The Adventure Begins...
"The Sun…it's back to normal, right?" Rory asked the pair of Time Lords. "That's...that's good, yeah? That means it's over." Before he could say more, Amy began to stir. "Amy? Are you OK? Are you with us?" She nodded.
"What happened?"
"They did it. The Doctor and Romana did it," he told her.
"No, we didn't," the Doctor called over to the pair, simultaneously fiddling with Rory's phone.
"What's he doing?" the Nurse questioned Romana.
"Tracking the signal back," the Time Lady replied by way of explanation. "I apologise for this." Now Rory was confused. They'd just saved the world, hadn't they?
"For what?"
"The bill that you'll receive for what the Doctor did with the phone," Romana added for his benefit. Eventually, the other Time Lord stopped fiddling with the phone and shouted into it.
"OI! I didn't say you could go!" It was evident that he was talking to the Atraxi. "Article 57 of the Shadow Proclamation – this is a fully-established Level 5 planet! And you were going to burn it – what? Did you think no-one was watching?! You lot – back here – now!" He threw the phone to Rory. "OK, now I've done it!" He then set off for the roof, Romana and Amy in tow.
"Did he just bring them back?" Rory sputtered, utterly bewildered by the Doctor's course of action. "Did he just save the world from aliens and then bring all the aliens back again?!" He ran after the trio into the corridor.
"Where are we going?" Amy called after the pair of Time Lords.
"The Roof," the Doctor called back, before taking a detour. "No, hang on!" He headed into a Changing Room.
"What's in there?"
"I'm saving the world – I need a decent shirt," he explained, making Romana roll her eyes at his antics – no doubt this would be when he would form his questionable fashion sense. "To hell with the Raggedy – time to put on a show!" He then began removing the tattered outfit of his previous incarnation and ruffled through the clothes in the lockers.
"You just summoned aliens back to Earth," Rory reminded him. "Actual aliens, deadly aliens...aliens...of death, and now you're taking your clothes off!" He turned to Amy. "Amy, he's taking his clothes off!"
"Turn your back if it embarrasses you," the Doctor told him.
"Are you stealing clothes, now?!" Rory questioned him. "Those clothes belong to people, you know!"
"He once stole a Time Machine, Rory," Romana told him with a smirk. "Stealing clothes is nothing compared to that." He blinked, and turned away. Noticing the ladies had not done the same, he whispered;
"Are you two not gonna turn your back?"
Amy was about to answer 'no,' but one pointed stare from Romana made her nod. She therefore turned her back out of respect for the wishes of a woman she had admired greatly when she had been a child. Rory noticed that the Time Lady had not turned her back.
"Romana?"
"Why should I? He's my fiancé, after all," she replied with a cheeky grin, before adding a telepathic message to the Doctor; Remind me to give you a good shagging later.
Romana! He cried back in shock, blushing deep maroon. When did you get so naughty?
When you became so hot, Romana shot back teasingly – but this was only a half-truth. Sure, this incarnation did have a cheeky, flirtatious nature, but it helped conceal a lot of built-up pain; the death of her son (who had also been the Doctor's), the trauma from twenty years of imprisonment at the hands of the Daleks, the arduous years of her Presidency (for much of which she didn't have the Doctor to guide her), and the torture she'd endured when she was a political prisoner on Gallifrey...
No! I can't think about any of that! She snapped to herself. I have to move on...
*DW* later...on the Roof... *DW*
"So this was a good idea, yeah?" Amy questioned the Time Lords as they prepared to confront the Atraxi, the Leader of whom now had its giant eyeball fixed on them from the Starship's Control Pod. "They were leaving!"
"Leaving's good – never coming back is even better," replied the Doctor, who had chosen a pale red shirt, navy blue trousers, a pair of braces and a pair of black boots, while Romana held the tweed jacket, waiting for him to choose his neckwear. He then turning his attention to the Atraxi Leader and bellowing; "COME ONNNNNN, THEN! THE DOCTOR WILL SEE YOU NOW!"
