Child of Earth

By Lumendea

Chapter Eighteen: Dalek: The Cage

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of the spinoff material and I gain no income off of this story, just the satisfaction of playing with the characters.

….

Rose watched the screen, watched the replay of the Dalek screaming in pain as her stomach twisted uncomfortably. She was vaguely of the others returning and Peterson yelling at Van Statten, but she was frozen in place. Her finger was still pressing down on the replay and kept the video looping.

It was a Dalek, the creature that haunted so many of her friends' nightmares and yet… she felt so sick watching this. Its screams were unnatural to her human ears but distinct with the sound of suffering. Her mouth was dry as her head spun trying to make sense out of what she was seeing. It was a Dalek, but the Time War was supposed to have killed all of them and all the other Time Lords. Only the Doctor was left, he'd been the eye of the storm and yet there it was. Swallowing and shifting nervously, Rose pried her thumb off the replay button. She dropped the remote on the table, suddenly unsure just how long she'd wasted wrapped up in her thoughts.

"Tyler?" Colonel Peterson questioned. "Uh… you okay?"

"I'm not sure," Rose admitted as she rubbed her eyes for a moment. "It's a Dalek, I know that, but…" Shaking her head, Rose tried to make sense of the overwhelming wave of pity that was welling up in her chest despite the rational part of them reminding her of just how dangerous that thing was.

"I've been briefed on them," Peterson told her in a soft voice. "Thankfully they haven't come to Earth too often, but they've always been bad enough that information on them was shared amongst the alien organisations."

"Yeah," Rose breathed, it would have to be."

Peterson shook his head. "Still Van Statten doesn't know how dangerous they are. He didn't know what he was torturing. According to his scientists, it only took him twelve hours of it not talking for him to start torturing it."

Rose's stomach turned and she swallowed down a rush of bile wondering just how she was supposed to feel about this. They couldn't return the Dalek to space so it would probably be killed, but thanks to the new laws and given its helpless condition that was going to be a bit complicated.

"Sir!" a soldier with a UNIT patch on his shoulder gasped as he rushed into the room. "Uh, Code Nine."

"Are you sure?" Peterson asked, looking at the man sharply.

"We've been watching the security feeds," the young America private assured him. "It's the blue box. The Doctor just arrived in the Vault."

"Which one?" Rose asked urgently, stepping forward. "What did he look like? Has he left the TARDIS?"

"Uh tall, short brown hair and wearing a leather jacket," the private replied before chuckling. "I always heard his fashion was worse than that."

"Oh no," Rose breathed as that bad feeling suddenly got a whole lot worse.

….

The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS, his leather jacket scrapping slightly against the doorframe as he looked around. His eyes instantly landed on the head of Cyberman in a case. He moved forward with a stunned and exhausted expression appearing on his face as he slid his hands into his pockets.

"Well now I know I'm getting old," he muttered to no one.

But then he heard a rush of footfalls and looking around the dim gallery. There were a dozen cases all with different bits of aliens and a couple with pieces of technology. On the far side of the room was a door that suddenly slid open. Two lines of guards dressed in body armour and carrying fairly serious weapons for the time and planet rushed in. The guards gathered around him, surrounding him and the TARDIS. That hadn't taken very long. He was about to say something very clever when a young woman burst into the room with a pair of familiar looking men on her heels. Rose Tyler was looking at him with wide, almost panicked brown eyes as the uniformed man with her barked an order for the soldiers surrounding him to stand down.

"This is an intruder," one of them shot back. "We don't answer to you."

"Trust me," the Colonel growled. "You don't want to go there."

"The box just appeared," another of the soldiers said.

"Leave it alone," Rose snapped as she pushed her way between their ranks, her whole body tense and a bit of blonde hair escaping her ponytail. "Stand down and go back to Van Statten."

"You heard her," the Colonel ordered. "This is part of our operation here. He's part of UNIT."

The Doctor tried not to grin as the assembled guards lowered their weapons and filed out of the display room. Rose was nibbling on her bottom lip nervously and looking at the Colonel rather than him. He glanced at the other man and hummed slightly, remembering him as Section 13's alien advisor. It was a bit flattering to know that Section 13 had their own version of him, not as intelligent and not a time traveller, but still.

"Good to see you, Doctor," Swanic greeted as he stepped forward with a glance at Rose. "I don't know if you remember me-"

"Swanic Eder," the Doctor chuckled. "I remember and you were Colonel Peterson, both of Section 13 right?"

"That's correct Doctor," Peterson answered with a nod.

"This isn't a new addition to Area 51 is it?" the Doctor questioned as he looked around the room, trying not to focus too much on Rose who had yet to greet him.

"No, this is the vault of a private collector named Henry Van Statten," Peterson offered with a sigh. "Due to the United Nations new ruling when the distress signal was picked up UNIT and we joined forces to retrieve it from here and hopefully get it home."

"Fantastic," the Doctor answered before looking at Rose who had bene oddly quiet. "Rose?"

"Hello Doctor," Rose greeted as she gave him the best smile she could muster. "Good to see you but we've got this. You can go."

