Previously...
I stumbled against the console as The Doctor laughed, clutching onto it as the fire burned around us, the coral stands crashing in chunks to the floor.
"THETA!" I shouted at him, pulling myself round and grabbing onto the scanner. "Theta, we're crashing! For christ sake, do something!" I yelped, a spark flying out of the console, hitting my vortex manipulator making me fall against the jump seat. The vortex manipulator began to whir and I whacked it as the whirring began to speed up. The Doctor looked over, concerned. "Doctor, stop it, quickly, please." It began to whir faster and faster and The Doctor ran over, grabbing my wrist before the manipulator sparked, making me teleport away.
...
The newly-regenerated Doctor hung onto The TARDIS door frame as it flew violently across London. The doors flung in the window and The Doctor pulled himself up, sonic screwdriver in his mouth. He turned round at the sound of a bell, looking back at Big Ben before pulling the sonic out of his mouth, pressing the button and aiming at the console. As The TARDIS sped up, he began to slip, narrowly missing the top of the tower. He quickly pulled himself inside, closing the doors and falling against them with a sigh as The TARDIS lurched and spun out of control.
...
In a big blue house in Leadworth a young ginger girl sat kneeling at her bed. She held her hands together in prayer, dressed in a nightie, eyes shut tightly. "Dear Santa, thank you for the dolls and pencils and the fish." She began., "It's Easter now, so I hope I didn't wake you. But honest, it is an emergency. There's a crack in my wall." She opened her eyes and looked across her bedroom, peering at the blue wall with a crack spreading across it before turning back to her prayer. "Aunt Sharon says it's just an ordinary crack, but... I know it's not, because, at night, there's voices. So please, please, could you send someone to fix it? Or a policeman. Or..." A whooshing sound filled the air before it was followed by a crash and the sound of glass breaking. The girl looked up, turning her head towards the window. "Back in a moment." She got up from the floor, picking up a torch from the nightstand and ran to the window. She pulled back the curtain and looked outside to find a blue wooden box, crashed on it's side - The TARDIS - had knocked down her shed. She eyed The TARDIS as smoke rose from it. She looked up at the sky with a smile, "Thank you, Santa."
...
The girl stepped outside, wearing a red jacket and matching wellies, turned the torch on and made her way slowly through her messy garden towards The TARDIS. She flinched suddenly as the doors flew open and a rope attached to a grappling hook came flying out, latching itself onto a lawn roller. The girl watched, shocked as one hand grabbed onto the edge of The TARDIS, followed by the other and then The Doctor's head, popping up with a grin.
"Can I have an apple?" The Doctor asked. "All I can think about - apples. I love apples. Maybe I'm having a craving. That's new - never had cravings before." He pulled himself up, straddling himself on the edge of The TARDIS, looking back inside. "Whoa! Look at that!" He grinned, looking back at the girl.
"Are you OK?" The girl asked.
He pulled his other leg round, sitting on the edge, "Just had a fall. All the way down there, right to the library. Hell of a climb back up."
The girl frowned, "You're soaking wet."
"I was in the swimming pool."
"You said you were in the library."
"So was the swimming pool."
"Are you a policeman?" The girl asked cautiously.
"Why?" The Doctor asked curiously. "Did you call a policeman?"
"Did you come about the crack in my wall?"
"What cra...?" The Doctor suddenly groaned, falling to the ground. "Agh!"
"Are you all right, mister?"
The Doctor pulled himself up to his knees, "No, I'm fine, it's OK. This is all perfectly norm..." He coughed out, a small amount of regeneration energy flowing out in a breath.
"Who are you?"
The Doctor pulled his hands up, smiling slightly at his glowing hands, "I don't know yet. I'm still cooking." He looked up at the girl. "Does it scare you?"
The girl shook her head, "No, it just looks a bit weird."
"No, no, no. The crack in your wall. Does it scare you?"
"Yes."
The Doctor jump to his feet, grinning, "Well, then, no time to lose. I'm the Doctor. Do everything I tell you, don't ask stupid questions and don't wander off." He began to stride away, walking straight into a tree, sending him falling to the ground.
The girl walked over to him, peering down as he stared up at her, "You all right?"
"Early days." The Doctor said, staring up at the little girl's face, "Steering's a bit off."
...
The Doctor stood in the young girl's kitchen, looking around curiously.
"If you're a doctor, why does your box say "Police"?" The girl asked, holding out an apple to The Doctor.
The Doctor took the apple from her, taking a bite and spitting it out, coughing, "That's disgusting." He said, looking at it. "What is that?"
"An apple."
"Apples are rubbish. I hate apples."
"You said you loved them."
"No, no, I love yoghurt. Yoghurt's my favourite. Give me yoghurt." The girl ran to the fridge, taking our a yoghurt to handing it to The Doctor. The Doctor ripped off the lid, pouring it into his mouth before spitting it out as well. "I hate yoghurt, it's just stuff with bits in."
"You said it was your favourite."
"New mouth, new rules." The Doctor shrugged, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "It's like eating after cleaning your teeth, everything tastes wro-agh!" He let out a small spasm, groaning.
"What is it? What's wrong with you?"
"Wrong with me?" The Doctor asked, returning to normal. "It's not my fault. Why can't you give me decent food? You're Scottish - fry something."
...
The Doctor grinned, drying his hair with a towel, watching the girl fry some bacon.
"Ah! Bacon!" He cheered.
...
The Doctor sat at the table, picked up a piece of bacon, taking a bite of it. He made a face, spitting it out again.
"Bacon." He said sourly. "That's bacon. Are you trying to poison me?"
...
The Doctor peered over the girl's shoulder as she stirred baked beans on the stove.
"Ah, you see, beans." He grinned.
...
Once more at the table, The Doctor took a forkful of beans before jumping up, running over to the sink and spitting them out.
"Beans are evil." The Doctor said dryly. "Bad, bad beans."
...
The Doctor watched the girl spread butter over a slice of bread.
"Bread and butter." The Doctor nodded. "Now you're talking."
...
The Doctor swung open the front door and The Doctor threw out the plate, crashing out into the garden, making a cat meow.
"And stay out!" The Doctor shouted, slamming the door behind him.
...
The girl peered into her fridge as The Doctor paced the kitchen.
"We've got some carrots." The girl called over her shoulder.
