In the quiet countryside, a cockerel crows, birds take wing, and a gentle breeze stirs the trees. Everything was calm, peaceful, and perfectly serene. It was the ideal place to settle down with your loved one, raise a family, and then slowly decay for the rest of your days with never a single thing happening to you.

In a small quaint picturesque cottage house a very heavily pregnant Amy was mixing ingredients for cupcakes in a bowl humming happily to herself as the TV played in the background, when she suddenly put the bowl down with a thud, gasping in pain, her eyes wide.

"Rory!" Amy yelled holding her stomach as she panicked. Long haired Rory returned home on his bicycle hopping of with a happy smile just in time to hear her yelling his name. "Rory, it's starting!"

"Ah. Okay, okay." Rory stumbled throwing his bike to the ground trying to decide what to do before he finally dashed into the house. He sprinted into the kitchen only to find Amy sitting contentedly eating her cake mix from the bowl balanced on her stomach.

"False alarm." Amy said as she licked cake mix from the spoon.

"What?" Rory questioned.

"Well, I don't know what it feels like. I've never had a baby before." Amy said sticking the spoon with the cake mix on it into Rory's mouth. Rory stood back to his feet as the sound of the Tardis materializing filled the room making Amy's eyes widen, the spoon falling back into the bowl. "No."

"I know, leaf blowers." Rory said rolling his eyes then raised his voice. "Use a rake."

"No, it's…" Amy breathed out as the Tardis parked herself directly outside the front window, Rory's jaw dropping. "I knew. I just knew."

-0-

The Doctor opened the Tardis door sticking his head out with a frown. He stepped down over a small rockery to get out tripping as he did breaking some of the stones off. He turned back to the TARDIS holding his hand out to Stella and helped down while complaining about the rockery.

Stella was wearing a turquoise button up sleeveless tunic dress with a crème colored paisley design that reached down to her knees ending in a crème colored lace design. She also had on a pair of shin high brown fringed heelless boots, a thin braided brown belt and a brown faux leather fringed vest that reached down to her knees. Her hair was hanging in long loose curls with a blue and crème colored rose pinned behind her right ear holding the hair there back.

"It's just silly putting such a short wall up." The Doctor grumbled.

"Where are we? This looks nothing like a planet made of rock candy." Stella said as she looked around her eyes squinting in the light, rolling a lollipop around in her mouth.

"No, you're right, we're on Earth." He said scratching the back of his head.

"Rory!" Stella called out excitedly as soon as she spotted him coming out of the house.

"Stella, Doctor." Rory said coming up to them hugging them both.

"We've crushed your flowers." The Doctor said pointing to the flower box the TARDIS was parked on.

"We? What do you mean we? You were driving." Stella pointed out rolling he eyes.

"Oh, Amy will kill you." Rory said still smiling.

"We're married now, I thought that meant we shared everything." The Doctor pouted as he wrapped his arm around her waist.

"That depends on how bad whatever you did is and angering Amy is very, very bad." Stella commented then looked back to Rory. "Where is she?"

"She'll need a bit longer." Rory replied.

"Whenever you're ready, Amy." The Doctor called out and Amy waddled out with a bright smile.

"Oh Amy!" Stella gasped and rushed over hugging Amy close as she could. "You look beautiful."

"Oh, way-hey! You've swallowed a planet." The Doctor commented as he and Rory joined them.

"I'm pregnant." Amy said with a laugh.

"You're huge." The Doctor continued.

"Yeah, I'm pregnant." Amy said losing some of her humor.

"Look at you. When worlds collide." The Doctor kept on.

"Doctor, I'm pregnant." Amy deadpanned.

"Oh, look at you both. Five years later and you haven't changed a bit, apart from age and size." The Doctor said smiling brightly.

"Oh, it's good to see you both." Amy said smiling.

"Are you pregnant?" The Doctor asked making Stella roll her eyes in amusement.

"Well I'm glad you're here." Amy said as the Doctor wrapped his arms around Stella from behind resting his chin on her shoulder, his hands resting gently against her stomach, and her hands covering his.

"Other than the obvious reason, why are you glad?" Stella asked leaning her head back against the Doctor's shoulder.

"You never picked up your wedding pictures." Amy said with a large smile, Stella's mirroring hers. "Not to mention the film."

"Really?! Oh that's wonderful." Stella smiled as Amy grabbed Stella's hand and pulled her from the Doctor into the house, the men following watching in amusement as the two women poured over the pictures then they started up the film.

-0-

It was a nice day in the small quiet town. There was some cloud coverage and a small breeze that kept the temperature cool, even the occasional drizzle of snow. The only thing that was strange was the lack of people, it almost seemed deserted.

"Ah, Leadworth. Vibrant as ever." The Doctor said as they walked down the street his arm around Stella's waist holding her close as she leaned against him.

"It's Upper Leadworth, actually. We've gone slightly upmarket." Rory said happily.

"Where is everyone?" The Doctor asked.

"This is busy." The Doctor and Stella gave her a look. "Okay, it's quiet, but it's really restful and healthy." Amy said defensively. "Loads of people here live well into their nineties."

"Well, don't let that get you down." The Doctor said consolingly.

"It's not getting me down." Amy said quickly.

"Well, I wanted to see how you were. You know me; I don't just abandon people when they leave the Tardis. This Time Lord's for life. You don't get rid of your old pal the Doctor so easily and Stella wouldn't stop bugging me about it, you know women." The Doctor said then grunted slightly when Stella elbowed him in the side.

"Hmm. You came here by mistake, didn't you?" Amy said eyeing him.

"Yeah, bit of a mistake." The Doctor admitted rubbing his side with a bashful look. "But look, what a result. Look at this bench. What a nice bench. What will they think of next?" The Doctor sat down on the bench with Rory on one side and Amy on the other. Stella moved around to the wall behind them and hopping up sitting on top of it behind the Doctor. She rested her chin on one of her hands, her elbow on her knee, and with her free hand she started to lightly run her fingers through his hair making him hum in pleasure, her feet resting on the back of the bench. "So….what do you do around here to stave off the, you know…"

"Boredom." Amy supplied.

"Insanity." Stella offered.

"Self-harm." The Doctor said.

"We relax." Rory said. The Doctor mouthed the word relax like it was a bad taste in his mouth. "We live. We listen to the birds."

"Yeah, see? Birds. Those are nice." Amy said in an unconvincing voice.

"We didn't get time to listen to birdsong back in the Tardis days, did we?" The Doctor said, playing along.

"The birds are very loud." Stella commented with a wince.

"Oh blimey, my head's a bit. Ooo. Er, no, you're right, there wasn't a lot of time for birdsong back in the good old…" Rory, Amy, Stella, and the Doctor fell asleep.

-0-

"Days…what? No, yes, sorry, what?" The Doctor woke up hard on the console floor, the one just beside the glass floor near Stella who had been slumped over on the chair, her rose colored glasses hanging from one ear.

"What…" Stella's eyes fluttered open as she glanced around in confusion slipping her glasses back on, the Doctor snapping to his feet as he whirled around looking up when a short haired Rory and non-pregnant Amy entered the console room also extremely confused.

Stella was wearing a pair of dark blue harem pants with a maroon pattern, a layered white knit high neck backless crop top tank top, and a pair of brown gladiator sandals. Her hair was up in a high ponytail decorated with maroon and dark blue feathers hanging down from her ponytail accented with small gold beads.

"Oh, you're okay. Oh, thank God. I had a terrible nightmare about you two." The Doctor braced himself against the console. "That was scary. Don't ask. You don't want to know." The Doctor gestured toward them. "You're safe now."

"Oh, okay." Amy patted the Doctor on the back as he ran over to her and hugged her, then he snapped his finger pointing to Rory.

"That's what counts. Blimey. Never dropped off like that before. Well, never, really." The Doctor ranted. Stella ran a hand through her hair looking around in confusion letting out a small surprised yelp when the Doctor spun her around in his arms before leading her over to the console. Amy kept touching her stomach and sneaking glances at the back of Rory's head. "I'm getting on a bit, you see. Don't let the cool gear fool you." The Doctor said looking down at the console. "Now, what's wrong with the console? Red flashing lights."

"I bet they mean something." Stella commented looking over the lights then they ducked under the console, trying to find the problem.

"Er, Doctor, I also had a kind of dream thing." Rory said hesitantly.

"Yeah, so did I." Amy said as well.

"Not a nightmare, though, just, er, we were married." Rory said quickly smiling at Amy.

"Yeah. In a little village." Amy said with a frown. The Doctor's eyes snapped up to Stella's and she nodded slowly answering his unasked question, she had had the dream as well.

"A sweet little village, and you were pregnant." Rory said still smiling happily as The Doctor and Stella stood up moving around the console back to their companions.

"Yes, I was huge. I was a boat." Amy said looking down at her stomach.

"So you had the same dream, then? Exactly the same dream?" Rory said as the Doctor looked at the back of Rory's hair.

"Are you calling me a boat?" Amy said eyeing Rory in a threatening way. Stella leaned back against the console with her arms crossed watching them with furrowed brows.

"And Doctor, you and Stella were visiting." Rory said quickly changing the subject as the Doctor looked at Amy's flat stomach.

"Yeah, yeah, you came to our cottage." Amy said making Stella smile a bit. "We were watching wedding videos."

"How can we have the same dream?" Rory questioned. "It doesn't make any sense."

"And you had a nightmare about us. What happened to us in the nightmare?" Amy asked slowly, fearful of the answer.

"It was a bit similar, in some aspects." The Doctor said as Stella walked up next to him.

"Which aspects?" Rory asked.

