The Pros and Cons of Silence - DarkSideofParis (2024)

Chapter 1: The Impossible Astronaut Part 1

Chapter Text

Alex Locke was quite seriously contemplating homicide.

". . .so thenIsaid, 'Of courseI love you, silly, but Ineedsome space every now and then!’ I mean, can youbelievethat I actually had to explain that?"

"No," Alex said, gritting her teeth. "I can't." In fact, she couldn't believe a lot of things about new Leadworth Public Library intern, Kendra Benson.

Kendra, oblivious to Alex's irritated mood, leaned back in her swivel chair and popped a piece of the bubble gum she'd been chomping on for the past thirty-seven minutes, by Alex's count. "Bloody hell, I love Tristan,don'tget me wrong on that, but sometimes he drives metotesmental, you know?"

Alex's grip tightened on the Agatha Christie paperback she was trying to read. "Oh, yes, I know," she nodded, even though she knew Kendra wouldn't get the hint that she was currently the one driving Alex crazy.

For the gazillionth time, Alex mentally cursed out Leadworth's mayor, who had been the one to assign Kendra to her. Kendra, being the mayor's niece, was expected to do great things in her life, an aspiration that, in the rest of Leadworth's belief, would never happen. Kendra was a blonde-haired, mini-mini-skirt wearing airhead, or as Amy called her, 'dumber than a sack of hammers'.

This phrase fit Kendra perfectly, for she could barely do any job that required brainpower. Alex had already had to go over how to check-in and check-out books five times, had banned Kendra from organizing the periodical room after she found issues ofNational Geographicstuffed in theTimemagazine holders, and had to profusely apologize to a five-year-old’s mother after her child found a copy ofHow to Be Lovers for the Rest of Your Livesnext toHarold and the Purple Crayonand began reading it out loud, a situation that Kendra had thoughtlessly caused. Now the only task Alex allowed Kendra to do was sharpen pencils, and even then, Alex watched her. It wouldn't do, after all, for the mayor's niece to slice one of her fingers off.

Kendra was still babbling on about her boyfriend, a topic she was absurdly fixed on, but Alex had already tuned her out. This was a skill she had mastered within the first week of meeting and training Kendra, if only to keep herself from going mad listening to pointless boy/girl drama and the ramifications of wearing turquoise shoes with an orange skirt. Knowing she needed some kind of distraction to keep from reaching over and throttling Kendra's neck, Alex dug out her Blackberry and pulled up a text draft.

Kendra is driving me crazy, she sent Rory.

Just a few seconds later, Rory replied,Sorry.

Please say there's an emergency and you need me to come home right away.

LOL. No, sorry.

Alex frowned.For a best friend, you're no help.

Rory didn't seem too bothered by this for he sent back,I aim to please!

Alex rolled her eyes, albeit fondly, and tossed her phone onto the desk. As Kendra was still gibbering on, Alex looked around the library for something to do. She had already shelved all the books, put the new magazines out on display and the old ones in the periodical room, dusted the computer tables, sanitized all the other tables, and even Windexed all thirteen of the library windows. And it was only 12:20 now.

Unfortunately for Alex, the Leadworth Public Library wasn't a popular destination on a Monday afternoon in April. Kids were still in school with their own libraries and adults were either at work or lounging on the couch watchingJeremy Kyle. Improving their minds by visiting the public library wasn't even a faint thought in their heads.

"Hey, Alex?" Kendra spoke, pulling Alex back into the moment.

"Yes?" Alex replied, just barely managing to keep the disdain she was feeling out of her voice.

Kendra co*cked her head at Alex whilst simultaneously adjusting her cleavage so that more was showing, a move she had obviously practiced and perfected. "Do you have a boyfriend?"

Alex dropped her copy ofMurder on the Orient Expressand stared at Kendra in shock. "Excuse me?!" she exclaimed. What on earth had made Kendra ask that?

"Do you have a boyfriend?" Kendra repeated, staring at Alex likeshewas the dumb one.

Alex narrowed her currently copper-colored eyes. "Why in the world would you ask a question like that?" she demanded, silently adding 'idiot' to the end.

"It's something I've always wondered," Kendra shrugged, like this explained everything. She swung her long, fake-tan clad legs back and forth like a little kid sitting on a high barstool. "I mean, who else gave you that necklace? I've never seen you without it."

Alex's hand crept up to play with the charm on the end of her necklace. It was the TARDIS police-box exterior, made up of brilliant blue sapphires, diamonds, black onyx, and a single topaz. Aside from being the most expensive and most beautiful piece of jewelry Alex had ever owned, it was also sonic. The Doctor had given it to her for her 21st birthday and ever since that night, Alex hadn't taken it off. And she knew people had noticed. Despite her best efforts to keep the charm hidden under her shirt collars, it sometimes slipped out. And Kendra, being the kind of girl who gorged on fashion and jewelry calories in magazines, had definitely noticed it.

"It's not from a boyfriend," Alex corrected, her voice coming out a little sharper than she intended.

But Kendra wasn't really listening. In a flash, she leapt out of her desk chair and crossed over to Alex's side of the desk. "Was it him?" Before Alex could stop her, she had snatched up a silver-edged photograph Alex kept on her desk and was critically examining it like it contained the secrets of the universe. Or the truth about Alex's love-life.

Alex stood up to take the photo away. As she pulled it from her assistant's grasp, her eyes couldn't help but examine it as well. It showed her and the Doctor sitting side-by-side at her birthday party in Savannah. They were sitting outside at a restaurant. Alex, as usual, looked gorgeous in the black and white strapped dress the Doctor had gifted to her before the celebration. Her hair looked more blonde than brown, and her eyes had been caught changing from chocolate brown to dark green. Next to her, the Doctor looked like his usual tweedy professor self, a red bowtie tied around his neck. His dark green eyes were sparkling, his smile was genuine and, best of all, his arm was slung around her shoulders, pulling her even closer to him. To the casual observer, they definitely looked like boyfriend and girlfriend.

Kendra let out a little squeal. "Oh, he'sgorgeous, Alex! Not sure about that bowtie though, but I imagine it comes in handy inmanysituations." She then had the nerve to give Alex a conspiratorial wink.

Alex's jaw dropped. "No, no,no!" she shouted. "The Doctor and I arenota couple! We're just good friends."But you're in love with him,a voice in the back of her mind reminded her. Alex quickly told it to shut up.

"Oh, he's a doctor?" Kendra grinned. "Oh, he must haveloadsof money! No wonder he was able to afford that necklace!"

Alex barely managed not to snort. The Doctor? Loads of money? Hardly. She was the one with all the money (even if she couldn't access it yet) in their relationship, afriendlyrelationship.

"How did you meet?" Kendra inquired as she hopped up on her side of the desk, inadvertently giving Alex a flash of her pink lace thong in the process.

Alex sighed as she dropped back into her chair. She knew by now that no matter how hard she tried, Kendra wouldn't let the subject drop. Funny how the ditz could have a one-track mind at times. "If you must know,"and I know you must, "he's a friend of Amy's. We met when he came to visit her a few years ago."

Kendra co*cked her head again. "Lemme see that again," she requested. Within a split second, she'd hopped off her desk, crossed the small space to Alex's, and had snatched the photograph again. "Wait! I know him! He's that bloke Amy used to go on and on about when we were kids!"

"Yeah, he's a . . . childhood friend," Alex lied, a little surprised that Kendra had remembered Amy's 'imaginary friend' from so many years ago.

Kendra shrugged and put the photograph down. "Well, I don't know why you're not with him. He's bloody hot. Forget Tristan. If this Doctor man came in here right now, I'd jump on him, pin him to the ground and snog him till his lips turned blue."

A huge rush of jealousy ran through Alex's veins at her words. Involuntarily, her eyes narrowed and her grip on the chair's armrests tightened. Even though she knew that the Doctor would have next to no interest in Kendra, she still felt horribly angry at the image of them rolling around and kissing on the library floor.

Calm down, Alexandria,she mentally drilled. Alex closed her eyes and counted backwards from ten. When the image of the Doctor and Kendra snogging failed to disappear, she tried again from twenty. Gradually, her grip on the armrests loosened and the fiery jealousy left her system, gone until the next time she had a big moment of possessiveness.

Fortunately, Kendra hadn't even noticed Alex's behavior. She was now gazing up at the ceiling tiles. The mean part of Alex wondered if she was trying to count them and not being able to make it past ten. "Where is he?" she suddenly asked. "The Doctor bloke, I mean. I haven't seen him around here, and I definitely would've noticed him if he had been."

Again, Alex's grip on the armrests tightened. "He's . . . on business," she said, and mentally congratulated herself on coming up with a decent lie and not smacking Kendra for her interest in the man.

Kendra made anoh yeahface. "Oh, yeah, him being a doctor and all. Is he in, like, Africa fixing kids' teeth and all? My mum tried to get me to go there on a church trip, but I said no way. They havesnakesdown there! And no Wi-Fi! I mean, how am I supposed to text people and check my Twitter feed withno Wi-Fi?!"

Now Alex knew why the Doctor always criticized Amy's use of Twitter. "No, not exactly," she replied to Kendra's first question. "He kinda . . . travels all over the place, solving problems and helping to fix them. It's not just medical. It can be anything. Political, economic, societal, you name it."

"Sounds very nosy to me," Kendra sniffed.

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black,Alex thought, giving Kendra the once-over.

"Is he coming back anytime soon?"

On this, Alex faltered. What could she say? That she had essentially left the Doctor because she loved him but knew that he could never love her? That the other reason she had left, but would never admit to anyone else, was because she was scared? She feared the passionate feelings the Doctor stirred in her. She had never felt anything like it before. Everything was so intense, accelerated and somuchat once. . . Alex couldn't take it anymore. She had to spend time away from the Doctor. She had to sort everything out.

She had to leave him.

And that had been twomonthsago. She'd thought the Doctor would be back by now, but no such luck. Alex had spent several nights since she came back to Leadworth lying in her bed wide awake, terrified that he wasn't ever coming back. That he’d decided she wasn't worth it because she left him, that he never really cared about her at all, that he’d died on some planet far away in the future. . . Whatever horrible possibility there was to be thought up, Alex's mind did it.

But she couldn't tell Kendra any of that. She glanced up at the girl, hoping that the airhead had gotten fixated on some other materialistic topic. But no such luck. Kendra's blue-green eyes were fixed on her superior, eagerly awaiting an answer.

"Yes," Alex nodded, trying to keep her voice confident and happy, even though she knew it was probably a lost cause. "Of course he is! Why wouldn't he?"

Why wouldn't he, indeed.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

"'. . .at the personal intervention of the King, the unnamed Doctor was incarcerated without trial in the Tower of London.'"

"Okay," Rory nodded, conceding to the argument Amy had started almost fifteen minutes ago. "But it doesn't have to be him."

Amy raised an eyebrow challengingly and continued reading. "'According to contemporary accounts, two nights later, a magical sphere some twenty feet across, was seen floating away from the tower, bearing the mysterious Doctor aloft.'"

Rory sighed. That was definitely the Doctor. "Okay. It's him."

Amy held up her finger in the international wait-a-minutesign. "There's more." But before she could continue, the front door opened.

Rory's eyes widened and after Amy tossed the book at him, he proceeded to stuff it under the couch cushions. He lounged back against the armrest and switched on the TV while Amy crossed her arms and pretended to be very busy looking out the window. The two listened as Alex put her purse down on the kitchen table and went to the refrigerator. She jerked it open, drink bottles and other condiments rattling as she pulled out a Diet Pepsi and popped the tab. A second later, the refrigerator door slammed closed. A series of footsteps followed this, gradually getting louder as they neared the living room. A second later, Alex stepped in.

"Hey," she greeted as she sat down next to the coffee table.

"Hey!" Amy greeted, sounding just a tad too excited. This didn't go unnoticed by Alex, who raised an eyebrow at her in question. But before she could ask her what was up, Amy said, "You're home early. I thought you didn't get off work till five."

Alex rolled her eyes. "I had to leave early. Clueless Kendra was driving me crazy."

"She didn't put theKama Sutranext toK is for Kabuki,did she?" Rory asked.

"No, thank God. Mrs. Temple is still giving me the evil eye for 'scarring her precious son'," Alex said, saying this last part in an exaggerated British accent. "But enough about me and the town dunce. What are you two doing?"

Amy and Rory shrugged. "Nothing," they said in what was supposed to be an innocent manner.

Alex frowned at them, wondering what they were up to (because they were obviously up tosomething) and why they were trying to keep it from her. A second later, it dawned on her. "Oh guys," she groaned. She reached over and stuck her hand under the couch cushions. She felt around for a few seconds before finally pulling out a thick history book, one of many Amy had checked out from the library the next town over:The Life and Times of the English Monarchy: James I to Charles II.

"Guys, I've told you a thousand times," Alex sighed, waving the book around and opening it to the spot Amy had bookmarked. "You don't have to keep hiding these from me."

"Considering you snapped at us when we told you about the incident with Madame de Pompadour, I beg to think otherwise," Rory said dryly. He shuddered a little, remembering that day. It hadn't been pretty when Alex found out that someone going by the name of 'the Doctor' had apparently been the secret lover of Madame de Pompadour.

"And I apologized right after, didn't I?" Studying the page Amy had been on, Alex grabbed her drink and wandered into the kitchen.

Amy and Rory looked at each-other, waiting for the other shoe to drop. A few seconds later, there was a loud thud as the history book fell on the kitchen table. "HE POSED FOR WHAT KIND OF PORTRAIT?!" Alex shrieked. There was what sounded like a cabinet door slamming shut and then a bunch of ragged breaths. A moment later, a newly composed Alex stepped out of the kitchen, the history book tucked under her arm. She passed it to Amy, who took it wordlessly, and sat back down by the coffee-table.

Alex took a sip of her drink, trying to calm down.Ten Mississippi, nine Mississippi, eight Mississippi. . .She reached up and began playing with a strand of her brown-blonde hair. "So, what else?" she asked in a purposefully chipper tone.

Rory looked at Amy, hoping she chose something a little less scandalous, along with something that preferablydidn'tinclude any women. Fortunately, Amy was a step ahead of him. She picked up a book from the desk beside her, this one titledSecret Escapades of WWII. She opened the book to a bookmarked spot, cleared her throat, and began reading. Rory and Alex listened attentively as Amy recounted the interesting story of someone identified only as 'the Doctor' helping a bunch of Allied army prisoners escape a German prison camp. There was also a tidbit about performing at a USO show, where he was apparently a big hit.

Amy shook her head at the latter bit of information. "It's like he's being deliberately ridiculous, trying to attract our attention!"

Alex hummed in agreement. She turned to ask Rory what he thought, only to catch a glimpse of the film he was watching. "Rory," she groaned, "are you watching thisagain?"

The film in question was a black-and-white Laurel and Hardy film. Alex blamed herself for getting Rory hooked on the old comedy duo. She had found a copy ofThe Flying Deuceswhile organizing the movie room at the library. Thinking it might be funny and needing something to take her mind off things, she brought it home. It hadn't been really funny to Amy, who didn't get the jokes, and Alex had barely been able to concentrate, her mind focused on other matters, aka the Doctor and his whereabouts. Rory, on the other hand, had found it absolutely hilarious and was now hooked on the comedy duo. He was a sucker for any Laurel and Hardy film he could get his hands on, making Alex glad that she hadn't introduced him to Abbot and Costello.

"Yeah," Rory replied, reaching over to pick up the history book Amy had discarded. "I've explained the jokes."

Alex sighed and shook her head. She smiled at him fondly before getting up and going into the kitchen. Sitting on the kitchen table were several grocery bags, which she immediately began putting away, if only to have something to do.

She pulled the freezer items out first, smiling a little as she pulled out two cartons of Ben & Jerry's Milk and Cookies ice-cream. Amy had remembered her ice-cream, the one she had been obsessively eating ever since she and the Ponds left the TARDIS. She always ate enormous amounts of ice-cream when she was sad or missing someone. And she definitely missed someone right now.

Alex robotically put the items away, her mind going over the reasons she left the TARDIS. They were pretty stupid reasons now that she thought about them, but at the time, they seemed perfectly valid. She had been attracted to the Doctor since the moment she met him, and her senses revolving around the man had heightened the longer she spent with him. She could sense his presence when he was a couple hundred feet away, her body automatically supplied her with a new adrenaline rush when he was around and powered down when he left. It was all so strange and completely unlike what she normally felt in a relationship that she'd panicked and left.

It also probably didn't help that just before he decided to leave, he'd left her to get married to Marilyn Monroe of all people. Thank God he hadn't gone through with it, but still. It was the principal of the thing.

Now, Alex stuffed everything into the freezer before turning to the rest of the bags and pulling out a bunch of canned goods. She crouched down on the floor next to the lazy Susan and began placing cans inside. She tried not to think about the day she left, but it was no use. It was all she thought about, every single day. The Doctor about had a panic attack when she announced she wanted to leave, only calming down when she clarified that it was merely a break, not forever. He had also grown sad when Amy and Rory left with her. Alex couldn't help but wonder how he was doing now, if he was okay.

He was all she thought about. Despite the fact that she had left to try and kill her feelings for him, the Doctor kept invading her thoughts, like some kind of mind parasite. She fantasized about his dark green eyes, his lanky yet muscular figure, his floppy brown hair, the bowtie she loved to tease him about but secretly liked, and the tweed jacket that felt especially warm when wrapped around her shoulders.

These thoughts running through her head, Alex finished putting away the groceries. She brushed some dust off her ripped jeans, paired with a red tank-top, navy-blue Converse, silver heart earrings, red wrap bracelets and a black bowtie necklace layered over her sonic one. She then went back to the fridge and dug out one of the ice-cream cartons. In her emotional state, she didn't care if it wasn't completely frozen yet. She was just digging in when the doorbell rang.

As Amy hastened over to the door, behind her, Rory rolled over away from the TV and called out, "So what are you saying? Do you really think he's back there, trying to wave to us out of history books?"

Wouldn't put it past him,Alex thought, continuing to dig into the ice-cream.

"Hey, it's the sort of thing he'd do," Amy said, unknowingly echoing Alex's thoughts. She opened the door to find the mailman on their front stoop. He handed her a large stack of mail. "Thanks," Amy nodded before shutting the door with her hip.

"Yeah, but why?"

"Well, he said he'd be in touch," Amy pointed out as she flipped through the mail.

"Two months ago," Rory and Alex reminded her, Alex's voice sounding bitter and resentful.

"Two months is nothing," Amy dismissed as she flipped through the mail. Behind her, Alex shot a glare at her back. "He's up to something. I know he is. I know him." Suddenly, her hand paused. Alex abandoned her ice-cream and stepped out of the kitchen to see what had gotten Amy so stunned.

At the bottom of the stack of mail were two dark blue envelopes. One was labeledAmy and Rory Williamswhile the other was labeledAlexandria Locke. Each envelope had a bunch of stamps on them, indicating that they had been traveling around in different places for quite some time. But what was most interesting about the envelopes was that there was no return address.

Alex grabbed her envelope and tore it open as Amy did the same with hers. Alex peered inside the envelope and carefully eased a single piece of paper out.

Alexandria Locke

22/04/2011

16:30 MDT

378-08-388* N, 1108-148-348* W

Alex almost fell over. She knew exactly who had sent her this envelope. It was the object of her affections, an object she hadn't seen in a little over two months, an object she was going to see again in just a few short days.

Rory stared at them. Amy looked stunned while Alex looked shockingly happy, a look he hadn't seen on her for quite some time. "What is it?" Neither girl answered. "Amy?"

Amy stared at the sheet of paper in her hands before finally saying, "A date, a time, a map reference. I think it's an invitation."

"From who?" Rory frowned.

"It's not signed and there's no return address," Alex revealed. "But look." She held up her envelope, a smirk gracing her face. "TARDIS blue."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Alex glanced out the window at the passing desert, her iPod earbuds stuck in her ears in an effort to pass the time until she saw the Doctor again. She clicked past a Blake Shelton track and landed on one of her favorite songs.

I know I gotta put in the hours, make the money while the sunlight shines, but anything I gotta get done, it can get done some other time. Time is love, gotta run, love to hang longer but I got someone, who waits, waits for me, and right now she's where I need to be, time is love . . . gotta run.

'Time is Love', by Josh Turner. In a lot of ways, it described her and the Doctor . . . only without the romantic part.

Suddenly, a tapping rang out on her shoulder. Alex turned to see Amy sitting behind her, grinning wildly. "Hey, we're almost there." She held up Rory's phone, currently on the GPS app so they could track their progress.

Alex grinned and nodded her thanks. Turning back around, she switched her iPod off and yanked the earbuds out before tucking the device into a pocket on her jacket. She'd gone all out for their reunion with the Doctor. Her outfit consisted of a black tank-top, a cropped gray trench-jacket, skinny jeans, cream-colored suede kitten-heeled boots, her trademark hoop earrings, her TARDIS necklace, and a watch necklace layered over that. She'd even gotten her blonde highlights touched up.

Behind her, Rory and Amy watched Alex play with her bangs, adjusting them so that they didn't hang in her eyes. Ever since those envelopes from the Doctor arrived, Alex had been behaving like her usual self, or the self they had seen when she was with the Doctor. She was upbeat and happy now, something she hadn't been since the day they all left the TARDIS.

Right then, the school-bus came to a stop. In their excitement to get to the Doctor, they had forgotten to arrange some sort of transportation to get them to the Doctor's location, which was in the middle of the Utah desert. Luckily for them, a school-bus driver had been at the airport, having driven a bunch of eighth graders there for their flight to Washington D.C., and agreed to drive them after Alex sweet-talked him into it.

The three jumped up, Amy and Rory grabbing their backpacks while Alex wrestled with her large suitcase. The suitcase, Amy and Rory knew, meant that Alex would be rejoining the Doctor, along with them if the Doctor let them back on the TARDIS, which they were pretty sure he would. Even if he refused, all Alex had to do was say 'please' and the Time Lord would hasten to obey.

Alex got out first, fumbling with her suitcase as she went. Amy and Rory stepped out a second later and, not for the first time today, Alex found herself jealous of their simple backpacks. "Thanks!" Amy called to the driver.

"You're very welcome!" the driver said, trying to get a look at Alex as he closed the doors. Unfortunately for him, Alex was completely consumed with looking around for the Doctor. Not able to get Alex's attention, the school-bus reluctantly rumbled off.

"This is it, yeah?" Amy asked, reaching up to adjust her bun. Living in England, one of the coldest places in the world in Alex's opinion, Amy wasn't used to the United States' regular heat, particularly Utah's. "The right place?"

"Nowhere, middle of?" Rory joked.

"Yeah," Alex answered as she felt her heart rate jump and a sudden, small burst of adrenaline enter her veins. "This is it."

"Howdy!" a familiar voice called.

Amy, Rory, and Alex all spun around. In front of them, grinning away, was the Doctor. He was lounging on the hood of a red, 1950s era Edsel Villager and, for some reason, wearing a Stetson. Other than the hat, he looked just as he did the last time the group had seen him, right down to the bowtie wrapped around his neck.

"Doctor!" Amy and Alex cried. Alex dropped her suitcase and ran forward into his ready arms. She buried her head into his neck, desperate to inhale the familiar scent of his musky cologne. Sure enough, there was a slight trace of it, and she took a quick whiff, recommitting it to memory.

The Doctor grinned and held her close, absently running a hand through her hair. "Miss me, Ally?" he murmured.

Alex's heartbeat quickened at hearing his nickname for her. "More than you can imagine, Doc," she said, raising her head to beam at him.

The Doctor chuckled at her nickname for him and released her from the hug. He didn't let her get too far though. Instead, he turned Alex around so that she was pressed into his side, an arm wrapped around her waist. He turned to Amy and Rory. "It's the Ponds!"

"Hey!" Amy greeted, rushing forward to hug him.

"Hello, Pond. Come here!" The Doctor released Alex long enough to hug Amy, but when they were finished, his arm immediately wrapped around her waist again.

"So someone's been a busy boy then, eh?" Amy smirked. Rory smiled alongside her, but inwardly hoped that Alex didn't bring up Madame de Pompadour or the portrait incident.

"Did you see me?" the Doctor grinned.

"Of course!"

"I've never seen her read so many books," Alex quipped. Luckily for Rory, and most definitely the Doctor, she was so thrilled about seeing him again, she couldn't even remember the interesting escapades the alien had pulled during his absence.

"Stalker," the Doctor teased.

Amy and Alex rolled their eyes. "Flirt," they countered.

"Husband!" Rory jumped in. He stepped forward, wrapping an arm around Amy's waist while placing his other hand on Alex's shoulder, reminding the Doctor that he considered Alex to a be like a little sister.

"And Rory the Roman!" the Doctor cheered, throwing his arms around him. "Come here!"

Rory laughed and hugged him back. As he pulled away, his eyes wandered up to examine the Doctor's hat. "Hey, nice hat."

Better than the fez,Alex thought, studying the Stetson.

The Doctor beamed. "I wear a Stetson now," he proclaimed, obviously proud of his new accessory. "Stetsons are cool."

A split second after he said that, a gunshot rang out from behind them. The bullet hit the Doctor's hat, wiping it right off his head and sending it billowing out into the desert. Everyone jumped, Alex even yelping a little and automatically grabbing onto the Doctor's jacket. The group spun around. Standing before them, blocking the sun with her figure, was none other than River Song.

River smirked and blew smoke away from the barrel of her gun before holstering it. "Hello, sweetie," she smirked at the Doctor. Her eyes then traveled over to Alex, who was still clutching onto the Doctor's jacket, but more possessively now than anything. "Hello, Ally," she greeted, her voice neutral.

Alex resisted the strong urge to groan.Figures the slu*tty poodle would be here.Alex gave her a cool nod. "River."

Knowing that River and Alex had never quite gotten along and weren't likely to do so now, Amy hastened to change the subject. "So, where's the TARDIS?" she asked, looking around. Her eyes settled on the car. "It's not this, is it?"

The Doctor shook his head. "No, it's a little ways away. I thought for this little outing I should travel in more appropriate style." He patted the hood of the car. "So, I commandeered a suitable vehicle."

Alex raised an eyebrow at him. "You stole it, didn't you?"

The Doctor scratched the back of his head uncomfortably, which only confirmed Alex's suspicions. "Well . . . it depends on your definition of 'stole'. In my definition, I borrowed it."

"Like how you borrowed the TARDIS?" Amy questioned.

"Shall we go?" the Doctor asked in a clear effort to change the subject. Without giving any of them time to answer, he hurried over to the driver's side door. He placed his hand on the handle but another, smaller one quickly slapped down over top his, preventing him from opening the door.

"Hold it," Alex ordered, staring up at him. "You are not driving."

The Doctor frowned. "Alex, are you forgetting that I drove your friend Lacey's car back in Bristol? I did perfectly fine!"

"We only went a few streets," Alex reminded him. "And besides, I'm the only one here who has an American driver's license.I'lldrive."

The Doctor sulked but handed her the car-keys anyway.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

This was a decision he later regretted.

It was not a good idea letting Alex Locke drive them all somewhere.

Alex sped along the dirt road, kicking up dust at almost ninety miles an hour. Her foot was firmly pressed down on the accelerator and, much to everyone's alarm, only one hand was on the wheel. At the moment, her other hand was fiddling with the ends of her hair while she calmly hummed along to the country ballad currently playing on the radio.

In the backseat, River, Amy, and Rory were all squished together. Rory was clutching an armrest, River was grasping, with both hands, a handle above the window, and Amy, scrunched in the middle, was trying to find leverage as Alex sped down the road. In the passenger seat, the Doctor, who should have been used to scary driving considering his piloting of the TARDIS, was desperately hanging onto the rail above the window and to the back of his seat. His eyes were going back-and-forth from the road to the speedometer.

"Alex, slow down!" he commanded as the speedometer reached ninety-five miles per hour.

Alex rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't be such a backseat driver," she retorted as she reached over to adjust the dial on the radio, eyes straying away from the road.

"Eyes on the road!" Amy and Rory shouted, remembering the first time they had met Alex . . . when she nearly ran them over.

Alex rolled her eyes again and continued at her normal pace. "Don't be such worry-warts," she dismissed . . . right as the car swerved, nearly taking out a cactus.

River shut her eyes and her grip on the handle tightened. "Alex, if we all die in a car wreck, I am going to kill you!"

"Double negative, River," Alex smiled faux-sweetly. She stared at the woman through the rearview mirror. "You can't kill me if we're already dead."

"I'd find some way of doing it," River grumbled.

"We're making better time," Alex argued. "We're getting to. . . Where are we going, Doctor?"

"Roadside diner," the Doctor said as he stared, unblinking, out the window. "Of course, there'sno needto get there in such a hurry." He glanced over at the small clock on the dashboard. 4:34 pm.

Alex caught him doing this. "Your checking of the clock begs to differ, Doc."

"Eyes on the road!" Amy, River, and Rory cried from the backseat.

Alex shook her head but obliged. "So, Doc, what have you been up to?"

"You're asking me thisnow?!" the Doctor exclaimed, gesturing to the road ahead of them. "Just concentrate on driving, Alexandria."

"Don't call me that," Alex muttered. Of course, she knew that the Doctor only called her this when he was worried about her or angry/frustrated with her. She was willing to bet he called her this now because of the latter.

They continued on in silence for a few moments until a car came careening down the opposite lane. Alex eased them over a little, but the other car still came dangerously close to them, its rearview mirror nearly touching the one on Alex's side. Alex frowned and glared at nothing as the car continued down the road.

"Idiot," she declared, glaring up at the rearview mirror. Her eyes off the road, the car swerved into the second lane.

"EYES ON THE ROAD!" the Doctor, River, Amy, and Rory yelled.

Alex huffed but thankfully obliged. Beside her, the Doctor leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes. It would be a miracle if he survived this.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

A little while later, the group arrived at a small roadside diner. Despite the Doctor, Amy, Rory, and River's misgivings, Alex had gotten them there unharmed. Amy had made a point though of jumping out of the car and screaming "LAND!" when Alex pulled into the parking lot.

The diner reminded Alex of Blondie's Diner, her old workplace in Bristol, but smaller and with a bigger emphasis on reminding people of its ‘50s roots. Black and white tile decorated the floors with big neon signs hanging overhead. A soda counter ran the length of one side of the room while a bunch of small red leather booths took up the other side. A mural had been done on the back wall, showing pictures of Elvis, a red station wagon, and other icons of the 1950s.

Alex leaned against the counter, waiting for the soda jerk behind it to deliver her Diet Pepsi. As she waited, she watched the Doctor and River in a booth a little ways away. Both were rapidly flipping through notebooks.

"Right then, where are we?" River asked as she eagerly paged through her diary. "Have we done Easter Island yet?"

The Doctor flipped a few pages in his notebook in his own enthusiastic manner. "Er . . . yes!" he declared. "I've got Easter Island!"

"Theyworshippedyou there," River recalled. "Have you seen the statues?"

"Jim the Fish," the Doctor continued, ignoring her question.

"Oh, Jim the Fish! How is he?"

"Still building his dam," the Doctor answered, making Alex frown in confusion. How the heck did afish, if that was what Jim the Fish was, build a dam?

"Here you are, miss," the soda jerk said behind her.

Alex whirled around and took her glass. "Thanks," she said, slapping a five-dollar bill on the counter. "Keep the change."

That done, she headed over to the Doctor and River's booth. Alex had a lot of reservations about River Song . . . alot. For starters, River killed someone in the future, someone who was implied to be the Doctor. And, according to the Doctor, River had also attempted to kill the man's girlfriend, whoever that was. If that right there wasn't enough reason to dislike River Song, Alex didn't know what was.

She also didn't like the way the woman was around the Doctor. River just seemed to expect that the Doctor would come running at her beck and call, which he'd done. Twice. That didn't settle well with Alex, how the woman could so easily manipulate and control the Doctor.

And her and River's relationship also helped to feed Alex's resentment and dislike. River and Alex's relationship was complicated. If you asked her, Alex wouldn't know how to describe it other than frenemy like. The two bickered and insulted each-other 75% of the time, but the rest of that percentage involved being nice to and helping each-other when the situation desperately called for it.

Alex sighed to herself. She knew why she and River didn't get along, the main reason at least. They were both infatuated with the Doctor. Alex herself was in love with him. She didn't know about River, but then again, she didn't reallywantto know if that was the case.

And now, here was River, happily talking and reminiscing with the Doctor,Alex'sDoctor,herDoctor. It made Alex's blood rush and pound. She wanted to drag River away from him and throw her into the Grand Canyon or something.

Calm down, Alexandria,Alex scolded herself. In her last few weeks with the Doctor, her jealousy had become something of an issue. She had found herself jealous of theTARDIS, for Christ's sake! When she left for a break, she thought that the powerful, burning jealousy would disappear. Apparently, based on how she reacted in the library with Kendra and now, she'd thought wrong.

Now, Alex slid into the Doctor's side of the booth. "How does a fish build a dam?" she questioned.

The Doctor looked down at her and smiled. "Very carefully, Ally," he replied, winking at her and reaching out to play with a strand of her hair. Alex giggled a little in response. She didn't notice River's sour expression at her and the Doctor's interaction.

"Sorry, what are you two doing?" Rory asked as he and Amy approached them. They'd been listening to the bizarre exchange as well.

"They're both time travelers, so they never meet in the right order," Amy explained as she slid in next to Alex, a bottle of Coca-Cola in her hands. "They're syncing their diaries."

When did he get the time to do all of that?Alex wondered. She studied the Doctor critically. To her surprise, he looked a bit older, more . . . wearier. How much time had passed for him? When she and the Ponds left two months ago, Alex had assumed the Doctor would skip those few months and pick them up, thinking they'd never guess only five minutes had passed for him. But looking at him now, it seemed as though years had passed for the Doctor, rather than a few minutes or months.

"So, what's happening then?" Amy questioned, oblivious to Alex's inner worry. "Because you've been up to something."

The Doctor stared down at the tabletop for a moment. "I've been running," he said lowly, in a voice that Alex would normally find sexy and alluring, but one that she now found worrisome. He looked back up at them, his fingers continuing to play with Alex's hair. "Faster than I've ever run, and I've been running my whole life. Now, it's time for me to stop." He turned to look into Alex's eyes, speaking more to her than the others as he said, "And tonight, I'm going to need you all with me."

"Okay," Amy nodded, not allowing the new anxieties that had popped up in her mind to enter her voice. Something was off about the Doctor. He seemed so weary and tired and, with the way he was looking at Alex right now, you'd have thought the young American was his salvation.

"We're here," Alex said. She rested her hand atop the one that wasn't running through her hair. "What's up, Doc?"

The Doctor chuckled a bit at her joke, making Alex beam. She was glad to have made him laugh. He looked like he needed a good laugh. "A picnic, Ally," he answered. "And then a trip. Somewhere different, somewhere brand new."

"Where?" Amy wondered.

"Space, 1969."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

"Salud!" the Doctor cheered, lifting his wine bottle.

Alex, Amy, Rory, and River copied him, clinking their glasses against his bottle. "Salud!" they repeated. Well, Amy, Rory, and River did. Alex said, "Cheers!"

Alex leaned back on the red and white picnic blanket. She was lying next to the Doctor. Okay, she was actually nestled into his side, something that pleased her to no end. Smiling, she took a delicate sip of her wine. She had immediately examined the bottle upon the Doctor pulling it out of the picnic basket, discovering that it was a lovely red Bordeaux. The Doctor added that Napoleon had thrown it at him, though he neglected to say why. Alex wasn't much of a wine drinker – give her whiskey or a gin and tonic and she was good – but she had to admit that this wine was pretty good.

The group were currently spread out on the shores of Lake Silencio. The Doctor told them it was a nice spot, though Alex had thought he was saying it a bit forcefully. Either way, itwasa nice place. In front of them, the lake's light blue waters glistened in the bright sunlight, a light breeze blew off the water, keeping them cool, and the shore wasn't very crowded. Actually, they were the only ones there. It really was a great place to have a picnic, even if Alex couldn't understand the Doctor's motivation behind it.

And even if, when she had offered to drive them here, everyone else screamed, "NO!" The Doctor even called a vote, claiming that since they were in America, they might as well solve things in a democratic way. Alex driving had been vetoed, four to one. River had driven them instead, agreeing with Alex that letting the Doctor drive wasn't a good idea. She was surprisingly good at it, which Alex hated to admit.

"Enjoying yourself, Ally?" the Doctor murmured, pulling Alex out of her thoughts.

"Absolutely, Doc," she affirmed, grinning up at him. Her heartbeat sped up and another stream of adrenaline flooded her veins. God, what had she beenthinking, believing that getting away from the Doctor would make her feelings for him disappear? If anything, they had only intensified, and they were going into overdrive now that she was back with him.

"So, when are we going to 1969?" Rory's voice rang out, pulling the Doctor and Alex out of their little moment.

"And since when do you drink wine?" Amy added, staring at the bottle in the Doctor's hand. Even though it was pretty good wine, the fact that the Doctor seemed to drink now was a little disconcerting.

The Doctor examined the label on the bottle. "I'm eleven hundred and three," he said casually. "I must've drunk it sometime."

Alex, who had been taking a sip of wine when he said this, suddenly spit it out in shock. "Eleven hundred andthree?!" she repeated shrilly.

The Doctor didn't acknowledge her outburst, instead taking a sip of wine from the bottle. Just seconds after tasting it, he grimaced and whirled around to spit it out over his shoulder. "Oh, why it's horrid!" he cried as Alex giggled hysterically. "I thought it would taste more like the gums."

"Okay, I'm with Alex," Amy said, refusing to get sidetracked by the Doctor's impression of a spit-take. "Eleven hundred and three? You were nine hundred and eight the last time we saw you."

"And you've put on a couple of pounds," he retorted. "I wasn't going to mention it."

Alex let out an outraged squawk and immediately shimmied up to whack him on the back of the head. "Don't be rude!" she scolded as the Doctor yelped.

He rubbed the back of his head and sighed wistfully. "Oh, you have no idea how much I've missed that, love."

Alex visibly started and stared up at him. "Love?" she repeated. Where had that come from? And, more importantly, would he call her that again? "Since when have you called me 'love'?"

The Doctor blinked and actually looked panicked for a second before his features abruptly turned blank. "Why, I've always called you that, Ally."

"No, you haven't," Alex said slowly, frowning.

"Who's that?" Amy suddenly asked.

The Doctor and Alex turned to look at Amy. She was staring at something on the cliffs above them. Rory glanced up from his wine. "Hmm? Who's who?"

Right as Alex was about to look up, Amy turned away from the cliffs to face her husband. "Sorry, what?" she asked brightly.

"What did you see?" Rory asked.

"You said you saw something," Alex reminded her.

Amy shook her head and looked at them bewilderedly. "No, I didn't."

Alex turned back to the Doctor. He was now staring out at the lake with a somewhat expectant expression on his face. "Doc, what's going on?" she murmured. "You know something I don't, I know you do. I know rule one is that you lie, but please, tell me what's going on."

"You'll find out soon, Ally," he whispered. "And what's about to happen? I'm so, so sorry."

Alex stared at him. What the hell was going on?! Why was the Doctor acting like this? What was about to happen? "Doctor, you're scaring me."

He winced and ran a hand through the back of her hair. "I'm sorry, Ally. I don't mean to." He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead. Alex closed her eyes, loving the feel of his lips against her skin, but she still didn't feel reassured.

The Doctor tossed the wine bottle aside and moved his hand down Alex's hair to her shoulders, pressing her into his side even more than she already was. "Ah, the moon!" he loudly exclaimed. He pointed overhead to the moon which, despite the daylight, was quite visible. "Look at it. Of course, you lot," he tapped Alex's nose on this, "did a lot more thanlook, didn't you? Big, silvery thing in the sky. You couldn't resist it. Quite right."

"The moon landing was in '69," Rory recalled. "Is that where we're going?"

The Doctor's answer was extremely cryptic, even for him. "No. A lot more happens in '69 than anyone remembers." He sighed and shook his head. "Human beings. I thought I'd never get done saving you."

Alex frowned. What did he mean by that? The Doctor's whole life revolved around saving humans, aliens, and many others. Why was he now acting like he wasn't about to be doing that anymore?Maybe he's retiring,she jokingly thought, but it was nothing more than something to keep the worries in her mind at bay and she knew it.

She was about to ask him what the hell he meant when the sound of a car came from behind them. The Doctor quickly stood, then reached down to pull Alex up. Once she was on her feet, Alex turned to see an old man with a gray beard climbing out of a truck. She swiveled around to look at the Doctor, about to ask him if he knew anything about why the man was here, only to see him waving at the stranger.

"Who's he?" Amy asked for all of them as she, Rory, and River got to their feet.

"Oh, my God," River suddenly gasped. Everyone turned to look at her, only to find that she was staring out at the lake. They all turned towards the lake and Amy, Rory, and Alex's jaws dropped.

Climbing out of the lake like a sponge diver was a figure dressed in a NASA spacesuit. It stood knee-deep in the water at the lake's shoreline, just staring at them.

"What is that?" Alex demanded, pressing herself into the Doctor's side. His arms wrapped around her protectively as he stared out at the astronaut, none of the others' expressions of shock and wonder on his face.

"You all need to stay back," he ordered. "Whatever happens now, you donotinterfere. Clear?" Then, pulling away from Alex, he turned to kneel at her eye-level. "Ally, promise me that no matter what happens next, you'll stay back. You are the most precious thing in the universe to me, love, and I do not want to see you hurt."

Alex's breath came out in gasps as she desperately tried to comprehend the Doctor's words. Her heart was beating faster at his implication. "Doctor, you are really scaring me now. What is going on?"

"You'll find out soon," he promised. He placed his hands on her shoulders and pulled her closer to him. "Just . . . stay back and, this is most important, when the time comes, duck. Do you understand?Duck. Icannotstress how important it is that you do that, Ally."

Alex bit her lip worriedly but nodded anyways. "Yes, Doctor. I promise."

The Doctor nodded approvingly at her, but the worry in his eyes didn't help to combat Alex's. "Thank you, Ally." With that, he started off towards the astronaut. But a second later, he came back. "One more thing," he muttered as he pulled Alex back to him.

Alex arched an eyebrow. "What?"

The Doctor smiled a little. "This."

Then, before Alex could question him, he'd knelt down and pressed his lips to hers.

Alex's eyes widened and she gasped, giving the Doctor the perfect opportunity to slip his tongue inside her mouth. Her knees buckled as his tongue explored her mouth, his lips pressing into hers harshly, almost desperately, as he kissed her. Just as Alex was about to reciprocate though, the Doctor pulled back, his hands resting on her shoulders to keep her from falling over.

He smiled down at her, taking in her reddened lips, which would surely be bruised in a couple of hours, and her flushed cheeks. "Stay back, love," he told her before leaning down and pressing a kiss to the top of her head, a kiss that was pretty damn chaste compared to the previous one. Then, before Alex could say anything, he was heading back towards the astronaut.

"Wow," Amy stated, pretty much summing up everything that had happened thus far. Alex blushed and turned to face her. In all the excitement, she had forgotten that the Ponds and River were standing right there. River looked slightly put out but didn't say anything.

Amy went and stood next to her best friend. "Wonder what he did that for?" she wondered. "Long time coming though."

Alex didn't say anything, only blushed harder.

Rory, while stunned by the Doctor and Alex's lip-lock, decided to focus on the bigger situation at hand. Specifically? The astronaut now standing on the shore, watching the Doctor approach. "That's an astronaut," he gaped, stating the obvious. "That's anApolloastronaut in a lake."

"Yeah," Amy nodded, focusing back on the strange sight in front of them.

The four watched as the Doctor went and stood in front of the astronaut. He leaned closer to the astronaut, seemingly talking to it. Unfortunately, they were too far away to hear anything. Then, a moment later, he lowered his head, seeming resigned at what was about to happen.

"What's he doing?" Amy whispered, a little afraid of speaking any louder than that. Beside her, Alex began trembling. She didn't know why or how but she swore that she could sense that something bad was about to happen. She watched the astronaut's hand raise up.

BANG!

Everyone jumped when the gunshot sounded. Everyone except for the Doctor. He staggered back as a green light blasted him in the chest.

"DOCTOR!" Alex and Amy screamed, immediately launching themselves forward. Forget what the Doctor had told them before. He had just been SHOT!

But before either of them could tread serious distance, River yanked Alex back while Rory held onto Amy. "Girls, stay back!" River shouted as she struggled with Alex, the girl kicking and thrashing around like some kind of wild animal.

BANG!

The girls froze at the sound. The Doctor stumbled back again, launching Alex into another kicking frenzy. "River, let me go!" she yelled, kicking at River's shins with the heels of her boots.

River winced as Alex's heels dug into her skin, but her grip on the girl remained tight. "The Doctor said stay back!"

"I don't care!" Alex howled. She twisted her leg a little and landed her heel into River's thigh. River gasped in pain and released her to clutch her injury. Alex immediately started forwards, only to come to a stop when she saw the astronaut turning . . . turning towards her.

She watched, frozen in place, as the astronaut lifted its hand, a hand she now knew contained a gun. She watched as the astronaut aimed its hand towards her. It hesitated a second, then . . . it fired.

"ALEX! DUCK!" Amy screamed as Rory held her back. Their eyes were wide and fearful as the green blast shot towards their friend.

When the time comes, duck. Do you understand?Duck. Icannotstress how important it is that you do that, Ally.The Doctor's words echoed in Alex's mind. It was all the motivation she needed. Just as the blast neared her, Alex flung herself to the ground. Above her, the green blast continued forwards until it hit the cliff. BANG! Rocks flew everywhere and a cloud of dust drifted around for several moments before ultimately dissipating. Decorating the side of the cliff-face was a brand-new massive hole.

"ALEX!" Amy shrieked as she and Rory sprinted forwards. River was hot on their heels, her gun out and at her side. Amy dove onto the ground and took her friend's face into her hands. "Are you okay?!"

"It . . . it shot at me," Alex gasped, blinking rapidly. What thehell?! Tears pooled up in her eyes and her breathing became more and more erratic as her heart raced and her inner panic level rose. "Why? Why did it shoot at me?!" But before Amy, Rory, and River could even attempt to answer, Alex's eyes traveled beyond them, and she gasped. "DOCTOR!"

The Ponds and River turned around just in time to see the Doctor fall to his knees. A golden-colored glow was emanating out of his hands, curling around them like cigarette smoke. He looked over at them, but Alex knew his eyes were resting on her. "I'm sorry," she saw him say before he turned away.

They watched as the same light on his palms began streaming out from his neck, bathing his head in a golden glow. He titled it back and stretched his arms out as the glow became stronger and stronger. But before anything else could happen, BANG! A fourth gunshot rang out, striking the Doctor in the chest and sending him falling to the ground.

"NO!" Alex screamed in agony. She shot up and pushed past Amy and Rory to scramble down the beach and to the Doctor. Amy, Rory, and River ran behind her, practically on her heels. As Alex and Amy fell to their knees beside the Doctor's fallen form, River pulled an instrument out of her jacket and aimed it at him.

Amy turned to look up at her while Alex stayed by the Doctor's head, running her fingers through his fringe, and murmuring incomprehensible words under her breath. River's eyes stayed fixed on her instrument. Then a flatline beeping sounded. River's face fell.

Alex looked up at her through red-rimmed eyes. "No," she shuddered, shaking her head. "No, please God, no." River only looked at her sadly. Alex's lower lip trembled before she suddenly threw her head down onto the Doctor's chest, huge, gasping, shuddering sobs consuming her.

Her fingers clutched the lapels of his jacket, the familiar tweed material scratching her fingertips. Alex wailed and closed her eyes, tears continuing to leak out and stain the Doctor's shirt. So consumed in her grief, she barely heard River shooting at the retreating astronaut.

"Wake up," Alex begged, lifting her head a little to look at the Doctor's lifeless face. His eyes were closed, preventing her from looking into his intoxicating dark green depths. "Please wake up. Youcannotleave me. Ijustcame back to you." She shuddered, another sob escaping her. She leaned down to press her forehead to his. "I love you," she whispered. "I've been in love with you since Imetyou and I didn't realize it until afterSavannah. Oh God, why didn't I tell you? I was so scared you'd reject me, so I kept it hidden." Another sob escaped her, and tears began falling onto the Doctor's brow. "I should've told you. I'm so sorry, I should've told you, because I should've known you felt the same way—" She was cut off as another powerful wave of sobs devoured her and she simply fell forward, wrapping her arms around the Doctor's head as she cried into his neck.

"Hecan'tbe dead!" Amy wept. She curled herself into a small ball and began rocking back and forth. "Thisisn'tpossible!"

River shook her head. "Whatever that was, it killed him in the middle of his regeneration cycle," she explained as she stared sadly at the Doctor's body. "He didn't make it to the next one."

"Maybe he's a clone . . . or a duplicate, or something!" Amy babbled desperately.

"I believe I can save you some time," a new voice rang out.

Ever so slowly, Alex lifted her head to look at the gray-bearded stranger that had arrived a few minutes ago. After all the events of the last few minutes, she'd forgotten he was there. She stared at him, sniffling, as he said, "That most certainly is the Doctor. And he is most certainly dead." He set down the object he was carrying. Alex stared uncomprehendingly at the can of gasoline. "He said you'd need this."

"Gasoline?" Rory questioned.

"A Time Lord's body is a miracle," River said as she sniffled, her own chest wracking with silent sobs. "Even a dead one."

Alex immediately saw where this was going. "No."

River sighed. "Alex—"

"No." Alex looked up at her defiantly. Even with her red-rimmed, neon green eyes, puffy skin, and defeated, agonized expression, she still looked something fierce. "Iwon'tlet you."

River sighed and went over to her. She knelt down in the sand and gently grasped Alex's face, forcing the girl to look at her. "Alex, please listen to me. I know you and I have never gotten along but we do have our moments, and right now, this is one of them. A Time Lord's body is an absolute miracle. There are whole empires out there who'd rip this world apart for justonecell." Alex closed her eyes, a new wave of sobs running through her as River said, "Youknowwe can't leave him here. Or anywhere."

Alex let out a loud, heartbroken sob. River was right. She knew that. The Doctor was so amazing, so wonderful, so powerful. Alien races would be falling all over themselves in an effort to get his body and use it for their own twisted purposes. The Daleks would most certainly be first in line, and Alex had seen the damage they could do. And all those aliens that had trapped the Doctor and her in the Pandorica? What wouldtheydo when they learned of the Doctor's death?

As much as she hated to admit it, River was right.

Alex turned away from her and flung herself down onto the Doctor's chest. Her weeping was quiet this time, the only evidence that she was doing it being the constricting and heaving of her back.

Amy rested her head on his chest as well. "Wake up," she pleaded. "Come on, wake up, you stupid, bloodyidiot." But the Doctor failed to respond. Amy slowly lifted her head to look at her husband, who had been taking this whole horrible thing in stride. "What do we do, Rory?" she asked.

"We're his friends," River broke in. "We do what the Doctor's friends always do." She picked up the gasoline can. "As we're told."

"There's a boat," Rory spoke up, his gaze looking past them to a small rowboat tied up on the opposite end of the shoreline. "If we're gonna do this, let's do it properly."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

It was an hour later, but to Alex, it felt like mere minutes. It was amazing how time moved quickly when someone you loved with all your heart died. Alex couldn't remember much of the past hour, other than a scene of Rory and the stranger moving the Doctor's body into the rowboat. Every now and then, she had to blink a few times so as to fully absorb her surroundings. It was so weird.

She stood on the embankment, her arms crossed against the cool wind coming from across the lake. Her eyes were still neon green as silent tears traveled down her cheeks, tears she normally would have wiped away, but not now. She stared at the flaming rowboat out in the middle of the lake, the one that the Doctor's body was now in. She didn't notice Rory wading back up to them. She didn't notice Amy looking out forlornly into the distance. All she noticed was the fire that was slowly destroying her love, her heart's desire, into cinders and ashes.

The Doctor was dead. What was she going to do now? She'd have to go back to Leadworth and continue to work in the library, pretending to be nice and helpful to the people who showed up and pretending to tolerate Kendra, while she screamed and sobbed on the inside. Or maybe she'd go back to Bristol. She'd get a job waitressing at Blondie's again. The manager would surely hire her, especially with Bree's encouragement. Maybe she'd go back to college once she got the funds for it.

But really. What was the point in doing all that? The man she loved wasdead. How could anything get back to normal ever again?

Don't,a voice in her head spoke.Don't think about that. In fact, just . . . don't think.

That seemed like pretty good advice. Alex decided to take it.

She was staring blankly out at the water, absently gripping the charm of her sonic necklace, when she heard River ask, "Who are you? Why did you come?" Ever so slowly, Alex turned to see River talking to the strange man who, it suddenly occurred to her, had yet to give them a name.

"The same reason as you," he replied. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a TARDIS blue envelope, identical to the ones Amy, Rory, and Alex had received.

The man faced all of them, Amy and Rory having turned around to listen at some point as well. "Dr. Song, Amy, Rory, Alex. I'm Canton Everett Delaware III." He stared out at the burning rowboat. "I won't be seeing you again, butyou'llbe seeingme." Without saying another word, Canton placed a baseball cap on his head and handed River his envelope. He made his way towards his truck while River turned to face the Ponds and Alex.

"Four," she said.

"Sorry, what?" Rory blinked.

"The Doctor numbered the envelopes."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

A little while later, they were back at the diner. Alex barely remembered the trip there, other than that River drove, which was probably a good thing. A grieving Alex behind the wheel was just a car accident waiting to happen.

River marched into the diner, Rory right behind her, while Amy and Alex slowly brought up the rear. "You got two," River explained, "I was three, Mr. Delaware was four." She paused and whirled around. "Alex? What number did you get?"

Without a word, Alex reached into her trench jacket pocket and pulled the envelope out, wordlessly handing it over. River quickly flipped it to the number on the back. It said, inexplicably, 1.

She sighed. "There's a surprise," she muttered, handing it back to Alex. "Alex got one," she revealed as Alex put the envelope back in her pocket.

Rory stared at her. "So?"

"So, where's the other one?"

"What, you think he invited someone else?"

"Well, hemusthave. He planned all of this, to the last detail."

"Will you two shut up?" Amy breathed, tucking herself into a booth.

"She's right," Alex said stiffly. "It doesn't matter. He'sdead."

"He was up to something!" River insisted.

"He's dead," Amy repeated flatly.

River ignored them. "Space, 1969," she mused. "What did he mean?"

"You're still talking, but itdoesn't matter!" Alex snapped.

"It mattered tohim," Rory reminded her, hoping that this would help Alex see reason.

"So it matters tous," River agreed.

"He's dead," Amy stated again.

"But he still needs us," River persisted. She stepped towards the girls. "I know. Amy, Alex, Iknow. But right now, we have to focus." She turned to Alex. "Come on, Alex. Your grief is clouding your judgment. I know if you concentrate hard enough, you'll see it."

Alex didn't respond, not even giving River a dark look.

"Look!" Rory cried. He pointed over to a table at the other end of the diner. A TARDIS blue envelope was resting on it. It had been ripped open and was just sitting there, nothing else nearby to indicate the identity of the receiver.

Rory and River sprinted over to the table while Alex slowly walked forwards until she was leaning against a booth two seats down from the one they were at. She watched River snatch up the envelope while Rory ran over to the counter.

"Excuse me, who was sitting over there?" he asked the busboy.

The busboy shrugged. "Some guy," he replied before heading back into the kitchen.

Yes, that's very helpful,Alex snidely thought. She blinked in surprise. She’d thought her wit and sarcasm had left her in her time of grief. Apparently not.

"The Doctor knew he was going to his death, so he sent out messages," River summarized as Amy got up from her booth to join them. "When you know it's the end, who do you call?"

"Er. . ." Rory scratched the back of his head as he thought. "Your friends. People you trust."

River held up the envelope, revealing a perfect little 0 on the back. "The Doctor trusts Alex the most in the whole universe," she explained. "That's why she got 1. But who would the Doctor trustbeforeher?"

Right at that moment, the door at the back of the diner swung open. The group turned around to see the new arrival and when they caught a look at him, their jaws dropped.

Standing there, in bowtie, tweed jacket glory, grinning away and most certainlynotdead, was the Doctor.

Chapter 2: The Impossible Astronaut Part 2

Chapter Text

"This is cold," River breathed as she stared at him in utter shock. "Even byyourstandards, this iscold."

The Doctor pulled the straw he was chewing on out of his mouth. "Or 'hello!' as people used to say," he smiled.

Amy blinked at him rapidly, wondering if what she was seeing was some sort of mirage produced by her grief-addled brain. "Doctor?" she breathed.

"I just popped out to get my special straw," the Doctor explained, seemingly oblivious to their stupefied expressions. "It adds more fizz."

Alex stared at him. She felt like she had been kicked in the heart. What was going on? Was what just happened at the lake some kind of prank? Because if it was, the Doctor had better watch out or she'd slap him into a brand-new incarnation . . . maybe even two since her emotions were all over the place.

How could he be alive?! It didn't make any sense! It defied all logic! Alex swallowed as she tried to control the onslaught of tears threatening to erupt. Her throat burned at the action, red and raw from all the gasping and crying she had been doing over the last hour or so.

She was pulled back into the present when Amy began circling the Doctor, like she was trying to see if he was real or not (she probably was). The Doctor's head turned to follow her as she did this, looking rather confused and a bit alarmed at her behavior. "You're okay," Amy said incredulously. "How can you be okay?"

The Doctor frowned. What the hell was going on? Amy looked like she had seen a ghost. Actually, she, Rory and River all looked like that. He couldn't tell about Alex because she was standing so far away. He could only see her skinny jean clad legs and cream-colored kitten-heeled boots.

Seeing that Amy was still so obviously distressed for whatever reason, he reluctantly pushed aside his thoughts about Alex and reached out to hug her. "Hey, of course I'm okay," he assured her, patting her on the back. "I'm always okay, I'm the King of Okay. Oh, that's a rubbish title. Forget that title." Quick as a blink, he released Amy and stepped forward to hug Rory. "Rory the Roman! That's a good title! Hello, Rory."

He clapped the bewildered man on the shoulder and stepped forward to address River Song. River looked very calm and cool, a combination which really wasn't good when paired with the woman, not that the Doctor recognized that. Instead, he smiled at her. "And River Song. Oh, you bad, bad girl. What trouble have you got for me this time?"

River's only response was to give him a sharp slap across the face. The sound echoed throughout the diner and the force of her hit sent the Doctor's head whipping to the side.Oh, that's going to leave a mark,he thought as he swiveled back to look at her.

"Okay," he winced, rubbing his cheek. "I'm assuming that's for something I haven't done yet."

River stared at him, a pissed-off and aghast expression on her face. "Yes, it is," she said through gritted teeth.

"Good. Looking forward to it."Not.

He turned away from River, his eyes immediately locating and resting on Alex. Alexandria Nicole Locke. The only thing he could think about for the past couple of months. It honestly amazed him as to how he could focus on little else when she wasn't around, making smart little comments about the various things he did, calling himDoc, giggling whenever he did something particularly amusing, or impressing him with her knowledge and general humanness.

He had missed her so much. So much in fact, he had actually considered going back into her timeline just to see her when she was younger, as he'd always wondered what she was like during that time. The TARDIS, of course, had been heavily against this, pointing out all the paradoxes and dangers this could bring up. Instead, his brilliant, sexy machine had come up with another idea. She had made a slideshow of many different pictures of Alex, some taken from the photos in her bedroom, others ones that the TARDIS had somehow taken when Alex was onboard.

Regardless of how she had managed to do such a thing, the Doctor loved it. He often found himself just watching the slideshow multiple times, taking in all of Alex's marvelous features. The brown-blonde hair. The hazel eyes that changed colors every time you looked at them. Her tiny, 5'4 frame. Her long legs. Her full, pretty pink lips. The tiny white scar on the right side of her nose from where she tried, and failed, to pierce her nose when she was a teenager. All of her was exquisite and he just wanted to memorize every feature.

Now, as his eyes landed on her, he noticed several things very quickly. Alex's beautiful hazel eyes were red-rimmed, her irises the hideous neon green they got whenever she had been crying. Her lips were bruised and a harsh red. The skin under her eyes, along with her cheeks, was red and puffy and she was clutching onto the charm of her sonic necklace like it was a lifeline. Most important of all, she was staring at him with an expression of unabashed shock and apprehension.

What's wrong with her? What's happened to her?!the Doctor thought, alarmed. The others were upset about something, sure, but none of them on the level that Alex was. He hurriedly bent down to her eye-level and looked into her eyes. "Ally, what's wrong?" He reached up and ran his thumb across Alex's cheek, wincing when she shuddered and flinched away. "Ally, please tell me!" he begged. "What's wrong? Have you been crying? Your eyes. . ." He trailed off, his hearts breaking when Alex turned away from him, her eyes closing, but not before one solid tear leaked out and ran down her cheek, dripping onto the floor.

"I don't understand," Rory broke in, partially because he really didn't understand what the heck was going on, and also because he could see the Doctor's sudden reappearance and continuous questions wasn't calming Alex down any. The poor girl looked like she was two teardrops away from a breakdown. It was best if he temporarily redirected the Doctor's attention so that the girl had time to compose herself. "How can you be here?"

"I was invited," the Doctor replied, holding up his envelope, though his eyes never wavered from Alex. "Date, map reference. Same as you lot, I assume, otherwise it's a hell of a coincidence."

Amy shook her head. "River, what's going on?"

"Amy, ask him what age he is," River commanded. Alex would have been the better person to ask but based on the way she was acting right now, it didn't look like she was going to be much help for a while.

The Doctor frowned. What did that have to do with anything? "That's a bit personal," he retorted.

"Tell her!" River snapped. "Tell her what age you are."

"Nine hundred and nine." A slight squeak echoed from Alex. Hearing this, he quickly grasped her shoulders and pulled her forward so he could press her into his chest. Alex complied with the movement, her arms wrapping around his waist and clutching him tight.

Rory frowned in confusion. "Yeah, but you said you were—"

River cut him off before he could reveal anything. "So where does that leave us, huh? Jim the Fish? Have we done Jim the Fish yet?"

The Doctor smiled at the ridiculous name. "Who’s Jim the Fish?" he questioned as he ran a hand through Alex's hair, the silky strands feeling smooth and perfect against his skin.

"I don't understand," Amy whimpered.

By this point, the Doctor had just about had enough. His companions were keeping secrets from him, secrets that, based on the way they were acting, were rather horrible and traumatic. His fingers increased their running through Alex's hair as his tolerance reached its breaking point. "I don't!" he shot back, glaring at Amy, Rory, and River. "What are we all doing here?"

There was silence for a moment as the companions tried to figure out what to tell him. How did you tell a man that you saw his older self killed, if you even told him that at all? Amy and Rory looked at each-other uneasily, then at Alex, who still had her head buried in the Doctor's chest and didn't look like she'd be much help, before finally resting on River. Out of all of them, River seemed the most capable and prepared to handle this bizarre, frightening, confusing situation.

"We've . . . been recruited," River said slowly as she concocted a story that wasn't technically a lie. It just had a few details removed. "Something to do with space, 1969, and a man called Canton Everett Delaware III."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow, his curiosity piqued. "Recruited by who?"

"Someone who trusts you more than anybody else in the universe." Seeing him starting to look down at Alex, River hastily clarified, "No, we know it's not Alex."

The Doctor's face fell a little, but he could see how she was right. Alex surely wouldn't have been crying if she had set this whole thing in motion. "And who's that?"

Much to everyone's surprise, it was Alex who answered. Her head slowly rose and she smiled sadly at him as she said, "Spoilers."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Alex labored and struggled with her suitcase as she dragged it through the TARDIS doors. The Doctor had the time machine parked right by the diner's back entrance, eliminating the need for the car and a hastily concocted cover story for where they had gotten it. The Doctor's future self had certainly considered all the variables.

The Doctor leaned against the inside of the doorframe, watching as Alex swore and fumbled with the suitcase. The last time he had seen her with it, she had been leaving. Now it meant that she would be staying. He couldn't be more thrilled. Of course, he'd be a lot more thrilled if they could get the thing in here before Alex changed her mind.

He sighed when Alex failed, for the third time, to get the hulking mass of a suitcase over the tiny ledge in the floor. "Oh, Ally, give me that!" he cried in exasperation. Not giving her any time to object, he grabbed the suitcase and lifted it with ease. A second later however, he staggered under its enormous weight.

"Rassilon, Ally!" he gasped as he scrambled up the steps to the console before he dropped the bag. "Did you pack all of Leadworth in here?" He ran over to the hallway that led off the control room and set the suitcase down against the wall, knowing that the TARDIS would make sure nothing happened to it.

Alex didn't say anything, instead stepping through the door and into the TARDIS. She reached out to touch the wall. A familiar hum sounded beneath her fingertips and a warm, delighted buzz traveled up her arm, making her giggle. Above her, the somewhat dim lights turned bright, casting the whole control room in a luminous, brilliant glow. Up by the controls, the Doctor grinned. The TARDIS had missed Alex, maybe even more than him.

"Hey, gorgeous," Alex murmured as she petted the wall. "Miss me?" A loud, affirming hum rang out throughout the whole room.

Alex laughed and headed up the console steps, only to remember that she was alone with the Doctor. She paused. Normally she would have been absolutely thrilled about this, but the man she usually liked being alone with was now most definitely suspicious of her thanks to her reaction to seeing him in the diner.

She shook her head and continued up to the platform. She could have kicked herself. After all that time spent locking down her emotions, these had bubbled to the surface, alarming him and making him all the more determined to figure out what they were all hiding. For the very first time, Alex actually wished that she wasn't alone with the Doctor, because she knew that he could easily pry the information out of her whenever they were alone. It was rather eerie, the attraction and influence they had over each-other. They could get each-other to reveal their deepest, darkest secrets with as little as 'please'.

Luckily for Alex, some deity out there was listening, for right then, the Ponds and River piled in. Amy settled beside Alex next to the railing on one side of the platform, Rory on the opposite side, and River on another. All of them watched the Doctor run around the console and begin piloting the TARDIS.

"1969!" he exclaimed jubilantly. "That's an easy one! Funny how some years are easy. Now, 1482, full of glitches. Now then, Canton Everett Delaware III. That was his name, yeah?" Amy suddenly pushed off the railing and went down the steps to underneath the console. "How many of those can there be?" Alex went after her, River following a second later. "Well, three, I suppose." The Doctor looked up just in time to see River disappearing beneath the console, Amy and Alex no longer in sight. "Rory, is everybody cross with me for some reason?"

Rory blinked. "I'll find out." He immediately scrambled down the stairs and under the console, leaving the Doctor alone with his puzzled thoughts.

"Explain it again," Amy was saying as Rory approached them. Amy was sitting on the floor directly under the glass platform. River was leaning against the stair railing with Alex at her feet. Rory knew that the only reason Alex was in such close proximity to River was because she was wary of the numerous, large, oil-filled holes that decorated the lower level of the TARDIS. For good reason too. All three companions had to once help the Doctor out when he fell into one of the holes.That was a fun Wednesday,Rory thought dryly.

"The Doctor we saw on the beach is a future version," River explained, pulling Rory back to the present. "Two hundred years older than the one up there."

"But all that's still going to happen. He's still going to die."

"We're all going to do that, Amy."

"We're not all going to arrange our own wake and invite ourselves," Rory retorted. He honestly couldn't understand why the Doctor would do that to them, especially Alex. He had to know the kind of reaction she'd have to his death. "So, the Doctor, in the future, knowing he's going to die, recruits his younger self and all of us to, to what exactly? Avenge him?"

"No," Alex muttered, shaking her head. Rory noted that her hair was messy and tousled from where she had run her hands through it in frustration. She wrapped her arms around her knees. "Avenging isn't his style."

"Save him," Amy suggested hopefully.

"Yeah, that's not really his style either," Rory said, not unkindly.

"We have to tell him!" Amy declared. She straightened up, looking completely ready to run up there and reveal all to the Doctor.

River shook her head and eyed Amy seriously. "We've done all we can. We can't even tell him we've seen his future self. He's interacted with his own past. It could rip a hole in the universe."

"Yes, but he's done it before!"

"And in fairness, the universe did blow up," Rory reminded her.

"But he'd want to know!"

"Would he?" Alex questioned. The group turned to her. An eyebrow was raised, and her features were a mixture of askance, melancholy, and reluctance. "Really, Amy, would anyone want to know when they were going to die?"

Amy shrugged, acknowledging the truth behind her words. Before anyone could say anything else, the Doctor's head popped down from above the platform.

"I'm being extremely clever up here and there's no one to stand around looking impressed!" he snapped. "What's the point in having you all?!"

River glared at the space his head had been in once he disappeared back up above the platform. "Couldn't you just slap him sometimes?" she hissed.

Alex stood. "Pretty much every day," she sighed.

"River, we can't let him die!" Amy continued to protest. She leapt to her feet and planted herself in River's path, preventing the woman from passing. "Wehaveto stop it. How can you be okay with this?"

Alex frowned at River, wondering this as well. She'd never really seen River scared before. Maybe rattled, but not truly scared or upset. Actually, compared to the rest of them, she was handling the Doctor's future death rather well. She watched River take a deep breath before answering.

"The Doctor's death doesn't frighten me. Nor does my own." She sighed sadly and looked at the ground for a moment. "There's a far worse day coming for me." Without another word, she walked around Amy and up the stairs to the platform.

Alex sighed. "As always, she manages to reassure me," she quipped under her breath. Amy and Rory let out little snorts of amusem*nt. If Alex was making little insults about River, that meant she was coming back to them.

The three climbed up the stairs and back to the platform. At the console, River was standing, arms crossed, by the controls, warily watching the Doctor pilot his ship. None of them could really blame her for her uneasiness. The Doctor had told Alex he'd failed the TARDIS flying test on Gallifrey, after all.

The Doctor looked up at the sound of their footsteps and smiled brightly when he saw Alex. Much to his relief, her cheeks were no longer red and puffy, and her eyes had changed to a warm chocolate brown. Even better, her hair was tousled and wild, just how he liked it. Still grinning like an idiot, he swept over to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, leading her over to the console. Alex immediately leaned into him, comforted by the familiar act.

"Time isn't a straight line," the Doctor began in his familiar lecturing voice as he pulled a lever on the console. "It's all bumpy-wumpy. There's loads of boring stuff like Sundays and Tuesdays and," he grimaced, "Thursday afternoons. But now and then there are Saturdays! Big temporal tipping points when anything's possible! The TARDIS can't resist them, like a moth to a flame. She loves a party, so I give her 1969 and NASA, because that's space in the sixties, and Canton Everett Delaware III, and this. . ." He and Alex rushed over to the monitor, Alex reaching over to press the button the Doctor nodded to, ". . .is where she's pointing."

The other companions quickly gathered around them to examine the screen. "Washington D.C., April the eighth, 1969," Amy read. "So why haven't we landed?"

"Because that's not where we're going."

The others frowned at him.Where could we be going?Alex wondered.His future self said to go to 1969!He wouldn't have done that for no reason.

"Oh," Rory blinked, surprised. "Where are we going?"

"Home," the Doctor replied, pulling away from Alex and promenading around the console as he spoke. "Well, you two are. Off you pop and make babies. And you, Dr. Song, back to prison. And me? I'm late for a biplane lesson in 1911. Or it could be knitting. Knitting or biplanes, one or the other." He fell back into a jumpseat as the others hesitantly stepped forward to stare at him.

"What about me?" Alex spoke up, her arms crossed.

The Doctor grinned at her. "I thought it went without saying that you'd come along too, Ally. How are you at knitting?"

"Rubbish."

He beamed at her. "Me too! That's why I asked for the lessons."

Alex smiled back, but it was a forced one. As much fun as knitting or biplane lessons in 1911 sounded, theyhadto go to 1969. Something was happening during that year, something that she bet had to do with the Doctor's future death. She swallowed thickly, feeling her throat ache a little as she did so.

The Doctor, noticing her silence and forced smile, turned away from her to study the rest of his companions. They were all frowning, their expressions guarded. What weren't they telling him?! He knew they knew something he didn't, and that just infuriated him.

"What?" he snapped when they continued to look at him that way. "A mysterious summons. You think I'm just going to go? Who sent those messages? I know you know. I can see it in your faces." He narrowed his eyes, allowing just a hint of the Oncoming Storm to appear in them. "Don't play games with me," he warned, an ounce of darkness in his voice. "Don't ever,everthink you're capable of that."

"You're going to have to trust us this time," River told him calmly.

The Doctor's frown intensified. TrustRiver Song? Was she serious? He liked her well-enough, considering she was from his future and all, but trust her? No. He seriously doubted that he could ever do that.

"Trust you?" he sneered, allowing himself to vocalize his thoughts. He stood and slowly crossed over to her. "Sure. But, first of all, Dr. Song, just one thing. Who are you?" River simply stared at him. It was the exact reaction the Doctor had expected. "You're someone from my future," he continued. "Guessing that, but who?"

Still, she said nothing.

"Okay. Why are you in prison? Who did you kill, hmm? Who was the girlfriend youattemptedto kill? Now, I love a bad girl, me, but trustyou?Seriously?"

"Trust me," Amy's voice rang out.

"And me." The Doctor turned at that voice. It was Alex. She stood beside Amy, looking rather brave and determined, quite the opposite of what you would expect from a person who had been crying for almost two hours.

Alex nervously watched the Doctor appraise them both for a moment before he slowly nodded. "Okay," he murmured, stepping over to them.

Amy took a deep breath before plowing into her explanation. "You have to do this, and you can't ask why."

He only frowned at her. "Are you being threatened?" he demanded. Unfortunately, considering the type of aliens he had dealt with, that was a distinct possibility. "Is someonemakingyou say that?"

"No," Amy insisted. She prayed that Alex wasn't looking at River.

"You're lying," he challenged.

"No, she isn't," Alex insisted, putting all the acting skills she had honed during her four years in the Southern Bristol High School Drama Club to the ultimate test.

The Doctor eyed her a moment before saying, "Swear to me. Swear to me, both of you, on something that matters."

Amy thought for all of one second before giving him a small smile. "Fish fingers and custard."

"Salsa dancing," Alex said a moment later. She smiled brightly at him, remembering the huge dancing pavilion he had taken her to in Rio to cheer her up after Rory's supposed demise by one of the cracks in time. They had danced for so long that night and then again at Amy and Rory's wedding, shocking everyone with the Doctor's not-so-horrible-after-all dancing skills. Those times in his arms were some of her best memories.

A twinkle shined in the Doctor's eyes at her words. He remembered those nights quite vividly. It seemed that only in Alex's arms did he have any dancing ability. Out of them, he danced like a drunk giraffe, at least in Amy's words. He knew those memories were precious to Alex, just as Amy's memory of her first encounter with him was precious to her.

How could he not trust them after hearing that?

He smiled at them. "My life in your hands, girls."

Alex and Amy smiled relieved smiles which dropped the instant he turned his back. As they watched him go to the console, their eyes were drawn over to River. She was nodding approvingly at them.

"Thank you," she said lowly so as to keep the Doctor from hearing.

Amy and Alex didn't say anything. Amy just headed over to Rory while Alex went to the console, leaning against it at a spot close to the Doctor.

"So!" the Doctor exclaimed as he ran around the console like a five-year-old on a sugar high. "Canton Everett Delaware III! Who's he?"

River waltzed over to the monitor to examine the information the TARDIS had gathered on the mysterious man. "Ex-FBI," she read. "Got kicked out."

"Why?"

River shrugged. "Six weeks after he left the Bureau, the President contacted him for a private meeting."

"Yeah, 1969. Who's President?"

"Nixon," Alex sneered, rolling her eyes. In her opinion, the man was only slightly better than Warren G. Harding and even then, not by much.

"Richard Milhous Nixon," River recited. "Vietnam, Watergate. There's some good stuff, too."

"Not enough," the Doctor and Alex argued.

River rolled her eyes at their simultaneous speaking, but still managed to retort, "Hippies!"

"Archaeologist," the Doctor countered. He rushed around the console, flicking switches, pushing buttons, and throwing levers so fast none of the companions could keep up with him. "Okay, since I don't know what I'm getting into this time, for once I'm being discreet. I'm putting the engines on silent."

"When do you ever know what you're getting into?" Alex questioned.

He frowned playfully at her. "That hurts, Ally," he retorted as he pulled a lever on the console. Much to the companions' alarm, a loud wailing sound rang out, completely the opposite of what should happen to silent engines. Once the Doctor's back was turned, River immediately darted forward and flipped the lever back down, cutting the sound off. She then flicked a switch, and the engines went silent.

She stepped back just as the Doctor whirled around. He stared accusingly at her. "Did you do something?"

"No, just watching," River said innocently. Despite her dislike for the girl, she had paid attention to Alex's instances of acting over the years.

The Doctor eyed her another moment before ultimately dismissing it. "Putting the outer shell on invisible," he announced, running back around the console. "I haven't done this in a while.Bigdrain on the power cells."

"You can make the TARDIS invisible?" Alex asked excitedly . . . right as a bunch of bright, almost blinding lights came on.

River shook her head. "Very nearly," she muttered. She reached out and threw a few switches back, turning the lights off.

The Doctor darted over to her. "Did you touch something?" he demanded.

River shook her head. "Just admiring your skills, sweetie."

"Good. You might learn something." Turning his focus back to the controls, he didn't see River smirk triumphantly. "Okay. Now I can't check the scanner. It doesn't work when we're cloaked. Just give us a mo." With that, he hurried down the stairs, but came to a stop and whirled around when he heard everyone else rushing after him like a stampede of elephants. "Whoa!" he shouted, causing them to stop in their tracks. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. You lot, wait a moment. We're in the middle of the mostpowerfulcity in the mostpowerfulcountry on Earth. Let's take it slow."

And without another word, he opened the door and stepped out into the Oval Office.

It was dark outside, probably past quitting time in Washington. A few lamps had been turned on all around the room. Sitting in front of the desk on one side of the room was Canton Everett Delaware III, his back to the Doctor. Behind the desk was President Nixon, his chair turned to face the gardens outside the window. A tape recorder on the desk was currently playing, both men enraptured in listening to it. A ringing noise sounded on it, most likely a telephone, cutting off a second later as it was answered.

"Hello?" Nixon asked on the recording. "Who is this? This is President Nixon. Who's calling? Is this you again?" Curious, the Doctor cautiously crept forward, pulling a notepad and a pen out of his jacket pocket so he could copy the recording down.

"Mr. President?" a little girl's voice rang out.

"A child!" Canton gasped in astonishment.

How can a child call the President of the United States?the Doctor wondered as he continued to creep closer.

"This is the President, yes," Nixon confirmed.

"I'm scared, Mr. President," the little girl whimpered. "I'm scared of the spaceman."

"A little girl?" Canton asked.

"Boy," Nixon corrected, not bothering to turn around.

It's a little girl,the Doctor thought, rolling his eyes.

"How can you be sure?" Canton countered.

The Nixon on the recording interrupted them. "What spaceman? Where are you phoning from? Where are you right now? Who are you?"

There was a small pause, as if the little girl was considering whether or not to answer any of these questions. Finally, she said, "Jefferson, Adams, Hamilton."

"Jefferson, listen to me," Nixon began, but at that moment the call ended, the little girl apparently having hung up.

"Surely this is something the Bureau could handle, sir," Canton suggested.

"These calls happen wherever I am," Nixon protested. "How do I know the Bureauisn'tinvolved?" The Doctor couldn't help but agree with that logic, considering the U.S.'s history with phone-hacking. "I can't trust anyone," Nixon continued as he swiveled around. He was about to continue, but his voice immediately died when he caught sight of the Doctor, still scribbling away at his notepad, oblivious to the fact that he had been discovered. Seeing the president's look of alarm, Canton whirled around and hurriedly sprang to his feet.

The Doctor glanced up when he realized they weren't saying anything. Still ignorant of the situation, he waved for them to continue before focusing back on the notepad. Then, it came to him, like one of Alex's whacks on the back of his head. He slowly looked up, knowing he had better come up with somethingfastto explain just how he was in the most secure room in the most secure building in America.

"Oh! Hello!" he greeted as he began backing up towards the invisible TARDIS. "Bad moment. Oh, look, this is the Oval Office! I was looking for the . . . uh. . ." In his haste, he bumped into and about knocked over a lamp before he caught it at the last second. ". . .oblong room. I'll just be off, then, shall I?" He spun around, only to walk straight into the invisible TARDIS, toppling to the ground.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Inside the TARDIS, a loud thump sounded from the outside, causing a reprieve from the silence that had invaded the control room during the Doctor's absence. Amy, Rory, and Alex looked up, puzzled by the noise, while River just sighed and muttered, "Every time."

"Don't worry!" the Doctor called from outside. "Always does that when it's cloaked!" A second later, he let out a loud shout. "Ah, no! Stop that!"

Busted,Alex thought, rolling her eyes. She was a little surprised actually. She'd have thought he'd get caught sooner.

River hurried over to the monitor and dragged it over to face the doors. "He said the scanner wouldn't work," Rory reminded her.

"I know," River replied, grinning as she plugged a large wire from the console into the scanner, sparks shooting out a moment later. "Bless."

Alex had to laugh a little. "Rule One, Rory," she quoted. "The Doctor lies. Or is ignorant on many aspects of the TARDIS."

"Let's go with the second one," River said as she fiddled a few of the scanner's knobs. A moment later, an image appeared and not a very reassuring one at that. The Doctor was currently on the Oval Office floor, being held down by several members of the Secret Service.

"River, have you got my scanner working yet?!" he yelled, his voice a little strained due to his pinned position.

River groaned. "Oh, I hate him."

Alex frowned at the screen. "I'm going to kill him," she declared.

"I'll believe that when you actually do it, Ally," River retorted.

Alex was about to snap at her for calling her a nickname she only allowed the Doctor to call her when the latter cried, "No, you don't! And you will not, Ally! River, make her blue again!"

River immediately jumped into action, frantically working at the console before glancing back up at the scanner. On the screen, Nixon, Canton, and the rest of the Secret Service agents were all gaping at the now visible police box.

"Mr. President," the Doctor called out from where he was now lounging behind the desk, having escaped the Secret Service at some point during the TARDIS's reappearance. The agents whirled around, quickly aiming their guns at him, but the Doctor didn't flinch in the slightest. "That child just told you everything you need to know, but you weren't listening. Never mind, though, because the answer is yes. I'll take the case." He then blinked, now noticing the guns. "Fellows, the guns, really? I just walked into the highest security office in the United States and parked a big blue box on the rug. Do you think you can justshootme?"

River's eyes widened and she practically flew over to the doors. "They'reAmericans!" she shrieked as she stuck her head out. The guns immediately switched over to her.

"I resent what that implies, River," Alex retorted as she walked out of the TARDIS. She glanced at the guns before holding up her hands and calmly leaning against the time machine. "Hi. Actual American here, sodon't shoot me."

The Doctor jumped up from his seat, remembering that Americans were quite trigger-happy. "Don't shoot!" he cried, holding up his hands. "Definitely no shooting!"

"Nobody shoot us either!" Rory requested as he and Amy came out. "Very muchnotin the need of getting shot! Look, we've got our hands up."

"Who the hell are you?" Nixon demanded, stepping forward a little.

"Sir," the young Canton cautioned, eyeing the TARDIS crew with a mixture of apprehension and curiosity, "you need to stay back."

"But who are they and what is that box?"

"It's a police box," the Doctor answered, rather confused as to why Nixon hadn't figured that out. It was pretty obvious. He nodded to the sign above the TARDIS door that read, inexplicably, POLICE PUBLIC CALL BOX. "Can't you read?"

"Doc," Alex warned, seeing the President starting to look rather agitated. She knew the thought of shooting them all was getting more and more tempting by the second. And frankly, she did not want to die in 1969 at the hands of Richard Nixon, of all people. "Might want to explain what we're doing here?"

"Right, yes," the Doctor declared, nodding approvingly at her. "Thank you, Ally. I'm your undercover agent on loan from Scotland Yard. Code name the Doctor. These are my top operatives, the Eyes, the Legs, the Nose, and Mrs. Robinson."

While Alex rolled her eyes, Amy glanced down at her legs, and Rory examined the bridge of his nose, River let out an exasperated huff. "I hate you," she ground out.

"No, you don't," the Doctor retorted, smirking slightly.

Stop flirting!Alex mentally shrieked, even though she really wanted to say that out loud. However, this was probably not the best time for her jealousy to start rearing its ugly head.

"Who are you?" Nixon questioned.

"Nah, boring question," the Doctor dismissed, waving him off. "Who's phoning you?That'sinteresting. Because Canton Three is right. That was definitely a girl's voice, which means there's only one place in America she can be phoning from."

"Where?" Canton asked.

"Do not engage with the intruder, Mr. Delaware!" an African American agent, clearly the head of the group, snapped.

"You heard everything I heard," the Doctor reminded them. "It's simple enough. Give me five minutes, I'll explain." He leaned back in his chair and planted his feet up on the desk, making Alex shake her head at his behavior. "On the other hand," he continued, "lay a finger on me or my friends, and you'll never, ever know." Especially if they laid a hand on Alex. They certainly never would know, because they would all be dead. It was a rather dark thought for the Doctor, one he wasn't accustomed to thinking when it involved a pretty girl, but he knew that that was what was likely to happen if anyone in this room hurt Alex in any way.

He now watched as Canton tentatively approached the TARDIS, completely in awe of the police box. "How did you get in here?" he wondered. "I mean, you didn't carry it in."

"Clever, eh?" the Doctor smirked.

"Love it."

"Do notcomplimentthe intruder!" the black agent snapped again.

Canton ignored him. "Five minutes?"

"Five minutes," the Doctor affirmed.

The other agent frowned, not happy with this development at all. "Mr. President, that man is a clear and presentdangerto—"

"Mr. President," Canton said, cutting the irate agent off, "that man walked in here with a big blue box and four of his friends, andthat's," he pointed to the other agent, "the man he walked past. One of them's worth listening to. I say we give him five minutes. See if he delivers."

The Doctor beamed at him. "Thanks, Canton!"

"If not, I'll shoot him myself."

The Doctor's face fell. "Not so thanks," he muttered.

"Sir," the other agent started up again, "I cannot recommend—"

"Shut up, Peterson!" Nixon snapped at him. He sighed begrudgingly and nodded at Canton and the Doctor. "All right," he agreed. "Five minutes."

The Doctor grinned and quickly lowered his feet, sitting up properly in the chair as the Secret Service agents reluctantly lowered and holstered their guns. "I'm going to need a SWAT team, ready to mobilize," he instructed. "Street level maps covering all of Florida, a pot of coffee, twelve Jammie Dodgers, and a fez."

Alex rolled her eyes and sauntered past the agents over to the desk. "Get him his maps," she told Canton as she hopped up onto the desk beside the Doctor.

The Doctor deflated a little at her words. "So little faith in me, Ally," he bemoaned. "We're going to have to work on that."

"I'm sure the next few minutes will restore it," Alex smiled at him. Even though she was still pretty stunned at actually seeing him alive and well after watching him get gunned down at Lake Silencio, she was trying to push it to the back of her head and not dwell on it. She had to concentrate on whatever the heck was going on here. The Doctor's future self wouldn't have sent them to 1969 for no reason.

A few minutes later, a bunch of maps of Florida had been gathered and assembled all along the desk. The Doctor, sans jacket, was leaning over the maps, giving them his best attentive stare, the one Alex thought was incredibly sexy and wished was often directed on her. Alex continued sitting on the desk, idly examining a small map of southeastern Florida. Other than seeing the spots where several retirement communities would be in a couple decades, she didn't see anything peculiar. Certainly not whatever the Doctor was looking for, at least. Nixon sat beside her in his chair and Canton stood beside the Doctor, both of them curiously watching the man work. Across the room, Amy, Rory, and River were standing around, looking at the different things in the room as they were unsure on what else to do. Two Secret Service agents kept watch over the group.

"Why Florida?" Canton questioned as he watched the Doctor lean over a map.

"That's where NASA is," the Doctor explained. "She mentioned a spaceman. NASA's where the spacemen live. Also, there's another lead I'm following."

Like the one we saw at the lake,Alex thought. But why would a NASA astronaut want to kill the Doctor?No, it's something a bit more complex. Something alien. It's got to be. It's the Doctor!

Alex put the map down and pursed her lips, absently reaching up and playing with her sonic necklace. "Doc, did you write down that recording you told me about?"

The Doctor glanced up at her. "Oh, yes," he said distractedly. "It's in my jacket pocket if you want to take a look."

Alex hopped off the desk and hurried over to where the jacket had been aimlessly tossed on one of the couches. She dug around in one of the pockets for a moment before finally pulling out a small notepad. She opened it as she headed back over to the desk, flipping past numerous scribblings of what looked like complicated mathematical equations and theorems and even, much to her surprise, a Christmas list. A few more pages and she finally found the hastily written-out recording.

What spaceman?she read.Where are you phoning from? Where are you right now? Who are you? . . . Jefferson, Adams, Hamilton.

Alex frowned. Okay, what kind of parent named their kidJefferson? That was as bad as some of the stupid names celebrities out in Hollywood came up with for their kids.Jefferson Adams Hamilton,Alex mused.Nobody has that kind of name, especially a little girl.Alex looked back over the notes, then noticing something. The Doctor had put down little dots after Nixon's question and before the girl's reply. That meant the girl had hesitated before answering. But why?

She could've been considering whether or not she should tell him. But I don't know. . .

However, before she could ponder this anymore, she suddenly heard Amy murmur, "I remember."

Alex's head popped up and she whirled around so fast, she nearly toppled off the desk. Clutching onto the edge for support, she looked at Amy. She was facing the door leading out of the Oval Office. Rory was standing in front of her, a confused look on his face.

"Amy?" he questioned. "What do you remember?"

Amy blinked, looking totally bewildered by what he was asking. Alex glanced over at the Doctor. He was watching the scene with a similar, but more worried expression. Alex was sure it was a twin of the look on her own face. She turned back to Amy, who she now saw was glancing over at the doorway. Alex craned her head to look around Amy so she could better see it.

There was nothing there. So why was Amy so caught up in it?

"I don't know," Amy stuttered, shaking her head. "I just. . ." Suddenly, she trailed off, looking quite ill. She put a hand over her stomach. Alex stiffened at the action.

"Amy, what's wrong?" Rory asked fearfully.

"Amy?" River broke in as she moved to stand closer beside the girl.

"Are you all right?" the Doctor and Alex asked together, though they didn't really notice it. They were too focused on Amy to joke and flirt about another one of their simultaneous speaking moments. Even River didn't say anything.

"Yeah, no, I'm fine," Amy sputtered, growing just the teeniest bit more ill at all the sudden attention on her. Not to mention, but the way Rory and River were standing around her was making her feel claustrophobic, which didn't help with her sudden nausea any. "I'm just feeling a little sick."

Alex sprang off the desk and darted over to her friend's side. "Mind pointing us in the direction of the nearest bathroom?" she asked Peterson.

"Sorry, ma'am, while this procedure's ongoing, you must remain within the Oval Office," Peterson replied, sounding just the tiniest bit bitter. He probably resented the fact that he didn't get to shoot the Doctor and have a cool story to tell his friends at one of the downtown bars.

Alex frowned at him and narrowed her eyes. Idiot. She had half a mind to simply drag Amy right past him and out the door. They wouldn't shoot her, not if the Doctor had anything to say about it. Just as she was about to do this though, Canton ordered, "Shut up and take them to the restroom."

Peterson bristled at the command. Fortunately for him, the other agent watching them stepped forward. "This way, ladies," he said, waving his hand at the door.

"Just me actually," Amy corrected him.

