I was really happy this, by the way, with respect to Amy and Kate's interaction here. One of the times I feel like I've got Amy's cold, distant inhumanity vs. her brittle vulnerability right.

CHAPTER 35. His Worst Nightmare Come True: 1 April 2011

Dying is unpleasant.

Really very, very unpleasant. For one thing, most modes of death involve pain of some kind, which is always a downer. Even the few that don't still leave you aware that your body is shutting down, and the steady loss of control never fails to be disconcerting. And usually painful.

Indeed, Jack Harkness was well aware that 'instant death'... wasn't, usually. But at least he could return to actually say so, and moreover he was in the (as far as he knew) unique situation of saying that whilst dying sucked, coming back was just as bad.

It wasn't like waking up at all. It was more like being struck by lightning (and he knew what that felt like too), the sudden jolt of energy that ran through his body as his nervous system suddenly reactivated. Every cell, every bone, every nerve felt as if it were on fire.

After a second, the sensation stopped and Jack opened his eyes. That was the one advantage coming back had – you were actually alive afterwards. Panting heavily, he gazed around to get a bearing on his surroundings.

He could feel a fierce warmth on his face. Must be afternoon. As the world came into focus around him, however, he saw black shaded with blue, speckled by twinkling stars above him.

What?

He looked around more closely. He was still in the forest, surrounded by odd, organic looking structures, twisted, scaly ochre-coloured columns ten feet high.

Um... what?

He tried to stand up and move away, but immediately found himself blocked by an invisible wall. The air glowed red around him as the forcefield revealed itself. Damn.

"He wakes," a voice, a low, reptillian hiss, emerged from the shadows. He span around, looking for the source, but there was nothing to be seen in the darkness of the forest.

"The deathless one?" Another voice, this one even lower and hissier – frankly, rather evil-sounding.

"Yes."

"Kill him again, maybe that will see an end to him."

His blood ran cold. Ah, no, I'd rather you didn't.

"Look, I'm a prisoner, OK?" He called out in his firm American accent, belying his sudden nervousness. He held up his open palms for emphasis "See? Unarmed."

"He speaks our tongue," the first voice replied, clearly hesitant.

There was an odd shrieking noise, one that sounded oddly like... laughter? "He has raised claws, fool. If you won't, I'll take him myself."

He barely had time to turn around to see a towering repticore, blood-eyed, claw glinting in the starlight poised to strike him down. He began to stagger away, hoping the forcefield would protect him (or, even better, not be there at all) but the repticore seemed to pass straight through it.

Uh oh.

Suddenly, just as the repticore was about to strike him down there was a flash of gold and a ear-shattering shriek from the repticore. It beat a hasty retreat as another, even larger repticore, this one with chocolate-brown scales and a thin golden stripe down its back, chased it away.

Jack blinked once, twice. That definitely wasn't in the script. Still facing the gigantic lizard, he reached an arm behind him to check that the forcefield was still there. A burning sensation told him it was, and he quickly drew his arms back, raising his palms once more in a probably-pointless gesture of surrender.

"You know," the repticore before him said, still yet to turn to face him, "in our culture, raising your claws is the most aggressive gesture one can give, and generally precedes an attack."

His hands were in his pockets before he could even process the words. The repticore gave that odd hiss-shriek of a laugh again before continuing.

"I apologise for the behaviour of my children. They can be... reckless at times." Another rasping noise, this one unquestionably a tired sigh. "Five decades trapped here, and my children still do not understand the ways of our people."

Jack opened his mouth, but no words came out. Nothing about this made sense – for once thing, this repticore seemed, well, if not friendly, polite. And not a mindless animal, either. And – five decades trapped here... whatever that meant, it certainly wasn't anything he'd expected.

"Who – who are you?" He eventually managed to say, in a voice quavering much more than he'd intended.

"Hm. I think the more useful question, deathless, is who you are and why you are here. After all, you are in my domain." The repticore turned at last, and Jack saw for the first time that rather than blood-red, its eyes were a piercing sky-blue – not unlike the Doctor's, he realised. Anyway, it had asked a question and he decided it would be a very good idea if he were truthful from now on – the more he looked at those claws the sharper they seemed.

