"So… why are we still alive, anyway?"
"Here's the thing. The Daleks have built this supercomputer that can kill anyone, anywhere. One word, one thought from the operator, and… boom! Painful death, right at your doorstep. Of course, it means a painful death for the operator, too, but… they're still working out the drawbacks."
"And that has anything to do with us because…"
A small, grim smile from the Doctor. "They want me to operate it."
"Don't you dare activate it, Amelia."
"I think it's a brilliant idea." Sitting in the enormous chair, she took a handful of electrodes, connected via wires to the main computer terminal, and stuck them to her skin: wrist, wrist, forehead. "I mean, these Daleks have killed, what, thousands of people? Billions? The universe would be loads better off without them."
"And significantly worse off without you!" the Doctor shouted, his face inches away from hers.
With surprising calmness, she shook her head, grabbed another handful of electrodes- Shoulder, shoulder, right temple, left temple- and slapped his hand away when he tried to yank them from her grasp.
"One of us has to do this, Doctor. It's going to be me. You might not believe it, but the universe needs you. I'm just a girl from Leadworth."
He seizes her hands, pins them down. "Amy, Amelia- you're wrong, you have no idea how incorrect that is. Please, don't do this- there's still time, the TARDIS will get you and Rory home, you'll be safe, Amy-"
"Safe. And I'll live the rest of my life with the knowledge that my best friend died right in front of me because I was too polite to stop him! I don't care about safe, you numpty! I wanted to have adventures. You've given me so, so much- I've saved worlds, lives, seen places I couldn't even have imagined. I've walked on alien planets. So, Doctor- when I'm not around to look after you, you've got to live. You've got to keep going, keep running, keep having wonderful, extraordinary adventures. Do that for me. Promise."
"Exterminate! Exterminate!" From outside the small room that held the Dalek supercomputer came the sound of metal against metal. The improvised barricade wouldn't hold for much longer.
"There's still time, Amelia," he insisted, knowing full well that there wasn't.
The spark of Amy's smile faded before reaching her eyes. "Yeah. Sure there is. But that doesn't change anything. I'm still going to do this, and you're still going to walk out of here." She held the last electrode. "Tell Rory… I don't know, something clever and eloquent, but make it sound like I said it. Goodbye, Doctor."
"Amelia-"
Amelia, marvelous and brilliant, with hair like a Gallifreyan sunset; Amelia, who ran towards danger instead of away from it. In the dimly lit, coppery glow of the small chamber, her eyes were the darkly enchanting green of forests.
"EXTERMINATE… EXTERMINATE…"
Only seconds left now. The Doctor rarely found himself at a loss for words; now, though, all he could do was try not to cry. Finally, his tongue found an all-too-familiar phrase: "I'm sorry, Amy."
"Yeah, well, I'm not. It was worth it. Everything."
He closed his eyes, not wanting to watch her die.
"Hey."
"What?" Her whisper cut through the chaos and startled him into looking at her.
She caught his gaze, held it- "Gotcha."
Amy Pond slammed the big red button. Light raced up the wires; the electrodes blazed where they touched her skin. She was a star- no, a supernova-
The explosion slammed him back against the wall. He lay still until the last Dalek had melted, screaming, within its metal casing.
"Amy?" Everything was quiet. Hadn't there been screaming? Something felt wet and sticky on the Doctor's forehead; probably blood, probably his. He staggered to his feet, swiping blood from his eyelashes. "Amy- I think the Daleks are gone. Let's go find Rory, he'll probably be wondering… where… we've… no. Oh, no. No, no, no, no…" She lay sprawled across the chair, her eyes closed. Wake up, Amy, he screamed internally. Wake up and look at me.
"… you're fine. You'll be fine. We just need to get you back into the TARDIS- come on, Amelia…"
The last casualty of the Time War, a treacherous part of his mind whispered. Shut up, he thought at it.
She was lighter than he'd expected, and definitely too still; he half-expected squirming and laughing and "Hey! Put me down- you're going to drop me, you clumsy idiot!" When her head lolled back, he willed himself not to notice.
"I'll get you home, Amelia. Home safe to Leadworth. I promise."
The Daleks he passed were silent and motionless. So was Amelia.
Rory, now guarded by the empty shells of fricasseed Daleks, looked around, puzzled. They'd just started screaming… and then dying…
Footsteps broke the quietude of his surroundings: the Doctor, injured but still in one piece.
"Who killed all the Daleks?" Rory managed to ask.
The Doctor allowed himself a small, grim smile. "Who do you think?"