"Well, all of them." The Doctor answered honestly.

"You had the same dream." Amy said.

"Basically." The Doctor replied.

"And so did I." Stella added with a frown as she placed her hands on her hips looking to the Doctor. "But you said it was a nightmare."

"Well there were some very good parts." The Doctor said quickly as he took her left hand kissing the back of it. "Very, very good."

"Indeed they were." Stella smiled wrapping her arms around him.

"Some parts?" Rory said with an offended look.

"Look, it doesn't matter. We all had some kind of psychic episode. We probably jumped a time track or something. Forget it. We're back to reality now." The Doctor said, as bird song once again sounded.

"Doctor? If we're back to reality, how come I can still hear birds?" Stella asked in confusion.

"Yeah, the same birds. The same ones we heard in the…" Rory trailed off as everyone fell asleep.

-0-

"Dream. Oh! Sorry. Nodded off. Stupid. God, I must be overdoing it." Rory jerked awake, his voice thick with sleep, then there was a subtle thud behind them. "Stella?"

The Doctor turned standing on top of the bench peering over the wall with his hands braced against it. Stella was on the other side of the wall having fallen into some bushes when she woke up.

"Owie." Stella groaned as she struggled to get up, but was tangled in the bushes. She looked up at the chuckling Doctor with a pout holding out her hands to him.

"Are you ok?" The Doctor leaned down taking her hands and pulling her up.

"I'm fine." Stella grumbled hopping back over the wall, the Doctor shaking his head with another chuckle before walking away a bit when his attention was peeked. Stella's let out an annoyed sigh as she followed him picking leaves and sticks out of her hair. "I need a diagnostics run, I must have fallen asleep on the wall."

"I fell asleep to; I was dreaming we were back on the Tardis." Rory said tiredly then saw Stella and Amy's looks. "You both had the same dream, didn't you?"

"I did." Stella confirmed, her eyes on the alert now.

"Weren't we just saying the same thing?" Amy said as the Doctor examined a pebble.

"But we thought this was the dream, didn't we?" Rory said. The Doctor threw the pebble as Amy struggled to her feet along with Rory.

"I think so. Why do dreams have to fade so quickly?" Amy asked her hands going to her stomach.

"Doctor, what is going on?" Stella asked as she walked over to him gripping his hand.

"Is this because of you? Is this some Time Lordy thing because you've both shown up again?" Amy asked also walking over to him followed by Rory.

"Listen to me. Trust nothing. From now on, trust nothing you see, hear or feel." The Doctor ordered as he held Stella close.

"But we're awake now." Rory argued.

"Yeah, you thought you were awake on the Tardis, too." Stella pointed out with a calculating look.

"But we're home." Amy said as the birds started to sing again.

"Yeah, you're home. You're also dreaming. Trouble is, Rory, Amy, which is which? Are we flashing forwards or backwards?" The Doctor paced a bit. "Hold on tight. This is going be a tricky one."

-0-

Stella's eyes snapped open glancing around the console room, her eyes falling on the Doctor who was currently lying on top of her, his face nuzzling into her chest, and his hands messaging her bare sides were her crop top didn't cover. Her face went bright red and her skin broke out in goosebumps as she heard Amy and Rory coming to.

"Doctor, wake up!" Stella shook him.

"No, don't wanna." The Doctor mumbled, tightening his hold on her.

"Doctor!" Stella snapped and the Doctor jolted awake realizing where he was.

"Uh…" The Doctor looked up at her his ears red.

"Maybe we should get up?" Stella offered with an amused smile.

"Right." The Doctor shot to his feet, then helped Stella up. "Sorry."

"I'm not." Stella grinned before moving over to the console.

The Doctor's mouth opened and closed a few times before he straightened his bow tie following her. Rory and Amy soon joined them, but no matter what they tried nothing on the console was telling them what they wanted to know.

"Oh, this is bad. I don't like this." The Doctor kicked the console, and hurt his leg. He hopped on his un-injured leg holding onto Stella for balance. "Argh. Never use force. You just embarrass yourself. Unless you're cross, in which case, always use force."

"Shall I run and get the manual?" Amy asked.

"I threw it in a supernova." The Doctor said as he ran around down the stairs under the glass floor.

"You threw the manual in a supernova? Why?" Amy asked leaning over the railing.

"Because he disagreed with it." Stella replied with a teasing look.

"Stop talking to me when I'm cross." The Doctor called out as he pointed at them through the floor making Stella shake her head in amusement.

"Okay, but whatever's wrong with the Tardis, is that what caused us to dream about the future?" Rory asked.

"If we were dreaming of the future." The Doctor said grabbing some tools.

"Well, of course we were. We were in Leadworth." Amy said in an exasperated voice.

"Upper Leadworth." Rory corrected.

"Wow, upper, swanky." Stella mumbled exchanging a look with Amy that screamed a sarcastic whoop-d-doo.

"Yeah, and we could still be in Upper Leadworth, dreaming of this. Don't you get it?" The Doctor said running back up to the console.

"No, okay? No, this is real. I'm definitely awake now." Amy said as the Doctor handed her a wrench and another tool to Rory, both made of old dark metal.

"And you thought you were definitely awake when you were all elephanty." The Doctor said gesturing with his hands and puffing out his cheeks.

"Hey. Pregnant." Amy said holding the wrench in a threatening manner.

"And you could be giving birth right now. This could be the dream." The Doctor said as he edged away behind Stella who took the tools back from Amy and Rory.

"He told you. Trust nothing we see or hear or feel." Stella rolled her eyes handing the tools back to the Doctor.

"Look around you. Examine everything." The Doctor set the tools down on the console. "Look for all the details that don't ring true."

"Okay, we're in a spaceship that's bigger on the inside than the outside." Rory pointed out.

"With a bow tie-wearing alien and a human turned cyborg turned time lord cyborg." Amy listed off with a look as she leaned against the console.

"So maybe what rings true isn't so simple." Rory said as the Doctor and Stella glanced at each other.

"Valid point." The Doctor conceded before the Tardis suddenly switched off leaving just a faint glow from the time rotor behind.

"What just happened?" Stella asked nervously as she stood closer to the Doctor.

"It's dead. We're in a dead time machine." The Doctor said taking Stella's hand as a bird sings. Rory ran over to Amy's side holding her close as Stella clung to the Doctor's hand their fingers laced together. "Remember, this is real. But when we wake up in the other place, remember how real this feels."

"It is real. I know it's real." Amy said certainly before they all passed out again.

-0-

A teacher leads a crocodile of schoolchildren past while the church clock is chimed. Rory and Amy woke up on a bench outside the Library, the Doctor and Stella not standing too far off still looking for clues as to what was happening to them.

"Okay, this is the real one. Definitely this one. It's all solid." Amy said rubbing her stomach and slapping Rory's hand away when he went to touch her stomach as well.

"It felt solid in the Tardis too." Stella pointed out bouncing on her feet a bit as she looked to the ground.

"You can't spot a dream while you're having it." The Doctor added as he waved his hand in front of his face.

"What are you doing?" Rory asked watching the time travelers curiously.

"Looking for motion blur, pixilation. It could be a computer simulation. The Doctor pinched Rory's cheeks. "I don't think so, though."

"The ground feels alright as well, normal for roads." Stella placed her fingers against her right temple, her eye flashing. "All of my scans show me nothing that could help us in our current predicament." Stella bit her lip in frustration as a little old woman walked up to them on her way by. "Nothing feels the tiniest bit off except for the whole situation."

"Hello, Doctor." The elderly woman said with a smile.

"Hi/Hello." Rory and the Doctor said at the same time.

"You're a doctor." The Doctor said looking at Rory in surprise.

"Yeah. And unlike you, I've actually passed some exams." Rory smarted off, no one noticing the old woman casting glances at them as she walked on down the road.

"A doctor, not a nurse. Just like you've always dreamed." The Doctor pointed out thoughtfully, going the opposite way of the old lady. "How interesting."

"What is?" Rory asked.

"Well that would explain why both seem so real." Stella said tapping her lip with her index finger.

"What are you two talking about?" Rory asked a little more sternly stopping them in front of a two story building.

"Your dream wife, your dream job, probably your dream baby." The Doctor said looking to Rory. "Maybe this is your dream."

"It's Amy's dream too." Rory said looking to Amy who looked less than sure. "Isn't it, Amy?"

"Yes." Amy said quickly, not meeting his gaze. "Course it is, yeah."

"What's that?" The Doctor asked suddenly pointing randomly changing the subject.

"Old people's home." Amy replied. The sign outside said SARN Residential Care Home, many of the residents were starring out at them through the windows.

"You said everyone here lives to their nineties." The Doctor said, turning to look at the building. "There's something here that doesn't make sense. Let's go and poke it with a stick."

The Doctor ran off with an excited grin, followed by a frustrated Rory.

"Oh. Can we not do the running thing?" Amy complained.

"We can walk; they can handle themselves for a few minutes." Stella said looping her arm through Amy's as they walked along behind the men.

"You think?" Amy said in disbelief.

"Well at least it won't be too big of a problem that I can't fix by the time we get there." Stella replied as she and Amy laughed walking into the elderly home. It was a very homey old folk's home, a living room of some kind which was filled with elderly setting about their daily lives. Some were reading, working on crafts, or just sitting idly watching the day go by.

"Oh hello, Doctor Williams." Some of the elderly called out greeting Rory.

"Hello, Rory love." Mrs. Poggit smiled.

"Hello, Mrs. Poggit. How's your hip?" Rory smiled back as Amy and Stella came in joining them.

"A bit stiff." Mrs. Poggit replied.

