𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔊𝔞𝔪𝔢 𝔖𝔱𝔞𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫
𝔜𝔢𝔞𝔯 200,100
"We got incoming!"
They flew as fast as they could towards the Dalek fleet, into the missiles sent their way, with no ability to stop. If they did, then they would surely die. Jack knew that, which was why he did his darnedest to fix up some shields.
"The extrapolators working, we've got a fully functioning force field. Try saying that when you're drunk."
"And for my next trick..." The Doctor pulled down a lever so they materialised on the mothership with ease.
The Tardis landed in the perfect place, homing in on Rose's heartbeat so that they didn't miss her. It quite often felt like magic, rather than technology, because of how brilliant it was. They were saving her without crushing her with the weight of a machine. Only, when they materialised, they brought a Dalek inside the Tardis with her.
However, they were prepared. The others were gathered together, out of the way. Jack had his gun in hand, directed towards them, waiting for them to fill lock in place.
"Rose, get down!" The Doctor shouted with urgency. "Get down, Rose!"
The Dalek took one look at them. "Exterminate!"
The machine fired at the Doctor, but he ducked, and pulled EJ down with him, just in case. He could only be glad that Jack was trigger happy, because he fired immediately after, blowing the Dalek open completely. It screamed in pain, hallowing as it touched the core of EJ's soul. But then it stopped, and it was dead, and it was over.
Rose looked up, and stood straight. There was a sense of relief all over her. That alone made it worth it.
"You did it!" The Doctor scrambled to embrace her, and EJ followed swiftly, hardly allowing them a moment together. "It feels like I haven't seen you in years."
"I told you I'd come and get you." The Doctor sighed.
She held her breath, slightly. "I never doubted it."
"I did." He gulped, wide eyed, and childish. "You alright?"
"Yeah, you?"
"Not bad, been better."
"I was so worried about you." EJ wrapped his arms around her, tightly. "And I'm so glad that you're okay."
"Hey," Jack interrupted, raising his eyebrows and arms simultaneously. "Don't I get a hug?"
"Oh, come here."
"I was talking to him." He joked as EJ stepped away, taking the hint through the humour. "Welcome home."
"Oh..." Rose sighed, obviously relieved as her situation sank in further. "I thought I'd never see you again."
"Oh, you were lucky. That was the one shot wonder. It drained the fun of its power supply, now it's just a piece of junk."
"You said they were extinct." Her focus shifted back to the Doctor, and to the Daleks. "So how comes they're still alive?"
The Doctor had turned to the machine of his own accord, and inspected it. Part of him wanted to be aware of the advances they'd made since he'd seen them last. Another part wanted to revel in its death, but that was the part he was attempting to suppress. He was sure it wasn't a healthy action, but more of a necessity.
EJ remembered the day they had encountered the Dalek together. It wasn't one he wished to relive any time soon, but this seemed to be pushing for some sort of reunion. Their Dalek was dead. It wanted to die.
However, it meant that the black haired boy's view on the machine race was tainted. The only Dalek he'd ever encountered was a war survivor as well as a victim of the abuse Van Statten had subjected it to. It had been weak and uncooperative. He could only imagine what a confident, untampered creature may react like. Would it kill them without discrimination? Or would it all be drawn out like an execution?
Jack's eyes never left the Dalek. "One minute they're the greatest threat in the universe, the next minute they vanished out of time and space."
"They went off to fight a bigger war." The Doctor deadpanned. "The Time War."
"I thought that was just a legend." He stared with this burning intent, because he wanted to know everything that he could. His childhood had been engulfed in a world of stories all rotating around the Time War.
"I was there, the war between the Daleks and the Time Lords, with the whole of creation at stake." He didn't talk about it much, and now that he was, EJ's ears pricked up. "My people were destroyed, but took the Daleks with them. I almost thought it was worth it, and now it turns out they died for nothing."
"There's thousands of them now, we could hardly stop one." Rose reminded, though it was very fresh in their memory. "What are we gonna do?"
Suddenly bright and optimistic, the Doctor beamed. "No good stood round here chinwagging. Human Race, you'd gossip all day."
