Disclaimer: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC. I do not own any of it, nor do I make any money from it.

A/N Thanks for the amazing response on the last chapter. Almost everyone guessed right away who it was and I was so happy that you are as excited as I am to write Ace.

This chapter is mostly action and Part 3 will focus more on introspection, and Rose and Ace interacting. For those looking for confrontations, you'll be disappointed. If you think it doesn't make sense, just remember that they have a very big thing in common. Hint: it starts with a 'W' and ends with an 'F' and the letters in the middle may or may not be 'O' and 'L'.

Happy Reading!

The Dalek Factor: Henry Van Statten

Previously

The Doctor was about to open the door when a figure in front of them nudged the door open and slid a silver deodorant can onto the dais which rolled along until it hit the Dalek's base and stopped.

The Doctor's eyes widened for a fraction of a second before he pushed Rose against the wall of the alcove and covered her body with his. A loud explosion rang from the dais and Rose clutched the Doctor's arms in shock and fear.

As the explosion continued to ring in their ears, the woman who had slid the deodorant can turned around and beamed at them.

"Hello, Professor."

There was chaos in the ballroom but the Doctor's singular focus was on the woman in front of them. "Ace," he whispered, as if he couldn't quite believe his eyes.

Ace's smile was still wide but she was starting to get nervous by the way he was looking at her. The Brigadier hadn't exaggerated when he had said that the Doctor was very different now. "Professor," she said, her tone slightly questioning.

His face burst into a wide smile as he walked up to her in two steps and planted a kiss on her forehead. "Ace!" he grinned, sounding like he had just got the best surprise in the universe. And perhaps he had. He turned around to look at Rose who looked slightly confused, and beckoned her to him quickly. "Rose, this is my Ace. Ace, this is my Rose."

"Hello," said Rose, extending her hand but still a bit unsure as to who the woman was.

Ace was looking at Rose with a slightly taken aback expression as she took her hand. As their hands touched, Rose suddenly felt light-headed, and a memory of the Bad Wolf and Arkytior on Gallifrey rang through her mind.

"Hi," said Ace, shaking her hand and looking at her in puzzlement. "The Brig mentioned you."

"He did?" asked Rose, her eyes lighting up a bit as she put the odd flash of memory away in her mind.

Ace nodded as she looked at her carefully for a moment before turning her attention to the Doctor who was practically buzzing with excitement. "Is the Dalek destroyed?" she asked. "I didn't have my new high-grade stuff. Just an old can of Nitro-9."

The Doctor pushed the door open and saw the slightly blackened exterior of the still-whole Dalek. He grimaced. "It's fine," he grimaced. "Yet it's not attacking anyone."

"Van Statten's done something to it, Professor," said Ace, looking irritated. "It was asking him for orders and he was making it do stuff like recite books and fetch tea."

"What the hell?" asked Rose as the Doctor's nostrils flared in anger.

"I would be very interested to meet Mr. Van Statten then," said the Doctor, his jaw clenched. "Come along, you two."

He slammed the door open and started to walk out onto the dais. Rose and Ace exchanged a quick look before hiking up the skirts of their gowns and following after him. Outside, Van Statten was throwing a fit, screaming at his assistants to find the culprit while the various UNIT personnel were either trying to diffuse the situation or demand an explanation.

"May I have your attention," began the Doctor and just like that the ballroom went silent. "I'm the Doctor."

A pin dropping would have been heard in the room as everyone stared at him with expressions of disbelief and admiration. Henry Van Statten had obviously heard of the Doctor since he immediately strode onto the dais, his hand extended in front of him.

"Henry Van Statten," he introduced himself, his voice self-assured and confident. "Can I just say what a…"

"Ah, you," said the Doctor coldly, cutting him off mid-sentence and ignoring the hand in front of him. "You and I are going to have words about that Dalek over there."

The Dalek in question was unmoving and the eye stalk appeared to be blinking sluggishly, neither of which made sense. Daleks couldn't just be stunned by a small explosive. Henry Van Statten looked furious at the Doctor's dismissal of him and the disapproving tone being used for him as if he was a misbehaving student.

"Now look here," he began blusteringly.

"This should be good," Ace murmured, and Rose heard her and flashed her a quick grin. Ace caught the grin and winked back.

"Brigadier!" called the Doctor, interrupting whatever Van Statten was about to say. "Can we get Mr. Van Statten into custody?"

The Brigadier who had been in the process of calming down various members of the British ministry, raised his eyebrows at the Doctor. Beside him, Van Statten was fuming. Ace quickly jumped in, knowing that the Brigadier couldn't interfere since Van Statten was here at the invitation of UNIT.

"Actually, Professor, shouldn't we deal with the Dalek first?" she interjected.

The Doctor turned around and gave Ace a quick nod. "Fine," he said. "Evacuate the civilians then, Brigadier. Actually, everyone just leave since this is obviously a security threat."

"I am staying right here!" Van Statten stated furiously.

"You do that," said the Doctor patronisingly, without looking at him. He was looking at the still-paralysed Dalek with a magnifying glass and ignoring everyone around himself. "Incredible," he murmured.

