A/N: new chappie! enjoy!
Chapter 25: Death
"So you think you're gonna come with us, just like that?" Amy Two questioned as the pair of Amys, the pair of Olivias and Rory raced down the stairs of the facility.
"Yeah, just like that," Amy One retorted.
"Rory, talk to her."
"Rory, talk to her."
"Now, ladies," Rory pleaded as they continued on.
"Does she really think—?"
"Yup," Olivia One nodded, knowing what Olivia Two's question was.
"And the Doctor said—?"
"Yes, he did."
"What an idiot."
"I know."
"Oi, stop talking about me," the Doctor's voice rang in Olivia Two's head, making her stop at the bottom of the stairs.
"Theta?!" she thought with a grin.
"Come on!" Amy One called.
"I've got her," Olivia One assured them, grabbing Olivia Two's hand to drag her after them as she spoke to the Doctor.
"Theta, are you really gonna take both Amys?! You know the TARDIS can't sustain that big of a paradox!"
"I try to be romantic and caring by contacting you the first chance I get and you give me a scolding?"
"Theta, old Amy is gonna go mental."
"I know."
"Where are you gonna live?" Amy Two questioned as they continued through the underbelly of the facility.
"Not with you," Amy One retorted. "Don't worry. I'll go traveling, pop back for Christmas, maybe Easter."
"Amy, you always say, cooking Christmas dinner, you wish there were two of you," Rory recalled as they found the departure gate and both Olivia's pulled out their Sonics to use it to lock the door, but they smirked at each other as Olivia One stepped back toward Rory and the Amys to let Olivia Two lock it. "Can't we just teleport in?"
"It's not a teleport," Amy One explained as Olivia One leaned over the console of buttons. "It's a time jump."
"We can't jump within the same timestream," Amy Two added.
"Yes."
"The TARDIS is in the gallery," Rory reported as the Handbots started pounding on the door.
"Gallery closed," Interface said.
"The controls aren't responding," Olivia One ground out, pressing the buttons. "It's stuck. Locked from the outside."
"Can you unlock them?" Rory asked as Amy One stepped toward the console.
"Yeah, give me a minute and your cutest smile," she smirked, making Olivia One step away with her hands raised as Olivia Two rolled her eyes as Rory chuckled at her. "That's the one."
"Can you stop flirting with me?" Rory pleaded with Amy One. "You're old enough to be my—"
"I've known you my whole life. How many games of doctors and nurses? Don't get coy now."
"We have a problem!" Olivia Two called as all the doors suddenly opened and Handbots hobbled in through each one of them. Rory used the Sonic on the button leading to the gallery and the door opened, letting them all run through. Future Amy and Olivia went in fighting as Rory and the other girls ran around the Handbots as others dropped around them as their future selves cleared the way.
"Come on!" Rory called when he and past Olivia and Amy were ahead.
"Go!" Amy One shouted. "We've got your back!"
They were nearly to the TARDIS when one of the Handbots surprised Amy Two and touched her neck, sending her to the floor, unconscious. Rory hurried toward her and lifted her as Olivia Two used the dagger and her Sonic to take out the Handbots around them.
"Get her to the TARDIS!" she told Rory. "I've got you covered!"
"Amy! Look out!" Olivia One shouted at Amy One, shoving her out of the way to take the dart that had been shot at Amy in the neck.
"No!" Amy shouted before slicing through the last Handbot with her sword then hurried toward Olivia as she sank to the floor, holding her neck.
Olivia Two opened the door of the TARDIS to let Rory carry Amy Two inside, laying her on the floor as the Doctor hurried toward them to place his long coat over Amy and look her over.
"It's just an anesthetic. She'll be fine," he assured Rory before hurrying to the door to see Amy One sitting with Olivia One reclined back against her.
"There he is," Olivia One smiled, weakly, the medicine running through her system killing her slowly. "My Doctor. My Highwayman. He's standing there in that blue box…and there I am, right next to him."
"Olivia, you can't die," Amy shuddered. "We're going with them."
"No, I'm not," Olivia breathed, looking up at her with glazed eyes. "And neither are you."
