The soldiers quickly focused on Amy. On the screen, Rory shoved Ambrose to the side and screamed, "No! No, wait!"

"Rory!" Amy cried out as she was dragged to the center of the room and shoved down on her knees.

"She's not speaking for us!" Rory cried out in vain, turning to give Ambrose a brief glare.

"There's no need for this!" the Doctor protested.

"Please!" Alex begged, her voice barely audible amongst the others. She aimed to stand but the Doctor, sensing that she was probably going to try and get between Amy and the guns, shoved her back down again with the heel of his boot.

"Don't even think about it," he warned, giving her a look.

"Listen, listen!" Rory pleaded. "Whatever you want, we'll do it!"

"Aim," Restac ordered, ignoring everyone.

The soldier's guns lifted.

"Amy!" Rory screamed.

"Rory!" she called back.

"Don't do this!" the Doctor yelled.

"No!" Rory yelled again right before the screen cut off.

"Fire!" Amy tightly shut her eyes and Alex did the same. She had given herself up for dissection but what had been the point? Amy was going to die anyway. Well, at least she had saved her some pain. . .

"STOP!" a new voice proclaimed.

Alex opened her eyes and craned her head to see Malohkeh coming back in with another Silurian. This Silurian was dressed in fancy robes. He must be higher up in command or something, she figured. Well, that was good. They needed someone sane here.

The elder marched up to Restac, the soldiers quickly putting their guns away and bowing as he passed them. "You want to start a war while the rest of us sleep, Restac?" he demanded incredulously.

"The apes are attacking us!" Restac cried.

The elder gave her a sour look. "You're our protector, not our commander, Restac," he reminded her. He nodded over to the group chained up to the columns. "Unchain them."

"I do not recognize your authority at this time, Eldane."

Eldane grinned at her. "Well then," he said, holding out his arms, "you must shoot me." He gave Restac a smug, authoritative look, making Alex instantly like him. He knew that Restac couldn't shoot him and he knew that she knew it.

Restac glowered at him before marching over to Malohkeh. "You woke him to undermine me!" she accused.

"We're not monsters," Malohkeh said calmly. "And neither are they."

"What is it about apes you love so much, hmm?"

"While you slept, they've evolved," Malohkeh explained. "They are capable of more than hate and destruction, as you seem to think." His gaze drifted over to Alex and the Doctor. The Doctor was bending down as much as his chains would allow him to check on Alex. "I've seen it for myself."

Restac narrowed her eyes. "We used to hunt apes for sport," she reminded him. "When we came underground, they bred and polluted this planet."

"Shush now, Restac," Eldane ordered, growing tired of her. He sometimes wondered why she was in the position she was. It'd do them all a world of good if she was elsewhere, like grounds keeping or something. "Go and play soldiers. I'll let you know if I need you."

Restac frowned at him, her eyes flashing. "You'll need me, then we'll see." With these ominous words in the air, she stormed out.

Eldane sighed and turned to walk over to the group. "I apologize for her," he said as the group was unchained. "Restac resents that the position of commander was not passed down to her."

"Probably a smart decision," Amy said as her bounds were released and she jumped up. Once she was standing, she raced over to Alex, helping the Doctor get her up.

Amy and the Doctor carefully maneuvered Alex into a standing position. She leaned against the column wearily and nodded her thanks. The Doctor took out his sonic and started moving it in front of her eyes. "Ally, follow my sonic, okay?" he instructed, waiting until Alex nodded before he did this. Alex's eyes dutifully followed his sonic and after a moment, the Doctor switched it off.

Amy looked at him expectantly. "Well?" she demanded.

"Good news is that she doesn't have a concussion."

Amy looked at him warily. "And the bad news?"

"None so far, but I don't know whether she has an infection or not. I'll have to get her back to the TARDIS to check that." The Doctor ran a hand through his hair. "Be proud of yourself, Ally," he smiled down weakly at her. "You've successfully taken ten years off my life today."

