Ok, and here's the last chapter! Hope you enjoy!
Note: Paragraphs in italic like this are flashbacks of the past. You'll know when you see them.
Ok, here we go!
Chapter 30: The Wedding of... River Song?
London. But not the London that it should be. This one had steam trains running on aerial tracks through the Zurich Re building, cars carried by balloons. There are reports of sunspot activity, solar flares and thunderstorms without rain causing interference across all radio signals, and even Pterodactyls flew over children playing in Hyde Park.
A Roman centurion in a chariot was waiting at traffic lights and the headline on the Londinium Cotide is 'War of the Roses enters second year.'
Definitely not how London should have been.
In the Buckingham Senate, Winston Churchill, the Holy Roman Emperor, had arrived via his own personal mammoth, and was now having his blood pressure checked by his Silurian male nurse.
"Not too many late nights in Gaul, I hope." The nurse said. If one would remember, this alien might have been called Malohkeh.
"Just the one." Churchill replied. "I had an argument with Cleopatra. Dreadful woman. Excellent dancer."
"I can tell from your blood pressure."
"What time do you have, doctor?"
Malohkeh checked his watch. "Two minutes past five, Caesar."
"It's always two minutes past five. Day or night, it's always two minutes past five in the afternoon. Why is that?"
"Because that is the time, Caesar."
"And the date. It's always the twenty second of April. Does it not bother you?"
"The date and the time have always been the same, Caesar. Why should it start bothering me now?"
Churchill stood. "I want to see the Soothsayer. Where is he?"
"In the Tower, where you threw him the last time."
"Get him."
In a short amount of time, a bedraggled figure in a toga and shackles was almost dragged in.
"Leave us." Churchill commanded, waiting until it was just him and the shackled figure before he spoke again. "Tick tock goes the clock, as the old song says. But they don't, do they? The clocks never tick. Something has happened to time. That's what you say. What you never stop saying. All of history is happening at once. But what does that mean? What happened? Explain to me in terms that I can understand: What happened to time."
The figure lifted his head, and revealed himself to be the Eleventh Doctor with a thick beard. He only spoke two words.
"A woman."
When Ember had jumped next, she ended up with the Eleventh Doctor, and found out very quickly what he was up to. Though she was anxious, she agreed to help.
The two of them were on a disabled spaceship that was badly damaged, but still had one survivor.
"Imagine you were dying." The Doctor spoke aloud as they approached the survivor. "Imagine you were afraid and a long way from home and in terrible pain. Just when you thought it couldn't get worse, you looked up and saw the face of the devil himself." He was wearing a Stetson, so it was then that he lifted his head so his face could be seen. "Hello, Dalek."
"And if that wasn't enough, what about your worst nightmare?" Ember added. "Not one, but both of your most fierce predators. Hi."
The Dalek they were talking to was on its side, unable to move or defend itself. "Emergency! Emergency! Weapon system disabled! Emergency!"
"Hush, now." The Doctor said as he opened the top of the casing. "I need some information from your data core. Everything the Daleks know about the Silence."
Ember only watched as the Dalek continued to scream.
On another planet - Calisto B - a cloaked figure made his way across the docks and into a seedy bar. The place gave a nostalgic feel of the pirates era on Earth.
Not long after the cloaked figure entered, two other people did. One in a Stetson while the other wore a singed denim jacket with a lesser-singed hood attached. It was the Doctor and Ember.
"Gideon Vandaleur." The Doctor said as soon as they reached the bar, addressing the red-skinned barman behind the grate over the counter. "Get him. Now."
The barman eyed them. "Who says he's here?"
The Doctor's only answer was to put something on the counter; a Dalek eyestalk. The barman paled before he scurried away. The Time Lords moved to sit at a table to wait, Ember smirking when the Doctor brought out a book labelled 'Knitting for Girls' to read.
It wasn't long before the cloaked figure from before approached and sat opposite them.
"Father Gideon Vandaleur, former envoy of the Silence." The Doctor said, putting the book away as he looked at the man under the cloak. He noticed an eyepatch covering the right eye. "My condolences."
Gideon frowned. "Your what?"
"Gideon Vandaleur has been dead for six months." The Doctor pointed his Sonic at the man and he went unnaturally rigid. He then leaned forward so he could directly into the man's eye - and at the tiny person in it. "Can I speak to the Captain, please?" It didn't take long for the scene in the man's eye to change to show a bridge, where several tiny people were sat. "Hello again, the Teselecta time-travelling shape-changing robot powered by miniaturised people. Never get bored of that. Long time since Berlin."
"Doctor, what have you done to our systems?" The presumed captain asked.
"Nothing permanent," Ember said. "Just needed you to sit still."
The Doctor nodded in agreement. "They'll be fine if you behave. Now, this unit can disguise itself as anyone in the universe, so if you're posing as Vandaleur, you're investigating the Silence. Tell me about them."
"Tell you what?"
"One thing. Just one. Their weakest link."
In a packed coliseum of sorts, the Doctor was sat in front of a chessboard. Opposite him sat a bulky man with an eyepatch. One of the chess pieces - the opponent's Queen - was crackling with electricity.
"The crowd are getting restless." The Doctor said. "They know the Queen is your only legal move, except you've already moved it twelve times, which means there are now over four million volts running through it. That's why they call it Live Chess. Even with the gauntlet you'll never make it to Bishop Four alive."
The man - Gantok, as the Teselecta called him - tried to touch his queen, only to pull back when he felt the current. "I am a dead man, unless you concede the game."
"But I'm winning."
"Name your price."
"Information."
"I work for the Silence." Gantok said, making a gesture across his own throat. "They would kill me."
"They're going to kill me too, very soon. I was just going to lie down and take it, but you know what? Before I go, I'd like to know why I have to die."
"Dorium Maldovar is the only one who can help you."
The Doctor blinked. "Dorium's dead. The Monks beheaded him at Demon's Run."
"I know. Concede the game, Doctor, and I'll take you to him."
After a long moment, the Doctor knocked over his own king, causing the crowd to boo in disappointment. Ember was waiting by the entrance to the colluseum, away from the watchful eyes of the crowd.
A crypt in space, known as the Charnel House, was dark and gloomy, with skulls lining every shelf and even littered on the floor. Gantok was leading the Doctor and Ember through it.
"The Seventh Transept, where the Headless Monks keep the leftovers." He said, holding a flaming torch to guide the way. "Watch your step. There are traps everywhere."
The Doctor shuddered as he heard something scuttle by, pulling Ember close to him as he held a flaming torch of his own. "I hate rats."
"There are no rats in the transept."
