NOTE: Sorry about the long wait. Been working a lot! I needs the money.
Chapter thirty
"Rory!"
Amy called out frantically but it didn't change the fact that Rory had disappeared along with the Valeyard. Standing on the spot where they had been there was no trace of them that Amy could see. Turning around Amy looked back to where River was standing helplessly at the doors of the TARDIS. She looked terribly pale against the gold in her skin and was pressing her hand against her 'wounded' shoulder.
"Amy, Dear, come back inside." River called. "The Doctor will be back soon, we will figure this out together."
"He's been gone too long already." Amy replied as she looked around the warehouse. "If the Valeyard got in, then I can get out."
"Amy, no..."
It was too late to try and talk any sense into Amy she was already running off towards the large set of metal doors against the far wall. Amy could hear River protesting from the threshold of the TARIS, but she kept running. Getting to the door Amy tested it and found it unlocked. When the Valeyard had released the doors on the rest of the prison he had opened this one as well.
Stepping out into the long cold corridor that split off in several directions Amy suddenly had second thoughts about striking off alone and unarmed. It also occurred to her that the Doctor could be anywhere in the huge maze of a prison. Looking down Amy caught sight of the Doctor's footprints in the ancient layers of dust that covered the cement floor. Taking a deep breath to gather her courage Amy took off down the hall following the tracks. As Amy tracked the Doctor through the prison she found herself becoming increasingly angry. If he had just let them help and let them come with him in the first place none of this had to happen.
"I'm going to kill the Doctor when I find him." Amy muttered to herself.
Amy turned a corner and stopped cold when the single set of tracks that she had been following were suddenly joined by over a dozen others. It hadn't occurred to her that the Valeyard might have friends. Becoming more cautious Amy picked a random direction and tried to find a place where the Doctor's prints split off again. Searching the ground Amy's blood ran cold when she came across a familiar object laying on the floor against the wall. Crouching down Amy picked up the sonic screwdriver that the Doctor had dropped in his flight from the inmates.
"You wouldn't just leave this behind." Amy sighed sadly to herself.
When distant voices suddenly floated down the hall Amy automatically pressed herself against the wall. Realizing that she hadn't been spotted Amy slunk along the darkened corridors towards the the sounds. Coming to an intersection Amy peeked around the corner at the long row of cells with solid metal doors.
A few hundred yards down the row were four particularly unsavory looking men. Three of them were standing looking bored while a third was down on his knees mucking with the slot that opened at the bottom of the locked door.
"Come on, Wez, let's go. We need to find a way off this damn rock."
"I'm telling you there is someone in here." Wez insisted. "I heard them. If you'd shut your mouth for a second..."
The three men looked doubtfully at Wez, but they humoured him and stayed quiet for a moment. Amy found herself holding her breath as Wez leaned down in and put his ear up to the slot that he was holding open. Eventually Amy had to take a breath as the men waited for whoever was trapped on the far side of the door. A cruel smile spread across Wez's face as he sat back.
"Yeah...they are trying to be real quiet, but I can hear them." Wez chuckled.
"So? Who cares?" One of the other men huffed.
"Use your brain for once. Why would someone hold up in there unless they had something to hide?"
"Like what?"
"I think it's that 'Valeyard' cat who promised us a way out of here, he's probably why we are here in the first place. I be he's sitting in there with everything he needs just waiting for us all to dehydrate and die so he can leave without us."
"That's ridiculous, can't be more than a six by six cell in there."
"He'd only need to spend a week in there and we will all be too near death to be a threat." Wez pointed out.
"Hmmm..." The other man contemplated. "So what do we do about it?"
"Smoke him out." Wez chuckled as he pulled a lighter out of his back pocket. "Go get some bedsheets."
Amy panicked as she realized that it was most like the Doctor hiding behind that door. From her hiding place around the corner Amy watched in horror as they ripped apart the bedding from the empty cell across the hall and started stuffing it along the bottom of the door. Wez flicked open the lighter and caught the edge of the exposed cloth on fire quickly. Unsure of what else to do Amy gripped the sonic in her hand and pointed it towards the PA speaker that was above her.
