IMPORTANT: THIS IS AN ALTERNATE ENDING. It diverts from Part Four of Viera, my main Doctor Who project. If you haven't read that then this won't make a whole lot of sense.
Supplemental Soundtrack:
Alt 4:2 - Viera's Choice: "Pinnacle" by Corner Stone Cues
ALTERNATE PART FOUR – JOURNEY'S END
Diversion Two – No Hand to Save Her
Desperate times call for desperate measures, Viera thought. Donna was running out of time. The Dalek would kill her, but if she could get the TARDIS somewhere relatively safe, it'd be worth it. Even if she was just buying Donna time, she had to try. Viera jumped up and grabbed the nearest cord, throwing all her weight behind it. She prayed the Dalek would be slow to turn, slow to fire. She needed a few seconds before they killed her.
The cord wretched free of the ceiling in a shower of sparks. The Dalek, the Doctor, Rose and Jack all turned as Viera shoved the sizzling electricity of the broken cord against her right palm and opened herself up to the ship.
She only needed a few seconds. Time felt different, plugged into the power of the Crucible. The physical world fell away and it was just her and the ship, the computers, the power, and the tractor beam that had brought the TARDIS there in the first place. Brief milliseconds went by as she turned the beam towards the TARDIS and pulled.
The time machine was tugged loose from the heat of the core threatening to rip it apart. Viera felt its song resonate through her veins, strong and sure as ever. The TARDIS would be fine. Donna would be too, assuming Viera could find a safe place to land it before the Daleks killed her.
She opened up a storage room off the side of the tunnel that the TARDIS had dropped through. She set the time machine down gently and braced herself to let go. She didn't want to; the TARDIS song was comforting and healing and home, and Viera knew what was waiting for her. But she was out of time. Viera sealed off the storage unit with every lock and firewall she could summon with the full power of the Crucible. Then she let go.
The power cord slipped from Viera's grasp. She found herself on the floor, panting and dazed but triumphant.
"Exterminate!" rang out. Viera looked up to see a bright flash of blue flare toward her. The Doctor cried out a warning but she couldn't move to save herself. It was already too late.
Or it would have been if Jack hadn't stepped in the way.
He gave a loud cry and his body arched against the pain before dropping to the ground, lifeless.
"No," Viera gasped, reaching for him. There was no pulse at his neck, no matter how hard she tried to find it. Rose cried out but the Doctor held her back, wary of the Dalek weapons aimed at her.
"Stop!" the Doctor protested, but the legion of Daleks turned on Viera.
"Exterminate!" they declared.
"Wait," the Supreme Dalek commanded just in time. "The female is unique. She will be taken for further study." Viera thought perhaps it would have been easier to be exterminated.
"Don't!" the Doctor yelled, stepping forward. The Supreme Dalek fired towards Rose, missing her by inches. The Doctor froze.
"It's alright," Viera stated. She met the Doctor's gaze as she staggered to her feet and gave what she hoped was a reassuring smile. "I'll be alright." She wouldn't be, probably, but there was nothing the Doctor could do about that just then. Viera didn't want to see him die trying.
The Doctor's gaze fell to Jack before he reluctantly subsided. Viera wondered about that as one of the Daleks prodded her down a hallway while another dragged along Jack's body. Her curiosity had her watching Jack from the corner of her eye. It might have been her eyes playing tricks, but impossible though it was, she could have sworn he was breathing.
"Escort them to the vault," she heard the Supreme Dalek order behind her. Viera comforted herself with the knowledge that the Doctor and Rose would remain alive for the moment. As long as they were all still breathing there was hope.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I know this chapter was short and not terribly different from the original, but it was still a necessary part of this alternate plot line. I couldn't have Donna die, now could I?
