Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who.

Many thanks to Chakoteya transcripts & BBC iPlayer.


Chapter 06 – Day of the Moon

I leaned against the wall casually, looking around at the area we had snuck into as River finished up her scans. "Nice place. The party downstairs was more my aesthetic though." Gesturing to the evening dresses we were wearing, River's appearance only slightly marred by the tallys marked on both of her arms, I continued in a teasing tone "I mean we got dressed up and everything… though hardly the worst date I've been on."

An amused smile spread across her lips as she responded, not looking away from the device in her hand that was still beeping "Oh Lina, surely you should know by now that the real party starts when we're alone."

"Promises, promises."

She opened her mouth to reply only to be cut off, smile dropping as her scanner gave another beep, quickly looking up as she shoved it into her clutch, pulling me with her as she rushed past, both of us looking around the construction area with caution. Our heads jerked around as a pipe clattered to the ground somewhere nearby, looking around for the source of the noise, only to stop as two of the creatures made themselves known, pushing their way through some of the plastic sheeting that lined the area.

River slowly moved to uncap the pen she had begun wearing as a necklace since we had gone on the run months previous, eyes not leaving the aliens as she spoke "I see you. I see you." Marking another two tally marks on her arm.

My attention was drawn away from the creatures as I began to hear footsteps and the cocking of multiple guns sound behind us, moving closer, River's head twitching a bit to show she had also heard, fully turning as a familiar voice called out "Doctor Song! Miss Taylor!"

She spun back around just as quickly, grabbing my hand once again as she pulled me along with her through the sheet that I noted the creatures from before had also probably retreated back through while we were distracted.

"Go! Go! Go!" The voice called again, this time more urgently as we began to make our escape, stopping in front of an unfinished wall, the sheet missing a huge chunk to reveal the long drop to the street below, the agents moving to corner us against it as they caught up. Canton took centre, flanked by two men on either side as he pointed his gun warning "Don't move! It's over."

"They're here, Canton. They're everywhere." River warned in return, voice laced with a panic that I wasn't entirely sure was completely her acting skill.

"I know." Canton responded, smirk on his face as if he was just saying it to humour us "America's being invaded."

"You were invaded a long time ago." River corrected angrily "America is occupied."

He ignored her "You're coming with us, Miss Taylor, Doctor Song. There's no way out this time."

"There's always a way out." River disagreed, smug smile growing on her lips.

"Always." I repeated sharing a smirk with River as we clasped hands, linking our fingers together as we leaned backwards, our free arms extending dramatically as we allowed gravity to take us, freefalling out of the building together. Letting go as we descended, we tilted our bodies in unison into a dive, increasing our speed as we plummeted through the open Tardis doorway that had appeared below us, parked casually on the side of the skyscraper.

We continued falling, briefly glimpsing the others as we fell past the console room, through multiple corridors and rooms, before landing with a large splash as we finally dove into the swimming pool. Kicking our way up to the surface, we pulled ourselves out of the pool, flopping onto the ledge at the same time, turning to each other, taking in our now soaked appearances before breaking into laughter.

I let out a happy sigh as our laughter died down, asking with a grin "Same time next week?"

"You know it." She replied cheekily, shooting me a wink as she pushed herself to standing, reaching down to lend me a hand up with a sigh. "Better join the others, can't leave them waiting too long."

"I know." I grabbed two towels from the nearby loungers that lined the pool, tossing one to River as we both began to unashamedly strip off, drying off to change into the clean clothes that had been left out for us. "Those few months we spent together were great," I commented, kicking off the one heel that had somehow stayed on into a random corner, "even if we were on the run."

"Oh Lina," She shot me a grin. "That's why they were so fun."

We shared another laugh, exiting the pool room now fully clothed, still ruffling our towels through our hair as we finally stepped into the console room, entering as the Doctor spoke, rushing around pressing buttons "So, we know they're everywhere. Not just a landing party, an occupying force, and they have been here a very, very long time. But nobody knows that, because no one can remember them."

"So what are they up to?" Canton questioned.

"No idea." He replied offhandedly, carrying on without a pause "But the good news is, we've got a secret weapon." We flipped a final switch, the TARDIS landing, as he ran over to the doors, opening them and leading us outside to reveal said 'weapon'.

I shared a look with River as she asked "Apollo 11's your secret weapon?"

"No no it's not Apollo 11 that would be silly." He denied "It's Neil Armstrong's foot."

I blinked, bluntly asking "Unrelated question but can timelords get high?"

Amy let out a startled snort of laughter, Rory trying to hide his smile as she tried to cover it with a cough as the Doctor looked at her mock offended, turning back to wag his finger at me "None of that!"

I looked up at him widening my eyes innocently "I was only curious."

He let out a disbelieving hum, but was unable to hide the amusement in his eyes as he gave me another finger wag, re-entering the TARDIS as he called out "If anyone needs to freshen up use this chance to do so! I personally would like to get rid of this beard."


A little while later, we had all re-congregated in the console room, the Doctor now clean shaven and wielding some kind of tube thing that he placed against Canton's palm causing him to let out an "Ow" of pain as something was injected.

"Ha. So, three months. What have we found out?" The Doctor called out strutting over to Rory.

"Well," Rory began "they are everywhere. Every state in America." The last 'a' elongating into a cry of pain as the Doctor grabbed his hand, quickly injecting him too without warning.

The Doctor continued moving around the room as he corrected him "Not just America, the entire world."

"There's a greater concentration here, though." River pointed out in Rory's defence, checking over some information she had brought up on one of the TARDIS displays.

