"Honestly." A woman's voice can be heard. "Sometimes I wonder why Mother ever let him take care of you if you keep seeing so many deaths around."

Arthur opened his eyes. He looked around and realized he was in a barn full of hay on the floor. His body was lying on a small bed with a white blanket covering it. Sunlight enters through several small holes in the roof of the barn. Not far from his position, a beautiful woman with bright curly hair like him and brown eyes sat beside the bed, looking at him worriedly. She wears some sort of ragged clothes that were patched with many cloth's fabric.

"W-Where am I?" He asked, worried about this stranger and his whereabouts.

"Oh, this is just a dream." She tilted her head, paused. "Or maybe a projection? No, no. That doesn't sound right." She stands up, walking back-and-forth, muttering. "A hallucination? Imaginary scene? Oh! I remember!" She clapped her hand in amusement. "A projection communication! Words are funny, you know?" She quickly shook her head, looking back at him. "No, focus. Remember your task. Don't blabber."

"Task?"

"You. Protecting you from getting haywire."

"What?"

"Right," she makes a tsk noise, like afraid of revealing something. "You're kinda in a stupor. The Doctor's getting more frantic than ever."

"What?"

"Yeaaah, it sucks. Which is why I'm here."

Suddenly, there's a deep, cold voice, echoing. "I know you're here, Fox. Come out now!"

"Shoot." She shook her head, alarmed. "It knows you're here. You need to wake up."

"What? I don't understand. Who are you, Miss…?"

"Wolf. Bad Wolf," she introduced with a mysterious wink. "I love how confused you are. So adorable."

"What?" Arthur repeated. Usually he can keep up, but right now, he can't.

"There's that again," she giggled, then out of nowhere, turned serious. "You're in a stupor and need to wake up. As for that… Weeeell, it's easy, really. You're a strong kid, you just relax and let your mind drift to reality. But you're very new at this, so I'm gonna help you in this case."

"But why are you helping me?"

"Hush. I need to concentrate."

"But!"

Bad Wolf touches Arhur's forehead. Her eyes glow in golden with her mouth whispering something he can't understand. He wants to protest, but for some reason, he can't. His mind slowly drifts into calmness and his body's going to relax. He heard the sound of the wind around the barn as Bad Wolf continued to speak in a foreign language.

Then, darkness. Absolute darkness.

As soon as his consciousness slowly faded, he heard a "caution" sound from the mysterious woman's mouth. Followed by the deep voice.

"The Mauri cannot hide you from me, Fox."

When Arthur lets his irises open, he hears a noise. A very loud noise.

"Davros approaches."

"Admit Davros. Admit the creator."

"Help me!" He hears the Doctor begged, sounding like Davros' voice.

Then as his focus came back, the blonde boy quickly realized what's going on.

He's in a chair with the Doctor… and surrounded by many Daleks inside a chamber, who's all ready to blast both of them.

"Great."

▪︎▪︎▪︎

Inside a cave, Claudia peeks at a large hole. "Sewer? Seriously?" She asked Missy while Clara's looking beneath it after a long walk.

"With one significant difference," Missy added.

"Being?" Clara pressed, not liking her answer.

"They're ever so slightly alive."

This is a very bad idea, Claudia thought. She doesn't like being with Missy at all, the Doctor's arch-enemy and the one responsible for the torture her parents have endured a long time ago, in The Year That Never Was. But given that they're on Skaro, the home planet of the deadliest aliens ever born, Claudia must consider the logical choice so that she and Clara can survive and rescue the Doctor and Arthur. One sonic pen won't be enough to wipe out all the Daleks on Skaro. And Claudia didn't have any tactics or plans to determine what to do.

"They're what?" Clara repeated, hoping she's mistaken.

"How much of a drop would you say that is?" Missy questioned another instead, avoiding Clara's question, which made her more untrustworthy. "Can you see the bottom?"

Clara leaned down. "It's too dark," she said.

