As soon as the ganger Doctor said spoken his first words to the group, he erupted into massive shouts of pain. "What's happening?" His words, his shouts, were all mixed up as if he was living through different moments. "I wonder if we'll get back. Yes, one day... Aaagh! I've reversed the polarity of the neutron flow!"
"What is he doing?" the Sapling cocked his head each time the ganger turned.
The Doctor tried helping the ganger but there was really nothing he could do at the moment, "'The Flesh is struggling to cope with our past regenerations. Hold on!"
"Don't you have like a billion of those?" Amy called in, making the Doctor momentarily pause to glare at her.
"No!"
"Would you like a jelly-baby?" the ganger Doctor questioned in his 4th incarnation's voice, "Why? Why!?"
"Why do they keep saying that?" Avalon suddenly asked, getting the glances of everyone, "I mean...that's what ganger Jennifer said too, remember Amy?" the second ginger had to agree with a nod, "What does it mean?"
"'Why' what?" the Doctor finally asked his ganger self, taking in Avalon's words and having to agree as well.
"Hello. I'm the Doctor," the ganger replied instead, using his 10th's self's voice, "No, let it go, we've moved on!"
"Oh!" Avalon snapped her fingers, suddenly beaming. "That's the one that went to New Earth!"
"Ava, not the time!" went the Doctor, but she mimicked his voice instead of agreeing.
"I'm never gonna meet him so I'll take what I can get!"
The Doctor's face might as well have stayed in a glare because it seemed like Avalon and Amy were taking turns making unnecessary comments.
"I've reversed the jelly-baby of the neutron flow. Would you like a..." the ganger grabbed the Doctor by the lapels, "Doctor...Doctor... I'm... I'm the... I can't."
"No, listen, hold on. Hold on!" the Doctor tried reassuring the ganger but was shoved away.
"No-o-o-o! Aaaagh!" the ganger showed his flesh-state face to the others.
"Doctor, we need you. Get over here," Amy called to the Doctor, taking cautious steps towards him with Avalon.
The ganger slowly stopped moving until he came to a complete stop. His hands fell from his head and came to adjust the bowtie around his neck. "Hello," he gave a wave with his hand.
"Hi!" the Sapling returned the gesture with a beam on his face.
"Cybermats," the Doctor crossed his arms and faced his ganger self. They really did look identical - it was really weird.
The ganger seemed to catch on and sighed, "Do we have time for this?"
"We make time. I'd like more proof that you're me. Cybermats?"
"Created by the kill by feeding off brainwaves."
Amy gave up trying to get the Doctor's attention and ran back to the door with the other factory workers. Avalon was a bit more awed by the situation but was nonetheless scared as well, so she hurried to the door.
"Don't you have guns somewhere?" was the first thing she asked the factory workers.
"Yeah, big guns would be good right now," Buzzer sucked some breath and nodded.
Jimmy was leaning against the door, a last resort to keep it shut against the gangers, "Why would we have guns? We're a factory. We mine."
"Get back!" Amy yelled as they heard a hissing sound along and saw smoke coming through the door.
"We are completely done for," Avalon declared as they all stepped back. She rolled her eyes at the conversation she was hearing from behind, "Are you two done yet?" she spun around to where the Doctors were, even Amy doing the same, "There's two of you yet still nothing gets done!"
"First of all," the Doctor headed for them and wagged a finger at Avalon. "Shut up!"
"Second of all," his ganger followed in suit with the same finger pointed at Avalon, "...still, shut up."
Avalon raised her eyebrows. Did they seriously think that because there were two of them they could win against her? Absolutely not. She folded her arms across her chest and smirked. "Two of you and you still can't come up with good comebacks. Truly sad. How many brains you got again?"
"Enough with the games," Amy sighed, "There's a problem that needs solving!"
"Breathe," was the Doctors' reply for her.
"What?"
"We have to get you off this island," the ganger Doctor looked at the not-so-well barricaded door.
"And the gangers too."
"Um, Doctor, I'm all for life, but the gangers are trying to kill us," Avalon pointed to the door where the acid could be clearly seen. She barred the Sapling from getting closer.
"They're scared, Ava, that's all," the Doctor assured.
"We're trapped in here," Amy also reminded.
"I don't think so. The Flesh Bowl is fed by cabling from above."
"But where are the earthing conduits?" the ganger Doctor asked.
"All this piping must go down into a tunnel or a shaft or something, yes? With us?" the Doctor headed for a large panel at the other end of the room, "Yowza!" he cheered as he removed the paneling to find a grate. "An escape rout."
Amy glanced at Avalon, mouthing 'Yowza' questioningly at her. Avalon made a face and shrugged, never understanding the Doctor most of the time.
"You know, I'm starting to get a sense of just how impressive it is to hang out with me," the Doctor smugly looked around the room.
"Do we tend to say "Yowza"?" his ganger genuinely wondered.
"Nope!" the Sapling turned around to answer. "Although you did used to say 'Allons-y' for some reason."
Avalon laughed and shot the two Doctors a look. "You did what!? Who did that?"
"I'd rather not answer," the Doctor turned his head away, intending on taking that secret to the grave. It was unfortunate that the Sapling did not agree.
"His last incarnation!"
"Sapling!" the Doctor frowned, feeling completely betrayed by the child.
"Ah, see, that's the one we need to meet!" Avalon sighed in true content, which did make the Doctor be a little less upset. It was better to have her laughing, even if it was at him, than to have her crying.
Just as the entire group managed to get inside, the gangers broke through the door. As they reached the grate, they saw the group at the grate where the Doctor sonicked the locks.
~ 0 ~
The group hurried down the tunnels after getting out of the grate. There was acid everywhere and it was making it difficult to get across without being touched.
"The army will send a recon team," Buzzer said to them.
"We need to contact the mainland," Cleaves reminded him.
"What about Rory and Jen? They are both out there," Amy stressed as she looked around in case they were somewhere nearby. Unfortunately, they weren't that lucky.
