Hello everyone, you may have noticed, this is not School Reunion, this is a original chapter, and there is an important reason for that, I hope you enjoy, and we will be back on episode schedule in the next chapter.
Onxio: He cannot, it is moreso like the character of the person he can see. Kinda like he can see people's souls.
Chapter 7 - Distress Signal
"I thought we were going back to earth." Rose said, glancing up at the Doctor who fiddled with a piece of machinery, glasses perched upon his nose.
Benedict was lounging next to her, picking at a bundle of grapes and popping them into his mouth, his feet were kicked up on the table. Thankfully nowhere near Rose's eggs, beans and toast.
"We were, and still are, but we first gotta go check out what's causing this distress signal." The Doctor explained through holding his sonic in his mouth.
The device he was working on continued to insistently beep and Rose couldn't help but groan a bit rubbing at her eyes groggily.
She'd been hoping to head back, she had some laundry to take care of and for some reason the Doctor never showed her where the utility room was. She was certain he had to have one. Unless he just owned endless amounts of the same suit.
But really, she wouldn't be surprised if he did.
"Yes, and I understand that it's important…but can't we just swing by the house? We are in a time machine." She said, and Benedict hummed from next to her.
"We've heard the distress beacon though, we're locked into it's timeline, if we wait too long it could be too late." He popped another grape into his mouth.
Rose sighed, "alright, I'll go get changed. In the clothes I have left." That part was grumbled and with that she headed back to her room leaving the two men.
"Someone's grumpy." Benedict ventured a few moments after she left the room.
The Doctor sighed and put the device down running a hand through his hair as it continued to beep.
"She gets a bit homesick occasionally. We're a bit due for a visit." Then he frowned down at the device, "I don't understand why it won't turn off."
Benedict sent the device a sideways glance, "well, clearly whoever sent it is in a great amount of distress." He crushed another grape with his teeth.
"Well obviously, but I can't get it to quiet down, I don't think it will until we get there." He huffed and Benedict paused gazing at it a moment before reaching over and picking it up and turning it over in his hands. The Doctor watched him curiously.
"Do you know where we're going?" he looked up to the Doctor, "where the distress signal leads?"
The Doctor stole a breath before going to the fridge and grabbing a water bottle and downing it. "Nowhere of note. A moon off the Kiber system. It's not even a large one, just a small one amongst fourteen."
"For someplace so isolated it's odd that the signal is this strong, given were multiple galaxies away." Benedict mused before reaching over and grabbing one of the tools the Doctor had brought in here. "Gotta, make you wonder if it's something more important." As he spoke, he began to fiddle with the device, something the Doctor watched interested.
"Well, we'll find out soon enough." He tossed the now empty bottle into the trash shoot before pushing off the counter and heading out of the kitchen. As he did the beeping stopped suddenly giving him pause and reason to look back. "Did you turn it off or did it…?"
"I think I turned it off." Benedict muttered before standing and handing the device to the Doctor, he looked it over and found the indicator light still blinking but it was quiet. He lifted his gaze to Benedict who finished tightening his tie.
"I didn't know you were so mechanically inclined." He mused and Benedict looked up his head tilting slightly before he looked down at the machine.
"Heh, suppose I am." With that he walked past the Doctor and out the door.
The time-lord watched him go with a slight frown, but he shook his head, that was going to have to wait.
They needed to find out who was in danger first.
As the trio stepped out of the Tardis a sudden chill came upon them, though the only one visibly affected was Rose, as she gasped before hugging herself with a shudder.
"The hell? It's freezing in here!" She said and the Doctor nodded back to the Tardis.
"Go get a coat, we'll scope things out." She nodded and with another shudder she quickly headed inside.
The two men stepped further from the blue box and into someplace that probably used to be some kind of facility. The Tardis had landed in a corridor that was blocked by a metal blast door at the end. It clearly, however, was not maintained anymore.
The structural integrity of the place was to be questioned as well, there were cracks in the concrete, debris strewn about, and the Doctor was the one to spot the first body.
He went over and crouched next to the corpse bringing out his sonic and initiating a scan.
The body was ages old, skin already dried up to the point of being mummified, but his sonic informed him that a shot to the chest was the killing blow. The corpse registered as a grown biomass. It likely wasn't the orchestrator on whatever happened here.
What made things odd, was that the killing weapon seemed to be some kind of human gun, belonging to sometime in the 21st century.
His mouth tugged into a frown as he stood up looking to Benedict who was frowning at the door at the end of the hallway.
"What do you see and smell?" he asked, joining his side. Benedict spared him a glance before puffing a breath.
"I can't see past the door. But it smells old…familiar…and old." He murmured as his gaze drifted back to the sealed door hatch before them.
The Doctor spared his companion a glance, Benedict was tense, his hands clenched and unclenched periodically. Uneasy waves of energy rolled off him causing even the Doctor to feel flashes of anxiety.
