"Apalapucia!" the Doctor shouted as he and Star danced around the console, him pulling a lever down.
"Say it again?" Amy frowned.
"Apalapucia!" Star cheered.
"Apalapu..."
"Cia." the Doctor finished.
"Apalapucia." Rory got on the first try.
"Apalapucia." Star grinned, "always wanted to come here."
"I know." the Doctor winked.
Back on Gallifey, they had discussed the planets they would go and visit when the finally left, she had gone so far to write it down. Apalapucia had been near the top of the list, so had Shakespeare, but he didn't want to go and end up getting killed by Elizabeth 1st for something he didn't even know what he had done.
"Apalapucia." Amy smiled at the word, "What a beautiful word."
"Beautiful word, beautiful world. Apalapucia voted number 2 planet in the top 10 greatest destinations for the discerning intergalactic traveller."
"Why couldn't we go to number 1?" Rory asked.
"It's hideous," Star grimaced, thinking about the planet.
"Everyone goes to number one." the Doctor nodded, "Planet of the coffee shops. Apalapucia! I give you sunsets, spires, souring silver colonnades!" he lead them outside, "I give you..." he threw the doors open.
"Doors." Rory stated.
"Doors. Yes, I give you doors," he stepped out followed by Star.
"Doors do open Rory," Star reminded him, linking her arm with him. "unless they're locked, but then locked doors are each to open, you can use a sonic or kick them down. they're many ways to get through doors"
"On the other side of the doors," the Doctor continued, "I give you sunsets, spires, soaring diver colonnades."
"Have you seen my phone?" Amy poked her head out the doors.
"Your phone?"
"Yeah."
"Your mobile telephone? I bring you to a paradise planet, 2 billion light years away, and you want to update twitter?"
"Sunsets. Spires. Soaring silver colonnades. It's a camera phone."
"It's in the counter by the DVDs." Star told her.
"Thank you." Amy nodded and went back in to get her phone.
"How do we get in?" Rory wondered.
"I don't know." the Doctor frowned.
"Push a button." Star suggested, and Rory walked to the panel on the side, "oh, I wanna do it! I like pushing buttons!" she looked at the two buttons, green anchor and red waterfall, she pressed the green anchor and the doors slid open to another plain white room, though this one had a pair of white chairs and a table with a large magnifying glass on top.
"Ok," the Doctor pouted, "So, rain check on the soaring silver colonnades."
They entered the room and looked around, the doors sliding shut behind them
"It's a magnifying glass," Rory remarked, looking at it as the Doctor peered through.
"Hey?" they heard a muffled call from outside, "Hey, it's locked."
"Yeah, push the button," Rory called back. A moment later and the doors still hadn't opened. Rory sighed, "Come on Amy!" he opened the doors and looked out to find it empty, "where is she? Where oh wherever is my wife?"
Star sat in one of the chairs and pressed the green button on the magnifying glass. A blurry picture of Amy appeared on the other side.
"Rory," Star called to him, "I think we've found her."
Amy's eyes widened as she spotted them.
"What do you mean you've found her?" Rory frowned, and he spotted Amy through the glass, "Whoa! No, but, she's not...she's not here! I can see her, but she's not here."
"Where am I?" Amy leaned closer, "In fact, where are you?"
The door in the room suddenly slid open and a white robot with no face and real hands entered. The Doctor as Rory put their hands up as Star ignored the slow moving robot.
"Whoa." Rory looked at it.
"Hands!" the Doctor noticed, "Hello, hands. Handbot with hands, Rory."
"Welcome to the Two streams Facility. Will you be visiting long?" the Handbot asked.
"Er, Star," Amy called, backing away, "Something's happening."
"Amy!" Star shouted, as the screen turned to static, the image of Amy moving through fast motion.
"Stay calm!" the Doctor ordered, rushing over, "Times gone wobbly." he soniced the glass, "I hate it when it does that."
"Will you be visiting long?" the Handbot jerked its hand out to Rory.
Rory leapt back, "good question, bit sinister. What's the answer to not get us killed?"
Star hit the top of the magnifying glass and the image of Amy appeared, her now sitting curled up in the corner of the room, "Hey that worked!" She grinned at the Doctor.
He laughed before turning to Amy, "It's ok, we've got you, you're fine."
"Will you be visiting long?" the Handbot repeated.
"Um...a little help," Rory called to them.
