A/N: I do not own anything relating to Doctor Who. I only own the ideas of my OC. A big thank you to KilalaInara and Lady Artemes Blaine for your reviews. It always helps to have some input, even if it's just a simple "I liked this chapter". Your reviews keep me writing. Like always please review, and I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Previously: "It's killing him! Do something!" She cried.
"Condition red! Condition red!" He repeated into a microphone, sounding an alarm through the entire building. "This is not a drill! I repeat, this is not a drill!"
We were waiting around for Van Statten and the Doctor to come over the comm system. Finally we saw them run into the room.
"You've got to keep it in that cell." I heard the Doctor yell as he came into the room. He looked outright terrified. It wasn't like him to be this worried. There was something very wrong with this creature and it worried him. My unease grew even more.
"Doctor, it's all my fault. Nix tried to warn me but I didn't listen." Rose explained. One day I was going to get someone to listen to me. Was it really that hard to listen to someones intuition about potentially dangerous situations?
"I've sealed the compartment. It can't get out, that lock's got a billion combinations." A guard said as he walked over to where we were in front of the screen.
"A Dalek's a genius. It can calculate a thousand billion combinations in one second flat." The Doctor explained nervously. We made our way over to face the door of the Cage. Two guards stood in front of me, Rose, and Adam. The keypad had numbers quickly flashing on it. The code finally flashed and the door slowly opened. I backed up slightly, pulling the other two with me.
"Open fire." The male guard said as the Dalek advanced from the room. The bullets didn't seem to do anything to it. I flinched at every gunshot.
"Don't shoot it!" Van Statten cried out. "I want it unharmed."
"Phoenix, Rose, get out of there!" The Doctor yelled at us. I couldn't see him but I could hear the worry and fear in his voice. My chest tightened in worry slightly.
"De Maggio, take the civilians and get them out alive. That is your job, got that?" The male guard looked at the woman in front of us as they both reloaded their weapons. She nodded.
"You three, with me." She said before she started down a hallway behind us. We quickly followed her. We were running down one corridor when we saw a large group of guards with weapons heading toward us. "Civilians! Let them through!" The woman, De Maggio, called out. The group separated, giving us a path to run through. We continued running as the sound of gunshots and screams filled the air. I tried to block out the sound but nothing worked. Images of fires and the sounds of children screaming and crying flashed through my mind. I shook my head and continued running. We made it into a stairwell.
"Stairs! That's more like it. It hasn't got legs. It's stuck!" Rose said excitedly.
"I wouldn't bet on that. Besides, it's still got that laser." I huffed, trying to catch my breath.
"It's coming! Get up!" De Maggio instructed us. We all ran up half a floor. The other stopped to look at the Dalek that had come to a stop at the base of the stairs. It looked down at the stairs in front of it.
"Great big alien death machine defeated by a flight of stairs." Adam boasted at it.
"Oh yeah. Great idea. It just killed numerous people and you decide to taunt it. It's still armed you idiot." I snapped at him. He looked shocked that I would have the audacity to yell at him. I hit him on the back of his head before turning to look at the Dalek again.
"Now listen to me. I demand that you return to your cage. If you want to negotiate then I can guarantee that Mister Van Statten will be willing to talk. I accept that we imprisoned you and maybe that was wrong," De Maggio tried to negotiate with the Dalek. ~Maybe it was wrong to imprison you?! Do these people seriously think it's a good idea to say these things?~ She continued talking. "but people have died, and that stops right now. The killing stops. Have you got that? I demand that you surrender. Is that clear?"
"Elevate." The Dalek spoke and started rising slowly.
"Oh my god!" Rose backed up slightly. I grabbed her hand quickly.
"Adam, get them out of here." De Maggio ordered. I looked at her. She was raising her gun at the Dalek.
"Come with us. You're not going to be able to stop it. You're going to get yourself killed." I yelled at her. She didn't look back at me.
