Kayla jerked awake and made to sit up only to groan. Instantly, the Doctor was at her side. She felt horrible. Her mouth was dry, her head hurt, and the couch she was laying on was not the best for her back, which was already hurting some from the baby. The baby! Her hands went to her stomach and she sighed with relief. All was well there.

The Doctor took one of Kayla's hand and kissed the palm of it. "Everything is alright, I promise." The Doctor breathed. "Martha checked you over. You and the baby are fine."

Kayla turned her head and smiled slightly. She leaned forwards, which made the Doctor look at her. With a grin, he kissed her, as that was what she was asking for. She pulled back, a frown on her face as she remembered something. "Someone…someone hit me."

The Doctor face took a different turn. Seeming to try and control himself, he gently reached behind her head and felt the bump that was forming there. At the slight wince that went across her face for a brief second, the Doctor's jaw clenched and he instantly removed his hand. "We got her," he told her as he retook her hand.

Kayla gave him a bigger smile. "I knew you would," she said. With a soft groan, she sat up and looked around the room she was in. It seemed to be a dressing room of some sorts. There was a vanity with large and white light bulbs on the mirror. Surrounding the frame of the reflecting glass were pictures, all of either a blonde girl or of a cute, but simple, looking guy. On the desk of the vanity, there was a gold-framed picture of an older woman who was still smiling despite the grim that was covering her black and white photo.

"Is this her dressing room?" Kayla asked. For a dressing room it was rather large. There was also a dark portion that was covered by a sheet. "And is that where she is?"

The Doctor moved from his kneeling position to sit down next to her on the couch. It creaked loudly and the cushion sagged, but he ignored that in favor to wrap his arm around her waist. "She will not touch you ever again," he vowed.

Kayla laid her head on his shoulder. "You don't have to worry Doctor. I can take care of myself."

Not addressing this, he chose to instead kiss the top of her head. For a long moment, the two sat in silence. Kayla, with her head on the Doctor's shoulder, and the Doctor with his head very gently resting on Kayla's. But then, their sweet moment was ruined by Martha poking her head from around the sheet. The two looked up only to spot the black woman making a face. "Yes?" the Doctor asked with a tight grin.

Martha sighed and glanced over at Kayla for a brief moment. Seeming to asses that she appeared alright, she looked back over at the Doctor. "The girl's ready."

Stiffen at this, the Doctor got up quickly. Turning around to face Kayla, he held out his hand. She rolled her eyes but took the hand and used it to get up from the couch. Once she was up on her feet, the Doctor wrapped his arms around her briefly. If anyone was looking on, like an annoyed Martha, then it would appear as if the Doctor was steadying Kayla. But in reality, he was hugging her tightly. Through their mental links, he promised that the girl would not get near their baby. Because he had felt the flash of fear, he had felt her stiffen, when Martha had come in.

Kayla closed her eyes and rested her head on the Doctor's shoulder. 'I love you.'

'I love you too.'

Taking Kayla's hand, the Doctor squeezed it tightly as he stepped back from her. Giving her a grin that she returned tightly, the Doctor took the first step forwards, and then the next, and then next ones until they were at the sheet. Pulling it back, the Doctor walked in first and Kayla followed him. Their hands interlocked, the two came face-to-face with Solomon. The black man looked very, very angry. His arms were crossed and his face was set in a hard frown. "I've already lost Frank today," the man started.

Kayla looked over at the Doctor, her eyes widening. He subtly shook his head. In their link, he promised to fill her in later, to tell her the full story. She gave a slight nod, though she added 'I don't like it.' The Doctor squeezed her hand and addressed Solomon with, "I know. Frank was a…very good man."

Solomon nodded. "I will not see anyone else get hurt, even Tallulah."

"Tallulah?" Kayla asked sharply with a frown.

"The girl," Solomon corrected.