"TARDIS picked up a distress signal," the Doctor observed as he smiled and patted the ship. "I really should see just what is going on."

"That was sweet of her, but may I suggest my graduation next or the day after," Rose countered nervously, half gritting her teeth. "Like I said we've got this."

"You Rose Tyler are a terrible liar," the Doctor chuckled though he looked a bit worried and glanced towards the door. "Just let me help."

He moved forward towards the door leaving Rose feeling very heavy and cold. She looked desperately towards Swanic and Peterson, but they were looking at her in confusion. Her stomach dropped at the realisation that they wouldn't know just how bad the Doctor's history with the Daleks was. They knew he was an enemy of theirs, but not just how far things had gone. The Doctor was looking at her with a slightly hurt expression and Rose wanted to move and hug him, but her feet just didn't seem to be working.

"Follow me, Doctor," Peterson offered even as he looked at her in confusion. "Down here. When you see what we're dealing with… well, you'll understand why we'd like your help."

Following along behind, Rose tried not to hyperventilate. Eve's words about the Time War echoed in her head. The stories of the other companions about the Daleks rattled around in her mind. What was she supposed to do? The Doctor kept glancing at her as the lift descended and Rose tried to think of something clever.

The lift opened by the Van Statten's Cage and Rose swallowed and licked her lips, trying to say something. Nothing came out. Her hands trembled and Rose tried again, but her mouth felt like sandpaper. Swanic looked towards her with a frown as they stepped out before he eyed the guards with worry.

"One moment Doctor," Peterson requested with a nod before he gestured to Swanic.

"What is it Rose?" the Doctor all but demanded as Peterson and Swanic shifted down the hall to speak with the Section 13 guards. "You're acting strange," the Doctor observed. "Almost terrified."

"I really think you should go," Rose forced out through her dry mouth. "I'm glad to see you Doctor, but please just go."

He just stared at her and Rose pleaded with him silently with her eyes. Part of her knew that he wasn't going to just get in the lift and go back to the TARDIS, but he wasn't wrong. She was terrified of how he was going to react.

"Rose?" the Doctor pressed with a deepening frown. "Whatever is in there scares you," he breathed, sounding shocked by the idea.

"Yeah," Rose admitted. "But uh things would be better if you-"

"Doctor," Peterson called with a nervous tone. "We're ready."

"I'll take care of it, Rose," the Doctor promised, reaching out and cupping her cheek for a moment. "It'll be alright."

Before she could say anything, the Doctor took her hand and pulled her after him down to the door into the Cage. Rose eyed the door, it didn't look strong enough to hold a Dalek, but then again neither had those chains in the video. She swallowed. In fact, the Dalek hadn't defended itself at all. As the door slid open the Doctor stepped into the dark space calmly.

"Hello," he greeted in an even voice. "I'm the Doctor. Identify yourself."

"Doc Tor?" a robotic like voice repeated, echoing out into the hall. The sound propelled Rose forward.

"Impossible," she heard the Doctor gasp as she reached the door where two of Section 13's guards were shifting into the room to cover the Doctor.

"The Doctor?" Rose heard the Dalek call as she slipped into the room. "Exterminate! Exterminate!"

The Doctor shifted towards the door, almost colliding with the pair of guards who swung inside and trained their weapons on the alien.

"Those won't help you," the Doctor all but shouted, moving towards the door.

"You are an enemy of the Daleks!" the Dalek announced in a stronger voice. "You must be destroyed!"

Rose gasped as the Dalek's gun arm twitched and the Doctor grabbed her. He pushed her back towards the door, but nothing happened.

"It's not working," the Doctor breathed in surprise, releasing Rose's arm and stepped back into the centre of the room. "Fantastic! Oh, fantastic!" the Doctor laughed with a nasty grin as the Dalek looked down at its weapon. "Powerless! Look at you. The great space dustbin. How does it feel?"

"Doctor!" Rose called, but he completely ignored her.

"Keep back!" the Dalek snapped,

The Doctor shifted so he was only inches from the Dalek, staring into its eyepiece. "What for? What're you going to do to me?" the Doctor asked with a hint of glee in his voice. "If you can't kill, then what are you good for, Dalek? What's the point of you? You're nothing." Then thankfully the Doctor stepped back, but Rose was still frozen in place staring him at shock as her chest tightened painfully. "What the hell are you here for?" the Doctor demanded as he almost paced in front of the Dalek.

"I am waiting for orders."

"What does that mean?" the Doctor asked sharply.

"I am a soldier. I was bred to receive orders."

"Well you're never going to get any," the Doctor laughed bitterly. "Not ever."

"I demand orders!"

"They're never going to come! Your race is dead! You all burnt, all of you. Ten million ships on fire. The entire Dalek race wiped out in one second."

"You lie!"

"I watched it happen. I made it happen," the Doctor shouted back and Rose couldn't help but flinch. He'd completely forgotten that anyone else was in the room.

"You destroyed us?"

"I had no choice," the Doctor answered in a colder, almost dead voice.

