Chapter Text
{Dalek Part one of two}
The trio had now gathered back into the console room as they had been alerted that they had landed somewhere. "So what is it? What's wrong?" Maia looked at the Doctor as Rose spoke, awaiting his answer to the blonde's question.
The elder time lord shrugged, "Don't know. Some signal drawing the Tardis off course."
Grey snorted at the answer his grandfather gave; Maia also looked amused, "and where are we then?"
The Doctor looked at the brunette, "Earth. Utah, North America. About half a mile underground."
Maia nodded as Rose added to what she had said, "and when are we?"
Grey, having seen the scanner once they had landed, grinned at the blonde, "Two thousand and twelve."
Rose breathed out in surprise as the Doctor looked at a display case, "God, that's so close. So I should be twenty-six."
The Doctor finds the light switch, and things become clearer. The group of four looks around the room that is now lit up. "Blimey. It's a great big museum," the blonde says.
Something about this place was putting Maia on edge, the brunette couldn't help but shudder slightly Grey noticed his sister's unease, "you okay Maia?" he spoke quietly to her.
She looked at him, "Something about this place is putting me on edge, is all, so be prepared for something bad to happen because it always does when I get these feelings."
Grey nodded at her, "I'll keep that in mind."
Maia gave him a nod, "you definitely should."
"An alien museum. Someone's got a hobby. They must have spent a fortune on this. Chunks of meteorite, Moon dust. That's the milometer from the Roswell spaceship." The doctor said.
Rose also took notice of Maia's tense shoulders; she mouthed, 'are you okay?'
Maia shrugged and mouthed, 'I don't like this place' back, and Rose nodded at her.
Then the blonde noticed something in one of the cases, "That's a bit of Slitheen! That's a Slitheen's arm. It's been stuffed."
Maia shuddered again, there was something very wrong with this place, her senses were going crazy it seemed, "maybe we should just leave... I don't like this place, something about it is putting me on edge and almost sending my senses haywire, something horrible is going on here and I don't like this feeling."
The Doctor looked at her for a moment considering it until he remembered that a call for help was what had drawn them here to start with... "Something here is calling for help and we can't just ignore that Maia, it'll be all right."
Maia bit her lip, she knew that he wouldn't change his mind about this so she sighed, "I don't like this..."
The Doctor gave the brunette a look, "It will be fine, Maia, just a quick look around to find the signal." the brunette reluctantly nodded at him, realizing that she wouldn't budge him on this. The Doctor looked around the room again, "Oh, look at you."
Rose looked curious, " What is it?" it was the head of a Cyberman.
"An old friend of mine. Well, enemy. The stuff of nightmares reduced to an exhibit. I'm getting old." was what the Doctor told her.
"Is that where the signal's coming from?" questioned the blonde human.
The doctor shook his head, "No, it's stone dead. The signal's alive. Something's reaching out, calling for help." The Doctor touches the display case, and an alarm goes off. Armed guards rush in from all sides and cut them off from the Tardis.
Maia gulped slightly her bad feeling getting stronger, she whispered to Grey who was standing beside her, "We should have left while we could."
He sighed, "Too late now, huh?"
She nodded, "Yeah..." the brunette girl really did not like this. "I have a terrible feeling about this..."
Rose looked between the three and spoke softly, "If someone's collecting aliens, that makes you three Exhibit A."
The group of four were now surrounded by armed guards and were being led deeper into the alien museum... Maia was even more on edge now. Every instinct was screaming that they needed to leave, but it was too late now. They were nowhere near the Tardis.
Rose kept glancing at her new friend, she had been far too quiet for the blonde's liking... so she was wondering if maybe they should have listened and left when she suggested it earlier. Rose was watching the way that Grey was carefully watching the brunette a look of worry in his eyes as well.
The doctor seemed to be the only one who didn't notice how on edge Maia was the deeper they were led into the place, he was too focused on the signal that had brought them there and trying to help whatever it was.
They were led into a room, hearing a man say, "What does it do?"
Another man was heard, "Well, you see the tubes on the side? It must be to channel something. I think maybe fuel."
The doctor, seeing the device they were talking about, said, "I really wouldn't hold it like that."
"Shut it!" the redhead that was standing with them snapped.
The elder time lord paid no attention to the woman's words, "Really, though, that's wrong."
The younger man named Adam looked at the Doctor, "Is it dangerous?"
