A/N: Glad you all enjoyed the fluff! :D Here, have some action to go with it! ;)
As much as the Doctor loved Rory and Hannah, he soon began to grow sick of living with the two newlyweds. Especially after one particular incident.
After an exhausting trip to the Planet Hybridion, where aliens that looked like giant ladybirds had kidnapped Amy and Hannah, they had all retired to the TARDIS for an early night. Amy, Rory and Hannah had disappeared upstairs, and the Doctor had remained in the console room to tinker with the TARDIS controls.
However, he soon grew tired, and he wandered upstairs into his bedroom, where he saw Amy curled up in their bed, reading a book.
"What a day." The Doctor sighed, removing his tweed jacket and tossing it onto the bed.
"Yup." Amy yawned, tossing her book aside and stretching her arms. "You know, I used to like ladybirds, but not anymore."
"Vicious creatures." The Doctor shuddered, heading towards their adjoining bathroom. "At least you weren't squirted in the face."
"True…what did they squirt in your face anyway? You never explained what that fluid was."
The Doctor grimaced at her as he opened the bathroom door. "Honestly, I don't think you want to know." Turning around, he went to step into the bathroom, when he saw an astonishing sight.
Clapping his hand over his eyes, he yelped and slammed the bathroom door shut. "My eyes!" He cried, stumbling blindly back into the bedroom.
"What's up with you?" Amy asked him in bewilderment.
"I've just had the misfortune of seeing Rory and Hannah naked in our shower!" He exclaimed wildly.
Amy's tone was bored. "So?"
The Doctor lowered his hand to stare at her. "So? What do you mean, 'so'? What are they doing in our bathroom?"
Amy shrugged. "I said they could use it. Our shower's bigger than the one they have."
"And you neglected to tell me this before I stepped inside!" The Doctor hissed, rushing to the other side of the bedroom and picking up a large box.
Amy watched him in amusement as he staggered over to the bathroom and dumped the box outside of the door. "I've left some cleaning and hygiene supplies outside the door. Whatever you two have touched, I want it cleaned!" He yelled to the newlyweds.
Even now, although Amy and the Doctor were in the same room as them, Rory and Hannah were engrossed in each other. Though much to the Doctor's relief, they were doing no more than cuddling.
"I'd forgotten about human tendencies." The Doctor commented to his fiancée. "At least, I forgot about their…how shall I put it…hunger for each other?"
Amy laughed, and shook her head. "Just say sexual attraction Doctor."
"Sssh!" The Doctor hissed at her. "Don't say those words around them! You might set them off again!"
Amy cast her eyes to the newlyweds. "Too late."
"Oh no, not again!" The Doctor moaned, banging his head on the console. "How much more of this am I going to have to put up with?"
"Doctor, relax." Amy said comfortingly, moving around the console to stand beside him. "They're young and in love. Besides, you're the one who offered to take them on a honeymoon."
"What does that have to do with anything?" The Doctor asked her, relaxing when he felt Amy's hands on his shoulders.
"Well, this is what human newlyweds do on a honeymoon." She told him, jerking her head at Rory and Hannah.
"Is that it? No sightseeing, no tasting the local cuisine…"
"No. Just tasting each other." Amy said bluntly, and the Doctor wrinkled his nose in disgust.
"Amy!"
"What? It's true. Besides, what do you think our honeymoon is going to be like?" Amy asked him, sliding her hands down his arms to take his hands.
"I haven't really thought about it." The Doctor admitted.
"Well, it's a good thing I have." Amy remarked, releasing his hands to cup his face and give him a quick kiss.
The Doctor reached out to the console then, and flipped a switch that would make the TARDIS shake. Amy had expected it, and she latched onto the Doctor just as Rory and Hannah were jolted to the floor.
"Oi, you two. Un-attach yourselves for a couple of hours so we can go and explore." The Doctor told them, and when they nodded, he flipped another switch to stop the TARDIS from shaking. "Now girls, how do you feel about visiting one of the best shopping planets in the Universe?"