Claudia takes a small flashlight from her slingback, looking at the sewer. "Wait here, I'm gonna check." With ease, the bluenette jumped into the sewer and landed with two feets on the ground. "Twenty feet," Claudia shouted.

A minute later, Clara got thrown away by Missy with a loud thud.

"You're the worst!" Claudia shouted.

"I know, dear!"

▪︎▪︎▪︎

The Doctor takes a sip from a white teacup with gold trim. Arthur grips his jacket much tighter as all Daleks aim their weapon to his direction.

"Of course, the real question is, where did I get the cup of tea?" The Doctor began. "Answer? I'm the Doctor. Just accept it."

"You are unharmed," a Dalek claimed.

The Doctor touches a button and the chair moves in a circle. "Proposition. Davros is an insane, paranoid genius who has survived among several billion trigger-happy mini-tanks for centuries. Conclusion? We're definitely having his chair."

"You cannot escape, Doctor."

"Close your eyes, Sunny. This isn't going well."

Arthur doesn't want to close his eyes. He wants to see what's going on. But he admits, he's scared and wants to close his eyes for good. So he complies, not even wanting to take a peek.

"I'm guessing his personal forcefield only works in one direction," the Doctor said after.

"The Doctor does not use weapons."

"Doesn't he? Ah, listen to your little hearts beat! Ask me what I want."

"Irrelevant. You will not prevail. You will not succeed."

"I've been at the heart of your empire for 42 minutes, and I own it, and I haven't even got out of my chair. Ask me what I want."

"What do you want?"

"Clara Oswald and Claudia Redwood," he claimed as he broadcast across the planet. "I want Clara Oswald and Claudia Redwood, safe, alive, and returned to me immediately. You bring them back. You do that. You do that now. Unharmed. Unhurt. Alive."

"Your associates…"

"I saw what happened. I was there. And I'm hoping, for all of our sakes, that it was a trick."

"It was not a deception."

"Because if Clara Oswald and Claudia Redwood are really dead… then you'd better be very, very careful how you tell me. And trust me, don't even start with how Arthur Jonas will react if he knows this. His future self is very dangerous when angry, especially if something happens to them."

"The Explorer is dead, he is not a threat to us."

Arthur frowned. He's not dead. He's here, surrounded by these dangerous pepper pots!

▪︎▪︎▪︎

"We need to get back," Claudia declared, looking around. Her sonic pen is still detecting several Daleks–the one in their casing–in the sewer. Knowing the Doctor, he will do reckless things, even if Arthur's nearby. She can't let him do that any longer.

Plus, she really hates being inside a sewer made by Daleks' decay bodies. So gross.

"High up the frequency," Missy commented behind her.

Claudia turned back. "Why?"

"I think you know why, dear."

Damn her brains.

"What?" Clara asked, not getting what Missy meant.

The bluenette ignores her, still focusing on Missy. "You better get Clara safe."

"Can't guarantee that," Missy shrugged.

Claudia uses the sonic pen, setting it with higher frequency.

"What are you–?" The brunette's question got cut by a Dalek's voice, followed by an alarm.

"Intruder alert! Intruder alert!"

"Why the hell did you do that?" Clara demanded.

"Ever ring a doorbell and run away?" Missy asked before dragging Clara away by handcuffing her with her own hand.

"Hurry up!" Claudia hissed, eyes in front.

"Get this off me!" Clara demanded. "Claudia!" She fumed, which the bluenette ignored as the Dalek got closer.

"Humanoid detected at a lower level. Dalek to Lower Level Thirteen."

"I'm here, stupid!" Claudia shouted. "Come here! You can't just resist a human in here, you know!"

"Claudia–!"

Clara's voice turns muffled as a Dalek appears. "Humanoid detected. Remain still. Do not move," it stated. "Scan in progress. Humanoid unauthorized in a restricted area." It trundles up to Claudia. "Sterilization proceeding."

"Hey, you! Guess what? I just put a hole in you," Missy comes out of her hiding place, free from handcuffs, and holding some sharp rock on her hand as she pokes it. "And another and another. And another!"

