Cold Blood
The Doctor, Nasreen and I walked along the pathways of the caverns, walked across a bridge above molten magma and past several buildings. "This place is enormous and deserted," I said.
"The majority of the race are probably still asleep," said The Doctor as he took out his sonic screwdriver," We need to find Amy, looking for heat signature anomalies."
"But, how can all this be here?" asked Nasreen, "I mean, these plants."
"We must be getting close to the center of the city," I said.
"You're sure this is the best way to enter?"
"Front door approach! Definitely," said The Doctor, "Always the best way…"
"Oh yeah?" I said, "Then, how come Rose, you, and me had to sneak in through the kitchen that one time?"
"I was a different man then…" he said.
I rolled my eyes. Then, an alarm sounded and we heard a female voice call out, "Hostile life force detected, area 17."
"Apart from the back door approach, that's also good," said The Doctor. He turned around, "sometimes better."
"Hostile life force detected, area 17." said the female voice again.
A door slid open in front of Nasreen and she called out, "Doctor! Teddy!" Armed Silurian soldiers came through the door. I turned around and saw more come from the tunnel behind us.
The Doctor raised his hand said, "We're not hostile, we're not armed!"
I pulled up Nasreen's arm, "We're here in peace!" Then the Silurians shot gas from their guns and within seconds I was unconscious.
I woke up some time later to the sounds of my uncle screaming in pain. I saw my uncle strapped down to an examination table. There were two Silurians talking, one male, one female.
"How can they have escaped?" said the female, "This proves all prisoners should remain under military guard."
"I'm sure you'd prefer to be in charge of everything and everyone, Restac," said the male, "But we rank the same. Is there any word from Alaya?"
"No."
"It's fine to show concern, you know. She's part of your gene-chain. I'm Decontaminating now."
"Decontamination! No, no, no!" said The Doctor as he started to with in agony.
"It's all right," said the male Silurian, "It won't harm you. I'm only neutralizing all your ape bacteria."
"He's not an ape!" I said, "Look at your scans! He's got two hearts! He's totally different! If you remove all human germs, you remove half the things keeping him alive!"
The male checked his scans and then shut the machine down.
"No, complete the process," said Restac.
"Oh, that's much better, thanks!" said The Doctor, "Not got any celery, have you? No, no, not really the climate, tomatoes, though, you'd do a roaring trade in those. I'm the Doctor. The ginger over there is my niece, Teddy. Oh, and there's Nasreen, good!
The male went over to examine Nasreen. She woke up and looked at him and said, "Oh, a green man."
"Hello, who are you?" asked The Doctor to the female.
"Restac. Military commander."
"Oh, dear, really? There's always a military, isn't there?"
"Your weapon was attacking the oxygen pockets above our city."
"Oxygen pockets! Lovely! Oooh, but not so good with an impending drill! Now it makes sense!"
"Where is the rest of your invasion force?"
"We don't have an invasion force," I said, "We came to offer the safe return of Alaya for the humans you took."
"Oh, wait," said The Doctor, "you and she, what is it, same genetic source? Of course you're worried, but don't be, she's safe."
"You claim to come in peace, but you hold one of us hostage," said Restac. She motioned for soldiers to take positions by us.
"Wait," I said, "we all want the same thing here."
"I don't negotiate with apes," said Restac. Then, she looked at the male, "I'm going to send a clear message to those on the surface."
"What's that?" asked The Doctor.
"Your execution."
"Yes…"
A short time later, The Doctor, Nasreen, and I were being led through the city, through a section of vegetation by Restac, her solders and the male Silurian. "These must be the only ones awake," I said, "the others must still be in hibernation."
"So, why did they go into hibernation in the first place?" asked Nasreen.
"Their astronomers predicted a planet heading to Earth on a crash course," said The Doctor, "They a built life underground and put themselves to sleep for millennia in order to avert what they thought was the apocalypse. When in reality, it was the moon, coming into alignment with the Earth."
Restac stopped and looked at us, "How can you know that?" asked the male Silurian.