"Carrots?" The Doctor asked. "Are you insane? No, wait, hang on." He turned and walked over to the fride. "I know what I need. I need... I need... I need..." He pulled open the freezer as well looking between the fridge and freezer. "Fish fingers and custard." He reached in, pulling out both items.
...
The Doctor sat at the table, across from the girl. He dipped a fish finger into the custard and took a bite, looking over at the girl as she ate ice cream from the container. He picked up the bowl, drinking the custard, before putting it down and wiping his mouth.
"Funny." The girl stated.
"Am I?" The Doctor asked. "Good. Funny's good." He looked up suddenly, as if something occured to him. "Where's my Florence?" He muttered to himself. He blinked, surprising himself. When did he ever call Flo, Florence? Guess that was a new thing, being a new Doctor. He turned back to the girl. "What's your name?"
"Amelia Pond."
"Ah, that's a brilliant name." He smiled. "Amelia Pond, like a name in a fairy tale. Are we in Scotland, Amelia?"
"No." Amelia muttered. "We had to move to England. It's rubbish."
"So what about your mum and dad, then? Are they upstairs? Thought we'd have woken them by now."
"I don't have a mum and dad. Just an aunt."
"I don't even have an aunt."
"You're lucky."
"I know. So, your aunt. Where is she?"
"She's out."
The Doctor looked at her, surprised, "And she left you all alone?"
"I'm not scared." Amelia shrugged, trying to sound tough.
"Course you're not. You're not scared of anything! Box falls out of the sky, man falls out of box, man eats fish custard, and look at you, just sitting there. So you know what I think?"
"What?"
"Must be a hell of a scary crack in your wall."
...
The Doctor stared at the crack on the wall, looking at it curiously. "You've had some cowboys in here." He muttered. "Not actual cowboys, though that can happen."
Amelia stood in the doorway, looking at the apple in the her hand, "I used to hate apples, so my mum put faces on them." She handed The Doctor an apple with a smiley face carved into it.
"She sounds good, your mum." The Doctor nodded, tossing the apple into the air and catching it again. "I'll keep it for later." He smiled at her, pocketing the apple before going back over to the crack, examining it carefully. "This wall is solid and the crack doesn't go all the way through it. So here's a thing - where's the draught coming from?" He pulled out the sonic, running it along the crack before checking the readings. "Wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey. You know what the crack is?"
"What?" Amelia asked cautiously.
"It's a crack." The Doctor mumbled, running a finger along the crack. "I'll tell you something funny. If you knocked this wall down, the crack would stay put, 'cos the crack isn't in the wall."
"Where is it, then?"
"Everywhere. In everything. It's a split in the skin of the world. Two parts of space and time that should never have touched," He tapped a finger either side of the crack. "Pressed together...right here in the wall of your bedroom." He pressed his ear against the wall. "Sometimes, can you hear…"
"A voice? Yes."
The Doctor frowned, hearing an echoing voice. He was slightly clueless, he needed someone to keep him straight. At least last time he was in a new body he had Flo walking him into a new him, now she'd gone. He'd lost her. Thinking about it, he should really find her, seeing as her teleport had taken her off. But he knew she could take care of herself, she'd be ok, that's why he loved her. The Doctor looked away, shaking his head sadly before putting on a brave face, bolting over to Amelia's night stand, taking a glass of water, throwing the water out over his shoulder before running over to the crack, pressing it to the wall, putting his ear against the other end.
"Prisoner Zero has escaped." A voice on the other side of the wall announced.
"Prisoner Zero?" The Doctor muttered.
"Prisoner Zero has escaped." Amelia quoted. "That's what I heard. What does it mean?"
"Prisoner Zero has escaped." The voice repeated.
The Doctor stepped back from the wall, "It means that, on the other side of this wall, there's a prison and they've lost a prisoner." He said. "Do you know what that means?"
"What?" Amelia asked.
"You need a better wall." He picked up the desk in front of him, moving it out of the way. "The only way to close the breach is to open it all the way. The forces will invert and it'll snap itself shut. Or..."
"What?"
The Doctor looked back at Amelia, "You know when grown-ups tell you everything's going to be fine and you think they're probably lying to make you feel better?"
"Yes." Amelia grumbled, as if it had been told to her many times before.
"Everything's going to be fine." He gave her a small smile, holding out his hand. Amelia grasped onto his hand and with his other hand, used the sonic on the crack. Amelia peered around The Doctor as a bright light shone through the crack as it widenened.
"Prisoner Zero has escaped." The voice announced. The Doctor took a cautious step towards the crack. "Prisoner Zero has escaped."
"Hello?" The Doctor called. "Hello?"
Suddenly a giant blue eye appeared in the crack, peering at them.
"What's that?" Amelia asked. A small ball of light suddenly shot out of the crack, hitting The Doctor in the pocket. He stumbled, falling against the bed as the crack sealed itself.
"There. You see, told you it would close. Good as new."
"What was that thing? Was that Prisoner Zero?"
"No. I think that was Prisoner Zero's guard. Whatever it was, it sent me a message." He reached into his pocket, pulling out the psychic paper, waving it in front of Amelia. "Psychic paper, takes a lovely little message." He opened it out, reading it. "'Prisoner Zero has escaped.' But why tell us? Unless..." He slowly stood up.
"Unless what?" Amelia asked curiously.
The Doctor looked around, confused, "Unless Prisoner Zero escaped through here. But he couldn't have. We'd know." He turned and ran out of the room, looking around the landing. "It's difficult." He muttered to Amelia as she appeared next to him. "Brand-new me, nothing works yet. But there's something I'm missing..." He began to peer out of the corner of his eye, "In the corner..." He turned and faced one of teh doors at the other end of the hall. "Of my eye." Suddenly, The TARDIS cloister bell donged from outside, making The Doctor bolt towards the stairs. "No, no, no, no, no, no!" He shouted down as he ran down the stairs as Amelia followed after him.
...
The Doctor ran out of the back door towards The TARDIS, "I've got to get back in there! The engines are phasing, it's going to burn!" He cried.
"But... it's just a box!" Amelia gasped breathlessly as she ran after him. "How can a box have engines?"
The Doctor freed the grappling hook and gathered up the rope, "It's not a box." He looked back at Amelia with an excited look. "It's a time machine."
"What, a real one?" Amelia asked, disbelieving. "You've got a real time machine?"