"Captain Jack Harkness," he trotted out immediately, only just catching himself before he pulled out his usual salute. Probably not a good idea in the circumstances.

Another shriek-laugh, though this seemed more a chuckle. "Captain? You run a ship?"

He swallowed a little. Why did the dangerous ones always have to be so smart? "Er, no. I... it's not really a proper rank, just a title, I, um..."

"Took?"

Be honest. "Well... yeah." He swallowed again, not really enjoying this conversation one bit. "Listen, I don't wish you any harm, but-"

"But you wished us enough harm to try and kill some of my children," the repticore pointed out, its eyes flashing dangerously.

Jack's face paled. That had been a bad thing to say for sure. "I'm sorry, I wasn't aware-"

"Yes, you did it in self-defence. Perhaps in future you may consider that self-defence runs both ways, but no matter. You wish to leave, I know, but I'm afraid you cannot do that."

The blood almost froze solid in Jack's veins. "Why... why not?"

"Oh, you're free to leave here whenever you please, with the obvious rider that if you attack us we will kill you – though that isn't much of an issue where you are concerned," the repticore noted. "But I digress. What I was referring to is that you cannot leave this place, this world. It is simply not possible in the way you desire."

Is this thing psychic? He was intrigued now, curiosity replacing fear. He decided to sit down, a neutral, open gesture that would hopefully ease the chances of getting his head cut off. "How did you know I'm from another world?"

"You are a time traveller; our kind can smell it. We know of the machine that brought you here, and the device you wear on your claw."

"I don't understand," Jack replied, stating the obvious. He had no idea how a lizard could 'smell' time machines, he had no idea what that meant. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"You will have noticed by now that time travel is impossible. Yet your device somehow transported you from elsewhere on this world back here; we watched you leave. I find this curious – why did you come back?"

He blinked, frowned slightly. "I didn't choose to come back here. Someone-" he almost said tricked, but stopped himself in time, "-sent me."

"To...?"

"To... look for a friend."

"I see. And presumably you wish to take her away from this place in your time machine?"

"Yes – hang on." Something it had said had jarred in his mind. One word, perhaps the clue he'd been looking for, had died for. "Her?"

The repticore turned away, evidently deep in thought. "Several night-cycles ago," it began, "two beings stumbled into our territory. One human, one not. Beyond that we knew nothing of them. Naturally, some of my children interpreted this as an attack and rushed to eliminate the intruders. None returned."

His pulse quickened. That definitely sounded like Amy. And two beings – Kate was with her. This was good news. Very, very good news.

"When I discovered this, I decided to investigate myself. But I did not attack, as it was immediately clear they were fleeing from our territory. I followed them through the forest, remaining hidden right up until I caught up with the girls. They could not sense me for some reason, and I had to be almost within striking distance to sense them. But what I felt... was beyond my comprehension. A mind the size of a star."

It clicked instantly. Amy.

"And where is she?" He shot bolt upright, face alight with eager anticipation, full of excitement. "Is she safe? Where has she gone?"

The repticore sighed. "I do not know. They are gone; I cannot sense her now. Both of them seemed hurt before they left with a human in one of the man-ships. Where they are now, I cannot say. I believe they are alive, however."

His shoulders slumped, his eyes downcast. Well, it had been a brief hope, but that would have been much too easy, wouldn't it? One thing itched in his mind, however, about the beings surrounding him. "You talk as if you can sense time, but you're psychic as well? How does that work?"

Another dry shriek-chuckle. "Captain Harkness, there are many things about us you do not understand, but you will most likely find those out in due course. But the passage of time is intimately linked to how it is perceived, those aware of the flow of time will likely be attuned to how it is perceived by others. They are, in many senses, one and the same."

"So, what, you can sense the flow of time in this place? Do you know why the TARDIS is broken, then? Our time machine?"

