Missy idly sang in the room we'd been brought into at the supposed hospital.
"Nice acoustics," I muttered idly, eyes closed and head leaning back against the wall as the Doctor paced idly. "And singing, of course."
"Thank you," Missy purred before Clara spoke up, lightly annoyed by the singing.
"How long have we been waiting?"
"Who knows? It's always the way with hospitals," the Doctor replied before the door to the room opened and Colony Sarff—the robe full of snakes—stepped into the room.
"You will come," he said, turning to Missy. "You will stay."
"Fair enough," Missy replied as the Doctor started to step toward the door but Clara called out to stop him.
"Doctor. You sent Missy and Asher your confession dial."
"Well, we've known each other a long time. She's one of my own people and Asher is—" He glanced at me as I got up and he corrected himself. "—will be my wife. She's just harder to find for the postal service."
I rolled my eyes at his joke as Clara ignored it and went on.
"My point is, we all saw her die on Earth, ages ago. And obviously, you knew that wasn't real. Or worse, hoped it wasn't. Either way, I think you've been lying."
"I'm sorry," he said, drawing my gaze again because this also wasn't something the Doctor often did.
"Don't apologize," Clara scolded. "Make it up to me… There, see? Ha. Now you have to come back."
He didn't respond, just turned while muttering to Missy. "Gravity."
"I know," she drawled before Colony Sarff didn't step out with the Doctor.
"You will come," he repeated and I found myself rather surprised to see him facing me.
"Sorry?"
"What?" The Doctor said, looking back around and seeing who the serpent was eyeing. "No, no. She can't."
"Doctor, I don't think I have much of a choice," I said, feeling the serpent around my wrists tighten lightly; a mild threat from Colony Sarff.
"But you can't," he pressed as I headed over, shifting so I was close to him and muttering under my breath.
"If it helps, I'm probably safer with you."
"Missy can keep an eye on you," he argued as I shot him a look.
"And it's great that you trust her with that, but think about it for one second because things get blurry for me in your episodes. I can't remember everything but I do know Missy and if Missy will happily keep me safe, then that means everyone else?"
"Will be forfeit," he murmured in understanding, glancing over at Clara before taking a long breath and nodding. "Fine. You're right. There's not much choice."
"Good. Now if you don't mind, the snake around my wrist is getting impatient." I nodded for him to get back to walking and he did as he leaned toward me slightly.
"You know you like it," he hummed. "I know how you are with reptiles. You had a snake before, yes?"
"A ball python," I answered, grateful for the distraction. "I think they're cute. Mine had patterns that made her look like she was smiling. These ones would be better if they weren't acting as handcuffs."
He glanced at me with amusement twinkling in his eyes. "Have you been petting it?"
"Duh," I scoffed, earning a small hint of a smile before it fell as his gaze drifted down the hall we were walking.
"Do you really think what I did was right?"
I glanced up at him but he wouldn't let me get a good look at his face. "I… dunno. I don't think it comes down to what was right or wrong. I think you were scared for a moment and you needed time to think it over because you'd ended up at another point where you had to make a bad decision no matter what. Not bad as in… as in wrong, I mean. Just bad as in… there wasn't really a good choice?" My brows furrowed. "This is why I like writing things down. I feel like I'm talking in circles. Point is, I think no matter what you did you would blame yourself for something and regret it. There was no good ending, no happy ending to what would happen and honestly, I wouldn't know what to do either. I'm a bit like you and would probably run away but I'd forget, and that's the best thing about you, Doctor. You would never."
"You don't know that," he lightly argued, voice a quiet murmur. "I forget things all the time."
"Not when it comes to a life."
He sighed and finally turned to face me, gaze solemn but looking a bit more alive than before. "You always know just what I need to hear."
I snorted. "Please. I can barely put my thoughts together and half the time it's just BS I'm spitting out. I'm lucky you can make sense of it all."
"You don't give yourself enough credit."
"Pot calling kettle," I huffed as we stepped into another room and our bantering trailed off as the crackling old voice of Davros drew our attention.
"Doctor."
A platform of tubes was raised so we could see better and while I was happy to keep my distance, the Doctor hurried up the platform to see him.
"Davros."
"I approve of your new face, Doctor. So much more like mine. Colony Sarff, untie our guests' hands," he ordered and I frowned lightly as the serpents were whisked away. "You may leave us."