"Ow!" I turned away from River, looking at Amy as she let out an angry yelp, signifying that she too had now been injected, focusing to listen in on their conversation as the Doctor lowered his voice to ask her "Are you okay?"

She nodded "All better."

"Better?" He questioned her wording.

"Turns out I was wrong. I'm not pregnant."

Rory moved over to Amy, obviously only having heard the Doctor's first question as he asked, concerned "What's up?"

"Nothing. Really, nothing. Seriously." She brushed him off gently with a short laugh.

"So, you've seen them, but you don't remember them." Canton stated, semi-questioning, bringing us back on track.

"You've seen them, too. That night at the warehouse, remember?" River replied, still fiddling with something on the display "While you were pretending to hunt us down, we saw hundreds of those things. We still don't know what they look like."

Rory stepped in to try and explain "It's like they edit themselves out of your memory as soon as you look away. The exact second, you're not looking at them, you can't remember anything."

"Sometimes you feel a bit sick, though, but not always." Amy added.

"So that's why you marked your skin." Canton commented in realisation.

She shrugged "Only way we'd know if we'd had an encounter."

"How long have they been here?"

"That's what we've spent the last three months trying to find out."

"Not easy, if you can't remember anything you discover." Rory stated pointedly crossing his arms.

"How long do you think?" Canton pressed.

The Doctor answered him in an ominous tone, getting closer until he was right in front of him "As long as there's been something in the corner of your eye, or creaking in your house, or breathing under your bed, or voices through a wall." He paused to let his words sink in, spinning slowly on his heel as he continued, speaking to all of us "They've been running your lives for a very long time now, so keep this straight in your head. We are not fighting an alien invasion; we're leading a revolution. And today, the battle begins."

"How?" Canton inquired intrigued.

"Like this." The Doctor quickly injected River who gave a startled "Ow!" him letting out a laugh at her reaction, holding up a tiny object in his other hand as he explained "Nanorecorder. Fuses with the cartilage in your hand." He loaded the nanorecorder into the tube turning it to his own palm, injecting himself "Ow. And it tunes itself directly to the speech centres in your brain. It'll pick up your voice, no matter what. Telepathic connection. So, the moment you see one of the creatures, you activate it," He pushed his palm, it starting to flash with a red light "and describe aloud exactly what you're seeing."

He pressed it again, the recorder echoing "And describe aloud exactly what you're seeing."

"Because the moment you break contact, you're going to forget it happened. The light will flash if you've left yourself a message. You keep checking your hand if you've had an encounter. That's the first you'll know about it."

"Why didn't you tell me this before we started?" Canton asked a bit accusingly.

"He did." I pointed out bluntly.

The Doctor pointed to me, backing up my words "I did, but even information about these creatures erases itself over time. I couldn't refresh it because I couldn't talk to you." He moved over to the console, inputting something before turning, holding the tube towards me, looking at it a bit doubtfully. "Your turn Lina, hopefully it won't break the moment I try."

"No need." River and I said together.

The Doctor looked at us quizzically, raising a brow. River tilted her head towards me, answering "She remembers. Was damn useful when we were on the run."

"Why's that then?" He muttered curiously, approaching quickly to start buzzing me with his sonic, likely trying to see if it could give him any answers.

I flapped my hand in front of me, shooing him away "Has you sonicing me, ever actually been of use? Somehow, I doubt it'll able to get a clear read on me. Like always." I stated somewhat amused. "My idea is that the way my species perceives things works on a variety of wavelengths…which includes theirs, meaning they can't alter my perception or change my memory to get away." My voice darkened a bit "After all, we're known as rather efficient hunters."

I blinked, shaking my head to clear it, the Doctor looking at me in concern as I clapped my hands together stating "Moving on!" I gestured for him to do as I said and move on.

"Right," The Doctor moved over to the console flicking a switch to cause a projection of one of the creatures to come into view.

"My God, how did it get in here?" Canton stated in shock at the hologram.

The Doctor quickly ordered "Keep eye contact with the creature and, when I say, turn back, and when you do, straighten my bow tie."

Canton looked away from the hologram, turning back around to begin adjusting the Doctor's bow tie, looking around at us and noticing us all focused on him he asked "What? What are you staring at?"

"Look at your hand." River prompted.

He did so, noticing the dot of light on his palm blinking "Why is it doing that?"

"What does it mean if the light's flashing? What did I just tell you?"

"I haven't-"

The Doctor cut him off "Play it."

He did so, the recorder replaying the conversation that had taken place from the holograms appearance to River telling Canton to check his hand. He slowly turned back around to see the creature.

"It's a hologram," The Doctor explained "extrapolated from the photo on Amy's phone. Take a good, long look." He turned the image off, looking to Canton to order "You just saw an image of one of the creatures we're fighting. Describe it to me."

He shook his head looking dumbfounded "I can't."

"No. Neither can I." The Doctor admitted to us in a softer tone, before resuming his volume as he moved around the console to view one of the monitors "You straightened my bow tie because I planted the idea in your head while you were looking at the creature."

"So they could do that to people. You could be doing stuff and not really knowing why you're doing it." Amy said hastily, piecing things together as she spoke.

"Like posthypnotic suggestion." Rory input to which I snapped my fingers pointing at him before giving a thumbs up, leaving him looking somewhat proud.

"Ruling the world with posthypnotic suggestion?" Amy questioned.

I let out a hum "Makes you wonder what's happened in Earth's history that was actually because of them."

"Hmm." The Doctor snapped his fingers, an idea obviously having hit him as he span to look at me "Lina you can remember what they look like, yes?"

"Uh huh."

"Describe them to me."

I paused for a moment, considering, before bluntly answering "Ugly."

