course that would be his reason. The man was the epitome of selfish and I wouldn't shed a tear if anything happened to him. "And nobody knows this software better than me."
"Sir," Goddard said as she motioned to the screen. We all looked to see the Dalek had given power back to the screen and was watching us.
"I shall speak only to the Doctor." The Doctor stood, up, strutting to the centre of the room and directly in front of the television.
"You're going to get rusty."
"I fed off the DNA of Rose Tyler. Extrapolating the biomass of a time traveller regenerated me." I raised an eyebrow, slightly understanding what the creature was saying. Still, my worry for my friend overrode how I understood what it meant. She was my main priority.
"What's your next trick?"
"I have been searching for the Daleks."
"Yeah, I saw. Downloading the internet. What did you find?" I moved closer to the Doctor, only for him to position himself in a way that I was barely visible to the Dalek. It was somewhat annoying, but I was very aware that he was doing it to protect me in some odd way, especially since the creature had already seen me when it was chained up in the Cage.
"I scanned your satellites and radio telescopes."
"And?"
"Nothing. Where shall I get my orders?"
"You're just a soldier without commands."
"Then I shall follow the Primary Order, the Dalek instinct to destroy, to conquer."
"What for?" I asked as I stepped forward. I didn't understand why it would destroy everything. I knew the Doctor had explained it in the lift, but the fact that it was so ready to destroy everything just because it was mandated, no questions asked, was baffling. "What's the point of it?"
"Don't you see it's all gone? Everything you were, everything you stood for."
"Then what should I do?"
The Doctor seemed to think for a moment before his expression became stony. "All right, then. If you want orders, follow this one. Kill yourself." I stepped away from the man, eyes wide and thoughts bewildered. He had done it again. He became a stranger to me, one who could calmly tell another to kill themselves, to die. This wasn't the man I'd travelled with, not the man I'd come to know.
"The Daleks must survive!"
"The Daleks have failed! Why don't you finish the job and make the Daleks extinct. Rid the Universe of your filth. Why don't you just die?" he said angrily as he stormed towards the TV.
"You would make a good Dalek," it said, making the Doctor freeze up. As he stared at the screen, it went dark, erasing the Dalek from our view.
"Seal the vaults."
Van Statten and the Doctor sat across from each other, both typing furiously on keyboards in an attempt to seal the vaults before the Dalek could reach us. "I can leech power off the ground defences, feed it to the bulkheads. God, it's been years since I had to work this fast."
"Having fun?" I spat.
"Doctor," Goddard interjected. "She's still down there." I held out my hand and knowing exactly what I wanted, the woman handed me her mobile. With time being of the essence, I quickly typed in Rose's number and let out a breath of relief when she answered the phone barely three rings in.
"This isn't the best time."
"I know,, but where are you?"
She was silent for a moment and She was silent for a moment before she finally told me where she was. I immediately told the Doctor and was ultimately told what level she was supposed to reach. "Rose, you have to keep moving. Please, Rosie. The vaults are being sealed at level forty six." I made sure to stress the fact that she needed to be there before the bulkheads closed, which let to an exasperated reply.
"Can't you stop them from closing?"
"That's the thing. The Doctor's closing them. He and Van Statten are trying to keep the Dalek from reaching us. At the rate it's going, he won't be able to wait." I paused, taking in a shaky breath. "Rosie, please run You've got to run faster than that time we were caught in that condemned building and the cops almost got us."
"Okay." I sat on the floor, listening to her pant. I kept hoping she would make it, I needed her to make it.
"Done it. We've got power in the bulkhead."
"The Dalek's right behind them."
"Cerys, we're nearly there. Give us two seconds."
"Doctor, I can't sustain the power. The whole system is failing. Doctor, you've got to close the bulkheads."
The Doctor met my hardened gaze before glancing back at the computer. He brought his gaze to mine again before the words I dreaded left his mouth. "I'm sorry."
