The new Doctor was missing the fez and he looked terrible, his clothes smoking a little as he stared at them momentarily before falling down the stairs. Amy and Rory flinched as this Doctor came crashing down before landing right at their feet.
The present Doctor quickly scanned him as Rory said numbly: "Doctor, it's you. How can it be you?"
"Doctor, is that you?" Amy asked in fear as the Doctor checked the man, and the Doctor answered quietly: "Yeah, it's me. Me from the future."
The Future Doctor suddenly opened his eyes and leaned up to grab his past self, whispering something in his ear urgently before he fell back down again. Dead. Amy and Rory exchanged looks and Amy asked slowly: "Are you? I mean, is he, is he dead?"
"What?" The Doctor asked, sounding dazed as he stood up.
He then muttered hastily: "Dead? Yes, yes. Of course he's dead. Right, I've got twelve minutes. That's good."
He ran off and Amy asked after him: "Twelve minutes to live?"
He turned to her in surprise as she snapped: "How is that good?"
"Oh, you can do loads in twelve minutes." The Doctor replied with a shrug. "Suck a mint, buy a sledge, have a fast bath. Come on, the roof."
He made to run off again when Rory protested: "We can't leave you here dead."
"Oh, good. Are you in charge now?" The Doctor asked scornfully as he turned back to them.
"Lily would kill me if I left you here dead." Rory retorted sharply.
The Doctor just leveled a look at him as he demanded darkly: "Oh? Is that so? So tell me then, what are we going to do about Amelia?"
The pair looked back to see Amelia gone, the soda cup lying on the ground.
"Where did she go?" Amy asked as she and Rory hurried down the stairs, looking around wildly for the little girl.
"Amelia?" Rory called.
"There is no Amelia." The Doctor told them and they turned to him as he walked down the steps towards them again, saying warningly: "From now on, there never was. History is still collapsing."
"But how can I still be here if she's not?" Amy asked confusedly, and the Doctor replied: "You're an anomaly. We all are. We're all just hanging on at the eye of the storm. But the eye is closing, and if we don't do something fast, reality will never have happened."
He looked at Rory as he said sharply: "So, Lily killing you because you leave me after I'm already dead, or Amy never existing. Which is it?"
Rory hung his head and the Doctor shouted as he ran back up the stairs: "Today, just dying is a result. Now, come on!"
He ran off, but the other two hesitated by the dead Doctor.
"He won't die." Amy said firmly while Rory covered the dead Doctor with his jacket.
Amy continued shakily: "Time can be rewritten. He'll find a way. I know he will."
"Move it! Come on!" The Doctor shouted and the pair ran off, Rory sending one last sad look back at the Doctor's body on the steps.
As the three heaved themselves up onto the roof through the hatch, Amy asked as she glanced around puzzled: "What, it's morning already? How did that happen?"
"History is shrinking." The Doctor replied as he walked across the roof to look at the sun. "Is anybody listening to me?"
Amy and Rory hurried to look up at the sun, while the Doctor walked over to a satellite dish: "The universe is collapsing. We don't have much time left."
He began to sonic the dish and Rory asked puzzled: "What are you doing?"
"Looking for the Tardis." The Doctor replied lightly, and Rory pointed out: "But the Tardis exploded."
"Okay then, I'm looking for an exploding Tardis." The Doctor corrected as he snapped off the dish and pulled it with him as he walked to the edge of the roof, towards the sun.
"I don't understand." Amy cried. "So, the Tardis blew up and took the universe with it. But why would it do that? How?"
Rory held her as they stood in the center of the roof, both puzzled while the Doctor replied: "Good question for another day."
"The question for now is," the Doctor turned to look at them, "total event collapse means that every star in the universe never happened. Not one single one of them ever shone. So, if all the stars that ever were are gone, then what," he turned back to the sun, "is that?"
He pointed at it and both Rory and Amy paused, staring at the burning ball high in the sky.
"Like I said, I'm looking for an exploding Tardis." The Doctor murmured, and Rory protested: "But that's the sun."
"Is it?" The Doctor challenged. "Well, here's the noise that sun is making right now."
He pointed the satellite dish at the burning mass and soniced the dish. Amy and Rory blanched as they heard the familiar wheezing sound.
"That's my Tardis burning up." The Doctor murmured. "That's what's been keeping the Earth warm."
"Doctor, there's something else." Rory suddenly piped up.
He paused as he listened and he told them: "There's a voice."
The Doctor frowned as he also heard a vague voice echoing in the background.
"I can't hear anything." Amy protested but Rory replied as he pointed to his ear: "Trust the plastic."
The Doctor soniced the dish again, making the signal stronger and the voices louder. Amy paled as they could now they could all hear as Lily whispered: "Doctor?"
"I'm so sorry." River replied.
