Chapter 3: Victory of the Daleks
Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.
The TARDIS materialized. The Vixen and the Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS to be greeted by soldiers pointing guns at them. The soldiers parted for Churchill.
The Doctor held out an arm in introduction. "Amy... Winston Churchill."
Churchill asked, "Doctor? And Vixen? Is it you?" Amy stepped out and stared at Churchill in amazement.
The Doctor said, "Oh, Winston, my old friend!" He went to shake hands but Churchill motioned with his hand that he wanted something.
The Vixen sighed, "Ah, every time!"
Amy asked, "What's he after?"
The Doctor replied, "TARDIS key, of course."
Churchill said, "Think of what I could achieve with your remarkable machine, Doctor! The lives that could be saved!"
The Doctor replied, "Ah, doesn't work like that." He closed the TARDIS door.
Churchill asked, "Must I take it by force?"
The Vixen smirked, "We'd like to see you try."
"At ease." Churchill ordered and the soldiers lowered their rifles.
The Doctor asked, "You rang?"
The Vixen, the Doctor, Amy and Churchill strode through the corridor as an air raid happened above. The Doctor had Churchill's cane.
Churchill said, "So you two have changed your face, again."
The Vixen replied, "Yeah, well, had a bit of work done."
Amy jumped up and said, "Got it, got it, got it! Cabinet War Rooms, right?"
The Doctor nodded, "Yep. Top secret heart of the War Office, right under London."
Churchill said, "You're late, by the way."
A woman handed Churchill a clipboard and pen. "Requisitions, sir."
"Excellent."
The Vixen asked, "Late?"
Churchill signed the papers and replied, "I rang you a month ago."
The Doctor asked, "Really? Sorry. Sorry, it's a Type 40 TARDIS. Just running her in."
Churchill handed the clipboard back. "Something the matter, Breen? You look a little down in the dumps."
Breen hugged the clipboard. "No, sir. Fine, sir."
Churchill said, "Action this day, Breen! Action this day!"
"Yes, sir." Breen nodded, forced a smile and cast a glance Amy's way before leaving.
An officer reported, "Excuse me, sir, got another formation coming in, Prime Minister. Stukas, by the look of them."
Churchill said, "We shall go up top then, Group Captain! We'll give 'em what for! Coming, Doctor?"
The Doctor asked, "Why?"
Churchill snatched his cane back. "I have something to show you."
The Vixen mouthed "Oooh" to Amy and she giggled.
Churchill started the lift and puffed on his cigar. The Doctor waved the smoke away. The Vixen stood to the back with Amy. Churchill said, "We stand at a crossroads. Quite alone, with our backs to the wall. Invasion is expected daily. So I will grasp with both hands anything that will give us an advantage over the Nazi menace."
The Vixen asked, "Such as?"
The lift stopped and Churchill opened the gate. "Follow me."
Amidst the sandbags on the roof, a man in a white coat was watching the sky with binoculars. The Vixen, the Doctor and Amy followed Churchill. Amy exclaimed, "Wow!"
Churchill said, "Vixen, Doctor, this is Professor Edwin Bracewell, head of our Ironsides Project." The Doctor held up his hand with a "V for Victory". The Vixen just waved.
"How d'you do?" Bracewell asked. He waved at them then looked through the binoculars again. A formation of German planes was approaching. The Vixen and Amy walked towards the edge and looked out over London and its barrage balloons as the bombs dropped.
Amy said, "Oh, Vixen... Vixen, it's..."
The Vixen replied, "History."
Churchill asked, "Ready, Bracewell?"
Aye-aye, sir." Bracewell replied, giving a thumbs up. "On my order! Fire!"
From within a sandbagged area on the roof, laser beams were fired at the German planes and they were destroyed. Amy asked, "What was that?"
The Vixen shared a look of horror with the Doctor. "That wasn't human, that was never human technology. That sounded like... Show me! Show me what that was!" She and the Doctor climbed the ladder to stand by Bracewell.
Bracewell ordered, "Advance!"
Churchill said proudly, "Our new secret weapon!" A Dalek trundled out. It was painted in Army khaki, a utility belt around it, a small Union Flag under the eyestalk and the lights on the top of the dome were covered. The Vixen and the Doctor looked on, horrified. "What do you think? Quite something, eh?"