Alex blinked in surprise. "Amy—" she started, but her friend cut her off.

"Alex, I'mfine. It's probably just something I ate, that's all." Amy smiled wryly. "You know our cooking attempts. Besides, you're needed here. No one else is better equipped to help the Doctor figure out something than you."

Alex smiled at the compliment, but that didn't banish her concerns for her friend. "Are yousurethough?" she checked.

"Yes. Now go. Shoo." Amy lifted a hand from her stomach to wave Alex away before following the Secret Service agent out the door. Rory made a move to follow her but was stopped by Peterson blocking the door.

Alex bit her lip in worry. She knew Amy could take care of herself, but for some reason, she was really worrying about her. She didn't know why. Almost absently, she felt a small twinge at the back of her mind. She frowned. Why was that happening? Her mind only did that when there was a perception filter nearby and as far as she could tell, there wasn't any in the Oval Office.

But before Alex could ponder the subject any longer, Canton pulled her back to the present by saying, "Your five minutes are up."

"Yeah, and where's my fez?" the Doctor returned, not even glancing up from his map.

Uh-oh!Alex thought as she hurried back over to the desk and leapt back up on it. Nixon frowned at the action, but she ignored him. Though she was pretty sure that Canton would extend the five minutes considering he seemed pretty intrigued by them, she knew it was only a matter of time before Nixon or one of the other agents insisted they be taken away. They needed to solve this thing andfast.

She turned back to the notepad. Jefferson Adams Hamilton. No, that couldn't be the little girl's real name. It was too big and complicated for a little girl. So, if the little girl hadn't been answering Nixon's question as to who she was, what question had she been answering?

What spaceman? Where are you phoning from? Where are you right now?She seriously doubted the spaceman's name was Jefferson Adams Hamilton, so that only left two questions.Where are you phoning from? Where are you right now?

Like one of those lightbulb-over-the-head moments in the movies, it came to her. "Doctor!" she cried, leaping off the desk so she was right at his side. "I figured it out! It's so obvious! It's staring us in the face!"

"What is?" Canton question, looking understandably puzzled.

The Doctor, however, instantly caught on to what she was saying. He had long stopped trying to figure out how he and Alex could do this, connect the dots in each-others minds without saying that much. "Exactly!" he cried. "Figured as much but wasn't a hundred percent sure."

"You should've told me earlier," Alex replied, not giving the others any clue as to what she and the Doctor were talking about. "Would've saved us a little time. Two is better than one and all that."

"Ally, you're brilliant."

Alex preened at the compliment. "Flattery will you get you anywhere," she teased, entering full-on flirting mode before she remembered what was at stake here. "Except an actual location."

Like they were one, the Doctor and Alex leaned down and squinted at the maps. "There's only one," Alex muttered under her breath as she scanned the southern tip of Florida, a finger pressed to the spot where Cape Canaveral was. "Can't be that difficult to find."

"How do you figure that?" the Doctor asked, scanning the northern tip of Florida.

"Figure what?"

"That there's only one."

"It's not exactly a common street name," Alex retorted.

Canton, continuing to watch the two in bafflement, leaned over to speak to Rory. "Do they do this a lot?" he muttered.

"All the time," Rory nodded. "You kinda learn to just go with it."

"Not to mention their speaking simultaneously," River added with an eye-roll. "It's very annoying."

Right then, the phone on the desk rang.

All eyes, except for the Doctor and Alex's, shot to it. "The kid?" Canton guessed.

Nixon eyed the phone as if it might be a bomb. "Should I answer it?"

Right then, the Doctor and Alex's eyes connected on the exact same spot on the map. "THERE!" they shouted, startling everyone so much they all jumped a good foot in the air, even Amy and the one Secret Service agent as they re-entered the room.

"The only place in the United States that call could be coming from," the Doctor said.

"Told you it was obvious," Alex remarked, sending the Doctor a flirty smirk while her eyes switched from forest green to topaz.

The Doctor beamed at her. "Ally, you'rebrilliant," he said again. He picked her up and twirled her around in a circle, ignoring Alex's cackling and half-hearted hits to his shoulders as she told him to put her down.

Canton dodged their movements and leaned over to examine the area of map they'd indicated. When he saw it, his eyes widened in astonishment. "You, sir, ma'am, are geniuses," he complimented. And they really were. Who else could figure that out in under ten minutes?

"It's a hobby," the Doctor waved off.

"More like a profession for you, Doc," Alex laughed as he set her down.

Canton smiled a little at them before turning to face Nixon. "Mr. President, answer the phone."

Nixon nodded and lifted the receiver. With his other hand, he reached over and turned on the tape recorder. "Hello? This is President Nixon."

"It's here!" the little girl on the other end shrieked. "The spaceman's here! It's gonna get me! It's gonna eat me!"

The Doctor and Alex frowned, both feeling automatically protective of the little girl. Within an instant, Alex had shot across the room, grabbed the Doctor's jacket, and was now helping him into it. "There's no time for a SWAT team," the Doctor said as he straightened his lapels, desperately trying not to think about how nice it had been when Alex helped him into his jacket. It was something no one else had ever done for him, something his ninth incarnation would have called domestic, but he couldn't help but hope that it would happen again. . .Focus, you bloody idiot!

"Let's go!" he cried, pushing those thoughts to the very back of his mind. He grabbed Alex's hand and ran with her over to the TARDIS, followed by the Ponds and River. "Mr. President, tell her help's on the way!" He and Alex stepped aside to allow the others entrance. Once River was inside, they turned to Canton.

"Canton, on no account follow us into this box and close this door behind you," they said simultaneously. Canton blinked at them, more stunned by this than what they had actually said, while the two grinned at each-other.

"More simultaneous speaking," the Doctor observed, his voice in that low timber Alex loved.

"Our habit's back," Alex matched in a similar voice, unknowingly causing shivers to go down the Doctor's back.

"Welcome back, Ally."

"Good to be back, Doc," Alex grinned before pulling him into the TARDIS.

Chapter 3: The Impossible Astronaut Part 3

Chapter Text

"What the hell are you doing?!" Canton demanded as they disappeared inside. Knowing that the only way he was going to get answers was to go after them, he quickly followed them inside, shutting the door behind him. He turned around to study the surely tiny space . . . only for his eyes to widen and his feet to become frozen in place as he took in the bigger-on-the-inside interior.

Up by the console, the Doctor didn't even notice Canton's reaction to the TARDIS for he was too busy piloting the machine with some help from River. Alex clutched the railing and looked down at Canton. She smiled reassuringly at him, noticing that Rory was standing beside him, before turning to address Amy, lounging against her.

"You feeling better now?" she asked.

Amy looked over at her. "Sorry, what?"

"Are you feeling better now? Not feeling sick anymore?"

Amy shook her head. "Oh, I'm fine. Probably just one of those twenty-four-hour bugs or something. I'll be okay, don't worry."

Alex nodded, but that didn't calm her down any. Why was she worrying so much about Amy? Yes, she was her best friend, her closest one next to Lacey back in Bristol, but there was something else going on here. Another twinge twitched in her mind, this one stronger than the last one. Alex frowned. It was like the twinge was trying to get her attention. But over what? The TARDIS didn't have any perception filters!

"Jefferson isn't a girl's name," the Doctor's voice suddenly broke in, derailing Alex's thoughts.

Alex nodded in agreement, focusing back on the matter at hand. "It's nothername either," she added.

"Jefferson . . . Adams . . . Hamilton," the Doctor mused. He suddenly turned to his co-pilot. "River!"

River grinned and straightened her shoulders a little, obviously pleased at having been picked instead of Alex. "Surnames of three of America's founding fathers," she provided.

"Lovely fellows," the Doctor recalled. "Two of them fancied me."

Alex's brow furrowed. She wasn't sure she needed to know that. She felt her jealousy bubbling up but pushed it down. "TMI, Doc," she called out.

The Doctor stuck his tongue out at her, making her giggle a little, before continuing with his explanation. "You see, the President asked the child two questions. Where are you and who are you."

"She was answering where," Alex picked up.

The Doctor gave her an approving nod. "Now, where would you find three big, historical names in a row like that?"

"Where?" Amy asked.

In response, the Doctor reached out and pulled a lever on the console, causing the TARDIS to make a thumping sound as it landed. "Here!" He darted to the doors, pausing only to grab Alex's hand so she could join him.

"Come on!" Alex cried over her shoulder as she and the Doctor ran down the stairs. So caught up in getting outside, they almost banged into Canton and Rory, the former still gaping around at the control room.

"It's . . . er. . ."

The Doctor sent Canton a fleeting glance before turning to Rory. "Are you taking care of this?" He gave Rory no time to reply and merely rushed out the door. As Alex was pulled along, she managed to send Rory an apologetic look over her shoulder.

"Why is it always my turn?" Rory grumbled as River dashed out after them.

Amy strode up to him. "Because you're the newest," she answered simply. She smiled sweetly at him before leaning forward and pressing a kiss to his cheek. Then she, too, was out the door.

Amy frowned a little at her new surroundings. They had landed in what appeared to be a mostly disused office space. Filing cabinets were stacked everywhere, a fine sheen of dust decorating the tops of them. Discarded boxes filled with packing peanuts were strewn all across the floor. On one side of the room was a small desk with a little leather chair in front of it. This was where the Doctor was sitting, playing with an American flag he'd snitched off the desk, while Alex sat comfortably in his lap.

"Where are we?" Amy questioned as she cautiously stepped further into the room.

"About five miles from Cape Kennedy Space Center," Alex answered, giggling and playfully swiping at the Doctor's hands as he waved the flag in her face.

The Doctor chuckled and tossed the flag back onto the desk. "It's 1969, the year of the moon. Interesting, don't you think?"

You have no idea, Doc,Alex thought as she cast her eyes downwards, purposefully looking anywhere else than at the Time Lord.

"But why would a little girl be here?" Amy wondered, waving a hand around the dingy space.

"I don't know," the Doctor admitted. "Lost me a bit."

"At any rate, I doubt she's here by choice," Alex said. Little girls liked big open spaces to play in. This wasn't one of them.

"Good job, Ally," the Doctor complimented, smiling approvingly and pointing a finger at her. "The President asked the girl where she was, and she did what any lost little girl would do." He nudged Alex off his lap and stood to head over to a window on the other side of the room. "She looked out of the window." He pulled some blinds aside, revealing a dark street with only one working streetlight on it. The light was perfectly positioned to show three street signs across the road: Jefferson Street, Adams Street, and Hamilton Avenue.

Amy peered out the window. "Streets. Of course, street names!"

"The only place in Florida, probably all of America, with those three street names on the same junction." He then glanced over at River. "And Dr. Song, you've got that face on again."

"What face?" River questioned, but Alex caught the gleam in her eye. She knew exactly what the Doctor meant.

"The 'He's hot when he's clever' face."

"This is my normal face," River argued, albeit weakly. Alex glowered at her. Oh, it wassoobvious that River was enjoying this.

"Yes, it is," the Doctor nodded.

"Oh, shut up," River saucily retorted. Alex's glare intensified by a thousand. If it were possible to kill people with just a look, River Song would be dead as a doornail right about now.

"Not a chance," the Doctor shot back. He actually looked as though he wasenjoyingthe interaction.

Alex had to stop this. River so freaking in love with the Doctor, it was almost pathetic. Alex was aware that saying this was like the pot calling the kettle black considering her own feelings for the Doctor, but the point still stood. Besides, it was highly likely that River knew of Alex's feelings for the Doctor and was just blatantly ignoring them so she could try to get the Doctor for herself.

Well, that's not gonna happen,Alex vowed as she marched up to plant herself between them.

"Come on, Doc," she ordered, forcing a cheerful tone as she grabbed the Doctor's jacket sleeve and led him towards a corridor away from the office. "Let's go this way." However, right before she could pull him away from River's desperately-trying-to-sink-into-him claws, Rory came out of the TARDIS along with a still baffled Canton. The ex-FBI agent stumbled out of the time machine and gaped at his new surroundings.

"We've moved," he said, pointing out the obvious. "How . . . how can we have moved?!"

The Doctor groaned. Other people had handled this so much better. "You haven't even got tospace travelyet?"

Rory shot him a defensive glare. "I was going to cover it withtime travel."

"Time travel," Canton dumbly repeated.

"Brave-heart, Canton," the Doctor told him as Alex dragged him towards the corridor, Amy and River already having gone ahead. "Come on!"

The group cautiously walked down the dark and damp corridor. As they ventured further, Alex found herself gripping onto the Doctor's jacket while the latter wrapped his arm protectively around her shoulders. Going down dark and creepy tunnels was nothing new to them, but it was still a rather nerve-wracking experience, made none the easier when the one they admired was standing right there.

The corridor eventually branched out into a large cement-walled room. Boxes and bins had been stacked at random all around. A small distance away, there was a large examination table cluttered with tools and little bits of 1960s era tech . . . including an adult-sized NASA astronaut suit. Alex gulped when she saw it and immediately refrained her eyes, though she found that her gaze kept being pulled back to it.

"It's a warehouse of some kind," River observed. "Disused."

Alex rolled her eyes at such a blatant statement about something they could clearly see. "No, really?" she faux-gasped. "I had no idea. Please, tell us more!"

"Alex," the Doctor admonished, not wanting to get involved in another Alex-River spat right now. He kept his arm wrapped around her shoulders as he turned and asked River, "You realize this is almost certainly a trap, of course?"

River nodded. "I noticed the phone, yes."

Amy, hearing this even though she was slightly ahead of them, turned back around. "What about it?" she questioned.

"It was cut off."

Alex shuddered at the sinister implications of that piece of trivia, but quickly focused on what this factoid now revealed about Nixon's mysterious caller. "So how is the little girl calling the President from here?"

"And why would anyone want to trap us?" Amy added as the group continued further into the room.

Alex shook her head sadly. Sometimes, Amy could be horribly naïve and oblivious. "Amelia, who in this room is one of the single-most powerful beings in the universe?" she asked, looking pointedly at the Doctor.

Amy followed her eyes and, when realization hit, went, "Oh. Sorry."

The Doctor snorted a little at the girls' antics, but he couldn't help but worry at Alex's words. She was right. Hewasquite a legend. Was this a trap built with him in mind? If so, by who?

Stop it,he scolded himself.Worrying isn't going to help. Besides, other than a few irate Daleks, some pissy Cybermen, and a few other species, you haven't really pissed anyone off. There's probably nothing to worry about.

Pulling himself back to the present, he shrugged and said, "Maybe, and thank you for the compliment, Ally, but for now, let's see if anyone tries to kill us and work backwards."

Yeah, that would end well,Alex thought.

"Now, why would a little girl be here?" River wondered, gazing around at the dilapidated room.

"I don't know," the Doctor replied. "Let's find her and ask her."

"Before we do that," Alex said, "can we focus onthatfor a minute?" She pointed across the room to the examination table and the spacesuit lying on it. A panel of light was shining down on it, looking a lot like the lights from some alien operating room Alex had seen in a movie her friend Ross dared her to watch a few years ago. Regardless of its creepiness, the light perfectly illuminated the suit, revealing that it had actually been opened up. A bunch of wires and other components stuck out of it, adding to the creepy element of this whole place.

River immediately hurried over to it, her inner archeologist peeking out as she examined a piece that, in her time, was positively ancient. "It's nonterrestrial," she reported. "Definitely alien. Probably not even from this time zone."

"Which is odd, because look at this!" the Doctor cried excitedly from his place by a few opened boxes, all of them packed with NASA spacesuits. Alex went over to him and leaned against a crate. She watched him poke around the boxes, looking like a little kid on Christmas morning. The comparison made her smile.

"It's Earth tech," River added. "It's contemporary."

The Doctor reached into one of the boxes and pulled out an astronaut's helmet. "It'sverycontemporary," he corrected. "Cutting edge. This is from the space program."

"Stolen?" River guessed.

"What, by aliens?" Amy scoffed as she moved to stand next to Alex.

"Apparently," the Doctor shrugged, pulling the space helmet over his head. Alex closed her eyes and placed a hand over them, shaking her head wearily. She really needed to do something about the Doctor's fascination with hats. First fezzes, then Stetsons, now space helmets? This was getting ridiculous!

"That makes no sense," she argued. "If you're an advanced alien race and can make it all the way to Earth, why would you bother stealing technology that, in this time period, barely made it to the moon?"

"Maybe because it's cooler?" the Doctor suggested, his voice slightly muffled by his gold-plated visor. Lifting it up, he enthusiastically added, "Look how cool this stuff is!"

Amy blinked. "Cool aliens?" she said, staring at him.

"Well, what would you call me?"

"An alien," Amy and Alex said together.

"Oi!" He shot them a frown, though it turned into something more playful when he looked at Alex.

Alex smirked back at him. "Maybe a handsome alien," she countered, her eyes sparkling as they switched from copper to honey colored. She didn't care that she was full-on flirting with him right now, just that he was here so she could. She couldn't focus on the Doctor's death. That was hundreds of years in his future. It probably wouldn't even happen again while she was with him. She hoped.

The Doctor's face reddened. Nevertheless, his lips broke out into a grin. "Th-thank you, Ally," he stuttered.

Alex giggled a little, making his grin grow wider. Beside them, Amy rolled her eyes, albeit affectionately. Having traveled with the Doctor and Alex for so long, she had gotten used to their flirting. It was either that or be annoyed by it every time it came up which was only . . . every three minutes.

Just then, Rory and Canton appeared. "I, er, think he's okay now," Rory announced. The ex-FBI agent did look much calmer now. He had somehow procured a flashlight and was currently shining it all around the warehouse.

"Ah!" the Doctor beamed. "Back with us, Canton?"

Canton nodded. "I like your wheels."

"That's my boy," the Doctor said admiringly, patting him on the shoulder. With his other hand, he reached out and grasped Alex's hand. "So, come on. Little girl. Let's find her."

Alex allowed the Doctor to pull her off to the other side of the warehouse while Amy went over to River. The woman was still examining the dissected spacesuit, currently fascinated by a bunch of muck and slime on its wiring. Amy grimaced a little before forcing herself to focus on her true purpose for coming over here. "So, River—"

"I know what you're thinking," River interrupted, not even looking up as she scanned one of the wires with her handheld.

"No, you don't."

"You're thinking if we can find the spaceman in 1969 and neutralize it, then it won't be around in 2011 to kill the Doctor."

"Or attempt to kill Alex," Amy added. Seeing that astronaut try to kill her other best friend . . . It scared her half to death. If Alex hadn't ducked, she would most certainly be dead right now.

River hummed at the comment, but otherwise didn't acknowledge it. "It's only because I was thinking it too."

"So let's do it!"

River shook her head. "It doesn't work like that." She stepped around Amy to examine another section of the spacesuit. "We came here because of what we saw in the future. If we try and prevent the future from happening, we create a paradox."

"Time can be rewritten," Amy protested.

"Not all of it."

"Says who?"

River looked Amy right in the eye. "Who do youthink?" she shot back. And really, the answer was painfully obvious. The Doctor knew more than anyone about what you could and couldn't do to time.

Amy went silent, absorbing this, as River's eyes caught sight of a wire on the floor. It traveled across the concrete all the way over to a manhole a small distance away. "What's this?" she murmured, following the wire over to the manhole.

Amy, refusing to let the subject drop, went after her. The Doctor and Alex were her best friends. The Doctor had been a fixture in her life since her childhood and Alex had been the first person to believe her and not think she was crazy about her 'imaginary friend'. Alex had helped get her and Rory together and the Doctor had shown her more wonders of the universe than she ever could have imagined. They were both so fantastic and wonderful. How could River just stand by and not try to help? Amy knew that she had some kind of issue with Alex, but she seemed to really like the Doctor. Why wouldn't she try and at least keep him from getting hurt?

She tried to appeal to this side of River's character. "We can still save him," Amy persisted.

But if River heard her persistence, she chose not to acknowledge it. At the moment, she was completely captivated by the manhole before her. "Doctor?" she called. "Look at this."

The Doctor and Alex whirled around and headed over to them. Alex watched, her head tilted, as River lifted the manhole cover, exposing a bunch of thick wires running down into a deep black tunnel. "So, where does that go?" the Doctor wondered.

River held out her handheld and scanned it. A few moments later, a result popped up. "There's a network of tunnels under here."

"Any life signs?" Alex asked, kneeling beside the hole to peer down into it. The Doctor immediately moved behind her, ready to catch her if she accidentally fell. Knowing he was paranoid about her falling down there a laAlice in Wonderland, Alex hopped back up and moved over to his side, though she was still mega curious about that hole. Someone had to have made those tunnels and whoever that someone was, they had to still be down there.

River shook her head. "No, nothing that's showing up."

"Those are the worst kind," the Doctor commented as River put her handheld away and began climbing down the hole. "Be careful!" he warned her.

River paused on the ladder and smirked up at him. "Careful? Tried that once. Ever so dull."

"Shout if you get in trouble," the Doctor ordered.

River's smirk grew wider, and Alex had to resist the urge to face-palm herself. That comment was like giving catnip to a cat or a car gasoline. Riverthrivedon innuendos. She was a lot like Captain Jack, but a lot less likable.

"Don't worry, I'mquitethe screamer," she boasted, eyeing the Doctor significantly. "Nowthere'sa spoiler for you."

Alex smiled back at her, though her smile was more menacing than sweet. She crossed her arms and looked River right in the eye as she said, "Yes, I'm sure the time I pushed her off that cliff gave herplentyof practice."

River glared darkly at her, but nevertheless continued downwards. Alex thought she caught a few choice words about her but decided to dismiss it and enjoy this little victory. Alex, 1. River, 0.

"So, what's going on here?" Canton's voice broke out.

The Doctor whirled around to face him, his eyes wide. Was Canton asking about River? Did he think they were an item? Because they weren't! Far from it, actually. While he did sort of like River as a friend, he wasnotromantically interested in her. That position had been filled by Alex the second he laid eyes on her.

"Nothing," the Doctor dismissed. "She's just a friend." Hearing Alex snort at that, he rolled his eyes and said, "Alexandria."

"Sorry," Alex said, not sounding apologetic in the slightest.

Rory stepped up to the Doctor, knowing he’d better correct the Doctor's assumption before he landed in hot water with Alex. "I think he's talking about the possible alien incursion."

The Doctor nodded in relief. "Okay!" He really didn't want to have to explain his relationship with River, especially with Alex there. The two really didn't like each-other. Granted, they had their moments, but they were a bit rare.

The Doctor went back over to the boxes of equipment. Alex tagged along behind him while Amy and Rory stayed with Canton by the manhole. Alex watched the Doctor study the equipment for a few moments, taking in all his features. His dark emerald green eyes. His floppy dark brown hair, hair that she longed to run her fingers through. Thick, angular cheekbones. Pale pink lips that were perfect for kissing. . .Snap out it, Alexandria!

Though really, you couldn't blame her. The future Doctorhadkissed her (with tongue!) at Lake Silencio and called her 'love'. That implied thatsomethingin the future happened, though what that something was, Alex wasn't really sure. Did he love her? Did they become a couple? It was a slight miracle her brain was even keeping up with the weird alien stuff going on around her, considering the events at Lake Silencio were at the epicenter of her mind.

"Penny for your thoughts, Ally?" the Doctor's voice broke in.

Alex blinked, then pushed her romantic thoughts to the very back of her mind. She turned and mock-glared at the Doctor. "My thoughts are worth far more than a penny, Doc."

He snickered a little. "Oh, really? How much then?"

"About a thousand bucks."

"My, you're expensive. Perhaps I should keep you in the TARDIS so no one can try and steal those extremely valuable thoughts."

Alex giggled a little. Their banter was back. It seemed like they were normal again. "I think I might object to that, Doc."

"You can't blame a person for wanting to protect what's precious to them," the Doctor argued. This time, his voice was much more serious, indicating that he wasn't just bantering with her anymore.

You are the most precious thing in the universe to me, love, and I do not want to see you hurt.The words flashed through her mind in an instant, nearly causing her to miss them. She studied the Doctor. His eyes were dark and serious, exactly like they had been when he told her this at Lake Silencio. Alex gazed up at him. "Really?" she breathed.

He raised a hand and lightly grazed her cheek. Alex shivered a little as his cool skin ran against her suddenly hot one. "Didn't you already know that, Ally?" he murmured, the words audible only to her. "Hmm? Because you are. Since day one."

Her cheeks flamed, but in a totally thrilled way instead of an embarrassed way. "I know now," she replied. She reached up to place her hand atop his, holding it to her cheek. "And for the record? It's the same vice-versa, Doc."

"I had a feeling," the Doctor admitted, feeling immensely happy that Alex,his Ally, felt so strongly about him, the same way he did with her. It was astounding really, how quickly their relationship had developed, as if it were a switch inside them that had been turned on when they met each-other. He had felt something like this with Rose, but his connection with her paled to the one he had with Alex. This was something different, something more . . . fateful, for lack of a better word.

But before either of them could express more devotions to each-other, River chose that moment to come scrambling up the ladder. Alex's head spun around to face her, her lips already in the beginning processes of a frown, until she saw the look on River's face. She looked frightened and alarmed and she was panting for breath, as if she had been running. Then, just a split second later, the look of fright disappeared, replaced with a perfectly calm expression. Alex's brow furrowed.What was that about?she wondered.

"All clear!" River called out, the upper portion of her body leaning out of the manhole. The gears in Alex's mind turned as she watched River. She seemed to be calm, but Alex could see that the woman was a little confused about something. What had happened down in that tunnel?

"What's down there?" Alex asked, crossing her arms and tilting her head to the side as she awaited River's answer.

"Just tunnels. Nothing down there I can see." She turned to look at the Doctor. "Give me five minutes. I want to take another look around."

"Stupidly dangerous!" the Doctor shouted after her.

"Yeah, I like it too," River smartly countered as she proceeded back down the ladder. "Amy, look after him!"

Alex rolled her eyes at River's obvious deliberate exclusion of her from that order and began marching over to the manhole. "Doctor, I'm going down there too!" she called over her shoulder.

The Doctor's eyes widened, and he scrambled over to her so fast, it almost looked like he flew. "Why?" he demanded nervously. Alex hated River and the feeling was very, very mutual. She wasn't going to use exploring the tunnels as a pretense to try and harm River, was she? He mentally slapped himself.Don't be stupid!he inwardly snapped.Alex doesn't go around deliberately killing people!Still, it was River she was talking about going down with. . .

"Didn't you notice that River came up panting for breath?" Alex asked, keeping her voice quiet so she wouldn't alarm the others. "She also looked terrified for a split second before she suddenly got calm."

The Doctor frowned, taking in her words. What could cause something like that? "You're thinking she forgot that something happened to her down there?"

Wouldn't be the first time people have been forgetting things today, Alex thought, remembering Amy's wondering of what something was at Lake Silencio and how she seemed to remember what that something was back at the Oval Office. "It's possible," she said instead, shrugging a little for emphasis. "Stranger things have happened."

That was true. The Doctor definitely couldn't argue with that. And if Alex was telling the truth (which she definitely was because it washis Ally), then something was clearly going on here, something that probably had a lot to do with the little girl that kept calling Nixon.

He sighed and closed his eyes. After a moment, he opened them and looked right into Alex's currently light-green depths. "Okay," he acquiesced. "You can go. Butpleasebe careful, Ally. Promise me that?"

"Don't worry, Doc," Alex smiled. "I'll be careful enough for thethreeof us."

The Doctor chuckled at the little dig against him and watched Alex shimmy down the ladder. Once she was out of sight and earshot, he immediately whirled around and said, "Rory, would you mind going with her?"

Rory eyed the dark hole. "Yeah, a bit."

"Then I'd appreciate it all the more."

Rory sighed, but he knew the Doctor was right. Someone had to look after Alex . . . and prevent a potential double homicide from happening. "Hang on!" he yelled as he started climbing down the ladder. "I'm coming too!"

Alex, who was almost at the bottom of the ladder, looked up and shook her head. "I said I'd be careful for the three of us!" she shouted upwards. But if the Doctor heard her, he didn't acknowledge her. Alex sighed and continued down, hopping off the final rung. When she turned around, she came face-to-face with an ill-looking River. She was hunched over, her arms wrapped around her stomach, and her face was a little green.

"You okay?" Alex asked as Rory hopped down beside her.

"Ah, yes, yes," River dismissed, waving her off. "I just felt a bit sick. It's the prison food, probably."

"Shouldn't have killed someone then." A question then rose in her mind. She was pretty sure that River had killed the Doctor. All of her comments in their previous adventures with her had seemed to imply that. But the Doctor was killed at Lake Silencio . . . and River was standing right beside her . . . and she seemed pretty shocked about the whole thing as well.

Later, Alexandria,a little voice in Alex's head spoke up.You can try and work that out later. Right now, you have to concentrate on the creepy tunnel ahead of you. And it really was a creepy-looking tunnel. It was dark and gloomy. Water dripped down from the ceiling, making eerie sounding little plops as it fell onto the concrete floor.

River ignored the insult and instead pulled out her scanner. "Okay," she said, pointing it out in front of her. "This way? What do you think?" Not bothering to wait for an answer, she set off at a determined stride, leaving Alex and Rory to scramble after her.

Alex caught up with her first. "Did you hear something?" she suddenly asked. Indeed, there was some kind of strange noise coming from all around them, but she couldn't see anything just yet.

Rory nodded. "I keep thinking I hear things," he confirmed.

"That's interesting," River murmured, peering at her handheld. "These tunnels are old,reallyold."

"Must've been made," Alex hypothesized. She studied the tunnel walls for a clue as to who made them. She was willing to bet they weren't man-made. More like alien-made.

"How can they be really old and nobody notice them?" River wondered, gazing around the tunnels.

"The Doctor once told me that the human race is notorious for dismissing things they can't explain or don't want to believe. It's not really that difficult to explain when you think about it."

River hummed in agreement. They continued on for a few moments until they came to a large steel door in the middle of their path. Rory eyed it. "It's a maintenance hatch," he observed.

River moved to open it, but nothing happened. "It's locked," she announced. She grimaced in frustration. "Oh, why do people always lock things?"

"What's through there?" Rory wondered.

Alex leaned back against the wall. "Who knows?" she shrugged as she watched River play with the lock.

Rory arched an eyebrow at them. "Something bad?"

"Almost definitely," River and Alex replied. The two jerked a little and slowly turned to look at each-other. River shook her head. "Rubbing off on me, the both of you," she muttered, turning her focus back to the lock.

Rory watched her fiddle with it. "You're going to open that, aren't you?" he sighed.

"Well, it's locked. How's a girl supposed to resist?"

"Is this sensible?"

"God, I hope not," River grinned. She pulled her scanner out and flashed it at the lock before getting to work picking it. Alex watched her do this for a few moments. It was slow going.

Alex glanced down at her necklace. It was hidden under her jacket, just how she preferred it. She didn't really want word getting out to alien races that she had a sonic necklace. There was always the chance that someone might steal it, either for its sonic value, the gemstones in it, or both. Only a few people besides her and the Doctor knew about it. There was Lacey and Marigold, who had found out along with her that it was sonic when she visited them for a belated birthday party, and Amy and Rory. They had been pretty shocked when she told them about the added bonus in her special birthday present, making her prove it by sonicing the TV. They got all the sports channels for free now.

Now, Alex wondered about River. Did she know about the sonic necklace? It was possible, considering she was from the future. She hadn't said anything about it, though she probably wasn't sure if Alex had the necklace or not yet. Alex checked River's lock-picking status. Still slow, tedious going. Growing impatient, she reached under the collar of her jacket and pulled her necklace out, the gemstones on the TARDIS charm glittering a little in the darkness.

River's eyes went straight to it. "You've had that the whole time and didn't say anything?!" She jumped up and put away her scanner, then held her hand out, palm turned up. "Give it here."

Alex narrowed her eyes, the honey colored depths turning into the Doctor's dark green. "If you think I'm letting you lay afingeron my necklace, you're crazy!" she snapped. Clutching the charm tightly in one fist, she marched past River and knelt before the lock. "I'lldo it."

River huffed and leaned back against the wall. Clearly, this wasn't the first time Alex had refused to let her within spitting distance of the sonic necklace. Rory eyed the two warily, his gaze mostly resting on River. Amy had told him about the woman shortly after their wedding, about the Weeping Angels and their encounter with River there. Amy had said that River was very flirty with the Doctor and seemed to know quite a bit about him. In fact, Amy had suspected she might be his wife in the future.

Rory frowned. No, he really didn't want that to happen. Amy didn't either. They had both seen the Doctor and Alex together and anyone with eyes would tell you that the two were in love with each-other and were pretty much destined to be together. There was a chemistry between them, an attraction that couldn't really be described. It was . . . unique. And while River was flirty with the Doctor and the latter did respond back in a similar fashion, the connection and attraction just weren’t there. Rory seriously doubted that the Doctor felt like that towards River. Not that River seemed to know otherwise.

"You and the Doctor," he said to River as Alex buzzed her sonic over the lock. "Amy's told me about you, but I can't picture it."

River frowned and turned to stare stonily back the way they'd came. "Keep a look out," she said tightly, obviously offended by Rory's comment.

But Rory wasn't going to get sidetracked. Alex was his best friend, like a little sister to him. He wanted to know what to expect from this total stranger and how it might impact his friend. "What did you mean? What you said to Amy. There's a worst day coming for you." Alex looked up at this, her sonic falling silent. She stared at River, waiting for her to say something.

River stared out into the distance for a moment before finally sighing and turning her head back to face them. "When I first met the Doctor," she began, "a long,longtime ago, he knew all about me. Think about that. An impressionable young girl and suddenly this man just drops out of the sky and he's clever and mad andwonderful and knows every last thing about her. Imagine what that does to a girl."

"We don't really have to," Rory said. Alex nodded in agreement, both of them thinking about how the Doctor's arrival in Amy's backyard when she was seven influenced the course of her life up to today.

"The trouble is," River continued, "it's all back to front. My past is his future. We're travelling in opposite directions. Every time we meet, I know him more, he knows me less." Her expression turned wistful and sad, clearly thinking back over the times these things had occurred. "I live for the days when I see him, but I know that every time I do, he'll be one step further away. And the day is coming when I'll look into that man's eyes,myDoctor . . . and he won't have the faintest idea who I am. And I think it's going to kill me."

Alex turned back to the lock, running her sonic over it. Hearing that . . . she actually felt a little sorry for River. Only a little, certainly not enough to where her feelings for the woman had changed, especially with that 'myDoctor' part, but she did understand her a little better now. It had to be hard seeing someone who was such a big part of your life not know who you were and whether or not they could trust you.

Right then, the lock clicked, and the door slid open. "Ha!" Alex cheered, bouncing up. "There we go! Sonic lessons from the Doctor. Who would've guessed they'd pay off?"

"That is a miracle," Rory agreed, "considering his driving of the TARDIS is worse than yours on a car."

Alex stuck her tongue out at him, making Rory chuckle. She turned back to the door and, hesitating slightly, walked in, Rory and River behind her. As they walked through the door, Alex's jaw dropped, and her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.

They were now inside a huge, apparently empty, control room. The metal walls were dark, and smoke drifted across the floor. In the center of the room was a control console, much like the one on the TARDIS, though this one contained little blue orbs on the center of each panel. But that wasn't what shocked Alex. It was that she hadseenthis place before.

This was an exact copy of the spaceship that had been posing as the second floor on Craig Owens' flat. The one she and the Doctor didn't know who it belonged to.

"Who did it belong to?" Alex inquired. "I mean, what kind of aliens?"

The Doctor sighed. "I don't know. We may never know. The crew was dead anyway."

Was the crew for this spaceship dead as well? Alex looked around, staying by the doorway as River and Rory cautiously stepped further into the room. She didn't see any bodies, but that didn't mean there hadn't been someone here.

"What is this place?" Rory wondered.

River stepped further into the room. Just as she did this, the lights above them started flickering and a klaxon began blaring. "That's an alarm," she said, stating the obvious. "Check if anything's coming."

Rory and Alex nodded and turned back to the doorway. The sight beyond the confines of the door made Alex shriek.

Standing outside was a large swarm of horrifying-looking aliens. Their heads were large and bulb-shaped, colored pale gray. They all had sunken in eyes and, as far as Alex could tell, no mouths. All of them were dressed in black suits, which looked almost like their skin. Their hands were large, and their fingers were long, the nails resembling claws. They were hands down the scariest looking aliens Alex had ever seen before.

Rory's eyes widened in horror and he immediately turned around to warn River . . . only to blink a second later, his features calm. "There's nothing out there," he said as the menacing aliens continued to stare at them.

Alex gaped at him in shock. What the hell?! There were freaky-looking aliens just five feet away! "Rory, what the hell are you on about?!" she shrieked. "There are aliens out there! Freaky, dangerous ones!"

"There's nothing out there, Alex," Rory insisted, giving her a strange look. "I know what I saw."

"Honestly, Ally, are you getting scared by your own shadow?" River snarked as she scanned one of the orbs on the panels.

"River, now is not the time for sarcasm!" Alex snapped.

But to her distress, River ignored her, continuing to scan and examine the control console. "These tunnels, they're not just here," she revealed. "They'reeverywhere. They're running under the surface of the entire planet! They've been here for centuries."

"Thank you for the history lesson, River, but we have got to get out of here!" Alex yelled. Those aliens were really starting to scare her. They were staring at them very menacingly and, much to her growing alarm, little pinpricks of electricity were coming out of their fingertips. It reminded her of the Lylon's and their ability to control and handle electricity. And in her experience, that was not a good ability to have.

Alex immediately sprinted up to River and grabbed her hand, dragging her towards the door. "Alex!" River shouted. "What the hell are you. . .?" Then they got over to the door and River's eyes grew wide. "Oh my God," she breathed, trembling in fright.

"What?" Rory cried. He turned around and caught sight of the aliens as well. "Oh my God!" he yelled, jumping in shock.

"You can freak out later!" Alex yelled as the electricity in the aliens' hands grew, the crackling of the energy very audible now. "Just run!"

Grabbing hold of Rory's hand, Alex pulled the two through the mass of creatures. The aliens sneered and snarled at them, indentations forming in the spots their mouths would be at, which only terrified Alex even more. And she hardly ever got scared. That meant that these aliens were something new, something dangerous and threatening.

After what felt like ages, they came to the ladder. Alex shoved Rory towards it. "MOVE!" she yelled at him. Rory hastened to obey, immediately scrambling up the ladder. Once he was halfway up, Alex ushered River to go ahead, but the woman surprised her by pushing her forwards instead.

"The Doctor will kill me if anything happens to you!" River shouted as she pulled her gun out and aimed it at the advancing creatures. "Go!"

Definitely not about to argue in this situation, Alex shimmied up the ladder like it was what she was born to do. Before she knew it, she was at the top. She hauled herself out and struggled to her feet. She was panting wildly, and her heart was beating faster than a drum during one of those salsa dances she and the Doctor loved doing. She ran a hand through her dampening hair, watching as River clambered up, her gun still held out in warning.

She gasped for breath and went to lean against the wall. "I think we're safe now," she decided. But then, a breath later, she blinked, and her features changed. She looked around the room, puzzled. "What are we doing up here?"

"I was just thinking the same thing," Rory confessed.

Alex gawked at them. "Are you doing this just to get on my nerves?!" she cried. "Do you seriously not remember running from the crazy aliens with a passion for Brooks Brothers’ suits?"

"What are you talking about, Alex?" Rory demanded, giving her a confused expression.

He really doesn't remember,Alex realized. Which only brought up one question. How did she remember the events?

Worry about that later, Alexandria. Right now, you need to get the Doctor and get the hell out of here.That seemed like a good plan. Alex decided to do just that. She looked around, expecting the Doctor's head to come popping up from behind a box, probably wearing that ridiculous space helmet again, only . . . no one else was there.

"Dammit!" she cried in frustration, stomping her foot. "I should put a bell on him or something! Tell him it's cool. . ." She trailed off as she looked around the room for another exit, only to see one of those unnatural creature's hands slipping out from the manhole.

"Oh no, you don't!" Alex cried. She dashed forward and, with the heel of her boot, stomped on the creature's hand. The creature, whatever the heck it was, howled in pain, probably cussing her out in whatever language it spoke. A few stomps later, it disappeared back underground. Alex smiled triumphantly and quickly snatched up the manhole cover, slapping it down over the hole. She then hopped up on it and jumped up and down a few times, getting it on there nice and tight. She knew it wouldn't keep the aliens out for long, but it would delay them for a few minutes.

"Okay!" she chirped to Rory and River, who had been watching her actions of the last few minutes with total bafflement. "It's not safe and I don't have time to explain why. Just get to the TARDIS now. I have to go find the Doctor. Go!" And without seeing if they obeyed her or not, Alex sprinted off around a corner and down a hallway.

She worried that it would take a while to find the Doctor, but it actually took less than ten seconds. "Doctor, quickly!" she heard Canton call out.

"What, now?" the Doctor groaned. Alex's heart sped up and a fresh load of adrenaline entered her system.Just a little further. . .

A moment later, she rounded a corner to see Canton lying on the ground, unconscious, with the Doctor and Amy kneeling beside him. "Doctor!" Alex cried, skidding up to them and falling to her knees.

The Doctor looked over at her and smiled in relief. "Ally!" he exclaimed. He reached out and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, then pulled her to him and kissed the top of her head. "Are you okay? Where's River and Rory?"

"In the TARDIS, I think. Doctor, wehaveto get out of here! There are these freaky suit-loving aliens in the tunnels—"

"Just a mo, Ally," he interrupted, holding up a finger in the internationalwait-a-minutesign. "We've got to help Canton."

"Is he all right?" Amy asked. It was then that Alex noticed that her arms were wrapped around her stomach, just like they had been back in the Oval Office.

"Just unconscious," the Doctor assured her. "Got a proper whack."

Amy started to nod, only to suddenly grimace. She gripped her stomach tighter. "Doctor, Alex, I need to tell you something. I have to tell it now."

"Amy, your timing is positively horrible," Alex deadpanned. "Always has been, no offense."

"None taken and it's important. Ithasto be now."

"Help!" a familiar voice cried out. It was the little girl. The trio looked around, but she was nowhere to be seen. "Help me! Help me!"

"Doctor, Alex. . ." Amy began once the girl's cries ceased. ". . .I'm pregnant."

The Doctor and Alex stared at Amy, their eyes wide with shock and disbelief. A flurry of emotions ran through Alex. Elation that Amy was pregnant and that she was going to become a godmother, nerves because Amy was pregnant, terror because Amy was pregnant right now in such a horrible situation, and absolute frustration that there was total danger surrounding them and her now pregnant best friend and they weren't doing anything to try and escape it.

Frustration which only grew when the sound of boot stomping rang out.

The trio turned. Standing before them, in full spacesuit glory, was an astronaut.

"That's it!" Amy whimpered as the Doctor got to his feet. "The astronaut!" Behind her, Alex eyed the astronaut warily, but didn't make any movements. Instead, she watched as the astronaut raised its arm.

She didn't see Amy grab Canton's gun, ready to defend her friends if the astronaut fired on them.

The astronaut's arm continued to rise until it reached its visor. It lifted the visor, revealing a little girl inside. She looked about six or seven years old in Alex's opinion, with light brown hair in little pigtails. "Help me!" she cried.

"Get down!" Amy ordered. She jumped to her feet and raised the gun, not even noticing the little girl.

"What are you doing?!" the Doctor yelled, looking positively aghast at seeing Amy with a gun.

"Saving your lives!" With that, Amy whirled around and fired.

Alex jumped up and reached out to snatch the gun away. "Amy, no!" she shrieked. But she was too late.

"NO!" the Doctor roared.

BANG!

Chapter 4: Day of the Moon Part 1

Chapter Text

Three Months Later – July 1969

Amy sprinted through the desert, desperately trying to stay ahead of the black SUVs chasing her. Above her, the sun beat down relentlessly and the air was hot and dry, the only weather the Valley of the Gods seemed to experience.

It was official. ShehatedUtah.

Amy forced herself to keep moving, even though her lungs were burning, and she was sweating more than a greased pig. Her clothes were plastered to her body and her hair was completely damp from sweat. In addition to these things, several black tally marks decorated her arms, neck, and face. A pen hung from a lanyard around her neck, the writing utensil bouncing against her stomach every other second as she ran.

Amy continued to run through the desert, but suddenly came to a halt as she reached a small ledge that led down into a bunch of cacti and desert grass. She stumbled, raising her arms to keep her balance. Behind her, she heard the SUVs come to a halt. Hesitantly, she turned around. Several FBI agents were standing in front of her, guns aimed. At the front of them was a very familiar face.

"Canton!" she gasped out, her throat raw from inhaling desert dust.

"Miss Pond," Canton coolly greeted. He turned and motioned to one of the other agents. The agent stepped forward and laid a long black bag on the ground.

Amy eyed it apprehensively. "Is that . . . a body bag?"

"Yes, it is," Canton smirked.

"It's empty."

"How about that."

Amy glared at him. "Do you know why you're doing this, eh? Can you evenrememberthe warehouse?"

Because she could.

A split second after Amy fired the gun, Alex jumped up and snatched it away from her. Amy screamed in horror when she finally caught sight of the person inside the astronaut suit. It was a little girl, probably about six or seven years old. She didn't seem to be hurt, but the glass on her visor was cracked from the bullet.

"Oh, thank God you have terrible aim," Alex sighed in relief as she quickly unloaded the gun, pocketing the bullets.

The Doctor seemed to agree with her, for he let out a matching sigh before dashing over to pull a newly conscious Canton to his feet. "Canton!" he cried, dragging the man in the opposite direction. "Amy! Alex!"

Alex pocketed the gun and grabbed a stunned Amy's hand. Amy couldn't believe she'd just shot a child. Granted, the child was going to kill the Doctor in the future, but still, achild. Amy allowed her friend to pull her along as they all raced through the warehouse back to the TARDIS.

"River, come on!" they heard Rory shout just ahead.

"Run!" the Doctor yelled at them, as if they weren't doing that already.

"What the hell's going on?!" Canton demanded. He yanked his arm out of the Doctor's grasp and planted himself a few steps away from them.

The Doctor and Alex eyed the space behind Canton. "Look behind you!" the Doctor urged, pointing in the direction indicated.

"There's nothing behind me!"

"Yes, there is!" Alex protested. "Look!"

"Look," the Doctor begged. His hand reached out and grabbed Alex's, pulling her close to him. "Canton, look, I tell you!"

Though the ex-FBI agent still looked doubtful, he obliged and turned around. His eyes widened and he gaped at the creature before him. It was the alien Alex had seen in the tunnels, the one Amy now remembered as the one she saw in the bathroom at the White House. Electricity was crackling around the creature, reminding three of the people in that room of the Lylon's back in Bristol. Amy dug into her pocket and pulled out her phone, taking another picture of it so she wouldn't forget it again.

The creature stepped towards them, electricity still snapping all around it. "Canton. . ." it said, an indentation forming in the spot where its mouth should have been. The creature's arms reached out towards them. . .

But Canton didn't say anything. Instead, he pulled out his gun and fired.

BANG!

Amy fell to the ground.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Though you would never hear anyone confirm it, Area 51 was, in fact, a space the U.S. government used to keep aliens and study them. The Doctor knew this. He had tried to warn a couple creatures away from the Nevada area because of this exact spot.

He never thought he'd actually end up in here himself.

The room he was in was essentially a large hanger, more like something that would be used to store helicopters and secret pieces of military aircraft instead of the last Time Lord in all of existence. Armed guards were stationed all around the perimeter, staying back from the open section in the middle. The Doctor sat on a platform in this space, in the center of a large yellow circle. In the three months since the warehouse, his hair had grown longer, and he'd even grown a mustache and beard. He sat there, shackled to a chair and in a straitjacket, watching Canton approach.

Above, a speaker called out, "All visitors to remain behind the yellow line. All visitors to remain behind the yellow line."

"We found Amy Pond," Canton told him as he approached the edge of the circle. He pulled some photos out of an envelope and held one of them up. It was of Amy's arm, several black tally marks decorating it. "She had strange markings on her arm. Do you know what they are?" He tossed the photos into the circle.

The Doctor stared down at them. "Why don't you ask her?"

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

It was nighttime in New York City. Stars glittered overhead, shining down on River Song as she made her way through a partially constructed office in one of the city's skyscrapers. She was dressed to the nines in a floor-length green dress and heels, her hair piled up on top of her head. Black tally marks adorned her arms like red dots on a child sick with chicken pox.

River glanced around nervously. Plastic tarps were hanging from the ceiling, blocking various areas off so that construction wouldn't affect them. In the night wind, they swung and fluttered back and forth like ghosts. It was a horribly creepy effect, made none the easier considering who else was in the room.

Nearby, a pipe clattered, and River gasped. She whirled around, only to gasp again when she saw two more of the aliens in front of her. She took a pen off a lanyard hanging around her neck and, without looking away, made two tally marks on her arm. "I see you!" she shouted at them. "Iseeyou!"

"Dr. Song!" Canton's voice called out. River spun around, trying to locate him. "Dr. Song!" She turned back around. The aliens were gone. She looked down at her arm. There were two fresh-looking tally marks. She'd had another encounter.

"Go, go, go!" Canton shouted. A second later, a bunch of footsteps began pounding across the floor as several agents started searching for her. River hastened over to the window. She grimaced as her heels clacked across the floor, easily revealing her location.

"Don't move!" Canton ordered, coming into view as River stood by the open window. Several agents came up beside him, their guns drawn. "It's over!"

"They'rehere, Canton," River proclaimed. "They're everywhere."

"I know. America's being invaded."

She shook her head. "You were invaded a long time ago," she corrected. "America isoccupied."

"You're coming with us, Dr. Song," Canton said, not bothering to pursue the argument. "There's no way out this time."

River once again shook her head, this time smirking a little. "There's always a way out." Then, before anyone could stop her, she threw out her arms and fell backwards out the window. Canton rushed forward and peered down. River was falling, a calm expression on her face, as though this was something she did every day.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Back at Area 51, the Doctor watched as two scientists began constructing a wall along the platform. The bricks they were using were black and looked extremely thick. It appeared like they could keep just about anything out.

Footsteps sounded out in front of him, but the Doctor didn't remove his gaze from the bricks. "We found Dr. Song," Canton reported.

"These bricks," the Doctor said instead. He watched as one brick was placed next to another. The crack between the two bricks melded together, as if they weren't two separate bricks at all. "What are they made of?" When Canton didn't answer, he decided to go back to River. "Where is she?"

"She ran," Canton said bluntly. "Off the fiftieth floor."

Sounded like something River would do. The Doctor acknowledged this information with a nod before switching back to the bricks. "I'd say zero balance dwarf star alloy. The densest material in the universe. Nothing gets through that. You're building me the perfect prison." He turned to Canton, his eyes gleaming, and smiled a little. "And it still won't be enough!"

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Rory burst out of a door onto a road going atop the Glen Canyon Dam, going faster than a bat out of hell. The poor man was very disheveled. Loads and loads of tally marks were all over his body, indicating a lot of encounters he couldn't remember, and his clothes were dirty and sweaty. He'd been running a lot lately, more than he ever had on adventures with the Doctor.

He made to run one way, only to see a bunch of men in black blocking his path. Turning around, he saw the same thing. He scrambled over to one side of the dam and glanced down, only to quickly dismiss the thought of jumping when he saw the exact distance he would have to go. It was alongway down and the landing would most certainly not be pleasant. Sighing, Rory turned around and held up his hands in surrender to Canton.

He frowned though when he saw Canton just looking at him, as if this whole thing wasn't a bloody manhunt. "What are you waiting for?" he questioned.

"I'm waiting for you to run," Canton replied as Rory slowly lowered his arms. "It'll look better if I shot you while you were running. Then again," he shrugged, picking up his gun, "looks aren't everything." Rory closed his eyes, waiting for the shot.

BANG!

Rory toppled to the ground.

Canton nodded in approval. "Three down, one to go."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Alex walked through the crowded streets of New Orleans, her eyes wandering from one side of the street to the other. She was currently in the French Quarter. All around her, people of black and white ethnicities were calling things out, from sales prices (Bag o'beans! Only a dollah!) to greetings (Ricky! How's your wife?) to some rather vulgar profanities (You come down here and face me, you two-timing Yankee bitch!). She turned to view the person shouting this. It was a young man in mechanic's overalls, currently standing on the sidewalk and looking up at a second story window above a book shop. A young woman with short, curly brown hair was leaning out the window, dressed in only a thin black negligee and a red satin robe. A cigarette dangled from her fingertips, smoke drifting past her bored expression.

Alex smiled to herself. Ah, regular human problems. Those two didn't know how lucky they were.

Alex continued on, weaving her way through the crowd while constantly looking all around her. She wasn't drawing any attention, thankfully. She had decided the best way to try and see how many suit-wearing aliens there were in the U.S. was to blend in with the population. So she had.

She was currently dressed in a red and black mod dress which stopped at mid-thigh, black go-go boots, and dangly gold earrings. Her hair was stiff from too much hairspray and had been teased up high, with a bright red headband holding everything together.

The whole ensemble made Alex a little self-conscious. She knew her body looked great, so that wasn't the problem. She had just never been one to dress provocatively, like her high-school rival Hillary Westcott did, even in the middle of December. She didn't really like causing guys to whistle at her ass as she walked past and shout, 'Hey baby, looking for a date?' which had happened, oh, four times today already.

Suddenly, a loud whistle pierced the air. Alex turned to see a bunch of greaser-looking guys loitering around a soda shop, leaning against their motorcycles, trying to act cool and totally succeeding at it. The guy who whistled at her appeared to be the leader of the gang for he was standing in the exact center of the group, leaning against the biggest bike there. He was dressed in faded, ripped jeans, motorcycle boots, and an unzipped leather jacket, exposing his bare chest and the eagle tattoo on his left bicep. His shaggy black hair hung around his equally black eyes, which glittered when he saw Alex looking at him.

He whistled again. "Hey, baby!" he called over to her as Alex stood on the sidewalk, arms crossed and lips pursed in a tight, annoyed line. "How about you and I take a little spin on my bike here?" He patted the seat of his bike invitingly while his leather-clad groupies looked on in admiration, all probably hoping that one day they would be such a legend too.

Alex rolled her eyes and reached up to fiddle with the charm of her sonic necklace, safely tucked under the collar of her dress. "Piss off!" she shouted at him before twirling on her heel and marching off as fast as her go-go boots would allow her.Make thatfivetimes today,she thought as she swerved through the throng of pedestrians.

Honestly, she didn't have time to deal with all these dumb boys and their catcalls! She had a planet to save! Well, technically there was no planet-saving going on just yet. It was more like information gathering. But after this, she had a planet to save!

It had been three months since the incident at the warehouse. Shortly after they had all legged it back to the TARDIS and were safely in the vortex, the Doctor had decreed that they needed to learn more about these mysterious creatures they had encountered and why they were in America. Alex had liked that plan, but she didn't really like the idea of them all splitting up.

Still, even that part had its benefits. They were able to cover more ground that way and it was a good thing too. These creatures, whatever they were, wereeverywhere. It amazed Alex that she hadn't seen any of them in Kentucky when she was growing up.

She started out in Savannah since she knew the city. It had been nice being able to explore River Street again, even if it wasn't as commercially developed here as it was in her time. While there, staying in a small bed-and-breakfast that was reported to be haunted, she had counted a grand total of 377 aliens. She had been in Savannah for three weeks until a few men in black turned up and started asking around about her. In the middle of the night, Alex had gotten the hell out of Dodge.

From there it was on to Atlanta, where she stayed two and half weeks, this one with 405 aliens. After that, she caught a train up to Charleston, South Carolina. She counted 187 aliens during her five day stay there. After a government agent turned up at her hotel, Alex snuck out through her bedroom window and hitch-hiked up to Columbia, staying there two days while she waited for a train from out west to arrive. Once the train arrived, she managed to sweet-talk the young conductor into letting her on there for free, even managing to get free food and a room. It was a really good thing she had her mother's good genetics and a nice dose of southern charm. She'd be utterly lost without it.

The train arrived in San Antonio, Texas where she stayed for only three days until the ridiculous heat started getting to her. Down there, there were 250 aliens. A venture into Houston turned up 116 more. From there, Alex befriended a young girl who was part of a contortionist act in a traveling circus that was headed for Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Karen agreed to smuggle her into her car and let her off in Baton Rouge. For two days, as they traveled to the city, Alex and Karen traded stories and laughed. Alex was careful not to reveal any of her time traveling adventures but did tell Karen about growing up in Kentucky (albeit with a few period details changed) and about Amy and Rory. Karen was seventeen years old and had been with the circus since she was fifteen. She told Alex very calmly that she ran away from her Oklahoma home after her mother died and her stepfather started using a belt to get his point across, meeting up with the circus people in St. Louis and traveling with them ever since. Though she liked her contortionist act, Karen secretly hoped to become a secretary in a big city office somewhere.

"Don't you think it would be glamorous?" she'd said as she wistfully stared out the window at the passing farmland.

LikeMad Men, Alex had thought, but didn't say. Instead, she had nodded and said, "Oh, of course. Very posh."

Karen had also revealed that she was in love with the ringmaster's nephew, Brady. Alex had been fully informed of Brady's numerous features, from his shiny grain-colored hair to his deep blue eyes, to his 6'2 frame and strong muscles, and his deep Southern drawl, a trait Karen swore made women everywhere they went swoon. The only problem was that she didn't have the guts to make a move on him.

"You really should," Alex had said, feeling like she was coaching Amy and Rory in the early stages of their relationship all over again. "Why should you wait for him to make the first move? You're a young woman. Feminism is starting up. Nothing's holding you back except for yourself."

"You make it sound soeasy," Karen sighed. She tucked a piece of her strawberry blonde hair behind her ear. "Do you have a boyfriend?"

Alex had shifted at that question. "Well . . . no. I'd like for him to be, but no."

That, of course, had completely captured Karen's attention and she spent the next two hours prying information about the Doctor out of Alex. Alex had been careful with the details, saying that the Doctor's name was John and that he worked as a doctor at Cambridge, a nice little homage to a cover story she and the Doctor had concocted for various occasions. Karen had practically swooned at her description of the Doctor and, like Alex, had encouraged her to do something about her crush.

"If you love him, just tell him! What's the worst that could happen?"

That he doesn't love me? That he'll throw me off the TARDIS? That'll he'll say he's in love with River? That he dies in the future?What she had finally settled for was, "It's not really that easy."

"Sounds easy to me," Karen had insisted. "You should take your own advice. Nothing's holding you back except yourself."

And she was right. Alexwasholding herself back. But it was for good reason. There were too many risks with the Doctor, ones that Karen would never be able to understand. But Alex knew them. That was all that mattered.

Still, it had been good to have a little girl talk, a welcome break from her alien hunting. But upon arriving in Baton Rouge, Alex had to bid Karen good-bye, wishing her luck with Brady before setting off into the city. The hot summer weather nearly made her have heat-stroke, but Alex persevered, getting a temporary job as a waitress in a diner so she could stay in the upstairs apartment while counting out the various aliens. Baton Rouge wielded up 215. After a week, she'd vacated the place and hitch-hiked to a city she had always wanted to go to and deemed the circ*mstances appropriate enough for visiting: New Orleans.

So far, New Orleans hadn't disappointed. The beautiful French-inspired architecture was positively breathtaking, the scent of Creole cooking hung in the air, making Alex permanently hungry, and the atmosphere was alive and electric, the citizens seeming permanently happy and in a party-loving mood. Alex was a little surprised that they didn't have Mardi Gras full time here.

And New Orleans didn't disappoint in the alien department either. In her four-day tenure here, she had counted a grand total of 465 aliens.

Make that 466, Alex thought as she came up on an alleyway between two different bars. Standing in the shadows of the alleyway was another creature, dressed in a suit like all the others. It stared at her, not making any moves as she studied it.

She had learned something very quickly in her alien-hunting expedition. It was that after encountering these creatures, no one else remembered them. People just seemed to completely forget about them once they turned away.

Except for herself. Alex remembered them. She knew this wasn't really surprising, considering her advanced mind. After all, she'd been able to see the Krafayis at Vincent Van Gogh's house, even though it was invisible to the Doctor and Amy. But still, it was a little strange. Then again, Alex guessed that she was still getting used to the weird workings of her mind.

"What are you?" she murmured, peering at the creature while being careful not to get too close. She didn't know what these guys could do with electricity, but she was willing to bet that it wasn't something good. "Why are you here?" The creature didn't answer. Alex had asked this question before to other ones, and they all did the same thing.

"Hey!" a voice yelled out behind her. Alex stepped away from the alien and turned around to see what unlucky sap was getting yelled at now, only to see the motorcycle boy from a few minutes ago storming up the sidewalk towards her.

Alex groaned.Oh, brother.This was thelastthing she needed.

Motorcycle Boy continued stalking towards her, but Alex wasn't about to deal with him. She quickly turned around and started parading away . . . only to be jerked back as a hand wrapped around her wrist, tugging her into the alleyway.

"Let go of me!" she shouted. She tried to pull her hand away, but Motorcycle Boy's grip was tight. It wasn't like when the Doctor invariably grabbed her wrist to lead her away from something. His grip was firm, but gentle. Tight, but not too tight. Motorcycle Boy's grip let her know that she was going to have bruises a little later.

"Stop screaming," the punk commanded, reaching out and snatching hold of Alex's other wrist. He laughed a little right in her face. His breath wreaked of cigarettes and dipping tobacco.

As Alex wildly struggled, Motorcycle Boy leaned in closer to her. "Come on, baby, don't struggle," he crooned. "One little ride on my bike. Whaddya say?"

Alex's response was to glare at him and spit in his face.

Motorcycle Boy's face grew dark and his grip on Alex grew tighter. "Bitch!" he yelled, pulling her closer to him as she continued to thrash around. "No onesays no to Bobby Dean. . ." Suddenly, Bobby's voice trailed off. Alex looked up to see that he was looking past her. His face turned to one of horror and Alex immediately knew what he was looking at.

"What the hell is that?!" he cried, releasing one of her wrists to point at the alien standing behind them. The creature stood there, just watching them, as if they were some kind of science experiment with interesting results.

"An alien," Alex said matter-of-factly. Using the distraction to her advantage, she yanked her other wrist out of Bobby's hand and put one well-placed shin to a spot she knew would hurt. Bobby howled in pain and immediately ran out of the alleyway and up the street. Alex poked her head out and watched him. A moment later, Bobby stopped mid-run and turned to look back the way he'd came. Alex ducked back into the alley and waited a moment before peering out again. Bobby was walking, legs bow-shaped, up the street to his peers, who were in near hysterics at his appearance.

Alex sighed in relief. She leaned against the brick wall and turned to look at the alien still standing there. "What do you know?" The alien turned its head to her. "You're useful for something after all. I mean, besides being a model forThe Scream." The alien, if it felt anything about the last few minutes, said nothing.

Figuring she didn't have much to lose, Alex decided to remain in the alley and continue talking to the creature. Who knew? She might learn something. "I'm Alex. Who are you? Do you have a name?" No reply. "Oh, come on. I know you can talk. I saw one of you talk in Florida!" Still nothing. This species of alien wasn't exactly chatty.

Alex pursed her lips and co*cked her head, trying to figure out what to do next. "Where are you from?" Again, nothing. "Okay, maybe it's best you don't answer that. It's not like I'd know anyways. Why are you here? Why are there so many of you here? Do you just like America or something?"

But the creature only stared at her, refusing to talk or do anything of interest. Alex sighed. Well, she had tried and hadn't gotten anything useful. "Okay then," she shrugged, peeling off the wall and turning to head back out onto the street. "Nice talking to you! Might want to reconsider those suits. It's hot here."

She started to walk out of the alley and back out into the sunshine when a voice rang out behind her. "Alex. . ." Alex stiffened and slowly turned around. The creature was looking at her, an indentation in its mouth-spot visible. It stared directly at her, making Alex shift a little. After dealing with these things for three months now, she was no longer scared of them, but the way this one was looking at her now was enough to make her feel just the teeniest bit afraid.

"You are Alex Locke," it said slowly.

Alex stiffened when it said her last name. She hadn't told it that, so how did it know? "Yes?"

"You are the Doctor's Ally. You were supposed to be the one."

"Don't call me that," Alex snapped. "And what do you mean?"

"You were supposed to be the one."

"Yeah, getting that, but what does that mean? The one what?"

"You were meant to be the one at Lake Silencio, not the other one."

God, this was confusing. She was supposed to be 'the one' at Lake Silencio? What did that mean? That she was supposed to be killed instead of the Doctor? Or something else, something the creature wouldn't divulge? "Okay," Alex said slowly, inching towards the safe, bright sunlight, where nothing bad would surely happen to her. "Lovely chat. Definitely more than I was expecting. So, I'll just be going now. . ." She whirled around and began making a beeline for the street . . . only to run into a black suit. Her head shot up. Was the creature was trying to trap her?

Nope. It wasn't the alien. It was none other than ex-FBI agent Canton Everett Delaware III.

He smirked at her, not bothering to lower his shades even though he was currently facing a dark alleyway. "Hello, Alex."

Alex took a step back, then immediately spun around and started sprinting to the other end of the alley. That plan was thwarted, however, when a bunch of agents stepped out of the shadows, their guns out and aimed at her.

Alex backed up and raised her hands. She glanced over at the section of alley the creature had been in. There was nothing there. The creature had gotten the hell out of there. Smart guy. She turned back around and smiled faux-sweetly at Canton. "Hello, Canton. Fancy running into you here. Long time, no see."

"You've made it rather difficult, the seeing part," Canton commented dryly.

"I aim to please!" Alex chirped. "So, you've really come all this way just to get me? What did I do? I'm just trying to protect my country, doing my American duty. Meanwhile, I was accosted not ten minutes ago by some motorcycle punk up the street. Why don't you take care of him instead?"

"I'll be more than happy to do so," Canton agreed, "right after I get through with you." He snapped his fingers. An agent stepped forward and lowered a body bag to the ground.

Alex eyed it nervously. Body bags. Oh, joy. "Well, I always hoped I'd go out with a bang," she joked, her voice only slightly shaking. "Though I should warn you, there are dozens of people on that street. I don't think you can keep them from hearing a gunshot."

Canton chuckled and raised his gun. "Oh, I have my ways," he assured her as he took aim. A second later, BANG!

Alex Locke fell to the ground.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

In Area 51, the Doctor's prison was now complete. The square structure wasn't very big or tall, probably about nine feet high and seven feet wide. Not that the size really mattered anyway. No matter how big or small it was, it was still a prison.

Inside his little cell, the Doctor watched as Canton came in, three agents following him. Each agent was dragging a body bag. They laid the bags out before the Doctor, as though offering food to a god. Canton stood in the cut-out doorway watching them, looking rather pleased with himself.

The Doctor's eyes stayed on the smallest body bag for a moment, the one for the shortest of his companions. "Is there a reason you're doing this?" he demanded.

"I want to know where you stand."

"In a cell."

"In theperfectcell," Canton corrected. He nodded to the three agents, who turned and left. "Nothing can penetrate these walls. Not a sound, not a radio wave, not the tiniest particle of anything." He turned and placed his fingers into a specially made keypad on the wall next to the cut-out door. A square lit up around his fingers and a moment later, the cell-door swung in, the space between the bricks immediately filling in so that in just a few seconds, it looked like there wasn't a door at all. "In here, you're literally cut off from the rest of the universe." He turned around and smiled at the Doctor. "So I guess they can't hear us, right?"

"Good work, Canton. Door sealed?"

"You bet."

The Doctor jumped to his feet and shook off his straitjacket and chains. They had been loose the whole time. In front of him, all three body bags sat up, gasping for breath and, in one bag's case, kicking and thrashing as the person inside hurried to get out.

The Doctor immediately dove down next to the flailing middle body bag. Unzipping it, he revealed the slightly tousled hair of Alex Locke.

"Oh, God," Alex groaned as she gasped for breath. She had played a corpse for a play before, but that wasnothingcompared to what she had to do this time around! She looked around the dark little cell before turning her head and finding herself face-to-face with the Doctor. She blinked, taking in his mustache, beard, and long hair. "Now I know these things are deadly," she declared. "Hello, Jesus of Nazareth."

The Doctor frowned at her. "You can talk, Joan Holloway," he shot back. He then grinned. "Miss me, Ally?"

"Always, Doc," Alex giggled. She lifted her arms up and he immediately helped her to her feet. Once she was standing, Alex kicked the body bag away from her.

"Are you okay?" the Doctor checked. He hadn't liked the idea of Alex being stuck in a body bag for so long, but no other option had presented itself.

"I'm fine," Alex assured him. "But let's not do a repeat of this, deal?"

"Deal."

Meanwhile, Canton hurried over to Rory and unzipped his bag before darting over to release Amy's. "Finally!" the redhead gasped, sending a little glare over at the Doctor. While she knew he would go to Alex first, he could have at least reached over and tugged her zipper down.

"These things couldreallydo with air holes!" Rory exclaimed.

"Never had a complaint before," Canton chuckled.

Amy kicked her bag off and got to her feet, heading over to Alex as Rory got up. "Isn't it gonna look odd that you're staying in here with us?" she asked.

"Odd, but not alarming. They know there's no way out of this place."

The Doctor stretched out his arms and wound them round in circles, trying to get his circulation going again after sitting in a chair for three months. He looked over at Alex and took in her mod dress. It hovered several inches above her knees, exposing her long, slender legs. Not to mention, but it rather suited her petite form, the dress hugging her in all the right places.

Rassilon, she was beautiful. And he had missed her. Every single day was spent thinking of her, wondering where she was and what she was doing.

Once the feeling had returned to his arms, he turned to address the others. "Exactly!" he enthused as he stretched his braces out. "Whatever they might think we're doing in here, they know we're not going anywhere." On that, he slumped to the side, seemingly about to fall to the floor, only to thump against something solid. He grinned at Alex when he saw her eyes light up in recognition. Not moving his gaze from her, he snapped his fingers, opening the invisible TARDIS's doors. "Shall we?"

Amy, Alex, and Rory immediately ran into the time machine, the Doctor and Canton bringing up the rear. "What about Dr. Song?" Canton asked as they hurried up onto the glass platform. "She dove off a rooftop!"

"Don't worry," the Doctor said, waving off his concern as he began running around the console. "She does that. Amy, Rory, open all the doors to the swimming pool!" The Ponds immediately rushed off to do just that while Alex leaned against the railing, just watching the Doctor in his element.

She was so glad she was back with him. She had missed him so much during the last three months. Every night before she fell asleep, she would think about him, hoping and praying that he was doing alright at Area 51.Absence makes the heart grow fonder alright,she thought.

She could only wonder if the feeling was mutual.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

A little while later, everyone re-grouped in the console room. Amy and Rory wanted to wash all of their tally marks off, River wanted to wash the chlorine scent off of her, and the Doctor was desperate for some new clothes after being stuck for three months in a straitjacket. Alex had stayed in the console room with Canton, not bothering to change just yet. Soon the group was back, all refreshed except for the Doctor. He had clean clothes, but he hadn't shaved the mustache and beard. Alex could only hope and pray that he didn't decide to keep it. She'd never been big on facial hair.

"So, we know they're everywhere," the Doctor summarized. He rushed around the console, passing River, in the process of drying her mega-curly hair with a towel. "Not just a landing party, an occupying force, and they have been here a very, very long time. But nobody knows that, because no one can remember them."

"So what are they up to?" Canton wondered.

"No idea," the Doctor admitted as he pulled a lever down. A second later, the TARDIS landed with a thump. "But the good news is, we've got a secret weapon."

He darted over to Alex and grabbed her hand. Alex let out a little squeal as she was rushed down the stairs and out the door, the others hastening to follow them. They all filed outside onto a large grassy field. In front of them was a huge Saturn V rocket on a launch-pad, ready for takeoff.

The companions and Canton all stared at it, trying to figure out what, exactly, the Doctor's secret weapon was. Not even Alex could figure it out. Finally, River took it upon herself to ask. "Apollo 11's your secret weapon?"

"No, no," the Doctor scoffed, shaking his head. "It's not Apollo 11. That would be silly. It's Neil Armstrong's foot." He beamed, looking utterly pleased with himself and his clever mind, before darting back into the TARDIS.

Amy looked over at Alex, knowing that if there was anyone here who could figure out what the Doctor was up to, it was her. "Any ideas?"

"Not a clue," Alex admitted. "But I'm sure it's something brilliant . . . and something he'll probably end up getting thrown in jail for."

"Have a little faith, Ally!" the Doctor shouted out the partially open TARDIS door.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

"Ow!" Canton hollered a few minutes later as the Doctor injected something into the palm of his hand.

The group was back in the TARDIS, still outside the Kennedy Space Center. The Doctor had excused himself for a few minutes to go and shave, much to Alex's relief, and had come back with a strange looking gun-type thing. Based on what just happened with Canton, it was some kind of injector gun.

Alex shrank back up the steps, really not wanting to get injected with that thing. She hated getting shots. Not to mention that, while she trusted the Doctor with her life, she'd much rather know what was in the injector gun before getting shot with it.

Luckily for her, the Doctor didn't notice her backing out of sight. Instead, he chuckled a little at Canton's exclamation. "So, three months!" he called, injector gun still in hand. "What have we found out?"

"Well, they areeverywhere," Rory reported, not noticing the Doctor coming over and picking up his hand. "Every state in America – ah!"

"Not just America," the Doctor corrected, calmly walking away as Rory inspected his hand. "The entireworld."

"There's a greater concentration here, though," River pointed out from her place by the console scanner. She was looking at something, though Alex couldn't see it from her angle.

As she said this, the Doctor went over to Amy, who was distracted by listening to River, and swiftly injected her hand. "Ow!" Amy yelped. Alex's gaze darted over to her. She had worried about Amy during the last three months. She eyed her friend's stomach. Amy didn'tlookpregnant, which was rather strange since by Alex's calculations, she was supposed to be about six months along.

"Are you okay?" the Doctor asked her, Alex knowing he was asking about her pregnancy instead of her hand.

Amy nodded. "All better."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. Behind him, Alex tilted her head in confusion. "Better?" he repeated.

"Turns out I was wrong," Amy murmured, her words just barely audible to Alex. "I'm not pregnant."

Alex frowned sadly. She had been really happy that Amy was pregnant, even if the circ*mstances weren't exactly ideal. She knew Rory really wanted kids, having never had any brothers or sisters growing up, and she suspected Amy felt the same way, even if the redhead had never said anything.

She was jerked out of her thoughts when Rory's voice rang out. "What's up?" he asked Amy. Alex glanced down at him. Based on his expression, he didn't know what they were talking about.

"Nothing!" Amy quickly chirped, doing her best to act innocent. A moment later, she switched to a scoffing matter, saying, "Really, nothing. Seriously."

Did Amy tell Rory she thought she was pregnant?Alex wondered. She doubted she had during the last three months, as the companions had been ordered not to contact each-other so that it would take longer for Canton and his team to track them down, but Amy would have had the opportunity when they all got back to the TARDIS and she and Rory went to wash off the tally marks. And that just brought up another question. Why did Amy tell the Doctor and Alex that she thought she was pregnant first, and not her husband?

A small twinge echoed at the back of her mind. Alex sighed. And there was another problem. The mysterious twinge. Her mind only ever did that when it was trying to bypass perception filters and the like, something the TARDIS was greatly lacking. There was no reason for it to be happening. But it was. Over the last three months, the twinge she'd felt in the Oval Office and the TARDIS had been steadily increasing. Curiously enough, it occurred whenever she was thinking about Amy and her potential pregnancy. She'd tried pursuing it, using the mental exercises the Doctor had taught her, but to no avail.

Alex shook her head.Too many mysteries.She resolved to ask Amy what her intentions had been once this whole alien occupation of America thing was sorted out. The same with the Doctor in regards to her mind twinges.

"So you've seen them, but you don't remember them?" Canton asked the group.

I do,Alex thought.

"You've seen them, too," River reminded him. "That night at the warehouse, remember? While you were pretending to hunt us down, we saw hundreds of those things."

"Thousands," Alex corrected her. "I saw 2,016 of those things."

River nodded at her. "See? And even with so many, westilldon't know what they look like."

"It's like they edit themselves out of your memory as soon as you look away," Rory explained. "The exact second you're not looking at them, you can't remember anything."

"Sometimes you feel a bit sick, though," Amy added, "but not always."

Alex looked over at River.That explains why she looked so ill down in the tunnels.

"So that's why you marked your skin," Canton realized.

Amy nodded. "Only way we'd know if we'd had an encounter."

Not in Alex's case. She kept track by writing down each city in a small notebook she'd gotten in Savannah and kept a running count in there. Whenever she had to leave, she counted up all the marks. It had astounded and terrified her when she got over a thousand on only her fourth trip.

She reached into her dress pocket and pulled out the small stenographer's notebook. She absently flipped through it, looking through the numerous tally marks she'd made. They went over ten pages.

Now, Canton eyed her. When he and Alex met up in New Orleans, he'd noticed that she didn't have any of Amy and Rory's tally marks on her. "What about you?" he asked, causing the others to look in his direction at Alex. "You didn't have any tally marks on you."

"I kept track using this," Alex said, holding up the notebook. She didn't really want to tell them she could see and remember the aliens just yet. She was quite interested in hearing what the others had discovered.

The group nodded in acceptance. Alex was probably trying to keep attention away from her. Amy and Rory could understand this. People in the towns they'd visited probably thought they were mad, covered head-to-toe with black Sharpie marks. It was a miracle someone hadn't tried to put them in an insane asylum.

"How long have they been here?" Canton asked now.

"That's what we've spent the last three months trying to figure out," Amy said.

"Not easy," Rory admitted, "if you can't remember anything you discover."

"How long do youthink?" Canton persisted.

"A very long time," the Doctor and Alex replied.

River sighed and shook her head. "So bloody annoying," she muttered, not that anyone paid her much attention.

The Doctor and Alex turned to grin at each-other. "Care to elaborate, Doc?" Alex requested as she leaned to one side against the railing.

The Doctor winked at her. "Of course, Ally. As long as there's been something in the corner of your eye, or creaking in your house, or breathing under your bed, or voices through a wall." He stepped over to Canton while River moved around the console in an obvious effort to be closer to him. Alex had half a mind to go down there and drag her away, but she had a feeling of what was going to happen next, and she wanted to enjoy it.

"They've been running your lives for a very long time now," the Doctor continued, looking around at each and every one of them. "So keep this straight in your head. We arenotfighting an alien invasion; we'releadinga revolution. And today, the battle begins."

Canton frowned in confusion. "How?"

The Doctor smiled. "Like this. . ." he said, before whirling around and injecting River's hand.

"Ow!" River yelped, shooting the Doctor a dirty look. She shook her hand out in an effort to relieve and lessen the pain from the injector.

The Doctor merely laughed at her and held up a tiny object in his other hand. Alex squinted at it. It was oval shaped, red, and about the size of a pea. "Nanorecorder," he explained. "Fuses with the cartilage in your hand." He loaded the nanorecorder into the gun and injected it into the palm of his right hand. "Ow," he grimaced, shaking his hand out a bit. "And it tunes itself directly to the speech centers in your brain. It'll pick up your voice, no matter what. Telepathic connection. So, the moment you see one of the creatures. . ." he lifted his hand and pressed his palm, ". . .you activate it, and describe aloud exactly what you're seeing."

He pressed the palm of his hand again. "And describe aloud exactly what you're seeing," his voice rang out. "Because the moment you break contact, you're going to forget it happened. The light will flash if you've left yourself a message. You keep checking your hand if you've had an encounter. That's the first you'll know about it."

"Why didn't you tell me this before we started?" Canton demanded.

The Doctor walked back to the console. "I did. But even information about these creatures erases itself over time. I couldn't refresh it because I couldn't talk to you."

It was then that he pressed a button on the console. Out of the corner of her eye, Alex saw an image appear over by the doorway. She whirled around to see one of the aliens standing there.

Her movement attracted the attention of the others. Turning around, Canton's eyes widened, and he immediately pressed the palm of his hand. "My God!" he sputtered in shock. "How did it get in here?!"

"Keep eye contact with the creature," the Doctor directed him, "and when I say, turn back, and when you do, straighten my bowtie." After a momentary pause he said, "Now turn around."

Canton did so, the worry and horror instantly disappearing from his face. Alex watched, curious, as Canton reached up and straightened the Doctor's bowtie, just as he had been instructed. But how could he have remembered that? Even looking at an image of the creature didn't seem to help the others remember them. Unless. . .

Post-hypnotic suggestion?Alex considered this.That makes sense. It isn't completely out of the ballpark. It certainly explains why no one remembers looking at them. They tell you to forget, so you do.Except her. The Doctor had said that her mind repelled things that tried to trick it, like perception filters and invisibility. Apparently, it worked against these aliens too.That's good. At least one of us can see and remember the creatures.

She was jerked out of her thoughts when she heard Canton say, "What? What are you staring at?"

"Look at your hand," River instructed.

Canton obeyed. A red light was flashing out of the center of his palm. "Why is it doing that?"

"What does it mean if the light's flashing?" the Doctor prodded. "What did I just tell you?"

"I haven't—"

"Play it!" Alex called down.

Canton hesitantly eyed her for a moment before reaching down and pressing his palm. A beep sounded, followed by voices. "My God, how did it get in here?!"

"Keep eye contact with the creature and, when I say, turn back, and when you do, straighten my bowtie. Now turn around."

"What? What are you staring at?"

"Look at your hand."

The conversation ended and Canton and the others turned to look back at the alien. "It's a hologram," the Doctor explained. "Extrapolated from the photo on Amy's phone. Take a good, long look." The group all stared at it for a moment until the Doctor reached over and pressed a button on the console. The hologram flickered and faded.

"You just saw an image of one of the creatures we're fighting." The Doctor snapped his fingers. "Describe it to me."

Canton shook his head. "I can't."

The Doctor frowned. "No. Neither can I."

Alex sighed. Now seemed as good a time as any to reveal more of what her mind was capable of. "Their heads are bulb-shaped," she called down. All eyes immediately shot to her, wide and unblinking as she spoke. "They have sunken-in eyes and no mouth, though a small indentation appears when they speak, so I guess they communicate mostly by telepathy. They all wear suits, which kinda look like their actual skin, in my opinion. Their hands are large with only four fingers and sharp nails. Basically, think of the screaming figure inThe Scream."

Dead silence. And then. . . "She remembers!" Canton shouted, pointing at her. "How?"

The Doctor sighed. He had a feeling this was going to happen. "Alex's mind is different from other humans," he explained as Alex walked down the steps towards him. Once she was by his side, he reached out and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, tugging her into his side. "It repels things that try to trick it."

"Like the perception filter in your house," Alex nodded at Amy. "And the Krafayis."

"And the cracks in time had no effect on you either," the Doctor added. "Basically, anything that tries to trick her or influence her memory in some way fails. And, in this case, it appears these creatures can do that with us, but not her."

"Their post-hypnotic suggestion doesn't work on me either," Alex said, "otherwise I'd be doing any number of things without realizing it."

The Doctor looked down at her. "Oh, worked that out already, now did you?" he murmured, gazing at her in a proud, affectionate way. "Have I told you that you're brilliant?"

"Not lately, but feel free to praise," Alex giggled.

He smiled and tapped her on the nose. "You'rebrilliant."

Alex giggled again. She had truly missed this, their constant back-and-forth and praising and the way he made her giggle, something she hadn't done with any other guy before him. The Doctor brought out a lot of things in her that she'd never done before. With him, she was bubbly, flirtier, much more relaxed, and not as uptight and rigid as she usually was. It had happened the second she met him, like a switch being turned on inside her. It was part of why she left. It had freaked her out that he made her so different, so unlike herself.

Now though, standing here with him, flirting with him as he complimented her, she wondered why she ran away from this. It felt so nice, sogreat, so . . . normal. Like it was meant to be.

A coughing sounded from behind them. The two turned to see River standing there, her arms crossed. A slightly put-out expression was on her face. Alex narrowed her light green eyes at her. "Hate to ruin the moment," River said, sounding almost like she meant it, "but post-hypnotic suggestion?"

Alex nodded. Even though River hadn't interrupted their moment for comprehension-related reasons, she was right to have done so. They had to focus on this alien occupation. There would be time for flirting later.

She focused back on Canton. "You straightened the Doctor's bowtie because he planted the idea in your head while you were looking at the alien."

"So they could do that to people," Amy summarized.

Alex nodded grimly as the Doctor separated from her to go over to the scanner. "Exactly. You could be doing stuff and not really know why you're doing it."

Amy shuddered a little. "Ruling the world with post-hypnotic suggestion. . ." She shook her head at the infinite possibilities. These aliens could be telling them to do just about anything and they would have no idea the ideas weren't theirs. Anything could happen!

"Precisely why we've got to stop them," Alex said at Amy's look of realization.

"Now then," the Doctor cut in. "A little girl in a spacesuit." He tapped some buttons on the console and swung the scanner around over to him. "They got the suit from NASA, but where did they get the girl?"

Canton shrugged. "It could be anywhere."

"Except they'd probably stay close to that warehouse, because why bother doing anything else? And they'd take her from somewhere that would cause the least amount of attention." He flicked a few more buttons and looked at the scanner expectantly. A map of Florida came up, zooming into the state until three red blinking dots were on the screen. "But you'll have to find her. I'm off to NASA."

"Find her?" Canton repeated in shock. "Where do we look?"

Alex immediately figured this out. "Children's homes," she said together with the Doctor.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

A thunderstorm pounded overhead as a black Sedan drove down a small dirt road. Canton sat in the front seat in his typical suit while Amy sat next to him in the passenger seat, dressed in a professional-looking black pant suit and sensible heels. In the backseat, Alex was dressed in a white blouse, a black pencil skirt that came down to her knees, a black blazer, black kitten heels, black tights, and simple gold stud earrings. Her TARDIS necklace was around her neck, the charm safely tucked under the collar of her shirt. As usual, her parents' wedding bands rested on her third index finger.

She shivered and gazed out the window at the storm. It seemed to be letting up a little, but not by much. Alex didn't like thunderstorms and this kind of atmosphere wasn't exactly reassuring, considering where they were headed.

Still, she couldn't really complain. She had to twist the Doctor's arm in order to get him to agree to let her go with Canton and Amy.

At first, the Doctor had wanted her to come with him to NASA while Amy and Canton went to investigate orphanages. Apparently, he was going to be doing something to the Apollo 11 module and wanted her there as a look-out. Alex had seriously doubted her being there would keep him from getting caught and told him so before asking what River and Rory would be doing. The Doctor had said they were going to be with President Nixon. He didn't give an explicit reason why, but Alex figured he wanted someone on standby in case he did get caught and captured.

She continued to argue with him, pointing out that she wouldn't be much help at NASA and that it would probably be better if she went with Canton and Amy. As the only one of them who could see the aliens they were after, wouldn't it be better to be there and warn them when one was coming? The Doctor had predictably argued this, pointing out that one of those creatures could hurt her.

Now, Alex sighed and ran a hand through her hair. Their arguing had escalated, as it always did whenever they really disagreed on something. It got so bad, in fact, that Amy and Rory had made some flimsy excuse about showing Canton and River the new handtowels in one of the TARDIS bathrooms, rushing the two off as she and the Doctor continued shouting about who was right and who was wrong.

Eventually, Alex had brought up another point. Wouldn't it be best if she kept an eye on Amy? The Doctor had frozen at that, pondering her words. Seeing that she was getting to him, Alex continued, saying that Amy's thinking she was pregnant and then dropping it rather quickly was too weird. The Doctor had been forced to agree with this and after a few pleads and eye-batting, she had gotten permission to go.

Now though, she was starting to re-think her pleading. Amy seemed perfectly fine and all the orphanages they had checked so far had wielded up nothing. Alex gazed out the window as the car turned into a driveway. She studied the black wrought-iron sign above them. GRAYSTARK HALL ORPHANAGE. This was their third orphanage. Hopefully, three times the charm would be true for them here.

Canton pulled up in front of a large, dilapidated structure that looked like an eviction notice waiting to happen. Weeds had grown up through the concrete driveway, shingles and roof tiles were missing in several spots, and moss had practically overtaken the whole front of the building. It reminded Alex of the place in horror films where the killer lies in wait for the heroic protagonist and his dumb blonde girlfriend.

The radio station they'd been listening to, a station which seemed partial to Beatles hits, went into a news broadcast. "In just a few days,mankind will set foot on the moon for the first time. Today, the President reaffirmed America's commitment. . ."

Canton turned the dial down and swiveled around in his seat so he could look at Amy and Alex. "Ready. Check?

Amy lifted up the palm of her hand. No light flashing. "Check."

Canton looked at his own, seeing the same thing. "Check."

Amy turned to face Alex. "What about you? See anything?"

Alex peered out the window. She examined the grounds and then the orphanage windows, the ones that were lit anyway. There weren't any suit-clad aliens in either location. She checked the dark windows as a flash of lightning lit them from above. Still nothing. "Nothing so far," she reported.

Canton nodded. He was really glad that she could see and remember these aliens. He peered out through the windshield at the rain, which didn't seem about to relent any. "Guess we'll have to leg it," he sighed. He gripped his door handle. "Ready?"

Amy nodded and gripped hers. "Let's go."

Alex sighed and reached down to pick up the red umbrella the TARDIS had provided her with before she left. The TARDIS had been pretty insistent on giving her the umbrella. Alex had tried to leave it behind in the wardrobe a few times, only for it to appear in her path in the hallway. After the fourth time of doing this, she'd given in. She hadn't understood the time machine's motivation in giving it to her until the thunderstorm started shortly after investigating the first orphanage. Alex made a mental note to thank the TARDIS when she got back. The time machine knew she was afraid of water, that she had been ever since she nearly drowned in the boating accident that killed her parents when she was five years old, and had taken a step in making sure that she would be better suited to face the rain.

Alex opened her door, kicking it the rest of the way open. She opened her umbrella and hesitantly stepped out onto the wet concrete. "Come on," she called as she hurriedly walked forward. She would have offered them shelter from the rain, but the umbrella was only big enough for one person. Evidently the TARDIS had meant for only her to use it.

Amy, Canton, and Alex hurried up to the doorway, thankfully covered by a small portico. Canton knocked on the door. A moment later, it swung open to reveal an older man in his early forties with short black hair and a mustache. Alex eyed him. He was dressed in a tattered brown jacket and pants and clutching a rag in one hand. He stared at them, his expression a mixture of bewilderedness and vacantness. "Hello?"

Canton held up his federal ID. "FBI. You must be Dr. Renfrew. Can we come in?"

Renfrew, who didn't look like he wanted to let them in, glanced back behind him for a second. "The children are asleep," he stuttered.

"We'll be very quiet," Amy promised.

"Is there a problem?"

"It's about a missing child," Alex answered in her best no-nonsense federal voice. She took a pointed step forward. "Can we come in?"

"What are you. . .?" Renfrew started before his voice abruptly trailed off. Alex watched as he blinked and nodded, seemingly thinking better of his question. Or he'd just gotten a suggestion to let them in. "Yes, come in, please."

Alex stepped into the foyer and turned to shake the rain off her umbrella out onto the portico. Once she was done, she stepped back, allowing Renfrew to close the door. Though he nodded to a hat-stand just beside the door, Alex held on to the umbrella. You never knew. It might come in handy, whether they ran into a really big leak or if they had to fight off a couple of these mind-wiping aliens. Or even Renfrew himself, who seemed like he had met one too many of these creatures.

Alex examined the room. The inside of the orphanage was just as dilapidated and run down as the outside. The carpet was dingy and dirty, in desperate need of a vacuuming. It was damp everywhere, not calming her fear of water down any. Paint chipped from the walls, though this didn't really matter considering the graffiti.

