Thea tilted her head as the group of four stood on an old dirt road, staring before the dessert town called Mercy, a sign announcing the 81 residents total, originally marked as 80 but crossed out and added 1. A few smaller signs around the town warning for others to keep out, quite contrary to the towns name.
"Not Mexico," Thea smirked, throwing off the sheet she wore as a makeshift ghost costume.
They were originally heading for Mexico for the Day of the Dead festival. She had planned on going to change for the festival but decided last minute to throw on a sheet and go as a ghost, her typical outfit underneath.
"Mercy," the Doctor read the sign, "81 residents."
"Makes you wonder who the new guy is to be so welcomed they changed the sign just for him." Thea remarked.
"Look at this," Amy called as she and Rory stood behind the Time Lords, eying the ring of wood and rocks surrounding the town, "its a load of stones and lumps of wood." The Doctor crouched before the ring scanning with the sonic, "What is it?"
"A load of stones and lumps of wood." The Doctor stated.
"Bit boring." Thea sighed, "thought it would be a sneaky protection barrier or something." She glanced back, getting the feeling of being watched just able to make out a black figure watching them before it was gone in the blink of an eye. She blinked and turned back to the town, as the Doctor stepped over the line.
"Er, the sign does say 'Keep Out.'" Rory pointed out as Thea stepped over the line after the Doctor.
"I see Keep Out signs as suggestions more than actual orders, like Dry Clean only."
"Reason number 1 why I have so many of the same clothes," Thea commented, gesturing to the Doctor.
"And what's reason number 2? You just love shopping?" Amy joked as she and Rory followed behind them through the town.
Amys laugh faded the further into town they walked, feeling the warily looks of the locals, none of them getting too close, hiding behind doors, even pulling the children inside, for a town called Mercy, they didn't seem very merciful.
"Dad." Thea stopped in the middle of the street, staring at a streetlight across the street from them.
He stopped, frowning, as the light sparked, clearly running on electricity and not candles or oil as it should for the time, "That's not right." He muttered, scanning it with the sonic.
"It's a streetlamp." Rory shook his head, not seeing the big deal about it. There was plenty of them around the town so why had that one caught Theas attention?
"An electric streetlamp about 10 years too early."
"It's only a few years out."
"That's what you said when you left your phone charger in Henry VIII en-suite." Thea quipped.
Rory winced at that, it had been an accident, honestly, they gone to see the birth of Elizabeth 1st, gotten there a bit early, Thea had helped calm down the panicking pregnant woman, accidently admitted it would be a daughter resulting in her getting locked up in the tower for being a witch. She had almost been burnt at the stake when word got out to Henry VIII that his first born was a girl.
"If I get called a witch one more time..." Thea grumbled to herself.
"Doctor, er..." Amy began, growing more uncomfortable as the locals stared at them.
But the Doctor paid her no attention, walking on, "Anachronistic electricity, Keep Out signs, aggressive stares." He grinned at Thea, "Has someone been peeking at my Christmas list?"
"Don't need to peek," she counted, "you always want the same thing."
"I do not!" He argued.
"You do! It's always a fez or bowtie."
"Says the one who only ever wants socks or converse."
"Yeah, well, that's because you keep shrinking my socks."
"Accidently," He defended, pulling out a small toothpick and pick it between his teeth, try to act like an old westerner.
He pushed open the batwing doors to the Saloon, oblivious to everyone stopping and turning to stare at them as they entered, the music off as the Doctor sauntered up to the counter.
He set a hand on the counter, "Tea." He ordered, trying his hand at a fake American accent, "but the strong stuff. Leave the bag in." He tried to flip the toothpick, but it got stuck.
"What're you doing here, son?" The bartender eyed him.
"Son?" He chuckled, "You can stay."
Thea hopped onto a stool, glancing around the room as everyone stopped and stared at them. She squinted, trying to figure out if they were come kind of robots as part of a trap and that was why they weren't in Mexico right now.
A black man in a suit stood up, holding his lapels as he spoke to them, "Sir, might I enquire who you is?"
"Of course." The Doctor smiled at him, "I'm the Doctor. this is..." But he didn't get to finish the introductions as everyone stood up, "No need to stand." he looked back at Amy and Rory, "You see that? Manners."
"I have a bad feeling." Thea commented.
As thought confirming her feelings were correct an older man in a black suit and top hat made his way over and began measuring the Doctor shoulders.
"Oh, thank you." The Doctor eyed the man, "But I don't need a new suit."
"I'm the undertaker, sir."
"I got a question." A young man stepped forwards, "Is you an alien?"
"Well, er, bit personal." The Doctor began, a bit surprised someone from this time period would ask this question, "It's all relative, isn't it? I mean, I think you're the aliens, but in this context, yes. Yes, I suppose I am."
As soon as he had confirmed he was an alien the men in the saloon instantly lifted the Doctor between them and carrying him out.
