Rory

Then they rounded the corner, and Rory bumped into someone with red hair. And it wasn't his wife. Either of his wives. It was a girl with red hair so blindingly bright that it didn't seem real, and green cat eyes that flashed. Eyes that were presently narrowed in suspicion.

"Where ya goin' boy?" Her voice was hoarse and sharp as a crows' caw, as though she was unused to speaking. He stared. Her eyes slitted and she reached for a knife that was strapped to her forearm. He felt its metal scrape his skin.

"Should I just kill you now?" At that moment, both the Amys came barreling around the corner. Older Amy blinked in surprise.

"What are you doing here?" The girl laughed bitterly and reached for the hilts of two swords that protruded over her shoulders.

"'Bout the same thing as you, girlie; thinkin' about how to slit my wrists." She let out another barking laugh. "And who's this again?" She jerked her chin at Rory. Older Amy smiled. "Rory." Eyebrows raised, the girl looked him up and down. "The Rory?" A snort escaped her throat. "The Rory?" The yipping laugh again. "Oh girlie, he's just as cute as you said." She snorted again, weak and rusty, but to Rory it sounded forced, like she couldn't let herself laugh.

"So where're you off to?" Older Amy smiled.

"I'm leaving." The girl's eyes lit up. "Great for you!" Then the light dimmed. "I'm alone again." She whispered, almost to herself. Older Amy stepped forward and touched her arm.

"Come with us." Hope flared in her green eyes.

"Really?" Rory shrugged. Then frowned.

"Why are you here?" Her eyes went dull as chips of stone. Then, in an oddly detached tone, she started to talk. And talk.

"I came here by accident, a long, long time ago. I was traveling with my friends, and then we got separated. And I've been here ever since. It's hell." Rory gulped.

"How long exactly?" She sighed.

"Two hundred years, and I've not found a way out." He frowned. "You look about seventeen." She laughed. "Honey, I'm part of an immortal species. You think that when we evolved we would be a disaster of wrinkles when we died? I have an accelerated blood flow and cells that replace themselves automatically instead of breaking down. I'm a machine, plain and simple." Pain, centuries old crossed her features, and she rubbed a scar that slanted across her wrist to wrap around her forearm. Then her expression brightened.

"Handbots behind you!" She cried cheerfully, before racing at full tilt down the corridor. Rory twisted, and there were indeed more handbots behind them, walking forward at a slow, but steady pace. Both Amys came running after her, and Rory really had no choice but to follow. Handbots surrounded them, but the redheaded girl faced them with a smile sharp as glass, and sliced away their heads with her swords. More appeared, but she plowed through them like a bulldozer, destroying them, before skidding into the gallery.

As Rory entered the gallery, he bumped into her, again. She was staring at the TARDIS, face pale. She twisted to glance at him, eyes wide. Her pupils were dilated beyond belief, and her eyes were nearly pure black, the glassy color of an oil slick.

"That's your way out of here?" She spit. "Him!?" Rory frowned.

"If by him, you mean the Doctor, then yes, him." She bit her lip furiously. "Why, what's wrong with the Doctor? Do you know him?" Sadness pooled in her eyes, then anger. She held out her hands in front of her, then crossed them over her chest.

"We go way, way back, he and I. Way, way back. And our history is complicated and fucked up." Rory winced at the profanity, but she was so lost in memory that she hardly seemed to notice. Her gaze rested on something far off in the distance or maybe, he thought, in the past. "I never thought I'd see him again. Actually, I never thought I'd see anyone again. I figured I'd die here, and no one would ever know. I'd die alone, and my friends would never figure out what happened to me." The planes of her face shifted, and for a moment something ancient and-emotional was visible. And in a moment, it was gone. And then she chopped the head off another handbot, and her face was cold and sharp and guarded again, and he wondered if he had even seen it at all. Behind him, Amy twisted and swung her sword. In front of him, the girl they had run into whooped a battle cry. It struck him that he didn't know her name. Well, there was no time to ask her. They were on the run for their lives.