"Not for much longer if I can't get her stabilised. Five-minute hop into the future should do it." He quickly looped rope through the door handles.
"Can I come?"
"Not safe in here, not yet. Five minutes. Give me five minutes, I'll be right back." He pushed himself up, hopping onto the edge, about to jump down.
"People always say that." Amelia mumbled sadly.
The Doctor jumped back down, kneeling down so he was face to face with Amelia, "Am I people? Do I even look like people?" He smiled at her, "Trust me, I'm the Doctor." Amelia smiled at him and The Doctor climbed back onto the edge of the box, holding onto the rope, he turned and gave Amelia one last look before jumping. "Geronimo!" The TARDIS doors slammed shut and began to dematerialize. Amelia smiled and as it disappeared, she turned and ran back inside.
...
Rory Williams shut the door of his small flat in Leadworth with a sigh, rolling up the sleeves on his scrubs. He threw his bag to the floor and made his way into his small kitchen. Suddenly, a blue electric flash flashed in front of him, making him stumble against the door frame. His eyes grew considerably wider as his best friend appeared before him, slightly rumpled, looking scared, and very pregnant.
Flo gave him an amused look, "Hello Sweetie." She smirked before her eyes rolled back and she collapsed to the floor.
...
My eyes flickered open slowly and I found myself in a very familiar place. I was home. And I mean home. England, Leadworth, a very small flat belonging to Rory Arthur Williams. A wave of guilt immediately rushed over me. I hadn't seen Rory or Amy in a good year. I couldn't explain to them about my pregnancy after 12 out of 24 months. When I started showing, I couldn't tell them about it. I couldn't explain how I'd been known The Doctor for years and not said anything, Amy would never forgive me. In fact, she'd never forgive me for throwing him out of my life... and spectacularly failing. I propped myself up onto my elbows, laying on Rory's little brown bed, and looked up to see Rory staring at me, leaning against the radiator opposite the bed on the other side of the room. He held one hand to his mouth, concerned, his other arm crossed and his sleeves rolled up on his scrubs.
"You've got some explaining to do." Rory muttered, nodding at my bump.
I glanced down at my bump and swore loudly, flopping down onto the bed with a groan.
...
Rory and I walked across the Leadworth green hand in hand, thankfully nobody recognised me... unfortunatley I recognised them, so I was constantly on edge.
"What year is it?" I asked.
Rory frowned at me, "2008." He said cautiously.
My eyes widened and I stared at him, "2008?" I gasped. "I'm nearly 2 years behind, bloody hell Rory!"
"What do you mean 2 years behind?"
"2008." I said to myself, ignoring him. "So that would be when we were travelling with Donna." I looked up at Rory. "Listen, you and Amy can't contact me until after Christmas 2009 unless I come to you, ok?"
"Why?" He frowned.
"Just... don't. And same for Mels. No contact."
"Um..."
"Rory, please!"
"Ok! Ok..." He muttered, looking away with a sigh.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
He kept looking away, refusing to meet my gaze, "Nothing."
"Rory-"
"You're pregnant, Flo!" He exclaimed, pulling his hand away, spinning round looking at me. "Why didn't you tell us?"
"I couldn't." I sighed, tears in my eyes.
"YES YOU COULD!"
"Rory, you don't understand, you have no idea!" He looked over my shoulder, frowning. "Rory!" I waved my hand in front of his face. "Hello?" I looked over his shoulder, glancing up at the sun, covered in some sort of forcefield. "Oh no, not today! I am not dealing with this today!" He quickly reached into his pocket, pulling out his phone and taking a photo. I looked round, frowning at a bald man in blue overalls with a dog, standing stiffly, staring into space. "And... the reason you're taking a picture of that is because?"
"Stop that nurse!" Someone shouted. I looked round to see the voice, to find a man with floppy brown hair, dressed in raggedy clothes... raggedy...
"Doctor?" I whispered. I looked behind him, to see Amy, in one of her bloody strippergram outfits, the policewoman, running after him.
The Doctor bolted up to us, grabbing Rory's phone, "The sun's going out, and you're photographing a man and a dog. Why?" He asked.
"Amy?" Rory frowned.
"Hi!" Amy said. "Oh, this is Rory, he's a... friend."
"Boyfriend."
"Kind of boyfriend."
"Amy!"
"HELLO!" I shouted loudly, waving my arms in the air. The Doctor and Amy looked at me, finally noticing me, watching me in shock.
"You're pregnant!" Amy cried as The Doctor threw his arms around me.
"Oh god." The Doctor whispered, hugging me tightly, pressing kisses to my head. "I was so scared, I thought I lost you then I crashed and-"
"I know." I said, pulling back. "I knew you were ok. I knew this was all going to happen."
The Doctor frowned, "But, how? I-"
"Doctor," I whispered squeezing his hand, pointing to Amy and Rory. "Amy and Rory." His jaw dropped slightly, realising. "I grew up on the stories of the raggedy Doctor, remember?"
"Hang on, you know him?!" Amy screeched, staring at me.
I nodded, "For years, Amy."
"And you never told me!"
"I couldn't tell you, I couldn't tell any of you!"
The Doctor placed a kiss to my forehead, "Protecting timelines, not blowing up the universe, good girl."
"I'm confused." Rory sighed, shaking his head.
"I promise, we'll explain everything once we've sorted out the sun!" I pointed at the sun dramatically before turning to The Doctor. "Sweetie, care to explain?"
'Sweetie?' Amy mouthed to herself.
The Doctor turned to Rory, "Man and dog, why?"
"Oh, my God, it's him." Rory stammered, staring at The Doctor.
"Just answer his question, please." Amy said quickly.
"It's him, though. The doctor. The Raggedy Doctor."
"Yeah, he came back."
I laughed, "He never used to be raggedy." I said, running my fingers through The Doctor's hair. "Used to be neat and pointed. Used to wear a nice fitted suit." I looked him up and down. "Used to be a lot taller, too."
"Oi!" The Doctor pouted.
"What?" I mumbled. "It's true."
"But he was a story." Rory spluttered. "He was a game."
The Doctor grabbed Rory by the shirt, "Man and dog - why? Tell me now."
"Sorry. Because he can't be there. Because he's…"
"In a hospital, in a coma." The two blokes said in unison.
"Yeah." Rory nodded.
"Knew it." The Doctor grinned at me. "Multi-form, you see?" He let go of Rory.