"Oh, easy, D-96 compound, plus…" The Doctor started, but Stella cut him off.

"Doctor, they don't have that yet." Stella said softly as he made an o shape with his mouth in realization.

"Oh right, forget that." The Doctor said quickly.

"Who's your friend? A junior doctor?" Mrs. Poggit asked causing the Doctor to grin at the absurdity.

"Yes." Rory said slowly shooting as he looked to the Doctor.

"Can I borrow you? You're the size of my grandson." Mrs. Poggit asked and the Doctor knelt down while she slipped the sweater she was knitting over his head causing his hair to get messed up.

"Slightly keen to move on. Freak psychic schism to sort out." The Doctor said then leaned in really close to Mrs. Poggit who leaned back with a wide eyed look. "You're incredibly old, aren't you?"

The rest of the residents in the lounge stared at him for a tense moment, then the birdsong started causing them all to fall asleep, at least in that world.

-0-

They awoke with sharp starts once again in the Tardis, all of them leaning against the console, and all of them frustrated with the situation at hand.

"Okay, I hate this, Doctor. Stop it, because this is definitely real. It's definitely this one." Amy said adamantly then caught on to what she had said with a frown. "I keep saying that, don't I?"

"Yeah, a bit." Stella replied as the Doctor went up a level.

"It's bloody cold." Rory frowned as he rubbed his arms.

"The heating's off." The Doctor replied ducking down behind a short wall.

"The heating's off." Rory echoed bitterly.

"Yeah. Put on a jumper. That's what I always do." The Doctor called out.

"Er, yes. Sorry about Mrs Poggit." Rory apologized for the elderly lady. "She's so lovely though."

"I wouldn't believe her nice old lady act if I were you." The Doctor commented, peering at them through one of the round holes in the short wall.

"What do you mean, act?" Amy questioned.

"Everything's off. Sensors, core power. We're drifting." Stella said in agitation as she tried to work the console.

"The scanner's down so we can't even see out." The Doctor ran back down the stairs to them tossing aside a thin strip of metal. "We could be anywhere. Someone, something, is overriding my controls."

Suddenly a little balding man in a red bow tie and tweed jacket appeared on the stairs behind the Doctor. What hair he did have was very fine in thickness or lack thereof and color which was pale blonde, his face was covered in wrinkles, and his pale blue eyes were deeply set, but he was no alone.

At the base of the stairs a woman appeared with waist length jet black loosely curled frizzy hair in a halfway up style, some of it piled on top of her head giving it some volume. She wore a long sheer lace sleeved scooped neck backless black dress with a small train and a high slit up the side, a pair of strappy heels, and her eyes an entrancing glowing shade of gold lined in thick black. Her lips were blood red matching her nails and contrasting well with her otherwise completely black attire.

"Well, that took a while. Honestly, I'd heard such good things. Last of the Time Lords, the Oncoming Storm. Him in the bow tie." The little man scoffed as he walked down the stairs.

"Not to mention ginger over there, what's the use of having a computer for a brain if you never use it?" The woman in black said in a board voice.

"How did you get into my Tardis? What are you?" The Doctor demanded of them.

"What shall we call me? Well, if you're the Time Lord, let's call me the Dream Lord." The man introduced himself.

"Nice look." The Doctor commented.

"This? No, I'm not convinced. Bow ties?" DL winced.

"Well not just anyone can pull it off." Stella said before looking over to the woman. "And you?"

"Nyx at your service." Nyx said as she draped herself over one of the captain chairs. The Doctor took a ball from his pocket and threw it through the Dream Lord causing him to fizzle for a moment.

"Interesting. I'd love to be impressed, but Dream Lord. It's in the name, isn't it? Spooky." DL disappeared. "Not quite there." Then he popped up behind them, startling the companions and causing the time travelers to tense up. "And yet, very much here."

"Always so dramatic." Nyx rolled her eyes with a pout.

"I'll do the talking, thank you. Amy, want to take a guess at what those are?" The Doctor asked not letting his eyes stray from the new beings as his hand gripped Stella's keeping her close.

"Er, Dream Lord. He creates dreams." Amy guessed.

"Dreams, delusions, cheap tricks." Stella listed off.

"That's a bit hurtful." Nyx said twirling her hair.

"And Nyx, the Grecian goddess of night, although you're not her." Stella said as she eyes the other woman.

"Wow, you figure that one out all on your own?" Nyx scoffed dryly.

"And what about the gooseberry, here. Does he get a guess?" DL questioned.

"Er, listen, mate. If anyone's the gooseberry round here, it's the Doctor." Rory defended himself.

"Well now, there's a delusion I'm not responsible for." Dream Lord scoffed as Nyx laughed softly leaning back so she was hanging upside down still draped over the chair.

"No, he is. Isn't he, Amy." Rory looked to his fiancé. Amy was with him, the Doctor was the tag along, well he and Stella.

"Listen, no one is a gooseberry. If you hadn't noticed each of us has a significant other." Stella crossed her arms leaning against the Doctor who slipped his arm around her waist. "I'm with the Doctor, and Amy is with Rory, no gooseberry."

"But is who you're with who you want to be with?" Nyx taunted looking to Amy with a dark look causing Amy to squirm.

"Oh, Amy, have to sort your men out. Choose, even." DL commented lowly.

"I have chosen. Of course I've chosen." Amy was standing close to the Doctor, but she hit Rory in the stomach. "It's you, stupid."

"Oh, good. Thanks." Rory said in relief as the Dream Lord popped up behind them again next to Nyx.

"You can't fool me. I've seen your dreams. Some of them twice. Amy." Dl teased her as Amy glanced nervously around at the others. "Blimey, I'd blush if I had a blood supply or a real face."

"Get away from her." Stella ordered defensively.

"Oh Stella, defending the woman who kissed your fiancé and would have gone for more, trust me, how noble of you." Nyx rolled her eyes as she stood up sauntering closer to them, her curves accented by her tight dress. "Makes me wonder if you'd still be so forgiving of your precious Doctor and so called friend Amy if you realized how far she really wanted to go that night."

"Where did you pick up this cheap cabaret act?" The Doctor cut into the conversation.

"Me? Oh, you're on shaky ground." DL warned him with a wicked grin.

"Am I?" The Doctor asked.

"If you had any more tawdry quirks you could open up a Tawdry Quirk Shop. The madcap vehicle, the cockamamie hair, the clothes designed by a first-year fashion student, the fiancé made form spare parts." Dl gestured at them as the Doctor glanced round to the others. "I'm surprised you haven't got a little purple space dog just to ram home what an intergalactic wag you are." DL looked confused for a moment. "Where was I?"

"You were…" Rory started to supply.

"I know where I was." DL appeared on the upper level. "So, here's your challenge. Two worlds. Here, in the time machine, and there, in the village that time forgot." DL explained to them. "One is real, the other's fake."

"And just to make it more interesting, you're going to face in both worlds a deadly danger, but only one of the dangers is real." Nyx smiled cruelly as she leaned in real close to Roy, eyeing Amy out of the corner of her eye tauntingly.

"Tweet, tweet. Time to sleep." DL grinned as the birdsong filled the air forcing them down once again falling asleep though the Doctor tried to fight it. "Oh. Or are you waking up?"

-0-

When they awoke back in the old folk's home they found it completely deserted, the residents were gone. Before anyone could speak Nyx appeared close to Rory causing him to startle backwards into Amy.

"Hello handsome." Nyx smirked with a wink, Amy taking hold of Rory as she stepped between them, but Nyx just laughed appearing on Rory's other side.

"Oh, this is bad. This is very, very bad. Look at this X-ray. Your brain is completely see-through." DL walked into the room wearing a dark suit and tie then held up the x-ray to the light looking to the Doctor. "But then, I've always been able to see through you, Doctor."

"Always? What do you mean, always?" Amy questioned while eyeing Nyx who was remaining next to Rory, looking at him with searchlight eyes that went up and down Rory making him go red, really setting the Scottish girl on edge.

"Now then, the prognosis is this. If you die in the dream, you wake up in reality." DL informed them as the Doctor sat down, Stella sitting on his lap with his arms wrapped around her waist. "Healthy recovery in next to no time. Ask me what happens if you die in reality?"

"What happens?" Rory asked, glancing nervously at Nyx who was nibbling on her lip.

"You die, stupid. That's why it's called reality." DL answered condescendingly.

"Have you met them before? Do you know them? Doctor, Stella do they?" Amy looked between DL, Nyx, and the time travelers.

"Now don't get jealous. He's been around, our boy." DL shot Stella a sly grin which she replied to by sticking out her tongue.

"But never mind that. You've got a world to choose." Nyx walked a little way away from the group, her movements sultry to say the least as her eyes lingered on Rory much to Amy's continued displeasure.

"One reality was always too much for you both." Dl said with a grin looping his arm through Nyx's. "Take two and call me in the morning."

"And you can call me anytime Rory." Nyx blew him a kiss before she and DL disappeared.

"Okay, I don't like him." Rory said.

"What about Nyx?!" Amy snapped.

"Of course I don't like her either." Rory quickly stuttered out.

"Who are they?" Amy whirled around after shooting one last dirty look at Rory.

"Don't know. It's a big universe." Stella said with a sigh as she rubbed her face, trying not to focus on how similar Amy's situation with Nyx was like what she had gone through when Amy had kissed the Doctor.

"Why are they doing this?" Amy asked crossing her arms as Stella stood to her feet.

"Maybe because they have no physical form." The Doctor answered, looking down and realizing her was still in the knit sweater and took it off. "That gets you down after a while, so they're taking it out on folk like us who can touch and eat and feel."

