The Almost People

Mac winced as she looked on at the Ganger Doctor as he twisted and screamed, falling to his knees in pain and clutching his head, it appeared as though all his memories and lives were flashing through his mind given his mutterings, "I wonder if we'll get back. Yes, one day..." he hunched over, "Aaagh! I've reversed the polarity of the neutron flow…"

"The Flesh is struggling to cope with our past regenerations," the Doctor told it, "Hold on!"

"Would you like a jelly-baby?" the Ganger thrust his arm forward, holding out his hand to Mac as though offering her something, his voice sounding exactly like his fourth incarnation's before he shook it off, "Why? Why!?"

"Why what?" Mac shook her head, moving over to kneel before him, "Theta," she said in Gallifreyan, hoping it would help calm him, "Calm down, breathe…"

But the Ganger just jumped to his feet, his voice pitching to his last self's, "Hello. I'm the Doctor," before he winced and shook his head, "No, let it go, we've moved on! This is our new start with Kenzie, go away!" he shook his head again, trying to force the memories away.

"Doctor just hold on," Mac tried again, this time in English, "You'll stabilize in a few moments…"

The Ganger looked at her, his eyes wide and full of tears as he gripped her arms, "I've reversed the jelly-baby of the neutron flow," he breathed, "Would you like a..." he winced, "I love Chosen, my Kenzie…" he panted, "I'm...I can't," he whimpered.

"You can," Mac touched his face, stroking his cheek, her hearts breaking to see him in this much pain, "You'll be ok."

The Ganger's eyes searched hers, "You'll…take care of me?"

She smiled and nodded, "When do I not?"

He winced and hunched down, falling to his knees again, taking her down with him and hugging her around the middle, his face pressed on the side to her stomach, holding her tightly as she rubbed his back and looked at the Doctor. He was smiling at her for that.

"Always the mother hen aren't you?" he mused.

"I'm not your mother," she shot back, glancing at the Ganger, "Either of yours," she tilted her head to look at the Ganger Doctor's face, it had been flashing between fully formed and half formed, but it seemed to have stabilized well enough for now, "Better?" she asked.

The Ganger looked at her and smiled, nodding weakly as he reached out to touch her cheek, "Always am with you here to look after me."

She laughed lightly at that and gently helped him stand, though he winced and rubbed the side of his head, the memories settling but he could still feel them shifting, "There there," she rubbed his back still, "You'll be just fine sweetie."

"I wonder if that's it," he mused.

"What's it?"

"Where River got that from," he glanced at her.

Mac blinked, "Do I call you sweetie that often?"

"Me?" the Original Doctor scoffed, "Hardly ever."

"Everyone else though," the Ganger shrugged.

"Mostly when they're in pain."

"Or children."

"Or scared."

"Or hurt."

"Or…"

"I get it," Mac cut in, looking between them for it.

"I love you for that," they both said at once, before glancing at each other with an, "Oi!"

"Doctor!" Amy called, stepping over to them from where the Originals were still trying to barricade the door, "We need you and Mac. Get over here!"

"Hello!" the Ganger Doctor waved at her.

"Cybermats," the Doctor turned back to his Ganger, pointing at it.

The Ganger frowned, seeming to know what he was trying to do but hesitating, "Do we have time for this?"

"Never," Mac replied dryly, "But all the proof we can get that you're really HIM would help. So…Cybermats?"

The Ganger looked at her, "For you, dear, anything," he tapped her nose, making the Doctor roll his eyes at that before the Ganger looked at him, "Created by the Cybermen. They kill by feeding off brainwaves."

Their attention was pulled over to the door when it began to hiss, acid starting to eat away at it, "What I wouldn't give for more chocolate," Mac muttered, searching her pockets as the Doctors patted theirs.

"What?" Amy blinked at her, frowning.

"It's good for plugging up holes," Mac explained, "The acid creates a chemical reaction with the chocolate that creates a sticky substance that sort of bonds to the area around it and prevents a leak."

"Is THAT how you got the hallways safe?" Amy asked her, Mac had gone ahead of her to get Rory, had moved to take lead and make sure the halls were safe. Surprisingly few of them had acid leaks…now she knew why, Mac had been clogging them. With chocolate apparently.

"What else would you use to stop acid?" Mac shook her head, not quite understanding why they humans seemed so surprised that she'd used chocolate. She glanced at the door when the Gangers on the other side started to pound on it as well and looked at the Doctors, "We need a plan, the door won't hold for long."

"Rory and Amy may not trust both of us," the Ganger warned.

"I'm not really worried about that," the Doctor shrugged.

"As long as Kenzie trusts us," the Ganger agreed.

The Doctor smirked, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Inevitably."

"I'm glad we're on the same..."

"Wavelength. You see, great minds."

"Exactly."

Mac made the 'stop talking' motion to them with both hands, "Plan. Not thing. Now."

"I love it when you tell me to stop talking you know," the Ganger confessed.

"Though I would prefer a different method of doing it," the Doctor added.

"Like what?" Mac shook her head, "I've been using that motion since I first met you!"

"Yeah, bout time for a change then," the Ganger smiled.

"So what would you prefer I do to shut you up then?" she crossed her arms.

The Doctor seemed to have been waiting for just that question as he reached out and pulled her into his arms, kissing her as his Ganger made a face at them for it, "I rather thing that," the Doctor winked at her as he pulled away, resting his forehead to hers.

"Should I start gobbing then?" the Ganger gave himself a look, "I'd like a kiss."

Mac shook her head at him and stepped over to him, leaning in to kiss his cheek, but, as the Doctor always did, he turned his head and caught a peck out of her too.

"Oi!" the Doctor pouted, tugging her back to himself, "MY Chosen."

"My Chosen too," the Ganger smirked.

"Children," Mac rolled her eyes at them, "The plan?"

"Save them all, humans and Gangers," the Ganger nodded.

"That's a THING, Doctor, not a plan."

"I think it sounds wonderful," the Doctor defended.

"Is that what you were thinking?" his Ganger looked at him.

