The Tardis was tumbling out of control and spinning violently out of control as explosions erupted inside. It flies over the Millennium Dome with the Doctor dangling from the threshold, sonic screwdriver between his teeth and trying to pull himself back inside.
"Doctor!" Stella called out as she slipped along the floor over to him. She reached down grabbing him by the back of his shirt. "Clock Tower!" They were heading straight for the Parliament Clock Tower. "It's coming right at us!"
"I got it." The Doctor soniced the controls and changed course just in time as Stella hauled him back up into the Tardis and shut the doors behind them, exhausted they fell to the floor sitting against the doors, as the Tardis careened on its way.
"I don't know about you, but I'm all funned out." Stella said letting her head fall to his shoulder as he chuckled breathlessly.
"We're still crashing." The Doctor said breaking the short silence
"Oh yeah, don't know why we keep forgetting that." Stella said as they pushed themselves off the floor and ran over to the console.
-0-
"Dear Santa." Little Amelia pond kneeled beside her bed hands pressed together an d eyes closed tight. "Thank you for the dolls and pencils and the fish. 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. 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…" She hears the Tardis materializing outside, then a crash. She runs back to her bed finishing her prayer quickly before bolting out of her room. "Back in a moment." She grabs a torch and looks outside. The Tardis has crash-landed on its side, on the garden shed. "Thank you, Santa."
The Tardis doors opened outwards suddenly causing Amelia to startle slightly facing the sky and a grappling hook was thrown out. There was a lot of grunting before a soaking wet Doctor clambered out.
"Could I have an apple? All I can think about. Apples. I love apples. Maybe I'm having a craving? That's new. Never had cravings before." The Doctor said in excitement.
"Oi, as much as I love studying your new backside, I'd like to get out of here." Stella called up.
"Not in front of the child love." The Doctor teased as he sat on the edge of the Tardis and looked inside reaching down.
"What child?" Stella asked as the Doctor helped her up so she was sitting beside him.
"That one." He pointed to the little red head.
"Oh, hello." Stella waved at the little girl who waved cautiously back.
"Whoa. Look at that." The Doctor said as he looked down into the TARDIS.
"That is one heck of a drop and look at that mess." Stella said shaking her head. "Did you have to be so dramatic? I didn't do that when I changed."
"I couldn't help it." The Doctor defended himself with a pout, until Stella leaned forward pecking him on his lips making him smile.
"Are you okay?" Amelia asked them.
"Just had a fall." Stella said dismissively as she swung her legs over the side of the Tardis and hopped down.
"All the way down there, right to the library." The Doctor added. "Hell of a climb back up."
"You're both soaking wet." Amelia pointed out as Stella shook the water from her ginger hair, running a hand through it to get it out of her bright blue eyes.
"We were in the swimming pool." The Doctor replied.
"You said you were in the library." Amelia said.
"So was the swimming pool." Stella said with a wink leaning against the Tardis.
"Are you a policeman and policewoman?" Amelia asked.
"Why?" The Doctor asked looking down at her. "Did you call a policeman?"
"Or policewoman?" Stella added.
"Police person?" The Doctor offered.
"I think they just call them police officers." Stella said thoughtfully. "Seems safe enough gender wise."
"Did you come about the crack in my wall?" Amelia asked ignoring their questions.
"What crack?" The Doctor asked the jerked violently and fell to the ground. "Argh!"
"Are you all right, mister?" Amelia asked as Stella kneeled down next to him helping him sit up.
"No, I'm fine. It's okay. This is all perfectly norm…" A breath of golden energy comes from the Doctor's mouth.
"Who are you?" Amelia asked looking at the two strange adults.
"I'm Stella Quinn." Stella replied with a smile then Amelia looked expectantly at the Doctor.
"I don't know yet. I'm still cooking." The Doctor said as he looked down at his glowing gold hands. "Does it scare you?"
"No, it just looks a bit weird." Amelia said as she watched him.
"No, no, no. The crack in your wall." Stella corrected her. "Does it scare you?"
"Yes." Amelia said nodding her head.
"Well then, no time to lose." The Doctor said standing to his feet with a burst of energy. "I'm the Doctor she's Stella. Do everything we tell you, don't ask stupid questions, and don't wander off."
The Doctor smiled as he turned and walked away with purpose away from the house and straight into a tree with an impressive smack which sent him to the ground with a thud. Stella and Amelia rushed over to him as he starred up at them from the ground.
"Are you all right?" Amelia asked.
"Early days. Steering's a bit off." The Doctor said as Stella held out her hand.
"Come on love, up you get." Stella helped him up.
-0-
Amelia led them into her home and into the kitchen where she grabbed an apple, giving it to the Doctor.
"If you're a doctor, why does your box say Police?" Amelia asked as the Doctor took a bite of the apple, then spit it out.
"That's disgusting. What is that?" The Doctor asked as he choked.
"An apple." Amelia answered.
"Apple's rubbish. I hate apples." The Doctor said.
"You said you loved them." Amelia argued.
"No, no, no. I like yoghurt. Yoghurt's my favorite. Give me yoghurt." The Doctor demanded and Amelia got him some from the fridge.
"Well if you don't want it." Stella said as she snatched the apple and munched away on it. "I personally love apples."
"I know, you love all kinds of fruits, especially with whip crème caramel dip or chocolate dip. Then there is the candy of all kinds and lollipops, you especially love lollipops." The Doctor said as he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind resting his chin on her shoulder.
"All fruits except for pears." Stella said making a face. "Not even whip crème or the dips can make those taste better."
"Well of course, pears are nasty." The Doctor said mimicking her face then smiled and straightened up when Amelia handed him the Yogurt. He pours it in his mouth and then spits it out. "I hate yoghurt. It's just stuff with bits in."
"You said it was your favorite." Amelia said getting frustrated.
"New mouth. New rules. It's like eating after cleaning your teeth. Everything tastes wrong. Argh!" The Doctor twitches violently and hit himself in the head.
"What is it? What's wrong with you?" Amelia asked as she watched him.
"Wrong with me? It's not my fault. Why can't you give me any decent food?" The Doctor demanded. "You're Scottish. Fry something."
"Hey, be nice to her, she's being a good host to us." Stella said as she popped him on the arm with a look.
"Yes dear." The Doctor replied sarcastically, his lips twitching into a smile. Stella stretched up and kissed him on the cheek.
"That's my boy." Stella said grabbing him a kitchen towel that was lying nearby and tossing it to him as Amelia got the frying pan out. The Doctor dried his hair with the towel as Stella did the same with hers before pulling it back into a French braid.
"Are those tattoos?" Amelia asked Stella, looking at the marking along the other gingers arms.
"Kind of." Stella shrugged.
"Are you a robot?" Amelia asked, noting the fluid moving through the lines.
"Kind of." Stella repeated herself.
"Ah, bacon!" The Doctor said with a smile. He quickly sat down at the table taking his utensils in hand as the plate of bacon was put before him.
"Well?" Stella asked as he took a large bite and seemed to enjoy it for a moment before he spit it back out.
"Bacon. That's bacon." The Doctor said in disgust then leaned forward seriously. "Are you trying to poison me?"
"How about we try beans?" Stella suggested as she grabbed a chair standing on top of it to reach the top shelf of a cupboard and pulling down the candy stash while Amelia started up a saucepan of baked beans heating them up.
"Ah, you see? Beans." The Doctor said with a smile until he got them in his mouth, and promptly spit them into the sink. "Beans are evil. Bad, bad beans."
"You are a picky eater, maybe something simple." Stella said looking to Amelia as she popped some hard caramels into her mouth.
"Toast?" Amelia suggested.
"Can't hurt to try." Stella said as they looked to the agitated Doctor.