Alex smiled a little but her body suddenly arched in pain. She let out a strangled gasp before sinking back down. The Doctor looked like he was in physical pain as well. In an instant, he had picked Alex up, cradling her in his arms bridal style, and was carrying her across the room to the table. He carefully eased her down in a chair and pushed it right up close to the table so that she wouldn't slide out. Alex looked up at him gratefully. The Doctor smiled down at her and kissed the top of her head before moving off to fiddle with the projection.

Eldane and Nasreen watched them with thoughtful expressions. "Is he her boyfriend?" Nasreen asked Amy.

Amy visibly started at the question, but sighed a second later and shook her head. "No," she answered ruefully.

"Really?" Nasreen looked genuinely shocked. "But . . . he went positively ballistic when she came in and he saw she had been dissected!"

"That's their nature, I'm afraid," Amy said. "They both care so deeply about each-other but neither is willing to admit they love each-other."

"What a waste," Nasreen bemoaned. "They've got this interesting connection with each-other. I haven't seen it with anyone else, not even with Mo and Ambrose. It's. . ." She trailed off, searching for the right word. ". . .unique," she finally decided.

Amy nodded, but she couldn't help but allow a little worry to cross her mind. Alex had confided in her that River had confessed to killing a man and almost killing his girlfriend. Alex worried that the man was the Doctor. If that was true, then who was the girlfriend? And if it was Alex, then why would River attempt to kill her? Amy shook her head. No, she couldn't focus on that right now. She needed to focus on the present. It's what Alex would do after all.

Amy crossed the room to head over to Alex just as the Doctor flashed his sonic across the projection, clearing the static and revealing Rory. "Rory! Hello!" he called.

Rory whirled around, his face relieved. "Where's Amy?" he asked worriedly.

"She's fine," the Doctor assured him. He turned to see Amy passing behind him. "Look, here she is!"

"Oh, thank God," Rory breathed.

"Keeping you on your toes!" Amy called as she hopped up to sit on the table. She sat right in front of Alex and knelt down to brush some strands of hair away from her face. "Alex is here too!"

"Hey, Alex!" Rory called. Alex raised her head and nodded but didn't say anything. In fact, she actually slumped down further in her chair.

"No time to chat," the Doctor cut in before Rory could start asking questions about why Alex wasn't bouncing around or being her usual perky self. "Listen, you need to get down here. Go to the drill storeroom. There's a large patch of earth in the middle of the floor. The Silurian's are going to send up transport discs to bring you back down using geothermal energy and gravity bubble technology. It's how they travel and, frankly, it's pretty cool. Bring Alaya. We hand her over, we can land this after all. All going to work, promise. Got to dash. Hurry up!"

With that, he cut the signal.

~Living the Life of Ally~

A few minutes later, Eldane, Amy, and Nasreen were sitting at the table in the courtroom while the Doctor, Mo, and Malohkeh were standing at one end. Alex had been moved to a chair next to Amy. The girl had barely spoke and frankly, it was beginning to alarm the Doctor and Amy. Malohkeh had assured them that his dissection of Alex had gone smoothly – or as smoothly as any dissection can go – but it didn't seem Alex's body had gotten that memo. Currently, Alex was still slumped in her chair, seemingly hovering between consciousness and sleep. In actuality, she was perfectly alert, but was still very weak.

The Doctor watched her for a moment before turning to the group seated at the end of the table. "I'd say you've got a fair bit to talk about," he commented.

"How so?" Eldane asked curiously.

"The Earth," Alex piped up, seeing where this was going. Everyone looked at her, surprised that she had finally spoken. There was silence for a few moments, everyone waiting to see if she would speak again, but Alex was done.

The Doctor nodded. "You both want the planet," he elaborated. "You both have a genuine claim to it."

"Are you authorized to negotiate on behalf of humanity?" Eldane asked him.

"Me?" The Doctor grinned and shook his head. "No." He then nodded down at Amy and Nasreen. "But they are."

"What?" Nasreen exclaimed in shock.

"No, we're not!" Amy protested. If anyone was qualified to negotiate on behalf of humanity, it was Alex! At least, that was her opinion.

