The Doctor appeared on the computer screen, "You've got to keep it in that cell."
"Doctor, it's all my fault", Rose admitted.
"I've sealed the compartment. It can't get out, that lock's got a billion combinations", the guard said.
"A Dalek's a genius. It can calculate a thousand billion combinations in one second flat."
Just as he said that the door opened and the Dalek rolled out. The two guards turned around immediately, "Open fire!"
They did exactly that but Van Statten protested, "Don't shoot it! I want it unharmed."
"Winifred, get out of there", the Doctor demanded over him.
The guns weren't working on the Dalek and as they reloaded the male guard turned to his female subordinate, "De Maggio, take the civilians and get them out alive. That is your job, got that?"
She nodded, "You. With me."
Adam, Winnie and Rose ran after her, down a corridor.
"Civillians! Let them through", De Maggio shouted to the guards blocking the way.
They ran past the guards and towards the staircase where Rose cheered in victory, "Stairs! That's more like it. It hasn't got legs. It's stuck!"
"D'you really think stairs are going to stop a murder-alien that even the Doctor's scared of?", Winnie's entire face showed worry and fear. She wasn't scared of dying. She was mostly scared of Rose dying. And of having a plunger stuck to her face as it sucked the air out of her.
"It's coming! Get up", De Maggio instructed them, and so they ran up half a floor.
The Dalek entered through the door they had also come through and looked at the whole staircase with its eyestalk. Adam grinned, "Great big alien death machine defeated by a flight of stairs."
De Maggio aimed her gun at it, "Now listen to me. I demand that you return to your cage. If you want to negotiate then I can guarantee that Mister Van Statten will be willing to talk. I accept that we imprisoned you and maybe that was wrong, but people have died, and that stops right now. The killing stops. Have you got that? I demand that you surrender. Is that clear?"
"E-Le-Vate", and so the Dalek floated up the stairs.
"Oh my god", Rose breathed out.
"Run", Winnie whispered, trying to push at Adam who was standing between her and Rose.
"Adam, get them out of here", De Maggio demanded.
"Come with us", Rose said, "You can't stop it."
"Someone's got to try. Now get out! Don't look back. Just run", she started shooting.
Rose grabbed Winnie's hand as Adam ran ahead and they charged up the staircase. More armed guards waited on level 52, "Hold your fire! You three, get the hell out of there!"
They ran past the brigade and stayed behind them as the Dalek rolled in after them. It seemed to zoom in on them for a moment. The guards shot at it and they moved on.
"It was looking at me", Rose said. Winnie comfortingly rubbed her hand.
"Yeah, it wants to slaughter us", Adam told her.
"I know, but it was looking right at me."
"So? It's just a sort of metal eye thing. It's looking all around", he was exasperated with her.
"Shut up, Adam. Have you not been paying attention? There's a living creature inside. Rose brought it back to life. Who knows what the thing inside is thinking?", Winnie glared at him.
"I don't know. It's like the something inside is looking at me", she confirmed Winnie's words and looked at her, seemingly only talking to her now, "Like, like it knows me."
They kept running up the levels and around level 50 Winnie's phone rang. She answered but kept running after Rose and Adam, "This isn't the best time."
"Where are you?" - The Doctor.
"Er, forty nine now."
"You've got to keep moving. The vault's being sealed off up at level forty six."
"Aw, come on", she picked up her speed, "Can't you pick one further down? Or delay it or something?"
"I'm the one who's closing them. I can't wait and I can't help you. Now for God's sake, run."
"Doctor", she heaved, "You promised me, you promised you'd protect her."
She kept running, the phone in hand but her arms in positions that made it easier to run, she kept pushing against Rose to subtly tell her to go faster.
"We're nearly there", she told him, "Give us two seconds."
"I'm sorry", and then an alarm started sounding. They saw the bulkhead from afar. They were at the other end of the hallway.
"Come on", Adam shouted, far ahead of them, and rolled under the bulkhead door that was closing. Winnie kept pushing against Rose, hoping to get her through but there was no chance Rose would fit under those two inches under the door. They dropped against the door and looked at each other. Winnie's eyes got teary.