"Oh, good..."
"The skulls eat them." As if on cue, the skulls turned on their spots to 'look' at the visitors. Ember shivered this time, letting the Doctor hold her to him as they walked. "The headless monks behead you alive, remember."
The Doctor blinked as they entered a small room that had boxes on pillars. "Why are some of them in boxes?"
"Because some people are rich, and some people are left to rot. And Dorium Maldovar was always very rich."
The Doctor approached the box at the front and opened it, revealing a human head with blue skin. It sneezed in its sleep, making him jump slightly. "Thank you for bringing us, Gantok."
"My pleasure." Gantok suddenly pointed a futuristic gun at them. "It saves me the trouble of burying you. Nobody beats me at chess."
Ember frowned. "I'd watch my step if I were you."
Gantok didn't take her advice as he stepped forward, only to trigger a trap that opened a pit right below his feet. He fell with a shout into the pit, which had hundreds of skulls in it.
"Gantok!" The Doctor cried as he and Ember knelt at the edge of the pit. The skulls below were quick to consume the man before they turned to look up at them with a hiss, making the Doctor pull Ember away and use his Sonic to close the pit.
The sound of the trapdoor closing woke the blue head. "Hello? Is someone there?" Dorium saw them and looked relieved. "Ah, Doctor. Thank God it's you. The Monks, they turned on me!"
"Well, I'm afraid they rather did, a bit." The Doctor said, not sure what else to say.
"Give it to me straight, Doctor. How bad are my injuries?"
The Doctor hesitated. "Well-"
"Ha, ha! Oh, your face!"
"This is absurd!" Churchill exclaimed. "Other worlds? Carnivorous skulls? Talking heads? I don't know why I'm listening to you."
"Because in another reality, you and I are friends." The Doctor said. "And you sense that. Just as you sense there is something wrong with time."
"You mentioned a woman. Is it this Ember?"
"Yes, I did. But it's not Ember. I'm getting to her."
"What's she like? Attractive, I assume."
"Hell, in high heels."
"Tell me more."
Back in the Charnel House, Dorium would have shrugged if he had shoulders. The Doctor paced as the head spoke. "Oh, it's not so bad, really, as long as they get your box the right way up. I got a media-chip fitted in my head years ago, and the Wi-Fi down here is excellent, so I keep myself entertained."
The Doctor turned to face him, getting right to the point of his visit. "I need to know about the Silence."
"Oh. A religious order of great power and discretion. The sentinels of history, as they like to call themselves."
"And they want me dead."
"No, not really. They just don't want you to remain alive."
The Doctor rolled his eyes. "That's okay, then. I was a bit worried for a minute there."
"You're a man with a long and dangerous past, but your future is infinitely more terrifying. The Silence believe it must be averted." The bodiless man looked at Ember. "Even though it's under your protection, apparently."
Ember raised a brow, but otherwise kept quiet. She could already feel that instinct spark up at the conversation of the Doctor's death; it was annoying.
"You know, you could've told me all this the last time we met." The Doctor said tersely.
"It was a busy day and I got beheaded."
"What's so dangerous about my future?"
"On the Fields of Trenzalore, at the fall of the Eleventh, when no living creature can speak falsely, or fail to answer, a question will be asked. A question that must never, ever be answered."
The Doctor frowned thoughtfully as he checked a small notebook. "'Silence will fall when the question is asked...'"
"Silence must fall would be a better translation. The Silence are determined that the question will never be answered. That the Doctor will never reach Trenzalore."
"I don't understand. What's it got to do with me?"
"The first question. The oldest question in the universe, hidden in plain sight. Would you like to know what it is?"
"Yes."
"Are you sure?" Dorium asked.
The skulls around the room turned to face the Time Lords, the bone scraping on stone eerily. Ember levelled a glare at them. The flaming torch that Gantok had left on the wall grew a bit in size as the ground trembled a little. It was a clear warning; one that the skulls seemed to understand as they remained on their perches, one or two of them even trembling themselves.
"Very, very sure?" Dorium checked again.
The Doctor swallowed hard as he forced his gaze away from the skulls and to the bodiless man. "...Of course."
"Then I shall tell you. But on your own head be it." Dorium chuckled at his own joke.
A few minutes later, the Doctor and Ember ran into the Tardis, the former carrying the box with Dorium's head in it.
"It's not my fault. Put me back!" The man's voice was muffled in the box as the Doctor put it on the captain's chair and began to pilot the Tardis. "Ow! I've fallen on my nose. Have you got wi-fi here? I'm bored already and my nose is hurting. We all have to die, Doctor, but you more than most. You do see that, don't you? You know what the question is now. You do see that you have to die."
"But what was the question?" Churchill asked. "Why did it mean your death?"
"Suppose there was a man who knew a secret." The Doctor said. "A terrible, dangerous secret that must never be told. How would you erase that secret from the world? Destroy it forever, before it can be spoken."
"If I had to, I'd destroy the man."
"And silence would fall. All the times I've heard those words, I never realised it was my silence, my death. The Doctor will fall." He looked around, finding themselves out of the office and in another part of the building. "Why are we here?"
"This, this is the Senate Room."
"Why did we leave your office?"
"Well, we wanted a stroll, didn't we?"
"I think I've been running." The Doctor noticed that his breathing was slightly laboured, like he'd just sprinted, and that Churchill had a gun in his hand. "Why do you have your revolver?"
"Well, you're dangerous company, Soothsayer."
The Doctor looked at his arm to find a tally mark on his skin. "Yes. I think I am."
"Resume your story."
"Doctor, please, open my hatch!" Dorium's voice was muffled in the still-closed box. "I've got an awful headache. Which to be honest means more than it used to. It's like some terrible weight pressing down on my-" the hatch was opened to reveal that the head was upside down. "Oh. I see."
Ember took pity on the bodiless man and turned the box the right way up as the Doctor spoke. "Why Lake Silencio? Why Utah?"
"It's a Still Point in time. Makes it easier to create a Fixed Point. And your death is a Fixed Point, Doctor. You can't run away from this."
"Been running all my life. Why should I stop?"
"Because now you know what's at stake. Why your life must end."
"Not today."
Dorium rolled his eyes as the Doctor walked off to the other side of the console. "What's the point in delaying? How long have you delayed already?"
Ember knelt beside the chair so she was face-to-face with him. "If I told you that you were going to die, would you sit there and wait for it?"
