This was a difficult chapter to write for obvious reasons, but I hope you guys enjoy it.
And let's take a moment to remember Kevin Conroy. Even if you've never seen a single minute of the Animated Batman or DC universe, you undeniably know who this man is and what he meant to DC fans.
RIP Kevin Conroy. May he fly in the Batwing in the sky forever.
TW: Not yet.
As the next recording started, Jane watched with trepidation. This was not going to be an easy one for them to see, it certainly wasn't for her. But it was better just to get this one out of the way, like ripping off a band aid.
On the TARDIS, The Doctor says Apalapucia and Amy and Rory repeat the word a few times, Amy calling it beautiful. The Doctor says it's a beautiful world before pulling a lever. The TARDIS jolts lightly, startling Amy and Rory as The Doctor explains Apalapucia is a resort planet, voted 2nd greatest destination for intergalactic travelers. Rory asks why they couldn't go to number 1 and The Doctor says it's hideous.
"He would refuse to go there because he hated it," Donna said with a laugh, the grim atmosphere breaking slightly.
"That is so him," Martha agreed with a laugh.
The Doctor begins ranting about how superior Apalapucia is as he leads Amy and Rory over to the doors. He opens the doors to reveal a white room with a door at the end of the corridor.
"Well that was anti-climactic," Jack noted with amusement.
"These things never do seem to go how he wants," Mickey agreed with a laugh.
As the others chuckled at this, Jack noticed Jane's grim expression and a pit of dread formed in his stomach. Something was about to happen, he knew. Something bad.
Rory dryly notes its doors as The Doctor says everything is on the other side of the doors. As The Doctor and Rory head out of the TARDIS, Amy asks if they've seen her phone. The Doctor is in disbelief she wants her phone when he brought her to a paradise planet. Amy points out it's a camera phone and The Doctor sighs, saying it's by the DVDs. Amy heads back into the TARDIS as The Doctor and Rory head over to the door. There is a panel with two buttons nearby. Rory asks how they get in and The Doctor says to push a button. Rory pushes a button that says 'green anchor' and the doors open. Inside is a table with a large magnifying glass on top. Rory looks at The Doctor, who awkwardly says a rain check on the silver colonnades.
"Okay, this is getting weird," Martha mentioned, the amusement dying down.
"And what's with the magnifying glass?" Jack asked suspiciously.
"Did the TARDIS take them to the wrong place again?" Wilf wondered.
"No, they're in the right place," Jane sighed.
"So why do you look like a Dalek just vaporized your best friend?" Donna asked as they noticed the look on Jane's face.
"Just watch," Jane said with a sigh and their blood ran cold at the tone of her voice.
"Something bad's about to happen, isn't it?" Mickey asked and she smiled tightly.
"Why ask questions you already know the answer to?"
They walk inside and the doors close behind them. Rory notes the magnifying glass and The Doctor examines it. Outside the room, Amy is walking out of the TARDIS when she sees the doors have closed. She bangs on the door, saying it's locked and Rory tells her to push the button. Amy pushes a button that says 'Red waterfall' and the door open. They open to reveal a nearly identical room but The Doctor and Rory are not present.
"Now this is really getting weird," Martha muttered.
"There's some kind of dimensional frequency going on, two places occupying the same place," Donna mused.
"Like Avery's ship," Wilf noted but Donna and Jack shook their heads.
"No, something else is going on. It's the same building, the same design, even the same room. Amy's just cut off from The Doctor and Rory," Jack muttered, wondering what was happening.
Amy walks in, calling for Rory as The Doctor and Rory wait for her in the other room. The doors close behind Amy and she turns around, annoyed. Rory opens the doors to see Amy isn't there as The Doctor examines the room. The Doctor sits down at the table as Rory asks him where Amy is. The Doctor presses a button on the magnifying glass as Amy walks over to it in the other room. Amy appears on the magnifying glass The Doctor is looking at.
"The magnifying glass lets them see Amy?" Mickey asked in bewilderment and Jack narrowed his eyes.
"I think I've heard of a device like that, it can link to different spaces in time and space," Jack mused.
"So what, this is like a visiting center?" Donna asked in disbelief.
"Maybe," Jack said a nagging feeling at the back of his mind. "But something feels off. We're missing something."
"Something important," Martha agreed, having the same feeling as Jack. "I just don't know what yet."
The Doctor calls Rory over as Amy taps the glass. Rory walks over and sees Amy, confused about what's going on. The Doctor and Amy move out of the view of the glass as Rory realizes they can see her but she's not in the room. Amy asks where they are as the door in The Doctor and Rory's room opens. They turn as a robot enters the room, waving a hand. The Doctor mimics the gesture, telling Rory to do the same. The robot welcomes them to the Two Streams facility, asking if they'll be staying long.
"The Two Streams facility. Why does that name sound familiar?" Jack muttered to himself, feeling like he should know this.
"It's a facility, but for what?" Martha wondered.
"All I know is nothing good ever comes from these kinds of places," Mickey voiced his opinion on the matter.
"Wish I could say you were wrong Mickey," Jane sighed tiredly.
Amy says something's happening as her signal begins to fizzle out. The Doctor rushes over to the magnifying glass, trying to get the signal back as Amy seems to fast forward through the glass. The robot asks if they've be staying long as its hand inches forward. Rory jumps back uneasily, asking what answer won't get them killed.
"Okay, what the bloody Hell is that thing?" Mickey exclaimed as the past viewers watched uneasily.
"Dad and Amy called them Handbots," Jane said simply.
"Are they dangerous?" Wilf asked wearily and Jane smiled tightly.
"To humans, yes," Jane said but didn't elaborate.
The Doctor gets the signal back as Amy is seen curled into a ball at the other room. She asks where they've been as Rory asks what to tell the Handot. Amy runs over to the magnifying glass, saying she's been there a week, to The Doctor and Rory's shock.
"OI! A week?!" Donna exclaimed in shock as the past viewers stared at the screen startled.
"How is that possible?" Wilf wondered in disbelief.
"The two rooms are running at different Time Streams, somehow. The glass is a Time Glass. It allows people to look at each other from different Time Streams," Jack explained, knowing where he'd heard of such devices now.
"So it's not two places in the same space, it's the same space in different Time Streams," Martha mused.
"Seems that way. Still don't know why though," Mickey muttered.
"You'll get your answer in a minute Mickey," Jane assured him still with that tight smile.
The Doctor realizes the rooms are running at different times before the signal begins to fizzle out again. The Handbot's hand inches closer to Rory and he and Amy both shout at The Doctor. The Doctor uses his screwdriver to stabilize the signal and Rory asks why the Handbot has hands. The Doctor walks over to the Handbot and it asks how long they'll be staying. The Doctor says however long it takes before returning to the Time Glass, asking what Amy did. She says she pushed the door button and Rory tells her there are two buttons. He asks which one she pushed and she says the red waterfall. Rory walks out of the room and pushes the red waterfall button. But when the doors open, Amy is nowhere to be seen.
"Of course it wouldn't be that bloody easy," Donna groaned.