Colony Sarff stepped out of the room and I shifted uneasily behind the Doctor. As pleased as I was to not be with Missy, Clara, and the Daleks they would soon run into, that didn't make being here much better. Especially when I don't know why I was brought here. What makes me so special to Davros? Because I'm the Doctor's wife in the future? I frowned lightly. That will be really annoying if my title as his wife turns me into kidnappable Doctor bait.
"You came then," Davros muttered as the DOctor held out his hands slightly, looking around.
"Clearly."
"Did you suspect a trap?"
"I still do."
"Then, why are you here? Did you miss our conversations?" His head drooped as he turned on some footage nearby me on a wall screen.
"If you had created a virus in your laboratory—"
"I'm not here as your prisoner, Davros—"
"Unimaginable power! Unlimited rice pudding!"
"Everything we saw. Everything we lost."
"But did you bother to tell anyone they might be eating their own relatives?"
"Yes, yes, yes. Okay. You've made your point," the Doctor said, trying to get him to stop.
"Have I?" Davros argued, playing one more of the Fourth Doctor.
"If someone who knew the future pointed out a child to you, and told you that that child would grow up totally evil, to be a ruthless dictator who would destroy millions of lives, could you then kill that child?"
The Doctor rushed toward Davros's controls to stop the recordings. "I get the point."
"Do you know why you came, Doctor? You have a sense of duty. Of guilt, perhaps, and certainly of shame."
"You flatter me."
"Pity. I intended to accuse."
I glanced around uneasily, having yet to be noticed or, at the very least, called on. And I'm not about to draw attention to myself if I can help it. I'm good at that much, at least.
"I believe that for the ultimate good of the universe, I was right to create the Daleks," Davros said then, making the Doctor frown.
"You were very wrong."
"This is the argument we've had since we met."
"It ended in the Time War," the Doctor challenged.
"It survived the Time War but it will end tonight. That is why you are here."
An alarm went off then, drawing my gaze to the screen while the Doctor moved over to a window.
"It seems your friends have gone exploring," Davros chimed as the Doctor recognized the planet he was looking at.
"No. Skaro! You've brought me to Skaro!"
"Where does an old man go to die but with his children?" Davros replied as I called out to the Doctor.
"Doctor!"
He hurried over to see the Dalek rolling up to Clara and Missy on screen before rushing to the now-sealed hallway and banging on the door.
"You cannot help her now, Doctor. You should be grateful that I requested your… wife to be brought with you as well."
His gaze shifted to mine, both of us knowing that my being here instead of there didn't exactly make me safe. He looked back at the viewing screen as Missy and Clara were brought into where the Tardis and a group of Daleks were gathered. Threats were being made, as Daleks do, and the Doctor turned to Davros in his furious concern.
"What are they going to do? Tell me! What!"
"Who can say?" Davros answered cryptically. "You know what children are like."
"Daleks! Pay attention!" Missy called out, making the Doctor turn back.
"Don't. Just don't," he begged.
"You know what this is? This thing you're about to destroy? I'll tell you! It's the dog's unmentionables. And you know all about those, don't you?" Missy teased, tickling a Dalek. "This is a Tardis. With this, you can go anywhere, do anything, kill anyone. With this, the Daleks can be more powerful than ever before."
She climbed up onto a ledge as Clara tried to slip away toward a door unnoticed.
"You just need one thing," Missy hummed with a smile.
"No. Missy, no," The Doctor breathed.
"Me. You need me. A Time Lady, to show you how it works. With this and with me, everything can be yours. And you can burn it all, forever and ever and ever." She paused, looking at the Daleks. "Or would you rather just kill me?"
The Daleks turned to their leader who didn't care much about her offer.
"Maximum extermination."
"Exterminate!"
She was shot at before vanishing and the Doctor hurried away from me to move in front of Davros.
"Please! Please, I'm begging you. Please, please, please save Clara," the Doctor said, falling to his knees and clasping his hands in front of him desperately.
It hurt to look at and I had to turn away, looking at the screen uneasily and lightly biting my tongue. I didn't know if Davros knew what I was capable of; if he knew that I knew the future. Saying something within earshot of him was a risk. But he thinks they're dead. He thinks they're both dead…
"I gave the Daleks life. I do not control them," Davros replied as I watched all the Daleks turn to face Clara.
"Oh, Clara. Oh, my Clara," the Doctor choked out, up again and watching the screen.
"See how they play with her. See how they toy," Davros mocked him. "They want her to run. They need her to run. Do you feel their need, Doctor? Their blood is screaming kill, kill, kill. Hunter and prey, held in the ecstasy of crisis. Is this not life at its purest?"