"What do they mean, deadly danger, though? Nothing deadly has happened here. I mean, a bit of natural wastage, obviously." Rory said as the Doctor started to look around in realization.

"They've all gone." The Doctor said drawing the others to the fact that the room was devoid of the elderly. "They've all gone."

-0-

Directly opposite the care home was a play area and a ruined castle where a teacher was trying to keep control of the children as they played.

"Stop. You two, over there. Come along, where's the rest of you? Come on, come on." The teacher ordered as they came out of the old folk's home and walked over to the park. "We're going up to the castle now. All of you, come on."

"Why would they leave?" Rory asked.

"And what did you mean about Mrs. Poggit's nice old lady act?" Amy added on to the question.

"One of my tawdry quirks. Sniffing out things that aren't what they seem." The Doctor replied. "So, come on, let's think. The mechanics of this reality split we're stuck in."

"Time asleep exactly matches time in our dream world, unlike in conventional dreams." Stella said as she turned to face them.

"And we're all dreaming the same dream at the same time." Rory pointed out.

"Yes, sort of communal trance. Very rare, very complicated." The Doctor nodded, growing agitated. "I'm sure there's a dream giveaway, a tell, but my mind isn't working because this village is so dull!" The Doctor had a mini breakdown as he shouted. "I'm slowing down, like you two have."

"Ooo. Ow. Really. Ow!" Amy suddenly doubled over in pain holding onto her stomach. "It's coming."

"Okay, you're a doctor, help her." The Doctor looked to Rory as both men started to panic.

"You're a doctor." Rory shot back.

"It's okay, we're doctors." The Doctor squatted down to catch the baby.

"What do we do?" Rory yelped.

"Enough, both of you calm down. Rory 911, tell them how many week along she is, now!" Stella snapped then looked to Amy as Rory struggled to locate his cell and pull it out of his pocket. "Amy slow down your breathing, pant instead. Doctor, help me get her back into the home. I'll need towels, a blanket, a bowl, cold and hot water then…"

"Okay, it's not coming." Amy straightened up surprising them all.

"Not cool Pond." Stella groaned, she was already tense enough.

"What?" The Doctor squeaked as Amy glared at him.

"This is my life now and it just turned you white as a sheet, so don't you call it dull again, ever." Amy ordered sternly. "Okay?"

"Sorry." The Doctor mumbled.

"Yeah." Amy nodded before looking to Stella looping her arm through hers as they walked away. "At least Stella is here if it really does happen."

"Were you really going to catch the baby like that?" Stella looked to the Doctor as he came up to her other side.

"I panicked." The Doctor defended himself as Stella and Amy sat on a nearby swing set, the Doctor and Rory following. Behind them Mrs. Poggit walked up the steps to the castle where the children were playing, the Doctor's eyes lingering on her for a moment before joining the others at the swing set.

"Now, we all know there's an elephant in the room." The Doctor said as he softly kneaded Stella's shoulders making her hum in pleasure.

"I have to be this size, I'm having a baby." Amy ground out.

"No, no. The hormones seem real, but no. Is nobody going to mention Rory's ponytail?" The Doctor asked causing Amy and Stella to chuckle. The Doctor held up his hands like a pair of scissors. "You hold him down, I'll cut it off?"

"This from the man in the bow tie." Rory scoffed.

"Well bow ties are cool." Stella leaned back against the Doctor.

"Thanks love." The Doctor kissed the top of her head before moving around her eyeing where Mr. Poggit stood at the entrance to the castle ruin. "Now I don't know about you, but I wouldn't hire Mrs. Poggit as a babysitter."

"What's she doing? What does she want?" Stella questioned walking up beside the Doctor.

"Oh, no. Here we go." Amy grumbled as they all passed out falling asleep on the ground.

-0-

"It's really cold. Have you got any warm clothing?" Amy asked when they woke up in the freezing Tardis.

"What does it matter if we're cold?" The Doctor snapped causing them to stare wide eyed. "We have to know what she is up to."

"Theta." Stella said softly placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Sorry, sorry." The Doctor rubbed his face before gesturing over to the side of the Tardis. "There should be some stuff down there. Have a look."

Amy went down the steps followed by Rory who shot the Doctor a look as he angrily zipped up his jumper. They found a nook tucked away to the side with a trunk in it amongst other things.

Stella looked up at him then did a double take as she grabbed a tin cup out of the horn of the phonograph.

"I thought you said you washed this?" Stella shot him a look.

"O, I need that." The Doctor took it then went underneath the console with it.

"What other dirty dishes do you have hidden around here?" Stella asked as he opened a tool box breaking the handle off on accident.

"That's it, promise." He placed it on top of the box then looked inside finding a piece of rope, a bottle opener and a whisk.

"What did you do with the rest?" Stella crossed her arms.

"Black hole." The Doctor said honestly with a hesitant smile as she let out an annoyed groan.

"I want the other life. You know, where we're happy and settled and about to have a baby." Rory said wistfully.

"But don't you wonder, if that life is real, then why would we give up all this? Why would anyone?" Amy questioned causing Rory to frown.

"Because we're going to freeze to death?" Rory pointed out.

"Stella and the Doctor'll fix it." Amy brushed him off tossing him a blanket.

"Okay." Rory wrapped Amy up in the blanket. "Because we're going to get married?"

"We can still get married someday." Amy said with a laugh, but Rory's face fell.

"You don't want to any more. I thought you'd chosen me, not him." Rory said in anger and frustration.

"You are always so insecure." Amy rolled her eyes as she returned to digging for more blankets.

"You ran off with another man." Rory argued.

"Not in that way." Amy argued back.

"It was the night before our wedding, an engaged man." Rory said in bitterness.

"We're in a time machine. It can be the night before our wedding for as long as we want." Amy replied easily.

"We have to grow up eventually." Rory said seriously.

"Says who?" Amy picked up three more blankets then led him back up the stairs, Rory sulking as he went. They found the Doctor and Stella back at the console where they had assembled the whisk, rope, and bottle opener into a gizmo.

"Ah, Rory, wind." Stella shoved the gizmo into his hands.

"Amy, could you attach this to the monitor, please." The Doctor handed her some wires.

"I was promised amazing worlds. Instead I get duff central heating and a weird, kitcheny wind-up device." Rory said as he looked over the device with a scrunched up face.

"It's a generator." Stella corrected him.

"Get winding." The Doctor ordered as he and Stella ran around the console.

"Not enough." Amy said looking to the monitor.

"Rory, wind." The Doctor urged him.

"Why is the Dream Lord and Nyx picking on you? Why us?" Rory questioned as he wound faster until the scanner came to life.

"Where are we?" Amy asked as they looked over the swirling depth of space before them, then it came in view.

"We're in trouble." The Doctor replied, eyeing the stars on the scanner.

"What is that?" Rory asked as a large white ball of light came into view on the large round monitor.

"A star. A cold star." The Doctor ran over to the doors flinging it open letting in a gust of cold and a stinging bright white light. "That's why we're freezing. It's not a heating malfunction." The Doctor slammed the door shut again. "We're drifting towards a cold sun."

"There's our deadly danger for this version of reality." Stella said as the Doctor ran back up to them rubbing his arms.

"So this must be the dream. There's no such thing as a cold star. Stars burn." Amy tried to reason.

"So's this one. It's just burning cold." The Doctor tried to explain.

"Is that possible?" Rory asked the Doctor.

"I can't know everything. Why does everybody expect me to, always?" The Doctor whined as he collapsed in one of the chairs.

"Because usually you do love or you figure it out in a timely fashion." Stella said with a shrug getting a small smile from the Time Lord.

"Okay, this is something you haven't seen before. So does that mean this is the dream?" Rory asked.

"I don't know, but there it is, and I'd say we've got about fourteen minutes until we crash into it," The Doctor said checking his watch. "…but that's not a problem."

"Because you know how to get us out of this?" Rory asked hopefully.

"Because we'll have frozen to death by then." The Doctor said bursting Rory's bubble as he rocked to his feet and picking up a stethoscope.

"Oh, then what are we going to do?" Amy asked

"Stay calm. Don't get sucked in to it, because this just might be the battle that we have to lose." The Doctor said seriously using the stethoscope to check the console.

"Oh, this is so you, isn't it?" Rory snapped with a sneer.

"What?" The Doctor looked to him.

"Huh, what? A weird new star, fourteen minutes left to live and only one man to save the day, huh? I just wanted a nice village and a family." Rory complained.

"Oh dear, Doctor. Dissent in the ranks." DL appeared behind them.

"Always did love a rebel myself." Nyx flirted teasingly to Rory before she began to sing. "There was an old doctor from Gallifrey, who ended up throwing his life away. He let down his friends, his love was at its ends, and…"

"Oh, no." The bird song started up sending them into delirium. "We've run out of time." DL pretended to be startled by the abrupt aviary noises. "Don't spend too long there, or you'll catch your death here."

-0-

As soon as they were all awake they all ran up to the ruined castle which was now empty except for bits of school things lying on piles of ashes that dotted the grass.

"Where have the children gone?" The Doctor asked before darting onto the field as he took out his sonic.

"Don't know. Play time's probably over." Rory said as the Doctor scanned the ash piles and objects left next to them.

"You see, this is the real one. I just feel it. Don't you feel it?" Rory took in a deep breath as he looked over the small village.

"I feel it both places." Amy replied with a frown.

"I feel it here. It's just so tranquil and relaxed. Nothing bad could ever happen here." Rory smiled brightly as the Stella picked up a bag allowing the ash to fall from it, then dropped it back to the ground looking to the Doctor.