"Why can't you see-"
"Oh my god." Rose voiced suddenly causing both men to turn to her, she was bundled up in a coat and staring down at the decrepit corpse to their right.
She lifted her gaze to them, her eyes wide, "did we arrive too late?"
The Doctor wet his lips before turning back to the hatch, "only one way to find out." And with that, he took determined steps forward heading for the hatch.
Only for his arm to be caught in a vice-like grip.
He blinked and came to a halt, his attention drawn to the one who held his forearm tightly, "Benedict?"
"I know this smell, I know the door design…it…it took me a minute." He swallowed, his adam's apple bobbing as he looked to the Doctor his brows pinched inward. "It's Dalek."
That instantly made the Doctor tense up and snap his attention to the hatch, the words, 'we need to leave' nearly slipped out of his mouth but he restrained himself.
If there was a Dalek here…it should be taken care of here and nowhere else.
"Dalek?" Rose asked, coming closer and Benedict gave a stiff nod.
"It's…old, faint, it's not strong but it's here."
"Then…maybe they were here…but not anymore?" Rose suggested glancing between the two men. The Doctor set his jaw and stole a deep breath.
"Do you hear anything past the hatch?" he asked, sparing a glance at Benedict.
The being took a step forward and tilted his head toward the hatch his brows pinched. "There is the sound of machinery, it doesn't sound like a Dalek…just…like…" his brow furrowed, "life support."
The time-lord worked his jaw about before nodding to himself, "okay," he turned to his companions, "Benedict and I will open the hatch and investigate, Rose, you wait here-"
"What? Like hell I am!"
"Rose, do you remember what happened last time?" the Doctor asked, near rounding on her. The human, however, put her hands on her hips gazing up at him defiantly.
"Yeah, I reduced them to ashes. I can handle myself-"
"The tardis reduced them to ashes, something that nearly killed you, and did kill my last incarnation." He retorted and Rose opened her mouth-
"If you two are finished, I'd rather not be here any longer than we have to be." Benedict cut in, ducking his head to look at both. "All we know right now is that there is a Dalek smell here. Blondie could be right, it could've been centuries ago that they stumbled upon the moon. What killed him?" He motioned to the corpse, and the Doctor sighed before straightening.
"Gunshot, earth made, 21st century." He recited, and that made Rose's partial glare fail her.
"21st century?" she looked around, "but how…?"
"One issue at a time, first we need to find out what's behind the door and why we are here." Benedict said before turning to look at the hatch again, but his statement caused Rose to tilt her head.
"Can't you see through the door?"
Benedict's mouth formed into a thin line, "no. It's Dalek. I can't see through Dalek materials." His voice was taunt, so taunt it pulled the Doctor's attention to him. But now was not the time for their question game.
"Alright, well, the old-fashioned it is." He went over to the door and lifted his sonic, running it over the mechanisms of the door. As he did, Benedict and Rose hovered nearby, their varying levels of anxiety making the Doctor more jittery than he would've liked.
He didn't know what was beyond the door, based off Benedict's description of the sounds he reasoned it wasn't a fully-fledged Dalek empire. They already had to deal with that, and they'd been very lucky with the results.
He did not want a repeat so soon.
Finally, something in the door shifted, several clanks and clicks later the middle part of the circular door began to rotate, and as it did it seemed to roll into an awaiting slot, sliding open for them.
All three waited with bated breath, the Doctor felt Rose grab his hand and interweave their fingers, he nearly told her to go to the Tardis, but the sight they beheld made him stop.
A lone…large Dalek sat before them, it was hooked up to all sorts of machinery, which was the source of the life support noises Benedict had heard. Its eye socket was lowered and powered off. And some kind of light seemed to bleed out of the cracks in its casing. Like something inside it was illuminated. There was no familiar golden paint, instead it was a peculiar chrome which was not a color the Doctor had seen on a Dalek before.
It was as though the paint was unfinished.
"Is it…" Rose trailed from slightly behind him. He squeezed her hand firmly.
"Don't touch it." He murmured keeping his eyes fixed on the creature and all the life support devices attached to it.
"No shit." Benedict near snapped next to him, but the Doctor didn't spare him a glance. He swallowed down the bubbling questions and gently released Rose's hand before taking a step forward.
"Be careful Doctor." Rose warned, and the time-lord opted to stay quiet as he got a closer look at all the machines hooked up to the Dalek.
He'd never seen one medically attended to…and what was that light?
Carefully he pulled out his sonic and doing his best to keep the noise to a minimum he ran it over the unresponsive Dalek.
The readings came back…odd.
The distress signal was coming from the casing, but…that's all it read as…a casing. While the sonic did tell him there was something inside, it did not seem to be integrated into the machine before him. Once he got his readings, he took a few decisive steps back.
"We found who was asking for help." He muttered his eyes flickering between the readings and the machine by him.
"A dalek?" Rose asked, "does that mean that more will come?" She asked sending a wary glance about the room.