EJ pulled a face, as if it was an insult. "Hell yeah, I would."
"The Dalek's have got the answers, let's go and meet the neighbours."
He jumped towards the doors as the others attempted to hold him back. "You can't go out there!"
It came to no use as the Doctor bounded into the Dalek ship, with no weapons to defend himself. EJ followed after with no means to stop. Keeping him safe was his first priority, but the others had more self-preservation. They waited in the doorway, looking out, and suddenly EJ wanted that little more coverage.
It was as soon as they saw the Doctor that they began to scream as loud as their machine lungs could manage. Exterminate. It echoed around the room like some sort of chant. They fired at the Tardis, but the shield kept them safe, for a short distance. It was some relief.
"Is that it?" The Doctor asked, unimpressed. "Useless! Nul points! It's alright, come on out, that forcefield can hold back anything."
Thoughtlessly, Jack remarked. "Almost anything."
"Yes, but I wasn't going to tell them that, thanks."
"Sorry."
So, he looked at them, the Daleks, with fury in his mind. He was like a tutor, in some ways, as he turned back to his friends with all of the answers that they would never know without him.
"Do you know what they call me in the ancient legends of the Dalek homeworld?"
EJ shook his head. "Obviously not."
"The Oncoming Storm." It was ominous, and the Thompson boy could hardly align the name to the Doctor. Then, he looked at them in the eyestalk. "You might have removed all your emotions, but I reckon, right down deep in your DNA, there's one little spark left. And that's fear. Doesn't it just burn when you face me? So tell me... how did your survive the Time War?"
EJ wondered what sort of backhanded nonsense they might come out with. The idea that they even needed any help to survive sounded insulting to them.
But a deep voice boomed at them, and the Doctor span on his heels. "They survived through me."
Their eyes followed the sound into the darkness where they found a Dalek unlike any of the others. It was as tall as the ship, humongous and monstrous. It had tubing which led down to a small glass jar where the octopus-like creature resided.
"EJ, Rose, Captain..." The Doctor gulped, his throat suddenly dry. "This is the Emperor of the Daleks."
"You destroyed us Doctor." It bellowed. "The Dalek race died in your inferno, but my ship survived, falling through time, crippled but alive."
He just looked at the Emperor. "I get it."
"Do not interrupt!"
"Do not interrupt!"
"Do not interrupt!"
"I think you're forgetting something." He never once lost his integrity. "I'm the Doctor, and if there's one thing I can do, it's talk. I've got five billion languages and you haven't got one way of stopping me, so if anybody's gonna shut up, it's you!"
Ordinarily, EJ would've cheered, but he didn't think anyone would appreciate his enthusiasm at this moment. Though, it did make him the best wingman ever.
"Okey-doke!" He sighed, now satisfied that they'd backed off a little. "So... where were we?"
"We waited here in the dark space, damaged but rebuilding." The Emperor bragged. "Centuries passed, and we quietly infiltrated the systems of Earth, harvesting the waste of humanity. The prisoners, the refugees, the dispossessed, they all came to us. The bodies were filleted, pulped, sifted. The seed of the human race is perverted. Only one cell in a billion was fit to be nurtured."
As EJ began to realise what they had done, his stomach churned, but the Doctor was one step ahead. "So you created an army of Daleks out of the dead."
"That makes them..." Rose froze at the horror. "Half human."
"Those words are blasphemy."
"Do not blaspheme!"
"Do not blaspheme!"
"Do not blaspheme!"
"Everything human has been purged." It countered, sneering at the accusation. "I cultivated pure and blessed Dalek."
The Doctor never once removed his gaze from the aliens, raising a query. "Since when did the Daleks have a concept of blasphemy?"
"I reached into the dirt and made new life. I am the God of all Daleks!"
"Worship him!"
"Worship him!"
"Worship him!"
With every word they said, the Daleks were sounding more and more like a cult. It was worrying that it might never end. EJ's breath froze in his lungs. He just hoped that the Doctor would be able to help.
