"What the hell are you doing?!" Canton demanded as they disappeared inside. Knowing that the only way he was going to get answers was to go after them, he quickly followed them inside, shutting the door behind him. He turned around to study the surely tiny space . . . only for his eyes to widen and his feet to become frozen in place as he took in the bigger-on-the-inside interior.
Up by the console, the Doctor didn't even notice Canton's reaction to the TARDIS for he was too busy piloting the machine with some help from River. Alex clutched the railing and looked down at Canton. She smiled reassuringly at him, noticing that Rory was standing beside him, before turning to address Amy, lounging against her.
"You feeling better now?" she asked.
Amy looked over at her. "Sorry, what?"
"Are you feeling better now? Not feeling sick anymore?"
Amy shook her head. "Oh, I'm fine. Probably just one of those twenty-four-hour bugs or something. I'll be okay, don't worry."
Alex nodded, but that didn't calm her down any. Why was she worrying so much about Amy? Yes, she was her best friend, her closest one next to Lacey back in Bristol, but there was something else going on here. Another twinge twitched in her mind, this one stronger than the last one. Alex frowned. It was like the twinge was trying to get her attention. But over what? The TARDIS didn't have any perception filters!
"Jefferson isn't a girl's name," the Doctor's voice suddenly broke in, derailing Alex's thoughts.
Alex nodded in agreement, focusing back on the matter at hand. "It's not her name either," she added.
"Jefferson . . . Adams . . . Hamilton," the Doctor mused. He suddenly turned to his co-pilot. "River!"
River grinned and straightened her shoulders a little, obviously pleased at having been picked instead of Alex. "Surnames of three of America's founding fathers," she provided.
"Lovely fellows," the Doctor recalled. "Two of them fancied me."
Alex's brow furrowed. She wasn't sure she needed to know that. She felt her jealousy bubbling up but pushed it down. "TMI, Doc," she called out.
The Doctor stuck his tongue out at her, making her giggle a little, before continuing with his explanation. "You see, the President asked the child two questions. Where are you and who are you."
"She was answering where," Alex picked up.
The Doctor gave her an approving nod. "Now, where would you find three big, historical names in a row like that?"
"Where?" Amy asked.
In response, the Doctor reached out and pulled a lever on the console, causing the TARDIS to make a thumping sound as it landed. "Here!" He darted to the doors, pausing only to grab Alex's hand so she could join him.
"Come on!" Alex cried over her shoulder as she and the Doctor ran down the stairs. So caught up in getting outside, they almost banged into Canton and Rory, the former still gaping around at the control room.
"It's . . . er. . ."
The Doctor sent Canton a fleeting glance before turning to Rory. "Are you taking care of this?" He gave Rory no time to reply and merely rushed out the door. As Alex was pulled along, she managed to send Rory an apologetic look over her shoulder.
"Why is it always my turn?" Rory grumbled as River dashed out after them.
Amy strode up to him. "Because you're the newest," she answered simply. She smiled sweetly at him before leaning forward and pressing a kiss to his cheek. Then she, too, was out the door.
Amy frowned a little at her new surroundings. They had landed in what appeared to be a mostly disused office space. Filing cabinets were stacked everywhere, a fine sheen of dust decorating the tops of them. Discarded boxes filled with packing peanuts were strewn all across the floor. On one side of the room was a small desk with a little leather chair in front of it. This was where the Doctor was sitting, playing with an American flag he'd snitched off the desk, while Alex sat comfortably in his lap.
"Where are we?" Amy questioned as she cautiously stepped further into the room.
"About five miles from Cape Kennedy Space Center," Alex answered, giggling and playfully swiping at the Doctor's hands as he waved the flag in her face.
The Doctor chuckled and tossed the flag back onto the desk. "It's 1969, the year of the moon. Interesting, don't you think?"
You have no idea, Doc, Alex thought as she cast her eyes downwards, purposefully looking anywhere else than at the Time Lord.
"But why would a little girl be here?" Amy wondered, waving a hand around the dingy space.
"I don't know," the Doctor admitted. "Lost me a bit."
"At any rate, I doubt she's here by choice," Alex said. Little girls liked big open spaces to play in. This wasn't one of them.
"Good job, Ally," the Doctor complimented, smiling approvingly and pointing a finger at her. "The President asked the girl where she was, and she did what any lost little girl would do." He nudged Alex off his lap and stood to head over to a window on the other side of the room. "She looked out of the window." He pulled some blinds aside, revealing a dark street with only one working streetlight on it. The light was perfectly positioned to show three street signs across the road: Jefferson Street, Adams Street, and Hamilton Avenue.
Amy peered out the window. "Streets. Of course, street names!"
"The only place in Florida, probably all of America, with those three street names on the same junction." He then glanced over at River. "And Dr. Song, you've got that face on again."
"What face?" River questioned, but Alex caught the gleam in her eye. She knew exactly what the Doctor meant.
"The 'He's hot when he's clever' face."
"This is my normal face," River argued, albeit weakly. Alex glowered at her. Oh, it was so obvious that River was enjoying this.
"Yes, it is," the Doctor nodded.
