Curse of the Black Spot
'Arrrggh! I swear the next time I see that Doctor, I'm gonna kill her!'
'Why does this thing always send me off at random times? Where the heck am I now?' Well to be honest, "Where?" wasn't the right question. Two things were quite obvious.
First of all Harry realized that he had to be inside a ship. The second… 'Somebody should really pull this ship in and look for holes. It's leaking like a siv.'
Harry grinned as he saw a pirate hat hanging on one of the wooden support beams. With that, along with a good sword, he felt ready to play pirate. Then he heard the door up on deck open and hid behind a few crates.
Someone was pushed down to the hold, yelling, "Get off!" as she dropped to the ground.
He peaked out behind the crates to find Amy, rummaging through the same chest he'd gotten his sword and smiled. "Amy!"
Amy pointed her newly acquired sword at him in surprise, almost dropping it immediately in relief after seeing who it was. "Oh Harry, it's just you."
"Yes Amy, it's me." He said, still smiling cheerfully. "Now please tell me and be honest… have we been taken captive by pirates?"
Amy just stared. "You would find that exciting wouldn't you?"
Harry shrugged in return. "What can I say? It's pirates! Only thing better than pirates would be pirates and dinosaurs."
Amy laughed a little. "You are such a kid sometimes you know?"
"Sounds alright to me."
"Yeah. So then, shall we go save the boys?"
There was only one thing for Harry to say as they brandished their blades. "Aye!"
Amy and Harry came up on deck only to find the pirates prepping the Doctor for a dive. "Where are the rest of the crew? This is a big ship. Big for five of you. I suppose the rest of them are hiding somewhere, and they're going to jump out and shout boo."
While the Doctor was giving his speech Harry and Amy snuck behind two of the pirates. Amy went behind the Captain while Harry went for the bigger guy holding Rory.
"Boo!" Amy shouted, drawing their attention.
Taking advantage of their surprise, Harry whacked the bigger guy on the head with the back of his cutlass. The man fell to the floor and Harry pointed his cutlass at the remaining men.
The Captain pointed his gun at Amy who raised an eyebrow back at him. "Throw the gun down." She sternly demanded.
"I'd do as the lady asks mate, 'less you'd be wanting a nice little cut for your troubles." Harry said in a pirate accent and with a smirk on his face.
"Amy? Harry? What are you two doing?"
"Saving your life. Ok with that, are you?" Amy then glanced at Harry, both amused and intrigued. "The accents not bad, practice much?" She asked as the Captain dropped his pistol.
"Every year for halloween."
The Captain and the other two pirates looked at their fallen crewmate with sorrow. Then the Captain turned back to Amy. "Alright, we'll do as you say. Just don't kill any more of us, alright?"
Now it was Harry's turn to raise an eyebrow at the Captain. "What are you talking about? I didn't hit him that hard."
"Check his palm. If he has the mark then he's as good as dead."
Harry looked over to Rory. "Rory, would you mind?"
Rory went down and turned over one of the man's palms, which was clear.
"The other one."
Rory gave the Captain an annoyed look but did as asked. The other palm did have the black spot. Seeing that made Harry's eyes widen a moment.
'I didn't realize the AI doctor would take someone who'd been knocked unconscious. Though in retrospect…' Harry's thoughts were interrupted by one of the other pirates attacking him with a mop.
"I have to ask, why a mop? And just so you know, this is the weirdest thing I've ever done!" The pirate got a blow across his face, cutting it.
The fighting stopped after that, and the Captain laughed after he noticed the blood on Harry's face. "There! You see? One drop, that's all it takes. One drop of blood and she'll rise out of the ocean."
Amy scoffed. "I don't know what kind of rubbish pirates you are but Harry here is made of stronger stuff. Right Harry?"
Harry stared at his hand and watched as the black spot appeared on it. He breathed and let out a deep sigh. "Right." He said distractedly before looking up with a strained smile. "Don't let her touch me. Or me touch her. Either way."
Amy looked confused by that. "What are you talking about?"
"She can smell the blood on your skin. She's marked you for death." The Captain explained.
"She?" Rory asked.
"A demon, out there in the ocean."
The Doctor clapped his hands in excitement as he made his way over to Harry. "Okay. Groovy. So not just pirates today. We've managed to bagsy a ship where there's a demon popping in. Very efficient. I mean, if something's going to kill you, it's nice that it drops you a note to remind you." He said, staring at Harry's face.
"Are you ok?" The Doctor asked.
"I'm always ok."
Out of nowhere a song started playing. At the same time, Harry's breath quickened and he ran behind Amy and Rory.
"Quickly now, block out the sound." One of the other pirates said.
"What?"
The Captain explained again. "The creature. She charms all her victims with that song."
"So that's the best you've got? Telling Harry to put his fingers in his ears?" Rory asked incredulously.
"Yeeah that won't work anyway. Don't have any clue how it works but it doesn't really matter." Harry moaned, feeling the anesthetic effects of the music start to happen. "Knock me out if you have to, just don't let me touch her."
That was when Harry started to grow hysterical. He laughed and swayed into Rory. "Oh hello! So sorry about that Nina."
"Nina? Harry, are you alright?"
Harry laughed again, swaying back and rubbing his chin before growing confused. "My face is naked. Doctor, why is my face naked? Ooh, water!"
"I would assume it's because you've shaved."
"Why did Harry call me Nina?"
"The music. It's working on him. Look." Boatswain said.
Harry was now hanging halfway off the ship, gazing into the water. "Oh I just love the sea! First time on it and all I want to do is go for a swim. Is that bad? I think it's brilliant! Don't you, Doctor?" He asked suddenly, turning towards the Doctor with a silly grin and another laugh.
"The music turns its victims into fools."
Harry turned serious as he turned to face the Captain. "Did you just call me a fool?"
Barely sparing him a glance, the Captain said, "Yes."
