The Doctor, Thea and Nasreen walked along the pathways on the cavern, passing over molten lava.
"This place is enormous and deserted." the Doctor commented.
"Alaya said only the warrior class were activated." Thea remarked, "everyone else is probably still asleep."
"We need to find Amy." the Doctor determined.
"And Mo and Elliot."
"Looking for heat signature anomalies."
"But how can all this be here?" Nasreen looked around, "I mean, these plants."
"Must be getting closer to the centre of the city."
"You're sure this is the best way to enter?"
"Sure, not sure." Thea shrugged, "I think we'll be noticed either way." no sooner had she spoken when an alarm went off.
"Hostile life forms detected area 17." came over the loudspeakers.
"Love a good front door approach," the Doctor sighed, "Apart from the back door approach. That's also good. Sometimes better."
"We'd be found even if we went the back way." Thea countered.
"Sure about that are you?"
"Yes."
The Doctor looked at her, how she hadn't hesitated, so sure no matter how they entered the city they'd be caught.
"Hostile life forms detected area 17.
A door in front of Nasreen slid open, "Doctor!"
They both turned to see soldiers in the same armour as Alaya standing there, weapons raised.
The Doctor automatically stepped before Thea but she stepped around him. He wanted her to be in charge, then she wouldn't let him stop her now.
She raised her hands, "We're not hostile," she swore, "We're not armed. We're here in peace. Please, don't dissect us..."
The Silurians shot a gas out of the weapon, knocking them unconscious.
~.~
Thea jolted awake, hearing the Doctor crying out in pain. She turned to see him strapped to an upright examination table, in a cubical between her and Nasreen, all three of them strapped to a table in each their own cubical.
"Hey!" she yelled as a green light scanned the Doctor, "stop it!" she turned to the two Silurians in the middle of the room.
"How can they have escaped?" the female in warrior uniform turned to the older man in a white lab coat, "This proves all prisoners should remain under military guard."
"I'm sure you'd prefer to be in charge of everything and everyone, Restac, but we rank the same." the man replied, "Is there any word from Alaya?"
"No." she turned to watch the Doctor writhe in pain.
"It's fine to show concern, you know. She's part of your gene-chain. I'm decontaminating now."
"Decontamination?" Thea cried, "No, no, no! stop it!" she screamed, closing her eyes as the Doctor yelled, twisting in agony.
She didn't want to see him in pain, didn't want to watch as they did their experiments in him and kill him all the while thinking he was a ape like the rest of them. "You're hurting him!" she struggled against the restrains wanting to try and help stop whatever the man was doing to the Doctor.
He was trusting her to be in charge and so far it was good awful wasn't it? If the Doctor had kept quiet and stayed in charge she doubted he would be screaming in agony right now.
The man looked up from the controls, "its all right," he assured her, "it won't harm him. I'm only neutralising his ape bacteria."
"He's not an ape!" She snapped, "neither of us are! You're a doctor, right?" she eyed him, "continue and you'll kill him. Look at the scans." she said urgently as the Doctor continued to cry out in pain, "Look at the scans. Two hearts. Ever seen an ape with more than the one heart?"
"Totally different." the Doctor agreed through the pain, "Totally not ape! Remove all human germs, you remove half the things keeping me alive."
The Silurian looked back at them before switching the machine off. The Doctor panting as the pain stopped.
"No, complete the process." Reatac ordered.
"Thank you." Thea told the male, seeing he wasn't listening to Restac.
"Not got any celery, have you?" the Doctor asked, relaxing knowing he wouldn't have to go through that again, at least anytime soon, "No. No, not really the climate. Tomatoes, though. You'd do a roaring trade in those."
"I'm Thea," she smiled, "that's the Doctor. and the ape just waking up is Nasreen."
"Oh, a green man." Nasreen blinked at the sight.
"It was Restac, right?" Thea eyed her.
She nodded stiffly, "Military commander."
"Oh dear, really?" the Doctor sighed, "There's always a military, isn't there?"
"And you're name?" Thea turned to the doctor.
"Malohkah. Science division." he answered, "Your weapon was attacking the oxygen pockets above our city." the Silurian doctor replied.
"Oxygen pockets, lovely." The Doctor commented, "Oh, but not so good with an impending drill. Now it makes sense."
"Where is the rest of your invasion force?" Restac demanded.
"We don't have an invasion force." Thea told her calmly, "we came for the humans you have, in return for Alaya." she noticed her expression change, just a flicker of worry in her eyes, "same gene chain right? sisters? You're worried about her, don't be, she's safe..." she left off the for now forcing its way on her tongue, not liking that.
"You claim to come in peace, but you hold one of us hostage." Restac hissed.
"You've got three of ours." Thea argued.
"I don't negotiate with apes." Restac sneered, "I'm going to send a clear message to those on the surface."