"'Course you are!" the Doctor laughed. "Amy Pond and Nasreen Chaudhry, speaking for the planet? Humanity couldn't have better ambassadors. Come on, who has more fun than us?"

Amy jumped up and walked over to him, Nasreen just behind her. "Is this what happens, in the future?" Amy asked. "The planet gets shared? Is that what we need to do?"

Nasreen stared at them, completely lost. In the course of things, the Doctor had never actually told Nasreen that he traveled in time. "Er, what are you talking about?"

"Oh, Nasreen, sorry," the Doctor apologized, remembering that she wasn't in the loop. "Probably worth mentioning at this stage. Amy, Alex, and I travel in time a bit."

Nasreen nodded, surprisingly taking the news well. "Anything else?"

"There are fixed points through time where things must always stay the way they are," the Doctor explained. "This is not one of them. This is an opportunity. A temporal tipping point. Whatever happens today will change future events, create its own timeline, its own reality. The future pivots around you, here, now. So do good, for humanity, for Earth."

"Right," Amy sighed, absorbing the information. As she went and sat back down, she winked at Alex and said, "No pressure there, then." Alex responded by snickering a little.

"We can't share the planet," Nasreen argued. "Nobody on the surface is going to go for this idea. It is just too big a leap."

Alex hated to admit it, but she had a point. Humanity was very single-minded. If a bunch of reptilian creatures suddenly arrived, proclaiming they were going to live on Earth too, there'd be utter chaos.

The Doctor looked at her critically. "Come on," he urged, nudging her. "Be extraordinary."

"Oh. . ." Nasreen started to speak before something occurred to her. She smiled at him. "You. . ." she said, pointing her finger at the Doctor before going to back to the table, her posture determined.

Alex couldn't help but smile. She loved how the Doctor seemed to inspire people just by uttering a few words. It really was amazing what that man could do.

"Okay!" the Doctor exclaimed, slapping the table. "Bringing things to order. The first meeting of representatives of the human race and Homo Reptilia is now in session." He grinned. "Ha! Never said that before. That's fab! Carry on." He turned to Mo and moved him towards the door. "Now, Mo. Let's go and get your son. Oh, you know, humans, and their predecessors shooting the breeze. Never thought I'd see it."

Alex turned away from the door to focus on the session. The Doctor and Mo were gone for quite some time, allowing her to watch the whole historic moment uninterrupted. Alex was absolutely thrilled and she might have been bouncing around if she could. She watched Amy and Nasreen with a new sense of respect. The two were brilliant negotiators. They completely cared about the planet and wanted the best for it. Alex doubted that she could do any better.

Despite her hesitance, Amy had surprised herself by being good at this sort of thing. A few times in the beginning, she had looked over at Alex nervously, wondering if she was doing or saying something right. Alex would respond with an encouraging smile, wink, or nod, filling Amy with more determination. Occasionally, Alex would tap on Amy's chair to get her to clarify or elaborate on something, but this soon began to cease as Amy grew more confident in her role.

Alex turned to focus on Eldane as he spoke. "We lived on the surface of the planet long before you did. Our sole purpose has been to return to our rightful place."

"And we've got a planet that can't already sustain the people who live there," Nasreen explained. "And you want to add a whole other species to drain resources."

"So, what about the areas that aren't habitable to us?" Amy suggested. She pulled up a holographic image of the Earth, pointing out various areas as she spoke. "Australian outback, Sahara desert, Nevada plains. They're all deserted.

"Yes, fine," Nasreen agreed, "but what happens when their population grows and breeds and spreads? And anyway, what benefit does humanity get and how will we ever sell this to people on the surface?"

"If I could get a word in," Eldane cut in, "maybe I could tell you. You give us space, we can bring new sources of energy, new methods of water supply, new medicines, scientific advances. We were a great civilization. You provide a place for us on the surface, we'll give you knowledge and technology beyond humanity's dreams. If we work together, this planet could achieve greatness."