"Can you hurry up? The pen can't hold up in this frequency," Claudia hissed, tired of holding her sonic pen. She can feel her pen's heatingup.

"Damage levels insignificant," the Dalek screeched, clearly in damage condition.

Missy simply ignores her as she continue speaking. "Oh, really? I think you're forgetting you're surrounded by a bunch of very old, very angry Daleks. You just got yourself a puncture in a bad neighbourhood. Meet the locals? All blind and squelchy and out of their tiny minds, but they can still smell! Nobody hates like a Dalek. Here they come! I think they want to steal your motor."

"Emergency! Emergency! My vision is impaired. Exterminate! Exterminate!"

"Oh my words, I'm gonna puke," Claudia muttered, eyeing the damaged Dalek before she and Missy ran from the damaged Dalek and hid near Clara.

Then, an explosion happened just from behind as Missy screaming, "wheee!"

▪︎▪︎▪︎

"Help me!" A young boy, standing in some sort of desert, looking lost and scared. "You can't leave me. You promised. You did! You said I could survive. You said you'd help me. Help me!"

Arthur wakes up, finding himself lying right inside Davros' chamber. He tries to remember what happened.

Let's see. Davros speaks to them. Then, some bunch of snakes just came out of nowhere and he remembered freaking out before his neck hurt like hell and he couldn't breathe…

But what was that just now? A dream? But it feels more than just a dream…

"Touch them. Imagine, to hold in your hand the heartbeat of every Dalek on Skaro." Davros explained as Arthur turned his focus on him. He can see the Doctor paying attention to the cables surrounding Davros. "They send me life. Is it beyond the wit of a Time Lord to send them death? A little work and it could be done."

"Why would you be telling me this?"

"Genocide in a moment. Such slaughter, not in self-defense. Not as a simple act of war. Genocide as a choice. Are you ready, Doctor? So many backs with a single knife." The Doctor backs away a little, but Davros takes his hand and guides it towards the cables again. "Are you ready to be a god?"

The Doctor reaches but doesn't touch. He looks at Arthur briefly, both looking terrified and unsure. He looks exactly like the first time Arthur met him, when they arrived in Scotland.

"Why do you hesitate? Is it because of him? The shame you had with that boy whom you brought here?"

"There's no such thing as the Doctor. I'm just a bloke in a box, telling stories. And I didn't come here because I'm ashamed. A bit of shame never hurt anyone." He stares at Arthur with a small smile before taking a step closer to Davros, wanting to keep the boy away from the mad scientist. "I came because you're sick and you asked. And because sometimes, on a good day, if I try very hard, I'm not some old Time Lord who ran away. I'm the Doctor."

"Compassion then," Davros concluded.

"Always."

"It grows strong and fierce in you, like cancer."

"I hope so."

"It will kill you in the end."

"I wouldn't die of anything else."

"You may rely on it."

"Which is good," Arthur said out loud, standing up. "Compassion leads to kindness. And some people, even the worst, need one."

Davros chuckles, remembering that sentence a long time ago. "You certainly amuse me, Explorer."

"I never had any intention to amuse you, Davros."

"Bold and brave. He's certainly just like you, Doctor," Davros beamed with a chuckle. "There is a question. One I have longed to ask."

"Yeah, well, if you're going to put your hand on my knee, it isn't going to go well," the Doctor commented.

"Why did you leave Gallifrey?"

The Doctor's face frowned a little. "Well, because I did."

"You stole the Tardis, and ran and ran. Why?"

"It's a boring place, Gallifrey. I was going out of my mind."

"Yet you long to return," Davros pressed.

"Ah, well, I'm inconsistent. Sunny can vouch for me. One day, I taught him about Meeps, another day I taught him about the French Revolution."

"But it is always the same lie."

"What lie?"

"You weren't bored. No one runs the way you have run for so small a reason."

"I do."

"No, you don't. Colony Sarff confiscated these items on your arrival." Davros goes to a box on a small table. "A Time Lord confession dial, I believe. Your confession, which I know you told the Explorer a long time ago. Tell me. Send me to my grave with this precious knowledge. What is the Doctor's confession?"

