Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, and as great as it would be to do so, I don't know if I'd really want to – that's a lot of pressure to deal with.
A/N: First of all, I want to apologize about the delay in posting this chapter. I'm so sorry, but I was out of town for a while and things got hectic (as usual). Barring any unexpected difficulties, posting will continue to be weekly from here on out. Thank you for your patience and thank you so much for reading this story! Words can't express how much it means to me that all of you are reading this. I also want to thank the reviewer that pointed out the inconsistent chapter numbering in earlier chapters. Sorry about any confusion that may have caused, but it's been fixed now! Okay, enough rambling – on with the story!
Chapter 5 – The Invasion Begins
The battle for Earth had begun. Daleks flooded the skies above London and it appeared as though a funnel of the metal-encased beings converged on Torchwood Tower. Terrified humans ran through the streets, screaming in terror as the Daleks invaded Earth. Strangely, the humans were mostly ignored by the invading force. The Daleks were intent on finding the Bad Wolf, and they knew exactly where she was now.
In one of the stairwells of the Torchwood Tower, Rose Tyler bounded up the steps two at a time. As she ran past floor after floor, the young woman thought only of escaping the sounds of the fierce battle raging below her. Rose was the bait, leading the menacing horde of Daleks to the top of the skyscraper. All of the pain and suffering and destruction that undoubtedly was taking place downstairs and all across Earth at this very moment happened solely because the Daleks wanted this particular human. In actuality, they wanted the Bad Wolf, but unluckily for Rose, she just happened to resemble that otherworldly being. Jeopardy-friendly, she'd been told.
The sound of a metal door crashing open somewhere below startled Rose, causing her to trip and bash her shins on the edge of a stair. Her legs burned painfully where the flesh had been ripped open by the sharp stair edge through her jeans. Trying her best to ignore the injuries, Rose pulled herself to her feet using the stair railing. She took a moment to glance down the gap in the center of the staircase to the ground floor. The Daleks were in the stairwell with her now.
"And then came Torchwood and the War," Rose muttered to herself as she stared at the encased creatures, echoing words she had said once before about the battle at Canary Wharf that took place in the other universe so many years ago.
One of the Daleks swiveled its eyestalk to stare directly up at her.
"I just better not die this time," Rose added grimly as she began running up the stairs once again, the Daleks in hot pursuit.
When Rose reached the eighth floor, she rested against the door in the stairwell for a minute to catch her breath. She knew that this floor had a small Torchwood army stationed on it, just waiting for her to lead the Daleks through their ranks. She needed to keep the Daleks following her if this crazy plan of theirs was going work, though, so she would have to make sure that they saw her exit the stairwell here in order to lead them straight to the soldiers.
Just as Rose began to catch her breath and the pain of her injuries started to become prominent through the adrenaline coursing through her system, the first Dalek rounded the bend in the stairs, coming into Rose's line of sight. Her blood ran cold with fear at being this close to a Dalek, but she knew that she was in control of the situation right now. She hoped to keep it that way for as long as possible.
"You will surrender!" The Dalek shouted at Rose as it began hovering to make its way up the only set of stairs separating them.
"Oh, yeah?" Rose taunted, conveying more confidence than she actually felt. "You're gonna have to try harder than that if you want me."
Rose threw open the door at her back and ran down the hallway at full speed. After turning left, the hallway opened up into a larger area that usually served as a lobby for the floor. Today, a line of soldiers filled the lobby, pointing weapons at the ready towards Rose. As she continued running towards them, they split apart in the middle to allow her passage, then quickly closed the hole in the ranks after she had passed. She didn't stop, instead continuing to run farther down the hallway, heading towards another staircase at the other side of the building. Rose tried her best to not stop and think about what was happening to the soldiers as gunfire and shouts of "Exterminate" rang out throughout the hallway.
Upon reaching the staircase that she was aiming for, Rose had to once again wait outside the door until the Daleks saw her. This cat and mouse game was getting old very quickly.
When Rose reached the second defended floor, there was no need to wait at the door before running out of the staircase. The speed of her running had drastically slowed as she tired from injuries and physical exertion. The Daleks were quickly gaining on her.
Rose ran across the defended floor once more, heading towards the staircase that she had originally started in. As the line of Torchwood soldiers came into sight, Rose mentally willed her tired legs to move faster. The soldiers dared not fire until she had passed them, lest Rose get hit by a stray bullet, but the Daleks were close enough that the shouts of 'Exterminate!" began. Unbidden tears blurred Rose's vision as she watched the first of many soldiers fall privy to Dalek fire, his lifeless body falling to the ground with an audible thud. Upon reaching the line of soldiers, Rose quickly ducked down and rolled behind them so that they could begin firing at the Daleks. Trying to block out the sound of firing guns and screaming people, Rose hurriedly pushed herself back to her feet, despite her aching muscles. It was the least she could do to keep running, to keep drawing the Daleks' attention, when all of these innocent people were being hurt because of her.