"Exactly!" The Doctor said as he picked up a phone and dialled a number. "Been knocking about. A bit of a farewell tour. Things to do, people to see. There's always more. I could invent a new colour, save the Dodo, join the Beatles." He focused on the phone when someone answered. "Hello, it's me. Get him. Tell him, we're going out and it's all on me, except for the money and driving." He looked at Dorium. "I have got a time machine, Dorium. It's all still going on. For me, it never stops. Liz the First is still waiting in a glade to elope with me. I could help Rose Tyler with her homework. I could go on all of Jack's stag parties in one night."
"Time catches up with us all, Doctor." Dorium said. Ember didn't correct him.
"Well, it has never laid a glove on me! Hello?" He paused, and then deflated as he listened to whoever was talking in the phone. "Yes. Yes, I..."
Dorium was smart enough to see the change. "Doctor? What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Nothing. I just..." the Doctor put the phone down and looked at Ember, who nodded sadly, and then he reached into the inside pocket of his jacket to pull out several Tardis-blue envelopes. "It's time. It's time..."
Back in the bar on Calisto B, the Doctor slid four sealed blue envelopes across the table to the Teselecta, after asking the miniature people to take them where they needed to go.
"Surely you could deliver the messages yourself?" The Captain in charge asked.
"Too risky." Ember said. "And we've seen what a paradox will bring if we set it off."
The Doctor nodded in agreement. "It would involve crossing my own time stream. Best not. And I will not put Ember through that pain again if I can help it."
"According to our files, this is the end for you. Your final journey." The captain said. "We'll deliver your messages. You can depend on us."
"Thank you." The Doctor stood, taking Ember's hand as they turned to leave.
"Doctor, whatever you think of the Teselecta, we are champions of law and order just as you have always been." The captain's words made them pause. "Is there nothing else we can do?"
"Why would you do this?" Churchill asked. "Of all the things you've told me, this I find hardest to believe. Why would you invite your friends to see your death?"
"I had to die. I didn't have to die alone." The Doctor explained as he looked around nervously. "Amy and Rory. The last Centurion and the girl who waited. However dark it got, I'd turn around, and there they'd be. If it's time to go, remember what you're leaving. Remember the best. My friends have always been the best of me."
"And did you tell them this was going to happen?"
"It would help if you didn't keep asking questions." A look at his arm showed more rally marks as he muttered lowly "We don't have much time."
"And this woman you spoke of. Did you invite her?"
"Yes, she was there. River Song came twice."
At Lake Silencio, the Doctor lay on a picnic blanket with Amy, Rory and River.
"Napoleon gave me this bottle." He said, holding up a bottle of wine. "Well, I say gave. Threw. Salut!"
"Salut!" The four of them drank (though the Doctor spat out his wine) before Rory spoke. "So, when are we going to 1969? And where's Ember?"
"Everything was in place. Ember was safe in the Tardis, protected if she were to feel pain. I only had to do one more thing. I only had to die." The Doctor said.
The Doctor waved at an aged Delaware by his pickup, and River spotted the Impossible Astronaut. "Oh, my God."
"You all need to stay back." The Doctor said as he stood. "Whatever happens now, you do not interfere."
Rory was confused. "That's an astronaut. That's an Apollo astronaut in the lake."
The Doctor didn't answer, walking across the space to stand beside the lake as the astronaut lifted its visor to reveal a distressed River inside. "Well, then. Here we are at last."
"I can't stop it." River said, the struggle clear on her face even as the suit showed no signs of it. "The suit's in control."
"You're not supposed to. This has to happen."
"Run!"
"I did run. Running brought me here."
"I'm trying to fight it, but I can't! It's too strong!"
"I know. It's okay. This is where I die. This is a Fixed Point. This must happen. This always happens. Don't worry. You won't even remember this. Look over there."
River looked to the left as far as she could, and her eyes widened as she saw herself standing there. "That's me? How can I be there?"
"That's you from the future, serving time for a murder you probably can't remember. My murder."
"Why would you do that? Make me watch?" She saw Amy and Rory too, but someone was missing. "Where's Ember?"
"Ember is in the Tardis." The Doctor said. "She's the only one I trust to take care of her when I'm gone. You're here so that you know this is inevitable. And you are forgiven. Always and completely forgiven."
"Please, Doctor, please, please just run! If not for me than for her!"
"I can't."
"Time can be rewritten!"
"Don't you dare. Goodbye, River." He closed his eyes, fully accepting his fate. However, when he heard the shots, he was surprised when there was no death. Tentatively he opened one eye to see River smiling.
"Hello, Sweetie." She flirted.
"What have you done?"
"Well, I think I just drained my weapon systems."
"But this is fixed! This is a Fixed Point in time..."
"Fixed Points can be rewritten."
"No, they can't. Of course they can't. Who told you that-"
Everything dissolved into white.
In the Tardis, Ember was watching the whole thing, ready to take the Tardis to pick up the Doctor as soon as his 'body' was left burning on a small boat.
As soon as the astronaut's weapons missed the Doctor, Ember crumpled to the floor with a sharp cry. She saw a vision, only to come out of it in time to hear the Doctor tell River that it was a Fixed Point and couldn't be changed.
"Oh, no..." was all she said just before everything dissolved into white...
"Ember, listen to me."
The brunette couldn't tell where the new voice was coming from, but she knew who it was. "Arsene?"
"Yes. There's not much time. You've just seen the vision, yes?"
"Yea, I have. But... how do I stop it?"
"By holding on... I'd hoped you would be stronger, but we must do this now..."
"Well?" Churchill pressed. "What happened?"
"Nothing." The Doctor replied.
"Nothing?"
"Nothing happened. And then it kept happening. Or, if you'd prefer, everything happened at once, and it won't ever stop. Time is dying. It's going to be five oh two in the afternoon for all eternity. A needle stuck on a record..."
"A record? Good Lord, man, have you never heard of downloads?"
"Said Winston Churchill." The Doctor said. "And I don't know what happened to Ember. I can only hope she jumped before this happened."
"Gunsmoke. That's gunsmoke." Churchill suddenly sniffed the air before he looked at his gun, which was smoking. "Oh, I appear to have fired this."
The Doctor realised he was holding a spear. "We seem to be defending ourselves."
"I don't understand."
"The creatures that lead the Silence. Remarkable beings. They're memory-proof."
"But what does that mean?"
"You can't remember them. The moment you look away, you forget they were ever there." The Doctor looked at his arm, counting four tally marks. "Don't panic. In small numbers, they're not too difficult."
It was then that he saw his other arm, which was covered in tally marks. He slowly looked up at the sound of chittering, to see dozens of Silence hanging from the ceiling like bats.
Before he or Churchill could move, a grenade suddenly rolled into view. The Doctor was just able to push Churchill to one side before it went off with a loud kaboom, and suddenly several soldiers ran in.