"Someone's got to try and stop it. Now get out! Don't look back. Just run." She started firing at the Dalek. I pulled Rose and Adam along and they both finally started running. We went up some stairs and down another set of long corridors. We made it to a large room with boxes everywhere. There were soldiers in defensive positions all over. I froze when I saw their guns pointed at us.
"Hold your fire!" The commander ordered. You three, get the hell out of there!" He ordered us. We ran forward through the guards. I was about to run around a corner when I noticed that Adam and Rose had stopped.
"What the hell?" I questioned as I came back to them to see what they were doing. The Dalek rolled around from where we had come. Its eye stalk moved around until it was pointed at us. It paused for a moment before turning its body to face us. When it did, Adam and I each grabbed one of Rose's arms and pulled her around the corner.
"It was looking at us." Rose slowed down, letting go of my hand. I frowned at her.
"Yeah, it wants to slaughter us." Adam sounded exasperated. They had come to a complete stop.
"I know, but it was looking right at us." She tried. My patience was running out.
"So? It's just a sort of metal eye thing. It's looking all around." Adam tried to reason with her.
"I don't know. It's like there's something inside, looking at us, like, like it knows me." She tried to explain.
"We can deal with that later. How about we keep ourselves from getting killed right now? Sound like a good plan? Yeah? Lets go!" I grabbed her and and pulled her along. Adam followed, not saying anything. We ran down some more corridors and found a stairwell. We started running up the stairs. My phone started ringing. I pulled it out. "Not really the best time." I growled.
"Where are you?" The Doctor asked.
"Level forty nine." I said as we ran past a sign with the floor number on it. We continued running up the stairs. I could hear the Dalek coming up as well.
"You've got to keep moving. The vault's being sealed off up at level forty six." He explained quickly. I gestured for Rose and Adam to move quicker.
"Can't you stop them from closing?" I asked angrily.
"I'm the one who's closing them. I can't wait and I can't help you. So for God's sake, run." I huffed and pushed myself to move faster.
"We need to get through level 46. Hurry." I told the other two and we continued running. Adam was a decent pace ahead of us once we were on the correct level. "We're almost there. Give us two seconds." We continued running. My chest was burning from lack of oxygen. My dream came back in full force. I covered up the microphone on my phone. "Adam, make sure she gets out no matter what." I growled at him. He nodded and slowed down a bit to grab Rose's hand and pull her along with. The door started closing. Rose tried to wait for me but Adam listened and pulled her along with him. He pulled her down and they rolled under the door before it closed.
"Nix!" I heard Rose scream.
"Phoenix, where are you? Did you and Rose make it?" The Doctor asked through the phone. I took a deep breath as I leaned against the closed door.
"Sorry. I was a bit slow. I got Rose through, but I'm sealed in." I looked to see the Dalek rounding the corner. "See you then, Doctor. It wasn't your fault. Remember that, okay? It wasn't your fault. Take care of Rose for me. Keep her safe. And just know this. I wouldn't have missed any of this for the world." I moved the phone away from my ear and turned to face the advancing Dalek. It paused in front of me.
"Exterminate!" It called out, raising its laser toward me. I closed my eyes waiting for the pain. There was the sound of the laser but I didn't feel anything. I slowly opened my eyes and turned to look at the Dalek. It was watching me.
"Go on then, kill me." I yelled at it. It didn't move. "Why are you doing this?" I demanded.
"I am armed. I will kill. It is my purpose." It answered.
"Well you've done it so far. All those people are dead because of you." I growled at it.
"They are dead because of us." It replied. I didn't understand at first. Then I realized that the only way it was able to escape was because it had absorbed some of mine and Rose's DNA.
"Well now what? What are you waiting for?" I could feel the tears forming in my eyes.
"I feel your fear."
"No shit. You have me cornered. What did you expect me to be feeling?"