"Not really me, though, is it? I mean, would I be happy settling down in a place with a pub, two shops and a really bad Amateur Dramatics Society?" Amy asked getting an affronted look from Rory as the Doctor and Stella ran to another pile, Stella waving her hand over it using her sonic abilities. "That's why I got pregnant, so I don't have to see them doing Oklahoma." Amy looked over to when the Doctor who had taken up a handful of the dust letting it slip between his fingers while Stella's hands were covering her mouth in shock. "Doctor, Stella, what are you doing? And what are those piles of dust?"

"Play time's definitely over." The Doctor said softly.

"Oh my…" Amy said in realization as she looked over all of the piles. Stella reached out grabbing the Doctor's hand tightly in hers as he wrapped his arms around her protectively.

"They were just children." Stella said softly in sadness with the beginnings of anger flickering to life in her eyes.

"What happened to them?" Rory asked before the Doctor spotted the old people who were walking along the street.

"I think they did." The Doctor said leading them out of the ruin castle past the playground.

"They're just old people." Amy said as she and Rory followed them.

"No, they're very old people." The Doctor replied before glancing over at Rory. "Sorry, Rory, I don't think you're what's been keeping them alive."

"Hello, peasants." DL appeared in another new suit of clothes and Stella appeared next to Rory, waggling her fingers at him playfully. "What's this, attack of the old people? Oh, that's ridiculous. This has got to be the dream, hasn't it?" DL taunted looking to Amy. "What do you think, Amy? Let's all jump under a bus and wake up in the Tardis." He looked to the Doctor. "You first."

"Leave her alone." The Doctor ordered.

"Do that again. I love it when he does that. Tall dark hero." DL grinned as he copied the Doctor's stance. "Leave her alone."

"Just leave her." Rory stepped in.

"Yes, you're not quite so impressive." DL replied unimpressed.

"Then let me take a whack at it." Stella ground out, having had enough of her feelings being played with. "Back off now."

"Or what?" Nyx scoffed as she looked Stella up and down. "Look at you, another woman who's playing for the Doctor's affections and you still defend her. Aren't you the least bit angry or resentful? Of course you are, I know. No one forgives something like that so quickly."

"Just shut up." Stella snapped, gripping the Doctor's hand in hers.

"How many more women are going to throw themselves at the Doctor before you finally get fed up or before he decides one of them is better for him than you? How long before you're all alone again?" Nyx taunted cruelly then whirled around on Amy. "And Amy, so willing to toss aside friendship and your fiancé for just a chance to be with the Doctor, but at the same time doesn't want to let Rory go, gets testy when another prettier girl flirts with him." Nyx sneered as she circled Amy then leaned in close to her ear. "Such a choice, but I know where your heart lies, don't I, Amy Pond?"

"Shut up. Just shut up and leave me alone." Amy exploded not liking what Nyx was dragging into the light, the thoughts she didn't even want to admit to herself.

"But listen. You're in there. Loves a redhead, the Doctor." DL joined in sending a wink over to Stella.

"Doesn't he just." Nyx grinned running a hand though her own black strands changing them blood red for a moment before they returned back to jet black, eyeing Stella out of the corner of her eye. "Doubt he minded at all that you changed hair color along with your face. He was pretty quick to let go of the old you."

"Drop it. Drop all of it." The Doctor ordered as he stepped in front of Stella, fed up with what they were saying to her. "I know who you are."

"Course you don't." DL shot back.

"Course I do. No idea how you can be here, but there's only one person in the universe who hates me as much as you do." The Doctor said and DL looked slightly impressed.

"But you haven't found out who I am I bet." Nyx grinned.

"Then you'd be losing money on that bet." Stella said crossing her arms as she leaned into the Doctor's side, his arm around her shoulders. Nyx tapped the side of her nose with a conspiratorial smile as she giggled.

"Never mind us though." Nyx said as the old people approached.

"Maybe you should worry about them." DL nodded to the old people walking across the grass before he vanished along with Nyx.

"Hello, we were wondering where you went. To get reinforcements, by the look of it." The Doctor commented tensely.

"Are you all right? You look a bit tense." Stella pointed out.

"Hello, Mister Nainby." Rory approached one of the elderly men that was walking a bit ahead of the others.

"Rory." The Doctor tried to stop him.

"Mister Nainby ran the sweet shop. He used to slip me the odd free toffee." Rory assured him then Nainby grabbed Rory by the collar lifting him off his feet. "Did I not say thank you?" Rory was thrown into the mud by the swings in one easy movement from the elderly man. Rory quickly scrambled back to his feet. "How did he do that?"

"I suspect he's not himself." The Doctor replied. "Don't get comfortable here. You may have to run, fast."

"Can't we just talk to them?" Amy asked gesturing to her pregnant stomach. The old people opened their mouths, and a yellow eye connected to a green tentacle looked out making a strange noise. "There is an eye in her mouth."

"There's a whole creature inside her, inside all of them." The Doctor said as he scanned them with his sonic.

"They've been there for years, living and waiting." Stella said as she held up her hand, her fingers glowing blue.

"That is disgusting." Rory said with a wince, leaning close to the Doctor. "They're not going to be peeping out of anywhere else, are they?"

"Dear lord I hope not." Stella pulled a face. Mrs. Poggit breathed a stream of green gas at them causing them all to fall back to avoid it.

"Run." The Doctor sent Rory and Amy off, the two running as fast as they could in considering Amy's current state. The Doctor and Stella faced down the creatures together, determined to protect their friends. "Okay, leave them, leave them." The Doctor ordered them. "Talk to me. Talk to me. You are Eknodines, a proud, ancient race, you're better than this."

"Why are you hiding away here? Why aren't you at home?" Stella demanded not feeling nearly as talkative as the Doctor, not with the death of the children.

"We were driven from our planet…" Poggit started.

"By upstart neighbors." Stella picked up.

"So we've…" Nainby went on.

"Been living here inside the bodies of old humans for years." The Doctor took over. "No wonder they live so long. You're keeping them alive."

"We were humbled and destroyed. Now we will do the same to others." Poggit said, lifting her chin defiantly.

"Okay. Makes sense, I suppose." The Doctor looked to Stella.

"Credible enough. Could be real." Stella nodded as a young man wheeled his bicycle past.

"Morning." Was all he said before Mrs. Poggit breathed on him turning him to dust.

"You need to leave this planet." The Doctor ordered getting angry, the Eknodine in Poggit screeching at them as it came out further.

-0-

"Wait. Stop." Amy was out of breath form their run and had to stop at the fence leaning on it for support as Rory hovered around her eyeing the four old people were advancing through the sheep meadow across the road.

"After all I've done for the over seventies in this village." Rory complained wrapping his arm around Amy leading her to the house as they came to Mrs. Hamill who was by the front door and started advancing on them. "Okay, this is crazy. She loves me. I fixed her depression. She's just a little old lady."

"Mrs. Hamill, we don't understand." Amy said cradling her stomach protectively. The Eknodine looked out of Mrs. Hamill's mouth screeching at them in reply.

"I'll deal with this one, Chubs." Roy said and Amy shot him a look mouthing the words chubs in disdain. "Now…" Rory was cut off as they dodged the blast of green gas. Rory ducked behind some bushes while Amy ran around the old woman making for the house. Rory picked up a piece of wood holding it like a baseball bat, but hesitated as he faced Hamill down. "I can't hit her."

"Whack her!" Amy ordered angrily and Rory obeyed, swinging hard shattering the wood, knocking Mrs. Hamill down clearing the path for them to run inside, Amy collapsing on the stairs while Rory bolted the door shut behind them. "We just ran away. We just abandoned the Doctor and Stella." Amy bemoaned then turned stern. "Don't ever call me Chubs again." She went back to bemoaning. "We don't see them for years, and somehow we don't really connect any more, and then, then they take the bullet for us."

"Hey, they'll be fine. You know the Doctor. He's Mister Cool and he always has Stella around to get him out of trouble." Rory said as he locked doors and windows, and started building a barricade against the windows and doors should the locks fail.

-0-

The Doctor and Stella were fighting the bird song's effect as they raced down the street, stumbling as they went. The Doctor pulled Stella over to the butchers by her hand. They ran in closing and locking the door behind them, the Doctor changing the sign to Closed after making sure it was the right side.

"Oh, I love a good butcher's, don't you? We've got to use these places or they'll shut down." DL said as he appeared behind the counter in a butchers outfit. The Doctor and Stella ran to the back door trying to use the keys the Doctor had found, but was having trouble keeping coherent enough to use them. "Oh, but you're probably a vegetarian, aren't you, you big flop-haired wuss."

"Not my girl Stella, born meat eater despite what her choice in attire says." Nyx appeared sitting on the countertop with her legs crossed, the slit open revealing her long legs. "That burger contest on Bubulae, won it hands down."

"Oh, pipe down. We're busy." The Doctor snapped groggily.

"Rude." Nyx scolded teasingly. "Maybe you need a little sleep to improve your attitude."

The tweeting got louder forcing the Doctor and Stella to slump to the floor against the back door no matter how they struggled against it, it overcame them with ease.

"Oh, wait a moment. If you fall asleep here, several dozen angry pensioners will destroy you with their horrible eye things." DL said in fake concern, the bird song stopping as the Doctor got up pulling Stella with him gripping her hand behind the counter to a small hall. He tried sticking his finger from his free hand in his other ear, trying to lessen the noise forcing them to sleep. "Fingers in the ear. Brilliant. What's next, shouting boo?"

"Come in, come in." Nyx waved in the elderly holding out her arms with a wide smile as the old people entered the shop.

