Dalek

[just_the_doctor]

The relative peace of the control room is shattered by an alarm. Granted, this tends to happen fairly often in these older TARDISes. Most are nothing more than the TARDIS equivalent of the "Check Engine" light. This one, though, is different.

Which is why the Doctor is at the console in a matter of seconds, running scans along all available frequency bands and tying the TARDIS navigational array into the output. It was definitely a distress signal. And a recognizable one. Not specifically Gallifreyan, but one of a number of standard forms used by any of a hundred planets in the general vicinity. Very faint and weak, but still there. Whatever was calling was in trouble, and had the technology to call for help.

A spike of hope rose in the Time Lord; was it possible that another Time Lord had been thrown clear of the blast, as he was, and was calling for assistance?

Comments

[whats-bad-wolf.livejournal.com]

Rose watches as Adam rolls under the closing barrier and tries to run faster, tries to follow him -- but then it's all locked down and she's not quite there. And when the Doctor asks where she is, she tries to stay calm as she apologises for being "a bit slow."

Still holding the phone, she turns to watch as the Dalek rounds the corner and approaches. She waits for the terror to hit, the blind panic that'll make her break down and scream and react. But it doesn't, and she's not quite sure whether this numb feeling is better or not.

"See you then, Doctor," she tells him quietly, facing the door again. She needs to reassure him, because he still has to go on, and he can't waste time worrying about her, can he? "It wasn't your fault, remember that, okay? It wasn't your fault."

And with a deep breath, almost slipping, almost breaking down: "Y'know what? I wouldn't have missed it for the world."

[just_the_doctor]

He hears the Dalek's screech, hears the shot fired.

She doesn't scream. Truly, he'd expect nothing less of her. She's one of the strongest people he's ever met. And she deserved better than this.

She didn't deserve to die in -- of all places -- Utah. Not when he could have stopped it. Not when he had the chance, he had the means, and he had the right.

But van Statten stopped him. This sniveling little weasel, this perverse excuse for a human being, this... ignorant, worthless, empty-headed hairless ape has killed her.

It's all he can do to hold back from ripping the man's arm off and beating him to death with it.

[whats-bad-wolf.livejournal.com]

It's with distinct confusion that she opens her eyes -- realises she can open her eyes, even -- and half-turns to find the Dalek just there.

This doesn't make any sense. Why is she still alive? After all that, why? She was terrified -- she still is, but it turns into anger in her voice when she tells the thing to just kill her.

Nothing happens.

So she turns almost all the way round to face the Dalek and confront it properly; to ask why it's doing this, tell the Dalek they're all dead because of it. Being angry doesn't make her any less scared -- just makes it a little more bearable.

[dalekity.livejournal.com]

There's a pause, while the Dalek does a scan for targetting errors. It turns it's gun back so that it's pointing at Rose again, and fires.

(Nononononono)

The gun moves sharply to the side, and the beam hits the door besides her. The Dalek fires again, and again, each time moving it's aim before it can hit her and firing into the wall.

"Why can I not exterminate you?" It fires again. "What have you done to me?" And again. It asks questions, louder and louder, firing to each side of her and every time getting steadily closer to her, but never hitting her. The Dalek wants to exterminate her, but it can't. It can't bring itself to.

It orders her to come near, and has her stand, facing the camera, with it's gun at her back. With a flick of it's mind, it activates the camera.

"I have your assistant, Doctor. You will comply in opening the door or she will be exterminated!." The Doctor argues, and the Dalek doesn't quite care enough to listen. It knows he'll open it eventually.

When the Doctor is finished, the Dalek speaks again.
"What good are emotions," It asks slowly. "If you cannot save the woman you love?"

There's a long wait, and the Dalek doesn't mind that. Eventually, the door opens, and the Dalek trundles through.

[just_the_doctor]

Of course he opens it. The thought of losing Rose once had almost stopped his hearts. No way could he do it a second time and survive. That makes it easy to stare down van Statten while his mind cooks for another plan.

And then Adam points out that he's got weapons in his catalog room. Most of them are broken (or, in extreme cases, hair dryers), but there's one. And one's all he needs.

He bounds up the stairs to the top level. Rounding the corner, he sees Rose and the Dalek, and he shoulders the gun. As distasteful as it would have been to him to hold something like this before the war, that's how good it feels to hold it now, just a flick of the finger away from the destruction of the last Dalek in existence.

"Rose, get out of the way!"

[whats-bad-wolf.livejournal.com]

"No. I won't let you do this!"

Rose stays defiantly in front of the Dalek, turning to face the Doctor with disapproval clear on her face. A killer the alien may have been, but she knew it wasn't the same now -- and after all, it wasn't the one pointing the gun at her. The Doctor says he has to end it, he's got nothing left. But she can't believe it and shakes her head, insists that he look at it, stepping aside so he can see, tells him that all it wants is the sunlight.

"It couldn't kill van Statten -- it couldn't kill me -- it's changing." She looks at him for a moment, and the disapproving expression returns. "What about you, Doctor? What the hell're you changing into?"

Her ire then fades as she listens to the Doctor and the Dalek, curiosity piqued by talk of herself -- it's got part of me in it now, changing it, and she wonders if that's better, because she thinks it is.

Not for a Dalek.

The Dalek addresses her, tells her to give it orders -- to tell it to die. But she can't do that, she can't. She doesn't want death on her hands; she doesn't want to be like that. But it continues, appeals to her, orders her to order it. And on, she pities it, and as she stands there watching it, she takes a breath and steadies her voice.

"Do it."

[dalekity.livejournal.com]

The Dalek responds immediately to the command, as a good Dalek soldier always does. It rises up into the air, creating a bright, blue shield around it to keep the flames, debris and force of the explosion from reaching the Doctor and Rose.

The armour explodes, disintegrating the Dalek itself. The shield closes in around the explosion, and it all vanishes into thin air.

For a moment, as everything goes dark, the Dalek is sure it sees a door.

[just_the_doctor]

He's completely numb as he heads back down to the TARDIS. It's finally over. "I win," as he tells Rose.

She asks if some of his people might have survived, and he has to tell her there's no way. He'd know; he'd hear them. But there's nothing. He's really alone. Except for her, she reminds him.

That's what it's all about, in the end. Not being alone. Which is why he doesn't really protest when she asks to bring Adam along (even though he knows it probably won't end well).

And they're off again. Off to the next adventure.