He let out a huff "A little bit more detail, if you please?"

I tilted my head pretending to give it some more thought, nodding once before looking the Doctor straight in the eyes to respond "Damn ugly."

"Helpful." He stated in a tone that meant my words were anything but.

"I aim to please." I said smiling smugly, his annoyed expression not fooling me a bit as his lips twitched in amusement "Plus it's not like knowing what they look like will actually help in anyway so I don't see the point. I'm sure you'll be able to recognise what you're looking at when you see them and well, you'll know what to do then right?"

"Fair enough." He shrugged "Now then, a little girl in a spacesuit. They got the suit from NASA, but where did they get the girl?"

"It could be anywhere." Canton pointed out.

The Doctor immediately responding "Except they'd probably stay close to that warehouse, because why bother doing anything else? And they'd take her from somewhere that would cause the least amount of attention. But you'll have to find her. I'm off to NASA."

"Find her?" Canton asked "Where do we look?"

"Children's homes."

"Makes sense." I muttered softly. Unfortunately. "So, who's going where?"


"Perfect weather to visit an orphanage." I commented dully from the backseat as the car pulled up in front of the building marked 'Greystark Hall Orphanage'.

"Twas a dark and stormy night…" Amy muttered lowly, clearly as unimpressed as I was.

"In just a few days, mankind will set foot on the Moon for the first time. Today, the President reaffirmed America's commitment-" The radio cut off as Canton turned off the ignition, turning to us as he spoke "Ready. Check."

Amy looked at her palm, announcing "Clear." Canton doing the same, before they turned back to look at me.

"All clear."

With that said we all exited the car, slamming the doors closed behind us as we rushed through the rain to knock on the door, it slowing creaking open to reveal a balding haggard looking man looking at us worriedly "Hello?"

Canton held up his ID "FBI. You must be Doctor Renfrew. Can we come in?"

"The children are asleep."

"We'll be very quiet." Amy quickly promised with a smile that said we were coming in either way.

"Is there a problem?" Renfrew stuttered out.

Canton answered him "It's about a missing child."

"What are you-" Renfrew started asking confused before his expression changed unnaturally to one of understanding, walking away from the door, leaving it open for us to enter as he continued "Yes, come in, please. This way. Please excuse the writing. It keeps happening. I try to clean it up."

The writing in question being 'GET OUT LEAVE NOW' written across the wall on the way up the staircase large red letters, whatever having been used to write them dripping down like blood in a cheap horror movie.

Amy flicked her eyes towards it "It's the kids, yeah? They did that."

"Yes, the children." He answered slowly as if unsure, his hand coming up to wipe at the wall with a cloth, sleeve slipping down to reveal the words 'GET OUT' written across his wrist "It must be, yes. Anyway, my office is this way."

We shared a look, now knowing for certain this was definitely the place we were looking for as we continued following him, Canton commenting "We nearly didn't come to this place. I understood Graystark Hall was closed in 67."

"That's the plan, yes." He confirmed, leading us up another set of stairs.

"The plan?" Amy questioned.

"Not long now."

"It's 1969."

"No, no. We close in 67. That's the plan, yes." Renfrew responded, misunderstanding.

Which Canton then pointed out, us all coming to a halt "You misunderstood me, sir. It's 1969 now."

"Why are you saying that?" Renfrew asked with genuine confusion "Of course it isn't."

"July." Canton stated firmly.

Renfrew looked at us, no he looked behind us face turning scared for a small moment before wiped clean back to his seemingly perpetually confused state as he gestured through the doorway at the next landing "My office is this way. This way."

Running through himself first, Canton and I pausing in the doorframe as Amy volunteered "I'll check upstairs." Pulling a torch out of her pocket as she made her way to continue up, Canton quietly requesting "Be careful."

"Seconded." I added, looking at them seriously as I warned "We're not alone in here." They both gave me firm nods in understanding "I'll go back downstairs and check that out properly." With that we separated, Amy going up, me going down, and Canton following Renfrew.

Going back down the steps we had only just ascended I peeked into the closest room, hoping to see what had given Renfrew the scare that neither Canton or Amy seemed to have noticed. Pushing the door open to reveal only an empty room with a bare metal bedframe pushed against the far wall, one of the windows partially boarded up, though poorly as a puddle of water from the rain outside could be seen pooling underneath it.

This room clear I made my way out, closing the door firmly behind me as I made my way further down the stairs, once again taking in the writing on the wall, absentmindedly noting the handwriting matched the one on Renfrew's wrist completely. I pushed open the door to the next and last room on this landing, this time seeing a messy desk, papers stacked across it, many falling off to be strewn across the floor, the window completely boarded up, graffiti almost identical to the one on the stairs scrawled repeatedly across it.

Moving out of the doorframe and actually into the room itself, I slowly approached the desk to see if the papers contained anything of use, glad that my eyesight was not like a human's, allowing me to read the papers clearly, even with the lack of light.

"…notice of closure…notice of water being cut off…all dated 1967…" I muttered to myself as I read a few of the ones on top, quickly picking up a small stack, flicking my way through before dropping them back onto the desk in disappointment as they all seemed to be paperwork for the actual orphanage from when they were still actually operating up until their publicly official closing date in 1967.

Deciding to try another method, I closed my eyes, concentrating on my hearing to try and listen for our interlopers, letting out a huff of frustration as I internally cursed the fact that most sounds were being drowned out by the heavy rain and thunder. My eyes shooting open as the door slammed shut, I ran to it, trying the doorknob normally at first to find it had been locked from the other side I grumbled "Oh, so that's how you want to play." Letting go of the doorknob briefly I flattened my palm against the front of it before pulling my arm back to smash it through with a pushing motion, the knob shattering loudly as the wood splintered around it, pushing again now on the actual door to open it with a loud bang as I raced out up the stairs towards my companions.

