*A/N Sorry in advance because there is more jumping around in P.O.V. in this chapter than even the previous chapter.
Lily P.O.V.
Lily frowned as she stared up at Amy's house and River murmured: "Why did it bring me here?"
She glanced at Lily thoughtfully as she added: "And it picked you up on the way too. Why?"
Lily glanced at River in surprise.
"That wasn't you?" She asked and River shook her head.
"No." She answered. "I lost control of the Tardis as soon as I stepped inside. First time that's happened. It suddenly took off, collected you, and bam!" She indicated Amy's house. "Here we are."
Lily frowned and she stared at the house as she wondered: "Why would it bring us here? Why me?"
Lily then spotted something on the lawn and pointed.
"River." She said quietly, and River glanced down at the scorch marks. She then glanced at the front door and nudged Lily.
Lily looked up to see the front door hanging off its hinges and her blood ran cold. River pulled out her computer as she mumbled: "Okay, so something's been here."
"Is it safe?" Lily asked quietly, and River nodded as they walked slowly into the house.
"Whatever it was, it's already gone." She said quietly as they slowly made their way up the stairs towards Amy's bedroom. River still held Lily back as she peered in first, just in case, pulling out a flashlight.
They made their way inside slowly, and River spotted one of Amy's 'Raggedy Doctor' dolls on the dresser and sighed: "Amy. Oh, Lily, why do you let the Doctor out?"
Lily wrinkled her nose and paused as something by the wardrobe caught her eye. River followed her computer's scans, moving to the bookshelf while Lily slowly walked over to the wedding dress hanging on Amy's wardrobe door.
"What's this doing here?" Lily murmured as she touched the dress and River called softly: "Lily, come see this."
Lily turned to see River holding a book, and she walked over to see it was a copy of 'The Story of Roman Britain'. She remembered what Amy had said: "My favourite topic at school. 'Invasion of the hot Italians'."
And beside it, a copy of 'The Legend of Pandora's box'. Both of them remembered Amy's words: "So, it's kinda like Pandora's box then. That was my favorite book when I was a kid."
Lily's blood chilled and she whispered: "Oh, my God."
"Oh no." River whispered in grim agreement.
Amy P.O.V.
Amy stood wrapped in a blanket, staring into space thoughtfully. She felt like there was something she was missing, something important. She was broken from her thoughts as the Roman from earlier walked over and asked: "Are you okay?"
Amy glanced at the Centurion and sighed.
"Did the Doctor send you?" She asked, annoyed. "I'm fine. He just fusses. He'd do better to worry about…" Amy trailed off, confused.
'What was I about to say?' She wondered, before she was once again interrupted as the Roman commented: "You got a blanket. That's good."
He paused and then added with a frown: "Who gave you that?"
"One of the fellows." Amy replied with a shrug and the Centurion demanded: "Which one?"
Amy looked at him oddly as she answered confusedly: "Just one of them. Does it matter?"
She turned away again as the Centurion muttered: "No. No. Forget him. It. Forget it."
Amy looked at him again, and she asked curiously: "What's your name?"
"I'm… Rory." He answered slowly, and Amy blinked as her heart suddenly pounded.
She turned away, confused and Rory asked alarmed: "What's wrong?"
She looked at him and said quickly: "Nothing. It's just… not what you expect Romans to be called." She said distractedly, trying to understand why she suddenly felt elated.
She added hastily, trying to distract herself: "What's it short for? Roranicus?"
She chuckled at her own joke, but it was weak, so she turned away quickly.
"Yeah." Rory muttered, and then he paused.
"You're crying." He pointed out and Amy wiped her eyes, confused and not understanding what was happening anymore.
Doctor P.O.V.
The Doctor checked his watch and groaned. He called River and demanded when she picked up: "The Tardis, where is it? Hurry up."
He began sonicing the Pandorica again, impatient, but paused as River said quietly but urgently: "Don't raise your voice, don't look alarmed, just listen."
Amy P.O.V.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Rory asked concernedly as Amy began to sob.
"Nothing." Amy choked out, still confused.
"It's like," she muttered as she looked at Rory bewilderedly, "it's like I'm happy. Why am I happy?"
