Madame Kovarian sauntered into Dorium Maldovar's shop with Colonel Manton at her side. Overall she was feeling pretty confident that everything was going to plan. In fact, leaving her base had set the final stage of her plan into motion. When they left here, Colonel Manton would return to their base. She and the child would not. First, though, she needed to find out how much this blue buffoon had known and had spread around.

"You appear to be closing down, Dorium. What have you heard?" She slid onto a comfortable sofa. The Colonel pulled out a small blaster and aimed it at the shopkeeper.

Unfazed by the apparent threat, the rotund, blue man stopped packing his bag momentarily to look up at his visitors. Dorium could barely suppress his eye roll. "That you pricked the side of some mighty beasts, Madame Kovarian, and entirely failed to run. I admire your courage." Gently he pushed the barrel of the gun away. "I should like to admire it from afar."

Madame Kovarian smirked. "We've been waiting a month. They've done nothing. I think we've bested them and they know it."

"You would think so. There are people all over this galaxy that consider the Doctor and his Bad Wolf their friends. People who would gladly lay their own lives down to help them and their family."

Manton lowered his weapon. "You think they're raising an army?"

With a snort Dorium replied, "You think they aren't? Not that they would even need to. His family and closest associates are enough to bring down dictatorships, armies and some of the greatest foes in the Universe." He paused. "And you've kidnapped the pregnant wife of an heir to the power of the Bad Wolf, God help you."

"I think you overestimate them," Manton laughed derisively.

"Colonel Manton. All those stories you've heard about them. They're not stories; they're true." Dorian laughed. "You've created an army to take down the Doctor and his Wolves. Really. You're not telling me you don't know what's coming."

Kovarian smiled. "I think you've overestimated the Tyler family or at least what they will be capable of once they feel the full effects of what we've done. Using the grandchild to bring about the death of her grandparents." She looked completely smug. "We will bend the child to our will and crush the spirit of that sniveling son of theirs. Not that he's much of a threat. He let the man who shot his father go without any punishment."

"I think that you underestimate his power and his mercy," Dorian countered. "Although the boy who killed his father, from what I've heard, was misguided. What you have done was intentional, calculated, and I fear this time the Wolf's Cub will show no mercy."

"We're wasting our time here," Manton spat.

Agreeing, Madame Kovarian stood to leave.

Unable to let them go without having the last word, Dorian said, "The asteroid. Where you've made your base. Do you know why they call it Demon's Run?"

Colonel Manton's hand clenched on his weapon. "How do you know the location of our base?"

The blue man waves a hand dismissively. "You're with the Headless Monks. They're old customers of mine."

"It's just some old saying," Kovarian replied dryly.

"A very old saying," Dorian confirmed. "The oldest. Demon's Run. When a good man goes to war. And you have just angered an entire family of 'good men'." The shopkeeper didn't wait for a reply, he simply snapped his bag shut and left the room. He could only hope to stay one step ahead of the Doctor's family and the Headless Monks.

He had the strangest feeling that neither group would be very happy with him at the moment and he had zero desire to be part of any rescue party. When he had almost made it to his ship, he heard an all too familiar sound. It was more of a chant, one of the chants of the Headless Monks. In fear, Dorian turned slightly purple.

"No! No no! Please! Not me! You don't need me!" he cried as the first cloaked figure approached him. "Why would you need me? I'm old! I'm fat! I'm blue!" Before Dorian knew it, he was surrounded. "You can't need me!"

The flash of a blade was the last thing that he saw before his head was permanently disconnected from his body.

Amy cuddled her daughter close to her chest. "My darling Melody, I promise you that eventually everything will be alright. I know this to be true because you are a member of the best family in the Universe, in any Universe, and they love you so much already. Even if they haven't met you yet."

Across the room, Madame Kovarian said, "Two minutes."

Ignoring the woman, Amy continued to speak. "You are a Tyler and I need you to be brave, my love. But not as brave as they all have to be. Because they are coming for us. Your Dad, Gran, Granddad and the rest of the family are on their way. And they will never, ever let us down. Not even an army can get in their way."

Pressing a kiss into Melody's temple, Amy gently laid her precious daughter in the sterile glass cot. "And wherever they take you, Melody, however scared you are, I promise you, you will never be alone. Just close your eyes and reach out your mind to him and your daddy will always be there."

"Time to go." Korvarian waved at one of the guards to take the cot and another to restrain Amy.

The redhead struggled against the guard's forceful grip. "Please don't do this. Don't take her away; it's not too late for you. Just give her back to me and let the two of us go."