I reached out, taking the Doctor's hand, drawing his gaze toward me and the screen behind me. Clara took a long while before deciding to try and run and the Daleks shot her as well, making her vanish. I tightened my grip on the Doctor's hand, wishing I could say something now, tell him they were okay. I could feel him getting angry, spiteful, and that hatred for Davros was boiling under his skin. It burned in the back of my mind, familiar and foreign at the same time. My heart raced with it, sending a lump up into my throat and making me clench my jaw tight. I wanted to be angry too, knowing that there had never been any compassion in Davros from the start and that the Doctor should have let him die all those years ago when he stumbled into that battlefield.
"Why have I ever let you live?" The Doctor said coldly and it felt like ice water had been poured over my head when he pulled away from my hand.
I took a small step back, brows furrowed in confusion at how quickly that boiling rage faded.
"Compassion, Doctor. It has always been your greatest indulgence. Let this be my final victory. Let me hear you say it, just once. Compassion is wrong," Davros said, challenging him before his sightless gaze drifted to me. "Or perhaps your wife might be next."
I frowned at him, not exactly threatened by the man. Daleks, on the other hand… But the Doctor had other ideas and began searching through the room for something; trashing the desk of parts nearby and making me wince.
"It took me so very long to realize it was you, standing at the gates of my beginning. And here you are at the end," Davros drawled, ignoring his search and destruction of the room. "But this time, I have you at my mercy. Exterminate."
The Doctor suddenly pressed a Dalek gun to the back of his neck and I jolted, cautiously heading over. Scaring someone with a weapon was not a smart thing to do but this wasn't right either. The Doctor didn't do weapons and if he was resorting to this, then I had to intervene. He didn't know what I knew. I had to hint it to him somehow.
"Doctor," Davros muttered as the Doctor jerked it away from him. "Ancient. Inoperable."
The Doctor adjusted some things and the weapon hummed to life. "Genius."
"You would threaten a dying man? Have I not suffered enough?" Davros countered, lightly trying to appease to him as I finally got close enough to put a hand on the Doctor's arm, drawing his attention to me.
Come on, come on. You can tell, can't you? I'm not panicked. Not concerned or upset. That means something. It means that you're missing it. His brows furrowed and his frown deepened before he turned back to Davros.
"Get out."
"I cannot leave this chamber. It sustains me. You'd do well to listen to your wife," Davros muttered, but the Doctor stormed forward and shouted at him.
"Get out!"
Davros didn't have much of a choice and I grimaced as he was pulled from his chair and dropped to the ground; literally half a man. The Doctor pulled the chair away and reached in to adjust a few things before turning to me. He headed over and I took a hesitant step back, uncertain of what he was planning on doing. Then, I let out a yelp as he scooped me up off my feet.
"W-What are you doing!" I complained, clinging to his neck to prevent myself from falling.
"Well, there's not exactly room for two and I'm not leaving you here with him," he said, settling into the Dalek-shaped wheelchair and settling me on his lap. "See?"
I glared at him, ignoring the heat in my face at the awkward setup. "Put. Me. Down."
"Absolutely not. We have places to be. People to save."
"So let me walk!" I argued as he started to roll us out of the room.
"No can do. The shielding might not cover you if you're outside of the chair. This is the only way."
I groaned, knowing he was right but also getting the feeling he was doing this on purpose to embarrass me. Still, I dropped my head against his shoulder and folded my arms over my chest; resigned to my position. Once out into the hall, I spoke up under my breath.
"They're not dead."
"I know."
I lifted my head and glared at him. "Then, why are you being such an asshole?"
"Language," he chided, touching my nose with a finger before I lightly smacked it away.
"Don't give me that. You were threatening Davros with a gun!"
"Well, he deserved it."
"You don't do weapons!"
"I don't," he replied, giving me a smug grin. "All I did was fix the light. It's junk like Davros said."
"But you—You were—"
"Need to keep up appearances, Ash," he murmured, eyeing the door we were approaching. "You're calm and that's what's kept me calm. You might not be able to tell me what you know at times but the way you react to things is a giveaway. You get better at hiding it," he informed me, seeing my unease regarding what he was saying. "Though, one of the merits of no one knowing about your future knowledge is that you can subtly give me hints with your reactions with the enemy being none the wiser."
"So… Davros doesn't know."
He shook his head. "Very few people we encounter do. Myself, our companions, and the occasional others who find out or we agree on telling."