"What's that?" the Doctor asked.
"Your execution."
"Yes..."
~.~
The Doctor, Thea and Nasreen were led through the city, through a section of flora, their hands cuffed behind her. Thea looking around, biting her lip, if they were being led to their execution she knew they would need an Elder to approve, and that was their best chance really, getting the Elders on their side.
She wasn't really listening to what the Doctor was saying to Nasreen of what he knew of the Silurians.
"These must be the only ones awake." he was saying, "The others must still be in hibernation."
"So, why did they go into hibernation in the first place?" Nasreen wondered.
"Their astronomers predicted the planet heading to Earth on a crash course. 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, staring at them, stunned.
Malohkah turned to him, "How can you know that?"
"Long time ago, I met another tribe of Homo Reptilia. Similar, but not identical."
"Others of our species have survived?" Restacs eyes widened.
"The humans attacked them. They died. I'm sorry."
"Please don't speak if you don't have anything helpful to say." Thea murmured.
"Sorry." he winced.
It was part of the reason why he wanted her in charge down here. He had noticed, for quite a while now, actually, but especially today, she kept saying things, just words slipping out that they all overlooked but actually did come out to be quite useful.
He didn't quite know what it was, he had a theory, of course, multiple and he knew just out right asking Thea he wouldn't get an answer, not an honest one at least. It was all part of his plan. And he was listening very intently to what she said.
"A vermin race." Restac snarled, turning and leading them off again, stepping into a large courtroom in the middle of the city.
"You're not authorised to do this." Malohkoh reminded him.
"I am authorised to protect the safety of our species while they sleep."
"Oh, lovely place. Very gleaming." the Doctor looked around.
"You do know this is where they're going to execute is, right?" Thea could only shake her head at him.
"Right...not so lovely then."
Just then Amy stepped through another door, aiming a Silurian gun at Restac, "let them go."
"Amy Pond." the Doctor smiled, "There's a girl to rely on."
A man entered from another door, a Silurian gun in his hands.
"You're covered both ways, so don't try anything clever, buster." Amy smirked.
"Mo." Nasreen laughed.
"Now let them go, or I shoot." Restac moved closer to Amy, "I'm warning you."
Reatac grabbed the gun and easily pushed Amy to the ground.
"Don't you touch her!" the Doctor shouted.
"And you." Restac turned, gesturing for the other soldiers to disarm Mo.
"All right, Restac, you've made your point." Malohkah cut in gently.
"This is now a military tribunal." she stated, "Go back to your laboratory, Malohkeh."
One of the soldiers jabbed him in the back, "This isn't the way." he told her but was forced to leave.
"Prepare them for execution!"
The soldiers moved in, ushering the jump to the two pillars at the end of the room, tying them up.
"Okay, sorry. As rescues go, didn't live up to its potential." Amy muttered as she was tied to a pillar with Thea and the Doctor, Nasreen and Mo secured to the other one.
"I'm glad you're okay." the Doctor smiled at her.
"Me too. Lizard men, though."
"Homo Reptilia." Thea corrected, "or Silurians. They occupied the planet before humans. Now they want it back."
"She's in charge at the moment." the Doctor added.
"But its not my fault were getting executed." Thea defended.
"And they want to wipe out the human race." Nasreen called.
"Right." Amy nodded, "Preferred it when I didn't know, to be honest."
The soldiers lined up, like a firing squad, their weapons aimed, but made no move to fire.
"Why are they waiting? What do you think they're going to do with us?"
There was a buzz of electricity and a projection appeared before them, showing Rory, Ambrose and Tony.
"Oh my God!" Ambrose gasped as she spotted them.
"Who is the ape leader?" Restac demanded.
"It's them. How are they doing that? How do they know that we're in here?"
Thea frowned, seeing Ambrose dash off the screen, carrying what looked like tarp in her hands. Oh, Rory. She knew she should have been more specific, but how could she have been. Half the time she didn't even understand the words out of her own mouth.
"Who speaks for the apes?" Restac repeated.
Rory stepped forwards, recalling Theas words of him being in charge, he took that to mean he would speak for them. Tony grabbed his arm and whispered something they couldn't quite here before Rory stepped closer to the screen.
"I speak for the humans." he said, "Some of us, anyway."
"Do you understand who we are?
"Sort of...a bit...not really."
"We have ape hostages." the footage must have zoomed out as Rory's eyes widened.
"Amy! Doctor! Thea!"
"My name always comes last." Thea grumbled.
Ambrose reappeared on the screen, "Mo! Mo, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, love." he replied, "I've found Elliot. I'm bringing him home."
"Amy," Rory breathed, "I thought I'd lost you."
"What, cause I was sucked into the ground? You're so clingy." Amy winked.
At first she had been annoyed with his clinginess, but after the fiasco with the Dream Lord she now found it really adorable.
