Disclaimer: I obviously do not own any of these characters...everything here is borrowed with love. ;)
19.
The crew could tell something had changed the moment Amy and him stepped through the doorway to the galley, where everyone was enjoying a late meal. It might have been his arm around her waist, holding her close, or perhaps the giddy smile on his face.
"You've remembered?" Sara asked, leaning forward in her seat.
"Yup, it's all in here. Born in Leadworth, traveled with the Doctor, hopelessly in love with The Wife," Rory said, pointing to his cranium. He frowned, "Of course everything else is still in here too. The Time Masters, Vandal Savage, Miranda and Jonas…It's getting rather crowded in my head. Kind of reminds me of when I was plastic."
"When you were what now?" Nate blurted.
"Sorry, I was a plastic Roman for a while. Long story. Complicated."
"So what do we call you?" Mick asked, sipping a beer and leaning against one of the seats in the main control room.
"Well, Rory, I guess. Technically I was never Rip, that was just a made-up persona that the angels gave to me. Anyway, I guess the question is…what now?"
"I'd say that's up to you, Captain," Snart said. The thief folded his arms, a smile on his face.
"Captain who?" Nate spoke up, "Sara's Captain now, in case you've forgotten."
"Right, I guess I'm still getting used to that," Snart said.
"Well look, Rip, you said you were starting an organization to replace the Time Masters last we spoke," Sara said, "I mean…Rory." The Captain made a face and shook her head, "That's going to take some getting used to."
"I did, didn't I?" Rory said, "And time is screwed up because you all did the one thing I said never to do under any circumstances."
"Let me guess, they went back and interacted with their own timelines," Amy said, crossing her arms.
"Yeah, it was stupid, but it was either that or let a deranged psychopath mess with reality as we know it," Sara pointed out, "Reality's safe, now we just need to…fix time."
"Well, have fun with that," The Doctor broke in. "Amy, Rory, what do you say we take a trip to the Olourian star system? Something to celebrate. There's this forest where the leaves feel like feathers. Best sleep I've ever had. Nothing beats an Olourian leaf carpet. Or we could visit the Sea of Calypso where the air smells like salt caramel. Or—"
Amy and Rory looked at one another and came to a conclusion while the Doctor ranted on about the various wonders of the cosmos.
"Actually, Doctor," Amy cut in, "I think we might just…go home for a bit."
"I should probably let my dad know we're okay," Rory said.
"Well, it's not as if Olouria is going anywhere," The Doctor said, "We can always—"
"About that," Rory interrupted, "What we mean is…after everything that's happened, we think it's best that we go our separate ways."
"Oh," The Doctor said. "Yes, of course."
"You'll always be a part of our lives," Amy said, stepping forward and grasping the Doctor's hands, "You know that."
"Sounds like there's a lot of clean-up work to be done here on Earth," Rory said, "And we both know you're rubbish at that bit."
"It's time for you to go running off again, Doctor," Amy said, "Let us handle things here. It's not like this is goodbye forever."
"Well, it…you're right. You're absolutely right." The Doctor looked down at Amy's hands. She squeezed them.
The group followed the Doctor to the cargo bay, where the TARDIS was parked awaiting her pilot. The Doctor stopped just outside her doors and turned to face his friends. He opened his mouth, at once at a loss for words.
"Well, I suppose I can pop around for tea sometime," he said finally. "Until then, Ponds." He turned to leave.
"Find River," Amy blurted before he could go. "Tell her the good news—tell her we're okay and then take her to the Oo-laran feather forest and the salt caramel seas of…whatever it was." She stepped forward and took his hands in hers once more. "Promise me you won't travel alone," she implored, giving them one last squeeze.
The Doctor drew Amy into a tight hug. He shut his eyes tightly, terrible at saying goodbye.
"I promise," The Doctor said instead, letting her go.
Rory stepped forward and held out a hand.
"Thanks for everything," he said.
The Doctor looked at it, then drew him in for a hug too. "Take care of her," he said.
"Always," Rory promised. He stepped away.
Snart slowly stepped forward, eyes on the floor. He wasn't good at gushy shows of emotion, and he'd already had his fill of them this past week.
"See you later, Doc," he said simply, raising his eyes.
"Thank you for bringing him back to us," Sara cut in, saying what she knew Snart never would. "It means a lot." She took the Doctor's hand and gave it a firm shake.
"It wasn't me," The Doctor insisted.
"Doesn't matter," Sara said.
The Doctor nodded, looking out over the faces in the small cargo hold one last time. His eyes paused on Amy and Rory, and then he stepped into the TARDIS.
The crew stepped back as the ship came to life, hands in front of their faces to protect against the sudden gush of wind. In a whoosh of wailing engines and grinding, moaning gears, the TARDIS disappeared.
"Are we done with the teary goodbyes?" Mick said once it had. He let out a large belch and took a swig from the bottle of beer in his hand. "Time's still broken, in case you've all forgotten."
"Right, we best be getting back to the Time Bureau," Rory said, "I've got all the necessary equipment there."
"And by 'equipment', you mean 'time travel devices'," Sara clarified.
"Well, space-time, but yes," Rory replied.
"You built a time machine?" Amy asked, incredulous.
"More of a time-piece, like a wristband. I'm still working out the kinks, but I can say that it's smaller than a time-manipulator and not nearly as hazardous to your health," Rory explained on their way back to the bridge.
"Just tell me where to drop you," Sara said.
Author's Notes:
19.1: It was kind of tricky writing the merge between Rip and Rory's characters… I hope I did alright.