DISCLAIMER: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC and their writers. I am getting no financial reward from this, I am merely borrowing the premise and characters for my own enjoyment and yours too hopefully.

Author's Note: Well here it is folks, the chapter where I desecrate cannon with glee. :D Sorry to say though that I'm not a hundred percent sure as to how I'm going to explain away River Song, I mean I know what I'm going to do I'm just not sure that it's the right course of action and... I'm babbling. I don't have to write THAT particular scene for a while yet. Anyhoo this is the longest chapter to date so if you like or even if you don't, please leave a review!

Chapter Twenty-One: By the Hand of Captain Avery

The Doctor was somewhat disappointed. He had wanted to take Amy somewhere new, somewhere very exciting, but when he got a sharp distress call from somewhere in the past he knew that he had to investigate. "It's alright Doctor," she had assured as the TARDIS settled down in the storage of the mysterious ship. "Helping people is what you do... and that usually ends up being pretty exciting anyways."

And the Doctor knew that Amelia Pond was right. Helping people is what he did do, what he had always done. While the vast majority of the Time Lords had been willing to sit back and watch the universe spin, the Doctor had always been compelled to do something more with his life and the lives of those he encountered. Such a thing wasn't without pain, he knew that— he had lost too many friends and companions to count but he knew that wherever he went, helping people was what he was meant to do.

So the Doctor and Amy left the TARDIS in the storage compartment of the old wooden ship and made their way up on deck— or at least they tried to. The doors were sealed shut and so the Doctor implored Amy to be quiet and for the first time she actually listened to him. They stood at the door while the Doctor fiddled with his sonic screwdriver, unawares that on the other side of that door there were men frightened out of their wits and then there was the strange singing and the mist that seemed to hold the ship in it's grasp.

Finally Amy had had enough of waiting. "Why don't we just knock?"

And the Doctor couldn't argue with her, it was a most brilliant suggestion and so they knocked on the door until the doors burst open of their own accord leaving Amy and the Doctor to be staring up at a bunch of fearsome pirates.

"Yo ho ho!" the Doctor exclaimed heartily until he realized the looks on the faces of the men who were staring down at him. "Or does nobody actually say that?" he asked again, looking rather guiltily at Amy.

"You both will come to the Captain's Cabin," one man with a beard stated, seemingly to be in charge. "There you'll explain everything."

"So what do you want to know?" the Doctor asked once they were ushered into the tiny cabin.

"What are you doing here in the middle of nowhere?" the Captain asked. "You weren't with us when we left port, I know that much."

"You signalled," the Doctor answered simply.

"We made no signal."

"Our sensors picked you up," the Doctor added. "Ship in distress."

The Captain looked curiously at him. "Sensors?"

"Yes," he replied, and then he realized just why the Captain of the ship was looking at him with such a confused look on his face. "Right, problem world. Seventeenth Century, My ship automatically er noticed, that your ship was having some bother."

"That big blue crate?" the Captain asked. While his men lead the two strangers to his cabin, he had taken a quick look in the storage and could not help but notice the strange blue box that had not been there the last tie that he had checked.

The Doctor snapped his fingers and then had to listen while one of the pirates who was in the room said that it was more magic. And the Doctor had to assure them that they were not magic but just scientific.

"Look," he amended realizing that his manners were most certainly lacking. "I'm the Doctor and this is my companion Amy. We're pirates, same as you. Arggg!"

The Doctor turned to look at the pirates behind them and then when he turned back to face Captain Avery he realized that the an was holding a gun at his head. "What is with people and the trying to shoot me," the Doctor wondered aloud, thinking back to how back in the White House he had faced the same thing.

"You're stowaways," the Captain Avery stated with a grimace. "It's the only explanation. Eight days we've been stranded here, Becalmed. You must have stowed away before we sailed, but I don't know how..."

"What do we do with 'em?" one of the pirates asked.

"Oh, I think they deserve our hospitality."