"No, there shouldn't be any more of them." His voice was stiff, and he couldn't help but feel frustration choking at him. How many times had he said that and been wrong? Of course, it couldn't be a simple rescue.
Why was he still thinking of this as a rescue?
"This machinery is old." Benedict said and the Doctor blinked looking at him from where he now stood by the life support devices. "I think it…the dalek sensed that it was going out and sent out a distress signal." He looked around the machine and hummed, "it has days, tops." He turned to the Doctor.
"I vote we leave it here to die." He said dispassionately and the Doctor took his gaze from him and sent it to the dalek.
"I don't understand. How is it here? Why? Who put this machinery on it?" He asked, the questions rolling out of his mouth as his eyes went about the room. Trying to find any clue, but the place was sterile in appearance. A vague chill in the air assisted in this assumption.
"Maybe it was the guy outside?" Rose ventured and the Doctor stole a breath running a hand through his hair.
"But he was killed, and by who? Why didn't they come in here?" He asked no one as he looked around the lab. There were so many expensive things around. Not to mention a Dalek, who, if he was dying, his parts would make for a pretty penny.
But his problem really wasn't a dead lab attendant.
"It's hooked up to life support yeah?" Benedict said taking several strides toward the machines hooked up to the Dalek, he looked around before opening a hatch attached to the wall, he reached in and grabbed a bundle of cords that were clearly attached to the electric grid here. "I say we pull the plug." The Doctor started forward, but it was too late, in one fell swoop Benedict yanked out the cords.
What followed was a flurry of sparks and a blaring alarm to resound within the room. The noise was so loud it caused all three of them to duck their heads and cover their ears.
The Doctor was the first to semi recover as he pulled out his sonic and raised it into the air. The whirring sound was overshadowed by the cacophony that was the emergency alarm.
But soon the sonic caught the signal and he darted for another enclosed hatch, he dove for it and yanked the door open nearly pulling it from its hinges. He ran his sonic over the mess of wires and cords before finally ripping out the correct one.
And though their ears still rang, the blaring alarm had faded out into nothing.
The Doctor smacked the side of his head to try and get the noise to go away before he ventured to Rose's side. She had crouched down and was only now slowly rising.
However, she did not look at him when he came over, instead her eyes were fixed on the Dalek.
And the hand that was touching it.
Apparently at some point during the deafening noise Benedict had also crouched down but he must've lost balance because he was currently bracing himself on the Dalek whilst banging the side of his head and muttering near nonsense under his breath.
"Ben…" Rose croaked out as the Doctor put her behind him. The being looked up and at them before at the dalek, he jerked his arm away like it was on fire and quickly scrambled to their side. However, it was too late, the impression of his handprint sat on the casing of the dalek before fading out.
"Fuck." Benedict hissed before swallowing thickly from beside the Doctor.
"Tardis, we need to get back to the-"
The Doctor cut himself off as a hissing noise started coming from the dalek, like something de-pressurizing. Puffs of white smoke billowed from the illuminated edges of the dalek and the Doctor took an instinctive step back. The others followed suit.
He knew they should run, whatever it was, it involved a Dalek, and it was never good. But dammit he was curious. What was this thing doing here? Why was it glowing? Why was it hooked up to life support?
Why hadn't the lens turned on yet?
"What the hell is it doing?" Rose hissed gripping the back of the Doctor's coat, he felt her hands shaking a bit. Clearly, she hadn't forgotten about what happened before.
"Nothing good." The Doctor muttered yet he still couldn't take another step away.
He should.
But he didn't.
The front of the casing was splitting open, and despite himself the Doctor carefully stepped away from his companions and to an angle that he could see better. Perhaps the Dalek inside was dead? Maybe it couldn't function outside of life support, even with the touch of a time traveler. Maybe it-
The Doctor stopped in his tracks his eyes going wide and eyebrows striving to reach his hairline.
Inside was not the familiar Dalek creature he'd grown accustomed to, there were no tentacles, no octopi reminiscent features…
It was human…or at the least he looked human.
The Doctor's stomach rolled a moment before he slowly crouched down, there were bindings holding his wrists in place, and once the casing had fully opened. It's like he was pushed out and woken at the same time.
The boy…surely no older than a teenager, was on his hands and knees retching coughs ripping through him as he fisted the dust that had gathered over the years.
"What…but he's human!" Rose exclaimed before joining the Doctor's side. Benedict remained silent and where he had been.
The boy, dressed in sterile white clothes, continued to cough up some kind of liquid which the Doctor could only conclude was some kind of aid in breathing. But he seemed to be getting over it as full coughs soon grew shorter and more spaced out…before ending entirely.
"Are…are you alright?" Rose ventured first, and that caused the teen to look up at her with blinking dark eyes, then his brow twitched before drawing inward with confusion.
Then the silent stare-down was broken when the teen scrambled back retreating closer to the casing he'd been entrapped within.