"It's just so inspiring to hear me say it."

"I know!"

Mac rubbed her head, "You're either going to drive me mad, try to woo me, or make me want to kill you both, aren't you?"

"I like option 2," the Ganger smirked at the Doctor.

"Yes, 2 sounds lovely," he agreed.

"Doctor, come on!" Amy snapped, seeing the Time Lords just standing there talking as the acid ate away at the door.

"So, what now, Doctor?" the Ganger looked at him.

"Well, time to get cracking, Doctor," he took Mac's hand…at the same time that his Ganger took her other hand, and the two of them stepped forward, taking Mac with them.

"Hello!" they said as one, "Sorry..."

"One at a time," Mac gave them a look.

The Ganger nodded and began, "We had to establish a few…"

"Ground rules," the Doctor finished, glancing at Amy, seeing her looking down at their shoes, him in his brown work boots and his Ganger in his original black shoes.

"Formulate a..."

"Protocol."

"Protocol. Very posh."

"Yes, well that does happen when we're trying to impress."

"Isn't Kenzie already impressed with us though?"

"A little more wouldn't hurt," he winked at Mac.

"True, very true."

"A protocol between us," the Doctor picked up again, "Otherwise..."

"It gets horribly embarrassing."

"And potentially confusing."

"I'm glad you've solved the problem of confusing," Amy remarked dryly.

"That's sarcasm," the Ganger pointed out.

"She's very good at sarcasm," the Doctor agreed.

Before they both turned to Amy and shouted, "Breathe!"

"What?" Amy nearly flinched back at that.

"Haven't solved the problem of the earache then," Mac muttered, rubbing her head.

But that only made the Doctor move his arm around her waist and kiss her temple while his Ganger put an arm around her shoulder and kissed her cheek, the two of them starting to glare at her over her head. Mac glanced between them and sighed, perhaps it was just the two options then. They'd make her go mad or try to woo her…and likely kill each other before the day was done.

"Ok," she took a breath, "So far the 'thing' we know we need to try for is to get you lot all off this island, ALL of you," she gave the humans a pointed look, "You AND your Gangers. Your Gangers and you. The two pairs of you. Have I made myself clear about who's leaving this island alive, and that it's ALL of you?"

"Sorry, would you like a memo from the last meeting?" Cleaves scoffed, "They're trying to kill us!"

"Yes, because YOU killed one of them!" Mac reminded her, "Don't pin this on them Cleaves, when they're just reacting to what YOU initiated."

"Ok, regardless of who started this," Amy cut in, "How are we going to get off the island when we're trapped in here?"

"We're NOT trapped in here," the Doc tor smirked, "The Flesh Bowl is fed by cabling from above…"

"But where are the earthing conduits?" the Ganger finished.

Mac looked up and saw the piping feeding from the Flesh above them, "The piping has to go down some sort of tunnel or shaft," Mac mused.

"Ah ha!" the Doctor cheered, finding a grate with a small vent shaft behind it, "Yowza! An escape route," he smiled back at them, not seeing Amy mouth 'Yowza' to the others, "You know, I'm starting to get a sense of just how impressive it is to hang out with me."

"Do we tend to say 'yowza?'" his Ganger asked.

"You remember what we were thinking when we first saw Kenzie in her dress for Amy's wedding?"

"Ahh, yes, almost forgot about that."

Mac blinked, "You 'yowza'ed?"

"Repeatedly," the Ganger nodded.

"But unlike then, right now it's because we're under stress," the Doctor turned back to the grate and got it open with his sonic, allowing them all in and to their escape.

~8~

The small group of humans, Time Lords, and one Time Lord Ganger, was running down a tunnel, having escaped the chapel they'd hidden themselves in through the vent shaft, trying to get as far away from the other Gangers as possible, "The army will send a recon team," Buzz was saying.

"We need to contact the mainland," Cleaves remarked.

"What about Rory and Jen?" Amy frowned, "They are both out there."

"And so are the Gangers," Mac agreed, "We need all of you to evac properly."

The humans ignored that remark.

"Takes a long time to find someone in a maze," the Doctor glanced at Cleaves, "I bet you lot have got a computer map."

Cleaves nodded, "If we can get power running, we can scan for them."

Mac started to cough a little big, before noticing the gas starting to rise around them in a bit of a white haze, "Cover you're mouths!" she shouted, moving the sleeve of her cardigan over her nose and mouth, the others doing the same, some lifting the neckline of their shirts over their noses, "The acid is interacting with the stone and it's creating a noxious gas," she explained.

"If we can get above it..." the Ganger Doctor looked around.

"The evac tower!" Cleaves cried, before rushing off, leading them with a shout of, "This way!"

They ran through the tunnel, only just starting to cough when they ran up a flight of stairs and into a tower that had a large control panel before them, monitors and buttons and levers everywhere, but none of it seemed to be working. The Doctors and Mac ran for the controls, the Doctor in the front, checking it with the sonic while the Ganger ducked behind it and scanned it with his own, Mac moving to the buttons to try and see if anything might be working as a chime went off to mark the hour.

"It's midnight," Jim blinked, smiling softly, "It's Adam's birthday. My son's five. Happy birthday, bud."

"And we'll make sure it's a good one," Mac agreed, as she moved before the controls as the Doctor joined his Ganger behind, the two of them working on restoring the power while Mac kept an eye on the controls to see if it was working, "We just have to get the power online."

Cleaves seemed shocked at that as she looked at the woman, "Can you really get the power back?"

"There's always some power floating around," one Doctor remarked as he popped up from behind the panel, before ducking back down as the other popped up.

"Sticking to the wires, like bits of lint," the second Doctor finished.

Amy shook her head at that, "Can you stop finishing each other's..."

"Sentences?" the first Doctor popped up, grinning, "No probs."

"Yes," the second pointed at her and they both ducked down.

Amy turned to Mac, "Can YOU ask them to stop it?" she looked at the Time Lady, "They'd do it for you."

