Curse of the Black Spot, Part 2
The Hatter moved around the console, frowning deeply down at the controls as she reached out to hit a button, glancing over at the monitor to see the results, "Oh, this isn't very good," she sighed, her movements growing more urgent as she fiddled with the controls, "The TARDIS can't get a lock on the plane".
"The what?" Avery asked, confused as he watched the Time Lords start to rush around the controls.
"The space we travel in," the Doctor explained, talking fast as he worked, pausing for a moment to glance up at him, "The…ocean!" he spun around to face him properly, "Sort of ocean, but not water".
The Time Lady nodded, "The TARDIS is having trouble seeing, so she's upset because she thinks that the space doesn't exist," she absently pattered the Time Rotor as she went on, "And without that plane for her to lock onto, the TARDIS won't be taking us anywhere".
Avery frowned, shaking his head, "I'm confused…" he admitted.
"Yeah, well, it's a big club," the Doctor remarked, turning back to him, "We should get T-shirts".
Suddenly, the TARDIS jolted violently, almost sending the Doctor toppling onto the floor, while Avery and the Hatter held onto the console. A loud, groaning, grinding noise filled the room as the entire console continued shaking around them.
The Hatter swallowed worriedly, clinging to the edge of the TARDIS as she stared around the room, "Oh, this just took an even worse turn," she said over the rumbling sound still echoing around the room.
The Doctor's head snapped around to look at her, very confused and alarmed, "Please tell me you know what's happening, dear?"
"Thank Rassilon I paid attention in class," she muttered, shaking her head at him as she frantically began throwing switches and pulling levers, "Remember how I mentioned that the TARDIS was upset?" she raised her voice to be heard over all the noise, "Well, make that a full-blown screaming tantrum worthy of the Master," the TARDIS gave another sharp jolt, almost making her lose her grip on the console before she managed to right herself, the Doctor and Avery fairing little better. She huffed, fixing the Time Rotor with a dark look, "Oi! There's no need for that attitude, if anyone is going to start getting huffy around here it's me with my hormones."
"Can you fix it?" Avery looked between the Time Lords, moving to try and help them work on the controls.
"Argh…!" the Doctor called, moving around the console and lightly slapping his hands away, "The parametric engines are jammed!" he hurriedly checked the readings, "Orthogonal vector's gone. I'm almost out of ideas!" he ducked under the controls, checking to make sure that the wires beneath the panel were all connected.
"Almost?" he said hopefully.
"I guess we could always try singing the old girl a lullaby and stroking her," the Hatter remarked thoughtfully, wincing as the TARDIS gave another sharp jolt, her shoes slipping against the glass floor, "Though, I don't hold out to much hope that it'll actually work. It never did for my TARDIS".
The Doctor popped back up, grabbing a lever and pulling it down, but it only seemed to make matters worse as the TARDIS started shaking even more violently then before, throwing the three of them back from the controls as the Hatter yelped loudly, frantically grabbing hold of one of the railings behind her before she could topple over onto the floor.
"I've lost control of her!" he shouted, quickly looking over to the Time Lady to make sure she was okay, "She's about to dematerialise. We could end up anywhere!"
"That sounds bad!" Avery called over to him.
"Oh, it is!" the Hatter agreed, her eyes wide as she stumbled over to him, grabbing the sleeve of his coat, "We have to get out of here, right now!"
"Out!" the Doctor wrapped his arm around her waist, grabbing Avery's other arm as they began pulling the man along with them towards the doors, struggling and sliding on the floor as they went, "Out now!" the console exploded behind them, sending sparks and flames into the air, just as they reached the stairs. They paused briefly, looking back to the now smoking controls, before quickly continuing on their way to the doors, "Abandon ship!" he ushered them closer to the doors, trying to ignore the sound of more explosion going off behind them, "Abandon ship!"
They managed to make it back outside and into the hold of the ship, moving towards the door, when the sound of the TARDIS engines caught their attention. They spun back around in time to see the TARDIS glowing a greenish-blue light, very similar to the sirens as the time machine disappeared before their eyes.
"Okay, oh…okay, okay," the Doctor began, looking slightly panicked and alarmed, holding the Hatter closer to his side as she looked at him worriedly, "TARDIS runs off on its own," he looked at her, "That's a bit of a new one".
"For me, too," the Hatter agreed, still eyeing him as she sighed heavily, "And there goes our clever plan of getting everyone away from here".
"Not much of a Captain without a ship, are you?" Avery commented, looking back over to them.
The brunet sent him a quick look, "The TARDIS is hardly a ship, she's…" she trailed off, glancing at the Doctor as a small smile crossed her face, "She's a part of the family".
The Doctor smiled at her, feeling slightly better hearing her say that. It was nice to know that she felt the same way about his TARDIS as he did, especially considering the fact that it wasn't her own time machine. It warmed his hearts.
Avery shook his head at them and pushed the door open, the Time Lords moving to follow after him as he started to lead them back through the ship, intending to take them back to his quarters so they could start to put another plan in place. The three of them hurried through the hallways, being mindful to keep an eye out for anything sharp as they went, when the pirate who had unlocked the door to the magazine popped up from out of the shadows, stepping into their path with two pistols in his hands, and aimed at them. They came to a quick stop, staring at the man in surprise as the Hatter noticed that he had a rather heavy looking sack draped over his back and a jewelled, gold crown dangling around his wrist.
"Mulligan!" Avery gasped, frowning at the man, "What are you doing?" he demanded, his tone growing angry as the man began to walk towards them, forcing them to back away from him, "This is mutiny!"
"She doesn't want me," Mulligan shook his head, moving past them so that they were forced to back further into the wall of the narrow hallway, the Doctor making sure to place himself slightly in front of the Time Lady, eyeing the guns aimed at them carefully, "She only wants Toby," he made his way past them, not taking his eyes off them for a moment, "And the scrawny looking fellow," he stared them down for a moment before turning on his heel and taking off in a run down the hallway that they had just come from.
"Um, not to start panicking," the Hatter began, her eyes following the man's back as he dashed away from them, "But I'm quite sure he has the last of the supplies".
"We should go after him," the Doctor agreed quickly, glancing at Avery.
"Never mind the damned supplies," Avery snapped, furious that one of his own, most trusted crew members would betray him like this, "What about my treasure?"
Not waiting for the Time Lords to answer, he took off after the man, forcing them to follow after him as they dashed around a corner where more boxes and creates where pushed up against the walls, only to be forced to duck out of the way and hide behind the creates as Mulligan stopped, catching sight of them chasing him, and took fire at them.
The Doctor popped back up from behind the create, pulling the Hatter up along with him as Mulligan took off running again, "Don't get injured," he reminded them as Avery carefully straightened from behind his own hiding spot, "Don't get injured!"
"Easier said than done, sweetheart!" the Hatter groaned, one arm wrapped protectively around her stomach.
They took off after the man, but just as they managed to start catching up with him, he disappeared through a doorway at the end the hallway and locked it behind him, just as they reached it.
"Come out of there, you mutinous dog!" Avery shouted angrily through the door, pounding his fist against the wooden surface, making the door's hinges rattle but it still didn't give.
The Doctor pulled his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and began using it on the lock, when the sound of the sirens song started again. He straightened and immediately turned to the Hatter, almost frantically looking her over for the slightest scratch or bruise, even quickly skimming up her sleeves and moving the collar of her jacket down to check her neck.