Davros reaches for the dial, but the Doctor quickly snatched it with a shouting voice. "Don't you dare!"

"Is it possible I have touched a nerve?"

Arthur didn't like how Davros looked at him. He clearly had a bad intention towards them.

"Some things matter to me, Davros," the Doctor stated, running to Arthur and clutching his hand with protection. "Not many, but a few. And you don't put your fingers anywhere near them." The Doctor retrieves his sunglasses from the box. "Ever."

"Still you play the fool." Even while his eyes remain shut, Arthur can sense Davros looking right into his soul, which gives him more scary feelings. "I can see why the Explorer got his personality from."

"I'm his nanny." He puts on his sunglasses. "Of course he will get the best of me."

"Make your confession, Doctor. Why did you really leave Gallifrey? At least, let the boy know."

"How do you two know each other?" Arthur suddenly asked, his sapphire eyes narrowed.

"Long enough," Davros admitted. "Galaxies have burned."

"So why would you ask him a personal question?"

"Your nanny has slaughtered billions of my children, as I have slaughtered billions of his race. We have exhausted the conventional means of communication."

The Doctor removes his sunglasses. "My people are alive. They didn't die." He glances at Arthur. "...we brought them back. We found a way."

"Is this true?"

"Gallifrey is back in the sky. I don't know where, I may never know. But Gallifrey is back and it is safe from both of us."

"Doctor, my most sincere congratulations."

Arthur may know Davros today, and he's 100% never expecting him to say that. To his enemy, of all things. "I beg your pardon?" Arthur inquired, confused like the Doctor now.

"This is wonderful news. Beyond all hope. I congratulate you."

"Why are you saying that?" The Doctor wondered, not sure.

"A man should have a race, a people, an allegiance," he explained, sounding happy. "A man should belong, Doctor. Believe me, please! I am happy for you. So happy."

The Doctor is speechless. "I don't…I don't understand this. Why are you..."

And something happened next. Davros' crying. The creator of the Dalek… is crying.

"Come closer again. Let me see your face," Davros begged.

"You've seen it often enough," the Doctor denoted.

"Let me see it again, with my own eyes."

Arthur notices the blue light in his forehead goes out. The Doctor leans forward as Davros opens his rheumy eyes. Arthur takes some steps, but not as close as the Doctor.

"Closer, Explorer, please."

Despite being unsure, Arthur leaned closer. His hand still gripping the Doctor's. Both of their blue eyes meet Davros'.

"If you have redeemed the Time Lords from the fire… do not lose them again. Take the darkest path into the deepest hell, but protect your own as I have sought to protect mine. Did I do right, Doctor? Tell me." Davros puts his hand on the Doctor's. "Was I right? I need to know… before the end. Am I a good man?"

"You really are dying, aren't you?" The Doctor asked, his eyes widened.

"Look at me. Both of you," he pleaded, looking between the old man and the young boy. "Did you doubt it?"

"Yes," both Arthur and the Doctor whispered, barely noticeable.

"Then we have established one thing only."

"What?"

"You are not… a good doctor."

They both chuckle, as if a good joke was just spoken out lout. Arthur look at Davros again, and weirdly enough, all he can see.. is just a lone, older man with no way of what to do in his life.

Like the Doctor.

Davros struggles to breathe. "Pity… I had hoped to see the sun one last time, with the eyes of my true self."

The Doctor stands up, looking at Arthur and the window, looking contemplance.

"It is beautiful, my world, is it not?" Davros commented, looking at the view itself.

"How did you get it back?" The Doctor asked as Arthur kept gazing at the window, distracted.

"The Daleks remade it. Like you, they have a strong concept of home."

"No, like you. Everything you are, they are," The Doctor remarked, plugging Davros back into the life support cables.

"Like both of us, perhaps. How far we have come to go home again."

"I'm trying to pep this up, but you've been going a long time. Every Dalek on Skaro isn't enough any more."

"It is so good of you to help me."

