The Doctor and Dalek Sec worked for several minutes, fiddling with wires and syringes and the sonic screwdriver, scientific babble being traded between the two. Molly understood the gist of it, but she made no effort to understand further. Instead, she focused on the Daleks, who were watching almost nervously, shifting uneasily in place. One of them had slunk off a while ago; she'd tried to point it out to Dalek Sec, but he'd passed it off as nothing to worry about. She wasn't so sure.
Finally, they finished their work. Everything was set up, and all that remained was a simple command. "Start... the line feeds," Sec ordered his Daleks.
The Dalek obliged, switching something on in the machinery. A solution began flowing from the tubes to the bodies. The Doctor looked impressed. "There goes the gene solution."
"The life blood," Sec agreed happily. He and the Doctor shared a triumphant grin, and Molly allowed herself to hope that maybe, just maybe they were in the clear.
And of course, that's when it all went wrong.
An alarm sounded from the machine. The Doctor's smile vanished. "What's that?"
Dalek Sec seemed no more knowledgeable than his enemy. "What's happening? Is there a malfunction?" he demanded of his Daleks, who made no reply. "Answer me!"
Before they could, the Doctor cried out, "No, no, no! They're overriding the gene feed!" He hurried to the controls in a desperate attempt to reverse the changes.
"Impossible," Sec insisted, though he looked seriously shaken. "They cannot disobey orders."
One of the Daleks advanced towards the Doctor, whisk-like appendage pointed threateningly at him. "THE DOC-TOR WILL STEP AWAY FROM THE CON-TROLS," it ordered. The whisk must have been some sort of gun, for the Doctor slowly raised his hands and backed away.
"Stop!" Sec ordered sharply. "You will not fire!"
"HE IS AN EN-EM-Y OF THE DA-LEKS," the Dalek in front of the Doctor insisted.
"AND SO ARE YOU!" added a second Dalek, who had turned to point his gun-arm at Sec.
"I am your commander!" Sec insisted angrily. "I am Dalek Sec."
"YOU HAVE LOST YOUR AU-THO-RIT-Y," the third Dalek informed him.
The one with a gun pointed at Sec added, "YOU ARE NO LONGER A DA-LEK."
"What have you done with the gene feed?" the Doctor asked sharply.
"THE NEW BODIES WILL BE 100% DA-LEK," the third Dalek explained smugly.
"No! You can't do this," Sec pleaded desperately.
The Daleks ignored his pleads. One turned to the pigmen, who waited by the wall behind Molly. "PIG SLAVES, RESTRAIN DA-LEK SEC, THE DOC-TOR, AND HIS COM-PAN-ION."
The creatures obeyed. Before Molly could react, they'd grabbed her by the shoulders and had pushed her back against the wall, bringing the Doctor and Dalek Sec next to her. They were forced to watch as the Daleks regained control of the machinery.
Sec watched them with horror in his eye. "My Daleks... I should have guessed." He turned to the Doctor. "I am... sorry, Doctor. I am so sorry."
The Doctor didn't reply. Molly watched his expression uneasily. She'd seen him angry before, with the carrionites and the carjackers. She'd seen how dangerous he could be when prompted. But the dark look he was giving the Daleks wasn't one of anger – no, this was hatred, pure, raw hatred the likes she'd never seen before. For a few moments it terrified her that the man who'd saved so many lives and done so many great things could hold so much hate inside.
She struggled experimentally against the pigmen's grip, but they were too strong. Dalek Sec and the Doctor didn't seem to be having much more luck. One of the Daleks turned to them. "YOU WILL STAND AS WIT-NESS FOR THE NEW AGE OF THE DA-LEKS!" it declared triumphantly. The Doctor glared coldly at the metal creature. He gave a last, violent jerk, trying to rip free from the pigmen's grasp, but to no avail.
There was nothing to do but wait.
SCENEBREAK
Several minutes passed. There were only moments left before the solar flare struck. The Doctor knew the pigmen's grip was too strong to pull out of, but he had an idea. It had taken a few minutes to discreetly root through the pockets of his coat, which Molly had returned to him and he was now wearing. He had to work slowly, so the pigmen or the Daleks didn't notice, but finally he was able to find the radio and his sonic screwdriver. Just a bit of fiddling with the radio...
"SO-LAR FLARE A-PPROACH-ING IN 30 SECONDS," Dalek Caan announced.