Doctor P.O.V.
"They're not real." River was explaining tightly. "They can't be. They're all right here in the story book. Those actual Romans. The ones I sent you, the ones you're with right now. They're all in a book in Amy's house. A children's picture book."
"What are you even doing there?" The Doctor demanded, and River replied tightly: "It doesn't matter. The Tardis went wrong."
"What do you mean 'wrong'?" He asked irritably, but then he froze as Lily's voice answered: "Now's not the time to worry about that yet, Doctor. How is this possible? How can they be the same?"
"Lily?" The Doctor demanded. "What are you doing there?"
"Like River said, the Tardis went all funny." Lily answered impatiently. "It suddenly materialized around me and took off with me."
"Doctor, focus." River added. "How is this possible?"
The Doctor explained as he thought aloud: "Something's using her memories. Amy's memories."
"But how?" River demanded and the Doctor glanced at the Romans in the Pandorica chamber with him, and he checked: "You said something had been there."
"Yes." River replied.
"There's burn marks on the grass outside." Lily added, and River finished: "Landing patterns."
"If they've been to her house, they could have used her psychic residue." The Doctor murmured. "Structures can hold memories, that's why houses have ghosts. They could've taken a snapshot of Amy's memories."
He frowned as he wondered: "But why?"
Lily P.O.V.
Lily's brows furrowed while River demanded quietly, still flipping through Amy's book as they stood in the Tardis: "Doctor, who are those Romans?"
"Projections, or… duplicates." The Doctor answered in a low voice.
Lily's heart sank while River protested: "But they were helping us. My lipstick even worked."
"Lipstick?" Lily asked puzzled.
"I have lipstick that can make people hallucinate." River explained quickly. "It's why they thought I was Cleopatra."
"Oh." Lily murmured as the Doctor said thoughtfully: "They might think they're real. The perfect disguise."
He realized: "They actually believe their own cover story… right until they're activated."
Lily clenched her fists as River continued to turn pages in the book, and then both she and River froze.
"Oh, my God." Lily whispered in horror.
"Lily, what is it? Lily?" The Doctor demanded urgently but River was the one who replied slowly as she and Lily stared at the picture: "Doctor, that Centurion."
"Doctor, it's Rory." Lily whispered.
Her heart was beating wildly as she picked up the photograph that had been inside the book, a photo from Halloween two years ago with Amy in her policewoman kissogram outfit… and Rory dressed as a Roman, looking exactly like how he had been at the Pandorica.
Sweet old Rory, who had become her best friend and who had loved Amy enough that he would probably go to the end of the universe for her. How could Lily have…?
Suddenly Lily had a splitting headache, and she clutched her head.
"Lily?" River asked, catching the movement, and Lily whispered: "How could I have forgotten Rory?"
River's face turned grim, and a hint of understanding entered her eyes.
Amy P.O.V.
"What's the matter?" Rory asked worriedly and Amy repeated: "Nothing."
But as she glanced at Rory, it was like her heart was breaking and her hand reached out of its own accord to touch his face. He stared at her wide-eyed and Amy admitted: "I don't know why I'm doing that."
Rory grabbed her hand and he whispered: "It's me."
Amy didn't understand and her brows furrowed in confusion. Rory stared at her and as he saw no further recognition he pleaded, tears of his own welling up: "Amy, please. It's me."
Meanwhile
"It's a trap." River was saying as she re-entered the Tardis, Lily stumbling in after her with continued winces. "It has to be. They used Amy to construct a scenario you'd believe, to get close to you. He can't be there; Lily told me she couldn't even remember him until just now."
"Why?" The Doctor demanded, pacing frantically as he thought. "Who'd do that? What for? It doesn't make sense. And what do you mean Lily remembered him?"
Suddenly there was a loud bang from the other side of the phone and he paused in his pacing.
"River?" He asked urgently, but there was no answer.
"Lily? River, Lily, what's happening?" He demanded in alarm.
River P.O.V.
"I don't know." River told the Doctor as she ran about the console.
