It was a long and, in Amy and Rory's opinion, a fairly boring week. Ana and The Doctor were often gone for hours at a time, digging tirelessly through the ship. Amy and Rory had returned to The Doctor's TARDIS, mostly because they knew their way around it. They would often wander the town they had landed in, just for something to do. The woman at the small cafe welcomed them every morning, with a cup of tea and beagles. It was pleasant enough, Rory said it was like living a normal life.
"We've done that," Amy answered. "We take breaks all the time!" she added.
"Yeah, breaks," Rory mumbled, but he never argued with her about it. They would drink their tea, and then return in silence to the TARDIS. The Doctor and Ana would appear on that ship at random intervals, just to grab spare parts. Then they would disappear behind the door, and be gone for hours again. Sometimes the Doctor would come back looking like he hadn't slept, his clothing and hair messed from climbing in and out of the hidden tunnels under the ship. He would start digging around in different rooms, and different boxes.
"What is she doing anyway?" Amy asked once. The Doctor looked up at her through the glass floor. He was seated in the swing under the console area, his arms wrapped awkwardly around the straps of the swing, reaching up above his head.
"Sleeping," he answered. His eyes hugely amplified behind a set of strange goggles.
"Do you sleep?" Rory asked. He was standing next to the Doctor, his arms full of things the Doctor was removing from the TARDIS. The Doctor looked at Rory for a minute, and then went back to working.
"So, you're taking apart your ship, to fix hers?" Amy asked, tilting her head to the side.
"Just taking spare parts," the Doctor answered. Something creaked, there were a few sparks, and then nothing. "Happens all the time, nothing to worry about." There was a lot of things about the Doctor right now that worried Amy. He was quiet, clearly thinking about a single thing constantly, and pulling apart his TARDIS. He refused to talk about what it might be. Ana always returned sooner or later. Usually after three or four hours. She would bang a rhythm on the TARDIS door, and then come inside. Then the Doctor and Ana would take the box of spare parts, and disappear.
So, when they returned one day—to get something called the natara focusing gems—it was no different. The Doctor hurried down a set of stairs and then pulled open a trunk. He pulled out two coats, an old umbrella, and three things that looked like different kitchen appliances. Then he held up a large brass wheel, in between the spokes of the wheel were tiny blue crystal-like objects. "Tada!" he said excitedly. They hurried back up the stairs, pulled open the doors to the TARDIS, and once more they were gone.
"Oh! That's it!" Amy shouted. She got to her feet and followed them. Rory was on her heels as they left the TARDIS. They caught the other door swinging closed, and went inside. The main room looked just the same. Except for a holographic woman standing near the console. "Umm, excuse me?" Amy said, getting the holograms attention. The girl flickered for a moment as she turned.
"Hello, I'm—" her voice glitched out, and they didn't actually hear her name. "It's good to see you properly Amy Pond and Rory Williams."
"Hello, okay. Yes, well do you know where the Doctor and Ana are?" Amy asked.
"Of course I do," she answered.
"Will you tell us?" Amy asked, frowning at the ship.
"Please?" Rory added. Amy shot him a look, and then crossed her arms.
"Just down that hallway, and they are in the eight room on the right hand side." One of the hallways lit up as she spoke, with rows of golden lights to point their way.
"Thank you," Amy mumbled. The two hurried off down the path and away from the hologram. "She gives me the creeps," Amy said.
"We're inside her... you shouldn't talk like that," Rory answered. Amy rolled her eyes, but the ship jerked suddenly making her stumble and fall. Rory only just managed to catch himself on the wall. "Told you," he mumbled, helping her back to her feet.
"Whatever! Let's just find the Doctor!" Amy shouted. Amy pulled open the door, where the lights were leading them. There was glowing at the far side, down into some kind of hole. Since The Doctor and Ana had spent all their time down in different places, that's where Amy headed. Rory followed a few steps behind her, feeling more like a dog then a husband. "Doctor!" she called, leaning forward. Something below the floor covered the light for a minute, and then nothing. "Doctor!" she shouted.
"Amy," Rory called, but she had dropped to her knees and was looking down into the hole. The ship jerked again, sending Amy crashing down into the hole. She shrieked as she fell. "Amy!" Rory shouted, and ran toward the opening. The door to the room swung shut, slamming closed. He paused only for a minute to look back, then he was down the hole after her. He scrambled over the edge of the hole, and dropped down to the lower area.