Painted on the wall above the staircase were large messages in blood-red paint. The paint had dripped as whoever did them painted, unintentionally causing the words to look even more sinister than they already did. GET OUT was one message. LEAVE NOW was another.

"Please excuse the writing," Renfrew said, seeing Alex, Canton, and Amy eyeing it as he led them up the stairs. He fiddled with the rag in his hand. "It keeps happening. I try to clean it up."

"It's the kids, yeah?" Amy guessed. "They do that?"

Renfrew feebly patted the wall with his rag, though Alex doubted he was going to have much luck removing the paint with that. "Yes, the children," he nodded absently, looking as if he were trying to convince himself of this. "It must be, yes."

Alex bit her lip when she saw the words 'Get Out' written on Renfrew's wrist in black marker. She didn't believe him for a second. It was pretty obvious that there hadn't been children living in Graystark Hall for a long time. One child? That she could believe. Either the little girl from the warehouse had written these messages to herself or Renfrew, or Renfrew had written them to warn himself. Either way, it didn't look like they had worked. Renfrew had clearly gone off the deep end from all the mind-wipes.

"Anyway," Renfrew went on, "my office is this way."

"We nearly didn't come to this place," Canton informed him as they followed the man up the stairs.

Alex nodded. "Yes, we understood Graystark Hall was closed in 1967."

"That's the plan, yes," Renfrew commented.

Amy blinked. "Theplan?"

"Not long now."

Canton eyed the man. "It's 1969," he said gently.

"No, no," Renfrew protested, shaking his head. "We close in '67. That's the plan, yes."

"You misunderstood me, sir. It's 1969now."

Renfrew whirled around. His eyes were wide and unblinking, and he looked like he was on the verge of a complete nervous breakdown. "Why are you saying that?" he demanded, his voice going an octave higher as his panic increased. "Of course it isn't!"

"July," Canton insisted.

Renfrew looked like he was about to argue again, but suddenly he blinked and straightened up. Alex didn't turn around, already knowing what had happened. One of those creatures was behind them, giving Renfrew the order to drop it and just take them upstairs already. Now, Renfrew glanced up and motioned over his shoulder. "My office is this way," he stammered. "This way." He veered off onto a smaller staircase, but Canton and the girls hung back.

"We'll check upstairs," Amy volunteered, gesturing to her and Alex.

"Be careful," Canton cautioned. Though he hadn't known them long, he already knew that the Doctor was very protective of the girls, particularly Alex. Canton had no doubt that if anything happened to Alex, the Doctor would go on a warpath to try and avenge her.

The girls nodded their agreement before continuing up the stairs while Canton followed Renfrew. The second floor was just as rotten as the ground floor with dirty, damp carpet, a dark hallway, and more warnings written on the walls. The girls walked right next to each-other, not wanting to separate from one another for even a second. They approached a partially open door. Amy looked at Alex and raised an eyebrow. Alex nodded and Amy reached out to push the door open.

They found themselves in what used to be a dormitory, evidenced by the several metal bedframes lined on either side of the room. LEAVE ME ALONE was written on one wall in the same drippy, blood-red paint used to write the warnings downstairs.

Alex stared at it. "I think we need to call a doctor," she quipped, hoping that would make Amy laugh a little in their tense situation.

Amy snorted. She was so glad Alex was her best friend. The girl always tried to distract her and cheer her up whenever they were faced with a scary situation. "Worse pun ever," she deadpanned as she pulled her walkie-talkie out and pressed the talk button.

A moment later, the Doctor's voice rang out. "Amy? Ally?"

"Hey, Doc," Alex greeted. "We've found the place the little girl was taken from. Graystark Hall Orphanage."

"How do you know?"

"It's pretty obvious," she told him, glancing around the room.

"Those things have been here," Amy reported. "But the whole place is deserted. There's just one guy here and I think he's lost it."

"Yeah," Alex agreed sadly, thinking about Renfrew and what his mind must be like now. "The poor guy's completely off his rocker."

"Repeated memory wipes fry your head eventually," the Doctor sighed. "You girls find out what you can, butdon'thang around." He then let out what sounded like a grunt. Amy and Alex looked at each-other and frowned.

"How's Apollo 11 working out?" Alex asked.

There was a pause and then what sounded like approaching footsteps. "Gotta go, got company," the Doctor said quickly. A second later, he disconnected.

Alex sighed and shook her head. "I told him he was going to get caught," she groaned.

"At least River and Rory are there to bail him out," Amy reminded her, pocketing the walkie-talkie.

Alex hummed and shrugged in reply before heading off across the room to look out the window. She was hoping to see a couple of the creatures out there. While she hadn't seen any yet, she knew there were some here. She heard Amy walking towards her and then the sound of the door slamming shut.

The girls jumped and spun around to see the closed door. "Did you do that?" Alex asked, knowing that it wasn't likely, but checking anyways.

"Of course not!" Amy protested as she began marching back to the door to open it.

Alex pursed her lips and began to roll her eyes at this ridiculous horror-movie cliché . . . until she caught sight of what was on the ceiling. She stared, incredulous and horrified, at the horde of black-suit clad creatures hanging upside down from the ceiling like a flock of bats.Yep, definitely having nightmares about this,Alex thought as she stood frozen in place, just gawking at the ceiling.

She took this opportunity of being frozen in terror to study the aliens. Luckily for them, they didn't appear to be awake.How is sleeping upside down comfortable?the snippy part of her mind wondered before the practical part told that side to shut up so they could get out of here. Alex somehow forced her legs to move her one step away from the horde. "Amy?" she whispered.

Amy stopped mid-stride and turned back to look at her friend. "Yeah?" she hissed back, not bothering to question why Alex was whispering. It had to be for some good reason, and she wasn't about to waste time questioning it.

"Do you trust me?" Alex asked.

Amy blinked in surprise. Of course she did! How could Alex think that? She trusted her just as much as she trusted the Doctor. "Of course I do," she replied.

"Alright, so if I tell you to do something, you'll do it?"

"Yes," Amy said slowly. Where was this going?

"Okay. Amy, listen to me and obey me for once. Donotlook up."

Amy frowned at her. "Why?" she questioned, her voice going slightly higher in worry.

Alex inched sideways across the room to her friend, eyes remaining on the ceiling. "Amelia, listen to me," she ordered. "No matter how tempted you are, donotlook up at the ceiling. You really don't want to. Okay?"

Though Amy was now incredibly curious, she fought the powerful urge to look up and instead nodded. "Okay," she whispered back.

Alex nodded approvingly and grabbed Amy's arm, steering her over to the door. She kept her eyes on the ceiling, making sure that the creatures didn't awake and try to come after them.

"This is just like the Weeping Angels in the oxygen factory," Amy said. "Me, not being able to see anything, and you steering me in a certain direction."

Alex smiled a little, even though that memory was hardly pleasant. They'd had Weeping Angels stuck in their minds and they both could have died if just one thing had been slightly different. Alex was about to remind Amy that at least they weren't dealing with Weeping Angels this time when a CLANG sounded right next to them. The girls jerked back, and Alex looked down to see a bucket lying on its side on the floor. Amy had evidently kicked it as Alex moved her forwards.

"And, like with the Weeping Angels, you tripped over something," Alex hissed. Her eyes shot back to the alien horde. She saw one creature stirring.

Immediately, she maneuvered around Amy and buzzed her sonic necklace over the lock. To her relief, the door opened. She quickly grabbed Amy's hand, jerking her out into the hallway, before turning back around and closing and sonicing the door lock.

Chapter 5: Day of the Moon Part 2

Chapter Text

As Alex had expected, the Doctor had been caught and captured in the Apollo 11 module. He now sat, handcuffed, in a chair in one of the lecture halls at NASA. Boards cluttered with equations and diagrams lined the perimeter, along with a mini model of the Apollo 11 capsule. A guard stood at the back of the room while two men in white shirts, khakis, and ties stood before the Doctor, trying for the tenth time in the last half hour to pry what they believed was the truth from him.

"Now, one more time, sir," a man who'd introduced himself only as Gardner urged. "How thehelldid you get into the command module?"

The Doctor glared at them. He'd been telling them the truth for the last half hour, them and the other couple men who'd been sent in and ultimately given up on him. "I told you. I'm on a top-secret mission for the President." He then proceeded to bite the cuffs in a fruitless attempt to break them.

Gardner chuckled, apparently believing the Doctor to be a total nut. "Well, maybe if you just get President Nixon to assure us of that, sir, that would be swell."

The Doctor dropped the cuffs and smirked. "I sent him a message."

Right on cue, the door behind the men opened to reveal President Nixon, flanked on either side by River and Rory. Rory had changed into a professional suit, complete with Clark Kent style glasses, while River had opted for a blue dress with a matching coat, small heels, a brooch, and her wild, curly hair pulled back into a bun.

The two men whirled around, completely dumbstruck, while the Doctor merely grinned and lifted a cuffed hand to wave at the group.

"Hello," Nixon greeted as he approached the men. He turned to Gardner. "I believe it's Mr. Gardner. Is that correct? Head of security?"

Gardner fiddled with his glasses as he stuttered out an answer. "Er, yes sir! Yes, Mr. President."

Nixon turned to address the other man, a slightly more rotund one with short blond hair. "Mr. Grant, is it?"

"Yes, Mr. President."

"The hopes and dreams of millions of Americans stand here today at Cape Kennedy, and you're the men who guard those dreams. On behalf of the American people, I thank you."

"You're welcome, Mr. President," a collected Gardner nodded.

"I understand you have a baby on the way, Mr. Grant."

Grant nodded. "Yes, Mr. President."

"What are you hoping for, a boy or a girl?"

"Just a healthy American, sir."

Nixon laughed and nodded approvingly. "A healthy American will do just nicely," he affirmed. "Now, fellows, listen. This man here, code name the Doctor, is doing some work for me personally. Could you cut him a little slack?"

Gardner shifted uncomfortably. "Er, Mr. President, hedidbreak into Apollo 11."

Nixon stared at the Doctor. The latter shrugged and mouthed, "Sorry."

After a moment of processing this information, Nixon finally said, "Well, I'm sure he had a very good reason for that. But I need you to release him now so he can get on with some very important work for the American people. Could you do that for me?"

Grant hesitated. "Well. . ."

"Son, Iamyour Commander in Chief."

"Then I guess that would be fine, Mr. President," Gardner hurriedly relented, eager to stay on Nixon's good side.

"Glad to hear it," Nixon smiled.

Gardner turned and nodded at the guard. In just a few seconds, the Doctor was released. He sprang out of the chair and rushed over to Grant. "Thank you!" he beamed, shaking the man's hand. "Bye, bye." He shook Gardner's hand as well before snapping his fingers at Nixon and rushing past them to the TARDIS parked just outside.

"Carry on, gentlemen," Nixon told Gardner and Grant before exiting as well. River followed along behind him while Rory loitered in front of the Apollo 11 model. He picked up a piece of the model, only for it to break off in his hand. He cringed and tried to stick it back on but was ultimately unable to.

He set it down on the table and turned to face the men. He coughed a little. "America salutes you," he said in his best American accent, which really wasn't very good. Once saluting them, he turned and awkwardly headed back to the TARDIS.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Back at Graystark, Amy and Alex walked through the third-floor hallway, thankfully the last floor of the building. After their experience in the room downstairs, the girls had decided to use the flashlights Canton had provided them. Walking around in such a creepy place was much better with a little light instead of none at all.

Alex stepped into an empty bedroom while Amy continued down the hall. Alex moved further into the room, using her other hand to hold her umbrella out like a sword. There wasn't anything significant about this room. A few more bedframes lined the walls, a couple of them covered with dirty, dusty mattresses. Looking out the lone window in the room, Alex could see the rain continuing to pour down, just as furious as it had been when they arrived.

She glanced up at the ceiling, checking to see if there was another nest of aliens up there, but thankfully, this one only yielded dusty rafters and possibly a few bats. That was good. The ones downstairs were enough for her.

She was about to investigate the room further when she suddenly heard Amy's voice call out, "Hello? I saw you looking through the hatch!" Alex whirled around and hurried out of the room and down the hall, coming to a stop before an open door.

"Amy?" she called into the room.

Amy spun around. "Alex! Did you see her?"

Alex frowned in confusion. "See who? I was in another room. Who were you talking to?"

"There was this woman wearing an eyepatch who appeared in a hatch in the door." Amy patted the specific spot on the door. The hatch was noticeably nonexistent. "I asked her who she was, but she just turned away and said, 'I think she's dreaming'."

Weird. Maybe the aliens had gotten to Amy and were trying to trick her. "Amy, have you checked your hand lately?" Alex asked as she tilted her head to get a better look at Amy's palm.

Amy glared at her. "Alex! I know what I saw!" She raised her hand. No glow coming from it. "See?" she said triumphantly.

Alex sighed. Well, at least that was good news, but it still didn't explain why Amy had seen an eyepatch lady in the door. "Well, whoever she was, she's gone now," Alex said, flashing her light around the room.

They appeared to be in a child's bedroom, presumably the little girl's since it looked much nicer than the rest of the bedrooms they'd seen. A small collection of stuffed animals had been arranged on the bed while a mobile full of stars and moons hung from a lamp. On another side of the room was a large chest of drawers, the top of which contained a bunch of framed photographs on a lace doily. Amy headed over to this while Alex crouched down to examine the stuffed animals.

The photos showed the little girl at various ages, none stretching past her current one. As Amy examined them, she spotted a photo tucked into the very back. She reached out and picked it up, only for her eyes to widen in shock.

It was of her and a baby swaddled up in a white blanket. She was holding the baby, leaning over slightly so her face was in the picture. Amy couldn't see much of the background, so she had no idea when or where the photo might have been taken.

"How?" she murmured to herself. "How can that be me?" It was entirely possible this photo had been taken in her future, but whose baby was she holding? Was the baby the little girl?If so,Amy thought,who is she to me?

"Ames?" Alex called. She straightened up and headed over to the redhead. "What'd you say?"

Amy glanced at her friend. She was just about to show her the photo, hoping that maybe Alex could gleam something from it that she couldn't, only to hear a familiar thudding sound from a small distance away, steadily getting closer.

The astronaut.

Amy hurriedly set the photo down while Alex moved a hand to her sonic necklace. They watched, hesitant, as the astronaut entered the room, coming to a stop a few steps away from them. "Who are you?" Amy demanded. "We don't understand, so just tell us who you are!"

The astronaut raised its gold visor to reveal the little girl from the warehouse. A crack was still in her helmet from where Amy had tried to shoot her. Amy winced at the sight and at the thought that she had nearly killed a child. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "I didn't mean to shoot you. I'm glad I missed." The little girl just stared at her, as if unsure whether or not to believe her words. Alex studied her as Amy continued. "But you killed the Doctor. And you tried to kill Alex." She nodded to the girl beside her. "Or you're going to kill him and try to kill her."

"That's time travel for you," Alex interjected, knowing she had to try to get the girl to like them if they wanted to find out who she was. She cautiously stepped forward, ignoring Amy's tugs on her blazer, and smiled a little at the girl. "Hi. I'm Alex, and that's Amy. What's your name?" No response, not that Alex was surprised by that. "Oh, come on. Pretty little girl like you must have a pretty name." Still, nothing. Alex sighed and decided to try another tactic. "Who are you? Could you please tell us, because we don't understand any of what's going on."

"Please help me!" the little girl begged. She reached a hand out towards them. "Help me,please!"

"Help you from what?" Alex asked. She was already starting across the room. "Is it the aliens? Is that it?"

But just as she reached the little girl, two of those very aliens came in through a door behind the girl. Amy started screaming and the door slammed shut. In the space of five seconds, Alex found herself grabbed by one of the aliens.

"Let go of me!" she yelled, kicking and thrashing around as the creature attempted to restrain her. Just her luck. The only way they could get out was by using the door, which was currently locked, and the only person who could open the door was currently being held by a disgusting-looking alien. Just great.

"Help!" Amy shouted. She scrambled over to the door and desperately tried to open it. "Help us!"

"Canton!" Alex screamed at the top of her lungs as she continued thrashing around. Remembering she still had her umbrella in hand, she moved to dig its handle into the alien, only her captor caught her doing it and jerked her to the side. The umbrella jostled out of her grasp. Defeated, she turned to watch the other alien approach Amy as the redhead continued to kick and pound at the door. The little girl in the spacesuit stood by, observing everything with a sad, but accepting air.

"Canton!" Amy called, not seeing the creature behind her. "Canton, help us!"

But by the time Canton would their screams and come to rescue them, it would be too late.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

"You have to tapeeverythingthat happens in this office," the Doctor instructed Nixon. They were back in the Oval Office, Nixon behind his desk while the Doctor stood on the other side, giving orders. The Doctor couldn't help but be partially amused at the fact that he was setting part of the Watergate scandal up. He had to remember to tell Alex this. She'd probably tease him about doing such a thing in that adorable, flirty, sassy way of hers. "Every word, or you won't know if you're under the influence."

"Doctor, you have to give me more than this," Nixon argued as the Doctor went over to the TARDIS. "What were you doing to Apollo 11?"

"Thing," the Doctor dismissed. "A clever thing. Now, no more questions. You have to trust me and nobody else."

Just then, the TARDIS door opened and River poked her head out, one hand clutching a phone. "Doctor, it's Canton!" she cried frantically. "Quick! He needs us!"

The Doctor didn't even hesitate, rushing past River and into the console room. He ran up the steps, practically taking them two at a time as River shut the doors and moved to join him. The Doctor barely looked up as they operated the time machine, not even to tell River she was doing anything wrong.

In truth, he was terrified, absolutelyterrified. If Canton had called, that meant that Alex or Amy or both were in danger. His hearts tensed at the thought of his Ally in peril. He should haveknownsomething like this might happen! He should have resisted Alex's incredibly irresistible eye-batting and pleading and put his foot down. Never mind how angry she might have been, she'd be safe.

Not now,he told himself as he pulled a lever down to send them to the destination Canton had given them.Go save Ally – and Amy – and then you can worry about the what ifs.

All too soon – but not soon enough for the Doctor's liking – they were at Graystark Hall Orphanage. The Doctor barreled down the stairs and out the door, River and Rory hot on his heels. As they ran up to the third floor, they could hear Canton desperately shoving against a door, Amy and Alex's screams echoing from beyond.

"Help!" Amy screamed. "Help us! Please, I can't . . . I can't see!"

"Get off of me!" Alex screeched. The Doctor ran even faster at this. "Somebody help!"

"Amy!" Canton cried. "Amy! Alex! Can you hear me? Girls, I'm going to try to blow the lock. I need you to stand back!"

"Okay, gun down!" the Doctor cried as he jumped up onto the landing and ran over. He already had his sonic screwdriver out and he immediately pressed it to the knob. "I've got it!"

"Amy! Alex, we're here!" Rory called as he and River reached the top of the steps. "Are you okay?"

"We can't see anything!" Alex yelled.

At this point, the lock gave way and the Doctor barreled into the room, the others quickly following. They found themselves in the little girl's bedroom. The astronaut suit was lying lifeless on the carpet and Amy and Alex were nowhere in sight.

Rory spun in a circle, trying to see all of the room at once. "Doctor, where are they?!"

River hurried over to the spacesuit and knelt down next to it. She pulled out her scanner and ran it over the contraption. "It's empty," she reported a moment later. As though to further illustrate her point, she lifted the visor. Nothing but a blank space.

The Doctor nodded at her, but his thoughts were consumed by Alex. Where was she? What had happened to her? She should have been safe, considering she could see the aliens. What had happened to her?! "Alex!" he shouted. "Alex!" He crouched down on the floor and looked under the bed, even though he doubted he was going to find her under there. "Ally, where are you?!"

"It's dark," Amy's voice whimpered. The group looked around and were soon drawn down to the floor as a red light flashed on the carpet. It was Amy's nanorecorder. "So dark. I don't know where I am. Please, can anybody hear me? Alex? Where are you? Alex?!"

"Right here," Alex's voice reported, sounding much calmer than Amy. The Doctor sighed in relief. She was alive. That was good. He didn't think he could handle it if she was dead. "Wherever here is, anyway."

Rory bent down and picked up the nanorecorder. "They took this out of her. How did they do that, Doctor? Why can I still hear her?"

"Is it a recording?" River asked.

The Doctor stepped closer and ran his sonic over the device. After a moment of scanning it, he raised the sonic and examined the results. "It defaults to live," he explained. "This is current. Wherever the girls are right now, this is what they're saying."

"Amy, can you hear me?" Rory called into the recorder, cradling it in his hand like it was the rarest gem in the world. "Alex? We're coming for you two. Wherever you are, we're coming, I swear."

"They can't hear you. I'm so sorry. It's one-way."

Rory shot him a dark look. "Amy canalwayshear me, Doctor," he argued as Amy's sobs broke out on the other end. "Always. Just like Alex can always hear you. Wherever they are, and they always know we're coming for them.Always."

The Doctor went silent. He couldn't really argue that point, considering the connection between him and Alex. He could always hear her and most definitely would always hear her. He wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to work vice-versa as well.

"Doctor?" Alex's voice called out, as though she could actually hear them right now. "Doc, I know you're out there. Doc, if you can hear me, please,pleasehurry. Amy's scared and, well, I'm okay but I'd much rather be with you instead of with a bunch of aliens permanently dressed for the Oscars. Like that one, Amy?"

"Yeah," Amy giggled, her sobs turning into slight sniffles. "Thanks, Alex."

"No problem," Alex said breezily. The Doctor and Rory looked at each-other and grinned. Alex was trying to distract Amy with her usual sarcastic wit and humor. That meant she was okay . . . for now. "But hurry up, Doc. Amy needs her raggedy doctor and I need to see you."

The Doctor stared at the nanorecorder for one long moment before plucking it out of Rory's hands and raising it to his lips. "I'm coming, Ally," he whispered into it. "I swear it; I'll be there soon."

There was a long pause on the other end and then, finally, "Thank you, Doc."

"Hello?" a new voice rang out as the Doctor handed the nanorecorder back to Rory, the latter kissing it. Everyone turned to see Renfrew poking his head in. The Doctor eyed him. The man certainly looked frazzled and off his rocker, just like Alex had said.

Renfrew stumbled the rest of the way in, glancing back out at the hall a few times as though to check that something was there. "Is somebody there? I think someone has been shot. I think we should help . . . we c. . ." He blinked and looked around bewilderedly. "I can't re. . . I can't remember."

Yep, off his rocker,the Doctor thought. The poor man's mind would never be the same again after so many memory wipes. He darted forward towards the door, River, Canton, and Rory rushing to follow him . . . until the Doctor tripped on something. He stumbled and held his arms out for balance, catching himself at the last minute. Frowning, he looked down.

It was a bright red umbrella, lying abandoned on the ground. The golden tip at the top was broken, the little piece lying just a small distance away. The Doctor bent down and picked it and the umbrella up, placing the former in his pocket so he could attach it back on later. He fingered the umbrella. It was still slightly damp from the rain, drops of water catching and staining the sleeves of his tweed jacket.

It looked like an ordinary umbrella to everyone else, but it was incredibly important to the Doctor. It was the umbrella Alex had been carrying when she walked out of the TARDIS wardrobe in what he liked to call her power-suit. He'd been confused as to why she was carrying it when it was sunny outside though, now seeing the rain pounding away out the window, he guessed that the TARDIS had known a change in weather was coming and had wanted Alex to be prepared for it.

Still gripping the umbrella, the last thing he had left of Alex, the Doctor stormed out the door and down the stairs. He knew the others were following him, but he barely heard them. His blood was pounding away, harder and faster than the rain overhead, and his hearts were beating louder than any thunder could dream to sound like. He was angry, so, so angry. Alex, his Ally, had been taken away from him, snatched out of his reach by enemies he couldn't even remember encountering. They had just taken her from him, not knowing how furious it would make him.

He felt the dark part of himself he strove to keep hidden rise up. The Oncoming Storm was whirling through him like a mighty hurricane and nothing,nothing,was going to stop him from rescuing Alex.

So consumed in his thoughts, he almost didn't register the fact that he was walking into Renfrew's cluttered office. Lying on the floor was one of the aliens. One of its hands clutched a gunshot wound on its side. Canton shined his flashlight on it as they approached. The creature struggled to back up as the Doctor advanced towards it.

He knelt down next to the creature. "Who and what are you?" he demanded. His voice was cold and hard, a little glimpse of the all-consuming rage running through his veins.

The creature eyed him for a moment before answering. "Silence, Doctor," it hissed. "We are the Silence."

The Doctor's eyes widened in recognition. Silence. . . He'd heard that before. He'd heard it all throughout his adventures leading up to the Pandorica.

Prisoner Zero fixed his eyes on the Doctor and Alex. "Silence, Doctor and Ally," he hissed. "Silence will fall."

Rory stepped into the doorway, Alex right behind him, but the Doctor stopped them from heading in. "Rory, Alex, listen to that!" he commanded.

Rory frowned in confusion. "Er, what? All I can hear is . . . silence."

Almost instantly, Rosanna's playful demeanor towards him disappeared, revealing a scared and mournful person. "We ran from the Silence," she replied.

"The Silence?"

The Doctor blinked. All those instances where his enemies had spoken of the Silence. . . He hadn't known what they were talking about until now. He stared at the Silent before him.

"And Silence will fall!" it finished.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

A little while later, the Doctor, Rory, and River were back at the warehouse. The Doctor had dropped Canton and the Silent off at Area 51 after making a pit stop in Washington to pick up President Nixon, who they needed to make sure no one questioned Canton about his reappearance from the prison after several days of being in there. They had a little plan in the works which, if everything went off without a hitch, would work.

Now, the Doctor and River were examining the spacesuit they'd recovered from Graystark while Rory sat a little distance away, clutching the nanorecorder in his hand. Amy and Alex hadn't spoken for a while, and it was starting to alarm the men. River didn't look all that concerned, but she was from the future and probably already knew how things happened.

Or she just really didn't care for Alex. That was likely too.

"It's an exoskeleton," she said now, pulling the Doctor out of his steadily darkening thoughts. "Basically life-support. There's about twenty different kinds of alien tech in here."

"Who was she?" he wondered. "Why put her in here?"

"You put this on, you don't even need toeat. The suit processes sunlight directly. It's got built-in weaponry and a communications system that can hack into anything."

"Including the telephone networks?"

"Easily."

"But why phone the President?"

"It defaults to the highest authority it can find," River said as she scanned the suit. The Doctor took this opportunity to pull the blue envelope he'd received out of his jacket and begin examining it. "The little girl gets frightened, the most powerful man on Earth gets a phone-call. The night terrors with a hotline to the White House." She looked up just in time to see the Doctor licking the envelope. She shook her head and wondered if this was how Alex felt half the time. "You won't learn anything from that envelope, you know."

He lowered the envelope and turned it over, examining each side. "Purchased on Earth, perfectly ordinary stationary, TARDIS blue," he summarized. "Summoned by a stranger who won't even show his face. That's a first for me. How about you?"

"Our lives are back to front," River reminded him. "Your future's my past. Your firsts are my lasts."

"That's not really what I asked."

River just smirked. "Ask something else, then."

Easy enough, considering there was still a lot about the Silence and the little girl he didn't know. "What are the Silence doing raising a child?"

"Keeping her safe." River leaned back down to examine the suit's technology. "Even giving her independence."

The Doctor paced across the floor, passing Rory as he said, "The only way to save Amy and Alex is to work out what the Silence are doing."

"I know," Rory responded.

"And every single thing we learn about them brings us a step closer."

"Yeah," Rory cut in before he could go on. "Doctor, I get it. I know."

The Doctor nodded, knowing that he did, but just reinforcing what they had to do to get their girls back. "It's possible she's not just any little girl," he said to River.

"Well, I'd say she's human," River hypothesized, "going by the life-support software."

"But?" he prodded. There was always a 'but'.

River sighed and wearily rubbed her forehead. She looked a bit like Alex when she was frustrated, not that the Doctor was about to tell her that. That wouldn't be received well at all. "Sheclimbedout of this suit. Like. . ." She held up one of the wires sticking out of the suit. It had been ripped in half. ". . .sheforcedher way out. She must be incredibly strong."

"Incredibly strong and running away," the Doctor mused. He smiled. "I like her."

"We should be trying to find her."

"Yes, I know. But how? Anyway, I have the strangest feeling she's going to find us."

"Apollo 11, this is Houston," a voice rang out, though no one looked around for it. It was coming from the TV that had been set up on the other side of the room, tuned to the Apollo 11 launch. "How do you read? Over."

The Doctor walked over to the TV and studied the screen as the NASA scientists went on. Rory, however, eyed the spacesuit. "Why does it look like a NASA spacesuit?" he asked.

"Because that's what the Silence do," the Doctor said. "Think about it. They don't make anything themselves. They don't have to. They get other life forms to do it for them."

"So, they're parasites then," River summarized.

"Superparasites," the Doctor corrected, "standing in the shadows of human history since the very beginning. We know they can influence human behavior any way they want. If they've been doing that on a global scale for thousands of years. . ."

"Then what?" Rory prompted when he trailed off.

"Then why did the human race suddenly decide to go to the moon?"

"Ten, nine. Ignition sequence start. Six, five, four." Flames began bursting out from the underside of the rocket and the whole contraption trembled on the launch-pad.

"Because," the Doctor finished, "the Silence needed a spacesuit."

"One, zero. All engines running. Liftoff. We have a liftoff." On screen, Apollo 11 began zooming upward. In just a few minutes, the astronauts aboard would be in the upper part of Earth's atmosphere, pieces of rocket falling away as it propelled towards the moon. "Thirty-two minutes past the hour, liftoff on Apollo 11."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

A little while later, the Doctor opened River's beeping comm. He smiled when he saw the video file Canton had sent from Amy's phone. That smile turned into an almost dark grin when he heard the Silent utter the phrase, "You should kill us all on sight."

Behind him, River continued to examine the suit. The little archeologist inside her must have been having a field day, examining such a complex piece of tech. Just as she was running her scanner over it again, one of the suit's gloves twitched.

"This suit," she called to the Doctor, making him look back over at her as the suit continued twitching, "it seems to be repairing itself. How's it doing that?" Then, a thought occurred to her. "Doctor, a unit like this, would it ever be able to movewithoutan occupant?"

"Why?"

"Well, the little girl said the spaceman was coming to eat her. Maybe that's exactly what happened."

Before the Doctor could reply, Amy's voice came out through the nanorecorder. "I love you," she said, the first words either girl had spoken for at least a couple hours. "Really, I do. More than I ever thought possible. And I swear, when I see you again, I'm going to tell you properly, just to see your stupid face. My life was so boring before you dropped out of the sky. So just get your stupid face where I can see it, okay? Okay?"

"And, for the record," Alex's voice interjected, "just in case there's any lingering paranoia in you, Rory, she was talking toyou."

"Yes, thank you, Alex," Amy dismissed, probably sticking her tongue out at the girl.

Rory had to chuckle. Alex needn't have clarified Amy's words for him. He hadn't worried about Amy's feelings for the Doctor in a long time, not since he came aboard the TARDIS and went to Venice. Seeing Alex's interactions with the Doctor and vice-versa and seeing how Amy had turned over a new leaf and was trying to push the two together, he knew then that Amy was completely his, reinforced even more after he heard what she did to get back to him during the Dream Lord adventure. She was his wife and she loved him, and nothing would ever make him doubt that.

"They'll be safe for now," the Doctor quietly assured him, having sat down beside him at some point during Amy's declarations of love. "No point in dead hostages." He grimaced, realizing just how bad that had sounded. "Um . . . forget I said that," he said awkwardly, his stomach twisting painfully at the thought of Alex dying.

Rory looked at the Doctor, taking in his weary and slightly angry expression. Being apart from Alex was taking his toll on him. He recalled the way the man had acted when Alex was taken by the Silurian's. He'd never seen such raw anger before, a twisted, powerful force that was never seen so long as Alex was standing alongside the Time Lord. He could only hope and pray that it wouldn't be unleashed again before they got back to the girls. "Can't you save them?" he asked.

"I can track that signal back. Take us right to them."

Rory gaped at him. If he could do that, why wasn't he falling over himself trying to get back to Alex, considering how important she was to him? "Then why haven't you?" he demanded.

The Doctor sighed. "Because then what? I find them and then what do I do? This isn't an alien invasion. Theylivehere. This is their empire. This is kicking the Romans out of Rome."

"Rome fell," Rory flatly reminded him.

"I know," the Doctor murmured, remembering his trip to the city during his first incarnation and how he accidentally gave Nero the idea to burn down the city. Not that he was about to tell Rory that. Instead, he settled for, "I was there."

"So was I."

Which reminded him. . . "Personal question."

"Seriously, you?"

"Do you ever remember it?" the Doctor asked, ignoring the dig. "Two thousand years, waiting for Amy? The Last Centurion."

"No."

The Doctor eyed him doubtfully. "You're lying."

"Of course I'm lying."

"Of course you are. Not the sort of thing anyone forgets."

"Alex asked me about that."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow, but he wasn't really all that surprised. Alex was tremendously caring, and he knew she looked after her friends with a fierce protectiveness and determination that he greatly admired. "Did she now? When?"

"Not long after the wedding. It was probably a few days before we went to Savannah. She found me in the kitchen late one night. I'd had a dream of a memory during those years. It was during WWII, London Blitz, and I was tugging the Pandorica out of the warehouse it was in before a bomb fell on it. I was heading out when this brown-haired girl in a nurse's uniform came running up to me. She yelled, "Look out!" and pushed me out of the way and on the ground. Then there was this whistling sound and a big explosion. When it cleared, I looked round, but she wasn't there anymore. She died for me that night and I didn't even know her.

"Anyway, I couldn't sleep after dreaming aboutthat, so I went into the kitchen to make tea. I was just sitting there, and Alex came in. Said she couldn't sleep either and asked me what I was doing up. I told her about the dream, and she asked me if I remembered any more of those 2,000 years."

"What'd you tell her?"

"I said I don't remember it all the time. It's . . . like this door in my head. I can keep it shut."

"Please, please, just come and get me," Amy begged, sobs starting to overtake her voice. "Come and get me."

"Come on, Doctor," Alex pleaded. "You must have a plan in the works by now! I know you. You're quite brilliant. And sorry, Rory, for making a smug look appear on his face."

The Doctor laughed a little, making a mental note to get back at her for that remark. "I do, Ally," he said to the nanorecorder. "And I think now's as good a time as any to put it in action."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Alex's eyes fluttered and she grimaced as she re-woke to a dim room, lights shining overhead like some people who claimed to have been abducted by aliens described. She glanced down to see that she was still strapped to the chair she'd been in for the last. . . Well, she didn't really know how long she'd been here, but she'd estimate a couple days.

She looked around the room, a carbon copy of the control room she'd seen in Craig's flat and the one back at the warehouse. A small distance away, Amy, strapped to her own chair, was waking up. And in front of them were at least a dozen aliens.

Amy winced in the bright glare of the lights. "Where am I?" she demanded. "Where is this?"

Alex wasn't surprised that Amy couldn't remember much. These aliens, who she'd heard calling themselves the Silence, had been knocking them out, using their post-hypnotic suggestion skills to make them forget the last few days. Well, they were trying to, in Alex's case. Alex could remember everything but didn't let on in front of them. She doubted it was a good idea to let them know that. They might try and kill her because of it.

Still, she had fallen asleep. And when she'd woken, she could have sworn that she was supposed to remember something, something important. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't think of anything.

Now, Alex shifted. There was an uncomfortable pain in her chest. It was probably from the tight straps surrounding her waist, but it didn't really feel like that. It felt more like something was . . . shiftingaround inside her body, like her organs were getting squished from something new being added to her insides.

But before she could dwell on it further, one of the Silence started speaking. "You are Amelia Pond." It then turned to Alex. "And you are Alexandria Locke."

"And you're ugly," Alex retorted. "And don't call me Alexandria."

"We do you both honor. You will bring the Silence." Exactly who it was talking to was unclear, for the creature had positioned itself so it was looking at both girls. "But your part will soon be over."

"Whatever that means, you've made a big mistake," Amy shot back, "bringing us here, because wait until you see what's coming for you now." The Doctor was most definitely angry about Alex having been taken. Amy had seen what instances like that did to him. If the Silence were smart, they'd betterrun.

"You have been here many days."

"No," Amy said slowly, "we just got here. You just put us in here!"

"Your memory is weak," the Silent argued, as if it hadn't been erasing her memories over the past few days. "You have been here many days."

Amy shook her head adamantly and struggled against her straps. "No. No, I can't have been."

The Silent stepped over to her while another one went to Alex. Both started to lean over the girls. "You will sleep now," they commanded.

"No!" Amy screamed, shaking against her restraints.

"Get off of me!" Alex yelled, thrashing around wildly, and cringing back from her Silent. She really wished she could use her sonic necklace to loosen her bonds, but it only worked when she was holding it. When the Doctor got here, because hewouldget here, she was going to have to ask him if there was any way she could use her necklace without having to physically hold it.

"Sleep."

"No! Get off me!" Amy cried. "No! No!"

"Sleep."

"NO!" the girls screamed, their cries practically rivaling each-other in volume.

And then, a glorious sound rang out, stopping everyone in their tracks and cutting the girls' cries short. It was the TARDIS materialization noise. Amy and Alex turned to watch, grins lighting up their faces, as the blue box came into reality.

The Doctor stepped out and looked around at the familiar setting. "Oh, interesting," he marveled, studying the room. "Very Aickman Road. I've seen one of these before. Abandoned. I wonder how that happened? Oh, well, I suppose I'm about to find out." He spun around to address River and Rory, who had just stepped out of the time machine. "Rory, River, keep one Silent in eyeshot at all times."

He swiveled back around and looked at the Silence. "Oh, hello!" he exclaimed, as if just now noticing them. "Sorry, you were in the middle of something." He darted back into the TARDIS, coming out only a second later with a small TV in his hands. Alex co*cked her head at it. What was he doing? "I just had to say though, have you seen what's on the telly?" As he set the TV on the console, he turned to the girls. "Oh, hello, Amy, Ally! Are you two alright? Want to watch some television?" In actuality, he was literally forcing himself from running forward and tearing Alex out of her restraints. Sadly, he just couldn't do that yet. His plan had to go off without a hitch or things would be truly screwed.

He then noticed that some of the Silence were edging closer to him. "Ah!" he warned, holding a hand out. "Now, stay where you are. Because look at me, I'm confident. You want to watch that, me, when I'm confident. Oh, and this is my friend River." He nodded over his shoulder to the woman now standing back-to-back with him, her blaster trained on the Silence. Neither of them noticed the steely glare on Alex's face when she saw how close they were. "Nice hair, clever, has her own gun, and unlike me, she really doesn't mind shooting people. I shouldn't like that. Kind of do, a bit."

River beamed at him over her shoulder. "Thank you, sweetie."

"I know you're team players and everything, but she'll definitely kill at least the first three of you—"

"Well, the first seven, easily," River interrupted.

"Seven, really?"

River smirked, practically preening at his amazement. She leaned her head back to rest on his shoulder. "Oh, eight for you, honey," she promised.

"Stop it."

"Makeme."

Oh, I'lldefinitelymake you!Alex thought, her eyes positively shooting daggers at River. Her eyes switched from a light honey to a deep, dark green, to the point that they were almost black. Amy and Rory glanced over and shivered a little bit. They'd seen Alex's eyes change colors before, but never like this.

From his angle, the Doctor couldn't see Alex and her steadily growing fury. "Yeah?" he shot back. "Well, maybe I will."

By this point, Alex had had enough. "WILL YOU TWO STOP FLIRTING FOR ONE GOD-DAMNED SECOND AND GET US OUT OF HERE?!" she screeched, everyone, even the Silence, wincing at the sound of her voice.

"Yeah!" Amy called out in agreement, although nowhere near as loud as Alex. "Because I feel like I should be high on the list right now!"

The Doctor cringed, more at Alex's voice than anything. That was the voice of pure jealousy, no mistaking it. And he couldn't blame her. It did sound like he had been flirting with River, even though he didn't mean to. His most recent incarnations had acted like this with everyone, flirting with people who he regarded as friends. As far as he was now concerned, he only wanted to flirt with Alex. Which meant that he was going to have to watch the flirting.

"Yes," he nodded, jumping away from River. "Right. Sorry! As I was saying, my naughtyfriendhere is going to kill the first three of you to attack, plus him behind, so maybe you want to draw lots or have a quiz. . ."

As he talked, Rory crept over to Amy and began trying to undo her bonds. "What's he got?" she whispered.

Rory fussed with a complicated knot. "Something, I hope," he muttered.

". . .or maybe you should listen a minute," the Doctor went on. "Because all I really want to do is accept your total surrender and then I'll let you go in peace. Yes, you've been interfering in human history for thousands of years. Yes, people have suffered and died, but what's the point in two hearts, if you can't be a bit forgiving, now and then?" He eyed one of the Silence, but it didn't say anything. "Ooh, the Silence. You take that seriously, don't you? Okay, you got me. I'm lying. I'm not really going to let you go that easily. Nice thought, but it's not Christmas."

He went over to the TV and flicked one of the switches. "First, you tell me about the girl. Who is she? Why is she important? What's she for?"

But there was still no reply.

The Doctor shrugged. "Guys, sorry, but you're way out of time. Now, come on. A bit of history for you. Aren't you proud?" He extended the TV antennas and switched it on. The screen showed black and white footage of the moon landing. "Because you helped! Now, do you know how many people are watching this live on the telly? Half abillion. And that's nothing, because the human race will spread out amongst the stars. You just watch them fly. Billions and billions of them, for billions and billions of years, and every single one of them at some point in their lives will look back at this man, taking that very first step, and they will never, ever forget it."

They all watched as Neil Armstrong prepared to step off the ladder and onto the lunar surface for the first time. "Oh, but they'll forget this bit," the Doctor added, pulling out his comm and clicking it on. He held it to his lips, eyes fixed on the Silence. "Ready?"

"Ready," Canton confirmed.

On screen, Neil Armstrong began to hop off the Apollo 11 module ladder. "That's one small step for man. . ."

But then, the image changed. Alex blinked, shocked, as a Silent took Armstrong's place. "You should kill us all on sight," it hissed.

"You've just given the order for your own execution," the Doctor remarked, his voice dark and filled with an unmistakable edge, "and the whole planet just heard you."

The screen switched away from the Silent and back onto Armstrong as he stepped onto the lunar surface. ". . .one giant leap for mankind."

"And one whacking great kick up the backside for the Silence!" the Doctor laughed.

"Oh, you clever man," Alex breathed. And he really was. She was rather surprised though that the Doctor hadn't given the Silence a chance to back off, like he did with every other alien enemy they came across. Then again, what probability was there that the Silence would agree? In her experience, zero. They would likely just continue to influence the human race with post-hypnotic suggestion and there really wasn't any need for that, right?

The Doctor caught Alex's praise and beamed, even though he was pretty sure he didn't really deserve it. He didn't like committing genocide, but in this case, he felt it was necessary. "You just raised an army against yourself, and now, for a thousand generations, you're going to be ordering them to destroy you every day. How fast can you run? Because today's the day the human race throw you off your planet. They won't even know they're doing it. I think, quite possibly, the word you're looking for right now is, oops."

But the Silence hardly looked amused. In fact, they lookedfurious. Alex's eyes widened and she started thrashing around again, desperate to be free, as the Silence stared advancing on the Doctor.

"Run!" the Doctor cried, hastily backing up as above them, electricity started building. "Guys, I mean us. Run!"

Beams of light began shooting down, the Silence angrily screeching at their plans having been thwarted. River immediately sprang into action, firing her blaster at them while the Doctor just flashed the sonic around. What he was doing wasn't clear to Alex, but she imagined he was trying to be useful in some way.

"I can't get her out!" Rory shouted as he struggled with Amy's straps.

"Go! Go!" Amy cried. There was no way she wanted to see him dead! Again.

"We are not leaving without you!"

"Look, will you just get your stupid face out of here!"

"Run!" River shouted at them when she saw they hadn't gone anywhere. She shot another Silence. "Into the TARDIS, quickly!"

Hearing the Ponds' predicament, the Doctor flashed his screwdriver at Amy's restraints. The straps fell off her and Rory immediately sprang up to help her down. The two raced through the gunfire and blasts of electricity all the way into the TARDIS.

"Doctor!" Alex wailed as she struggled with her restraints. Unable to actually force herself out of them, she was trying to free a hand so she could use it to work her sonic necklace on the straps. Unfortunately, the Silence were skilled knot-tiers. These straps were practically unbreakable.

The Doctor instantly sprinted forwards and over to her side. Once beside her, he wasted no time in flashing his sonic over the straps. Alex shook her arms as the straps fell away, reaching out for the Doctor. He guided her arms around his neck as he lifted her out of the chair. Without pausing to put her down, he raced over to the TARDIS door and set her down inside.

"I'll hug you properly later," he promised.

"I'll hold you to it, Doc," Alex smiled.

Once Alex had ducked inside, the Doctor ran back over to River. "Don't let them build to full power," he warned her, flashing the sonic around.

River rolled her eyes. "I know! There's a reason why I'm shooting, honey! What are you doing?"

"Helping!" he replied as they pressed their backs against each-other.

"You've got ascrewdriver! Go build a cabinet!"

"That's really rude!"

"Shut up and drive!"

Deciding to obey River before she shot him, the Doctor ran into the TARDIS. In the Silence control room, River kept firing, spinning around in a circle like a graceful ballerina, killing Silence every which way. Once she had done a full circle, she crouched down, checking to see if all of the aliens had actually been taken out. Behind her, Rory slowly opened the TARDIS door and peeked out.

River straightened up and spun the blaster on her finger before tucking it into her holster. "My old fella didn't see that, did he?" she asked, not even turning around. "He gets ever so cross."

Hardly your 'fella',Rory thought, but didn't say. There was something he'd been wondering about River and now seemed like as good a time as any to ask it. "So, what kind of doctor are you?" he asked as River turned round to face him.

"Archeology," she answered . . . right as a Silent jumped up behind her. But before Rory could call out a warning, she pulled the blaster out and, without turning back, shot and killed the creature. She tucked the blaster back into her holster and strode up to the TARDIS door. "Love a tomb," she beamed, then calmly headed inside.

She darted up the stairs and over to the console. The Doctor, seeing this, cried, "You can let me fly it!"

Beside him, Alex snorted. Though she didn't care much for River, she'd be the first to admit that the woman was much better at flying the TARDIS than the Doctor was. "Orwe could get where we're supposed to," she challenged.

"Thank you, Ally," River remarked as she started pressing buttons on the console.

"River, how many times have I told you not to call me Ally?"

Across the platform, Amy observed the three, chuckling slightly at River and Alex's bickering. As she was laughing, Rory stepped up beside her. Amy looked over at him and, noticing the awestruck look on his face, asked, "What's the matter with you?"

"You called me stupid."

"I always call your stupid."

"No, but my face." He held up the nanorecorder.

Amy looked at it, then back up at him. "You heard me?" she breathed.

Rory smiled at her. "I always hear you. And just for the record? I know you love me. Alex didn't need to reassure me of that."

"That's good," Amy giggled, beaming like an idiot. She stepped closer to him and wrapped her arms around his neck before pulling him into a long kiss.

"Thanks," Rory smiled once they came up for air.

"You're welcome," Amy replied. She quickly pulled him back for another kiss. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Alex watching them, smiling away like the cat that ate the canary.

Now if we can only get her together with the Doctor,Amy mused as she deepened the kiss with her husband.

Chapter 6: Day of the Moon Part 3

Chapter Text

"So we're safe again!" Nixon cheered once the Doctor finished telling him all about what happened with the Silence.

The Doctor scoffed. "Safe?" From her spot on the sofa, Alex snorted and pressed her lips together to keep from giggling at Nixon's alarmed expression. "No, of course you're not safe! There's about a billion other things out there just waiting to burn your whole world. But, if you want to pretend you're safe, just so you can sleep at night? Okay, you're safe. But you're not really."

"I think that really helped, Doc," Alex quipped, allowing a slight giggle to escape as she took in Nixon's frozen face.

The Doctor turned to her. "Behave," he mouthed, smiling when Alex stuck her tongue out at him. Snickering a little, he turned to address Canton. "Canton. Until the next one, eh?" He shook the man's hand.

"Looking forward to it," Canton grinned.

Alex stared at the carpet, thinking about the next time Canton would encounter them. She shook her head. No, she wouldn't dwell on those dark thoughts.I won't, Ican't.

The Doctor turned back to Nixon. "Canton just wants to get married. Hell of a reason to kick him out of the FBI."

"I'm sure something can be arranged," Nixon promised.

"I'm counting on you," the Doctor said as he held out a hand to Alex. Alex leapt up and immediately took it.

As they were heading back to the TARDIS, Nixon called out, "Er, Doctor!" Once the two turned back around, he continued with, "Canton here tells me you're, you're from the future. It hardly seems possible, but I was wondering—"

"I should warn you," the Doctor cautioned, "I don't answer a lot of questions."

"But I'm a President at the beginning of his time. Dare I ask. Will I be remembered?"

Alex bit down on her lip to keep from busting a gut at his question.Oh yes, Ricky, you'll be remembered,she thought,but not in the way you'd like!

Glancing down at Alex and seeing her amusem*nt at this question, the Doctor decided to answer. He sighed a little and fixed Nixon with a little smirk. "Oh, Dicky," he sighed. "Tricky Dicky. They'renevergoing to forget you, right, Ally?"

"Oh, yes," Alex nodded, pushing her laughter down. "You're in all the history books."Right after the word 'Watergate'.Which, really, was rather sad now that she thought about it. Nixon had helped them out a lot. Not a lot of people – especially presidents – would do that but the fact that he did showed just how much he really did care about his country and its people.

The Doctor patted Nixon's shoulder, then turned back to the TARDIS. He wrapped an arm around Alex's waist. "Say hi to David Frost for me," he called over his shoulder, almost as an afterthought.

"David Frost?" Nixon muttered, confused, but before he could ask what that meant, the TARDIS dematerialized.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

"You could come with us," the Doctor half-heartedly offered a little while later. He knew Alex would never go for the idea of River being on the TARDIS full-time, but he felt like he had to at least offer the option, considering they were now at the Stormcage Containment Facility, dropping River back off at her cell.

Much to his relief, River shook her head. "I escape often enough, thank you. And I have a promise to live up to. You'll understand soon enough."

The Doctor nodded. "Okay. Up to you." He began walking to the TARDIS. "See you next time. Call me!"

River laughed at him, making him frown and turn back. "What, that's it? What's the matter with you?"

The Doctor's frown deepened, and he walked back over. "Have I forgotten something?" he wondered.

Neither of them saw the TARDIS door open behind them.

"Oh, shut up," River smirked before grabbing his lapels and pulling him down for a kiss.

Behind them, Alex stared, stunned at the sight in front of her. The Doctor and River were . . . kissing. The Doctor waskissingRiver Song.

Alex felt like someone had kicked her in the gut. She could feel her heart shattering into a thousand tiny pieces as she watched the two. She wanted to scream. She wanted to run over and break them apart. She wanted to throw up. She wanted to run to her bedroom and sob until there wasn't an ounce of water left in her body.

This was a sign. It had to be. This was the universe laughing at her for holding off so long on telling the Doctor her feelings for him. Tears brimmed in her eyes as she thought about how stupid the forces that controlled the universe must think her. Poor little Alex, in love with the almighty Time Lord, but he wasn't really hers, was he?

Though she felt frozen in place, Alex somehow mustered up the ability to wrench herself away from the doorway and rush back into the TARDIS. The door closed behind her, not even making a thump.

This all seemed like it lasted minutes, maybe even hours. In reality, it lasted all of four seconds.

The Doctor was stunned. What the hell?! Why was River kissing him? She wasn't even a good kisser. Her lips felt chapped and like rubber; Alex's were soft and firm and tasted sweet and sour at the same time, a flavor he still remembered from when he had to kiss her during the Pandorica fiasco in theByzantiumoxygen factory.

He put his hands on River's shoulders and firmly pushed her away, backing up a few steps just in case she tried to come after him. He rubbed his lips, feeling the sticky lip-gloss she wore that tasted like expired honey: sweet, but bitter, too bitter for anyone to enjoy for too long. He ached to dig out the tube of Chapstick he had buried in the nether regions of his jacket, but he knew it would be far too rude.

River stared at him, looking surprised for a second that he'd pushed her away, but it then changed to one of sad realization. "Of course," she said softly, her voice just a twinge bitter. "It would never happen between us, would it?"

"What are you talking about?" the Doctor demanded, running a hand through his hair and wiping his lips with the sleeve of his jacket.

River's eyes followed the action and she shuddered. "That," she nodded. "You're so disgusted. I should've realized all those years ago. Pining for you was a waste of my time. You only think abouther."

"Her who?"

River rolled her eyes. "Don't play dumb, sweetie. It really doesn't suit you. Who do you think I meant?"

The Doctor's eyes widened. "You mean . . . Ally?"

"Ally, yes. Alexandria, Alex, Ally, all the same person. You only think about her. You have ever since you met her. And it's most definitely vice-versa."

"She does not," he argued, while also wondering why he was discussing this with River. "We're not. We can't be."

"Actions speak louder than words, sweetie. And what you just did? That action was received loud and clear."

The Doctor didn't say anything. He didn't know what he could say to that. Deciding that silence was best, he turned his back and marched into the TARDIS. Behind him, River leaned against the bars and watched the time machine fade into the vortex.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

"Alex?"

Alex looked up from her spot on the jumpseat. Standing before her were Amy and Rory. Amy rested a hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?" she asked, taking in Alex's upset face. Her friend's eyes were ever-so-slightly red-rimmed, she'd nibbled all her lip-gloss off, and her arms were wrapped around her stomach like she was going to be sick.

"Fine!" Alex dismissed, forcing cheer into her voice. She really didn't want to talk about what she'd seen with River. In fact, she wanted to forget that the whole thing had ever happened.

Neither of the Ponds looked convinced, but before they could say anything, the TARDIS door suddenly slammed shut and the thudding of footsteps rang out. A moment later, the Doctor jumped up onto the console. Alex picked at a loose thread on her skirt, not wanting to look at him.

The Ponds, however, did. To their surprise and befuddlement, the Doctor looked a little angry and slightly nauseous. He kept his lips tightly pressed together as he flew around the console, occasionally lifting a sleeve to rub at them furiously.

"Lick something he shouldn't have?" Amy mumbled to Rory.

"Maybe," Rory shrugged. He was just about to ask the Doctor if something was wrong when the Time Lord started speaking.

"Rory, I'm going to need thermocouplings. The green ones and blue ones."

"Okay. Hold on."

"No looking up through the glass again," Alex called out as he went down underneath the platform.

Amy's face reddened, remembering that little incident. "Alex!" she cried while the Doctor snorted a little, only to cover it with a hacking cough when Amy turned and glared at him.

"No danger in that!" Rory called beneath them. "Amy's wearing a pantsuit anyways."

Amy's face turned a thousand shades redder and, taking pity on her, the Doctor went over and leaned on the console next to her. "So," he said.

"So," she echoed.

"You're okay?"

"Fine," Amy nodded as Alex stood up and joined them. She stood beside the Doctor, but not as close as she usually did. "Head's a bit weird. There's loads of stuff I can't quite remember."

"After effect of the Silence. Natural enough."

Alex's brow furrowed. She supposed not remembering things was normal for those lacking advanced minds but could the same be said for her? She didn't want to be vain, but she didn't think so. She recalled that she felt like she couldn't remember something, something important. She was only pulled away from her worries when the Doctor said, "That's not what I was asking though."

Alex could see where his thoughts were going and was reminded of the promise she'd made to herself to ask Amy what her intentions had been once the whole Silence mess was over. "Amy, you told us you were pregnant," she said quietly.

"Yes," Amy nodded.

"Why?" the Doctor and Alex said together.

Amy shifted a little. "Because I was. I mean, I thought I was. It turns out I wasn't."

"No, why did you tell us?" Alex corrected, gesturing to herself and the Doctor.

"Because you're my friends." Amy smiled slightly. "You're mybestfriends."

"Hmm," the Doctor nodded, though he felt quite happy that Amy considered him that. "Did you tell Rory?"

Amy looked down at the ground. "No."

"Amy, why tell Alex and I, and not Rory?"

"Why do you think? I traveled with you in this TARDIS for so long. All that time. . . If I was pregnant for some of it, wouldn't it have had an effect? I don't want to tell Rory his baby might have three heads or, like . . . a timehead, or something."

The Doctor and Alex chuckled. "What's a timehead?" the Doctor asked, nudging Amy playfully.

She frowned at them. "I don't know, but what if it had one?"

"Atimehead," Alex snickered, picturing a baby with a clock for a face.

Amy's frown shook a little. "Shut up," she said, lightly flicking her shoulder. And then, she called out, "Oi! Stupid face!" The group turned to see Rory cautiously poke his head out from under the console.

"Er, yeah?" he said as he walked up the stairs, Amy's nanorecorder in hand. "Hello."

Amy shook her head. "I'm taking that away from you if you're going to listen in all the time."

"Okay, that's a fair point. But you should've told me that you thought you were pregnant. I'm a nurse. I'm good with pregnancy."

"Not, as it turns out, that good," Amy retorted, moving in to hug him. "Will you stop being stupid?"

"Er, no!" Rory exclaimed. He lifted her up and twirled her around, Amy giggling hysterically. The Doctor and Alex observed them with identical smiles on their faces. "I'm never, ever, going to stop being stupid!"

"So!" the Doctor interjected, clapping his hands as Rory set Amy down. "This little girl." He swung the scanner around to his side. "It's all about her. Who was she? Or we could just go off and have some adventures. Anyone in the mood for adventures? Because I am. You only live once!"

Alex smiled a little, but in truth, she was exhausted. They'd defeated a whole massive population of aliens, her organs still felt like they were shifting (nothing some sleep couldn't cure, she was sure) and she had just seen him kiss River Song. That last thought plagued her mind the most, and she really didn't want to go on another adventure until she had processed and accepted that. She doubted she ever would, but she would like a night's sleep.

"Actually, Doc," she began, "I'm rather tired. Think it can wait a few hours?"

He nodded rapidly, just as she had expected him to. "Of course, Ally. Besides, there are some things I need to check up on."

"What kind of things?"

"Nothing you need to worry about," he dismissed with a wave of his hand. "Shoo. All of you. Go rest as you humans are so fond of doing."

Amy, Alex, and Rory did triple eye-rolls but nevertheless headed up the stairs to their rooms. The Doctor watched them, waiting until Alex had disappeared before hurriedly looking at the scanner.

Amelia Pond

Full body scan in progress

Pregnancy. . .

The results came up. The Doctor frowned.That cannot be right.

On an image of a human body, the result was flashing back-and-forth from 'positive' to 'negative'.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

BANG! BANG! BANG! The gunshots were continuous, like the 21-gun salutes used at military funerals. But in this case, the gunshots were not the sound of someone gone being honored; they were the sound of someone who should be honored getting killed.

"DOCTOR!" Alex shouted at the top of her lungs. She forced herself forwards, no one stopping her, because there was no one else there to stop her. She watched the Doctor fall to the ground, sand kicking up as his body fell hard. She stopped for a moment, tensing as the astronaut turned to look at her. She waited for a gunshot to ring out, for a green light to come flying at her. . .

But nothing happened. The astronaut just stood there and stared at her, as if it were wondering why she was there. Then it turned away and headed back into the waters of Lake Silencio.

Once it was about halfway into the water, Alex darted forward again. "DOCTOR!" she called again, the wind sucking up her words and sending them elsewhere. She hurried onwards, ignoring the aching of her feet in her kitten heels and the wind that kept blowing her hair into her eyes. She needed to get to the Doctor. She had to. She couldn't let him die. Not again.

But to Alex's frustration, every step she took just brought her a step further from the Doctor. The distance between them expanded and Alex forced herself to move harder, run faster in order to get to him. After what seemed like an absolute eternity of running, she finally fell onto her knees at the site where his body had fallen.

She wheezed for breath, her lungs aching and pounding. She pushed her bangs out of her eyes and glanced down. "Doctor?" she said softly, but then she jerked in alarm.

There was no one there. The Doctor's body was just . . . gone.

Alex frantically looked around. Where did he go? He couldn't have gone anywhere. He had been shot, for Christ's sake! She whipped her head back and forth and stood up so as to better locate him . . . then she saw that her surroundings had changed.

The bright blue sky and cheerful sunshine, the perfect weather conditions for a picnic by the lake, had disappeared. The sky was now a dark, gloomy gray, storm clouds hovering over the cliffs behind her. The air felt electric and charged, like it always did before a thunderstorm, but this air also contained a palpable sadness. The lake's sparkling water was now dull and gray, flat and unmoving. A gust of wind blew around, sending prickles of sand onto Alex's boots and legs, but she didn't notice.

What had happened? What was going on? The weather couldn't change that suddenly. That wasn't logical.

Alex turned in a circle, taking all this in. Once she had done a full 360 degree turn, she found herself looking back at the spot where the Doctor's body had been. Something was there now.

It was a tombstone. It was about seven inches high, round at the top, and a pale, pale gray. Alex bent down to examine it.

Here lies the last Time Lord in existence

The Doctor

? – April 23, 2011

"To die would be an awfully big adventure." – Peter Pan

Alex couldn't help but snort. Figures the Doctor would have such a quote engraved on his tombstone. It was very him.

As she was examining the tombstone, she heard a sudden thudding come from behind her. Alex tensed. She should have known the astronaut would pull something like this! She whirled around, ready to fight to the death against whatever the hell was inside that thing . . . only to stop short and scream.

Standing in front of her was a humanoid creature of absolute nightmares, one that Stephen King would probably praise. Its flesh had rotted off in parts, veins and muscles proudly on display. It stood just a little bit over six feet tall but was hunched over as though it had a hunchback. Its clothes were filthy and dirty, caked with dirt and sand. A sleeve of its tweed jacket was torn, its pant legs were covered in dirt and sand particles, which were slowly crumbling off, the leather on its shoes was cracked. . .

Wait. Atweedjacket?

Alex took in the frightening figure again. Tweed jacket. Black trousers. Leather boots. She slowly looked up. And yes, a bright blue, albeit dirty, bowtie.

The horrifying figure with the rotting flesh . . . it was the Doctor.

"D-Doctor?" Alex whispered, gazing at him in horror. What had happened to him?! Why did he look so terrifying? Then it hit her. She was standing in front of his tombstone, directly above where he was buried six feet under. Or where he wassupposedto be buried. His corpse was standing right in front of her.

"Ally. . ." the Doctor hissed, stepping closer towards her.

Alex forced herself to remain still. This was the Doctor, after all. He wouldn't hurt her. "Yes, it's me."

"Ally. . ."

"Doctor, I'm here."

But instead of being reassuring, like she had intended, this only seemed to provoke some not yet decomposed nerve. "ALEXANDRIA!" he screeched. Alex yelped and stumbled back in horror. He stormed towards her, not having any problem doing so despite his decaying status. "LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO ME!"

"W-what?" she stuttered, continuing to move backwards as he stalked towards her.

"IT SHOULD'VE BEENYOUWHO GOT SHOT! BUT INSTEAD IT WASME!" At that, he pulled his tweed jacket open, allowing her to see the light blue shirt he'd been wearing that day. Aside from more dirt and sand residue, it seemed otherwise fine.

Until she caught sight of the holes.

There were three, perfectly round holes over his left heart. Three holes for three bullets.

"IDIED, ALEX! IT SHOULD'VE BEEN YOU! YOU SHOULD'VE DIED INSTEAD!" Then, he grinned. It looked so grotesque and unnatural on his disintegrating features, but the mood-change was just like the Doctor. It actually reassured Alex a little. Maybe she'd be okay. Maybe he wouldn't hurt her.

"Luckily, that won't be much of a problem for longer." His vacant eye sockets turned to look at something behind Alex. Ever so hesitantly, she turned around.

It was another tombstone.

Here lies Alexandria Nicole Locke

August 31, 1989 – April 23, 2011

Alex's eyes widened and she immediately scrambled away from the Doctor. "No, no, please!" she begged as he continued forwards at a determined stride. "Doctor, please!" She hurried backwards, only to slam into something. It was the Doctor's tombstone. She was trapped between it and the rapidly advancing Time Lord with no immediate exit in sight.

She moved to try and run around the tombstone, only for the Doctor to suddenly charge towards her. Alex screamed and fell to the ground. She desperately tried to move backwards but the Doctor leapt forward. He landed right on top of her, a feeling that was once pleasant, but was now just frightening.

Tears ran down Alex's cheeks. "Doctor, please let me go!" she sobbed.

"You will die, Alexandria, just as you were meant to." He reached a hand out to grab her throat, only for his skin to suddenly peel away.

The last thing Alex felt was the cold, icy drip of his blood on her throat as she screamed for a life that was being squeezed out of her.

Alex bolted upright, a scream dying in her throat. She gasped for breath and clutched her collarbone, her thumb running over the jewels in her necklace.

You're okay,she drilled to herself.You're okay. It was just a nightmare. It's okay. It wasn't real.

Despite these mental reassurances, she looked around her room hesitantly. This was usually the part in horror movies where the evil figment of the protagonist's dream reappeared, revealing to the audience that the nightmare was not yet over. Luckily for Alex, the Doctor's corpse was nowhere in sight. Still, that didn't stop her from leaning down and looking under the bed. Nothing there, not even a dust bunny. The TARDIS kept things very clean.

Alex sat back up and shuddered. There was no way she was going back to sleep after dreamingthat. She sprang out of bed and hurried over to her closet. She wanted to go and see the Doctor. Some in such a situation might be reluctant in going to see someone who they'd just had a nightmare about, but Alex wanted reassurance that he wasn't dead, that he wasn't that horrible decaying corpse that blamed her for his death.

Five minutes later, her white camisole, sleep shorts, and socks exchanged for a black sweater, skinny jeans, black ballet flats, and gold stud earrings, she stepped out of her bedroom and headed down the dimly lit corridor to the console room.

Just as she expected, the Doctor was there, crouching over the console, a rag in hand. He was leaning in close as he wiped a particular spot, murmuring something inaudible under his breath.

"Flirting with the TARDIS again?" Alex teased, the Doctor jerking up and yelping when her voice traveled over to him.

He tossed his rag down and mock-glared at her. "Ha, ha," he said dryly. "I was just . . . talking to the TARDIS . . . very quietly."

Alex nodded, a little smirk gracing her lips. "Of course you were."

The Doctor faltered for a second and struggled to come up with something. "Oh . . . you, well . . . oh, shut up!"

Alex just giggled and settled herself against the console. She regarded the Doctor. He was clad in only his shirt, bowtie, trousers, suspenders, and boots. In other words, completely sexy, at least in her opinion.

She was brought back to the present when he asked, "Can't sleep?"

"Uh, yeah." She decided not to mention the nightmare. It would just bring up too many questions she couldn't answer, no matter how much she wanted to.

"Any particular reason?" he asked as he bent down to retrieve his rag, inadvertently giving Alex a nice view of his rear in the process.

She kept her voice steady as she studied that section of anatomy. "Probably just getting used to the TARDIS humming again. I did find it restful here, but I guess sleeping without it for so long takes some readjusting."

The Doctor nodded and straightened back up, folding the rag and tucking it into his pocket. "Perfectly understandable," he said as he walked over to stand beside her. "Happened to Rose whenever she went and stayed with her mother for a few days. She usually ended up coming down here and talking to me for hours on end."

Alex smiled a little. Rose Tyler, his first companion after the Time War, was someone only she knew about, not Amy and Rory. The Doctor and her had been in love, though neither of them ever mentioned it because they were too scared. It sounded all too similar to Alex's situation now, though she doubted the Doctor had feelings for her. He'd told her so himself, after he reappeared at Amy's wedding following the Pandorica mess. And then there was that kiss she saw just a few hours ago with River. But there was also the kiss he gave her before his demise via astronaut.

This whole thing was just horribly confusing.

There was silence between them, a silence that was terribly uncomfortable. It wasn't like them to just stay quiet with each-other when they could be bantering or flirting. After a few more moments of this awkwardness, Alex decided to take the bull by the horns. "So, I saw you kissing River," she blurted.

Had he not had one hand on the console, the Doctor might have fallen over. He tightened his grip so he'd remain standing. His face was purposefully impassive as he said, "Oh?"

Oh? Was that really all he could say? Alex's jaw clenched. "Yes."

"Well. . ."

"Well, indeed," Alex scoffed. She pushed away from the console and started stalking around it, not wanting to be close to him while they talked about this painful subject matter. She leaned in close to the controls, pretending to examine some buttons. "You were certainly getting to know your future lover pretty well."

The Doctor almost threw up. River? Hislover?Ew,he grimaced. But then, as his brain processed the tone of Alex's voice, theaccusationbehind it, he started to grow angry. "Hardly mylover," he sneered, not turning around.

"Oh, yes, that's right," Alex nodded, straightening back up. "River's yourwife. She told me and Amy while we were hiking through the Maze of the Dead andthenyou asked her to marry you at Amy and Rory's wedding—"

The Doctor whirled around. "You and I both know that I wasnotasking River to marry me!"

"She thought so! She said yes, didn't she?"

"Well, yes, but—"

"But nothing! I saw it with my own two eyes. You and her were kissing. Perfectly fine. Congratulations."

The Doctor's hearts were throbbing at her words. Didn't she get it?! Couldn't she see that he didn't want River? He only had eyes for the girl in front of him!Everyonesaw it, even River just a few hours ago. They were always getting confused for a couple in every single place they went. Did she see that happening with River? Other than Amy's initial inference, no, she did not.

But you told her you didn't have feelings for her,a cruel voice in the back of his mind reminded him. He internally winced. That was right. He did. He said he didn't after she asked him why he kissed her in theByzantiumoxygen factory when he was backtracking through his life in the Pandorica. He had lied to her. Rule One, the Doctor lies.

But he'd had good reason to lie! Alex was so young, not even 21 at that point in time. He was 909 now, centuries older than her. There was no way she'd ever live that long. She'd get sixty more years if she was lucky. He couldn't tell her the truth, just to lose her a short time later.

But really, what had he accomplished in doing that? He kept hurting himself every time he looked her in the eye and told her no, he hurt them both when they shrugged off previous kissing encounters and, now that he was thinking about it, he had hurt them both when he'd caused her to leave. After all, why else would she have left? Having feelings for someone who had bluntly told you that they didn't feel that way? Why would you stay with them?

And he justknewshe had feelings for him. He'd heard it in her voice when River was flirting with him back at the Silence spaceship. That was the voice of someone who was positively jealous that the person they liked was being hit on by someone they did not care for at all. Especially when the person they liked was responding to said flirting.

He had to correct this.Now.

But what about Ally's age?a voice in his mind whispered.

He froze. Oh yes, thatwasa concern.

But she thinks you're in love with River,a second voice reminded him.

Yes, but she'll die soon,the first voice argued,whether old and aged, or to a Dalek's blast. Point is, she'll leave you soon.

Don't you want to be able to look her in the eye and prove that you don't want River?

Do you really want to be standing over her dead body one day?

Doesn't risk outweigh the endless possibilities?

Doesn't denying everything outweigh the risk and endless possibilities?

Then, a snort. He jerked himself out of his thoughts to see Alex looking at him spitefully, but there was a glimmer of hurt underneath that mask. He could see that same hurt more strongly in her eyes. "See?" she said, pointing at him. "You can't deny it anymore, can you?" Then, much to his horror, she began walking off.

"Oh, screw it."

Alex turned around and stared at him. To his relief, she wandered back. "What was that?"

The Doctor didn't answer. Instead, he started striding towards her. Alex eyed him, backing into the console as he got closer to her. In just a few steps, he had planted himself right in front of her. He placed his hands on either side of her, trapping her so that she couldn't escape. Not that Alex was really thinking about escaping. Actually, she was rather thrilled, but she refused to show it, not while she was still upset with him.

"How much did you see of me and River kissing?" the Doctor asked lowly. His voice sent shivers down Alex's spine. "Hmm?"

What did he mean by that? What more was there to see?! He didn't. . . Alex quickly dismissed that nauseating thought. Only a minute had passed between the time she left and the time he came back into the TARDIS. There was nowhere near enough time for them to do . . . that.

But he was expecting an answer. "Um . . . about four or five seconds, I guess?"

He hummed lowly, launching Alex into a full-on body shudder. Making a mental note to remember that, the Doctor reached out and began tracing her jawline with the pad of his thumb. She had rather loved that when he did it to her on theByzantium, and he was betting that she still loved it now.

Alex bit her lip and closed her eyes, trying to keep from moaning as his finger moved up to lightly trace her lips before going back to her jawline again.Why's he doing this?she thought, but she wasn't about to make him stop so she could ask.

The Doctor made a tsk-tsk-tsk noise. "Ally, Ally, Ally, if you had bothered to stay just another second, you would've seen me push River away."

Thatgot her attention. Alex's eyes burst open, exposing dark green irises. She gazed up into his own dark green depths, searching them to make sure he was telling the truth. Much to her delight and shock, she saw that he was. "You did?" she breathed.

He nodded, keeping his eyes tightly fixed on hers so she could see that he was telling her the truth. "I did. I couldn't stand the thought of her lips on mine. They tastedawful. After you and the Ponds went up to bed, I spent ten minutes washing my mouth out. The TARDIS can vouch for me." There was a little hum at this. The Doctor grinned. "See?"

Alex nodded, but she was still confused on why he had pushed River away. That didn't necessarily mean anything. He didn't necessarily have feelings for her. River could have just been a bad kisser. "Why'd you push her away?" she demanded, her voice no louder than a whisper.

He leaned in closer to her, to where his Listerine-scented breath hit her in the face. Both breathed heavily at this close contact, their hearts pounding in anticipation for what he was about to say. "Because," he murmured, "the only one I everthinkabout kissing is you."

Alex shivered and pressed her forehead against his. "But . . . after the Pandorica," she muttered in confusion, "you said—"

"I lied. Rule One. The Doctor lies."

And then he pressed his lips to hers.

Their kissing was fast and passionate, both releasing all their pent-up emotions from the last year. Moving his arms around Alex, the Doctor pressed himself even closer, nearly bending her back over the console. Alex wrapped her arms around his neck and, using the leverage this provided, pushed herself up onto the console.

The Doctor pulled back for just a second to check that she was sitting comfortably and not on some lever, but Alex immediately pulled him back. She didn't want to let him get out of arm's length for anything. Pushing her lips on his, she cautiously slipped her tongue out and lightly ran it over his bottom lip. He shuddered and quickly parted, his grip on her growing tighter as she traced patterns on the roof of his mouth, still having it memorized from when he kissed her on theByzantium.

Knees buckling from the intensity and power she wielded over him in such a simple action, the Doctor hastened to regain some control. Using his own tongue to push hers out, he swept it over her lips before nibbling at her bottom lip. Alex let out a sound resembling a purr and opened up to him. She would have fallen backwards when he scraped his tongue over the roof of her mouth, but his arms were wrapped tightly around her and she was practically pressed up against him now, like he didn't want to let her go. Not that she ever wanted him to.

She reached up and ran her fingers through his hair, giggling a little into the kiss when he let out a moan. She did it again. When he moaned even louder than he had the first time, she released another giggle.

He pulled back and frowned at her playfully. "Stop that, Ally," he scolded, his eyes twinkling in amusem*nt.

Alex's reddened lips curved into a smirk. She leaned closer, purposefully biting her lower lip. As his eyes went wide at the action, she whispered, "Makeme."

His eyes darkening, the Doctor immediately moved back on her, only instead of aiming for her lips, he went to her throat. He planted a series of hot kisses down her neck and along her collarbone, pausing at this site to nip and nibble at a few places. Alex whimpered and ran her hands through his hair, trying to pull him back up, but he refused to oblige. "Doctor, please!" she begged, her plea cut off by a groan as the Doctor swept his tongue in the hollow of her throat.

"You said make you stop, Ally," he reminded her, his voice a low murmur that made her arms feel weak. He chuckled when she dropped her hands from his head, vibrations echoing onto her skin as he laughed. "This is my way of doing it."

Alex moaned but didn't try to stop him again. He moved up and away from her collarbone, kissing the other side of her neck until he got to her pulse point. Here, he paused for a second, examining it, watching the spot throb rapidly. Alex was about to ask him what he was doing when he did something she did not expect. He began sucking at her pulse point.

Alex let out a cry and felt her legs weaken as he did his exquisite torture. Her eyes involuntarily closed as he continued sucking. She felt like she'd gone to heaven or achieved nirvana or something. This was total and utter bliss. This was something she had been searching for her whole life but hadn't known.

The Doctor continued up her neck and to her jawline. Pausing to take a nip at this, emitting her into another full body shudder, he went back to her lips. He forcibly pried them open with his tongue and moved a hand up to her hair, running it through the silky tresses. Alex eagerly responded to this by quickly pushing her tongue against his. A battle for dominance ensued. The Doctor's hand tightened in Alex's hair as she took control of their kiss, her hand trailing down the back of his neck to push him closer to her. Once she had done that, she began playing with the ends of his hair. He trembled at the action.

"Ally," he groaned, her name sounding like both a swear and a praise on his lips.

"Doctor," she matched in an identical voice.

They continued their fevered kissing for a few more moments, but a lack of air was starting to become a concern for Alex. Also, this kissing, as stellar as it was, was starting to be just a bit repetitive. It was time to up the ante.

She quickly pulled back from the kiss and placed her hands on his shoulders. Before the Doctor could even register what was happening, he found himself stumbling backwards, his legs hitting the back of the jumpseat. He fell back into it and stared at the marvelous sight in front of him.

Alex sat on the edge of the console, gasping for breath. Her hair was messy and wild, just the way he liked it, and her eyes were dark, incredibly dark, the dark green depths almost black as she looked back at him. Her sweater had bunched up at some point and now exposed part of her bare side. He watched, entranced, as she hopped off the console and straightened her top. Then she charged at him, crossing the room in three steps.

She pounced on top of him and quickly straddled him. Her arms went around his neck and her lips promptly found his. Their lips pressed against each other harshly. A small voice in the back of the Doctor's head remarked that they would be bruised later. Not that he cared.

He raked his hands through her hair, grazing his fingertips against her scalp. Feeling her shake, he continued doing this. Alex's own hands went up to cradle his face, just wanting to touch him as she kissed him. She alternately sucked and licked his bottom lip, tasting their flame-like flavor. Why in the world did she wait so long to do this? This was fantastic!

She moved her lips down his jaw and to his neck, nosing his collar aside so she could kiss his collarbone. The Doctor groaned, his head falling back and his hands flopping down on the jumpseat as his Ally bit down on his neck. He cried out at the mixture of pain and pleasure, then groaned when the skilled girl on top of him ran her tongue over the bite, soothing it.

Then the console began beeping.

The two glanced up and over at the console, struggling to determine what was happening with their lust-addled brains. After a moment of blank staring, they finally located a pair of red flashing lights.

Alex frowned. "Leave it," she whispered, turning back to the Doctor and forcing her lips back on his. The Doctor, who had started to get up at the beeping, relented and sank back into the leather seat. Alex smiled and started to push her tongue into his mouth . . . when another series of beeping rang out.

"Sorry," the Doctor apologized, nudging her off his lap and onto the jumpseat. "I have to." Alex sighed and lay out on her side on the seat.

The Doctor headed over to the console and pulled the scanner over to his side. He squinted at the readings. "Distress signal," he explained. "Coming from. . ." He blinked. "Well, that's not right."

Alex sighed again. She knew where this was going. And while she understood the need in investigating a distress signal, she was a bit more concerned about what might happen now. She and the Doctor had just had a mind blowing makeout session. This was a whole new level in their relationship. Were they just going to dismiss it like all the other times they kissed? She really hoped not. She was tired of hiding her feelings for him. She wanted him.

"We're going to investigate, aren't we?" she guessed.

The Doctor nodded eagerly, already in the process of running around the console with his usual maniac speed. "Yes, we are!" He pulled down a lever and a microphone popped up out of a hidden panel on the console. While Alex stared at it curiously, the Doctor picked it up and began shouting into it.

"PONDS!" he bellowed, his voice echoing out of speakers around the console room. Alex clapped her hands over her ears and winced. "WAKE UP! BIG ADVENTURE AND MYSTERIOUS DISTRESS SIGNAL!"

"DOCTOR!" Amy screeched. Alex snickered a little. There was going to be hell for the Doctor to pay for waking Amy Pond up.

"Can't this wait?!" Rory cried, though not nearly as loudly as Amy.

"Afraid not!" the Doctor said cheerfully, thankfully no longer shouting. "Get dressed and be down here in ten!" Amy started to swear, but the Doctor cut the microphone off before she could get really colorful.

And then there was silence. Alex lay sprawled out on the jumpseat while the Doctor stood at the console. Knowing how awkward silence was between them and not wanting to delay the inevitable any longer, Alex ran a hand through her tousled hair and turned to look at the Doctor. To her pleasant surprise, she found that his gaze was tightly fixed on her.

"Well, that was . . . nice," she murmured, her cheeks burning a bit.

"Nice?" he repeated. He sounded almost offended. "Just . . . nice?"

"No! Well, yes, it was nice, but also. . ."

He raised an eyebrow. "Also?" he prodded.

Alex's cheeks were a bright red now. "Mind blowing. Spectacular. The best kiss I've ever had."

The Doctor smiled broadly, and a little bit cheekily too. "Really?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

There were a few moments of silence before Alex finally forced herself to say what was on her mind. "Look, I know you probably think this was and should be a one-time thing, but I can't do that. Iwon'tdo that. I'm pretty sure you know that I have feelings for you, and I'm also pretty sure you feel the same for me. . ." She shook her head when she trailed off and forced herself to continue. "Okay, bottom line, I had to get that out, even if you think this should just be a one-off."

The Doctor stared at her. "What?" he whispered. His voice abruptly became louder and full of offense and incredulousness. "A one-off? Alexandria, do you really think I would constitute what just happened as aone-off?"

Alex eyed him, her dark green irises switching to a hopeful-looking light green. "It wasn't?" she murmured.

The Doctor shook his head so quickly and adamantly, Alex half expected it to fall right off. "Of course not," he said gently with such tenderness and compassion that Alex knew he was telling the truth.

Her face lit into a grin and she swung her legs over the jumpseat. She ran across the room and into his already open arms. She wrapped her own arms around him, squeezing his waist so she could guarantee that this was actually happening. "You have no idea how long I've hoped for this," she whispered, not feeling any embarrassment crop up. Their relationship was different now. She could say things to him now that she couldn't before.

"Me too," the Doctor confessed, running a hand through her hair. He leaned back to look her in the eye. "I won't lie to you, Ally. I'm still not entirely sure this is a good idea, but I'll be damned if I push you away again."

Alex smiled softly and moved her hands to cup his face. "Me too. But don't think about that. Just concentrate on the now." She raised up on tiptoe and pressed a kiss to his chin. "Will you try, for me?"

"For you?" One of his hands ran through her hair. "Of course."

Alex smiled brightly at him, pleased that he would try, even though she knew it wouldn't be easy for him. Things with him never were, but that was okay. They would just have to deal with any roadblocks together.

She glanced over her shoulder at the doorway. Still no sign of the Ponds, though she was sure they were hurrying. Knowing Amy, she would want to get down here as fast as possible so she could scream at him sooner. "So . . . after we figure out what the distress signal is and stop it, will we do more. . .?" She trailed off suggestively and looked up at him, a lustful glimmer appearing in her dark eyes.

The Doctor narrowed his eyes and gripped a piece of her hair. Alex yelped as he tugged on it, pulling her head upwards. "Of course, Ally," he promised, bending down so he could reach her lips. "It's just a good thing the Ponds will be coming in here at any moment and interrupting us, because I could probably snog you to death right about now."

Alex's breath hitched. She bit her lip on purpose, causing the Doctor to groan at the sight. Quick as a wink, he swooped down and captured her lips with his. This kiss started out fast and furious, but soon dwindled down into a slow, steady one that Alex swore made her insides turn to mush. The Doctor was just backing her up onto the console again when a flurry of footsteps sounded out from behind them.

Alex immediately pushed the Doctor away and scrambled away from him. She rushed over to sit on the jumpseat and put a finger over her lips. The Doctor smiled and nodded. It would be nice to keep their new relationship just to themselves for a little while. It was a major development for them both and they needed some time to sort through it and process it without any outside influence. Namely, Amy and Rory.

He reached over and grabbed his jacket from where he had tossed it on the railing. He was just tugging it on when Amy came down, her expression positively furious. He swallowed nervously.Maybe waking her up via TARDIS speaker systemwasn'tsuch a good idea.

"This better be a bloody good distress signal!" Amy snapped as she jumped off the last step. She stormed over to him and put a finger against his chest. "Because if this turns out to be nothing, the universe is going to have one less Time Lord in it!"

"Don't be so violent, Pond," the Doctor retorted as Rory came in.

Rory yawned and crossed over to Amy, knowing that she was likely to kill the Doctor for waking her up in such a loud and enthusiastic manner. "What's up?" he asked sleepily.

The Doctor began bouncing around the console. "Distress signal!" he cheered. "Coming from the 1600s, which is a bit odd. Aliens usually tend to stay away from that time period."

"Says the guy who met alien vampires in sixteenth-century Venice," Amy retorted.

"Yes, but that was the1500sand different circ*mstances. This is the1600s."

Amy rolled her eyes and went over to Alex. "Hey," she greeted, leaning a hip against the jumpseat. "He wake you up too?"

Alex shook her head. "No, I was already down here."

"What for?"

Alex glanced over at the Doctor. He was too busy directing Rory on how to hold a certain lever on the console down to pay them any attention. Still, she didn't want to risk him overhearing the reason she'd come down here. She leaned in close to Amy. "Nightmare. About. . ." She trailed off, not really needing to explain.

Amy nodded understandingly, a mournful expression falling across her features. "Yeah, I know what you mean. How bad?"

Alex winced, thinking about the Doctor's corpse blaming her for his death. "Bad. Let's just stick with that." She didn't want Amy to start getting such horrific nightmares too.

Amy looked at her questioningly, but ultimately nodded. "Okay." She started to turn back to watch the Doctor and Rory, who were now in the middle of what sounded like an argument about using the stabilizers, when her eyes caught something. They widened and she leaned in closer to Alex. "Alex, what did you do to yourneck?"

Alex jumped, looked down at her neck, and inwardly groaned. Thanks to the V-neck on her sweater, all of the Doctor's nips and nibbles were on display. Several reddish-purple marks decorated the sides of her neck and collarbone. She mentally swore. Had she known the Doctor and her would be making out and exploring each-other's necks when she came down, she would have put on a turtleneck.

"Oh, burned myself with the curling iron." She hoped that Amy wouldn't be able to tell the difference between burns and bruises.

Amy eyed Alex's perfectly straight hair and then the hickeys. "So many times?" she said doubtfully.

Alex bristled. "You know how stubborn I am. And after I kept burning myself, I finally just used the straightener like I always do."

Amy just gave her a suspicious look, expressing in no uncertain times that she wasn't buying what Alex was selling. Thankfully, before she could question Alex on just where those bruises – because even she knew those werenotburns – had really come from, the TARDIS suddenly shook to the side, forcing everyone to grab hold of something. Alex clutched the sides of the jumpseat while Amy clung to the railing. Ahead of them, Rory was holding onto the console for dear life.

The Doctor, however, just laughed and ran around the controls. "And we're off!" he cried, yanking down a lever and sending them further into the time vortex.

Chapter 7: The Curse of the Black Spot Part 1

Chapter Text

It wasn't long until they landed. The companions gingerly let go of the various parts of the TARDIS they'd grabbed, just in case the time machine had tricked them and was getting ready to throw them to the side. It wouldn't be the first time.

But the Doctor was the only one who didn't seem to be worried about such a thing, even though the last time it happened, he'd nearly been launched right off the platform. "Right!" he beamed as he examined the scanner. "Right place, right century. I did it!"

Alex stepped up beside him. "First time for everything," she quipped. The Doctor turned and gave her a put-out expression, but Alex just smiled mischievously. He grinned back at her. Thank Rassilon that their bantering wasn't gone despite the fact they had kissed so spectacularly.

He blushed remembering it. Normally, he was never so . . . vocalandexpressivein his desires. In the past, whenever women kissed him, he’d just stood there, his body shaking and his hands flapping around, not sure what to do. During some of the times he and Rose kissed (even though it was always something that had possessed Rose kissing him) he hadn't reciprocated, even though he was thrilled at the very thought that he was kissing her.

But with Alex, it was different. She brought out something in him that made himwantto tell her his desires and made himwantto show her how good she was making him feel. That necking he did with her? As far as he could remember, he'd never done that with anyone. But something in him strove to do that to Alex, to suck and lick her neck, putting marks on her that let everyone know she was his.

Speaking of marks. . . He looked down and noted with quite a bit of pride the several hickeys decorating the sides of Alex's neck.Going to be a bit hard hiding those from Amy and Rory,he thought with no small amount of smugness.

Seeing where he was looking, Alex casually tossed her hair over her shoulders, hiding the hickeys on the sides of her neck. The ones on her collarbone were still visible, but her sonic necklace hid some of the bigger ones. "Burned myself with the curling iron," she lied, an impish look appearing in her topaz-colored eyes.

The Doctor nodded and pursed his lips. "Better be careful, Ally," he commented, biting the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing at their new antics. "You're far too precious to me."

"What, value of me goes down if I get injured?"

"Actually, no. Your value goes up. I can't stand seeing you hurt."

Alex giggled while behind her, Amy and Rory looked at each-other in confusion. Normally, when Alex burned herself, either through trying to curl her hair or attempting to cook, the Doctor would whisk her off top speed to the medical bay and fuss over her until each and every burn was gone. But now, he didn't seem at all concerned. It was as though heknewexactly how the marks had gotten there and was relishing in the opportunity to flirt with Alex.

And Alex was only too happy to reciprocate. "I'll try to be careful then," she promised. "Can you do the same?"

The Doctor placed a hand on the console, the other one going to his hip. He knew Alex's words had a double meaning for Amy and Rory's benefit: she was really talking about him controlling himself on her body. "Can't promise anything," he admitted. Alex truly was his kryptonite. He found himself bending to her every will . . . except on letting her keep a cat, but that was pure logic that took over on his part. "Although, in the past, my not being careful has led to someverypleasant things."

Alex blushed and giggled. Amy and Rory just stared at them. "Do you have any idea what's going on?" Rory whispered.

"No idea," Amy replied, shaking her head. "But look at the marks on Alex's neck."

Rory looked. Though Alex had covered most of them with her hair, he could still make out the numerous funky-shaped bruises adorning her skin. "Are those—"

"Yes," Amy hissed, cutting him off. "At least, I think so. There's no way she did all that with acurling iron."

"But then who. . .?" The two slowly swiveled their heads in the Doctor's direction. They stared at him for a moment before turning back to face each-other.

"Nah," they dismissed. The Doctor and Alex were so stubborn and hard-headed. There wasno waythey would ever start making out like that. It'd take the Jaws of Life to get them to do that, and even then, they'd just dismiss it and never speak of it again.

"Now!" the Doctor declared, rushing across the platform and down the stairs, Alex in tow. "Let's find out where we are!" He and Alex rushed out the door. After a moment, the Ponds followed them.

They found themselves in a dark, wood-lined room. Barrels and trunks were everywhere, cluttering almost every inch of available space. Alex started to survey the room, only to suddenly stumble when the floormoved. She yelped and gripped onto the Doctor's jacket. The Doctor ran a hand through her hair, trying to calm her down, and cautiously led her further into the room.

"Where are we?" Amy questioned. At that moment, a bunch of footsteps sounded from above.