Thea sighed, Amy and Rory not even hesitating to follow to try and help the Doctor as soon as they realised what was happening. She shook her head hurrying out after them, hearing the Doctor shouting not to worry, the local men keeping Amy and Rory back as they threw the Doctor over the line around the town.
"Ow," The Doctor moaned from where he had been tossed onto the dirt, wincing as he got back to his feet.
"Are you alright?" Thea gasped, running over to his side.
"Just fine, kiddo," He assured her, turning to cross back over the line when the men all drew out their revolvers, keeping them over the line as he raised his hands.
"He's coming," the Preacher breathed, "Oh God, he's coming."
Thea turned, seeing the Preacher staring at something behind them to see a figure in black, flashing closer via teleport.
"Preacher, say something." The young man said.
"Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name..."
The Doctor also turned as the figure got closer, revealing some sort of Cyborg with a robotic arm, and a mechanic device over its eye.
A gunshot went off drawing the Doctor attention back to the town to see a man with a Marshall badge on his chest, with a thick moustache, holding his gun in the air.
"You, bow tie. Get you and the kid back across that line. Now."
The Doctor wasted no time pushing Thea back over the line and into town, quickly stepping after her and looking back at the Cyborg figure to see it teleport again but didn't return.
"Isaac," a young man stepped forwards, "he said he was a doctor. An alien doctor."
"That a reason to hand him to his death?" The Marshall, Isaac, scoffed, "let the kid die with him?"
"Isaac, it could be him."
"You know it ain't." Isaac gave the boy a pointed looked before turning and nodding to Amy, "Ma'am." As he headed off.
The Doctor glanced at Thea, seeing her still looking back to where the Cyborg had last been seen before taking her hand, giving it a small squeeze and following after Isaac. Amy and Rory behind them, leaving the townspeople grumbling.
~.~
Isaac led them to his office, moving to sit at the corner of his desk facing a jail cell as the others followed him in.
"What was that outside?" The Doctor questioned.
"The Gunslinger." Isaac sighed, "showed up three weeks back. We've been prisoners ever since. See that border line stretching round the town? Woke up one morning, there it was. Nothing gets past it, in or out. No supply wagons, no reinforcements. Pretty soon the whole town's going to starve to death."
"But you let us in." Rory frowned.
"You ain't carrying any food. Just three more mouths to feed. We'll all die even sooner now."
"What happens if someone crosses the line?" The Doctor asked.
Isaac leaned over and grabbed a Stetson from his chair handing it to the Doctor.
The Doctor frowned seeing a small bullet hole in it, "Ah, well, he wasn't a very good shot, then."
"The hat was the target." Thea told him.
"How'd you know that?" Isaac eyed her.
"Lucky guess." She shrugged, only to roll her eyes as at the same time the Doctor said, "she's psychic."
"He was giving you a warning." Thea added.
"What does he want?" Amy asked looking between Isaac and Thea, "Has he issued some kind of demand?"
"He wants the alien doctor." Thea stated.
Isaac nodded, startled.
That wasn't even a feeling, it was just obvious really. The men hadn't really reacted to all of them, just to the Doctor once they realised he was an alien doctor. That was what set them off to throw him out of town to the Gunslinger.
Which made no sense before if the Gunslinger turned up 3 weeks ago surely the alien doctor he wanted much have already been around.
"But that's you." Amy turned to the Doctor, "Why would he want to kill you? Unless he's met you."
"And how could he know that we'd be here?" Rory agreed, "We didn't even know we'd be here."
"We were aiming for Mexico." Amy informed Isaac, "The Doctor was taking us to see the Day of the Dead Festival."
"Mexico's 200 miles due south." Isaac offered.
"So, who is this alien doctor then?" Thea asked Isaac, leaning against the cell door, crossing her arms, "what did he do to get the Gunslinger to come after him? Can we meet him?"
"Meet who?" Isaac blinked at her.
"The alien doctor." She grinned, "those lot outside thought dear old dad was the alien Doctor, you said he wasn't, which means you already know who it is." She stopped seeing them all staring at her, the Doctor just holding back a laugh seeing the humans staring in awe at her deductions, "what? I do actually listen you know; I don't look like I am, but I am!"
The Doctor chuckled lightly as she finished. It was pretty simple to work out he wasn't the alien doctor the Gunslinger wanted, but of course others didn't let themselves think that deeply about it. The townspeople heard alien doctor and easily tossed him out to be rid of the danger around the town.
"Resident 81, I presume," the Doctor remarked, "so beloved by the townsfolk he warranted an alteration to the sign. Probably because he rigged up these electrics," he pointed up as the lights flickered, "and I'm guessing he's in here, because if half the town suddenly wanted to throw me to my death, this is where I'd want to be."
"I don't know what you..." Isaac tried to argue.
"Isaac, I think the time for subterfuge has passed." A voice called behind Thea inside the cell. They turned to see a short man standing up from where he had been laying with a blanket over him. He had on a fine suit, with glasses and a squiggling teal tattoo down his face. "Good afternoon. My name is Kahler-Jex. I'm the doctor."
