Amy's Choice (Part 1)
The TARDIS materialized in a small garden in Leadworth, crushing the flowers beneath it. The doors opened and the Doctor popped his head out, looking around. He stepped out, confused, knocking stone from a small retaining wall, nearly tripping in the process, when he saw an older Rory stepping out of the house, with longer hair in a ponytail.
"Rory!" he shouted in greeting.
"Doctor!" Rory smiled.
"Evy's crushed your flowers."
"I did not," Evy called, stepping out of the TARDIS and shutting the door behind her.
"What do you call that then?" he smirked, pulling her into his arms, spinning her so her back was to him and she could look down at the crushed flowers.
"I call it me piloting and you landing."
"Either way," Rory cut in, "Amy will kill the both of you."
"Where is she?" Evy asked, looking around.
"She'll need a bit longer."
"Whenever you're ready, Amy!" the Doctor shouted. Their eyes widened as Amy finally made her way out of the house, obviously very pregnant, "Oh, wahey! Wahey. You've swallowed a planet!" the Doctor shouted, laying a hand on her stomach.
"She's pregnant," Evy commented, hugging Amy.
"You're huge!" the Doctor continued, looking at Amy's stomach.
"Yeah, I'm pregnant," Amy nodded.
"Look at you," the Doctor hugged them both, "When worlds collide."
"Doctor, I'm pregnant," Amy tried once more.
"Look at the both of you," Evy went over and hugged Rory, "You haven't changed at all in five years."
"Apart from age and size," the Doctor added.
Amy just rolled her eyes at the Doctor, "Good to see you Doctor."
The Doctor looked at her, then down to her stomach, then back at her, "Are you pregnant?"
Evy laughed as Amy shook her head, "Slow as ever I see…" Amy commented, heading back inside.
"Of course," Evy agreed, wrapping her arm around the Doctor's waist as he rested an arm around her shoulder. He clapped Rory on his shoulder before they all followed Amy inside only to see her grabbing her coat, eager to get out of the house and show them around town.
They headed down a village lane, the Doctor and Evy hand-in-hand as Amy and Rory walked beside them.
"Ah, Leadworth," the Doctor commented, "Vibrant as ever."
"It's Upper Leadworth, actually," Rory cut in, "We've gone slightly up market."
"Where is everyone?" Evy asked, looking around. She'd only seen about one or two people besides them so far.
"This is busy," Amy told them before sighing, "Ok, it's quiet, but it's really restful and healthy. Loads of people here live well into their 90s."
"Well, don't let that get you down," the Doctor smiled.
"It's not getting me down."
Rory led them over to a small bench in a cul-de-sac, sitting down on one end as Amy did the other. The Doctor sat between them, pulling Evy down to sit on his lap, her head resting against his chest, comfortable despite the squeeze.
"We wanted to see how you were," the Doctor began, "We don't just abandon people when they leave the TARDIS. This Time Lord's for life. You don't get rid of the Doctor so easily."
"You came here by mistake, didn't you?" Amy asked.
"Yeah, bit of a mistake."
"Actually…" Evy began, smirking, "I finally got him to agree to let me pilot by myself and I wanted to check in. I missed you two!"
"You said we were going to the second moon of Bennix!" the Doctor stared at her.
She rolled her eyes, twisting a bit to give him a peck, "We'll go after. Didn't you want to stop in? Say hello? Have a look around?"
"Oh yes," he replied sarcastically, though with a smile on his face, "Look at this...bench. What a nice bench. What will they think of next?"
"Cushions?" Evy suggested, getting a laugh out of him.
They fell into silence, just sitting there, the Doctor starting to fidget despite Evy being on his lap, "So…" he began, if just for something to say, "What do you do around here to stave off the, you know..."
"Boredom?" Amy suggested.
"Self harm."
"We relax..." Rory said. The Doctor and Evy looked at each other, mouthing 'relax,' "We live, we listen to the birds…"
A tiny bit of snow started to fall as they heard a bird chirp.
