Author's Note: Thank you for all who have read, reviewed and saved this story to favorites. I appreciate it and hope 'Should I Stay' continues to hold your interest.

Happy reading and I hope you enjoy it!

~Valerie~

Chapter 2: Shimmers of Gold

One second Rory Williams was standing aboard a spaceship where dinosaurs were freely roaming around and the next, he found himself standing outside, in the cold, on a beach. Beside him stood his father and the Doctor looking just as baffled as he did. A scan of the area showed Rory nothing that would help determine where they were and how they even got here. Despite the dilemma he suddenly found himself in, he's thankful the Doctor was with him. That pretty much guaranteed Rory would make it back to the ship where Amy was surely waiting to wring his and the Doctor's neck for disappearing the way they did.

Not like he had a choice in the matter.

"We're outside. We're on a beach," his father stated the obvious. Rory knew how unhappy the man had to be right about now. Brian Williams may have taken everything rather well up to this point but traveling and his father didn't exactly go hand in hand.

"Teleport!" the Doctor shouted in irritation; his hands tugging fistfuls of his hair. "Oh, I hate teleports. Must have activated on my voice." That would explain how they got here. Now if they could just figure out the where part.

It was a relief to see the Doctor acting his usual self. For a minute there, while they were still aboard the spaceship, Rory was concerned when he saw the emotions that had flickered across the Time Lord's face when he turned on the computer. It was a look of shock, disbelief and a hint of fear. Looking at the screen, Rory saw nothing that would've warranted such a reaction. There was nothing on it but the schematics of the ship with the words Bad Wolf across the top. A quick shake of his head and the Doctor went back to what he was doing. A few words later and suddenly they were here on this beach.

"Ah, yes, well, thank you, Arthur C. Clarke!" Rory stood beside the Doctor just staring at his father as the man erupted in a fit of anger. "Teleport, obviously, I mean, we're on a spaceship, with dinosaurs, why wouldn't there be a teleport? In fact why don't we just teleport now?!" Both men watched as he stalked off angrily.

The Doctor turned to him. "Is he alright?"

"No, he hates traveling. Makes him anxious," Rory answered. "He only goes to the paper shop and golf."

"What did you bring him for?" Rory stared at the Doctor in annoyed irritation.

"I didn't!" he protested in frustration then quickly gave up, knowing he was just wasting his breath. "Why can't you just phone ahead, like any normal person?"

Maybe then they wouldn't be dealing with a not-so-happy Brian Williams. It wasn't Rory who had materialized the TARDIS around them with his father there. The Time Lord didn't look up to greet them or bother even asking if they wanted to go. Just began smacking that gob of his and set off. Does the Doctor think he and Amy just sit around twiddling their thumbs waiting for his next visit? They have a life they've built together that included family, friends and work. One day the Time Lord was going to have to remember that.

His father walked back up to them. "Can somebody tell me where we are, now?"

Rory watched as the Doctor stuck his tongue out, testing the atmosphere. "Well, it's not Earth. Doesn't taste right, too metallic." His brows furrowed as he frowned. Again he stuck his tongue back out. Suddenly his entire body goes rigid. "Impossible," the Doctor breathed out then reached for his sonic screwdriver and juts it in the air. Whatever the results read had him frantically looking around. Rory knew it meant something was most likely about to happen; whether it was good or bad remained to be seen.

"What are you looking for?" his father asked at the same time as Rory asked, "What is it?" He assumed the Doctor was onto something; hopefully a way to get them back aboard the ship.

It's no surprise their questions are met with silence. The Doctor tended not to say anything until he was good and ready, if even at all. That always annoyed the hell out of his wife. Rory had to admit it bothered him too, but not as much as it did Amy. While he waited, he began inspecting the area himself in hopes of discovering the answer on his own. The beach was a flat stretch of land with a wall of cliff behind them. Other than the gray overcast and the rolling waves, there's nothing that was catching his attention. At least nothing that was noticeable. Still, the Doctor continued scrambling around in search of something.

He can see it was making his father nervous. Not him so much. This was behavior he's used to. Rory was about to assure his father that everything was okay. Tell him how adventures with the Doctor are always filled with the weird and the unknown but that no matter how dangerous it might get, things do tend to get resolved. And once they were squared away, they'd return home. But before he could open his mouth to say any of these things, an uneasy feeling settled in the pit of his stomach. And seeing how further agitated the Doctor was acting wasn't helping. Assuring his father was no longer on Rory's mind since he wasn't sure he believed it himself.

"What is that?" his father asked, looking at something over his shoulder. Rory turned to see what it was that caught his attention. What he saw had him flabbergasted.

Rory had no clue. He would've turned and asked the Doctor but he didn't want to look away. A little down the ways from where they stood, shimmers of gold light had appeared hovering quite a few feet above the sand. Slowly it was forming and elongating as it begun taking shape. What it was, Rory couldn't say. All he could do was stand there and watch with wide eyes. Soon other colors began peeking through the gold glow; blue, white and black. The more it formed the quicker Rory was able to figure out what it was he was seeing.

"Why, it's a woman," his father voiced in disbelief.

Indeed it was a woman.