Isaac sighed, stepped past the group to unlock the cell door and let Jex out, the Doctor instantly before the man, vigorously shaking his hand, "The Kahler. I love the Kahler. They're one of the most ingenious races in the galaxy. Seriously, they could build a spaceship out of Tupperware and moss."
"So how did you end up here?" Thea asked him, eying him.
There was something...off about Kahler-Jex, she wasn't sure what it was, but she had a bad feeling about him, a feeling she knew she should listen too. Kahler-Jex couldn't be trusted.
"My craft crashed about a mile or so out of town." Jex explained as he moved to sit behind the desk, "I would have died if Isaac and the others hadn't pulled me from the wreckage."
"And you stayed, as their doctor." The Doctor grinned.
"On my world I was a surgeon, so it seemed logical. And it gave me an opportunity to repay my debt to them."
"Listen to him." Isaac chuckled, "Talking like it was nothing. Tell them about the cholera." He slapped Jex on the back.
"Now, Isaac, I'm sure our guests are..."
"Two years after he arrived, there was an outbreak of cholera. Thanks to the doc here, not a single person died."
"A minor infection we'd found a treatment for centuries ago."
"No, no, what, what do you call them? The electrics?"
"Using my ship as a generator, I was able to rig up some rudimentary heating and lighting for the town."
Thea leaned across the desk, resting her elbows on the table, her chin in her hands as she eyed Jex, "So why does the Gunslinger want you?"
"It don't matter." Isaac waved her off.
"Except it does, because the Gunslinger is keeping this town trapped all because he wants Jex. Give him Jex and you and the rest of the town will likely be free to leave and get food." She narrowed her eyes at Jex, "so what did you do? Fugitive? Did you murder someone, and he wants revenge? Because Jex here helped the town out a bit you automatically assumed he was the good guy and the Gunslungers the bad guy because he had gun in his name. Have you tried to talk to the Gunslinger? Tried to reason at all, tried to understand what was going on? No?"
"The doc helped us..." Isaac tried to argue, "the Gunslingers been tryin' to kill us."
"With a warning shot in a hat?" Thea scoffed.
"It doesn't matter anyway," Isaac straightened, "America's the land of second chances. We called this town Mercy for a reason. Others...some round here, don't feel that way."
"Now, Isaac, we've discussed this." Jex sighed.
"People whose lives you've saved are suddenly saying we should hand you over."
"They're scared, that's all. You can hardly blame them."
"Them being scared scares me. War only ended 5 years back. That old violence is still under the surface. We give up Doc Jex, then we hand the keys of the town over to chaos."
"Did you try to repair your craft?" The Doctor asked out of nowhere. Well, seemingly out of nowhere to the humans, but he had been silently watching as Thea questioned and talked. As soon as Jex had introduced himself he had half expected her to start gushing about the Kahler but she hadn't, which meant she didn't trust Jex, and if she didn't trust Jex there would be a reason for it. "Surely someone with your skills..."
"It really was very badly damaged." Jex swallowed hard.
The Doctor nodded, seeing the man unable to meet his eyes and didn't need to be psychic to know the man was lying, "We evacuate the town. Our ship's just over the hills, room for everyone. I'll pop out, bring it back here, Robert's your uncle."
"Really?" Amy scoffed, "simple as that. No crazy schemes, no negotiations."
"I've matured. I'm 1200 years old now. Plus, I don't want to miss The Archers." He grabbed the Stetson hat, heading for the doors.
"Oh, so you're not even a tiny bit curious?"
"Why would I be curious? It's a mysterious space cowboy assassin. Curious? Of course, I'm not curious."
"I'm not at all curious." Thea stood and headed out of the room.
Amy and Rory looked at each other for that. That wasn't like Thea at all.
"Son?" Isaac called making the Doctor look back as he watched Thea head over to the stables, "You've still got to get past the Gunslinger. How you going to do that?"
The Doctor put the Stetson on his head, "With a little sleight of hand." He turned to the Preacher, "Can we borrow your horse, please? It's official Marshal business." He took the reins before the man could responded.
"He's called Joshua." The Preacher told them, "It's from the Bible. It means the Deliverer."
"It's not the name he wants to be called." Thea remarked as the Doctor helped her on the horse back. Still, she was not very good at horse riding. If she had to ride alone she would just about manage it, but she would much rather not. The only reason she was coming with the Doctor was because she didn't want to be anywhere near Jex.
"We speak horse," the Doctor offered as the Preacher looked confused, "He's called Susan, and he wants you to respect his life choices. Ready?" The Doctor asked as he jumped on in front of Thea taking the reins.
"Let's get this over with."
The Doctor nodded, urging the horse down the road as they took off out of town, not worrying about the Gunslinger seeing as how they had Rory and Isaac distracting him, wearing Jex clothing, Amy still in the jail with Jex just in case he tried to run off or something.