He had to hurry. Quickly, he brought the sonic screwdriver to the radio and turned them on. The gentle whirr of the screwdriver had been amplified tenfold, letting out an ear-piercing screech. He wasn't as badly affected, but the pigmen had released him and Molly in order to slam their hands over their ears.
There were only moments left. The Doctor grabbed Molly's hand. "Come on!" He led her to the lift they'd come up from, forcing it open with the sonic screwdriver. The pigmen ran after him with angry squeals, but he was able to close the doors behind them before the pig slaves could reach them. The lift began its slow descent down. For now, at least, they were safe.
He let out a breathless, relieved chuckle, then turned to Molly. "You alright?"
His companion nodded, looking slightly dazed at their haphazard escape. "What do we do now?" she asked.
"We'll need to strip the Daleka-" he was cut off as a sudden shudder ran through the building. His eyes widened in horror; he knew what that meant. "Oh no, no, no, no, no!"
"Doctor? What's wrong?" Molly asked, bewildered by his behavior.
He ran a distracted hand through his wild hair, a little quirk this incarnation of him favored. "That was the solar flare. We're too late to stop it." Dread washed over him as he fully realized what that meant. A whole army of humans with Dalek brains, bred to kill without mercy or reason.
Molly hesitated. "Er, actually, there's still a chance."
He looked at her, puzzled. "What do you mean?"
She seemed even more embarrassed now. With a red face she mumbled, "Well, I realized that the Empire State Building looked like it was just about finished, and the Daleks needed whatever needed to be done by tonight. So I left instructions for Tallulah, Frank, and Lazlo telling them to use the psychic paper to get inside and find a way to either stop the construction or undo it."
The Doctor blinked at her a few times in shock, stunned into silence, before breaking out into a huge grin. "Remember what I said about you being brilliant earlier? I really need to say it more often."
Molly blushed, but mostly she just looked relieved he'd approved of her idea. In a few moments, the lift stopped, letting them off on Floor One, where a grim scene awaited them..
Tallulah and Lazlo were dragging an unresponsive body out from the outside railing. The Doctor's hearts froze when he recognized it.Frank.
He and Molly were at the boy's side in a moment. The pathologist did a quick check for vital signs, but after a moment she looked up at the Doctor with a sad shake of her head. "He's dead," she said softly.
He stared at the body blankly, guilt and horror raging inside him. He was just a kid! he wanted to scream. He didn't deserve this! Out loud, all he managed was a dull, "What happened?"
Tallulah let out a sniff as she explained, "We did what that paper thing said. We found some blueprints and figured out we were s'pposed to pull the planks off the tip. Frank went up to do it, b-but the whole place got roasted by lightning, and Frank..." she trailed off, lip trembling as she looked down at the boy she'd watched die. She turned suddenly to wrap her arms around Lazlo, letting out a muffled sob into his shoulder. Molly looked at Frank's body with wide, horrified eyes, while Lazlo just looked at him sadly.
The Doctor felt a rush of grief for the kid. He'd made a point to care about the victims of the Daleks, and he'd been smart. When the Depression ended in a few years he might have had a great future. Now all of that was gone, because of him. Because he hadn't stopped the Daleks, because he never could stop the Daleks. Every time they walked away while he kept losing those around him. It wasn't fair.
Through his grief, an idea came to him. A last, desperate hope, but it might save all of their lives.
He turned quickly to Tallulah, who was still holding onto Lazlo. "Tallulah," he said in a low, urgent voice. "This is important. When the lightning struck, did it go through Frank before it hit the tip?"
She nodded, giving a small sniffle. "Yeah, it sorta went through his chest straight to the metal. Why the hell does that matter?"
A chance. A small chance, but he had to hope. "I think Frank may have just saved our lives," he said quietly.
Tallulah glared at him. "How'd'ya mean? He didn't get any of that metal offa there!"
They would need some sort of open space, somewhere to get the Daleks' attention and draw them out. "The theatre!" he realized aloud. "It's right above them, and, what, it's gone midnight?" He whipped back around to face Tallulah, who was staring at him like he'd gone nuts. "Tallulah, can you get us inside?"
She stared at him suspiciously. "Don't see why not, but why you asking?"
There was no time to explain. The Time Lord jumped to his feet. "Come on!" He raced off, not waiting to see if the others followed.
If he was wrong, Manhattan was doomed.
