I own nothing. Least of all this.
This fic is gonna be a little experiment of mine. Each chapter is gonna be told from a different person's perspective, and unless the situation desperately calls for it, each chapter will also be self-contained within a specific DW episode. Today, that episode just so happens to be "Let's Kill Hitler", as told from Amy's POV. Catch you on the flip side; Toodles!
2) AND WE'LL KEEP ON FIGHTING TIL THE END
So, this was what shock felt like.
Amy had expected to feel a great many things after they'd dropped Jenny, Vastra, and Strax back in London. After she'd had a moment to actually process what the hell had just happened.
Anger, grief, denial, pain…all perfectly ordinary responses. But since when had Amy Pond ever done something ordinary? As it was, the only feeling currently drowning her in its embrace was that of…nothingness.
Empty. Hollow. Numb.
Shock; it had to be shock.
The Doctor had lost. He had fought so hard to get them back, the both of them. And in the end…he had failed. He'd failed them all.
In her case, his failure had been his silence. He had known something was off, known since that day at Cape Canaveral. And he had said nothing. And now, it was too late. The damage was already done.
With River…all of them had failed her, in one way or another. But none more than the Doctor. He was the whole reason she'd been taken; the reason she'd been made into what she was. Her daughter…her beautiful, perfect, amazing baby…gone.
For a moment, she found herself wishing River had aimed a few inches below the Stetson. It would've saved them all a lot of pain in the days to come.
The Doctor's failure hadn't just been limited to those around him; he had failed himself as well. River had made that perfectly clear. The Doctor; Wise Man, Healer…and apparently, Mighty Warrior. That wasn't what the Doctor was supposed to be; that wasn't what the name meant at all. But the Gamma Forests believed it was. What other meanings had the name 'Doctor' taken on throughout the universe?
The Doctor had gone to his death at Lake Silencio willingly. Perhaps this was why…
And Rory…oh, Rory…
He was bouncing around the TARDIS console now. Flipping switches, spinning wheels, flicking levers. Like a kid in a candy store. Or a soldier in an armory.
She should have realized; they all should have. Two thousand years, and not a scar to show for it? He'd known the TARDIS was another dimension, from the moment he first saw the inside. He'd never doubted her about the Doctor growing up, not even for a second. Why would he have, when some part of him already knew everything there was to know about the mad man in a box? Was that the real reason he'd stuck with her for so long, when he could've so obviously done better? Waiting, not just for her, but for the only other living member of his species in existence.
Rory…her stupid, perfect Rory…was dead. And the man, the Time Lord, standing in front of her, was wearing his corpse.
Oh, fantastic. Here came the tears.
Still no blubbering, though. Good. She would rather die than bawl in front of…of Them.
The Doctor was out cold again. Ro…The Master had taken the opportunity to tie him to the TARDIS ramp railing. Thinking back, she probably should've asked why…if she hadn't been afraid the answer would just make things worse.
Worse. If such a thing was even possible.
The Master jerked his hand away from a sparking plug. "Oi! No need for that! I've already apologized for that whole business with the Toclafane; twice, from my point of view. I know where we need to go; and you know that I know. So, please, from the bottom of my hearts, just go along with it."
The console spat more sparks at him.
"Fine! You wanna be like that? That's it; I'm getting the mallet! Now, where did Sandshoes throw it; I was sure he had one around here somewhere…"
The big lever flipped downwards of its own accord, jerking the floor and sending the Master sprawling. Amy probably would've laughed, if she'd been able.
The Master grunted as he hauled himself to his feet. "Oh sure, he whacks on you all he likes yells at you to behave, and nothing. I so much as threaten it, and you throw a tantrum. Typical. Please at least tell me we're going the right direction? Not that I don't trust you or anything, cause I totally don't."
The TARDIS responded by splatting a large glob of ketchup all over his face.
This time, Amy did laugh.
The Master whirled to face her. "Oh sure, laugh it up. Women, teaming up against me. Story of my life. Where's the bloody towels?"
He hands bumped around under the console, finally emerging once more with the desired objects. "Eureka!"
He immediately began wiping the ketchup away. "I hope you realize, of course, that each and every bit of this mess is going directly down your exhaust…"
The last of the towels dropped to the ground. The Master's face contorted into a look that Amy could only describe as 'awe'. Now why…?
