Now
"Apalapucia," the Doctor said, clapping as he walked around the console.
Rory frowned. "Say it again?"
"What do you think?" he came to a stop at Adelaide's side. "Apalapucia?"
She smiled. "Apalapucia."
"Apalapu…" Amy tried.
"Cia."
"Apalapucia."
"Apalapucia."
"Apalapucia." Amy smiled. "What a beautiful word."
"Beautiful word, beautiful world." The Doctor spun away from Adelaide, continuing to pilot. "Apalapucia; voted number two planet in the top ten greatest destinations for the discerning intergalactic traveler."
Rory frowned, leaning back against the console railing. "Why couldn't we go to number one?"
Adelaide grimaced. "Everyone goes to number one. It's not special anymore. But Apalapucia…" she grinned. "Sunsets, spires, soaring silver colonnades…"
The Doctor brought them to the TARDIS doors. "I give you…" he opened them, stopping short at the sight of a white room with a pair of gray doors.
Rory raised his eyebrows, stepping out of the TARDIS. "Doors."
The Doctor nodded. "Doors. Yes. I give you doors. But on the other side of those doors, I give you sunsets, spires, soaring silver colonnades…" he turned to Adelaide. "We're on Apalapucia, right?"
"Yes, we are on Apalapucia," she said, though she frowned at the doors.
Amy stopped in the doorway of the TARDIS. "Have you seen my phone?"
"Your phone?"
"Yeah."
"Your mobile telephone? We bring you to a paradise planet, two billion light years from Earth, and you want to update Twitter?"
She shrugged. "Sunsets, spires, soaring silver colonnades. It's a camera phone."
The Doctor blinked. "On the counter, by the DVDs."
Amy nodded, returning to the TARDIS. "Thank you!"
Rory walked up to Adelaide, who was still studying the buttons. There was a green anchor and a red waterfall. "How do we get in?"
She shrugged. "Pick a button."
Rory, glancing at her again, pressed the green anchor. The door slid open and they found another white room, though this one had a table and chairs with an overlarge magnifying glass. "Okay," the Doctor mumbled, "so rain check on the soaring silver colonnades."
The door shut behind them as they stepped inside. "It's a magnifying glass," Rory said, bending to look more at it.
"Hey?" they heard Amy call through the door. "Hey, it's locked."
"Yeah, push the button." It was silent, but the door didn't open. "Come on, Amy." Still, nothing. The Time Lords exchanged a look, though they said nothing as Rory walked over and opened the door, revealing that Amy wasn't there. "Where is she? Where on wherever we are is my wife?"
"Rory," the Doctor called, making the man turn, "I think I've found her." They could see a blurry image of Amy in the glass, seeming to be looking at them through her own glass.
"What do you mean you've found her?" Rory walked over, gasping. "Whoa…no, but, she's not…she's not here. I can see her, but she's not here."
"Where am I?" Amy asked. The Doctor walked around the table, studying it, while Adelaide frowned at the glass. "In fact, where are you?"
The door opened and a white robot entered. It had red and green buttons on its torso and had actual hands. "Whoa," Rory said, putting his hands up, the Time Lords doing the same.
"Hands!" the Doctor pointed at them, looking at Adelaide in excitement. "Hello, hands. Robot with hands!"
"Welcome to the Two Streams Facility," the robot said. "Will you be visiting long?"
"Adelaide," Amy called, "something's happening."
She turned, sonicing it as the image seemed to be going in fast forward. "Stay still. Time's gone…"
"Wobbly?" the Doctor offered, walking over to help, and Adelaide shrugged. "I hate it when it does that."
The robot turned to Rory. "Will you be visiting long?"
He stepped back, eyeing the outstretched hand. "Good question. Bit sinister. What's the answer to not get us killed?"
"It's okay," the Doctor said to Amy, coming back to stand by Adelaide as the image stabilized. "We've got you, you're fine."
"Will you be visiting long?"
"Doctor?" Rory asked them. "Adelaide? A little help…"
But they were a bit distracted by how irritated Amy looked. "And where have you been?"
"What do I tell it?"
"I've been here a week!"
The Time Lords froze, looking at Amy with wide eyes. "A week?" the Doctor repeated. "A week? I'm so sorry…"
Adelaide's sonic made a sound and she looked at it. "Same room, different times."