"It's the engines. Doctor, there's something wrong with the Tardis, like something else is controlling it. Lily, give me a hand." She ordered as she fought for control.
When there was no reply, River glanced back to see the brunette had sunk to the floor by the railings, clutching her head tightly as she curled in pain.
"Lily?" She asked in alarm while the Doctor snapped over the phone: "You're flying it wrong."
"I'm flying it perfectly." River snapped at him as she leaned down over Lily.
She then touched the brunette, asking softly, trying not to draw the Doctor's attention to the fact that something might be wrong with her: "Lily?"
"Where are you? What's the date reading?" The Doctor asked and River left Lily for the moment as she quickly checked the scanner.
"It's the 26th of June, 2010." She told him, when suddenly Lily moaned from behind her.
She whipped back towards the girl as the Doctor ordered urgently: "You need to get out of there now. Any other time zone, just go!"
"I can't break free!" River shouted back as she tried to move the controls, becoming agitated between the fear that was clear in the Doctor's voice and Lily's continuous moans of pain.
"Well, then, shut down the Tardis. Shut down everything!" The Doctor ordered frantically and River snapped at him: "I can't!"
"Donna Noble."
River's head shot up and she turned to look at Lily again in surprise.
"What?" She asked the brunette girl, but Lily didn't seem able to hear her as she muttered, still clutching her head in pain: "Mickey Smith. Aunt Jackie. Uncle Pete. Rose."
"Lily?" River asked worriedly as she let go of the console once more to bend over the younger woman.
"River, what's happening?" The Doctor demanded and River answered fearfully as she tried to get the brunette to let go of her head so River could examine her: "Doctor, there's something wrong with Lily."
"Boe. dead. Reinette, dead. Dead, so many dead." Lily wailed quietly and River was frightened for the girl.
"Lily." She said urgently, but the girl was speaking faster and faster: "Martha Jones. Jack Harkness. Sarah Jane. K9."
She wailed again, louder this time and River clutched the girl when suddenly a menacing voice snarled through the Tardis speakers: "Silence will fall."
River stared around the Tardis in alarm as the voice repeated, its words echoing a little: "Silence will fall."
Amy P.O.V.
Amy stared at Rory, and she quickly pulled her hand back, taking a step back. Her heart was thundering as she said shakily: "But I don't know you, I've never seen you before in my life."
"You have. You know you have! It's me." Rory pleaded, his voice breaking and Amy demanded, ignoring him: "Why am I crying?"
"Because you remember me." Rory cried.
He stepped after her and Amy stared at him in confusion as he begged: "I came back. You're crying because you remember me."
Doctor P.O.V.
"Someone else is flying the Tardis." River was saying urgently. "An external force. I've lost control."
"Okay, but what about Lily? Is she alright?" The Doctor demanded, unable to focus as he worried about the young woman.
"Doctor, focus on the problem! Lily's not going to get any better if I can't get the Tardis under control." River snapped, sounding agitated beyond belief.
Unfortunately, that only confirmed the Doctor's fears that something was very wrong with Lily - River wouldn't lose her composure over anything else.
"What's wrong with Lily?" He demanded, and River yelled at him: "I don't know!"
The Doctor's hearts stopped, his blood going cold. River went on desperately: "I think it's whatever's wrong with the Tardis, so Doctor, what do I do?"
He tried to focus though and he began to pace again as he muttered: "Okay, fine. But how? Why?" He demanded, when suddenly there was a high-pitched ringing throughout the whole chamber.
He stuck a finger in his ear, gritting his teeth against the noise coming from… the Pandorica. The Doctor said to River urgently: "Listen to me, just land her anywhere. Emergency landing, now. There are cracks in time. I've seen them everywhere, and they're getting wider."
He was so focused on the call, he missed the Romans all slumping over and then slowly drawing upright mechanically, their eyes glazed over. The Doctor went on, saying to River desperately: "The Tardis exploding is what causes them, but we can stop the cracks ever happening if you just land her."
"It's not safe." River retorted, although the Doctor heard her starting to press buttons on the console. There was a clang from behind him, and the Doctor turned as the Pandorica as the final cogs slid back.