SCENEBREAK
When they arrived in the darkened theatre, the Doctor stepped out among the seats. "This should do it. Here we go." He held up his sonic screwdriver, flicking it on and off experimentally. Molly wasn't sure what was going through his head, but she was slightly worried about how Frank's death might have hit him. He always seemed to blame himself for everything, and Frank was so young.
Tallulah shivered. "There ain't nothin' more creepy than a theatre in the dark." She glared at the Doctor. "Listen Doc, I'm sorry your friend died, but this is no time to go losing your head."
The Doctor steadily ignored her, still fiddling with his screwdriver. Suddenly, Lazlo gave a groan. Without warning he collapsed into one of the chairs, panting heavily. Tallulah hurried into a seat next to him, clasping his hands in hers. "Lazlo, what's wrong?" she asked fearfully.
He laughed lightly, trying to act fine, but Molly could see sweat shining on his forehead and could hear his labored breathing. "Nothing. It's just so hot."
Tallulah's eyes widened. "But…it's freezing in here." She turned anxiously to the Time Lord. "Doctor, what's happening to him?"
He shook his head. "Not now, Tallulah, sorry."
Molly slipped quietly to his side, watching him anxiously. "What are you doing?" she asked quietly.
He gave her a grim smile. "If the Daleks are going to war, they'll wanna find their number one enemy. I'm just telling them where I am." With that, he raised his sonic screwdriver high and turned it on, letting the whirring echo loudly through the empty theatre.
Tallulah spun around to look at him with wide eyes. "What're ya, nuts?! What are you callin' 'em here for?!"
"Not now, Tallulah," he said with more of an edge to his tone.
SCENEBREAK
It wouldn't be long until they arrived. The Doctor turned to Molly. "Molly, take Tallulah and Lazlo and head back to the TARDIS. It'll be safer there."
Molly turned to look at Tallulah and Lazlo, who were sitting together in the seats, talking quietly, then looked back at the Doctor. "We should stay and help," she said.
His eyes narrowed. "It's not safe, the Daleks'll kill you."
"And they won't kill you?" she challenged quietly. Helping the people in Hooverville had changed something for her. She knew that if it came down to it, the Doctor could use some help, even if he said he didn't.
He looked at her, frustrated, but before he could protest further, the doors to the threatre burst open. A swarm of the human Daleks pushed inside, flanking in the small group. Molly moved instinctively closer to the Doctor's side, and Tallulah gripped Lazlo's hands tighter. For several moments, the human Daleks did nothing other than stand there. "Where are the Dalek masters?" Lazlo asked in a low voice.
Before the Doctor could reply, there was a loud explosion from the stage. Molly and the others ducked back behind the seats, shielding their eyes from the light and smoke. The thunderous noise began to fade, and Molly slowly raised her head above the seats. Two of the Daleks had blasted holes through the wall, which they now glided through, dragging a chained Dalek Sec after them. They swung their eyestalks around to glare at the Time Lord. "THE DOC-TOR WILL STAND BEFORE THE DA-LEKS!"
The Doctor turned to give Molly a final look. It held a warning; Don't interfere. Fear seized her as she wondered exactly what he was planning, but she trusted his judgment. He turned and started walking on the tops of the seats until he was in front of the stage.
The Dalek glared down at him. "YOU WILL DIE, DOC-TOR. IT IS THE BE-GI-NNING OF A NEW AGE."
The other Dalek added, "PLANET EARTH WILL BECOME NEW SKA-RO."
The Doctor glared at them with cold hatred. In a disgusted tone he snarled, "Oh, and what a world. With anything just the slightest bit different ground into the dirt." He nodded towards the degraded human Dalek on the stage. "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? Hmm? Is that the foundation for a whole new civilization?"
Sec looked up tiredly at the Daleks who had betrayed him. "My Daleks…just understand this. If you choose death and destruction... then death and destruction will choose you."
"INCORRECT!" the first Dalek insisted. "WE WILL ALWAYS SUR-VIVE!"
"NOW WE WILL DE-STROY OUR GREATEST E-NE-MY, THE DOC-TOR," the other Dalek added shrilly.
"But he can help you," Sec insisted.
"THE DOC-TOR MUST DIE!"
Sec was beginning to sound desperate. "No, I beg you, don't!"
The Dalek ignored him. "EX-TER-MI-NATE!"
