Arthur had seen large museums full of alien artefacts.
His father had taken him to several museums with River. Well, usually he came just to show his son what was real and what was fake. Only River actually educated him about the artefacts that were shown in a serious way like an actual archeologist...before they were spotted by security as intruders and ran away.
But this museum definitely made Arthur shudder. Firstly, it wasn't a public museum that he often visited. Secondly, he could feel that he was on Earth in 2012. Alien museums don't officially exist on Earth until the 25th century, and even then it's only due to protests from various parties because of the closed delegation (long story that involves a meteor and his daughter's accidental involvement).
And thirdly? Arthur saw Rose and the Ninth Doctor staring at him.
"Arthur!" Rose beamed and hugged him. "Good to see you again!"
Despite the sour look on the Doctor's face, he can't help but smile at Rose's generosity. "You too, Rose!"
"How can you do that?" The Doctor can't help but ask. It's a weird way to travel. Nothing he had ever seen beforehand.
Arthur simply rolled his eyes. Of course he would ask that. "Spoilers."
"No," he disagreed, shoving Rose away and pulling his t-shirt lapels. He had enough with his constant secrecy. "Tell me now!"
"Doctor!" Rose protested, not liking his aggressive way with Arthur. She knows he has a temper, but this is worse than ever! "Don't push him like that!"
"He always hides things, Rose! He's dangerous!"
"And you're not?" Arthur asked back, trying to stay steady despite his mind really hating that look from his father. Treat him like a stranger. "When I met you and Rose, you hid things from Rose, too. People had an obligation to never tell secrets, Doctor. Heck, even if you have a secret you never like to tell others."
"What I did is none of your concern. I did what I did to keep everyone safe."
"Precisely." He grabs the Doctor's wrist and pulls it away. "You had yours, I had mine. Don't bother messing with other people's business while others can't do that with yours."
"I have the right to know everything!"
"Says who?"
"Says me!"
"Even if that cost someone's life?" Arthur dared, raising his eyebrow.
The Doctor didn't reply, but his eyes were still looking at Arthur unhappily. He could tell from his face that this version of Arthur hadn't seen him and Rose since Platform One. He also seemed to have not met Charles Dickens or the Slitheen. But that made him still distrust Arthur Jonas. This man was a mystery. Whenever he checked on him secretly, the Tardis did not give any satisfactory answer about his identity. In fact, it almost feels like the Tardis is…very careful with the information she can share with him. That alone makes Arthur Jonas a very suspicious individual.
Rose could only shake her head whenever the subject of Arthur came up. She was sure that Arthur was a good man and would never hurt anyone. But the girl had no idea what dangers lurked like the Doctor. His own experiences made him suspicious of everything, and Arthur was clearly a mysterious and potentially dangerous person to be left alone.
His eyes then darted to a glass that displayed a Cybermen head. "Ah! Look at you!"
Rose and Arthur are standing behind the Doctor. "What is it?" Rose asked.
"An old friend of mine...well, enemy," the Doctor answered. "The stuff of nightmares reduced to an exhibit. I'm getting old."
Arthur takes a sharp breath at it, flashes of the Cybermen rewind in his mind.
"Is that where the signal's coming from?"
"Signal?" Arthur repeated.
"There's a faint signal. The Tardis picked it up," Rose explained.
"Nah, it's stone dead. The signal's alive. Something's reaching out," the Doctor stated, stares intently through the glass. "Calling for help."
"Wait!" Arthur interjects, but the Doctor already places the tip of his finger gently on the glass. Immediately, an alarm goes off and they are promptly surrounded by soldiers all pointing their guns at them.
"If someone's collecting aliens, that makes you Exhibit A," Rose commented.
"Or Exhibit B," Arthur added.
The Doctor flashes the soldiers a grin.
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
They were quickly escorted into a big room. Inside, there's a middle-age man with a moustache sitting on a big chair, while a young man shows him an artefact.
"What does it do?" The moustache man asked, take it from him.
"Well you see, the tubes on the side must be to channel something, I think maybe fuel…"
"I really wouldn't hold it like that," the Doctor suggested.
