The TARDIS materialised in a small garden of a quint cottage, crushing the flowers it landed on.
Thea ran out, hopping down the small wall of the flower bed, catching sight of Rory, older than they'd last seen him, his hair in a ponytail, stepping out of the cottage.
"Rory!" She laughed, rushing to hug him.
"Hey, kiddo." he smiled, hugging her back tightly. He could admit her had rather missed the odd kid.
"Oh, not you too." she moaned at being called a kiddo, "come on, really, I might look young, but I'm not actually."
"Doctor." Rory nodded to the man as he stepped out the TARDIS, stumbling over a loose brick from the flower bed.
"I've crushed your flowers." he winced.
"Oh, Amy will kill you."
"Is she out?" Thea looked over to the doors. She was sure Amy would have been running out to see the Doctor.
"She'll need a bit longer."
"Whenever you're ready, Amy." the Doctor called, his eyes widening as Amy appeared a moment later, waddling out with a very large, and very pregnant belly. "Oh, way-hey! You've swallowed a planet."
"I'm pregnant." Amy rolled her eyes.
"Congratulations!" Thea cheered.
"You're huge!" the Doctor continued to stare.
"Yeah, I'm pregnant." Amy repeated
"Look at you. When worlds collide."
"Doctor, I'm pregnant."
"Oh, look at you both. 5 years later and you haven't changed a bit, apart from age and size."
"Oh, it's good to see you, Doctor." Amy laughed, hugging the man.
"Are you pregnant?" the Doctor asked.
"As she said 3 times now." Thea nodded, "boy or girl?"
"We don't know." Rory smiled. They had decided to just wait until the birth, painting the nursery in neutral colours, they didn't care about the gender, just a healthy baby.
"I say girl." Thea blinked, "can I be an aunt?"
"Cousin." Amy offered as Thea grinned.
"Come on," Rory looked at the Time Lords, "we'll show you around the village."
"Let me just get my coat..." Amy turned and waddled back inside returning a moment later with a small coat on as they headed down the village lane, walking in silence as Rory pointed out a few things, hardly running into another person, barely any cars.
It was very quiet. Peaceful even.
"Ah, Leadworth." the Doctor remarked, "Vibrant as ever."
"It's Upper Leadworth, actually." Rory informed, "We've gone slightly upmarket."
"Where is everyone?" the Doctor looked around.
"This is busy." Amy sighed as they gave her a look. She sat down on a small bench, "Okay, it's quiet, but it's really restful and healthy. Loads of people here live well into their 90s."
"Well, don't let that get you down. I wanted to see how you were." the Doctor remarked, sitting besides Amy, as Rory sat on his other side, "You know me, I don't just abandon people when they leave the TARDIS." Thea snorted. "alright, but I'm working on that."
"This little Gallifreyan is for life." Thea said, pointing to herself, "You don't get rid of me that easily. I'm like a hermit crab, just asked Clyde."
Amy smirked, looking at the Doctor, "You came here by mistake, didn't you?"
"Yeah, bit of a mistake." the Doctor admitted.
"It wasn't, actually. I got to pilot all by myself." Thea said, loud and proud, walking backwards and forwards on the edge of the curb, pretending to balance on it, "and I wanted to see you two. Long time since your wedding."
It really had been a long time, thinking about it she could actually hardly remember their wedding at all. She shook her head, shrugging, maybe she just needed to sleep more. She could admit she hadn't been sleeping quite so well lately.
"You lied to me." the Doctor mock-cried, "you said we were going to Messaline."
He honestly wasn't complaining about not going there. He had asked her why she wanted to go there of all places and she had just tried to avoid the question, saying River had mentioned they'd been there and wanted to check it out. He honestly was glad they hadn't gone there, not after the last time he ended up there by accident, he didn't want that to happen again, or worse. Ending up on the planet right after he had left the last time. He shook his head, no, he would not think about that.
"Yeah, but then I changed my mine and wanted to see Rory, I missed him."
"And what about me?" Amy crossed her arms over her stomach.
"Yeah, you too I suppose."
"Look at this bench." the Doctor said, if anything to change the conversation, pregnant Amy and stubborn Thea was not an argument he wanted to see. Ever. "What a nice bench. What will they think of next? So, what do you do around here to stave off the, you know...?"
"Boredom?" Amy suggested.
"Self harm."
"We relax." Rory smiled, hearing birds chirping in the trees, "we live. We listen to the birds."
"Yeah, see? Birds." Amy nodded, "Those are nice."
"We didn't get time to listen to birdsong back in the TARDIS days, did we?"
"Birds poop wherever they want, could you imagine that all over the console." Thea called, pulling a face, as she squeezed besides Rory, "no birds allowed and they're very loud."
"Oh blimey," the Doctor hunched over, head in hands, "my head's a bit. Ooh..." he forced himself back up right, "Er, no, you're right, there wasn't a lot of time for birdsong back in the good old" he yawned, his head dropping onto Amys shoulder, "...days."
Slowly, the four of them fell asleep to the birds chirping.
~.~
Thea snapped her eyes open, finding herself draped over the jumpseat on her stomach, head hanging over the edge. She knew she hadn't been sleeping the best lately (she had been meaning to change her bed setting, the mattress the Doctor set up was far too hard for this body to find comfortable) but falling asleep in the middle of the day in the console room. That was a bit too much.
"What?" the Doctor jolted awake himself on the floor near the console, "No, yes, sorry, what?"
"Guess hot milk really does help you sleep." Thea muttered, picking up the empty mug on the floor besides the chair.
"Oh, you're okay." the Doctor smiled seeing a short haired Rory, and flat stomach Amy walk over, "Oh, thank God. I had a terrible nightmare about you two. That was scary. Don't ask. You don't want to know. You're safe now." he hugged Amy.
"Oh, okay." Amy blinked, confused.
"That's what counts. Blimey. Never dropped off like that before. Well, never, really. I'm getting on a bit, you see. Don't let the cool gear fool you."
"What do the red flashing lights mean?" Thea frowned, standing up and stretching.
