A/N: The final part folks! It's been a ball writing this (mostly because I can watch Doctor Who and pretend it's for research!), and depending on what the new series brings, I may emerge yet again for some more one-shots.

Glinda: Sorry I didn't send the last chapter to you! It's a Dalek, yet not a Dalek – still wondering if the Last Dalek was one of the 'half-human' Daleks a la the series finale…

RavenMerc: What can I say, I love sci-fi villains! Actually, that's a bloody good nitpick, but something tells me that Davros might still be out there somewhere, biding his time. Hope he is, imagine that return!

Laseri: The Last Dalek is a little sod to write, but when it gets going…well. J

Erulasse: Don't worry, if there's one thing I do not do, it's plagiarise. Very glad you like it so much though!

Morph: I maintain it's what my beta-reader calls my disturbing kindredness with sci-fi bad guys that gets me through this!

Big Fan: Well, this whole fic is the Dalek's POV of Dalek. Kinda hard not to do the meeting with Rose!

Disclaimer: I own the funkiest ever Dalek poster on my wall and two little remote-controlled Daleks and that's it. Doctor Who and the Daleks are the property of Terry Nation, Russell T. Davies and the BBC. Huh.

Warning: See part one for spoilers, plus angst doses, eventual character death and reading into things far too much.

Alone: Part 3

I have exterminated her.

I have exterminated Rose Tyler.

But she does not cry out as her organs rearrange themselves within her body.

She does not fall.

Why does she not fall?

…why are you doing this? I'm frightened. Please, please, I don't want to die. Please Doctor, help me, make it all right again…

What was that?

Who spoke?

I heard no voice, no echo…

And what do I feel?

I am afraid.

Why am I frightened?

How can I be frightened?

I am a Dalek! A Dalek does not fear!

…I'm not dying. Why'm I not dying? Why's it not killed me?...

Her…

Her thoughts.

I can hear her thoughts.

She is not dead.

Why is she not dead?

I watch as she turns slowly towards me, staring into my eyestalk.

'Go on then. Kill me.'

I prepare to fire once again…and I halt.

Why do I halt?

She straightens up, her confidence returning. 'Why're you doing this?!'

I panic. I do not know why.

'I am armed. I will kill. It is my purpose.'

She stands before me; her fear joined by…anger?

'They're all dead because of you!'

This I will not tolerate. She spoke to me. She gave me her DNA. She released me!

'They are dead because of us!'

She pauses at this.

'And now what? What are you waiting for?'

Panic rises again. I cannot stop it…

'I feel your fear.'

She almost sneers at me. 'What d'you expect?!'

The panic takes over.

'Daleks do not fear! Must not fear!'

I raise my weapon-stalk and attempt to fire at her.

But the blast misses her, embeds itself into the wall behind her. Another shot, and another blast in the wall.

Anger swells along with the rush of fear I can sense in the being before me.

'You gave me life. What else have you given me?!'

The realisation hits me like a blast from one of the Time Lords' Bowships. The human's DNA…it has merged with my own.

Therefore, I am…part-human.

No.

No!

No! I am a Dalek! I am a Dalek! I cannot be anything other than pure Dalek!

A wail builds in my vocal unit.

'I am contaminated!'

Ignoring the confusion I feel from her, I aim my weapon-stalk at Rose.

'You will stand beside me.'

She does not argue. Sensibility I had not expected in a human.

Turning to face the corridor, I activate the security camera and speakers embedded in the ceiling.

'Open the bulkhead or Rose Tyler dies.'

A gasp echoes through the speakers and over the concrete floor.

'You're alive!'

The Doctor.

Excellent.

Rose turns slightly away from the camera in what I suddenly recognise as embarrassment.

Interesting.

'Can't get rid of me!'

'I thought you were dead.'

Enough of this mawkish sentiment. I aim my weapon-stalk at Rose once again.

'Open the bulkhead!'

Rose's voice follows mine in the space of a second. 'Don't do it!'