"Tony Mack!" Nasreen grinned.
"Having fun down there?" he joked weakly.
"Not to interrupt, but just a quick reminder to stay calm." the Doctor cut in.
"Show me Alaya." Restac ordered, "Show me, and release her immediately unharmed, or we kill your friends one by one."
"No!" Ambrose shouted.
"Ambrose..." Rory began.
"Steady now, everyone." the Doctor called.
"Ambrose, stop it." Tony tried to pull Ambrose back.
"Get off me, Dad." she pushed him away, "We didn't start this."
"Let Rory deal with this, Ambrose." Thea told her, eying her intently. They were hiding something she could tell, and she hated to find out what it was. The pit in her stomach, already telling her what had happened.
"We are not doing what you say any more." Ambrose glared, "Now, give me back my family."
"No." Restac replied firmly, "Execute the ape girl." she commanded, knowing the other apes would react more to their own, than the non-apes.
"No!" Rory cried, as the soldiers moved Amy between the pillars, "No, wait!"
"You can't execute anyone without permission from the Elder!" Thea reminded her.
"Rory!" Amy shouted, fearful.
"She's not speaking for us!" Rory exclaimed.
"There's no need for this!" the Doctor called.
"Listen, listen. Whatever you want, we'll do it."
Restrac ignored them all, "Aim." she ordered the soldiers.
"Amy!"
"Rory!" Amy gasped.
"Please, don't do this!" Thea cried, struggling against the rope keeping her to the pillar.
"No!" Rory shouted once more, but the screen cut off.
Restac gave her final order, "fire!"
"Stop!" A voice called and the soldiers immediately stood down as Malohkah entered the room with an older Silurian, clearly an Elder, "You want to start a war while the rest of us sleep, Restac?"
"The apes are attacking us." Restac defended.
"its all a big misunderstanding actually." Thea called.
The Elder nodded to her, turning to Restac, "You're our protector, not our commander, Restac. Unchain them."
"I do not recognise your authority at this time, Eldane." Restac spat, even as her soldiers moved to unchain them from the pillars.
"Well then, you must shoot me."
They waited to see what Restac would do but she let out a frustrated hissed and turned to Malokah, "You woke him to undermine me."
"We're not monsters." he replied, "And neither are they."
"What is it about apes you love so much, hmm?"
"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." Eldane cut in, "Go and play soldiers. I'll let you know if I need you."
"You'll need me, then we'll see." Restac sent him a final glare before storming off.
"Thank you," Thea spoke to Eldane, stepping over to him, "this situation escalated a bit much. Now there is still a young boy down here, if we can have him back, our...the ones one the surface can return Alaya. No more hostages."
Eldane nodded, "we can send transport discs for you."
"Much appreciated."
The Doctor made a dash from the controls, flashing his sonic over them and bringing up the projection again, "Rory, hello."
"Where's Amy?" he demanded.
"She's fine," Thea assured him, walking over. The Doctor put a hand on her shoulder, giving it a squeeze in reassurance, she was doing brilliantly in charge.
"Look, here she is." he moved aside to show Amy standing behind them.
"Oh, thank God." he sagged in relief.
"Keeping you on your toes." Amy waved.
"No time to chat." the Doctor cut in, "Listen, you need to get down here..."
"we've agreed to send transport for the four of you, to bring Alaya home," Thea explained, nudging the Doctor aside so she could take charge again. It was a lot easier when the military wasn't involved, "they should cone through the patches of Earth back in the drill room."
"Geothermal energy and gravity bubble technology. It's how they travel and frankly, it's pretty cool."
Thea shook her head, as much as she could agree it was a pretty cool way of travel, it wasn't important right now, "we return Alaya, they return Elliot. Safe and unharmed. Any questions?" she asked, spreading her arms. she probably shouldn't be enjoying this as much as she was, but now they were on the right track to peace, it was a lot easier and the Doctor was there if anything went wrong. Oh, she hoped nothing went wrong.
"Got to dash." the Doctor said as Rory opened his mouth, "Hurry up." he cut off the transmission.
"I wasn't done talking." she huffed.
~.~
"I'd say you've got a fair bit to talk about." the Doctor commented as they stood around the long table, he and Thea standing at the top end, Amy and Nasreen on one side, with Eldane opposite them, Mo and Malohkah standing back.
"How so?" Eldane looked at him.
"You both want the planet." Thea told him, "you both have a genuine claim to it."
"Are you authorised to negotiate on behalf of humanity?"
"No," she laughed, "yes...not yet," she frowned, "but also yes...2020...so..."
"You're rambling." the Doctor nudged her.
She snapped her head back to them, "but they are." she nodded to Amy and Nasreen.
"What?" Nasreen scoffed at her.
"No, we're not." Amy shook her head.
