Rose rushed into Van Statten's office before Adam, visibly upset and her eyes darting for the Doctor before she'd even taken in where she was. All she knew was that she had to find the Doctor, because he could save Danielle. They- They could take the TARDIS, or something, she didn't know! But the Doctor could save her. Danielle had barely been with them for a few hours, she deserved better.

First, though, the pair hugged each other. It was brief, but it was needed and then Rose pulled away to get back to the matter at hand, "It killed her!" She exclaimed, "What do we do?"

"I don't know," he admitted, "but we've got it cornered, we can still stop it. She won't have to have died in vain."

That wasn't exactly the news Rose was hoping for, but then again she should have known better than think they could save her from a death they knew about. The Doctor had talked about cause and effect in the past, about how it meant that going back and changing things could have disastrous consequences. That poor girl...

"She-She told me to tell you something," she said to the Doctor, who just looked at her expectantly. Rose had already been so worried about the other woman, but the words she had said through the door had caused the blonde to start crying before the Dalek had fired. "She said to tell you she was sorry, and that you shouldn't worry, everything will be okay."

They were hard words to hear. The Doctor looked ready to both break down in despair and destroy everything in a rage, but Rose wanted her last words heard. She knew that Danielle had to have been terrified, but her last thoughts had been for the alien that had brought them there, and not how she was going to be killed by the alien that she had been trapped with.

"Open the bulkhead or Danielle Song dies."They all spun on the spot, amazed at the mechanical voice that came across from the speakers on the screen. The Dalek had turned the camera on and was now on the screen with its laser pointed at a very much alive Danielle. Both he and Rose ran up to the screen.

"You're alive!" The Doctor cried, relief pouring through him at the grimace of a smile she shot up at the camera, hoping he would see it.

"Yeah, seems that way," she replied. "Are you okay, sweetie?"

He blinked slightly, surprised that she was more concerned about him than asking if she was going to be saved. He nodded slowly, "I thought you were dead."

"Don't worry, everything will be okay."

"Open the bulkhead!"The Dalek demanded and Danielle immediately shook her head.

"You can't!" She exclaimed, "Don't let it out!"

But he couldn't leave her to die again. She didn't deserve that, as was proven by the fact that she was so willing to die to stop the Dalek getting free. He couldn't watch her die, he couldn't be responsible for that again, and so he opened the bulkheads. He glanced down at Rose to make sure that he'd done the right thing, and the giant grin that was shot up at him proved that he had done just that.

"What do we do now, you bleeding heart," Van Statten raged at him. "What the hell do we do?"

"Kill it when it gets here." Was Adam's reply.

"All the guns are useless, and the alien weapons are in the vault." Goddard pointed out cynically, to which the Englishman shot them all a sheepish grin, one that had both the Doctor and Rose intrigued.

"Only the catalogued ones." He explained.

The Doctor nodded, "Rose, you stay here and wait for Danielle," He commanded, to which she agreed readily. He turned to Adam. "You, show me."

~0~0~0~

Danielle had really been convinced she was about to die. She'd pressed herself up against the door, hands flat against the cold metal as the Dalek had pointed its weapon at her and cried 'Exterminate!'.

"No, please!" She'd begged and then, a moment later, she had realised she was alive. She opened her eyes to see the Dalek still aiming at her but no laser had been fired at her. That was when she realised there was something more to what was happening than she had thought. The Dalek didn't kill her, maybe it didn't want to kill anymore. Maybe its instincts were overriding the morals it wanted to follow. Perhaps there was still hope.

The Doctor had let it out, although now she was not so worried about it as she had been. She still did what she was told when it directed her into a lift, she wasn't stupid to follow what was a hunch, but her nerves had been eased slightly by the unexpected behaviour.

"Thank you," she told the creature after a long, uncomfortable silence, "for not killing me." It turned its whole headpiece, staring at her through the eyestalk.

"Why are you alive?" It asked, voice harsh but obviously concerned, "My function is to kill. What am I? What am I?" She shook her head.

"I don't know," she replied, "but maybe you're better now?" It didn't answer. She shuffled slightly under its piercing stare before it turned its head to the door again. A moment later and they were staring into an office where Rose, Goddard and Van Statten were stood.

She held her hands up, trying to reassure the girl she'd gone to school with, "It's okay, you're safe," she quickly told them all, "it didn't kill me, it won't kill you either."