Oh…the display. The TARDIS had turned it off. Now, it was nothing more than a mirror. The Master's reflection was staring directly back at him.
It was a reflection he had probably never seen before.
Slowly, his hand reached out to touch it.
With a violent shove, the display went spinning around the console. The Master seemed to collapse, resting both of his arms on the controls.
Amy lasted exactly fifteen seconds before tiptoeing forward. "…Master?"
A laugh. "You'd think so, wouldn't you?"
"…What?"
He spun to face her, gesturing wildly. "This, all of this, all of me…by rights, that's exactly what it should be. Just me. Me, myself and I. But it's just…not."
His fist banged against the console. "IT'S NOT!"
There was silence.
He gave a sigh. "Still, could be worse. The nose is a bit much, but its better than ears. Or heaven forbid, a chin. I'm not sure I could've lived with a chin; can you imagine how stupid I would've looked with a beard? Oh…a beard…I said I was gonna grow one of those, remember? Of course you remember…back on that pirate ship, all those pirates with their brilliant beards…well of course I'd think that; beards have always been sort of my thing. That settles it; definitely growing a beard. I'll have to do something about the hair…frankly, it's a bit ridiculous. Thank Gallifrey I didn't actually grow out that pony tail; probably would've died of embarrassment."
Amy's voice sounded extremely small, even to her. "…I liked it."
He snorted. "Of course you did; you were the one that gave it to me."
"…I gave to you?"
"Naturally. He got it wrong, you know. The Doctor. That whole bit with the psychic pollen. The Dream Lord was never him; the whole idea was ridiculous."
"…Who was he, then?"
His smile would've looked right at home on a crocodile. "Why, me, of course. Don't tell me that whole debacle didn't seem a bit off to you; one dream yours, one dream mine, and the Doctor right in the middle. Too convenient. No, it was much, much simpler than that. The dream on the TARDIS, cold star, power draining? I thought for sure he would've recognized that one; it was some of my best work in the war. Reversing the polarity of an entire sun, just to keep the Daleks from activating a Star Forge. Then again, its not like he paid much attention to anyone else back then. For all his talk of morals, he was always the best of us at hating the Daleks. And the Echondenes! One of his own, that time. Another planet he couldn't save; this time from the Time Lords themselves. Did he notice? Did he care? Nope!"
The word popped at the end. "Of course not! To the Doctor, everyone's an innocent bystander, but to the Other one? In the end, it was all gonna burn anyway, so what was the difference? He just wanted the war over as soon as possible, so he could let the Doctor back out to fix everything. And he's done just a fantastic job of that so far."
He slapped himself in the face. "Right; side-tracked. Is this what it was like for him the fourth time round? It'd explain a lot…anyway, back to the point. The cold star dream…that was the Doctor's. An eternity of travel, always on the edge of death, with friends at his side willing to die right along with him. And yours…yours was the oh so sleepy town of Upper Leadworth, productions of Oklahoma included. The Doctor popping round every now and then for tea, biscuits, and defense of the Earth. The perfect life."
His voice broke. "…And Rory loved it. I could see it, in his eyes. In his mind. He was still me, after all. He wanted that, simply because it was what you wanted. That was enough for him. But not for me."
"So you killed him."
He scoffed. "Please. I merely…changed the variables in the equation. You chose the Doctor's dream, and supposedly had a bunch of revelations about yourselves that I deliberately passed on. The only way you could keep Rory…was if you gave up the idea of a family. And out of all of my increasingly terrible decisions, doing that to you…is the one I regret the most. Can you guess why?"
She shook her head.
"Thought not. You know, I really should have seen it coming. You and Rory…you were meant for each other. Literally. I built him that way, after all."
She stiffened. She'd been right…she was right…she wasn't gonna cry, she wasn't gonna cry…
"But what I didn't see coming was the bit in-between. Chinny boy said you were the Girl-Who-Waited; he forgot to mention I was the Boy-Who-Stayed. Two thousand years of memories…that's longer than I've been alive, Amy. That's enough experience to change anyone, even me. And it did."
He stepped closer. "When I started this whole ridiculous affair, I thought…I thought at the end of it, I'd be mostly me, just with bits of my programmed personality buried under everything that I'd ever lived through. Mostly me, with just a tiny bit of Rory. But I got it wrong. I got it so very wrong."