"Missy," I concluded, earning a small nod.
"Yes."
I frowned lightly then. "She's acting… weird. Are we friends? In the future, I guess."
"Missy is a complicated person," he grumbled, frowning as well as though he wasn't exactly thrilled about our relationship either. "I wouldn't call you two friends but you've… reached an agreement. I don't quite understand it either. I think Missy is the only one who gets it."
"Good to know," I muttered as we stopped in front of the door. "What's the plan?"
"Plan? What plan?" He chimed with a cocky grin as I rolled my eyes and he rolled in to confront the Daleks.
The Doctor woke up with a start only to find himself back in Davros' room. His fun with the Daleks hadn't exactly gone to plan but with the knowledge that Clara and Missy were alive, he'd hoped that his little display had helped them in some way. It would keep the attention on him, at the very least. Ash—He let out a soft sigh of relief seeing her knocked out on the floor, propped up against his chair. At least nothing had happened to her, though he did feel a little bad.
He had lied.
He hadn't actually been paying attention to her like he'd claimed. When he thought the Daleks had killed Clara, his vision had gone red with anger. He had fixed the Dalek gun, had been prepared to use it if he could have mustered up the courage to do so but he'd also seen her. She'd reached out and stopped him and while the action may have looked miniscule compared to the flying rage he'd been in, it had calmed him enough to see some sense.
She was young, inexperienced but still the same Asher he knew and cared for. Even when frightened like she had been, she'd stepped forward to stop him; prepared for a confrontation should he retaliate. She disliked weapons almost as much as he did and she'd still made a move to stop him. It helped him focus, see what was going on with her. She may have not known Clara long depending on how young she was, but it wouldn't change the fact that if Clara had died, she would've been upset. So, then it came down to why hadn't she hinted or told him anything regarding it. The answer for which, was simple. She couldn't because of who might overhear. The younger her was more cautious and hesitant about even the vaguest of hints being given in front of enemies. It was good, really. Kept her foreknowledge from being well known by anyone for ages, but it certainly made things more difficult for the two of them.
Still, she was safe, he had a clear head, and all he had to do now was come up with a plan to figure out how to get out of this trap and ruin whatever plot Davros had in mind when he summoned him here.
"I hope you are grateful," Davros croaked out; back in his chair once more as the Doctor tried to understand what he was talking about. "It wasn't easy to procure and very nearly unique, of course. You should feel privileged. The only other chair on Skaro. Don't get up."
He glanced down before getting up. "You neither," he quipped as he checked on Asher who was beginning to come around.
"The chamber is sealed, and I believe you are not carrying your sonic device," Davros informed him.
"I gave it up. Bad memories."
"I am dying, Doctor."
"You keep saying that, you keep not dying. Can you give it some welly? Come on," the Doctor complained, pacing around the room now as Asher shifted and brought a hand to her head.
"And it is time for us to conclude our business together."
"We have no business," the Doctor argued.
"We have nothing but. Look again at the cables, Doctor. Understand what they are. What they can do. Just step a little closer," Davros coerced as the Doctor eyed them cautiously.
He wasn't an idiot. He understood what Davros was doing and decided to do what he does best, annoy his enemy.
"They don't have much respect for you, do they? Your kids. Have you seen the state of this place?" He asked, swiping a finger over a control panel. "I mean, this is exactly where you dump a smelly old uncle slash family pet slash genius scientist who couldn't even invent legs. Seriously, how do your boys take it when everybody else has got two eyes?"
"You know what it is, of course," Davros said as the Doctor wandered around it.
"Oh, yes. It's a hyperspace relay, with some kind of a genetic component."
"I am connected to the life force of every Dalek on this planet. It is what has kept me alive. As their hearts beat, so does mine."
Asher groaned as the Doctor swung by, muttering under her breath about eggs in a basket which nagged at him lightly as he pressed a couple of fingers to the pulse point in her throat. She lightly swatted at him with a frown but he'd gotten enough to know that she was fine; if with a bit of a headache. Getting what he did from such a fleeting touch informed him of one more thing. Her mind is starting to open up… What was that she said about eggs?
"Ooh, nice," the Doctor hummed, mind racing. "Vampiring off your own creations, just to eke out your days. I'm surprised that the Daleks allow it."
"Oh, they have no choice. My Daleks are afflicted with a genetic defect."
"What defect?" The Doctor questioned, knowing how the purity of the Dalek race was such a big deal to them that a defect could be the entire species' undoing.