"Long time ago, I met another tribe of homo reptilia, similar, but not identical."
"Others of our species have survived?" asked Restac.
"The humans attacked them. They died, I'm sorry."
"A vermin race."
They took us to a building and then we were lead into a room that looked like a court room. "You're not authorized to do this!" said the male Silurian.
"I'm authorized to protect the safety of our species while they sleep," said Restac.
"Oh, lovely place, very gleaming." said The Doctor. I rolled my eyes.
"This is our court and our place of execution."
Just then, Amy entered through another door. She was carrying a gas gun, and she pointed it at Restac, "Let them go!" ordered Amy.
"Amy Pond, there's a girl to rely on." said The Doctor.
Just then a human male came through the door we entered through also carrying , "You're covered both ways, so don't try anything clever, buster." said Amy.
"Mo!" called Nasreen.
"Now let them go, or I shoot." said Amy. Restac moved closer to Amy, "I'm warning you!" She took the gun from Amy and pushed her to the ground.
"Don't you touch her!" I shouted.
Restac turned and looked at Mo, "And you." A group of soliders walked up to Mo and he gave up his gun.
"All right, Restac," said the Male Silurian, "You've made your point."
She walked up to him, "This is now a military tribunal. Go back to your laboratory, Malohkeh."
One of the soldiers jabbed Malohkeh in the back. He looked at Amy and said, "This isn't the way." Then he left.
"Prepare them for execution," said Restac.
The soldiers tied all of us to two at the end of the room pillars, "OK, sorry, as rescues go, didn't live up to its potential," said Amy.
"I'm glad you're OK," I said The Doctor.
"Me too! Lizard men, though"!
"Homo reptilia," I said, "They occupied the planet before humans. Now they want it back."
"After they've wiped out the human race," added Nasreen.
"Right," said Amy, "preferred it when I didn't know, to be honest."
The soldiers then lined up like a firing squad, "Why are they waiting?" asked Nasreen, "What do you think they're going to do with us?"
Restac was standing behind the soldiers. Then she turned and faced away from us and a holographic screen appeared showing Annabelle, Rory, Ambrose, and Tony standing in the basement of the church.
"Oh, my God." said Ambrose.
"Who is the ape leader?" asked Restac.
"It's them. How are they doing that? How do they know that we're in here?"
"Who speaks for the apes?"
The four of them looked at each other. Annabelle mumbled something to Rory. Annabelle and I were too far apart to communicate telepathically, so at that time I didn't know what she told him. Rory stepped forward, "I speak for the... humans. Some of us, anyway.
"Do you understand who we are?' asked Restac.
"Sort of. A bit. Not really."
"We have ape hostages."
"Doctor! Amy!" said Rory as he rushed toward the screen, "Teddy!"
"Mo! 'Mo, are you OK?" asked Ambrose.
"I'm fine, love!" said Mo, "I've found Elliot. I'm bringing him home!"
"Amy! I thought I'd lost you!'" said Rory.
"What, cos I was sucked into the ground?" said Amy, "You're so clingy." then she gave him a wink.
"Tony Mack!" said Nasreen.
"Having fun down there?" asked Tony.
"How's everything going, Annabelle?" I asked.
"Good…" said Annabelle, with a smile, "Everything's good…" I could tell by Annabelle's response. That something was wrong. Something had happened. What it was I couldn't be sure.
"Not to interrupt, but just a quick reminder to stay calm," said The Doctor.
"Show me Alaya," said Restac, "Show me and release her, immediately, unharmed, or we kill your friends… one by one."
"No!" shouted Ambrose.
"Ambrose…" said Annabelle as she tried to calm the woman down.
"Steady now, everyone." said The Doctor.
"Ambrose, stop it!" said Tony.
"Get off me, Dad!" said Ambrose, "We didn't start this!"
"Let Rory deal with this, Ambrose," I said.
"We're not doing what you say any more. Now, give me back my family!"
We all waited for Restac's reply. We all looked at each on then and then Restac said, "'No. Execute the girl."
