The Pandorica Opens
River, dressed all in black in an outfit quite a bit like Evy's, though with a utility belt and without a coat, crept through the Royal Collection, looking for a painting Winston Churchill had told her about. She had to be quick, her transport was waiting. Finding it, she quickly ripped it down and headed back the way she came, getting halfway up the stairs when the lights turned on and the Queen appeared before her, a gun aimed at her, "This is the Royal Collection and I'm the bloody Queen," Liz 10 said, "What are you doing here?"
"It's about the Doctor and Evy, Ma'am," River held up her hands, the painting still in her grasp and thinking she really needed to get her hands on a Vortex Manipulator quite quickly to avoid this sort of situation, "You met them once, didn't you? I know they came here."
Liz lowered her gun, "The Doctor and Evy?"
"They're in trouble. I need to find them."
"Then why are you stealing a painting?"
"Look at it…" she handed it over, "I need to find the Doctor and Evy, and I need to show them this."
Liz looked down at the painting and then over at River in astonishment.
~8~
Amy was sitting under the console in the Doctor's harness, looking at the engagement ring she'd found in the Doctor's pocket nearly a month ago. She'd kept it with her and found herself looking at it from time to time. She knew she should give it back, but every time she tried, something just stopped her. She took the ring out, fiddling it around in her fingers before slowly starting to slip it on her ring finger when…
"Vavoom!" the Doctor shouted, leaning over the floor of the console to poke his head down at her.
She jumped, her hand closing around the ring, hiding the box behind her, "Va-what?"
The Doctor laughed as he pulled himself back on the console. Amy put the ring back and shoved the box in her pocket before jogging up to see Evy shaking her head as she and the Doctor flicked a few switches on the console.
"I can't believe we've never thought of this before, it's genius," the Doctor cried, walking over to Evy and kissing her, "Brilliant idea!"
Evy just smiled, pulling a lever and the small shaking of the TARDIS stopped, "And now we've landed...come on," she took the Doctor's hand and headed for the doors.
"Where are we?" Amy asked as she followed along.
"Planet One. The oldest planet in the Universe."
The Doctor spun around at the doors to face Amy, "There's a cliff of pure diamond and, according to legend, on the cliff there's writing, letters 50 feet high, a message from the dawn of time, and no one knows what it says, 'cos no one's ever translated it. Till today."
"What happens today?" Amy frowned.
"Us," the Doctor grinned.
"The TARDIS translation circuits will translate anything except Gallifreyan," Evy told her, before pausing in thought, "Except Judoon as they're very threatening, no need to scare people," she laughed, thinking of the 'intergalactic thugs,' the last thing a human needed to hear was their less than calming demands, "So, in theory, all we need to do is land here and go outside. We'll be able to read the first ever words in all of recorded history."
The Doctor threw open the doors and pulled Evy outside as they all ran out, onto a tropical planet where rather large mushrooms were growing. They looked up at the cliff face, Evy bursting out laughing as the Doctor shook his head.
There, on the cliff face, in large letters, with a few coordinates written beneath it, were the words: Hello Sweetie!
Amy laughed as well at the look on the Doctor's face, "Vavoom!"
Evy pulled him back into the TARDIS, "Come on, let's go find River…" she pulled him up to the console and began putting in the coordinates, "It must be important if she graffitied that."
The Doctor sighed, even he had to agree, and got to work helping her.
~8~
The TARDIS materialized at the edge of a forest on a hill, the Doctor, Evy, and Amy stepping out, "Right place?" Amy asked.
Evy nodded, "The exact coordinates from Planet One."
"Earth," the Doctor stated, "Britain…" he checked his watch, "1:02am. No, pm…"
"A.D.," Evy corrected, stopping at the sight before them.
The hill overlooked a plane filled with a large Roman encampment.
"That's a Roman Legion," Amy's eyes widened.
"Well, yeah," the Doctor shrugged, "The Romans invaded Britain several times during this period."
"Oh, I know," Amy grinned, nodding, "My favorite topic at school. 'Invasion of the Hot Italians,'" they looked at her, "Yeah, I did get marked down for the title."
Just then a breathless Roman soldier ran up to them, kneeling down with his fist to his chest, "Hail, Caesar!"
"…hi?" the Doctor waved a bit. Evy had to bite her lip to keep from laughing.
"Welcome to Britain. We are honored by your presence."
"Well, you're only human," the Doctor began slowly, confused, "Arise...Roman person."
"Why does he think you're Caesar?" Amy whispered, leaning over.
The soldier stood, revealing a smudge of lipstick on his face, "Cleopatra will see you now."
They started walking, Evy leaning over to speak quietly with Amy, "Did you see the smudge on his face?" Amy nodded, "Hallucinogenic lipstick, makes whoever's kissed believe what the wearer of the lipstick wants."
"Oh…" Amy nodded, both of them smirking as the soldier continued to honor Caesar while they walked, the Doctor looking more uncomfortable as they went.
~8~
The Doctor grabbed Evy's hand, half pulling her into a tent along with Amy to escape the rabid soldier who seemed just a bit too Caesar obsessed for the Doctor's comfort. He looked up to see River, dressed as Cleopatra, being waited on by two servants, grinning as she saw them, "Hello, sweetie."
"River!" Amy smiled, "Hi."
River got up and gave Evy a little hug when the Doctor frowned at her, "You graffitied the oldest cliff face in the Universe," he mock scolded.
"You wouldn't answer the phone," she countered. She clapped her hands and the servant left as she walked back to where she'd been sitting, reaching to the side to take something, and held up a scroll of canvas.