"And where have you been?" Amy demanded.
"Will you..." the Handbot began again.
"What do I tell it?" Rory whispered to them.
"I've been here a week!" Amy glared though the glass at them.
"A week?" the Doctor blinked, "I'm so sorry! Two time streams running parallel bit at different appends. Amy, you're in a faster time stream."
"It's going again!" Amy groaned as the picture turned to static.
"Star!" Rory shouted as the Handbot reached its hand closer to him.
"Amy!" the Doctor tried to get the picture back.
"DOCTOR!" Amy screamed.
Star grabbed the sonic and pointed it at the glass, the image of Amy, sitting on a chair, feet on the table, reappeared, "There. Stabilised!"
"Why has it got hands?" Rory wondered as the Handbot cornered him.
"Organic skin," the Doctor walked over, "ultimate universal interface, grown and grafted, not bots. It's actually seeing with its fingers, scanning the room. But why not just give it eyes?"
"Will you be visiting long?" the Handbot repeated.
"As long as it takes," the Doctor answered it.
"Amy," Star called to the girl, "What exactly did you do?"
"I just…I came in, and I pressed the door button." Amy shrugged.
"Green anchor or red waterfall. Which one did you push?"
"I press red waterfall."
"Great." Rory muttered opening the door and going to get his wife.
He returned a moment later, without Amy, "I pressed red waterfall and she wasn't there!"
"Can't follow her directly. It's never simple!" Star pouted.
"Hear that, Handbot?" The Doctor turned to it, "She just pressed the wrong button. We're aliens, we didn't know."
"Statement...rejected," the Handbot stated. A red light brightened on his chest, "Apalapucia is under planet-wide quarantine. This is a kindness faculty for those infected with Chen 7."
Star gasped as the Doctor quickly covered her nose and mouth with his jacket, using his other sleeve for himself.
"What?" the Doctor breathed.
"What's Chen 7?" Rory asked, muffled as he covered his own nose and mouth with his coat.
"The one day plague." Star breathed.
"What, you get it for a day?"
"No, you get it and you die in a day." the Doctor corrected, this was not how he hoped this trip would turn out.
Amy gasped and covered her nose and mouth aswell.
"There are 40,000 residents in the two streams Facility." The Handbot stated, "Please remain in the sterile areas. Visiting hours are now." It placed its hands together and teleported away.
"Sterile area," the Doctor let out a breath of relief, lowering his sleeves over his and Star's mouth, that was too close for comfort, "We're safe." He sat down.
Amy smacked the glass, "what about me!"
"Chen 7 only affects two-hearted races," Star informed her, "Like Apalapucians."
"And Time Lords." Rory realised.
"Yeah, like us," The Doctor nodded, "In that facility, we're dead in a day. Time moves faster on Amy's side of the glass." His hearts began to slow down, reminding himself that Star was safe, this area was sterile. If she hadn't pressed the Green Anchor button...well, they'd be dead. If she hadn't pressed the button and Rory had…they could be in red waterfall now, dying.
"Amy," Star turned back to the screen, "What did you eat during the week?"
"Nothing," she replied, "I wasn't hungry."
"No, because red waterfall time is compress," the Doctor nodded, "that's the point. The Time Glass syncs up the time streams for visits. You could be here for a day, watch them live out their entire lives."
"And watch them grow old in front of your eyes?" Rory frowned, "That's horrible."
"No, its kind," Star murmured, "you can either sit by their beside for 24 hours, watching them die or sit here for 24 hours and watch them live." She looked at him, "Which would you choose?"
The Doctor picked up the glass.
"Doctor?!" they heard Amy shout, "Star, don't leave me!"
The Doctor moved the glass to the side of the room, looking at Amy, "we're here, Amy. We're right here."
"Where are you? Am I looking at you?"
"Turn left, just a faction." She moved to the left, "bit more, stop. That's it."
"Eye to eye?"
"Eye to eye to eye to eye."
"Hello." Rory called.
"Amy, we're taking the Time Glass back to the TARDIS. Like satnav, we'll use it to get a lock, then smash through, using the TARDIS to get you out. Until then, your own your own." He soniced the glass.
"What are you doing?" Rory asked.
"He's locking on to Amy," Star answered.
"Small act of vandalism, no one'll mind." The Doctor said…and an alarm blared.