Amy's face lit up at that. "Brilliant. I'll go and change!" She gave the Doctor another kiss before ascending up the console stairs to go and get ready.
"I hope she hurries up, because we're already there." The Doctor said, walking over to the TARDIS doors and flinging them open.
Hannah and Rory rose to follow him outside, and they saw that they were standing in what looked like a car park. Everything around them was pink, including the sky, and the grass.
"So, where are we exactly?" Hannah asked the Doctor eagerly, hanging onto Rory's arm as she bounded excitedly up and down. Pink was her favourite colour.
The Doctor laughed at her exuberance before answering her. "We're on the planet Septala, my friend."
"Any human-eating aliens I should worry about?" Rory asked warily, looking around their surroundings.
"Rory, does a pink planet look threatening to you?" Amy remarked as she stepped out of the TARDIS to join the three of them outside.
The Doctor cleared his throat. "Well…actually…there is something I should warn you about."
Rory was the only one out of them that looked afraid. "What?" He demanded, his tone high-pitched with fear.
"Female aliens, i.e Amy and Hannah, can't stand on the pink ground, so they can't really go anywhere." The Doctor said, and Amy whirled around to glare at him.
"I can't believe you've brought us to one of the best shopping planets in the Universe where Hannah and I can't go shopping!" She hissed, poking the Doctor in the chest.
And then she realised something. "Hang on. We're standing on pink ground right now."
"Ah, but we're standing in a pink parking space. That's legal." The Doctor told her.
"Why are we here then?" Hannah asked him, bewildered. "Amy and I are the only ones who want to go shopping, and we can't do that here!"
"Ah, but you forget that I'm the Doctor, and I have an ingenious plan!" The Doctor grinned, stepping out of the parking space and onto the pink-brick pathway beside it.
"What is it then?" Amy asked him, stepping towards him. But before her foot could touch the pink brick, the Doctor suddenly pushed her back.
"Amy! You're not allowed to stand here!" He exclaimed, his arms outstretched in case she tried to join him again.
Amy gave him a suspicious look. "You're taking the mickey, aren't you?"
The Doctor looked aghast. "The mickey? What, do you think I'm joking? I'm not! I'm always serious about rules like this."
"Sure you are." Amy replied dryly, before attempting to step beside him. But the Doctor only pushed her back again.
"Do you want me to get arrested?" He cried.
Amy rolled her eyes. "By standing?"
"It's illegal! How many times?" Her fiancée sighed, shaking his head. "You know something Pond? You're stubborn. There. I said it. You never listen to me!"
"Hey, at least I don't take you to places and then tell you that you can't go and explore!" Amy hissed, glaring at him.
Hannah and Rory exchanged amused glances at their friend's bickering. "Their marriage will definitely be entertaining to watch!" Hannah whispered to her husband, grinning.
"I'm expecting lots of fireworks." Rory chuckled back.
Unfortunately, both Amy and the Doctor heard their words, and they whirled around to face them, hands on their hips. "Shut up!" They snapped at the same time.
Hannah and Rory burst into laughter at their identical poses, and Amy and the Doctor looked at each other in confusion, before turning to face them.
"What's the joke?" Amy demanded.
"You two! You're both as bad as each other!" Rory told them, laughing. "Honestly, I'm surprised your relationship works. You both have such fiery personalities."
"Amy's is fierier than mine, the hair colour says it all." The Doctor said immediately, pointing to his fiancée's head.
Amy whacked his hand away, but she couldn't stop herself from grinning. "Well, we all know who wears the trousers in our relationship." She remarked, and only the Doctor looked confused.
"But you normally wear skirts." He said in confusion.
Amy laughed and slipped her arms around his waist, smiling fondly at him. "It's a human expression. You wouldn't understand it monkey boy."
"Hey!" The Doctor said indignantly, scowling boyishly, although his frown quickly faded when Amy kissed his cheek.
"Right, now that the argument between you two is over—"
"It wasn't an argument." Amy stated, interrupting Rory. "More of an angry discussion."
"Whatever it was, it's over now. So, what do we on this planet? Leave Hannah and Amy behind?"
