Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who all rights go to the BBC

A/N: Hey guys! I hope you all enjoy the next chapter! Fell free to leave some feedback, it is greatly appreciated :)

Claire's Outfit: claires_outfit_chapter_19-20/set?id=94859185&lid=3219209

About a week has past since the flower incident. Just to be safe, I tried to refrain from drawing. The Doctor told me that it was ok for me to draw, and if something happened he would fix it before it got out of hand, but I couldn't bring myself to. I guess you could say I was afraid. Afraid I would accidentally hurt or even kill someone if I unintentionally created something dangerous.

Even though the Doctor constantly tried to assure me that I wasn't dangerous, I didn't believe him. I had a feeling he knew something that he didn't want me to know about. I asked him a couple of times out of the blue if anything was wrong or if he knew anything yet, but he would only say "no." I could tell he was lying though.

Whatever it was that he was hiding from me it had to be for a good reason. Right? He always says that I'm under his protection and that he would never let anything hurt me. If this was his way of protecting me, then so be it. I'm sure I'll learn eventually what it is that clever man is hiding.

"I sent you out to collect as many cubes as you could in twenty four hours. And look at you; you've made a right hash of it, haven't you? Well, Craig, you're fired." Lord Sugar said on the television.

I made a face. This is show is crap. The Doctor, Amy, Rory and I were sitting around the television watching some show I forgot the name of. It was a lazy Sunday so we all agreed to just sit around and watch bad television, much to the Doctor's dismay.

"Claire, please try one!" The Doctor pleaded shoving a fish finger drenched in custard in my face.

I scrunched my nose in disgust. "Doctor, I've told you a thousand of times that I hate fish."

He pulled the puppy-dog-face. "Please…"

With a sigh of defeat I accepted the weird food he was obsessed with. I eyed it carefully before taking a tiny hesitant bite. I gagged. "Oh my God, that is disgusting."

The Doctor frowned. "Fine. More for me." He pulled the fish finger from my hand and shoved it in his mouth. "You know, if I had a restaurant, this'd be all I'd serve."

Amy laughed through a mouthful of fish custard. "Yeah, right. You running a restaurant."

"I've run restaurants. Who do you think invented the Yorkshire pudding?" He said with a smile as he draped his arm across my shoulders.

"You didn't." Rory laughed in disbelief.

"Pudding, yet savory. Sound familiar?" He examined a fish finger dripping with custard. I caught him looking at me from the corner of his eye an evil smirk slowly crossing those beautiful lips of his.

"What-" I was cut off when the Doctor suddenly bopped me on the nose with the fish stick leaving a huge glob of custard in it's spot.

I glared at him playfully. "You did not just do that."

He took a bite out of the fish stick. "Oh I believe I just did."

A smirk graced my lips as I snuck my hand inside the bowl of custard. When he wasn't looking I took a handful and slapped it on his face.

"Oi!" He laughed wiping the cream from his face.

I let out a loud eruption of giggles only to have an equal amount of custard thrown at me. It didn't take long for the two of us to break into a full out food fight.

"Oi! If you two make a mess of my living room you're cleaning it up." Amy hollered escaping from her place on the couch besides the Doctor in attempt to avoid being hit.

"Right. I'm going to take these away." Rory said taking the empty bowls away from us. "And you two are going to go clean your faces because you both look absolutely atrocious."

The Doctor and I stopped chucking custard at one another and took a moment to examine each other's faces. A loud snort burst from me at the sight of the Doctor. Huge globs of custard were sticking to his face the majority clung to his enormous chin and nose. The Doctor joined in my laughter as he pointed at my face.

"My god, Claire, I am so sorry." He laughed.

Yes, my face was covered, but unfortunately a lot of the nasty stuff was caked in my hair. Ugh that's going to be painful to get out. I shrugged my shoulders. "I'm going to go take a shower, you should probably wash your face first."

With that our little custard war came to an end.

After a nice hot shower, I walked into the living room only to find the Doctor jumping around and whacking a tennis racket on the Wii. I rolled my eyes at him before settling myself on the couch.

"The Wii again?" I asked watching him in amusement.

"Well there's nothing else to do around here." He grumbled.

"Hey, you said you wouldn't complain this time."

"I went almost a month now without complaining isn't that enough?"

"No, it's not." I joked.

"Play with me." He ordered throwing an extra tennis racket at me.

I sighed. "You know I'm not good at video games."

"Fine, we'll play on the same team this time."

"Ok, this way you can't cheat." I said getting up and joining him.

"Oi, I do not cheat!" I raised an eyebrow at him only to have him crumble underneath my gaze. "Ok, I did once on Mario cart. Sorry about that by the way."

I laughed and nudged him in the shoulder. "Just shut up and start the game."

The Doctor started a new game and as usual he was gaining all of the points.

"Oh, yes! Second set, Doctor! Ha, ha!" He cried happily jumping up on the couch and wiggling his butt in the air. He jumped back beside me and wagged his tennis racket around. "Oh, if Fred Perry could see me now, eh? He'd probably ask for his shorts back."