"Oh, shut up," River saucily retorted. Alex's glare intensified by a thousand. If it were possible to kill people with just a look, River Song would be dead as a doornail right about now.
"Not a chance," the Doctor shot back. He actually looked as though he was enjoying the interaction.
Alex had to stop this. River so freaking in love with the Doctor, it was almost pathetic. Alex was aware that saying this was like the pot calling the kettle black considering her own feelings for the Doctor, but the point still stood. Besides, it was highly likely that River knew of Alex's feelings for the Doctor and was just blatantly ignoring them so she could try to get the Doctor for herself.
Well, that's not gonna happen, Alex vowed as she marched up to plant herself between them.
"Come on, Doc," she ordered, forcing a cheerful tone as she grabbed the Doctor's jacket sleeve and led him towards a corridor away from the office. "Let's go this way." However, right before she could pull him away from River's desperately-trying-to-sink-into-him claws, Rory came out of the TARDIS along with a still baffled Canton. The ex-FBI agent stumbled out of the time machine and gaped at his new surroundings.
"We've moved," he said, pointing out the obvious. "How . . . how can we have moved?!"
The Doctor groaned. Other people had handled this so much better. "You haven't even got to space travel yet?"
Rory shot him a defensive glare. "I was going to cover it with time travel."
"Time travel," Canton dumbly repeated.
"Brave-heart, Canton," the Doctor told him as Alex dragged him towards the corridor, Amy and River already having gone ahead. "Come on!"
The group cautiously walked down the dark and damp corridor. As they ventured further, Alex found herself gripping onto the Doctor's jacket while the latter wrapped his arm protectively around her shoulders. Going down dark and creepy tunnels was nothing new to them, but it was still a rather nerve-wracking experience, made none the easier when the one they admired was standing right there.
The corridor eventually branched out into a large cement-walled room. Boxes and bins had been stacked at random all around. A small distance away, there was a large examination table cluttered with tools and little bits of 1960s era tech . . . including an adult-sized NASA astronaut suit. Alex gulped when she saw it and immediately refrained her eyes, though she found that her gaze kept being pulled back to it.
"It's a warehouse of some kind," River observed. "Disused."
Alex rolled her eyes at such a blatant statement about something they could clearly see. "No, really?" she faux-gasped. "I had no idea. Please, tell us more!"
"Alex," the Doctor admonished, not wanting to get involved in another Alex-River spat right now. He kept his arm wrapped around her shoulders as he turned and asked River, "You realize this is almost certainly a trap, of course?"
River nodded. "I noticed the phone, yes."
Amy, hearing this even though she was slightly ahead of them, turned back around. "What about it?" she questioned.
"It was cut off."
Alex shuddered at the sinister implications of that piece of trivia, but quickly focused on what this factoid now revealed about Nixon's mysterious caller. "So how is the little girl calling the President from here?"
"And why would anyone want to trap us?" Amy added as the group continued further into the room.
Alex shook her head sadly. Sometimes, Amy could be horribly naïve and oblivious. "Amelia, who in this room is one of the single-most powerful beings in the universe?" she asked, looking pointedly at the Doctor.
Amy followed her eyes and, when realization hit, went, "Oh. Sorry."
The Doctor snorted a little at the girls' antics, but he couldn't help but worry at Alex's words. She was right. He was quite a legend. Was this a trap built with him in mind? If so, by who?
Stop it, he scolded himself. Worrying isn't going to help. Besides, other than a few irate Daleks, some pissy Cybermen, and a few other species, you haven't really pissed anyone off. There's probably nothing to worry about.
Pulling himself back to the present, he shrugged and said, "Maybe, and thank you for the compliment, Ally, but for now, let's see if anyone tries to kill us and work backwards."
Yeah, that would end well, Alex thought.
"Now, why would a little girl be here?" River wondered, gazing around at the dilapidated room.
"I don't know," the Doctor replied. "Let's find her and ask her."
"Before we do that," Alex said, "can we focus on that for a minute?" She pointed across the room to the examination table and the spacesuit lying on it. A panel of light was shining down on it, looking a lot like the lights from some alien operating room Alex had seen in a movie her friend Ross dared her to watch a few years ago. Regardless of its creepiness, the light perfectly illuminated the suit, revealing that it had actually been opened up. A bunch of wires and other components stuck out of it, adding to the creepy element of this whole place.
River immediately hurried over to it, her inner archeologist peeking out as she examined a piece that, in her time, was positively ancient. "It's nonterrestrial," she reported. "Definitely alien. Probably not even from this time zone."
"Which is odd, because look at this!" the Doctor cried excitedly from his place by a few opened boxes, all of them packed with NASA spacesuits. Alex went over to him and leaned against a crate. She watched him poke around the boxes, looking like a little kid on Christmas morning. The comparison made her smile.
"It's Earth tech," River added. "It's contemporary."
The Doctor reached into one of the boxes and pulled out an astronaut's helmet. "It's very contemporary," he corrected. "Cutting edge. This is from the space program."
"Stolen?" River guessed.
"What, by aliens?" Amy scoffed as she moved to stand next to Alex.
