Disclaimer: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC. I do not own any of it, nor do I get paid for it.

A/N Thanks for the response on the last chapter. Here is the final chapter of 'Terror on Marquessa'. I just want to say that this story was always going to end this way.

Happy Reading!

Terror on Marquessa: Farewell

Previously

The base was deathly silent before the Captain's voice came over the PA system. "All personnel to Bridge. At once."

"What was that?" Rory asked as they hurried towards the bridge.

Amy frowned grimly. "An ultimatum. And we have until the morning to decide."

oOo

Rose tried to struggle again but the Doctor shook his head subtly as she was restrained in a chair just like the Doctor's.

"Open communication to basssssse Marquessssssa," hissed the one that was definitely the leader. "Thisssss time, we have hossstagesssss."

"I don't understand," Rose whispered to the Doctor.

"It is quite simple, I'm afraid," he said. "Have you ever heard the term 'sleeper cells'?"

"No," said Rose.

"During the Cold War between the USA and the USSR on Earth, it was said that each of the countries smuggled in secretly trained agents who would integrate themselves into the enemy society. When the war would begin, these sleeper agents would become active and attack the countries from within," explained the Doctor in a low voice.

"That sounds like a spy novel," said Rose. "Are you telling me that was actually real?"

"Oh yes, definitely," nodded the Doctor.

Rose nodded slowly. "So, this is an Ice Warrior sleeper cell?" she asked.

"Yes, and it's woken up without having any idea of the war being over," he said.

"Why don't we just tell them?" Rose asked.

"Because as far as they are concerned, we are enemy agents," said the Doctor dryly. "Not exactly reliable."

Rose blew a strand of her hair away from her face in frustration. "We got a plan?" she asked.

"The beginnings of one, anyway," said the Doctor. "It does explain the Ice Warrior fleet heading towards us at any rate."

"They're not here to attack, are they?" Rose guessed. "They are coming for their sleeper agents."

"And unless I can convey this information to both Captain Roswell and the Ice Warrior fleet Commander, I'm afraid we might actually have a war on our hands," said the Doctor.

"So, this ship we are in. Is it the same one as in the atmosphere?" asked Rose.

"I am quite certain that it is the sleeper cell's ship,yes," said the Doctor. "They launched it into the airzone to threaten the base. The cave must have been a secondary transporter room. Do you remember Captain Roswell telling us about the colonists?"

Rose nodded. "Marquessa signalled Earth government that Nimbus Prime was ideal for colonisation so new colonists are on their way already," she recalled. "Last thing those people need is walking into a warzone."

"So you see how crucial it is," said the Doctor.

"We are now going on the offensive," the Captain was saying when the Ice Warriors added that they now had hostages.

"You can't be serious," said Rory. "They'll kill the Doctor and Rose."

"Their deaths will be regrettable but I have the welfare of everyone else on this base and the incoming colonists to think of," said the Captain firmly.

"The base firepower will never match the Ice Warriors'," snapped Amy. "This plan is full of holes and will not end well."

"I'm open to anything else you might have," said the Captain angrily.

"Let us try and get in touch with the Doctor and Rose," said Amy calmly. "Something here doesn't quite add up. The Doctor and Rose were nowhere near the base but were captured by the Ice Warriors in the ship above us? I mean, please. That makes no sense."

"She's right, Captain," said Vena. "How the hell did just one ship get here so fast? None of this adds up."

The Captain looked between the two women and nodded. "Amy, Rory, if you can contact them…"

"Already on it," said Rory, dialling Rose's phone. It rang three times before turning off. "Three rings," he said.

"That means that there is more going on than meets the eye," said Amy. "We were right."

"You were able to tell that by the phone ring?" asked Juniper.

"Considering the number of times we end up separated and captured, we devised a system," said Rory. His eyes suddenly lit up as he turned to Yuri and Fred. "Can you trace the trajectory of the ship above us? How exactly did it come to the planet?"

"Do it," said the Captain when they looked at him for confirmation.

Fred went over to his terminal and typed rapidly for a few moments. On the big screen, it showed the planet as it had been the day before, and a ship rose from the planet's surface and went into the atmosphere. The base personnel and Amy and Rory were equally gobsmacked.

"It came from the planet," said Vena hoarsely. "They were already here."

"But we scanned for alien life when we set up the base," Bentley put in.

"Not if they were dormant," said Yuri. He was the expert on Aresian history and technology.

"A sleeper cell," realised Juniper.

"So, the oncoming fleet is not an attack fleet," said the Captain.