The woman who guides them, Goddard, says, "Shut it."
"He has a point," Arthur quipped, twisting his wedding ring on his finger.
"Is it dangerous?" The young man asked.
"Not exactly." Arthur holds his hand out for the artefact. Security ready their guns. Van Statten holds up a hand to stop them and hands the object to him. "Let's see…" he runs his fingers gently over the artefact and it plays a note like a harmonica. "There you go."
Everyone looks suitably impressed, including the Doctor.
"It's a musical instrument," the moustache man realised.
"And it's a long way from home," the Doctor nods.
"I had an affinity with music," Arthur shrugs.
That piqued an interest from Rose. "Really?"
"I have been learning to play the ukulele since I was 10. Learned more music since then."
The moustache man stands. "Here, let me!" He says, grabs it off from Arthur.
The Doctor raises his eyebrows at the sudden changes of the sound. "It reacts to the smallest fingerprint," he added as the man in charge cannot make it play at first and it makes a series of beeping noises. "It needs precision." The moustache man touches it more gently and it plays a few notes. The Doctor smiles. "Very good. Quite the expert."
"As are you two," he noted, and tosses the instrument aside, where it lands somewhere on the floor. The Doctor's and Arthur's eyes follow it, slightly disturbed by his nonchalant attitude. "Who exactly are you?"
The Doctor looks back at him with a new, slightly disdainful look in his eye. "I'm the Doctor. And who are you?"
"Like you don't know. We're hidden away with the most valuable collection of extra-terrestrial artefacts in the world and you just stumbled in by mistake."
Arthur tilts his head. "Pretty much sums up his life."
"The question is, how did you get in? 53 floors down. With your hippie and little cat burglar accomplice." He takes a good look at Rose. "Quite a collector yourself, she's rather pretty."
"She's gonna smack you if you keep calling her 'she,'" Rose warned.
"And another kick in the nut by the hippie," Arthur quietly stated.
"She's English too!" He added, ignoring their warning and addressing the young man near him. "Hey, little Lord Fauntleroy, got you a girlfriend."
"This is Mr. Henry Van Statten," he introduced.
Arthur shook his head. "Never heard of him."
"And who's he when he's at home?" Rose asked.
"Mr. Van Statten owns the Internet," the young man clarified.
"Don't be stupid, no one owns the Internet."
"And let's just keep the whole world thinking that way, right kids?" Van Statten remarked.
"So you're an expert on just about everything except the things in your museum. Anything you don't understand, you lock up," the Doctor concluded.
"And you claim greater knowledge?"
"I don't need to make claims, I know how good I am."
"Doctor," Arthur said, giving a small hint of danger in his tone. He doesn't know much about Van Statten, but his entire presence screams danger. Extreme danger.
"And yet, I captured you all," Van Statten said. "Right next to the Cage. What were you doing down there?"
"You tell me," the Doctor retorted, not afraid of him. Why should he be? He had escaped many dangerous situations in the past. Someone like Van Statten is no big deal.
"The cage contains my one living specimen."
"And what's that?"
Simmons attacks a Dalek with some sort of chainsaw. It is screaming. "Not exactly 'talking', no," he informed.
"What's it doing?" Goddard asked from the comm..
"Screaming. Is that any good?"
"You should let it go," Arthur suddenly insisted.
Van Statten frowns. He clearly knows something. "Why?"
"It's dangerous. You're gonna cause a big problem if you keep it."
The doctor looked up at Arthur. His tone was even, but he sensed that Arthur was very frightened. What was this secretive psychic afraid of? "What is it?"
"You're not gonna believe me."
"Doesn't matter, what is it?!"
"Goddard," Van Statten suddenly said. "Inform the Cage. We're heading down." As Goddard nods, he glances at the young man. "You, English. Look after the girl. Canoodle or spoon, or whatever it is you British do. And you, Doctor with no name...come and see my pet."
"I'll go with Rose," Arthur remarked.
"No," Van Statten disagreed. "You know my pet. You come with me."
"You don't need me. The Doctor might know."