"This is a like a labyrinth," Avalon sighed, already having given up looking around their immediate areas. She held the Sapling's hand in hers, tightly, but she wasn't sure who was more afraid at this point.
"I bet you lot have got a computer map," the Doctor looked at Cleaves questioningly.
"If we can get power running, we can scan for them," the woman agreed but couldn't say more as they all started violently coughing.
"Doctor, you said earlier to breathe," Amy covered her mouth.
"Very important, Pond. Breathe," he stood by his statement.
"Yeah, I'm struggling to."
"Acid interacting with the stone," the Doctor managed to explain.
"Creating an asphyxiant miasma," his ganger finished thankfully.
"In English?" Avalon raised am eyebrow.
"Chokey gas. Extra heavy. If we can get above it..."
"The evac tower," Cleaves resolved and started leading the way, "This way!"
They entered a room full of machinery which was they assumed was the control room. As the Doctors got straight to work, the humans took a moment to end their cough.
"Ohh! I think I coughed so hard, I pulled a muscle or something," Amy remarked as she struggled to stand straight.
A bell chimed in the distance which made Jimmy sober up rather quick, "It's midnight. It's Adam's birthday. My son's five. Happy birthday, bud."
"Best present for him would be getting home," Avalon sighed and put a hand on her back as she stood correctly, "How we doing over there?" she called to the working aliens.
"Trying to get the power back," the original Doctor replied, "There's always some power floating around."
"Sticking to the wires, like bits of lint," the ganger Doctor popped up from behind the console.
Amy frowned, "Can you stop finishing each other's..."
"Sentences?" the Doctor finished, "No probs."
"Yes," the ganger nodded and both ducked down behind the console again.
"Confused as hell," Avalon commented with a resigned sigh, "You - well, one of you - said that the TARDIS was stuck in acid, so won't she be damaged?"
One of the Doctors stood up again, but neither Avalon nor Amy (nor the Sapling for that matter) knew who was who. "Nah. She's a tough old thing. Tough, old, sexy."
"No," the other Doctor stood up, "Tough, dependable, sexy."
"Come on. OK, how can...how can you both be real?" Amy felt like her head would spin if they continued to do that. She glanced at Avalon and saw the latte was more or less feeling the same. Only the Sapling seemed to be enjoying the situation.
"Well, because...we are. I'm the Doctor," went one of the pair.
"So am I," went the other, "We contain the knowledge of over 900 years of experience. We both wear the same bowtie, which is cool."
"Because bowties are..."
"And always will be."
"Stop it!" Avalon cut in with exasperation, "You weren't linked up to the Flesh so how did that work, exactly?"
"It must've been after I examined it," the original Doctor answered, "Thus, a new, genuine Doctor was created."
"Ta-da!" the ganger exclaimed.
"You mean I could've had a ganger too!?" the Sapling gasped at the idea as he recalled how close he'd been to the Flesh as well.
"No," Avalon shot him a look.
"Quite right," the Doctor agreed. "You were behind me, Sapling. I think it's better like that, though. Who knows what kind of ganger you would've gotten."
"It would've been cool," the Sapling mumbled, quite disappointed.
"But one of you was here first," Amy's pointed finger moved from one alien to the other.
"After the Flesh scanned me, I had an accident with a puddle of acid. Now new shoes, a situation which did not confront me learned self here."
"That satisfy you, Pond?" the ganger raised an eyebrow, "Ava?"
"Don't call me Pond, please," Amy said quietly as she moved around. She stepped beside Avalon when both Doctors looked at her. They were examining her as if she were some new experiment. "What?"
"Interesting," the ganger Doctor said, "You definitely feel more affection for him than me."
"No, I..." Amy could see why they would think that and felt uncomfortable having to explain. It should be obvious that she wasn't doing it to be mean. It was just natural. "Look, you're fine and everything, but he is the Doctor. No offence. Being almost the Doctor is pretty damn impressive."
"Being almost the Doctor's like being no Doctor at all," the ganger snapped.
"Don't overreact," Amy frowned.
"Well you are being rude," Avalon mumbled to her and received an elbow jabbed on her side, "Ow!"
"And what about you?" the ganger looked at the pained ginger.
"What about me?" she rubbed her side and glared at Amy.
"Do you think I'm real?"
"Being real is not the problem I have with you," blurted Avalon who then quickly covered her mouth, "Sorry," she said muffly.
"Ava," even the original Doctor was mildly surprised.
"Wha...she's the one who said you weren't real," Avalon pointed at Amy in a quick attempt to distract him.
"Yeah, thanks Avalon," Amy muttered, shooting her a glare.
"Oh shut up, you dug your own hole," Avalon snapped then sighed, dropping her hand from her side. "Look, I didn't mean for it to come out like that..."
"What were you trying to say, then?" the ganger was still snappy, which only made her frown.
"Listen, if you're really the same then you know exactly what my problem is. And just so we're clear, it's with both of you."
"Sounds like Father is in trouble," the Sapling announced. Avalon nodded her head, humming in agreement.
"I'm going to pull the 'I literally just came to life' card right now," the ganger Doctor happily said as it did free him of any problems. And even more, it made Avalon chuckle.
The Doctor watched with a frown as his ganger practically yanked Avalon's hand, bringing her far too close to him. What did he think he was doing? Avalon was smiling like she wasn't angry with them two seconds ago.
"Well, I guess I can't be that mad with you," Avalon bobbed her head while she pretended to think. "But you can't use that line all the time."
"I'll come up with better ones," the ganger promised her then winked. Avalon might have blushed.
The original Doctor wasn't very pleased with the interaction and did the only thing he could do, "Communication a go-go!" he slammed his hand on the console repeatedly to break them up, succeeding easily.
"Can it find Rory?" Avalon quickly forgot the situation as she and Amy ran for the computer screen, though the ganger Doctor shot his original a look for his obvious attempt. The Doctor ducked his head with the controls. He needed to work, after all.
Cleaves was already maneuvering the screen by the time the gingers got to her, "There's no sign of him anywhere."
