Disclaimer: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC. I do not own any of it, nor do I get paid for it.

A/N Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter. Sorry for my unexplained absence. I have been on a spontaneous vacation but I am back now so updates will be more regular from now on. I apologise if I haven't replied to any reviews but I have lost track of the ones that I have answered and ones I haven't. Sorry if I haven't answered anything important.

We finally have Ace and Rose talking and this chapter focuses majorly on that and not much on the action.

Happy Reading!

The Dalek Factor: Wolves of Time

Previously

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."

"That's not possible," said Van Statten, staring at the Dalek in horror. "I made you! You can't do this! I am Henry…"

"Shut up, Van Statten," snapped Ace, her eyes fixed on Dalek Prime.

The Dalek's eyestalk swivelled to her and Ace tensed, acutely aware of the lack of weapons on her. Ross Jenkins raised his gun but before he could fire, Van Statten's remaining guard did. The bullet barely made a dent on the Dalek's shell before a blast of the ray gun killed the second guard too.

"Don't fire," said Rose, gripping Ross's wrist. "It'll kill you."

"It'll kill us anyway," said Ace, her fists clenching and unclenching as if wishing she was holding something to hit the Dalek with. Preferably a baseball bat powered by Omega's glove.

The older assistant behind Van Statten, perhaps in a sudden fit of bravery, threw a small silver sphere at the Dalek which opened up and sprang a mesh upon the Dalek, engulfing it in blue energy. The Dalek let out a howl and fired the ray gun, killing the assistant.

"Run, you fools," said Van Statten as he took off from the ballroom. The energy seemed to be fading, so Rose, Ace, Jenkins and Adam ran behind Van Statten.

"Where's the TARDIS?" Ace asked Rose.

"Kitchens, but we can't risk it," said Rose as she ran.

"My suite is the most secure place in this building," said Van Statten, leading the way. "I programmed in the defences myself."

"Yeah, you can brag later, sunshine," snapped Ace. "Hurry up for now!"

They couldn't see or hear the Dalek behind them, meaning that the energy cell was still holding. Or the Dalek was at least temporarily paralysed.

They arrived at a pair of double oak doors surrounded by a metallic frame. Van Statten opened up a panel in the wall next to it and typed in something rapidly. The doors creaked open and he pushed past everyone, leaving them to follow him into the suite. Once everyone was in, he closed the doors and sealed them using a panel in the room.

"We're safe," he said, once he was done.

"For now," said Ace darkly.

"What was his name?" asked Rose. "The man who just saved us."

Van Statten just stared incredulously at her but Adam understood what she meant. "That was Mr Polkowski."

Rose nodded at him and ignored Van Statten's eye-roll. Her dislike for the man was gradually turning into hatred. Ace, on the other hand, had seen the entire exchange and was currently glaring at Van Statten. "You know, you could be a bit more compassionate, Van Statten," she said.

"The man was an idiot wasting that energy cell," he said. "It cost nearly a hundred thousand."

"He just died saving our lives," snapped Rose, incensed. Van Statten merely glared at her in response and Rose shook her head in incredulity before turning away from him. "We need to see if the Doctor and Brigadier made it out of the vault," she said.

"I'll try and get on my radio with Collins, ma'am," said Jenkins.

"The signal is better through the second study," said Adam. "I'll show you."

Jenkins nodded in thanks as he and Adam left the room. Van Statten situated himself at his desk and started typing something, pointedly ignoring both Rose and Ace.

Ace paid him no attention as she made her way to the bathroom. Rose followed her quickly and saw that she was gathering any and all deodorant and hairspray cans in the bathroom.

"So, what are you doing?" asked Rose curiously, leaning in the doorway.

Ace looked up and gave her a quick grin. "Making Nitro-9. It's my own recipe. Not sure the Professor would approve of me showing you."

"Doesn't seem to deter you," said Rose, only half-joking.

Ace looked like she was about to make a joke right back but then her expression turned serious. "How long you been travelling with him?" she asked.

Rose looked a bit surprised at the change in subject. "Almost three years, apparently," she shrugged. "How long did you travel with him?"

"Dunno," she answered. "Lost count after a few years. Might have been close to a decade." Rose raised her eyebrows in shock, making Ace chuckle. "I met him when I was 16. Well, I say met."

"What do you mean?" asked Rose, curiously.