Van Statten gestures randomly and a guard pointing his gun at Arthur's back. "Either you did what I told you, or I shot you."
"Then shoot me," Arthur dared, not even perturbed by the gun. "I'd rather die than face your precious pet."
"Wait," the Doctor stopped. As much as he distrust Arthur, instinct told him that he can't have that man die from being reckless. "He'll go with me. And nobody harms him. Is that good?"
Van Statten smiles. "Suite yourself."
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
Van Statten leads the Doctor and Arthur to the cage. "We've tried everything. The creature has...shielded itself but there's definite signs of life inside," he explained, entering a code to enter the Cage. The door to the Cage opens behind him.
"Inside? Inside what?" The Doctor asked.
A man Arthur knows as Simmons greeted Van Statten. "Welcome back, sir. I've had to take the power down, the Metaltron is resting."
"Really?" Arthur scoffed. "Metaltron?"
"Thought of it myself. Good, isn't it? Although I'd much to prefer to find out its real name."
"Here, you'd better put these on." Simmons offers the Doctor and Arthur a pair of gloves. "The last guy that touched it... burst into flames."
"No need," Arthur politely refused the gloves.
"I won't touch it then," the Doctor confirmed.
"Go ahead, Doctor, Mr. Jonas. Impress me," Van Statten said.
With a placid expression on the Doctor's face and an uncertain expression on Arthur's, they step into the Cage. The door shuts behind them. The Doctor looks at some of the instruments Simmons was using to torture the alien, while Arthur stand by, looking at the Metaltron in front, clutching his shit at the blue light.
"Look, I'm sorry about this. Mr. Van Statten might think he's clever, but never mind him. I've come to help," the Doctor offered. "I'm the Doctor."
"Doc…tor," it repeated.
"Impossible," he breathed as Arthur drags him away from it.
"THE Doctor?" Lights suddenly come on, illuminating the Dalek. "Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!"
"Screw this," Arthur muttered and bangs on the door of the cage, rattling it. "Let us out! Let us out!"
"Exterminate! You are an enemy of the Daleks! You must be destroyed!" It waves its gun around helplessly.
"Wait," the Doctor gestures to Arthur to stop. His face breaks into a huge grin. "It's not working!" The Dalek's eyepiece looks down at its gun. The Doctor laughs manically, which makes Arthur suddenly flinch at the way he laughs. "Fantastic! Oh, fantastic! Powerless! Look at you. The Great Space Dustbin. How does it feel?"
He lunges at the Dalek. The Dalek strains against its chains. "Keep back!"
The Doctor is inches from the Dalek, looking straight into its eyepiece. "What for? What're you going to do to me? If you can't kill...then what are you good for, Dalek? What's the point of you?" He circles the Dalek. The Dalek follows his progress with its eyepiece. "You're nothing. What the hell are you here for?"
"I am waiting for orders."
"What does that mean?"
"He wants order," Arthur explained. "Orders gave them purpose."
"Is that so?" The Doctor smiles bigger. He didn't care how Arthur knew that. The fact that this creature was powerless made his day! "Well you're never gonna get any. Not ever."
"I demand orders!" the Dalek insisted.
"They're never gonna come! Your race is dead! You all burnt, all of you. Ten million ships on fire, the entire Dalek race wiped out in one second."
"You lie!"
"I watched it happen. I MADE it happen!"
"You destroyed us?"
The Doctor's expression changes. He walks away, his back turned on the Dalek, looking at Arthur, almost like pleading. "I had no choice."
"And what of the Time Lords?" It asked.
"Gone," Arthur quietly replied. "Everyone lost."
"And the cowards survived."
He held the urge to laugh. This pathetic creature thought Arthur is a Time Lord? How naive. "Oh, and I caught your little signal. 'Help me.' poor little thing. But there's no one else coming 'cos there's no one else left."
Arthur observes its eyepiece getting lower. "I am alone in the Universe."
"Yep."
"So are you," it added. Arthur winces, knowing his father's smile fades by that statement. "We are the same."
