Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who that goes to the BBC
'Life with the Doctor and Rose was like this,' Amy thought to herself as she recalled her and Rory's travels with the Doctor and Rose, including when she was with them in World War II when she met Chuchill, dealing with the Pandorica, Demons Run, when she met them was she was seven and a few other adventures.
'Real life was like this,' Amy thought to herself as she and Rory were in the kitchen of their house with the nurse sorting laundry as she went through the refrigerator as it was July. The answer machine clicks on.
"It's Lens Opticians," they heard a feminine voice say from their answer machine, "Just to remind you your reading glasses are ready for collection."
"Milk. Two months out of date," Amy muttered to herself.
"Bye!" The feminine voice added from the answer machine as the voicemail ended.
"Yogurt," Amy said as she took the container of Yogurt out from the refrigerator as Rory sniffed a shirt from the laundry that he was holding in his right hand as she opened the yogurt's container to see that it had expired, "Aah!" She then dropped it to the floor, "Don't ask."
"We've run out of washing tablets," Rory told her as he stood up before he tossed the tablets' box over his shoulder.
A while later, Amy and Rory were sitting in the garden of their house, having tea.
"We have two lives. Real life and Doctor and Rose life," Rory told Amy, "It doesn't feel like real life gets much of a look in."
"What do we do?" Amy asked him.
"Choose," Rory answered before they heard the TARDIS' engines, causing them to turn around towards it.
"Not today, though," Amy told him.
"Nah, not today," Rory said, agreeing with her.
"Every time we flew away with the Doctor and Rose, we'd just become part of their life," Amy thought to herself again as she recalled more moments of their adventures with the Gallifreyan couple with them being the more emotional moments, "But they never stood still long enough to become part of ours. Except, once."
"The year of the slow invasion," Amy went on in her mind as she and Rory were sleeping on their bed in their room as a small, black cube appeared in midair and floated over and rested on a side-table, "The time the Doctor and Rose both came to stay."
Later that morning, Brian was ringing the doorbell to Amy and Rory's house incessantly before Rory opened the window to his and Amy's bedroom before he and Amy looked out the window as they looked at him.
"Dad, it's half-past 6:00 in the morning," Rory told his father.
"What are you doing lying around?" Brian asked him as he held up one of the cubes with his left hand as he showed it to them, "Haven't you seen them?"
Brian then turned around with his arms open as Rory and Amy saw that there were hundreds or thousands of cubes that looked identical everywhere. On the street, cars, window ledges and in the park.
"What are they?" Rory asked Brian as he and Amy were now outside of their house and on the street as they joined his father.
"Nobody knows," Brian answered, "But they're everywhere."
"Well, where have they come from?" Amy asked him before she saw something across from them and the street in the park, "Wait."
Amy then stepped forward as she saw the Doctor and Rose sitting on the top of a children's jungle gym. The Doctor held a cube in his left hand and was examining it with a magnifying glass that he was holding with his right hand. Rose was sitting next to him and held one of the cubes in her right hand with her glasses over her eyes as she was studying the cube that she was holding in her hand as well.
"Doctor!" Amy called out to the Time Lord, "Rose!"
"Invasion of the very small cubes," the Doctor said as he and Rose looked at her, "That's new."
"Indeed, it's a tiny invasion, but an invasion nonetheless," Rose stated, holding up her cube and squinting at it through her glasses, "But you know what they say about small packages. We'd best not underestimate these little cubes. After all, size isn't everything, especially when it comes to the mysteries of the universe." She then chuckled to herself, "And who knows? Maybe they're just lost and looking for directions. Has anyone tried asking them nicely where they're from?"
Inside the TARDIS, Rose, Amy, Rory and Brian are at the console with the Doctor. The Time Lady had removed her glasses with them being back inside her jacket's pocket. Amy and Rory were now out of their sleepwear. The Doctor examined a cube with his magnifying glass again.
"All absolutely identical," the Doctor stated as he walked around the console room, "Not a single molecule's difference between them. No blemishes, imperfections, individualities."
"True they're identical on the surface, but that doesn't mean they're the same on the inside," Rose suggested, her eyes thoughtful, "Just like us, really. We may all look similar, but it's our thoughts, our experiences, our hearts that makes us unique. Maybe these cubes have their own secrets to tell, we just need to figure out how to listen."
"Or what if they're bombs? Billions of tiny bombs?" Brian asked the Time Lord as Amy set down a magnifying glass that she was holding in her right hand down, "Or transport capsules, maybe, with a mini-robot inside? Or deadly hard drives? Or alien eggs? Or messages needing decoding? Or they're all parts of a bigger whole. Jigsaw puzzles that need fitting together."