"Daleks do not fear. Must not fear." It raised its laser once again. It shot on either side of the door. I closed my eyes but still nothing came. When I opened my eyes once again, it was staring at me. "You and the girl gave me life. What else have you given me? I am contaminated." It cried out. "Step forward. We will address the Doctor." I stepped forward a little. It moved to my side, slightly behind me. It looked up at a camera on the wall. "Open the bulkhead or Phoenix Tyler dies." He cried out.
"You're alive!" I heard the Doctor.
"Nix! You're alright!" Rose added.
"Told you, you can't get rid of me that easily." I tried to laugh. Even I knew it sounded forced.
"I thought you were dead." The Doctor sounded relieved.
"Open the bulkhead!" The Dalek demanded.
"Don't do it!" I yelled.
"What use are emotions if you will not save the woman you love?" The Dalek asked. I tried not to react to that. The Dalek was wrong, but if I corrected it, well, I wasn't sure what would happen. If it did kill me, I didn't want Rose and the Doctor to see it.
"I killed her once. I can't do it again." I heard the Doctor say softly.
"Don't you dare you idiot." I tried, but he didn't listen to me. The bulkhead door opened. The Dalek stayed slightly behind me as we moved forward. We found the lift and the Dalek opened it. Once inside, it set the floor number. I calmed my breathing and tried to regain my composure. "Don't kill them. Please. You didn't kill me even though you had the chance." The head swiveled so the eye was looking at me. I backed up slightly so I wouldn't get hit by it.
"But why not? Why are you alive? My function is to kill. What am I? What am I?" It cried out. We reached the top level. When the doors opened, we were in Van Statten's office. He was standing in front of the doors. Rose and the woman, Goddard, were standing off to the side.
"Don't do anything stupid. It's beginning to question itself." I ordered.
"Van Statten. You tortured me. Why?" The Dalek questioned, moving forward slightly.
"I wanted to help you. I just, I don't know. I was trying to help. I through if we could get through to you, if we could mend you. I wanted you better. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry! I swear, I just wanted you to talk!" Van Statten cried as he was backed against the wall by the advancing Dalek.
"Then hear me talk now. Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!" It cried. I ran over to it.
"Don't! Don't kill him! You don't have to do this anymore." I told it. It swiveled its eye to look at me. Rose had made her way closer.
"There must be something else, not just killing. What else is there? What do you want?" She asked it. My breathing hitched when it swiveled to look at her. Then it looked back at Van Statten.
"I want. . . Freedom." It answered. I let out a shaky breath as it backed up and started moving toward the door. Rose and I curiously followed it. We walked until we were in a large empty corridor. The Dalek lifted its laser and shot the roof. Rose and I ducked slightly as rubble fell. I shaft of sunlight came down landing on the Dalek.
"You're out. You made it." Rose told it.
"I never thought I'd feel the sunlight again." I breathed out a sigh of relief.
"How does it feel?" The Dalek asked.
"Warm." I said softly. The casing around its center began to shift and move, revealing a one eyed creature with tentacles. Rose and I moved to stand in front of it without blocking the sunlight. It lifted one of the tentacles to feel the sunlight.
"Get out of the way. Rose, Phoenix, get out of the way now!" The Doctor called from behind us. We turned around to see the Doctor with a large gun pointed at us.
"No. I won't let you do this." Rose said firmly. I decided to stick by her side.
"That thing killed hundreds of people." He yelled at us.
"It's not the one pointing a gun at us right now." I said softly. I could see the emotions behind his eyes. He was in so much pain.
"I've got to do this. I've got to end it. The Daleks destroyed my home, my people. I've got nothing left." He sounded like he was almost in tears.
"Look at it." Rose said. We stepped aside slightly to reveal the Dalek basking in the sunlight.
"What's it doing?" The Doctor asked.
"It's finally feeling the sunlight. That's all it wants." I tried to explain.
"But it can't."
"It couldn't kill Van Statten, it couldn't kill me." I pointed out. "It's changing. As much as it unnerves me, it is changing. What about you though, Doctor? What the hell are you changing into?" He lowered his gun. I hit a struck a cord with that.