The Doctor spins around to face the Dalek angrily. "We're not the same, I'm not…" he paused. Ooof. Arthur didn't like it one bit. "No, wait. Maybe we are. You're right, yeah, okay. You've got a point. 'Cos I know what to do. I know what should happen. I know what you deserve. Exterminate."
He pulls a lever on the control panel and the Dalek is immediately engulfed by electricity. It starts screaming again. "Have pity!"
"Why should I? You never did." He turns up the voltage. Arthur hugged himself at all of this, not sure what's the best choice to act.
Rose places a hand gently on the Dalek…
It shoots its death ray wildly at the wall either side of Rose. "You gave me life. What else have you given me? I am contaminated!"
The Dalek glows briefly, and then explodes inside the sphere, vanishing into nothing.
Security bursts in and grabs the Doctor before he can lunge for the control panel again.
Van Statten addresses the Dalek. "I saved your life, now talk to me! goddammit, talk to me!"
"You've got to destroy it! Arthur, tell him!" the Doctor shouted.
Arthur sighs, knowing that the Dalek in this place is dangerous. "The Doctor has a point, Mr. Van Statten. You can't keep it here. You doomed yourself."
"Yeah. Yeah. Yeah," Van Statten responded, waving his hand. "Make it talk again, Simmons. And call some of my men around." He glances evilly at Arthur. "Put him in a room. I want to inspect him."
Arthur gulps. There goes his chance to get away.
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
Three hours later, Arthur was sitting on the floor. Both of his hands were chained with a very strong iron. His eyes glanced towards the door, where he could see the silhouettes of two armed guards. Arthur could have gotten out of here with his powers, but given the chaos that would follow, Arthur needed to save his vortex energy to help Rose.
His eyes fluttered for a moment.
Delaney cooly looked at an older man inside a cryo chamber. "Sadness and grief are so much better than never having one."
A young woman calls into the fireplace. "Are you there? Can you hear me? We need you now. You promised. The clock on the mantle is broken. Arthur and Delaney cannot hold them much longer. It is time. Doctor! Doctor!"
Both Rose and a young man from before access the screen that surveys the Cage. They watch Simmons approach the Dalek and begin to torture it with one of the devices. The Dalek screams again. "It's being tortured!" Rose gasped in horror. "Where's the Doctor?"
"Condition red! Repeat, condition red! This is not a drill!" A loud voice intercepted from outside.
"Damn!" Arthur yelled, shaking his chains. Judging by their situation, it seems Rose did touch the Dalek. Time to use his vortex energy. Well, here goes nothing.
In a mere seconds, the chains melted, making it easier for Arthur to get out. Not to mention the two guards are so busy with keeping the Dalek's locked away. Which, again, is easy for Arthur to run back to the Dalek's cell, to get Rose safe.
"You've got to keep it in that cell," the Doctor instructed others from the intercom as he joined them.
"Doctor, it's all my fault," Rose lamented.
Arthur shook his head. Even if Rose did this, his shown him that if Rose didn't let it loose, Van Statten would locked the Doctor forever and erased Rose's memories before stranded her. That alone makes Arthur shuddered, fear what that might do to the entire timeline. He had seen it once at that parallel world around Donna. He didn't want to make it happen again.
"I've sealed the compartment. It can't get out, that lock's got a billion combinations," a soldier named Bywater claimed.
"That alien is very clever," Arthur remarked, shocking everyone with his sudden appearance. "That lock's practically useless for us." He gulps. "Everyone, leave this place."
"What?" Bywater repeated.
"Guns aren't useful. You can't harm it. Rose, you and that young man—Adam—run away from here first. Rest of you, don't try to fight it. You'll die very quickly." On a cue, the door suddenly opens. "Crap."
"Open fire!"
They shoot at the Dalek.
"Rose, Arthur, get out of there!" the Doctor ordered.
Arthur grips the hem of his shirt. He didn't want these soldiers to die for nothing. Especially with the Dalek. These soldiers had family and friends out there. But they can buy some time for them to escape. "Come on," he grabs Rose, Adam follows behind, leading them away from the Dalek with heavy hearts. As much as he hates letting those soldiers die, there's not much he can do to prevent it.