"Wait, wait hold on!" The Doctor said which made the teen freeze and snap his attention to him. The Time-lord held out his hands placatingly. "You just got out of that thing, it might try and snatch you back up." He explained gently, the teen however continued to look at him with wide eyes and a furrowed brow.
Rose offered a gentle smile as she spoke, "my name is Rose, that's Benedict, and this is the Doctor." She explained motioning to each as she spoke, however his eyes had fixed onto the Doctor and if at all possibly they had blown even wider than before.
And filled to the brim with unadulterated fear.
The Doctor near flinched back at the reaction, his own eyes wide and brows furrowed down, he held out his hands placatingly though that didn't seem to help as even that simple action caused a full body recoil by the boy.
"Hey, easy we're not going to hurt you." Rose explained briefly, earning a glance from the boy but he continued to look at the Doctor with something akin to pure terror.
Like how a doe would stand when cornered by a predator.
And then he bolted.
It took both the Doctor and Rose by surprise as he sprinted past them and down the hallway, though that inevitably led him right toward the Tardis.
Benedict, Rose, and the Doctor followed though they kept their distance when they found the boy standing in front of the Tardis looking around wildly for another escape route.
But there was none to be found.
The boy seemed to realize this as he whipped back toward them, though his eyes automatically went to the Doctor again. He took a small step back, though did seem to gain some confidence as he straightened up hands fisting at his sides.
"S…stay back!" He said his trembling body mirrored in his voice. And with a glance at the Doctor; Rose held out both hands gently.
"Easy…we aren't going to hurt you, we're here to help."
The boy looked to her and then back to the Doctor, he didn't seem fazed by what she said. "I…I'll call reinforcements!" He said his body seemingly vibrated as he did his best to sound intimidating.
"Theres no need for that." The Doctor said, his voice gone soft, the boy inhaled sharply when he spoke and took a stumbling step back. "We're here to help, we got a distress signal and came over…can you tell me who you are? Do you know your name?" He asked, and the boy gazed at him before glancing around and then finally back to the Doctor.
"K-130." He said, his eyes still wide and fixed on the Doctor. The time-lord bounced the name or rather, designation around his head a few times. That sounded familiar, where had he heard that from?
"K-130 huh? That's a neat name." Rose said with a smile, pulling the Doctor back to the situation at hand. "Can you tell me what's going on here?"
K-130 looked at her for a moment before sending a glance to the Doctor and then back at her as he worried his lip. His hands pulled up to his chest. "They didn't tell me."
"They?" the Doctor prompted earning his attention and trepidation that caused the boy to swallow thickly.
Rose noticed, and decidedly took the lead, "who might 'they' be?" She asked softly and after a moment the boy tore his attention from the Doctor and back to her.
"The white coats." He murmured, eyeing them hesitantly. Before his attention snapped to wholly the Doctor. "Are…are you going to kill me?" he asked barely above a whisper.
The Doctor blinked, startled by the question, "no, no I won't kill you…why do you think I will?"
"It's cos he's dalek Doc." Benedict said, his voice low and even. The Doctor went rigid and looked to the blindfolded man. Rose did much the same.
"Dalek?" Rose prompted looking between Benedict and the Doctor. "But he looks human! The daleks don't look human they look like…octopus things!"
The Doctor, however, was staring at K-130 his brow furrowed.
"No, you're right they're ugly as shit now." Benedict continued, "he's what they were before…or at least he looks it."
"They looked like…people?"
"Humanoid is the term I think you are looking for." Benedict muttered.
The Doctor, however, was staring at the boy his brows furrowed low, K-130. He knew it had sounded familiar, and if Benedict was right, then the Doctor was staring at what remained of the Kaled people.
And he was looking at the Doctor with unrestrained fear.
Rose turned to look at the boy before them, he kept sending quick if not fearful glances to the Doctor making sure the time-lord hadn't advanced. Benedict's face, or at least what she could see of it, had gone stony. The Doctor didn't look like he was going to be any help given K's fear of him.
Which meant it was up to her.
Swallowing she turned back to the boy, her mind still reeling as it tried to put him in the same category as the murderous octopus' she had dealt with now twice.
"Okay…well I can understand why you're afraid." She offered and this caused K to look at her. "Afterall…according to the Daleks the Doctor is your greatest enemy yeah?"
K gave a bit of a jerky nod glancing at the Doctor again.
"Right, but the Doctor isn't going to hurt you…okay? He's a good man…I just think you might be a little confused with all that the white coats told you. Am I right? What did they tell you about the Doctor?" She pressed and K paused worrying at his lip before fisting his hands at his sides.
"They said if I ever met the Doctor, he'd kill me. So…I must kill him first. Cos he's the Dalek's greatest enemy." He said, sending another glance to the Doctor.
"Well…has he killed you?" Rose asked, and K paused, his brows furrowing. Rose knew she had an incredibly weak argument here, but if she could just get a semblance of trust that he would not bolt the second they looked away, then they could figure out what to do next.