Amy was sitting against the other wall. "The Doctor isn't here," she snapped. She waved her hand in front of the light at the bottom of the hole. There was a pile of parts, letting them know he had been here earlier.
"The door closed behind us," Rory said, as he helped Amy back up.
"Of course it did," Amy muttered. They managed to pull themselves up, and back into the other room. "Doctor!" Amy shouted. She started around the room, trying to find another place for him. Rory went back to the door, running his hands over the flat surface and around the edges.
"There's no way to open it!" he shouted, fighting with it for a minute.
"Of course there isn't!" she snapped. "Doctor!" Amy hollered again. She dug into her pocket, pulling out her cellphone. She clicked a button on the front, and shone it ahead of her. Every few steps, she would click another button just to make sure the light stayed on. Something inside the room snapped then, like a breaking stick. She turned and looked toward the light. There was a holographic boy—different from the one that the Doctor had fixed early—staring at them. Rory had walked back toward Amy, his eyes fixed on the holographic boy.
"Umm, hello," Rory said, glancing at Amy for a minute.
"Who are you?" the boy asked. Amy frowned.
"Amy and Rory," she answered.
"This isn't a good place to be, you shouldn't be in here," he said.
"We're just looking for the Doctor," she said.
"Well, he isn't in here," he answered.
"I can see that!" Amy snapped. She turned and stormed over to the door and started to bang on it. "Doctor!" she shouted.
"Can you let us out?" Rory asked.
"You shouldn't have come in here!" the boy shouted, his voice glitched in the middle, making it sound deep and frightening just for a minute. Then, the boy was gone, and the door slipped open again.
"What are you doing?" The Doctor asked, from outside the door. In his hand he held his sonic screwdriver.
"We should leave!" Amy snapped, pushing passed him.
"I'm not done yet, there still things to fix!" the Doctor answered.
"What were you doing in there?" Ana asked, glancing into the empty room.
"Your ship sent us in there! Down the hall into the eighth room on the right!" Amy snapped.
"We were in the sixth room," Ana said, pointing back down the hall.
"I don't know!" Amy snapped. The Doctor slipped into the room, snapping open his sonic screwdriver. He swung it around, turning slowly. Then he glanced down at it, frowned, and shrugged.
"There's nothing in here..." he said.
"There was a boy," Rory said.
"The holograms can move anywhere in the ship, he must have been playing," Ana answered. She took a few slow steps into the room, and slowly looked around. "I never go in this room," she confessed a moment later.
"We were in here earlier," the Doctor said, looking back at her.
"No, we were in the sixth room..." Ana answered.
"We were just down there," he said.
"Why would we come in here?" she snapped.
"Why wouldn't we?" he asked, sharply. "Things are broken everywhere!"
"Because it's empty," she answered. "Do you go into every room in your ship?" she asked.
"There is an infinite number of room in my ship, of course I don't go into all of them," he snapped. Ana laughed.
"My ship is just the same, Doctor," she said. He frowned at her, but didn't say anything else. Rory and Amy stood out in the hallway, waiting silently for them to finish. It only took the Doctor a few more minutes, and a few more scans to get bored. He left the room, with Ana hurrying along behind him.
"We shouldn't be much longer," the Doctor said. "Ciel hasn't done anything in years! So, in just a few hours, we will be off!"
"Ciel?" Amy asked.
"My TT Capsule," Ana said. She stopped for a minute, glanced at the Doctor and then said. "My TARDIS." They set off down the hallway, Amy and Rory close behind them. The Doctor had been telling the truth, only about an hour later he snapped closed his screwdriver and announced they were finished.
"She might not be perfect! But, I can't spare anymore parts," he said, his hands resting on the console.
"Thank you, Doctor," Ciel answered, softly. "I will d—" her voice glitched suddenly, but she continued, "best with what you have given me."
"You will!" The Doctor said, and then clapped his hands together. "Let's celebrate!"
"Celebrate?" Ana asked, tilting her head to the side.
"Feel like going for a trip?" he asked.
_._
Been pretty busy with work, not a lot of time for writing. But, I'm working on it! (Got a new job, so maybe I will have more time!)
~Nini