Harry walked up to him even as the Doctor tried to intervene. "Now, now Harry, you're not yourself. I'm sure that after a good rest you'll be right as rain, eh? What do ya say? Anyone up for a nap?"
He brushed the Doctor off. Then when Harry got to the Captain he broke into a massive grin and hugged the man. "Oh thank you! That is so nice of you!"
Interrupting the lovely moment, a bright light shot up through the water. The light changed its form into that of a beautiful woman who touched down onto the ship's deck. As soon as it did, Harry lost all interest in anyone or anything else and tried moving toward her.
Amy grabbed hold of Harry, trying to keep him back. She turned to Rory and said, "A little help please?"
"R-right."
All the while, the woman walked over to where Dancer laid on the deck's floor, still singing her song. She reached down and touched the man, who then turned into a pile of ash.
"Oh come on, just let me touch her! I was joking earlier, it's perfectly fine!"
In a sudden burst of strength, Amy threw Harry back behind the rest of them and faced the Siren. "Sorry, but he already has a girlfriend. Or… will have."
The Siren did not like that and turned red as she blew Amy on her back. Rory helped her back on her feet as the Doctor took over in keeping Harry away.
"Amy, Rory!" The Doctor shouted. "Everybody into the hold. Harry! Come on!" He ordered, dragging a very much reluctant Harry down below deck.
"Heeeyy, come on Doc. I just wanna touch her. Just a little bit?"
Down under the deck, they closed the door above them and waited with baited breath.
"What is that thing?" Amy asked.
"The legend. The siren. Many a merchant ship laden with treasure has fallen prey to her. She's been hunting us ever since we were becalmed, picking off the injured."
"Like a shark. A shark can smell blood." The pirate said mysteriously.
"Okay. Just like a shark, in a dress. And singing. And green? A green singing shark in an evening gown." The Doctor said sarcastically with a clap of his hands.
"The ship is cursed!"
The Doctor shook his head in disappointment at the Captain's thinking. "Yeah, right. Cursed is big with humans. It means bad things are happening but you can't be bothered to find an explanation.
Harry drunkenly snapped his fingers and pointed… more or less at the Captain. "Ohhh I get it! You're the tour guide! For a minute there I thought we were on a pirate ship."
"Actually Harry, we are on a pirate ship."
Harry ignored Amy's words. "I don't like it here, Captain. Everything's too, woah, wavy." He looked sullen for a minute before popping up again, full of energy. "Can we go see the hippos?"
"Hippos?" Rory questioned.
"We have to leave right now!" Amy asserted.
The Captain, meanwhile, was steadfastly ignoring the conversation Harry, Rory and Amy were having. "That thing of yours really is a ship?"
"Well, it's not propelled by the wind."
The Captain brought out his gun again and pointed it at the Doctor. "Show me. Weigh anchor. Make it sail."
The Doctor was not impressed by this "And the gun's back. You're big on the gun thing, aren't you. Freud would say you're compensating. Ever met Freud? No? Comfy sofa."
"Leave the cursed one, Captain. The creature can have him."
"Aha!" Harry shouted with a great big grin on his face. "I've had an elephant!"
"What?"
"Let's go see the vampires!"
"Vampires?"
"Yeah! The ones under the water." Harry said, as though he were stating the obvious.
The Doctor's eyes widened in shock just as one of the other pirates cried out in pain.
"It's a leech!"
"Everyone out of the water!"
Harry stayed still and brought his finger up to everyone. "Shh, don't shout! You'll wake the vampires!"
"Harry! Get out of the water!"
"It's bitten me. I'm bleeding." The pirate said, looking down at his hand as a spot appeared on it.
"Oh pipe down would ya! Tis only a flesh wound after all."
"She wants blood. Why does she want blood? Harry? Why does she want blood?"
"Why does who want blood? Actually on second thought we should all want blood. Nothing wrong with more blood!"
Amy shook her head at Harry's antics before turning to the pirate. "What were you saying about leaving the cursed ones behind?"
"It's okay, we're safe down here. No curse is getting through three solid inches of timber." The Doctor said confidently.
"Mirror mirror, on the wall."
"Why is the boy singing nursery rhymes?" The Captain asked as everyone looked at Harry.
"I wish I knew." The Doctor said in a worried tone. Then, right behind him, the Siren appeared, coming up through the water. "Oh! Ah. Hello again."
The Siren sang her song again and immediately, Harry and the other pirate started walking towards her, entranced by the music.
"No! No! No!" Everyone shouted as the pirate who'd been bitten touched the Siren and just like before, the man vanished. The only thing left behind being his hat, and a pile of ash.
Everyone fled after that. Well except Harry who had a little war in his head. Mermaid or vampires. Of course this choice was not up to him as Amy, along with Rory, had decided that dragging him away was the thing to do.
"A-Amy! Rory! Let me touch the gorgeous mermaid!"
Everyone retreated to the hold where all the pirates, what was left of them anyway, slept. Rory continued to keep Harry back while Amy questioned the Doctor.
"'Safe'?" She asked.
"I have my good days and my bad days." The Doctor answered as he waved his hands around.
"How did she get in?"
"Magic mirror!" Harry answered excitedly as he raised his hand up.
The Doctor looked at Harry weirdly before he scanned the missing pirate's hat. "Bilge water. She's using water like a portal, a door. She can materialize through a single drop. We need to go somewhere with no water."
"Well, thank God we're not in the middle of the ocean." Amy remarked sarcastically.
"Fear not, my Lady! The gorgeous mermaid doesn't want to hurt us. She's our friend!"
"Right. Sure she is Harry, you just keep telling yourself that." Amy said in a placating tone.
The Captain tried to think of a place that matched what the Doctor was looking for. Then it came to him. "The magazine."
"What?"
"He means the armory where the powder's stored." The Doctor explained.
"It's dry as a bone."
"Good. Let's go there."
