The Doctor stood facing himself, a frown on his face. 'I can't have them upset over me.' He mumbled, stuffing his hands in his pockets. He glanced over to the blue box, sitting a far distance away. 'Amy and Rory I mean… They can't cry. They don't deserve another dead Doctor.'

The other man nodded, 'So you went back in time, or rather farther in time, to get me, so Amy wouldn't cry?' The real Doctor nodded to his duplicate. 'I understand. We are the same person, you know, but going back and making me give the other ganger the sonic to kill that thing by herself… it didn't feel too right.'

'Never does.' The real Doctor sighed, then winced and looked down at his side. He pulled his hands from his pockets and pressed them against the bullet hole. 'Mega-Plex Radiation bullet, it stops my regeneration cycle from going further than a few of my cells realigning.' He shifted uneasily before dropping to his knees.

'No!' The duplicate yelled, then knelt beside the Doctor. 'I will not take your place.'

'We're the same person… Whatever I am, you are. Love them both.' He said with a cringe, then doubled over. 'Oh, kidney just failed,'

'Doctor, stay with me, keep your eyes open!'

The real Doctor shook his head, 'One of my hearts just stopped.' He whispered, then pulled up his sleeve to expose a Time Vortex Manipulator. He glanced up and grinned, trying to throw in some of his normal enthusiasm. 'Live well, Doctor.' He said and pressed down a button.

'Doctor!' The ganger yelled, stretching out a hand to thin air. The real Doctor was gone with just a key and his screwdriver in his place. The ganger picked them up and slipped them into his pockets. 'Goodbye.' He whispered and turned to walk into the waiting TARDIS. He slipped the key into the lock and pushed the door open.

Amy was leaning against the console, her arms crossed. 'Who were you talking to?'

He closed the door and took two giant hops to stand directly in front of her. 'No one, nobody… no one. Where to?'

'Don't change the subject,' she said with an eye-roll. 'I know you were talking to someone.'

'Go find Rory since you're being no help with a destination. Oh, how about the cliffs of Rowatoo? Mountains made of sapphire,' he said, ignoring Amy's earlier question.

She frowned and pushed off the console, 'Is something the matter? I mean, after you showed up at our doorstep saying a friend made you realise something… who was she?'

He froze, not having the slightest clue of what to say. His memories, lifespan, stopped at the time when he was created. Everything else that happened to the Doctor after that wasn't in his head. 'Just a friend,' he said.

'Doctor, I know… I know at first you never tell me, but you always end up saying. It's been a while, tell me.'

'Actually, it's never been "a while", Amy. That moment in time is happening now and it will always be happening now.' He flicked up a lever and grinned. 'You need to understand those little snips of time travel, Amy.' The Doctor stopped and smiled at her, 'Get Rory!'

She nodded, but didn't move, 'Doctor?' Amy asked as he poked her arm, then her forehead thoughtfully. He didn't respond as he took out his sonic and scanned her. 'Doctor, what are you doing?'

He tapped the air with the sonic, then set it back into his pocket. 'Sorry, what?'

'What did you just do with the sonic?' She snapped.

He looked over her and then shook his head. 'Don't know, I think a lot. It's hard to keep track,' He murmured, then rubbed his forehead. 'Why?' He whispered barely above his breath.

'What?'

The Doctor raised his head, 'Why? Why! What did we ever do?' He fell back against the console and moaned slightly, 'Sorry, my head… blimey,' he rubbed his temples and tried a smile, 'Rowatoo?'

Amy glared at him, 'Something's wrong, tell me.'

'Can't,'

'Why not?'

He shut his eyes, then opened them and flipped another lever down. 'Because if I tell you, the universe could implode. Because if I tell you, someone will cry. I can't have someone crying because of the news you made me tell you. It's better off a secret,'

'So no one will get hurt? Or cry?' Amy asked with a confused look. She side-stepped to stand directly in front of the Doctor. 'Who will cry?'