The Doctor asked the Dalek, "What are you doing here?"
The Dalek replied, "I am your soldier."
The Doctor asked, "What?"
"I am your soldier."
The Vixen snarled, "Stop this. Stop now! You know who we are, you always know."
The Dalek said, "Your identity is unknown."
Bracewell said, "Perhaps I can clarify things here, this is one of my Ironsides."
The Vixen asked, "Your what?"
Bracewell asked the Dalek, "You will help the Allied cause in any way that you can?"
"Yes."
Bracewell asked, "Until the Germans have been utterly smashed?"
"Yes."
Bracewell asked, "And what is your ultimate aim?"
The Dalek screamed, "To win the war!"
The Vixen and the Doctor looked at the diagrams and blueprints that clearly showed a Dalek. The Doctor said, "They're Daleks! They're called Daleks!"
Churchill said, "They are Bracewell's Ironsides, Doctor! Look! Blueprints, statistics, field-tests, photographs. He invented them!"
The Vixen scoffed, "Invented them? Oh, no, no, no!"
Churchill replied, "Yes! He approached one of our brass hats a few months ago. Fella's a genius."
Amy said, "A Scottish genius, too. Maybe you should listen to..."
The Doctor shushed her, "Shh! He didn't invent them! They're alien."
Churchill asked, "Alien?"
A Dalek glided by the open doorway and the Vixen and the Doctor sensed its presence, looking over their shoulder. The Dalek viewed the action in the room before continuing on.
The Vixen snarled, "And totally hostile!"
"Precisely." Churchill said. "They will win me the war!" He turned over a blueprint to show a propaganda poster with a large Dalek.
The Doctor asked, "Why won't you listen? Why call us in if you won't listen to us?!
Churchill said, "When I rang you a month ago, I must admit, I had my doubts. The Ironsides seemed too good to be true."
The Vixen snapped, "Yes! Right! So destroy them! Exterminate them!"
Churchill said, stubborn, "But imagine what I could do with a hundred! A thousand!"
The Doctor said, "I am imagining." A courier Dalek passed them.
The Vixen said, "Amy, tell him."
Amy asked, "Tell him what?"
The Vixen replied, "About the Daleks!"
Amy asked, "What would I know about the Daleks?"
The Doctor said, "Everything. They invaded your world, remember? Planets in the sky, you don't forget that! Amy... Tell me you remember the Daleks."
Amy replied, "Nope, sorry."
The Doctor and the Vixen just looked at her. The Vixen whispered, "That's not possible."
Women were manning the radios and moving the figures on the map as required. Breen instructed, "And 6... 2357, over! 2357, over!"
A Dalek glided past the Vixen, the Doctor and Amy as they enter. The Doctor growled, "So they're up to something, but what is it? What are they after?"
Amy replied, "Well, let's just ask, shall we?" She walked over to the Dalek.
The Vixen hissed, "Amy… No… Amy... Amelia!"
Amy tapped on the Dalek's casing and it swivelled to focus its eyestalk on her. "Can I be of assistance?"
Amy replied, "Oh. Yes. Yes! See, my friends reckon you're dangerous. That you're an alien. Is it true?"
The Dalek said, "I am your soldier."
Amy replied, "Yeah. Got that bit. Love a squaddie. What else, though?" The Doctor and the Vixen shared a look and watched on thoughtfully.
The Dalek said, "Please excuse me. I have duties to perform."
The Doctor and the Vixen went over to Churchill and the Doctor took the cigar from the Prime Minister's mouth. The Doctor said, "Winston, Winston, please."
Churchill said, "We are waging total war, Doctor! Day after day, the Luftwaffe pound this great city like an iron fist."
The Vixen scoffed, "Wait till the Daleks get started."
Churchill said, "Men, women and children slaughtered. Families torn apart. Wren's churches in flames."
The Doctor asked, "Yeah? Try the Earth in flames!"
Churchill said, "I weep for my country, I weep for my empire. It is breaking my heart." He moved around the table.
The Vixen and the Doctor followed Churchill. The Doctor said, "But you're resisting, Winston! The whole world knows you're resisting! You're a beacon of hope."
Churchill signed some more papers. "But for how long? Millions of innocent lives will be saved if I use these Ironsides now!"
