"What did you take from his pocket?" Amy asks as the cab speeds down the road.
"Psychic paper. When you show it to a person, the paper changes to fit what that person thinks it is. For example," I start, taking it out. "Amy, this is my old library card. Rory-" I move the paper over to him as he pays attention. "This is my FBI ID card."
"You're with the FBI? I thought you'd never been to America," he asks incredulously.
"It's psychic paper. I tell you what to see and you see it, basically."
"So, you don't actually work for the FBI?" Rory checks.
"No, Rory. Come on, let's go," I say once the cab gets into the hospital parking lot. We jump out and run inside, but a burly security officer prevents us from going upstairs. I show him the psychic paper and mention something about the government, and he quickly lets us through.
"Dreadfully sorry, ma'am. You won't mention this to the boss, would you?" He asks as we pass.
"If it doesn't happen again, I don't see why we can't let this slide," I tell him, nodding. He nods back, letting us run up the stairs and towards the coma ward. A woman and two children step from behind a corner, startling us.
"I think Dr. Ramsden is dead, and so are the nurses," the woman says.
"Rory," I start, turning my head without taking my eyes off the woman.
"Yeah?" He responds quietly.
"Coma patient?"
"Yeah."
"There was a dog, I swear it was rabid." The voice says again, but comes from one of the little girl's bodies. It seems to catch itself, smiling. "I'm getting it wrong again, aren't I? So many mouths." It starts to open it's mouth, revealing its large teeth.
"Run!" I shout at Amy and Rory, pushing them towards the coma ward and locking the door. I sonic it quickly, then place a broom over the handles. "Call the Doctor, now." Amy pulls out her phone and dials his number, talking with him quickly.
"What do you mean, where are we? At the hospital!"
"First floor on the left, fourth from the end, Amelia!" I tell her, analyzing the room for possible ways out. Nothing comes to mind, and I hit my forehead. The door bursts open, the creature standing in the door frame.
"Little Amelia Pond, I watched you grow up. And you, Bad Wolf Tyler. Twelve years, and you didn't know I was there. Waiting for your magic Doctor to remember and return. But not this time," it says, starting to open its mouth again.
"Duck!" Amy shouts, moments before the glass of the window shatters. In climbs the Doctor, looking around for a second.
"Right, hello! Am I late? No, sorry, got three minutes to go, so still time."
"Time for what, Time Lord?"
"Take the disguise off, they find you in a heart beat. No one dies."
"The Atraxi will kill me this time. If I am to die, let there be fire."
"Okay, you came into this world through a crack in space and time. Do it again, just leave."
"I did not open the crack."
"Somebody. Did."
"The cracks in the skin of the universe, don't you know where they came from? You don't do you?" Its voice switches to a childish one. "The Doctor in the TARDIS doesn't know, doesn't know, doesn't know. The universe is cracked, the Pandorica will open, Silence will fall." The Doctor stays silent for a moment before pointing at the clock.
"And we're off. Look at that. Look at that! Yeah, I know, just a clock, whatever. But do you know what's happening right now? In one little bedroom, my team are working, Jeff and the world. And do you know what they're doing? They're spreading the word. All over the world, quantum fast. The word is out, and that word... is zero. Now, me, if I was up in the sky in a battleship, monitoring all Earth communications, I'd take that as a hint. And if I had a whole battle fleet surrounding this planet, I'd be able to track a simple old computer virus to its source in, what, under a minute? The source, by the way, is right here. Oh! And I think they just found us."
"The Atraxi are limited. While I'm in this form, they'll still be unable to detect me. They've tracked a phone, not me."
"Oh, but this is the good bit. My favorite bit. Do you know what this phone is full of? Pictures of you, in every form you've learned to take on, being uploaded right about... now. And the final score is: no TARDIS, no screwdriver, two minutes to spare. Who da man?" He holds his hands in the air as we stare at him. "Oh, I'm never saying that again, fine.
"Then I shall take a new form."
"Oh, stop it. You know you can't, takes months to form that kind of psychic link."
"And I've had years." I watch the creature cock its head to the side, instantly making me tired. I close my eyes and fall to the floor, letting the psychic link be completed.
"No no no no no, you've got to hold on. Jo, don't sleep," I hear the Doctor say, feeling his hands on my cheeks. I hear someone pat his shoulder, and everyone goes quiet.
"Who's that supposed to be?" I hear Rory ask.
"Me," The Doctor replies quietly.
"That looks nothing like you," Amy states.
"One of my past regenerations, different face back then. But you're connected to her, why are you copying me?"
"I'm not," I hear a voice, which I recognize as my own. "Oh, how long she's dreamed that you would remember her. She had forgotten who she was, and she dreamed of her magic Doctor, who'd come to rescue her and tell her who she is. What a disappointment you've been."
"She's dreaming about me because she can hear me," The Doctor says, though unsure of himself. Again, I feel two hands on my cheek and the slight breeze of breath on my face. "Jo, don't just hear me, listen. Remember the room, the room in your house you couldn't see. Remember you went inside, I tried to stop you but you did. Dream about what you saw." The scene dances across my eyes for a moment before I hear myself scream in protest. "Well done, Prisoner Zero. A perfect impersonation of yourself."
"Silence, Doctor," it hisses out. "Silence will fall."
"The sun, it's back to normal? That's... good, yeah? That means it's over," Rory asks as I start to get up.
"Not quite," I strain to say, holding my head.
"Oi, I didn't say you could go!" The Doctor says into the phone. "Article 57 of the Shadow Proclamation, this is a fully established, Level Five planet, and you were going to burn it? What? Did you think no one was watching? You lot, back here, now!"
"Did he just being them back? Did he just save the world and then call the aliens back again?" Rory asks as the Doctor starts for the door. He stops momentarily to think, then turns at the threshold to look at me.
"Why were you dreaming of me?" He asks.
"I-I don't know," I respond. He accepts my answer, for the time being, and finally leaves the room.
"I need a decent shirt, to hell with raggedy!" He exclaims, entering a staff room. He rummages through clothes, picking a few and moving on.
"You just brought the deadly aliens back, the aliens... of death," Rory states, still not believing it. He turns around when the Doctor starts shedding his trousers, which I follow. "Aren't you turning around?" He asks Amy.
"Nope," she states, smirking.
"Yes," I state firmly after her, looking at her. She turns around at my demand. "Doctor, if you could hurry up?"
"On it," he replies, walking past us, draping ties onto Rory's shoulder and dropping coats in his arms. "Geronimo."