"They definitely mean something." the Doctor muttered.
"Er, Doctor, I also had a kind of dream thing." Rory began slowly.
"Yeah, so did I." Amy agreed.
"yeah, but not a nightmare." Thea murmured.
"No," Rory nodded, turning to Amy, "just, er, we were married."
"Yeah. In a little village." she agreed
"A sweet little village, and you were pregnant."
"Yes, I was huge. I was a boat."
"So you had the same dream, then? Exactly the same dream?"
"Are you calling me a boat?"
"That's what you got from that?" Thea turned to Amy.
Rory turned to her, "you and the Doctor, you were visiting."
The Doctor moved closer to Amy, flicking her jacket open, checking for a hidden baby bump.
"Yeah, yeah, you came to our cottage." Amy nodded.
"How can we have the same dream? It doesn't make any sense."
"And you had a nightmare about us." Amy looked at the Doctor, "What happened to us in the nightmare?"
"It was a bit similar, in some aspects." the Doctor began.
"Which aspects?" Rory frowned.
"All of them." Thea said.
"You both had the same dream." Amy looked between them.
"Basically." the Doctor nodded.
"You said it was a nightmare." Rory accused.
"Pregnant Amy sounds terrifying." Thea had to agreed that did actually sound quite nightmare-ish.
"Oi! Watch it you!" Amy glared at her as Thea held her hands up.
"Look, it doesn't matter." the Doctor cut in, "We all had some kind of psychic episode. We probably jumped a time track or something. Forget it. We're back to reality now."
"Are we?" Thea asked as birds starting chirping, just like back in the village.
"Doctor?" Amy frowned, hearing the birds, "If we're back to reality, how come I can still hear birds?"
"Yeah, the same birds." Rory nodded, "The same ones we heard in the..."
~.~
They woke up on the bench, Rory and the Doctors heads rested against each other, "Dream." he pulled back, embarrassed, "Oh! Sorry. Nodded off. Stupid. God, I must be overdoing it. I was dreaming we were back on the TARDIS."
The Doctor stood up and moved to the middle of the road, looking around.
"You had the same dream, didn't you?" Rory guessed.
"Weren't we just saying the same thing?" Amy shook her head.
"But we thought this was the dream, didn't we?"
"I think so. Why do dreams have to fade so quickly?"
"What exactly is going on?" Rory asked.
"Is this because of you?" Amy eyed them, "Is this some Time Lordy thing because you've shown up again?"
"Humans always blaming the aliens for anything that goes wrong." The huffed.
"To be fair, it is normally your fault." Rory shrugged.
"You take that back."
"Listen to me." the Doctor headed back to them, "trust nothing. From now on, trust nothing you see, hear or feel."
"But we're awake now." Rory insisted.
"We thought we were awake on the TARDIS." Thea countered.
"But we're home." Amy shook her head.
"Yeah, you're home." the Doctor remarked, "You're also dreaming. Trouble is, which is which? Are we flashing forwards or backwards? Hold on tight. This is going be a tricky one."
~.~
"Honestly, this is tiring me out already." Thea huffed as she awoke back in the TARDIS, her arms draped over the railings, one cheek pushed against the metal.
"Oh, this is bad." the Doctor groaned, standing by the console, trying to pull a lever, "I don't like this." It didn't move and so he kicked the console, wincing in pain, "Argh!"
"And that's why you never use force." Thea told him wisely, "you just embarrass yourself."
"Unless you're cross," he countered, "in which case, always use force."
"Shall I run and get the manual?" Amy suggested.
"I threw it in a supernova."
"You threw the manual in a supernova? Why?" she shook her head turning to Thea, "I thought you were reading it."
"I was." she replied, "but someone disagreed with it."
Amy turned to the Doctor for that, "I wanted to be the one to teach her to pilot my TARDIS." he defended.
"So what's wrong with her?" Thea asked, running a hand along the edge of the console.
"And whatever's wrong with the TARDIS, is that what caused us to dream about the future?" Rory wondered.
"If we were dreaming of the future." the Doctor remarked.
"Well, of course we were." Amy scoffed, "We were in Leadworth."
"Upper Leadworth." Rory corrected.
"Yeah, and we could still be in Upper Leadworth, dreaming of this." the Doctor countered, "don't you get it?"
"No, okay?" Amy shook her head, "No, this is real. I'm definitely awake now."
"And you thought you were definitely awake when you were all elephanty."
"Hey." She glared, pointing warningly at him, "Pregnant."
"And you could be giving birth right now. This could be the dream. I told you. Trust nothing we see or hear or feel. Look around you. Examine everything. 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 muttered
"With a bow tie-wearing alien." Amy added, "and another said alien who dresses like a 2007 scene kid."
"Oi!" Thea cried in offence, "I'm not a kid."
Amy ignored her, "So maybe what rings true isn't so simple."
They all looked up as the TARDIS suddenly powered down, leaving them in darkness with just a faint light from the time rotor.
Thea stiffened, "I don't like this."
"It's dead," the Doctor breathed, "We're in a dead time machine."
"What...what killed it?"
The room grew darker as the birds started chirping again, Rory moved closer to Amy.
"Remember, this is real." the Doctor called, "But when we wake up in the other place, remember how real this feels."
"It is real." Amy insisted, "I know it's real."
"Is it though?" Thea whispered.
~.~
The Doctor stood in the middle of the road, watching a group of school children pass as Amy and Rory woke up on a bench outside the village library. Thea sat on the curb tossing a small stone in the air.
"Okay, this is the real one." Amy remarked, "Definitely this one." she rubbed her stomach, "It's all solid."
"It felt solid in the TARDIS too." the Doctor reminded her, "You can't spot a dream while you're having it." he waved his hand in front of his face, wiggling his fingers.
"What are you doing?" Rory eyed him.
"Looking for motion blur, pixilation. It could be a computer simulation."
"I don't think so." Thea shook her head.
An old woman walked over, speaking a cheery, "Hello, Doctor." as she passed.