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
Rose and Adam run past another bunch of security guards. "Civilians! Let us through! Metaltron's out!" Arthur yelled, signalling them how serious their circumstance is.
The guards let them.
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
Rose, still running, finds herself at the foot of a flight of stairs. "Stairs! That's more like it!" She said as Adam ran up behind her. "It hasn't got legs, it's stuck!"
"Not too sure about that," Arthur warned, his chest rose and fell with rapid breaths. He can feel both muscle and bones hurting him like hell. Still, he can't stand still without risking Rose and Adam's life. "It's coming! Go, go, go!"
They run up the stairs and look over the bannisters to watch the Dalek. It stops at the foot of the stairs. Adam breathes a small sigh of relief. It runs its eyepiece over the stairs. "Great big alien death machine. Defeated by a flight of stairs," he leered.
The Dalek's eyepiece rests on them. Arthur looks at it. "Stop it," he demanded harshly. "You don't need to do this insanity. I know that these people have imprisoned you. Regrettably…it was wrong. But people have died, and I can't forgive you from that. These people had friends and family, and you took them away out of your murder desire. Just stop."
The Dalek merely watches him, saying nothing.
"Don't you dare," he warned, knowing what it was thinking.
"El-ev-ate," it stated.
"Crap," Arthur cursed as the Dalek levitates in the air and floats up the first few steps of the stairs.
"Oh my God," Rose murmured with what she had seen. That a Dalek proceeds up the stairs. Even Adam looks gobsmacked.
"Run up!" He yelled, leading Adam and Rose to go up the rest of the stairs, trying not to look back as the Dalek advances.
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
After a few moments, Rose and Adam run into view, right in the middle of the open area of the weapons testing area, with many soldiers positioning themself.
"Hold your fire!" A man shouted, making Rose, Arthur, and Adam stop. "You three, get the hell out of there!"
They all make it outside the door the moment the Dalek slowly comes into view. Rose and Adam stop for a moment to watch it. The Dalek also stops, and it focuses on them. Arthur quickly steps in front, making the Dalek look at him for a moment before the raven-haired man grabs Rose's hand and pulls her away.
"It was looking at me," Rose noticed.
"Yeah, it wants to slaughter us!" Adam added.
"I know! But it was looking right at me."
"So? It's just a sort of metal eye thing, it's looking all around!"
She shakes her head. "I don't know...it's like there's something inside looking at me, like...like it knows me."
"You feed him your DNA," Arthur replied, leading them, scared at what it means. "It has interest in you. And that's not good, Rose. Not good at all."
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
Adam is running up a flight of stairs in another stairwell, followed by Rose who's on her mobile to the Doctor as Arthur helps her. "This isn't the best time," Rose huffed.
"Where are you?" The Doctor asked.
"Level 49."
"You've got to keep moving, the vault's being sealed off, bulkhead level 46."
"Can't you stop them closing?"
"It's automatic," Arthur realised. "We need to hurry. Come."
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
Rose and Adam round a corner on floor 46. "We're nearly there, give us two seconds," Rose informed the Doctor
The bulkhead begins to lower, Adam's nearly there but Rose is falling behind a little. "Come on!" He called her.
The bulkhead is only about a foot away from the ground when Adam manages to roll underneath it. Arthur quickly uses his power to help Rose get underneath the bulkhead in mere seconds, leaving Arthur standing against the wrong side of the bulkhead, taking a few steadying breaths.
Good news is, Rose's safe. Bad news is, he's stuck. And even using his powers isn't going to save his arse from getting killed. He barely able to muster the vortex energy without making him collapse.
"Rose, where are you? Rose, did you make it?" The Doctor asked from outside.
"Don't worry, she's safe. Now, Rose, you keep running and never turn around. Doctor, don't try to feel guilty about it. What else can you do?" Arthur remarked, glancing behind him to see the Dalek round the corner. He slowly turns away to the Dalek. "Goodbye."
"Exterminate!" It started…yet it did nothing as the Dalek approached. It just stares at him.
