Chapter 12
"So, two thousand years. How did you do?" The Doctor asked as they hurried back into the museum reception.
"Kept out of trouble." Rory shrugged and Harriett raised her eyebrows, disbelieving.
"Oh. How?" The Doctor asked.
"Unsuccessfully." The Centurion admitted and Harriett laughed as the Doctor picked up a mop.
"The mop!" Amy Brookes cried, pointing at it. The Doctor turned back expectantly.
"That's how you looked all those years ago when you gave me the sonic." Rory filled in and he nodded, smiling widely.
"Ah. Well, no time to lose, then." He said before disappearing and Harriett rolled her eyes.
He reappeared a second later and slid the mop through the door to the Anomaly exhibit.
"Oops, sorry."
"How can he do that? Is he magic?" The young Amelia Pond asked and Amy (Brookes) smiled at the younger girl, as Harriett ran over and took the vortex manipulator off his wrist, grinning all the way. She hastily strapped it onto her own wrist and flicked a button; she disappeared.
"Wow! That is not as much fun as it looks!" Harriett exclaimed when she zapped back before she hit a button and disappeared again. The Doctor watched in slight shock and annoyance. Harriett pointed at Amy Brookes. 'You we're there!' She nodded knowledgeably.
Harriett reappeared for the second time and the Doctor snatched back the vortex manipulator and tapped a button. The Ponds (all three of them) were watching the scene with confused looks but Amy could barely contain her laughter knowing what had happened.
The Doctor reappeared again and Harriett smiled innocently at him, sneakily managing to take the vortex manipulator back and strapping it onto her own wrist.
"Right, let's go then" The Doctor grinned and the group started to move towards the stairs but he stopped and turned back to the others.
"Wait! Now I don't have the sonic. I just gave it Rory two thousand years ago." He pointed out and Harriett grinned.
"See you in a tick!" She called before disappearing again. This was getting annoying now.
"Right there you go, top pocket." Harriett smiled as she reappeared, and the Doctor grinned, waving his screwdriver about. Amy Brookes rolled her eyes while Harriett handed the vortex manipulator back to the Time Lord.
"Off we go!" He exclaimed before pausing. "No, hang on. How did you know to come here?" He asked the young Amelia, crouching down in front of her. She showed him a leaflet and post-it note, and he took it hastily.
"Hang on, this isn't my handwriting!" He said, shocked and slightly angry. His eyes slid over the group and landed on Harriett. She stuck her tongue out and batted her eyelids cheekily. Upon instruction from Amy Brookes she ran over to the information desk, grabbing a leaflet and post-it note, vanishing as she pressed a button on the device.
"There you go. Drink up." She grinned, handing Amelia back her drink the next time she appeared. She did the same for herself.
"What is that? How are you doing that?" Amy asked, now very confused.
"It's a vortex manipulator. Cheap and nasty time travel." The Doctor answered.
"Probably very bad for you and not as much fun as it looks." Harriett continued, pulling off the watch and tossing it back at the Doctor. He looked at it, contemplated for a moment and with a sharp nod reattached it to his arm.
"I'm trying to give it up." The Doctor concluded and Amy Pond shook her head at the pair.
"Where are we going?" She asked, fairly exasperated.
"The roof." The Doctor replied, beginning to move up the stairs. His tracks were cut short as another Doctor appeared at the top. His clothes were smoking and he wasn't wearing a fez.
"Doctor, it's you. How can it be you?" Rory asked. The two girls watched in silence as the future Doctor fell down the stairs, and landed near them in a heap.
"Doctor, is that you?" Amy Pond, the elder, asked, worry coating her tone.
"Yeah, it's me. Me from the future." He said quietly and the future Doctor suddenly shot up. Harriett jumped back in a start as he whispered in the now current Doctor's ear. The man fell back again for the final time.
"Are you? I mean, is he, is he dead?" Amy Pond questioned, trying to find the right way to say it - not that there was a right way to ask someone if their future self was dead or not. The others stood in silence.
"What? Dead? Yes, yes. Of course he's dead. Right, I've got twelve minutes. That's good." The Doctor said, standing up and walking away.
