A/N: ASDFGHL; HOW AWESOME was the Weeding of River Song? I absolutely LOVED it, I really really did! Which is also the reason the next chapter may take a little while, seeing as I'll probably be distracted by rewatching that episode over and over again. Also school is being a bitch, my apologies.
This chapter is a little shorter than I had planned, but worked out pretty well I think. Enjoy!
A few minutes, a lot of shouting and even more pleading later, the trio went on their way to the construction site. By foot, as they couldn't use the TARDIS, and the Doctor refused to use any type of public transportation. The sole argument he had for that was that it would be an insult to his TARDIS, but neither Amy nor Rory could convince him otherwise.
That's why they were now forced to walk about 2 miles to reach their destination, something that did not please Amy at all. The Doctor was glad for the fact that the daggers shot from her eyes as she looked at him were only metaphorical.
"Doctor, how much long are we expected to walk? It's been half an hour already, taking the monorail would've been easier." Amy complained as she plodded along.
"We're almost there, Amy."
"That's what you said 15 minutes ago." She shot back, but the comment seemed to go unnoticed by the Doctor, as he was engrossed in a conversation about sports cars with Rory.
Amy sighed. She had long since lost interest in the shops of the busy city that was 32nd century Cardiff, and with her boys talking about guy stuff in front of her, she had little to entertain herself with.
At times like these her mind often wandered off to her life before the traveling. She wondered about what would've happened if she hadn't come with him the night before her wedding, or what would've happened if Rory had indeed been erased from history.
Sometimes, she also wondered about Rose, and if she would ever see that strange girl again. She hoped she would. They had gotten along quite well that night, and it would definitely be nice to have someone who understood that talking about guy things in front of a girl is just rude.
Of course, some times River would stop by, but with the whole mother-daughter-best-friend situation going on, Amy longed for a relationship that was a lot less complicated.
She smiled at the thought of the 2 of them sitting around having girls nights, and driving the Doctor crazy by ganging up against him. They'd probably form one hell of a team together. And with Rose's knowledge of the Doctor's past, and her knowledge of the current him, they'd have enough to gossip about.
They might even be able to use those snippets of information as blackmail material to get the trips they wanted. She figured Rose would be quite good at threatening the Doctor, and she wasn't half bad herself either. They'd probably make one hell of a team, and Amy was really liking the idea of Rose traveling with them.
It wasn't a weird thing to think, she told herself. She'd be glad to have someone to talk about girl-stuff with.
And after all, she had promised she'd see Amy again one day, and Amy figured she'd want to travel with the Doctor again. She remembered how the blond had spoken of him, and she clearly loved him.
Just as that thought crossed her mind, she saw a familiar flash of blond hair popping up in the crowd across the road. Amy frowned, unsure of this was just her imagination playing with her or if she had indeed spotted Rose Tyler.
As she paused to take a closer look, she couldn't relocate the person she'd though she'd seen, so she merely shrugged it off as a plain coincidence. Blond wasn't such an unusual hair color, and just because she had been thinking about Rose was why she had thought she had seen her. But what business could that girl have in Cardiff, even in the 32nd century version?
She quickened her pace to catch up with the Doctor and Rory again, who were still engrossed in their sports car conversation. Amy sighed, just hoping they had nearly reached their destination, the thought of spotting Rose having placed in the back of her mind.
Little did she know that it hadn't been just a trick of the mind. Rose Tyler was quickly pacing over to the nearby construction site, unaware of the trio on the other side of the road.
It didn't mean the blond never dreamt about meeting the Doctor, her old Doctor, during one of her many trips, but she had learned to never get her hopes up. Her heart had been broken often enough for her liking, and she had seen plenty of hopes and dreams being crushed in front of her eyes.
No, she'd just keep traveling, and who knew? Maybe one day she'd get lucky.
When the trio arrived at the construction site, the first thing they spotted was a large group of protesters. There were people chained to threes, people with slogans painted on both their banners and faces, and all of them were chanting various protests. It was quite a mess though, and none of them could really make out what exactly they were saying.
As they stood there, staring, they were approached by 2 people; a man and a woman, obviously part of the group of protesters. They were dressed in green and brown clothes, and both of them had the words 'Trees 'R us' painted on their cheek.