"Apparently," the Doctor shrugged, pulling the space helmet over his head. Alex closed her eyes and placed a hand over them, shaking her head wearily. She really needed to do something about the Doctor's fascination with hats. First fezzes, then Stetsons, now space helmets? This was getting ridiculous!
"That makes no sense," she argued. "If you're an advanced alien race and can make it all the way to Earth, why would you bother stealing technology that, in this time period, barely made it to the moon?"
"Maybe because it's cooler?" the Doctor suggested, his voice slightly muffled by his gold-plated visor. Lifting it up, he enthusiastically added, "Look how cool this stuff is!"
Amy blinked. "Cool aliens?" she said, staring at him.
"Well, what would you call me?"
"An alien," Amy and Alex said together.
"Oi!" He shot them a frown, though it turned into something more playful when he looked at Alex.
Alex smirked back at him. "Maybe a handsome alien," she countered, her eyes sparkling as they switched from copper to honey colored. She didn't care that she was full-on flirting with him right now, just that he was here so she could. She couldn't focus on the Doctor's death. That was hundreds of years in his future. It probably wouldn't even happen again while she was with him. She hoped.
The Doctor's face reddened. Nevertheless, his lips broke out into a grin. "Th-thank you, Ally," he stuttered.
Alex giggled a little, making his grin grow wider. Beside them, Amy rolled her eyes, albeit affectionately. Having traveled with the Doctor and Alex for so long, she had gotten used to their flirting. It was either that or be annoyed by it every time it came up which was only . . . every three minutes.
Just then, Rory and Canton appeared. "I, er, think he's okay now," Rory announced. The ex-FBI agent did look much calmer now. He had somehow procured a flashlight and was currently shining it all around the warehouse.
"Ah!" the Doctor beamed. "Back with us, Canton?"
Canton nodded. "I like your wheels."
"That's my boy," the Doctor said admiringly, patting him on the shoulder. With his other hand, he reached out and grasped Alex's hand. "So, come on. Little girl. Let's find her."
Alex allowed the Doctor to pull her off to the other side of the warehouse while Amy went over to River. The woman was still examining the dissected spacesuit, currently fascinated by a bunch of muck and slime on its wiring. Amy grimaced a little before forcing herself to focus on her true purpose for coming over here. "So, River—"
"I know what you're thinking," River interrupted, not even looking up as she scanned one of the wires with her handheld.
"No, you don't."
"You're thinking if we can find the spaceman in 1969 and neutralize it, then it won't be around in 2011 to kill the Doctor."
"Or attempt to kill Alex," Amy added. Seeing that astronaut try to kill her other best friend . . . It scared her half to death. If Alex hadn't ducked, she would most certainly be dead right now.
River hummed at the comment, but otherwise didn't acknowledge it. "It's only because I was thinking it too."
"So let's do it!"
River shook her head. "It doesn't work like that." She stepped around Amy to examine another section of the spacesuit. "We came here because of what we saw in the future. If we try and prevent the future from happening, we create a paradox."
"Time can be rewritten," Amy protested.
"Not all of it."
"Says who?"
River looked Amy right in the eye. "Who do you think?" she shot back. And really, the answer was painfully obvious. The Doctor knew more than anyone about what you could and couldn't do to time.
Amy went silent, absorbing this, as River's eyes caught sight of a wire on the floor. It traveled across the concrete all the way over to a manhole a small distance away. "What's this?" she murmured, following the wire over to the manhole.
Amy, refusing to let the subject drop, went after her. The Doctor and Alex were her best friends. The Doctor had been a fixture in her life since her childhood and Alex had been the first person to believe her and not think she was crazy about her 'imaginary friend'. Alex had helped get her and Rory together and the Doctor had shown her more wonders of the universe than she ever could have imagined. They were both so fantastic and wonderful. How could River just stand by and not try to help? Amy knew that she had some kind of issue with Alex, but she seemed to really like the Doctor. Why wouldn't she try and at least keep him from getting hurt?
She tried to appeal to this side of River's character. "We can still save him," Amy persisted.
But if River heard her persistence, she chose not to acknowledge it. At the moment, she was completely captivated by the manhole before her. "Doctor?" she called. "Look at this."
The Doctor and Alex whirled around and headed over to them. Alex watched, her head tilted, as River lifted the manhole cover, exposing a bunch of thick wires running down into a deep black tunnel. "So, where does that go?" the Doctor wondered.
River held out her handheld and scanned it. A few moments later, a result popped up. "There's a network of tunnels under here."
"Any life signs?" Alex asked, kneeling beside the hole to peer down into it. The Doctor immediately moved behind her, ready to catch her if she accidentally fell. Knowing he was paranoid about her falling down there a la Alice in Wonderland, Alex hopped back up and moved over to his side, though she was still mega curious about that hole. Someone had to have made those tunnels and whoever that someone was, they had to still be down there.
River shook her head. "No, nothing that's showing up."
"Those are the worst kind," the Doctor commented as River put her handheld away and began climbing down the hole. "Be careful!" he warned her.
River paused on the ladder and smirked up at him. "Careful? Tried that once. Ever so dull."
"Shout if you get in trouble," the Doctor ordered.
