Terry rubbed her eyes sleepily as she woke up, buried in the blankets on her bed. It had been a few months since she had disappeared from the hospital on the moon with the Judoon without any clue what had happened. And despite likely knowing the reason, Clara's Eleven had refused to answer her questions and she'd given up asking any more long before she was taken away again.
Since then, she'd hopped from Rose's Ten to the Ponds' Eleven to Donna's Ten, then back to Clara's Eleven and finally to Martha's Ten. Well, Martha had unfortunately left the Doctor by that point but Terry and the Doctor had managed to enjoy their time together without a companion. She and the Doctor had had a blast in New New New New England before she needed to catch up on her sleep, and for once it seemed she had managed to get her full night's sleep without being woken up by some mad scheme from the Doctor or because she was transported in her sleep and just dropped into the most inconvenient situations. To this day, she wasn't certain whether the Amazons considered her a clumsy God for how she'd 'magically' fallen out of the sky in her sleep or a traitorous child of Hades for how she'd run off with the Doctor afterward.
Yawning, Terry climbed out of bed and staggered to her wardrobe. Still rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she grabbed at a red button-up shirt she had been meaning to wear for a long time . It was quite a nice shirt, soft and silky, and Terry perked up a bit to grab a black suit she had long ago seen buried in her closet. With a white accented collar, the suit was simple but classy and went especially well with the shirt and her recently acquired gold-buckled black oxfords.
Humming "Follow the yellow brick road", Terry wandered out of her room and toward the console room although she was feeling slightly peckish. Perhaps she'd swing by the kitchen once she determined how long she'd been asleep for. Or maybe she should suggest the Doctor take them to the moon in the year two billion, thirty six thousand and seventy-four when Antoinette Lischien finally managed to turn the entire moon into cheese.
The event had been front-screen headlines within seconds and humans all over the galaxy had read about the success of the female scientist - who was often called the modern Marie-Antoinette by the press because she was the head of the last human scientists on the moon (and due to her lavish fashion choices that mimicked the ancient French queen). And according to Solar System Times, the scientist had apparently jokingly responded to a question about what the citizens on the moon could do going forward with, "Let them eat cheese!"
Terry grinned just thinking about it, but she paused as she reached the console room only to hear a faint buzzing coming from outside. Immediately, she realized she had been transported in her sleep after all as she looked around to find she was in the Ponds' Eleven's empty console room. But it didn't explain the faint humming outside so, with a puzzled frown, Terry crossed the room to the Tardis doors and she pulled one door open… only to be met with a thunderous chant.
"Save the Daleks! Save the Daleks!"
Terry blinked as she looked around the scene before her. Right in front of her were Amy and Rory, held loosely prisoner by two Daleks standing nearby with their guns pointed at the companions even as their eyestalks were fixed on the Doctor. The Time Lord stood at the far side of the room, standing before the Dalek Prime Minister and a redheaded woman whom Terry knew was Dalek Darla.
The Doctor had yet to realize she had arrived, too stunned by the chanting of the thousands of Daleks that filled the entire parliament hall to even move.
"Save the Daleks!"
It was the Daleks holding Amy and Rory hostage that noticed Terry first, having turned their eyestalks to look when they heard the Tardis door open. The Daleks recoiled slightly at the sight of the dark-haired Time Lady, and their warning cries cut through the others' chanting.
"Alert! It is Daemon! Alert!"
The Daleks all fell silent and all eyestalks turned to stare at Terry. A surprised Amy and Rory also turned to look but Doctor practically whirled around where he stood, and he was the only one who brightened instantly at the sight of his wife.
"Terry?" Rory asked, confused to see her coming out of the Tardis.
But Terry barely gave him a nod in greeting. Her blue eyes were instead fixed on the Dalek Prime Minister and her lips curled into a sarcastic smile. The last time she had faced the Daleks (that she could remember clearly) flashed through her mind and the memory of the Daleks and the pigmen killing innocent people in 1930 New York made something in her burn.
"I'm ba-ck!" Terry announced into the silence in a deceptively light, sing-song voice.
She leaned against the Tardis doorway in an equally deceptive casual stance but it would take a fool to miss the way her blue eyes seemed to glow like a flame.