"No..."
"Are you wanting to kill the Doctor?" She prompted; it would be best to deal with that now if it were the case.
K bounced from foot-to-foot glancing periodically at the Doctor and worrying at his lip so much Rose caught the sight of a green liquid that she could only assume was his blood, leaking out from a wound he'd made.
"…I don't know." He finally said, and Rose nodded, she could work with that.
"Well…I think the white coats may have misled you." She tried, finally earning his attention again, "the Doctor isn't a bad man. He helps people, and he stops people who hurt other people…do…you want to hurt people?" she asked, crouching down her hands clasped before her.
He looked at her, eyes blown wide, "I…I don't know…" he stammered through that answer and Rose nodded worrying her own lip a bit.
"How long have you been with the white coats?" Benedict asked, his voice edging on hostile. That earned K's attention and Rose couldn't help but sigh. Why was Benedict so aggressive? He might be a dalek ancestor or something but right now he was just a kid.
A scared one at that.
"I…have…always been?" He asked more than answered, as if he wasn't sure himself, and Rose now sort of understood the purpose of the question.
He wouldn't know anything outside of what these white coats had told him.
Rose opened her mouth to speak only to watch as K started to sway a bit where he stood. And before she got the chance to warn him, the boy dropped.
Despite K falling unconscious, the Doctor wasn't very comfortable with him being in the Tardis. So, they'd taken him back into the lab and while Rose sat at his side looking over the teen. The Doctor was going through the documents he'd found in a filing cabinet. Benedict was pacing by the entrance. K-130 had passed out from what the Doctor concluded was exhaustion because of over exertion.
Rose glanced at the two men with her. The Doctor hadn't said a word outside of suggesting they retreat to the lab. And Benedict looked like he might have an aneurysm at any moment.
Rose decided to intervene.
She stood and folded her hands behind her back glancing between them before finally settling on the Doctor as she stopped next to him.
"So…what's the plan?" She asked and she heard Benedict's footsteps quiet. She felt his gaze upon them as the Doctor looked up from the document, his glasses sliding slightly down his nose in a way that Rose found adorable.
His eyes went to the unconscious teen in question before he stole a breath and put the files on the table.
"We should kill it." Benedict said before the Doctor could even open his mouth.
"What?" Rose whipped on him, but Benedict was nonplussed, he had his arms crossed over his chest. The part of his face that was visible was stony. "We can't kill him! He's a child! Tell him Doctor! Tell him we can't kill him!" She turned to the time-lord, he was watching Benedict as well, glasses gone, face serious. Rose paused a moment, "Doctor?"
He seemed to snap to from whatever silent conversation he and Benedict had been having and turned to her.
"No…no you right." His eyes went to K, and he worked his jaw. "He…isn't a Dalek. He's a Kaled…the last one it seems." He looked reluctant and Rose shifted on her feet.
"Who…were the Daleks before? Who're the Kaleds?" She prompted, wishing she understood his hesitance.
The time-lord sighed and scratched his head. "The Kaled people were what the Daleks were before they became…well, the Daleks. They were…a very paranoid people. Something a scientist…Davros took advantage of. He used their fear and the war they were in with their planetary companions the Thals to convince them to follow along with his plans. Transforming them into the creatures of hate…transforming them into the Daleks." The explanation made Rose blink.
"All of them?" Her voice had gone quieter.
"Yes. Apart from Davros and well…this kid now. And given that Davros died in the Time-war then…this kid is the last of them." He explained, and Rose nodded slowly.
"Right…were the Kaleds…bad?" This time she spared a glance back at the boy, he looked…so human it was a similar jarring feeling she got when she remembered that both Benedict and the Doctor were aliens and that she was the only human present.
"I suppose they were as bad as humans could be." The Doctor admitted, "I don't know much about their culture beforehand, but when I met them, they were very reminiscent of a military led society. And not a positive one." He paused, "they were the antagonistic force in the war with the Thals."
Rose pursed her lips and played with her hair, "right…but he's just a kid." She emphasized looking between the two men, "and it sounds like he doesn't know anything outside of this lab…"
"The question is what were they telling him? What kind of nonsense have they filled his head with? Not to mention the question of why, why is he the last one? Why was he sustained for this long? It doesn't make sense, there must be something else going on here." Benedict said his eyes falling to the boy in question.
"Do those documents say anything?" Rose asked turning to look at the folders the Doctor was holding. He looked up at her from where he was shuffling through them.
"No, but they once did. Someone must've taken all the important information out of them." He dropped them onto the table and let out a breath.
"Regardless. This still leaves us with the problem of what to do with him." Benedict said, "I still say we kill him."
That made Rose take a step between Benedict and K. "We are not killing him." She snapped and Benedict turned to her raising an eyebrow.
"Oh really? Did you not hear the Doctor? It's not like the race he comes from his innocent; we don't know what was done with him or what he was told. He's already expressed that he sees the Doctor as the Dalek's greatest enemy, who knows what else he thinks!"