"No, it just looks silly." The Doctor reaches for the item, and firing bolts click all around him. Van Statten hands him the curved, palm-sized object. "You just need to be." The Doctor strokes the artifact and makes a note. "Delicate." He plays several different notes.
The older man gave the time lord a look, "It's a musical instrument." The man gave Maia real bad vibes, but she knew that she couldn't say anything because it could expose them all, and that was not something that she wanted to do.
The Doctor didn't seem to notice anything off as he nodded and said, "And it's a long way from home."
That made Maia want to facepalm, but she refrained from doing so.
"Here, let me." the man said, taking the device from the time lord, but Van Statten's touch was harsher. Not nice sounds are produced. The noise made them all cringe slightly.
"I did say delicate. It reacts to the smallest fingerprint. It needs precision." Van Statten finally gets the hang of it. "Very good. Quite the expert."
"As are you." Van Statton casually tosses it aside onto the floor. Then gave the group a look, eyes ended up back on the Doctor, "Who exactly are you?"
"I'm the Doctor. And who are you?"
The man scoffed, "Like you don't know. We're hidden away with the most valuable collection of extraterrestrial artifacts in the world, and you just stumbled in by mistake."
"Pretty much sums me up, yeah." which was pretty much true.
He eyed the group again, with his eyes lingering just a bit too long on Maia and Rose, Grey noticed and glared at the man, as he spoke, "The question is, how did you get in? Fifty-three floors down, with your little cat burglar accomplices. You're quite a collector yourself; they're rather pretty."
If looks could kill, the man would have dropped dead then and there because of the glare that Grey was giving him as Rose glared at him as well. "She's going to smack you if you keep calling her she."
Maia was also glaring at the man, "and this one is going to stab you right in your dirty little eyes if you don't stop looking at me like that."
Grey snorted at that, and Rose smirked, high-fiving the brunette while the man ignored that threat. "They're English too! Hey, little Lord Fauntleroy. Got you a couple of girlfriends."
That made Grey narrow his eyes at the man again, that was his baby sister and his soulmate, that the man was talking about, "hey watch it..." was all he said, the glare on his face speaking volumes, and sent a slight shiver down the man's spine.
"This is Mister Henry Van Statten." Adam answered.
Rose rolled her eyes, slowly realizing that maybe Maia was right and they should have just left when she said they should; she was now getting an off feeling from both Van Statten and the dark-haired boy in front of them. "And who's he when he's at home?"
Adam gave her a look, "Mister Van Statten owns the internet."
Rose scoffed again, "Don't be stupid. No one owns the internet."
"And let's just keep the whole world thinking that way, right kids?"
The Doctor gave the man a look, "So you're just about an expert in everything except the things in your museum. Anything you don't understand, you lock up."
Van Statten gave the oldest time lord a look, "And you claim greater knowledge?"
Maia was giving the Doctor a discreet shake of her head trying to tell him not to say anything else as her feelings from before came back even stronger, she knew that something horrible was going to happen and that they needed to get out of there as soon as possible.
But he didn't seem to notice her discreet warning as he continued to speak, with the man, "I don't need to make claims, I know how good I am."
"And yet, I captured you. Right next to the Cage. What were you doing down there?"
"You tell me." Van Statten answered.
Rose noticed Maia's handshake slightly and didn't hesitate to grab it in her own and squeeze it to try and ground her new friend, and she spoke quietly to her, "You were right Maia we should have left when you said, I get the off vibes too."
Maia squeezed her hand back, "thanks Rosie."
"The Cage contains my one living specimen." Van Statten told the Doctor who just gave him a look right back.
"And what's that?"
That was met with a raised brow look from Van Statten, "Like you don't know."
"Show me." was all the Doctor said in response.
Maia shook her head slightly, speaking lowly so that only those with enhanced hearing could hear her, "That's a bad idea."
But the Doctor needed to see what kind of alien that Van Statten had hidden away in the depths of this place and help them get out.
"You want to see it?"
Rose scoffed at the way the Doctor wasn't listening to Maia's warning when she was clearly on edge about something, "Blimey, you can smell the testosterone." but the blonde stayed firmly by Maia's side.
Van Statten looked at the red-haired woman who had led them into the room, "Goddard, inform the Cage we're heading down. You, English. Look after the girls and the other man. Go and canoodle or spoon or whatever it is you British do. And you, Doctor with no name, come and see my pet."
Grey knew that his grandfather could handle whatever situation he was getting into and would much rather have stayed with Maia and Rose anyway to ensure that nothing happened to either of them.
