~*~Hey guys! Sorry to go on hiatus without announcing it...it was a bit unintentional. We mostly stayed with my family over the holidays and live out in the boonies, so no wifi and virtually non-existent data coverage. It was a lovely time but I'm very glad to be back at my home, with my desktop computer. Anyway, off we go to join the Winchesters, the Doctor, and Amy on the rest of their adventure...Lots and lots of dialog here, sorry...it was already getting long so I didn't want to add much to it. Oh, and howdy to my new followers! So glad you guys have chosen to join the journey! Thank you!~*~
As the Doctor finished messing about with the console, Amy pulled open the door and stepped out onto their street. The long row of houses was quiet, most of the curtains pulled across the windows. Rory's car was parked at the curb, and she could see he'd already begun preparing their house for a few weeks away on a trip. The Winchesters followed her, both of their heads swiveling from side to side as they took in the quiet neighborhood.
She unlocked the door and stepped inside. "Rory! We're here! You'll never guess what the Doctor-"
Something crunched underfoot.
Amy stopped and looked down. Glass and picture frames spilled from the living room doorway into the hall. She gasped and staggered back, feeling like she'd punched in the chest.
"Amy?" Dean grabbed her arm, kept her steady.
She looked up at him. His face was tense as he scanned the narrow hallway. Over Dean's shoulder, she could see Sam step into the house and instantly stiffen.
Then the panic set in. She pulled free of Dean. "Rory?" she shouted, going into the living room, heart pounding in her throat. The couch and chairs were knocked out of place, and the photo display on the wall beside the door had been shattered, pictures of her, Rory, River, and the Doctor scattered across the floor. The far side of the room looked fine, so whatever had happened here-
"Amy?" The Doctor bounded up the front steps.
"Rory?" Amy shouted again.
No answer.
The Doctor's eyes widened as he saw the living room. "Well. That's not good."
"No really?" Dean said, his voice sharp. He had a gun in his hand, Amy realized. So did Sam. Where did they hide those things?
The Doctor looked at the weapons disapprovingly, but flicked out the sonic screwdriver and stared at it as the green bulb flickered. "There aren't any life signs...no, wait a moment."
"Amy?" Sam said from the hallway.
She looked back at him. Sam crouched near the front door, pointed at the floor underneath the row of coat pegs. Rory's jacket and bag lay there in a heap, like he'd been attacked when he was just coming in the door.
Something thumped upstairs. Sam and Dean both pointed their guns at the steps, and Dean started to go up them.
Amy's mind whirled. Rory, Rory, Rory...
The Doctor smacked the screwdriver against his palm. "That's odd..."
"Not too terribly, no," came a voice behind them.
Amy whirled, huffing as the Doctor's elbow glanced off her ribs. A dark-haired man stood in the kitchen doorway, hands in the pockets of his neat, fashionable suit. Both Winchesters immediately pointed their pistols at him.
"Doctor, Amy," he drawled. "So sorry to barge in like this." His dark eyes scanned the Winchesters, and a lazy grin curled one side of his mouth. "Hello, boys."
"Who are you?" Dean barked.
The Doctor's eyes narrowed. "More to the point-what are you?"
"I'm human. Just like them." The man gestured to Amy and the Winchesters. "Just like Rory. Not like you, I'm afraid."
"Where's Rory?" Amy demanded, taking a step toward him, hands clenching at her sides. "What did you do to him?"
The Doctor grabbed her arm and stepped in front of her. "You may look human, but you're not any sort of human I've ever run across, and trust me, I've seen a lot."
"Oh, I know you have. Seen a lot." The man widened his eyes and grinned broader. "It doesn't scare me, Doctor. None of you scare me."
Dean's lips twitched. "Oh, we should scare you, buddy." He flicked a glance at the Doctor. "You sure he ain't human?"
"Positive," the Doctor said darkly.
"Sam," Dean said.
With his free hand, Sam fumbled in his pocket and pulled out a silver flask. He flicked the stopper open with his thumb and splashed the newcomer's face.
"Holy water, how cute," the man said.
"Not a demon," Dean said to the Doctor. "Otherwise his face'd be lookin' like a lobster boil right about now. There's half a dozen other things he could be, though, and we won't know for sure until-"
"All right, well, this has been fun." The man straightened, and the grin disappeared. He looked straight at Amy, his face blank, his eyes half-shaded by his pale eyelids.
Amy shivered. "What do you want with Rory?" she whispered.
"Mum? Dad?" someone called from upstairs.
Everyone immediately looked up, Dean half-turning. The dark-eyed man pressed his lips together, annoyed.
Amy groaned and pressed her hands to her head. Why could River never just come in the front door? That was the trouble with having a daughter and a son-in-law who were time-travelers.
Before she could call out an answer, River appeared at the top of the stairs, one hand still on her time-vortex manipulator bracelet. At the sight of the short, dark-haired man, her eyes widened. "What's going on?"
The dark-haired man edged toward the front door, but Sam stepped in his way, shoving him back.