"Lower levels of someplace," Rory guessed as he ran a hand across the dust-covered lid of a trunk.

The Doctor sniffed the air. "It smells like the seventeenth century. Along with brine and . . . salt-water. . ." His eyes widened and he glanced over at Alex. Thankfully, she was too enraptured in studying a birdcage to really notice the smell of the air or his words. But when she did notice, he knew she wasn't going to like it one bit.

Amy and Rory took whiffs of the air and then immediately looked at Alex. "You mean we're on a pirate—" Amy started, but the Doctor shushed her. He did not want to tell Alex that they were on a pirate ship in the middle of the ocean, the last place she'd want to be, just yet.Or ever,he silently amended.

He looked around for something else to talk about, finally spotting a grate just overhead. "Aha!" he cheered. He quickly reached up and started shaking the grate. Above them, the footsteps stopped. The Doctor banged on the grate twice, knowing from experience that people usually tended to get irritated the longer and harder you rattled things.

It was at that moment that Alex got a good sniff of the air. The floor gently rocked again, and the dots connected in her brain. "Oh no," she gasped, turning to give the Doctor a dark look.

He gulped at the anger in her eyes.So much for more kissing tonight.

The grate finally came undone and, to keep from looking at Alex, he gave it a good push. It clattered to the ground above, allowing the four to see the night sky overhead . . . and several sailors crowded around the hatch, one pointing a gun at them.

The Doctor wasn't even deterred. Instead, he grinned. "Yo-ho-ho!" he greeted as Alex continued glaring at him. "Or does nobody actually say that?"

"I willkillyou," Alex told him, an ominous tone in her voice.

"No, you won't," he laughed.

At least, hehopedshe didn't.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

A few minutes later, the four found themselves in the captain's cabin. They were standing before the captain at his desk while a few sailors stood behind them so as to make sure they didn't try to escape.

The captain was a big, burly man with a graying beard and stern eyes that had clearly seen their fair share of hardships. At the moment, he was giving the Doctor a very doubtful look as the Time Lord tried to explain just how they had gotten onto a pirate ship in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

"We made no signal," the captain retorted once the Doctor had finished his explanation.

"Our sensors picked you up," the Doctor explained, glancing sideways at Alex to see that she was still shooting daggers at him. Her arms were crossed, and she was standing with all her body parts very close together, as if she were afraid of spreading out. Reluctantly pulling his gaze away from her, he added, "Ship in distress."

The captain frowned at him, confused. "Sensors?"

"Yes," the Doctor winced. "Okay, problem word. Seventeenth century. My ship automatically, er, noticed-ish that your ship was having some bother."

"That big blue crate?"

The Doctor snapped his fingers in confirmation.

"That is more magic, Captain Avery," the sailor standing beside the captain said. He pointed at the TARDIS crew with his hat. "They're spirits! How else would they have found their way below deck?"

"Well, er," the Doctor stuttered. Not for the first time since this conversation started, he wished that Alex would help him out, though he knew that wasn't likely going to happen at this point. "I want to say multidimensional engineering, but since you had a problem with sensors, I won't go there. Look, I'm the Doctor. This is Amy, Rory, Alex. We're sailors, same as you." Avery's response to that was to pull out a gun and aim it at him. The Doctor sighed. "Ooh, arr, except for the gun thing. And the beardiness."

"You're stowaways," Avery decided. "Only explanation. Eight days, we've been stranded here, becalmed. You must have stowed away before we sailed."

"Now what do we do with 'em?" the crew member beside him asked.

Avery smiled at the four, but it wasn't one that spelled good intentions. "Oh, I think they deserve our hospitality."

The Doctor grinned, ignorant of the fact that things were only about to get worse. Beside him, Alex groaned.

"Okay," she declared, "I reallywillkill you now."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Less than two minutes later, the Doctor was pushed out onto the plank of the ship. He warily eyed the dark blue water a few feet below him and silently thanked God that Alex wasn't on this. She'd have a coronary. Behind him, the pirates were laughing their heads off, some of them holding back Amy, Rory, and Alex.

"I suppose laughing like that is in the job description," the Doctor remarked as the pirates continued cackling at his predicament. "Can you do the laugh? Check. Grab yourself a parrot." He put his arms over his head, like he was an Olympic swimmer ready to jump off the diving board, and bounced up and down on the plank a few times. Behind him, Alex's eyes widened, and she prayed that the plank wouldn't fall. "Welcome aboard."

"Doctor, be careful!" Alex called. She couldn't lose him to a freaking walking of the plank for crying out loud! Not after she finally got together with him! And really, pirates actually did that? She thought it was a bunch of junk made for Hollywood movies just to get the audience riled up. Apparently not.

"Stocks are low," Avery informed them, looking quite calm considering the circ*mstances. "Only one barrel of water remains. We don't need four more empty bellies to fill." He turned to the crewmen holding Amy and Alex. "Take the doxies below to the galley. Set them to work. They won't need much feeding."

"Like hell!" Alex screeched. She dug in her heels as her captor tried to drag her off.

"Rory? A little help?" Amy cried as she was pulled over to the grate-covered hold they'd all come out of earlier.

Rory struggled against his captor. "Yeah, hey!" he shouted. "Hey, listen, right? They're not doxies!"

"I didn't mean just tell them off!" Amy retorted, rolling her eyes as she was shoved under. "Thanks anyway."

"Doctor, help!" Alex yelled. She kicked at her captor's shins, but he kept ducking out of the way. Alex squirmed and pulled against the crewman's grasp, but it was no use. He had a tight grip on her. He yanked her over to the hold section, where Amy was trying to jump out. "Doctor!"

The Doctor immediately turned around, ready to rush off the plank and to her rescue. However, before he could take a single step in that direction, Avery whipped his gun out and aimed it directly at him. The Doctor put up his hands and reluctantly turned back around, listening as Alex was finally forced down into the hold with Amy.

"If you're lucky, you'll drown before the sharks can take a bite," Avery told him.

Yes, that's very lucky,the Doctor thought. Aloud, he said, "If this is just because I'm a captain too, you know, you shouldn't feel threatened. Your ship is bigger than mine. And I don't have the cool boots. Or a hat, even."

Avery co*cked the gun. "Time to go."

The Doctor shuffled forward to where he was on the very edge of the plank. "A bit more laughter, guys?" he requested, noticing that the pirates had gone quiet. They immediately obliged and snickered away at his doom.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Meanwhile, Alex stumbled back into Amy's arms as she toppled into the hold.

"Whoa!" Amy cried. She hastily caught her friend and set her back on her feet.

"Thanks." Alex brushed the sleeves of her sweater, as if by somehow doing this she could get rid of the salt-water stench now buried in the fibers. She glanced up above them, hearing the jeering and howling of the pirates as the Doctor stood on the plank. She felt a surge of protectiveness rise in her, something that was quite new for her. She'd never really been protective of boyfriends in the past. Now though, she wanted to keep the Doctor safe and out of harm's way, much as he did for her. "We've got to get up there."

Amy nodded and looked around the hold. "There's gotta be something down here we can use." She rushed over and lifted a trunk-lid to reveal piles and piles of jewels. She frowned. "Pretty, but not useful."

Alex snorted and made her way over to another trunk. "Well, we're on a pirate ship, so they have to have some weapons lying about," she reasoned as she fumbled with the trunk's lock. A second later, the lock gave way and she pushed open the lid. Her eyes widened at the sight inside. The trunk contained several dozen swords, all long and shiny and sharp. Alex reached in and pulled one out, brandishing it carefully. She had never used a sword before, unless you counted the foil she’d used during the brief fencing unit in ninth grade gym.

Amy sped over to the trunk and pulled out a sword of her own. "Why are they all locked up down here?" she wondered. "I didn't see any on the men, did you?"

"No, but that means their stupidity is our gain," Alex said, shutting the trunk. When she turned back around, she found Amy now wearing a blue frock coat and a black triangle-shaped hat. Alex shook her head, amused. "Better not let the Doctor get his hands on that," she warned, tapping her head. "We'll never hear the end of 'pirate hats are cool'."

Amy chuckled in agreement before eyeing the sword in Alex's hand. "Have you ever used a sword before?"

"No, unless you count the unit I did in ninth grade gym on fencing. I was relatively good. What about you?"

Amy shook her head, but grinned nevertheless. "First time for everything! Now, let's go get our boys."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

"Where are the rest of the crew?" the Doctor asked, turning on the plank to face Avery. "This is a big ship. Big for five of you. I suppose the rest of them are hiding and," he pinched his nose and turned back around, the rest of his sentence coming out in a nasally voice, "they're going to jump out and shout boo."

"Boo!" a familiar Scottish voice cried.

Everyone spun around to see Amy and Alex standing at the head of the ship, both brandishing long, pointy swords. Amy was decked out in a blue frock coat and a tricorn hat, looking very much like a pirate. Alex, on the other hand, looked more like a pissed-off, worried young woman. She glanced over at the Doctor and gave him a reassuring wink, her grip on the sword tightening when she saw that he was still standing on the plank.

The girls aimed their swords at Captain Avery. He seemed rather terrified of the objects in their hands, the complete opposite of how you would expect a pirate to look when faced with such weapons. "Throw the gun down," Amy ordered. Without a word, Avery took out his gun and tossed it to the ground. Amy kicked it over to Alex, who quickly picked it up and tossed her sword overboard. She could handle a gun much better than a sword.

"The rest of you," she said, sliding a bullet into the chamber, "on your knees."

The Doctor ran back up the plank and onto the deck. "Amy, Alex, what are you doing?!"

"Saving your life," Amy retorted.

"Okay with that, are you, Doc?" Alex added, winking at him again to try and calm him down. But based on his distressed expression, it didn't do a lick of good. The fact that she was holding a gun probably didn't help matters.

"Put down the sword," Avery requested. He eyed the weapon with quite a bit of apprehension. "A sword could kill us all, girl."

"Yeah, thanks. That is actually why I'm pointing it atyou." Amy continued aiming it at him until one of the crewmembers suddenly attacked her.

"Amy!" Alex cried, immediately turning and tossing the gun to the other side of the ship. She had seen enough movies and episodes ofGeneral Hospitalto know how it would go if she and a crewmember started struggling over the gun. She was not about to risk that happening here.

She needn't have worried though. Despite never having handled one, Amy was doing remarkably well in defending herself. As one of the men tried to hit her with a long wooden staff, Amy simply stepped back and began using her sword to dodge the blows.

While this went on, Alex started inching her way to the other end of the ship, pressing herself against the railing to avoid getting a stray blow from the fight. She looked over her shoulder and glanced down at the dark, almost black waters. She shuddered and turned back to watch the fight, all the while praying that she didn't accidentally get shoved over.

The Doctor's eyes widened upon seeing her predicament. Alex couldn't go anywhere unless Amy and the others moved their fight elsewhere. The only place for her to go was overboard. He immediately started forward, wanting to get to her and pull her back as far as possible from the edge, only for Avery to grab him and hold him against some of the sail ropes. The Doctor thrashed and pushed against Avery, but the captain had a good grip on his wrists, preventing him from going anywhere. With a low growl, the Doctor managed to crane his head far enough to look at Alex. "Hang on!" he called to her.

Meanwhile, Amy was still fighting. She stabbed at one of the men, causing him to jump back a good three feet. The rest, a bit braver, gathered around her. Amy merely smirked and stabbed the sword at one of the men. He, too, recoiled. She swished her sword around, getting this reaction out of all of them. They were all positively terrified of getting even a scrape!

Alex observed this, her brow furrowed. The men were clearly afraid of getting injured, so they’d locked up all their swords as a precautionary measure. But why had they done so? There had to be a specific reason for this newfound sense of caution.

She was pulled back to the present when she saw one of the men charging forward at Amy, armed with a wooden stick. Before she could call out a warning though, Amy spotted him. She easily knocked him back, kicking him down for good measure. At that moment, another crewmember ran towards her, a rope in his hands. Amy whirled around and hurried to another deck. She grabbed a rope and jumped off the deck, swinging past the crewmember and slashing him in the hand.

Everyone froze, gawking at the man, as Amy safely landed on top of a barrel. The man stared down at his hand before looking up at her. "You have killed me," he gasped.

Amy rolled her eyes at him as Alex hurried forwards and helped her down. "No way. It's just a cut," she scoffed. "What kind of rubbish pirates are you?"

"One drop, that's all it takes," Avery said grimly. "One drop of blood and she'll rise out of the ocean."

"Who?" Alex questioned. But before Avery could answer, Amy cut in.

"Come on, I barely evenscratchedhim! What are you all in such a huff about?" Right then, another man came at her. Amy grabbed the rope and swung down again, but the man grabbed her legs, making her drop the sword.

Rory darted forward to try and catch it, but only succeeded in scratching himself. "Ow! Argh!" he hissed. Two crewmembers came up behind him, one of them already holding Amy while the other took hold of Rory. Alex was dragged up to them by another crewmember.

"Er, Doctor?" Rory suddenly called out. "What's happening to me?" He lifted his scratched hand. A black spot the size of a quarter was now in the center of his palm.

"She can smell the blood on your skin," Avery cryptically explained. "She's marked you for death."

"She who?" Alex questioned.

"A demon, out there in the ocean."

"Okay, groovy," the Doctor nodded, grinning as he walked up and examined Rory's hand. "So not just pirates today. We've managed to bagsy a ship where there's a demon popping in. Very efficient. I mean, if something's going to kill you, it's nice that it drops you a note to remind you."

Great!Alex thought.Now not only do I have to worry about being on a pirate ship surrounded by water, but I also get to worry about a homicidal demon! Just fantastic!

But before she could vocalize any of these thoughts, or possibly hit the Doctor upside the head for bringing them here, a strange, ghostly voice started to echo all around them.

As the Doctor, Amy, Rory, and Alex looked around, the crewmembers began covering their ears. "Quickly now!" the one Amy had slashed shouted. "Block out the sound!"

"What?" Rory asked, confused.

"The creature," Avery elaborated. "She charms all her victims with that song."

Rory's eyes widened and he glanced down at the spot on his hand. "Oh, great!" he groaned. "So put my fingers in my ears, that's your plan?" He turned and headed back towards the grate. "Doctor, come on. Let's go. . ." Rory trailed off suddenly, his voice slurring, and he stumbled. He shook his head and tried to move forward again. "Let's get back to the . . . er. . ." He staggered around, swaying like a drunk person as the Doctor, Amy, and Alex worriedly watched. "Oh . . . back to the . . . er. . ." Then, as if things couldn't get even more bizarre, he suddenly burst out laughing.

"The music," the other crewman chuckled, looking just as amused as Rory did. "It's working on him. Look."

Rory swirled around and stumbled over to Amy. He leaned against a rope as he looked at her with an expression that could only be described as love drunk. "You," he gasped, "aresobeautiful!"

Amy frowned at him. "What?"

"I love your get-up! That's great! You should dress as a pirate more often." He moved to hug her while the Doctor and Alex watched him with identical frowns on their faces. "Hey, hey, cuddle me, shipmate."

"Rory, stop!" Amy ordered, pushing him away.

Rory didn't seem too deterred though, for he planted his hands on her shoulders. "Everything is totally brilliant, isn't it?!" he cried. "Look at these brilliant pirates! Look at their brilliant beards!" He pointed to the pirate standing next to them to illustrate his point, his other hand still holding on to Amy. "I'd like a beard. I'm gonna grow a beard."

"You're not," Amy deadpanned.

"The music turns them into fools," Avery explained.

"That certainly explains a lot," Alex remarked when Rory and the other pirate started laughing hysterically at something known only to them.

It was then that something caught her eye. Alex looked over at the water and stared, stunned, as a section of it started turning green. "Oh my God," she gasped, attracting the Doctor's attention. He turned just in time to see a light drift up from the green bit of water. He and Alex watched, curious, while the pirates and Amy eyed it with extreme trepidation. Rory and the other pirate's eyes widened, their mouths dropping open in wonder.

A figure flew out of the light. It was a tall, very attractive woman with green skin and long dark hair. She wore only a white strapless dress, her feet bare. Her mouth was open, the haunting song coming out of it. Immediately after landing gracefully on the deck, she began walking towards them.

His hand outstretched, the pirate headed over to her. He was grinning like a madman, his eyes practically glazed over. Rory was in a similar state, his own arm stretched out, but Amy was holding him back. Seeing that she was struggling, Alex darted over to help, gripping Rory's other arm in as tight a hold as she could manage.

The injured pirate continued to approach the green woman. He stretched his hand out towards her. The moment his fingertips met hers, the pirate burst into ashes.

The crew, the Doctor, Amy, and Alex all jumped back in shock. All gawked at the spot where the pirate had been. The only evidence he'd been there at all was a small pile of gray ash and dust.

Rory, however, didn't seem alarmed by what had just happened. In fact, it only seemed to make him more determined to get to the woman. "I have to touch her," he declared, straining against Amy and Alex's holds. "Let me touch her!"

"Yeah, that's not happening," Alex told him as Amy released one of his arms to go and confront the green woman, who was edging closer to them, trying to make Rory's wish come true.

Amy stepped right in her path. "Sorry," she glared, "but he is spoken for."

This did not go over well with the green lady. Within the blink of an eye, her skin switched from calm, soothing green to a harsh, violent red. Her eyes did the same, resembling those of someone possessed in a Devil horror film. She angrily screeched at Amy before suddenly sending the redhead flying backwards by some invisible force.

"Amy!" Alex cried. She wanted to dart over and check on her friend, but it was vitally important that she keep Rory back. She looked over and saw that the woman had turned green again. There was no evidence of her previous anger in her calm, beckoning appearance. It was as though she'd flipped some internal switch.

"Amy!" the Doctor shouted, rushing towards the Scot. He bent down, giving her a quick glance-over before helping her up. Amy seemed a little dazed, but otherwise okay. As he tugged her up, he yelled, "Everybody into the hold!" The pirates hastened to obey him, Avery pausing only to retrieve his gun from the spot Alex had thrown it. After ushering Amy down after them, the Doctor rushed over to help Alex pull Rory down.

He grabbed Rory's arm and, with Alex, started tugging him over to the hold. "Rory, come on!"

"Hey!" Rory protested, straining to get over to the green woman. "Wait!" But the Doctor and Alex ignored him, instead dragging him into the hold.

The three dove inside. Alex grimaced as water splashed over her ballet flats, soaking her feet and a few inches of her jeans. Once one of the crewmembers shut the grate, she glanced at the Doctor and nodded at Rory, silently asking if it was okay to let him go now. The Doctor nodded and Alex released him.

Amy came forwards to take hold of him. "What is that thing?" she demanded.

"The legend," Avery said. "The Siren. Many a merchant ship laden with treasure has fallen prey to her. She's been hunting us ever since we were becalmed, picking off the injured."

"Like a shark," one of the crewmembers added. "A shark can smell blood."

"Okay," the Doctor nodded, processing this. "Just like a shark, in a dress. And singing. And green. A green singing shark in an evening gown."

Alex's brow furrowed. "I think it's something a bit simpler than that," she said, not unkindly.

The Doctor smiled, relieved that she was talking to him again, even if it was only about the Threat-of-The-Day. "You're definitely right, Ally," he complimented, giving her a wink.

Though she tried not to, Alex smiled a little.

"This ship is cursed!" Avery protested.

The Doctor sighed and inwardly cursed Avery for interrupting their moment. "Yeah, right," he scoffed. "Cursed is big with humans. It means bad things are happening, but you can't be bothered to find an explanation."

"She's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," Rory murmured wistfully, clearly talking about the Siren even as he took Amy's face in his hands.

"Actually, I think you'll find she isn't," Amy argued calmly.

"She is!"

In an effort to keep her amusem*nt in check, Alex bit down on her lip. She leaned over and whispered to Amy, "Now would be a great time to get him to buy you that necklace I saw you dog-ear inVogue."

"I would never take advantage of my husband when his mind has obviously been messed with," Amy retorted loud enough for the others to hear. But then, once everyone looked away, she gave Alex a conspiratorial wink. Alex winked back. Poor Rory. He was going to pay greatly for this little adventure.

Amy wrapped her arms around her clingy husband's body and leaned over his shoulder so she could talk to the Doctor. "We have to leave right now."

"That thing of yours is really a ship?" Avery asked.

The Doctor co*cked his head, wondering how best to explain the TARDIS in terms the man could understand. "Well, it's not propelled by the wind. . ."

Once again, Avery pulled out his gun and pointed it at the Doctor. "Show me," he ordered as the Doctor moved Alex behind him, not wanting her in the potential line of fire. "Weigh anchor. Make it sail."

"And the gun's back," the Doctor noted, trying to keep calm even though he was utterly terrified about it being around Alex. It seemed as though ever since he properly kissed her, his concern and protectiveness for her had gone into overdrive. Actually, really thinking about it, it had started after she came back from her break in Leadworth. It seemed he was terrified of losing her again, whether to a break or a bullet. "You're big on the gun, aren't you? Freud would say you're compensating. Ever met Freud? No? Comfy sofa."

"Leave the cursed one, Captain," one of the pirates suggested. "The creature can have him."

Rory nodded eagerly. "Yes, please!"

Avery tilted his head, considering this. "We don't want the Siren coming after us," he agreed.

Alex glowered at him.No way in hell is that happening,she vowed.

But before she could object to this plan, the pirate that suggested it started shouting. He held out his leg, everyone backing away when they saw the small black creature on it. "It's a leech!" Alex exclaimed.

"Everyone out of the water!" the Doctor yelled. Everybody immediately scrambled up onto the crates lining the room. The Doctor pulled Alex into his side on their crate, wrapping an arm around her waist to keep her from falling off and into the water. The contact made his fingertips and Alex's side tingle, a feeling they had long gotten used to whenever they came into close contact.

"It's bitten me!" the crewmate bemoaned. He reached down and yanked the leech off, tossing it back into the water. It was too late though. A trickle of blood oozed out of a wound and down his leg. "I'm bleeding!" he cried and held up his hand to show them the new black spot adorning it.

The Doctor examined the man's wound. "She wants blood," he mused.

Alex leaned into his touch. "Why does she want blood?" she wondered.

Amy glowered at the injured man. "What were you saying about leaving the cursed ones behind?"

"It's okay, we're safe down here," the Doctor assured them. "No curse is getting through three solid inches of timber."

A nice thought . . . until the Siren suddenly popped up behind the Doctor and Alex. She screeched at them, presumably for the fact that they'd taken Rory away from her.

The duo spun around and gaped at her. "Oh!" the Doctor gasped as he shoved Alex behind him. "Ah . . . hello again."

Almost immediately, Rory's madman expression came back, and he reached out to touch the Siren. While Amy struggled to keep him back, the leeched man walked past her, arm outstretched and his eyes glazed over. All the while, the Siren sang her haunting melody.

A chorus of 'no's' rang out from everyone as the pirate got closer to her. The Doctor leapt forwards to try and snatch him back, but he was too late. The man touched the Siren's hand and immediately disintegrated. The only thing left of him besides ash was his maroon and gold tricorn hat. The Doctor had managed to grab it before he met his demise.

The Doctor quickly sprang into action. He pushed Alex ahead of him before proceeding to do the same to everyone else in the room, ushering them forwards and further into the ship. The remaining group dashed out of the hold and into what appeared to be the mess deck, based on the sacks of food lying all around, along with an awkwardly placed hammock. Once seeing that everyone was out, the Doctor slammed the door shut and locked it.

"Safe?" Amy shrilly repeated, somehow finding the energy to give him a look even as she held Rory back.

As he turned to face her, the Doctor put the tricorn on. Behind him, Alex sighed.So much for preventing 'pirate hats are cool'."I have my good days and bad days," he shrugged, pulling off the hat.

"How did she get in?" Avery wondered.

"It was probably the water," Alex hypothesized as the Doctor began sonicing the hat with his screwdriver.

"Bilge water," he reported a moment later. He turned and tapped Alex on the nose with the end of the screwdriver. "And I think Ally's right. She's using the water like a portal, a door. She can materialize through a single drop. We need to go somewhere with no water."

Alex rolled her eyes. "Oh, gee, well, it's a darn good thing we're not in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean right now!"

"Did you see her eyes?" Rory babbled to Amy as the Doctor put his hat back on, only for Alex to immediately snatch it off again. "Like crystal pools. . ."

"Youare in enough trouble," Amy told him before glancing over at the Doctor and Alex. Alex had a hold of the Doctor's new hat and was shaking her head, refusing to give it back to him. The Doctor pouted at her. Alex just gave him a dry look. The Doctor leaned in close to her. Amy squinted, trying to make out what he was saying since she couldn't hear them over the pirates' discussion of what area of the ship was driest. To her untrained lip-reading eye, it looked like he was saying, "I bet I can make you." Alex arched an eyebrow. "Oh, really?" her lips challenged. The Doctor smirked at her and pulled back a little. But before Amy could see what was about to happen, Rory suddenly tried to dart forward. Growling to herself and making a mental note to make him get her that necklace after this whole thing was over, Amy yanked him back.

Meanwhile, the Doctor murmured, "Yeah," at Alex. He looked around. Avery and his crew were busy debating which area of the ship was driest while Amy was struggling to keep Rory from going after the Siren. After affirming that no one was watching them, the Doctor craned his head down and used his finger to tilt Alex's chin up. Then he swooped down and licked the bridge of her ear up and down, pausing on her earlobe to briefly suck and nibble at it.

Alex gasped and pushed him away. "Doctor!" she breathed, her eyes darting around anxiously. She was relieved to see that no one had noticed, though her heart skipped a beat at the thought that they could have been caught. Normally, she wasn't one to do things like making out in public, but it seemed that the Doctor was bringing out new desires in her.

The Doctor chuckled, reached down, and snatched the hat out of her now loose grip. "Told you I could make you," he teased.

Alex pouted at him. "That was completely and totally unfair, Doctor." She paused and then asked, "Will you do it again?"

He beamed and popped the hat back on his head. "Oh, does this mean I'm forgiven now?"

Alex pursed her lips in consideration. "I think," she said slowly, "if you do that ear thing again when we get back to the TARDIS, you will be." She bit her lip enticingly, causing the Doctor to growl lowly in his throat.

"Stop that, Ally," he warned, leaning down to murmur in her ear. "Or I might just do that and more right here, right now."

"Promises, promises," Alex giggled and bit down on her lip a little more. The Doctor gave her a look, one of his hands creeping around to cup the small of her back. Alex gasped and released her lip, blushing fiercely when the Doctor smirked at her and released his hold.

"The magazine!" Avery suddenly exclaimed, yanking the two out of their moment.

"What?" Amy questioned as the Doctor and Alex sprang apart.

"He means the armory where the powder's stored," the Doctor explained. To his relief, his voice came out much more steadily than he’d thought it would.

"It's dry as a bone," Avery assured them.

The Doctor nodded approvingly and grasped Alex's hand. "Good. Let's go there." The two stepped forward, but before they could get very far, Avery's gun was aimed at them.

"Igive the orders," he informed them.

The Doctor glowered at the weapon. He wasn't worried about it being pointed at him, but hewasworried that it was being pointed at Alex.All I have to do is snatch that gun out of his hand and point it at him.He'd resolved to do just that when a hand crept up to his shoulder, causing the muscles he didn't even know were tensed to relax.

Alex kept a steady eye on Avery while she clutched the Doctor's hand, squeezing it tightly. She knew exactly what he'd been thinking of doing. She could see it in his eyes and in how his whole body had tensed up when the gun came out, the barrel just barely pointing at her. He had been fully ready to grab it and point it at Avery. Alex shuddered slightly, remembering the Doctor's reaction when he found out she'd been dissected by a Silurian scientist. He would have ripped Malohkeh's head off if she hadn't told him to stop.

Naturally, she had to do something. "Worried just because he's wearing a hat now?" she joked, laughing lightly as she reached up and pulled the hat off. "I can solve that rather easily." She placed the hat on her own head, then led the Doctor past the gun barrel and the flabbergasted Avery. "Come along, Doctor!" she called over her shoulder. "And no one touch anything sharp!"

The Doctor waited until they were a little bit ahead of everyone before leaning down to whisper in Alex's ear. "Very impressive, Ally."

Alex shrugged. "Had to do something before you tackled him for the gun."

"Alex—"

"No, I understand. And I quite admire it. Makes me l—" She cut herself off, wincing at her almost slip-up. While she’d admitted to the Doctor that she had feelings for him, she wasn't about to risk everything she'd been hoping for and potentially scare him off by telling him those three big words just yet. Besides, who knew if he loved her as well? As far as he was probably concerned at this point, they were operating on mutual attraction and chemistry, nothing more, nothing less.

"What was that?" the Doctor asked when Alex stopped talking. He could have sworn she'd been about to say 'love', though perhaps he was mistaken. She couldn't really love him . . . could she?

Alex wracked her brain for something to say, coming up with it 2.5 seconds later. "I was about to say that it makes melikeyou more than I already do. A girl likes feeling protected, you know, even by a man in a bowtie."

"Oi! You couldn't let one go by, could you?"

Alex giggled in reply, pretty much answering that question. "But I can take care of myself, Doc. Besides, I seriously doubt he was going to shoot. He was just doing that to intimidate us, showing us his masculine power."

"I suppose you're right," the Doctor conceded.

"Of course I am," Alex smirked. "I'm brilliant, aren't I?"

He laughed and slung an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his side. "And so modest too." He studied her pirate hat. "And also very pretty in a pirate's hat."

"Should I dress up as a pirate more often then?" she murmured.

The Doctor gulped as he caught the meaning behind her words. "Yes!" he blurted before he could even think about it. Then, realizing what he'd said and how she could potentially be offended by that, he babbled, "No! Er, I mean . . . n-not unlessyouwanted to or. . ." He trailed off, blushing furiously as Alex giggled. "Oh, shut up," he muttered.

"Most girls would be quite offended and outraged by that," Alex mused.

"You're not going to slap me, are you?" the Doctor asked worriedly.

"No, I only do that when youreallyanger me." She reached up and pulled off her hat, messing with her hair a little to get it to straighten back out. "But, just to keep your libido in check. . ." She plopped the hat on his head.

The Doctor snorted and adjusted the tricorn, not bothering to protest her remark about his libido. "So you're not going to roll your eyes and sigh if I say pirate hats are cool?"

"No, I'll still probably do that. But I know you've been eyeing it for more than the fact that it looks good on me." She smiled up at him. "Have a little fun, Doc."

He grinned at her. He loved that she was trying to cheer him up and please him, even though she really didn't have to. That was just the kind of person Alex was; selfless, loyal, and caring. He ran his hand along the back of her head and bent down to press a kiss to her hairline. "Thanks, Ally."

Alex giggled louder than she normally did, attracting the attention of Captain Avery, Amy, and a slightly more alert Rory. Avery raised an eyebrow at the two. "She his doxie or something?" he asked.

Amy glared at him. "Alex is not a doxie!" she snapped. "She's alibrarian. And no, they are not . . . like that." But even as she said this, she couldn't help but feel like something in the Doctor/Alex relationship had changed. They seemed much closer and more protective of each-other than normal, and the Doctor leaning in so close to Alex and telling her that he could make her give him that hat back. . . That still puzzled Amy. Could they really have admitted their feelings to one-another after denying them for so long?

Alex glanced over her shoulder, seeing Amy eyeing her strangely. She turned back around and snickered. "We're not doing a good job hiding our new relationship from the Ponds."

"Amy, you mean. I think Rory's still a little loopy from the Siren to really notice anything at the moment."

Alex shrugged, conceding to his point. "Still, we could be a little more subtle."

"I think that might be easier said than done, Ally."

"How come?"

He smiled at her and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Because now that I know you feel the same way about me as I do with you, I can barely restrain myself. I don't have an excuse for holding myself back anymore."

Alex gazed up at him, astonished that she had such an effect on him. She knew that she could convince him to do whatever she wanted, but she didn't know that she practically made him lose control around her. It was very exhilarating.

But before she could ponder this any longer, the group reached the door to the magazine. One of the crewmen pulled out a large collection of keys and began searching through them. Alex swallowed a yawn as he went through them once, then again. It was a very tedious process.

Avery, thinking the same thing, snapped, "Quickly, man!"

"I can't find the key!" the man exclaimed as he rifled through the keys for the third time. "Tis gone, Cap'n."

"How can it have gone?!"

The Doctor and Alex frowned and turned to eye the door. They looked at each-other and arched their eyebrows, thinking the same thing. After a moment, the two turned to the door and pushed on it. To everyone else's surprise, the door swung open, revealing a small room packed floor to ceiling with barrels of gunpowder.

"Someone else had the same idea," the Doctor and Alex murmured as they stepped into the room. The Doctor, predictably, was ahead of Alex, wanting to make sure it was safe before he allowed her – and the others – to enter.

After nothing immediately leaped out at him, Alex went further into the room. She waved over her shoulder for the others to come in. They obeyed and looked around nervously as they all piled in.

"Barricade that door," Avery ordered one of the men. "Careful of that lantern," he cautioned another as the man passed him a lantern. "Every barrel is full of powder."

The Doctor continued to look around for whoever might still be in here. "Who's been sleeping in my gun room?" he said aloud, part joking, part serious.

As if in reply, a faint coughing rang out.

Avery went dead still, listening intently. A second later, another cough sounded out, and Avery stormed across the room over to a barrel. He put down the lantern and jerked the lid of the barrel up. He then reached inside and, much to everyone's shock, pulled out a young boy with light brown hair and brown eyes.

"You fool!" Avery shouted, lifting the boy up and pushing him against the wall. "You fool, boy! What are you doing here?!"

"Who is he?" one of the pirates asked.

"Obviously not part of the crew," Alex deduced.

"No," Avery confirmed as he continued to glare at the poor kid. "He's my son."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

A little while later, Avery and his son sat against one of the magazine walls. The boy coughed into his hand every few seconds, causing the Doctor and Alex to look at each-other worriedly. They both knew that illnesses quite treatable in the future were basically a death sentence here.

Still,Alex thought, trying to reassure herself,at least he doesn't have any blood coming out of him. He's safe from the Siren.

She and the Doctor were sitting in front of the door. Alex had resisted the overwhelming urge to rest her head on his shoulder so that she could try and keep Amy and Rory in the dark for as long as possible. It wasn't that she didn't want them to know about her and the Doctor finally getting together; she just wanted to keep it between herself and the Doctor for a little while. Also, it was rather humorous watching the Ponds, who had been trying to push them together for ages, being oblivious to the fact that they'd gotten together.

Or not,Alex thought, remembering the doubt in Amy's voice when she told her the lie about the hickeys on her neck, and how the redhead had been watching them on their way in here. Amelia Pond was smart, and Alex had no doubt that she would eventually figure out that the two were together. But for now, Alex had to restrain herself from giving more fuel to the fire and just let Amy puzzle it out on her own.

"What in God's name possessed you, boy?" Avery demanded now, pulling Alex back into the conversation. Though everyone around them was trying to act like they weren't, they were all eavesdropping on Avery and his son's conversation. This was probably the most exciting thing to happen on this ship since the Siren, and no one wanted to miss it.

"Your mother will be searching for you," Avery continued, eyeing the boy significantly. The boy, however, just looked down at the floor. Alex glimpsed a small tear in his eye. She frowned sadly, knowing immediately what had happened to the boy's mother. Avery apparently knew it too, for he sighed and asked, "When?"

"Last winter," the boy whispered. "Fever. She told me all about you. How you were a Captain in the Navy." Everyone in the room shifted uncomfortably at this, none more so than Avery. Thankfully, the boy didn't notice. "An honorable man, she said. How I'd be proud to know you." He coughed a little. "I've come to join your crew."

"I don't want you here."

"You can't send me back. It's too late. We're a hundred miles from home."

"It'sdangeroushere," Avery insisted. "There is a monster aboard. She leaves a mark on men's skin."

"The black spot?" Avery, the Doctor, and Alex stiffened and stared at him. Not noticing their looks, the boy raised his hand.

On his palm was a large black spot.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Shortly after Toby, as they'd come to learn his name was, revealed the black spot on his hand, Avery began checking him for any scars or cuts that might have attracted the Siren's attention. The Doctor and Alex leaned against the back wall next to Amy and watched them. After a moment, Alex lifted the charm of her sonic necklace.

The Doctor eyed her. "What are you doing?" He knew Alex liked to keep her necklace hidden and didn't bring it out unless she was planning on using it.

"Just checking something," Alex murmured back. She glanced around real quickly, making sure no one was watching her. She aimed the charm towards Toby and began scanning him, the topaz in the lightbulb part of the police-box exterior lighting up. There was no buzzing however, Alex having turned it off so that no one would hear the necklace going. A second later, she lowered the charm.

The Doctor scooted closer to her, leaning over her shoulder to read the results. "Ooh," he grimaced and glanced at Toby sadly.

"Typhoid fever," Alex mumbled, her words audible only to the Doctor. She dropped the necklace back to her collarbone and turned to face the Doctor. "He'll die from it, won't he? He's in the early stages but. . ."

The Doctor nodded grimly. He reached out and pulled her to his side, a hand running up and down her arm. "I'm afraid so," he confirmed.

Alex didn't say anything. Instead, she rested her head on his shoulder like she’d wanted to do earlier.

Avery came over and leaned against the wall next to the Doctor. "There's nothing wrong with him," he reported. "He has no scars."

"No, but he does have a fever and a cough," Alex pointed out. She decided not to tell him about Toby's fatal illness. It would just bring up too many awkward questions and that was something they had no time for right now.

The Doctor sighed solemnly. "Yep. Ignore my last theory."

"Ours actually," Alex corrected. She had initially agreed with him that the Siren was going after blood. She smiled apologetically at Avery. "Sorry. We have our good days and our bad days."

"It's not just blood," the Doctor summarized. "She's coming for all the sick and wounded, like a hunter chooses the weakest animal."

"Okay, look, he's got a fever," Amy piped up beside them. "The Siren knows it."

"Humans," the Doctor lamented. "Second-rate. Damage too easily. It's only a matter of time before everyone gets bruised."Like Ally,he thought. No, he couldn't let that happen. Over his dead body would the Siren get her.

That thought in mind, he declared, "My ship, it can sail us all away from here. You and me, we'll fetch it." He nudged Alex off him and stood. "Let's go."

But before he could so much as open the door, Avery had his gun on him again. Alex sighed and shook her head. Now this was just getting ridiculous. "You're very reliant on that, aren't you?" she observed dryly.

Avery ignored her. "You're not the captain here, remember?"

But before the Doctor could think of a smart-alec retort, Toby, who had gotten up at some point, raised the lid on one of the water barrels. The Siren's green hand shot up out of the water. The Doctor quickly darted past Avery and over to the barrel, snatching the lid and slamming it back down over the Siren's hand.

"The water's dangerous!" Avery snapped at Toby. "That's how she gets through. One touch of her hand and you're a dead man!"

"He didn't know, did he?" Alex reminded him, going over and placing a comforting hand on Toby's shoulder.

"We're all cursed if we stay aboard," one of the remaining crewmembers remarked.

"It's not a curse," the Doctor and Alex insisted.

"Curse means game over," the Doctor continued. "Curse means we're helpless."

"And we arenothelpless," Alex added, giving the Doctor a significant look.

The Doctor smiled, glad that she believed in him so much, before turning to Avery. "Captain, what's our next move?"

Chapter 8: The Curse of the Black Spot Part 2

Chapter Text

"Wait with the boy," Avery ordered his two remaining crewmembers as he placed the silver medallion he'd been wearing around Toby's neck.

One of the men frowned. "Captain, we're all in danger here!" he argued as the other man unbolted the door.

Avery merely gave the man a look that reminded him in no uncertain terms who was in charge. "I saidwait. And barricade the door after we've gone."

"So," the Doctor said, him and Alex leaning against the wall near the door, "if I told you to stay here where it's safe, would you?"

Alex thought for a moment. She really did want to go with the Doctor, but she knew she wouldn't be much use. He'd just be worrying about her the whole time, which wouldn't help them get to the TARDIS fast enough. Nor did she know how to fly the TARDIS, so she wasn't any help there.

Alex glanced at the other two pirates.And someone should keep an eye out here,she thought. Amy was too busy worrying over Rory, and Toby was too ill to do much. Plus, one of the pirates had objected to Avery's order. With all of that occurring at once, anything could happen.

"Yes," she nodded. The Doctor raised his eyebrows, taken aback. He had expected Alex to put up more of a fight. Seeing his shocked expression, Alex burst out laughing. "Well, I wouldn't be much help. You'd just be worrying over me the whole time, terrified that I might trip or something."

He couldn't really argue with that. "That is true," he admitted. "I just want to keep you safe, Ally."

"I know, and thanks, but I'll be fine here. I can help Amy with Rory, look after Toby, and. . ." She trailed off and glanced around, checking that no one was listening before leaning in and murmuring in his ear, ". . .keep an eye on those pirates. They're scared and I remember what you said about when people get scared."

"Fear generates savagery." He considered the crewmen, taking in their big, burly physiques. "Be careful, Alex," he cautioned. "Don't fight them if they try to escape."

"I won't," Alex promised. "But you can't tell about the others." He shrugged, conceding her point.

"Sure you want to go?" Amy asked behind them, interrupting their conversation. The two looked at each-other and rolled their eyes before turning to face her. Amy Pond had horrible timing, especially when it came to interrupting moments between them.

"We have to get Rory and Toby away," the Doctor answered. "She's out there now, licking her lips, boiling a saucepan, grating cheese—"

"Okay!" Amy cried, cutting him off before he could finish that slightly disturbing analogy. "Well, remember, if you get an itch, don't scratch too hard."

The Doctor shrugged. "We've all gotta go sometime." He didn't notice how the girls tensed at his words, remembering all too vividly his demise at Lake Silencio. He stepped over to Rory. "There are worse ways than having your face snogged off by a dodgy mermaid." He patted Rory on the back as the latter laughed.

The Doctor went back to Alex. "Sure you'll be okay?" he asked.

Alex nodded firmly. "Doctor, you're acting like you haven't left me alone before. I'll be fine." She gave him a gentle shove towards the door. "Now shoo. Go get the TARDIS and save the day as usual."

The Doctor smirked and nodded. Rassilon, he wished he could kiss her right now. Of course, there was nothing really preventing him. He didn'thaveto try and fool Amy and Rory. He could easily swoop in right now and put his lips on hers, suck on them till he left bruises. The Ponds would be pretty stunned, but Alex could easily explain it.

Yes,he thought, his mind practically purring.Thatisa good idea.

But just as he was about to do that, a hand grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the room. He turned around, ready to tell the person off, but it was Avery, looking ready to end the Siren's reign of terror once and for all. The Doctor inwardly sighed. He would kiss Alex later.

They stepped out into the mess deck. Behind them, the magazine door was shut and bolted. "Do you want to draw lots for who's in charge then?" Avery asked, pocketing his gun.

"Darkness? Demon?" The Doctor patted him on the stomach. "You can have first go."

Avery laughed and the two started forwards. They hadn't even gone five steps when Avery suddenly stumbled, his arms bracing out, palms flat . . . one of them right over a sharp, partially raised nail on a board beside him. The Doctor hurriedly grabbed his arm and steadied him before the captain could make himself another Siren victim.

Avery looked down at the nail and breathed a sigh of relief. "Nearly," he chuckled nervously. The Doctor snorted, patting his shoulder before pocketing the nail and continuing on.

It took them only a few minutes to reach the TARDIS. The Doctor hastily unlocked it while Avery studied the police-box exterior with a bemused expression. This changed into one of shock and wonder when the Doctor pushed open the door and stepped inside.

Avery gaped at the bigger-on-the-inside control room. He spun around, trying to take everything in all at once. "By all the—"

"Let me stop you right there," the Doctor interrupted, already up by the console. As Avery slowly headed up to join him, the Doctor began explaining the ship while he set the controls. "Bigger on the inside. Don't mind, do you, if we just skip to the end of that moment? Oh, and sorry I lied, by the way, when I said yours was bigger. Kitchen that way," he pointed right, "choice of bathrooms there, there, there.” He pointed right, left, and back.

All Avery could do was nod dumbly.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Back in the magazine, Alex lounged against the wall, feeling rather bored. The pirates didn't seem to be doing anything, Amy and Rory were cuddling, and Toby was sitting beside her, coughing quietly. There wasn't much to do but wait for the Doctor and Avery to get back, which would probably take a while, considering the Doctor's piloting of the TARDIS and all.

Alex sighed and tucked several strands of hair behind her ear. She wondered how the two were doing. No doubt that Avery was dumbfounded by the inside of the TARDIS. Everyone who first saw it was. The Doctor was likely being forced to explain several features of the time machine. He was probably doing so irritably and snippily, not realizing he was doing it that way as he furiously worked the TARDIS controls, trying to get back to her –them.

Wow, Alexandria, less than two hours together and you're already fixated on him and only him.Alex wrinkled her nose. She hated girls like that, the ones who forgot and dropped their friends whenever a guy entered their life. Hillary Westcott had done that. Not that Alex and her had been friends, but Alex had seen how Hillary's wannabees looked whenever this happened, all lost and forlorn and confused. Granted, they had the intelligence of tap water, but the point still stood.

Alex glanced at Amy and Rory. She did not want to be that girl. She wanted to be there for her friends, help them and encourage them and make them laugh whenever need be. A relationship that she'd been waiting so long for could not,should not, change that.

And it won't,she vowed.I won't let that happen.

"What's wrong?" Rory suddenly asked.

Alex jolted, thinking he was talking to her. She turned to face him, trying to think up some viable excuse, only to see that he was talking to Amy. The redhead was pacing the floor, mulling over something.

Amy turned to him. "The most beautiful thing you've ever seen?" she repeated, one of her eyebrows arching.

Rory groaned. "Tell me I didn't really say that."

"Okay, I won't."

"I will," Alex jumped in. She smirked at Rory. "You did. And you said you would buy her that necklace she wants."

Rory frowned. "I did?" He scratched the back of his head, thinking this over. "Really? I don't remember that. . ."

Alex nodded seriously, forcing herself to look away from Amy, who was silently laughing behind her poor husband's back. "Yes, you did. The Doctor can confirm it too, if you want." The Doctor enjoyed tricking Rory almost as much, if not more, than the girls did. He'd more than happily go along with them if Alex asked him to.

"Miss Alex," a voice rang out. Alex turned to see Toby eyeing her curiously. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course. But don't call me miss. It makes me feel old." She cracked a smile at him, hoping that it would make him laugh.

It did. Toby laughed, but his amusem*nt was cut off a second later by a coughing fit. Alex watched him sadly. She wished she could do something to cure his illness. A moment later, Toby cleared his throat and faced her again. "What's that mark on your ear?" he asked. "You didn't get a black spot too, did you?"

Alex jumped and pressed a hand to her ear, the one the Doctor had nibbled and sucked on. She inwardly cursed. Oh,sh*t.

Amy and Rory knelt down in front of her. Rory gently slapped her hand aside and peered at the blue-black marks now decorating her earlobe. "Alex!" he gasped. "How'd you do that?"

"Don't tell me it was a curling iron," Amy said dryly. "Alex, how on Earth did you do that?"

Rory leaned closer to peer at the lobe. "Are those teeth-marks?" he marveled, squinting at them.

Oh, hell, how am I getting out of this?!Alex frantically searched her head for a plausible explanation – would the Ponds buy that she'd been attacked by a crazed dog in between the time they'd gone to bed and came back to the console room four hours later? – but, fortunately, she was saved by a sudden racket. The group turned to see one of the crewmen removing the boxes and barrels they'd stacked in front of the door.

"What's going on?" Amy demanded.

"We're not staying to mollycoddle the boy," the crewman replied irritably. "The captain’s gone soft. It's time for us to leave."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

"What's this do?" Avery inquired. He pointed to one of the various instruments on the console.

The Doctor took a quick glance before going back to typing into a keypad. "That does very, very complicated," he answered quickly. He didn't have time for these questions. He needed to get back to Alex and the others. His hearts raced at the mere thought of Alex landing in trouble. He had to get back there to protect her.

This in mind, he swiftly dinged a bell on the console, sending the coordinates he'd typed into the navigation system. Knowing Avery was going to ask what that did, he said, "That does sophisticated," he pointed to another doohickey, "that does whoa, amazing, andthat," he pointed to the big glass rotor in the center of the console, "does whizz, bang, far too technical to explain!"

"Wheel?" Avery guessed, pointing to a small ball with several spikes on it.

"Atom accelerator."

"It steers the thing?"

"No!" the Doctor objected, then paused to consider this. "Sort of. Yes."

Avery scanned the console for a moment before pointing to the atom accelerator again. "Wheel," he stated, then pointed to another instrument. "Telescope. Astrolabe. Compass." The Doctor gawked at him. He'd never met someone who could so easily guess what the TARDIS controls did, aside from River. Seeing his dumbstruck expression, Avery shrugged and said, "A ship's a ship."

The Doctor just nodded, too stunned to really say anything other than, "Oh."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

"He told you to wait, you dog," Toby snapped, storming over to the men. Alex, Amy, and Rory hurriedly got to their feet to stand behind him, ready to protect him in case one or both of the pirates tried to do something to him. "He's your Captain, a Naval Officer. You're honor-bound to do as he tells you!"

"Honor-bound?" one of the men scoffed. "Do you know what kind of ship this is? Do you know what your father does?"

"Toby, don't listen to him," Alex said quickly. She glared at the pirate, hoping that her eyes would intimidate him into shutting up. But the man wasn't even looking at her.

"We sail under the black flag," he revealed, his voice low, like he was divulging a great, fantastic secret. He was revealing a secret alright, but not a great, fantastic one. "The Jolly Roger."

Toby was silent for about three seconds before he suddenly leapt forward. "Liar!" he yelled as Amy, Rory, and Alex pulled him back. "He's no wicked pirate!"

The man rolled his eyes. "Oh, you think so? I have seen your father gun down athousandinnocent men."

Toby stared at him, completely floored and speechless. After a moment, he turned and buried his face in Alex's shirt. Alex wrapped her arms around him and hugged him. It was the only comfort she could think of to provide him.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

"This is how the professionals do it!" the Doctor exclaimed. He pulled down some levers, intending to fly them into the vortex before landing in the magazine room. However, this had quite the opposite effect. A grinding noise rang out, the glass baubles inside the rotor rising for a moment, only to fall a second later, rather like a car engine failing to start.

The Doctor frowned and flicked a few switches. "Er . . . it's stuck. Not responding."

Avery watched him, a smirk threatening to crop up from the corners of his mouth. "Becalmed?" he suggested.

"Mmm-hmm. Yeah, apparently. That's new." The Doctor looked up to glare at him. "You had to gloat, didn't you?"

"I'm not gloating." The corners of his mouth turned up even more.

This didn't go unnoticed by the Doctor. "I saw that look just now. Ha, ha, his ship is rubbish!"

Avery shrugged, the smirk now wide and gleaming in amusem*nt. "True."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

"Get what treasure you can," the crewman ordered the other. "I'll meet you in the rowboat."

But at that moment, Toby snatched up a cutlass that somebody had left in the magazine. He pointed it at the wayward men. "You're going to remain at your posts."

The men eyed the cutlass with a mixture of anger and dread. "I am not playing games with you, boy," the one giving the orders warned, the sinister effect ruined quite a bit as he stuttered. "You put thatdown."

"One more step and I'll use this, you big blaggard."

"You don't know how to fight with a cutlass, boy."

Toby smirked and took a quick glance at the man's hand. "Don't need to, do I?" And then he thrust the weapon forwards, swiping the side of the man's hand, and cutting into the skin.

The man looked at his injury in horror. "No," he breathed, hurriedly flipping over his hand. Sure enough, a black spot was now in the center of his palm.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

The Doctor ran around the console like a chicken with its head cut off while Avery looked on, confused and more than a bit uneasy at his behavior. "It can't get a lock on the plane," the Doctor mumbled as he studied the scanner.

Avery stared at him blankly. "The what?"

"Space we travel in," the Doctor babbled, resuming his running. "The ocean. Sort of ocean, but not water. The TARDIS can't see. It's sulking because it thinks the space doesn't exist. Without a plane to lock onto, we're not going anywhere."

"I'm confused."

"Yeah, well, it's a big club. We should get t-shirts."

Right at that moment, the TARDIS jolted to the side, sending the Doctor and Avery stumbling. The grinding, failed engine noise started up again, the sound echoing all around them. The Doctor whirled around and stared at the console in bafflement. "What's happening?"

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

"You little swabber!" the man yelled, glaring daggers at Toby.

Toby, however, failed to be fazed be the insult. Instead, he looked at the man with an expression akin to one of satisfaction.

"Congratulations," Amy sarcastically complimented. "You made it to the menu."

Alex smirked a little. "I wouldn't go out there if I were you," she remarked, nodding to the black spot.

The man continued to scowl at Toby. Suddenly, he pulled out a pistol. "You scurvy ape!" he screeched, pointing it at the lad. Rory sprang in front of Toby while Alex and Amy hurriedly pulled the boy behind them, Alex taking the cutlass away and sticking it behind some barrels.

Rory attempted to grab the gun. "Don't shoot!" he cried. "The powder will blow and kill us all!"

Taking advantage of this distraction, the second crewman jumped forwards and swiped the keys off the first man's belt. "Mulligan!" the man gasped as the latter unlocked the door. "What are you doing?"

But Mulligan didn't answer. He merely opened the door and took off.

"No honor among pirates," Amy stated.

Amy, Alex, Rory, and Toby silently watched the dejected man lower his gun and go over to re-barricade the door.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

"Okay, she's had her little sulk!" the Doctor shouted over the grinding noise, which was now louder than ever. The TARDIS was shaking harder too, like it was being affected by an earthquake . . . again. He could just imagine Alex's retort to this.You call this a little sulk?!"Now she's heading for the full-on screaming tantrum!"

"Can you fix it?" Avery questioned.

The Doctor pushed past him to examine the console. "Argh!" he growled in frustration. "The parametric engines are jammed! Orthogonal vector's gone. I'm almost out of ideas."

"Almost?"

"Well, we could try stroking her and singing a song."

Avery eyed him strangely. "Will that help?"

"Hard to say. Never has before." The TARDIS jolted, sending the two stumbling backwards. The Doctor looked up at the rotor, his eyes wide and panicked. "I've lost control of her!" he cried. "She's about to dematerialize. We could end up anywhere!"

"That sounds bad!"

"Yes, it is!" The Doctor leapt away from the console as a section of it sparked and barreled down the stairs. "Out! Out now! Abandon ship!"

The two sprinted out of the TARDIS. Just a few seconds after they escaped, the whole TARDIS exterior started to glow green. A moment later, it disappeared. The Doctor stared at the now empty spot for a few seconds before starting to pace.

"Okay, okay, okay. TARDIS runs off on its own. That's a bit of a new one." He came to a stop and stared at the vacant spot forlornly. "Bang goes our only hope of getting them out of here."

"Not much of a Captain without a ship, are you?" Avery observed.

The Doctor didn't bother to try and retort to this. Instead, he started back to the magazine. As they entered the mess deck, a figure suddenly popped out in front of them. It was one of the crewmen, Mulligan. A bunch of priceless riches and treasure was in a pouch strapped around his chest and a jeweled crown hung from his wrist. Upon seeing the two, he aimed two guns at them.

"Mulligan, what are you doing?!" Avery yelled as he and the Doctor put their hands up. "This is mutiny!"

Mulligan inched his way around them. "She doesn't want me. She only wants Toby and the scrawny looking fellow." By this point, he had made his way around them. Without another word, he took off.

"He's got the last of the supplies," the Doctor observed. "We should go after him."

"Never mind the damned supplies!" Avery snapped. "What about my treasure?"

Being that this was coming from a pirate, the Doctor couldn't really retort. The two raced after Mulligan. They ran around a corner, only for two gunshots to ring out. BANG! BANG! The Doctor and Avery ducked down, which allowed Mulligan the opportunity to run off.

"Don't get injured, don't get injured," the Doctor chanted to himself. That wouldn't be good. Alex would kill him, and he'd have to get down on his knees and grovel for her to kiss him again. And he didnotdo groveling.

Once they were sure that Mulligan wasn't going to try and shoot them again, the two continued their pursuit. They chased the man into the storeroom, Mulligan locking the doors behind him.

Avery banged his fist against the door. "Come out of there, you mutinous dog!"

No response. The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and began buzzing it over the lock. But then a familiar sound rang out from the other side of the wood. It was the Siren.

The Doctor and Avery jumped back and immediately checked themselves for any injuries. Seeing nothing on either of them, they turned their attention back towards the door. A blue-green light slipped out from the crack at the bottom. "She's inside!" the Doctor realized.

"She's come for Mulligan," Avery deduced.

At that moment, a scream came from the other side. The Doctor sprang into action, flashing the sonic over the look until it loosened. The two rushed inside and were not at all surprised to find that Mulligan was no longer there. As the Doctor ran around the room looking for any water, Avery bent down to collect the dropped bejeweled crown.

"No water in here," Avery said. "How did she take him? You said she uses water like a door, that's how she enters a room."

The Doctor surveyed the room once more, hoping that Avery was wrong and that there were just a few drops of water in the room. Seeing none, he turned back to Avery. Then he spotted the crown in his hand.

The Doctor crept closer and leaned down to look at it more closely. His worried reflection stared back at him. "I was wrong," he murmured. "Please ignore all my theories up to this point."

"What, again?" Avery scoffed.

The Doctor grabbed the crown and examined it even more closely than he had a few seconds ago. "We're all in danger," he insisted. "The water's not how she's getting in. When we were down in the hold, think what happened. You, me, Amy, Rory, Alex, leeches."

"She sprang from the water."

"Yes, only when it grew still. Still water. Nature's mirror."

Avery's eyes widened in realization. "So, you mean—"

"Yes! Not water." He pointed to the crown, their reflections perfectly visible in the polished metal. "Reflection.That Siren legend. The curse."

"You said curses weren't real."

"Folklore springs from truth," the Doctor argued, still fixated on the crown. "She attacks ships filled with treasure. Where else do you get a perfect reflection?"

Avery glanced down at the crown. "Polished metal!" he exclaimed.

"Hmm?" The Doctor looked up to see Avery checking his chest. For a moment, the Doctor was puzzled as to why he was doing that, until he noticed a startling lack of a medallion hanging from the captain’s neck.He gave it to Toby,the Doctor recalled.And Toby's in the storage room . . . with Alex!

The men looked at each-other, both realizing the danger the others were in. "We must warn them!" Avery cried, immediately running off towards the magazine. The Doctor sprinted alongside him, determined to get to Alex. His hearts were racing at the thought of her getting hurt and being disintegrated by the Siren. He didn't think he could survive if that happened.

Still,he thought,she's not in any real danger. It's not like she's bleeding or has any bruises. . .His eyes widened. Alex's hickeys! They weren't harmful and would disappear in a few days, but the Siren might not think so. It was highly likely she would mistake some bruises for a horrible, life-threatening condition.

Oh God,the Doctor thought, panicked.What have I done?!In the exhilaration he felt in finally, properly kissing Alex, he had barely been able to control himself. And thanks to that, Alex might be marked for death right now.

It felt to the Doctor like several months had passed before he and Avery finally reached the magazine door. Once it was in sight, the Doctor barreled up to it and began hitting it like crazy. His hearts were beating a thousand times a minute and his blood was pounding in rhythm alongside them. He knew he wouldn't calm down until he got to Alex and made sure she was okay. "Alex!" he yelled, continuing to bang on the door. "Alex, open the door!"

"Toby, open the door!" Avery called out. "Toby!"

"Open the door!" Inside, the sound of barrels being pushed aside could be heard, but the Doctor still felt like he could bust down the door at any second.

"Toby!"

After what seemed like an eternity, the door opened. The Doctor wasted no time in running straight over to Toby. Grabbing the medallion from the boy, he began breathing on the gleaming silver surface. Amy and Rory frowned at him, wondering what the hell was going on, while Alex gave him a contemplative look. The Doctor knew that brilliant brain of hers was going five miles a minute trying to figure out the purpose of his actions. A moment later, he saw the glimmer of realization in her eyes.

He checked the medallion and was relieved to see that the surface was cloudy. Pocketing it, he gave a thumbs up to Avery before running out of the room. Avery followed him and a few moments later, they were in the captain's cabin.

The captain's cabin was a large room with several glass windows overlooking the dark blue waters. Piles of books, papers, treasure chests, and artifacts littered the room. It was clear that this was the place Avery spent the majority of his time in. Without breaking his stride, the Doctor snatched up a gun from a nearby sideboard and commenced smashing out the windows. Glass shattered into several pieces, falling out into the calm waters below.

"We've got to destroy every reflection!" he said over his shoulder to Avery, who was standing in the doorway, watching him bewilderedly. "Gold, silver, glass, she could spring from any of them." Whirling around, the Doctor slammed the gun against a mirror hanging on the wall. The glass shattered into several large pieces. Avery looked at the shards, and then at the broken mirror with alarm.

The Doctor barely managed to restrain himself from rolling his eyes. Honestly. Why did humans insist on believing in ridiculous, petty curses? There was no scientific proof that any of them even worked. "Yes, yes, I know, I know. Very bad luck to break it. But look at it this way. There's a stroppy homicidal mermaid trying to kill all."

Avery chuckled slightly. "How much worse can things get?" he said wryly.

"Yep. Help me lug this out." The Doctor nodded to a large chest of treasure sitting against one wall.

Avery nodded and helped him lift it. "Where are we taking it?"

"The ocean."

"No, no!" Avery shouted, his eyes wide and panicked. "This is the treasure of the Mogul of India!"

"Oh, good," the Doctor remarked snidely. "For a moment there I thought it wasyours."

"No, no! Doctor, wait! Must we do this?"

"Any reflection, any mirror, and the Siren will attack. We have to protect Rory and Toby."And Ally."Go and get the crown from the storeroom."

Avery sighed but nodded. He turned and headed out the door while the Doctor dumped several bars of valuable gold out the broken window.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

"Justwait?" Rory said incredulously.

He, Amy, Alex, Toby, Avery, and the Doctor were all in the magazine. After the Doctor's bizarre breathing on Toby's medallion, no one had really understood what was going on, save Alex. According to her, the Siren was appearing not out of water, but reflection. This made sense, but it seemed to be the only thing that was actually clear-cut today.

Rory watched as the Doctor clutched Alex closer to him. His arm was wrapped around her shoulders and had been since he and Avery came back. The Doctor's face was also contorted in worry, and he kept looking down at Alex as if expecting her to sprout wings or something. It was incredibly strange, and Rory had no idea why he was doing that. The Doctor was protective of Alex, but nowhere near this level.

"Not my most dynamic plan, I realize," the Doctor admitted, his eyes on Alex once again.

Alex glanced up at him and frowned when he gave her a reassuring smile.What's up with him?she wondered.

"TARDIS?" Amy suggested.

The Doctor winced. Alex closed her eyes and shook her head at him. "You lost her, didn't you?"

"It's . . . been towed."

"What?" Amy cried, giving him a look.

"Sorry," the Doctor cringed. "We might just be stuck here for a while."

"So, you're saying that we should all just wait here below?" Rory asked.

"The sea is still calm," Avery informed them. "Like a mirror. If you go out on deck, she'll rise up and attack you."

"It's okay," the Doctor assured them. His hand traveled down to settle on Alex's waist. He pressed her even closer to him, as if by doing that he could somehow push her inside him. At least that way, she'd be protected from the Siren. "The calm won't last forever. When the wind picks up, we'll all set sail."

"Until it does, you have to hide down here."

Amy and Rory sighed, knowing there was no point in arguing. "Come on, then," Amy ordered, dragging Rory to where a bunch of flour sacks sat. "I'm exhausted. We might as well rest before we face that green sea-devil again."

The Doctor shuddered at her words. "Trust me, Pond, if you ever actually met a Sea Devil, you wouldn't be saying that. At least the Siren is much prettier."

Alex frowned, her jealousy automatically flaring up. Logically, she knew that there was no reason to be jealous; she very much doubted the Doctor was interested in the Siren. But still, hearing him call someone other than her pretty was just upsetting. "Really?" She attempted to keep her voice neutral, but it came out sounding very high-pitched and accusatory.

This didn't go unnoticed. Amy and Rory turned to give her identical frowns while the Doctor seized onto her jealousy like a lion on its prey. "Ally, can I talk to you in private for a minute?"

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Sure," she agreed.

She hadn't even taken two steps out of the magazine when the Doctor pushed her up against a wall and immediately started checking her skin. Alex frowned as he worriedly turned over her palms. "Doc, what in the world are you—" But she stopped talking when the Doctor held up the palm of her left hand. Smack dab in the center of it was a dime-sized black spot.

Alex gawked at it. "H-how. . . W-when. . ." she stuttered awkwardly, her vocal chords unable to form any words due to her shock.

The Doctor's face fell, regarding the mark with hatred, horror, and anguish. "Oh, Ally," he breathed. He lightly ran his thumb over the spot. He had been so worried that this would happen. It was all his fault! If he hadn't practically lost control of himself on Alex's body, she'd be safe and fine right now.

"How long has that been there?" Alex wondered, finally regaining her voice.

The Doctor continued inspecting the spot. "Probably since we first got here," he mused. "Your. . ." He trailed off and caught Alex's eye, glancing down meaningly at her hickeys.

"Oh." There really wasn't anything else she could say, but damn if she wasn't going to try and think of something. "Well, that Siren really is an idiot if she thinks a couple of bruises are going to hurt me."

The Doctor tried to laugh at her quip but couldn't find it in himself to do so. Why was she being so lighthearted about this? It washisfault those hickeys and that spot were there! She should hate him right now. She should be pushing him away and never speaking to him again.

Noticing his silence, Alex titled the Doctor's chin up so she could look into his eyes. "Doc?" she murmured, peering into the dark green depths. They looked so raw and guilty. They looked that way most of the time, but there was a greater intensity in them now. "Doctor, what's wrong?"

"Ally, how can you be so calm?" the Doctor blurted.

Alex stared at him. "What?"

"Alex, that spot on your hand ismyfault. You shouldn't be standing here acting all mild-mannered with me!"

"Oh, good lord, Doctor," Alex sighed. "It's not as if you meant for me to get a black spot. We didn't even know that anything other than blood summoned her until a little while ago."

"Still, if I hadn't lost my control, you wouldn't be in danger right now."

"I wasn't exactly complaining when you lost control."

"Alexandria, I'm serious."

"So am I!" Alex crossed her arms and glared at him. "Doctor, you cannot blame yourself for this. I won't let you. I certainly don't blame you, and if I did, you'd have a lot more to worry about than a blood-thirsty sea siren. I don't regret a single thing that happened in that control room, and I know for a fact that you don't as well. Correct?"

The Doctor shifted a little. "Correct," he mumbled.

"Then that settles it. No more blaming yourself. Besides," she lowered her voice an octave, "I wasreallyhoping you'd give me more marks. I have this really cute sweater I want to wear, and your bites would be the perfect excuse."

Despite himself, the Doctor laughed. Alex was always able to pull him out of his dark moments of self-loathing and hatred and back into the light. It was like she was the yin to his yang, the light to his dark, something that no other companion had ever been, at least not on Alex's level. It was hard to describe just how right this seemed, as though it was meant to be or some other sort of divine intervention. Regardless, the Doctor knew he never wanted it to change or be like this with someone other than Alex. Now, he smiled at her. "Thank you, Ally."

Alex beamed. He was no longer in that deep, dark space inside him that he reserved for the inner disgust and hatred he felt he deserved. That was the one thing she hated about him, absolutely, positively hated. He could never see how wonderful and brilliant and extraordinary he was. Instead, all he could focus on were the scars and bloodshed on his hands, things he had done in order to save the lives of millions. She wished he would realize that. Maybe, just maybe, now that their relationship had deepened, she could help him see it.

"No problem, Doc," she giggled before immediately looking back at the black mark on her hand. It was small, much smaller than Rory's, which explained how she hadn't noticed it before. Also, the thought of her hickeys being a red flag to the Siren hadn't crossed her mind, since it was filled with so many other things at the moment. Alex mentally kicked herself. She was much more observant and intelligent than that. Kissing the Doctor didn't require the energy ofallher brain cells!

Okay, just focus,she drilled to herself. "So, you think this has been here since we first stepped out of the TARDIS?"

"Most likely," the Doctor guessed. He grasped her palm and ran his calloused fingertips over the mark. Even though she was trying to stay focused, Alex couldn't help but shudder a little.

"So. . ." she said slowly, forcing herself to think. "If it has been there ever since we arrived, that means I had it whenever the Siren popped out at us. But I haven't been affected."

The two looked at each-other. "Brilliant mind, Ally," they said together.

Alex giggled. "Jinx. You owe me a co*ke."

"I'll give you way more than that when we solve this thing and leave," the Doctor promised. "But we're both right. Your mind repels things that try to trick or influence it. The Silence couldn't make you forget them, so it's doubtful that the Siren can hypnotize you and make you want to get yourself cremated."

At these words, the Doctor's eyes widened and his grip on her hand grew tighter. He had seen three men turn to dust today, and there had been plenty more before that too. The thought of his Ally becoming that. . . It was too horrible to consider, yet his mind insisted on playing cruel scenarios of Alex somehow getting lured over to the Siren, touching her, and bursting into ash. He felt his hearts tighten.

Calm down,he ordered himself.That's not going to happen. Ally is too smart to get tricked by the Siren. You're worrying for nothing.Still, the thought that she could get disintegrated was terrible and refused to leave him.

Alex immediately saw where his mind was going. She reached out and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Doc, don't worry," she soothed. "Nothing's going to happen to me. I know for a fact that you'd die before you let that happen." She mentally winced, remembering Lake Silencio and her almost murder. For all she knew, the Doctor had given up his own life to save hers.No! Don't think about that, Alexandria!

"You're not wrong, Ally," the Doctor confirmed, unknowingly causing Alex's inner panic to rise as she continued to remember Lake Silencio. "The Siren would have to go through me before she could get to you."

Alex smiled, even though she didn't really feel like it after hearing what sounded like a promise he would take to Utah. Needing comfort, she reached out to hug him. The Doctor quickly reciprocated the hug, tightening his arms around her protectively, as if he was shielding her from any oncoming dangers.

"So, what happens now?" Alex questioned into his shoulder.

"Now. . ." The Doctor sighed and pulled back to look at her, though he kept his arms wrapped around her. "Avery and I go up top to wait for a storm and you, Amy, Rory, and Toby stay down here where it's safe." Alex opened her mouth to argue, but he silenced her with a glare. "No arguments, Alexandria," he warned. Alex quickly shut her mouth. "I'll worry a lot less if you're down here where nothing can try and get to you."

Alex sighed. She really wanted to stay with the Doctor, and probably could convince him into letting her come with him if she tried hard enough, but she knew he was right. There was too much risk, and the Siren would come after her, regardless of whether or not she was affected by the song. Sighing again, she stretched up on tiptoe and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips. "Fine. I'm not happy about it, but I'll do it.Pleasebe careful though, okay? I don't want the Siren getting you, too."

The Doctor smirked at her, and his eyes turned dark. A low thrum of heat rushed through Alex's veins upon seeing the expression. There were definitely alotof benefits in being with the Time Lord romantically. "You do realize that if the Siren did get me and she sang that song, I'd be fawning all over you, right? I'd be positively enamored of you, more so than now."

Alex felt her knees buckle at the implications of such an event but forced herself to remain in control. "Save it for the TARDIS, Doc. That's what I'm doing."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Alex twisted over onto her side. Only a few seconds passed before she immediately rolled over onto her other one. Try as she might, she just couldn't get comfortable.Stupid hardwood floor,she thought as she flopped over onto her stomach and readjusted her head on the flour sack.

Her eyes fluttered. She was exhausted, but she couldn't seem to fall asleep. Either she was nervous about falling asleep on a ship or the hard floor beneath her was making it impossible. Frankly, she was betting on the latter, though the first option required a little consideration as well.

She glanced over at Avery and Toby. The two were deep in conversation, discussing Toby's mother. Alex sighed and watched the boy. He didn't know how lucky he was. He had known his mother for years and had wonderful memories of her. She had known her parents for five years and couldn't recall much about them.

Alex shut her eyes, trying to fall asleep before her vague New York City memories could push at her brain. However, it didn't work, and Alex found herself mentally reviewing her life pre-Bristol. An extravagant Disney Princess themed birthday party, with a Cinderella cake and a trip to seeBeauty and the Beaston Broadway. Getting forced into her preschool uniform, consisting of a white button-down, a blue sweater with a golden emblem on it, a blue plaid skirt, white socks, and blue Mary-Jane's. Running through the Barbie doll aisle at FAO Schwartz. Playing hopscotch in Central Park with a black-haired girl around the same age as her. Her name started with an M. Melody? Marnie? Mallory? Melina? No. . . Melinda! Melinda Clarke! She had been in her preschool class.

A few more memories pressed into Alex's brain. The smell of Stetson cologne, which she knew her dad had to have worn.Ode to Joybeing played on the piano by a red-haired woman in a white co*cktail dress. A glass of red wine sat on top of the piano, the liquid inside bouncing every time a key was struck. Though she couldn't see the woman's face, Alex knew this to be her mother.

After this, her memories started getting fewer and fewer, sometimes containing only a word or sound of some event. A cork of champagne being popped, probably at a party her parents had thrown when she was supposed to be in bed. The sound of a car-horn blowing. A loud explicative being said before a phone was slammed down. Her mother complaining about the weather the night of the boating accident, her words wrapped in a Scottish accent thicker than Amy's. Murmurs ofI love you's, along with the vaguest recollection of an autumn wind, though Alex had no idea if that was real or not.

Everything became more or less clear after the boating accident, something she remembered in incredible detail. She could still recall Marigold's old car, a burgundy Saturn she'd had until Alex was ten, along with the purple and gray radio Lacey had in her bedroom back in the ‘90s, which had been driven to near abuse from constant playing of Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears CDs.

Alex sighed. She wouldn't trade her life as it had turned out for anything, otherwise she probably wouldn't be here with the Doctor and the Ponds right now. Still, she couldn't help but wish that she had known her parents just a little bit more. She wanted to know why that loud curse word had been said to someone on the phone and if her mom could play the piano amazingly or if she only knew just that one song. But she would never know.

Stop thinking about that, Alexandria,a voice in her head halfheartedly scolded. Alex knew the voice was right. Thinking about those memories and all those what-ifs made her upset, occasionally leading to crying. And shehatedcrying. Besides, she'd already used up her tear quota sobbing over the Doctor's death at Lake Silencio.

Stupid Utah,she thought as she squeezed her eyes shut. After what seemed like an eternity, but was actually fifteen minutes, Alex finally fell asleep.

Meanwhile, just a little ways away from her, Amy's eyes twitched and fluttered. She could just vaguely hear a voice. At first, she figured it was Alex, telling Rory to shut up with his snoring, but then she realized. . . Rory wasn't snoring, the first time in months. And the voice wasn't Alex's.

"It's fine," she heard an older female voice say. She sounded soothing and calming, as if she were someone you could rely on. But Amy wasn't so sure. Hearing voices was never a good thing. "You're doing fine. Just stay calm."

Amy lifted her head and forced her eyes all the way open. She looked around confusedly for a moment before finally seeing something on the wall in front of her. Right above Alex's sleeping figure was an opening in the wall. A woman with piled up curly brown hair, dark red lips, and an eyepatch over one eye was looking out. She was smirking slightly, as if she knew something Amy didn't. But before Amy could do anything, a panel on the opening slid shut, turning into wood once more.

Amy shivered and sunk back down on the makeshift bed. That was the same woman she'd seen in Graystark back in Florida. She glanced over at Alex, wondering if she should wake her. She had told Alex about the woman and her friend probably should know that she had seen her again. But Amy dismissed the idea. Alex was resting, as she should be. This trip hadn’t been easy on her, what with taking place within spitting distance of water and all.

Amy scrunched herself closer to Rory and closed her eyes. She needed to get some rest. She had to, before they dealt with the storm and the Siren. Worrying about mysterious eyepatch ladies wouldn't accomplish anything today.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

The Doctor stood outside on the deck, admiring all the stars above him. When he'd been a very, very young Time Lord, he'd been fascinated by the stars and had promised himself that he would visit them one day. And he had. Sometimes, he was still a little amazed that he'd done it.

As he was gazing up at the heavens, he heard footsteps coming up behind him. At first, he thought it was Alex, ignoring his instructions of staying down in the magazine – Alex was horribly stubborn, especially when it came to his orders that she stay put – only to look over and see Avery instead.

The Doctor turned back to the stars and pointed to one of the brightest ones. "It's not one star, it's two," he explained. "The Dog star, Sirius. Binary system."

"I use it to navigate the ocean."

"I've traveled far, like you. Space can be very lonely, and the greatest adventure is having someone share it with you." It probably wasn't the most subtle of arguments, but the Doctor knew how lonely it was traveling on your own and he didn't think Avery needed to suffer that. Besides, Toby was his son. They needed each-other.

Avery didn't look away from the sky. "If we get out of this, I'll take him back to England. He can't stay with me. I'm not the father he needs."

"Who are you?" the Doctor asked, turning to face him. "Henry Avery? Respected naval officer, wife and child at home. How did you end up here, wandering the oceans with a band of rouges?" What made a man give up such a nice life for one of thievery and danger?

"I've set my course now," Avery said firmly. "Nothing I can do to alter it."

The Doctor looked back up at Sirius, studying it for a moment. It gleamed down at them, a point of light echoing out of the heavens. "People stared at it for centuries and never knew," he told the pirate. "Things can suddenly change, when you're least expecting." Having said that, he turned and walked off deck, leaving Avery alone with his thoughts.

The Doctor went through the ship and back into the captain's cabin. As he placed the pirate's hat down on the desk, his gaze was drawn over to the glass-shattered window behind it. He gazed out at the dark waters, seeing nothing but blackness in the distance. But there was something there. He could sense it.

He was still staring out the window when Amy came in. She stood in the doorway, watching him. After failing to go to sleep – Rory had started snoring again, preventing everyone in that room from sleeping – and thinking about it for several minutes, she finally decided to come and tell the Doctor about the Eyepatch Lady, as she had now taken to calling the strange woman. The Doctor would probably tell her it was only her imagination or something her subconscious had created just before she woke up, but at least it would be reassurance, something she was craving right about now.

She stared at him, his tweed-clad back to her. "Doctor?"

"Shush," he ordered, not even turning around to look at her. He continued staring out the window.

Amy slowly approached him. "What can you see?" she asked. He had to be looking out the window for some reason.

"Feels like something's out there," the Doctor murmured, "staring straight at me." But before he could elaborate, a sudden flash went off in front of the window, followed by a loud rumble of thunder. Finally, a storm was coming.

"Man the sails!" the Doctor shouted as he raced out of the room. Amy ran out a second later, rushing off to wake Rory . . . and to prevent Alex from murdering him.

Chapter 9: The Curse of the Black Spot Part 3

Chapter Text

"This is hell!" Alex wailed a few minutes later as Amy and Rory dragged her up on deck to help. "This is absolute hell!"

The scene up top certainly did seem to be Alex's personal hell, what with the plethora of water and all. Heavy rain pounded down on the deck, making everything wet and slick. Within seconds of stepping onto the deck, everyone was completely soaked. Not that this seemed to be bothering anyone other than Alex though. Avery was currently hanging onto a rope for some strange reason, while Amy and Rory pulled Alex over to the middle of the ship, where the sails were located.

"To the rigging, you dogs!" Avery shouted at them. "Let go the sails!" He jumped down from the rope, a crazed look in his eyes. He appeared to be having fun in this godforsaken, effing weather. "Avast ye! Put the bunt into the slack of the clews!"

Amy and Rory turned hopefully to Alex, but the befuddled – and pissed-off and miserable – expression on her face told them she had as much understanding of what he was talking about as they did.

Knowing they had to do something, Amy started tugging on a pulley. "I swear he's making half this stuff up!" she declared, yelling over the roar of the wind and the constant rumbling of thunder overhead.

"Well, we're gonna need some kind of phrase book!" Rory shouted. He stumbled and nearly fell backwards. It may have been from the slick wood but was more than likely due to the fact that the Doctor had just taken the wheel of the ship, not necessarily a reassuring thing in this situation.

"Toby!" Avery called to his son as the boy stumbled his way up top. "Find my coat! My compass is inside it, boy!" Once Toby started making his way over to a chest, Avery shouted in the Ponds and Alex's direction, "Heave ho, you bilge rats!"

"Rats was all I could hear!" Rory yelled.

"Did he just call us rats?" Alex wondered, shouting like the rest of them. She was currently gripping onto a beam that held up one of the sails. Her nails dug into the damp wood, and she tried to calm her out-of-control breathing. Her body hadn't been this wet since the night of the boating accident. It was a big shock to her system.

But she didn't focus on this for long. Just as she was hoping and praying that she didn't break out into hives or something, a clang rang out behind her. She whirled around to see a large, jeweled crown rolling across the deck, away from Toby, who had apparently discovered it, before finally falling down flat at the edge of the ship. A split second later, a green arm shot out of the crown's reflective surface. A moment later, the Siren fully popped out. She flew through the air and over to Toby. Her hand was held out and her haunting, hypnotic song echoed through the air, sounding surprisingly loud over the roaring thunder and thrashing waves.

"Don't let her take you!" Avery shouted in horror. He raced down from the upper portion of the deck to get to his son. But it was too late. Toby, completely hypnotized and entranced, walked towards the Siren. "No!" Avery leapt forwards but by this point, Toby was already in the Siren's hold. He reached out and touched her. A second later, he burst into ashes. "NO!"

The Doctor sprinted down from the wheel. Snatching up the crown, he hurled it out into the pulsating waves, causing the Siren to disappear. He turned and glared at Avery, who, in his defense, looked rather remorseful and horrified.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Avery gasped, sounding truly regretful. He fell to his knees, tears streaming down his face.

Alex hesitantly let go of the beam to walk over to them. She was just as angry as the Doctor. Did a bunch of treasure really take precedence to Avery's own son?! Toby was so sweet and caring, and now he was dead. An angry thrum ran though Alex's veins, steadily increasing until it felt like there was an all-out hurricane inside her.

"You couldn't give up the gold, could you?!" the Doctor shouted. "That's why you turned pirate! Your commission, your wife, yourson!"

"Just how much is that treasure worth to you?!" Alex demanded. "He was your son! He should've been your first priority!"

But before they could continue their berating, something horrible happened. As the Doctor and Alex were yelling at Avery, Amy was holding Rory back, the man having quickly gone under the Siren's trance when she appeared. He was still thrashing around to try and get to her, even though she was no longer in sight. Amy struggled to hold him back, but it wasn't easy without Alex there to help her. To make matters worse, the rain was making her hands slick and slippery. It was just the advantage Rory needed. He broke free of Amy's grasp and ran to the side of the ship. Right then, a sail broke its hold. The beam swung around, hitting Rory in the chest, and throwing him off the ship.

"RORY!" Amy screamed. She ran to the side of the ship and peered down into the water. "Rory! I can't see him! Doctor? I'm going in!"

"No!" Alex cried, immediately grabbing hold of Amy and pulling her back before the young woman could so much as get a foot over the side.

"He's drowning," the Doctor told her. "He's drowning! You go in after him, you'll drown too! There's only one thing that can save him now."

"What are you talking about?!" Amy demanded.

"The Siren. The Siren, she wants him. We have to release her." He hurried over to a barrel of water.

"Doctor, no!" Amy cried.

But he didn't listen. Instead, he soniced the lid open and pulled it off. The Siren flew straight up into the air. The Doctor pointed to the ocean. "He's drowning!" he called up. "Go find him!" Without a second thought, the Siren turned and dove into the water.

"What, what did you do?!" Amy shrieked as the Doctor replaced the lid.

"If he stays in there, he'll die."

"But she'll destroy him!"

"That thing isn't just a ravenous hunter. It's intelligent."

Alex gazed at him, seeing where he was heading with this. "You think we can reason with it?" She wasn't really sure about that, but stranger things had happened.

The Doctor nodded. "And maybe, just maybe, they're still alive somewhere. We have to follow."

"Are you mad?" Avery cried.

"Very," Alex told him.

The Doctor ignored her. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the nail Avery had nearly injured himself on. "If we ever want to see them again, we have to let the Siren take us. We'll prick our fingers. All agreed? Yeah?"

Avery looked a little hesitant, but after a moment, nodded. "Aye."

"Aye," Amy agreed.

"Aye," Alex chimed in. She trusted the Doctor with her life, and she knew he wouldn't be going through with this if he didn’t have a really, really strong suspicion that nothing horrible was going to happen.

"Aye then." The Doctor immediately set to work, pricking Avery and Amy's fingers and then his own. He was quite grateful that he didn't have to prick Alex's. He never wanted to cause her physical pain . . . other than the hickeys, of course. That was okay.

Amy frowned at him as he pocketed the nail. "What about Alex?" She figured the Doctor would be hesitant in pricking Alex's finger, but the brunette was quite capable of doing it herself. Actually, that was what Amy was expecting her friend to do.

"She doesn't need it," the Doctor murmured, wrapping an arm around Alex's shoulders. Alex leaned into him and wordlessly lifted the hand with the black spot on it.

Amy gasped. She opened her mouth to question the two, but before she could get anything out of her mouth, the Siren appeared. She opened her mouth and her haunting song poured out. The four offered their hands to her. Alex glanced around at the others. They all looked glassy-eyed and awestruck, just like that crewman and Rory had been. But Alex didn't feel the song's effects getting to her at all. There was a slight twinge in the back of her mind, but she could feel her mental barriers keeping it out.

That didn't seem to deter the Siren though. She reached out her arm to touch them, and the group disappeared in a brilliant white light.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Alex groaned as she woke up and blinked wearily. Getting transported by the Siren was almost as bad as getting transported by vortex manipulator. At least she didn't feel nauseous.

She rolled over onto her side and found herself face-to-face with the Doctor. He was lying on his back, a pained expression on his face. "Remind me to book an appointment with a chiropractor after this," he muttered.

Alex laughed, remembering when he said the same thing after they jumped up onto theByzantium. "Yeah? Okay, but you owe me big for dragging me into a water-infested adventure. I'll take diamonds, chocolate, and a Russian Blue kitten."

"No cats," the Doctor grimaced. "I will gladly give you any amount of chocolate you want . . . maybe with a bit more of what I promised I'd give you before we came here if you're good."

"I'm always good!"

"Let's not get carried away. . ."

"Oi!" Amy cried. The two turned their heads to see Amy and Avery lying next to them, the former looking rather exasperated. "Can you twopleasestop flirting for five seconds so we can find my husband?"

The Doctor and Alex cringed. She was right. They couldn't flirt. Finding and rescuing Rory was a hell of a lot more important. "Sorry," they simultaneously apologized.

"Thank you. Now where are we?"

"We haven't moved," the Doctor revealed. "We're in exactly the same place as before." He pushed himself to his feet, then reached down to pull Alex up. Once she was standing, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and steered her over to a large window, Avery and Amy getting up behind them. Alex marveled at the view. The window looked out onto the ship. It was still storming outside, and several items were getting blown and knocked around by the wind.

Avery came up and peered out the window. "We're on a ghost ship," he breathed.

"No, it's not," Alex corrected.

"It's real," the Doctor jumped in. "Spaceship trapped in a temporal rift."

Amy's brow furrowed in confusion. "How can two ships be in the same place?"

"Not the same. Two planes, two worlds, two cars parked in the same space. There are lots of different universes nested inside each-other. Now and again, they collide, and you can step from one to the other."

Amy nodded. "Okay, I think I understand."

"Good, because it's not like that at all. But if that helps."

Amy and Alex looked at each-other and rolled their eyes. "Thanks," they said together.

The Doctor ignored them. All of his attention was captured by the window. "All the reflections have suddenly become gateways," he mused. He reached down, picked up a piece of metal, and tossed it at the window. Instead of the glass shattering, the object went right through it, landing on the deck of the pirate ship. "Ever look in a mirror and think you're seeing a whole other world? Well, this time it's not an illusion."

Beep, beep!

The group whirled around, the Doctor leading the way as they tried to locate the source of the beeping. "The signal?" Alex guessed.

"Yes."

"The distress call?" Amy checked.

"Uh huh."

"There was a second ship here all this time."

A familiar singing then rang out. Alex shuffled closer to the Doctor, knowing that the Siren wanted her. "And the Siren is onboard," she muttered.

The Doctor latched a protective arm around her waist and pulled her close to his side.Nothingwas going to get his Ally if he could help it. With his other hand, he reached out and pushed a button on a door in front of them. It opened to reveal a dead creature in a spacesuit.

Alex yelped, the Doctor hurriedly pushing her behind him as Amy and Avery jumped back. Avery whipped out his gun, only for the Doctor to put his hand out and lower it. "Dead," he announced. He stepped forward and studied the skeleton. The alien looked like a cross between an oversized rat and an equally ginormous beaver. It was dressed in a futuristic spacesuit with the letters D.I.H.S. on it.

The Doctor took Alex's hand and carefully led her past the alien, keeping her as close to him as possible to prevent her from touching it. Alex used her other hand to cover her mouth and nose. Based on the smell the alien was letting off, it had been here since, oh, the time of the Black Plague.

The group walked into a large control room. A circle of controls sat in the middle of the dark room while several windows decorated the walls, all of them looking into the captain's cabin. Also in the room was another alien skeleton, sitting in a chair next to the controls. Like the first one, it wore a spacesuit. While the Doctor pulled Alex over to examine it, Amy and Avery looked out the windows.

"You were right," Amy remarked. "There was something staring at us the whole time. How long has this ship been marooned here?"

"Long enough for the captain to have run out of grog," Avery quipped, nodding to the skeleton the Doctor and Alex were currently sonicing.

"I don't understand." Amy turned to the Doctor and Alex, the pair still scanning the alien. "If this is the captain, then what's the Siren?"

"Same as us," the Doctor guessed. "A stowaway."

"She killed it?"

"Nope, human bacteria," Alex announced. She examined the results on her sonic necklace. "It was a virus from Earth. To be more specific, influenza. Since influenza's airborne, I'm guessing it traveled through the portal into here. That's what killed it." She returned the necklace charm to her collarbone and looked over at the Doctor. To her surprise, he was smiling at her. "What?"

"Nothing," the Doctor dismissed, still grinning away. "Although that was quite impressive, Ally."

Alex blushed. "It wasn't a big deal," she mumbled bashfully. Secretly, she was quite happy that she had managed to make him proud of her. It seemed like a much bigger thing to make a fuss over now that they were a couple.

"Maybe not to you," the Doctor said, coming up to her and brushing her bangs to the side so that he could look into her light green eyes, "but it was to me. It made me realize even more how glad I was I gave you a sonic necklace."

Alex giggled. Christ, she really wished she could pull him down and kiss him. Well, she could if she wanted to. Nothing was stopping her other than her desire to keep the wool over Amy and Rory's eyes for a little while. Still, it might be fun to see the stunned expression on the redhead's face when they finally came up for air. Maybe she would even faint!

But before Alex could do any of this, someone cleared their throat. With slightly sour expressions on their faces, the Doctor and Alex turned to Amy. As usual, she had interrupted them.

I really need to get on building that companion muzzle,the Doctor thought. It'd save him and Alex a whole lot of trouble and interruptions.

Amy stared at them. It wasn't like these two to get so off-track like this, but they'd been doing this all day! It was really weird. "Virus on aliens?" she reminded them, even nodding at the skeleton to get her point across.

The Doctor sighed. He knew she was right. "Yes," he said, pocketing the sonic screwdriver as he walked around the controls. "Influenza virus, that's what killed it." He pressed a hand to the controls. "Didn't get its jabsssss . . . urgh!" He grimaced and yanked his hand off the controls, right out of the slime he'd accidentally put it in. "Look," he said, holding out his hand and revealing the slime on it.

