Chapter Two By ImpossibleNightmare ( u/8491055/)

"How long have you been here, exactly?" Rory asked. The cell was still dark; his eyes hadn't adjusted. And no matter how close he thought he got to his mysterious cell mate, they always seemed just out of reach. "What are these creatures? What do they want?"

"Too many questions," came the weak reply. "But tell me, when are we?"

"When are we?" Rory echoed, and then he must've realized that this strange person meant when they were in time. "I'm not sure. Before I came here I was at home on Earth, but then...a lot of things happened, and my wife's floating around unconscious in space, and my daughter's missing in action, and her husband is mysteriously absent. You know, just the normal stuff."

The other wheezed. "You know, I think I've seen worse, really," the voice rasped. "I think I had a granddaughter once, maybe. She died. And then I had a daughter, and she died too. I can't be that old, can I? And now I'm here. How much can one person take in a lifetime?"

"Depends, I suppose," Rory replied. Perhaps if he struck up a friendly conversation, then he could attempt to maneuver some kind of useful information from his cell mate.

"Yes, I do suppose," the other said agreeably. "The Slitheen used to be susceptible to vinegar, but now it appears they aren't anymore."

"I figured that - wait, so these weird green aliens are the Slitheen?" Rory interrupted himself.

"Yes, nasty creatures," the voice informed him. "I've met them before, I think, but I can't really remember much now. It's been a while since I've come here - several months, maybe? And despite all this time left to think here in the dark, I can't figure out what the Slitheen are trying to do."

"I don't know either," Rory shrugged, feeling hopeless. "I only met one. They said that I might be useful later."

"Your friend," said the other voice. "Who is he? Is he important? Your daughter's husband or whatever."

"Oh, I'd say so," Rory replied, allowing a small hint of amusement to creep into his voice. The Doctor, not important? He'd only saved Earth and the universe about a bajillion times. You know, not that important or anything.

"Well, I suppose in a way that's a relative question," the voice mused. "We're all important. Just some are more important to more people."

"Are you important?" asked Rory. "Is that why the Slitheen have you captured?"

"I must be," the voice replied. "They dispose of anyone they find invaluable immediately after cloning them - their prisoners never live long. So I must be important if I'm still alive. But I don't really know anymore."

"What happened to you?"

"What normally happens to any prisoner," came the reply. "Torture. Beatings. It hurts more than I can bare."

Rory's hands ghosted over his neck where earlier a Slitheen's claw had strangled him. The incident was only a painful memory now, a purple bruise on his otherwise unmarred skin. But he knew these aliens could do worse. He'd been there for less than an hour, less than ten minutes, maybe, but this person, whoever he or she was, had been here for months. Rory couldn't imagine what they'd been through.

"I can help you," he repeated the assurance from earlier. "I'm a nurse, I can help you. I can treat your injuries."

"But you're a human," the voice replied. "And I'm not. I've got a different anatomy then you, different physiology."

Rory resisted the urge to roll his eyes in exasperation. "Yes, and I've met aliens and I know what I'm doing."

There was a moment of silence, and the human companion could practically hear the wheels turning in his cell mate's brain.

Am I going to end up like whoever this is? Rory wondered, feeling a bit nervous at the prospect. Am I going to be lost and confused, unsure of my own identity, tortured beyond recognition?

"Very well," the voice finally consented.

"Thank you," he said, and took a step in the direction of the sound. But it was like he'd gone nowhere. Somehow, he knew that he remained in the same location, even though it was dark and he couldn't see his surroundings. Something in his gut told him that no matter how much he walked forward, he'd never reach the source of the voice. "Would you mind coming towards me?" he requested. "I can't seem to reach you. And it's dark."

"That makes no sense, though," came the voice's answer. "You're right there. Right in front of me. I could reach out and touch you if I wanted, but it hurts too much. And don't be silly, the room's so bright it's hurting my eyes."

"What're you on about?" Rory asked. Perhaps his cell mate had been tortured beyond common sense and logic. Perhaps the voice was hallucinating.

An all to familiar sound echoed through the cell, lighting the place in an eerie blue glow.