River's smirk grew wider, and Alex had to resist the urge to face-palm herself. That comment was like giving catnip to a cat or a car gasoline. River thrived on innuendos. She was a lot like Captain Jack, but a lot less likable.
"Don't worry, I'm quite the screamer," she boasted, eyeing the Doctor significantly. "Now there's a spoiler for you."
Alex smiled back at her, though her smile was more menacing than sweet. She crossed her arms and looked River right in the eye as she said, "Yes, I'm sure the time I pushed her off that cliff gave her plenty of practice."
River glared darkly at her, but nevertheless continued downwards. Alex thought she caught a few choice words about her but decided to dismiss it and enjoy this little victory. Alex, 1. River, 0.
"So, what's going on here?" Canton's voice broke out.
The Doctor whirled around to face him, his eyes wide. Was Canton asking about River? Did he think they were an item? Because they weren't! Far from it, actually. While he did sort of like River as a friend, he was not romantically interested in her. That position had been filled by Alex the second he laid eyes on her.
"Nothing," the Doctor dismissed. "She's just a friend." Hearing Alex snort at that, he rolled his eyes and said, "Alexandria."
"Sorry," Alex said, not sounding apologetic in the slightest.
Rory stepped up to the Doctor, knowing he'd better correct the Doctor's assumption before he landed in hot water with Alex. "I think he's talking about the possible alien incursion."
The Doctor nodded in relief. "Okay!" He really didn't want to have to explain his relationship with River, especially with Alex there. The two really didn't like each-other. Granted, they had their moments, but they were a bit rare.
The Doctor went back over to the boxes of equipment. Alex tagged along behind him while Amy and Rory stayed with Canton by the manhole. Alex watched the Doctor study the equipment for a few moments, taking in all his features. His dark emerald green eyes. His floppy dark brown hair, hair that she longed to run her fingers through. Thick, angular cheekbones. Pale pink lips that were perfect for kissing. . . Snap out it, Alexandria!
Though really, you couldn't blame her. The future Doctor had kissed her (with tongue!) at Lake Silencio and called her 'love'. That implied that something in the future happened, though what that something was, Alex wasn't really sure. Did he love her? Did they become a couple? It was a slight miracle her brain was even keeping up with the weird alien stuff going on around her, considering the events at Lake Silencio were at the epicenter of her mind.
"Penny for your thoughts, Ally?" the Doctor's voice broke in.
Alex blinked, then pushed her romantic thoughts to the very back of her mind. She turned and mock-glared at the Doctor. "My thoughts are worth far more than a penny, Doc."
He snickered a little. "Oh, really? How much then?"
"About a thousand bucks."
"My, you're expensive. Perhaps I should keep you in the TARDIS so no one can try and steal those extremely valuable thoughts."
Alex giggled a little. Their banter was back. It seemed like they were normal again. "I think I might object to that, Doc."
"You can't blame a person for wanting to protect what's precious to them," the Doctor argued. This time, his voice was much more serious, indicating that he wasn't just bantering with her anymore.
You are the most precious thing in the universe to me, love, and I do not want to see you hurt. The words flashed through her mind in an instant, nearly causing her to miss them. She studied the Doctor. His eyes were dark and serious, exactly like they had been when he told her this at Lake Silencio. Alex gazed up at him. "Really?" she breathed.
He raised a hand and lightly grazed her cheek. Alex shivered a little as his cool skin ran against her suddenly hot one. "Didn't you already know that, Ally?" he murmured, the words audible only to her. "Hmm? Because you are. Since day one."
Her cheeks flamed, but in a totally thrilled way instead of an embarrassed way. "I know now," she replied. She reached up to place her hand atop his, holding it to her cheek. "And for the record? It's the same vice-versa, Doc."
"I had a feeling," the Doctor admitted, feeling immensely happy that Alex, his Ally, felt so strongly about him, the same way he did with her. It was astounding really, how quickly their relationship had developed, as if it were a switch inside them that had been turned on when they met each-other. He had felt something like this with Rose, but his connection with her paled to the one he had with Alex. This was something different, something more . . . fateful, for lack of a better word.
But before either of them could express more devotions to each-other, River chose that moment to come scrambling up the ladder. Alex's head spun around to face her, her lips already in the beginning processes of a frown, until she saw the look on River's face. She looked frightened and alarmed and she was panting for breath, as if she had been running. Then, just a split second later, the look of fright disappeared, replaced with a perfectly calm expression. Alex's brow furrowed. What was that about? she wondered.
"All clear!" River called out, the upper portion of her body leaning out of the manhole. The gears in Alex's mind turned as she watched River. She seemed to be calm, but Alex could see that the woman was a little confused about something. What had happened down in that tunnel?
"What's down there?" Alex asked, crossing her arms and tilting her head to the side as she awaited River's answer.
"Just tunnels. Nothing down there I can see." She turned to look at the Doctor. "Give me five minutes. I want to take another look around."
"Stupidly dangerous!" the Doctor shouted after her.
"Yeah, I like it too," River smartly countered as she proceeded back down the ladder. "Amy, look after him!"
Alex rolled her eyes at River's obvious deliberate exclusion of her from that order and began marching over to the manhole. "Doctor, I'm going down there too!" she called over her shoulder.
