Lily laughed as she sat near the railings leading up to the console, watching as Amy floated in space. The Doctor was laughing lightly as well as he held her by the ankle, preventing the redhead from floating out into space. Amy was beaming as she looked about at the stars and the universe stretching out for miles around her.
"Come on, Pond." The Doctor said at last, pulling her back inside swiftly while Lily smiled and Amy began to laugh.
As Amy landed safely on her feet, clutching the Doctor for support as she felt her weight once more, the Doctor asked triumphantly: "Now do you believe me?"
"Okay, your box is a spaceship." Amy said with dazed excitement, her eyes still wide and shining.
"It's really, really a spaceship. We are in space!" She shouted into space and Lily laughed again, shaking her head in amusement.
She started laughing even harder as Amy paused, took a deep breath and asked in confusion: "What are we breathing?"
The Doctor explained good-naturedly: "I've extended the air shell. We're fine."
"How come I didn't get a chance to fly in space?" Lily teased as she finally got over her laughing fit and began to walk over.
The Doctor glanced back at her, grinning broadly, as he replied lightly: "Because you didn't need convincing."
Lily laughed at that, and the Doctor's face softened just a little. But he was right back to his normal airy self as he glanced down and saw something interesting. He bent down, saying excitedly: "Now that's interesting."
Lily peered down to look as well to see what looked like an island with cities built on it, flying in space. The Doctor explained, as he got up, moving back towards the console: "29th century."
Lily followed him back excitedly as he said enthusiastically: "Solar flares roast the earth, and the entire human race packs its bags and moves out till the weather improves."
He began to press buttons excitedly as he continued: "Whole nations."
"Doctor?" Amy called, but before Lily could turn around to see what the problem was, the Doctor had turned to her, looking at her excitedly as he continued: "Migrating to the stars."
Lily grinned at him, but when he smiled back at her she felt her heart beat a little faster and she was suddenly feeling very self-conscious.
"Doctor?" Amy called again, but the two didn't pay attention, too absorbed in each other.
Lily was losing herself in the Doctor's bright green eyes, and he seemed to be in the same boat as he murmured dreamily: "Isn't that amazing?"
Lily wasn't sure if he was finishing his thought or if he meant something else entirely, but regardless her heart was now racing in her chest as she stared up at the Doctor. They were broken out of their trance with a start as Amy screamed: "Doctor!"
They both peered over, Lily twisting around, only to see no-one there.
"Oh, my God. Amy!" Lily cried as she dashed to the now closed Tardis doors. The Doctor followed behind leisurely as Lily wrenched the doors open to see Amy floating up, hanging to the roof of the Tardis desperately.
"Amy!" Lily exclaimed, feeling somewhat guilty and very much alarmed but the Doctor just stopped beside her and called up to Amy casually: "Well, come on. I've found us a spaceship."
"A little help first?" Lily suggested as she glanced up at her friend, and he grinned. He reached up and Amy took his offered hand quickly. Lily reached up when she could reach, helping pull the other girl back inside.
"You alright?" She asked as the Doctor just darted off back to the Tardis console, and Amy nodded.
"Fine." The redhead answered, and Lily breathed a sigh of relief.
"Mind you," Lily added jokingly, "almost becoming lost in space is pretty cool, too."
Amy laughed as the pair walked up to the console, going to stand by the Doctor.
"This," he explained as he showed them the city on a round monitor, almost like a window, "is the United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland. All of it, bolted together and floating in the sky."
He peered down at the girls excitedly as they smiled, eyes bright with awe and excitement. Lily's face was exactly the same as when she'd first stepped out with him, and it made the Doctor's hearts both leap and twinge sadly.
But he continued enthusiastically as Lily turned to face him: "Starship UK. It's Britain," he tapped Lily's nose, "but metal."
Lily grinned, her eyes shining. She turned back to the monitor, and the Doctor did the same as he finished: "That's not just a ship, that's an idea. That's a whole country, living and laughing and… shopping."
Lily burst out laughing while Amy giggled, as they saw the Doctor's grimace. But his face then turned pensive as he finished: "Searching the stars for a new home."
He then smiled lightly, but Lily's brow furrowed just a little. She'd noted a faint forlorn tone in his voice, but before she could dwell on it, Amy asked excitedly: "Can we go out and see?"
"Course we can." The Doctor replied heartily, but then he tapped their noses again as he said: "But first, there's a thing."
He turned and walked towards the console as Lily and Amy blinked in surprise.
"A thing?" Amy asked as the girls quickly followed the Doctor.
