Inside a small clinic, a lovely young blonde woman smiles as she put some bandage the wound of a young boy. "There," she kisses his arm and playfully pokes his nose. "Better now, right?"
He nods. The mother's boy behind him smiles. "What did we say, Jamie?"
"Thank you, Nurse Dela," he said as the mother picked him up and they departed.
Delaney returned the smile as the mother and son left.
After much consideration (and getting married), she and Arthur decided to stay in Upper Leadworth with Amy and Rory. The small town brought Delaney peace and tranquillity. In fact, she dreams of her life with Arthur in a place that doesn't attract attention.
She's had enough of alien invasions.
Rory, who tied her hair in a ponytail, slowly walked into Delaney's study. "Lunch time," he reminded her.
"Oh, I can't wait," she replied cheerfully while thinking about what hot topics the four of them would discuss together.
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
Both Rory and Delaney ride into the yard on a bicycle with a basket on the front of Amy's house.
Just before they park the bicycle, Amy's voice can be heard loudly. "Rory, it's starting!"
Rory immediately drops the bike to the ground and runs inside, Delaney follows behind him. They were very sure to find Amy clutching her stomach as the labour started. But what did they find instead?
Amy's sitting down, eating the batter from the bowl. "False alarm," she corrected them.
"What?" Rory asked.
"False alarm."
Delaney let out a harsh breath. "Amy, this is the third time!"
"Well, I don't know what it feels like. I've never had a baby before," Amy insisted before feeding her husband some of the batter while Delaney just gave an exasperated glare at the ginger girl.
Then, slowly, they hear a whooshing sound in the background.
"Mmm!" Rory mumbled, enjoying the batter.
"Really?" Delaney mused.
"I know, leaf blowers. Use a rake!"
Amy puts the bowl on the table. "No, it's…"
They look to the window and see the blue box materialise outside
"I'll get Arthur," Delaney decided as Amy and Rory head outside.
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
Arthur had just successfully created a diorama depicting the entire town of Upper Leadworth, ready to upload it to social media...when his wife's voice interrupted.
"He's coming!" Delaney shouted suddenly.
Her voice startled Arthur and his feet reacted instantly by walking backwards, making him hit something round and causing his spine to hit an ancient ornate shelf hard.
And the annoying part...his dioramas bounced off and scattered on the floor.
"Artie?" Delaney said hesitantly. "Are you okay in there?"
"No!" He cried in pain. "Can you help me?!"
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
After a little help from Delaney to stand up, an overly intensive check from the Doctor, a forced cookie from Amy for not eating in the morning, and Rory's rambling about the importance of keeping things in the room from getting messy, the five of them finally headed out for a leisurely stroll in Upper Leadworth.
"Ah, Leadworth. Vibrant as ever," the Doctor reminiscenced.
"Upper Leadworth," Delaney corrected him. "The town's got slightly upmarket."
"Where is everyone?"
"Doing their stuff," Arthur shrugs, massaging the back of his neck that still feels hurt after fall down before. "Just because it's quiet, doesn't mean it's not busy." He spots the old woman twitching her net curtains as they pass. "Hello!"
"Well, don't let that get you down," the Doctor commented.
"It's not getting me down," Amy huffed.
"Doctor," Delaney called as they sat down on a bench. "Why are you here?"
"Well, I wanted to see how you were. You know me, I don't just abandon people when they leave the Tardis. This Time Lord's for life. You don't get rid of your old pal the Doctor so easi—"
"You came here by mistake," Arthur interjected.
"Yeah, bit of a mistake," he finally admitted. "But look, what a result. Look at this bench. What a nice bench. What will they think of next?"
"Knowing you? Lots of things."
"So…What do you do around here to stave off the, you know?"
"It depends," Delaney remarked, holding her husband's hand. "Relaxing, doing your job, starting a family, listening to the birds."
"Yeah, see?" Amy gestures to the birds around. "Birds. Those are nice."
"We didn't get time to listen to birdsong back in the Tardis days, did we?" Rory wondered.
"Good God, the bird today is very loud," Arthur frowns, his eyes keep blinking to fight the urge close his eyes.
"Oh blimey, my head's a bit," the Doctor realised. "Ooo. Er, no, you're right, there wasn't a lot of time for birdsong back in the good old—"
They all fall asleep.
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
The Doctor wakes up on the console floor. Rory and Amy also wake up, follow by Arthur and Delaney.
"Days," the Doctor said before he frowns. "What? No, yes, sorry, what? Oh, you're all okay. Oh, thank God. I had a terrible nightmare about you four. That was scary. Don't ask. You don't want to know. You're safe now."
"Oh, okay," Amy replied with the Doctor patting her shoulder and proceed to do the same with others.
"Wait," Arthur interrupted, pointing at the Doctor. "Did you just said…nightmare?"
"And why's the console keeps having red lights?" Delaney added, shoved her hair back away from her face.
"Actually, I also had a kind of dream thing," Rory recalled.
"Yeah, so did I," Amy remembered.
"Not a nightmare, though, just, er, we were married."
"Yeah. In a little village."
"Upper Leadworth," Arthur realised. "Amy's stomach is big as a boat. Rory had a hideous ponytail. Dela's a nurse, and I'm basically a hippie."
"Did you just calling me a boat?" Amy demanded.
"And called my ponytail hideous?" Rory gawped.