"Exactly! We don't know! He's a child Benedict! We can't just kill a kid because his race is screwed up!"
"Not just screwed up, they are monsters Rose." Benedict growled, and she huffed.
"Oh, and you aren't?" That made Benedict frown leaning back slightly, she didn't let him interject, "you explicitly said you ripped out the hearts of time-lords, you have no issue with killing anyone and that's what we know. But we still let you onto the Tardis, and to travel with us." She said and Benedict's jaw tensed, she then turned to the Doctor. "Doctor…he's a kid…we can't just…"
The Doctor looked at her and stole a breath, "you want us to take him with us?"
Rose paused and looked at the kid before rubbing the back of her neck, "I don't know…I don't know what I want or what is right…I just know we can't leave him here and we can't kill him. We should at least find someplace safe…" she looked to the Doctor suddenly uncertain.
The time-lord gazed at her before looking at Benedict and finally the subject of their conversation. They all knew the ultimate call was up to him.
Rose waited with bated breath and the Doctor sighed, running his hands through his hair.
"We'll…we'll take him. For now. Until we can find someplace for him."
Rose heaved a breath of relief, but Benedict scoffed and turned away.
"You can't say I didn't warn you." He looked back at them before focusing on Rose. "I may be a monster, but I'm not an idiot." With that he stalked off toward the Tardis, not seeming to care about Rose's flinch.
"Benedict!" The Doctor snapped, but all he got was the entity flipping him off over his shoulder and the Tardis door slamming shut.
The time-lord huffed but Rose didn't see him as she shifted in her spot casting her gaze down to the ground.
However, she looked up when she felt the Doctor's hand on her upper arm, "don't listen to him." He said, and she stole a breath.
"I'm not stupid."
"You are not."
"I just…" she stole a breath looking frustrated, "I don't think it's fair to judge someone based off who their people are!" She looked up to the Doctor, "he's a kid, he's been here his whole life…I know the Daleks are dangerous…but he isn't one not yet." She insisted, and the Doctor shifted his gaze from her and to the boy in question. "We help people yeah? That's what we do." Gently she grasped his hand in both of hers, "I know it's risky…but…we have to do something."
The Doctor stole a breath, "we better be careful, we'll be filling up the Tardis before we know it."
Rose, however, just beamed, "I don't think that's possible. It is bigger on the inside after all."
The Doctor smiled, if not reluctantly and shook his head. Rose let her smile fade as she let out a breath and glance back at where the Tardis was located.
"What are we going to do about Benedict? You don't think he would…" she trailed off, but the end of sentence was implied.
The Doctor followed her gaze and sighed, "I don't think so. He should cool off after a bit. I think he's just…" he then shook his head. "Never mind, one issue at a time." He looked to K, "I don't think he's going to be the most cooperative in coming with us."
Rose nodded and looked to the teen as well, "so it would be best if he woke up in the Tardis and not here…?"
The Doctor puffed a breath and rubbed the back of his neck, "talking like that makes this sound a whole lot more like kidnapping." He said and Rose have a wiry grin.
"Kinda does doesn't-"
She was cut off by a groan from the teen in question. Both the Doctor and Rose tensed looking at him.
K slowly sat up holding his head in both hands, the Doctor and Rose glanced at each other before Rose took a step forward.
"Hey there K…" she trailed keeping her voice soft. Despite this K still flinched and looked up at her with wide eyes. Unrecognition shined for a moment before he blinked and tensed up inhaling sharply and looking around him. Rose kept her distance, but she crouched down. "Easy now, you over-exerted yourself and passed out." She explained gently and K eyed her a moment before nodding slowly.
"You didn't kill me." He said as if confirming it to himself, and Rose bit back a grimace recalling Benedict's vehement desire to do so.
"Of course not, we don't do that." The Doctor said, pulling K's wide eyes to him. For a moment there was silence as K looked over the Doctor, as if assessing him.
"K…we…we were wondering something." Rose proposed folding her hands before her, this caused K to look over to her, his brown eyes oddly piercing as he seemed to be doing his best to try and figure them out. "We don't want to leave you here. We were wondering if you would like to come with us." She explained watching him carefully.
K blinked and looked between her and the Doctor his brow furrowing, "you want…to take me? For me to leave here…?"
"Considering it appears to have been awhile since anyone has come here…yes, I don't think you'd be safe here anymore." The Doctor said and K looked to him, his eyes dancing with uncertainty.
"But…I'm not supposed to leave." He said warily, watching them from under his bangs.
Rose and the Doctor shared a look before turning back to him, "K…do you know why you are here? Why can't you leave?" Rose asked and K looked top her his thick brows furrowing.
"They didn't say. They just said it was…important that I stay here." He pulled his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around his shins and resting his chin on them. "Are…all the white coats gone?"