"Go on then, kill me. That's all you ever did."
"I am armed. I will kill. It is my purpose."
Arthur snorted mockingly. "Purpose to kill? Wow, what a shocker! Come on, then. What're you waiting for?"
"I feel your fear."
"I see your fear of the Daleks, Explorer. I see your hatred of the Daleks, Doctor…and it is good."
The Dalek is silent for a few seconds, then says, "You would make a good Dalek."
"Not the first time a Dalek said that to me," Arthur admitted, shaking his head at those visions.
"Daleks do not fear. Must not fear."
"What?"
It shoots its death ray wildly at the wall either side of Arthur, getting him scared. "Rose Tyler gave me life. What else has she given me? I am contaminated!"
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
Both Adam and Rose step out of the lift into Van Statten's office. The Doctor rounds on him as he hugs the poor girl who's still crying. He can tell that Rose truly blames herself for causing Arthur's death. "You were quick on your feet, leaving him behind!" he retorted.
"I'm not the one who sealed the vault!" Adam indignantly accused.
The Doctor takes a sharp breath. He knew he had a problem with Arthur. Rose certainly knew. Jackie and Mickey knew it from the way he spoke to Arthur after he was late in bringing Rose home. But he was willing to give Rose a chance to survive, even though he had only known her for a short time. Arthur had never acted badly towards either of them. And what did the Doctor respond with? Scorn, annoyance, deep suspicion.
He really regret it. He should have respected Arthur's behaviour more, trusted him. Now? He will carry this guilt for the rest of his life, just like the people who have died because of his inability to act decisively.
But then...the screen springs into life.
"Open the bulkhead or he dies," the Dalek warned via one small camera that it hacked, showing Arthur standing beside it, a laser pointed to him.
The Doctor takes a few steps towards the screen, an expression of happines and grateful breaking out onto his face. "You're alive!" the Doctor breathed.
"Surprise!" Arthur tried to joke with a smiles.
"I thought you were dead," Rose cried with joy, covering her mouth.
"Me too."
"Open the bulkhead!" The Dalek demanded.
"Don't, Doctor!" Arthur yelled.
"What use are emotions if you will not save the man who sacrificed his life to save the woman you love?"
"Doctor, I warned you, don't!"
The Doctors is stunned. He turns to Van Statten, who is looking at him, shocked. Then, he looks at Rose. The girl just stares at him, leaving him to decide. However, the Doctor knew that, deep down, Rose wanted Arthur to survive. He couldn't let Rose and Arthur down by letting Arthur die again because of her. "I killed him once," he said before goes to the computer. "I can't do it again."
He hits the return key.
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
Arthur and the Dalek are in the lift going up to Van Statten's office. The atmosphere is very tense. Arthur watches the Dalek's exterminator arm twitch slightly.
"Why didn't you kill me?" He asked, wanting to know. It is rare for a Dalek to let its enemy live.
"I…I do not know." The Dalek spins its eyepiece around to look at Arthur slowly. "Why are you alive? My function is to kill. What am I? What am I?"
"Well...let's find out."
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
The lift door opens and Van Statten is standing there, waiting.
"Stay still!" Arthur warned. "Just…don't do anything!"
The Dalek advances on Van Statten. "Van Statten. You tortured me. Why?"
"I wanted to help you, I just...I don't know," he confessed. "I…I was just 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 warned you, the Doctor warned you," Arthur muttered at him, disgust. "You never listen."
The Dalek still advances, backing him against the wall. "I'm so sorry! I swear! I just wanted you to talk!"
"Then hear me talk now. Exterminate! Exterminate!" it yelled. Van Statten winces. "Exterminate!"
"Will you, now?" Arthur asked, silence it. The Dalek spins to face Arthur. Even as he fears it, Arthur still looks right into its eyepiece. "Will you exterminate him?" His eyes glowing briefly. "Or…you want something else?"
The Dalek turns back to Van Statten. Then back to him. "I want freedom."
Arthur smiled sarcastically and a little sadly. Of course. This one Dalek wants freedom. Among many Daleks that wants murder, this one wants none of that.
