Full Synopsis: 'What use are emotions if you cannot save the woman you love?' A simple enough question, even if it does come from a Dalek but there's one catch. The woman they are parading around in front of him? The Doctor's never seen her before in his life.

When Dalek Caan used his emergency temporal shift to escape the Doctor in 1930 New York, he doesn't fly directly back into the time war. Designed to think of new ways to improve, kill and destroy, Dalek Caan see's the damage losing Rose Tyler at Canary Wharf did to the Doctor and knows that the perfect way to shatter him is to destroy her entirely, it's just a shame that the Dalek's don't really grasp the concept of time.

A/N; I was prompted; Eight/Rose."What use are emotions if you will not save the woman you love?" Thing is - he doesn't know this woman! Yet? (Can be a different context and different enemy).

This has no plan, no long term plot and no writing schedule, it is just getting worked on intermittently whenever I need a short break from A Rose By Any Other Name. Fair warning!

"What use are emotions if you will not save the woman you love?"

Broadcast through time and space, the emergency temporal shift was damaged, but the message sat within the Dalek hive mind until there was another Dalek alive in the universe to hear it.

"What use are emotions if you will not save the woman you love?"

The Cult of Skaro, and every other Dalek at the battle of Canary Warf downloaded the transmission broadcast out from the last Dalek. By the time the Genesis Ark was opened, every Dalek there knew that Rose Tyler was the key to the Doctor's destruction, but the human fell and the void destroyed the fleet and the Cult of Skaro engaged their emergency temporal shift and fled to 1930.

"What use are emotions if you will not save the woman you love?"

Tasked with thinking creatively meant that Dalek Caan saw the damage the womans loss had done to the Doctor, saw the fire and rage and pain bleeding out of the Time Lord and saw his weakness. His lack of will to fight and he began to wonder. What if that fight had left the Time Lord before...

Before he locked the war away in a bubble of time...

Before he had decimated the Dalek fleets...

Before facing the Nightmare Child...

Before he had lead the defenses of Arcadia, the outpost would have falled years before...

Without the Doctor, the Daleks would have won.

"Caan, let me help you... What do you say?" the Doctor had said, and Caan thought. He thought, that just maybe, by showing his pain and his weakness, that the Doctor had already helped him. Helped the Daleks to win, and with the last of his strength he enacted a last desperate plan.

"What use are emotions if you will not save the woman you love?"

Punching holes in the dimensional walls was childs play to a Dalek, and Caan didn't actually care about the consequences either. On the other side of the void was the weapon that would destroy the Doctor and win the Time War, and so his only mission was to retrieve Rose Tyler.

Dalek Caan did not have the blind faith in Dalek supremecy as the usual Dalek would have. If they were perfect, there would be no room for improvement, and as such no need for the Cult of Skaro. One Dalek against the humans was easy, but if Rose Tyler was the keeper of the Doctor's hearts then she was worthy of caution.

It took months, and another emergency temporal shift before he was successful, but Caan completed his mission and began searching for a way into the Time Lock.

Dalek Caan was patient, and Rose Tyler was sufficiently contained, so when the Time Lord known as the Master breached the Time Lock Dalek Caan was ready. One last shift and he was reconnected with the hive mind of his people. The highest ranking Dalek inside the Time War, Dalek Caan uploaded the plan of attack to his fellow Daleks and waited with glee to watch the utter destruction of the Doctor and the rest of his race.

Afterall, what use does a Dalek have with emotions, if it cannot use them to destroy?

It had been a simple recon mission to a planet that, once upon a time, had been flourishing with life. The Doctor had volunteered because more and more frequently he found himself in dire need of a reminder of why he was fighting this endless war.

Seeing the now barren wasteland of a once flourishing ecosystem that had been wiped from the timelines hurt, but it reminded him why he fought and then he'd seen the small envoy of three Daleks drifting across the ice.

