The Eleventh Hour, Part 2
The Time Lords, along with Amy, left the house and began making their way back past the village green, the Time Lords arms linked together as they cast their eyes around. Just ahead of them, a young boy was heading towards them, pretending that a toy helicopter was flying.
"What is this place?" the Doctor asked after a moment with a small frown, "Where are we?"
"Leadworth," Amy replied, hurrying to keep up with them.
"And this is it?" the Hatter glanced at her, looking unimpressed.
"Yeah".
"Is there an airport?" the Doctor questioned in the same tone as the Time Lady.
"No," she shook her head.
"A nuclear power station?"
"No".
"Even a little one?"
"No".
"What about the nearest city?" the Hatter sighed.
"Gloucester," she told them, "Half an hour by car".
"And we don't have half an hour," the Time Lady shook her head, pausing as she glanced back to her, "Do we even have a car?"
Amy grimaced slightly, "…no".
"What do you people do here? Please tell me that this place at least has a sweets shop?"
"Ah…sorry, no".
"Well, that's good," the Doctor remarked, rolling his eyes as the Hatter's eyes widened, looking appalled by the idea that there wasn't a sweets shop, "Fantastic, that is," he continued sarcastically, "Twenty minutes to save the world and we've got a post office," he scoffed slightly as he gestured over towards the shop in question as they passed it.
"Oh, and it's closed," the Hatter added, shaking her head, failing to hide the somewhat amused tone in her voice, "We're stuck in a village that's apparently more boring than watching paint dry, and we don't even have a sweets shop".
He cast her an amused look, "You're really upset about that sweets shop, aren't you?"
"There's just no justice in the Universe, sweetheart," she said, sounding very serious.
He smiled fondly, and went to say something, but something ahead of them caught his eyes, "What is that?" he frowned, pointing over to were a small pool of water was sitting on the edge of the village green.
Amy rolled her eyes at him, looking almost frustrated, "It's a duke pond".
He ran over to it, the girls right on his heels as he and the Time Lady paused before it, looking down at the still water. Slowly, he turned back to face Amy, "Why aren't there any ducks?" he asked her.
"Actually, that's a very good question," the Hatter nodded slowly, catching on to something definitely not being right. In fact, there seemed to be quite a number of things that didn't add up.
"I don't know," Amy shrugged, eyeing them, confused, "There's never any ducks".
"Then how do you know it's a duck pond?" both Time Lords raised their eyebrows at her.
"It just is!" she exclaimed, growing even more annoyed with them, "Is it important, the duck pond?"
"I don't know…" the Doctor suddenly clutched at his chest, jolting backwards as the Hatter sighed, realising what was about to happen, and grabbed his arm tighter, trying to offer him some support so that he at least wouldn't end up in the water. He groaned, "Why would I know?" he fell backwards onto the grass, right on the edge of the water, and nodded to the blonde, "Ask the Hatter, she's good at this stuff".
The Time Lady rolled her eyes slightly as she knelt beside him, "Never mind that," she sighed, shaking her head as she reached up and gently brushed his hair off his forehead, "You really ought to have rested, sweetheart," she commented softly, "You never do handle regeneration very well".
He winced, still clutching at his chest, "Could have been worse," he grumbled, "I could have gone into a coma, or lost my memory," another pain shot through him, and he glanced up at Amy, who was staring at him, looking alarm, "I'm not ready, I'm not done yet".
A shadow fell over them and they all looked up to see that the clouds had moved over them.
"What's happening?" Amy frowned, staring up at the sky, "Why's it going dark?" the sun repapered, but something was blocking it, causing it to shin dimly, when whatever it was passed over, causing the sun to look a funny red and orange colour, "So what's wrong with the sun?"
"Nothing, really," the Hatter told her, only looking up briefly, her main focus on the Doctor, "Well, aside from the force field that's just been placed around the Earth, sealing off the upper atmosphere".
"Now they're getting ready to boil the planet," the Doctor added, and Amy shot him a startled look as the Hatter helped him back to his feet, "Oh, and here they come," he looked over to the village green were people had rushed outside, holding their phones up at the sky, "The human race," he shook his head, almost sounding amused, "The end comes, as it was always going to, down a video phone," he finished, his tone turning exasperated.
"This isn't real, is it?" Amy glanced at them, her eyes wide as they looked back to her, "This is some kind of big wind up".
The Time Lady titled her head, "And why would we being winding you up?" she questioned, "Yes, granted, it's one of my favourite thing's to tease people," she coughed and nudged the Doctor's side, who flashed her a smile, "But when it comes to protecting the Earth, that's a different story".
She eyed them, "You told me you had a time machine".
"And you believed us," the Doctor reminded her.
"Then I grew up".
The blonde sighed, shaking her head, "Oh, that's something you never want to do".
"No!" the Doctor suddenly shouted, and they looked back at him, the Time Lady raising her eyebrows, "Hang on, shut up!" he whirled around to the Time Lady, pointing at her, "Wait…we missed it," he slapped his forehead, looking back to her as she gave him a confused look, "You were focused on me," he remarked, sounding slightly pleased, "I saw it and I missed it," he slapped himself again, frowning.
The Hatter grabbed his hands, holding them tightly, stopping him from slapping himself again, "Oh, honestly," she commented, sounding mildly annoyed as he looked back to her, "Would you just stop slapping yourself?" she cast him a stern look, "Use your words, Doctor".
"Right, words," he nodded slowly, looking back over towards the village green, "What did I see?" he murmured, his eyes narrowing, "I saw…what did I see? I saw…I saw…I saw…"
The Time Lady followed his gaze to the green, quickly examining each person in turn, seeing that each one of them was looking up at the sky…oh, no. Not quite, because there was one person, a young man with brown hair, and wearing blue hospital scrubs who was looking to the other end of the green, holding up his phone, taking photos of were Prisoner Zero was standing, still disguised as the man and dog. The man hardly seem to have even noticed the sun at all.
"Oh…" the Hatter breathed, her eyes widening in realisation as Amy and the Doctor's heads snapped back to her. She smiled slowly, meeting the Doctor's eyes, "You clever man," she reached up and kissed him on his cheek, taking him by surprise, "You did see it, you just didn't realise it".
He blinked, still looking surprised, but quite pleased as he looked back to the green, catching on to exactly what he had noticed in the first place as the man in scrubs looked down at his phone. He gave himself a shake and looked over towards the village clock, "Twenty minutes," he remarked.
"We can do it," the Time Lady nudged his side, sounding confident, "Easily".
The Doctor winked at her and whirled around to face Amy, "Twenty minutes, the planet burns," he continued, raising his eyebrows at the red head, "Run to your loved ones and say goodbye, or stay and help us".
Amy eyed them, "No," she replied almost at once.
They frowned, confused as they exchanged a quick look, "I'm sorry?"
"No!" she shouted, grabbing the Doctor's tie and one of the Hatter's bracer's that had snapped at one point during everything, and had been hanging down beside her side, beginning to drag the Time Lords over towards a parked car.
"Hey, no, don't!" the Hatter exclaimed, trying to pull away, but it was useless. The bracers were still attached to her trousers.
"Amy, no, no!" the Doctor called urgently, just as trapped as the blonde, "What are you doing?"
Amy pushed their backs against the car, looking determined, just as the driver opened the door, stepping out. She grabbed the door and slammed it on the tie and snapped bracer, trapping them even more as the Time Lords were forced to stand close together, the Doctor practically breathing down the Hatter's neck, much to her discomfort, since it was quite ticklish. Amy snatched the keys off the driver, and clicked it, locking the car.
"Well, that was rude!" the Time Lady huffed loudly, casting Amy a look, "Have you completely lost your mind?" she shook her head and shifted slightly, throwing a look back behind her to the Doctor, "And would you please stop breathing on my neck? It's tickling".
"You've changed shampoos," the Doctor remarked, sounding thoughtful, "What happened to the strawberry one? I liked the strawberry one," he whined slightly.
She rolled her eyes, "Doctor, this really isn't the best time to be discussing what shampoo scent I use, but for your information, I haven't changed," she informed him, "Need I remind you that I've gone through several dunking's in the swimming pool, not to mention everything else, so my hair is hardly going to be smelling its strongest right now".
Amy stared at them, looking unsure as to if they were just joking or not, before she shook her head, growing determined again, "Who are you?" she demanded, looking in-between them.
"You know who we are," the Doctor replied, turning serious again as he focused his attention on the red head.
"No, really," she narrowed her eyes, "Who are you?"
"Just look at the sky, Amy," the Hatter tried, meeting her eyes, "Please, we only have twenty minutes, otherwise everything, including us, gets destroyed".
