CHAPTER 7: Split Decisions
Noxious green gas filled the chamber. It billowed downwards, thick and heavy, and slowly enveloped the Ood in a toxic cloud. Save for the gentlest of head turns as it examined the gas, the Ood remained motionless - it simply stood in place. Not oblivious to the situation, but… obliging it. Obeying its final instruction. And it wasn't long before the Ood completely disappeared in the vapours.
From his position at the control deck, behind the glass, the Doctor stared into the room. He, too, did not move. Could not move.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, tasting the salt from his tears.
Rory put a hand on the Doctor's shoulder, not knowing what else to do. Words weren't coming, and the ones that did didn't seem to stack up anywhere near to the gravity of the Doctor's situation. Although he hadn't known him all that long, Rory could sense that this action - this forced, necessary action - was one that the Doctor did not perform lightly. Clearly, its weight would carry with him.
The Doctor blinked once, twice. He looked down at the control panel before him, then turned around to face Rory and the two Amys. "The door's open," he said simply. "Airlock. Now."
They filed out into the corridor, the space still shrouded in foreboding red light. Rory looked over his shoulder to see that the dark figure of Joseph had not moved - but this time, instead of cunning insight, its expression was one of confusion. Bewilderment. It cocked its head, and immediately, the muscles in its neck tensed when it realised where the group was heading.
The Doctor ushered the three into the small airlock, and as they entered, he produced his sonic screwdriver and scanned the keycard panel of a door across the hall. It only took a few seconds - he looked at the screwdriver, seemed satisfied with the results, and nimbly dashed into the airlock as the thick steel doors automatically clanged shut. Blasts of cold air hosed down from above, ruffling their hair and clothes, and filled the space with loud, harsh hissing. The air died down. Then, nothing.
"Now what?" asked an Amy, her voice echoing from the thick steel walls.
"The chamber door won't open until the gas is removed," said Rory. "We need wait for the room to clear."
A deafening pounding battered against the airlock door - angry, powerful fists hammered into the metal. All four backed away as much as the confined space would allow, pressing themselves against the far end of the room.
"Well, it'd better hurry up," said the other Amy. "Because someone's not happy."
"Joseph," the Doctor said simply - more to himself than the others. "Look at what you've become."
Bang, bang, bang! The noise continued, and despite its strength, the door started to move inward with each pounding. Both Amys screamed.
"Doctor, do something!"
He didn't respond - and he didn't need to, for as if on cue, the opposing airlock door slid open into the white-walled gas chamber, its air cleaned of all poisons. The four scrambled inside and raced towards the TARDIS, but immediately noticed the Ood body crumpled in the middle of the floor. They stopped, the sight putting immediate lead weights in their shoes - the Doctor in particular. There was no mistaking it: a dead body, born from his decision, born from their needs. Their priorities, deemed more important than the life of another.
There was no mistaking that.
Gingerly, and with as much respect as the situation could allow, Rory and the two Amys toed their way around the body and stood at the doors of the TARDIS. The Doctor, however, slowly kneeled and put a hand to the Ood's head. Noticing its eyes were still open, staring up into glassy nothingness, he gently closed them shut. It wouldn't absolve his actions - the Doctor clearly knew that. Perhaps nothing would. But he also knew he had to—
A dull thud sounded from within the room, thick and heavy. They looked into the control room to see Joseph standing at the deck, two bloodied hands pressed against the glass, its face looking inward with furious energy. Intent. Focused. One man - or what was left of him - behind the glass, staring at the intruders and their mysterious blue box.
"Funny," the Doctor mused, "how the universe dovetails."
Rory gestured towards Joseph. "What's he doing there?"
A slight smile crawled across the Doctor's lips - one of realisation. Of a long-lost puzzle piece falling into place, despite it completing a less than desirable image.
"He's watching."
"I don't get it," said an Amy. "He's at the button. One press and he could kill us all. So why doesn't he?"
The Doctor turned to face both Amys. "Because of you. Because of… one of you."
He put a hand on Rory's shoulder and led him a few paces away from the TARDIS, away from both Amys. "It's a day of tough decisions" he said, voice lowered. "And I've hit my quota. Now it's your turn."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm trying to put this delicately. You know what we need to do, and I can't do it again. I need your help, Rory. I need you to take care of… this."
Rory's eyes widened, knowing exactly what 'this' meant. "Doctor, no. There's got to be a way. We can just take them with us. We can just—"
"No," the Doctor said gently. "We can't. The moment those two are far enough apart, it's all over. One's our Amy, the other's a wild monster. It'd only be a matter of time, and you've seen what those things can do. We can't take both, but we need the right Amy. You need to decide which is which."
"But how?" Rory pleaded. "How can I? Look at them - they're both the same. They're both real."
"Only one of them is real. The other was created by an outside force only hours ago."
That prickled Rory. "And that's the benchmark, is it? Hours versus years makes it less deserving to live?"