"They're insane." He said, in realisation. "Hiding in silence for hundreds of years, that's enough to drive anyone mad, but it's worse than that. Driven mad by your own flesh... the stink of humanity. You hate your own existence. And that makes them more deadly than ever." He looked to his friends. "We're going."
The Emperor was less than impressed. "You may not leave my presence!" He walked back towards the Tardis, coaxing the others back with him.
"Stay where you are!"
"Stay where you are!"
"Exterminate!"
"Exterminate!"
They fired at the shield and the Doctor leant against the Tardis, just watching. Eventually, he stepped inside, and leant his back against the doors, just listening to their madness. It was overwhelming, and painful. The only thing EJ knew how to do was hug the Doctor, and hope that it eased some of the commotion.
"What's this for?" He queried, sombrely.
EJ just hummed. "You look like you need it."
Their flight back to the Game Station was short, and before they knew it, they were back on Floor 500 with problems to solve. EJ was becoming increasingly worried about the Doctor as his actions became more sporadic, but he would keep as close an eye as he could. It was his duty as a friend.
The Doctor marched towards the centre console, and straight out of the Tardis. "Turn everything up, all transmitters, full power, wide open, now! Do it!"
Davitch queried, concerned. "What does it do?"
"Stops Daleks transmatting onboard. How did you get on? Did you contact Earth?"
"I tried to," He apologised through gritted teeth. "But all they did was suspend our license cos we stopped the programmes."
"Then the planets just sitting there defenceless." The Doctor marvelled at the thought purely because it was awful. "Lynda, what are you still doing onboard? I told you to evacuate everyone!"
"She wouldn't go." Davitch replied.
"I didn't wanna leave you."
Rose was like stone, and EJ sniggered. "You should see your face. You're jealous."
"Shut up." She sneered.
"Message received." He shrugged, hardly effected. "But you are jealous. I can see it."
"There weren't enough shuttles anyway, or I wouldn't be here." The female programmer said, snidely. "We've got about 100 people stranded on Floor 0."
"Oh my God." Davitch paused them. "The Dalek fleet is moving. They're on their way."
It was like something had clicked in the Doctor's mind, because now that he knew the Daleks would follow through, a plan had come to mind. He started to pull great big wires out of the computer systems, breaking through tunnels just to reach them. For a moment, it was like he'd gone mad. They were giving him the benefit of the doubt.
"Dalek plan, big mistake, cos what have they left me with? Anyone? Anyone?" He was talking at a million miles a minute, hardly allowing a word in edgeways. "Oh, come on, it's obvious! A great big transmitter- this station! If I can change the signal, fold it back, sequence it? Anyone?"
Jack just started to stare at the Doctor, almost in awe. "You gotta be kidding."
"Give the man a medal!"
"A delta wave?" He beamed.
Just as excited, the Doctor grinned back. "A delta wave!"
"What's a delta wave?" Rose looked at them both, confused. EJ was sure he had just as clueless a look on his face.
"A wave of Van Cassadyne energy, it fries your brain." Jack explained as the Doctor continued to pull on the wires. "Stand in the way of a delta wave and your head gets barbecued!"
"And this place can transmit a massive wave, wipe out the Daleks!"
Lynda was overexcited. "Get started and do it then!"
"Trouble is," The Doctor began, sighing. "A wave this size, building this big, brain as clever as mine, should take ooh about... three days? How long till the fleet arrive?"
EJ was beginning to feel bad for Davitch because he was presenting all of the worst news. "22 minutes."
As the Doctor worked as fast as he was able, the other six were gathered around the big screen and as much as the technology that could be spared from the wave. Jack was taking charge now, guiding them through his plan. His mind was far more militant than any of the others. There was no one better for the job, but ultimately, it did make EJ worry.
"We've got a forcefield so they can't blast us out of the sky," Jack pointed to the model of the Game Station on the screen. "But that doesn't stop the Daleks from physically invading."
"Do they know about the delta wave?" Davitch queried.