"Okay," Nasreen nodded, smiling slightly. "Now I'm starting to see it."

"Oh, yeah," Amy agreed. She looked over and noticed Alex beaming. In fact, she actually looked more alert than she had been before.

"Not bad for a first session," the Doctor said from behind them, where he had been watching for a few moments. Behind him, Mo and a boy Alex presumed was Elliot entered. "More similarities than differences."

A whooshing sound sounded out throughout the room. Eldane looked up. "The transport has returned," he announced. "Your friends are here."

Everyone turned to the door on the other side of the room. Rory entered first, followed by Ambrose. "Here they are," the Doctor announced happily. Alex sat up a little, not wanting Rory to worry, but she then noticed the grim look on his face. Something's happened, she deduced. She turned to look at the Doctor and gave him a worried expression. The Doctor, catching it, headed over to stand behind her chair.

However, it didn't seem the others were worried. "Mum!" Elliot cried, running past the duo over to Ambrose. Ambrose grasped him in a tight hug, making Alex smile slightly, but not much. She'd hadn't gotten a very good vibe off of Ambrose from the projection and she was pretty sure that whatever had just happened, Ambrose was the cause of it.

"Rory!" Amy greeted, rushing towards her fiancé.

"Something's wrong," the Doctor murmured. Right at that moment, Tony entered the room, pulling something wrapped in a blanket behind him. Alex's heart dropped.

"No," she murmured, shaking her head. "No, tell me they didn't."

Amy, hearing them, looked up and noticed what Tony was carrying. "Doctor, Alex?" she called out nervously. "What's he carrying?"

"No," the Doctor murmured darkly. "Don't do this. Tell me you didn't do this!"

He marched up to the blanket and pulled it back, exposing Alaya's lifeless body. He settled it back over her and turned to glare sharply at Tony. The man bowed his head, looking properly ashamed. Behind them, Alex hauled herself out of her chair and strode across the room to the Doctor's side, ignoring the stabbing pain she felt.

"What did you do?" the Doctor demanded.

"It was me!" Ambrose called. The Doctor and Alex turned to her, their faces in identical masks of fury. Alex noted that Ambrose sounded pretty confident, making her dislike the woman even more. "I did it."

"Mum?" Elliot looked up at his mother in wonder before frowning.

"I just wanted you back," she explained, but Elliot wasn't having any of it. He pulled out of her grasp and backed away from her in shock. Ambrose's face looked distraught and she reached out for him, causing the boy to back up even further. He actually backed up into Alex, who quickly caught him and knelt down next to him.

"Everything's gonna be fine," she promised, ruffling his hair.

"You're the girl in the photograph," Elliot realized. "Alex, isn't it?"

Alex was surprised, but then realized that the Doctor must have shown him the photo he took of her at the Statue of Liberty in New New York. "That's right," she confirmed. "And don't worry, this whole thing will be straightened out." Elliot nodded, instantly believing her, and Alex stood back up. Her eyes narrowed at Ambrose and switched from a warm honey to a dark green, making her look slightly terrifying.

The Doctor huffed and stepped towards Eldane. "I'm sorry. I didn't know," he tried. "You have to believe me, they're better than this!"

"This is our planet!" Ambrose shouted.

"Yeah, you've done enough!" Alex shouted, her words digging into the room like several million knives. She prodded Elliot over to his father and stepped towards Ambrose. "So do us all a favor and shut up before you make everything even worse!"

"We had a chance here," the Doctor agreed, stepping back over to Alex. He subtly placed a hand on Alex's shoulder, ready to catch her if she made herself too excited.

"Leave us alone!" Ambrose continued, apparently not affected by the Doctor and Alex's words.

The Doctor and Alex glowered and marched towards her. "In the future, when you talk about this," they simultaneously snapped, "you tell people there was a chance but you were so much less than the best of humanity!"

There was a tense silence in the room. Amy and Rory looked at each-other, unable to believe what they were seeing. They had never seen the Doctor and Alex so furious. And that simultaneous yelling. . . They'd seen them say things together before but never like that. It was rather unnerving.