Amy frowned before looking up at the Doctor who was staring at them, and she could see the look in his eyes. Olivia's head fell to the side as her eyes closed in death and Amy shoved her away as she scrambled to her feet and shot toward the TARDIS.
"I'm sorry," the Doctor said quickly just before he slammed the door in Amy's face when she reached it.
"What are you doing?" Rory snapped.
"I lied to her, Rory," the Doctor confessed as Amy pounded on the door. "There can never be two Amys in the TARDIS. The paradox was too massive."
"You can't leave her. She'll die!"
"No, Rory, she'll never have existed," Olivia explained. "When we save our Amy none of this will have happened."
"She happened! She's there!" Rory argued.
"She's not real," Olivia shook her head.
"She is real," Rory ground out, stepping toward the door where the two stood. "Let her in."
"Look, we take this Amy we leave ours," the Doctor explained. "There can only be one Amy in the TARDIS! Which one do you want?!" He took Rory's hand and placed it on the lock of the door. "Your choice."
"This isn't fair," Rory growled. "You're turning me into you."
"Your choice," the Doctor repeated before heading toward the console as Rory's eyes went to Olivia.
"You knew, didn't you?" he ground out. "Your future self and you knew."
"Of course I did, Rory," she replied. "Why do you think my older self refused to be apart of it?"
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I did. But neither of you would listen. You saw what happened with the glasses just by having our pasts and futures in the same room, and you still wouldn't listen."
Rory looked up at the window when he saw Amy's hand come up and rest on the glass.
"You wanted to grow old with her," Olivia recalled, heading toward the console. "That's why you married her."
Olivia stepped up next to the Doctor at the console and before she could say a word, he turned to her and threw his arms around her, pulling her close.
"Theta—?"
"Quiet, Liv," he whispered, holding onto her so tightly she almost couldn't breathe, and she wrapped her arms around him in return, not saying a word.
Just as quickly as he'd grabbed her, he released her when Rory stepped toward the console. Olivia stumbled back, staring at the Doctor as he flew the TARDIS. The telltale sound of the engines filled the control room as he and Rory stared at Amy, lying on one of the seats from the bottom of the stairs.
"Did you always know it would never work, saving both Amys?" Rory asked the Doctor, and Olivia looked to them from the console as he gave a smile.
"I promised you I'd save her, and there she is," he finally replied, nodding to Amy. "Safe."
The Doctor stood and stepped toward Olivia to take her hand and pull her toward a set of stairs leading down, but stopped when he heard Amy stir and looked to her just as she looked at him, Rory standing to sit with her. The Doctor stuck his tongue out at Amy, making her frown in wonder before giving a weak chuckle.
"We'll leave you two alone," Olivia smiled, pulling on the Doctor's arm but he remained in his spot.
"You alright?" Rory hoped and Amy nodded. "How are you feeling?"
"Where is she?" Amy asked, making Rory look up at the Doctor but he turned and pulled Olivia with him deeper into the TARDIS.
"I knew you'd get us out of there," she smiled as they rounded a corner. "Even though it went wrong, I knew you'd fix it. You always fix it."
He pulled her through a door and she gasped when he threw his arms around her again, giving her no time to see what room they were in as he held her tightly, pinning himself between her and the wall next to the door.
"Theta, what's wrong?" she murmured, wrapping her arms around him to run her fingers through his hair.
"I saw you die, Liv," he shuddered against her ear, making her frown in confusion.
"I'm right here, my love," she whispered, neither one letting the other go. "I'm alive."
"Not you," he replied. "The older you, back there."
Olivia sighed in realization, hugging him tighter and nuzzling her face into his shoulder.
"But she wasn't real," she whispered. "That never happened. I didn't die. I'm right here. And those years I spent there never happened because now I get to spend those years with you."
"I never want to see that again, Liv. I never want to see you die and be powerless to stop it. It won't happen."
"Of course it won't. My Highwayman will never be powerless to save me."
His hands came up to grab her face and pull her lips onto his. She could feel everything he was feeling in that kiss, and she felt the tears he'd shed against his cheeks and lips as she kissed him back, trying to comfort him. She set her forehead against his as his thumbs stroked her cheeks.