"Hmm, interesting flashlight, didn't know I had it," the voice said wonderingly, and it seemed to take on an almost familiar tone, one Rory recognized.

And then he saw the face of the voice, and he all but screamed.

"Please!" Amy screeched in a desperate attempt to maybe frighten off the Slitheen closing in for the kill.

Much to her surprise, the green creature paused, cocking its head at her as if she were a very curious specimen. She couldn't help but be repulsed by the thing; it was pudgy and seemed a bit disproportionate in size, belly bulging and eyes large in its oddly shaped head. If it hadn't been about to kill her, Amy might have found it cute in a weird way. But it was not cute. None of these aliens surrounding her were cute. They were deadly monsters, like most of the aliens she'd encountered in her time with the Doctor.

She needed to think of a way, a way to stop her death, or at least delay it so that the Doctor could come and stop it for her. She had to think like him, convince them that she was useful alive. She needed to find out what they were doing, why they wanted to kill her in this exact location, and anything else about them. If she were the Doctor, she thought, then she wouldn't resort to fighting; she'd try to talk her way out, or distract them with speaking.

"Do you think I'm the girl named Amelia Pond?" she asked, trying to push a wobble of fear out of her voice. Luckily, her Scottish accent helped her sound a bit intimidating and scary.

The green aliens looked at each other. The one who'd been about to kill her stared at its talons questioningly. "You are the girl named Amelia Pond," it stated.

She allowed a laugh. "That's what you may think. But I see my disguise has worked all too well."

"Stop this nonsense," hissed the alien that had previously worn the skin of the friendly slave girl. "You are Amelia Pond. You are the sacrifice we have been waiting for." It jerked its head to the others. "Kill her."

"You wouldn't want to do that," Amy barely managed not to yelp as her heart frantically sped up, watching the alien prepare to strike her across the throat once more. "If you did that, then you'd totally ruin your plan, whatever it may be."

Once again the aliens exchanged confused looks. "Why would we need the human Amelia Pond to execute out plan?"

Amy laughed again. "But I'm not Amelia Pond. I'm not a human. This is only a disguise I've donned to convince you of my identity."

The Slitheen looked immensely confused, exchanging what could've been puzzled looks on their green slimy faces. The one who'd been the slave girl glared at her, looking immensely unimpressed and unconvinced.

"If you are not the human Amelia Pond, then who are you?"

She laughed again. "If I told you, you'd be scared."

"We fear nothing anymore," the Slitheen said.

"But you don't know who I am," Amy declared confidently. "If you kill me now, your plan will be destroyed, ruined. I have many friends who would seek revenge if you dared to strike me down. But if you need a human specifically named Amelia Pond to do whatever it is you're trying to do, then spilling my blood in this place will taint it, and stop you from doing anything else. Although, considering I don't want you're plan to work, then perhaps you should execute me, but seeing as I value my life, I'm taking you're side. Don't kill me. Keep me hostage. I'll prove more valuable than you can imagine."

"Kill her!" the slave girl Slitheen raged.

"No," the one who'd previously been about to slit her throat snapped. "She's right. Her disguise is so good it fooled us. We will not kill her now, not until we find out more. Not until we locate the real Amelia Pond."

"But she is!" protested the other. "Found floating in orbit. It must be her, the Doctor's vessel was located nearby."

Amy drew herself to her full height. "Of course my vessel was located nearby where you found me."

All the Slitheen blinked at her. "Your vessel?"

"Yes, my vessel," Amy snapped. "Honestly, have you not been listening to anything I've told you." She hoped what she would say next was true; she knew many of the Doctor's enemies feared him, so logically, the Slitheen must also be scared of the Time Lord. "I've told you I'm dangerous."

"The Doctor," snapped a different Slitheen, one who had not spoken before, "has been subdued. If you're saying what I think you're saying..."

"Perhaps that version of the Doctor has been captured or whatever," Amy replied immediately. "But not me. Not my incarnation of the Doctor. I am the future regeneration of the Doctor, and you better not kill me, because if you do...there will be consequences."

Author's Note: Special thanks to itzPrew for letting me take part in this!