"I'm fine," the Hatter assured him quickly, gently grabbing his hands as he moved to try pulling her top out of the top of her skirt to check her stomach. That was going too far, especially when Captain Avery was standing right next to them, checking himself for any injuries. She sighed slightly, "It's not us she's come for," she told them, and pointed down at the door where a greenish-blue glow was coming from beneath the door from within the room.
"She's inside," the Doctor breathed, staring at the light.
"She's come for Mulligan," Avery realised.
Suddenly, an agonised scream rang out over the siren's song from behind the door and the light faded after a moment, along with the music. The Doctor lunged for the door, flashing the sonic screwdriver at the lock and finally unlocking it. He pushed the door open and they peered inside the small, dimly lit storage room, only to find it empty, Mulligan gone just like the others had disappeared after touching the siren.
They moved further into the room, the Doctor waving his sonic screwdriver around, while Avery's eyes immediately fell onto where the golden crown must have fallen on the floor in the middle of the room. He frowned and bent down, picking the crown up, "No water in here," he remarked, casting his eyes around, "How did she take him?" he looked back to the Time Lords, the Time Lady looking thoughtful, while the Doctor began searching around, just in case there was a puddle that they hadn't noticed yet, "You said she uses water like a door, that's how she enters a room".
"Yes, that's what we first…" the Time Lady trailed off, her eyes coming to land on the glittering crown in his hands. She gasped, "Oh, we were wrong…" she shook her head, her eyes snapping back up to meet the Doctor's, realisation crossing his own face as he caught on to what she had noticed herself, "Very wrong, so very, very wrong…." she murmured, more to herself then to Avery or the Doctor.
"Please ignore all of our theories up to this point," the Doctor told Avery, moving to take a closer look at the crown, his eyes fixed on the shiny metal, his own reflection looking back at him.
Avery gave them both a deep frown, "What, again?" he demanded, starting to grow annoyed that they didn't seem to have any more idea of what was going on than he did.
The Hatter easily plucked the crown out of his grip, taking him by surprise by the sudden movement as she sighed heavily, "How could we not have seen it before?" she said to the Doctor, eyeing the way that the crown caught the light, "It's not the water, that's not how she's getting around. We were wrong".
The Doctor nodded, taking the crown from her hands as it all started to make sense, "When we were down in the hold, think what happened," he looked back up to Avery, who didn't look very happy that they had their hands all over his treasure, "You, me, the Hatter, Amy, Rory, leeches," he lightly hit Avery's chest.
He frowned, thinking about it, "She sprang from the water," he replied.
"Yes!" the Hatter clicked her fingers at him, "But only after the water had grown still, when we had all stopped fussing around and climbed out of it".
"Still water," the Doctor added, his eyes growing distant with thought, "Nature's mirror".
"So…you mean…" Avery began, starting to follow along with what they were getting at.
"Exactly," the Time Lady cut across him, nodding grimly as her eyes travelled back over to the shiny surface of the crown, "It's not just water, it's the reflection that still water gives us. Reflection, that's how the siren gets around".
"That siren legend," the Doctor breathed, his eyes widening as his head snapped back up to her, "The curse!"
"You both said curses weren't real!" Avery reminded them, glaring.
"Yes, but every myth and legend has a bit of truth to it," the brunet admitted, shrugging slightly, "The hard part it figuring out which part of the legend is true or not".
"She attacks ships filled with treasure," the Doctor continued thoughtfully, "Where else do you get a perfect reflection?" he waved a hand at the crown.
Avery blinked in realisation, before his eyes widened in horror, "Polished metal!" he exclaimed.
"Hmm…" he hummed, turning the crown around in his hand so that it caught the light, when both Time Lords froze, looking back to Avery, remembering something very important.
"The medallion that you gave to Toby!" the Hatter cried, alarmed as she realised that the medallion that Avery had left his son for his protection, was exactly what the siren needed to get to both him and Rory.
"We must warn them!" Avery shouted, and dashed out of the door.
The Doctor quickly hid the crown in an old sack and grabbed the Hatter's hand, both running after the man back through the hallways of the ship, frantically trying to get back to the magazine. Finally, they managed to reach the door and began pounding their fists against it.
"Amy!" the Doctor called urgently through the door, "Open the door!"
"Toby, open the door!" Avery yelled, trying to use his shoulder to force the door open, "Toby!"
"Now, please!" the Hatter shouted, hitting her open palm against the door until it started to feel numb.
"Toby!"
The door finally opened and Amy and Rory stood back, looking very confused and worried as they rushed inside, the Doctor immediately snatching the silver medallion out of Toby's hand and frantically breathing heavily against the metal, fogging it up until the reflective surface was completely covered. Amy and Rory exchanged a look as they closed the door, watching as the Doctor panted slightly and looked back up to the tensely waiting Avery and Hatter, giving them a reassuring thumbs up, making them both sigh in relief.
"We're not finished yet," the Hatter breathed, feeling slightly short of breath after the running and the panic of not making it in time. She meet the Doctor's eyes, her expression growing grim, "We have to destroy every reflective surface on this ship".
The Doctor, not even pausing to catch his breath, straightened and grabbed her hand as they set off again for the door; Amy and Rory hastily moving out of the way as he threw the door open. They could only watch in confusion as the Time Lords took off out of the room, Avery right behind them.
They ran all the way back through the ship, climbing back up the ladder, and across the deck to the Captain's quarters. Avery frowned at them as he trailed behind them, trying to figure out what on Earth they were doing, and his confusion only grew as he watched the Doctor pick up a rifle and dashed across to the end of the room, using the butt of the weapon to start smashing the small panes of glass, while the Hatter picked up a heavy looking bust and began using that to smash windows herself.
"We have to destroy all the reflections!" the Time Lady called over the noise of the breaking glass to Avery, noticing the man staring at them in alarm and confusion, "Whatever makes a reflection, it's got to be destroyed!"
"Gold!" the Doctor added, raising his voice over the noise, still smashing more windows, "Silver, glass, she could spring from any of them!" he ran back across the room, catching sight of a mirror hanging on the wall, and quickly smashed that too so that it shattered. The Hatter dropped the bust in her hand and grabbed an old blanket off a nearby chair, throwing it over the mirror shards to completely cover the reflective surface. The Doctor turned back around to see Avery staring at him, glancing back at the now empty frame that the mirror had been in on the wall, "Oh, yes, yes, I know, I know," he sighed, shaking his head, "Very bad luck to break it…"
"Like we need any more bad luck," the Hatter muttered, carefully pushing a stray shard of the mirror beneath the edge of the blanket with the toe of her shoe.
"But…" he continued, giving her a small smile as he focused his attention back on Avery, who was looking around at his half-destroyed cabin, "Look at it this way," he absently leaned the gun against the wall behind him, "There's a stroppy homicidal mermaid trying to kill all," he finished cheerfully, clapping his hands.
Avery pulled his eyes away from the mess that they had created and sighed, nodding after a moment of consideration, "How much worse can it get?"
The Time Lady pointed at him sternly, "Let's not go there," she said hurriedly, knowing that every single time someone said that, everything became ten times worse and someone usually ended up getting hurt, if not worse.
The Doctor winced, glancing at her warily, "Probably a good idea," he agreed, before shaking his head and focusing back on the task at hand. He looked down at a large chest filled to the brim with gold treasure and glittering jewels that was sitting open on the floor, bending down to grab one end of the chest, "Help me lug this lot out," he said to Avery, preparing to start lifting it up.
"Where are we taking it?" Avery asked, leaning down to help him as the Hatter moved back to give them space.
"The ocean, of course," the brunet informed him.