"Did you miss me?"
The answer was for all guns to be pointed at her instead of the Doctor, and Terry's smile turned snarky.
"I'll take that as a 'yes'."
Terry stood patiently not far from her husband where he was pacing in front of the Dalek Prime Minister and Dalek Darla.
The Doctor kept his paces short, not daring to wander too far from Terry just in case the Daleks tried anything. The Dalek Prime Minister had grudgingly ordered his troops to stand down for the moment, probably like he had had to do when he initially planned his kidnapping of the Doctor. But there were too many bitter emotions between them for the Doctor or Terry to hold any faith in the Dalek Prime Minister's promise that they were safe… for the moment.
Terry kept her thoughts from wandering into dangerous and murderous territory by watching the Ponds. Amy and Rory, once the initial shock of Terry's arrival and hostile welcome had worn off, had retreated to stand as far away from each other as they possibly could without actually being far apart. It was a little bit funny, really, how Terry knew what was wrong with the couple and yet even if she hadn't she would have seen every tell-tale sign that something was wrong with her friends.
The distance between the couple was the first, obvious clue - and it was what first got the Doctor frowning too, Terry noticed - but Amy's arms crossed tightly in front of her was another as was the fact that she and Rory were standing basically with their backs to the other as they refused to face one another even as they whispered to each other. Rory's permanent scowl was another big tip-off that something was amiss but the most concerning things were the little things about the pair. The bags under Amy's heavily made-up eyes, the ache and sorrow that lay just beneath the surface of her green orbs. Rory's tired countenance and the fact that he'd lost at least five pounds, as well as the way he kept fiddling his thumb like he had a permanent nervous tick.
Terry glanced over to the Doctor just in time to see him straightening his bow tie. Well, that was some relief at least, Terry thought to herself; the Doctor was definitely on the case.
"We have arrived." The Dalek Prime Minister announced, breaking both Terry and the Doctor's concentration.
The Doctor quickly checked his watch before he asked, "Arrived where?"
"Doctor." The Dalek Prime Minister called threateningly.
The Doctor ground his teeth when Dalek Darla piped up, "The Prime Minister will speak with you now."
The Doctor ignored the directive as he walked over to Terry first. She took his hand first, and together they stepped up before the Dalek Prime Minister. But Terry stopped when the Doctor paused as they passed Dalek Darla.
"Do you remember who you were before they emptied you out and turned you into their puppet?" The Doctor asked in a low voice.
"My memories are only reactivated if they are required to facilitate cover or disguise." Dalek Darla replied without missing a beat. The Doctor looked down at the female, his lips a hard line.
"You had a daughter."
"I know." Dalek Darla smiled quite benignly before she leant forward and whispered quite comfortably, "I've read my file."
She then gestured toward the Dalek Prime Minister. Terry gave the Dalek a look of utter disgust while the Doctor's face was lined with his own hatred, but neither said anymore as they stepped up to be in front of the Prime Minister.
"Well?" The Doctor asked.
"What do you know of the Dalek Asylum?" The Dalek Prime Minister questioned.
"According to legend, you have a dumping ground." The Doctor answered drolly. "A planet where you lock up all the Daleks that go wrong. The battle-scarred, the insane, the ones even you can't control. It's never made any sense to me."
"Why not?"
"Because you'd just kill them." The Doctor shot back and Terry swore the Dalek Prime Minister would have scoffed if he could.
"It is offensive to us to extinguish such divine hatred."
The Doctor stilled. "Offensive?"
"Does it surprise you to know the Daleks have a concept of beauty?" The Dalek Prime Minister queried, eyeing the Doctor - quite literally given he only had one eye.
Terry's lip curled back in disgust while the Doctor murmured in a soft voice that belied the darkness swirling inside, "I thought you'd run out of ways to make me sick. But hello again."
He glowered at the Dalek Prime Minister.
"You think hatred is beautiful."
The Doctor turned away in disgust but he stopped as the Dalek Prime Minister answered almost thoughtfully, "Perhaps that is why we have never been able to kill you. Or Daemon."