"Go! Go! Go!" The one in charge yelled as they spread out. "Keep the Silence in sight at all times, keep your eye drives active!"
"Who the devil are you?" Churchill demanded. "Identify yourselves."
"Pond." A female voice said as a figure appeared in the smoke. "Amelia Pond."
The Doctor saw Churchill raise his gun and pushed it away. "No! She's on our side. It's okay." He looked up as Amy came into view, only to pale when he saw the eyepatch she was wearing. "No. No, Amy. Amy, why are you wearing that?"
Amy's only response was to shoot the Doctor.
When the Doctor next woke up, he was lying on a cushioned couch of a railway carriage; one that was also fashioned into an office. He looked around and found Amy stood leaning against the doorframe as a tv spoke about solar flares, sun spot activity and even the dry thunderstorms that were increasing in size, frequency and ferocity. "Amy?"
"Those stun guns aren't fun." Amy said. "I'm sorry. I wanted to avoid a long conversation. You need to get up, though. We'll be in Cairo shortly."
"Amy Pond." The Doctor said as he stood up. "Amelia Pond from Leadworth, please, listen to me. I know it seems impossible, but you know me. In another version of reality you and I were best friends. We, we travelled together. We had adventures." He stumbled against a wall, grabbing something without realising. "Amelia Pond, you grew up with a time rift in the wall of your bedroom. You can see what others can't. You can remember things that never happened. And if you try, if you really, really try, you'll be able to-" He cut himself off as he suddenly realised he was holding a model Tardis. "Oh."
He looked at the far wall to find sketches of various aliens and other things Amy had encountered on their travels - Dalek, Silurian, vampire, pirate, Weeping Angel. "Oh! Oh..."
"You look rubbish." Amy said.
"You look wonderful." He tossed the model to her.
"So do you. But don't worry, we'll soon fix that."
The Doctor grinned when he saw her hold up a familiar tweed jacket. "Oh. Geronimo."
A little later, the Doctor was shaved and dressed back into his usual outfit. He decided not to cut his hair, figuring that there wasn't a point. "Okay, you can turn round now. How do I look?"
"Cool." Amy replied from where she was sat at her desk.
"Really?"
"No."
"Cool office though. Why do you have an office? Are you a special agent boss lady? What's that mean? Not sure about the eye patch, though."
"It's not an eye patch. Time's gone wrong. Some of us noticed. There's a whole team of us working on it, you'll see."
"And you've got an office on a train. That is so cool! Can I have an office? Never had an office before. Or a train. Or a train slash office."
Amy got up from the desk and ran over to hug him tightly. "God, I've missed you!"
"Okay. Hugging and missing now. Where's the Roman?"
"You mean Rory."
"Mmm."
"My husband Rory, yeah?" Amy went over to the desk and took out a paper, showing it to him. It was a sketch of a handsome man that didn't look like Rory at all. "That's him, isn't it? I've no idea. I can't find him, but I love him very much, don't I?"
The Doctor looked at the sketch again. "Apparently."
"I have to keep doing this, writing and drawing things. It's just it's so hard to keep remembering."
"Well, it's not your fault." The Doctor said, all humour gone. He'd heard the crack of thunder outside, but when he looked out of the window, there was no sign of rain despite the clouds forming. "Time's gone wrong. Do you remember why?"
"The lakeside."
"Lake Silencio, Utah. I died."
"But then you didn't. See, I remember it twice, different ways."
"Two different versions of the same event, both happening in the same moment. Time split wide open. Now look at it. All of history happening at once."
"But does it matter? I mean, can't we just stay like this?"
"Time isn't just frozen, it's disintegrating. It will spread and spread and all of reality will simply fall apart." The Doctor had a thought. "Have you seen Ember?"
"Unfortunately... yes."
The Doctor felt dread pool in his stomach like a rock, but before he could question her further, the door to the carriage opened and in stepped a man in a soldiers uniform. To the Doctor's surprise, it was Rory, but Amy didn't seem to recognise him at all.
"Ma'am?" He said. "We're about to arrive. Eye drives need to be activated as soon as we disembark."
Amy nodded. "Good point. Thank you, Captain Williams."
The Doctor smiled. "Hello."
"Hello, sir. Pleased to meet you." Rory said.
"Captain Williams," Amy introduced, "best of the best. Couldn't live without him."
The Doctor compared the man to his sketch, and laughed as Rory left. "No."
"What is wrong?" Amy asked.
"Amy, you'll find your Rory. You always do. But you really have to look."
"I am looking."
"Oh, my Amelia Pond. You don't always look hard enough."
"Why are you older? If time isn't really passing, then how can you be ageing?"
"Time is still passing for me. Every explosion has an epicentre. I'm it. I'm what's wrong."
"What's wrong with you?"
"I'm still alive."
The train crossed a viaduct into a pyramid with a Stars and Stripes on the side and the title Area 52, stopping in a storage warehouse. Thick clouds were hovering, flashes of lightning lighting up the sky.
"You have to put it on, sir." Rory said to the Doctor, who was looking at an eyepatch he'd been given.
"An eye patch. What for?"
"It's not an eye patch." Amy said for what felt like the umpteenth time.
"It's an eye drive, sir." Rory explained. "It communicates directly with the memory centres of the brain. Acts as external storage."
"Only thing that works on them." Amy added as the Doctor reluctantly put on the patch. "Because other than Ember, no living mind can remember these things."
Rory led them down the steps into a long corridor where several Silence were each in a glass chamber filled with fluid. A couple of soldiers followed. "The Silence. We've captured over a hundred of them now, all held in this pyramid."
"Yeah. I've encountered them before." The Doctor said, approaching one as it made the chittering sound. "Always wondered what they looked like. Ember probably told me more than once, but even information fades over time."
"Well, put your eye drive on and you'll retain the information." Amy said. "But only for as long as you're wearing it."
"The Silence have human servants. They all wear these."
"They'd have to."
"This way." Rory let them ahead of him as he spotted the Silence watching the Doctor intently. "They seem to be noticing you."
"Yeah, they would." The Doctor said. "So where's Ember?"
Amy shook her head before she asked her own question. "So why aren't the human race killing the Silence on sight any more?"
"That was while other reality. What are the tanks for?"
"They can draw electricity from anything." Rory explained. "It's how they attack. The fluid insulates them. And I really don't like the way they're looking at you."
"Me neither."
"Ma'am, I'm sure it's nothing, but I should really check this out. They haven't been this active in a while." Rory turned to the other soldiers. "You two, upstairs. Check all the tank seals. Then the floors above. Get everyone checking."