He was practically breathing on her now. "But I also got it so very right."
And then they were kissing.
For just a moment, she was floating. And then hard, cold reality came rushing up to meet her feet once more.
She reeled back and slapped him. "No. Just, no. You don't get to stand there and tell me you're sorry, and then that you're not without an explanation."
He rubbed his jaw. "Bloody women; why do I always get the feisty ones?"
"Explanation, now!"
"Fine then! Rory didn't get buried under my memories; not by a longshot. If anything, the opposite is true. I'm not more Rory; Rory's more me. I can still feel everything he felt, everything he still feels. Because its not just him that's feeling it now. Its me. The Master, the worst renegade that Gallifrey's ever produced, the man who's burned entire civilizations to the ground just because his lunch bill was too high…and what's done me in is my bloody emotions."
She couldn't breathe…she wasn't sure she wanted to.
"Anger, I've always had that. If anything were gonna stop me, that's what I'd have bet on. Fear, naturally. Fear of death, fear of the Doctor dying and leaving me alone, fear of the future, fear of the past. The Doctor likes to say he's the one who ran away, and I was the one that went mad. He's never let himself consider the fact that in both cases, it was fear that drove us. Greed, pride, hate, all that and more. But I never once dreamed that in the end, it would be love that finally pushed me over the edge. By all rights, I should be furious. I should be bloody enraged that for once, acting on instinct has trapped me better than any of the Doctor's plans ever did. But I'm just…not. I can't find it in myself to care. Cause in the end, I got what I wanted. What all of me's wanted, from the first moment I ever saw you. And I swear to you, Amelia Pond; I'm never gonna leave you again. Whatever you do, wherever you go, I'll always be there, right behind you."
"…Bit creepy, that."
"It…sounded better in my head, yeah. I meant it, though. Every word. I'm yours, Amy Pond. All of me. Rory Williams, the boy from Leadworth…and the Master, Time Lord of Gallifrey. From now, until the stars go out. I've hurt you; so much. Just by existing. And I can't…I can't stand that. I promise you, I'm gonna fix it. I'm gonna fix it all. We will get our family back; we'll get our daughter back. And after that…whatever comes next…its all up to you. Whenever, wherever, whatever you want. I'll do anything to make up for what I've done; anything at all. You just have to name it."
She hated it. But she had to ask. "…Would you leave?"
For a split second, it was the old Rory standing in front of her. He just looked so utterly…lost. He swallowed. "Would…would you ask me to?"
"I…I don't know, Rory. I just…you're like the Doctor, right? All Time Lordy and stuff? Cause I know what that means for anyone who gets close to you. The Doctor told me; told me all about the past versions of him…and how long they lived for. I'm not gonna last forever, Rory. And…and if the day comes when things end for me, and you're still around to watch…I can't do that, Rory. The Doctor can pick up and move on, find someone new. But you…all of you…I think you might just burn the whole universe trying to get me back. And I don't want that. Not for you."
He moved to hold her hands in his own. "…Then I won't. Not if you ask. But, leaving you…I'm…I just…"
"I know, Rory. I know. Me too."
This time, she was the one doing the kissing. And Rory…the Master, whoever he was now…was kissing her back.
"There was a time when you would've given me nothing but grief for being that sentimental."
The Master broke the kiss, but not the embrace. "Whatever gave you the idea that time had passed, Doctor? You know for a fact you've never been able to deal with your emotions without resorting to theatrics."
"Says the man that blew up a lab full of other students' final projects just to hide the fact you'd destroyed your own in a temper tantrum."
"Well, yes, but what made it all worth it was the look on the Professor's face when she realized she had no choice but to give your absolute abomination of an experiment a passing grade."
"Touche. I don't suppose you'd be willing to give me a hand? It seems as though I'm a bit tied-up at the moment."
"Really, Doctor? You do know puns are the lowest possible form of humor, right?"
"Well, considering I'm actually the least elevated person here, it seemed the reasonable way to go."
"Funny. That's funny. Now, despite all appearances Doctor, I'm as much here to help you as I am to help myself. Frankly, the only reason I agreed to this ridiculous plan at all was because I already know what your face looks like when you figure it out."
"Plan? What pl…ohhhhhh. You're from my future, aren't you?"