"No!" he exclaimed, startled as both Time Lords paused, looking at him questioningly, "No," he went on in a slightly lower register then before, still looking very shaken by the mere suggestion, "This is the treasure of the Mogul of India," he explained, as if that should have been the end to the idea to throw it all in the ocean.
"Oh, good," the Doctor began sarcastically, "For a moment there I thought it was yours," and he went to lift the chest again.
Avery tried to grab his hands, "No, no, Doctor, wait!" he tried again, making the Doctor pause and look back up to him. He looked back and forth between the two Time Lords, "Must we do this?"
"I'm afraid so," the Hatter nodded, her tone firm, "Any reflection posses a possible death sentence for both Toby and Rory. We must protect them, nothing else matters but their safety".
"This is your child, Captain Avery," the Doctor reminded him sharply, noticing the man's eyes looking longingly down at the treasure, "You're responsible for insuring that he is protected, nothing is more important than that to a parent," his eyes grew darker as Avery looked back up to him, startled, "Treasure is meaningless when it comes to the safety of your child, so what will you choose?" Avery hesitated for a moment before slowly nodding in agreement. The Doctor eyed him for a moment longer, "Go and get the crown from the storeroom," he ordered him.
Avery took a deep breath and headed for the door, disappearing outside.
The Hatter smiled gently at the Doctor, taking his hand, "It seems that my speeches are starting to rub off on you," she commented.
He sighed heavily, lifting her hand up to place a kiss on the back of it, "How can a parent ever think about putting their child's safety second to something so meaningless as gold?"
She shook her head sadly, "I couldn't imagine ever being able to do it myself either, but I don't think Avery has had much of a chance to be a Father to Toby," she said thoughtfully, thinking about how the two interacted together, the lack of that parental warmth that was so often seen between a parent and child, especially after being separated as they had been, "I think he might have forgotten how to put someone first before himself, after having spent so many years as a pirate".
"He'll learn," he said, sounding more hopeful then certain, "For Toby's sake, I hope he does".
"I'm sure he will, but old habits are hard to break".
Exchanging a grim, concerned look, the Time Lords set to work grabbing armfuls of jewels and gold out of the chest and carrying it carefully across to the shattered windows, tossing them into the water below.
….
Once the Time Lords were satisfied that the ship had been cleared of anything with a reflective surface, they and Avery returned to the magazine to explain to Amy, Rory, and Toby everything they had found out and what they intended to do next.
"Just wait?" Rory repeated, frowning at the Doctor and Hatter as they stepped back towards the door to where Avery was already waiting.
"Not our most dynamic plan, I realise…" the Doctor admitted, spinning back around to face them.
"TARDIS?" Amy reminded them, wondering why they hadn't thought to use that in the first place. That had been their original plan, after all.
The Hatter winced slightly, "Slight issue…the siren's stolen her…" she paused, frowning slightly thoughtfully as she shot the Doctor a look, "Wait, can you really steal something that's already been stolen?"
"I borrowed her," the Doctor said quickly, looking slightly sheepish as she raised an eyebrow at him, "I was always going to give her back".
"That's the biggest fib I've ever heard come out of your mouth," she scoffed, shaking her head at him, "And that's saying something because you've said some pretty massive lies in the past".
"Wait!" Amy cut in, raising her voice slightly as the Doctor was about to retort, looking backwards and forwards between the Time Lords, "What do you mean the siren's stolen the TARDIS?" she asked, alarmed.
"Sorry," the Doctor said, glancing at Avery and the Time Lady, "We might be a bit stuck here for a while," he tried to give them a small smile.
"So you're saying that we should all just wait here below?" Rory questioned, still frowning at them, his arm crossed across his chest.
"The sea is still calm, like a mirror," Avery informed them, and the Time Lords nodded along with him, "If you go out on deck, she'll rise up and attack you".
"Everything will be just fine," the Hatter tried to assure them, giving them a comforting smile as she stepped towards them, patting Rory's arm as she continued, "The conditions will change and the calm will end soon enough," she took a quick sniff of the air, closing her eyes, and over the strong smell of gun powder that she could smell in air, she made out another scent, one that was both very good and possibly very bad. She opened her eyes again and looked at the humans, trying hard not to show her own concerns, "There's a storm coming soon, it's still a little bit off from hitting but it will hit us and when it does, we can use the wind to set sail".
"Until it does, you have to hid down here," Avery agreed, fixing Toby and Rory both with a stern look.
….
While the others remained below deck, sleeping, the Doctor and the Hatter stood on the deck, admiring the stairs above them, the Hatter's head resting on the Doctor's shoulder as he held her tightly to his side, her borrowed hat held in her hand at her side. It was comforting; to be able to look up at the sky and see those stars glittering back at them through the dark, and for a brief moment it allowed them the chance to take their minds off the danger of the siren and simply enjoy something so familiar.
"We should do this more often," the Hatter remarked, her voice soft as she mentally listed off each and every star that she could see, "Just stop sometimes and look at the stars," she sighed slightly, almost sadly, "We don't do it nearly as much as we should".
"We're always too busy running around," the Doctor commented, sounding just as sad as she did, "There isn't enough time to look at stars".
"I know," she sighed again, closing her eyes, feeling as if she could very easily just drift off to sleep, "But there was a time when we would spend hours staring up at the stars, listing them off. I miss being that carefree".
"So do I," he murmured, turning his head to kiss her hair before turning his attention back up to the sky, recalling all the times that they had looked up at the stars as children on Gallifrey. It had started out as another way for the Hatter to try and get him to study, but it had stuck with them long after leaving school.
Footsteps sounded on the wooden floor and they both looked up to see Avery approaching them, coming to a stop beside them as he followed their gaze back up to the night sky.
"It's not one star, it's two," the Doctor said to man, pointing up to one of the brightest glowing stars above them, "The Dog star, Sirius. Binary system".
"I use it to navigate the ocean," Avery remarked.
"We've travelled far, like you," he looked back across to the man, over the top of the Time Lady's head, who had her eyes closed and looked almost as if she could have been sleeping, but he knew that she was listening, "Space can be very lonely, and the greatest adventure is having someone share it with you," his eyes back down to the brunet and he smiled softly.
Avery looked down for a moment, knowing what he was getting at, "If we get out of this, I'll take him back to England," he told them, raising his head again, "He can't stay with me," he shook his head, "I'm not the Father he needs".
The Hatter lifted her head and fixed Avery with a long look, suddenly looking wide awake, "But you are the only parent he has left," she said quietly, making him blink at her in surprise, "Which counts for a great deal, Captain Avery".
The Doctor eyed him, "Who are you, Henry Avery?" he asked when the man didn't respond, frowning at him thoughtfully, "Respected naval officer, wife and child at home. How did you end up here, wondering the oceans with a band of rogues?" he finished with a small smile, seeing the similarities between Avery and both him and the Hatter, though with some big differences.
"I've set my course now," Avery looked away from them, resigned, "Nothing I do to alter it".
"You know…" the Time Lady began after a moment, glancing up at the stars, "There are few things in the Universe that I have found that transcend cultures and races, not even love, but if you look back through history you'll find that at some point every race has used the stars to guide their way," she turned back to Avery, smiling very faintly at him, "But everything changes. One day technology comes along and it moves from just using the stars as a guide to bigger and brighter possibilities. It's the same way with life, events in our lives happen that change us, and usually when you least expect it, which isn't always a bad thing".
Avery looked away from them, lost in thought as the Time Lords decided to take their leave and turned, walking across the deck to the captain's quarters, slipping inside the room, the Time Lady putting her hat back on top of her head as they moved further into the room. They walked across the room and frowned at the shattered window, both sensing something…off about it, the hair of the back of their necks rising as they came to a stop before it.