The Atraxi removed itself from its Ship to face him, scanning him as it went. Eventually, it spoke, addressing the one who had called it back.
"YOU...ARE NOT OF THIS WORLD."
"No," the Doctor conceded. "But I've put a lot of work into it." He began examining the selection of ties, holding one up. "What do you think?" he asked, as though hoping to get an answer from the alien – no such answer came, as Romana knew it wouldn't.
"IS THIS WORLD IMPORTANT?" the Atraxi got straight to the issue at hand.
"Important?!" the Doctor bit out snappily, beginning to throw neck ties back, incensed at their nerve to try and incinerate the planet. "What's that mean, important?! Six BILLION people live here, it THAT important?!"
"The better question would be; 'is this world a threat to the Atraxi?'" Romana cut into the conversation for the first time, catching each tie her fiancé threw back as the Atraxi turned to scan her.
"YOU, ALSO, ARE NOT OF THIS WORLD," it noted.
"No, I am not," the Time Lady nodded. "Now answer the question – is this world a threat?" The Atraxi activated a series of holographic images displaying the History of Planet Earth. The reply was thusly;
"NO."
"Are the peoples of this world guilty of any crime by the laws of the Atraxi?" the Doctor demanded. More holographic images were shown...and the same conclusion was reached;
"NO."
"OK, one more – just one. Is this world protected?" he finally asked the Atraxi Leader, who begin using the display to run the visual records of aliens who had tried to invade or destroy the Earth. "Because you're not the first lot to come here..."
"Indeed. Many have tried – ultimately, none have succeeded," Romana added. "The reason – you're looking right at him." With that sentence, the Display began to show all the known visual records of the Doctor's previous incarnations...from the Grandfather to the Lonely God.
While all this had been happening, she noticed that the Doctor had finally settled on a burgundy bow tie, prompting her to toss him the tweed jacket. After he donned the jacket, he walked through the image of his past self to stare the Atraxi in the eye.
"Hello – I'm the Doctor," he told them, his voice a thin veil…one that concealed – yet also revealed – a most magnificent and terrifying force of nature. "Basically...run!"
The alien took the hint, reinserting itself into its Starship and flying away to call the Fleet away from the Earth. Both Time Lords marvelled at work well done...when the sound of the TARDIS materialising rang out, prompting the Doctor to take the Key out of his pocket – the Key was glowing, with meant the TARDIS was ready to begin again.
Come along, Romana, the Doctor called out telepathically, a smile on his face. I think the TARDIS has a surprise for both of us. With that, both Time Lords dashed off back to Amy's garden...
*DW*
Upon opening the TARDIS door, they found a new Desktop Theme waiting for them – one which was a refreshing break from the Coral...looking back, it had looked a bit depressing. The new Theme was cleaner, and highlighted in a brighter hue of orange, the Console more hexagonal, angles more clearly defined, while the Time Rotor seemed suspended in mid-air rather than being supported by the sides of the Column.
"Look at you. Oh, you sexy thing, look at you!" the Doctor whispered reverently.
"She's beautiful," Romana acknowledged. "And it goes well with the new you, Doctor."
The elder Time Lord grinned, heading over the Console for a Flight Check. The Time Lady couldn't help but smile – the TARDIS, even when she had been one among thousands, had been the best ship in the Universe.
Why thank you, Driller, came a telepathic reply from the TARDIS. And I have a surprise for you, if you feel up to humouring him...
What do you mean, Old Girl? Romana asked the Timeship.
Look on the Coat Rack, came the reply. So she did...and found a blue velvet ladies frock coat with a matching velvet bow tie hanging out of one of the pockets. Romana walked over to put it on, and found that it was exactly the right size. She then moved to tie the bow tie around the collar of her dark moss green blouse, succeeding in less than a minute as the TARDIS dematerialised. I lost the golden brown blazer when I was rebuilding, so the least I could do was make a suitable replacement for my favourite Stray, the TARDIS told her. The bow tie is to humour my Thief...