Hannah smacked her husband on the arm. "You're not leaving us behind!"
"Too right." Amy said firmly.
The Doctor let out an over-dramatic groan. "Don't any of you remember that I mentioned that I had an ingenious plan earlier?"
"I'm not doing anything that involves urine again." Amy said instantly, and the Doctor laughed, remembering their visit to the alien zoo all of those months ago.
"I don't get it." Rory stated, confused.
"You don't need to get it. But you do need to listen to my ingenious plan, so hush." The Doctor told him. "Now, in order for Hannah and Amy to go shopping, it's pretty obvious what we have to do."
"Not to me." Rory said, shrugging.
The Doctor sighed, before turning around so that his back was to Amy. "Do you get it now?"
"Don't have a clue what you're on about." Rory replied, and the Doctor shot Hannah and Amy an exasperated look.
"Hey, don't look at me like that! I don't know what you're going on about either." Amy told him, and the Doctor sighed again.
"None of you get it? I thought it was for obvious!" The Doctor paused for dramatic effect, but after a sharp nudge from Amy, he hastily continued. "Rory and I will have to give you piggybacks to the shopping centre so that your feet don't touch the ground!"
"Can Amy and I stand in the shopping centre?" Hannah asked, and the Doctor nodded in reply as he crouched down in front of Amy.
"Hop on Pond!"
Amy looked down at him warily. "You're serious about this, aren't you?"
"Yes! Now, do you want to go shopping or not?" The Doctor said crossly. "Honestly!"
"Alright, bossy-boots." Amy muttered, before wrapping her arms tightly around his neck and jumping so that she could clasp her legs around his waist.
The Doctor gripped her thighs tightly, and straightened up. "Gotcha…let's go."
"You have money, right?" Rory asked the Doctor as he joined him on the pink pavement, Hannah perched on his back.
The Doctor looked offended by his question. "Of course I do! Do you think I spent the last nine hundred years wasting my savings?"
"Yes." Amy replied instantly. "That would explain the random junk scattered around the TARDIS, and the weird contraptions in your bedroom."
"Hey, some of those were gifts!" The Doctor said indignantly. "Anyway, watch it you. Without my money, you can't go shopping."
"And you have the power to drop Amy if you want to." Hannah added.
"The Doctor could do that, but he'd have one very pissed off fiancée." Amy said, glaring at the back of the Doctor's head, in case he was thinking about taking Hannah's advice.
"And he'd be arrested." Rory piped up.
The Doctor suppressed a shudder at that. "I think facing Amy's wrath is worse than being arrested."
"Hey, I'm not that bad!" Amy protested.
Both Rory and the Doctor snorted at that.
"Alright, alright, can we get going now?" Amy demanded impatiently, scowling.
Not wanting to worsen Amy's mood, Rory and the Doctor quickly set off.
"Not so fast Rory!" Hannah exclaimed a few moments later. "I'm beginning to feel sick!"
Sighing, Rory slowed his pace. "Better?"
"Oh come on Hannah, a spell of motion sickness never killed anyone!" The Doctor said cheerfully as he zoomed past them. "Well, there was this one chap who actually choked to—"
He was then interrupted by Amy's hand clamping over his mouth. "Less talking, more walking." She instructed, kissing his temple before taking her hand away.
"You're a poet and you don't even know it." The Doctor grinned, quickening his pace.
"You're so cheesy…" And then Amy paused to think of a word that rhymed with 'cheesy', "…umm…Mr Squeezey"
"Mr Squeezey!" The Doctor chortled. "What sort of nickname is that?"
"Hey, it's hard to think of words that rhyme with 'cheesy'!" Amy defended. "You think of a better one if you're so clever!"
"Fine then. Easy, sneezey, sleazy, wheezey, breezy, queasy—"
"Okay, I think you've proved your point!" Amy interrupted hastily.
The Doctor laughed, and Amy couldn't help but laugh with him.
Their moment was interrupted however when they heard Rory yell from behind them, "Hey, Doctor! What's this?"