"That's not what I said and you—"
"Is she alive, Doctor?" Rory's voice began to gain volume and conviction in equal measure. "The copy? Is she living? Breathing? Is she a living person?"
"We came here with one Amy," said the Doctor, deadpan. "We're not leaving with two. Sometimes, not everybody can live. If you're going to travel with us, maybe it's best you learn that now."
"But why should I choose which one gets to survive?"
"Because it's one of her or all of us!"
The Doctor's outburst echoed off each white wall, and a stone cold silence immediately followed. Both Amys looked on with fearful eyes - it was clear to all in the room, now more than ever, of what choice needed to be made.
Taking a deep breath, the Doctor stared Rory straight in the eye. He pointed to Joseph, still standing behind the glass. "That thing wants its wife. That's all that matters. You and me, we're just in the way of a desperate attempt to hold on to a copied dream. To restart a missed opportunity. But unlike that thing, you know Amy. You've grown up together, made countless memories together, laughed and cried together. You've shared dreams and desires. Shared hope. Shared love. Deep down, right here—" the Doctor tapped Rory's chest "—you know you know her. Deep down, you know there's no one else in this universe that you love more than your one true Amelia Pond."
Rory didn't respond. He could only manage a nod - slow, understanding. Accepting.
"Please, Rory. Make the right choice. Because you know what happens if you get it wrong."
He gulped. "Yeah. I know."
The Doctor braced him with a hand on each shoulder and looked him square in the eye. Man to Time Lord. The full weight of the task hanging between them both.
"Make the right choice," the Doctor said. "Give us our Amy."
He quietly stepped back, produced the key to the TARDIS from his breast-pocket, and unlocked the craft's blue door. He stepped inside, leaving it open - and leaving Rory facing the two Amys. Both looked pale. Both looked frightened.
Both looked exactly the same.
"Rory," an Amy said, voice crackling. "You're scaring me."
"Why aren't we leaving?" asked the other.
Rory's heart thumped in his chest. "We are leaving. Very soon. We just need to… sort some things out first. We need to make sure we're all here… I mean, that we're leaving as we arrived." He looked between the two Amys - left, right, left, right. "That everyone is present and accounted for."
"You don't have to do this," said an Amy. "The Doctor - he told you to only pick one us, didn't he."
Silence. Rory couldn't respond - yet the silence said everything.
Amy shook her head in disbelief. "That Doctor," she said. "That stupid, heartbreaking man…"
"I'm sorry," Rory said, his eyes welling with tears. "I've got to."
The other Amy pushed herself up to Rory, confident and determiend. "Well let me make it easy for you - this is me, right here. Flesh and blood, mind and body. This is me. I'm the real Amy."
"Don't listen to her," said the other. "Look at me. You know me - you've always known me."
A fearful tone overtook both their voices as they drowned Rory with their pleas. He examined both Amys - it seemed useless to decide. Absurd. His Amy, in stereo, was there somewhere… but each was exactly as convincing as the other. Each clutched him with terrified eyes, a mirror image of the other's desperate fight to live.
"Rory, please," cried an Amy, not bothering to hide her tears. "You can't leave me behind. You know it's me. She didn't come here - she was created here."
"Stop it!" Rory begged. "Stop it, both of you. Just… I need to think. I need to…"
He steadied his breath and tried to shift his focus from the frantic commotion. Looking at the floor, he found the white tiled pattern a soothing stimulus - soothing, at least, in comparison to the dilemma before him. Rory stood perfectly still as he held onto that image, that pattern, and closed his eyes, picturing the room in his mind and forcing his body to sense its place, to sense the walls around him. To picture the Amys standing in front of him. And slowly - agonisingly so - he looked up at one and stared right into her eyes.
Deep breath.
Exhale.
He looked at the other Amy.
Deep breath.
Exhale.
He looked back at the first Amy.
Deep breath.
And lightning quick, he grabbed her hand, dragged her into the TARDIS, and slammed the door.
"Go!" Rory yelled.
Immediately, the room shook as the TARDIS set into motion. The Doctor, working the controls at the central console, looked over as Rory held Amy in a tight embrace. Behind them, the sounds of a desperate pounding battered the doors. Desperate crying. Screaming.
And as the TARDIS gained momentum, the sounds slowly faded.
Amy cried hysterically into Rory's shoulder, emotions tumbling into a torrent of words. "I thought you were going to leave," she sobbed. "I thought… you were… going… without me…"
"It's okay," Rory said, gently stroking her hair. "You're here. It's over."
Amy looked up at him. "How did… how did you know it was me?"
He searched for the right words. How to explain it? "I just knew," he said. "I don't know how. Deep down, I just knew when I looked at you - when I really looked at you. I could see it."
A pause hung between the two before Rory ventured further, his expression reflecting an attempt to lighten the mood. "I could also see the way you were looking at a certain space billionaire," he said, emphasising a playful tone.
Amy leaned back in disbelief, blinked through the tears. "Joseph? I did not!"
"You did so," he teased. "Trust me, there was some definite swooning there."
"Well how do you think I felt? I saw how you were looking at that other me."