"What's that?" Evy frowned, eyeing it.
"It's a painting. Your friend Vincent," River told them as the Doctor snatched it out of her hand and began to unroll it on the table beside him, Evy next to him, "One of his final works. He had visions, didn't he? I thought you ought to know about this one."
Evy let out a small shudder, her eyes widening at the painting laid before them.
"Evy?" Amy frowned, walking over to look, "Doctor, what is this?" she nearly gasped, seeing the paining of the TARDIS exploding, "Why's it exploding?"
"I assume it's some kind of warning," River commented.
The Doctor backed away slowly, sitting down on a chair, his thoughts heavy. He reached out a hand to Evy who walked over to him without a thought and sat on his lap, the two of them taking silent comfort in each other.
"Something's going to happen to the TARDIS?" Amy asked.
"It might not be that literal," River argued, "Anyway this is where he wanted you. Date and map reference on the door sign, see?" she pointed to a scribbling on the TARDIS door in the painting, their coordinates and date.
"What's it called?" Evy asked.
"The Pandorica Opens."
"The Pandorica?" Amy shook her head, confused, "What is it?"
"A box. A cage. A prison. It was built to contain the most feared thing in all the Universe."
Evy got up and walked over to a small pile of maps as the Doctor began to pace the room, "And it's a fairytale, a legend," he said, "It can't be real."
"If it is real, it's here and it's opening. And it's got something to do with the TARDIS exploding," she watched as Evy placed a map on the table, glancing over at Van Gogh's painting before examining the map, "Hidden, obviously. Buried for centuries…" she eyed Evy, "You won't find it on a map."
"Probably not…" Evy remarked, glancing up, "But if I buried anything that dangerous, I'd sure as hell want to be able to find it again."
~8~
They rode across the land on three horses. The Doctor and Evy on one, Amy on another, and River on the last, following the map Evy had brought to one of the most famous locations in the history of Earth…Stonehenge.
They hopped off the horses as soon as they reached the structure, Evy and the Doctor immediately walking around to various stones, using their sonics on them while River took out a scanner and typed in some information.
"How come it's not new?" Amy asked, looking at a stone near her.
"Because it's already old," River explained, "Been here thousands of years. No one knows exactly how long," she looked up at the sky.
"Ok, this Pandorica thing…last time we saw you, you warned us about it, after we climbed out of the Byzantium."
"Spoilers!" River smirked, putting a finger to her lips.
"No, but you told the Doctor and Evy you'd see them again when the Pandorica opens."
"Maybe I did" River shrugged, walking past her, "But I haven't yet. But I will have. Doctor, Evy, I'm picking up fry particles everywhere. Energy weapons discharged on this site."
The Doctor stood up, stepping on a large stone in the middle of the circle, "If the Pandorica is here, it contains the mightiest warrior in history. Now half the galaxy would want a piece of that."
"They would definitely fight over it," Evy agreed, holding out a hand as he jumped off the stone, kneeling down as he rested his ear to it.
"We need to get down there."
~8~
That night River placed a device on the corner of the stone the Doctor and Evy had examined earlier, light from the standing lights they'd placed around the area casting a shadow around them. River sighed, straightening up and walking over to the Doctor, Evy, and Amy, "Right then. Ready?"
Evy took a breath as the Doctor gently reached out and grabbed her hand, holding it, as River pushed a button on her scanner. The rock slid to the side to reveal stone steps underneath it. The Doctor and Evy took a step forward, peering down as River stepped up with a light.
"The underhenge," the Doctor muttered. He glanced at Evy who nodded, the two of them pulling out their sonics, using it as a torch as they led the way down the stairs to a small room. Evy walked over to an actual torch, flashing her sonic to light it as River went to grab another from the opposite wall. Evy held out the torch, lighting River's as the Doctor walked over to a large board, locking a huge set of doors. He glanced over at them all, before pushing the block up. Evy stepped up beside him, grabbing the handle of the left door while he took the right, both nodding to the other, before pushing it open. There was a rather large cavernous room on the other side, a large box with an intricate circular pattern on every side sitting in the center.
"The Pandorica," Evy breathed, putting her torch in a sconce before they walked towards it.
"More than just a fairytale," River said.
The Doctor stopped suddenly as he stepped on something. He looked down to see the arm of a Cyberman lying there. He glanced at Evy who looked at him from beside the Pandorica, examining the patterns. He walked over to her, placing a hand on it as she lightly traced a pattern with her finger.
"There was a goblin, or a trickster, or a warrior," he explained to Amy and River, "A nameless, terrible thing, soaked in the blood of a billion galaxies. The most feared being in all the cosmos. And nothing could stop it, or hold it, or reason with it. One day it would just drop out of the sky and tear down your world."
"How did it end up in there?" Amy asked, watching them.
"Oh, as always in fairytales," Evy commented, grinning at the Doctor, "A good wizard tricked it."
He smirked at her, walking around the other side of the box as River handed Amy her torch and took out her scanner, "I hate good wizards in fairytales," she muttered, dropping her bag next to the Pandorica, "They always turn out to be him. Just like the fairy godmothers are always her."
Amy looked around at the cavern, "So it's kind of like Pandora's Box, then? Almost the same name."
"Sorry, what?" the Doctor peeked his head around from behind the box.
"The story. Pandora's Box, with all the worst things in the world in it."
"But there was also hope in there as well," Evy reminded her as the Doctor started to scan the Pandorica with his sonic.