"Bread and butter. Now you're talking." The Doctor said as he watched the bread being buttered. He took a bite then looked up at them for a moment before rushing to the front door and threw the plate of bread and butter out, hitting a cat.
"And stay out!" The Doctor ordered closing the door behind him as he walked back into the kitchen where Amelia was going through the fridge.
"You hit a cat." Stella said with a raised eyebrow, now chewing on some gummy worms.
"I wasn't aiming for it, it was in the line of fire." The Doctor said as he started to pace.
"We've got some carrots." Amelia said from the fridge.
"Carrots? Are you insane?" The Doctor scoffed then walked over to the fridge himself. "No. Wait. Hang on. I know what I need. I need, I need, I need fish fingers and custard."
Amelia looked less then convinced as did Stella, but they made the meal anyway and set it before the Doctor. A little while later the Doctor contentedly dipped the fish fingers into a bowl of custard and ate them up, while Amelia ate ice cream and Stella munched on a banana after dipping it in some chocolate that she had found in the stash of candy and melted.
The Doctor finished the fish fingers then picked up the bowl of custard and took a deep drink from it. He sat it back down revealing a custard mustache on his upper lip.
"You got a little…" Stella pointed to her own lip. The Doctor just smiled as he quickly leaned over to her kissing her lips soundly then pulled back leaving a smear of custard across her lips. "Doctor!"
"Now we match." The Doctor said with a bright smile. Stella retaliated by throwing her banana peel at him hitting him in the fore head and stuck there for a moment before falling into his lap.
"You are such a dork." Stella laughed wiping the custard from her mouth with a napkin as the Doctor took the peel and threw it into the sink over his shoulder without even looking.
"Funny." Amelia said with a giggle.
"Are we? Good. Funny's good." The Doctor smiled as he wiped the custard from his lip with his shirt sleeve. "What's your name?"
"Amelia Pond." Amelia replied.
"Oh, that's a brilliant name. Amelia Pond. Like a name in a fairy tale." The Doctor commented.
"Are we in Scotland, Amelia?" Stella asked leaning her head on the Doctor's shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her waist pulling her close.
"No. We had to move to England." Amelia said looking down. "It's rubbish."
"So what about your mum and dad, then? Are they upstairs?" The Doctor asked. "Thought we'd have woken them by now."
"I don't have a mum and dad." Amelia said sadly. "Just an aunt."
"I don't even have an aunt." The Doctor commented.
"You're lucky." Amelia said.
"I know." The Doctor replied. "So, your aunt, where is she?"
"She's out." Amelia said with a shrug.
"And she left you all alone?" Stella asked feeling a little upset that someone would leave a child all on their own so late at night.
"I'm not scared." Amelia said lifting her chin.
"Course, you're not. You're not scared of anything." The Doctor said. "Box falls out of the sky, man and woman falls out of a box, man eats fish custard, woman eats fruit, and look at you, just sitting there. So you know what I think?"
"What?" Amelia asked with a smile.
"Must be a hell of a scary crack in your wall." The Doctor said and Amelia's smile fell.
-0-
"You've had some cowboys in here." The Doctor said as he ran his fingers along the crack as Stella stood in front of it looking thoughtful. "Not actual cowboys, though that can happen."
"I used to hate apples, so my mum put faces on them." Amelia walks up and gives the Doctor an apple with a smiley face cut into it.
"She sounds good, your mum. I'll keep it for later." The Doctor said slipping it into his pocket.
"This wall is solid and the crack doesn't go all the way through it. So here's a thing." Stella said as she held out her hand so it hovered over the crack. "Where's the draught coming from?"
The Doctor scanned it with the sonic screwdriver then looked at the results.
"Wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey." The Doctor said looking to Stella who nodded then to Amelia. "You know what the crack is?"
"What?" Amelia asked.
"It's a crack. But I'll tell you something funny. If you knocked this wall down, the crack would stay put, because the crack isn't in the wall." The Doctor said.
"Where is it then?" Amelia asked.
"Everywhere, in everything." Stella answered.
"It's a split in the skin of the world. Two parts of space and time that should never have touched, pressed together right here in the wall of your bedroom." The Doctor added.
"Sometimes, can you hear…?" Stella started to ask.
"A voice, yes." Amelia cut in.
The Doctor listened carefully and heard a vague growling from somewhere as Stella stiffened having heard it as well. The Doctor ran over to Amelia's nightstand and grabbed her glass of water throwing the contents over his shoulder then looking back in surprise at what he'd done before running back over and placing the cup against the wall to listen to the crack.
'Prisoner Zero has escaped.'
"Prisoner Zero?" The Doctor questioned.
"Prisoner Zero has escaped. That's what I heard. What does it mean?" Amelia asked.
'Prisoner Zero has escaped.'
"It means that on the other side of this wall, there's a prison and they've lost a prisoner." The Doctor said standing back.
"And you know what that means?" Stella asked standing next to the Doctor.
"What?" Amelia asked.
"You need a better wall." Stella answered.
"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…" The Doctor trailed off looking to the two girls.
"What?" Amelia asked.
"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?" The Doctor asked.
"Yes." Amelia said in frustration.
"Everything's going to be fine." Stella said as The Doctor took little Amelia's hand while Stella takes her other hand, then he aims the sonic screwdriver at the crack. It widens, flooding the bedroom with bright light.
'Prisoner Zero has escaped. Prisoner Zero has escaped.'
"Hello? Hello?" The Doctor called out then a giant blue eye appears and looks at them through the crack.
"What's that?" Amelia asked as a bolt of light goes to the Doctor, and he doubles over, then the crack closes again.
"There, you see? Told you it would close. Good as new." The Doctor said with a cheerful smile.
"What's that thing? Was that Prisoner Zero?" Amelia asked.
"No. I think that was Prisoner Zero's guard." Stella shook her head.
"Whatever it was, it sent me a message. Psychic paper. Takes a lovely little message." The Doctor said taking the paper out and reading it. "Prisoner Zero has escaped. But why tell us? Unless…"
"Unless what?" Amelia asked.
"Unless Prisoner Zero escaped through here." Stella answered sharing a concerned look with the Doctor.
"But he couldn't have. We'd know." The Doctor said as they ran out of the room going to the stairs, up in the room they stopped in. There was a door across the way and two at the far end where the staircase went down again.
"It's difficult. Brand new me. Nothing works yet. But there's something I'm missing. In the corner of my eye." The Doctor said as he slowly turned around.
"I'm settled and I still can't quit…" Stella started, but then the Tardis Cloister Bell tolls.
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!" The Doctor chanted as he and Stella ran out of the house followed by Amelia.
"We've got to get back in there. The engines are phasing. It's going to burn!" Stella called out as they ran up to the Tardis.
"But it's just a box. How can a box have engines?" Amelia asked.
"It's not a box. It's a time machine." The Doctor answered.
"What, a real one? You've got a real time machine?" Amelia asked in disbelief.
"Not for much longer if we can't get her stabilized." Stella commented as she and the Doctor climbed up onto the edge of the Tardis.
"Five minute hop into the future should do it." The Doctor said.
"Can I come?" Amelia asked hopefully.
"Not safe in here. Not yet." Stella said shaking her head.
"Five minutes. Give us five minutes, we'll be right back." The Doctor said.
"People always say that." Amelia said sadly. The Doctor and Stella shared a look before the Doctor jumped back down to Amelia and kneeled down in front of her.
"Am I people? Is she people? Do we even look like people?" The Doctor questioned and Amelia shook her head as he stood back up. "Trust us. I'm the Doctor and she's Stella."
"See you soon." Stella said with a wink as she helped the Doctor back up and they both jumped into the Tardis.
"Geronimo!" The Doctor yelled.
"Bonsai!" Stella yelled.