Both the Doctor and Kayla stiffened and the Doctor squeezed Kayla's hand. "The girl that knocked out my…my Kayla?" he asked, though it was more of a statement than anything.

The black man shifted. "Listen, I know you must be angry at this girl, but she's just a child-" he started to protest.

Kayla cut him off. "She knocked me out."

He held up his hands. "She is not innocent," he agreed. "But please, no more death today."

The Doctor gave him a long look before sighing. "You're right." Kayla squeezed his hand.

'You have more self-control as I do,' she said through the mental link as Solomon gave him a heartfelt thanks and allowed them to go further into the blocked off room until they were in front of Tallulah, the girl who had knocked Kayla out.

This was the first time the brunette had seen her attacker, and she was not impressed. The girl had blonde hair that was clearly dyed to be more platinum than it naturally was. She had those big, pouty lips that made the girl seem like she was impossible to please. She had no muscles that Kayla could see and was dressed in a showgirl outfit. The only attractive feature that Kayla could see were her blue doe eyes. Those were very nice and pleasant to look at…when they were not rimmed in red and filled in tears like they currently were.

"You're Tallulah, correct?" Kayla asked as she moved in front of the girl, the Doctor hovering closely behind just in case.

The blonde girl whimpered and then nodded. "I am. And I am so sorry for knocking you out. If I had known you were pregnant-"

"Stop," the Doctor cut in suddenly. This action, being so unlike him, made Kayla turn around and look at him with a raise eyebrow. "She was giving you a headache," he protested in a softer voice. Kayla had to grin at that. The babbling Tallulah was doing was giving her a headache. Still, the Doctor was always the nice one, always. So did that mean Kayla had to be the nice one for him now? Kayla frowned at this, which made the Doctor also frown. Moving forwards, he took her hand and squeezed it and kissed her forehead.

The two turned back to the girl, who was sniffling and looking utterly miserable. 'Doctor…she didn't mean to,' she pointed out. She was surprising herself by doing this, by pointing out that the girl was just a girl. She didn't mean to, that was clear by the babbling and the crying, but also it disturbed, no, worried her that the Doctor was being so…not him. He was being her. He was being cruel and just…that wasn't how it was supposed to be. Kayla was the mean one and the Doctor was the one that pulled her back. It was how they worked and functioned. With the Doctor being the opposite, she felt like she needed to reign him back in. Because if she didn't then who knows what would happen?

The Doctor, very surprised that Kayla wanted to be nice with this girl, looked over at Kayla to try and read her face. She appeared worried, though that wasn't because of Tallulah. She was clearly thinking through something, so he waited until Kayla squeezed his hand and then left his side and went over to Tallulah. He watched, so wanting to go after her and protect her, as she silently untied the girl from the chair.

"Who's Lazlo?" Kayla asked once all the bonds had fallen off the girl.

Tallulah sniffled and blinked up at her and then over at the Doctor before looking back at Kayla. "Lazlo's my boyfriend, or was my boyfriend until two weeks ago. No letter, no good-bye, no nothin'. And I'm not stupid. I know some guys are just pigs but not my Lazlo. I mean, what kinda guy asks you to meet his mother before he vamooses?"

Kayla frowned and looked over at the Doctor, who shrugged. "Do you think that he disappeared along with those guys from Hooverville?"

The Doctor seemed to consider this for a while. Finally, he shrugged, unable to figure this out. Taking out the blob he found in the sewers, he looked down at it. "If I could find out the origins of this then we'll have something."

"I'll go look for stuff with Solomon in the prop room and Martha can talk to Tallulah," Kayla stated.

Grinning, the Doctor seemed to want to give Kayla a kiss, but looking down at the blob in his hands, he instead grinned at her. 'I love you.'

'Love you too.'

Turning, Kayla pulled back the sheet and walked over to Solomon, who was sitting in the dressing room next to a concerned-looking Martha. "Solomon, with me. Martha, go talk to Tallulah."