"I couldn't... I wasn't... Oh, Phoenix, Rose. They're all dead." I wanted to run over and hug him but I was too tired to move.
"Why do we survive?" The Dalek asked.
"I don't know." The Doctor admitted.
"I am the last of the Daleks." It stated.
"You're not even that. Rose and Phoenix did more than regenerate you. You've absorbed their DNA. You're mutating." He explained.
"Into what?"
"Something new. I'm sorry." The Doctor frowned.
"Isn't that better?" Rose asked.
"Not for a Dalek."
"I can feel so many ideas. So much darkness. Rose, give me orders. Order me to die." The Dalek demanded.
"I can't do that." She looked at it sadly. I could see the hints of tears starting to form in her eyes.
"This is not life. This is sickness. I shall not be like you. Phoenix. Order my destruction! Obey! Obey! Obey!" It cried. I paused and looked at it. I took a deep breath.
"Do it." I said softly.
"Are you frightened, Phoenix Tyler?" It asked me.
"Yeah." I nodded my head.
"So am I. Exterminate." It closed its eye. Rose grabbed my and and pulled me back to the Doctor. The Dalek closed its armor and began to rise into the air. The round balls that were on its lower casing came off and created a force field around the Dalek. There was a bright light as the Dalek imploded.
Silently we made our way back to Van Statten's office to get Rose's sweater and make sure everything was done. When we were ready, we made our way down to the floor where the Tardis was. Relief filled me when I saw her. We walked over and the Doctor ran his hands along her side gently.
"A little piece of home. Better than nothing." He still didn't sound quite back to his normal mood. I was worried.
"Is that the end of it, the Time War?" Rose questioned.
"I'm the only one left. I win. How about that?" I gave his arm a reassuring squeeze. He gave me a gentle smile. When I removed my hand, I started messing with my necklace. The locket felt extremely warm so I had to hold it away from my skin to try and cool it off.
"The Dalek survived. Maybe some of your people did too." She tried.
"I'd know. In here." He tapped his temple. "Feels like there's no one." He said sadly. I let the locket go and it fell against my shirt.
"Well it's a good thing that we're not going anywhere." I teased as I stood beside Rose.
"Yeah." He smiled at us. Adam came running up to 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." He explained.
"Good." I smiled.
"About time." Rose added.
"I'll have to go back home." He sounded sad.
"Better hurry up then. Next flight to Heathrow leaves at fifteen hundred hours." The Doctor said, after looking at his watch.
"Adam was saying that all his life he wanted to see the stars." Rose said with her head tilted to the side. I groaned quietly.
"Tell him to go and stand outside, then." The Doctor replied curtly.
"He's all on his own, Doctor, and he did help." She tried. Adam was looking between the two with confusion written all over his face.
"He left Phoenix down there." He said darkly.
"So did you." She retorted.
"Technically I told you both to." I added. They both looked at me. I shrugged my shoulders and leaned against the Tardis. "Carry on."
"What're you talking about? We've got to leave." Adam said nervously, looking around as if he was going to see a giant tidal wave of cement come flooding through.
"Plus, he's a bit pretty." The Doctor teased.
"I hadn't noticed." Rose said with a slight blush.
"On your own head." He said before unlocking the Tardis.
"What're you doing? She said cement. She wasn't joking. We're going to get sealed in." Adam cried. I rolled my eyes and followed the Doctor into the Tardis. Rose followed me. I sat in the jump seat while the Doctor started messing with the controls. "Doctor? What are you doing standing inside a box? Rose? Phoenix?" He called out before coming inside. The doors closed behind him and we set off into the vortex.
Once we were in flight, the Doctor addressed Adam and Rose.
"His bedroom is down that hall." He pointed to a hall different than the one that held our rooms. I smiled at that slightly. "Go on and explore. I'll see you back here in the morning." They nodded and walked off while talking. He turned to face me when they were gone. His smile faded slightly.