The Doctor's eyes widened, and he scrambled over to her so fast, it almost looked like he flew. "Why?" he demanded nervously. Alex hated River and the feeling was very, very mutual. She wasn't going to use exploring the tunnels as a pretense to try and harm River, was she? He mentally slapped himself. Don't be stupid! he inwardly snapped. Alex doesn't go around deliberately killing people! Still, it was River she was talking about going down with. . .
"Didn't you notice that River came up panting for breath?" Alex asked, keeping her voice quiet so she wouldn't alarm the others. "She also looked terrified for a split second before she suddenly got calm."
The Doctor frowned, taking in her words. What could cause something like that? "You're thinking she forgot that something happened to her down there?"
Wouldn't be the first time people have been forgetting things today, Alex thought, remembering Amy's wondering of what something was at Lake Silencio and how she seemed to remember what that something was back at the Oval Office. "It's possible," she said instead, shrugging a little for emphasis. "Stranger things have happened."
That was true. The Doctor definitely couldn't argue with that. And if Alex was telling the truth (which she definitely was because it was his Ally), then something was clearly going on here, something that probably had a lot to do with the little girl that kept calling Nixon.
He sighed and closed his eyes. After a moment, he opened them and looked right into Alex's currently light-green depths. "Okay," he acquiesced. "You can go. But please be careful, Ally. Promise me that?"
"Don't worry, Doc," Alex smiled. "I'll be careful enough for the three of us."
The Doctor chuckled at the little dig against him and watched Alex shimmy down the ladder. Once she was out of sight and earshot, he immediately whirled around and said, "Rory, would you mind going with her?"
Rory eyed the dark hole. "Yeah, a bit."
"Then I'd appreciate it all the more."
Rory sighed, but he knew the Doctor was right. Someone had to look after Alex . . . and prevent a potential double homicide from happening. "Hang on!" he yelled as he started climbing down the ladder. "I'm coming too!"
Alex, who was almost at the bottom of the ladder, looked up and shook her head. "I said I'd be careful for the three of us!" she shouted upwards. But if the Doctor heard her, he didn't acknowledge her. Alex sighed and continued down, hopping off the final rung. When she turned around, she came face-to-face with an ill-looking River. She was hunched over, her arms wrapped around her stomach, and her face was a little green.
"You okay?" Alex asked as Rory hopped down beside her.
"Ah, yes, yes," River dismissed, waving her off. "I just felt a bit sick. It's the prison food, probably."
"Shouldn't have killed someone then." A question then rose in her mind. She was pretty sure that River had killed the Doctor. All of her comments in their previous adventures with her had seemed to imply that. But the Doctor was killed at Lake Silencio . . . and River was standing right beside her . . . and she seemed pretty shocked about the whole thing as well.
Later, Alexandria, a little voice in Alex's head spoke up. You can try and work that out later. Right now, you have to concentrate on the creepy tunnel ahead of you. And it really was a creepy-looking tunnel. It was dark and gloomy. Water dripped down from the ceiling, making eerie sounding little plops as it fell onto the concrete floor.
River ignored the insult and instead pulled out her scanner. "Okay," she said, pointing it out in front of her. "This way? What do you think?" Not bothering to wait for an answer, she set off at a determined stride, leaving Alex and Rory to scramble after her.
Alex caught up with her first. "Did you hear something?" she suddenly asked. Indeed, there was some kind of strange noise coming from all around them, but she couldn't see anything just yet.
Rory nodded. "I keep thinking I hear things," he confirmed.
"That's interesting," River murmured, peering at her handheld. "These tunnels are old, really old."
"Must've been made," Alex hypothesized. She studied the tunnel walls for a clue as to who made them. She was willing to bet they weren't man-made. More like alien-made.
"How can they be really old and nobody notice them?" River wondered, gazing around the tunnels.
"The Doctor once told me that the human race is notorious for dismissing things they can't explain or don't want to believe. It's not really that difficult to explain when you think about it."
River hummed in agreement. They continued on for a few moments until they came to a large steel door in the middle of their path. Rory eyed it. "It's a maintenance hatch," he observed.
River moved to open it, but nothing happened. "It's locked," she announced. She grimaced in frustration. "Oh, why do people always lock things?"
"What's through there?" Rory wondered.
Alex leaned back against the wall. "Who knows?" she shrugged as she watched River play with the lock.
Rory arched an eyebrow at them. "Something bad?"
"Almost definitely," River and Alex replied. The two jerked a little and slowly turned to look at each-other. River shook her head. "Rubbing off on me, the both of you," she muttered, turning her focus back to the lock.
Rory watched her fiddle with it. "You're going to open that, aren't you?" he sighed.
"Well, it's locked. How's a girl supposed to resist?"
"Is this sensible?"
"God, I hope not," River grinned. She pulled her scanner out and flashed it at the lock before getting to work picking it. Alex watched her do this for a few moments. It was slow going.