"Just be thankful for the time you had with her, Ms. Pond," Kovarian smirked and left the room.

"That's Mrs. Tyler-Pond to you, bitch!" Amy spat, finally able to wrench her arm free. The guard shoved her backwards and left the room himself. She let out a cry of frustration, the same way she did every time they took her baby away from her.

Twenty Thousand Light Years Away

The blaring sound of a claxon filled the cyber-ship's bridge. 'Intruder- level nine. Seal level nine,' the ship's computer announced. Rory Tyler pressed his sonic screwdriver against a control panel and the noise cut off. Pulling his shoulders back, he strode onto the bridge.

The Cybermen must have been stunned into silence because the sound of his boots on the metal grating echoed around the room. His dark blue denim-clad legs carried him across the room to the large viewing window. He may have seemed relaxed, even though he was tightly coiled. Crossing his arms in his tight, black leather jacket, he glared at the metal monsters.

"I have a message and a question. A message from the Doctor and the Bad Wolf, and a question from me." His jaw clenched. "Where is my wife?"

None of the Cybermen responded, and Rory felt his anger rise. "Oh, don't give me those blank looks. The twelfth Cyber Legion monitors this entire quadrant. You hear everything. So you tell me what I need to know. You tell me now, and I'll be on my way. No harm done."

The Cyberleader finally spoke. "What is the Doctor's message?"

Rory tapped down the urge to smirk, and he depressed the button on the remote hidden in his hand. Behind him, one by one the rest of the fleet exploded. "Would you like me to repeat the question?"

It turned out that he didn't need to repeat it because the Cyberleader was more than happy to give up the location of Amy's hiding place, Demon's Run. It had almost been too easy getting that out of them. They may not have any emotions, but they did have a sense of self preservation. Pity it wouldn't help save them now.

Rory made his way back down to the deck where the Doctor's TARDIS was parked. Along the way, he stopped at another control panel and attached a small black disk that he had taken out of his pocket. When he activated it, a different warning rang throughout the ship.

'Self-Destruct sequence initiated. Auto destruct will commence in 60 seconds.'

That should leave the Cybermen scrambling, especially since the ship didn't have a self-destruct designed into it. So much the better to just destroy the lot of them. It would save countless lives and heartache that the Cybermen would have caused.

At least they wouldn't be feeling panicked by their impending destruction because they didn't have emotions. They may have seen it as better to never feel. And sometimes, like this, when Rory felt his hearts might rip apart, he could see the appeal. But then, if he couldn't feel the hurt, then he also would never feel the joy. The joy and utter happiness he had felt on his wedding day or the elation he would feel when he held Amy in his arms once again.

An old story that Mum and Dad had told him numerous times about a bunker in Utah popped into his mind. And the words of another supposedly emotionless creature came to mind. 'What good are emotions if you cannot save the woman you love?'

'Auto destruct in 25 seconds.'

His emotions were all over the spectrum lately. Fear, worry, anger, love were all coursing through his veins. It was good that he felt them, helped him to tap into that all too human part of himself. But he also had to push them to the side in order to accomplish his mission, to bring his wife and child home safely.

'Auto destruct in 10…9…8'

Rory pushed open the doors of the TARDIS.

'7…6…5'

He stepped across the threshold and slammed the door behind him. The Doctor threw the ship into the Vortex mere seconds before the Cybership exploded. Looking up at his son, the Doctor's eyes held only one question. The younger man nodded in response.

"Demon's Run, that's where they have Amy and the baby. They even gave up the coordinates." Rory strode up to the controls; he punched in the information and studied the picture that popped up. Within a matter of moments, they had schematics and detailed recent scans of the area.

Father and son were alone in the console room. Mum, Jenny, Sabrina, Tony and Trisha were all waiting in the Library, waiting to hear if Rory had gotten the information they needed and to hear what the new plan was. "It's not very well defended," Rory said, astonished. "No real weapons array, very few ships. Long distance communications relay, few escape pods but not enough for their entire crew."

"It wouldn't be difficult to bring them down." The Doctor clapped a hand on Rory's leather clad shoulder. "I'm owed several favors all up and down the Universe. Can't think of a better reason to call them in; we could easily raise an army."

The younger man shook his head. "No, the fewer people's lives we risk in this the better. We can take Demon's Run with just the family. Maybe call in Jack and River. I just don't know who we can trust right now, and I can't risk that whoever took Amy hasn't corrupted one of those beings that owes you a favor."