"Okay…someone does…"
"Amy, we need you to go into the facility just for a bit. Find somewhere safe and leave us a sign. Remember you're immune to Chen7, but don't let them give you anything. They don't know you're alien. Their kindness will kill you. Now go!"
Amy pressed the 'check in' button and the door slid open, she turned back to them, "Rory, I love you. Now, save me. Go on." She entered the facility and the door slid shut.
Rory looked on, solemn.
"You heard you're wife." Star called, "Now come on." She ran out the room, the men following her.
~.~
The Doctor placed the time glass on the console, "This is locked onto Amy permanently. Play the signal into the console, the TARDIS'll follow it." he attached a cable to the glass, causing it to smoke before he searched through a tool chest of odds and ends, "Now then, I know you're in here. Um…erm…ha ha!" he put on a pair of black-rimmed glasses, "how do I look?" he turned to Rory.
"Ridiculous." Rory replied.
"Hilarious." Star agreed.
"Oi!" he pouted, "Glasses are cool. See?" he put the glasses on Rory, "Oh, yes. Hello, handsome man."
"Oh, hello." Rory smiled.
"Hello, Rory cam!" Star laughed.
"Huh?" he looked over at the monitors; they could see what he saw, "oh, you can see what I see."
"We're breaking into two streams." The Doctor continued, "Now, we can't go in, the Chen7 will kill us, no regeneration. You will be our eyes and ears."
"Rory-cam," he nodded, understanding, "rescue Amy. Got it."
"That's the spirit! Now, smashing through a timewall could get a bi hairy."
"Is it safe?"
"Do you think it's safe?" Star countered. Rory shook his head.
"Never tried this before," the Doctor admitted, "best hold onto something."
The Doctor laughed manically as he held onto the console as the TARDIS broke through the two time streams. Rory held onto the console for his life as Star ducked her head in her knees sitting on the jump seat.
~.~
The TARDIS materialised and the Time Lords watched as Rory stepped out, wearing the glasses, the time glass attached to the belt worn across his body, "red waterfall! We made it." he shut the door behind him.
The Doctor and Star moved around the console, watching him, "good old us!" he cheered.
"Good job, old girl!" Star patted the console fondly.
"How do we know that we're in the same Red Waterfall as Amy?" Rory asked.
"Focus on the positive." The Doctor replied, "We locked onto Amy's time streams."
The Doctor covered Stars eyes as Rory's gazed drifted around the gallery he was in, and landed on Venus di Milo's breast.
"Eyes front, solider!"
Rory quickly looked away, "right, yes, sorry."
"Apalacpucians are the great cultural scavengers," Star informed him, lowering the Doctors hand as he still covered her eyes, "this gallery's a scrapbook of their favourite places."
They watched as Rory wondered through the gallery, "bit of Earth, bit of alien, bit off…whatever the hell that is." He looked around, "Where…is everyone?"
The Doctor and Star shared a glance, moving around opposite ends on the console, "Right, Rory, switch the time glass on and sonic it. Star'll send a command to the screwdriver. Amy's here somewhere. If I can just get a lock on her, I wonder what happens if we mix the filters?"
"I don't think we should try it." Star admitted.
The Doctor chuckled and turned back to the monitors to see Rory sonicing the time glass, to see lots of people milling about, all out of focus, "and there they are. 40,000 time streams overlapping. Red Waterfall isn't one time stream. Its thousands."
"Are they happy?" Rory asked.
"Oh, Rory. Trust you to think of that. I think they're happy to be alive. Better than the alternative."
"Oh, no," Star swallowed, seeing something on her readings, "Rory, you need to get back now! Before you…"
She was cut off as Rory lowered the time glass to see a woman with long red hair, in a pieced together armor and visor, charging at him with a katana, sending him to the floor on his back, "I come in piece! Peace, peace, peace, peace!" he held his hands up as the sword was aimed at his throat.
"I waited." The person stated, the voice also computerised.
"Sorry, what?"
"I waited for you." she pulled the sword away, "I waited!" she lifted her visor to reveal…Amy. An older and winkler Amy.
"Amy." Rory breathed, "Doctor, Star, what's going on?"
"Er…" the Doctor stared at the monitor as Star walked around the console.
"im so sorry," Star whispered, "I just saw the readings, we're, um…a few decades off…" as soon as she saw them she tried to get Rory to come back, that way there was a small chance (impossible small, but still a chance) that they could try again and go get present Amy.