"What room are we in?" she asked.
"No idea," he admitted, making her giggle.
"As usual. Where are we going next?"
"No idea."
"As usual."
Later...
Olivia giggled as she looked at the screen of the scanner in the control room of the TARDIS.
"Try another one," she grinned, and the scanner beeped then stopped and she giggled again. "Another one."
The Doctor strolled down the stairs to the control room, frowning when he saw Olivia on the other side, focusing on the scanner.
"Oh, that one's so cute! She's ginger!" Olivia giggled, making the Doctor's frown deepen as he approached the console.
"Liv, what are you doing?" he asked, making her gasp and switch the scanner off just as he stepped up behind her and she turned to him with wide eyes.
"Nothing," she blurted.
"You're lying," he retorted, reaching for the scanner to turn it on but she slapped his hand away, gently.
"Fine, I'm lying, but don't look at what I was looking at," she blurted. "It's only gonna freak you out."
The screen blipped on by itself, making Olivia stare at it with wide eyes as the Doctor stepped in front of it to look at it.
"Hey! Who's side are you on?!" she squeaked at the TARDIS before trying to move the scanner away but the Doctor wrapped his arms around her, over her arms to pin them to her sides as he looked at the screen.
"Who's this little girl?" he wondered, frowning at the screen before looking down at Olivia as she looked to the console, fiddling with a switch in front of her while he still held her.
"It…could be our daughter," she murmured, making his frown disappear as his eyes widened before he looked to the screen again, letting Olivia go.
"Oh, she's gorgeous!" he grinned, making her frown at him as he stared at the screen, still grinning. "She's ginger! She's adorable, really. How'd you do this?"
"Well, the TARDIS compiled all your regenerations and my own image and combined them to make several images of what our children might look like," Olivia replied, stepping closer to him. "If you like that one, you should see the one before it."
The screen changed to the previous picture to show a little girl with black curls and big blue eyes, resembling Olivia very much.
"Oh, I like this one," he nodded, wrapping his arms around Olivia to pull her in front of him and rest his chin on her shoulder. "Look at those curls! And that smile is so sweet! She looks just like you."
"It's just one of an impossible number of possibilities," Olivia smiled. "I have a feeling she'll be more like you. I won't be able to keep up with her."
"You will," he grinned. "You've kept up with me this long, haven't you? A little tike with my genius won't be too hard to run after."
"It'll be worse," Olivia blurted.
"Will it now?" he smirked before his hands came down to her stomach and ribs to tickle them, making her scream in delight and try to escape him, but he held her tightly.
"Theta! Stop!" she laughed, before finally breaking free of his grasp and running around the console as Amy and Rory trotted down the stairs.
"What's going on?" Amy frowned in wonder, watching Olivia and the Doctor run around the console before stopping on either side and when the Doctor made for one side, Olivia moved in the opposite direction.
"This is a matter between husband and wife, Amy," the Doctor replied, rushing around the console, hoping to catch Olivia off guard but she laughed as she ran around the console and ducked behind Amy and Rory.
"Oh, please, we don't need to be apart of your twisted shenanigans," Amy shot back as Olivia kept herself hidden behind Rory and the Doctor stopped in front of them.
"It's not what you think," he assured her. "You're harboring a fugitive, Rory. If you know what's good for you give her up."
"You'll never take me alive!" Olivia giggled.
"Whatever she's promised you, it's all rubbish," the Doctor shot back.
"Ok, I don't know what to do, now," Rory admitted.
"What are the charges?" Amy questioned, crossing her arms in front of her.
"Count the first: insinuating that our offspring, hers and mine, would be, like me, a handful," the Doctor replied. "Worse then me."
"Well, that's not a crime, that's truth," Rory shrugged.
"Your case is dismissed," Amy added.
"Formal protest," the Doctor called, raising his hand high in the air.
"Denied," Amy retorted, heading down the stairs toward the console.
"Ha ha! I have lawyers!" Olivia grinned, wrapping an arm around Rory's arm as he escorted her down the stairs.