Reaching the next landing right after hearing a gunshot, hearing Canton call out "Amy!" as he exited Renfrew's office, joining me as we ran up the stairs in hopes of finding her, Canton deciding to lead the way, gun out and ready, us quickly running to find a metal door as Amy's voice cried out to us "Help me! Please, I can't. I can't see. Somebody help me!"

"Amy!" Canton called back, quickly attempting the door, finding it locked and immediately turning his shoulder into it in an attempt to break it down and failing, banging on the door as he called again "Amy, can you hear me? Amy, I'm going to try to blow the lock. I need you to stand back."

"Okay, gun down I've got it!" The Doctor called out, having arrived without us noticing, rushing past us to use his sonic on the lock with Rory following close behind calling out in panic "Amy, we're here. Are you okay?"

"I can't see!"

We rushed into the room as soon as the lock clicked open, revealing a small bedroom, likely belonging to the mystery child and I'd bet was in better condition than any other room in the building. But no sign of Amy.

The NASA spacesuit we had seen before lying on the floor, the Doctor immediately moving to scan it as Rory asked "Where is she, Doctor?"

He didn't answer, River then moving to kneel by the suit's head, pulling up its visor vocalising what we could now see "It's empty."

"It's dark. So dark. I don't know where I am. Please, can anybody hear me?" Amy's voice called out again sounding more distressed the more she spoke.

Rory crouched down, picking up something off the floor, holding it up to reveal the flashing light of Amy's nanorecorder "They took this out of her. How did they do that, Doctor?" The sound of Amy crying began to play through it "Why can I still hear her?"

River clenched her jaw as she asked "Is it a recording?"

The Doctor scanned the recorder with his sonic in response, face dropping as he read the results, voice subdued as he answered "Um, it defaults to live. This is current. Wherever she is right now, this is what she's saying."

Rory looked at the Doctor in anguish for a brief moment before quickly bringing up the recorder to his mouth, speaking into it "Amy, can you hear me? We're coming for you. Wherever you are, we're coming, I swear."

"She can't hear you." The Doctor told him softly "I'm so sorry. It's one way."

"She can always hear me, Doctor. Always." Rory rebutted quietly but not any less fierce "Wherever she is, and she always knows that I am coming for her. Do you understand me? Always."

"Doctor, are you out there? Can you hear me? Doctor?" Amy called out, small cries still escaping her, the Doctor clenching his jaw, closing his eyes as he listened to her pleas "Oh, God. Please, please, Doctor, just get me out of this."

Rory clutched the recorder tighter as he promised "He's coming. I'll bring him, I swear."

"Hello?" Renfrew's voice called out approaching the doorway, Canton whirling around to point his gun at the newcomer in panic before realising it was just the caretaker as we all faced him "Is somebody there? I think someone has been shot. I think we should help. We c-" He shook his head confused "I can't re- I can't remember."

At these words the Doctor shot up, quickly rushing from the room, the rest of us moving to follow until we reached Renfrew's office, the man himself entering first looking at the creature lying injured on the floor in shock, the Doctor gently pushing him to the side as he approached, hand held out in caution as he crouched down to its level asking "Okay. Who and what are you?"

"Silence, Doctor." It replied, otherworldly animalistic hissing and clicking noises escaping it as it held its hand to cover the wound on its chest "We are the Silence. And Silence will fall."


The Doctor, River, Rory and I had now returned to the warehouse where we had originally been led three months ago, using the technology that was still set up there to properly examine the spacesuit we had retrieved from the orphanage room where Amy had vanished. Canton having left on another errand for the Doctor.

"It's an exoskeleton. Basically, life support." River concluded as she examined the suit with the Doctor "There's about twenty different kinds of alien tech in here."

"Who was she? Why put her in here?" He questioned, mostly to himself, River continuing to explain what she'd found "You put this on, you don't even need to eat. The suit processes sunlight directly. It's got built in weaponry, and a communications system that can hack into anything."

I watched Rory, slowly coming to a stop beside him as he fiddled with Amy's recorder, having not let it go since he found it as the Doctor asked "Including the telephone network?"

"Easily."

"But why phone the President?" I brought my hand over to gently clasp Rory's as the Doctor spoke, causing him to startle, giving it a soft squeeze that he hopefully took as reassurance, he paused for a moment still understandably upset over Amy's unknown status, before squeezing back as River replied "It defaults to the highest authority it can find. The little girl gets frightened, the most powerful man on Earth gets a phone call. The night terrors with a hotline to the White House."

I looked away from Rory, still holding his hand as The Doctor unusually stayed silent, wrinkling my nose as I was just in time to see him lick an envelope, which judging by the colour, was likely the one he received at the very beginning of this trip.

"Now that's just unhygienic." I muttered.

River remarking "You won't learn anything from that envelope, you know."

"Purchased on earth." The Doctor began, just to be contradictory "Perfectly ordinary stationery. Tardis blue. Summoned by a stranger who won't even show his face. That's a first, for me. How about you?" He finished, asking her somewhat accusingly.

"Our lives are back to front. Your future's my past. Your firsts are my lasts." She explained with a tired kind of patience, turning to me as she said "It's pretty much the same with Lina," She sighed, smiling as she continued "though sometimes she drops in unexpectedly without you. If I'm lucky."

"That's not really what I asked."

"Ask something else, then." She replied bluntly.

So he did "What are the Silence doing, raising a child?"