"Sir."
Rory turned back to Amy. "You go ahead, Ma'am."
"Thank you, Captain Williams. Doctor, this way."
The Doctor followed Amy down the hall. "Captain Williams, nice fellow. What's his first name?"
"Captain." Amy said without missing a beat. "Just through here."
"Just give us a moment." He said, pausing and stepping back. "Just need to check something, Ma'am."
He gave her a clumsy salute before he went back the way they came to talk to Rory.
He didn't see or hear her as Amy put her hand on a hidden microphone on her lapel. "We're in. He's on his way. How is she?"
"Her condition is steady, but still declining." A male voice said in an earpiece hidden by her hair. "She insisted that she can hold out, but I doubt she'll make it another day."
"Roger that. I'll speed things up." Amy said before she turned to go after the Doctor, finding him just as he finished talking to Rory. "Come on, Doctor. Time for you to meet some old friends."
She led him to what might once have been the central burial chamber of the pyramid, but now had computer banks and screens: the control room. There were several soldiers around as well as people in white lab coats.
"Attention all personnel." Rory's voice could be heard on speakers. "Please check all assigned containment units."
A lady in a white coat walked over to a woman stood in the centre of the room. "You were right. Just his presence in the building caused the loop to extend by nearly four chronons."
The clock now read 05:02:57, 58, 59... and then back to 57 to go over again.
"Hi, honey. I'm home." The Doctor quipped, recognising the woman.
It was River, also wearing an eye drive as she turned to face him. "And what sort of time do you call this?"
She stepped aside to reveal that Madam Kovarian was tied to a chair in the centre of the room, in a taped square with a sign that prohibited going into the square: the same sign that was used when the Doctor had been restrained by Canton.
"The death of time. The end of time. The end of us all." Kovarian said, glaring at the Doctor. "Oh, why couldn't you just die?"
"Did my best, dear. I showed up. You just can't get the psychopaths these days." The Doctor shot back as he wandered around the room. "Love what you've done with the pyramids. How did you score all this?"
"Hallucinogenic lipstick." River replied. "Works wonders on President Kennedy. And Cleopatra was a real pushover."
"I always thought so."
"She mentioned you."
"What did she say?"
"Put down that gun."
"Did you?"
"Eventually."
"Oh, they're flirting." Kovarian groaned. "Do I have to watch this?"
River smirked. "It was such a basic mistake, wasn't it, Madame Kovarian. Take a child, raise her into a perfect psychopath, introduce her to the Doctor and Ember. Who else was I going to fall in love with?"
"It's not funny, River." The Doctor said, dropping the humour. "Reality is fatally compromised. Tell me you understand that."
"Dinner?"
"I don't have the time. Nobody has the time, because as long I'm alive, time is dying. Because of you, River."
"Because I refused to kill the man I love." River said. "And if that wasn't enough of a reason, it would kill the woman I love."
"Oh, you love me, do you? Oh, that's sweet of you. Isn't that sweet? Come here, you!"
Amy saw him move. "Get him!"
A couple of soldiers grabbed the Doctor, stopping him from reaching River even as she smiled sadly at him. "I'm not a fool, sweetie. I know what happens if we touch." She let her guard down for a moment, and the Doctor took advantage and was able to grab her arm. "Get off me. Get him off me! Doctor, no. Let go! Please Doctor, let go!"
"It's moving." A woman called from where she was watching the clock start moving. "Time's moving!"
"Get him off me! Doctor!"
"I'm sorry, River." The Doctor said as he saw a flashback of the lakeside. "It's the only way."
The soldiers managed to separate them, River stepping back and looking at Amy as the redhead listened to her earpiece. "Cuff him."
The Doctor groaned as his hands were cuffed behind his back. "Oh, why do you always have handcuffs? It's the only way. We're the opposite poles of the disruption."
"Bring her in," Amy's command made him look at her as she spoke into the comm on her lapel. "Doctor, I'm sorry, but you need to see this."
There was a moment as the Doctor was about to ask what she meant, but the words died in his throat as a door to the side opened and three people came in: a male and a female in lab coats, and the former was pushing a wheelchair while the latter was guiding an IV pole with several drip bags hanging from it.
It was seeing the person sitting in the wheelchair that made the Doctor's hearts feel like they'd stopped in his chest. It was Ember, but the young woman looked so frail and weak, like a cancer patient at the losing end of the fight. She wore a breathing mask over her mouth and nose and had the drip bags leading to needles in her elbows and left hand. The wheelchair had extra padding and a pillow behind her head, but it looked like she was still uncomfortable. She only wore simple white hospital scrubs that didn't cover her pale arms.
"...What?" The Doctor finally got a word out as the obviously ill brunette was brought to the centre of the room.
"Oh, is your dying Ember so much that you can't speak?" Kovarian teased. "Well, if you had just died, she'd be fine, wouldn't she?"
The Doctor couldn't take his eye off Ember, not even to snap at the restrained woman. "Ember... oh, Ember..."
To his surprise, she responded: her eyes opened just enough to see him with pale, grey orbs that were so different from the liquid silver he was used to seeing. The pupils were barely visible. "Doc... tor..."
The male that had pushed the wheelchair looked surprised as he put two fingers on the brunette's wrist. "That's the first time in days she's responded to someone. And her pulse has steadied a little. It's like... you're somehow giving her strength..."
The Doctor so badly wanted to touch her, to hold her and protect her, but he knew better. "So that's it. That's how this reality has stayed stable all this time. Ember's been holding it together... with herself."
"What?" Amy asked, puzzled. "Ember's doing this? But you said it was because you're alive..."
"This reality is falling apart because I'm alive," The Doctor corrected, shifting anxiously. "But Ember... she's the one holding it together. She's the reason that we're all still here. But why?"
"Doc... tor..."
The Time Lord turned at the weak call of his name, moving to kneel in front of the frail brunette as close as he could without touching her. "Ember, can you hear me? What happened?"
Ember took several deep breaths as she struggled to keep her eyes open, but she was already trying to move. "Saw... vision... every... thing... gone..."
"A vision?" The Doctor's eyes widened as he pieced it together. "Oh... you saw a vision. Everything gone... it collapsed instantly. We would have all died the moment the Fixed Point was changed. But you... you're using all your power to hold it together. It's smushed up and time can't move, but you're holding it. But look at you... it's tearing you apart to hold this reality together. Why are you doing this?"
"Need... time..." Ember rasped. "To fix... this..."
The Doctor smiled. "Oh, Ember. You warm, selfless woman. You're bending the laws of nature to save the universe. Did you want a hug?"