"Oh I know. That was my favorite book when I was a kid," the Doctor suddenly stopped and walked over to her, concern on his face, "What's wrong?"
"Your favorite school topic, your favorite story," he muttered, eyeing her, before pacing, "Never ignore a coincidence, unless you're busy. In which case, always ignore a coincidence," he walked back over to Evy, helping her sonic it.
"So can you open it?" River asked them.
"Easily," Evy replied, "It's easy enough to break INTO a prison, but I think we'd both rather know what's trying to break OUT first."
River looked down at her scanner as it beeped, her eyes wide, "It's already opening. There are layers and layers of security protocols in there, and they're being disabled, one by one. Like it's being unlocked from the inside."
"How long do we have?" the Doctor asked her, serious.
"Hours at the most."
"What security protocols exactly?" Evy frowned.
"Everything," River looked at the scanner, "Deadlocks, time-stops, matter-lines..."
"What could need all that?" the Doctor asked.
"What could get past all that?"
A moment later they both looked over at Evy.
"What?" she asked, "Not even I could do that…it's impossible."
The Doctor sighed, looking back at the box, "Think of the fear that went into making this box."
"What could inspire that much fear?"
The Doctor leaned in, resting his forehead against the side of the box, "Hello, you. Have we met?"
"So why would it start to open now?" River asked.
"No idea," Evy shrugged.
"Hmm, and how could Vincent have known about it?" Amy asked, looking around, "He won't even be born for centuries."
The Doctor and Evy looked at each other before running to opposite ends of the room and scanning the stone pillars situated around the box, "The stones!" he shouted, sonicing them, "These stones are great big transmitters, broadcasting a warning to everyone, everywhere, to every time zone. The Pandorica is opening!"
"Doctor...everyone, everywhere?" River asked, stiffening.
"It even reached Vincent in his dreams," Evy agreed, "But what could possibly be in there that would justify all this?"
"Evy, everyone?" River tried her as well
"Anything that powerful, we'd know about it," the Doctor met Evy at the last pillar, "Why don't we know?"
"You said everyone could hear it!" River strode up to them, "So who else is coming?"
"Oh…"
"Oh?" Amy frowned, "Oh, what?"
River pressed her scanner against a pillar, "Ok, if it is basically a transmitter, we should be able to fold back the signal."
"On it!" Evy shouted, running to the pillars, sonicing them.
"On what?" Amy shook her head.
"Stonehenge is transmitting, it's been transmitting for a while...so who heard?" River asked.
"Ok, should feed back any moment," Evy called, "River, what's out there? Are you getting anything?"
"Give me a moment…"
The Doctor shook his head, snapping out of his thoughts as Evy walked back over, "River, quickly, anything?"
River's eyes widened, "Around this planet, there are at least 10,000 starships…"
"At least?" Amy gaped.
"10,000, 100,000, 1 million, I don't know," she shook her head, "There's too many readings."
"What sort of starships?" Evy asked, feeling like she very much didn't want to know.
River pushed a button and a Dalek transmission echoed through the room, fed back by the pillars, "Maintaining orbit."
The Doctor took Evy's hand as they listened.
"I obey," another Dalek answered, "Shield cover compromised on ion sectors."
"Daleks," Amy blinked, "Those are Daleks."
"Scan detects no temporal activity," the first Dalek continued.
"Soft grid scan commencing," the second Dalek added.
"Reverse thrust for compensatory stabilization."
"Daleks," River turned to them, "Doctor…Evy…"
"Launch preliminary armaments protocol."
The Doctor shook his head, letting go of Evy's hand as he started to pace, the girls watching, "Yes, ok. Ok, ok, ok. Dalek fleet. Minimum, 12,000 battleships, armed to the teeth. But we've got surprise on our side! They'll never expect four people to attack 12,000 Dalek battleships!"
"Because we'd be killed instantly," Evy reminded him, causing him to pause in his pacing, "So it would be a fairly short surprise."
"Right…" he nodded, walking over to them again, "Forget surprise."
"Doctor, Evy, CyberShips!" River called.
"No, Dalek ships, listen to them, those are Dalek ships."
"Yes. Dalek ships AND CyberShips."
Evy shook her head in thought, "What if we start a fight between them? We could turn them on each other."
"Could work," the Doctor agreed, "It's the Daleks...they're SO cross..."
"Sontaran," River added, "Four battle-fleets."
"Sontarans?" Evy turned to face her, the pit in her stomach growing.
"Talk about cross, who stole all their handbags?" the Doctor tried to laugh.
"Terileptil," River continued, "Slitheen. Chelonian. Nestene…" the Doctor took Evy's hand, gripping it tightly as they both started stumbling back in sheer shock towards the box, "Drahvin. Sycorax. Haemo-goth. Zygon. Atraxi. Draconian. They're all here. For the Pandorica!"
Evy looked over at the box behind them, "What are you?"
The ground suddenly began to shake.
Evy and the Doctor ran to the stairs, River and Amy following. They ran up and out into Stonehenge to see lights filling the sky from hundreds of ships, flying around above them…the armies descending.
"What do we do?" Amy breathed.
River stepped around them, coming to stand before Evy and the Doctor who were still staring up at the sky, "Doctor, Evy, listen to me! Everything that ever hated either of you is coming here tonight. You can't win this. You can't even fight it. Doctor, Evy, this once, just this one time, please, you have to run."
"Run where?" Evy shook her head at River, still looking up.
"Fight how?"