"An important thing. In fact," he stopped and turned to face them, "Thing One."
He picked up a magnifying glass and told them as he peered through it: "We are observers only."
He turned quickly back to the console as he continued seriously: "That's the one rule I've always stuck to in all my travels."
"Where'd you pick up that magnifying glass?" Lily asked in confusion, and the Doctor's lips quirked but he went on seriously: "I never get involved in the affairs of other peoples or planets. Oooh."
He broke off as he saw something on the console monitor. Lily peered over to see a little girl crying next to a pole.
"That's interesting." He murmured, and Amy walked over to look as well as she asked: "So we're like a wildlife documentary, yeah? Because if they see a wounded little cub or something," she focused on the screen with Lily, "they can't just save it, they've got to keep filming and let it die."
Amy paused thoughtfully while Lily suddenly glanced to the side.
Amy murmured: "It's got to be hard. I don't think I could do that."
"Um, Amy?" Lily asked, but Amy continued: "Don't you find that hard-"
"Amy…" Lily tried again, but the redhead was staring sadly at the crying girl, still absorbed in her thoughts as she finished: "-being all, like, detached and cold?"
They both blinked as the Doctor appeared on the screen, touching the little girl gently and looking like he was trying to comfort the poor girl. Amy gasped while Lily sighed, and the little girl on the screen ran away.
"Doctor?" Amy asked incredulously and Lily murmured: "I tried to tell you he'd gone."
They watched as the Doctor turned to look directly at the monitor, gesturing at them to come and join him. Amy's head whipped to the door, and then back to the monitor excitedly. She then looked at Lily, who grinned. Both girls dashed out of the Tardis, racing each other with a laugh.
Amy ran ahead on her long legs, but as she opened the door, Amy suddenly stopped with a gasp, forcing Lily to stop as well. The girls peered around in awe at the large city they'd landed in, taking in all the different balconies and floors, connected by walkways. It looked almost like a giant shopping mall, built into a city.
A computerized voice was saying over the speakers: "Welcome to London Market. You are being monitored."
"I'm in the future." Amy gasped, and Lily nodded as she laughed breathlessly. They began to walk out, peering around in awe as Amy continued: "Like hundreds of years in the future."
The Doctor was waiting only a few paces away and as they finally turned away from the sights and to the Doctor, Amy suddenly said in shock: "I've been dead for centuries."
"Really, Amy?" Lily asked as she wrinkled her nose while the Doctor said flatly, leaning in close to Amy with a deep frown: "Oh, lovely. You're a cheery one."
"Never mind dead," he placed his arms around the girls, pushing them forward and said as he walked between them: "look at this place. Isn't it wrong?"
"What's wrong?" Amy asked while Lily looked around with great interest.
"Come on," The Doctor encouraged, "use your eyes. Notice everything. What's wrong with this picture?"
Lily glanced around and then at the floor while Amy looked around randomly and asked: "Is it…" she spotted people on little carriages, "the bicycles? Bit unusual on a spaceship, bicycles."
"Says the girl in the nightie." The Doctor pointed out with an amused smile and Lily giggled as Amy said in horror: "Oh my God, I'm in my nightie."
She looked down at herself, dressed in her nightie, sneakers and dressing gown.
"And Lily's in her pajamas, but you don't hear her complaining." The Doctor said dismissively as he gestured at Lily dressed in a tank top, boy shorts, and also in her dressing gown and sneakers.
The Doctor added impatiently: "Now, come on, look around you. Actually look."
Amy looked up at the sky as the computerized voice said: "London Market is a crime-free zone."
Lily meanwhile continued to stare down at their feet with a frown, but she became distracted as the Doctor started to rattle off: "Life on a giant starship. Back to basics. Bicycles, washing lines, wind-up street lamps. But," he pulled the girls closer as he said: "look closer. Secrets and shadows, lives led in fear. Society bent out of shape, on the brink of collapse. A police state. Excuse me."
He suddenly dashed off, going to a table where a couple was sitting with glasses of water. Lily raised a brow as the Doctor rudely took a glass from the table, but she was also interested in what his experiment would yield so she stayed quiet.
"What are you doing?" The man asked the Doctor, but the Doctor ignored him.
The Doctor examined the glass intently before placing it on the floor, watching it for a moment. Amy stared in confusion while Lily looked on with a puzzled frown as she stared at the still water.
"It's not moving…" She murmured and Amy glanced at her but they were distracted as the Doctor lifted his head.
The Doctor quickly looked back at the couple he'd stolen the glass from, murmuring: "Sorry."