"Disguise itself as anything, but it needs a live feed, a psychic link with a living but dormant mind." I quickly explained to Amy and Rory. I stopped, Amy and Rory staring at me. I'd completely forgetten, these were my best friends, my only friends who hadn't had any experience with The Doctor, knowing who he actually was.
The man and dog snapped and snarled and The Doctor and I pushed past, walking towards it.
"Prisoner Zero." The Doctor called.
"Whey!" I cheered, laughing. "Prisoner Zero, I was wondering how long it would take for you to turn up too!"
"What, there's a Prisoner Zero too?" Rory asked.
"Yes." Amy said quickly.
An electrical buzzing filled the air and we all glanced up, watching a big spaceship with a big eye swivelling back and forth on it, flying over the green.
"Ooh!" I cooed. "It's the Atraxi!" I'd recognise that ship, it was in fact the Atraxi. I reached into The Doctor's pocket and slipped out the sonic from his pocket, "See, that ship up there is scanning this area for non-terrestrial technology. And nothing says non-terrestrial like a sonic screwdriver." The Doctor grinned, holding onto my hand and aiming it at the sky, turning it on. Chaos filled the air as streetlights shattered, car alarms blared, sirens wailed and everyone began shouting. A fire truck drove away on its own, chased by the firemen as Amy and Rory, watched me, stunned. The look they were giving was in fact very similar to the one Rose gave me when she came back, realising I was now in fact quite the expert on the universe. "I think someone's going to notice, don't you?"
Prisoner Zero barked at us and I lowered the sonic, The Doctor's hand moving away, and I aimed it at the phone box, making it explode. I yelped out as the screwdriver sparked and fizzled, dropping it to the ground.
"Are you ok?" The Doctor gasped, grabbing my burnt hand, placing a kiss to my palm.
"Fine." I nodded. I looked back up towards the Atraxi, watching as they flew away.
"Look, it's going." Rory pointed out.
The Doctor looked up and groaned, "No, come back, he's here! Come back! He's here, Prisoner Zero is here. Come back, he's here! Prisoner Zero is..."
"Doctor!" Amy suddenly cried. We span round to look, only to find Prisoner Zero had in fact disappeared. "The drain. It just sort of melted and went down the drain."
"Well, of course it did." I sighed sarcasically.
"What do we do now?
"It's hiding in human form." The Doctor muttered, turning to me, grabbing my shoulders. "We need to drive it into the open. No TARDIS, no screwdriver, 17 minutes. Come on, think. Think!"
"No TARDIS?" I asked.
The Doctor stared back at me sheepishly, "Uh, yeah... she's rebuilding." I glared at him, whacking him on the arm. "Ow!"
"You shouldn't have regenerated so near to the console." The baby commented.
The Doctor rolled his eyes, kneeling down so he was face to face with the bump, "I didn't ask you!" He said sarcastically as Amy and Rory watched, confused.
Amy walked over to the drain, peering down it, "So that thing, THAT hid in my house for 12 years?"
"Multi-forms can live for millennia." I shrugged. "12 years is a pit-stop."
"How do you know so much about this-" Rory began.
"So how come you show up again on the same day that lot do?" Amy interrupted, looking at The Doctor as he stood back up. "The same minute?"
"They're looking for him, but followed me." The Doctor explained. "They saw me through the crack, got a fix. They're only late cos I am."
"And you?" Amy asked me.
"TARDIS went mental," I said quickly before holding up my wrist. "Teleport went bonkers, ended up here."
"It's very normal." The Doctor nodded in agreement.
"What's he on about?" Rory asked.
"Rory, phone." I ordered, holding out my hand.
"How can he be real? He was never real." Rory spluttered, handing me his phone. "He was just a game. We were kids. Amy made me dress up as him."
"Yeah that was funny." I laughed
I held the phone between The Doctor and I, flickering through the pictures of all the coma patients, "These are all coma patients?" The Doctor asked.
"Yeah." Rory nodded.
"No, they're all the multi-form. Eight comas, eight disguises for Prisoner Zero."
"He had a dog, though." Amy frowned. "There's a dog in a coma?"
"The coma patient dreams he's walking a dog, Prisoner Zero gets a dog." I muttered, waving a hand at them.
"Laptop!" The Doctor exclaimed, looking at Amy. "Your friend, what was his name? Not him," He nodded towards Rory. "The good-looking one."
"Thanks."
"Jeff." Amy said, making me laugh.
"Oh, thanks."
"He had a laptop in his bag, a laptop." The Doctor continued, looking at me. "Big bag, big laptop, I need Jeff's laptop."
"Ok." I nodded, turning to Amy and Rory. "You two, get to the hospital, get everyone out, clear the whole floor. Phone us when you're done." The Doctor ran off and I followed after him, before turning and looking back. "Oh, uh, my phone is locked in The TARDIS, so ring Rory's phone!" I grinned, running after The Doctor.
...
The Doctor and I ran up to Jeff's house, about to burst in when I stopped abruptly, hands on my bump. The Doctor turned back from the door, looking at me.
"What?" He asked. "Come on, 17 minutes!"
"Jeff's one of my best friends!" I explained quickly. "Also, we're almost 2 years behind. I can not have people seeing me nearly full term pregnant, then suddenly not be! It was hard enough to not get Rory to contact me until everything next Christmas!" The Doctor reached into his trouser pocket, pulling out a piece of string with a diamond stick on it, putting it over my head and around my neck quickly, a perception filter! "What have you got a perception filter in your pocket for?" I laughed before immediately sobering, staring at him nervously. "That crack..."
The Doctor frowned, "But you weren't there when I-"
"Yeah, Amy's best friend, remember?" I said quickly and he nodded back at me. "It's a crack in time... isn't it?"
He sighed sadly, "Yeah."
"Are there any more?"
"No." He waved a hand at me. "Course not."
"Theta." I said warningly.
He placed a hand on my cheek, looking into my eyes, "I will keep you safe, ok?"
"We have never been safe. None of us. We lost Rose, destroyed Martha's life to smithereens, Donna didn't even stand a chance!" I screeched.
"I am not that man that lost those people anymore!" He shoute, grabbing my arms tightly. "I am never going to hurt you again, ok?"
"17 minutes, we don't have time for this." I muttered, pulling him into Jeff's house.
...
