"Amy…?"
"Hey raggedy man." She said softly, heart clenching even as she kept her eyes firmly on the creatures in front of her. He spluttered disbelievingly, for the first time looking around at the rest of the room.
"You. You did this." His eyes fixed on Kovarian, and her lips twisted.
"Hello doctor."
"What have you done?" he demanded. "You could destroy time!"
"Oh, it's always the same with you, isn't it?" Kovarian sighed. "This could all have been avoided if you'd just died."
"Did my best dear, I showed up. Wait, I'm repeating myself. That's not good. Always be original I say."
"Doctor!" Amy said through gritted teeth. AJ rolled her eyes slightly, keeping gun levelled at Kovarian.
"I have a shot if you'd like me to take it." She said evenly, voice as steady as her hand. The doctor spun to look at her in surprise.
"No shooting! They'll just kill you!"
"Well, I hate to tell ya but they're going to do that anyway!" the teenager snapped.
"Oh, we're not going to kill you. Not yet anyway. Although I make no promises about little Melody- I'm afraid she's caused too much trouble already." Kovarian said sweetly, gesturing to the woman the doctor was now noticing for the first time.
"Oh, shut up you old cow! Doctor, she did something to River. She… what was it AJ?" Amy interrupted them, a note of fear in her voice when she mentioned her daughter.
"Forcible memory regression with a mental loop concentrated in memories accompanied by a rise in adrenaline, epinephrine and nor epinephrine with cortisol as well as increased pulse and blood pressure." Kovarian's mouth tightened as AJ confidently reeled off what was basically a guess, confirming she was right. The doctor looked mildly impressed, but before he could say anything Kovarian spoke up.
"It's time. Bring them through." As she walked out the silence advanced on them, hissing, surrounding them. AJ fired shot after shot at them, each hitting its mark dead on, but for every creature she hit another appeared.
"Rory!" Amy screamed as two silence began to drag him away as he struggled to get back to River, and she lunged away from the cage of her own fathers arms to try to get to him. She hit out randomly, before being forced to the ground, still yelling and screaming. Her parents and aunt both followed suit, their voices filling the room like a bad horror film. Despite their fighting, however, the silence overpowered them, gripping their arms to drag them through to the next room.
"Oh my…" Clara breathed, stilling. A raised platform stood in the centre, surround by a semi-circular console. On the platform, a central circle was surrounded by several others, all evenly spaced as wires hung down randomly here and there. On one side, where there was a space in the console a table sat with straps on, the purpose of which nobody needed to guess at.
The silence dragged them forward, depositing each into one of the separate outer circles, which immediately shone with a light that none of them could cross. All apart from River, who was dragged to the table and strapped in, head rolling as her eyes flickered dozily.
"What are you doing?! What is this?" AJ yelled as she rolled to her knees, fear on her face. Kovarian reappeared, leading two scared children by the hands.
"Fae!"
"Anthony!"
Both the children looked up hopefully, and tried to run to the group but Kovarian yanked them back harshly.
"Momma! Daddy!"
"Li!"
Kovarian wrenched Fae to the centre circle when she tried to run to AJ, pushing her in as Anthony was shoved into the only remaining outer circle.
"Leave them alone!" Amy shouted desperately. Kovarian smirked, turning back to an unconscious River.
"Oh Melody. Wakey wakey." She sang, trailing her fingers over her face. When she stirred, but didn't open her eyes Kovarian frowned and pinched her face viciously. River's eyes flew open with a gasp, and she cried out when she saw Kovarian, desperately trying to free herself from the confines of the straps. "Oh, shush now Melody." Kovarian cooed.
"Get off of her!" Rory was furious.
"Kovarian! What are you doing?! You have me, leave them all alone." The doctor called desperately, but Kovarian just laughed humourlessly.
"But where's the fun in that, doctor?" she moved towards Fae, who shuffled back as far as her invisible cage would allow, glancing constantly at AJ for reassurance. Clara was struck at how similar the sisters looked, with the same coloured hair and eyes. Fae's hair, however, was shoulder length and had hints of red throughout while AJ's was much longer and had natural blonde highlights that shone under the harsh lights above.