"Hi." the Doctor replied instantly.
"Hello." Rory smiled as then gave the Doctor an odd look.
"You're a doctor?" Thea turned to Rory, "not a nurse?"
"Yeah. And unlike him," he nodded to the Doctor, "I've actually passed some exams."
"A doctor, not a nurse." the Doctor mused, "Just like you've always dreamed. How interesting."
"What is?"
"Your dream wife, your dream job, probably your dream baby. Maybe this is your dream."
"It's Amy's dream too." Rory argued, "Isn't it, Amy?"
"Yes." she agreed quickly, "Course it is, yeah."
"What's that?" the Doctor pointing to a building.
"Old people's home." Amy shrugged.
"Old people are very nosey." Thea crossed her eyes seeing several resident peering out the windows at them.
"You said everyone here lives to their 90s." the Doctor muttered, "There's something here that doesn't make sense. Let's go and poke it with a stick." he turned and ran off to the residents, Rory groaned and chasing after him not wanting to let him off alone and cause trouble with the elderly.
"Oh." Amy put her hands on her back, "Can we not do the running thing?"
"Sorry." Thea laughed as she hung back with Amy as she waddled to follow the men into the main lounge area of the home where most of the elderly were sat.
"Oh hello, Doctor Williams." one of the residents called.
"Hello, Rory love." a woman looked up from her knitting.
"Hello, Mrs Poggit." Rory stepped over to her, "How's your hip?"
"A bit stiff."
"Oh, easy, D-96 compound, plus..." The Doctor began when Thea cut him off.
"Not yet." She reminded him sternly.
"Who's your friend?" Mrs Poggit asked, "A junior doctor? Is this the niece you mentioned?"
"Yes." Rory replied, smug.
"Can I borrow you?" Mrs Poggit turned to the Doctor, "You're the size of my grandson."
The Doctor eyed her, kneeling before her as the woman put the jumper over his head, "slightly keen to move on. Freak psychic schism to sort out." he leaned forwards, forcing the woman back, "You're incredibly old, aren't you?"
All the residents just stared at them emotionless as the bird song began again, sending them to sleep.
"Okay, I hate this, Doctor." Amy moaned as they work up on the floor by the console, "Stop it, because this is definitely real. It's definitely this one. I keep saying that, don't I?"
"It's bloody cold." Rory murmured, rubbing his arms as the Doctor moved to the upper lever on the room.
"The heating's off." Thea replied, "dead TARDIS, no heating. How can the TARDIS be dead, though?" she shook her head.
It just didn't make sense for the TARDIS to just randomly die and while they kept falling asleep? It was suspicious to her. It was like when the Doctor ended up in the parallel world, the TARDIS wasn't completely died, still a tiny bit of power that needed a bit of a boost (she liked to meet up with old companions and hear embarrassing stories of the Doctor, not that she'd ever tell him that). But the TARDIS couldnt just randomly die.
"So put on a jumper." the Doctor called, "That's what I always do."
"Sorry about Mrs Poggit." Rory smiled, "She's so lovely though."
"I wouldn't believe her nice old lady act." Thea stated.
"What do you mean, act?" Amy frowned.
"She give me the heebie-jeepies."
"What so that makes her secretly evil in your mind?"
"Old people love me. I'm adorable and I love listening to their stories."
"Everything's off. Sensors, core power." the Doctor sighed, "We're drifting. The scanner's down so we can't even see out. We could be anywhere."
"Shouldn't the TARDIS automatically land if there's a power malfunction?" Thea asked, recalling reading that in the manual. This was why he should not have thrown it out.
"Yes," he nodded, "Someone, something, is overriding my controls."
Thea turned to the stairs as a short man with a tweed jacket and bowtie suddenly appeared on the top of them "Well, that took a while." he commented as they all turned to him as he walked down the stairs, "Honestly, I'd heard such good things. Last of the Time Lords, the Oncoming Storm, him in the bow tie...and what title does the little one hold, or will hold?"
"How did you get into my TARDIS?" The Doctor cut in, "What are you?"
"What shall we call me?" the man sighed, "Well, if you're the Time Lords, let's call me the Dream Lord."
"Nice look."
"This?" he looked down, "No, I'm not convinced. Bow ties?"
Thea picked up a loose pen from the console and threw it at the Dream Lord. It went right through him.
"Aren't you a clever one, almost as if you saw me coming," the Dream Lord smirked at her, "I'd love to be impressed, but Dream Lord. It's in the name, isn't it? Spooky. Not quite there." he disappeared and reappeared behind them, "And yet, very much here."
"I'll do the talking, thank you." the Doctor cut in, moving to stand before him, "Amy, want to take a guess at what that is?"
"Er, Dream Lord. He creates dreams?" Amy guessed.
"Dreams, delusions, cheap tricks."
"And what about the gooseberry, here." the Dream Lord nodded to Rory, "Does he get a guess?"
"Er, listen, mate. If anyone's the gooseberry round here, it's the Doctor." Rory stated.
"Well now, there's a delusion I'm not responsible for."
"No, he is. Isn't he, Amy."
"Oh, Amy, have to sort your men out." the Dream Lord turned to her, smirking, "Choose, even."
"I have chosen." Amy countered, "Of course I've chosen." she kept her gaze on the Dream Lord as she whacked Rory on the chest, "It's you, stupid."
"Oh, good." Rory muttered, "Thanks."
The Dream Lord disappeared and reappeared behind the humans, "You can't fool me. I've seen your dreams. Some of them twice. Amy. Blimey, I'd blush if I had a blood supply or a real face."
"Where did you pick up this cheap cabaret act?" the Doctor asked.
"Me?" he snorted, "Oh, you're on shaky ground."
"Am I?"
"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. I'm surprised you haven't got a little purple space dog just to ram home what an intergalactic wag you are!" he took a breath at the end of his rant, "Where was I?"
"You were..." Rory began.