...

The next thing the Doctor and Amy knew, they were standing on the ships deck, Amy was back being held captive by the pirates while the Doctor was standing at the edge of the plank which jutted over the side of the ship like a deadly diving board. The Doctor looked genuinely frightened to Amy and the pirates just laughed.

"I suppose that laughing like this is in the job description," the Doctor stated as he tried to lighten his fear. "Can you do the laugh?" he asked, pretending that he was conducting an interview. "Check. Grab yourself a parrot. Welcome aboard."

"The Stocks are low," Captain Avery stated. "Only one barrel of water remains. We don't need two more empty bellies to fill. Take the lady below to the galley. Set her to work. She won't need much feeding."

"Get your grubby hands off of me," Amy exclaimed as she struggled against the pirates who were leading her away from the Doctor.

"Amelia!" the Doctor yelled, but it was too late. His companion had been taken down below the deck.

As soon as she was led to the galley, the pirates left Amy alone and she instantly started looking around and eventually she found a chest that was filled with swords. She took one out and instantly liked the feel of it. She then grabbed a long coat and a tricorn hat for fun figuring if she was going to act like a pirate and save the Doctor's life she might as well look like one.

...

"Where's the rest of the crew?" the Doctor asked curiously. "This is a big ship. Big for the five of you. I suppose that the rest of them are hinding someplace, and their going to jump out and shout 'boo' any minute now."

"Boo!" came Amy's voice and they all turned to see her pointing a sword at Captain Avery's throat. "Throw the gun down," she ordered watching as the Captain did as she asked. 'And the rest of you on your knees."

"What are you doing Pond?" the Doctor asked curiously.

"Saving your life," Amy retorted. "You okay with that?"

"Put down the sword," Captain Avery asked. "A sword could kill us all girl."

"Yep thanks," Amy replied cheerfully. "That's why I'm pointing it at you."

"Amy..." the Doctor warned, suddenly feeling as though something was terribly wrong with the pirate ship. "I think that you should let the good Captain go."

Amy shook her head. "Not until he lets you go."

"Off of the plank with you," the Captain ordered. "Quickly now."

The pirates backed away, letting the Doctor to return to the relative safety of the deck but as soon as he did so, one of the pirates got a little jumpy and went at Amy brandishing nothing more than a wooden handle. The Doctor wanted to help Amy, but to his utmost surprise she was able to handle herself and the weapon with ease and she even managed to cut one of the pirates.

"You have killed me," he stated melodramatically.

"It's just a cut," Amy replied. "What kind of rubbish pirates are you?"

"One drop," the Captain stated wearily. "That's all it takes. One drop of blood and she will rise out of the ocean."

"Come on," Amy asked, feeling as though her image of pirates would be ruined forever if they acted like nothing more than big babies. "I barely even scratched him. What are you all in a such a huff about?"

Another pirate approached Amy and she defended herself, however this time she fumbled with the sword and ended up cutting herself and watched in horror as a black spot appeared on her hand.

"Doctor?" she asked, suddenly feeling very scared. "What's happening to e?"

"She can smell the blood on your skin," Avery stated. "She's marked you for death."

The Doctor was at Amy's side, scanning her palm anxiously with his sonic when Captain Avery said more.

"A demon, out there in the ocean."

As if on cue, a song began to be sung and the one pirate who had been cut was walking dangerously towards the edge of the ship. All eyes watched as an eerie woman walked towards them and stole the pirate before their eyes.

The Doctor was fascinated with the creature but his fascination stopped when he realized that Amy was being drawn to the creature. "We need to get her out of here," the Doctor stated as he held her back. "Now."

"Down below," the Captain suggested. "It might save her."

...

Once below, Amy seemed to regain her senses for which the Doctor was extremely grateful. "What was that thing?" he asked.

"The legend," the Captain replied. "The Siren. Many a merchant ship, laden with treasure has fallen prey to her. She's been hunting us ever since we were becalmed, picking off the injured."