"Well, better talk quickly, then!"
"Amy…I'm going to need my car back…" the driver, who was watching the entire conversation, cut in gently.
Amy closed her eyes briefly, "Yes, in a bit," she opened them again, her tone leaving no room for an argument, "Now go and have coffee".
The man nodded slowly, "Right…yes," he glanced wearily between the three before walking away.
The Doctor reached inside his pocket and pulled out the apple that little Amelia had given him, tossing it to Amy, "Catch".
She caught it and turned it around in her hand, staring down at the smiley face carved into it, exactly the same as the day she had given it to him.
"I'm the Hatter," the Time Lady told her gently, watching her reaction closely, "And he's the Doctor. We travel throughout time and space".
Amy looked back up to them, still struggling to allow herself to believe them, despite knowing that they were telling the truth.
"Everything we told you twelve years ago is true," the Doctor continued, giving her a small, soft smile, "We're real. What's happening in the sky is real, and if you don't let us go right now, everything you've ever known is over".
She stared at them for a long moment, shaking her head, "I don't believe you…"
"Please, just give us twenty minutes," the Hatter leaned closer to her, giving her a comforting smile, "That's all we're asking for, is that you believe us for twenty minutes. That's all".
The Doctor lightly grabbed Amy's wrist, "Look at it," he nodded down to the apple in her hand, and Amy's eyes flickered down towards it, "Fresh as the day you gave it to me, and you know it's the same one," slowly, Amy's eyes flew back up to meet there's, searching their faces, before looking back to the apple. For a long moment she stared at it, thinking deeply over everything they had said as she looked back up at them, "Amy…" he tried again, "Believe us for twenty minutes".
For a long moment she didn't move, simply eyeing them closely, before she held up the car keys, clicking the button, and unlocked the car, "What do we do?" she asked them, the Hatter breaking into a grin.
"Stop that nurse," the Time Lords answered at once, opening the car door, and releasing themselves as Amy smiled.
They raced across the village green, jumping over a low chain-link fence, and over to the man in the scrubs, snatching his phone off him as he looked down at it, stepping past him as the Time Lords held the phone up between them, eyeing the screen.
The Doctor turned around to face the man, who was looking confused, "The sun's going out, and you're photographing a man and dog," he stepped closer to the man as the Hatter, giving the man an apologetic look, handed the phone back to him, "Why?"
Amy joined them, slightly out of breath, and the man immediately focused on her, "Amy!" he exclaimed.
The Time Lords exchanged a quick look, the Hatter unable to stop herself from wondering if that was the same reaction she had been getting every time she ran into the Doctor over the centuries.
"Hi!" Amy smiled brightly to the man, grabbing his hand as she glanced at the Time Lords, "Oh, this is Rory," she introduced, "He's a…friends".
Rory laughed slightly awkwardly, glancing at them, too, "Boyfriend".
"Kind of boyfriend," she muttered, shifting.
"Amy!" he sent her a look.
"Lovely," the Hatter smiled, grabbing Rory's hand, and shaking it quickly, much to his surprise, before dropping it, "Now, the man and dog," her tone turned stern as she fixed him with a intent look, "Why?"
Rory's eyes ran over them and his eyes widened, "Oh, my God, it's them!" he gaped.
"Just answer her question, please," Amy cut across him quickly.
"It's them, though! The Doctor and the Hatter. The Raggedy Doctor and the Shabby Hatter!"
The Time Lords exchanged a look, still not entirely sure how they felt about their new nicknames.
"Yeah, they came back," Amy nodded, looking back to the Time Lords.
"But they were a story!" Rory gasped, staring at them, still very shocked, "They were a game…"
The Doctor suddenly grabbed Rory by the front of his shirt, "Man and dog!" he pulled him towards him so they were face to face, "Why? Tell me now!" he gave him a shake with each word.
"Easy, Doctor," the Time Lady gently took his hands and pulled him off Rory, who was looking startled, and took the Doctor's hand, "We don't want to break the possibly nice man, now, do we?" she smiled and looked back to Rory, her tone light, "Though, I would highly suggest that you start talking now, please".
"Sorry," Rory nodded, swallowing slightly nervously as he looked in-between them, coming to rest on the blonde, seeming to feel that she was the least threatening of the two, "Because he can't be. Because he's…"
"In a hospital, in a coma," the Time Lords and Rory finished in unison.
He blinked, looking shocked, nodding again, "…yeah".
The Time Lords exchanged grins, "Knew it," the Doctor remarked, looking very pleased, "Multiform, you see?" he looked back to the humans, "Disguise itself as anything, but it needs a life feed".
"In other words, it needs a psychic link to a minds that's…well, dormant," the Hatter added brightly.
The dog barked behind them…well, the man barked, rather than the dog, catching there attention again. The man growled angrily and the Time Lords moved closer to the alien, still holding hands.
"Prisoner Zero," the Doctor greeted it calmly.
"What?" Rory gasped from behind them, sounding surprised, "There's a Prisoner Zero too?"
"Yes," Amy answered quickly.
A humming sound sounded from above them and the Time Lords looked around to see a large, crystal like spaceship with a blue eye attached to the bottom of it, swivelling around as the ship hovered over the top of the village, scanning the area. Everyone looked up at it, some people stood, pulling out there phones, and holding it up to the sky.
"Ooh, would you look at that?" the Hatter smiled cheekily as she pointed up to the ship, glancing at Prisoner Zero, "That ship's scanning this entire area for non-terrestrial technology".
The Doctor broke into a smile beside her, reaching inside his pocket and pulling out his sonic screwdriver, keeping his arm by his side, "And nothing says non-terrestrial like a sonic screwdriver," he looked back to Prisoner Zero, holding the sonic up.
The alien frowned at them, seeming confused as to what a sonic screwdriver even was. The Doctor activated the sonic, holding it high above his head, and every streetlight exploded, sparks flying, car alarms went off, an old woman on an electric scooter cried out as her scooter took off on its own as the Hatter mentally winced, feeling sorry for the woman. Even a firetruck drove past, sirens blearing as a fire man ran after it, shouting at it to stop.
"I think some one's going to notice, don't you?" the Doctor grinned, raising his eyebrows at Prisoner Zero.
The Hatter cast the sonic in his hand a wary look, "Ah, Doctor," she raised her voice slightly to be heard over all the sirens, "You might want to…" he increased the power on the sonic, aiming it at a telephone box a short distance away, causing it to explode. She sighed, knowing it was to late, "…lower the power".
And just as she had expected, the sonic suddenly sparked violent, covering both her and the Doctor in a shower of gold sparks, and he quickly dropped it, grimacing. He crouched beside it, trying to wave smoke away from the charred, slightly twisted remains of the device, "No!" he shouted, looking outraged as he grabbed it, holding it up, "No, no, don't do that!"
"I tried to warn you, sweetheart," the Time Lady knelt beside him, wrapping and arm around him as he threw the device back on the ground angrily, "Don't worry, I'll build you a brand new one," she tried soothing him, pulling him back up, "Brand new casing, for a brand new face, how's that?"
He seemed to consider her words, raising his eyebrows at her, "Will you make it bigger?" he asked, "I all ways thought it could be a bit bigger".
She eyed him for a moment, "What is it with men, even Time Lords, when it comes to size?" she rolled her eyes, looking amused, "Goodness me, you want it bigger, fine, but it's going to have a green light," she pointed a stern finger at him, "This me likes green".
"Whatever you want, dear," he smiled broadly, and kissed her cheek happily.
"Ah, look!" Rory called to them, catching attention as he pointed back up to the spaceship, which seemed to be preparing to take off, "It's going!"
The Doctor sighed heavily, "No, come back!" he shouted up at the sky, waving his arms around, "He's here!" the ship turned completely, heading away, "Come back! He's here! Prisoner Zero is here!" he waved over to were the alien was standing as the ship flew away, "Come back, he's here! Prisoner Zero is…" he lowered his arms to his side, looking frustrated as the ship disappeared out of sight.
"Doctor!" Amy ran forward and grabbed his arm, and then the Time Lady's, looking over to where Prisoner Zero had been standing, the spot now empty, "The drain…" she frowned, trying to explain, "It just sort of melted and went down the drain".
The Hatter glanced over to the drain, not in the slightest bit surprised, "Well, he was hardly going to hang around".
She looked at them, "What do we do now?"
"It's in hiding form," the Doctor replied, "We need to…drive it into the open," he glanced at the Hatter, seeming almost helpless, "No TARDIS, no screwdriver, seventeen minutes. Come on, think. Think!"