"Yes, we've got lots at stake here this week. Lots at stake, get it?" DL looked between the time traveling couple and Nyx, the dream lady giving him an unimpressed look while he was ignored by the others, the Doctor and Stella having fallen asleep to a new chorus of bird song, making him frown sourly. "Are these jokes wasted on you?"

"Only the bad ones." Nyx sighed dramatically turning to face the other side of the counter then eyed his clothes. "Why do you always change your clothes?"

"You have no sense for the theatrical arts, you have to dress the part." DL rolled his eyes.

"You're saying you don't like what I'm wearing." Nyx smirked playfully as she leaned forward tantalizingly close to DL.

"I never said that love." DL smirked back making her grin. Suddenly Stella let out a shrill scream that cut through the air jolting the Doctor out of his stupor and gaining the attention of DL and Nyx, also causing the bird song to stop for a moment in their surprise.

"Wait, wait, stop." The Doctor pulled Stella up, wrapping one of her arms around his shoulders. The bird song started up again sending them slumping back to the ground.

"Oh. Oh, I can't watch." DL covered his face peeking through his fingers as the elderly closed in, the bird song once again stopping.

"I can." Nyx lay on her side on the counter propping her head up on her hand, her elbow resting on the counter. The Doctor barely got them into the storeroom opening it with his sonic and closing the door behind them, securing it with his sonic.

"Nice scream." The Doctor said as they slumped down against the door, the Doctor wrapping his arm around Stella laying his cheek on top of her head.

"Thanks." Stella laid her head against his shoulder as they fell asleep.

-0-

They all woke up setting straight up on the floor under the console. Amy clutched her blanket close as Rory and the Doctor wrapped their jackets tighter around themselves, Stella pressing herself against the Doctor trying to keep him warm, but was not as affected by the cold as the others.

"Ah, it's colder, how are you not feeling this?" Amy complained as she looked to Stella.

"The Lacetra, the lizard people that made me, were from a frigid planet that makes this seem like a nippy autumn to me." Stella shrugged rubbing the Doctor's hands as his arms were wrapped around her. "So what's the plan?"

"The four of us have to agree, now, which is the dream." The Doctor said holding onto Stella tightly.

"It's this, here." Rory said right away.

"He could be right. The science is all wrong here. Burning ice?" Amy said in confusion.

"No, no, no. Ice can burn. Sofas can read." The Doctor replied.

"It's a big universe." Stella sighed nuzzling against the Doctor. "Think dry ice."

"We have to agree which battle to lose. All of us, now." The Doctor ordered urgently.

"Okay, which world do you think is real?" Amy asked them.

"This one." The Doctor and Stella said quickly.

"No, the other one." Rory argued with them.

"Yeah, but are we disagreeing or competing?" The Doctor snapped.

"Competing over what?" Amy snapped as Rory looked to her pointedly. The Doctor pulled Stella closer to his side as they looked to Amy.

Rory wanted to have a nice simple life with Amy while the Doctor and Stella wanted to take her with them to show her the wonders of the universe. There was also the fact that Rory was competing for Amy's affections, it was clear that she was still attracted to the Doctor, but the Doctor only had eyes for his Starlight.

Amy rolled her eyes in frustration at the whole situation as she stood up, the other following. Amy grabbed the blankets and a pair of scissors cutting into the thick material.

"Nine minutes till impact." The Doctor informed them checking his watch.

"What temperature is it?" Amy asked as she worked.

"Outside? Brrr. How many noughts have you got? Inside? I don't know but I can't feel my feet and other parts." The Doctor said with an embarrassed glance over to Stella who just pressed herself against him, wrapping his arms around herself warming him up a bit.

"I think all my parts are basically fine." Rory commented looking over to Amy.

"Stop competing." Stella ordered in exasperated amusement.

"Can't we call for help?" Rory picked up the Tardis telephone.

"Yeah, because the universe is really small and there's bound to be someone nearby." Stella took the phone from him bonking him lightly on the head before putting the phone back.

"Put these on, both of you." Amy had cut a slit in the middle of the blankets. She through one to the Doctor and another to Stella before putting one on Rory and the last on herself. "I got one for you to Stella."

"I'm fine." Stella said about to set the poncho aside, but the Doctor took it placing it on her over her head making her pout.

"This is getting to cold, even for you." The Doctor said kissing her forehead. "Don't think I haven't noticed you shivering."

"Oh, a poncho, the biggest crime against fashion since lederhosen." Rory groaned looking down at it.

"Here we go. Look at them Stella, our boys." Amy said looping her arm with Stella's. "Our poncho boys." Amy went on making Stella laugh as the boys rolled their eyes. Amy pulled Stella over so that they were standing with the boys looking at the large monitor displaying the freezing star. "If we're going to die, let's die looking like a Peruvian folk band."

"I'll get my guitar." Stella deadpanned.

"We're not going to die." Rory said glancing over at the others.

"No, we're not, but our time's running out. If we fall asleep here we're in trouble." The Doctor rubbed his face as he thought. "If we could divide up, then we'd have an active presence in each world, but the Dream Lord and Nyx are switching us between the worlds." The Doctor started to pace. "Why? Why? what's the logic?"

"Good idea, veggie." DL appeared next to the Doctor pacing with him wearing his own poncho, while Nyx appeared on the sitting on the console. "Let's divide you four up, so I can have a little chat with our lovely companion and the fiancé."

"Maybe you can keep them, and I can have pointy nose and bow tie for all for myself." Nyx leaned back against the time rotor. "What do you say DL?"

"Sounds good to me my lovely Nyx." DL smirked.

"Can you hear that?" Rory clung to Amy as the birds filled the Doctor and Rory's ears.

"What? No." Amy started to panic, holding onto Rory as he slipped to the floor.

"Amy, Stella, don't be scared. We'll be back." The Doctor assured them as Stella cradled the Doctor in her arms lowering him gently to the ground.

"I know you will." Stella pressed a kiss to his forehead before he and Rory fell asleep.

"Rory, Doctor, don't leave us." Amy begged kneeling down next to Rory on the floor.

"Catch you later DL." Nyx smiled as she vanished when the boys were out of it.

"Oh girls, we're going to have fun, aren't we?" DL smiled wickedly.

"No, please..." Amy whimpered, her eyes darting around as she stood back up.

"It's ok Amy, we can handle this." Stella said as she met DL's gaze with far more confidence than she was feeling at the moment.

-0-

"Rory woke to the sound of the front windows being smashed in sending him scurrying. He took hold of Amy as best he could and started to drag her up the stairs one step at a time which was the best he could do due to her weight.

"Sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Rory said every time he pulled her up a step with a thud until they reached the top and he dragged her into the nursery laying her on the floor with a thump. "Sorry."

He looked out of the window where the old people had gotten a battering ram and were also pushing at the Tardis rocking it back and forth. He quickly turned back to the nursery and jammed the door handle with a chair then sat on it twiddling his thumbs nervously.

-0-

The Doctor activated his sonic screwdriver, searching for the right frequency as soon as he woke up. He glanced down at Stella from time to time hoping that she was ok with Amy back on the Tardis, he was sure that she could handle herself. Nyx appeared leaning against the wall watching the Doctor, her hands behind her back, not speaking a word.

"What? No remarks?" The Doctor glanced over at her breaking the silence.

"Why?" Nyx asked, her head cocked to the side.

"Why what?" The Doctor asked back.

"Why do you love her so much?" Nyx asked looking from the Doctor to Stella. "She can't provide you with a family, she's got a lot of blood on her hands, and she's so broken despite how she may seem on the outside." Nyx looked into his eyes. "Why do you love her so much when you could have anyone you want in the whole universe?"

The Doctor eyed Nyx for a moment before he spoke choosing his words carefully, wanting her to know why and not leave any lingering doubt.

"I love her because of her strength to live with her past and still smile with all her heart despite everything. I love her because she looks at me, sees the darkness in me, and understands, she accepts it and doesn't try to sugar coat it. She bared her soul to me completely and gave me the courage to do the same with her." The Doctor looked over to Nyx, starring into her golden orbs. "As for family, she's all the family I need to make me happy."

"I'm lucky to have you." Nyx said letting the façade drop with a small smile. "Thank you for loving all of me."

"I always will." The Doctor smiled back. "I do have one question though."

"What's that?" Nyx asked.

"Why do you keep flirting with Rory?" The Doctor asked with a frown.

"Quite simple really, wanted to give Amy a taste of her own medicine. I'm nice, but I'm not a saint." Nyx shrugged then grinned. "Do not be worried Doctor, you're the only one for all of me, you make my life worth living."

"You do that for me as well." The Doctor said with a small smile.

"I better get going, but remember Doctor, we are dreams and there is only one way you can truly dream and only one way to end it." Nyx vanished with a small wave leaving the Doctor on his own. He looked thoughtfully down at Stella for a moment, thinking over her words, before springing into action.

"Okay, where is it?" Once he got the frequency he opened the door and zapped the lights causing them to produce strobe like flashes as if from a camera.

The old people closed their eyes and mouths allowing the Doctor to run out of the butchers carrying Stella piggyback style. He ran down a back alley to avoid more senior citizens and over to another street. He glanced up and down the street where he saw Mister Nainby attacking a man next to a camper van.

"Oh help, somebody." The man called out as the Doctor ran for him.

"Oh, you couldn't live near the shops, could you." The Doctor grumbled as he hefted Stella higher.

"Help me!" The man yelled right before the Doctor plowed into the elderly man knocking him down hard.

"It's okay, it's only me." The Doctor calmed the man down before shoving Stella over to the passenger side them climbing in after her, the man climbing into the back. "Buckle her up for me would you."