Terry scowled darkly at the Dalek Prime Minister, who didn't flinch even when a flash of gold seemed to flash across the Time Lady's blue eyes. But the sound of a machine whirring made Terry turn away from the creature she loathed possibly most in all the universe and Terry pulled the Doctor with her as she walked back to Amy and Rory. The floor had opened up near their feet, revealing a planet far below.
Dalek Darla stepped up and explained for their benefit, "The Asylum. It occupies the entire planet, right to the core."
"How many Daleks are in there?" The Doctor asked.
"A count has not been made. Millions, certainly."
"All still alive?" The Doctor checked and Dalek Darla smiled.
"It has to be assumed." She answered. "The Asylum is fully automated. Supervision is not required."
"Of course it's not, you don't care about them, do you?" Terry scoffed.
"No, we do not." Dalek Darla agreed.
"Armed?" Amy checked and Dalek Darla turned to the redheaded companion.
"The Daleks are always armed."
"What colour?"
Everyone looked at Rory with varying degrees of incredulity and confusion.
"I'm sorry, there weren't any good questions left." He said defensively.
Dalek Darla gestured to a machine back near the Dalek Prime Minister as she explained, "This signal is being received from the very heart of the Asylum."
There was a loud beep as the communications link was activated, and then Terry flinched as the booming chorus of Carmen started playing loudly over the speakers.
"Oh, bloody hell, that scared me." She gasped, holding her hand to her hearts. Rory shot her a look of disbelief.
"You had an entire spaceship of Daleks point their guns at you, and you didn't even blink. But this scares you?" He asked. Terry shrugged.
"It surprised me."
"What is the noise?" The White Dalek demanded, cutting across their bickering as the rest of the Daleks seemed almost pained by the music. "Explain. Explain."
"It's Carmen - lovely show, beautiful music." Terry snapped back. "But you wouldn't know because you don't know what true beauty is."
The Dalek Prime Minister leveled a cool stare back at her while Amy whispered to her friends, "But where's it coming from?"
"Someone's transmitting this." The Doctor explained as he scanned the machine with his sonic and he wandered back toward the Dalek Prime Minister. "Have you considered tracking back the signal and talking to them?"
There was silence from the Daleks as Dalek Darla glanced at the Prime Minister. The Doctor waited while Carmen continued to blast around them before he muttered sarcastically, "He asked the Daleks."
The Doctor soniced the transmitter before calling, "Hello? Hello? Carmen. Hello? Come in, Carmen."
"Hello! Yes, yes, sorry!"
Terry had thought she was prepared; but she wasn't. Her hearts clenched at the familiar voice of Clara - or rather, Oswin - as it echoed clearly back through the transmitter now that the music had stopped and it was all she could do not to reveal anything in her expression as the Doctor lifted his hands into the air triumphantly and grinned at her.
"Do you read me?" Clara - Oswin, Terry reminded herself sternly - asked almost breathlessly.
"Yes, reading you loud and clear."
The Doctor beamed, winking at Terry who failed to smile back. The Doctor frowned but continued anyway.
"Identify yourself and report your status."
"Hello." Oswin continued to sound absolutely breathless, likely reeling from what she thought was human contact for the first time in a year. "Are you real? Are you actually, properly, real?"
"Yes, confirmed."
The Doctor grinned, already liking the excited woman just from the sound of her voice. Now if he could just figure out why Terry looked so sad.
"Actually, properly, real."
Oswin seemed to regain herself then and she reported more professionally, "Oswin Oswald, junior entertainment officer, starship Alaska. Current status, crashed and shipwrecked somewhere…" She paused briefly as though searching for a way to describe her current predicament as concisely as possible. "Not nice. Been here a year, rest of the crew missing. Provisions good but keen to move on."
"A year?" The Doctor repeated softly, shocked by that piece of information. He glanced at Terry again. "Are you okay? Are you under attack?"
"Some local lifeforms." Oswin answered, her enthusiasm dipping notably. "Been keeping them out."
"Do you know what those lifeforms are?" The Doctor checked and Oswin's response was very dry.
"I know a Dalek when I hear one, yeah."
"What have you been doing on your own against the Daleks for a year?" The Doctor murmured curiously.