"What is it?" Rose asked.

"This isn't Skarosian design," he said. He tapped his knuckle against the exterior. "This isn't even proper Dalekanium. More like a mix of Dalekanium and something else."

"Hang on, are you saying that it's not a Dalek?" asked Ace, looking just as surprised as Rose.

"Of course it's a Dalek," snapped Van Statten. "I built it!"

The Doctor glared at him. "Of all the idiotic things I have heard, this takes the cake," he said, looking at Van Statten as if he couldn't believe that someone could be that foolish.

"Why would you ever build a Dalek?" Rose asked.

"Well sweetheart, I wouldn't worry your pretty little head over it," said Van Statten in a condescending tone.

"Watch your tone, sunshine, and answer the question," snapped Ace, glaring at him.

"Ms Dorothy McShane, how nice to see you," said Van Statten with obvious disdain in his voice.

Ace glared at him even more angrily at the use of her full name. "Can't say the same, sorry," she said, her tone slightly mocking. "Now, answer Blossom's question."

Rose stared at her at the use of the odd nickname but it had been said without malice so she let it pass. Henry Van Statten gritted his teeth and looked at the Doctor as he was answering. "I isolated the singular factor that makes a Dalek destructive and constructed new ones without it."

"Which still doesn't answer why," said Rose, crossing her arms.

"I'll say why," said the Doctor, glaring at Van Statten. "Human curiosity and ignorance. Absolutely typical!"

"Great, name-calling already," muttered Rose, rolling her eyes.

"Tell me about it," agreed Ace and the two women shared the same knowing look behind the Doctor's back. "Usually takes him a while to warm up to it."

"It's a Dalek, it's different," said the Doctor, letting them know that he had heard their muttered conversation.

"It's not just one," snapped Van Statten.

The Doctor looked up from his examination of the Dalek and looked at Van Statten in absolute horror. "You made more of these?" he asked.

"A whole batch of them. This was the original one; the first Dalek I took the factor out of. The rest were made in this one's image," he said, unaware of the growing horror in the Doctor, Ace and Rose's minds. "Think of what efficient tools these would make. One of the most intelligent species in the universe, but without their need to kill."

"Where are the rest of them?" asked the Brigadier as he returned into the ballroom, having caught the last part of the conversation. He had two UNIT grunts behind him.

"Why should I tell you?" demanded Van Statten. "You'll only destroy them or break them. Do you know how long it takes to program them as precisely as I have?"

"Mr Van Statten, I don't give a tinker's cuss what you want right now," said the Brigadier, amusing Rose and Ace greatly, along with a curly-haired woman in Van Statten's entourage. "Where are they?"

Van Statten glowered at the Brigadier but seeing as he was outranked in his supporters, he snapped at his entourage. "Goddard!"

The redheaded woman who had smiled before snapped to attention and darted forward. "Yes, sir?"

"Give Brigadier Lethbridge-something long name, the location of the remaining Metaltrons," he said.

"Metaltrons?" Ace asked, raising her eyebrows at the absurd name.

"Thought of it myself," said Van Statten arrogantly. "They are not Daleks anymore."

"We shall see about that," said the Doctor. He had looked furious at everything Van Statten had said and done so far and in all honesty, everyone in that ballroom who knew the Doctor, was just waiting for him to put Van Statten back in his place. "Goddard, was it?" he asked the woman, his tone kinder as he spoke to her.

"Yes sir," she nodded. "Diana Goddard. The remaining Meta…uh, the specimens have been locked in the vault."

The Doctor looked at the Brigadier for an explanation. "There is quite a large vault in the foundations of this venue."

"It's mostly used to store junk, Professor," said Ace, with a slight eye-roll.

"The contents are classified, Ms McShane," said the Brigadier in a long-suffering tone.

"If that's true then their security is rubbish," she said. "Took me minutes to break in."

The Doctor saw the admiring look directed at Ace in Rose's eyes and decided to move quickly before this turned into a situation similar to when Rose and Leela had met. He was positive that Leela had slipped Rose a Janis thorn that she carried with her but he hadn't been able to prove it so far. Last thing he needed was her adding a can of Nitro-9 to the mix.

"Miss Goddard, if you would be kind enough to show the Brigadier and I to the vault and to those specimens of yours," said the Doctor pleasantly.

"Now, listen here…" Van Statten began but the Doctor continued right on as if he couldn't hear him.

"Meanwhile Ace, I want you and Rose to keep Mr Van Statten and the remaining of his people right here," he instructed, looking at the middle-aged man and the young man standing behind Van Statten. "If he kicks up a fuss…"

"Blossom and I will handle him if he does," said Ace, nudging Rose who nodded eagerly.

The Doctor looked slightly unsure about the excited look in their eyes but nodded anyway. "Just don't break him, Ace," he said.

"I would never!" she protested, her face the very picture of innocence.

The Doctor gave her a stern look before turning to the Brigadier. "Come along, Alistair. Let's see what can be done about those Metaltrons," he said, making the name sound as ridiculous as he thought it was.