Thinking about making an explosive sound that would hopefully frighten the men off Amy brought the sonic to life with a high pitched squeal. The PA system reacted far more violently than Amy had expected, it not only screeched to life with a deafening sound that ran out through the whole system but also the speakers along the corridor exploded in a shower of sparks.
Shouting out in alarm as the hot sparks rained down on them the men were certainly surprised, but they did not run off as Amy had hoped. The fire the men had set was in full tilt now and a great deal of the smoke was pouring under the door. Even from her distance away Amy could hear the violent coughing coming from inside the cell. Unsure of what to do next Amy thought furiously for a new plan.
"Doctor!" River's anguished cry rang out as she pounded on the welded door.
"River!" Amy gasped in horror.
Amy had no idea what the true destructive capability of the sonic screwdriver was, but she certainly wasn't going to hide in the shadows while River suffocated. Rushing out into the smokey hall where the sparks were still sprinkling down Amy roared at the three men with all the rage of a mother bear defending her cub. Taken off guard the men just turned and stared at the petite woman charging them. Welding her eyes shut Amy poured all her concentration into the only weapon she had.
The resulting pulse from the sonic threw all four men into the air and crashing into the floor with considerable force. The pile of blazing sheets had also been blown back and scattered into ash mixed with still burning shreds of fabric. Panting for breath the exertion it had taken to weld the sonic Amy dropped to her knees briefly. Looking over the destruction the men were motionless, but it was unclear if they had been killed or just knocked senseless. Struggling back to her feet Amy rushed over to the locked door and got down on her hands and knees. She tried to lift open the metal slot but it was painfully hot to the touch.
"River?" Amy asked anxiously.
"A...Amy?" River coughed.
"I'm here." Amy searched around and grabbed a strip of unburnt cloth to help shield her from the heat of the door as she opened the panel. "Are you hiding in there or are you stuck in there?"
"I'm very much stuck in here." River said with a touch of irritation in her voice. "Where is the Doctor?"
"I don't know."
"I heard the sonic..."
"That was me." Amy said as she held the device up. "I found it."
"That's not a good sign, you have to find the Doctor."
"I have to get you out of there."
"You can't." River said simply. "Hand me the sonic."
Amy handed River the sonic through the bottom of the door. River took the device and tinkered with it for a minute, Amy could hear the distinct squealing as River worked with it. When she was done River offered the sonic back to Amy. With the sonic in hand she noticed that it glowed a brighter green when held at a certain angle.
"What did you do?" Amy asked.
"I set it to find the Doctor, it will help lead you to him."
"I can't just leave you here." Amy fretted.
"You have to. The Doctor can get me out of here, also right now he is probably in more trouble than he can handle if he doesn't even have his screwdriver. Hurry, please, I'd really, *really* like to get out of here."
"River..."
"Amy..." River reached through the door and took Amy's hand. "Please, go, help the Doctor."
"But..."
"He needs you more than I do right now, I'm sure of it."
"Fine." Amy sighed. "I'll be back. I love you."
"I love you too, be safe."
Tears brightened Amy's eyes as she was forced to get up to leave River trapped behind the steel door. Going over to the men that were still crumpled on the floor Amy discovered that they were simply unconscious. It took some work but she dragged them into the nearest cell and used the sonic to lock it so that they couldn't terrorize River again when they woke. Holding the sonic up Amy turned in a circle until the end lit up a bright green.
Carefully making her was through the twisting halls Amy kept a sharp eye out for any more roaming prisoners. She made it through several halls and to a heavy closed door without coming across anyone else. Most of the stranded prisoners were looking for a way to the surface in hopes of finding a water source. Seeing that the sonic clearly wanted her to go through the door Amy pressed her ear against it to make sure that no one was on the far side.
Amy didn't hear any sounds so she carefully opened the door and peeked inside. Forgetting caution Amy threw the door open when she caught sight of the Doctor hanging lifelessly from the makeshift noose. Having left him in place the Realtor and the other prisoners had gone off in search of the Valeyard to either get a ride off the planet or to string him up as well.
