The Lodgers (Part 2)
The Doctor dominated the field. He was surprisingly good for having never played the game before. He intercepted passes, head butted quite a few goals, scoring the team a good number of points. Evy felt bad for Craig though when the entire crowd, including Sophie, began chanting 'Doctor.' The crowd went wild as the Doctor scored the winning goal of the game and ran to the field to congratulate the players. The Doctor immediately ran for Evy, spinning her around and kissing her in his excitement before he calmed and she helped him into his jacket once more. They were waved over to the team who were standing around, drinking a few celebratory beers.
"You are so on the team!" Sean shouted at him, clapping him on the back as they ran over to the team, "Next week we've got the Crown and Anchor, we'll annihilate them!"
"No violence," the Doctor said, suddenly very serious, staring Sean down, "Not while I'm around, not today, not ever. I'm the Doctor, the Oncoming Storm...and you meant beat them in a football match, didn't you?"
"Yeah," Sean nodded his head, bemused and startled by the Doctor's mood change.
"Lovely, what sort of time?" he asked, all chipper and light again.
Before Sean could answer, Craig opened a can and it spilled all over him, making everyone laugh…but not the Doctor or Evy as the scene kept happening again and again, looping over and over. The Doctor took her hand and led her over a small ways away from the repeating group, "Amy?" he tapped the earpiece, "Amy?"
"It's happening again!" Amy shouted, "Worse!"
"What's the scanner say?" Evy called.
"A lot of nines. Is it good that they're nines? Tell me it's good that they're all nines!"
"Yes, yes, it's...it's good!" the Doctor answered tensely, it was so not a good thing, "Zig Zag Plotter, Zig Zag Plotter, Amy," they listened intently as they heard the TARDIS jolt and Amy scream, "Amy? Are you there? Amy?"
"Yes, hello."
"Ah, thank heavens," he breathed, "I thought the TARDIS had been flung off into the Vortex with you inside it…lost forever."
"You mean that could actually happen?!"
"Ow!" the Doctor shouted as Evy smacked him upside the head.
"You have got to get me out of here!"
"What're the numbers now?" Evy asked again, glaring a bit at the Doctor for scaring Amy.
"All fives."
They breathed a bit easier, "Fives?" the Doctor looked behind them to see the loop had ended, "Even better. Still, it means the effect's almost unbelievably powerful and dangerous, but…ow!" he rubbed his head turning to glare at Evy, "Will you stop that?"
"Will you stop scaring her?" she retorted.
"Amy, don't worry," he turned back to the earpiece, "Hang on, ok? We've got some rewiring to do."
"Hey!" Amy shouted before the Doctor tapped the earpiece again, cutting her off.
"We should get back," Evy sighed, taking his hand and leading him back to the team and Sophie, she frowned, seeing the woman struggling to help clean off Craig, "Oh, here, let me help," she ran over to them, grabbing some more napkins and helping to dab at the liquid.
The Doctor walked off to the end of the team, just watching Evy help, "So tell us," Sean leaned over to him, speaking quietly, the team listening intently, "How did you land a girl like that?"
The Doctor looked back over at Evy, getting Sophie and Craig to smile at something she'd said and couldn't help but grin as well, "I got very, very lucky."
~8~
The Doctor and Evy were working on the scanner in their bedroom when there was a knock on the door. The Doctor looked over at Evy who was in the middle of soldering some wires and went to get it, an orange traffic cone tucked beneath his arm.
"Hello, flatmate!" he greeted.
"Hey, man," Craig said, "Listen, Sophie's coming round tonight and I was wondering if you two could give us some space?"
'Aw, I think Craig is finally going to tell Sophie he likes her,' Evy whispered to him, ''Bout time, that girl's probably going out of her mind waiting and wondering.'
"Oh, don't mind us," the Doctor smiled at the idea, "You won't even know we're here…" there was another noise from above, drawing the Doctor's attention, "That's the idea."
He suddenly closed the door, leaving a stunned Craig standing there.
Evy rolled her eyes and got up, opening the door where Craig was still standing, "Give me a mo…" she told him, smiling.