"Hang on," Delaney noticed something else. "Doctor, you were there, too. Accidentally visiting us."
"So we shared same dream," Arthur concluded, folding his arms as he leans on the console.
"How can we have the same dream?" Rory asked. "It doesn't make any sense."
"And you had a nightmare about us," Amy added. "What happened to us in the nightmare?"
"It was a bit similar, in some aspects," the Doctor replied.
"Which aspects?" Delaney frowns.
"Well, all of them."
"You had the same dream," Amy guessed.
"Basically."
"You said it was a nightmare," Rory pointed out.
"It was a boring dream, it's a nightmare for him," Arthur blurted out.
"Look, it doesn't matter," the Doctor insisted. "We all had some kind of psychic episode. We probably jumped a time track or something. Forget it. We're back to reality now."
"The bird's singing suggests otherwise," Delaney commented before everything turns black.
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
Arthur wakes up and finds himself leaning his head against Rory's shoulder. "Uh…"
"Sorry!" Rory apologised as he turned in the opposite direction. Amy and Delaney slowly wake up. "Nodded off. Stupid. God, I must be overdoing it. I was dreaming we were back on the Tardis."
The Doctor checks his braces and walks away.
"Which, I assumed, we all had as well?" Delaney guessed, smoothing down her skirt.
"But we thought this was the dream, didn't we?" Rory mused.
"I think so," Amy remarked. "Why do dreams have to fade so quickly?"
"Our brain works differently during sleeping. It is thought that dreams occur primarily during REM sleep, when MCH cells are activated and that activation of these cells prevents dream content from being stored in the hippocampus, resulting in dreams being quickly forgotten," Arthur rambled. "But I don't think that's our case."
Rory glances at the Doctor. "Doctor, what is going on?"
"And be honest, please," Delaney added, crossed her legs.
"Listen to me. Trust nothing. From now on, trust nothing you see, hear or feel," the Doctor instructed.
"But we're awake now," Rory addressed.
"You thought that too when we were awake on the Tardis," Arthur reminded him.
"But we're home," Amy pointed out.
"Are you sure, Amy?" Delaney kindly asked her. "Are you sure this isn't a dream? We're stuck in two scenarios, and right now, none of us are certain."
"Are we flashing forwards or backwards?" The Doctor mentioned. "Hold on tight. This is going be a tricky one."
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
"Oh, this is bad. I don't like this," the Doctor cautioned, kicking the console, and hurting his leg. "Argh. Never use force. You just embarrass yourself. Unless you're cross, in which case, always use force."
"Shall I run and get the manual?" Amy asked.
"He threw it into a supernova," Arthur said. "Disagree with it so much."
"Not helping!" The Doctor scoffed.
"Okay, but whatever's wrong with the Tardis, is that what caused us to dream about the future?" Rory guessed.
"How are you so sure it's the future?" Arthur asked back.
"Of course it's the future," Delaney remarked, rubbing her eyes. "We lived for 5 years in Upper Leadworth. It's 2015."
"If what we were dreaming of is the future," the Doctor added.
"Well, of course we were. We were in Leadworth," Amy convinced.
"Upper Leadworth," Rory articulated.
"Yeah, and we could still be in Upper Leadworth, dreaming of this," the Doctor pointed out. "Don't you get it?"
"We might be in a trap," Arthur hypothesised. "A dangerous trap."
"Can't be," Delaney disagreed, earning a confused look from Arthur her head hangs down. "I know a dream when I feel it."
"Amy thought that too when she's as big as an elephant."
"Hey! Pregnant!" Amy fumed.
"And you could be giving birth right now," the Doctor added. "This could be the dream. I told you. Trust nothing we see or hear or feel. Look around you. Examine everything. Look for all the details that don't ring true."
"We're in a blue box that's bigger on the inside. In it, there is an alien that can change their faces, an alien from the same species as the previous one that can see the future, another alien that looks humanoid but in reality is not, and two human couples," Delaney denoted.
The Doctor went silent. "Valid point."
The Tardis switches off. There is just a faint glow from the time rotor left.
"The Tardis' shut down," Arthur realised, followed by a bird singing. "And another bird singing."
"Remember, this is real. But when we wake up in the other place, remember how real this feels," the Doctor reminded them.
"It is real. I know it's real," Amy protested before they all went to sleep.
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
A teacher leads a crocodile of schoolchildren past. The church clock is chiming as Rory and Amy wake up on a bench outside the Library. The couple see the Doctor, Arthur, and Delaney already wake up, looking around.
"Okay, this is the real one. Definitely this one. It's all solid," Amy believed, gesturing at her surrounding.
"It felt solid in the Tardis too," Arthur recalled. "You can't spot a dream while you're having it."
The Doctor waves his hand in front of his face. "Can you see it?" He asked.
"Nothing. My power doesn't work in dream."
Rory frowns. "What are you doing?"
"Checking for motion blur or pixilation. For all we know, we're in a simulation a la the Matrix," Delaney noted.
A little old woman walks past. Mrs Hamit, as Delaney knows. "Hello, Doctor, Nurse."
"Hi," both Rory and Delaney greeted.
"You're a doctor and a nurse?" The Doctor inquired as Hamit walked away.
"Yeah. And unlike you, we've actually passed some exams," Rory replied.
"A doctor and a nurse. Just like you've always dreamed. How interesting."
