THE CHOICES OF A TIME LORD

Author note Chapter one now up, please review.

Disclaimer I dont own Doctor who

Erisa sat on the edge of her bed, the tears streaming down her face. The dream, that terrible dream, was still fresh on her mind even though it had woken her hours ago. She knew what she had seen wasn't really a dream but a vision of the future; unlike the other initiates, she had been endowed with the gift of prophecy when she had been forced to stare into the Untempered Schism. Well, the others called it a gift, but she had always believed it was more of a curse.

"Oh Doctor, " she whispered, shivering. "Why aren't you here when I need you?" To her surprise, a familiar wheezing noise filled the room as the TARDIS materialised in her bedroom, but the man who stepped out was not the grinning, unkempt man with the endless scarf she called the Doctor. This man was much leaner, wearing a blue pinstripe suit and a long brown trench coat, his hair styled with small spikes. His initial wide grin on seeing her, however, made Erisa pause.

"Erisa!" he said, seemingly unable to hold back his delight in seeing her.

"Who are you?" Erisa whispered.

The man's grin faltered a little. "It's me, the Doctor."

"You regenerated?" she asked.

"Not exactly," he answered. He crouched down so his eyes were level with hers. "Look, I can't stay for very long as I'm crossing into my own time line, so I need you to listen very carefully. Very soon, the Time Lords are going to summon us, you and my younger self, and order us to go to Skaro to avert the creation of the Daleks. You cannot let this happen, because in a few centuries time the Daleks will use my actions as an excuse to declare war against the Time Lords. I know you've seen it in your visions, Erisa: the Time War, the end of Gallifrey, everything in flames. Don't let them tell you they are just dreams. I know you think your visions are a curse, but only you can stop Gallifrey from being destroyed."

#########################################################

Erisa lay back on the lush red grass, glancing up at the sky every now and then with fear in her eyes. A tear trickled down her face, falling to the soft ground, as she considered what was coming: the end of everything she knew and loved. She knew it was true, as the Doctor had confirmed these things to her. Not her Doctor, but the Doctor from the future.

"Why are you crying?" asked the Doctor, her Doctor, looking at his cousin with concern.

"I don't know," she replied, feeling guilty about lying to him. "Didn't know I was." She tried to wipe her eyes, but the tears continued to stream down her face as the images of war plagued her thoughts, the blood-curdling screams filling her head. The Time Lords, in all the glory and ignorance, had told her that her vision was a gift; only she knew how terrible a curse it was. Ever since she was little she could feel and sense things that were happening and were destined to happen in the surrounding galaxies, but she could do nothing to help the suffering, as like all Time Lords she had sworn only to watch and never to interfere.

They both sat there in silence, Erisa purposely avoiding the Doctor's gaze. Before he could ask again, however, they were both abruptly transported onto the Doctor's TARDIS.

"What's going on?" asked Erisa angrily, scrambling to her feet and glaring at the senior Time Lord who was standing at the console.

The Doctor turned slowly to the grim-faced Gallifreyan and sighed, exasperated.

"Look, whatever I did in the past, I've more than made up for. I really cannot tolerate this continual interference in my life." The Time Lord raised his eyebrow a mere fraction, and a smile played on his lips.

"Continual? We pride ourselves in the fact that we seldom interfere in the affairs of others," he replied, walking towards the pair.

"Except mine."

The older man chuckled humourlessly. "You, Doctor, are a special case. You enjoy the freedom we allow you. In return we occasionally, not continually, expect you to do something for us."

"Freedom?" interrupted Erisa, laughing. "Is that what you call it when you snatch him out of time and space on a whim?"

"Silence, child," he said, his face hardening. "Your continual interruptions in conversations which do not concern you will not be tolerated. You have also enjoyed the freedom which we have granted you, freedom which we can just as easily take away. Perhaps you would like to spend some time in the Tower of Rassilon as a reminder?" The Doctor immediately stepped in front of his cousin, shielding her.

"Leave her alone," said the Doctor, his voice dangerously low.

"Then you will do it? asked the Time Lord.

"No. Whatever it is, I refuse," he replied resolutely.

"Daleks, Doctor," whispered the older man. The Doctor's eyes darkened instantly, and all intention of ignoring the task ahead was forgotten.

"Daleks? Tell me more." The man sighed and glanced towards the TARDIS' time rotor, resting his hand on the console.

"We foresee a time when those abominations will have destroyed all other lifeforms and become the dominant race in the universe. We want you to return to Skaro at a point in time before the Kaled scientist Davros ordered the creation of the first Daleks."

"You want me to avert their creation?" asked the Doctor incredulously.

"Or affect their genetic development so that they evolve into less aggressive creatures."

"Hmm. I suppose that's feasible."

"Alternatively, if you learn enough about their conception, you may discover some inherent weakness..."

Erisa could no longer hold back, and interrupted once more. "Absolutely not! I've seen the war against the Daleks and the end of Gallifrey in my visions. If you do this none of us will have a future, and you know very well that every prophecy I've had has come true."

Centuries later...

Sally Sparrow had always felt that there was something missing in her life, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. This was, of course, beside the fact that she had lost her world; it was a mere shell of what it used to be, battered and destroyed without mercy or warning. At least that was the case for London, as she didn't know anything about the rest of the Earth. Homes had been crushed, cars burnt out, and shops had long been abandoned and stripped as regular Dalek petrols occurred at all hours of the day.

These creatures, the Daleks, came in the night, and she had heard the piercing screams in the air as she rushed outside. To her horror, the sky was blotted out by a seemingly endless multitude of Daleks, and she had heard the words that would haunt her for the rest of her life:

"Hu-mans detected! Exterminate! Exterminate!"

Those who had tried to run had been exterminated on the spot, their charred and lifeless bodies lining the streets. Those lucky enough to escape went underground, and those who weren't so lucky were forced into slavery.

Sally hadn't been lucky; she had been too terrified to even move, and she still didn't know if any of her family had survived. The slaves worked 20 hours a day, building the huge prison camp and other monuments to the Dalek victory. The work was extremely hard and demanding, and many didn't survive the arduous conditions. They hardly got any sleep and were fed very little, and even if it had been possible to escape Sally was far too weak as she leaned against the wall, the Daleks screeching at her day and night.

"I want to know about my family," cried Sally, desperate for any news at all. She felt as if she were dying a little bit more each day. But there was never any answer as the Daleks continued to break her, replying with the same cold and hateful statement each time.

"Da-leks do not answer hu-man questions!"

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