hello! this was written back in october for whumptober and originally posted to tumblr and ao3 but ive decided to add my work here too.

the prompt was 'pick who dies', i guess it should go without saying that in which case this is a pretty dark fic, probably the darkest path ive ever taken.

feedback of any kind is as always very much appreciated!

CW: mention of a gun.

The Choice.

Her mind was racing a mile a minute as she tried to work out a way to get them out of this, she ran through so many possible scenarios and the longer she paused, the bigger his grin grew, and her hearts felt as though they might actually burst out of her chest from the fear and panic that grew with every moment.

"Come on Doctor, we don't have all day."

His tone held a touch of boredom, as though what he was asking barely required a second thought, as though he wasn't asking her to literally choose between the lives of the two people who meant the most to her.

She looked across to the two women, both on their knees with their hands bound behind their backs. Yaz kept her expression neutral, refusing to add to The Masters satisfaction by showing her fear but The Doctor knew her well enough to sense her panic as she considered the possibility that she might not be able to get them out of this one. Rose had been the most vocal about their situation but it had taken the sound of a gun being cocked followed by a gentle pressure against the back of her head for her to fall silent. She'd paused for his warning, ready to bite back that if he was going to kill her anyway then there was no way in hell she was going down quietly. What he had said instead however made her blood run cold.

"Your daughter is turning four soon in your universe isn't she?"

Tears had filled her eyes and she locked eyes with The Doctor, who's expression was as unreadable as ever, she took a moment before responding and it was clear her words weren't only aimed at The Master.

"If anything happens to her, I will kill you."

"I'm the one with the gun here love." He had told her, increasing the pressure of the gun just a touch as though to emphasise his point before taking a step back and letting out a breath of a laugh.

She had remained quiet after that, her gaze burning into The Doctor as the latter's shifted between the three of them.

The Doctor hadn't known Rose had a child, she knew nothing about her, not since she had left her and the metacrisis Doctor in the parallel world so many lifetimes before. Was the child his? hers? It really had nothing to do with her but despite the situation they were currently in she couldn't help but wonder and found herself wanting to know, would it sway her decision?

There had to be something she could do, she'd been known to tear holes in the universe for less. How could this be happening, how could she have allowed this to happen. Rose had been safe in the parallel world, she and Yaz were in a good place, she had let her guard down, allowed herself just a moment of reprieve and he had used it against her in the worst way possible.

He was mad, she'd known that for a long time and she also knew what he was capable of but somehow she never fathomed that he would resort to this. He called it a truce of sorts, for all she had done to him, he would allow it to all be forgotten, she just had to choose who would die as penance. It was sick, and twisted, and so him.

"Doctor."

His sing song voice pulled her from her thoughts and her gaze snapped to his, he waved the hand that held the gun in her direction and she actually felt as though she might be sick. She had despised guns all her lives, something he was well aware of. He saw it as a permanent solution to their feud, but perhaps he was stupider than she ever thought possible if he didn't think for one moment that the pain she would inflict upon him for his actions would be so much greater than he could comprehend.

"I know what you're thinking."

He continued and her expression remained unflinching as she awaited for him to elaborate. If he had any idea of her current thought process then none of them would be here right now, or maybe he really was that stupid.

"If you even try and go back to change what happens here today, then I promise you Doctor, oh I promise you, things will turn out so much worser than even you could imagine."

He assured her, his tone contained a sliver of glee that didn't go amiss by her and she got the feeling that part of him wanted her to try just to give him an excuse.

Instead of responding, The Doctor looked back to the two women. First to Yaz, her beautiful, fantastic, brilliant Yaz. It had been just over a year since Ryan and Graham had left Team TARDIS and Yaz had chosen to stick around, they'd been teetering on the edge of something for a while before then but their newfound privacy of sorts had only allowed their growing feelings to blossom until finally they had decided to make it official. The Doctor had never been someones girlfriend before and although she'd never really cared much for labels it felt nice to have Yaz refer to her as such and she never tired of the look Yaz gave her every time she referred to Yaz as hers. The Doctor felt the prickle of tears at the thought of never seeing that look again, she had kept her emotions at bay throughout the ordeal thus far, letting only her anger show as to not play into The Masters hands any further.

She switched her gaze to Rose then, her pink and yellow human. Well, she supposed Rose hadn't been hers in a long long time, and in some ways she had never technically been hers at all. She looked different, older, her hair although still blonde was a touch darker these days. It had been millennia since she had last set eyes on her, many had walked in and out of her lives since Rose, some she loved, some she didn't, most of which had been there as a buffer, a reason to keep moving forward, to stop her going back and ripping another hole in the universe just to bring her back.

Then she'd met Yaz. She couldn't quite put into words her feelings towards Yaz much like she'd never quite been able to do so with Rose back when she was pinstripes. Her feelings towards both women had been and were so powerful yet at the same time they couldn't be compared to one and other. Both relationships had existed in different lifetimes and The Doctor had never expected for them to collide. Seeing Rose had brought back so many feelings for The Doctor, feelings even she wasn't aware she still felt.

Both women continued to stare back at her and she wondered what they were thinking. Did they think she had a plan in motion to get them all out of this? Did they expect her to actually choose one of them to die? Who did they think she would choose? She had to look away as the array of thoughts invaded her mind, it was suffocating and the more she thought about what she was being asked to do the more disgusted she felt with herself.

"How do I know you won't just kill them both, or me?"

It was the first time The Doctor had acknowledged what she was being asked to do out loud and she had to take a deep breath to try and keep her urge to throw up at bay. She averted her gaze from Rose and Yaz as she spoke, unable to look at either of them as she discussed the very matter of their lives.

"I'm nothing if not a reasonable man." He told her with a shrug and she laughed, a loud, short burst of noise that sounded odd coming from someone with an expression as stone faced and cold as The Doctor's.

"So, say I choose."

She paused when she heard a sharp intake of breath coming from where Yaz and Rose were still kneeling, the very possibility that she was considering going through with his sick game finally sinking in with the two women.

"Say I choose someone."

Her voice cracked every so slightly as she continued and she looked over at The Master, a quiet smirk on his lips as she finally played along with his game.

"You let the other one go."

If she thought by dropping their names and averting her gaze it would make this any easier she was wrong on so many levels, it was taking every ounce of self control she had not to throw up at the very thought of what she was considering.

The Master gave her a nod.

"I want your word."

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes and offered The Doctor what would be considered a friendly smile if not given the current circumstances.

"You have my word, Doctor."

The Doctor nodded. It was the smallest gesture, but it was acknowledgment that she was agreeing to his terms, agreeing to choose someone, someone she loved, to die. She heard another sound coming from where Yaz and Rose were, this time it was a sob. Looking over to them for a final time, she saw both women with tears streaming down their cheeks, there was no longer any reason for them to put up a front when the decision had already been made, one of them was going to die and there was nothing they could do about it.

Both women met her gaze despite their tears and The Doctor was unsurprised to feel tears slipping down her own cheeks, making no effort to wipe them away she looked each of them in the eyes, one of which would be for the final time.

"I'm sorry."

She whispered, her voice broken as she finally looked back to The Master who actually had the nerve to look like he felt sorry for her.

"I love you."

The tear-filled voiced reached her ears from behind and she squeezed her eyes shut in order to stop herself from looking back, she had to do this, she had no other choice. It was a handful of moments but felt like an eternity before she reopened her eyes and prepared herself to tell The Master who she had chosen.