CHAPTER 49

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BANE OF THE CYBERMEN PART 1

At around three in the morning, Brian Williams was instantly woken from a sound sleep by what had recently become a very familiar sound to him: the distant wheezing groaning sound of a TARDIS. This time however the TARDIS sounded almost different somehow. He couldn't say why exactly since it sounded exactly the same as it always had, but this time that noise almost sounded as if it was pleading with him to come as quickly as possible.

That was when he somehow instinctively knew that Amy needed him.

Without hesitation, Brian quickly got dressed and headed towards the direction that he had heard the TARDIS landing. As soon as reached his back yard, he saw Amy's TARDIS in its current form of a large wooden gazebo already standing there.

Oddly enough there was no one standing there waiting for him as there usually was. That was when he knew that something was wrong because Amy and Rory always came out immediately to greet him every time that they came to visit.

"Amy?" Brian asked in a hesitant tone as he slowly walked towards the seemingly empty TARDIS.

That was when he was grabbed from behind by a powerful pair of arms that hugged him tightly as the undeniable voice of Amy said in a tone filled with relief, "You're home. I wasn't sure if you would be or not. I couldn't find any of my parents, not on Earth or Gallifrey, and I really needed to talk to someone."

"Amy, what is it? Did something happen to Rory?" Brian asked as he tried unsuccessfully to turn around and look at her but couldn't because her grip on him was much too strong.

"Amy, I can't even see your face because you're holding onto me so tightly," Brian finally said.

"What? Oh, sorry. I didn't hurt you did I? I forgot that I'm much stronger now than I used to be ever since I became a Time Lady again," Amy said in an apologetic voice as she instantly released him.

That was when he finally realized beyond a shadow of a doubt that something was seriously bothering her. Amy never apologized for anything.

Now that he could finally see her at last, he couldn't help but involuntarily shudder as soon as he did. Brian immediately noticed tears streaming down Amy's face in endless waves and an empty almost soulless look in her eyes. This was not the Amy that he knew at all in any way, shape, or form. It was almost as if someone had ripped out her very core somehow and all that was left was an empty shell of who she had once used to be.

"I'm fine," Brian lied to her even though he knew that he would have deep bruises on his arms for weeks afterwards.

Amy somehow managed to muster an extremely weak smile as she said, "Liar. I really am sorry about that. I just – I needed to see someone. Brian, Melody is . . . Melody is . . ."

Brian's heart instantly fell as he realized exactly what had happened now when Amy couldn't finish her sentence. He had known for some time now about little Melody and how she was going to have to return to the Silence one day. He had been dreading that moment ever since then and what it would do to Amy to lose her for a second time.

Even he hadn't imagined her acting like this however.

"Amy, I am so sorry," Brian said in a voice filled with emotion as he immediately put his arms around her to comfort her.

"She's gone, Brian. She's just gone and there was nothing that I could do to stop it. It happened all over again no matter how hard I tried to prevent it this time. Even as a Time Lady, I was still completely powerless to save her. No matter what I did I couldn't save her! I failed her . . . again!" Amy said in anger as a bit of her old fire briefly returned to her voice.

"I'm sorry. I can't even imagine what this is doing to you. I don't know what happened, but I do know one thing for sure. You did not fail her. You could never fail her. I know that you tried everything that you could, Amy. I know you did," Brian said in a sympathetic voice even as he started to wonder where the others were especially Rory.

He wasn't sure that asking her any questions in her current state of mind was such a good idea however so he just let it slide for now.

"I did try everything that I could but it still wasn't good enough. I wasn't good enough. I was just too stupid to think of a way to fix everything in time. It all happened too fast," Amy said in a mournful voice.

"You're not stupid, Amy. You've always been one of the smartest people that I know," Brian said as he continued to try his best to calm her down.

"You must not know too many people then, Brian, because I'm the stupidest person in the universe. I have to be to lose her twice like that. Twice!" Amy said in a voice filled with scathing self-hatred.

"Amy, stop it. Just stop it. This is not your fault. Stop beating yourself up over this right now or it's going to destroy you. Besides it's not as if you've lost her for good. Melody is all grown up and alright. I just saw her a few days ago and she seemed the happiest that I'd ever seen her now that she has little Dorothy. Does that sound like you failed her, Amy?" Brian asked.

"You don't understand. I couldn't protect her. That was twice that I couldn't help her no matter what I did and I . . . I just can't get over that. Not this time. I'm not sure that I ever will even though I know that she's okay now. It was definitely no thanks to me that she made it out of that mess alright," Amy said in a devastated voice.