"Come on, baby, show yourself," Amy insisted.
~ 0 ~
After a while of checking the scans for Rory and Jennifer, Cleaves decided to activate a transmission for the mainland, "St John's calling. Emergency Alpha. St John's calling the mainland. Are you receiving me, Captain? Come in'," but there wasn't an answer back, "We'll never get a signal through this storm. St John's calling the mainland. Come in, this is urgent."
"'We're just about reading you, St John's. How are you doing? We've had all kinds of trouble here'."
"'Request immediate evacuation. We're under attack. The storm's affected our gangers. They're running amok."
"'Your gangers?'"
"Yes, our gangers are attacking us. We need you to take us off the island immediately and wipe them out."
The two Doctors looked at each other with concern, that wasn't part of the plan and Cleaves knew it.
"'Copy that, St John's. Shuttle's dispatched. Hang on'."
"You'll need to airlift us off the roof of the evac tower. And Captain, any further transmission sent by me must come with the following code word. I'm typing it, in case they're listening in.'
'"Got it. We'll swing in, get you out and decommission the Flesh'.
"We've got to get out of here," Buzzer said immediately after the transmission had been cut off.
"But we can't leave without Rory nor Jennifer," Avalon reminded him.
"We're not leaving without them," Amy firmly said.
"I want 'em found too, but it's about casualties, innit?" he raised an eyebrow at the two gingers, "Can't be helped."
"Well you're going to have to cope because we're not going anywhere without them," Avalon declared.
"What are you doing?" Amy had noticed the Doctor sitting in one of the chairs at the console typing away. She moved closer and observed the screen.
"Making a phone call," the Doctor answered distractedly.
"Who to?"
"No-one yet. It's on delay."
"Right, not getting it. Why exactly are you making a phone call?"
"Because, Amy, I am and always will be the optimist, the hoper of far-flung hopes and the dreamer of improbable dreams. The wheels are in motion. Done."
"I dream of getting out of here," Avalon sighed, "And as quick as possible."
"Will be taken care of," the Doctor pointed at her assuredly.
The Sapling had noticed Amy staring at something across the room. He came to stand beside her and tried to catch whatever it was she was looking at, but he couldn't find anything. He then realized that Amy hadn't even noticed he was standing right there. "Aunt Amy?" he tapped her arm and watched her jump in place. "What's wrong? What were you looking at?"
Amy rubbed her eyes and gazed at the wall she'd been staring at. Nope, no eye-patch woman there. Why did she keep seeing that woman? Was it some effect from the TARDIS?
"Amy?" the Doctor called now once he saw how pale she was. "What happened?"
Amy didn't know if she would sound crazy but she had to get it off her chest. She'd been carrying the secret with her for a while now and for some reason, she felt like now it was getting worse. She kept seeing the woman by the hour. "I can't take it anymore!" she exclaimed. "It's her! I keep seeing her!"
"What is she talking about?" Avalon inched behind the Doctor. Like the Sapling, Avalon gazed at the wall but found nothing.
"There's a woman I keep seeing, a woman with an eye-patch, and she has this habit of sliding walls open and staring at me," Amy frantically explained and missed the reactions of both Doctors.
"Is that like a movie?" the Sapling glanced at his Mother for the answer.
"Not one I've seen," the ginger promptly responded. She checked to see what the Doctor thought but noticed how unsurprised he was. "Doctor?"
"It's nothing," the original tried to wave off.
"Yeah, judging by Amy's face it doesn't look like it's 'nothing'," Avalon tilted her head, "What are-"
"It's a time memory. Like a mirage," he cut her off, "It's nothing to worry about."
"Liar," Avalon whispered then looked at the ganger beside her, ready to question him too.
However, he had his eyes closed and looked like he was in some type of pain, "It's in my head..." he hurried out the room.
"Hey, hold on!" Avalon called after him.
"Don't let him go," Cleaves warned.
"Leave it to me," Amy hurried out the room, hoping to fix some the things she'd said to him.
Unfortunately, that didn't seem the case for when she returned to the room, it was in a hurried run and heavy breath, "Keep him away from me!" she ordered and ran over to where the other Doctor was.
"Amy?" Avalon frowned at the attitude of her friend, "What's wrong?"
"Did you sense it?" the ganger Doctor came into the room and questioned his other self.
"Briefly. Not as strong as you."
"Sensed what?" Avalon walked over to Amy and hoped to calm her.
"Is there pictures we're missing?" the Sapling looked between the two Doctors, just as puzzled as everyone else.
"Not quite," went one of the Doctors.
"Amy, I'm sorry," the ganger Doctor apologized honestly.
"No, you keep away!" Amy snapped, pulling Avalon closer. Rory would definitely not want Avalon to be around the ganger who had radical, horrific emotions, "We can't trust you!"
"It would appear I can connect to the Flesh," the Doctor wasn't particularly paying attention to her at the moment.
"Well, you are Flesh," the ginger continued to say.
"I'm beginning to understand what it needs."
"What you want. You are it."
"Amy," Avalon put a hand on Amy's arm, disliking the tone and attitude she was taking with the ganger. If he was connected to the Flesh, then he didn't exactly have a choice in what he saw.
"It's much more powerful than we thought," the Doctor continued on without notice, "The Flesh can grow, correct?"
Cleaves was another that wasn't very interested in the topic, "Its cells can divide."
"Well, now it wants to do that at will. It wants revenge," the Doctor approached her, "It's in pain, angry. It wants revenge."
"Hm, thing got a mind of its own now? Where did I hear that one...?" Avalon sarcastically looked around, "...mm, oh right," she crossed her arms as she finally stepped around Amy, "Me."
"Mother was right," the Sapling agreed with a nod of his head.
"Doctor, I told you that we couldn't trust him," Amy went up to the Doctor herself. "I was right. He can't be the Doctor. He can't ever be, he's just a copy."
"That's not very nice," the Sapling pointed.
"Yeah, I'm gonna have to go with the Sapling this time," Avalon folded her arms.