"Don't you dare!" I screamed as I jumped to my feet and angrily stormed up to him. I tried to grab his arm, but I was too late. At the same I latched onto his arm, the man had hit enter. I glared at the Doctor before turning away, retreating back to my corner. There was nothing else I could do but hope Rose had reached level forty six and made it past the doors. "Rose? Rosie, please tell me you made it," I begged, needing to hear her say those words.
Her breathing was laboured and fast, as if she were trying her best to regain her breath. "Sorry, I was a bit slow." I took in a sharp breath before I threw the phone from my hand and raced out of the office and toward the doors. Behind me I barely heard the Doctor yelling at Van Statten but I didn't care. I needed to get to Rose. I needed to figure out a way to get her away from the Dalek. She needed to be safe.
As I ran towards the bulkhead, I bumped into the guy that was with her. I immediately grabbed him and threw him onto the floor, placing myself atop him. "You left her! You left my sister behind! You're a coward. You just had to save yourself." Just as I went to punch him, someone grabbed me from behind and pried me off of him. I whirled around, punching the person, who I immediately found out was the Doctor. He obviously wasn't prepared for that as his expression showed nothing but shock, but I refused to give him a chance to recover. "And you. You closed the bulkhead! You gave up on her. You listened to that moron."
"Cerys…"
"Don't," I snapped as I shoved past him and back to the office. I immediately plopped myself down in the chair he had earlier occupied and watched as he knelt so that we were eye-level. I turned away, not wanting to look at him. I had trusted him to protect her and he left her to die, to be vaporised by the creature he hated most in the world.
"Open the bulkhead or Rose Tyler dies." At the sound of the creature's voice, my head snapped to the TV, staring at the screen in disbelief. On it was a picture of Rose being held by laser point by the Dalek.
"You're alive!"
She smiled, although I could tell it was forced. "Can't get rid of me."
"I thought I wouldn't see you again. I thought you were…" I trailed off, not wanting to say exactly what I had thought. No, seeing her alive, albeit shaken, was better than a pile of ashes.
"Open the bulkhead!"
"Don't do it," Rose exclaimed.
"What use are emotions if you will not save the sister of the woman you love?"
From the corner of my eye, I saw Goddard glance at me, but I ignored it. I knew it was just trying to bait the Doctor. The man held no feelings towards me, if he had, he would have said something. Still the words of the Dalek meant nothing. Instead I focused my attention on the man, waiting to see exactly what he would do. "I killed her once. I can't do it again." To my relief, I watched as he pressed down on the enter key to open the door, and opened the bulkhead. I instantly stood and began to make my way to the door, only to be stopped by Goddard.
Van Statten stood from his seat and paced over to the Doctor. "What do we do now, you bleeding heart. What the hell do we do?"
Having enough of the man, I faced him, eyes blazing. Anger coursed through me in a way it never had and the thought of eliminating the man came to mind, although I quickly dashed it away. "Shut the hell up, Van Statten. I am so sick of hearing your voice. That is my best friend, my sister and she is not going to die because you want to live."
"We could kill it when it gets here," the boy suggested. I raised an eyebrow at that. How was there access to weapons when they were all downstairs, at least by what Van Statten had said and made things seem. Still, standard weapons were no use and I couldn't help but doubt that any of them were actual weapons or that they would make a scratch in the Dalek's armour.
"All the guns are useless, and the alien weapons are in the vault."
"Only the catalogued ones." We all looked at the guy before the Doctor and I followed him out of the office and into his workroom.
Once inside, the Doctor rummaged around the messy room, picking things up and tossing it after a quick assessment. As he did so, the boy whose name I learned was Adam, trailed behind him. "Mister Van Statten tends to dispose of his staff, and when he does he wipes their memory. I kept this stuff in case I needed to fight my way out one day."
I rolled my eyes as the Doctor spoke. "What, you in a fight? I'd like to see that."
"I could do."