He was surprised again when Ember weakly shook her head, shifting as though she could move away from him. "Not... yet... not... time yet..."
"She was saying before that she was buying us time," River said softly. "We've tried to get her to stop, but she wouldn't. I can't touch her, because it hurts her..."
"Of course it would," The Doctor said as he stood and reluctantly turned away from Ember. "I just told you, we're the poles of the disruption. Physical contact with either one of us is painful to her because she's using her very life force to hold this shattered world together, but she can't do it forever. You must know about the thunderstorms outside; that's a side effect of her manipulating the elements. But if we touch at the same time, we short out the differential. She can let go, and time can begin again."
"And I'll be by a lakeside killing you."
"And time won't fall apart. The clocks will tick. Reality will continue. There isn't another way."
"I didn't say there was, sweetie. There are so many theories about you and I, you know..."
"Idle gossip."
"Archaeology."
"Same thing." The Doctor shot back.
"Am I the woman who marries you, or the woman who murders you?"
"I don't want to marry you."
"I don't want to murder you."
Amy flinched as she felt something wet drip onto her head.
"This is no fun at all." Doctor said.
"It isn't, is it?" River agreed.
Amy felt another drop of water. "Doctor, what's that?"
"The pyramid above us. How many Silence do you have trapped inside it?"
"None." Everyone looked at Kovarian. "They're not trapped. They never have been. They've been waiting for this, Doctor. For you."
Rory burst into the room, slamming the door shut behind him. "They're out! All of them! No one gets in here! Ma'am, my men out there should be able to lock this down. We have them outnumbered."
"And you're wearing eye drives based on mine, I think." Kovarian said slyly. "Oops..."
"What do you mean?" The Doctor asked.
"Take... off..." Ember gasped. It seemed that the longer she was near the Doctor, the more coherent she was becoming, though she was still very weak.
One of the female scientists suddenly cried out in pain as her eye patch began to spark.
"Help her! Help her!" The Doctor yelled, unable to do it himself with his hands cuffed.
Amy ran to the woman's side as she collapsed, but then then she looked up at the Doctor. "..,she's dead."
Several other people began to cry out as their patches began to shock them. Then the Doctor's own patch began to spark. "Eye drives off now! Remove them!"
Amy took the Doctor's eye drive off for him, but then her own sparked up, making her cry out.
"The Silence would never allow an advantage without taking one themselves." Kovarian smirked. "The effects will vary from person to person. Either death or debilitating agony. But they will take you all, one by one." She was surprised when her own eye drive began to spark. "What are you doing? No, it's me. Don't be stupid. You need me! Stop it! Stop that!"
The Doctor turned to River as she helped Amy take off her eye drive. "We could stop this right now, you and I."
"Get it off me!"
"Amy, tell her!"
"We've been working on something." Amy said. "Just let us show you."
"There's no point. There's nothing you can do. My time is up!"
"We're doing this for you!"
"Then people are dying for me. Ember is dying for me. I won't thank you for that, Amelia Pond."
"Just let us show you." River insisted.
Amy gave him her most sincere look. "Please. Captain Williams, how long do we have?"
"Uh, a couple of minutes."
"That's enough." River said, turning to the Doctor. "We're going to the Receptor Room right at the top of the pyramid. I hope you're ready for a climb."
The Doctor had started to follow, only to stop when he saw Ember. "I'm not going anywhere without her."
River looked conflicted. "She can't even walk in that condition, and neither of us can carry her."
"Then perhaps I can be of assistance?"
River and the Doctor turned at the new voice, quickly recognising the red-cloaked stranger as he stepped out of the shadows. Arsene.
"You." The Doctor said, eyes narrowed. "What are you doing here?"
"This is a great disturbance to the Balance." The hooded man explained calmly. "A Fixed Point has been altered, and all of reality is falling apart."
The Doctor almost growled. "It isn't just a disturbance: this is all out torn to bits! Why aren't you stopping it?!"
"Because I cannot interfere. I don't know how many times I have to tell you that. I was pushing it by showing her how she could buy you time." Arsene moved to Ember's side and began to remove the IV drips from her arms. "Ember is holding this fracturing reality together by the elements that she's awoken to so far, but she is not yet strong enough to do it for an extended period of time. She does not have long left."
River's face was a calm mask. "Then bring her, and follow us."
With Arsene carrying Ember bridle style, the four of them made their way to the top of the pyramid, though Amy and Rory lagged behind for their own reasons.
Instead of the cap of the pyramid, the top was open to the sky, where a contraption was sending a beam straight up. Luckily, the clouds and lightning above were not impeding the beam, despite how violent they were becoming.
"What's this?" The Doctor asked as the Arsene sat Ember against the wall. "Oh, it's a timey-wimey distress beacon. Who built this?"
"I'm the child of the Tardis. I understand the physics." River shrugged. "And Ember told me to build it."
"But that's all you've got, a distress beacon?"
"I've been sending out a message. A distress call. Outside the bubble of our time, the universe is still turning, and I've sent a message everywhere. To the future and the past, the beginning and the end of everything. 'The Doctor is dying. Please, please help'."
The Doctor groaned in frustration. "River! River, this is ridiculous. That would mean nothing to anyone. It's insane! Worse, it's stupid! You embarrass me."
Amy and Rory joined them, the former speaking. "We barricaded the door. We've got a few minutes." She spotted the extra person. "Who's that?"
"Friend of Ember's, long story." River said quickly.
"Alright. Just tell him. Just tell him, River."
"Those reports of the sun spots and the solar flares. They're wrong." River explained. "There aren't any. It's not the sun, it's you. The sky is full of a million, million voices saying 'yes, of course we'll help'. You've touched so many lives, saved so many people. Did you think when your time came, you'd really have to do more than just ask? You've decided that the universe is better off without you, but the universe doesn't agree."
There was a loud crack of thunder as a streak of electricity shot across the sky, striking the ground miles away. As there was no rain to accompany it, the area it had struck caught fire. Ember flinched and whimpered as Arsene looked out at the landscape. "The Elements are clashing. We're running out of time."
"River, no one can help me." The Doctor tried to reason with her. "A Fixed Point has been altered. Time is disintegrating."
"I can't let you die."
"But I have to die-"
"Shut up! I can't let you die without knowing you are loved by so many, and so much, and by no one more than her."
The Doctor hesitated, glancing at Ember. The weakened brunette was struggling to get in a proper breath, even as Arsene was attempting to soothe her. "River, you and I, we know what this means. We are ground zero of an explosion that will engulf all reality. Billions on billions will suffer and die."
"I'll suffer if I have to kill you."