"I know where I was." the Dream Lord waved him off, "So, here's your challenge. Two worlds. Here, in the time machine, and there, in the village that time forgot. One is real, the other's fake. I wonder if Thea will figure it out in time," the Dream Lord appeared before him as the Doctor narrowed his eyes, "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."
"If you're the Dream Lord, how can..." Thea began to question but was cut off as the bird song began again, and she started yawning.
"Tweet, tweet. Time to sleep." he looked down as they fell to floor, "Oh. Or are you waking up?"
~.~
"Ow," Thea groaned, rubbing the back of her neck as she awoke on the floor, her back against a chair, slumped forwards, "neck cramp." She looked around as the others awoke as well, finding the lounge empty of the elderly.
The Dream Lord walked in, wearing a dark suit, an x-ray in hand, "Oh, this is bad. This is very, very bad. Look at this X-ray." he turned to the Doctor "Your brain is completely see-through. But then, I've always been able to see through you, Doctor."
"Always?" Amy frowned, "What do you mean, always?"
"Now then, the prognosis is this." the Dream Lord continued as the Doctor plopped into the now vacant seat Mrs Poggit had been in, "If you die in the dream, you wake up in reality. Healthy recovery in next to no time. Ask me what happens if you die in reality?"
"You die." Thea answered simply, "its reality."
"Ooh, you're a smart cookie you are." the Dream Lord grinned at her.
"Have you met the Doctor before?" Amy asked, "Do you know him? Doctor, does he?"
"Now don't get jealous. He's been around, our boy. But never mind that. You've got a world to choose. One reality was always too much for you, Doctor. Take two and call me in the morning." with that he disappeared.
"Okay, I don't like him." Rory muttered.
Amy rounded on the Doctor, "who is he?"
"I don't know." he sighed, rubbing his head, "It's a big universe."
"And you've probably annoyed a lot of people." Thea remarked, only to receive an irritated look, "sorry."
"Why is he doing this?" Amy shook her head.
"Maybe because he has no physical form." the Doctor shrugged, not really believe that theory himself, "That gets you down after a while, so he's taking it out on folk like us who can touch and eat and feel." he removed the half finished jumper he was still wearing.
"What does he mean, deadly danger, though?" Rory frowned, "Nothing deadly has happened here. I mean, a bit of natural wastage, obviously."
"Where's everyone gone?" Thea suddenly wondered, "the elderly." she peered out the window not seeing the slightest glimpse of one outside.
The Doctor jumped up as though just realising that, grabbing Theas hand as he ran outside, not really wanting to let her trail behind and have her get stuck with the Dream Lord.
The schoolchildren were playing in the playground near the small ruins, accompanied by their teacher.
"why would they leave?" Rory looked around.
"And what did you mean about Mrs Poggit's nice old lady act?" Amy looked at Thea.
She shrugged, "sometimes I say things, they don't make much sense and then suddenly...they do." she crossed her arms, she never really understood it. It was like a part of her brain had noticed something but hadn't told the rest of her brain. A lasting affect from the Untempered Schism she guessed. It was like when Rani first moved in across the road, Sarah Jane had insisted they avoided her and didn't let her get involved in what they did. She had argued that it might be more danger to ignore her, as it turned out, Rani had gotten a ticket from Odd Bob the clown and was nearly one of his victims.
"I've noticed." the Doctor murmured. "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."
"And we're all dreaming the same dream at the same time." Rory added
"Yes, sort of communal trance. Very rare, very complicated. I'm sure there's a dream giveaway, a tell, but my mind isn't working because this village is so dull! I'm slowing down, like you two have."
Amy suddenly grabbed her stomach, "Ooh. Ow. Really. Ow!" she screamed, "it's coming."
Thea had to roll her eyes, see the Doctor and Rory fretting and panicking, both were Doctors and yet had no idea how to birth a baby.
"Okay," the Doctor swallowed, turning to Rory, "you're a doctor, help her."
"You're a doctor." Rory countered.
"It's okay, we're doctors." the Doctor squatted down as though ready to catch the baby.
"Seriously?" Thea raised her eyebrows at them, pulling out her phone and snapping a photo of their panic.
"What do we do?" Rory asked.
Amy suddenly straightest, "Okay, it's not coming."
"What?" the Doctor and Rory gaped at her.
"This is my life now and it just turned you white as a sheet," Amy pointed out to the Doctor, "so don't you call it dull again, ever. Okay?"
"Sorry." he mumbled.
Thea laughed as Amy walked off, Rory following her, "I am sending this to Sarah Jane." she told him, "if I can, anyway." she furrowed her brows, "what with this being a dream and all." she skipped off as the Doctor stared after her, joining Amy and Rory by the swings now the children had left them to see the ruins, taking the empty one next to Amy.
"Now, we all know there's an elephant in the room..." the Doctor began as he moved behind Thea, gently pushing her on the swing.
"I have to be this size, I'm having a baby." Amy huffed.
"Unless this is a dream." Thea countered
"No, no." the Doctor agreed, "The hormones seem real, but no. Is nobody going to mention Rory's ponytail?" he grinned, "You hold him down, I'll cut it off?"
"This from the man in the bow tie." Rory deadpanned.
"Bow ties are cool." he defended.
Thea looked over seeing Mrs Poggit standing on the steps leading to the ruins, staring at the children, "I don't know about you, but I wouldn't hire Mrs Poggit as a babysitter."
"What's she doing?" the Doctor wondered, "What does she want?"
The birdsong began again.
"Oh, no." Amy groaned, "Here we go."
~.~
"Alright," Thea sighed as she awoke on the floor, her legs draped over the lower railing, "I know I did not fall asleep in this position." She got to her feet, joining the others at the console.
"It's really cold." Amy muttered, rubbing her arms, "Have you got any warm clothing?"
"What does it matter if we're cold?" the Doctor snapped, "We have to know what she is up to."
"Shouting at us, isn't going to help, though is it?" Thea snapped back at him, "so take a breath, and calm down."
The Doctor took a breath, "There should be some stuff down there." he pointed to the ramp at the other side of the room, "Have a look." Amy and Rory headed to the chest he pointed to, "Where are you going?" he asked as Thea headed down the under console.