The Doctor drove as fast as he could only slowing down when he spotted two women surrounded by the evil elderly.

"Get in, get in, get in. Quickly, quickly, over here. Quickly. Get in." The man in the back opened the large door as they ran for them hoping into the back.

"Come on, jump in. Quickly, get in now. Quickly. Hurry up. Are we in?" The Doctor looked back making sure they were secure, the man shutting the door, then drove on once again slowing down this time to rescue a family tapped by a gate, the old people closing in. "Come on, let's go."

"Quickly, in here." The man urged them as the parents got their kids in.

"All four, quick." The Doctor said. The parents climbed in, the man closing the door behind them.

"That's it. Clear." The man told the Doctor.

"Everyone in." The Doctor said as they drove on, glancing over to Stella whose head lulled from side to side.

-0-

There was a thick layer of frost over everything in the Tardis making it look like the inside of a deep freeze. Amy was adjusting the blanket over Rory and looked over to Stella who had the Doctor cradled in her lap as she moved her fingers lovingly through his hair.

"Poor Amy. He always leaves you, doesn't he, alone in the dark." DL appeared suddenly sitting on the stairs. "Never apologizes."

"He doesn't have to." Amy replied bitingly as she stood up facing him.

"That's good, because he never will." DL said then looked to Stella. "And Stella, all those other women fawning over him almost constantly, it must drive you crazy."

"They can fawn over him all they want, I know without a doubt he loves me as much as I love him." Stella said as her gaze was locked on the Doctor's slumbering face brushing the ice from his cheek and brows.

"But now he's left you with me. Spooky old, not to be trusted me. Anything could happen." DL appeared on one of the chairs in a satin dressing gown that bared his chest, a gold medallion hanging from his neck.

"No, it really couldn't." Stella said shaking her head as she rolled her eyes.

"Why don't you ever wear that when I'm around?" Nyx appeared with a pout.

"I thought you were with pointy nose and bow tie." DL leaned back with his hands behind his head.

"Got bored." Nyx sighed sitting on the stairs resting her chin in her hands.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" Amy broke in. "The Doctor knows you, but he's not telling me who you are." Amy said as she walked over to DL. "And he always does. Takes him a while sometimes, but he tells me." She leaned in close. "So you're something different."

"Oh, is that who you think you are? The one he trusts?" DL scoffed, glancing over to Nyx who rolled her eyes.

"Actually, yes." Amy replied.

"The only girl in the universe to whom the Doctor tells everything?" DL went on looking pointedly to Stella.

"Yes." Amy said lifting her chin a bit.

"And that doesn't bother you a bit." Nyx looked to Stella who refused to look up at her.

"Another delusion I'm not responsible for." DL rolled his eyes.

"If you're so knowledgeable, what's his name?" Nyx asked as she stood up, her arms crossed.

"It's a secret; you of all people should know that." Stella said with a sigh. "It can only be shared once."

DL appeared next to Stella gesturing to her left hand with the ring upon it.

"Pond, meet the only woman the Doctor will ever trust with that secret and many others." DL said causing Amy to look away. "Now, which one of these men would you really choose?" DL appeared between Rory and the Doctor. "Look at them. You ran away with a handsome hero. Would you really give him up for a bumbling country doctor who thinks the only thing he needs to be interesting is a ponytail?"

"I kind of like the ponytail." Nyx commented playfully.

"Stop it." Amy ordered with uncomfortable glances at Stella and annoyed ones at Nyx.

"But maybe it's better than loving and losing the Doctor whose hearts already belong to the beautiful heroine." DL gestured to Stella who was focused on the Doctor, removing the building ice from his face. "Pick a world, and this nightmare will all be over. They'll listen to you. It's you they're waiting for, Amy's friends, Amy's choice."

DL and Nyx disappeared leaving the girls alone once again.

-0-

The Doctor stopped in front of a large church leaping out opening the large door and unloading the back of the van. Various other passengers that he had saved along the way piled out as fast as they could.

"Everybody, out, out, out. Into the church, that's right. Don't answer the door." The Doctor ordered as they ran into the building then he jumped back into the can driving off as fast as he could to Amy and Rory's house. The Dream Lord appeared in the back seat, the Doctor seeing him in the rearview mirror, wearing a peach racing suit and holding a full face helmet.

"It's make your mind up time in both worlds." DL informed him.

"Fine. I need to find my friends." The Doctor snapped.

"Friends? Is that the right word for the people you acquire? Friends are people you stay in touch with. Your friends never see you again once they've grown up. The old man prefers the company of the young, does he not? The Dream Lord vanished again, and the Doctor arrived outside the cottage to see the slow motion onslaught of the elderly.

"Okay." The Doctor mumbled as he planned a way in.

"This is not where I fell asleep." Stella mumbled as she came to and unbuckled herself.

"Stella, are you ok?" The Doctor turned to her pulling her close.

"Yeah, fine." Stella said right away.

"Did he hurt you in any way?" The Doctor pressed.

"Of course not." Stella assured him taking hold of his hands. "Where are Amy and Rory?"

"In there." The Doctor gestured to the cottage under siege.

"That…is kind of sad to watch." Stella eyed the feeble elderly who were making little to no progress. "Is that a lawn mower?" Stella asked as one of the elderly women holding a lawn mower aloft moved slowly into the yard. "Ok, right, how are we going to get in?" She looked over to the Doctor who was grinning. "You have a thing don't you."

"Yeah." He nodded still grinning like a maniac.

"Oh good, it must be so crazy there is no way it can't not work." Stella said with a wide smile.

"Oh yeah." The Doctor nodded again. "But one thing first before the other thing."

"You lost me." Stella raised an eyebrow before the Doctor pulled her into a toe curling kiss.

"There we go." The Doctor smiled as Stella's dazed looked before he took her hand pulling her out of the van.

-0-

Amy woke up with a start looking around herself as she sat up from lying on Rory's lap, where he had been holding her in his arms carding his fingers through her hair.

"How did I get up here?" Amy asked groggily.

"I carried you. I'm afraid you may experience some bruising." Rory apologized as he sat up on his knees.

"Where are the Doctor and Stella?" Amy asked as she faced him.

"I don't know. I want to do something for you." Rory got a pair of scissors out of a floral handbag holding them up for Amy to see and cut off his pony tail, Amy covering her mouth in shock.

"I was starting to like it." Amy said as Rory starred at her in disbelief holding the chunk of hair in his hand. Suddenly the window opened, making them jump.

"Sorry." The Doctor said as he fell in with Stella falling in on top of him. "We had to stop off at the butcher's."

"What happened to your ponytail?" Stella asked Rory as she and the Doctor sat up.

"I cut it off." Rory replied holding up the chunk of hair.

"Why?" Stella asked in confusion.

"Because I thought it would make Amy happy." Rory sighed making Stella squeal.

"That is so sweet." Stella said with a smile.

"What are we going to do?" Rory asked feeling a bit better about losing his ponytail.

"I don't know. I thought the freezing Tardis was real but now I'm not so sure." The Doctor told them.

"Oh! I think the baby's starting." Amy started to breath hard.

"Honestly?" Rory asked.

"Would I make it up at a time like this?" Amy glared at him.

"Well, you do have a history of…" Rory started and Amy gave him a deadly look. "…being very lovely." He turned to the Doctor as Stella wrapped her arm around Amy telling her to try and control her breathing. "Why are they so desperate to kill us?"

"They're scared." The Doctor told them as he stood up leaning against the cradle and Stella set Amy up so her legs were stretched out in front of her.

"Fear generates savagery." Stella explained rubbing Amy's back soothingly just before a gnome was thrown through the window and Rory got up to investigate.

"Rory get back." Stella shot up making a grab for him, but it was too late. Mrs. Poggit breathed at Rory and Stella, and some of the green gas touched Rory sending them back to the ground in pain.

"Rory!" Amy called out as he stumbled back, the Doctor running for Stella. Stella reared back her arm gritting her teeth as she slammed her fist straight into Mrs. Poggit's face causing her to fly off the porch roof then she fell back in the Doctor's arms.

"Stella!" The Doctor gently lowered her to the ground.

"No, I'm not ready." Rory panicked as he started to turn to dust.

"Stay." Amy begged.

"Look after our baby." Rory said before he was completely gone.

"No, no, no…Stella please no…please…" The Doctor cupped either side of her face, ash starting to fall between his fingers.

"I'm sorry my love…." Stella gasped out in pain as she reached up gripping his hand as best she could. "Stay with Amy, don't leave her alone."

"Stella please…." The Doctor tried to hold her together.

"Promise me." Stella ordered.

"I promise." The Doctor said tearfully.

"I love you Theta." Stella smiled as tears streamed from her eyes.

"I love you my Starlight, don't leave me." The Doctor pleaded, but she was already gone, her wedding rings glistening on top of the pile of ashes. The Doctor shakily reached forward picking them up and gripping them in his fist as he held them between his hearts.

"No. No. Come back." Amy looked at Rory's ashes as the Doctor turned to her as he slowly stumbled to his feet and she looked up at him imploringly. "Save him. You save everyone. You always do. It's what you do."

"Not always." The Doctor looked down at the rings in his hand, tears streaming from his eyes. "I'm sorry."

"Then what is the point of you?" Amy touched the pile of dust lovingly then stood up with a determined look. The Doctor hovered near her, his hands not touching her. "This is the dream. Definitely this one." Amy said in complete certainty as she held Rory's hair. "Now, if we die here, we wake up, yeah?"

"Unless we just die." The Doctor looked to her stomach.