The Dalek asked, "Can I be of assistance?"
The Vixen snapped at the Dalek, "Shut it!" She turned to Churchill and spoke in a deadly whisper. "Listen to me. Just listen! The Daleks have no conscience, no mercy, no pity. They are mine and the Doctor's oldest and deadliest enemy. You cannot trust them!"
Churchill said, "If Hitler invaded hell, I would give a favourable reference to the Devil! These machines are our salvation!" A siren sounded. "Oh, the all-clear. We are safe. For now." He left.
The Doctor and the Vixen stared at the Dalek, hatred filled in their eyes, before it, too, turned away and left. Amy asked, "Vixen? Doctor, it's the all-clear. Are you OK?"
The Doctor asked, twisting an officer's cap in his hands, "What does hate look like, Amy?"
Amy asked, "Hate?"
The Vixen snarled, "It looks like a Dalek. And I'm going to prove it." She snatched the cap from the Doctor's hand and put it on a desk as she walked out.
Bracewell was working at his desk and a few technicians were working nearby. A Dalek glided up to him. "Would you care for some tea?"
Bracewell replied, "That would be very nice. Thank you."
The Doctor, the Vixen and Amy strode in and the Doctor began checking everything out. "All right, Prof! The PM's been filling me in. Amazing things, these Ironsides of yours. Amazing. You must be very proud of them."
Bracewell said, "Just doing my bit."
Amy picked up a spanner. "Not bad for a Paisley boy."
The Vixen sat on a chair and began to read a file. Bracewell said, "Yes, I thought I detected a familiar cadence, my dear."
The Vixen asked, "How did you do it? Come up with the idea?"
Bracewell asked, "How does the muse of invention come to anyone?"
The Vixen tossed the file onto the desk behind her. "But you get a lot of these clever notions, do you?"
Bracewell replied, "Well, ideas just seem to teem from my head! Wonderful things! Like... let me show you." He showed them some files. "Some musings on the potential of hypersonic flight. Gravity bubbles that could sustain life outside of the terrestrial atmosphere! Came to me in the bath!"
The Doctor asked, "And are these your ideas or theirs?"
Bracewell replied, "No, no, no, no. These robots are entirely under my control, Doctor. They are..." A Dalek brought his tea. "Thank you...the perfect servant, and the perfect warrior."
The Doctor said, "I don't know what you're up to, Professor, but whatever they've promised, you cannot trust them! Call them what you like, the Daleks are death!"
Churchill entered, followed by another Dalek. "Yes, Doctor. Death to our enemies! Death to the forces of darkness, and death to the Third Reich!"
The Vixen growled, "Yes, Winston, and death to everyone else too!"
The Dalek asked, "Would you care for some tea?"
The Vixen snapped. She lashed out and upset the tray and cup causing them to fall to the floor. She snarled at the Dalek, "Stop this! What are you doing here? What do you want?"
The Dalek said, "We seek only to help you."
The Doctor asked, "To do what?"
The Dalek replied, "To win the war."
The Vixen asked, "Really? Which war?"
The Dalek said, "I do not understand."
The Vixen snarled, "This war, against the Nazis? Or your war? The war against the rest of the Universe? The war against all life-forms that are not Dalek?"
The Dalek said, "I do not understand. I am your soldier."
The Doctor asked, "Oh, yeah? OK." He picked up a giant spanner and walked over. "OK, soldier, defend yourself!" He banged the spanner against the Dalek.
Bracewell exclaimed, "Doctor, what the devil...?!"
The Dalek asked, "You do not require tea?" The Doctor kept striking the Dalek, as the Vixen and Amy tried to pull him back.
Bracewell pleaded, "Stop it! Prime Minister, please!"
Churchill said, "Doctor, please, these machines are precious."
The Doctor snarled, "Come on! Fight back! You want to, don't you? You know you do!"
Bracewell said, "I must protest!"
The Doctor asked, "What are you waiting for? You hate me. You want to kill me. Well, go on! Kill me. Kill me!" He struck again.
Amy said, "Doctor, be careful!"
The Vixen finally got a hold of him and pushed him back into Amy's arms. "Keep a hold on him."
The Dalek pleaded, "Please desist from striking me. I am your soldier."