"Doctor…" Amy's voice came from behind them as she entered the room, sounding slightly hesitate, "Hatter, um…"
"Shh…" the Doctor hushed her, still frowning deeply at the window.
She paused, looking at their backs, "What can you see?" she questioned, lowering her voice.
"It's not so much seeing, but rather sensing," the Hatter replied, her voice soft, eyeing the window carefully, "It feels like something's looking back at us, watching…"
A loud thunder clap sounded from in the distance, the noise rumbling through the air as they all jumped slightly, looking up as the ship creaked loudly.
"Man the sails!" the Doctor shouted, running out of the room with the Hatter and Amy following right behind him.
…
It wasn't long before the storm hit them, just as the Hatter had expected it to, and they all soon found themselves on the deck, soaked by rain and fighting against the howling winds as the ship was rocked harshly side to side, the rain falling so thick and fast that it was almost blinding. Avery was partway up a rope, hanging off to the side of the ship, while Amy and Rory ran across the deck, just trying to find something to hold onto as the rocking of the ship sent them stumbling around.
"To the rigging, you dogs!" Avery shouted at them over all the noise of the wind and rain. He jumped down onto the deck from the rope, "Let go the sails!" but Amy and Rory simply looked at him blankly, making no move to follow his order, "Avast ye!" he gestured at them to move, and finally they complied, running over to grab the ropes attached to the sails, "Put the bunt into the slack of the clews!"
Amy shook her head, her wet hair whipping around her face as she and Rory set to work pulling the pulley's on the sails, "I swear he's making half this stuff up!" she called to her husband.
"Well, we're going to need some sort of phrase book!" Rory yelled over to Avery, who was trying to raise another set of sails at the other end of the ship, before he was forced to grab hold of the rope, only just managing to stop himself from toppling backwards by the powerful wind.
"Just keep pulling on the ropes!" the Hatter told them over her shoulder, raising her voice to be heard as she and the Doctor struggled to try and steer the ship, the Time Lady clinging onto the wheel with every bit of strength that she possessed, terrified of what might happen to the baby if she was to lose her grip with the storm raging so viciously. She could so easily end up being tossed overboard or end up being thrown hard against something, which could so easily cause a miscarriage. She wasn't going to let that happen, no matter how much wind or rain there was.
"Toby!" Avery shouted, pointing over to his son as the boy emerged from the lower deck, having been told that he was to stay down there were it was safer, "Fined my coat!" he ordered him, turning back to trying to get one of the sails down, "My compass is inside it, boy!" Toby nodded, stumbling back against the force of the wind as he managed to make his way over a large storage chest that was built into the middle of the deck. Avery looked back over to Amy and Rory, "Heave ho, you bilge rats!"
Rory, with his hand cupped around his ear as he tried to hear what he said over all the wind, shook his head at the man, "Rats was all I could hear!" he shouted back to him.
"Just get the sails up!" the Hatter called, resisting the urge to roll her eyes as the couple set to work pulling on the ropes, Amy grunting with the effort.
Toby pulled the chest open and found his Father's coat, draping it over his arms as he began to try and make his way across the slippery deck to Avery, when he stumbled and a loud metal clang rang out as something hit the wooden floor. They all looked up to see the golden crown rolling away from Toby, clearly having fallen out from the coat in the boy's arms, all of them forced to watch on in horror as the crown came to a stop against the side of the ship a short distance away from the boy.
The Time Lady's eyes widened, "No!" she gasped, her head snapping back up to stare at Avery, who was looking guiltily at the crown. He hadn't thrown it overboard; he'd kept it and stashed it away where he knew they wouldn't find it, all because he just couldn't let go of a bit of gold and jewels, even for his son's sake.
A greenish-blue hand appeared from the reflective surface of the crown as they all turned back to watch, horrified and shocked as the siren flew up out of the crown and into the air, her music filling the air and almost seeming to block out the rest of the noise from the storm as she came back down to land before Toby, her arm outstretched towards him.
"Don't let her take you!" Avery shouted urgently to Toby, reaching out his hand, but the boy was already moving towards the siren, looking dazed.
"Someone grab him!" the Hatter cried, already knowing that neither she and the Doctor would have a chance to make it in time to grab the boy, and Rory was staring up at the siren again with the same dreamy expression as he had earlier, Amy desperately holding him back.
Toby reached out his hand towards the siren, inches away from touching her fingers…"No!" Avery yelled, and ran for his son.
But he was too late. Toby's finger's brushed against the sirens and he disintegrated before their eyes with a scream of pain.
"No!" Avery skidded to a stop and half collapsed onto his knees in horror and grief.
The Doctor and the Hatter hurried back down from the wheel, the Doctor grabbing the crown and tossing it over the side of the ship and into the waves, while the Hatter hurried around to help Amy with Rory. The siren disappeared the moment the crown hit the water.
"Let go!" Rory demanded, trying to push Amy and the Hatter off, the two women clinging to his arms to hold him back from doing anything silly, like trying to dive into the ocean after the crown.
"I'm sorry," Avery sobbed, staring at the spot that his son had been only moments before, "I'm sorry…"
"You couldn't give up the gold, could you?" the Doctor snapped at him as Rory calmed down, the Hatter grabbing hold of one of the ropes to keep her balance, "That's why you turned pirate!" he continued loudly, "You commission, your wife, your son!" Avery looked away from him, "Just how much is that treasure worth to you, man?"
Suddenly, one of the sails broke free and swung out, hitting Rory and sending him crashing into the water over the side of the ship.
"Rory!" Amy screamed, running to look frantically over the side of the ship, the Hatter right behind her, slipping and sliding on the wet wood as she went, forcing her to grab hold of the edge of a nearby barrel before she could topple over, "Rory!" she cried again, desperately trying to look for any sign of her husband in the water, "I can't see him!" the Doctor hurried over to her, "Doctor, Hatter! I'm going in!"
"No, you can't!" the Hatter shouted at her, feeling helpless to do anything but watch as she forcefully pushing her soaking wet hair off her face to see Amy starting to pull her coat off, "Doctor, stop her!"
Luckily, the Doctor reached her in time and grabbed the back of Amy's coat, forcing it back over her shoulders as the girl clumsily tried fighting back against him, but it was no use, "He's drowning," he told her, grabbing her by her face to make her look at him, trying to make her see reason through her desperation to get to Rory, "He's drowning!" he raised his voice, giving her a little shake as she stopped fighting him, "You go in after him, you'll drown too. There's only one thing that can save him now".
"What are you talking about?" Amy asked, trying to shove his hands off her, but he kept a hold of her.
"It's the siren!" the Hatter called over to her, "The siren wants him, and she's the only one who can save him now!" she looked around for something with a reflective surface and tried the lid on the barrel, only to find that it was locked. She held up her hand, looking back over to the Doctor, "Sweetheart, sonic!"
The Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out his sonic screwdriver, dodging out of Amy's attempts to stop him as he tossed the device over to the Time Lady, who just managed to catch it before it slipped out of wet fingers, quickly flashing it at the barrel.
"Hatter, no!" Amy cried, trying to push the Doctor away to get to the brunet, realising what she was about to do.
The Hatter unlocked the barrel and lifted the lid. A moment later the siren appeared out of the water, flying up into the air above them, "Rory's drowning!" she said urgently, pointing over to where Rory had fallen into the ocean, "You've got to go get him!"