"We can do it," the Hatter pattered his arm, giving him a bright smile, though, she did have to admit that nothing seemed to be working in their favour today. Still, when did thing's ever work in their favour, anyway? "Come on," she grabbed his arm, and began walking over towards the drain, Rory and Amy right behind them.
"So that thing…that hid in my house for twelve years?" Amy questioned, looking down the drain, glancing at the Time Lords.
"Well, multiforms can live for millennia," the Time Lady informed her, shrugging as the Doctor seemed to eye Rory for a moment, "Twelve years…that's nothing, hardly even a lunch break to it".
She crossed her eyes across her chest, "So how come you two show up again on the same day that lot do?" she eyed them suspiciously, "The same minute!"
"They're looking for him, but they followed us," the Doctor told her, "They saw us through the crack, got a fix, they're only late because we are".
Rory frowned, looking between the Time Lords, "What's he on about?" he looked around to Amy.
"Nurse boy, give me your phone," the Doctor turned to him, holding out his hand.
"How can they be real? They were never real!"
"Phone, now, give me!"
"Just do as he says," the Hatter advised the man, looking slightly amused, "Believe me, it will save you a lot of trouble".
Rory sighed, handing the phone over, "They were just a game," he continued to Amy as the Time Lords focused on the screen of the phone, "We were kids. You made me dress up as him and you as her".
The Time Lady paused, glancing over to Amy with a raised eyebrow as she blushed, "Well…that's a first," she remarked, shaking her head.
The Doctor began flickering through pictures on the phone, each showing a different person, "These photos, they're all coma patients?"
"Yeah," Rory nodded.
"Not quite," the blonde smiled slightly, leaning closer to the Doctor to look at the screen, "That's the multiform, all those people are just copies," she looked over to Rory, "So, eight people in comas, eight different disguises for Prisoner Zero. Handy, really".
"He had a dog, though," Amy pointed out, looking confused, "There's a dog in a coma?"
"Well, the coma patient dreams he's walking a dog, Prisoner Zero gets a dog," the Doctor commented, "Laptop!" he looked up quickly, glancing at the red head, "Your friend…what was his name?" he frowned, shaking his finger at Rory, "Not him, the good looking one".
"Thanks," Rory rolled his eyes.
"Don't be rude, Doctor," the Hatter scolded lightly, shaking her head, "New face, same rudeness".
"Jeff," Amy replied.
"Oh, thanks," he turned away, and the blonde reached over, patting his shoulder.
"He had a laptop in his bag," the Doctor continued to Amy, "A laptop. Big bag, big laptop," he grinned, pulling the two humans closer to him as he looked between them, "We need Jeff's laptop. You two, get to the hospital, get everyone out, clear the whole floor. Phone us when you're done".
And with that, he grabbed the Hatter's hand, and they ran off towards Jeff's house, leaving Amy and Rory to their own task.
….
The Time Lords ran up the garden path of the house, threw the door open, and raced upstairs. They quickly located Jeff's room, and opened the door to find the man in question sitting on his bed with his laptop on his lap. He looked up, startled as they entered.
"Hello!" the Doctor greeted him brightly, "Laptop," his tone quickly turned demanding, "Give me".
The Hatter darted forward, grabbing hold of the computer as Jeff quickly tried to pull it closer to his chest, "No, no, no, no, wait…" he tried, his eyes wide.
"Oh, stop fussing," the Time Lady sighed, giving him a stern look, "Just hand it over".
"Hang on!"
She huffed slightly before giving him a small smile, batting her eyelashes at him. Jeff blinked at her, looking completely surprised by her sudden change that he loosened his grip on the machine, and she cried out in victory as she snatched it away from him at once.
"Did you just…" the Doctor opened and closed his mouth, staring at the Hatter, "You were…that was…"
"Yes, yes," she waved a hand at him, not looking bothered in the slightest as she moved to sit on the end of the bed, "I used my womanly charm," she gave him a look, "Don't start, it was either that or slap him, since the man had a death grip on the thing. Think of it as part of my payback for making me make that damn promise".
He sniffed slightly, eyeing her, "Have you done that before?"
"Well, there was one occasion on Gallifrey were the Lord President was planning to cut my funding, so I made a little visit to his office. I didn't think it would work, but apparently even Time Lords can have a weakness to a nice smile. Still, it did have its disadvantages, I ended up being invited to a lot more parties".
"What?" he exclaimed.
"Oh, stop it," she sighed again, casting him a long look, "It's not like a touched him, let alone kissed him. It was just a smile, and we are running out of valuable time," he grumbled under his breath, but moved to sit beside her as Jeff looked over their shoulders as she looked at the screen, her eyes widening, and a blush spread across her face as she quickly closed the page, "Goodness, I don't think I was old enough to see that," she breathed, rubbing her eyes as if that would get rid of just what she had witnessed.
"Blimey!" the Doctor's own eyes widened, catching sight of the screen, glancing over his shoulder to Jeff, who was looking extremely embarrassed, "Get a girlfriend, Jeff".
"And fast," the Hatter nodded quickly, her eyes still wide, "I'm never going to be able to un-see that, am I?"
The bedroom door opened and Jeff's grandmother stepped in.
"Gran!" Jeff called, his head snapping up to look at her.
"What are you doing?" the older woman asked, looking at the Time Lords.
"The sun's gone wibbly," the Doctor replied as the Hatter set to work on the computer, her hands flying across the keyboard, "So right now, somewhere out there, there's going to be a big old video conference call," he smiled slightly, "All the experts in the world panicking at once, and do you know what they need?" he raised his eyebrows, meeting the woman's eyes, "Us".
"Ah, and here we go," the Time Lady grinned a moment later as she looked back to the screen, "All of those big names in the space world," she pointed at the screen, "NASA, Jodrell Bank, Tokyo Space Centre, Patrick Moore…"
"I like Patrick Moore," the woman cut in, smiling broadly.
"I'll get you his number," the Doctor nodded to her before he pointed a warning finger, "But watch him, he's a devil".
"You can't just hack in on a call like that!" Jeff exclaimed behind them, his eyes widening.
"Oh, I assure you I can," the Hatter shrugged, casting him a look, "And like I said, stop fussing. You won't get a girlfriend fussing. Now, psychic paper, sweetheart," she held out her hand to the Doctor, and he reached inside his pocket, handing it to her. She flashed the paper at the webcam as she finished hacking in, bringing up six little boxes on the screen, each with someone in it.
"Who are you?" Patrick Moore demanded, frowning up at them through the screen.
"This is a secure call," another man called over, "What are you doing?"
"Hello," the Doctor leaned closer to the screen, giving a little wave, "Yeah, I know, you should switch us off, but before you do, watch this".
The Hatter started typing again, grinning as she did so.
"It's here too, I'm getting it!" Patrick announced to his colleagues.
"Okay, Fermat's Theorem, the proof," the Hatter remarked as she typed, glancing up at the screen, giving them a wink, "And I mean the real one, boys and girls, never before seen".
"Poor old Fermat," the Doctor sighed, shaking his head slightly, "Got killed in a dual before he could write it down," he glanced at the Time Lady, and back to the screen, "Our fault. We…ah, slept it," he cleared his throat.
The blonde blushed again, "Yes, well…newlyweds," she muttered, shifting embarrassedly beside him, and avoided everyone's eyes as she focused a little too hard on typing, "Oh, and here's another oldie but a goodie," she smiled slightly, "Why electrons have mass…ooh, but this is one of our favourites," she nodded towards the Doctor, "Faster than light travel with two diagrams, and a joke," she laughed, pointing at the screen as she looked up at the others, as if expecting to see them laughing, too, "Isn't that brilliant?"
"Er…" Jeff blinked blankly at her.
She sighed, losing the smile, "Never mind," she shook her head, turning serious as she looked back to the screen, "Right, you lot, look at your screens," she told them, "Whoever we are, we're geniuses, and look at the sun, because you're going to need all the help you can get".
The Doctor pointed a finger at the screen, "Fellas, pay attention," his tone sounding almost like a school teacher talking to a group of students.
The Hatter grinned and handed the laptop to the Doctor, trading it for Rory's mobile as she quickly set to work typing something into the device.
"Sir, ma'am, what are you doing?" a man called over, sounding mildly concerned as he eyed them.
"She's writing a computer vires," the Doctor informed them brightly, glancing at the blonde, "She went through a boredom phase once…" he shivered, remembering, "Let's just say she's good at computer vires".
The Time Lady gave him a wink, "I always said they might come in handy one day," she reminded him, shrugging slightly as she glanced back over to the computer screen, "It's quite clever, actually, very fast, and…a little bit alive, but I wouldn't go spreading that around," she lifted a finger and tapped the side of her nose with a stern look.