And then it repeated, Lily whispering for the Doctor in a panicked voice while River whispered sadly: "I'm so sorry."
"Doctor, that's Lily and River." Amy said slowly. "How can they be up there?"
The Doctor slowly lowered the satellite as his mind raced to understand what was happening while Rory suggested: "It must be like a recording or something."
"No, it's not a recording." The Doctor mumbled as he figured it out. "Of course, the emergency protocols. The Tardis has sealed off the control room and put them into a time loop to save them. They are right," he said with a sinking heart as he stared at the burning light, "at the heart of the explosion."
Inside the Tardis
"Doctor?" Lily asked tearfully and River sighed.
A button exploded on the Tardis console and River leapt over, fighting with some pipes. She signaled and Lily shoved her emotions aside as she heaved a lever, turning it. River then ran for the doors, opening it to find herself staring at a rock wall. She turned slowly to where the Tardis console began to explode and saw the white-faced girl.
"I'm so sorry." River whispered.
"Doctor?" Lily asked tearfully and River sighed.
A button exploded on the Tardis console and River leapt over, fighting with some pipes. She signaled and Lily shoved her emotions aside as she heaved a lever, turning it. River then ran for the doors, opening it to find herself staring at a rock wall. She turned slowly to where the Tardis console began to explode and saw the white-faced girl.
"I'm so sorry." River whispered.
"Doctor?" Lily asked tearfully and River sighed.
A button exploded on the Tardis console and River leapt over, fighting with some pipes. She signaled and Lily shoved her emotions aside as she heaved a lever, turning it. River then ran for the doors, to find the Doctor leaning against the Tardis doors casually as he played with the vortex manipulator on his wrist.
"Hi, Lily, River. I'm home." He said casually.
River glanced uneasily at the girl whose face had whitened to an alarmingly pale shade. She tried to lighten the situation as she looked at her watch and demanded jokingly: "And what sort of time do you call this?"
The three teleported back to the rooftop, the Doctor holding one woman on each arm, and River cried happily: "Amy!"
The redhead in question and Rory turned around from where they'd been staring at the space where the Doctor had disappeared from, Amy's eyes lighting up as she saw Lily while River frowned in confusion.
"And the plastic Centurion?" She asked and the Doctor reassured her: "It's okay, he's on our side."
"Really?" River asked and the Doctor nodded: "Yeah."
Amy had walked forward, but she frowned as she took in Lily's face. The girl was ashen, looking completely shaken, and as the Doctor and River bantered, she suddenly let go of the Doctor's arm. He looked over in surprise and then alarm as the girl staggered before falling to her knees, pulling them in and clutching them desperately as she muttered quietly, shuddering continuously.
"Lily?" The Doctor called in concern, reaching for her. She flinched violently and he pulled back, his alarm increasing.
He glanced at River, suddenly angry as he snarled at the woman: "What did you do?"
River was looking at him pityingly and as Amy leaned down to hug her friend anxiously, the Doctor shouted furiously: "What did you do?!"
"I didn't do anything." River informed him and the Doctor snapped: "Oh, and I'm supposed to believe she just ended up like that on her own?"
Amy had leaned in and she frowned as she heard what the girl was muttering: "Krillitanes, Cybermen, Satan, Dalek, Racnoss, Judoon, Angels, Master…"
She stopped abruptly, her eyes suddenly clearing as a hand clutched her stomach.
"I really didn't do anything!" River was shouting, and the Doctor replied furiously: "Well then, how do you explain Lily-"
"I'm fine." Lily interjected and the Doctor turned while River's face fell sadly as the pair stared at the brunette girl. Lily was standing up determinedly, gently pushing Amy away and back towards Rory while the Doctor frowned.
"You are not fine, just minutes ago you were completely not fine." He insisted.
"I said, 'I'm fine', didn't I?" Lily just replied testily. She then turned to stare at the burning Tardis, ignoring the Doctor as he started to argue: "Lily-"
"Okay," Lily said firmly, "so the Tardis is exploding, the universe is in flux, and time is collapsing."
"Thank you, someone gets it." The Doctor muttered, although he still sounded worried, but Lily wasn't finished.
"I have questions, but number one is this. What on earth," she turned back to the Doctor as she asked with a frown, "is that thing you've got on your head?"
Amy nodded while Rory and River snorted, and the Doctor replied defensively: "It's a fez. I wear a fez now. Fezes are cool."
Lily looked at him in disbelief. She then slid her eyes over to River and the two exchanged looks, before glancing at Amy as well. Amy saw their look and grinned. She grabbed the Doctor's arm as Lily snatched the fez off the man's head.
"Oh!" The Doctor cried but Lily had already thrown the fez into the air where River shot it to pieces.
The three women grinned briefly in triumph, but it slid off their faces as a terrifyingly familiar voice cried: "Exterminate!"