"Be quiet, Avalon," Amy snapped, nearly sounding like a mother and looking like it when she pulled Avalon back with her.
"Hey!"
"Doctor, it might be best if you stayed over there for now, hmm?" Cleaves resolved as she stepped towards the ganger, prompting the other Doctor to move up as well.
"Hold on a minute. Hold your horses," he cut in between the woman and the ganger, "I thought I'd explained this. I'm him, he's me."
"Doctor, we have no issue with you. But when it comes to your ganger..." Cleaves looked around to the other people for their opinions, though their faces were more than clear, except for one person of course.
"I think you're all overreacting a bit," Avalon tried to input but no one listened.
"Be quiet!" snapped Amy again, though this time Avalon sent her a deep glare.
"Tell me to shut up one more time, I dare you," she gritted her teeth. It was completely outrageous that they forced the ganger Doctor on a barrel like he was some criminal.
Amy would not take the dare; she'd seen the fights Avalon had in the past and she wasn't interested in getting a black eye in the midst of all the trouble. "I just think it would be safer," she said, though her tone was still strained.
"Safer? They're the same!" Avalon gestured to the ganger and then to Doctor. "Down to the same stupid bow-tie! No two people can make that same mistake!"
The Sapling covered his mouth to giggle when both Doctors gave Avalon the same deadpanning look.
Amy, though, wouldn't listen as she shook her head. "You're too blinded by them."
A new type of anger flourished across Avalon's face when Amy made that accusation. Making that accusation basically told Avalon that Amy believed she couldn't separate reality from her stories, from the all the stories she'd heard about the Doctor. It was an outright offence, honestly. "I am not blinded, Amelia Pond! I'm not seven! I'm not a child!"
"Avalon," the ganger Doctor stepped in when her face began to match the shade of her hair. He grabbed her arm and gently pulled her away from the mini-stare down she was having with Amy. "It's fine, really."
"No, it's not," Avalon continued shooting Amy glares. "I hate when they say that. Like...like I'm too engulfed in my stories to realize that I'm in the real world." She turned to him, expression akin to a beg. "I know I have my stories and I love them but I'm not blinded by them. I know you're real and that you have flaws and...this is the real world. It's not my fairy tale world."
"I know that," he assured her with a soft smile. "You don't have to prove it to me."
"...just like you don't have to prove to anyone that you're real," she said and shot the others another glare. "You're a ganger but you're the Doctor. I know you are."
"And that counts for a lot, trust me," he rubbed her arms comfortingly. "My Ava."
She smiled back but when he moved to sit on the barrel the others ordered him to, she yanked him to his side. "Absolutely not. They can all suck it." She stuck her tongue out at anyone who saw.
From his spot, the original Doctor struggled hard not to laugh right there and then. That's my Ava.
After a couple minutes, the group got word from the mainland they were trying to land when the signal was cut off.
"I can't find Rory. I'm going out there," Amy had had enough of waiting around.
"We could use the sonic to track him," the Doctor offered as he pulled out his screwdriver, "Humans and gangers give off slightly different signals. The sonic can tell the difference."
"Oh, so the sonic knows gangers are different, so the other Doctor is different."
The Doctor rolled his eyes, "He is the Doctor."
"Not to me," Amy assured, "I can tell."
"Sure you're not prejudiced?"
"Nice try, but I know, OK? We've been through too much. You're my Doctor. End of."
"Amy, instead of making things worse come over here," Avalon was with Buzzer in front of the visual screens, "We've got Rory and Jennifer," everyone quickly gathered to see the screen.
"They're heading for the thermostatic room," Cleaves seemed confused and with great reason.
"Let's go get them," Amy declared but saw the screwdriver being tossed over to the Doctor on the barrel, "Hang on!"
"We can't let him go," Cleaves moved over to the Doctor, "Are you crazy?"
"Am I crazy, Doctor?" the Doctor turned to his other self.
"Well, you did once plumb your brain into the core of an entire planet just to halt its orbit and win a bet."
"I remember that!" the Sapling laughed as he watched the images in his head.
Avalon was not amused in the least. "That's not being crazy, that's being utterly stupid. And that's coming from me. Mels used to dare me to do the stupidest things."
"Enough!" Amy snapped. "Now he's not going-" she pointed to the ganger, "-I am!"
"Do you know, I want him to go," the Doctor stepped closer to her, serious, "And I'm rather adamant."
"Well, then, he'll need company, right, boss? It's fine. I'll handle it," Buzzer offered and stepped forwards.
"Thank you, Buzzer. It'll be all right. I'll find him," the ganger waved and left with Buzzer to follow.
"I can't explain it to you now, but I need you to trust him," the Doctor looked at Amy and even Avalon, "Can you do that for me?"
"Course," Avalon nodded but Amy seemed to have more trouble accepting it.
"What if you're wrong?" were her final words.
~ 0 ~
"These temperature gauges are rising," Cleaves read from the screen. They'd been monitoring the visuals for a while and was growing concerned, "Jennifer and Rory must have shut off the underground cooling vents."
"Why do that? They'll kill us," Dickens frowned.
"There's a million gallons of boiling acid under our feet..." Cleaves slowly looked down at the floor.
"And now it's heating up the whole island," the Doctor understood, "How long till it blows?" his answer was the explosion that rocked them entirely.
"Gangers or no gangers, we need to get the hell out of here," Dickens urgently said.
"Shuttle! We need evac," Cleaves started a transmission again, "Where are you? Can you hear me? Can you...?" she stopped when she felt a jab at her forehead.
"Cleaves? Cleaves, sit down," the Doctor helped her away the console and sat her on a chair.
"I'm fine," Cleaves assured as she put a hand on her forehead, I'm waiting for results, so let it go."
The Doctor had used the sonic on her and got results instantaneous, "It's a very deep parietal clot."
"Inoperable?"
"On Earth, yes."
"Well, seeing as Earth is all that's on... offer...hm," Cleaves slumped in her chair, "I'm no healthy spring chicken, and you're no weatherman. Right?"