Amy and Alex backed away, disgusted. "What is it?" Amy sneered.

"Sneeze! Alien bogies!" He shook his hand, flicking some of the slime off, before crossing over to Amy and wiping the rest on her jacket. Amy shuddered, looking positively horrified. As the Doctor walked off, she glared darkly at his back.

Alex chuckled a little and hastened to catch up with him. She was about to grab his hand, but quickly reconsidered.Better make sure he washes those hands before he kisses me again."Careful, Doc," she murmured. "You'd better sleep with one eye open tonight."

"Alex, I don't need to sleep for another two weeks."

"Better not let Amy know that," Alex said, glancing back at her friend. Amy was still shooting daggers at the Doctor's jacket. If looks could kill, the Siren would be having a field day with the Doctor's body right now.

They went a little further into the spaceship until they finally reached a large room. The walls and floor were slightly dark with gauzy white curtains hanging at random intervals. Several tables hung from the ceiling, each holding an unconscious male occupant. All of the occupants were dressed in only a pair of pants while a tube was wrapped around each of their throats, stretching upwards into the ceiling.

"Legraw!" Avery suddenly cried out as the others looked around the room in shock. "He's one of my men."

Amy went over to examine Legraw. "He's still breathing," she reported, seeing the rising and falling of his chest.

"My entire crew is here!" Avery spun in a circle, marveling at all of this, until he spotted one particular figure on a table across the room. "Toby!" he cried, rushing over to his son's side.

"Amy, look!" Alex exclaimed. She tugged on Amy's sleeve and pointed to a table a little ways away, holding another familiar man.

"Rory!" Amy gasped. She and Alex immediately ran over to Rory's side. To their relief, the man was still breathing, not showing any signs of nearly drowning.

"The TARDIS!" the Doctor cheered when he spotted the time machine behind some curtains. He ran over and kissed the door before falling back against it in relief.

"We have to get him out of here," Avery said.

"Wait!" The Doctor hurried over to him and pulled out the sonic. He gave Toby a quick scan. His brow furrowed at the results. "His fever's gone," he revealed.

"What?" Alex cried. How could that be possible? Toby had typhoid fever, not something easily curable in this time period. She glanced down at Rory before lifting her necklace charm up and running it over him.

"He looks so well," Amy observed.

"She's keeping him alive," the Doctor deduced, racing over to them. He turned to Alex, now examining the results of her scan. "Anything?"

Alex nodded. "His brain is still active, but all cellular decay is suspended."

The Doctor lifted a black block he had acquired a few moments ago. He held it out to Alex. "It's not a curse, it's a tissue sample," he explained as Amy and Alex studied the yellow spot on it. The Doctor frowned in thought. "Why get samples of people you're about to kill?"

"Maybe she's not planning on killing them?" Alex suggested. "Either that or she's creating clones."

"Help me get him up," Amy requested. The Doctor and Alex quickly moved to unstrap Rory, but the Siren's song began playing just a little ways away. Rory stirred, his eyes fluttering, and a series of beeping began coming out of some the equipment monitoring him.

"She's coming!" the Doctor hissed. He grabbed Alex, the two and Amy running and hiding behind some monitors. Avery rushed over to join them, hiding behind a panel.

The group tensely watched as the Siren came floating in. She went over to Rory, who was now wide awake. Rory struggled, trying to get away from her and out of his tube, but the Siren simply continued singing. She placed a hand on his chest. Within a few moments, Rory was fast asleep.

"Anesthetic," Alex murmured in realization.

"What?" Avery whispered, unfamiliar with that medical terminology.

"The music," the Doctor clarified. "The song. So she anesthetizes people and puts their body in stasis."

And then the Siren went over to Toby.

The Doctor happened to look over at Avery and saw him pull his gun out.Why didn't I take that thing away from him?!"Avery, no!"

But Avery didn't listen. Instead, he jumped out and fired at the Siren.

The Siren whirled around, turning from green to red in the blink of an eye. Hissing and screeching, she stalked towards him, her red devil eyes practically promising pain. The Doctor ran out of his hiding spot, hoping he could stop her. As he was running around a table with one of Avery's crewmembers on it, he sneezed. The Siren's attention switched to him She whirled around and screeched. A moment later, a brilliant red fire appeared in-between her hands.

"Fire!" the Doctor gasped, his eyes wide.

Across the room, Alex watched, terrified, as the Siren got closer to him. She had half a mind to run over there, but she knew the Doctor wouldn't want her to do that.

"That's new," the Doctor stuttered. He ran a hand through his hair as he struggled to figure out why the Siren was coming after him. He backed away, trying to keep as much distance between him and the angry creature as possible. "What does fire do? Burn? Yes. Destroy? What else?"

"Sterilize!" Alex cried just as she figured this out.

"Sterilize!" the Doctor shouted in agreement. He stuck a hand in his pocket, madly digging around for a tissue as the Siren continued to come at him with her big ball of fire. He absently mused that he really needed to clean this garment out sometime. He had too much stuff in the pockets. "I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I sneezed!" he stuttered as he finally managed to locate a tissue. "I've brought germs in!" Once he blew his nose, he hurled the tissue to the floor. The Siren seized on it, shooting the fire in her hands out to burn the wet rag.

The Doctor breathed a sigh of relief that he was no longer going to get killed, but then saw that Amy had run across the room back to Rory and was in the process of trying to remove his tube. "Amy, stop!" he cried as the Siren turned around and strode towards her. "Don't interfere! Don't touch him! Anesthetic, tissue sample, screen, sterile working conditions. . . Ignore all my previous theories!"

"Yeah, well, we stopped paying attention a while back!" Amy snapped, ignoring his instructions and continuing to try and free Rory.

Alex darted over and pulled Amy back. "She's not a killer at all!" she shouted in time with the Doctor. "She's a doctor!"

Amy looked at them in shock. Seeing that she was no longer trying to tamper with her patient, the Siren calmed down and turned back to green.

"This is an automated sickbay," the Doctor explained as he looked around, admiring everything. "It's teleporting everyone on board."

"With the crew dead, the sickbay hasn't had anything to do," Alex added.

"It's been looking after humanity whilst it's been idle. Look at her!" the Doctor exclaimed. "A virtual doctor able to sterilize a whole room!"

"Able to burn your face off," Amy reminded him.

He merely waved this off. "She's just an interface, seeped through the join between the planes, broadcast in our world. Protean circuitry means she can change her form and become a human doctor for humans." He beamed at the Siren. "Oh, sister, you are good!"

Amy pulled out of Alex's grasp and went over to try and remove Rory's tube again. The Siren immediately turned red and snarled at her. Amy jumped back and the Siren switched back to green.

"She won't let us take them," Avery surmised as he went over to Toby.

"She's keeping them alive, but she doesn't know how to heal them," the Doctor realized.

"I'm his wife, for God's sake!" Amy snapped. "Why can't I touch him?!"

The Doctor considered this. Just a few seconds later, an idea came to him. "Tell her, Amy. Show her your ring." He grabbed Amy and Rory's left hands and held them up before the Siren, showing her the matching rings. "She may be virtual, but she's intelligent. You can't do anything without her consent." He looked at the Siren. She was simply staring at the rings. "Come on. Sophisticated girl like you, that must be somewhere in your core program."

"Look, he's very ill, okay?" Amy pleaded. "I just want to look after him." Tears pooled in her eyes as the Siren continued to do nothing. "Why won't you let me near my husband?"

Alex tensely watched the Siren consider Amy's words. Finally, a spark of recognition went off as the Siren tilted her head. She held out her hand to Amy, a golden ring of light appearing around it.

"I'm guessing that's the consent form," Alex murmured.

The Doctor nodded. "Sign it," he told Amy, who was eyeing the ring apprehensively. "Put your hand in the light. Rory's sick. You have to take full responsibility."

This spurred Amy on. She stuck out her hand and placed it through the ring. Once she did, the Siren disappeared. Without wasting any time, Amy rushed over to Rory and began unstrapping him, the Doctor and Alex stepping in to help. As the Doctor and Alex fumbled with the tubes, Amy hit a button on a panel next to the bed. Rory suddenly jerked up, eyes wide, gasping and wheezing for breath.

"He can't breathe!" the Doctor cried. "Turn it back on!"

Amy quickly hit the button and Rory fell back to the table, unconscious. "What do we do?" she asked. "I can't just leave him here."

"He'll die if we take him out," Alex said. "He was drowning."

Amy ran a hand through Rory's hair. She leaned down and whispered in his ear. "Rory? Rory, wake up."

Rory stirred, his eyes slowly opening. He looked around in shock, taking in his strange, unfamiliar surroundings. "Where am I?"

"You're in a hospital," the Doctor explained calmly. "If you leave, you might die."

Alex frowned at him. A split second later, she whacked the back of his head.

"Ow!" the Doctor cried, shooting her a glare. "What was that for?!"

"Was that really the only way you could tell him that?" Alex cried, giving him an identical glare back.

"Both of you shut it," Amy ordered, not even taking her eyes off Rory. "The Doctor's right," she admitted when the Doctor and Alex had quieted. "But if you don't, you'll have to stay forever."

"You're saying that if I don't get up now. . ."

"You can never leave," Amy finished.

"The Siren will keep you safe," the Doctor added.

Rory struggled to comprehend this. "And if I come with you. . ."

"Drowning on the point of death," Alex said quietly.

Rory was silent for a moment as he thought this all over. Then he looked at Amy. "I'm a nurse."

Amy blinked. What did that have to do with anything? "What?"

"I can teach you how to save me."

"Whoa! Hold on."

"I was drowning. You just have to resuscitate me."

Amy gave an incredulous laugh. "Just?"

"You've seen them do it loads of times in films. CPR. The kiss of life."

Amy blinked back an onslaught of tears. "Rory, this isn't a film, okay? What if I do it wrong?"

"You won't," he insisted.

"Okay, but what if you don't come back to life? What if—"

"I trust you." He took her hand and squeezed it reassuringly.

"What about them?" Amy asked, nodding at the Doctor and Alex. "I mean, why do I have to be the one? Why do I have to save you?"

Rory smiled at her. "Because I know you'll never give up." Amy sniffled and brightened slightly at that. "And," Rory went on, "I know for a fact that Alex skipped all of the health fairs her high school offered."

"Hey!" Alex cried, shooting him a dirty look.

"Not my fault you don't know CPR!" Rory shot back.

"In my defense, I didn't think I was ever going to need to know any of it!" At the time, ditching the all-day health fair to go make-out with Ryder Lewis in Lover's Lane or go to Lexington with Lacey seemed like very good ideas.

"Okay," Amy interrupted, chuckling a little at their banter. "What do I need to do?"

As Rory started to explain the basics of CPR, the Doctor and Alex walked over to Avery. The pirate was staring down at his son, worry in his eyes, the kind of worry that only a parent could project. Alex smiled slightly. It looked as though Avery had finally realized how important his son was.

"We have to send this ship back into space," the Doctor told them. "Imagine if the Siren got ashore. She would have to process every injured human."

"What about Toby?" Avery asked.

The Doctor sighed sadly. "I'm sorry."

"Typhoid fever," Alex revealed, her voice quiet and morose. She looked at Toby sadly. "Once he returns, it's only a matter of time."

Avery was silent for a moment. "What if I stay with him, here?" he proposed. "The Siren will look after him. I can't go back to England. And what home does he have now, if not with me?"

"Do you think you can sail this thing?" the Doctor asked.

Avery offered him a wry grin. "Just point me towards the atom accelerator."

The Doctor laughed and clapped the man on the back while Alex tilted her head, wondering what they were talking about.Probably something that happened aboard the TARDIS,she guessed as the duo wandered back over to the Ponds.

"I know you can do this," Rory was telling Amy as they approached. "Of course, if you muck it up, I am going to be really cross. And dead."

"You'll be fine, Amy," Alex assured her. "You're the most stubborn person I know."

Amy smiled slightly. She sniffled a little and ran her fingertips over Rory's cheek. "I'll see you in a minute," she vowed. Rory nodded in agreement and lay his head back against the table. Once he was ready, the Doctor, Amy, and Alex set to work ripping the tube and straps off him. Rory gasped for breath as the Doctor and Amy set his arms around their shoulders and hauled him to the TARDIS. The moment they placed him on the floor, Amy dropped to her knees and began a series of five compressions and a breath.

Alex shut the TARDIS door and hurried over to the Doctor. He was crouched on the floor, watching the scene before him with a hopeful expression. Without a word, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, tugging her to him.

They tensely watched Amy breathe into Rory's mouth. Nothing happened. Panicked, Amy turned to look at them. The Doctor and Alex nodded encouragingly. Amy turned back to Rory and did another round of compressions and a breath. Nothing.

"Come on, come on, Rory," the Doctor chanted as Amy did another round. "Not here, not this way, not today!"

Five more compressions, another breath.

Nothing.

"He trusted me!" Amy wailed. Tears flowed down her face, falling into her mouth and hair. "He trusted me to save him!"

"You still can!" Alex insisted. Amy couldn't give up now!

"You can still do this," the Doctor agreed. "He believes in you."

"And he's not the only one," Alex added. "Come on, Amy! Come on!"

Reinvigorated by their praise and encouragement, Amy started the compressions again. She pounded Rory's chest hard, like she was trying to physically shove life back into him. Once the compressions were done, she bent down and gave him a breath of air.

Nothing.

"No!" she sobbed, continuing to pound on Rory's chest. She sucked in a large breath and blew it into Rory's mouth. The Doctor and Alex watched, their hope quickly dwindling as Rory failed to move.

"Please, please, please wake up!" Amy begged Rory's unconscious body. She did another series of compressions. "Wake up! Wake up! Come on, come on!"

But even after she breathed into him, there was no movement from Rory.

Amy broke down in tears. The Doctor fell back on his heels, the hope on his face turning into weariness and melancholy. Alex broke out of his grasp and crawled over to hug Amy. Amy buried her head in Alex's hair, feeling a few drops of water land on her neck as Alex softly cried.

But then, a miracle.

A sudden gasping, coughing sound attracted everyone's attention. Rory was on his side, hacking up water. Amy looked on in shock for all of two seconds before breaking free of Alex's arms and launching herself at her husband. As she helped him up, the Doctor sprang to his feet and went over to help Alex up. Alex shuddered and threw herself at him in a tight hug.

"Please no more ships," she begged. It seemed that every time she was on a ship, somebody drowned or almost did. First her parents and herself near enough, and now Rory. She wasn't willing to go for a third.

The Doctor pressed his lips to the top of her head. "Never," he promised. If he ever received a distress signal from another ship stuck in water, he wouldn't go near it . . . or he'd just leave Alex in the TARDIS and refrain from telling her about it. Either would do.

"Amy," Rory breathed, smiling at his wife as she continued to hold onto him, afraid to let him go. "Amy, you did it! You did it!" He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly as Amy sobbed tears of relief into his shoulder.

The Doctor and Alex kindly stood aside, respecting their moment.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

A little while later, the Doctor had piloted them into the time vortex, far away from the pirate ship and the Siren sickbay. No one had really wanted to stick around the ship longer than necessary. The Doctor had showed Avery the basics of the spaceship, then hurried off. He wanted to get Alex as far away from the ship as possible and kiss her senseless in apology as soon as the Ponds went off to bed.

Luckily for him, the experience of one of them nearly dying had drained the Ponds. Rory, wrapped in a blue bathrobe the TARDIS had provided, headed up the stairs, partially assisted by Amy. The Doctor was by the console, looking at something on the scanner, while Alex was sprawled out on the jumpseat, pretending to read an issue ofHarper's Bazaar. Needing to get the salt-water stench off her as soon as possible, she had showered and changed into a sky blue, short-sleeved shirt that showed off her hickeys and assets (at least in her opinion), a pair of matching sky blue and black plaid pajama pants, and white socks. Casual, but cute and attractive enough to get the Doctor's attention.

She glanced up at Amy and Rory, seeing that they were still only on the third step of the staircase.Jesus, go to bed already!she mentally shouted. She wanted to be in the Doctor's arms again so badly. She wanted to stretch up on tiptoe and kiss him, have him back her up onto the console . . . and she really needed to focus on pretending to read Nicole Kidman's interview before she did something potentially embarrassing. Not necessarily for her, but for Amy and Rory.

"I thought I was an excellent pirate," Amy remarked as she and Rory finally began heading up the stairs at a faster pace.

Rory smiled cheekily. "I thought you were an excellent nurse."

"Easy, tiger," Amy laughed, blushing slightly as she turned to look back at the Doctor and Alex. "Night, Alex. Goodnight, Doctor."

The Doctor took a quick glance away from the monitor to address her. "Goodnight, Amelia."

Amy frowned. "You only call meAmeliawhen you're worrying about me."

"I always worry about you," the Doctor dismissed, fiddling with a knob on the scanner.

Amy eyed him for one long moment, remembering the shooting at Lake Silencio. "Mutual."

The Doctor glanced over at Alex. She seemed pretty absorbed in her magazine, but he knew better. He turned back to Amy. "Go to bed, Pond," he commanded, hoping that this would spur her into leaving so that he could finally get back to what he was doing with and to Alex before the distress signal came.

Over the top of her magazine, Alex watched Amy shake her head fondly before continuing up the stairs. At the top, she saw Rory whisper into Amy's ear and then Amy whisper back. It was probably romantic murmurings, but Alex doubted it. She didn't ponder it though. She was trying to put Lake Silencio and its events out of her mind. She should be focusing on the present, not a future that was years and years away.

But it was easier said than done.

Stop thinking about that, Alexandria Nicole!she snapped to herself. She needed to focus on more important things . . . namely that Amy and Rory had now completely exited the control room, leaving her and the Doctor alone.

There was silence for a few moments. Alex put down her magazine and swung her legs over so that she was now sitting properly. She leaned forward, watching as the Doctor frowned at something on the scanner. "What're you looking at?" she asked.

The Doctor glanced at her. "Oh, nothing," he lied, taking another peek at Amy's pregnancy scan. It continued to flash back and forth between positive and negative. But that was something he could worry about later. He had more important things to concern himself with, namely the incredibly gorgeous brunette sitting just a few feet away from him. He switched the scanner off and sauntered around the console until he was standing directly in front of Alex.

"So. . ." he said, leaning against the console.

"So. . ." Alex copied, saying this in a low voice to try and imitate him.

The Doctor laughed slightly at her antics. "So . . . I believe I promised you a few things back on the ship."

"Diamonds, chocolate, and a Russian Blue kitten," Alex promptly recited. "But the diamonds are a bit difficult to get and we both know I'd have better luck getting you to destroy the space-time continuum than with you letting me get a cat."

"Very true," the Doctor agreed. "But I'm sure the TARDIS will be more than happy to accommodate you with the chocolate." A loud, affirming hum went off at this.

Alex giggled and slowly stood up. Nonchalantly, she strolled over to him. She leaned a hip against the console, just a few steps down from him. "Glad to hear that, but I seem to recall you promising to do something else to make it up to me, too."

The Doctor co*cked his head in pretend thought. "I did, didn't I?"

"Yes." Her eyes glittered mischievously, turning from chocolate brown to copper.

"Although, in actuality, I said I'd only do it if you were good."

"I'm always good!"

"What did I say about getting carried away?" Alex rolled her eyes and the Doctor chuckled. "But you're rightthis time," he conceded.

"So you'll do that thing with my ear again?"

The Doctor's eyes grew dark, and he stepped closer. Alex eagerly watched him, not moving a millimeter due to the anticipation of what would happen next. He brushed a finger over her hair, tucking a few strands behind her ear. Then, he knelt down and took her earlobe into his mouth. Alex gasped and her head fell back, forcing the Doctor to cradle her jaw with both hands to keep her steady as he sucked at the lobe. He ran his tongue around her earring stud, kissing the top part of the stud lightly before moving on to the bridge of her ear. He ran his tongue up and down it before finally moving in and nibbling the already bruised skin, creating new marks atop the old ones.

Alex groaned as his breath hit her skin. She could feel her legs shaking. She wouldn't be able to stand upright for much longer. Sensing this, the Doctor's hands traveled down to her waist, keeping her still as he continued to lavish her ear with attention. He pulled her closer to him, his hands playing with the hem of her top. He wasn't going to pull it off or anything; no, he wanted to take this new relationship slow. When he and Alex were ready for that next step, he'd make sure she was treated just like the incredible, gorgeous girl she was.

He pulled back from her ear to study her face. He took great delight in the fact that Alex's mouth had gone slack, her breathing labored and intense. Her eyes were dark and unfocused, until they looked upon him. In an instant, they turned from glazed and clouded to dark, fixated forest green pools. He immediately opened his arms, allowing her to jump up into them. Her long legs wrapped around his waist as he clutched her fiercely, holding her to him like she was the only thing that mattered. He maneuvered her onto the console, a spot with no levers or switches suddenly appearing before him. Sending a mental thank-you to the TARDIS, he ran his fingers down her neck, gathering her hair in a loose ponytail and placing it behind her shoulders.

He gazed down at his handiwork on her neck, all her hickeys now bared to him. He had claimed her alright, all his teeth marks and nibbles and sucking showing her as his and only his. No one else would ever have a claim over her, not if he could help it.

"Like what you see, Doc?" Alex asked breathlessly.

"Very much so, Ally." He looked up into her dark eyes, the desire in them making his hearts beat faster at the realization he could make her so insatiable, so hungry for him. What she didn't know was that she did the same to him.

He leaned down and placed his lips upon hers. He kissed her slowly and languidly, not wanting to get too fast and rough yet. He wanted to show her just how much she meant to him. He couldn't say the l-word yet, but he did want to let her know that she was important to him, more than any of the others that had traveled with him. It was hard to convey in words, but the Doctor was a firm believer in actions speaking louder than words.

Alex went along with the gentle kiss for about a minute until her raw desire overpowered her. She grasped his still slightly damp jacket lapels, her fingernails digging into the tweed material. Using her tongue, she pried his mouth open and ran her tongue inside it. She scraped her tongue over his, causing his knees to buckle and his hands to delve into her slightly curly hair, how it always got whenever she first came out of the shower. She sucked at his bottom lip, emitting a groan from the centuries-old Time Lord. His hands fisted in her hair, and he tugged her closer to him, if that was even possible.

So caught up in their phenomenal kissing, they didn't hear footsteps ringing out just above them. "Sorry, Rory. I left that pirate hat down here and I need to get it before the Doctor gets hold of it. . ." Amy dashed down the stairs, her face aimed at the floor so as to watch her step. Rory was right behind her, his head down as well. "I think I put in on the jumpseat. . ." Amy looked up at the same time Rory did and her voice trailed off. Their eyes widened and their jaws dropped.

Right by the console were the Doctor and Alex, feverishly making out. As in actually, legitimatelymaking out. Alex was seated on the console, her legs wrapped around the Doctor's waist. Her hands were clutching his jacket lapels while his were currently fisted in her hair, keeping her face nice and close to him. Their eyes were closed, and their lips and tongues were working tirelessly against each-other, going faster than the TARDIS ever did through the vortex.

"OH MY GOD!" Amy shrieked.

The Doctor and Alex jumped, yelping, and sprang apart at the sound of her voice. The Doctor almost fell as he stumbled backwards away from Alex. The two looked around, coming face-to-face with the astonished Ponds. The Doctor and Alex's eyes widened to the size of CD's.

"Wh-what?" the Doctor gasped, too breathless from kissing Alex to really get the word out.

Alex didn't say anything. She was too stunned by the fact that Amy and Rory were there gawking at them. She didn't even try to straighten her messy, tousled hair or tug down her shirt, which had bunched up slightly in the front.

"Oh my God, you were kissing!" Amy cried, quite unable to believe this fact. It had happened, it had finally happened! She pointed at Alex's neck. "Iknewthose weren't burns! Curling iron, my eye!"

"Um. . ." Alex panted for breath and attempted to hop off the console, but her legs had fallen asleep from being around the Doctor's waist for so long. She stumbled and grabbed hold of a lever. The Doctor was still too stunned by the Ponds' discovery to notice and rush to her aid.

"When did this happen?!" Rory gawked. It couldn't have been after Lake Silencio. They'd have noticed! Wouldn't they?

"Uh. . ." It rather amazed Alex at how slow her brain was working just because of the Doctor's kisses.

"Five hours, thirty-seven minutes, and. . ." The Doctor paused to check his watch. ". . .seventeen seconds ago."

Alex whirled around to look at him. "How do you know that?" she asked, somehow regaining her voice to ask this question.

"Time Lord, Ally. I have aconnectionto time."

"Seriously?!" Amy exclaimed. "And you didn't tell us?!"

"Well, it happened rather fast. . ." Alex stared at the Doctor, hoping he would jump in. However, he had gotten the sudden urge to start aggressively wiping the railing around the platform with his jacket. As if cleaning was the most important thing right now.

"I can't believe you didn't tell us!" Amy glared at them, the effect slightly spoiled by the grin threatening to crop up. "We've been trying to get you two together for almost ayearnow, and you went and did it on your own!"

"Ever heard of patience, Pond?" the Doctor muttered, continuing to wipe the railing at the exact same spot he'd been at a minute prior.

"Patience, my arse! You two are so bloody stubborn and would never admit it! Why the hell didn't you tell us?"

"Truthfully, we were hoping to keep it from you for a little while."

"Just to let ourselves adjust," Alex hastily clarified.

"Yeah," Rory scoffed. "You two wereverysubtle."

The Doctor and Alex didn't say anything to that. It wasn't like it wasn't true or anything.

There wasn't much else to say. Knowing it was time to leave, Amy dashed over and grabbed the pirate hat from where Alex had placed it under the jumpseat. "Well," she chattered, rushing back over to Rory and hauling him up the stairs, "we'll be going now! Get back to . . . what you were doing!"

Rory managed to plant his feet on one step before Amy could continue dragging him up. "Keep it clean!" he warned the Doctor, giving him a warning look. Amy rolled her eyes and snatched hold of his earlobe. Rory yelped as she yanked him up the stairs, pulling him into the corridor by his earlobe. The last thing the Doctor and Alex heard before they got out of earshot was a bunch of slaphappy giggling from Amy, followed by, "Idiot! What did you say that for?!"

Then all was quiet.

"Well," Alex said after a few moments. "That was fun."

"I hope you mean that sarcastically," the Doctor commented.

"Yes, Amy has the worst timing ever." Alex sighed, fixing her eyes up on the ceiling. "Has to ruin everything."

"Not necessarily," the Doctor argued. He walked back over to her. "We can still pick up where we left off if you want."

Alex was about to answer in the affirmative when she felt a fast hum run underneath her fingertips. She glanced down. To her surprise and bafflement, there was a small square of chocolate lying next to her hand. "Huh," she remarked, picking up the chocolate and pulling off the silver and blue wrapping. She held the piece up for the Doctor's inspection. "Guess the TARDIS is fulfilling her promise to me."

"You never know, you might find a whole cache of diamonds in your vanity," the Doctor joked.

Alex giggled and began to put the piece of chocolate in her mouth. Then an idea came to her. "Hey, Doc?" she said casually, holding the chocolate at her lips. "Come here."

The Doctor hastened to obey her, figuring she wanted to get back to their kissing. He was therefore surprised when she placed a hand on his shoulder, preventing him from moving in and grabbing her lips.

"Be patient, Doc," she murmured. "I've got an idea I think you're gonna like."

The Doctor watched, curious, as Alex stuck the chocolate in her mouth. Then, placing her other hand on his other shoulder, she pulled him to her lips.

She opened her mouth a little, just letting his tongue creep onto her bottom lip. But before he could delve inside, he felt the tip of his tongue pressing up against something. It was hard and slightly slick. Her teeth? No, her teeth didn't taste that sweet.

It was the chocolate. The Doctor almost fell back at the shock his tastebuds were now going through. The chocolate, aside from tasting milky and sweet, was now coated in Alex's particular taste. It was sweet and sour, like a lime covered in lemonade. Alex pushed the chocolate outwards towards his mouth. The Doctor grasped one end with his teeth. The chocolate was now perfectly divided between their mouths. They bit down.

A half of chocolate went into each of their mouths. The Doctor sucked on the Alex-flavored sweet in his mouth while Alex hastily chewed and swallowed her own piece. She took in the Doctor's look of pure delight at his new treat. Finally, he swallowed.

"Brilliantidea, Ally," he complimented, gazing at her admirably. "Your greatest one, I believe. We should share food more often."

Alex laughed and ran her hands over his shoulders, pulling him back to her. "Well, I think the TARDIS might be willing to help with that idea." A rather thrilled hum went off throughout the room, the lights overhead blinking excitedly. A moment later, the Doctor felt a bag appear on his boot. He bent down to pick it up. It was a nicely sized bag full of little chocolate squares.

Alex eyed the bag. "That's alotof chocolate." There had to be at least thirty pieces in that thing!

The Doctor chuckled and set the bag down beside her. "Well then," he remarked, pulling a piece out and unwrapping it, "we'd better get to work."

Chapter 10: Bad Night

Chapter Text

Ba-ring! Ba-ring! Ba-ring! Ba-ring! Ba-ring! Ba-ring! Ba-ring! Ba-ring! Ba-ring! Ba-ring!

Amy glared darkly at the phone, somehow managing to do this even though she was half-asleep. How many times was this thing going to ring?! It hadn't stopped for a good five minutes! And it was soloud. You could hear it from about two corridors away, maybe three if your hearing was particularly good, which, unfortunately, Amy's was. And never mind the fact that she couldn't sleep anyways.

It wastwo thirty in the morning. Well, by Leadworth standards at least. Who was calling at two thirty in the morning? Didn't the TARDIS have some kind of phone system where calls were only accepted during daylight hours on Earth? If not, one should be installed.

Where was the Doctor? It washisphone. He should be here answering it! Amy looked around the control room. There was no bowtie-clad figure in sight. Either he was in the depths of the TARDIS doing whatever it was he did when she, Rory, and Alex were asleep or. . . Well, Amy couldn't really come up with an 'or'. She probably could if she wasn't operating on only three hours sleep. And if that infernal phone wasn'tstillringing.

Knowing there was only one way to shut the damn thing up, Amy grabbed the receiver. "Hello?" she said, yawning slightly. "He's, he's not here. Who's speaking?" At that moment, a fly chose to intrude on her conversation.

Amy frowned and swiped it. "Sorry, the Prince of where?" she asked, flicking at the fly, now by her shoulder. "Which one? No, no, no, which prince, not which Wales." The fly buzzed around for a few moments before finally landing on the console. Amy smirked and grabbed a rolled-up newspaper someone had left by the phone. "Um, what year is this?" She finished her question by bringing the paper down on the fly. A satisfied SMACK rang throughout the room.

It was at that moment that the TARDIS doors slammed open. "I think that's probably for me!" a familiar voice shouted.

The doors slammed shut and Amy whirled around to see the Doctor. Strangely, he was dressed to the nines in a black suit, white shirt, white bowtie, black dress shoes, and a black top-hat. But even stranger was the fact that he was carrying a goldfish in a little glass fishbowl.

He darted up to the console, holding the fishbowl carefully so as not to spill any water. "Hold this!" he ordered, shoving the fishbowl at a bewildered Amy as he took the phone from her. "Hello? Ah, yes, everything's fine, don't worry." He paced back and forth along the platform, doing the exact opposite of not worrying.

"Well, exactly," he remarked as he went past Amy, forcing her to duck under the phone cord lest she get strangled with it. "Why should you be worrying? Who evenmentionedworrying?" He paced back to the other side, Amy doing her ducking act again. "She's fine! Your mum, your mum isfine!" He whirled around and faced Amy, covering the receiver with his shoulder. "Don't answer this phone.Ianswer this phone."

"Where have you been?" Amy whisper-demanded.

He waved his hand dismissively. "Party, just a party."

But instead of being mollified, Amy just became more confused and more determined to get answers.

The Doctor put the phone back to his ear and resumed his pacing. "Um, yes, your mum is here actually, but she can't come to the phone at the moment."

Amy held up the fishbowl and peered at the fish inside. It wasn't doing anything remarkable. He didn't seriously mean. . . As the Doctor turned round to face her, Amy pointed at the fish, giving him an expression that loosely translated asIs that seriously the Queen?!

He confirmed this with a slight nod and moved in closer to look upon Her Majesty. "Well," he stuttered awkwardly as he tried to think of an excuse to give the Queen's rather frantic son. "She's . . . busy. Well, you know, the Commonwealth. . ." He put the phone to his shoulder again and bent down to meet the fish's eyes. "It's your son, ma'am," he whispered. "He wants to talk to you." He pulled back and sighed. "Oh, we can't let him see you like this, well, not hear you, not that he could hear you, you're afish!"

Ba-ring!

"Sorry! I've got another call coming in." He pressed the answer button on the phone cradle. "Hello?" He frowned as a bunch of yelling came out the other end. "There is not a bit of use yelling, Ambassador. Your Warrior Chief is trapped in my TARDIS, and until you've turned Her Majesty here back into a human being, he's staying put. Don't worry, he's perfectly safe. . ." He trailed off as his gaze landed on the rolled-up newspaper, now containing a tiny little carcass that hadn't been there half an hour ago. He looked at Amy, who cringed at the mixture of dread and alarm on his face.

"Just putting you on hold," he muttered into the phone. He placed it back in the cradle before carefully picking up the newspaper.I knew I should've tossed this after Alex was through with it!

The paper in question was a Leadworth current edition ofThe Wall Street Journal. The TARDIS had given it to Alex that morning as it contained an article about some big buying deal between G-Locke and smaller, but also well-known publishing company Infinity House. What it basically boiled down to was that Alex was now $15.5 billion dollars richer, and G-Locke Publishing had acquired the rights to many popular magazines along with an undisclosed future Stephenie Meyer book series. Alex was the wealthiest companion the Doctor had ever had, even though she had yet to see a cent of her inheritance.

G-LOCKE, INFINITY DEAL!the headline boasted, the fly carcass sitting right on top of it. The Doctor stared at it in horror. "What have you done?" he breathed.

Amy winced. "I thought . . . it was a fly."

The Doctor sighed. "So much for the slaughterer of ten billion souls," he muttered, tossing the paper over his shoulder to land with a splat on the lower-level floor.

"What is going on?!"

"I was at a party. There was aslightincident."

Yeah, right,Amy thought. 'Slight' and 'the Doctor' didn't go together. It was go big or go home with him. "Wait, what, so you sneak out at night to parties?"Wonder how Alex will feel about that.

"What?!" a Southern-accented voice cried out. The two turned to see Alex storming down the stairs, frowning furiously at the Doctor. Despite the fact that her hair was in a wretched-looking ponytail, and she was clad in only a short, long-sleeved, white nightgown and socks, she still managed to look rather frightening and intimidating.

Alex planted herself in front of the Doctor who, needless to say, looked rather terrified at her sudden appearance. "You sneak out at night to parties?! Seriously? What on Earth do you get up to in there. . . Hang on." Alex looked him up and down, taking in his fancy attire. It was rather handsome, but she wasn't about to admit that. "You're dressed up. Youneverdress up." Her eyes narrowed, giving the Doctor a frightening view of copper-colored storms. "WasRiverat the party?"

He took off his top-hat and started rushing around the console. "Wh-wh-why would she be there?"

Alex rolled her eyes and followed him. Did he really think that would work?

Amy stayed in the exact same spot, knowing well to stay out of their way when they started arguing.

"Donotlie to me, Doctor," Alex warned. She put her hands on her hips and kept her eyes tightly fixed on his. "You're horrible at it."

"Somebody's in trouble," Amy softly sang to the fish.

By this point, the Doctor and Alex had been officially together for two weeks. Well, two weeks, one day, seven hours, fifty-three minutes, and twelve seconds, to be more precise. Things had changed aboard the TARDIS in that time, not horribly and drastically, but for the better.

For starters, it was now quite common to see the Doctor and Alex making out in any area of the time machine. Amy and Rory had seen them kissing on one of the library couches, in one of the TARDIS's many hallways, outside Alex's room, against the kitchen counter, against a shelf in the library and, the couple's personal favorite, on the control console. Those two could barely keep their hands off one another. The fact that they hadn't had sex yet was surprising.

The only reason Amy knew this was because she'd cornered Alex the morning after she saw the two kissing outside of Alex's room. It'd been in the kitchen, when Alex was attempting to make eggs sunny-side up and failing miserably.

"So. . ." Amy smirked, her voice going up an octave.

Alex looked at her and raised a confused eyebrow. "So what?" she asked. The eggs in the pan hissed and Alex jumped, barely dodging a streak of grease.

"Oh, come on, Alex. You know what I mean."

Alex poked at the eggs with the edge of her spatula, grimacing at the blackened contents. "No, not really," she said distractedly as she dumped the ruined eggs into the trashcan.

"It's not like you to play coy."

"Play coy over what?"

Clearly, the only way to handle this was to take the bull by the horns and say the words outright. "Playing coy over the fact that you and the Doctor had sex!"

Alex dropped the pan with a loud clatter. She gawked at Amy, wide-eyed for a moment before rushing over to the doorway and peeking out. "Oh my God, would you be quiet?!" she hissed. "He'll hear you!"

"Ha!" Amy crowed. "So, you did it!"

"We did not!" Alex objected, still whispering even though Amy knew for a fact that the Doctor was in the control room several corridors away, teaching Rory how to install the emergency temporal shift break or something.

Amy frowned, puzzled. "You didn't? But I saw you two kissing outside your bedroom door last night."

Alex gaped at her as she walked back over to collect the pan. "And you automatically assumed that we were going to have sex?" She dropped the pan into the large, restaurant-style sink. "It's not even been a month since we got together!"

"I was with Rory in less than a month."

Alex grimaced and made some sort of noise that sounded like she was trying not to gag. "TMI," she choked.

Amy sighed. "So, if you didn't do it last night, what was that kiss?"

"It was just a goodnight kiss! Have you and Rory never done that before?"

Amy tilted her head back in consideration. Strangely enough, nothing like that was coming to mind. "Uh . . . nope, don't think so."

"Seriously?" Alex questioned, sounding surprised. "Never?"

"Yeah. Is that weird?"

Alex shrugged. "It's a little uncommon. . . But, back to the main point. The point is, whether or not the Doctor and I have had sex is none of your business."

"So, there will be some going on in the future?"

Alex threw her hands up in frustration. "I don't know! I assume there will be if. . ." She trailed off, looking slightly befuddled and embarrassed.

Amy leaned forwards. "If what?"

"If. . ."

"Come on, Alex. I'm your best friend. You can tell me!"

"If . . . he has the right parts."

Oh, right. The Doctor was an alien. There was no telling if he was qualified to do . . . that. "Well, he's kissing you," Amy reasoned, "quite enthusiastically at that. I'm sure he does that. Hey, when you guys are making out, do you ever feel something pressing up against your stomach?"

Alex's eyes widened and her face reddened to the color of a beet. "I-I am not discussing this anymore," she chattered, running a hand through her hair and making a beeline to the door. She paused and turned back. "And, again, none of your business, Amelia."

With those final words, she rushed off.

Of course, Amy made it her business to be informed of all goings-on in the Doctor/Alex relationship. They were her best friends, and it was best if someone who was much more experienced, i.e., a married woman, kept an eye on them. She could guide them and make sure they didn't make the same mistakes she and Rory had made in their relationship. Not that there were many but kissing another man on the night before her wedding wasn't one of her proudest moments.

Based on acute observation, it seemed as though the Doctor and Alex had become even more possessive of one another than usual. That wasn't really surprising though. It was practically guaranteed to happen when the relationship escalated. Still, sometimes it amazed Amy how jealous the two got whenever someone flirted with one of them. They both looked like they could rip that person's head off and do a tap-dance over it.

And right now, here was another green-eyed moment in the making.

"No! I do not sneak out at night to parties with . . . with . . . with River Song!" the Doctor shouted at Alex, pulling Amy back to the present. He took off his top-hat in frustration and placed it on Alex's head. Frowning, not in the least bit amused, Alex continued trailing him around the console, pausing only to place the hat on Amy's head.

Amy glanced up at it and wondered why she was being treated like a coatrack. Sure, they were arguing, but still! She deserved a little respect!

"How is she?" Alex asked faux-sweetly. She smiled a little. She almost looked like she wasn't going to tear the Doctor a new one. Almost.

Seeing that there was no way he was getting out of this, the Doctor muttered, "Fine."

"See?!" Alex exclaimed, vindicated. "Horrible!"

The Doctor sighed. He really didn't have time for this. While he kind of liked that Alex was jealous of his relationship with River – it had, after all, led them to finally admitting their feelings for each-other – it was also a bit petty of her, one of the few character flaws she had. He knew this conversation was far from over, but he could worry about that later. Right now, he needed to focus on figuring out the crisis he'd gotten himself in the middle of.

"Sorry, but I'm in the middle of a thing." He snatched the fishbowl from Amy and planted a quick kiss on Alex's cheek before rushing down the stairs back towards the doors.

"Doctor!" Amy called after him, making him stop in his tracks. "Doctor," she said a bit more quietly. The Time Lord turned to face her. Alex's face dropped its angry expression, turning into one of concern and compassion when she saw the look on Amy's face. She appeared rather upset and more than a bit confused.

Alex put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Amy?"Does this have to do with why she thought she was pregnant?Amy hadn't brought it up again, but maybe she was starting to reconsider.

"I. . . I need to talk to you," Amy admitted. She turned to Alex. "Bothof you, really." The girls walked down the stairs over to the Doctor while Amy continued to talk. "There is a reason why I couldn't sleep."

"You mean aside from that damn phone?" Alex joked, although there was an undercurrent of annoyance in her voice. Since her room was right next to the control room, she'd been able to hear that blasted phone loud and clear. After it stopped ringing, she had almost been able to go back to sleep . . . until the Doctor started ranting and shouting.

Amy acknowledged this with a small smirk.

The Doctor didn't say anything. Instead, he just eyed her for a long moment. Then he shouted, "RORY!"

"What are you doing?!" Amy hissed while Alex looked at him strangely.

"You've got the serious face on," the Doctor babbled, appearing and sounding a little panicked. "I always shout for Rory when you've got the serious face on – RORY, SHE'S HAVING AN EMOTION!"

"Oh my God!" Alex cried, giving him an appalled look. Really?! The Doctor had surely dealt with many companions’ moods before. Why couldn't he help with Amy's? Unless he knew what Amy wanted to talk to them about and he was trying to avoid it.But what could it be?

Amy looked pretty stunned too, though before she could give the Doctor her own two cents, Rory came rushing in, pulling on a red bathrobe. "What? What's wrong Amy?" he asked through a yawn.

"Why are you calling him?" Amy demanded, still whispering.

The Doctor turned to leave. "It's his turn."

Amy and Alex gawked at him. A split second later, Amy whirled around to glower at Rory. "You two have, you two haveturns?!" she screeched. Rory opened his mouth to defend himself, but Alex cut him off.

"You're not going to do that with me, are you?" she questioned, her eyes narrowed in topaz colored warning. The Doctor was her . . . significant other now. He had to suffer her emotions just like the rest of the universe's general male population.

"NOOOO!" the Doctor yelled. At first, Alex thought it was a quick and hasty reply to her question, but then she saw him looking at Her Majesty the Goldfish in unabashed horror. "I've the wrong fish. I've taken the wrong fish!" He jerked the TARDIS door open and stuck his head out. "River, we've got the wrong fish!"

He whirled back around. "Uh, look, sorry, you three, I've made a mistake. I've got three hours to save the Commonwealth."

Rory scratched the back of his bedhead. "What happens in three hours?"

Alex looked at the Doctor knowingly. "Pet shops open?"

The Doctor nodded. "Exactly." He snatched the top-hat off Amy's head, placed it back on his own, and kissed Alex chastely on the lips. Then, without another word, he scrambled out the door.

The three stared at the shut door in silence for a few seconds until Amy shrugged. "Well, that was fun." She turned to Rory, a steely glare crossing her features in a split second. "Now, what's this about having turns?"

"Um. . ." Rory stuttered, scrambling backwards up the steps as Amy stalked towards him. "Well, Amy, it's, it's not as bad as it sounds—"

"Really? Because it certainly doesn't sound that way to me!"

As poor Rory hurried up the steps to try and escape Amy, Alex settled into the jumpseat, shifting around until she was perfectly comfortable. She knew the Doctor would solve whatever mess he'd gotten himself into and return, all smiling and happy and ready to bask in and celebrate his victory.

Then he'd see her and remember that their little 'discussion' about River was not yet over.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Alex paged throughHarper's Bazaar. It was the same issue she'd been pretending to read a few weeks ago before Amy and Rory went to bed after their . . . well,adventurewasn't the right word to describe what happened on Captain Avery's pirate ship and the Siren sickbay.Escapedmight be a better one.

Alex shuddered. That incident still freaked her out. She had to go on a ship for the first time since she was five, one of her friends had nearly died. . .

Shaking her head, Alex forced herself back to her magazine. She was studying an article on the latest makeup trends when the doors slowly squeaked open. She glanced up. The Doctor was standing in the doorway, top-hat mysteriously missing and bowtie undone, eyeing her warily.

"Two hours and forty-five minutes." Alex smiled. "I'm impressed. I assume you found Her Majesty and got her turned back to normal?"

Seeing that she wasn't going to bite his head off – yet anyways – the Doctor shut the door and dashed up the stairs to the platform. "Yes," he sighed. "But barely. Might've gone easier if Amy hadn't slaughtered the Warrior Chief." He cast a dark look at the newspaper, once again resting on the console. Alex must have fetched it. "But . . . River helped."

He didn't miss the way Alex's lips pressed together or how she was silent for exactly eleven seconds. "How so?"

"Flirted with the ambassador and managed to get the transformation elixir off him whilst she had him engaged in a very. . ." He cleared his throat, his cheeks reddening. ". . .compromisingposition."

"I'd expect nothing less from her," Alex said dryly. She put aside her magazine and sat up straighter. "So . . . I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier. That was . . . uncalled for." She squirmed a little. She wasn't used to apologizing for her jealous tendencies, least of all to the Doctor. It was a very strange experience.

"It's okay, but thank you," the Doctor replied. He could see how unsettled she was and merely wanted to reassure her. Not to mention, but this was strange for him as well.

He and Alex had shouted at each-other before and probably would in the future. They usually cleared the air afterwards. He still vividly remembered their talk after he'd shouted at her and Amy on Starship U.K. But what happened tonight was a first for them. Alex had never shouted at him, especially because she was jealous of River. Not that this was surprising. In fact, when he really thought about it, this had been a long time coming. He knew Alex was jealous of River and the woman's relationship with him – her yelling at them to stop flirting in the Silence base echoed in his ears – and it wasn't surprising to consider the fact that it had escalated since he and Alex got together. The only surprising part was that he hadn't considered all this before now.

He let out a long sigh and refocused on Alex. She was still sitting on the jumpseat, watching him attentively. "I suppose," he said slowly, "you don't like my hanging around River."

There's the understatement of the century,Alex thought, but she caught herself before she could say it out loud. "Yes," she said instead. It was simple, a statement of fact.

"You realize that there's not much I can do about that, right? River's a part of my future and she's made it clear that we have a lot of interactions."

"Yes, I understand." And she did. The Doctor couldn't risk altering the timelines and potentially wrecking the space-time continuum just to appease her jealous tendencies. "But. . ."

"Yes?"

Alex shifted around some more. "Maybe you could tell me before you have any future encounters with her? Ones that I'm not a part of. Or at least let me know if you interacted with her after one of your nighttime escapades." She said this last part with a mischievous smirk.

The Doctor chuckled. "Yes, yes," he affirmed. "I can absolutely do that." He paused. "Just to clarify, you're not upset that I sometimes go out while you and the Ponds sleep?"

Alex appeared surprised at the question. "Of course not. I'd be more surprised if you just stayed in here tinkering all night."

"Sometimes I do that. But more often than not, I go out. Just because you lot are sleeping doesn't mean the rest of the universe is."

Alex gave a dramatic sigh. "So many problems, so little time."

He chuckled again. "Exactly. Is there anything else you want to address?"

Alex considered, then nodded. Her face suddenly became more serious and her eyes bored right into his. It felt like she was trying to look inside him, delve inside his mind so as to see what he was really thinking. "Your flirting," she said loudly and quickly, the verbal equivalent of ripping off a Band-Aid. "With River. Well, with other women, too, I suppose, but mainly with River. It needs to stop."

He blinked, startled.

When he didn't say anything, Alex went on. "I know it's just a natural part of you, flirting with others. I'm pretty sure you don't even realize you're doing it half the time." She smiled and snorted. "And God knows I've flirted before to get what I want." She snorted to herself, then abruptly turned serious again. "But, with you, I . . . I can't stand it. It's . . . it just pisses me off, seeing you flirting with someone that's not me and I know that's petty on so many levels and I should really work on that—"

"Okay," the Doctor said.

It was Alex's turn to blink. She gaped up at him. "What?"

"Okay," he repeated, smiling softly while his eyes twinkled. He stepped closer to her and got down on his knees so he was at her eye-level. He placed his hands on her knees, his fingers just barely touching her skin, and he smirked at how her breath hitched. "I will," he promised, "endeavor to work on my unconscious flirting with other people." Alex rolled her eyes, but she couldn't quite fight off a smile. "Especiallywith River Song. But I warn you now, I won't be an automatic expert. You may have to tell me off from time to time."

Alex's honey-colored depths gazed at him in warmth, amazement, and admiration. "Thank you," she said softly. "And don't worry, I will."

The Doctor snorted and moved closer to her. Alex hastened to copy him. Their lips met in a slow glide, their tongues following a few seconds later, wet and warm as they flicked at each-other. After several moments, the Doctor pulled back and smirked at the glazed look in Alex's eyes.

"I take it," Alex gasped, her voice low with desire, "you continue to accept my apology?"

He let out a laugh. "I certainly have. But if you need me to affirm it anymore. . ." He shifted so that he was kneeling between her knees and his hands went just a touch lower. The bottom part of his palms tingled upon contact with her skin.

Alex giggled and leaned back in the jumpseat, the hem of her nightgown rising a little and allowing every part of the Doctor's skin to touch her bare legs. "I'll hold you to that," she promised. "But first I want to hear more about what happened tonight. For starters. . . What happened to your hat?"

The Doctor's jaw fixed itself into a glower. "River shot it off."

Alex sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "You poor thing. That was the one hat of yours I actually liked."

With a low growl, the Doctor's hands darted up to cup her face and pull her into a wild kiss.

Chapter 11: Aches and Pains

Chapter Text

Alex knelt down to examine the intricately designed necklace. It was made of some kind of purple stone and resembled tiny chain links. On the links was tiny golden lettering, so tiny that Alex couldn't make the words out.

"Excuse me," she called to the vendor. The vendor, a plump old woman in a red beret-looking hat, hustled over, a smile on her face as she eagerly anticipated a possible sale. "What are the words on this?"

The vendor looked down at the necklace and smiled. "Oh, that's a Vivuldian marriage necklace, dear, not something you'll be buying for yourself."

Alex's brow furrowed. "A Vivuldian marriage necklace?"

The vendor eyed her curiously. Alex knew she probably looked like she didn't belong here in a simple white t-shirt, jeans, a University of Kentucky Wildcats zip-up hoodie, blue high-tops, and large gold hoop earrings. But the vendor's staring confirmed it.

"Not a native, are you, dearie?" the vendor guessed as she leaned over the counter of her wooden booth to try and make out the charm of Alex's necklace, hidden under the zip-up.

Alex laughed while placing a protective hand over the TARDIS charm. "No, I'm afraid not. So, what is a Vivuldian marriage necklace?"

"It's a special piece of jewelry a groom gifts his bride on the day of their wedding. The bride gifts him with this." The vendor reached under the counter and held up a large cuff bracelet. It was made of the same material as the necklace and had the same teeny tiny gold lettering on it. The vendor held it up high, allowing the piece to shine in the sunlight as she went on with her explanation. "A Vivuldian marriage cuff. Engaged couples give these to each-other on their wedding day during the ceremony. Right after they say, 'I do', they put these pieces on their partners. The necklace and cuff are both bio-coded by the partner's DNA. When your partner puts this on you, only they can take it off."

Alex frowned. She wasn't sure how to feel about that. "What if one partner dies?"

The vendor's smile turned a bit sad. "Then they have to wear that piece for the rest of their lives. We Vivuldian's are strict one-marriage people. No divorce, no annulments, no swapping your wife for another in a game of hacky-sack like on Yadiris for us. Till death do you part."

It took Alex a moment to formulate her next question, for she was still trying to process the Yadiris hacky-sack ritual.Note to self: make sure the Doctornevertakes us to Yadiris."Okay," she said slowly. "Well, back to my first question, what are the little gold words?"

"Vivuldian marriage vows. Very, very,verysacred. They go all the way back to the founding of the planet a thousand years ago, and they're treated like laws. If someone in a marriage breaks them, they can go through horrible torture, sometimes even death."

Alex swallowed heavily.Second note to self: no getting married on Vivuldi.

"The vows go like this," the vendor continued. "'I promise to love my spouse more than I did yesterday, and less than I will tomorrow; I will care for them no matter how hard; I will help keep a tidy home for my spouse; I will never hurt my spouse in any way, shape, or form; I will never let another person tempt me away from my spouse; I will give my spouse my undividing attention on every manner'; and with the females, they always say, 'I will follow the commands of my spouse and obey them perfectly'."

Alex's frown deepened. So Vivuldi was a place where women were expected to be subservient to their husbands. Wonderful. Another reason not to get married here. "I see," she nodded, trying not to let her feelings on the subject taint her voice. The Doctor had told her before that alien cultures had their reasons for believing the things they did, and regardless of whether those beliefs were brilliant or ridiculous, they had to respect them and try not to judge. Of course, the latter part was easier said than done.

She was pulled out of her musings by the vendor sighing wistfully. "I still remember those vows, sixty-five years after my wedding day." She reached under her white smock and pulled out a necklace identical to the one Alex had been studying, only in jade green. "When Tomas put this on me, I knew I'd obey those vows forever."

Alex couldn't help but ask. "Did Tomas obey too?"

The vendor gaped at her, clearly shocked at Alex's assumption that Tomas might not have obeyed the sacred vows. "Why, of course he did! Till the day he died, and I meantill the day he died." On this, the vendor's sweet old lady face hardened. "Itoldhim not to go out bar-hopping. And look what happened! Stumbled out into the street, drunk as a Vivuldian skunk-rat, and got himself hit by a tourist trolley!"

Okay. . . Now was probably a good time to go. Leaving the vendor to her mutterings about Tomas's final drunken hours, Alex slipped away from the booth and continued down the street.

As she walked, she took in the small marketplace. Despite some of its beliefs, Vivuldi was actually a very lovely place. Her first view outside the TARDIS was of the bright red Vivuldian Mountains, which positively shined in the bright sunlight. The Doctor had told her that each mountain was made of rare Scarlet Vivuldian Quartz, and it was illegal to try and mine them. Anyone who did so was immediately punished by death. Alex was kind of glad about this. The mountains were too pretty and breathtaking to destroy.

The beauty didn't stop there. It had taken them only fifteen minutes to hike down to the large town situated at the base of one of the mountains. The Doctor hadn't told her its name, saying that it was far too difficult to pronounce and that its origins had derived from a mixture of Latin and Mandarin Chinese, but whatever the town's name was, it was breathtaking. All of the buildings were made from very-common Porcelain Vivuldian Quartz, with several parts of them adorned and decorated with other colored quartz: cobalt blue, emerald green, pale pink, midnight black, sunshine yellow, and even a knockoff of Scarlet Quartz called Ruby Vivuldian Quartz. The natives had the quartz displayed in various designs, from common wavy and straight lines to the more sophisticated family crests and elaborate murals that often took up the whole side of a building.

Alex passed one of the murals. It showed a gigantic brown owl, a sacred animal on Vivuldi, holding a sword in its talons as it fought off an equally large beast that looked like a cross between an elephant and a mountain lion. Alex had no idea what it was called or why the owl was fighting it but resolved that she could ask the Doctor later.

Speaking of. . . Alex blushed, ducking her head down to watch her feet walk across the white cobblestone road. She still couldn't believe she was in a relationship with the Doctor,theDoctor! It all felt like some crazy, wonderful dream, and she was worried that she was going to wake up at any second and realize that the Doctor wasn't in love with her, or if he was, he'd never admit it.

Thankfully, that hadn't happened. All of this was real, and it was fantastic. The Doctor wasn't like the boyfriends she'd had in the past, the ones who were only interested in fast cars, drinking, smoking, and sex. No, he was better than that,somuch better.

For starters, he listened to her. He never tried to change her beliefs on anything, unlike that one atheist boyfriend who nearly tossed her mother's Bible out her bedroom window, or the one who told her that if she joined cheerleading, he'd dump her because she'd turn stupid just like all the other cheerleaders. The Doctor also looked out for her, always checking that she was right beside him. In the past, this behavior from other boyfriends had made Alex feel suffocated and irritable; now it just made her feel loved and protected, like she was the Doctor's whole universe.

Not to mention, but the Doctor was hot as hell, even with that bowtie.

But their relationship wasn't built on just physical attractiveness. Alex loved the Doctor's brilliant, slightly barmy mind, the way he always tried to do right wherever they went, how he was so stubborn and head-strong (even if those qualities tended to infuriate her at times), and so much more. He never looked at her like she was just a pretty face or another notch to add on his bedpost. He was, to her, in every sense of the word, perfect.

With all of that, it was a little hard to believe they had been together for less than a month and hadn't even gone on a real date yet.

Still blushing, Alex looked around the marketplace. Where was the Doctor anyway? He'd been at her side at first, ushering Amy and Rory off in one direction while he led her the other way, but then he caught sight of something shiny and bounded off into the distance to find it, like a puppy at a park. Still, it was adorable, and Alex had laughed heartily before wandering over to the booth with the marriage jewelry.

Of course, she should probably find the Doctor before he ended up offending some high-ranking official and they all had to high-tail it back to the TARDIS. Turning on her heel, she headed down the other end of the street.

This end of the street was identical to the other end. It was cluttered with carts and booths selling a wide array of items. Alex spotted futuristic cookware, intricately designed rugs and blankets, dozens and dozens of glass owls, clocks with funky-looking designs on them, piles of multi-colored Vesuvian quartz, and so much more. As she walked, she noticed Amy and Rory at one booth, studying a bunch of small metal objects. The sign over the booth advertised the objects as 'Bazoolium's', whatever those were.

She was still studying the sign, wondering what a bazoolium was, when the massive pain hit her.

Alex gasped and stumbled back against a booth selling desserts that looked an awful lot like Earth ice-cream. There was a weird sensation coming from her abdomen. It felt like someone was slicing a knife through her flesh, something she already had experience with thanks to the Silurian's. The feeling was both painful and uncomfortable, causing Alex's eyes to water and her legs to quiver uncontrollably.

"Miss!" A split second later, the ice-cream vendor was kneeling before her. He reached out and gripped her shoulders, attempting to straighten her up. "Are you alright?"

Alex panted as she tried to respond, but she could barely find her voice when the cutting in her torso was still going on. "I . . . I. . ." she choked, but she trailed off, gritting her teeth as the cutting stopped, then came back with a new intensity. Alex let out a loud sob and reached a hand out to grip the booth's counter.

"Alex!" Amy distantly cried. A moment later, the redhead was beside her. Amy shoved the vendor aside and took up his kneeling position while Rory stood behind Alex, his hands under her arms to keep her from falling.

"What's wrong?" Amy asked frantically. She eyed Alex worriedly. Alex was biting her lip to the point where she was drawing blood, her eyes had a thin layer of water in them, and the hand that wasn't gripping the booth for dear life was on her abdomen, like those people on TV and in movies always did when they had just been shot or stabbed or something. "What is it? Tell me!"

"P-pain," Alex whimpered, her knees starting to crumple again. The only thing that kept her from crashing to the ground was Rory's iron-tight grip on her arms. "R-really b-b-bad!" She let out another whimper, followed by a little shriek as the carving feeling moved up to her chest.

Rory looked at his friend, distressed and anxious for her wellbeing. What was going on?An alien virus?he wondered. It wasn't completely outside the realm of possibility. There was only one person who would know for sure though.

"Go get the Doctor," Rory ordered his wife. "I'll get her back to the TARDIS." Without even blinking, Amy straightened up and sprinted off down the street, shoving aside pedestrians while calling "Sorry!" over her shoulder.

Before Amy was even a speck in the distance, Rory gathered Alex up in his arms. He was displeased to note that she was shaking and quivering, actions that only seemed to make the pain she was experiencing worse. Keeping a firm grip on her, Rory rushed through the suddenly crowded street. For once in his life, he didn't pause to apologize to people he hit or nudged out of the way. Instead, he ran until he was right in front of the TARDIS doors.

Fortunately, the TARDIS seemed to realize the urgency of the situation and automatically unlocked and opened the doors. Rory charged up the steps, past the console, and up another flight of steps until he was in one of the TARDIS corridors. He looked around frantically for the infirmary, only to see a door materialize out of nowhere in front of him. It opened a second later, revealing the white walls of the very room he was seeking.

Rory had barely placed Alex on the bed when a sudden skidding rang out in the hallway, followed by a voice shouting, "MOVE, POND!" No sooner had that been said when the Doctor came barreling into the room, the end of his tweed jacket flying behind him like a cape. His eyes were wide and frantic, and he was gasping for breath, something that failed to be important to him when he caught sight of Alex shaking and sniveling on the bed.

"Ally, what's wrong?" he questioned as he hurried over to her side.

Alex felt the cutting go even deeper. "I . . . I don't know!" she yelped. "I-it feels l-like s-s-something's slicing in-into me!"

"What the hell could cause that?" Rory wondered.

The Doctor took a few seconds to wrack his brain for all possible diseases. Shortly after they came aboard the TARDIS the first time, he’d vaccinated Alex and the Ponds against a plethora of alien diseases, giving them so many shots that Alex complained about feeling like a pin-cushion. That eliminated about twenty-five possible diseases. They hadn't been on Janf*cke in the 41st century during the Janf*cke Body-Quake pandemic, so that was out, too.What the hell could it be then?!

He watched Alex wrap her arms around her abdomen and arch into them as the pain in her body increased by a hundred and fifty. Her bottom lip was bleeding from where she'd bitten it and tears of agony were streaming down her cheeks. His hearts constricted. He couldn't stand this. He had to dosomething.

He reached into his jacket pocket and quickly pulled out the sonic screwdriver. "Don't worry," he assured Alex. He ran a hand through her hair in the hopes that it would calm her down, although he doubted it would work at this moment. "The sonic will tell us what's wrong."

He aimed the sonic at Alex's curled-up form and ran a basic body scan over her. A few seconds later, the device beeped. The Doctor held it up to his eyes to examine the psychic reading, only to frown. "Perfectly normal body functions?" he read in disbelief.

"Can it even do body scans?" Rory questioned, remembering how the Doctor once said that the sonic didn't work on wood.

"Yes, and don't diss the sonic," the Doctor muttered. He went over to the foot of the bed and ducked under it to pull out the collapsible med-scanner. He had hoped he wouldn't have to use this again on Alex . . . or any other companion. He quickly turned it on and rolled it into place.

"Stay still, Ally," he directed while he plugged the sonic into a little outlet on the side of the scanner.

"I remember," Alex mumbled. She struggled to calm her shaking limbs and buried her head in the pillow. She really didn't want to see the Doctor's face if the scanner revealed bad news.

Rory went and stood beside the Doctor. "What is this?" he asked, eyeing the scanner with a mixture of marvel and befuddlement.

"Collapsible med-scanner," the Doctor explained quickly, too caught up in trying to figure out what was wrong with Alex to really go into depth. He watched as a green light went over an outline of Alex's figure on the screen with the words SCAN IN PROGRESS beside it. A few seconds later, it changed to show the words SCAN RESULTS AVAILABLE.

"Ha, ha, excellent!" he cheered as the screen changed again to show the results. He and Rory leaned in close, their noses practically touching the glass. Alex's body was infected with. . .

"NOTHING?!" the men shouted. They straightened up rapidly, both nearly falling backwards in the process.

Alex peered over at them. During the scanning, the slicing feeling had abruptly stopped, but her torso still felt uncomfortable, like there really were massive cuts in it. "What do you mean, nothing?" she demanded, her voice slightly unsteady from crying and fear.

"I-it says there's nothing wrong with you," Rory reported. He gawked at the screen. That couldn't be right. There was clearlysomethingwrong with Alex. He had seen it with his own two eyes!

"But I was in pain."

"And we know that's true," the Doctor assured her. He seriously doubted Alex would ever fake something like that, like how Earth teenagers pretended to be sick to get out of going to school for a day or two. After all, what would be her reasoning? If she didn't want to go on an adventure, all she had to do was ask him and he'd gladly let her stay on the TARDIS or park them in a quiet spot in space so they could all relax. "It might be just a fluke, that's all. The scanner probably just needs a software update."

Alex nodded slowly. That made sense. "The slicing stopped while you were doing the scan. Maybe it said nothing was wrong with me because the pain stopped."

"Seems like a good explanation to me," Rory commented.

"Yes, that could be it," the Doctor agreed. He yanked the sonic out of its outlet and switched the scanner off. "Nevertheless Ally, you should go lie down and rest for a while. I'm sure Amy will keep you company while Rory helps me update the scanner."

"Alright." Alex slowly straightened up, still feeling the tenderness in her torso. "Amy's been badgering me to watch the 23rd century remake ofTwilight. She'll be happy to have me as a captive audience."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

And for the next several hours, that seemed to be the end of that. The tenderness in Alex's torso faded a quarter of the way throughTwilight(which wasn't half bad; Orlando Bloom's great-great-great grandson was a terrific actor) and she soon forgot about the pain, dismissing it as some weird body reaction to something on Vivuldi. Maybe there was something in the air the Doctor had forgotten to tell her about. Whatever had happened to her, it had stopped, and Alex could fully concentrate on Amy's drooling face as she watched Charlie Bloom's Edward romance Bella Swan, who was thankfully more assertive and independent than she was in the films Alex was familiar with.

But later that night, as the Doctor was walking towards Alex's room to check on her, he heard a loud shriek coming from that very room.

His hearts pounding rapidly at the thought of Alex in danger or hurt, the Doctor broke into a run, sprinting down the hall until he was at Alex's door. He threw it open to find Alex sitting up in bed, dressed in a black, long-sleeved shirt and black and gray plaid pajama pants. She was hunched over with her arms wrapped around her waist, quivering and sobbing as a massive amount of pain wracked her body.

"Ally!" the Doctor cried, running over to her side. He crawled up onto the bed and enveloped Alex in his arms, holding her tight, but not to where it would aggravate her already sensitive body. "Shh, love. It's okay, it's okay."

"Doctor," Alex choked. She leaned back a little into his arms. Thank God he was here. "It . . . i-it hurts!"

"I know," he said, even though he truly didn't understand the agony Alex was going through. He wished he did though. He wished he could somehow transfer her illness to him so that she wouldn't have to endure her current torment. "I'm taking you to get scanned, okay?" Without waiting for her to respond, the Doctor gathered her up in his arms and headed out the door.

Alex bit down on her lip as they went down the corridor. She had been fine for so long. She’d thought that the pain from earlier was gone, that it would never happen again! But less than an hour after going to bed, she had woken up with a start when a dream she was having about dancing with the Doctor in Rio ended with the Doctor plunging a knife into her stomach. She'd been frightened at first, wondering what the heck that dream had been about, and was about to go find the Doctor so that he could comfort her, when that same stabbing feeling she'd had in her dream and several hours before hit her.

She'd barely been able to move, only able to let out little shrieks and sobs to convey that she was hurting. She’d felt so helpless, something she was greatly unused to feeling. She'd been like that for about two minutes (though it felt like two hours) when the Doctor finally came running in.

What's wrong with me?Alex thought as the Doctor carried her into the control room. She let out a gasp and a small scream as the slicing died down for a second, then came back with stronger force. It felt like she was being cut into with a sharper, less dull, knife. She whimpered, "Doc-Doctor. . ."

"Shh," he soothed, setting her down onto the jumpseat. "Love, it's okay, it'll pass." He leaned down to kiss her forehead before swiftly moving off to the console. As he walked, he tried to hide the inner panic he was experiencing. He had to remain calm, for Alex's sake if not his own. But it was easier said than done. His hearts were pounding, his blood jumping and thrashing nervously, and he felt like his brain was going to explode from trying to figure out what was making Alex act like this.

With more steadiness than seemed capable of him, the Doctor pulled the scanner around and started typing commands into it. "Come on, old girl," he murmured, fiddling with a knob. "Tell me what's wrong with her."

He glanced at Alex. She seemed to have subdued somewhat, but she was still shaking. Whether that was from the pain or because she was cold, he didn't know. Either way, he shrugged out of his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. Seeing his Ally grip onto the lapels tightly as the mysterious pain wracked her body, he leaned down and kissed the top of her forehead again. It was a poor act of comfort for the turmoil she was experiencing but it was all he could offer her at the moment.

A beep rang out from the console. The Doctor fairly flew over to the scanner. "Nothing wrong," he murmured. He blinked incoherently. Then the implication of those words hit him. "Nothing wrong?!" he shouted. He glared up at the ceiling. "NOTHING WRONG?!"

"Doctor."

"What the blasted hell do you mean, there's nothing wrong with her?!" the Doctor continued. He began pacing rapidly, still scowling upwards. "Did you not see how much pain she was in, huh?" He whirled around and gave the console a fierce Oncoming Storm glare. "Don't you care about her at all?!" With that, he swiftly kicked the underside of the console, letting out a pained shout right after.

"Doctor!" Alex cried.

The Doctor felt all the anger and frustration seep out of his system at Alex's shout. She was the only one who could ever calm him down, talk him out of a full-on rage, or keep him from doing something he would later regret. It was one of the many things he lov— . . . really,reallyliked about her.

He became aware that he was leaning over and clutching at his foot. So blinded by his rage that his brilliant ship hadn't figured out what was wrong with his Ally, he hadn't noticed the movements he was making. He looked up, his dark green eyes meeting Alex's honey-colored ones. They were so light and innocent, filled with none of the darkness and sorrow that were on the backburner in his. The honey-colored irises looked at him anxiously and worriedly, probably not even thinking about their own problems.

"Doc?" Alex tried again.

The Doctor sighed and limped over to her. "Sorry, Ally." He sank down next to her and carefully maneuvered her to where she was in his lap. He liked holding her in his lap. It made him feel so close to her and that by her being that close to him, she would be protected from all the dangers in the universe. This couldn't be further from the truth, but the Doctor chose to overlook that.

"You okay now?" Alex checked.

He let out a mirthless laugh. "I should be asking you that."

"Well, you're the more likely of us to have temper tantrums."

"Temper tantrums? I'm not a toddler!"

"Could've fooled me with the way you act sometimes."

"Oi!" But the Doctor couldn't help but smile and chuckle. "I see you're feeling better," he remarked. Truly she had to be since she was engaging him in banter.

"Yeah, the pain's stopped."

"Do you wanna go back to bed?"

Alex shook her head. While she was tired, she would rather not leave the comfortable, warm embrace of the Doctor's arms, or give up his equally warm and comfortable jacket. "Nah, I'm fine," she dismissed. She rested her head on his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I doubt I'd be able to fall asleep easily anyways."

The two were quiet for a few moments, both content to just sit there in silence, their arms wrapped around the person who mattered the most to them. Eventually though, Alex's curiosity prevailed. "Doctor, what's happening to me?" she whispered.

The Doctor let out a longwinded sigh. "I don't know, love. I have no idea. There's . . . I've never seen anything like it."

"Am I going to die?"

"Not on my watch," the Doctor vowed, his tone dark and unflinching, like he was making a non-negotiable agreement with the universe. He tugged her arms down from his neck so that he could place a finger under her chin and tilt it up, her eyes meeting his. "No, Alexandria Locke, you're going to live a very long, very happy, very wonderful life whether you like it or not."

Not long enough,Alex couldn't help but think, but she knew better than to say this out loud. The Doctor was doing a remarkable job at not moaning about her short lifespan and she wasn't about to make him start now. Instead, she said, "Well, as long as you're my doctor, I think I have a pretty good chance of that happening."

"Glad to hear that vote of confidence," the Doctor wryly remarked.Though I wish I didn't have to deal with this atop of Amy.

"What?!" Alex sat up straight, startling the Doctor to where he nearly caused her to fall off his lap. Alex looked at him frantically. "What do you mean Amy? What's wrong with Amy?"

The Doctor mentally swore as he realized he’d expressed his thoughts out loud. "Nothing, love," he attempted to dismiss. "Just general worry about my companions, is all."

Alex's eyes narrowed. She crossed her arms and stared him down. "Oh no, you arenotgetting out of this. Amy is one of my best friends and you are going to tell me what the problem is with her.Now."

The Doctor was silent for a few seconds, a small part of him coming up and then rejecting possible lies he could tell her to keep her from worrying. But the rest of him knew that Alex wouldn't believe anything he told her except the truth. He sighed, resigned. "Get up," he said, gently nudging her off his lap. "There's something I have to show you."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Alex stared at the scanner. No way, this couldn'tpossiblybe true . . . right?

"H-how?" she managed to question through her shock and bewilderment.

"I have no idea," the Doctor said honestly. He stared at Amy's pregnancy scan, which continued to alternate between POSITIVE and NEGATIVE.

"Hysterical pregnancy, maybe?" Alex suggested, remembering a plot line from a soap opera she had seen.

"The TARDIS factors into that possibility."

"Miscarriage?"

"It would tell me if there had been a miscarriage."

". . .broken?"

The Doctor shot her a look. "It'snotbroken!"

Alex sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Then I have no idea." She stepped closer to him, allowing him to wrap an arm around her shoulders and pull her into his side. She bit her lip worriedly. "Are you going to tell Amy and Rory about this?"

"I don't want to alarm them," the Doctor admitted. "Not until I know what's going on, at any rate." He sent Alex a significant look as he added, "And I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell them, either."

"I won't," she promised. The Doctor was right. Amy and Rory would just freak out if they saw the scan, and then who knows what would happen.

The Doctor smiled at her. "Thank you." He leaned down and dropped a kiss on her forehead.

The two were silent for a moment, both mulling over the latest problems that had presented themselves. Finally, Alex let out a little snort. "What was that?" the Doctor frowned, giving her a puzzled expression.

"Nothing, it's just. . ." Alex trailed off and paused, trying to figure out how to word her thoughts correctly. "Well, it's just that I bet you never expected both of your companions to be such trouble magnets."

"I have yet to find a companion thatisn'ta trouble magnet. Seriously, I think it's a universal law that 'all of the Doctor's companions must be trouble magnets'." He smiled while Alex giggled a little, her worried expression from a few moments ago disappearing completely. She was truly back to herself now. He waited until she had quieted before reaching down to tilt her chin up. Her light green eyes gazed into his dark ones. "Ally, Ipromiseyou, I'll find out what's going on with the both of you. I swear, even if it takes the rest of my life, I will."

Alex smiled. He was so dedicated to her. It still came as a pleasant shock to realize that. "I know," she murmured as she stood up on her tiptoes to reach his lips.

The Doctor leaned down so she wouldn't have to strain herself to reach him. He placed his hands on her hips, pulling her to where their chests were nearly touching. Slowly, as they didn't want to rush the moment, their lips came together. Like the kiss they had shared back at Abigail's family's house, this was a slow, gentle kiss, one that could be savored and enjoyed more thoroughly. Their eyes closed and they moved closer together, the Doctor's arms going around Alex's lower back and Alex's wrapping around his neck. They paused a few times for Alex to catch her breath, but it was a while before they parted completely.

"Feeling better?" the Doctor asked.

Alex quirked an eyebrow at him. "What makes you think I was feeling bad?"

"Ally, you always worry about Amy and Rory. You always put others before yourself." He tapped her lightly on the nose. "Something I disagree with when it comes to you, but I don't want to argue, so I'll drop it."

Alex chuckled. "Good, ‘cause I don't want to fight. And yeah, in all seriousness, I am still a bit anxious and worried."

The Doctor ran a hand through her hair and placed his other hand on her shoulder. The tense muscles relaxed immediately at his touch. Now he just had to work on her brain. "Well, it's a good thing I have something that can cheer you up."

He carefully maneuvered Alex back over to the jumpseat before rushing back to the console. He flung levers, flicked switches, and pressed a few buttons, piloting the TARDIS through the vortex. Alex gripped onto the railing, but there wasn't any need. The TARDIS was flying steadily now, not something that occurred very often.

A few moments later, the time machine stilled. Alex's body tensed in anticipation. "Where are we?" she asked eagerly.

The Doctor beamed and pulled her off the jumpseat. "Somewhere amazing," he said cryptically while he tugged her over to the doors. He paused for a moment so he could watch her face grow a little more impatient.

"Don't stand there gawking at me!" Alex cried after less than five seconds had passed. "Show me!" She bounced up and down a little. What did he have to show her? Whatever it was, she already knew she would like it.

Silently, the Doctor pushed open the doors. Alex turned and gasped. It wasamazingandgorgeousand so many other things!

The TARDIS was floating in outer space, though it didn't look like the typical black sky, white stars outer space Alex was familiar with. The sky outside was a mixture of pink, gold, and dark blue. Similarly colored dust was floating by. Out in the distance was a swirling mass of blue and yellow gas. A bunch of different sized rocks slowly floated towards it, while even further out in the distance was a bright yellow speck that Alex presumed to be a sun.

"Where are we?" she whispered, as to speak any louder seemed inappropriate.

The Doctor smirked to himself. He knew she would like this. "Well, the Big Bang occurred oh . . . a couple centuries ago?" He moved closer to her, placing a hand on the doorframe above her head. "The solar system's just starting to form."

Alex stared at him, wide-eyed. "You mean. . .?" She trailed off and pointed outside. "That's. . ."

"The Milky Way galaxy," the Doctor confirmed, nodding sagely. "Or it will be anyway."

"Wow." Alex shook her head, still unable to believe it. She had seen many marvelous things traveling with the Doctor, but this took the cake. "It'sbeautiful."

"I've always thought so. But I believe it even more beautiful now."

"Why's that?"

The Doctor looked her right in the eye and Alex knew that what he was about to say was serious and the total truth. "Because, my dear Ally, somewhere out in that forming mass of gas, are teeny tiny atoms that will, one day, a billion, billion years from now, come together to form . . . you."

Alex couldn't help but blush heavily. "You really think that?" she murmured, a bit of surprised giggling bleeding through her words.

"Iknow," he swore. He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I'm a doctor, aren't I?"

Alex laughed. "No one's ever felt so strongly for me before," she admitted quietly.

"Then they didn't know what they were missing out on, did they?" the Doctor commented. He bent down and pressed a kiss to her lips. "You are unique in the universe, love," he whispered, like he was divulging a great secret. "There is only one Alexandria Locke. And there will never be another."

Alex said nothing. Instead, she smiled and leaned forward. She wrapped her arms around him, feeling him do the same to her, and rested her head against his chest. She felt so safe and protected in his arms, even from the mysterious pain that could strike her body at any moment. In his arms, Alex forgot about the worries, anxiety, and wondering from the past few minutes. Instead, she stared out at the forming galaxy before her which, somewhere, contained bits and pieces of not only her, but the man before her, the man she loved with all her heart.

Chapter 12: Touched by an Angel Part 1

Chapter Text

April 10th, 2003

Slosh-thwack! Slosh-thwack! Slosh-thwack!

The rain splattered against the windshield before the wipers swiped the glass clean, patting the water down into a splashy trough above the dashboard. Beyond, the car headlights picked out the narrow country lane rolling out of the darkness, the high hedges on either side giving it the feel of driving through a tunnel.

Rebecca rubbed her forehead. Another headache. Probably due to the idiot who had spent the last five miles behind her, his headlights blazing away in her rear-view mirror. Or exhaustion from driving non-stop from London. There was definitely no other reason for her headache. Okay, so she'd been having them almost daily since the accident, but that was no reason to go and see a doctor, no matter what Mark said.

Rebecca felt a flush of anger. Mark should be with her now, paying the traditional bi-monthly visit to her parents in Chilbury. He had an excuse, of course; he always had an excuse. There was a crisis at work, and he had volunteered to work late to sort it out, as usual.

Slosh-thwack! Slosh-thwack! Slosh-thwack!

The radio hissed as it lost the signal forThe World Tonight. It didn't really matter though. Rebecca already knew what the news would be. Everyone did. It would be all about the invasion of Iraq. The television news had been full of nothing else for weeks; journalists in flak jackets reporting live from hotel rooms, interspersed with infra-red footage of green blobs flashing back and forth over a burning city. It was like watching someone commentating on a computer game.

Today's big story had been about American soldiers pulling down a statue of Saddam Hussein in some dusty town square while the reporter burbled excitedly about it being a momentous event in history. Seeing the footage of the conquering heroes draping their flag over the fallen statue made Rebecca feel sick and ashamed. They'd be handing out chocolate bars next.

Slosh-thwack! Slosh-thwack! Slosh-thwack!

Rebecca twisted the dial for Radio 1. A plaintive piano riff emerged from the speakers, introducingBeautifulby Christina Aguilera. Rebecca left the song playing; it suited her mood and wouldn't distract her from driving.

Slosh-thwack! Slosh-thwack! Slosh-thwack!

Approaching a sharp left turn, Rebecca changed down to second gear. She turned the corner, only to be suddenly confronted by two brilliant shining lights bearing down upon her.

A horn blared out like a monster's roar. Instinctively, Rebecca wrenched the steering wheel to the left to avoid the oncoming heavy goods lorry. The left-hand side of her car went into the hedges, leaves and brambles scraping along the side. Her heart pounding, Rebecca remembered, too late, to apply the brakes.

The front of her car smashed into the grille of the lorry and the windshield shattered into a million beads of glass. The impact threw Rebecca forward, her seatbelt tightening so much it crushed the wind out of her lungs. Barely a second later, Rebecca found herself being thrown to the side as her car rolled over. Rebecca had a brief sense memory of being on a theme park roller-coaster ride. She had never liked roller-coaster rides.

Her only other thought was to observe with wry amusem*nt that this was like something out ofCasualty.

The next thing she knew, she was lying in her seat, gazing across a muddy field. Lying in her seat? Further observation revealed that her seat had been upturned and that her weight currently rested on her back. But if she was still inside the car, why could she feel the rain upon her face? She couldn't feel any pain though, which was a relief.

Rebecca cursed herself. How many times had her mother moaned on the telephone about lorries using the village as a shortcut, even though the council had installed speed cameras? It was an accident waiting to happen, she'd said. Turned out she'd been right.

Rebecca wondered why everything in the field had an orange hue, as though lit by a streetlamp. A second later, everything went dark, before lighting up again with the same orange hue. The lorry must have activated its warning lights. What had happened to the lorry driver? For a moment, Rebecca hoped that he'd been hurt, it would serve him right, before banishing the thought. She'd been very lucky not to be injured.

But if she was okay, why couldn't she move? Rebecca tried wriggling in her seat; her seatbelt was so tight she could hardly breathe. But nothing happened. She wanted to wipe the rain out of her eyes, but for some reason her hands didn't respond. She began to wonder whether she might have been hurt after all.

Outside the car, the orange light blinked back on.

Now that was weird. About six meters away, in the field, stood a statue, like might be found in a graveyard or a Roman museum. The statue was of a young woman with coiled hair wearing a flowing robe. It had two wings. An angel. The statue stood hunched, burying its head in its hands as though crying. To add to the effect, rain trickled from between its fingers.

The light blinked off, returning Rebecca to blackness. She thought briefly of bonfires, of Guy Fawkes Night and toffee apples. Why was she thinking about bonfires? And then she realized she could smell something burning.

The orange light blinked on again. Rebecca couldn't be sure, but hadn't the statue been holding its head in its hands? Because now it was looking towards her with black, pupil-less eyes.

There was darkness again. Then orange light.

The statue had moved closer now. Still staring at her with its impassive, stony eyes. Its mouth was now slightly open, as though drawing in breath to speak.

Darkness. Orange light.

It now stood only two meters away. It filled her view, looming over her.

Caught in the flickering glow of a fire, thick black smoke billowing around it, its expression had changed to a snarl of hunger. Its lips had drawn back to reveal rows of sharp fangs, like those of a bat. It reached towards her with outstretched hands, its long fingernails like talons.

But this was impossible, Rebecca thought. It wasn't moving.It wasn't moving.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

October 7th, 2011

Toby Murray was a difficult man to like, at least in Mark's opinion. Well, to be honest, this was an opinion held by pretty much everyone who had met Toby. He had a pudgy, red face, he was flabby and sweaty, and he affected a very bad East End accent.

"We wanna win this one, Mark. We wanna take 'em dahn."

Mark sighed. This wasn'tLaw and Order, this was a routine piece of contract law. He'd only taken it on because Toby's employers were one of Pollard, Boyce & Whitaker's most prestigious clients, and because Toby had, rather pathetically, insisted on dealing with a senior partner. But if Toby wanted to be fed a load of high-powered gibberish, Mark would be only too happy to provide.

"Nevertheless, I recommend we pick our battles carefully," Mark said. "Find as many areas of common ground as we can, because at the moment our position is about as solid as a soufflé."

"So, what are you saying? What's our next move?"

"Make an audit of every contract, all the ones that have been fulfilled, all the ones that haven't. I need points of contact, dates, emails, and paper trails, everything you can give me."

Toby nodded and stood up. "You'll have it next Monday," he promised.

Mark pressed the button to summon his personal assistant. "Take as long as it takes."

Toby glanced around the room, his eyes resting on the photograph that Mark kept on the shelf opposite his desk. Toby whistled as he picked it up. "Who's the babe?"

The photograph in question showed Rebecca perched on the balcony of their hotel room in Rome. The morning sun shone in her hair like a halo and gave her skin a golden glow. Her eyes were wide and impossibly blue, a contented smile curled across her lips.

"My, ah, wife," Mark replied, feeling a sudden flush of anger. "If you could just put that back. . ."

"The missus? Bit young, ain't she? Well done!"

"It was taken a while ago, if you could just put it back—"

"Oh, got you." Toby returned the photograph to the shelf. "Former glories. Mine's the same. Second you stick a ring on their finger, they start to inflate. It's like there's a valve."

Thankfully, at that moment, Siobhan appeared in the doorway. "All done, Mr. Whitaker?"

"I think so," Mark curtly answered. "Mr. Murray has important business to attend to, no doubt."

Mark offered his hand to Toby. Toby clasped it and attempted to crush Mark's fingers. Toby was one of those men who felt it important to establish he was the Alpha Male.

"Laters, mate," Toby said, releasing him.

Siobhan guided Toby out of the office before returning and closing the door so they wouldn't be disturbed. "Are you all right?"

"What?" Mark said, rubbing some feeling back into his fingers.

"Only I heard you mention your wife."

"Oh. Toby was just checking out the photo of her, that's all."

"I see." Siobhan was an attractive, dark-skinned woman in her forties, a lethal combination of a gentle smile and a no-nonsense attitude. She studied the photograph of Rebecca. "She looks very happy."

"She was," Mark confirmed proudly. "That was taken the morning after we first got together."

Siobhan turned to give Mark a concerned look. "How long has it been now, since the accident? Eight years?"

"Yes," Mark answered, avoiding her gaze by glancing out of his window at the rush-hour traffic on the Croydon flyover. Gray clouds filled the gloomy sky. It got dark so quickly these days.

"Eight years. That's a long time for you to still be torturing herself. Rebecca wouldn't want that."

"You don't know what Rebecca would want."

"She'd want you to be happy. Rather than using what happened as an excuse to be miserable."

"An excuse?"

"You should get out more. Meet new people. Women. Single,alivewomen."

"Is this about Charlotte?" Two weeks ago, Mark had gone on a date with Siobhan's friend Charlotte, an attractive, friendly woman whose idea of a good night out sadly did not extend to spending three hours in a wine bar listening to her date talk about his dead wife.

"Not necessarily," Siobhan answered. "I have other friends. There's Susannah, Joanne—"

"Thanks, but no thanks. Was there anything else?"

"Only this." Siobhan slid a battered, padded envelope about the size of a paperback across his desk. Mark picked it up. His name and today's date were scrawled on the front:MARK WHITAKER. 7/10/2011.

"Has this just come in?" Mark asked, turning over the envelope.

"No. Bit weird, actually. Apparently, it's been gathering dust in the archive for the last eight years with strict instructions that it should be delivered to you on this date."

"Eight years?"

"A mystery package, eh? Well, are you gonna open it?"

Mark ran a finger over the flap where the envelope had been stapled shut. Something about this envelope made him uneasy. His back suddenly felt as cold as a gravestone. "No," he said. "If it's waited eight years, a few more hours won't hurt."

Then he realized what was odd about the envelope. The name on the front was written in his own handwriting.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

It had gone eight by the time he made his way down to reception. If anybody else had stayed behind in the office, they'd have thought he was working late, when in fact he'd spent the last hour playing Killer Sudoku's on the computer. Putting off the moment when he'd have to step out into the wind and the rain and begin the drive back to his cold, empty flat.

"Night, Mr. Whitaker, sir," said Ron, the overnight security guard.

Mark nodded to avoid engaging Ron in conversation, because then he would have to ask about Ron's children, and he couldn't for the life of him remember their names.

"Lovely weather, eh?" Ron commented, indicating the street outside. The windows and glass doors had misted up, making the streetlights look like smudges in the darkness.

"Yeah, well, goodnight, Ron," Mark called quickly. But before he turned to go, he glanced at the closed-circuit television on Ron's desk. Something had caught his eye. The black-and-white screen showed the reception area, facing out towards the street. Where someone stood peering in through one of the doors, their face almost touching the glass. As though waiting to come in. Mark turned to look at the door, but there was nobody there. He turned back to the monitor on Ron's desk, but it had flicked over to show a view of one of the office stairwells. When it flicked back to the view of the reception area, there was no longer a face at the door.

Ron paused as he turned the page of hisDaily Mirror. "Was there something, sir?"

"No, no, nothing." Mark buttoned up his coat and headed out into the night, taking care to use a different door from the one in which he had seen the marble-white, staring face.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

The rain eased off to a drizzle as Mark pulled into the gas station. Pulling his coat tightly around him, he stepped into the freezing night and glugged thirty pounds of unleaded into the tank. He started to walk towards the shop to pay when he remembered the envelope, which he'd placed on the passenger seat. For all he knew, it might contain confidential legal documents and was not the sort of thing he should leave unattended.

Mark returned to his car and studied the envelope under the forecourt light. The name on the front definitely looked like his handwriting, but that didn't mean anything; someone else could have similar handwriting to him. But he was intrigued as to why anyone would leave an envelope with instructions for it to only be delivered eight years later. And why 7/10/2011? What was so important about that date? Mark poked a finger under the flap and tore it open, just enough to see inside.

The envelope contained at least a hundred neatly folded fifty-pound notes, with several sheets of paper wrapped around them.

Siobhan had been right, it was a real mystery. But it would have to wait. Mark stowed the envelope into his coat pocket, locked his car, and made his way into the shop.

It was one of those gas station shops that was like a small supermarket, selling newspapers, magazines, and microwaved sausage rolls. There were no other customers. Mark hurried to the counter to be served by a young Asian who didn't look up from his smartphone. "Thirty quid."

Mark slotted his card into the chip-and-pin and typed in his number. As he waited for the machine to respond, he glanced over the attendant's shoulder at a monitor showing the output of the gas station's closed-circuit cameras. The screen showed a view from a point above the counter, looking down into the shop. Mark could see the attendant and himself at the counter in grainy, flickering black-and-white. And behind him, at the end of the aisle near the door, stood a statue of an angel.