Romana thanked the TARDIS for the surprise present, and turned to the Doctor for his opinion.
"How's this, Doctor?" When he lifted his head away to look, he was gobsmacked.
"Perfect," he replied, grinning madly. "The bow tie makes you look cool...and hot." This comment made Romana blush. "Shall we give her a Flight Check, then?"
"Oh yes, let's..." she trailed off, before a thought occurred to her. "Doctor...when we go back, do you think we should get Amy to invite Rory along as well?" The elder Time Lord paused for a moment before replying.
"Any particular reason you'd like to?"
"Well," Romana replied carefully, "I noticed that while everyone else in Leadworth was busy watching the Sun go dark, Rory was taking photographs of Prisoner Zero. True, he was doing it unknowingly...but there and then was an example of a Human who doesn't overlook the smaller – and less noticeable – details." She finished her explanation. "So what do you think?"
The Doctor smiled – right there was an example of her noticing things that he didn't. Beyond the love he had for her, it was the perfect reminder of why he enjoyed travelling with her in the first place – she was a genius.
"I'm glad you brought that up," he told her. "I might have overlooked it on my own." His fiancé rolled her eyes in a fond fashion. "Alright then..."
*DW*
When the TARDIS materialised once again in Amy's backyard, it was very nearly dark, the Sun having almost gone down. When the Doctor and Romana opened the door, they found that both Amy and Rory were standing in the Garden, both Humans looking gobsmacked.
"Sorry about running off earlier," the Doctor apologised to them. "Brand new TARDIS – bit exciting. Just had a quick hop to the Moon and back to run her in. She's ready for big stuff now!" Amy was the one to speak first...after a long pause, that was.
"You two came back?"
"Course I came back," the Time Lord replied, not picking up on the implication. "I always come back – something wrong with that?" Romana, however, had caught on to the implications behind Amy's response – once again, they had come back later than planned.
"And he kept the clothes, by the look of it," Rory added, finally adding his two pence.
"Well, I just saved the world," the Doctor reminded him, "the whole planet, for about the millionth time, no charge. Yeah, shoot me – I kept the clothes."
"Including the bow tie," Amy noted. "And it looks like Romana got herself one too, as well as a fancy coat," she added – it wasn't exactly possible to not notice Romana's blue velvet frock coat.
"Yeah, it's cool," proclaimed the Time Lord. "Bow ties are cool."
"Even more so when you have a fancy jacket or coat to go with it," Romana added for him – to which he smiled.
"You…you're from another planet, yeah?" Rory asked the pair of Time Lords with a stutter.
"Naturally," the Time Lady replied.
"Um...right," the Nurse replied, evidently perplexed by the nature of the conversation taking place.
"So what do you two think?" the Doctor cut in.
"Of what?" Amy questioned them.
"Other planets," he added for clarification. "Want to check some out?"
"You want us to come with you?" Rory chipped in.
"Why not?" Romana replied. "I thought the both of you were rather good at helping us save the world." She then noticed a ring on Amy's finger. "Are you two getting married, by the way?"
"You noticed?"
"Of course," the Time Lady answered with a smirk. "I'm not as oblivious as he is," she added with a gesture to the Doctor, who frowned in a mock-stern manner. "And we're sorry for arriving late...again."
"How did you know you were two years late?" Rory asked them, eyes widening at this. But it was Amy who answered – she had experience with this, after all.
"She...has this...ability to rewind an image by a number of years," she told him uncertainly, waiting for correction from Romana. None came – though it was a simplified explanation for Human ears, it was probably the best way for them to understand a Time Lord's Temporal sense.
"The Doctor has it as well...even though it didn't seem up to the job in our last few hours," Romana informed them.
