[A/N: That's right. I do Author's Notes now. Author's Notes are cool. I want to thank everyone who has been interested in my story, whether they have added it to their favourites, story alerts or those amazing people who have given me reviews and advice. I would also like to apologize for being slow in updating this. However, I have a firm idea for where I want to take this story now, so don't bail out on it just yet! Constructive criticism is still fully welcome too if you have any issues with my grammar, characters or plot etc. I want the finished product of this story to be something of which I can be proud of and that others will enjoy reading too. Cheers.]
All around, people from Leadworth had ignored the news reader's message and had strolled from their homes and workplaces, to stand on doorsteps and in streets. All of them stood with their heads tilted skyward at the enormous ship, which cast shadow over the village.
The ship itself was very different from anything Amy or Rory had seen before. It seemed to be made of several types of spaceship technology and mechanics, from different species and cultures, merged together. Nothing stood out as being the original design. A collage of the universe put together, not for art, but for transport. This was confusing. Who would steal and scavenge so much technology from other planets, when they clearly had enough of the necessary technological advances to create their own?
Amy was trembling. Fear crept up inside her and nestled itself at the pit of her stomach, squirming and threatening to do something terrible to her insides.
She too stood on her doorstep. Rory stood right next to her. He sensed his wife's fear and understood. Her raggedy Doctor would usually swoop in and save everybody, but with just a little under twenty-four hours to live, this was highly improbable. This left them with nothing but uncertainty. Uncertainty can be terrifying.
He joint hands with his wife, intertwining their fingers and gripped tightly to reassure her. Amy showed her acceptance of Rory's comfort efforts by resting her head on his shoulder. Rory pushed her away slightly, so he could wrap both their arms around her, so they were standing hip to hip.
In that moment they both had a strange appreciation for the situation they were in. Yes the planet was being invaded, but they were home and they were together. They appreciated how large the universe was in comparison to their small home and how marvellous it is that they had opportunity to realise the existence of other life forms and know where they stood in the universe as a whole.
A blocky-shaped head with swooped, brown hair poked out of the doorway behind them and arched around the couple, also staring up at the sky.
"Blimey. What have I missed this time?" exclaimed The Doctor.
Rory turned to the Time Lord and bluntly replied, "It's aliens".
"Yes Rory. I gathered that" replied The Doctor, quite rudely. "What are they doing here though? I didn't schedule an extra-terrestrial tea party." He took out his sonic screwdriver and went back into the house, promptly sonicing the kettle, which seemed to have warmed it up right away and he had himself a cup. The companions joined The Time Lord.
Rory thought to himself about how arrogant The Doctor could sometimes be. He may be a Time Lord, but why should that mean that the world revolves around him? Then Rory was angry at himself. He shouldn't be thinking ill of those at death's door. All this mixed emotion was getting hard to keep a lid on Rory wanted to scream out. He restrained himself. He'd already had one breakdown, when The Doctor was napping and he wasn't about to let himself have another one, while The Doctor was awake and aware of what was going on around him. Rory often found himself questioning why he cared so much about what The Doctor thought of him, but could not bring himself not to care.
"But they haven't really come here for you, have they?" Rory asked The Doctor.
The Doctor chuckled slightly. "Oh Rory, haven't you learnt anything by now? Of course they're here for me. Why else would any outer space lifeforms want to come to Leadworth of all places?"
"You did," stated Amy. She looked thoughtful. "All those years ago, when you appeared in my garden."
"I crash-landed by accident," corrected The Doctor. "Does that space ship look crash-landed to you? No they've come here for me. They've certainly announced their arrival. Now they're just waiting for me to show my face."
"You're not going to though, are you?" accused Amy.
The Doctor was leaning against the kitchen bench. He looked across at Amy very disapprovingly. Almost like a parent telling off a child and said, "That would be rude Amy. They've obviously come an awfully long way just to talk to me. I am not about to turn them away. I will however finish off my tea first".
Soon The Doctor had emptied his mug of every last drop of tea and even licked the rim. He had also managed to single-handedly devour the contents of an entire pack of Jammie Dodgers. "Right", started The Doctor, brandishing his sonic screwdriver about at thin air. "Come along Ponds."
They all went out to the street where the TARDIS was parked. People still filled the street. Many of them were using mobile phones to call loved ones or taking pictures of the enormous vehicle above. None of these onlookers seemed to notice as three people entered a small 1950's police call box, which then faded out of sight completely.
The Ponds watched as The Doctor moved around the console with plenty of precision, accuracy and surprisingly little clumsiness. They assumed it was the rest and tea that had caused his strength to pick up. The Doctor seemed his fighting-fit self. Perhaps there was some hope after all.
"What sort of ship is it anyway?" Amy pressed. "You've travelled about enough, recognising technology shouldn't be too hard for you."
"I can't know everything Pond." The Doctor breathed, concentrating on his scanner. "However, there must be hundreds of life forms on a ship that size. Thousands even. Hang on, the scanner is picking up something." He banged the mechanical screen hard, with his hand, twice and frowned in frustration. Wavy lines swayed on the screen and then settled, showing the interior of the space ship they had just landed inside. Its design could only be described as being of a mechanical-patchwork nature, very much matching the outside of the ship.
One solitary alien stood in view of the scanner. The creature's single eye stared menacingly out as if it could in fact see the three travellers gazing back at it, frozen with fear. Two lights on its head flashed and its whole body shook as it cried out one high-pitched word. "Doc-tor!"