"Seeing if there's anything to help find out where we are." she replied, rummaging through the tool box to see if there was anything of use. Shrugging, she grabbed an armful of stuff and headed up to the console, laying them on the floor and shifting through.
"Quite the little tinker aren't you?"
"I have a lot of hair, sometimes you need a higher setting on the hairdryer."
"You are brilliant." the Doctor told her, seeing what she had made some sort of wind up generator with a crank and egg beaters.
Thea handed it to Rory as he and Amy returned with some blankets, "wind this please," she attached a wire to the other end. "Amy, could you attach this to the monitor, please." she connected the wire up, "thank you."
"I was promised amazing worlds." Rory grumbled. "Instead I get duff central heating and a weird, kitcheny wind-up device."
"It's a generator, ya ding-dong." Thea laughed, "Get winding."
"Not enough." Amy called as she stood before the monitor.
"Rory, wind." the Doctor instructed.
"Why is the Dream Lord picking on you?" he asked, "Why us?"
The Doctor moved around the screen, squinting as it turned on, showing a graining picture. He gestured for Rory to wind faster, a starscape showing outside.
"Where are we?" Amy frowned.
"We're in trouble." the Doctor breathed seeing a large ball of white light looming as they slowly drifting closer to it.
Thea frowned, "But that's...a cold star."
The Doctor nodded moving to the doors and opening them letting in the freezing cold, "That's why we're freezing. It's not a heating malfunction. We're drifting towards a cold sun."
"There's the deadly danger for this dream." Thea commented.
"So this must be the dream." Amy reasoned, "There's no such thing as a cold star. Stars burn."
"So is this one." the Doctor sighed, "It's just burning cold."
"Is that possible?" Rory wondered.
"Nothings impossible," Thea recited.
"I can't know everything." the Doctor huffed, forcing the doors shut again, "Why does everybody expect me to, always?"
"Okay," Rory nodded slowly, "this is something you haven't seen before. So does that mean this is the dream?"
"I don't know, but there it is, and I'd say we've got about 14 minutes until we crash into it. But that's not a problem."
"Because you know how to get us out of this?" Rory asked, hopeful.
"No, because we'll have frozen to death by then." Thea told him.
Rory blinked at her, "you couldn't have kept that to yourself."
"Sorry."
"Then what are we going to do?" Amy shook her head.
"Stay calm." the Doctor ordered, "Don't get sucked in to it, because this just might be the battle that we have to lose."
"Oh, this is so you, isn't it?" Rory rolled his eyes.
"What?"
"A weird new star, 14 minutes left to live and only one man to save the day, huh? I just wanted a nice village and a family."
"Oh dear, Doctor." the Dream Lord suddenly spoke behind them, "Dissent in the ranks." he tilted his head, mockingly, "there was an old doctor from Gallifrey, who ended up throwing his life away..." he stopped, smiling, as the bird song began again, "Oh, no. We've run out of time. Don't spend too long there, or you'll catch your death here."
~.~
"Well, glad I didn't land face first in the dirt." Thea murmured as she awoke to find herself still on the swing, slumped forwards.
The Doctor ran up the steps to the ruins, finding the area empty, with a few piles of dirt and cloth on the grass.
"Where have the children gone?" the Doctor looked around urgently as the others caught up to him.
"Don't know." Rory shrugged, as the Doctor scanned the piles of dirt with his sonic, "Play time's probably over. You see, this is the real one. I just feel it. Don't you feel it?"
"I feel it both places." Amy muttered.
"I feel it here. It's just so tranquil and relaxed. Nothing bad could ever happen here."
"Not really me, though, is it?" Amy murmured, "I mean, would I be happy settling down in a place with a pub, two shops and a really bad Amateur Dramatics Society? That's why I got pregnant, so I don't have to see them doing Oklahoma." she looked over seeing the Doctor squatting by the dust piles, "Doctor, what are you doing? And what are those piles of dust?"
"Play time's definitely over." he breathed.
"I might be sick." Thea gagged, hunching over as the Doctor moved to her side at an instant, rubbing her back and holding her hair back in case she was actually sick.
She closed her eyes, not wanting to think of what had happened to those poor children to end up a dust like that. The danger in this world that did this, was it real or had the Dream Lord just conjured it up?
"Oh, my God!" Amy cried, realising the dirt piles were the children.
"What happened to them?" Rory asked, horrified.
The Doctor looked up to see a group of the elderly walking down the path outside the home, "I think they did."
"They're just old people." Amy waved off.
"No, they're very old people. Sorry, Rory, I don't think you're what's been keeping them alive."
The elderly all lined up on the path as they approached when the Dream Lord appeared before them.
"Hello, peasants. What's this, attack of the old people? Oh, that's ridiculous. This has got to be the dream, hasn't it? What do you think, Amy?" he turned to her, "let's all jump under a bus and wake up in the TARDIS. You first."
"Leave her alone." the Doctor threatened.
"Do that again. I love it when he does that. Tall dark hero. Leave her alone."
"Just leave her." Rory stepped in front of Amy.
"Yes, you're not quite so impressive, but I know where your heart lies, don't I, Amy Pond?"
"Shut up." Amy glared, "Just shut up and leave me alone."
"But listen. You're in there. Loves a redhead, the Doctor." the Dream Lord smirked, "Has he told you about Elizabeth the First? Well, she thought she was the first."
"Enough." Thea cut in.
"Ooh, you know, I felt that." the Dream Lord laughed, "give it a few years and you might just be as well known as the old biddy here."
"Shut up. I know who you are." she said in a sing-song.
"Yes, because of course you know who I am." the Dream Lord rolled his eyes.
"Course we do." the Doctor nodded, moving Thea behind him. The Dream Lords attention had been in her far too long for his liking, "No idea how you can be here, but there's only one person in the universe who hates me as much as you do."
"Never mind me." the Dream Lord waved off, "Maybe you should worry about them." he nodded to the elderly as they started to advance on them.