The repticore turned to face him directly, sky-blue reptillian eyes meeting sky-blue human eyes. "Yes. And because of that, I wish to make you an offer."

Jack stiffened, instantly on guard.

"What kind of offer?"

"One that will save my people."

Jack was still very, very wary, but given the forcefield surrounding him and the imposing, vicious nature of his captors, he didn't have much choice in the matter, did he?

"I'm listening."

The scenario Amy had created for them was straight out of the 'surreal' box, what with its maze-like network of brick walls, behind many of which were black-suited assassins. The goal was simple – get to the other side.

Easier said than done, as Kate found out. She wasn't a Time Lord, she couldn't just feel people around the corner. She had to rely on old fashioned tricks like listening for breaths, guessing for ambush spots and sheer dumb luck. Unfortunately for her, luck wasn't on her side, and often the first moment she found out about its abandonment of her was when a sword or bullet got driven straight through her chest.

Oh for god's sake, she thought, crumpling to the floor and looking down to see herself bleeding out for the fifth time. Time to start again. Fortunately, Amy had placed a pain filter on her headset for her, so it hurt no more than a bee sting. It was kind of annoying, however, they way she lost control over her body as she, well, died. When Kate had asked Amy if her headset had a similar filter, though, the Time Lady had been strangely – not to mention suspiciously – evasive.

After another two failed attempts, she finally made it to the other side of the maze. She leaned against the last corner, levelling her breathing off and pressing her ear against the wall so she could hear whatever was around the corner.

Nothing there... but she would wait a bit longer before dashing out. She'd learnt that lesson the nasty way. A good decision, because a minute later, she heard a noise that most definitely wasn't meant to be there.

A cough.

She narrowed her eyes. Take him on or try and sneak past? She decided, as usual, on the former. She steeled her muscles, readying herself, and with a single movement dashed out behind the corner and raised her blaster rifle to firing position.

But it wasn't an assassin behind the corner at all. She lowered the gun.

"Amy?"

The Time Lady was sitting on the polished concrete floor, leaning against the outside wall of the maze. "'Bout bloody time. I've been waiting for you here for about an hour." She gave Kate a thin smile before coughing again. Kate was about to ask why she was coughing.

Then she saw the blood dribbling from her mouth.

Oh no. She raced over, letting the weapon fall from her hands. "Amy – what the hell? What haven't you healed yourself?" Kate could only 'heal' herself by, well, dying and causing a reset, but Amy was in full control here – she could do anything she wanted.

Amy closed her eyes as Kate knelt before her and leaned her head against the wall. She chuckled but immediately winced, clearly in quite some pain. "That'd be cheating," she managed to say.

"Cheating? Seriously, Amy? You're bleeding out on a wall. You even bothered to fix your clothes and clean up the blood, but you're not going to heal yourself?"

"More or less," Amy replied with as much nonchalance as she could muster. "In normal circumstances, I'll be dead – or regenerating – in a few minutes from blood loss. Teach me to try and do a speed run of the maze."

"Do you even have a pain filter?"

"Nope, nothing. This is exactly how it would feel in real life."

Kate pinched the bridge of her noise. "Jesus bloody Christ. How many times did you go through?"

"Only had to go through it once. Didn't go as well as I'd like, though." Amy winced again, and only gave token resistance when Kate peeled back some of her clothes.

"Oh gods," Kate gasped when she saw the extent of her friend's injuries. There were several lacerations across her torso and arms, some quite deep, and what was unmistakeably a gunshot wound in her lower belly. Well, that explained her current condition. The sight of it made Kate's blood run cold. "Oh, shit. Amy, Amy, Amy." She peeled back even more clothing, exposing the Time Lady's upper body. There were several cuts to Amy's upper chest as well. It was more than enough to make Kate feel nauseous. She shook her head.

"Amelia Pond, look at me," she told Amy sternly. The use of her real name was enough to make Amy comply, slowly opening her eyelids to meet her friend's furious gaze. "I'm going to ask you again – why the hell won't you heal yourself?"