"Respect. Mercy for their father. Design flaws I was unable to eliminate. And now he sees it. Now he understands. The cables, Doctor. Touch them, Davros egged him on and he lifted a hand cautiously. "Imagine, to hold in your hand the heartbeat of every Dalek on Skaro. 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."
The Doctor held his hand, holding himself back while feeling the uncertain eyes of Asher on his back. "And 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," Davros practically purred as he rolled closer to the Doctor; taking his hand and leading it toward the cables. "Are you ready? To be a God?"
"It's wrong."
The Doctor glanced over at Asher, a hint of relief flowing through him because he couldn't help but feel the urge to do as Davros said. The Daleks had been a long-standing enemy of his and always would be. To get rid of them all now would save hundreds of thousands of lives. At a cost.
"Why do you hesitate?" Davros asked, giving Asher a brief look. "Because of the words of some human child?"
"She is my wife," the Doctor argued, not caring whether it was true for the current her or not.
She'd known early on what their relationship had grown to be. Maybe not the whole of it but enough to know that he held a respect for her words more than any other. She wasn't just some human to him. She kept him right and she kept him kind.
"Is this the conscience of the Doctor, or his shame? The shame that brought you here," Davros accused as he turned away from the cables and went over to Asher; gaze soft as he lightly tugged her to her feet.
"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. 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 and I'm the Doctor the most when my wife is there to keep me in line."
"Compassion then," Davros grumbled as the Doctor lifted Asher's hand to his lips.
"Always."
"It grows strong and fierce in you, like a cancer."
"I hope it does," Asher muttered, eyeing the Doctor with a hint of embarrassed pink on her cheeks as she tried to lightly tug her hand away.
He just smiled and kept hold, pressing it to his chest and closing his eyes to focus on brushing every possible rush of care, compassion, and love toward her. He could tell she felt it too, even if it was slightly. She'd stiffened and her tugging had stopped.
"I will kill you in the end," Davros informed.
He opened his eyes with a small smile at Asher's confused expression. "I wouldn't die of anything else."
"You may rely on it."
"It's a trap," Asher muttered then, under her breath and so softly it was a wonder she made a sound at all.
"I know," the Doctor replied, seeing her unease starting to creep through her gaze and through the hand he still held.
Her gaze kept flicking to the cables behind him and as much as he wanted to question her further or hear what more she had to say, she was holding back. Even with this low of a whisper she was afraid of being heard. That, and Davros isn't the threat. She said that before, at the very beginning. She's never been concerned about Davros, only about the Daleks he controls and actual threats. Even if she told me not to do anything and he overheard, it wouldn't be a big deal. So, why is she still so cautious? Who else is here?
"There is a question, Doctor. One I have longed to ask," Davros spoke up, drawing the Doctor's attention back to him as he lowered his hand but didn't let go of Asher's.
"Yeah, well, if you're going to put your hand on my knee, it isn't going to go well."
"Why did you leave Gallifrey?"
"Well, because I did."
"You stole the Tardis and ran, and ran. Why?" Davros pressed.
"It's a boring place, Gallifrey. I was going out of my mind."
"Yet, you long to return."
"Ah, well, I'm inconsistent," the Doctor replied, not liking the line of questioning and not exactly wanting to answer Davros of all people.
Asher squeezed his hand and he relaxed a bit.
"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," Davros said sternly before rolling to a box nearby. "Colony Sarff confiscated these items on your arrival."
"A Time Lord confession dial, I believe. Your confession. Tell me. Send me to my grave with this precious knowledge. What is the Doctor's confession?"
Davros started to reach for the dial but it was taken by Asher, who frowned at him as she grabbed the sunglasses in the box as well.
"Don't."
"Is it possible I have touched a nerve?" Davros questioned.
"You're not the one who should know, or he would've sent it to you," she told him, taking a firm step back and holding the confession dial close.
"And you think yourself worthy of such a prize?"
"No. Not me. Not this current me," she said, making the Doctor frown lightly. "But that doesn't matter. There are things people don't want to share with others and that's fine. You should respect that no matter who you're talking to because otherwise, you're going to find them poking their noses into places they shouldn't in your life. This is the Doctor's. This is private. Mind your own business."
"She's right," the Doctor hummed, taking the sunglasses from her and putting them on. "Some things matter to me, Davros. Not many, but a few. And you don't put your fingers anywhere near them. And they'd better not be scratched. These are my best ones."
"Still you play the fool," Davros drawled, unimpressed.