"My meeting with the Doctor wasn't exactly random," she said, her eyes suddenly looking much older. "It wasn't his fault. Not that time anyway."

Rose wondered about the sadness and anger in her demeanour. Her curiosity and concern must have shown on her face, since Ace gave sigh and sat down at the edge of the tub. "I was swept up by a time storm from Perivale," she said.

A gasp escaped Rose as she suddenly thought of Rory. Had the Rani trapped Ace the same way too? Ace misinterpreted the gasp and gave a slight laugh. "I know, right? My name is Dorothy and I was swept up by a storm and arrived on a new world."

Rose gave a weak chuckle but stayed focused on the topic at hand. "Who trapped you into the time storm?" she asked.

"You've heard about them then?" asked Ace, only slightly surprised. "Well, who trapped me wasn't so important. I dealt with him a long time ago."

"And the Doctor?" asked Rose, after Ace fell silent.

"He knew everything since the moment we met," said Ace. "He just didn't think it fit to tell me. Not until he thought the time was right."

Rose was inexplicably reminded of her own situation with the Doctor. He had known about the lack of her timelines since the first time they had met, but he hadn't told her until she had brought it up months later. Not to mention the Bad Wolf, Arkytior and the Other. She still didn't fully understand how she was connected to all of those things. He had said that he had told her as much as he could, but there had to be more.

Ace continued on, unaware of the conflict in Rose's mind. "Fenric manipulated timelines so that I could be used as a weapon against the Doctor. Wolves of Fenric, he called people like me."

Rose's head snapped up. "W-wolf?" she asked, her voice a bit shaky.

Ace looked at her in surprise. "Yeah," she said, looking at Rose in concern. "Does that mean something to you?"

Rose was trembling lightly as she thought of her connection to Bad Wolf. "I don't know," she said finally. "It might explain what happened when I first saw you."

Ace straightened up. "I had a sudden image of Fenric when I saw you," she said, looking much warier now. "I thought that it was just an effect of seeing the Doctor after so many years. What did you see?"

"Bad Wolf," said Rose. "Something that happened to me a while ago." She knew that there was a very likely possibility that she was connected to the same thing that Ace was, but Rose had never been afraid of the Bad Wolf. On the other hand, Ace seemed to hate the association to the wolves of Fenric as if it tainted her somehow.

"Bad Wolf?" asked Ace, looking slightly taken aback. "How does it feel?" she asked suddenly.

"What?" asked Rose, startled at the change in her tone.

"The Bad Wolf. Does it feel like a curse? Like you're all wrong for some reason?" asked Ace.

"No!" said Rose at once. "No. It feels...felt...wonderful. I saved the Doctor, saved all of Gallifrey and the Time Lords."

Ace stared at her with wide eyes. "Why are you really here, Rose?" she asked. "The Doctor just doesn't drop in randomly. Not even when there is trouble like this."

Rose cleared her throat. "We've been given a task to complete," she said.

Ace gave a bitter smile. "Time Lords?" she asked.

"No," said Rose. "Ever heard of the Guardians?"

Ace stiffened visibly. "I've heard about them alright," she said. "And I don't like what I have heard."

Rose shrugged. "We're almost done anyway," she said.

Ace stood up and walked up to her. "Look, I am about to give you some advice and even if you think I am out of line, just hear me out. If there is one thing I know about the Doctor is that he thinks that his way is the right way, no matter what. And most of the time, he is right about that. But the way that he goes about it makes collateral damage of us all. Those of us that get involved in that life of his are always at risk and I am not talking about getting killed or kidnapped or the usual. I mean being hurt by the Doctor himself. I know Fenric tried to ruin my life and the Doctor saved me but the way he did it, made me lose faith in him. I never trusted him the same way again and I never will again."

Rose was stunned into silence. "You-you sound like-like you hate him," she said, her voice shaky.

Ace gave a bitter laugh. "If only it was as simple as that," she said. "I did hate him for some of the things he put me through, but at the end of the day he was the closest thing to a father I have ever had. You and the Doctor are close, that much I can tell, and I would be very glad if you never told me how close you really are," she said, making a face. "But be careful. He thinks he knows best and maybe he does, but we are human. We like to make our own mistakes and do things on our own terms. Just because he knows best doesn't mean he gets to make our decisions for us."

