CHAPTER 29

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RORY THE TIME LORD

As Amy and Rory waited for Rose to return with the potion that would make him into a Time Lord, Rory told the rest of his family what he was going to do. As he had expected, some of them didn't take it too well. Namely his father and Julia.

"Rory, are you really sure about this? I know that you want to be with Amy for as long as you can, but are you sure that this is the right thing? Are you really sure that you want to do this?" Brian asked.

"What's wrong with being a Time Lord?" Selene asked a little put out by this.

"He's asking that because Dad will change like you did," Julia said in a fearful voice.

"No, he won't, Jules. The only reason I changed was because my personality was altered when I became human. Rory will still be exactly the same. I promise," Selene said.

"Can you really promise that? How can you be so sure of that? He's the first person who was born human that you've ever used this potion on. That is what you said, isn't it?" Brian asked.

"Dad," Rory said as he tried in vain to get him to stop.

"Yes, that's true, but he will be the same. There's no reason for him to change," Sirona said.

"How do you know if it's never been used on a human before? How do you know that it won't kill him?" Brian said as he became more and more worried.

"Dad," Rory said again but Brian continued to ignore him as he continued to talk.

"You could become an entirely new person, Rory. Someone that I won't recognize anymore. It would be just like losing you. I don't want to lose you like I did your mother," Brian said upset.

"Brian, stop," Amy said in a gentle calming voice.

She put a comforting arm around the man who she considered a second father and said, "I'd never do anything to hurt him. You know that. You have to know that."

"I know you wouldn't do anything on purpose to hurt him, but are you really sure that this won't? Are you really sure that he'll be the same man afterwards?" Brian asked as he looked her in the eyes searching for answers there.

"Yes," Amy said as she looked straight at him without blinking or flinching before his intense gaze.

Brian continued to look uncertain as Amy said, "Do you think that I'm the same person since I changed, Brian? Do you still trust me as much as you did when I was human? I thought that you did. I thought that you knew that I was still the same person. Was I wrong?"

"Of course you're the same person. Most of the time. Sometimes though you're different. Sometimes you're someone else. Someone darker,' Brian said.

Rory started to say something to defend Amy, but neither of them were paying any attention to him anyway so he just held up his hands in surrender.

"I know. That's not all that I am though. Deep down inside where it counts I'm still Amelia, and I always will be. I hope that you still know that. You do, don't you? I have to know. Do you still trust me? Tell me," Amy said.

Brian thought of all of the times that they had had together on the TARDIS and how Amy had always looked out for all of them. Then he thought of how she was with Rory, Anthony, and Julia and how she would die for all of them. He knew then that he had his answer.

"Of course I do. I'm just a worried father. Wouldn't you be worried if it were Julia about to take it?" Brian asked.

"I would never make her take it," Amy said.

"I know but what if she wanted to?" Brian asked.

Amy looked terrified at the thought of it mostly because she wouldn't want Julia to lose those special qualities about being human since they were a part of what made her herself. Then she looked at Brian with new understanding as she realized that that was exactly what he was worried about.

"I'm sorry. Maybe I'm not as much Amy as I thought I was," Amy said with shame.

"That's not true at, Amy. You just weren't thinking like a parent. You were thinking like a woman in love who doesn't want to lose her husband," Brian said.

"Rory, you can't do this. I was wrong to even ask you," Amy said.

"Oh, you mean that someone actually remembered me? It seemed like you two were too busy deciding the course of my life for me to bother to ask what I thought about it. This is my life and my decision. I decided that I want to do this, and that's what I'm going to do," Rory said firmly.

"I can't do this to you. Your dad's right. I don't have the right to take what it means to be human away from you," Amy said.

"You won't be. Don't you remember, Amy? I was still human even when I was an Auton. Being human is about what's inside of you not your biology. I thought that you of all people would know that. I don't care if you have two hearts or not. You're still Amy and you're still human. You're never been more human than you are right now in this moment, Time Lord or not. You're willing to give up what you want the most for what you think is best for me. Only that's not the best for me. Being with you for the rest of our lives is what is best for me. I could never accept anything less," Rory said.

"I love you, Mr. Pond," Amy said as she smiled at him.

"I'll always love you, Mrs. Williams," Rory said as he wrapped his arms around her and gave her a passionate kiss.

"You always have to have your way, don't you? You're just too stubborn to listen to anyone else, aren't you? How else would you have waited for me for two thousand years?" Amy said smiling at him before kissing him again.

"I'd rather live with you for two thousand years instead. That's much better," Rory said.

"It's possible. I make no promises though. I might get bored," Amy joked.

They both laughed and kissed again as the others looked at each other and smiled. That was when Rose loudly cleared her throat in the background. She had quietly arrived just a moment before and knew from past experience traveling with them in the Doctor's TARDIS that if she didn't interrupt them now that this could go on for quite a while.

Amy and Rory reluctantly broke apart from their kiss and looked at her with eagerness as Rose held out the vial containing the potion for Rory. Rory slowly walked forward and took it from her and then looked at it for a moment before looking up to see his father watching him closely.