The Doctor pulled out binoculars from his pocket and looked back the way they came, "The greatest military machine in the history of the Universe."
"What is?" Amy asked, "The Daleks?"
"No, no, no," he turned back, smiling, "The Romans!"
River looked at him stonily before sighing and heading back to her horse, knowing it was impossible to argue with him. In her future, she barely ever managed to win an argument against him. The only one she'd seen do that was Evy and not even she wasn't arguing this time…dealing with the Pandorica was far too important to the both of them.
With one last look she took off into the night, heading back to the encampment.
Evy looked back at the Doctor and Amy, "I'll keep watch out here," she told them, "I know you're absolutely riveted to examine that box more, so go on," she gave him a soft smile. He took her hand, squeezing it in thanks before heading down with Amy.
Evy let out a deep breath her eyes on the sky as she sat on a stone near the stairway.
~8~
Amy walked around the cavernous room, lighting more torches as the Doctor continued to examine the Pandorica, "So what's this got to do with the TARDIS?"
"Nothing, as far as we know," the Doctor answered.
"But Vincent's painting...the TARDIS was exploding, is that going to happen?"
"One problem at a time. There's force field technology inside this box. If I can enhance the signal, I could extend it all over Stonehenge. Could buy us half an hour."
"What good is half an hour?"
"There are fruit flies live on Hoppledom 6 that live for 20 minutes and they don't even mate for life," the Doctor began before pausing, looking up at her a moment, "There was going to be a point to that. I'll get back to you."
Amy put her hands in her pocket, feeling the ring box there. She looked over at the stairs that led to Evy before turning back to the Doctor, "You should propose now."
"I'm sorry?" he looked up, utterly confused as to what she was talking about.
"To Evy. You should propose now what with imminent destruction looming on the horizon."
"What?"
Amy rolled her eyes, "You should propose to Evy!"
"I don't have to," he said slowly, still trying to work out why she was saying that.
Amy sighed, "She's not a mind reader you know!" but then paused, "Ok, well, maybe she can read minds but…"
"No, no, no," he shook his head, "Amy I don't have to propose to her, we're already married."
"What?" Amy gaped, how had she missed that fact?
He laughed at her expression, "The Link. On Gallifery, there are a few different versions of it. But...not many people who aren't romantically Linked are as close, they don't spend as much time together, travel together. That's the only version of the Link that other species have come in contact with, it's basically their equivalent of marriage. As soon as I Linked to her we were universally recognized as married I suppose you could say."
"So…why does she introduce herself as Evy Daniels…" her eyes widened, "Is your last name Daniels?!"
"No," he shook his head, amused.
She frowned, "Then why..."
"It was a name she picked on Gallifrey when she was 50 years old," he explained, smiling, "Evelyn, means 'beautiful bird' here on Earth. When she was here those couple of years, she had to have a last name to fit in, so she picked Daniels," he blinked, straightening up, "Why did you think I was planning to propose to her?"
Amy blushed, embarrassed, before pulling the ring box from her pocket, "I found this in your pocket."
His eyes widened as he saw the box in her hands, "No. No, no, that's, uh...a memory. A friend of ours…uh, mine and Evy, someone we lost…" he reached out for the box, but Amy pulled away, "Do you mind?"
"It's weird," she frowned, looking at the box intently, "I feel...I don't know. Something."
'She still remembers him,' Evy breathed in his mind, smiling softly to herself. There was hope!
The Doctor eyed Amy carefully, he'd have to word this right so as not to startle her, "People fall out of the world sometimes, but they always leave traces. Little things we can't quite account for. Faces in photographs, luggage, half eaten meals...rings...nothing is ever forgotten, not completely. And if something can be remembered, it can come back."
Amy snapped the box closed and handed it over, "So, was she nice, your friend?"
The Doctor frowned, he could feel Evy's hearts breaking for Amy. He put the ring in his pocket and walked over to the Pandorica…
'That crack in her wall must have impacted her more than we thought,' Evy commented, 'If she was able to remember someone who never existed, even if it's a vague feeling…'
He pausing a moment at Evy's words to look back at Amy, "Remember that night you flew away with us?"
"Of course I do," Amy smiled.
"And you asked us why we were taking you and we told you there wasn't a reason. We were lying."
"What, so you did have a reason?" Amy frowned.
"Your house."
"My house?"
"It was too big, too many empty rooms. Does it ever bother you, Amy, that your life doesn't make any sense?"
Just then a laser flew past them. Amy screamed and they ran to hide behind the Pandorica.
'Doctor!' Evy shouted in his mind, 'What's going on?'
'No idea, but we're fine. Stay there! We're heading out!'
"Ok, what was that?" Amy asked.
"Need a proper look," he breathed, "Got to draw its fire, give it a target."
"How?"
"You know how sometimes Evy has really brilliant ideas?"
"Yes…" she said slowly.
"This is what happens when she's not here," he said, before dashing out into the open, throwing his arms out, "Look at me, I'm a target!"
The laser fired again and the Doctor ducked behind a pillar across from Amy, he winced, his face scrunching in pain.
"What happened?" Amy's eyes widened in concern, "Are you alright?"
"Evy is not happy right now…" he mumbled. Evy was, in fact, very angry and shouting at him…and he thought he was in trouble before…
"What is that?" Amy asked, glancing back at where a laser was still firing.
"CyberArm. Arm of a Cyberman."
"And what's a Cyberman?"
"Oh, sort of part man, part robot," the Doctor waved her off, "The organic part must have died off years ago, now the robot part is looking for fresh meat."