~.~
"Stop!" Thea gasped as they galloped down the dirt road.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa." The Doctor brought Susan to a halt, "Yes, I know we're in a hurry. Thea has seen something, therefore it's important and needs checking out. Two ticks." He dismounted the horse, "There's something niggling me." Susan neighed, "Yes, yes, if Thea called to stop, then it could be important," Susan snorted, "Oi, don't swear."
"There!" Thea pointed, "there's something on the road." She hopped of the horse and ran over, using her foot to shuffle the dirt away to reveal a hidden cable.
The Doctor picked up the wire, sniffing it, seeing it running all the way back to town.
"Come on," The Doctor called, "Let's see where this leads," They jumped back on the horse and galloped back down the road, following the cable to where it sparked, "Whoa, whoa, whoa," The Doctor brought them to a halt, "Yes, I wear a Stetson now." He added as Susan neighed. He hopped off and headed over to a mount with a tarp over it, where the cable connected to it, he pulled the tarp away revealing a white, egg-shaped ship, in perfect condition.
Susan snorted.
"Yes, a good point, Susan." the Doctor agreed with the horse, "where is the damage?"
"He lied." Thea murmured.
The Doctor looked over to see she hadn't left Susan side, unable to look at him or Jexs ship, "what? Thea? What is it?"
She didn't answer, closing her eyes and shaking her head. "Everything he said is a lie."
The Doctor nodded, "Stay here. If anything happens go back to town, straight away. No hesitations. Understood?" She nodded.
The Doctor turned to examine the ship, dreading what he would find inside, because if Thea knew he lied but refused to tell him what it was, he could only assume it was bad. He wasn't sure he wanted to find out the truth, but knew they needed it.
The Doctor climbed on top of the pod, knocking on it before sonicking the hatch, setting off the alarms. He jumped into the ship as Thea covered her ears at the noise. The horse whinging in discomfort.
As the Doctor dropped into the seat, the computer sprang to life, "Security breach. You have ten seconds to enter the pass code. Or this vehicle will self-destruct." He flashed the sonic on the screen, "Thank you for choosing Abarakas Security software. Incinerating intruders for three centuries. Nine, eight, seven..." he waved the sonic again and the alarm shut down, "Self-destruct overridden."
"This is an awful lot of security for a titchy spacecraft." The Doctor frowned.
"Awaiting command." The computer stated.
"Tell me everything you can about the Gunslinger."
"File not found. Please choose from Technical Specifications, Flight Recorder, Personal Files, Maps and Charts."
"Personal files of Doctor Kahler- Jex."
Jexs face appeared on the screen, along with strolling information and videos, "Names of deceased subjects can be found on the drop down menu."
The Doctors hearts sank as the files of people screaming in pain popped up, the information of what had happened to them scrolling fast before his eyes.
The Doctor climbed out if the pod, unable to see any more information of what Jex had done to those innocent people, only to see the Gunslinger pointing a gun at him.
"Don't shoot!" He cried, raising his hands above his head, "don't shoot, don't shoot. I know who you are, and who Jex is, too."
"Why haven't you just walked into town and kill him?" Thea called as she still stood on the road, holding Susan by the reigns. She had almost gone back to town when the Gunslinger appeared, but she knew he wasn't the enemy. Jex was. Jex was the bad guy and the Gunslinger was the victim.
"People will get in the way." The Gunslinger stated, lowering its gun.
"You want justice," the Doctor nodded, "you deserve justice, but this isn't the way. We can put him on trial..."
"When he starts killing your people, you can use your justice." The Gunslinger cut him off. "No more warning shots. I'll kill the next person to step over that line. Make sure it's Jex." He warned before turning and walking away.
~.~
Back in the Marshal's Office Jex stood before the wall, Rory Isaac and Amy facing him as the Time Lords returned to town, "it was stupid of me," Jex was saying, "I realise that now. I just thought I'd put you all in enough danger. Perhaps if I left..."
"You're not going anywhere," Thea told him coldly as she and the Doctor stepped inside. She leaned against the open doorway, crossing her arms, prepared if Jex tried to make an escape.
"He's lying." The Doctor added, stalking over to Jex, "Every word, everything he says, it's all lies. This man is a murderer."
"I am a scientist." Jex defended.
"Sit down." The Doctor ordered but Jex refused, "Sit down!" The suddenness of the shout was enough to send Jex back into the stool, "Tell them what you are."
"What am I?" Jex looked offended, "A war hero."
"A war criminal." Thea corrected.
"Okay, somebody want to tell me what is going on?" Isaac shook his head.
"The Gunslinger is a Cyborg." The Doctor stated.
"A what?"
"Half man, half machine. A weapon. Jex built it. He and his team took volunteers, told them they'd been selected for special training, then experimented on them, fused their bodies with weaponry, and programmed them to kill."
"Okay. Why?" Isaac asked, turning to Jex, "Why would you do that, Doc?"