Amy frowned and coughed again, weakly, before answering in a voice only just above a whisper. "How much do you know about pain, Katherine?"

"I know enough," Kate replied firmly. "I know enough that what you've done – what you've become – is just plain bloody stupid. In case you've forgotten, I almost died myself in that forest. So don't you lecture me about getting hurt."

Amy narrowed her eyes ever so slightly, opening her mouth to respond, but before she could do so another wracking spasm and cough coursed through her body. Her eyes darkened, glassing over as her head rolled limply to the side, her breathing ceased.

Kate closed her eyes and bowed her head, rubbing her forehead with her palm. "So is this it?" She shouted angrily to no one in particular. Certainly not at the 'dead' Time Lady in front of her. "Is this some kind of emo-trip, you think that the hurts you get here can distract you from the hurt in the real world?"

"No."

Kate opened her eyes and stood, turning to find a very much alive-and-well Amy Pond behind her, sword fastened to her belt, arms folded across her chest and gazing coolly at Katherine with steel in her emerald gaze.

"Then what, huh? Why subject yourself to this?"

"To teach myself."

"Teach yourself what?" Kate yelled at her. "'Oh, try not to get stabbed, that sort of hurts and you'll probably die.' Great lesson, thanks. Really needed to know that."

A flutter ran through Kate's mind, a flash of anger emanating from the red-head before her. But Amy controlled it, her face remained impassive and her voice level. "You don't get it, do you? All the most important lessons in my life have come when I was hurt."

"Like what? Like that coma you had when you were fifteen, which taught you never to trust anyone ever again? That taught you that you were the only person that could help you? "

Another flash of anger, this one much, much stronger. "If you've seen that you'd know that I was trying to forget about that, if you didn't mind. A task you haven't made easier by taking all those memories from me."

"Then what?! Because if you hadn't noticed, you were wrong about that. And you were wrong about me when you thought I was your worst enemy. You were wrong about the Doctor when you thought he'd never come back."

"I know." Amy replied, still keeping her voice rigidly even. She was not going to have a repeat of last night. "And you know something? That's why I am who I am."

"You can dispense with the philosophy, thanks, I'm not in the mood. All I want to know is WHY. In case you hadn't noticed, I died a fair few times on the way here too but I didn't choose to get hurt."

"Nor did I, genius," Amy snapped back, her first external display of emotion. "I don't believe in self-harm. I've been dealing with pain my whole life, I don't need to add more of my own. It wasn't this sword that cut me to ribbons."

"Bullshit," Kate snarled back at her. "This entire place, everything and everyone here is a product of your mind, Amy. You let yourself get hurt, that's why you didn't... oh."

It was a flash of light in her head, an epiphany, pure and simple. Everything clicked into place. Finally, after years and years of trying and failing, she finally understood what made Amy Pond tick.

It was if she saw her friend in a brand new light; no longer the hard, aggressive firebrand, but the scared, confused and vulnerable young girl hidden inside. She saw through all those walls, those barriers, internal and external, that had been years in the making – now all crumbled to dust, leaving her friend raw, exposed. Saw through the coarse outer shell into the chaotic emptiness within. The fury in her eyes didn't quite dissipate, but her voice softened ever so slightly.

"You really, really hate yourself, don't you? More than anything in your life. You've loathed yourself for years. Not just simple, superficial hatred, but deep, full-on contempt. That's why you were so cold and distant to Rory when you were together. That's why you didn't heal yourself. You simply don't care."

Katherine paused, eyeing for a reaction. Amy didn't so much as move a muscle. She barrelled on, determined to get this out in the open, confront Amelia with the harsh reality of what she was becoming.

"That's why you don't really mind that everyone thinks you're dead. That's why you wished you were normal again, free of all the responsibilities and power so you couldn't really hurt anyone else. Not in a big way, anyway. And all that cockiness, hitting on boys, the kissogram, the racy outfits, that whole 'Amy' shtick, that's just you trying not to think about it, isn't it? Trying to get you away from yourself. It's not just that you didn't trust me or Rory or anyone else. You don't trust yourself at all."