"Like a shark," one of the pirates stated. "She can smell blood."

"She's a shark, in a dress that sings and is green."

"The ship is cursed," Captain Avery stated.

The Doctor shook his head. "Cursed is a big word with humans but all it means is that you can't be bothered to find an explanation."

"Doctor," Amy began worriedly. "We should leave. Now."

"This box of yours, is a ship?" Avery asked.

The Doctor nodded. "Through not propelled by the wind."

"Then show me," the Captain ordered as one of his men cried out.

"It's a leech!" Amy remarked worriedly.

"Don't worry," the Doctor assured. "She won't get in."

But as soon as he had said that, he heard singing.

The Doctor turned around. "Hello there."

The pirate that had been injured by the leech walked past the Doctor and was killed by the Siren, and Amy would have followed except the Doctor held her back.

"Storage!" Captain Avery ordered. "Now!"

...

"Are we safe now?" Amy asked, quickly coming back to herself.

"Think so," the Doctor answered.

"How did she get in?" the Captain asked.

The Doctor looked around and then realized something. "The bilge water, she's using the water like a portal... a door. She can materialize through a single drop. We need to go somewhere with no water."

"We're in the middle of the ocean!" Amy pointed out dryly.

"The magazine," Captain Avery suggested.

"The where?" asked Amy.

"The armoury, where the powder is stored," the Doctor explained.

"Dry as a bone," Avery assured.

"Well then let's go there," Amy stated. "I don't like her."

...

Once in the magazine, Captain Avery gave the order to barricade the door and to be careful with the lantern. He didn't want one of his few remaining pirates blowing them all to hell. And then they head a cough. The Doctor, the pirates and Amy looked around and they encountered a small boy, who was the Captain son.

"I've come to join your crew," the boy stated.

Avery shook his head. "I don't want you here."

"You can't send me back. We're a hundred miles from hoe."

"It's dangerous," Avery countered. "There's a monster aboard who leaves a mark on the skin."

"The black spot?" the boy asked as he held out his hand coughing as he did so. Up until that moment the Doctor had been working under the assumption that the siren went after blood but with the appearance of the boy he realized that the siren must be after those who are injured and / or sick. And the Doctor realized that the only way to save the boy and everyone else was to get off the ship, but that required the TARDIS.

Captain Avery decided that he would go with the Doctor to get his blue box, and Amy pulled the Doctor aside as the Captain was giving orders to his remaining crew.

"Sure you want to go?" she asked.

"We've got to get Toby and you away from here."

"Agreed," Amy stated. "But don't scratch any itches too hard."

The Doctor gave her a wry smile. "We've all got to go sometime."

Amy gulped and wrapped her arms around the Doctor.

"I'll be careful," he assured as he hugged her back. "Promise."

...

The Doctor went after the TARDIS with the Captain and quickly found that there was something wrong with her and was completely panicked when she vanished completely. "Not much of a Captain without a ship are you?" Captain Avery mocked.

And as far as Amy was concerned, she was fine just sitting with the boy. Then they heard a pounding at the door, it was the Doctor and the Captain, going on about something about reflections.

Amy let the Doctor and the Captain in before helping them to destroy everything with a reflection. But they didn't count on the Captain's greed and it nearly cost them all their lives.

Amy was taken by the creature, falling off the side of the ship and into the water. The Doctor wanted to race after her but he realized that the only way to get his Amy back was to be taken by the siren himself. And so the Captain and the Doctor cut their hands, and found themselves taken by the Siren.

...

"Where are we?" Captain Avery asked as he and the Doctor awoke.

"We haven't moved," the Doctor stated. "We're in the same place."

"A ghost ship," Avery murmured.

The Doctor shook his head. "This is real. This ship is trapped."

"Two ships in the same place?" Avery asked.

"Not same place, different planes. Two worlds, side by side like on the other side of a mirror."