"We'd do anything for her," one of the Doctors held up their hand, a set of pliers in them.

"More than anything," the second held up his own hand as well, a small mallet in it.

"Anything times 11."

"Times infinity."

"Times…"

"Ok, we get it," Amy rolled her eyes, "You love her."

The two Doctors popped up to smile at Mac, "Yes," they agreed, before looking at each other and 'Oi'ing again and ducking down.

"Is the TARDIS going to be able to get us out?" Amy looked at Mac again, "He parked her in acid, wouldn't she be damaged?"

"The TARDIS is built to withstand quite a lot Amy," Mac shook her head, "She'll be just fine."

"She's a tough old thing," the first Doctor popped up to smile, "Tough, old, sexy."

" No," the other Doctor joined him above the panel, "Tough, dependable, sexy."

"Still not as sexy as OUR sexy though," the Doctor winked at Mac.

"I prefer beautiful," the second one leaned in to smile at her, "The face that launched 10,000 spaceships, eh?"

"I'm no Helen of Troy," Mac shook her head, catching the reference and the flirt.

"No, you're Kenzie of TARDIS," the second Doctor winked.

"You're is FAR more lovely than Helen was, let me tell you," the first Doctor pointed at her.

"Ok, there's no way both of you are real," Amy shook her head at them, "One of you is bad enough. Wouldn't the Universe sort of explode if there really were two of you?"

"Doesn't look like it just yet," Mac mused, "But then again, it only took one of him to get the Universe to explode last time…"

"We're just real Pond," the first Doctor rolled his eyes, "I'm the Doctor."

"So am I," the second nodded, "We contain the knowledge of over 900 years of experience. We both wear the same bowtie, which is cool."

"Because bowties are..."

"And always will be."

"But you weren't linked up to the Flesh," Amy argued.

"It must've been after I examined it," the first Doctor shrugged, which made Mac look at him and frown as to why HE was the one saying that, "Thus, a new, genuine Doctor was created," he gestured at the second Doctor.

"Ta-da!"

'Theta?' Mac called out to his mind, but only the SECOND Doctor looked over at her, winking.

'Don't say a word Naey,' he warned her lightly and she nodded, keeping his secret as to which Doctor was the original and which was the Ganger. She wasn't sure if it was a ruse by them, that the first Doctor hadn't responded or if his transmatter was still settling, but…she wasn't getting the same sense off of the first Doctor as the second. She couldn't sense him as an actual Time Lord despite knowing he was exactly like the Doctor.

"But one of you was here first," Amy kept on.

The first Doctor, the 'Original' Doctor sighed, "After the Flesh scanned me, I had an accident with a puddle of acid. Now new shoes, a situation which did not confront me learned self here."

"That satisfy you, Pond?" the second, the Ganger Doctor, smirked.

"Don't call me Pond, please," Amy requested, sticking her nose up a bit in the air as she spoke, making all three Time Lords look at her, "What?"

"Why did you just do that?" Mac frowned at her.

"Do what?"

"Tell HIM not to call you Pond, the Doctor always calls you Pond."

"Yeah," Amy nodded, as though it should be obvious, "The DOCTOR does…that's…" she eyed the Ganger, "Not him."

"It IS him, Amy," Mac shook her head at him.

"No, see…" Amy sighed, glancing at the Ganger, "Look, you're fine and everything, but you're not the Doctor. No offence. Being almost the Doctor is pretty damn impressive."

"Being almost the Doctor's like being no Doctor at all," the Ganger remarked, offended.

"Don't overreact…"

"You might as well call me...Smith."

"Smith?"

"John Smith."

"No, we'll call you the Doctor," Mac shook her head, "Because that's who and what you are," she looked at Amy disappointed, "It's the same Doctor, Amy, what does it matter if he's made out of Flesh or flesh."

"What?" Amy frowned, not catching the difference between the upper and lowercase use of F for that.

"Exactly," Mac gave her a pointed look, "They are both the Doctor, like he said, same memories, same experiences…"

"But it's not the same."

"You remember we told you about regeneration?" Mac crossed her arms, challenging her.

"Yeah, and?"

"How's that different?" Mac looked at her, "How is us turning into a different person entirely, but with the same thoughts and same memories and same experiences?"

"You'd still be real," Amy emphasized.

"And so are the Gangers," Mac sighed, "They are living, breathing, feeling creatures, the same as any human. Or do you think Rory was as much an abomination as you seem to think the Gangers are."

"I NEVER thought of Rory like that!" Amy glared.

"Even when he was made of plastic?" Mac smirked, catching her, "He was JUST like the Gangers Amy, except they are Flesh and he was plastic. Living plastic, living Flesh. Tell me, where is the difference? Hmm?"

Amy fell silent.

"The next time you say anything about the Gangers, you think of Rory and you think of how HE would feel if you kept insisting HE wasn't real when the Pandorica opened. As I seem to recall, YOU were the one insisting he was Rory Williams, your boyfriend, and your fiancé. You had no qualms when a person who looked like him and thought like him and acted like him was running around made of plastic, so don't say anything about the same thing happening here with Flesh or else I'll start to think of you as a hypocrite."

"Ooh," the Doctor hissed at that, "Kenzie hates them second to people who break her trust."

"I may just hate them more," she muttered, "I was one."

"No," the Ganger shook his head, seeing her looking away, ashamed. Both Doctors knew just how much this current her regretted the one she'd been before, whether or not she had been a hypocrite to think some things about him…that wasn't who she was in general, deep down, it was just her anger that had made her like that, but that wasn't what should define her, "You were hurt, but you got better."

She smiled a bit at that, "YOU made me better," she glanced between them, "My stupid old Doctor," they winked at her for that and, a moment later, the lights on the controls flashed to life, "And we've got power!" she cheered and the Doctors ran out from behind the controls to the front to help her start up the machine.

"Find Rory!" Amy called, moving to Mac's side, "Show me the scanny, tracky screen. Come on, Rory, let's be having you."

"There's no sign of him anywhere," Cleaves shook her head, looking for him on a monitor but not seeing him.