And then one of the handbots touched younger Amy's skin. And she crumpled like a rag doll. The girl from the hallway winced.

"That's bad."

Rory grabbed the painting from the wall that he had seen earlier and hit the handbot with all his strength. Sparks flew, and it collapsed. He knelt and swept Amy into his arms. Together, he and hallway girl raced for the TARDIS, older Amy close behind. He rounded on the TARDIS, and kicked it open frantically, before setting Amy down on the floor, hallway girl hovering anxiously in the doorway, swinging her swords anxiously. The Doctor wrenched his jacket off and draped it over Amy, pressing his fingers against her neck.

"It's just an anesthetic; she'll be fine." Rory sighed in relief, as the Doctor rushed away, towards the doorway, which hallway girl had recently vacated for the wall.

"I'm sorry." He said shortly, and slammed the TARDIS' door. Rory looked up sharply.

"What are you doing?"

"I lied to her Rory. There can never be two Amys in the TARDIS; the paradox would be two massive." Regret crossed the Doctor's features. Outside, they could hear older Amy pounding and shouting. The Doctor still hadn't noticed hallway girl, who was watching the exchange in the way one might watch a vaguely exciting tennis match.

"You can't just leave her. She'll die." Amy pounded again.

"No, she'll never have existed." He paused. "When we save our Amy this future won't have happened."

"She happened! She's there!" He stepped forward.

"Doctor! Doctor!" Amy cried, a panicking note entering her voice.

The Doctor frantically shook his head. "She's not real."

"She is real. Let her in." Rory growled.

"No. We take this Amy, we leave ours. There can only be one in the TARDIS. Which one do you want?" The Doctor cried. For a moment there was silence, except for Amy's frenzied pounding. It almost made it seem like the TARDIS had a heartbeat, a pulse. The Doctor fastened Rory's fingers around the doorknob. "It's your choice."

"This isn't fair." He stepped closer. "You're turning me into you."

The Doctor's eyes were sad. "You're choice Rory." Then he walked away, toward the console and the unconscious Amy.

"Doctor!" Amy wailed.

The Doctor started flipping switched on the console. A trembling hand appeared, pressed to the glass on the door.

"Rory." She whispered. "Please." Shakily, he matched his hand with hers. She continued speaking.

"The look on your face when you carried her. Me. Her. You carried her away. You used to look at me like that. I've forgotten how much you loved me. I've forgotten how much I loved being her." Rory swallowed. It felt like knives in his throat.

"Amy Pond in the TARDIS. With Rory Williams." Tears welled in his eyes and he shuddered, turning toward the Doctor.

"I'm sorry, I can't do this." He sobbed softly, and then he started to turn the knob. Amy's voice came quick and sharp from the other side of the glass.

"If you love me, don't let me in." She sniffed. "Open that door, I will. I'll come in. I don't want to die. I won't bow out bravely, I'll be screaming, fighting. To the end." Rory slid his face against the door.

"Amy," He moaned. "Amy I love you."

"I love you too." She sighed back. "Don't let me in." He could practically picture her, her hair falling down the sides of her face, green eyes bright with tears. "Tell Amy, your Amy: I'm giving her the days. The days with you. The days to come."

"I'm so so sorry." Rory groaned.

"The days I can't have. Take them please." He swallowed again, and the tears trickled down his cheeks. Then he let go. They heard sounds of handbots outside, and knew that Amy didn't have much time left. And then they heard a soft thud. And Rory cried. And finally, the Doctor noticed their visitor, who was trying to make herself as small as possible. He frowned.

"Who are you?" She sighed, and twisted towards them. The Doctor stepped back, startled.

"Yeah Doctor." Hallway girl smiled, biting and dangerous. "Long time, no see." The Doctor looked as though he'd just been smacked in the face. He staggered to his chair, which he slumped into. Then he lifted his eyes to hers.

"Yes," He whispered. "It's been a long time, Fire." The girl's eyes flared, startlingly green, and then red, vivid as her hair, shocking against her pale skin.