"I give the orders." The Captain said as he pointed his gun at the Doctor again.
Once again however, the Doctor was not impressed. "Ah. Worried because I'm wearing a hat now? Nobody touch anything sharp!"
"Come on, Harry."
The pirate keyholder fumbled through his keys to try and find the key for the magazine.
The Captain apparently thought he was taking too long. "Quickly, man."
"I can't find the key. Tis gone, Cap'n."
"How can it have gone?" The man questioned. Before the Doctor could open the door, Harry ducked between him and the Captain.
"Allow me." He said with a short bow, one hand on the door as he leaned against it. Everyone watched as Harry fell to the floor and popped back up like nothing happened.
"Hmm… that looked cooler in my head." He remarked before walking into the magazine.
"Someone else had the same idea." The Doctor said, ignoring Harry's stunt.
Everyone hurried into the Magazine, with the Captain giving orders to block the door shut and the Doctor looked around.
"Who's been sleeping in my gun room?" He asked.
Everyone heard a quiet coughing. The Captain went to investigate and found a boy stuffed away inside a barrel.
"You fool!" He said angrily as he pulled the boy out of the barrel and up against the wall. "You fool, boy. What are you doing here?"
"Who is he? What, he's not one of the crew?"
"No. He's my son." The Captain answered reluctantly. "What in God's name possessed you, boy? Your mother will be searching for you." The look on the boy's face told the Captain all he needed to know.
"When?"
"Last winter," Tobey said with another cough. "Fever." The news made the Captain sigh. Though then, the boy smiled a little as he continued. "She told me all about you. How you were a Captain in the Navy. An honorable man, she said. How I'd be proud to know you. I've come to join your crew."
'The look on Avery's face… I wonder if this is the first time he's felt ashamed of his choice to be a pirate.' It had to be hard. To face the life you thought you'd left behind. To face your child who thought you were a hero… when you knew you were nothing of the sort.
"I don't want you here."
"You can't send me back. It's too late. We're a hundred miles from home."
"It's dangerous here." Avery snapped at the boy. But he hesitated. "There is a monster aboard. She leaves a mark on men's skin."
"The black spot?" Tobey asked, revealing his palm. He coughed again as Avery grabbed his arm to look at it.
After that Avery was through in checking Toby for any sort of mark, nicks, cuts' bruises of any form. Eventually he went back to the others and said, "There's nothing wrong with the boy. He has no scars."
"Yep. Ignore my last theory." He said, looking down about his constant blunders.
"He has his good days and his bad days." Amy consoled, patting the Doctor's arm.
"It's not just blood, she's coming for all the sick and wounded, like a hunter chooses the weakest animal." He said, trying to find an explanation that fit all the facts.
"Okay, look, he's got a fever. The siren knows it."
The Doctor sighed and shook his head. "Humans. Second-rate. Damage too easily. It's only a matter of time before everyone gets bruised. My ship, it can sail us all away from here. You and me, we fetch it. Let's go."
"You're not the Captain here, remember." Avery reminded.
Harry shook his head as well, finally feeling the effects of whatever medicine the "Siren" used on him completely fade away. That was when he saw Toby open a barrel full of water. Immediately the Siren's hand reached out of the water.
Harry, along with the Doctor, worked together and forced the lid back down. As soon as that was done, Harry turned to Avery with a bewildered look on his face.
"What the heck 'Captain'? I thought you said the magazine was as dry as a bone? Well in case you forgot, bones don't have an emergency supply of water."
"That's not supposed to be here."
That statement earned him a dry look from Harry, Amy and Rory.
"Really? Who would have thought?" Amy asked sarcastically.
Avery however ignored her comment in favor of addressing his son. "The water's dangerous. That's how she gets through. One touch of her hand and you're a dead man."
"We're all cursed if we stay aboard." One of the crew said, making Harry roll his eyes.
"Seriously? You're not even gonna try to figure this out? Or are you just gonna say 'curse' and roll over?"
The Doctor's thoughts closely mirrored Harry's. "It's not a curse. Curse means game over. Curse means we're helpless. We are not helpless." After saying that, he turned back to Avery and asked, "Captain, what's our next move?"
Avery was relieved and said, "Wait with the boy."
The same crew member from before then spoke again, completely ignoring everyone. "Captain, we're all in danger here."
But Avery was adamant in his orders. "I said wait. And barricade the door after we've gone."
"Sure you want to go?" Amy asked worried about the idea of them out there with the Siren alone.
The Doctor nodded. "We have to get Harry and Toby away. She's out there now, licking her lips, boiling a saucepan, grating cheese."
Though she still looked reluctant, Amy agreed. There were people who needed help. "Okay. Well, remember, if you get an itch, don't scratch too hard."
The Doctor smirked. "We've all got to go some time. There are worse ways than having your face snogged off by a dodgy mermaid." He said, before he and Avery went off to the Tardis.
When they were out of the magazine Avery put up his gun and turned to the Doctor. "Do you want to draw lots for who's in charge, then?"
The Doctor considered it. "Darkness? Demon? You can have first go."
Avery accepted the lead and started moving, only to stumble along the way. Not a moment after he fell forward, the Doctor grabbed his arm, just barely preventing him from putting his hand through a nail.
"Nearly. Phew!" Avery said as he gave a sigh of relief.
The Doctor gave the Captain a pat on the shoulder and the two of them were off again.
Rory laughed nervously before sharing a look with Amy that Harry didn't quite get. After the Doctor and Avery left, things got really quiet. Well… for a little bit at least.
Amy and Rory came over to him and Amy just kinda did that stare she did when she was waiting for an explanation. While Rory… well Rory just kinda looked like he was pitying Harry.
"Can I help you two?" He asked.
This was apparently not what Amy wanted to hear. But before she could express her displeasure, Rory spoke up, "Amy wants to tell the Doctor about, well, you know what."
Harry blinked in some confusion until it hit him. "Ohh, you're talking about that!"