'Oh, Pond, what don't you understand about calling a secret?'

Her eyebrows rose, 'The secret bit.' She said, then laughed as the Doctor pointed at her.

He clapped, then spun around to the other side of the console. One hand was gripping a large lever, while the other rested calmly on the console. His mouth was turned in a mischievous grin, but Amy saw a silent tear trickle down his face. 'Rowatoo then?' He asked as he pushed the lever down and Amy was thrown off her feet.

As she was about to hit the ground, hands grasped her elbows and she turned to smile at Rory. 'Is the Doctor crying?' He asked.

Amy looked over to the Doctor, who was staring at the Time Rotor with such intensity that she thought lasers would shoot from his eyes. She looked back at her husband, her eyes wide. 'I don't know.'

'I thought he was a Time Lord… you know, doesn't get affected easily by the emotions and stuff.'

'That's just what he says, it doesn't make it true.' Amy said and pushed away from Rory. She threw her weight across the shaking floor to fall against the console. 'Doctor, why Rowa-something?'

The Doctor looked at her with disbelief, 'Rowa-something? Amy Pond, your memory is literally quite awful. Rowatoo.' He said with a smile, not even realising he was being rude. The TARDIS stopped moving and he ran towards the door. 'So, who wants to see cliffs of sapphires?' He said with an obnoxious smile spreading on his face.

Amy stepped forward, blindly finding Rory's hand behind her. The Doctor swung the doors open as he stepped out and laughed warm-heartedly. 'Doctor, why did you take us here?'

'Oh, so now you're dodging the word, Pond? Since when did you ask "why", anyway?' He asked, his forehead wrinkling up as he eyebrows pushed together. Not waiting for an answer, he rambled on, 'Well, I brought us "here" because it's beautiful! It glows power, energy that forces you to stay awake. It forces you to be happy, and who wants to be sad?'

'Sad people?' Rory interjected.

The Doctor shook his head as he looked out over the shiny, blue mountains. 'No, Rory, no one wants to be sad… or mad, or wants to hate their very own existence. It just happens.' He called over his shoulder as he motioned for Amy to step out.

'The air is… silver?' Amy said with a confused look to the Doctor.

'Of course its silver! What other colour would it be?' He looked at her with a child-like gleam in his eyes.

Amy rolled her eyes at him, 'You could start with the colour clear?'

'Clear isn't a colour, Amy!' He cried out as he skipped over to a railing stretching out over the edge of the mountain. He rested his hands on the railing, his forehead crinkling in thought. 'Mountains made of sapphire; it's been around before the Earth was even a planet. That long ago, Earth was just rocks floating in the Solar System, but Rowatoo is so much different and so much the same! The air is breathable, there's water in the ground, and the people are generally friendly.'

'Generally friendly? Are they or are they not?' Rory asked.

'In between,' The Doctor responded, his gaze distant. He jogged down the pathway to a set of stairs leading away from the mountains into a slightly civilised town. He paused as he saw a man doubled over next a bench directly across from him. 'Not good,' He whispered to himself quizzically. The man looked up, a smile spreading on his lips. His bow tie was askew, so was every other thing about him, but there was no mistaking him. The man lowered his head again, letting a mop of brown hair drop over his forest green eyes. 'All right then... Amy!'

He felt a gentle tap on his shoulder as Amy approached him, 'Doctor? What's the matter?' She asked, a frown going across her face. The Doctor didn't move, couldn't move, his eyes away from the man falling over in pain. He couldn't bring himself to rip his eyes away.

'Amy, Rory, I'm about to tell you something very important. You have to listen and keep an open mind, all right?'

'Yeah, okay.' Amy said as she lifted her hand behind her, searching for Rory's hand. Once she locked hands with him, an overwhelming calmness sailed through her. It still bothered her to look at the Doctor in such a sad state, but Rory had made it slightly better just by being there.

The Doctor shifted his head slightly, but didn't take his eyes off of the man on the ground. 'I'm not the Doctor.'