"That's where you're wrong, Mother," River suddenly said from behind her.

Brian immediately breathed out a sigh of relief as soon as he saw her standing there and said, "Melody, where are Rory and the others? Are they alright?"

"They're just fine. Amy took them to Gallifrey and then just left them there when she couldn't find her mother. She just raced off to see the Ponds on Earth before any of them could even get back on the TARDIS. I don't think she even realized that she did it in her current state of mind. Luckily Dad was able to make it to the House of Brightshore where he gave me a call so that I'd go looking for her," River explained with a reassuring smile.

That was when Amy's eyes widened as she said, "I can't believe I did that. I really did just leave them behind, didn't I? What is wrong with me? I really am stupid. Stupid!"

"Stop it! Stop doing this to yourself. Brian's right. There was nothing that you could do. There was nothing that anyone could have done. Even Rose couldn't save me and you know that she would have if she could. She's too much of a goody two shoes that way where she always has to save everyone. So if even the Bad Wolf couldn't do it then what makes you think that you could?" River asked.

"Rose isn't your mother. I am. It was my job to save you. Mine and I failed. Twice," Amy said in anger.

"No, Mother, you saved me. The thought of you and every word that you ever said or good time that we ever had together kept me going when nothing else would. Whenever I felt myself wanting to give up, I thought about you and Dad and wouldn't allow myself to quit. I became River Song because of you, Mother. I modeled her after you. You may not believe this but it wasn't Kovarian that shaped my life all of those years that I was growing up. It was you. It was always you. You . . . You made me into who I am. You. Not her. If it wasn't for you, I really would have become a heartless psychopath long ago. You made sure that part of me would always stay Melody no matter what they did to me, and I can never thank you enough for that. Ever," River said as she tried not to break down in front of her.

Amy smiled now as she said in a heartfelt tone, "Thank you."

Her smile immediately faded however as she said, "That still doesn't make up for my having lost out on your entire childhood though does it? Nothing could."

River immediately sighed as she gave Brian a meaningful look. She was beginning to wonder if there was anything that even she could do to help Amy this time around. Having to lose her child twice may have been too much for even her to take.

That didn't mean that she was ever going to give up trying however. Amy had never given up on her after all.

"There you are. What did you mean taking off like that? Rory was worried sick about you," A familiar voice suddenly called out.

"Are you really that surprised? It's her answer to everything is to run off and throw a tantrum somewhere, isn't it? It's what she does," Another very familiar voice added.

"Leave her alone. You haven't lived through what she has yet so you really have no idea what she's dealing with, do you? So why don't you just do us all a favor and just shut your stupid face up when you don't know what it is that you're talking about?" A voice that Amy wasn't quite as familiar with yet protested.

"Who are they?" Brian asked as he saw three women that seemed oddly familiar to him somehow even though he knew that he'd never met them before slowly walking towards them.

"They're me, Brian. Two of them, the redhead and the brunette, are past versions of me and the blonde is a possible future version who apparently still has a bit of a mouth on her when she really gets angry no matter how sweet she seems to have become. That's actually kind of reassuring. I see that I found myself again instead of going home like I should have. As if I didn't have enough bothering me already today. And now I'm acting just as weird as the Doctor with the 'me' bit. Thanks a lot, other mes, for making this day even worse. I should have known that you'd come through somehow," Amy said with a groan.

"What did you expect? Did you really think that we'd go back and leave you after you just ran off like that? I wasn't about to let things end that way, Amy. How could I possibly leave now without knowing if my future worked out alright or not?" The First Cliodna asked.

"Yeah, I'm with her. Judging from what I've seen of you so far, you'll just botch it all up on your own," The Fourth Cliodna said with a smirk.

"I said leave her alone. What part of that did you not understand?" The Future Amy said in a threatening tone.

Then she turned to Amy with an apologetic look as she said, "I tried to reassure them that everything would be fine, but you should know better than anyone just how stubborn that we've always been even if you'll never admit that out loud."

Amy gave her a brief smile as she said, "Yeah, I know. I wish just this once that I could let go of that little stubborn streak of mine and go leave myself alone. I am so not in the mood to be around me right now. Gah! I'm doing it again with the 'me' stuff! See what you're doing?"

"Yes, she's beating herself up enough as it is. She really doesn't need any extra help to do it," River added.

"They're really all you? I mean I knew about regeneration but I didn't realize that it would be like this. They just all seem so . . . different. Is that what's going to happen to Rory one day?" Brian said in a disturbed voice.