"What're you going to do, throw your A-Levels at 'em?" As much as I tried, I couldn't keep the small laugh from leaving my mouth. The Doctor gave me a quick glance before he began to rummage through a pile of objects. It wasn't long before he finally found something to his liking, an extremely big gun. "Oh, yes. Lock and load." The minute smile that had graced my lips just moments prior vanished as I stared at him. This was no longer the Doctor. He was a different man, someone who would torture a creature out of anger and hatred then try to help. The man holding the gun was no one but a stranger.
We all ran back to the office, but no one was there. I could only think that they were trying to escape, or that Goddard was trying to find others who were spared by the Dalek. Frantically, I looked at the Doctor. My mind raced as I thought of what Rose could be going through. Still, it didn't stop me from rushing past him and flew up the stairs to Level 1. The second I saw Rose, I ran to her, engulfing her in a bone-crushing hug. We remained in each other's arms for a moment longer before I let go and turned my attention to the Dalek. There was a hole in the ceiling and the metal had opened up revealing an alien with one eye and tentacles. It had one of them out, as if it were relishing in the feel of sunlight for the first time.
"Get away from it." The pair of us turned to face the Doctor as he ordered us away, but we didn't budge. We just stared at him in disbelief. "Rose, Cerys, get out of the way now!" He cocked the gun, his hateful eyes trained on the alien.
"No. We won't let you do this."
"That thing killed hundreds of people."
Rose and I shared a quick glance before I walked up to him and placed my hand on the gun, pushing it down as much as I could. "Yet you're pointing the gun at her, my sister."
He tried not to look at me but he did. "I've got to do this. I've got to end it. The Daleks destroyed ou-my home, my people. I've got nothing left."
I ignored the stammer in his voice since I knew it wouldn't help the situation. "That may be so, but look at it. Does it look like it's going to kill anyone?" He left my gaze for a moment, staring at the Dalek in shock.
"What's it doing?" He was confused as to what it was doing as it reached out, almost oblivious to our conversation. As much as I though that, I couldn't shake the thought that it was very much paying attention to what was being said.
"It's the sunlight, that's all it wants," Rose answered.
"But it can't..."
"It couldn't kill Van Statten, it couldn't kill me. It's changing. What about you, Doctor? What the hell are you changing into?" Rose's words seemed to be the thing he needed to hear, the final nail that broke his train of thought, the desire he had to kill the looked away from them, meeting my eyes once more, as if he needed me to understand. tand. He let the gun fall. "I couldn't- I wasn't- Oh, Cerys. They're all dead."
"Why do we survive?" the Dalek asked the Doctor, which confirmed my thought that it was listening.
"I don't know."
"I am the last of the Daleks."
"You're not even that. Rose did more than regenerate you. You've absorbed her DNA. You're mutating."
"Into what?"
"Something new. I'm sorry."
"Isn't that better?" Rose questioned.
"Not for a Dalek."
"I can feel so many ideas. So much darkness. Rose, give me orders. Order me to die."
"I can't do that."
"This is not life. This is sickness. I shall not be like you. Order my destruction! Obey! Obey! Obey!" it begged her. It was somewhat painful to hear, especially since I could relate. There was once a time I'd begged for the same thing.
Rose seemed to think the same since she glanced at me in a way that seemed as if she were asking permission. I gave her a quick nod and with that, she turned back at the Dalek. "Do it."
"Are you frightened, Rose Tyler?"
"Yeah."
"So am I. Exterminate."
We watched at it closed its eye and the armour began to close up. Rose ran over to us, almost tripping on a piece of concrete might I add, and grabbed my hand as it rose into the air. The balls on its body began to spread out and formed a force field. It then imploded leaving no trace that there was ever a Dalek there, although the bodies of its victims were enough to tell that something deadly had been in the bunker.