"It never is," Martha sighed miserably.
Rory reenters the green anchor room, saying Amy wasn't there. The Doctor realizes they can't follow Amy directly as he paces, complaining it's never simple. Rory sits down at the table as The Doctor tells the Handbot Amy merely pushed the wrong button. But the Handbot says the statement is rejected, revealing Appalapachia is under quarantine.
"Quarantine? From what?" Wilf asked startled.
"Have a feeling we're about to find out," Mickey muttered as the past viewers paid close attention.
Amy and Rory look at each other in shock as the Handbot explains this is a kindness facility for those infected with Chen-7. The Doctor quickly covers his mouth with his coat and Rory follows suit, asking what that is. The Doctor explains what it is and Amy covers her mouth.
"That's where I know the Two Streams facility from. It suffered an outbreak of Chen-7 in the 21st century," Jack remembered from the history books.
"Okay, what is Chen-7?" Donna asked as the past viewers look to Jack for information.
"Like The Doctor said, it's a virus. Very lethal, you get it and your dead after a day. Fortunately, it only affects creatures with two hearts," Jack explained.
"Like Time Lords," Martha realized with dread.
"Of course he'd go to the one place where being there might actually kill him," Donna groaned.
"So the Two Streams Facility is what, a hospital?" Mickey inquired.
"No, a quarantine area for the sick. There's no cure for Chen-7, the only thing the Appalachians could do was quarantine the sick and then…" Jack trailed off but they realized what he was getting at.
"Good Lord," Wilf muttered.
"And the Time Glass?" Martha asked and Jack shrugged.
"That I don't know," Jack admitted.
The Handbot explains there are 40, 000 residents at the facility and tells The Doctor and Rory to remain in the sterile area, as visiting hours are over. The Doctor and Rory lower their coats from their faces before the Handbot teleports away. The Doctor notes with relief that he's safe as he sits down at the table. Amy asks about her and The Doctor explains the plague only affects two hearted races and he'll be dead in a day if he walks into that facility. The Doctor gets up, beginning to pace, asking Amy what she ate for the week she was there. Amy says she wasn't hungry and The Doctor realizes time is compressed, which is the point of the Time Glass, allowing time to be synced up for visits.
"So what, you can watch the people you love wither away and die?" Donna asked horrified.
"That's twisted," Mickey muttered.
"Is it? What's worse, seeing a life snuffed out too soon or seeing someone of old age pass away?" Jack pointed out.
"Never thought of it like that," Martha mused.
"It's not always so clear cut," Jane noted.
Rory is horrified by this but The Doctor argues it's a kindness, sitting by the bedside of a loved one and watch them die or sit here and watch them live. He asks which one Rory would choose and Rory doesn't answer.
"Seems like The Doctor agrees with you," Martha noted and Jack nodded but didn't respond, not taking his eyes off the screen.
The Doctor picks up the Time Glass and it vanishes in Amy's room, to her alarm. She buries her face in her hands, begging The Doctor not to leave her. But The Doctor has merely moved away from the table and focuses the glass, assuring her he's right there. Amy looks up and follows his voice, finding him. The Doctor says he's taking the glass back to the TARDIS in order to try and get a lock on her so he can smash through with the TARDIS to get her out.
"So all they have to do is lock on and find Amy," Donna said happily.
"Sounds easy enough. But I think we all know nothing is ever that easy with The Doctor," Martha noted, not as optimistic as Donna.
"No, it never is," Jack muttered, seeing the dark look on Jane's face and realizing something wasn't going to go according to The Doctor's plan.
The Doctor tells Amy she'll be on her own until then before using the screwdriver on the glass. Rory asks what he's doing and The Doctor says locking onto Amy. He says it's a small act of vandalism no one will mind before alarms start blaring. The Doctor says that's the vandalism alarm.
"No one will mind, huh Spaceman?" Donna asked dryly, not sure whether to be amused or annoyed.
"Considering its Amy, I doubt he cares," Martha pointed out and Donna nodded, realizing Martha was right.
The Doctor tells Amy to head into the facility and find somewhere safe. He tells her to leave him a sign, reminding her she's safe from Chen-7. He warns Amy not to let them give her anything, as they don't know she's alien. "Their kindness will kill you. Now, go," The Doctor orders.
"Well that's ominous," Mickey muttered as the past viewers wondered what The Doctor was talking about.
Amy presses the 'check in' button and the doors open. Before heading inside, Amy tells Rory she loves him and to save her. Once she's inside, she's sprayed by some kind of mist.
"Nothing like getting sprayed by alien disinfectant," Donna said dryly.
On the TARDIS, The Doctor places the Time Glass on the console, telling Rory it's locked onto Amy permanently and the TARDIS will follow the signal if they play it into the console. The Doctor hooks it up to the console and some of the circuits spark before beginning to work. Rory waves the smoke away as The Doctor pulls out a toolbox. He rummages through it before finding what he was looking for. He pulls out a pair of glasses and puts them on, asking Rory how he looks. Rory says ridiculous and The Doctor says glasses are cool before putting the glasses on Rory. "Hello handsome man," The Doctor says. Rory thinks The Doctor is taking to him but The Doctors points behind him at the looking glass, which shows The Doctor. Rory realizes The Doctor can see what Rory can.
"That is genius," Martha said as she realized what The Doctor was doing.
"He can't go into the Facility, but he can try to help Rory from the TARDIS," Jack agreed. "Now that he can see what Rory's doing."
"The Spaceman and his toys," Donna joked.
"He really should use them more," Mickey muttered, thinking of how useful something like that would have been in the past.
The Doctor explains Rory has to be the one to go into the facility, as the Chen-7 will kill him. So Rory will be his eyes and ears. Rory agrees and The Doctor warns him that smashing through a time wall can get a bit hairy. Rory asks if it's safe and The Doctor says he doesn't know, as he's never tried.
"Brilliant vote of confidence Boss," Mickey said sarcastically.
"Say what you will about him, he's honest," Martha noted and Jane grimaced.
"Usually," Jane muttered.
The Doctor pulls a lever and the TARDIS begins to take off. The calendar begins to change rapidly. In the facility, Amy is walking around aimlessly when a light suddenly shines down on her. An automated voice welcomes her to the facility. Amy asks why she can't see them and the light shines on her, explaining it's the interface of the facility. "I will be your guide, your teacher, your friend." The light fades and a holographic receptionist appears at the front desk, asking for Amy's name. Amy wearily gives it and the receptionist welcomes her, giving her options of relaxation. "All that you can wish you for and more is through the departure gate, provided for you with kindness," the receptionist says.
"The Doctor said their kindness would kill Amy," Wilf remembered with dread.
"Their kindness is fatal to humans," Jane said grimly.
"Brilliant," Donna said sarcastically as they watched uneasily, wondering what 'kindness' could be fatal to a human.
Amy continues walking through the facility, coming across a Handbot. Amy runs up to it, bewildered when it waves its hands back and forth. It declares Amy is carrying unregistered bacteria, asking her to let it help. It takes out a syringe.
"Of course. The medicine will kill Amy or any human," Martha realized with horror.