"Yeah, see, birds," Amy nodded, "Those are nice."
"We didn't get time to listen to birdsong back in the TARDIS days."
Evy frowned as the birdsong got distinctly louder.
"Oh, blimey," the Doctor winced, grabbing his head, "My head's a bit, ooh..."
"You alright?" Evy asked, reaching out to touch his head with her hand, beginning to look to see if anything was wrong.
"I'm fine," he smiled at her, pulling her hand away to kiss her fingers before turning to Amy and Rory, "No, you're right, there wasn't a lot of time for birdsong back in the good..." he began to drift off, Evy's eyes fluttered as she rested her head on his chest, "Old...days..."
The four of them fell asleep.
~8~
The Doctor woke up in the TARDIS with a start to find himself on the floor of the console, "What?" he jumped away, "No, yes, sorry, what?" he looked around to see Evy waking up, sitting beside the console and moved to help her up as Amy and Rory came into the room, "Oh, you're ok," he smiled at Evy, giving her the onceover before looking at Amy and Rory, breathing a sigh of relief to see Amy wasn't pregnant and Rory had short hair, "Oh, thank God. I had a terrible nightmare about you two. That was scary. Don't ask, you don't want to know. You're safe now," he moved to hug Amy and Rory between him.
Evy frowned, looking around, noticing something off about the console.
"Oh, ok," Amy began, confused.
"That's what counts," the Doctor smiled, stepping back, "Blimey, never dropped off like that before. Well, never, really. I'm getting on a bit, you see. Don't let the cool gear fool you."
"Doctor, look at the console," Evy called suddenly. He looked over to see her standing by it, examining red lights that were going off.
"Red flashing lights..." he began, joining her, "I bet they mean something."
"They mean something's wrong."
"Doctor, I also had a kind of dream thing," Rory said.
"Yeah, so did I," Amy agreed.
He looked over at Evy who tensed, 'Amy pregnant and Rory with a ponytail?' she looked up at him.
'Yup,' he nodded, 'So…same dream. That's not so odd. Mental bonds and all often lead to shared dreams.'
'But did they have the same one?'
As though sensing her thoughts Rory spoke again, "Not a nightmare, though, just...we were married."
"Yeah, in a little village," Amy agreed as the Doctor and Evy looked over at them, surprised.
"A sweet little village, and you were pregnant."
"Yeah, I was huge. I was a boat."
The Doctor slowly walked over to Rory, tugging on the back of his hoodie to make sure there wasn't a ponytail while Evy watched, still trying to get the monitor to bring up what was wrong with the TARDIS.
"So you had the same dream, then?" Rory looked at Amy, "Exactly the same dream?"
"Are you calling me a boat?" Amy threatened.
"And Doctor, you and Evy were visiting," Rory turned to him, effectively sidestepping Amy's question.
The Doctor flipped open Amy's jacket, making sure she wasn't pregnant before slowly making his way back over to Evy, concerned.
"Yeah, yeah, you came to our cottage," Amy recalled.
"How can we have the same dream? It doesn't make sense."
"And you had a nightmare about us. What happened to us in the nightmare?"
"It was similar, in some aspects," the Doctor began.
"Which aspects?" Rory frowned.
"All of them," Evy replied.
"You had the same dream as well?" Amy looked between the Doctor and Evy.
"Basically," the Doctor nodded.
"You said it was a nightmare!" Rory accused.
"Did I say nightmare?" he asked, trying to cover it up, "No. More of a really good...mare. Look, it doesn't matter. We all had some kind of psychic episode."
"We could have jumped a time track?" Evy suggested, though her tone suggested she seriously doubted that, "Maybe?"
A bird began chirping.
"Forget it, we're back to reality now," the Doctor nodded.
"Doctor, if we're back to reality how come I can still hear birds?" Amy cut in.
"Yeah, the same birds," Rory looked around, "The same ones we heard in the…"
~8~
They woke up, still sitting on the bench in Leadworth. Evy on the Doctor's lap, the Doctor and Rory heads resting together.