Amy thought it was a rather odd slogan, even for a group of people trying to save a forest, but she said nothing of it. Those people were probably quite proud of what they had thought off, and she didn't want to insult them.
"Great, 3 new people joining the rebellion." The man said enthusiastically. "Always glad to welcome new supporters to our group."
"Peter." The woman smacked him on the arm – clearly, she had noticed the confused looks on Amy, Rory and the Doctor's faces. "Behave, and don't bother potential new supporters like that; you'll scare them away."
She then turned to face the Doctor, Amy, and Rory, an apologetic smile on her face.
"I must apologize for my brother. Ever since he found out about the forest being cut down to be replaced by some new buildings, he's been somewhat..." "Over-enthusiastic?" Rory finished politely, and the woman nodded.
"You could say that."
"Well, you would be too if those trees were the only thing that kept you alive!" Peter began, but the woman shushed him.
"I don't think they're interested in your environment-rant, Pete." She began, but was interrupted by the 'oh no it's okay I don't mind's from Rory, Amy. The Doctor, however, spoke up.
"Yes, thank you. I'm the Doctor, this is Amy and her husband Rory. We wanted to ask you a few questions, if that's okay with you?"
The woman nodded. "I'm Claire, and this idiot bloke next to me is my brother Peter. And sure, go ahead."
"Thank you. First of all; why are you all protesting here? Isn't it a bit... hippie, for the 32nd century?"
Claire shrugged, but before she could answer, Peter had already taken the opportunity to put in his 2 cents.
"Because nothing else works! We've tried petitions, letters to the government, talking to the construction workers and their chief... but no one would listen! So we decided to try old-fashioned manpower. They want to cut down every single piece of green in this area, every last tree and halm of grass, and we're not taking it! Trees are us!" he shouted, and Amy could see Claire shake her head in embarrassment.
"I swear he's normal under different circumstances. But he's right, too. I just can't stand them taking the entire forest down, and nothing else works."
In a way, it was sad how these people still had to fight for their little pieces of nature, the Doctor thought. He sometimes wished humans cared more for their environment. It'd certainly save him a few rescue missions every once in a while.
But saving a forest wasn't why he was here, and it shouldn't become his main priority. Lives of innocent children were at stake, and a few trees hardly seemed important compared to them.
"I'm sorry to hear that." He spoke sincerely, and Claire flashed him a weak smile.
"I've got another question, though. Do you know anything about the children that have gone missing?"
They shook their heads.
"No. Nothing that could help you, I mean. I suppose you've read about them in the newspaper?"
The Doctor nodded.
"Well, that's all we know." Claire said. "It's sad, though. They're only children."
"Can't say I don't think it's justified." Peter grumbled, causing him to receive a look of disgust from Claire.
"What? They're the offspring of those murderers." he argued.
"Isn't murderers a bit of a harsh term?" The Doctor asked, and Peter huffed.
"You don't know the half of it, Doctor. Now, if that was all..." he turned around and walked away, disappearing into the crowd of protesters.
Claire sighed.
"I'm really sorry about his behaviour. He just takes this a bit too seriously sometimes."
"I've noticed." The Doctor replied, while Amy muttered: "Understatement."
"But he's a good person." Claire continued. "Anyhow, I'm sorry we weren't much of a help, but I'd suggest talking to Esther."
She pointed to a woman who seemed to be closest to both the crowd and the actual construction site.
"She leads this protest, and has spoken to most of the people who work at the site. She might be able to help you."
The Doctor thanked her for her help, and as she walked away, Amy, Rory, and him made their way to the woman Claire had pointed at.
She was currently having a fierce argument with a man who seemed to be in charge a the site. Both were shouting at each other, and they already had quite the audience.
"I'm not asking you again. What have you and your people done to our children?" The man was outraged, his fists clenched against his sides. Rory wondered how much self control it took him not to start a fistfight. Then again, hitting a woman would just be rude.
"We haven't done anything to your precious children. We're not the villains here, and if you had any brains in that sawdust head of yours, you would've known that, because I told you this a dozen times already!"
They seemed to realize then they had quite the amount of onlookers surrounding them, and they slightly composed themselves. This gave the Doctor the perfect opportunity to introduce himself.
'Hello, I'm the Doctor, and these are Amy and Rory, my companions. I'm sorry, is this a bad timing?" he asked, studying their angered faces.