"What is?"
"Your dream wife, your dream job, probably your dream baby. Maybe this is your dream." He carefully glances at Delaney. "Or maybe…yours too."
The blonde shrugs, tugging her violet 3/4 sleeve cardigan. "And that's a problem?" She challenged him, daring him to speak further, knowing very well where the conversation might go. And, as much as it hurt both of them to speak about it, she knows very well the Doctor won't talk about what happened before.
"This might not be real."
"And how are you so certain about that?"
"Guys," Arthur called, glances at the big house he knows as SARN Residential Care Home. "I think we should check that house."
The Doctor spots a man looking out of a window, then a woman and another man doing the same. "How long did the elders live here?" He suddenly asked.
"Around their nineties?" Amy guessed. "Why?"
"There's something here that doesn't make sense. Let's go and poke it with a stick."
The Doctor runs off, followed by Rory, Arthur, and Delaney.
"Oh. Can we not do the running thing?" Amy complained as she tries to catch up.
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
"Oh hello, Doctor Williams, Nurse Redwood," Eleanor called as the five of them entered the lounge room.
"Hello, Rory love, Dela dearest," Mrs Poggit said.
"Hello, Mrs Poggit. How's your hip?" Delaney asked.
"A bit stiff."
"Oh, easy, D-96 compound, plus," the Doctor paused. "No, you don't have that yet. Forget that."
"Oh, Artie. Good to see you." Mrs Poggit frowns. "Who's your friend? A junior doctor?"
"Sort of," Arthur shrugs.
"Can I borrow you for a minute? You're the size of my grandson."
The Doctor quickly checks on the older lady while Arthur has to try on the sweater Mrs Poggit is knitting. "Slightly keen to move on. Freak psychic schism to sort out," the Doctor surmised. "You're incredibly old, aren't you?"
"You'll have to excuse the...Junior Doctor," Delaney said, earning an amusement smile from Rory and a glare from the Doctor. "He was off saving the universe during the People Skills course."
The rest of the residents in the lounge stare at them, then the birdsong starts and they fall asleep.
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
"Okay, I hate this, Doctor," Amy commented after they woke up in the Tardis. "Stop it, because this is definitely real. It's definitely this one. I keep saying that, don't I?"
"It's bloody cold," Rory realised.
"Oh, boy, The heating's off," Arthur noticed.
"The heating's off?!"
"What? You want me to lie instead?!"
"Don't start," Delaney warned Arthur and Rory. "We just need to take some warm clothes. That's all." She glances at the Doctor, sensing his panic's face. "What's wrong with the console?"
"Everything's off," the Doctor told her. "Sensors, core power. We're drifting. The scanner's down so we can't even see out. We could be anywhere. Someone, something, is overriding my controls."
A little man in a red bow tie and tweed jacket suddenly appears on the stairs behind Arthur. "Well, that took a while," he huffed, looking at each of them. "Honestly, I'd heard such good things. The Explorer, the one who sees everything and suffers everything. The Doctor, the Oncoming Storm, him in the bowtie. And who could ever forget the lovely Princess Delaney Redwood? To see what she's become—"
"Be quiet," Delaney barked.
Arthur puts off his jacket, throws it at him, but frowning when the jacket just goes phase, leaving the jacket on the ground. "Hm," he mumbled.
"How did you get into my Tardis? What are you?" The Doctor demanded.
"What shall we call me? Well, if you're the Time Lord, let's call me the Dream Lord," he suggested.
"Well then, Dream Lord," Delaney sneered. "What are you doing here?"
"Come on, Dela. You know why I'm here. Besides the obvious in my name, I'd love to be impressed, but Dream Lord…It's in the name, isn't it? Spooky. Not quite there." He pops up behind Amy and Rory. "And yet, very much here."
"I'll do the talking, thank you," the Doctor insisted. "Amy, want to take a guess at what that is?"
"Er, Dream Lord. He creates dreams," Amy concluded.
"Dreams, delusions, cheap tricks, being a jerk," Delaney added, loomed closer to him.
"And what about the gooseberries," the Dream Lord gestures to Rory and Arthur. "Do either of them get a guess?"
"Why are you so keen to know?" Arthur wondered, raising his eyebrow.
"It's my speciality, dear Sunny. You know that, if your brains cannot pick that up."
"Don't calm him that," Delaney cut it rather offensively.
The Dream Lord shook his head. "Oh, Dela—"
"Don't call me that!"
"You don't have to be that defensive. After all, it's all in the past. You had to let it go. It will destroy you."
"What are you talking about?" Arthur asked, confused that Delaney stiffened. Why does he speak at Delaney like…like he told her good advice? That's very different from what he did earlier.
"And you claim to be a psychic," the Dream Lord leered. "Honestly, you're a disappointment, Arthur Jonas. Never help the Doctor, let everyone else died so you could be a 'saint', and most of all, making Dela—"
"Making Delaney heartbroken, I know. You think I didn't know that?"
"I know you never tried to make her better and just make things worse. Isn't that right, Doctor?"
Amy looks sharply at the Doctor. All her life, she had seen Arthur's being the best person who takes care of everyone. And yet, this Dream Lord hinted that the Doctor thought Arthur made things worse? "Doctor, what does he mean by that?" She probed.
"Where did you pick up this cheap cabaret act?" The Doctor retorted, ignoring her question.