It was Rory's turn to express disbelief. "I did not! I mean… but she was you!"
"No, I'm me. There's only one me." Her voice softened. "Though I must say you've got good taste."
Rory smiled. "You'll always be the Amy I'll want."
And they kissed. Passionately.
The Doctor, still at the console, inserted his sonic screwdriver into a port and furiously tapped away at the typewriter. "I downloaded the door security algorithm just before we left," he said, head trained downward. "Got access to the entire complex. All those doors that were swinging wide open?" A pause, which he punctuated with a triumphant final click. "Now you can count the exterior airlocks among them. Only a matter of time before physics and nature does the rest and…"
The Doctor looked up at Rory and Amy, still kissing. His face reflected gradual realisation. "…and right now, none of this matters to either of you in the slightest. Doctor understands, Doctor talks later."
They broke the kiss and looked over at him with a smile. As Amy turned her attention back to Rory with an extra peck on the cheek, the Doctor silently mouthed two words to Rory with unreserved sincerity:
Thank you.
Hand in hand, Amy and Rory joined the Doctor at the TARDIS console. "So what happened to them?" asked Amy. "To Joseph and duplicate me, I mean."
"You're the broadcasting tower of Amy FM," said the Doctor. "Our distance has broken the signal. Down there, she's… well, you know. Just like him. A perfect sort of match, when you think about it, and only one way in to bring them together. If there's any sliver of humanity left in that man, perhaps now he's learning the true value of life."
"But what if someone finds them?" asked Rory. "That communications room you discovered - couldn't someone trace the signal back?"
The Doctor shook his head. "Secure frequency. No-one else knows about that planet. And no-one else has called in."
That caught Amy's attention. She looked at Rory before leaning in to whisper to the Doctor. "But what about that voice we—"
"Later," he whispered sharply.
A puzzled expression crossed Amy's face. "You're not going to tell him?"
"Later."
Amy said nothing, and the Doctor noticed her confusion. "Not until we know more," he offered. "And believe me, we're going to find out."
He spun on his heel and turned to Rory, giving him a hefty slap on the shoulder. "So, Mister Williams. You and your beloved have stared down certain death at the edge of the universe. That's just the beginning - tomorrow you might be running from wild Astrolords or chasing down a Foamasi who's legging it with your spare change. Still want to be part of our little expedition?"
Rory nodded. "Yeah."
"Are you sure? What happened to safe?"
"What do you really learn from safe?" Rory asked. "Safe cushions you. It reinforces what you already know. But risk teaches. You learn from risk. That's why you keep travelling, isn't it Doctor? It's not just to learn about others, it's so you can learn more about yourself. And I've learned a lot about me." He put his arm around Amy. "About us."
The Doctor smiled. "So that's definitely a yes?"
Rory matched it. "That's definitely a yes."
"Then we're away!" The Doctor's fingers danced across the TARDIS controls. "Hergrall Five? The Irgon Cluster? Karass Don Slava? It's all up for grabs!"
Amy pulled Rory towards her, and the two tightened in their embrace. The Doctor's smile, however, soon gave way to guilt - his mind was still reeling with what he had committed. A life, ended by his hand. One that had done no wrong. He couldn't just shake that away. But how-
Amy approached his side, looking at him with concern. "Doctor? Are you okay?"
His mouth curled dismissively. "Oh, you know me."
"Yeah, I do. That's why I'm asking."
He froze - no charade here. The Doctor exhaled deeply. "I will be," he said.
Amy squeezed his shoulder sympathetically. "Talk if you need to. Any time. Promise?"
The Doctor nodded, and feigned a smile. Amy weighed it up, nodded in response, and turned to head back to Rory. And as the Doctor's attention moved across the TARDIS controls, his eyes were caught by the monitor overhead - the screen, somehow activated, was flickering between a number of different signals. Static, text, static, an image, static. Overlapping data competing for bandwidth. Brow furrowed, he turned a dial and gradually steadied the signal, and turned another to filter out the noise. Finally, it all came together, and the Doctor studied the result. He blinked, studied it again. His eyes darted to Rory and Amy.
"Not if I find you first," he whispered.
And he turned the monitor off.
THE END
AUTHOR NOTE: Yes, I know. The ending is mighty similar to that of "The Girl Who Waited". Hand on heart, I started working on this story long before news of that episode came to light, and when it did, I was about two or three chapters into writing, and I just... well, I couldn't believe it. Beaten to the punch. I always knew that my story needed to end with Rory having to choose the right Amy - it just needed to. And so I put it away and buried the idea of ever finishing it.
Months passed, and part of me got thinking: perhaps the similarity between endings is a sign that I'm plotting my stories right. If such an ending is used on the show itself, then my approach must have some merit. That's what I strive for with my work: to be as good as the writing on the actual series. So I continued. I finished it. And now, I'm throwing myself upon the mercy of you, the reader. (Here's hoping that by the time I finish my third and final story, season seven hasn't already done it!)
Thanks for reading.