The siren didn't hesitate, flying over to where she directed and diving into the waves as they watched the water begin to glow with her light before fading after a moment, the Hatter assumed once she had managed to find Rory.
Amy spun back around to glare at the Time Lady, taking a couple of steps towards her as the Doctor let her go, "What…what did you do?" she shouted.
The Hatter grabbed her shoulders, meeting her eyes, "If he stays in there for much longer he's going to die," she said calmly, "This was the only way, Amy".
She shoved her hands off her shoulders, "She'll destroy him!"
"That isn't just a ravenous hunter," the Doctor cut in, shaking his head as he moved to take the Hatter's hand, looking between Amy and Avery as they gathered around the barrel, "It's intelligent. We can reason with it".
"And hopefully, she's keeping them alive somewhere," the Time Lady added, nodding, "If there's even a tiny glimmer of hope that they are still alive, then we have to follow".
"Are you mad?" Avery demanded, staring at them with wide eyes.
"If we ever want to see them again, we have to let the siren take us," the Doctor continued, ignoring Avery's comment as he reached into his pocket, pulling out a nail, "We'll prick our fingers," he raised his eyebrows at Amy and Avery, "All agreed? Yeah?"
Everyone looked to Avery, who hesitated for a moment, before nodding, "Aye," he agreed.
Amy looked back to the Time Lords to find them looking at her questioningly, "Aye," she said.
"Dear?" the Doctor turned to the Hatter.
The Hatter smiled very slightly, forcing more hair off her face as she said a bit more cheerful then she probably should have been, "Aye!"
He returned the smile, "Aye!" he cheered, and grabbed Avery's hand, pricking his finger, followed by Amy, and then the Hatter, who he quickly placed a apologetic kiss on the tip of her finger before pricking it, and then his own.
A black spot appeared on each of their palms as a drop of blood was almost instantly washed away with the rain, but it was enough and a moment later the beautiful, hypertonic singing started, just as the siren appeared before them with her arm outstretched towards them. Dreamily and without a care in the world, they walked towards her, reaching out to take her hand, and disappearing in a brilliant light…
…
The Hatter winced slightly as she awoke to find herself lying flat on her back on something that felt cold against the back of her still soaking wet clothing. She frowned and turned her head to find the Doctor was lying beside her, seeming to be just waking himself, and as he meet her eyes a look of relief swept across his face as he reached out across the floor to take her hand.
"Where are we?" Amy asked, groaning as she rolled onto her back on the other side of the Doctor.
The Doctor pushed himself up, looking around as the Hatter struggled upright, too, "I don't think we've moved," the Time Lady remarked, wincing slightly, realising that the floor they were lying on was made of metal. No wonder it was so hard and uncomfortable. She caught sight of something ahead of her, "Actually, I'm sure of it," she went on as Amy and the Doctor rolled onto their stomachs, following her gaze, "We're in the excite same spot as we were before".
On the wall directly across from them was a large window, through which they could see the deck of the ship and the storm that was still raging on out there, the noise of the wind and rain completely muted from where they were now. It was actually quite odd.
"We're on a ghost ship," Avery gasped, his eyes widening as they all climbed onto their feet, staring outside.
"No, it's real," the Doctor told him, looking surprised himself as his eyes flickered around the metal room, such a strange contrast from the old ship they had been on moments before, "Space ship trapped in a temporal rift".
Amy frowned, shaking her head, "How can two ships be in the same place?"
"It's not the same," the Hatter corrected her, her mind racing with the new information, slowly turning on the spot to get a full view of the room, taking note of a set of stairs that seemed to lead up to a door behind them.
"Two planes," the Doctor agreed, "Two worlds, two cars parked in the same space. There are lots of different Universes nested inside each other. Now and again they collide, and you can step from one to the other".
"Okay…" Amy said slowly, nodding, "I think I understand…"
"Well, that's nice," the Time Lady remarked, glancing at her with a small smile, "Because it's really nothing like that at all…"
"But if that helps…" the Doctor shrugged, his attention on the window.
"Thanks," she muttered, rolling her eyes at them both.
The Hatter stepped closer to the window, "It would seem that all the reflective surfaces on the ship have been converted into gateways that lead here," she commented thoughtfully, looking quickly down on the ground to see a bit of metal, perhaps an old bit of framing. She picked it up and threw it at the window, but instead of smashing the glass, it went straight through and came to land on the deck of the ship. Amy yelped loudly behind her, startled, "Fascinating," she breathed.
"Ever look in a mirror and think you're seeing a whole world?" the Doctor asked, glancing back to Avery and Amy, before returning his attention back to the window, "Well, this time it's not an illusion".
A loud beeping sound echoed through the ship, making them look up and around, the beeps happening twice in a row before followed by a short lull. The Time Lords exchanged a look and turned around, following the noise over to a set of metal steps behind them.
"The signal?" Amy guessed, recalling how they had come across the ship in the first place.
"It seems so," the Hatter nodded.
"The distress call".
"Uh-huh," the Doctor hummed in agreement, carefully creeping up the steps, just in case anything should jump out at them.
"There was a second ship here all the time".
"Wait…" the Hatter came to a stop just behind the Doctor, forcing Avery and Amy to pause behind her. She frowned slightly, listening carefully, "Can you hear that?" she glanced back to the others, hearing the sound of the sirens song echoing from somewhere in the distance, "I think the sirens here, too".
They reached the top of the steps and the Doctor moved closer to the door, spotting a control panel beside it. He reached out and touched it, and the door slide open to reveal a long dead, decayed body of an alien in a spacesuit that had a large head with large, rodent like teeth and what appeared to be a fin sticking out of the top of it. They all jumped back, surprised, and Avery quickly aimed his gun at the body, but the Doctor pushed his arm back down.
"Dead," he said, his own surprise fading as he took in the aliens remains more carefully. He glanced at the Hatter, but she shrugged, not recognising the race, either. He took her hand and carefully began to lead the way past the remains and into what seemed to be the main control room, Amy and Avery following behind them. There was a control panel with two chairs before it, where another alien's remains were slumped over the panel.
Slowly, the Time Lords moved further into the room, making their way over to the second alien, the Doctor ducking down slightly to take a closer look at the skeleton without touching it as the Hatter retrieved his sonic screwdriver from her pocket, having forgotten to return it, and flashed it over the body.
Amy and Avery looked at the window that was in front of the controls, seeing Avery's quarters through it, "You were right," Amy commented, blinking as she looked back over to the Time Lords, still shocked that there had been an invisible ship there all along, "There was something watching us the whole time," she frowned, glancing at the second alien skeleton, "How long has this ship been marooned here?"
"Long enough for the Captain's to have run out of grog," Avery said, nodding to the alien.
"I don't understand," she shook her head, her frown deepening as she eyed the alien, "If this is the Captain, then what's the siren?"
The Doctor straightened as the Hatter continued to scan, "Same as us," he shrugged, watching her work, "A stowaway".
"She killed it?"
"No," the Hatter shook her head, checking the results on the sonic screwdriver, before looking back up to them, "Human bacteria did this," she waved a hand towards the alien, passing the screwdriver over for the Doctor to see, too.
"What?" she asked, startled and confused.
"Yes, I'm a little surprised myself," the brunet nodded, casting her eyes over the skeleton curiously, resisting against the urge to reach out and touch it, "It was a virus from our planet…well, Earth, really," she corrected herself quickly, "Our plane, is more accurate".