"Me? Oh, you're on shaky ground," the Dream Lord remarked.
"Does he?" Delaney dared.
"I mean, take a look at him. If he had any more tawdry quirks he could open up a Tawdry Quirk Shop. The madcap vehicle, the cockamamie hair, the clothes designed by a first-year fashion student. I'm surprised he haven't got a little purple space dog just to ram home what an intergalactic wag he is. But he's much better than this secretive bastard who lies to you."
"I think I hear more lies with you than anyone else I ever met."
"Suit yourself," he sighs. "So, here's your challenge. Two worlds. Here, in the time machine, and there, in the village that time forgot. One is real, the other's fake. And just to make it more interesting, you're going to face in both worlds a deadly danger, but only one of the dangers is real. Tweet, tweet. Time to sleep."
Arthur grumbles as he hears more birdsong as he drifts to sleep.
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
"This is getting annoying!" Delaney grunts, jumped to her feet as she helps Arthur to do the same.
"The residents are gone," Arthur commented, finding nobody else around.
The Dream Lord walks in wearing a dark suit and tie, with an x-ray in his hand. "Oh, this is bad. This is very, very bad. Look at this X-ray. Your brain is completely see-through. But then, I've always been able to see through you, Doctor."
"Always?" Amy repeated. "What do you mean, always?"
"Now then, the prognosis is this. If you die in the dream, you wake up in reality. Healthy recovery in next to no time. Ask me what happens if you die in reality?"
"What happens?" Rory asked.
"You die, stupid. That's why it's called reality."
Arthur narrows his eyes at the Dream Lord. "Do we know you?" He suddenly blurted.
"What do you mean by that?" Amy asked. "Do you know him?"
"Now, now, Amy. Don't get jealous. He's been around, our Sunshine," the Dream Lord remarked. "But never mind that. You've got a world to choose. One reality was always too much for you, Doctor. Take two and call me in the morning."
"Okay, I don't like him," Rory said after the Dream Lord vanished.
"Neither do I," Delaney added, clenched her fists.
"Who is he?" Amy frowns.
"Someone's nasty who knows our deepest secrets," Arthur hinted.
"Right…why is he doing this?"
"Maybe because he has no physical form," the Doctor guessed, gave a half shrug. "That gets you down after a while, so he's taking it out on folk like us who can touch and eat and feel."
"And he also said something about danger," Delaney recalled.
"Nothing deadly has happened here," Rory argued. "I mean, a bit of natural wastage, obviously."
"So why aren't the elders around anymore?" Arthur pointed out, making everyone else realise his statement is true.
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
They're heading away from the Care Home. The Doctor is looking around, searching. Some kids are still around, playing blissfully.
"Why would they leave?" Rory asked.
"Let's brainstorm," Arthur suggested. "The mechanics of this reality split we're stuck in. Time asleep exactly matches time in our dream world, unlike in conventional dreams."
"And we're all dreaming the same dream at the same time," Delaney mentioned.
"Yes, sort of communal trance. Very rare, very complicated," the Doctor agreed. "I'm sure there's a dream giveaway, a tell, but my mind isn't working because this village is so dull! I'm slowing down, like you two have."
"Ooo," Amy gasped as she's gripping her stomach. "Ow. Really. Ow! It's coming!"
"Okay, you're a doctor, help her," the Doctor said.
Rory turns around at him. "You're a doctor!"
"It's okay, we're doctors," he quickly added and squats down to catch the baby.
"What do we do?"
"It's not coming," Delaney giggles while Arthur bursts into laughter, holding his stomach.
"What?" The Doctor repeated.
"This is my life now and it just turned you white as a sheet, so don't you call it dull again, ever. Okay?" Amy warned.
"Sorry."
"Yeah," Amy smirks, and goes to sit on a swing. Delaney and the Doctor sat on the swing between her.
"Now, we all know there's an elephant in the room," the Doctor began.
"I have to be this size, I'm having a baby!" Amy insisted.
"No, no. The hormones seem real, but no. Is nobody going to mention Rory's ponytail? You hold him down, I'll cut it off?"
"This from the man in the bow tie and finds it cool," Delaney reminded him.
"Bow ties are cool!" The Doctor stated.
"Dela?" Arthur suddenly called.
"Yeah?" She replied, hung her hands up, finding her husband staring at someone.
"When we had kids, we never, ever, hired Mrs Poggit as a babysitter."
"Why?" the blonde asked before hearing the bird singing. "Really?!"
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
"It's really cold," Amy noticed, wrapping her arms around herself. "Have you got any warm clothing?"
"There should be some stuff down there," Delaney recalled as she, Arthur, Amy and Rory went down the steps.
"I want the other life. You know, where we're happy and settled and about to have a baby," Rory commented.
"But don't you wonder, if that life is real, then why would we give up all this? Why would anyone?" Amy wondered, looking through boxes for warm clothes.
"Other than being frozen to death?" Arthur shrugs before grabs a big coat and a big blanket.
"You know the Doctor'll fix it."
"Not exactly assuring," Delaney disagreed, covering her mouth with her hands and letting out some vapour into her mouth. "Besides, you two are going to get married."
"We can still get married someday," Amy remarked.
"You don't want to any more," Rory realised. "I thought you'd chosen me, not him."
"You are always so insecure."
"You ran off with another man."