Alex glanced down at her necklace. It was hidden under her jacket, just how she preferred it. She didn't really want word getting out to alien races that she had a sonic necklace. There was always the chance that someone might steal it, either for its sonic value, the gemstones in it, or both. Only a few people besides her and the Doctor knew about it. There was Lacey and Marigold, who had found out along with her that it was sonic when she visited them for a belated birthday party, and Amy and Rory. They had been pretty shocked when she told them about the added bonus in her special birthday present, making her prove it by sonicing the TV. They got all the sports channels for free now.
Now, Alex wondered about River. Did she know about the sonic necklace? It was possible, considering she was from the future. She hadn't said anything about it, though she probably wasn't sure if Alex had the necklace or not yet. Alex checked River's lock-picking status. Still slow, tedious going. Growing impatient, she reached under the collar of her jacket and pulled her necklace out, the gemstones on the TARDIS charm glittering a little in the darkness.
River's eyes went straight to it. "You've had that the whole time and didn't say anything?!" She jumped up and put away her scanner, then held her hand out, palm turned up. "Give it here."
Alex narrowed her eyes, the honey colored depths turning into the Doctor's dark green. "If you think I'm letting you lay a finger on my necklace, you're crazy!" she snapped. Clutching the charm tightly in one fist, she marched past River and knelt before the lock. "I'll do it."
River huffed and leaned back against the wall. Clearly, this wasn't the first time Alex had refused to let her within spitting distance of the sonic necklace. Rory eyed the two warily, his gaze mostly resting on River. Amy had told him about the woman shortly after their wedding, about the Weeping Angels and their encounter with River there. Amy had said that River was very flirty with the Doctor and seemed to know quite a bit about him. In fact, Amy had suspected she might be his wife in the future.
Rory frowned. No, he really didn't want that to happen. Amy didn't either. They had both seen the Doctor and Alex together and anyone with eyes would tell you that the two were in love with each-other and were pretty much destined to be together. There was a chemistry between them, an attraction that couldn't really be described. It was . . . unique. And while River was flirty with the Doctor and the latter did respond back in a similar fashion, the connection and attraction just weren't there. Rory seriously doubted that the Doctor felt like that towards River. Not that River seemed to know otherwise.
"You and the Doctor," he said to River as Alex buzzed her sonic over the lock. "Amy's told me about you, but I can't picture it."
River frowned and turned to stare stonily back the way they'd came. "Keep a look out," she said tightly, obviously offended by Rory's comment.
But Rory wasn't going to get sidetracked. Alex was his best friend, like a little sister to him. He wanted to know what to expect from this total stranger and how it might impact his friend. "What did you mean? What you said to Amy. There's a worst day coming for you." Alex looked up at this, her sonic falling silent. She stared at River, waiting for her to say something.
River stared out into the distance for a moment before finally sighing and turning her head back to face them. "When I first met the Doctor," she began, "a long, long time ago, he knew all about me. Think about that. An impressionable young girl and suddenly this man just drops out of the sky and he's clever and mad and wonderful and knows every last thing about her. Imagine what that does to a girl."
"We don't really have to," Rory said. Alex nodded in agreement, both of them thinking about how the Doctor's arrival in Amy's backyard when she was seven influenced the course of her life up to today.
"The trouble is," River continued, "it's all back to front. My past is his future. We're travelling in opposite directions. Every time we meet, I know him more, he knows me less." Her expression turned wistful and sad, clearly thinking back over the times these things had occurred. "I live for the days when I see him, but I know that every time I do, he'll be one step further away. And the day is coming when I'll look into that man's eyes, my Doctor . . . and he won't have the faintest idea who I am. And I think it's going to kill me."
Alex turned back to the lock, running her sonic over it. Hearing that . . . she actually felt a little sorry for River. Only a little, certainly not enough to where her feelings for the woman had changed, especially with that 'my Doctor' part, but she did understand her a little better now. It had to be hard seeing someone who was such a big part of your life not know who you were and whether or not they could trust you.
Right then, the lock clicked, and the door slid open. "Ha!" Alex cheered, bouncing up. "There we go! Sonic lessons from the Doctor. Who would've guessed they'd pay off?"
"That is a miracle," Rory agreed, "considering his driving of the TARDIS is worse than yours on a car."
Alex stuck her tongue out at him, making Rory chuckle. She turned back to the door and, hesitating slightly, walked in, Rory and River behind her. As they walked through the door, Alex's jaw dropped, and her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.
They were now inside a huge, apparently empty, control room. The metal walls were dark, and smoke drifted across the floor. In the center of the room was a control console, much like the one on the TARDIS, though this one contained little blue orbs on the center of each panel. But that wasn't what shocked Alex. It was that she had seen this place before.
This was an exact copy of the spaceship that had been posing as the second floor on Craig Owens' flat. The one she and the Doctor didn't know who it belonged to.
"Who did it belong to?" Alex inquired. "I mean, what kind of aliens?"
The Doctor sighed. "I don't know. We may never know. The crew was dead anyway."
Was the crew for this spaceship dead as well? Alex looked around, staying by the doorway as River and Rory cautiously stepped further into the room. She didn't see any bodies, but that didn't mean there hadn't been someone here.
"What is this place?" Rory wondered.
River stepped further into the room. Just as she did this, the lights above them started flickering and a klaxon began blaring. "That's an alarm," she said, stating the obvious. "Check if anything's coming."