"Their kindness will kill," Donna muttered as they all stared in horror.
"Run Amy," Mickey muttered worriedly.
Amy tries to explain that will kill her but it rejects the statement. It tries to inject Amy but she dodges, running and taking cover behind a trashcan. The Handbot's head then opens, revealing multiple syringes with a gun like feature in the center.
"Okay, isn't this a bit excessive?" Mickey asked as the past viewers looked at the screen in disbelief.
"That is how deadly Chen-7 is, how much it scared the Appalachians. And as we all know, fear can drive people to some pretty extreme actions," Jane pointed out.
It fires and Amy ducks, the syringe hitting the trashcan instead. Two more Handbots teleport in as the original declares Amy an infection. Amy turns around to see two more Handbots approaching her. Amy jumps over a table and runs down the corridor as alarms blare. Amy runs down the stairs and into another room. Seeing a Handbot, Amy takes cover behind a corner as the Handbot continues searching for her. As it continues on its way, Amy runs off. Taking cover behind a wall, she kneels down when she hears a noise. Looking under a cap in the wall, she sees the Handbot's hand getting ready to inject her. With a scream, she jumps up and runs away. Three more Handbots suddenly teleport inside.
"She outruns one and three more show up," Donna said worriedly as the past viewers watched uneasily.
"Gives new meaning to containing the virus," Martha muttered.
"She can't avoid the Handbots forever," Wilf said uneasily.
"She doesn't have to, she just has to avoid them long enough for Rory to find her," Jack said although he was as worried about Amy as the others.
Amy runs in the opposite direction when she sees a vent with smoke rising out of it. Amy climbs inside and the smoke seems to confuse the Handbots, who can no longer detect Amy. They begin heading out of the room, to Amy's relief.
"Apparently the smoke in those vents affects the Handbots' sensors," Donna noted with relief.
"Either way, that might just keep Amy alive long enough for Rory to find her," Jack said.
"Rory, hurry up," Mickey muttered as they watched the screen uneasily.
On the TARDIS, The Doctor is laughing as Rory holds onto the railing when the TARDIS materializes inside the facility. Rory heads out of the TARDIS with the looking glass and The Doctor's screwdriver and sees the Red Waterfall symbol on the wall. He asks how they know they're in the same one as Amy and The Doctor points out they're locked onto Amy's time stream as Rory looks at a statue of a naked woman. The Doctor reprimands him and Rory gets back on task.
"Not the time Rory," Donna grumbled.
"You'd think he was a virgin or something," Mickey noted, partly amused and partly exasperated.
"Well, after what happened last time they had sex on the TARDIS, Amy and Rory abstained for a bit," Jane shrugged.
"Makes sense. Don't want a repeat performance, who knows what The Doctor's enemies might do," Jack mused, all of them shuttering at the thought.
Rory begins walking out of the room and The Doctor explains the Apalapucians were cultural scavengers and so the gallery was a scrapbook of their favorite places. Rory continues looking around, noting it's a bit of earth and alien before seeing a structure that seems to be made of goo.
"What the bloody Hell is that?" Mickey asked as everyone but Jack and Jane looked at it oddly.
"Even I've never seen something like that," Jack shrugged.
Amy runs into a room with multiple doors. She calls for the interface and it shines the light in her face. Amy tells it turn off the light and it does. Amy asks what this is and the interface explains it's the gate and Amy can now enter any of the facility's entertainment zones. Amy walks up to the console in the center, pushing random buttons before selecting a garden after hearing birds chirping. One of the doors glows and Amy runs into it. She exits the other side, looking at the garden in awe of its beauty.
"Blimey," Mickey muttered as the past viewers stared at the screen in awe.
"It's beautiful," Martha said in awe.
"One of the most beautiful things I've ever seen," Donna agreed softly.
"My Lord," Wilf said reverently.
"I guess the Appalachians wanted the sick to be as happy as they could," Jack mused.
Amy makes a comment about the hedges and the interface explains it is a replica of Shiel Governor's mansion on Shallana. Amy notes you could spend a life time here, although she doesn't want to.
Jane grimaced but no one else noticed, too captivated by the scene.
Amy continues walking the garden, asking the interface where a safe place to hide is. The interface says the facility is a safe and nurturing environment. Amy asks where she can go where she won't be found by the Handbots. The interface doesn't answer and Amy sighs. Remembering the vent, Amy asks why the Handbots couldn't see her. The interface doesn't answer again, so Amy asks about the vents. The interface explains the vent channel the fumes from the exhaust ports of the temporal engines that hold the time streams in place.
"So it's a sort of time energy and it interferes with the sensors on the Handbots," Donna muttered.
"Which means Amy can use it to hide until Rory shows up," Martha realized happily.
"She just needs to find the engines," Jack muttered.
Realizing the fumes mess with the Handbots sensors, Amy asks where the temporal engines are. The interface shows her a door Amy had seen earlier, explaining the temporal engines are held within. A Handbot suddenly appears behind Amy. Another appears in front of her and she looks around, realizing she's trapped as they approach her.
"And of course they show up just as she finds out where they are!" Mickey groaned as they all tensed.
"Nothing's ever easy, is it?" Donna groaned.
"Not when you travel with The Doctor," Martha sighed.
Amy steps out of the way, grabbing their hands and making them touch. The Handbots lose power and slump forward. Amy cheers at her victory before running out of the garden.
"So the Handbots can't touch each other or they'll short out," Jack mused.
"Temporarily at least," Jane confirmed.
"That's a useful tip that might just keep Amy alive long enough for Rory to find her," Martha noted, not seeing Jane's grimace.
Amy runs back to the door that holds the temporal engines and heads inside. Amy looks around, noting its somewhere to hide. She then heads back outside, using a stick of lipstick to write 'Doctor, I'm waiting' on the doors along with an arrow pointing inside. She then heads back inside.
"Guess now all she can do is wait," Mickey noted.
"Yeah…wait," Jane said softly, knowing Mickey had no idea how right he was.
Rory is walking the facility, wondering where everyone is. The Doctor instructs Rory to switch the time glass on the sonic key as he sends a signal to the screwdriver. Rory does so as The Doctor explains he's trying to get a lock on Amy. As The Doctor begins to mix the filters, he looks back at the scanner to see several blurs that he realizes are 40,000 time streams overlapping. "Red Waterfall isn't one time steam. It's thousands," The Doctor realizes.
"Blimey," Mickey muttered as the past viewers stared at the screen in shock.
"I guess it makes sense. No one risks running into each other, they can all live their own lives until they eventually die from the Chen-7," Jack mused.
"Probably the best anyone can hope to get in such a situation," Martha said softly. "As long as the isolation doesn't drive them mad that is."
Rory asks if they're happy and The Doctor says fondly that Rory would think of that, saying they're happy to be alive. The Doctor calls this better than the alternative. Rory lowers the glass to see a woman holding a sword and battle armor that seems like it was forged out of the Handbots.
"What the bloody Hell is that?" Mickey asked as the past viewers looked at the screen in bewilderment.