"We'd been at war for 9 years." Jex told them, "A war that had already decimated half of our planet. Our task was to bring peace, and we did. We built an army that routed the enemy and ended the war in less than a week. Do you want me to repent, to beg forgiveness for saving millions of lives?"
"And how many died screaming on the operating table before you had found your advantage?" The Doctor snapped.
Thea pushed herself off the wall she leaned against, moving to the Doctors side seeing him getting angrier at Jexs words, trying to defend himself, at his little remorse of what he had done to his own people, she knew he would end up doing something he would regret soon. The sooner they handed Jex to the Gunslinger the better. She led him over to a barrel to sit at the side of the room, knowing that Jexs words were getting to him even more than he was showing, better to keep them apart for now.
"War is another world." Jex continued, "You cannot apply the politics of peace to what I did. To what any of us did."
Rory frowned, "What happened then? How come you're here?"
"When the war ended, we had the Cyborgs decommissioned," Jex shrugged, "but one of them must have got its circuitry damaged in battle. It went offline and began hunting down the team that created it until just two of us were left. We fled, and our ships crashed here."
Rory glanced over to the Time Lords, the Doctor sat with his eye closed as Thea rested her head on his shoulder whispering quietly to him.
"So, what do we do with Jex?" Rory shook his head.
"What do we do with him?" Isaac repeated confused.
"Yeah. I mean, he's a war criminal."
"No, he's the guy that saved the town from cholera, the guy that gave us heat and light."
"Look," Amy cut in, "Jex may be a criminal and yeah, kind of creepy."
"And still in the room." Jex huffed.
"But I think we should put aside what he did and find another solution."
"Another solution?" Rory gaped, "It's him or us!"
"When did we start letting people get executed? Did I miss a memo?"
"If we keep protecting Jex in this town then eventually everyone will starve, Amy." Thea remarked, looking over at her.
"Doctor!" Amy called, wanting to know what he had to say about this.
The Doctor looked up at the mention of his name, "Hmm? Yes. I don't know. Whatever Thea said."
"I was just reminding them that eventually this town will starve the longer Jex is here." She told him.
"Looking at you, Doctor, is like looking into a mirror," Jex nearly sneered at the Doctor, "almost. There's rage there, like me. Guilt, like me. Solitude. Everything but the nerve to do what needs to be done. Thank the gods my people weren't relying on you to save them."
The Doctor jumped up at his words, lunging at Jex, "No!" He hauled him up, "No, but these people are!" And shoved him out into the streets, "Out! Out! Out!"
The humans moved to follow, Rory stopping Amy at the doorway as Isaac chased the Doctor.
"Oh, you're really letting him do this?" Amy narrowed her eyes.
"Save us all?" Rory scoffed, "Yeah, I really am." He nodded, following out across the town.
Amy huffed, turning to Thea who hadn't moved, "Thea!"
"Come on!" She called, pulling Amy out with her to stop the Doctor doing something he would regret. Oh, she would happily see Jex answer to the Gunslinger for his crimes, allow him his revenge but something in her gut told her not to let that happen.
"Move!" The Doctor shouted, the noise attracting the curiosity of the townspeople as they came out to see what the commotion was.
"No!" Jex protected.
The Doctor shoved him over the line, "Get over, and don't come back."
Jex fell on his back, scrambling to get up and back over the line as the Doctor grabbed the gun from a nearby man and aimed it at him.
"You wouldn't." Jex stated.
"I genuinely don't know..." The Doctor glared.
Thea just shook her head. He might not know if he himself would fire, but she did, it was obvious as he hesitated to fire. He wouldn't shoot Jex.
A gunshot went off and everyone looked over to see Amy was holding Isaacs gun above her head.
"Let him come back, Doctor." Amy ordered.
"Or what?" The Doctor challenged, "You won't shoot me, Amy."
"How do you know? Maybe I've changed. I mean, you've clearly been taking stupid lessons since I saw you last." She waved the gun around, accidently firing it at the ground, "I didn't mean to do that." And again.
"Then put it down." Thea walked over and placed her hand over Amys holding the gun.
"Everyone who isn't an American, drop your gun." Isaac shouted his agreement.
"And you." Thea gave the Doctor a pointed look, seeing the gun still in his hand.
The Doctor lowered the gun, not dropping it as he moved to her side, "you know what he's done. We can end this right now. We could save everyone right now!"
"But it's not up to us, is it?" She argued, "we're not supposed to intervene with other people or planets. And I know that all we ever do," She waved off with an eye roll, "but could you do it?" She eyed him, "know that you're the reason Jex died, because you sent him to his death. Is that really what you want to show me, that killing someone is an option? That is not the promise you made to yourself."
He swallowed, "Jex has to answer for his crimes."
"And then what?" Amy asked, getting his attention on her, "you're going to hunt down everyone who's made a gun, a bullet, or a bomb?"
"Anyone who's ever committed genocide?" Thea added, hating to have to say that, to call him out on it. She knew it had been Gallifrey or the universe, a choice she herself would never be able to make, but she had to get through to him somehow.