The Master tapped his finger against his nose. "Spoilers, Doctor. It's always the long way round for you. No shortcuts to the future. Well, except for this. See, you were in on this plan too, in a way. And to make sure that past you trusted me enough to not get in my way, he gave me an in. A phrase. One that every Time Lord in existence knew at one point…and then forgot. So, I'm here to make you remember…well, at least part of it."
The Master leaned into the Doctor; Amy could see how the Doctor tried to recoil from it. For a moment, it seemed as though the Master would whisper in the Doctor's ear, a secret for just the two of them to keep. But at the last possible second…
"Sorry Doctor. But Amy's a part of this now. And she needs to see for herself. Soooo…"
Only three words.
Three small, nonsensical, powerful words. That was all it took.
"The Timeless Child."
Pain.
Something…something was shoving its way into Amy's head. Something…wrong. This wasn't like the Angel; that had been slow and steady. This was fast. A flash, a flare. An image, burned into her brain forever. And then…the something retreated. Almost as if…
Amy swallowed. As if had been asleep, all this time. And those three words had managed to wake it up just long enough to show her…whatever it had. It was asleep again, now. But it was still there. Buried within her. Somewhere.
And she wanted it gone.
"What…what was that?!"
"That, Doctor…that…was the past. All of it. Every single line of Time Lord history, in a way. Look, Doctor."
The Master grabbed his face and turned it toward her. "Do you see it now? Can you, Doctor? I was right. She saw it too. Not as clearly as us, but she saw it. Not a trick. Not a trap. I would never, could never, do that to her. Its in all of us, Doctor. Even our Amelia. And it shouldn't be."
It shouldn't be. Amy's head pounded. "Doctor…"
"She's swaying, Doctor. She's in pain. And the only way it stops…is if you do, exactly, what. I. Say. Understand?"
The Doctor glared. "Stops. Right. Nothing ever just stops with you."
"Cross my hearts, Doctor. And besides, I'm not the one that stops it."
"And I suppose you…"
"Spoilers, Doctor. That's it. No more, no less. What you see is what you get. Literally. You follow my orders like a good little soldier for this one trip, and then you're free and clear to deal with the issue however you like. I've got other fish fingers to fry."
Amy could've sworn she saw lighting pass between the two. You could've lit up London with all that tension. Not much different from their usual interactions, then.
She couldn't help it; she snorted.
They both turned to her with the exact same expression on their faces. She really should keep a straight face; she really should…
Nope.
After about twenty seconds, she finally regained enough composure to point. "You…you…!"
In perfect sync, they looked at each other, and then back again, as if to say 'Who, me?'
It was enough to set her off all over again.
She came up gasping for air. "My boys…my poncho boys…you haven't changed a bit."
The Doctor frowned at that. But the Master; the smile that lit his face was brighter than the sun.
Rory's smile.
"Do it, Doctor."
"…Amy?"
"Shut it, chin. You, are going to do, exactly, what, he, says. He's from the future, Doctor. Your future. He knows. And…and I trust him."
The Master froze. Lost, lonely Rory. "…Really?"
"Of course, you stupid face. For better or worse, right?"
The Doctor snapped. "And which is it? Better or worse?"
She smiled back at…at Rory. "Better. Definitely better."
Rory clapped his hands together. "Excellente! Boss's orders, Doctor. Best listen to her. Oh, and you can stop pretending you and I haven't the last few minutes untying and retying you to that rail."
The Doctor's hands came up in a wave. "What can I say? I was enjoying the banter."
Rory snorted. "Oh, that's good, considering."
"Considering what?"
"Spoi…"
"…lers. Yeah, yeah, I got that."
"Sorry. Old family tradition, you could say. Well, Doc? Do we do this the easy way…or the hard way?"
The look on his face when he finished rather gave Amy the impression he was hoping for 'hard'. Truth be told, she was more than a bit curious as well to see exactly what the 'hard way' entailed.
Fortunately (or was that unfortunately?), the Doctor merely sighed and raised his hands in surrender. "Fine. One trip. You're in charge. Heaven knows I'm going to regret this…"
"Oh, not just Heaven, Doctor. If we're very, very lucky…Hell as well. Besides…"
Rory was back to flicking switches and spinning wheels.