Some soldiers came forward, pulled Amy away and put her in between the pillars.
"No! No, wait!" shouted Rory
"Rory!" screamed Amy.
"She's doesn't speak for us!" said Annabelle.
"There's no need for this…" said The Doctor.
"Whatever you want... we'll do it!"
"Aim," said Restac.
"Amy!" shouted Rory.
"Rory!" shouted Amy.
"Don't do this!" I said.
"No!" said Annabelle, then the connection to the surface cut out.
"Fire!" ordered Restac.
I turned my head away and then I heard a male voice call out, "Stop!"
I looked and saw Malokeh walk into the room with another male Silurian, "You want to start a war, while the rest of us sleep, Restac?" asked the male.
"The apes are attacking us!" said Restac.
"You're our protector, not our commander, Restac. Unchain them."
"I do not recognize your authority at this time, Eldane."
"Well, then, you must shoot me."
Restac stormed over to Malokeh, "You woke him to undermine me."
"We're not monsters. And neither are they." said Maolkeh.
"What is it about apes you love so much? Mmm?"
"While you slept, they've evolved. I've seen it for myself."
"We used to hunt apes for sport. When we came underground, they bred and polluted this planet."
"Shush now, Restac," said Eldane, "Go and play soldiers. I'll let you know if I need you."
"You'll need me, then we'll see," said Restac before leaving the room.
The soldiers came over and released us. Then The Doctor and I ran over to the controls to reestablish contact with the surface. The screen popped back up and we could see Annabelle, Rory, Tony, and Ambrose.
"Rory!" shouted The Doctor, "Hello!"
"Where's Amy?" asked Rory.
"She's fine," I said as I put Amy where she could be seen.
"Oh, thank God," said Rory.
"Keeping you on your toes!" said Amy.
"We don't have a lot of time to talk," I said, "Listen, you need to get down here... Go to the drill storeroom, there's a large patch of earth in the middle of the floor. The Silurians are going to send up transport discs to bring you back down using geothermal energy and gravity bubble-technology."
"It's how they travel and frankly it's pretty cool." said The Doctor.
I rolled my eyes and continued, "Bring Alaya. If we hand her over, we can end this."
"All going to work, promise. Got to dash! Hurry up!" said The Doctor. Then I turned off the transmission.
Amy and Nasreen sat down on one side of a table in the middle of the courtroom, while Eldane sat on the other. The Doctor and I stood at the head of the Table, "I'd say, you've got a fair bit to talk about." said The Doctor.
"How so?" asked Eldane.
"You both want the planet," I said, "You both have a genuine claim to it."
Eldane looked at us, "Are you authorized to negotiate on behalf of humanity?"
"Us?" I said, "No! But they are!" I said as I pointed at Nasreen and Amy.
"What?!" said Nasreen.
"No, we're not!" said Amy.
"Course you are!" said The Doctor, "Amy Pond and Nasreen Chaudhry, speaking for the planet!" He walked up behind them, "Humanity couldn't have better ambassadors. Come on, who has more fun than us?" Then he walked to the other end of the table.
Amy got up and walked over to him, "Is this what happens, in the future, the planet gets shared?" she asked, "Is that what we need to do?"
Nasreen got up and walked over to them with me close behind, "What are you talking about?" she asked.
"Well, this seams like the right time to tell you this, Nasreen," I said, "Amy, The Doctor and I travel in time."
"Anything else?"
"There are fixed points through time, where things must always stay the way they are. This is not one of them. This is an opportunity, a temporal tipping point. "
"Whatever happens today, will change future events, create its own timeline, its own reality," said The Doctor, "The future pivots around you. Here. Now. So do good. For humanity, and for Earth."
"Right," said Amy, "No pressure there, then." Then she headed back to the table
"We can't share the planet," said Nasreen, "Nobody on the surface is going to go for this idea. It is just too big a leap!"
"Come on. Be extraordinary." said The Doctor.
"Oh...you…" then she sat back at the table.