Lily gaped in horror as a Dalek rose from below, its eyestalk appearing over the edge of the roof as it lifted higher into the air.
"Run, run! Move, move." The Doctor ordered, grabbing Lily and shoving her towards River. The blonde woman caught her as she stumbled a little from the force of the push while Amy and Rory ran ahead towards the stairwell.
"Go!" The Doctor ordered and Rory shouted: "Come on!"
They all ran, while the Doctor lifted the satellite dish, and used it as a shield against the Dalek's shots, blocking all blasts until he made it to the stairwell and slammed the roof shut.
River had let Lily go, the girl sliding numbly to the floor as she stared blankly ahead, shaken after seeing the Dalek again with new eyes. Her mind raced and images threatened to explode before her eyes, but it was as though something was blocking them. There were just flashes as it passed by and she clutched her head in pain.
Amy noticed and leaned over her friend worriedly as the girl began to mutter again: "Hand? Rude? Lonely? Regretful? Vengeful?"
Her voice faded out, and then back in and irregular intervals as she bowed her head into her knees while Amy held her worriedly.
Rory, River and the Doctor didn't notice, too preoccupied with the imminent Dalek assault. Rory stood behind River as River held her gun pointed at the roof hatch, the pair a little further down the stairwell.
River ordered the Doctor grimly: "Doctor, come on."
"Shush." The Doctor silenced her as he leaned his ear against the hatch, listening intently. "It's moving away, finding another way in."
He quickly moved down the stairs, joining River and Rory as he explained: "It needs to restore its power before it can attack again."
He dropped before them and announced: "Now, that means we've got exactly," he checked his watch, "four and a half minutes before it's at lethal capacity."
River and Rory frowned as the latter asked: "How do you know?"
"Because that's when it's due to kill me." The Doctor replied bluntly.
Amy glanced up, but she was too concerned over her human friend's well being at the moment as the girl's muttering began to fade out again. River asked incredulously: "Kill you? What do you mean, kill you?"
"Oh, shut up. Never mind." The Doctor sighed as he turned around. He saw Lily and Amy and his eyes widened.
"Lily!" He cried worriedly, leaning in and reaching for her.
She flinched again, shuddering away from his touch and the Doctor pulled his hand away, concerned and hurt.
"Doctor, what's wrong with her?" Amy pleaded, but he was just as lost.
"Doctor, listen to her." River ordered and he paused to glanced at her with a frown on his face.
"What?" He asked and River urged: "She starts to mutter after a while. Listen to what she's saying."
They all paused, listening as the girl's voice came back and she muttered again, almost hyperventilating. But now she'd turned questioning and the Doctor paled as the girl's voice became frantic as she babbled: " 'A Rose by any other name'. Power of a name. YANA. Doctor? Doctor who?"
The Doctor turned to River with wide eyes and Amy was alarmed to hear he how broken he sounded as he asked: "What happened?"
"When the Tardis lost control…" River answered sadly. "I don't know, I guess the rifts severed some of the memory wipe but it was partial with the cracks still open. The information overflow fighting with the suppression was too much and…"
"And it's torturing her mind." The Doctor said slowly, horrified understanding dawning. "It's burning her. The memory recall triggered the metacrisis."
"What does that mean?" Amy asked desperately. "Will she be alright? Doctor?"
But as that word left her mouth, the brunette's head shot up. Lily's eyes focused on the green eyes before her and the Doctor's eyes widened even further as she looked at him with sudden clarity. But his hearts stopped, breaking a little when she opened her mouth and said the words he'd hoped to never hear from her.
"You're not him." She whispered shakily, and the Doctor's face fell.
River's eyes widened, while Amy and Rory exchanged confused glances. But Lily's gaze had slid out of focus again, darting around a little wildly as she struggled with the weight in her own mind.
"Doctor…" River began, but he suddenly returned to his normal self, standing abruptly as he said: "Right, off we go. Quickly now, move it."
He ushered them all, indicating to Amy that she should pull Lily up and take her with her. Amy did as he silently asked, but she was bewildered as to what was happening, and concerned about the state of her friend.
Rory was concerned too, and seeing Amy struggle to help the unresponsive brunette girl, he walked over and gently picked Lily up. He carried her on his back as she continued to alternate between staring blankly into nothing and then muttering incoherently.
As they moved quickly down the museum corridors, the Doctor muttered: "How can that Dalek even exist? It was erased from time and then it came back. How?"
The Doctor demanded, his mind not working right, too shocked still from the dual blow it had received- the worry and the hurt making it impossible for him to think.
Rory chimed in as he walked behind: "You said the light from the Pandorica-"
"It's not a light, it's a restoration field." The Doctor corrected absently.
"But never mind, call it a light. That light brought Amy back, restored her, but how could it bring back a Dalek when the Daleks have never existed?" He asked as he stopped walking.