"Very thorough, Brian, you too, Rose," the Doctor told them, "Very, very thorough. Well done. Brian, Stay here. Watch these." He then gave Brian his cube, "Yell if anything happens." He then walked away with Rose before Rory patted his father on the left arm with his right hand and followed the Doctor and Rose.
"Doctor, Rose, is this an alien invasion?" Amy asked both Gallifreyans as the Doctor grabbed some equipment from a hangar near the console's stairs, while Rose grabbed some equipment around the console floor, "Because that's what it feels like."
"There couldn't be life forms in every cube, could there?" Rory asked them as he and Amy helped them carry equipment.
"I don't know," the Doctor answered, "And I really don't like not knowing."
"Neither do I, Doctor," Rose said, agreeing with her husband, "But that's why we're here, isn't it? To figure out the unknown. And if this is an alien invasion, we've faced those before. We'll handle this, too. Together."
"Right! I need to use your kitchen as a lab," the Doctor told Amy and Rory as he and Rose stepped out of the TARDIS, followed by Amy and Rory as he entered the parlour of Amy and Rory's house before walking into the house's kitchen Rory then set down the equipment that he was carrying with Rose doing the same, "Cook up some cubes, see what happens."
"Right. I'm due at work," Rory told both Gallifreyans as the Doctor filled a pot with water.
"What? You've got a job?" The Doctor said with surprise as he looked at him.
"Yeah, of course I've got a…" Rory began to say, "What do you think we do when we're not with you and Rose?"
"I imagine mostly kissing," the Doctor answered, causing Rory to shrug his shoulders.
"I write travel articles for magazines and Rory heals the sick," Amy added.
"Doctor, not everyone has a job in the traditional sense," Rose told her husband, "Remember, I'm always with you, exploring the universe, facing dangers, and solving mysteries. That's a full-time job in itself, wouldn't you say?"
"My shift starts in an hour," Rory stated before he looked at his wife, "You don't know where my scrubs are?"
"In the lounge, where you left them," Amy answered before the Doctor looked at Amy, unused to having domesticity with his and Rose's companions before looking at Rose, who helped him become domestic.
Outside of Amy and Rory's house, black Land Rovers drove up the alley behind the house as armed men surrounded the house.
"Approach each side," a masculine voice said over the radios of the armed men, "Non-terrestrial lifeforms detected. Targets unconfirmed. May be hostile."
"Approaching source now," one of the soldiers said as he and the other soldiers prepared to storm the house through the front door, "Area will be secure in 60 seconds. Ultimate force available."
Back in the kitchen of Amy and Rory's house, the Doctor was setting up equipment with help from Rose and Amy.
"Ah, the Ponds," the Doctor muttered to himself, "With their house and their jobs and their everyday lives. The journalist and the nurse." He then used his sonic screwdriver on the equipment, "Long way from Leadworth."
"Yes, they've come a long way, haven't they?" Rose said, looking around the kitchen, "But no matter how far we travel, there's always a part of us that stays rooted in our beginnings. It's what keeps us grounded amidst all the chaos of time and space. And it's not just them, Doctor. We've come a long way too, haven't we?"
"We think it's been 10 years. Not for the two of you or Earth, but for us," Amy told them, "10 years older, 10 years of the two of you. On and off."
"Look at you now," the Doctor muttered to himself, "All grown up."
"And look at us, Doctor," Rose said, her voice filled with nostalgia, "From the fields of Gallifrey where we spent our childhood to the farthest corners of the universe. We've seen galaxies and stars, met beings from all walks of life, faced dangers and saved worlds. We've grown too, in ways more than one. And through it all, we've had each other. That's something, isn't it?"
The front door then burst open as the soldiers rushed into the house.
"Block the rear entrances," the masculine voice ordered over the soldiers' radios.
"Clear!" One of the soldiers replied as he ran into the kitchen.
"Cut power line," the masculine voice ordered over the soldiers' radios.
"Trap One," the soldier said, using his radio as he held his rifle at the Doctor, Rose and Amy, "Kitchen secured." Amy, Rose and the Doctor turned around to see armed soldiers at the kitchen door.
"Trap three," another soldier replied with their radio from the house's garden, "Back garden secured."
The three of then then turned back towards the kitchen door as Rory was being marched back into the kitchen as he had his hands up and was just wearing his scrubs uniform and with no trousers.
"There are soldiers all over my house and I'm in my pants," Rory told his wife and both Gallifreyans with irritation in his voice.
