Confrontations

The Doctor struggled to keep up with the woman. She marched ahead with a single-minded determination and seemed to ignore everything except her final destination. Not that there was much in their way. To the Doctor, this place looked completely abandoned. He wondered briefly if his trail had led him astray. The woman's behavior made him believe that she had found something, however, so he followed her. Each time he tried to initiate conversation, her golden gaze would fall on him and her finger would go to her lips. Eventually, he gave up.

He did wonder what her role was in all of this. She didn't seem particularly malevolent, but he'd been led astray before. He'd be cautious, and keep his distance for now. But something deep within him stirred at her presence and it was strange and a bit exciting. But it was also scaring him. He felt a connection to this woman that he could not explain. He didn't like not knowing things.

The Doctor almost ran into her back before he realized she had stopped. They had entered a chamber. The Doctor counted hundreds of slaves, but what made him stop breathing was the number of Daleks he could see. There were easily forty. One by itself was hard enough to deal with. More than that and it was near impossible.

The Doctor grabbed the woman's hand and quickly pulled her behind some cargo boxes.

"Let go of my hand." The woman's voice had taken a dual-toned quality and her eyes glowed golden. Startled, he let go of her hand. She touched the side of his face before abruptly turning. She stepped completely out of the shelter he had found for them. So far, none of the Daleks had noticed her presence. With a heaving sigh, he stepped out behind her. He watched her take a deep breath, then yell.

"Oi! Daleks!" The Doctor cringed, but stood his ground. He'd been in worse situations before, to be sure, and would (hopefully) get out of this one as well.

"WHO IS THE FE-MALE! YOU WILL I-DEN-TI-FY!"

"No one, really. Just a Wolf." The Doctor watched as the Daleks began to panic.

"WE WILL EX-TER-MIN-ATE THE AB-OM-IN-A-TION!"

"Stop." The Doctor felt the word through his mind more than he heard her say it. But with that word, the entirety of the Daleks before them stood still. The slaves cowered along the edges of the room, as far from the Daleks as they were the woman and the Doctor. The Doctor told the closest ones to go, be with their families. The slaves ran, back to their cages and their loved ones.

The woman still stood, head cocked to the side, considering the Daleks before her. With a wave of her hand, they slowly started to disintegrate. All but one. She advanced on the one. The eyestalk twitched the closer she got.

"You go tell that emperor of yours that the Big Bad Wolf is now a part of this War. Tell him I will be coming for him next."

The Dalek was silent. The Wolf, as he now knew her, turned and marched back the direction they came.

"Let's get these slaves freed, shall we? Do you have a way to transport them back?"

"I do."

"Good then, shall we?" She held her hand out toward the Doctor. He took it, a bit afraid of her himself. What she'd done, and he'd witnessed, was beyond anything he had ever seen before in his life.

"Don't be frightened. I don't plan on doing away with you." The Doctor turned towards her, regarding her critically.

"How did you know what I was thinking?"

"You're not the only touch telepath. Besides, you're broadcasting your fear. If you don't want me to feel your emotions, put some shields up."

"Who are you?"

"I don't remember."

"What do you mean, you don't remember?"

"Exactly what it sounds like. I don't remember. I know I had a name, and a purpose, but I don't remember what they were. Wolf is what I'm known by. What about you?"

"I'm the Doctor." Instead of the customary question, he heard her suck in a sharp breath. She scrunched her face in confusion, blinking rapidly.

"I...know that name."

"Well, perhaps we haven't met yet. Time travel is a bit funny like that."

By this time, they had made their way back to the cells where they originally met. The Wolf let the Doctor use his little tool to open the cages. Most still seemed frightened by her. The Doctor led them all to a blue police box. The Wolf stared at it, recognizing it but not quite remembering at the same time. She was the last to step across the threshold. Her eyes immediately went wide.

"Oh! Hello!" And the Wolf collapsed.