"They'll have worked it out at the same time. So, they wanna stop the Doctor, that means they've got to get to this level, 500. Now, I can concentrate the extrapolator on the top six levels, 500 to 495, so they'll penetrate the station below that at Level 494 and fight their way up."
"Who're they fighting?"
"Us."
Davitch attempted to be brave. "And what are we fighting with?"
"The guards had guns with bastic bullets." Jack informed, half gesturing to the rounds of ammo hanging off his body. "That's enough to blow a Dalek wide open."
The woman looked ahead, sighing. "There's six of us."
The Doctor interrupted, and called over. "Rose, you can help me, I need all these wires stripping bare."
"Now there's five of us!"
"Actually, I need EJ too." He didn't sound remorseful for taking their soldiers. "He's got steady hands."
"Right, now there's four of us."
Jack coaxed them all away from the panel, his brave face more sturdy than the entire building's structure. "Then let's move it! Into the lift, isolate the controls."
The two programmers moved quicker than the others. Jack waited, and Lynda made a b-line for the Doctor. They'd been through a lot in the last few hours, and she wanted to say something at least. EJ felt bad for her. They were already saying goodbye.
"I- I just wanna say, um... thanks, I suppose." Lynda smiled at him, rather cutely. The Thompson boy wondered if she knew what she had signed up for."And I'll do my best."
The Doctor smiled back at her. "Me too."
They shook hands. It was awkward and goofy, and it was EJ feel uncomfortable. There was a slight bout of relief when she left for the lift, but it didn't mean that he wanted her to go. He just didn't want the discomfort at such a pivotal point in their plan. It might have ruined everything.
But then, it was the four of them. It was soon to be three, but still only four. There was a tightness in EJ's stomach, as he looked at Jack. Something was telling him that things weren't going to go well after this.
"It's been fun." Jack sighed, hands on his hips in some sort of superhero pose. "But I guess this is goodbye."
Rose gulped, uncomfortably. "Don't talk like that, the Doctor's gonna do it, you just watch him."
"Rose..." He put his hands on her face, and smiled softly. "You were worth fighting for."
It sort of took them all by surprise when he kissed her, tenderly, before moving on like it had never happened. She just stood wide eyed, unsure of how to continue.
"I wish I'd never met you Doctor." He mimicked his previous actions and let his hands rest on his face again. "I was much better off as a coward."
Jack didn't discriminate in the way that he kissed the Doctor. It was just as soft, and just as tender as the one he offered to Rose. Perhaps it wasn't the most conventional way to say goodbye, but it suited him perfectly.
"But you," His hands cupped EJ's face, gently. The Thompson boy let his hands cover over them, drowning himself in the feeling. "I'm so glad I met you, EJ Thompson."
They kissed, and though not uncommon for them, it felt different this time. It was more careful, more calculated, and more intense all at the same time.
EJ was trying not to cry as Jack pulled away, seeing him walk in the opposite direction. "See you round, Fly Boy?"
He chuckled, barely looking them in the eye as he stepped towards the lift. "See you in hell."
It was silent for a while. They didn't know where they should begin, because everything seemed to be coming to an end. EJ was lost, he felt like he was floating in consciousness, moving like a zombie, but unaware of how to continue.
"He's gonna be alright." Rose's feet tapped as she worried. When the Doctor didn't say anything, and EJ didn't look her way, she felt her chest drop into her stomach. "Isn't he?"
The Doctor put them back to work because they didn't have the time to waste. The Dalek fleet wouldn't wait for anyone, let alone them. So, they pulled on the wires, making sure they didn't break as they stripped them down to their bare bones.
No one knew what to say for a while. After Jack left, he kept in touch to inform them of the plan, but it was only his voice. It wasn't enough.
"Suppose..."
The Doctor looked up at her. "What?"
"Nothing." Rose dismissed her original thoughts.
"You said suppose."
"No," She shook her head. "I was just thinking..."
EJ chuckled to himself, receiving a deathly glare from Rose. "A dangerous thing."
"And I mean, obviously you can't, but... you got a time machine. Why can't you just go back to last week and warn them?"