"But they keep coming back, don't you see?" the Doctor murmured, "Every time I negotiate, I try to understand. Well, not today. No. Today, I honour the victims first. His, the Master's, the Dalek's, all the people who died because of my mercy!"
"You see, this is what happens when you travel alone for too long. Well, listen to me, Doctor. We can't be like him. We have to be better than him."
"If you could choose who lived and who died, that would make monsters of us." Thea whispered.
The Doctor sighed, closing his eyes, "Fine, fine." he handed the gun back to the man, "We think of something else. But frankly," he had to add, "I'm betting on the Gunslinger."
"Jex," Thea turned to him, holding a hand out to beckon him over seeing just how close the Gunslinger had gotten, "back over the line."
Jex looked behind him swallowing as the Gunslinger teleported directly behind him, his gun aimed at the mans head.
"Make peace with your gods." The Gunslinger stated.
"Kahler-Tek, isn't it?" Jex spoke softly, "I remember all your names, even now. I'll never hurt anyone again. I'm even helping people here."
"Last chance. Make peace with your gods." The Gunslingers powered up his gun to shoot...
When Isaac ran oved and shoving Jex out the way with a cry of; "No!" Getting hit instead.
"No!" Thea gasped, running to Isaac side as he fell back from the shot. "No, no, no!" She shook her head, she hadn't seen this coming, had no idea Isaac would have tried to get in the way. She hadn't been paying attention to him. He wasn't supposed to have gotten hurt, she should have seen it, or felt it or something.
"It's okay, it's okay." The Doctor rushed to the mans over side checking on him, "We can get you to Jex's surgery. He can save you."
"Listen to me." Isaac strained, grabbing the Doctors arm, "You've got to stay. You've got to look after everyone."
"It won't come to that, Isaac."
"Protect Jex." Isaac pleaded with his last few breathes, "Protect my town. You're both good men. You just forget it sometimes." He pressed something into the Doctors hand before taking his last breath. The man dying before their eyes.
"That man protected you!" Thea stood and turned to Jex, "he trusted you and protected you. Do not let him have died in vain."
The Doctor stood up, seeing Isaac had passed him his Marshall badge as his pinned it to his lapel, "Take Jex to his cell." He ordered, "If anything happens to him, you'll have me to answer to." He waited as a few men took Jex and pulled him back to the jail before turning to the Gunslinger, "This has gone on long enough."
"You are right." The Gunslinger agreed, "You've got until noon tomorrow. Give him to me or I'll kill you all." With that final threat, he teleported away.
"Oh, my god." Amy gasped, spotting him wearing the badge, "you're the Marshal."
"Yeah." He nodded, glancing to Thea, "And can be my Deputy."
"Lucky me." Thea muttered.
~.~
Night had fallen as Jex stood in his cell, the Doctor sat on a barrel near the Doctor watching Jex as Thea sat on the floor before his feet, her head resting on his knee, seemingly about to doze off as Amy and Rory sat silently at the Marshal's desk.
Thea lifted her head up, "Come in," She called as the Preacher stepped inside, taking his hat on respectfully.
"Marshal," he nodded to the Doctor, "deputy," then to Thea, "Ma'am," and to Amy before hesitating before Rory, "Fella." and focusing on the Doctor, "You need to come outside."
"Why, what's wrong?" The Doctor frowned.
"Just come outside. And you should put that on." He nodded to a holster hanging on a hook.
Thea sighed as she got to her feet, "Frightened people." She told the Doctor, the only explanation he needed as he put the holster on, having no plans to use it as he headed out to see a large group of the townspeople had gathered.
"What's going on?" The Doctor asked them.
The young man from the saloon stepped forwards, "He in there? Leave the keys and take a walk. By the time you get back, this'll all be done."
"I promised Isaac, I'd protect him."
"Protecting him got Isaac dead. Tomorrow, it's going to be us all, dead."
"We thought Isaac was right to fight," another man agreed, "but it's different now. We've got to say, all right we lost, and give that thing what it wants."
"What it wants is to kill our friend." The bartender shouted.
"We don't got any ill feeling towards the Doc." The young man defended, "We just thinking about our families. Hand him over and we all safe again."
"You know I can't do that." The Doctor shook his head.
"We got us a problem." The young man pushed back his coat revealing a holster of his own.
"You're 18, aren't you?" Thea eyed him, stepping up, "my age." Well not quite her age but none of the humans would believe otherwise, "too young to have fought in war. You've never shot anyone before and you never will."
"First time for everything." The young man narrowed his eyes, cocking the gun.
"You won't shoot."
"You reckon?"
"I know." She said knowingly.
"But that's how all this started." The Doctor remarked, moving closer to the crowd, "Jex turned someone into a weapon. Now that same story's going to make you a killer, too. Don't you see? Violence doesn't end violence, it extends it, and I don't think you want to do this. I don't think you want to become that man."
"There's kids here." The young man said quietly, the Doctors words getting to him.