Part of him, a rather large part, wanted to run but there was another voice in the back of his mind that wanted him to talk with these three solitary Daleks. He knew the odds on this being a trap were pretty good, but you never saw Daleks in less than a full fleet anymore, and his curiosity was piqued and so he waited as they approached, brushing down his thick brocade frock coat as though the Daleks would care about the ash and dirt smudged across it.

It was only when the group drew closer that he realised one of the three wasn't a Dalek, but a cage being levitated between the two killing machines and his breath caught as a dozen different names flew through his head and he quickly considered and discarded who it might be that the Daleks had gotten hold of to use against him. Human, Time Lord, Other... it didn't matter to him, although his peers wouldn't negotiate for anything less that someone from the high council.

"Doctor," one of the Daleks stated simply, it's monotonous voice filling his mind with nightmares as the pair of monsters lowered the cage to the ice and he got his first good look at it's inhabitant.

Human, he suspected, or at least not a Time Lord he recognised. It was possible the Daleks had forced a regeneration, of course, but the roots of her hair that were a slightly darker shade of blonde put that theory to rest.

Her clothes were worn and ripped in places, a simple blouse with black trousers, a light jumper covered with a long but lightweight coat that was entirely unsuitable for the ice planet, and it was clear from their condition that she had been held for quite some time.

Apart from the dirt and grime that had built up during her captivity, she looked like nothing more than an office worker from a big city like London or New York and if he had to guess he would suspect that the Daleks had taken her from somewhere near the beginning of the twenty first century.

Her face, as she lifted it, was all elegant curves but slightly too thin, and a mouth that was just a touch too wide and yet it somehow fit her features. When she finally managed to focus her eyes on him they were a warm whisky brown that lit up with a recognition that terrified him.

Because he had absolutely no idea who this woman was.

She had been kneeling in the bottom of the cage, but clung to the bars when she spotted him watching her. Slowly pulling herself to her feet, a rage unlike anything the Doctor had felt before lit inside his mind at the bravery this woman was showing in spite of the flashes of pain he could see flickering across her features.

A hundred questions clamoured for his attention, begging to trip off the end of his tongue and he took a breath to begin asking them, but his questions were set aside as the woman finally reached her feet and one of the Dalek's electrified the cage as though it had been waiting for the moment she was finally successful.

Her scream all but drowned out his shouts for them to stop, his demands that they release her merging with her sobs, but the furious step he took towards the cage, sonic screwdriver leaping into his hand had all both of the monsters aiming their weapons at him and he came to a sharp halt.

On the plus side, he considered drily, having the pairs attention on him had ceased their torture of the blonde in the cage, and she stayed where she'd fallen, back on her hands and knees drawing in ragged gasps for air.

"I know you're bred for hate and hurting but try and have a little compassion, mercy, remorse! Something! Something other than what you are! For the sake of the entire universe, evolve!" he snarled at the three creatures before him. He could hear his voice continuing to rail against the Daleks, and a small part of his mind began to wonder why they'd not killed him yet, but the rest of him was focused on the woman.

Arms shaking with exertion she had slowly placed her hands back on the cage bars, flinching twice before she could force her tortured body to grasp at the metal, her mind telling her it would hurt despite the logic dictating that the Daleks were no longer focused on her. That told him something about how long they'd had her, and that information made her incredible resilience that much more amazing to him when she forced her fingers to curl around the bars and cautiously lifted her unbroken gaze to his once more.

The single word she mouthed at him silenced his lecture on emotions, and engaged his respiratory bypass. Eyes widening he wondered, hoped, that he'd misread but with a cough she repeated herself, hissing her command this time and her eyes urging him to listen.

"Run..."

She wasn't broken, and she wasn't without hope. She also, somehow, knew who he was and therefore what he was capable of and so the only reason he could see for her recommendation was that she knew something about the situation that he didn't. As he made that deduction, his frame tensed ready to do exactly as she had suggested while simultaneously wondering why he trusted her so instinctively, but the Dalek in front of him spoke before he could so more than place one foot behind to other in preparation to turn away.