That was ridiculous. If there'd been a statue by the door, he'd have noticed it on his way in. Mark frowned at the picture on the screen. It was an old statue, its surface crumbling and pitted. It stood hunched, holding its face in its hands.

Mark turned to look back down the aisle. It was empty. Where the statue had stood – where the statue should have been standing – there was just shiny, wet floor.

Mark returned his gaze to the monitor and shuddered. The statue was still there, at the end of the aisle. But hadn't it been standing further away? And hadn't it been holding its head in its hands? Because now it seemed to have moved a meter or so towards him, and had lowered its hands, cupping them as though in prayer.

He turned to look back down the aisle once more. It was still empty. No statue, nothing.

He looked back at the monitor. The statue had moved again. It was looking up, directly into the camera lens. Looking athim. With staring, black eyes and a slightly parted mouth. And a couple of meters in front of it, he could see himself, standing at the counter, looking up at the monitor, and the attendant, still tapping away on his smartphone, oblivious to the strange goings-on happening just behind him.

The PIN machine beeped, and the attendant tore off Mark's receipt. Mark mumbled some thanks and turned to go. Thankfully, the shop was still empty. His heart thudding, Mark hurried out of the shop, taking care to avoid the aisle where the statue had been standing.

He sprinted back to the safety of his car and slammed the door shut. He was just overtired, that was it. That was the only possible explanation.

It was with some apprehension that Mark checked the car's rear-view mirror. But there was nothing there, nothing sitting on the passenger seat behind him, nothing standing in the forecourt. He was alone.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

After parking near his flat in Bromley, Mark headed to the high street to get some dinner. Huddling himself into his coat, he trudged down the road, his eyes fixed on the pavement to avoid the puddles. An ambulance siren whined in the distance, but apart from that, he could have been the only man alive on the planet.

Mark hurried on to the Taste Of The Orient. Inside, it was dry and warm and smelt of sizzled rice. A couple of kids sat by the window, chatting. A petite Chinese girl emerged from the kitchen and took Mark's order: sweet-and-sour pork, egg-fried rice. Mark paid her with the last ten-pound note in his wallet.

Mark glanced around for something to occupy his attention. Mounted on the wall behind the counter, a monitor showed the output on a closed-circuit camera. It showed the entrance of the Chinese restaurant, the couple by the window, and Mark.

And standing right behind him, there was the statue of the angel, the same one from the gas station. But now it was reaching towards Mark's back with an outstretched bare arm.

Mark felt an icy shiver and, holding his breath, turned to look behind him. There was nothing there, just the rain-streaked window of the takeaway.

He turned to look back up at the monitor. The statue had taken another step closer. It was still reaching towards him. On the screen, Mark could see the coils carved for the angel's hair, the feathers in its wings, and its unseeing, blank eyes. And he could see himself at the counter, looking up at the monitor. The statue's fingers were almost brushing the back of his neck.

Choking with terror, Mark lunged towards the door of the Chinese takeaway, shoved it open, and stumbled into the darkness, the icy wind biting his face. Not daring to look back, he ran down the high street, running so fast his stomach ached.

He had to get home. He would be safe there, safe from . . . safe from whatever this thing was.

Mark slowed to a jog, his heart thumping in protest, and continued down the high street. Past the bookmaker's. Past the Halal butchers. Past the hi-fi shop—

Suddenly all the televisions in the shop window flickered into life. It had a video camera as part of the window display, a camera that was now pointing at Mark. He could see himself on the screens; the same image repeated, over and over again, of him staring into the window.

The statue was right behind him, reaching for his neck, its mouth open to reveal hideous jagged teeth.

"Don't look back. Don't turn around, don't close your eyes, and whatever you do,don't look back!"

The voice came from behind Mark. It sounded like the voice of a young man but with the authority of someone much older.

"What?" Mark blurted, frozen to the spot.

"Keep your eyes on the screen! It's vitally important you don't let it touch you."

"And how do I do that?"

"It's quantum-locked," a new voice explained. This one was female, young, and had an American accent. Southern by the sound of it. "It can only move if somebody isn't looking at it."

"Quantum-locked?" Mark repeated.

"You know, the Heisenberg uncertainty principle," the first voice elaborated. "The very act of observation affects the nature of the object being observed. Amy, Rory. Keep watching the screens. Take turns blinking."

"Righty-ho," a girl with a Scottish accent said from behind Mark's left ear.

"Watch the televisions, got you, no problem," a young man nervously babbled.

"And try not to blink at the same time," the American girl advised. "I really don't want a repeat of what happened last time."

"Neither do I," the Scottish girl agreed, the tremble in her voice suggesting that she was shuddering.

"Good point, Ally," the voice of authority complimented. "That would be utterly disastrous. Good."

"Thank you, Doc," the girl now identified as Ally giggled.

"Oi!" the Scottish girl snapped. "No flirting! At least, not right now."

"Sorry."

"Now," the voice of authority hastily jumped back in, "bloke-watching-himself-on-the-television, move forward. Very slowly."

Mark swallowed and stepped forward until his nose was nearly touching the shop window.

"Good. Now take two steps to your right.Slowly!"

Mark took two steps to the right, watching himself on the television screens as he edged out of reach of the angel. "What is that thing?" he asked.

"It's a kind of . . . temporal scavenger. Or a predator. One of the two."

"Or both," Ally suggested, sounding pretty firm about this.

"Rory, I'm going to blink . . . now!" the Scottish girl cried.

"But it's made of stone," Mark argued.

"Defense mechanism," said the voice of authority. "You see, you can't kill a stone."

"Can't you?"

"Well, nobody's attempted it and lived."

"Frankly, I've never understood why you couldn't just take a sledgehammer to it," Ally admitted. "Seems to me that would work pretty effectively."

The voice of authority sighed in what sounded like patient exasperation. "No, Ally, that wouldn't work. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't react well to getting bits of it chopped off."

"Amy, I'm gonna blink . . . now!"

"Okay, it's safe to look back now," the voice of authority said reassuringly.

Taking a deep breath, Mark turned around to see a tall, pretty girl with long fiery hair and a young man with a prominent nose and a woolly chullo hat, both staring attentively at the window. Beside them stood a handsome young man with angular cheekbones and thick brown hair swept up into a fringe. With his tweed jacket and bowtie, he looked like he was on his way to a costume party as Albert Einstein. Standing next to him, practically nestled into his side, was a very attractive young woman with brown-blonde hair and bright hazel eyes. She was wearing a sequined gold tank-top, skinny jeans, a black leather jacket, black kitten-heeled boots, large gold hoop earrings, a couple of cheetah-print bracelets, and a necklace with a glittery, jeweled charm in the shape of an old-fashioned police telephone box. She looked ready for a night of clubbing, not for an evening standing around, helping a man escape a weird statue that kept following him.

Speaking of which. . . There was no sign of the statue. "But there . . . there's nothing here!" Mark stammered.

"No." The man in the tweed jacket had a device like an old-fashioned tape recorder slung over one shoulder and he twirled a stubby, torch-like device in his hand like a pop star performing a trick with a microphone. He leveled the device at the window, and it emitted a high-pitched drone and glowed green. "No, thisparticularWeeping Angel has no corporeal form."

"What does that mean?"

"It means it only exists within the televisions."

"Withineverytelevision," the girl beside him – Ally – clarified.

"That which holds the image of an Angel becomes itself an Angel."

"So it can't come out of the screen and get us?" the girl with the red hair checked.

"Again?" Ally added.

"Rory, I'm going to blink . . . now!"

"No, don't think so," the first man said. "It must be very weak, running on fumes."

"But it can still touch me?" Mark asked.

"If you're being looked at by a camera, yes. It's on the screen, your image is on the screen, so it can make contact with your image, and thus . . . you."

"Amy, I'm gonna blink . . . now!"

"Who are you?" Mark questioned. "And how do you know so much about these things?"

"I'm the man who's going to save your life."

Ally sent him a sharp look. "We'regoing to save your life. All four of us." She smiled at Mark. "Hi, I'm Alex."

"And you can call methe Doctor."

"The Doctor?" Mark repeated. What kind of a name was that?

"And in answer to your second question, I've met the Weeping Angels before. I detected this one usingthis." The Doctor indicated the old-fashioned tape recorder. "Whenever the space-time continuum goes wibbly, it lights up." He tapped the recorder in frustration. "Or it would do if the bulb worked. It also boils eggs. That's not a fault, it's a feature."

"Liar," Alex accused.

"Rory, I'm going to blink . . . now!"

"Strange thing is, the Angel isn't the source of the wobbliness," the Doctor commented. "No. It'syou."

"Me?"

Alex tilted her head at Mark, her eyes suddenly switching from a calm, soothing green to a dark chocolate brown. "Yes, it must've chosen you for a reason." Then, apparently seeing Mark's look of shock on her eyes changing color, she added, "And yes, my eyes do that."

"Good thought, Ally," the Doctor complimented. He peered at Mark. "I wonderwhy. What's so great about you?"

"Nothing," Mark remarked. "So what you're saying is, that thing's after me, and you don't know why?"

"No. Haven't the slightest idea!" The Doctor seemed oddly thrilled about that. Alex shook her head at him, though Mark noticed that she did it a little fondly.

"But if it can't be killed . . . how do I get away from it?"

Alex winced a little. "You can't."

"But if I run—"

"This whole street is covered by security cameras," the Doctor interjected. "You'd never make it."

"Rory, shouldn't you be telling me it's my turn to blink now?" Amy asked. Alex's eyes widened.

"What? Oh," Rory gulped. "Sorry, um, I thought it was my turn. . ."

And then Mark realized that Amy and Rory were looking at each-other and not the window.

Mark turned. On all the televisions, he could see himself, the Doctor, Alex, Rory, and Amy – and the Angel, frozen as it lunged towards his back, its face contorted into a grimace of rage. Another second and it would have made contact.

Panic took over. Mark stumbled backwards, turning away from the Angel, and broke into a run. He heard the Doctor and his friends shouting after him, but it was no good. He had to get away.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

He'd made it. He'd actually made it! He could see the block of flats where he lived, the front doorway bathed in the glow of an electric light.

Mark gasped for breath. He'd sprinted down the high street, feeling suddenly and terribly conscious of every security camera. They were everywhere, mounted high on walls and lamp-posts, all staring downwards with unblinking glass eyes. To avoid being caught, he'd taken a long route home to avoid garages and illuminated shops. He'd even hidden from a passing double-decker bus. They had cameras on buses now, didn't they?

But he was okay. Cold and wet, but okay. Mark hurried up the concrete steps to the entrance, past the garden and the recycling bins, until at last he reached the door. He dug out his keys from his coat, found the one for the door, and slid it in the lock. And then he realized.

There was a camera looking directly at him. The camera of the door's videophone.

Something as cold as marble touched the back of his neck.

For a split second, Mark could see his horrified reflection, and that of the Angel behind him, its hand on his neck, its jaws wide open and its tongue extended, as thought about to bite.

And then he was gone.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Rory and Amy struggled to keep up with the Doctor as he dashed through the gloomy, rain-soaked backstreets, Alex by his side and his wibble-detector held in front of him. "This way! Hurry!"

Rory had no idea where they were. They'd been running through identical housing estates for fifteen minutes and he'd lost all sense of direction.

"Here!" The Doctor halted, circled on the spot, and indicated a block of flats set back from the road. They looked perfectly ordinary to Rory, except that by the entrance he could see the statue of an Angel, its body hunched, holding its face in its hands.

"What's happened?" he asked. "Something bad, right?"

"Quiet." The Doctor advanced on the statue like a naturalist creeping up on a lion. Alex stood behind him, warily watching as the Doctor calmly and steadily made his way up the steps towards it.

"Be careful, Doc!" she called.

The Doctor gave her aDon't-worry-Ally-I'm-a-professionallook, then stooped to examine the Angel. It didn't move. He buzzed it experimentally with his sonic screwdriver and tried covering his own eyes, as though playing peek-a-boo, but nothing happened. He tapped it on the wing. A chunk of it crumbled to dust under his fingers. "It's safe, I think."

"How safe?" Amy asked.

"As safe as a doornail."

"But I thought you said these things fed on, what was it, potential time energy?" Rory said as he and Alex followed Amy to the Doctor's side. Amy had told him a little bit about the Weeping Angels from where she'd encountered them before, but not much. She had said it was an experience she really didn't want to look back on.

"All the life left unlived," the Doctor muttered. "Normally, they zap people back in time, whoosh, that's how they get their five-a-day."

"Normally?"

"Whereas in this case, this Angelused upits last reserves of energy to send its victim into the past. Sacrificing itself, like a bee dying after its sting. But not like a bee at all. No, now it's more like a garden ornament." As the Doctor spoke, one of the Angel's arms broke off, followed by both the wings, before the Angel toppled forward, smashing itself to pieces with a heavy crash.

"But why do that?" Amy wondered, regarding the debris warily. "Why kill itself rather than feed?"

"Maybe it couldn't," the Doctor guessed as he dusted off his jacket and trousers.

Alex knelt to examine the dusty debris. Very carefully, she reached out and picked up some dust, rubbing it between her fingers. "Or a new type of Weeping Angel?" she proposed.

"You mean they come in different varieties now?!" Amy shrieked. "Oh,great!"

"It must've been drawn to its prey . . . like a moth to a flame." The Doctor's eyes widened in delight. "Hang on! That analogy made sense. My analogies never make sense. I must write it down. Rory, write it down for me!"

"I'm not your secretary, Doctor," Rory said patiently.

"No? Only there is a vacancy, yours if you want it."

"Get your girlfriend to do it."

Alex jumped up and fixed the Doctor with a hard stare. "Before you open your mouth, let's get something straight right now. Idon'twrite notes for you."

"Never said you would, Ally," the Doctor said smoothly. The Ponds exchanged a look, noticing that neither the Doctor nor Alex had taken offense to the label of 'girlfriend'.

Knowing they needed to get back on track, Rory started to say something, only to spot a set of keys hanging from the lock of the door. He took them for safekeeping. "Shouldn't we be more worried about the guy it zapped?" he asked, pulling the couple back to the situation at hand. "Find out where he is?"

"Not really a question ofwhere," the Doctor smiled. "More a question ofwhen." He adjusted his wibble-detector. "Yes! A residual time trace. Fading fast but weshouldbe able to follow it. Come on!"

"Shouldn't we find out who he is first?" Rory asked. "We don't even know his name." He jangled the keys in his hand.

"What do you suggest?" the Doctor snapped in exasperation. "We try those keys in every door in the building until we find out which flat belongs to him?"

"Yes."

"There isn't time."

"I could do it, while you go off and do your time-trace thing. And then, once you know where – and when – he is, you can pop back here and pick me up."

"That's aterribleidea."

No, it's not!Alex thought. Sometimes, she was truly amazed at how ignorant the Doctor could be on some things. She was about to protest his statement, only to see that he was currently lost in thought, which could only mean one thing.

He grinned. "No, actually, that's anexcellentidea!"

Alex sighed and turned to Rory. "You sure you're okay with this?"

"You know me," Rory shrugged. "Anything to help."

"We do know you," the Doctor confirmed, "that isabsolutelycorrect, but nevertheless you remain disconcertingly full of surprises. Very good. I'll be back here in exactly one hour." He grabbed Alex's hand. "Come on, girls! We have a time trace to follow!"

Alex waved while Amy gave Rory a sympathetic smile and a squeeze, before both went off with the Doctor.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

The statue had vanished. One second it had been touching his neck. The next, it wasn't there.

Mark sighed with relief and reached down to turn the door key, only to find that had also disappeared. He checked, but his keys hadn't fallen to the ground.

Looking around, Mark noticed that it had stopped raining. In fact, the pavement and roads were completely dry. The sky, rather than dark and overcast, had become a clear, early-evening blue, with a full moon.

Mark checked his pockets. Still no keys. Oh well, he'd given a spare to Mrs. Levenson in Flat 12. Mark rang her doorbell.

"Yes?" replied a young female voice through the crackle.

"It's Mark."

"Mark?"

"I've locked myself out. Can you buzz me in please?"

"Did you say Mark?"

"Yes. From next door?"

"No Mark next door."

"Mrs. Levenson, it's me, you can see me on the video thing."

"You have wrong flat. No Mrs. Levenson here."

The intercom went dead. Mark swore under his breath and, taking care he'd got the right one, pressed the 12 button again.

"Go away please, you have wrong flat." The woman had a Spanish accent, or something close to it.

"I live in number 11. Mark Whitaker. I don't know who you are, but—"

"No Mark Whitaker in number 11. Number 11 Mr. and Mrs. Ramprakash."

"Look, can I speak to Mrs. Levenson please?"

"I told you. No Mrs. Levenson here. Go away now, please, or I will call police."

The intercom went dead. Mark considered trying another flat, but no one else would have a key. He'd have to call Mrs. Levenson on his mobile. Which he'd left in his car.

With a growing sense of unease, Mark set off for the street where he'd parked. As he walked, he heard the sound of birds chirping, like on a warm summer evening.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Rory tried the key to the door of number 12 and gave it a jiggle. Nope. He moved quietly on as a burst of studio audience laughter came from the other side of the door.

Number 11. Jiggle. The door swung open to reveal a hallway. Some envelopes slithered on the doormat. Rory stopped to pick them up.

"Hello, can I help you?"

"Wh-what?" Rory gave a guilty gasp. An extremely short, round, elderly woman stood in the doorway of number 12. She glared at him through thick, pink-rimmed glasses.

"Hi, er, yes," Rory stuttered. 'I'm a friend of the, um, bloke who lives here."

The woman regarded him suspiciously. "Afriend?"

"Yeah. From work. He asked me to pop in and get a . . . thing."

"Mr. Whitaker doesn't have friends."

"Doesn't he? Right. And you call him Mr. Whitaker." Rory glanced at the front of one of the envelopes. "Mark Whitaker." Rory straightened up. "You might be able to do me a favor, actually. Only we're a bit concerned about Mark at work. We think he might be in some kind of trouble, but you know old Mark, plays his cards close to his chest. So, if he's mentioned anything, anything at all?"

The woman only stared at Rory, sizing him up. "You're a friend from work?"

"Look, he'd hardly give me his key and ask me to pop into his flat to get him a . . . thing if we didn't know each-other, would he?" Rory gave her the same reassuring smile he reserved for elderly patients at the hospital in Leadworth. "I tell you what. Why don't you come in with me? I'll make you a nice cup of tea, we'll have a sit down, and a bit of chat. Five minutes, that's all."

The woman sucked her teeth. "I suppose that would be all right . . . I am also worried about Mr. Whitaker. He is, I think, a very lonely man." She collected her keys and locked her door.

Rory led the woman into the kitchen of number 11 and began to search the cupboards for tea.

"The name's Rory, by the way. Rory Williams. You're?"

"Mrs. Levenson."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

His car had been stolen. Or at least, it wasn't where he'd left it.

Mark was a little shaken, but after the rest of the evening's events, he didn't have the energy to get annoyed. He considered finding a phone booth to call the police, but something made him decide against it. That Doctor, his girlfriend – for after the way they'd been acting, what else could she be? – and their two friends, they had something to do with this. Something to do with Mrs. Levenson not being in Flat 12. He'd find the Doctor and Alex, get them to explain.

He returned to the electrical goods shop where he'd met the Doctor and Alex, but there was no trace of them. Peering in the shop window, it took a while for him to register what was wrong about the television sets on display. They had all been widescreen and HD, but now they were the old, square type. And the shop sold video recorders? Who the hell sold video recorders these days? Mark looked up at the shop sign.Dixons. But there weren't any Dixons anymore.

Mark kept walking, his mind a whirl, past the video rental store – wait, hadn't that been a fried chicken restaurant? The posters in the window advertisedMrs. DoubtfireandGroundhog Day. The butchers was still there, and the bookmaker's, but instead of the Taste Of The Orient, there now stood a greasy-spoon café.

Exhausted and hungry, Mark entered the greasy-spoon and leaned on the counter. The menu chalked on the blackboard included a cup of tea for 40p and a bacon sandwich for a quid. Mark gave his order to the café owner, a tired-looking man in his sixties, then sat down at a table where somebody had left a copy ofThe Sun. According to the front page, Bobby Charlton had just been given a knighthood.

The date at the top of the page read10 June 1994.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

"1994?" Amy and Alex repeated.

The Doctor darted around the console, adjusting the controls as if trying to achieve a high-score on a pinball machine. The floor juddered and swayed and Amy and Alex clung to one of the railings around the console to keep from falling to the level below. "1994," the Doctor confirmed. "Just over seventeen years into the past. Which isodd."

"Odd, in what sense?" Amy asked.

"The Angels usually send their victims forty, fifty, a hundred years into the past," the Doctor gabbled in a rush of enthusiasm.

Alex nodded along. "That makes sense. It keeps their victims somewhere safe, where any minor alterations they make will get absorbed by established history."

"Exactly, Ally!" the Doctor beamed. He was quite pleased she could keep up with him, even when they were now officially dating.

"Oh, right," Amy nodded, trying hard to sound knowledgeable. "Time can be rewritten!"

"Timecan, as you say, be rewritten," the Doctor affirmed. "Insignificant details can be changed, so long as the big picture remains more or less the same. Imagine time as being a great big carpet. Or, on second thoughts, don't."

"But you two said this Angel was different," Amy reminded him, pointing at him and Alex.

"Yes," Alex said as the Doctor peered at the central rotor, tensing his fingers in preparation for a landing. "It's sent him back to a pointwithinhis own lifetime."

"Which is very, very bad news indeed," the Doctor finished.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Mark leafed through the newspaper. There were a couple of pages on the forthcoming European elections and speculation as to whether John Prescott or Tony Blair would be the next leader of the Labor Party. As Mark read, a bass-heavy reggae track played on the radio.

Somehow, he'd traveled in time. It was impossible, utterly impossible, but there was no other explanation for it. Ever since he'd felt the touch of that statue, he'd been walking around in 1994. It felt strange, almost dreamlike. And yet soreal, somundane. If it was a dream, he would hardly be able to read advertisem*nts for washing machines or taste the bitterness of the tea. And besides, if it was a dream, his feet wouldn't still hurt from the run to his flat.

So the next question was, what was he going to do? Would he ever get back to his own time? For all he knew, he was stuck here permanently. He'd have to get a job, find somewhere to live. First things first, he'd have to find somewhere to sleep tonight.

The café owner coughed and indicated the clock. It had gone eleven. "Closing up, mate."

Mark rummaged in his pockets for some change and dropped it in the saucer on the counter. "Cheers. Thanks." Behind the counter was a black-and-white monitor showing the output of the café's closed-circuit cameras. On the screen, Mark could see himself and the café owner, but thankfully no statue.

"What's this?" the café owner cried, inspecting the contents of the saucer. "Atwo-poundcoin?"

"What's the problem?"

"Problemis, we don't take made-up money here. What is this, Scottish? Haven't you got anything else?"

Mark checked his wallet. He had a credit card and a debit card. For a moment he considered asking the owner if he could use it to pay, before he realized that chip-and-PIN hadn't been invented yet. Mark patted down his coat and his hand rested on the bulge of the padded envelope.

It wasn't his money. But if he replaced it as soon as he had the chance, that would hardly be stealing, would it? Mark opened the envelope and removed a fifty-pound note. "Here, sorry."

The owner held it up to check the watermark. "You're lucky we've had a good day. Give us a minute." He opened the till and dug out £48.60 in five and ten-pound notes and coins, creating a pile which he handed to Mark.

"You wouldn't know of a bed and breakfast around here, would you?" Mark asked.

"Not round here, mate. Your best bet's to head into London Bridge."

"Yeah, thanks." Mark headed to the door and paused, turning over the envelope in his hands. It was a bit of a coincidence that he'd received it on the same day as being sent back in time. An envelope containing the one thing he would need to survive in the past. It was too lucky. Too lucky to be a coincidence.

As the café owner disappeared into a back room, Mark returned to his table to study the contents of the envelope properly. Along with 120 fifty-pound notes, all dating from before 1994, there was a handwritten letter. Unfolding it, Mark saw a list of dates from 1994 to 2001 annotated with detailed notes.

It was written in his handwriting. And yet he had no memory of ever having written it.

Mark looked at the first date.10 June 1994. Arrival.

He checked the other side of the paper. Halfway down the page, the list became a letter.

Mark.

If I remember correctly, you should be reading this in a café in Bromley in the year 1994. Earlier tonight, you were sent back in time.

How did you get sent back in time? I can't go into that here. But you should know one thing. There is no way back to 2011. You have no choice but to live the rest of your life from this day onwards. It won't be easy, but you have the advantage of knowing the future. Out of all the people in the world, you alone know what tomorrow will bring.

I've included instructions describing what I did when I found myself in the past. Follow them to the letter. And whatever you do, make sure these instructions don't fall into anyone else's hands. Guard them with your life.

Your first step is to use the money to create a new identity for yourself. I'll leave you to decide the details. You'll have to make your own way in the world, just as I did when I found myself in the past.

But make sure you follow these instructions, Mark. Because if you do, remember this:

YOU CAN SAVE HER.

Just as I did.

Yours sincerely,

Mark Whitaker, April 2003.

Chapter 13: Touched by an Angel Part 2

Chapter Text

June 11th, 1994

The litter in the high street swirled, caught in a sudden gust of wind, and then, with a grinding sound, a flashing beacon appeared in midair. A moment later, the police-box exterior of the TARDIS materialized beneath it. The Doctor and Alex emerged, the former grimacing in frustration at his wibble-detector. Amy followed them and sighed. "We haven't moved."

"Oh, but we have," the Doctor argued. "Four-dimensionally. See,that." He pointed to the nearby branch of Our Price. "In seventeen years' time, that shop –that shop– will sell sandwiches and Danish pastries."

"In other words, we've traveled back in time," Alex said helpfully.

Amy nodded her thanks and looked around. "So this is 1994." All the shops were closed but one of them had a clock as part of its sign. She checked it. "At approximately five minutes past midnight."

"The time trace has almost faded," the Doctor reported. "He would've been transported through time, but at the same spatial coordinates. Allowing for the rotation of the Earth, its orbit around the sun, and the solar system's orbit around the Milky Way, of course."

"Then, er, why isn't he here?"

"He was." The Doctor pulled Alex along and over to a small café. Alex's heels made little clicks on the pavement, sounding rather loud in the otherwise quiet night. Amy followed them and looked inside the café. Squinting through the dim light inside, she could just make out chairs stacked on tables. "Under an hour ago," the Doctor continued, using the hand not holding Alex's to shake his wibble-detector. "We just missed him."

"Oh well," Amy shrugged. "Don't suppose he's got very far."

"InLondon?" the Doctor and Alex scoffed.

"Amy, London has a lot of transportation available," Alex reminded her, "even in 1994. He could be anywhere now."

Amy turned to the Doctor. "Can't you detect him with your amazing egg-boiling gadget thing?"

"No," the Doctor replied, shaking his head as he examined the device. "The trail has gone cold." He looked around as though the shops held the answers to the mysteries of the universe – or at least the mystery of where Mark went. "We have to find him before he does any damage. The wrong word in the wrong ear and the whole course of human history – pfff!"

"Pfff?"

"Gone." The Doctor snapped his fingers. "Not with a bang, but with apfff!"

"What makes you think he's going to do any damage?"

"Amy. What would you do if you found yourself trapped in the past? In yourownpast?"

"I don't know." Amy thought for a moment. "I'd. . . I'd probably look for someone I knew. So I could tell them what's going to happen in the future."

"Exactly! The wrong word in the wrong ear. The firstpebbleof theavalanche! That's the danger with only being sent a short way into the past. If you've been sent back a hundred years, you won't know anyone, you won't know enough about the day-to-day events to make much of a difference, and even if youdomake a difference, there's plenty of time for history to paper over the cracks."

"Whereas traveling back seventeen years," Alex mused, "you know people, you know all sorts of details and future events. Any alteration in the course of those events will likely have a bad effect upon the future."

"And your own personal timeline," the Doctor added.

"Then how do we find him?" Amy questioned. "We don't know where he's going to go, we don't even know who—" Amy stopped as she realized she knew the answer. "Rory!"

"Yes.Rory," the Doctor agreed.

"And he's probably wondering where we're at," Alex said, already leading the way back to the TARDIS.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

The Canary Wharf tower glinted in the morning sunshine. It looked odd, standing alone without its surrounding throng of towers. And out on the Greenwich peninsula, there was no Millennium Dome, just a derelict gas works. Ever since Mark had left his hotel, he had found his attention being drawn to the sights that no longer existed in the future; the tower block that would be demolished to make way for the Shard, the waste ground that would become the site of City Hall.

The most obvious differences from 2011 were the advertisem*nts and those high-street shops which had changed their names or logos. But even the people looked different. Teenagers had their hair tousled like street-urchins or in center partings. Men wore denim jackets and had their jeans belted higher above their waists. Women had highlights and glossy lipstick. The more Mark looked, the more differences he could see. It was like the first day of arriving in a foreign country, finding everything new, searching for the familiar amongst the unfamiliar.

Apart from the hiss of a teenager's Walkman, the railway carriage was silent. It took a while for Mark to guess the reason why; nobody had a mobile phone. There were no laptops, no free newspapers. People just read magazines.

In addition to the eerie feeling of being a man out of his time, Mark's stomach fluttered with nerves at the prospect of the coming encounter. His apprehension grew as the train pulled into Blackheath station and he emerged to climb the hill to his parents' house.

Everything was just as he remembered it. The overgrown bushes that would be cropped back. The lawn that would be concreted over. His mother's Peugeot parked in the driveway.

Steeling himself, Mark strode up the driveway and pressed the doorbell.

A dog barked inside the house. After what seemed an age, a shape coalesced in the door's frosted glass. The door opened to reveal his mother. Looking younger than he'd seen her for years, her hair still dark brown, wearing her old, plastic-framed glasses.

"Hello, yes?" she said, smiling at him curiously. "Can I help you?"

His own mother didn't recognize him. She had no idea who he was.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Amy and Alex stepped out of the TARDIS and onto the pavement outside Mark's block of flats. Nothing had changed. Rain splashed in the puddles and thunder rumbled in the distance. Alex tugged her jacket off, putting it over her head as she and Amy followed the Doctor to the entrance where the remnants of the Weeping Angel had been blown away in the wind. "Where is he?" the Doctor muttered impatiently. "I said one hour. Some people are so unreliable!"

"Look who's talking," Alex teased, skipping up beside him. She pulled her jacket down and back on as she stepped under the safety of the overhead awning.

"That's rude, Ally," the Doctor admonished, though he couldn't help but smile at her impish grin. He leaned closer to her and murmured in her ear, "Not mad at me then?"

Alex stared at him. "What for?"

"For . . . well, our date getting interrupted."

It had occurred to the Doctor shortly after a long make-out session with Alex that he had yet to take her out on a proper date. That was what human couples did, along with many other alien species. The Time Lords had mostly followed arranged marriages and the Doctor hadn't been skilled in romance back then – nor was he now, he'd admit – but he was determined to try, for Alex.

With Amy and Rory's help and advice, the Doctor had arranged reservations at an exclusive nightclub in London called Remel, a club Alex had previously mentioned in passing. This club wasn't like the ones where teenagers and twenty-something's gyrated on a dance-floor, inhaling only vodka shots and any number of illegal drugs. Remel boasted a five-star restaurant on the first floor, with the club up on the next floor. IDs were checked with the utmost scrutiny and a dress code had been established; jeans were allowed, but no thigh-length dresses or cleavage-spilling shirts. Anyone who got drunk and made a scene was immediately escorted out.

So, all in all, Remel sounded like the perfect place. They'd enjoy fine dining and then upstairs for some dancing, which they hadn't done since Amy and Rory's wedding months ago. Alex had been ecstatic at the news, giving him a long, lingering kiss on the lips before she rushed off to get ready. And when she showed up in that outfit, he'd been silent for a full minute, just gawking at her. He had distantly heard Rory remark that that was the longest he'd ever seen him quiet.

With the Ponds on the TARDIS, the Doctor and Alex set off for the nightclub. However, they'd barely even sat down at the restaurant when his wibble-detector, buried in the depths of his jacket pockets, began beeping. The Doctor had excused himself and rushed out to the side alleyway, hoping that it was nothing and just a fluke. But it wasn't. There were big amounts of wibbliness going off in the area and he needed to go and investigate it now. He really hated to drag Alex off from their date, especially since he was trying to do right by her and make her forget for a little while her mysterious pains and Amy's positive/negative pregnancy, but he had to do it. Alex hadn't said anything about it, leading him to the conclusion that she was silently fuming.

But now, Alex laughed. "Doctor!" She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, moving in closer to him. In her heels, she was almost at eye-level with him. "Why would I be mad? I could tell you didn't want to go off, that you'd rather stay at Remel with me. And if you had said that we would stay there and ignore it, I'd have told you that we needed to go and investigate, go help someone as it were."

She smiled at him, her eyes turning from honey to his own dark emerald green. "Doctor, you help people.Wehelp people. If you stopped doing that just to make me happy, you wouldn't be the Doctor anymore." She lowered her hands long enough to straighten his red bowtie. "And the universe needs its Doctor."

As she put her hands back around his neck, the Doctor smiled down at her. "How'd I ever get so lucky?" he murmured.

Alex grinned cheekily, her two front teeth biting down on her lip in the way she knew drove him crazy. "I told you, remember? After the Dream Lord? Must've been a reward from the universe for all the good you've done."

"And like I said then, you might be on to something." And she was probably even more on target than she realized. Shortly after they had gotten together, the Doctor did some delving into the timelines. He didn't do it often, but as a Time Lord, he could see the timelines of people, their past, present, and possible futures.

Alex he could never get a clear fix on.

Her past was perfectly fine, but her present was constantly getting shaped. He could never see her future, just a blinding white light that made him look away. He supposed it had to do with her being a fixed point, which only made him wonder: was she a fixed point for him?

He didn't know. He tried not to dwell on it anyways. They'd find out eventually why she was a fixed point. Until then, he was going to enjoy every second he had with her. Because in truth, he didn't have that long until she left him.

He pushed those unpleasant thoughts to the back of his mind as he tried to concentrate on the here and now. He wrapped his arms around Alex's waist and pulled her closer to him. Alex tilted her head up while he tilted his down. Their lips met in a slow burn of a kiss.

They became so caught up in it, they completely forgot that they weren't alone. Amy stood by, her lips pursed as she rocked back and forth on her heels. This was a little . . . strange. She was so used to kissing Rory during adventures while the Doctor and Alex were left out. Now it was the other way around. She was quite happy for her friends, but this wasn't really the time to make-out . . . not to mention it was extremely uncomfortable to watch.

She cleared her throat a little. That didn't work. They were still going at it. Amy sighed and marched forward. Once she was beside them, she began aggressively tapping the Doctor on the shoulder.

After a few moments, the Doctor pulled away from Alex, resting his forehead against hers as he closed his eyes. "Yes, Pond?" he questioned, his annoyance at being interrupted quite apparent in his voice.

"Sorry to interrupt the moment, but what about Rory?"

Oh, yes, right. Rory was a factor. The Doctor pulled away from Alex before he could get completely enraptured by her again and moved to pace before the flats. "Ah, yes, right, Rory! He's still not here, is he?"

Alex leaned back against the brick wall. "Nope."

"We'll just have to wait," Amy sighed, kicking her heels. "Back inside the TARDIS?"

Alex shook her head. "No time." She pushed off the wall, a hand creeping up to hold the charm of her sonic necklace. She stepped back and aimed it at the door. The sonic buzzed, the topaz on top glowed bright, and every single doorbell in the building rang at once. A dozen bedroom windows lit up as their occupants were roused from their sleep.

The Doctor laughed delightedly. "Ally, you're brilliant!" He went over and kissed the top of her head while wrapping an arm around her waist.

"Doctor, Amy, Alex, it's you!" Rory's voice crackled through the intercom. "I'll be right down." A minute later, he appeared at the door, looking relieved and breathless. "You took your time!" he cried.

"I said we'd be one hour," the Doctor said, tapping his watch.

"Yeah, I know."Oh no,Alex thought, immediately realizing what had happened. "That was a week ago."

"Is that all?" The Doctor paused. "Sorry. Did you saya week?"

"I did."

"Awhole week?"

"Seven days I've been stuck here, waiting for you to turn up."

"Oh. Must have forgotten to correct for temporal displacement. Still, could be worse."

"Worse?"

"Could've been a month. Or a year!"

"I thought you'd forgotten about me!Again!"

"Never," Amy and Alex said together. Amy gave her husband a peck on the cheek while Alex hugged him.

"So you've been here all this time?" Alex asked, pulling away just enough to see Rory's face.

"Yeah. Seems to be what I do most of the time, wait. Though I did pop back to Leadworth to pick up the post. Just bills, I'm afraid."

"But if you've been here for seven days, where have you been staying?" the Doctor asked.

"Mark's place. After all, I had his keys." Rory dangled the keys in his hand. "And Mrs. Levenson next door to keep me company."

Amy narrowed her eyes. "Mrs. Levenson?" she repeated, her voice tight.

"Old lady, neighbor, she's lovely, but . . . no," Rory hurriedly chattered. "She just made me cups of tea and chatted about Mark."

Alex giggled and straightened herself away from Rory. "What'd you find out about him?"

"Everything I could. He doesn't seem to have been one for keeping scrapbooks or photo albums, but I managed to find a copy of his CV and all the addresses of his friends and family." Rory presented the Doctor with a folded sheet of paper. "Not many names. Seems like he kept himself to himself."

Alex placed a hand on the Doctor's shoulder for balance as she stood up on tiptoe to read the list along with him. Rory hadn't been exaggerating. There were less than ten names on it.

The Doctor waited until Alex was finished reading before handing the paper back to Rory. "Right. So, given all this, if Mark found himself in 1994. . ."

"Where do you think he'd go?" Alex finished.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

"Must be a bit of a surprise, me turning up like this," Mark said, taking in the living room. The television in the corner, the photos on the coffee-table, everything was just as he remembered, except for all the photos of him on the mantelpiece. There were so many. His parents must have put them out when he'd left for university and tidied them away whenever he returned.

Mark sipped his tea but didn't swallow. His throat felt so tight, he thought he might choke. He wanted to hug his mother and tell her everything that was going to happen over the next seventeen years, but looking at her sitting in the armchair opposite, her eyes twinkling in a way they hadn't done for years, a contented smile on her lips, he couldn't bear to break her heart.

"And your husband? Patrick, wasn't it? He's out at work?"

"Yes, I'm afraid he won't be back until late, council meeting. It's a pity you'll miss him."

"Yes, a pity. I'd hope to, well, say hello and stuff."

"Particularly with you coming all this way, from . . . where was it again?"

"Canada."

"Canada, yes. I didn't know we had relatives in Canada."

"Very distant. Second cousins of second cousins, that sort of thing."

"You must be on Patrick's Aunt Margaret's side. We don't know what happened to them."

"Yes, that's right, Aunt Margaret." There was an awkward pause. The family dog, a Labrador called Jess, padded in, her tail wagging furiously. She sniffed at Mark's legs before deciding to lick his hands.

"You're honored," Mark's mother observed. "She's not normally so friendly with strangers. You know, you don't sound like you come from Canada. I thought they sounded American."

"Not from the bit I'm from." Mark struggled to think of a Canadian city. "It's a small town, fifty miles out of . . . Toronto. My father was from England, I picked up the accent from him."

"He was?"

"He, um, died. Ten years ago now."

"I'm very sorry. And your mother?"

"She's still around. Still, you know, coping. She moved out of the house to a place by the sea. I think she finds it tough, without Dad." Mark scratched Jess behind the ears. She yawned appreciatively.

"And what about you, are you married?"

"I used to be. My wife, um, died in a road accident back in 2003."

"In 2003?"

"1993," Mark corrected himself hastily.

"Oh, you poor thing. It must be so hard for you. Any children?"

"No. No, no children."

There was another awkward pause. Jess lost interest in Mark and stretched out on the rug. "So, what is it you do for work?" Mark's mother finally asked.

"I'm a solicitor," Mark answered. Even as the words left his mouth, he regretted saying them.

"A solicitor? My son Mark's studying law at university."

"Is he?" Mark said, feigning surprise. "Oh."

Mark's mother stared at him over her glasses. "You know, you really do look a lot like him."

"Must be a family resemblance." Mark took a framed photo of his younger self form the mantelpiece. "Is this him?"

"Yes, that's him," Mark's mother smiled proudly.

"You're right, there is a similarity," Mark said, studying the photo. "Reminds me of myself at that age." Mark returned the photo to its place of honor. "So, is he doing well, at university?"

"We think so. We don't hear from him all that often, a phone call every couple of weeks, but you know what they're like at that age, away from home for the first time. It's like they forget that Mum and Dad exist."

"I'm sure that's not the case."

"But he'll be home in a few weeks, and then we'll have him for the whole summer." Mark's mother frowned. "You haven't touched your tea. Is it all right?"

"Yes, it's lovely," Mark assured her, rubbing the corners of his eyes to hold back his tears. He pretended to take another sip. "What's he like, your son?"

"Oh, just like his father. Works too hard, every hour God sends."

The phone chose that moment to ring. Mark's mother heaved herself out of her seat. "Sorry, if you'll excuse me." She bustled over to the hallway and picked up the receiver. "Hello. Yes? Mark!"

Mark flinched, fearing he had been found out. But his mother continued. "I was just talking about you." She waved to Mark in the living room. "A relative from Canada, over here looking up his family tree. Mr. . . . um, sorry, what did you say your name was again?"

"Harry," Mark replied, grabbing at the first name that came to mind. "Harold . . . Jones."

"Harold Jones," his mother repeated into the phone. "Looks a bit like you, funny that, isn't it? Anyway, enough of me rabbiting on, was there anything you wanted?" There was a pause and Mark's mother reached for a pen and pad. "Oh, I see. How much do you need this time?"

Mark watched her from the front room. She looked so happy, so full of optimism. Mark put down his cup of tea and rubbed another tear from his eyes.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

"But what does this have to do with Mark Whitaker?" Rory asked back aboard the TARDIS. "Why go after him?"

"The Weeping Angel that zapped him back to 1994 did so for a reason." The Doctor darted around the console, making adjustments to switches, levers, and what looked like a bus conductor's ticket dispenser. "It singled him out specifically. It was working to aplan."

"What plan?" Amy wondered.

"We won't know the answer to that until we find Mark Whitaker," Alex said from her place against the railing.

"Exactly," the Doctor affirmed, pointing at her. "Then we have to return him to 2011 before he changes history."

"But why's that so bad?" Rory questioned. "You're always saying that time can be rewritten."

The Doctor stopped his running around to fix Rory with a hard stare. "Itcan. But that doesn't mean that itshould. I can rewrite time, yes, because I know what I'm doing. Whereas a human being, blundering about—"

"Yeah, but you're exaggerating a bit, aren't you? I mean, how much difference can one man make?"

"One man, Rory, can change the whole world. You should know that by now."

Rory remembered his days guarding the Pandorica. He had probably affected history quite a bit back then. "Oh," he realized. He nodded firmly. "Okay, we have to stop him."

"Quite."

Alex pushed off the railing and went to stand beside the Doctor. "But first we have tofindhim."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

"So how long are you in the country for?" Mark's mother asked as he stepped out of the front door and onto the gravel driveway.

"Oh. About a week or so."

"Then it's back to Canada?"

"Yes. You, um, must come and visit." Mark had given his mother a fake address, hoping she wouldn't be too offended if she spent the next few years sending Christmas cards to a distant relative who never sent any back.

"That would be nice. I'm always on at Patrick to take me on holiday. This might be just the excuse I need."

"I remember. You never had a honeymoon," Mark said quietly.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Nothing." Mark cleared his throat. "You should go, you really should, before it's too late."

Mark's mother frowned. "What do you mean, 'too late'?"

Mark swallowed. The air seemed suddenly thin. "Nothing."

"No, you meant something. You wouldn't have said it otherwise. What did you mean?"

"I meant, well, my dad always promised to take my mum on holiday, but one month before his retirement, he had a heart attack. You know, it might be a family thing. You should get Dad to go in for a check-up."

"Dad?"

"I mean, Patrick. Because it's the sort of thing where they can cure it, if they catch it early enough."

Mark's mother considered this. His words had frightened her. "You don't know what he's like. Stubborn."

"My dad was the same. Please. Don't take no for an answer."

"I'll try my best," Mark's mother promised, giving Mark a wary look.

"Sorry. Anyway, I have to go." Mark put on a brave smile. "Lovely to meet you. And thanks for the tea." He shook her hand. As their fingers touched, Mark's fingers tingled, like he'd received a tiny electrical shock.

"Thank you for coming. Give my love to, er, Canada."

"Goodbye." Mark smiled and headed down the driveway. He heard his mother call after him, but he didn't dare look back. He couldn't let her see the tears dribbling down his cheeks.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

The TARDIS floor lurched and whirled like a bucking bronco. Amy clung to Rory for dear life, while Rory clung to one of the stair railings. Alex was hanging on, with both hands, to parts of the console. Meanwhile, the Doctor danced around said console, his eyes gleaming with excitement and madness. The companions had stopped trying to figure out how he managed to remain upright during times like this a long time ago. It was probably some Time Lord thing.

"I think," the Doctor said now, glancing up at the scanner before typing out a command on the console typewriter. "Yes. I think I've found him!"

"Found him? Where?" Rory called over the thrashing.

The Doctor pulled a lever and a map of Great Britain appeared on the scanner on the wall. It zoomed in on a point north of London. A glowing green dot slid upwards, surrounded by pulsing circles. "A source of wibbly time stuff – stop me if I'm getting too technical – is heading north-west."

"You think that's him?" Amy asked.

"A great big paradox just waiting to happen," the Doctor affirmed. "Whoelsedo you think it might be?"

"He's headingnorth-west?" Alex cried. The TARDIS suddenly buckled, nearly causing her to fly backwards, but she tightened her grip on the console at the last second.

"Yeah, why?" the Doctor asked, looking over at her.

Alex didn't answer. Instead, she called over her shoulder, "Rory! Could you check that list for me please? I think I know where he's heading!"

Rory quickly retrieved the list from his pocket. "Uh, let's see." His eyes moved over the list quickly. "Oh, I think I've got it! According to his CV, in 1994, Mark Whitaker was studying at university in. . ." He frowned. "Warwick."

"I knew it!" Alex exclaimed. She turned to the Doctor. "He's going to contact his younger self!"

"I think you're right," the Doctor said gravely. He rushed over and examined the scanner. "Odd thing is though, he seems to be traveling at about a hundred miles an hour."

Alex rolled her eyes. "He's probably on a train, Doc."

The Doctor didn't seem to hear her. "Let's see. . . It wouldn't make sense for him to be on a plane, he'd never get a car to travel that fast – not without breaking several traffic laws and I don't think he'd be inthatmuch of a hurry – so what else could he be on? You lot don't have hypersonic flight yet, and forget teleportation! Too many incidents involving missing limbs and some ending up where they're not supposed to be. So what other modes of transportation are there in 1994? Hmm. . ." Suddenly, he gasped. "A train!"

Alex did a face-palm. "Ijustsaid that!"

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

"Tea, coffee, sandwiches?"

"No thanks."

The rail steward gave Mark a polite smile, then rattled her trolley further along the carriage. "Tea, coffee, sandwiches?"

Mark gazed out of the window, watching the fields, streams, roads, and bridges rush past in a blur. Small villages and towns slid by in the distance and his reflection floated alongside the train in midair.

He checked his watch. Another hour or so and he'd be back at university. In his head, he ran over the words he wanted to say. He had so much to tell his younger self.

Mark rubbed his right hand. The tingling sensation seemed to be getting worse. It was probably just a strained muscle, but something about it made him feel uneasy. Vulnerable. Like he was being watched.

He glanced outside again. Trees rushed past and power lines roved up and down. And looking up, there was nothing but clear blue sky. . .

. . .and a wooden blue box spinning in midair. It hovered about thirty meters above the ground, whirling and flitting erratically, but always remaining parallel with the train.

It was following him.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Back inside the TARDIS, the Doctor, Amy, Rory, and Alex stared at the scanner, showing the Inter City 125 zooming through the green British countryside. However, Amy, Rory, and Alex's gazes kept going over to the item the Doctor had thrust at Alex shortly before they started following the train. It was a bright red fire extinguisher. The Doctor hadn't given Alex a direct reason for why she needed a fire extinguisher, other than something about it being for 'this kind of emergency'.

Needless to say, this didn't reassure the companions any.

The Doctor seemed to be the only one not worried about the TARDIS suddenly bursting into flames. Instead, he adjusted the controls to bring the time machine closer to the train. But nothing happened. "Might be a spot of turbulence," he told them. "Time stuff won't let us get too close."

He dashed over to the exterior doors and shoved them open. A blustering wind burst into the control room with a roar. Balanced in the doorway, the Doctor whooped with delight like a mariner in a thunderstorm, the breeze whipping and ruffling his hair.

Alex handed the fire extinguisher off to Amy, who she noted looked rather alarmed at being given the device. While the Ponds stayed up on the platform, Alex fought her way over to the Doctor, gripping onto railings to keep from being blown backwards by the wind. After a few moments, she finally reached him. She gripped the doorway with one hand while the other went to clutch at the Doctor's tweed jacket. She squinted through the rushing air and looked down.

They were flying over the train. Trees and pylons hurtled past just a few feet beneath them. It looked like the scene inHarry Potter and the Chamber of Secretswhere Harry and Ron flew the enchanted car over the Hogwarts Express.

"He's on board that train?" Amy shouted down over the bluster of the wind.

"No doubt about it!" the Doctor yelled back.

"And we're not the only ones that have found him!" Alex revealed. Her hair whipped around her face, making it tousled and tangled in the way the Doctor liked. She waved her hand in a beckoning manner. "Come look!"

Amy passed the fire extinguisher to Rory and hurried down as fast as the wind would allow her to go. Once she was by the door, she peered out. The wind made her eyes water and she squinted. She followed the Doctor and Alex's pointed fingers and stared down at the sight beneath her.

They were pointed towards the last carriage of the train. Six gray figures crouched on the roof, clinging to it with their bare hands, their wings unfolded. All of them were perfectly motionless, like statues.

"You have to admire that," Alex admitted. "It's a wonder they haven't fallen off."

"Weeping Angels are very strong," the Doctor informed her. "Hanging onto the top of a moving train? Ha! Nothing for them."

"Do you think we really have a chance at stopping him?" Amy asked.

Alex shrugged. It could really go either way. Having spent so much time with the Doctor, she knew the human race was unpredictable. Either they would do the right thing, or they'd do the wrong thing, thinking it was the right thing.

The Doctor opened his mouth to answer, probably something along these same lines, but then they heard a loud explicative from behind them, followed by Rory shouting, "DOCTOR!"

The three whirled around. A large fire had broken out on the console. Rory was backed up against the railing, fumbling with the fire extinguisher as he tried to release the pin.

While Alex and Amy looked on in shock and horror, the Doctor merely sighed. "Figured that might happen," he said, shaking his head. He patted the doorframe fondly. "For a spaceship, she really doesn't do much flying."

Amy and Alex turned to give him identical peeved expressions. "Really?!" they snapped before running up to the console to help Rory. After a moment, the Doctor slammed the doors shut and followed them.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

The moment of decision had arrived. Our Graham had summarized the three prospective dates' replies, and the girl had made her selection. The audience whooped and applauded as the Two She Could Have Chosen passed by, the divider slid back, the dates kissed, chose their holiday envelope, and theBlind Datetheme began.

Watching the show, they'd played the usual game of deciding who they'd select for a date, with Rebecca and Sophie choosing the boys, Mark and Lucy choosing the girls, and Rajeev pointedly refusing to look up from his copy ofNew Scientist. Sophie always chose the boy who most resembled Mark, then paid close attention to Mark's selection to discover what he had liked about the girls.

"This is boring," Rebecca declared. She uncurled herself from her position on the battered sofa and strode in front of the screen. "We have to go out or we may actually die of old age."

"What do you suggest?" Lucy called from the kitchen, where she was tossing the remains of her pasta into the trash-can.

"I don't know. Go to the Saturday night disco at the union or something. We can't stay in watching telly all night. That's what our parents do."

"Well, I'm up for it," Lucy agreed.

"You're always up for it. What about you, Mark?"

"Don't know," Mark shrugged. "Should be getting back to work, really."

"Markhas an exam on Monday," Sophie informed her, threading her arm possessively through Mark's.

"Which is a whole two days away," Rebecca pointed out. "Look, it's a well-known scientific fact that if you don't take breaks from studying, your brain will explode. Isn't that right, Rajeev?"

Rajeev nodded sagely, not bothering to look up from his magazine. "Fact-o-matic."

"And if you're gonna be sitting in here watching telly, you might as well go out. Right?"

"Youcan go," Sophie suggested. "Me and Mark can just have a night in." She cuddled up to him, either not noticing or choosing to ignore the uncomfortable look that crossed Mark's face.

"I don't know," he said slowly. "I kind of fancy getting out of the house." He smirked conspiratorially at Rebecca, and Sophie felt a surge of jealousy run through her veins. Rebecca – or Bex, as she preferred to be called – could always twist Mark around her little finger. And he always laughed at Rebecca's jokes. He never laughed at any of the jokesshemade. Why couldn't Rebecca get herself a new boyfriend, or get back together with Dennis Nice-But-Dim?

"Yes, but we can't really afford it," Sophie now reminded her boyfriend.

"Which is why I suggested the union," Rebecca interjected. "It may be totally lame, but it's cheaper than any of the clubs in Leamington." On the screen behind her, Michael Barrymore strutted about, advertising chocolate fingers.

"Okay." Mark dragged himself to his feet. "Union it is. Head off in about an hour? Bagsy the shower. Oh, and Bex, try not to use any hot water while I'm in there. Being suddenly frozen to death wasn't funny the first time, or the next five times."

"I don't know," Rebecca smirked. "For me, it gets funnier."

"Promise you won't do it."

"Okay, I promise. If it happens again, it will be agenuineaccident."

"But I can't go!" Sophie protested. "Not dressed like this." She'd be a total laughingstock, going to a disco wearing a chunky jumper and jeans.

"You can always borrow something of Rebecca's. I'm sure she wouldn't mind." Grinning to himself, Mark clomped upstairs. Whoever had designed their house had had a thing about staircases and had tried to incorporate them instead of hallways wherever possible.

"He was just joking, you know," Rebecca said tactfully, as if it wasn't obvious that Sophie wouldn't be able to squeeze into any of Rebecca's clothes. Was Mark hinting that he'd find her more attractive if she lost weight? That she should be slim like Rebecca?

"You're welcome to any of my stuff," Lucy offered. "Probably not your style though."

No, Sophie thought, regarding her friend's army surplus trousers andShakespeare Sistert-shirt. "It's alright, I'll cope. Half an hour then."

"Flatmate outing. Party time, excellent," Rebecca said excitedly. "You coming, Rajeev?"

"No, I'm good," Rajeev replied. "Not really my scene. Besides, I promised I'd phone my parents later, so that's my entire evening gone."

"Suit yourself. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to make myself gorgeous." Rebecca grinned. "This is going to be a night to remember."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Their old house, just as he remembered it. Mark had taken the bus from Coventry station to Leamington Spa, the same journey he'd made a dozen times before, and now here he was, standing outside the terraced house he'd shared with Rebecca, Lucy, and Rajeev in his second year at university. Seeing it made Mark feel. . . What did he feel? Excited, yes. Nostalgic, like discovering an old school photo. But with a tinge of sadness, at how much he had lost.

The front door opened, and Mark ducked out of sight. Three girls and a boy emerged. Mark's heart stopped. The first girl, an indomitable-looking, dark-haired Goth, was Lucy. Then there was Sophie, his ex-girlfriend, all curves, freckles, and a severely cut bob of auburn hair.

And then there was Rebecca. Oh God. She looked perfect. She had long blonde hair and wore a black-and-white top with an Inca design and black leggings. Her laughter echoed in the dusky air.

The boy was Mark's own younger self. Short hair, gelled into a parting, John Lennon-style glasses, sallow, red cheeks. Wearing his best Fred Perry shirt. He looked so young, so . . . innocent. Laughing with Rebecca without a care in the world.

Mark watched them go. He'd have to wait until his younger self was alone; he couldn't talk to him while the others were around. Keeping well back, but feeling highly conspicuous, Mark followed his 20-year-old self down the road.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Amy, Alex, and Rory stood a few feet back from the TARDIS, watching the Doctor madly wave the fire extinguisher around the time machine's doorframe. The fire on the console had spread rather quickly and the Doctor had gotten burned several times as he hastily landed the ship. Luckily for them, they had landed just a little ways away from Mark's old university house.

Alex glanced down at Mark's past self and his friends. How they weren't noticing this spectacle was beyond her.

The Doctor coughed on the smoke, fruitlessly waving it away from his face as he tossed the fire extinguisher inside and slammed the door. "She'll be fine," he assured them as he walked over, smelling slightly of smoke. "After the last time, I made some modifications that would speed up the recovery time should this happen again."

"I thought the TARDIS was a spaceship," Rory remarked.

"It is. It just . . . doesn't do a lot of flying. Floating, yes. Flying, no."

"So you said," Alex sighed. She raked a hand through her hair and looked back at the TARDIS. Smoke continued to spew out of the door cracks. "How long until she's working again?"

"About an hour or two, tops."

"Well, in the meantime, what's the plan?" Amy asked. She turned and nodded down to where Mark was trailing his younger self to the bus stop. The old Mark then held back, keeping his face turned away from the group of students.

"We get to him before he gets to himself." The Doctor ducked behind a garden wall, pulling Alex down along with him. "Before his older self gets to his younger self."

"You make it sound so uncomplicated."

"And," Alex added, poking her head up over the wall, "most importantly, beforetheyget to either of them." She pointed to the roof of the terraced house the young Mark had emerged from. It took a moment for Amy to realize what she was pointing at. Six stone Angels were perched high on the brickwork like gargoyles.

"But why are they after him, run that past me again?" Rory requested.

"Moths to a flame," the Doctor muttered. "If Mark succeeds in changing his own past, he'll create a paradox. Once you've altered your own timeline, the young you won't grow old to become the old you who did the altering. Which creates all kinds of peculiar and nasty side effects, like including the release of a vast amount of potential time energy."

"Which is what the Angels are after," Alex added, keeping her gaze locked on the Angels on the rooftop.

"Exactly. Look at them. They're hungry, desperate. Then somebody sounds a dinner gong."

"Um, Doctor?" Rory interrupted. He nodded down to the bus stop. The others turned to see young Mark and his three female friends clambering on the bus, followed by old Mark. Then, suddenly remembering, Amy and Alex whirled back to stare at the building. But the six Angels had vanished.

"Come on!" the Doctor yelled, snatching Alex's hand before hurdling over the wall and pelting towards the bus stop. Alex kept a tight grip on him as she struggled to keep up with his erratic movements. Amy and Rory sprinted after them, but they were too late. The bus pulled away and rumbled into the distance.

The Doctor spun on his heel, unintentionally yanking Alex around as he looked for inspiration. Alex yelped but made no move to remove her hand from his. At that moment, a car approached, and the Doctor released Alex's hand to go and dive out in front of it. Amy gave a quiet scream while Alex gave a loud shriek.IDIOT!she thought. She was definitely giving him a whack for that.

The car, thankfully, screeched to a halt moments from the Doctor. He walked to the driver's window, brandishing the wallet containing the psychic paper.

"Hello. I'm a policeman," he said, gesturing for Amy, Rory, and Alex to get in the backseat. Alex got in first, followed by the Ponds. The Doctor then slid into the passenger seat beside the driver, a startled-looking vicar. "Now, follow that bus!"

The vicar didn't even object, instead gunning the engine and going after the bus. Alex waited until they were moving before leaning forwards, snaking her arm around the passenger seat, and whacking the Doctor across the back of the head.

"OW!" the Doctor exclaimed. He clasped the back of his head and turned to shoot her a look. "What was that for?!"

"What you do think it was for, you bleeding idiot?!"

"Don't swear," the Doctor admonished, nodding to the vicar.

"I'll say some Hail Mary's later. And by the time I'm finished telling you off, I'll probably have to say my whole rosary five times, so thank you for that."

Amy and Rory exchanged a look. Rory reached into his pocket and pulled out his iPod. Amy smiled at him gratefully and put an ear-bud in. Rory put in the second bud and clicked the device on. The opening guitar strains of 'Jumpin' Jack Flash' immediately began pounding into their eardrums, dulling the sound of Alex's voice as she cursed and berated the Doctor. And from the sound of it, it would be a while before she stopped.

Chapter 14: Touched by an Angel Part 3

Chapter Text

The setting sun bathed the students' union building in an auburn glow and stretched the shadows of the students milling around outside. Sophie clung to Mark's arm possessively, holding him back as Bex and Lucy led the way up the walkway to the entrance. The security guards at the door checked their NUS cards and then they made their way into the near-darkness within.

The place was heaving. Ahead of them, hundreds of students packed the Market Place, their flushed, sweat-soaked faces illuminated by flashes of green and red from the whirling lamps. The chorus of 'Things Can Only Get Better' by D:Ream thumped out of the loudspeakers. The heady smell of perspiration and smoke filled the air.

They approached the fringes of the dance floor, the territory of those too cool or shy to dance. "Drink?" Mark said to the girls.

"I'm okay," Bex dismissed. "Fancy a bit of a dance first." Without waiting for an answer, she strode onto the dance floor and started to sway in time to the music, stretching her arms above her head. Mark could only stare in admiration. He could never do that, just walk, sober, onto the dance floor, not caring what anybody else thought. It usually took him half an hour to pluck up the courage. But when Bex danced, she looked self-assured and graceful. When he danced, Rebecca told him, it looked like he was wading through mud while swatting at invisible bees.

"I wouldn't mind a drink," Sophie told him, arching a disapproving eyebrow.

Oh God,Mark thought. She thought he was staring at Bex because he fancied her. Sophie could be so paranoid sometimes.

"Great, let's go," Mark said, and together he, Sophie, and Lucy squeezed their way through the throng towards the lights of the Mandela Bar.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Mark waited until his younger self had entered the building before joining the queue. He felt absurdly conspicuous. Here he was, 37 years old, surrounded by students nearly twenty years his junior. They shot him pitying glances and snigg*red at his clothes.

Approaching the building, though, brought back a flood of memories. It resembled a parking garage that had been tipped on its side, a slanted slab of concrete surrounded by shallow terraces. It was austere and angular, but to Mark, it represented one of the happiest times of his life.

But how would he get in? The security guards had already given him some doubtful glances. He'd have to bluff it somehow, pretend to be a worried parent or something.

The crash of breaking glass interrupted Mark's thoughts. Immediately, all the students in the queue rushed to the edge of the walkway. The two security guards also peered over the edge. "What the heck!"

Mark took his chance. As the two guards trotted down the stairwell to investigate the disturbance, he calmly walked to the entrance and slipped inside.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Students! Normally they just stole traffic cones. But now, somehow, this time, they'd managed to steal a whole statue.

Trev looked in every direction for the culprits, but there was nobody in sight. Which made no sense. Whoever they were, they'd managed to prop the statue against one of the windows of the union building, with one of its arms outstretched, as though it was in the act of punching through the glass. "What do you think, Nick?"

"God knows." Nick crouched beside the statue. "I think some grave is missing its headstone."

"But how did they get it here?" They couldn't have dumped it without being noticed. Maybe it had fallen off the roof? Trev scanned the tip of the building for any signs of movement.

"Stupid idiots—" Nick broke off, giving a startled croak. Trev whirled around to see what had alarmed him.

The statue had disappeared. Where it had once stood was now nothing but a clear patch on the ground surrounded by shattered glass.

"I just turned away for a second," Nick said incredulously. "Where did the damn thing go?"

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

The Doctor, Alex, Amy, and Rory jogged past the Arts Center and across the road. Ahead of them lay the students union building, its lower windows flashing with multicolored lights. As they approached, the Doctor slowed, allowing Amy, Rory, and Alex to catch their breath. "We're getting close," he told them.

"Close to what?" Amy panted.

"A build-up of potential time energy. Can't you feel it?" The Doctor waggled his fingers and sniffed. "A tension in the air. Like before a thunderstorm."

Alex straightened and looked around. Now that he mentioned it, shecouldfeel something. It felt like the air was getting stretched like a rubber band, threatening to snap at any second. "I feel it," she confirmed.

The Doctor nodded approvingly at her but didn't say anything. He was a little scared of her at the moment. She had screeched and cursed and berated him about leaping out in front of the car for a good twenty minutes. He was positive the vicar had never heard so many swear words before.

"Yeah," Rory shrugged. "But I just thought that meant a thunderstorm was coming."

"A thunderstormiscoming," the Doctor said darkly. "Unless we stop it. Look."

A streak of lightning flickered across the surface of the building, scuttling over the concrete like a startled lizard, before fading away to a blue glow.

The companions stared in shock and amazement. "What was that?" Amy exclaimed.

"The dinner gong," the Doctor answered. He straightened his bowtie and jacket cuffs. "Now. I'll need your help. Do I look like the sort of person who goes to university?"

Amy, Rory, and Alex blinked. Alex looked him up and down. "Sorry, Doc, but . . . do youlooklike the sort of person who goes touniversity?"

"Yes." The Doctor brushed his fringe out of his eyes. He was dead serious. He eyed her expectantly. "Well? Do I?"

Alex sucked in a large breath of air. The Doctor looked like a really young professor at a university, if that counted for anything. The way he dressed reminded her of how a really old professor at Octavian used to dress. She looked up at the sky, as if it could help her figure out just what to say.

But Amy didn't seem to have that problem. "A bit, Doctor. Just a bit," she reassured him jokingly. "Maybe not in this decade, but yeah."

"Just say you're from the Maths department," Rory suggested, looking rather amused. "You'll be fine."

"Good. Good," the Doctor nodded. "Because that is thecooldepartment, and I lookcool. Right?"

"Exactly," Amy giggled. "And forno otherreason." She put her hand over her mouth and made a cough that sounded like 'geek!'. Rory laughed, but the Doctor didn't seem to notice.

Instead, he looked at Alex expectantly. "Ally?"

"Yep," Alex lied through her teeth, unknowingly popping the 'p' the way his tenth incarnation used to do. Thankfully for him, it would help their case that she actually looked like she was ready for a night of clubbing and partying. Amy and Rory were in jeans and t-shirts, but they would pass for students too.

They headed down a slope to an underpass where a security guard checked the students' IDs. Rubbing his hands excitedly, the Doctor joined the queue. Alex tugged her tank-top down a little, revealing a glimmer of cleavage, just in case they needed a little more persuasion in getting inside. From inside the building came the muffled thud of music.

The Doctor beamed at the guard and flipped open his psychic-paper wallet. "Hello. I'm from the Maths department. And these are two of my students and my . . . girlfriend." He stumbled a little on the last word, not being used to saying it and because it felt wrong putting such a juvenile term on Alex. She was so much more to him than that. He leaned forward to whisper. "I realize they don't look as cool as I do, except for Ally, of course, but theyaregenuine students, believe me."

"Whatever," the security guard said. It was then that the Doctor noticed that the guard wasn't even looking at him. All his attention was currently focused on Alex and her glimpse of cleavage.

The Doctor's blood pounded faster than the music inside the building. Why was the guard staring at her? He shouldn't be staring at her! She was HIS! Everyone everywhere they went saw it. Why couldn't this stupid ape?!

The Doctor's eyes narrowed, and he wrapped his arm possessively around Alex's waist. "Let's go, Ally." His voice was dark and threatening as he led Alex inside. Amy and Rory exchanged looks, silently noting the increased possessive behavior.

Inside the building, the noise was all-consuming. The dance floor bobbed and swelled like a sea of arms and faces. The air felt uncomfortably hot but had an almost tangible sense of excitement. These students were having the time of their lives. Dancing, laughing, kissing, all their troubles forgotten.

The Doctor kept his arm wrapped around Alex who, upon seeing his murderous expression at the guard, had tugged her top back up. Now, he used his free hand to waggle his fingers vigorously. "We have to find two people. Or rather, the same persontwice."

"You're going to suggest we split up, aren't you?" Rory sighed resignedly.

"I think. . ." The Doctor paused, lost in thought. "I think . . . we shouldsplit up. Rory, Amy. You find young Mark, he's probably in there somewhere." He indicated the heaving mass of students currently bouncing up and down to 'The Size Of A Cow'. "Alex and I will find the old one."

"And when we find him?" Amy asked.

Alex took this one. "We have to get the two Marks as far away from each-other as possible."

"As far away from each-other as possible, got it." Amy offered her hand to Rory. "Rory, are you dancing?"

"Are you asking?"

"I'm asking, lover-boy."

"Then I'm dancing," Rory agreed, taking her hand. Amy pulled him towards the dance floor with a suggestive smirk.

"Oh, and one more thing!" the Doctor called after them. "Keep an eye out for the Angels!"

Once Amy and Rory were fully sucked into the throng of dancers, the Doctor pulled Alex further along into the union. Alex could feel the tension in his hand and see how his shoulders were tight underneath his jacket. She winced. She knew that their possessiveness of one another had kicked up a notch the second they officially got together. She really should have known better than to tug her top down like that. The guard ogling her like that would totally set off the Doctor's jealousy.

Oh well,she thought.Time to do damage control.

"Doc?" She tugged on his sleeve and came to a stop, causing him to walk a few steps before realizing she wasn't following him anymore.

He turned back. "Yes, Ally?" He looked calm, but Alex could still see the anger in his eyes, as well as how his jaw was clenched so tight, the muscles in his cheeks were visible.

She stepped closer to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. He instantly relaxed, as though her touch was some kind of numbing agent. Alex smiled and her fingers went up to play with the ends of his hair. Her nails scratched against the back of his neck, and he groaned, the sound drowned out by Pink Floyd's 'What Do You Want from Me'.

"Not upset any more, Doc?" Alex asked as she trailed her nails down his neck.

The Doctor shuddered at the sensation. "No," he choked as Alex's nails ran underneath his shirt collar to the upper part of his back.

"Good," she grinned. She definitely wasn't about to tell him she'd had an accidental role in his jealousy popping up. Their relationship was still so new and fragile, and she wasn't about to risk it ending because of a petty argument.

Alex looked around the dance floor. No one was paying the least bit of attention to them. They were all dancing, drinking, or snogging aggressively against the wall.Snogging aggressively against the wall?

The Doctor immediately noticed the impish look on her face. He had learned to watch out for it, not because it led to anything bad; on the contrary, it always led to some pretty good things for him. Still, now wasn't exactly the time for one of Alex's schemes. "Alex," he said slowly. "What are you—"

But he was cut off when Alex suddenly grabbed his hand and dragged him off. They walked a few steps before Alex finally pulled him over to a darkened corner of the room. She backed herself into the corner and positioned him so that he was standing directly in front of her. Then, without further ado, she fisted her hands in his jacket lapels and yanked him down onto her lips.

Now wasn't the time for one of Alex's schemes?Ha!the Doctor thought as he immediately responded to the heated kiss. His hands planted themselves on Alex's hips, his fingers digging into her hard enough to leave bruises. He pushed her further back until her back was against the wall. Alex groaned against his lips and wrapped a leg around his waist, tugging him closer. With one of his hands, the Doctor maneuvered Alex's other leg around his other hip, then placed his hands at the base of her back to keep her steady. Her tank-top slid up a little, allowing him to touch bare skin.

Alex shivered at his touch. His calloused fingertips felt perfect against her smooth skin. She bent down and ran her hands through his hair, her tongue twirling around his mouth. She barely paused for breath. Air was completely useless at a time like this; he was the only thing she needed to keep going.

Eventually though, the Doctor could sense that Alex was in desperate need of oxygen. He pulled back and Alex quickly started gasping for air. He ran a hand through her hair, worriedly watching her chest go up and down as it desperately sucked in oxygen.

"You really shouldn't do that," he admonished. "I'm not about to have you die of oxygen deprivation."

Alex snickered a little. "Sorry, but I can't help it if you make me get carried away."

"Funny." He gripped her hips and tilted his head up to murmur in her ear, "I thought I was the only one of us that happened to." Then, because it was far too appealing and thus, proved his point, he bit down on the bridge of her ear, soothing it a second later with a lick of his tongue.

Alex's legs involuntarily tightened around him. "No," she panted. "You're wrong."

He chuckled and pulled back. "Well, that's nice to hear."

"Really?" Alex burst out laughing. "I thought youhatedbeing wrong!"

"Not about the important things. Like you."

Alex blushed. She still found it hard to believe she was that important to him. The Doctor was her everything now, the center of her whole universe and he considered that of her as well. To be considered that by another person. . . It was rather shocking and overwhelming, but also pretty damn great too.

She leaned down and pressed a light kiss to his lips before hopping down to the floor, only to stumble as the blood rushed back to her numb limbs. The Doctor chuckled and wrapped an arm around her waist, holding her to him. "So, getting back to business, we need to find our little friend."

Alex surveyed the room. It was hard to make out a specific person in the mass of dancers and partiers. Her eyes trailed over a bunch of girls in crop-tops and leather pants and several guys with way too much product in their hair. As she was looking, she happened to glance up at a balcony overlooking the dance floor. A lone figure was standing there.

After a few moments of squinting, she grinned. She grabbed the Doctor's jacket sleeve and tugged on it. "Doctor, look!"

The Doctor looked upwards and followed her line of vision. Luckily for him, his eyesight was much better than Alex's and he was quickly able to make out the face of the figure. "Ah. Found our friend. One of him, at least."

"Shall we go talk to him?"

He beamed down at her. "Excellent idea, Ally!"

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Elsewhere on the dance floor, the 20-year-old Mark hopped and whirled amongst the crowd, all self-consciousness now forgotten. He had a couple of pints inside him, and they were playing his favorite tunes at a deafening volume. That was all that mattered. It was the indie section of the night, where things tended to get a little raucous. Occasionally he'd be jabbed by an elbow or shoved off his feet, but that was all part of the fun.

Sophie, however, wasn't enjoying herself. She swayed from side to side as though it was an obligation, smiling only when Mark looked towards her. Rebecca bounced around the dance floor, waving and grimacing to friends. Lucy, meanwhile, had joined a group of fearsome-looking girls near the stage. The last Mark had seen of her, she had been making overtures towards a very pretty Goth with a pierced tongue.

The fade out of Transvision Vamp's 'Baby I Don't Care' gave way to the opening snarls of Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'. The song had a desperate, angry quality, and it felt odd hearing it given Kurt Cobain's recent death, but dancing to it felt like a celebration of his life. But Sophie had clearly had enough and mouthed to Mark that she wanted to go. The rowdiness was starting to get out of hand.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

"Any sign of him?" Amy shouted to Rory whilst waving her arms to the music.

Rory shouted something back she couldn't hear. They liked their music loud around here. Somebody jostled him and he stumbled on one foot, not quite falling.

"What?!"

Rory shook his head. "No! You?"

Amy shook her head. "No! Me neither!"

"Excuse me, excuse me." Someone squeezed past Amy. Amy spun around, drawing a breath to protest. A familiar-looking young man gave her an apologetic smile before continuing to weave towards the edge of the dance floor, followed by a girl with a bob of auburn hair.

Mark. It was young Mark.Wow, Amy thought. He was quite good-looking in his day, if a little nerdy. The sort of boy who needed Taking In Hand. Fix the hairstyle and the glasses and you might have something.

"And I've found the other one," Rory said in her ear. "Look!"

He pointed towards the corner of the first-floor balcony where a man stood surveying the crowd. The same man they'd met in 2011. "And, um, I think we have, er, bats in the belfry."

Amy craned her neck to look up at the ceiling, which consisted of triangles fitted together in an isometric grid. Hanging from the ceiling, half-camouflaged against the bare concrete, lit by flashes of red and green from the disco lamps, were the six Weeping Angels.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Mark searched the crowd for signs of his younger self. He thought he'd caught a glimpse of him a couple of times but had lost him amidst all the faces.

Watching the students, he felt envious. Envious of their youth, their joy, and all the years they had ahead of them. Okay, so this disco was tame compared to some of the nightclubs in Coventry, but they were having fun. And that was what Mark envied most of all.

The smoke machine hissed and the hectic drum-and-bass intro of 'No Good' by the Prodigy filled the hall. Down on the dance floor, the indie kids flowed towards the bars while the dance kids surged in from Rolf's bar. Within seconds they were thrusting and gyrating to the beat, furiously miming big fish, little fish, cardboard box, pretty much every dance move that they could think of. Green lasers swiped back and forth across the crowd, interspersed with bursts of strobe lighting.

Blue lightning flickered around the edge of the parapet, snaking over the edges before fading away. Strange. He'd never seen a lightning effect like that before. And the tingling in his fingers had grown stronger.

"Looking for someone?" two voices called out. Mark turned to see the Doctor and Alex standing on the balcony beside him. Alex had her eyes narrowed and her hands planted on her hips. The Doctor's arms were crossed in judgment.

"What are you doing here?" Mark gasped.

"Looking for you," the Doctor replied.

"How did you get here?"

"Same way as you," Alex responded, only to tilt her head in consideration. "Well, not exactly, but that's far too complicated to explain. Let's just say we have our resources."

"Your own resources?"

"Which is why we're here," the Doctor cut in. "To take you back . . . to the future!" He beamed wildly while Alex rolled her eyes and sent aDear-Lord-why-melook up at the ceiling.

"Did you always want to say that but never had a chance to?" she asked flatly.

"Yes! How did you know?"

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

"Three quid," the student behind the bar told him. Mark paid her, then collected his three pints of lager, balancing the plastic containers carefully. The slightest wrong move could cause him to squeeze one of the containers, resulting in a disastrous spillage. Every college student knew this. It took all of Mark's concentration to wind his way out of the bar area, which meant he only noticed that Sophie was talking when she stopped.

"What was that?" Mark asked her as they reached the quiet area by the change machine. He placed the drinks on a nearby ledge.

"I said I want to go home."

"You're not having fun?"

"I am. It's just that I've had enough. And you've got revision tomorrow, don't forget." Sophie squealed in alarm as two students pushed between her and Mark. "Hey, watch who you're shoving!"

"Mark Whitaker?" one of the students, a tall girl with long, red hair and beautiful eyes asked. She spoke with a perky Scottish accent.

"Yeah, yes?" Mark said, turning towards the other student, a friendly-looking bloke in a body warmer with unkempt hair and an apologetic grin. "Sorry, do I know you?"

"No. At least, not yet," the girl cryptically replied. "But that's not important right now. What is important is that you come with us." Behind the girl, Mark could see Sophie glowering with indignation.

"Wh-what for?"

"Friend of yours wants a word," the friendly-looking bloke said confidentially. "In private."

Sophie's mouth opened and closed like a gobsmacked goldfish. "What friend?" Mark questioned.

"You'll find out," the girl whispered enigmatically. "It's a surprise."

"This isn't something to do with Gareth, is it?" Gareth was in the same tutor group as Mark and had a reputation for playing elaborate practical jokes. Mark still hadn't figured out how Gareth had managed to rig that pulley system that dumped ten pounds of chocolate pudding on his and Rebecca's heads a few weeks ago.

"If I say yes, would that make you come with us?"

"No."

"Well, in that case, it has nothing to do with Gareth."

"That's just what he'd tell you to say. Okay, I'll come with you," Mark sighed, against his better judgment. In his experience, Gareth's practical jokes were best got over with as rapidly as possible. "But if this is a rag week stunt, I'm not interested." He took Sophie to one side. "Can you hold on here? I'll be back in five minutes."

"I'm not waiting for you," Sophie pouted, giving the red-haired girl anI-don't-know-who-you-are-but-kindly-drop-deadlook. "Either you come home me right now . . . or you don't."

Mark couldn't think of anything to say. Sophie shot him a furious glance and walked away.

"I'll find you!" Mark called after her, before turning to the red-haired girl. "Okay, let's get this over with. Lead on!"

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

The green lasers whirled through the smoke and over the dancers, giving their faces an alien-like hue. The lightning bolts had become more frequent, crackling over the nearby slot machines.

The Doctor and Alex leaned on the parapet beside Mark. "Let me guess," the Doctor began. "You're here because you want a quiet chat with your former self?"

"How do you know that?"

"It's what anyone would do in your situation. You want to tell him things to look out for, things to avoid. I don't recommend it. I've seen it tried before and it never ends well."

"Who are you to tell me what I can or can't do?"

Alex sucked in a breath. Not a good thing to say to the Doctor.

"I told you." The Doctor regarded him with cool, detached eyes. "I'm the Doctor. I'm—" Alex elbowed him harshly. "We," he hastily corrected, rubbing his side, "are the people who're going to save your life."

"Save my life? From what?"

Feeling a little self-conscious that she hadn't said anything in a while, Alex nodded over to the balcony opposite them. As she did so, the Prodigy track launched into its hyperactive chorus and the lights switched to the strobe effect. The flashing gave everything a jerky, film-like appearance.

"That," she told Mark.

On the balcony stood four of the statues, all staring directly towards him. But, by the flickering of the strobe light, they ceased to be statues any longer. They began to move along the balcony. Two of the Angels stretched over the parapet, searching hungrily for their prey, their necks twisting back and forth, while the other two continued to gaze blankly at Mark.

Something grabbed Mark's arm. He whirled around to see it was the Doctor. "Don't worry," he assured him. "They're not going to attack you. At least, not yet."

Alex sighed. "We really have to work on your bad-news delivering."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Amy led Mark and Rory up another winding stairwell, refusing to admit, even to herself, that she was lost. This place was like a maze designed by a madman. Whenever she thought she was getting somewhere, she ended up back where she started. Or somewhere completely different that justlookedlike back where she started.

"Where are we going?" Mark questioned.

"I told you," Amy said irritably as they passed the offices for theWarwick Boarstudent newspaper for the third time. "It's a surprise."

"You don't know where you're going."

Amy halted, finally at the end of her rope. "Okay. What's the nearest way out?"

"Don't ask me. I've never been around here before."

"What about down there?" Rory suggested, indicating a corridor that branched off to the right. Leaving Mark with Rory, Amy hurried around the corner to see where it would lead.

Two Weeping Angels blocked the way ahead, both frozen in position as they lunged out of the darkness towards her, their mouths open in a vision of hatred.

Amy let out a startled scream and backed away from them, remembering to keep at least one eye wide open at all times. She edged back around the corner and into Rory with a bump. "No, definitely not that way."

"Up the stairs?" he proposed.

Amy glanced towards Rory to see that he had opened the door to another gloomy stairwell. She nodded as confidently as she could. "Up the stairs it is."

While Mark and Rory bounded up the stairs, Amy looked back down the corridor. The two Weeping Angels had turned the corner and stood with their bodies arched, reaching towards her with clawed fingers.

Keeping her eyes fixed on the two statues, and winking her eyes alternately, Amy backed into the stairwell and retreated up the steps as carefully and as quickly as she could.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

"But I have to speak to him!" Mark protested.

Alex rolled her eyes. It was moments like this where she truly questioned how the human race had gotten so powerful. She was aware she was starting to sound like the Doctor, but considering the current circ*mstances, it was a valid question.

"Of course you do," the Doctor said sarcastically. He was questioning the superiority of the human race as well. "Never mind the consequences, you just make yourownlife better."

"It's not like that."

"Don't you get it?!" Alex barked. "If you think they sent you here out of the goodness of their hearts, you're crazy! They are here because they think you're going to create a nice big catastrophic space-time event."

"I don't care!" Mark snapped. He'd had enough of the Doctor and Alex, and all the heat and smoke and the noise, and the ever-present prickling sensation in his hand, and those moving statues. He just wanted to be alone.

He moved to walk off, but the Doctor blocked his path. "Oh, for goodness' sakes!" he groaned. "If reasoned argument doesn't succeed, you'll leave me no choice but to resort to brute force."

Mark and Alex stared at him questioningly. "What?" Mark started, but the Doctor thumped him in the face.

Alex's jaw dropped as Mark dropped to the floor, totally out. The Doctor scrambled to catch him and eased him gently down onto the floor. The Doctor ran a hand through his hair as he tried to figure out what to do next. "Alright," he declared. "We have to get him out of here. Ally, you can carry him by one of the shoulders. He's not too big a bloke, so I think you can manage." He turned to Alex, only to see that she was just staring at him. "Ally?"

"I seriously cannot believe you did that. I've only seen you hit someone once." And that had been back in Venice when a guard that slapped her had the unfortunate luck to come into contact with the Doctor.

The Doctor winced, recalling the memory. He had been denying his feelings for Alex then and seeing that she had been injured and then seeing the person who had caused said injury. . . He just snapped. "I don't do it that often."

"Maybe you should."

He raised an eyebrow. "Why's that, then?"

Alex skipped over to him and planted a kiss on his cheek. "Because it's kinda hot."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Mark followed the red-haired girl and the friendly-looking bloke through a fire door and out onto the rooftop terrace. After the heat and stuffiness of the union, it felt good to be outside in the cool night air.

"Rory, keep an eye on the door," the girl ordered. "And whatever you do—"

"Don't blink, I know, I know." The bloke stared at the fire door behind them, frowning in determination as though expecting to see something burst through it at any moment.

Mark looked around at the empty terrace. "You're brought me all the way up here just for this? I'm going back—"

"No. You have to stay put," the bloke told him, edging firmly between Mark and the fire door.

"Actually, Rory, I think we might be okay," the girl revealed. She peered over the terrace parapet, down towards where three students were emerging from the building. No, that wasn't quite right. Only one of them looked like a student. It was a girl with long, light brown hair and blonde highlights, wearing a black jacket, a sparkly gold tank-top, and form-fitting jeans. Even though he couldn't see her face, Mark could tell that she was the effortlessly gorgeous type, like Rebecca.

The other two were definitely not students. The girl was currently helping someone dressed as an old-fashioned professor lug a dazed-looking man of about 40 out of the entrance. Mark couldn't make out their faces either, but he could hear one of them singing 'Bohemian Rhapsody' with drunken enthusiasm.

The red-haired girl darted over to the stairs that lead down from the terrace, checking that the way was clear. "You wait here. Don't go anywhere. And whatever you do, don't follow us."

"Follow you?" Mark scoffed. "As if! You're mad!"

The girl just grinned. "Yeah, that's it, we're bonkers. Anyway, got to love you and leave you." Still grinning, the girl turned and hurried down the stairs. The bloke gave him a long-suffering smile and disappeared after her.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Mark woke to find himself being frogmarched through the campus, one arm around the Doctor's shoulder and the other around Alex's. His forehead throbbed. "Oh God, my head. My head!"

"He had a bit too much to drink," Alex explained as they passed a security guard, thankfully not the same one that had been checking her out earlier. "Just taking him home."

The guard nodded. He'd seen it all before.

Mark began to remember the content of their last conversation. "What did you do to me?" he demanded.

"He punched you in the face," Alex told him, nodding to the Doctor.

"I'm sorry," the Doctor apologized. "I did it as gently as I could."

Mark withdrew his arms from their shoulders and was about to speak when he heard the sound of approaching footsteps. A moment later, Amy and Rory emerged from the shadows, both of them gasping for breath.

"Doctor!" Amy shouted in relief. "Alex! There you guys are!"

"Amy, Rory," the Doctor greeted. "What about—"

"The other Mark?" Rory guessed, rubbing his sides. "We left him on the roof terrace."

"Good, good," the Doctor smiled as Alex giggled at the young Mark's misfortune. "Now we just have to get as much distance between them as possible before—"

"Before?" Amy prodded when he cut himself off.

The Doctor looked back the way they'd come. "Oh dear. Don't look too happy, do they?" The six Weeping Angels stood about twenty meters behind them, caught in the orange glow of a streetlamp. They were all snarling and clawing at the air.

"Not now that we've deprived them of their dinner, no," Alex concluded as the Doctor grabbed her hand.

Amy gulped, reached out for the Doctor and Rory's hands, and together with Mark and Alex, who had snatched up Mark's hand against his will, they arranged themselves so they were all facing the Weeping Angels.

"Back pedal! Fast as you can!" the Doctor cried, taking a long step backwards, pulling Amy and Alex along with him. "And keep looking at them! Whatever you do,keeplooking at them!"

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Back on the terrace of the students' union building, the 20-year-old Mark gazed across the university campus, considering his next move. He should go and find Sophie. He could already imagine the argument they'd have. Why couldn't she just have fun? Why couldn't she be more like—

"So this is where you've been hiding," a familiar voice teased behind him.

Mark turned to see Bex appear through the fire door. "How did you know I was here?"

"Confession time. I followed you. Who were those people?"

"No idea. They just brought me up here and did a bunk."

Bex joined him at the parapet. She didn't speak for over a minute, and when she did, she began with a laugh, as though what she was about to say shouldn't be taken seriously. "While I've got you alone, there's this thing I've been meaning to get your opinion on."

"Yeah?"

"Something I wasn't sure about."

"Yeah, what is it?"

"This."

Bex turned towards Mark and kissed him on the lips. Mark could barely contain his surprise. He'd never thought she liked him, not like that. But here she was, kissing him in a way that could only mean one thing. Her lips tasted of cherry lip balm and were warm and soft. And then, like waking from a dream, it was over.

"Thatwas the thing you weren't sure about?" Mark stammered. He wasn't completely sure his feet were still on the ground; he would have to look down to check.

"I just wanted to know what it would be like."

"And so now you know."

"Yeah."

"Revolting right?"

"Oh yeah," Bex agreed. "And for you?"

"I'm feeling a bit sick just thinking about it."

"Probably not a good idea to do it again, then."

"No."

And then Mark kissed her. Longer than the first time, Mark holding her against him, gently stroking the back of her neck. Until, too soon, she released him.

"Nope, still revolting," Bex sniffed.

"For me too. I really need to brush my teeth to get rid of the taste."

Bex turned away in embarrassment and brushed her hair behind her ear. "I'm sorry. I know you're with Sophie, it's just, well . . . I don't think she knows what she has. God, does that make me a bitch to say that?"

"Probably, but I forgive you."

"Speaking of which, you should probably go and find her," Bex advised, a sad smile on her face.

Mark realized that the moment, whatever it had meant, had passed, and now it was time to return to reality.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

"Doc, they're catching up!" Alex reported. She tightened her grip on his hand. Logically, she knew he would get them out of this. He always did. But it often took him a long time to do and right now, she was praying for a fast, effective solution.

"Yes," the Doctor whispered, his voice getting snarky as the situation's intensity increased. "Please let me know when they catch up and kill us, I'd hate not to notice!" Alex felt the strong urge to roll her eyes but shoved it aside as she concentrated on the Weeping Angels.

They'd walked backwards for what felt like a mile, bumping against walls and roadside barriers along the way. The problem was, whenever one of the Angels slipped out of sight, it would nip around the buildings in an attempt to cut them off. Now, although all six Angels were in plain sight, they were so spread out that it was impossible to look at more than one at a time. And there were only five of them to do the looking.

"It's no good," Amy moaned. Each time she looked back at one of them, it had advanced a little closer, its mouth wide, its tongue tasting the air, its face twisted in an expression of utter evil.

She heard the sound of an approaching vehicle behind her. Its brakes squealed as it slowed to a halt, followed by a hydraulic whoosh.

Amy's back pressed against a glass window. Without thinking, she turned. She'd backed into a bus stop. A warmly lit bus waited at the curb. It was like a sign from God that they were meant to get away! At least, that was what Alex might say, she being the most religious of the group. Amy spun back to face the Angels. They were now only two meters away.

"Doctor. The bus. . ."