He frowned, confused, as the door shut again. He listened in, hearing a banging stop, and then a smack, and then the Doctor popped out of the door, rubbing the back of his head, "Yes, we will leave you tonight," he smiled at Craig, "Bit of a trip round the town, lovely," he nodded and shut the door.
Craig could only laugh. That girl certainly knew how to handle him.
~8~
In true Doctor fashion, they had both gotten so caught up in working on the scanner that they didn't even realize Sophie had already arrived. Evy had noticed the door shut and immediately set to work getting the Doctor to leave with her. She'd tried to explain that they should sneak out and leave Craig and Sophie alone, but the Doctor thought it was rude and said they should tell them they're leaving at least.
But, instead of walking into the room or knocking to draw the attention of the hopefully-soon-to-be-couple on the sofa, the Doctor proceeded to crawl into the room amidst Craig and Sophie having a moment, only to pop up behind said sofa with a cry of, "Hello!"
"What?" Craig looked over at him, jumping a bit.
"Whoops…" he seemed to realize Evy had probably been right in wanting to sneak out, "Sorry, don't worry, we weren't listening."
"We?" Sophie asked.
"We," Evy muttered, leaning against the doorway to the room.
"I thought you were going out?" Craig looked between the two.
"That was the plan."
"Just reconnecting all the electrics, it's a real mess," the Doctor said, holding up an average screwdriver, "Where's the on switch for this?"
"They really are on their way out," Craig turned to Sophie.
"No, I don't mind, if you don't mind," Sophie looked over at Craig, she'd gotten to know Evy a little during the game and she seemed like a lovely person, she wouldn't mind getting to form a better friendship, especially if she was going to be around the flat.
"I don't mind, why would I mind?" Craig asked, obviously upset.
"Then stay, have a drink with us," Sophie smiled at the two of them.
"What, do we have to stay now?" the Doctor looked over at Evy, confused.
'Sophie wants us to,' Evy replied quietly, reading their body language, 'She wants to get to know us more.'
'And Craig?'
'He would really like time with just Sophie.'
"Do you want to stay?" Craig asked them.
"I don't mind…" he looked over at Evy, not sure what to do, as Craig seemed to be inviting them.
She could only shrug, not wanting to get in the middle.
"Ok!" Sophie grinned.
"Great!" Craig replied with a sigh.
~8~
The Doctor was sitting on a chair, working with a mess of electrical wires draped around his neck, while Evy, for once, sat beside him, working on them as well. Sophie and Craig were sitting on the sofa, drinking glasses of wine, "'Cos life can seem pointless," Sophie was saying, "Work, weekend, work, weekend. And there's six billion people on the planet doing pretty much the same."
"Six billion people?" the Doctor muttered, "Watching you two at work, I'm starting to wonder where they all come from."
Evy almost snorted at that. It was so obvious that Sophie and Craig loved each other.
"What?" Sophie frowned, "What do you mean by that?"
"So, the call center," the Doctor switched topics, trying to cover up his words, "That's no good?"
Sophie had a bit of a reluctant look on her face.
Evy leaned forward, knowing what that look meant, "What do you really want to do Sophie?"
"Don't laugh," she told them, "I only ever told Craig about it. I want to work looking after animals. Maybe abroad? I saw this orangutan sanctuary on telly."
"So why don't you?"
"She can't, you need loads of qualifications," Craig replied.
"Yeah, true," Sophie sighed, "Plus it's scary, everyone I know lives round here. Craig got offered a job in London, better money, didn't take it."
"What's wrong with staying here? I can't see the point of London."
"Well, perhaps that's you, then," the Doctor cut in, "Perhaps you'll just have to stay here, secure and a little bit miserable until the day you drop. Better than trying and failing, eh?"
"You think I'd fail?" Sophie looked taken aback.
Evy just smiled, leaning back, knowing what the Doctor was doing.
"Everybody's got dreams, Sophie, very few are going to achieve them, so why pretend?" he sipped a bit of wine, making a face before spitting it back into the glass, "Perhaps, in the whole Universe, a call center is where you should be?"
"Why are you saying that? That's horrible."
"Is it true?"
