I Will Follow You Across The Universe and Through Forever (A Doctor Who Fanfic)

Run!

"So, where should we go?" The Doctor asked, grinning.

Avera shrugged. "I don't know what's out there," she said.

Rose smiled. "Surprise us, Doctor!"

The Doctor grinned. "Then surprised you shall be!" He started hitting buttons, and the room began to shake violently. Avera screamed and grabbed onto the first solid thing she could find.

"Is it supposed to do that?" she yelled over the noise.

"Oh yes, perfectly normal!" The Doctor said, not taking his eyes off the controls.

When the shaking had stopped, Rose raced to the door. Avera hesitated, and The Doctor grabbed her hand. "Come on, you'll love it!" he promised, his mouth turned up into a huge grin.

Avera let him lead her out the door, and she gasped. What was this place? It seemed so modern. Those buildings were so tall, and what were those metal things rolling along that dark strip of material? They had people in them, and they seemed to be controlling the contraption.

"Where are we?" Avera asked.

"And when are we?" Rose added.

"December 24th, 2012, in the capitol of Iowa, Des Moines," The Doctor said, grinning.

Avera leaned down and touched her fingers to the fluffy white powder blanketing the ground. She pulled back as it seemed to burn her fingers. But it was cold. What was it?

"That's snow," The Doctor said. "When it gets cold enough on Earth, the rain freezes, and turns to snow. Basically."

"How cold does it get here?" Avera questioned.

"It can get below -50*, some places it gets colder," The Doctor explained.

Avera was shivering in her thin dress by now. "How do these people survive?" she cried. "It was never below ninety degrees on my planet!"

The Doctor grinned. "They wear coats. Here, take mine, I don't need it."

The Doctor handed his trench coat to Avera and she put in on, wrapping it tightly around herself. The edges dragged on the ground, and she tried to pull it up. The Doctor looked at the damp edges and frowned.

"So, what would you like to do?" The Doctor asked, smiling. "You've got the whole city to explore. What'll it be?" he asked.

"Are there science centers on this planet?" Avera asked, her eyes lighting up with hope.

"Yup," The Doctor said. "Rose, wanna go to the science center?"

Rose nodded her consent. The Doctor led the way.

Inside the building, he turned to the girls again. "Two hours, okay? Meet me here at three."

Avera nodded and raced off, a huge grin on her face. She tugged her hat down firmly, flattening her ears to hide them better. A staircase caught her eye, and Avera took a step toward it. It was nondescript, and looked seldom used, but for some reason Avera wanted to see what lay at the bottom of those steps.

Glancing around to make sure no one would notice, Avera went down the stairs, taking them two at a time in her inexplicable excitement.

When she reached the bottom, there was a normal gray door blocking the way. A plaque on the door warned that only employees were permitted to go in, but after testing the handle, the door proved to be unlocked.

Avera stepped in and looked around. It appeared to be some sort of laboratory. When Avera stepped away from the door, and it fell out of her fingertips, it slammed shut, and it sounded like latching. Avera's heart began to pound with fear. No, no, no, this couldn't be happening! The Doctor would save her, she wouldn't be trapped for long. Besides, those beasts weren't on this planet. She never had to worry about them again. Right? Right... Right?

Avera was panicking. It took every ounce of her will not to beat on the door, screaming, "Doctor!"

Suddenly, a high pitched, mechanical voice came from behind Avera. "Who. are. you?" it asked.

Avera turned around slowly, her eyes wide and scared. It was a machine. At least, it appeared to be, but it seemed... Alive... It had one glowing blue eye on a stalk that stuck straight out at Avera, and a body that reminded Avera of a box. But with slanted sides, and rows of large metal half circles all around it. And it had an appendage that looked something like a whisk, which was pointed at Avera. It had one more appendage, which resembled a plunger.

"Who. are. you?" the thing repeated.

"A-Avera," she answered, barely able to get the word out.

"Why. are. you. here?" the thing asked.

"Th-the Doctor brought me," she mumbled.

"The. Doctor! The. Doctor!" the thing said, or rather screamed. Avera couldn't tell if it was scared or excited. It's voice didn't offer many clues.

The machine led her to in front of a screen, and pointed the whisk at her. "Establish. visual. contact," it said. Suddenly, an image appeared on the screen, and it was of The Doctor.

"Doctor!" the machine said. "Come. meet. me. on. the. bottom. level. of. this.floor. or. the. girl. dies."

The Doctor's face was grim. "I'll come. If you hurt a hair on her head before I get there, I will kill you," he said, his voice deadly.

Avera hadn't seen The Doctor like this before. She wasn't sure whether to be more afraid of him, or the machine holding her hostage. She decided the machine was much more terrifying. The Doctor's anger wasn't directed at her.

The machine didn't move. It just sat there, the eye stalk glowing blue as ever.

Finally the door Avera had come through was thrown open hard enough to slam against the wall with a loud bang.

"What do you want, Dalek?" The Doctor roared. "Let her go, and I'll give you what you want."

"Very. Well. The. Girl. Can. Go," the machine said. Or Dalek, as The Doctor had called it.

Avera rushed away from the machine, and it's apparently dangerous whisk.

"Now, what do you want?" The Doctor asked.

"There. Is. One. Last. Prison. Ship. Floating. Somewhere. In. Space. Your. Ship. Will. Call. It. Back," the Dalek said. "The. Daleks. Must. Survive."

"No!" The Doctor snapped. "You think I'm going to willingly bring back millions of Daleks? You must be delusional! That metal shell must be baking you in there!"

"I. Am. Dalek. Khan. I. Will. Not. Be. The. Last. Dalek. My. Species. Will. Survive. I. Am. The. Last. Of. The. Cult. Of. Skaro. I. Protect. My. Race. At. All. Costs," the Dalek said.

"Oh, like you were protecting your race when you killed Dalek Sec because he changed? Hmm, you call that protecting?" The Doctor screamed.

The whisk pointed at Avera abruptly, and the Dalek screamed, "Exterminate! Exterminate!"

"No!" The Doctor screamed as a blue light came out of the whisk, his face contorted into a mask of horror.

The blue light was agony when it touched Avera's skin, and she fell to her knees, screaming. The energy was too much, it was an overload. When the blue disappeared, Avera was panting, traces of blue energy swirling in the air around her. Slowly, it disappeared.

"Why. Are. You. Not. Dead?" the Dalek screamed. "Exterminate! Exterminate!"

"Run!" The Doctor yelled, pulling out the sonic to unlock the door. Avera followed, sighing in relief when the door slammed shut, and The Doctor locked it again.

"Will that keep it from coming out?" Avera asked, her heart still racing from fear.

"No," The Doctor said. "We need to run."