The Doctor nodded. "Two different timestreams running parallel but at different speeds. Amy, you're in a faster timestream."
Amy groaned. "It's going again!"
"Doctor!" Rory shouted, but the Time Lords paid him no attention.
"Come on," the Doctor mumbled, working on the glass. "Gotcha! There, stabilized, settled, shush."
Rory frowned at the robot, not trusting it even if it had yet to move forward. "Why has this got hands?"
Adelaide stood, walking over to the robot while the Doctor worked on Amy. "Organic skin, ultimate universal interface, grown and grafted, not born." She let one of her hands hover over the robot's, though she didn't dare let herself actually touch it. "It's scanning the room with its fingers…but why not give it eyes?"
"Will you be visiting long?" the robot asked her.
"As long as it takes," the Doctor mumbled, still standing before Amy. "Amy, what exactly did you do?"
"I just…I came in and I pressed the door button."
Rory sighed. "Oh, Amy, there are two buttons. The green anchor and the red waterfall. Which one did you push?"
"I pushed the red waterfall."
"Great." Rory stepped outside, though he returned a few seconds later with a frown. "I pressed red waterfall, and she wasn't there."
"Okay, so you can't follow her directly. You know, it's never simple."
Adelaide stepped a bit back from the robot. "Do you understand the concept that, as you neglected to provide proper instructions, she pressed the wrong button."
"Statement rejected." A red light blinked on its chest. "Apalapucia is under plant-wide quarantine. This is a kindness facility for those infected with Chen Seven."
Immediately, the Time Lords covered their mouths, stepping back. "What?" the Doctor said.
"Chen Seven, hmm?" Rory covered his own mouth at the Time Lords' reaction.
"The one day plague."
"What, you get it for a day?"
Adelaide shook her head. "You get it and you die in a day."
"There are forty thousand residents in the Two Streams Facility. Please remain in the sterile areas. Visiting hours are now." The robot pressed its hands together and teleported itself away.
Adelaide uncovered her mouth. "Sterile area." She looked to the Doctor. "We're safe." He nodded, though he was a bit more uneasy about uncovering his mouth than Adelaide was.
"What about me?" Amy called.
"Chen Seven only affects two-hearted races, such as Apalapucians."
"And Time Lords," Rory added.
The Doctor nodded. "Yeah, like us." He gestured between himself and Adelaide. "Walk into that facility, we're dead in a day. Time moves faster on Amy's side of the glass."
Adelaide turned back to the glass. "You said you'd been here for a week; what did you eat?"
She shrugged. "Nothing, I wasn't hungry."
The Doctor moved to stand beside Adelaide. "No, because that red waterfall time is compressed. That's the point. The Time Glass syncs up the two timestreams for visits. You could be in here for a day, and watch them live out their entire lives."
Rory frowned. "And watch them grow old in front of your eyes? That's horrible."
"No, Rory, it's kind. You've got a choice; sit by their bedside for twenty-four hours and watch them die, or sit in here for twenty-four hours and watch them live. Which would you choose?" the Doctor picked up the glass.
"Doctor?" Amy shouted, sounding desperate. "No, don't leave me!"
"We're here, Amy. We're right here."
They could still see Amy sitting where she had been previously, though clearly she couldn't see them. "Where are you? Am I looking at you?"
"Turn left just a fraction." Amy did as the Doctor said. "Bit more…stop. That's it."
"Eye to eye?"
"Eye to eye to eyes."
Rory waved, even if Amy couldn't see it. "Hello."
"Amy, we're taking the Time Glass back to the TARDIS," the Doctor said, glancing at Adelaide for her approval. "Like sat-nav, we'll use it to get a lock, then smash through using the TARDIS to get you out. Until then, you're on your own." He held the device for Adelaide to sonic.
"What are you doing?"
"Locking it on to Amy," Adelaide said. "Since it's a small act of vandalism, I decided I should be the one to do it." An alarm sounded. "And that's the small-act-of-vandalism alarm. Goodness, haven't set off one of those in a while."
"You've set off a vandalism alarm before?" the Doctor asked.
Adelaide shrugged. "First regeneration was a bit more…carefree about the whole thing." She turned to the glass. "Amy, we're going to need you to go into the facility to leave us a sign. Don't let them give you anything; you may be immune to Chen Seven, but the system won't know you're an alien."
"Their kindness will kill you," the Doctor said. "Now go."