"Keeping her safe, even giving her independence."

I let out a scoff "Hardly." Causing River to shoot me a look I couldn't read.

"The only way to save Amy is to work out what the Silence are doing." The Doctor stated, beginning to pace.

Rory responding with a frustrated "I know."

"And every single thing we learn about them brings us a step closer."

"Yeah, Doctor, I get it. I know." Rory answered again, obviously getting worked up.

The Doctor narrowly avoided the kick I'd aimed at his leg in response to him aggravating Rory for no good reason, continuing to speak as if it was nothing out of the ordinary "Of course, it's possible she's not just any little girl."

"Well, I'd say she's human," River input, still looking over the spacesuit "going by the life support software."

"Buuut?"

"She climbed out of this suit." I raised a brow at River's words, for the first time truly looking at the suit and the damage it had taken "Like she forced her way out. She must be incredibly strong."

"Incredibly strong and running away. I like her." He peered over at me "Reminds me a bit of someone else."

"We should be trying to find her." River insisted, which was an actually reasonable request, even though we were also currently searching for Amy.

"Yes, I know. But how?" He prodded in a low voice, tilting his head as he carried on to say "Anyway, I have the strangest feeling she's going to find us."

The TV we had set up in the corner took that moment to sound out "Apollo 11, this is Houston. How do you read? Over." The Doctor making his way over to it as Rory, let go of my hand, stepping closer to the suit to get a better look, asking "Why does it look like a NASA spacesuit?"

"Because that's what the Silence do. Think about it. They don't make anything themselves. They don't have to. They get other life forms to do it for them." The Doctor concluded, seeming to have only just come to this realisation too.

River calling out in response "So they're parasites, then."

"Superparasites," The Doctor agreed, rambling on without pause "standing in the shadows of human history since the very beginning. We know they can influence human behaviour any way they want. If they've been doing that on a global scale for thousands of years…"

"Then what?" Rory asked.

"Then why did the human race suddenly decide to go to the Moon?"

We turned to the TV as it began its countdown "Ten, nine. Ignition sequence start. six, five, four,"

My eyes lit up in realisation, answering "Because they needed a suit."

The Doctor nodded "Because the Silence needed a spacesuit."

"One, zero. All engines running. Liftoff. We have a liftoff. Thirty-two minutes past the hour, liftoff on Apollo 11."

It was only a short while later that I found myself peering around the Doctor's shoulder has he held what River told me was her tricorder, a message coming onto the screen to tell him he'd received mail, quickly opening it, which caused a video to begin playing, depicting the Silence Canton had shot looking at the camera as it spoke "You should kill us all on sight." At which we shared a triumphant grin, only for it to drop as Amy's nanorecorder sounded for the first time in hours, her voice hiccupping with a sob as she spoke "Help me, Doc-tor." Rory clenching his hand around it once again in distress at being unable to get to her.

I patted the Doctor on his back, leaving him to make my way back over to Rory, ignoring his and River's conversation as I once again put my hand over his, only this time using my other to gently pry open his fingers that were white knuckled, checking over his palm, making sure not to knock the recorder as I looked see if he'd done any damage to himself unintentionally.

"I haven't hurt myself you know?" I looked up at Rory's face to see him sending me a smile, that though weak, was still genuine "I am a nurse remember?"

I let go of his hand, deciding to trust him as I couldn't see any signs of injury, it closing to conceal the recorder once again, tilting my head as I asked "You're a nurse?"

He blinked at me, obviously seeing in my expression that I honestly didn't know before he'd said so "Yeah…I suppose this is when you found out. You knew in the past- well, my past, your future I suppose."

I nodded in understanding, before both of our heads snapped to Rory's closed hand as Amy's voice played through again "I love you. I know you think it's him. I know you think it ought to be him, but it's not. It's you. And when I see you again, I'm going to tell you properly, just to see your stupid face. My life was so boring before you just dropped out of the sky. So just get your stupid face where I can see it, okay? Okay?"

"She'll be safe for now." The Doctor spoke, approaching hesitantly, words aimed more to Rory in an admittedly poor attempt at comfort "No point in a dead hostage." I shot him an incredulous look at which he winced.

"Can't you save her?" Rory interrupted our silent conversation.

"I can track that signal back. Take us right to her."

"Then why haven't you?" Rory snapped.

"Because then what? I find her and then what do I do?" He tried to explain his reasoning behind the delay "This isn't an alien invasion. They live here. This is their empire. This is kicking the Romans out of Rome."

To which Rory bluntly retorted "Rome fell."

"I know. I was there." The Doctor answered which didn't surprise me considering his 'day job', what did surprise me was Rory replying "So was I." with a tone that implied he was more involved than a mere observer.

Seeing the look on my face must've alerted the Doctor to something as he gestured for me to go over to River, which I did only slightly miffed at being kicked out of the conversation, assuming it was concerning something I wasn't supposed to know about just yet, if ever.

"The boys shoo you away?" River greeted me with a small smile, still inspecting the suit.

I let out a hum, walking around until I was behind her to wrap my arms around her waist in a hug, placing my head on her shoulder as I snarked "Their conversation is apparently top-secret stuff I shouldn't know yet by the sounds of it." I peered down at the suit that she was still scanning "Surely, you've learnt all you can from it by now? I doubt there's much less of use to find with how long you've been at it."

"True enough." She placed her scanner down with a sigh as I let go of her as she stretched "Though there's not much else to do at this point. Only wait until the next part of the Doctor's plan is ready."

I took hold of her hand, tugging it for her to follow as we moved closer to the TV "Then let's wait together."