"Oh no. Doctor Serious is here." He raised an eyebrow at me. "I had to lighten your mood somehow. Now, what's on your mind?" I questioned.
"I..." He paused, looking lost.
"Look, take your time figuring out what it is you want to say or ask. When you've got it figured out, I'll be where I always end up." I gave his arm a gentle pat as I walked past him and made my way to the garden. I watered my tree and climbed into one of the chairs. I closed my eyes and listened to the sounds of the waterfall in the distance. I opened them when I heard someone come into the room. I looked over and watched as the Doctor came in and sat in his usual chair. Instead of saying anything, I stayed quiet and let him start in his own time.
"Are you alright?" He asked gently. I smiled.
"You always ask that. I'm good. I'm alive. Don't worry so much. You'll go gray." I teased. He finally smiled. "Much better." He chuckled.
"Look, I'm sorry about how I acted back there." He paused, as if thinking of just how to word the next part.
"Don't worry. I get it. You lost everything to the Daleks. I probably would have done the same in your situation. Hell, the first time I saw it I wanted to run from it." I offered. He looked curious so I decided to elaborate. "We saw a video feed of it. Something about it made me want to turn tail and run. Then when we went into the Cage, Rose wanted to comfort it. I kept trying to hold her back. There was no reason. It acted extremely helpless and sad but still I didn't trust it."
"You really do have a strong intuition." He said. I looked down, remembering the dream and how it almost came true. It probably would have, had I not had Adam get Rose out of there.
~You can tell him.~ The Tardis whispered in my mind. I bit my lip.
"What is it? What's wrong?" The Doctor asked. I took a deep breath and looked up at him. He had worry in his eyes.
"I'm going to sound absolutely mad, I know that, but I don't know, I guess it's just going to eat me alive if I don't say anything." I paused to breathe before continuing. "It's not just my intuition. I have . . . dreams."
"What do you mean?"
"The bad dream that woke me up. I started remembering it. I didn't remember all of it until it was almost too late." He raised an eyebrow at me. "The dream was about Rose and I running. In the dream there was something chasing us. There was a door closing. I tried to get Rose through it but she wouldn't leave me. We both got trapped. Then something killed me. That's why when Rose and I were trying to get to the bulkhead door, I had Adam make sure she got through. I knew that if something didn't change, my dream would come true."
"How did you know?" He questioned.
"This is the second major dream like that. The first one I couldn't change." I looked down at my hands. I could feel the tears trying to fall so I got up and started walking. The Doctor quickly followed. He gave me time to think. "The first one was with Gwyneth. I couldn't see much. There was darkness everywhere. Then I saw a match strike and the explosion that followed. There wasn't any pain though. That's why I was so determined to stay with her. I didn't know what to do until it was too late." I tried to desperately blink away the tears. The Doctor stepped in front of me and I looked up at him. He placed his hands on my shoulders. It reminded me of just how much shorter I was than him. He was a good 6 or 7 inches taller than me.
"Phoenix. Gwyneth was not your fault. Like you said to me. She had her mind set as soon as she believed they were her angels. There was nothing you could have done." He looked me in the eye while he spoke. When he was done. I nodded, seeing that he really meant it. He wrapped his arms around me in a quick hug. I hugged him back. When he let go I smiled.
"Thanks." I chuckled. He looked confused.
"For what?" He questioned.
"For knowing how to handle my minor meltdown." He smiled at me.
"Anytime. It's for all those times you try to correct my behavior." He teased. I snorted out a laugh, causing him to laugh as well. "Is that locket new?" He asked me. I looked down and noticed that for once it was hanging outside of my shirt. I held it in my hand.
"No. I've had it for as long as I can remember. I just normally have it hidden under my shirt." He looked at it briefly.
"What's inside?"
"It's empty. The lock broke years ago and I never bothered to fix it since there's nothing in it. I just like the moonstone on the front." I looked up at him from the necklace. He seemed lost in thought, staring off at nothing in particular. I frowned and put the locket back under my shirt. "I have a question." I said softly. He looked at me quickly. "Would you be willing to try and see if there's a reason I can't remember anything?"