The Doctor nodded his understanding. "Okay. With me, three, two, one,move!"

Amy and Alex whirled around and sprinted as fast as they could towards the bus. As she ran, Alex thanked God that she could run in heels. Still, she really needed to rethink all those heels in her closet. The girls leapt on board, followed by Rory, Mark, and finally, the Doctor. He patted his pockets while the girls dashed over to the window. The six Angels stood frozen alongside the bus, reaching towards it with outstretched hands. But they could see them all at once, just about. So long as they both didn't accidentally blink, that is.

"Hello," they heard the Doctor say to the bus driver. "You probably want money, don't you?"

Hurry, Doc,Alex mentally urged him. Why didn't he ever have money on him? It was ridiculous! As the richest TARDIS member, she would happily pay for stuff if she could. Too bad she couldn't get control of her inheritance for four more years. And who knew how much of it would be left by then thanks to her horrible grandmother?

Alex inwardly shook her head.Focus, Alexandria!

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that Rory was also watching the Angels, so Alex turned to watch the Doctor dig a variety of odd-looking objects from his pockets; a banana, a squeaky rubber telephone, a copy ofThe Venusian Book of Calm. She was pretty sure he’d had money for their date tonight, but had probably ditched it back at the TARDIS, deeming it unimportant for the adventure ahead.

Then, much to her relief, Mark shoved the Doctor out of the way and handed the driver a banknote. "Here."

The driver took the note and his eyes practically popped out of his head. "Fifty quid?"

"Keep the change!" Alex called. "It's your birthday, go crazy!"

The driver shrugged, closed the doors, and the bus jerked forward. Alex and Amy watched the Angels through the window, still frozen in the same positions at the bus stop, now grasping towards nothing but empty road.

"We made it!" Rory whooped. "We made it!"

"Only just," Alex said wearily.

"We were lucky," the Doctor muttered in agreement as he slumped into a seat. He reached out for Alex's wrist and tugged her down onto his lap. Alex curled into him and placed her head into the crook of his shoulder. This allowed her a nice whiff of his musky cologne and she inhaled it deeply, relishing in the comfort it provided.

Still, despite the comfort she now felt, her anxiety towards the creatures chasing them wasn't entirely gone. "But the Angels won't give up," she murmured.

The Doctor nodded. They both suddenly looked very tired, their expressions grave. "No," he said as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "This has only just begun."

Chapter 15: Touched by an Angel Part 4

Chapter Text

June 12th, 1994

"So what exactly are these 'Weeping Angels'?" Mark asked.

The Doctor sliced his sausage and skewered it with his fork. But rather than eating it, he waved it in the air for emphasis. "The most malevolent creatures in the history of the universe," he answered. "Nothing gives them greater pleasure than to watch a lesser species suffer. And to them we arealllesser species."

"And they feed by sending people back in time?"

"Usually." The Doctor took a bite of the sausage. "But these Angels are different. They feed on timeparadoxes. The more potentialramifications, the better. Ramifications, love that word. Rory, could you write it down for me?"

"Still not your secretary," Rory reminded him.

"Vacancy's still open." For a few moments, they all sat in silence in the hotel restaurant they had decided to congregate at, the only sound an occasional clatter of cutlery from the kitchen. "Which is why," the Doctor announced, finishing his breakfast, "which iswhy, we have to take you home, Mark Whitaker."

"But if the Angels want a paradox," Amy jumped in, "why go to all the trouble of bringing Mark here? Why not just change history themselves?"

"Because that would make them apart ofthe paradox, they'd end up feeding on their own timelines."

Alex pushed the remains of her sunny-side up eggs around her plate. "They need someone else to do their dirty work for them," she elaborated before sticking a piece of egg in her mouth. She chewed and swallowed it down before adding, "That way, they remain outside the chain of cause and effect." She looked at the Doctor expectantly. "Am I right?"

He smiled. "You haven't been wrong yet, Ally."

"Except for what made the Siren appear."

The Doctor made a dismissive gesture. "Don't blame yourself for that, it was both our faults. All worked out in the end though."

Alex smiled softly, remembering the stellar chocolate-filled kisses they'd shared. "That's true."

"What if Ican'tgo back?" Mark interjected, bringing them back to the matter at hand.

The Doctor wiped his lips with a napkin while Alex placed her fork down and raised an eyebrow. They leaned forward. "What do you mean, 'can't'?" they demanded.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

The supermarket bustled with Sunday shoppers, mothers with pushchairs and fathers with trolleys. None of them paid any attention to the blue police box parked beside theFireman Samride. But Mark couldn't take his eyes off it. It was the same police box he'd seen flying through the air after his train. The Doctor's time machine.

"Let me get this straight," the Doctor said, leaning proprietorially against the door, Alex curled into his side. "You received a letter sent from yourfuture self?"

Mark nodded. "I received it the day I traveled back, just before I met you and the Angel."

"How do you know the letter came from you?" Amy asked.

"Because my name was at the bottom."

"Oh."

"And it was in my handwriting."

"In your handwriting," the Doctor repeated, mulling over each word in turn.

"And so was the name on the envelope."

"Can we see it?" Alex requested. "The letter?"

"I-I don't have it anymore," Mark stammered.

The Doctor and Alex's jaws dropped. "You LOST it?!" they shouted. Howstupidwas this guy?!

"I put it in a safety deposit box. In London. Didn't want it falling into the wrong hands."

"How very public-spirited of you," the Doctor quipped dryly. He gave Mark a dark look. "So what was in this 'letter' written in your handwriting?"

"A list of instructions, telling me things I should do, investments I should make, and things I should do to make sure that history remained on track."

"Such as?" Alex prodded.

"Such as. . . Well, when I was 22 or 23, I went on holiday to Rome. While I was there, I lost my wallet. It had all my money in it, credit cards, everything. I retraced my steps, but I couldn't find it anywhere. But when I got back to the hotel, it turned out that somebody had already handed it in."

"But anybody could've done that," Rory argued, skepticism wreaking his voice. "What makes you think it was you?"

Alex immediately figured it out. "Because there was no way anyone other than him would know which hotel he was staying at."

"Exactly!" Mark exclaimed, pointing at her. "I didn't really question it at the time, I was just glad to have it back."

"So thisletter," the Doctor said, his tone making it clear that he wasn't a hundred percent sure that a letter even existed, "tells you to be in Rome, on a certain street, on a certain day, so you can pick up your former self's wallet and deliver it to his hotel?"

"Yes!" Mark spoke defiantly. "That's it, that sort of thing."

"A Sally Sparrow survival kit," the Doctor muttered. Amy and Rory raised their eyebrows in confusion, but Alex simply nodded in agreement. The Doctor had told her about Sally Sparrow and his first encounter with the Weeping Angels. And they had been just as evil and menacing then as they were now. The Doctor ran a hand through his hair. "And if you're not there to do it, you'll be changing your own past."

"Exactly. Which is just what you said I shouldn't do, because—"

"Because it would create a paradox," Alex finished. She leaned her head back against the TARDIS doors, smelling just the lightest whiff of smoke. As if sensing her frustration, the machine hummed beneath her reassuringly.

The Doctor thrust open the doors of the police box and gestured for Mark to step inside. "I'll take you there now in the TARDIS. Sorry about the smoke smell. There was a slight incident."

"Hardly slight," Rory grumbled.

Mark hesitantly peered in. Within, he could see an impossibly large, orange-lit Aladdin's cave, a central altar with a glass column and stairwells leading off into vaulted antechambers. It hummed with energy. Mark was tempted to enter but held back.

"That wasn't the only thing I had to do," he revealed. "There were others."

"What interests me," the Doctor began, narrowing his eyes, "is why you'd evenwantto stay here in the past."

"Why I'd want to?"

"Yes."

"Isn't that what anyone would do, given the chance?" Mark looked to Amy, Rory, and Alex for signs of support, but failed to get any.

"No," Alex deadpanned. "I rather like laptops and iPods andCastlemarathons on TV."

"She's right," the Doctor agreed. He paused to examine theFireman Samride, having only just noticed it, before continuing. "That isn't whatanyonewould do. Oh, I grant you, everyone would like to go back into the past for a day or two. Check out some bands, see a few shows, pick up a few first editions. The past is like a foreign country. Nice to visit, but you wouldn't want to live there."

"So why do you?" Alex inquired. She narrowed her eyes, the copper irises turning into ominous, threatening slits.

"I just do," Mark replied, shifting slightly under Alex's gaze. He paused to decide how much he should tell them. "Look, in 2011, I don't exactly have a lot to live for, all right? So, I think I have a chance of a happier life if I stay here. It is my choice, after all."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

The Doctor leaned over the console, staring at the central column. He exhaled a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, then slammed his palm against the console in anger. "Humans," he griped, muttering under his breath. He turned to Alex. "You're the same species as him, what do you think?"

"He's lying through his teeth," Alex said promptly. "It wassoobvious."

"I don't believe him either," Amy chimed in. She glanced out the TARDIS doors, to where she could see Mark sitting on one of the wooden benches by the fire engine ride.

"And you?" the Doctor asked Rory.

"I agree with Amy and Alex. I don't trust him either."

"Nevertheless, he was right. If he isn't here to fulfill all the tasks in that letter he sent himself . . . that would be another paradox."

"If there evenissuch a letter," Rory reminded him.

"Yeah," Amy agreed. "He was obviously lying. It was written all over his face."

"Perhaps," Alex mused. "But I got the sense that the story about the wallet in Rome was true. It . . . just had that grain of truth to it." Having been in theater for so long, she could tell when things sounded rehearsed or not. Mark's voice wasn't flat like it had been practiced over and over again. It wasn't much, but it was all she had to go on.

"Yeah, I got that too," the Doctor admitted. "And only he knows precisely where and when to be." He flicked a couple of switches in irritation. "We've got no choice. He has to stay."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

The Doctor, Amy, Alex, and Rory emerged from the police box, the Doctor looking subdued. "You can stay," he announced. "Under certain conditions."

"What conditions?"

"Number one. Only follow the instructions in the letter you sent to yourself. You are not to influence history in any way. Even the slightest deviation could bedisastrous."

"Okay, I understand."

"Not finished yet," Alex told him. She eyed him closely as she said, "Rule number two. You are not to talk to, approach, or communicate with your younger self. You keep out of his way at all costs."

"And the same goes for any friends, relatives, colleagues, or lovers," the Doctor finished. "You cannot haveanycontact."

Mark felt a twinge of guilt. "Not to make contact. Right."

"We mean it. Just one word, one telephone call, one postcard, and you'll alter the course of your own timeline. No. Wait." The Doctor groaned. "Who was it? Who did you speak to?"

"No one."

"No, youmust'vespoken to someone. I detected wibbliness."

Mark raised an eyebrow at him, absently wondering if this man was sane or not. "Wibbliness?"

"It's what first attracted the attention of the Weeping Angel. Who was it?"

"I may have . . . visited my mother."

"Your MOTHER?!" the Doctor exclaimed, opening his mouth wide in astonishment.

"Just to say hello."

"Just to say hello?!"

"Yes."

"In his defense, Doc," Alex jumped in, "he didn't know about the conditions then." Though common sense should have taken care of that in their absence.

"Well, I hope that's all you said. Because if you didn't. . ." The Doctor stroked his chin thoughtfully. "What I think is, you've had a very lucky escape, because whatever you said, it can't have made any significant impact. Or you wouldn't be sitting here right now."

It took a few moments for Mark to realize the implications of the Doctor's words. What he'd said to his mother, trying to convince her to make his father get a check-up, it hadn't changed a thing. His father would still die in three and a half years' time.

"I recommend you stay as far away from your younger self as possible just to be on the safe side," the Doctor advised. "Get out of the country if necessary. Belgium, IrecommendBelgium. And I never thought I'd saythat."

"Any more conditions?"

"Condition number three." The Doctor clapped his hands like a university lecturer warming to his theme. "You are not to tell anyone you are from the future. Not even as a joke. As far as anyone from this time period is concerned, you were born . . . how old are you, Mark?"

"Thirty-seven."

"You were born thirty-seven years ago. You can keep the same birthday if you like. But you have not traveled in time. If anyone asks, you think the whole notion is just science fiction."

"Right."

"You'll need a new identity. I'll leave the details to you. Keep your head down. Don't do anything to arouse suspicion. Don't get married, don't have children."

"I don't see why—"

"Isn't it obvious?" Amy interrupted before Alex could. "Because if you end up getting married to some girl, you might be changing history because she should've got married to somebody else."

"All right, I agree, I agree!" Mark cried, so loudly that passing shoppers turned to look at the disturbance. "Don't get involved."

The Doctor patted his jacket pockets. "Do you need money?"

Alex rolled her eyes. "Like you ever have money."

The Doctor gave her a glare and was about to retort when Mark spoke up. "I have money," he revealed. "The envelope I sent to myself contained six thousand pounds."

The Doctor whistled in admiration, then frowned. "Sorry, is that quite a lot?"

"Yes," Alex sighed, rolling her eyes once more.

"It's enough to last me a few months," Mark reported. "Is it okay for me to get a job?"

"So long as it's not Prime Minister, yes," the Doctor confirmed, breaking into a smile. "Speaking of which, that letter of yours. You have to remember to send it to yourself."

"I won't forget. I'll keep it safe, and then send it—"

"No. You mustn't send theoriginalletter. That wouldn't make sense."

"You need to copy it," Alex informed him. "A handwritten copy, identical in every way and detail.Thenyou send yourself the copy."

"The copy, right."

The Doctor tapped out a rhythm on the top of Fireman Sam's fire engine. "Well, I think that's everything. Oh . . . and one last thing."

"Yes?"

"Watch out for the Angels. As long as you behave yourself, you should be quite safe. The Angels are only going to be drawn to you if there's the possibility of a paradox. And if youdosee the Angels, that means you're on the brink of creating a paradox, so whatever you're doing, stop."

"You're sure they won't come after me?"

"They won't waste energy chasing you unless there's a meal for them at the end of it," Alex assured him.

Mark wasn't convinced but didn't want to press the point. "If you say so."

"Good luck." The Doctor shook Mark's hand and waited by the police box with Alex. Rory gave Mark an encouraging slap on the back while Amy gave him an encouraging kiss on the cheek.

"Be a good boy," Amy said to him, before following Rory into the police box.

The Doctor and Alex lingered on the threshold. "Don't draw attention to yourself," the Doctor reminded him. "Don't contact your former self. Anddon't, whatever you do,change history." Alex gave him a slight smile, but Mark saw the uneasiness in her eyes as she tried to figure him out. Then, without another word, they disappeared inside, shutting the door behind them. The lamp on top of the box flashed and, with a wheezing, groaning sound, the police box faded from view.

He'd convinced them. Well, Alex seemed skeptical of him, but that was okay. She'd never figure out what he was really up to. Mark patted his coat pocket, feeling the reassuring weight of the padded envelope. He opened it and checked the list of instructions, reminding himself what he had to do. First, get a fake ID. He had ready cash, so it shouldn't be difficult.

The fingers of his right hand tingled for the first time since the previous night.

"Thanks for coming with me, Mark," said a familiar voice. Mark turned to see Sophie and his younger self emerge from the supermarket, both laden down with plastic bags full of groceries. Mark ducked behind theFireman Samride, keeping out of sight.

"Don't mention it, good to get out of the house," Mark's younger self replied. "Besides, I feel bad about abandoning you last night."

"You're forgiven," Sophie assured him. "But don't do it again."

"Okay, cup of tea, then back to the exciting world of contract law," Mark's younger self joked. His older self watched him walk out into the parking lot with Sophie.

The tingling in his hand faded until there was no sensation at all. Suddenly there was a brief flapping sound from overhead like the sound of a large bird taking off. But when Mark looked up at the supermarket roof, there was nothing there.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

April 2nd, 1995

Mark poured the last of the white wine into the plastic cup and lay back on the blanket. Above him, vapor trails crossed the sky. Trees rustled in the breeze and ducks flapped and quacked on the river. In the distance, Warwick Castle rose from the woodland, imposing and ancient.

Becky – she no longer liked to be called Bex – lay beside him, tickling his neck with a grass stem. "So, where's Sophie today?" she inquired idly, rolling over to lean on her elbows.

"Gone home to her parents. No reason."

"What do you mean, no reason?"

"I mean, we haven't had an argument or anything."

"Wasn't suggesting you had."

Mark took a sip of wine. He hadn't had an argument with Sophie because in order to have an argument, you had to be speaking, and at the moment, they weren't. He'd sent Sophie an apologetic email from the computer center but had yet to receive a reply.

A couple of joggers bounced past, listening to portable CD players. "What about Anthony?" Mark asked. Anthony was Becky's latest boyfriend. He had a face that, in Mark's opinion, resembled a pink potato.

Becky leisurely thumbed through her battered copy ofCaptain Corelli's Mandolin. "Rugby match. Said he might join us later, but he won't."

"Right." Mark stretched back, trying not to think about Anthony, or Sophie, or work, instead trying to lose himself in the blueness of the sky.

Becky gave up on her book. "Forgive me, none of my business, but you're not getting on with Sophie, are you?"

"Yeah, you're right."

"So what've you done wrong this time?"

"No, you're right that it's none of your business."

Becky pouted. "I don't know why you put up with her. Sorry to be blunt, but she makes you unhappy, Mark. It's like, on your own, you're quite a nice guy, but whenever you're with her, you just sit there,glowering."

"Do I?" Mark asked, even though he knew Becky had hit the nail on the head. He didn't enjoy spending time with Sophie anymore. It had become an obligation to be endured.

"You should find someone else. Someone you actually get on with."

"I would, but you're taken, alas, alas," Mark said mockingly.

"You had your chance, as I recall. That night, on the roof of the union. . ."

"I remember." Mark finished his wine. "God, if Sophie knew I was talking to you like this. . ."

"What?"

"Oh, she has this idea in her head that I would rather be going out with you."

"Well,obviously," Becky joked. "I mean, I'm sane, she's a control freak. Is that why she's always so unfriendly?"

"Yo, dudes," Lucy called, clumping up to them with a smile and a clinking carrier bag. Despite the heat, she wore her usual black t-shirt, jeans, and combat boots. Her girlfriend, a shy, bookish girl called Emma, followed in her wake. "Did you miss us?"

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

February 17th, 1996

"Well, this is embarrassing," Becky groaned.

Mark was lying in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar bedroom. On the opposite wall hung a Monet print and a corkboard pinned with Polaroid's of parties, pets, and holidays. A window looked out onto the cold, drizzly morning. And Becky was sitting on the bed beside him. He could see her back, so smooth and pale, her shoulder blades, her spine. Then she pulled a baggy t-shirt over her head and tugged on a pair of jeans. "I suppose, civilized thing, do you fancy coffee? Or tea? We're out of milk."

"Black coffee's fine." Mark blinked, his eyes stinging as he'd slept with his contact lenses in. "What's embarrassing?"

"What do you think? Last night."

Mark remembered. "Oh."

Yesterday had been a bad day. He'd gotten fired from his job in telesales, a job which he loathed, but that wasn't the point. He'd never been fired from a job before. After splitting up with Sophie – at long last, hallelujah – he'd moved in with Rajeev. While he had yet to get a placement with a solicitor since graduation, all his friends still lived in Coventry and the surrounding area. But while they studied for PhDs, he drifted from one dead-end job to another.

He'd gone to Becky's for tea and sympathy. They'd talked for a while, about Anthony, and how Becky hardly ever saw him since he'd gotten a job in Manchester. Then Becky had boiled some pasta, he'd popped out to the off-license, and they'd spent the evening curled up on the sofa watchingCybill,Friends, andFrasier. By the time Channel 4 got toThe Girlie Show, they'd gotten to the kissing and unbuttoning stage.

"What are you saying?" Mark asked now, feeling his stomach churn. "You regret it?"

"Of course I regret it. Hello! Don't you?"

"No."

"Thanks," Becky said sarcastically as she inspected herself in the mirror. "Thanks a lot, Mark. Make it complicated."

"Look, I know you're with Anthony, it's just . . . well, I don't think he knows what he has." Mark was aware he was echoing something Becky had once said to him. "Don't worry, it'll stay just between us."

"There is nous. It was just a, just a silly—"

"Mistake?"

"Your word, not mine. I was going to say 'one-off'. Let's just try to forget it ever happened, okay?" Becky whipped the duvet from the bed. "Now I don't want to be rude or anything, but I think you should go. I've got loads of stuff to do today and I don't need you hanging around."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Mark ran the conversation over and over again in his head, trying to work out where he'd gone wrong, what he should have said. He sat alone in the kitchen, drinking instant coffee, watchingThe Chart Showon Becky's portable television. Apparently, The Lighthouse Family felt 'Lifted'. Mark didn't share their optimism and turned it off.

"When you're finished," Becky told him, pausing on her way to the door in a thick coat, scarf, and beanie hat, "make sure the door locks behind you."

"Don't you think we should talk?"

"About what?"

"About what happened."

"There's nothing to talk about," Becky dismissed. "Goodbye, Mark." She left, the door slamming shut behind her.

Mark finished his breakfast, washed up the mug and bowl, pulled on his jacket, and braved the outside world. Speckles of snow fluttered in the blustery air. The snow wasn't settling though. Instead, it was just melting and making the pavement sludgy and gray.

Something had changed between him and Becky. The warm feeling of trust, of private jokes and shared confidences had been replaced by a feeling as cold as this February morning.

Mark huddled his hands into his pockets and headed for home, thinking about the fact that he'd lost his best friend in the world.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor cranked the dematerialization handle and darted around the console, making an adjustment here, typing in a new setting there, all the while glancing at a folded sheet of paper.

"So that's it?" Amy said, trying to attract his attention through the glass of the central column. "You're just trusting him, leaving him in the past?"

"Not quite," the Doctor replied, grimacing as he pulled a particularly stiff lever. "I'm slaving the navigation systems to the contents of Mark Whitaker's CV."

"What does that mean?" Rory asked.

"Curriculum Vitae. It's Latin. Would've thought you'd have known that."

"No, Doc, he meant what 'slaving the navigation systems' means," Alex clarified.

"Oh. Thank you, Ally. It means the TARDIS is going to follow Mark through the course of his life. Young Mark, I mean. Wherever he is, the TARDIS won't be far away. Multi-dimensionally speaking."

"You're using the TARDIS to keep tabs on him?" Amy summarized.

"Which means that if thereareany disturbances in his timeline, the TARDIS will put us down nearby."

"Disturbances?" Amy repeated. "You mean if old Mark doesn't behave himself—"

"Exactly," the Doctor nodded. "If at any point he crosses his younger self's path or attempts to change the course of history . . . we'll be there to stop him."

"But hang on," Rory frowned. "You said that whenever there's a build-up of potential time energy, the Weeping Angels will be drawn to it like moths to a flame."

"He did," Alex said solemnly. "Which is why we have to get to him first."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

December 16th, 1997

"Mark!"

It took the 24-year-old Mark a couple of seconds to register that someone had called out his name. He turned, searching the shopping precinct for a familiar face. There were pensioners in heavy coats, young families with pushchairs, teenagers with Santa hats and rucksacks, all of them wielding bulging shopping bags. A brass band pumped out a festive carol.

But even with the brisk sense of excitement in the air, even with the silvery webs of lights overhead, even with the combined efforts of Slade, Wizzard, and Wham!, Mark didn't feel full of Christmas cheer. He felt numb, miserable, and anxious.

Until he saw Becky stride out of the crowd towards him, her face beaming. She wore a fluffy cream-colored hat and scarf, her cheeks flushed from the cold. "Mark!" she repeated before hugging him. "What are you doing here?"

Mark lifted his two bulging shopping bags. "Guess."

"Me too. God, Christmas is a nightmare." Becky studied his face. "Something's different about you. What is it? Don't tell me. No, I give up, tell me."

"New glasses," Mark answered, though they weren't new. He'd got them six months earlier.

"They suit you," Becky said earnestly. "Groovy, baby! Look, do you fancy going for a coffee? I think that if I don't get out of the crowd, I might literally murder someone."

"Yeah, sounds great," Mark agreed. Becky guided him through the crowd, past Woolworths with its cardboard cut-out Teletubbies, and past the large, stone fountain, where the rushing water glittered in ever-changing colors.

Becky paused at the fountain, disconcerted. "Hey, since when did they put the statues here?"

Mark shrugged. He'd never really noticed them before. Six stone statues of angels in robes had been placed around the edge of the pool, facing outwards. Except they were all covering their faces with their hands.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

They stepped into the steamy warmth of the coffee shop, greeted by the chorus of 'Never Ever' on the radio. "Coffee?" Becky asked. "Let me remember. Black, no sugar?"

"Yep," Mark confirmed.

"Grab us a seat, can you? I'll get these."

While Becky paid for and collected the two cups, Mark found a couple of padded seats in the corner by the window.

"So," Becky said, carefully placing the coffees on the table on top of a discarded copy ofThe European. "News. Tell me everything." She shrugged off her coat and took the seat opposite. Mark studied her for a moment. She looked different. She'd had her hair cut short and dyed red with a blonde streak, like the girl fromThis Life, and wore more lipstick and eyeliner.

"Not a lot, really," Mark told her. "Still working for the housing association. Boring, but it pays the rent, just about. Still looking for a practice that'll take me on. You?"

"Oh, you know, dissertation rumbles on. Okay, that's work out of the way. What about everything else? Are you still with that girl, what was her name?"

"Jenny. Yeah, we're still together." He'd met her on his first day at the Housing Association. They were both temping in the same office and found they both needed someone sane to talk to. Jenny was very . . . determined. It had been her idea for Mark to change his glasses, along with most of his clothes. Mark sometimes wondered if she even had a sense of humor. Whenever he made a joke, she would just look at him as though he had let her down somehow.

"And it's going okay?"

"Yeah, it's good. We haven't moved in together yet but it's, you know, inevitable."

"Wow. Sounds serious. How long has it been, then?"

"Nearly a year."

"A year? God, I'm so out of date." Becky blew the foam off her coffee and took a sip. "When I last saw you, you'd just started going out. She is the one with no sense of humor, right?"

"Yeah," Mark laughed. Becky had met Jenny, very briefly, at Lucy's birthday party in March. He could still remember the argument he'd had with Jenny on the way home. It had been their first big argument. The first of many.

But while that had been the last time Becky had seen him, it hadn't been the last time he'd seen her. The last time he'd seen her, she'd been chatting with some people he didn't know at Rajeev's going-home party in July. He'd watched her from the other side of the room but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to go up to her. What would he say? After that night in February, they hadn't had a proper conversation. He always felt self-conscious and resentful, and she always gave the impression she would much rather be somewhere else.

"And what about you?" he asked. "Still with Anthony?"

"Oh, yeah. He's still keen, bless him. We're doing Christmas at his parents." Becky grimaced. "Which will beagony. I don't think they regard me as daughter-in-law material. What about you, what are you doing?"

"I'm going home, to spend it with my parents."

"Oh, that sounds nice."

"Not really. My. . ." Then it all came out in a rush. "My dad had a heart attack two weeks ago, he didn't die, but they've had to take him into hospital for observation, because it might happen again, and so . . . and so I've taken as much time off work as I can, I'm going down tonight, it looks like he's going to be spending Christmas in the hospital, and so I have to be there for Mum because, on the phone, she sounds like she's trying not to cry and, so, yeah, that's what I'm doing this Christmas." Mark picked up a tissue and rubbed it into the corners of his eyes.

"Oh, my God. I'm so sorry." Becky gave him a sympathetic smile, and suddenly, Mark felt like he was with the old Bex again.

"Mum was always on at him to go for a check-up. Apparently some relative in Canada had a heart attack when they were his age. But he never got around to it, always too busy. Anyway, Christmas shopping." Mark swallowed the lump in his throat. "What a nightmare, eh?"

"Yeah," Becky said, rubbing his fingers. "Look, if you ever need someone to talk to. . ."

Mark felt the touch of metal and looked down to see the engagement ring on Becky's finger. Becky saw that Mark had noticed it and withdrew her hand.

"'Not daughter-in-law material'," Mark repeated. "I should've picked up on that. Congratulations."

"Thanks."

"So when's the wedding?"

"Oh, not for ages. Anthony's parents want to organize this massive do. They've actually been watchingFour Weddingson video and taking notes. I think they're waiting on St. Paul's Cathedral becoming available. You're invited. Obviously. You and what's her name, Jenny. If you're still together."

"What is it with you and trying to split me up with my girlfriends?" Mark joked.

"I just think none of them are good enough for you, that's all."

"Yeah. Which reminds me." He dug in his pocket for his new mobile phone and switched it on. One missed call, one new message. From Jenny, telling him to meet her at her office at four, that she loved him and not to be late, x. Mark checked the time. Half past four.

Mark finished the rest of his coffee. "Look, I've got to go. It was lovely seeing you, Becky."

"Lovely seeing you too, Mark. One thing you should know before you go, though."

"Yeah?" Mark pulled on his coat and grabbed his shopping bags.

"No one calls me Becky anymore. It's Rebecca." She stood up as though to shake his hand. But instead, she laughed and gave him a stiff hug. "And what I said, about phoning me, I meant it. Oh, and you left your paper." She handed him the discarded copy ofThe European.

"Not mine."

"Oh," she said, taking it back. As she did, a lottery ticket slid from its pages. Rebecca examined it. "Hey, it's for tomorrow." She pressed it into his hand. "You have it. You never know." She put on the deep voice of the television advert. "'It could be you'."

Mark slipped the ticket into his pocket. "Yeah. Anyway. Have to, you know." He walked over to the door and out into the chilly, damp, and oh-so Christmassy shopping precinct.

But he couldn't help looking back at Rebecca, sipping her coffee in the window. And then he noticed a tingling sensation in his right hand, the same feeling he'd had on the night they'd first kissed.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Rebecca drained her coffee, thinking about Mark. He looked like he hadn't slept for days, his eyes were red from crying and, God, those glasses really didn't suit him. She'd wanted to kiss him and tell him everything would be all right, but she'd held back.

And then she noticed the man standing at her table.

For a moment she thought Mark had come back, until she realized it wasn't him. The man looked familiar, but she couldn't place where from. He looked about 40, with a deep tan and tinted glasses. "Forgot my paper," he explained, collectingThe Europeanand turning to go.

"Hey!" Rebecca called. "There was a lottery ticket, I'm sorry, my friend took it, we thought—"

"It's okay. He probably needs it more than I do." The man smiled and left, just as the coffee shop radio began to play the opening chords of 'Angels'.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

After their mad escape from the Angels, everyone on the TARDIS was tired, even the Doctor, though he wouldn't admit it. Therefore, Alex had managed to persuade the Doctor in allowing them a little time to rest and recharge before they went back to help Mark. Being so wrapped around her finger, he'd agreed.

"See you in a few hours," Amy waved as she and Rory headed into their room.

Alex nodded and went back down the hall to her room. She ran a hand through her hair. She was pretty tired, thankfully not as much as she had been after her little fit on Vivuldi. She shuddered slightly, remembering the cutting, tearing pain that had run through her body like a wild-fire.

Don't think about that, Alexandria,she scolded herself. She turned the corner that led to her room and the control room. As she’d expected, the Doctor was leaning against the doorframe to her room.

Alex smiled and hurried over to him. His arms automatically opened, and Alex curled into them. She rested her head against his chest, the double heartbeats sounding soothing against her ear.

"You okay?" the Doctor asked as he kept his arms wrapped around her. She was so small in his grasp. It was like a gust of wind could blow her away and his arms were shields keeping her in place.

"I'm fine," Alex dismissed. She knew that he was worried about her having another attack. She'd only had two so far, and that had been weeks ago. Still, that didn't stop him from constantly examining her before and after they left the TARDIS and trying to find the calmest, most peaceful planets possible to take them to so she wouldn't have to worry about having an attack when they were running for their lives.

"Promise?" he checked.

"Promise. May God strike me down dead if I'm lying."

The Doctor laughed. "Let's hope He doesn't do that. I'd be very cross and out for revenge."

Alex giggled and pulled away from his grasp to open her door. The lights in her chandelier had been perfectly dimmed and the bed covers already turned down. She patted the wall in thanks and went in, not bothering to close the door. The Doctor continued to lean against the doorframe, content to watch her.

She kicked off her heels and stuck them in the walk-in closet. She pulled her jacket off and laid it on the dresser before removing her earrings and bracelets. As always, she left the sonic necklace on. She then walked across the room and climbed into bed, pulling the sheets and comforter over her. Alex closed her eyes as her body relaxed into the mattress.

She looks like an angel,the Doctor thought. He was aware that this was completely and totally sappy, but he couldn't bring himself to care. It was the truth. She looked beautiful when she slept. Actually, she was beautiful all the time. It didn't matter what she looked like on self-proclaimed bad hair days or when she grumbled about having a zit; to him, she always looked effortlessly put-together, eternally perfect.

"Okay, are you being purposefully stupid right now, or did you really not get that the sole reason I left my door open was so that you could come join me?" The Doctor jumped as Alex spoke. She opened her eyes, exposing brilliant copper irises that twinkled in the dim light. She scooted to the other side of the bed and patted the free space beside her.

The Doctor didn't need any more encouragement. Quick as a wink, he entered the room and shut the door. He shook his jacket off and tossed it onto the leather couch. He kicked his boots off and tugged his bowtie off, placing it on the nightstand next to a copy ofInfinityglassby Myra McEntire. He frowned and picked it up.

"Is this the same author who wrote that atrocious time-traveling story you read me?" he asked as he sat down on the bed.

"Yep. Same series too."

He quickly flipped through the book. "Wrong," he scoffed. "All of it. Though that Hallie's quite a character, isn't she?"

"I'm partial to the romance," Alex confessed. "All whirl-wind, intense, and passionate. . ." She raised an eyebrow. "Sound familiar?"

He chuckled and set the book back on the nightstand. "Yes, but maybe not the whirl-wind part."

"No, that took time." Alex snuggled closer to him as he fully laid out on the mattress, tugging the sheets and comforter over him.

"Yes," he agreed. He wrapped one of his arms around Alex’s waist to pull her closer to him. "Glad it did though." Smiling, he placed a kiss on her forehead.

Too bad it was your death that finally got us together,Alex thought, but didn't say. Trying to distract herself from these unpleasant thoughts, she laid her head on his chest. "When do we visit Mark again?" she asked as she closed her eyes and concentrated on the soothing beats of his hearts.

The Doctor ran his hand through her hair. The mild tension he'd been carrying around all day lifted at the feeling of her soft hair against his rough skin. "Probably in Rome. Make sure the wallet stealing and returning goes off without a hitch."

"I don't trust him," Alex confided. "He's up to something. He has an ulterior motive. I know he does."

The Doctor sighed. "You're not alone in that feeling, love. Mark Whitaker's planning something alright."

Alex smiled and giggled a little. He frowned. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing," Alex said, though since she was still giggling, her answer wasn't very believable. Knowing this, she paused, thinking of how best to phrase her thoughts. "It's just. . . I like you calling me that. Love. You should do it more often."

He smiled down at her. Ever so carefully so as to keep her from moving, he bent his head down and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "Deal."

"We seem to like coming up with nicknames for each-other, don't we?" Alex observed. He had started calling her 'Ally' the day they met, and she had started calling him 'Doc' the first time she'd encountered the Weeping Angels, with theByzantiumcrash and River. Now that she really thought about it, she had probably started calling him 'Doc' to make it seem like she was closer to him than River.Oh well,she thought. Nothing like a little jealousy to promote personal nickname calling.

"It's a thing of ours," he agreed. "Like simultaneous speaking."

"And finishing each-other's sentences."

"Yes," the Doctor chuckled. It was quite amazing that he had such a deep connection to Alex. He'd never had this with any of his other companions before, not even Rose, and they'd been very close, sharing private jokes and stories and often getting so caught up in each-other, that they failed to notice anyone else around them. Rose's connection with him paled to the one he had with Alex.

Alex snuggled into him even tighter, her body meshing into his side. She fit there perfectly, like a puzzle piece. The Doctor was fairly sure this body had been made for her and he couldn't help but wonder if his other bodies had been too, in case she showed up back then. He'd have to have the TARDIS dig out the photos she stored of prior incarnations and check.

This kind of thinking quickly led him to the mystery of Alex being a fixed point. His brow furrowed. What could it mean? He was drawn to her, unlike with Jack, which he was glad about. Butwhywas he so drawn to her?

"You're thinking very loudly," Alex commented, her voice a soft murmur as she began slipping further into the Land of Nod.

"It's nothing, Ally."

Had she been fully able, Alex would have raised an eyebrow at him. "Doesn't sound like nothing."

He sighed. He didn't really want her worrying about her fixed-point status, not until he figured out what it was anyway. "Really," he said in a quiet but firm tone. "It's nothing."

"If you say so."

"Go to sleep, love."

Chapter 16: Touched by an Angel Part 5

Chapter Text

August 11th, 1998

"Mind if we join you?" Amy asked.

"No, not at all," Mark answered, sliding a chair towards her. "I thought I might see you here."

Rory let Amy take the seat with the most shade, while the Doctor eased himself into a chair directly in the glare of the midday sun. Alex, not at all bothered by the heat after living in Kentucky's hot summers for thirteen years, sat in his lap. The narrow street baked in the heat, heady with traffic fumes and swarming with tourists. Occasionally, the guttural rev of a motor scooter drowned out the clatter from the coffee bars and souvenir stalls, but it never drowned out the constant, thunderous, splashing roar of the Trevi Fountain waterfall.

"Four Frappuccino's," the Doctor told the waitress. "Make mine decaffeinated." The waitress boggled at the Doctor. His only concession to the heat was a pair of black sunglasses. He should have been roasting in his tweed jacket and bowtie but showed no discomfort.

Alex, however, had been far more conscious of the heat. She now wore a burgundy and white checkered button-down with three-quarter length sleeves, white shorts, a brown belt, burgundy-colored Converse, gold-stud earrings, and her sonic necklace. Like the Doctor, she was also wearing sunglasses, though hers were oversized and white.

"How did you find me?" Mark asked.

"Wibbliness," Rory explained. "The Doctor has a special detector." The device in question lay in Alex's lap, beeping intermittently.

"Oh, yes, I remember. When we first met. It seems such a long time ago."

Rory exchanged a raised eyebrow with Amy, then Alex. As far as they were concerned, they'd only left Mark at the supermarket a few hours ago, yet he already looked noticeably older, his hair thinning, his skin tanned but showing deeper lines around his mouth and eyes.

"How long has it been?" Alex asked.

"Four years. I'm 41 now." Mark sipped his tea and smiled. "While you're not a day older."

"So what have you been up to?" Rory asked. "Whatever it is, you're looking good on it." He nodded to Mark's finely tailored gray suit.

"Behaving myself," Mark said with a curt smile. "Keeping out of the way of my younger self. I've been traveling – I did spend a few weeks in Belgium – and now I have my own small business consultancy company." He presented Alex with his card.

"'Harold Jones'," Alex read. She handed it off to the Doctor for his own examination. "Your new identity?"

Mark nodded. "Seemed to fit the bill. Nice and anonymous, nothing to provoke suspicion."

"And what sort of 'business consultancy' do you do?" the Doctor questioned, pocketing the card.

"Don't worry, I'm not giving them information about the future or anything like that. It's just a cover for my investments."

"Investments?"

"I've done quite well for myself over the past few years, Doctor. Oh, I've been careful not to drive attention to myself. For each deal that makes a profit, I make sure I make another that makes a loss. So far, I've mostly been dealing in internet start-ups, registering domain names and so on, but recently I've moved into property, share options, and, ah, West End musicals."

"West Endmusicals?" Amy repeated, shocked.

"I'm putting some money into an ABBA thing that's coming up. I think it might do well."

"Are you a big fan of musical theater, then?"

"No, but I know which shows will still be running in ten years' time. It's the same for all my investments; if I know a company is still around in 2011, I buy shares in it. I think my biggest one came from G-Locke Publications, after the deaths of the founder and his wife. Everyone was pouring money into them, feeling sorry for the little girl who almost drowned."

Dead silence. Amy and Rory didn't dare look at Alex. The Doctor glared at Mark, even though he knew the man wouldn't be able to make it out behind the dark lenses of his sunglasses. In his lap, Alex had tensed up. She knew from reading G-Locke's Wikipedia page that the company shares had gone up 400% after her parents' deaths, but actually hearing it from someone who had also invested in the company. . . She didn't know how to react to that.

Luckily for them, the waitress chose that moment to come back with their chilled coffees. Alex snatched hers up the second it was placed on the table, immediately sipping on it before she did something horrible, like crying. Shehatedcrying, not in the least because it involved water, which she also hated.

The Doctor waited until the waitress had left before resuming the conversation, maneuvering it onto a safer topic. "So, what about your little to-do list?" he asked, his voice coming out in a slight growl until he coughed a little. He reached up and rubbed one of Alex's tense shoulders. She was still sucking on that coffee. "How's that been getting on?"

"See for yourself." Mark took a sheet of paper from his briefcase and handed it to the Doctor.

The Doctor absorbed both sides in under a second. "This is the letter from your future self?"

"No, this is the copy. The original is kept in a safe in my flat."

"Very wise." The Doctor returned the letter as Alex finally set her coffee down. "Already ticked two items off the list, I see."

"Yes. I had to delay the start of one of my third-year exams, because my younger self was running late. And then last year I had to make sure he ended up with a winning lottery ticket."

"A winning lottery ticket?" Rory cried, his jaw dropping.

"Not the jackpot," Mark chuckled. "Just matching enough numbers to win about sixteen thousand pounds."

Amy whistled in admiration. "Not bad for a day's work!"

"But how did you do it?" Rory wondered. "All the stuff with musicals and internet sites I get, but you couldn't possibly remember what the winning lottery numbers were, one week in 1997!"

"He wouldn't need to," the Doctor said between slurps of his Frappuccino. He continued rubbing at Alex's shoulder and sighted contentedly when she relaxed back against his chest.

"Why?"

"Because hewrote them down in the letter he sent himself!" Amy exclaimed with a grin.

"Eh?" The more Rory tried to figure it out, the more confused he got. No, it was no good. A diagram would be required. Or an explanation from Alex, but thanks to Mark's G-Locke comment, she was no longer talking.

"Which brings us to item number three," the Doctor announced. "Speaking of which, here they are . . . right on schedule!" He lowered his sunglasses. Alex did the same and they both peered towards the fountain.

Rory followed their gaze to see young Mark, in a t-shirt and a floppy white bucket hat, wandering through the crowd with a girl in a summer dress. Even from this distance, Rory could tell she was stunning.

So could Amy, who gave Rory a look which in no uncertain terms reminded him that he was now a married man.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

For the first time in what seemed like years, Mark felt at peace. The sky was blue, the air was balmy and breezy, and he was with Rebecca. They'd spent the morning exploring the Castel St Angelo, the Piazza Navona, and the Pantheon, winding through endless streets, never hurrying but always excited at what was around the next corner. It had been the most perfect day ever.

Of course, he wasn'twithRebecca, not in the boyfriend-girlfriend sense. They were on holiday as friends and nothing more; that had been agreed in advance. Although they shared a bed, they shared it with a pillow between them, and were changing into their night things in the bathroom to avoid embarrassment.

How had he ended up in Rome with Rebecca? If he'd known in January how things would turn out . . . it wouldn't have made it any easier. His father hadn't lasted into the new year, and he'd ended it with Jenny a few weeks later. He just wanted to be a good son to his mother for once. They talked about Dad, Mark hearing stories he'd never heard before, about how they'd first met, and how his father had rushed out of a council meeting to see his newborn son, and how proud he was of him, how he always told everyone he met how proud he was of his son.

He'd remained in contact with Rebecca, talking almost daily on the phone. And she had been great. She always listened, asking questions and making suggestions, even making him laugh.

In April, it was Mark's turn to be the shoulder to cry on. Rebecca had discovered that her fiancé Anthony had been having a relationship with one of his colleagues from work, and that it had been going on ever since he'd moved to Manchester. When she confronted him about this, Anthony begged forgiveness, but Rebecca couldn't forgive him. She could barely look at him without feeling sick.

But she had already booked a holiday in Rome and now had no one to go with. It hadn't been Mark's idea to offer to take the spare ticket. It had been his mother's. She reminded him how his father had never found the time to take her to Paris, and that he'd always regret it if he let this opportunity slip through his fingers.

Mark plucked up the courage to ask Rebecca if she'd mind if he went with her. She laughed and told him that she'd been waiting for ages for him to get the hint. He insisted on paying for his half of the holiday; after all, after his win on the National Lottery, he could afford it.

He'd come so far in the past six months, out of the darkness and into the light. And as though she knew what he was thinking, Rebecca took his hand, and together they squeezed through the crowd towards the Trevi Fountain.

And Mark's right hand began to tingle.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

The couple reached the terrace at the top of the steps leading down to the turquoise pool, then paused as the boy took the girl's photograph. Rory, the Doctor, Amy, Alex, and Mark watched from their table, peering out from behind their menu cards.

"You think you lost your wallet here?" the Doctor asked.

"That's what I remember. According to the letter, it should happen any second now."

Rory edged forward to get a better look. He could see the wallet bulging in the young man's back pocket. But he couldn't see how it could accidentally fall out. Until he noticed a thin, seedy-looking teenager sidling through the crowd, the only person there not to be gazing in wonder at the statue of Oceanus. Without breaking his stride, the teenager lifted the wallet from young Mark's pocket and walked casually away. Towards where they were sitting.

The Doctor gave Rory a nod. In a few seconds, the thief would be within reach. Rory psyched himself up to grab him. But then the thief noticed that they were looking at him. He launched himself into a run, shoving them both out of his way.

Rory turned to see the teenager skidding down a side street. Without thinking, Rory sprinted after him, giving a yell of, "Stop! Thief!" Around him, the tourists gawped on in bemusem*nt.

Rory turned down the side street to see the teenager knocking aside any bystanders that impeded his progress. Ahead of him, a Fiat blocked the entire width of the street. The teenager didn't slow down. He simply leapt onto the car's hood, ran across its roof, and jumped to the ground, making his escape. Without pausing to think, Rory scrambled over the car after him, trying his best to ignore the blasts from the horn and the barrage of insults from the driver.

The teenager darted down across another side street, glancing back to see if he'd lost his pursuer. He hadn't. After landing heavily on the tarmac, Rory redoubled his speed, ignoring the stitch in his side. He chased the teenager through a number of increasingly narrow alleyways, if not by sight, then by the sound of the teenager's heels.

The next alleyway ended at a flight of steps. The teenager had already climbed twenty or so of the steps, but Rory didn't give up. Groaning with the effort, Rory raced after him. The steps were incredibly steep, rising up over the rooftops, and just when Rory thought they might go on forever, they ended at a parking lot.

The teenager dashed over to a motor scooter, but before he could turn the ignition, Rory lunged at him, knocking both the thief and his scooter to the ground. In the struggle that followed, Rory pried the thief's fingers apart and wrenched the wallet out of his grip. Then the teenager shoved Rory aside and, shouting expletives, scurried into the distance.

Rory lay on the tarmac, his chest heaving, until he heard the Doctor and Alex jogging up the stairs after him.

"Well done!" the Doctor complimented as Alex helped Rory to his feet. "You've just saved the entire space-time continuum."

"Great," Rory gasped, little enthusiasm in his voice as he handed him the wallet.

"Here," Alex said, passing him a bottle of water she'd gotten at the café before they came racing up here. She held it with a napkin between her bare hand and the slight water condensation on the outside of the bottle. "Drink this."

"Bless you," Rory said gratefully, opening the cap and chugging the water down.

Meanwhile, the Doctor examined the wallet, then shook his head. "But I'm afraid it's the wrong wallet," he told them.

Rory's eyes almost popped out of his head. "Wh-what?!"

"Only joking," the Doctor beamed as Alex groaned. "It's the right wallet. Your face!" Shaking her head, Alex reached up and whacked the Doctor on the back of the head. "Ow!" he cried, shooting her a look. "What was that for?!"

"Ignore him," Alex told Rory, doing that very thing to the Doctor. "Now we have to deliver the wallet to Mark's hotel."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

It had been one of the best mornings of his life, only to be followed by one of the worst afternoons. Somewhere between the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain, Mark had lost his wallet. The wallet containing all his money, his credit cards, his travel insurance, everything.

They spent the next hour retracing their route, Mark scanning the gutters whilst cursing his own stupidity. He knew Rebecca didn't have enough cash to pay for both of them. They wouldn't be able to go out, or visit the museums, or see Hadrian's villa at Tivoli. The more Mark thought about it, the more furious he got.

As they reached the Pantheon, Mark slumped against a wall. "Okay. That's it. I give up."

"Oh well," Rebecca shrugged. "Never mind."

"I don't get you. I'm going out of my mind here, and you're just taking it all in your stride."

"I'm on holiday. It's not as if Rome is going anywhere. And anyway, what's the point in me worrying when you're stressing out enough for both of us?"

"So you're not angry with me?"

"Of course not. Look. Let me buy you an ice cream."

"We can't afford it."

"Okay, let's . . . let's walk back to the hotel. I might still have some traveler's checks in my suitcase. We can at least work out how much money we have left."

"Yeah. I suppose that's a plan."

"It's a brilliant plan, because I thought of it," Rebecca teased, getting a smile out of him. "And don't worry. So you lost your wallet. It's not the end of the world."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

The Doctor twirled the wallet in his hand like a magician with a playing card before handing it to the hotel receptionist.

"Look, here's a thing. My . . . girlfriendand I found this wallet lying in the street and we think it might belong to somebody staying in this hotel."

The receptionist opened the wallet, then looked at the Doctor and Alex as though they should be arrested for interrupting her day.

Alex refused to let this woman intimidate her. "Mark Whitaker," she said clearly. "His name was on his credit card."

"Yes," the Doctor agreed, snaking an arm around Alex's waist. "So if you could put it aside, for when he gets back. That's all. And if he asks about us, just say it was some . . . beautiful girl and a handsome stranger." He winked at Alex and adjusted his bowtie proudly.

Alex blushed bright red and tugged the Doctor away from the receptionist before he embarrassed her further. Still, it was nice to know that he thought she was beautiful.

"Beautiful, huh?" she remarked as they headed outside.

"Of course, love," he said earnestly. His arm moved up to wrap around her shoulders, pulling her close to him. He put a kiss to the top of her head before murmuring, "Feeling better?"

Alex nodded, knowing he was asking how she felt about the comment Mark had made on G-Locke. "Yeah, I'm over it now. It was just . . . a bit of a shocker, hearing it like that. I mean, I know the stocks went up after my parents' deaths, but . . . hearing it like that . . . I guess it kind of jarred me."

"Want me to knock him out again?"

Alex burst out laughing and shook her head. "No! It wasn't his fault anyways. I never told him my last name. How was he to know? Besides, his letter probably told him to invest in the company. He was just following orders."

"Speaking of which. . ." The Doctor led her down the steps and out onto the street, where Amy, Rory, and Mark were waiting for them.

"Well, that's finished," Rory declared as Amy placed a congratulatory arm around him.

"Yes. Another one to tick off your list, Mr. Whitaker." The Doctor squatted on the ground, opened his leather satchel, and took out his automatic wibble-detector. "Except. . ."

"Except what?" Mark asked.

The Doctor held the device above his head, like someone trying to get a better phone signal. "I'm still getting wibbliness. You see that dial?"

Mark and Alex peered at the machine. "You mean the one that's not moving?" Alex asked.

"Yes. The fact that it isn't actually moving means that the course of history is still in flux."

Or it's broken,Alex thought, but didn't say. She didn't put much value on anything the Doctor made or repaired. She still remembered the time he blew up the kitchen microwave after crossing two different-colored wires together.

The Doctor waggled his fingers. "Somethingelsethat happened on this day," he continued. "Something with lots of. . . What was the word, Rory?"

"Ramifications?" Rory sighed.

"Ramifications! Yes. Something with lots oframifications! So, Mark, what was it?"

"You can't expect him to remember," Amy reminded him. "As far as he's concerned, it was, like, fifteen years ago!"

Mark ran a hand through his hair, smiling at a reawakened memory. "Oh no, I remember like it was yesterday."

"But it's not yesterday. It'stoday." The Doctor gripped Mark by the shoulders and looked directly into his eyes. "So tell me, after you recovered your wallet . . . what did you do next?"

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

The disembodied heads of long-dead Roman Emperors lined the hallway, each one made of smooth, white marble.

"And this one is," Rebecca said, reading the plaque beneath it, "Tiberius. On a scale of bonkersness from one to ten, he was about an eight." She continued down the Hall of Emperors, her footsteps clicking on the marble floor.

It was nearly closing time and the Capitoline Museum was deserted. Mark relaxed, breathing in the refreshingly cool air, scarcely able to believe they were here after all the traumas of the day.

When they'd finally made it to the hotel, the receptionist had greeted him with wide-eyed excitement, waving and shouting his name. She had his wallet, and it still contained all his credit cards and money! According to the receptionist, it had been handed in by some 'beautiful girl and handsome stranger'. Mark thanked her effusively, promising her that when he got home, he'd tell everyone he knew that Italians were the most honest people in the world.

What the wallet didn't contain was any details about his hotel. So how could they have known where to hand it in? Mark was too relieved to question his good fortune. He and Rebecca bought a celebratory pizza and resumed the tour, visiting the Colosseum, the ruins of the Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill, before climbing the steps to the Capitoline Hill. As they entered the museum, they persuaded a Korean tourist to take a photo of them beside Constantine'sMonty Python-esque foot before entering the palatial interior.

"Weird," Rebecca commented, interrupting Mark's thoughts. "Don't look very Roman, do they?"

Rebecca indicated six statues standing in a line against the wall. They were statues of angels, their arms crossed over their chests, their eyes staring worshipfully upwards. With their robes and nest-of-vipers hair, they resembled the statue of a Wounded Amazon from the Great Hall. But their wings looked anachronistically Victorian.

"What do the labels say?" Mark asked, giving each statue no more than a cursory glance.

"There aren't any. Guess they must be new."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Young Mark and Rebecca inspected the statues for a few more moments before disappearing through the doorway at the far end of the hall.

"Weeping Angels," Rory sighed. Seriously, didn't these things do anything else other than prey on innocent humans?

Gesturing to Rory, Amy, Alex, and Mark to stay crouched behind a bust of the Emperor Hadrian, the Doctor approached the statues, holding his eyes open with his fingers, his steps not making a sound. "Yes. That proves it."

"Proves what?" Amy whispered.

"They're waiting for a paradox to happen," Alex deduced. Blue lightning crackled across the ornate ceiling.

"What sort of paradox?" Rory shivered. "I mean, caused by what?"

The Doctor turned to Mark. "When you were here before, did anything happen that was unusual in any way? A stroke of fortune, a coincidence that set you down a particular path?"

Mark thought back. He remembered visiting the museum before and seeing the Angel statues had jogged a previous memory of having seen them before, but after that, he couldn't recall anything apart from the conversation he'd had with Rebecca on the balcony overlooking the Forum.

"Nothing springs to mind," he answered, then he slapped his cheek. "Oh! Except there was one thing. We got locked in."

"You gotlocked in?" the Doctor repeated.

"Er . . . Doc?" Alex called quietly. "You're not looking at the Angels."

"I thought you all were! Do I have to tell you lot to do everything?"

"I am.Now," Amy cut in, staring, wide-eyed, in the direction of the statues. Mark followed her gaze. Three of the statues were caught in walking poses, heading for the doorway after young Mark and Rebecca. The other three had been frozen as they stalked towards the Doctor, their arms outstretched like sleepwalkers, features calm and blank.

"They're trying to get between us and the young Mark." The Doctor walked towards the Angels, beckoning to Amy, Alex, Rory, and Mark with a finger behind his back.

"You keep an eye on the ones near us, I'll keep an eye on the others," Mark whispered. With Amy, Rory, and Alex treading silently behind him, he crept after the Doctor, keeping his eyes fixed on the Angels heading for the doorway, resisting the urge to turn towards the ones only a few meters away. Slowly but surely, they made it past the statues to the doorway. The moment they were all through, the Doctor slammed the door shut behind them and secured it with his sonic screwdriver.

"So, Doctor," Rory said with a sigh of relief. "What exactly is it we have to do?"

"Isn't it obvious?" the Doctor asked with a wild-eyed grin.

"We have to lock young Mark in," Alex informed them.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

"Five minutes, no more, okay?" the museum guard said, barely sparing Mark and Rebecca a glance before he disappeared into the toilet with an urgent shuffle. They were in the underground tunnel that linked the two halves of the museum, and which led to the Tabularium, the ancient Roman record office. They wandered through a hall filled with altars and burial slabs into a rough-walled tunnel which opened onto a cloister overlooking the remains of the Forum below, the toppled Corinthian columns, and, in the distance, the Colosseum. All were bathed in the coppery glow of the setting sun.

Rebecca rushed over to the balcony, sighing in awe. "What a view!" She turned to Mark and smiled. "I'm glad you came along in the end. This wouldn't have been half as much fun without you."

"You call watching me panic for an hourfun?"

"Well, entertaining," she smirked.

Mark snapped a photograph of the view. "Come on, we should be heading off."

"Let them chuck us out. I want to see what's down here first." Several passages littered with temple fragments branched off from the cloister. Rebecca ran off to explore the first while Mark glanced back down the tunnel to the Tabularium. For a moment, he thought he'd seen a movement in the corner of his eye, as though they were being followed, but there was nobody there.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

"That was close," the Doctor whispered. They all stood flat against the tunnel wall, as still as statues, the Doctor, Mark, and Alex on one side, Rory and Amy on the other. Alex could feel the clammy bumpiness of the stone wall against her back.

When the young Mark had slipped out of sight, the Doctor relaxed and stepped forward. "If your younger self sees us. . ." He pulled a face to indicate some unspecified calamity.

They proceeded down the narrow doorway that led to the cloister. "Is this it?" Rory asked.

Mark nodded. "Yes, I remember, we were locked out on the balcony, just through here. . ."

"Right, well, suppose we'd better get on with it then," Rory remarked, reaching for the heavy, iron door. "I would ask how we're supposed to lock it without the key, but—"

"Sonics," the Doctor and Alex chimed in, the Doctor rotating his sonic screwdriver in the air while Alex merely held the charm of her sonic necklace up.

"Yeah, always the sonics." Rory began to heave the door when an angry shout came from down the tunnel.

"Hey, what are you doing?!" The security guard waddled towards them, a tanned man in his fifties with a bushy mustache and the uniform of a much slimmer man. "That's my job."

"Sorry, sorry," the Doctor apologized genially. "Just worried about security. Can't be too careful." He swept the sonic screwdriver through the air as though trying to locate invisible thieves.

The security guard squinted at Mark. "I thought there was two of you?"

"There were," Amy said perkily. "But now there are five of us. What of it?"

The guard snorted and heaved the door shut with a bang. He locked it with a set of heavy iron keys before turning to direct them down the tunnel with his thumb. "Closing time now. Way out is on right, you go upstairs, you go home, I go home, bye, bye."

"Yes, excellent plan," the Doctor enthused, clapping his hands. "Well done. Thank you very much, you have beenmagnificent. Come on, Mark, Rory, Amy, Ally. Nothing more for us to do here. . ."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

"Well?"

Mark shook his head. "No. We're locked in." The fingers in his right hand tingled, presumably the result of him slamming his fist against the door for several minutes.

Rebecca regarded him with amusem*nt. "Not really your day, is it?"

Mark didn't know whether to laugh or cry. On the flight out, he'd had this insane fantasy that something might happen between them on this holiday. That she might see him as something more than just a friend. But today she had only seen him at his worst, at his most irritable and incompetent. His one chance to impress her and he'd blown it.

"I'm sure someone will find us," Rebecca reassured him. "There are worst places to be locked in. And worse people to be locked in with."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

"That was it? That was all we had to do?" Amy checked, strutting after the Doctor and Alex.

"I think so, yes." The Doctor wrapped an arm around Alex's shoulders, using his other hand to check his wibble-detector as they climbed the stairs into a gloomy hall lined with statues of mythical figures. "I'm losing wibbliness. The future's no longer in the balance."

Mark noticed the tingle in his hand had started to fade. He'd almost forgotten it was there.

"Um, Doctor," Rory said warily. "If that's the case, aren't the Weeping Angels gonna be a bit pissed off?"

"I wouldn't doubt it," Alex responded as they went down the hall, their footsteps echoing in the darkness. As the hall had no windows or skylight, the only illumination came from the electric lights. "So keep an eye out for them."

Amy looked around, apprehensively studying each statue in turn. Of all the places for a statue to hide, it just had to be a museum filled with statues. "But we're safe, so long as we see them before they see us?"

"You're neversafewhere the Weeping Angels are concerned," the Doctor muttered darkly.

"Behind us!" Rory cried, pointing. The six Weeping Angels stood at the top of the stairs at the end of the hall. All were frozen in the process of lowering their hands from their faces.

"Everyone look towards the Angels," the Doctor commanded. "We'll be absolutely fine so long as—"

K-chunk! K-chunk!

The electric lights at the end of the hall flickered and went out. Rory yelped in surprise.

"You had to say it, didn't you?" Alex cried sharply at the Doctor. "You had to say it!"

K-chunk!

"Keep moving," the Doctor told them. "Just keep moving!"

Alex and the others slowly backed away as the lights in the middle of the hall went out. Now the only remaining lights were those behind them. In front of them, Alex could make out the sinister, shadowy shapes of the statues of centaurs and nymphs, knowing that somewhere in the blackness, the Angels were lurking, waiting for the final set of lights to go out.

K-chunk!

The final set of lights went out. It was as if Alex had closed her eyes. She heard Amy give out a tiny yelp as Rory grabbed her hand. Alex's hand shot up to her sonic necklace. She fumbled with it for a moment before finally succeeding in turning the flashlight function on. A topaz-colored light shot out of the topaz on her necklace. A second later, she heard a high-pitched buzzing sound and the Doctor's sonic lit up with a green glow.

The two aimed their sonics ahead of them, revealing an Angel as it lunged out of the darkness towards them. The Doctor flashed his light to the left, halting another Angel as it reached out with scratching fingers. Alex aimed her necklace to the right, revealing another one, its mouth open wide in a silent scream. The two flittered their lights between the Angels, trying to hold them back, but each time they lit one up, it had taken another step towards them.

"Amy, Rory, Alex, Mark! Move! Move!" the Doctor yelled. "I'll hold them off for as long as I can!"

"What?!" Alex screeched.

"What about you?" Amy cried.

"I'd be extremely grateful if, on your way out, you could get someone to turn the lights back on."

Amy felt Rory squeeze her hand and, together with Mark, they backed down the hall, watching the green and topaz lights dart back and forth between the enraged faces of the Angels. Then they reached the next room and broke into a run.

Alex, however, refused to move, something the Doctor had expected. "Alex," he said warningly as he continued moving the sonic back and forth. "What did I tell you?"

"If you think I'm leaving you to a hoard of Weeping Angels all by yourself, you're insane!" Alex snapped. She narrowed her eyes at him, even though she knew he wouldn't notice as he kept watch over the Angels.

He growled low in his throat. She always did this. She always put herself in danger in order to help him. Couldn't she see that when she did that, all he could think about was her? That he could only focus on the ways to get her out of that danger instead of ending the danger altogether? Was it only that obvious to him?!

"Alex, just go!"

"No!"

"Alexandria Nicole Locke, you do as I tell you!"

He heard Alex gasp and he could practically feel her narrowed eyes burning a hole in his back. "Fine!" she barked, muttering some choice words in Spanish under her breath. He heard her back up slowly and then, once she was in the next room, he heard her take off.

He sighed with relief. He really didn't like yelling at her, especially yelling at her and calling her by her full name, but experience had revealed that there was no other way to make her listen during times such as these. Making a mental note to apologize to her later, he continued whipping the sonic back and forth as the Angels gained on him.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

"Sorry about all this."

"What are you apologizing for?" Rebecca asked, still enchanted by the view. As the sun had set, the color of the ruins had shifted from orange to a dusky red. The air smelt of ancient ruins and pine trees. "Besides, how many people get to see this? Luckiest thing, being locked in."

"It's been a lucky day, overall," Mark wryly commented, joining Rebecca at the balcony. From here, there wasn't a single modern structure in sight. No office blocks, no streetlights, nothing.

"Yeah," Rebecca laughed. "Must be fate."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Go for it."

"All the stuff that's happened today, anyone else would've been mad at me, but you . . . you were okay about it. Why?"

Rebecca swept her hair back while she considered her answer. "Seriously? The way I see it, after what happened with Anthony, I could've got all paranoid and bitter. But then he'd have won, he'd have changed me into a worse person. And after hearing you talk about all the stuff you've been through with your dad and everything, it kind of put my woes into perspective. Life's too short to be miserable, basically. If you can be happy, then be happy."

"Seize the day?"

"Exactly. Seize it, baby." Rebecca turned towards him with an expression he'd seen once before, on the terrace of the students' union.

His stomach trembling, Mark leaned forward and kissed her.

Rebecca responded, kissing his lips as he kissed hers, gently, precisely, before finally pulling away. "That's not quite what I meant," she told him.

"No?"

"No. But it's a good start." Rebecca gave him a conspiratorial smile. "You know, we could very easily be locked in here all night. . ."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Back in the hall of statues, the Doctor was fighting a losing battle. No matter how rapidly he alternated the light of the sonic screwdriver between the Angels, they continued their advance, their arms reaching forward, forcing him to back away. And because the rest of the hall was in complete darkness, he had no way of knowing how long he had left before he backed himself into a wall.

"Okay, I'm getting that you're not happy," he said placatingly. "But can't we sit down and discuss this like reasonable people? Cup of tea, Jammy Dodgers, comfy chairs?" He could practically hear Alex groaning in disbelief. Naturally, the Angels did not respond. Their eyes remained blank. Their jaws remained open. "Look. I can—"

The Doctor slipped on the marble floor, lost his balance, and landed heavily on his back. For a moment, he found himself in total darkness, until he remembered he still had his sonic screwdriver in his hand. In one movement, he activated it and swung it upwards.

Its green glow illuminated the faces of the six Weeping Angels, all looking down at him with expressions of pure malice. They had him surrounded.

"Ah now, you've made a mistake, you see," the Doctor remarked. "Because I can see all of you at once. So, the question now is . . . which one of us will blink first?"

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

As they reached the museum entrance, Amy grabbed the security guard, the same guard who they'd spoken to in the tunnel. "You've got to turn the lights back on!"

He shrugged quizzically. "I did not turn out lights."

"Well, somebody did!" Amy yelled. "There's still somebody in there! In the dark!" She wasn't sure if Alex was still down there or not, though, knowing the Doctor, he wouldn't allow her to be for long.

The security guard snorted and walked slowly over to a switchboard. Rory and Mark caught up with Amy, Mark red-faced from the exertion, Rory wearing his usual worried expression.

A split second later came the sound of sneakers squeaking on the marble floors. Alex came running up, her sunglasses flopping against her chest from where she had hung them from the collar of her shirt. Seeing the guard at the switchboard, she shouted, "Hurry up!" The Doctor wouldn't survive for much longer down there without the lights on.

The security guard made a 'tch' noise, then flicked down a succession of switches. The hallway behind them flickered into yellow light.

"Thank you," Amy said, muttering "at last" under her breath. Alex didn't say anything, instead choosing to take back off down the hallway. With the security guard leading the way, the other three hurried back through the brightly lit museum.

Returning to the hall with the statues of mythical figures, they discovered the Doctor lying on the floor, the Weeping Angels encircling him, locked in position as they prepared to strike.

"Doctor!" Amy and Alex shouted. The girls rushed over to him and helped him slide out from beneath the scrum of Weeping Angels. Once he was out and on his feet, Alex launched herself at him. Her previous fury at him long forgotten, she hugged him tightly as she got up on tiptoe to give him a long kiss on the lips.

"I've been trying not to blink for the last minute," the Doctor said once he and Alex came up for air. "Harder than you'd think." While Rory and Mark kept a careful watch on the Angels, the Doctor brushed himself down, straightened his jacket and bowtie, and approached the security guard.

"Hello." The Doctor put a friendly arm around the guard's shoulders. "You're probably wondering where those six new statues have come from."

The guard nodded dumbly.

"Well, I shouldn't worry about them if I were you, they won't be here in the morning. But until we're all safely out of the building, let's not let them out of our sight, eh?"

Mark coughed to get the Doctor's attention.

"Oh! But first you might like to pop down to the Tabularium. I think there might be two people locked in down there. . ."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

August 12th, 1998

Mark lay in bed, woken by the morning sunshine. He pulled on his glasses and the rest of the room fell into focus. The pillow from the center of the bed lay on the floor where he'd thrown it the night before.

Rebecca perched on the balcony in a summer dress, gazing out into the street whilst thumbing through her copy ofThe Beach.

"Rebecca?"

"Oh, you're awake now, are you?" she said, putting down her book. The morning sun shone in her hair like a halo and gave her skin a golden glow.

"About last night."

"Yeah?"

Mark swallowed. "Just checking. It wasn't another mistake, was it? Another 'one-off'?"

Rebecca raised an eyebrow. "Is that what you want it to be?"

"No, no, I don't," Mark hurriedly answered.

"Me neither," Rebecca agreed. "In fact, I hope it's going to turn out to be the complete opposite."

Mark climbed out of bed, his feet slapping on the tiled floor. He wanted to rush over and kiss Rebecca, but looking at her sitting in the window, he changed his mind. "Wait there."

"What?"

Mark picked up his camera and focused on Rebecca. "Hold on, don't move, I just want to capture this moment." As she turned to gaze out into the street with her impossibly blue eyes, he pressed the button and the camera shutter clicked shut.

Chapter 17: Touched by an Angel Part 6

Chapter Text

October 29th, 1999

Now 42-years-old, Mark paused outside the office block and gazed up at the familiar concrete façade. This was where he'd worked for over ten years, starting out as a junior assistant, gradually taking on more and more responsibilities until eventually they'd made him a partner. Or rather, this was where his younger self would be working for thenextten years.

The reception area was just as he remembered; okay, so the walls were a different color, and the sign above the desk read 'Pollard & Boyce', but Ron sat at the desk leafing through a copy of theDaily Mirroras usual. The only difference was that he now had a full head of hair.

Mark approached the desk. "Harold Jones to see Mr. Pollard, five o'clock."

Ron nodded and informed the relevant office on the phone. "They're sending someone down."

A minute later, the internal door opened, and Siobhan emerged.

"Mr. Jones, nice to meet you at last," she greeted, shaking his hand.

Mark couldn't help but smile. Siobhan was still in her early thirties, bright-eyed and fresh-faced.

Siobhan took him up the stairs to Pollard's office. Mark caught a glimpse of his reflection in the glass door. He'd taken great care not to look like his younger self. He'd grown a beard, dyed his remaining hair black and, as a finishing touch, wore a pair of tinted sunglasses.

Although he'd spoken to Frank Pollard on the phone numerous times, this would be the first time they'd met in person. Over the last year, Mark had divided his time between New York and Edinburgh, but now he'd decided to move to London, and had purchased a flat in Highgate. He wanted to be nearer to his younger self. Oh, he wouldn't try to speak to him or anything like that, but it wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on his progress, from afar. And, more than anything else, Mark longed to see Rebecca again.

"Mr. Pollard is ready for you."

Mark discovered Frank Pollard at his desk, beaming with pride. Even he looked younger than Mark remembered, his cheeks plump and ruddy with health.

"Harold, Harold," Frank greeted. "Overjoyed to finally make your acquaintance, in the flesh, as it were."

"You too," Mark said, taking a seat. "I would've visited earlier, but my business keeps me out of the country."

"Understand entirely." Frank helped himself to a boiled sweet. "Why visit Croydon when you could be basking in the manifold delights of 'the big apple', so to speak? Can I get Siobhan to make you anything? Coffee? Tea?"

"No, I'm fine thanks. You're probably wondering why I've come to see you."

"I must confess to being a little intrigued. Your last 'electronic mail' was most mysterious."

"I'm here to ask a favor."

"A favor?" Frank leaned forward onto his desk. "And what variety of favor might that be?"

"I believe you're recently advertised for a vacancy, for a junior assistant."

"We have."

"But you haven't filled the position yet?"

"We have not, as yet. We have whittled the candidates down to a shortlist, as it were."

"I was wondering if I might make a suggestion. A recommendation. You see, I'm, er,acquaintedwith one of the applicants, and would be extremely grateful if you'd consider giving them the position."

"Hmm. That is quite a favor to ask."

"I realize that."

"May I ask the name of this person with who you are, shall we say, acquainted?"

"Mark Whitaker."

Frank opened a file on his desk and skimmed through the papers. "Mark Whitaker. Mark . . . Whitaker. Ah, here he is. We interviewed him earlier this week. A personable enough young man, if a little lacking in confidence, but not really in the same league as the other candidates."

"But I think if you were to give him a chance, he'd prove himself more than capable."

"Hmm," Frank mused, inspecting the application. "Isupposehe may havepotential."

"Look, I'm not asking you to take on someone who can't do the job. I'm just asking you to take him on for a trial period. If it doesn't work out, then you're free to get rid of him. And I'm not suggesting you do him any special favors. Treat him exactly as you would any other member of staff. And in return, I'll continue to put as much business your way as I can."

"This is most unorthodox. But bearing in mind how highly we regard you here at Pollard & Boyce, it would be injudicious, if not unprofessional, of us to overlook such a . . . glowing character reference."

"So you'll give him the job?"

"Yes. For atrial period." Frank made a note on Mark's application with a dramatic flourish.

"There's one other thing."

"Yes?"

"My involvement in this has to remain confidential. As far as Mark Whitaker is concerned, he got this job entirely on merit."

"Isee."

"You mustn't mention my name to him. It's vitally important he never finds out about this."

"Discretion is, of course, assured. This lad, is he a relative of yours?"

"Something like that. Let's just say I have great expectations for him."

"With you cast in the role of Magwitch?" Frank chuckled. "Was there anything else?"

"No. That's everything." Mark made his farewells and left, having ticked one more item off the list.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

October 31st, 1999

"No milk, I'm afraid," Mark said, handing Rebecca a mug of tea. She was too tired to care. Her back ached, her fingers ached, her feet ached. But at least it was all over.

Well, the actualmovingpart of the move was over. In terms of furniture, all their new front room had to offer was a battered leather sofa, an Ikea chair, and Mark's portable television. Cardboard boxes filled the floor, piled four high, leaving only a narrow route from the sofa to the door. They'd all have to be unpacked, but that could wait. For now, Rebecca just wanted it to be over.

Oh, it was exciting. Not just moving to London's glamorous Camberwell but moving in with Mark. It made things official in some way. For the last year, they'd basically been living together anyway, but then she'd got the job at Imperial College, so since September she'd been sleeping on a futon at Lucy and Emma's, with Mark coming down on the weekends to go flat-hunting.

And now here they finally were. Drinking black tea in their own flat. Rebecca leaned back in her chair as she watched Mark fiddle with the aerial. It was the last episode in the second season ofCold Feet, and it was vitally important that they didn't miss it.

Mark's mobile phone bleeped. "Hello, yes? . . . Yes, that's right." He winced apologetically to Rebecca. "No, it's fine, I wasn't in the middle of anything. Um. . ." He fell silent as the person on the other end of the line spoke for several minutes. "Thanks. Thanks for letting me know. . . Yes, and you too. Goodbye." He switched off the phone and looked at Rebecca.

"What was that?"

"I got it," Mark replied at last. "I got the junior assistant job, with Pollard & Boyce."

"Yougot it?"

"I'm on a trial period for the first three months, but . . . yes." Mark sounded like he could hardly believe his good fortune. "I start on the eighth."

Despite all her aches, Rebecca hauled herself off the sofa and hugged him. "I knew it, Iknewthey'd take you on. What did I tell you? Oh, ye of little faith. Well now we have asecondreason to celebrate!" Rebecca headed into the kitchen and opened the fridge. It was empty apart from the bottle of champagne she'd placed there earlier. She couldn't find any glasses, so she rinsed out a couple of chipped mugs before returning to the living room. "Champagne in mugs, I'm afraid. Truly we live the life of decadence."

"Start as you mean to go on," Mark dryly observed.

Rebecca peeled off her jumper, wrapped it around the bottleneck, and popped the cork. Then she chugged the wine into the mugs and passed one to Mark. "There you go," she said, lifting her mug. "To our new flat, and your new career as a top-flight city lawyer."

"Hardly that," Mark objected. "God. Our new flat. Moving in together."

"Yeah. Serious stuff." Rebecca sipped the champagne, feeling the tickle of the bubbles on her tongue. "All grown-up and everything."

"We'll be getting married next," Mark said light-heartedly.

Rebecca snorted with laughter. "What?"

"Well, it is, isn't it? The next logical step?"

"Is this you proposing to me?"

"No." Mark took a small box out of his jacket pocket and knelt before Rebecca on one knee. He opened the box to reveal a glittering diamond ring. "Thisis me proposing to you."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

A section of the TARDIS console exploded in a shower of sparks. The floor jolted and shuddered, threatening to throw Alex to the ground. "Doctor!" she yelled as she held on for dear life to a section of console. "What's happening?"

They'd only left Rome ten minutes earlier and had barely taken off before the TARDIS had started making a warping, grinding noise and everything in the control room that wasn't fixed in place started falling over.

"More wibbliness in the space-time continuum, right?" Rory guessed, picking himself up from where he'd fallen to the floor.

The Doctor danced around the console, flicking switches, his forehead furrowed in concentration. "More wibbliness. Yes," he confirmed. "The fourth of November. The year 2000."

"Another one of the items on Mark's list?" Amy suggested as she clung to the back of the jumpseat.

"There wasn't an item on his list for November 2000."

"But that means—" Rory started.

"Itmeansour friend isn't behaving himself." The Doctor banged the console and whooped as it began to make the familiar materialization sound. "Trouble, here we come!"

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

November 4th, 2000

Pressing her lips together to remove any excess lipstick, Rebecca studied her reflection in the mirror one last time, looking for flaws. She couldn't find any. Amanda, the beautician, stood behind her, smiling proudly. "Oh, you lookperfect."

Rebecca checked her hair, which had been painstakingly curled into ringlets and pinned. Then, as though balancing a book on her head, she stood up. She desperately wanted to take a deep breath, but the corset of her wedding dress wouldn't allow it. Everything had been squeezed and tightened for maximum effect.

She turned to look at Lucy and Emma in their identical, peach-colored bridesmaid outfits. She'd rather enjoyed the idea of forcing Lucy into something feminine for once.

There was a knock at the door. "Respectable?" Rebecca's father called.

"No, but come in anyway," Rebecca replied. Her father walked in with an embarrassed smile, resplendent in his morning suit, and paused as he took in his daughter's transformation.

"My little girl," he beamed. For a moment she thought he was going to say how proud he was of her, but in the way he was looking at her, there was no need. "Feeling nervous?"

"No. I'll be glad when it's all over, though, if only because then people will stop asking me that. Because if there's one thing guaranteed to make you nervous, it's people asking you if you're nervous all the time."

"I won't pay attention to that," her father said to the others. "That's just the nerves talking. The, um, cars are outside, if you're ready?"

"Here goes, then." Once again, Rebecca wished she could take a deep breath. She turned to go, then halted in the doorway. "Bouquet!" She grabbed the bundle of lilies from the dressing table. "Would've been a complete disaster if I'd forgotten that."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

A harsh wind blew across the graveyard, whirling up the leaves as it went. Fearing it would damage his meticulously tousled hair, Mark retreated into the church porch.

Mark's task, along with his best man Gareth, had been to greet the wedding guests as they made their way up the path to the church. It had been very disconcerting to see his colleagues from work, his friends from university, and his mates from the pub quiz all in their finest suits and dresses. It felt like he was starring in a romantic comedy.

"Wassup?" Gareth said, slapping Mark on the back. "Still not too late to do a runner."

"Very funny," Mark deadpanned, wishing, not for the first time, that he'd chosen a different best man.

Gareth checked his watch. "Twenty minutes. Time you were heading inside, just in case they get here early."

"Yeah," Mark replied, rubbing the fingers of his right hand. They were beginning to tingle.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

"Well?"

"He's here, Amy," the Doctor confirmed, absorbed in his wibble-detector. "Somewhere. Somewhere close and getting closer all the time."

Amy brushed her hair out of her eyes. The TARDIS had brought them to Chichester, a well-preserved city with enough Georgian buildings, Roman walls, and leafy parks to look picturesque; every other shop seemed to sell antiques or cream teas. Despite the gutsy weather, the pavements bustled with shoppers, mostly families and slow-moving pensioners. It reminded Amy of Leadworth, but with more traffic.Waymore traffic.

The Doctor halted, spun on his heel, then ran back the way they'd come, bounding towards the cathedral, bouncing along like a gazelle with rubber legs. "Quick!"

Amy, Rory, and Alex exchanged glances and chased after him. The Doctor stopped again, shook the detector, then gawped at the approaching traffic. An SUV sped down the street towards them. It took Alex a few seconds to recognize the driver; it was Mark, his face half-hidden behind a beard and sunglasses.

"Stop!" the Doctor yelled, striding into the road in the path of the car, hands raised.

I am going to kill him!Alex thought angrily. Seriously, again?! Twice in one day?!I mean it this time!

Thankfully, the SUV screeched to a halt. This was followed by a second screech, a loud crash, and then the tinkle of broken glass as another vehicle slammed into the back of the SUV.

Old Mark emerged from the car, slamming the door angrily behind him. "What the . . . what areyoudoing here?"

"Hold on to that thought," Alex ordered, striding over to the Doctor. Once she was right in front of him, she didn't hesitate in slapping him right across the face.

"Ow!" the Doctor cried, clutching his reddening cheek. "What was that for?!"

"What the hell do you think it was for, you idiot?! You could've gotten killed! You leapt out into a car's path, AGAIN! After you promised me you wouldn't!"

"Uh, actually, no, I didn't. You see, you went on for twenty minutes about how I shouldn't jump in front of cars paths. I neverexplicitlypromised I wouldn't do so again."

"Enough with the domestics!" Mark snapped, knowing he'd better cut in before the two got into a full-on row. "Now, what are you all doing here?"

The Doctor and Alex exchanged a look. On the same page as usual, both silently agreed to drop the matter and focus on the situation at hand. "We could ask you the same question," the Doctor retorted. "In fact, Iamasking you the same question. What are you doing here?"

"Driving along quite happily until some maniac ran in front of me."

Alex studied Mark's face, looking for any sign that he was hiding something. "The Doctor's wibble-detector detected wibbliness," she informed him. She narrowed her eyes accusingly. "Are you trying to contact your younger self?"

"No," Mark protested. "No, of course not."

"Interesting," the Doctor mused. "Because the wibble-detector never lies. Unless it's malfunctioning, which is always a possibility."

"Is it malfunctioning?" Alex asked dryly. Itwasa distinct possibility, knowing the Doctor.

He glared at her. "No! Not in this case! I can feel the build-up of potential time energy. Makes all the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. And tastes oflemons."

"So wherewereyou going?" Rory asked, reminding them that the Ponds were still there.

Before Mark could explain, the driver of the car behind him walked up to them. He was an overweight, colonel-ish man dressed in a chauffeur's uniform. Behind him, Alex could see a limousine with shattered headlights and a crumpled hood.

"What the hell do you think you're playing at?" the driver yelled.

"I'm sorry," Mark apologized. "It wasn't my fault, this—"

He was cut off as the doors of the limousine opened. Out stepped a man of 60 in a gray morning suit with neatly combed white hair, followed by the blonde girl Alex had seen in Rome, now impeccably made up and wearing a stylish bridal gown.

The bride marched towards them, huffing with the effort, holding her high-heeled shoes. "I don't believe it. I don'tchuffingbelieve it!"

"What? What's the matter?" the Doctor asked. Then his eyes widened. "Wait! Are you getting married?" Beside him, Alex groaned and shook her head.

"Of course I'm getting married! This is my wedding day! Or at least it was meant to be before it turned into an episode of theChuckle Brothers." The Doctor felt a sense of Deja-vu, remembering how Donna had reacted when he asked if she was getting married following her sudden appearance in the TARDIS.

The Doctor took Mark to one side, Alex following them. Once they were out of discernible earshot, he whispered, "Oh no. You weren't. Yourown wedding. The list you showed me, of all the times you could intervene in your past?This wasn't on the list!Do you know what you've done? You've gone off-list!"

"I wasn't going tointervene," Mark protested. "I only wanted to stand at the back and watch."

"Yes, because that's so much better," Alex deadpanned.

"Stand at the back and watch?" The Doctor waggled his fingers in frustration. "What have I told you? Paradoxes! Angels!Ramifications! Why do humans never do as they're told? Someone should replace you all withrobots."

"Sorry to interrupt," Rebecca unapologetically called over. "Did I just hear you say you were on your way to a wedding?"

"Yes, that's right," Mark replied. "Saint Stephen's, in a village called Chilbury. It's for a couple, Mark Whitaker and Rebecca Coles."

"But that . . . that's my wedding!" Rebecca exclaimed. "You're on your way tomywedding?"

"You'reRebecca Coles?" Mark cried, feigning surprise. "What a coincidence!"

Too much of a coincidence. More like odd,Alex thought, studying Mark carefully. Mark had never mentioned having a wife before. She glanced down at his hand. No wedding ring. Also odd. If Mark had a wife, why would he decide to stay in the past instead of returning to 2011 and her?He said in the future he didn't have a lot to live for, that living in the past was his second chance. Why would he say that if he had a wife? Divorce?Alex tilted her head in consideration. It was a possibility. But then why would Mark be going to his wedding to her?Does he still love her?That made a certain amount of sense. Maybe Mark thought that by living in the past, he could get his past self to win Rebecca back. It wasn't too far-fetched of an idea.

Or . . . something bad had happened to Rebecca and Mark thought he could prevent it. Alex gulped. She was pretty sure she had hit the nail on the head. Why else would Mark stay in the past if he thought he could prevent his wife from dying? Alex nibbled her lip. She couldn't say anything right now, and it wasn't like Mark would confirm it anyways.

The Doctor looked down at Alex. She had her thinking face on, the one where her brain was digesting facts very quickly, connecting the dots to get to a certain conclusion. Her eyes were on Mark, studying him as a scientist studies a new type of bug. The Doctor caught her eye and raised his eyebrow in a silent question.

Alex's expression read,I'll tell you later. They didn't often communicate like this, instead preferring to bounce stuff off one another, but it was quite handy. It was clear to the Doctor that Alex couldn't tell him right now, not while there were so many people around, particularly Mark.

Silently accepting this, he turned back to Mark and Rebecca. "Well, there we are, small world!" he declared. He clapped his hands. "So if, um,Haroldhere could move his car, you can be on your way, and get married, just as you should."

"Not gonna happen." The chauffeur shook his head, indicating the damaged limousine. "Can't drive with it like this, the insurance won't cover it."

"Oh,fantastic," the Doctor groaned, slapping his palms on the hood of Mark's car. "Fantastic!"

"Look," Mark jumped in. "Since I'm going there anyway . . . maybe I could give you a lift?"

"A lift! It gets better!" the Doctor cried to the heavens.

"I don't suppose I have any choice," Rebecca said. "If I'm not going to be late."

"Oh, I'm sure a small delay won't hurt," the Doctor said hurriedly. "Bride's prerogative. Make him sweat. What's fifteen minutes in the grand scheme of things?"

Mark took the Doctor, Alex, Amy, and Rory to one side. "But shewasn'tlate," he told them firmly.

"What?"

"She arrived bang on time."

"Are you sure?"

Alex rolled her eyes. "I'm pretty sure he'd remember his wedding day, Doc." Mark nodded along with her.

The Doctor thought for a moment, weighing up the situation. "Right! Everyone into . . . Harold'scar. No time to lose, we have a wedding to attend! You're the father of the bride, I take it? Isn't she beautiful? I'd marry her myself if I wasn't already with Ally here." He wrapped an arm around Alex's shoulders. "In you go!"

Mark opened the side doors of his car, and Rebecca and her father piled inside.

"Sorry, what are you doing?" Rory asked. "Isn't this changing history?"

"No. If Rebecca is late for her wedding,that'schanging history," the Doctor explained. "We have to get her to the church on time!"

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

"So, if you don't mind me asking, who are you?" Rebecca asked, her shoes in her lap. There was something strangely familiar about the five strangers, particularly the guy in the driver's seat. Take away the beard and twenty years or so and he'd have been a dead ringer for Mark.

"A relative," he replied. He evensoundedlike Mark. "On Aunt Margaret's side. From Canada."

The young man to her right with the large nose and gormless expression groaned for no apparent reason. The brunette girl next to him shook her head and gave the car roof an exasperated expression. "You're fromCanada? All of you?" Rebecca asked.

"No," the brunette answered. "At least, I'm not." That certainly made sense. She sounded American, Southern going by her accent.

"The other three are," the guy in the driver's seat elaborated. "A small place, about fifty miles north of Toronto. I'm Harold Jones, this is the Doctor, Alex, Amy, and Rory."

Rebecca considered. Mark's mother had mentioned something about having relatives in Canada. It would explain the resemblance.

"You don't um, sound very Canadian, if you don't mind me saying," Rebecca's father commented.

"No, but that's just it, you see," Amy said, fishing for a plausible explanation. "We Canadians often don't. It's one of the most interesting thingsabootus."

"So, who exactly invited you to my wedding?" Rebecca inquired.

"We just happened to be in the country and Mark's mother invited us, as a last-minute thing," Harold answered. "Not a problem, is it?"

"No. In fact, it's lucky you were here. Although, thinking about it, if you hadn't been here, I wouldn't have crashed into you in the first place."

"Funny how things work out," the Doctor countered as the car came to a halt. At the junction ahead, the traffic lights were on red. "How are we doing for time, Mar- marvelous Harold?"

"Five minutes to one. We're not gonna make it. Not in this traffic."

"Leave that to me." The Doctor dug into his jacket and pulled out what appeared to be a large electric toothbrush. He leaned out of the window and aimed it at the traffic lights. It buzzed and in an instant the traffic lights turned to green.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" the Doctor grinned manically. "Drive!"

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Mark sat between his mother and Gareth in the front-row pew. The air in the church smelt of stone and furniture polish. He stared at his shoes, so shiny he could actually see his reflection. "What time is it now?"

"Five minutes to," Gareth told him. "God, I hope she hasn't done a runner."

Mark's phone beeped. He had a message from Lucy and Emma, saying they'd been caught in traffic, but they'd be there in five minutes, followed by four exclamation marks and a smiley.

Mark's mother took his hand, and she gave it a squeeze. "Don't worry. She'll be here on time. I feel sure of it."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Mark pulled up in the country lane outside the church, right behind Lucy and Emma's limousine. The Doctor, Amy, Alex, and Rory jumped out of the car, instantly regretting it as they landed in deep puddles. While Alex furiously brushed water off her bare legs, Rory gallantly helped Rebecca onto the grass verge. "Careful. It's seriously muddy out here."

Mark couldn't take his eyes off Rebecca. She looked soperfect. How many times had he summoned up the memory of her on their wedding day? And now here she was, living and breathing, a memory made flesh. He'd even talked to her. Hearing her voice for the first time in fifteen years, seeing her so full of hope and excitement, Mark felt both an immeasurable joy and an immeasurable sadness. Every second he fought the urge to tell her who he really was and what would happen to her one night in April 2003. But that would have to wait.

He climbed out of the car to join them, taking care to avoid the puddles. How many times had he come to this church? Once to rehearse the wedding, once for the wedding itself, and then countless times to visit Rebecca's grave. From the roadside, he could see the empty patch of grass where it would one day lie, in the shade of an old, gnarled yew tree.