"The Flight Controller's going to go for landing. Just five days since Apollo 11 blasted off from Cape Kennedy, this unprecedented journey is reaching its crucial moment. Armstrong and Aldrin are making their descent to the surface of the Moon."


"Everyone ready? Good!" The Doctor called out as he threw a lever the TARDIS ceasing its shaking to show we'd arrived "Outside that door should be where they're holding Amy. Let's go."

With that said we quickly made for the door the Doctor reaching it first, pulling the door open and leading us out as he began commentating "Oh, interesting. Very Aickman Road. I've seen one of these before. Abandoned. I wonder how that happened? Oh, well I suppose I'm about to find out. Rory, River, Lina, keep one Silent in eyeshot at all times. Oh, hello. Sorry, you were in the middle of something. I just had to say, though, have you seen what's on the telly?" I passed him the TV I'd carried with us from the warehouse as he ran around the Silence in the room, propping it on one of their consoles.

"Oh, hello, Amy. Are you alright? Want to watch some television? Ah. Now, stay where you are. Because look at me, I'm confident. You want to watch that, me, when I'm confident. Oh, and this is my friend River." He gestured to her shortly as she kept the Silence in her sights, gun up and ready "Big hair, clever, has her own gun, and unlike me, she really doesn't mind shooting people."

River responded to his comments with a "Thank you." Completely unphased.

"And this is Lina," He gestured to me "Lina well- Lina doesn't need a gun and isn't afraid to get her hands dirty…which I really shouldn't find as attractive as I do."

"Aw." I blew him a kiss, that he caught, much to my amusement, before continuing his speech "I know you're team players and everything, but they'll definitely kill at least the first three of you."

"The first seven, easily." River corrected.

He looked between the two of us before settling his gaze on me to confirm "Seven? Really?"

I shot him a wink as I answered "Oh, eight for you, babe."

"Stop it." He flirted.

"Okay." His face dropped a little at my response, perking up again as I said "We'll continue this later, Amy's looking a bit miffed, and for good reason."

"Thank you!" Amy called out annoyed, still confined "I feel like I should be higher on the list of priorities right now."

"Yes. Right. Sorry." He apologised quickly "As I was saying, my two friends here are going to kill the first three of you, to attack, plus him behind, so maybe you want to draw lots or have a quiz."

By this point Rory had moved over to Amy and was attempting to removed her bindings, which I could see he wasn't making much progress with and so started to casually make my way over to them, pulling and easily breaking the cuff on one of her wrists as the Doctor continued speaking "Or maybe you could just listen a minute. Because all I really want to do is accept your total surrender and then I'll let you go in peace. Yes, you've been interfering in human history for thousands of years. Yes, people have suffered and died, but what's the point in two hearts, if you can't be a bit forgiving, now and then?"

They didn't respond "Ooo, the Silence. You guys take that seriously, don't you? Okay, you got me. I'm lying. I'm not really going to let you go that easily. Nice thought, but it's not Christmas. First, you tell me about the girl. Who is she? Why is she important? What's she for?"

I broke Amy's final restraint, causing Rory to quickly move to catch her as she slumped, seeming like she had lost more energy than she had thought, as the Doctor concluded his speech to the Silence "Guys, sorry, but you're way out of time. Now, come on. A bit of history for you. Aren't you proud? Because you helped. Now, do you know how many people are watching this live on the telly? Half a billion. And that's nothing, because the human race will spread out among the stars. You just watch them fly. Billions and billions of them, for billions and billions of years, and every single one of them at some point in their lives, will look back at this man, taking that very first step, and they will never, ever forget it."

"Oh. But don't forget this bit." The Doctor pulled out his phone holding it to his ear "Ready?"

We all focused on the TV as Neil Armstrong's voice began the well-known phrase "That's one small step for a man-" which was then cut off as the picture changed from the moon landing to the clip of the injured Silence as it said "You should kill us all on sight." The order undoubtedly being repeated for every single person watching around the world.

The Doctor confirming "You've given the order for your own execution, and the whole planet just heard you."

"You should kill us all on sight." It repeated before switching back to finish "-one giant leap for mankind."

"And one whacking great kick up the backside for the Silence!" He announced with glee "You just raised an army against yourself and now, for a thousand generations, you're going to be ordering them to destroy you every day. How fast can you run? Because today's the day the human race throw you off their planet. They won't even know they're doing it. I think, quite possibly, the word you're looking for right now is oops. Run. Guys, I mean us. Run!"

Bolts of electricity began forming around the Silence as they got angrier, River beginning to shoot at those who started to attack.

I had just kicked one of them hard into a wall, watching it for a second to see it didn't move as Rory called over to me "Lina! Can we get a bit of help please!" turning to see Rory trying to avoid the Silence while he supported the still weak Amy, a bolt of energy hitting one of them causing it to fall, as I ran back towards them calling a "Thank you!" over my shoulder in River's direction.

I quickly lifted Amy fully from his arms ignoring his protests as she batted at him telling him to leave ahead of us "Go, Go!"

"I'm not leaving without you!"

"Look, will you just get your stupid face out of here!" She snapped, Rory stopping to stare at her with a hopeful short of shock.

"Will you both pack it in!" I shouted interrupting whatever moment they were having, especially considering I was basically holding Amy bridal style at this point and they were just acting as if I wasn't there "We need to get out of here so if you would get a move on!"

River choosing that moment to inadvertently back me up as she called over to us "Run! Into the TARDIS, quickly!" With that said Rory finally moved, running to the TARDIS with Amy and I following close behind, quickly passing her over to him as soon as we reached the doors, ushering them inside so I could help the others.