Turning around, the Doctor began to make his way over to him. "If you've found a nest of pink terefilias, then I'd move away. Fast." He instructed. "You don't know how long it took me to get my skin back to its normal colour after one of them bit me."
"Let me guess…it turned pink." Amy said, grinning at the mental image of the Doctor with magenta skin.
"It was more of a salmon colour." The Doctor replied thoughtfully. "Anyway, what's the problem?"
They came to a standstill beside Rory, and the Doctor suddenly froze at what he was looking at. Amy inhaled sharply, and the Doctor felt her arms tighten around him.
"What's wrong?" Rory asked them worriedly, his eyes darting between them and a large crack along the pink path.
It was a crack that Amy and the Doctor were all too familiar with.
It was a crack in time.
Amy's breathing began to quicken, and the Doctor knew she was scared, even without turning his head to look at her. "What is it doing here?" Amy whispered, and the Doctor had no answer for her.
"What?" Rory demanded anxiously, recognising his friend's fear. "What is it?"
Amy was too panicked to listen. "Doctor, is it following me?"
The Doctor didn't reply. He couldn't.
"Doctor!" Amy cried, releasing her hold on him to stand on the floor, but the Doctor's grip tightened around her legs, stopping her from getting down.
Shaking his head slowly, he began to back away from the crack. "Rory, move away from the crack." He said, attempting to keep his voice steady. "Now."
As Rory did what the Doctor asked, Hannah shot him a confused look, but the Doctor refused to move his gaze away from the crack in time.
Once they were a few metres away from the crack, the Doctor snapped into action. "Right, listen to me. We need to leave this planet, now. It's too dangerous."
Rory and Hannah looked at each other in bewilderment, and the Doctor heard Amy whimper.
If only she knew the real reason for why she was so afraid of the cracks in time. Not that the Doctor would tell her. Not just yet. So he continued with his instructions.
"We need to put Hannah and Amy back on their feet." He told them. "The moment we do that, an alarm will go off and we'll be chased by septilic guards."
"And then?" Hannah asked apprehensively.
The Doctor finally met her gaze. "And then we run." He replied flatly.
Rory and Hannah sensed the Doctor's fear, and they knew that they had to do exactly what he had told them to do, even though they didn't understand why they were running.
Knowing that they were ready, the Doctor looked over his shoulder at his terrified fiancée. As much as he hated seeing Amy upset, seeing her frightened face gave him the motivation to get moving and leave the planet as quickly as possible.
"Now!" The Doctor suddenly bellowed, and Hannah hopped off of Rory's back just as the Doctor lowered Amy to her feet.
At the sudden blare of a high-pitched siren, the four of them began to sprint back towards the direction of the TARDIS. Amy was at the front, with Rory and Hannah running at her heels. The Doctor began to slow down though to look back at the crack, when he saw beams of light erupting from the crack.
He halted at the sound of a voice, and turned back. He could have sworn he'd heard someone in the crack call Amy's na—
"Doctor! What are you doing?" He heard Amy cry, and he spun around to see his distressed fiancée running towards him. "Get away from it!"
Unwilling for Amy to get any closer to the crack in time, the Doctor rushed ahead to meet her. "Go! Go! Go!" He yelled, snatching her hand and pulling her with him.
They soon caught up with Rory and Hannah, and within minutes, they were back in the car park. Amy used her key to unlock the TARDIS door, and the four of them raced inside.
Immediately the Doctor flew to the console and transported them away from the planet. Rory and Hannah sank down onto the console chairs, and Amy slid down onto the floor.
The moment the TARDIS was in space, the Doctor placed her on autopilot and crouched down to comfort Amy.
"Hey." He whispered, placing his hand against her cheek. "It's okay. We're safe now."
Amy placed both of her hands over his, keeping his hand pressed against her cheek. "But for how long?" She asked brokenly. "Doctor, we haven't seen the cracks for months…why are they back?"
The Doctor was silent, and a tear slid down Amy's cheek at his lack of response.