"Not in that way."
"It was the night before our wedding."
Delaney's eyes glint with disgust at Amy as she grabs the blanket from Arthur. When the Doctor asks her to go on a trip to Venice, she simply agrees to travel for a while while Amy and Rory are on their honeymoon. But once she finds out from the Doctor (by forcing her to confess her true intentions), Delaney becomes less than pleased with Amy's casual kissing of the Doctor, even though she's engaged to Rory.
She can't fathom how anyone could be so stupid as to do such a thing.
"We're in a time machine. It can be the night before our wedding for as long as we want," Amy insisted.
"We have to grow up eventually," Rory retorted.
"Says who?"
"Says everyone!" Delaney barked, panting. "Normally, I don't like engaging myself with a couple's affair, but honestly, Amy? What did you do at the Doctor? You disgust me."
Amy doesn't say anything, simply gives Rory a blanket before she goes back up the stairs. When Rory, Arthur, and Dela join, the Doctor has assembled the whisk, rope and bottle opener into a gizmo.
"Ah, Dela, wind. Amy, could you attach this to the monitor, please?" He asked them.
"I was promised amazing worlds. Instead I get duff central heating and a weird, kitcheny wind-up device," Rory huffed.
"Better than nothing," Delaney added sourly, turned her face away at Amy before doing what the Doctor asked her.
Arthur inhales a sharp breath, gripping the big jacket he's putting on, looking back at his grandparents. He had his suspicions about what happened after he and River left in Byzantium. But he doesn't want to think about it further, because in the end, Amy will still choose Rory over all the things she feels.
"Why is the Dream Lord picking on us?" Rory asked.
The scanner comes to life. Amy jerks her head at Arthur, who's checking the console and looking at the monitor.
"Arthur?" Amy called. "Where are we?"
"That's a cold star," he realised, briefly opening the door before closing it. "That's why we're freezing. It's not a heating malfunction. We're drifting towards a cold sun. There's our deadly danger for this version of reality."
"So this must be the dream," Amy guessed. "There's no such thing as a cold star. Stars burn."
"So's this one. It's just burning cold," the Doctor pointed out.
"Is that possible?" Rory asked.
"Maybe," Delaney replied, twirling her hair. "Maybe it's a pickle of a supernova in dark matter, tossed lightly in neutralinos. Maybe it's a mutant cousin of a white dwarf star. Anything's possible."
"Okay, this is something none haven't seen before. So does that mean this is the dream?"
"We can't be certain of that. For all we know, this is a trap."
"And if we wait any longer, we'll have frozen to death by then," Arthur remarked.
"Oh," Amy blurted. "Then what are we going to do?"
"Stay calm. Don't get sucked into it, because this just might be the battle that we have to lose," the Doctor addressed.
"Oh, this is so you, isn't it?" Rory scowled.
"What?"
"Huh, what? A weird new star, fourteen minutes left to live and only one man to save the day, huh? I just wanted a nice village and a family."
"Oh dear, Doctor. Dissent in the ranks," the Dream Lord chimed in, startled everyone minus Delaney and Arthur. "There was an old doctor from Gallifrey, who ended up throwing his life away. He let down his friends and family—" he looks startled as the bird song starts up. "Oh, no. We've run out of time. Don't spend too long there, or—"
"Or we all catch our death," Arthur finished before he and everyone else collapsed.
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
"Where have the children gone?" Delaney inquired as they ran around the ruined castle.
"Don't know. Play time's probably over?" Rory hypotheses while the Doctor scans the molehills and objects left next to them. "You see, this is the real one. I just feel it. Don't you feel it?"
"I feel it both places," Amy said.
"I feel it here. It's just so tranquil and relaxed. Nothing bad could ever happen here."
"Don't say that," Arthur pleaded.
Rory looks confused. "Why?"
"Usually it means bad omen," Delaney answered.
"Doctor, what are you doing?" Amy asked. "And what are those piles of dust?"
Delaney gulps, realising too early. "Children's playtime is over."
"I'm gonna be sick," Arthur winced.
"Oh, my God!" Amy gasped.
"What happened to them?" Rory asked, frantic.
The Doctor spots the old people walking along the street. "I think they did."
"They're just old people," Amy argued.
"Very old people," Arthur recalled.
"Sorry, Rory, Dela, I don't think both of you are what's been keeping them alive," the Doctor apologised as they walked closer to the older people.
"Hello, peasants. What's this, attack of the old people?" The Dream Lord mused as he stood beside them. "Oh, that's ridiculous. This has got to be the dream, hasn't it? What do you think, Dela? Let's all jump under a bus and wake up in the Tardis. You first."
"Leave her alone!" Arthur hissed.
"Do that again. I love it when he does that. Kind, faithful hero, with his loyal, patient princess. Oh, if only a certain red-haired never been so blind—"
"Just leave her!" Rory snapped, angry that he insulted Amy like that.
"Quite impressive, Rory, but we both know where Amy Pond's heart lies," the Dream Lord pointed out.
"Shut up," Amy yelled, tense up. "Just shut up and leave me alone."
"But listen. You're in there. Loves a redhead, the Doctor. Has he told you about Elizabeth the First? Well, she thought she was the first. At least Dela's always the first for Sunny boy here."
"Stop it," Arthur interjected. "I know who you are."
"No, you don't."