The Doctor and I bolted into Jeff's room, same as ever, all those days hanging out in this room as teenagers. On the bed Jeff lay, laptop on his lap.
"Jeff, laptop, now." I ordered.
He looked up at me, blushing, "Oh, hey Flo." He glanced at The Doctor, noticing him, eyes widening.
"Laptop, give me!" The Doctor said, grabbing the laptop.
Jeff clutched on the laptop, staring nervously, "No, no, no, no, wait, hang on!"
"It's fine, give it here." The Doctor yanked it away from him and the both of us sat down at the bottom of the bed. I looked at the screen before glancing back at Jeff in disgust. "Blimey! Get a girlfriend, Jeff." The Doctor commented.
The door opened and Jeff's Gran stepped in, "Gran." Jeff gulped.
"Hello Mrs Hurst!" I grinned, standing up and hugging her.
"Flo!" She grinned, hugging me back, before looking at The Doctor, "What are you doing?"
"The sun's gone wibbly, so right now, somewhere out there, there's going to be a big video conference call." I laughed, sitting down next to The Doctor again as he typed, Jeff and his Gran staring at me oddly. "All the experts in the world panicking at once, and do you know what they need? Us. Well, him." I looked over at the screen as it showed all the names on the confernce call.
"Ah, and here they all are." The Doctor nodded. "All the big boys. NASA, Jodrell Bank, Tokyo Space Centre, Patrick Moore."
I frowned, "No UNIT?" The Doctor looked back at me, shrugging. "Very unlike them."
"Ooh, I like Patrick Moore." Jeff's Gran nodded.
"I'll get you his number, but watch him, he's a devil."
Jeff scrambled down the bed, looking over my shoulder, "You can't just hack in on a call like that."
"Can't we?" The Doctor asked, reaching into his pocket and holding up the psychic paper to the webcam.
"Who are you?" One of the experts cried. "This is a secure call. What are you doing?"
"Hello. I know, you should switch me off. But before you do, watch this."
"It's here too, I'm getting it." Another expert added.
"Fermat's Theorem, the proof, and I mean the real one, never seen before." The Doctor continued, typing.
"Poor old Fermat, got killed in a duel before he could write it down." I nodded in agreement, looking between Jeff's Gran and the webcam. "His fault, he slept in." I nodded at The Doctor.
"Oh, and here's an oldie but a goodie - why electrons have mass. And a personal favourite of mine, faster-than-light travel with two diagrams and a joke." He finished typing, hitting the enter button with a smile. "Look at your screens. Whoever I am, I'm a genius. Look at the sun. You need all the help you can get. Fellas, pay attention."
...
"Sir, what are you doing?" One of the experts called as The Doctor typed on Rory's phone.
"He's writing a computer virus." I explained.
"Very clever, super-fast, and a tiny bit alive, but don't let on." The Doctor nodded in agreement. "Why am I writing it on a phone? Never mind, you'll find out. OK, I'm sending this to all your computers. Get everyone who works for you sending this everywhere. Email, text, Facebook, Bebo, Twitter, radar dish - whatever you've got." He looked up at the screen. "Any questions?"
"Who was your lady friend?" Patrick Moore asked.
"Patrick, behave!"
"What does this virus do?" An expert asked.
"It's a reset command, that's all. It resets counters, it gets in the wifi and resets every counter it can find. Clocks, calendars, anything with a chip will default at zero at exactly the same time. But, yeah, I could be lying, why should you trust me? I'll let my best man explain." He glanced over at Jeff. "Jeff, you're my best man."
"Your what?" Jeff frowned.
The Doctor shut the laptop screen partly, looking at me, "You can explain, he's your friend."
"Listen to me, Jeff." I sighed, putting my arm around him. "In ten minutes, you're going to be a legend. In ten minutes, everyone on that screen is going to be offering you any job you want. But first, you have to be magnificent. You have to make them trust you and get them working. This is it, Jeff. Right here, right now. This is when you fly. Today's the day you save the world."
He stared back at me, stunned, "Flo, you've lost it."
"Jeff, you're my best man!" The Doctor reminded him.
"Why me?"
"It's your bedroom. Now go, go, go." He jumped up, pulling me with him, before sticking his head back inside the door. "Oh, and delete your internet history." He turned back, leaving again.
...
The Doctor and I made our way through Leadworth green quickly, trying to find some sort of transport.
"Don't you have a car?" The Doctor asked. "I remember you telling me you had a car." I opened my mouth to reply when he interrupted me. "No, I remember, it got towed."
"Yeah, your fault! Your timing is impeccable." I scoffed sarcastically.
"What about your Mum's car?"
"It's in Ealing."
"Oh yeah." He took my hand, squeezing it. "How you feeling?"
"Uh," I began. "In pain."
He glanced at my bump, "But you've got another 4 months to go yet?"
"No, I mean I'm not exactly comfortable." I laughed nervously. "So, new new Doctor? How you liking my new body?"
"My new body?" He frowned.
"Yeah!" I laughed, whacking him on the bum. "I own you." The Doctor chuckled at me, kissing me on the forehead. "Seriously though... new body? Is everything ok? No regeneration comas?"
"I've had a few spasms."
"Well that's normal."
"Exactly."
"Anything else?"
He sighed, stopping and looking at me, "Let me promise you this now. This new me, it won't be like before. I can't promise you that I'll never let you down. I can't promise you that I'll always keep you safe. But I will never promise you something unless I can't live up to it. I will always love you and our baby and I don't expect either of you to trust me. But this new me... I needed to regenerate, I see that now. I needed to regenerate to be a better man, so I wouldn't hurt you anymore. So that maybe you'd begin to trust me again." He gulped, placing a hand on my cheek. "I know you don't trust me. I know you haven't trusted me in a long time. Probably since the battle of Canary Wharf. But you force yourself to trust me, otherwise you'd be dead. I love you so much, and my hearts are in absolute shatters from all the times I have ever let you down or hurt you. And the only way they're going to heal is if you heal them for me."
I glanced over his shoulder, tears in my eyes, when I noticed something, "Transport." I croaked. The Doctor frowned, following my gaze over at a firetruck by the church. He looked back, smiling at me, before squeezing my hand, pulling me towards the firetruck.
...
The Doctor drove the firetruck along the road speedily, and I grabbed onto the handle above my head, holding on. Rory's phone began to ring and The Doctor pulled it out of his pocket handing it to me,
"Hello?" I answered.