"Making souffles?" Oswin answered weakly.
"Souffles?" The Doctor repeated in wonder. "Against the Daleks?"
He suddenly frowned.
"Where'd you get the milk?"
"This conversation is irrelevant." The White Dalek cut in while Terry fought not to give anything away.
Thankfully, the Doctor whirled on the Dalek as he snapped, "No, it isn't. Because a starliner has crashed into your Asylum, and someone's got in. And if someone can get in, then everything can get out. A tsunami of insane Daleks. Even you don't want that."
"The Asylum must be cleansed." The Dalek replied.
"Then why is it still here?" The Doctor demanded. "You've enough firepower on this ship to blast it out of the sky."
"The Asylum forcefield is impenetrable." Dalek Darla explained.
"Turn it off." The Doctor snapped irritably, walking back toward Terry.
"It can only be turned off from within the Asylum."
"A small taskforce could sneak through a forcefield." The Doctor answered dismissively. "Send in a couple of Daleks-"
He saw the look on Terry's face and it all clicked.
"Oh."
The Doctor started applauding the Daleks sarcastically.
"Oh. Oh, that's good. That's brilliant."
The Doctor strolled back toward the White Dalek.
"You're all too scared to go down there. Not one of you will go, so tell me, what do the Daleks do when they're too scared?"
"The Predator of the Daleks will be deployed." The White Dalek answered, which was not the answer the Doctor was expecting.
"You don't have a predator, and even if you did, why would they turn off a forcefield for you?" The Doctor asked with a frown.
"They mean you, Sweetie."
The Doctor turned to Terry in shock as she gestured to him.
"Why else would they have brought you here?"
"Me?" The Doctor repeated incredulously. "Me?"
Dalek Darla took over as she waved forward other humanoid Daleks who strapped a wristband on the Doctor.
"You will need this. It will protect you from the nanocloud."
"The what?" The Doctor asked. "The nano what?"
"The gravity beam will convey you close to the source of the transmission." Dalek Darla went on, ignoring the Doctor as he was dragged back to Terry's side just as the beam was activated through the hole in the ground they had been looking at earlier. "You must find a way to deactivate the forcefield from there."
"You're going to fire me at a planet?" The Doctor repeated, growing more and more incredulous with every passing second. "That's your plan?"
"Technically, they're going to fire us at a planet." Terry corrected dryly as the humanoid strapped a wristband on her next.
"Still, this is a very bad plan, and this is coming from me, the man who usually has no plan until he has a plan." The Doctor complained. "We get fired at a planet and are expected to fix it?"
"In fairness, that is slightly your M.O." Rory piped up and the Doctor whirled on his friend.
"Don't be fair to the Daleks when they're firing me and my angel at a planet!"
"I said they're going to fire us." Terry added. "Not 'you and me'."
Rory's mouth dropped open as the humanoid Daleks started strapping on wristbands onto him and Amy as well.
"Oh, brilliant." Rory groaned. "Good! Oh!"
"Don't worry." The Doctor reassured his friends softly. "We'll get through this, I promise. Don't be scared."
Amy shot him a look.
"Scared?" The redhead scoffed. "Who's scared?"
Amy smirked as she looked from the Doctor to Terry.
"Geronimo."
Terry couldn't help but smile back at her friend before, without warning, she jumped into the beam. She grabbed the Doctor's hand and Amy's jacket as she did, dragging them in with her.
"Oi!"
The two yelped as they were pulled in after Terry, Rory following immediately after as Amy's hand automatically latched onto his arm and he was dragged in.
"Argh!"
All four yelled as they went into what felt like free-fall. Rory started to turn slowly as he fell and he yelped as he found himself falling head first.
"Wrong way up! Wrong way up!"
Rory sped on ahead of the group somehow, his streamlined body apparently causing him to gain speed.
"Rory!" Amy screamed while Terry latched onto Rory's leg automatically in an attempt not to lose sight of the companion.
"Angel!" The Doctor yelled in alarm as the Time Lady began to descend faster than him, pulled along by Rory.
"Doctor!"
There was a blinding light as they entered the atmosphere and Terry felt herself being knocked out cold as she plummeted to the ground.