"What, us?"
"It's just like being an organ donor, except you're alive and sort of screaming," he began, before wincing as Evy mentally smacked him in the head…he didn't even know it was possible to do that, "I need to get round behind it, could you draw its fire?"
"Like you did?" she asked incredulously.
"You'll be fine if you're quick, it's only got one arm," he encouraged, "Literally," he smiled and gave her two thumbs up. Amy gave him a nervous thumbs up as well before grimacing and running, screaming, around the box in the opposite direction. The arm fired at her and the Doctor dove for it, grabbing it and flashing it with his screwdriver, shutting it down, "Doctor?"
"Scrambled its circuits, but stay where you are," he called, "It could be bluffing."
'Be careful!' Evy warned him. He winced, one wrong move and she would be racing down the stairs to help…and if the laser got her…
"Bluffing?" Amy exclaimed, "It's an arm!"
"I said stay where you are!" he shouted, getting up.
Amy stepped back and crossed her arms, when suddenly she felt something touch her leg. She looked down to see a wire wrapped around her boots, "Doctor?" she screamed as she fell backwards, pulled by the wires.
"Amy!" he yelled when the CyberArm released a large dose of electricity, shocking him. He fell to the ground, unconscious.
"Doctor!"
~8~
At the top of the stairs Evy collapsed to the ground, in pain, as she felt the Doctor fall. This was even worse than when he was struck by lightning in 1929! She bit her lip as she felt her body scream out, trying to remain conscious…
She could hear Amy shouting from below, calling for her and the Doctor but she couldn't move much without getting spasms of pain when she heard it, echoing up to her…
"You will be assimilated!"
Her eyes widened and she grabbed a rock near her, trying to heave herself to her feet. If a live Cyberman was down there…Amy would be finished…
"Yeah?" Amy shouted, "You and whose body?"
She could hear heavy footsteps as she managed to stand, only to fall to her knees as she reached the steps.
Suddenly there were sounds of hoof beats. She looked over to see a dozen or so Roman soldiers riding ahead of a larger group. One soldier jumped off his horse and ran towards the henge, two soldiers following behind him. Evy's eyes widened as she gasped when the soldier stepped into the light.
"Rory?" she exclaimed.
"Evy!" Rory ran over to her side, helping her up, "Where's Amy and the Doctor?"
"Down there," she nodded at the steps, "They were attacked by a Cyberman."
Rory nodded, passing her over to another soldier, "Help her down," he turned, pulling out his sword, and rushed down the steps.
"Be careful!" she shouted after him as the second soldier helped her down the steps shakily.
They reached the bottom in time to see Rory knocking the Cyberman over towards a pair of double doors, stabbing it through the chest with his sword. Evy scrambled over to the Doctor's side, disabling the arm completely with her sonic and tossing it away as she knelt beside him.
"Who..." she heard Amy begin, "Who are you..."
She looked over to see Rory remove his helmet, "Hello, Amy," something must have happened because Rory jolted forward, looking as though he'd just caught Amy, "Whoa, whoa!"
The Doctor groaned as Evy turned her attention back to him, stroking his face as his eyes fluttered.
"Go alert your captain," Evy told the soldier that had helped her.
"Sir, the man's coming round," the soldier announced, making his way to Rory.
The Doctor looked around, "Amy?" he asked, before his eyes widened and he jumped to his feet, Evy helping to steady him as he swayed, "Where's Amy?"
Evy nodded to the side room and he ran over to it.
"She's fine, Doctor, just unconscious," Rory said as Evy walked with him into the room, the Doctor rushed to where Amy was laying on a chest. Evy went to lean against the wall at Amy's head while Rory stood at her feet, the Doctor between them.
"Ok…" he flashed the sonic over her, "Yes, she's sedated, that's all."
"Give it a half an hour," she told Rory, "And she'll be just fine."
"Ok," the Doctor clapped, looking over at Rory, "Romans, good, I was just wishing for Romans," he grinned at Evy.
"Good old River," Evy agreed, highly amused at how the Doctor hadn't quite noticed Rory yet, "Romans."
"How many?" he looked back at Rory.
"50 men up top, volunteers," Rory answered, "What about that thing?" he pointed at the Cyberman impaled on the door.
"50? Not exactly a legion."
Rory nodded to another soldier who left, "Your friend was very persuasive, but it's a tough sell."
"Yes, I know that, Rory," he commented, looking around the room for something, "I'm not exactly one to miss the obvious."
"Of course not," Evy smirked, barely holding in her laughter.
"But we need everything we can get," he pulled out two very large guns from another chest, "Ok, CyberWeapons. This is basically a sentry box. So, headless wonder here was a sentry. Probably got himself duffed up by the locals. Never underestimate a Celt."
"Doctor..." Rory began.
"Hush, Rory," the Doctor cut in.
Rory looked over at Evy who just held up a hand and mouthed 'Wait for it.'
"Why leave a Cyberman on guard?" the Doctor frowned, "Unless it's a Cyberthing in the box!
"But why lock up one of their own?" Evy countered.
"Ok, no," he agreed, "Not a Cyberthing, but what, what? No, I'm missing something obvious, Rory!" he turned to face the man.
"Something staring you in the face perhaps?" Evy guessed.
"Yes," he nodded, still staring at Rory, "Something big, something right slap in front of me, I can feel it!"
"Yeah, I think you probably are," Rory agreed.
"I'll get it in a minute," he shrugged, striding out of the room.
Rory looked at Evy who held up a single finger. A moment later there was a clattering as the Doctor dropped the guns, "There it is," she laughed.