He can see the blue were jeans form fitted to a nicely shaped body. Not that he would repeat that to Amy when he retold this story. His wife has a quick temper and a hard right hook. No, he will keep that remark to himself. More like forget he even thought of it in the first place. The black was a waist-length leather jacket, the white was her top and on her feet she wore a pair of worn boots. He was surprised she wasn't dangling. Instead one arm was across her stomach, the other over her head. As for her legs, they were slightly lifted and angled towards him. It looked as though she were lying on a flat surface.

Dark blonde hair could now be seen through the golden glow. Oddly, that hung midair suggesting its length was long. Not quite like Amy's, but close enough. As for the women's face, that he couldn't see. It was turned away from him. To Rory, the position she was sprawled in looked pretty uncomfortable. Suddenly the light flared brightly. It had him and his father turning away for a brief moment until they saw it had dimmed back down. Gradually the light began to fade until the woman was no longer glowing. Briefly she hung suspended in air before falling to the ground with a solid thud.

Immediately Rory's mind goes into nursing mode and he rushed over to the woman's side. He saw she had hit her head, hard, and wasn't moving. Not that she had moved once during that whole appearing act. Dropping to his knees, he gently straightened her arms, legs and head so that her body was in a more comfortable position. Rory sighed in relief when he saw she was breathing steadily. A quick examination of her head reveals no bumps or blood. That was good news. What concerned him, the women seemed to be out cold; something that obviously had nothing to do with the fall. Whatever was going on with her was beyond his help. This was more the Doctor's area of specialty.

"Is she okay?" his father asked.

"She doesn't appear to have any injuries."

"Where do you think she came from?"

"I don't know," Rory answered honestly.

Where did the woman come from?

"A better, question is how she's even here," His father continued. "Have you ever seen anything like that?"

"No," Rory lied. When in truth he had.

It looked like the same shimmering gold that glowed around the Doctor and River when they regenerated. Except the woman lying out in front of him wasn't a Time Lord, Lady, he quickly corrected himself. She only had one heart beat; he had already checked. Looking down at her face, he saw tear streaks lined down her cheeks. What had brought the women to tears, he wondered. Was it pain, sorrow or possibly both? Clearly she was young. If Rory had to guess he would say early twenties; just out of her teens. She was also pretty. He took in her features, smooth skin, full lips and long lashes; ones that suddenly began fluttering. A sure sign she was starting to come around.

Rory quickly straightened so he was no longer hovering. Not only did he not want to frighten her but he was also being cautious. The women may look harmless but he knew appearances can be deceiving and he'd seen too much to let his guard down. She began to move around. Rory heard her groan then watched as her eyes slowly began drifting open. A pair of warm brown eyes with flecks of gold in them stared up at him; first in confusion then in wariness. He conveys his friendliness with a smile, hoping it eased her.

"Hello," He said softly so not to startle her. "You had a bit of a fall. Do you feel any pain, anywhere at all?" When she didn't answer right away he added, "I'm a nurse."

"No," she answered verbally, and with a shake of her head.

He noticed her eyes travel up and to the side of him. "This is my father Brian Williams."

"Nice to meet ya' sweetheart." Sadness crossed her face at his father's greeting. Rory wondered about that.

"Hello," she greeted him then sits up; a little too fast judging by the expression on her face and the way she clutched her head.

"Whoa, take it easy there," he encouraged as he helped steady her. "You fell so you shouldn't be so quick to move."

"I'll be fine. I've been through worse," She assured him. "Just give me a bit, yeah."

"Take the time you need… and I'm Rory Williams by the way."

"Hello." She smiled but didn't introduce herself.

Rory gave it a moment, thinking she was slow to respond because she was disoriented from the knock on her head. The seconds ticked and she still hadn't said anything. Was it deliberate? Based on the way she was avoiding his eyes he had to say it was. Why? It wasn't like he knew her. Who was she? She didn't look familiar. He brushed those questions back so that he could assist her when he saw her rising to her feet in case she gets dizzy again. She didn't need to fall over and bump her head a second time.

Rory wondered if she was an alien and if so, where she was from.

She may look human but the Doctor did as well so that wasn't saying much. That gave him pause. Speaking of the Time Lord, the man sure had been quiet through all this. That was rare for him. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't even rushed over to inspect this sudden mystery. Very unlike him. Was the Doctor even still with them? Rory hoped he was. The last thing he needed was to be left alone trying to find a way back to the ship with his agitated father and an alien woman who was refusing to give her name and had somehow appeared from out of thin air.

"Thank you," she offered Rory once she was steady on her feet.

"No problem," he returned with a nod of his head.

He watched as she dusted off the sand that had gotten on her jeans and leather jacket. Once she straightened herself, she smiled at him. Her eyes shifted and suddenly her entire body goes completely still as she stared at something over his shoulder. Her smile faded and a look of shock filled the woman's eyes. Curious, Rory turned around and saw nothing but the Doctor still standing in the same spot he was before. Except on his face was the same shocked look.

"Rose?" the Doctor whispered. His tone laced with disbelief, and, was that a hint of longing?

Suddenly that uneasy feeling Rory felt, returned tenfold.

Author's Note: Comments, criticisms and suggestions are always welcomed. Chapter 3 will be posted soon.