Author: Brightbear
Rating: PG-13 for non-graphic torture
Summary: The 4th Doctor watches as Davros tortures his companions in Genesis of the Daleks.
Disclaimer: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC and associated persons.

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It was Harry that undid me. Davros’ voice filled the room, rising to a hysterical crescendo that I was powerless to stop. Sarah was brilliant, shouting out her defiance.
“Don’t tell him anything, Doctor!” she called but then she grimaced in pain.
Then Davros began to increase the pain levels and she could do no more than gasp and wince. Harry was silent at first but his eyes were closed and his breathing was far too rapid. I could tell that they were both in considerable pain and still Davros’ voice droned on and on.
“You will tell me! You will tell me!”

He never sounded more like the Dalek machines he had created. Strapped to a chair, I was powerless to help them. Harry’s eyes had been closed but whenever he could stand it he opened them to squint across the room at what was going on. He must have seen from the expression on my face that I was close to breaking and giving Davros everything he wanted. He tried to stop me.
“Doctor… please…,” he gasped.
I looked at him, wondering if he had suffered so much that he was willing to ask me to betray millions of lives in the future just to save himself more pain. He knew he had my attention and he forced himself to finish.
“Don’t tell…,” he managed. “…Doctor.”

He didn’t even have the strength to continue his plea. He was, no doubt, experiencing more pain than he had ever dreamt of and yet he was still aware that there was a greater good at stake here. It was ironic that it was his defiance that broke me. I could not bear to see my brave companions destroyed beyond repair for a war which they had never experienced.
“All right, all right,” I shouted, struggling to be overhead over their cries and Davros’ demands. “I’ll tell you what you want to know. Just leave them alone.”

I could not see what Davros did next but Sarah and Harry both relaxed, their breathing returning to normal. The pain was gone from their expressions. When they recovered enough to look at me, I couldn’t meet their eyes. I looked at the wall and began to tell Davros everything that I knew about the Daleks. I talked to Davros for hours and only once did I meet Harry’s eyes, by accident. The look he gave me wasn’t disappointed but understanding. He could understand why I had given into Davros and that, perhaps, was worse than anything else.

THE END