"Airborne," the Doctor added, slipping his sonic screwdriver away inside his blazer, "Travelling through the portal," he gestured with his hand over to the window, "That's what killed it. Didn't get it's jabbbsss…" he trailed off with a grimace, looking completely disgusted. He had began to lean his hand against the control panel…only to end up sticking his palm straight in a mess of clear slime that was coating the surface of the panel. He straightened and pulled his hand away, holding it up to look at it, covered in the slime, "Ugh...look!" he grimaced again, turning to the Hatter.
The Hatter made a face and leaned back from him. All the rocking from the ship during the storm had been bad enough to start making her feel nauseated again, but that and now just thinking about what the slime was, was just too much for her sensitive stomach right now, "Don't come near me right now," she told him quickly, her face taking on a greenish colour as she took a large step back from him, "I think I might be sick".
Amy looked between them, even more confused, "What is it?"
"Sneeze!" he exclaimed, "Alien boogies!" he turned away from the Hatter and tried flicking the slim off his hand, but it was little use. Still completely disgusted, he sighed heavily and whipped his hand on Amy's coat as he began to walk past her, heading for the door.
Amy rolled her eyes, glancing warily at the slimy patch she now had smeared down the sleeve of her coat, while the Hatter took a couple of deep breathes until the sensation of wanting to throw-up passed, though she still felt quite queasy. She followed after the Doctor, making a mental note not to hold his right hand until she had seen him wash it in disinfectant as they left the room, Amy and Avery following close behind them. They began to make their way down a hallway, soon coming across another door as the Doctor hit the control panel beside it, sliding the door open.
They carefully crept inside, the Doctor going first as he pulled his sonic screwdriver from his pocket as they moved further into the room, quickly scanning the area, which seemed to resemble a hospital to the Time Lady. It even smelt like disinfectant. All around the room where bed's that hang from wires from the ceiling, each one with a motionless man lying on them with their shirts and shoes having been removed. They all appeared to have breathing tubes connected to the front of their throats that went into the bed, while they also had some sort of plastic strip around their abdomens and arms, seeming to be monitoring them.
"McGrath!" Avery suddenly exclaimed as they began to move past the beds, pointing at a man lying on one of them, "He's one of my men".
"He's still breathing," Amy told him, seeing the man's chest rise and fall.
Avery looked around the room, "My entire crew is here," he said, spinning around on the spot, while the Time Lords moved further ahead of them, the Doctor pulling a small rectangular device from off a table, eyeing it curiously, "Toby!" he called, and ran across the room to where his son was lying on one of the beds.
"Rory!" Amy cried, catching sight of her husband on another bed ahead of her, rushing to his side and cupping his face.
"The TARDIS!" the Doctor shouted in delight, catching sight of something blue through a plastic sheet that hung from the ceiling behind Rory's bed. He took off running in the direction, bursting through the plastic sheets to reveal the time machine as the Hatter smiled fondly at him, following at a casual pace to give him time to have his own little moment with the old girl. He happily kissed the doors as he reached the TARDIS, relieaved to find the old girl safe and turned around to press his back against the doors, hugging it.
"You are so adorable," the Hatter said to him, amused as she reached the TARDIS, stroking her hand down one of the doors and giving it a small kiss herself.
"We have to get them out of here," Avery frowned, catching the Time Lords attention as he looked over the tubbing connected to Toby. He reached out to undo one of the straps around the boy's stomach…
"Wait!" the Doctor called hurriedly, pulling out his sonic screwdriver again as he and the Time Lady dashed over to them. He quickly scanned the boy's head, "His fever's gone," he determined, and moved across to Rory's bed, flashing the sonic over Rory's body as the Hatter followed.
Amy frowned slightly, still cupping Rory's face, "He looks so well".
The Hatter stood back slightly, noticing a small screen on the side of the bed, "Yes, his vitals are perfect," she agreed, looking thoughtful as she read the results on the screen, before looking up with a frown, "Far too perfect for a man who was drowning only a short time ago. It seems like the siren is keeping him alive, like a life support system, only more advanced".
The Doctor checked the readings on his sonic screwdriver, "His brain is still active," he informed them, slipping the device back in his blazer pocket as he ran his eyes over Rory, "But all its cellular activity is suspended. It's not a curse…" he grabbed Rory's palm and opened it to show the black spot, while the Hatter held one of the rectangular device against it, which had a yellow spot in the middle of it that matched Rory's own spot.
"It's a tissue sample," she realised, her eyes widening, shocked that she hadn't made the connection sooner.
He frowned, glancing at her, "Why get samples of people you are about to kill?" he wondered.
"Help me get him up?" Amy looked at the Time Lords.
They began to unstrap him, when a beeping noise started up and they stopped, looking back over towards the doorway as the sirens singing echoed through the room.
"She's coming," the Doctor breathed, looking around quickly for somewhere to hide as he grabbed the Hatter's hand.
They hurried over to where a computer panel was off to the side of the room, the four of them ducking through another plastic curtain so that they were hidden from view, carefully peering around the edge of it as the siren floated into the room and walked across to Rory's bed. Rory, now awake, struggled as she came closer to him, but the siren calmly held her hand above his chest and continued singing, and Rory slowly stilled and seemed to fall asleep again.
"I said so, that the singing was like a drug," the Hatter whispered, watching the scene curiously, "Its anaesthetic".
"What?" Avery asked, frowning at her.
"The music," the Doctor remarked, following along with her thought process, "The song. So she anaesthetises people and puts their body in stasis".
The siren walked away from Rory and made her way over to Toby, raising her hand above the boy's chest as she began singing again. Avery stepped out from behind the panel and around the curtain, raising his gun and aiming it at the siren.
"Avery…" the Hatter began, her eyes widening in alarm as she realised what he was about to do, "No, don't…!" she shouted, but she was too late.
Avery fired the gun and the siren whirled on him, burning bright red and hissing with a high pitched screech, storming towards him. The Doctor ducked around Amy and ran behind the curtain, coming out through the curtain by the bed of another man. The Hatter grabbed Amy's arm and held her back from trying to follow him, resisting against the strong temptation herself as they looked backwards and forwards between the two men, trying to think of something that they could do to help, when the Doctor sneezed loudly, the smell of the disinfectant tickling his nose.
The siren stopped inches away from Avery and turned on the Doctor, still glowing bright red as she held her hands up and a stream of fire shot out between her palms, marching towards him instead.
"Okay, this is different," the Hatter muttered, starting to grow quite worried for the Doctor now, desperately trying to think.
"Fire…" the Doctor blinked, startled, "That's new," he ran a hand through his hair, pushing it off his forehead as he started backing away from the siren, eyeing her carefully, "Uh…what does fire do? Burn?" he said to himself, nodding as he continued trying to back away from her, "Destroy? What else? Uh…Hatter?" he called urgently.
"Ah…fire, yes…" the Time Lady began, frantically trying to think, when it suddenly hit her. This entire room was like a hospital, she had thought so when they had first entered it. The siren was keeping all the men alive, taking tissue samples of them, the anaesthetic, and now fire? It was all so obvious, "Fire sterilises!" she shouted over to him, finally making the connection.
"Right!" he quickly reached into his pocket and pulled a hanky out, still backing away as the siren continued to stalk him, "I sneezed!" he said to her, waving the hanky around, "I'm all germy!" he blew his nose on the cloth and tossed it onto the floor a short distance away from him.
The siren turned and immediately sent the stream of fire at the hanky, burning it to ash.
Amy suddenly dashed past the Hatter, catching her by surprise as she ran over to Rory's bed, "No, Amy!" the brunet cried, just missing grabbing the edge of her sleeve, "Don't interfere!"
