Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who, any of the characters, places or alien species; those belong to their respective owners. I only own my OC Selene.
18. Evolution of the Daleks
"What is it?" Martha asked in a whisper of horror.
The humanoid's hands were slimy and looked like it barely had fingers-its head was slimy and disgusting with what appeared to be a brain exposed at its top and a single eye occupied the center of what would be its forehead. It stretched and sucked a breath inward before it spoke.
"I… am… a human Dalek," it said, "I… am… your future!"
Dalek Sec raised his new hand and pointed at the group of frightened people before him.
"These humans… will become like me," he told them in a voice that sounded human yet remarkably Dalek at the same time. The Doctor's hand slipped from Selene's back as he ducked behind a large machine, keeping an eye on all of the action. "Prepare them for hybridization." Two pig slaves grabbed both of Martha's arms and dragged her forward as she protested and squirmed. The commotion stopped as a very jovial 'Happy Days Are Here Again' began to play from somewhere in the lab. "What is that sound?" Sec asked in surprise.
The Doctor leaned out from behind a machine with raised brows and a radio in hand.
"Ah, well, now, that would be me," he said turning the radio off. "Hello. Surprise! Boo. Et cetra-h." He dropped his mouth open wide at the end of his sentence, letting 'cetra' become a very open sounding word.
"Doctor…" Sec hissed, his eye narrowing at the Time Lord.
"THE ENEMY OF THE DALEKS!" exclaimed one of the Daleks. The Doctor eyed the metal creature with a weary expression.
"EXTERMINATE!" proclaimed the other. Selene instinctively stepped forward, pushing past the pigmen as though she could yank the Doctor back. The Daleks wheeled around and faced her, making her freeze. The Doctor gave her a look over his shoulder.
"Selene…" he muttered in warning.
"OUR RECORDS CONFIRM THAT THE FEMALE HUMAN IS SELENE THOMAS, THE COMPANION OF THE DOCTOR! PRESENT AT CANARY WHARF, THE FALL OF THE DALEKS!" the first Dalek cried, body quivering and lights flashing
"EXTERMINAAAAAATE!"
"Wait!" Sec flung his arms out, to stop his Dalek brethren from attacking. Once it was clear the Daleks would obey, the Doctor gave a slight smirk as he said,
"Well, a new form of Dalek… fascinating." He strode up to Sec and tilted his head back, face becoming stern as he observed the new creature's facial features. "And very clever."
"The Cult of Skaro escaped your slaughter!" hissed Sec angrily.
"How did you end up in nineteen-thirteen?"
"Emergency temporal shift." The Doctor's brows shot up and he began to chuckle, a smile on his face.
"Oh, oh! That must have roasted up your power cells, yeah?" Continuing to smile, the Time Lord faced the other two Daleks and scratched at his ear with a pleased grin. "Time was, four Daleks could've conquered the world." He continued to wander aimlessly, patting Selene on the shoulder when he passed her. "But instead, you're skulking away, hidden in the dark… experimenting. All of which result… in you." All of his words managed to sound deeply insulting while insanely casual and… pleased. It reminded Selene of how much the Doctor truly hated the Daleks, how much he must love that they'd fallen so low; and maybe, just maybe, she was pleased about that too. The Battle of Canary Wharf was something that she would never forget, a day that was scarred into her mind like a brand. The Daleks installed a fear in her that she would never let go of, no matter how desperately she tried.
"I am a Dalek in human form!" Sec spat. The Doctor's face had fallen, his brows scrunched together and his lips drawn tight.
"But what does it feel like? You can talk to me Dalek Sec––it is 'Dalek Sec,' isn't it? That's your name." The Time Lord nodded quickly. "You've got a name and a mind of your own––tell me what you're thinking right now." It was clear he was getting at something… what it exactly was, no one in the room was sure, but it was most certainly something.
"I… feel…humanity," Sec replied, turning away from the Doctor, who felt a jolt of triumph. There it is… He called himself a Human Dalek––human was in the name, so therefore, there must be some smidge of human inside the smooshy head of the creature before him.
"Good! That's good!" the Time Lord commended.
"I… feel… everything we wanted from mankind, which is… ambition! Hatred. Aggression. And war." The Doctor's face darkened as Sec approached him, speaking words that told of the darker side of humanity, things that the Doctor strove to avoid."Such… a genius for war!"
"No. That's not what humanity means," the Doctor adamantly denied with a shake of his head.
"I think it does!" Sec shot back. "At heart, this species is so very… Dalek!" His one blue eyes was wide and gazing out at the group of test subjects behind the very angry looking Doctor.
"All right! So what have you achieved, then, with this 'final experiment,' eh? Nothing!" he angrily proclaimed with his hands shoved into his trouser pockets. He removed a hand and pointed a finger at all four Daleks present. "'Cause I can show you what you're missing, with this thing." He pointed to the radio. "A simple little radio." He patted the top of it fondly and put his hand in his coat pocket, shifting his shoulders and reaching his other hand back to grasp Selene's tightly.
"WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THIS DEVICE?" questioned a Dalek.
"Well, exactly it plays music what's the point of that?" the Time Lord asked rhetorically in a snide voice. His face became more favorable in expression. "Oh, with music, you can dance to it," he drew a surprised Selene forward and spun her around, swaying back and forth with her for a moment in the silence of the room, "sing with it," he pulled Selene close and leaned over her shoulder to gaze into the eyestalk of one of the Daleks, "fall in love to it." The aperture inside the eyestalk widened. The Doctor stared at it a moment longer before releasing Selene, who watched him with a blush evident on her cheeks; he kept her hand in his as he reached the other into his coat pocket again. "Unless you're a Dalek, of course. Then it's all just noise!" He aimed his Sonic at the radio and let it pulse. The radio let out a high pitched tone that caused all of the Daleks to shrink back; Sec clamped his hands to his head and screamed in pain as the sound invaded his skull. "Run!"
"PROTECT THE HYBRID!"
"PROTECT! PROTECT!"
The Doctor tugged Selene forward as they all ran from the laboratory, shoving aside pigmen and dodging Daleks. They entered the sewers and began to weave through the fox-den like layout of the tunnels, making twists and turns through puddles and over stray pieces of garbage; Martha led the way and was followed up by the rest of the escaped crew. They were all aware that the Daleks and the pigmen wouldn't be that far behind and their feet couldn't carry them fast enough. Martha paused at a corner, unsure of which way to turn, much to the Doctor's frustration.
"Come on! Move, move, move, move, move!" he shouted, leading them down the tunnel to their left. Rounding another corner, he spotted Tallulah, who had gotten lost in the tunnels after he told her to go back to the theatre. "And you, Tallulah! Run!"
"What's happened to Laszlo!?" she screeched as Selene grabbed her hand and brought her to a run.
"We'll get him back, but we can't do that if we're dead!" Selene cried in a panic, glancing over her shoulder. As they ran, their lungs burned and their feet throbbed; their stamina was as low as it could possibly be and the only thing carrying them forward was panic.
After finding a ladder, the Doctor skid to a stop and gestured upward.
"Come on! Everyone up! Come on!" he urged. Everyone scrambled up, tripping over their own feet and pulling themselves into the props room of the theatre with shaking hands. Once the Doctor was through, he slammed the manhole cover back into place and aimed the Sonic at it. He clicked the button, let it pulse for a second and sealed the cover for good. He looked around to find everyone present collapsed against the wall or a shelf or the ground, panting and exhausted, worry still ablaze in their eyes.
"What… now?" Martha panted from where she was hunched over, hands braced against her knees.
"We should… go back to Hooverville… warn… warn Solomon," Frank suggested as he gasped in a couple of breaths. The Doctor nodded in agreement before running a hand down his face.
"We should go now; rest will be waiting for us at Hooverville, but the Dalek's aren't all that patient," he said, nodding to the door, striding across to hold it open. He watched as Selene tugged off her cap and gave it back to Frank, pulling him into a tight, friendly hug.
"Thank you, Frank, that really saved me down there," she told him softly as she squeezed him. He smiled into her shoulder and squeezed her back, drawing away as they walked towards the door.
"'Course. Wasn't 'bout to let you die," he replied. "And uh, you can keep it. Somethin' to remember me by when you go." She smiled and tucked the hat into her back pocket, giving him a pat on the back before taking off into a jog down the hall, soon followed by the Doctor.
OOOO
After arriving in Hooverville and finding Solomon, they all recounted the tail, leaving out absolutely nothing; he listened to the story and found his stomach twist and churn at the tales he was regaled with. It sounded like some sort of horror story a drunk man would tell around a fire, but he knew, he knew that this was truth.