Both yells were followed by a resounding splash then the doors closed and the Tardis dematerialized right in front of Amelia's eyes. Amelia ran back to her room, got a suitcase from underneath her bed and packed. Then raced out of her room down the stairs and outside not noticing that one of the doors at the end was now open.
Dressed in duffel coat and wooly hat, Amelia sat on her suitcase in the garden and waited, but when the Tardis finally materializes, steaming, it was day and Amelia was not there. The Doctor stumbled out followed by Stella who was using a fire extinguisher on the inside as they backed out finally throwing it to the side and slamming the door shut.
"Amelia! Amelia, we worked out what it was." The Doctor called out as he and Stella ran to the house. "I know what I was missing!"
"You've got to get out of there!" Stella called out as they opened the door and ran in.
"Amelia? Amelia, are you all right? Are you there?" The Doctor called out as they ran up to her bedroom door. "Prisoner Zero's here. Prisoner Zero is here! Prisoner Zero is here! Do you understand me? Prisoner Zero is…"
A floorboard creaked behind them, they turned and got knocked out by a cricket bat.
-0-
The Doctor slowly came to with the tweeting of birds to see a young lady in a micro-skirted police uniform using her radio. He looked over to Stella who groaned as she woke up and rolled her head around trying to get rid of her stiff neck.
"White male, mid-twenties and white female early twenties, breaking and entering. Send me some back-up. I've got them restrained." Amy said then noticed the Doctor and Stella awake. "Oi! You, sit still."
"Cricket bat. I'm getting cricket bat." The Doctor said rubbing his head.
"That's because we got smacked in the head by one." Stella grimaced as her body rebooted from the sudden impact, everything feeling heavy in a drowsy sort of way.
"You were breaking and entering." Amy replied.
"We were running into the house yelling, not exactly breaking and entering protocol." Stella snapped as the Doctor made to stand, but found himself cuffed as was Stella. She tried to pull on her cuff as well, but her body was still recovering and wasn't responding.
"Well, that's much better. Brand new me. Whack on the head, just what I needed." The Doctor said.
"I was just fine, I didn't need the jumpstart." Stella whined, she really hated having headaches. The Doctor reached into her pocket digging out a purple sucker and placed it into her mouth knowing that she was rebooting. Stella sighed with a satisfied smile as she rolled the sucker around in her mouth. "Much better, thank you love. Do want one?"
"No thanks love." The Doctor smiled, still trying to shake of his throbbing head pain.
"Do you want to shut up now? I've got back up on the way." Amy said as she starred down at them.
"Hang on, no, wait." The Doctor said as he looked her over. "You're a policewoman."
"And you're breaking and entering. You see how this works?" She bit out.
"But what are you doing here? Where's Amelia?" Stella demanded as she looked around.
"Amelia Pond?" Amy questioned.
"Yeah, Amelia. Little Scottish girl. Where is she? We promised her five minutes but the engines were phasing. I suppose I must have gone a bit far." The Doctor said.
"Has something happened to her?" Stella asked in concern as she noticed the woman's dark look.
"Amelia Pond hasn't lived here in a long time." She answered.
"How long?" The Doctor asked.
"Six months." Amy said shocking them.
"No. No. No. No, I can't be six months late. We said five minutes. We promised." The Doctor said sadly.
"What happened to her? What happened to Amelia Pond?" Stella demanded.
"Sarge, it's me again. Hurry it up. These guys knows something about Amelia Pond." She said into her comm.
"I need to speak to whoever lives in this house right now." The Doctor demanded.
"I live here." Amy replied.
"But you're the police." The Doctor said.
"Yes, and this is where I live." Amy said bitingly. "Have you got a problem with that?"
"How many rooms?" The Doctor asked suddenly.
"I'm sorry, what?" Amy asked.
"On this floor. How many rooms on this floor?" The Doctor said. "Count them for me now."
"Doctor I don't think…" Stella started to say.
"Why?" Amy asked cutting Rhea off.
"Because it will change your life." The Doctor said seriously.
"Five. One, two, three, four, five." Amy said pointing to each door.
"Six." The Doctor corrected her.
"Six?" Amy questioned.
"Look." The Doctor said.
"Doctor…" Stella tried again.
"Look where?" Amelia asked.
"Exactly where you don't want to look, where you never want to look, the corner of your eye." The Doctor answered as Amy slowly turned around looking for the sixth door. "Look behind you."
"That's, that is not possible." Amy said when she spotted it. "How's that possible?"
"There's a perception filter all-round the door. Sensed it the last time we were here, should've seen it." The Doctor said berating himself.
"But that's a whole room. That's a whole room I've never even noticed." Amy said in shock moving slowly toward the door.
"The filter stops you noticing, something came a while ago to hide." Stella said with an annoyed sigh.
"And it's still hiding, and you need to uncuff us now." The Doctor said.
"I don't have the key." Amy said ignoring them as she crept closer to the door. "I lost it."
"How can you have lost it? The Doctor snapped. "Stay away from that door! Do not touch that door! Listen to me, do not open that. Why does no-one ever listen to me? Do I just have a face that nobody listens to…again?"
"Why did you tell her to look? What did that accomplish?!" Stella snapped as Amy went into the room.
"I don't know, I wanted her to believe us." The Doctor replied.
"Then why didn't you show her your screwdriver?! Or the Psychic paper?!" Stella rolled her eyes as the Doctor's eye brows shot up.
"My screwdriver, where is it?" The Doctor said as he patted down his pockets. "Silver thing, blue at the end. Where did it go?"
"There's nothing here." Amy said from the room.
"Whatever's there stopped you seeing the room." Stella said hoping to dissuade her from looking around anymore. "What makes you think you could see it? Now please, just get out."
"Silver, blue at the end?" Amy asked.
"My screwdriver, yeah." The Doctor replied.
"It's here." Amy said.
"Must have rolled under the door." The Doctor said sharing an uneasy look with Stella as the Doctor continued to pull on his cuff and Stella tried to regain control over her body faster.
"Yeah, must have." Amy said. "And then it must have jumped up on the table."
"Oh crap." Stella muttered.
"Get out of there." The Doctor yelled. "Get out of there! Get out! Get out of there!"
"What is it? What are you doing?" Stella called out.
"There's nothing here, but…" Amy said.
"Corner of your eye." The Doctor said.
"Stop talking!" Stella snapped.
"What is it?" Amy asked.
"Don't try to see it. If it knows you've seen it, it will kill you. Don't look at it. Do not look." Stella yelled, but a scream from Amy told her that she had been ignored. "Get out!"
Amy rushed out of the room as fast as she could and over to them, panic clearly displayed across her face.
"Give me that." The Doctor grabbed the sonic screwdriver from her and locked the door, then tried to free himself and Stella. "Come on. What's the bad alien done to you?"
"Will that door hold it?" Amy asked starring fearfully at the door.
"Oh, yeah, yeah, of course, it's an interdimensional multiform from outer space." The Doctor said sarcastically. "They're all terrified of wood."
There was a bright light in the room and a strange noise.
"What's that? What's it doing?" Amy asked terrified.
"I don't know. Getting dressed?" The Doctor replied.
"Run. Just go. Your back up's coming. We'll be fine." Stella shooed her off.
"There is no back up." Amy said.
"I heard you on the radio." The Doctor argued. "You called for backup."
"I was pretending. It's a pretend radio." Amy replied in frustration.
"You're a policewoman." The Doctor said.
"I'm a kissogram!" She takes off her cap and her long red hair falls down.
"Oh…well… that's just…crap." Stella groaned. "Doctor, get these cuffs off." The sixth door falls down to reveal a workman in overalls and toolbelt, with a black dog. "Now!"
"But it's just…" Amelia said looking at the man and dog.
"No, it isn't." The Doctor said. "Look at the faces."
"What?" Amelia questioned as the man barked instead of the dog. "I'm sorry, but what?"