Avery nodded. "I believe I understand."

The Doctor and Avery explored the ship and eventually stumbled upon the sickbay. Avery saw that his men were alive, as was his son and the Doctor was thankful to not only find his TARDIS but his beloved Amelia as well.

"They look well,"

"She's keeping them alive," the Doctor stated. "The black spot isn't a curse, it's a sample of tissue, to determine what's wrong."

Captain Avery went to his son while the Doctor went to Amy. He managed to wake her up but was stopped by the Siren. His mind worked furiously, trying to figure out why he wasn't aloud to help her. He then realized that he had to prove that he would accept responsibility for her condition.

"I love her," the Doctor pleaded. "Please. Understand."

The siren stared at the Doctor before holding out something, which he then realized was a consent form, and the Doctor willingly placed his hand in the light. The siren vanished and Amy woke up again.

"Where am I?" she asked.

"You're in a hospital," the Doctor replied. "If you leave, you might die and if you stay, you'll stay forever and the Siren will keep you safe."

Amy blinked back tears. "And if I come with you?"

"Drowning," he answered honestly. "To the point of death."

Amy took a deep breath and racked her brain, trying to figure out what to do. "Rory," she stated finally.

"Rory?" the Doctor asked.

"He's a nurse."

"So?"

"He taught me things," Amy replied. "I can teach you how to save my life."

"Wait,"

"If I was drowning you'll have to preform CPR on me."

"But Amy..."

"It's the kiss of life," she interrupted. "Press down on my chest and breath into my lungs, and make sure that you plug my nose too. You can do it."

"But I've never done it before."

Amy just smiled at him. "When has that ever stopped you."

"What if you don't come back to life?" the Doctor asked. "What then?"

"I trust you," Amy assured.

"But why do we have to do this?"

"Because you've saved me a hundred times already," Amy replied softly. "You can save me again."

The Doctor gripped Amy's hand trying to decide what to do. Part of him just wanted to leave her on the ship where she'd be safe and alive, but the other part of him couldn't let that happen. And so he nodded. "Okay," he stated. "Just give me a second."

The Doctor turned and walked to the Captain. "We have to send this ship back into space. If she got ashore, she would have to help every injured human."

"And what about my son?" Avery asked.

"Typhoid fever," the Doctor stated honestly. "I'm sorry. Once he returns it's only a matter of time."

"And if I stay with him?"

"You want to leave your world behind?" the Doctor asked.

"Nothing's left for me there," Avery stated. "And what home does he have now if not with me?"

The Doctor nodded. "Do you think that you can sail this thing?"

Avery smiled. "Just point me to the atom accelerator."

The Doctor nodded. "Just let me save Amy first."

"Course."

The Doctor walked over to Amy and held her hand.

"Ready?" he asked.

Amy nodded. "I know that you can do this. Course if you much it up, I'll be really cross with you."

The Doctor gave her the best smile that he could muster. "Love you." he stated as he leaned down and kissed her forehead.

"Love you too," she whispered.

With his two hearts racing, the Doctor unhooked Amy from the device and lifted her into his arms. She was gasping for breath and by the time he laid her on the floor of the ship, she wasn't breathing at all. The Doctor did as she had told him. He pushed down on her chest and then blew into her mouth, trying to expel the water from them. Then he repeated the process.

"Come on Amy," he pleaded. "Not this way. Not today."

The Doctor repeated the process a third time.

"Come on Amy, come on."

The Doctor repeated CPR for a fourth time.

"Wake up Amy," he begged. "Wake up. Wake up!"

The Doctor did CPR on her for a fifth and finally a sixth time before he began to realize that she wasn't coming back to him. The one human he had confessed his love to and she was gone. The Doctor choked back sobs and pulled Amy towards him.

"Sorry," he apologized, feeling as though his hearts were well and truly breaking. "So sorry," but as soon as he apologized for failing her, Amy began coughing up water. As soon as she was fully conscious, she sought out the Doctor's face and stared at him in amazement.