The Doctor slowly reentered the room, walking straight over to Rory, and stared at him. He reached out tentatively and poked him in the chest, making him sway.
"My reaction as well," Evy commented. She had hardly believed Rory was real till he helped her up.
"Hello again," the Doctor said to Rory.
"Hello," Rory nodded.
"How've you been?"
"Good. Yeah, good. I mean, Roman."
"Rory, I'm not trying to be rude, but you died."
"Yeah, I know, I was there."
"You died and then you were erased from time. You didn't just die, you were never born at all, you never existed."
Rory frowned, "Erased? What does that mean?"
"How can you be here?"
"I don't know. It's kind of fuzzy."
"Fuzzy?" Evy frowned.
"Well, I died and turned into a Roman," Rory looked over at her, "It's very distracting!" he took a breath and turned to stroke Amy's cheek, "Did she miss me?"
The Doctor couldn't answer.
Evy walked over to him, taking his hand in hers, squeezing it reassuringly before turning to Rory, "I think she did…in her own way."
There was a loud whooshing and rumbling above them. They ran out into the main cavern, Rory following along, stopping short when they realized the symbols on the Pandorica were glowing green. The Doctor and Evy ran over to it, flashing their sonics across it as a few other soldiers who had entered watched.
"What is it?" Rory asked, "What's happening?"
"The final phase," the Doctor said.
"It's opening," Evy breathed, placing a hand on the turning gears.
There was another whoosh and Rory ran out of the room to check, leaving Evy and the Doctor to their work.
There was a beeping noise from River's pack. Evy walked over and opened it, seeing a second communicator, and a Vortex Manipulator. She pulled out the communicator, "What is it?"
"You're surrounded," River replied, "Have you got a plan?"
Evy glanced over at the Doctor, lying on the ground, flashing the bottom of the Pandorica, "Of course we don't."
The Doctor rolled his eyes, "Yes we do! But you need to hurry and get the TARDIS here. We need equipment!"
"Please," Evy added, mock glaring at the Doctor's demand. The comm. cut off and she looked over at the Doctor once more.
"What are you?" he whispered, staring at the box, "They're all here, all of them, all for you. What could you possibly be?"
"Whatever it is," Evy glanced at the comm. which was also acting as a small radar/scanner, "They're all here, right now…we've got to buy some time."
He nodded, holding out a hand for the comm.. Evy handed it over, and he flashed the sonic over it, keying it into the frequency of the stones, using them to broadcast the comm. to everyone listening. He turned it on, standing up but stumbling, still off from the electrocution, and dropped it.
Evy just rolled her eyes and picked it up, handing it back to him, "Sorry, sorry, dropped it!" he called, taking Evy's hand as they headed to the stairs, "Hello, Stonehenge! Who takes the Pandorica, takes the Universe. But bad news, everyone..." he ran over and jumped on a flat stone, shouting up at the sky full of ships, "'Cos guess who?" he held out a hand, pulling Evy up beside him, "Ha! Listen, you lot, you're all whizzing about, it's really very distracting. Could you all just stay still a minute? Because I. Am. Talking!"
Surprisingly, the ships stilled.
"The question of the hour is, who's got the Pandorica?" he continued, "Answer..." he squeezed Evy's hand, smirking at her, "We do. Next question, who's coming to take it from us? Come on! Look at us, no plan, no backup, no weapons worth a damn. Oh, and something else, we don't have, anything...to...lose!" he shouted, laughing, "So if you're sitting up there in your silly little spaceship, with all your silly little guns, and you've got any plans on taking the Pandorica tonight, just remember who's standing in your way. Remember every black day we ever stopped you. And then, AND THEN, do the smart thing," he looked over at Evy who was watching him with a wide grin on her face, she did so love it when he did things like this, he winked at her, "Let somebody else try first."
He threw his arms out, holding Evy's up as well, as though daring one of them to try something.
The ships took off.
Rory breathed a sigh of relief as the Doctor tossed him the communicator and jumped down.
Evy laughed, "They'll be squabbling for half an hour at least!" she grinned at Rory.
"Romans!" the Doctor shouted in greeting, before turning and heading off to the underhenge once more with Evy.
"They're still out there," Rory frowned, following them, tossing the communicator over to River's pack, "What do we do now?"
"If we can just stop the box from opening, they'll all go home," Evy said.
"Right…"
The Doctor tensed, seeing something over Rory's shoulder, "Rory, we're sorry, you're going to have to be very brave now."
Evy looked over to see that Amy had woken up and was walking towards them, rubbing her head.
She walked right past Rory and over to them, "Oh, my head," she frowned.
"Go aaahhh," the Doctor widened his mouth in demonstration.
"Aaahhh," Amy mimicked, the Doctor leaning over to look in her mouth.
"Just your basic knock out drops."
"Go get some fresh air and you'll be fine," Evy added.
"Is it safe up there?" Amy asked.
"Not remotely, but it's fresh," the Doctor told her.
"Fine," she sighed, turning to walk out, nearly bumping into Rory who was right behind her, "Oh, you're the guy, yeah, the one who did the...swordy thing," she mimed stabbing movements.
"Yeah," Rory's hopeful, excited expression slowly faded.
"Well, thanks for the swording," she mimed again, before tapping him on the shoulder and walking off, "Nice swording."
"No problem," he looked down a moment, before spinning around, "My men are up there. They'll look after you."
"Good," Amy waved over her shoulder, "Love a Roman!" and then she walked up the stairs.