It's both sad and ironic, really.
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
Arthur and the Dalek are on floor 01 in the base. The Dalek fires its death ray at the ceiling, making a hole through which the sunlight floods, shining on the Dalek.
"There you go," Arthur remarked, looking up. "Freedom."
"How...does...it...feel?"
"Find it yourself."
After a second pass, the Dalek opens up its casing to reveal the mutated creature inside. It stretches its feelers out to the sunlight. Arthur simply observes, letting the creature to feel the sun…
Until a voice behind them cut the silence. "Get out of the way."
Not even perturbed, Arthur turns back, looking at the Doctor. He is holding the gun, a futuristic one, pointing it at the Dalek. Behind him, Rose stares at their situation in shock. "You miss alot," he commented.
"Arthur, get out of the way, now!"
"Doctor, wait!" Rose interjected, sensing something's wrong in all of these. Sure, that creature had murdered so many people. But this…this isn't right.
"That thing killed hundreds of people, Rose."
"Indeed," Arthur agreed. "But Doctor, you don't have to."
"You don't know a single thing what I can do and not!" He snapped. "I've got to do this. I've got to end it. The Daleks destroyed my home, my people. I've got nothing left."
"Wrong. You had one thing left," Arthur looks at his younger version of his father with a blank stare. "Revenge."
The comment clearly took the Doctor and Rose by surprise. The word 'revenge' probably wouldn't have crossed the Doctor's mind, with anger and bitterness clouding his thoughts. But Rose immediately realised there was a truth behind Arthur's words, seeing how the Doctor's behaviour had changed ever since they found out about the Dalek
"Take a look, Doctor," Arthur stands aside and gestures to the Dalek who is feeling the sunlight.
Confused, the Doctor asks him. "What's it doing?"
"It's the sunlight, that's all it wants!" Rose noticed.
"But it can't…"
"It couldn't kill Van Statten, it couldn't kill me, it's changing…because of Rose," Arthur explained. "Are you going to let revenge change you?"
The Doctor finally lowers the gun. He looks completely lost and broken, looking back between the man and the Dalek. "I couldn't…I wasn't...Oh, Arthur. They're all dead."
"I know."
"Why do we survive?" the Dalek asked the Doctor.
"I don't know," the Doctor admitted.
"I am the last of the Daleks."
"You're not even that. Rose did more than regenerate you. You absorbed her DNA. You're mutating."
"Into what?"
"A humane Dalek," Arthur added, closing his eyes, knowing very well how the Daleks despise having another being mutating its essence.
Rose frowns, not understanding why the Doctor or Arthur looks sombre. "Isn't that…good?"
"Daleks are obsessed with purity. For them, mutation is a disgrace."
"I can feel so many ideas. So much darkness...Rose...give me orders! Order me to die!" It begged, closes its eye
The Doctor looks from the Dalek to Rose. "I can't do that," Rose disagreed.
"This is not life. This is sickness."
Rose's face contorts with pity and disgust. Arthur can't let Rose leave this place with another guilt. This girl had had enough of the guilt she felt for those who had dared to fight this Dalek for her safety. "I order you to do it," Arthur commanded, stunning Rose and the Doctor at his action. "Just so you know, I did this out of mercy. Nothing else."
"...Are you frightened of me, young man?"
"Yes."
"So am I. Exterminate."
Arthur says nothing as the Dalek replaces its armour. It levitates into the air and the golden knobs detach themselves to surround the Dalek in a perfect sphere. He closes his eyes, walking away, knowing what will happen next.
As the Doctor stares at the place where it disappeared with a shock, he wonders what just happened today.
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Arthur walked back to where the Doctor had parked the Tardis. His eyes looked at all the collectibles on display throughout the corridor. Items old and new beyond imagination...all of them would vanish as soon as Goddard took over the operation of this place. Good plan on her part. That way, with soms help from both UNIT and Torchwood, Goddard could hide all this from the public eye.