"Winifred, where are you?", the Doctor asked on the other end of the phone, "Winnie, did you make it?"
Winnie took a shaky breath, "Sorry, we were a bit slow."
The Dalek kept rolling up to them at a steady speed. Winnie took Rose's hand and squeezed, "I love you, Fred."
"I love you, Rosie", she put the phone to her ear again, "See you, then, Doctor. It wasn't your fault. You kept your promise. You did everything in your power to protect her. I believe in you. Remember that, okay? It wasn't your fault. I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Neither of us. Thank you."
She hung up the phone and put it in her pocket, then she pulled Rose closer as she had already looped her free arm around her waist. With her right hand holding Rose's she put the left on the side of her head and pulled it into her neck. They squeezed their eyes shut, then "Exterminate!"
But then they opened their eyes. They looked at the Dalek who had shot the wall to their left. With a shaky voice Rose called out, "Go on then, kill us. Why are you doing this?"
"I am armed. I will kill. It is my purpose."
The sisters shared a look, then Rose spoke to the Dalek again, "They're all dead because of you."
"They are dead because of us."
"And now what?", Rose was freaking out internally, if you didn't know her as well as Winnie did you might have missed it, "What're you waiting for?"
"I feel your fear."
"What do you expect?", Rose breathed out.
"Daleks do not fear. Must not fear", it shot at either side of them, making the sisters pull into one another again in fear, "You gave me life. What else have you given me? I am contaminated."
Winnie stood in front of Rose, the Dalek demanded one of them over so, of course, Winnie stood next to the Dalek as Rose stood by the door and the Dalek somehow turned on the screen in the corner.
"Open the bulkhead or Winifred and Rose Tyler die", it told the people on the other side.
"You're alive", the Doctor was by the screen in an instant.
"Can't get rid of me", Winnie tried not to let her fear show for Rose's sake. She was already scared and Winnie was only trying to protect her.
"I thought you were dead", the Doctor breathed out.
"Open the bulkhead", the Dalek demanded.
"Don't do it", Winnie said, "Think about what it'll do to everyone."
"What use are emotions if you will not save the woman you love?"
Winnie's eyes widened and she looked back at the Dalek in shock. What a strange accusation.
"I killed her once", she then heard the Doctor again, "I can't do it again."
The bulkhead opened and the Dalek made the Tylers go ahead. In the lift, Rose stood face to face with the Dalek, "I'm begging you. Don't kill them. You didn't kill us."
"But why not?", it questioned, "Why are you alive? My function is to kill. What am I? What am I?"
Neither of them had an answer for that and when the lift doors opened they walked back to Van Statten's office, and when they entered, Rose immediately spoke up, "Don't move. Don't do anything. It's beginning to question itself."
"Van Statten. You tortured me. Why?", the Dalek rolled up to the man himself.
"I wanted to help you. I just, I don't know. I was trying to help", in his panic, Van Statten made up all sorts of excuses, "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."
No man had ever looked like more of a coward than Henry Van Statten did when the Dalek had him backed against a wall, "Then hear me talk now. Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!"
"Don't do it", Rose was next to it suddenly, "Don't kill him. You don't have to do this anymore. There must be something else, not just killing. What else is there? What do you want?"
"I want freedom."
So, leaving Van Statten and his minions behind, Rose and Winnie escorted the Dalek up to Level 1 where the Dalek blasted a hole in the ceiling, letting a beam of sunlight shine through, right onto it. Rose sympathised with it, "You're out. You made it. I never thought I'd feel the sunlight again."
"How does it feel?", it asked. The middle section of the armour opened to reveal a one-eyed squid-like creature with a tendril reaching up to the sunlight.
"Get out of the way", the Doctor barged in and Winnie complied, "Rose, get out of the way."
"No. I won't let you do this."
"That thing killed hundreds of people."
"It's not the one pointing the gun at me."
The Doctor looked down and lowered his alien-blaster, "I've got to do this. I've got to end it. The Daleks destroyed my home, my people. I've got nothing left."
And at those words, the smidge of pity Winnie had felt for the Dalek dissipated. She knew there was a bigger reason the Doctor hadn't helped it when he had met it in the cage. Sure, it shouldn't have been tortured, but the only reason it hadn't killed them yet was Rose's DNA in its system.