Amy didn't answer, but her shell cracked at last. Her expression loosened, softened, her eyes averted and her shoulders slumped slightly. Kate knew instantly that she was on the money, and her voice dropped to a gentle whisper as understanding grew.

"Why, Amelia? Is it a species thing? Because you told me that the Doctor hates himself too."

"He shouldn't." Amy answered in a flat, bitter monotone. "He saves people. I don't."

"You saved me."

"And I have to. It's what I have to do now. I have to save you, I dragged you into this mess, I have to get you out. But instead I almost tried to kill you."

Kate brushed it off, knowing that Amy was referring to the freak incident when Amy had hit her on the side of the head in a fit of rage and caused a major scare, years ago now. They were both different people back then. "The first time was an accident. Last night wasn't real anyway."

"And nor is this. But as you said, this is all a product of my mind, isn't it? I wanted to. That's the point."

"But you said sorry for it."

Amy laughed, a cold, mirthless laugh. "You think that makes it OK, does it? 'Sorry, I almost slit your throat just now, but I'll just make a little speech which makes everything hunky-dory.'"

"I know you wouldn't actually kill me. I know I asked some stupid questions, and I did a dumb thing by stealing your memories."

"Yeah, you did, but that's in the past now, isn't it? You're probably my best friend now, since the Doctor and I are a bit more than friends, I barely know Jack and, well, Rory... look what I did to him. He adored me, he cared for me, he stood by me every step of my life, and what did I do?" Another cold, bitter laugh. "I ran away from him on the night before his wedding, tried to cheat on him and broke his heart. And you... as I said, you're one of my best friends now, you're one of the only people who knows I'm still alive, and, well..."

"Amy, I trust you," Kate told her simply. "I know you'll get us out of here alive. You're like the Doctor – you save people. That's why you're a Time Lady."

"You know why I'm a Time Lady," Amy reminded her.

"That's not what I meant, dolt."

Amy gave a fleeting smile, but it quickly vanished, replaced by a far-away, pensive expression. "Can I show you something?"

"Whatever you like. You're in control here."

The Time Lady closed her eyes as the world dissolved around them.

"Not possible."

"No such thing."

"I appreciate that, Doctor, but if she's fled to one of the enclaves as I suspect she has, the equaliser field is too weak to find anyone there. That's probably good for her safety, if your theory is correct," Stanley pointed out.

"We're not talking about an ordinary person here, Stanley, or even an ordinary Time Lord," the Doctor replied, pacing up and down. "Is there any way, any way at all, of contacting her without attracting attention?"

"Couldn't you just talk to her in your mind?" Michael asked. "I mean, that seems the simplest option if she's as strong as those impulses say she is."

He'd had to tell them the truth about her as soon as they'd asked; the evidence, after all, was right before their eyes, there was no use hiding it.

"I wouldn't be able to get my message over the noise unless you disabled the entire equaliser field. Given that that amounts to a planet-wide blackout, I don't think that's a wise idea. I'm not here to cause that much trouble." Not yet, he added in his mind.

"Have you tried?"

"Yes."

Michael seemed a little put out by having his idea shot down so easily, so he sunk back into his chair. The Doctor took little notice of him, continuing to pace.

"There must be some way to find her..." he muttered. "Come on... psychic enclave, they fled in a shuttle, but she's hiding herself with Kate and some guy called Iverson. Where would she have gone?"

"Wait," Stanley cut across him, his voice suddenly sharp. "Did you just say 'Iverson'?"

"I did." The Doctor stopped in his tracks, intrigued by the sudden change of tone. "Did you know him?"

A far-away look had crossed Stanley's face. Apparently Iverson gone missing at the hospital, but he hadn't concerned himself much over finding him. If the girls had gone with him, however, Stanley knew that there was only one place he would take them. He'd not spoken to his brother in years, not after the falling out they'd had. But if he had to talk to him to find out the truth about his creation, then so be it. He clicked his fingers at the technician who was still busy repairing a server on the wall. "Reroute my communicator to quantum entanglement line X162 and set up a call," he ordered with full military force. He pulled out a pocket communicator and tossed it to the Doctor, who caught it in front of his face.