"I know, who I can save if you'll let me."
"He really worth the risk?"
"No," Thea answered honestly, "I'd happily hand him over to Tek but Isaac death would be in vein." she stepped down to stand before the boy, "but, Walter, you and everyone is this town is worth the risk to ensure you're all safe."
The young man looked startled for a moment at how she knew his name before he sighed, putting his gun away and turning to left, the men and woman following him.
"Frightened people." the Doctor murmured, as Thea stepped back to his side, "Give me a Dalek any day, eh?"
"I don't know," Thea gave a small smile, "I seem to have my way with people."
The Doctor gave a small chuckle as they headed back inside. She really did have a way with people but all that it usually took was just her knowing their names. He didn't always bother to learn them unless he was speaking to them directly. Sometimes all it took for people to trust you was to say their name and reassure them.
"Fresh coffee, Marshal." The Undertaker came inside the room, setting a cup on the desk as the Doctor took the holster back off, "For what it's worth, I know you're going to save us. Isaac made you Marshal for a reason, and if you're good enough for him, you're good enough for me. Reckon you should know that."
"Thank you." The Doctor nodded as he toasted the cup, taking a sip and leaning back against on the rail...until he felt the Undertaker taking his measurement, "Oi. Get out of it."
"Let me guess." Jex called once the Undertaker left, "The good folk of Mercy wanted me to take a little stroll into the desert. You could turn a blind eye. No one would blame you. You'd be a hero."
"But I can't, can I?" The Doctor countered, "Because then Isaac's death would mean nothing. Just another casualty in your endless bloody war," he frowned as Jex laid down, facing away from them.
"Do you want to be handed over to Tek?" Thea tilted her head at him.
She couldn't quite get a feeling from him. Like one moment he felt no remorse and would happily leave Earth and have the Gunslinger follow him and repeat on another planet but there were moments when she couldn't be sure if he was overwhelmed by so much guilt that he knew the right thing to do was to be handed over and face his punishment.
"Is that what you want?" The Doctor asked, "do you even know?"
"You think I'm unaffected by what I did?" Jex stood up, "That I don't hear them screaming every time I close my eyes? It would be so much simpler if I was just one thing, wouldn't it? The mad scientist who made that killing machine, or the physician who's dedicated his life to serving this town. The fact that I'm both bewilders you."
"Oh, do shut up!" Thea glared at him, "you think we don't see what you're doing? You helping in this town isn't out of your own kindness. This is you trying to serve your own punishment. Well, it isn't up to you how your debt is paid because otherwise it isn't a punishment." She sneered at him through the bars, "Keep talking and I'll hand you over to Tek myself."
The Doctor stepped forwards and took Thea by the hand, tugging her back seeing her getting wound up. She complained that he let Jex get to him earlier now she was doing the same thing.
They were both a pair of hypocrites with short fuses.
"Step outside, get some fresh air," The Doctor murmured in her ear, ushering her outside.
"In my culture," Jex spoke again after a moment, "we believe that when you die your spirit has to climb a mountain carrying the souls of everyone you wronged in your lifetime. Imagine the weight I will have to lift. The monsters I created, the people they killed. Isaac, he was my friend. Now his soul will be in my arms, too. Can you see now why I fear death? You want to hand me over. There's no shame in that. But you won't. We all carry our prisons with us. Mine is my past. Yours is your morality."
"We all carry our prisons with us." The Doctor mocked, "Ha!"
~.~
The Doctor stepped outside, trusting Amy and Rory to ensure Jex didn't try to escape. He needed to have a quiet word in private with his daughter about whatever feeling she had that she was keeping from him.
He sat down on the steps next to her both looking up at the stars in the clear night sky, neither saying anything for the time being.
Thea sighed, finally breaking the silence, knowing why the Doctor had come outside and that he wouldn't be the first to speak. "Say you saw something," she began slowly, "and because you've already seen it you don't know whether you can change that or if you have to let it play out."
"Saw something how?" The Doctor frowned.
"Not necessarily saw, but, felt…"
That wasn't really where she wanted this conversation to go. She always had multiple conversation in her head, acting out how they would go but the other person never seemed to follow the script in her head.
"If you saw someone's death, knew that was coming, could you change that? Should you? Because what if that was how they were meant to die."
She didn't like to think of it like that. That people were to die a certain way and nothing could change that.
"I don't know." The Doctor murmured, wrapping an arm around her as she leaned closer.
That was what she wanted right now, comforting to whatever she had seen, she didn't want answers right this moment.
Neither of them knew how her feelings works. Hardly anyone did, it wasn't like there were many books on how to be a Visionary (He had checked in the TARDIS library). There had only been very few members of the High Council who knew the way Visionaries worked, how their mind operated differently from everyone else's.
The Visionaries on Gallifrey were trained to be the best they could, to give the council what they want to know. They knew how to look for certain futures and knew how their minds works to see the future but Thea didn't. Every time these feelings came they were random and so little did many of them make sense.