"I'm not exactly sure, but I don't think it's a Handbot," Jack said as he narrowed his eyes, wondering why he had such an unsettling feeling.
Rory holds up his hands, saying he comes in peace as the woman moves her sword towards him. He falls on his back, holding up his hands. The woman holds her sword at his neck as she says she waited. Rory is confused as she takes the sword away from his neck, lifting her visor. It's Amy, although she is now much older.
"Bloody Hell. You guys see this, right?" Mickey asked as the past viewers stared at the screen in a mix of shock and horror.
"Amy," Wilf muttered horrified.
"What…how...what is this?" Donna stammered.
"Exactly what you think it is. Amy trapped in a compressed Timeline. A few hours is decades for her," Jane sighed miserably.
"No, The Doctor locked onto her Time Stream!" Martha protested in disbelief.
"And this is the one he locked onto," Jack realized in horror. "He thought he locked onto the Amy he was talking to but he actually locked onto Amy decades later."
"Spaceman," Donna moaned.
Rory and The Doctor stare at Amy in shock as Rory asks The Doctor what's going on. Rory stands up as The Doctor lamely says the time stream lock is a bit wobbly.
"A bit? I think that's an understatement Doctor," Martha grumbled.
Amy raises her sword and Rory raises his hands, thinking she's going to attack him. Amy tells him to duck and he does before Amy drives her sword through the head of a Handbot. Amy pulls her sword back and the Handbot falls back as Rory gets back to his feet. Amy explains they carry a black box in case they go offline as she walks over to the Handbot. Amy adds she can change the cause of termination from hostile to accidental using her sonic probe. Amy pulls out a device similar to the Doctor's screwdriver and uses it on the box she took from the Handbot. Rory asks why and Amy explains the only reason she survived is by making them think she doesn't exist, putting the black box back into the Handbot. Amy warns Rory not to touch the hands, as there's an anesthetic transfer in the hands and you go to sleep if they touch you. Rory is shocked Amy is still here. "You didn't save me," Amy said as she gets up and faces him.
"Ouch," Mickey muttered.
"It's not his fault though," Donna protested.
"I don't think she cares. And I honestly don't blame her," Martha said softly.
"All this time, living in fear of being attacked, that today might be the day you die, in total isolation…" Jack trailed off as they all realized the Hell Amy's life had been for the last few decades.
"Amy," Wilf said softly, his eyes shining with compassion.
"I feel so horrible for her," Donna muttered.
"Only someone filled with hate and devoid of all compassion and empathy wouldn't," Jane said softly as they continued to watch, horrified and sympathetic to what Amy has been through.
Rory and The Doctor both look gutted as Amy begins to head out of the room. Rory runs after her, explaining this is them saving her, shouting that The Doctor got the timing out. The Doctor mouths 'sorry' from the TARDIS. Amy explains she's been here a long time and had decades to think nice thoughts about The Doctor but it got harder to stay charitable after four decades. Rory is horrified she spent forty years alone but Amy clarifies it's been thirty six years.
"Thirty six years, all alone, living in constant fear…" Martha trailed off in horror.
"Is it any wonder she's so angry and bitter?" Wilf asked softly.
"Anyone would be in her shoes," Jane sighed sadly.
Rory compliments her, saying she looks great as he eyes her body but Amy tells him eye front. Rory jokes about still not being able to win as Amy says she can now definitely say she hates The Doctor. "I hate him more than I've ever hated anyone in my life," Amy declares.
"Ouch," Mickey winced.
"It's not his fault Amy," Donna muttered although she could understand Amy's anger.
"Maybe not, but he brought them here in the first place. It may not have been his intention, but it's hard not to draw a straight line from The Doctor's decision to what happened to Amy," Jack noted.
"Wish I could say I could disagree. Doctor, sometimes a little caution and research would keep you out of these situations," Martha sighed tiredly.
Amy stares into Rory's glasses, realizing The Doctor can hear her through them. The Doctor awkwardly says yes, putting on the speakers. Amy snarls that she waited a lifetime for him and he now has nothing to say to her, cutting off The Doctor's attempts to speak to her. He calls out a warning and Amy whirls around, seeing two Handbots. She tosses Rory her sword and grabs the Handbots wrists, making the two touch hands as she did earlier. Like before, they lose all power. Amy explains feedback knocks them out, which she learned in her first day. Amy then heads out of the room. Rory follows after Amy, asking The Doctor if they can prevent this by taking the TARDIS back to the right time stream. The Doctor informs Rory they locked onto a time stream, this is it. Rory moans that this is so wrong and Amy tells him she got old, coolly asking what he expected to happen. Rory grabs her arm, saying he doesn't care that she got old, merely that they didn't do so together.
"Oh Rory," Martha sighed. "You're sweet, but I don't think Amy will care right now."
"She's too angry and bitter," Jack agreed.
"They have to find a way to fix this," Donna said softly.
"How?" Mickey wondered and Donna didn't have an answer.
Amy pulls her arm back, telling Rory not to touch her. As she begins walking off, Rory says it's like she's not even Amy. Amy coolly says she's been here for thirty six years, three months and four days. "This facility was built to give people the chance to live. I walked in here and I died," Amy says. Amy coolly asks if The Doctor has anything to say and he wonders where she got a sonic screwdriver.
"Not the bloody time Spaceman," Donna snapped.
"Doctor, focus on the things that matter right now," Martha sighed in exasperation.
"You know Dad, always has to know everything," Jane shrugged.
"It's pretty impressive she managed to build something like the screwdriver," Jack noted impressed.
"She had to learn to adapt to her new environment if she wanted to survive," Jane pointed out.
"Oldest rule of the human race. Learn to adapt or die," Mickey sighed.
Amy says she made it and it's a probe. Rory asks if she made a sonic screwdriver and Amy corrects it's a probe before using it to open a door. She walks in and Rory follows her, revealing the temporal engines. Rory follows her into a kind of tent and is stunned to see a Handbot with the hands cut off. Amy tells Rory not to worry about the Handbot before telling it to sit down, calling it Rory. Rory and the Handbot sit both, looking at each other oddly. Rory notes she named it after him and Amy says she needed the company.
"So she named her only company in this place Rory," Martha noted.
"I'm not sure whether that's sweet or morbid," Donna admitted.
"It says she still loves him, or at least she did when she made it. She could've named it anything, she named it after her husband," Wilf said wisely.
"But does she still?" Jack asked doubtfully, not sure given Amy's actions.
"No matter the time or distance, Amy and Rory will never stop loving each other," Jane said in a tone that left no doubt.
Amy says the Handbot is her pet as she pulls out her lipstick. Rory asks if it's safe and she says she disarmed it. Rory asks how before seeing its hands have been cut off. Amy tells him not to get sentimental as it's a robot and he would have done the same. The Doctor says he doubts he would've. Amy mockingly calls The Doctor 'the voice of God'. "Survive, because no one's gonna come for you," Amy says as she walks up to the glasses. "Number one lesson. You taught me that."
"She's so bitter," Donna said sadly, heartbroken to see Amy reduced to this.