The Dalek rolled out into the room, aiming straight for the man that had kept it prisoner, "Van Statten. You tortured me," it accused, backing the man towards his desk, "Why?"

Van Statten shook his head, hands up and obviously terrified, "I wanted to help you. I just, I don't know. I was trying to help. I thought if we could get through to you, if we could mend you. I wanted you better. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry! I swear, I just wanted you to talk!" He rambled in panic. Danielle took another look at Rose, checking that she was still okay, if not slightly scared. Not that she would blame the blonde; Danielle was terrified as well. As much as it seemed that the Dalek was having a change of heart, or at least a conflict of conscious, that didn't mean that it wouldn't turn on anyone. She just had to believe that, in the end, it wouldn't want to harm another creature.

"Then hear me talk now. Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!" The Dalek cried, aiming at Van Statten, who braced himself to be killed.

"No, no please!" Danielle cried, rushing in front of the man and standing between the Dalek and Van Statten. "Please, don't kill anyone else. There's another way."

The Dalek stared again through its eyestalk, "Another way?" It asked slowly and she nodded.

"There's always another way," she explained, although this was coming from her own sense of beliefs rather than experience. She'd never liked guns, but then again she'd never actually seen one in real life until today. "You don't have to kill to get what you want. We can work it out together," she reached out placing a hand again on its shell, although this time it didn't burn her, "whatever you want, we can work it out without killing anyone."

It looked over her shoulder at Van Statten, then back at her, "I want freedom."

She blinked for a moment, surprised at the answer and the pain in its voice. She slowly nodded, "I can understand that," she replied softly. "Do you want to see outside?"

Rose, who had also picked up that the Dalek appeared to be at war with itself, walked up to Danielle, "I don't think that's a good idea," she hissed, "it's killed a lot of people."

"It was trapped and tortured," Danielle replied, "you can't blame it for its programming. Maybe this will help, maybe it won't, but we have to try." Rose didn't reply for a moment, pondering Danielle's words. They seemed incredibly soft-hearted, but then again it was exactly that trait that had pushed the Doctor into raising the bulkheads and freeing her from the Dalek in the first place.

She turned to Van Statten, "Where can we take it to see outside?" She asked.

Goddard took a step forward, "The only way out is upwards," she explained, "on level one."

~0~0~0~

It was quite pathetic, when Danielle thought on it. The shell of the Dalek opened, and the creature inside was barely anything at all. So much hatred coming from what looked like a little blob of flesh that looked up at the stream of sunlight she and Rose had found like it had never felt it on its skin before. All that hate and violence seemed almost understandable when it seemed like the creature had never even seen the light of day before. How else would it know any different?

It was quite a sight, actually, and despite the death and destruction that had preceded it, Danielle was quite happy to have seen it. Both she and Rose stood together in front of it, silent and solemn as it basked in the warmth and the light. How can something so tiny have killed so many people?

"Get out of the way!" They both turned to see the Doctor, armed with a massive gun, pointing it in their direction. He had a look of pure determination on his face, and both of them froze on the spot, surprised by the happy northern gangly man who had brought them there. "Rose, Danielle, get out of the way. Now!" He commanded, shifting the gun to get a better hold of it.

Danielle shook her head, taking a step to her side to stand in front of the Dalek and Rose squared up to him, "No, 'cause we won't let you do this," she warned the other alien.

"That thing killed hundreds of people," he spat.

"It's not the one pointing the gun at us," Rose retorted. She knew that there had been a war that had destroyed his planet, but this was a side to the man she had never seen before. Even with the Gelth he'd just wanted to save as many people as he could. He really hadn't believed the horror that had come after it was going to happen. But the man with the gun in front of her seemed like an entirely different man, and one she had already seen he was better than.

Danielle, on the other hand, had never seen anything beyond the last few hours. She'd seen a killer robot, and enough death to last a lifetime. For all she knew she could have jumped into a ship with another killer alien and she was deeply starting to regret her decision.

"I've got to do this. I've got to end it," the Doctor replied, keeping his eyes focused on the Dalek and not the two women in front of him. "The Daleks destroyed my home, my people. I've got nothing left."

And Danielle understood. She could see it in him, he didn't want to do this anymore than they wanted him to. The way he held the gun, the way he shook, the way he desperately didn't want to look at them out of the shame of his actions told her perfectly what she was seeing. The way he tried to reason his actions with desperation in his voice. A man doing what he thought he had to, but not what he thought was right.