"These… Daleks, they sound like the stuff of nightmares," Solomon admitted. "And they want to breed?" He had a shotgun totted over his shoulder and looked prepared to use it; he'd set up sentries around the camp once the Doctor and his companions arrived back in a panic, telling him to watch out for anything and everything. The Doctor stood beside Solomon, looking like two leaders discussing a war plan. Tallulah and Martha sat side by side in front of a fire, huddled in on themselves to keep warm while Selene and Frank did the same, seated on a different log.
"They're splicing themselves onto human bodies, and if I'm right, they've got a farm of breeding stock right here in Hooverville. You've got to get everyone out!" the Doctor insisted, a pleading look crossing over his features. Solomon shook his head with a huffed sigh.
"Hooverville's the lowest place a man can fall. There's nowhere else to go!"
"I'm sorry, Solomon. You've got to scatter! Go, anywhere––get onto the railroads, travel across state, just get out of New York!"
Frank tensed up at the mention of leaving. He knew he had nowhere else to go, knew that if he left Hooverville, the place that he'd been calling home, he would surely be a dead man. Selene, noticing his look of panic, reached an arm across his back and drew him into a one armed hug, rubbing his arm comfortingly. Solomon glanced down at the boy and shook his head adamantly, denying the Doctor's words.
"There's got to be a way to reason with these things," Solomon suggested.
"They're the most unreasonable things in the entire universe," Selene supplied dully.
"Not a chance," Martha scoffed.
"You ain't seen 'em, boss," Frank said, standing up and shrugging off Selene's arm.
"Daleks are bad enough at any time, but right now, they're vulnerable. That makes them more dangerous than ever." The Doctor's voice had become stern, matching the hard look that overcame his brown eyes. Solomon was formulating a reply when a sharp whistle cut through the air.
"They're coming! They're coming!" someone cried out.
"Sentry––must have seen something," Solomon murmured, shifting his gun to hold it in both hands.
"They're here! I've seen them! Monsters! They're monsters!" the sentry cried, clambering into camp over numb feet.
"It's started," the Doctor said.
"We're under attack! Everyone to arms!" Solomon cried as they gathered around the fire. Hoovervillians scrambled around and grabbed guns of all sorts, passing them out liberally to those who needed it. It was like a disaster movie; almost as if the apocalypse had just begun and everyone was scrambling to arm themselves.
"Yeah, I'm read, boss!" Frank said, having somehow gained a shotgun. "But all of you," he gestured to the men around him, "find a weapon, use anything!" The Doctor pushed Selene back, backing up with her towards Martha as the pigmen invaded the camp, kidnapping any human that they could.
"Come back! We've got to stick together! It's not safe out there!" Solomon called to those trying to run away. Martha, beginning to rightfully panic, decided the best plan was to escape.
"We've got to get out of the park," she said.
"We can't! They're on all sides!" the Doctor replied, shooting down her idea immediately. "They're driving everyone back towards us!"
"We're trapped!" Tallulah gasped. The remainder of Hoovervillians crowded around the fire they stood at, creating a defensive circle with guns aimed outwards.
"Then we stand together!" Solomon announced, hoping to keep some semblance of order. "Gather 'round! Everyone come to me! You there, Jethro, Harry, Seamus, stay together! They can't take all of us!" Gunfire began to sound, cracking through the night air, as pigmen slowly stalked towards them. The creatures squealed as they were hit or nearly missed, dropping to the ground in useless heaps when they died. The Doctor watched in horror, mouth slightly ajar as he had no option but to watch the battle rage on around him.
"I-if we can just hold them off till daylight!" Martha hopefully offered.
"Oh, Martha, they're just the foot soldiers…" the Doctor muttered, looking up into the sky. "Selene, stay here and hide if you can…"
"Wh-what? Why would I… oh…" Selene's confusion melted away when she saw a Dalek descend from the sky, hovering over the amassed group of Hoovervillians.
"What in this world––"
"It's the devil––a devil in the sky! God save us all, it's damnation!"
"Oh, yeah? We'll see about that!" Frank cried, firing off his gun at the first Dalek in sight. The bullet made contact with the Dalek's shell with a loud clang, but there was no effect what-so-ever.
"Frank, that won't work," Selene told him from the back of the group. "You've only drawn its attention to you!"
The Doctor bolted forward and pushed the barrel of the gun to point at the ground, glaring up at the alien in the sky. A new shadow began to grow in size, sweeping towards the camp at an alarmingly fast rate; Martha and Selene pushed their way to the front, flanking the Time Lord and the Tennessean.
"There's more than one," Martha murmured in a broken voice, fearing for what might be about to happen. As the next two Daleks swept in, they shot deadly lazer beams towards the camp, exploding flaming barrels and hitting unsuspecting men. Everyone ducked down as fire sprayed everywhere, shouts and screams filling the night air. Hooverville was becoming decimated; tents were on fire, people were being tossed roughly to the ground and everything was exploding. The Doctor stood at the head of the group of the camp's defenders, glaring into the night sky with a fury rising up in his throat.
"THE HUMANS WILL SURRENDER!" a Dalek gurgled out.
"Leave them alone! They've done nothing to you!" the Doctor shouted in response. He stepped forward so he stood a good few feet away from everyone, distancing himself just in case. Solomon followed, gun at the ready. Fear crossing the Time Lord's face, he grabbed at the man and tried to push him back, the toes of his trainers pushing into the dirt.
"No, Solomon, stay back!"
"I'm told that… I'm addressing the Daleks, is that right?" Solomon called out. Selene gazed at the leader of Hooverville and felt a tingle run down her spine––like a jolt of static electricity that buzzed at the back of her skull and zipped through her body––and something in her head made her realize that something horrible was going to happen. She tried to step forward but Frank stepped in her path to prevent her from moving.
"Solomon…" she said in a quavering voice. Her tone noted her frightened tone and looked back at her; he saw a look in her eyes that he remembered seeing each time she warned him she thought something might be about to take a turn for the worse, like when the hospital was transported to the moon. He tried harder to shove Solomon back, but the man was as solid as rock.
"From what I hear, you're outcasts too."
"Solomon, don't!" the Doctor pleaded through gritted teeth.
"Doctor, this is my township. You will respect my authority!" The Doctor's hands fell slack from around the man's body. Solomon gently pushed the Time Lord back. "Just let me try." Selene shook her head emphatically, trying to step forward again, only to find that Frank, once more, stepped in her way to stop her. Solomon spread his arms wide and took another step forward. "Daleks? Ain't we the same? Underneath, ain't we all kin?" Holding up one hand, he bent down and set his rifle down. "Because, you see, I've just discovered this past day that God's universe is a thousand times the size I thought it was! And that scares me. Oh, yeah, terrifies me, right down to the bone! But surely, it's got to give me hope! Hope that, maybe, together, we can make a better tomorrow. So I beg you, now––if you have any compassion in your hearts, then you'll meet with us and stop this fight. Well? What do you say?"
"EXTERMINATE!"
Solomon was then shot down by a lazer beam, falling to the ground with a shout of agony. Everyone screamed in horror, watching as their leader was struck down before their very eyes.
"No! Solomon!" Frank cried, throwing down his gun in a fit of grief, rushing forward to kneel by his body, hunched over his dead leader in sorrow. The Doctor watched with bared teeth, fury once again burning inside of his body like an uncontrollable force that wanted to burst free.
"They killed him! They just shot him on the spot!" Martha gasped in a broken voice. She turned to Selene to see that the tendons in her neck were strained, her eyes were glassy and her hands shook; once again, she knew that something horrible would happen and again, she couldn't stop it. A helplessness caused her to tremble and an anger made her want to scream.
"Daleks…" the Doctor growled, eyes fixated on Solomon's body. "Alright! So it's my turn!" He marched forward with his arms spread out, voice echoing loudly over all of the wailing and carrying into the night sky. "Then kill me! Kill me if it'll stop attacking these people!"
"I WILL BE THE DESTROYER OF OUR GREATEST ENEMY!"
"Then do it! Do it! Just do it! DO IT!" the Doctor screamed in a fit of pure, unadulterated rage, pounding his chest and flinging his arms out to present himself as a completely open target.
"No!" Selene cried, sprinting forward to stand directly in front of the Doctor, shoulders squared off, chest heaving and eyes glaring. "If you kill him, you kill me to!"
"Selene, go back!" he hissed, grabbing her upper arms to move her. She wrenched away and spun around, grabbing his lapels and shaking her head firmly.
"I'm not going to let them kill you!"
"They won't stop because you asked!"
"I know they won't! I said I was going to travel with you for an eternity and I damn well want to make good on that promise."
"Selene––"
"No." She grabbed his face and shook her head, tears gathering in her eyes. "Just because you are the last of the Time Lords and claim you can deal with being lonely does not mean you have the right to die alone, do you hear me?" She turned around and pressed her back into the warmth of his chest, staring up at the Daleks with a calmer, sadder look on her face. "I won't let you die alone. And if an eternity has to end right here right now…" She flung her arms out and felt a tear escape the corner of her eye. "Then do it." The Doctor stared down at her in utter shock and awe. He saw how determined she was, how much she was not about to let him go through with it alone. And so, despite his better judgement, he nodded and held out his arms as well, both waiting for those fated words.