"Well, by now that should make you nervous."
"Make your confession, Doctor. Why did you really leave Gallifrey?" Davros pushed, making Asher bristle slightly until the Doctor lightly led her away from him.
"How long has it been, you and I?"
"Long enough. Galaxies have burned," Davros answered his question.
"And now you ask me a personal question?"
"You have slaughtered billions of my children, as I have slaughtered billions of your race. We have exhausted the conventional means of communication."
The Doctor removed his sunglasses, confronting him and only just restraining his temper with Asher's hand in his grip practically shouting how uneasy she was with his rise in anger.
"My people are alive. They didn't die. I brought them back. I 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."
"I'm sorry?" The Doctor questioned, surprised and confused.
"This is wonderful news. Beyond all hope. I congratulate you."
"Why are you saying that?"
"A man should have a race, a people, an allegiance. A man should belong, Doctor. Believe me, please. I am happy for you. So happy."
"I don't… I don't understand this. Why are you—"
He cut himself short at seeing tears roll from Davros' shadowed eyes.
"Come closer again. Let me see your face."
"You've seen it often enough," the Doctor muttered, cautious.
"Let me see it again with my own eyes."
The glowing blue eye reminiscent of a Dalek's flickered out and his shadowed eyes opened as the Doctor pulled away from Asher to lean in.
"Closer, please," Davros asked as the Doctor knelt before him in stunned shock. "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… was I right?" Davros asked, taking the Doctor's hand with his quivering one. "I need to know before the end. Am I a good man?"
"You really are dying, aren't you?" The Doctor questioned quietly.
"Look at me. Did you doubt it?"
"Yes," the Doctor breathed.
"Then, we have established one thing only."
"What?"
"You are not a good doctor," Davros replied and the Doctor cracked a smile before they both chuckled before Davros struggled to take a breath, making the Doctor stand. "Pity. I had hoped to see the sun one last time with the eyes of my true self."
The Doctor nodded for him to head toward the window and he himself got to work on getting the multitude of cables set up. He glanced over at Asher who'd been rather quiet through his exchange. He silently wished they could communicate telepathically but could tell just by her expression that she was still very cautious about Davros. Something he should be too, yet the way Davros was talking very much sounded like the words of a dying man. Didn't mean he couldn't still be up to something but the Doctor wanted to be kind to his enemy, if only for a moment.
"It is beautiful, my world, is it not?" Davros commented.
"How did you get it back?" The Doctor asked idly.
"The Daleks remade it. Like you, they have a strong concept of home."
The Doctor shook his head, plugging more cables into Davros' chair. "No, like you. Everything you are, they are."
"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 anymore," the Doctor informed Davros.
"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. I think I owe him a sunrise. Come on. Chin up. Any minute now."
"I have always admired you, Doctor."
"Here it comes."
"I wish, just once, we'd been on the same side."
"Look, the sun's coming up," the Doctor muttered to him softly. "We're on the same side now."
"I regret I cannot open my eyes," Davros choked out and the Doctor hesitated, glancing over at Asher briefly before leaning in toward Davros.
"Okay, don't ever tell anyone that I did this." He flicked his hand before it glowed. "A little bit of regeneration energy. Probably cost me an arm or a leg somewhere down the line. Or I'll just be really little."
He started back for the life support system but stopped. Asher had grabbed him to prevent him from stepping into the middle of it. Her gaze burned into his, desperately trying to get something across, and the Doctor leaned in close. His lips brushed her temple as he murmured softly in her ear.
"Black plug, right side of the controls," he breathed, pulling away with a small smile with his hand on her cheek. "If anything goes wrong."
She nodded but hesitated to say something, opening and closing her mouth for a moment before a soft apology escaped her lips. "I'm sorry. I-It… It will hurt…"
"And that's not your fault," he replied, lightly frowning before pressing a kiss to her forehead and backing away; now knowing that this would go wrong.
But she's not stopping me. It's meant to happen which means my idea will work. It will hurt but I'm doing what needs to be done. He stepped up onto the small platform, hearing Davros begin to chuckle and ignoring it.
"Should be enough just to—" He cried out in pain as Colony Sarff grabbed hold of him with his many snakes; holding his glowing hands to the cables.
"Hold him firm, Colony Sarff. He is precious to us now," Davros said, spotting Asher starting to slowly move toward the controls. "Get his wife as well, before she tries anything stupid."