Hatred glazed over the Vixen's eyes and she picked up the spanner Amy was playing with earlier. "You are our enemy!" She snarled, punctuating each sentence with hits. "And we are yours! You are everything I despise! The worst thing in all creation. We've defeated you time and time again, we've defeated you. We sent you back into the void! We saved the whole of reality from you! We are the Vixen and the Doctor! And you are the Daleks!" She kicked the Dalek and it rolled backwards. Amy pulled her back as the Vixen put her hands on her head.
The Dalek said, "Correct. Review testimony."
The Vixen snarled on playback, "We are the Vixen and the Doctor. And you are the Daleks!"
The Doctor asked, "Testimony? What are you talking about, testimony?"
The other Dalek reported, "Transmitting testimony now."
The Vixen asked, "Transmit what, where?"
The Dalek said, "Testimony accepted!"
The Doctor shouted, "Get back! All of you!"
Churchill ordered, "Marines! Marines! Get in here!" Two Marines entered and one of the Daleks killed them.
Bracewell pleaded, "Stop it! Stop it, please! What are you doing? You are my Ironsides!"
The Dalek said, "We are the Daleks!"
Bracewell said, "But I created you!"
"No." The Dalek replied and shot off Bracewell's hand revealing a stump of wires and circuits. "We created you!"
The Daleks cheered in unison, "Victory! Victory! Victory!" They teleported to their ship.
Amy asked, "What just happened?"
The Vixen whispered, "I wanted to know what they wanted, what their plan was. I was their plan!" She ran out of the room. The Doctor followed.
Amy shouted, "Hey!"
The Vixen and the Doctor entered the room and a rush and the Vixen went down the stairs towards the TARDIS. "'Testimony accepted!'" She said. "That's what they said! My testimony."
Amy followed, "Don't beat yourself up. You were right." The Doctor unlocked the TARDIS. "What do we do? Is this what we do now? Chase after them?"
The Vixen pointed to herself and the Doctor. "This is what we do. It's dangerous, so wait here."
Churchill came in to stand behind Amy, who asked, "What, so you mean I've got to stay safe down here in the middle of the London Blitz?"
The Doctor replied, "Safe as it gets around us." He waved and stepped into the TARDIS.
"You'll be fine, Amy." The Vixen said, before following the Doctor.
Amy and Churchill watched as the TARDIS dematerialized. Amy asked, "What does he expect us to do now?"
Churchill replied, "KBO, of course."
"What?"
"Keep buggering on!"
The Doctor and the Vixen worked the controls before checking the monitor. The Dalek ship appeared. "Bingo!"
The three Daleks watched as the Progenitor device continued to run its programmed course. Dalek #1 said, "The final phase commences, channel all reserve power to Progenitor."
The TARDIS materialized and the three Daleks swivelled their top sections to see the Doctor and the Vixen emerge. The Doctor rubbing his hands. "How about that cuppa now, then?"
Dalek #1 said, "It is the Vixen and the Doctor! Exterminate!"
The Doctor said, "Wait, wait, wait, I wouldn't if I were you!" He pulled out a small round object and held it out in front of him. "TARDIS self-destruct. And you know what that means. Our ship goes, you all go with it."
Dalek #2 said, "You would not use such a device."
The Vixen snarled, "Try us." Dalek #1 moved forward. "Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah. No scans! No nothing! One move and we'll destroy us all, you got that? TARDIS bang-bang, Daleks boom!" Dalek #1 moved back. "Good boy."
The Doctor looked at the Daleks' instrument panels. "This ship's pretty beaten up - running on empty, I'd say, like you. When we last met, you were at the end of your rope. Finished."
Dalek #2 said, "One ship survived."
The Vixen asked, "And you fell back through time, yeah? Crippled? Dying?"
"We picked up a trace. One of the Progenitor devices."
The Vixen asked, "Progenitor? What's that when it's at home?"
Dalek #2 replied, "It is our past. And our future."
The Doctor scoffed, "Ohhh, that's deep. That is deep for a Dalek. What does it mean, though?"
Dalek #3 said, "It contains pure Dalek DNA, thousands were created, all were lost, save one."
The Vixen asked, "OK, but there's still one thing I don't get, though - if you've got the Progenitor, why build Bracewell?"
Dalek #2 hesitated and replied, "It was... necessary."