"She's not wrong though, not all of us are you Doctor. We have to do the best we can when you're not here," Jack said, remembering the many, many years he spent waiting for The Doctor.
The Doctor asks if that's all he taught her but Amy tells him not to lecture her, as he can fly through time and space on whimsy but all she's had for thirty six years is cold, hard reality. Amy declares she doesn't have a screwdriver because she's 'not off on a romp'. "I call it what it is. A probe. And I call my life what it is. Hell," Amy says.
There was not a single person in the room who was not affected by this. Jack and Mickey stared at the screen sadly while Mickey sighed, lowering his heard. Donna and Martha both looked close to tears, heartbroken from what Amy had been forced to endure. Even Jane, who had already witnessed this, averted her gaze from the screen for a moment to collect herself.
As Amy walks away, The Doctor promises to put this right, asking if it's possible for him to speak to the interface. Amy checks her watch, saying it's not possible there. Seeing the time, she says the garden will be safe. She asks Rory if he's coming or staying and he says he's coming with her. Amy tells him to try not to get killed. "Or do, or whatever," Amy says before walking out.
"You sure she still loves him? Because she doesn't seem to care one way or the other," Mickey told Jane.
"She's been here for decades, you can't expect her to just fall back into Rory's arms like nothing happened. Just keep watching," Jane said simply, knowing they would have to see it.
Rory follows Amy into the garden and she explains she had to trick the interface into giving her information at first. But she'd reprogramed it and now it'll tell her anything except how to escape. Rory is impressed that Amy managed to hack it when The Doctor interrupts, saying a temporal engine like that has to have a regulator valve that has to be kept a distance from the main reactor or there'd be feedback. The Doctor asks the interface where the regulator is and it shows him where the regulator is. The Doctor tells Rory to give the glasses to Amy so he can run some technical specifications with the interface. Rory awkwardly hands the glasses to Amy and she puts them on. Amy and Rory look away from each other before Amy says they look ridiculous. Rory agrees but jokes anything beats a fez. They laugh before Amy pauses, realizing that's the first time she's laughed in thirty six years.
"Seems like she's starting to thaw just a bit," Martha noted.
"Hopefully whatever The Doctor's up to can fix this and she won't be so angry," Donna said optimistically.
"If anyone can figure out how to undo this, he can," Jack said with certainty.
Rory says he'll leave her and The Doctor alone before heading off. Once Rory is gone, The Doctor tells Amy there's still time to fix everything. Rory wonders the garden before coming across the door Amy had entered years earlier. He wonders how a door can be here without a wall. He walks over to it, trying to walk behind it but runs into an invisible wall. He realizes its holographic wallpaper, not seeing the Handbot walking up behind him.
"And of course Rory runs into a Handbot," Donna said with a groan.
"Just his luck," Mickey said grimly as the past viewers all groaned.
Rory turns around and sees the Handbot before it touches his neck. Rory falls on his back, alive but unable to move. It tells him this is a kindness before opening up its head, preparing to inject him again. Before it can, Amy cuts off the head of the Handbot. As the Handbot goes down, Amy kneels down next to Rory, making sure he's alright. Rory sits up; the sedative wearing off as he realizes the glasses let her know he was in trouble. Amy stands up, calling him stupid as he points out she saved him. Amy tells him not to get used to it and he notices she's been crying. Amy tells him to shut up and adds she's a woman with a sword and not to push it. Rory holds up his hands defensively.
"Thank God for those ridiculous glasses," Donna said as they all breathed a sigh of relief.
"Which is a sentence I never thought I'd say," Martha added.
"That was too close," Jack noted. "They need to get out there."
"I agree. But Amy seems very worried about Rory," Wilf noticed.
"It's something I guess," Mickey muttered.
"It's a lot. Being worried means she still cares," Martha pointed out. "Which means she still loves him."
The Doctor says he has a plan. Amy puts the glasses on Rory's face as The Doctor explains he can now hijack the temporal engines and use them to fold the two points in Amy's timeline together. The Doctor says he needs to borrow Amy's brain for a minute and then he can save her. But Amy coldly says no, to The Doctor's surprise.
"What the bloody Hell?" Mickey asked as the past viewers stared at the screen in disbelief.
"Why on earth would she not want to do this?" Donna asked in bewilderment as Jane winced.
"She explains in a minute," Jane said quietly.
Amy pulls out a timer, telling Rory the Handbots are coming. Amy and Rory head out of garden as The Doctor pleads with Amy to trust him. She ignores him, heading back down into the temporal engines as Rory sees faded red marks on the door. Rory notes The Doctor told Amy to leave them a sign as he puts the looking glass over the markings, revealing Amy's message from earlier. Rory notes sadly she did and waited for them as The Doctor sits down.
"All those years alone," Wilf muttered.
"So why doesn't she want to spare herself that? It doesn't make sense," Martha said, trying to understand Amy's reasoning.
"We'll find out soon I'm sure," Jack said as they continued watching.
Rory follows after Amy, asking why she won't help herself. Amy explains The Doctor wants to save her in the past, meaning she'll cease to exist. Rory asks if that isn't good and Amy explains she will die and another Amy will take her place and will grow old with Rory and won't be her in thirty six years.
"Not seeing the downside here. Isn't it good that she won't exist? She won't have to suffer like she has been," Mickey pointed out.
"Would you change your life?" Jack asked and Mickey looked at him oddly. "Our memories shape who we are, who we become. I'm sure there are things in your past that are very painful but you wouldn't change, because you wouldn't be who you are now."
"When you put it like that…" Donna trailed off as they all considered.
"Sometimes, the pain makes us who we are," Jane said.
"So Amy would rather live a life of Hell rather than spare herself that pain?" Mickey asked in disbelief.
"Seems that way," Martha said, hardly able to believe it herself.
She moves to leave and Rory argues she'll die in here. Amy pauses, noting not if they take her with them. Rory asks incredulously if she wants them to leave their Amy and take her. The Doctor says they can take her but that means they have to leave Amy in the facility for thirty six years. Rory realizes he has to choose which Amy to save.
"She can't expect him to leave her there. She knows Rory better than that," Martha said in disbelief.
"It's almost like she's intentionally trying to make it impossible for Rory," Donna mused and Jane smiled tightly.
"You have no idea Donna," Jane said but didn't elaborate even
Amy argues she is Amy, they both are. Rory argues her being here for an hour is wrong, never mind a lifetime. He adds he promised to protect her and Amy heads back into her tent. Rory stares after her helplessly as The Doctor calls out to him. Rory angrily blames The Doctor for this, saying that The Doctor needs to look in the history book once in a while to find an outbreak of plague beforehand. The Doctor says that's not how he travels. "Then I do not want to travel with you!" Rory snaps before angrily throwing the glasses on the floor.
"Ouch Rory," Mickey muttered as the past viewers all winced.
"He does have a point though; the Spaceman could be a bit more careful. My first trip with him, I ended up in Pompeii on volcano day," Donna mused.
"I don't even want to know," Martha muttered while Wilf looked alarmed by this.