As reluctant as she was to doubt her trust in the Doctor, Rose was reminded of the time that he had tricked her into a kiss before knocking her out. He was doing it for her safety but he hadn't given her a choice or say on the matter. How many other things had happened in their travels together that he hadn't told her about? How many times had her decision been made by him for her?

Ace patted her arm in comfort. "I'm not telling you this to make problems between you two. Actually, I am really glad to see him so happy. I just want you to be careful. For your own sake," she said.

"Thanks," was all Rose could manage. Ace turned back to her cans of Nitro-9 while Rose stayed silent and contemplated all that she had been told. As shocked as she currently was, it somehow seemed as if it was something she had known all along but hadn't cared to examine too closely for fear of being right. Rose had never felt like a bigger fool. She had wilfully closed her eyes to the Doctor's faults, just like she had done with Jimmy. Was she just that sort of a person then? The one who lived in her own world and remained ignorant to the reality of the situation.

"Almost done," said Ace, sealing up the last of the cans and breaking Rose out of her thoughts.

"What did you mean when you asked me if I felt like I was cursed?" asked Rose.

Ace sighed. "Because I am cursed and that's how I feel. How I've always felt. Like there was something wrong with me. I created my own future and played right into his plans," she said, looking down at her hands. "It's been years but I still have nightmares about Fenric telling me he has plans for me. His wolf."

Rose shivered at her words. "I'm sorry," she said. "I truly am. But I haven't ever felt like that. The Bad Wolf is something that I have always associated with comfort and safety."

Ace looked at her seriously. "Then it explains why it's the bad wolf," she said. "Fenric was an Ancient Evil and he might have manipulated a lot of things but maybe you found a way out, Rose."

"But I don't even know who Fenric is," said Rose, feeling like the answer was right at the tip of her tongue but something was preventing her from remembering exactly what it was. A sudden image flashed through her mind: Everything. Do you really want to know everything?

She gasped, and Ace grabbed her shoulders roughly. "You looked like you were going into shock," said Ace, not mentioning that her eyes had seemed to glow in that moment.

"I just remembered something," said Rose, clutching Ace's arms almost painfully. "Back on Gallifrey. Something the Bad Wolf told the Doctor but he refused to know what it was. He said he didn't want to know everything. Like it was a secret that he didn't want anyone to ever know."

Ace pursed her lips as she rubbed Rose's shoulder in comfort. "The Doctor has a lot of secrets but...the most obvious one that comes to mind..."

"What?" asked Rose earnestly. "Tell me."

"Who he is," said Ace. "He told me that he was far more than just another Time Lord."

Rose's arms fell to her sides. "Oh my god," she said, her mind practically whirling. The Other. She had been so curious about him, and the Doctor had been so evasive. He had called it his secret. A secret so terrible that he could never tell anybody. It was so obvious now.

"Rose," called Ace, when the other girl remained speechless. "What's wrong?"

Rose didn't answer as the endless possibilities flew through her mind. It was the Other's secret. But it is mine to keep as well. He had practically told her and she hadn't even realised it. If he really was the Other...and the Bad Wolf was connected to him...

Ace was starting to look worried at her silence but they were interrupted when Jenkins and Adam ran to them.

"Ma'am, there is bad news," said Jenkins sombrely. "There's only static on the other end."

Ace turned away from Rose who was looking very pale. "The comms. must be down. Nothing to worry," said Ace, trying to sound reassuring even as she looked at Rose in worry.

"That's not the worst of it," said Adam apologetically. "I checked on the vault security and it shows that there was a massive ceiling collapse inside. No one could have survived that."

Ace shook her head insistently. "They would have got out," she said, sounding more confident than she was feeling. "We just have to find a way to get in touch with them."

"Collins' comm. signal is still coming from the vault," said Jenkins, looking very much like he would have liked to believe Ace. "I'm sorry, ma'am. They're all dead."

A/N End of the chapter. What did you think?

A lot of things were revealed and those of you well-versed with Doctor Who's history are probably starting to make connections already. I know it seems confusing if you are being confronted with it the first time, so feel free to ask me anything that you need cleared up.

The Doctor being the Other was no secret I expect, and you can guess that I am mixing Cartmel's plan with Rose's arc of Bad Wolf. It was a convenient happenstance. Or was it? Hmm, I wonder if RTD chose Bad Wolf deliberately...

Anyway, the final part will be up soon. The final segment still needs to be found, there are Daleks to be dealt with and the Guardians are conveniently absent.

~ Phoenix