The Doctor asked, "But why? I get it. Oh, I get it! I get it. Oh, ho, this is rich! The Progenitor wouldn't recognise you, would it? It saw you as impure, the DNA is unrecognisable as Dalek."
"A solution was devised."
The Vixen said, "Yes, yes, yes. Me. My testimony. So you set a trap, you knew that the Progenitor would recognise me or the Doctor. The Daleks' greatest enemies! It would accept our word. My recognition of you." Dalek #2 turned to the instrument panel behind it. "No, no, no. What are you doing?" The Doctor held out the round object again.
Dalek #3 said, "Withdraw now, Doctor, or the city dies in flames."
The Doctor asked, "Who are you kidding? This ship is a wreck, you don't have the power to destroy London."
Dalek #2 said, "Watch as the humans destroy themselves." The Dalek ship lowered a dish which then collected and sent a stream of energy towards London
The Doctor said, "Turn those lights off now. Turn London off or I swear I will use the TARDIS self-destruct!"
Dalek #2 said, "Stalemate, Doctor. Leave us, and return to Earth."
The Vixen asked, "Oh, that's it? That's your great victory? You leave?"
Dalek #2 said, "Extinction is not an option. We shall return to our own time and begin again."
The Doctor said, "No, no, no! I won't let you get away this time! I won't!"
There was a mechanical "whoosh" and then a soft thrumming. Dalek #3 said, "We have succeeded - DNA reconstruction is complete." The Daleks glided back from the cubicle which was enveloped in red energy. The doors slid open amidst sparks.
Dalek #2 said, "Observe, Doctor. Observe, Vixen, a new Dalek paradigm!" The Doctor and the Vixen watched, shocked, as new, larger Daleks emerged from the smoke and steam, each a different color: white, blue, yellow, orange and red. "The Progenitor has fulfilled our new destiny. Behold, the restoration of the Daleks! The resurrection of the master race!"
Dalek #1 said, "All hail the new Daleks! All hail the new Daleks!"
The white Dalek said, "Yes, you are inferior!"
"Yes."
"Then prepare."
Daleks 1-3 said, "We are ready!"
The white Dalek ordered, "Cleanse the unclean! Total obliteration! Disintegrate!"
The blue Dalek fired upon Daleks #1 and #3 and the red Dalek shot Dalek #2. The Vixen asked, "Blimey, what do you do to the ones who mess up?"
The white Dalek said, "You are the Doctor and the Vixen! You must be exterminated!"
The Doctor pulled out the TARDIS self-destruct. "Don't mess with me, sweetheart!"
The white Dalek said, "We are the paradigm of a new Dalek race. Scientist, Strategist, Drone, Eternal, and the Supreme."
The Vixen said, "Which would be you, I'm guessing? Well, you know, nice paint job. I'd be feeling pretty swish if I looked like you. Pretty Supreme."
The Doctor asked, "Question is, what do we do now? Either you turn off your clever machine or I'll blow you and your new paradigm into eternity." Neither him or the Vixen noticed the blue Dalek scanning the Doctor.
The white Dalek said, "And yourself."
The Doctor replied, "Occupational hazard."
The blue Dalek said, "Scan reveals nothing! TARDIS self-destruct device non-existent!"
The Doctor bit into the cookie. "All right, it's a Jammy Dodger, but I was promised tea!"
A siren sounded. The blue Dalek went to the scanner. "Alert! Unidentified projectile approaching!" The Doctor and the Vixen looked at a second scanner. "Correction. Multiple projectiles!"
The white Dalek asked, "What have the humans done?"
The Vixen replied, "Don't know."
The white Dalek screamed, "Explain! Explain! Explain!"
A pilot said over the radio, "Danny Boy to the Doctor! Danny Boy to the Doctor! Are you receiving me? Over."
The Vixen stood and looked up. "Oh, Winston! You beauty!"
The RAF had sent up fighter planes to attack the Dalek ship. "
"Danny Boy to the Doctor! Come in. Over."
The Doctor replied, "Loud and clear, Danny Boy! Big dish, side of the ship, blow it up! Over!"
The white Dalek ordered, "Exterminate the Doctor!"
The Doctor pulled the Vixen with him and they escaped to the TARDIS as the Daleks fired.