But…there! There it is! Her emotional core…

…please don't do it, Doctor. You have to live, I want you to live…this was all my fault, I gave the Dalek emotions…I'll give up every emotion to keep you safe…

All followed by feelings so strong that she…and I…cannot help but give voice to them.

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

I will never know who truly spoke those words.

There is silence from the speakers for a few seconds.

Finally, I hear the Doctor speak.

'I killed her once. I can't do it again.'

Your emotions will be your downfall, Doctor.

The bulkhead door rolls smoothly into the ceiling as Rose and I move forward, my weapon-stalk pointed at her back.

From here, it is a simple matter of using the lift to travel to Level 1, and from there…

I am uncertain.

Surely I must conquer Earth, as I was programmed to do. The Daleks must reign supreme over all life forms.

But now… I am no longer a Dalek.

Unthinkable!

I am still a Dalek, in thought, mind and deed.

But if I am a Dalek, why do I not simply kill Rose Tyler? I have killed others; I have watched them scream for mercy, trying to protect their loved ones and their offspring. I witnessed the destruction of Gallifrey, I watched as the President Romanadvoratrelundar's ship was obliterated…

I could kill her with one blast.

The lift doors spring open. The two of us…no! The human and I move silently into the lift. I watch her as she presses the control panel for Level 1, then falls back to stand beside me.

My weapon-stalk moves erratically as the few remaining appendages inside my travel unit tremble and twitch…

The 'shakes', nervous shock or degenerative neural disease, common in humanoids…but how do I know this?

Rose turns slightly towards me as the lift passes Level 19. 'I'm begging you, don't kill them. You didn't kill me.'

'But why not?' My head-piece swivels around to face her.

Maybe she knows…

'Why are you alive?'

Why am I asking her?

'My function is to kill. What am I? What am I?!'

Rose says nothing, but her fear decreases ever so slightly.

But what am I? If I cannot kill, if I cannot be a true Dalek, then what am I?

Level 1.

The doors pull apart to reveal the horrified face of Henry Van Statten.

My gaoler. My keeper. My torturer.

A human expression suddenly appears in my mind, rather appropriate in describing him. It takes all of my willpower not to hiss it at him.

...bastard...

Rose speaks from behind me, concern evident in her mind and voice.

'Don't move! Don't do anything. It's beginning to question itself.'

My travel unit glides forward, my eyestalk and weapon-stalk fixed on his smug features and portly body.

'Van Statten… you tortured me. Why?'

I am most interested to hear how he chooses to defend himself. Even the Daleks, skilled in death as we are, even we do not practice torture on other species. Van Statten and his subordinates considered themselves superior to me because I was different. I could not fight back. They could torture me.

So how, I wonder, does this make them 'better' than me?

Van Statten stutters as I approach him, backing him against the far wall of his office.

'I wanted to help you, I just, I dunno, I was trying to help, I thought if we could get through to you, if we could mend you…'

I notice a rug, a multi-hued animal fur under his feet. Barbaric. To kill an animal and walk on its preserved skin…

I feel a great sense of satisfaction that very soon, this so-called superior being will no longer walk upon this planet.

He starts to whimper as the distance between us grows shorter.

'I wanted you better, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I swear, I just wanted you to talk!'

Pathetic.

'Then hear me talk now. EX-TER-MI-NATE!! EX-TER-MI-NATE!! EX-TER-MI-NATE!!'

I am merely one blast away from ridding the Earth of this paltry being as I aim my weapon-stalk at his face...

A hand on my torso.

'Don't do it, don't kill him!'

Rose.

I do not understand.

This weakling would have seen her die along with the rest of his subordinates if it would have given him one more second of protection.

And yet she wants him to stay alive?

I turn to look at her in confusion. Is she sane?

The expression in her eyes does not give any hint of insanity.

She takes a breath. 'You don't have to do this any more. There must be something else, not just killing.'

Her eyes plead with mine. 'What else is there? What d'you want?'

I pause.

What do I want?