"The wives always get the good lawyers," the Doctor muttered before turning to the console.
"So, where we going now?" Amy wondered, standing at the console as Olivia and the Doctor ran around it to fly the TARDIS.
"Let's go to Ravenscala!" the Doctor grinned. "The people are six hundred feet tall! You have to talk to them in hot air balloons, and the tourist information center's made of one of their hats!"
"That sounds like a serious case of hat hair," Olivia blurted, making Amy giggle before the Doctor slammed a lever down then grabbed Olivia's hand to drag her toward the door, Amy and Rory following.
Olivia frowned when she stepped out of the TARDIS door and into a 1980s style hallway in a 1980s style hotel…or at least what looked like one. She went to the railing of a spiral staircase, along with an excited Doctor and a confused Amy and Rory.
"I'm sorry, but I don't see any huge hats," Amy observed as the Doctor came up between her and Rory.
"Amy, Beaky, this could be the most exciting thing I have ever seen!" the Doctor grinned, making Olivia frown at him in confusion.
"You're kidding," Rory blurted.
"How can you be excited about a crummy hotel on Earth?" Olivia wondered as he hurried toward her to take her hand and pull her along with him.
"Because, assembled Ponds, wife, this is not Earth," the Doctor explained. "This has just been made to look like Earth. The craftsmanship involved. Can you imagine?"
"What?" Rory chirped as he and Amy followed the Doctor down the staircase.
"Then where are we?" Amy wondered.
"I dunno," the Doctor replied, heading toward the lobby. "Something must have yanked us off-course. Look at the detail on that cheese plant!"
"Fascinating," Olivia muttered, pulling an apple from the bowl next to the cheese plant the Doctor was sniffing.
"Right, but who would mock up an Earth hotel?" Rory wondered as Olivia pulled another apple out of the bowl and tossed it to the Doctor who caught it, mid-air.
"Colonists, maybe, recreating a bit of home, like when ex-pats open English pubs in Mallorca," the Doctor guessed, taking a bite of his apple as Olivia and Rory went to the far wall to examine the pictures lining it. "No, whoever did this, I'm shaking his/her hand/tentacle."
"Have you seen these?" Rory asked, drawing Amy's and the Doctor's attentions to them. "Look at the labels underneath."
"Commander Halke, Defeat," Olivia read out loud with a frown.
"Tim Heath, Having His Photo Taken," Rory read another. "Lady Silvertear, Daleks."
Olivia shuddered, stepping toward the Doctor as he watched Amy and Rory.
"Paige Barnes, Other People's Socks," Amy read. "Tim Nelson, Balloons."
"Novice Prynne, Saberwolves," Olivia read another. "Royston Luke Gold, Plymouth? Lucy Hayward, That Brutal Gorilla."
"Doctor, what does it mean?" Amy wondered.
"I don't know," he confessed. "Let's find out."
Olivia rang the bell on the front desk in the lobby, and the ring was followed by a shout as three people ran out from the hallway, a young man with glasses and a woman in scrubs armed, an odd looking man waving a white handkerchief.
"Boy, that was quick!" the Doctor called as the four flinched, but the three strangers didn't make a move against them.
"We surrender," the odd one with the handkerchief said.
"Who are you?" the woman in scrubs questioned.
"It's ok, we're nice," Rory assured them.
"She's threatening me with a chair leg!" the Doctor said of the woman in scrubs.
"Who are you?" she asked again.
"Oh, god, we're back in reception," the young man with the glasses muttered.
"I've never been threatened with a chair leg before," the Doctor recalled, pushing Olivia in front of him and hiding behind her. "No, hang on, I tell a lie."
"Did you just say, 'It's ok, we're nice'?" Amy questioned Rory.
"Alright, everybody just shut up!" Olivia shouted, silencing everyone before the woman in scrubs approached them.
"Rita, be careful, yeah?" the young man called to her as she looked into each of their eyes.
"Their pupils are dilated," Rita observed, backing up to stand with her group again. "They are as surprised as we are, besides which, if it's a trick, it'll tell us something."