"Of course I'm talking about that! I mean he has a right to know doesn't he?"
Harry sighed. "Alright, look, was I with you during that whole mess?"
Amy's look was confirmation enough for him. "Thought so. Now you tell me. What did I tell you?"
Amy glared a little but eventually conceded. "You said that we couldn't tell him and we couldn't do anything about it because we had seen it happen. And since we had seen it happen, it became a fixed point in time that nobody could change."
Harry blinked. "Wow, I really said all that? That well?"
Rory smirked. "You do eventually get the hang of explaining things Harry."
"Huh, well I can't say I'm upset about that little bit of info." Another look from Amy though, brought him back to the topic at hand. "Right, anyway, you've seen the future. It's written in stone now. A fixed point in time. The Doctor knows what he's doing."
That explanation however wasn't good enough for Amy. "Well what about you? You change things all the time! Saving people who weren't supposed to live, keeping things that would have happened from happening. You can do it because you've seen it. What makes you so special?"
Harry frowned as he looked down at his hand. "I'm not special."
This action did not go unnoticed by Amy and Rory. Amy went from upset Scottish redhead to worried friend in the blink of an eye. "Harry? What did you do this time?
For just a second, Harry went wide-eyed and threw his hand behind his back. "Do? What did I do? Absolutely nothing."
Amy then turned into a worried upset Scottish redhead and gave her friend a look. "Harry. What did you do." By her tone, this time wasn't a request.
Harry winced. "I-I may have changed things somewhat."
This did nothing to please Amy. "What. Did. You. Do?"
Harry sighed and eventually decided to just give in. In the end it would probably be the least painful decision. Probably.
"Honestly, I'm not even sure how my barging in affected this. But the person who was supposed to get hurt, the one who was supposed to get the black spot on their hand, was Rory."
Amy's eyes widened as she turned back to look at her husband, who consequently was already double checking his hands.
"I'm clean."
Amy gave a sigh of relief and for a moment Harry thought he was safe. That was until Amy turned back to him with another glare.
"I swear, if I find out that you purposely took Rory's place and put yourself in danger again-" She didn't finish her statement but judging by her tone…
"I didn't! I swear!" Harry said quickly, putting up his hands in surrender.
Amy looked suspicious, but a noise behind her drew everyone's attention to the two pirates taking down the barricade that had been put up.
"What's going on?"
The pirates ignored them until they finished taking down the barricade. "We're not staying here to mollycoddle the boy. The Captain's gone soft. It's time for us to leave."
Before they could leave though, Toby moved to address them. "He told you to wait, you dog. He's your Captain, a Naval Officer. You're honor-bound to do as he tells you."
The Pirate almost laughed. "Honor-bound? Do you know what kind of ship this is? Do you know what your father does?"
Amy sucked in a quick breath and grabbed Toby. "Don't listen to him, Toby."
The pirate smirked. "We sail under the black flag. The Jolly Roger."
The pirate's words enraged the boy, who was ready to launch himself at them. "Liar! He's no wicked pirate!"
If anything, the pirate's smirk only grew. "Oh, you think so? I have seen your father gun down a thousand innocent men."
After he said that shocking and hurtful comment to Toby, the pirate turned away from him and the others to talk with his shipmate. "Get what treasure you can. I'll meet you in the row boat."
Yet after he turned back, Toby grabbed a cutlass and raised it at the pirate. "You're going to remain at your post." He warned.
Now the pirate was paying attention. "I am not playing games with you, boy. You put that down." He said warily, eying the point of the blade in the boy's hand.
"One more step and I'll use this, you blaggard."
"You don't know how to fight with a cutlass, boy." The pirate said, hoping to make the boy lose his nerve.
From behind Toby, a second cutlass pointed in the pirates direction as well. When all eyes turned to the wielder, Harry smirked. "Then I suppose it's a good thing I'm here huh?"
Now both of the pirates looked nervous. Upon seeing that, Amy smirked as well. "So what do ya say boys? Is this a risk you really wanna take? Or are ya gonna stay like good little pirates?"
The two of them growled but ultimately dropped their weapons.
"Good choice."
The next anyone knew, the pirate drew his pistol and pointed it at them all. "You little swabbers!"
"Don't shoot! The powder will blow and kill us all!" Rory shouted.
"Or do! After all, it's either you die here, or you die out there."
"Harry? I don't think that's helping!"
Harry however, ignored that comment. "Well? Personally, I think you're safer down here with us rather than out on the open ocean in a little raft."
The pirates' faces grew conflicted, and though they hated to admit it, they knew that Harry had a point. Even so, the pirate opened the door behind him and left.
"Fine. We'll stay for the time being. However, you'd best keep one eye open at night." The pirate said as he started to rebuild the barricade.
It wasn't long before the Doctor and Avery returned, pounding on the door.
"Amy! Open the door!"
"Toby, open the door! Toby!"
"Open the door."
"Toby!"
The Doctor moved towards Toby, his hand reached out to grab his medallion, only to stop when he realized that it wasn't there. Before he could even ask about it, Harry cleared his throat and lifted it up as the Doctor turned to him.
"Already ahead of you Doctor." Harry said with a smirk as he wrapped the reflective metal in a cloth to keep the Siren from getting through.
The Doctor smiled in amusement, before he realized there was still more to do and took off out of the magazine again, with Avery trailing after him.
This left Harry with Rory, Amy, Toby and the other pirates to wait for them to return. Hopefully with some kind of plan to get them all out of this mess.
"Just wait?"
Then again… even the Doctor had days where his ideas just sucked.
"Not my most dynamic plan, I realise."
And the fact that he knew it sucked, somehow made the whole situation even suckier.
"Tardis?"
"It's been towed."
"What?"
Harry rolled his eyes. "The Tardis just got a bit confused. Couldn't quite figure out exactly where it was. But don't worry, we'll find it again in a bit."