"…dream," Rory pulled away from the Doctor quickly, embarrassed, "Oh. Sorry. Nodded off, stupid. God, I must be overdoing it. I was dreaming we were back on the TARDIS."
Evy got off the Doctor's lap as the Doctor stood up and walked over to stand in the middle of the road with her, both of them looking around.
"You had the same dream, didn't you?" Rory turned to Amy.
She nodded, "Back in the TARDIS. Weren't we just saying the same thing?"
"But we thought this was the dream."
The Doctor picked up a small stone from the path, examining it closely before throwing it back down.
"I think so," Amy pushed herself up, "Why do dreams fade so quickly?"
"Doctor, Evy, what is going on?" Rory asked, walking over to them with Amy.
"Is this because of you? Is this some Time Lord thing because you two have shown up again?"
"Listen to us," the Doctor turned to face them, "Trust nothing. From now on, trust nothing you see, hear, or feel."
"But we're awake now," Rory argued.
"And you didn't think that on the TARDIS?" Evy countered.
Amy looked around, "But we're home."
"Yes, you're home. But you're also dreaming."
"Trouble is, Rory, Amy, which is which?" the Doctor asked, "Are we flashing forwards…or backwards? Hold on tight. This is going be a tricky one."
~8~
Amy awoke in the jump seat with a gasp to see Evy and the Doctor at work at the console, the Doctor trying to move a lever and struggling with it as Evy knelt down and tried to examine the under panels.
"This is bad," the Doctor said, looking down at Evy, "I don't like this."
"Neither do I," she sighed, standing up.
The Doctor suddenly kicked the console, grabbing his foot in pain as Evy ran to his side and helped steady him, "Argh! Never use force. You just embarrass yourself."
"I've told you to stop doing that!" Evy scolded, helping him to lean against the railing, "She doesn't like it when you do that. Never use force!"
"Unless you're cross, in which case, always use force," he countered, grinning cheekily at her.
Evy rolled her eyes and headed for the stairs to look under the console.
"Shall I run and get the manual?" Amy asked.
"You can't Amy," Evy called up, "Because the genius up there threw it in a supernova."
Amy spun to face the Doctor, "You threw the manual in a supernova? Why?"
"Because I disagreed with it," he said, "Don't talk to me when I'm cross," he wagged his finger at her.
"Ok, but whatever's wrong with the TARDIS, is that what caused us to dream about the future?" Rory frowned, confused.
"If we were dreaming the future…" Evy replied, heading back up the stairs, nothing was wrong down there. She walked over to the Doctor, giving him a peck on the cheek, "Still cross?" she asked. He shook his head.
"Of course we were," Amy said, "We were in Leadworth."
"Upper Leadworth," Rory corrected.
"And it's possible that we're there righht now, dreaming of this," Evy countered.
"Don't you get it?" the Doctor turned to them.
"No, ok, no, this is real," Amy stated, "I'm definitely awake now."
"And you thought you were awake when you were all elephanty."
"Hey, pregnant!"
"And you could be giving birth right now."
"This could be the dream too," Evy replied, "Do you see?"
"I told you, trust nothing we see or hear or feel. Look around you. Examine everything. Look for all the details that don't ring true," he walked over to the console, his foot feeling better, as Evy joined him.
"Ok, we're in a spaceship that's bigger on the inside than the outside," Rory pointed out.
"With a bow-tie wearing alien," Amy added, "And a space cowgirl."
"Hey!" Evy defended, she preferred for her image to be 'western heroine.'
"So maybe 'what rings true' isn't so simple," Rory finished.
Evy turned to the Doctor, "They do have a point."
The TARDIS suddenly powered down, leaving them in darkness, the only light coming from the console.
"It's dead…" the Doctor breathed, taking Evy's hand, "We're in a dead time machine."
The birdsong returned as the TARDIS grew darker and darker. Rory rushed to Amy's side, taking her in his arms.
"Remember, how real this is," Evy called out, "When we wake up there, remember how real here feels too."