"Look at it", Rose did step aside now to show the Doctor the creature bathing in sunlight.
"What's it doing?", he furrowed his brows.
"It's the sunlight. That's all it wants", Rose said quietly.
"But it can't-"
"It couldn't kill Van Statten, it couldn't kill Fred, it couldn't kill me. It's changing. What about you, Doctor? What the hell are you changing into?"
"Rose", Winnie hissed scoldingly. The conflict between the Doctor and the Dalek was on a much deeper level than they'd ever understand so for Rose to just accuse the Doctor like this wasn't fair.
"I couldn't-", he looked at Winnie desperately as he tried to explain to Rose, "I wasn't- Oh, Rose. They're all dead."
"Why do we survive?", the Dalek asked.
"I don't know", the Doctor fully dropped his gun and Winnie stepped next to him, a supportive hand on his back.
"I am the last of the Daleks."
"You're not even that. Rose did more than regenerate you. You've absorbed her DNA. You're mutating."
"Into what?"
"Something new. I'm sorry." No he's not, Winnie thought.
"Isn't that better?", Rose asked.
"Not for a Dalek."
"I can feel so many ideas. So much darkness. Rose, give me orders. Order me to die."
"I can't do that", Rose looked teary-eyed and Winnie had the urge to go over and hold her but she knew she had to this on her own. Instead she decided to take the Doctor's hand.
"This is not life. This is sickness", the Dalek told her, "I shall not be like you. Order my destruction! Obey! Obey! Obey!"
"Do it", Rose decided before it could go wilder.
"Are you frightened, Rose Tyler?"
"Yeah", she whispered.
"So am I", it closed its eye, "Exterminate."
As the armour closed up, Rose stumbled back into Winnie's arms and watched as the balls that were attached to the casing detached and the whole Dalek rose up. The balls built a globe-shape around the Dalek, creating a forcefield. There was a bright light and then, there was nothing left of it.
---
The Doctor patted the Tardis when they arrived back there, "A little piece of home. Better than nothing."
Winnie smiled at that, not the phrase she'd use to describe a space-time-ship that's bigger on the inside, but okay, "So, that's the end of the war, then?"
"I'm the only one left. I win. How about that?"
Winnie looked back to see Rose taking her time walking to them to look at more display cases, "If a Dalek survived, maybe some of your people did, too."
"I'd know. In here", he tapped his head, "Feels like there's no one."
"Well, better take care, then, 'cause Rosie and I are not going anywhere."
He smiled slightly, "Your mum wasn't too happy about that."
Winnie sighed, "You want to talk about that now?"
He just raised a questioning eyebrow.
She took a breath, "She gave me my papers. My school sent my certificate home. I'm a certified nurse. I could work. But she hid that from me to make me feel bad for something I had no control over to then reveal it to me when she wanted to make me feel bad for something I want to control."
"What do you want to control?", he leaned against the Tardis.
"Where I go", she smiled, "I want to go with you. I can come back anytime and start practicing. But I'm nineteen years old and I think I'm getting the hang of this travel-thing."
He smiled at her, the pain over the day's events slowly dissipating. But then Adam ran in and ruined it all, "We'd better get out. Van Statten's disappeared. They're closing down the base. Goddard says they're going to fill it full of cement, like it never existed."
"About time", Rose commented when she arrived.
"I'll have to go back home."
"Better hurry up then", the Doctor looked at his wristwatch, "Next flight to Heathrow leaves at fifteen hundred hours."
"Adam was saying that all his life he wanted to see the stars", Rose told the Doctor.
"Rosie", Winnie warned.
"Tell him to go stand outside, then", the Doctor brushed it off.
"He's all on his own, Doctor, and he did help", Rose stepped close to him.
"He left you down there."
"So did you."
"That's not fair, Rosie", Winnie told her.
"What're you talking about? She said cement. She wasn't joking. We're going to get sealed in", Winnie went into the Tardis first, really wanting to get away from a rambling Adam, Rose followed with one last pleading look, then the Doctor sighed and followed, "Doctor? What're you doing standing inside a box? Rose?"
And then he followed, and they took off.