"Course you are." the Doctor laughed, "Amy Pond and Nasreen Chaudhry, speaking for the planet? Humanity couldn't have better ambassadors. Come on, who has more fun than us?"
Amy stood and walked over to them, "Is this what happens, in the future? The planet gets shared? Is that what we need to do?"
"Er, what are you talking about?" Nasreen asked, walking over as well.
"Oh, sorry, Nasreen." the Doctor grinned at her, "probably worth mentioning, Thea, Amy and I travel in time a bit."
"Anything else?"
"Thea?" he glanced at her.
"Some things are fixed." She began, "something just cannot be changed, but that's not today, this is a turning point. Today the future may change, or it may play out as it was always supposed to do so. the future of planet Earth is in you're hands."
"Right." Amy muttered, "No pressure there, then."
"We can't share the planet." Nasreen argued, "Nobody on the surface is going to go for this idea. It is just too big a leap."
"Yeah, its a leap of faith." Thea agreed, "but you humans are extraordinary when you put you're minds too it. Have a little faith and hope and everything will work out fine in the end."
The Doctor smiled at her, so, so proud of how easily she was taking this. What better way than throw her right in the deep end? He trusted she knew what to do and he was right. It amazed him at how easily Nasreen seemed encouraged by just a few words.
So," Thea rested her hands on the table. "lets begin...the first meeting of representatives of the human race and Homo Reptilia is now in session."
"Bet you never thought you'd be saying that." the Doctor laughed. "Now, Mo. Let's go and get your son. Oh, you know, humans, and their predecessors shooting the breeze. Never thought I'd see it."
"We'll leave you to it." Thea told them, giving them all an encouraging smile.
~.~
The Doctor, Thea, Mo and Malohkah stood outside a small chamber where Elliot stood, wires connecting to his temple, but perfectly unharmed.
"Elliot, there you are." the Doctor murmured, seeing him in some sort of statis.
"If you've harmed him in any way." Mo threatened, knowing fully well how much the decontamination hurt,
Malohkah moved to the control panel to start the thawing process, "Of course not. I only store the young."
The Doctor stiffened at that, his gaze moving to Thea, recalling she had said the exact same words earlier. She hadn't even answered him then when he questioned it, part of the reason he wanted her in charge. Oh, he had a hunch alright. He just couldn't tell if Thea knew herself.
She didn't seem to notice him staring at her, questioning Malohkah, "whys that?"
"I took samples of the young," he answered, "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?" the Doctor frowned at him.
"My family, through the millennia, and for the last 300 years, just me." he turned to Mo, "I never meant to harm your child."
"Malohkeh, I rather love you." the Doctor smiled, bumping his fist with the reptiles.
The panel beeped, "It's safe. We can wake him." he stepped inside the chamber, removing the wiring and beckoning Mo in, "Come."
"Elliot?" Mo called softly as the boy blinked awake, "Ell, it's Dad."
"What...Dad!" he hugged him.
"You're safe now." he promised him.
"Where are we?"
"Well, I've got to be honest with you, son. We're in the centre of the Earth...and there are lizard men."
Elliot looked past the doorway where Malohkah stood with the Doctor and Thea, the Silurian giving a small wave, "Wow."
The Doctor stepped before him, "Elliot. I'm sorry. I took my eye off you."
"It's okay. I forgive you." he shook his hand.
They started down the corridor when Malohkah stopped, noticing something on a control panel, "You go on. I'll catch up."
The Time Lords nodded to him, continuing their way back to the others. The Doctor almost leading them the wrong way, but Thea pulled him back on track.
"And anyway, what benefit does humanity get, and how will we ever sell this to people on the surface?" Nasreen was asking as they approached they reached the courtroom, the Time Lords eavesdropping.
"If I could get a word in, maybe I could tell you." Eldane cut in, "You give us space, we can bring new sources of energy, new methods of water supply, new medicines, scientific advances. We were a great civilisation. You provide a place for us on the surface, we'll give you knowledge and technology beyond humanity's dreams. If we work together, this planet could achieve greatness."
"Okay." Nasreen nodded, "Now I'm starting to see it."
"Oh yeah." Amy smiled.
The Doctor and Thea started clapping and Mo and Elliot looked impressed.
"This is going brilliantly!" Thea cheered.
"Not bad for a first session." the Doctor agreed. "More similarities than differences."
There was a whooshing noise and Eldane looked up, "The transport has returned. Your friends are here."
A moment later Rory entered the room, Theas face falling at his expression. Something was wrong.
"Here they are." The Doctor greeted as Ambrose entered next.
"Mum!" Elliot ran for her.
"Rory!" Amy grinned, hugging her tightly.
He looked as though he wanted to say something, but couldn't and not from happiness seeing Amy.
"No..." Thea breathed.
The Doctor frowned, "Something's wrong."