"Madame Kovarian! Leave her alone, please!" River shouted as she struggled against the straps holding her down.
"Stop this! Stop it right now!" The doctor roared, testing the confines on the barrier, trying to find a weakness. It was futile however, and he soon gave up, staring in horror as machines began to whirl around them, focusing on Fae, who screamed and cowered away from them as arms and pincers advanced towards her.
"Kovarian!" The doctor was livid, fists clenched as he pounded against the barrier.
"What are you doing to her?!" AJ yelled frantically. Kovarian smirked.
"Honestly. Haven't you worked it out yet? Clever little AJ, with her big brain but nothing much else? Such a disappointment, so much so her parents abandoned her because she wasn't good enough."
"Shut up." AJ dug her nails into the palm of her hands, glaring in hatred at the one eyed woman, who let out a delighted laugh.
"Touched a nerve, have I? Oh well, I'll give you a clue. D. N. A." Kovarian enunciated carefully. At the lack of comprehension, she sighed heavily.
"Really? OK, another clue. Universe's." Confusion passed over AJ's face, but was quickly replaced by a look of horrified realisation as she stared at the machines.
"Oh no..." She whispered.
"What!? What are we missing?" An exasperated Clara asked. AJ looked at her, then back at Kovarian before her eyes fixed on Fae.
"She's going to try and return to the previous universe!" at their blank looks, she quickly explained as Kovarian watched on, smirking. "The story Amy told, about the cracks in the universe? Well, that universe was riddled with holes and problems which were all fixed when the doctor flew the Pandorica into the exploding tardis. Well, the crazy psychopath is going to try and reverse it so those problems reappear. Fae was conceived in the altered timeline, her DNA wold make it possible."
"It will never work! It only happened because the tardis exploded, and that won't happen again!" River exclaimed, the doctor slamming his hands against the invisible barrier, much to Kovarian's amusement.
"Too late, doctor." Kovarian said, as the machines descended, and one lowered to grip Fae, who had fallen silent but was white as a sheet, holding her still. As she was pinned down, her mouth fell open in an unheard scream.
"Stop! Stop it! Kovarian! Stop it, use me instead!" AJ screamed, tearing her eyes away from her sister to look at the conniving woman.
"Oh, little AJ. So eager to protect. Sorry dear. I need her DNA- yours is no good."
"You're wrong." AJ slipped her hand under her shirt and brought out a chain. Clara peered closer to see what looked like a key on the end of it, but before she could look properly AJ ripped it from her neck and stuffed it in her pocket, never breaking eye contact with Madam Kovarian. As soon as her fingers had come out of contact with the chain, the machines began to beep erratically, and Kovarian looked up from a screen, stunned.
"How is this possible?" she hissed, advancing on AJ, who smirked.
"What's wrong, madame Kovarian? Not quite as clever as you thought you were? Perception filter dear. Beat your silly little machines without any effort at all." She said smugly. The doctor smirked, and River let out a surprised chuckle at the girls audacity. Kovarian let out an angered screech, and quickly disabled the barriers surrounding the two sisters. Fae let out a sob, running into AJ's arms without hesitation. The elder of the two whispered comfortingly to her younger sister.
"It's OK. I promise you, it's going to be OK. Remember the stories, yeah? All the ones I told you- never forget them sweetie. Because you're going to need them." Kovarian dragged Fae away to where AJ had just been and activated the barrier, before turning back to the teenager.
"You know something Kovarian? My parents always told me there was one thing you never understood. And they were right. You don't understand it at all, do you? I always thought you did, on some level but I was wrong. That doesn't happen very often."AJ mused aloud, walking around the centre slowly. Kovarian moved with her, eyes narrowing.
"Oh? And what's that?"
AJ smirked.
"Love." She said, before withdrawing a hidden gun from inside her jacket and blasting the compute hub beside her. A shower of sparks lit the air, before a deafening bang filled the room, and the electronics exploded in a whirlwind of colours that quickly faded to black.
This was surprisingly fun to write... not sure what that says about me! Please review and tell me whether you're liking it or not! X