Another quake struck and shook the room, "Something just cracked. I heard it," Avalon frantically looked around for anything that was breaking.
"Yeah, we can't stay here, let's go," the Doctor agreed and headed for the doors.
Cleaves moved to the console again and did another transmission, "Cleaves to Shuttle. We need to move, and we can't be collected from the evac tower."
'Give us the codeword'.
"The codeword is..." but her voice was cut off with another quake that struck that console and cut off the transmission.
"Cleaves? Cleaves, it's dead, it's dead," the Doctor called to them, "We need to get out of here. We need to get back downstairs and get those vents back on, come on."
They ran into a new room where the Doctor and Cleaves hurried to change the settings on the machine, "It's a chemical chain reaction now. I can't stop it. This place is going to blow sky high," the Doctor sighed.
"Exactly how long have we got?" Cleaves asked.
"An hour? Five seconds? Er, somewhere in between."
The klaxon sounded along with a series of explosions, "Out!" the Doctor ordered and ran out the room with the group.
They ran a couple feet until they found Rory on a turn. Amy was the first to hug him as she was the closest one.
"All right?" Rory pulled back and studied her followed by Avalon.
"Us? What about you?" Avalon hugged him, "Don't you dare do that again!"
"Yeah, aunt Amy and Mother were very worried," the Sapling informed as if Rory hadn't already known that.
"There's a way out. Jennifer found it. A secret tunnel under the crypt," Rory pulled away and looked at the group.
"From the crypt? It's not on the schematics," Cleaves shook her head.
"It runs right out of the monastery. Maybe even under the TARDIS, Doctor. Follow me."
As everyone ran after Rory, the Doctor seemed slightly hesitant to do so.
"We can't leave without Buzzer," Jimmy said as they entered the new room.
"I'll go back for him," Cleaves called.
Rory was with the Doctor and was looking nervous for some reason, "Doctor, look...I'd better tell you, I haven't been quite straight with you..." but ganger Jennifer pulled him out the room before he could finish and locked the group inside.
"Rory!" the Doctor pounded on the door, "Rory Pond, Roranicus Pondicus!"
"Rory! What the hell are you playing at?" Avalon shouted but caught sight of Jennifer on the other side and knew it had to be that woman's fault.
"Rory, there is no time. This factory's about to explode!" Amy called frantically.
"I'm sorry!" Rory was able to say before he was dragged away by the Jennifer.
"Can we hurt her?" the Sapling made a deep scowl appear on his face. They were just trying to get home and that woman was about to kill them off.
With no other alternatives, the Doctor hurried back to the acid with the sonic, "This is going to overheat and fill the room with acid, just as a point of interest."
"Please, stop talking," Avalon sighed, she'd rather not hear about their looming death.
Dicken started lowering the cap over the vat as an effort against it. Jimmy moved closer to the vat and shook his head, "It'll never hold her.'
"If you have a better plan, I'm all ears," the Doctor pointed, "In fact, if you have a better plan, I'll take you to a planet where everyone is all ears."
"I've also seen that one!" the Sapling tapped the side of his head. "Can I go there afterwards?"
Even through the now shut cap, the acid was far stronger. Cleaves observed it from a distance, "The acid's eating through."
"This is it, huh? This is where we're going to die," Avalon shuddered a breath as she stared at the weak vat with soon-to-be overflowing acid. She felt her breathing pick up. That was new. She never really considered that one of their trips might be the last one.
The Doctor came over to her and hugged her. He didn't care if she would push him away; he needed for her know that he wouldn't leave her side. "No, it's not," he quietly said.
"Oh you don't have to lie," Avalon sighed. She allowed him to hug her for a few seconds, letting herself enjoy his hold just for a bit.
Jimmy had moved to keep the vat's lid down but some of the acid managed to splash on his chest, knocking him to the floor. At that moment, ganger Jimmy ran into the room and went straight for his other self. The Doctor had gone to check the original but found bad results, "There's nothing we can do. The acid's reached his heart."
"Hang in there, mate," ganger Jimmy sighed.
"I'm quite handsome from this angle," Jimmy managed to humor.
"I'm...sorry. I'm the fake. Adam deserves his real dad."
"Shut up," Jimmy playfully rolled his eyes.
"What do you want me to do? Anything, just say."
"The way things are, mate... it's up to you now," Jimmy pulled on the cord around his neck and gave it to his ganger, "Be a dad. You remember how."
A stunned ganger Jimmy held up a wedding band in his hand.
"Jimmy Wicks...you're a dad," the Doctor clapped him on the shoulder.
"Right then, everyone, it's time to go!" ganger Cleaves called to the group and ran out the room first.
The Doctor stood by the door as everyone ran out but noticed Avalon staring at the corner of the room. "Ava! Let's go!"
"Amy said that woman appeared there again," she pointed at the wall. "How can that be? There's nothing there."
"Avalon, it doesn't matter!" the Doctor ran back to bring her out of the room. "We have to go!"
"But it does!" Avalon snapped, yanking her arm out of his hold after they'd gotten into the corridor. "Because you know what it means and don't want to tell us! And when you do that, it means something's happening."
"No, it's not," the Doctor tried his best to smile like nothing was going on around them, like neither of them were in danger. "You know me, I've got so many things in my head that I don't even know what's going on half the time."
"Nice try," Avalon rolled her eyes. "You know what's going on, more than you're letting on. But I shouldn't be surprised. It's what you do. Keep everything to yourself."
"This...isn't about Amy anymore, is it?"
Avalon once again rolled her eyes and when she attempted to leave, the Doctor grabbed her arm. "Look if you're not going to tell me anything, then just leave me alone."
"Now a wait minute, 10 minutes ago you were dandy with the other Doctor but now I'm the one you're mad at?"
"Are you seriously telling me that you're jealous?" Avalon didn't know whether to laugh or scream in frustration. "Why are you like this?" she air-strangled him instead.
"Like what?" the Doctor frowned.