It fired at the Doctor, but at the last moment Sec stood in the way of his blast. He crumpled instantly to the ground, dead. Molly was stunned by the suddenness. The last hope of a dying race, and they'd kill him without a thought.
What she felt, however, was nothing compared to the Doctor's reaction. He glared up at the Daleks with rage burning in his eyes. There was something so incredibly dangerous about him right then. "Your own leader! The only creature who might have led you out of the darkness and you destroyed him!" He whirled around to face the human Daleks, who stared stoically back at him. "Do you see what they did? Huh? You see what a Dalek really is?" He turned back to the Daleks, throwing his words tauntingly at them. "If I'm gonna die, let's give the new boys a shot. What do you think, eh? The Dalek-Humans. Their first blood. Go on, baptize them." The Time Lord threw his arms out wide, inviting the attack, inviting death.
Molly watched with horror as he offered himself as sacrifice. She started to get up to stop him, but then she remembered the look he'd given her. Don't interfere. Uncertainly, she lowered back behind the seats. The Doctor had a plan – or so she hoped. She had to believe he did, or they were all lost.
The Dalek turned to its troops. "DALEK-HUMANS, TAKE AIM."
The human Daleks pointed their weapons at the Doctor, who continued to glare defiance at the Daleks. "What are you waiting for?" he taunted. "Give the command!"
"EX-TER-MI-NATE!"
Molly jerked instinctively towards the Doctor, still hoping to stop him somehow, but there was no need. The human Daleks continued to point their weapons at the Doctor, but none of them fired.
The Dalek tried again. "EX-TER-MI-NATE!" Still nothing. They simply waited, silent and watchful. The Dalek's command became more shrill. "O-BEY! DALEK-HUMANS WILL O-BEY!"
"Why?"
The question had come from one of the Dalek-Humans. Everyone turned to stare at him in shock. His expression hadn't changed beyond the dull, obedient stare, but the word itself had been a rebellion. And Daleks did not rebel.
The Dalek's voice became even higher in fury. "YOU WILL STOP THIS!"
"But... why?" The same expression, and the same small rebellion. Molly didn't entirely understand what was happening, but she let out a small laugh of relief as she realized that they had stopped the Daleks after all.
"YOU MUST NOT QUESTION!"
"But you are not our master," the Dalek-Human said slowly, deliberately. "And we…we are not Daleks."
The Doctor's defiant anger faded, replaced by a triumphant grin. "No, you're not," he told the Dalek-Human kindly, "and you never will be." He turned back to the Daleks, grin becoming fierce in his victory. "Sorry, one of those worthless humans you love to kill got in the way of the lightening strike. Human DNA got all mixed up, more got added in then it should have, right back into the mind. Just that little bit of human freedom."
Molly's eyes widened. She remembered the Doctor saying that Frank had saved their lives, and he was right. His sacrifice had saved them all.
The second Dalek's eyestalk swung wildly between the two rows of Dalek-Humans, and it seemed to be shaking in rage. "IF THEY WILL NOT O-BEY," it finally shrieked, "THEN THEY MUST DIE!" Without warning it turned and shot the Dalek-Human that had spoken, killing him instantly. That's when all hell broke loose.
"Get down!" The Doctor ducked, pulling Molly down with him, while Lazlo and Tallulah dove beneath their seats. The Dalek-Humans fired on those who'd tried to be their masters, and after several deaths on their side, they managed to kill both Daleks.
Molly stared at the hybrids in shock. A few minutes ago, she thought the troops were going to kill them. Now they had saved their lives.
The Doctor stood, grinning more broadly than Molly had seen in a while. "It's all right," the Time Lord said as he approached the Dalek-Humans. "It's all right. It's all right. You did it." He wrapped his arm around one of their shoulders. "You're free."
The Dalek-Human turned to look at him, maybe the faintest hint of a smile on his lips.
Then they all gripped their heads as one, screaming out in pain.
The Doctor seemed to understand what was happening right away. "No!" He tried to help the Dalek-Human he stood with, but there was nothing to be done. Within a few moments' time, they had all slumped to the ground, dead. A whole species wiped out in a few seconds time. Molly couldn't process it.
The Doctor sunk down beside one of the bodies. "They can't! They can't! They can't!" He seemed far more worked up than Molly had ever seen him before. An entire species killed in front of his eyes. For a man who blamed himself for everything, that had to kill him.