"Come on, baby, show yourself…"

Cleaves moved over to a radio as soon as it was up and online, "St. John's calling. Emergency Alpha. St. John's calling the mainland. Are you receiving me, Captain?" she called, waiting for a response, "Come in?" before sighing, "We'll never get a signal through this storm," she muttered, trying again, "St. John's calling the mainland. Come in, this is urgent."

"We're just about reading you, St. John's," a man called back, "How are you doing? We've had all kinds of trouble here."

"Request immediate evacuation. We're under attack. The storm's affected our Gangers. They're running amok."

"…your Gangers?"

"Yes, our Gangers are attacking us. We need you to take us off the island immediately and wipe them out."

"Cleaves!" Mac shouted at that, horrified.

"Copy that, St. John's. Shuttle's dispatched. Hang on."

"You'll need to airlift us off the roof of the evac tower," Cleaves warned, ignoring Mac, "And Captain, any further transmission sent by me must come with the following code word. I'm typing it, in case they're listening in."

"Got it. We'll swing in, get you out and decommission the Flesh."

"We've got to get out of here," Buzz remarked as the transmission cut, if they could get to the roof, they could secure it against the Gangers.

"We're not leaving without them," Amy shook her head.

"I want 'em found too, but it's about casualties, innit? Can't be helped."

"That's a load of bollocks that it can't be helped," Mac scoffed, "It can be, you just don't want to."

Amy sighed and looked over to see one of the Doctors was at the console, working on something. She glanced at his boots, seeing it was the brown work-boot one, the real Doctor, and moved over to him, trying to ignore the Ganger watching them from another control as she sat down beside her Doctor, "What are you doing?"

"Making a phone call," he answered.

"Who to?"

"No one yet. It's on delay."

"Right, not getting it, why exactly are you making a phone call?"

"It's a part of his 'thing,' Amy," Mac told her, moving to join them, leaning against the controls.

"The wheels are in motion," he smiled, moving to spin Amy's chair, leaving it to spin and face the Ganger.

Amy fell silent for a moment, "You know, really, there can be only one."

"You know, really, Rory shouldn't have existed at all," Mac countered, knowing she was alluding to the Ganger Doctor, "Care to keep this game up Amelia?"

Amy looked away, "Never mind," she murmured, getting up and walking off, though still keeping away from the Ganger.

Mac looked down when she felt someone take her hand to see the Doctor had grabbed it and was holding it gently, he tugged her closer and pressed her hand to his hearts in the center of his chest. She understood the meaning all too well she thought, he was trying to tell her that he had a real set of hearts as well, they were beating, he was living and breathing, just like the humans and Gangers and other living organisms were.

She smiled and nodded, reaching out to touch his cheek.

"You're wrong," he murmured, leaning into her touch.

"About?" she eyed him, not sure.

"It's not that my hearts are beating."

"How'd you know that?" she whispered, knowing he couldn't hear her in his mind.

"Your expressions," he nodded at her, "You're as expressive now as you were in your first incarnation, I can read you like a book."

She nodded at that, "And what is it if not that your hearts are beating?"

He smiled, "How fast they're beating, NOW," he gave her a pointed look.

"You know, it's not fair you didn't take me with you to inspect the Flesh that second time," she remarked, "I'd have liked to have two of me here to combat the double dose of Doctor. It's not fair at all."

"I know," he sighed, "The Universe would be a more wonderful place if there were more of you," he winked.

"Not what I meant," she laughed…

Only for them to hear Amy gasp and look over to see the ginger human backing away from one of the walls, pale and shaky.

"Amelia?" Mac frowned, "What's wrong?"

"What happened?" the Doctor asked as she stumbled back over to them, sitting in her chair.

"It's her again."

The Time Lords glanced at each other, "Who?"

Amy swallowed, seeing the Ganger move to inspect the wall, before she turned back to them, "There's a woman I keep seeing, a woman with an eye-patch, and she has this habit of sliding walls open and staring at me."

"It's nothing," the Doctor waved her off, squeezing Mac's hand he was still holding, asking her silently with the action to, just this once, NOT tell Amy the truth, not till they knew for sure.

Mac bit her lip at that, not feeling comfortable with not telling the companion what was going on but…IF they were wrong…it would make Amy panic. Actually it would make Amy panic if they were right as well.

"Doesn't seem like nothing," Amy muttered.

"It's a time memory," the Doctor waved it off, slapping her thigh comfortingly, "Like a mirage. It's nothing to worry about," and with that, he spun back to the console.

"It's in my head..." the Ganger whispered, closing his eyes in pain and shaking his head, before he turned and strode out of the room, through a door quickly.

"Hey, hold on!" Jim called.

"Don't let him go!" Cleaves rushed to stop him.

"I've got it," Mac remarked, pushing off the controls to go follow him.

"Oi, don't go alone!" Amy ran after her, the two ginger women stepping into the next room to see the Ganger standing there, facing the wall, his back to them, hardly any light around.

"Doctor?" Mac moved right over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder, sliding it down his back to rub it, taking one of his hands in her other.

Amy, was far less keen to get so close, "I'm sorry," she offered, seeing the man's shoulders shaking in effort, "What I said about you being almost the Doctor, it's just really hard, because I've been through so much with him and Mac," she smiled at Mac, earning a small smile back as well for trying to explain her actions, "I've even seen...I've even seen the moment of his..."

"Amy DON'T," Mac looked at her warningly.

Amy swallowed, holding off on that, asking instead, "Can you die? If you really are the same, then you can die. You can be killed, and..."

"Amy!"

"I might have seen that happen," Amy winced, seeing Mac glaring at her, knowing she'd likely get hell for this later.

"Why?" the Doctor breathed.

"Why?" Amy scoffed, "Because you invited us to see it! Your death!"

"Amy not that!" Mac shouted to her…but the Ganger grabbed her by her shoulders and turned her to face him.

"Why?!" he shouted at her.