"Don't touch him!" the Doctor ordered her as the siren turned and began to advance on Amy. He shook his head; trying desperately to work it all out, "Anaesthetic…" he started to list off.
"The tissue samples," the Hatter added, trying to help him, "The screen".
"Sterile working conditions…" he continued, nodding, pacing as he pointed over to Amy, "Uh, ignore all of our previous theories!"
"Yeah?" Amy said, scoffing as she tried figuring out how to unconnected Rory from the bed, the siren hissing angrily at her as she neared, "Well, we stopped paying attention a while back".
"Amy, she's not trying to kill them, she's their doctor!" the Time Lady shouted, her eyes widening in alarm at how close the siren had got to her.
Amy stopped and quickly stepped back, looking shocked as she looked back up to the siren, who paused at the head of Rory's bed and the red glow died down again, returning to her greenish-blue glow.
The Doctor looked around the room in a completely new light, "This is a automated sick bay," he explained, spinning around on the spot as he looked at all the men, "It's teleporting everyone on board," the Hatter smiled and nodded along with him, moving to stand by Rory's bed before Amy, "The crew are dead, and so the sick bay has had nothing to do," he stepped closer to Rory's bed, staring at the siren, "It's been looking for humanity whilst it's been idle. Look at her," he held out a hand towards her, breaking into a impressed and delighted smile, "A virtual doctor able to sterilise a whole room".
Amy gave him a quick look, "Able to burn your face off," she reminded him.
"But that's not her fault," the Hatter shook her head, smiling slightly as she glanced back to the siren. It really was quite impressive, even if she still had the same downfalls as all computers possessed, "She's only an interface, like a computer that's been programmed. And she's managed to seep through into our plane," she went on, her smile growing wider, "Broadcast into our world, if you will".
"Protean circuitry means she can change her form," the Doctor added brightly, "And become a human doctor for humans. Oh, sister, you're good!" he grinned, pointing at her, highly impressed.
Amy glanced at the siren before moving to try and remove the breathing tube from around Rory's neck, but almost instantly the siren turned bright red and hissed at her again. She jumped back and the siren returned to its normal, calm state, glowing green once more.
"She won't let us take them," Avery remarked, making his way back over to Toby's bed.
"Another downside to her programming, I believe," the Hatter sighed, casting her eyes over the siren, "She's managed to keep them all alive, but I don't think she actually knows how to help them".
"I'm his wife, for God's sake," Amy looked quickly to the Time Lords, struggling to control her frustration, "Why can't I touch him?"
The Time Lady eyed the siren for a moment, "You need to tell her that, Amy," she said, glancing at her as the girl blinked back at her in confusion. She nodded, growing more certain of her idea, "Yes, you need to show her your ring," she reached out and grabbed Amy's left hand, holding it out towards the siren to show her wedding ring clearly, moving it beside Rory's own ring, "She might not be real and her programming might have its faults, but she's still intelligent. She's a doctor; she won't allow anyone to interfere with one of her patients without her consent".
The sirens eyes dropped down to their hands as they waited.
"Come on," the Doctor urged when the siren didn't do anything, simply looking at the rings, "Sophisticated girl like you. That must be somewhere in your core program".
"Look, he's very sick, okay?" Amy tried, struggling to keep her voice steady as she turned back to the siren, "I just want to look after him," the siren looked at her blankly, "Why won't you let me near my husband?" she demanded, a tear rolling down her cheek.
The siren continued to stare at her blankly for a moment longer, before slowly tilting her head and holding out her arm towards Amy, a golden ring appearing around it. She frowned at it, confused.
"That's like a virtual consent form," the Hatter whispered to her, giving her a comforting look as she looked at her. She pattered her arm, "You have to sign it by putting your hand through the ring".
"Rory's sick," the Doctor nodded as Amy hesitated, still looking very confused, "You have to take full responsibility".
Amy turned back to the siren and slowly reached out, putting her hand through the glowing ring. The light grew brighter for a moment before the siren disappeared completely. She quickly looked back to the Time Lords, the Hatter giving her an encouraging nod as Amy rushed around to the other side of the table to where a small panel was on the side of the bed with buttons on it, and hit one of them. Rory suddenly jerked violently, gasping for air.
"He can't breathe!" the Doctor shouted, flashing his sonic over Rory as he continued to gasp for air, his eyes wide with panic and fear, "Turn it back on!"
Amy hit the button again and Rory stilled at once, unconscious, as if he hadn't just been struggling for breathe a second ago, "What do we do?" she asked worriedly, staring down at his peaceful face, "I can't just leave him here".
"He'll die if you take him out," Avery said firmly, looking over to them from his son's bedside. The Hatter sighed heavily and looked down, closing her eyes sadly.
Amy sniffed slightly, turning back to Rory as she ran a hand gently through his hair, "Rory?" she whispered, leaning over him, "Rory, wake up".
Rory grunted slightly as his eyes flickered open, slowly growing more alert his tried to look around, "Where am I?" he questioned, alarmed to find himself somewhere completely alien to him.
The Hatter put a hand on his shoulder, "You're in a hospital…so to speak," she told him, trying hard to keep her voice calm and steady. She paused, glancing across to Amy and the Doctor, before looking back to his face, "And you are very ill," she swallowed, hard, "If you leave, you could very well die".
Amy sent her a quick look for a moment and turned her attention back to him, "But if you don't, you'll have to stay forever," she said, trying hard not to cry.
He frowned up at her, "You're saying that if I don't get up now…" he trailed off.
"You can never leave".
"The siren will keep you safe," the Doctor added.
"And if I come with you?" Rory's eyes flickered backwards and forwards between the Time Lords
He took a deep breath as the Hatter looked away, closing her eyes briefly, "Drowning," he replied, glancing at Amy, "On the point of death".
Rory looked away from them for a moment, seeming to be thinking it all over, before his eyes moved back up to Amy's, "I'm a nurse," he began.
"What?" Amy frowned, not understanding what on Earth he was getting at.
"I can teach you how to save me".
"Whoa!" her eyes widened, startled, "Hold on…"
"I was drowning," he continued, "You just have to resuscitate me".
"Just?" she repeated, laughing slightly at how simple he made it sound.
"You've seen them do it loads of times in films. CPR, the kiss of life".
"Rory, this isn't a film, okay?" she shook her head, her voice choked by tears, "What if I do it wrong?"
"You won't," he said at once, completely convinced.
"Okay, what if you don't come back to life? What if…"
"I trust you," Rory cut across her, his voice soft.
Amy blinked back tears, desperately trying to get him to see reason, "What about them?" she glanced back up to the Doctor and the Hatter, before looking back down to him, "Hmm? I mean, why do I have to be the one?" the Time Lords looked at each other and slowly began to walk away from the couple, knowing that they needed space, taking each other's hands as they rounded the end of the bed, "Why do I have to save you?" she breathed.
"Because I know you'll ever give up," he told her simply. Amy took a deep breath and slowly nodded, listening intently to every word he said as he began to explain to her what she would need to do.
The Doctor and the Hatter quietly moved further away from the couple, the Time Lady trying desperately not to allow her own emotions get the better of her, not when Amy needed them. They walked over to join Avery at Toby's bed, who was staring down at his son's peaceful face.
"We have to send this ship back into space," the Doctor said quietly to the man, sighing, "Imagine if the siren got ashore?" he shook his head, alarmed at the very prospect, "She would have to process every injured human".
Avery glanced at them, "What about Toby?"