But right then, the sound of marching sounded out throughout the room, turning everyone's attention towards the doors as the Doctor and Alex stepped away from Ambrose. Several masked Silurian's marched in, Restac entering through the main door. Her march slowed as she caught sight of the blanket in the middle of the room. She slowly approached it, Alex guessing she was probably hoping what she thought was under there wouldn't be.

Restac knelt down next to the blanket and lifted the corner to see Alaya's still face. "My sister," she mumbled before letting out a pitiful cry that made tears spring to Alex's eyes. Restac turned away from her dead sister to glare up at the Doctor. "And you want us to trust these apes, Doctor?" she hissed.

"One woman. She was scared for her family," the Doctor tried.

"Please," Alex jumped in, even though she was pretty sure their argument wouldn't work. "She is not typical."

Restac looked at her in slight surprise to see that Alex was now standing upright but quickly resumed her glare. "I think she is," she snapped, standing and whirling around to stare at Ambrose.

"One person let us down," the Doctor admitted, "but there is a whole race of dazzling, peaceful human beings up there. You were building something here. Come on! An alliance could work."

"It's too late for that, Doctor," Ambrose suddenly spoke. All eyes shot to her and Alex felt a burn in her stomach. What has this idiot done now? The mean side of her mind thought.

"Why?" the Doctor asked warily.

"What did you do?" Alex demanded, narrowing her eyes at Ambrose. She was pleased to see Ambrose flinch slightly.

"Our drill is set to start burrowing again in. . ." Ambrose trailed off and checked her stopwatch. ". . .fifteen minutes."

"What?" Nasreen cried.

"How stupid are you?!" Alex screeched. She felt like strangling the woman but the Doctor pulled her back.

"Stay calm," he whispered in her ear. "We don't want this getting out of hand."

"I think it's a little late for that," Alex retorted.

The Doctor sighed, silently agreeing with her. "Well, how about this? Don't get excited. I don't want you popping a stitch or collapsing again." Realizing he had a point, Alex nodded and focused back on the conversation surrounding them.

". . .choice did I have?" Ambrose was saying, trying to defend her actions. "They had Elliot!"

"Don't do this," the Doctor warned, noticing that Restac had tensed up. "Don't call their bluff."

Ambrose turned to Restac. "Let us go back," she pleaded. "And you promise to never come to the surface again. We'll walk away, leave you alone."

But Alex knew that Restac would never agree to that plan. She thought humans were vermin and filth and this one had just killed her sister. If Alex were Restac, she knew she'd want revenge. "Execute her!" she screamed.

"No!" Within an instant, the Doctor had leapt forward and grabbed Ambrose's hand, pulling her out of the way as a gun blast hit the spot where she had been standing. He pulled her behind a column and poked his head out to yell to the scattering others, "Everyone, back to the lab! Run!"

Alex mentally groaned. Run? In her condition? Sucking it up, Alex began to sprint for the doors, ignoring her stitches protests. "Execute all the apes!" she heard Restac shout as she ran through a door.

Alex followed the others, eventually coming back to Malohkeh's laboratory. A second later, the Doctor rushed in behind her and sealed the doors. The Doctor marched past her, apparently not noticing how pale Alex's face had gotten, to the center of the room.

"Elliot, you and your dad keep your eyes on that screen," he directed. "Let me know if we get company." As the two raced over to a computer screen on the far side of the lab, the Doctor grabbed the stopwatch from Ambrose and tossed it to Amy. "Amy, keep reminding me how much time I haven't got."

"Okay. Um, er. . ." Amy turned the stopwatch and examined the time. "Twelve minutes till drill impact!"

The Doctor nodded. "Okay, Alex. . ." He looked around, not noticing her until there was a sudden cry from the front of the room. He whirled around to see Alex's eyes rolling back into her head and her body about to topple to the floor.

"Alex!" he cried, running to the front of the room and catching her just before she fainted.

"What happened?" Rory demanded, running over, Amy just behind him.

