Rory felt something was off when he woke but couldn't work out what it was. The world smelled slightly different but took it to be the fact it was now morning. He wasn't sure where he was going, but knew he had to keep moving.
He had something to eat and drink before packing up his gear, his sword was now sharpened to his standards, and he'd ensured the daggers were just as sharp. Rory checked the canteen he had, filling it with fresh water from the small pool. He would need to find a food source soon, but he needed to get the lay of the land first.
Stepping out the cave, Rory blinked in the light filtering through the fog that seemed slightly less dense this morning. There was something off, he could feel it but as he began to contemplate this idea, the apathy set in once more and Rory started out the cave. He felt there was somewhere he needed to reach so started out to his destination wherever that was.
x
Edrea studied subject 1894 thoughtfully.
There was something unusual about him. His background did not match how he had acted since being placed in the arena.
The information she had on 1894 showed he was a nurse, there was nothing there to indicate he knew how to fight or kill, especially with such efficiency. Now she was back in the Vanishing Point it meant she had access once more to the Time Master equipment which would allow her more accurate testing and hopefully the answers she wanted.
"I have something I need you to work on," Arden stated as he walked in.
Edrea frowned at the intrusion, "Druce at least pretended to have manners."
"And he is no longer in charge," Arden retorted, before continuing, "After the explosion all the Refuges were cleared, and the children scattered. We need to restart these but rather than just picking up children from through time, we go with the additional plan that was being discussed in the council of breeding them."
"Breeding?" Edrea asked, not sure exactly what he meant.
Arden nodded, "Time Masters were chosen due to their high intelligence quotient, but then we have to hunt through time to add to our ranks. Using the children that we already have then we should use them to breed future Time Masters. We have a perfect specimen for you to see how well this worked."
Edrea looked at him intrigued, "How?"
"Rip Hunter," Arden spat, "The traitor and Miranda Coburn, the fool who left for love, had a child. The boy proves that if we use proper stock then the children created will be what we want."
"I heard he had a family," Edrea mused, "I didn't know Coburn was the wife, a shame she was one of the best, but I believed both were killed to get Hunter where he was meant to be."
Arden smiled, "Druce was smarter than that. He was never going to waste such a valuable resource. The boy is in stasis onboard my ship."
"I may have something for you," Edrea stated, "One of my subjects, 1894, he has twin boys and with the mother dead taking them should be easy. Despite his background, he has proven to be much smarter and more deadly than I expected. There are grandparents but they doubtful would prove any barrier and we simply change their memories to think the children died as well."
Arden nodded, "Intriguing idea. Let me see this subject."
Edrea moved to the main console and brought up the file, "Subject 1894, Rory Arthur Williams." Turning to Arden she was surprised to see him staring at the screen in amazement, "What?"
Arden turned to her, "You've never met or seen Rip Hunter, have you?"
She shook her head, "Never crossed paths with him, no need to."
"Because that man is the spitting image of him," Arden replied, he frowned and moved to the computer accessing the files he'd been left by Druce and the previous council. Finding what he was looking for Arden brought up the file, "Meet Captain Rip Hunter, traitor."
Edrea stared, "Interesting. I wonder if they are related or if this is just a coincidence."
"They're twins," Arden stated, "In order for Hunter to do what was required of him, he had to be able to make connections. Druce took him because he had a connection with a twin, it was what made him perfect for what we needed him to do."
"Which means these children are definitely Time Master material," Edrea mused before nodding, "I will remove him from the experiment. You can use him to draw Hunter to us."
Arden mused for a moment before shaking his head, "Not yet. How close do you believe you are to having him fully under control."
"Not long," Edrea stated, "Probably a few more treatments with several days in the arena. Why?"
"Because having Hunter's own twin brother hunt him down and kill him would be perfect after his betrayal of us," Arden snarled, "Although only after he learns that his son and nephews will take his place."
The last few weeks for Amy Pond had been utter hell.
After Kate had basically kidnapped her one night, unable to see her sons and watching Rory being put on trial for her murder it was like every nightmare she'd ever had being played out in real time.
She had been persuaded by Kate to let it continue because Kate and her team had discovered what was happening to Rory had occurred with many other people in different places but this time, they had a chance to find out who was behind it.
Except Rory was now missing and any chance they had of working out what was happening had disappeared with him.
The moment the door opened, Amy saw her parents and father-in-law staring at her in amazement, but she ignored them as her two baby boys both instantly reached out for her. Managing to take both little boys in her arms she hugged them close, pressing kisses to their chubby cheeks as they babbled away giving her their version of kisses.