"Do you think you can find her?" He asked as he put the communicator against his ear and moved towards an adjoining room to take the call.

"I already have."

An epiphany was a glorious experience. Having your eyes opened, your whole view on the world shaken, stirred and turned upside-down was truly uplifting, invigorating once you saw the world in a completely new light. Some epiphanies were instant.

This one took two minutes.

A hundred and twenty seconds and all was clear. The failure of the TARDIS and of his vortex manipulator. The reason the Doctor had never heard of this place, as if it were completely absent from time. The true nature of the repticore before him; not wild, untamed beasts but a dying, starving race.

But it also told him one other thing, the clearest revelation of all: Amy and the Doctor were in a world of trouble. And they probably didn't know. So he had one condition to impose.

"Alright," he said, standing fully upright, no longer fearful or apprehensive, but burning with purpose and energy. "I'll help you. But on one condition."

The gold-scaled repticore was, fortunately, sufficiently wise to know that he couldn't have it all his way. After all, the human was the immortal one here. "Name it."

"You help me find my friends. Once we're done, once we've destroyed the equaliser field, you help me find them and get them safe."

The repticore mulled it over for a few seconds. Well, it was only three people. In return for saving three people, an entire race, a people would be saved. It was more than a fair trade.

"We have a deal."

Jack beamed, his first open display of happiness in... he had no idea how long. If this works... well, Amy would be buying him drinks for the rest of the year. The repticore extended a claw-fingered arm out towards him. He hesitated before taking it, still apprehensive of just how dangerous it looked. But then he remembered – it wasn't as if his own hands were free of blood. Far from it.

He wrapped his hand around the clawed fingers and sealed the first agreement between repticore and human in living memory.

Just one more thing left to do, then.

"So what is your name?"

The repticore gave another dry chuckle. "Our kind do not use names often, we find them redundant when there are so few of us remaining. But in the name of courtesy, I will introduce myself. I am Machariam – the last father of our people."

When Amy opened her eyes again, the maze had gone. In its place was a large, darkened room, illuminated by a dull red light and lined with computer terminals. Cascading sparks from broken cables lightened the room every now and then. The TARDIS was sitting in the corner.

"Weapons systems activated."

Kate looked around for the source of the computerised voice. The Doctor and Rory were poring over a large terminal, Amy standing with a large pistol in her pocket about ten metres behind. There were several other people Kate didn't recognise – a woman with light brown hair and an expensive looking suit, a gruff man in military battle gear and a bloke who quite frankly looked utterly ordinary apart from the fact he had twelve fingers. The woman blanched and rushed over to the Doctor, evidently appalled at something he'd done.

"Wait – what do you think you're doing?"

"Discharging the weapons," the Doctor replied with his usual confident, airy tone. "Only way to ensure that that this fleet is harmless – use up all the ammo, so to speak. Don't worry, I'm not aiming anywhere near your star."

The woman didn't seem entirely convinced, but she stepped backwards, evidently choosing to trust him. The computerised voice, evidently from the terminal the Doctor was working at, spoke again.

"Coordinates confirmed. Power at one hundred percent. All atom-laser fuel loaded. Firing sequence initiated. Firing in ten... nine... eight..."

Amy – the real, sword-wielding Amy – had taken up position next to her copy. She motioned for Kate to come across. Kate did so, unsure as to why.

"Seven... six..."

At that instant, time paused around them, freezing everything in place except the two of them. Kate looked at her friend, quizzical.

"Look to your right," Amy told her calmly. Kate did so, and saw a man in a robe holding what looked like a flash-drive, about to reach up to plug it into a console. Something about the twisted, malicious leer on his face told Kate that that wasn't a good thing.

"Who the hell is he?"