"Of course it's not true! I'm not staying in a call center all my life, I can do anything I want!" the Doctor smiled brightly, realization dawning on Sophie's face, "Oh! Yeah! Right!" she laughed and turned to Craig, "Oh, my God! Did you see what he just did?"
"No, what's happening?" Craig frowned, "Are you going to live with monkeys now?"
"It's a big old world, Sophie," Evy smiled, "Think about what's really keeping you here."
"I don't know," Sophie shrugged, "Dunno…what about you?"
Evy smiled softly, taking the Doctor's hand in her own, "The Doctor," she answered without hesitation, "But luckily, we both love to travel."
The Doctor looked up at her, a soft expression on his face as he kissed the back of her hand, "I'd give up all my traveling in a heartbeat for you," he told her sincerely. Truly, there was nothing more important to him than her happiness, seeing her smile, being the one to make her smile.
She just smiled down at him and gave him a kiss, "I would never ever ask you to."
"I know," he smiled back at her, "One of the many things I love about you."
She gave him another kiss, "I love you too," she whispered, before tugging his bow-tie, "Bow-tie and all."
~8~
They finished the scanner that night. It was large and ungainly, with all sorts of bits and pieces around it, and brooms and sticks sticking out of the side of it, all built on the bed frame…at least the bed had gotten some use that first night…
The Doctor ducked out from under it as it began to spin wobbly.
"Shield's up," Evy called.
"Let's scan!" the Doctor grinned.
"What are you getting?" Amy asked over the earpiece.
"Well...upstairs," Evy replied, looking at the digital clock, "There are no traces of high technology at all."
"Totally normal," the Doctor frowned, "No no, no, no, it can't be! It's too normal."
"Only for you could too normal be a problem," Amy sighed, "You said I could be lost forever. Just go upstairs."
"Without knowing, get myself killed, get Evy killed?" he looked over at Evy, unwilling to even entertain the notion, before turning back to the conversation with Amy, "Then you really are lost. If we could just get a look in there..."
"Hold on," Evy said, stopping the device, "Amy can you bring up the data bank?" she called to Amy, "Try to find the plans of this building, the history, the layout, anything and everything you can."
"Meanwhile, we shall recruit a spy," the Doctor smiled at Evy and they both snuck out of the room…that cat that they'd seen the other night…that could help a lot.
~8~
Evy was holding a tray of food as she and the Doctor walked down the hall to Craig's room for breakfast. Evy had told the Doctor how Craig was feeling a bit putout and disappointed after the match yesterday and he felt awful about it, wanting to make it up to the man. They stopped at Craig's door, the Doctor knocking on it.
"Craig!" he called, "Craig? Breakfast. It's normal. Craig?" he looked at Evy, concerned, before opening the door to see Craig lying, unmoving, on his bed, "Craig!"
They ran in, Evy setting the tray down on the bed as the Doctor rolled the man over, grabbing Craig's arm.
"I told you not to touch it!" Evy shouted, seeing a large streak running up Craig's arm.
"An unfamiliar and obviously poisonous substance," the Doctor muttered sarcastically, "'Oh, I know what would be really clever, I'll stick my hand in it!' Come on, Craig, breathe," he made a fist and brought it down hard on Craig's chest, making the man gasp, "Come on, Craig, breathe! Thems are healthy footballer's lungs!"
He looked over at Evy who nodded, getting up and taking the Doctor's place as he grabbed the teapot and ran from the room, "Come on Craig," she whispered, "Just hang on, the Doctor's going to help you, he'll reverse the enzyme decay and excite the tannin molecules so you'll be just fine," she looked up as he ran back into the room, the teapot crammed full of teabags.
He knelt by her side, tipping the pot into Craig's mouth, making him drink the substance down, "I've got to go to work," Craig rasped weakly.
"Don't you dare," Evy told him sternly, "You stay here and rest."
"One more," the Doctor tipped the pot again.
"It's the planning meeting, it's important," he argued.
"You are important," Evy shot back.
"You're going to be fine, Craig," the Doctor told him.
They waited a little longer till he fell asleep and the Doctor took Evy's hand, slipping out of the room with her.
"We need to help him," the Doctor said.
Evy nodded, "Let's go find the call center."