She took a step forward, much to the surprise of Rose, hands going to her hips and Rose had seen that pause a million times before. It was the pose that Jack Tyler pulled out when she'd not done her homework, or stayed out too late, or snuck a boy into her bedroom; Danielle was going to tell him off.

"It's not going to bring it back, is it?" She snapped, having no knowledge of the horror he had been through at all. "This is you, acting like you have orders, but you don't!"

"You don't understand…" The Doctor started. He hadn't told her about the War like he had Rose, she didn't know what the Daleks had done.

"I understand perfectly! You're falling back onto what you think you should do, too scared to follow your own instincts," Rose had to push her lips together. Danielle really looked like her mum in that moment. Alright, Jackie probably wouldn't have used such big words, opting to tell her daughter what an idiot she was being instead, but she knew that fire anywhere. "You know who does that? Cowards!"

The Doctor lowered the gun slightly, "I am not a coward!" He protested

"Oh yeah?" Danielle challenged, stepping out of the way to show him the creature inside the Dalek. "Does that look like anything that could destroy your people? Does it look anything that could even kill the people downstairs? Look at it!"

The Doctor did, and his gun lowered further in his own confusion, "What's it doing?"

"It's the sunlight," Rose spoke up as she stepped back into the conversation, seeing that Danielle's point had been seen. The poor thing didn't know any better, but both of them saw it for the lonely, sad creature it was. This wasn't a threat; it was just incredibly sad. "That's all it wants."

The Doctor shook his head in complete disbelief, "But it's can't…"

"Well, it does," Danielle interrupted, "it's changing, it's starting to understand. All it wants is a little freedom, that's why it didn't kill me. You're the one pointing a gun at a creature that just wants a little sunlight!"

The Doctor looked between the two. The red-head with passion written on her face, and the blonde with disgusted horror as she looked at him holding a gun pointed in their direction. Neither of them were scared of the Dalek anymore, they were scared of him. It was a horrid feeling, and the gun was forgotten as it fell to his side.

"I couldn't…" He stuttered, trying to explain himself, "I wasn't…" He looked between them to, "They're all dead." He declared, hearts breaking at saying it out loud.

"Why do we survive?" The Dalek asked, its voice broken now it was no longer in its shell. Danielle turned to look at it.

"I don't know," The Doctor replied, honestly and also apologetically. That feeling of loneliness wasn't something he'd wish on his worst enemy, and that was the Dalek in front of him.

"I am the last of the Daleks," it declared and Danielle reached out, resting a hand on its shell. She wished she could help more, but she was completely out of her depth. She knew nothing of Daleks, or any aliens for that matter. All she could do was offer a little comfort when she could.

"You're not even that," the Doctor replied solemnly, "Danielle did more than regenerate you. You've absorbed her DNA. You're mutating."

"Into what?" The Dalek asked.

"Something new," he declared, "I'm sorry."

Rose looked at him, confused as to why they both sounded so devastated by that, "Isn't that better?"

"Not for a Dalek," the Doctor explained.

"I can feel," the Dalek declared slowly, "so many ideas. So much darkness. Danielle," the red-head started slightly at being addressed, "give me orders. Order me to die."

She shook her head, looking to the Doctor for help then back at the creature, "No, no I can't…"

"This is not life! This is sickness. I shall not be like you. Order my destruction!" Tears welled up in her eyes. "Obey! Obey! Obey!"

Danielle just stared at it for a long moment, her heart breaking to see something in so much pain, and because of her. She reached out, brushing her fingertips against one of its tentacles, "I'm sorry, sweetie," she whispered, "I never meant to hurt you. I just wanted to help." She swallowed, then nodded. "Okay. I order you."

The Doctor watched her as she stroked the Dalek, seeing the compassion on her face as she did something he wouldn't have wished on anyone. She'd had so much curiosity pouring out of her, he'd just wanted to find out where it would lead. Now all he could see was it leading her back to her house.

"Are you frightened, Danielle Song?" It asked and she shook her head.

"Only for you, sweetie," she replied softly.

"So am I," It replied.

"It'll be alright. You'll be alright, sweetie," she promised although she didn't believe it for a moment.

"Exterminate," it said pathetically, then it's eye closed. She watched for a moment longer, before reaching out and grabbing Rose's hand. The two women ran to the Doctor's side and the Dalek was no more.