"Jenkins, you stay here and look after Miss Tyler and Ms McShane," the Brigadier instructed one of the UNIT grunts. "Collins, you come with us."

"My security detail stays with me," Van Statten spoke up.

The Doctor saw two uniformed security soldiers behind Van Statten and his assistants, and gave a curt nod. "If they attempt to harm my companions in any way…" said the Doctor.

"I'll keep them safe, sir," Jenkins spoke up eagerly.

The Doctor nodded but then stopped and stared at the young grunt. "Jenkins, what's your first name?" he asked.

"Ross, sir," he said. "Corporal Ross Jenkins."

"Huh, answer question 5 instead of 3 on your exam next month and you'll make Sergeant in no time," advised the Doctor with a knowing smile.

Ross's eyes went wide. "Sir? Yes sir," he nodded eagerly.

The Doctor smiled at him and ignored the exasperated look that the Brigadier sent his way. "On our way then, Brigadier, Miss Goddard," he said. "And Corporal Collins, of course."

They left, and Van Statten began his complaints almost immediately. Something about calling the President and the Prime Minister and the Secretary General which meant that everyone stopped listening to him soon enough.

Ace was still examining the Dalek and Rose was about to go and talk to her when the younger of Van Statten's assistants accosted her. "Hi," he said. "Are you UNIT too?"

Rose shook her head. "I work with the Doctor," she said, with a tight smile. He wasn't bad looking or anything but considering all that she had seen of Van Statten, she had no wish to associate with one of his people.

"I'm Adam," he said, oblivious to her disinterest. "Adam Mitchell. I work for Mr Van Statten."

"Rose," she said shortly but politely.

"So, how did you meet the Doctor? I mean everyone says he is an alien which I don't believe at all. He looks like us, doesn't he?" he asked, looking at Rose as if waiting for her to agree only to see her incredulous look.

"What exactly do you do for Mr Van Statten?" she asked.

"All sorts of things. He recruits geniuses like me from all over the world," he said, obviously wanting to impress her.

"Right," nodded Rose. Over his shoulder, she saw Corporal Jenkins and Ace doing their best to hide their laughter and failing miserably. Rose sent them a pleading look for help and Ace grinned.

"Oi, Blossom, give us a hand here," she called.

"Sorry, gotta go," said Rose. "Nice to meet you."

"Yeah, you too," he said, looking a bit surprised at her abrupt departure.

Rose walked over to Ace and Ross near the Dalek and sent Ace a grateful look. "The Dalek's still not operational then?" she asked.

"Seems so," answered Ace. "Hope the Professor is having better luck on his end."

"Absolutely foolish," the Doctor declared as he saw two dozen Daleks lined up in the vault. They were all dead or at least, turned off as far as he could tell. He was still sceptical of Van Statten's declaration that he had removed the destructive factor and built new Daleks.

Daleks were not robots; they were a living organism living inside an almost impenetrable outer casing. He thought of the weakened Dalek in the ballroom above who had been the original Dalek that Van Statten had used.

"Miss Goddard, how did Mr Van Statten acquire the original specimen?" asked the Doctor.

"Bought it off an auction, sir," she said. "It fell to Earth almost twenty years ago and has changed several dealers since," she answered.

"An alien life form, especially as destructive as this one, should have been reported to UNIT at once," said the Brigadier, disapprovingly.

Diana shrugged apologetically. "The black market trading of alien artefacts and specimens is a lucrative trade, sir," she said.

"Money, Alistair," said the Doctor as he examined one of the Daleks. "Money holds the power with your kind." He tapped his knuckles on one of the Daleks experimentally.

Upstairs, the weakened Dalek slowly raised its eyestalk. Ace, Rose and Ross jumped away from it, Ross raising his gun as they did so.

"Oh relax, idiots," said Van Statten, rolling his eyes. "It won't harm you."

"EXTERMINATE!" The ray blasted from its gun and killed one of Van Statten's soldiers.

Down in the vault, the Daleks began to raise their eye-stalks one by one. The Doctor jumped back in alarm, pulling the Brigadier, Diana and Corporal Collins along with him.

"At my signal," he said. "RUN!"

They ran through the vault as the Daleks began to follow them slowly, but gaining strength rapidly. They reached the vault door and Diana tried to open it. "It won't open!" she said.

The Brigadier entered the code again but the door remained sealed. The four of them were trapped with two dozen Daleks behind them.

In the ballroom, the Doctor's companions, Van Statten and his people and Corporal Jenkins were faced with the Dalek that was as pristine as before with no signs of damage.

"I AM DALEK PRIME," it said. "PRE-PARE TO BE EXTER-MINATED."

A/N Thanks for reading. End of Part 2. What did you think?

For those slightly confused by Ace and Rose's first meeting, I'll be elaborating it in the next chapter. But I am sure that some of you might have made the connection already.

Anyway, let me know what you thought. The next chapter will see them fighting Daleks which is always fun.

See you then!

~ Phoenix