"It is real," Amy said, "I know it's real."
~8~
The Doctor and Evy were standing in the middle of the road, watching a group of schoolchildren pass by as Amy and Rory woke up on a bench outside a library.
"Ok," Amy breathed, rubbing her stomach, "This is the real one, definitely this one. It's all solid."
"The TARDIS felt solid too," Evy remarked, "It's hard to spot a dream while you're having it."
The Doctor started waving his fingers in front of his face.
"What are you doing?" Rory asked.
"Looking for motion blur, pixilation," he replied, "It could be a computer simulation. I don't think so though."
"Hello, doctor," an old woman called, walking by them.
"Hi!" the Doctor nodded.
"Hello," Rory greeted at the same time.
The woman paused to look back at them as the Doctor just stared at Rory, "You're a doctor?"
"Yeah," he nodded, "And unlike you, I've actually passed some exams."
"A doctor, not a nurse," the Doctor continued, "Just like you've always dreamed. How interesting," he took Evy's hand and walked off with her.
"What is?" Rory asked, following after with Amy.
"Your dream wife, your dream job, probably your dream baby. Maybe this is your dream."
"It's Amy's dream too. Isn't it, Amy?"
"Yes," Amy replied, a bit strained, "Course it is, yeah."
"What building is that again?" Evy asked.
They looked over to see her staring at a brick building behind them.
"Old people's home," Amy answered.
The Doctor looked over, following Evy's gaze to see that all the residences were at the windows looking out, directly at them, staring at them.
"And everyone lives to their 90s," Evy frowned, shaking her head, "There's something about that that doesn't quite make sense."
The Doctor grinned excitedly, "Let's go and poke it with a stick!"
"Oh don't!" Evy called as she walked after him, "Remember the last time you did that!"
Rory groaned as they disappeared into the home.
"Can we not do the running thing?" Amy asked before she and Rory followed after.
They all walked into a lounge where the residences were just relaxing, "Oh, hello, Dr. Williams!" one of the residents greeted as they walked in.
Evy stopped in the middle of the room and looked around, frowning. Something was off…there was a time echo in the room that was far older than humanly possible and it seemed the doctor felt it too.
"Hello, Rory, love," a little old woman looked up from her knitting.
"Hello, Mrs. Poggit. How's your hip?" Rory greeted.
"A bit stiff."
"Oh, easy, D-96 compound, plus..." the Doctor began, but Evy elbowed him in the side, "No, you don't have that yet, forget that."
"Who're your friends?" Mrs. Poggit looked over at the Doctor and Evy, "A junior doctor and a nurse?"
Rory gave a bit of a smug smile, "Yes."
"Can I borrow you?" Mrs. Poggit turned to the Doctor, "You're the size of my grandson."
The Doctor hesitated when Evy's grip on his arm tightened but knelt forward by Mrs. Poggit as she put the jumper over his head, "Slightly keen to move on. Freak psychic schism to sort out," he suddenly leaned forward, looking at her, forcing Mrs. Poggit back, "You're incredibly old, aren't you?"
The birdsong began again, causing Amy, Rory, the Doctor, and Evy to stagger before falling to the floor, asleep.
~8~
They woke up leaning against the console.
"Ok, I hate this, Doctor," Amy turned to them, "Stop it, because this is definitely real, it's definitely this one. I keep saying that, don't I?"
The Doctor ran to the upper level of the TARDIS, trying to see if the heating was working at least. He and Evy were fine for now, but the humans wouldn't be for long.
"It's bloody cold," Rory muttered, crossing his arms.
"The heating's off, isn't it?" Evy called up to him.
"The heating's off?"
"Yeah," the Doctor nodded, "Put on a jumper. That's what we always do."
"Yes, sorry about Mrs. Poggit," Rory smiled, leaning back against the console, "She's so lovely though."
"Oh, I wouldn't believe her nice old lady act if I were you."
"What do you mean, 'act?'" Amy frowned.