Rory and Alex nodded and turned back to the doorway. The sight beyond the confines of the door made Alex shriek.
Standing outside was a large swarm of horrifying-looking aliens. Their heads were large and bulb-shaped, colored pale gray. They all had sunken in eyes and, as far as Alex could tell, no mouths. All of them were dressed in black suits, which looked almost like their skin. Their hands were large, and their fingers were long, the nails resembling claws. They were hands down the scariest looking aliens Alex had ever seen before.
Rory's eyes widened in horror and he immediately turned around to warn River . . . only to blink a second later, his features calm. "There's nothing out there," he said as the menacing aliens continued to stare at them.
Alex gaped at him in shock. What the hell?! There were freaky-looking aliens just five feet away! "Rory, what the hell are you on about?!" she shrieked. "There are aliens out there! Freaky, dangerous ones!"
"There's nothing out there, Alex," Rory insisted, giving her a strange look. "I know what I saw."
"Honestly, Ally, are you getting scared by your own shadow?" River snarked as she scanned one of the orbs on the panels.
"River, now is not the time for sarcasm!" Alex snapped.
But to her distress, River ignored her, continuing to scan and examine the control console. "These tunnels, they're not just here," she revealed. "They're everywhere. They're running under the surface of the entire planet! They've been here for centuries."
"Thank you for the history lesson, River, but we have got to get out of here!" Alex yelled. Those aliens were really starting to scare her. They were staring at them very menacingly and, much to her growing alarm, little pinpricks of electricity were coming out of their fingertips. It reminded her of the Lylon's and their ability to control and handle electricity. And in her experience, that was not a good ability to have.
Alex immediately sprinted up to River and grabbed her hand, dragging her towards the door. "Alex!" River shouted. "What the hell are you. . .?" Then they got over to the door and River's eyes grew wide. "Oh my God," she breathed, trembling in fright.
"What?" Rory cried. He turned around and caught sight of the aliens as well. "Oh my God!" he yelled, jumping in shock.
"You can freak out later!" Alex yelled as the electricity in the aliens' hands grew, the crackling of the energy very audible now. "Just run!"
Grabbing hold of Rory's hand, Alex pulled the two through the mass of creatures. The aliens sneered and snarled at them, indentations forming in the spots their mouths would be at, which only terrified Alex even more. And she hardly ever got scared. That meant that these aliens were something new, something dangerous and threatening.
After what felt like ages, they came to the ladder. Alex shoved Rory towards it. "MOVE!" she yelled at him. Rory hastened to obey, immediately scrambling up the ladder. Once he was halfway up, Alex ushered River to go ahead, but the woman surprised her by pushing her forwards instead.
"The Doctor will kill me if anything happens to you!" River shouted as she pulled her gun out and aimed it at the advancing creatures. "Go!"
Definitely not about to argue in this situation, Alex shimmied up the ladder like it was what she was born to do. Before she knew it, she was at the top. She hauled herself out and struggled to her feet. She was panting wildly, and her heart was beating faster than a drum during one of those salsa dances she and the Doctor loved doing. She ran a hand through her dampening hair, watching as River clambered up, her gun still held out in warning.
She gasped for breath and went to lean against the wall. "I think we're safe now," she decided. But then, a breath later, she blinked, and her features changed. She looked around the room, puzzled. "What are we doing up here?"
"I was just thinking the same thing," Rory confessed.
Alex gawked at them. "Are you doing this just to get on my nerves?!" she cried. "Do you seriously not remember running from the crazy aliens with a passion for Brooks Brothers' suits?"
"What are you talking about, Alex?" Rory demanded, giving her a confused expression.
He really doesn't remember, Alex realized. Which only brought up one question. How did she remember the events?
Worry about that later, Alexandria. Right now, you need to get the Doctor and get the hell out of here. That seemed like a good plan. Alex decided to do just that. She looked around, expecting the Doctor's head to come popping up from behind a box, probably wearing that ridiculous space helmet again, only . . . no one else was there.
"Dammit!" she cried in frustration, stomping her foot. "I should put a bell on him or something! Tell him it's cool. . ." She trailed off as she looked around the room for another exit, only to see one of those unnatural creature's hands slipping out from the manhole.
"Oh no, you don't!" Alex cried. She dashed forward and, with the heel of her boot, stomped on the creature's hand. The creature, whatever the heck it was, howled in pain, probably cussing her out in whatever language it spoke. A few stomps later, it disappeared back underground. Alex smiled triumphantly and quickly snatched up the manhole cover, slapping it down over the hole. She then hopped up on it and jumped up and down a few times, getting it on there nice and tight. She knew it wouldn't keep the aliens out for long, but it would delay them for a few minutes.
"Okay!" she chirped to Rory and River, who had been watching her actions of the last few minutes with total bafflement. "It's not safe and I don't have time to explain why. Just get to the TARDIS now. I have to go find the Doctor. Go!" And without seeing if they obeyed her or not, Alex sprinted off around a corner and down a hallway.
She worried that it would take a while to find the Doctor, but it actually took less than ten seconds. "Doctor, quickly!" she heard Canton call out.