This ruse won't work for much longer before they catch on, Rose thought to herself in an attempt to distract her wandering mind from the death and destruction at hand. You know, unless they're just really stupid. That would be convenient.
Sure enough, the Daleks had anticipated the wall of soldiers this time. Looking behind her, Rose could see that some of the Daleks had already managed to get past the soldiers. They had acquired a strategy for dealing with the humans and were now headed straight for her. There'd be no waiting at the stairwell for them this time.
The next defended floor went much the same as the previous one, with Rose just barely making it past the line of soldiers with no time to stop as she made a beeline towards the other staircase. Flinging open the door, she was forced to skid to a stop at the sight that met her. Torchwood had underestimated the Daleks' intelligence. A group of three Daleks waited on the landing for her.
Rose swore and slammed the door closed again before turning on her heel and running back towards the line of soldiers. They were no longer in their formation, and many of them lay still on the ground. The Daleks that had been following her from that side of the building were now making their way towards Rose, relatively unhindered by the few remaining Torchwood employees. Rose was now trapped on this floor, between two sets of Daleks quickly advancing on her.
Seeing no escape, Rose backed against the wall of the hallway as she considered her options. She wasn't sure what to do next.
"Rose!" A wonderfully familiar voice shouted from just behind her.
Rose's head snapped to the side to look hopefully in the direction of where the voice had come from. The Doctor could just be seen in an open doorway right next to her, holding out his hand in invitation. She instantly grabbed it, and he pulled her inside the room, slamming the door closed behind them.
"That was a close one," Rose said, still holding the Doctor's hand for reassurance as she slumped against the closed door to catch her breath. "What now? We've still got a ways to go before we can get to the top. And what was your bright idea earlier?"
"I'm glad you asked!" The Doctor said happily, as he held up a jumble of mechanical parts in his other hand. "I'm creating a teleport device!"
"I thought you said we didn't have one here," Rose asked, confusion apparent on her exhausted features.
"Well, that's why I'm building it!" The Doctor looked at Rose as though she'd just dribbled down her shirt.
"Yeah, okay," Rose didn't have any remaining energy to protest against his expression. "How much longer do you need?"
The Doctor let go of Rose's hand to rub the back of his neck in a familiar, nervous habit. "Welll, that's the problem. I need more time than it'll take for them to get through that door."
"Right." Rose pushed off from the door that she leaned against, summoning up her remaining energy as she stood up straight and took a survey of the room. "Is there another way out of here?"
"Hmm," The Doctor said distractedly as he fiddled with a part on his makeshift device. "Oh, yes, I think so. Try back there," he pointed towards a dark area of the room as he continued to inspect the device.
Sure enough, there was another door out of the room that led to a different hallway on the backside of the building. Rose moved towards the back door, turning back to look at the Doctor just in time to see the wall near him burst into pieces with a loud explosion. The Daleks had blown open an entrance to the room. It was a testament to their growing impatience that they had stopped bothering to open doors.
"Doctor!" Rose shouted with concern. She couldn't quite see him in the dust that followed the explosion.
"I'm alive!" He shouted through the ruckus, his voice slightly muffled.
Rose breathed a sigh of relief before replying, "Good. Grab your parts and lets get out of here!"
As the dust cleared, Rose could once again make out the Doctor as he grabbed his partially-completed device and shoved some more parts into his suit pockets. He had a small gash across his face from the flying debris and a rip in the knee of his favorite brown suit that he'd surely whine about once he noticed it. With the necessary parts in hand, he ran towards Rose and grasped her hand tightly in his as they ran out of the door and down the empty hallway.
"Just like old times, huh?" Rose smiled widely up at him as they ran. Just being near the Doctor seemed to have partially restored her energy.
"Oh yes!" The Doctor grinned happily back at her as they dashed towards the nearest staircase, hand-in-hand.
Their running slowed when they came to a corner, and the couple stopped to glance around it. It appeared as though the Daleks had become distracted with trying to follow them into the room they had just left, so the path to the staircase was clear once more. Seeing that it was clear, the Doctor tugged on Rose's hand, and they sprinted into the stairwell and up the stairs. They couldn't risk another close call like that, so as they ran up the stairs, Rose called in on her mobile to notify the last defended floor that they would need to resort to plan B to defend the stairwells instead. As the battle raged on below, Earth's two Defenders hurriedly climbed up to the top of Torchwood Tower, the Daleks hot on their heels.