they're keeping us instead of kicking us back
It's not really an ending so much as an opening for a sequel.
Amy meets Rory at the graveyard, about an hour or so after he arrived. She kisses the tears off of his cheeks, grabs his hands in her own, and hugs him close. They don't move, they don't speak; and when they decide to leave they simply walk out of the cold, iron gate. Words are pointless at a time like this.
The angels watch them as they walk to the more urban areas of the city.
Rory finds work at a hospital, a doctor this time, and he is considered a miracle. With innovative ideas that revolutionise how the hospital works, and a great bedside manner, he is promoted to head of the hospital. His wife, Amy, is an amateur authoress, who takes delight in reading aloud to his patients. The stories of Melody Malone the most popular; what with enough sophisticated parties and handsome men for the older women, mystery and beautiful women for the gentlemen, enough yowza for the old and young men alike, sex appeal and sauce for the younger women; and enough action for everybody. They're like a gift from all the angels of heaven, everyone says.
The statues on the fountains guard and police the hospital.
Their house has a white picket fence and looks like it has just come out of the old black and white movies. It has shutters and old style locks and net curtains. They paint it a shade of blue, a nolgastic tingling in their minds. Amy has a shelf full of travel paperbacks, Rory a shelf of medical journals, and there is another shelf that's empty. They have photos taken, complete with old-style cameras and though they smile in the pictures, the gaps either side of them hurt more than either of them will admit.
The statues smile and the cherubs laugh.
One day, a woman with curly blonde hair comes to visit them, a handbag full of surprises over a shoulder and a smile with a promise of fantastical tales on her lips.
"Oh, Mother," Melody Pond smiles, when Amy lets her in, a tray of cookies in her hands and a look of surprise on her face. "I'm home!" She takes a cookie, lets Amy lead her inside and sit her on the sofa, and begins telling her stories of a Raggedy Man with a big blue box.
"Daddy!" Melody Williams shouts, and hugs him tightly when he walks in, hands smelling of antiseptic and hospitals. He hugs back, kissing her forehead lightly, and then letting her talk to him about her various studies.
When River Song leaves, there are a bunch of family photos on the table, mobile phones that will work anywhere and a book, waiting to be published.
The angels growl, but their prey does not leave, so all is fine.
A year later, an older man with his arms linked to his granddaughter will be led to the blue house with a white fence and read the story of a Roman and a girl with a fairy tale name, with the action detective Melody Malone. He pushes open the gate, sees the little garden with an iron watering can and smiles as he pushes open the doors to the house.
A tearful embrace between father and son occurs before daughter-in-law can get hers. They have a very British afternoon tea with homemade scones and cream, before River Song has to get back to teach her class. Brian Williams stays in the blue house, and gets to run the garden with an iron fist, as well as controlling the hospital gardens and some select parks. He is happy, with his son and his wife, with occasional visits from his grand-daughter.
The angels smile, because they have one more person ensnared in their clutches, and sometimes even sending someone back a few hours is enough for them to feed on.
The first time a raggedy man visits, it takes a while. Trains are slow and take a lot of effort, and it's really boring going slowly and in the right order. It doesn't help that the boat he travels on goes into a load of storms and is almost hijacked by a kelpie, but he saves the day and makes his way to Manhattan.
The look on Amy and Rory's face when he does so is worth it.
They eat cake with tea, and cookies with coffee, and they all laugh so hard at the stories he has to tell. Brian is looking more alive than ever, with Rory happy as a Doctor, and Amy pushing out more Melody Monroe books. Williams is a house-hold name around Manhattan and they couldn't be happier about it.
Melody pops in for a visit, and they end up having that family outing down at the pub. "The Angel's Watch" it is called, but they have a fine night drinking and dancing.
River Song and the Doctor vanish rather quickly after that, and don't come back for five years.
The angels watch, and they wait, and they let them in because they know what is coming.
The second time an old, sad man in a tweed jacket visits, it is after a place called Delirium. He sits on the worn Williams sofa- "no, it's a couch, Doctor, we're in America"- warming his hands with a cup of black coffee. Brian has seen the face before, and holds Amy and Rory's shoulders. The Doctor tells the story of a younger man and a redheaded pima donna, an annoying archaeologist and an expedition to a library.
He leaves the tea undrunk as Amy cries, and Rory, ever the Centurion, holds her in his protective embrace.
The angels glare as the Doctor leaves.
The third and final time that the Doctor visits, it is with a blonde woman with crazy curly hair.
"Flesh duplicate with saved memories from CAL," he explains, and he grins at his own genius. The Williams family embrace him, thanking him profusely. He stays for a week, and there is a party every day.
But all good things have to end, and this was one of them.
"This is the last you'll ever see of me." He says.
"I can't take her with me." He says.
"Goodbye, Amelia Pond." He says.
Amy Williams kisses her Doctor on the forehead, bringing her arms around him.
"Goodbye, Doctor. And thank you, thank you so much. You brought our Melody back to us, just like you said you would when she was a baby."
The Doctor grins his mad-tag raggedy grin, and does a running sort of dance down her path.
Rory and Brian wave at him as he leaves, watering the plants together.
River smiles, before Melody turns away.
The angels watch as he leaves, before turning back to patrol Manhattan.
They send messages to the Doctor, do the Williams. Physic paper is contacted, after-words at the end of books and messages graffiti-ed all over the place. The Melody Monroe books become classics, made into films with an all-star cast. The hospital Rory works in starts the William's trust, for travelling medical trainees, which spreads all over the U-S-of-A. Brian's column on gardening goes national in the papers. Melody becomes an actress alongside Marilyn Monroe. All the things they do contain hidden messages to the Doctor, reminding him of things, but mostly making sure he isn't travelling alone or beating himself up over their fate, as it was really not his fault at all.
And they are happy, happier than ever, even with the angels.
The angels smile through their hands at their prey, happily trapped with no thoughts of escape.
The plot where there was in one future only one grave stone now has three.
Rest in peace, Brian Williams, loving father.
Rest in peace, Rory Arthur Williams, and his loving wife, Amelia Williams, patient until the end.
Rest in peace, Melody Williams, beautiful and backwards.
The Doctor parks his TARDIS here often, and sits and talks to the graves, before leaving without a backwards glance.
His Ponds, now his Williams-es have gone on to an adventure without him, but that's OK. They were (and are, and will be) happy. He's still a madman, he still has his box, and it's the best thing there is.
He will see them soon enough. All he has to do is a little waiting.
The angels watch him as he leaves, and the plot still has room for one more body, and the gravestones have room for one more name.
The weeping angels smile, and the cherubs chuckle, and the TARDIS fades out of existence.
A.N:
This is my way of giving the Ponds a happy ending, hopefully without turning it too sappy.
I brawled my eyes out through the whole of "The Angels Take Manhattan", and am still pretty torn up about it.
This is my head canon about what happens next, my version of a fix-it without ruining Stephen Moffat's amazing episode.
Title from "The Kooks- She Moves in Her Own Way"
I hope you enjoyed it, and thanks for reading,
Call Me Tom
30/09/12