NOTE: The line you guys were looking for in the last chapter: "Doctor? Doctor who?". I thought I would jump out since it is a classic 'who phrase', (digital cookie to Lovely Rain Dancer for picking up on it!).

Chapter Twenty-five

"Doctor! Doctor!"

Amy slammed her palm against the locked TARDIS doors after the Doctor had shoved her and Rory out. Rory threw his shoulder into the deep blue wood, but despite the flimsy look of the door it had withstood far greater onslaughts than Rory and didn't budge. Amy reached up and banged on the frosted glass windows, but she stopped and took a step back as the TARDIS began to make a high pitched whine.

"He's going to die in there," Amy whispered in horror "he's going to die alone and it's my fault."

"Amy..."

"I...I must have made a mistake...he's trying to fix it, but there isn't time. Rory..."

Rory instantly gave up on the door and gathered Amy into a comforting embrace. Amy buried her face against his chest as the noise from the Haldon generation grew more intense. She gripped Rory tighter and held her breath as the Haldon grew seconds away from exploding. Amy didn't have the heart to tell Rory that it might not just be the Doctor that was about to die, if the TARDIS itself exploded all of creation could end...again.

Rory did his best to comfort Amy as the TARDIS cried out with the effort it was taking to generate the power needed for the time stretch. The actual Haldon event was not nearly as spectacular as Rory had been expecting when viewed from the outside of the TARDIS. In fact the only thing that really signified that anything had happened was a flash of light that ran along the cable plugged into the outside of the ship followed by silence and a queazy feeling in the pit of his stomach. However he wasn't sure if the queasiness was from the Haldon burst or the idea that they had just lost the Doctor. Looking at the TARDIS doors a few stray tendrils of steam escaped.

"Doctor...I'm so sorry." Amy whimpered.

"Maybe he's okay."

"Nothing living could survive in there."

"Yeah, but, this is the Doctor we're talking about..."

Amy pulled back far enough to be able to look up at Rory. He forced a brave smile for her and she returned it. She knew that he didn't believe his own words, but she appreciated that he was willing to try just to comfort her. Amy closed her eyes and rested against Rory's chest, she wasn't sure what to do or even think at the moment. Her heart was so heavy that she felt that it could just stop. She was suddenly convinced that if it didn't have Rory to keep beating for that it would have. Unable to even cry Amy just listened to Rory's heart. The still scene was interrupted by the sudden sound of a chime.

"Uh...was that your mobile?" Rory asked.

"Oh thank God," Amy breathed in relief as she brought the phone out of her pocket "it's the Doctor. I don't know how, but it's him."

"What did I say? That man has more lives than a tabby cat." Rory chuckled weakly. "What does he have to say for himself?"

"'Amy, your TARDIS touching privileges are revoked until further notice.'." Amy read the text and rolled her eyes.

"Sound like the Doctor."

"'PS,'" Amy read as the phone chirped again "'other than nearly putting a hole in the Universe good job, Haldon worked. Hide, I'll seek you later.'."

"What's that about a hole in the Universe?"

"He's kidding." Amy lied. "I guess we should hide."

"Hide?" Rory demanded. "Can't he just let us back in the TARDIS?"

"He's not in there, he must have teleported somewhere. It won't be safe for hours in there due to the Galdex particles."

"Right, because you know that sort of thing now. Okay, so, whe..."

Rory jolted as an alarm sounded throughout the large water treatment sub-basement that the TARDIS had landed in. The alarm didn't last long, but it was enough to let Rory and Amy know that the ship was waking up and they knew something was wrong. Rory took Amy's hand and they ran to the near by forest of pipes and condensers that were attached to one of the towering water tanks. Once in the relative concealment of the tangle of pipe work Amy stopped, but Rory tried to pull her along.

"We should stay close to the TARDIS." Amy said. "It's where the Doctor will come looking for us first."

"It'll be the first place anyone else looks too."

"I don't think so. I don't think they know where it is. If they did, wouldn't they have put a guard on it?"

"What?"

"The Doctor said the Haldon event worked, so all the people are back on the ship, but none of them were around the TARDIS when they were first trapped in time or else they'd be here right now. If they knew the first thing about Time Lords, and clearly they did, they would know to at least post a guard at the TARDIS. I honestly think they never found it the first time around."

"So we landed in the wrong place, in a boiler room on ship rather than another world, and then...what? We just decided to go on a walk about to figure out where we were and got into trouble?"

"Exactly."

"Sounds about right." Rory admitted.

"So we stay here?"

"Okay."

Rory and Amy settled into the shadows of the large pipe work and waited in the silence. The more time that passed the more it looked like their gamble had been a good one. At one point the alarm went off again, but as before the frightening noise didn't last long. Amy and Rory were just starting to let their guard down when there were sounds of an approach.

"The cable runs through here!" A voice called.

Amy looked at Rory with horrified realization. The inhabitants of the ship would have quickly picked up on the thick cable that the Doctor had run from the TARDIS to the bridge. It had taken them a while, but they had followed it back to its source. Amy and Rory pressed themselves against two of the larger pipes to hide as the men approached.