~8~
The Time Lords were having a blast at the center. The Doctor had found Craig's plans for the company in his briefcase and presented them to the board in his stead, it was a hit. He'd also taken over for Craig at his desk, and he seemed to be a natural. The callers loved him, the boss thought he was a genius, the office members found him amusing, and Evy got to play the role of his secretary.
As he found out, this had been one of her jobs on Earth those few years, so she'd helped show him how to work the phones and the computers in a non-it's-going-to-destroy-the-world sort of way. He'd actually managed to work them without destroying them which was a feat in itself and had Evy beaming at him proudly.
Evy and Sophie had also gotten a chance to bond as she was working that day as well.
"Oh, afternoon," the head of the company, Michael, greeted Craig as he ran in.
"I'm so sorry, Michael, I don't know what happened, I've got no excuse," he gasped.
The Doctor popped up from under the desk right where Michael and Craig were standing, a headset on, speaking to a customer, "I think that's not what my screen is telling me, Mr. Lang."
"What's he doing here?" Craig asked, eyes wide, staring at him, "What are you doing here? The both of you?" he demanded as Evy brought over a cup of tea.
"If that's your attitude, Mr. Lang, please take your custom elsewhere," he then proceeded to blow a raspberry into the set.
"No, no, no, that's one of my best clients!"
"Craig, are you feeling better?" Evy asked, holding out a small plate of biscuits for him to take, but he waved her off, still stunned.
"Had some time to kill, I was curious, never worked in an office," the Doctor told him, "Never worked in anywhere," he nodded at Evy, "Evy's worked before, told me how to do things, she's brilliant she is."
"You're insane!" Craig shouted.
"Leave off the Doctor, I love the Doctor," Michael told him, "And Evy's wonderful," he smiled warmly at Evy who handed him a cup of tea, "He was brilliant in the planning meeting."
"You went to the planning meeting?"
"Yes," the Doctor nodded, "I was your representative. We don't need Mr. Lang any more. Rude Mr. Lang."
Evy just rolled her eyes and set the plate of biscuits down for him, "I got some custard creams too," he grinned excitedly and picked one up to munch on.
"Hi, Craig," Sophie walked up to him, seeing him there and feeling better, "I went on the web, applied for a wildlife charity thing. They said I could always start as a volunteer straight away. Should I do it?"
"Yeah, great, yeah, good, go for it," he waved her off as well.
"You look terrible," Evy commented softly, stepping forward, "You really should get back to bed."
"Who next?" the Doctor typed on the keyboard, "Oh, yes."
"Bed," Evy nudged Craig.
He looked over at Sophie who smiled and nodded at him before walking off. He sighed and turned to go.
~8~
The Doctor and Evy laughed at a funny little joke they'd been sharing as they stepped into the flat to see a cat coming down the stairs, "Oh, you've been upstairs have you?" Evy asked, stepping forward to pick up the cat, petting it as it meowed, "Yes?"
It meowed again and she laughed, sitting down on the steps with it as the Doctor sat beside them. He reached out and pet the cat as well, "You can do it," he whispered to the animal, "Show us what's up there? What's behind that door? Try to show us…" they frowned after a moment, getting a vague look, "Oh, that doesn't make sense! Ever see anyone go up there? Lots of people? Good, good."
"What sort of people? People who never come back down. That's bad," she looked at the Doctor in concern, "That's very bad."
"Oh, hello," the Doctor looked up to see Craig step out of the flat. He slammed the door behind him, startling the cat who ran off.
"I can't take this anymore," Craig shouted, "I want you to go, the both of you!" he turned and stormed back into the flat. The Doctor looked at Evy who nodded and got to work finding the cat as the Doctor went to deal with Craig, "You can have this back and all!"
Evy could still hear them shouting, something about talking to cats and the device in the room…she shook her head at the Doctor trying to pass it off as modern art and walked back to the stairs with the cat in her arms, only to stumble and lean against the wall as a sharp pain shot through her mind.
"Bloody hell!" she winced, reeling from the rush of information that streamed past her mind's eye as the Doctor crudely passed it on to Craig, "Ow!" she rubbed her forehead with one hand, stepping forward, trying to get back to the flat when the door opened and Sophie walked in.