"EXTERMINATE!" The minute the word was uttered, the Doctor flung his arms around Selene and spun her around, pulling her into his embrace as they both waited to die, the Doctor keeping his enraged gaze on the Daleks as he hid Selene's in his coat. But death didn't swoop down on swift wings and rob them of their lives; it was silent until the Dalek uttered more words. "I DO NO UNDERSTAND. IT IS THE DOCTOR AND HIS COMPANION!" There was a pause, during which Selene raised her head and stared into the sky, both her and the Doctor wearing matching looks of confusion. "THE URGE TO KILL IS TOO STRONG!" Another pause, during which the Doctor continued to hold onto Selene, feeling as she grabbed handfuls of the back of his coat. "I… OBEY."
"What's going on?" the Doctor shouted with rage still evident in his voice.
"YOU AND THE FEMALE WILL FOLLOW."
"No!" Martha protested, bolting forward, sounding scared. "You can't go! Either of you!"
"No… we've got to," the Doctor said with shock coloring his tone, releasing the American from his grasp.
"What?" Selene squeaked, fear making her body quake.
"The Daleks just changed their minds. Daleks never change their minds," the Doctor explained.
"But what about us?" asked Martha in a broken whisper, gesturing to the Hoovervillians. The Doctor took them into account and turned back to the Daleks.
"One condition! If Selene and I come with you, you spare the lives of everyone here! Do you hear me?"
"HUMANS WILL BE SPARED. DOCTOR. COMPANION. FOLLOW."
"Then I'm coming with you two," Martha announced, only to have a stern look thrown her way by the Doctor.
"Martha, you need to stay. Do what you do best. People are hurt, you can help them. Let us go." The Doctor nudged Selene forward and the two began to walk on what could very well be their death march. The Time Lord paused, however and turned back to say, "Oh, and, can I just say?" He leaned forward and clasped his hands over one of Martha's. "Thank you very much." He winked and stepped back, him and Selene disappearing into the shadows of the park.
After walking a good mile in silence, the Doctor looked down at Selene, who had her arms crossed tightly under her chest for comfort and warmth; her face was pale and tired and she watched her feet as she walked. He looped an arm around her shoulders to draw her close to his side, hoping to give her the comfort and warmth she so apparently needed.
"You alright?" he asked softly. She nodded and tucked some stray hair behind her ear, looking up at him.
"Yeah… just a bit shaken." Her voice was quiet and completely unconvincing.
"That's a lie."
"Yeah… it is… I'm scared. I will admit that. I… am so scared," Selene admitted, voice breaking. The Doctor rubbed her arm and nodded, glancing at their floating Dalek escort.
"I know… and what you did back there was incredibly rash, insanely stupid," the Doctor decided to tell her with a 'know-it-all' sort of tone that earned him a glare that softened when he added on, "And I have to thank you for that. No one wants to die alone."
"THERE WILL BE SILENCE!"
OOOO
Since the rest of their escort was carried on in silence, it gave the Doctor every quiet moment to rebuild and restock his fury, which built up and rattled inside of him like a shaken up soda bottle. The moment they were led back into the laboratory, he exclaimed,
"Those people were defenseless! You only wanted me, but no that wasn't enough for you! You had to threaten the ones I care about!" He flung an arm out to point at Selene who hung back as he marched forward. "You had to start killing! Because that's the only thing a Dalek's good for!"
Sec turned around and took a step forward.
"The deaths… were wrong."
"I'm sorry?" the Doctor asked, voice quiet and eyebrows raised.
"Did… did you say… wrong?" Selene inquired as well, stepping forward looking shocked. Sec's eye narrowed in thought as he spoke, his mind forming the correct words to say.
"That man, their leader, Solomon… he showed courage."
"And that's good?" the Time Lord questioned.
"That's excellent."
"Selene, is it just me, or is Dalek Sec here becoming a little bit more… human?"
"I'm seeing that too," she admitted with a nod of her head.
"You are the last of your kind, and now I am the first of mine."
"But what do you want us for?" The Doctor's voice was flat, confused.
"We… tried… everything to survive when we found ourselves stranded in this ignorant age. First, we tried growing new Dalek embryos, but their flesh was too weak," Sec explained, walking over to a set of bubbling chemicals. The Doctor scoffed and crossed his arms unhappily, always making sure he stood between Selene and the Human Dalek.
"We found one of your experiments; just left to die out there in the dark."
"It forced us to conclude––what is the greatest resource of this planet?It's people!" Sec flipped a switch and illuminated the ceiling above… from which dozens upon dozens of narrow platforms were hung. Flicking another switch, one was lowered before them. On the platform was a lump covered in a sheet. "We stole stole human beings for our purpose. Look inside." The Doctor carefully moved aside the sheet to reveal the face of a man who looked… dead. His skin was tinged blue and he certainly wasn't breathing; Selene raised a hand to her mouth and took a step back, repelled by the sight she'd been introduced to. "This is the true extent of the final experiment."
"Is he dead?" the Doctor asked, voicing the thought on Selene's mind.
"Near death. With his mind wiped, ready to be filled with new ideas."
"Dalek ideas."
"The Human-Dalek race." The Doctor glanced up at the cavernous ceiling above him.
"All of these people… how many?"
"We have caverns beyond this, storing more than a thousand."
"Over a thousand mindless people?" Selene questioned in shock, her brows drawing together.
"Is there any way to restore them? Make them human again?" the Time Lord inquired, allowing himself to gain a sliver of hope.
"Everything that they were… has been lost."
"So they're like… shells. You've got empty human beings, ready to be converted. That's going to take a hell of a lot of power. This planet hasn't even split the atom yet, how are you going to do it?"
"Open the conductor plan!"
They were brought over to a large screen that produced a holographic image of a very familiar looking building.
"That's the Empire State," Selene said, pointing to the screen.
"We're right underneath it, I already worked that out, thanks," the Doctor deadpanned to the Daleks. Selene arched an eyebrow and shrugged.
"So, what, you're going to take over the whole place? Use it as your headquarters or something?" she asked, shifting her weight uncomfortably.
"We needed… an energy conductor," Sec told her, gesturing at the screen.
"What for?" the Doctor asked.
"I am the genetic template. My altered DNA was to be distributed to each human body. A strong enough blast of gamma radiation can splice the Dalek and human genetic codes, and waken each body from its sleep." As Sec spoke, the screen gave them a visual of what he was saying, confirming that the plan had been thought out for a good long while. The Doctor felt utterly confused on a couple of aspects, his brows drawing together as he thought it over.
"Gamma radiations? What are you… oh. The sun. You're using the sun…" he murmured, gazing at the screen.
"Soon, the greatest solar flare in a thousand years will hit the earth. Gamma radiation will be drawn to the energy conductor, and when it strikes––"
"The army awakes. I still don't know what you need me for."
"Your genius!" The Doctor tilted his head forward and raised his brows at the two words. "Consider a pure Dalek––intelligent but emotionless."
"Removing the emotions makes you stronger. That's what your creator thought all those years ago."
"He was wrong."
"He was what?"
"It makes us lesser than our enemies. We must return to the flesh and also the heart."
"And… me? What do you need me for, I'm hardly a genius," Selene said, her words coming out in a rush. Dalek Sec turned towards her and smiled a bit.
"You… You are human. When the Doctor was endangered, you threw yourself before him. You showed… compassion, you showed fear, love, dedication… once again, without these emotions, we are lesser and I need both you and the Doctor to teach the Dalek-Human race to be…"
"For lack of a better word… Human?" Selene asked softly, hesitantly. Sec nodded.
"You wouldn't be the supreme beings anymore," the Doctor pointed out, staring at Sec intently.
"And that is good."
"THAT IS INCORRECT!" exclaimed a Dalek.
"DALEKS ARE SUPREME!"
"No! Not anymore!"
"BUT THAT IS OUR PURPOSE!"
"Then our purpose is wrong!" Selene grabbed the Doctor's arm, driven by the shock of Sec's statement. "Where has our quest for supremacy led us? To this––hiding in the sewers on a primitive world. Just four of us left. If we do not change now, then we deserve extinction."
"So you want to change everything that makes a Dalek a Dalek," the Doctor suddenly concluded in shock.
"If… you… both of you… can help me."
The Doctor leaned back a bit in complete utter shock. For years––too many years to count––the Doctor had been the worst enemy of the Daleks and now the times had shifted and the leader of the Cult of Skaro was asking to him to change what it meant to be a Dalek. He and Selene locked eyes, equally as shocked, equally as stuck on what to say. They'd been faced with tough decisions before but this? It was nearly impossible to come up with an answer right on the spot. Noticing their hesitation to agree, Sec gestured for them to follow him again, back to the platform where the empty human man lay.