"I am so sorry," the Hatter began, looking at the man sadly, "Truly, I am more sorry then you could know, but…" she took a deep breath, her eyes coming to rest on Toby's face, "He has Typhoid fever. Once you take him, he'll only have a matter of weeks before…" she trailed off, unable to finish.
He looked down for a moment before turning back to them, "What if I stay with him, here?" he asked them, "The siren will look after him," the Doctor and the Hatter exchanged a look, considering it as he went on, shaking his head, "I can't go back to England. And what home does he have now, if not with me?"
The Time Lady smiled proudly, "Thinking like a true Father," she remarked, reaching out to lightly pat his arm, glad that something good had come out of the situation.
The Doctor nodded along with her, looking just as proud that Avery was starting to act like Toby's Father, "You think you can sail this thing?" he raised his eyebrows.
"Just point me to the atom accelerator," Avery replied, smiling.
The Doctor and the Hatter laughed, the Time Lady sounding slightly less cheerful then she might have usually as the Doctor lightly pattered the man's shoulder. They turned back around and walked back over to Amy and Rory, the brunet placing a comforting hand on Amy's back as they reached them.
"I know you can do this," Rory was saying to Amy, still looking completely convinced, "Of course, if you muck it up I am going to be really cross…and dead".
Amy laughed tearfully, grateful his attempt to lighten the mood, even if it really didn't help, "I'll see you in a minute," she promised him.
Rory nodded, inhaling deeply as he tried to prepare himself, knowing that it could very well be the last breathe he took.
Amy looked back to the Time Lords, who gave her a quick nod to confirm that they were ready before they started ripping off the straps, Amy pulling off the tube from around his neck. Rory gasped for air, unable to breathe as he was completely disconnected from the bed. The Doctor and Amy pulled him up from the bed, draping his arms over their shoulders, while the Hatter run ahead to unlock the TARDIS doors, throwing them open and stepping back as they quickly supported Rory's body between them and into the TARDIS, placing him on the floor inside the door as the Time Lady slammed the doors shut behind them.
Amy fell to her knees beside her husband and immediately started doing five chest compressions and than giving him a breath as the Doctor and the Hatter knelt on his other side, watching tensely as they held each other's hands.
"Keep going," the Hatter encouraged as Amy lifted her head, glancing at them when there was no change.
She nodded and started compressions again, giving him another five and a long breath, but still Rory remained unchanged.
"Come on!" the Doctor urged, anxiously chewing on the side of his thumbnail, "Come on, Rory!"
"This isn't the end for you," the Time Lady muttered, her hearts racing madly in her chest, "This can't be it!"
Amy pulled back and tried a third lot of compressions and another breath, half crying as she lifted her head to find Rory still unchanged, "He trusted me," she gasped tearfully, shaking her head, "He trusted me to save him!"
"And you still can!" the Hatter told her, tears filling her own eyes, wishing more than anything that there was something she or the Doctor could do to help, but Amy had taken reasonability for Rory, which meant that neither of them could do a thing, and Rory had been so certain that Amy was the one who had to do it. They couldn't just break that final request from him. She grabbed Amy's shoulder, making her look at her, "You can do this, Amy," she said, sounding confident, "Rory believed in you because he knew you could do it, too. Now you have to believe in yourself".
"Come on, Amy!" the Doctor added encouragingly, "Come on!"
Amy started again, doing another five compression and a breath…but still, nothing happened.
"No!" she cried out, and did another five compression and a breath…still, nothing changed. Rory remained just as motionless as before, the Doctor and the Hatter looked at each other fearfully, "Please, please, please, please wake up," she begged, her voice barely above a whisper as she started compression again, "Please, please…come on, come on!" she wept.
The Doctor looked away, pulling the Hatter into his chest as the Time Lady cried silently, burying her face into his shirt, while Amy gave Rory another breath, sobbing against his mouth when it still didn't work. The Doctor fell back on his heels, still clutching the Time Lady to him as Amy slowly pulled herself up to look down at Rory's face…who still wasn't moving.
The Hatter lifted her head from the Doctor and let go of him, tears running down her cheeks as she moved around to kneel beside Amy, knowing that she needed comfort now far more than she did, and wrapped her arms around the sobbing, devastated girl, murmuring soothing words in her ear. Amy immediately fell into her arms, crying into the brunet's shoulder with gut wrenching sobs, when…
Rory suddenly started chocking on water and coughing, gasping for breath as they all looked back to him in shock. He rolled onto his side, still coughing spluttering for oxygen as the Doctor jumped onto his feet in relief, the Hatter's tears turning into overjoyed laughter as Amy quickly leaned over Rory, grabbing his shoulders in stunned relief.
"Amy…" he breathed, looking up to see her tearstained face as she broke into a smile, "Amy, you did it! You did it!" he cheered, pulling her into a tight hug as she buried her face into his shoulder, crying.
The Hatter wiped her face on the sleeve of her top and stood, still smiling widely as she moved to join the Doctor, giving the couple some time together, throwing her arms around him as she reached him. If anyone could beat death, it surely had to be Rory…and Captain Jack, though that was slightly cheating.
….
"I thought I made an excellent pirate," Amy remarked playfully as she and Rory walked up the stairs to the upper deck of the console room, Rory now snuggled in a TARDIS blue dressing gown.
Rory sent her a quick smile, "I thought you were an excellent nurse".
"Easy tiger," she grinned back at him, laughing slightly as she spun back around at the top of the stairs, looking back over the console to where the Doctor and the Hatter were fiddling with the controls, the Time Lady looking at something on the monitor screen, "Goodnight, Doctor! Hatter!" she called down to them.
The Hatter popped her head around the screen, giving them a bright smile, "Sweet dreams, you two," she told them cheerfully.
"Goodnight, Amelia," the Doctor added, moving around to stand beside the brunet, hitting a button on the controls.
Amy eyed him, "You only call me Amelia when you're worrying about me," she accused, suspiciously.
The Time Lady laughed, shaking her head at her, "We always worry about you, Amy," she said lightly, trying hard not to allow her frown to show when she noticed Amy's expression grow grim. She tried to shrug, acting as if she hadn't noticed anything wrong, "It's our job to worry".
She nodded slowly, "Mutual," she said softly.
"Go to bed, Pond!" the Doctor gave them both a stern look, seeing them just standing there at the top of the steps.
Amy rolled her eyes and turned around, starting to walk away, when the Hatter noticed Rory stop her for a moment and say something, Rory's expression seeming very serious. Amy nodded, slightly reluctantly, and continued up the stairs with her husband, disappearing out of sight.
The Time Lords turned their attention back to the monitor screen, running yet another pregnancy scan on Amy, but it still continued to switch back and forth between positive and negative.
"Oh, Amelia…" the Doctor sighed heavily, frowning the inconsistent results.
"Don't worry, sweetheart," the Hatter said, looking determined at the screen, "We'll figure out what's going on with Amy, I promise".
I apologise for the wait, but I really wanted to try and finish off the next two chapters before posting this, which I have managed to do so, so you won't have to wait very long for the next chapter. Next chapter, our Time Lords dress up, Amy can't sleep, and the Hatter and the Doctor aren't very good at lying. I hope you liked it, tell me what you thought. Please review :)
Guest review:
Guest: Well, I have actually considered writing a story about the Hatter finding herself in another Universe in which one small thing was changed and it ended up turning that version of her evil, but I haven't quite got around to writing it yet, but it's not quite like your idea. I quite like it, though I would be slightly concerned that it might be a little too similar to the Master's back-story with the Doctor, but with a dash of the Rani's back-story thrown in, too. Thank you for the suggestion and review :)