Amy walked over to the door and pressed a button, making the door slide open into a lift. "Rory, I love you. Now save me. Go on."
|C-S|
The Doctor ran up to the TARDIS console immediately, with Adelaide and Rory joining him at a far slower pace, since he already had Adelaide's sonic in case he needed it. "This is locked onto Amy permanently." He inserted the glass into the console. "Play the signal into the console, the TARDIS'll follow it." He attached a cable and then spun to dig through a box he had beneath the console. "Now then, I know you're in here."
Adelaide shook her head as she watched him. "Can you just let me clean your TARDIS, for once?"
"I know where everything is!"
"Clearly."
He stood up, putting on a pair of glasses. "How do I look?"
"Ridiculous," Rory said, in a tone that made Adelaide smirk.
"Glasses are cool, see?" he put them on Rory. "Oh, yes. Hello, handsome man."
Rory looked a bit surprised. "Oh…hello."
The Doctor waved. "Hello, Rory-cam."
"Huh?" the Doctor pointed to the side, letting Rory see that whatever he was looking at appeared on the monitor. "Oh, you can see what I see."
"We're breaking into Two Streams. Adelaide and I can't go in there; the Chen Seven'll kill us, no regeneration. You will be our eyes and ears."
Rory nodded. "Rory-cam. Rescue Amy. Got it."
The Doctor grinned. "That's the spirit. Now, smashing through a timewall could get a bit hairy."
"Is it safe?" he looked to Adelaide.
She shrugged. "Never tried."
They turned to the Doctor. "Don't know. Best hold onto something." He flicked a lever, sending them off, though the Doctor started laughing as he held on. Even Adelaide grinned; as serious and polite as being around the Doctor made this regeneration be, she did still enjoy the more exciting TARDIS flights they went on.
But it felt like she was forcing it because it was what her past regenerations had liked. Like it didn't quite sit with this one. Like nothing she'd ever been like before sat with this one.
Adelaide had recently realized that she wanted to regenerate. To return to what she'd been like before the Time War.
She hadn't told the Doctor, but she knew it was true.
She didn't want to be Time Lady Victorious anymore.
|C-S|
The Time Lords, standing before the monitor, watched as Rory stepped out of the TARDIS wearing the glasses. He had Adelaide's sonic and the time glass, and slowly looked around the room full of various art pieces. She recognized almost all of them, despite never having been overly interested in art.
"Red waterfall!" Rory cheered once he saw the logo on the wall. "We made it."
The Doctor grinned. "Good old us!"
"How do we know that we're in the same Red Waterfall as Amy?"
"Focus on the positive." Rory looked around the room. "We locked onto Amy's timestream…"
Rory's gaze lingered on a statue of Venus. "Rory?" Adelaide called, making him look away quickly.
"Right, yes, sorry."
"Apalapucians are scavengers of culture," she explained, giving the Doctor a shove when he smirked. "This gallery must be a scrapbook of their various favorite locations."
Rory nodded. "Bit of Earth, bit of alien, bit of…whatever the hell that is." He continued walking, though stopped. "Where is everyone?"
The Doctor frowned. "Right…Rory, switch the Time Glass on and sonic it. I'm sending a command signal to the screwdriver. Amy's here somewhere, if I can just get a lock on her. I wonder what happens if we mix the filters?" he worked on the console, Adelaide just leaning against it as she watched, attempting to stay out of his way.
She moved over when she saw a reading appear on the screen. "Forty thousand time streams overlapping," she whispered. "Red Waterfall isn't just one timestream, it's thousands."
"Are they happy?"
She smiled briefly. "Thank you, Rory, for thinking of that."
The Doctor nodded. "I think they're happy to be alive. Better than the alternative."
Rory lowered the Time Glass with just enough time to see someone dressed in handmade armor running towards him with an outstretched sword. "I come in peace!" he backed up, raising his arms. "Peace, peace, peace, peace!" he fell back as the person held the sword to his throat.
Adelaide's eyes just widened as she saw a bit of red hair drifting free from the person's armor. "No…"
"I waited," the person said, their voice computerized, clearly having built their armor from the robots.
"Sorry, what?"
"I waited for you." The person pulled away. "I waited for you!" They lifted the visor to show that, as Adelaide had expected, it was Amy Pond, only it was clear that years had passed.