"Amy," Kate said, "I think we should explain what's been going on. Osgood, if you could help Amy with the boys."
Osgood, Amy's angel in this nightmare, stepped forward and opening her arms to take Michael who, although a little reluctant to be removed from his mother, didn't cry the way BJ would.
Now with a free arm, Amy hugged her parents before hugging her father-in-law.
"I'm sorry," she told them, "But no one could know until now that I survived."
Brian shook his head, "What happened? Where is Rory? Why has he been convicted of your murder?"
As her normally easy-going father-in-law yelled, Amy winced but it was Kate who took charge.
"Please everyone," she said, "Take a seat and I will explain what we know."
x
Kate Stewart understood that the family before her had been through a lot in the past few weeks. Amy especially had been desperate to have her children back with her but until the time was right, they couldn't be reunited. Amy hugged one of her boys close while Osgood, who had become a good friend of the other woman over the past year, held the other.
"A few months ago," Kate started, "I received an odd message from Rory. Within the message he basically stated that something was trying to control him. When I contacted him the next day, he had no memory of sending the message. The next night I received another one. As time went on, I realised that it wasn't Rory himself sending the messages."
Augustus and Tabitha frowned confused, Augustus asking, "Then who?"
"The Centurion," Kate stated, realising suddenly that Amy had left a great deal of information about her 'imaginary friend' out, she added, "It is a part of Rory that exists due to his travels with the Doctor."
Tabitha shook her head, "What?"
"I'll explain fully later," Amy told her mother, "Go on, Kate."
"The final message I received told me he'd been ordered to murder Amy," Kate said, "We had discovered that what was happening to Rory had happened multiple times in different parts of the world, so we decided that in order to find who was behind this, we had to let it play out."
"And you agreed?" Brian demanded.
Amy nodded, "I didn't want to but, we needed to know who had done this. And as the Centurion couldn't stop what was happening to Rory then we needed to find out who was trying to control him, so we could reverse it."
"The problem is," Kate paused and rested her hand on Amy's shoulder, "We have no idea where Rory is."
Brian stared at her, "What?"
"We had a tracker placed into Rory, without his knowledge but during the prison transfer he was intercepted," Kate explained, "And the tracker has disappeared from our screens."
"What about the Doctor?" Brian demanded.
Amy sighed, "He's not answering at the moment. I don't know why and I'm worried that whoever is doing this has somehow also hurt him too."
x
Brian stood staring out at the horizon trying to get his head around all he'd been told. He'd left Amy explaining to her parents about the Doctor and who UNIT were.
"I'm sorry, Brian," the soft voice of his daughter-in-law came from behind him. He turned to see the raw fear in her face, "I didn't know what else to do when Kate told me what was happening. I wanted to tell you, but we had no idea who was behind this and the more people who knew…"
Unable to watch her struggle, Brian stepped forward and took her in his arms. Amy began to cry, and he hugged her tightly.
"If the Centurion part of Rory was able to contact Kate," Brian said letting her go and taking a seat on a nearby wall, "Then there is hope."
"Kate said the same," Amy whispered sitting at his side, "But what's worrying me is that Rip hasn't contacted us, and the Doctor hasn't been in touch either. I'm just so happy to see the boys. All this time without them has been…"
Brian wrapped his arm around her hugging her close, "I know."
"I'm really scared, Brian," Amy sighed, "And I don't understand who would do this or why they chose Rory. Why him?"
"From everything you told me," Brian comforted her, "You two always find one another. I believe that will happen this time too."
Amy nodded, her eyes still filled with tears, "I just hate the thought of him being alone again. He was on his own for almost two thousand years, it was never meant to happen again."
"It just shows that nothing will stop Rory coming home to you," Brian reminded her, "This time he also has his sons, so he will do everything he can to do so."
x
Amy loved her father-in-law.
Although his relationship with Rory had not always been the best, Brian had always been wonderful to her. Since he had learned about the Doctor, and their travels with him, he had been concerned but encouraged them to see the universe.
Even after they disappeared for five years, Brian had been there for them, helping them settle back home as well as helping Amy reconnect with her parents.
"Okay," she took a deep breath, "Then I need my parents to go home and so do you, Brian. I know you want to stay and help but this is for the best. I am staying here anyway until we find Rory, the boys are staying with me, but you have to leave and carry on as though you don't know any of this."
Brian frowned but he nodded.
"I want to be kept up to date," he ordered, "And the moment Rory is back home…"
"We will call you," Amy promised.
He hugged her again before chuckling.
"What?"
"How do you plan to persuade your parents to leave?"