"It's all one creature. One creature disguised as two. Clever old multi-form. A bit of a rush job, though." Stella commented, the feeling back in her legs and returning to her arms.
"Got the voice a bit muddled, did you? Mind you, where did you get the pattern from? You'd need a psychic link, a live feed. How did you fix that?" The Doctor questioned as the man and dog advanced.
"Oh well this just gets better and better." Stella said then held up her free hand, happy that it was working again, but mad that she couldn't make a safe escape now that it was there. She glared at the man and dog and spoke in a stern voice. "Stay, boy! Stay! Bad, bad dog, you stay right there."
The man halted and cocked his head like a dog.
"Nice one love." The Doctor said smiling at her. "Her me and her, we're safe. Want to know why? She sent for back up."
"I didn't send for back-up!" Amy said.
"I know. That was a clever lie to save our lives." The Doctor replied. "Okay, yeah, no back up. And that's why we're safe. Alone, we're not a threat to you. If we had back up, you'd have to kill us."
'Attention, Prisoner Zero. The human residence is surrounded. Attention Prisoner Zero. The human residence is surrounded.'
"What's that?" Amy asked.
"Well, that would be back up." Stella said.
"Okay, one more time. We do have back up and that's definitely why we're safe." The Doctor said with a grin.
'Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated.'
"Well, safe apart from, you know, incineration." Stella said with a grimace.
'Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated.'
"Come on, work, work, work, come on." The Doctor said as he struggled with his screwdriver.
'Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated.'
"Hold still." Stella gripped the cuff and pulled her snapping it off of her wrist then did the same for the Doctor pulling his apart.
"Run! Run!" The Doctor said as he grabbed Stella's hand as he raced out of the house grabbing Amy's as well.
'Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated.'
-0-
They ran out into the backyard making their way to the Tardis.
"Kissogram?" The Doctor questioned as they raced out into the Garden.
"Yes, a kissogram. Work through it." Amy snapped as he followed them out.
"Why'd you pretend to be a policewoman?" The Doctor asked.
"You broke into my house." Amy defended herself. "It was this or a French maid. What's going on? Tell me. Tell me!"
"An alien convict is hiding in your spare room disguised as a man and a dog, and some other aliens are about to incinerate your house." Stella said quickly. "Any questions?"
"Yes." Amy answered.
"Us too." The Doctor said as they ran up to the Tardis, but the doors wouldn't budge. "No, no, no, no! Don't do that, not now! It's still rebuilding. Not letting us in."
'Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated.'
"Come on." Amy said grabbing their hands and pulling them along, but the Doctor caught sight of the shed.
"No, wait, hang on. Wait, wait, wait, wait. The shed." The Doctor said as he pulled out of Amy's grasp as did Stella and ran over to the shed. "I destroyed that shed last time I was here. Smashed it to pieces."
"So there's a new one. Let's go." Amy said trying to get him to leave.
"Yeah, but the new one's got old." Stella pointed out.
"It's ten years old at least. Twelve years. We're not six months late, we're twelve years late." The Doctor said.
"He's coming." Amy said looking up at the multiform.
"You said six months. Why did you say six months?" The Doctor demanded.
"We've got to go." Amy urged.
"This matters. This is important." The Doctor snapped. "Why did you say six months?"
"Why did you say five minutes!" Amy snapped as she whirled around on them.
"What?" The Doctor breathed out.
"Come on." Amy said grabbing their hands again as she pulled them down the street
"What?" Stella said.
"Come on!" Amy repeated.
"What?" Stella and the Doctor said together.
'Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated.'
-0-
"You're Amelia." The Doctor said still in shock.
"And you're late." Amy said as they walked down the village lane.
"Amelia Pond, you're that little girl." He said.
"I'm Amelia and you're late." Amy snapped as Stella watched them argue back and forth.
"What happened?" Stella asked.
"Twelve years." Amy replied.
"You hit us with a cricket bat." He complained.
"Twelve years." Amy said ignoring Helen.
"A cricket bat." The Doctor emphasized.
"Twelve years and four psychiatrists." Amy snapped.
"Four?" The Doctor questioned.
"I kept biting them." Amy replied.
"Why?" Stella asked with a smile at the thought of her chomping on a therapist.
"They said you weren't real." Amy replied.
"Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated" Was being repeated from the Ice cream van speakers.
"No, no, no, come on. What?" Amy said when they spotted the van.
"We're being staked out by an ice-cream van." Stella said. "On a normal day that would be so cool, but today it makes me feel a little worried."
"Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated."
The Doctor ran up to the van followed by Stella and Amy.
"What's that? Why are you playing that?" The Doctor demanded.
"It's supposed to be Claire De Lune." The Ice-Cream man said in confusion. The Doctor picked up the small radio player sitting there and listened.
"Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated. Repeat. Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated."
It is also on a jogger's iPod and a woman's mobile phone.
"Doctor, Stella, what's happening?" Amy asked.
"Repeat, Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated."
The Doctor and Stella didn't answer, but darted away towards the nearest home. They ran straight into the house where the big eyeball was on every channel on the television. An elderly lady was jabbing at the remote control trying to get it to change with no success.
"Repeat, Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated."
"Hello! Sorry to burst in. We're doing a special on television faults in this area." The Doctor said just as Amy burst in.
"Also crimes." Stella said quickly. "Let's have a look."
"I was just about to phone. It's on every channel." The old woman said then looked over at Amy. "Oh, hello Amy dear. Are you a policewoman now?"
"Well, sometimes." Amy said uncomfortably.
"I thought you were a nurse." Mrs. Angelo said in confusion.
"I can be a nurse." Amy said.
"Or actually a nun?" Mrs. Angelo asked getting more confused.
"I dabble." Amy said quickly.
"That's nice." Angelo said. "Who is your friend?"
"Who's Amy You were Amelia." The Doctor said.
"Yeah? Now I'm Amy." Amy answered.
"Amelia Pond. That was a great name." The Doctor said.
"Bit fairy tale." Amy said.
"I know you, don't I? I've seen you somewhere before." Angelo said as she looked the Doctor over.
"Not me. Brand new face." The Doctor replied as he stretched and opened his mouth as far as they would go. "First time on. And what sort of job's a kiss-o-gram?"
"I go to parties and I kiss people." Amy said not really looking at him. "With outfits. It's a laugh."
"You were a little girl five minutes ago." The Doctor said.
"You're worse than my aunt." Amy said rolling her eyes.
"I'm the Doctor. I'm worse than everybody's aunt." He said facing Mrs. Angelo rather than Amy, then hearing Stella's laugh quickly corrected himself. "And that is not how I'm introducing myself."
"Repetez. Le Prisonnier. Zero wird der menschliche."
"Okay, so it's everywhere, in every language. They're broadcasting to the whole world." Stella said as the Doctor looked out of the window.
"What's up there? What are you looking for?" Amy asked as the Doctor ducked back into the house.
"Okay. Planet this size, two poles, your basic molten core? They're going to need a forty percent fission blast." A young man comes in and the Doctor spoke to him getting right up into his face. "But they'll have to power up first, won't they? So assuming a medium sized starship, that's 20 minutes. What do you think, twenty minutes?" The Doctor asked as he bounced on the tip of his toes. "Yeah, twenty minutes. We've got twenty minutes."
"Twenty minutes to what?" Amy asked.
"Are you the Doctor?" Jeff asked then he looked to Stella. "And you're Stella."
"He is, isn't he? He's the Doctor! The Raggedy Doctor and the Flower Child." Angelo said in realization. "All those cartoons you two did when you were little. The Raggedy Doctor and the Flower Child. It's them."
"Shut up." Amy said in a sotto voice.
"Cartoons?" The Doctor looked at them, bemused, sitting down on the sofa.
