Amy shrugged, checking her phone, "July 24th, 2012," she answered. "Two weeks after we left,"
"Great," I replied, as we reached my dad's house, "Time to adapt to the 21st century," he knocked on the door.
A few seconds later he opened it, "Where the hell have you been?" He asked.
"Well hello to you too," Amy responded, rolling her eyes.
"Seriously- it's not funny," Brian continued staring at me, "Last week, I got a letter from a man named Wilf," he picked up a hastily opened envelope containing a letter I wrote 4 years ago. Or 72 years ago, depending how you look at it.
I felt my stomach churn inside me. I wrote that letter when I thought I was coming to terms with not getting back to my time. I explained everything that happened with the Angels and the grave, and everything that had happened since. I explained how I would never see Amy again. I explained that I was never coming back, my dad must've been furious.
"What letter?" Amy asked, interrupting my train of thought. She turned to me giving me a glare that meant I had to 'fess up.
I ignored that, "Wilfs still alive?" I asked. I just assumed him dead- what with millions of people dying in that war. He must be in his late eighties if my mental math was correct.
"Yeah," he continued, "but that's not the point- you terrified me! I had a funeral for the two you, told people it was a car crash," he spat.
"What letter?" Amy repeated, glaring at me. "Why are we declared dead?"
"In 1939 I wrote my dad a letter saying that we weren't coming back," I sighed, "It was true- the Angels and everything," I explained to my dad, "I really did think that I'd die there," I insisted.
"But you're here," he scolded, "Why?"
"Because time travel," I began, but my dad wasn't amused, "Amy found another time traveler who managed to find me in 1942, three years after the letter I think," I paused. "And then we found the Doctor- two of him actually, and he took us here."
"You scared the hell out of me," Brian exclaimed, "never, ever do that again."
"I'll try not to." I smiled, that was the wrong reaction, it just made him madder at me. "I'm really so so sorry."
"It's okay," Brian accepted, "Now I think I have some of your stuff in the garage- your mum just couldn't throw away some things, it's a lot better than that." He gestured to my besmirched soldier's uniform and Amy's uncharacteristically long skirt.
"Thanks," I said, as I walked to the garage, Amy following me.
"What the hell were you thinking," Amy accused when we got out of earshot.
"I didn't know if we were ever going to return to our proper times," I defended my actions. Amy only huffed. "Hey, at least we came back."
"True," she conceded, "it is nice, especially since we're going to have another child. He or she will be able to meet his or her family." She was still staring at me.
We found the clothes in a cardboard box with some inarticulate scribbles. Inside were some shirts and stuff- why am I describing this?
Amy reached to the bottom and pulled out one of her shirts and a pair of jeans. She then ran off to the bathroom to change. I just sat on another pile of boxes for a while, wondering if Amy was really back. I mean she was, obviously, but after 5 years, you gotta have some doubts.
She exited the bathroom and she grinned. "This clothing is so much better!" She spun around, and jumped up and down excitedly for a bit.
"Yeah," I smiled, with my clothes in my hand, hoping I remembered how to put on a t-shirt. It's another one of those things we just took for granted. That and pre cooked meals.
I got changed and left the bathroom. I plopped myself down on the sofa next to Amy and put my arm around her. She jokingly brushed it off, giving me a look that said you can't be serious.
"Back to the twenty-first century, huh?" she asked, "So how much did you really adjust?"
I sighed. "I tried to, but every now and then I joked about a book or a movie that hadn't been out yet and they thought I was insane," I paused, "but it did help with my career- I was promoted to a full doctor after a month."
"Doctor Williams," Amy smiled. "I knew you could do it."
"Still got another three years to complete training here," I reminded her.
"When did you get so old?" she mocked, "I mean last time I saw you, you were a lot happier, and a lot less deep."
"Five years," I reminded her. Had I really changed that much? Would Amy still want me? Of course she would, but would that make me a pedophile? I really hope not, and what would the people at work say and-
She bit her lip and looked down, "I swear it's all Jack's fault," she chuckled, "now I know how the Doctor must've felt."
"Yeah…" The Doctor… I wonder what happened to him. "Have you seen him since the Angels?"
"Once," she admitted, and my heart fell. By once she probably meant a few more trips before Rome, she probably really did stay with him. "But it was before he met me," she continued and I sighed in relief. She gave me a side glance.
"Would you mind if I made a call?" I asked, thinking of Wilf. He was my closest friend, and while he seemed to always believe in aliens, I never told him about the Doctor. I guess I had to now though.
"Sure, do you remember how?" Amy teased. I rolled my eyes.
"Yes, Amy, I do." I dialed his number, peeking at the number on the slip my dad handed me.
