A/N: OMG, what's up with my writing? I've never written this fast EVER! Here's yet another chapter! I don't know if this is as full of detail as it should be, but I wanted to get this out before I had to work tonight. Thankfully, I'm looking forward to the next part and so I'll take a little more time in writing it.

Thank you so much to MasterDude … something or other. I forgot your numbers, sorry! And also AxidentlGoddess. Your recent reviews made me smile and help me get even more speed and inspiration into my writing!

As usual, let me know if you have any questions. And I love reviews! Thanks!

Dalek

Part 2

"Does this happen a lot with you?" I hissed as the guards marched us down another hallway. They hadn't shot us yet, so some of the fear had turned to stupid humor. A bit immature, but I couldn't do anything else and if I stopped, I felt that I'd feel even more scared, if that were possible.

The Doctor snorted and ignored me.

Rose, however, bumped shoulders. "With him, it's never a quiet day on the beach. Or in the underground horde, anyway."

I made a face. "I'm beginning to get that impression." Any more talking seemed ridiculous, so I just retreated into myself. They had my bag, so I couldn't go through the ritual of seeing what I had that could help. Taking inventory of my random things always distracted me enough to where I could calm down.

Without it, I pretty much became a dead weight. I couldn't do anything to help that wouldn't get us into more trouble than we already were. Would that make the Doctor regret bringing me along in the first place?

How would I even get the Doctor out of trouble if he began acting too … alien?

A voice drifted out of an open door a ways down the hall. "… and this is the last. Paid eight-hundred thousand dollars for it." His voice sounded British, which either came as a relief or a thorn in my side. I always ran into people with accents.

"What does it do?" There we go. A proper American voice at last. Glancing at the man the voice belonged to when we entered, however, I quickly changed my mind. He almost literally reeked of greed, ambition, and other ugly emotions that made me shudder before I could control myself.

Another man, closer to my age and probably the British one, pointed at something in his hand. "Well, you see the tubes on the side? It must be to channel something. I think maybe fuel."

The Doctor scoffed, which threw the guy's opinion out the window in my opinion. He seemed the kind to revel in correcting people when they made mistakes. "I really wouldn't hold it like that," he snorted with a twisted little smirk. Making others feel like complete morons also appeared to be one of his hobbies.

Nasty Man glared at the Doctor. "Shut it."

I had to plaster a hand over my mouth to keep a laugh from ruining the moment. Finally someone besides myself to throw those words back at him!

The look the Doctor tossed my way warned me not to say anything. I didn't, but it felt like the most difficult thing I had to do in my life. "Really, though, that's wrong."

The younger man jerked and backed up a step. Alarm bled through him in such a spike that I had to thicken my shields just to deal with everyone's emotions at one in such a small room. "Is it dangerous?"

"No, it just looks silly." With no warning, the Doctor reached for whatever the man held. It sent a ripple effect of guns clicking around us. He froze, but kept his palm outstretched. Idiot Doctor bent on proving that everyone else was wrong. After a while, the stuffy man handed the device over.

A pulse of excitement escaped from the small crack I'd felt in his barriers. I stared more at his face than what he held, my heart racing just the tiniest bit. What could have caused that kind of change in him? What did he actually ….

"You just need to be …." With fingers that didn't even tremble, the Doctor brushed the device with just the faintest of touches. A pure, sweet note unlike anything I'd ever heard filled the air. "… delicate." More notes followed the first, a pure smile appearing as he did so. Something dreamy, like he remembered something from long ago.

I couldn't hold back a grin of my own, though it mostly came from feeling the brief moment of joy from him. "Um … may I try?" I hardly dared breathe more life into my words. As if anything louder would break the spell that had fallen over us. "I won't break it, I promise."

The Doctor's eyes met mine in surprise. Only a few seconds passed before he carefully placed the thing in my hand. His skin brushed mine for a few moments, sending a shiver up and down my arms. "Remember, you have to …."

Transfixed by the small little thing in my hand, I held my fingers as still as I could manage. They mirrored the Doctor's movements, remaining almost still as I grazed the surface. Two harmonious notes eased out of it and my face felt like it had split wide open. I hadn't felt so childish in a long time. Since before my migraines, anyway.

Our eyes met again and the Doctor's face had softened so much that he didn't seem to be the same man. Surprise radiated from his eyes in such a potent wave that it tingled in my mouth like an exclamation point I could taste. Sharp, yet thrilling at the same time.

Perhaps in a way that the Doctor didn't realize, the barrier over that armor crack weakened some more, letting me take in everything he felt at the moment. Surprise, of course. A fascination and wonder like rediscovering an old memory. Then a bittersweet bite that soured everything. An old memory he didn't want to relive?

And in that one moment of happiness, Nasty Man destroyed it into a million pieces. He snatched it out of my hand and began trying himself. The sounds were … horrific and I winced in pity for the device.

"It's a musical instrument," the man murmured as he tried to get the thing to work.

"And a long way from home." The Doctor flinched as even more sour notes came out. "I did say delicate. It reacts to the smallest fingerprint. It needs precision." His eyes drifted my way with a look so intense that I stuffed my hands in my pockets and glanced away before I could make an embarrassment of myself. Eventually the man made a single note. "Very good. Quite the expert."

Somehow, I very much doubted that he meant any of that.

The man huffed. "As are you." Then he casually tossed the thing onto the floor. The floor! "Who exactly are you people?"

"I'm the Doctor. Who are you?"

The way the man scoffed gave me the shivers. "Like you don't know. We're hidden away with the most valuable collection of extra-terrestrial artefacts in the world, and you just stumbled in by mistake."