"Gran, it's them, isn't it? It's really them!" Jeff said in excitement as he looked Stella up and down. "Wow, you're even prettier than the pictures, I'm Jeff, nice to meet you."
"You…you to." Stella said as she took a step back.
Not liking Jeff's lingering look the Doctor pulled Stella down so that she was sitting next to him his arm wrapped possessively around her waist while glaring at Jeff. Stella smiled at his actions kissing his chin as she scooted closer to him making him smile.
"Jeff, shut up. Twenty minutes to what?" Amy asked The Doctor
"The human residence will be incinerated. Repeat."
"The human residence. They're not talking about your house, they're talking about the planet. Somewhere up there, there's a spaceship, and it's going to incinerate the planet." The Doctor explained.
"…will be incinerated. Repeat, Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated."
"Twenty minutes to the end of the world." Stella said ominously.
"Repeat, Prisoner Zero will vacate 'the human residence, or the human residence will be incinerated." The eyeball is one of many snowflake cum icicle type spaceships above the Earth. "Repeat. Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated."
-0-
The Doctor, Stella, and Amy walked down the middle of the road past the village green. A young boy ran down a village road with a toy helicopter as they walked quickly in the opposite direction.
"What is this place? Where am I?" The Doctor asked looking around.
"Leadworth." Amy answered.
"Where's the rest of it?" Stella asked.
"This is it." Amy said gesturing around herself.
"Is there an airport?" The Doctor asked.
"No." Amy answered.
"A nuclear power station?" The Doctor asked.
"No." Amy said.
"Even a little one?" He asked.
"No." Amy said shaking her head.
"Nearest city?" He asked.
"Gloucester. Half an hour by car." Amy said.
"We don't have half an hour. Do we have a car?" He asked.
"No." Amy said.
"Well, that's good. Fantastic, that is. Twenty minutes to save the world and I've got a post office." The Doctor grumbled.
"It's closed." Stella said pointing to the closed sign. The Doctor ran an agitated hand through his hair.
"What is that?" He pointed ahead, and then ran towards it pulling Stella with him.
"It's a duck pond." Amy said.
"Why aren't there any ducks?" The Doctor asked.
"I don't know. There's never any ducks." Amy replied.
"Then how do you know it's a duck pond?" The Doctor asked.
"It just is." Amy snapped.
"Maybe we should ask JD Salinger." Stella smarted off as she pulled on the end of her braid. "He had a thing for duck ponds in his book."
"Is it important, the duck pond?" Amy asked. The Doctor clutched his chest and collapsed on the ground. Stella kneeled down helping him sit up and rubbed his back comfortingly, kissing the top of his head.
"I don't know. Why would I know?" The Doctor gasped out leaning into Stella's touch.
"Are you ok love?" Stella asked gently.
"This is too soon. I'm not ready, I'm not done yet." The Doctor replied laying his head on Stella's shoulder, nuzzling into her neck.
"It's ok; we'll figure it out love, no worries." Stella said kissing the top of his head again, and then slowly it started to get dark.
"What's happening? Why's it going dark?" Amy asked as black disc covered the sun, like a total eclipse. "What's wrong with the sun?"
"Nothing. You're looking at it through a force field." The Doctor explained as Stella helped him up.
"They've sealed off your upper atmosphere. Now they're getting ready to boil the planet." Stella told her as she and the Doctor entwined their fingers.
"Oh, and here they come. The human race. The end comes, as it was always going to, down a video phone." The Doctor said sarcastically.
"This isn't real, is it? This is some kind of big wind up." Amy breathed out.
"Why would we wind you up?" The Doctor asked sharing a confused look with Stella.
"You told me you had a time machine." Amy said.
"And you believed me." The Doctor pointed out.
"Then I grew up." Amy said.
"Oh, you never want to do that." Stella shook her head.
"No. Hang on. Shut up. Wait. I missed it. I saw it and I missed it. What did I see? I saw. What did I see? I saw, I saw, I saw…" The Doctor hit his head. People all over the village green taking photographs of the sun, except duplicate Barney and his dog, and Rory photographing the people. The time is 11:30. "Twenty minutes. I can do it. Twenty minutes, the planet burns. Run to your loved ones and say goodbye, or stay and help us."
"No." Amy said.
"I'm sorry?" The Doctor asked in confusion.
"No!" Amy repeated as she grabbed the Doctors tie.
"Amy, no, no, what are you doing?" Stella called out as Amy dragged the Doctor to a car that had just pulled up and slammed his tie in the door, then took the keys from the driver and locked it.
"Are you out of your mind?" Stella snapped.
"Who are you?" Amy demanded.
"You know who we are." The Doctor said.
"No, really. Who are you?" Amy pressed.
"Look at the sky. End of the world, twenty minutes." Stella pointed out.
"Well, better talk quickly, then." Amy said as Rhea gave up with an angry huff making to pull the Doctor's tie out, but he stopped her shaking his head. He needed Amy to trust him and to get that he had to prove himself.
"Amy, I am going to need my car back." Mr. Henderson said.
"Yes, in a bit. Now go and have coffee." Amy said gesturing with her head.
"Right, yes." Mister Henderson headed toward the coffee shop.
"Catch." The Doctor tossed her the apple with the face carved in it, still fresh. "I'm the Doctor she's Stella. We're time travelers. Everything we told you twelve years ago is true. We're real. What's happening in the sky is real, and if you don't let me go right now, everything you've ever known is over."
"I don't believe you." Amy said looking up from the apple.
"Just twenty minutes. Just believe me for twenty minutes. Look at it. Fresh as the day you gave it to me. And you know it's the same one. Amy, believe for twenty minutes." The Doctor pleaded. Amy looked from the Doctor over the where Stella was looking at her. Amy rolled her eyes and unlocked Mister Henderson's car.
"What do I do?" Amy asked.
"Stop that nurse." The Doctor said pointing out Rory who was still on his phone. Amy's face lit up in a smile as she took off after the nurse with the Doctor in the lead and Stella following. The Doctor ran onto the village green and grabbed Rory's phone.
"The sun's going out, and you're photographing a man and a dog. Why?" The Doctor demanded looking at the phone.
"Amy." Rory said uncertainly.
"Oh, this is Rory, he's a friend." Amy said quickly.
"Boyfriend." Rory corrected.
"Kind of boyfriend." Amy corrected his correction.
"Amy…" Rory started.
"Man and dog. Why?" The Doctor snapped.
"Oh my God, it's them." Rory said.
"Just answer his question, please." Amy said.
"It's them, though. The Doctor and Stella. The Raggedy Doctor and the Flower Child." Rory said.
"We need to see those cartoons." Stella commented as the Doctor nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, they came back." Amy said.
"But they were a story. They were a game." Rory continued to stutter out.
"Man and dog. Why? Tell me now." The Doctor tried again taking hold of Rory.
"Sorry. Because he can't be there. Because he's…" Rory started to say and was joined by the Doctor and Stella who had caught on.
"In a hospital, in a coma." They finished together.
"Yeah." Rory said.
"Knew it. Multiform, you see? Disguise itself as anything, but it needs a life feed, a psychic link with a living but dormant mind." The Doctor said. The man from the picture barked at them alerting them to his presence.
"Prisoner Zero." Stella said looking to the man and dog.
"What? There's a Prisoner Zero too?" Rory asked still reeling.
"Yes." Amy said as one of the eyeball spaceships comes down.
"See, that ship up there is scanning this area for non-terrestrial technology. And nothing says non-terrestrial like a sonic screwdriver." The Doctor made all the streetlights explode, the car alarms went off and a poor woman's mobility scooter zoomed off down the road, then a fire engine went past on its own, two tone blaring.
"Oi, come back here! Come back!" A fireman yelled racing after the fire truck.
"I think someone's going to notice, don't you?" Stella said in a sing song voice as the Doctor blew up a red telephone box, then the screwdriver exploded.