"Twelve minutes to live? How is that good?" Harriett demanded, stealing another of Amy's lines. This was getting repetitive now and Amy Brookes could only hope that her friend didn't blow a hole the size of Belgium in the universe – which in all probability wasn't very likely as the universe was currently so small it couldn't really fit anything else the size of Belgium in anymore. Nonetheless, her concern didn't ease. You never know, she told herself. For a few seconds she pondered whether she should be more concerned about the Doctor.
No, she decided. He'd be fine. She'd seen the future – so he'd be fine. Right?
"Oh, you can do loads in twelve minutes." The Doctor pointed out and Amy couldn't resist stealing the next few lines, regardless of the consequences.
"Suck a mint, buy a sledge, have a fast bath." She smirked and the Doctor rolled his eyes. "Or a shower," she added for her own peace of mind.
"Come on, the roof."
"We can't leave you here dead." Rory pointed out and the Doctor walked down towards them.
"Oh, good. Are you in charge now? So tell me, what are we going to do about Amelia?" He asked and everyone looked around expectantly.
"Where did she go?" Amy asked nervously.
"Amelia?" Rory called.
"There is no Amelia. From now on, there never was." The Doctor pointed out.
"History is still collapsing." Amy finished and Amy Pond frowned.
"But how can I still be here if she's not?"
"You're an anomaly. We all are. We're all just hanging on at the eye of the storm. But the eye is closing, and if we don't do something fast, reality will never have happened. Today, just dying is a result. Now, come on!" The Doctor explained hastily before running off, and the two girls followed.
"Move it, come on!" Harriett called when she realised that the Ponds weren't following them.
"What, it's morning already? How did that happen?" Amy Pond asked as they reached the roof and Harriett rolled her eyes, sighing.
"History is shrinking." She pointed out. "Is anybody listening?" Amy Brookes' hand shot into the air. It dropped awkwardly when Harriett shook her head at the girl.
"The universe is collapsing. We don't have much time left." The Doctor explained, grabbing a satellite dish off its pole.
"What are you doing?" Rory asked, frowning.
"Looking for the Tardis." Amy answered for him, nodding.
"But the Tardis exploded." Rory stated, looking bewildered.
"Well fine then, we're looking for an exploding Tardis." Harriett said, rolling her eyes. Amy nodded at her approvingly.
"Aha," she grinned. "I've taught you well."
"I don't understand. So, the Tardis blew up and took the universe with it. But why would it do that? How?" Amy Pond asked and the Doctor half shrugged.
"Good question for another day. The question for now is, total event collapse means that every star in the universe never happened. Not one single one of them ever shone." The Doctor started to explain.
"So, if all the stars that ever were are gone, then what is that?" Amy asked pointing to what most people assumed was the 'sun'.
"Like I said, I'm looking for an exploding Tardis." The Doctor said softly.
"But that's the sun." Rory pointed out and Harriett sighed.
"Rory, the sun is a star. All the stars in the universe never happened." Harriett pointed out and his frown deepened, even more confused.
"Here's the noise that sun is making right now." The Doctor said, pointing the screwdriver at the dish; the Tardis noise filled the air but it didn't sound as good as it probably should.
"That's my Tardis burning up. That's what's been keeping the Earth warm." The Doctor said quietly but Rory's frown grew.
"Doctor, there's something else." He pointed out. "There's a voice. Well, actually it sounds like two voices."
Harriett's heart dropped.
"I can't hear anything." Amy Pond said and the other Amy grinned to herself, despite her worrying – she loved this line.
"Trust the plastic." Amy said at the same time as the Centurion and he gave her a look – she sniggered as Harriett rolled her eyes. The Doctor ignored them and changed the frequency on the screwdriver.
"I'm sorry, my love. I'm sorry, girls. I'm sorry, my love. I'm sorry, girls. I'm sorry, my love. I'm sorry, girls." Grace's and River's voices were overlapping but they could both be heard clear as day.
"Doctor, that's River and Grace. How can they be up there?" Amy Pond asked as Harriett and Amy fought back tears for their friend. Amy slid an arm across her friend's shoulder reassuringly.
"It must be like a recording or something." Rory assumed but Amy Brookes shook her head.
"It's not. The Tardis has sealed off the control room and put them into a time loop to save them." Amy explained.
"Of course, the emergency protocols. They are right at the heart of the explosion." The Doctor finished.
"I'm sorry, my love. I'm sorry girls. I'm sorry, my love. I'm sorry girls. I'm sorry, my love. I'm sorry girls."