"Doctor let her go!" Amy tried to rush over, but the Ganger moved, pressing Mac against the wall and, while the Time Lady showed no fear, Amy ran back for the door to get help.

"Why what?" Mac asked him gently.

He panted "It's all the eyes say," he told her, his voice shaking, "Why?! I can feel them as they work each day, knowing the time was coming for them to be thrown away again. 'Not again, please!' And then they are destroyed and they feel death, and all they can say is, 'Why?!'"

Mac pulled herself free and hugged him tightly, seeing tears in his eyes, "I'm sorry," she whispered to him, "I'm sorry you're feeling that," she murmured, "It has to be your connection to the Ganger," she whispered to him incase anyone was about to enter the room, "You're linked to his mind and he's the Flesh, everything that the Flesh in general, just the substance along feels that he can't…YOU feel instead," she pulled back cupping his cheeks, wiping the single tear that had fallen away with her finger, "None of the humans have the capacity to be telepathically linked to the thing they created," she looked at him intently, "I'm sorry you are."

The 'Ganger' pulled her back in, hugging her tightly for a moment longer before he took a breath and took her hand and pulled her back towards the evac tower, opening the door just as Jimmy and Buzz seemed to be reaching for the knob.

"Everything alright?" Mac eyed them.

"Could ask you the same thing," Jimmy remarked.

"Girl over there was screaming bloody murder," Buzz added.

"I'm FINE," Mac shot Amy a look.

"He was hurting you!" Amy shouted.

"Did you see me wince?" she asked, "Flinch? Shout in pain? Cry? TELL him he was hurting me?" she shook her head, "Time Lords are made of stronger stuff than a human Amy, and that's IF he was hurting me to begin with. Don't assume the worst in the Gangers," she warned her, "Don't you dare think poorly of them for that when YOUR fiancé SHOT me when he was plastic and you stood by him."

"Stop bringing Rory up!"

"Stop being a prejudiced idiot then!" Mac huffed back.

"Ok, ok, ok," the Doctor cut in, standing, holding out his hands at them to stop them shouting.

"Did you sense it?" the Ganger looked at him intently.

"Briefly," he nodded, "Not as strong as you."

"Amy," the Ganger looked at her, "I'm sorry if I frightened you but…" he took a breath, "It would appear I can connect to the Flesh."

"Well, you are Flesh," Amy mumbled, pointing a finger at Mac, "Even YOU can agree that much is true."

The Ganger ignored her and continued to speak to the Doctor, "I'm beginning to understand what it needs."

"What YOU want. You are it."

"Amy if you're just going to repeat yourself, shut up," Mac snapped at her, rubbing her head. She'd have thought that, with all Amy had seen, with RORY being a plastic Centurion, that Amy, of all of them, would be more accepting of the Gangers.

"It's much more powerful than we thought," the Ganger warned the Doctor and Mac, the Doctor tugging Mac over to him to wind his arm around her, "The Flesh can grow, correct?" he looked at Cleaves.

"Its cells can divide," Cleaves answered.

"Which means YES," Mac shot her a look as well, starting to feel a familiar lack of patience springing up about the humans.

"Well, now it wants to do that at will," the Ganger stated, "It wants revenge. It's in pain, angry. It wants revenge."

"I was right," Amy mumbled, "You're not the Doctor. You can't ever be. You're just a copy."

"Amy," Mac took a breath, "Do you know what this is?" she pulled a roll of silver out of her pocket.

"Duct tape."

"And you know what I use it for, yes?"

"To get the Doctor to shut up sometimes."

"Very good," her eyes narrowed, "DON'T make me use it on you two. One more word about the Flesh out of you that's even remotely negative and I will not just tape your mouth shut, I swear to god I will get the Doctor to drop you off in Leadworth."

Amy frowned at that, "You wouldn't…"

Mac swallowed hard, not wanting to threaten that with her but she was getting to the end of her rope with all these people claiming the Flesh wasn't real, "Doctor?" she looked at him, "If I asked…"

"I said it once, I'll say it again," the Doctor looked at her earnestly...and pointed at his Ganger.

"For you dear, anything," he recited.

"Be careful what you say next Amy," Mac warned before glancing at the rest of them, "One more word out of ANY of you about the Flesh, about decommissioning it, about how it's not real…and I will go find our transport myself, come back JUST for the Doctors and Amy and Rory, and LEAVE you here with the acid and Gangers and everything. So the lot of you, sit down and shut up, because I am at my wits end with you humans right now."

The Doctor crossed his arms at that, "Well said."

Even though he and his Ganger wouldn't let that happen, let the humans or Gangers be left behind…Mac had certainly made an impression on the humans as they all went rather quiet, rather fast. For how naturally mothering and worrisome she could be, Mac could be quiet intimidating when she wanted to be.

He loved it.

~8~

"This is the shuttle," a voice came over the radio a short while later, "We're right above you, but we can't get low enough. Gamma static could fry our nav-controls. Sit tight. We'll get to you."

The Doctor fiddled with his sonic as he waited, Mac spending her designated five minutes with the Ganger as they'd had to divide the time so as not to feel jealous over her giving attention to one or the other, and scanned Cleaves to amuse himself.

Amy sighed, watching the monitors like a hawk, "I can't find Rory. I'm going out there."

"We could use the sonic to track him," the Doctor offered, "Humans and Gangers give off slightly different signals. The sonic can tell the difference."

"Oh, so the sonic…"

"WATCH yourself Amy," Mac cut in and Amy fell silent, "Prejudice makes a person look small minded."

"Hey!" Buzz called as a static cleared in a monitor, "There's a camera up. We've got a visual."

"That's Rory and Jennifer!" Amy cheered, rushing over and seeing them walking through the tunnels.

"They're heading for the thermostatic room," Cleaves realized.

"Let's go get them!"

The Doctor, however, remained seated and tossed his sonic to his Ganger, making all of them pause and Cleaves scoff, "We can't let him go. Are you crazy?"

"Am I crazy, Doctor?" the Doctor glanced at the Ganger.