Father and son locked eyes for a brief moment of wordless communication in which Brian realized that Rory truly wanted this. He wanted this with all of his heart. Brian then slowly nodded and silently wished his son good luck without having to say a word.

"Dad, are you sure?" Julia asked still unconvinced.

"It's going to be fine, Julia. I promise," Rory said.

Amy took Julia's hand and squeezed it tightly as she moved her back. She gestured for everyone else to move back as well because she knew that the energy that would be unleashed by the change would be dangerous. Based on what Rose had told her about the effects of the potion, it was just like regeneration only without a change in appearance or personality.

"Rory, before you take that I have to warn you that it's going to hurt. A lot," Rose said.

"Of course. Why should anything ever be easy?" Rory said with a small smile before taking the cork out of the vial.

Then Rory slowly lowered the vial to his lips and drank it. He looked at Amy even as he began to feel the changes to his body occurring. He focused on her even as the pain inside of him started to become unbearable. Then he screamed as energy flowed out of his head and hands.

Amy held Julia's hand tightly as she started to whimper and put her other hand on Brian's shoulder in reassurance. Brian was trying to look brave, but she could tell that he was just as worried about Rory as Julia was.

Then the glow faded and Rory stood there in a disoriented state for a few seconds before shaking his head and saying, "Is that regeneration feels like? No wonder Melody was screaming back in Berlin. So this is what I get to look forward to each time I change. I definitely don't look forward to that. At least I still look and sound the same this time. I still feel the same too as far as I can tell."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Julia asked still looking fearful.

Rory picked Julia up with a strength that he hadn't had since he was an Auton and smiled at her as he said, "I'm better than okay. I haven't felt this good in my life. No wonder Time Lords are so arrogant if they feel this good all the time. It's like feeling eight feet tall and bulletproof."

"Hey! Watch who you're calling arrogant! You're one of us now," Amy said grinning at him.

"Is it too late to reconsider?" Rory joked.

"Oh be quiet, Mr. Pond," Amy said as she kissed him.

Then all at once he began to start seeing the timelines of everyone around him and quickly turned away as he realized that he was seeing events not just from their past but also from their future. He then realized with surprise that he couldn't see Amy's timeline.

"We're linked. It would be like reading your own timeline which no Time Lord can do," Amy said as she instantly realized what was happening to him.

"I'm really hoping that there's a way that I can block this out. This isn't how the Doctor went mad is it?" Rory asked.

Amy and Rose both laughed as Rose said, "No, being a Time Lord had nothing to do with it. We're not all mad. At least I don't think I am. Then again I was told that I was a bit off even when I was human."

"I know I was considered mad when I was human. My human parents actually considered taking me to see a psychiatrist. Oddly enough my birth parents also considered doing that," Selene said.

"I can believe it," Julia said with a grin.

She was now back to her old self as she began feeling better about the whole situation.

"Oh, shut up. At least I wasn't as mad as Amy. She actually went to several psychiatrists when she was human," Selene said.

"I kept going to them because they weren't saying what my parents wanted to hear. They all kept saying that I was perfectly normal despite my stories about my Raggedy Man. Then again maybe they said that because I kept biting them," Amy said smiling mischievously.

"I just want to say for the record that I am not mad. I'm perfectly normal," Sirona said.

"I know. We never had any issues with you whatsoever," Amy said.

"It made me think that she must be adopted," Selene said.

"I used to fantasize that you were the one who was adopted," Amy said.

"You too, huh? Of course in my case, it actually turned out to be true," Julia couldn't resist adding.

"Lucky you," Amy said.

"Shut up, both of you! Sisters are always the same whether they're Time Lord or human!" Selene said in fake irritation.

"Maybe it's not the sisters who are at fault here. Did you ever consider that maybe it's you?" Sirona asked.

"Et tu, Sirona? Here I thought that you were cool," Selene said.

Rory knew that they were just trying to make him feel better, but it didn't help him in the slightest. He was incredibly out of his depth here and wanted to know exactly what he was dealing with.

"Amy, is this normal?" Rory asked with a tone of concern in his voice.

"Of course it is. It's perfectly normal, Rory. I'll teach you how to block it out. It's no big deal," Amy said.

"Block what out? What is he seeing?" Brian asked in concern.

"I can see all of the events of everyone's life now both from the past and the future just by looking at them. I even saw things that happened to alternate versions of all of you. It was just bombarding me all at once like trying to watch several movies at the same time. It's very unnerving plus it gives you a major headache," Rory said.

"I can teach you how to filter all of that out so that you can see only what you want to see. I'll also have to teach you how to block out the thoughts of other people too. I'm sure you'll start hearing those soon too. I'll just have to retrain your brain. I'm going to have to teach you how to think Time Lord. You'll be just like one of us in no time," Amy said.

"I can hardly wait. I hope that doesn't mean that I'll start acting you all of you too. Why haven't you ever told me about this?" Rory asked.

"I forgot about it," Amy said.

"How could you forget something like this?" Rory asked.

"Do you remember to breathe or blink your eyes? It just comes natural to us. I'll teach you how to control it until it becomes natural for you too. Don't worry," Amy said.