"Doc..Doctor..."
With her heart feeling like it was caught in a vice grip Amy stepped up to the Doctor. Unable to believe what she was seeing she reached up with a shaky hand. Tears silently spilled down her face as she held her hand just shy of touching him. Amy's blood turned to ice as she noticed that it was his bow tie that was cutting so tightly into his throat. Hardly able to breath herself Amy suddenly found her grief turn to anger.
"You can't abandon me," Amy snarled as she pounded her first against the Doctor's chest "not now!"
Jerking violently the Doctor snapped his eyes open. Rolling his eyes forward the Doctor looked down at Amy and smiled brightly. Startled by the sudden resurrection Amy took a breath to scream. Lashing out the Doctor clamped his hand down over he mouth to keep her silent. Trembling in a combination of shock and relief Amy just stared at the Doctor. When he was sure she'd stay quiet he released her and reached up behind his neck in an attempt to free himself.
Amy just watched as the Doctor struggled with the tight noose. When he couldn't untie the taunt line he looked at Amy expectantly. Still not over the scare Amy didn't move. The Doctor reached up and snapped his fingers in front of Amy's face to get her attention before repeating his expectant expression.
"Oh, right...sorry!" Amy apologized.
Going over to where the men had tied off the cloth rope to the bars of the nearby cell Amy was able to work the knot free. Although he had only been lifted a few inches from the floor the Doctor collapsed as the rope went slack. Sitting up he clawed at his throat and quickly worked the knot out of the silk bow tie and pulled it off. Amy rushed over, dropping to her knees in front of the Doctor she threw her arms around him in a warm embrace. The Doctor returned the affection as he slowly recovered. Pulling away Amy thumped her fist against his chest hard enough to make him cringe.
"Ow!" The Doctor complained. "What was that for?"
"For making me think you were dead!"
"No one plays opossum better than a Time Lord." The Doctor chuckled.
"How...how did you survive?" Amy asked as her mood swung back towards concern. She gently traced the mark that was still around the Doctor's throat.
"You can't strangle a Time Lord." The Doctor replied with a proud smile. "In fact that's the second time someone's tried to hang me."
"I don't understand."
"The physiology in my throat is *very* complicated, not something that's easily crushed. I can also slow my hearts down to the point where even a machine would think I was dead."
The Doctor flinched as Amy made another quick motion towards him, but this time she wrapped him in another hug. The Doctor ran his hand over Amy's hair soothingly as she broke down into tears once again. Holding her close the Doctor rocked Amy gently to try and calm her.
"I'm sorry I scared you, Amy."
"Why are you doing this to us?!" Amy demanded through her tears.
"I had no choice, I had to let the Realtor think I wa..."
"Not that, why is your future self tormenting us? River almost died! Rory is gone! Why would you do this?!"
"It's not me, the Valeyard isn't the future. Wait, what happened to Rory?"
"The Valeyard took him," Amy explained as she tried to bring herself under control again "there was this blue glow, something was wrong with him, and he and Rory just vanished."
"Blue glow? Rift energy..." The Doctor thought for a moment. "He probably couldn't control it, I bet he took Rory with him by accident."
"Where?"
"When is the better questions. They've been yanked through time. We will find Rory, the Valeyard will make his way back here one way or another and I have a feeling he will bring Rory with him."
"I don't understand. If he isn't you...who is he?"
"He's the victim of a coping mechanism gone terribly wrong. He has all my memories, in fact he has more of my own memories than I do, but he doesn't have any experience. Memories without experience can be devastating." The Doctor started explaining quickly. "He clearly has Time Lord traits, but there is no telling if he even has the true brain physiology to handle them. Of course he thinks he's the next regeneration, he has no frame of reference to understand all the stuff in his head. He has disguised himself to look like me, probably so that River would accept him, or maybe because it's how he thinks he should look. This is my fault, I did this to him, I exposed him to so much, I have to help him, I promised his mother I would."
"Doctor, slow down. His mother? What are you talking about?"
"The Valeyard is Aleena's son."