"Hello?" I heard Wilf ask into the phone, he sounded really old. Like really old. "Who is this?"
I took a deep breath, I don't know why, symbolism or something. "Hullo Wilf. You probably don't remember me, but I'm Rory. Rory Williams."
I heard a slight gasp from the other end of the phone and I knew he remembered me. "Rory Williams? You don't sound a day over… well you don't sound a day older than you did during the war, last time I talked to you. Before you vanished." The last line sounded questioning. "And you died, right?"
"Well…" I wasn't quite sure how to respond. "Do you still believe in time travel?" There was a silence on the other side. "Wilf are you there?" I asked.
"Come over right now," he said. "There's something that I can't show you over the phone- I don't know how to use the new texting thing."
I sighed, "Sure, can you give me your address." I grabbed a napkin to write it down.
He spoke right into the speaker as I wrote it down, "It's in London," he added, "Chiswick."
Amy spoke up, "Why are you going to Chiswick?"
"Wilf needed to show me something," I explained, "and he can't figure out how to send a text message."
Amy smiled, "You sure that's it-?" she teased, "You seemed pretty excited to see him."
I thought for a second, and then I realized what she was implying. "No! Of course not," I tried to erase that mental image.
"Can I come?" She asked, "I mean- it's about an hours drive, and I don't think I could trust you with a 'new fangled car' yet." I glared at her. "Is that a yes?"
I didn't want to admit it, but she was definitely right about me forgetting how to drive. "Of course," I replied, "I've missed you.'
"I've missed you too, stupid face," she smiled, grabbing my car keys from the table. I was suddenly very glad that we'd forgotten them there before our 'adventure' with the Angels.
An hour and a half later (I may have started panicking when I heard the GPS and may have broken it causing us to get lost in a field), we were in Chiswick, at Wilf's door.
I knocked on the door. I examined the house, it was definitely too big for a single person. I wondered if his family was there.
The door opened and a middle aged blonde woman with an ugly hat opened the door. Rather than welcoming us in she just called for Wilf. ("Dad- It's that guy from the old World War Two photo you were telling me about. Some of that time travel rubbish.")
Wilf came into the hall, "Rory!" He EXCLAIMED. Running for a hug, "Look at you, so young and alive. Don't mind my daughter, Sylvia, she's a bit…" he paused, realizing she was staring at him.
"Wilf, it's great to see you again," I greeted him. "This is my wife, the lovely Amelia Pond."
"Amy," she corrected me sharply, still after all these days and or years. She smiled at Wilf and Sylvia. "I've heard a lot about you in the past- hour or so."
"All good things I hope," he laughed.
"What did you want to show me?" I asked, getting to the point of why he invited me. "We drove for an hour-"
"And got lost-" Amy added, glaring at me. I was never going to live that down.
"Just so you could show us that thing." I finished.
"Right," he nodded, and gestured for us to enter the house. He lowered his voice, "My granddaughter, Donna, travelled with a time traveller once, a great man, his name was The Doctor-"
"The Doctor," I repeated, "Donna knows the Doctor? Blue box, bigger on the inside Doctor? Stupid floppy haired Doctor?"
"You've heard of The Doctor before?" Wilf asked. "Well I shouldn't be that surprised since you were involved with time travel. I don't remember floppy hair though."
Amy interrupted, "I might've ran into Donna just a few days- errr millennia ago. What happened to her?"
"You did?" Wilf and I asked at the same time.
"Yeah, when I was in Rome," she explained to me, Wilf still confused"Is she okay?"
Wilf paused, "Well, after travelling with her, the Doctor had to wipe her memory of him- all of it."
Amy and I shared a worried glance. "Why?" Amy asked.
"Time Lord consciousness in a human brain," he explained matter of factly. It seemed more as if he was quoting The Doctor.
"What?" I asked.
"I have no bloody clue," Wilf sighed, "We just can't trigger her memories or the universe will explode. Or something."
"Should I be here?" Amy asked, "I don't want to trigger her memories and accidentally be the cause of destroying the universe… again."
"Right," Wilf realized, but it was too late. "Again?" he muttered, but it was too late. A redheaded woman in a brown jacket was already staring at us from the kitchen- Donna.
"Who are you?" she asked, glaring at Amy, not bothering with introductions"I know you from somewhere…"
"Umm, I'm a model," Amy said, skirting around giving away her identity and possibly exploding the universe in the process. "You may have seen me in a magazine advert or something."
"Good for you, marrying a model," Wilf told me, under his breath, sounding rather sarcastic. I nodded.
"Probably it," she sighed, "Sorry, Donna Noble," she introduced herself, "It's a pleasure, um, big fan of your work and all that." She paused, "Nice to meet you too," she said, looking at me.