"No, no! No, don't do that!" The Doctor cried out.
"Look, it's going." Rory pointed out.
"No, come back. He's here! Come back! He's here. Prisoner Zero is here. Come back, he's here! Prisoner Zero is…" The Doctor called out desperately as Prisoner Zero went squidgy and disappeared down a drain cover.
"Doctor! The drain. It just sort of melted and went down the drain." Amy said.
"Well, of course it did." The Doctor grumbled.
"What do we do now?" Stella asked in agitation.
"It's hiding in human form. We need to drive it into the open." The Doctor said starting to pace. "No Tardis, no screwdriver, seventeen minutes. Come on, think. Think!"
"I'll call them back." Stella said about to power up her own sonic abilities.
"So that thing, that hid in my house for twelve years?" Amy asked.
"Multiforms can live for millennia. Twelve years is a pit-stop." The Doctor said.
"So how come you two show up again on the same day that lot do? The same minute!" Amy asked.
"They're looking for him, but they followed us. They saw us through the crack, got a fix, they're only late because we are." Stella explained.
"What's he on about?" Rory asked.
"Nurse boy, give me your phone." The Doctor said holding out his hand.
"How can they be real? They were never real." Rory said.
"Phone. Now. Give me." The Doctor ordered more sternly. Stella rolled her eyes and snatched Rory's phone then handed it to the Doctor who took it thankfully.
"They were just a game. We were kids. You made me dress up as him and you dressed up as her." Rory said as the Doctor flicks through the images on the iPhone with Stella, both of them pausing for a split instant at Rory's words while Amy blushed in embarrassment.
"Please tell me you have pictures." Stella said with an interested look.
"These photos, they're are all coma patients?" The Doctor asked looking back to the phone.
"Yeah." Rory said nodding.
"No, they're all the multiform. Eight comas, eight disguises for Prisoner Zero." Stella said.
"He had a dog, though. There's a dog in a coma?" Amy said.
"Well, the coma patient dreams he's walking a dog, Prisoner Zero gets a dog." The Doctor explained. "Laptop! Your friend, what was his name? Not him, the good-looking one."
"Thanks." Rory said rolling his eyes.
"Jeff." Amy answered right away.
"Oh, thanks." Rory said with even more sarcasm.
"He had a laptop in his bag. A laptop. Big bag, big laptop. I need Jeff's laptop." The Doctor said. "You two, get to the hospital. Get everyone out of that ward. Clear the whole floor. Phone me when you're done."
The Doctor took Stella's hand and pulling her along.
"Your car. Come on." Amy said pulling Rory along.
"But how can he be here? How can the Doctor and Stella be here?" Amy and Rory get into a proper Mini, and drive off.
-0-
Jeff was lounging on his bed, using his laptop when Stella and the Doctor burst in.
"Hello. Laptop. Give me." The Doctor said trying to wrench the laptop from Jeff who was reluctant to give them up.
"No, no, no, no, wait." Jeff said as he struggled with the Doctor.
"It's fine. Give it here." The Doctor said pulling on the laptop.
"Hang on!" Jeff tried, but lost his grip. The Doctor took the laptop and saw what Jeff was browsing as he sat on the end of the bed with Stella.
"Blimey. Get a girlfriend, Jeff." The Doctor said as Stella looked to see what it was.
"What…?" Stella said in shock, the Doctor quickly covering her eyes with one hand using his other to get out of the page, Stella pushing his hand away giving him a look as Mrs. Angelo entered.
"Gran." Jeff said in panic.
"What are you doing?" Mrs. Angelo asked.
"The sun's gone wibbly, so right now, somewhere out there, there's going to be a big old video conference call. All the experts in the world panicking at once, and do you know what they need?" The Doctor asked.
"You of course." Stella said with a smile.
"Exactly." The Doctor said not taking his eyes from the computer as he kissed her cheek while he typed. "Ah, and here they all are. All the big boys. NASA, Jodrell Bank, Tokyo Space Centre, Patrick Moore."
"I like Patrick Moore." Mrs. Angelo said.
"I'll get you his number, but watch him, he's a devil." The Doctor said with a wink.
"You can't just hack in on a call like that." Jeff said.
"Can't I?" Six faces come up on the screen, all labeled as above plus ESA and CSIRO while the Doctor grinned smugly.
"Who are you?" Moore asked.
"This is a secure call, what are you doing here?" A man said.
"Hello." The Doctor showed them his psychic paper. "Yeah, I know you should switch me off, but before you do, watch this."
"It's here too, I'm getting it." Moore said as they all reported the information they were getting.
"Fermat's Theorem, the proof. And I mean the real one. Never been seen before. Poor old Fermat, got killed in a duel before he could write it down. My fault. I slept in." The Doctor mumbled. "Oh, and here's an oldie, but a goodie." The Doctor said in excitement. "Why electrons have mass. And a personal favorite of mine, faster than light travel with two diagrams and a joke. 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?" NASA demanded.
"I'm writing a computer virus. Very clever, super-fast, and a tiny bit alive, but don't let on. And why am I writing it on a phone?" The Doctor asked as he typed, but didn't wait for an answer. "Never mind, you'll find out. Okay, 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. Any questions?"
"Who is your lady friend?" Patrick said winking at Mrs. DeAngelo.
"Patrick, behave." The Doctor said.
"I'll send you her contact info later." Stella grinned at Mrs. DeAngelo who blushed with a smile.
"I'll hold you to that." Patrick smirked.
"What does this virus do?" The man 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." The Doctor said glancing at Jeff, who didn't move then motioned calling to Jeff in a sotto voice. "Jeff, you're my best man."
"You what?" Jeff asked. Stella rolled his eyes turning the screen away.
"Listen to me. 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." Stella explained for the Doctor. "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."
"Why me?" Jeff asked.
"It's your bedroom." The Doctor said as if it was obvious. "Now go, go, go."
"Good luck Jeff." Stella said as the Doctor ran out pulling her along.
"Okay, guys, let's do this." Jeff said in determination. The Doctor popped his head back into the room.
"Oh, and delete your internet history." The Doctor said pointing at Jeff then ducking back out of the room.
"Now were going to the hospital, right?" Stella asked as they ran into the street.
"Yep." The Doctor said looking up and down the street.
"We'll need a ride." Stella said.
"I have an idea." The Doctor said and Stella followed his gaze.
"Oh, you're kidding me." Stella said her eyes wide with excitement as the Doctor laughed pulling her down the street and they hoped into their ride taking off. The phone rang as they drove.
"Hello." The Doctor said answering the phone. He nodded a couple of times. "She said the whole place is locked down."
"Tell her to look in mirror." Stella replied.
"Right, good idea." The Doctor said. "Look in a mirror." The Doctor nodded into the phone a few more times. "Don't worry, I've commandeered a vehicle." The Doctor said as he and Stella raced down the street in a large fire engine. "Woo!"
"This is so much fun." Stella grinned.
"You want a go?" The Doctor as he sounded the horn and siren.
"Of course." Stella said and the Doctor pulled her over so she was in his lap taking her turn with the siren. "You just wanted me on your lap."
"Maybe." He answered kissing her neck, then held the phone back up. "Are you in?"
"Yep." Amy answered. "But so's Prisoner Zero."
"You need to get out of there." The Doctor said then he heard something on the other side of the line. "Amy? Amy, what's happening?
"What's wrong?" Stella asked.
"I don't know. Amy, talk to me!" The Doctor said.
"We're in the coma ward, but it's here. It's getting in." Amy shouted into the phone.
"Which window are you?" The Doctor asked.
"What, sorry?" Amy said in confusion.
"Which window?" The Doctor yelled.
"First floor, on the left, fourth from the end." Amy answered.