***
The Doctor followed Van Statten as he led him back down to the Cage.
"We've tried everything. The creature has shielded itself, but there are definite signs of life inside." the human man explained.
That caught the Time Lord's attention, "Inside? Inside what?"
One of the scientists that work for Van Statten, looked at the man, "Welcome back, sir. I've had to take the power down. The Metaltron is resting."
"Metaltron?" the alien questioned, a look of distaste for the name on his face.
"Thought of it myself. Good, isn't it? Although I'd much prefer to find out its real name."
The Doctor just gave him a look as Simmon, the scientist, spoke again, looking at the Doctor, "Here, you'd better put these on." he held out a pair of gauntlets. "The last guy that touched it burst into flames."
The doctor shook his head, not taking them, "I won't touch it then."
Van Statten looked at him, "Go ahead, Doctor. Impress me."
The Doctor steps through the heavy door. Van Statten looked at the guards, "Don't open that door until we get a result." Van Statten and Goddard go to a desk with monitors on it.
It is dark inside the room as the door clangs shut and locks. The time lord looked forward as he spoke, "Look, I'm sorry about this. Mister Van Statten might think he's clever, but never mind him. I've come to help. I'm the Doctor."
A white light blinked next to a blue glow, "Doc Tor?" a robotic voice spoke that sent a shiver of fear down the Doctor's spine, and suddenly he realized that he should have listened to Maia when she said they should leave.
"Impossible..."
" The Doctor?" The lights come up to reveal a bad-tempered pepperpot, also known as a Dalek, being held in chains. "Exterminate! Exterminate!"
The Doctor hammers on the door in terror, "Let me out!" but Van Statten doesn't listen.
"Exterminate!"
Diana Goddard looked at her boss, " Sir, it's going to kill him."
But the man doesn't care about that, "It's talking!"
"You are an enemy of the Daleks! You must be destroyed!" Its gun arm twitches, but nothing happens.
Which makes the Doctor laugh in disbelief, " It's not working." the Dalek looks at its impotent weapon. " Fantastic! Oh, fantastic! Powerless! Look at you. The great space dustbin. How does it feel?"
The Time Lord advanced toward the Dalek, "Keep back!" but he didn't listen and now stood inches away, staring 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? You're nothing... What the hell are you here for?"
"I am waiting for orders."
The Doctor gave it a look, " What does that mean?"
"I am a soldier. I was bred to receive orders." was the answer given.
The Doctor glared at the Dalek, "Well, you're never going to get any. Not ever."
"I demand orders!"
There was a dark look in the time lord's eyes, now "They're never going to 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!" the Dalek denied.
"I watched it happen. I made it happen." the dark look still in his eyes.
"You destroyed us?" if a Dalek could feel disbelief, then it would be feeling that right now.
The dark look was replaced by a look of sadness now as he said the next thing, " I had no choice." the intense feeling of guilt once again hit him.
"And what of the Time Lords?"
"Dead. They burnt with you. The end of the last great Time War. Everyone lost."
"And the coward survived." the Dalek taunted.
The Doctor pushed the feelings of guilt down for now as he narrowed his eyes, "Oh, and I caught your little signal. Help me. Poor little thing. But there's no one else coming 'cause there's no one else left."
" I am alone in the universe."
"Yep."
"So are you. We are the same."
The doctor was not going to reveal that he wasn't as alone as the Dalek thought, so he ignored that part of the sentence, "We're not the same! I'm not." he paused for a moment, "No, wait. Maybe we are. You're right. Yeah, okay. You've got a point. 'Cause I know what to do. I know what should happen. I know what you deserve. Exterminate." The Doctor pulls a lever on a nearby console and the Dalek is lit up with electricity.
"Have pity!"
The dark look had returned, "Why should I? You never did."
The time lord was dragged out of the room by the guards as he was about to amp up the voltage of the electricity more.
Van Statten looked at the Dalek, " I saved your life. Now talk to me. Goddamn it, talk to me!" Simmons turns off the electricity.
"You've got to destroy it!" the Doctor tells them unsuccessfully.
Van Statten looked at the alien again, "The last in the universe. And now I know your name. Dalek. Speak to me, Dalek. I am Henry van Statten, now recognize me! Make it talk again, Simmons. Whatever it takes." He followed the guards who were dragging the Doctor out of the cage.