"Flo?" Amy asked. "We're at the hospital, but we can't get through."
"Look in the mirror." I grinned, knowing hopefully that the computer virus had worked.
"Oh!"
"What did he say?" Rory asked in the background.
"Look in the mirror." She muttered back. "Ha-ha! Uniform! Are you on your way? You're going to need a car."
"Don't worry." I laughed as The Doctor turned on the fire engine siren. "We've commandeered a vehicle." I hung up, clutching the phone tightly against my bump. "So, a plan for once?"
"Yep." The Doctor nodded, grinning at me out of the corner of his eye. "New Doctor has plans!"
I laughed, "Let's see how long that one lasts then, eh?"
"Nice country village, this." The Doctor nodded, looking at our surroundings. "It's weird to think you grew up here, you're always so fiesty and... city like."
"Leadworth is my home, Theta. It's actually a lovely place to live. Me, Amy, Rory, Jeff and Mels loved it here growing up."
"Good place for kids then?" I nodded back at him. "I could do it, for you, you know."
I frowned, "Do what?"
"Settle down. The human life with a house and job and everything." I stared back, stunned. "I'd do it for you. For our baby."
"Don't lie. You could barely last 3 months without The TARDIS... I can't either. But I pushed through it anyway." He glanced at me, trying to keep his eyes on the road. "I miss you. I miss The TARDIS. I miss everything. And let me tell you something, I am not the woman who stopped The Doctor from travelling the stars. A better woman will do that one day. I-" I was interrupted as the phone rang again. I answered it, holding to my ear, "Are you in?"
"Yep." Amy replied nervously. "But so's Prisoner Zero."
"You need to get out of there." I said desperately. I frowned, listening to no reply. "Amy? Amy, what's happening Amy, talk to me!"
"We're in the coma ward." She said eventually. "But it's here, it's getting in."
"What window are they?" The Doctor asked.
"What?" I frowned. "That doesn't make any..." I glanced up, realising the ladder on top of the truck. "Which window are you?" I asked into the phone.
"What, sorry?" Amy asked.
"Which window?"
"First floor on the left, fourth from the end."
I hung up, looking over to The Doctor, "First floor on the left, fourth from the end." I told him.
"Tell her to duck."
"Uh!" I groaned, about to ring her, when I quickly typed out a text, sending it to her, reading "DUCK!"
...
The ladder crashed through the window and The Doctor climbed along it, gently helping me along. Because of course being the equivalent of 8 months pregnant and climbing along a ladder into a window was a genius idea.
"Right! Hello!" The Doctor cheered, dropping down into the room before gently helping me down. "Are we late? No, three minutes to go. So still time."
We looked over at Prisoner Zero, in the disguise of a mother and her two daughters, holding onto her hands, "Time for what, Time Lord?"
"Take the disguise off. They'll find you in a heartbeat. Nobody dies."
"The Atraxi will kill me this time. If I am to die, let there be fire."
"OK. You came to this world by opening a crack in space and time. Do it again - just leave."
"I did not open the crack."
I scoffed, "Somebody did."
"The cracks in the skin of the universe - don't you know where they came from? You don't, do you?" It's voice changed to one of the little girls, "The Doctor and Flo in the TARDIS doesn't know." It's taunted in a sing song voice. "Doesn't know, doesn't know!" It returned to normal, "The universe is cracked. The Pandorica will open. Silence will fall."
A click filled the air, making me smile.
The Doctor looked up above the doorway at the clock, "And we're off! Look at that." He pointed up at it, now displaying 0:00. "Look at that! Yeah, I know, just a clock, whatever. But do you know what's happening right now?"
"In one little bedroom, our team are working." I laughed. "Jeff and the world. And do you know what they're doing? They're spreading the word all over the world, quantum fast. The word is out."
"And do you know what the word is?" The Doctor asked. "The word is zero. Now, me, if I was up in the sky in a battleship, monitoring all Earth communications, I'd take that as a hint." I took Rory's phone out of my pocket, waving it at Prisoner Zero. "What if I had a whole battle fleet surrounding the planet, I'd be able track a simple old computer virus to its source in, what, under a minute?" The Doctor pointed at the phone, "The source, by the way, is right here." Suddenly, a bright light shone through the windows. "Oh! And I think they just found us!"
"The Atraxi are limited." Prisoner Zero said dryly. "While I'm in this form, they'll still be unable to detect me. They've tracked a phone, not me."
"Yeah, but this is the good bit. I mean, this is my favourite bit. Do you know what this phone is full of?" The Doctor grinned, taking the phone from me. "Pictures of you. Every form you've learned to take, right here. Oh, and being uploaded about now. And the final score is - no TARDIS, no screwdriver - two minutes to spare." He held his arms out in triumph. "Who da man?" Amy, Rory and I stared back in silence. "Oh, I'm never saying that again! Fine."
"Then I shall take a new form."
"Oh, stop it, you know you can't." I said. "Takes months to form that kind of psychic link."
"And I've had years." It's form glowed.
"No!" I shouted, realising. All those years, inside Amy's house-
Amy slumped to the floor, out cold, and The Doctor, Rory and I rushed over.
"No! Amy?" The Doctor called, putting his hands to Amy's face. "You've got to hold on. Amy! Don't sleep! You've got to stay awake, please."
Rory and I looked over at Prisoner Zero, to find it had taken The Doctor's form, "Doctor?" Rory mumbled.
The Doctor frowned, "Well, that's rubbish. Who's that supposed to be?"
"It's you."
"Me? Is that what I look like?"
"You don't know?"
"It's been a busy day." I muttered, the two of us standing up.
"Why me, though?" The Doctor frowned, facing Zero. "You're linked with her. Why are you copying me?"
"I'm not." A young, scottish voice called. We stared as Amelia, Amy when we were just kids, walked out from behind him, holding him hand. "Poor Amy Pond. Still such a child inside. Dreaming of the magic Doctor she knows will return to save her. What a disappointment you've been. And not just to Amelia Pond." Another young girl stepped out shyly the other side, holding The Doctor's hand. She wore a white night dress and her brown hair was plaited back, peering feebly around The Doctor.
"That's Sarah Jane Smith." The Doctor said sternly, clearly recognizing the girl.
"No." I breathed, working it out. "That's me." It was me. It was me as a little girl. Looking back, I was completely identical to my Mum at this age.