The Doctor's silence was significant. It meant that he had nothing to say, which meant that he didn't have an answer. And it meant he didn't know how to find one either.
He couldn't even find the words to comfort Amy.
Brushing his hand away, Amy rose to her feet and walked out of the console room. Watching her walk away made the Doctor feel guilty, and upset. He wished that he had an answer for her. He wished that he could tell her about her parents, who'd been absorbed by a crack in time when she was a little girl.
But he couldn't. The light from the cracks didn't just take humans away from the Earth; it removed them from existence. And the light also prevented other humans to remember the people that had been taken. If the Doctor told Amy about her parents, she'd die. The light would wipe her out too.
And the Doctor would never let that happen. He'd rather die than let that happen.
"Doctor?"
At the sound of Rory's voice, the Doctor rose to his feet and turned to look at him. He noticed that Hannah was no longer sitting beside him, and felt relieved when he realised that she must have gone after Amy to comfort her.
"Yes Rory?" The Doctor sighed, rubbing his face tiredly.
"What happened out there?" Rory asked him. "I mean, why did a crack in the ground make you so scared?"
"What we saw was a crack in time, a danger to me, but more of a danger to Amy." The Doctor said flatly, stepping towards him. "Let me show you."
Before Rory could say anything, the Doctor's fingers were on his temples, and he was in his memories. Rory saw Amy as a seven-year-old girl, scared of the crack in her bedroom wall, and he saw the Doctor protecting her. And then he saw the importance of the crack, how it followed them, how it had taken Amy's family, how it's target was Amy…
Staggering back, Rory was thrown out of the Doctor's mind and into reality, gasping for breath. The Doctor watched him quietly as he tried to process the information he had given him.
"Am I going to die now that I know the truth?" was the first thing Rory asked him, astounding the Doctor.
"What? No! Amy's parents were taken before you knew them, therefore no memories have been wiped from your mind." The Doctor assured him. "You're safe."
Rory nodded as he finally caught his breath. "Doctor, what are you going to do? You can't keep lying to Amy…she'll find out the truth eventually."
"I don't have a choice Rory!" The Doctor cried, frustrated. "She will die if she knows the truth, and I won't let that happen."
Rory was silent as he processed the Doctor's words, before realising that he was right. The Doctor had no other option; he had to lie to keep Amy safe. "How are you going to keep protecting her?" He asked him quietly.
"By running."
"And then what? You can't run forever." Rory told him gently.
The Doctor covered his face with his hands. "I know. But I don't just run, I think too. I will find out why the cracks are here, and I will find out why they want Amy."
"From what you showed me, they don't just want Amy. They want you to follow her." Rory said, and the Doctor's head snapped up.
"You're right." He breathed, his eyes wide in realisation. "How could I have missed that?"
"Because you worry more for Amy than for yourself." Rory told him, smiling slightly. "So, now what? Are you still going to run away from them?"
"Yes." The Doctor said firmly. "If something wants us, then they're going to have to chase us. I'm not going to give up."
"Good for you." Rory nodded, slapping the Doctor on the back. "Listen, I think it's time for Hannah and I to go home. You and Amy have enough going on without us cluttering up your ship. But thank you for letting us travel with you."
The Doctor finally managed to smile. "You're welcome Rory. I've enjoyed having you two here, despite my complaints. You can travel with us anytime, all you have to do is pick up the phone."
"I will." Rory said, embracing the Doctor. "Hannah and I are your friends, for life."
The Doctor's smile widened. "Thank you Rory." He whispered, hugging him tightly. "That means a lot to me."
Rory broke the embrace then, embarrassed. "Yes…well…right back at ya, buddy." He said awkwardly, giving the Doctor a playful punch on the arm.
Laughing, the Doctor slung his arm around his shoulders and began to guide him up the console room stairs, towards the direction of their partners.
Hannah and Amy weren't too hard to find, they were sitting on the lounge chairs by the swimming pool, watching the Heartreep play. The Doctor stood back, allowing Rory to tell them that they were leaving.