The Doctor appeared apologetic. "Sorry. We might be stuck here for a while."
"So you're saying that we should all just wait here below?" Rory questioned in a distasteful tone.
Again… even the Doctor has his bad days.
"The sea is still calm, like a mirror. If you go out on deck she'll rise up and attack you." Avery said, explaining why going up above deck was a horrible idea.
The Doctor at least tried to stay upbeat about his plan. "It's okay. The calm won't last forever. When the wind picks up we'll all set sail."
"Until it does, you have to hide down here."
After that, there wasn't much to do in this episode. The most harrowing part of it all was Rory falling into the sea. Unfortunately there was no way to do anything about it before the storm hit.
So for now, it was time to sleep. This was the only chance he'd had in a while to get a decent sleep. Between the spy games, the angels and the shipwreck… sleep hadn't been much of an option.
'It's a bit ironic. I find peace and quiet on a pirate ship stranded in the middle of the sea with an attractive homicidal Ai Siren trying to kidnap me to heal me…' Harry paused at that as he frowned at his own thoughts. 'funny how fast things change.'
Lucky enough for him, Harry was actually able to get some sleep. At least until Amy woke him up again when she gasped and panted. At first he was confused by it, until he noticed where she was staring and remembered about that horrid lady.
He shook his head and chose to focus on the somewhat panicked woman in front of him. "You ok Amy?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah I'm fine Harry. Thanks for asking though." Then Amy's face turned inquisitive. "How about you Harry? Are you getting enough sleep?"
It was at that moment that Harry yawned. After it was over, he clicked his tongue and cheekily asked, "Does that answer your question?"
Amy laughed a little before she stood up and stretched out. Then she turned down at Harry and said, "Well shall we go see what the Doctor's up to?"
Harry smirked and he too stood up. "Sounds like a plan to me."
Eventually the two of them found the Doctor up in the captain's cabin working on something a little before placing it down on the table. Amy and Harry shared a confused glance before turning back to the Doctor.
"Doctor?" Amy questioned, only to be hushed by the Doctor.
"Shh."
"What can you see?"
"Feels like something's out there, staring straight at me." The Doctor said in a hushed tone.
Then thunder sounded, lightning flashed and the ship finally moved, and not due to the ocean's gentle swaying.
"Man the sails!" The Doctor shouted.
At that, the whole crew ran up on deck to make sure that the ship stayed afloat. Up on deck might as well have been pure chaos. Between the strong winds and the rain it was hard enough to keep their footing, let alone run around on deck hoisting the yardarm.
All the while Avery shouted orders to everyone. "To the rigging, you dogs! Let go the sails! Avast ye! Put the bunt into the slack of the clews!"
"I swear he's making half this stuff up!"
"Well Amy you gotta keep in mind that this is his world!" Harry yelled out. "The terminology here makes perfect sense to other pirates!"
"Well, we're going to need some kind of phrase book!"
"Toby! Find my coat. My compass is inside it, boy." He ordered Toby before he again turned to the others. "Heave ho, you bilge rats."
"Rats was all I could hear." Rory yelled out in frustration.
Just then, Toby came back up on deck with Avery's coat. Though as he moved to bring it to his father, a gold crown fell onto the deck and everyone froze. Then the Siren shooted out of the crown and stood before Toby, her song luring him to her.
Avery watched in horror as Toby got closer to the Siren and called out to him saying, "Don't let her take you!"
Harry fell prey to the Sirens song soon after Toby, though he tried to fight it. As soon as Toby touched the Siren, he vanished into smoke with a horrid scream.
"No!" Avery screamed in anguish as he fell to his knees.
"Harry!" The Doctor shouted. Thinking quickly he grabbed the crown from off the deck and threw it into the water, making the Siren disappear before it could contact Harry.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
Harry came back to his senses as soon as the Siren went away. He turned back to see Avery on the ground even as the Doctor shouted at him some more.
"You couldn't give up the gold, could you. That's why you turned pirate. Your commission, your wife, your son. Just how much is that treasure worth to you, man?"
Harry's eyes widened at that, as he knew what was about to happen. His mind raced to find a way to keep from falling into the sea.
'I'm too far away to knock him down, and it's too loud out here to try and warn him. Guess I'll just have to-' He didn't even have enough time to try to finish his thought as a loose spar knocked Rory in the head and sent him flying overboard.
At least it would have, if Harry's hand hadn't grabbed Rory's arm. "Hold on Rory, I gotcha!"
Unfortunately, the blow Rory took had knocked him unconscious. And to make matters worse, the rain made holding on to Rory even harder.
'What is up with me and dangling people off of high places!' Harry thought to himself as he struggled to keep his grip on Rory.
Unfortunately it wasn't long before a wave crashed into the ship and ripped Rory out of his hand. Harry's heart practically stopped when he saw that Rory was gone. He could just barely hear Amy yelling.
Then the Doctor brought all of them together, speaking loudly so he could be heard over the rain. "If we ever want to see them again, we have to let the Siren take us. We'll prick our fingers. All agreed? Yeah?"
"Aye."
"Aye."
"Aye."
Harry said nothing, he only stared at the Siren who had come back for him as the others pricked their fingers to attract her. Even before the Siren started singing her song, Harry was already moving.
In a split second, Harry found himself waking up to an alarm sounding, on a cold metal floor surrounded by the Doctor and the others who started waking up moments after he had.
"Where are we?" Amy asked.
"We haven't moved. We're in exactly the same place as before." The Doctor explained, looking through a sort of window to exactly where they just were.
"We're on a ghost ship."
Harry chuckled. "No, this ship is most definitely real Avery."
"Harry's right." The Doctor said in agreement. "Space ship trapped in a temporal rift."
"How can two ships be in the same place?"
The Doctor shook his head. "Not the same. Two planes, two worlds, two cars parked in the same space. There are lots of different universes nested inside each other. Now and again they collide, and you can step from one to the other."