"That's a relief," said Vena. "How do we convey that to the sleeper agents then? We don't want a territorial war."

"We surrender," said Amy, like it was obvious.

"Are you out of your mind?" demanded Yuri.

Amy rolled her eyes at him. "We decide a meeting place for getting our hostages back. We only need to delay until the fleet gets here."

"Then the Ice Warriors will deal with their own," nodded Fred. "Makes sense."

"How many hours before the fleet gets here?" asked the Captain, nodding slowly.

"Three," said Yuri.

"Fine," said the Captain. "Vena and I will go to meet the sleeper agents."

"Rory and I are coming too," said Amy quickly, looking at Rory.

"Alright then," said the Captain. "Contact the Ice Warriors, Yuri. Tell them we are ready to surrender."

"The Earthlingssss have agreed to sssssurrender."

"Excccellent," hissed the leader. "Prepare the hosssstagesss."

"They surrendered?" Rose asked the Doctor in a low voice. "That makes no sense."

"Actually, it does," said the Doctor, a contemplative smile on his face. "That system with your phones was a stroke of genius, I must say."

Rose grinned at the praise. "Rory and I came up with it," she said. She lowered her voice. "What about the segment?"

"I have some idea what it might have been," said the Doctor. "If, and I repeat if, we are very lucky, things will happen just as planned and then we can get the segment."

Before Rose could ask him what he was on about, the restraints that bound their wrists sprang open. Rose winced as she rubbed her sore wrists and she was sure that she had sprained something when she had twisted her body in a weird way while cutting off Rory's call. The Doctor helped her up and kept a steadying hand at her back as they walked out with the Ice Warriors.

There had been a total of five Ice Warriors on the sleeper ship and all of them accompanied the two hostages as they were led to a transporter room, this one much bigger than the small room in the cave.

"Sssstand ssstill for teleportation," hissed the Ice Warriors.

"What telepo…" Rose began but felt a silver-blue energy around herself accompanied by a feeling of dizziness. Her knees went weak and she would have fallen if the Doctor hadn't grasped her arm. She looked around and realised that they were only a few yards away from Marquessa.

"Long distance teleportation," explained the Doctor. "You wouldn't even have felt the one in the cave."

"Move," hissed the Ice Warriors before Rose could do more than nod.

"Nice shortcut we took," commented Rose as they walked towards the base. "Saved us a walk."

"The planet is a bit too warm for their taste," said the Doctor. "They would have loathed the walk."

"Why do they want it then?" asked Rose.

"They don't," answered the Doctor shortly. "They just want to chase the Earthlings out."

Rose thought that sounded rather childish but had long ago learned that most wars were started over issues so trivial that they bordered on silly. It was things which followed that made them so much worse.

They arrived into the empty expanse in front of the Marquessa base and saw Captain Roswell and Vena emerge from the base, followed by Amy and Rory.

"Greetings," said the Captain, looking quite cool despite the tension in the air.

"We have your total ssssurrender?" asked the Ice Warrior sleeper leader.

"Not until you release our hostages," said the Captain.

The Ice Warrior nodded at his comrades and the Doctor and Rose began to walk towards the humans. The Doctor was beaming at Amy and Rory proudly as they reached them. "Well done," he whispered to them.

"Just one more thing," said the Captain. "Someone wants a word with you."

A bright beacon in the sky lit up and a massive Ice Warrior ship descended into the airzone. "What isss thissss?" demanded the sleeper cell leader.

"Commander Sskor," came the voice from the ship. "This is Commander Skaldak of the Aresian Elite Contingent. The conflict with the Earthlingssss has been ressssolved. You are now ordered to accompany ussss back to Marsss."

Sskor's disbelief was palpable as the silver-blue teleport energy surrounded him and his comrades. The Ice Warriors were beamed back up to the ship in a matter of seconds. Commander Skaldak's voice echoed once again over the planet.

"Base Captain Roswell, the Aresian nation sends their apologiesss for this mishap. We wish you the best for colonisation."

With those words, the massive Ice Warrior ship rose up into the atmosphere with the smaller ship in tow. In moments, it was lost to space. The Doctor beamed at the slightly gobsmacked humans. "Well," he said. "That worked out well."

The next few hours were spent with cleaning up. Rory had his patients to look after with Bentley's help, and Amy was helping Vena and Juniper secure the premises and the surrounding areas from any stray technology.

The Doctor and Rose had trekked back to the clearing with the terraforming globe. The Doctor had to only touch it with the core and it was transformed back into the segment of the Key. They returned to the base before nightfall, where Fred and a freshly-healed Anne had planned a celebratory party for all of them.