"Either way, this is my only chance of seeing him again. This is the dream." Amy said as she moved back and forth.

"How do you know?" The Doctor looked to her and she gently placed her hand over his that was holding the rings, Rory's hair still in her hand.

"Because if this is real life, I don't want it. I don't want it and I know you don't either." Amy said before leaving the nursery with the Doctor following after her down the stairs and outside where the old people had gone still. "Why aren't they attacking?!"

"Either because this is just a dream or because they know what we're about to do." The Doctor told her as they came up to the van where Amy stopped holding her hand out for the key. "Be very sure." The Doctor looked to her stomach again. "This could be the real world."

"It can't be. Rory isn't here. I didn't know. I didn't, I didn't, I honestly didn't, till right now." Amy said tearfully. "I just want him and I know you feel the same about being without Stella."

"Okay. Okay." The Doctor gave her the key gripping her hand for a moment before they got went to the doors of the van, Amy in the driver's seat starting up the engine. The Doctor looked at the Dream Lord and Nyx then got in the passenger side, the dream duo starring at him through the window.

"I love Rory, and I never told him. But now he's gone." Amy revved the engine and drove the camper van through the pensioners and at the cottage with a resounding crash.

-0-

Stella woke with a start, the Doctor still sleeping in her lap and her back leaning against the console keeping her up. There's was an even thicker layer of ice over everyone and everything. Stella let out a sigh as she took in the Doctor and their sleeping companions.

"So that's the answer." Stella mumbled, her breath coming out in puffs.

"Doesn't mean you won just yet, the Doctor and Amy are still deciding." DL appeared before her.

"If I know them they're about to do something extremely stupid to get back to Rory and I, but then again that's just the type of people Amy and you are." Stella looked up as a surprised looking DL. "Yeah, I know you're part of the Doctor, the whole self-hate thing gave it away pretty well. Then there was the handsome hero comment." Stella sighed with a small laugh. "Really have to work on your ego."

"It's not that bad." DL leaned back crossing his arms.

"Yes it is." Stella deadpanned making DL pout.

"Not like Nyx is much better." DL pointed out.

"Ok, I'll give you that one." Stella nodded with a small smile.

"I better go check in with the others." DL said with a sigh.

"Dream Lord, I love the Doctor, all of him completely and wholly." Stella said to him.

"Even the parts like me." DL stuffed his hands into his pocket with a self-loathing smile.

"Of course, I never want any part of him to doubt that, no matter what." Stella said sincerely. DL gives her a brief nod and a small smile.

"The way you feel about the darkness in the Doctor, in me, is the exact same way he…I feel about you." DL said before he vanished and the others slowly woke up. Amy reached for Rory's hand, both of them holding onto each other.

"Hey." The Doctor breathed out with a shiver as he looked up at her.

"Hello my love." Stella smiled lovingly as she held him close.

"So, you chose this world. Well done. You got it right." Dl conceded as he appeared again along with Nyx.

"And with only seconds left. Fair's fair. Let's warm you up." Nyx said as she and DL worked the console restoring power then piloted them away from the frigid star.

"I hope you've enjoyed your little fictions. It all came out of your imagination, so I'll leave you to ponder on that. I have been defeated. I shall withdraw." DL said in a resigned voice as Nyx walked over to him slipping her hand into his, DL entwining their fingers together.

"Goodbye all." Nyx winked saucily at the Doctor. "And dream a little dream of me."

"Farewell." DL said before he and Nyx vanished.

"Something happened." Rory said as he and Amy struggled to sit up right. "I…What happened to me? I…." Amy leaned forward hugging him as the Doctor and Stella stumbled to their feet and started to move around the console flipping switches and pressing buttons. "Oh. Oh, right. This is good. I am liking this. Was it something I said? Could you tell what it was so I can use it in emergencies, and maybe birthdays."

"What are we doing now?" Amy looked to the Time Lord and Cyborg as the familiar wheezing sound of the Tardis filled the room.

"Me, I'm going to blow up the Tardis." The Doctor grunted as he turned a lever.

"And I'm helping." Stella said cheerfully as she hit a few buttons.

"What?" The companions panicked snapping to their feet.

"Notice how helpful the Dream Lord and Nyx were?" The Doctor asked, but it was obvious the companions did not see it that way as the ship started to shake violently and the lights went red. "Okay, there was misinformation, red herrings, malice, and I could have done without the limerick, but they were always very keen to make us choose between dream and reality."

"What are you doing?" Amy questioned over the noise as the clung to the console clambering to their feet.

"Doctor, Stella the Dream Lord and Nyx conceded. This isn't a dream." Rory tried to convince them.

"Yes, it is." Stella said as they went on working, the shaking increasing.

"Stop them." Amy ordered Rory who tried, but Stella easily held him back while the Doctor finished up.

"Star burning cold? Do me a favor." The Doctor scoffed. "The Dream Lord and Nyx have no power over the real world, Nyx told me so herself. They are dreams and there is only one way you can truly dream, only one way to end a dream, and that is if you are asleep."

"He was offering us a choice between two dreams." Stella told them, yelling to be heard over the destructive noises.

"How do you know that?" Amy called out.

"Because we know who they are." The Doctor replied sharing a glance with Stella.

"All we have to do now is wake up." Stella slammed her hand down on the last lever and the Tardis erupted in a fiery explosion.

-0-

Rory and Amy entered a completely normal Tardis console room to see the Doctor looking at something small and crystal rainbow colored in his palm while Stella leaned her head on his shoulder humming to herself.

"Any questions?" The Doctor asked them as they walked over.

"Er, what's that?" Amy asked.

"A speck of psychic pollen from the candle meadows of Karass don Slava." The Doctor informed them.

"That was such a nice trip." Stella mused as the Doctor pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"Very nice." The Doctor looked back to their companions. "Must have been hanging around for ages." The Doctor took them over to the door and blew them out into space. "Fell in the time rotor, heated up and induced a dream state for all of us."

"So that was the Dream Lord then? Those little specks." Rory said asked as he walked back up to the console, his hand slipping around Stella's waist.

"No, no. No. Sorry, wasn't it obvious? The Dream Lord was me." The Doctor said surprising the couple.

"And Nyx was me." Stella added gaining another shocked look from them.

"Psychic pollen. It's a mind parasite." The Doctor explained to them. "It feeds on everything dark in you, gives it a voice, turns it against you. I'm nine hundred and seven and Stella is..." Stella gave him a look. "…it had a lot to go on."

"But when it's not doing that it is a very pretty sight in the moon light, all sparkly and such." Stella said wistfully.

"But why didn't it feed on us, too?" Amy asked.

"The darkness in you pair, it would've starved to death in an instant." The Doctor scoffed.

"We choose our friends with great care." Stella added.

"But those things they said about yourselves. You don't think any of that's true?" Amy asked as the Doctor wrapped his arms around Stella, neither of them meeting her gaze nor each other's.

"Amy, right now a question is about to occur to Rory." The Doctor avoided answering and took Amy by her shoulders turning her around to face Rory. "And seeing as the answer is about to change his life, I think you should give him your full attention."

"Yeah. Actually, yeah." Rory said in realization as the Doctor shoved her forward gently.

"There it is." The Doctor smiled moving to the other side of the console pulling Stella along with him.

"Because what I don't get is, you blew up the Tardis, that stopped that dream, but what stopped the Leadworth dream?" Rory asked.

"We crashed the camper van." Amy said hesitantly.

"Oh, right. I don't remember that bit." Rory said in confusion.

"No, you weren't there. You were already…" Amy closed her eyes.

"Already what?" Rory asked.

"Dead. You died in that dream." Amy admitted. "Mrs. Poggit got you."

"Okay. But how did you know it was a dream? Before you crashed the van, how did you know you wouldn't just die?" Rory asked, still confused.

"I didn't." Amy sighed glancing from the floor to him.

"Oh." Rory said in realization.

"Yeah." Amy nodded confirming his thoughts.

"Oh." Rory's eyes widen as he looked at Amy.

"Yeah, oh." Amy looked to him and Rory took her hands in his pulling her into a deep kiss.

"So crashed a van huh?" Stella commented as she and the Doctor looked away from Amy and Rory. Stella let out a surprised squeak when the Doctor grabbed hold of her and pulling her into a deep passionate kiss that was felt from her head to her toes. He pressed her against the console molding his body to hers as he poured all of himself into the kiss, Stella returning in kind as she pressed herself back against him. When he finally pulled apart he laid his forehead on hers, one of his hands sill buried in her hair while the other was wrapped around her waist and Stella's hands were wrapped around his neck.

"I couldn't bear the thought of being without you." The Doctor gazed down into her eyes, Stella feeling her hearts jolt at the emotion the conveyed

"I would have done the same." Stella admitted with a soft smile. "I love you Theta."

"I love you to my starlight." The Doctor leaned down kissing her breath away once more before they finally checked in on their companions only to find them in a lip lock of their own.

"So, well then, where now? Or should we just pop down to the swimming pool for a few lengths?" The Doctor asked as they broke apart.

"I don't know. Any where's good for me. I'm happy anywhere." Rory smiled wrapping his arm Around Amy who leaned happily into his touch. "It's up to Amy this time, Amy's choice."

The Doctor made to set the Tardis in motion when he looked down seeing the Dream Lord looking back up at him in the reflective surface. Stella reached over taking his hand gaining his attention at the same time Nyx appeared next to the Dream Lord with a smile before they both vanished. Stella smiled brightly causing all of the Doctor's negative thoughts to disappear and happiness to fill his hearts, the same feeling Stella was receiving as he smiled down at her.