Rose pursed her lips, "well, we only found one…but he died a long time ago…I don't think anyone has been here in a really long time K." As Rose stood up K's eyes tracked her the whole way. "I know things might seem scary right now, but we just want to help you okay?"
"Where…would you take me?"
"Well, nowhere specific, not yet anyways. We're travelers, we go around and help people." She explained, now smiling. K didn't share the expression, he looked vaguely confused.
"Travelers?"
As Rose began to explain how they went around and helped people, the Doctor's attention was pulled to the empty casing that sat ominously over in the corner.
He thought he'd heard something…
"Help people with what?" K asked and the Doctor looked back toward him.
"Well…all sorts of things really, but mostly we help people whose lives are in danger."
"Who causes them to be in danger?" He asked, and Rose opened her mouth and then closed it looking to the Doctor, he looked to her and then back to the teen.
"Lots of different people." He then crouched down before K, the kaled watching him with apprehension. "Look, you can't stay here. There is no one here to monitor you, and those white coats from before aren't coming back. For now, you can travel with us, until we find someplace safe for you to be, okay?" He paused before adding, "and I swear, no harm will come to you by our hands. We don't want to hurt you; we want to help you."
K stared at him for a long moment before glancing at the casing and then back to the Doctor, "won't my people come looking for me?" He fiddled with his hands, "maybe they forgot I was here…but if we can find them…then I can just go back to them." He cast his eyes to his hands, "I won't tell them it was the Doctor that found me."
While his gaze was down, Rose and the Doctor shared another look and the time-lord sighed turning back to him. "We…can't do that."
K shifted where he sat looking more uncomfortable, "I won't say anything I swear I just think-"
"We can't do that…because your people are gone." The Doctor said, his voice soft. K stiffened and slowly looked up his eyes wide.
"G…gone?" The time-lord nodded gravely, and K squeezed at his hands, nails digging into his palms, something the Doctor noted. "But…I…I don't…I don't understand…what…what…" he paused and looked to the Doctor his eyes wide. "You…you're…"
The Doctor swallowed; he knew where he was going with this. He was the Dalek's sworn enemy…and it was him who had destroyed all of them. Them and his own people.
His hands clasped before him and he cast his gaze down to them, how could he explain it in a way that wouldn't terrify the already skittish teen?
"There…was a really bad war. Between your people and mine." He said slowly, feeling the intense gaze of K on him as he spoke. "It…ended with everyone losing." He looked up at him taking in his wide eyes. Should he say? Should he explain? Would the teen even understand? They just met each other for heavens sake how could anyone-
The Doctor straightened as the sound of machinery powering up pricked at his ears. He stood slowly whilst turning and gazed at the empty casing as it slowly began to power on.
"Doctor?" Rose called her voice pitched up. The time-lord watched with trepidation as the eye socket on the dalek slowly raised and its top cap swerved to look at them. "Doctor…" Rose said, her voice pitching higher. He held out a hand before her. As if that would stop the Dalek. "I don't understand…there nothing inside it…" she whispered, and the Doctor swallowed thickly.
"It's pre-programmed." The teen said from behind them. The Doctor continued to look at the Dalek as its eye socket moved about, as if trying to find something but Rose turned back to K.
"Programmed to do what?"
"SUBJECT LOCATED." The Dalek screeched and Rose whipped back around to find the Dalek wasn't looking at them. It was looking at K.
"Programmed to get me back inside it after too long." He explained, his voice far to calm about it for Rose's tastes.
"SUBJECT K-130 MUST RETURN TO CONTAINMENT IMMEDIATELY." The Dalek said causing Rose to back up.
"Doctor…?"
"Get to the Tardis. Both of you. Tell Benedict to get ready to take off." He ordered and Rose turned to him.
"What about you?"
"I'll be right behind you…go!" He said and Rose nodded turning to K.
"We have to go, can you walk?" She asked and K looked up at her his brows furrowed.
"Why?"
"Cos it's trying to put you back inside it!" She said, but K only looked more confused.
"SUBJECT MUST RETURN TO CONTAINMENT IMMEDIATELY." The Dalek ordered again, this time starting to move toward them.
"Both of you! Go! Now!" The Time-lord ordered putting himself between them and the Dalek casing.
"I'm not going back in there?" K asked, and Rose blinked.
"What?! Of course not!" Rose grabbed his hand, "c'mon let's go!" She didn't wait for an explanation before pulling him to his feet. The Dalek's eye socket tracked him as they went. K stumbling along behind Rose as she took him toward the Tardis.
The Doctor watched them go a moment before looking to the Dalek. The thing was programming, it wouldn't have the intelligence to speak with. But he wasn't a fool enough to think that it wouldn't pull out drastic measures if it believed K was not going back inside it.
He brought out his sonic, if he could disrupt the signal, maybe he could turn it-
A laser fired from its arm and hit the wall next to where Rose and K were retreating.
Rose let out a scream and ducked, K looked confused and ducked as well.