He stared at Amy pensively, avoiding Lily, and so Rory as well, and Amy answered: "Okay, tell us."
He sighed a little and River said gently: "Doctor, you have to focus. It won't help Lily if you don't."
He clenched his fists but nodded. He began to walk again as he thought aloud: "When the Tardis blew up, it caused a total event collapse. A time explosion. And that explosion blasted every atom in every moment of the universe. Except-"
He realized and he turned to them. Amy finished slowly: "Except inside the Pandorica."
"The perfect prison." The Doctor murmured. "And inside it, perfectly preserved, a few billion atoms of the universe as it was. In theory, you could extrapolate the whole universe from a single one of them, like, like cloning a body from a single cell. And we've got the bumper family pack."
"No, no. Too fast. I'm not getting it." Rory interrupted.
The Doctor glanced at him and Rory regretted speaking when the Doctor saw Lily and his face fell again. But the Doctor tried to stay focused as he explained: "The box contains a memory of the universe, and the light transmits the memory, and that's how we're going to do it."
"Do what?" Amy demanded, and Lily lifted her head.
"Restore the universe." She murmured tiredly and they all turned to her in surprise. She looked stable once more, but very weak.
"Are you alright?" Amy asked her and Lily shrugged lightly, avoiding looking at the Doctor.
They all noticed and they stood for a moment awkwardly before the Doctor murmured: "Come on."
As he walked off, River followed, saying in exasperation: "Doctor, you're being completely ridiculous."
Amy and Rory quickly followed as River was continued: "The Pandorica partially restored one Dalek. If it can't even reboot a single life form properly, how's it reboot the whole of reality?"
Rory meanwhile murmured to Lily: "Seriously, Lily, are you okay?"
"I don't know." She murmured back sadly while she clutched his neck tightly. "My head is killing me."
Rory hesitated but Lily's head had suddenly snapped up as she heard the Doctor answer River's question: "What if we give it a moment of infinite power? What if we can transmit the light from the Pandorica to every particle of space and time simultaneously?"
"Well, that would be lovely, Fa…dear," River answered, "but we can't, because it's completely impossible."
The Doctor paused, frowning at her and wondering what she'd been about to say, but he moved on as he corrected her: "Ah no, you see, it's not. It's almost completely impossible. One spark is all we need."
"For what?" River demanded, and the Doctor grinned: "Big Bang Two."
"No." Lily said sharply and with such sudden clarity that the others turned to look at her in surprise.
The Doctor glanced at her warily and he began: "Lily-"
He broke off suddenly as he was shot in the back. Time seemed to speed up for Lily as the Doctor as he fell. His face was twisted in agony and River bent down quickly to help him as Lily screamed in an utterly heartbroken voice: "Doctor!"
"Exterminate! Exterminate!" The Dalek called as it rolled down the corridor towards them.
"Get back." Rory shouted as he ushered Amy around a corner with his shoulder while still carrying Lily. The brunette seemed too stunned to move as Rory dropped her quickly to the ground.
She sat there on her knees, staring numbly at the Doctor while Rory called sharply: "River, get back now!"
"Exterminate!" The Dalek called and Rory shot the Dalek, making it power down once more. He kept his gun pointed firmly at the Dalek just in case as Lily crawled over to the Doctor.
"Doctor?" River was saying urgently. She tapped his face, trying to keep him focused as Lily bent over him as well.
"What do you need?" River said urgently. "Doctor?"
"Doctor?" Lily asked in a small voice as she leaned over his head and he smiled a little at her. "Doctor, please."
"Lily." He breathed before he activated his vortex manipulator and disappeared.
"Doctor!" Lily screamed, the tears falling thickly.
River hugged the poor girl as Lily cried: "Doctor? Doctor!"
"Damn him, he could be anywhere." River muttered but Amy said quietly as she moved to hug her friend as well: "He went downstairs, twelve minutes ago."
Lily lifted her tearful face to the redhead, demanding: "Show me."
Amy looked at her sadly as she whispered: "Lily, he died."
Lily's heart stopped for a moment and a sob wrenched its way through her. But then her fist curled and she shook her head slowly.
"No, he didn't." Lily muttered and River glanced at her grimly.
Amy began: "Lily-"
"Systems restoring." They all turned to the Dalek quickly but Lily didn't move. "You will be exterminated."
"We've got to move." Rory said firmly, his gun still pointed at the Dalek. "That thing's coming back to life."
"You go to the Doctor. I'll be right with you." River said firmly.
Lily glanced at her and the two exchanged looks of understanding before Amy led Lily away. Rory followed quickly, guarding them as River stayed behind, facing the Dalek to exact revenge on her friend's part.
*A/N Sorry to everyone for the lack of Lily in the last chapter! It was kind of overwhelming (in a good way, in the end) how much you guys missed her! Hope this chapter makes up for it!