Jane stared at the screen silently, musing this had probably been Rory's breaking point .This was when he was ready to take a break from traveling with her father. And considering how this recording ended, Jane really couldn't blame him.
As the glasses hit the floor, The Doctor gets some feedback and hears Amy crying. In the facility thirty six years earlier, Amy is crying in the room near the engines.
"They can still hear Amy from the beginning," Jack said in surprise. "She's still there."
"How does that help?" Donna asked in confusion.
"More than you know," Jane said with a slight smile.
The Doctor tells Rory the link is still active and he can hear Amy. The Rorybot approaches the glasses as Rory raises the Time Glass, able to see Past Amy. Rory walks into the tent, staring right next to Past Amy. Seeing Old Amy, Rory walks over to her, demanding she look him in the face and say she won't help her past self. Old Amy does so. Rory walks a little away from Old Amy before raising the looking glass, demanding she do so now. Old Amy looks over at him as the Time Glass activates and she can now see Past Amy.
"That's actually pretty clever, force her to see herself before she became so angry and bitter," Martha mused.
"But will it make a difference?" Mickey asked and the past viewers really didn't have an answer.
Past Amy calls out to Rory as she hears his voice and Rory uses the screwdriver to focus the signal. The Time Glass appears in front of Past Amy and she is confused to see her future self. Past Amy asks where Rory is and he explains. Old Amy says she remembers this as her past self asks who she is. It quickly dawns on Past Amy that this is her future self. Rory then walks out, leaving the Amys alone. As Rory exits the tent, the Rorybot holds out the glasses. Rory takes them. Past Amy asks why they're still here and Old Amy says because The Doctor and Rory fly away in the TARDIS. Past Amy refuses to believe that Rory would leave here there, knowing something must have stopped him. Old Amy says she did, explaining that she refused to help them save herself. Past Amy asks why and Old Amy says if Past Amy escaped, then she was never trapped here and won't exist. Old Amy reveals the same thing happened to her and it's why Past Amy will do the same.
"So that's why she really won't help?" Mickey asked in surprise.
"It's a time loop. Harder to break than you think, even harder to change," Jack told him.
"It's like changing history; you never know the consequences of doing it. I can see why she might not have wanted to risk it," Donna mused.
"Three words: What about Rory?" Past Amy asks. Old Amy laughs, saying she called her robot Rory. Past Amy notes she didn't call it Doctor or Biggles after their cat. The two Amys then laugh as they reminisce about Rory coming back to school with a horrible haircut, claiming he was in a rock band and his attempts to learn to play the guitar so they wouldn't know he couldn't play. "All those boys chasing me. But it was only ever Rory," Old Amy remembers.
"Even after all these years, she still loves him," Martha said, taken aback in surprise.
"Angry at her lot in life and half insane from being alone all this time, she still loved him. Such a love is very hard to come by, maybe once in a lifetime," Jack noted wistfully. "And when you have it, you should treasure it. You never know what tomorrow will bring."
"Indeed you don't," Wilf muttered, thinking of his wife sadly.
Old Amy wonders why that was. "You know when sometimes you meet someone so beautiful, and then you actually talk to them and five minutes later they're as dull as a brick? Then there's other people, and you meet them and think 'Not bad. They're okay'. And then you get to know them and their face just sort of…becomes them. Like their personality's written all over it. And they just…they turn into something so beautiful," Past Amy finishes. "Rory's the most beautiful man I've ever met," the two Amys say together.
"Okay, do they have some kind of notecard they're reading off now?" Mickey asked incredulously, the whole thing sounding very sappy to him.
"Don't make fun, I felt the same way about you until I got to know you," Martha reprimanded him and Mickey looked torn between being flattered and embarrassed.
"She's right though," Jack mused, thinking of Ianto.
While Ianto had just been a face in the crowd before, as they worked together at Torchwood, he had become something…more. Jack had met and loved many people in his long life, but no one had been more beautiful than Ianto Jones.
"It usually is, when you fall in love," Wilf said softly, once more thinking of his wife.
Past Amy pleads with Old Amy to do it for Rory. Old Amy groans, saying that Past Amy is asking her to change fate for a boy. "You're Amy. He's Rory. Oh yes I am," Past Amy says. Rory is waiting outside the tent when Old Amy walks out, declaring she's going to pull time apart for him. Old Amy walks up to Rory and they share a brief kiss before awkwardly noticing the Rorybot watching. It turns and walks back into the tent. Rory and Old Amy then hug, Old Amy crying.
"This is both the sweetest and weirdest scene from these recording. And we've seen a lot of weird things so far," Donna declared.
"Trust me, it gets weirder," Jane said.
"Brilliant," Mickey said sarcastically.
"It actually is very beautiful," Martha said, moved by the scene. "Spent most of my life wishing someone would love me that way."
"Thanks Love," Mickey said sarcastically.
"Oh you know what I meant," Martha rolled her eyes before kissing him lightly.
"In any case, now that the future Amy is helping them, they can get Past Amy out of there," Jack said in relief.
On the TARDIS, Old Amy contacts The Doctor, saying she's changing her own future. She explains about seeing her future self refuse to help them, which she is now changing. The Doctor argues knowing your own future sometimes enables you to change it. "Especially if you're bloody-minded, contradictory and completely unpredictable." "So basically if you're Amy then," Rory notes.
"Well if anyone can change time itself, it would be Amy Pond," Jack noted with a slight smirk.
"These Ponds do seem to have a knack for pulling off the impossible," Wilf mused.
"They're the parents of River bloody Song. Are we surprised?" Donna asked.
"Not really," Martha shrugged.
The Doctor agrees and Old Amy says it's not about who she is, but who she's doing it for. A shot of Past Amy is briefly seen before Old Amy says she's trusting Rory to watch her back. "Always. You and me, always," Rory promises. Old Amy then requests that they take her with them.
"There's always a catch," Donna groaned.
"Considering how Hell-bent she is on surviving, I guess it's not a surprise that she would ask this," Martha sighed.
"She asks the impossible. They can only save one Amy," Jack said grimly. "So they're right back where they started, forced to choose between saving two Amys."
"Brilliant," Mickey said sarcastically, not seeing Jane's grimace.
Rory argues that there will be two Amys forever but Old Amy says they both get to live. Rory asks The Doctor if that can work and he sarcastically says its Rory's marriage. At Rory's urging, The Doctor claims if he makes some adjustments on the TARDIS, it could be possible for the TARDIS to sustain the paradox.
"You mean he could do that the whole time?" Martha asked in disbelief.
"Spaceman, you're really rewriting the laws of physics at this point," Donna muttered.
Jack narrowed his eyes, a suspicion forming in his mind. He subtly glanced at Jane, who caught his gaze. She gave a subtle nod. Jack turned back to the screen, a hollow feeling in his chest.
Rory then turns around, using the Time Glass to see Past Amy standing in front of him. The Doctor orders the Amys to stand by the door, asking Old Amy if he can borrow her sonic probe. She admits it's a screwdriver before handing it to Rory. The Doctor instructs Rory to Sonic Amy's screwdriver to boost the power. He does before handing it back to Old Amy. The Doctor explains that Old Amy is the link to Past Amy and they need to get a signal through, which is going to be a thought. He instructs the Amys to share a thought so powerful it can rip through time.