"No, I think we're done here." The woman said coldly, and the man stomped away, entering a cabin at the site. The Doctor presumed that was probably his office.
"I suppose this is about the missing children?" She asked, not really surprised by the confused looks of the trio.
"You're not the first ones asking." She continued, as a matter of clarification. "Which isn't that odd, considering the circumstances."
"Can't argue with that." The Doctor agreed, and the woman nodded.
"I'm Esther, leader of this group of protesters." She eyed the group and sighed. "Well, most of them. Some of them do what they like without listening to me. They're usually the mental ones. But we appreciate any form of help we an get, because we most definitely need it."
The Doctor nodded. "Understandable."
"But that's not why you're here."
She seemed to have calmed down by now, and the Doctor was glad for that. Last thing he needed was another angry female.
"Contrary to popular belief, I don't know that much about the children either. I've seen a few of them around at the site once or twice, but I never spoke to them. Its a sad thing this has happened to them. They were innocent in all this.
But I do know they have been receiving threats and so-called ransom demands." she continued, which most definitely sparked the Doctor's attention.
"What kind of threats?"
"The kind of threats that make us look suspicious. That they have to stop cutting down the trees if they want their children back, things like that."
He frowned – this hadn't been mentioned in the article. When he asked about that, Esther's reply was simple.
"They try to cover it up, afraid it'll causes more people to know about the protest and join our side."
This made sense, in a way, although the Doctor was sure she was hiding something. Something he couldn't quite put his finger on.
Suddenly, a voice sounded behind him, and his musings were interrupted.
"Esther, you're wanted at the main stage. Hourly speech, remember?"
He then noticed she had clearly been having a conversation about something important, and he slowly started backing away.
"But, if it's inconvenient, I can tell them to stall." He said, but Esther shook her head and mentioned for him to come and stand next to her.
"No, it's okay. Robin, this is the Doctor, he's just asking about the missing children."
Robin nodded, ruffling his hands through his copper-colored hair. He, too, like everyone else, was dressed in green and brown. It must be their color, Amy thought.
"Who was the first girl to disappear?" The Doctor asked, as if they hadn't just been interrupted.
"I believe it was the daughter of one of the minor-ranked workers. Riley Saunders, I believe her name was." Esther said.
"Quite a funny story, actually." Robin piped up. "She was wearing a red T-shirt and red sneakers when she was last seen, and was headed towards the forest. I think little red shouldn't have left the path. Didn't her parents tell her about the bad wolf." he chuckled, before Esther sent him away, with the message she'd be right there for the speech.
"I'm sorry, Doctor, but that's all I know. But I can't say they didn't had it coming to them." The tone of her voice darkened. "They angered the spirits of the forest. Robin was right; if the spirits are angry, the bad wolf comes out to play."
She then disappeared into the crowd, leaving a stunned Doctor, Rory and Amy in her wake.
"Well, that was unusual." Rory said after a few minutes of rather uncomfortable silence.
"To say the least." Amy added, as they followed the Doctor to the cabin the man had disappeared into a little while ago. "That was just creepy."
"Creepy or not, I think I should have a word with our chief here, aye?" The Doctor said, as he continued his way.
They were only a few feet away from the door when a boy stormed out, who bumped into Rory. The boy had straw-blond hair and was fairly short of his age.
As soon as he had murmured a quick apology, however, the boy ran off again, disappearing to god knows where.
Seeing as no one went after him, the Doctor assumed he'd be fine on his own, and knocked on the door of the cabin.
A bored "Enter" told him he could come in, and with his psychic paper in hand, he closed the door behind him, blocking him from Amy and Rory's sight.
"Hello, I'm the Doctor." he said, holding up his psychic paper. "I've got a few questions about-"
Just then, he realized he wasn't the only one in the room, aside from the man in charge of the sire. There was another person standing only a few feet away from him. She was blond, had deep brown eyes, and was probably in her mid-twenties. He knew this girl far too well, but she wasn't supposed to be here. Not necessarily here, in this place, but here, in this universe. It couldn't be, could it?
"Rose?"
A/N-2: How mean is it I leave you guys with a cliffhanger like this? Let me know in the review box... thing. I like reviews, they're nice and make me smile :)