I stare at her for a second, and then move my gaze back to the quivering Van Statten. His assistant watches over the three of us, frightened but strong.

The females of this planet are impressive in their bravery.

I turn back to Rose as I make my decision.

'I want… freedom.'

Rose walks slowly beside me as we travel to the uppermost floor of the bunker. Her fear has vanished now; in its place, curiosity…and a feeling I do not recognise.

Not unpleasant, just unrecognisable.

The Doctor is most fortunate to travel with this human. If she can display these emotions to a being that manipulated her and made numerous attempts to kill her, then the emotions she keeps only for him…

They must truly be astounding.

Another thought reaches me…

…what does it mean by freedom? Freedom from Mr. Van Statten, yeah, I don't blame it for that, but does it mean some other freedom?...

Even I am not sure, Rose Tyler.

I want; no…I require my freedom from Van Statten, yes.

Freedom from the humans, again, yes.

Freedom from my life of torture…

Or is it freedom from what has been done to me?

I halt and aim my weapon-stalk at the ceiling. One blast, and rubble covers the concrete floor as the light of Sol pours in through the gap.

Rose flinches at the noise of the blast and moves closer to me.

'You're out. You made it.'

Her voice reflects her relief.

I stare up into the rays of light. I recall; there was no natural light on Skaro, only a sickly red-brown, the colour of the planet itself. The final nuclear war against the Thals had thrown up massive amounts of dust into the atmosphere, blocking out Skaro's sun and destroying all life forms that were neither Dalek nor Thal…

'…I never thought I'd never feel the sunlight again.'

Curiosity. My own now.

'How… does it… feel?'

It overrides my logic. I must know, I must feel what Rose can feel.

My travel unit slowly powers down. Long dead mechanisms activate in my torso section, whirring painfully as my access hatch unlocks itself and opens outwards.

So bright…

Warm…

Clear…

My organic eye squinting in the sunlight, I feebly raise one of my appendages, trying to feel the light before it fades.

I feel warm…and yet cold. So cold.

Alone.

The loneliness surrounds me.

Only I can feel this way…an abomination, the last Dalek.

I finally register movement. Rose has stepped in front of my travel unit at some point. I can feel her horror, her curiosity, her sympathy as she studies me.

Compared to her, I am nothing less than the foulest beast imaginable. I know what my true organic form looks like; a genetically augmented brain with tentacle-like appendages and a useless, atrophied eye.

All of the Daleks were engineered to look like this. The aesthetics of our people were not considered a priority by Davros, who had insisted on this form as the most suitable for combining with the travel units. Any of those who did not conform to the template were flung from the hatchery into the wastelands.

A fate I was fortunate to escape.

But what am I now?

Am I a Dalek?

'Get out of the way!' A voice I now know all too well.

The Doctor.

The Ka-Faraq Gatri.

His bony face twisted with anger, he levels a bazooka-like weapon at me. Rose spins around at the sound of his voice.

I move slightly to see past Rose, and make a closer examination of the weapon.

A laser cannon. One of the weapons of the Cybermen.

Have they too been torn from the stars, and buried under tonnes of sand and dirt?

'Get out of the way now!'

She stands tall, and does not move.

Why?

'No…no, I won't let you do this!'

The Time Lord's expression darkens as he tightens his grip on the cannon. 'That thing killed hundreds of people.'

She squares her shoulders. 'It's not the one pointing the gun at me.'

He ignores her. Interesting.

'I've got to do this. I've got to end it. The Daleks destroyed my home, my people. I've got nothing left.'

Except for Rose, I silently note.

And he already has far more left than I ever will.

Rose turns to glance at me, then back at the Time Lord, her expression becoming tearful. 'But…look at it.'

The Doctor's expression shifts to confusion. 'What's it doing?'

I reach out towards the light again, my limbs shaking with the effort of moving.

'It's the sunlight, that's all it wants.'

The Doctor sneers at the words. 'But it can't…'

It can't what, Doctor?

Rose's voice grows stronger. 'It couldn't kill Van Statten, it couldn't kill me. It's changing.'