Rory watched her leave sadly, "She doesn't remember me," he turned to face them, "How can she not remember me?"
"Because you never existed," the Doctor told him sadly, "There are cracks. Cracks in time."
"One day there will be a terrible explosion," Evy continued, "So terrible that every other moment in history will crack around it."
"So how does that work?" Rory frowned, "What kind of explosion? What exploded?"
"Doesn't matter, the cracks are everywhere," the Doctor waved the question off, "Get too close and you can fall right out of the Universe."
"So I fell through a crack and now I was never born?"
"Basically."
"How did I end up here?"
"We don't know, you shouldn't have."
"What happened?" Evy asked, "From your point of view, what physically happened?"
"I was in the cave, with you and the Doctor and Amy," he told her, "I was dying and then I was just...here. A Roman soldier. A proper Roman. Head full of Roman...stuff, a whole other life. Just here like I'd woken up from a dream. Started to think it was a dream. You and the Doctor and Amy and Leadworth. Then today, in the camp, the men were talking about the visitors, the girl with the red hair. I thought you'd come back for me. But she can't even remember me."
"Oh, shut up," the Doctor cut in.
"What?"
"I think she can," Evy said, leaning on the Doctor as he wrapped an arm around her, "She…she cries sometimes Rory, like she's so sad and she doesn't know why. Like she's lost something but doesn't know what. I…I've seen her sometimes, get this look on her face like she's so close to realizing what's gone, but snaps out of it before it can happen."
The Doctor nodded, tossing Rory the ring box from his pocket, "Go get her!"
Evy smiled and walked back to the Pandorica, scanning it more with her sonic as the Doctor dealt with a rather confused Rory.
"But I don't understand," Rory shook his head, "Why am I here?"
"Because you are?" the Doctor shrugged, "The Universe is big. It's vast and complicated and ridiculous, and sometimes, very rarely, impossible things just happen and we call them miracles, and that's the theory," he shook his head, "900 years, I've only ever seen one miracle."
"What was it?" Rory cut in.
The Doctor just glanced over his shoulder at Evy before turning back, "But…as far as real, actual miracles to others go, this would do me. Now get upstairs, she's Amy and she's surrounded by Romans. I'm not sure history can take it."
Evy laughed as the Doctor slapped Rory on the back and sent him off.
~8~
The communicator beeped and the Doctor snatched it up, "The TARDIS, where is it? Hurry up!"
"Don't raise your voice, don't look alarmed, just listen," River's voice cut in. The Doctor looked over at Evy, giving her a brief nod as they made their way to one side of the Pandorica, away from the soldiers. He reached out, pulling her close so she could hear the conversation as well.
"Go ahead," Evy told her quietly.
"They're not real, they can't be," River said, "They're all right here in the story book, those actual Romans, the ones I sent you, the ones you're with right now. They're all in a book in Amy's house, a children's picture book. And I think someone else might have been here too…"
"What are you even doing there?" the Doctor asked.
"It doesn't matter. The TARDIS went wrong. How is this possible?"
"Something must be using her memories," Evy realized, "Amy's memories."
"But how?"
"You said something had been there," the Doctor frowned.
"Yes, there's burn marks on the grass outside, landing patterns."
Evy looked up at the Doctor, "If they've been to her house, they could have used her psychic residue."
The Doctor nodded, "Structures can hold memories, that's why houses have ghosts. They could've taken a snapshot of Amy's memories."
"But why?"
"Who are those Romans?" River asked quietly.
"Projections? Duplicates?"
"But they were helping us. My lipstick even worked."
"They might think they're real," the Doctor began, "The perfect disguise. They actually believe their own cover story, right until they're activated…" he squeezed Evy to him, dropping a kiss down on to her head.
They were surrounded.
"That Centurion...there's a picture here of him as well…it's a trap, it has to be. They used Amy to construct a scenario you'd believe, to get close to you."
"Why? Who'd do that? What for? It doesn't make sense."
There was a slight shout over the communicator.
"River?" Evy asked, "River? River, what happened?"
"I don't know, it's the engines," River shouted, "There's something wrong with the TARDIS, like something else is controlling it."
"You're flying it wrong," the Doctor called.
"I'm flying it perfectly. Evy taught me!"
"Where are you?" Evy asked quickly, "What's the date reading?"
"It's the 26th June, 2010."
The Doctor and Evy looked at each other in concern, "You need to get out of there now!" he shouted, "Any other time zone, just go."
"I can't break free."
"Then, shut down the TARDIS," Evy supplied, "Shut down everything!"
"I can't!" River yelled…and suddenly a voice that wasn't River's echoed through the device.
"Silence will fall. Silence will fall."
And then River was back, "Someone else is flying it. An external force. I've lost control."
"But how?" the Doctor shook his head, "Why?"
Suddenly there was a high-pitched whine, forcing Evy and the Doctor to cover their ears in pain. It was worse than two sonics held together! It lasted only a moment though before it faded.
"River listen," Evy cut in, "Land anywhere. Emergency landing, right now."
"There are cracks in time," the Doctor added, "We've seen them everywhere, and they're getting wider."
"They'll be created if the TARDIS explodes, but we can stop that all if you land and get out now!"
"It's not safe!" River shouted.
Light suddenly filled the room as the Pandorica started to open, two sides sliding away from the corner facing the entrance. Evy and the Doctor stumbled back, their eyes on the light.
"Well, now…" the Doctor breathed, "Ready to come out, are we?"
"I'm down!" River shouted, "I've landed."