"As soon as the Tardis lands, in that second, I become part of events." The Doctor replied. "Stuck in the timeline."
Rose grumbled, but she didn't seem upset. "Yeah, I thought it'd be something like that."
"There's another thing the Tardis could do. It could take us away." EJ's head snapped up at the Doctor's proposal. "We could leave. Let history take its course. We go to Marbella in 1989."
"Yeah, but you'd never do that."
"No, but you could ask. It never even occurred to you, did it?"
"That's the boring way out." EJ said, throwing some of the rubber aside from the wires. "We have to at least try."
They smiled, even though it felt like the wrong time to. It was that small amount of joy they needed to carry on. Then, the Tardis whined.
"The delta waves started building." The Doctor acknowledged. "How long does it need?" They ran to the controls, but his head dropped, frustrated.
"Is that bad?" Rose asked, but he only sighed in response. "Okay, it's bad. How bad is it?"
And then, it was like he'd had a change of heart. He turned to them both with wide eyes and a grin on his face. "Rose Tyler, you're a genius!"
He kissed her forehead as EJ grumbled. "Little harsh."
"We can do it! If I use the Tardis to cross my own timeline... yes!"
He ran into the Tardis like some sort of track athlete, Rose and EJ following after him, the latter much slower. However, the Thompson boy just stood by the door. Something felt a little off still. The flicked as many buttons as he could on the centre console. There was so much energy buzzing through him, it felt artificial.
"Hold that down and keep position!" He commanded Rose.
She did as he asked, confused. "What's it do?"
"Cancels the buffers. If I'm clever, and I'm more than clever, I'm brilliant. I might just save the world, or rip it apart."
"I'd go for the first one." Rose gulped, slightly afraid.
"Me too." He agreed. "I've just got to power up the Game Station, hold on!"
However, as soon as he ran out, he paused, and stopped. EJ knew that something was going on, he knew that they couldn't do it. He could feel it. The Doctor was trying to save them.
"Why aren't you in there?"
"Why aren't you?" The black haired boy retorted, knowingly. "You can't do it, can you? You're sending us home."
The Doctor stared at EJ, almost blankly, trying to find some sort apology, but he couldn't. "I have to."
"No, you don't."
"I made a promise to Jackie."
"Well," The Thompson boy scoffed, shaking his head. "If that's the standard, you've not made any promise to my family."
Whilst it was true, it didn't seem to matter so much. The Doctor felt like EJ and Rose were children, almost. He was their caretaker. They were his responsibility, but it wasn't true. EJ could take care of himself, he was fine on his own, he'd managed to live this long without care and comfort, so what was it to him now?
Still, the Doctor looked at him. "You've got a son."
"He's got his mum." EJ replied, aloofly. It didn't seem to matter that he was being protected. "And her boyfriend, and my friends. You've only got me, Jack and Rose. So if you're letting people go, you need someone here with you, Doctor. Let me be here for you."
At that, his jaw clenched tighter. If what he was going to be hard in the first place, then he could only imagine how taxing a split decision would be. Reluctantly, he pulled the sonic from his jacket, and pointed it directly at the Tardis. He only buzzed it once, but it was enough to get the ship up and running, all on its own.
EJ felt more than guilty for leaving her there. It wasn't fair, and yet, he knew that she could take care of herself too. The only person who couldn't was the Doctor, because he was too busy saving the world. He'd been in his own too long, but he didn't face to be. That made the guilt subside, just a little bit.
"Doctor?" Rose called from the Tardis as it began to vworp. "What are you doing? Can I take my hand off? It's moving! Doctor, let me out! Doctor! Let me out!"
Before they knew it, she was gone, and any hope of escape too. The Doctor looked like he might cry, and that was fine. There was a lot going on, but he needed a moment. So, before they could get back to work, EJ wrapped his arms around him.
It wasn't nice, but they still had time. That was more important than anything.
Time. It was running out.
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Disclaimer!!!
I do not own Doctor Who, it's characters and original storylines. The only things I do own are my own characters, my addition to the series and my own storylines. Any similarities to real life are purely coincidental.