"Oh!" she smiled, "Hello Evy!"
"Hi Soph…IE!" she collapsed onto the stairs as a second pain shot through her.
She was going to kill the Doctor when this was over.
"Evy!" Sophie shouted, rushing over to her as she dropped the cat, "Are you alright? What's wrong?"
"I'm fine," she grumbled, rubbing her head again, "I just…"
"Please can you help me?" a voice called down to them. They looked up to see a small girl hidden in the shadows, standing at the top of the stairs.
"Hi," Sophie breathed.
"Please. Will you help me?"
"What's the matter, my love?" Sophie asked, starting up the stairs.
"Sophie, don't!" Evy reached out and grabbed her arm.
"We've got to help her," Sophie shook her head, starting up again.
Evy sighed and went after her. No time like the present to see what was up there, and there was always safety in numbers, she couldn't let Sophie go alone.
~8~
"Argh!" the Doctor collapsed back on the side of the torn apart bed, "I am never, ever doing that ever, ever again..." he quickly tapped his earpiece, "Amy!"
"That's Amy Pond!" Craig exclaimed.
"Oh, of course, you can understand us now, hurray," the Doctor said sarcastically, getting back to Amy, "Got those plans yet?"
"Still searching for them!" Amy called.
"We've worked it out with psychic help from a cat."
"Cat?"
"Yes, we know he's got a time engine in the flat upstairs. He's using innocent people to try and launch it. Whenever he does, they get burnt up, hence the stain..."
"From the ceiling?" Craig asked.
"Well done, Craig. And you, Miss Pond, nearly get thrown off into the Vortex."
"Lovely!" Amy breathed.
There was a loud crash from upstairs, drawing both their attention, "People are dying up there?" Craig asked, before getting caught in a loop, "People are dying. People are dying..."
"Amy!" the Doctor shouted as Amy screamed for help.
"They're being killed!" Craig snapped out of the loop.
"Someone's up there!" the Doctor realized, turning out of the room, he stepped through the flat before slamming into the wall next to the steps.
'THETA!' Evy's terrified voice screamed in his mind.
"Evy!" he ran up the stairs, not caring that he had no idea how to deal with the thing in the room, but only that his Link was in trouble and he needed to help her.
"Doctor!" Amy shouted.
"Hang on!" the Doctor shouted, trying to get the door open, "They've got Evy in there."
"Sophie too," Craig breathed, seeing her keys at the bottom of the steps.
"Doctor!" Amy shouted again, "Stop!"
"I can't!" he cried back, "They've got Evy!" he began throwing his shoulder at the door, trying to break it open.
"Are you upstairs?"
The Doctor smacked his head for being so daft and pulled out his sonic, flashing the door lock, "Just going in!"
"But you can't be upstairs. It's a one story building!"
The Doctor paused for only a moment before sonicing the door once more and shoving it open, running in with Craig. He looked around, trying to catch sight of Evy in the control room of a very advanced spaceship, but couldn't see her.
"What?" Craig breathed.
"The time engine isn't IN the flat, the time engine IS the flat!" the Doctor told him, "Someone's attempt to build a TARDIS."
"No, there's always been an upstairs."
"Has there?" the Doctor looked around, he could sense, for now, that Evy was alright, "Think about it!"
"Yes," he nodded, before hesitating, "No. I don't..."
"Perception Filter. It's more than a disguise. It tricks your memory."
Someone screamed and they turned to see Sophie being pulled towards the controls, like a panel with an orb in it.
"Sophie!" Craig shouted, running to her side with the Doctor, "Sophie! Oh, my God, Sophie!" her hands started to crackle with electricity as she was pulled towards the glowing orb, exuding light, connecting the beams to Sophie.
"Craig!" the Doctor pulled him back, "It's controlling her. It's willing her to touch the activator."
"It's not going to have her!" he tried to pull her back.
Her hand fell onto the device and she screamed as the Doctor flashed the sonic on it, "Deadlock seal!"
"You've got to do something!"
Suddenly she was released and fell back to the ground.