"No, please," Rory pleaded as Amy drew her sword back to strike, "please!"
"Duck." Was all Amy said and Rory ducked as Amy pulled the sword through a Handbots head, sending to backwards to the floor, "Handbots carry a black box in case they go offline. I've changed the cause of termination from hostile to accidental," she crouched down and began fiddling with it, "Easy to re-program. Using my sonic probe."
"Amy."
"Rory."
"Why?"
"I've survived this long making the Handbots think I don't exist. Don't touch the hands. Anaesthetic transfer, if they touch you, you go to sleep."
"But you're still here?"
"You didn't save me." Was all she said as she stormed off.
Rory ran after her, "this is the saving! This is the us saving you! The Doctor just got the timing a bit out!"
The Doctor winced, mouthing 'sorry' even though they couldn't see them and Star unknowingly adjusted her corset, something she tended to do when she was uncomfortable and was currently very uncomfortable with the situation and what it would mean.
"I've been on my own here a long, long time." Amy continued, not looking back, "I've had decades to think nice thoughts about him. Got a bit harder to stay charitable once I entered decade 4."
"40 years?" Rory gaped, "Alone?"
"36 years." She corrected, "Thanks!"
"No. right, I mean….you look great. Really. Really."
Amy raised her eyes brows as Rory looked back at her eyes, "Eyes front, soldier."
"Still can't win then."
"In fact, I think I can now definitely say I hate him. I hate the Doctor. I hate him more than I've ever hated anyone in my life. You can hear every word of this through those ridiculous glasses, cant you, Raggedy Man?"
"Ah, yes." The Doctor flipped a switch, "putting the speaker phone on."
"You told me to wait. And I did. A lifetime."
"Amy…"
"You've got nothing to say to me."
"Behind you!" Star cried.
Amy turned to see two Handbots closing in on them, she threw something at Rory and ducked and pressed the Handbots hands together. "Feedback. Knocks them out. Learned that trick on my first day." She strode off again.
"Ok," Rory ran after her, "so we can just take the TARDIS back to the right time stream, yeah? We can stop any of this happening."
"I tried telling you, Rory," Star sighed, "We're part of events now."
"This is so wrong." Rory muttered.
"I got old, Rory," Amy scoffed at him, "What did you think was going to happen?"
"Hey!" he reached out and grabbed her arm, "I don't care that you got old! I care that we didn't grow old together. Amy, come on, please."
"Don't touch me," Amy gently pulled her arm away, "Don't do that."
"It's like you're not even her."
"36 years, 3 months, 4 days of solitary confinement." She stopped in front of a set of large doors and faced them, "this facility was built to give people the chance to live. I walked in here and I died. Do you have anything to say? Anything, Doctor?"
"Where did you get a sonic screwdriver?" the Doctor chuckled.
"I made it." she glared through the glasses, "and it's a sonic probe."
"She's angry at you and THAT'S what you say?" Star blinked at him.
"You're not much better."
"What have I done?"
"You're related to him."
Star laughed at that, "Yeah, and I also had to wait for him. And you know what I did to stop the pain? I sent his best friends after him."
"You sent the Master chasing after me?" The Doctor blinked.
"Sorry." She grinned sheepishly.
She was so angry with him, she wasn't thinking, she'd just gone to the Master and so calmly demanded him to go after him and he had done. I had taken a few weeks afterwards for her to finally calm down and regret what she had done, but it was too late, the deed was done, she wasn't able to do anything about it, just continue her life as normal, not knowing if he was still alive or not.
"You made a sonic screwdriver?" Rory asked, turning the Time Lords attention back to the monitor.
"Probe." Amy huffed and walked through the doors.
Rory hurried after her and followed her through a curtain made from miscellaneous materials.
"Oh!" Rory blinked spotting a Handbot in the corner of the room.
"Don't worry about it," Amy waved him off, as it turned to reveal a smiley face drawn on, "Sit down, Rory."
The Time Lords chuckled as both Rory and the Handbot sat down; evidently the Handbot was called Rory.
"You named him after me?" Rory asked, surprised.
"Needed a bit of company." Amy shrugged him off.
"So, he's like your…"
"Pet."
Rory looked away from Amy to the Handbot, "Is it safe?"
"Yep. I disarmed it."
"How?" they noticed that the Handbot had no hands, "Oh, you…disarmed it."
"Oh, don't get sentimental, it's just a robot. You'd have done the same."