"More than every living thing in the universe?"
"Yes." River said without a beat. "Because I love both you too much to allow either one of you to be without the other. Don't you see? She's holding this all together because she wanted to save you. It breaks my heart to see her in pain, but it would be tenfold if she was forced to live on without you. And the worst part of it is... she doesn't even know you feel the same way."
That made the Doctor pause again. "What?"
Arsene put his hand on Ember's forehead, ignoring her feverish brow as he concentrated.
"I am lending her some of my energy to give her more time," he explained as the Doctor approached.
"I thought you couldn't interfere," River pointed out.
Arsene's lips twitched into a slight smile. "If there is one thing I've learned from watching over Ember, it is that when you can't break the rules, you can sometimes bend them." He looked at the Doctor. "This should be enough for her to tell you her real reason for doing this."
The Doctor looked puzzled. "Ember?"
The brunette took a weakened, but deep breath before she spoke. "I had to... I couldn't... let you down again... not like... I did with Rose... and her..."
"Oh, Ember..." The Doctor breathed, knowing that she was referring to River, but she wasn't done.
"You should hate me... because I didn't save them... and you're reminded of that... every time you look at me..." she panted. "But now... now, I... can make it up to you..."
"By using your own life force to hold this world together," the Doctor finished. "But why are you still doing it? We can fix it right now, you know we can, so why are you holding back?"
Ember shifted slightly as her tired silver eyes drifted to River. "So you could... you could..."
"This whole event is in an episode that was titled 'The Wedding of River Song'." Arsene said, making everyone look at him in surprise. "But River is not the one you want, is it, Doctor? Now it's your turn to tell her the truth."
The Doctor bit his lip as he looked at Ember again, seeing her now looking at him in confusion. The sky rumbled threateningly, but there was no lightning this time. "Oh, Ember... you shouldn't believe everything you see on television. Especially that show..."
"...what...?"
River moved around the beacon to kneel beside the Doctor, making sure they didn't touch. "Ember, Sweetie... I don't want to marry the Doctor. I love you both, but even I can see it so clearly."
"Even when you didn't want to," Amy added, moving to stand behind the Doctor and give him a light kick to the backside that made him nearly fall on the brunette. "Tell her, idiot."
"I'm not sure I completely understand." Rory said.
"We got married and had a kid and that's her." The redhead nodded to River.
"Oh. Okay."
"Amy, uncuff me now." The Doctor's voice was soft, but left no room to argue as Amy swiftly unlocked the cuffs keeping his hands behind his back. Another shot of lightning struck the ground closer to the pyramid, reminding them that they were on borrowed time. "Okay, I need a strip of cloth about a foot long. Anything will do. Never mind." He quickly undid his bow tie and pulled it off his neck. "River, take the middle of this. Hold it tight and don't let go."
"What am I doing?" River asked even as she complied.
"As you're told. Now, we're in the middle of a combat zone, so we'll have to do the quick version." He draped the other end of the bow tie over Ember's hand, which Arsene had turned palm up. "Ember, you do the same on that end as I do on this one."
The brunette blinked up at him, confusion marking her face even as Arsene did the wrapping for her in her weakness. "What... I don't... understand..."
"Ember..." The Doctor gave her a warm smile as he wrapped the other end of the fabric around his own hand. "Did you really believe that whenever I see that scar I think of you as a failure? You couldn't be more wrong; that scar reminds me every day that you are a wonderful woman who has put others before herself more times than anyone will ever know. You're brave, you're selfless, and most of all... you saved me."
Ember couldn't look away from his gaze, though her hand closed around the fabric with all the strength it had. "But... I... me?"
"Yes, you, if you'll have me." He held his breath for a moment, and then continued when she showed no sign of rejection, his confidence growing with each word. "You are the light that drove away the darkness in my hearts, the balm that soothed my pain, and the one thing I cannot live without. I don't want to lose you..." He moved as close as he could without touching her. "Arsene, you'll have to take place as the father, since hers isn't here and you're the closest to it. Say 'I consent and gladly give'."
Arsene spoke without hesitation. "I consent and gladly give."
The Doctor glanced at River, who understood instantly. "I consent and gladly give. But you'd better not break her hearts, Doctor, because if you do..."
"Wouldn't dream of it," the Doctor replied firmly before focusing on the surprised brunette in front of him. "Ember. I've always wondered when I told you this, but now I know. I'm about tell you something and you have to remember it very, very carefully, and tell no one."
He leaned close so he could whisper in her ear, still careful not to make physical contact. Ember expected him to say 'look into my eye' like he'd done in the show, but instead he spoke only one word: a word she couldn't possibly pronounce without practice, and one that she instinctively knew was important. She pulled back to stare at him with wide eyes. "What was...?"
"I just told you my name." The Doctor said softly, making her eyes widen further if possible and stealing what little breath she had. He then looked at River. "As our First Witness, I have a request, so look into my eye because I'll only say it once. This world and my new wife are dying and it's my fault, and I can't bear it another day. Please. Help me."
"Then what are you waiting for?" River said with a smile after seeing what she was supposed to see. To add to Ember's surprise, it wasn't a sad or forced smile: it was one to be expected at a wedding. "You may kiss the bride."
The Doctor looked back at Ember, smiling softly at the tears on her face. "I'll make it a good one."
"You'd better."
The Doctor leaned in and gently kissed her, and at the same time looped the fabric so that all three of their hands made contact. Another rumble of thunder boomed above them and Ember gasped, coherent long enough to feel the rain that suddenly started pelting down before the world went white.
The clock started moving forward as the Doctor died and was cremated. The steam railways and cars on balloons vanished from London. The pterodactyls disappeared.
And everything was alright again.
Ember sat up with a gasp. She was back in the Tardis, completely healthy again, and back in her outfit before time was messed up. She climbed to her feet quickly and looked at the monitor, where Amy, River, Rory and an elderly Delaware were sending the Doctor's 'body' to burn on a small boat in the middle of the lake. She waited until they left before she sprang into action, flipping levers and pressing buttons as she'd been practising so that the Tardis appeared inside the Teselecta that was masquerading as the Doctor. A moment later, the Doctor himself - safe and without so much as a scorch on him - burst through the doors and closed them behind him, running up to help Ember pilot them away and somewhere safe.
Once things had settled, Ember turned to the Doctor. "Did we just... I mean, what did... How..."
The Doctor smiled fondly as he walked up to her and took her hands, making her fall silent. "Let's answer that in order. Did we just get married? Yes. What did I do? I married you. How? We did it by a quick version of a ceremony from Gallifrey. Any more questions?"