"And why is she writing it on a phone?" he continued, raising his eyebrows, "Never mind, you'll find out," he smiled slightly, glancing at Jeff.
"All right," the Hatter said after a moment, looking back over to the screen, "I'm sending it all to your computers right now, so get everyone who works for you to send it everywhere".
"Email," he added, nodding along with her as he began typing on the computer, "Text, Facebook, Twitter, radar dish, whatever you've got," he glanced back at the screen, "Any questions?"
"Who are you?" Patrick asked, eyeing the Hatter beside him.
The Time Lady laughed, patting the Doctor's arm as he opened his mouth, looking annoyed, "Sorry, I'm already taken," she held up her hand with her wedding and engagement ring on it, wiggling her fingers, "And very happily so," she added, kissing the Doctor's cheek.
He grinned at her, looking very pleased as he moved closer to her, his eyes flicking towards her lips…
"What does this vires do?" one of the men questioned, sounding worried.
The Hatter turned back to the screen as the Doctor sighed heavily, looking very disappointed, "It's okay, it's just a reset command," she explained to the man, "It resets counters by getting into the Wi-Fi, and resets every counter it can come across, such as clocks and calendars," she shrugged, "Basically, anything with a chip will default to zero at exactly the same time all over the planet".
"But yeah, we could be lying," the Doctor looked at the screen, his tone light, "Why should you trust us? We'll let our best man explain," he paused for a long moment, waiting. When nothing happen, he glanced at Jeff, who was simply watching curiously, "Jeff," he whispered to him pointedly, "You're our best man".
Jeff's eyes widened, "You what?" he breathed.
He quickly lowered the laptop lid, looking back to the man as the Hatter shook her head, looking mildly amused, "Listen to me," he clapped a hand on Jeff's shoulder, "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," Jeff blinked, "But first, you have to be magnificent," he continued, "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".
He simply stared at them, looking stunned, "Why me?"
"Well…" the Hatter titled her head, gesturing around the room, "This your bedroom," she grabbed the laptop from the Doctor, pushing it into Jeff's hands, "Now, you've got a lot of work ahead of you".
The Doctor grabbed the Time Lady's hand and they stood, running out of the room, slamming the door behind them, before the blonde paused, and ran back, throwing the door back open, and peeking her head back inside.
"Oh, and you might want to delete your internet history," she advised him, giving him a serious look, "Seriously, you don't want those guys to see that sort of thing".
And with that, she tipped the tip of her hat at him, and raced back out into the hall, grabbing the Doctor's hand again as they ran back downstairs, and outside. They ran down the garden path, pausing at the gate as the Doctor looked up and down the street, before the blonde nudged his side, nodding across the street. He followed her gaze, breaking into a grin, and they ran across the road.
…
The Doctor quickly drove them down the road towards the hospital, while the Hatter sat beside him, frowning slightly as she watched him drive. They had ended up getting into an argument over who should be the one to drive, and the Doctor had pointed out that she had done it last time. Sadly, she had been forced to admit defeat.
Rory's phone rang and the Time Lady put it on speaker, "Doctor?" Amy's voice came over, the sound of people talking in the background, "Hatter? We're at the hospital, but we can't get through".
"Look in the mirror," the blonde told her, laughing slightly.
"…oh".
"You know, that costume really is quite handy".
"What did he…or she say?" Rory's voice asked, sounding slightly distance, as if he was standing behind her.
"Look in the mirror…ha, ha!" Amy replied, laughing slightly as she realised what she had meant, "Uniform. Are you on your way? You're going to need a car".
"Don't worry," the Hatter grinned, glancing across to the Doctor, "We managed to…ah, shall we say…borrow one".
The Doctor flashed her his own smile and a wink, reaching up and hitting a button just above him, setting off the fire truck's sirens, and she ended the call.
"You've been waiting to do that ever since we got in here, haven't you?" she raised her eyebrows at him, looking fond.
"Yep".
"Oh, it's nice to see that you're still a child at heart, sweetheart".
….
A few minutes past, when the phone rang again, and the Hatter quickly answered it, "Did you manage to get in?" she questioned quickly.
"Yep," Amy told them, "But so's Prisoner Zero".
"You need to get out of there," the Doctor called across to the phone, exchanging a look with the blonde.
"He was so angry," a woman's voice came over, sounding distant, and they frowned slightly, not recognising the voice, "He kept shouting and shouting, and that dog. The size of that dog…"
"Amy, who is that?" the Hatter asked, sounding worried. After all, it would be the perfect way to get close to Amy and Rory by Prisoner Zero disguising itself as someone else, catching them off guard by acting as someone in need, or afraid.
"…I swear it was rabid," the woman continued, the voice growing even more distant, as if Amy was moving further away from her, "And he just went mad, attacking everyone. Where did he go, did you see? Has he gone? We hid in the ladies," there was a pause, and the woman sighed slightly, "Oh, I'm getting it wrong again aren't I?"
The Time Lords eyes widened, realising what that could only mean, "Amy, Rory, get out of there!" the Hatter shouted urgently.
"…I'm always doing that," the woman…well, actually, Prisoner Zero admitted, "So many mouths".
"Oh, my God!" they could hear Rory exclaim, sounding frightened.
"Amy?" the Doctor tried, struggling to keep his eyes on the road, and pay attention to what was going on over the phone, "Amy, what's happening?" the sound of running footsteps came over, along with an animalistic like roar, when something banged loudly, sounding like a door being closed, and something banging against it, "Amy, talk to us!"
"We're in the coma word, but it's here," Amy replied, sounding slightly breathless, "It's getting in".
"Stay calm," the Hatter told them, tying to make her own voice sound comforting, "Now, tell us, what window are you?"
"What, sorry?"
"Which window?" the Doctor asked, raising his voice slightly.
"Ah…first floor, on the left, fourth from the end".
The Hatter ended the call as the Doctor hit another button, rising the ladder on top of the truck, just as they drove towards the hospital, heading towards the window. She quickly sent a text, telling Amy and Rory to duck as the end of the ladder smashed through the window, and the truck came to a stop.
They quickly opened there doors and jumped out, running to the back of the truck, and climbed up, and onto the ladder, the Doctor first as they climbed over it, and through the smashed window. One he was through, the Doctor turned back around, helping the Hatter to climb through before they both dropped on the floor beside Rory and Amy, who were kneeling on the ground, staring at them in shock.
"Right!" the Doctor draped his arm over the two humans, looking at them as the Time Lady glanced across to the end of the room to where Prisoner Zero was disguised as a woman, holding the hands of two little girls, "Hello. Are we late?" he asked them.
"Not quite," the Hatter shook her head, not needing to look at the clock, "We still have three minutes left," she smiled, glancing at him, "I told you we could do it, sweetheart".
He grinned at her, "I didn't doubt you for a second, dear".
"Time for what, Time Lords?" Prisoner Zero asked mockingly as the Time Lords straightened, stepping closer.
"Oh, you can do so much in three minutes," the Time Lady remarked, raising her eyebrows at the other alien, "Shall I give you a list? But, I ought to warn you, the list is longer than three minutes, funnily enough".
The Doctor took the blonde's hand, looking back to Prisoner Zero, "Take the disguise off. They'll find you in a heartbeat. Nobody dies".
"The Atraxi will kill me this time. If I am to die, let there be fire".
The Hatter sighed, tilting her head, "Right, then," she nodded slowly, thinking quickly, "You came through to this world through a crack in time and space, why can't you just do it again?" she questioned, "Leave here?"
Prisoner Zero shook its head, "I did not open the crack".
The Time Lords frowned, exchanging a look, "Somebody did," the Doctor commented.
"The cracks in the skin of the Universe, don't you know where they came from?" they lowered their eyes to the ground, not wanting to admit that they didn't, and the creature smirked at them, "You don't, do you?" the woman's voice changed to that of a little girls, "The Doctor and the Hatter in the TARDIS doesn't know. Doesn't know, doesn't know!" the woman's voice returned to normal as the Time Lords glanced up at a clock, "The Universe is cracked," she informed them, "The Pandorica will open. Silence will fall".
There was a clicking noise and the Time Lords looked back over to the clock, breaking into smiles as they relaxed.
"And, we're off!" the Doctor grinned, glancing at Prisoner Zero, "Look at that!" he pointed up to the clock, looking over to Amy and Rory, "Look at that!" they all looked up at the clock to see that it read 0:00, having reset itself as the Hatter laughed, "Yeah, I know, just a clock," he continued as everyone looked back to him, "Whatever. But do you know what's happening right now?" he raised his eyebrows.