"A thought can rip time apart?" Wilf asked in disbelief.
"Two different version of the same person, sharing the same thought? Theoretically, it should work," Donna mused.
"But how can they know they'll use the same thought?" Mickey asked skeptically.
"They're the same person, one just with a few decades more life experience. No one knows you like you know yourself. They'll know," Jane said certainly.
"Really hope so, or this is all for nothing," Martha muttered.
Jack was silent, preoccupied with his new revelation but he still heard everything around him.
The Doctor instructs Rory to use the screwdriver on a nearby pint front, which the regulator is located inside. Rory does and The Doctor explains they have ten minutes to get back to the TARDIS after it reboots. Rory scrambles to follow The Doctor's complicated instructs as The Doctor says it's hardly rocket science, its quantum physics. As Rory begins rebooting the regulator, The Doctor tells the Amys to think of the most important thought they've ever had and to not let it out of their head. At The Doctor's instruction, Rory pulls a lever. "Macarena," the two Amys say together. Hearing this, Rory realizes Amy is using their first kiss.
"A thought so powerful it can tear time apart. Them sot important thought Amy's ever had. And it was her first kiss with Rory," Donna said as she smiled slightly, her heart warmed by the thought.
"I take it back. A love like Amy and Rory's comes along almost never," Jack amended.
"Wars have been started by love, it tears apart civilizations and brings the wrath of monsters down on people. And it still doesn't hold a candle to Amy and Rory," Jane said softly.
"They put Helen of Troy and Paris to shame," Martha muttered.
"They certainly do. Good for them," Wilf said with a smile.
Rory pulls the second lever at The Doctor commands and Past Amy begins to materialize in the time stream. Rory pulls the third lever and the controls on the TARDIS spark before Past Amy appears in front of her future self.
"It worked. It bloody worked!" Donna cheered as the past viewers all breathed a sigh of relief.
"So far so good. Now all they need to do is get to the TARDIS," Martha noted.
At this, a dark look crossed Jack's face as he wondered how The Doctor was going to pull this off with Old Amy.
The Amys stare at each other in shock before Rory runs up to Past Amy. They reunite happily as Old Amy looks away awkwardly. Realizing this is awkward, Rory and Past Amy pull away and the two Amys awkwardly greet each other. They try to talk but keep saying the same thing. Rory suggests Amy 1 speaks first but none of them can agree with is Amy 1, to The Doctor's amusement.
"This is where it gets complicated," Mickey said with a laugh, some of the tension breaking as the past viewers snicker at the scene.
"One Amy was complicated enough? Two might be more than the universe can handle," Martha said with a giggle.
Rory's glasses begin to spark and The Doctor tells him to take them off, as he's getting temporal feedback. Rory tosses the glasses to the floor as the console sparks. The Doctor walks over to the console, noting the TARDIS doesn't like the paradox they've created. The Doctor tries to sooth the TARDIS before telling Rory he has eight minutes, telling him he's on his own. The glasses explode and The Doctor loses visual.
"So now they're on their own and they'll have to fight their way back to the TARDIS without The Doctor," Martha said uneasily.
"Well, they never said it was gonna be easy," Mickey said wearily.
A dark look had crossed Jack's face at the mention of the paradox. He glanced at the others wearily, wondering how they were going to react.
Rory jokes he's not on his own, as he has his wives. The Amys give him a matching look before a group of Handbots approach from behind. Old Amy tells Past Amy and Rory to follow her lead. She hands Past Amy a bat before sneaking up behind the Handbots. She deals with one before reminding her past self of a hockey opponent in year 10 and Past Amy knows to go for the shins. Amy strikes a Handbot in the shins and it falls on its back. Past Amy then strikes a Handbot approaching Rory in the head, knocking its head clean off.
"They are good," Mickey said impressed.
"Well future Amy has had over thirty years to learn their weaknesses. It makes sense," Donna mused.
More Handbots then teleport in and Rory realizes they're blocking their path to the TARDIS. Old Amy directs them to a side door and they run through it. They run down the stairs, the Amys bickering about how this will work. Old Amy says she plans to go traveling, maybe pop by for holidays and Rory notes Amy always wished there were two of her at Christmas.
"Don't we all," Donna said with a slight smile.
"Would certainly take a load off," Martha said with a laugh.
"I doubt this is what Amy meant," Wilf pointed out.
"You know what they say, be careful what you wish for," Mickey snickered.
They arrive at the departure gate, the doors closing behind them and Rory wonders if they can't just teleport in. Old Amy explains it's a time jump and Past Amy points out they can't jump in the same time stream. Old Amy looks at her impressed and Past Amy smiles before Old Amy confirms this. The Handbots begin slamming against the door.
"Always a catch, isn't there?" Martha sighed.
"Well they're gonna have to think of something or the Handbots will get them," Donna said uneasily.
"Future Amy has spent decades in the facility; she probably knows more about it than the interface. I'm sure she has an idea," Jack said absently, his mind still on how The Doctor was planning to pull this off.
Rory says the TARDIS is in the gallery and Old Amy tries to access it only to be told the gallery is closed. Old Amy realizes the Handbots have locked the controls from the outside. Rory asks if she can unlock them and Old Amy says she can while flirting with Rory, telling him to give her his cutest smile. Rory does and Past Amy looks at him annoyed. Rory tells Old Amy not to flirt with him but she persists, telling him not get coy now.
"This really is complicated," Martha muttered.
"Will she really be happy? Living without him?" Wilf wondered. "She spent all this time, her love never fading. How can she plan to live a life without him and be happy?"
As the others considered this train of thought, the dark look once again crossed Jack's face. Little did they know it wouldn't be a problem.
The Handbots walk through the doors as the trio look around in alarm. Past Amy tosses her older self her bat as Rory frantically uses the screwdriver on the controls. Old Amy draws her sword as the gallery door opens.
"Well here we go," Mickey muttered as they all watched tense.
Rory and Past Amy begin running towards it as Old Amy engages the Handbots, telling Rory and her past self to go. Old Amy takes out the Handbots as Rory and Past Amy push one down. They look back at Old Amy, Rory urging her to come on but she shouts at them to go. Rory and Past Amy run through the door only to come face to face with a Handbot. Amy screams and ducks under it as Rory tries to find a way around it. Amy turns to see another, which places a hand on her neck and she goes to sleep.
"Oh bloody brilliant!" Donna snapped worriedly as the past viewers watched tense.
"Come on Rory, get her out of there," Martha muttered to herself.
Rory runs over to a picture of the Mona Lisa and uses it to dismantle the Handbot. He then runs to Past Amy as Old Amy deals with the last Handbot. She enters the gallery to see Rory pick up past Amy and head towards the TARDIS. Old Amy lowers her sword as Rory kicks the TARDIS doors open.
"They made it," Donna said as they all breathed a sigh of relief.
"Now they're home free," Martha said happily, not noticing the dark looks on Jack and Jane's faces.