"Hi." Rory greeted.
"Hello, we were wondering where you went." the Doctor said cheerily, "to get reinforcements, by the look of it. Are you all right? You look a bit tense."
"Hello, Mr Nainby." Rory smiled at an old man.
"Rory, don't..." Thea began warningly.
He waved her off, "Mr Nainby ran the sweet shop. He used to slip me the odd free toffee..."
Thea just moved before him as he stepped closer to the old man, "That is not Mr Nainby."
Rory frowned, looking at the man as he and the other elderly opened their mouths to reveal an eye.
"There is an eye in her mouth!" Amy gasped, pointing at Mrs Poggit.
The Doctor soniced them, "There's a whole creature inside her. Inside all of them. They've been there for years, living and waiting."
"That is disgusting." Rory grimaced, "They're not going to be peeping out of anywhere else, are they?"
"What are you?" Thea wondered, tilting her head at them as Mrs Poggit let out a stream of green gas. She stepped back, unfazed. With the amount of times she had been covered in exploded Slitheen, very little fazed her now.
"Run!" the Doctor shouted, shooing them off. "that includes you."
"Tough." she shrugged, "you can't deal with them all by yourself."
"No, but ill be less distracted knowing your safe."
"Yes, because everyone over 70 lives in a home." she rolled her eyes at him.
The Doctor didn't have to silently agree on her point. It was possible there was more killer old folks around the village that if she ran after Amy and Rory now, might get her.
She smirked seeing him understanding her logic.
"Okay." the Doctor turned back to the elderly, "talk to me. Talk to me. You are Eknodines."
"Never heard off." Thea frowned.
"A proud, ancient race." he continued, keeping himself between them and Thea, "you're better than this. Why are you hiding away here? Why aren't you at home?"
"We were driven from our planet by..." Mrs Poggit began.
"Planet by upstart neighbours."
"So we've..." Mr Nainby started.
"Been living here inside the bodies of old humans for years. No wonder they live so long. You're keeping them alive."
"Did they consent?" Thea asked, "or did you forcefully take over?"
Mrs Poggit glared, "We were humbled and destroyed. Now we will do the same to others."
"So forcefully took over then."
"Okay." the Doctor nodded, "Makes sense, I suppose. Credible enough. Could be real."
A young man walked past, pushing his bike, calling out, "morning!" only to get turned to dust from the green mist Mrs Poggit sent his way.
"You need to leave this planet." the Doctor threatened.
Mrs Poggit just screeched at them.
They stumbled down the road, the elderly chasing them as they fought of the birdsong affects.
"Why don't we just..." Thea yawned.
"No, no, no!" the Doctor cried, jumping forwards as she fell asleep in his arm, "of all the..." he huffed, pulling her over his shoulders in a fireman's lift and rushing inside the butchers shop, slamming the door behind him, flipping the sign to close.
"Oh, I love a good butcher's, don't you?" the Dream Lord asked as he stood behind the counter, wearing an apron, "we've got to use these places or they'll shut down. Oh, but you're probably a vegetarian, aren't you, you big flop-haired wuss." The Doctor readjusted Thea on his shoulders, reached for a key on a shelf, trying to unlock the back door, "Oh, pipe down. I'm busy."
"Maybe you need a little sleep." the Dream Lord remarked, "I see the little one already went to bed." the Doctor slipped to the floor, careful to keep a firm hold of Thea, "Oh, wait a moment. If you fall asleep here, several dozen angry pensioners will destroy you with their horrible eye things." he ran I to the hall behind the counter, fingers in ears, "Fingers in the ear. Brilliant. How long under Thea slips and falls? What's next, shouting boo?" the elderly entered the shop, "Come in, come in. Yes, we've got lots at steak here this week. Lots at 'steak', get it?" he glanced at the Doctor, who slumped to the floor, "are these jokes wasted on you? I bet sweet little Thea would have laughed."
The Doctor jolted at his words, using g the door handle to pull himself back up, struggling to open the freezer door, "Wait, wait, stop." he mumbled, pulling his sonic out.
"Oh. Oh, I can't watch." the Dream Lord put his hand over his eyes.
The Doctor managed to unlock the freezer door, slamming the door behind him and setting Thea down against some boxes as she slumped behind the door.
~.~
Thea shivered as she awoke on the steps, seeing the others were all still asleep.
"Well, well, well." the Dream Lord began, appearing besides her. She didn't even jump as it sudden appearance. "lets hope dear old Doctor cares enough to not leave you to the elderly, huh? Falling asleep in the middle of deadly danger?" he tutted, "so irresponsible."
"Shut up." Thea huffed, crossed her arms and rubbing them to try and warm up more as the TARDIS drifted closer to the cold star. "you're the Dream Lord, its in the name isn't it?" she mocked.
Dream Lord, he creates and controls dreams, claiming to make them choose between a bad dream and a dangerous reality when really, he can only make them choose between two bad dreams. It was pretty obvious when you thought about it. They just couldn't really risk mentioning it to Amy and Rory, unsure what the Dream Lord would do if he knew they all knew.
Best to keep playing his game and let him think he was winning.
"Poor little Thea Smith," he sighed, "all alone with spooky little me."
"Knock it off, Dobby." she glared, "you don't scare me."
"What secrets are you keeping? What would the Doctor say if you told him?"
"I'm secretly married." She told him, sarcastic, "and I don't want him knowing about it. Is that what you're hoping for?"
The Dream Lord just smirked at her before disappearing as the other three awoke.
"Ah, it's colder." Amy murmured, wrapping the blanket closer to her body.
"We have to agree, now, which is the dream." the Doctor turned to Amy and Rory.
"It's this, here." Rory determined.
"He could be right." Amy agreed, "The science is all wrong here. Burning ice?"
"No, no, no." the Doctor shook his head, "Ice can burn. Sofas can read. It's a big universe. We have to agree which battle to lose. All of us, now."
"Okay, which world do you think is real?" Amy asked.
"This one." the Doctor said.
"The village." Thea called.