"In one bedroom, somewhere out there," the Hatter gestured out towards the window, still smiling broadly, "Our…well, let's call them our team are busy working. Our friend, Jeff, and the rest of the world are working together. And do you know what they're doing?" she asked, looking around the rest of the room, not waiting for a reply, "They're busy spreading the word all around the world, quantum fast".
"The word is out," he added brightly, "And do you know what the word is?" the Time Lords looked at each other, saying in unison as they turned back to the alien, "The word is Zero," he smiled slightly as Prisoner Zero tilted it's head at them, not seeming overly concerned, "Now, me, if I was up in the sky in a battleship, monitoring all Earth communications, I'd probably take that as a hint".
"Or you would hope so, at least," the Time Lady coughed, casting him a sideways look.
He paused, "Well…yeah," he agreed before shaking himself, "And if I had a whole battle fleet surrounding the planet, I'd be able to track a simple old computer virus to its source in…what?" he glanced at the blonde, "Under a minute?"
"Easily," she nodded, smiling slightly as she reached inside her pocket, "Oh, and we should mention that this is the source," she pulled out Rory's phone, holding it up for everyone to see.
Suddenly, a bright white light shown through the windows.
"Ooh!" he cheered as Amy and Rory run towards the broken window, peeking outside, "And I think they just found us!"
"The Atraxi are limited," Prisoner Zero informed them, still not looking very worried, "While I am in this form, they'll still be unable to detect me," it smirked, "They've tracked a phone, not me".
"True," the Hatter smiled, looking slightly amused, "But this is the part I like," she waved the phone around, glancing at it, "Do you want to guess what's on this phone?" she sighed slightly in mock disappointment when it didn't, "Oh, you're no fun. You see, this phone is full of pictures of you," she began to scroll through them, "Of every form you have learnt to take, right in here".
She handed the Doctor the phone and he took it, fiddling with it, "Ooh, and being uploaded about…now," he hit the button, looking back up to Prisoner Zero, "And the final score is, no TARDIS, no screwdriver, two minutes to spare…" he held out his arms, grinning, "Who da man?"
Everyone, including Prisoner Zero, stared at him, and the Hatter pinched the bridge of her nose, wondering if this was how her old companions felt every time she went out in public with them on Earth. She was really going to send them apology letters after this.
"…oh," he sighed heavily, looking slightly embarrassed as he sheepishly lowered his arms, glancing at the Hatter, "I'm never saying that again," he muttered, "Fine".
"Good," the blonde pattered his arm, looking relieved.
Prisoner Zero titled it's head at them, "Then I shall take a new form".
"Oh, stop it," he waved it off, "You know you can't. It takes months to form that kind of psychic link".
The Hatter narrowed her eyes, growing concerned that they had forgotten something.
The alien grinned at them, "And I've had years".
Prisoner Zero began glowing orange and the Hatter's eyes widened, grabbing the Doctor's hand as she realised what it meant, and spun around, just in time to see Amy collapse. Rory knelt on the ground by her side at once, grabbing her hand, looking worried.
"No!" the Doctor gasped, and they ran over to her, kneeling beside her, "Amy!" he called as the Hatter gently put her hands on Amy's face, "You've got to hold on," he tried again, "Amy? Don't sleep! You've got to stay awake, please…"
"Doctor, Hatter," Rory pattered their backs, catching there attention as he pointed back over to Prisoner Zero.
They looked back over to the alien, only to see the Doctor standing there, looking very dishevelled in his torn clothing, his shirt half hanging out of his trousers.
The Doctor straighten, staring at himself, looking confused, "Well, that's rubbish," he scoffed slightly, glancing at Rory and the Hatter, "Who's that supposed to be?"
Rory blinked at him, "That's you".
"Me?" he looked down at himself, "Is that what I look like?"
He looked to the Time Lady, who smiled at him, "I think you look quite handsome," she remarked, giving him a wink.
The Doctor seemed to brighten slightly at that, running a hand down his front, as if that might help, "Yeah?" he grinned slowly across to her, his eyes twinkling.
"You don't know?" Rory frowned at him.
He gave himself a sharp shake and glanced at Rory, "Busy day," he shrugged slightly as he stood, moving closer to Prisoner Zero, "Why me, though?" he asked the creature, "You're linked to her," he nodded back over to Amy, "Why are you copying me?"
"I'm not," a little girls voice with a Scottish accent answered, and little Amelia stepped out from behind the duplicate Doctor, holding his hand, while the other was holding onto a duplicate of the Hatter.
Both Time Lords blinked in surprise, glancing at each other, before eyeing there copies. The Hatter was quite shocked to see herself being copied, right down to her hat, though, she supposed that she really shouldn't be surprised, considering how much of an impact herself and the Doctor had apparently had on Amy's life. It was almost sweet to see how Amy still saw them as her protectors, even now.
"Poor Amy Pond," Prisoner Zero looked at the Time Lords, shaking its head at them as they stared back at it, "Still such a child inside. Dreaming of the magic Doctor and Hatter she knows will return to save her," the creature looked them up and down, "What a disappointment you've been".
The Hatter frowned thoughtfully, looking down at Amelia, "No…" she shook her head, "She's dreaming about us because she can hear us".
The Doctor ran back over to them, kneeling on the floor by Amy, and leaned closer towards her, "Amy, don't just hear us, listen," he told her, "Remember the room, the room in your house you couldn't see," the Hatter closed her eyes, placing her hands on her face again, trying to help Amy to access the memories faster, "Remember you went inside. We tried to stop you, but you did. You went in the room. You went inside".
"Come on, Amy," the Time Lady murmured, her eyes still closed, "Dream about that room, what you saw in there".
"No!" Prisoner Zero shouted, "No, no…!" the creature began to glow with the orange energy again, transforming into a long, blue eel-like creature with very sharp teeth.
The Doctor stood and stepped closer to it, smirking as he eyed it, "Well done, Prisoner Zero," he remarked as the creature growled angrily at him, "A perfect impersonation of yourself".
The bright white light outside the window seemed to grow even brighter, focused on Prisoner Zero.
"Prisoner Zero is located," the loud voice of the Atraxi announced outside, "Prisoner Zero is restrained".
The Hatter stood, watching as the creature looked back to her and the Doctor, "Silence," it hissed at them, "Silence will fall".
Slowly, the creature began to fade before them, and a loud humming sound echoed through the room as the Atraxi engines outside sounded, causing a wind to blow through the room, ruffling their hair.
The Time Lady jogged over to the smashed window, looking out to see the sky back to its normal state, even the birds had begun singing again, but as she pulled herself back into the room, she meet the Doctor's eyes, and they exchanged a look. The Doctor nodded and reached inside his pocket, grabbing Rory's phone, and began dialling as she joined him.
"The sun…" Rory looked out towards the window, eyeing the sunlight flickering through the windows, "It's back to normal, right?" he asked the Time Lords quickly, "That's…that's good, yeah? That means it's over…" Amy slowly blinked awake and he looked back down to her, "Amy, are you okay?" he gently eased her back upright as she looked around, seeming slightly confused, "Are you with us?"
"What happened?" Amy groaned.
"They did it," he gestured over to the Time Lords, who were busy fiddling with his phone, "The Doctor and the Hatter did it".
"Not quite yet," the Hatter looked back over towards them, casting Amy a concerned look, "You ought to take it slowly".
Rory eyed them, frowning at what they were doing with his phone, "What are you doing?"
"Tracking the signal," the Doctor replied, not looking up from the phone, "Sorry in advance," he added.
"About what?"
The Time Lady winced slightly, though, she couldn't stop the hint of amusement in her voice, "The bill," she clarified for him, and his face fell.
The Doctor finished tracking the signal and held the phone up to his ear, the blonde quickly moved closer to him, "Oi, I didn't say you could go!" he called into the phone, frowning, "Article fifty seven of the Shadow Proclamation. This is a fully established level five planet, and you were going to burn it?" he shook his head as the Hatter nodded in approval, "What? Did you think no-one was watching? You lot, back here, now," he ended the call and chucked the phone over to Rory, who caught it, glancing at the Hatter, "Okay, now we've done it".
"Well, they do need to be taught a lesson," the Hatter shrugged, linking her arm through his, and giving him a smile, "Oh, and I did like that part about the Shadow Proclamation. Very authority sounding".
He grinned at her and winked as they headed for the doors.
"Ah…did he just bring them back?" Rory asked from behind them, sounding slightly panicked as Amy stood, hurrying after them, "Did they just save the world from aliens and then bring all the aliens back again?"
