A HORRIBLE CHOICE
Chapter Five "Oh God, Jack," Martha moaned when the Doctor came through the door with him. Martha got on the other side and helped the Doctor walk Jack up the stairs to the med bay. Rory, Amy and John watched while they left the room. "Is he usually like that?" Amy said to John. "I didn't think the Doctor would tolerate a drunk traveling with him." "No, usually he's clean and sober; at least he never drank while he traveled with me. On the other hand, the man is quite the party animal and Rassilon only knows what he was doing when the Doctor found him." "I hope the Doctor can sober him up," Rory said. "No worries, there are many things in the med bay that could quickly sober him up. He'll be right as rain soon," John said. "Doctor, do you need help?" Martha said when they brought Jack into the med bay and got him to sit on the examination table. "Yes, that drawer over there," the Doctor said, pointing off to his right. "I think there's a vial with a milky liquid in it. Could you fetch it for me while I gather a few things?" "Yup," Martha said, hurrying to the drawer. "Why are you even bothering with me, Doctor?" Jack said in a slurred voice while the Doctor rifled through another drawer. "Because I care about you, Jack," the Doctor said while he pulled out a glass beaker. "Because we need your help and it's time to stop drinking and start living up to your responsibilities again." "I let everyone down, I killed my own grandson. I killed an innocent boy," Jack said bitterly. "I killed an entire planet filled with people and much more besides," the Doctor said as he pulled out a vial containing a purple liquid and poured some into the beaker. "I've done horrible things, things I will never forgive myself for but I know enough to pick myself up and move on and not spend the rest of my lives drowning my sorrows in booze. Yes, Martha, that's what I need, thanks," the Doctor said when Martha came up to him with a small vial of white liquid. "We need to combine this with several other liquids and this will clear up his head almost instantaneously….if he'll drink it." "I'll drink it, only because Rose and Donna are in danger. I don't know this River, otherwise I'd add her to the list," Jack said while Martha walked over to him. "Good to see you again, Miss Jones…I mean, Mrs. Smith, how is Mickey Mouse?" "He's fine, he knows I'm doing this but he decided not to come along," Martha said. "He does a lot of freelance work and he just got done with an alien hunting assignment and he was shagged out so he went to the shops and as much as he loves Rose, he knows with all of us here, she'll be in good hands so he made the choice to sit it out." "Funny how I wasn't given that choice," Jack said. "Oh, I believe you were given that choice, Harkness," the Doctor said as he mixed his concoction together. "I don't recall putting a gun to your head in that pub. You're here because you want to be. And now that I've finished this, you can be here with a clear head." He brought the beaker over to Jack. Jack took it and Martha helped him steady it while he drank the liquid inside. He made a face when he finished. "Ugh, I don't know what that was but it was disgusting," Jack said to the Doctor. "I hope you aren't planning to mass produce that drink, Doctor." "Not unless you insist on getting pissed every chance you get," the Doctor said. "Honestly, Jack…never mind, not gonna say anymore about it," he added, when he noticed Jack getting angry. "It's your life and your decision whether or not to waste it. I only ask that you stay sober while we rescue Rose, River and Donna." "I'm not going to take a drink while I'm with you. I'd hate to hear another lecture from you…Dad." Jack quickly shut his mouth when he saw the pissed off look on the Doctor's face. He mumbled an apology and the Doctor shook his head and grumbled to himself while he walked out of the room. "Jack, he's concerned about you," Martha said when he was out of earshot. "The Doctor is concerned about his girlfriend, that's why he pulled me out of that pub to help him rescue her," Jack said. "He leaves me behind when he finds it convenient. He left me behind after I became immortal and he left me on Earth to fight the 456 with just my team. He could have done something to help and he didn't." "Maybe he wasn't meant to interfere," Martha said. "There are some things he can't interfere with." "Oh bullshit, Martha, that's just an excuse to sooth his conscience when he fails to prevent something from happening," Jack spat out. "He wasn't there when I lost Ianto, now he expects me to go rescue Rose? Why should the love of my life die when his lover gets to live?" "I don't know, Jack, all I know is you can't do this to yourself," Martha said. "You're needed on Earth. You can't spend the rest of your life in a space pub." "Yeah? Watch me," Jack said. "Jesus, Jack, you've become a stranger now," Martha said, shaking her head as she walked past him towards the door. Jack watched her go out of the room before he let out a ragged sigh and lowered his head into his hands. He began to weep softly as guilt and regret flooded his mind. The drink the Doctor gave to him cleared up his mind and he was now sober but he wished he hadn't drunk it. He wished he hadn't followed the Doctor back into the TARDIS and drank himself into oblivion so he could forget everything that'd happened over the past year. The memory of Ianto tore at his heart and he felt himself growing even angrier that the Doctor wasn't around to help him fight the 456 and prevent the loss of his lover. He wept harder, his hand over his eyes, as his pent up emotions came pouring out of him. Then he felt a hand on his back. "Martha told me what you said," the Doctor said gently. "I'm sorry about Ianto but Martha guessed correctly. I couldn't interfere. I'm sorry you lost Ianto and your grandson." "You let them die but you want me to rescue Rose?" Jack said in a ragged voice while he took his hand away from his face. "Yes, because this time we can interfere and Rose is depending on us. I'm not asking you to rescue her when I was unable to rescue Ianto. It's not a life for a life. Rose isn't any more important than Ianto or Donna or River, everyone is important in their own way. I'm not being selfish, I just thought since you cared about Rose so much, you'd want to be involved. If you don't, you can stay in the TARDIS. No one's forcing you to do this, it's your decision." "No, I can't let Rose or the others die," Jack said. "Not after Ianto and Steven, I can't let others die senselessly." "I'm glad," the Doctor said, patting his back. "I missed ya, old friend. You may not believe that, but I'm glad to see you again." "Yeah, same here, you look good…except…what the hell happened to your face, did you get burned or something?" "No…why?" "Where the hell are your eyebrows?" Jack said, leaning in. "You only got about three hairs on either side of your face. You didn't singe your eyebrows off at some point?" "No," the Doctor said, rolling his eyes. "That's how I turned out." "Maybe the regeneration energy burned them off then," Jack said. "Not listening, Jack!" the Doctor said as he walked towards the door. Jack chuckled and hopped off the table. "Or maybe you had so much eyebrow in the last life," he yelled as he followed him out the door. "That your new body went on strike and decided three hairs above each eye would be just fine!" "Not listening, Jaaaack!" the Doctor yelled back at him. Jack chuckled again and walked to the console room. By the time he got there, the Doctor was asking the computer to lock in on Rose, Donna and River's artron energy signatures. Jack came down the stairs slowly, looking around at the revamped console room. "So…is the brand spanking new console room here to hide the fact that you are now Doctor Nobrows?" Jack said as he jumped off the last step onto the glass floor. The Doctor began to hum loudly while Jack snickered and patted him fondly on the back. "Don't worry, Doc, the Mona Lisa look looks good on ya," he said. "I liked him better when he was drunk," the Doctor said to the others while Jack giggled and gave him another pat on the back.
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