"Yes, yes, if you're quite finished picking on me," the elder Time Lord cut in at the slight against his abilities. "So...are you two coming?"
"Where would we go?" Rory asked them.
"Anywhere, anywhen," Romana supplied helpfully. "Well?"
Both Amy and Rory huddled together and whispered, evidently deciding on whether to accept the offer to travel with the pair of Time Lords.
Fourteen years since Fish Custard, the Doctor mused. Amy Pond, the Girl Who Waited...she's waited long enough. Eventually, the pair of Humans came back over to them to give their answer.
"Yes," they replied simultaneously.
"Right then," the Doctor announced, clicking his fingers. As if on cue, the TARDIS doors opened once again. "In we go..."
*DW* inside the TARDIS... *DW*
When Amy and Rory first entered the TARDIS, they could only stare...and marvel at the magnificence.
"Well, anything to say? Any passing remarks?" the Doctor inquired in an expectant tone. "I've heard them all."
"It's another dimension," Rory mused. Both Time Lords turned their heads – the Doctor out of shock, Romana out of amusement that someone had broken with the bigger-on-the-inside tradition. "After what happened with Prisoner Zero, I've been reading up on all the latest Scientific Theories – FTL Travel, Parallel Universes."
"I like it better when someone says it's bigger on the inside."
"You would," Romana smiled wryly. "You like to have someone to show off to." Before her fiancé could retort, she stopped him with a kiss before clarifying. "I'm your fiancé, Doctor – it's my job to wind you up." Then she remembered that the Necklace of Union – the Gallifreyan equivalent of the Earth Wedding Ring – that the 8th Doctor had given her 2nd incarnation was in her handbag. Evidently, the Doctor isn't the only one who's forgetful, she mused, extracting it from the bag and placing it around her neck. Watching this, the Doctor smiled as the TARDIS Console gave him a new Sonic Screwdriver. Looking at the chunkiness of the new Sonic, Romana raised her eyebrows. "Compensating?" she asked him with a smirk.
"For what?" he replied in confusion.
"Regeneration – it's a lottery you've hardly ever won," Romana supplied, chuckling at his generous amount of chin, secretly thinking that it suited him.
The Doctor just shot her a humorous glare before tossing her a thinner one the TARDIS had made for her. It looked very much like the Doctor's previous Sonic – the only difference being the LED, which was more of a deep magenta. Both of them noticed their new companions still adjusting to everything they were confronted with.
"You two OK?" the elder Time Lord called over to them.
"We're fine," Amy replied for the both of them, gasping in a mixture of wonder and shock. "It's just...there's a whole world in here...just like you said; it's all true. I thought…well, I started to think that maybe you were just…a Madman…"
"…A Queen…and a Box," Rory finished for her, to which she nodded. This remark made Romana smile.
"Amy and Rory, there's something you'd better understand about us," began the Doctor, "because it's important...and your lives may depend on it – we are definitely…a Madman, a Queen and a Box." They both stared as he laughed and rushed back to the Console. "Goodbye, Leadworth…hello, everything!"
With that, he slammed down a lever and the TARDIS dematerialised…taking the newly formed TARDIS Crew to anywhere and anywhen in the Universe…
A/N 1: Some of you will no doubt be wondering why I chose to put Rory on the TARDIS Crew right at the beginning rather than half-way into the fic. It's just that I think that Amy might have been even better than she already was if she was with Rory from the beginning - Amy/Rory is such a great pairing that I wanted to try and do it more justice than the show does. I just couldn't make the idea of Amy kissing the Doctor while Romana was around work in my head...and if it won't work in my head, how can I get it down onto the site? Apologies, NicoleR85.
A/N 2: As per the suggestion of Knight Writer 95, the likeness for Romana is Bella Thorne. My apologies to the stargate time traveller...but as described in Chapter 3, this Romana has the appearance of an adolescent ginger - Ruth Wilson is 32 years old...and most of the pictures of her show her as a brunette.