AN: Hi- sorry this has taken so long, I'm now on the second last chapter- you've got 12 more to go! I hope you've enjoyed it- from your reviews it would appear so! I'm so grateful to you all- thankyou.
Well done LilyHale21 and FallenSyren, you were right, last chap's quote was by Rose.- one point each! (I think- please correct me if I'm wrong)
This chap's quote:
"Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction." -
Last chap- Donna and Jack told Amy and the Doc to go on and sort themselve out. However- the Doctor finds it difficult to be close to her after the hallucination...
Enjoy!
"So, um, where to now?"
The Doctor looked up at Amy- the air in the TARDIS was distinctly awkward, and he stood on the other side of the console, using the central column as a barrier between himself and the girl.
He shrugged then put his hands in his pockets. "Dunno- where do you want to go?"
Amy bit her lip- disappointed by his continued lack in enthusiasm. "Well- I know Donna said somewhere hot- but I kinda miss the cold."
The Doctor laughed, "Must be the Scottish Viking in you lass."
Amy giggled at his outrageously bad Scottish accent- and for a moment both of them smiled. It wasn't long though before the moment turned sour and the ship fell silent once more. The Doctor coughed a fake cough, taking a hand from his pocket and flicking a few switches, spinning a dial and pressing an array of buttons.
"So- somewhere cold. In the solar system or out of it?"
After her escapade with Donna and the new gardeners, Amy wasn't sure she wanted to be on Earth right now- she wanted to escape. Actually, she knew it was more the Doctor's behaviour was what she wanted to escape- but this would have to do.
"Out of it."
The Doctor nodded, pulling a lever and making the TARDIS make an absurd sort of noise. He smiled complacently to himself, happy concentrating on his ship as he moved around the console at a leisurely pace. Amy backed up a bit so she wasn't in the way as the Time Lord asked distractedly, "Past, future- no preference?"
Amy shrugged, though he couldn't see her. "I don't mind. Surprise me."
She tried to smile a little, but him acting like she didn't exist wasn't exactly raising her spirits.
The Doctor nodded, oblivious- or seemingly so. "Alright then, off we go."
He couldn't help a beaming smile breaking onto his face as they rocketed into time and space, and neither could his companion- and just for a second, it was exactly like old times.
Then a bolt of lightning struck the side of the TARDIS with a hissing crash, and the pair were flung to the right with some sort of immense force as sparks gushed from the support columns of the gallifreyan ship.
Amy couldn't help crying out as she fell towards the stairs, and braced herself for bone breaking impact even as her arms swung out wildly for the railing. For a second she fell through space, keeping her eyes squeezed tightly shut…
Suddenly a strong hand fisted in the back of her shirt and swung her back towards the platform. Amy's breath left her in a huff as her momentum was reversed and she landed on her behind- the smack was bruising, but not bad. The TARDIS was still shaking violently, and Amy felt the hand that had saved her- the Doctor's hand, wrap around her arm and yank her closer.
He had one arm wrapped around the railing, and with the other he secured her close to him, sheltering her from the metal bars with his body. The TARDIS was so out of control it was impossible for either of them to attempt anything and they waited for her to crash to a stop.
She did, with a resounding thump and a bio-technological screech accompanying one last shower of sparks.
Amy breathed out a sigh of relief, moving away from the Doctor and getting shakily to her feet as he did. She swallowed drily, "Doctor- what-?"
But the Time Lord was preoccupied with the controls, flicking switches, spinning dials, pulling levers and typing instructions as he checked the monitor, occasionally shouting in frustration and hitting or kicking the console.
"WHAT?NO! Ugh! Why are you doing that?" Suddenly his rage turned into concern and he patted the most recently abused part of the console, murmuring to his ship.
"Come on girl- what's wrong? Why are you doing this?"
Meanwhile, something caught Amy's eye. Entranced, she walked over to it- eyes wide, thinking about witches, black cats and a blind little girl- and a lightning strike in the time vortex that had sent them a decade off course to the other side of the country.