~0~0~0~

Rose was somewhere in the TARDIS, showing Adam around the gigantic ship that Danielle still hadn't seen. She had thought to tag along, but they had both dashed off into the hallway before she could even ask. Apparently they wanted some alone time. Danielle frowned to herself; she hoped it wasn't too much alone time. Was she even still with Mickey? She wasn't sure, but Danielle had seen how much Mickey had missed her.

But it was none of her business, so she'd stayed in the console room with the Doctor, watching him play with the controls like he knew what he was doing with them. He did it was such great ease, it was rather mesmerising to watch, like an engineer working with something only they knew how it worked. That was probably the case, she supposed.

He was also pointedly not looking at her. Not in a mean way, in fact like he was too ashamed to look at her. The whole experience had shaken them all, and despite the way he was acting, it must have gotten to him too.

She took a couple of steps towards him, "If we're going to travel together, we should probably know more about each other," she told him and he paused what he was doing to look at her. "I mean, all I know is your name, and all you know is mine."

He nodded slowly, "That is true," he agreed, "if you want to stay, that is."

She smiled and nodded, "My name is Danielle Song," she offered, and he blinked in surprise as she sat down on the pilot seat. He'd expected her to ask him about the Time War, about his people and the Daleks, but she wasn't. She was offering information on herself to show that she was willing to stay, and he couldn't help but smile at the school-girl like way she was rattling off what she wanted to tell him, "I'm nineteen years old, and I was born in Lancashire, but I've lived in London most of my life. I'm doing English Literature at University. My dad ran off before I was born, but my mum is an archaeologist, that was why she's in Utah. Her name is Melanie Song, she's very nice when she's around, but I think she forgets I exist when she's not. I can't ride a bike, despite many attempts to, and I've always hated the dark. But, I'm a fantastic baker."

The Doctor chuckled at her little biography, leaning against the console as he listened to her. He nodded as she grinned at the end, obviously waiting for his in return, "I'm the Doctor and I'm a Time Lord," he started slowly, with much more seriousness than she did. "I'm 900 years old and I'm from Gallifrey," he shook his head, "this seems very strange."

"I know, just go with it," she encouraged.

"My planet is gone, it burnt in a war between my people and the Daleks and I'm the only one left," he carefully watched her expression for anything that might have suggested she had known this already, but she just looked incredibly sad at the news, so he continued. "I suppose my recent history is that I met Rose chasing down a race of living plastic that were attempting to take over the Earth, and she helped stop them. And, no matter how great a baker you are, no one can beat my banana bread."

The idea of being the last one of anything sounded horrible, and as much as he tried to put a comedic spin on his words, Danielle could see the hurt that was behind those words.

"No, that's definitely not true at all," Danielle retorted, following his lead and going for the light-hearted portion of his biography, "no one makes banana bread like me."

He raised an eyebrow, "That sounds like a challenge."

She nodded, hopping off the pilot seat, "That's because it is," she replied, "this 'infinite' time machine must have a kitchen."

"Alright," The Doctor replied, standing up with his hands out like he was surrendering, "but don't get upset when you realise just how inferior yours is."

She strode purposefully towards the hallway Rose and Adam had disappeared into even though she had no idea where she was going, "Not a chance, Spaceman," she told him, "you'll see. I'm fantastic."

~0~0~0~

Thank you all so much for the kind uptake on this story! It's really made me smile to see all the favourites/follows and the reviews. I hope you all liked this chapter too :)

Reviews :)

firestar92603 - Thanks, sweetie! I hope you liked it :)

Crystal-star-Tyler - Sorry you had to wait, I hope you liked it :)

Rox Malone - Thanks, sweetie!

bwburke94 - Nope, not yet, but I couldn't possibly tell you when :)

KateMackenzie - Sorry, won't be at Eleven for a while, but I feel your pain XD

whitedwarf - Nope, not dead yet. But also not this story, either. And yes, this is going to be from the Doctor's side as he comes into contacts with all the Danni's, up until and including the original version. We'll see more detailed chapters of the episodes, like this one, when she's here, but more of a time skip when she's not, to show how she affect them all when not being there.

PopstarJ01 - Thanks, sweetie! :D x

babynora1983 - No :P

serenitysaiyan - Hehe why thank you! xxx

blackcat711 - I'm glad you liked it, and Danni :D

mlr96 - I hope this one was nicer to you :D

bored411 - I hope you liked it, sweetie :D

Naventis - Thanks, sweetie!