"OK," said The Doctor as he slapped the Table, "Bringing things to order - the first meeting of representatives of the human race and homo reptilian is now in session. Ha! Never said that before, that's fab! Carry on!"
"Come on, Mo, let's go and get your son," I said and I walked toward Mo and the door.
"Oh, you know, humans, and their predecessors, shooting the breeze. Never thought I'd see it," said The Doctor as he followed.
The Doctor, Mo, Malohkeh and I were soon outside a small chamber. I looked in the window and saw Elliot hooked up to a bunch of machines. From the looks of it he was being held in stasis.
"Elliot, there you are," said The Doctor. Malokeh pressed some buttons on a panel outside to revive Elliot.
"If you've harmed him in any way…" Mo started.
"Of course not!" replied Malokeh, "I only store the young."
"But why?" I asked.
"I took samples of the young, slowed their lifecycles to a millionth of their normal rate. So I could study how they grew, what they needed, how they lived on the surface."
"You've been down here, working by yourself, all alone?"
"My family, through the millennia... For the last 300 years, just me." Malokeh looked at Mo, "I never meant to harm your child."
"Malokeh, I rather love you," said The Doctor as he gave Malokeh a fist bump. Then the panel beside the door beeped, "It's safe. We can wake him."
Malokeh walked in the room and removed the wires connected to Elliot, he looked at Mo, "Come." Malokeh stepped out and Mo went in.
He stood in front of his son and Elliot started to wake up, "Elliot? Ell, it's Dad." said Mo.
"What...?" Elliot looked up, "Dad."
The two of them hugged and Mo said, "You're safe now."
"Where are we?"
"Well, I've got to be honest with you, son. We're in the center of the Earth... and there are lizard men."
Elliot looked at the door way and saw Malokeh, The Doctor and me, "Wow." was all Elliot said.
Then, The Doctor and I walked in the room, "Elliot, Teddy, Annabelle and I, we're sorry. We took our eyes off you." said The Doctor.
"It's OK. I forgive you," He gave me a hug and shook The Doctors hand.
We all walked out of the chamber and started down the hallway, to head back to the courtroom. "You go on, Doctor, Teddy, I'll catch up," said Malokeh.
We nodded and headed back to the courtroom. When we walked in we heard Nasreen say to Amy, "What happens when their population grows and breeds and spreads? And anyway, what benefit does humanity get, and how would we ever sell this to people on the surface?"
"If I could get a word in, maybe I could tell you," said Eldane, "You give us space, we can bring new sources of energy, new methods of water supply, new medicines, scientific advances. We were a great civilization. You provide a place for us on the surface, we'll give you knowledge and technology beyond humanity's dreams. We work together, this planet could achieve greatness."
"OK. Now I'm starting to see it."
"Oh, yeah," said Amy.
The Doctor and I started to clap, "Not bad for a first session," I said, "It's good to see you have more similarities than differences."
Then there was a whooshing sound, "The transport has returned," said Eldane, "Your friends are here."
A few moments later, Rory walked in, "Here they are," said The Doctor as he waved at Rory.
Ambrose and Tony entered next. Elliot ran to them, "Mum! Granddad!"
"Rory!" said Amy as she went to him. I looked at Rory and his mouth was moving like he was trying to find the right words to say.
"Something's wrong…" said The Doctor.
I noticed that my daughter hadn't come in yet, "Where's Annabelle?"
Just then, Annabelle came in, carrying a shrouded body. She didn't look happy.
"Teddy, what's she carrying?" asked Amy.
The Doctor and I stepped forward, "No," said The Doctor, "Don't do this. Tell me you didn't do this."
Annabelle laid the body on the floor. She came over to me and just glared at Ambrose. The Doctor squatted down and pulled the cloth back and we could see Alaya's face. Everyone got a good look before he covered her again. The Doctor looked at Annabelle, "What happened?"
"It was me," said Ambrose, "I did it."
"Mum?" said Elliot.
"I just wanted you back."