"What?" the Doctor frowned, "Why's it let her go?"
"Doctor!" Evy shouted as the beams shot out of another panel and began to drag her forward from another corner of the room where she'd been trying to flash her sonic across a monitor, trying to access the ship's logs.
He ran to her side as a hologram appeared, "You will help me," it said.
"Stop!" the Doctor called, struggling to help Evy keep back as she grabbed onto a beam to keep herself from moving forward, "Crashed ship, let's see. Hello, I'm Captain Troy Handsome of International Rescue."
"Captain Troy Handsome?" Evy yelled, thinking she sounded very much like Donna just then. At least she was still able to keep her sense of humor in a life threatening situation.
"Please state the nature of your emergency," the Doctor continued, ignoring her.
"The ship has crashed," the hologram replied, "The crew are dead. A pilot is required."
"It's the emergency crash program," Evy strained to get out, "It's lured people up here to try them out."
The Doctor soniced the hologram, shifting it from a little girl to a young man to an old man, "You will help me," it repeated, "You will help me, you will help me."
"Craig!" Sophie called, waking up, "Where am I?"
"Hush!" the Doctor snapped at them, focused on getting his Link out of the beams, as he turned to the hologram, "Human brains aren't strong enough, they just burn. You're stupid, aren't you? You just keep trying."
"17 people have been tried. 6,000,400,026 remain," the hologram replied, "But the correct pilot has now been found," it began to repeat itself as Evy's grip slipped on the beam, pulling her forward, both she and the Doctor trying to hold her back.
"What's happening?" Amy asked over the earpiece.
"It's pulling Evy in!" he shouted, "She's the new pilot!"
"Could she do it? Could she fly the ship safely?"
"No," Evy struggled, clenching her teeth, "The Doctor and I, we're too much for the ship. If my hand touches the panel, then the whole solar system blows up, on top of the planet," she pulled back with all her might, managing to stop her hand only inches above the orb.
"The correct pilot has been found," the hologram repeated.
"No...worst choice ever, I promise you," the Doctor called back, helpless to help his Link, "Stop this!"
"Doctor!" Amy shouted, "It's getting worse!"
"It doesn't want everyone," Evy strained, "Craig, it didn't want you!"
"I spoke to him and he said I couldn't help him!" Craig replied.
"It didn't want Sophie before but now it does," the Doctor realized what Evy had, "I gave her the idea of leaving! It's a machine that needs to leave, it wants people who want to escape! And you don't want to leave, Craig, you're Mr. Sofa Man."
"Doctor!" Amy screamed.
"Craig, you can shut down the engine. Put your hand on the panel and concentrate on why you want to stay!"
"Craig no!" Sophie gasped.
"Will it work?" Craig asked.
"Yes!" the Doctor shouted.
"It hurts," Evy whimpered.
"Are you sure?" Craig asked again.
"Yes!" he repeated.
"Is that a lie?"
"My Link is in danger," he snapped, "Of course, it's a lie!"
Craig blinked and looked at Evy, realization in his eyes as the Doctor's memories told him exactly who Evy was to the man, and he needed Craig to save Evy, just like he'd needed the Doctor to save Sophie.
"Good enough for me," he turned to the panel, "Geronimo!" he slammed his hand down on it, screaming as the energy coursed through him, the ship releasing Evy, sending her falling back into the Doctor's arms.
"Craig!" Sophie shouted.
The Doctor set Evy down, awake but shaken, leaning her against a beam as he ran to Craig, "What's keeping you here?" he asked the man, "Think about everything that makes you want to stay here! Why don't you want to leave?" he slapped him.
"Sophie!" Craig closed his eyes in concentration, "And I don't want to leave Sophie! I can't leave Sophie! I love Sophie!"
"I love you too, Craig you idiot!" Sophie stepped forward and slapped her hand down as well, causing the ship to smoke and spark.
"Honestly, do you mean that?" Craig turned to Sophie.
"Of course I mean it! Do you mean it?"
"I've always meant it. Seriously though, do you mean it?"
"Yes."
"But what about the monkeys?"
"Oh, not now, not again!" the Doctor called, back at Evy's side, "Craig, the planet's about to burn!"