"My whole life, I've dreamed of saying that," Amy stated as the Doctor and Rose quietly chuckled at Rory as they stared at him, "And I miss it by being someone else."
"All these muscles, and they still don't know how to knock," a woman in her late-forties with light skin, brown eyes and blonde hair, wearing a grey coloured shirt, beige jacket and black trouser said as she entered the house and casually strolled between the armed soldiers towards the kitchen as Rory stepped aside, "Sorry about the raucous entrance."
Rory then walked up to Amy and both Gallifreyans as they stared at the woman, wondering who she was.
"Spike in Artron energy reading at this address," the woman went on as she entered the kitchen as the Doctor crossed his arms, "In the light of the last 24 hours, we had to check it out and, uh, the dogs do love a runout. Hello. Kate Stewart, head of scientific research at UNIT." She then placed her right hand over her chest for a second, "And, with dress sense like that…" She then took out a scanner with her right hand and held it in front of the Doctor's chest and saw both of his hearts beating on it, "You must be the Doctor. I hoped it'd be you."
The Doctor then saluted her with his right hand as Kate turned towards the Time Lady as she stared at her clothes and saw the difference between her clothes and the Doctor's clothes.
"And from what I've heard about from Jenny, you must be her mother, Rose Smith," Kate surmised as she held the scanner up to her chest as well and saw both of her hearts beating as well before Rose also saluted their daughter's boss, "I was hoping to meet you as well."
"Nice to meet you as well," the Doctor replied, "I've been wanting to meet you for a while since Jenny told us about you."
"It's a pleasure to meet you too, Kate," Rose told Kate, "Jenny told us quite about you and your work at UNIT at Christmas. We're proud of her working under someone related to the Brigadier and what she's accomplishing there." SHe then noticed that Jenny was missing, "Speaking of Jenny, where is she?"
"Right here, Mum," they heard Jenny say as she entered the house and walked past the soldiers and walked into the kitchen, "I apologise for the military being here."
"Tell me, since when did science run the military, Kate?" The Doctor asked Kate as he clapped his hands.
"Since me," Kate answered, "UNIT's been adapting. Well, I dragged them along, kicking and screaming, which made it sound like more fun than it actually was."
"Mum, Dad, I hate guns as much as the two of you do, but I wasn't thrilled when I heard of the idea of UNIT's science and military divisions working together," Jenny told her parents before she shrugged her shoulders, "But sometimes, but can you do?"
"What do we know about these cubes?" The Doctor asked them.
"Far less than we need to," Kate answered as she walked further into the kitchen, "We've been freighting them in from around the world for testing. So far, we've subjected them to temperatures of plus and minus 200 Celsius, simulated a water depth of 5 miles, dropped one out of a helicopter at 10,000 feet and rolled our best tank over it. Always intact."
"That's impressive," the Doctor muttered to himself, "I don't want them to be impressive. I want them vulnerable, with a nice Achilles heel."
"You're right, that is indeed impressive," Rose said, agreeing with her husband, "It's almost as if they're made from dwarf star alloy. The most dense material in the universe."
"Indeed, Mum," Jenny stated, agreeing with her, "When they first arrived, I speculated they may have been made from that material. But so far, we haven't had confirmation."
"We don't know how they got here, what they're made of, or why they're here," Kate told them.
"And all around the world, people are picking them up and taking them home," the Doctor added as he picked up the cube from the table with his right hand and juggled it as it landed in his left hand.
"That's what worries me," Rose stated, her gaze fixed on the cube in the Doctor's hand, "These cubes, as harmless as they seem, are now in homes all around the world. We need to figure out their purpose, and fast. If they're as tough as dwarf star alloy, it's clear they're not just random objects. They're here for a reason. And we need to find out what that is."
"Like iPads have dropped out of the sky," Kate added, "Taking them to work, taking pictures, making films, posting them on Flickr and YouTube. Within 3 hours, the cubes had 1,000 separate Twitter accounts."
"Twitter," the Doctor muttered in a disgusted tone.
"I've recommended we treat this as a hostile incursion," Kate stated, "Gather them all up and lock them in a secure facility, but that would take massive international agreement and cooperation."
"You're right," Rose said, agreeing with her, "And most world governments can't agree on anything." She then looked at Kate and Jenny, "Speaking about cooperation, what about Jack?"
"Jack?" Kate asked the Time Lady with a hint of surprise in her voice, "As in Captain Jack Harkness?"
"Yes, that's right," Jenny confirmed, nodding at her mother's question, "Mum is talking about her old friend, Jack Harkness, the leader of Torchwood. He's busy rebuilding it after what happened to it with the 456 in 2009."