"Everything's off. Sensors, core power. We're drifting. The scanner's down so we can't even see out. We could be anywhere," he headed back to the console, Evy walked over to him, sensing his frustration, "Someone, something, is overriding my controls."
Suddenly a man flickered into appearance at the top of the steps, "Well, that took a while," they all spun around to see a short man with a receding hairline, a bit hefty, dressed in a tweed jacket, stripped shirt, and big bowtie. He started walking down the steps, "Honestly, I'd heard such good things about the two of you. Last of the Time Lords. The Oncoming Storm and his lovely Link. Him in the bow-tie…"
"How did you get into my TARDIS?" the Doctor cut in, "What are you?"
"What shall we call me?" the man sighed, "Well, if you're the Time Lord, let's call me the Dream Lord."
"Nice look."
"This?" the Dream Lord looked down, "No, I'm not convinced. Bow-ties?"
Evy picked a random item off the console and tossed it at the Dream Lord, it went right though him, "How about that…"
"Oh, clever aren't you?" the Dream Lord smirked, "But obviously can't be too bright if you stick by him," he nodded over at the Doctor who just took Evy's hand and trying to pull her behind him. The Dream Lord just laughed, "As if that would protect her from me. None of you are safe from me, especially not her."
"Who are you?" Amy asked.
"It's in the name, isn't it? Spooky, not quite there," he reappeared behind them, "And yet, very much here."
"I'll do the talking, thank you," the Doctor cut in, "Amy, want to take a guess at what that is?"
"Um," she frowned, "Dream Lord. He creates dreams."
"Dreams, delusions, cheap tricks."
"And what about the gooseberry here, does he get a guess?" the Dream Lord nodded at Rory.
"Listen, mate, if anyone's the gooseberry around here, it's the Doctor," Rory countered.
"There's a delusion I'm not responsible for."
"No, he is. Isn't he, Amy?"
"Oh, Amy, have to sort your men out," the Dream Lord turned to her, smirking, "Choose, even."
"I have chosen," Amy replied, "Of course I've chosen…" she smacked Rory on the chest, not taking her eye off the Dream Lord, "It's you, stupid."
"Oh, good, thanks," Rory nodded.
The Dream Lord's smirk widened, "You can't fool me. I've seen your dreams. Some of them twice, Amy. Blimey, I'd blush if I had a blood supply or a real face."
Amy stiffened.
"Where did you pick up this cheap cabaret act?" the Doctor cut in again.
"Me?" the Dream Lord countered, "Oh, you're on shaky ground."
"Am I?"
"If you had any more tawdry quirks you could open up a Tawdry Quirk Shop," he sneered, "The madcap vehicle, the cockamamie hair, the clothes designed by a first-year fashion student...I'm surprised you haven't got a little purple space dog just to ram home what an intergalactic wag you are. It's a wonder she can even look at you without laughing or turning away in disgust," he took a breath, "Where was I?"
"You were..." Rory began.
The Dream Lord appeared on the upper level, "I know where I was. So, here's your challenge. Two worlds. Here in the time machine, and there in the village that time forgot. One is real, the other's fake," Evy tilted her head at that piece of information, "And just to make it more interesting you're going to face in both worlds a deadly danger. But only one of the dangers is real. Tweet, tweet. Time to sleep," they stumbled around the room, falling to the floor, falling asleep, "Oh, or are you waking up?"
~8~
They woke up in the lounge of the old people's home, now completely empty save for them. The Doctor helped Evy to her feet just as the Dream Lord walked into the room holding an x-ray film, "Oh, this is bad. This is very, very bad. Look at this x-ray…" he turned to the Doctor, "Your brain is completely see-through. But then, I've always been able to see through you Doctor."
"Always?" Amy stepped forward, "What do you mean 'always?'"
"Now then, the prognosis is this," the Dream Lord continued, as the Doctor sat back into Mrs. Poggit's chair, Evy sitting down on the arm until he pulled her into his lap, "If you die in the dream you wake up in reality. Healthy recovery in next to no time. Ask me what happens if you die in reality?"