The two in question looked at each other. Martha shrugged and headed over to the blonde while Solomon got up to his feet. "Where to?"

"The prop room."

In the prop room, Solomon watched as Kayla walked through the many props, trying to find something electronic that was real, which was turning out to be a challenged. Growling and tossing aside yet another fake radio, she turned to face Solomon, who was still watching her. "Are you going to help?" she snapped, her arms crossing across her chest.

He blinked and then nodded. "How did you start…traveling, with the Doctor?" He asked as he started to ruffle behind the box he had been leaning behind.

Kayla waved her hand at the question. "We ran into each other once and I decided to join him," she replied dismissively.

"Was Miss Jones with you then?" Solomon wondered as he moved on to a different area.

She shook her head. "She only recently joined us. He had a different person with him but that was ages ago." Huffing, she put her hands on her hips. "Almost like a different life," she muttered to herself as she started to remember the old Doctor, the one with the short hair and leather jacket.

"How about this?" Solomon asked, causing Kayla to jump slightly and look over at the man. He was holding an old radio that was clearly real.

Kayla grinned widely and took it from him. "Perfect. This is just what the Doctor is looking for. He'll just rig it up to a crude DNA scanner for that green thing we found in the sewers and we can get some readings," she explained to the shocked man.

Trying to keep up and evidently failing, Solomon just nodded his head and muttered, "Whatever you say." Following the woman back to the dressing room, he asked, "Where are you from, Miss Kayla? I've been all over. I've never heard anybody talk like you. Just exactly who are you?"

Kayla gave a light shrug and fiddled with the radio. "A lot of places," she settled on.

Solomon sighed. "I'm not an idiot," he reprimanded her. "If you don't want to tell me you don't have to."

She gave him a tight smile. "Sorry," she apologized rather lightly.

Solomon shook his head. "I gotta get back to Hooverville. With these creatures on the loose, we gotta protect ourselves. Ain't no one else gonna help us."

"Good luck," Kayla stated, and then gave him a true smile.

"I hope you and your Doctor find what you're looking for. For all our sakes," Solomon replied. And then, turning away, the black man left. Watching where he had been for a few moments, Kayla hurried off to the Doctor.

"Solomon left?" the Time Lord asked as she came in by herself, the radio in hand.

She nodded. "He needed to protect Hooverville," she explained. Handing him the radio, she watched, amused, as the Doctor pulled a piece out from it and blew on it before he started to hook it up to the green blob.

"We're gonna need heat," he muttered as he soniced it. "Loads of heat. Where can we get heat in 1930's New York?"

"Stage lights?" Kayla suggested, still watching the Doctor as he worked.

He smiled and grabbed the blob. "You are a genius," he agreed. Carrying the blob, he hurried out of the room, which left Kayla no choice but to follow. The two hurried through the theater until they were in the balcony.

Meanwhile, Martha stood in the wings of stage, watching as Tallulah, wearing a comical angel outfit for her show, was readying for her big solo. "Girls, it's showtime!" the blonde girl called out.

All the girls stopped talking and became more serious. Martha moved to the side, allowing them better access as the announcer yelled into a microphone, "Ladies and gentlemen…the girls are here to preform Heaven and Hell!"

The chorus girls all trooped out on stage with Tallulah in front. Martha grinned as she saw the woman, who had been so distraught just a few moments ago, was now grinning and looking as if everything was so well. Never mind that the depression was going on, at that moment it seemed as if everything was alright in the world.

"You lured me in with your cold grey eyes. Your simple smile and your bewitching lies," Tallulah started to crone.

In the balcony, Kayla groaned and sat down. "What is that horrible noise?" she muttered to the Doctor.

The Doctor laughed and made to pat her head before he thought better of it. "We're nearly done."

"It's artificial, it's alien…that really doesn't narrow it down," Kayla pointed out.