"You stole the man's shorts?" I asked.

"No, I bet him in a match that if I won, I'd get to take one article of his clothing for a year." He explained.

I stared up at him blankly. "Why on earth would you want an article of his clothing?"

The Doctor shrugged. "He was rather fond of my bowtie. So I said that if he won he could have my bowtie for a year, but if I won then I could have any article of clothing from him for a year. It's been about almost ten years since I beat him, so I guess he's off somewhere short-less."

I shook my head at him.

"Third set decider, come on, then." He said to himself as he started the next round.

At that moment one of the cubes flew in front of the Doctor's face blocking his view.

"Doctor…"

"Out of the way dear, I'm trying to-" He noticed the cube and glared at it. "Whatever you are, this planet, these people are precious to me." He pushed me slightly behind him. "And I will defend them to my last breath."

He continued to examine it, a look of disgust on his face. I tried peering around his shoulder to get a better look, but alas I was too short.

"Is that all you can do, hover? I had a metal dog that could do that."

I rolled my eyes at the mention of K-9.

"Ooo, that's clever, what's that?" The Doctor asked suddenly. Before I could decipher what was going on the Doctor grabbed me and pushed me to the ground covering me with his body in the process.

A vase shattered behind us. The Doctor quickly grabbed my hand and the two of us jumped over the couch for cover. The cube continued to follow us shooting lasers at us in the process. We hid behind a wall finally escaping the cube's wraith. We popped our heads out to see what the cube was doing. Images began flashing across the TV screen as it started to upload something.

"Ooo, you really have woken up." The Doctor said.

"DOCTOR!" Rory shouted from the next room. The two of us quickly met up with him in the hallway. "Hi. Err, the cube in there, it just opened."

"The cube upstairs just spiked me and took my pulse!" Amy cried running down the stairs.

"Ha! Really? Ours fired laser bolts and now it's surfing the net."

Brian then came bursting through the front door. "You're not going to believe this. My cube just moved. It rattled."

The Doctor started laughing excitedly before donning his tweed jacket and running back into the living room. Rory's cell phone went off.

"Hello? Ok, I'm on my way."

The Doctor came running back and scooped me up in his arms and twirled me around in a small circle. "Finally some action!" He laughed putting me down.

"I have to get to work. They need all the help they can get."

"Let me come help out." Brian suggested.

"Take you're dad to work night, brilliant!" Rory clapped his dad on the shoulder. "Okay, are you going to be alright here?" He asked turning to Amy.

She pecked him on the cheek. "Keep away from the cubes." She said sternly.

"Right."

Rory and Brian left the room leaving just Amy, the Doctor, and I. The Doctor came up to me and draped his arm across my shoulders grinning down at his psychic paper. I raised an eyebrow at him as I glanced down at the psychic paper. Still blank.

"We're wanted at the Tower of London." He smiled snapping the wallet closed and stuffing it back in his coat pocket.

It was pitch black outside by the time we arrived at the Tower of London. One of the guards at UNIT opened the door for us allowing Amy, The Doctor, and I to scramble out of the limousine Kate sent to collect us. As soon as we stepped out of the car, Kate greeted us.

"Every cube across the whole world activated at the same moment." She told us as she led us through a small corridor.

"Now we're in business." The Doctor exclaimed. "You sent me a message to my psychic paper. You know what? I'm almost impressed."

"Secret base beneath the Tower. Hope we're not here because we know to much." Amy stated bluntly.

"Yes, I've got officers trained in beheading. Also ravens of death."

Amy nodded towards the Doctor and I. "I like her."

The Doctor and I nodded in unison sharing a small smile.

Kate led us into a huge room filled with many individual armored cubicles each containing a cube. "There are fifty being monitored. And more coming all the time." She said leading us around the room. "I don't know how useful it is. Every cube is behaving individually. There's no meaningful pattern. Some respond to proximity."

Amy touched the glass on one and the cube started to produce flames.

Kate gestured to a cubical containing a woman weeping. "Some create mood swings."

The Doctor walked up to the glass and watched the woman curiously as Amy ran up to a cube that didn't appear to be doing anything.

"What's this one?" She asked.

"Try the door."

Amy threw open the door and the 'Chicken Dance' played obnoxiously throughout the room. Amy stared at it in disgust while the Doctor plugged his ears. I tried to hold in a laugh and pretended to flap my arms like wings. The Doctor chuckled at me while Amy quickly shut the door.

"On a loop!" Kate called.

Kate led the three of us over to a group of computers. "This is the latest."

The Doctor stepped up to one of the screens and began typing furiously on it. "Oh dear. Systems breach at the Pentagon, China, every African nation, the Middle East."

"I've got governments screaming for explanations and no idea what to tell them." Kate sighed. "I'm lost, Doctor. We all are."

The Doctor glanced at her with a look of empathy. "Don't despair, Kate. Your dad never did." He smiled as he recalled a past memory. "Kate Stewart, heading up UNIT, changing the way they work. How could you not? Why did you drop Lethbridge?"