"The man's a legend. We've certainly heard about his efforts to rebuild Torchwood," Kate muttered, "their expertise could indeed be valuable in a situation like this."
"I feel like it would be better if UNIT and Torchwood work together for once if we're to find out what these cubes are," Rose stated, "When you leave, why don't you establish contact with Jack and Torchwood in Cardiff?"
"That's a good idea, Rose," Kate said, agreeing with the Time Lady, "We'll try to establish contact with Captain Jack Harkness and his Torchwood team in Cardiff once we get back to Headquarters. Their expertise could indeed be valuable in understanding these cubes."
"Anyways, we need evidence. The cubes arrived in plain sight, in vast quantities, as the sun rose," the Doctor told them, "So what does that tell us?" He then put his arms over Amy and Rory's shoulders as he looked at Rose, who just smiled at him.
"Maybe they wanted to be seen, noticed," Amy suggested.
"That's a very good suggestion, Amy," Rose told her, "After all, that's how you humans are about something you don't understand. And me and the Doctor are the same way."
"Or more than that. They want to be observed," the Doctor argued, "So we observe them. Stay with them, round the clock. Watch the cubes." He then tossed a cube into the air and caught it with both of his hands, "Day and night. Record absolutely everything about them. Team cube, in it together." He then kissed the cube.
"Four days. Nothing!" The Doctor muttered as he was lying upside down on the sofa of Amy and Rory's lounge and between them as they along with Rose, who was sitting on a chair in the room stared at the cubes before he grabbed a cube from the table, "Nothing! Not a single change in any cube, anywhere in the world." He slapped it as he spoke before he put the cube back on the table as he sat back up, "Four days! And me and Rose are still in your lounge!"
"You were the one who wanted to observe them," Amy reminded the Time Lord.
"Yes, well, I thought they'd do something, didn't I?" The Doctor asked them, "Not just sit there while everyone eats endless cereal!" He then got up and paced around as he left the room.
"You said we had to be patient," Rory told the Time Lord.
"Yes, you, you! Not me! I hate being patient!" The Doctor explained as he reentered the room through another doorway, "Patience is for wimps!" He then sat back down on the sofa in between Amy and Rory, "I can't live like this. Don't make me. I need to be busy."
"Life's a bit like these cubes, isn't it? Full of surprises, waiting for the right moment to reveal themselves," Rose said with a smile on her face as she looked at her husband, "Maybe we just need to wait a bit longer to see what these cubes have in store for us."
"Fine! Be busy!" Amy yelled at the Time Lord, "We'll watch the cubes!"
"Yes," the Doctor muttered as he stood back up and left the room as he hurried out of the house.
Outside of Amy and Rory's house, the Doctor was painting a fence at a very fast pace before he began kicking a football with his knees. He then moved on to mowing the lawn before working on a car's engine.
"98, 99, 100," the Doctor counted down as he kicked the football with his knee again, "Amy! Arkytior!" He then began painting the fence at a very fast pace again.
Back inside the lounge of Amy and Rory's house, the Doctor vacuumed the house as Amy and Rory pulled their feet upwards.
As the Doctor left the house, he finished painting the fence at a very fast pace.
"4,999,000, 5 million," the Doctor counted as he kicked the football with his knees again before ending it by cradling the ball onto his back.
As the Doctor leaped over the back of the sofa and slipped into place between Rory and Amy again.
"That's better. Nothing like a bit of activity to pass the time," the Doctor muttered to himself, "How long was I gone?"
"Exactly one hour, three minutes, and twenty-two seconds," Rose answered as she used her time senses to tell how long it has been since the Doctor decided to work around the house, "But who's really counting?"
"I can't do it. No," the Doctor muttered to himself as he got up and jumped over the back of the sofa and headed for the TARDIS.
"Where are you going?" Amy asked the Doctor as she, Rose and Rory stood back up and followed him to the TARDIS.
"Brian!" The Doctor said as he, Rose, Amy and Rory saw that Brian was still sitting on a holding chair inside the TARDIS' console room and watching the cubes, "You're still here."
"You told me to watch the cubes," Brian reminded him.
"Four days ago," the Doctor told him.
"Oh! Doesn't time fly when you're alone with your thoughts?" Brian muttered to himself.
"It's actually because the TARDIS is timeless, Brian," Rose explained, "Time doesn't exist the same way as you normally feel it in here. It's a bit more complicated to explain, but four days outside could feel like a moment or a few seconds in here."
"You can't just leave, Doctor," Rory told the Time Lord as Brian stood back up.