The scot reached out her hand, as if to touch the thing which had her so fixated. She swallowed again, barely aware she was trembling. "D-Doctor…"
There was something in the tone of her voice that caught his attention, and he spun away from his ministrations to the controls to join her- eyes just as wide, a perplexed frown on his forehead.
Together, they examined the huge, jagged black scorch mark running vertically down the side of the TARDIS- it was smoking slightly. Amy turned to the Doctor- hoping for some kind of guidance, or reassurance.
"It's- it's like when we met Dannon and Rosaline, and the witches and that yeah? We ended up in that forest when we were supposed to meet Francis Drake in another decade- right?"
The Doctor nodded, tentatively brushing the mark with his fingers, black dust crumbling off onto his skin. "Yes." He said, quietly. "But on a much larger scale- almost as if…"
Amy frowned, not liking the perplexed apprehension filling her raggedy Doctor's eyes. "As if what?"
He didn't look at her, focused on the wall- but not from an attempt to reject her. Instead he was trying desperately to figure something out. Abruptly he stepped away from the wall, saying as he did. "As if whatever is interfering with the Time Vortex is getting stronger. Or closer. I'm not sure- but anything that strong is really...quite scary actually. Shall we go outside?"
Amy blinked- a hundred questions rising in her mind. She quelled the urge to ask them- she had a feeling the Doctor didn't have any answers yet, so she joined him at the doors. He made sure not to touch her, standing about a foot away- it was like they'd never become close at all, at least until he gave her a cheeky grin, wiggling his eyebrows.
"Ready?"
Amy braced herself, grinning back in excitement. "Oh yeah."
The Doctor chuckled and flung the door wide.
X
"The outback! The AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK! The flipping DESERT!" Amy cried, already exhausted and uncomfortable under the heat of the glaring sun.
For once, she'd not needed the Doctor to identify where she was- because in the distance, across a seemingly endless expanse of red sand dunes punctuated with sparse shrubs and grasses, Uluru- or Ayer's rock, stood majestically proud, the only landmark in the area.
She spun to the Time Lord, incredulous, flinging an arm towards the rock. "How is that cold and out of the solar system? It's the opposite!"
The Doctor nodded, glancing worriedly back at the Tardis, his mind undoubtedly on the lightning in the vortex. His voice was low and troubled, "the opposite- exactly. And if it's interfered with the time…"
Amy raised her eyebrows- already fairly calm. Her outburst had been more a result of shock and slight fear than anything else. In spite of her relative distaste for the scorching heat- this landscape did have a certain beauty to it. Though right at that moment she was still too preoccupied with her Doctor's preoccupation to really appreciate it.
She couldn't help her voice dropping in fear as she asked quietly. "And if it has interfered with the time?"
The Doctor frowned. "We're in trouble."
X
"Aaaaah- that's better!"
Amy- now in mini cargo shorts and a white vest top- complete with sandals and an akubra hat, smiled happily- no longer boiling alive as she and the Doctor walked down the main street of Yulara.
They'd both been reluctant to travel in the TARDIS again till they figured out what was wrong- but they couldn't stay in the middle of the desert. They'd been unable to get off the planet- the Doctor had said something about interference with the atmospheric bypass system- which was apparently wired inside the walls of the TARDIS. She could heal herself, but for now it meant all they could manage was a quick hop to the nearest township- Yulara, and 2 days to explore.
The Doctor raised his eyebrows at Amy, "I thought you were upset it wasn't cold?"
Amy shrugged. "Yeah- but it's the middle of the Australian outback, I can make an exception." She went to grab his arm, smiling and the Doctor neatly sidestepped. Amy let her arms fall and tried not to feel hurt.
Suddenly there was a chorus of screams- apparently children, and a black thundercloud twisted out of nowhere towards a building in the street to their right- Winmati street.
The human and the alien glanced at each other and then set off at a run- straight to the primary school.
oooh- wonder what's going on?
and hopefully you remember the lightning strike now! That's bad- but more of that later...For now, what's happening in Yulara?
Hope you're still enjoying it, thankyou as ever for reading- and please do spare the time to leave me a comment telling me what you think.
Thanks again,
Kat