The Doctor turned to Thea for her choice. They both knew both were dreams, they just needed to choose which one to die in first. As far as Amy and Rory believed one was a dream and one was real, they didn't want to risk dying in reality (not that they would) but once they died in one, dying in the other would be easier.
Amy groaned at their disagreement as Thea just shrugged.
This world had slowly freezing to death, the village was instantly turning to dust from the green mist.
The Doctor checked his watch, "9 minutes till impact."
"What temperature is it?" Amy asked.
"Outside? Brrr. How many noughts have you got? Inside? I don't know but I can't feel my feet and...other parts."
"I think all my parts are basically fine." Rory remarked.
"I have icicle s up my nose." Thea sniffled.
"Can't we call for help?" Rory held up the phone.
"Yeah, because the universe is really small and there's bound to be someone nearby." the Doctor rolled his eyes, taking the phone and tapping Rory on the head with it before setting it back down.
"Put these on, all of you." Amy stepped over, handing them each a blanket with a makeshift hole in the middle. She threw one over Rory and herself, handing the others to the Time Lords.
"Oh, a poncho." Rory mumbled, "The biggest crime against fashion since lederhosen."
"Better than nothing." Thea murmured, hugging the poncho to herself as the Doctor stepped over and rubbed her arms.
"If we're going to die, let's die looking like a Peruvian folk band." Amy remarked.
"We're not going to die." Rory stated.
"No, we're not." Thea agreed.
"If we fall asleep here we're in trouble." the Doctor sighed, "If we could divide up, then we'd have an active presence in each world, but the Dream Lord is switching us between the worlds. Why? Why? What's the logic?"
"Dreams don't always have logic." Thea reasoned.
The Dream Lord appeared behind them, "Good idea, veggie. Let's divide you four up, so I can have a little chat with our lovely companion." he stepped closer to Amy, "Maybe I'll keep her, and you can have Pointy Nose to yourself for all eternity, should you manage to clamber aboard some sort of reality."
"This is really annoying." Thea grumbled as the bird song started again and she fell against the console.
"Can you hear that?" Rory turned to Amy.
"What?" Amy shook her head, startled, "No."
"Amy, don't be scared." the Doctor assured her, "We'll be back."
With that, the three of them fell asleep leaving Amy alone with the Dream Lord.
~.~
The Doctor and Thea awoke in the freezer. "okay," the Doctor took a breath, holding his sonic ready in his hand, "ready?" he glanced as Thea as she grabbed a small pipe from the corner.
She smirked, "always."
He shook his head, slamming the door open quickly flashing the sonic on the lights above, causing it to spark, the elderly covering their eyes and they took the chance to run out the back door through the village only to see an elderly man attacking someone by a camper van.
"Oh help, somebody!" the man shouted
"Oh, you couldn't live near the shops, could you?" the Doctor moaned, "come on!"
"On it!" Thea nodded, running to the old man and swinging the pipe, knocking him down as the Doctor climbed into the driver's seat.
"It's okay, it's only me." the Doctor called as Thea hopped in the passenger seat and the man ran into the back and they took off down the road, finding more villagers surrounded by the attacking elderly. the man in the back sliding the door open for them to jump in before the Doctor drove off again, finding another group and getting them in before driving off.
They dropped off the villagers at the church, away from the elderly warning them to stay inside and barricade the doors before driving down the road to Amy and Rorys cottage.
"Sarah Jane was right," Thea grabbed hold on the handle above the door as the van swerved, "you're a bad driver."
"Shut up." he huffed. He had heard enough of his bad driving from Sarah Jane herself when he drove around in old Bessie.
"It's make your mind up time in both worlds." the Dream Lord remarked from in the back. The Doctor glanced at him in the rear view mirror. Thea just ignored him.
"Fine." the Doctor replied, "I need to find my friends."
"Friends? Is that the right word for the people you acquire? Friends are people you stay in touch with. Like Thea, unlike you she still in touch with those little friends of hers. For now anyway." she stiffened at his words, "your friends never see you again once they've grown up. The old man prefers the company of the young, does he not?"
He disappeared again.
Thea just looked at the Doctor as they turned down the drive, "seriously?"
"Sorry," he winced. "Okay." he breathed, seeing the elderly already at the house, laying siege on it.
"This way." Thea beckoned him to follow, sneaking out the van and round the back of the house, the elderly not noticing them as Thea climbed the vine up the side of the house, the Doctor keeping look out before following her up and into the nursery were Amy and Rory were hiding.
"Only us!" Thea grinned, pushing the window open and slipping inside as Rory jumped up ready to defend his wife.
"Had to stop off at the butcher's." the Doctor added as he followed her in, "this one nodded off."
"What are we going to do?" Rory shook his head.
"I don't know. I thought the freezing TARDIS was real but now I'm not so sure."
Amy gasped, her hand flying to her stomach, "Oh! I think the baby's starting."
"Honestly?" Rory asked, skeptical.
"Would I make it up at a time like this?"
"Well, you do have a history of..." she glared at him, "being very lovely."
"Nice save." Thea murmured.
"Why are they so desperate to kill us?"
"They're scared." the Doctor answered, "Fear generates savagery."
They all jumped as a garden gnome smashed through the window, Rory jumped up to check they were still safe only for Mrs Poggit to appear at the window and sprayed her green mist at him.
He groaned and fell to the floor as Amy rushed to his side. Thea hit the old woman with the pipe she still carried, sending her falling back down.
"Rory!" Amy cried, cradling him as he began to dissolve.
"No, I'm not ready..." Rory breathed.
"Stay."
"Look after our baby."
"No!" Amy yelled as he dissolved completely, "No. Come back. Save him." she pleaded to the Doctor, "You save everyone. You always do. It's what you do."
"Not always." he whispered, "I'm sorry."
"Then what is the point of you?" she spat.
"We need to choose." Thea told her softly as Amy ran her hands through the dust pile. "is this the dream or is the other one."
"This is the dream." Amy stated, "Definitely this one. Now, if we die here, we wake up, yeah?"