"Walk out of the doors," Evy told her, "The engines will shut down if no one's inside."
"Just get out of there," the Doctor agreed.
"I'm going," River replied.
"Run!" he shouted. He glanced at Evy, handing her the comm. as he took a step towards the Pandorica, his sonic out and ready, scanning it.
"Doctor! Evy! I can't open the doors!"
The Doctor looked back over at Evy, his eyes widening as he saw the soldiers advancing, "Evy!" he shouted, but the soldiers grabbed her arms before she could even look over her shoulder. He ran forward, trying to get to her but was grabbed as well.
"Evy, I can't open the doors!" River yelled, "Doctor, please, I've got seconds!"
But the communicator was on the ground, both Evy and the Doctor being held by two soldiers each and being led away from the Pandorica.
"Plastic Romans," Evy guessed, "Nestene Duplicates."
"Deep cover, but what for?" the Doctor tried, "What are you doing? What's in there, eh? What's coming out?"
The duplicates holding them faced the Pandorica as they struggled, facing the opposite direction, "The Pandorica is ready," a soldier announced.
"What? You mean it's open?"
"You have been scanned," Evy and the Doctor froze at the voice of a Dalek, "Assessed. Understood. The Doctor and Evy."
They looked over their shoulders to see the white Dalek materialize, a red and yellow one beside it. The soldiers reached out, grabbing their arms and turning them so they were now facing the Daleks, but still restrained.
"Scanned?" Evy shook her head, "Scanned by what, the box?"
"Your limits and capacities have been extrapolated," a Cyberman stated as he too appeared, followed by Judoon and Sontarans.
"The Pandorica is ready," the Sontaran called.
"Ready for what?" the Doctor asked as they looked between all their enemies, two or three creatures of every race now filling the room.
"Ready for you," the Dalek announced.
The duplicates marched forward, leading them to the Pandorica which was now wide open, white light shining from it. Amidst the advanced technology there was a chair facing forward with restraints, a narrow space around it from the walls, just enough room to walk. And that was when they realized…there was another chair behind it!
The duplicates walked in first with a struggling Evy, trying to get back, as the Doctor struggled trying to get to her. He watched in horror, helpless, as they forced her into the back of the box, strapping her down. He could hear clamps and could vaguely see a chest restraint move. Then wrist cuffs clamped down, followed by a shoulder and head restraint.
"Evy!" he shouted.
"You shall join your Link soon enough," a Dalek stated as the two duplicates walked out, the second set pulling him forward as well, while Silurians, Hoix, and Roboforms, watched along with others. They forced him into the chair, clamping down on his wrist and ankles while a large yoke came down over his shoulders.
"You lot, working together, an alliance…how is that possible?" he stared at his enemies as they gloated.
"The cracks in the skin of the Universe," the Dalek began.
"All reality is threatened," the Sontaran agreed.
"All Universes will be deleted," the Cyberman announced.
"What?" he shook his head, "And you've come to us for help?"
"No," Evy breathed from behind him, "They want to stop us."
"We will save the Universe from you!" the Sontaran shouted.
"From us?" the Doctor frowned.
"All projections correlate," the Cyberman began, "All evidence concurs. The Doctor and his Link Evy will destroy the Universe."
"No!" Evy shouted, "You're wrong!"
"The Pandorica was constructed to ensure the safety of the alliance," the Cyberman explained.
"A scenario was devised from the memories of your companion," the Dalek continued.
"A trap the Doctor could not resist," the Sontaran sneered, "A trap he would lead his Link to as well."
The Doctor tensed, his eyes wide, realizing he had led Evy right to this as well…
'Don't you dare,' Evy cut into his thoughts, 'I was the one who made us go see River. It was the both of us together.'
"The cracks in time are the work of the Doctor and Evy," the Dalek stated, "It is confirmed."
"No, no, no," the Doctor disagreed, "Not us, the TARDIS. And we're not in the TARDIS, are we?"
"Only the Doctor and his Link can pilot the TARDIS."
"Please, listen to us!" Evy shouted.
"You will be prevented."
"Total event collapse!" the Doctor tried, "Every sun will supernova at every moment in history."
"The whole Universe will never have existed!" Evy added, "Please, listen!"
"Seal the Pandorica," the Cyberman ordered.
"No!" Evy shouted, "Please, listen!"
"The TARDIS is exploding right now and we're the only ones who can stop it!" the Doctor yelled, "Listen to us!"
But it was too late, the Pandorica slammed shut. The Doctor leaned his head back, resting it on the back of Evy's when she did the same, as they were sealed away.
To be continued…
A/N: We're getting close to the dynamic-changing chapter :) Only 4 more days!
I always wondered why Judoon never translated even with the TARDIS right there. I'm just guessing that they're so intimidating that the TARDIS doesn't want to scare the humans with talk of judgements and executions and such.
As for the Link. I figure that friendly Links, or even sibling or rivalry Links, wouldn't display as much affection and love as the romantic Links. Going out into the Universe, they probably wouldn't have taken their Links with them or at least not introduced them as their Link. But the romantic Links would go together, not wanting to be apart, and would probably, at some point, mention the Linking process to those on their travels. In that sense, the Universe has only ever seen romantic Links so, to other species, they think Linking is like marriage and that's it, no other versions. Only those on Gallifrey really know what Linking is.
Next chapter...Rory learns more about the Link's downsides which leaves him feeling a bit green. The Doctor's not the only one the Dalek targets. The Doctor and Evy share a sweet moment.