Lost In Time: A Doctor Who Fanfiction

Chapter 48 - Dalek, Part 3

"No!" Lyssa slammed a fist onto the bulkhead. "Rose!" She scrambled back up to her feet and began pounding on the barricade. "Rose! No! Not again, please, not again!" 

Her hand slid down the door weakly, tears filling her eyes. Rose had been fine the first time around, but now she was there, and she had been stupid enough to antagonize the Dalek beforehand, and now once again a Dalek had separated her from her friend. Even if she didn't die, she could still be hurt, and it would be all her fault.

Adam stood awkwardly behind her. "Look, Lyssa, right? I'm sorry about your friend, but we need to get out of here. Even if they've sealed it off, there's still a chance it could get through. We need to get back up to the office and talk to Mr. Van Statten and the Doctor. They'll know the best chance to stop it."

Lyssa sucked in a shaky breath, glaring at the still bulkhead. "I know. I know. Just... give me a moment, yeah?"

He fidgeted. "I don't know that we have a moment. You saw how quickly that thing figured out the combination to the lock downstairs. We have to get out of here before then."

Lyssa nodded in reluctant agreement, casting one last mournful look at the bulkhead before dropping her hand and walking away, following Adam's lead to yet another elevator. It was an awkward ride up the levels before the door finally opened to Van Statten's executive office on the first floor, where the Doctor, Van Statten, Simmons, and Goddard were waiting. Simmons was... sprawled in an unconscious heap on the floor, while all the rest were standing around Van Statten's desk, although they turned when the elevator doors opened.

Adam stepped out first, blocking her view of the office. "You were quick on your feet, leavin' Lyssa and Rose behind," the Doctor snapped at Adam, his face drawn.

"I'm not the one who sealed the vault!" Adam snapped indignantly. "And anyways, Lyssa's here with me, or didn't you notice that?"

"What?" The Doctor stepped back, only then noticing Lyssa stepping apologetically out from behind Adam.

"Sorry I missed her," she apologized, head bowed. "I should have waited for her, instead of rolling under at the last minute. I was selfish, and I... it's all my fault. I'm so sorry, Doctor."

She squeaked in surprise when he swept her up into a tight hug. "If you had stayed, you'd have been dead with her. You did the only thing you could have done. This isn't your fault. If anyone's, it's Van Statten's." He cast a glare at the older man, who only scowled at the accusation.

"It was the prize of my collection!"

The Doctor released Lyssa and spun on him, the Oncoming Storm dangerously close to coming out. "Your collection? But was it worth it? Worth all those men's deaths? Worth Rose?" He scoffed at the silence. "Let me tell you something, Van Statten. Mankind goes into space to explore. To be part of something greater."

Van Statten nodded enthusiastically. "Exactly! I wanted to touch the stars!"

The Doctor shook his head, contempt filling his tone. "You just want to drag the stars down and stick them underground underneath tons of sand and dirt and label them. You're about as far from the stars as you can get." His tone suddenly faded into a softer, grief-filled expression. "And you took her down with you." He glanced over at Lyssa, squeezing her hand. "She was nineteen years old."

Van Statten opened his mouth to speak, but Goddard silenced him with a dark glare and he subsided, a heavy silence descending, only broken when the screen in the wall flickered on. The Dalek, fully restored to power and its shiny casing, stood next to Rose in front of the bulkhead.

"Open the bulkhead or Rose Tyler dies," it commanded.

The Doctor laughed almost hysterically, stepping towards the screen and his face relaxing with relief. "You're alive!"