"Unless we just die." the Doctor countered.
Amy stared at the dust pile, "Either way, this is my only chance of seeing him again. This is the dream."
"How do you know?" Thea asked.
"Because if this is real life, I don't want it. I don't want it."
The Time Lords looked at each other a moment before following Amy as she stormed downstairs and outside, the elderly just staring at them.
"Why aren't they attacking?" Amy wondered.
"Either because this is just a dream or because they know what we're about to do." The Doctor remarked. They stopped and Amy held her hand out for the keys, "Be very sure. This could be the real world."
"It can't be." she shook her head as she held the keys tightly in her hand, "Rory isn't here. I didn't know. I didn't...I didn't...I honestly didn't, till right now. I just want him."
She didn't care if this was a dream world or the real world. She hadn't realised how much she did love him. She loved him so much and had always taken him for granted because he had always been there for her but now he wasn't, he was gone and she just wanted him.
She didn't want a future without him.
"Then let's go get him." Thea nodded, jumping into the back and sliding the door as Amy took the drivers seat and the Doctor got in the passenger side.
"I love Rory," Amy whispered, starting the engine, oblivious to the Dream Lord standing to the side, watching them, "and I never told him. But now he's gone." she took a breath, driving straight into the house.
~.~
They slowly awoke to find a thick layer of ice covering everything in the TARDIS, including them, leaving them unable to move from the cold, though it didn't stop Amy from trying to reach for Rory.
"So, you chose this world. Well done." the Dream Lord applauded, "You got it right. And with only seconds left. Fair's fair. Let's warm you up." he waved his hand as the TARDIS slowly powered back up, the room instantly warming, "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. Farewell." he waved and disappeared.
"What. A. Bastard." Thea spoke, using the console to pull herself back up, struggling against the stiffness even as the ice melted.
"Language." the Doctor murmured, moving to her side, allowing Amy and Rory some privacy as they spoke.
"Something happened." Rory frowned, "What happened to me?" Amy just hugged him tightly, "Oh. Oh, right. This is good. I am liking this. Was it something I said?" she just looked at him, "Could you tell what it was so I can use it in emergencies, and maybe birthdays."
"Aww, that's adorable." Thea smiled as she saw the two of them, "I still want to be a bridesmaid, or at least a flower girl at your wedding."
Amy looked at them, seeing them at the console, "What are we doing now?"
"We're going to blow up the TARDIS." The Doctor replied.
"What?" Rory gaped.
"Notice how helpful the Dream Lord was? Okay, there was misinformation, red herrings, malice, and I could have done without the limerick. But he was always very keen to make us choose between dream and reality."
"What are you doing?" Amy demanded.
"Doctor, the Dream Lord conceded." Rory reminded him, "This isn't a dream."
"Yes, it is." Thea argued, "how can it not be?"
"He conceded! we won!"
"Star burning cold?" the Doctor scoffed, "Do me a favour."
"How can the Dream Lord have power over the real world." Thea looked at them, "its in the name."
"He was offering us a choice between two dreams."
"How do you know that?" Amy frowned.
"Because I know who he is."
With that he pulled a lever.
The TARDIS exploded.
~.~
Amy and Rory entered the console room, everything back to normal, or as normal as it could be, finding the Doctor showing something to Thea in his hand.
"Any questions?" he looked over at them.
"Er, what's that?" Amy pointed to the specks of gold in his hands.
"A speck of psychic pollen from the candle meadows of Karass don Slava. Must have been hanging around for ages. Fell in the time rotor, heated up and induced a dream state for all of us."
"And that is why TARDIS maintenence is important." Thea remarked.
"Well, now you know what your chores are." the Doctor told her before moving to the doors and gently blowing the pollen out into space.
"Well, maybe if someone hadn't thrown the manual in a supernova."
"So that was the Dream Lord then?" Rory frowned, "Those little specks."
"No, no." the Doctor shook his head, "No. Sorry, wasn't it obvious? The Dream Lord was me. Psychic pollen. It's a mind parasite. It feeds on everything dark in you, gives it a voice, turns it against you. I'm 907. It had a lot to go on."
"But why didn't it feed on us, too?" Amy wondered.
"The darkness in you pair, it would've starved to death in an instant. I choose my friends with great care. Otherwise, I'm stuck with my own company, and you know how that works out."
"Hm, Bowie Base One." Thea mumbled and the Doctor instantly tensed.
"Thank you for that reminder." he grumbled.
"Sorry."
"But those things he said about you." Amy said slowly, "you don't think any of that's true?"
"I think you should answer Rory's very important question." Thea replied, seeing the Doctor looking uncomfortable and trying to avoid the question.
"Actually, I do have a question." Rory called, "how did you know?"
"Lucky guess. I'm good at them."
"I've noticed." The Doctor muttered under his breath.
"Because what I don't get is, you blew up the TARDIS, that stopped that dream, but what stopped the Leadworth dream?"
"We crashed the camper van." Amy admitted.
"Oh, right." he blinked, "I don't remember that bit."
"No, you weren't there. You were already..."
"Already what?"
"Dead." she swallowed, "You died in that dream. 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?"
"I didn't." she whispered.
"Oh."
"Yeah."
"Oh!" he took her hand.
"Yeah, oh." Amy looked down.
Rory lifted up her chin and kissed her, Amy soon kissing him back. The Doctor covered Thea's eyes as he watched with a smile, the girl giggling.
"Get a room, you two." she laughed.
"So, well then, where now?" The Doctor asked, "Or should I actually start giving Thea her requested swimming lessons?"
"I don't know." Rory grinned, "Anywhere's good for me. I'm happy anywhere. It's up to Amy this time. Amy's choice."
"Maybe later." Amy yawned, "nearly freezing to death and nearly giving birth is exhausting."
"I bet." Thea nodded.
"We'll just be around." the Doctor offered as they walked down the hall to the rooms. He stiffen a moment seeing the reflection of the Dream Lord on the monitor.
"So!" Thea nudged him and the reflection disappeared, "now what?"