"What, now?" the Doctor groaned. Alex's heart sped up and a fresh load of adrenaline entered her system. Just a little further. . .
A moment later, she rounded a corner to see Canton lying on the ground, unconscious, with the Doctor and Amy kneeling beside him. "Doctor!" Alex cried, skidding up to them and falling to her knees.
The Doctor looked over at her and smiled in relief. "Ally!" he exclaimed. He reached out and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, then pulled her to him and kissed the top of her head. "Are you okay? Where's River and Rory?"
"In the TARDIS, I think. Doctor, we have to get out of here! There are these freaky suit-loving aliens in the tunnels—"
"Just a mo, Ally," he interrupted, holding up a finger in the international wait-a-minute sign. "We've got to help Canton."
"Is he all right?" Amy asked. It was then that Alex noticed that her arms were wrapped around her stomach, just like they had been back in the Oval Office.
"Just unconscious," the Doctor assured her. "Got a proper whack."
Amy started to nod, only to suddenly grimace. She gripped her stomach tighter. "Doctor, Alex, I need to tell you something. I have to tell it now."
"Amy, your timing is positively horrible," Alex deadpanned. "Always has been, no offense."
"None taken and it's important. It has to be now."
"Help!" a familiar voice cried out. It was the little girl. The trio looked around, but she was nowhere to be seen. "Help me! Help me!"
"Doctor, Alex. . ." Amy began once the girl's cries ceased. ". . .I'm pregnant."
The Doctor and Alex stared at Amy, their eyes wide with shock and disbelief. A flurry of emotions ran through Alex. Elation that Amy was pregnant and that she was going to become a godmother, nerves because Amy was pregnant, terror because Amy was pregnant right now in such a horrible situation, and absolute frustration that there was total danger surrounding them and her now pregnant best friend and they weren't doing anything to try and escape it.
Frustration which only grew when the sound of boot stomping rang out.
The trio turned. Standing before them, in full spacesuit glory, was an astronaut.
"That's it!" Amy whimpered as the Doctor got to his feet. "The astronaut!" Behind her, Alex eyed the astronaut warily, but didn't make any movements. Instead, she watched as the astronaut raised its arm.
She didn't see Amy grab Canton's gun, ready to defend her friends if the astronaut fired on them.
The astronaut's arm continued to rise until it reached its visor. It lifted the visor, revealing a little girl inside. She looked about six or seven years old in Alex's opinion, with light brown hair in little pigtails. "Help me!" she cried.
"Get down!" Amy ordered. She jumped to her feet and raised the gun, not even noticing the little girl.
"What are you doing?!" the Doctor yelled, looking positively aghast at seeing Amy with a gun.
"Saving your lives!" With that, Amy whirled around and fired.
Alex jumped up and reached out to snatch the gun away. "Amy, no!" she shrieked. But she was too late.
"NO!" the Doctor roared.
BANG!
~The Pros and Cons of Silence~
A/N: Now we're REALLY cooking! Alex can see and remember the Silence! And what about those mind twinges? We'll see more of them in the next chapter. And, just to clarify, in the last chapter, Alex didn't see any Silence. The one Amy saw in the doorway was gone by the time Alex looked. :)
Notes on reviews:
secretlyanalien - Yes, another chapter! I'm so glad you think Alex fits in well with the rest of the TARDIS group, especially during the bantering in this episode. I try really hard to make her seem like an actual character that could be on the show and not just someone who only says other characters lines. :) We've established in this chapter that Alex can see and remember the Silence and I'm really excited to get to her interactions with them. I don't think anyone will be expecting what comes out of them. :}
ShadowTeir - Haha, I'm glad you enjoyed the car scene and everything involving Kendra (you would have to be pretty clueless to put a lover's book next to one in the children's section) and, of course, the thing between the Doctor and Alex. :) Yep, in the last chapter, River and Alex were pretty civil towards each-other though, as you can see in this chapter, they had a little setback. We'll have to see how they do in the next episode. :) So glad you're curious! I can't wait to start really getting into all the mysteries and revelations I have planned for this story! I can't say much about 'A Good Man Goes to War' but I think you'll like Alex's role in that episode. A lot happens for her in that. :}
whitedwarf - So glad you liked it! Yeah, I just loved that part. It's a very ordinary moment but it also shows how close they are. :) Yeah, I really want to hold River accountable for her actions in this story and she will be. When Alex learns who River is, she won't be muzzled against her although she will be a bit more careful with her comments around Amy and Rory. They do love their daughter and, while they won't be pleased with everything she does towards the Doctor and Alex, they won't want to completely crucify her. They will hold her accountable for her actions though and try to make her see reason. I'm exploring River's psychopathy roots more in this story than the show did so we'll see how she responds when others, including her own parents, hold her accountable for her actions, whatever those may be. :)
bored411 - I'm so excited to reveal Alex's interactions with the Silence! As I said in another reply, I don't anyone will be expecting what comes out of them. :)
NicoleR85 - I'm so happy I finally posted too! Hope you enjoyed the chapter! :)
Thanks a million to everyone who reviewed, followed and/or favorited this story! Please review and see you tomorrow! :)