"Not for a very long time, Brian," The future Amy reassured him.

"Don't give him false hope. Time can always be rewritten. We know that better than anyone," Amy said in a cynical voice.

"And when has knowing that ever stopped us from preventing it from being rewritten no matter how much the Web insisted on it?" The future Amy said with a warm smile.

As Amy gave her a look of death, she immediately said, "Besides today of course. Today was an exception though and you know it. Usually Time is never the boss of us no matter how hard it tries to be. We learned that from the Doctor a long time ago. Yes, there are things that even we can't change but on the whole we pretty much always get our way eventually."

"So it's just like your regular life then?" Selene asked with a chuckle from somewhere nearby.

"And things just keep getting better and better. Now my little sister's here too to keep on rubbing salt in the wounds," Amy said with a frown.

Then she smiled despite herself as she realized that Rory and the others had come with her.

"Amy, are you alright? Why did you run away like that?" Rory asked with concern as he immediately put his arms around her.

"I didn't exactly mean to do it. It just sort of happened. I wasn't thinking right, okay? I just needed to talk to my parents. Luckily I found Brian. He's always been like a second Dad to me anyway," Amy said as she smiled at Brian.

"Yeah, I know and that kind of made me jealous back when we were growing up," Rory admitted.

"Really? Why?" Amy asked in surprise.

"Well, he . . . he always seemed to favor you over me. I used to wonder if he liked you better sometimes," Rory admitted.

"That's not true and you know it, Rory. I've just been overly fond of Amy. I knew even back then that she was the one for you, you know? Maybe that's why I was always so nice to her," Brian said with a grin.

Amy smiled as she said, "Well, that and the fact that I'm just so naturally lovable to begin with, right?"

Selene immediately burst out laughing as Amy said in a cold voice, "Do not test me today, Selene. Not today."

Selene instantly knew that she meant business which was why she quickly said to her in a gentle tone, "I'm sorry, Ames. I wasn't trying to make light of your pain. I really wasn't. I thought that you were feeling more like your old self again."

Amy gave her a soft smile now as she admitted, "I did manage to forget for just a second there."

"Yes, and that means that you are going to get past this sooner or later no matter how bad that things look now, Mum," Sirona said.

"I – I don't think so. Not this time. It just hurts too much. You don't understand, Sirona. I actually got to spend some time with little Melody this time around. We bonded in a way that we didn't get to before because she was just a baby then. That just made it even worse. It's just so much harder on me now," Amy admitted.

"She's alright though. You can see that. She's right here," Sirona said in exasperation as she pointed at River.

"I know what you're saying but it's not that simple, okay? Not for me anyway," Amy said with a frown.

"Mum, are you going to be alright? You are eventually, aren't you? Right?" Julia asked with concern as she looked up at her with frightened eyes while holding little Anthony by the hand.

"Of course she is. She's not about to let anything keep her down for long. Are you, Mum?" Anthony asked in a voice that was trying just a little too hard to be hopeful.

Anthony seemed to look just as terrified as his sister did even if he wasn't about to admit that in front of everyone.

That was when Amy knew that she couldn't let all of this pain stop her from having a future. Julia had already lost her mother once. She didn't need to lose another one. She didn't deserve that and neither did Anthony. Anthony and Julia were her second chance at motherhood, and she wasn't about to throw that away.

No, this time she wasn't about to let another child down. Not if she could help it.

An iron resolve to move past this began to take hold in Amy's heart at that moment as she said in a tone filled with determination and renewed hope, "Yes, I'm going to be just fine. I promise."

Then she wrapped her arms around both children and hugged them tightly as the future Amy smiled in the background.

"Told you we didn't need you two to come along. All we really needed was them," The future Amy said to her two past selves as she gestured towards Julia and Anthony.

"What am I, chopped liver?" Sirona asked in an unmistakable tone of jealousy that made Julia look at her in surprise.

"Don't be like that. She loves you too, Sirona. You know she does," Julia said.

Sirona smiled at her as she said in a reassuring tone, "Sorry, Jules. It's nothing against you or Anthony, okay? I'd just like to have been the one to reach her."

"Come here, you. I love you too, alright? I want you to know that. I love all of you. Don't ever think any differently. Got it?" Amy said as she immediately hugged her.

"Yes, love. That has always been your one great weakness, Amelia Pond, and one which we have always been able to use against you," The unmistakable voice of a Cyberman said from behind Amy.

Amy immediately stiffened and bristled as it all became clear to her now. Now she finally knew why none of her parents had been there when she had gone looking for them.