"Yes, I do. Because as much as I hate it, there's only one person in the universe who hates the Doctor as much as you do."
"I don't think so," the Dream Lord disapproved, stomped his foot. "Thing is, there's one more person who hates the Doctor so much." He steps closer to the dark-haired man, looking him in the eye. "Tell me…did River Song ever mention her hatred toward the past version of the Doctor?"
Those words stunned Arthur. River...hated Tenth? He was certainly aware of his mother's dislike of that version of his father. But Arthur just assumed River's hatred was just a dislike, not a real hatred. "You're lying," he accused.
"Maybe. Maybe not. But never mind me. Maybe you should worry about them."
The Dream Lord disappears as the old people are walking across the grass, getting closer than before.
"Hi," Rory said.
"Hello," Delaney added with a wave on her hand.
"Hello," the Doctor chimed in. "We were wondering where you went."
"To get reinforcements, by the look of it," Arthur guessed.
"Are you alright? You look a bit tense."
"Hello, Mister Nainby," Rory greeted an older man.
"No, Rory," Delaney disagreed.
"Come on, Dela. Mister Nainby ran the sweet shop. He used to slip me the odd free toffee. He helps you pick up your house, remember?" Then, Mister Nainby grabs Rory by the collar and lifts him off his feet. "Did I not say thank you?" He asked before getting thrown into the mud by the swings.
Arthur and Delaney help him to get up. "Clearly not about that," the dark-haired Time Lord deduced.
"He's turning," Delaney said.
"Don't get comfortable here. You may have to run, fast!" The Doctor instructed.
"Can't we just talk to them?" Amy advised. The old people open their mouths, and an eye looks out. "There is an eye in her mouth!"
"There's a whole creature inside her. Inside all of them. They've been there for years, living and waiting."
"Yikes!" Arthur shudders as Mrs Poggit breathes a stream of green gas at them. "Run!"
Arthur, Delaney, Amy, and Rory quickly run off.
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
The four of them are racing back to Amy and Rory's cottage.
"Wait! Stop!" Amy shouted before resting against the post.
Arthur looks at the elderly following them. "Note to self, never stay in a small place full of grown-up people," he muttered.
"After all I've done for the over-70s in this village!" Rory huffed. A woman is waiting for them at the front door. "Okay, this is crazy. She loves me, I fixed her depression, she's just a little old lady."
"Mrs Hammill?" Delaney tries, but the older woman opens her mouth to reveal an alien.
Amy backs away. Rory stands in front of her. "I'll deal with this one, Chubs," he assured his wife. "Now…"
Mrs Hammill emits the gas. Arthur grabs Rory as they both dashes back behind the hedges. As the older woman walks forward, Arthur picks up a stout piece of wood. "So sorry," he said and whacked her.
The old lady falls to the ground. They make it inside as they advance across the field. Amy collapses onto the stairs as Rory, Arthur, and Delaney lock and bolt the door.
Delaney pants, glance weirdly at Rory. "Did you just call Amy…Chubs?"
"I…guess?" Rory replied, not entirely sure.
"Don't ever call me Chubs again," Amy suggested, putting her hands on her hips. "Hang on. We don't see the Doctor for years, and somehow we don't really connect any more and then, then he takes the bullet for us."
"Don't worry about him," Arthur consoled as he moved the coffee table. "He dealt with the worst."
"You know the Doctor," Rory added. "He's Mr Cool."
Delaney hears the familiar singing. "Oh, come on!" She growled, threw her hands in the air at the bird noises.
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
"It's getting colder," Arthur pointed out, shivering as they all gathered.
"The five of us have to agree, now, which is the dream," the Doctor bragged.
"It's this, here," Rory blurted.
"He could be right," Amy agreed. "The science is all wrong here. Burning ice?"
"But the Upper Leadworth is also weird," Delaney pointed out. "I mean, old people we all know suddenly decided to attack us? Not to mention, Arthur's fine in that place."
"Wait," Rory interrupted, jerking his head at her. "Dela…are you thinking that this is the real world?"
"No. I'm thinking that none of these are real. I mean…did none of you ever notice how fine Arthur is?"
Everyone slowly looked at Arthur. Delaney brings a good point. All this time, he's been fine and well. But they know, deep down, that Arthur's condition isn't fine. He's been sick ever since he regenerated into this version.
"I feel fine in both reality," Arthur confessed, fidgeting. "No headache, no bleeding from the nose, no coughing, no tiredness. And frankly, the fact I never ever received any small vision should be weird."
"So why didn't you say anything?" The Doctor demanded.
"Because I realise that this is a charade the Dream Lord had been trying to get us. More specifically, getting me and Dela."
Delaney looks up, her eyes looking worried and not at the same time. "Can't be," she argued, flinching. "He's been trying to get us all."
"Yeah, he did," Amy said, recalling all the nasty things he had said about her and others.
"True," Arthur agreed. "But my sense tells me that it's so much more than that. I feel like it's all coming back to you," he looks at the blonde. "More specifically…what happens that makes you stop travelling."
The Doctor grimaced. He had the same suspicion as Arthur for a while. But to be honest, he didn't dare to say it outright. Delaney's wounds were still fresh, and he really wished the poor woman didn't have to deal with her grief over losing Arthur so soon. He wanted to give Delaney plenty of time to heal, hence him asking Delaney to meet Amy and Rory.