The pilot said over the TARDIS radio, "Danny Boy to the Doctor... only me left now. Anything you can do, sir? Over."
The Doctor and the Vixen shared a look. The Doctor picked up a small microphone and spoke into it. "The Doctor to Danny Boy... The Doctor to Danny Boy. I can disrupt the Dalek shields, but not for long. Over."
The pilot said, "Good show, Doctor, go to it. Over."
The Doctor started the TARDIS.
The pilot said, "Going in, wish me luck. Over."
The Doctor and the Vixen frantically worked the controls.
"Danny Boy to the Doctor...going in for another attack."
The Doctor said, "The Doctor to Danny Boy. The Doctor to Danny Boy. Destroy this ship! Over."
The pilot asked, "What about you two, Doctor?"
The Doctor replied, "We'll be OK."
The White Dalek appeared on the monitor. "Doctor! Call off your attack!"
The Doctor asked, "Ah-ha, what? And let you scuttle off back to the future? No fear. This is the end for you. The final end!"
The white Dalek ordered, "Call off the attack, or we will destroy the Earth."
The Vixen snapped, "We're not stupid, mate! You've just played your last card!"
The white Dalek said, "Bracewell is a bomb."
The Doctor said, "You're bluffing. Deception's second nature to you. There isn't a sincere bone in your body. There isn't a bone in your body!"
The white Dalek said, "His power is derived from an Oblivion Continuum! Call off your attack, or we will detonate the android."
The Doctor shouted, "No! This is my best chance ever! The last of the Daleks! I can rid the Universe of you, once and for all!"
The white Dalek said, "Then do it. But we will shatter the planet below! The Earth will die screaming!"
The Vixen snarled, "And if we let you go, you'll be stronger than ever. A new race of Daleks."
"Then choose! Destroy the Daleks or save the Earth. Begin countdown of Oblivion Continuum! Choose, Doctor! Choose! Choose!"
The Doctor picked up the microphone, "The Doctor to Danny Boy. The Doctor to Danny Boy. Withdraw."
Danny Boy asked, "Say again, sir. Over."
"Withdraw! Return to Earth. Over and out."
Danny Boy protested, "But sir...!"
The Doctor said, "There's no time, you have to return to Earth now! Over!" He set the coordinates for Earth.
The TARDIS materialized and the Vixen and the Doctor exited and rans out of the room. The Vixen ran in the map room first and punched Bracewell, knocking him to the ground. The Doctor entered and looked at the Vixen in shock. The Vixen shook her hand in pain.
Amy said, appalled, "Vixen!"
The Vixen said, "Ow! Sorry, Professor. You're a bomb! An inconceivably massive Dalek bomb."
Bracewell asked, "What?"
The Doctor explained, "There's an Oblivion Continuum inside you - a captured wormhole that provides perpetual power. Detonate that, and the Earth will bleed through into another dimension!" He knelt beside him, pulled out his sonic and opened Bracewell's shirt. "Now keep down!" He used the sonic to reveal mechanics underneath skin. There was a circular pad divided into sections glowing blue on Bracewell's chest. One section turned yellow.
Amy asked, "Well?"
The Doctor replied, "I dunno, I dunno, I dunno!" He shook his screwdriver. "Never seen one up close before!"
Amy asked, "So, what, they've wired him up to detonate?"
The Vixen explained, "Not wired him up! He is a bomb. Walking, talking-" She made and exploding sound effect. "-exploding! The moment that flashes red."
Amy said, "There's... a blue wire or something you have to cut, isn't there? There's always a blue wire." The Doctor stood up. "Or a red one."
The Doctor said, "You're not helping!"
Churchill said, "It's incredible. He talked to us about his memories. The Great War..."
The Vixen said, "Someone else's stolen thoughts, implanted in a positronic brain. Tell me about it. Bracewell! Tell me about your life!" She knelt down.
Bracewell said, "Vixen, I really don't think this is the time!"
The Vixen said gently, "Tell me and prove you're human. Tell me everything."
One section of Bracewell's chest was red and the second yellow. Bracewell said, "My family ran the Post Office. It's a little place just near the abbey. Just by the ash trees. There used to be eight trees but...but there was a storm."
The Doctor knelt down next to the Vixen and tried to hurry him. "And your parents? Come on! Tell me!"