His ears caught the footsteps that were getting closer to his position. Arthur sighed softly, unsure of what reaction the Doctor would show. He had tried his best to save Rose from the Dalek threat. But in the end, Arthur failed to save the soldiers who died at the hands of the monster.
No matter how much energy and effort he put in, Arthur could not change the destiny of the timeline without destroying it.
"Why did you do it?" the Doctor asked him. His tone isn't annoyance, anger, or accusation. It sounds…very genuine. Clearly, he feels guilty for treating Arthur badly. However, considering how the Tenth Doctor reacted after he was infected by the sun, it seems like his current feelings are only temporary. He will hate him.
"Mercy," he repeated.
"No, I mean…why did you let yourself stay behind?"
Arthur turned his head, and got the point. The Doctor was confused as to why the Explorer would take such a dangerous action, despite having the ability to see the future, just to save a young girl that from his own perspective, he had just met. Arthur wasn't sure if he wanted to be offended that the Doctor thought he was that shallow, or surprised that he didn't have the capacity to abandon Rose for his own sake. "Because she's important," Arthur confessed. "For you…and me."
"Who is she? To you?"
"Some secrets cannot be said."
The doctor looked at Arthur, uncertainly. Honestly, he wanted to trust this man. However, his suspicions had not been dispelled. Arthur Jonas was still a piece of a complicated puzzle. "I still distrust you," he shared, cannot tell him a dishonesty regarding his opinions about him.
Arthur smiles. He has to get used to it, to treat him as a stranger, and vice versa for the Doctor. "I know," he assured him, eyeing how Rose slowly approached them. "Took you long enough. The old girl is itchy for adventures."
"Is that the end of it?" Rose asked, pausing the Doctor who initially wants to open the door. "The Time war?"
"I'm the only one left," the Doctor remarked. "I win. How about that."
"The Dalek survived...maybe some of your people did too."
Arthur looks down, another guilt eating him. He doesn't know. And he can't know. Not now. "Rose has a point," Arthur agreed. "The universe is a big place."
"I'd know. In here," the Doctor said, gesturing his head. "Feels like there's no one."
"Well then, good thing I'm not going anywhere," Rose consoled with a smile.
"Yeah."
Adam jogs up to them. "We'd better get out. Van Statten's disappeared...they're closing down the base."
"So?" Arthur asked as the Doctor faced him with his arms folded. He had a hunch about what Adam might do in the future, and he's not fond of it.
"I'll have to go back home."
"Better hurry up then. Next flight to Heathrow leaves at 1500 hours," the Doctor suggested.
"Adam was saying that all his life he's wanted to see the stars…" Rose hinted.
"Tell him to go and stand outside, then."
"He's all on his own, Doctor. And he did help."
"He left Arthur down there!"
"So did you!"
"He almost left you there," Arthur reminded Rose, glaring at Adam.
Adam frowns, not following the accusation he had stated. "What're you talking about? We've got to leave!"
"Then leave," the Doctor said coldly.
"What're you doing?" Adam demanded. "She said 'cement'. She wasn't joking, we're going to get sealed in."
"Oh, just shut up," Arthur huffed and entered the Tardis.
The Doctor blinks at the way Arthur reacts to Adam. Sometimes he noticed the way Arthur looked at people. Sometimes he was friendly, sometimes he was neutral...and sometimes he was sarcastic. The last part seems to only register to people he considers enemy or troublesome.
Arthur didn't trust Adam 100%. He knows something about him…which makes him dislike having Adam around. Makes sense too, as Adam just simply left Arthur behind. Plus, unlike Rose, he shows absolutely no remorse for almost getting Arthur killed.
"What's his problem?" Adam grumbled.
"Not sure," Rose shrugs, starting to think that maybe bringing Adam isn't a good idea after all.
"Come on!" The Doctor claps his hands, taking Rose's hand before entering the blue box, leaving Adam standing outside.
"Doctor?" He called. "What're you doing standing inside a box? Rose? Arthur?" He peers through the doors and suddenly, the door closes shut, not giving Arthur a chance to step inside. "What the hell?"
Adam can only watch in shock as the blue box slowly disappear in front of his eyes.