Hello again! This is the last installment of the weekend. I'd say we'll have over 25 chapters in the end, but I'm still on Chapter 21. That should be done in the next day or two. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. This is more of a filler chapter, but don't worry! Chapter 20 is next, and in that I reveal my sub-plot. Be sure to double check previous chapters to see how it all links in!
Enjoy!
SPOILERS FOR THE ANGELS TAKE MANHATTAN
Oh - stuff in italics is a flashback by the way. Thought I'd make that clear.

Chapter 19: Painful Memories

There was a sharp intake of air as Jack returned to the land of the living. "GAH! I hate doing that!" He yelled, lurching into a sitting position. "It's really not fair - Why'd they shoot me?"

The Doctor merely shrugged at him, saying "Well, at least they had the decency to shoot the immortal rather than someone who would stay dead." Jack gave him a pointed look. "Okay, rather than someone who would die OR regenerate!" He amended hastily. River was busy peeling a yellow sticky note off of the bottom of the chair beside the console. When she stood up again, the Doctor was at her shoulder almost instantly. "What does it say?" He asked in a hushed tone, absentmindedly pulling a pair of round spectacles out of his pocket. Jack made a small start.

"Brainy specs! You don't change all that much, do you Doctor? I mean, you physically change yes, but your behaviour?" He grinned, indicating the glasses. But his words - meant to be light with jest, fell upon flat ears as the Doctor looked at the glasses with sadness in his eyes, memories of his past filling his vision...

He was sat with Amy on a grassy knoll in Manhattan. Amy handed him her reading glasses kindly, allowing him to see what difference they made. Glancing back down at his book, he exclaimed when he realised how much more clearly he was able to read.

He had borrowed the glasses, but Amy had never come back from Manhattan, so they had never been given back. The Doctor glanced at River, nodded lightly in answer to her silent question - are they hers? And they shared a moment of silence, indulging in their final moments with the bright, ginger Scott...

Amy stood in front of a Weeping Angel, tears streaming down her cheeks. Rory was gone, and River egged her on down the path of the choice Amy had already decided to make. The Doctor stood behind her, crying out for her to come away, to see reason. But Amy Pond knew. It was time for her to go - to grow old with Rory. Crying, she spoke the last words the Doctor and River would ever hear from her; "Raggedy Man," she turned her back on the Angel, "Goodbye."

And Amelia Pond was gone.

Jack came forward a bit, confused by their reaction. When River looked across at him, her eyes were filled with tears. As were the Doctor's. Jack realised that the glasses must have belonged to someone very important. "I'm sorry..." He said quietly, bowing his head out of respect.

The small silence that followed was broken before things could get worse. "So, the note River?" The Doctor asked, peering over her shoulder again. The offending glasses had been returned to his pocket. River passed him the post-it, walking toward the console to begin preparing the TARDIS for flight. Jack looked at the Doctor. "Where are we of to now then, Doctor? What does it say?"

The Doctor was standing very still, silent and unnerving. "Doctor?" Jack asked again, tapping him on the shoulder. Yet the Doctor continued to stare at the yellow slip of paper. River glanced up. "What is it?" She asked "Sweetie, what's wrong?" With fluidity and no small amount of grace, River skirted the console and came to her husband's side. She looked at the piece of paper between his fingers and bit her lip.

"What does it say?" Jack asked clearly, frustrated. River glanced at him and said something in Gallifreyan to the Doctor. He nodded, smiling at her gently. He squeezed her arm and then began to pilot his machine through the Time Vortex. River approached Jack. "It's more coordinates." she explained simply.

"But they mean something to you - what?" Jack pressed for information. He hate not knowing everything there was to a situation - it put you at a disadvantage should things get nasty. River replied hesitantly.

"The Doctor and I... Lost something there. Not all that long ago. During the Time that Almost Was. The Would-Be End." Her eyes reflected the pain and loss of the aborted timeline. Jack nodded. He hadn't been there, but Torchwood had kept up to date with that particular event in all its horrendous splendour. He allowed the subject to sit for a minute before asking the obvious question. "Where are we going?"

The Doctor answered. "To the start and end of all things. To a convergence that is a divergence. To the greatest middle point in existence." He flashed Jack a slightly lopsided grin. "Basically; we're going to the center of the Universe."