"Well, you did once plumb your brain into the core of an entire planet just to halt its orbit and win a bet with Kenzie."

"It was a JOKE!" Mac huffed, "I didn't mean for you to actually DO it."

"He can't go rescue them," Amy shook her head, holding up her hands when Mac looked at her, "I'm going."

"Do you know," the Doctor stood, looking at Amy, "I want him to go. And I'm rather adamant."

"Well, then," Buzz straightened, "He'll need company, right, boss?" he glanced at Cleaves, "It's fine. I'll handle it."

"Thank you, Buzzer," the Ganger snapped his fingers at Buzz.

"I'll go too," Mac nodded, stepping over to the Ganger.

"No, no," the Doctor reached out to take her arm, "I need you here with me Kenzie."

"And I," the Ganger took her other arm, gently tugging her back, "Need her with me."

"Well she's MY Chosen," the Doctor tugged, starting a small tug of war with Mac in the middle.

"My Chosen as well."

"She was mine first."

"Ours at the same time."

"She likes me better."

"No me!"

"Well who?" the Doctors looked at Mac for an answer.

She blinked, never having expected this to happen, "The Doctor," was all she could answer.

"Which one?"

"Just the Doctor."

"The Doctor Doctor or the Ganger Doctor?" the Doctor eyed her.

"The Doctor," she smirked.

"Brilliant," the Ganger laughed, seeing her trying to prove a point to the humans at the same time, she was saying that she liked them both as much as she liked the Doctor.

"I'll be fine Doctor," she looked at the Doctor, "I SHOULD have gone with Rory to begin with and I didn't. I can make up for that now by finding him."

The Doctor sighed and tugged her closer, the Ganger letting go, sensing he wasn't going to try and steal her away, "Be careful," he whispered, kissing her gently.

Mac rested her forehead to his, "I'M the cautious one remember?"

He smiled, nodding against her head, "Yeah," he breathed, pulling away, "You…" he pointed at the Ganger, "Take care of her."

"With my life," he crossed his hearts.

"Don't worry Amy," Mac looked at her, "We'll find Rory just fine," before she turned to head out with the Ganger and Buzzer.

~8~

"I'm really not sure if I want to know how you knew that," the Ganger muttered as he walked with Mac through the tunnels, Buzz strung over his shoulders, unconscious.

They'd been searching for Jen, and found her, the Original her…but she'd died only a few minutes before they found her. Buzz had very nearly knocked him out with his torch…but Mac had seemed to be expecting it and sprayed him in the face with Cassandra's knockout spray just in time…which meant they now had to lug Buzz along, but at least he was conscious and without any more blows to the head. They really didn't have time to worry about it though as Rory was in grave danger as, if the original Jen was dead, it meant he was wandering about with the Ganger.

Mac shrugged, "Buzz was one of the more hostile one," she remarked, "His Ganger went to attack the Original Cleaves, the original him grabbed a knife on the Ganger Cleaves, and he seemed a bit too keen to come with you, a supposed Ganger. Sort of sent up a red flag he meant to hurt you. And I couldn't let that happen."

He smiled at that, "Always taking care of me eh?"

She glanced at him, "Always and forever," she promised, crossing her hearts.

They slowed though when they heard a faint ringing noise, like a telephone, before they looked at each other and took off after it. They ran down a tunnel and into the dining hall just as Rory, who seemed to be quite angry with the gaggle of Gangers standing in the room, turned to storm off.

"Ah, that'll be the phone!" the Ganger Doctor rushed in, setting Buzz aside and pointing at the Gangers, "No touchy the Buzzy," he warned, before rushing over to sonic the phone, answering it…a hologram of a young boy, not more than 5 years old, popping up before him, "Ha!" he cheered as the automated notice finished, "Hello, Adam, I'm the Doctor. Well, Other Doctor. Or Smith. It's complicated and boring. Anyway, who cares, it's your birthday!"

"Yay!" the little boy cheered as well, still in his pajamas.

"Yay! Now, have you been getting up very early and jumping on the bed?"

"Yes, really high."

"I expect chocolate for breakfast. If you don't feel sick by mid-morning, you're not doing it right."

"Actually don't," Mac got up from sitting Buzz up against the wall, Rory moving to check and make sure he was ok as she made her way over, "Chocolate should be for lunch," she winked at the Ganger Doctor, "A nice big bowl of sugary cereal's the best way to start a special day like this."

"Now," the Ganger Doctor clapped, "I think you want to speak to Dad," he turned and gave Ganger Jimmy a pointed look.

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!" Adam cheered, "Daddy?"

"You'll do, Jimmy," the Ganger Doctor walked over to him, speaking quietly so Adam couldn't hear, "What does the other Jimmy matter now? You're both the same dad, aren't you? Come on, Adam's waiting."

"Daddy?" Adam called, when a quake shook the room, "Daddy, what's that rumbly noise? What's going on, Daddy? Daddy?"

Ganger Jimmy turned and raced out of the room.

"You've tricked him into an act of weakness!" Ganger Jen hissed, glaring at the Doctor.

"Hardly," Mac scoffed, "You want to claim you're real and you're just as human? Try ACTING like it. Act like a human being instead of a paranoid monster."

Ganger Cleaves stiffened at that, Mac's words hitting her, "Dicken, drain the acid well in crypt one," she ordered and Ganger Dicken ran out.

"Don't you dare!" Ganger Jen snarled.

"I've had it with this!" Ganger Cleaves moved in front of her, looking down at her employee, "What's the point in this ridiculous war? Look at you, Jen. You were a sweet kid. Look at you now. Stuff of nightmares. Agent Mackenzie's right, we've started to act like the monsters the others feared us to be. I don't want my world populated by monsters."

"You can't stop the factory from melting down, boss," Ganger Jen nearly spat, "I'll take revenge on humanity with or without you."

"Do you hear yourself?" Mac shook her head at Ganger Jen, "Revenge?"

"It doesn't have to be about revenge," the Ganger Doctor offered, "It can be so much better than that."