"Oh, you're good," the Doctor smirked, making Olivia turn a frown of irritation to him, hearing his tone. "Oh, she's good. Amy, with regret, you're fired."
"What?" Amy snapped.
"I'm kidding," he quickly replied but held his hand next to his ear as he looked at Rita mouthing, 'We'll talk.'
"What about me? Am I fired too?" Olivia asked, irritably as she placed her hands on her hips, making him look to her with wide eyes and sputter a moment as she stared at him expectantly, but he only turned to the three again.
"I take it, from the pathological compulsion to surrender, you're from Tivoli," the Doctor said to the odd looking man with the kerchief.
"Yes, the most invaded planet in the galaxy," he replied. "Our anthem is called 'Glory to Insert Name Here.'"
"You with the face, Howie, you said you were surprised to be back in reception."
"The walls move," Howie replied. "Everything changes."
"You, Clever One, what's he talking about?"
"The corridors twist and stretch," Rita replied. "Rooms vanish and pop up somewhere else. It's like the hotel's alive."
"That's enough of that ridiculous elevator music," Olivia muttered, shutting the radio on the desk off.
"Yeah, and it's huge," Howie explained of the hotel. "With, like, no way out."
"Did you try the front door?" Rory wondered, pointing toward it.
"No, in two days, it never occurred to us to try the front door," Rita replied, sardonically as the Doctor used his Sonic on the door, Olivia leaning back on the front desk to watch everyone. "Thank god you're here."
Amy couldn't help but laugh as the Doctor opened the doors to reveal a wall behind them.
"They're not doors," he announced. "They're walls. Walls that look like doors. 'Doorwalls,' if you like, of 'Dwalls'…'Woors' even, though you probably got it when you said they're not doors. I mean the windows are…" He pulled the curtains open where windows should've been to reveal the same wall. "Right. Big day for a fan of walls."
"It's not just that," Rita explained. "The rooms have things in them."
"Things?" the Doctor echoed with a grin. "Hello! What kind of things? Interesting things? I love things ask Olivia over there. Don't I like things, Liv?"
"You love things," she replied with a wag of her head. "So what are the things?"
"Bad dreams," Rita replied, warily.
"Well…that certainly killed the mood," Olivia blurted.
"How did you get here?" the Doctor asked.
"I don't know," Rita replied. "I'd just started my shift. I must've passed out because, suddenly, I was here."
"I was blogging," Howie explained. "Next thing, this."
"Well, I was at work," the alien, Gibbis, took his turn. "I'm in town planning. We're lining all the highways with trees so invading forces can march in the shade, which is nice for them, you know?"
"So what have we got?" the Doctor began, pacing between them. "People being snatched from their lives and dropped into an endless shifting maze that looks like a 1980s hotel with bad dreams in the bedrooms. Well, apart from anything else, that's just rude."
He stepped toward Olivia to grab her hand and pull her up the stairs.
"We'll pop back to the TARDIS," he said as they all followed him. "I'll do a planetwide diagnostic sweep. Then we'll have a singsong."
They stopped when they reached the spot where the TARDIS had been only to find that it was gone.
"Where's the TARDIS?" Olivia asked as the Doctor walked around the spot where it had been parked. "We did park it here, right?"
"What's a TARDIS?" Howie wondered.
"Our way out," Rory sighed, resting on the railing to lower his face into his hands. "And it's gone."
The music Olivia had shut off started again, making her look to the Doctor as he looked around the stairs.
"Ok," he murmured. "This is bad."
"How bad?" Olivia wondered.
"At the moment, I don't know how bad, but, certainly, we're three buses, a long walk, and a taxi from good."
"That's pretty bad," Olivia nodded as he turned to the group.
"Are there any more of you?" he asked.
"Joe," Rita replied. "But he's tied up right now."
"Doing what?" Olivia wondered.
"No, I mean he's tied up right now."
"Oh, literally," Olivia nodded then frowned, "Why?"
Rita glanced to Howie before replying, "We'd better just show you."
A/N: so, i've pretty much kept true to the episodes...but this episode is gonna get a different ending. Olivia's secret revealed...coming soon! reviews?