"... you were supposed to marry River," Ember weakly argued, blushing as the Doctor carefully pinned her between himself and the console behind her.
"On tv, yes," he said, letting go of her left hand so he could brush the backs of his fingers over her cheek, gently tracing the scar. "But this isn't tv. And you weren't there."
"But... When?" Ember found herself asking. "When did you... I mean, how did you..."
"I had an idea not long before I first regenerated in front of you." He admitted, a light blush on his face to match hers. "I didn't say anything at the time because I didn't want you to think it was the regeneration sickness talking."
"And then...?" Ember asked. "When did you... I mean, how long...?"
"Not long after that. A close friend told me to, how did they say it... ah. 'Grow a pair and tell her already'. When I did, you told me that you already knew. You even knew my name. Oh, how it warmed my hearts to hear you say it..."
"But after what I did..."
The Doctor stopped her by putting a finger against her lips. "You tried to save me from the pain of losing a companion. I don't blame you at all for the loss. And Rose isn't dead: she's thriving and living a life. You've nothing to be ashamed of."
"What about River? In The Library..."
"She knew that it would have broken my hearts if you had taken her place. And you heard her; she loves us both too much to see one of us without the other."
Ember shifted slightly, noticing how the Doctor was still practically pinning her to the console with his own body. Instead of feeling uncomfortable, it actually felt nice. "Um... we should get to work..."
"We should," the Doctor agreed, though he didn't move. "But if you don't mind, I'd like to kiss my new wife now that she isn't busy holding the world together."
He leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers in a gentle kiss. She remained frozen for several seconds as he kissed her, and for a moment his hearts sank. But then she shyly kissed him back and his hearts backtracked to pound so hard in his chest that he was sure someone would hear them. Without looking, he moved his free arm to circle her waist and pull her closer, making her gasp and giving him the opening to deepen the kiss.
Ember was very glad that she was Time Lord enough to have the respiratory bypass, or she'd have passed out from the lack of air. As it was, she was already feeling light-headed.
After what felt like an eternity, the Doctor gently ended the kiss, pulling back and smiling when he saw her dazed eyes and bruising lips. "Now there's a look I'm familiar with..."
"O-oi!" She lightly slapped his arm, making him chuckle. "Wow. I'm... really married..."
"Oh!" The Doctor rummaged around in his pockets before he found what he was looking for; a ring. "I can finally give you this!"
Ember looked at the ring. It was a simple silver hand, with what looked like a modest-sized diamond set into it, but when she looked closely she could see Gallifreyan circular symbols etched into the surface of the metal. "I still can't read it. What does it say?"
The Doctor traced a finger over the symbols. "It says 'Two hearts, one love, my only', and here-" He turned it slightly so that she could see more symbols on the inside of the band. "-it says 'Ember plus Doctor forever'."
"That's kinda sappy," Ember said, smiling as the Doctor gently took her left hand and slipped the ring onto her finger. It was a perfect fit. "But at the same time, really romantic. Wait, won't the past you see this?"
"That's the beauty of it." The Doctor said, lifting her hand and gently kissing it. "I used the Tardis to modify it after I got it. It has perception filter, one that can't be seen unless you know it's there. If I didn't see it, I knew it meant you didn't have it yet. When I told you how I feel the first time, you showed it to me, so you'll know when to do it. But do you recognise the diamond?"
Blinking, Ember looked at the ring again. Come to think of it, something about it was familiar. "Um..."
"I'll give you a hint. It came from Gallifrey."
"Wait, that's..." Ember looked up at him in shock. "A White Point Star? But the only time I saw one of those was..."
"Shh..." The Doctor put a finger against her lips to hush her again. "Spoilers. Something to look forward to, eh?"
Ember's blush was so strong she was sure she was a red beacon by now. "C-come on, we still have loose ends to tie up."
With a groan of disappointment, he reluctantly let her go, turning to help her pilot the Tardis.
In the dark catacombs of the Charnel house, a robed figure was carrying a square box while a second figure led the way with a lit torch.
"Who's carrying me?" The voice of Dorium yelled from inside the box. "I demand to know! I'm a head, I have rights! I want my doors open this time. I demand that my doors are open!"
The figures reached the pedestal that the box was originally found on and returned it, opening the box before they turned to leave without a word.
Dorium saw them quickly. "Is it you? It is, isn't it? It is you, I can sense it! But how did you do it? How could you possibly have escaped?"
The figures pulled down their hoods to reveal the Doctor and Ember, the former dropping the robe to the ground.
"The Teselecta." The Doctor replied. "A Doctor in a Doctor suit. Time said I had to be on that beach, so I dressed for the occasion. Barely got singed in that boat."
"So you're going to do this?" Dorium asked. "Let them all think you're dead?"
"It's the only way, then they can all forget me. I got too big, Dorium. Too noisy. And it almost cost me something priceless." He took Ember's hand in his own, smirking at her blush. "Time to step back into the shadows. Besides, we have a honeymoon to get to."
"And Doctor Song, in prison all her days?"
"Her days, yes. Her nights? Well, that's between her and us, eh?"
"So many secrets, Doctor. I'll help you keep them, of course."
"Well, you're not exactly going anywhere, are you?" The Doctor quipped as he turned and led Ember away.
"But you're a fool nonetheless. It's all still waiting for you. The fields of Trenzalore, the fall of the Eleventh, and the question."
"Goodbye, Dorium."
"The first question. The question that must never be answered, hidden in plain sight!" The bodiless man called after them. "The question you've been running from all your life! Doctor who? Doctor who? DOCTOR... WHO?!"
Aaaaand that's it! The end of the second series!
Hope you enjoyed it, and hope you come back for Series Three! There's gonna be more surprises and a few unique adventures for Ember.
As I did before, I'll post an additional 'update' chapter here so that those of you who've added this to your alert list will know when it's up. That's where I'll also post the preview for the next series.
If things go according to plan, the update will be next Monday, but be warned; there is a slight chance that it'll take a few days longer. This is for two reasons: one, personal life getting in the way. Two, because I'm slightly torn over which adventure to start the next series on - I've narrowed it down to between 3 episodes, but I'll need to think about where they'd fit before I'm comfortable with posting them.
If you have any questions, please ask. I'll answer to the best of my ability in the 'update' chapter, though I can't guarantee I can give too much away without spoiling it.
Ps: if you were hoping for details on the honeymoon, that will be put in the separate work where I plan to put the... less than innocent stuff. I'll be happy to add a clean version on here if you want though.
See you soon!
Coming up next in the Storms of Fire Saga...
Storms of Fire: The Phoenix Rises
