ladyofleithian | For angst

Title: Facing Fearful Odds

Summary: In the early months of the Year That Never Was, Harriet Jones continues to endure.

Prompt: Unexpected Consequences

Disclaimer: Sadly enough, I do not own DOCTOR WHO.

Warnings: Dark themes, and getting Harriet's voice wrong, no doubt.
And rusty writing skills.

Author's Notes: Title from Thomas MacCaulay's "The Lays of Ancient Rome", from the poem "Horatius": "And how can man die better/Than facing fearful odds/For the ashes of his fathers/And the temples of his Gods." Also known as the poem Mr. Jefferson quotes in "The Impossible Planet" after Scooti's death. Considering "Last of the Time Lords" in general and how passionate Harriet is about defending Earth, I thought it was very appropriate.

Dear Doctor (wherever you are),

I know that after the Christmas the Sycorax invaded, you may not feel like speaking to me, but I feel you may want to hear this. At least, I thought I would speak to you about certain things.

I don't know what's happened to you or where you are -- the last I recall, President Winters was apparently murdered, and the Toclafane swarmed from the sky to start killing -- but the situation is dire. I don't just refer to the Toclafane, but the wild dogs running all over Britain, the starving and the sick and the dying, the fact that the Earth has been turned into the playground of a megalomaniac and a dictator.

And I cannot help but wonder, in all truth, how you could have all but made this happen. If you hadn't decided to play God that day, if this would have come to pass. (Because you are a remarkable man, Doctor, but you are not God, and you never will be)

You were the one, after all, who planted that idea in Alex's head. You were the one, after all, who believed that he was the one firmly in the right. If you hadn't done this, who knows what might have happened? Perhaps, maybe, this could have been avoided. Perhaps Britain might have advanced into the golden age you once prophesied, instead of this hell we now live in.

You said once on Christmas Day, the day I ordered Torchwood shot down the Sycorax ship, that they -- we -- committed an act of murder, and that if nothing else, you should have warned them that the real monsters were coming -- the human race. But I don't think you understood, and I doubt you understand now. But to put it more plainly, I did what I could if only to keep the human race safe.

You aren't always around. You come and you go. Sometimes you're here for us, but most of the time, you aren't. People died that day, people who did nothing wrong besides attempt to seek out a peaceful solution. A peaceful solution is not a terrible thing, but there are some species out there, beyond the stars, who would never truly accept such a thing. You remember that the Sycorax leader was all too happy to attempt to kill you the moment you turned your back, and the Slitheen family were barely interested in negotiation
either. It is far from pleasant, but one must do what one can if only to survive.

Believe me, Doctor, I have contemplated time and time again about whether or not I was right that day. But the truth remains -- I did my duty if only to protect Britain. I know full well that it wouldn't occur to you. But there are times when it must happen.

And I don't know where you are, or what has happened to you. Or what is happening to you. But I ask you, and Ms. Jones -- help us.

Sincerely,

Harriet Jones, former Prime Minister

P.S. I do hope that Miss Jones gets out of Turkey safely. For all the things I can't forgive you for, you choose your companions well. Your companions, I daresay, are the best of you.

Harriet Jones put her pen aside and sighed, folding the paper and putting it in the envelope. She doubted she could ever send it to the Doctor. After all, who knew where he was? And even if she did, how could she tell him all of this? Even this letter...even that couldn't do this situation justice. It could never encapsulate the full horror, seeing her city, her London, overrun by these flying metal creatures. Dogs running wild in London. And the reports pouring in -- the poisoning of the Caspian Sea, the freezing of the River Nile, the islands of Japan burned to the ground...it was enough to break one's heart.

This is what you've created, Doctor. All thanks to your naivetie and arrogance. I hope you're pleased with yourself.

It was no doubt harsh, and yet it was true. If you had never done this -- if you had never decided to play God --

But there was no use in dwelling on what could have been. For now, she could at least find a way to help those who were most in need of it. The sick and the starving and the dying -- if she could find a way to help them, it could at least make a difference. And find a way to at least have a chance at rebelling against this tyrant that now ruled this planet. The man who had made this world into what was essentially hell.

And Harriet could only hope that wherever Martha Jones, she could help them find a way to defeat Saxon. Because whatever it took, this madman needed to be stopped.