Elliot walked away from her. Everyone else in the room was looking at her with pity and shame, except for Annabelle. If looks could kill Ambrose would have been disintegrated on the spot. "What happened?" I asked Annabelle telepathically.
"Ambrose shot Alaya with a taser twice," replied Annabelle.
The Doctor walked up to Eldane, "I'm sorry. I didn't know. You have to believe me, they're better than this."
"This is our planet!" said Ambrose.
The Doctor looked at her, "We had a chance here."
"Leave us alone."
I walked over to her, "In future, when you talk about this, you tell people there was a chance but you were so much less than the best of humanity."
Just then, Restac entered the room with a group of armed soldiers, "My sister." she walked up to the body, uncovered it, and wailed before gently replacing the shroud. She looked at The Doctor, "And you want us to trust these apes, Doctor?"
"One woman," said The Doctor as he wagged his finger at her, "She was scared for her family. She's not typical."
Restac looked at Ambrose, "I think she is."
I walked up to Eldane, "One person let us down. But there's a whole race of wonderful, peaceful human beings up there. You were building something, here, an alliance could work."
"It's too late for that, Teddy," said Ambrose.
I turned and looked at Ambrose. Tony ran a hand through his hair in frustration, "Why?"
"Our drill is set to start burrowing again in…" Ambrose checked a stopwatch she was holding, "15 minutes."
"What?" said Nasreen.
"What choice did I have?" said Tony, "They had Elliot."
"Don't do this," said The Doctor as he turned to Eldane," don't call their bluff,"
"Let us go back," said Ambrose, "And you promise to never come to the surface ever again. We'll walk away, leave you alone.
"Execute her!" said Restac.
"No!" said Annabelle as she pulled Ambrose to safety as the soldiers started to fire,
"Everybody, back to the lab!" shouted The Doctor, "Run!"
The humans ran for the exit and Restac said, "Execute all the apes!"
Us Time Lords stood in front of the exit and took out our sonic screwdrivers and pointed them at the guns the soldiers were carrying, causing them to explode.
"This is a deadly weapon - stay back," said The Doctor. Then one of the soldiers appeared from behind one of the seats that surrounded the courtroom and lashes out at The Doctor with her tongue. He backed out of the way and then we ran out of the room.
We ran through the tunnels and The Doctor looked at me, "Take everyone to the lab!" Then we dodge a beam from a gun, "I'll cover you! Go! Go!"
I nodded and led everyone to the lab while Annabelle brought up the rear. We got to the lab and a short time later The Doctor ran in and used his sonic to close the doors on the lab.
The Doctor looked at Elliot, "Elliot, you and your dad, keep your eyes on that screen. Let me know if we get company.
I took the stop watch from Ambrose tossed it to Amy "Amy, keep reminding us of how much time we haven't got."
"OK, 12 minutes till drill impact," said Amy
Tony was sitting down, with Nasreen standing next to him, "Tony Mack, sweaty forehead, dilated pupils, what're you hiding?" asked The Doctor.
Tony opened his shirt to show an infection that has spread across his chest, "Tony! What happened?!" asked Nasreen.
The Doctor scanned Tony with his screwdriver, and Tony said, "Alaya's sting. She said there's no cure. I'm dying, aren't I?"
The Doctor and I moved to a control panel and checked the readings, "You're not dying, you're mutating."
"How can we stop it?" I asked.
"Decontamination program! Might work - don't know."
I looked at Eldane, "Eldane, can you run the program on Tony?"
Before he could answer Mo cut in, "Doctor, shedload of those creatures coming our way! We're surrounded in here!"
Eldane helped Tony into the decontamination chamber and then The Doctor asked, "So how we do stop the drill, given we can't get there in time? Plus also, how do we get out, given that we're surrounded?"
I thought for a moment and looked at Nasreen, "Nasreen, how would you feel about an energy pulse, channeled up through the tunnels to the base of the drill?"
"To blow up my life's work?" she asked.
"Yes. I'm sorry but I think it's our only chance."