"River!" The Doctor grinned and waved. "Hullo! Just sorting out-"
River drew his pistol and aimed over Dean's head. Dean dropped immediately, arms wrapped around his head. River shot the intruder in the chest. He staggered back and slumped against the doorframe.
"Hey!" Dean roared.
"River!" Amy yelped.
"Sorry, Mom." River sauntered down the stairs, squeezed past Dean, and kissed the Doctor. "Hullo, sweetie."
The Doctor spluttered. "What-River! You know I don't-what were you-"
Dean caught Amy's eyes and held his hands up in a half-shrug, as if asking what was going on. Amy pushed past her daughter and son-in-law and crouched beside Sam, looking over the intruder's body. There was no blood, no wound. Sam pressed his fingers to the man's neck, then stood up.
"He's still alive," he said. "What exactly did you hit him with?"
River winked. "Special something I keep for emergencies."
Dean shook his head. "Just don't aim it over my head next time, sister."
"Oh, trust me, I wouldn't want to mess up that pretty-boy face of yours," River replied.
Amy had to laugh at the way both brothers looked thoroughly disconcerted. River flicked a strand of wildly-curly blond hair over her shoulder and stepped past Amy to the man's other side. She nudged his shoulder, then started searching the pockets of his suit.
"River!" The Doctor admonished. "You can't just go rummaging through someone's pockets like that!"
River paused and looked up at him. "Do you know who this man is?"
"Can't say as I've run into him before, no," the Doctor said.
She looked down at Amy. "Mum? Tell me you know who this man is."
Amy studied the fine-featured face. He did look familiar, now that River mentioned it. Amy racked her brain.
"Oh, for heaven's-" River shook her head. "Jim Moriarty?"
The name rang a bell. "Not the one who broke into the Tower a couple of years ago?"
"Wait...Moriarty?" Sam said. "As in, the Sherlock Holmes Moriarty?"
"You heard of that, did you?" Amy asked, looking up at him.
"Yeah, it was big news even in America." Sam leaned over her shoulder, studying the man. "Can't believe I didn't recognize him right away. I thought he was dead."
"So did the rest of the world," River muttered.
"Okay, I'm missing something," Dean said. "Who is this guy?"
River straightened, something clutched in her hands. "Have you been living under a rock the last three years, Dean?"
Dean backed away a step, hand going back to the gun in his pocket. "How do you know my name? No one said it. I don't know you, do I? We didn't-"
"Please, you're not my type," River said dismissively. She stood up and offered Sam a square piece of paper-a photograph, Amy realized. "You say you don't know this man? Well, he sure knows who you two are."
Sam gasped. "I lost this back in my first year of college!"
Amy looked at the photo. Two boys stood in front of a blurry wooden cabin, the older one holding a beer bottle in one hand, his free arm slung over the shoulders of his brother. The faces were younger, the grins genuine, the eyes not so world-weary and shadowed, and the younger brother's hair curled over his eyes, but Amy recognized them immediately. Sam turned the picture over, and Amy saw a neat notation in pencil-Dean and I. Summer 2000.
"How-how did he have that?" Dean demanded, turning to the Doctor. "I have no freakin' clue who this guy is! How did he have a picture of Sammy and me?"
"Jim Moriarty," the Doctor repeated. "He brought down the great Sherlock Holmes-a private detective, very good, regular genius. Moriarty's a genius too, Sherlock's perfect match. They were both dead, supposedly, but Sherlock revealed himself again not all that long ago. And now-" His eyes narrowed as he looked over at River, who stood quietly in the doorway of the kitchen, her hands tucked behind her back. "What's going on?"
River pursed her lips. "You sent me back here."
"I did? Why? Where am I?" the Doctor asked.
"What does this have to do with Rory?" Amy demanded.
"How-" Dean started.
River held up the vortex manipulator on her arm. "Time-traveler. Now hush and listen. You need to go talk to John and Sherlock. Do it soon, and hurry. Things are getting bad where we're at-and no, Dean, I can't tell you, it would mess up too much, and then I might not show up to save you here."
Dean's face scrunched, but he kept his mouth shut.
River leaned over and gave the Doctor a quick kiss. "Be careful. And for heaven's sake, see if you can keep Dean from clocking Sherlock this time. Those cheekbones don't deserve a bruise like that. I'll see you in a few days." She pressed a button on the vortex manipulator and vanished.
"She didn't say what this has to do with Rory," Amy murmured, rubbing her arms. She felt cold, now that the danger was over. She shifted her weight, realized she was standing in a scattering of glass. "Some days, I'm not sure it's worth having children who are time travelers."
"That-that was your daughter?" Sam said.
Amy nodded. "It's weird, like the Doctor said."
"Wow," Dean muttered, rubbing his face. "Okay. Time travel. I have a killer headache now." He looked at the Doctor. "What's next?"
The Doctor smiled. "We'll do what she said. Let's go find Holmes and Watson!" He spun around and hurried out the door, back to the TARDIS.
"I swear, he's enjoying this," Dean muttered.
Amy sighed and followed them out the door, casting one last glance over her shoulder at the pile of Rory's things. I'm coming for you, she thought. Just like you came for me. Please, Rory, wherever you are-be safe.