"Your knowledge of genetic engineering is even greater than ours, Doctor. The new race must be ready by the time the solar flare erupts," Sec explained, making sure they understood the urgency of the situation. The Doctor hooked his hands into his trouser pockets in a similar way that Selene had done and stared down at the man under the sheet with a blank look on his face.
"But you're the template. I thought they were getting a dose of you," he said.
"I want to change the gene sequence." The Doctor's brows rose.
"To make them even more human?"
"Humans are the great survivors…" Sec murmured, running a hand down the side of the man's face. "We need that ability."
"So you just want to… cherry pick the best bits of humanity?" Selene asked with a disbelieving laugh, throwing out her arms. "Your Daleks, not Krillitanes. I would guess that even for the Doctor rearranging DNA like that will be difficult." The Doctor gave a slight nod and then gave a little laugh.
"And, hold on a minute there, Dalek Sec. There is no way this lot is gonna let you do it!" the Doctor said, jabbing a thumb at the other three Daleks.
"I am their leader," Sec replied in a commanding voice.
"Oh, and that's enough for you, is it?"
"Don't push it," Selene said under her breath.
"DALEKS MUST FOLLOW ORDERS," one gurgled.
"DALEK SEC COMMANDS. WE OBEY."
"If you don't help me, nothing will change."
"There's no room on Earth for another race of people," the Doctor pointed out.
"You have your TARDIS. Take us… across the stars, find us a new home!" Sec pleaded. "And allow the new Daleks to start again."
"When's that solar flare?"
"Eleven minutes."
"Right, then!" the Doctor said in a light tone of voice. "Better get to work!"
Selene quickly followed the Doctor over to a set of bubbling chemicals, which he immediately began to look over, muttering their names under his breath each time he picked up a new one. He was only a few seconds into his work when Dalek Sec came over, holding a syringe in his hand.
"What's that for?" Selene questioned. Sec turned to her as the Doctor eyed him warily, eyes locked on the syringe.
"We will need human DNA to progress further in our genetic rearrangement," he said. Selene's eyes widened and she pointed to herself, finger resting on her own chest.
"You need… my blood?"
"Who elses? You are the only true human here."
"What… you want… you want to use part of my blood, my DNA to create the new template for Dalek-Humans?" she stuttered out, backing up against the table. Sec nodded and stepped forward with the syringe, stopping when Selene's hand flew up in a 'halt' motion. "What if I say no?"
"THEN YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED!" exclaimed a Dalek, quivering as it spoke. The Doctor leapt in front of her and held up his hands in a peaceful gesture.
"You kill her, I don't work. I don't work, the Daleks die out!" the Doctor said in a deadly flat voice. Sec turned to the Daleks and waved them back with a commanding sweep of his arm; when he turned around again he looked at Selene who was watching from around the Doctor's arm.
"Will you help?" he asked, raising the silver syringe. After sucking in a breath and calming her racing heart, she nodded once.
"Yes," she agreed, hopping up to sit on the edge of the stainless steel table. The Doctor took the syringe from Sec and held it up.
"Is it sterile?" he questioned.
"Yes."
"Good." The Doctor placed it by Selene's leg and gestured for her to roll up her sleeve. As she did so, he watched her while rummaging around in his pocket for something. "You alright?"
"Yeah, just a, uh… spur of the moment burst of stupidity," she said with a short laugh, rolling up the sleeve of her sweater just above the crease of her elbow. "Do you trust him? Dalek Sec?"
"We have to, it's the only way we might get out of here," he told her, removing a small alcohol wipe from inside his pocket. He looked up at her and offered a small, hopeful smile. "Besides, I think I might… want to trust him, to believe that he wants change for the good of the universe; it would be a lovely early Christmas gift." Selene smiled back just as he swabbed the alcohol wipe on the inside of her elbow. He looked around for a moment for something before he reached up around his neck and tugged off his tie, completely unknotting it. "Here," he murmured, pushing up her rolled up sleeve a bit more. He wound the length of silk around her upper arm and tied it tightly, holding her arm in his hands as he watched and waited; after finding a suitable vein, he slid on his glasses and lifted the syringe and gently placed it against her skin. "Little pinch…" Selene winced as the needle stuck through her skin, staring up at the ceiling as the Doctor drew her blood. After a moment, he withdrew the syringe and pressed a little cotton ball he'd pulled from his pocket against the little hole in her arm. "Hold that there." She did as told and looked up to find him smiling at her. She arched a brow and felt a smile of her own inch up her lips.
"What?" she asked with a slight laugh, brushing hair behind her ear. He pulled tie from around her arm and knotted it back under his collar as he shrugged, still smiling.
"Nothing."
As the Doctor got to work and Selene aided him when needed, Dalek Sec watched from a short distance away, thinking about the exchange that had just passed between the two; the way they smiled at each other, the way they interacted and kept each other strong… that was the advantage to being human, the advantage to feeling. And he knew at that moment that he had made the right decision regarding the evolution of the Daleks.
OOOO
"There's no point in chromosomal grafting, it's too erratic!" the Doctor announced after working for a good solid couple of minutes. He jogged across the room and poured one solution into the beaker that he held. "You need to split the genome and force the new Dalek-Human sequence right into the cortex."
"We need more chromatin solution," Sec said, looking down at a flask in his hand.
"THE PIG SLAVES HAVE IT."
"These pig slaves, what happens to them in the grand plan?" the Doctor asked, stepping forward with a frothing beaker that was spilling out smoke. Sec glanced over at the pigmen, who were carrying in a crate of the solution and returned to observing the flask.
"Nothing. They're just simple beasts. Their lifespan is limited." The Doctor's head whipped around to look at Selene, who mouthed 'Laszlo' at him. They turned and made eye contact with said man, who looked over his shoulder regretfully. "None of them last beyond a few weeks. Power up the line feeds!"
"Can you do anything?" Selene whispered hopefully, watching the pigman from across the room. When she looked up at the Doctor, she immediately regretted it. His face said it all. No. There's nothing we can do.
The Doctor inched their way over to Laszlo, trying to keep from alerting the Daleks of anything.
"Laszlo, I can't undo what they've done to you, but they won't do it to anyone else," he assured in a hushed tone. Laszlo, having always known there was no possible way he could be returned to normal, looked up at the Time Lord seriously.
"Do you trust him?" he asked.
"I know that one man can change the course of history. The right idea, in the right place, at the right time… That's all it takes. I've got to believe it's possible," he said quietly before turning away to try and finish his work.
Selene watched as the next few minutes dissolved into chaos. The Doctor was running around, mixing solutions haphazardly as he jogged about and checked temperatures and minded the clock––or, rather, asked her to mind the clock, giving her a countdown till the solar flare.
"THE LINE FEEDS ARE READY."
"Then it's all systems go," the Doctor announced, drawing the final solution into a glass syringe.
"The solar flare is iminent. The radiation will reach earth in a matter of minutes!"
"And we'll be ready for it." He carefully injected the solution into a brass still. "That compound will allow the gene bonds to reconfigure in a brand-new pattern. Power up!" He drew Selene away from the table to stand beside Sec to watch if everything went according to plan.
"Start the line feeds!" Sec commanded after the power switches were flipped.
The line feed began and the compound the Doctor had made was pumped through all of the lines that webbed through the ceiling.
"Well, there it goes," Selene said, tilting her head back to look upward. "The gene solution…"
"The lifeblood…"
The solution was slowly been fed to all of the human shells above, the blue liquid looping around above them. Everything seemed to be going as planned till an alarm began to blare, red lights flashing.
"What's that?" the Doctor immediately asked, brows scrunching together.
"What's happening? Is there a malfunction? Answer me!" Sec demanded to no avail. Selene eyed the Daleks wearily as they refused to reply to their leader.
"No, no, no, the gene feed!" the Doctor cried, lurching forward. "They're overriding the gene feed!" He grasped a monitor and glared at it, completely caught off guard.
"Impossible! They cannot disobey orders!" A Dalek quickly rounded on the Doctor, who immediately began to back away.
"THE DOCTOR WILL STEP AWAY FROM THE CONTROLS!" it exclaimed loudly. It continued to advance on the Time Lord, making no sign of stopping, not even when Sec ordered,
"Stop! You will not fire!"
"HE IS AN ENEMY OF THE DALEKS! AS IS HIS COMPANION! AND SO ARE YOU!"
"I am your commander! I am Dalek Sec!"
"YOU HAVE LOST YOUR AUTHORITY!"
"YOU ARE NO LONGER A DALEK!"
"What've you done? What's going into the gene feed?" the Doctor demanded to know, inching his way in front of Sec and Selene.