"Okay, I think I understand."
"Good, because it's not like that at all. But if that helps."
That reminded Harry of something and he was curious to see if it made sense to the Doctor.
"Is it the fact that each universe vibrates at its own frequency which keeps them separate from the rest of the universes?"
The Doctor stared blankly at Harry before nodding slowly which prompted him to continue.
"Which would mean that any of these 'collisions' as you call them would have to be caused by fluctuations in any one universe's frequency. That would cause a sort of rift to open allowing travel between universes."
The Doctor opened his mouth to say something about that but Harry, who was now on a roll, beat him to the punch.
"But unless the fluctuation in frequency stayed consistent then the rift wouldn't be able to stay open long enough for anything to make it through to the other side. In which case would mean that anything traveling through the rift when it was closed would either be immediately destroyed or trapped in the space between the worlds. There, but not quite there either."
Harry ran the whole theory through his head once more before he nodded and turned to the Doctor with his brow furrowed in thought. "Did that sound right to you Doctor? Or am I just plain wrong?"
The Doctor didn't say a word. He just stared at Harry in shock like he couldn't believe what he had just heard.
Amy was currently smirking like the devil herself. "Oh would you look at that, the Doctors speechless! I love it when you do that to him Harry!"
Harry turned toward Amy now with a raised eyebrow and asked, "Does this happen a lot?"
Amy nodded. "More times than you might think."
"Really?"
It was at this moment that the Doctor spoke again. "How old… no you couldn't, but then, no, not important. You're actually closer to the truth than any other human I've heard before, Harry."
The Doctor then reached down to grab a piece of metal off the ground and continued as though nothing had happened. "All the reflections have suddenly become gateways." He explained before he threw the piece of metal at the window.
Instead of bouncing off of it, cracking it, or downright breaking through it, the metal merely passed through the glass like it wasn't even there.
"Ever look in a mirror and think you're seeing a whole other world?" The Doctor asked somewhat rhetorically. "Well, this time it's not an illusion."
After figuring out that portion of the riddle, the Doctor led the others towards the source of the beeping. It didn't take a genius to figure out what it meant.
"The signal."
"Yes."
"The distress call." Amy clarified.
"Uh huh."
"There was a second ship here all the time."
"And the Siren is on board." The Doctor said, shortly before opening a door to find an alien skeleton wearing a spacesuit inside.
"Well… this brings a whole new meaning to having skeletons in your closet." Harry said with a grin.
"Dead."
Harry shot the Doctor a weird look and said, "Really? I'd have never guessed." before walking around the others towards the door, stopping a moment to turn back to them who had yet to move.
"Have you forgotten? We're here for Rory and Toby. Long dead aliens don't really matter in the grand scheme of things." Harry said a bit sharply before heading out the door without waiting for a reply.
As they moved on, Harry failed to notice the Doctor's concerned gaze pointed towards him. Nor Amy's either for that matter. But they knew how he was feeling, what he was thinking. After all, they had known him for quite some time.
The group traversed deeper into the ship to find even more alien skeletons. This one sat in a chair that looked like it belonged to someone important.
"You were right. There was something staring at us the whole time. How long has this ship been marooned here?" Amy questioned curiously.
"Long enough for the Captain to have run out of grog." Avery surmised.
Amy was confused however, "I don't understand. If this is the Captain, then what's the Siren?"
"Same as us. A stowaway." The Doctor said, using his sonic screwdriver to scan the corpse of the dead captain.
"She killed it?"
Looking at the data the screwdriver picked up, the Doctor merely read off what it said, "Human bacteria."
"What?"
"A virus from our planet. Airborne, traveling through the portal. That's what killed it. Didn't get its jabs!" He exclaimed in a disgusted tone as he raised his hand up, presumably after it had found some kind of nasty goop. "Urgh. Look."
Amy made a disgusted look towards the goo as well before bringing up the question of, "What is it?"
"Sneeze! Alien bogies." The Doctor said, again in disgust as he tried to flick it off. He quickly discovered that wouldn't work and thus wiped it on the coat Amy had grabbed.
A little bit of more exploring and the group found where the people had been taken. Lots of people lying on beds floating in midair, and connected by tubes coming from the ceiling. It didn't take long for the group to recognize the people they had lost.
"McGrath! He's one of my men."
"Amy, Rory is over there, you go check on him! I've got everyone else." Harry said, pointing towards Rory's bed before moving towards Avery's crew. After a few quick checks, he turned towards the worried Captain. "He's still breathing."
Avery looked immediately relieved and quickly noticed that everyone else was in the room as well. "My entire crew is here. Toby!"
"Rory!"
"The Tardis!"
"We have to get them out of here." Avery said, about to move Toby.
"Wait!" The Doctor shouted, stopping Avery in his tracks. He came over and scanned Toby. "His fever's gone."
He then walked over to Rory and scanned him as well.
"He looks so well."
"She's keeping him alive. His brain is still active, but all its cellular activity is suspended. It's not a curse, it's a tissue sample. Why get samples of people you are about to kill?"
"Help me get him up." Amy said, about to detach the tubes from Rory, only to stop when Harry shook his head.
"What is it Harry?" She asked, not liking the look on his face.
Harry swallowed hard, and struggled to look Amy in the eye. "Amy, I am so sorry. This is exactly what I was trying to avoid."
Amy looked confused. "What do you mean? He's fine. We just have to get him out of here!"
Again, Harry shook his head. "Amy, the Siren saved him, and he's still alive. But l," Harry paused for a second before continuing, "he's basically on life support right now. You take him out of here right now, and you'll have to resuscitate him right here."
"What?" Amy asked, looking distraught.
"His lungs are full of water. The tubes are keeping him alive."
"She's not a killer at all, is she Harry?" The Doctor asked, which Harry responded with a shake of his head.