"What use are emotions if you will not save the woman you love?"

He froze and the womans eyes slipped closed, her forehead falling to the bars of the cage as she saw the Dalek's words catch and hold him in place as firmly as her own cage.

'Maybe,' he thought, 'just maybe, I should try not to be quite so predictable.'

"You're all idiots, he doesn't even know me!" the woman in the cage growled, and the Daleks shifted their weapons slightly as though unsure.

"She's absolutely right, of course... never laid eyes on on her before-"

"Incorrect!"

"Maybe you're just confused," the Doctor offered, using his words as a distraction to begin moving around the Daleks, studying the cage as their cylindrical casing slid around on the ice to keep him within sight.

"It's not surprising, really, when you think about it. All you've been left with is hot hate and anger so understanding the intricacies of other emotions would be beyond your minuscule understanding. I love humans," he paused, letting his eyes shift to the blonde shivering in the icy air for a moment, eyebrows raising, "I'm assuming that you are human, Miss..."

"Rose," she offered softly, tracking his movements almost as closely as the Dalek's were.

"Miss Rose, lovely, but I do love humanity, and Earth is a wonderful vacation spot, so long as it's not being invaded, but I also love chocolate ice cream and the bubble nebula and-"

"You will be silent!"

"Not bloody likely," the blonde muttered, and the Doctor couldn't stop the smile pulling at his mouth at the familiarity in her statement. There was a moment of silence though as even the Dalek's seemed to freeze and the Doctor felt his amusement leave as he realised what was happening.

"Oh, right, contacting the hive mind are we? Your little plan gone awry? Well, we can't have that, after all the Daleks are never wrong!" he growled, letting his voice raise to cover the sound on his sonic.

Spinning in her cage to keep the Doctor within her sights, the woman's hands were clinging to the bars that made up the door when he flipped the lock. He knew she'd felt the slight vibration of it's release when her eyes widened and her head slowly raised to meet his steady gaze.

"It has been seen! Her loss destroys the Doctor!" the Dalek's shouted, and he found himself speechless for a single long moment even as the woman winced at the revelation.

"Well..." he finally managed, clearing his throat slightly and tugging awkwardly at his cravat, "it's never a good thing to know too much about ones own future. You don't really know what you're doing messing around with time," he babbled quickly, mind now split between getting Rose and himself away safely and the potential ramifications of the Dalek's words.

"You see, assuming you're even right, and I may love her someday I don't right now, right now she's a stranger whom I have no feelings for one way or the other-"

"Then she is disposable and will be exterminated."

"No," the Doctor growled, eyes narrowing, and the Dalek's froze.

"Then she is important to you."

"No, no, no, she's just important. Every life is important, can't you see that?" he almost pleaded, wondering not for the first time why he still bothered trying to converse with the creatures.

"Every Dalek life."

"There is no qualifying factor, life is important, that's it!" the Doctor continued, trying not to stare at Rose as she started silently pulling off her coat and jumper. The woman was already shivering from the cold, and he couldn't figure out why she was undressing further but he also didn't want to draw the Dalek's attention to her carefully silent movements.

"This is irrelevent. She will be exterminated."

"This is ridiculous! If you were going to kill her either way, why come here!?" he snapped, halting the Dalek's movements towards Rose, and she began to move faster, tugging her arms from her the sleeves of her jumper quickly as the two killing machines turned back to the Doctor.

"It was predicted that her death would eliminate your effectiveness." one of the Dalek's stated, and the Doctor frowned, shaking his head.

"All the death in this war, all the lives you've destroyed and erased from time, all of that and you thought-"

Halting his words, Rose's coat and jumper suddenly got tossed over the eyestalks staring at him, effectivly blinding them and the Daleks went mad.

"Vision impaired! vision impaired! Exterminate! Exterminate!"