Molly hurried over to his side. "What did this?" she asked quietly. She didn't want to push the Doctor too much. Today had shown her more of the Doctor's pain than she'd ever seen before, and she was worried whether this latest blow might be too much for even him to bear.
He was staring down at the bodies in shock. "They killed 'em," he breathed. "Rather than let them live. An entire species. Genocide." The last word seemed especially hard for the Doctor to say. He hung his head in defeat, suddenly looking far older than his years.
Lazlo spoke from further back in the seats. "Only two of the Daleks have been destroyed. One of the Dalek masters must still be alive."
Something in this seemed to give the Doctor more resolve. He stood slowly, a strange light in his eyes. "Oh, yes. In the whole universe, just one."
He started off, presumably to find that last Dalek.
Both afraid and wanting to help, Molly followed.
SCENEBREAK
They arrived back in the lab from before. The last Dalek in the universe was hooked up to a computer with wires and tubes, but he whirled around to face the Doctor and Molly when they entered. The Doctor stared at him, a blank look in his eyes. "Now what?"
"YOU WILL BE EX-TER-MI-NATE-ED!" The Dalek screeched, pointing its gun threateningly at them.
The Doctor waved off the response. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Just think about it, Dalek... what was your name?"
"DA-LEK CAAN."
The Doctor took a few steps forward. Molly tensed. What would he do to the one who'd committed genocide and murder, the one he seemed to hate with every fiber in his being? "Dalek Caan," he began slowly, "your entire species has been wiped out. And now the Cult of Skaro has been eradicated. Leaving only you. Right now you're facing the only man in the universe who might show you some compassion. 'Cause I've just seen one genocide. I won't cause another. Caan…let me help you. What do you say?"
Dalek Caan stared blankly at them for a few moments. Without warning, it let out a cry of "EMERGENCY TEMPORAL SHIFT!" The Dalek wavered like an image on a screen, then was gone completely.
SCENEBREAK
After the Doctor helped restore Lazlo's health, and they had hunted down Solomon to deliver Frank's body and ask for a place for Lazlo to stay, he and his companion headed back to the TARDIS. Before heading back out into time and space, they spent a few minutes looking out into the Manhattan skyline, both wrapped up in individual thought.
Molly was the first to break the silence. "You offered to help him. After everything he'd done." It was a question, not an accusation.
The Doctor's gaze turned dark. "Yeah," was all he said.
She'd seen how dark the Doctor could be, how hateful and dangerous, but today had also shown her that he was good, and he would always do his best to help, not hurt. He clearly hated the Daleks with everything he had, but he refused to commit genocide to destroy them.
Without a word, she held out a hand for the Doctor, which, after a few moments of surprise, he accepted. She didn't know a lot about her friend, but little by little she was learning.
After a few moments, he said, "You know, there's something I don't get about you Molly Hooper."
"Hmm?"
"You nearly got killed by Daleks a couple times today, and you're not the un-curious type. Un-curious. Is that a word? Anyway, you heard me say I know the Daleks, but you haven't asked me anything about them."
Molly could hear the implied question there, and for a few moments she searched for the best way to answer. Finally, she settled on, "You hate them."
The Doctor hesitated, so she rushed to say, "Don't worry, you don't have to say anything. You don't need to tell me anything you don't want. I can manage. But," she added a little nervously, "if you do want to talk, I'm here. To talk, I mean." She was starting to get flustered. Molly had never been good at talking to people, and she really didn't want to seem too familiar, or too needy, or whatever friends weren't supposed to be. She just want to help.
The Time Lord looked at her in stunned silence, a warm smile on his lips. After a few moments, he gave Molly's hand a squeeze. "So!" he said as he sprung back, turning towards the blue box behind them, "back to the TARDIS then?"
Molly smiled and nodded, and followed him back into the blue spaceship.
*hides behind laptop from killing-Frank backlash*
You lucky people get another chapter today, and an extra-long one at that. And if you're really lucky you might be getting an Interlude in a few minutes.
So, some heavy emotional stuff for the Doctor, and more canon changes. Yeah, sorry about Frank. I'd already saved Solomon and all of Hooverville - you can't get something for nothing. Sorry Andrew Garfield fans.
A few of you have asked about The Lazarus Experiment and how that would be worked in. I won't say just yet, but the upcoming Interlude might offer some clarity on that point.