He placed the glass back on their table for them as he said quickly: "Checking all the water in this area. There's an escaped fish."
He tapped his nose while Lily snorted from behind him and Amy just looked bewildered. The Doctor turned to the girls again as he asked: "Where was I?"
"Escaped fish? Really?" Lily asked with a laugh, and he grinned.
Amy meanwhile asked in confusion: "Why did you just do that with the water?"
"Because-" Lily began but the Doctor said distractedly: "Don't know. I think a lot. It's hard to keep track. Now, police state."
He suddenly returned to what he'd been rambling on about before as he asked: "Do you see it yet?"
"Where?" Amy asked, looking around and Lily pointed.
The Doctor nodded at her as he agreed: "There."
Amy looked at where the pair were looking, and she saw the same little girl from before, weeping on a bench a few paces away. The Doctor walked over slowly, heading closer to the little girl as he stared intently. The girls followed him, Amy still bewildered while Lily was frowning, glancing at all the people moving around the area. The Doctor stopped a little further away, moving to sit on one of the other benches. The girls sat down on either side of him as he leant forward, resting his chin on his hands.
"One little girl crying. So?" Amy asked in exasperation, fed-up with not knowing.
"Silently." Lily said softly, and Amy peered around the Doctor to look at her friend as she asked: "What?"
The Doctor finally spoke as he elaborated for Lily in a low voice: "She's crying silently."
He leaned back in his seat as he explained quietly: "I mean, children cry because they want attention, because they're hurt or afraid. But when they cry silently, it's because they just can't stop. Any parent knows that."
Lily and Amy looked at him in surprise.
"Are you a parent?" Amy asked while Lily wondered the same thing.
The Doctor glanced at the redhead for a moment, before he said suddenly: "Hundreds of parents walking past who spot her and not one of them's asking her what's wrong, which means they already know, and it's something they don't talk about."
Lily pursed her lips, not missing that the Doctor had avoided answering Amy's question. But she let it go and Amy became distracted as the Doctor continued in his explanation: "Secrets. They're not helping her, so it's something they're afraid of. Shadows, whatever they're afraid of, it's nowhere to be seen, which means it's everywhere. Police state."
The little girl had finally managed to stop her tears, and she got up and left. Amy, finally understanding, asked in concern: "Where'd she go?"
"Deck 207." The Doctor replied immediately. Amy and Lily turned to stare at him as he rattled off: "Apple Sesame block, dwelling 54A. You're looking for Mandy Tanner."
As Amy and Lily frowned at him in confusion, the Doctor added lightly: "Oh, er," he reached into his jacket and pulled out a colorful wallet, "this fell out of her pocket when I accidentally bumped into her."
He handed it to Amy, who began to examine it curiously, while Lily repeated with amusement: "'Accidentally'?"
He turned to her and said with a grin: "Took me four goes."
His gaze then moved to behind Lily and he turned back to look behind Amy as well. He added to the girls: "Ask her about those things."
Lily glanced around while Amy looked at the Doctor puzzled. He explained: "The smiling fellows in the booths. They're everywhere."
Lily was looking at the smiley things in question- they looked like those luck game booths with the top half of a plastic smiling man inside a red booth. She frowned at them while Amy said skeptically: "But they're just things."
"But, people are afraid of them." Lily pointed out.
Amy looked at her in surprise while the Doctor nodded, satisfied. He knew she would pick it up immediately- just like with the water.
"How do you know that?" Amy asked the two in surprise and the Doctor took over as he explained: "They're clean. Everything else here is all battered and filthy. Look at this place. But no one's laid a finger on those booths. Not a footprint within two feet of them. Look."
Amy's mouth had fallen open as she realized he was right, and the Doctor ordered again: "Ask Mandy, why are people scared of the things in the booths?"
Amy frowned as she asked in confusion: "No, hang on. What do I do? I don't know what I'm doing here and I'm not even dressed."
She gestured down at herself and the Doctor retorted: "As I said before, so's Lily. Now, it's this or Leadworth. What do you think? Let's see."
He turned to face Amy right on as he asked mockingly: "What will Amy Pond choose?"
Amy pursed her lips before turning away sulkily and the Doctor grinned.
"Ha ha, gotcha." He teased, and Amy rolled her eyes while Lily jabbed the man's side with her elbow.
"Ow." He complained and Lily scolded: "You deserved it."
"You haven't changed a bit." He muttered and Lily frowned again in confusion.
But the Doctor didn't notice as he glanced down at his watch and ordered them: "Meet me back here in half an hour."