~.~
At just before noon the Doctor stood before the Bank in the middle of town, waiting for the Gunslinger to arrive to set their plan in motion. Amy had the keys to the cell to let Jex out to escape back to his ship once the Gunslinger was distracted enough for Jex to slip out unnoticed.
The Doctor cracked his neck as the clock struck 12 and a displacement of air signalled the Gunslinger had arrived.
He waited as the man got closer before the Doctor whipped out his sonic, holding it high above his head. A high pitch sound went off, shattering the windows as the Gunslinger groaned in pain.
Thea moved out from the side of the building, pulling the Doctor with her as the Gunslinger fired randomly and they hide down the side of the Saloon, out of sight as Thea pulled out a small box, starting to paint a tattoo similar to Jexs. A couple of the men in the town also had the tattoo, enough that it distracted the Gunslinger for a time.
Thea winced hearing the women screaming as the doors to the church was blast open, knowing the Gunslinger had heard the women and children hidden inside.
"Done!" She gasped, finishing the tattoo on the Doctors face as they hurried back round only to see Jex hesitating to leave.
"Go! Just go!" The Doctor ushered him on, "I can't save them while you're here."
They ran to the church as Jex turned and ran out to the desert, seeing no one in the church had been harmed by the Gunslinger as he switched from automatic targeting to manual.
The Gunslinger turned, hearing their approach, "Where is he?" he demanded.
"Gone." Thea said simply.
"Where? Answer me."
"Away from here." The Doctor told him, "Look up. Any second now you'll see the vapour trail of his ship. This is their home, not the backdrop for your revenge. Lookup, go after him, take this battle away from..."
"Kahler-Tek." Jexs voice called out from the streetlamps, "Kahler-Tek."
"Jex." The Gunslinger growled, "Coward. Where are you?"
"I'm in my ship."
"What are you doing?" The Doctor shouted, "Just go!"
Thea shook her head, closing her eyes knowing that her feeling wasn't changing.
"Where are you from?" Jex asked, "where on Kahler?"
"Now?" The Doctor cried, "You're asking him this now?"
"Gabriah." The Gunslinger answered.
"I know it." Jex sighed, "it's beautiful there. When this is over, will you go back?"
"How can I? I am a monster now."
"So am I."
"Just go!" The Doctor shouted, "Finish this!"
"He is." Thea said quietly as the Doctor turned to her, not understanding.
"I'll find you." The Gunslinger swore, "if I have to tear this universe apart, I will find you."
"I don't doubt that." Jex agreed, "You'll chase me to another planet and another race will be caught in the cross-fire."
"Face me!" The Gunslinger shouted.
"Count down to self-destruct resumed." Jex computer announced.
"Face me!"
"No." Jex replied, "You've killed enough. I'm ending the war for you, too."
"Count down to self-destruct resumed."
The Doctor closed his eyes as her realised what Thea meant. Exactly what her feeling meant.
"Thank you, Doctor." Jex called, "I have to face the souls of those I've wronged. Perhaps they will be kind."
"Three, two, one, zero." The computer counted down.
Thea turned her back as Jexs ship exploded in the distance, a mushroom cloud rising up.
"He behaved with honour at the end." The Gunslinger bowed his head, "Maybe more than me."
"No," Thea shook her head, "he took the cowards way out rather than excepting his punishment as it should have been."
"We could take you back to your world." The Doctor offered, "You could help with the reconstruction."
The Gunslinger turned and started to walk away, "I will walk into the desert and self-destruct. I'm a creature of war. I have no role to play during peace."
"Except maybe to protect it." Thea suggested as the Gunslinger stopped and turned back to her. She stepped closer to him, "we'll be leaving soon, Mercy is in need of a new Marshal. I don't think I could see anyone do a better than you."
She pinned the Marshal badge to the Gunslingers lapel, smiling seeing the Gunslingers face quirk into that of hope.
~.~
"Okay!" The Doctor cheered as they headed out of saloon later that day, "so, our next trip. Oh! You know all the monkeys and dogs they sent into space in the fifties and sixties? You will never guess what really happened to them."
"Er, and here I thought the original plan was to go to the Day of the Dead festival." Thea reminded him.
"When you come out dressed for the mid-West we all know that's not where we're going to end up." The Doctor laughed, flicking Thea on her nose as they headed back to the TARDIS which was now parked in the middle of town.
She stuck her tongue out at him, glancing back to the Ponds walking behind, "do you guys still want to go? Or would you rather get dropped off home?"
"Could we leave it a while?" Amy asked hesitantly, "Our friends are going to start noticing that we're aging faster than them."
"Another time?" The Doctor nodded, actually alright with that. They were trying to keep to one adventure at a time now. The Day of the Dead can be for next time, maybe they would actually make it then, "No worries."
Amy waved goodbye to the townspeople before she and Rory headed inside as the Doctor and the young lad pretending to draw a gun on each other as they laughed before he and Thea following the humans inside and dematerialised.