"…Weren't you the one that offered for me to pick the destination last time, if I'd just come with you? Chin up, Doctor. Today, I'm taking you up on that offer. But first…"
One more flip of a lever, and…
"WHAT?!"
"Its quite simple, Doctor. Oh excuse me, Rory." The now disguised Rory-as-the-Doctor said. "I am the only one who knows exactly where to find Melody. Furthermore, I am also the only one who knows exactly what to expect once we get there. And finally, once we catch up to our daughter dear, she will in all probability do something that may or may not result in something getting shot. And as much as I hate to admit it, we need you functional more than we need me for the bit that comes after. So, until I tell you otherwise, I'm going to be you. And you…"
Rory-as-the-Doctor knelt down to look into The-Doctor-as-Rory's eyes. "Are going to be me. If I can manage it for a few millennia, surely you can do it for a few hours. Right?"
"…Fine."
"Good. Now, get up. We can't sit around here lollygagging all day, gotta keep a tight schedule."
It was at this point that Amy's mouth finally caught up with her brain. And the result was loud.
"WHAT. THE HELL. IS THAT!"
"Simple math, my dear Amy. I've done the math, and sadly, I can afford to be fatally wounded far more than the Doctor can at this juncture. Never thought you'd run outta lives before me, eh Doctor?"
"Given the lengths you've gone to to gain more of them, I can't honestly say I'm surprised."
"Fair point."
"Will you two stop. FOR ONE. BLOODY. SECOND. AND TELL ME. WHAT IS GOING ON?!"
Rory grimaced and drilled a finger in his ear. "Blimey, there's the Scot coming out. Long story short, we're switching places. Just temporarily, mind you. Acting like dicky bow here for any longer than absolutely necessary isn't exactly something I'm keen on, mind you."
"I can assure you, the feeling's mutual."
"Now, I can appreciate that you've got questions Amy, but I'm afraid they'll just have to wait 'til we get our daughter back. Sorry, not. Now, if that's all taken care of…En Avante!"
VWORRP. VWORRP. VWORRP.
BOM.
The Doctor was already swinging the display around. "Where've we landed?"
Rory immediately swung it back. "Just a quick pop back to Leadworth to grab some…essentials. Essentials that should be along right about…"
SMASH!
SQUEEEEEEE!
"…Now."
"WHAT'VE YOU DONE TO…"
Rory slapped his hand over the Doctor's mouth. "Remember the deal, old friend. For now, you're me, and I'm you. And the TARDIS is perfectly fine, I assure you. Or at least, she will be. Now then…"
Rory took a step forward, and suddenly it was the Doctor standing in front of her, right down to the trademark grin when confronted with a delightful new puzzle. "Amy. Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?"
Friend? What fr…
Oh, bollocks.
Climbing out of the driver's side of the Trans-Am currently wedged in-between the doors of the TARDIS was the one person Amy was willing to bet had stolen it.
Mels.
"Oi, why don't you watch where you're going? I coulda left 'em in the dust!"
The sirens in the distance left no doubt as to who the 'them' was.
"Now I'm goin' to prison! Again!"
"Actually…" The fake Doctor stepped forward. "Yes to the going to prison bit, no to the leaving them in the dust. Well, I say yes and no, but I really mean no and yes. Long story, but basically, I'm from…"
Mels finished for him. "…the future, yeah I know. This is it, isn't it? The phone box. The bigger on the inside phone box."
The fake Doctor smiled. "Got it on one. Amy here just so happened to pick up tomorrow's paper and, well, seeing as how the stolen car was found abandoned, there was really only one explanation. So…welcome aboard the TARDIS!"
"Right. Amy's told me everything. Well, all except the bit about you being hot. But has she told you all about me?"
The fake Doctor said 'of course' just before Amy slapped the fake Rory to keep him from saying the opposite. Mels' eyes flicked over to the two of them. "Ah, what did poor little Rory do to get on your bad side, Amy?"
Amy opened her mouth…
But the fake Doctor got there first. "I'm afraid Rory here was rather of the mind that a night in jail might actually be good for you, despite any and all past experiences to the contrary."
Something flickered in Mels' expression. "Did he really? In that case…"
A gun. Where the bloody hell had Mels gotten her hands on a gun?
"…Sorry Doc, but I really don't want to go to prison."
The fake Doctor shrugged. "Understandable. And after all, the paper did say abandoned. Anywhere in particular you need a ride to?"