"He's right, we can't leave with these cubes on Earth," Rose said, agreeing with her husband.
"Yes, of course I can, Rose," the Doctor argued, "Quick jaunt. Restore sanity for me. Ooh!" He then snapped his fingers, "Hey!" He then draped his arms over the back of Amy and Rory's necks, "Come, if you like."
"They can't just go off like that," Brian protested as he looked at him.
"Can't they? Can't you?" The Doctor asked him, "That's how it goes, isn't it?"
"I've got my job," Rory reminded him.
"Oh, yes, Rory, the universe is awaiting, but you have a little job to go to," the Doctor muttered to himself.
"It's not little," Rory told the Time Lord, "It's important to me. Look, what you and Rose do isn't all there is."
"He's right, Doctor," Rose said, agreeing with the nurse, "His job, their lives outside of this TARDIS, they're just as important as any cosmic event. We can't just abandon them at the drop of a hat."
"I never said it was," the Doctor told them, "All right, fine. We'll be back soon. Monitor the cubes. Call us." He then snapped his fingers, "We'll have the TARDIS set to every Earth newsfeed."
"And remember, Doctor, time in the TARDIS isn't the same as outside," Rose reminded her husband as she nodded her head as Amy, Rory and Brian left the TARDIS, "We've been living here for centuries, but for them, it's their everyday lives. Let's respect that."
"I know, Rose. I know. And I do respect that," the Doctor said, agreeing with her, "It's one of the many reasons why I love you and have done so since we were Time Tots."
In a club at night in October, Amy was out with one of her friends, Laura, who had light skin, brown hair and eyes as they were both wearing dresses and sitting at a table.
"I'm so pleased for you two," Amy told her, "It's about time you made an honest woman of her."
"Amy, about bridesmaids," Laura said as she looked at her.
"Mmm," Amy muttered to herself.
"You've missed quite a few things the last year or two," Laura stated.
"I'm so totally there, whatever you need," Amy told her.
Meanwhile in a corridor of the hospital that Rory works at, he and another nurse, Ranjit, who had tan skin, brown eyes and black curly hair with a beard were walking down the corridor with a patient on a gurney.
"Everyone here loves you," Ranjit told Rory, "The nurses, the doctors. You're a lifesaver, mate, literally."
"Ha ha! Well, thanks," Rory muttered to himself.
"But there are months when we don't see you," Ranjit stated, "We can't do without you. I want you to go full-time."
"Full-time?" Rory repeated with surprise in his voice, "Blimey. Uh…"
Later on at their house, Amy and Rory were sitting up against the headboard of their bed, drinking tea and had their everyday clothes back on.
"I said yes," Rory told her, "I committed."
"And I committed to being a bridesmaid," Amy added as they looked at each other, "Months in advance. Like I know I'm going to be here."
"So the Doctor and Rose are God knows where, the cubes aren't doing anything at all," Rory stated, "Did real life just get started?"
"I like it," Amy told him.
"So do I," Rory said, agreeing with her before he took a sip of his tea.
The next day, at Brian's house, Brian was setting up a video camera as Rory came in with tea in both of his hands.
"Brian's log. Day 67," Brian said as he stared into his video camera's screen.
"You can't call it that," Rory told him as he leaned down towards the right side of his father's neck, "Brian's log?"
"Brian's log. Day 67," Brian said as he ignored him, "Cube was quiet all night, once again." Rory then sat down on a chair on the left side of Brian, "Cube was quiet all day. As per previously, no movement, no change in measurements. End of entry." He then switched off the video camera with his right hand's index finger.
"You stay up and watch it all the time?" Rory asked him with surprise in his voice.
"I film it while I'm asleep. When I wake up, I watch the footage on fast-forward," Brian explained, "I email the result to UNIT who in turn share it with Torchwood. My middle name is diligence."
"Wow! I can't wait to see day 68," Rory muttered, sarcastically.
"Don't mock my log," Brian told him, "I'm doing what the Doctor asked."
Three months later in December, Rory, who was wearing his hospital scrubs, entered the waiting room of the hospital that he works at with a file in his left hand and opened it to read what was in it as the song 'Merry Xmas Everybody' by Slade was playing on the hospital's on the next patient. Slade's "Merry Xmas Everybody" plays over the speakers.
"Uh, Mr. Ryan, please," Rory called out to his next patient as he walked past the reception desk and saw a young man with light skin, brown eyes and hair that was wearing a black shirt, cardigan over it and black trousers in a wheelchair and had his right foot stuck in a toilet, "Again?"