"Doctor," Amy swallowed, seeing Tony follow, carrying a body in a blanket, "what's he carrying?"
"No, no, no," Thea shook her head, her hand flying to her mouth, "I told you to watch her." She turned to Rory.
"I know." he winced. At first he thought she meant Alaya, that she didn't trust her. He quickly realised she meant Ambrose, only he had been too late. "I'm sorry, I was tending to Tony, and..."
"I did it." Ambrose admitted as the Doctor moved to the body as Tony set it down, seeing the young Silurians face.
"Mum?" Elliot stared at her in horror.
"I just wanted you back." Ambrose looked at him but he shook his head and stepped back from her.
Thea closed her eyes, taking a breath and turning to Eldane. They could still fix this. They had too. She had to fix this. "Eldane I'm sorry." she breathed, "I..."
"Tthey're normal better than this." the Doctor added, seeing Thea struggling to get any words out.
"This is our planet!" Ambrose shouted.
"Shut up!" Thea yelled at her, "this is their planet too!"
"Leave us alone!"
"You ruined everything!"
The Doctor stalked 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."
There was a gasp behind them and they spun to see Restac and her soldiers entering the room, "My sister. Oh." she dropped to her knees besides the body, letting out a wail at the sight of her deceased sister, "And you want us to trust these apes?"
"I..." Thea started, swallowing, unable to find the words to say. She couldn't even image how Restac was feeling right now. To walk into a room and see your sister dead on the floor.
She didn't have any siblings before Luke, she had had to go through knowing a sibling was gone and she hoped she wouldn't have too for many years, and even then she preyed to the ancients that it would be from short humans lifespans.
"One woman." the Doctor tried to salvage, "She was scared for her family. She is not typical."
Restac stood up, hissing, "I think she is."
"One person let us down, but there is a whole race of dazzling, peaceful human beings up there. You were building something here. Come on. An alliance could work."
"It's too late for that, Doctor."
Thea turned to her, "First you kill Alaya and now what?"
"Our drill is set to start burrowing again," Ambrose checked the stopwatch in her hands, "in 15 minutes."
"What?" Nasreen looked betrayed they'd use her technology like that.
"What choice did I have?" Tony muttered, though he looked a little guilty, "They had Elliot."
"Don't do this." the Doctor shook his head, "Don't call their bluff."
"Let us go back." Ambrose threatened, "and you promise to never come to the surface ever again. We'll walk away, leave you alone."
"Execute her!" Restac shouted.
"No!" the Doctor ran forwards, pulling Ambrose down as the solider did as Restac ordered, "Everybody, back to the lab. Run!"
"Execute all the apes!"
~.~
"This way!" Thea ran ahead with Eldane as the humans followed them through the city. She glanced back to see the Doctor using the sonic screwdriver to deactivate the Silurian weapons, narrowly avoiding a lashing from a tongue as he quickly ran after them.
"Take everyone to the lab!" the Doctor shouted, "go, go! I'll cover you!"
"Doctor!" Amy seemed to try and stop him, or stay with him, but Thea took her hand, forcing her along with them.
Thea instantly ran to the control as they reached the lab, watching the screens as the Doctor finished talking to the soldiers that followed. She hit a button, shutting the doors as the Doctor reached them, the man flashing his sonic over them, locking them.
"Elliot, you and your dad keep your eyes on that screen." the Doctor told him, leading them to a screen, taking charge again, seeing that Thea was no longer happy to deal with the situation that went wrong so quickly, "Let me know if we get company. Thea keep reminding me how much time I haven't got."
"12 minutes." She murmured.
He nodded, slipping the stopwatch he took of Ambrose into his pocket. He guessed she might not need it, "Tony Mack." he turned to him, as he sat down in a chair, "Sweaty forehead, dilated pupils. What are you hiding?"
Tony winced, pulling down his shirt to show the green infection running through veins.
"Tony, what happened?" Nasreen gasped.
The Doctor flashed his sonic on the infection area, frowning at the results.
"Alaya's sting." Tony groaned, "She said there's no cure. I'm dying, aren't I?"
"You're not dying, you're mutating."
"How can I stop it?"
"Decontamination program?" Thea suggested.
"Might work." he nodded, "don't know. Eldane, can you run the program on Tony?"
"Doctor, shedload of those creatures coming our way." Mo warned, "We're surrounded in here."
"So, question is, 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?"
"We could send an energy pulse up through the tunnels to the base of the drill?" Thea called.
"We could." he nodded slowly, turning to Nasreen, "how do you feel about that?"
"To blow up my life's work?" she exclaimed.
"Yes. Sorry." he winced, "No nice way of putting that."
"Right, well, you're going to have to do it before the drill hits the city, in er..."
"11 minutes 40." Thea prompted.
"How are you doing that?" Amy asked her, "you don't have a watch."
"Counting down in my head." She shrugged.