"I don't know that I would have." The Doctor remarked.
"And there he is the voice of God. Survivor. Cos no ones going to come for you. Number 1 lesson." She glared through the glasses, "you taught me that."
"Is that really all I taught you?"
"Don't you lecture me, blue box man flying through time and space on whimsy. All I've got, all I've had for 36 years, is cold, hard reality. So, no, I don't have a sonic screwdriver because I'm not off on a romp. I call it what it is, a probe. And I call my life what it is…hell." She turned away.
"Amy if you call this hell I'd love to know how you would have survived my life." Star called.
"Try me."
"A loving family, but then a terrible day, you find out that you're an abomination to all creation, a disease to Time Lord society, you don't except yourself, you hide away, speaking to only two people, the people you care for, who you see everyday, you avoid your family, isolate yourself from them, cause THEM their own pain. Then your father runs away, breaking promising, never to be seen again. so you ensure to make his life miserable the best you can, you send his ex-best friend after him, and THEN you loose your mother!" she began to raise her voice in her rant, "so then, it just you, you ignore your brother and sisters, ignore your best friends, and then, you get forced to regenerate, become a soldier who can easily handle any weapons given, you kill, and kill and kill and you keep going, surviving and then you see the re-birth and a whole new race of Daleks who were fighting to kill, but no, they survive. Your whole planet burns but they survive and THEN, then he comes back and then you die for the 3rd time and you're only a few years older than 400 and then you life a live afraid of yourself, hating the touch of other people for fear of hurting them. THAT is hell! Is your life like that? No, it's not."
Amy stayed silent. Compared to that, her life was peaceful.
Star took a breath, "That was the biggest ramble I have ever done, but anyway, we're gonna put this right."
"You said you learned from an Interface." The Doctor recalled, wrapping his arms around Star, knowing she didn't like to talk about the past, "Can we speak with it?"
"Doesn't work in here." Amy replied, checking her watch, "2:23, the garden'll be clear now. Stay or go?"
"Sorry, me?" Rory blinked, unsure who see was talking to, "No, im coming with you!"
"Then try not to get killed. Or do. Whatever."
Amy walked off, Rory following.
~.~
"When I first came here, I had to trick the Interface into giving me the information, but I've reprogrammed it now." Amy explained to Rory as they stood garden, "It'll tell me anything except how to escape."
"You hacked it?" Rory gaped in awe, "that's genius!"
"Sorry to interrupt that beautiful moment," the Doctor interrupted, "but temporal engines have a regulator valve, which has to be kept form the main reactor or there's feedback. Interface, where's the regulator?"
"The regulator valve is held within." The Interface said, appearing on the monitor as a hologram as Star typed away, trying to download the information.
"Ah! Oh, very, very 'ah!' interface, we need to run though some technical specifications. Rory, give me to Amy a minute."
"Here you go." Rory tucked the glasses off and they saw him trying to put them on Amy but she jerked away so he handed them to her and she put them on, now they could see Rory.
"They look ridiculous." Amy remarked.
"That's what I told him. Still, anything beats a fez, eh?" they shared a laugh but Amy quickly stopped, "What is it?"
"I think that's the first time I've laughed in 36 years."
Rory looked away, "I'll just, um, leave you geniuses alone. I'll be back in a minute." Amy watched him walked away.
"There's still time, Amy," Star told her.
"It's still in flux." The Doctor agreed, "We can fix everything."
Amy looked down, only for a beep to go off on her wrist; she looked at her watch to see the time was 2:30. She ran off, shouting for Rory…only to see him on the ground, a Handbot standing over him, its head open preparing to fire a dart at him, when she cut its head off with her sword.
"Oh." Rory groaned.
"Rory?" Amy knelt besides him.
"Glasses."
Amy stood and turned away, "you stupid..."
"Oh! You saved me."
"Don't get used to it."
"Have you been crying? A little bit?"
"Shut up, Rory."
"You have, haven't you?"
"Woman with a sword. Don't push it."
Rory raised his hands in surrender.
The Doctor chuckled, "ok, so here's the plan. Time is always a bit wibbly-wobbly, but in two streams its extra wubbly." They watched as Amy gave the glasses back to Rory and they could see Amy again.
"We've worked out how to hijack the temporal engines and then fold two points of Amy's timeline together." Star called.