"What are you going to do?" Amy asked, still pouting irritably and the Doctor replied in the same tone, mocking her again: "What I always do. Stay out of trouble."
He stood up and paused. Lily suppressed a laugh as he added thoughtfully: "Badly."
Instead of walking around, he hopped over the side of the bench, as he began to leave. Amy and Lily exchanged looks before they whirled around and Amy called after him: "So is this how it works, Doctor?"
He turned back to them, and Lily supplied: "You never interfere in the affairs of other peoples or planets…"
The Doctor smiled a little as Lily lifted her brows and Amy finished, her expression identical to Lily's: "Unless there's children crying?"
The Doctor grinned broadly and he replied smugly: "Yes."
The girls grinned at that and the Doctor turned and left, disappearing into the crowd. Lily turned to her friend as she said bemused: "What have we got ourselves into?"
"Trouble." Amy replied and the girls laughed as they began to walk off in search of deck 207.
As they walked, Amy asked suddenly: "How'd you know about those smiley things?"
Lily glanced at her in surprise as she replied: "I noticed them earlier but after the Doctor pointed them out it was obvious. They were so clean- it's what caught my eye the first time. London is never squeaky-clean and those things basically shine."
Amy nodded thoughtfully as she said: "I forgot you're really clever, you're usually pretty normal."
"As opposed to now?" Lily teased and Amy laughed as she agreed: "Sure. Brainy girl on a flying country in space with a madman with a box. You're definitely the weird one."
They laughed again before Amy remembered something from earlier.
"And the water? Do you know what the Doctor was doing?" Amy asked curiously and Lily nodded, looking faintly surprised.
"Oh, that? The water wasn't moving." Lily explained.
She saw Amy's mystified look, so she added: "Sorry, I meant there were no vibrations. A spaceship this size, moving an entire country, it's bound to have a massive engine to keep it going, but then it should have vibrations. Even if it's faint, we should be able to feel something. But there isn't anything, and the still water proved it."
Amy's eyes widened as she realized Lily was right. The brunette went on as they almost reached deck 207: "I thought I was wrong at first- I mean, who knows maybe in the future they figured out a way to make quiet engines or something. So then I thought it must be the smiley things that was wrong. But the Doctor did that test with the water so I knew I was right. I'd bet anything that right now he's gone to the engine room to investigate."
Amy let all that sink in and as Lily finished the redhead turned to her friend and said with an utmost serious face: "You are incredible."
Lily blinked, startled, and she was unsure how to respond. But then as Amy's lips twitched as she fought back her laughter, Lily found herself suppressing a smile. And as the girls locked eyes, they burst out into peals of laughter, clutching each other as they laughed whole-heartedly, unaware that one of the smiley things had turned its head as it looked at them, revealing a frowning face.
The pair wandered around deck 207, looking around various corners and dark alleys in their quest to find the little girl. They'd just turned into an alley dimly lit with red lights when a voice said bluntly from the side: "You're following me."
They turned to see the little girl from before, except there was no sign of her tears now. Mandy pushed herself off the wall she'd been leaning on as she told them: "Saw you watching me at the marketplace."
She walked up to them and Amy held out the girl's wallet as she said lightly: "You dropped this."
"Yeah," Mandy retorted as she snatched it back, "when your friend kept bumping into me."
Lily smirked a little, both surprised and impressed, while the little girl stalked off without another word. She and Amy exchanged amused glances before walking after the girl. Mandy suddenly stopped and Lily paused, cocking her head curiously while Amy continued forward, asking: "What's that?"
Lily walked over to the barred off street as well, peering at the tent covering the entire middle section as Mandy explained: "There's a hole. We have to go back."
"A what? A hole?" Amy repeated in confusion while Lily peered at the yellow fence barring the street entrance and the white board with the words: 'keep out' printed on it in big black letters. Above the tent was a large billboard sign that read: "Magpie electricals".
Suddenly something flashed through Lily's mind and she clutched her head in pain. It was over in a second, and Lily blinked as the pain cleared. But she was puzzled as to where that had come from- it had felt almost like a migraine, onset by something… she glanced at the sign again. 'Magpie electricals.' Magpie…
Lily was pulled out of her thoughts as Mandy said incredulously: "Are you stupid? There's a hole in the road. We can't go that way."
She looked at the other two to see Amy had wandered over towards the fence. Mandy tried to stop her as she said quickly: "There's a travel pipe down by the airlocks, if you've got stamps."
Her voice trailed off a little as Amy pushed open the yellow fence and stepped through. Lily followed quickly while Mandy asked fearfully: "What are you doing?"