"THE NEW BODIES WILL BE ONE HUNDRED PERCENT DALEK."
"No! You can't do this!" Sec said with a slight shake of his head.
"PIG SLAVES, RESTAIN DALEK SEC, THE DOCTOR AND HIS COMPANION," ordered one of the Daleks. As the pigmen rushed forward, Laszlo armed his way to the front and grabbed the Doctor's arm and Selene's arm, yanking them farther back than where Sec was being held.
"I created you! I am your master!" cried Sec. Another alarm began to blare.
"SOLAR FLARE APPROACHING! PREPARE TO INTERCEPT."
Behind the two time travelers and the reluctant pig slave there was a delicate ding!
"There's the lift," Laszlo said, sounding out of breath.
"After you," the Doctor replied quietly. When the Daleks had their backs turned, the trio made a run for it, the Doctor yanking out his Sonic and aiming it at the doors of the lift to make them open faster.
"THE DOCTOR IS ESCAPING!" They made it inside and ran into the walls, the Doctor using the Sonic to shut the doors as the Daleks cried, "STOP HIM! STOP HIIIIIM!"
"We've only got minutes before the gamma radiation reaches the earth. We need to get to the top of the building," the Doctor said, watching as they rose higher and higher. Selene noticed Laszlo clutching his chest and leaning heavily against the wall, breathing heavy and skin shining with sweat. She placed a hand on his shoulder with a concerned expression.
"Are you feeling okay?" she questioned.
"Out of breath––it's nothing." The Doctor stepped over and shared a dubious look with Selene. "We escaped them Selene, Doctor. That's all that matters."
After another moment, they reached the top floor, the doors sliding open with a ding. The first thing they heard was Martha's voice exclaiming,
"Doctor! Selene!"
"First floor, perfumery," the Time Lord said in a sing-song voice. Tallulah, looking ecstatic rushed towards the doors.
"I never thought I'd see you again!" she said with a grin.
"No stopping me," Laszlo replied, meeting her halfway and engulfing her in a hug. The Doctor and Selene jogged over to Martha and Frank, who were standing by a set of blueprints.
"We've worked it out. We know what they've done!" Martha told them excitedly. "There's Dalekanium on the mast and it's good to see you too, by the way!" The Doctor grinned and pulled Martha into a hug.
"Oh, c'mere!"
Selene turned to Frank and the two shared a laugh before hugging tightly as well.
Ding!
"No, no, no, no no!" The Doctor and Martha ran for the doors of the lift as they shut. As the Doctor Sonicked the button he turned to Martha. "See? Never waste time with a hug!" He grunted and smacked the wall by the button, pocketing the Sonic. "Deadlock seal, I can't stop it."
"Where's it going?" Martha asked.
"The hell hole we just escaped from––the Cult of Skaro and pigslaves galore," Selene said in a worried voice.
"And they won't leave us alone up here––what's the time?" the Doctor inquired, looking over to Frank, who had an arm looped around Selene's waist from the hug.
"Uh… eleven fifteen," Frank replied. The Doctor distastefully eyed the arm around Selene's waist before saying,
"Six minutes to go. I've got to remove the Dalekanium before the gamma radiation hits."
Tallulah made a face as though the Doctor was talking gibberish––and to her, it often seemed like he was.
"'Gamman' radiation, what the heck is that?" she asked.
"Come on," Martha said, dragging the Doctor towards an open wall that lead out to scaffolding. As they all stopped on the scaffold, the Doctor grabbed hold of a beam and looked down; they were just about a hundred floors up, the streets of New York looking like tiny strips of ribbon.
"Oh, that's high. That's very––blimey, that's high," he muttered to himself. Selene looked down and immediately regretted it, lurching back a step and grabbing onto the tail of the Doctor's coat. She didn't like heights a single bit and this was certainly not doing it for her––she'd been up the Empire State before, but that was when they had guardrails and safety precautions… unlike the straight drop mere feet away from her.
"And we've got to go even higher," Martha said. She walked over to a ladder and pointed upward. The Doctor placed his hand on Selene's back and ushered her away from the edge of the building, standing by the ladder. "That's the mast there, look. There's three pieces of Dalekanium on the base. We've got to get them off."
"If we get up there quickly we can get it done with time to spare," Selene agreed, her voice shaking slightly.
The sky was dark and lightning flickered in the clouds, thunder rumbling and growling like a great beast that was yearning to strike someone or something dead. The mast looked imposing, devilish, deadly at that moment and the Doctor made an executive decision, turning to Martha and Selene, who were both always so eager to help.
"That's not we, that's just me," the Doctor amended seriously.
"I'm not just going to stand here and watch you!" Martha protested.
"No, you're going to have your hands full anyway. I'm sorry, Martha. Selene. You've both got to fight."
"Doctor––" Selene began, reaching for his arm as he placed his foot on the first rung of the ladder. He took her hand in his and leaned forward to rest his forehead against hers.
"Hey. You've done enough for me already; stay with Martha and Frank, they'll need you. I'll see you when I get down, alright?" he asked with a small smile. Selene gave a short nod with worry apparent in her eyes.
"Don't die, alright?"
"Wouldn't dream of it." He smiled a bit wider and clasped his hand against her cheek briefly, an action that Martha watched with a slight spike of jealousy. Then the Doctor disappeared into the scaffolding above, his coat swishing behind him; Selene immediately marched back into the work office and looked around at the various objects strewn around the floor.
"Alright! So what've we got, what've we got…" she murmured as she began to lift things up and toss them around. Frank slowly inched up behind her, watching with confused curiosity.
"What're you doin'?" he asked as she hefted up a metal pole and gave it a once over. Looking up at the four other inhabitants of the room, she gestured to the scaffold where they'd last seen the Doctor.
"You heard him, he said we had to fight, and we won't very well be able to do that without weapons, will we? So take a look around the room and find… something to defend yourself with because we have all seen what the pig slaves and the Daleks can do… and it sure isn't pretty," Selene said, holding out the pole. Martha grasped it with a tight hand and a firm nod as they all scrambled around the room to find temporary weapons. Tallulah grabbed a hefty looking wrench while Frank found a mallet and Laszlo picked up an iron work hammer. Selene snatched up what looked to be a broken table leg with a sharp end; knowing anything would work, she lifted it with both hands like a javelin and prepared for the worst.
Ding!
The group of five ran towards the lift, crowding just in front of it as they heard the telltale bell that signaled movement.
"The lift's coming up," Martha said, nodding to the display above the doors, watching as the needle steadily arked, pointing at different floor numbers.
"Should've brought that gun!" Frank muttered to himself, hefting up his mallet.
"Tallulah, stay back. You too, Martha. And you as well, Selene. If they send pig slaves, they're trained to kill!" Laszlo explained, pushing them back.
"The Doctor needs me to fight, I'm not going anywhere!" Martha protested, pushing back against his arm.
"You would be shocked if I told you how many times I've found myself in situations like this; we can help fight, you have to trust us," Selene attempted to reason.
"They're savages, I should know! They're trained so slit your throat with their bare teeth." The needle inched ever closer to the top floor, the oncoming fight was nearly upon them. Suddenly the weight of the hammer in Laszlo's hands dragged him to the floor, earning a worried cry from Tallulah.
"Laszlo! What is it?" She dropped down beside him as he struggled to sit up correctly.
"No, it's nothing. I'm fine. Just leave me," he insisted, slouching back against a support beam. Tallulah began to smooth hair out of his face and gasped as her fingers brushed his forehead.
"Oh, honey, you're burnin' up! What's wrong with you? Tell me," she pleaded, looking more concerned with each passing moment. Laszlo locked eyes with Selene, silently begging that nothing be said about the truth; that he was dying. She gave a slight nod and turned back to the doors of the lift.
"One man down and we ain't even started yet," Frank murmured
"It's not looking good, Frank," Martha said nervously.
"Nope."
"We're gonna get slaughtered!"
"Hey, hey, hey, we can do this," Selene said, trying to sound calm. "Martha, you and I, we've fought off Judoon. Frank, you shot at a Dalek without fear. We can do this… we can do this…" She tightened her grip on the makeshift javelin and let out a long breath hoping with all she could that Martha wasn't right… hoping they wouldn't get slaughtered. Lightning and thunder crackled around outside, making jagged marks across the night sky.
"Wait a minute…" Martha muttered. Lightening. Selene, Frank, come help me a moment!" Martha ran out to the scaffold and grinned, gesturing at all the metal pieces of scaffolding. "Metal conducts electricity, yeah? Well, if we can make a… a trail of some sort that leads to the lift…"
"Then we fry anyone who's in it," Selene said, beginning to smile. "If lightning hits and the pig slaves open the door, bam! They're done for! Martha, you're a genius!"
"So we just gotta line all these up right and proper?" Frank asked, lifting up one end of some scaffolding.