Then, even without anyone trying, Rory started to wake up. As soon as that happened, a series of beeping went off; followed almost immediately by the sirens singing.
"She's coming." The Doctor said, gesturing towards the others to follow him, they quickly hid behind the nearby monitors.
From there, they watched Rory wake up, shaking and struggling to get away from the Siren. But the Siren sang her wordless song, calming him and putting back to sleep.
"Anaesthetic." The Doctor muttered, drawing Avery's attention.
"What?"
The Doctor explained. "The music. The song. So she anesthetizes people and puts their body in stasis."
When Rory was fast asleep, the Siren floated away from him and over towards Toby. When Avery saw that, he pulled out his gun and ran in pointing the weapon at the Siren.
"Avery, no!"
The Doctor's warning came too late however. Avery fired his shot, and the Siren turned red. She menacingly moved towards Avery, only dropping when the Doctor sneezed.
Now seemingly uninterested in Avery, the Siren moved towards the Doctor, carrying fire in her hands. She fired a shot of said fire towards him, forcing the Doctor to dodge.
"Fire. That's new. What does fire do? Burn? Yes. Destroy? What else? Sterilise! I sneezed. I've brought germs in."
Now knowing why the Siren was after him, the Doctor blew his nose into a tissue and threw it away. The Siren blasted it with fire even as Amy ran to get Rory. She was about to try and take the tubing out again, but remembered what Harry said, and stopped.
"Alright, that's it! Forget all of my previous theories!"
"Yeah? Well, we stopped paying attention a while back."
"It's like I said before, she's not a killer at all, she's a doctor!"
As soon as the Doctor said that, the Siren turned green again. Harry happily sighed, with a smile on his face now that things were starting to go a bit smoother.
"This is an automated sick bay. It's teleporting everyone on board. The crew are dead, and so the sick bay has had nothing to do. It's been looking after humanity whilst it's been idle. Look at her. A virtual doctor able to sterilize a whole room." The Doctor explained, with a smile on his face as well.
"Able to burn your face off." Amy reminded, not quite convinced.
"She's just an interface, seeped through the join between the planes, broadcast in our world. Protean circuitry means she can change her form, and become a human doctor for humans. Oh, sister, you are good." The Doctor complimented.
Avery protested however. "She won't let us take them."
The Doctor shook his head. "She's keeping them alive, but she doesn't know how to heal them."
"I'm his wife, for God's sake. Why can't I touch him?" Amy asked emotionally.
"Just tell her Amy." Harry told her earnestly. "She's an Ai. She's smart. And just like any other Doctor, you can't do anything unless she lets you. Show her your ring and I guarantee that she'll realize who you are to Rory. Then we can get Rory out of here."
"Look, he's very ill, okay? I just want to look after him. Why won't you let me near my husband?" Amy pleaded, showing the Siren her hand so she could clearly see the ring on her finger.
In response to Amy's plea, the Siren held out her hand, and a circle of light appeared around it.
"Consent form. Sign it. Put your hand in the light. Rory's sick. You have to take full responsibility." The Doctor quickly explained.
Amy did as she was told and the Siren promptly went away. Almost immediately after she left, Amy moved to take off the machines connected to Rory.
Only to stop when Harry shook his head. "You can't take them off Amy. Not yet. He can't breathe without them. Remember? He was unconscious and underwater for some time before the Siren got him."
Amy's eyes widened. "What do we do? I can't just leave him here."
"He'll die if you take him out." Avery pointed out.
With Amy still looking at Harry for answers, all Harry could do was sigh. Then, in a soft and gentle tone, he told her, "Wake Rory up Amy. He knows what to do."
Amy furrowed her brow a little at that but nodded, turning her attention to Rory. "Rory? Rory, wake up."
Groggily, Rory woke up with an understandable question on his mind. "Where am I?"
"You're in a hospital. If you leave, you might die." The Doctor explained.
"But if you don't, you'll have to stay forever." Amy added worriedly.
Rory took the news rather well, all things considered. "You're saying that if I don't get up now…"
Amy nodded solemnly. "You can never leave."
"The Siren will keep you safe." The Doctor said, in an attempt to console him.
Rory nodded. "And if I come with you?"
The Doctor cringed. "Drowning, on the point of death."
There was a brief moment of silence before Rory suddenly turned to Harry. "Are you still certified in CPR?"
Harry blinked in shock. "What? How'd you know about that?"
Rory froze for a second and hesitantly said, "It came up in conversation."
Amy, who had looked confused by what Rory had said as well, suddenly looked as though she remembered something and turned to Harry. "Oh that's right! You can do it!"
Meanwhile Harry stared at the two of them like they were insane. "Well did it also come up that I've never had to perform CPR on anyone before?"
Rory ignored that part. "I was drowning. You just have to resuscitate me."
Harry rolled his eyes. "Oh is that all?"
"You've seen them do it loads of times in films. CPR. The kiss of life."
"Rory, this isn't a film, okay? It may have been one where I'm from but it definitely isn't one now."
"You can do it!"
"But-"
Amy interrupted Harry before he could say anything else. "Harry. We trust you. You can do this."
Rory nodded. "What she said."
While this did manage to calm him down a bit, Harry couldn't help but ask, "Why does everyone keep trying to change the story? The story works, dang it!"
"But Harry," The Doctor started, putting his hand on Harry's shoulder. "this isn't just our story anymore. It's yours too. Don't you think if the Amy and Rory in your show had someone certified in CPR that they wouldn't want that person to do it?"
Harry couldn't dispute that. Despite how badly he wanted to. So with a deep, calming breath, he nodded. "Alright, fine. I'll do it."
Amy, Rory and the Doctor all smiled. But Harry wasn't done yet. He turned to the Doctor and said, "If I'm going to do it though, we're gonna do this right. Doctor, you have a medical bay on the Tardis right?"