Rory then wheeled Mr. Ryan out of the room. Sitting on the last chair in the row was a young girl with dark skin, brown eyes and black hair. She held one of the cubes in her hands and on her lap. Her eyes briefly glow blue as does the cube that she was holding on her lap.
Six months later in the back garden of Amy and Rory's house, Amy and Rory had their friends over for a cookout with Rory and Brian standing at the grill, while Amy was on her mobile as she walked around the yard.
"Hey! Doctor, Rose, it's me. Hello," Amy said, using her phone to contact both Gallifreyans, "So, the U.N. classified the cubes as provisionally safe, whatever that means. And Banksy and Damien Hirst put out a statement saying the cubes are nothing to do with them. And the cubes? Well, they're just...here, still. What's it been, 9 months? People are just taking them for granted. Maybe we'll never know why they came, but, anyway, I got to Laura's wedding. It was great. She's here tonight. Being as it's our wedding anniversary, we thought you both might've dropped by. I left you both messages."
The Doctor and Rose both walked up behind Amy from inside the house, the Doctor had a large bouquet of flowers in front of him and in his hands, while Rose had a box of chocolates in her left hand.
"We know!" The Doctor told her as he lowered the flowers before he handed Amy the flowers, "Happy anniversary!"
"And a little something sweet to celebrate," Rose added as she handed her the box of chocolates as well.
"Come with us," the Doctor told their ginger companion as he and Rose turned back towards the house, "And bring your husband." He then clapped his hands as they walked back through the house before Amy looked at Rory before they followed both Gallifreyans.
At a hotel, the Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS followed by Rose, Amy and Rory with both humans in a period evening dress and suit.
"26th of June 1819. The recently opened Savoy Hotel," the Doctor told Amy and Rory, "Dinner, bed, and breakfast for two." A chef walked past them with a covered plate, "Bonjour, bonjour, merci, Auguste. You'll be back before the party's over. They won't even notice you went. No complications, I promise."
"And we'll be right here, keeping an eye on things," Rose added as she smiled at her husband.
Rory then took the Doctor's face in both of his hands and kissed him resoundingly on his right cheek.
"Ooh!" The Doctor muttered as he and Rose reenters the TARDIS before Rory laughed as Amy squealed in excitement.
Later on, the Doctor, Rose, Amy and Rory were sitting on the edge of the road outside the Savoy hotel. It was snowing as Amy and Rory were all dishevelled in the freezing temperature.
"Bit of a shock," the Doctor muttered, "Zygon ship under the Savoy, half the staff imposters. Still, It's all fixed now, eh?"
"You know, I hope we won't have to deal with Zygons again for a while," Rose told her husband, "But with our luck, I'm sure they'll pop up sooner rather than later."
"Check the corridors!" A man ordered as the Doctor, Rose, Amy and Rory ran into a wood-panelled room in the 1500s as Amy and Rory were now wearing their everyday clothes before the Doctor leaped on the bed.
"Never a dull moment, is there?" Rose chuckled to herself.
"I thought we were going home?" Amy asked the Time Lord.
"You can't miss a good wedding," the Doctor explained as Amy shut the door behind her, "Under the bed, under the bed!."
The Doctor, Rose and Rory then crawled under the bed followed by Amy.
"… King of England!" They heard a muffled masculine voice say from outside the room along with a walking stick.
"Shh!" The Doctor shushed Amy as he placed his left hand's index finger to his lips.
"Remember, discretion is the better part of valour," Rose whispered to Amy.
"It wasn't my fault," Amy told them.
"It was totally your fault," Rory argued as he looked at her.
"Somebody was talking and I just said 'yes,'" Amy explained.
"To wedding vows," Rory added, "You just married Henry VIII on our anniversary."
"Well, this is a bit of déjà vu. Last time we met Henry VIII in my second incarnation and his tenth, things got a bit… complicated," Rose laughed softly, "But then again, when are things ever simple with us?"
They then saw the feet and legs of Henry VIII as he entered the room when the Doctor suddenly sneezed, causing Rose and Rory to bury their heads in their hands.
"Sorry," the Doctor apologised to them.
Back at Amy and Rory's house, they were home again and in time for the anniversary toast in June and as others cheered, Brian looked over to Doctor and Rose as they also cheered before he walked over to them.
"Hey! Hey!" Amy said as she and Rory hugged each other.
"How long were they away?" Brian asked both Gallifreyans.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Brian," the Doctor told him, trying to avoid this conversation.
"Because they're wearing totally different clothes from earlier," Brian explained.
"Time travel can be a bit unpredictable, Brian," Rose told him, "One moment you're here, the next you're... well, not here."