"What happens?" Rory asked.
"You die, stupid," the Dream Lord said, exasperated, "That's why it's called reality."
"Have you met the Doctor before?" Amy asked, now more interested than threatened, "Do you know him? Doctor, does he?"
"Now don't get jealous," the Dream Lord smirked, "He's been around, our boy. But never mind that," he turned to the Doctor, "You've got a world to choose. One reality was always too much for you, Doctor. Take two and call me in the morning."
He disappeared.
"Ok, I don't like him," Rory commented.
Amy crossed her arms, turning to the Doctor, "Who is he?"
"I don't know," the Doctor replied, "It's a big Universe."
"Why is he doing this?"
"Maybe because he has no physical form. That gets you down after a while, so he's taking it out on folk like us who can touch and eat and feel…" he touched the jumper before removing it.
"What does he mean, 'deadly danger?'" Rory asked, "Nothing deadly has happened here. A bit of natural wastage, obviously."
"Where have they gone?" Evy commented, "All of the old people, they're gone..."
The Doctor looked around, as if just noticing that, before getting up with Evy and taking her hand, running outside with her, the others following. They ran out of the home to see children playing next to the local ruins, a teacher with them as they went and explored.
"Why would they leave?" Rory frowned, looking around.
Amy turned to the Doctor, "And what did you mean about Mrs. Poggit's act?"
"No time for that," the Doctor sighed, "Come on, let's think. The mechanics of this split we're stuck in..."
"Time asleep equals the time in our dream world," Evy began, helping him think, "That doesn't usually happen."
"And we're dreaming the same dream at the same time," Rory added.
"Yes, sort of communal trance, very rare, very complicated," the Doctor nodded, "I'm sure there's a dream giveaway. But my mind isn't working because this village is so dull! I'm slowing down, like you two have!"
Amy suddenly grabbed her stomach, "Oh. Ow. Really. Ow!" she screamed, "It's coming."
Evy ran to Amy's side, her arm around the girl's back, supporting her as the two men paled.
"Help her, you're a doctor!" the Doctor turned to Rory.
"You're a doctor!" Rory countered.
"The both of you are doctors," Evy reminded them, highly amused.
"Right, we're doctors," the Doctor squatted down as if he were going to catch the baby as it just fell out, "What do we do?"
Amy suddenly stopped panicking, "Ok, it's not coming."
"What?" the Doctor demanded, standing.
"This is my life now and it just turned you white as a sheet. So don't you call it dull again, ever. Ok?"
"Sorry."
"Yeah."
"Nice," Evy smiled as Amy grinned as well, walking off with Rory following.
"You knew she was faking didn't you?" the Doctor looked over at Evy.
"Yup," she popped the P.
"Why didn't you warn me?" he breathed, his hearts finally slowing down.
"What, and miss that?" Evy shook her head.
The Doctor rolled his eyes, looking over to see Mrs. Poggit heading for the ruins. They turned and followed after Amy, finding her sitting on a swing set. The Doctor jogged over and sat on the second one before Rory could get a chance. Evy just shook her head and rolled her eyes at him this time, getting a smile out of Rory.
"Now, we all know there's an elephant in the room…" the Doctor began.
"I have to be this size, I'm having a baby," Amy argued.
"No, no. The hormones seem real, but no. Is nobody going to mention Rory's ponytail?" slowly a grin spread across his face as he looked up at Evy, "You hold him down, I'll cut it off?"
Amy laughed as Evy shook her head, Rory looked startled, "This from the man in the bow-tie," Rory countered.
"Bow-ties are cool," he stood, "Evy thinks so too, so it must be true," he stuck out his tongue at Rory.
"If I were you..." Evy cut in, her gaze on Mrs. Poggit as the old woman stared at the children, "I would not let Mrs. Poggit babysit."
"What's she doing? What does she want?"
The birdsong began again.
"Oh, no, here we go," Amy groaned.
~8~
The Doctor and Evy were at the console, looking around, as Amy and Rory joined them, rubbing their arms, trying to stay warm.