"I didn't want any favors. Though he guided me, even to the end. Science leads, he always told me. Said he learned that from an old friend."

"We don't let him down. We don't let this planet down."

A soft beeping came from one of the computers as a researcher stared at it in disbelief. "They've stopped. The cubes, across the world, they just shut down." He said in shock.

"Active for forty seven minutes, and then they just die?" Kate questioned, disbelief written all over her face.

"Not dead. Dormant, maybe." The Doctor answered quickly glancing around the room in thought.

"Then why shut down?" Amy asked.

"I don't know. I don't know. I need to think. I need some air." The Doctor turned towards the door a look of disgust denting his features. "Who has an underground base? Terrible ventilation."

"Maybe I should go see if he's ok." I worried staring at the door he just walked through.

"No, you stay here. I'll go talk to him." Amy said quickly.

"But I don't want to be alone." I pouted. "I don't know anyone."

"Oh hush. I'll only be a minute. Just watch some cubes. I don't know. Be back in a moment." With that she was out the door.

I considered following after her, but decided against it. She obviously needed to talk to the Doctor privately. With a heavy sigh I walked over to one of the glass cubicles and examined a now dormant cube. Why would they just stop?

The Doctor's POV

I had seated myself comfortably on the ledge over looking the cityscape. The sound of a pair of footsteps running towards me caused me to turn my head around. Honestly, I was expecting it to be Claire, actually hoping it was Claire, but I was surprised to find Amelia Pond take a seat beside me.

"You ok?" Amy asked watching me carefully.

I furrowed my brows. "I'm ok. These cubes are really beginning to get on my nerves. The moment they arrived, I should've made sure they were collected and burned. That is what I should've done." A heavy sigh escaped my lips.

"How? Nobody would've listened."

I paused. "You're thinking of stopping, aren't you? You and Rory."

"No, I mean, we haven't made a decision." She started to say, but I quickly cut her off.

"But you're considering it."

She scrunched her nose at me before sighing. "Maybe. I don't know. We don't know. Well, our lives have changed so much. But there was a time, there were years, when I couldn't live without you. When just the whole everyday thing would drive me crazy. But since you dropped us back here, since you gave us this house, you know, we've built a life. I don't know if I can have both."

"Why?"

"Because they pull at each other. Because they pull at me, and because the traveling is starting to feel like running away."

"That's not what it is." I said in defense.

Amy scoffed. "Oh, come on. Look at you, four days in a lounge and you go crazy."

"Hey, I lasted almost a month this time." I objected.

Amy smiled. "That's because you were too busy flirting with Claire the whole time. Face it if she wasn't there, you would've gone nuts on day one."

I glared at her. "I was not flirting with her."

Amy rolled her eyes. "Tough! I've seen the way you look at her, Mr. You like her and don't you dare deny it!"

I frowned and looked down at my hands. Yes, I did like Claire. But I couldn't like her in that way. Not after all of the things I've lost. Rose, River… She would grow old and die away. I couldn't handle loosing her. I shook my head. "It wouldn't work."

Amy narrowed her eyes at me. "What do you mean it wouldn't work? I'm certain she likes you back. Don't tell her I said that."

I smiled at her before changing the subject. "I'm not running away. This is one corner of a planet that's a corner of a galaxy that's a corner of a universe that is forever growing and shrinking and creating and destroying and never remaining the same for a single millisecond. And there is so much more, so much to see, Amy. Because it goes so fast. I'm not running away from things, I am running to them before they flare and fade away forever. And it's alright Our lives won't run the same. They can't. One day, soon maybe, you'll stop. I've known for awhile."

"Ok, way to change the subject, but I'll get back to that later. Why do you keep coming back for us?"

I smiled lightly. "Because you were the first. The first face this face saw and you're seared onto my hearts, Amelia Pond. You always will be. I'm running to you and Rory, and Claire. Before you fade from me."

Amy glared at me. "Don't be nice to me. Now you are going to answer more of my questions."

I gulped before nodding for her to continue.

"Yes, Rory and I may stop traveling with you. Who knows how soon or how far that may be from this moment, but that doesn't mean that Claire isn't going to. I can tell that Claire is going to stay with you for a long time. Hey, probably even longer than I traveled with you for, but I want to know. Why won't it work between you and Claire? I know that it most certainly isn't River. You fancy her Doctor, you may not want to admit it, but you do. You said you were running to us. To her. Why don't you live up to that?"

I felt my hearts beat wildly against my chest. Amy is not going to live this down. I sighed heavily. "Yeah, you do." I confirmed before staring her dead in the eyes. "You always get what you want, Pond. No matter what, things will always go your way."

Amy smiled widely when she realized what I was letting on.

"And unfortunately the cubes are getting what they want as well. Let's deal with them first, come on."

Amy squealed loudly before trapping me in a warm embrace. I rolled my eyes at her as I led the two of us back into the underground base.