"Yes!" the Doctor cheered, "Squeaky bum time."
"Yes, but the explosion is going to cave in all the surrounding tunnels, so we have to be out and on the surface by then." Nasreen reminded him.
"But we can't get past Restac's troops." Rory pointed out.
"I can help with that." Eldane spoke up, "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." Amy frowned.
"Only those foolish enough to follow Restac."
"Eldane, are you sure about this?" Thea asked him.
"My priority is my race's survival." he sighed, "The Earth isn't ready for us to return yet."
"No." Both Thea and the Doctor could agree with him.
"How long?" Amy asked
She blinked, "10 minutes."
"But maybe it should be." the Doctor remarked, "So, here's a deal. Everybody listening. Eldane, you activate shutdown. I'll amend the system, set your alarm for a 1000 years time. A 1000 years to sort the planet out. To be ready. Pass it on. As legend, or prophesy, or religion, but somehow make it known. This planet is to be shared."
"Yeah. I get you." Elliot smiled.
The Doctor snapped his fingers at Thea. She rolled her eyes, "9 minutes 7 seconds."
"Yes." the Doctor moved back to the controls, "Fluid controls, my favourite. Energy pulse. Timed, primed and set. Before we go, energy barricade. Need to cancel it out quickly." he flashed his sonic over the controls.
"Fumigation pre-launching." Eldane reported.
"There's not much time for us to get from here to the surface, Doctor." Rory said, concerned.
"Ah ha, super-squeaky bum time!" the Doctor grinned, "Get ready to run for your lives. Now..."
"But the decontamination program on your friend hasn't started yet." Eldane cut in.
They all turned to Tony in the chamber, he waved them off, "Well, go. All of you, go."
"No," Ambrose refused, "we're not leaving you here."
"Granddad." Elliot ran to his side, hugging him.
"8 minutes, um, 10 seconds..." Thea bit her lip.
"Now you look after your mum." Tony told Elliot, "You mustn't blame her. She only did what she thought was right."
"I'm not going to see you again, am I?" he asked, through tears.
"I'll be here, always." he touched his heart, "I love you, boy." he hugged him tightly, looking up at Ambrose, "You be sure he gets home safe."
"This is my fault." Ambrose sniffled.
"No, I can't go back up there. I'd be a freak show. The technology down here's my only hope." he hugged her.
"I love you, Dad."
"Go. Go. Go on."
"Toxic fumigation initiated." the computer announced as Eldane activated it. "Return to cryo-chambers."
Amy glanced at the screen, seeing the Silurians departing, "They're going." she called, "We're clear."
"Okay," the Doctor nodded, "everyone follow Nasreen. Look for a blue box. Get ready to run." he flashed the sonic on the doors opening them.
Thea stepped over to Eldane, "I am so sorry."
"I thought for a moment," he sighed heavily, "our race and the humans..."
"Me too." she agreed quietly before shaking her head, "right, we best go...less than 6 minutes." she turned, shooing Amy and Rory and the other humans off as she quickly took the lead knowing she knew the way to the TARDIS better than Nasreen and well, it didn't seem like she was coming. She could hear the Doctor trying to get Nasreen to run, but she refused, wanting to stay with Tony.
"Doctor!" she shouted and he quickly ran after them, running back through the city and into the cavernous room, where Ambrose, Mo and Elliot gaped in amazement, despite the speakers still warning of the gas.
The Doctor quickly unlocked the doors, stepping aside to usher them inside, "No questions, just get in. And yes, I know, it's big. Ambrose, sickbay up the stairs, left, then left again, Get yourself fixed up. Come on. how long?" he glanced at Thea.
"5 minutes and..." she trailed off, catching sight of the large crack in the wall behind them. How could it be here? It was the exact same crack from Amy's bedroom wall and the Byzantium, seemingly growing every time they saw it.
The Doctor spun to see what she was staring at, "Not here." he mumbled, "not now."
"It's getting wider." she swallowed, rubbing her arms, every time they saw it, it made her so uncomfortable, like it was watching her. The hairs on the back of her neck standing up.
"The crack on my bedroom wall." Amy breathed.
"And the Byzantium." the Doctor agreed, walking closer, crouching before it, "All through the universe, rips in the continuum. Some sort of space-time cataclysm. An explosion, maybe. Big enough to put cracks in the universe. But what?"
"I don't care," Thea shook her head, "I don't like it...4 minutes 50..."
"We have to go!" Amy called urgently.
"The Angels laughed when I didn't know." the Doctor frowned, "Prisoner Zero knew. Everybody knows except me."
"Doctor, just leave it."
"But where there's an explosion," he pulled a hanky from his pocket, "there's shrapnel."
"Doctor, you can't put your hand in there." Rory gasped.
"Why not?" he grinned, reaching inside the crack, crying out in pain as the light got brighter. "I've got something."