"That's all we gotta do!"
The three began to scramble about, placing poles on chairs, making sure they touched one another to create a direct path towards the lift.
"The hell are you clowns doing?" Tallulah called out impatiently from her spot comforting Laszlo.
"Even if the Doctor stops the Dalekanium, this place is still going to get hit. Great big bolt of lightening! Electricity all down the building. Connect this to the lift and they get zapped!" Martha explained as they set another pole in place.
"Bacon for everyone," Selene said before looking at Laszlo. "No offence, Laszlo." He offered a brief amused smile before his energy seemed to drain again.
"Oh my God, that could work!" Tallulah exclaimed excitedly. Frank gave her a look and gestured to the scaffold.
"Then give us a hand!"
They quickly divided up jobs and set to work, making sure each piece of metal touched another, creating a zig-zagged path right to the lift. Once it was finished, they helped Laszlo farther away from the doors and crouched by a support beam.
"Is that going to work?" Tallulah asked, looking at the sloppily made metal trail.
"It's got to," Martha replied.
"I've got it all piped up to the scaffolding outside," Frank added in.
"Come on over, Frank," Selene said, pulling him down. "Everyone keep calm, hunker down and whatever you do, do not touch anything made of metal!"
The needle passed eighty… ninety… stopped at one hundred.
Ding!
The doors slid open and revealed a group of pig slaves, all snarling into the room; light flashed brightly as electricity danced and arked down the trail of metal, zapping the pig slaves who squealed loudly before dropping one by one. At the intense flashes of light and the immense amount of noise, the group clung onto each other, hiding their faces and hoping for the best. After the flashing died out and the noise disappeared, they all looked up and saw the motionless pig slaves slumped to the ground. Martha immediately jumped up and bolted over, shock and horror written across her face. Frank stood and helped Selene up, the two immediately following Martha to the lift. Frank began to laugh in utter delight at the fact everything had worked and that they were most certainly alive.
"You did it, Martha," Tallulah announced in awe.
"They used to be like Laszlo," she whispered. "They were people, and I killed them."
"No. The Daleks killed them… long ago," Laszlo said in means of comfort. Suddenly, Martha's hand shot out and grabbed Selene's shoulder.
"What about the Doctor?"
Selene twisted around and ran to the scaffold, immediately beginning to ascend the ladder, all thoughts of the height completely gone; Martha and Frank were following, but she barely registered that she was moving so quickly. She climbed ladder after ladder till she popped out at the top by the mast. She immediately spotted the Doctor collapsed on the platform, motionless and close to the edge; one hand dangled into the air, face turned into the whipping breeze.
"Doctor!" Selene cried out, scrambling over to him on her hands and knees. He looked… dead. "No, no, no! I… I swear to God if you… you're gonna wake up, you have to… Doctor, you have to…" She leaned over him and grasped his face in her hands, watching the wind blow his hair across his forehead; she swept it from his face with a gentle hand, keeping the other on his cheek where she gently brushed her thumb across his cheekbone. His skin was still warm despite the chill from the wind she hoped to any higher power that he wasn't dead… he couldn't be. Not yet.
Then, his eyebrows twitched downward before pulling together, a groan pushing past his lips. A delighted gasp left Selene's mouth as the Doctor shifted beneath her.
"Oh, my head…" he groaned. He opened his eyes and saw Selene's face hovering over his and felt the warmth of her hand against his cheek. "Oh… hello." Selene gave a laugh, eyes looking a tad glassy.
"Hi," she laughed, brushing more hair from his forehead. A small quirk of his lips appeared at the sensation of her fingers brushing through his hair.
"Glad to see you're alive." His voice came out in a groan seeing as his whole body, specifically his head, was throbbing and pounding.
"Same goes for you; you took the lightning strike didn't you?" Selene asked nodding to the mast. It was easy enough to put together––the Dalekanium was still attached, he looked rumpled and weather beaten…
"You're a regular Sherlock Holmes… it was a good idea, but… mm… sure doesn't feel like it," he grunted, drawing the hand that had been dangling off the roof to rest on his chest. Selene moved her hand to grasp his, grinning like a maniac.
"Well, you did what you had to and what matters is that you're alive," she whispered. The Doctor gave her a smile before groaning as his head throbbed again.
"Doctor! Oh, thank God!" Martha said as she appeared, holding up the Sonic. "Look at what we found halfway down. You're getting careless."
The Doctor turned his head to look at Martha and Frank and he grunted a bit, his head still pounding from that horrible burst of lightning he'd taken.
"You survived then."
"So did you!" Martha laughed. "Just about. I can't help noticing––there's Dalekanium still attached." The Doctor jolted up into a sitting position, staring at the mast with a slightly defeated look.
"C'mon, let's get you back down the ladders," Selene said, helping him stand.
Once the Doctor, still feeling a bit frazzled from being hit by the lightning strike, returned to the work room, he shook himself out of his daze and started to spin the wheels of his mind once again. They all stood gazing out over the fantastic sight of New York at night, knowing if they didn't stop the Daleks, everything would look far less amazing.
"The Daleks will have gone straight to a war footing. They'll be using the sewer system, spreading the soldiers out underneath Manhattan," the Doctor said darkly.
"How do we stop them?" Laszlo questioned.
"There's only one chance. I got in the way. That gamma strike went zapping through me first." The Doctor turned away and headed back into the work room, followed by a confused Martha.
"Yeah, but what does that mean?" she asked.
"We need to draw fire––before they can attack New York, I need to face them, where can I draw them out?" he murmured as everyone followed him. He ran a hand over his mouth thinking hard and long. "Think, think, think, think, think…" His fingers dragged through his hair, raking the strands every which way. "I need some sort of space––somewhere safe, somewhere out of the way…" Suddenly spinning around, he held out a hand and called, "Tallulah!"
"That's me! Three 'L's and an 'H,'" she replied smartly.
"The theatre! It's right above them. And, what, it's gone midnight. Can you get us inside?"
"Don't see why not."
"Is there another lift?"
"We came up on the service elevator," Martha said, leading the way.
"That'll do. Allons-y!"
OOOO
After making it back to the theatre, the Doctor shed his coat and burst into audience of empty red seats, all darkened by the lack of light.
"This should do it. Here we go," he said, running between a row of seats. He jumped up to place both feet on two armrests, crouching down as he let the Sonic scan the room. Selene held up a hand in case he was about to fall over, ready to steady him as he rose to stand completely.
"There ain't nothing more creepy than a theatre in the dark," Tallulah commented, hugging her fur coat closer to her body. "Listen, Doctor, I know you've got a thing for show tunes, but there's a time and a place, huh?" Laszlo collapsed into a seat beside her, out of breath. "Laszlo, what's wrong?"
"Nothing. It's just so hot," he said. Concern washed over her face at his words.
"But it's freezing in here. Doctor, what's happening to him?" The Doctor, who was holding the blinking Sonic up to his ear, wore an extremely concentrated look as he replied.
"Not now, Tallulah, sorry." He twisted the barrel of the Sonic slightly, listening closely to the frequency of the beeps it was giving off.
"Care to share what you're doin' there?" Selene asked, leaning against one of the seats.
"If the Daleks are going to war, they'll want to find their number-one enemy," he said, raising his arm into the air above his head. "I'm just telling them where I am." Selene nodded in understanding. "And that brings me to my next statement; go, both of you."
"What?" Selene asked in surprise.
"You're joking, right?" Martha scoffed.
"I'm not––you both shouldn't be here, it isn't safe."
"Since when has anything we've done been deemed 'safe,' Doctor?" Selene inquired, arching an eyebrow. He huffed a sigh and gave the stubborn women a look.
"I'm telling you do go!" he reiterated, stepping down from his high ground. "Frank can take you back to Hooverville."
"And we're telling you we're not going!" Martha shot back, crossing her arms. Frank stood awkwardly behind Selene wondering if he should intervene in any way, and eventually decided that it would be best to stay out of it.
"Martha, Selene, that's an order," the Doctor said sternly. Martha glared.
"Who are you, then, some sort of Dalek?"
BANG.
The theatre doors crashed open on either side at the back of the theatre, and in marched two rows of what were presumably the Dalek-Humans, each toting a gun that would shoot the same deadly lazers the Daleks did.
"Doctor! Oh my God. Well, I guess that them then, huh?" Tallulah murmured, pulling Laszlo out of his seat in fear.
"Humans… with Dalek DNA," Martha said, staring at the blank faced people surrounding them.
"It's alright, it's alright. Just stay calm," the Doctor soothed as he held Frank back from entering the aisle. "Don't antagonize them."
