A HORRIBLE CHOICE
Chapter Ten "Well, Doctor, make your decision, who will live and who will die?" the being asked. The Doctor stared at the three tubes in silent shock, his mind gone blank. He couldn't believe he had to make a choice between three of the people he cared about the most. As he stood there, rage began to bubble in his mind and he debated on if he could reach the being and break his neck before he vanished or did whatever he was going to do to the three women. He was about to try to reach him when John stepped up beside the Doctor. "Excuse me, but I'm protesting," John said. "This isn't fair." Everyone turned to look at him and John pointed to Rose. "How come he gets to choose if she lives or dies when she's engaged to me? Shouldn't I get to choose since this is my fiancée?" John said to the being. "And Donna was my best friend and River…well, I don't know River all that well but still, I want to choose too." "And me," Jack said. "Rose is my best friend and so is Donna and River…well, River's very cute, I have to say." "Thank you," River said, smiling at him. "But I demand the right to choose too," Jack said to the being. "And me," Martha said, stepping up. "I also have a stake in this; I also want to choose who lives and who dies." "And me, River's my friend," Amy said, stepping up alongside everyone else. The Doctor noticed the being had fallen silent and was looking at all of them. He smirked sensing that the being wasn't counting on something like this happening. Then suddenly, everyone except Rory began to yell at the being, demanding the right to choose. Eleven smirked at that and joined in with them, hoping this was confusing the alien. While this was going on, Rory stood at the back, his eyes darting from his friends to the alien. He could tell the alien had been shocked by this new development and his attention was focused on the Doctor and the others. He glanced at the tubes and noticed that the three women were watching everyone except for him. His eyes shifted back to the alien and he suddenly had an idea. He reached down inside himself to bring out his Rory the Roman persona and the courage that came along with it. He straightened his back and a determined look crossed his face. He inched over to the Doctor, standing right behind him while he kept his eyes on the being who was now protesting the fact that everyone else wanted a say in who lived and who died. Rory paused a moment, tensing his muscles, praying that this worked. Then suddenly with a yell, he leapt at the startled alien and tackled him. "Yes!" the Doctor said before he and everyone else dog piled on the alien and pinned him down. "Good job, Rory!" "Grab his arms!" Jack said to Rory as he got ahold of his left arm. Rory grabbed the right and everyone got off as Rory and Jack forced the being to stand up. The being squirmed for a moment while everyone watched. "No disappearing act then?" the Doctor said. "So, you're apparently not magical, eh?" The being tried to squirm out of Rory and Jack's grasp while the Doctor ran his hands over his outfit. He pulled down the hood and ripped off the mask. They gasped when they saw his ruined face. The man's face was horribly scarred. It resembled Freddy Krueger and the Doctor stepped back in shock before he tried to get a good look at him. "I don't recognize you," he said while John came forward to continue searching the man's clothes. "Even with your scarred face, you're still not familiar to me. Who are you?" "I am Boron." "Who?" the Doctor and John said in unison. "Boron. You don't know me personally, but you were responsible for my face and for the loss of my loved ones." "When?" the Doctor said. "Time War. You and those damned Daleks fought a battle at Golder's Green and set my house on fire. I barely survived and I lost my entire family, because of you!" he spat out. "And if I lost the ones I love, you deserve to lose the ones you care about." "And that makes you better than me, does it?" the Doctor growled. "That makes you the bigger man, killing innocent people in retaliation for something that was out of my control?" "You destroyed my house!" "Wrong! I'm willing to bet the Daleks did that because I have no memory of running into any house and setting fire to it. The Daleks were clearing out Golder's Green because there was a resistance movement and they were making sure that everyone involved with it was eliminated. Daleks, being Daleks, figured that mean everyone in the bloody town so they wiped everyone out! I tried to stop them but I'm only one man and there were approximately 200 of them attacking the town. I'm sorry for what happened to you and your family, I truly am, but a life for a life will solve nothing. These people in the tubes weren't there and had nothing to do with the Time War. You're willing to kill one of them and have their blood on your hands just to settle a vendetta? If you were any sort of man, you'd take me on rather than pick on people who weren't even around when the Time War was going on." "Aha!" John said, pulling a small silver box out of a hidden pocket. "Is this what sets them free?" John said, holding it up to Boron. "What sets them free?" "Push the top button and it releases them," Boron said. He grunted when John seized the collar of his shirt and brought his face close. "You better be telling the truth because if I push this button and they die, you go next," he snarled at Boron before releasing him. The Doctor watched while John aimed the box at the tubes and pressed the button. To his relief, the glass vanished, leaving only the metal bases. Rose leapt off her base, ran to John and hugged him while River ran to the Doctor and put her hand on her back. "Hello, sweetie, bit busy?" she said to him. "Just a bit, yeah? Nice to see you again," the Doctor said to her. "And you, thank you for being truthful," he said to Boron. Donna stood behind the Doctor, a smile on her face while she watched John embracing Rose and River rubbing the Doctor's back. She looked over when Jack beckoned to her. "Come here, Ginger Gal," Jack said. "I'll give ya a warm welcome." Donna beamed at that and Donna walked to him. He slid one arm around her and kissed her cheek while Donna blushed. The Doctor told Rory and Jack to lead Boron over to Rose's platform. They did and quickly backed away when John pushed the button and the glass came back. "Now you know how it feels to be trapped inside the tube," the Doctor said. "Now…if I were a right bastard, I would kill you in there but I'm not like you. You've been through enough hell as it is. Now…since you offered me a choice, I will now give you one. Here is your choice, you can either go to a galactic prison on kidnapping charges and stay there for a long, long time or…you can leave here and not bother me or my friends again. Which is it?" "Kill me," Boron said. "Do you want that?" the Doctor said. "You took everything precious to me." "No, Boron, the Daleks did. I was trying to stop them, I believe I just went over this with you," the Doctor said. "I can't change the past and I can't stop you from being bitter but I will stop you from harming others if you insist on trying to get your revenge on me. So…Boron, which is it? Prison or home, because I won't kill you. There were far too many deaths in the Time War without adding another casualty. So what'll it be?" Boron glared at him for a moment and then looked at his feet. "Home," he said bitterly. "Then you'll come with us in my TARDIS and I'll take you home but I'm warning you…don't ever try to hurt me or the people I care about or next time I won't be so merciful."
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