"Running . . . probably not very smart," Alex gasped before closing her eyes and becoming alarmingly limp.

"What the hell happened to her?" Rory demanded.

"She got dissected," Amy told him quietly.

Rory's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "Dissected?!" he repeated.

"Made her very weak," the Doctor said, cradling Alex in his arms. "But she's extremely weak now." He looked over at Mo. "Mo! Did this happen with you?"

Mo shook his head. "No! I figured it was because she was younger and not as strong."

"She may have an infection," Eldane jumped in. The Doctor, Amy, and Rory turned to him, silently demanding for an explanation. Eldane sighed and explained. "The bacteria down here is very different from ape bacteria. There's a chance some of it entered her body during the dissection and now, her body is fighting back."

"Her body doesn't recognize it and can't fight it successfully," the Doctor realized. He swore under his breath.

"Can't you cure it?" Amy asked.

"On the TARDIS, absolutely." The Doctor passed Alex's limp body over to Rory. "Rory, watch her!" he called, running back to his original position. He suddenly stopped and turned to Tony, who was on his knees panting. "Tony Mack!" he called. "Sweaty forehead, dilated pupils. What are you hiding?"

Tony sighed and unbuttoned and parted his shirt, exposing bulging green veins on a side of his chest.

"Tony," Nasreen breathed. "What happened?"

"Alaya's sting," Tony answered as the Doctor ran the sonic over him. "She said there's no cure. I'm dying, aren't I?"

"You're not dying," the Doctor informed him, whirling around to one of the computers next to him. "You're mutating."

"Mutating?" Alex's head popped up in a startled Rory's arms. She looked surprisingly alert. "Can't you stop it?" Then, as if that question had been too much for her, her eyes closed and her head fell back down again.

While Amy and Rory studied Alex's still figure bafflingly, the Doctor answered her question. "Decontamination program. Might work. Don't know. Eldane, can you run the program on Tony?"

"Doctor, shedload of those creatures coming our way!" Mo called out. "We're surrounded in here!"

Great. I've got an infected and barely conscious Ally, a mutating Tony, and a bunch of soldiers out for blood! What else can happen? The Doctor shook his head, trying to concentrate. "So, question is, how do we stop the drill given we can't get there in time? Plus, also, how do we get out, given that we're surrounded?" He turned to Nasreen. "Nasreen, how do you feel about an energy pulse channeled up through the tunnels to the base of the drill?"

"To blow up my life's work?" Nasreen said in disbelief.

The Doctor winced. "Yes. Sorry. No nice way of putting that."

Nasreen sighed, sounding resigned. "Right," she nodded, "well, you're going to have to do it before the drill hits the city, in, er. . ."

"Eleven minutes, forty seconds!" Amy added helpfully.

"Yes," the Doctor grinned, chuckling slightly. "Squeaky bum time."

"Yes, but the explosion is going to cave in all the surrounding tunnels," Nasreen informed him, "so we have to be out and on the surface by then."

Rory shifted Alex slightly in his arms. She was coming around a little now. "But we can't get past Restac's troops!" he reminded them.

"I can help with that," Eldane spoke up. Everyone looked over at him as he stood by the decontamination chamber where Tony was now strapped upright to a chair. "Toxic fumigation. An emergency failsafe meant to protect my species from infection. A warning signal to occupy cryo-chambers. After that, citywide fumigation by toxic gas. Then the city shuts down."

"You could end up killing your own people," Amy gasped.

"Only those foolish enough to follow Restac," Eldane corrected her.

The Doctor stared at him skeptically. "Eldane, are you sure about this?"

"My priority is my race's survival." Eldane sighed, seeming resigned and accepting of what he was about to say next. "The Earth isn't ready for us to return yet."

"No," the Doctor ruefully agreed.

"Ten minutes, Doctor!" Amy told him.

"But maybe it should be," the Doctor mused. "So! Here's a deal. Everybody listening. Eldane, you activate shutdown. I'll amend the system, set your alarm for a thousand years time. A thousand years to sort the planet out. To be ready. Pass it on. As legend, or prophecy, or religion, but somehow, make it known. This planet is to be shared."

