Chapter 10
"Oh well this is just great. How the hell am I supposed to get out of this one? I can't even reach my screwdriver, so that's out of the question." The Doctor rambled in the Pandorica while Harriett stood in the corner awkwardly, for once staying silent.
The Doctor stopped yelling and sighed mournfully to himself.
Harriett pressed her back to the cold, hard wall and breathed as silently as she could. It was uncomfortable for two reasons, one, Harriett was pretty sure the Doctor had totally forgotten she was there and two, well they were locked in a cramped box that anyone could tell you was in no way bigger on the inside in pitch black.
Honestly, Harriett had no idea what was going on. She didn't know how they were going to get out, if they were going to get or even how the Doctor was going to react. It was silent for a while before Harriett decided to break the ice.
"Well... This is a pickle." Harriett said not knowing what else she could possibly say in a situation quite like this. She heard the Doctor suck in a breath, surprised.
'Harriett?' The Doctor gasped, he had forgotten she was there. "Harriett, what the hell are you doing in here?" He asked and the girl shrugged, before realising that he couldn't see her.
"I might've snuck in when you were arguing with your enemies." She said quietly and he sighed – she could just imagine him rolling his eyes. There was a slight pause. 'You have a lot, don't you?'
"Can I have a go in the big chair? It looks fun." Harriett asked, grinning. The Doctor looked around, managing to make out her small figure in the dark.
"Harriett, I'm locked into the chair. I can't get out of it." He said and Harriett frowned.
"But I want to sit in the chair! Is it comfy?" Harriett asked, curiously and the Doctor sighed in annoyance. They fell silent again.
Harriett smirked, an idea forming in her head; she was bored. And that meant she was probably up to something that would either be very bad or just annoy the hell out of whoever was near her...
"Quack." Harriett said, making her voice actually sound like a duck. It was silent for a moment.
'What are you…?' His voice trailed off. 'Reach into my top pocket and-'
'No! I'm not doing that!' She interrupted. The moment was already so intensely awkward, physical interaction… no. Just no. Harriett thought.
'Harriett, I… I need the toilet quite a lot.' The Doctor said awkwardly.
'Oh! Ew!' Harriet. 'I thought aliens didn't pee….' She thought out loud. He sucked in breath, annoyed again.
'How else do you propose we get out, then?'
'Well… I… I don't…'
'Exactly! I don't get stuck in a stupid box with the smart one, or the fan, no I get stuck in the box with the girl who thinks she's a duck!' He roared growing impatient. Instantly he felt badly.
'Hey! Oh! Grace and Amy said that there were more episodes after this which means you must get out of this. If you think about it, I can't get us out or I might wreck the causality thingy.'
A chilling buzzing noise entered the air between them and Harriett wrapped her arms around her torso, scared. A light shone from the cracks in the door.
'Rory!' Amy Brookes yelled. 'You've got to snap out of this!' She was standing next to Rory who was clutching Amy Pond on the stone ledge, awaiting you-know-who's arrival.
'So the universe ended. You missed that, in 102 AD.' He looked up hopelessly at the young girl. 'I suppose this means we never get born at all. Twice, in my case.'
'Whatever.' Amy Brookes muttered. 'Yeah, try being stranded in a fictional universe when you know you're going to die.'
He continued to ignore the young girl and began directly talking to Amy Pond. 'You would have laughed at that. Please laugh. The Doctor said the universe was huge and ridiculous, and sometimes there were miracles. I could do with a ridiculous miracle about now.' He looked so broken. Tears brimmed on the ridge of his eyes.
'A-a-a-and time.' Amy Brookes grinned despite the horrible situation. She knew what was coming. Rory looked up at her, frustrated and very confused when the Doctor appeared in mid-air right before their eyes. A red fez was popped on top of his head, and a mop in his hand.
'Brookes-y! Rory! He yelled. Amy knew he was about to start talking very quickly. She remembered this speech. 'Listen, she's not dead.' He paused awkwardly and looked sadly at Rory. 'Well, she is dead, but it's not the end of the world.' He committed another faux-pas and Amy tried hard not to laugh. 'Well, it is the end of the world. Actually, it's the end of the universe. Oh, no. Hang on.' The watch around his wrist began to bleep and he flicked it. He vanished just as quickly as he appeared.
'Doctor? Doctor!' Rory bellowed. 'What happened to him?' He shouted at Amy who shrugged unhelpfully.
'He'll be back soon,' she said knowingly. Amy knew that the Doctor would re appear as if on cue. Only this time without the mop. This did not occur.
This time Harriett appeared looking amazed.
'Oh cool!' She grinned looking at the Vortex Manipulator she was now wearing and then at Amy Brookes. Her face turned serious. 'You need to get us out of the Pandorica.' She saluted childishly and then disappeared just like the Doctor.
'What?!' Amy Brookes yelled. How could he have let Harriett into that death trap?
'But they're not in the Pandorica.' Said Rory to the young Amy who shook her head. 'I don't understand!'
'I know,' Amy said. Harriett materialized before them again.
'Yes, we are. (Back in the Pandorica, I mean.)' She adlibbed. 'Well, not now, but we were back then. Well, back now from your point of view, which is back then from my point of view.' Harriett said, probably not even realizing that she was quoting the actual programme; grinning all the way. Relief washed over Amy Brookes seeing her friend was safe. Harriett stuck her tongue out at the younger girl, a playful smirk on her face, before her hand flipped a switch. Rory had become quite annoyed now and looked up at Amy Brookes demanding answers. He held Amy Pond close to his chest as Harriett disappeared.
Finally the Doctor cropped up exactly how Amy had expected: minus the mop.