The Doctor rushes over as Rory enters. Rory places Past Amy on the floor and The Doctor covers her with a blanket, assuring Rory she'll be fine, as it was just an anesthetic. The Doctor runs to the open doors and sees Old Amy. She drops her weapons and begins to run towards the TARDIS. With a dark look, The Doctor apologizes before slamming the door just before Old Amy reaches the TARDIS.
"What is he doing?" Wilf asked in horror as he, Mickey, Martha and Donna looked at the screen in shock.
"What he has to," Jack said grimly, a sad look crossing his face.
Rory looks up as Old Amy bangs on the door. He ask what The Doctor is doing and The Doctor reveals he lied, there can't be more than one Amy on the TARDIS, as the paradox would be too massive.
"He lied to them. He knew future Amy would never help them," Donna said horrified.
"It was the only way," Jack said with a heavy sigh.
"You knew, you knew he was lying," Martha realized and Jack nodded.
"If he could do that, why didn't he ever come back for me on Satellite Five? Why not come back after he'd recovered from Regeneration or pick me up afterwards, explain what happened and then drop me off at somewhere of my choosing?" Jack pointed out and they paused, realizing he was right.
"But still…Amy," Wilf said horrified.
"Sometimes, the hardest choices require the strongest will," Jane said softly.
"There aren't always good options; sometimes you just have the least bad. But you still have to make the choice," Jack said softly, once more thinking of Steven. "All those stories about heroes saving the day, they never talk about the realities of being a hero, of the hard choices you have to make. Being a hero isn't all it's cracked up to be."
Rory argues Old Amy will die if they leave her but The Doctor argues she'll never have existed once they save Past Amy. Rory argues she's right there as Old Amy pleads for The Doctor to let her in. The Doctor closes his eyes, saying she's not real.
"She's real and you know it Spaceman!" Donna snarled.
"He knows that. But it's what he has to tell himself so he can have the strength to do this," Jack said softly.
"You may be angry at him for what he's doing, but how do you think he feels?" Jane asked softly.
"God damn it, this isn't fair!" Mickey snapped, torn between hating The Doctor and feeling ad for him.
"I know it's not. But it is what it is," Jane said with a sigh.
Rory argues Old Amy is right there, begging The Doctor to let her in. The Doctor says if they take Old Amy, they have to leave Past Amy, as there can only be one in the TARDIS. He asks Rory which one he wants, placing Rory's hand on the door handle. The Doctor tells Rory it's his choice. Rory stares at The Doctor in shocked horror before accusing him of turning Rory into him. The Doctor calmly repeats its Rory's choice before walking off as Old Amy continues banging on the door, calling out for The Doctor.
"Spaceman, this is just cruel," Donna said horrified.
"It is, but it's also a lesson," Jack noted and the past viewers turned to him in disbelief. "He's showing Rory what it's like to be him, to be forced to make these decisions."
"Only you Doctor would consider this a lesson," Martha muttered, a surge of anger rising up in her.
The Doctor ignores Old Amy's calls, heading up to the console. Old Amy places a hand on the glass of the door, pleading with Rory. Rory places his hand on the glass opposite her hand. "The look on your face when you carried her, me, her. When you carried her away, you used to look at me like that," Old Amy says sadly as Rory listens, gutted. "I'd forgotten how much you loved me. I'd forgotten how much I loved being her, Amy Pond in the TARDIS, with Rory Williams." Rory is crying on the other side of the door.
There was not a person in the room who was not affected by this. Donna, Martha and Wilf were all openly crying. Mickey wrapped an arm around Martha, closing his eyes as he felt his own tears begin to fall. Jack had the same look on his face he'd had when he killed Stephen. And just like then, he refused to look away. Jane bowed her head as she closed her eyes, a single tear falling.
Rory says he can't do it, beginning to unlock the door but Old Amy says not to if he loves her. Rory pauses as Old Amy says she'll come in if he unlocks the door and will fight to the end to survive. The Doctor looks up sadly as Rory and Old Amy say they love each other. Old Amy tells Rory not to let her in. "Tell Amy, your Amy, I'm giving her the days. The days with you. Days to come. Days I can't have," Old Amy says as Rory mutters apologies. "Take them please. I'm giving you my days." Rory continues to mutter apologies before relocking the door and letting go of the lock.
"God Rory," Donna said brokenly, hardly able to image doing this to Shaun.
Martha clung to Mickey's arm, closing her eyes as Mickey buried his face in his hair, his arm tightening around her. Wilf put a hand to his face, looking as he had when The Tenth Doctor had left in the TARDIS at Donna's wedding as Jack continued to stare at the screen with a hard look. Jane held her eyes shut, telling herself it was almost over.
Rory turns away from the door before Old Amy hears the approach of the Handbots. She looks over to see several have entered the room. Inside, The Doctor and Rory listen as the Handbots give their typical greeting. Old Amy then calls out to the interface, which shines its light and tells Old Amy it's here. She tells it to show her earth. "Show me home," she says and a holographic projection of earth appears in front of her.
The past viewers merely stared, realizing that this was the first time in over thirty years that Old Amy had laid eyes on Earth. Their hearts went out to her.
Old Amy stares at it longingly. "Did I ever tell you about this boy I met there who pretended to be in a band?" she asks. She doesn't put up a fight as the Handbots reach her. One put a hand to her neck and she falls to the floor. The Handbots front opens and Old Amy's eyes close as she's injected. The sound of the TARDIS is heard before the scene fades as it's erased from existence.
Jane finally opened her eyes as the past viewers stared at the screen, emotionally drained. Not just from this, but all the other recordings they'd seen that day.
"You weren't kidding when you said this set was brutal," Mickey muttered to Jane, who smiled tightly.
On the TARDIS, Rory and The Doctor sit next to each other, watching Amy as she sleeps. Rory asks if The Doctor always knew they couldn't save them both. The Doctor says he promised they'd save Amy and there she is, safe.
"I guess he's not wrong," Donna sighed. "I don't like what he did either though."
"Me either, but I guess I understand. He had no other choice if he wanted to save Amy," Martha said, looking like she swallowed something sour.
"Sometimes, I do not envy him. His life is truly filled with difficult decisions," Wilf sighed wearily.
The Doctor gets up, walking down the stairs as Rory continues to watch Amy. She suddenly stirs and Rory quickly walks over to her. Amy wakes up, laughing slightly as The Doctor sticks his tongue out at her. The Doctor says he'll leave them alone. Rory puts a hand to Amy's head, asking if she's alright and she nods. Rory asks how she's feeling but Amy asks where Old Amy is. Rory doesn't answer and The Doctor walks off with a regretful look.
The screen went black and no one said anything for a long moment. Then, Jane got to her feet.
"Come on, let's eat dinner and then turn in for the night," she said softly.
So, yeah. This is one of my favorite episodes of the season and the show overall but honestly, not one I'd rewatch that often because, ouch. Probably the best acting from Karen and Arthur in the show while at the same time reminding us that The Doctor's life can sometimes be very unpleasant and he can be forced to make some pretty difficult decisions.