"What is it?" Amy asked.
He pulled his arm back out, falling back to the ground, staring at the item in the hanky as it smoked with heat and energy, "I don't know."
"Can we go into the TARDIS now please." Thea whispered.
"Doctor!" Rory called, seeing a dying Restac crawling into the tunnel
"She was there when the gas started." Amy realised, "She must have been poisoned."
"You..." Restac snarled.
The Doctor stood, turning to her, "get in the TARDIS, now."
"You did this!" she screamed.
"Doctor!" Thea cried, seeing Restac raise her weapon.
"Doctor!" Rory shouted, pushing the Doctor out of the way, taking the hit himself.
"Rory!"
"Rory!" Amy screamed, rushing to his side.
"Rory?" Thea breathed, kneeling on his other side.
"Can you hear me?" the Doctor soniced him.
"I don't understand." Rory mumbled.
"Shush. Don't talk." Amy stroked his cheek, "Doctor, is he okay? We have to get him onto the TARDIS."
"We were on the hill. I can't die here."
"Don't say that." she sniffled.
"You're so beautiful." he turned his head to look at her, eyes fluttering, "I'm sorry..." his eyes closed.
"Doctor," Amy looked at him, eyes full of tears, "help him."
The Doctor looked back at the crack, seeing energy seeping out from it, already touching Rorys feet, "Amy, move away from the light." he stood, trying to move her away, "if it touches you, you'll be wiped from history. Amy, move away now."
"No." Amy refused, forcing her way out of the Doctors grip, "I am not leaving him. We have to help him."
"The light's already around him." Thea swallowed, "We can't help him. I'm so sorry."
"I am not leaving him!"
"We have to!"
"No!" Amy shouted.
"I'm sorry." the Doctor lifted her up and heaved her into the TARDIS, Thea quickly opening the doors and locking them again.
"Get off me!" Amy struggled, "Get off me. No." she broke free of the Doctor, running back to the doors and pounding on them. the Doctor quickly deadlocking them with the sonic, "No! No! No! No! Let me out." she begged, "please let me out. I need to get to Rory. That light. If his body's absorbed, I'll forget him. He'll never have existed. You can't let that happen. What are you doing?"
The Doctor walked determinedly to the console, Thea slowly following, her head low, almost as devastated as Amy was as she moved to help the Doctor send them off before the light reached the TARDIS.
"Doctor, no!" Amy screamed as they dematerialised as the crack absorbed Rorys body, "No! No! No! Doctor, we can't just leave him there."
"Keep him in your mind." Thea whispered, hugging the heartbroken woman, as she fell to her knees, "Don't forget him. If you forget him, you'll lose him forever and you can't...you can't do that."
"When we were on the Byzantium," Amy began, "I still remembered the Clerics because I am a time traveller now, you said."
"They weren't part of your world." the Doctor said solemnly, "This is different. This is your own history changing."
"Don't tell me it's going to be okay. You have to make it okay."
The Doctor walked over to her, "It's going to be hard, but you can do it, Amy." he helped her to the jumpseat, crouching before her, taking her hand in his, "Tell me about Rory, eh? 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." she shook her head.
"You have too." Thea insisted, "please, you can do this. Save his memory, keep him alive in your mind. Amy, please. Amelia, remember Rory, please..."
"Don't let anything distract you." the Doctor agreed, "Rory still lives in your mind."
With no one focusing on the landing, the TARDIS gave a jolt, sending them to the ground. Thea let out a breath as the little red box dropped before her, the ring still inside.
"What were you saying?" Amy asked, jumping back to her feet, oblivious to the tried tears on her face.
Thea turned away, grabbing the box and hiding it in her sock.
"I have seen some things today," Mo called as he and his family headed back down the stairs, "but this is beyond mad."
Thea shook her head, wiping her eyes to prevent Amy from noticing anything was wrong. "5 seconds..." she murmured.
Amy ran outside with the human family, the Time Lords stepping out slowly, just in time to see the drill blow up.
"All Nasreen's work just erased." Amy commented, seeing the drill station still smoking from the explosion.
"Good thing she's not here to see it." Mo joked, "She's going to give Tony hell when they wake up."
Ambrose stared out across the graveyard, "You could've let those things shoot me." she said quietly to the Doctor, "you saved me."
"An eye for an eye." the Doctor sighed, "It's never the way. Now you show your son how wrong you were, how there's another way. You make him the best of humanity, in the way you couldn't be."
"Can we go now?" Thea whispered, her arms wrapped tightly around her.
"Yeah," he nodded, putting an arm around her knowing she had been quite fond of Rory, and now he was not only dead, but forgotten, "come on."
~.~
"You're very quiet." Amy eyed them as they headed back to the TARDIS, "Oh. Hey, look." She looked out across the valley where one figure stood, she waved back, "There I am again. Hello, me!" she lowered her arm, hesitating.