Bracewell replied, "Good people. Kind people. They... They died. Scarlet fever."
The Vixen asked, "What was that like? How did it feel?"
Bracewell whimpered, "Please..."
The Doctor asked, "How did it make you feel, Edwin? Tell me! Tell me now!"
Bracewell said, "It hurt. It hurts, Doctor, so badly. Like a wound." The second section turned red and the third, yellow. "It was worse than a wound. Like I'd been emptied out. There was nothing."
The Vixen said, "Good. Remember it now, Edwin! The ash trees by the Post Office and your mum and dad and losing them and men in the trenches you saw die... Remember it! Feel it, because you're human." The third section turned red. "You're not like them. You are not like the Daleks!"
Bracewell said, "It hurts! Doctor, it hurts so much!"
The Doctor said, "Good! Good! Good! Brilliant! Embrace it." The fourth section turned red. "That means you're alive! They cannot explode that bomb, you're a human being! You are flesh and blood! They cannot explode that bomb! Believe it! You are Professor Edwin Bracewell! And you, my friend, are a human being!" The fifth section turned red. "It's not working, I can't stop it!"
Amy knelt beside Bracewell. "Hey... Paisley. Ever fancied someone you know you shouldn't?"
Bracewell asked, "W... What?"
Amy said, "Hurts, doesn't it?" The last section remained yellow. "But kind of a good hurt."
Bracewell said, "I really shouldn't talk about her."
Amy teased, "Oh. There's a her." The last section reverted to blue.
The Vixen asked, "What was her name?"
Bracewell replied, "Dorabella."
The Doctor asked, "Dorabella? It's a lovely name, it's a beautiful name."
Amy asked, "What was she like, Edwin?"
Bracewell replied, dreamily, "Oh... Such a smile. And her eyes... Her eyes were so blue...Almost violet. Like the last touch of sunset on the edge of the world... Dorabella..." All sections reverted to blue, disarming the bomb.
The Vixen grinned and said, "Welcome to the human race." She smiled at Amy and turned to Churchill. "You're brilliant-" She said to Bracewell, "you're brilliant..." She turned to Amy. "And you..." She hugged her and stood up.
The Doctor said, "Now, gotta stop them! Stop the Daleks!" He ran out of the room.
Bracewell called, "Wait! Doctor! Wait... Wait." The Doctor stopped as Bracewell sat up. "It's too late. Gone. They've gone."
The Vixen snarled, "No, no, no! They can't! They can't have got away from us again!"
Bracewell said, "No, I can feel it, my mind is clear. The Daleks have gone."
The Doctor leant against a pole, all energy suddenly drained. The Vixen sank to the floor.
Amy said, "Vixen, Doctor. It's OK! You did it. You stopped the bomb."
The Doctor said, "We had a choice. And they knew we'd choose the Earth. The Daleks have won. They beat us. They've won."
Amy said, "But you two saved the Earth. Not too shabby, is it...?"
The Doctor and the Vixen looked at Churchill and all the people in the room who all looked back at them in support.
Amy asked, "Is it, Vixen?"
"No." The Vixen smiled slowly. "It's not too shabby."
Churchill said, "It's a brilliant achievement, my dear friends. Here, have a cigar!"
The Doctor replied, "No..." He waved it off, still hurt from his loss.
Amy asked, "So, what now, then?"
Churchill replied, "I still have a war to run, Miss Pond."
A woman handed Churchill a communiqué. "Prime Minister."
Churchill read the document. "Oh, thank you. They hit the Palace and St Paul's again. Fire crews only just saved it."
Breen entered crying. Amy asked, "Is she OK?"
Churchill asked, "What?"
Amy said, "She looks very upset."
Churchill explained, "Oh, Miss Breen? Her young man didn't make it, I'm afraid. Just got word. Shot down over the Channel."
Amy asked, "Where're the Vixen and the Doctor?"
The Doctor and the Vixen entered, hand in hand. The Doctor said, "Tying up loose ends. We've taken out all the alien tech Bracewell put in."
Churchill asked, "Won't you reconsider, Doctor? Those Spitfires would win me the war in 24 hours!"
The Doctor sipped his tea. "Exactly."
Churchill asked, "But why not? Why can't we put an end to all this misery?"