"We're bringing her out of the then and into the now! Amy, we just need to borrow your brain a minute, it won't hurt, probably, almost probably, and then, Amy Pond, we're going to save you."
Amy stared into the glasses, "No!" she strode off, "time's up, Handbots coming."
"Amy, please, we need YOU!" Star tried reasoning, "Amelia!" she sighed as Amy strode through the doors.
Rory lifted the time glass to the door, showing the faded marks of the message in red lipstick Amy left them, an arrow pointing to the door handle, "you told her to leave us a sign. And she did. And she waited, oh, Amy." he sighed, following his wife, "Why won't you help yourself?"
"They want to rescue Past Me from 36 years back, which mean I'll cease to exist." Amy spun around to him, "Everything I've seen and done dissolves, time is rewritten."
"That's…that's good, isn't it?"
"I will die. Another Amy will take my place, an Amy who never got trapped at two streams, who grew old with you, and she, in 36 years, won't be me."
"But you'll die in here."
"Not if you take me with you," she looked directly into the glasses, "you came to rescue me, so rescue me."
"Leave her and take you?"
The Time Lords shifted uncomfortably, "We could take this Amy with us," the Doctor began, "easy, but if we do, our Amy has to wait 36 years to be rescued."
"So I have to choose," Rory frowned, "which wife do I want?"
"She is me." Amy said, "We're both me."
"You being here is wrong. For a single day, an hour, let alone a lifetime, I swore to protect you…I promised."
Without a word, Amy walked through the curtain.
"Rory..." the Doctor began.
"This is your fault."
"I'm so sorry, but Rory..."
"No!" he snapped, "This is your fault! You should look in a history book once in a while, see if there's an outbreak of plague or not."
"That's not how we travel."
"Then I do not want to travel with you!" he threw the glasses on the ground, causing a bit of feedback, but then...they heard quiet sobbing.
"Rory..." Star called softly, "I think we can hear our Amy..."
They couldn't see what was happening as they glasses were facing down but they could hear Rory shuffling, "Oh, Amy." then there were footsteps, "Look me in the face and say you won't help her."
Star turned the speakers off, it was only fair for Rory to speak to Amy without them over hearing and butting in, they deserved a bit of privacy.
So they paced back and forwards in the console room when the Handbot Rory picked up the glasses and they saw Rory put them back on.
They sighed in relief when the curtain opened and Amy stepped out, they turned the speakers on to hear Amy saying, "im going to pull time apart for you." She hugged Rory, crying.
~.~
"Ok, Doctor," Amy called as they walked through the engine room, "Two streams is back on air. Right, ok, do this is big news, this is temporal earthquake time. I am now officially changing my own future. Hold onto your spectacles. In my last, I saw my future self refuse to help you. I'm now changing that future and agreeing. Every law of time says that shouldn't be possible."
"Yes," the Doctor nodded, "except sometimes knowing your own future is what enables you to change it, especially if you're simple minded, contradictory and completely unpredictable."
"So, basically, if you're Amy, then?" Rory confirmed.
"If anyone could do it, it would be Amy," Star laughed.
"It's not about what im doing," Amy countered, "but who im doing it for. Im trusting you to watch my back, Rory."
"Always," he promised, "you and me, always."
"Cos here's the deal…you take me too in the TARDIS. Me too."
"But that means that they'll be two of you, permanently, forever."
"And that way we both get to live."
"Two Amy's together. Can that work?"
The Doctor and Star looked at each other; the Doctor scratched his head "I don't know, it's your marriage."
"Doctor!"
The Doctor looked at Star who rapidly shook her head, this one the ONE thing not to lie about, he continued, "perhaps, maybe, if I shunted the reality compensators on the TARDIS, re-calibrated the doomsday bumpers and jettisoned the karaoke bar, yes, maybe, yes. It could do it. The TARDIS could sustain the paradox." He avoided Stars eyes as she looked at him, disappointed. "Ok, Amy, Past Amy, stand by the door." He instructed, "Future Amy, you too. Future Amy, can I borrow your sonic scr…probe?"
"It's a screwdriver!" Future Amy laughed, handing it to Rory to flash with the Doctor sonic and handing it back again.
"Rory, sonic it, double our power. Amy Now, you're our link to Amy Then. We need to get a signal through. That signal will be a thought. Amy Now and Amy Then, share a thought. Something so powerful that it can rip though time. Rory, sonic the plinth front. Inside, you'll find three levers and a jumble of wiring. That's the regulator valve."