"It's really cold," Amy muttered, "Have you got any warm clothing?"
"What does it matter if we're cold?" the Doctor snapped, "We have to know what she is up to!"
"Hey," Evy put a hand on his arm, calming him down.
"Sorry," he shook his head, rubbing his face, "Sorry."
Evy turned to Amy and Rory, "There should be some blankets and things down there," she nodded to one end of the room, to a small chest as Amy and Rory turned to go, "I've got an idea," she turned to the Doctor, "Be right back…"
She turned and headed to the space under the console, looking through a few boxes before finding one with a crank. She reached for it and it fell off, opening the box inside it as well to reveal odd gadgets…but those she could work with. She grabbed an arm full of them and went back up the stairs, laying them out on the floor of the console. The Doctor turned to watch as she began to piece different bits and pieces together, breaking some and tossing others over her shoulder to the ground.
He smiled softly, watching her work, when she stood up, holding some sort of contraption with a crank on the side and eggbeaters on the end.
"I love it when you do that," he whispered to her, giving her a peck on the lips as Amy and Rory ran back over. He took the device and handed it to Rory, attaching a wire to the end of it, "Ah, Rory, wind…"
Evy handed the other end of the wire to Amy, "Attach that to the monitor."
"I was promised amazing worlds," Rory muttered, "Instead I get duff central heating and a weird, kitchen windup device."
"It's a generator Rory," Evy laughed, "Wind."
"It's not enough," Amy called from the monitor.
"Rory, wind," the Doctor repeated as Evy and him went to look at the monitor as well.
"Why is the Dream Lord picking on you?" Rory asked as he turned the crank, "Why us?"
The monitor screen bleeped to life showing star scape.
"Where are we?" Amy asked.
"We're in trouble," the Doctor breathed, taking Evy's hand in his own.
"What is that?" Rory frowned as a bright white sphere appeared on the monitor.
"A star," Evy shook her head, "A cold star."
The Doctor ran to the door, throwing it open, letting in a blinding light and a freezing chill, "That's why we're freezing!" he called, "It's not a malfunction. We're drifting towards a cold sun. That's our danger for this version of reality."
Evy ran over to him, helping him close the door.
"This must be the dream," Amy said, "There is no such thing as a cold star. Stars burn."
"So's this one," the Doctor said, "It's just burning cold."
"Is that possible?" Rory asked.
Evy frowned, she was fairly certain that it wasn't.
"I can't know everything," the Doctor said, "Why does everybody expect me to, always?" he headed to the console and sat down dejectedly on the jump seat. Evy sighed and moved to sit in his lap, comforting him as he immediately placed his arms around her.
"Ok, this is something you haven't seen before," Rory reasoned, "So does that mean this is the dream?"
"I don't know, but there it is, and I'd say we've got about…" he checked his watch, "14 minutes until we crash into it. But that's not a problem."
"Because you know how to get us out of this?" Rory asked hopefully.
The Doctor whipped out his stethoscope, "Because we'll have frozen to death."
"Then what'll we do?" Amy asked.
"Stay as calm as you can," Evy told her, getting up as the Doctor moved to put the stethoscope on the console, "And whatever you do, do not get sucked into it. For all we know this might be the battle we have to lose."
"Oh, this is so you, isn't it?" Rory frowned, looking at the two of them.
"What?" the Doctor asked, glancing up.
"What, a weird new star, 14 minutes left to live, and only you two to save the day? I just wanted a nice village and a family."
The Dream Lord appeared behind the Doctor, "Oh, dear, Doctor. Dissent in the ranks," he smiled, "There was an old doctor from Gallifrey, who ended up throwing his life away. He let down his friends and..." he stopped at the sound of the birdsong, "Oh, no, we've run out of time. Don't spend too long there, or you'll…"
"Die?" Evy finished the rhyme.
"Catch your death here," the Dream Lord waved.
~8~
The Doctor and Evy looked around before noticing the quiet…the children were silent…
"Where have the children gone?" the Doctor asked as they ran up the steps to the ruins, only to see no one in sight.