The barrel never wavered. "Hmm. Lets see. You've got a time machine; I've got a gun. What the hell; let's kill Hitler."
"That's…Melody."
"Yyyyyup."
"That's River Song."
"Yyyyyyyyyup."
"Who's River Song?"
"…Spoilers."
"Spoilers? What's spoilers? …Hang on, just something I have to check."
"…Is anyone else finding this day just a bit difficult?"
"…Nah. So…" The fake Doctor leapt from his spot on the desk. "Time to switch back. From here on out, everything's your show, Doctor. Well, almost everything. And you don't have long."
All three of them glanced in the direction River Song had gone.
Back-to-normal Rory tossed the Doctor a handful of bullets. "…You'd better get ready."
"Doctor? Doctor, what's wrong? What's she done?"
"Poisoned me. But I'm fine. Well, no, I'm dying. But I've got a plan."
"What plan?"
"Rrrrr….not dying; see, fine!"
Rory hauled the Doctor to his feet. "Rubbish plan. And you are most definitely not fine; well, not yet anyways. Come along, Amy. We've got a runaway kid to catch."
"But the Doctor!"
"He'll be fine. Probably. Just have to get him to the TARDIS, then we'll go from here."
"Don't you mean there?"
"I meant what I said. En Avante!"
Rory merely watched as the Teselecta's crew succumbed to the Antibodies.. "Sorry, chaps. She kills the Doctor, true enough. But you're forgetting two things. One, that's my daughter. And two…"
He knelt down beside the only remaining live crew member: the Captain. "Two…I'm the Master. And no one kills the Doctor but me. So, basically…run."
The captain disappeared in a flash of light.
Rory stood, brushed his hands on his trousers, and straightened his jacket. "Right. First thing I'm doing after this is getting a proper coat. Not nearly enough pockets in this one."
It was then he noticed her. Noticed what must've been clearly written on her face. "Oh, come on. Don't give me that look. You know what they did, what they planned to do. Did you really think they'd stop at torturing her? No, of course not. Them and their precious 'Justice Department'."
He practically spat the last phrase. "Justice. The second greatest lie in the universe. Well, maybe third. They would have executed her, timeline be damned. Its what they do. They 'give them hell'. I merely returned the favor."
"But they were good people!"
"Really? If they were really such 'good people', Amy, then tell me; what were they doing torturing like some of the bad ones? There's no such thing as a good man, Amelia. I would've thought the Doctor taught you that, at least."
His hands flew over the controls. "And here…we…go. Hello, Melody Pond! You are the most grounded little girl in existence right now!"
River practically sank to the floor. "…Dad?"
"Got it in one, sweetie. Daddy's here. Now, here's where I do the bit that the Doctor really won't like. Teselecta AI? You still active?"
"…Status: Active."
"Excellent. Now, Teselecta AI (not really a good name is it, that, Teselecta AI, needs work, how bout…Tango, yeah, that'll work), 'scuse me, Tango, do you have files on the being known as the Master?"
"…Records available."
"Display the Master's current appearance."
The pixels of the robot began to blur, floating, coalescing into a very familiar shape…
River slowly pushed herself up off the floor. "Wha…Dad…this isn't…funny…"
"I quite agree, sweetie. Nothing funny at all about it. Did you really think the Silence just so happened to choose I and your mother based on chance? That they just cooked themselves a Time Lord from a single spark of the Time Vortex? Please! They knew exactly what they were doing. Admittedly, they had no idea there was a chance of me 'waking up', so to speak; if they had, we might never have gotten this far."
"…We?"
"Oh, me and some friends of mine. Well, I say friends. More like family. Long story short: I'm here for two reasons. One, to keep Amy safe. And two…no one kills the Doctor but me. Not even my daughter."
"You're…a bit late…sweetie. I know…all about you." River was standing now. "The Master of Death. The second greatest renegade Gallifrey ever produced. Maybe you've always been my dad; maybe you haven't. It wouldn't be the first time you've taken a new body to cheat death. Trakken, wasn't it? Rather a habit of yours."
"And your point is?"
"My point is, sweetie, that either way, as far as I'm concerned…you killed my father. And now you're walking around in his corpse."