A blinding white light flooded out as the box slowly opened and the Doctor murmured grimly: "Well, now. Ready to come out, are we?"
River P.O.V.
The console banged and sparked as River tried to land. She finally got the Tardis to stop moving and she called: "Doctor? I'm down. I've landed."
"Okay, just walk out of the doors." He ordered. "If there's no one inside, the Tardis engines shut down automatically."
"What about Lily?" River asked as she glanced at the now numb brunette girl. Lily was curled into a tight ball, her arms wrapped around her knees and tucking them under her chin as she stared at the ground with unseeing eyes.
"Take her with you. Just get out of there." The Doctor ordered and River murmured: "Right, we're going."
She reached down and grabbed Lily, hauling up the unresponsive girl as the Doctor shouted at her: "Run!"
River dragged Lily with her to the doors, but they wouldn't open, no matter how hard she shoved.
Doctor P.O.V.
The Doctor waited impatiently, using the brief moment of silence to sonic the Pandorica again, trying to figure out what was inside. Suddenly River shouted through the phone: "Doctor! Doctor, I can't open the doors!"
The Doctor turned to answer, when he spotted the Romans marching towards him. Their eyes were glazed, unfocused, and their fingers had unhinged to reveal small guns.
'They're Autons.' He realized at last and then a horrible realization followed.
"Amy!" He shouted in alarm.
Amy P.O.V.
Amy stared at Rory, who was bent over and clutching his hand desperately. He'd been crying desperately as he seemed to fight with himself, starting to make mechanical sounds as his body twitched, and Amy stared at him in further confusion.
He suddenly turned to her as he begged her: "Listen to me. You have to run. You have to get as far away from here as you can. I'm a thing! I'll kill you. Just go!" He shouted and Amy took a surprised step back.
But somehow she couldn't turn away from this man as he moaned: "Please, no, I don't want to go."
He began to shake and his breathing heaved as he fought an internal battle, saying between grit teeth: "I'm Rory! I'm, I'm…"
And suddenly, Amy remembered.
"Williams." She whispered.
He turned to her in surprise, but still bent over as he tried to fight the Auton inside. Amy continued as she moved towards him slowly: "Rory Williams from Leadworth. My boyfriend."
Amy bent down and tears fell once more as she stared him in the eyes and wondered: "How could I ever forget you?"
"Amy, you've got to run." Rory begged her. "I can't hold on. I'm going."
He jerked, and Amy gripped his shoulders as she told him firmly, although her voice cracked: "You are Rory Williams and you aren't going anywhere ever again."
Doctor P.O.V.
"Plastic Romans." The Doctor murmured in wonder as he stared at his captors.
They had a death grip on him and were dragging him through the chamber as he continued: "Duplicates, driven by the Nestene Consciousness, eh? Deep cover, but what for?"
He glanced at them.
"What are you doing? What's in there, eh?" He asked as he jerked his head to look back at the Pandorica, before he asked in a questioning whisper: "What's coming out?"
River P.O.V.
River had given up shouting for the Doctor's help, and after gently placing Lily on the console steps she leapt around trying to get the doors open. She hooked the Tardis engine wires to the main door handles determinedly even as the console sparked and shuddered, getting ready to explode.
Lily wailed suddenly: "Why? Who?"
Lily paused before she lifted her head to ask tearfully: "Doctor?"
River glanced at her and sighed.
Doctor P.O.V.
The Doctor was dragged to the chamber doors and he was brought to a stop with his back to the Pandorica.
"The Pandorica is ready." One of the Romans holding the Doctor said in an emotionless voice.
As more Romans walked through the doors and into the chamber, the Doctor asked confusedly: "What, do you mean it's open?"
"You have been scanned," a deathly familiar voice called, "assessed," the Doctor turned his head slowly to look back over his shoulder, "understood, Doctor." The White Dalek cried as it rolled forwards into the room.
Behind it, the Red and Yellow Daleks appeared, having beamed into the chamber as well.
Amy P.O.V.
"The ring." Amy murmured to Rory, her voice thick with tears.
"Remember the ring? You'd never let me wear it in case I lost it." She teased even as she fought sobs, and Rory breathed heavily as he admitted: "The Doctor gave it to me."