"But what of the Dalek Masters? Where are they?" Laszlo asked, knowing if the Dalek Humans were already present, the Daleks themselves couldn't be far behind. An explosion ripped the center of the stage apart, sending shrapnel throughout the theatre. Through shocked screams, the Doctor, Frank, Martha, Selene, Tallulah and Laszlo dropped behind the seats for cover, pulling their arms over their heads to protect themselves from the splintering wood. The Doctor was the first to poke his head up, spotting two Dalek shadows appear from the smoke with a chained up Dalek Sec crawling forward like a dog.
"THE DOCTOR WILL STAND BEFORE THE DALEKS!" one of them commanded as the Doctor rose. Everyone had risen, so the Doctor pulled himself to stand atop the backs of one of the seats, walking across three rows in such a manner before standing as he had before, with both his feet braced on armrests. "YOU WILL DIE, DOCTOR! IT'S THE BEGINNING OF A NEW AGE!"
"PLANET EARTH WILL BECOME NEW SKARO!"
"Oh, and what a world, with anything just the slightest bit different ground into the dirt." He pointed at Sec. "That's Dalek Sec! Don't you remember? The cleverest Dalek ever, and look what you've done to him. Is that your new empire? Hm? Is that the foundation for a whole new civilization?"
"My Daleks…" Sec said hoarsely. "Just understand this––if you choose death and destruction, then death and destruction will choose you."
"INCORRECT! WE ALWAYS SURVIVE!"
"NOW WE WILL DESTROY OUR GREATEST ENEMY––THE DOCTOR!"
"But he can help you!"
"THE DOCTOR MUST DIE!"
"No! I beg you, don't!" Sec crawled forward more, just in front of the Dalek who held his chain. The Doctor lifted his chin as to accept his fate, his hand twitching backwards to stop anyone who might try and stop the course of the situation.
"EXTERMINAAAATE!"
The Doctor inhaled sharply. Sec swiftly rose and took the lazer beam, screaming before he fell dead. The Doctor shook his head in disbelief.
"Your own leader. The only creature who might have led you out of the darkness and you destroyed him." The Doctor looked around to the Dalek-Humans. "Do you see what the did, huh?" he asked softly. "You see what a Dalek really is? If I'm gonna die, let's give the new boys a shot. Whaddya think, eh? The Dalek-Humans, their first blood." He held out his arms. "Go on. Baptize them!" Selene winced at the demanding tone of his voice, grabbing onto Frank's hand as they watched.
"DALEK-HUMANS, TAKE AIM!" All did as told and the group that stood behind the Doctor pushed together, shying away from them.
"What are you waiting for? Give the command!" the Doctor growled, teeth bared.
"EXTERMINATE!" The Doctor tensed and inhaled deeply, tilting his head back. Martha gasped and clenched her eyes shut. Selene hid her face in Frank's shoulder and tried not to look as Frank wound his arms around both her and Martha. Nothing. "EXTERMINATE!" Nothing again. "OBEY. DALEK-HUMANS WILL OBEY!"
"They're not firing," Martha whispered, opening her eyes. Selene let out a relieved breath as she looked around.
"But why?" she questioned. "Doctor, what did you do?"
"YOU WILL OBEY! EXTERMINAAATE!"
"Why?" asked a Dalek-Human at the front. The Doctor glanced over at the man with a hopeful gleam in his brown eyes.
"DALEKS DO NOT QUESTION ORDERS!" one Dalek announced.
"But, why?"
"YOU WILL STOP THIS!" demanded the second.
"But," the man turned his head to look at the Doctor, "why?"
"YOU MUST NOT QUESTION!" The Dalek-Human man looked back to the Daleks.
"But you are not our master," he said, his accent still prominent. "And we––we are not Daleks."
"No, your not," the Doctor agreed in a hushed voice as everyone watched in utter shock. He lowered his arms and put his hands in his pockets casually. "And you never will be." He turned back to look at the Daleks. "Sorry. I got in the way of the lightning strike. Time Lord DNA got all mixed up. Just that," he winked, "little bit of freedom."
"IF THEY WILL NOT OBEY, THEN THEY MUST DIE!" said the second Dalek before firing off a lazer, striking down the man who had spoken back.
"Get down!" the Doctor cried. As they dropped, the Dalek-Humans shifted their aim and returned fire.
"EXTERMINATE!" One by one, the Dalek-Humans began to drop; but in a shift in fate, one of the true Daleks, having been hit by one too many lazers, exploded, sending scraps of metal everywhere. Not soon after, the second one met the same fate, fire spraying out as the Dalek become no more; once the firing stopped, everyone rose, looking at the destruction that had befallen the theatre.
"It's alright, it's alright, it's alright," the Doctor said as he leapt up, soothing the Dalek-Humans. "It's alright, you did it. You're free." The smile that had come across his face soon faded as a high-pitched blare sounded and they all grabbed their heads, wailing in pain. "No! No, they can't, they can't, they can't!"
"What happened, what was that?" Martha asked, running into the aisle once every one of the Dalek-Humans had collapsed. The Doctor, brows raised and face shocked said,
"They killed them… rather than let them live. An entire species. Genocide." His lips had turned into a snarl and fury was burning in his eyes once again.
"Only two of the Daleks have been destroyed," Laszlo pointed out. "One of the Dalek Masters must still be alive. Selene watched as the Doctor rose to his feet, face distant and blank; she knew that look all too well. It was a blistering, festering sadness that came from a loneliness only he felt.
"Oh, yes. In the whole universe… Just one."
OOOO
"Now what?" the Doctor asked as he stood a rooms length away from the last Dalek in existence. How odd it was for a room to be filled with two creatures that were the last of their kind, two creatures who had always vowed to destroy each other.
"YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED!" the Dalek cried, quivering and flashing. The Doctor's face twisted as he scoffed unpleasantly.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Just think about it Dalek––what was your name?"
"DALEK CAAN!" The Doctor pushed back the sides of his brown coat to push his hands into his trouser pockets as he began to stride across the laboratory.
"Dalek Caan. Your entire species has been wiped out. And now the Cult of Skaro has been eradicated, leaving only you." He stopped walking a good few feet before the Dalek, face stern. "And now you're facing the only man in the universe who might show you some compassion." The Dalek's eyestalk twitched around for a moment as though it were having trouble focusing on him. "'Cause I've just seen one genocide. I won't cause another. Caan… let me help you. What do you say?"
"EMERGENCY TEMPORAL SHIFT!" Caan cried, dissipating into nothing, cables dropping away from the machine it had been attached to.
The Doctor growled in frustration, panting angrily as the Dalek disappeared.
"Doctor! Doctor!" Martha called as she and Selene and Tallulah helped Laszlo walk into the lab. He was wheezing and limping heavily, hazy eyed and quite obviously close to death. They sat him down and Tallulah cradled him gently, holding him as close as possible. "He's sick! It's okay, you're alright…" Martha took his pulse. "It's his heart. It's racing like mad, I've never seen anything like it." The Doctor walked over and crouched beside them, face stern.
"What is it, Doctor?" Tallulah asked, close to tears. "What's the matter with him? He says he can't breath! What is it?" Martha and Selene stood, giving the two some space.
"It's time, sweetheart," Laszlo told Tallulah.
"What do you mean 'time?' What are you talking about?" she asked in a panic. Selene looked away, eyes stinging and breathing irregular; she wouldn't be able to watch, but maybe that would be better than having to listen.
"Most of the slaves… don't survive for long. Most of them only lied for a few weeks." The Doctor clasped his hands and held them up to his mouth, watching and listening. "I was lucky. I held on 'cause I had you. But now… I'm dying Tallulah."
"No, you're not! Not now after all this!" She looked up at the Doctor with tears in her eyes. "Doctor, can't you do something?" He looked up at her with what looked to be a regretful look.
"Oh, Tallulah with three 'L's and an 'H'…" His voice was soft. "Just you watch me!" And then it became determined. He rose to his feet and whipped off his coat, tossing it to the side with a flourish. "What do I need? Oh, I don't know, how about a great, big, genetic laboratory? Oh look!" He grinned. "I've got one!" Selene and Martha shared a hopeful simile as the Doctor pulled forward a cart of solutions. "Laszlo, just you hold on. There's been too many deaths today. Way too many people have died––brand new creatures and wise of men and age-old enemies!" The Doctor combined a few vials and swirled them around skillfully in his hands. "And I'm telling you, I'm telling you right now, I am not having one more death, you got that?" he asked after bounding about and mixing things. He lit a bunsen burner with the Sonic and looked over at everyone. "Not one! Tallulah, out of the way." Reaching into his pocket, the Doctor produced a stethoscope, which he placed around his neck.
"The Doctor is in!"
OOOO
Morning broke over the city and everything was in order. They all stood in central park, waiting with baited breath as Frank appeared across the green, arriving back from Hooverville.
"Well, I talked to 'em, and I told 'em what Solomon would've said and I reckon I shamed one or two of 'em," he said, looking down at his shoes. Laszlo stood in a long grey coat and a hat pulled over his face, watching the young man with hope.