"Come on, Rory!" the Time Lady called over her shoulder, grinning, "Don't want to miss out on the rest of the fun, now, do we?"
The Doctor pushed through a set of double doors, looking determined as he and the blonde walked down the hall.
"Where are you going?" Amy asked as she caught up to them.
"The roof!" the Doctor answered, shaking his head, "No, hang on," he slipped his arm out of the blonde's, grabbing her hand instead, and pulled her into another room, which turned out to be a changing room. He quickly began grabbing different bits of clothing that was scattered around, throwing some over his shoulder.
"What's in here?" the red head frowned, looking around the room as she and Rory entered behind them.
The Hatter smiled, looking amused as she watched the Doctor wonder around, pulling thing's out of lockers and off hooks, tossing the ones he disregarded over his shoulder, most landing on Rory, "Well, he can hardly save the world in those tattered old things, can he?" she raised her eyebrows back to the human, before tilting her head, "Though, he did once save the world in Pyjamas".
"I need a decent shirt," the Doctor agreed, tossing more clothing over his shoulder, moving further down the room, "To hell with the raggedy," he grinned as he grabbed a coat, twirling around with it, "Time to put on a show!"
"Oh, I think you'll manage that anyway, sweetheart," she laughed fondly.
"Well, I did learn from the best," he flashed her a bright smile, dropping the coat, and grabbing her hand, twirling her around, making her laugh even harder as he kissed her quickly, reluctantly letting her go again. He grabbed a pink striped shirt, shaking his head, and tossing it back over his shoulder, hitting Rory in his face.
Rory snatched it off his face, "You just summoned aliens back to Earth!" he exclaimed, still shocked as he glanced at Amy, "Actual aliens! Deadly aliens! Aliens…of death, and now you're…" he trailed off, his eyes widening as the Doctor stripped off his tie and shirt, pulling it over his head, "…taking your clothes off".
The Hatter laughed at his reaction, leaning against the wall. Ah, it wouldn't have been too long ago that she would have turned her back, probably blushing madly at the idea of the Doctor stripping off in the same room as her, but…well, marriage life really had changed all of that.
Rory glanced at Amy, who was watching the Doctor, "Amy, he's taking his clothes off," he said to her as she watched the Doctor, apparently admiring what she saw.
"Turn your back if it embarrasses you," the Doctor shrugged, not bothered as he undid the zipper of his trousers, letting them fall to the ground to join the rest of his old clothing, and going back to his search for new clothing.
"Are you stealing clothing now?" he continued, his eyes flickering to Amy, who was still watching, "Those clothes belonged to people, you know," he turned his back as the Doctor tried on a dark blue shirt, quickly pulling it off again. He glanced at Amy, "Are you not going to turn your back?" he asked her quietly.
Amy crossed her arms across her chest, "Nope," she replied smugly.
The Hatter stepped forward, "Amelia," she gave her a pointed look, lightly grabbing her shoulder, and turning her around to face the opposite way. She really, really didn't want to end up with another Rose on her hands, not to mention she could tell it was bothering Rory the way Amy was looking at the Doctor.
She huffed slightly, "Fine".
The Doctor paused as he pulled on another shirt, glancing back at her, "Jealous, dear?"
"Not at all," the Time Lady shook her head, giving him a small smile, "But I would rather not have any possibly awkward situation in the future," she stepped over to the pile of clothing he had collected, and picked up a pale pink, button up shirt with red strips on the cuffs, and held it out to him, "Try this one," she suggested, "It looks like it would suit you".
He eyed it for a moment before breaking into a smile, and taking it.
….
The Doctor stepped out onto the roof of the hospital, wearing the shirt the Hatter had picked out for him, along with black boots, and black trousers with red braces hanging down beside his legs, while poor Rory was forced to carry a number of different coats and jackets over one arm as he, Army, and the Time Lady followed right behind his heels. Around his neck, he had a couple of different coloured and patterned ties draped loosely, but there hadn't been time to choose as they quickly spotted the Atraxi ship hovering at the end of the roof, waiting for them.
"So this is a good idea, was it?" Amy called, standing back with Rory as they watched the Time Lords stroll calmly closer to the ship, "They were leaving!"
"Yes, leaving is all well in good," the Hatter agreed, glancing back over her shoulder to them, "But never coming back is far better, wouldn't you say?" she raised her eyebrows, "Less anything like this happens again".
"Come on, then!" the Doctor shouted at the ship, flashing the Hatter a wink, "The Doctor will see you now!"
She laughed, shaking her head at him, looking fond, "Oh, you just had to go and make that pun about yourself".
The large eye attached to the bottom the ship zoomed down, right in front of them, and began looking at them closely. A bright light flew out of the pupil, and ran down them both, scanning, before it faded. The Doctor waited for it to stop and pulled his braces over his shoulders.
"You are not from this world," the Atraxi determined.
"No, but we've put a lot of work into it," he replied, grabbing one of the ties around his neck, and glancing down at it thoughtfully, "Oh, hmm…I don't know," he held it out towards the Hatter, since she had already helped pick out his shirt, "What do you think, dear?"
The Hatter eyed the tie, "Though, I'm really not the best person to be asking, that colour isn't you, sweetheart," she told him, shaking her head.
He smiled and tossed the tie over his shoulder, hitting Rory, who only just managed to catch it before it hit his face…again, "What do you think of the braces?" he glanced at her, his eyes twinkling.
"I think that they are very, very nice," she grinned cheekily, grabbing one and lightly pinging it back, almost laughing as he stepped closer to her, looking very intent.
"Is this world important?" the Atraxi asked, reminding them once again of why they were on the roof in the first place.
The Doctor cleared his throat, "Important?" he repeated, scoffing slightly at the question as the Hatter's eyes narrowed at the eye, crossing her arms across her chest, "What's that mean, important?"
"How can you even ask that?" the Time Lady demanded, sounding angry, "There's six billion people who live on this planet, and you have the nerve to ask if they are important?" she forced herself to take a deep breath, trying to keep herself calm, "How about this question: is this world a threat to the Atraxi?"
He grabbed another tie and threw it over his shoulder again, "Well, come on," he encouraged when they did nothing, "You're monitoring the whole planet. Is this world a threat?"
A projection flew out of the eyeball, showing a hologram of Earth, before images began flickering of the Earth's history, of armies marching, nuclear explosions, and of different religions from all over the planet, showing both the good and the bad. The images faded and returned to showing the Earth.
"…no," the ship answered after a moment.
"Are the people of this world guilty of any crime by the laws of the Atraxi?" he questioned, throwing another tie over his shoulder, leaving him with only one. The Time Lady gave him an approving smile.
The hologram flickered again, showing crowds of people all standing together, of cites celebrating as one.
"No".
"Okay," he nodded, smiling slightly, "One more, just one," he began to do the top buttons on his shirt up, talking at the same time, "Is this world protected?" images of the Cybermen, the Daleks, the Raconoss, the Ood, Sycorax, Sontarians, the Silurians, the Reapers, the Hath all started playing before them, "And what you've got ask is…" he wrapped the tie around his neck and the Hatter helped him to tie it, grinning at him, "What happened to them?"
He turned away, walking over to Rory, and grabbed a brown, tweed blazer out of his arms, pulling it on as he turned back, grabbing the Hatter's hand as they watched as the hologram flickered, showing images of each of there previous regenerations, most of them standing and smiling together, only the First and Ninth Doctor were the only Doctor's to be shown without a Hatter standing beside him, since she hadn't left Gallifrey until after she regenerated into her Second body, though, she did notice with some amusement as it reached there Tenth bodies that they seemed to be standing closer, there smiles seeming slightly different.
Finally, as it reached the Doctor's new body, they stepped forward through the hologram, "Hello," they grinned as the images faded, "I'm the Doctor," he introduced himself, nodding the blonde beside him, "And she's the Hatter," his laughed softly, "Basically…run".
The eye zoomed back up to the ship, almost trembling with fear as it seemed to almost widen. The entire ship began spinning very fast above them before taking off back into the sky as the Time Lords watched it go, exchanging amused looks as it disappeared out of sight. Amy and Rory laughed behind them.
Suddenly, the Doctor jerked, and winced loudly, drawing the Hatter's attention. He quickly reached inside his pocket and pulled out his TARDIS key, holding out for her to see as it glowed faintly with golden energy. They meet each other's eyes, their eyes sparkling with excitement.
"Is that it?" Amy asked, staring after the ship, "Is that them gone? Who were they?" she frowned as she looked back to the Time Lords, only to see that they had vanished. Her head snapped back over to the door of the roof, only to see it wide open.