"And what of the Time Lords?

"Dead," the Doctor replied dully. "They burnt with you. The end of the last great Time War. Everyone lost."

"And the coward survived."

" Oh, and I caught your little signal," the Doctor hissed and Rose caught the guards shifting uncomfortably in the corner of her eye, but the Doctor still seemed complexly unaware of them. "Help me. Poor little thing. But there's no one else coming 'cause there's no one else left."

"I am alone in the universe."

"Yep," the Doctor answered with a dark note of glee.

"So are you. We are the same."

A thunderous mix of angry and grief took over the Doctor's face as he spun back to the Dalek and snarled, "We're not the same! I'm not!" Then he stopped and for a moment Rose thought he was regaining control. " No, wait. Maybe we are. You're right. Yeah, okay. You've got a point. 'Cause I know what to do. I know what should happen. I know what you deserve. Exterminate."

Before she could move, the Doctor pulled the lever she'd seen in the video by the console. The torture system that Van Statten had constructed in mere days. It hummed and Rose felt her chest constrict with terror. Then the Dalek lit up with electricity as it danced across its armour.

"Have pity!" the Dalek called frantically.

"Why should I? You never did."

The Dalek screamed, the sound jolting Rose out of her shock and hitting her like a punch to the solar plexus. Rushing forward, grabbed the Doctor's arm and began pulling him off the lever. He fought her and Rose must have shouted because a moment later the outside guards rushed in. With their help Rose wrestled him away from the lever, inwardly cursing herself for letting it get that far. The memory of his haunted voice made her lungs constrict further and she shivered as she turned to find the Doctor being restrained by the two guards. The look on his face was fierce, pained and stung of betrayal when he looked at her.

"Doctor!" Rose called carefully, stepping forward to stand between him and the Dalek. "That's enough, come on let's step outside."

When he ignored her, Rose couldn't breathe for a moment of indecision, but then she nodded to the pair of guards. They tugged him towards the door and he weakly fought against them, his eyes jumping between her and the Dalek. The two soldiers shifted uneasily as they pulled the Doctor back into the hall. Rose understood and followed, doing her best to stay between the Doctor and the Dalek while fighting down the bile in her throat. His words were ringing in her head. She'd known on some level, but to hear him announce it was something else.

"You knew," the Doctor breathed, his eyes dropping to meet hers as the Dalek left his sight. "That why you wanted me to leave."

"I didn't want you to have to face a Dalek," Rose admitted softly as she nodded to the guards and they released the Doctor. But she stayed in the doorway, firmly between him and the Dalek.

"You don't get to decide what I need to know!" the Doctor shouted at her, fury making his blue eyes nearly glow. Behind him, the guards moved back to give them some space and Rose saw fear glinting in their eyes.

"I'm your friend," Rose snapped back, her own temper flaring. "I'm allowed to try to protect you! And don't talk to me that way!"

"That thing has to be destroyed right now!" The Doctor yelled, gesturing towards the door again with an almost frantic look. "You know Sarah Jane and Tegan then you have some notion of what it could do to Earth!"

"Geneva has to confirm that order!" Rose told him in a low voice, meeting his gaze head on after taking a deep breath, reminding herself that one of them had to calm. "Unless you're prepared to be a judge, jury and executioner down here." She regretted the words at once when she saw a shattered look pass over his face and softly added, "Seriously Doctor. Officially we're still here to rescue the imprisoned alien. They have to be told what is happening, go and talk to them and explain it. I can't make that call by myself. And maybe you shouldn't be making that call alone." Rose licked her lips and added, "Doctor we can't just say one thing on record and then execute an alien without some kind of conversation on record. Go and talk with the Colonels. They'll connect you with the higher ups."

Something she said seemed to have gotten through the haze that had set in. That moment with his fear and temper flaring had been a rude reminder of who she was dealing with. This Doctor was still bleeding from wounds from the Time War. They hadn't scabbed over like his next life or begun to heal a bit like the life after that.

"Lovely," the Doctor huffed still eyeing Rose coldly. "Higher ups. I don't think much of authority figures."

"There's a shock," Rose laughed weakly.

"Don't touch it," the Doctor barked at Rose.

He glared into the room even though the Dalek was out of sight before his eyes dropped to her. For a moment Rose was certain that he was going to drag her away from the room or yell again, but then he slowly turned and walked out with an unreadable expression on his face. The rage was still simmering in his eyes and at least part of it was now directed at her.

She watched him storm away, several of the guards at the end of the hall jumping out of his way. Colonel Peterson stood at attention as the Doctor all but growled at him and Swanic was staring at him in shock. A soft sigh escaped Rose and she felt some tears prickling at her eyes. Their first fight, she realised. They'd never really had a fight before now. With a deep sigh, Rose stepped back into the room and leaned against the wall opposite of the Dalek.

"Why did you have to be a Dalek?" Rose asked weakly as she slowly turned back to the Dalek, suddenly very aware that it had been watching her. "Anything else," she chuckled miserably with a shake of her head. "Why couldn't you be anything else?"