"Right, well, you're going to have to do it before the drill hits the city, in…"
"11 minutes, 40 seconds…" answered Amy.
"Yes! Squeaky bum time!" said The Doctor.
"Yes, but the explosion is going to cave in all the surrounding tunnels so we have to be on the surface by then," said Nasreen.
"But we can't get past Restac's troops," said Rory.
"I can help with that," said Eldane, "Toxic Fumigation - an emergency failsafe meant to protect my species from infection. A warning signal to occupy cryo-chambers. After that, citywide fumigation, by toxic gas. Then the city shuts down."
"You could end up killing your own people," said Amy.
"Only those foolish enough to follow Restac."
"Eldane, are you sure about this?" I asked.
"My priority is my race's survival," said Eldane, "The Earth isn't ready for us to return yet."
"No."
"10 minutes," said Amy.
"But maybe it should be," said The Doctor, "So here's the deal. Everybody listening? Eldane, you activate shutdown... I'll amend the system, set your alarm for 1,000 years' time."
Eldane went to the controls, and I said, "1,000 years to get the planet ready." I looked at Mo, Elliot, Ambrose, and Nasreen, "It will be up to you all to pass it on. You can make it a legend, or a prophesy, or create your own religion, how ever you want to do it. But it will be your job to make it known that this planet is to be shared."
"Yeah. I get you," said Elliot.
"Nine minutes, seven seconds," said Amy.
The Doctor joined Eldane at the controls,"Yes, fluid controls, my favourite! Energy pulse timed, primed and set. Before we go, energy barricade, need to cancel it out - quickly." The Doctor used his sonic on the controls and the barricade came down.
"Fumigation pre-launching," said Eldane.
"There's not much time for us to get from here to the surface, Doctor!" said Rory.
"Ah-ha, super-squeaky bum time!" said The Doctor, "Get ready to run for your lives. Now…"
"But the decontamination program on your friend hasn't started yet," said Eldane.
We all looked at Tony, "Well, go. All of you! Go."
"No, we're not leaving you here!" said Ambrose.
"Granddad!" said Elliot as he ran to Tony and hugged him.
"8 minutes, 10 seconds," said Amy.
Tony looked at Elliot, "Now you look after your mum. You mustn't blame her. She only did what she thought was right."
"I'm not going to see you again, am I?" asked Elliot.
"I'll be here," Tony touched Elliot's heart, "Always. I love you, boy." He hugged him tightly. Then, Tony looked at his daughter and said, "You be sure he gets home safe!"
Elliot went to Mo who pulled him close. Ambrose looked at her father and said, "This is my fault."
"Yes it is," said Annabelle telepathically.
I hit my daughter on the shoulder and glared at her, "Stop it…"
"No, I can't go back up there," said Tony to Ambrose, "I'd be a freak show. The technology down here's my only hope." then he hugged Ambrose.
"I love you, Dad," said Ambrose.
"Go. Go. Come on.. Go on," said Tony.
Eldane activated the fumigation, "Toxic fumigation initiated." was heard over the loudspeaker, "Return to cryo-chambers."
We look at the monitors and saw the solders leaving, "They're going! We're clear!" said Amy we're clear
"OK. Everyone follow Nasreen," said The Doctor, "Look for a blue box. Get ready to run." he used his sonic on the door and it slid open, He looked at Eldane "I'm sorry."
"I thought for a moment, our race, and the humans…" said Eldane.
"Yeah," I said, "Us too."
"We've got less than six minutes!" shouted Amy.
"Go!" said The Doctor as he waved them off, "Go! We're right behind you!" The others ran from the room then he looked at Nasreen, "Let's go."
"I'm not coming either," she said.
"What?" I said.
Nasreen stood by Tony and put a hand on his arm, "We're going to hibernate with them, me and Tony."
"Doctor, Teddy, you must go!" said Eldane.
Tony looked at Nasreen, "I can be decontaminated when we're woken. All the time in the world."
"But... Nasreen... You…" said The Doctor.
Nasreen walked to him, "No. This is perfect. I don't want to go. I've got what I was digging for. I can't leave when I've only just found it."