Everyone nodded, fully agreeing with this plan. Even Alex had gotten up enough energy to nod along eagerly. "Yeah," Elliot said, looking up at the Doctor in admiration and determination. "I get you."

The Doctor smiled at Elliot just as Amy called out, "Nine minutes, seven seconds!"

The Doctor sprang into action, racing up to the controls. "Yes! Fluid controls, my favorite. Energy pulse. Timed, primed, and set. Before we go, energy barricade. Need to cancel it out quickly."

"Fumigation pre-launching," Eldane announced.

"There's not much time for us to get from here to the surface, Doctor," Rory commented, sneaking a look at Amy's stopwatch.

"Ah, ha! Super-squeaky bum time!" the Doctor countered, still working. "Get ready to run for your lives. Now!"

"Rory, put me down!" Alex demanded, head popping up as she struggled to get down.

Rory began to protest, but Alex hopped down and shushed him. "Stop! You know it would just slow all of us down. I'll be fine. I've been conserving energy. I can make it to the TARDIS before I faint again."

At the same time this was occurring, Eldane was protesting. "But the decontamination program on your friend hasn't started yet," he pointed out, nodding over to Tony.

Tony looked at the waiting group. "Well, go!" he cried out. "All of you, go!"

"No, we're not leaving you," Ambrose argued, her first words since they escaped down here.

"Granddad!" Elliot cried, rushing over to hug the man.

"Eight minutes, ten seconds!" Amy told them.

"Now you look after your mum," Tony told Elliot. "You mustn't blame her. She only did what she thought was right."

Elliot looked up at him tearfully. "I'm not going to see you again, am I?"

"I'll be here, always," Tony assured him before hugging the boy tightly. "I love you, boy." Then, looking up at Ambrose, he said, "You be sure he gets home safe."

Ambrose shook her head. "This is my fault." She looked so sad, not even the really mean part of Alex's mind could come up with something smart.

Tony shook his head. "No, I can't go back up there. I'd be a freak show. The technology down here's my only hope."

Ambrose threw her arms around him. "I love you, Dad."

Tony hugged her back before patting her shoulder, releasing her. "Go. Go!"

"Come on!" Mo waved, running for the door.

"Go on!"

"Toxic fumigation initiated," a computer voice announced. "Return to cryo-chambers. Toxic fumigation initiated. Return to cryo-chambers. Toxic fumigation initiated."

"They're going!" Amy cheered, watching the screen as several soldiers cleared out from the door to head back to their chambers. "We're clear!"

"Okay, everyone follow Nasreen!" the Doctor ordered. He pointed the sonic at the door. "Look for a blue box! Get ready to run!"

"Return to cryo-chambers."

Everyone remained in front of the doors even as they were unlocked. The Doctor turned to Eldane, Alex right behind him after noticing he wasn't following them. "I'm sorry," the Doctor apologized quietly.

Eldane nodded sadly. "I thought for a moment, our race and the humans. . ." He trailed off, not really needing to vocalize his thoughts.

"Yeah, me too," the Doctor admitted.

"It will happen one day," Alex assured the elder. "I'm making sure of that."

Eldane smiled down at her. He was quite captivated by her determination and dedication to his race despite the ordeal she had went through by a few of them. "I have no doubt that you will. Watch him, okay?" he requested, nodding to the Doctor. "He needs someone around that loves him."

The Doctor and Alex blushed brightly, but right before either one of them could protest that they were not a couple, Amy cried out, "Doctor, we've got less than six minutes!"

"Go! Go!" the Doctor urged, waving them off. "I'm right behind you!" He then whirled Alex around and pushed her in the direction of the door. "You too! Let's go!" He said this last exclamation to Nasreen, who was simply standing by the decontamination chamber.

"I'm not coming either!" she suddenly announced.

The Doctor and Alex stopped in their tracks. "What?" they simultaneously demanded.

Nasreen quirked an eyebrow at them in amusement, but said nothing about the simultaneous speaking. "We're going to hibernate with them, me and Tony."