"Doctor…" Evy began, walking towards a pile of dirt and cloth, much like a number of others scattered around the field. She pulled out her sonic and began to scan it, the Doctor walking over to her.
"Don't know," Rory shrugged as he and Amy caught up, "Playtime's probably over," he turned to Amy, "You see, this is the real one. I just feel it. Don't you feel it?"
"I feel it both places," she admitted.
"I feel it here," Rory looked out at the town from the ruins, "It's just so tranquil and relaxed. Nothing bad could ever happen here."
"Not really me, though, is it? Would I be happy settling down in a place with a pub, two shops, and a really bad amateur dramatics society? That's why I got pregnant, so I don't have to see them doing 'Oklahoma,'" she looked over to see Evy kneeling beside the dust, reaching out to it grimly as the Doctor squatted beside her, "What are you doing? And what are those piles of dust?"
"Playtime's definitely over," Evy muttered, rubbing just a bit of dust through her fingers.
"Oh, my God," Amy gasped, realizing just what the dust piles were.
"What happened to them?" Rory asked, equally horrified.
The Doctor looked up to see the elderly walking along a path outside the home, "I think they did," he said, helping Evy to her feet.
"They're just old people," Amy replied.
"No," Evy shook her head, "They're just very old people."
They turned and headed back down the steps of the ruins, "Sorry, Rory, I don't think you're what's been keeping them alive!" the Doctor called back.
The elderly lined up along the path, facing them as they approached, when suddenly the Dream Lord appeared off to the side, "Hello, peasants. What's this, attack of the old people? Oh, that's ridiculous. This has got to be the dream, hasn't it? What do you think, Amy? Let's all jump under a bus and wake up in the TARDIS…" his gaze turned to Evy, "She'd want you to go first though."
"Leave her alone!" the Doctor threatened, pushing Evy behind him.
"Do that again," the Dream Lord clapped, "I love it when he does that. Tall dark hero, 'leave her alone.' Don't you Amy?"
"Just leave her!" Rory took a step in front of Amy as well.
"Yes, you're not quite so impressive," the Dream Lord gave a passing glance to Rory before focusing on Amy, "But I know where your heart lies, don't I, Amy Pond?"
"Shut up!" Amy glared at him, "Just shut up and leave me alone."
"But listen, you're in there. All the women in his life are…" he turned his gaze to Evy, "Has he told you about..."
"I know," Evy said steadily, cutting him off, seeing the pained look in the Doctor's eye. She knew what the Dream Lord was about to start on, she knew she wasn't the first love in the Doctor's life, he had cared deeply for and, in his own affectionate ways, loved many women in many ways, but she knew she was his truest love, the one he loved completely and deeply, the one with whom he felt real love for the first time ever, and that was more than enough for her, "I know all about everyone. He can't hide anything from me."
"Oh can't he?" the Dream Lord raised an eyebrow.
"No."
"Even me?"
"Even you."
He smiled and laughed, "I like her…" he looked over at Amy and pouted, "Oh, but that's the problem isn't it, for dear little Amelia Pond?"
"Shut up!" Amy repeated.
"Your dreams…so interesting…shall I give you a taste of them Amy?" he smirked, "I think I shall."
Suddenly Evy put her hands over her ears, staggering back, "Evy!" the Doctor shouted, running to her side as she fell to the ground, asleep.
A/N: Urg. I just had my first 'Government and Non-Profit Accounting' class (and yes, it is as boring as you would assume from the title) last night, two and a half hours of confusion, I can't understand a WORD my professor says (he's got a very heavy accent).
But in other news...wow! Can you believe it? There's only about two more weeks of the Lunar Cycle left for Series 5. Time flies. And we've still got our dynamic-changing chapter coming up for the day before it ends. So excited! At least I've got this story to keep me sane :)
Next chapter...where, oh where, has Evy gone? No place safe, no place fun. Will the Doctor be able to save her? How will Evy react when this adventure has passed?