"Right, so what's the plan?" asked Chas. The Doctor scratched his head.
"Um …" he began.
"You don't have a plan?!" cried Craig frantically.
"Hey, I only found out about this at the same time as you," defended the Doctor.
"Okay, we could trash the place," suggested Andrew. "All the Polygrites will evaporate like that one just then."
"No, it wouldn't work," said the Doctor. "Firstly, it's not a long-term solution. Secondly, we wouldn't find out more about their plans. Thirdly, that's cold-blooded murder."
"That didn't seem to matter with you just now," muttered Julian. The Doctor turned to Julian and stared him in the face.
"Julian," he said. "I've had to make decisions no one should have to make. I've faced and witnessed more death than you could believe. My daily life revolves around playing with people's lives. And even after 900 years, it doesn't get any easier. But every decision I make, I make with what I believe to be my best judgement. So don't you talk to me about what matters." The Doctor backed off, leaving Julian dumbstruck. Rose bit her lip. As lovable as the Doctor was, when he was pushed too far he could get quite scary.
"Come on," she said. "Let's head back to the TARDIS. We'll figure something out there." She put her hand on the Doctor's shoulder. The Doctor turned and walked back to the TARDIS. Rose turned to the Chaser team.
"Um, did he say 900 years?" asked Chris.
"Yeah," said Rose. "That's his age. Give or take a few."
"And … is he always like that?" asked Andrew awkwardly.
"I won't lie, he can be," replied Rose. "He's been through so much, sometimes he'll snap at the smallest thing. Listen, I'll go have a talk with him. You guys stay out here and try to think of a plan or something." The guys nodded, and Rose walked into the TARDIS. The Doctor was standing over the central console, his head lowered. Although he didn't acknowledge it, he heard Rose come in.
"Hi," she said. The Doctor remained silent. Rose took a deep breath.
"Doctor, I know you don't want to talk about it, but if you could at least give me some idea of what the problem is we can move past this," she said. "There are five guys out there who are trying to help you, but you have to let them in." The Doctor turned to Rose and looked at her with that look where she swore she could see into his mind. She approached him and gave him a big hug. He held her tight, not wanting to let go.
"Come on," said Rose. "What Julian said wasn't that bad, at least not to the rest of us. What was it?" The Doctor sighed.
"It was a couple of things," he said. "For one thing, it brought back memories of the Time War. He reminded me that I murdered my own people."
"You didn't have a choice," said Rose. "And it's not like the Daleks were unarmed or anything. They would have killed you."
"Yeah, I suppose," said the Doctor. "But this is the main problem. You know how I said before that I was there when the Polygrites were banished?" Rose nodded. "Well, I sort of had something to do with that. I was on Fankehreht with a former companion of mine, Jess (A/N Not an actual companion, I just made her up then). She was only a young thing, she was 17 when she started travelling with me. Anyway, we were on Fankehreht together. It was just meant to be a holiday. But we found out about the Polygrites and what they could do. Jess was really opposed to it. She wanted to find a way for the Polygrites to live without taking over other people. A real humanitarian she was. Then one night, our hotel room was infiltrated by a Polygrite. It entered Jess's body. I was meeting with the planet officials at the time and didn't get back 'til late, so when I did get back I thought she was just asleep. It was the next day when I realised something was wrong. She'd been asleep for over 13 hours. Her temperature was through the roof. Her pulse was going crazy. She started shaking violently like she was having a fit. Sweat poured down her face. I sent for help, but … by then it was too late." A single tear made its way down the Doctor's face. "She died. She was just a kid, and the Polygrite killed her."
"Oh Doctor, that's terrible," said Rose. "But why did she die? Why didn't the Polygrite get control of her body?"
"I worked it out later," the Doctor said. "It's because she was a teenager. Changes going on in her body, raging hormones … the Polygrite couldn't handle it. So anyway, I told the officials that something needed to be done. Truth be told, I wanted the Polygrites dead for what they did, even though it was only that one that killed Jess. I thought they were too dangerous for themselves to handle. The officials, of course, thought my idea was too violent. So instead, they banished them." Rose was lost for words. She'd had no idea that the Doctor already had some experience with Polygrites, and such a terrible one at that.
"Doctor, why didn't you tell me this before?" she asked.
"I guess I thought I could move on," answered the Doctor. "I thought I could change. I thought I could be stronger than before. But I guess I can't."
"No," said Rose. "You're wrong. You are stronger. You're helping this planet. You're helping Alexis. You're making up for your past actions by trying to put things right. Doctor, you're the strongest, most amazing person I know." Rose gave the Doctor a reassuring smile. He walked up to her and gave her a small kiss on the forehead.
"Ditto, Rose Tyler," he said.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Please review, and I'll try to update soon.