Avalon groaned, her hands dangerously close to actually strangling him by the neck. "I hate you, you know that!? Do you enjoy being self-righteous with me? Especially with me?"
"I would never-"
"-then why don't you just tell me the truth already?"
"What truth?"
"I'm going to kill you, after," Avalon muttered and stepped towards him. She grabbed him by the lapels of his jacket and pulled him close to her so he would definitely listen to her words. "If I'm really going to die here, then I refuse to go without hearing you tell me the truth about us."
The Doctor's eyes widened. "Oh..."
"Yeah, 'oh'," Avalon could be pretty scary when she wanted to, and of course she'd choose to be the scariest when she wanted a confession from him about their feelings. She sure knew how to pick them.
"I don't think this is really the time. I mean, we have got some killer acid and actual killers after us-"
"-I don't bloody care," Avalon snapped. "I deserve for somebody to tell me the truth for once in my life." Her face suddenly softened, as did the grip of her hands on his jacket. She tilted her head slightly, eyes glimmering with tears. "And I would really like for that 'somebody' to be you."
"Ava...I can't..."
"Why not?" she asked through gritted teeth. "And don't tell me it's because there's nothing. Fantasy Fest. That's all the proof I need. You were about to kiss me and don't deny it."
"I stopped for a reason..."
"Because you nearly got caught."
"No, because...it was the right thing to do," the Doctor put his hands over hers and gently pulled them off his jacket. "Because I can't do that to you. You have me falling in temptation, Ava. Being who I am, it's a dangerous thing."
"And I told you plenty of times that I like dangerous. Literally. I love the adrenaline," Avalon said with the most honest smirk on her face. She raised her head as if daring him to challenge her.
He honest to God loved that look on her. He could kiss her to death right now. He brought one of his hands to touch her face, very soon grazing her lips. "My Ava. You have no idea what goes through my head whenever you're around me."
"I would if you just told me," Avalon whispered.
"Thing is, Avalon, I've done this before and it never ended well," the Doctor's gaze lowered a bit.
Avalon could see the pain etching across his face, as if it were still raw because it happened yesterday. She didn't have to hear each individual story to know that the Doctor blamed himself for every ending. "You're 909, I believe you."
"I don't want you to be the next one. Because sometimes it's not the fact that they've left me, it's how they ended up leaving. You won't be the next one, not on my watch."
Avalon's eyes watered up. "Can you just say it, though? Say it once, please."
But the Doctor wasn't brave enough. If he said it out loud, then it would finally become real. And when it became real, the pain that came with it would also be real. He couldn't do it. "I can't...I'm sorry..."
The ground suddenly rumbled underneath them, nearly knocking them both to the wall. The Doctor grabbed ahold of Avalon's arm - even if she wanted to murder him for his inability to speak the truth - and searched the hallway for a good route.
"We have to go!"
"I hate you!" Avalon didn't hesitate to start and he would be smart enough to know that this wasn't the end of their conversation. Just because they were about to die was no excuse! Not for them!
~ 0 ~
The rest of the group had entered a new room after being chased down by ganger Jennifer (who was now the only one bent on war). They'd met up with Rory and the other Doctor again and were now trying to keep Jennifer away from them. As Dicken came to shut the door that would keep Jennifer out, he crashed into a running Avalon and Doctor.
"Where the hell have you two been?" called Rory from the end of the room, frankly offended they'd left them to their luck.
"Yeah, ganger Jennifer is still after us!" the Sapling waved his arms frantically. Of course then he dropped them when he noticed how angry his mother looked. "Why are you upset, Mother?"
"Ask your father," Avalon shoved the Doctor with her to the side.
A scream carried down the hallway and made everyone look out to see Dickens shut the door with himself on the other side. Jennifer had killed him and was making her way towards the group now. Ganger Dickens shut the door in front of them with the help of ganger Cleaves and the Doctor that had come in with Avalon.
There was a creaking sound from the ceiling and the other Doctor looked up to see a familiar blue square coming through. "Here she comes!" The TARDIS fell down and added an extra rumble to the ground. "Oh, she does like to make an entrance! Move!" he ordered as he went up to the doors and opened them up for the group, "Go, go, go, go!"
Ganger Dickens left the door and ran into the TARDIS. Cleaves was going to do the same but looked back at her ganger, "Get on board! Go!" the ganger shooed he off.
"I'm not leaving," Cleaves tried to argue but the loud bang Jennifer gave on the other side of the door cut her off.
"Go!" the ganger yelled at her and so went Cleaves into the TARDIS.
"Sapling!" the Doctor called from the TARDIS. "GO!" The Sapling nodded his head quickly and made a dash for the blue box.
"Now's our chance," Amy hurried to the TARDIS and looked back at the others, specifically the Doctor at the door.
"I have to stay. Hold this door closed. Give you time to dematerialize."
"What are you doing?" Avalon frowned, "What happens if you stay here?"
"Well, this place is just about to explode. But I can stop her."
"Both of you can survive this, OK?" Amy looked between the two aliens.
"Or perhaps you think I should stay instead... Mr Smith?"
"No, of course not. But look, this man, I've flown with him, you know? And you are amazing and yeah, I misjudged you, but you're not him. I'm sorry."
"Amy, we swapped shoes. I'm the Doctor," the Doctor by the TARDIS informed.
"And I'm...the Flesh," the Doctor at the door said rather nervously as he looked at Avalon.
"You're what now?" her eyes widened.
"I, uh, I...probably should've mentioned that before-"
"-right, because telling the truth is so easy for you clearly," she rolled her eyes.
"No, hold on!" Amy shook her head fervently as if that would make things more clear. "How's this even possible!?"
"Well, they switched places, didn't they?" Rory wasn't that surprised the Doctor would pull something like that. In fact, they should've just seen it coming.
"Well I'm not the original, I haven't been all along," the ganger Doctor shrugged, not able to explain much further.
"I don't know which one of you to kill right now," Avalon looked between both aliens, though the reactions from each were different. The one at the door looked heavily frightened while the one at the TARDIS was trying to understand what was going on.