'Teenagers.' The Doctor huffed. 'Broke my… thingy… Time travel, you can't keep it straight in your head. Where are we now? Ah! That's it… It's easy to open from the outside.' He tossed the screwdriver to Rory who reluctantly caught it. Amy Brookes gasped and clapped a hand to her mouth. She'd always loved this part. 'Just point and press, Brookes'll help. Now go.' He smiled and vanished again, replaced by Harriett.
'When you're done, leave the screwdriver in her top pocket. Good luck, guys. Stay safe!' And that was it. Everyone was gone.
'What does he mean?' Rory demanded, rising. Amy Brookes recognised that look. 'Done what?'
'Look, I can't…' she rambled, not knowing how to explain.
'Try!' An idea sparked in her mind. Go with the flipping script! She propelled herself at lightning speed towards the Pandorica.
'Just follow the Amy shaped blur.' Brookes called over her shoulder as she ran (and of course stumbled) quickly off. For once, she knew what to do. 'And leave Pond!'
The door to the Pandorica opened and Harriett cautiously approached the entrance, as the clamps holding the Doctor down released. He stared at Rory and Amy in shock.
"How did you do that?" Harriett asked, before the Doctor could and he gave her an annoyed glance that she didn't see. Amy smirked.
"You gave me this." Rory pointed out awkwardly. The Doctor paused and got the screwdriver out from his own pocket, showing it to Rory.
"No, I didn't." He answered and Harriett frowned, before scampering out of the box and wrapping Amy in a tight hug.
Rory and the Doctor carried on their conversation in the exact same manner as on Amy's TV. She'd seen this before many times and so knew almost by heart what was happening. This meant the girls could ignore them.
"Where's Grace?" Amy asked and Harriett frowned.
"I thought you'd know." She said and Amy rolled her eyes.
"Where was she the last time you spoke to her?" Amy asked and Harriett bit her lip, nervously.
"In the Tardis with River. What happens to them?" Harriett asked worriedly but Amy shook her head.
"I can't say much at the moment, not with you-know-who close but they both survive. Try not to panic too much." Amy replied and Harriett nodded, not entirely satisfied with the answer; they tuned back into the conversation.
"… The future. I've got a future. Knew that. Still nice." The Doctor said before noticing the fossilised creatures around him. "That's not." He pointed to the stone Dalek.
"Yeah. What are they?" Rory asked cautiously, confused.
"History has collapsed. Whole races have been deleted from existence. These are just like after-images. Echoes. Fossils in time. The footprints of the never-were."
"What on earth does that mean?" Harriett snapped, stealing Rory's line, yet again.
"Total event collapse. The universe literally never happened." Amy explained and the Doctor gave her an exasperated look, as if to say 'not you too'.
"How are we still here then?" Harriett asked.
"What's keeping us safe?" Rory questioned, managing to get at least a small part of his line in.
"Nothing. Eye of the storm, that's all. We're just the last light to go out." The Doctor said and Harriett sighed in annoyance.
"Well that's reassuring!" She said exasperatedly, as the Doctor looked around in sudden realisation.
"Amy." He said. "Where's Amy?" He asked and Harriett noticed Rory and her Amy wince slightly; obviously whatever had happened to the ginger Scottish girl wasn't nice.
Harriett sighed, as she looked down at Amy Pond's broken body. They'd left the Underhenge and were up on the top ground now.
"I killed her." Rory said mournfully and it was easy to hear the self-guilt, not to mention hatred in his voice.
"Oh, Rory." The Doctor said sadly.
"He didn't!" Amy Brookes snapped. She hated to interrupt and knew she couldn't give away too much but it was important that they knew. "It wasn't his fault," she uttered to the Doctor. 'Not really.'
"Doctor, what am I?" Rory asked, rather nervously.
"You're a Nestene duplicate. A lump of plastic with delusions of humanity." The Doctor answered harshly.
"But I'm Rory now. Whatever was happening, it's stopped. I'm Rory." The Centurion stressed.
"That's software talking." The Doctor snapped, zapping Amy with the sonic. Harriett scowled, how could he talk to Rory like that?
"Can you help her? Is there anything you can do?" Rory asked desperately, as the two girls watched the scene silently. Amy was holding back a grin; Harriett was frowning.
"Yeah, probably, if I had the time." The Doctor shrugged, stepping over Amy's body casually. Harriett's eyes widened in shock and her scowl grew deeper. Amy pressed a hand to her moth so the others couldn't see her giggle. It was hard to be sad when you knew what was coming, especially when it was as awesome as this…
"The time?!" Rory demanded.
"All of creation has just been wiped from the sky. Do you know how many lives now never happened? All the people who never lived? Your girlfriend isn't more important than the whole universe." The Doctor scoffed and Amy was full out grinning now, as Rory grabbed the Doctor's shoulder, twisting him around to face the Centurion.
Whack!
Rory punched him straight in the jaw, making the Doctor stumble backwards over. In other words, he fell. Harriett and Amy erupted into laughter, the brunette now understanding why her best friend was trying to stifle giggles.
"She is to me!" He yelled, as the Doctor sprang back up.
"Welcome back, Rory Williams!" The Doctor cried, rubbing his jaw. "Sorry. Had to be sure. Hell of a gun-arm you're packing there." He commented, lightly punching his arm. Rory looked on, completely bewildered as the two girls regained their composure. "Right, we need to get her downstairs. And take that look off your plastic face. You're getting married in the morning." The Doctor said, as Harriett walked over to the Time Lord.
"That," she poked him in the chest, "was not a very nice thing to do." Harriett told him, a smirk on her face, as she followed Amy and Rory back down into the Underhenge. The Doctor followed hastily, rolling his eyes.