When Hannah and Rory both left to change back into their wedding clothes so that they could be dropped back off at their reception, the Doctor approached Amy. Fortunately, she wasn't crying anymore.
"Hey." She whispered as he sat down beside her. "Sorry for freaking out earlier. I shouldn't have been so weak."
"You don't need to apologise." The Doctor said quietly, taking her hand. "I know it's hard for you to see them."
"Yes, but I don't know why!" Amy exclaimed angrily, though her frustration wasn't aimed at the Doctor.
The Doctor didn't reply, but he squeezed her hand comfortingly, before pulling her to her feet. "Come on, let's go and see our friends off." He murmured, leading his fiancée out of the room.
~I~
By the time the TARDIS had landed in Leadworth, Rory and Hannah were ready, looking no different from what they'd looked like when they'd first gone travelling with Amy and the Doctor.
"Aside from the fact that you're both covered in love bites, you don't look any different from what you looked like at the reception." The Doctor said cheerfully as they stepped out of the TARDIS, into the garden behind the building where their wedding reception was still happening.
"Thanks…I think." Rory said dryly, giving him another hug.
No more words needed to be uttered between the two men; they'd already said all they'd needed to say in the console room.
The Doctor glanced at Amy and Hannah, who were hugging, before giving Rory a quick nod.
Rory knew exactly what that signified. He wasn't allowed to tell anyone what the Doctor had shown him, not even Hannah.
Rory nodded back, and the Doctor smiled in thanks. Turning around, he said to Hannah, "Why don't you and I take a stroll through the garden?", which really meant, "Why don't you and I leave Rory and Amy alone to talk?"
Hannah understood what he meant, and she looped her arm through his. "That would be great." She said warmly, and the two walked away from them.
Laughing, Amy shook her head and turned to Rory. "He's so discrete, isn't he?" She said fondly.
Rory smiled. "I wouldn't say that. Listen Amy, I…" But then he trailed off.
He wanted to tell her to be careful, he wanted her to promise him that she'd be safe. He wanted her to promise to protect the Doctor too, and he wanted her to know the truth.
But he couldn't say those things…and he would never say those things.
"I love you." He said eventually, drawing her into his arms to hide his tormented expression from her.
Amy laughed again, and returned his hug tightly. "Oh Williams, don't go all moody on me. We'll see each other again. I'm getting married, remember? And you're walking me down the aisle."
Rory pulled back to look at her in bewilderment. "What?"
"Who else do you think I'm going to ask?" She sighed, ruffling her friend's hair. "I want you to give me away, Rory Williams. So, do you want to do it?"
"Of course I do!" He exclaimed, hugging her again. "Oh Amy, that's such an honour! I can't even—"
"Oh, hush!" She chuckled, interrupting him. "No soppy moments."
"I know…but thank you." He said warmly. "I would love to give you away."
"Good. You know, it's so weird how all of this happened. If I hadn't met the Doctor, you and I would be the ones getting married. No offence, but I'm glad it didn't work out like that." Amy said to him, grinning.
Rory managed to smile back at her, but his mind was racing. If only Amy knew that the Doctor had been the one to save her. If he'd never gone back for her, she would have been absorbed by one of the cracks, and so would he. There wouldn't have even been a wedding. In fact, the date of their wedding was the cause for all of this.
Not that Rory could tell her this. So he forced a laugh, and luckily, the Doctor and Hannah returned.
The four friends said their final goodbyes, and once Amy had stepped back into the TARDIS, the Doctor nodded at Rory again, before following her inside.
Rory watched the TARDIS disappear, and silently prayed for Amy and the Doctor to be safe, and to stay safe, for the rest of the eternity.
But some small part of him told him that praying was useless.
It was already too late.
Dun...Dun...DUN! The Main Plot is starting to develop, teehee!
By the way, I uploaded a small one-shot about episode six of Series 6 yesterday, so I'd be grateful if you guys read that :D It might help with waiting for tonight's episode; I'm so excited that I could explode. I won't though, because that would be messy!
SQUEE! Please let Amy's baby be the Doctor's! (Though I love Rory, haha!)
Hayley x