Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural or Doctor Who or any of the related rights.
...
Winchesters.
The Doctor shook his head and wondered for the eight thousandth time how he'd ended up mixed up with these two brothers.
His TARDIS wasn't around, and it wasn't just perfectly hidden the way River was able to hide it. No, it was definitely gone.
Only the Doctor was pretty sure he'd never taught Dean how to fly his magnificent TARDIS, so this was new.
Always something new with these boys, wasn't it?
The Cybermen were practically at their doors, and the combined talents of River and Deeva at the door controls were hardly enough to keep them at bay, while Sam was going over with Amy the basics of his ill-conceived knife-the-Cybermen plan and showing Amy the proper grip.
He sighed again and went back to messing with the engines. Just a few more tweaks, and this tin bucket not only would never run again but would put off the energy signature of a plague ship. And with Deeva no longer the legendary quest bait to attract those looking for the allure of Cybermen and their power (he was reminded of certain tombs), well, the Cybermen had nothing left.
That was, of course, assuming they weren't caught and forced to undo it or, worse, to surrender the TARDIS.
"Winchesters," he muttered to River.
Her eyes widened playfully. "I can't wait to see what they do to earn that."
He just grinned. "Almost as hard to keep up with as you are."
"I like almost," she said. "I would've had to step things up if you'd let them beat me out."
The Doctor frowned. "Note to self:" he said out loud, "never let River hang out with the Winchesters again."
"Like you have any say in the matter," she teased.
A thumping from beyond the doors brought them back to reality.
…..
Rory looked dubiously at the device in Dean's hands. "And you're sure this'll work?" he asked.
"It's like you're a broken record," Dean said, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, I'm sure. Same basic principle as taking out a windigo, but with five hundred times the firepower."
Rory sighed and finished laying the wires Dean had stripped from pretty much anything he could get his hands on.
"Okay, if I've got my timing right, this thing should blow in thirty seconds. Totally enough time to go pick up the others," Dean said.
Rory raised an eyebrow at him.
"But, you know, it's entirely possible that some of this futuristic stuff isn't quite compatible," Dean said. "So it's probably a good idea to get to the TARDIS now."
Rory nodded. He didn't like it in that room anyway; it was too quiet. He'd expected something, like maybe a stampede of Cybermen wanting to know what they were doing in their laboratory thing, but it was scary silent.
"You were expecting them to come get us by now, huh?" Dean said.
The man could read minds.
When Rory nodded, Dean just laughed ruefully. "I was kinda hoping to divert some attention from the Doc. Whatever he's got planned has gotta be way smarter than my plan."
Rory was inclined to disagree; he thought disabling the Cyber conversion center of the ship was going to do wonders to slow them down. But he didn't say anything. Not after the last five times he'd tried to compliment Dean. (That didn't go very well.)
Dean ushered Rory into the TARDIS, and Rory stood just behind the door, just to be sure he was close enough for comfort.
"Ready?" Dean shouted from outside the TARDIS. He'd rigged it up to explode remotely, but he still had to detonate it. Soon as he pushed the button, he would hobble in as fast as he could, and Rory would let him in.
Rory stuffed his fingers in his ears.
….
The rumbling started somewhere deep underneath them, and River recognized exactly what it was before the Doctor even caught her gaze.
"Dean," the Doctor said. It was something like annoyance, but there was too much bemused exhaustion in there to be entirely annoyed. "Blowing things up like it's the answer for everything," he continued.
"It's more fun that way," River said with her best flirtatious smile.
The look he gave her was I hate that you're so sexy when you flout my rules.
She just grinned again.
The other Winchester made his way over to the Doctor and River, his eyes wide. "Dean?" he asked. But it was a thousand questions in one.
River nodded. "Doesn't seem like it's coming from the engineering or steering or anything important," she said.
Sam held up a hand, and River thought for a moment that he was about to argue with her about his brother's plan, but instead, he put a finger to his lips.
"I hear it too," the Doctor said.
And then River heard it.
Silence.
"Whatever your brother's doing, I hope he's got himself somewhere safe," Deeva said, "because he must be in real trouble if the Cybermen are after him and not us now."
Somewhere, a mechanical grinding noise echoed through the small engine room, and the last of the door's defenses fell.
But River grinned. "Well, it's less than we planned for, but no need to feel underwhelmed," she said to Sam, who already had his knife out and seemed to be more concerned with Amy improper knife handling than with what River was saying.
Three Cybermen lumbered through the doorway, and the only thing stopping them from shooting River and her friends and family in cold blood was the delicately wired engine in between them.
"You have damaged the engines," one Cyberman said, and River could have sworn it sounded upset.
"Can't fix them, sorry," the Doctor quipped. "Broke it so badly I don't even know how to put it back together."
The Cybermen seemed only to be more agitated by that, but now River could hear something else besides Cyber groans and moans of annoyance.
The TARDIS.
"'Bout time," she muttered to herself as the old thing gasped and wheezed into the space just beside the Doctor.
As the TARDIS hovered in the air, the door opened, and a very pale, ash-covered, grinning Dean reached his hand out the door in a perfectly cheeky imitation of the Doctor. "Anybody need a lift?" he asked.
River sighed in relief when she saw Rory just behind Dean, basically propping Dean up with one hand and trying to get him to be a patient and not Han Solo for two seconds.
River grinned. Same old Dad.
But now, seeing the TARDIS and knowing that their prey could escape, the Cybermen decided to fire anyway, despite the engine.
Sam was fast, and River was good, and Amy had good reflexes, but still there was no stopping rampaging Cybermen.
Dean had pulled the Doctor in first because he was closest and because, River remembered him saying, he thought the Doctor was "perfectly useless" when it came to fights like this. (He was still young, and he didn't know her Doctor.)
Sam grabbed both Deeva and Amy and headed for the TARDIS with the two of them, but it was Rory who really made the difference. Out of nowhere, River saw—of all things!—a crutch flying over her head and slamming into the Cyberman.
Not a very effective weapon, but definitely an effective distraction.
River figured she'd follow Rory's lead and buy everyone else a little more time. She was down to her last stolen blaster, but hey, she would've had to give it up when she got back to her cell anyway.
…
Amy winced away from Rory. "Ouch," she said pointedly.
Rory sighed. "Don't be such a baby," he said. "Give me back your arm."
"No," Amy said, but she gave it to him anyway.
He was back in sexy mode—the Nurse Mode, as the Doctor called it. Taking care of the wounded, making sure everyone was okay, the stuff it was good at.
He had his work cut out for him. Dean alone was a piece of work, and Amy had managed to catch the corner of a stray Cyberman's shot with her left elbow. Sam was nursing his right side but hadn't let Rory see him yet because he wanted to make sure the others were seen to first, and River and the Doctor hadn't left the corner where they'd taken Deeva for the past five minutes.
"I thought I told you about blowing things up when I'm not around," Amy teased.
Rory smiled. "I'll let you stay and watch the fireworks next time," he said. "Now hold still."
Amy glanced over at the Doctor, then at Sam, and then at Dean. When this was over, she'd insist on a new and totally different vacation. Somewhere safe. And preferably with hospitals close by.
...
A/N: Thanks to everyone for the well wishes. Everything is turning out just fine, just a couple scares to keep life interesting. ;)