"Amy…" Rory breathed. "Doctor, Adelaide, what's going on?"
"Er…" the Doctor looked to Adelaide, but she was watching the monitor.
"Amy…"
"I think the timestream lock might be a bit wobbly," the Doctor said quietly.
Amy raised her sword, looking prepared to strike. "No, please! Please!"
"Duck!" thankfully, Rory listened, letting Amy stab one of the robot's straight through the head. She crouched over it. "Handbots carry a black box in case they go offline. I've changed the cause of termination from hostile to accidental. Easy to re-program. Used my sonic probe."
"Amy."
Amy looked to him. "Rory."
"Why?"
"Because I've survived this long by making the Handbots think I don't exist." She pointed at the hands. "Don't touch the hands. There's anesthetic transfer on the skin. If they touch you, you go to sleep."
"But you're still here?"
"You didn't save me." Amy stood and walked off, though Rory ran after her.
"But, this is the saving. This is us saving you! The Doctor just got the timing a bit out."
"Sorry," the Doctor said.
"It was my fault too," Adelaide said, touching his arm.
Amy didn't look back at Rory. "I've been on my own here for a long, long time. I've had decades to think nice thoughts about both of them. Got a bit harder to stay charitable once I entered decade four."
Rory gasped. "Forty years? Alone?"
"Thirty-six years, thanks."
"No, right, I mean…you look great. Really, really…"
"Eyes front, soldier."
"Still can't win then."
"In fact, I think I can now definitely say I hate them. I hate the Doctor and Adelaide. I hate them more than I've ever hated anyone in my life, and you can hear every word of this through those ridiculous glasses, can't you, Addy and Raggedy Man?"
Adelaide looked down, flicking a switch. "Putting the speakerphone on."
"You told me to wait, and I did. A lifetime."
"Amy…"
"You've got nothing to say to me."
"Behind you!"
Amy spun and, tossing the sword to Rory, ducked down and pressed the hands of two of the robots together, seeming to short them out. "Feedback. Knocks them out. Learned that trick on my first day." She stood and continued walking, though Rory followed her out.
"Okay," Rory said, "so we just take the TARDIS back to the right timestream, yeah? We can stop any of this happening."
The Doctor shook his head. "We locked onto a timestream, Rory. This is it."
"This is so wrong."
"I got old, Rory. What did you think was going to happen?"
Rory grabbed her arm, making her stop and actually look at him. "Hey, I don't care that you got old. I care that we didn't grow old together. Amy, come on, please."
Amy wrenched her arm away from him. "Don't touch me. Don't do that."
"It's like you're not even her."
"Thirty-six years, three months, four days of solitary confinement." She stopped before a door with undefined red marks on it. "This facility was built to give people the chance to live. I walked in here and I died. Do you have anything to say? Anything, Doctor, Adelaide?"
"Where did you get a sonic probe?" Adelaide asked.
"I made it."
"You made a sonic screwdriver?"
"Probe; the interface helped," she corrected, before turning and leading the way through the doors. Rory stopped at the sight of the large engines but eventually followed Amy through a small curtain. He stepped back at the sight of a robot with a face drawn on it. "Don't worry about him. Sit down, Rory."
Both Rory and the robot did as she said. "You named him after me?"
Amy shrugged. "Needed a bit of company."
"So he's like your…pet? Is it safe?"
"Yep. I disarmed it."
"How?" Rory looked down at the robot, seeing that the hands were cut off. "Oh, you dis-armed it."
"Oh, don't get sentimental," Amy scoffed, "it's just a robot. You'd have done the same."
"I don't know that I would have," the Doctor said.
Amy turned and glared at the glasses. "And there he is, the voice of God. Survive, because no one's going to come for you. Number one lesson. You taught me that?"
"Is that really all I taught you?"
"It wasn't just you," Amy informed them. "But don't you lecture me, blue-box aliens flying through time and space on whimsy. All I've got, all I've had for thirty-six years, is cold, hard reality. So no, I don't have a sonic screwdriver because I'm not off on a romp. I call it what it is; a probe. And I call my life what it is; Hell."
"Amy Pond," the Doctor whispered, "I am going to put this right."
A/N: What's this? Adelaide wants to regenerate? That can't be good...
Notes on reviews:
Starangel5593: Thankfully, didn't procrastinate studying this weeks midterms, even if it did mean no chapter in the middle of the week :)