…
The Doctor and the Hatter held each other's hands as they ran down the front steps of the hospital, and out. They raced back to Amy's garden, both grateful that Leadworth was such a small village that they managed to run all the way without even getting out of breath, before they came to a skidding halt before the TARDIS.
The TARDIS was an even brighter blue then had been before with a St. John's Ambulance sticker on one of the doors, opposite the instructions on the second door, and even the shape was slightly different. The smoke had disappeared and the windows were fixed.
"Oh, this is…" the Hatter trailed off, shaking her head as she lightly reached out and touched the doors, smiling as she felt a soft hum, "…beautiful".
"Okay," the Doctor breathed excitedly, his eyes wide, "What have you got for us this time?" he looked at the blonde, "Ready?"
"Sweetheart, if you don't open those doors right now, then I'm going to have to do it myself," she warned him, almost trembling with excitement, "And I really, really don't want to take this moment away from you".
He grinned at her and picked up her hand, placing a kiss on it before turning back to the TARDIS. He reached out, unlocked the doors, opening them, and they looked inside, their eyes widening in amazement, "Look at you!" he gasped in wonder, laughing, "Oh, you sexy thing!" his eyes flew the blonde, looking slightly worried, "I mean…"
She pattered his arm, looking amused, "Doctor, believe me, I'm right behind you on this," she stepped further into the room and spun around on the spot, "This is one sexy ship…and I don't often get to say that!"
He laughed and stepped inside, closing the doors behind him as he grabbed her, twirling her around again, before looked back to the room, his arm moving around her waist. The console was filled with a warm, orange and yellow lights, much to the Time Lady's delight, and the walls were a coppery colour. The room itself looked bigger then the last one, with a couple of different levels, with stairs leading up to them, rather than ramps, and a hat stand was by the doors.
They stepped up the steps to the console, looking down through the glass flooring that looked down to where they could see a large swing like seat sitting among wires and cables from right under the console, while the console itself was shaped like a hexogen, filled with varies new controls, including a typewriter, and across the room, on the wall close to the front doors, a large circular screen was, obviously an extra scanner screen.
"Well, would you look at that," the Hatter grinned as she began to move around the console, running her hands lightly over the controls, "She listened to what I said I liked in a console," she glanced around the Time Rotor, "Warm lighting, lots of space…" she paused, "It's even has a bit of a steampunk flair to it".
The Doctor moved around to meet her, placing his hands on a lever, "How about…a trip to the moon?" he suggested brightly, "Nice little simple trip, just to run her in".
She tilted her head in consideration, "Will there be tea and biscuits?"
"Of course, dear," he leaned closer to her, tweaking the tip of her nose, making her laugh as he pulled the leaver, setting them off.
"All right, but we have to make sure we're back here soon. Oh, and while we're doing that, I can finally get out of these tattered clothes".
He waggled his eyebrows suggestively and stepped closer to her, "I could always help…"
She meet his eyes, giving him a cheeky smile, "We'll see, sweetheart," she replied, moving her hand slowly up his chest, inwardly laughing as he shivered slightly at the touch, and straightened his new bowtie, "Did I ever mention how much I love bowties?" she raised her eyebrows at him, "And you had the nerve to laugh at mine. I would love to see his reaction now".
He grabbed her wrist and kissed it, holding it tightly "I knew you'd like it," he remarked, "And the bracers".
"Well, you were quite right, I do like them," she nodded, her eyes brightening slightly, "Oh, and I just remembered, I told you I would make you a new sonic, didn't I?" she cast her eyes around the room thoughtfully, "How about I make the casing look similar to the new console?"
"And bigger then the last one," he reminded her quickly.
She rolled her eyes fondly, "How could I forget?" she shook her head before pausing, grabbing one of his bracers as her tone turned innocent, "Now, I do believe you said something about helping me with these clothes…?"
And without warning, he grabbed her waist again, and pulled her closer…
…
After a long wardrobe change for the Hatter, the Time Lords spent some time relaxing on the Moon, drinking tea as they admired the Earth from there advantage point, simply enjoying the fact they could finally just sit still for two minutes without worrying about the Master or Prisoner Zero.
Eventually, once all the biscuits were gone, they returned to the TARDIS, were the Time Lady set to work on the Doctor's sonic screwdriver, while he spent some time alone with the old girl in the console room. Soon enough, though, she had finished it, slotting it into the console so that it could finish downloading the original screwdriver's software, effectively making it the exact same device…only with a different case, and they landed back in Amy's garden, in the very same spot.
They stepped outside to find that it was night time, and the Hatter couldn't help but feel a small spark of dread that they might have gone a bit further then they had meant to, since it had only been midday when they had left, but the Doctor hardly seemed to notice at all as he wrapped his arm around her waist happily.
It only took a minute before the front door the house open and Amy, wearing a white nightgown, covered by a dressing gown, and slippers came running out of the house.
"Sorry about running off earlier!" the Doctor called to her, grinning, "Brand new TARDIS. Bit exciting".
"Among other things," the Hatter muttered to him, coughing slightly as she felt her cheeks warming, despite the slight chill in the air. Another thing that pointed to thing's being wrong, since she recalled that it was relatively warm before.
He cast her a cheeky smile of his own, pulling her even closer to him, "Just had a quick hop to the moon and back to run her in," he informed Amy as she ran across the garden to join them, "She's ready for the big stuff now," he pattered the side of the TARDIS.
Amy paused, staring in-between them, "It's you," she remarked quietly, "You came back".
"Well, we did promise, didn't we?" the Time Lady sent her a small smile, "And I always keep my promises," but her smile quickly faded as she noticed Amy's face, the look on it alone almost confirming her concern, "What's wrong?"
She stepped closer to them, eyeing the Doctor, "And you kept the clothes," she glanced at the Hatter, taking note of the clean, completely tatter free clothing she was wearing, too, "And your clothes look cleaner and new".
"Well, we did just save the world," the Doctor shrugged, looking down at himself, "The whole planet, for about the millionth time, no charge. Yeah, shoot me," he rolled his eyes slightly, "I kept the clothes".
"Including the bowtie," she smirked mockingly, eyeing his red bow tie, her eyes flickering over to the Time Lady's rainbow one.
"Oi!" the Hatter pointed a finger at her, "Don't knock the bow ties!"
The Doctor straightened his, "Yeah, there cool," he nodded in agreement, not seeming to notice her mocking tone, "Bow ties are cool," he and the Hatter high fived.
She stared at them as if she thought they were insane, "Are you from another planet?"
"Yeah," he replied happily, the blonde grinning.
"Okay…"
"So what do you think?"
"What?"
"About other planets," the Time Lady clarified, raising her eyebrows, "Care to see some?"
She frowned, leaning closer to them, "What does that mean?" she asked quietly.
"It means…" the Doctor glanced at the Hatter, who nodded, and he looked back to the red head, "Well, it means…come with us".
"Where?"
They smiled brightly at her, "Wherever you like".
She glanced at the TARDIS, looking up at it slowly, "All that stuff that happened," she began, her voice quiet, "The hospital, the spaceships, Prisoner Zero…"
"Oh, don't worry," he shook his head, still smiling, "That's just the beginning. There's loads more".
"Yeah, but those things…those amazing things, all that stuff…" she paused, stepping right up to them, her face turning hard with anger, "That was two years ago," she glared.
"Oh!" his eyes widened and the Hatter groaned loudly, pinching the bridge of her nose, "…oops".
"Yeah".
"Oh, why do I ever let you drive without helping you?" the Time Lady moaned, looking up at the night sky, shaking her head.
"You were busy," he tried to defend himself weakly.
"Not busy enough that I couldn't have helped! But no, the man who failed his TARDIS exam three times is too smug to ask for help from someone who actually passed first go!"
"You passed almost everything, though!"
"Yeah, and if I needed to do something with plants or art, I would ask for your help!"
"Oi!" Amy suddenly shouted, holding up her hands, looking annoyed, and they quickly fell silent, "What's with you two?" she frowned, eyeing them, "Are you…married or something?"
The Time Lords exchanged a look and looked back to her, saying in unison, "Yeah".
"You mean you didn't notice until now?" the Hatter asked her, blinking.
She blushed, shifting slightly embarrassedly on the spot, "You too were pretty weird just in general," she shrugged, avoiding their eyes, mainly the Hatter's, seeing as she had been staring at her husband when he was getting changed. No wonder she had made her turn her back, "I just thought that was…you".
"Well, I think that's a first," the blonde remarked as the Doctor stared at Amy, looking amazed, "I don't think I've come across someone who didn't notice, even well before we even admitted our feelings to each other".