"Pretty much sums me up, yeah."

I could have smacked his shiny bald head again for being that annoying. One does not antagonize the person who has you as his prisoner!

The man's frown deepened. "The question is: how did you get in? Fifty-three floors down and with your two little … cat burglar accomplices. You, Doctor, are quite the collector yourself. Both of them are quite pretty."

Eww. I couldn't overcome my disgust fast enough.

"One of them is going to smack you if you day that again," Rose retorted, producing a better glare than I could have managed at the moment.

"Ha. She's English, too! Hey, little Lord Fauntleroy. Got you a girlfriend."

Oh for crying out loud, did this guy actually exist? I shuffled backward, away from the ugly feelings that oozed from every pore. My foot hit something, tearing my gaze away. The musical device. Nibbling on my lip, I tossed and turned an idea over in my head. Would I be able to pull it off?

I'd missed part of a conversation. Now the Doctor had started to get angry. Or he'd been angry and began showing it. "So you're just about an expert in everything except the things in your museum. Anything you don't understand, you lock up."

"And you claim greater knowledge?"

"I don't need to make claims. I know how good I am."

"And yet, I captured you. Right next to the Cage. What were you doing down there?" The two had gotten so close, only a few inches separated them. The measly human facing down a Time Lord.

"You tell me."

"That cage contains my one living specimen."

Living? My head snapped up as the mood around the Doctor darkened. Keeping alien relics locked up irritated him. Having a living alien kept basically a prisoner? I could almost see a thunderstorm brewing behind his eyes.

"And what's that?"

"Like you don't know."

I had to stop them.

"Show me."

"You want to see it?"

"Okay, that's enough!" My firm tone ended in an indignant squeak as I tripped over the laces of my shoes. It forced the Doctor to turn around and brace me for only a second, but that second of contact broke the tension. "Jeez, turn down the testosterone for once! None of it is helping."

"Well at least your other lady's an American," Nasty Man humphed.

I ducked down to re-tie my shoe before I had to stare at those beady eyes one moment longer.

"Goddard, inform the Cage we're heading down. You, English. Look after the girl. Go and canoodle or spoon or whatever it is you British do. And you, Doctor with no name, come and see my pet."

"Not without me he's not," I grouched, finally done with those obnoxious ties. Tucking my hands into my coat, I stood and frowned at the Doctor, an objection on his face. "I have been researching aliens, you know." Well, technically, I'd been searching for him, but I could stretch the truth well enough.

The Nasty Man—whose name I'd somehow missed—sighed like I'd asked for a miracle. "Fine. The girl comes too."

"Be careful," Rose whispered before the guards all but pushed us out the door.

No duh, blondie.

In front of a massive vault door, the Doctor managed to pull me over while the man—Statten, as I'd been told—conferred with some of his scientists. "What do you think you're doing? You don't know a thing about aliens and whatever they have in there could be dangerous." He didn't feel angry … sort of. More like intense.

"If it's dangerous, then why are you going in there?" I hissed, crossing my arms. A defense against whatever he thought to lob my way. "It would be just as dangerous for you if you're right."

"I'll be fine."

"Are you sure about that? Can you promise me without lying that you'd go in there and be perfectly fine if something goes wrong?"

The Doctor opened his mouth as if to give me his usual positive answer, but nothing came out. A bit of uncertainty broke the unwavering confidence he'd been portraying. Doubt and no small amount of annoyance. After a few seconds, he sighed and ran a hand over his head. "All right, you can come in, but if anything goes wrong you do exactly what I say. Understand? Exactly what I say."

I nodded and didn't even try a grin of victory. "Of course. Don't get yourself killed, though." That protective streak that had started to get stronger ever since I'd returned to the TARDIS came back full force. If he did something that got him injured instead of me, I'd … well … I'd hurt him once he got better, at the very least.

"Bloody stubborn American," he muttered, but there didn't seem to be his usual sting.

"We've tried everything, Doctor," came Statten's dreaded voice, cutting into our little mini-argument. "The creature has shielded itself, but there's definite signs of life inside."

The little pinch of confusion appeared between the Doctor's eyes. One that appeared when he felt genuinely curious. "Inside? Inside what?"

One of the scientists joined us. "I've had to take the power down, sir. The Metaltron is resting."

"Metaltron?" Even though he didn't know who or what lay inside the vault thing, the Doctor couldn't resist making fun of a ridiculous name.

The self-satisfied grin on Statten's face just begged to be scrubbed off. "Thought of it myself. Good, isn't it? Although I'd much prefer to find out its real name."

"You didn't think of treating it nice and just asking, now did you?" I grumbled. Of course a guy like Statten wouldn't think of that. He'd just see another thing, not a being that could be a friend, or even sentient.

"And what good would that have accomplished?" Statten sneered. "It's alien, I found it, and so I can do what I please."

My jaw felt ready to split in two from how hard I clenched it. It could have been some reaction to his overall nastiness or just my own indignation, but I wouldn't have minded giving him a punch in the head.

"Uh, put these on." The scientist handed out two pairs of gauntlets. Metal and ugly. "The last guy that touched it burst into flames."

The Doctor took a step backwards as he snorted. His arm grazed me. A silent warning that I felt half-tempted to ignore. "Then we won't touch it."

The door opened with a weighty groan. My mouth and throat dried up instantly at the darkness inside. "Go ahead you two," smirked the most arrogant, filthy man in the universe. "Impress me."

Right. Forcing my disobedient legs to move forward, I stepped inside after the Doctor.

My heart plummeted to the end of the universe when the door shut with a loud clang.