"Oh, dear little Amelia Pond. I've watched you grow up. Twelve years, and you never even knew I was there. Little Amelia Pond, waiting for her magic Doctor and Stella to return. But not this time, Amelia." They heard Prisoner Zero over the phone, then hung up and sent a quick text.
Amy got the text from Rory's phone.
'Duck!'
They do, and the fire engine ladder came crashing through the window. The Doctor entered through the smashed window first then helped Stella through.
"Right! Hello. Am I late? No, three minutes to go. So still time." The Doctor said.
"Time for what, Time Lord?" The Prisoner sneered.
"Take the disguise off. They'll find you in a heartbeat. Nobody dies." Stella said.
"I think not cyborg. The Atraxi will kill me this time. If I am to die, let there be fire." The prisoner roared.
"Okay. You came to this world by opening a crack in space and time. Do it again. Just leave." The Doctor said.
"I did not open the crack." Zero said.
"Somebody did." Stella said.
"The cracks in the skin of the universe, don't you know where they came from? You don't, do you?" Zero said looking to the Doctor and Stella. "The Doctor and Stella in the Tardis doesn't know. Doesn't know. Doesn't know!" Zero said in the child's voice then changed back into the adult's voice. "The universe is cracked. The Pandorica will open. Silence will fall."
"That doesn't sound so good." Stella said worriedly.
"And we're off! Look at that. Look at that!" The Doctor said looking at the clock which read 0:00. "Yeah, I know, just a clock. Whatever. But do you know what's happening right now? In one little bedroom, my team are working. 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 word is Zero. Now, me, if I was up in the sky in a battleship, monitoring all Earth communications, I'd probably take that as a hint." Stella picked up, clapping her hands in excitement.
"And 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 source, by the way, is right here." There is a bright light outside. "Oh! And I think they just found us!"
"The Atraxi are limited. While I'm in this form, they'll still be unable to detect me. They've tracked a phone, not me." Zero said smirked.
"Yeah, but this is the good bit. I mean, this is my favorite bit. Do you know what this phone is full of? Pictures of you. Every form you've learned to take, right here. Ooo, and being uploaded about now. And the final score is, no Tardis, no screwdriver, two minutes to spare." The Doctor said then flung out his arms. "Who da man?" No one spoke as they stared at him until he looked miffed. "Oh, I'm never saying that again. Fine."
"You are the man love." Stella said as she pecked him on the corner of his mouth making him smile.
"Then I shall take a new form." Zero said.
"Oh, stop it. You know you can't. It takes months to form that kind of psychic link." Stella waved him off.
"And I've had years." Zero replied then Amy collapsed causing them all to dart over to her.
"No! Amy? You've got to hold on. Amy? Don't sleep! You've got to stay awake, please." The Doctor said trying to shake her awake.
"Doctor." Rory said. Prisoner Zero had transformed into a gangly man with a ripped shirt green hazel eyes and floppy blonde brown hair.
"Well, that's rubbish. Who's that supposed to be?" The Doctor said as he stood up.
"Doctor, it's you." Stella said looking up at him.
"Me? Is that what I look like?" The Doctor asked glancing from her to his double.
"You don't know?" Rory asked.
"Busy day." The Doctor replied as another a copy of Stella appeared next to the Doctor holding his hand. "Oh I definitely know who that is."
"Thanks love." Stella grinned looking over her copy. "That's a little creepy though."
"Why us, though? You're linked with her. Why are you copying us?" The Doctor asked as a little girl appeared between the duplicates holding their hands.
"I'm not." Zero sneered. "Poor Amy Pond. Still such a child inside. Dreaming of the magic Doctor and Stella she knows will return to save her. What a disappointment you've been."
"No, she's dreaming about us because she can hear us." Stella said as her face lit up in realization.
"Amy, don't just hear me, listen." The Doctor said to Amy quickly. "Remember the room, the room in your house you couldn't see. Remember you went inside. Stella and I tried to stop, but you did. You went in the room. You went inside. Amy, dream about what you saw."
"No. No. No!" Zero screamed as it transformed back into itself.
"Well done, Prisoner Zero." Stella said with a clap. "A perfect impersonation of yourself."
"Prisoner Zero is located. Prisoner Zero is restrained."
"Silence, Doctor. Silence will fall." Prisoner Zero disappears in a rush of wind.
"The sun. It's back to normal, right? That's, that's good, yeah? That means it's over." Rory said as Amy wakes up. "Amy. Are you okay? Are you with us?"
"What happened?" Amy asked groggily.
"They did it. The Doctor and Stella did it." Rory said.
"No, we didn't." The Doctor said as he picked up Rory's phone.
"What are you doing?" Rory asked.
"Tracking the signal back. Sorry in advance." The Doctor said.
"About what?" Rory asked.
"The bill." The Doctor said and Rory groaned.
"Not to worry." Stella said digging into her pocket pulling out some bills handing them to Rory. "This will cover it."
"Oh, I couldn't…" Rory started then saw how much she gave him meaning how much the bill would be. "Thank you."
"Anytime." Stella smiled as the Doctor phoned the Atraxi.
"Oi, I didn't say you could go! Article fifty seven of the Shadow Proclamation. This is a fully established level five planet, and you were going to burn it? What? Did you think no-one was watching? You lot, back here, now." The Doctor ordered. "Okay, now I've done it."
"Did he just bring them back? Did he just save the world from aliens and then bring all the aliens back again?" Rory asked in a panic as they followed the Doctor and Stella down the hall.
"Where are you going?" Amy asked.
"The roof." He said then Stella spotted the locker room.
"No, hang on." Stella said pulling the Doctor into the locker room.
"What's in here?" Amy asked.
"We're saving the world - we need clothes." Stella replied as they went through the clothes.
"To hell with the raggedy." The Doctor said. "Time to put on a show."
"You just summoned aliens back to Earth. Actual aliens, deadly aliens, aliens of death, and now you're taking your clothes off. Amy, they're taking their clothes off." Rory said in a stuttering shocked voice.
"Turn your back if it embarrasses you." The Doctor said as he picked through the clothing and Rory turned around.
"Are you stealing clothes now? Those clothes belong to people, you know." Rory said then looked to Amy trying to impress her. "Are you not going to turn your back?"
"No." Amy said.
"Yes you are, he's my fiancé so out." Stella said as she walked over and forced Amy out of the room, a thankful Rory following. Stella walked back over to her choice of clothing and started to take off her torn articles.
"A little jealous there love." The Doctor pointed out.
"Extremely so." Stella replied. "Just as jealous as you were when Jeff was ogling me." She was down to her bra and underwear when she saw the Doctor peeking out of the corner of his eye. Stella smirked as she allowed her eyes to look him over causing him to blush wildly. "If you get to look don't be surprised if I take the same liberties."
"Take all you want love." The Doctor smirked flexing his new lean muscles then his face seemed to fall a bit. "I changed."
"I noticed." Stella said with a raised eyebrow.
"I'm not the same man you fell in love with though and I thought…" The Doctor began to speak.
"Doctor…" Stella cut him off gently placing her hands on either side of his face gently stroking his cheeks with her thumbs as he covered her hands with his holding them in place. "I will never stop loving you no matter what happens or what form you take, just like you didn't stop loving me when I changed. It's like Boe told me, new man same hearts and for as long as I have your love you'll have mine."
"Then we'll be in love forever." The Doctor said gently as he leaned down capturing her lips in a deep kiss full of love.
"Forever sounds perfect." Stella smiled as they pulled apart. "Now I do believe we still need to get dressed." Stella giggled when the Doctor glanced down at their half-dressed state and blushed stepping back. Rolling her eyes she grabbed a white off the shoulder long sleeved lace crop top, a green spaghetti strap crop top that went underneath, dark skinny jeans that tucked into tan ankle boots and she fixed her hair putting her white and pink daisy hair band back around her head. "Ah, much better."
