Chapter 4 – Rory's Cure
"Amy, hand me that laser spanner would you?"
"You know, when I said I'd help you fix the TARDIS I didn't think it meant just handing you the tools you need."
"It doesn't? You sure? I thought for sure that was what you meant by helping me. Wait, where's Rory?" Amy put her hand on her hip.
"He's in our room with a cold. Surely you heard him coughing all night or noticed the fact that you haven't seen him today...oh wait, noticing things is not your best quality." She added the last part pointedly. The Doctor stuck his head up above the console to look at the redhead.
"A cold? Why didn't you tell me before, he could have a Spirulian Space virus, or a Keltan Intestinal bug or-"
"No Doctor, I think it's just a cold." Both Amy and the Doctor looked towards the top of the stairs where a very disheveled Rory stood, clutching a bottle of cough medicine. "I am a nurse you know." The Doctor ran up to him and ran him over with his sonic screwdriver. "That ice planet you took us to, the one with the intergalactic Olympic games?" He waved the point of the screwdriver out of his face. "Yeah, just a cold."
"You are absolutely right." The Doctor said, bringing his sonic back and heading towards the console, where Amy stood watching them. The Doctor ducked under the console and came up with a small box.
"I don't have the need to use it very often for my companions but I keep it in case something like this happens." He ran back up the stairs and handed the box to Rory. "The cure to the common cold."
"You're not serious?"
"Turns out van Statten was right about having it. Who knew it was only-"
"Doctor, who's van Statten?" Amy interjected.
"Oh, right, wrong companion, sorry. Big billionaire space junk collector with an ego the size of Manhattan."
"Thanks Doctor." Rory nodded at him and took the box up to his and Amy's room.
"I better help him, he gets sorta confused when he gets sick."
"He gets sick a lot?"
"Yup." Amy replied, hiding a grin and chasing off after her husband.
"Bad immune system." The Doctor muttered, moving over to the console. van Statten, that name brought up a lot of memories. The Dalek, Adam, Rose Tyler...
"Find me." He stopped in his tracks. That was a female voice, one he hadn't heard in a long time. He imagined it, didn't he? He shook his head, as if that would help.
"You're gone." He said out loud. "In another universe, with my clone."
"Find me." The voice repeated. The Doctor ran his hands over his face.
"I can't! I let you go, I can never see you again!"
"Find me."
"Do you have an exact idea how to fix Donna so she can remember traveling with you without dying?" Rose asked the clone Doctor as they fiddled together on the dimension hopper that she had used when the stars were going out.
"There's this device on the TARDIS called a Chameleon Arch, and it rewrites the biology of any living creature into something else. Although she's mostly human, the non-human cells should revert back to normal if we use it on her. But then we have another problem." He motioned for Rose to hand him another part.
"What's that?" She said, handing it to him.
"The Doctor. He probably won't want me to use the Chameleon Arch on her."
"Why?"
"It's extremely painful, and never been used on a human before."
"But, she needs you, and you need her. We have to convince him." She said, her mind coming up with an idea, but she didn't mention it.
"Well, he'll probably listen to you, me not so much."
The Time Lord was not feeling well. The voice in his head had continued to grow stronger and every time he closed his eyes he saw her. He became grumpy and moody from the lack of sleep that even Time Lords need at times, albeit rarely. Amy and Rory noticed but feared to mention it due to his unpredictable anger.
The clone Doctor and Rose continued to work constantly on the dimension hopper, with no avail.
"You need a name." Rose said one day.
"Why?"
"Because." Rose said sarcastically. "There will be two Doctors, and he was there first. Plus if you're going to be with Donna she'll need something to call you."
"But we'll have our TARDIS, the piece of coral the Doctor gave us. Should be fully ready in another week."
"There can't be two Doctors gallivanting around the universe!" She glared at him. "And don't you dare pick John Smith!" The clone Doctor's mouth dropped open.
"Why not? That's the name he...I, we, have always used!"
"Donna would not appreciate becoming Donna Smith!" He rubbed his cheek thoughtfully.
"Yeah I probably would get a slap or two." He paused. "How about John McCrimmon? Remember, from our trip to Scotland?" He adopted his Scottish accent. "When we were knighted Sir Doctor of TARDIS and Dame Rose of the Powell Estates!" Rose giggled.
"I like it." They both jumped as a loud beep came from the dimension hopper.
"It...it works!" The clone Doctor said in awe.
"We did it!" Rose shouted. She threw herself in his embrace, knocking them to the floor from his sitting position, the pair of them laughing the whole time.
"Doctor's universe, here we come!"
"Do you think she's ready?" Rose said upon entering the newly grown TARDIS.
"As ready as she'll ever be." John dragged the dimension hopper over to the console and began connecting wires to it.
"But I thought the Doctor said the walls to the universe have closed for good. How are we going to get through?" No reply. "John? How are we going to get through?" He sighed.
"I didn't tell you before but there are cracks opening in all of space and time. I figured we'd just slip through one. I'm sure the Doctor would be grateful for our help in figuring out what the cracks mean."
"Isn't that dangerous?"
"Hell yes. You still want to do this?"
"Hell yes!" She grinned at him, before it faded. "I have to say goodbye to my mum and family first. She already understands how much I need to do this."
"Good luck." John threw a wary look at her.
"Thanks." She replied glumly.
"Alright, anywhere in the universe, any time or place. Random planet!" The Doctor threw the lever on the TARDIS and she shook upon entering the vortex. Amy and Rory held on for dear life as the room quivered and quaked. Finally it stopped, and the three of them were silent. Suddenly the Doctor leapt up.
"Okay you two, out those doors! I want to hear your reaction!" He shoved on the couples' backs. "Could be the twin garden suns of Kleptah, the year 6409, or the ice planet of-"
"Please, no ice planets!" Rory interjected as he and his wife stepped out the doors. The Doctor waited inside, an eager smile on his face anticipating.
"Sure looks a lot like present-day London to me Doctor." Amy shouted.
"What?" The Doctor ran for the door and tumbled out, stumbling into Rory and Amy.
"Hey!" They shouted. He ignored them.
"Any place in the ENTIRE universe, and you pick here?" He shouted indignantly at the TARDIS. "Alright, that's it, no blunderin' about this time. Ponds, into the phone box. Now I'm picking the coordinates and-" They were suddenly stopped as the doors to the TARDIS slammed shut.
"Oi!" He shouted, kicking the side of it. "Don't lock us out!" The TARDIS seemed to give a mysterious rumble, as if she knew a secret. "Let me in!" He shouted louder.
"Doctor, I think maybe the TARDIS wants us to explore around here for a while, maybe somebody's been messin' about here or somethin'." Amy laid her hand on the Doctor's shoulder and he seemed to settle down.
"Fine!" He stomped away. "Let's explore boring old London for the billionth time. Come along Ponds!" Rory and Amy looked at each other, shrugged, then followed him.
John and Rose looked at each other cautiously.
"Could be anything out there. Even the void." They stood in front of the closed TARDIS doors.
"You sure you don't mind me doing this?" Rose asked John.
"Completely don't mind. I'm ready to find Donna again, and you need your Doctor." Rose nodded.
"You ready?" John grabbed her hand and held it tight.
"Allons-y" He whispered, a bit nervously. Then they both used their other hands to open the doors slowly.
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~Bad Wolf~