"I'm sorry. I guess I must seem pretty silly to you," Rory said.

"No, of course you don't. I'll tell you a secret. I had to remember how to start blocking the timelines again myself when I first became a Time Lord again. Rose had to refresh my memory on how to do it. I didn't tell you or anyone else about it though because I felt embarrassed by it. Even Time Tots know how to do it," Amy said.

"Oh, thanks. That makes me feel so much better," Rory said.

"I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that I was once embarrassed too, but there's nothing to be embarrassed about. Luckily I didn't tell the Doctor about it though because I would have had to kill him," Amy said.

"Why would you have had to kill him? Just so that he wouldn't tell? I wouldn't even have known what you were talking about much less cared," Rory said.

"No, that's not it at all. It's because he would have made fun of me, and then I would have had to kill him," Amy said.

"Oh, well that makes sense then," Rory said.

"I'm glad it does to somebody. Her sudden fits of temper never did to me," Selene said.

"Maybe she really is adopted, Mum," Sirona said to Amy.

"Shut it or you won't be my favorite niece anymore!" Selene said grinning at her.

"I'm your only niece besides Melody and she once tried to shoot you," Sirona pointed out.

"That doesn't automatically make you my favorite. Just because Melody and I had a little misunderstanding once doesn't mean that she couldn't still be my favorite. I'm pretty sure that she missed on purpose. At least I hope she did," Selene said with a shudder.

"Please tell me that I'm not going to wind up like them," Rory said groaning.

"If you do, it's your own fault," Brian kidded him.

"Thanks, Dad. I really appreciate all of the support," Rory said.

Rory smiled at him as he knew that this was a sign that his Dad was okay with all of this now. He was glad of that because as far as he could see nothing had really changed except for this weird timelines thing. Hopefully he could master that and everything would go back to normal.

Whatever normal was for him now.

He made himself a mental note to start studying up on Time Lord physiology more now that he was one. He wanted to know exactly what made him tick and what to expect from his new body now. Maybe he should also study Time Lord psychology just in case madness was a common thing among them.

At least he didn't feel mad so far anyway. Then again if he were really mad, then he probably wouldn't know, would he? Just thinking about that was enough to drive you mad all by itself.

He was taken by surprise as Rose put a friendly arm around him and said, "It's going to be alright, Rory. It'll just take you a while to get used to your new life. It's not so hard though. Time Lords really aren't that different from humans in most ways. I mean we don't do anything weird like having to go home every seven years for Pon Farr so that's always a plus."

"Pon Farr?" Brian asked.

"It's a Star Trek thing. Spock had to go back to his home planet every seven years because his blood burned. He had to, well, you know . . ." Rory said embarrassed to say the rest of that sentence with Julia around.

"Oh, I get it. Yes, yes. Time Lords don't do that sort of thing though obviously. Or at least it doesn't seem to be a problem with Melody anyway," Brian said grinning.

"Many Time Lords might as well be monks about that sort of thing, but that's more a mental attitude of our culture than anything physical. It's definitely not my attitude though," Amy said smiling.

"I noticed," Rory said.

"Is anyone else getting really uncomfortable?" Sirona asked twitching nervously.

"I'm just really confused. What are you all talking about?" Julia asked.

"I'll tell you later," Selene said.

"No, you won't!" Rory said.

"We shall see. I am Selene, corrupter of the youth!" Selene joked.

Brian couldn't help but smile at their antics. Rory was being a protective father, and Selene was being her usual silly self. He didn't know what he had been so worried about.

"It's because we love them so much. Sometimes we can lose sight about whose life is whose that way. It's one of the problems with being a parent is learning when to let go. I still haven't learned that one yet myself, and I'm 231 years old," Rose suddenly said surprising Brian as she figured out from his body language exactly what he was thinking.

"I can't help but wonder if any of us ever really learn that particular lesson," Brian mused.

"My Mum certainly hasn't. She's still trying to tell me what to do," Sirona said.

"It's not just you. She still tries to tell me what to do too," Rory said.

"Yeah, but you're married to her," Sirona said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rory asked.

"It means I'm the boss," Amy said.

"You're still the boss?! Even though I'm a Time Lord now?" Rory asked with a smile on his face.

"I'm always going to be the boss no matter what, Rory. It's well past time that you figured that out. Now shut up and kiss me!" Amy commanded.

"Yes, ma'am!" Rory said eagerly as he obeyed her without question.

"I'd still like to know what Pon Farr is. No one ever tells me anything," Julia complained in the background as they continued to kiss.

Next: Just because Rory's a Time Lord now doesn't mean that he's suddenly going to catch a break. Even as he's learning about his new body, Rory and the others are immediately caught up in an attack by an old enemy of theirs who it turns out isn't quite as dead as Amy had hoped that she would be. It also turns out that this person still has a major crush on Amy's husband. That's right. Jennifer Lucas' Ganger is back and she wants Rory! Oh, and she also wants to take over the Earth, but we're not interested in that, are we? Amy's going to have a little something to say about this I'm sure!