"Show it to me." Amy demanded, trying to keep him focused and in the present, trying to keep him human. "Show me the ring."
"Amy." Rory sobbed out, and Amy begged as another tear slid down her cheek: "Come on. Just show it to me."
Rory shakily did as she asked, pulling out the red velvet box. His whole body was trembling, desperately trying to maintain control as he opened the box and showed Amy the engagement ring nestled inside.
Doctor P.O.V.
The Romans whirled the Doctor around so that he was facing the Daleks and the Pandorica, and he demanded nervously as he stared at the White Dalek: "Scanned? Scanned by what, a box?"
"Your limits and capacities have been extrapolated." Another familiar voice said, and the Doctor glanced over to see the Cybermen appear on the other side of the chamber.
They were followed by Judoon and Sontarans. Stark appeared next and he declared as he beamed in: "The Pandorica is ready."
"Ready for what?" The Doctor asked slowly, and the White Dalek replied: "Ready for you."
The Doctor's eyes widened as he stared at the Pandorica. The white light had faded to reveal the empty prison inside and the binding clamps slid open and waiting. All the pieces of the puzzle clicked at last and the Doctor struggled violently against the Roman Autons as they began to drag him towards the Pandorica.
Amy P.O.V.
Amy whispered as she touched Rory's face lovingly: "There it is. You remember."
Rory was sweating bullets as he tried to stay in control and Amy murmured softly as she gazed into his eyes: "This is you, and you are staying."
But Rory's hand unhinged and his gun activated.
"No." He pleaded, but it was no use.
Amy gasped as Rory shot her right in the stomach. She trembled and then reached in to wrap her arms around him in her final moments as Rory murmured: "No."
"No." He begged as Amy hugged him tightly, her eyes filled with tears as she clung to life.
"No!" Rory begged as Amy gasped and her eyes began to close, before her hands loosened and she fell back.
Rory gripped her desperately as her head lolled and the life left her. "NO!"
Doctor P.O.V.
The Doctor struggled violently but it was no use as he was thrust into the Pandorica and strapped in. He stared out at all his enemies gathered together in unity before the prison and he said in a mix of horror and awe: "You lot, working together. An alliance. How is that possible?"
"The cracks in the skin of the universe." The White Dalek replied.
Stark added as the Doctor looked at each of them as they spoke: "All reality is threatened."
"All universes will be deleted." The Cyberleader finished.
The Doctor asked in confusion: "What? And you've come to me for help?"
"No." Stark retorted. "We will save the universe from you!"
"From me?" The Doctor asked in confusion and the Cyberleader explained: "All projections correlate. All evidence concurs. The Doctor will destroy the universe."
"No, no, no." The Doctor protested. "You've got it wrong."
But the Cyberleader went on: "The Pandorica was constructed to ensure the safety of the Alliance."
The Doctor's eyes widened as the White Dalek explained: "A scenario was devised from the memories of your companion."
"A trap the Doctor could not resist." Stark added, and he frowned, while the White Dalek finished: "The cracks in time are the work of the Doctor. It is confirmed."
"No. no, no, not me, the Tardis." The Doctor argued as he pointed out: "And I'm not in the Tardis, am I?"
"Only the Doctor can pilot the Tardis." The White Dalek retorted, and the Doctor cried in exasperation and fear: "Please, listen to me!"
The White Dalek ignored him as it said: "You will be prevented."
"Total event collapse!" The Doctor begged desperately, his voice breaking.
"Every sun will supernova at every moment in history. The whole universe will never have existed. Please, listen to me!" He cried, but the Cyberleader ordered: "Seal the Pandorica."
"No!" The Doctor shouted as the Pandorica began to close.
"Please, listen to me! The Tardis is exploding right now and I'm the only one who can stop it! Listen to me!" He shouted as the Pandorica slammed shut.
River P.O.V.
River flung open the Tardis doors only to find the doors completely blocked by a stone wall. She turned back to the Tardis console where Lily was standing, white-faced.
"I'm so sorry." River whispered and the Tardis exploded, sending the universe into darkness.