Asher bit out a curse, turning and making a dash for the cable the Doctor told her; barely able to grab it before a snake lunged and bit into her ankle. She lifted a foot to stomp on it but another rushed up and despite her attempts to pull the snakes off; one was soon wrapped around her throat trying to choke the air from her lungs.
"Stop!" The Doctor called. "Please! Leave her!"
"Restrain her, Colony Sarff," Davros ordered, making the serpent around her throat loosen slightly enough for her to suck in a choking gasp of air. "The poison will work soon enough."
The Doctor's worried eyes went to the snake that had struck her ankle and he mentally cursed. He wasn't sure what sort of poison Colony Sarff had at his disposal, nor what state Asher's body was in and if it could handle such a thing. Things needed to move faster. If only she'd gotten to the cable, he thought with a cringe before he saw her eyes shift to his. They were determined despite what was happening and her gaze trailed up her arm with his following. Her hand was still firmly wrapped around the cable. Colony Sarff hadn't prevented her from pulling it out, just made it more difficult from the angle she was in. She needs a distraction.
"What are you doing?" The Doctor asked, voice tight with pain as he tried to give Asher a chance.
"Regeneration energy. The ancient magic of the Time Lords. I thought I would have to tear you apart to take it from you but, as always, your compassion is your downfall."
"No! No! No, please! No!"
"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," Davros practically cheered, revitalized himself. "There was a prophecy, Doctor, on your own world. It spoke of a hybrid creature. Two great warrior races forced together to create a warrior greater than either. Is that what you ran from, Doctor? Your part in the coming of the hybrid? Half Dalek, half Time Lord?"
"Stupid," Asher croaked, drawing the man's gaze to her and making his smile fall. "Y-You're so stupid a-and full of yourself."
She grimaced as the snake around her throat tightened again but Davros held up a hand.
"You know something. Something about the hybrid."
"It has… nothing to do with you," she said, cracking a small smile. "Not you o-or the Daleks."
"What do you know? Tell me!" He ordered, lifting his gauntlet threateningly but Asher kept smiling.
"I-I know… that you're stupid a-and very, very blind."
She jerked to the side with the cable looped around her arm to ensure she had enough leverage to jerk it from the controls. The life support machine powered down and Davros growled in frustration. The door opened and Missy stormed in with a Dalek weapon; using it to kill Colony Sarff's main body and releasing the Doctor and Asher from the snakes. The Doctor collapsed, breathing hard and close to passing out but Asher had been just fast enough. Missy headed toward him first but he shifted on his hands and knees.
"A-Ash."
"Oh, hello to you too."
Missy rolled her eyes but abandoned him to head over to the woman who had propped herself upright and was leaning against the console, eyes closed and trying to calm her breathing.
"How is the missus?"
"W-Well, been better really," Asher muttered, glancing down at her ankle. "Was bit by a probably venomous snake so there's that. Glad to see you're alright."
Missy smiled, moving to roll up her pant leg, remove her shoe, and check the injury as she shot the Doctor a look over her shoulder. "See? She asks."
"Where's Clara?" The Doctor questioned instead, relieved at seeing no largely concerning symptoms from the bite Asher had just yet.
"I'm fine, thanks," Missy hummed, ignoring him as Davros spoke.
"Oh, you are not fine. Thanks to you, Doctor, my creations shall grow to yet greater supremacy, and my own life is prolonged. This is the final defeat of the Time Lords. Have you nothing to say, Doctor?" He complained when the Doctor didn't respond to his jab.
"Three," the Doctor chimed in, bounding away from the platform and heading for Asher.
"Do you understand what has happened? Hear my children sing," Davros continued.
"Two," he replied, picking up Asher as Missy hummed.
"Oh, I know that face."
Davros didn't. "All praise Davros, creator and savior of the Daleks."
"One."
The city shook repeatedly under their feet and Davros frowned.
"What is that? What's happening?"
"I knew exactly what you were doing, and I let you do it. You transmitted regeneration energy into every Dalek on this planet. Every single one," the Doctor informed him.
"What have you done?"
"One word. Uh, no. Two words, actually. First word… moron, like Ash said," the Doctor started, making Missy snigger. "Second word, sewers."
"No. This cannot be correct. How can this be?" Davros shouted in disbelief.
"Generations of Daleks just woke up very cross, and they are coming up the pipes. Or to put it another way, bye!" He bounded off toward the door, speaking to Asher quietly. "How are you doing?"
"Fine," she grumbled, lightly prodding him in the chest. "You should know I really don't like being carried."
