Welcome, dear reader, to my first publicly posted story ever! Although it may not be my first bit of writing, I am still very excited to have it posted. I would love it if you could notify me of any errors or inconsistencies, and I would also really appreciate it if you let me know how well I've captured the characters' personalities. Thank you in advance, and without further ado, I present to you In Your Place.

The Doctor dances enthusiastically around the TARDIS controls, switching levers and tinkering with the keyboard. Amy laughs at the sight while Rory grasps a pillar for support and the whole ship begins to shake. A moment later, the console emits the familiar grinding shriek as the TARDIS lands.

"Well then," the Doctor exclaims excitedly, "Off we go! I've parked her on the rift, but we need to give the TARDIS some time to refuel." He races to the door with Amy close behind, both grinning broadly. Rory follows behind, smiling a little at his wife's excitement.

The Doctor swings the door open, and then closes it just as quickly when he sees what is outside. Turning around and swiftly walking back to the consoles, he says, "No, no, definitely no. I am not going out in that."

Amy marches forward to the exit and peeks outside. "What? Afraid of a bit of hail?"

He spins around to look at her. "Not afraid, no. I'm just not overly fond of it. I love snow, but hail is just vicious."

Amy smirks and returns to the console to stand next to her husband. "Well then, what do we do while we wait?"

"Maybe we could see more of the TARDIS." Rory suggests. He looks at Amy, and she nods. "I mean, there are a lot of things we haven't seen yet." They both glance over at the Doctor.

He smiles and claps his hands together. "Well then, what are we waiting for?" He rushes up the stairs toward a hallway entrance, but then twirls around to face the couple right behind him. "You'll both need to remember one thing." Upon seeing their looks of confusion, he smiles a little wider. "Don't wander off."

They all set off deeper into the ship. Amy is practically skipping and Rory holds onto her hand to keep her from running off. The first corridor they enter has the same glass and metal theme as the console room, but with a lower ceiling. There are several doors on either side. The Doctor occasionally opens one to glance into it, but he always closes it quickly. Amy often opens them after he's moved on so that she can see what kind of room lies inside.

Rory tries to keep track, but there are so many rooms that it's easy to lose count. A kitchen, three bathrooms, some sort of butterfly sanctuary, a room with a pool table, the wardrobe room that they're all familiar with, what appears to be a small museum, bedrooms, rooms full of assorted random science experiments, several stairways, a few lifts, an extensive chemistry lab, and so many others.

The Doctor continues through countless corridors, obviously searching for something specific. He might have even found it eventually, if Amy hadn't decided to do exactly what she was told not to: wander off.

One particular door catches her interest. They're currently in a hallway with slick steel walls and a floor consisting of metal grating. There are fewer doors, and the ones around are plain silver with no decoration. All except one: in the center of the corridor there is a huge archway framed by flickering lights. The Doctor walks by without noticing it, distracted as he is by something further down. However, Amy pauses in front of the opening and looks in. The lights in the room beyond are off, and the hall isn't bright enough to illuminate anything. Amy cautiously steps forward through the arch.

"Uh, Amy," Rory whispers, "He said not to wander off."

She raises an eyebrow. "And you always follow orders? Come on, this looks interesting."

Rory looks conflicted, hesitant to follow her, but hesitant to leave her alone. The Doctor is now out of sight, having turned a corner further down the corridor. Rory sighs and creeps into the room behind her.

Blinding white lights flash on the moment they are both through the arch. An enormous room is revealed, with tables, racks, and shelves full of stuff. Every available surface is covered, including some of the floor. Upon closer inspection, they both discover that none of it looks even remotely human in origin. There is strange organic matter in various containers, and abundance of foreign technology scattered randomly, and many things that seem to be a hybrid of both.

"That is a lot of stuff..." Rory mutters in astonishment. Amy grins and grabs his hand, dragging him behind her as she delves deeper into the room. Soon both of them are hopelessly lost in the maze of shelves, but they hardly notice; they're too distracted by the alien gadgets everywhere. Occasionally one of them will even venture to touch one.

Time is forgotten while Amy and Rory investigate the plethora of paraphernalia. It becomes a game, with each of them trying to find the cooler object.

"Hey, look at this!" Amy exclaims. She holds up a long golden rod with a series if knobs and dials protruding from the sides. There's a large button on the end that she contemplates pressing. Before she can make up her mind, Rory laughs and holds up his find.