***
Back up in Adam's workshop the remaining tardis crew were with the human boy, they had learned was named Adam, Maia just kept giving him a weird look as her instincts were screaming not to trust him.
"Sorry about the mess. Mister Van Statten sort of lets me do my own thing so long as I deliver the goods. What do you think that is?" As they walked into the room, he said the question was aimed at Rose, who was also feeling off about the man, but he wasn't grasping that she didn't like him all that much. He handed the blonde human an inch-thick piece of metal.
She rolled her eyes, which both Maia and Grey noticed, "Er, a lump of metal?" she answered, but anyone who was paying attention would have noticed the sharp tone she was using.
So that meant Maia and Grey as Adam continued as if she was interested, "Yeah. Yeah, but I think, well, I'm almost certain, it's from the hull of a spacecraft. The thing is, it's all true. Everything the United Nations tries to keep quiet, spacecraft, aliens, visitors to Earth. They really exist."
"That's amazing." For someone who claimed to be a genius, the man did not pick up on sarcasm very well, as the words were dripping. Maia and Grey both held back a snort.
"I know it sounds incredible, but I honestly believe the whole universe is just teeming with life."
Rose rolled her eyes again, the man was starting to get on her nerves, but the look she was getting from Grey told her to play along, he wouldn't let anything happen to her, "I'm gobsmacked, yeah. And you do what, sit here and catalog it?"
Maia and Grey shared a look, both silently agreeing that if he made so much as what they deemed an inappropriate move, they would hurt him. Rose and Adam continued to talk, with the blonde subtly rolling her eyes at him ever so often.
Maybe he was a little smarter than they were giving him credit for as he seemed to keep his distance from the blonde even though he was very obviously flirting with her; he did see the other two glaring at him anytime he tried to move closer to her so he took the hint and stayed where he was though he did continue to flirt, even though she was not feeding into it at all. Which was the only reason that Grey hadn't snapped at him yet.
Rose really just wanted to get out of that room, so she looked at Adam, "So, wouldn't you rather be downstairs? I mean, you've got these bits of metal and stuff, but Mister Van Statten's got a living creature down there."
"Yeah. Yeah, well, I did ask, but he keeps it to himself. Although, if you're a genius, it doesn't take long to patch through on the comm. System."
"Let's have a look, then." Adam walked out of the room first, and Rose waited for a second as she looked at Maia.
The brunette spoke to her, "You okay, Rosie?"
"I'm good... he's just very annoying... but Grey was giving me a look that said play along, so I was playing along only without the creepy flirting," she gave the time lord a teasing look, "didn't think you would appreciate that very much... plus I don't even like him enough to fake flirt with him."
Grey nodded at her, "that was a good call."
They walked out of the room after that, and Adam started talking after he saw Rose had followed, " It doesn't do much, the alien. It's weird. It's kind of useless. It's just like this great big pepper pot."
That caused Grey to freeze and mutter, "No, that can't be..."
Maia looked at him, concerned as she had heard what he said and noticed the way he froze hearing Adam say that. Rose, because of the developing bond between the two, felt a flash of fear go through her, but she knew it wasn't her, which made her look back at Grey.
The blonde human furrowed her brow, and she stepped back while Adam was getting the feed up, "Grey?" she touched his shoulder, and immediately he came back to the present, seeing two sets of concerned eyes on him. "What just happened?"
Maia had an idea of what could have scared him so much just hearing that little description but didn't say anything just in case she was wrong.
Grey shook his head, "I'll tell you later, love." She nodded, accepting the answer, realizing that he probably just didn't want to talk about it so openly.
Adam pulls the feed up, and they watch the Dalek screaming as Simmons takes a big drill to its casing. Seeing it made Grey freeze again, confirming that it was indeed what he thought it was. Rose glanced at him to see the same expression from earlier on his face, and she leaned over and whispered to Maia, "Whatever type of alien that is isn't good, is it? Judging by Grey's reaction to hearing its description and seeing it."
Maia nodded, "Yeah extremely not good, Grey will probably explain it to you later but for now, just be smart about it but keep playing along."
Rose nodded at her, looking back at Adam, her eyes wide as she did as Maia said, and continued to play along, " It's being tortured! Where's the Doctor?"
Adam shrugged, "I don't know!"
Rose threw a concerned look at Grey, "are you okay?" she questioned softly, not wanting to startle him.
"Yeah," he answered, then spoke softly to her, "Be careful."
She nodded at him, "I will." she turned back to Adam.