"It's your choice, but I don't think a fleet of Judoon could hurt. I have a connection or two and the kidnappers are in direct violation of the Shadow Proclamation..." The Doctor's throat constricted and his grip on Rory's shoulder tightened. "Your child is one of the last Time Lords in existence and kidnapping a member of an endangered species..."

"Yeah... I know." Rory felt tears prickling his eyes "We can call in the Judoon. But first we need a plan of attack and we have to hope that they are still there." Rory felt his tough demeanor crumble. "What could they possibly want with my wife? With my baby?"

These were questions that he tried not to ask. Questions that he both did and did not want the answers to, because if he thought about them too hard, he started to hear the howling in the back of his brain. The howling that would help him tear the Universe apart to find his family. But this time he couldn't let himself do that. He couldn't explain it. With the 456 it had felt natural to let his wolf take over, but this was different, fixed and he hated that knowing that he couldn't just wipe the kidnappers out of existence.

The Doctor pulled him into a tight hug. "I promise that no matter what, we will bring them safely back to you."

Rory knew that this was a promise that his dad might not be able to keep, but for the moment he would let himself live in hope.

In the back garden of their home on the grounds of Luna University, Jack spun River around in his arms. Both of them were giggling like mad and neither cared that they weren't dancing in time to the music. Rory hated to disrupt the happy moment, but it couldn't be avoided. Time was running short.

He loudly cleared his throat and the happy couple turned to look at him. Jack grinned like the Cheshire cat, but River looked slightly alarmed. "Love the leather look, Rory," Jack declared. "Reminds me of my first Doctor."

"Oh, stop it, Jack," River chastised.

The younger man pulled on his jacket. "Sorry to intrude."

"It's my birthday," River laughed, squeezing Jack's hand. "You're always welcome to join us. We have a cake."

"I'm afraid I can't this time," Rory replied shaking his head. "I'm never sure where we are as far as timelines. Last time I saw you, Jack, was 21st Century, Earth... the 456."

"Ah," Jack's grin faltered slightly. "50 years or so ago for me. Not that I haven't seen you in between, but those are..."

"Spoilers." River cut him off. Slowly she walked up to stand right in front of Rory. She placed a hand on his arm. "What's wrong? Where's Amy?"

Rory couldn't understand why this was so difficult to say. He'd known River almost his entire life and of course she'd help, but she also knew his future. Probably knew the outcome already. "We need you, both of you."

"It's Demon's Run, isn't it?" Her voice shook ever so slightly.

"I figured you'd know. You always know." Rory gave her a tight smile before turning to Jack. "They've taken Amy. And our baby. We're going after her, after them. But we need you, both of you."

"Yeah," Jack agreed, walking over to them. "I'll help. Of course, I'll help."

"Come on then." Rory took River's hand in his and began to pull her back towards the TARDIS. "There is no time to lose."

Pulling her hand away, River shook her head. "I can't. Not yet anyway."

"I'm sorry? What?" Rory stopped and rounded on her. It took everything he had left in him to bite back his temper. "After everything we've been through, River? You can't?"

"Rory," Jack said in a warning tone.

"This is the Battle of Demon's Run." River's eyes shown with unshed tears. "The family's darkest hour. You'll rise higher than ever before and then fall so much further. And... I can't be with you 'til the very end. Please trust me on this."

"Why?" It was the only thing Rory could think to say.

"Because this is it, the day that changes everything. This is the day you find out who I am." A tear slipped down her cheek.

Suddenly, Rory flashed back to a conversation that he'd had with a future River. They'd been sitting by a fountain in Colorado and she'd told him that she wasn't Mum and Dad's daughter. But she had confirmed that she was a Time Lady. His blood ran cold at the implications of who she could be and possibility that maybe this adventure wouldn't end happily.

River pulled him into a hug. "It will be okay in the end. It won't be easy, but it will be alright." She squeezed him tightly and then quickly pulled away. "You should go. Amy needs you."

Without another word, Rory turned and headed back to the TARDIS. Jack stayed behind for a moment or two longer, not speaking until Rory was safely out of earshot. "They aren't going to take this well, are they?"

"He's already figuring it out." River gave her husband a small smile. "My father is a brilliant man, and unfortunately this won't come as too big a surprise. Mum'll take it harder than all of them; blame herself, blame Dad, Granddad, Nan. But in the end, they'll be alright."

Jack leaned over and kissed her softly. "I'll see you soon. I love you."

"Love you, too." She wiped away an errant tear. "Take care of them."

"Always do." Jack quickly kissed her cheek and then jogged after his father-in-law.