Knowing there was no time to waste, and with the Dalek's weapons firing in random directions, the Doctor abandoned his interrogation and pocketed his curiosity, grabbing for the shivering blonde and dragging her towards the Tardis.

"Inside, quick!" he hissed, trying not to reveal their location to the still shouting Daleks, but the woman didn't even hesitate, flinging herself though the doors of the time ship, and slamming the doors closed behind him as he made a dash for the console, a single level sending them spinning into the vortex.

'Now', he thought to himself as he let his respiratory bypass disengage, and turned back to the blonde standing at the doors to his ship 'I just need to figure out why the Tardis is so sickeningly happy about having Rose on board.'

Rose couldn't quite believe her luck.

The good and the bad at this point. Trapped in a parallel world, kidnapped by Daleks, rescued by the Doctor, only it's the wrong Doctor...

'No', she corrected herself, 'not the wrong Doctor, just a bit too early...'

How was that going to affect the timelines she couldn't even begin to think about, and just let her exhausted body slump against the doors of the Tardis, the time ship all but purring into her mind and she felt herself smile.

Stretching out a hand she pressed her palm against the wall of the ship, and sent waves of love and affection back across the mental link the Tardis had established.

"You are beautiful," she breathed gently, taking in the woodwork and the small library situated at the back of the control room, but it was the Doctor clearing his throat sharply that drew her eyes to him, and the blush high on his cheekbones that made her grin.

"Yes, well... thank you, but-"

"I was talking to the Tardis," she cut him off easily, ignoring the widening of his eyes even as she let herself drink in this unseen version of the man she loved, "but this body's not half bad either, Doctor," she teased, and watched the blush that had faded quickly make a return to his features.

She felt her hands start shaking as he glanced away from her, and Rose held them out in front of her, watching with a kind of morbid fascination as the trembling increased and spread up her arms until her entire frame was shivering. She realised, from seemingly miles away, that she was going into shock and the Doctor seemed to realise the same thing as a moment later he was beside her and pulling her shaking form against his chest, his warm arms curling around her body.

"You're warm," she muttered, grasping at the edges of his frock coat with her shaking hands and burying her face against his chest, "You shouldn't feel warm, bloody Women Wept, you need an Angorian thermal to go out there... bloody Daleks..."

Part of her was shouting that she needed to shut up and she could almost taste the curiosity coming off the Doctor in waves as he rubbed her chilled arms gently.

"Come on, medbay for you," he murmered gently, an arm around her waist as he gently began leading her deeper into the time ship. the Tardis didn't make them walk far, and the Doctor settled Rose on the exam bed before grabbing a large warm blanket to wrap her in.

She hummed her thanks, clutching at it with still shaking fingers, and burying her entire body beneath the fabric that seemed to radiate warmth and in seconds she practically passed out.

The Doctor watched her for a long few minutes, her frame curled up on the medical bed and wrapped up in the blanket as her fingers twitched against the fabric from either the shock or the electrocution she had endured. She was an enigma and a mystery and he wanted nothing more than to understand every nuance of the impossible woman, but more importantly, he scolded himself, she was hurt and tired and needed rest.

His eyes wandered over to some of his medical machines, but even as he took a step towards them, the Tardis killed the power and each one shut off as he watched, eyes wide in surprise.

"Did you just..." he finally managed, his voice choked on pure disbelief and he found his eyes moving back to Rose, sound asleep and oblivious to his ships utter loyalty to her safety.

"All right, old girl," he muttered eventually, now absolutely certain that he needed to find out exactly who Rose was, "I'll let her rest, but don't think I'm not going to want answers!" he scolded, keeping his voice soft despite his frustrations, and with a resigned note to her hum, the Tardis agreed, dimming the lights in the medical centre, and pointedly opening the door for her Time Lord.

With a baffled shake of his chestnut curls, the Doctor left the blonde to sleep, retreating to his console room to mull over the life changing events on Women Wept, and the revelations that the Daleks had given him.

"What use are emotions if you will not save the woman you love?"