"What do you suppose this is for?" He's discovered a small object that vaguely resembles a collection of marbles connected by solid spider webs to form a sphere. The various marbles flicker with alternating colors and the web flashes whenever it's moved. The effect is rather mesmerizing, and the two stare at the sphere for a few moments before grinning at each other and resuming the contest.

Soon Amy finds three bronze triangles levitating in a globe of golden light, but Rory tops that with an anti-gravity chamber. He accidentally gets stuck in the center of it without anything to push off of and starts to panic. He ends up flailing in midair for several minutes before Amy can get her laughter under control enough to help him.

After that incident, Rory is a little more cautious when activating machines, but Amy is still just as daring. They go through device after device. Rory finds a warped, crystalline prism that bends the light to form abstract images. Amy discovers what at first appears to be a jetpack but is actually a machine for compacting matter into small cubes.

While Rory is occupied searching through a table of odd devices, Amy picks up a small object. It's a thick, golden bracelet with curious designs engraved on the surface. Fascinated, she slides the band onto her wrist. It clicks and tightens once it is settled.

Instantly, her whole frame goes slack, and then she screams in terror and stumbles backward. Rory whips around to find her, only to see his wife staring around the room as if it's full of monsters. She's on the verge of hyperventilating as she backs away slowly.

Stunned, he tries to get her to calm down. "Amy, it's alright, there's nothing to be frightened of." Despite his gentle words, she backs into a shelf, sliding down until she rests in a ball on the ground.

"Get away." She whispers, her voice trembling. Rory tries to approach her, but she screams at him and pulls away. Concerned and confused, he takes a couple steps back with his hands up in surrender.

"Amy, everything's fine. Just...uh..." He looks around frantically at all the useless junk. What should he do? "Uh, just wait here. I'll go find the Doctor. I promise this will all be fine." Rory isn't sure how he plans to find anything within the labyrinth of corridors, but he'll manage somehow.

He races through the room to the corridor, and tears through the halls. "DOCTOR!" He shouts frequently. He keeps running until he's beyond lost, not stopping until he can hardly breathe.

When Rory finally pauses to catch his breath, he leans heavily against a nearby pillar. He's in a wide, round room with a low ceiling and several doors leading deeper into the TARDIS. He looks at each door, trying to decide which one he should go through.

The door second from the left opens suddenly, and a head pokes through. Rory sighs in relief, releasing a lot of pent up frustration and panic as he recognizes the familiar face.

"Rory!" The Doctor cries happily. He steps all the way through the door, beaming. "I thought I'd never find you two! But wait," he scans the room with his eyes, no doubt searching for his ginger companion, "Where's Amy?"

"That's why I came looking for you, Doctor-" Rory stops when he realizes what is off about the Doctor's appearance. Staring at the thing perched on the Time Lord's head, he mutters in surprise, "You're wearing a bright yellow hat."

"Yes, we were going through some rather unstable rooms, I needed the extra protection. I offered one to you as well, but you didn't accept it." He pats the hard hat on his head.

"Well we sort of wandered off..." Rory responds.

"Yes, I see that now. So tell me, what trouble has Amy gotten herself into this time?"

"Well I'm not exactly sure. We were in this big room full of weird alien things-"

The Doctor's smile vanishes and he takes off down the hallway. Rory gives up his explanation and runs after him. They both race through corridor after corridor, doubling back a few times and turning countless corners until they come to a halt before the flickering archway.

"This is the place." Rory gasps, out of breath again. The Doctor doesn't hesitate to rush in, but Rory waits a second before forcing his burning legs to carry him into the cavernous room.

Desperate sobbing echoes through the otherwise tranquil air. Rory finds the Doctor kneeling next to a distraught Amy, trying to search for the source of her torment.

He quickly spots the thick golden bracelet on her wrist. "Ooh, not good." He mutters as he pulls out his sonic screwdriver. The Time Lord adjusts a few settings before directing it at the bracelet. Nothing happens for several seconds, and then the Doctor curses. "Rory, come here, I need your help!"

Rory immediately steps away from the table he'd been using as a support. However, as he's moving forwards, he trips over a stray gadget and falls to the ground. His arm hits another device that's also on the floor, a flat disc with a large button on the top. It immediately starts flashing and bleeping, while the Doctor's eyes widen and he scrambles over to Rory.

He's too late. The device emits a piercing shriek, and then Rory vanishes in a flash of light.