"No," The Doctor shook his head. "She's dreaming about us cos she can hear us." He turned back and ran over to Amy, kneeling down to her. "Amy, don't just hear me, listen. Remember the room, the room in your house you couldn't see? Remember you went inside. I tried to stop, but you did. You went in the room. You went inside. Amy…dream about what you saw."
"No..." Prisoner Zero cried. "No... No!" It glowed, transforming into a sort of transparent worm with teeth, hanging from the ceiling.
"Is that what Prisoner Zero actually looks like?" I frowned.
"Well done, Prisoner Zero." The Doctor said, turning to face it. "A perfect impersonation of yourself."
The light from the Atraxi shone through the window, catching Prisoner Zero, making it writh, "Prisoner Zero is located. Prisoner Zero is restrained." The Atraxi announced.
"Silence, Doctor, Flo." Prisoner Zero hissed. "Silence will fall." It disappeared in a glow.
A whoosh filled the air as the ship left and I snatched the mobile from The Doctor.
"The sun - it's back to normal, right? That's... That's good, yeah?" Rory stammered. "That means it's over." Amy's eyes flickered open staring up at us. "Amy? Are you OK? Are you with us?"
"What happened?" Amy mumbled.
"He did it. The Doctor did it."
"No, I didn't." The Doctor called over.
Rory peered round at me, "What are you doing?"
"Tracking the signal back." I said. "Sorry, in advance."
"About what?"
"The bill." I put the phone to my ear as The Doctor grinned at me, proudly. "Oi, we didn't say you could go! Article 57 of the Shadow Proclamation. This is a fully established, level 5 planet, and you were going to burn it? What...? Did you think no-one was watching? You lot, back here. Now!" I hung up, throwing the phone back to Rory. "OK."
The Doctor looked over at them, "Now she's done it." He grabbed my hand, pulling me from the ward, Amy following after us.
"Did she just bring them back?" Rory called after us. "Did our best friend just save the world from aliens and then bring all the aliens back again?"
"COME ON RORY!" I shouted over my shoulder.
...
The Doctor and I strode down the corridor, Amy and Rory following after us.
"Where are you going?" Amy asked.
"The roof." The Doctor replied.
"No, hang on." I grabbed The Doctor's tie, pulling him into the changing room.
The Doctor grinned at me, kissing my on the cheek before opening up some of the lockers, sifting through the clothes.
"What's in here?" Amy frowned.
"He's saving the world - I need him a decent shirt."
"You need him in a decent shirt?" Amy laughed, raising an eyebrow at me.
"To hell with the raggedy." The Doctor said in agreement. "Time to put on a show!"
"You just summoned aliens back to Earth. Actual aliens," Rory stammered as I grabbed a shirt, standing in front of The Doctor, watching Rory and Amy over my shoulder, helping him take off his tie as he undone his shirt. "Deadly aliens, aliens of death, and now you're taking your clothes off... Amy, he's taking his clothes off."
"Turn your back if it embarrasses you." The Doctor called over his shoulder.
"Are you stealing clothes now? Those clothes belong to people, you know." Rory turned around, muttering to Amy, "Are you not you going to turn your back?"
Amy grinned, watching The Doctor, "Nope."
...
The four of us stepped out onto the roof, The Doctor wearing a long-sleeved sirt, trousers and braces, with a number of ties draped around his neck. The two of us strode towards the Atraxi ship in the middle of the roof as Amy and Rory watched from behind.
"So this was a good idea, was it?" Amy asked. "They were leaving."
"Leaving is good. Never coming back is better." I shrugged as The Doctor stepped turned to the Atraxi.
"Come on, then!" He called. "The Doctor will see you now."
The eye disconnected itself from the ship, flying down and scanned the both of us, before turning to The Doctor, "You are not of this world."
"No, but I've put a lot of work into it." He pulled at one of the ties, holding it out to me. "I don't know. What do you think?" I looked at it, shaking my head in disgust.
"Is this world important?"
"Important? What's that mean, important?" He frowned, taking off the tie and throwing it behind him to Rory. "6 billion people live here - is that important? Here's a better question. Is this world a threat to the Atraxi?" He pulled off another one, throwing it behind him. "Well, come on. You're monitoring the whole planet. IS this world a threat?"
The Atraxi projected out a hologram of Earth's history, "No."
"Are the peoples of this world guilty of any crime by the laws of the Atraxi?"
"No."
"OK. One more. Just one. Is this world protected? Because you're not the first lot to come here." Another projection played, showing clips of Cybermen, Daleks, the Empress of the Racnoss, Ood, Sycorax, a Sontaran, a Sea Devil, Reapers, the Hath and the Vashta Nerada. "Oh, there have been so many! And what you've got to ask is... what happened to them?" The projection flickered through each and every regeneration of The Doctor up to his ninth, before one last projection of him in his tenth regeneration and I. The Doctor took my hand and the both of us stepped through it, cutting it off. "Hello. I'm the Doctor and this is Flo. Basically... run!"
The eye quickly flew back up to the ship and it began to fly away. Amy looked up at it, laughing when I felt something burning in my trouser pocket. I looked at The Doctor, who also frowned, feeling his inside pocket. We both reached in, pulling out both our TARDIS keys, glowing gold. She was ready! He grinned, taking my hand and pulling me off.
...
The Doctor and I ran into Amy's garden and up to The TARDIS, it's exterior slightly different than before. We stopped, grinning up at the doors.
"OK! What have you got for us this time?" He breathed, unlocking the door. We pushed a door open each, staring up at the new decor.
"Look at you!" I smiled.
"Oh, you sexy thing! Look at you!"
...
"She's so beautiful." I mumbled, running my hand along the new console. It wasn't like the old console room, but it didn't matter, she was gorgeous. The controls had changed to a more fun, colourful sort of levers and buttons, and the whole room was so much bigger, a long pathway up to the console with a big screen by the door, glass flooring and a swing under the console, and we'd just worn her in with a quick trip to the moon.
"I'm way too pregnant for trips to the moon." I laughed.
"I think we should go back for Amy." The Doctor said, dressed in the same clothing but now with a tweed jacket and a bow tie, sitting on the staircase.
I smiled over at him, "Ok."
"And I think you should stay."
I sighed, shaking my head, "Not while this baby could be in danger, Theta." The Doctor stood up, walking over to me. "So, no."