"You kidnapped my parents, didn't you?" Amy said in an accusing tone as she immediately whirled around to find herself face to face with a small army of Cybermen.

"Of course we did. What better leverage to use against you especially when you're already in such a vulnerable state after having lost a child? We knew that you'd come looking for them eventually, and then we'd be able to use them against you in order to get what we wanted. This is why emotions are always such a weakness," The Cyber Leader said.

"And what is it that you want exactly? And while I'm asking twenty questions, why did you send Cyber Me anyway? You seem to be even more desperate than usual to get rid of me this time. Why is that? What are you up to?" Amy asked curiously even as she tried to rein in her emotions after seeing them again.

A very big part of her wanted to completely tear them all apart with her bare hands for the part they played in losing Melody after all. She knew if she did that though that she might never find her parents or ever learn what was really going on however.

So she had to keep her temper tightly under control no matter how much she wanted to unleash it at that moment.

"So you can control your emotions after all, then. Excellent. You would make a good Cyberman . . . if that were still possible," The Cyber Leader said as even he noticed this.

"Is that what this is about? It's because I'm not able to be converted? Is it really something that petty? Does it really bother you that much that there's one person you tin cans can't convert out there somewhere?" Amy said in disbelief.

"We are far beyond pettiness in any form as you well know. The problem that you present us is not one of emotion but of pure logic instead. You would keep us from succeeding in our ultimate goal if you were to continue to exist. Therefore you must be eliminated. We cannot allow you to stand in the way any longer," The Cyber Leader explained.

"Stand in the way of what exactly though? Explain. If I'm going to be targeted for death over something, I at least deserve to know what it is," Amy demanded.

"You would possibly be able to use your ability to resist conversion to keep others from being converted or even to reverse that condition in those already converted in the future. This must not be allowed to become a possibility or we will never be able to carry out our master plan," The Cyber Leader said.

"What master plan? You've never had a master plan apart from converting everyone in the universe," Amy said with disdain.

The Cyber Leader gave an almost imperceptible nod then as he said, "That is the master plan. Soon we will implement a new way to do exactly that on a universal level and you must not be allowed to be there in order to interfere. Therefore you will willingly allow us to destroy you or you will never see your parents again. We must bring about universal conversion in order for the Cybermen to survive against the coming darkness that will soon sweep across all of reality. Nothing must prevent this."

Amy gave him a furious look for a moment and then began to smile without saying a word. Rory instantly started to shiver in response. Bad things always happened whenever she smiled like that.

The Cyber Leader seemed to realize that as well as he instantly said, "Why do you smile when we have just threatened your family? This is highly illogical. Based on all of our past experiences with you, that suggests that you are planning violence against us."

"You've got that right, Metal Face. You see you've just made a huge mistake by coming here like this. You don't just have me to deal with one of me this time after all. You have four of me plus there's the most dangerous woman in the universe too," Amy said as she looked at River proudly while she smiled back at her.

That was when River knew for sure that Amy was finally going to be alright. She finally had her old swagger back once again.

"None of that will matter in the end. We have an entire Cyber Fleet in orbit at this very moment," The Cyber Leader said.

"Good because you're definitely going to need them. Somehow though I don't think that they're going to be enough, do you?" Amy asked with an evil smile even as she finally realized at last where her parents must be.

Thank you ever so much, Cyber Leader. She thought to herself with a triumphant grin.

"You leave us with no choice then. We will now kill one of your parents while you watch. Perhaps this will convince you to cooperate," The Cyber Leader said as he began to show her a holographic display.

Amy could now see that one of the Cybermen was just moments away from touching one of her parents with his deadly hands and instantly electrocuting them.

"You caused this by refusing to turn yourself in. The next person that dies will be entirely because of your failure to act," The Cyber Leader said.

"No," Amy said in a voice filled with fear as she realized that it was already happening again.

Yet again she was just about to fail someone else that she loved. This time the consequences of that failure would be far more serious and just like before there was nothing that she could do about it.

Absolutely nothing.

Next: Don't count Amy out just yet despite how things might appear right now. Next time it's the 50th chapter of this story after all and that means that it's Amy's time to shine and really show what she's made of at last. Will the Cybermen actually succeed in killing one of Amy's parents or does our favorite Scottish Time Lady (sorry, Missy!) perhaps have a plan up her sleeve to save them that no one will see coming? You'll see exactly what I mean next time as we find out exactly why five Amys are far more dangerous than one especially to the Cybermen. Did I say five? Yes, I did because another Amy is coming to help save the day. You'll find out exactly who the fifth one is in the next chapter.