Rory swore under his breath as a group of a dozen men in what appeared to be tactical dress armed with unusual hand weapons came into view. At their lead was a young looking tall man with a lean athletic build that clearly commanded the respect of the others. Without saying a word he ordered them into a defensible position around the TARDIS. From their hiding spot about one hundred yards away Amy and Rory cautiously watched from the shadows.

"What is is?" One of the men asked.

"This is all B Class information, however under the circumstances I'm giving you all temporary Memory Class promotions." The tall leader of the group growled as he stepped up to the doors without touching them. "Nothing said here leaves here. Understood?"

"Yes, Sir!" The group replied in unison.

"This is a TARDIS, and that confirms our worst fear. It is a Time Lord's ship. Do not let its humble appearance fool you, it is much vaster on the inside and infinitely powerful." The leader informed the men as he continued to inspect it. "Some form of smoke or steam is coming out of it though, so it might be damaged."

"Damaged? So it can be affected by weapons?" The leader's apparent second asked. "That's good news if it is damaged, Ithican."

"An animal is most dangerous when wounded, Tarin." Ithican pointed out.

"You speak of it as though it was alive." Tarin said nervously.

"In many ways it is."

"Do you think the Time Lord is inside?"

"No. We would all be dead if he were. However, he won't be far, and he will do *everything* in his power to return to it." Ithican said as he looked around vigilantly. "This ship means more to him than anything. Even damaged it can still allow him to call to the others for help."

"The others?" Amy whispered to Rory. "They must know we're here too."

"Hooray." Rory whispered back sarcastically.

"Ithican...can we win this?"

"I don't think so." Ithican said honestly.

"What about Lady Aleena?" Tarin asked hopefully. "Can you save her? If you could convince her that the battle is finally lost, you could take her away before it's too late. Then she would be free to finally tell our story. If we are all to die anyway..."

"Aleena will never abandon her children while they still breath." Ithican smiled sadly. "She will stay by our side until the bitter end unless the goddesses of Fate and Destiny drag her away from us personally."

Amy still felt a sickening twist in her stomach every time she heard Aleena's name even though it was clear that these two were devoted to her. With her heart pounding Amy found her persistent headache getting increasingly worse. Rory looked over at Amy from his hiding place a few feet away and noticed that she was flushed. Without thinking he reached out to check her temperature.

Ithican was far more alert than Rory or Amy expected and the slight motion in the shadows among the pipes and metal work caught his eye instantly. Rory yelped and grabbed Amy's wrist to run as Ithican suddenly sprinted towards them. The athletic military leader closed in on them with Tarin on his heels. Two others had gone around to flank them, but it wasn't needed. Once Ithican was within twenty-five yards he tossed a small sphere at the fleeing pair.

The sphere hit the ground and rolled out past Amy and Rory. Rory tried to change directions with Amy to avoid the unknown device, but it let off a flash of blue light that knocked them both senseless. Ithican ran up and roughly turned Rory on his back and put his ear to Rory's chest. He was more careful rolling Amy over and he did the same before getting back to his feet. Ithican looked down at the unconscious pair thoughtfully as Tarin stepped up to his side.

"Time Lords?" Tarin asked doubtfully.

"No." Ithican shook his head. "Companions, the Time Lord equivalent of a pet. Poor souls stolen from some backwater planet to keep him company until he tires of them, or gets them killed."

"What do we do with them?"

"Aleena wanted all intruders brought to her." Ithican motioned for two of the men to come over. "Take them to Aleena, do as she commands with them, and then return. Also tell her we found the Time Lord's ship."

The men nodded. They each picked up one of the fallen humans and carried them away.

"Is it wise to send these Companions to Aleena?" Tarin asked.

"They are not dangerous."

"Could they be used to control the Time Lord? As hostages?"

"No." Ithican shook his head sadly. "Time Lords have two hearts, but they are both useless. He will always choose that little blue box over those he calls his friends."

Tarin looked at Ithican in horrified disbelief. Ithican closed his eyes for a moment, his shoulders slouched as though there was a terrible weight across his back. Tarin had a vague memory of Ithican once having such broad shoulders that were always held back with pride. For so long that memory had seemed like just a ghost image, but right now it was the man in front of him that looked more like a ghost.

"I used to envy you, Ithican." Tarin said suddenly. "I'm sure I had my envy for you Cleaned time and time again, but it always comes back."

"What? Why?"

"As a C Class I used to think that memory B Class was a privilege and an honour, but I see it now for what it truly is...a curse. I don't know how you live with it."

"If we defeat this Time Lord I promise to remove the burden of knowing our persecutors from your mind."

"Thank you, my friend. I wish I could do the same for you."

"Some one must know the danger we face."

"I can't imagine the pain Lady Aleena and the A Class live with."

"At least the A Class have each other...Lady Aleena is all alone with the Ultimate Secrets."

"We can not let the Time Lord silence her." Tarin said firmly. "If he has come to kill the woman we love, we should kill the woman he loves! Not a quick death, make her scream to him to save her, draw him out into the open and then we will have him!"

"I already told you, he doesn't love his Compani..."

"Not the girl...the little blue box!"

"That won't work either."

"Why not?!"

"We'd be lucky just to scratch the paint."