I apologize that it's taken so long for me to update. As most of you know, the alerts for this site haven't been working right for almost four months. I've been posting on AO3 and, as luck would have it, this is the one story that I don't have over there for reasons I won't get into. So I haven't been able to work on this in all that time. But now that the alerts are working, I'm going to get back to this story.
Amy and Rory's house
Morning
"This is my house, Raggedy Man!" Amy snapped irritably as she stormed out of the kitchen, startling Rory and Brian, who had been in the process of taking items out into the backyard for the party.
"What's he done now?" Rory asked dryly.
"He kicked me out of the kitchen! Said I was 'making the onion dip wrong'," Amy said angrily, attempting a bad imitation of The Doctor's voice.
"You know how he is, it has to be just the way he likes it," Rory pointed out.
"Or perhaps he's just excited to see his friends and wants to make everything perfect," Brian suggested and husband and wife paused as they considered this.
"Maybe," Amy admitted.
"His friends are all scattered across the world, across the universe. He probably doesn't get to do something like this that often," Rory noted and Amy sighed.
"Okay. I'll cut him a little slack," Amy said before they heard a shout from the kitchen.
"Pond! Where do you keep the spices?!" The Doctor called out and Amy bowed her head miserably.
"I'll go make sure he doesn't go overboard," Rory offered, Amy smiling at him weakly as he kissed his wife briefly before heading into the kitchen.
A planet far from earth
Same time
In a darkened room, Jack sat across from a man who was strapped to a chair. The man was beaten and bloody as Jack took a drink, humming appreciatively before dumping it in the man's face.
"Was that necessary?" the man said coughing before noticing a stinging sensation. "What was that?"
"Sontaran ale. It's quite delicious, but when it makes contact with human skin, it can cause a painful burning sensation that can last for hours. It starts small, but it gets progressively worse as time passes," Jack informed, smirking as the man began crying out in pain. "Now, there is an antidote. Water. I have some in a pouch, which I will give you. Just do one thing for me first: tell me where I can find Lady Kovarian."
Earth, Amy and Rory's house
Early afternoon
Two cars rolled up outside the drive way. After a moment, Donna and Shaun got out of one, while Sylvia and Wilf got out of another.
"This is where The Doctor is staying?" Sylvia asked in surprise as she saw the house.
"What were you expecting?" Donna asked as she moved around to get Will out of his car seat.
Sylvia shrugged, conceding her daughter's point. It all just felt very…normal. And it was hard to imagine The Doctor doing anything normally.
"You ready?" Donna asked as she took Will in her arms, glancing over at Shaun, who was eying the house as though it might come alive and swallow him whole.
"I suppose as much as I'll ever be," Shaun finally said.
As one, the family approached the front door, Shaun ringing the doorbell. After a few moments, the door opened to reveal Rory.
"Donna, good to see you again. And you must be Wilf, Sylvia and Shaun. I'm Rory," Rory introduced himself, offering a hand to Shaun, who shook it politely.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Rory," Wilf said as Rory turned to him, shaking the older man's hand.
"You as well. Come on in, everyone else is already here," Rory said as he led them inside.
Rory led them through the house and out onto the back patio. Amy and Martha was at a table, in deep conversation, Martha rocking a sleeping Matthew.
Meanwhile, The Doctor was by the grill, talking to Mickey and Brian when he spotted the arrival of the guests.
"Mind taking over, Mickey? I need to go greet my guests," The Doctor said, leaving before Mickey could say a word.
"Same old Boss," Mickey said with a laugh before taking over the grill.
"Wilfred Mott! It is an honor to see you again!" The Doctor said happily as he reached the Mott/Noble/Temple family, giving Wilf a salute, which the old man returned with a beaming smile.
"Doctor, it's so good to see you again," Wilf said as he and The Doctor shook hands.
"Doctor, is that truly you?" Sylvia asked in surprise.
"Yes, Sylvia. Lovely to see you again," The Doctor said kindly as Sylvia stared, trying to process that this was the same man. "Hello, Will. Good to see you again. And you must be Shaun!"
Shaun had imagined this moment multiple times over the last few days, imagining what he might say to the man his wife called her best friend. But, as The Doctor shook his hand excitedly, all that came out was- "Yes. Nice to meet you."
The Doctor merely smiled before dropping Shaun's hand.
"You're just in time. We were just finishing up some steaks," The Doctor said as he led them over to the table.
"Donna, lovely to see you again," Amy said as she got to her feet.
"Yes, Hello again. This is my mother, grandfather and my husband, Shaun. And this is my son," Donna said with a smile.
As everyone began greeting the Nobble/Temple/Moffs, The Doctor smiled wider than he had in a long time. It had been so long since so many people he loved were all in the same place.
A planet far from Earth
Later
At the base of the Silence, a large tremor rocked the base before alarms began blaring.