However, it seemed the Dream Lord didn't agree with his thoughts.
"Our time's running out," the Doctor implored, focusing back to the pressing matter. "If we fall asleep here we're in trouble. If we could divide up, then we'd have an active presence in each world, but the Dream Lord is switching us between the worlds. Why? Why? What's the logic?"
"Good idea, Veggie!" The Dream Lord appears, looking at them. "Let's divide you all up, so I can have a little chat with our lovely Princess and Sickly Boy. Maybe I'll keep them, and you can have Long Legs and Pointy Nose to yourself for all eternity, should you manage to clamber aboard some sort of reality."
"Can you hear that?" Rory frowns.
"No," Arthur realised.
"Oh God," Amy cried, blinking her eyes.
"We'll be back," the Doctor promised before he, Amy, and Rory fell asleep.
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
Rory and Amy wake up on the stairs next to a still-sleeping Arthur and Delaney. There is crashing glass as the pensioners break the window in an attempt to get inside. With some trouble, Rory quickly drags Arthur under the shoulders, while Amy drags Delaney by pulling her legs up. They both begin to drag the unconscious couple upstairs, with Rory apologising at every bump.
They drag them to the centre of the cheery yellow room. He sets Arthur down, apologising once more. Meanwhile, Amy simply puts Delaney's legs down and sits on the chair, too tired to move with her being pregnant.
"I can't wait for you to be born," Amy mumbled at her stomach. Seriously, being pregnant sucks!
Rory then closes the door. He walks over to the waiting crib, complete with stuffed toys and a wind-up mobile. He looks out the window and sees the elderly residents working together to get in, some are even trying to get into the Tardis. He props a chair under the doorknob then sits on it, nervously.
"Please come back," he pleaded at Arthur, hoping the person he trust since childhood would save them.
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
Delaney and Arthur hold each other as a thick layer of frost over everything around the console. They sit on the console's floor, eyeing their sleeping friends.
The Dream Lord leans on the console, watching the couple pitifully. "Arthur Jonas and Delaney Redwood," he began, sounding disappointed as he propped his chin on his hand. "After all the hard work you both did, in the end, he forgets you two."
"That's not true," Delaney disagreed.
"But it is true! He abandoned you two again with me. Spooky old, not to be trusted. Anything could happen."
"What do you want with us?" Arthur asked again, rubbing his hands as he's feeling cold.
"What I always want you to have: say the truth."
"I always said the truth."
"Did you? Tell me, did you ever claim not to know what's going on? Or if people might die? Or when you hid your illness from your friends, your wife, and your father?"
"He had no choice," Delaney insisted before exhaling. "If the Doctor discovered who Artie is, the timeline can be damaged. If he saved those people, his illness would get worse. Time had been cruel to him and he had to pay for it."
"Yet it doesn't make the heartbreak easier, does it?" The Dream Lord added as he tilted his head. "You met him, fall in love, and then he died—"
"He's not dead! He's gone! It's different!"
Wait, what? "I'm what?" Arthur asked.
"Oh, but the Doctor didn't think so," the Dream Lord shook his head, ignoring Arthur's question. "He and everyone else believed Arthur Jonas was dead for good. Only you, Dela dear, who's still delusional about your husband's existence."
"I'm not delusional!" She yelled and stood up. "He promised me I'll know about his family, which I did afterward. Before that, he promised me that he'll survive his illness and keep living! And before that, he also promised me that I'll get my happy ending together! So he should be alive somewhere, somewhen else!"
"It doesn't make you better," Arthur added as she slowly bowed her head, avoiding his gaze. "Doesn't it?" Is he really going to make his wife like this? Injured and not living her life at all.
"How come?" The Dream Lord scoffed, his eyes blazing in disappointment. "The Doctor still blames himself over your death. Donna stops travelling over guilt as well. And Delaney keeps waiting for you. Believe you might come back. But you don't, so she leave—"
"Be quiet!" She shouted, her breaths quickened.
"And avoiding you because she can't hold it—"
"Stop it!"
"Not even care if she never woke up from this."
Arthur's face paled as he heard the shocking news about Delaney. His eyes widened, looked confused, his mouth was clamped shut, and his hands were shaking as if he wanted to hold something, but barely could.
Looking at his reaction, tears start dropping on Delaney's cheeks, her shoulders slumped. This is the last thing she wants him to know. Because as much as she wants to believe he survives, it never resolves the fact that she never sees him again and to live with a past version of her dead lover. She had to live with that reality for the rest of her life.
She feels hopeless.
"I…I never know for sure," she confessed as she sniffled. He needs to know now. Because she can't be certain she can speak about this again. "You literally disappeared in front of me. Are you really dead or not…is still something that I can't answer you. None of us saw this version of you after you're gone. Most people—including your dad—believe you to be dead for good." She laughs darkly. "Maybe you did die for real and I'm just delusional."
Because in the end, Delaney was just...tired. tired of waiting. Tired of hoping to meet Arthur safe and sound and with a new look.
"I'm sorry," Arthur said after a long silence. "I didn't...I didn't think I was that…precious…to you."
"Of course you're precious to me. There would be no other man like you. Why would I look for someone other than you?"
"Because I hurt you pretty big."