"One trip?" He smiled.
I smiled back at him, gently stroking his bow tie, "I'm not Martha, Doctor."
"She joined us after that one trip."
"Exactly." I laughed. "There's one thing, I just want to try though."
He grinned, opening his arms out wide, "I'm all yours."
I grabbed the lapels of his jacket, pulling him forward and kissing him. After a moment I pulled back, laughing at his dazed expression, "Just had to know what it was like, in this new body of yours."
"Well, uh, yes." He gulped, turning to the controls. "Uh, where was I?"
"Amy?"
"Yes!" He exclaimed, running round the console. "Pond!"
...
The Doctor and I stood outside The TARDIS in the darkness of Amy's garden, watching as she emerged from her house, dressed in her nighty, dressing gown and slippers.
"Sorry about running off earlier." The Doctor called.
"Brand-new TARDIS - bit exciting." I grinned. "Just had a quick hop to the moon and back to run her in."
"She's ready for the big stuff now."
"It's you." Amy breathed, staring at me. "You came back. You brought him back."
"Course I came back." I frowned.
"You look pregnant again."
"Ah, yeah." I nodded. "Perception filter, long story."
"I started to..." She began, edging closer to me. "I started to think you'd died. Rory had told me, that you said not to contact you. You left Flo... left us all in the lurch. Rory, Jeff and I... we were heartbroken. Had no idea, because you'd never leave us. Mels... it didn't bother her, she carried on." I opened my mouth to apologize when she shook her head, turning to The Doctor. "And you kept the clothes."
"Well, I just saved the world, the whole planet, for about the millionth time, no charge." The Doctor shrugged. "Yeah, shoot me! I kept the clothes."
"Including the bow tie."
"Yeah, it's cool." He grinned, fixing the bow tie. "Bow ties are cool."
"Are you from another planet?"
"Yeah."
"OK..."
"So what do you think?"
Amy frowned, "Of what?"
"Other planets. Want to check some out?"
"What does that mean?"
"It means... Well, it means... come with me."
"Where?" She asked hesitantly.
"Wherever you like."
"All that stuff, the hospital, the spaceships, Prisoner Zero..."
"Oh, don't worry." The Doctor waved a hand at her, "That's just the beginning. There's loads more."
"Yeah, but those things, amazing things, all that stuff..." She turned angry, glaring at the two of us. "That was two years ago!"
The Doctor and I stared back, stunned, "Oh-oh! Oops." The Doctor laughed nervously.
"Yeah."
"So that's..."
"14 years!" Amy and I said in unison.
The Doctor winced, "14 years since fish custard. Amy Pond, the girl who waited, you've waited long enough."
"When I was a kid, you said there was a swimming pool and a library, and the swimming pool was IN the library." Amy said.
"Yeah!" I laughed. "Actually, not sure where it's got to now. It'll turn up."
"Hang on," Amy shook her head. "How do you two even know each other?!"
"Saved by a Graske in a warehouse." I shrugged.
"What were you doing there?"
I opened my mouth to answer before I suddenly froze... I geniunely couldn't remember. What was I doing in that warehouse that day?
"So..." The Doctor interrupted, watching me, concerned. "Coming?" The Doctor asked.
"No!" Amy exclaimed.
"You wanted to come 14 years ago."
"I grew up."
"Don't worry. I'll soon fix that." He snapped his fingers and the door to The TARDIS swung open and Amy stared in, bathed in a warm orange glow. Overwhelmed, she stepped in, looking around the console room in awe. "Well...? Anything you want to say? Any passing remarks? I've heard them all."
"I'm in my nightie." Amy gulped.
"Oh, don't worry. Plenty of clothes in the wardrobe." I laughed. "AND possibly a swimming pool."
The Doctor and I headed up to the console, "So... all of time and space, everything that ever happened or ever will..." The Doctor began. "Where do you want to start?"
Amy span round, looking at us, "You are so sure that I'm coming."
"Yeah, I am."
"Why?"
"Cos you're the Scottish girl in the English village, and I know how that feels."
"Oh, do you?"
I smirked, looking over at Amy, "All these years living here at home most of your life... and you've still got that accent."
"Yeah, you're coming." The Doctor grinned.
"Can you get me back for tomorrow morning?"
"It's a time machine. I can get you back five minutes ago. Why, what's tomorrow?"
"Nothing. Nothing. Just... you know, stuff." She said quickly, making me frown at her.
"All right, then. Back in time for stuff." He moved round as a new sonic screwdriver extended itself from the console. "Oh! A new one!" He grinned, picking it up. It was now thicker, longer, with extra settings and a blue light. He aimed it at me, shining the light in my eyes. I laughed, pushing it away. "Lovely." He turned to the console. "Thanks, dear." He whispered, turning to set the controls.
"Why me?" Amy asked.
"Why not?" The Doctor shrugged.
"No, seriously. You are asking me to run away with you in the middle of the night. It's a fair question. Why me?"
"I don't know. Fun. Do I have to have a reason?"
"People always have a reason."
"Do I look like people?"
"Yes." She nodded. "You must have a reason. Why Flo?"
The Doctor and I shared a look, "Amy, I'm not about to explain the last 5 or so years of our life." I sighed.
"Our life?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at me.
"I've been knocking around on my own for a while -" The Doctor began.
"My choice-" I added.
"But I've started talking to myself. It's giving me earache."
"You're lonely." Amy stated. "That's it? Just that?"
"Just that. Promise." He smiled, moving over to the scanner.
"OK."
I looked over at The Doctor as he turned off the scanner before turning back to Amy, " So, are you OK, then?" I asked. "Cos this place, sometimes it can make people feel a bit... you know."
"I'm fine. It's just..." She gulped, looking over at The Doctor. "There's a whole world in here, just like you said. It's all true. I thought...well, I started to think that maybe you were just like a madman with a box."
"Amy Pond, there's something you'd better understand." I said, smiling at her. "It's important, and one day your life may depend on it. He is definitely a madman with a box."
"Ha-ha! Yeah." The Doctor cheered and Amy laughed at him. "Goodbye, Leadworth. Hello, everything!" He pulled a lever and the TARDIS began to lurch, the three of us grabbing onto the console.
A/N - So 11 is here! :D Eek!
Don't forget to check out the poll for the SJA episode (apart from Death of The Doctor) for this story, please vote!