The Tardis shuddered as the Doctor plunged solo into the time vortex again and again. Whenever he hit the right frequency, he slammed on the brakes, jerked his craft, streamlined her horizontal, clinging on, before accelerating and crashing into what he knew was the equivalent of a cold brick wall, causing screeching and whining to erupt from every individual atom forming his time machine. Each time he thrust himself against the locked doors of time, the small black screen above his compass would flicker into static and read JUMP DECLINED. After a while he gave up. He kicked the control panel dejectedly and sank to the ground. That's when the Doctor broke down. He started sobbing, his head in his hands.
'Haven't you got better things to be doing than sitting in your own snot?'
'Amy?' His head shot up immediately.
'Get up you dumb-ass.'
'Amy!' His eyes were hopeful, longing. His voice was choked, tainted with pleading. 'Amy where are you? I want you back, I need you back, I'm so sorry.'
He closed his eyes, fighting the anguish, when her image appeared in his head. He was standing opposite her in a room he didn't know. It looked like a darkened version of the Tardis.
'Amy! Where are you? What're you doing here?' He pounded on the invisible wall separating them, shoving at it, tears running free down his face. 'Amy let me in, please, I'm begging you Amy please,' he whispered, over and over.
'Hi Doctor.' Her face was wet, mascara smudged. She looked exactly the same; red hair, boots, short skirt, jacket.
'Where are you? Amy I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry.' His voice broke, trembling, as he pounded on the door, zapping it with his screwdriver, striking it again and again, making his hands bleed.
'Doctor, stop it, STOP IT! I'm in a Dalek spaceship. I stole – borrowed, I borrowed it. This is just a visual. It's not real – it's in your head.'
'In Manhattan? Why are Daleks in Manhattan?' He sounded angrier than he should have. 'How come they get to be there when I…I can't,' he whispered. 'I can't.'
'They were already there, in New Jersey. But this is fixed time, right? They couldn't kill me or Rory because we've got a fixed lifespan already. They couldn't kill us, even though they tried. As soon as Rory touched them they disappeared.'
'Where's Rory?'
'He's here, but he doesn't want to talk to you.' She smiled apologetically. 'He still thinks you're coming back for us.'
'I am coming back for you Amy, I promise.' His voice cracked. 'I won't leave you there, ok? I love you, I love you and I love Rory and I'm coming back for you right now.'
'You can't. I know you can't. Rory saw his grave, you can't just rescue him.'
'I can get you back, Amy, I can get you and Rory back.'
'Stop talking like that. You need to pull yourself together and look after my daughter, yeah? Look after River. She needs you.'
'I can't let you go,' he whispered. 'Amy I can't.'
For a moment she looked like she wanted to say something. I can't let go of you either. The words went straight into his heart.
'You have to. You'll find somebody else. Don't be on your own. Hey raggedy man, I love you too, ok?'
She flickered away.
He took another final swing at the wall, and his hand sank straight through. He was back in the Tardis. Amy was gone.