"Seven weeks," the Doctor answered, "I got side-tracked. A lot."
"And so did I, Brian," Rose added.
"What happened to the other people who travelled with the two of you?" Brian asked them.
"Uh… Some left us. Some got left behind. And some, not many, but… some died," the Doctor answered, "Not them. Not them, Brian. Never them."
"And there was one companion, Donna... She took our minds into her own head. It was too much for her to handle. The Doctor had to... he had to make her forget us, for her own safety," Rose sighed, recalling the events after they left their metacrisis counterparts in Pete's world with her step-mother and when they stopped the Daleks, Davros and their reality bomb, "It was heartbreaking, but it was the only way to save her." She then placed her right hand over Brian's left arm in a comforting manner, "Don't worry, Brian. We take care of our own."
The Doctor, Rose and Brian then looked over at Rory and Amy, who were laughing and chatting with their friends.
Later on, the party was over and it was just the Doctor, Rose, Amy and Rory standing together.
"Can we... stay here?" The Doctor asked Amy hesitantly as Amy held a cube in her right hand and turned it around, "With you. And Rory. For a bit. Keep an eye on the cubes. However long that takes."
"I thought it would drive you mad," Amy said with disbelief as she stared at him.
"We've faced the unknown together before, haven't we?" Rose muttered as she smiled and looked at her husband, "A little patience won't hurt."
"Yes... yes, we have," the Doctor answered before he looked at Amy, "No. No, no. I mean, I'll be better this time. I… miss you."
"So did I, Amy," Rose told their ginger companion with a smile on her face.
One month later at Brian's house in July, Brian was working on his log with his video camera on.
"Brian's log. Day 361," Brian said before he checked his watch, 8:50 pm. No movement." He then switched off the video camera with his left hand's index finger and yawned, "And I am cream crackered."
Brian leaned back in his chair and stared at the cube before he nodded off and fell asleep.
In Amy and Rory's house, Amy, the Doctor and Rose were sitting on the couch, while Rose was sitting on a chair next to the couch as he was eating fish fingers and custard, while she was eating fish and chips as they were watching the show 'The Apprentice' on the TV as a businessman, wearing a suit with tan skin, brown eyes and grey hair named Lord Alan Sugar.
"I sent you out to sell as many cubes as you could in 24 hours," Lord Sugar told one of the show's contestants, "And look at you, you've made a right hash of it, haven't you?" He then pointed at the contestant with his right hand's index finger, "Well, Craig, you're fired."
"If I had a restaurant, this would be all I'd serve," the Doctor stated with a mouthful.
"Yeah, right," Amy muttered, sarcastically, "You, running a restaurant."
"I've run restaurants," the Doctor told her, "Who do you think invented the Yorkshire pudding?"
"Remember when you tried to convince Charles Dickens that the TARDIS was a traditional Victorian carriage?" Rose reminded her husband as she laughed and shook her head, "You've always had a unique approach to… well, everything, haven't you, Doctor?"
"Ah, the one with the leather jackets and big ears? Now that was a unique approach to… well, everything," the Doctor muttered as he laughed and rubbed the back of his neck with slight embarrassment, "But you have to admit, Rose, he did have a certain charm, didn't he?"
"He sure did," Rose confirmed, "Especially given that was when we reunited and that I was still chameleon-arched. And it seemed like you fell in love with me twice. Once when we were kids on Gallifrey and the second time being when I was a chameleon-arched human."
"You didn't," Rory chuckled with disbelief.
"Pudding, yet savoury," the Doctor added as he knew what Rory was shocked about, "Sound familiar?"
Back in Brian's house, the cube on Brian's table vibrated, causing him to wake back up with a jerk and clear his throat. He stared at the cube before dozing off again. The cube then spun as Brian gaped and just caught it before it stopped. He then reached forward to switch on the video camera with his left hand.
"Do it again," Brian urged the cube.
Back in Amy and Rory's house, Rory was wiping the kitchen table with a cloth and lifted a cube out of the way with his left hand before he walked back to the sink and placed the cloth over his right shoulder as Amy entered the room and gave him a huge hug from behind.
"Good job, mister," Amy told him before he turned around towards her, "Civilisations saved. Surfaces wiped. What more could any woman ask for?" She then chuckled, "I mean it." She then kissed him.
"Where's the Doctor?" Rory asked her.
"On the Wii again," Amy answered, "Rose is with him, trying to beat his high score."
"Oh," Rory muttered to himself.
I'm going for a bath," Amy told him as she walked away from him and left the room before Rory turned back towards the sink and on the table, the cube opened for a few seconds before Rory looked over towards it just in time to see that it was now closed.