"You did it!" she exclaimed as she thew her arms around his neck. "Oh Doctor, you did it."

"Amy," he murmured burying his face in her hair. "My Amy."

"Thank you Doctor," she sobbed. "Thank you."

Captain Avery stood looking at the pair, before he coughed to signal attention. The Doctor looked up and realized that he had to show the good Captain / Pirate a few things. "Right uh, Amy will you be okay for a little bit?"

Amy nodded and took a deep breath. "I'm not going anywhere."

...

Once the Doctor showed the Captain how to pilot the ship and what to do if something broke down. For added help, the Doctor programmed a new hologram to act as a mechanic and once they were ready to set sail for the stars, the Doctor turned to Avery.

"Captain if you please, I've got one more favour to ask of you."

"Anything Doctor," Avery assured.

...

The Doctor made his way back to Amy and helped her off up the ground. "Amy," he began quietly. "I'd like to do one thing before we go."

"Yeah?" she asked curiously. "What's that."

The Doctor leaned forward and whispered in her ear. "Marry me."

Amy stood back, and stared wide eyed at the Doctor. "What?"

"I almost lost you just now," he stated, completely vulnerable and suddenly afraid that Amy didn't want him. "I don't want to lose you ever... and I want you to be my wife."

For Amy she couldn't believe what she was hearing and so she said nothing. "But I'm... I'm human," she stated.

"Don't you love me?" he asked, fearful.

"Course I do," Amy assured as her mind tried to process what he was saying.

"Then..."

"But I'm human," Amy repeated suddenly well aware of her own mortality. "You're a Time Lord you'll live..." she paused and thought back to what River told her before finishing the sentence anyways. "You'll live forever."

"Not forever," the Doctor assured. "Just, a very long time."

"Longer than me," Amy countered.

The Doctor shook his head. "Living as many lives as I have, seeing as many people go... it's heartbreaking yes but what would be more heartbreaking would to not be by your side and to have you not be by mine. I love you Amelia Pond. Marry me?"

Amy had to blink back the tears. "Yes," she cried. "I'll marry you."

The Doctor's face broke out into a huge grin and then he kissed her.

...

Once all the pirates and Toby were awake, Captain Avery stood before them all with Amy and the Doctor standing before him. They had both gone to the TARDIS closet to get clothing more suited to a wedding. The Doctor wore a top hat and tails while Amy wore a short yet elegant lace white dress.

"It's not very often that I get to join two souls together in marriage," he stated fondly. "And it's even rarer that I get to do it in such a strange environment but I know that Amy and the Doctor have brave hearts. They have faced the impossible and come through it stronger than ever. No two people are better suited for each other as they are and they are going to speak from the heart and exchange their vows."

"Amy," the Doctor began quietly. "You are the most remarkable human that I've ever met and more than that you're the girl who waited... and I'm glad that you did because you managed to capture my hearts and soul completely. I love you and I will love you, forever."

Amy choked back tears and bit her lip before she spoke. "Doctor," she began with a quivering voice. "My raggedy Doctor. You dropped in from the sky in that mad blue box of yours and changed my world. Yes, you made me wait for fourteen years but you're right it was well worth the wait. Every day that passed made me love you more and I am so thankful that you have brought me into your world. I love you Doctor. I always have and I always will and while I know that my forever won't be as long as yours, I will love you forever."

Captain Avery smiled at the happy couple. "I don't suppose that you have a ring?" he asked.

The Doctor looked surprised before realizing that he did. With a goofy grin he pulled them out. One was ladies size and the other was for him. The Doctor placed the gold band on Amy's finger saying "With this ring, I thee wed," and she repeated the process.

"Then, by the power that I have as Captain I am proud to announce you husband and wife you may kiss—"

But Captain Avery didn't have to finish his sentence because the Doctor and Amy were already kissing.

TBC