"Ava? What happened?" the Doctor, the real one, asked her.
"Is there a way you both can survive?" Amy's hair kept flinging from side to side as she asked the two Doctors.
"Yeah, so I can kill both of them," mumbled Avalon.
"You okay?" Rory touched Avalon's arm, the only one who wouldn't die at the moment. She shook her head in response. "What happened?"
"Nothing!" she quickly exclaimed, shooting the ganger a sharp look, "Nothing happened," though her face was upset and sad, "Just, um, just tell us, is there a way of survival for you?" she genuinely wondered.
"Get to safety, Ava," was the answer of the ganger, a soft smile on his face.
"Well we can't just let him die!" Amy exclaimed, frantically shaking as no one seemed very worried about that detail.
"It's fine, Pond," the ganger Doctor smiled just like his other version would. "We got what we needed from this place, didn't we?" he shared a knowing look with the other Doctor, both nodding in agreement.
"What?" Avalon caught on and frowned even deeper. "Oh! I am so done with you two!"
"No Avalon, wait!" the ganger grabbed her arm and gently tugged her to his side. "You were right...about everything." She still shook her head, more ready to kill him before ganger Jennifer did. "Hey, I mean it," he tugged her arm again, forcing her to look at him. "You were absolutely right, but then again...when aren't you right?"
She wanted to roll her eyes again but he had that stupid grin she liked a lot. While she was lost in her thoughts - deciding whether to keep pretending to want to kill him or just leave - she didn't notice that the ganger Doctor had leaned to her side until he whispered something in her ear. When he drew away, she had her wide-eyed stare locked on him and she had a deep blush across her face.
"What he say?" Amy scrunched, wondering if it was some other secret the two aliens had kept from them.
Even the Doctor by the TARDIS was puzzled. "Ava?"
Avalon shared a small smile with his ganger. "You finally said it," she leaned closer to him, letting her nose rest against his cheek. "Thank you. And you know that I feel the same," she told him in a whisper. She pulled away and looked at the door he and Cleaves were desperately trying to keep locked, but ganger Jennifer was using all her monstrous strength to pound against it.
"You need to go," the ganger ordered her. "Please."
"But..."
"I'll be fine," he assured.
"You lie," she said sadly. He didn't say anything except give her another smile. She nodded, indicating she understood, but before she left she surprised him with a kiss on the cheek. She went right into the TARDIS without looking at anyone else, much less the other Doctor who couldn't be more confused in his life! What had that ganger of him said to her and why did she react like that? They were so close too...
Of course he soon turned an accusing look on his ganger, demanding questions with a silent glare.
"Oh shut up," went the ganger in return. "Maybe she's the one who can change things. Because if you don't, and I survive this, I'm coming back for her. You got that?"
"I'm interested," Amy remarked to Rory, both of them looking at each of the Doctors at the same time. "But I'm so confused at the same time."
"I'm not," Rory frowned. It was what he specifically wanted nothing of for the sake of Avalon. "Let's go!" he yanked his wife towards the TARDIS, leaving the two Doctors to work out whatever they needed to.
Avalon was inside with the Sapling but while the tree child was ecstatic to be safe inside the TARDIS, Avalon was lost in thoughts. Rory took a quick stride towards the woman, dreading what was going on through her head.
"Hey Ava," his voice, though gentle, managed to startle her, "Are you okay?"
"Uh...yeah, I think I am," Avalon answered but she still seemed like she was figuring it out. "I just..." she laughed humorlessly, "Why is he so...like that!?"
"Ava," Rory deeply sighed and brought a hand to her curly hair. "I really wish you hadn't..." he couldn't finish it out loud, for her sake, but she just smiled sadly.
"I couldn't help it Rory," she said with the tone of a child. She always did that whenever they had a serious talk. He was like the grown up because God knew she could never be an adult.
"Told you," Amy was smirking, completely the opposite of her husband.
"I don't get it," the Sapling suddenly said, his lips curled into a pout. "What's going on? What are we talking about?"
Avalon just laughed, wholeheartedly for the first time that day. "Oh Sapling, nothing. Nothing except your Mother is a true idiot."
~ 0 ~
After making sure the gangers were stable and dropping ganger Jimmy back to his son, the Doctor brought Cleaves and ganger Dickens back to the headquarters of their factory.
"You really want us to do this?" Cleaves sighed as they approached the conference room.
"Your company's telling the world that the situation is over. You need to get in there and tell them that the situation's only just begun," the Doctor pointed to the door, "Make them understand what they're doing to the Flesh. Make them stop. Dickens, remember, people are good. In their bones, truly good. Don't hate them, will you?"
"How can I hate them? I'm one of them now," he gestured to Cleaves beside her.
"Yeah, and just remember, people died. Don't let that be in vain. Make what you say in that room count."
"Ready? Side by side," Cleaves said as they'd stopped in front of the conference door.
"You got it, boss."
Together, the two co-workers entered the conference room. Amy moved closer to the Doctor and nudged him, "You okay?"
"I said breathe, Pond, remember? Well, breathe," the Doctor sighed as he knew what was coming next. He started making his way back for the TARDIS where Avalon had preferred to stay. Now, on top of a ganger Amy, he had to decipher what secret Avalon was refusing to tell him. And more importantly, what the hell his ganger had whispered in her ear.
"Why?" Amy called but couldn't say more when she doubled over in pain. "Ooh! Woah! Oh!"
"What's wrong with her?" Rory quickly tried checking her for any injury, but he didn't remember seeing anything earlier.
"Get her into the TARDIS," the Doctor ordered and entered the box.
"What's wrong with aunt Amy!?" the Sapling's cry pulled Avalon away from her journal. She looked up to see the Doctor and Rory helping Amy get into the TARDIS.
"Contractions," the Doctor bitterly answered as he went around the console, setting the TARDIS in motion.
"Excuse me?" Avalon hopped off her seat and hurried to help Rory.
"She's going into labor."
The Sapling gasped. "Aunt Amy's having a baby!? I thought it was Mother!"