With everything done, Rose, the Doctor, and I quickly made our way back to the Tardis. When we got there, I smiled, happy to be near the familiar box. While I loved London, this box of magic had become my new home, it was something I couldn't explain but it just felt right. "A little piece of home. Better than nothing." He patted the Tardis.
"Is that the end of it, the Time War?" Rose asked him.
"I'm the only one left. I win. How about that?" He said, his face void of emotion.
"The Dalek survived. Maybe some of your people did too."
The Doctor shot me a quick glance that I saw from the corner of my eye before he answered. "I'd know. In here." He tapped his head. "Feels like there's no one."
"Well then, good thing we're not going anywhere."
The Doctor looked at her sadly. "Yeah," I reinforced as I placed a hand on his arm but he didn't acknowledge me, his gaze was still on Rose. I let go, feeling slightly rejected. Yeah, we had our problems and arguments but we still responded to each other when emotions ran high so for him to blatantly ignore me sent an ache through my heart. Not wanting Rose to see that I was affected, I looked away and folded my arms over my chest. Neither of them needed to know.
We stood there in silence before we heard footsteps approach us. "We'd better get out. Van Statten's disappeared. They're closing down the base. Goddard says they're going to fill it full of cement, like it never existed," Adam told us, carrying a duffle bag.
"About time."
"I'll have to go back home."
"Better hurry up then. Next flight to Heathrow leaves at," the Doctor checked his watch. "Fifteen hundred hours."
"Adam was saying that all his life he wanted to see the stars."
"Tell him to go and stand outside, then."
"He's all on his own, Doctor, and he did help."
"He left you down there."
I watched as Rose rolled her eyes at him and huffed out a breath. "So did you." Technically, she made a good and valid point. He had closed the bulkheads on her.
"Plus, he's a bit pretty."Rose smirked. "I hadn't noticed." She looked at him pleadingly before the smile returned to her face as she looked at me. "Scared someone might pay him more attention than you?" she joked.
"No."
'Yes,' was the thought that instantly came to my mind. As it turned out, I seemed to be an afterthought and with another person on board, I was left to be ignored. I was very much aware that it was only a matter of time before I would be left on Earth, but the possibility of it happening so soon was unnerving and terrifying. I wasn't ready to leave this all behind, to have it as a memory of something I would never be able to witness again. Just the thought hurt. Besides, I wasn't much of a fan of Adam. He just seemed to rub me the wrong way.
"Good."
"What are you talking about? We've got to leave," Adam exclaimed.
"On your own head," the Doctor told her as he unlocked the TARDIS, walking in. I followed, heading straight to my room without a word. The moment i shut the door, I grinned and let my hair down from it's bun. An almost serene feeling came over me as I stood against the door and I couldn't help but think the TARDIS had something to do with it.
After changing into more comfortable clothes, I laid on the floor, gazing at the moving stars on the ceiling. I was content and calm, two states that had always been difficult for me to reach. At the moment, everything seemed to fade away. For once, I didn't let my thoughts get to me, no matter how much they nagged. I wanted peace and I was getting it.
Twenty minutes had passed when there was a knock on my door. I remained where I was and hoped that whoever it was would go away. To my happiness, I heard footsteps fade away from my room. Breathing out a sigh of relief, I closed my eyes. Not two minutes later, the door slammed open, startling me from my revere. "What the hell, Rose?"
"How'd you know it was me?"
"The Doctor would have knocked," I snapped.
"Oh," she said, ignoring my tone and coming to stand over me. "Well, speaking of the Doctor, he wanted to talk to you."
"I take it he was the one who came by a while ago."
"So, you didn't talk to him?"
"Nope."
"Cerys, you should talk to him."
"What for?"
"Because you both need it. As weird as it is, you make him better. You were able to talk him out of killing the Dalek."
"No, that was you."
"He listened to you, Cerys. The Doctor opened the bulkhead because you were there. He dropped the gun because you were there. He'd listen you long before he did me."
I rolled my eyes at her. She obviously didn't see that his eyes were glued on her. "He would have done it either way."