"If you say so." The Doctor said cheekily as he pulled on a button up shirt, slacks, and a tweed jacket.
"We can flirt later love, you have the Atraxi to deal with." Stella said as he wrapped his arm around her waist.
"Right." The Doctor said giving her a quick kiss before they left the locker room grabbing Rory and Amy as they went upstairs to the roof where the Atraxi was hovering overhead.
"So this was a good idea, was it? They were leaving." Amy said.
"Leaving is good. Never coming back is better. Come on, then! The Doctor will see you now." The eyeball drops onto the roof and scans the Doctor As he looked over several ties draped around his neck.
"You are not of this world." The Atraxi said.
"No, but I've put a lot of work into it." He looks at his selection of ties. "Oh, hmm, I don't know. What do you think?"
"No, maybe this one." Stella said looking at another both of them tossing the ones they didn't like over their shoulders so they hit Rory and Amy.
"Is this world important?" Atraxi asked.
"Important? What's that mean, important? Six billion people live here. Is that important? Here's a better question. Is this world a threat to the Atraxi? Well, come on. You're monitoring the whole planet. Is this world a threat?" There is a projection of the world between them.
"No."
"Are the peoples of this world guilty of any crime by the laws of the Atraxi?" Rhea asked.
"No."
"Okay. One more. Just one. Is this world protected? Because you're not the first lot to come here. Oh, there have been so many." The projection shows the Daleks and other enemies of the Doctor as well as enemies that Stella had faced in her time that they knew of. "And what you've got to ask is, what happened to them?" A run through of Stella and all the previous Doctors, and then this Doctor steps through the projection with a jacket and bow tie. "Hello. I'm the Doctor and this is Stella. Basically, run."
The eyeball zooms back to its ship and leaves, very fast.
"I love you." Stella said with a smile.
"Love you to." The Doctor smiled back. There is a brief materialization sound, then the Doctor takes a glowing Tardis key out of his new jacket pocket. He and Stella exchange excited looks before grabbing each other's hands and racing back down the stairs.
"Is that it? Is that them gone for good? Who were they?" Amy asked as she turned around, but the Doctor and Stella were already running out of the hospital into the garden where the Tardis is waiting for them.
"Okay, what have you got for me this time?" The Doctor said as he walked into the TARDIS. "Look at you. Oh, you sexy thing! Look at you."
"Gorgeous, absolutely beautiful." Stella praised following the Doctor inside the door closing behind them.
Amy and Rory run up just at it dematerializes, Amy's face falling.
-0-
Night time, the sound of the Tardis wakes Amy up. Amy grabs her bath robe pulling it over her night gown after shoving her feet into her slippers then rushed down stairs and out into the garden. She paused a few feet away from the Doctor was leaning against the TARDIS while Rhea who was sporting a brown leather vest with long fringe was leaning against him with his arms wrapped around her.
"Sorry about running off earlier. Brand new Tardis. Bit exciting. Just had a quick hop to the moon and back to run her in. She's ready for the big stuff now." The Doctor said with a smile.
"You came back." Amy said.
"Course we came back. We always come back." Stella said cocking her head to the side. "Something wrong with that?"
"And you kept the clothes." Amy commented looking over the Doctor's attire.
"Well, we just saved the world, the whole planet, for about the millionth time, no charge. Yeah, shoot us, we kept the clothes." The Doctor replied.
"Including the bow tie." Amy said as she walked up to them.
"Yeah, it's cool. Bow ties are cool." The Doctor said as he adjusted his bow tie.
"Are you from another planet?" Amy asked.
"Yeah." He replied.
"Are you?" Amy asked Stella.
"Nope, I was a human kidnapped by aliens and turned into a cyborg then my human DNA was changed into Time Lord DNA." Stella replied easily as she adjusted her sleeves.
"Okay." Amy said slowly as she took it all in. "I have no idea what any of that meant."
"Most don't." Stella shrugged, not even bothering on elaborating, too much trouble.
"So what do you think?" The Doctor asked.
"Of what?" Amy asked.
"Other planets. Want to check some out?" Stella asked.
"What does that mean?" Amy asked.
"It means. Well, it means come with us." The Doctor said.
"Where?" Amy asked.
"Wherever you like." Stella replied.
"All that stuff that happened. The hospital, the spaceships, Prisoner Zero." Amy said.
"Oh, don't worry, that's just the beginning. There's loads more." The Doctor said.
"Yeah, but those things, those amazing things, all that stuff." Amy said like she was in awe of it all, but then her face went flat. "That was two years ago."
"Oh.! Oops." The Doctor said.
"Our bad." Stella winced.
"Yeah." Amy said.
"So that's…" the Doctor trailed off.
"Fourteen years!" Amy said.
"Fourteen years since fish custard. Amy Pond, the girl who waited, you've waited long enough." The Doctor said with a smile.
"When I was a kid, you said there was a swimming pool and a library, and the swimming pool was in the library." Amy pointed out.
"Yeah. Not sure where it's got to now." Stella said thoughtfully.
"It'll turn up. So, coming?" The Doctor asked.
"No." Amy said.
"You wanted to come fourteen years ago." The Doctor said.
"I grew up." Amy said simply.
"Don't worry. We'll soon fix that." The Doctor said as he opens the Tardis door and follows Amy in along with Stella watching her reaction.
"Well? Anything you want to say? Any passing remarks? I've heard them all." The Doctor said.
"I'm in my nightie." Amy said.
"Oh, don't worry. Plenty of clothes in the wardrobe." Stella waved her off. "And possibly a swimming pool."
"So, all of time and space, everything that ever happened or ever will. Where do you want to start?" The Doctor asked as he stood next to the console.
"You are so sure that I'm coming." Amy said.
"Yeah, we are." The Doctor said.
"Why?" Amy asked.
"Cause you're the Scottish girl in the English village, and we know how that feels." The Doctor said.
"Oh, do you?" Amy asked.
"All these years living here, most of your life, and you've still got that accent." The Doctor commented.
"Yeah, you're coming." Stella nodded with a smile.
"Can you get me back for tomorrow morning?" Amy asked.
"It's a time machine. I can get you back five minutes ago." The Doctor bragged.
"Why, what's tomorrow?" Stella asked.
"Nothing. Nothing. Just you know, stuff." Amy said quickly.
"All right, then. Back in time for stuff." A sonic screwdriver rises from a slot in the console. "Oh! A new one! Lovely. Thanks, dear."
"Why me?" Amy asked. The Doctor uses an old typewriter wired into the console as Stella worked some of the knobs both of them stopping and looking at Amy.
"Why not?" The Doctor replied.
"No, seriously. You are asking me to run away with you in the middle of the night. It's a fair question. Why me?" Amy asked.
"I don't know. Fun. Do I have to have a reason?" The Doctor asked a little agitated.
"People always have a reason." Amy said.
"Do we look like people?" Stella asked.
"Yes." Amy answered.
"Been knocking around on our own for a while. Our choice, but I've started talking to myself all the time. It's giving Stella an earache." The Doctor replied.
"You're lonely, both of you." Amy said looking between them. Doctor gave her a brief smile as Stella nodded slightly before they started to work the console again. "That's it? Just that?"
"Just that. Promise." The Doctor said.
"Okay." Amy said.
"So, are you okay, then? Because this place, sometimes it can make people feel a bit, you know." The Doctor said gesturing vaguely.
"I'm fine. It's just, 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 and madwoman with a box." Amy said.
"Amy Pond, there's something you'd better understand about me, because it's important, and one day your life may depend on it." The Doctor said. "We are definitely a madman and a madwoman with a box. Ha ha! Yeah. Goodbye Leadworth…"
"…hello everything." Stella finished for him as they set the Tardis in flight as they cling to the console laughing.