Delaney shook her head. "Your love is very much worth my sorrow. But," she sighed and ignored how cold it was here. "I realised that I was too attached to your loss. I should have realised that you are not my ghost. You, Arthur Jonas," her frozen hands held tightly to the hands of the man she loved. "You are proof that the love between us is meaningful, no matter that our timelines are not always the same. I should have realised that, instead of continuing to hurt over something."
She gave Arthur a gentle kiss. Oh, how she missed kissing Arthur. They rarely kissed, but when they did, it always feels like the first kiss they ever had.
"Good job," Dream Lord consoled, watching the two of them. "I think you've finally learnt to let go."
He flicked his hand and they both fell asleep.
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
Arthur and Delaney gasp, sitting up, finding themself inside a baby room.
"How did we get up here?" Delaney asked.
"We carried you," Amy answered, brushes her palms together for being nervous.
"I'm afraid you may experience some bruising," Rory added.
Arthur winces, rubbing his head. "The Doctor's not here?"
On a cue, there is a squeaking sound and they look to the window in alarm only to see the Doctor's climbing in. "Sorry. I had to stop off at the butcher's," he mentioned.
"What are we going to do?" Rory inquired.
"I don't know. I thought the freezing Tardis was real but now I'm not so sure."
"Oh! I think the baby's starting," Amy senses.
"Properly?" Delany asked back, rest a hand on her hip.
"Would I make it up at a time like this?!"
"Yes. Three times."
"Hey!"
"Why are they so desperate to kill us?" Rory asked, trying to solve the problem they currently had.
"They're scared. Fear generates savagery," the Doctor answered.
Something is thrown through a window. Mrs Poggit breathes at Rory, and some of the green gas touches him.
"Rory!" Amy yelped while the Doctor knocked Mrs Poggit off the porch roof.
"No, I'm not ready," Rory drawled.
"Stay."
Rory begins to turn to dust. "Look after our baby."
"No. No. Come back!" She pleaded in vain as Rory already turned to dust. She looks at the Doctor. "Save him. You save everyone. You always do. It's what you do."
"Not always," the Doctor said, "I'm sorry."
"Then what is the point of you?!" Amy touches the pile of dust then gets up. "You're right, Arthur. This, and that one, is the dream. Now, if we die here, we wake up, yeah?"
"We might be dead for real," Delaney warned.
"Either way, this is my only chance of seeing him again. This is the dream."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because if this is real life, I don't want it. I don't want it, Dela. Not without him."
The blonde nodded, understanding her reasoning beyond anything. "Come on," she said.
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
"Why aren't they attacking?" Amy frowns as they get out of the cottage.
"Either because this is just a dream or because they know what we're about to do," the Doctor asserted.
Amy holds out her hand for the camper van key. They all enter it, with Amy at the driver seat. She starts the engine. The Doctor looks at the Dream Lord, who seems contended at the results before getting in the passenger side. "I love Rory, and I never told him. But now he's gone," she wept, revving the engine and driving the camper van through the pensioners and at the cottage.
︎︎︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
The Tardis goes back to normal. Rory and Amy enter to see the Doctor looking at something small and yellow on his palm. Delaney peeks at it while Arthur checks at the console.
"Any questions?" The Doctor asked.
Amy looks at the Doctor's palm. "Er, what's that?"
"A speck of psychic pollen from the candle meadows of Karass don Slava. Must have been hanging around for ages. Fell in the time rotor, heated up and induced a dream state for all of us."
"So that was the Dream Lord then?" Rory concluded after the Doctor took it to the door and blew it into space. "Those little specks?"
"Not quite," Arthur disagreed, wiping some blood away from his nose. "The Dream Lord is a manifestation of our biggest secret and regret. But most of his nasty side is coming from the Doctor."
"It's a mind parasite. It feeds on everything dark in you, gives it a voice, turns it against you," the Doctor added. "I'm 907. It had a lot to go on."
"But why didn't it feed on us, too?" Amy wondered, titled her head.
"The darkness in you all, it would've starved to death in an instant. I choose my friends with great care. Otherwise, I'm stuck with my own company, and Dela knows how that works out."
"But those things he said about you. You don't think any of that's true?"
"Amy," Delaney called her. "Right now a question is about to occur to Rory. And seeing as the answer is about to change his life, I think you should give him your full attention."
"Yeah," Rory agreed. "Actually, yeah."
As Rory and Amy had their moment to talk, Arthur and Delaney quietly went downstairs, below the Tardis' console. Arthur gently held her hand, quietly letting her know processing had happened.
"I think the Doctor would understand if you're not ready yet," he suggested.
"Avoiding it won't make it better," she remarked in a low voice. "I'll accompany them for a while now. Give me some taste of travelling again until I visit Messaline. Can't let Jenny and Claudia on their own."
The dark-haired man smiles. "Tell her I said hi."
"I will. And promise me something."
He hold her hands fiercely. "Okay."
"Promise me you won't waste your power without risking your life. Promise me you won't try to abuse it and let your health getting worse. Promise me that."
"Dela..."
"Please," she begged as tears shone in her eyes. She knew she was asking for something that was quite impossible to do for her loved one. She knew that this request was very selfish. But Delaney was tired of losing Arthur again. She wanted to spend more time with him.
Even though it still made her sad and could be detrimental to others.
There's nothing wrong with being selfish once in a while.
"...I'll try," he vowed, gave her a peck of kisses...
Before she only kissed nothing.