"Doctor, you must go!" Eldane urged.

"I can be decontaminated when we're woken," Nasreen continued, as if Eldane hadn't interrupted. She smiled at Tony. "All the time in the world."

The Doctor looked at her, bewildered. "But, Nasreen, you—"

"No, this is perfect!" Nasreen beamed and Alex noted that she looked extremely happy. "I don't want to go! I've got what I was digging for. I can't leave when I've only just found it."

Amy burst into the room. "Doctor! Alex!" she snapped, glowering at the two. She pointed to the stopwatch in her hand and shook her head.

"Thank you, Doctor," Nasreen said. She then turned to Alex. "And you. . ." She suddenly grasped the girl in a tight hug, being mindful of her stitches. "You are certainly a force to be reckoned with."

Alex laughed and pulled back. "That's me alright." She then looked over at Tony, who also looked pretty happy that Nasreen was staying. Hmm, why's that? Leaning close to Nasreen, she murmured, "Good luck with those . . . archeological discoveries." She looked back at Tony, making sure Nasreen's eyes followed her before turning back to the woman and winking.

Nasreen looked somewhat startled but then suddenly began giggling, her face turning red. The Doctor stared at her, not really sure what was going on, but nodded at her. "The pleasure was all ours."

"Come and look for us," Nasreen told them.

"Don't worry," Alex replied.

"We will," the Doctor finished. With that, he grabbed Alex's hand and they were off running.

A/N: Who liked the part where the Doctor and Alex simultaneously yelled at Ambrose? I felt like she deserved to be yelled at for what she did, even if it was to try and get her son back. And did anyone else think the relationship between Tony and Nasreen was more than platonic in the original episode? I've always thought it was more, so I decided to put that element in here. :)

Some notes on reviews. . .

SopherGopher'sAwesomeSister - The Doc DID react pretty bad huh? And don't worry about Alex; it wouldn't be any fun killing her off. Doesn't mean I can't mess with her a little though. :)

SopherGopherroxursox - Thanks for pointing that out! I'll try to go back and change that later. :) Glad you liked the Oncoming Storm moment! And yes, poor Alex indeed.

jesterlover - Yeah, all that and more applies to Malohkeh in that chapter. If I were him, I'd probably run off and hide somewhere. :)

rycbar15 - Yes, yes, I did. Glad I was able to shock and surprise you though! :)

TheGirlWhoWaited - Yeah, an angry Time Lord is something to be very, very afraid of. And there's more of that to come! }:) Glad you liked the dissection bit. To be honest, I'm a bit surprised it doesn't happen in more OC stories. And yes, Alex won't die from the dissection. That wouldn't be fun at all. :) And thanks for that! I think I did okay. My teacher left a few countries off the map by accident, so even though I probably got them wrong, it doesn't count against me. *sighs in relief* :)

ShadowTier - Aw, sorry! From where I live, I update every day, but I guess it's different for people in other time zones. :( They were still talking about Amy, but I thought it would be fun to make you all sweat a little and wonder 'could she mean Alex?' Hmm, good question. So . . . Alex DOES remember Rory! Which is both happy and sad when you think about it. And her mental abilities will play a part in it. :) Glad you liked the Dark Doctor. Lots of people seem to like that side of him. Lol, good for you, not letting it get to your head! :)

Gwilwillith - Thanks!

TheUltimateGuest - Yeah, no Alex WOULD be a disaster! :)

Timey-Wimey Somn-Like Lass - Yeah, I remember from my own reading of that story that a lot of people weren't happy with her when she did that to Evy. But I'm glad you love Alex so much that you don't want her to be hurt. :) And I'm glad you liked the Doctor's reaction. Hmm...good question. I will say that we won't learn anything about Alex's humanity when he scans her. The reason for her mental abilities is a little complex, but I think you'll like it :) Yes, other Doctor's will have crushes on Alex! I can say it's not going to be 1, 2, or 3 but that leaves eight more Doctors to guess from! :D