I feel panic once again. Changing?

What does she mean by changing?

'What about you, Doctor?'

I can hear a sob building in her throat.

'What the hell are you changing into?'

The weapon falls to his side.

He looks horrified at what he would have attempted to do had his companion not been present.

One more notch to his murderer's belt.

He stares at me.

'I couldn't…'

He couldn't save his people?

He couldn't have prevented or ended the Time War in another fashion?

'I wasn't…'

He wasn't thinking?

He wasn't responsible?

The Doctor directs his gaze towards Rose, grief in his eyes.

'Oh Rose…they're all dead.'

Whether he refers to the Time Lords or the Daleks, I do not know.

But I share the sentiment.

The two of us should have died with our people.

But now…

'Why…do we survive?'

He looks at me, the pain and loneliness so clear in his gaze that I am unable to move.

'I don't know.'

I let my own pain surface.

'I am…the last…of the Daleks.'

His gaze now holds sympathy.

'You're not even that.'

What?

'Rose did more than regenerate you. You've absorbed her DNA. You're mutating.'

Fear.

'Into…what?'

'Something new.'

Contamination.

I had suspected as much.

But mutation…

I have derived from the template.

I am not a Dalek.

I should be cast into the Lake of Mutations on Skaro, left to rot with the genetic freaks of the Daleks and Thals… (1)

The Doctor's expression softens.

'I'm sorry.'

He knows.

He knows what should happen.

What should be done.

What the Emperor, what Davros, what my people would do.

Rose's tone is incredulous. 'Isn't that better?'

Fool.

She does not understand.

The Doctor's gaze never leaves my travel unit. 'Not for a Dalek.'

Wonder.

He understands.

A Time Lord understands the Daleks.

It should not be remotely possible.

But he can.

If only my people knew of this…

'I can feel… so many ideas…'

Rose turns to look at me once again.

'…So much darkness.'

The Time War is over. But at the cost of the entire Dalek race, the race of Time Lords and the heat death of Gallifrey.

Was it truly worth it? The control of time and space?

No.

I make my final decision. One which should have been made long ago.

'Rose… give me orders.'

She waits expectantly.

'Order me to die.'

My eye closes in pain and exhaustion.

'I can't do that.'

I feel her uncertainty, her disgust at my request. She does not believe in senseless killing, she chooses not to order me to do what she thinks is to commit suicide.

But she does not…she will never understand.

'This is not life… this is… sickness.'

To be a human or a Dalek?

Which is the more grotesque prospect now?

'I shall not be like you.'

I can never be one or the other now.

And so I choose nothing but oblivion.

'Order my destruction!'

She stares at me in helplessness.

'Obey!'

'Obey!'

'OBEY!'

She lets her head droop slightly in resignation.

'Do it.'

Relief.

More than I have ever felt in my entire existence.

Fear.

I will meet my death at the order of a human.

Curiosity.

Is there another existence for the Daleks after death?

Perhaps I shall find out.

I gaze at her face one last time.

It was cruel to ask this of her, I understand that now.

'Are you frightened, Rose Tyler?'

She just barely holds back a sob.

'…Yeah.'

If I could, I would have smiled at her, just to give her some comfort.

'…So am I.'

My eye closes as her expression crumples into tears.

'…Ex-ter-mi-nate.'

At that single command, my travel unit begins the self-destruct process.

I hear Rose tripping over the rubble as she runs towards the Doctor.

Ka-Faraq Gatri.

Keep her safe.

You will owe your life to her one day.

My travel unit seals itself and I hover a few feet above the floor, the sensor array covering the base of the unit detaching itself and surrounding me in a perfect globe.

An electrical field shimmers around the array…

I hear the explosion building in my life support systems…

I see Rose and the Doctor watching in amazement…

The fire burns…

Farewell, Rose Tyler.

END

(1) Taken from the second ever Doctor Who serial, The Daleks, 1963. The planet Skaro – really not the best place for a holiday.