"Hey!" The Doctor called, and for a moment nothing happened, but slowly the cap head swerved toward him. "Your programming is faulty. We are here to retrieve subject K-130, stand down or face dismantling." He said, keeping his voice stern. The casing evaluated him.
"FOREIGN ENTIRY REGISTERS AS TIME-LORD." The laser fixed on him, "TIME-LORDS MUST BE EXTERMINATED."
"Well." The Doctor let out a breath, "worth a shot." He ducked just as the laser fired at him. It hit the wall behind him as the Doctor sprinted for the corridor that the Tardis was in. When he managed to duck behind the outcropping doorway he turned and tried to sonic the Dalek.
However, it failed to obtain any results as another laser fired at them. Rose and K got to the Tardis and swung open the door. K looked hesitant to go inside but Rose shoved him in regardless.
The Doctor fiddled with the control panel for the doorway as he heard the Dalek approaching still. Repeating how the subject needed to be contained again.
"C'mon…" he said sonicking a few of the wires together. Finally, there was a clunking noise and the door started to slide shut. He sonicked the wires again for good measure before backing away from the door and panel.
As he stood in the center of the hallway he watched as the casing came to a stop, no longer able to fit through the closing doors. He knew it would just use its laser to carve out a hole. But he had a few moments.
He turned his attention to the white coated corpse and crouched down. Ignoring the decaying flesh, he quickly went through the inside of the coat for any form of identification or information.
He only managed to grab a busted flash drive before the sound of a laser powering up pulled his attention to the fully shut doors. He didn't have time to look for anything else. He got up and hurried to the Tardis. Only looking back to see the Dalek shaped outline in the blast doors. He shut the Tardis' own doors and sprinted for the console.
K was looking around with wide eyes. Rose was by him, and Benedict was already powering up the Tardis. The Doctor immediately jumped to throwing the take-off lever and sending them into the vortex.
Once safely there he stole a breath and looked to his companion and the kaled teen standing next to her. He pocketed the busted flash drive and ran a hand through his hair.
"A successful rescue huh?" He asked, Benedict spared him a look but nothing more, Rose however nodded.
"Yeah, looks like it." The smile she shared was a bit shaky.
Whether intentional or not all three now looked at K as the teen still looked around with wide eyes.
When he felt their gazes, he turned to them and bunched up his shoulders. "Where…are we?"
"We're in the Tardis." Rose explained, her voice gentle. He looked to her and swallowed looking around.
"And…we're not there anymore? Where we were before?" He asked, and Rose nodded.
"Yeah…it's a bit complicated, but maybe we can take you someplace?" She asked more than answered as she turned to the Doctor, he paused before nodding.
"We were needing to stop by Earth again."
Rose nodded and turned back to K, "yeah, and hey, uh, why don't I show you around and where you will be sleeping?" She offered and after a moment K nodded, though he still was looking around with wide eyes.
Rose gently guided him from the room sparing a glance back at the Doctor who gave her a nod and small smile. One she returned with a full one before she and K stepped out of the room.
There was silence for a long moment.
"I'm a little surprised." The Doctor voiced, shrugging off his trench coat and laying it over the railing. "I didn't think you'd have such atmosity toward the Daleks." His eyes fell to the other occupant of the room.
Benedict paused where he was fiddling with things and sighed, his hands gripping the edge of the console. "Just because I hate the Time-Lords doesn't mean I also don't hate the daleks." He then stole a breath, his demeanor brightening. "Don't worry Doctor, your people aren't the only victims of my boundless amounts of hate." He turned to him and gave a grin, "I have enough hate to go around."
The Doctor watched him a moment before scratching the back of his neck.
"Well, I just want to make sure-"
"I'm not going to kill the kid Doc." Benedict said, and even though he had his blindfold on, the time-lord felt he was being given the side eye. "I may be a monster, but I'm at least a behaved one." He turned back to the console and the Doctor watched him a moment.
"You're worried."
Benedict let out a breath, "I feel like I have every right to be. That place was old. Time-War old. Which means whoever was conducting those experiments was likely doing something to that kid that had to do with the Time-War." He looked up at the Doctor, and the time-lord tensed a little, feeling the piercing intensity of his gaze past the fabric. "And I think we both know just how dangerous those kinds of experiments were."
The Doctor nodded; he was right. Experiments performed during the war were anything but safe or moral. Regardless of what side it was, there were some nasty things born from desperation. And if K was an experiment that reached all the way back then. It raised so many alarming questions.
Why would the Daleks keep a kaled around? What did they do to him?
And most of all, did Davros have a hand in it? And if so…why not have him fully converted like everyone else?
The Doctor didn't know what to say to Benedict. Instead, he found himself staring down at the console, and brushing his thumb over the busted flash drive in his pocket.
Every time he turned around it seemed things just got more and more complicated.
So, original chapter and character introduction! I hope everything was clear and made sense, I have lots of plans for all these guys and I hope you'll join me for the ride.