"I'm not helping you. I'm helping a little boy I abandoned on a battlefield." He closed his eyes for a moment, thinking of young Davors, of Arthur, and how he hates himself for causing pain to them in the past. "I think I owe him a sunrise. Just like I owe protection from his mother."

"Whoa," Arthur's eyes lit up as the sun is edging above a mountain range.

The Doctor can't help but smile at the blonde. "Come on, chin up. Any minute now…"

"I have always admired you, Doctor," Davros admitted.

"Here it comes."

"I wish, just once, we had been on the same side."

"Look, the sun's coming up. We're on the same side now."

"I regret I cannot open my eyes."

The Doctor sighs. He pats Arthur's shoulder, focusing him back at him. "Okay, Sunny, don't ever tell anyone that I did this," he whispered, kneeling down and gently stroking his cheeks. "Your mother will kill me if she knows. But I had to do this in order to remove the pain."

The Doctor is on his knees with pain as regeneration energy flows though the cables to Davros. "What are you doing?"

"Regeneration energy. The ancient magic of the Time Lords," Davros explained as his voice got clearer. "I thought I would have to tear you apart to take it from you but, as always, your compassion is your downfall." He smiles. "Or I can do that with the young Explorer here."

"No! No! No, please! No!" The Doctor yelled.

"You have opened your veins of your own free will, and all Daleks shall drink the blood of Gallifrey. They shall rise stronger than ever."

Arthur gasps, clutching the Doctor's arms. "Don't!" He begged him, not knowing why he got that vision, but had a feeling that it would happen if he didn't do anything.

"I'm sorry," was all the Doctor said before he touched his forehead and fall asleep.

▪︎▪︎▪︎

"Halt! Report," a Dalek demanded as Missy and Claudia raised their hands.

"Humanoid intruders found on lower levels," Dalek Clara said.

"Why have the intruders not been exterminated? Explain. Explain. Explain!"

"We're prisoners of special significance," Missy answered. "Count the hearts."

"You two are Time Lord?"

"Time Lady, thank you. Some of us can afford the upgrade," Missy informed, holding one hand on a wall while another rests on her waist. "Is it still the same old Supreme Dalek these days? I fought him once on the slopes of the Never Vault. Tell him the bitch is back. Also, she's not a Time Lady. She's just a weirdo."

The Dalek looks up and down at Claudia, seeming to realize who she is. "Identify! You are Claudia Redwood, daughter of Delaney Redwood, another associate of the Doctor."

Claudia just raises her chin, looking at them with defying stares. "Take us to Davros," she simply insisted.

"Bravery won't get you nowhere," Missy remarked.

"Shut up," Claudia barked as they entered the control room. "Hello, Daleks. Guess who's back?" She mocked.

"Look at you all, with your nice, shiny domes. Oh, I am loving this," Missy chimed, then whispered to Dalek Supreme. "You're my secret favourite. Don't tell the others."

"You are an enemy of the Daleks," it stated.

"Yes, well, anyone who's not a Dalek is an enemy of the Daleks, so that was an easy guess."

"You think?" Claudia huffed, which Missy doesn't seem to bother.

"You two will be exterminated."

"Please, please do, because I have been on my feet all day," Missy said and stepped into the middle of the room. "But before you get all exterminate-y, two things. One, I want to see Davros. Two, I have two lovely little gifts for you all, if you take me to him right now. First one is Claudia here."

"We do not negotiate."

"And second, Clara Oswald. I brought you complete control of the Doctor, gift-wrapped. Better. Canned."

Claudia scanned the room quietly. She knows Clara's freaking out right now. She needs to find an escape plan. Now.

"Where is Clara Oswald?" The Dalek demanded. "You will tell us! You will tell us! You will tell us…"

Suddenly they all stop, sink plungers and weapons pointing towards the floor.

"I'm sorry. Was I, er, was I boring you?" Missy asked them and golden regeneration energy started to rise from the Daleks. "No. No, no, no, no, Doctor. What have you done?"

"What is happening?" Clara asked.