"Ok." Rory nodded.
"Pull out the red and green receptors, re-route blue into red and green into blue. Leave red loose and on no account touch anything yellow." They watched as Rory stared at the green and blue wires, "come on, Rory. It's hardly rocket science. It's just quantum physics."
"Yes, right. Blue into red…"
"Now the lever. Throw them in order! Amy's, start thinking the most important thought you've ever hand. Hold it in your head and do not let it go! Lever one."
Rory pulled it only to get distracted as they heard Amy muttering 'Macarena'.
"She's doing the Macarena." He breathed. "Our first kiss."
"Lever 2, Rory." The Doctor called. He pulled it down as Amy Then began to flicker into their sight, "lever 3."
Rory pulled it and the Time Lords ran around the console as the TARDIS fought to fly away, sparks flew everywhere, glass shattered, and explosions when off. They could hear the two Amy's talking to themselves but didn't pay an attention, now was not the time.
"Rory, take the glasses off." Star called, seeing the readings, "you're getting temporal feedback." She jumped back as the console sparked, "its ok, calm down, old girl!"
"Rory, Amy," the Doctor shouted, "we've created a massive paradox and the TARDIS hates it." he and Star frantically worked the controls, "she's self-phasing, trying to get out of here. What's nasty Amy done to you? Just calm down, dear. Hang on in there."
"Rory, you've barely got 8 minutes left."
"Im sorry, you're on your own now." The monitor turned to static, "Nova…"
Star shook her head, "I can't believe the stuff you drag me into sometimes. but you are my father, you ask me to do something, I do it."
He looked down, ashamed, he'd lied just so they could get their Amy back, there was no way they could have both Amy's in the TARDIS.
~.~
Thankfully, Rory carried THEIR Amy into the TARDIS. Rory laid Amy on the floor and Star checked her over.
"It's just an anaesthetic," she reassured him, "she'll be fine."
The Doctor ran to the door to see Future Amy running towards them, dropping her weapons. "I'm sorry," he whispered to her and slammed the doors moments before she reached them.
"What are you doing?" Rory demanded, standing up.
"Rule 1, Rory." Star closed her eyes, "he lied."
"Doctor?" Future Amy pounded on the door "Let me in!"
"There can't be two Amys in the TARDIS." The Doctor told him, "The paradox is too massive."
"She'll die!" Rory cried, outraged.
"Doctor?" Future Amy continued yelling, "Let me in!"
"No, she'll never have existed." The Doctor corrected, "when we save our Amy, this future won't have happened."
"But she happened! She's there!"
"Doctor!" Future Amy banged, "I trusted you!"
The Doctor closed his eyes, "no, she's not real."
"She is real. Let her in!" he ran to the doors.
"Rory!" Star rushed after him, "im sorry, but if we let her in, all of us will die, both Amys will die. Im sorry."
Rory looked over to see Amy, lying on the floor, safe for now.
"Look, we take this Amy, we leave ours." The Doctor told him, quietly, "there can only be one Amy in the TARDIS. Which one do you want? It's your choice."
"This isn't fair." Rory snapped, "You're turning me into you."
"Your choice, Rory." He walked over to the console.
Star looked over to see Future Amy place her hand on one of the window panels; she too went to the console offering Rory some privacy to talk. She squeezed the Doctor from behind, offering him comfort, knowing how hard it was for him to have to do that.
They heard a click and looked over to see Rory letting go of the lock, tears in his eyes and he turned away from the door.
That was all they needed to know that they needed to go and so they quickly dematerialised…
~.~
"Did you always know it would never work?" Rory asked as he, the Doctor and Star sat on the stairs to the halls, Amy on the jump seat, the Doctors jacket over her, still unconscious from the Handbots, "saving both Amys?"
"I promised you I'd save her and there she is." The Doctor replied. "Safe."
"We're so sorry it came to that," Star squeezed him from the side.
The Doctor helped Star up as Amy woke. The Doctor stuck his tongue out at her and smiled seeing Rory already at her side.
"We'll leave you two alone." Star smiled, pulling the Doctor off, leaving them some privacy.
Guest- Yes, this story was inspired by LizzeXX, but that's all, I have tried very hard to keep as original as possible.
Guest- Its cool if you don't like the story. I'm not the best writer but this is what I like doing as the Doctor does give Star the independence she needs to be her own person.