"Why are you doing that?"
"Doing what?"
"Countering everything I'm say? The Doctor listens to you. He cares about you and your opinions."
"That man today, that wasn't the Doctor. That was a stranger. You caught a glimpse of it, Rose but I saw it all. He was going to murder the Dalek. He admitted to killing the entire race. He said things to it that had me truly question him. I hate what he was, what he became."
"But that was supposed to be his enemy. Imagine it being your uncle."
"I wouldn't tell him to kill himself, to die! I didn't try to kill him." Tears had started to crest.
"Just talk to him."
"No. I can't and I won't."
Rose sighed, knowing she wouldn't get me to talk to him. "You know, you two are perfect for each other. Neither of you want to talk about your problems. But you know what, sooner or later you're going to. Then what? Yeah, you might not have liked that side of him but you're no picnic when you're upset either."
"Rose, what aren't you getting?! He wasn't just upset. It was like he went mad. Crazy with anger and grief."
"His people are gone and the Dalek was the cause of it. Can you blame him?"
"Why are you sticking up for him?"
"I'm not. He's moping around and muttering to himself. I just, I don't know, felt bad."
"Well I am fine. I was completely at ease before you came in here. I would like to return to that state."
"No you weren't. You were thinking. I don't know what about but if you were at ease, like you said, I guess I'll leave you to it." She started to leave but turned back to me. "You're going to have to talk to him. Whatever's going on between you two should be sorted out." I rolled my eyes and closed my eyes, listening to the door close.
When Rose had been gone for ten minutes, I quietly asked the TARDIS not to let anyone in the room. A low hum was all I received. I smiled, knowing that I would be left alone for as long as I desired. Standing, I stripped and went to bathe. While I was in there, I thought about what had happened. Although our second adventure to 1869 had affected me, this one had almost destroyed me. Everything the Doctor said reminded me of my time in America; those same words being said to me in some aspect. He didn't know that but it still hurt. It still made me feel like I was a little girl being told I was worthless and that no one wanted me around. The tears I shed those three years could have filled a pond or river. Getting out of the tub, I drained the water and quickly dressed. After drying my hair, I crawled into bed and cried myself to sleep. Soon the nightmares overcame me.
Hello there all. So sorry this chapter is a lot shorter than the others. I had no idea what else to add and to be honest, I was really excited to get past this one so I could get to the fun one ^.^
Thanks for sticking around. I definitely appreciate it. I'm so glad you're enjoying the story so far. If I'm being honest, this is my first go at fan fiction and although it's fun, it's nowhere near easy. I'm trying really hard to keep the Doctor from being to OOC and keep him canon. I think that's one of my biggest fears with writing fan fiction.
Cerys has to be be one of my favourite characters at the moment. I love strong and opinionated female characters and I'm trying to write her in that way, but showing that she has underlining issues that leave her vulnerable and highly volatile. I honestly can't wait to get to Martha's season. There will be fluff galore and a lot of tension. But it'll be fun so stick around for that.
Oh, I was thinking of doing a Marvel fic that revolved around Clint Barton a.k.a Hawkeye. I love the man to bits but I'm still deciding whether or not I'll have the time or patience to do it. I tend to just write everything out and then go back to watch and add things in like ALL the details I couldn't remember off the top of my head. So it would definitely be annoying to an extent. But that's talk for another time.
FYI as they say in the old days (hehe see what I did there?) I will be skipping the Long Game and Father's Day. There's a reason, mostly it being with the next chapter dealing with Cerys and her fragile state of mind. I also don't care much for Adam and as much as I love seeing the Doctor and Rose fight (in a wonderfully sad way) it doesn't help with everything I plan to write in the future. There will be a few episode skips in the future but I'll leave a heads up in the previous chapter when the time comes. Anyways, thanks for reading and I can't wait to see the reviews. They literally make my day, like LITERALLY.