"The Doctor," Claudia whispered. "Arthur…"

"I have to find the Doctor," Missy insisted and she left.

"Exterminate! Exterminate!" Was all Clara in the Dalek said.

"Get him out," Claudia shouted to Missy, taking her sonic pen to take Clara out of the Dalek, scanning it, and read the result. "Got it! Clara, think 'open'! That might!"

The casing opens to reveal her. Clara steps outside and gives a punch at Claudia's chest.

"Aw!" The bluenette reacted, rubbing her chest. "Seriously? You wanna do this now?"

"Oh, not just now," Clara glared, her voice indicating rage. "After this, you and I are going to have a very, very long conversation about that stunt you just pulled out."

"Give me a break, Clara. I'm not your kindergarten student."

"Oh, and I'm supposed to be fine with it? You could get killed, you idiot, nut-gun woman!"

"I can say the same for all adventures we did, you egomaniac, needy, game-player!"

"Excuse me?! Egomaniac, needy, game-player?!"

"Girls!" They both turn around and find the Doctor carrying Arthur on his back, a Dalek gun on his left arm. They also noticing the big crack and earthquake that's happening surrounding them. "Can we please do this inside the Tardis?"

Clara notices Arthur's passing out. "What happened to him?"

"Emergency!" A Dalek said. "Dalek control is compromised."

"Where was the Tardis?" The Doctor looks around as he lets Claudia and Clara hold Arthur. "It was over there somewhere, wasn't it?"

"What is happening? Explain! Explain!"

"Dalek Supreme, your sewers are revolting," the Doctor informed while more rubble fell as they skipping to the indicated spot.

"You will assist, or you will be exterminated."

"Oh, well, go on, then. Exterminate away," the Doctor agreed.

"Doctor!" Clara hissed as the Daleks fire, but the energy bolts bounce off something invisible around them.

"Oops, sorry. Tardis force field is still here," he remarked. "We get in, you don't."

"The Tardis has been destroyed"

"Ah, don't be silly, of course it hasn't. It just redistributed itself for a moment. Hostile Action Dispersal System. I'll give it a quick blast from my sonic, and the real time envelope will reassemble right here."

"Doctor, you don't have your screwdriver," Claudia informed. "And mine's already heating up."

"Oh, yeah, sorry about that. I used your pen to secretly scan the planet and gather all the data I need. Besides, I'm over screwdrivers. They spoil the line of your jacket. These days," he takes out his sunglasses. "I'm all about wearable technology."

"No! No?" Clara gaped, looking at Claudia. "Seriously?"

"Did he ever?" Claudia shrugged as she heard the cloister bell's ringing. "You better fix my pen, Doctor."

"What is happening?" The Dalek demanded.

"Oh, same old, same old. Just the Doctor, his Sunny, and his girls in the Tardis."

The Tardis reforms around the Doctor and Clara, then dematerialised. After landing, Clara and Claudia gently and quietly put Arthur on a chair as they follow the Doctor outside, where they can see the destruction from afar.

"No chance you're going to tell me what's in that confession dial, I suppose?" Clara asked, looking at the confessional dial on the Doctor's hand.

He puts it in his trouser pocket. His brows knitted. "I have to go," he suddenly started running inside the Tardis. "I'll be back. Just wait."

"Where's he going?" Clara asked, confused.

"Who knows?" Claudia wondered as the Tardis dematerialised, despite already having a guess where he might go.

▪︎▪︎▪︎

The Doctor sighs as he opens the door. He already takes Davros into a nearby camp, where he'll raise and create his Daleks. A part of him knows he's just helping a child who will cause so much massacre in the entire galaxy, including his own people. But a part of him knows he cannot let a child, even if it's Davros, be left alone.

He's doing what needs to be done. To be merciful.

The Doctor looks at the Tardis, at the chair specifically.

Once again, Arthur already left, maybe in his sleep.

He wishes the boy can stay longer. There's so much he wants to say, despite the fact that he can't. But that's foolish.

After all, this is his punishment for failing at him.