There were plenty of drinks and dancing as the crew and the Doctor and his companions celebrated their victory and the impending arrival of new colonists. Captain Roswell would be the first governor of the new colony and the base personnel would become one of the first citizens of Nimbus Prime. The celebration went on till early hours of the morning before everyone trudged to bed. The guests were generously offered spare rooms, an offer that they took their hosts up on.

Come morning, Rose woke up and nudged the Doctor awake. It was a testament to how tired they all had been that the Doctor had stayed asleep for just as long as her. They met Amy, Rory and most of the crew for breakfast. A few minutes of idle chit-chat later, the crew all left to their jobs, leaving the guests alone.

"Right then," said the Doctor. "Time we were off."

There was a pause before Rory spoke. "I'm not coming," he said quietly.

"What?" asked Rose, shocked.

"I'm more of use here," said Rory, looking earnestly at them. "They need to rebuild the base and the colonists arrive in a few weeks. They need another medic."

"Rory, do you understand what you are saying?" the Doctor asked gently.

Rory nodded firmly. "Working on these patients today made me realise how much I miss being a nurse," he said. "I have loved travelling with you, but I think it's time I put my skills to use. Helping people is what I am good at."

The Doctor beamed proudly at him and clapped his shoulder. "Oh, Rory," he said and then gave him a bear hug. "You will be a wonderful medic."

"Thank you, Doctor," said Rory, smiling at him. "Rose?"

Rose had tears in her eyes as she nodded and threw her arms around Rory. "I will miss you so much," she said.

"I'll miss you too," he said, tightening his hold on her.

Rose sniffed as she pulled away and kissed his cheek. "Keep that phone of yours free for occasional calls," she said.

"I promise," he said, wiping her tears off with his thumb. He looked at Amy, who still looked a bit shell-shocked. "Amy, I…"

Amy responded by walking up to him and pulling him into a fierce kiss. Rory did not hesitate in returning the kiss, knowing that this was probably the last time he would get to do that. Amy pulled away and beamed at him before turning to the Doctor and Rose. "I am staying with him," she announced.

The Doctor did not look surprised. "Base security?" he guessed.

Amy nodded firmly. "I know we are bailing out on you two but Rory's right. We are both skilled and we can help here," she said. "Besides," she added, looking lovingly at Rory. "Some things are worth more than others."

The Doctor nodded and extended his arms to hug her. Amy laughed and hugged him tightly, and kissed both his cheeks while pulling away. "You will be missed, Amelia Pond," he said.

Amy nodded and held her hand out to Rose. Rose took it and hugged Amy. "Take care of each other," she whispered in her ear. Amy nodded as she pulled away and kissed Rose's cheek.

The four of them went to the storage hold where the TARDIS was parked and Amy and Rory packed up their things from the ship. Captain Roswell seemed delighted upon hearing that he would be getting two skilled employees.

When the last of their stuff was out, the four of them stood quietly near the TARDIS, feeling the inevitable goodbye looming over them.

"Well," said the Doctor as Rory put an arm around Amy. "I suppose I shall wish you both luck."

Amy and Rory chuckled and smiled at each other. "We will keep in touch," said Rory. "My phone has the TARDIS number."

"Call whenever you want," said Rose, still a bit teary-eyed.

The Doctor patted Rory's cheek and Amy's head before turning to Rose. "Rose?"

Rose nodded and slipped her hand into his. "Goodbye, you two," she said, looking back at Amy and Rory.

They waved back as the Doctor and Rose stepped into the TARDIS. The gentle whooshing noise started up. and Amy and Rory were both teary-eyed as they heard the noise of the beloved machine rise into a crescendo before dying down, taking the blue box they had called a home away with it.

Rory turned to look at Amy. "Any regrets?" he asked.

Amy smiled at him and brushed her lips against his. "None whatsoever," she decided.

The young couple smiled at each other and then turned to walk away arm-in-arm. This was the beginning of their forever.

A/N End of 'Terror on Marquessa'. And a farewell to Amy Pond and Rory Williams.

I know it wasn't a very dramatic or tragic goodbye but I always wanted them to have a nice exit where they would be happy and doing something they liked. Not to mention, completely voluntary.

The Doctor and Rose are on their own again and there won't be a new companion for two more stories. But we are reaching the end of the 'Key to Time' arc and the Guardians have been quiet so far. Something to chew on.

The next story is called 'The Dalek Factor'. It will feature the return of a familiar face, and no, I don't mean the Daleks. Part 1 will be up soon. Let me know how this one was.

~ Phoenix