The Vixen replied, "Oh, it doesn't work like that, Winston. It's gonna be tough. There are terrible days to come. The darkest days. But you can do it. You know you can."
Churchill said, "Stay with us, and help us win through! The world needs you."
The Vixen said, "The world doesn't need us."
"No?"
The Vixen smiled, "The world's got Winston Spencer Churchill." The Doctor made the Victory sign.
Churchill said, "It's been a pleasure, as always."
The Doctor said, "Too right."
The two men hugged. Churchill said, "Goodbye, Doctor."
The Doctor asked, "Oh, shall we say adieu?"
Churchill ended the hug and kissed the Vixen's hand. "Indeed. Goodbye, Vixen"
The Vixen said, "Till the next time, Winston."
Churchill said, "Goodbye, Miss Pond."
Amy said, "It's.. it's been amazing. Meeting you."
"I'm sure it has!"
Amy kissed Churchill on the cheek. Churchill headed for the door and Amy called after him. "Oi, Churchill!" She held out her hand. "TARDIS key. The one you just took from the Doctor."
The Vixen laughed as the Doctor nearly choked on his tea and patted his pocket. Churchill said, "Oh, she's good, Doctor. As sharp as a pin!" He handed her the key. "Almost as sharp as me!" He lighted a cigar. "KBO!"
After Churchill left, the Doctor held out his hand and Amy gave the key back.
Bracewell stood stoically in his office, waiting for the inevitable. He now had a leather glove over the stump. The Vixen, the Doctor and Amy entered.
Bracewell said, "I've been expecting you, Doctor. I knew this moment had to come."
The Doctor asked, "Moment?"
Bracewell replied, "It's time to de-activate me."
The Vixen asked, "Is it...?" Amy looked at her. "Oh... yeah."
Bracewell said sadly, "You have no choice. I'm Dalek technology. Can't allow me to go pottering around down here where I have no business."
The Doctor said, "No, you're dead right, Professor. 100% right. And by the time we get back here in... what, ten minutes?"
Amy replied, "More like 15."
The Vixen said, "Fifteen minutes, yeah, that's exactly what we're going to do. You are going to be so de-activated. It's going be like you've never even been... activated."
"Yeah."
Bracewell asked, "15 minutes?"
The Doctor replied, "More like 20, if I'm honest. Once Pond and Vixen and I see to the urgent thing…"
Amy replied, "Yes!"
The Doctor said, "…we've got to see to. The... the... See?"
Bracewell said, "Very well, Doctor. I shall wait here and prepare myself."
Amy whispered to the Vixen, "That Dalek tech's a little bit slow on the uptake." She said to Bracewell, "That thing we've got to do. Gonna take half an hour, realistically, isn't it, Doctor?"
The Doctor replied, "Easily! So no running off, that's what I'm saying. Don't go trying to find that little Post Office with the ash trees or that girl... What was her name?"
Bracewell replied, "Dorabella."
The Vixen said, "Dorabella. On no account go looking for her. Mind you, you can get a lot done in half an hour."
Bracewell smiled and laughed as he realized what the Doctor was doing. "Thank you, thank you, Doctor!"
The Vixen smiled, "Come along, Pond!" She, the Doctor and Amy left and Bracewell began to pack a suitcase.
The Vixen, the Doctor and Amy headed for the TARDIS. Amy asked, "So, you have enemies then?"
The Doctor replied, "Everyone's got enemies."
Amy said, "Yeah, but mine's the woman outside Budgens with the mental Jack Russell. You've got, like, you know, arch-enemies." The trio leant against the TARDIS.
The Vixen sighed, "Suppose so."
Amy said, "And here's me thinking we'd just be running through time, being daft and fixing stuff. But no, it's dangerous."
The Doctor replied, "Yep. Very. Is that a problem?"
Amy asked. "I'm still here, aren't I? You're worried about the Daleks."
The Vixen said, "We're always worried about the Daleks."
Amy said, "It'll take time, though, won't it? There's still not many of them. They'll need a while to build themselves up."
The Vixen said, "It's not that. There's something else. Something we've forgotten. Or rather you have."
Amy asked, "Me?"
The Doctor said, "You didn't know them, Amy. You'd never seen them before. And you should have done. You should." He and the Vixen entered the TARDIS leaving a confused Amy to follow. The TARDIS dematerialised.