"Oh, I know but you're in no state to walk and I need to keep you calm and off your feet until we're back in the Tardis, and I can give you an anti-venom. Hence, why I asked how you are. I need to know any and all symptoms as they happen given we don't exactly have an ID on your serpentine friend."
"Could be alien," she huffed and he nodded.
"Yeah, could be. Could also be alien and a snake found on Earth. They all get kind of mixed up."
"Joy," she sighed. "Just aches right now. Bit of tingling in my toes."
"Narrows it down," the Doctor mused before Asher frowned lightly.
"Did someone grab my shoe and sock?"
"Ah—" He stumbled as the city shook, leaning up against a wall to stabilize himself and grimacing at the black Dalek ooze that had dripped down a pipe vent onto the wall. "I'm sure the Tardis will have more for you to wear," he answered Asher. "We need to keep moving."
"Doctor," a Dalek called out then, rolling toward them and the Doctor took a small step back.
"This city is about to be sucked into the ground. Your own sewer is about to consume you. There's no way you can win, there is nothing you can do, so just tell me, where is Clara Oswald?"
"I am a Dalek," it said.
"Yes, you're a Dalek. Where is Clara?"
"I am a Dalek," it repeated, frustrating him.
"Yes, I know that you're a Dalek. Where is Clara Oswald?"
"Doctor," Asher said, pointing at the Dalek. "It is Clara."
"Sorry?"
Missy ran in then, holding up the Dalek gun she'd taken. "Doctor, stop! It's you, isn't it?" She asked the Dalek. "I mean, no offense, you all look alike, but it is it is you?"
"Affirmative," the Dalek answered.
"Clara's dead, Doctor. This is the one that killed her," Missy said then, as Asher groaned.
"Oh, piss off. Clara's in the Dalek. It's how you two got out of the sewers without immediately being killed. Stop trying to make the Doctor do something stupid and get out of here, would you?"
Missy wrinkled her nose in a pout. "Well, you're certainly no fun. Can't a girl have a bit of a tease?"
Asher frowned at her and Missy held up her hands in surrender.
"Yes, yes. Not like he wouldn't have figured it out anyway. Go on then. Collect your prize or whatever."
The Doctor shook his head, not even wanting to know what that was about before turning to the Dalek. "Open your casing."
"How?" It replied.
"Just think the word 'open.' It'll work."
The Dalek casing opened and Clara sighed in relief. "Doctor… Thank you. Thank you, Asher."
" In a way, this is why I gave her to you in the first place. To make you see. The friend inside the enemy, the enemy inside the friend," Missy rattled on as the Doctor carefully placed Asher on the ground and went about unhooking Clara from the Dalek. "Everyone's a bit of both. Everyone's a hybrid."
"Missy," he said sharply. "Run."
She huffed, turning to walk away. "It wasn't me who ran, Doctor. That was always you."
He shook his head to think on that for later and picked Asher up again once Clara was free.
"Come on!"
"What's wrong with Asher?"
"I'm fine," she grumbled.
"She had a little too much fun with a snake. Now—" He grimaced as a piece of the ceiling came down and the floor cracked open in the control room full of screaming Daleks. "Where was the Tardis? It was over there somewhere, wasn't it?"
"What is happening? Explain! Explain!" The Dalek Supreme demanded as they ran past.
"Dalek Supreme, your sewers are revolting," he offered the creature.
"You will assist, or you will be exterminated."
"Oh, well, go on, then. Exterminate away."
"Doctor!" Clara cried out but when the Daleks fired they were perfectly fine.
"Oops, sorry. Tardis force field is still here. We get in, you don't," the Doctor mocked them.
"The Tardis has been destroyed," the Dalek Supreme argued.
"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," Clara reminded him as Asher groaned into his chest as he grinned.
"Oh, yeah, I'm over screwdrivers. They spoil the line of your jacket. These days, I'm all about wearable technology." He put on his sunglasses as Clara gaped.
"No! No, seriously?"
"What's happening?" The Dalek Supreme questioned as the Doctor used his sonic sunglasses to summon the Tardis.
"Oh, same old, same old. Just the Doctor, Asher Watkins, and Clara Oswald in the Tardis."
The Tardis materialized around them and took off immediately, leaving the Doctor to set Asher down on the jumpseat and scan her with his sonic sunglasses.
"Right. Antivenom will be ready in a jiffy," he chirped, moving to the console and adjusting some things. "Just one more thing… there's a little boy who needs my help."