Giving her a bemused smile, the Doctor grabbed a stethoscope from his pocket and placed it on the blob. "Fundamental DNA type 467-989. 989. Hold on, that means planet of origin." Hearing the worry in his voice, Kayla stared at the look of horror and disbelief that passed over his face. "Skaro," he gasped.

Kayla shot to her feet. "What do we do?" she asked him urgently, her eyes not on him but flickering around the theater. The Daleks were in New York.

Giving her a worried look, the Doctor grabbed her hand and pulled her with him. "We have to find Martha," he called to her.

Nodding, Kayla followed him as quickly as she could. 'She was with Tallulah. We need to check backstage.'

Pulling her along, the Doctor stopped backstage in the wings. There, he became extremely uncomfortable as he realized how scantily dressed the show girls, who were dressed up as devils, were.

"Where's Martha?" Kayla asked Tallulah urgently, spotting the girl through the crowd.

Recognizing her and hearing her question, Tallulah came over. "I don't know. She ran off the stage," the blonde woman explained with a hint of a huff.

Suddenly there was a scream from the prop room. The Doctor grabbed Kayla and pulled her after him, though she didn't need much pushing as they both recognized the scream to belong to Martha. By the clattering of heels behind them, it seemed that Tallulah was following them.

However, when they arrived in the prop room, they found it deserted. "Doctor," Kayla said, pointing to the open sewer tunnel.

The Doctor nodded and kissed Kayla. "You should-" he started to say, but Kayla cut him off.

"Not a chance," she said with a shake of her head.

Nodding, he grabbed an overcoat and handed it to her. She pulled it on and then started to climb into the sewer. The Doctor, giving a mock wave to Tallulah, followed after her.

Far away from the Doctor and Kayla in the sewers, Martha was being roughly handled by two pig-men. Despite her kicking and struggling and yelling at them to "let me go," she found herself being shoved into line along with a bunch of other humans. And then she spotted him.

"Frank?" She gasped. Then, her eyes widened and she moved through the line and hugged him tightly while saying as loudly as she dared, "Frank! You're alive."

Frank blinked down at the girl. "Hey," he said roughly. "I thought you guys didn't want me."

"What do mean?" Martha asked, pulling away from the man to frown at him. "You're a great guy! I like you, the Doctor likes you-"

"Could have fooled me." Shaking his head, he looked down. "He left me. He could have saved me and he didn't," Frank explained.

Martha stared at him in shock. "What?" she gasped.

In the sewers, Kayla squeezed the Doctor's hand as he spoke about what had happened when he had left Frank behind. "I feel so horrible about it," he was finishing, "because the poor boy is now dead because of me."

"I won't lie and say it's alright," Kayla started slowly. "But remember that you did not tell Frank you would protect him. You are not the only one at fault."

Looking away from her, the Doctor suddenly pushed her against the wall, his eyes widening at something in the shadows that moved in a familiar way. Pressing Kayla against the wall, he mouthed 'shh,' at her.

'Daleks...' he warned in her mind.

Kayla bit down on her lip, her eyes widening. The last two run ins with Daleks had not turned out well for all party involved.

Thankfully, the Dalek didn't seem to see them. Instead, it went off. Once it was completely gone, the Doctor grabbed Kayla's hand and walked with her quickly. 'I was so stupid for bringing you down here,' he started to rant in her head.

'Doctor! I'm not a child-'

'You're carrying our child.'

This made Kayla pause and allow the Doctor to continue leading her. But somehow, luck was on their side. They took a wrong turn, the Doctor too wrapped up in thinking about Kayla and Martha to notice. But then, he heard the squealing.

"We took a wrong turn," he stated, and then cursed softly.

Kayla squeezed his hand and then nodded to a corner, where they could duck behind and watch. Nodding, the two hurried over and then peered behind the corner to see Martha, who looked terrified but determined, Frank, who looked roughed-up, and a bunch of other men all in a line with pig-men acting a guards. Martha and Frank seemed to be speaking to each other, but both looked up at the sound of the pig-men starting to squeal and grow restless.

