CHAPTER TWO

Amy blinked. "What?"

"He died, remember?" River said. Amy and Rory just stared at her. "Before 1969? We cried a lot, burned his body … Ringing any bells?" she exclaimed, still seeing only blank expressions.

"Yeah, we remember," Rory finally replied. "Astronaut on the beach with a gun. Clear as a bell."

River grinned. "When you say it like that it sounds like a game of Clue gone horribly wrong."

At that they all fell silent. River continued her sonicing. Rory stared into space, unsure of where to look or what to say. Finally, Amy said "I've had just about enough of this."

"Right? This sonic noise can be really obnoxious." River stuck the device in her pocket and started pressing buttons on the wrist teleport.

"Yeeeah, not what I was talking about," Amy said.

"I got that, but then I ignored it and moved on."

Amy looked at Rory, searching for help. Rory, however, had nothing to offer and shrugged. Sighing, Amy turned back to River and said "Okay, River. You win. I can put my questions aside for a few minutes. What do we have to do to put your brilliant plan in motion?"

River looked at her parents with a somber expression. "Well for starters, I suppose, you just have to HOLD ON!" Her arms suddenly were in a flash of movement as she grabbed Amy and Rory's hands and smashed a button on her newly soniced device. Amy and Rory didn't have time to make a sound before they vanished from the strange army base in deep space and left nothing but empty air.


The world suddenly flashed back into focus and the trio of time travelers found themselves standing on solid ground. Rory and Amy's eyes combed their new surroundings for any sign of where they might have landed. Judging by the trees, grass and oxygen-filled air, they must have returned to Earth. The make and models of the surrounding cars seemed to indicate they were more or less in their own time period. But wait … where exactly were they? Were they …? No they simply couldn't be in –

"Cardiff?" gasped Rory, clueing in to where they had landed.

"Yes sir," said River. "Best catch your breath now, kiddies – we have one crazy ride ahead of us."

"Kiddies?" bristled Amy.

"Another ride? Where to? I thought we were already where we wanted to be," questioned Rory, ignoring the comment Amy was currently fuming about.

River, who had been pressing still more buttons on the teleport, raised an eyebrow. "You think I want to be in Cardiff? No, no – this is only a pit stop." She gestured around them. "Welcome to Cardiff, home of the largest rift of energy this world has to offer. It's crucial in getting us where we need to go."

Amy was incredibly fed up with the entire situation. She could feel her temper flaring up again and took a few deep breathes to calm herself down. After all, if whatever River (or should she cal her Melody?) had planned could help them save the Doctor, she would simply go along with it. "And why is that?"

"Two reasons," River replied. "One, the rift bleeds energy that time traveling devices like this can convert and use as fuel. This thing is going to need all the power it can get to make it through this journey," she explained, pointing to the teleport. "And two," she said, pressing a few more buttons and grabbing her parents' hands again, "it brings us closer to our current destination."

"And where is that, exactly?" asked Rory, still very confused by this whole ordeal.

River didn't answer; she simply pressed a button on the teleport, causing them to once again vanish from thin air.


The trip to River's next unknown destination was not a pleasant one – not that traveling by wrist teleport like a Time Agent ever was, mind you. The TARDIS was really the only ideal way to travel through time and space, both shielding you from the harsh climate of the Time Vortex and preventing such a head rush when you landed. This time, though, was much worse than the usual trip sans TARDIS – it felt as though they were being torn apart and compressed at the same time as they traveled. The group shook and the air filled with a screaming sound Amy was fairly certain came from the vortex itself and not her own mouth (or, god forbid, Rory's).

Finally the horrid trip ended. It must have only taken a matter of seconds, but it definitely seemed like years. Amy and Rory collapsed on the floor, breathing heavily. Even River, who had mentally been preparing herself for this trip, seemed shaken.

"Where are we?" panted Rory, attempting to help Amy to her feet.

Amy looked around; they seemed to be in a quaint little house. Amy wasn't sure what she had been expecting – a large lab filled with machinery, perhaps? This room hardly seemed to contain anything useful at all in helping them save the Doctor – it appeared to be a mere bedroom, and a sickly pink one at that. She snuck a quick glance out a window – it looked like they were in London! But something was different … The air seemed to be full of balloon vehicles. Zeppelins? What on Earth …

"River … Why are we here? What's the plan?" asked Amy, turning around and stumbling slighly.

River had already recovered from the unpleasant trip and was leaning comfortably against a wall. She smiled. "Plan? I haven't got one."

Amy blinked. "I'm sorry?"

River tilted her head to the ceiling and sighed. "Amy, calm down. *I* haven't got a plan …" She paused as the sound of footsteps filled the air.

Amy turned in the direction of the noise. The door to the room suddenly flew open; two people, a man and a woman, ran in and slammed it shut behind them. They turned, suddenly acknowledging the presence of three strangers in the house.

The man's mouth fell open. "Wh – What? WHAT? WHAT?"

River grinned. " … But *he* might," she finished. She waved in the general direction of the couple. "Hello, sweetie!"

Rory stared at the new arrivals; the man was tall and slim, dressed in a brown pinstripe suit and had hair sticking up in every which direction. The woman, a bottle-blonde with what must have been four pounds of eye make-up caked on her face was, he realized with terror, holding a humungous gun. The couple stared back at him, their expressions identical with shock and confusion. "I don't understand," Rory said, turning to River. "Who are these people?"

River took a step forward. "Well, Rory," she said, gesturing to the woman "this is Rose Tyler, defender of the Earth." She then gestured in the other direction, catching the intense stare of the thin man. "And this, my friends," she said, moving even closer to the newcomers, "is the Doctor."


I apologize to any Amy fans out there - I realize she's been rather bratty and unpleasant these last few chapters. In fairness, her daughter was kidnapped and the same daughter, who is now much older, has been teleporting her all over the place without answering any questions. You'd probably act out a bit, too. ;)
And not to worry - things are scheduled to change.

Reviews are awesome ... *hint hint*