"Rory," I told her.
"I've gotta go to meet up with Alice," she told Wilf, "see you later. Allons-y!" She grabbed her back off the table and left the room.
"Allons-y?" Amy asked.
"Don't know where she got it from," Wilf sighed, "Isn't it just what the kids say now?"
Amy and I shook our heads.
"The Doctor said that," Amy recalled. "The one from Pompeii."
Donna walked back in the room, "Did you just say The Doctor?" Her eyes widened.
"Crap," Amy muttered, "No I mean my Doctor, erm like a regular, everyday, normal doctor."
"No I remember, you were there in Pom-" But it was too late. Donna let out a shriek and gripped her head as all of her missing memories most likely returned to her, all at one. She seemingly lost control of her senses and collapsed on the floor.
"Do something!" Wilf ordered, "You're a doctor!" He gestured to me.
"I can't help you with this!" I exclaimed. "I don't know-"
"Did this happen every time someone mentioned the doctor's office?" Amy asked, tone slightly sarcastic. I wasn't sure if she was attempting to joke or not.
"Of course not!" Wilf panicked, "Donna- she's dying!" He started to tear up, but then he turned to Amy. "You out of my house, now!"
Amy silently left, softly closing the door behind her, right after she gave us one more glance on her way out.
I turned to Wilf, "Do you have any idea what that human-time-lord things means?"
"It means that his brain is in hers," Wilf sighed, "That's all I could gather- he talks so quickly."
"Right," I thought, "So is it a two way thing? Is her brain in his too?"
Wilf paused, "I hadn't thought of it that way, go on."
"Maybe," I hypothesized, "Something in his mind is going off and he could come save her!"
"I suppose…" Wilf agreed.
As if on cue, there was a knock on the door. I hurried to the door and opened it, sure enough it was the bowtie wearing Doctor- followed by Amy who was eager to get back inside.
"Sorry 'bout that. The TARDIS materialized down the street-" he scanned the room.
"Ponds!" He exclaimed, "What are you doing here?" It was more of a scolding than a question, really.
"Nice to see you too," I deadpanned.
"You shouldn't be here, Rory. You and Amy shouldn't be in Chiswick at the Noble's house- you should be in the 1940's!"
"Well, Doctor, sometimes things don't work out the way planned," I defended myself and Amy. "What are you doing here?"
"Well the TARDIS malfunctioned, I suppose it's because of you and Amy." He shook his head with a slight fond smile, "You Ponds, always going off and doing your own thing."
"Doctor?" A brunette woman ran towards The Doctor. "There's this weird gas coming from the TARDIS, I think it's poisonous." She coughed.
"Yes, she does do that sometimes," The Doctor's expression became serious, "The TARDIS has to repair itself, so we're stuck here for the time being."
The brunette woman sighed and rolled her eyes. She muttered something under her breath, something that sounded rather unflattering and directed towards the TARDIS.
"Who are you? Are you his new companion?" Amy asked the woman.
"Yes I am. I'm Clara Oswald, I guess you haven't met me yet."
We shared a worried glance, that was the girl from the Dalek Asylum. "We have, you were on the Dalek Asylum."
"And I'm guessing I died," Clara didn't seem phased by that, "Oh, don't get him started on all those timelines and things, but yes, I did die, many times."
"My Impossible Girl," The Doctor sighed.
"Nice to meet you two," Clara smiled. She then turned towards The Doctor, who seemed to quietly be disagreeing about something with Wilf.
"Well I suppose I could just take it out of her," The Doctor started, staring at Donna's body.
"Then do it!" Wilf nagged.
"-If I had the other part of the Metacrisis here. Which I don't, so," he sat on the armrest of a chair, "The only other option is to use an incredibly effective plot device."
"... A what?" Wilf asked, "We're being serious here. The authors can't have an incredibly effective plot device and you know that."
Clara stood on her toes and whispered something into the Doctor's ear that sounded like "Fourth wall break."
"Right," The Doctor agreed, "But- we could, hypothetically erase this event from time, causing Amy not to trigger Donna and start this in the first place…"
"But-" I said, and turned to Wilf, "There's always a but."
"So if we were to erase this event from ever happening, we would all forget this ever happened in the first place, right?" Clara hypothesized.
"Right," The Doctor agreed.
"We already have then," Clara continued, "They won't recognize me in London with the Zygons. Or seeing me in parent-teacher conferences," she added on the last part under her breath.
"I can hear you," I said, taking advantage of my status as an omniscient first person narrator.
"Erm, never mind what I said then. Anyway, we already know everyone's memories get erased and such," she paused and looked at The Doctor, "Can you just do it?"
"Sure," he agreed, "Get in the TARDIS."