When the Doctor nodded, Harry asked him to take him there. He was happy to find what was called an Ambu bag. The medical equipment Doctors and Nurses typically used when performing CPR so they never had to stop the chest compressions to give mouth to mouth.
After they returned, Harry started setting up and the Doctor started to think of the long term effects of the ship staying on earth.
"We have to send this ship back into space. Imagine if the Siren got ashore. She would have to process every injured human."
Avery had other things on his mind. "What about Toby?"
The Doctor took a moment to scan Toby with the sonic before turning to Avery with a solemn expression. "I'm sorry. Typhoid fever. Once he returns it's only a matter of time."
Avery looked down at the sleeping form of his son before looking up at the Doctor. "What if I stay with him, here. The Siren will look after him." He said, watching the Doctor as he gave a slight nod. "I can't go back to England. And what home does he have now, if not with me?"
It was one of the best parts of life with the Doctor. The miracles you got to see. Anywhere else, the idea of a pirate giving up a pirate's life and all the gold and treasure they could get from it, all for a kid, would seem impossible. Crazy even.
But here? It was more than just possible. It happened almost all the time.
"Do you think you can sail this thing?" The Doctor asked with a smile now on his face.
Avery simply smirked. "Just point me to the atom accelerator."
After their exchange and Harry had everything set up, Rory had one last thing to say. "I know you can do this. Of course, if you muck it up I am going to be really cross. And dead."
Despite the bad joke, Harry chuckled very briefly before glaring down at Rory. "Don't even joke about that Rory, I'm already nervous about this as it is!"
Amy however smiled and said to Rory, "I'll see you in a minute."
With that said, the Doctor pulled off Rory's restraints as well as the wires preserving his life and Harry and Amy got to work. Amy, giving Rory a pump of air every time Harry gave him five chest compressions.
The whole time the ship was quiet… well except for a small singing voice that could be traced back to Harry. Which confused everyone who was present.
"Are you… singing, Harry?"
Aside from giving a nod, Harry ignored the question, as well as Amy and the Doctor talking, encouraging Rory to stay alive.
No, he kept his focus rather on the beat of "Stayin' Alive". He remembered someone telling him that the beat of that song was perfect for counting compressions during CPR.
He never understood why the Doctor and Amy had thought that not starting the CPR right away waiting till they were in the Tardis to start it was a good idea.
It was like seeing someone in the desert, dying of thirst, and driving them to a lake for a drink. Even though you had a dozen bottles of water in the car. It just doesn't make sense.
Either way, the CPR worked. Rory woke up, coughing up the water that had been in his chest and Harry immediately turned him on his side so he wouldn't just end up choking on it.
Cheers roared up all around him and before he knew it, Amy and the Doctor had him wrapped up in a big emotional hug.
"You did it Harry. Thank you." Amy said tearfully before she let go and moved to take care of Rory.
Harry shrugged off the Doctor's continued hold on him, and gave Rory a nod before he left the three of them alone, his body shaking slightly now that everything was over.
'That was a bit much, I think.' He thought to himself as he headed back to the Tardis, unaware of the Doctor's gaze on him.
Harry wasn't really in the mood for celebrating. In fact he was back in his room going through his future self's stash of dr. pepper, laying in bed and trying to will the shaking to stop.
That… it took a little while but eventually he was able to stop the shaking. Though he wasn't exactly feeling very good.
From what he remembered, the resuscitation this time around went fast this time rather than last time. Though he couldn't be sure. It's not like he timed how long it took Amy to revive her husband.
Harry lost himself in his room, wondering about what things he had already changed, as well as what things he would change in the future. Sure the things he had changed so far were minuscule. He wasn't even sure if he'd changed anything with 13.
But if he let himself be ok with the tiny changes… how long would it be before he found himself being ok with changing the bigger things? Like saving Donna or Amy? Rory or Clara? People who couldn't be saved?
While he pondered on his dark questions, a knock on his door sounded, breaking him out of his thoughts. He told whoever it was to come in and not to his surprise, it was the Doctor. Though the Doctor coming in with a plate of food was a surprise. A nice surprise too.
The Doctor looked somewhat awkwardly between Harry and the plate of food in his hands. "I, uh, well you always mention how, with the whole jumping around and stuff, how you have a hard time getting all your meals in. And I don't remember you eating a whole lot today so I-"
"Doctor, please, for the love of all things sweet and simple… shut up and just give me the food." Harry interrupted, reaching out with one hand motioning for the food.
Silence filled the room with only the sound of Harry eating to break it. In between bites though, Harry could tell that the Doctor clearly had something on his mind.
The debate of whether to leave it alone or talk to him about it did not take long. Even though his stomach protested, he let his food be for the moment.
"What's wrong, Doctor?"
The Doctor looked over at Harry and simply asked, "Will Amy be ok?"
Harry's face fell. 'That's right… this is the episode where the Doctor figures out that something is wrong with Amy.'
There were two options he had right now. He could either tell him that he can't tell him anything, or he could tell him exactly what he wants to hear.
After all, he didn't ask Harry to tell him what to do, or what was going on with Amy. He only asked Harry if Amy would be alright. Something Harry didn't see anything wrong about answering.
So, Harry nodded. "She'll be fine Doc. You'll figure it out."
The Doctor nodded back. "Thank you Harry."
Harry smiled and shook his head. "No, thank you Doctor. For asking the right question."
It was relieving to know that the Doctor wouldn't push for answers right now. Right now things were alright. Rory and Amy were safe and that was all that mattered.
Though a part of him did wonder whether that would change. Did the Doctor blame him for what happened to Rose? Would he blame him for what's going to happen to Amy and Rory?
While worrisome this was the last thing Harry wanted to think about. With a contemplative sigh and a shake of his head, he ate his food in silence.
In time, a burning sensation let him know his time was just about up here.
... I'm back! Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Hopefully it won't take forever for me to get the next chapter out but... I wouldn't hold my breath.
But I am working on it!
Till then. See ya!