"Evil guy. He's trying to blow up a star and kill ten billion people. The Doctor's about to fire the weapons harmlessly into space, but that flash drive will override the targeting and fire at the star instead."

"Sounds bad – so what happens? Does the Doctor see him?"

"No. No one can see him except me. Clever bastard's hidden himself too well."

"So what happens?"

"Watch. I'll slow everything down so you can see."

Time restarted, and the man's hand began to move the flash-drive towards the slot.

"Five," the computerised voice boomed out, distorted by the slowed-down time.

Suddenly, a frown crept across the face of the 'past' Amy, as if she'd noticed something odd. She turned to her right, and saw the robed man, saw what he was about to do as their eyes locked. Her eyes widened, blazing into life as her hand began to move towards the pocket. At the same instant, a shudder ran through the Doctor as if he too were suddenly aware of the scene playing out behind him. He turned, face filled with horror.

The flash drive clicked into place.

"Alternate coordinates entered. Please confirm override." The man, still not taking his eyes off Amy, moved his hand towards a large red button, one that would presumably confirm the new target and doom ten billion people.

The Doctor screamed something Kate couldn't understand, but it was too late. Amy's aim was straight and true, the bullet lodging itself directly between the man's eyes. They rolled up in his head and he fell limp to the ground, his hand sliding off the console and away from the red button.

"Alternate coordinates entered. Please confirm override."

Amy gave the Doctor a brief, triumphant smile, time having returned to normal speed, before pocketing the gun. "I think we're done here. Don't you?"

She strode to the TARDIS and through the doors, leaving only stunned silence in her wake. The real Amy watched after her, a distant expression on her face. Kate moved over to comfort her, placing an arm across her back.

"You did what you had to do," Kate told her softly, though she herself was more than a little shocked by what she'd just seen.

"I know, and I'd do it again, but still. I shot someone in the face and smiled about it."

"And you've been feeling horrible about it ever since. Yet you saved ten billion people."

"By executing someone, Katherine. That's what it was – I point-blank executed a person. An actual living, breathing person. And I would do it again. Do you understand what that makes me?"

"But you saved ten billion people."

Amy shook her head and motioned across the room, having frozen time for everyone except the two of them again. "Look over there."

"Why?"

"I didn't bring you here just so you could see me murder someone. Go and look."

Kate frowned at her, confused, but moved over to the other side of the room, just in front of the TARDIS. She yelled in alarm when she saw what Amy had pointed her to. "Good god, there's dead people here – heaps of them! Ten, eleven-"

"Fifteen," Amy said quietly. "All soldiers. All under my command. I asked them to come with me, they said yes, and they all died because of it. This whole thing was my idea, you know. Not the Doctor's. The reason the soldiers were here is because I brought them here. Didn't save them, did I?"

"Did you know their names?"

Amy screwed up her eyes, trying not to break down. Amy Pond doesn't cry.

"No. But I did talk a lot to one. Flirted with him, even. The Captain. Married two months previously. He told me... he told me how they had bought a little house on the beach... but I didn't even know his..."

It was far too much. Her voice broke and faltered, her cheeks now glistening with tears. At once, Kate was across the room and had enveloped Amy in a tight, crushing hug, her golden-blonde hair entangling with shining ginger. Amy was a little taken aback but she rested her head on Kate's shoulder, letting the tears flow freely.

"You are the most extraordinary girl I've ever met, Amelia," the girl who was once her most despised enemy told her. "Don't hate yourself because of it."

Next chapter will be plotplotplot, so it's worth recapping: We have the Doctor, Stanley and Kate trying to contact Amy. We have Amy and Kate hiding and learning how to defend themselves (in Amy's case, a bit more than that). We have the Windcatcher trying to, well, catch them for unknown reasons. And finally we have Jack, who along with his new repticore friend Machariam is trying to destroy the power source for the entire world, for reasons that I'm obviously withholding for now (no fun in getting all the answers straight away). However, I've given you enough hints for you to guess correctly, so you can have fun with that.

Anyway, in the words of you-can-guess-who, this is is where it gets complicated. Please review.