But Ganger Jen just hissed at him and stormed out of the room, leaving them alone with Adam's hologram calling out for his father, for quite a few minutes…an alarming amount of time really, till the others arrived. The Doctor, Amy, Rory, Cleaves and Dicken entering with Gangers Jimmy and Dicken…no original Jim in sight.

"Daddy, it's me!" Adam cheered, none the wiser about his father being a Ganger.

Mac frowned and left the two to a private moment, heading over to the Doctor and frowning, "What happened?"

He sighed, "The quakes lessened the integrity of the tower and we had to evac from it," he explained, "We met Rory in the tunnels and he was tricked by Ganger Jen into leading us to an acid room. They locked us in and pulled Rory off…the acid was unstable and…it struck Jimmy just before the Gangers tried to let us out. He died."

Mac nodded slowly, looking up as another quake hit, "We need to get everyone out of here, now."

"Everyone!" he shouted, agreeing with her, "We need to move! Come on!" he turned and led the way out of the room just as Ganger Jimmy finished speaking with his son, the hologram cutting off as he too followed them out, grabbing Buzz on the way, and into the tunnels, the Doctor trying to lead them to the TARDIS.

They had to stop though, and turn the other way when they ran into a rather…misshapen, stretched out-version of Ganger Jen, clearly a mutated version of the Flesh, who began to chase them on all fours like an animal. They ran into a room, slamming the door shut behind them as the roof groaned and creaked.

"Ooh, roof's going to give," the Ganger Doctor ran to just under the creaking, the Dickens trying to lock the door, the Original him rushing off to try and shut a farther door…getting attacked by Ganger Jen in the process and forcing the Doctor and Ganger Cleaves to help Ganger Dicken hold the door shut as it appeared it didn't have a lock on it, "Here she comes!" the Ganger Doctor cried as the TARDIS fell through the ceiling and landed before them.

"Oh, she does like to make an entrance," the Doctor smiled from the door.

Mac ran to the doors of the box and unlocked them with her key, throwing the doors open to allow them all in, "Get in! All of you! Now!" Ganger Dicken and the Original Cleaves rushing in moments after Rory, Ganger Jimmy, and Buzz.

"Now's our chance," Mac looked back to see Amy approaching the Doctor at the door with Ganger Cleaves.

"I have to stay," the Doctor shook his head, "Hold this door closed. Give you time to dematerialize."

"Oh, don't be crazy. Ok, what happens to you?"

"Well, this place is just about to explode. But I can stop her."

"Both of you can survive this, ok!"

The Ganger Doctor slowly stepped up beside Amy, "Or perhaps you think I should stay instead... Mr. Smith?"

"No," Amy swallowed hard, glancing at Mac as the Time Lady stepped up, being careful with what she said and how she said it, "Of course not. But look, this man," she gestured at the Doctor by the door, "I've flown with him, you know? And you are amazing and yeah, I misjudged you, but you're not him. I'm sorry."

"Amy," Mac shook her head, "No matter how long you might know the Doctor…you'll never know him enough."

"I DO," Amy countered, "I DO know him."

"Then explain how you couldn't tell THAT," she nodded at the Doctor by the door, "Was the Ganger, all along?"

"What?" Amy blinked.

"Amy, we swapped shoes," the formerly-Ganger Doctor stated, "I'm the Doctor."

"And I'm the Flesh," the one by the door agreed.

"You can't be," Amy breathed, staring at the one who was now the actual Ganger, "You're the real him."

"He's not Amy," Mac reached out and touched Amy's shoulder, "That has always been the Ganger."

"I'm the original Doctor, Amy," the one by her stepped up as well, "We had to know if we were truly the same. It was important, vital, we learn about the Flesh. And we could only do that through your eyes," he smiled at Mac, "Kenzie understood it too well, had too much past experience with similar substances to see what we needed to see in YOU," he looked back at Amy.

Amy looked between the two a moment before rushing over to hug the Ganger Doctor, the Doctor and Mac knowing she was apologizing for it all and gave them some privacy to have some hushed words.

Rory, however, wasn't quite so privy to that and ran to the doors of the TARDIS, shouting out, "Amy, come on!"

Amy glanced once more at the Ganger Doctor before rushing over to the TARDIS and getting inside, leaving the Doctor and Mac to speak to the Ganger once more.

"Well," the Ganger smiled at them, "My death arrives, I suppose. I'm…glad," he looked at Mac, "That you'll be off before you have to see it."

"Perhaps not quite that soon though," the Doctor whispered, looking at Mac intently, making her look away, realizing he had very much paid attention when Amy had brought up his death. He'd worked it out, what she'd seen that had spooked her so badly in the diner, how she reacted to talk of death and guns and other things for that trip, he knew…he knew that she'd seen him die.

"Pardon?" the Ganger frowned, looking at Mac.

"You'll survive," Mac said, a surety in her voice that the Doctor knew was her own promise to him that she was going to do something, anything, to save him, "Your molecular memory WILL survive this, I know it."

The Doctor tossed him his sonic, "It may not be the end," he agreed, determined that it wouldn't be because the Mac he'd seen in the diner had been devastated…and he would NEVER put her through something like that.

"If I turn up to nick all your biscuits, you'll know you were right," the Ganger winked at her, before looking at his original self, "Get her out of here," he requested, one last request…and it was for her.

The Doctor nodded and took Mac's hand, but she stepped away from him, to his Ganger and kissed his cheek before rushing back to him and allowing him to take her hand and pull her off to the TARDIS, the box disappearing moments later, just as the Gangers turned and dissolved Ganger Jen and themselves.

~8~

It had been a solemn yet…hopeful atmosphere in the TARDIS on the way to Morpeth Jetsan, the owners of the factory. The TARDIS had stabilized the Gangers, making them officially 'real' people. Jimmy had been dropped off back to his son for his birthday with a red balloon care of the Doctor, Cleaves's blood clot that she'd had was removed via a small bit of help from the Doctor as well, and now it was time for Dicken, Cleaves, and Buzz to confront the press, Amy and Rory walking behind the Time Lords.