Amy turned back to the little girl as she said lightly: "Oh, don't mind me."
She leant in and whispered conspiratorially: "Never could resist a keep out sign."
Lily watched intently as Mandy's eyes slid fearfully over to another one of those smiley things sitting just down the street from where they stood. Amy had turned back to the tent as she scoffed: "What's through there? What's so scary about a hole? Something under the road?"
Amy sat down before the tent, which was locked with a large padlock. Lily wandered over as well while Mandy said shakily: "Nobody knows. We're not supposed to talk about it."
Amy and Lily turned to her quickly and Amy asked with interest: "About what?"
Mandy frowned a little, as though wondering where these two had come from, before she said as though it was obvious: "Below."
Her eyes flickered to the floor, and Lily raised her brows. Amy had deflated a little as she asked disappointedly: "And because you're not supposed to, you don't?"
She looked over at Lily, who reached into her hair. Pulling out a hairpin, she handed it to the expectant redhead. Amy took it before saying to Mandy: "Watch and learn."
Amy turned back to the lock, picking at it and Mandy said thoughtfully: "You sound Scottish."
"I am Scottish." Amy replied defiantly as she jiggled the lock. "What's wrong with that? Scotland's got to be here somewhere."
"No." Mandy called back, and Lily glanced at the girl. Mandy explained: "They wanted their own ship."
Lily and Amy grinned, and Amy said appreciatively: "Hmm. Good for them. Nothing changes."
Mandy turned to look at Lily, and she asked confusedly: "But you don't sound Scottish."
"Because I'm not Scottish." Lily replied with a grin.
Mandy's brows furrowed in confusion as she asked: "So, how did you get here?
"Oh, just passing through, you know, with a guy." Amy replied airily and Lily grinned. A guy indeed. She thought with amusement. More like a time-travelling alien.
"Your boyfriend?" Mandy asked and Lily looked over in surprise at the question.
"No…" Amy began before trailing off thoughtfully. Mandy turned to look at Lily.
"Your boyfriend, then?" She asked and Lily looked vaguely alarmed as she replied quickly: "No!"
"Huh. He looked into you, though." Mandy told her and Lily was becoming vaguely disturbed as she retorted: "No, he's not. We're not like that."
Mandy raised her brows at the her, but they were thankfully interrupted as Amy whispered quietly: "Oh."
Lily glanced down, thankful for the distraction, and saw Amy's eyes had unfocused a little.
"What?" Mandy asked from beside the fence and Amy said quickly: "Nothing. It's just…" she glanced back at Mandy as she admitted in a small voice: "I'm getting married. Funny how things slip your mind."
"Married?" Mandy asked incredulously, and Amy replied: "Yeah, shut up, married."
She took a deep breath, and Lily could hear the wedding nerves as Amy looked up at her with wide, almost frightened eyes and said: "Really, actually married."
She paused and looked away as she muttered: "Almost definitely."
Lily's brows shot up at that, but Amy had turned back to the lock while Mandy asked curiously: "When?"
Amy and Lily paused and Amy said as she thought about it: "Well, it's kind of weird. A long time ago tomorrow morning."
She paused and then asked softly: "I wonder what I did?"
"The right thing." Lily replied lightly, but seriously. Amy glanced at her with a thoughtful expression, although there was still a hint of fear in her eyes.
But then the lock clicked open at last and Amy glanced down at it, crowing triumphantly: "Hey, hey. Result!"
She turned back and called at Mandy: "Coming?"
"No!" Mandy cried back defiantly, but she'd flinched in almost tangible fear.
"Suit yourself." Amy replied with a shrug, moving to open the tent. Lily glanced back to see Mandy staring terrified at where the smiley thing would be.
But as she decided to follow Amy, Mandy cried after them shakily: "Stop! You mustn't do that!"
Lily paused again, glancing back at the little girl. She then turned back to Amy and she whispered: "Hang on, I'm going to ask her about those smiley things."
Amy nodded.
"I'll just go on ahead." Amy replied and Lily paused, before nodding. She didn't want Amy to go alone, but there would be no stopping her once she'd made up her mind. And Lily would be there soon, she just wanted to know more about what it was exactly about the smiley things that made people so scared.
*A/N I've had people asking why the Doctor didn't know why Lily couldn't remember him, so I would like to clear this up: the Doctor remembers erasing her memory, but her memories should have been restored when exposed to him again (remember in the show, he warned that Donna must never remember him?). So now he wonders why even after seeing the Tardis, she can't remember him. Just to clear that up!