"How could you not notice?" the Doctor exclaimed, shaking his head, "Anyway," he forced himself to get back to the main topic, remembering how they had missed two years, "So we've missed…" he began.
Amy's glare came back into full force, "Fourteen years!" she snapped.
"Fourteen years since fish custard," he winced slightly as the Hatter rubbed her face, "Amy Pond, the girl who waited, you've waited long enough".
She swallowed and looked back at the TARDIS, "When I was a kid, you said there was a swimming pool and a library, and the swimming pool was in the library," she frowned slightly, looking back to them.
"Oh, yeah," the Hatter nodded slowly, recalling ending up in it, not to mention all those lovely books. She very dearly hoped that the TARDIS managed to fix any water damage done to them, "Well, it might still be in there," she shrugged, "I'm not sure what happened, but it will turn up…eventually".
The Doctor raised his eyebrows, "So, coming?" he asked Amy.
She shook her head, "No".
"You wanted to come fourteen years ago".
"I grew up".
"I wouldn't worry," the Time Lady said lightly, smiling, "We'll soon fix that".
The Doctor clicked his fingers, and the TARDIS doors opened, bathing them in the warm, golden light of the inside. Amy's eyes widened as she looked inside, her mouth dropping open slightly as she glanced back to them, and they gave her a nod. She laughed in wonder and slowly stepped inside, staring around in amazement as the Time Lords followed her, the blonde closing the doors behind them.
"Well?" the Doctor looked at Amy, who was still staring around, "Anything you want to say? Any passing remarks?" he glanced at the Hatter, who was watching Amy with a soft smile, always having loved the looks of people's faces when they first stepped inside a TARDIS, "We've heard them all".
"Max let out a string of swear words when he first saw my TARDIS console," the Hatter commented fondly, looking amused, "I ended up threatening to send him to his bedroom if he did it again," she laughed, shaking her head, "Oh, my Second Self was quite amusing".
The Doctor laughed along with her, thinking the same thing, but then again, he had found all of her past selves to be amusing as he took her hand, leading her up to the console.
"I'm in my nightie," Amy breathed weakly behind them.
The Time Lady paused, glancing back at her, "Well, that's another first," she gave her a comforting smile, "Never mind, there's lots of clothes from every era in the wardrobe".
"And possibly a swimming pool," the Doctor added, looking up at the ceiling, "So, all of time and space, everything that ever happened or ever will. Where do you want to start?"
Amy blinked, dragging her eyes away from the rest of the room to look at them, "You are so sure that I'm coming," she began to walk up the steps to the console.
They turned around to look at her, "Yeah, we are".
She eyed them suspiciously, "Why?"
"Cause you're the Scottish girl in the English village, and I know how that feels," the Doctor answered.
The Hatter glanced at him, "Ah…save for the girl part," she paused, "Oh, and the living in an English village part, too, but I guess the point still stands".
Amy raised her eyebrows as she touched the console, snatching her hand back almost at once, "Oh, do you?" she looked around at them.
The blonde moved around to her, lightly battering her hands away from the controls, "Now, now," she waved a finger at her, but looked more amused then stern, "Don't want to destroy the Universe, do we?" she quickly fixed what she had meddled with, "Anyway, all the years you've lived here, pretty much all your life, and you still have the accent?"
The Doctor fiddled with a couple of controls, glancing over the controls to Amy, "Yeah, you're coming," he pointed at her.
"Can you get me back for tomorrow morning?"
"It's a time machine," he reminded her, "We can get you back, with the Hatter's help…"
"Thanks you!" the Hatter called.
"…back five minutes ago," he continued, his eyes narrowing slightly as he looked back to Amy, "Why, what's tomorrow?"
"Nothing," Amy shrugged innocently, "Nothing. Just…" she lowered her eyes, "You know…stuff".
The Hatter eyed her curiously, "What kind of 'stuff?'" she asked, but before she could answer, the Doctor cut across her.
"Oh!" the Doctor cheered as his new sonic screwdriver finished downloading, popping out of the slot in the console. He grabbed it excitedly as the Time Lady moved around to watch, smiling at how delighted he looked as he flashed it at thin air, the green light on the end, just as the blonde had promised, lighting up, "Ooh, and it's bigger, too! Lovely!" he whirled around, pulling the Hatter closer, and kissed her, "Thanks, dears," he grinned at her, and pattered the console as he slipped his new sonic inside his blazer.
"I knew you would like it, sweetheart," the Time Lady laughed fondly as he moved around to the other side of the console, and began typing something onto the typewriter, while she pulled a couple of levers.
Amy watched them both work, "Why me?" she asked suddenly.
"Why not?" he asked, glancing over at her.
"No, seriously," she narrowed her eyes at them, "You are asking me to run away with you in the middle of the night. It's a fair question," she pointed out, "Why me?"
"Don't know," he shrugged, still working at the controls, "Fun. Do we have to have a reason?"
"People always have a reason".
The Hatter paused in her work and moved around to stand beside her, meeting her eyes, "And do we really look like people?" she raised her eyebrows at her, giving her a soft smile, "Have you ever seen people like us before? And if so, I would love to meet them".
"Yes, you do look like people," she replied quickly.
"Been knocking around on our own for a while," the Doctor explained to her, seeing that she needed an explanation, "My choice, but I've started talking a lot. It's been driving the Hatter up the wall," he nodded over to the blonde, "She threatened to knock me out if I didn't shut up".
"I was trying to read a very good book," the Hatter defended, giving him a look, "And you just kept blabbering on," she sighed, her hand moving to her left ear, "You've been giving me an earache".
"You're lonely," Amy realised, taking note of just how old and tired their eyes actually looked, "That's it?" she frowned slightly again, "Just that?"
"Just that," the Doctor nodded as the Hatter turned back to the controls, knowing that wasn't completely so, "Promise," he added.
The Hatter nudged his side and discreetly nodded up at the monitor that was hanging from the console were a curved line had appeared on the scanner, shaped just like the crack on Amy's bedroom wall. They exchanged a quick, wary look.
Amy, luckily, didn't seem to notice anything off about them, "Okay," she replied, moving away.
The Time Lady quickly turned off the scanner and stepped over to her, looking at her expression closely, "How are you handling all of this so far?" she asked carefully as the Doctor joined them, leaning against the railing beside the blonde.
"Because this place, sometimes it can make people feel a bit…you know," the Doctor glanced at the red head, too.
"I'm fine," she told them a little too quickly, not seeming to be able to stand still as she swung herself slightly on the railing, "It's just…there's a whole world in here, just like you said. It's all true. I thought…" she looked back to them, "…well, I started to think maybe you were just…like a madman and woman with a box".
"Amy Pond," the Doctor began, sounding very serious, "There's something you'd better understand about us, because it's important, and on day your life may depend on it," she looked back to them, listening carefully, "We are definitely a madman and woman with a box," he grinned as she slowly smiled at them, the Hatter laughing, "Ha, ha! Yeah!"
Amy laughed as the Time Lords turned back to the controls and quickly joined them as they flipped a couple of switchers.
"Right, then," the Time Lady grinned, looking up at the Time Rotor, "Say goodbye to Leadworth, and hello Universe!"
The Time Lords pulled a lever, causing the TARDIS to jolt as they set off, Amy yelped slightly as she grabbed the console to balance herself. They laughed as they watched the Time Rotor move up and down.
So, did the Hatter's reaction to the Doctor's new outfit surprise anyone? I can see it becoming a habit her grabbing his bracers, or adjusting his bow tie. I can't wait until we get to his own love of hats. Still, at least the Doctor won't be the only one defending the bow tie now, I can just imagine them fangirling over bow ties together while everyone else just looks on in exasperation.
Also, did anyone catch the Morganville Vampires reference I just had to put in here? If anyone is looking for a vampire book series with real, proper vampires then I would highly recommend reading the series. One of the characters kind of reminds me of the Doctor, mixed with Hatter, and triple the craziness. Oh, and just ignore the fact that he's a vampires who has a nasty habit of eating his assistants.
Anyway, next chapter Amy learns how easily distracted the Time Lords can get by past stories, the Doctor takes a trip down memory lane, and what could he have possibly said to cause the Hatter to start panicking? Tell me what you thought, please review :)
Guest reviews:
Lil RabBiT: Aww, I'm so happy you liked it, and I hope this was soon enough. Do you mean as the Moment? I'm still debating about that, since for this story it wouldn't really make sense for it to be Rose, but you never know. I do like to try keeping the story as close to the show as I can. Thanks for the review :)