"Don't let them build to full power!" The Doctor called out as some of the bolts of electricity began to get brighter.

"I know, there's a reason why I'm shooting." River retorted "What are you doing?"

"Helping!"

"You've got a screwdriver. Go build a cabinet." River sassed as I let out a snort, quickly knocking another of the Silence out, trying hard not to laugh as the Doctor replied genuinely offended "That's really rude!"

"Learn how to drive." Being River's uncaring response.

"Listen you're both pretty, and now's not the time, so maybe get to the TARDIS?" I called out as I hit another one that had attempted to grab me.

The Doctor's answer was to sprint for the TARDIS, turning back once more with his sonic so set off another power surge in their equipment before ducking inside. River, seeing he had now gone, began spinning, shooting as she did so, as I increased my speed, letting loose as I helped take out the few stragglers until finally all the Silence lay dead on the ground.

Turning back to the TARDIS to see Rory watching us with shock from the doorway River holstered her gun as she asked "The old fellow didn't see that, did he? He gets ever so cross."

"So, what kind of doctor are you?" He asked a bit doubtfully.

I reached up audibly twisting the head around of the Silence that was coming up behind River, it dropping to the floor as she peered back with a wink, turning back to Rory's somewhat nauseous expression to reply "Archaeology. Love a tomb." Passing him to enter the TARDIS herself, I followed close behind, patting Rory on the shoulder he stood there in a daze, snapping him out of it as he came back in, closing the door behind us as I skipped up the ramp.

River immediately moved to join the Doctor in flicking switches on the console, him instantly complaining "You can let me fly it."

"Yeah," She agreed "or we could go where we're supposed to."

"I may not have been travelling with you for long, but even I know she's got a point." I commented joining them, though only to watch as I had not a clue what anything on the console actually did.

"A little bit of loyalty would be nice." He muttered, pouting at me as he continued moving around the console.

I raised a brow at him "I like you both as much as each other at this point, well, tell a lie," I paused, the Doctor starting to look smug until I finished "I actually might like River more at this point, I've spent more time with her than you."

"Oh?" He said stepping away from the console until he stood right in front of me, leaning in close as he promised lowly "We're going to have to change that then, aren't we?"

I tilted my face towards his until there was barely and inch between as I whispered "Look forward to it." Quickly pulling away and moving around him before he could respond, just in time to watch Amy call Rory a moron then pull him in for a kiss, ending it shortly after for Rory to reply "Thanks." Amy giving him a cheery "You're welcome." Right before they went back to kissing.

"Oh to be young and in love." I commented with a smile just low enough for only the Doctor and River to hear. "So where are we going now again?"

"Back to the oval office for a tic, just to let Nixon know he shouldn't be getting anymore calls." The Doctor answered, throwing a lever "Speaking of," He raised his voice a little, causing Amy and Rory to finally break their kiss to look at him "we're here."

With that said the Doctor made his way to the doors, peeking outside before gesturing for us to follow as he stepped through, which we did so, seeing only Nixon was present in the office, the Doctor already having begun explaining how things went to him, Amy and I moving to take a seat on one of the sofas as River and Rory stayed standing by the TARDIS.

"So we're safe again." Nixon stated, laughing as he shook his hand, only for his smile to drop at the Doctor's next words "Safe? No, of course you're not safe. There's about a billion other things out there just waiting to burn your whole world. But, if you want to pretend you're safe, just so you can sleep at night? Okay, you're safe. But you're not really."

With that said he turned to Canton, tone a lot friendlier as he offered his hand "Canton. Until the next one, eh?"

He took it shaking it firmly as he replied "Looking forward to it."

"Canton just wants to get married. Hell of a reason to kick him out of the FBI." The Doctor remarked pointedly looking back towards Nixon.

"I'm sure something can be arranged."

"I'm counting on you." The Doctor responded with no real belief behind it, walking back towards us.

Nixon reached out, stopping him as he asked "Er, Doctor. Canton here tells me you're, you're from the future. It hardly seems possible, but I was wondering-"

He cut him off a bit amused "I should warn you I don't answer a lot of questions."

"But I'm a President at the beginning of his time. Dare I ask. Will I be remembered?"

I pressed my lips together trying not to laugh as the Doctor answered "Oh, Dicky. Tricky Dicky. They're never going to forget you. Say hi to David Frost for me." With that said we made our way back into the TARDIS hearing Nixon mutter "David Frost?" to himself as I closed the door behind us, the TARDIS feeling like it had dematerialised and rematerialized quicker than usual, this time the door opening to reveal a dimly lit corridor lined with what looked like prison cells.

River brushed passed me, shooting me a wink as she made her way out to enter one of them, likely hers, with a comment of "Looks like this is my stop."

The Doctor nodded silently as he came to a stop next to me, until I elbowed him that is, which is when he coughed and offered "You could come with us." Acting as if he was going to in the first place.

"I escape often enough, thank you. And I have a promise to live up to." She replied, turning to look at me as she said "You'll understand soon enough."

"Okay. Up to you. See you next time." He responded, raising his hands at me as if to show he tried.

I let out a huff, walking past him, stepping closer to River to take her hands in mine as I asked "Are you sure?" I looked around her cell "Not exactly five-star accommodation you got here." She just smiled at me as I sighed, stepping back as I said "Fair enough."

"What, that's it?" She called out teasingly, flicking her eyes to the Doctor briefly before back to me with a grin "Where's my goodbye?"

I clocked on to her game calling out "Ah!" in fake realisation "Silly me! Can't believe I almost forgot."

The Doctor perked up from where he had been watching us, leaning against the TARDIS as he asked, suspicious "Forgot what?" Voice becoming strained as River and I's heads began to tilt towards each other "Forgot what Lina?!