"Of course. I told you I would help whenever you wanted." He agreed.
"What do I need to do?" I asked. He put his hands on either side of my face.
"Just close your eyes and relax. Anything you don't want me to see, put behind a door." He explained softly. I closed my eyes and breathed softly. There was darkness and a door in front of me. I opened it. The Doctor was on the other side of it. I let him through. He started wandering around. I looked through the doorway, wondering what was on the other side of it. It didn't take long to realize that it was the Doctor's mind. I was curious but I didn't want to ruin his trust. Though there was one memory that I could see without entering his mind. There was my necklace but it wasn't me holding it. It was a woman's hand. The nails were longer than mine and painted a deep purple. I shrugged it off and sat against the door frame in my mind. After a couple minutes the Doctor began to withdraw from my mind. When his hands left my face, I opened my eyes. He looked thoroughly confused now.
"What?" I asked nervously.
"It's strange. There's absolutely nothing from before you were 16. You have some memories before you met Jackie but not that many. And there's nothing that I can find that would be causing a block. It's almost as if you didn't exist before you were 16." He looked down at me. "Don't worry though. We'll figure it out." He tried to reassure me.
"It's alright. Thanks for trying." I smiled at him. "Maybe something will trigger a memory someday. Rose said I once mentioned something about my parents while drunk. Maybe it just takes the right situation." I shrugged.
"We'll figure it out. I promise I'll do whatever I can to help." He said gently.
"Thank you. I appreciate it."
"Not a problem. Why don't you go get some rest. You deserve some good sleep."
"Alright. You too." I pointed at him and he chuckled. I walked toward the door but stopped and turned back to face him. "Oh, Doctor, if you ever need someone to talk to, about anything, you know where to find me." He smiled and nodded at me. I gave him a nod before walking to my room. As my door opened, so did Rose's. I looked over to see her coming out. She quickly closed the door behind her and hurried over to hug me. "You alright?" I asked her.
"Yes. I just didn't get to hug you earlier and I wanted to make sure you were alright." She said as she let go. I chuckled at her and opened my door.
"You've got to stop worrying so much. You and the Doctor both." I walked in and she followed me, closing the door behind her.
"You guys talked?" She asked as she looked around the room before sitting on the bed. I dimmed the light slightly so the stars on the walls and ceiling started shining.
"Yeah he made sure I was alright and apologized for the way he acted." I yawned. "You two really do worry to much." Part of me wanted to tell her about my memories but I really didn't want to give her something else to worry about.
"Well we care." She tried. Then she started smiling slyly. I raised an eyebrow at her.
"Don't even say it." I frowned at her.
"Oh come on, he nearly killed Adam when he realized that you had been left behind earlier. For how adamantly deny things, you two really do care an awful lot about each other." She suggested. I groaned.
"He was only worried that he had caused someone to get hurt. That's it." I explained. She stared at me for a minute before she spoke again.
"Nix, look, I know you're afraid of relationships after Matt, but you gotta trust someone eventually." Her voice was soft. I couldn't look at her. Matt was a bloke I had dated for a while when I was 18. At first he was great, he was caring and an all around good guy. Then things changed. He quit his job. I helped support him as well as Jackie and Rose. When I wanted to go hang out with Rose, he got possessive and suspicious. Eventually I found out that he was cheating on me and using the money I gave to help with bills to buy another girl nice things. When I left him, he tried to stop me. He fractured my wrist. I broke a couple of his ribs. After him, I had decided not to date again.
"Matt showed me that I'm not relationship material. Besides, I'm pretty sure the Doctor just sees me as a friend." I offered. She smiled.
"So you do have feelings for him." She said excitedly. I huffed in frustration.
"Oh hush. Get out. I need to sleep." I pulled her off my bed. She gave me a hug and giggled as she left the room. I shook my head and changed into sleep clothes before crawling into bed.