"Would you stop saying that!?" snapped Avalon. This was no time to remind her that she needed to change diets.
"Doctor, what are you talking about!?" Amy asked in-between groans. She literally felt like she was being stabbed in her stomach. "Rory, I don't like this - OW!"
"You'll have to start explaining this to me, Doctor," Rory practically ordered. He could handle the secrets the Doctor kept from them when it wasn't about Amy. Something was happening to his wife and he wanted answers now.
"What, the birds and the bees? She's having a baby," the Doctor moved away from the console. The Sapling gasped again, in delight until someone would tell him it wasn't all that great when the person in labor didn't even know she was in labor. "I needed to see the Flesh in its early days. That's why I scanned it. That's why we were there in the first place. I was going to drop you off for fish and chips first, but things happened and there was stuff and shenanigans. Beautiful word, shenanigans."
"You're getting off topic," Avalon snapped. "Not to mention the fact I knew you were keeping something from us!"
"It hurts!" cried the second ginger.
"Breathe," the Doctor pointed at Amy, "I needed enough information to block the signal to the Flesh."
"What signal?" Amy didn't understand and quite frankly didn't have the head to decipher it with all the pain she was feeling.
"The signal to you."
"Doctor?"
"Stand away from her," the Doctor sternly looked at Avalon and Rory. He expected the simultaneous refusal from them, but it didn't mean he would be patient about it. Time was literally of the essence now. From here on out, they were at war.
"You need to start explaining now," Avalon's eyes narrowed on the Doctor, and with good reason.
"Given what we've learned, I'll be as humane as I can, but I need to do this and you two-" his voice suddenly rose in volume, "-need to STAND AWAY!"
Avalon flinched when he started yelling. She didn't say anything back, she didn't dare to. Instead, she looked at Rory and the two slowly backed away from Amy. Why were they leaving her!? Why was the Doctor shouting at them!? And why did her stomach hurt so much!?
"No, no, Doctor, I am frightened. I'm properly, properly scared!"
Even the Sapling had the good sense to be afraid now that he was looking at everyone. He slowly inched closer to Avalon who, once she felt him nearby, slowly took him into a hug.
"Don't be. Hold on. We're coming for you, I swear it," the Doctor stepped closer to Amy, putting a hand on her cheek. He felt terrible for taking this long to finally do something about her situation. "Whatever happens, however hard, however far, we will find you."
"I'm right here!" Amy clung to his arm, shaking him to get him to listen to her. But despite her insistence, she could see in his eyes that he'd already made up his decision about her.
"No, you're not. You haven't been here for a long, long time," he stepped back and held his sonic at her. The mere act froze Avalon and Rory in their respective spots. It looked like Amy was suddenly the enemy trespassing.
Amy whimpered in her spot, one hand still wrapped around her stomach. "No..."
With one click of the sonic, she turned into a Flesh puddle.
Rory gasped at the sight of what used to be his wife.
Avalon's eyes wide to the brim. Her grip around the Sapling tightened as if they were next on the list.
The Doctor slowly lowered his sonic but he couldn't look at Rory nor Avalon. What would he tell them? That he'd known for a while Amy wasn't really there with them but he didn't have the tools nor the knowledge to find her?
"Doctor," Rory suddenly spoke up. "Hey?" he had to call twice before the Time Lord would finally glance at him, but only then it was a slight glance. "I don't understand what just happened, nor what is happening but I bet my life that you knew about this."
"Rory-"
"-NO," Rory's voice sharpened quick, shutting the Doctor down in that moment, "You knew about it for God knows how long so right now, you owe me."
"Rory, stop," Avalon's voice was a frail whisper. She was truly afraid of what was coming next, but Rory was already thinking ahead and it included her.
"Avalon, be quiet," Rory snapped. It was so uncharacteristic of him but it was another testament of how furious he was. He walked straight up to the Doctor, and showcased his deepest glare. "You owe me and I'm gonna use that to save the other person I just know is in danger." The Doctor blinked at him, unsure of where Rory was taking this until Rory's eyes flickered to Avalon. "I've felt this for a while and nobody would listen to me, not even Amy."
"Rory, what are you talking about?" Avalon asked, about to walk towards them when the Sapling hugged her tighter. He was mighty afraid and the fact everyone looked so angry and upset didn't help ease his nerves.
"The letter, Avalon," the Doctor said, side-glancing her with sorrow eyes. Now it was Rory's turn to be confused. Neither he nor Amy had heard about the letter. "What did the letter say?"
Avalon's eyes would blink several times before she answered and when she did, she still wasn't sure what it had to do with their conversation. "Dear Avalon, I know this is strange and probably confusing but it is imperious that you listen to me. You must remain with the Doctor for your own safety. Bad things are coming, and they will be coming for you and all your friends." She swallowed hard, attempting to keep calm but her body was visibly shaking. "But it-it's not about me right now. It's about Amy-"
"-but they could be the same people that letter was talking about," the Doctor sighed. "I should have known from the start. I should have been more careful."
"Doctor, they got to Amy but we can still keep Avalon safe," Rory said, now more urgent since they finally figured out what he was trying to say.
"Yes, you're right," the Doctor nodded, turning towards Avalon. The woman took an instinctive step backwards, bringing the Sapling with her in the process. "Avalon, you might be next."
"No, stop it!" she snapped. "We need to focus on Amy and-"
"-you," Rory said. "I'm not losing you too."
"What...what are you going to do?" Avalon asked, her tone laced with a clear fear.
"Whatever it takes," the Doctor promised her.
Author's Note:
You guys have no idea how long I've waited for these next chapters to start! GET. READY. Because it all goes down from here!
And just out of curiosity, who do you think wrote the letter? Let me see some guesses! ;)
Also, I honestly get so confused with the ganger and the Doctor when writing these chapters so I just made them be who I needed them to be for the plot! Just in case anyone realizes it doesn't match the episode.
P. S: I have created a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's also a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "noble-crescent" and the tag I created for any posts having to do with my work is # noblecrescentedit.
