Jack Harkness had been sitting on a bench in Central Park, quite the distance away from where Hooverville was. Not that he had a problem with them, quite frankly he'd go and give them a hand wherever he could after he heard about the whole Dalek thing. He'd only heard whispers of it, and cursed his missing the Doctor and Rose once again, but he still sucked it up and went to help where could. He helped a wonderful, if not odd couple find a home in the suburbs, and helped pay for surgery to make the poor man less pig-like. Not that reconstructive surgery resulted in prettier faces in this era, but it was certainly better than the alternatives.
He was reading the paper, minding his own business, when someone appeared out of nowhere.
The man, handsome in his own way, was skinny, with sandy blonde hair and a roman nose. Dressed in 21st century clothes, Jack knew that he was clearly displaced through time.
"Hey there, handsome." He said, giving the man his best grin.
The man gaped at him, taking a couple of steps toward him, pointing at him in disbelief. "Jack." He said.
"Captain Jack Harkness, actually."
"Yeah, well aware of the whole Captain thing. What … what are you doing …?" Before the man could say anything more, a leggy redhead appeared a few feet away.
She looked around, eyes red and make up running like she'd been crying, her pale cheeks stained with tears. But the smile when she spotted the man made her whole demeanor change from sad to blissful in a moment. "Rory!" She cried out, dashing for him and jumping into his arms. "Oh I was terrified I wouldn't find you."
"I'm here, Amy, it's okay." Rory, apparently, soothed the redhead before he turned back to Jack. "I know you don't know us, yet, Jack, but we could use a favor."
~DWDWDW~
Jack had led them to a quaint little town house.
"It's not much, but it's yours. I'll leave you guys some cash, forged papers, get started. Easy enough since you come from across the pond." He explained as Amy and Rory looked around the simply furnished, two story interior.
"Can't thank you enough." Rory said, and Amy smiled with gratitude.
Jack shrugged, though she could tell there was a small part of him that was preening with the praise. "I've waited a while for my Doctor to find me, probably best that you two get settled while you wait for yours."
"And where you headed now, exactly?" Amy asked, crossing her arms and arching a brow at the Captain. "Where are you going to go?"
"With any luck back to England. Was planning to, anyway. I'll just stay in a hotel for the time being."
"No, no, you stay with us." Rory insisted. "You don't know this, yet, but we owe you a lot."
~DWDWDW~
Jack stayed a week, and then he was gone.
Rory started work at the hospital the following day, his modern knowledge allowing him to pass off as a family practitioner.
Amy wrote. Novels, mostly, though she submitted some articles to the local papers here and there as simply A. Williams. It didn't earn a lot, but it kept her busy when the expected tasks of house work did little to distract from the loss of her daughter.
A couple months passed, and no Doctor.
There was, however, a missed period.
~DWDWDW~
Anthony Augustus Brian Williams was born June 26th, 1939, about fifty years before his parents were even born. Amy clutched him close, and Rory wept in an entirely unmanly matter. Neither cared. Anthony was perfect in every way.
~DWDWDW~
"I don't think I can explain how we magically have another baby." Rory said as Amy cuddled Anthony against her chest. "I mean, he's growing normally, and everyone would expect to see your belly get bigger. And then, what would we do with Anthony in the meantime? We can't have the Doctor and Rose shuttle us through the time line."
"So what are you suggesting, Rory?" Amy asked, keeping her voice as soft as she could as to not wake their son.
"I'm saying that maybe we should stay." He said with a little apprehension. "If the Doctor shows up …."
"When," Amy corrected.
"We should tell him we're happy here. We have a family, and a good life." He then realized something, eyebrows lifting. "You are happy, aren't you?"
Amy looked down at the beautiful, chubby face of their sleeping boy. "I miss Melody." She admitted. "I miss her everyday, but … but you're right. How can we explain Anthony?"
"We already lose so much of her time." Rory said regretfully. "And when, as you say, the Doctor gets here, well … maybe he can bring her by to see us and her brother."
~DWDWDW~
It was four years after that deciding conversation that Amy found herself sitting across the table from her old friends. Her husband was at her side and holding her hand, as she explained their decision.
"But … your life. What will we tell Brian? What are we going to tell Melody?" The Doctor asked her, pain in his voice.
"Melody said she found out we were gone before you even came back for her." Amy replied. "Older Melody, River, she comes back now and then to see us. Her manipulator."
"How did she find out?" Rose asked, holding the Doctor's arm and rubbing it to give him comfort.
"We never asked." Rory replied. "She just asked us to trust that she knew."
They were all silent for a long pause, the ticking of the clock the only sound.
"Will you bring her by? Younger Melody?" Amy asked. "I want Anthony to meet his big sister, to understand why she's not with us all the time."
"Of course." The Doctor agreed, a said smile pulling at his lips. "Why don't we go fetch her right now? Be back in five minutes." He stood, pulling Rose along with him, and disappeared back into the TARDIS in the back garden.
Amy counted with baited breath the seconds that passed, staring at that spot like she had the night sky as a child, waiting for the Doctor to return.
A four minutes and forty-nine seconds, the TARDIS engines signaled their return.
~DWDWDW~
"You always knew." The Doctor said as they left 1943, and the Ponds, at least for a little while.
"Yes and no," Rose replied moving to hold her husband from behind. "You said companions, but you never said who, how, or why. And then you sealed the memories, or I did, one or the other." She squeezed him, burying her nose in his jacket and taking in his scent. "I need to go stay with River and Jenny for about a week." She admitted.
The Doctor spun around, looking down at her in panic. "Why?" He asked, searching her face as he nudged for her to reopen her end of the bond.
She did, flooding him with love and comfort. "Because the River we left in Manhattan is likely the one I go and visit Jenny with. We tell her about Amy and Rory, 's all I know."
"What am I going to do with out you?" He asked her, cupping her cheeks.
Rose smiled. "Wait until you miss me so much you can't take it, then ask the TARDIS to take you to when I'd need you most." She replied, biting her lip as she grinned.
He smiled slightly. "If it must be done." He relented. "But before you leave … I think … I want you near. I need you near. I need to know you're safe, and whole, and at my side."
"Always." She swore. "Never gonna leave you, not like that."
"Good." He said, giving her a gentle kiss. "To Woman Wept. A moment for us, to grieve the loss of them, and celebrate their happy lives."
"We'll see them again, yeah?" Rose reminded him. "Holidays, and the occasional weekend. They'll want Melody around for those. It's not the end of our life with the Ponds as part of it."
"You're right." He nodded in agreement before breaking into a grin, laughing as tears came to his eyes. "Rose Tyler, always making me see the better side of things. Always making me better, even after all this time." He then sprung around the console, doing the solo dance of piloting before Rose could think to join in. He chuckled, looking at the time rotor bob with child-like joy. "The Doctor and Rose Tyler in the TARDIS, next stop: everywhere!"
"Thought we were going to Woman Wept?" She asked.
"And eventually you go back with River to see Jenny, and I go see you in the past, but for now, Rose, now … it's on to the next adventure. Now, we run."
A/N: Thank you to the readers favoriters, followers, and reviewers.
samthewoman, Loca8892, xclairemarieX, Tori, Dreamcatcher56, pyro-pixichik, Darkelvorplorellion Tyler, WaitingformyDoctorintheTardis, and Leytra Incorporated.
Thank you all for leaving word.
Epilogue to follow.