Just then Amy and Annabelle came back in, "Doctor! Teddy!" called Amy.
"Thank you, both."
"The pleasure was ours," I said. We each hugged her and then The Doctor grabbed Amy's hand, I took Annabelle's and we ran out the door.
"Come and look for us," said Nasreen as the doors to the lab slid closed.
As we ran we saw Rory running towards us, "Immediate evacuation…" we heard over the loudspeaker.
"Other way, idiot!" Said Amy to Rory.
"Toxic fumigation is about to commence."
We caught up to Mo, Elliot, and Ambrose as they were looking at the city below, "Come on!" said The Doctor. Soon we reached the TARDIS, "No questions, just get in! And yes, I know it's big!" said The Doctor, as he unlocked it, and ushered the family inside, "Ambrose, sickbay up the stairs, left, then left again... get yourself fixed up. Come on! Five minutes and counting…"
I could see a bright white light coming from behind us. I turned and saw a crack in the tunnel wall… But it wasn't any crack, it was the same crack from Amy's bedroom wall.
"Doctor…" I said.
The Doctor turned around, "Not here. Not now. It's getting wider."
"The crack on my bedroom wall." said Amy.
Us Time Lords walked up to it. The Doctor squatted down and said, "And the Byzantium. All through the universe - rips in the continuum."
"It must be some sort of space-time cataclysm," I said, as The Doctor studied the crack, "Caused by an explosion big enough to put cracks in the universe. But what?"
Amy checked the stopwatch, "4 minutes 50... We have to go!"
"The Angels laughed, when we didn't know," said The Doctor, "Prisoner Zero knew, everybody knows, except us!"
"Doctor, just leave it!"
"But where there's an explosion," said Annabelle as she took a red hankie out from the inside pocket of her blazer. "there's shrapnel." She looked at The Doctor and he nodded in approval. Then she looked at me and I nodded as well,. Then, she knelt down next to the crack.
"Annabelle, you can't put your hand in there!" said Rory.
"Why not?" she asked. Annabelle reached in the crack with the hand holding the hankie. She grimaced in pain as the light got brighter, "I've got something!"
"What is it?" asked Amy.
She pulled her arm out and fell backwards onto the ground, clutching the item wrapped in the hanky I could hear it sizzle with heat and energy, "I don't know."
"Doctor!" shout Rory.
We turned in the direction he was looking and saw Restac crawling into the tunnel. The Doctor and Annabelle jumped up. "She was there, when the gas started," said Amy, "She must've been poisoned."
"You!" said Restac.
Annabelle looked at Amy and Rory, "Get in the TARDIS, both of you." She put the piece of whatever into her blazer inside pocket.
"You did this, said Restac as she aimed her gun at The Doctor.
"Doctor!" shouted Rory. He pushed The Doctor out of the way and was shot.
"Rory!" shouted Amy
Rory was laying on the ground groaning in pain. Then Restac collapsed on the ground and died. "Rory, can you hear me?" asked The Doctor as we all knelt down and he used his sonic on him.
"I don't understand," said Rory.
"Shh-shh. Don't talk," said Amy as she stroked his face, "Doctor, is he OK? We have to get him into the TARDIS!"
"We were on the hill. I can't die here."
Tears started to form in Amy's eyes, "Don't say that."
"You're so beautiful... I'm sorry." Then Rory died.
"Doctor, Teddy, help him."
I looked toward the crack and I could see tendrills of light reaching out and touching Rory's feet. Then, Us Time Lords stood, "Amy, move away from the light, if it touches you you'll be wiped from history. Amy, move away now," I said.
"No! I am not leaving him! We have to help him!"
I gently grabbed Amy by the shoulders, "The light's already around him, we can't help him."
"I am not leaving him!"
"We have to."
"No!"
"Sorry!"
"Get off me!"
"I'm sorry, Amy…" said Annabelle as she picked up Amy and started to drag her to the TARDIS, kicking and screaming
"Get off me!" said Amy as she struggled.