"You really want us to do this?" Cleaves asked as they walked down the foyer of a large building to where they could hear people chatting on the other side of a door.

"I think you owe it to your Ganger and the others to do it," Mac nodded.

"Your company's telling the world that the situation is over," the Doctor agreed, "You need to get in there and tell them that the situation's only just begun. Make them understand what they're doing to the Flesh. Make them stop. Dicken, remember, people are good. In their bones, truly good. And you, Buzz," he sighed at the man, "The Gangers ARE as real as you are now, don't hate them, will you?"

"I won't," Buzz nodded, glancing at Ganger Dicken, knowing that the man's original self had given his life so his Ganger and all of them could live. That was enough to respect the man's last wishes and respect his Ganger in his place.

"Just keep in mind that good people died because of all of this mess," Mac looked at them, "Honor them and their sacrifices and make your message count."

Cleaves took a breath and looked at her two boys, "Ready?" she stepped up to the door, "Side by side."

"You got it, boss," Ganger Dicken nodded, opening the door for her and allowing her, Buzz, and himself in to the conference.

Amy waited a moment longer but when the Time Lords didn't move, just took each other's hands, she stepped over, "You ok?" she asked them.

The Doctor blinked and shook his head, looking over at her, "I said breathe, Pond, remember? Well, breathe."

"Why?" Amy shook her head.

"We can't do this here," Mac glanced at the Doctor, "Come on," she reached out and gently led Amy back to the TARDIS.

"Doctor what's going on?" Rory called, sensing something was wrong with Amy or might be wrong…she looked fine though.

"Contractions," he said, making his way up to the console, Mac moving past him to go to her end of it, helping get them into the Vortex where the signal should be weaker.

"Contractions?" Rory blinked.

"She's going into labor."

"Did he say..." Amy scoffed, before she shook her head, "No, of course he didn't. Doctor I'm not having contractions."

The Doctor nodded at that, glancing at Mac as she shrugged, and looked back at Amy, "They must be medicating you then."

"What?" Amy nearly laughed at that, "Who's doing what?"

"You'll have to start explaining this to me, Doctor," Rory moved to Amy's side.

"What, the birds and the bees? Rory…" he took a breath, "I'm afraid she's having a baby. Kenzie and I needed to see the Flesh in its early days. That's why I scanned it. That's why we were there in the first place."

"It's why we wanted to drop you off for fish 'n' chips," Mac added moving to come around the console slightly, still behind the Doctor but in view.

"Yes," the Doctor pointed at her, "But things happened and there was stuff and shenanigans. Beautiful word, shenanigans. I needed enough information to block the signal to the Flesh."

"What signal?" Amy frowned.

"The signal to you Amy," Mac told her gently.

"What?" she breathed.

The Doctor pulled his sonic out, "Stand away from her, Rory."

"Why?" Rory moved closer to Amy, "No! And why?!"

"It can be traumatic," Mac told him.

"What can?!"

But the Doctor didn't answer, merely said, "Given what we've learned, I'll be as humane as I can, but I need to do this and you need to stand away!"

Rory looked between them, seeing how solemn they both looked, and slowly stepped away from Amy, far enough that the Doctor seemed ok with it, and near enough where he could rush to her side in an instant if needed.

"Doctor," Amy swallowed, staring at him with wide eyes, "I am frightened. I'm properly, properly scared."

"Don't be," he whispered, stepping closer to her, "Hold on. We're coming for you, I swear it. Whatever happens, however hard, however far, we will find you," he took her hand a moment, squeezing it in promise.

"I'm right here!" she squeezed his hand back, lifting it and clutching it in both of hers.

He pulled away, backing up and onto the steps to the console, "No," he shook his head, "You're not. You haven't been here for a long, long time," he flicked the sonic on and Amy melted into a puddle of white goop.

But the Doctor stiffened, hearing a splash behind him as well and turned to see a second puddle where Mac had been standing and his hearts stopped.

"...Kenzie?"

A/N: BOOM! Twist! ^-^ I really wanted to end it there instead of with Amy and Mac waking up, just to prolong the anticipation of what's going on with Amy and where Mac might be in relation to Amy for the next chapter :)

That was the one thing that had me really torn about whether to make a Ganger for Mac. I sort of feel like, with her already being a Ganger, she couldn't really make a Ganger of herself. I know Ganger Jen did, but with the time they had and without intending to make a 'second' Ganger, I didn't think the Flesh would react to Mac as she already was one. It's why her reaction to the Flesh at first was gentler than the Doctor's ;)

I can say though that I have plans for a few TLs in the future to appear in double for these episodes ;)

SO excited for the next chapter! ^-^

Apologies for this one though :( This is shaping up to be a bad fortnight for me with internet and family issues and updating :( I set my alarm each night and I hit PM instead of AM :( Stupid move on my part :( I won't let it happen again though ;)

Some notes on reviews...

We'll probably see bits and key moments of the Time War through flashbacks and Recollections for Proffy, so I don't think I'd write a whole story for it as it would pretty much tell itself through those :)

We'll have to wait and see what Mac and the Doctor are to River ;) I wanted to make Mac a Ganger, I REALLY did, but with her already being a Ganger I wasn't sure that would work. I know Ganger Jen made a second one, but I'm assuming it might have been lingering DNA or something like...she was the last true Ganger made so it still had her DNA and other things in record to make another :)

The Doctor wasn't really hiding the scanner from her, more like he was a child being caught with his hand in the cookie jar and realizing he hadn't told Mac about the scans lol :) He can be so absent minded at times :) But up, Mac was a Ganger too ;)

If you mean what about writing a Castle/OC story, Castle's actually on my profile in the list of potential OC stories ;)

Lol, oh I know there are drugs that can prolong (as equally as shorten) a pregnancy ;) But I can say for THIS story...Amy really was NOT pregnant when Mac scanned her after America, we'll find out just when she was captured (and when Mac was captured) in the next chapter ;)