And then…a Dalek slid into the tunnel, looking just as horrible as Kayla remembered them. Behind her, she felt the Doctor stiffen. His anxiousness and fear grew, and then tripled as the Dalek spoke in its horrible, electronic voice. "Silence. Silence."

Kayla flickered her eyes over to Martha, who was staring at the machine with open horror. She seemed to hiss something to Frank, but quickly shut up as the Dalek commanded, "You will form a line. Move."

Obviously, everyone was not happy with this command. The pig-men started to press in, forcing the line back. Some in the line didn't seem to get the memo and started to push back against the pig-men, which made them squeal and push back even harder.

"Just do what it says, everyone, okay? Just obey," Martha said in a loud voice, though anyone with a brain could hear the disgust in her voice at the idea of just lying down and taking whatever the Daleks wanted.

If Daleks could sound pleased, then the Dalek would have sounded gleeful. Instead, it called out after Martha, "The female is wise. Obey!"

As the line started to fall in place, another Dalek came in, its arrival making the Doctor wrap his arms around Kayla waist and place his hands over her stomach as if to reassure himself that she was still there. Kayla relaxed in his grip but still watched as the two Daleks conversed.

"Report," the new Dalek ordered.

"These are strong specimens. They will help the Dalek cause," the original Dalek said in what would most likely be a proud voice. "What is the status of the Final Experiment?"

"The Dalekanium is in place. The energy conductor is now complete," the second Dalek answered.

"Then I will extract prisoners for selection." Turning away from the newcomer, the original Dalek face the line as the pig-men grabbed an older black man and pulled him in front of the Dalek. Extending its sucker arm, Kayla closed her eyes, imaging the death of the scientist at Torchwood Three all over again. Instead, the Dalek said, "Intelligence scan. Initiate. Reading brain waves. Low intelligence."

"You calling me stupid?" the man protested rather stupidly.

The Dalek, of course, ignored this. "This one will become a pig slave," it stated.

The man's eyes widened and his expression became one of horror. "No, let go of me! I'm not becoming one of them!" the man yelled as he was dragged off by the two pig-men.

Ignoring his shouts, the Dalek traveled down the line, putting the humans into two categories: Superior intelligence and lower intelligence. Frank, surprisingly, was put into the superior category. But Martha, was announced to be "part of the Final Experiment."

"You can't just experiment on people! It's insane! It's inhuman!" Martha yelled at the Daleks, her voice cracking as she seemed to realize what a spot she was in.

"We are not human. Prisoners of high intelligence will be taken to the transgenic laboratory," the Dalek ordered.

As the people were forced to march, the Doctor kissed Kayla gently. 'You know what I got to do,' he said through their mental link.

Kayla nodded and then disappeared into the shadows. The Doctor, however, got in line behind Martha. Taking her wrist, he tapped it with his index finger four times. "Just keep walking."

"We'll talk later about Frank," Martha hissed back at him. "But I'm so glad to see you."

The Doctor just remained silent and did his best to be unnoticed.

While the line was marched through the sewers, Kayla walked into Hooverville and then went straight to Solomon's tent. "Solomon," she started once she got inside. "I'm going to tell you everything." Solomon stared up at her from the seat he was in. Silently, he motioned for her to sit down, which she did.

In the lab, the Doctor, Martha, and Frank watched in horror as a Dalek's shell opened to reveal what would be best described as a Dalek-human hybrid. Its clothing was a nice suit, which the Doctor realized in shock was the same as Diagroas. But the head that came out of the suit was not the one that had belonged to the oily business man. Instead, it was green and clearly slimy, like that of a Dalek's skin. It had an odd mouth, one eye, and tentacles. Its hands were almost claw-like. It was completely horrible.

And then, it spoke. Its voice sounded too much like a human and too much like a Dalek's. "I am a human Dalek. I am your future."

TO BE CONTINUED