We got Amy into the TARDIS and The Doctor used his sonic to lock the door. She shouted and pounded on the door, "Let me out, please let me out... I need to get Rory."
Us Time Lords walked to the console to prepare for departure. I had to wipe the stray tear from my eye. I looked at Annabelle and I could see her eyes getting moist as well. Amy looked at the monitor, "That light, if his body's absorbed I'll forget him," said Amy, "He'll never have existed. You can't let that happen."
The Doctor pulled a lever on the console, "What are you doing?" asked Amy as she ran to the console, "Doctor! No!" Amy looked at me pleading, "No! No! Teddy, we can't just leave him there!"
"Keep him in your mind," I said, "Don't forget him. If you forget him, you'll lose him forever."
"On the Byzantium, I still remembered the Clerics because I am a time traveller, now you said."
The Doctor gripped her head in his hands, "They weren't part of your world. This is different...this is your own history changing."
"Don't tell me it's going to be OK. You have to make it OK." said Amy.
"It's going to be hard, but you can do it, Amy," I said, I took her to the jump seat, sat her down, then I said, "Tell us about Rory."
The Doctor kelt in front of Amy, "Fantastic Rory, funny Rory, gorgeous Rory. Amy, listen to me. Do exactly as I say. Amy, please. Keep concentrating. You can do this."
"I can't."
"You can," said Annabelle as she put a hand on her friends sholder, "You can do it. We can't help you unless you do. Come on. We can still save his memory. Come on, Amy. Please…"
We could see Amy struggle to think about Rory, The Doctor squeezed her hand, "Come on, Amy, come on. Amy, please. Don't let anything distract you."
I squeezed her other hand, "Remember Rory. Keep remembering, Rory is only alive in your memory. You must keep hold of him. Don't let anything distract you. Rory still lives in your mind."
The TARDIS shook as we reached the surface knocking us all to the floor. I saw the box that Amy's engagement ring was in was on the floor. Then Amy said brightly, "What were you saying?" All we could do was stare at her. She had forgotten Rory completely.
Just then, Mo, Elliot, and Ambrose walked down the stairs, "I have seen some things today, but this is beyond mad," said Mo.
Amy looked at the stopwatch, "Five seconds till it all goes up!"
We all ran out the door. We were back in the graveyard overlooking the drill site and we watched it explode.
Later, Elliot, Amy, and Mo were walking through the graveyard while The Doctor, Ambrose, Annabelle and I stood at the entrance to the church. As they walked by the door, Amy said, "All Nasreen's work just erased."
"Good job she's not here to see it," said Mo, "She's going to give Tony hell when they wake up."
Ambrose looked at Annabelle, "You could've let those things shoot me. You saved me."
"Yes, I could have," said Annabelle, "But, you know what they say an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. But, now you have a chance to show your son how wrong you were. How there's another way. It's up to you to make him the best of humanity... in the way you couldn't be." We gave her a smile and walked away.
We met back up with Amy and she said, "You're very quiet. Oh! Hey! Look! There I am again! Hello, me!" Amy waved at her future self across the valley but this time future Amy was alone.
Amy looked sad as she lowered he arm, "Are you OK?" I asked.
"I thought I saw someone else there for a second," sighed Amy, "I need a holiday. Didn't we talk about Rio?"
"You go in," said The Doctor, "Just fix this lock, keeps jamming." he unlocked the door and let Amy inside.
"You boys and your locksmith," said Amy as she walked in and closed the door.
The Doctor looked at Annabelle, "Let's have that piece you took out of the crack."
Annabelle reached into her blazer, pulled out the hanky, and handed it to The Doctor. He opened it up and showed it to us. I almost fainted, it was the top left corner of the information panel on the door of The TARDIS. He held it up to the panel that was on the TARDIS… It was a match…
A/N: I hope you guys are liking this story. Please feel free to comment in the box below. I love to hear what you guys think good and bad. Plus, let me know who you think should play Teddy and Annabelle in their next incarnations.