"Oh, shut up." River called over to him, popping a kiss on my nose as I began to laugh.

"Right. Okay." He muttered, calming down "Interesting."

"I swear it's always so easy to mess with you." She told him, dismissing him easily as she turned back to me "We'll hopefully be able to do something fun next time we manage to meet up, just the two of us."

"Oh, look at the time." The Doctor called loudly, throwing his arm over my shoulder, pulling me to him as he looked at his wrist, ushering me very obviously in the direction of the TARDIS "Must be off."

Lifting his arm from around my shoulders I gestured him ahead, him opening his mouth as if to disagree before snapping it shut, obviously thinking better of arguing with me at this point in time, shaking his head slightly as he entered the Tardis to wait.

Turning back to River she waggled her fingers at me in a wave "Hey."

"Hey yourself." I shot back with a grin, it dimming as I noticed her mood had dropped from earlier, though she was trying to hide it "You alright?"

She sent me a smile that I suppose she meant to be reassuring, gesturing for me to follow the Doctor into the TARDIS "Of course, I always am."

"I've just spent three months with you, you think I can't tell when you're lying?"

"A little white lie doesn't hurt anyone." She commented not even denying it, the same smile still on her face.

"Now that's a lie if I've ever heard one." I stared at her pointedly for a while, hoping she'd give me something to work with, only to be let down as her expression didn't change in the slightest.

"You best be off." She commented as I sighed, showing I'd let it drop this time, her smile becoming more genuine as she sang "People to do, things to see."

"Don't you mean 'Things to do, people to see'?"

"I said what I said." She replied cheekily, shooting me a bright grin as she began shooing me towards the TARDIS "Go on, best keep him out of trouble."

"Doubt anything could keep that one out of trouble."

"Now isn't that the truth!" We shared a laugh, leaving her with one last wave goodbye from the TARDIS door as I finally stepped back inside, closing it behind me with a soft click as I moved to join the Doctor, who upon hearing me enter had put away the monitor he was looking at, turning to face me with his arms crossed like a disapproving parent.

I looked around seeing the room vacant apart from us "Where are Amy and Rory?"

"They've gone to go get some rest before we set off again." He answered, changing his tone to try and sound casual as he continued "So, you two are close…When did that happen exactly?"

"Well," I began, imitating his tone "unlike you who was sitting cosy in area 51, we spent 3 months on the run." I paused for emphasis "Together."

He held his pose for another moment before dropping his arms from their crossed position as he whined "Yes, I get it, fine! You haven't even spent 3 whole months with me yet- well almost 3 months but that's something you'll have to experience for yourself- Anyway moving on! The point I'm trying to make is that you spent those three months with River much to my objection, so!" He clapped his hands together, tilting them to point at me "Why don't you go on and change into something a bit fancy and I'll take you out somewhere nice so you can get to know me a little better, dinner maybe?"

Deciding not to argue with him as I honestly wasn't really that bothered, and curious as to where he considered to be 'somewhere nice' I sent him a nod, him shooting me a grin and a thumbs up in return as I made my way through the TARDIS corridors to the room marked with my name. Pushing the door open to see the room had remained mostly unchanged since my last visit while I was travelling with a younger Doctor and Donna.

The walls were still the same delicate shades of cream and dusky rose, the large curved bay window still positioned on the wall opposite the entry, that somehow to my continued awe, managed to show the view of a place I knew for a fact no longer looked the same, it long having been lost to the advances of human construction.

I gazed out of it for another moment before pulling the curtains shut, turning away to note that the only real difference was a garment bag that was spread across my luxuriously large bed, a box likely containing shoes sitting next to it.

With a sigh I unbuttoned the blazer I had been wearing since investigating the orphanage and that had definitely seen better days, throwing it over the back of the cushy floral print armchair the TARDIS had given me, before dropping myself into it as I pulled off the heels I had been wearing, taking a moment just to sit for once, pushing myself up to make my way over to my ensuite with a mutter of "Shouldn't keep the Doctor waiting…well too long at least."

About an hour or so later I was fully clean, primped, and ready to go, curls hanging around my face in an artfully messy bob and makeup simple but classy, making my way back to the main room as my strappy pin heels, clicked across the floor announcing my arrival. The Doctor looking up from where he had been working at my entrance, pausing for a moment as he took me in, dressed to the nines in a lovely cowl neck, ankle length silk dress that the TARDIS had picked out for me, that I'm sure was only coincidentally a very familiar shade of blue…

"Ah."

I raised a brow at his lacklustre response crossing my arms "Is that all you've got to say? Ah? What a way to woo a girl."

"No no no, that's not what I meant at all." He defended waving his hands "It's just, well…I recognise that dress…which means we likely won't be going to dinner any time soon." I looked down at my dress again, just in time to see it and my legs begin to flicker in and out of view, looking back at the Doctor with wide eyes as he commented "Thought so. Good luck." Standing back up straight I shot him a two fingered salute as I stumbled slightly, the dizziness coming in full force as I jumped yet again.


*Titanic voice* It's been 84 years…AHEM I mean - It's finally done! I started this right after the last chapter but hey ho a combination of working overtime and lacking motivation and it gets finished months later…I'm sure you can all relate! '^^

Also please be patient if you want a response to a review, for some reason ffn stopped sending me any kind of notifications near the beginning of this year and nothing I do has made them resume so I just check it when I remember!

Also remember how I mentioned before that River and Lina bounce really well of each other? Yeah they kinda got away from me in this chapter ahaha they just get along reeeally well~

Next up: The End of the World