"For God's sake, kiss the girl!" Evy shouted.
Craig and Sophie kissed, their hands sliding from the panel
"Doctor!" Amy gasped, "You've done it. Ah ha, you and Evy have done it! Oh, now the screen's just zeros! Now it's minus ones, minus twos, minus threes...big yes!"
The hologram started to cycle through its different voices and projections, overloading, "Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me."
"Big no!" the Doctor shook his head, helping Evy up.
"Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me."
"Did we switch it off?" Craig looked over.
"Emergency shutdown," Evy hung on the Doctor for support, still shaking to badly to really move, "It's imploding!"
"Everybody out, out, out!" the Doctor shouted, helping Evy out of the room as he led the way. They made it down the stairs and out of the house as it began to shake, turning back to see the Perception Filter dissipate to reveal the ship seconds before it disappeared.
The people strolling by the house didn't bother to look up, not noticing what had happened.
"Look at them," Craig breathed, "Didn't they see that? The whole top floor just vanished."
"Perception Filter," Evy laughed a bit, "Means there never was a top floor."
The Doctor let out a breath of relief and pulled Evy to him, holding her tightly, holding her close, happy they'd survived, that she was alright. She smield into the hug, nuzzling her head into his chest as she closed her eyes.
~8~
The stain on the ceiling had disappeared, which meant it was time for the Doctor and Evy to take their leave. They walked through the hallway, ready to say goodbye to Craig and Sophie, when they saw just the couple they were looking for…otherwise occupied.
Evy smiled softly as she saw the couple kissing on the sofa, feeling the Doctor put his arm around her as they walked over to the door, leaving the keys on the table and heading out…
"Oi!" Craig called.
They turned around to see Craig and Sophie walking over to them, "What, you're trying to sneak off?" Sophie asked.
"Yes, well, you were sort of..." the Doctor trailed.
"Busy," Evy laughed.
Craig picked up their set of keys and held them up to the Doctor, "I want you to keep these. Thank you."
"Thank you," the Doctor smiled and took the keys, "'Cos we might pop back soon, have another little stay."
"No, you won't," Craig shook his head softly, "I've been in your head, remember? But I still want you to keep them."
"Thank you Craig," Evy stepped forward and hugged the two of them, "You as well Sophie."
"Thank you," he replied, wrapping his arm around Sophie.
"Now then, 6,000,400,026 people in the world," the Doctor morriored him, wrapping his arm around Evy's waist, "That's the number to beat."
Sophie laughed, "Yeah."
He winked at them before turning to walk out of the flat with Evy. They didn't have far to walk, as soon as the TARDIS could land safely, it had locked in on the Doctor's location and appeared across the street. They ran over to it, quickly getting in. Evy ran to the console and began to prepare to head back in time so Amy could leave them that note in the shop and on the house.
"Back in time!" the Doctor laughed, telling Amy the plan, "You need to go to the paper shop, leave that note for us."
"Right little matchmakers, aren't you?" Amy smirked at them, "Can't you two find me a fella?"
Evy stiffened at the words as the Doctor just put his stethoscope on the console and listened, "Oh, rectifier's playing up again..." he muttered.
"We've got to get Mark out of the apartment," Evy realized as the Doctor looked up, nodding.
They both turned and went to a different section of the room to get to work on that, "You write the note," the Doctor called back to Amy, "And we'll change that will."
"You got a pen?" Amy asked.
"Check his coat pocket!" Evy told her, "Be sure it's red!"
Neither of them noticed Amy pulling out her engagement ring from Rory out of the Doctor's coat pocket instead.
A/N: My thoughts on why the ship chose Evy, she was up there first. And, she's been a bit of a mechanic with the TARDIS and other devices, fixing things, perhaps the ship picked up on that. It DID need someone to fix it.
Lol, poor Doctor, he's gotten whacked more often in this chapter than any other I think. I really love it when Evy does that, it's like River said, couldn't you just slap him sometimes?
Next chapter...the Pandorica is even more like Pandora's Box than originally thought. The Doctor explains Evy's name and what the Link means in universal terms to Amy. We learn more about what Amy was like when she couldn't remember Rory.