"Depends on your point of view. Now, I really hate doing this (and I mean really, really, hate). But there's a certain flow of events coming. Ones too important for even me to disrupt. So, before anything else, I just want to say…I'm sorry."
"…The Master never says he's sorry."
"He does now."
"…You're lying."
"Rule One: the Doctor lies. Rule Two: the Master never has to. I truly am sorry, Melody. I am so, so sorry. But this has to happen. And I'm not too inclined to rely on the innate goodness of your heart."
He stabbed one last control on the panel…and the red beam from before spat out of the Teselecta to surround River.
"Can't have you running off now, can we sweetie? Tango; you still with us?"
"Status: Active."
"Access files on River Song. Display current appearance."
Once more, the Teselecta shifted on the Master's orders. And once more, River Song's face froze in an expression of horror and understanding.
"That's…no…it can't…its..."
For a split second, Amy could clearly see just how much of her daughter was as lost as her father had been. "It's me."
"Not yet. But someday. Get it now? You've completed your programming's directive; you've killed the Doctor. He's dying, right here, right now. As of this moment, in the eyes of the Silence, you have no purpose. The second his hearts stop beating, so do yours. A weapon without a target is something the Silence can't afford to have. Especially when this, when River Song, is one of your possible futures."
She swallowed. "…Can you stop it?"
Amy's knuckles were white from gripping the chair in front of her.
"…No. But you can. If we drain some of your regenerations into the Doctor at the exact moment of his death, it should bring him back, and fool your own body enough to convince the Silence you're dead as well. Well, long enough for us to work something else out."
"…Promises, promises."
"Cross my hearts, sweetie. Well? What's it gonna be? Trust the man who you claim got your precious dad killed, or give me a head start on planning a double funeral?"
River's eyes bounced from the Teselecta, to the Doctor, then back again. "…Do it."
"Right-o. And here…"
A stabbed button.
"…we..."
A leap into the TARDIS.
"…Go."
BONG.
BONG.
BONG.
River's eyes cracked open. "…Did it work?"
Rory ran his fingers over hers. "Yup. All good now. Well, I say good. Probably got a lot more to take care of. But that can wait."
"…And…the Doctor?"
Amy's glanced over to see him leaning against the TARDIS. "He's here. Thanks to you. Next time you agree to give up your regenerations, you might want to be a bit less generous."
Rory laughed. "Generous. That's one way of putting it. You practically shoved everything you had left through the connection. Almost ended up killing you anyway. Fortunately, I am a genius."
Amy slapped the back of his head. "Ego much."
"Let's see you try and reverse the flow of nonessential regeneration energy back into the provider without killing both people involved. Til then, yes, ego, genius."
A nurse stepped forward to stand beside the bed. "I'm afraid she needs to rest, now. It won't be long at all before she's back on her feet. She'll be fine."
The Doctor uncrossed his arms. "No. She won't be fine."
He slowly placed a bright blue journal down on the nightstand. "She will be…amazing."
Rory smirked. "And fantastic."
"Naturally. So. Trip's over. What happens now?"
Rory frowned. "Now? Now…"
He sighed. "To tell you the truth, I don't know. Its up to Amy, now. Traveling with you, back too Leadworth, stay here with our daughter…its her decision."
The two Time Lords both looked at her. Just like old times; her boys, waiting on her orders.
She rubbed her arms. Why was it so cold in here? "I think…"
"Yes?"
"I think that…we should stay. For now."
"…You're sure, Pond?"
Rory snorted. "What, don't trust me with her Doctor? Relax; the only family I have is here. Where else would I go? I'll be here whenever you feel like dropping in."
She took a step forward. "Yeah, dropping in. Speaking of, whenever you just so happen to do that…maybe a trip, now and then?"
"…Of course, Pond. Til then, I guess. River. …Master."
"Not here, Doctor. Not now, at least. For now, I'm still Rory. That being said, if on one of our little excursions it comes down to saving you or Amy, I'm still picking her. And I may be a bit less inclined to follow your rules. Specifically the ones against physical violence."
"…Understandable. Just so long as you don't try anything with the TARDIS while my back is turned."
"Who, me?"
"Just so. Til next time, then."
As the TARDIS disappeared, Amy found herself watching Rory and River instead. Her daughter…and her husband. Both so very different from what they should have been. But they were still hers. And she would take every single second with them that she could get.