"What is happening?!" Kovarian demanded in the control room as one of her Clerics checked the scanners.
"There was an explosion on the east side. I can't say for certain, but I think we were just attacked," the Cleric said alarmed.
"I want all The Silences and Clerics on the East Wing, now!" Kovarian ordered.
"Ma'am," Another Cleric spoke up, pale as he watched something on a screen.
Kovarian followed him, staring at the screen, which showed Jack, wielding what looked like a high tech rifle. He pulled the trigger and a blast of energy came out, striking a Silence with enough force to send it flying through a wall.
"Send out all of them. Now," Kovarian said alarmed.
Jack was walking through the corridors when several Clerics emerged from a doorway, opening fire. Jack immediately dropped down, taking cover behind a crate. Poking his head out slightly, he saw there was a tank of fuel nearby and got an idea. The firing stopped and Jack took his chance, aiming at the tank and firing a low level blast.
His aim struck true and the tank exploded, sensing the Clerics flying. Jack then emerged, seeing most of them were either dead or unconscious. As Jack walked towards the exit, he saw one of them was still alive and reaching for gun. Jack Pulled a knife from his jacket and, with quick precision, threw it. It struck the man in the forehead and he went down, dead. Jack retrieved the knife before continuing on his way.
On the other end of the Corridor, two dozen Silences waited for Jack. Then, something landed on the floor. The Silences looked down to see a grenade before it went off. But rather than exploding, the Silences were surrounded in an electrical field that paralyzed them.
Jack walked into the corridor, opening fire, three energy blasts taking out three Silences. But Jacked looked down at his rifle seeing it was out of power. It would take a minute to recharge.
The grenade wore off at that moment and the Silences all unleashed a volt of lightning at him, but Jack rolled away, barely avoiding the blasts that converged. The resulting shock wall sent them all flying.
Jack recovered first, picking up his knife and slitting the throat of a nearby Silence. As another one rose up behind him, Jack whirled around throwing it and it went right through the eye of the Silence. It wailed as another shot a volt of lightning at him. But Jack pushed the button on a metal bracelet around his wrist and a holographic shield appeared around him, which deflected the lighting around at several of the Silences.
Now there were only around ten left. Jack dropped the shield before he glanced down at his rifle, seeing it was fully changed once more. Jack immediately opened fire, taking out one after the other. Walking forward, Jack pulled his knife out of the dead Silence before throwing it, getting another right before the eyes.
It went down, leaving only three left. Jack changed all the power of his rifle before firing, letting out a blast so power it knocked all three back.
His enemies all defeated, Jack walked forward, stopping in front of a door. Taking an energy pack out of the rifle, Jack put it in his jacket pocket before pulling another out, replacing it. Taking aim at the door, he pulled the trigger and the doors were blasted open. Jack entered the doorway, finding Kovarian and two terrified Clerics.
"Madam Kovarian," Jack greeted as she sneered at him.
"Jack Harkness. You're a long way from home," Kovarian said and Jack smiled unpleasantly.
"As was Amy Pond, when you kidnapped her," Jack said coolly. "You're gonna answer for that, along with everything else you've done."
"You think you can stop me? I outsmarted The Doctor. Beating you will be no difficult task," Kovarian scoffed.
"Your arrogance makes you very predictable. You're about to get what you deserve, Jack said, reaching inside his jacket.
They expected a knife, but what Jack pulled out a small sphere. Jack threw it and it impacted on Kovarian's chest, exploding into a smoke screen that covered the entire room.
Kovarian looked around wildly before spotting Jack's silhouette through the smoke. Pulling a knife from under her sleeve, she rushed forward, taking Jack by surprise and stabbing him in the chest. He stared at her stunned before laughing.
"I'm sorry, was that supposed to hurt?"
With an enraged roar, Kovarian tackled Jack, pinning him to the ground as she stabbed him repeatedly, but to her shock, none of her strikes seemed to kill him.
"I've died over a million times, but you can't even kill me right once," Jack mocked.
"Just shut up and die already!" Kovarian shouted as she continued stabbing him.
As the smoke cleared, the Clerics stared, horrified at Kovarian. For, rather than stabbing Jack, she was standing up. The sphere had indeed exploded and caused a smoke screen. But that hadn't been the end of it. For, attached to Kovarian's neck was a creature that looked like a slug, the size of a small dachshund. It was bright red and suckled away at Kovarian's neck. And Kovarian seemed immobile, staring at something without seeing.
"Blimey," One of the Clerics muttered.
"What is that?" the other wondered.
"In English, it's called the Sinning Leech," Jack said, standing calmly where he had entered the room, watching satisfied. "It feeds off the liquid produced by fear and anger in the human body. It can feed off you for years. And as it ensnares you, it causes hallucinations of madness. And, in case you were getting any ideas, removing it will surely kill her. And cause it to latch onto the next closest person."