In the lounge of Amy and Rory's house, the Doctor and Rose were playing a very exciting tennis match on the game Wii Sports on the Wii and held two Wii remotes that were placed inside Wii remote tennis rackets in their right hands.
"Oh!" The Doctor cheered as he held his hands up in the air before he climbed onto the sofa, "That's second set, Doctor! Ha ha!"
"Don't get too cocky, Doctor," Rose told her husband as she laughed and shook her Wii remote, "I'm just warming up."
"Always up for a challenge, aren't you, Arkytior?" He asked her, "Oh, if Fred Perry could see me now, eh? He'd probably ask for his shorts back."
Inside Amy and Rory's bedroom, Amy entered the room and prepares for her bath. While on her bureau, a cube glowed blue, which Amy noticed and walked over and looked at it from the same level as the top of the bureau. She then reached her right hand out to pick it up as needles appeared from the top of the cube.
"Ah!" Amy muttered as she pulled her right hand back.
The top of the cube now showed a square of rows of small needles. Amy looked at her palm that now showed marks from the needles. The needles then retracted back into the cube before the sides of the cube displayed her heartbeat.
Back in the kitchen, Rory turned away from the sink in time to see the cube on the table open again. He rushed over to look at it just as it closed back shut. He then ran over to the other side of the table as it slid back open yet again, but from the other side this time. He looked forward before it closed back shut yet again.
Back in the lounge, the Doctor and Rose both continued to play their tennis match on Wii Sports when a cube suddenly hovers over towards them.
"Third set, decider, come on, then," the Doctor muttered to himself, "Out of the way, dear, me and the wife are trying to…" He then saw the cube, "Whatever you are, this planet, these people, are precious to us. And we will defend them to our last breaths. Is that all you can do? Hover? I had a metal dog could do that."
"Doctor, it looks like the cubes are finally doing something after about a year of being inactive," Rose told her husband as she squinted at the cube before the cube opened up, showing the muzzle of a gun, "And that's definitely not good."
The Doctor and Rose then ducked for cover behind the sofa as the cube fired. They peered underneath the sofa and saw the cube, which fired at them again. They then ran out of the room as the cube hovered in front of the tea, uploading all the information.
"Ooh, you really have woken up," the Doctor muttered as he peered from around the corner.
"Doctor! Rose!" Rory called out to both Gallifreyans as he ran into the corridor from the kitchen, "Hi." He then pointed to the kitchen with his right hand's index finger, "The cube in there, it just opened."
"The cube upstairs just spiked me and took my pulse!" Amy announced as she ran back down the stairs.
"Really?" The Doctor laughed as he looked at her, "Ours fired laser bolts and, now, it's surfing the net!"
"And it seems like they're all waking up at the same time," Rose stated as she nodded her head, "Definitely not a coincidence."
"You're never going to believe this," Brian said as he entered the house and closed the door behind him, "My cube just moved." Rory's phone then began ringing, "It rattled."
"They're all waking up," Rose told him as the Doctor chuckled as he went back to watch the cube in the lounge.
"Hello?" Rory said, answering his phone as he placed it over his right ear.
Ranjit was on the other end of the call as he walked through the waiting room of the hospital that he and Rory worked at.
"Rory, mate," Ranjit muttered, "I'm desperate for help. People are saying they've been attacked by the cubes. It's going to be a long night."
"Okay, I'm on my way," Rory told him.
The girl with dark skin, brown eyes and black hair was still sitting on her chair with the cube on her lap as it glowed blue.
"I have to get to work, they need all the help they can get," Rory told Amy, Brian, the Doctor and Rose as he ended the call and placed his phone back in its pocket as the Doctor had his tweed jacket back on.
"Let me come help out," Brian requested.
"Take-your-dad-to-work night, brilliant!" Rory said, happily as he placed his hands over his father's arms before removing them from his arms and looked over at his wife, "Okay, are you going to be all right here?"
"Keep away from the cubes," Amy told him as she kissed him on his right cheek.
"All right," Rory muttered as he and Brian left the house.
"What are you both grinning about?" Amy asked both Gallifreyans as they smiled and held their psychic papers in their left hands as they looked at them.
"We're wanted at the Tower of London," the Doctor answered as he put his psychic paper back in his jacket's pocket.
"Well, it's not every day you get summoned to the Tower of London," Rose muttered as she put her psychic paper back inside her jacket's pocket before she looked at Amy, "Wonder what they need us for this time."
"Must be where UNIT and Jack's Torchwood team are at," the Doctor surmised as they headed for the door.
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