"What did they say?" the Doctor asked from where he leaned against a park bench. Frank smiled.
"They said yes." Gasping happily, Tallulah hugged Laszlo as tight as she could. "They'll give you a home, Laszlo. I mean, uh… don't imagine that people ain't gonna stare. I can't promise you'll be at peace. But, in the end, that is what Hooverville is for––people who ain't got nowhere else," Frank said with a nod and a smile. Laszlo returned both.
"Thank you. I… I can't thank you enough," he said before turning to embrace the love of his life. The other three smiled at them, before the Doctor glanced up into the blue sky.
"Well, I think this might be our cue to exit the stage," he said with a smile, nodding to the path to their left.
"Don't be strangers––if you ever find yourselves around here again, stop on by, it would be appreciated," Frank said sincerely. He was pulled into a hug by Martha while Selene received one from Tallulah. The blond woman smiled broadly at her and ran her hand up and down Selene's arm for a moment.
"Remember, honey, don't give up hope. If there's anything that today taught me… it's that there is always hope," she said before hugging her tightly one last time. Selene smiled and laughed, nodding into her shoulder.
"Thank you, Tallulah… thank you so much…"
"Think I'll ever see you again?" Frank asked when Selene was released from Tallulah's embrace. Selene grinned over at him and drew him in for a tight hug.
"Life is a funny thing and I'm sure our paths will cross again some time," she replied. "Besides, maybe I'll come back and see you as the new Solomon of Hooverville––I think that's a viable outlook." Frank blushed and looked down with a smile on his face. Selene donned the cap he'd gifted her and winked as she began to back away to join the Doctor and Martha. "See you 'round."
Half way out of the park, Martha jogged ahead to say she would call a cab so they could get an easier ride to the docks, leaving Selene and the Doctor to walk in companionable silence for a short while.
"You know, Doctor…" Selene started, drawing out a pause as she smirked up at him cheekily, her hands in her pockets."You promised me a kiss back in the sewers." The Doctor's head whipped around to look at her, the words slowly registering slowly in his advanced Time Lord head. His eyebrows rose as a tiny chuckle exited his throat; he did say that didn't he? It had been sort of sarcastic, a bit of a rhetorical statement and definitely a spur of the moment set of words, but he had said it.
"That I did, didn't I?" he questioned, smirking at himself. Oh, the situations he got himself into with that big mouth of his––always speaking before he thinks. "What about it?" Selene arched an eyebrow and her smirk widened. The Doctor burst out laughing and let his head fall back, staring up at the sky. "Oh, you cheeky little monkey!" The statement elicited a laugh from her as well as they stopped their little stroll by a park bench. "Though, I suppose that I did promise that––if it could be called a promise."
The smirk on Selene's face slowly waned as she turned to face him, shifting awkwardly on her feet, the heels of her boots twisting some pebbles against the pathway. The smile on the Doctor's face lessened only for the fact she was eyeing him in a curious way, clearly having something she wanted to say.
"You know, you scared me. Up on top of the Empire State, you scared me––I honestly thought I'd lost you and, god, I don't think I've ever felt my heart beat so hard," she admitted, craning her head back a bit to stare up at him, a sheepish smile working up on the corners of her lips. "I'm glad you're not dead, Doctor, I don't think I could handle the…" Heartbreak, she said in her head, "Loss of such a great friend."
Something in the Doctor's chest stirred as she spoke and stirred more in that short little pause between words. It was like the feeling he got when he spotted some disturbance somewhere in the universe that promised adventure, the feeling he got when he and Selene grinned at each other after nearly getting blasted away by a platoon of Judoon; but there was something in that stirring that was both familiar and unfamiliar and he couldn't place a finger on it. Her concern about his life was greatly touching and it made his eyes tear up a bit. He stared at Selene for a moment, just letting his eyes roam over the way the golden light of the setting sun was casting shadows across her face; there it was again, that odd stirring… that feeling he couldn't grasp the name of, that evaded him and yet begged him to name it like a big red button that said 'DO NOT PRESS.' A smile crept up his lips and her smile further inched up hers when she saw the look on his face.
"You know what, I did make that promise, didn't I?" he inquired, a bit of a cheeky look appearing on his features. Selene's brows jumped up at his words.
"Really? I was just joking around for a moment." No you weren't. The Doctor laughed and shrugged his shoulders innocently.
"I'm a man of my word––well, a Time Lord of my word, but the sentiment still stands," he said with a bright smile, which made the rhetorical promise all the more irresistible.
"Then, my good sir, I'd hate to dishonor a Time Lord of his word," she teased.
After an admittedly awkward moment, Selene stretched up on her toes a bit so she could reach a more proper height, lightly holding onto the front of his coat. The two held that position a moment, staring at each other a moment longer. Leaning forward, Selene made to press a kiss to his cheek, figuring that was what the promise most likely entailed; but, to her surprise, the Doctor lifted a hand to turn her head towards him so they were just about nose-to-nose. The kiss was legitimately just a quick peck of the lips––nothing more and nothing less, except for the fact that, to Selene the brief moment that probably lasted no less that ten seconds felt like at least a minute. She felt his lips lightly against hers, a touch so feather-light she thought she could very well be imagining it. It would be a lie to say her heart didn't flutter or that she had to fight the urge to grin girlishly––that would probably be the only kiss from the Time Lord she would get and she had no regrets. It would also be a lie to say that the Doctor didn't feel the beating of his hearts quicken or that his eyebrows twitched together for a moment at the feeling… at the odd urge to hold the kiss longer than a respectable couple of moments.
When the few seconds that seemed more like minutes ended and Selene finally stood flat-footed on the ground again and the Doctor grinned boyishly as usual, she grinned back and nodded to him while jokingly saying,
"My hero."
As they laughed the two continued their walk down the path; the time travelers ignored whatever awkward feelings they would have had after that moment behind them––it was an fleeting and innocent kiss. Once again… nothing more. Nothing less.
OOOO
"You reckon it's gonna work?" Martha asked once they arrived back at the Statue of Liberty. "Those two?"
"I don't know. Anywhere else in the universe I might worry about them, but New York?" the Doctor said, turning to face the skyline. "That's what the city's good at. 'Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses' and maybe the odd pig slave Dalek mutant hybrid too." The trio laughed and relished the feeling of the cool morning air.
"The Pig and the Showgirl," Martha giggled.
"The Pig and the Showgirl!" the Doctor agreed. Selene grinned and glanced up at the Doctor.
"Stranger things have happened," she said in a cheery voice. The Doctor glanced down at her and met her eye, sharing a sweet smile.
"Stranger things have happened," he agreed.
"Just proves it I suppose. There's someone for everyone," Martha said. The Doctor quickly looked away from Selene and cleared his throat.
"Maybe." He turned and walked towards the TARDIS, leaving the two women to gaze out at the harbor.
"I meant to say, I'm sorry," Martha said as she quickly followed the Time Lord.
"What for?" he asked confused as he rummaged around in his pocket for the key.
"Just… because that Dalek got away. I know what that means to you."
"Hmm…"
"Do you think you'll ever see it again?"
"Oh, yes," he told her adamantly, letting her inside first. He turned back to see Selene still watching the skyline. "Coming?" he called out. She turned around and smiled again, skipping forward to join him at the door.
"On to the next one," she told him in an attempt to lift his mood. As she passed by him she patted his arm, touch lingering till she disappeared inside completely. The Doctor smiled a bit as she passed and stopped in as well, looking out to the sunny skies above them.
"Oh yes… I'll see it again… one day."
And with that the TARDIS door shut and they were off again.
Afterword: Sorry for the late update! I've had a couple of health scares in my family and felt little to no motivation to write for the past few months. IMPORTANT NOTE: I'm having surgery on friday that will render me confined to a sling, so I might not be able to write for a week or two.
Hope the chapter was okay, I wasn't quite sure about the quality of it once I finished it :-/ But uh, anyway… SELENE/DOCTOR MOMENTS OUT THE WAZOO AND I LOVE IT SO MUCH! :D
I regretfully don't think I can reply to all of your wonderful reviews since I want to update everything before surgery day and I want all review replies to be thoughtful and what not. BUT I SHALL THANK ALL WHO REVIEWED LAST CHAPTER! :D All the thanks to:
TeamTHEFT
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You are all fantastic and I love every single one of you! And thank you to anyone who has followed/added this to favorites! It means so, so much! And to all reviewers, I regret not being able to reply to all of your extremely lovely comments; next update they'll all be replied to, I promise! :)
That's it for this chapter. Next chapter is: The Lazarus Experiment, which I am SO excited for, you have no idea. Like… at all. 'Cause you know, what with the little smooch Selene and the Doctor shared things ought to be picking up soon ;) Love you all so much! Thanks again, guys!
~Mary