Jack stared at Kovarian for a moment, letting a sense of satisfaction wash over him. Kovarian would spend the rest of her life, however short that may be, tormented by visions of madness. It was exactly what she deserved for what she had done to Amy, Rory and River.
But he wasn't done yet.
Jack then turned and approached the two Clerics, who backed up fearfully.
"Please, don't hurt us!" one of them pleaded and Jack smiled.
"Relax; I'm not going to hurt you. I need to send a message to the rest of the Silence. So listen up, and listen very carefully," Jack ordered and they stood to attention. "Tell them what happened here today. And tell them if they were go after The Doctor or his friends again…I will make what I did here today look like a mercy compared to what I will then do to all of you."
Jack then departed from the room, leaving the Clerics staring after him fearfully as they glanced at the unmoving Kovarian.
Earth, Amy and Rory's house
Not long
"This was delicious, Doctor. Wherever did you learn to cook like this?" Wilf asked as they all sat around the table outside.
"16th….17th century Paris," The Doctor said after a moment of thought.
"Really?" Shaun asked in surprise and The Doctor nodded.
"Oh yes. Did I ever tell you all I invented the York Pudding?"
"Really?" Rory asked in disbelief before shaking his head. "On second thought, I'm not even surprised."
"If you told us you invented Sushi, I don't think any of us would be surprised, Boss," Mickey said with a laugh.
"You have traveled quite a bit, haven't you," Brian noted.
"Vincent Van Gogh, Winston Churchill, the Queen of England, where do you want to start, Brian?" Amy asked dryly as those who had traveled with The Doctor gave a hearty chuckle.
"On that note, we should get all these dishes inside," The Doctor said as he stood up, gathering his plate.
"I'll help," Martha said immediately, seeing her chance.
"Now now, you're a guest, Martha Jones," The Doctor protested.
"When have you ever been able to stop us from doing what we wanted to do, Spaceman?" Donna asked as she stood up as well, beginning to help The Doctor and Martha.
The Doctor opened his mouth to respond but paused, realizing she was right. So he gave in, allowing the two of them to help.
"Just don't let him do dishes," Amy told Donna and Martha.
"Oi!" The Doctor immediately protested.
"Doctor, we've seen you do dishes. Our plates won't survive," Rory told him.
The Doctor pouted but didn't say another word as he, Martha and Donna walked back into the house to drop the dishes off at the sink. Once they were gone, Shaun spoke up.
"I was wondering if you lot wouldn't mind if I asked you a question," Shaun said and they all turned their attention to him. "Donna has told me some of her life with The Doctor. How do you…deal with it? Go back to living regular lives after all you've seen."
"It's not always easy," Rory said as he and Amy exchanged a look.
"There were times…there were years when couldn't live without him. When just the whole 'ever day' thing would drive me crazy. But then he dropped us off here, and…I don't regret my time with The Doctor, but we built a life here. And I like it," Amy said.
"You don't regret the time in the TARDIS. But eventually, you do have to move on," Mickey told Shaun.
Shaun merely nodded, looking thoughtful before glancing back towards where his wife had disappeared to, wondering if she had moved on.
Inside the house, The Doctor, Martha and Donna had set the plates down and The Doctor moved to go back outside when Martha stopped.
"Doctor. Before you go out…I need to give you something,' Martha said nervously.
He looked at her curiously as Martha reached inside her shirt pocket and pulled out the vial of pink liquid.
"What's this?" The Doctor asked as she handed it to him, the Time Lord examining it.
"The thing you've been searching for. It'll allow Amy and Rory to have more children," Martha said and The Doctor looked at her sharply. "A few each night for a week will allow Amy to be able to carry a child again."
"How-" The Doctor started.
"It's a long story, Spaceman, and we can't tell you," Donna told him gently.
"Doctor, you've always asked us to trust you. Can you just trust me when I say that I can't tell you why, but I know what happened to them? And this will let you fix it," Martha said softly as she took his free hand. "Do you trust me, Doctor?"
"You know I do, Martha Jones," The Doctor said after a moment.
"Then trust that I know what I'm doing. Does it matter how I know or how I got this? Just give your two best friends the one thing they want and deserve," Martha said softly.
The Doctor glanced down at the vial for a moment nodding, pocketing it, silently promising to give it to Amy and Rory later.
Because Martha was right. Regardless of how Martha knew, she had a solution, the one thing he had been desperately trying to find for months before he chose to come see them again. And, as much as he wanted answers, it wasn't about him. It was about the Ponds. So for now, he would bite his tongue and merely focus on the fact that he had what Amy and Rory wanted most.
And Kovarian got exactly what she deserved. Those of you who have seen Yu Yu Hakusho obviously get the reference.
And The Doctor now finally has the means to give Amy and Rory the one thing they want more than anything. So that will be coming up.