"Are you okay?" the Doctor asked her.
"I thought I saw someone else there for a second." she sighed, "I need a holiday. Didn't we talk about Rio?"
"You go in. Just fix this lock. Keeps jamming..." he unlocked the doors and let her in.
"You boys and your locksmithery." Amy rolled her eyes, disappearing inside the TARDIS.
The Doctor pulled out the red hanky from his pocket, unwrapping it to see what was inside the crack, his eyes widening at the sight.
Thea gasped, eyes wide.
It was a broken corner of the sign on the TARDIS.
~.~
Thea sat in the middle of her bed, her knees tucked to her chest, arms wrapped around them, just trying to wrap her head around what was happening.
This crack had been following them since they met Amy.
Before meeting Amy the Doctor had been alone, with no crack following them.
So it wasn't following him, which had to mean it was following her. It couldn't just appear randomly now. It couldn't be connected to Amy, it had to be something to do with her, right? That made the most sense...because of what she was.
Oh, she knew what was coming, she could hear the footsteps approaching door the corridor outside, she had known the moment the Doctor wanted her in charge.
They really needed to get better at communicating, this was...terrible.
She looked up at the knocking, "Yes?"
"Hey," the Doctor slowly stepped inside, "how are you?"
"Fine." she whispered. They both knew it was a lie, but nothing could be said to bring Rory back now. Not to mention her day of being in charge hadn't gone all too well. He couldn't blame her for being upset, not that anything that happened was her fault.
"I, um..." he moved and sat down on the edge of the bed besides her, "can I ask a question?"
She buried her head in her arms, "Yes."
"Are you precognitive?"
She looked up at him, but didn't speak, she had answered his question before he spoke it.
"You were trying to tell me earlier, weren't you?" he continued, "I didn't listen."
She shrugged, "I didn't make it very clear." She sighed, lifting her head up to look at him, "when did you know?"
"I had a hunch for a while now." He admitted with a sigh, carefully sitting down on the bed besides her, "wasn't entirely sure if you were aware of it or not."
"I am."
"Does anyone know?" he asked carefully.
"Sarah Jane and the gang." She mumbled.
"No one from Gallifrey?"
"One." She sighed, slowly uncurling from her position and falling back onto her duvet, "I had a friend, we were roommates and honestly, they were the one you said I might be a possible Visionary. They never told, even though they knew the risks of hiding."
That was what Time Lords with psychic abilities were called. Visionaries.
No one was ever sure if Visionaries were inspired or mad from looking into the Untempered Schism.
The council used them to foretell important events that had yet to happen, usually to ensure the universe kept on the right track.
"I didn't want my life taken from me." Thea continued, "if I had told someone then I would have constantly been watched and as soon as I graduated I'd have been forced onto the council to give them whatever foreknowledge I knew." She blinked, feeling tears in her eyes.
She had been so scared at first. She refused to believe it, but the proof was all there. Even the Doctor had noticed. If someone like him noticed then it was obvious someone on Gallifrey had as well. It had been her main reason for leaving in the first place, she wanted to make her own life, lived it how she wanted to, not what the Council expected of her, what the universe had decided for her.
"I wanted to live my own life. I didn't want to just be known as a Visionary, I don't want these...these feelings I get. Don't even know how they work. Never wanted to know. Still, not sure I do."
"And that's why you left Gallifrey?" the Doctor prodded gently.
He wasn't trying to force her to talk to him, if she didn't want to say anything else, he wouldn't press and if she wanted him to leave her alone he would get up and go but this was the most personal they had gotten. He wasn't the best with deep and personal conversations despite all the humans he picked up he didn't keep a lot of his life to himself.
All these humans who claimed to know him. They rarely even skimmed the surface.
But this was Thea, this was another Time Lord, the only other Time Lord there was now. He didn't want her to go back to Sarah Jane's and leave him. He liked having her around, someone who could keep up with him, maybe even run him around in circles.
She nodded, "it was my friends idea."
"What was their name?"
"Chessur. They were the best." She smiled, remembering them, "it was their idea to leave, actually. First chance we got we stole and shuttle and left right after the graduation ceremony. We thought if we left, no one would bother to come after us, we were free to do whatever we wanted. To live our own lives and see everything! Of course we were planning on going back. That was the original plan." She swallowed. "but it didn't happen. I'll never go back there. I'll never have to be what they wanted me to be. What was expected of me. Its not like I see the future. Its just sometimes I say things, or I know the right way to go or I know if someone's lying..." she caught herself rambling, seeing the Doctor just staring at her as she spoke and she shook her head, "you don't want to hear all this."
"No, I do," he quickly disagreed, "No, whatever concerns or fears you have, I want to hear them."
"Why?"
"So you don't have to be afraid anymore."