The three of them had come out of a maintenance closet, where the TARDIS nested like a Russian doll. The Doctor looked very ill, and he walked like an old man, but his eyes were clear.
Amy was torn between conflicting emotions. When she'd seen Rory facing off with the Gorgoran, she was filled with pride. Her husband. She wanted to run to him. Then she saw the deep pain and confusion on his face, and needed to go to him.
The Doctor had stopped her with a word.
"Look at him," said Amy through gritted teeth.
"I'll fix it."
"Yeah? Have you seen yourself lately?"
"Please," the Doctor whispered. "I promise, nothing will happen to him if you just stay here."
The Gorgoran's terrible voice overcame them all. Amy staggered. River put a hand to her mouth. Members of the group of prisoners winced or cried out.
"WHO-ARE-YOU?"
Rory and the Doctor were the only people who didn't turn away. Doctor detached himself from River and crossed his arms, impassive. His promise was already broken, and he knew it. Aside from what had already happened to Rory, it was obvious that the question devastated him. His shoulders sank. Terror and disgust were written in every line of his body. River had to hold Amy back.
"He's called Rory Williams," said the Doctor. He spared one glance for Amy, who went still. The Doctor returned his attention to the tableau in front of them. "And I wouldn't mess with him if I were you."
Silence. Rory did not exactly buck up, but his panic seemed to have frozen at a high-water mark. He stood with his feet planted apart, his hand raised in front of him, pointing the Doctor's sonic screwdriver at the Gorgoran's center mass. He seemed mesmerised.
Amy could not see the Doctor's face, and almost all of her attention consumed by her husband's peril, but she saw Patrick Belkin just over Rory's shoulder. He stared. In the corner of her eye, Amy thought she saw the Doctor nod. Patrick stepped back, melting into the crowd of prisoners.
The Doctor's next words were only for Rory. Not to impress or surprise or confuse the Gorgoran. "Hello, Rory," he said. "Fancy an apple?"
It was like a shibboleth. Who would say something like that, at a time like this? Only the Doctor, and only at the peak of his extraordinary confidence. The Doctor came forward, steadier with every step. He walked into the green glow from the reactor, making a perfect right triangle between himself, Rory and the Gorgoran.
The creature's mouth was absorbed back into itself.
It reappeared, facing the Doctor. It opened.
"HA-HA-HA-HA-" The laughter of something that understood what laughter meant, but not how it was supposed to sound. At first the horrible pressure of it was almost too much for Amy to bear, but then something shifted, and it was just a nasty noise. The Doctor probably. Protecting them as always.
"I'm sorry," said the Doctor nastily. "Did I say something funny?"
"He is no human," hissed the Gorgoran. "We could drink his energy for a million million years."
The Doctor said, "Try it."
"What could you do to save him, Karshtakavaar? Look at him. Look at him."
The Doctor seemed to take the thing's advice. He stared at Rory for a long time. What did he see? Amy wondered. A friend? A child? The only other sure thing Amy had in the universe? None of those things.
Rory took no notice of them.
"You're wrong," said the Doctor. "He's nobody."
"We know his name."
"It's Rory," said the Doctor. "Rory Williams."
"His true name."
"I'll destroy you," said the Doctor.
The thing said, "You think we fear you, Karshtakavaar? With him in the room?"
The Doctor stopped talking to it. He seemed to forget it was there. "Rory," he said. "Don't listen to it. I know it's speaking to you. I can't stop it. But it's lying."
The Gorgoran's flesh rippled.
"Rory," said the Doctor. "Pay attention."
Rory tore his gaze from the changing Gorgoran. He did not look at the Doctor. He found Amy in the shadows.
Her face was wet. "Rory," she said. "Come here."
Mouths rose from the Gorgoran's slick body. Dozens of mouths. Amy realized with disgust where it had gotten the pattern. It had copied the only human it had ever spoken with. That was Rory's smile on its lips. If she'd had the time, she would have thrown up.
"Rory! Come away."
Moving simultaneously, the many lips drew back in the first syllable of a word. "ISH—"
Silence.
It was as if Amy had gone deaf. The silence seemed to break the Gorgoran's spell, which meant it was not just her ears that couldn't hear. It was her mind. The Doctor met her eyes and she knew he had done it. His face was all apologies, tinged with worry.
A lot of things happened at once. River let Amy slip out of her grip. The Doctor took long strides toward the Gorgoran, arm outstretched. It disintegrated before he could touch it.
Rory dropped the sonic screwdriver, staggered backwards, his eyes going wild and panicky, until his wife ran into him at full speed. Then he did the most natural thing in the world. He held her close, laid his head on her shoulder, breathed deeply and fell asleep.
The screwdriver hit the floor in a silence so profound that thought itself could not be heard.