Rebecca's father passed Rebecca her shoes and, leaning on the lychgate, she twisted her feet into them. "All done. What time is it now?"

"Fifteen minutes past," her father informed her, indicating the clock on the church tower. "But don't worry, it's not as if they're going to start without you."

"Fifteen minutes?" Amy repeated. "But I thought. . ."

The Doctor licked a finger and held it to the air. "History is shifting course," he grimly announced as a blue light flashed across the gravestones. The same kind of light Mark had seen in Rome and the students' union. There was a tension in the air, like before a thunderstorm, and was it his imagination, or was it getting dark?

"So you were telling the truth," Alex sighed. "She did arrive at the church on time."

"What are you talking about?" Rebecca demanded. "I'm only fifteen minutes late, it's not the end of the world."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that." The Doctor made a decision. "Desperate situations require desperate solutions. Wait here, all of you, I'll be back before you know it." He clambered into the driving seat of Mark's car, revved the engine, and accelerated into the road. Seconds later, he disappeared from view, no doubt about to terrify local traffic.

"Where does he think he's going?" Rory cried, flabbergasted. "Thanks, Doctor, leaving us in the lurch outside the . . . church! You know, girls, I think he's really flipped this time."

"Don't be so sure of that, Rory," Alex smiled. She crossed her arms and smirked victoriously, already having figured out what the Doctor was doing.

"Look, you can stand here if you like, but I have a wedding to go to," Rebecca told them. She took her first determined steps towards the church. "I think I've kept my future husband waiting long enough—"

"Wait!" Mark cried. Rebecca paused. The leaves on the path swirled upwards as though caught in a gust of wind, and, with a grinding, whinnying sound, the Doctor's blue police box appeared on the path directly in front of her.

The door creaked open, and the Doctor emerged. "Well, what are you waiting for? Get in!"

"What's going on?" Rebecca chattered, staring at the Doctor and his blue box in disbelief. "What is that thing? And what is it doing here?"

"Just a short hop," the Doctor beamed, patting the police box like it was an old friend. "Same place, twenty minutes ago. Oh, and don't worry, there's plenty of room for all of us."

"I'm sorry. Are you saying that's some sort ofvehicle?"

"I assure you there's nothing to be scared of. Do I look like the sort of person who would kidnap a bride, on her wedding day, in a police box?"

"Yes."

"It's all right," Amy assured her. "You can trust the Doctor."

"But I'mlatefor my own wedding—"

"Just take a look inside," Rory urged. "I mean, if you're already late, what difference does one more minute make?"

The Doctor stepped out of the way to let Rebecca see into the police box.

"But, but that's impossible!" Rebecca stammered in awe. "It's like there's a wholehousein there. . ."

Mark, Rebecca, and her father stepped into the TARDIS control room, looking around in shock and awe.

"Thisis your transport?" Mark exclaimed.

Rory sympathized with them. It wasn't the easiest thing in the world, to step from the normal world into a time machine housed in another dimension. The Doctor's choice of décor didn't make it any easier, the center of the chamber being taken up with a cross between an avant-garde brass sculpture and a child's activity center.

The child in this case being the Doctor. He darted around the console, entirely in his element. Rory had a theory that at least half the buttons on the console didn't actually do anything and the Doctor only pressed them because they made an interesting noise.

"You know," Rebecca said to her father, "I don't think these people actuallyareMark's relatives."

Rebecca's father nodded. "I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't from Canada at all."

A grinding sound filled the chamber, the central column of the console coming to a rest as the Doctor bounded down the steps to throw open the main doors. "Here we are!"

Rory followed the Doctor, Amy, Alex, Mark, Rebecca, and her father outside. The TARDIS had landed on the village green opposite the church. They'd moved about a dozen meters.

The Doctor checked the clock tower. "Five minutes to one." He grinned at Rebecca. "A little bit early, but now you'll be able to make it to the church, bang on schedule."

"Sorry? You're saying we've goneback in time?" Rebecca cried.

"Only a little bit," the Doctor said, hardly calming Rebecca down any. He casually leaned against the TARDIS. "It'll hardly notice."

"Er, Doctor," Rory interjected. "Are you sure this isn't cheating?"

"No." The Doctor looked quite offended at the question. He straightened his bowtie. "It's the opposite of cheating. It's enforcing the rules. That's what I do. That's mything." He clapped, then returned his attention to Rebecca and her father. "Well, no time like the present, in you both go."

Rebecca was about to cross the road when suddenly a heavy goods lorry thundered down the lane, its horn blaring. Rebecca stepped back onto the village green but, as the lorry passed by, its wheels sluiced up the puddles, splashing muddy water all over her dress.

Everybody waited until the lorry had gone before speaking. "Whoops," Amy cringed sympathetically. "I'm sure it'll dry-clean off."

Rebecca looked down at her mud-splattered skirt. She breathed in as much as she could and said, "I'msupposedto be getting married! Inthree minutestime!"

The Doctor took Mark to one side, Alex once again following them. "I don't suppose, by any chance, when she turned up at the wedding, she was like this, was she?"

Mark shook his head.

"Sort of thing you'd remember?" Alex guessed.

Mark nodded.

"Right!" the Doctor declared. "All of you, wait here, don't move an inch." He ruffled his hair, then darted back into the TARDIS, slamming the door behind him. The lamp on top of the police box flashed, and with a whirl of wind, it disappeared from view, only to reappear a second later. The door swung open to reveal the Doctor holding up a brand-new wedding dress, identical to the one Rebecca was wearing.

"Took me a while to find the shop where you'd bought the dress and get them to run up an exact copy, but I got there in the end. Thinking about it, I really should've asked you which shop it was before I left. Ooh, that Samantha does go on, doesn't she? Anyway, there you go." The Doctor offered Rebecca the dress. "Problem?"

"Yeah, slightly," Rebecca confirmed through gritted teeth. "Firstly, if you think I'm changing into it standing here in the road, you've got another think coming."

"Oh, I'm sure you've got nothing to be embarrassed about," the Doctor smiled benignly. Alex sighed and immediately whacked the back of his head. "Ow!" he cried, shooting her a look.

"Sorry about him," Alex said to Rebecca. "I believe what he meant was that you're welcome to change in the TARDIS." She held open the doors of the police box. She eyed Rebecca's dress, her gaze lingering on the corset. "How long did it take you to get laced into that thing?"

"Half an hour," Rebecca replied.

"Half anhour?" The Doctor was aghast. "Half an hour?"

"Beauty hurts, Doc," Alex replied calmly. She grabbed Rebecca's hand and led her into the TARDIS, snatching the spare dress from the Doctor along the way. "Don't worry, we'll have plenty of time in here."

"If you say so." Rebecca had to admit, she rather liked this Alex. She seemed far more sympathetic than her boyfriend, though the two did make a cute couple.

The Doctor followed them inside, still muttering about taking half an hour to get into a dress. The remaining group on the sidewalk watched as the lamp on top flashed and the TARDIS vanished, then reappeared a moment later. The doors swung open to reveal Rebecca in her brand new, perfectly clean wedding dress, Alex and the Doctor behind her.

The Doctor checked the road for traffic. "Okay. Safe to cross. Got everything?"

"I think so." Rebecca turned to her father, who was regarding the proceedings with utter bafflement. "My bouquet!" she suddenly screamed in horror. "I left it in the limo!"

Alex turned to Mark. "I'm guessing she had it at the wedding?"

"Yes. She threw it, Lucy caught it."

"Right!" the Doctor cried in frustration, disappearing into the TARDIS. It vanished and reappeared. He emerged brandishing Rebecca's bundle of lilies. He thrust the bouquet into her hands. "Anythingelse?"

Rebecca shook her head.

"Then let's get youmarried." The Doctor led Rebecca, her father, Amy, Rory, Alex, and Mark across the road. After they'd gone through the lychgate and were halfway up the path to the church, the Doctor stepped in front of Rebecca and her father, forcing them to stop. "One last thing."

"What?" Rebecca cried.

The Doctor stared at Rebecca intently, touching her forehead with his fingers, and spoke in a steady, hypnotic tone. "You will have no memory of this, of meeting me, Alex, Amy, Rory, or Harold. As far as you're concerned, you came here in your limousine, without incident."

"We . . . we came here in our limousine," Rebecca hesitantly repeated.

"Good, good," the Doctor praised. He then repeated the process with Rebecca's father.

"We came here in our limousine," Rebecca's father confirmed.

"Excellent. Now, when I click my fingers, I want both of you to wake up, make your way into that church, and have the most wonderful day of your lives." The Doctor clicked his fingers and jumped out of the way.

Rebecca twitched, blinking as though waking up. Then she saw her father beside her. He was looking around with a puzzled expression, then turned to her and said, "Ready?"

Rebecca nodded, took her father's arm, and they headed up the path to the church.

But something wasn't quite right. As they reached the porch, Rebecca released her father's arm and glanced back at the graveyard, down the path to the road where five people stood by the gate. She couldn't see their faces, but one of them seemed to be dressed as an old-fashioned professor. He had a hand resting on the shoulder of a brunette with blonde highlights, dressed in shorts and a simple shirt. Honestly, it wasNovember. Who dressed like that in November?

There was a squeal of tires as a limousine pulled up outside. Lucy and Emma tumbled out in a flurry of skirts and swearing. They jiggled their shoes onto their feet and stumbled up the path towards her. "Sorry!" Lucy said breathlessly. "Traffic was literally insane."

"You're here now, that's the main thing," Rebecca told them.

"I think it's time," Rebecca's father gently reminded her, offering her his arm.

"Ready," Rebecca said, taking one last look back at the graveyard. She'd been coming to this church ever since she was a little girl, and she'd never noticed how many statues of angels there were before.

Amy felt a warm glow as Rebecca, her father, and her two peach-colored bridesmaids disappeared into the church. Amy checked the clock. It was one o'clock exactly. They'd made it.

Mark began striding purposefully up the path to the church. "Mark!" the Doctor and Alex shouted after him.

"Where do you think you're going?" the Doctor demanded.

"I told you. To stand at the back and watch. It won't do any harm."

"Won't do any harm?" the couple snapped.

"AftereverythingI've told you," the Doctor glared, "everything we've been through?"

"It won't do any harm, I know it." Mark turned to continue up the path.

Two statues blocked his way. Two statues of angels, standing solemnly in front of the church, their hands cupped beneath their faces, their eyes as blank as stone.

"The Angels!" Amy gasped. "They were here all the time!"

"Attracted by the wibbliness," Rory explained, for his own benefit if no one else's.

"Mark!" the Doctor shouted. Mark was frozen to the spot in terror. Amy glanced away from him – to see four more statues in the graveyard, one crouched by a tomb, lowering its hands, one emerging from behind a grave, the other two rising from either side of a war memorial.

The Angels were too spread out for Amy to see them all at once. Trying her best not to blink, Amy turned to face the Angels by the church. They had moved closer to Mark, paused as they stalked towards him, hands raised above their heads, their fingers extended like claws.

Mark staggered backwards, tripping over his own feet. Amy dragged her eyes away from him to check on the other four Angels. They had advanced towards Mark as though to cut off any lines of escape, forcing him to retreat down the path towards the road.

"They're trying tostophim getting into the church," Amy realized. "Why are they doing that, if they want him to cause a paradox?"

"Yeah," Rory said sarcastically. "That was my major concern too."

The Doctor dashed up to Mark and grabbed him by the arm. "Quick!" he ordered, dragging Mark away from the Angels. "Amy, Rory, Alex, keep looking at them, try not to blink!" He guided Mark back over to the lychgate. Mark's eyes were wide with fear. He'd been scared out of his wits.

And then Amy realized she wasn't looking at the Angels. And nor was Rory. Or Alex, who was busy checking the Doctor to make sure he was alright. Then, realization crossed her currently light green eyes. The girls spun back to see that four of the Angels had continued down the path towards them, their bodies contorted with anger, their mouths caught in silent screams. But if they could only see four of them, that meant there were two they couldn't see.

"Into the TARDIS!" the Doctor commanded. "Fast as you can!" The girls didn't need telling twice. Amy and Alex sprinted through the lychgate, paused to check there was no traffic in the road, then splashed – well, Amy splashed; Alex hopped over – through the puddles to the TARDIS. Thankfully, the Doctor had left the doors unlocked.

Rory, the Doctor, and Mark hurried in after them. The Doctor bolted the door shut and darted over to the console. In seconds, the arduous groaning of the TARDIS take-off filled the air.

"They werewaitingfor us," Alex exclaimed. Her voice shook slightly with fear, a rarity for her. She went over to the Doctor, and he immediately enveloped her into his arms, running his fingers through her hair reassuringly. She tightened her arms around his waist as realization bombarded her brain. "They wereexpectingus."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Gareth tapped his spoon on his glass. "Groom's speech!"

Mark took one last sip of his water and stood up in front of everyone he knew.

The function room of the Grand Hotel fell silent. All of Mark's friends were there: Emma and Lucy, actually wearing dresses; Rajeev, flown over especially; Gareth, who had turned out to have unexpected depths; Siobhan from work, at a table with Mr. Pollard and Mr. Boyce, the two solicitors trying to outdo each-other with the size of their buttonholes; Rebecca's parents, giving him approving, encouraging looks. And to his left, his mother, smiling for the first time in ages. And finally, to his right, Rebecca. His wife. Looking more elegant and glamorous than he'd ever dreamed possible.

Mark's hand trembled so much he could barely hold onto his speech. On top of that, his hand had started tingling again, like he was holding a battery. The feeling had been coming and going all day.

"Hello," he nervously greeted. "I've just got married. I'm a happily married man." There was a ripple of encouraging laughter. "This'll be a short speech, you'll be glad to hear, because I'm sure we're all dying to find out why Gareth has set up a slide projector. But, as is traditional, I have to thank a few people.

"Firstly, I should thank my best man, Gareth, for his unwavering support and for his generous offer of a one-way ticket to New Zealand ten minutes before the wedding. I think he was joking. Ihopehe was joking. I'd also like to thank him for organizing such a magnificent stag do, because unfortunately I didn't get a chance to thank him at the time due to an unexpected bout of food poisoning.

"I'd also like to thank the bridesmaids, Emma and Lucy, for making sure that Rebecca turned up, for which I will be eternally both surprised and grateful. And I'd like to thank Rebecca's parents, Olivia and Rodney, and my mother, Emily, for all their help. This day is a tribute to their kindness and generosity.

"Before I go any further, there's one more person I should mention. The person who sadly couldn't be here, who I wish was here more than anything else in the world, but who I know is here in spirit, and that's my father, Patrick. I miss you, Dad."

Mark paused. He could feel tears forming in his eyes. Because as he'd said those last words, it was like hearing the news of his father's death all over again, thinking of all the things he'd never get to tell him.

Looking across the room, at all the familiar faces lit up in the glow of the chandeliers, something drew Mark's gaze to the far end of the function room where a set of double doors opened onto a stairway. The doors should have been closed for his speech, but instead they were open. There was a man in the doorway, watching him. A man who looked just like his dad.

Mark glanced at his speech, then looked up. The man had gone and the doors at the far end of the function room were closed.

Mark cleared his throat. "And finally, I'd like to thank Rebecca, for everything, basically. For being my best friend, ever since I've known her. For always being there for me. For being a constant source of warmth, of inspiration, of laughter. And for doing me the great honor of agreeing to be my wife." He lifted his glass. "To Rebecca."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

The night had turned cold, so they weren't likely to be disturbed in the hotel garden. The picnic tables were still wet from the rain, as Rory had discovered when he'd tried sitting on one. They were also unlikely to be seen, as the only light came from the windows of the TARDIS, parked unobtrusively in the corner, and the windows of the hotel as they flashed in time to the muffled strains of 'Dancin' In The Moonlight'.

Rory couldn't help searching the darkness for signs of a Weeping Angel. The Doctor had assured him that the moment of crisis had passed, and the Angels would now be in hiding, conserving their strength. That's why the Doctor had permitted Mark to watch his younger self delivering his wedding speech. But Rory still had his doubts.

The Doctor gazed into the night, hands in his pockets, looking like he had all the troubles of the universe on his shoulders. "Everything I've told you so far has been wrong," he said suddenly.

"What?" Rory questioned.

"The Angels. They haven't been following Mark in the hope of him creating a time paradox."

"What?" Amy exclaimed.

Alex pulled the Doctor's tweed jacket tighter around her shoulders. He had put it on her when he saw her shivering from the cool night air. It felt exceptionally warm around her and it smelled just like him, with a slight trace of aftershave and his musky cologne. But his words had suddenly made her chilly. She frowned at him. "But they're attracted by the wibbliness," she argued, "like moths to a flame."

"Yes," he agreed. "But not because they wanted him to change his past, but because they wanted to ensure that hedidn't."

"Eh?" Rory frowned in confusion. "But I thought you said—"

"Think about it. When we met them at the students' union, they were trying to keep the two Marksapart. The same when we encountered them again in Rome. The same again today."

"But why?" Amy wondered. "Why do that?"

"Because they're working to a plan," Alex breathed. Her light brown eyes were wide in shock. "Something big. Something much, much bigger than Mark just bumping into his younger self."

"Like what?" Mark asked.

Neither the Doctor nor Alex replied. Instead, they looked at Mark. The Doctor eyed him with all the sadness of his nine hundred years. Alex just raised an eyebrow, looking like a schoolteacher waiting for a student to confess to a petty crime. "You tell us, Mark Whitaker," the Doctor spoke. "You tell us."

"I don't know," Mark insisted. "Honestly, I don't."

"I let you see your wedding speech. But that has to be the last time. From now on, steer clear of your past."

"Don't worry," Mark assured him. "After what happened today, if you think I'm going anywhere near my younger self again, you're very much mistaken."

"Good," Alex complimented. Behind her, the Doctor opened the TARDIS doors. "Because if youdotry anything, the Angels will be waiting for you."

Chapter 18: Touched by an Angel Part 7

Chapter Text

June 5th, 2001

Mark went to the bookcase, slid aside theHarry Potterfirst editions, and unlocked the small wall-safe behind them. He slid out the battered envelope withMARK WHITAKER. 7/10/2011written on the front. Crossing to his desk, he took out the letter from his future self, with its list of occasions where he must intervene in his own past. A list which he'd now completed.

Mark took a sip of freshly brewed coffee, tore a sheet of paper from a pad, placed it beside the letter from his future self, and began to copy it out, word for word, line by line.

This wasn't the first copy he'd made of the letter. He'd made a copy back in 1998, the copy he'd shown to the Doctor and Alex in Rome, which he'd shredded on his return. The one where he'd deliberately not included the final part of the message.

But make sure you follow these instructions, Mark. Because if you do, remember this.

YOU CAN SAVE HER.

Just as I did.

Yours sincerely,

Mark Whitaker, April 2003.

How many times had he read those words? Even reading them now for the hundredth time, Mark felt an ache in his heart. Rebecca need not die. It was written there in black and white, in his own handwriting.

He'd give anything just to speak to her again. Oh, he'd spoken to her at the wedding, but then he'd been pretending to be someone else. He wanted to talk to her as himself, to tell her how he felt. He longed to be with her, to hear her laugh, to tell her of all the things she'd missed out on; all the films that had come out after her death, all the Christmases, Lucy and Emma's civil ceremony and their baby daughter. They had always said they'd go back to Rome for their tenth wedding anniversary. Now they could do that and so much more.

Slowly and meticulously, Mark copied out the letter. With each line, he'd pause to check that he'd reproduced the details exactly. Glancing back at the original letter, he found that the handwriting matched. There was no way of telling the two letters apart; because, of course, they were the same letter.

Mark was about to copy outBecause if you dowhen he paused to glance out the window. His reflection gazed back, a ghost suspended over a panorama of London. He could see the skyscrapers of the city, shimmering like the towers of a magical kingdom under the wine-red sunset. He could even make out the London Eye on the horizon, shining electric blue.

By now Mark was, more or less, a multi-millionaire. This flat had been his only indulgence; a penthouse at the top of an exclusive development. All the furnishings were modern and sleek, and one entire side of the lounge consisted of a window looking out across Parliament Hill.

But spectacular views and luxury flats didn't take away the pain. Mark returned to his work, and the wordsYOU CAN SAVE HER.

Everything else in the letter had come true, so why did he doubt this part? Maybe it was because it was too good to be true. But also because the Doctor and Alex had warned him that he must not change history, no matter what. Saving Rebecca would certainly count as changing history. But if he was destined to save her, as the letter claimed, then surely if hedidn'tsave her, that would count as changing history too.

Mark put down his pen. He would leave the rest of the letter blank until after he had saved Rebecca. Then, and only then, would he fill in the rest. That way he could be sure the message was true. And if it meant he was changing history, then so be it.

Mark looked out across London. His younger self would be somewhere out there. Mark wondered what he was doing right now.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Mark's younger self was working late in his office. Everyone else had left hours ago, while Mark remained behind to prepare a case that had unexpectedly been brought forward.

He rubbed his eyes and thought of home. Rebecca would be home by now. Mark was rarely home before ten o'clock these days. They only saw each-other for half an hour before bed, when they were both too exhausted to do anything but watch television, and for half an hour in the morning when they were in too much of a hurry to talk.

But it would all be worth it. He'd been promoted to senior assistant, and in a few years, he'd be in line for junior partner. Then they'd be able to afford a place of their own and could start thinking about children. But in the meantime, he had to make himself invaluable, which meant volunteering to step in whenever there was a crisis. Like tonight.

Mark sifted through the case notes. The case was similar to one they'd handled the previous year, Jones versus Maxwell, and it would be quicker to see what precedents they'd used then than to start from scratch. Mark finished his instant coffee and headed into Mr. Pollard's office, the neon light flickering as he switched it on.

Mark opened the filing cabinet, slid out the Jones folder, and returned with it to his desk. Then he opened it, expecting to find a sheaf of notes. Instead, there was a second, slimmer folder upon which was writtenIMPORTANT: NOT FOR THE ATTENTION OF MARK WHITAKER.

Mark checked the name on the folder. It readHarold Jones. Someone had accidentally misfiled the wrong folder. But who was Harold Jones? And why would his folder contain something that he was forbidden to see? He'd never even heard the guy's name before. Which was odd, because Mark thought he knew the names of all their regular clients, and going by the thickness of this folder, Harold Jones was a regular client.

There was only one way to find out. If there was something Pollard or Boyce didn't want him to see, Mark wanted to know what it was. He opened the folder. The first thing he saw was a copy of the CV he'd sent in when applying for the position of junior assistant. Then there was a page of notes in Pollard's handwriting under the headingPROJECT MAGWITCH.

Mark read the notes, at first intrigued, then with a growing sense of indignation. It turned out that this Harold Jones person was one of the firm's most lucrative clients, who had personally intervened to make sure Mark had been given the job of junior assistant back in 1999. In return, Jones would continue to use Pollard & Boyce to handle his business. It seemed that Jones's interests ranged from property development to TV production companies. Always as a sleeping partner, investing money through third parties in order to retain his anonymity, reaping the rewards by selling the shares at a profit or by receiving dividends and royalties.

Mark leafed through all the pages but could find no explanation as to why Harold Jones had intervened to get him the junior assistant job. Except for one note that Pollard had scrawled in the margin of one page:Estranged relative?

Whoever this Harold Jones was, Mark had to speak to him. There was an address included in the folder, a block of flats in Highgate. Mark returned the folder to the filing cabinet, grabbed his jacket, and ran downstairs, not bothering to say goodbye to Ron in reception. After climbing into his car, he rang Rebecca on his mobile.

"Hiya husband," she answered, her voice distant but cheerful.

"Hi. Look, just to say—"

"There was a crisis at work and you're going to be late?"

"Something like that, yeah. Sorry."

"No, don't apologize. I'll just order in a curry and watchBig Brotheron my own."

"Can you leave me some? I had to work through lunch."

"Was there anything else? Only I'm in the bath and I'm making the phone all foamy."

"No, that's all. I don't know how long this will take, so don't wait up or anything."

"I'll do my best. Bye then. Love you."

"Love you. Bye."

Mark tossed his phone onto the passenger seat, twisted the ignition, and drove across London to Highgate, his mind racing with unanswered questions. After an hour's drive, he pulled up outside the apartment block. He was surprised by how impressive the building was; a smooth edifice of steel and glass, lit by ground-level spotlights. It looked more like a modern art gallery than somewhere where people might actually live.

Mark checked the address one last time. Flat 4-A. He headed over to the entrance and buzzed the intercom.

After about ten seconds, a voice answered, "Hello?"

"Hello. Harold Jones?"

"Yes. Who's this?"

"I'm from Pollard & Boyce. Urgent business."

"Come up." The security door buzzed. Mark swung it open and stepped into the brightly lit reception area. The elevator took him to the fifth floor, where a short corridor led to the paneled door for apartment 4-A. As he approached it, the door swung open.

"Hello?"

The man standing in the doorway looked oddly familiar. For a moment, Mark thought he was looking at his own father; the man had the same watery eyes, the same thinning hairline. But this man wasn't his father, he was only in his mid-forties at most. It was the weirdest thing. It was like he was looking into a mirror and seeing his future self staring back.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

"More wibbliness?" Rory prompted.

The Doctor nodded. "A build-up of potential time energy, the biggest one yet." He strained his eyes at the surrounding parkland. In the distance, the lights of London twinkled in the twilight. "Mark must be interfering with his own past . . . irresponsible idiot!"

Amy and Alex emerged from the TARDIS, Amy pulling on her jacket and handing Rory his. Alex, having given the Doctor his tweed jacket back, shrugged into a chocolate brown leather jacket with a hood. "Any luck?" Amy asked.

Rory shook his head. They'd only left Mark outside the hotel about ten minutes earlier. Then the TARDIS had started wheezing like a steam engine giving birth, and the Doctor had gone into madness-in-charge-of-a-mixing-desk mode, all wide eyes and twitching fingers.

"Where are we anyway?" Rory asked. "I mean, nice view."

"Hampstead Heath." The Doctor banged his palm on his wibble-detector. "Brilliant. I can't get a fix, the signal's swamping the sensors. . ."

"So how are we going to find this paradox thing?" Amy wanted to know.

Suddenly, there was a flash. Amy, Rory, and Alex shielded their eyes as blue lightning sizzled over a block of flats on the edge of the park. The lightning seemed to concentrate at the top of the building,

"I think we've found it," Alex declared. "I'm not the Doctor, but that definitely looks like wibbliness."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

"You're Harold Jones?"

Mark nodded slowly. The man standing in his hallway was his younger self. It was like being confronted by an old photograph. A face he'd seen many times in the mirror, but so long ago.

"May I come in?" Mark's younger self asked.

"You're from Pollard & Boyce?"

"That's right, I work there. But I think you already know that."

And then Mark realized the second thing that was wrong about his younger self visiting him. He had no memory of this taking place. When he'd worked at Pollard & Boyce, he'd never found out about Harold Jones. He'd certainly never gone to visit him.

"I think you'd better let me come in." Mark guided his younger self into the lounge. As he did, he felt a tingling in his right hand and noticed that his younger self rubbed his right hand at the same time. He'd felt it too. And there was an odd metallic smell in the air, the smell of dodgems and Scalextric cars. The smell of static electricity.

"Can I offer you anything? Coffee, tea?"

"No, I'm good," Mark's younger self replied. "Can we skip the small talk?"

"If you like," Mark said, sitting at his desk. "So how can I help you?"

"You canhelpme by telling me who the hell you are," Mark's younger self aggressively retorted. "And why the hell you've chosen to interfere in my life."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Amy caught up with the Doctor, Rory, and Alex at the entrance of the apartment block. They were all staring up at the top floor of the building, where blue lightning flickered over the steel and glass.

"We may be too late." The Doctor tasted the air. "Itfeelslike we're already too late."

"What do you mean,feels?" Amy asked.

"Time running off the rails. Forging new paths, new possibilities."

Rory looked around them warily. "Yeah, but surely if things were going wrong, the Weeping Angels would be here too, right? Like moths to a gong and all that?"

"Oh,great," Amy groaned. "Thanks for reminding me."

"Oh, they'll be here," Alex commented. "I think we can be sure of that."

The Doctor nodded in agreement. "They've probably been lying low in the cemetery down the road, awaiting their cue." He aimed his sonic screwdriver at the door, and it swung open. "Amy. Rory. Alex. Stay here."

"What?!" Alex cried. "Oh no, I'm going in with you."

"We'reallgoing in with you," Amy corrected.

"Hey!" Rory objected, grabbing the corners of Amy and Alex's jackets as they started forwards. "If the Doctor says we should wait here, maybe we should do as the man says. I mean, he does know what he's talking about."

"Amy, listen to your husband," the Doctor told her. "Alex, listen tome." He ran into the brightly lit reception area and bounded up the stairs.

"Yeah. Likethat'sever gonna happen," Amy scoffed.

"He should really know better," Alex reflected. Besides, she did listen to him. She knew when he really didn't want her near him, when he yelled at her and called her by her full name. Otherwise, the situation was fair game.

The two broke free of Rory's grasp and sprinted into the reception area after the Doctor, Amy's long-suffering husband trailing in their wake.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

"You're a distant relative?"

"That's right," Harold Jones confirmed. "On Aunt Margaret's side. I'm from, er, Canada."

"Canada?" Mark repeated, distrustfully. But the man's words had rung a bell. His mother had once mentioned a relative in Canada, a man who'd come to visit her once and who never replied to her letters or Christmas cards. And thatwouldexplain the resemblance. . .

"Did you visit my mum once, about six or seven years ago?"

"Yes. Yes, that's right. I happened to be in the country for work, and I thought I'd look up some relatives."

"Right. And that's why you got me the job at Pollard & Boyce?"

Harold nodded. "Exactly. They handle a lot of my business, and so I thought I'd do you a favor."

"You thought you'd do me afavor?"

"I recommended that they should take you on. But only for a trial period, on the understanding that if you weren't good enough, they were free to let you go."

Mark remained unconvinced. "Really?"

"So, while I may have helped you get your foot in the door, everything you've achieved since has been entirely down to you."

"They've been keeping you updated with progress then, have they?"

"Something like that, yes. They call it Project Magwitch."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

As Rory reached for the door of flat 4-A, the Doctor yelled out behind him. "Wait!" Luckily for the companions, the Doctor had only said, "Didn't I tell you to – oh, never mind!" before continuing up the stairs. That was as much of a scolding as they would get in these types of situations.

"What?" Rory now asked, his fingertips inches away from the door. A moment later, blue light began to flit intermittently across the surface, and across the walls, floor, and ceiling of the corridor. Rory felt the hairs on the back of his hand stand on end. "What is it?"

"A Blinovitch limitation field." The Doctor leveled his sonic screwdriver at the door, gradually moving closer until there was a split and crackle. "Nasty stuff. Not good to get too close."

"But we can get inside?" Amy said impatiently.

"In a moment," the Doctor muttered, fiddling with his screwdriver. "Nearly there, nearly there. . ."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

While Harold explained about 'Project Magwitch', Mark took the opportunity to look around the flat, with its huge windows and its view over London, its designer chairs, its widescreen plasma television. A blue light flashed outside, like that of an ambulance.

Harold's story made sense, but Mark still didn't believe it. "And that's why you wouldn't let me handle any of your cases?"

"Exactly. I didn't want you to know. Look, I'm sorry. Maybe I should have told you, but. . ."

Harold kept talking but Mark had stopped listening. He'd noticed the two handwritten letters on Harold's desk, both of which included a list of places, times, and dates going back to 1994. For 1995, he saw the details of an exam he'd taken at university. For 1997, he saw the address of a café in Coventry together with some lottery numbers. For 1998, it described the time he'd lost his wallet in Rome. . .

Mark suddenly remembered something Rebecca had once said to him a long time ago. About there being somebody at university who looked just like him.

"What are you doing?" Harold cried as he realized, too late, that Mark was looking at the contents of his desk. He lunged forward in a desperate attempt to conceal the letters. "You mustn't look at them, they're, they'reconfidential—"

Mark reached for one of the letters and, as he did, the fingers of his right hand came into contact with Harold's right hand. Mark heard a loud crackling sound, like a circuit being shorted, and an agonizing bolt of pain shot up his arm. For a moment, he had a sensation of cramp-like numbness, and could smell something burning, and then everything went black.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

The Doctor forced open the door to the flat and rushed in, Alex, Rory, and Amy at his heels. The entrance hallway flickered with blue light, and smoke drifted in the air. It was like stepping into a nightclub. "Hello?" the Doctor called out. "Anyone home?"

They made their way through the smoke into a large room with a kitchen at one end and an office at the other. All the electrical appliances in the kitchen were going haywire, switching themselves on and off, smoke pouring from their sockets. Blue lightning crackled across the floor, the ceiling, the walls, and the large, wide window that took up one side of the room.

Rory's eyes started to stream from the smoke. "What's going on?" he coughed. "This place is going bonkers!"

"Time-energy discharge," the Doctor answered, advancing into the room like a prowling tiger. "Overloads the electrics."

The light fittings fizzled, sending out cascades of smoldering sparks. "And what could have caused that?" Rory wondered.

Alex held her jacket sleeve up to her mouth in an effort not to breathe in the smoke. Aside from making her cough, it was giving her a strange craving for cigarettes. "I think I know," she replied, her voice slightly muffled by the jacket. She pointed towards the office, where two men lay slumped across the desk. They both had their right arms outstretched and appeared to be giving off steam.

"Mark Whitaker, A and B." The Doctor approached the bodies. "Must've made physical contact, shorted out the differential." He crouched beside the body of young Mark and took his pulse, before repeating the process with old Mark. "They're lucky to be alive. It seems young Mark decided to pay his older self a visit."

"So it wasn't old Mark interfering with his past," Amy mused. "It was young Mark interfering with his ownfuture. . ."

Tap-tap-tap.

"But this shouldn't have happened?" Rory guessed. "I mean, whichever way round it is, bumping into yourself's gotta be bad news, right?"

"It's not an ideal situation, no," the Doctor said, remembering the times he'd run into past incarnations of himself. Though that was an entirely different sort of bad news. "We have to get them out of here. Rory, you take one Mark, I'll take the other."

"Right," Rory nodded, heaving young Mark into an upright position. While he did this, the Doctor managed to get old Mark standing and half-lifted, half-dragged him towards the doorway.

Tap-tap-tap.

Rory's lungs felt like they were on fire. As he struggled across the room with young Mark, all the light fittings burst into flames.

"I don't get it!" Amy shouted over the chaos. "Why isn't the sprinkler system working?"

"Something's preventing it," Alex answered. "Look."

The Doctor and Rory followed Alex's gaze to the window on the far side of the room. Six stone figures stood on the other side of the glass, their hands pressed against the surface, staring inside with serene, blank faces. The Weeping Angels. All bathed in the flickering glow of the lightning.

"What are they doing?" Rory shouted.

"What do you think?" the Doctor yelled back. "Feeding!"

But that's impossible,Rory thought. They were four stories up. There was nothing for the Angels to be standing on.

Tap-tap-tap.

Rory couldn't keep his eyes on all of the Angels at once. Worse, with all the smoke swirling about, he could barely keep his eyes open. But that sound the Angels were making, they were tapping on the glass with their fingers. . .

There was a loud creaking, cracking sound. Rory caught a glimpse of the window covered in a spider's web of fracture lines emanating from the hand of one of the Angels. Then he had to blink, and an instant later, there was an ear-splitting crash as the entire window shattered into a hundred pieces. The night wind roared in, fanning the flames higher and blowing the smoke towards Rory, Amy, Alex, and the Doctor.

And Rory could see the Weeping Angels never visibly moving but in the process of clambering into the room, one by one, their mouths wide as though screaming in triumph.

"Come on!" the Doctor yelled into Rory's ear. "We have to go!"

Rory gripped young Mark by the waistband and tugged him into the hallway, through billowing smoke and surging, snapping flames. It was like they were escaping from Hell itself.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Mark's older self came to with a retching cough. His eyes and throat stung and there was a smoky, acrid taste on his tongue. But he could smell fresh air and hear the rustle of leaves in the breeze. He was lying on the ground, he realized. Rory knelt beside him, taking his pulse. Behind Rory, he could make out the Doctor, Alex, and Amy, looking down at someone else laid out on the pavement, someone he couldn't see.

Then it all came back to him. The visit from his younger self. He could picture him framed in the doorway. Mark gasped deeply and suddenly at the memory.

"It's all right," Rory said soothingly. "You're safe, mate. Me and the Doctor rescued you."

"Yourescuedme?"

Rory indicated the top of the apartment block. The top floor was a blaze of flickering orange flame, oily black smoke scudding up into the night sky.

"What . . . what happened?" Mark asked, pulling himself to his feet.

"Hey, take it easy," Rory cautioned. "You, um, seem to have bumped into yourself."

Mark staggered over to the Doctor, Alex, and Amy. They were tending to his younger self, who had been put in the recovery position, his suit charred, his skin smudged with soot. For one horrible moment, Mark thought that his younger self might be dead, until he groaned and breathed in a deep, sleepy breath.

Mark stared at him, then up at his burning apartment, unable to take it all in. There was something else, something he'd forgotten. "What did you say?" he shouted at Rory. "Ibumped into myself?"

"The Doctor thinks you may have, er, made physical contact, or something. Which released a load of time energy."

Physical contact? He could remember sitting at his desk, his younger self in front of him, and he could remember realizing that his younger self hadn't been listening to him because—

"Theletter," Mark breathed. "The letter I have to send to myself. . ."

"What?"

"Where is it? Did you bring it here?"

"No. Should we have done?"

"Oh no," Mark gasped. "Oh no. . ." He looked at Rory, whose mouth hung open with incomprehension, then Mark turned and ran back to the entrance of the flats.

"Hey, where are you going? You'll get yourself killed!" Rory shouted after him. "Doctor, the old one's doing a runner!"

Mark shoved open the security doors and raced up the stairwell, his chest straining with the effort. He passed some of the other residents of the block as they made their way downstairs. They called out to him, warning him not to go up there, but he ignored them.

He reached the fourth floor and slammed open the door to the corridor. A wall of searing heat hit him in the face, like he had just entered a furnace. He felt his skin prickle with sweat. The corridor ahead was clear, except for the thick black smoke that hung overhead like an indoor thundercloud.

Keeping his head low, Mark lurched down the corridor towards the door to his flat. His lungs felt like they were burning, and he could hear his own ragged, desperate gasps for breath.

He made it through the door into the hallway. It was almost unrecognizable, lit a deep red by the pulsing glow of the fire. He could barely keep his eyes open. But he had to find the letter.

Mark entered his lounge to be confronted by a vision from a nightmare. The kitchen was a roaring mass of flames, a plume of fire stretched from his television up to the ceiling, and his sofa smoldered with a foul-smelling smoke.

There were six figures in the room, standing perfectly still amidst the conflagration, each one holding its head in its hands, its wings folded back.

As Mark was forced to blink to clear his eyes of the smoke, the statues began tomove. They slowly lowered their hands and turned to face towards Mark. There was no expression in their eyes. They seemed oblivious to the flames licking over their stonework.

Then, one by one, they opened their mouths, exposing their long, sharp fangs.

Mark stumbled blindly to his desk, feeling his way across the room until it banged into his midriff and the smoke cleared sufficiently for him to see the papers on his desk. As he watched, both the letters caught fire and shriveled to black. The flames consumed both letters completely, sending charred fragments fluttering up into the air.

Mark felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned.

"We have to go," the Doctor said adamantly. "Now."

Mark could see the Weeping Angels behind the Doctor, reaching out towards him. The sight caused Mark to freeze in terror. He couldn't speak or move.

The Doctor took him by the wrist and guided him back through the lounge, past the Angels, and out into the hallway. Mark could hardly breathe and could barely see, but the Doctor kept leading him through the smoke and darkness, helping him down the stairwell, and out into the clean night air.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Amy and Alex squealed with relief as the Doctor tumbled from the burning building, heaving old Mark with him. Old Mark's clothes and hair were dirty and charred, but he seemed otherwise unharmed. He sat on the pavement a few meters away from where his younger self was sleeping.

The residents of the apartment block had gathered in the parking lot, marveling at the blaze as they awaited the arrival of the fire services. The fire would be visible all across London.

The Doctor squatted beside old Mark. "What were you trying to do?" he demanded.

"The letter, Doctor." Mark took in another lungful of air. "The letter I received from my future self, the one I had to send? It was in there. Both copies were in there!"

Alex's eyes widened. "Oh my God," she gasped, her jaw dropping.

"I saw them burn," Mark moaned wretchedly. "So that's it. History's been changed."

"What do you mean?" Rory asked.

"How can I have sent myself the letter,when I don't have the letter anymore?!" Mark yelled.

"Can't you just make another copy?"

"I can't remember every single word of the letter, can I? And if I got a single word wrong. . ."

"Oh. Right. Yeah."

"Didn't you make any photocopies, or anything like that?" Amy asked.

"No," Mark replied, leveling his gaze accusingly at the Doctor. "Because you told menotto, remember?"

The Doctor frowned. "So, now you can no longer send the letter to yourself, and the entire course of history has changed, with disastrousramificationsfor the entire planet."

He paused to straighten up, lick a finger, and hold it in the air. "Unless. . ." He reached for his wibble-detector, which was still slung around his neck, and began to urgently twiddle with its dials. "Oh no. Oh no, no, no, no, no. . ."

"Doctor, what is it?" Alex asked urgently as Mark said, "Unless?"

The Doctor didn't answer them. He was too preoccupied in taking a reading with the detector. Then he looked up at the group with a fearful look in his eyes. "Unless the course of historyhasn'tbeen changed."

Alex frowned at him. "What?"

"Which can only mean one thing," the Doctor gravely continued. "Markwasn'tthe one who wrote that letter!"

"What?" Amy cried. "But of course he did! You said—"

"Of course," the Doctor interrupted, the dots connecting in his head. "It was all part of their plan."

"Whose plan?"

"The Weeping Angels."

"Sorry, Doctor, you're saying theWeeping Angelswrote that letter?" Rory checked. "The one that Mark received in the year 2011?"

The Doctor nodded. "A list of instructions that Mark would think came from his future self, in order to make sure he obeyed them to the letter. In order to make sure that I'dtell himto obey them to the letter."

"But hang on, you're forgetting something. Mark said the letter was written in his own handwriting!"

Alex turned to look at Mark. "You never showed us the original letter, did you?"

"No," Mark admitted.

"I wish you had," the Doctor sighed. "Because Alex and I would've noticed that it was written onpsychic paper. Write a letter on psychic paper and the handwriting will look like that of whoever reads it."

Mark pulled himself to his feet. "But the name on the envelope was in my handwriting too."

"Psychic envelope," the Doctor dismissed. "Same material."

"And the Weeping Angels got hold of thishow?" Rory questioned, bewildered. "Did they just pop down to the nearest psychic newsagents?"

"The Angels are creatures of perception. To them it would be child's play." The Doctor looked at Mark mournfully, as though he was a condemned man. "The copy of the letter you showed me. It wasn't the whole letter, was it?"

Mark twitched. "What do you mean?"

"There was something else. Something else the Weeping Angels wanted you to do."

"No."

"What was the other part of the letter, Mark?" the Doctor exploded in anger. "TELL ME!"

"There wasn't any other part of the letter! You saw the whole thing!"

"I don't think so," Alex spoke up. Her eyes narrowed, pushing her topaz-colored irises down to little slits. She stepped up beside the Doctor. Together, the two looked like a terrifying force to be reckoned with. "You and I both know it. Whatever was in that letter was something that the Angels wanted you to do to change history. But youcan't."

"It is something that canneverhappen," the Doctor added, his voice low and dark. "Somethingyou must never do."

"No!" Mark protested, doubling up in pain as though crushed. His chest was heaving, and he kept swallowing, gasping, grimacing, as though trying to speak but unable to find the words. "No, you're wrong," he hissed at the couple. "It can happen. I'm going tomake ithappen."

"Mark," the Doctor started, "you can't, no matter how much—"

Mark straightened up and regarded the Doctor and Alex with cold, angry eyes; eyes filled with years of loneliness and grief. But instead of speaking, he turned away and strode towards the parking lot.

"Mark!" Alex called after him. "Where are you going? Stop—"

Mark raised his key fob, aimed it at his SUV, and unlocked it with a beep. He climbed into the driver’s seat. Motioning for Alex to stay put, the Doctor attempted to grab the car door, but he was too late; the car's engine growled into life, its headlights flashed on with blinding brightness, and it swung out into the road. Amy, Rory, Alex, and the Doctor could only stand by uselessly as it accelerated into the night.

As the car disappeared from view, the wail of sirens grew louder until two fire engines and an ambulance appeared at the end of the road, illuminating everything with their flashing lights. Firemen clambered out, shouting instructions, and craning their necks to assess the blaze.

Distracted by the firemen, it took a few moments for Alex and Amy to realize the Doctor wasn't with them. He and Rory had returned their attention to Mark's younger self, who was still curled up on the pavement. He regained consciousness with a wheeze and splutter, his bloodshot eyes darting around in confusion. "Who are you? What happened?"

"You came to see a man called Harold Jones," the Doctor calmly informed him. "Why?"

"Harold Jones?" Mark frowned as he struggled to remember. "I was working late in the office and came across this folder . . . he was the reason I got this job. And he had these letters on his desk, with lists of stuff from my life!"

"It's all right," the Doctor said gently as he placed his fingers on Mark's forehead. Mark's eyelids drooped and his head lolled forward as he fell into a trance. "You'll be fine. Listen to me. You will have no memory of the events of this evening."

"No memory," Mark repeated.

"The last thing you'll remember is working late in the office. You won't remember me, my friends, or Harold Jones. When you awake, you will never had heard of him. Understand?"

Mark nodded.

"There was a small fire in your office, someone dropped a lit match into a bin. You threw your jacket over it, that's how it got burnt."

Mark nodded.

"And when you wake up, I want you to phone your wife and tell her you'll be coming home, then go back to your car, and drive straight there. You've got all that?"

Mark nodded.

"Good." The Doctor clicked his fingers.

Mark's head lifted. For a moment he looked around, not sure where he was, then he stood up. "Sorry, um, excuse me," he muttered, before speed-dialing a number on his mobile phone. "Hiya. . . Yeah. It's me. Just calling to let you know I'm on my way home. . . Love you too." Then, without registering the Doctor, Alex, Amy, or Rory, he strolled over to one of the cars parked outside the building, got into it, and drove away.

The Doctor, Alex, Amy, and Rory stepped aside as the firemen located the nearest hydrant and connected their hoses.

"So that's that?" Amy asked, rubbing the soot off her hands.

"I think so," the Doctor replied. "Mark goes home to his wife, having forgotten all about tonight, and all about us—"

Rory's mouth fell open as a sudden, terrible realization dawned on him. "Wait a minute," he interrupted. "Did you just say he's going home to hiswife?"

"Yes—"

"But when I spoke to Mrs. Levenson, she never mentioned anything about Mark being married!"

"Doctor, that's what I wanted to tell you!" Alex cried. "Didn't get a chance to though, not in all the excitement. Mark has a wife here, but he doesn't have one in the future."

"Then that means they either got divorced," Rory picked up, "or. . ."

The Doctor suddenly looked very old and gaunt. "So that's it. That's what the Weeping Angels have been working towards."

"You mean, something happened to Rebecca?" Amy asked. "Or rather, something'sgoing tohappen to Rebecca. Oh my God. She's going to die. . ."

"And Mark's going to try and stop it," Alex wearily muttered. She ran a hand through her hair. She could understand Mark's motivations. Hell, she'd try and do the same with the Doctor or Marigold, Lacey, Amy, and Rory, but she knew his rescue mission was going to be futile. "He's going to try and save her."

"But if he saved her," Rory started, piecing it together, ". . .then he'd be changing history."

"Not only that, but—" Before the Doctor could finish, he was interrupted by a voice calling to them from down the street.

"Doctor! Alex! Amy!" A familiar figure ran out of the darkness towards them. As he got closer and slowed down, he moved into the glow of a streetlamp, allowing Amy and Alex to see his face.

It was Rory.

But Rory was standing right next to them, gawping in disbelief at the new arrival. Amy turned from him to the other Rory, the new Rory. He approached with an exhausted look on his face.

"Thank God," he sighed in relief, rubbing his side and wincing. "For a minute there, I thought I'd missed you."

"Rory?" the Doctor cried, regarding him suspiciously. "What are you doing here?"

The new Rory gave Amy a reassuring smile and ruffled Alex's hair, before he noticed his former self and his mouth fell open. "I'm, er, from the future? I mean, I was with you in the future, but then I was touched by an Angel. . ."

Chapter 19: Touched by an Angel Part 8

Chapter Text

April 21st, 2002

It had been their first major argument.

It all started when Mark suggested that Rebecca shouldn't bother to buy another car after her previous one had been written off. His point was that having a car in London was a waste of money, as she hardly ever used it except to go to her parents', and she'd said herself that driving in London was insanely stressful and dangerous.

Rebecca's response had been to accuse Mark of calling her a bad driver. Which hadn't been his point at all. It wasn't Rebecca's driving that worried him. It was everybody else's.

Rebecca had been driving to Peckham for the weekly shop when, as she turned left at a crossroads, the car on her right jumped the lights and crashed into her. She'd been lucky to escape with whiplash and a dislocated shoulder.

The argument happened the following night. They were both overtired, neither of them having slept more than a few hours since the accident. Mark still had the stress of the day coursing through his system, and Rebecca kept being woken up as her painkillers wore off. Then they had a day of dealing with the police and the insurance. On top of that, they had to cancel their holiday in Paris which had been due to begin the following day.

That was what the final part of the argument had been about. Rebecca had accused Mark of being glad that their holiday had been canceled because it meant that he could go back to work. Mark hotly denied this, but the problem was, Rebecca knew him too well. The thought of returning to work had occurred to him.

And that's why he spent the night on the sofa in the living room.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Rebecca woke as a jab of pain in her neck reminded her of her injury. Slowly and awkwardly, she eased herself into a sitting position and reached for the painkillers and water on the bedside table. She had to twist her waist to see what she was doing as she couldn't turn her head.

The alarm clock read 11:30. The other side of the bed was empty. For a moment, Rebecca thought nothing of it; she often woke after Mark had gone to work, until she remembered this was the first time she and Mark had spent the night apart since their wedding.

Rebecca washed and put on a fresh t-shirt, then headed downstairs, gripping the banister with her one good hand. She'd have a cup of tea and maybe watch the news. Today she should have been exploring the art galleries and museums of Paris with Mark; instead, she'd be spending it alone in a cold flat.

Rebecca stopped at the foot of the stairs. She could hear something sizzling in the kitchen and could smell the smoky aroma of pancakes. She wandered in to discover Mark at the oven with a frying pan in his hand, a string of garlic around his neck, and a beret on his head, humming 'She' by Charles Aznavour.

"What are you doing?" she demanded.

"Making crêpes. This is my sixth attempt. I think I've almost got it."

"I meant with the," she indicated the garlic, "and the," she indicated the beret.

"Oh. Idea I had. For the next two weeks, I've designated this flat as French territory."

"What?"

"If you can't go to Paris . . . then let Paris come to you." Mark slid the pancakes out of the frying pan and turned towards her.

"Please take that thing off, you look like Frank Spencer."

"I thought it made me look like Che Guevara," Mark countered. "I got it while I was out shopping. Couldn't get snails or frog legs, but we have croissants,pain au choclat, and later you have a choice of me attempting eithercoq au vinor ratatouille."

Rebecca noticed the five bulging supermarket shopping bags on the side.

"I also thought," Mark continued, "that if we're going to be stuck in the flat together for two weeks, we might need some entertainment, so I got a few DVDs and videos." He indicated one of the bags.

Rebecca rummaged through it. "Amélie. Cyrano de Bergerac. Betty Blue. Mon Oncle.Asterix & Obelix Take On Caesar.And the first two series of'Allo 'Allo. . ."

"Can't get more French than that."

"Very true." Rebecca sniffed the crêpes. "So we're spending the next two weeks in the flat together, are we?"

"I mean, I could always go into work, if you'd prefer, but I thought, two weeks with my gorgeous wife Rebecca, versus sitting in a solicitor's office in Croydon. No competition really."

"Not when you put it like that. Is this your way of saying sorry?"

Mark handed her a pancake on a plate. "Overdoing it, do you think?"

"A bit, yes." Rebecca broke off some of the pancake and ate it. "But I strongly approve." She kissed him gently on the back of the neck. "Merci beaucoup."

"You're lucky. I very nearly bought an accordion."

"You have no idea how grateful I am that you didn't."

"And you're sure you're okay with having me hanging around, waiting on you, hand and foot?"

"I could get used to it," Rebecca teased. "I should get into car crashes more often. No, I think if I have to be stuck in the flat for two weeks, there isn't anyone in the world I'd rather be stuck with."

"So you're not annoyed, about not going to Paris?"

"Not anymore. I mean, it's not as if Paris is going anywhere. There's always next year."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

"Is this strictly necessary?" Rory asked as the Doctor ran the sonic screwdriver over him like a customs official with a metal detector.

Instead of giving an answer, the Doctor darted across the control room and repeated the process with the other Rory, the Rory from the future.

It was a weird feeling to be in the same room as your future self. That person over there, with the surprisingly large nose and gormless face, would be him at some point. Staring back at his past self, who as far as Rory was concerned, was his current self. Which was confusing if you thought about it, so Rory decided to stop thinking about it.

"Completely necessary," the Doctor finally responded, closing his sonic screwdriver with a flourish. "It's now safe for you both to be in the same room together."

"Eh?"

The Doctor went into explanation mode. "Blinovitch Limitation Effect. Two identical versions of the same person, at different points in their timeline, should not co-exist within the same space and time. All sorts of nasty potential for paradoxes. And if they should happen to make physical contact – bang!"

"Like with the two Marks?" Amy guessed.

"Like, as you say, with the two Marks," the Doctor agreed. "But now I've neutralized the effect. Ask me how."

Alex shook her head as the future Rory opened his mouth. "Don't," she told him. "He'll just say it's complicated and then probably something like, thanks for asking."

Amy and the present Rory snickered. The Doctor shot her a look, proving that she was right. "Thank you, Alex," he sneered.

Alex, hardly bothered, leaned back against the railing next to the future Rory and beamed. "You're welcome, Doc!" she chirped.

"So, it's now safe for me to touch my future self?" Rory asked, pulling them back to the present.

"Yes," the Doctor confirmed. "Although I would strongly advise you not to."

"Why?"

"Yeah, why not?" the future Rory wondered.

"Because it would lookodd. Best keep your hands to, um, yourself."

"And it might give Amelia some ideas," Alex smirked.

Amy's face reddened. "Alex!" she cried, her eyes wide, though she didn't deny Alex's statement.

Alex giggled a little and smiled at her innocently. "Love you, Ames."

"Okay, you two," the Doctor chided, though even he was smirking a little at the girls' antics.

"So where are you from?" Alex asked the future Rory. "What happened to you exactly?"

"Um, well, I'm not sure how much I can say," the future Rory said hesitantly. "You know, spoilers and stuff. But we were all in this field, on the South Downs, on the night of the tenth of April 2003, and the Weeping Angels were there too, and well, I got zapped."

"Zapped?" present Rory repeated.

"Back to 2001. Which was a bit of a head-scratcher, to say the least."

"And then you came and found us?" the Doctor asked.

"Notquite. First I had to hang around for a month waiting for you to turn up."

"What?"

"I was sent back to the first ofMay. Four weeks I've been stuck in the past waiting for you!" Future Rory sighed indignantly. "I seem to spend half my life waiting for people!" Alex patted him reassuringly on the shoulder.

"Still, four weeks," the Doctor shrugged. "Give you a chance to catch up on old times and stuff."

"You try being dumped in the past with no money, no job, and nowhere to live! I could hardly go back to Leadworth, could I?"

"I'm sure you coped admirably. No need to go into the grisly details."

"Hang on," Rory cut in. "If this is going to happen to me, I'd quite like to hear the grisly details, thank you very much. Give me some idea what I'm in for."

"That's precisely why you mustn't know," the Doctor argued. "And why your future self mustn't tell you. You've heard too much as it is." He returned to future Rory. "Let me get this straight. It was the night of the tenth of April 2003 when you were touched by the Angel?"

"Yeah."

The Doctor swung the small monitor screen to face Rory. It showed the front page of a local newspaper. "Which was the night that Rebecca Whitaker died."

Future Rory nodded and swallowed. "Yeah."

"Right. Now, I need you to answer this as precisely as you can. When you were the Rory over there," the Doctor indicated Rory, "and your future self turned up, what did we do next?"

"What did we do next?"

"Yes. It's vitally important you remember."

"I do, it's just that I'm not sure I should tell you. You know, spoilers."

The Doctor let out an exasperated sigh. "Okay. Let me put it like this. I think the next thing I should do is that I should take us to the time and place where Rebecca was killed. If I were to do that, would I be changing history?"

"No. That's exactly what I remember you doing last time."

"Good. Then that is what we shall do." He turned to Rory. "I hope you're paying attention to this, I'll be asking questions later."

"Yeah, don't worry," Rory said, tapping his forehead. "Committing it all to memory."

"Good." The Doctor advanced on the console like a concert pianist about to give a recital, but before he could start laying in a course, he paused. "You know, it could potentially get a little confusing having two Rory's about the place."

"I'm not confused," Future Rory objected.

"No, me neither," Rory agreed. "I know which one I am."

"Yeah, and so do I," his future self added.

"Yes," the Doctor said. "But nevertheless, it would be useful ifIhad some way of telling you apart."

"What, like one of us growing a moustache?" Rory dryly suggested.

"Yes, but there's hardly time for that, is there?" The Doctor bit his lip as he thought. "Future Rory. Future Rory. 'F' Rory. 'F' Rory . . . ha! I know! I have just the thing!" The Doctor jumped down into one of the storage areas by the interior doors, pulled out a chest, and rummaged inside it before extracting a red cylindrical hat with a tassel. Alex let out a loud groan when she saw it.

"Fez Rory!" the Doctor announced. He strode over to Rory and slid it on his head. "Future Rory, Fez Rory!"

"You went and got another one?" Alex cried in disbelief.

"Er, Doctor, I'm not the future one," Rory told him. He pointed towards his future self. "He is."

The Doctor snatched back the fez. "You see, Isaidyou'd start getting confused." He bounded over to future Rory and placed it ceremonially onto his head, either ignoring or just not seeing Alex's elaborate eye-roll. "There. Now, you have to keep this on. The fate of the entire universe may depend on it."

"Really?" future Rory questioned. "The entire universe depends on me wearing a fez? That's how these things work, is it?"

"Now, if you'll give me a moment," the Doctor requested, returning to the controls. "The sooner I get us to 2003, the sooner we can stop having two Rory's roaming about the place!"

"And the sooner I can get rid of that fez," Alex muttered.

The Doctor paused in his dial-turning and switch flipping to look over and eye her suspiciously. "What was that?"

"Nothing!"

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

April 10th, 2003

At last, after nine years of waiting, the day had finally arrived. The day Rebecca died. Except this time everything would be different.

Mark drove through the narrow lane, squinting as the setting sun flashed through the hedges that towered over the road. In the distance, he could see the black thunderclouds of the approaching storm. In an hour or so, it would be pitch dark and bucketing with rain. But Mark would be ready. He'd left nothing to chance.

His mouth was dry with anticipation. He'd explored every option of how to prevent the accident. He'd considered simply stealing Rebecca's car, but what if a passing policeman caught him in the attempt? He'd spend the night in jail while she continued to her death. No. He would have to keep it simple, intervening only at the last possible moment. Only then could he be sure he would prevent the accident without being part of the chain of events that led to it.

The details of the accident were indelibly burned into his memory. At 10:26 pm, Rebecca was involved in a head-on collision with a heavy goods vehicle one mile from the village of Chilbury. She had just taken a blind left turn. The lorry was traveling at over fifty miles an hour. Because of the high hedgerows there was no way either of them could have seen the other. Mark had visited the site of the accident in preparation and knew every detail of the journey.

So, all he had to do was to stop the lorry before it reached the fatal corner. Mark knew that the lane continued towards Chilbury, with no junctions or intersections, but about a quarter of a mile further on, there lay a long stretch of road, the width of a single lane, that led uphill into the village. This was where the lorry had built up speed. This was where Mark's car would be blocking the road. The driver of the lorry would see it in plenty of time and be forced to come to a halt. And Rebecca, coming the other way, would also see the car and slow down. Only then would Mark move his car out of the way.

And then he'd have Rebecca again. All the years without her, all those long, lonely years of grief and regret, would be wiped out in an instant. They would never have happened. And if it summoned the Weeping Angels, then that was a small price to pay for the life of the woman he loved.

Almost without noticing it, Mark came to the point in the road where the accident had taken place. Would take place. Would no longer have taken place. He changed down gear, steered his SUV around the corner, and accelerated up the long, straight road to Chilbury. Then, at a small, gravelly lay-by about halfway up the road, he pulled in and switched off the engine.

He'd checked the area the week before. Even in torrential rain there was no chance of his car being stuck in the mud. He'd checked the engine, there was no chance of it failing or running out of fuel. He'd checked the police report after the accident – read it so many times he knew it by heart. In the ten minutes leading up to the accident, there had been no other traffic sighted on that stretch of road. At 10:16 pm, he'd move his car into the lane, then he'd be able to watch from a nearby field as the lorry approached from a distance of half a mile. He'd thought of everything.

There was a rumble of thunder and rain spattered against the windshield.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Rory followed the Doctor, Alex, and Amy out of the TARDIS and immediately he flinched from the cold and hugged his coat for warmth. Thankfully his woolen chullo hat covered his ears, as the wind blasted icy rain into his cheeks. Beside him, Amy brushed her hair from across her face and pulled her hood over her head, while future Rory tried his best to look nonchalant whilst wearing an increasingly damp fez. Alex glared up at the sky and tugged the hood of her jacket over her head, making sure it shielded her whole face before putting up the umbrella the TARDIS had placed by the door as she walked out. It was the same one she had used back in Florida, the gold tip on top now reattached with duct tape. The Ponds really wished they had an umbrella.

Only the Doctor seemed immune to the freezing weather. "This is the place?"

Fez Rory nodded.

The Doctor handed them each a flashlight which they clicked on. The beams only extended a few meters into the gloom, the lights picking out an ever-shifting curtain of raindrops. Rory could make out uneven, mud-soaked turf beneath their feet. He'd have to be careful not to trip up.

"I'm getting wibbliness on an unprecedented scale," the Doctor told them as he took a reading from his wibble-detector. "Hard to pinpoint the exact source, but this is it. This is the tipping point, the moment where the future hangs in the balance." There was a sudden boom of thunder and a flicker of bright blue lightning. "The moment the Weeping Angels have been waiting for."

"The dinner gong?" Alex said.

"With a big, juicy, space-time event on the menu. It's time for thefeast." The Doctor lowered his detector and clenched his jaw, his face filled with dread, then waved the beam of his flashlight downhill. "This way, I think."

As they followed the Doctor across the muddy field, Rory strained his eyes to see anything in the gloom. It was so dark he kept thinking he saw movement, but it was only his eyes playing tricks as they grew accustomed to the darkness. But then he saw it; a pale yellow light about a quarter of a mile away, at a point further down the hillside.

"There!" he cried. The light came from inside a car parked halfway up a steep country lane.

"That must be him." The Doctor turned to Fez Rory. "Am I right?"

"Um, yeah. That's his car," Fez Rory confirmed.

"Then there's no time to lose." Using his flashlight to pick out the ground ahead, the Doctor strode towards the light with renewed urgency. "But watch out. The Weeping Angels are here. And they will try to stop us."

Ten minutes later, Rory's shoes were soaked through, and his feet were numb. From here they could see that Mark's car had been abandoned in the middle of the road. Rory couldn't tell if the SUV's engine was running; all he could hear was the roar of the wind and the occasional crash of thunder.

"What's he doing?" Amy wondered. "He's just left it there. Why?"

"His wife met her death on this stretch of road," the Doctor informed them. "A collision with an oncoming vehicle."

"Which can no longer be coming," Alex concluded, "if a car is parked in the way."

"You two got all that from just a parked car?" Rory marveled, stamping some feeling back into his feet.

"He's left the lights on," the Doctor pointed out. "He wants it to be seen. It's awarning. Best way to stop a crash between two vehicles? Put somethinglargeandvery obviousbetween them. It's what I'd do."

"Er, Doctor," Fez Rory interrupted. He indicated a figure standing about twenty meters away, between them and the car. A man in a puffy winter coat, his face ruddy from the cold. He stared defiantly into the glare of their flashlights.

"Mark!" the Doctor shouted to him. "Whatever it is you think you're doing, you have to stop!"

Mark shook his head. "Whatever IthinkI'm doing?" he yelled. "I'm going to save Rebecca. And there's nothing you can say or do that will stop me."

The Doctor began to slowly venture toward him. "After everything I've told you, haven't you learned anything? You have to move your car out of the way and let history take its course."

"No."

"You have to do it, Mark." The Doctor wiped his hair out of his eyes. His face and clothes were sopping wet, raindrops dripping off his nose and eyebrows. "Listento me."

"In about seven minutes' time, a heavy goods lorry is going to come down that hill. If my car isn't there to stop it, that lorry will hit Rebecca's car. And I am not going to let that happen."

"You don't have any choice!"

"But I do. Otherwise, you wouldn't be here to try and talk me out of it," Mark challenged, his face lit up by a flash of lightning. "No. This time it's going to be different. This time she lives." There was another boom of thunder.

Alex shuddered at the sound. She'd never been big on storms, not just because they involved water, but because one had caused her parents to die. And now, it was helping to make sure someone else died.

"Shedies, Mark. What has happened, has to happen. You can't change that."

"Why not?" Mark squawked. He began to back away from them, down towards the road.

"Because it's atrap!" the Doctor shouted, walking steadily towards Mark. "Everything that's happened, it's all been engineered by the Weeping Angels to bring you to this point."

For a moment, it looked like Mark believed the Doctor, his face twitching as he fought back tears. "They've given me the chance to save her," he protested, his chest heaving with rage.

"The Angels don't care if Rebecca lives or dies. They're just using her, and you, to give them what they want. A time paradox."

"I don't believe you!"

"Then look around you, Mark!" the Doctor screamed. "Look around you!"

The Doctor flashed his flashlight towards a marble-white figure standing in the pitch blackness five meters to Mark's left. The figure held its hands out before it, palms upwards, the rain spattering and dribbling over its stone wings and Greek-style dress. He then swung it to Mark's right, lighting up a second Weeping Angel in the same submissive posture.

Alex, Rory, Amy, and Fez Rory flashed their torches around them, illuminating the wet grass, the shimmering sheets of rain, and four more Angels emerging from the void of darkness, two to their left, two to their right, all with their hands palms out before them, as though in greeting.

"Oh hell," Rory muttered.

"You took the words right out of my mouth," Fez Rory agreed.

"You brought them here," the Doctor said with an edge in his voice. He took another step towards Mark. "Just as I warned you not to."

Mark backed away, his eyes darting between the Angels. "No. . ."

"Don't worry. They won't stopyou. They can't get involved directly, you see, they need the paradox to be the result of someone else's interference."

"But as for us. . ." Alex trailed off, not wanting to think about that. The Doctor would get them out of this. He always did.And I willnotgo down to a freaking statue without a fight,she vowed.

As the Doctor and Alex spoke, Rory kept moving his flashlight between the Angels. They were all still standing in the same posture, but was it his imagination or were they moving nearer? Examination revealed that, no, it wasn't his imagination. The four Angels to their left and right had closed in, to cut off any line of escape. "Um, Doctor, the Angels are. . ."

The Doctor ignored Rory, keeping his attention fixed on Mark. "You think it's bad now?" he went on. "You have no idea what the consequences will be."

"I know what I'm doing," Mark protested, taking a stumbling step away from the Doctor. "I'm going to save Rebecca." Rory noticed that the Angels on either side of Mark had moved closer together. They were now only a couple of meters away from Mark, trying to get between him and the Doctor, to cut them off and prevent them from reaching the car.

"And you think that will make the world a better place?" the Doctor asked.

"How could it beworse?!" Mark screamed. "How could it? Answer me that! I've spent seventeen years without her. I don't care about paradoxes, I don't care about Angels." Mark blinked back the tears forming in his eyes. "I just want her back."

"You can't have her back. She has to die."

"Why?!" Mark yelled. "Why doesshehave to be the one who has to die?"

While the Doctor concentrated on Mark, Rory directed his torch into the blackness that surrounded them. With two Angels behind them, two to the sides, and two in front, they were effectively caught in the center of a circle.

The Doctor gave Mark a sympathetic smile, ignoring the two Angels who flanked him on either side. "Why do you think the Angels chose you, Mark?"

"I don't know."

"Exactly. It could've been anyone, they just happened to pick on you. Because everyone has something they'd like to go back and change." And it was true. Amy would probably like to change the twelve years she was left on her own, being ridiculed for her belief in her 'imaginary friend'. Alex might like to prevent the deaths of her parents, though she had never shown any desire or longing to. And the Doctor knew he, himself, if he could, would change some awful things in his past, like the end of the Time War.

"I just want to save one person," Mark sniffed, wiping more tears from his eyes. "Do you have any idea what it's been like, these last nine years? All the good people who have died, while I've stood by and done nothing. How do you think I felt on September the 11th, watching all those people die? But I didnothing. I followed the rules, Doctor. I did as I was told. I just want one life. Is that too much to ask?"

"Yes," the Doctor said regretfully. "I'm afraid it is. You can't change the past."

"Can't he?" Amy wondered. She had tears streaming down her cheeks. "You're always saying time can be rewritten. Why not now?"

"Because this isn't about one person's life. The Angels have arranged this deliberately so that any change in the timeline will have the greatest possible impact."

"But there has to besomeway!" Alex cried. She knew she was grasping at straws, but she felt rather sorry for Mark. Everyone, even her, had somebody in their life they'd save if given a chance to do so.

Amy enthusiastically nodded in agreement. "There has to be something we can do!"

"No." The Doctor shook his head. "Rebecca's death is a complex space-time event. If Mark prevents it, he won't change the future."

"He'll change his past as well," Alex finished. She had known it all along, but for just a moment, she'd been hoping she and the Doctor were wrong.

The poor guy,Rory thought. All he wants to do is to save his wife's life. Rory thought about what he would do if he was in Mark's shoes, and it was Amy who was about to die. Would he risk everything just for the slightest possibility of saving her? Of course he would. Like a shot. Because the thought of her death, the thought of having to go on living without her, was simply too terrible to imagine.

Rory wiped the tears from his eyes and swung his flashlight around him again, almost grateful for the distraction. While the two Angels on either side of Mark hadn't moved, the others had each taken three or four steps closer and had raised their arms to either side, closing off any gaps between them.

"You're lying!" Mark accused. "You can't know any of this for sure!"

"Mark, if you save her, what do you think will happen?" the Doctor asked. "You think you'll just get to carry on from where you left off?"

"No—"

"No. You'll wipe out the events of the next eight years. All that time will be unwritten. But that's not all you'll lose. You'll lose thepastnine years too. All the time you had with Rebecca will cease to have existed. All gone. Not even a memory. Every moment you ever spent with her will be lost without a trace!"

"Why?"

"Think. You'vetraveled in time. Your past, present, and future are inextricably bound up together. Think of all the times you've intervened in your own past. Would you have even got together with Rebecca in the first place if it hadn't been for your future self? No. But if she never died, you'd never have traveled back and so you'd never have got together. That whole timeline will be erased."

"I don't believe you," Mark stammered. "I don't believe you!"

"You'll lose her, Mark. And the Angels will feed, and they will grow stronger. And that will be the beginning of the end of the Earth."

"What? How do you know that?"

"Because I've seen itbefore! Do you think when the Angels are done with you that'll be the end of it? No. They'll move onto someone else. Put them through everything you've ever been through until they create another paradox. Then there'll be someone else, and someone else, until there isn't a single person left on this planet whose life hasn't been used by the Angels as a source of nutrition." The Doctor raised his eyebrows and spoke softly, pleadingly. "And I won't be able to stop them. They're weak now, but they won't remain weak for long. You're just the first. But you won't be the last."

Mark's face crumpled in pain. "I just want to save her."

"I'm sorry," the Doctor said, with the sadness of centuries. "But you've got to let her go."

Fez Rory coughed to get the Doctor's attention. While the Doctor had been trying to make Mark see sense, the four Weeping Angels had advanced even closer. They were now standing only four or five meters away, each with their arms outstretched, their faces eerily calm. "Er, Doctor, hate to interrupt, but we have a Weeping Angel situation here."

"Damn rain makes it difficult to keep an eye on them," Alex complained, glowering at the aforementioned rain falling down in front of her.

"It's like they're waiting for something," Amy observed from somewhere behind Rory. "Why haven't they attacked?"

"They're running low of fuel," the Doctor explained. "They won't do anything unless we try to escape or get to Mark's car. They'll want to conserve their energy until the paradox takes place."

"And then?" Rory said nervously.

"Oh, and then we're all dead," the Doctor nonchalantly replied. "It's either us or Rebecca." He turned back to Mark. The two Weeping Angels were now between him and the Doctor. Mark stood staring at them in horror, before stumbling backwards. Then he turned and broke into a run, quickly disappearing into the total darkness.

"Great," Alex groaned. "So what are we going to do now?" She waved her flashlight between the Angels. They were getting closer all the time. Soon they'd be within touching distance.

Surprisingly, the Doctor turned away from her, instead choosing to address Rory. "Rory. You know how you've always wanted to be my secretary?"

"No."

"Well, now's your chance." The Doctor rummaged in his pockets and retrieved a notepad and pencil. He rapidly scribbled a note on the pad, before handing it to Rory along with the wallet containing the psychic paper. "Look after this for me. May come in handy." He flipped a card out of his sleeve like a magician and gave it to Rory. "Psychic credit card, don't go mad."

"Sorry, why are you giving me your stuff?" Rory questioned, putting the pad, wallet, and card in his jacket. "And what do you mean, 'come in handy'?"

"You're going to run a little errand for me." The Doctor raised his eyebrows at Fez Rory, as though checking something. Fez Rory nodded. The Doctor nodded back, then turned to Rory and gave him a reassuring smile that only served to make him more worried. "I need you to pop back to the TARDIS. You think you can do that?"

Rory aimed his flashlight at the nearest Weeping Angel, the one cutting off their route back up the hill. It reached out towards him with both arms. If he was quick, he might be able to slip past it. "I'll give it my best shot," he promised. "But you still haven't—"

"Then go!" the Doctor urged. "Now! Go!"

Rory took a deep breath and hurled himself towards the Weeping Angel, all the time concentrating on keeping his flashlight trained on its face and not blinking.

Without warning, his right foot snagged on what felt like a length of rope and Rory tripped, landing heavily on his front. The flashlight rolled out of his fingers. For a moment, Rory had the sensation of being extremely cold and damp, his hands and face drenched in slimy mud. He strained his eyes to look around him but could only see darkness. He reached out, desperately trying to find the torch. But instead, he felt the touch of something made of stone.

And then Rory wasn't in 2003 anymore.

"Rory!" Amy screamed. "Rory! No!"

It had happened in an instant. There hadn't been a flash or a sound. Rory had simply disappeared into the blackness like a light being switched off. Amy aimed her flashlight towards where she'd heard him fall. The thin light picked out an empty patch of glistening grass and a Weeping Angel, reaching down towards the ground with an outstretched hand.

Amy's heart pounded. He was gone. Her brave husband Rory was gone. He'd been touched by a Weeping Angel.

"Amy!" Alex rushed over to her friend before she could start all-out panicking. She rubbed her shoulders soothingly, trying to ignore the dampness of Amy's jacket. "It's okay. It'll be alright."

"She's right," future Rory confirmed, removing his fez and handing it off to Alex. "He's just been sent back to 2001. Didn't hurt a bit. Though you do get this sort of garlic-y taste in your mouth which takes ages to shift."

"See, Rory's right here!" Alex smiled before grimacing down at the fez. She sighed and tucked it into her bigger-on-the-inside jacket pocket.Thank you, TARDIS wardrobe,she thought wryly.

"You mean, that was how you end up back there. . ." Amy turned and thumped the Doctor on the arm. "Youknewthat would happen!"

The Doctor nodded, then looked up in alarm. There was another flash of blue lightning and a clap of thunder. But instead of fading, the lightning lingered, sending bright trails of light zigzagging across the grass like bouncing snakes.

"Rory?" he asked. "Did you manage to complete my little errand?"

"Little errand?" Rory repeated, scoffing. "Hardlylittle. Insanely complicated, more like!"

Alex's brow furrowed. For once, she had no idea on what the Doctor was up to. "Sorry, what errand would that be?" she asked.

"Just before Rory went back in time, I jotted down a note," the Doctor explained, his eyes darting between the six Angels that surrounded them, as though daring them to move. "Containing instructions on what to do when he arrived in 2001. Well?"

"Yeah, I did it," Rory sighed. "Took me four weeks to convince the farmer I wasn't having a laugh. If I got it right, the 'on' switch should be on the ground somewhere around here."

"What 'on' switch?" Amy demanded as the Doctor and Rory swept their flashlights over the turf at their feet.

"Here it is! Yes! You beauty!" Rory cheered.

Alex snickered a little. "You do realize you sounded exactly like the Doctor right then, don't you?"

Rory made a face, looking almost appalled with himself. "Thanks for pointing out that slip-up."

"Oi!" the Doctor cried.

Snorting to himself, Rory used his flashlight to illuminate a thick cable twisting through the grass. It was so well-concealed, Amy and Alex would never have spotted it if they hadn't been looking for it. With a start, both girls realized that it was this cable that Rory – the other Rory, the one who had vanished – had tripped over only a few seconds ago.

"What's that doing here?" Amy wondered.

"Yes, will someonepleasetell us what's going on?" Alex begged. She really hated not knowing things, especially the plans that eventually got them out of trouble.

Rory's beam ran along the cable to where it joined several other cables at a black box with a big red switch. It was all very heavy-duty, the sort of thing you'd expect to find backstage at a rock concert.

"Found it!" he announced joyfully, before he gave a frightened yelp as his flashlight illuminated the two motionless white figures that were standing on either side of the switch, their hands outstretched, leering at him mockingly. "Oh. Whoops."

The Weeping Angels were between them and the black box. Whatever that red switch did, there was no way they could reach it.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

His heart thumping hard in his chest, Mark paused to catch his breath as he reached the gate, drawing in deep lungful's of ice-cold air, lifting his head to let the rain cool his face.

His SUV remained in the road, its lights on full-beam. Mark glanced up and down the lane but found no sign of any traffic. But in a couple of minutes, a heavy goods lorry would be accelerating down that lane towards him.

Mark wiped his eyes, wet with rain and aching from tears, and glanced back up into the field. Electric torches danced in the darkness. The Doctor, Alex, Amy, Rory, and the other Rory in a fez. Except there seemed to be only the four of them now. The Angels had formed a ring around them, as though performing a circle dance.

There was another rumble of thunder and flicker of electric blue light.

The Doctor's words echoed in his ears.It's either us or Rebecca.And what had he done? He'd run away and left them to die. But that wasn't his fault, Mark told himself. He couldn't save them, not from the Weeping Angels. He couldn't.

That wasn't the only thing the Doctor had said that preyed on his mind. If he saved Rebecca, then according to the Doctor, he would change not just the future, but the past. He would lose not just all those long, lonely years of grief, but also all the time he'd had with her.

Because if he'd never traveled in time, everything would have been different. That night at the student's union when they'd kissed on the rooftop wouldn't have happened. He probably wouldn't have gone to Rome with her, as he wouldn't have been able to afford it if his future self hadn't given him that winning lottery ticket. And even if he had gone, he wouldn't have got his wallet back after it was stolen, so they wouldn't have gone to the Capitoline Museum. And they wouldn't have got together at the museum had it not been for his future self, the Doctor, Alex, Amy, and Rory locking them in.

Mark thought back to all the other times he'd had with Rebecca. The most precious pages in his book of memories. All the times he'd met her for coffee to discuss their relationship troubles. Their wedding day. And the time after Rebecca had been in that accident and they'd spent two weeks in their flat together, watching videos and DVDs.

The saddest part of all that was that there weren't enough memories. He wanted more. He deserved more. He regretted to the core of his being all the nights he'd worked late when he could have been with Rebecca.

He would give anything, anything in the world just to have one more hour with her. To have just one more memory. It had been that single driving wish, that burning feeling of injustice that had kept him going for the past seventeen years.

He had to have Rebecca back. If he didn't, what was the point? What had it all been for?

But if what the Doctor said was true, then all those memories would be taken from him. And people would die. Innocent people would die, and it would all be because of him. Rebecca wouldn't want that. She wouldn't want to be the reason why that happened.

Mark looked back up the hill, to where the Doctor and his friends were surrounded by the Weeping Angels.

"I'm sorry," Mark choked, stifling a sob as he walked over to his car. "I'm sorry, Rebecca."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Rory backed away from the two Weeping Angels in front of him, flashing his flashlight from one to the other. He backed into the Doctor, busy trying to keep his own two Weeping Angels at bay. "It's no good," Rory groaned. "I can't reach the 'on' switch. I messed up, and now we're trapped and are probably going to die."

"It's not over yet," the Doctor protested. "I should be able to activate it with this." He raised his sonic screwdriver. But it failed to light up or make any sound. He took a quick glance at Alex to see that she was holding up her sonic necklace in bafflement.

"Mine's not working either!" she announced. "The Angels are preventing us from turning them on."

The Doctor grimaced and with his free hand, tugged her close to him. "Yes, that would've been a lot more impressive had our sonic devices actually worked," he said to Rory. "No, you were right with the first thing you said."

There was another boom of thunder and crackle of lightning. It lit up the Angels' faces. They were snarling hungrily, their jagged teeth bared, their tongues lolling, their foreheads ridged in scowls of hatred, their eyes hideous staring blank orbs of stone.

Rory held them back using his flashlight. The light grew dimmer. He shook the device and banged it with the palm of his hand, but it didn't get any brighter. "Doctor. The torches—"

"The Angels are draining the energy," the Doctor finished. "I know. Hence Alex and mine's sonic trouble."

Rory flashed the feeble beam back towards the Angels. They were now less than a meter away, reaching towards him with their long, claw-like fingers. The torchlight was now so weak, he had to strain his eyes just to make out the shape of the Angels in the darkness.

"Rory," Amy spoke. "I don't think I can keep them back much—" Suddenly, she gave a short scream.

Rory spun around to see Amy standing perfectly still, her eyes wide with terror, a Weeping Angels' arm coiling around her neck, almost but not quite making contact with her skin. The Weeping Angel’s mouth hung open lasciviously, like a vampire about to sink its fangs into her jugular.

"Don't stop looking at it, Rory," Amy begged, tears watering up in her eyes. "Don't look away. And please, whatever you do, d-d-don't blink!"

Rory kept his eyes glued to the Weeping Angel, but as the light from his torch faded away, it slowly but surely disappeared into the darkness.

Suddenly the roar of a car engine filled the air and Amy and the Weeping Angel were caught in the lurching beams of an approaching pair of headlights. Rory didn't dare look away from Amy, he didn't dare blink, even as he heard the car draw nearer and come to a halt, even as he heard the sound of the car door slamming and someone running towards them.

"Mark!" Alex gasped in shock. She certainly hadn't expected him to show up, but apparently, the Doctor's words had struck a chord in him.

"Press the big red switch!" the Doctor shouted to him. "On the ground by your feet!"

K-chunk! K-chunk! K-chunk!

There was a brilliant, dazzling light. Temporarily blinded, Rory blinked.

When he looked again, when his eyes adjusted to the brightness, he found that the Weeping Angel hadn't moved. It still had an arm wrapped around Amy, but the fact that the electric lamps had come on meant that the Doctor's plan had worked.

The Weeping Angels were still in a circle around them, all frozen in position as they lunged forward, clutching at the air. But outside the circle of Angels, about six meters away, there was a second circle of six powerful halogen lamps mounted at ground level, all shining inwards. And beside each of the lamps was a video camera, on a tripod, pointing inwards, and beside each camera was a television monitor showing six pictures from six different angles of the Weeping Angels. They were standing in the middle of a ring of cameras.

Mark was crouching beside the big red 'on' switch.

And the Doctor and Alex were kissing. By the looks of it, it was rather passionate and didn't look like it would be stopping anytime soon.

Amy glared at the two of them. "Oi!" she shouted. "Could you stop snogging for five seconds and watch the Weeping Angels? Some of us are still trapped, you know!"

"It's all right," the Doctor reassured her as he pulled back from Alex. "They're not going to move." With some difficulty, he and Alex helped Amy squeeze out of the Weeping Angel's embrace.

"What did you do?" Amy asked once she was free, shielding her eyes against the glare of the lamps.

"Nothing," the Doctor answered with a generous smile. "You have Rory to thank for this."

"Rory?" Amy and Alex repeated incredulously.

"Yeah, well, all in a month's work," Rory shrugged. "Though to be fair, it was the Doctor's idea." He pulled the Doctor's notebook out of his jacket. Flipping open the cover, he showed the girls the contents, a page of almost illegible instructions from the Doctor on what to do in 2001, along with a diagram on how to set up the video cameras.

"Whatwas?" Amy questioned, turning from Angel to Angel, making sure that they'd stopped moving.

The Doctor pocketed his flashlight. "It's quite simple. The Weeping Angels are quantum-locked, meaning they can only move if they're not being observed."

"We know that," Amy argued.

"Yeah, you have mentioned it quite a bit," Alex added.

"So what we've done," the Doctor continued, "is to arrange things so that each Weeping Angel is not only being observed, but is also observing itselfandall the other Weeping Angels."

Amy and Alex peered at one of the monitors. "You mean this is showing the pictures from all the cameras at once?" Amy guessed.

"And there's nowhere you can stand where you're not looking towards one of the monitors," Rory explained. "Every direction is covered." It had taken him the better part of a month to set it all up; traveling down to locate the exact spot, then persuading a video equipment company to not only set up a specific arrangement of lights, cameras, and monitors, but to do it on a specific date, two years in the future. And then he'd had to convince the farmer who owned the land to let them do this. Rory had only managed to get everything sorted the evening before he was due to meet the Doctor, Alex, and Amy. If he'd learned one thing during his time in 2001, it was this; it's amazing what people will agree to if you're prepared to pay cash in advance.

When they'd first arrived in the TARDIS, he'd been terrified that the Doctor might lead them to the wrong part of the field. But he needn't have worried; of course they would all end up in the right spot, because that's what they'd done last time. And although Rory had caught the occasional glimpse of the cameras, lamps, and monitors, because he knew where to look, they were all sufficiently well hidden by the grass not to be seen by the Doctor, Alex, Amy, his former self – or more importantly, by the Angels.

"So you led the Angels into a trap?" Alex said.

"Using us as the bait!" Amy shrieked.

"Bait and switch! They should know better than to put me in a trap!"And Alex,the Doctor thought. Ever since he met her, it was only Alex he could think about in dangerous situations. He could only think of getting her out first and then punishing those who had tried to trap her in the first place. And this time was no different.

But instead of voicing these thoughts aloud, he walked over to Mark. "You came back," he said delicately.

Mark nodded, blinking back tears, his breathing shallow. "I could hardly let you die, could I?"

"Had me worried for a moment there, though," the Doctor admitted.

"Doctor!" Alex shouted. "The Angels!"

The Doctor turned to see the five Weeping Angels begin to flicker and fade away, like the picture on a television screen during interference. "They're too weak to maintain their corporeal forms," he assured her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "And as they're quantum-locked, there's only one way left for them to go. . ."

In a few moments, they were all transparent, their stonework fizzling like static, and then, in an instant, they all vanished.

"Go?" Amy frowned. "Go where?"

The Doctor nodded to one of the monitors. On the screen, Alex could see the Weeping Angel, staring out at her in grainy, flickering black-and-white, its hands pressed against the glass as though it was trying to break through. Alex looked in the next monitor along. The story was the same. Each screen showed an Angel, trapped behind the glass, an indistinct gray mass.

"Caught in a closed circuit," she breathed. She whirled around and grinned at the Doctor. "Oh, you're extremely clever."

"You can kiss me later," the Doctor smirked. "But now's our chance. Do what I do!" He rushed over to one of the cameras, lifted it by the tripod, then positioned it so that it faced towards the monitor to which it was connected.

"Whatareyou doing?" Rory asked.

The Doctor flicked a switch. "I'm sending them into infinity."

The Weeping Angel on the screen gained a line of identical, ghostly Angels behind it. This then dissolved into a swirling, lopping pattern of fog which rapidly faded to blackness.

The Doctor, Alex, Amy, and Rory repeated the process on the remaining Angels. It was only when they reached the sixth monitor and discovered that it was blank that Rory realized something was amiss. "Doctor. One of our Weeping Angels is missing."

"What?"

"There were six. One of them must've got away."

The Doctor looked briefly alarmed, but then he peered up at the night sky. There hadn't been a rumble of thunder or flash of lightning since Mark had returned. The Doctor turned towards him. "You moved your car. There's not going to be a paradox. History isn't going to be changed. That's what weakened the Angels. . ."

Mark nodded sadly and then turned back down the hill. The headlights of a heavy goods lorry flashed out of the darkness. It accelerated down the steep country lane, past where Mark's car had been parked, and onwards into the night.

And then, just for a moment, the lorry's red taillights illuminated the shape of a figure at the edge of the field. "Doctor, the Weeping Angel!" Rory exclaimed. "Where's it going?"

"The scene of the accident," the Doctor said bleakly. He took Alex's hand, and they began striding down the hill towards where the Angel had been standing. "Come on."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

They didn't see the crash. But they could see the orange warning lights that blinked on and off, lighting up the hedges that loomed over the lane.

The lorry had come to a rest halfway up the hedge, the cabin tilted onto its side, its radiator grille steaming, its warning lights flashing. The driver was slumped unconscious on his steering wheel.

"You leave the driver to us," the Doctor instructed, patting Mark's back.

Alex smiled sadly at Mark. "Go be with her." She nodded her head in the opposite direction.

Mark looked around in a daze, unable to take it all in, and then he spotted Rebecca's car. The force of the collision had sent it into the next field, rolling over until it came to a rest upside down. Thick smoke poured out of the engine, and he could see the tell-tale flicker of flames.

Standing about six meters from the car, caught in the sickly orange glow of the warning light, was the remaining Weeping Angel.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Looking out across the field, Rebecca wondered why everything had an odd orange hue, as though lit by a streetlamp. Her seatbelt was so tight she could hardly breathe. She wanted to wipe the rain from her eyes, but her hands didn't respond.

Now that was weird. About six meters away, in the field, stood a statue, like might be found in a graveyard or a Roman museum. It was a statue of a young woman with coiled hair, a flowing robe, and two wings. An angel. The statue was hunched, burying its head in its hands.

The orange light blinked off, and Rebecca thought of childhood bonfires.

The orange light blinked on again. The statue of the angel was now staring towards her with blank, pupil-less eyes.

The light blinked off and on again, and each time the statue grew closer, closer, until it filled her view, looming over her, reaching out towards her with hands like talons.

Rebecca wished that Mark was here.

And he was. The statue had vanished, and Mark had taken its place. He leaned into the car and gently brushed the rain from her face. He smiled at her tenderly. She could see tears streaming down his face.

Why did he look so old? His hair was thin and flecked with gray, his skin was weathered, and his eyes were lined with crow's feet. They were the sad, tired eyes of a man who had suffered years of sleepless nights. But they were still the same eyes she'd fallen in love with, and they were still full of love for her.

Rebecca attempted to say his name, but no words came. She wanted to ask him what he was doing here. He should be working at the office in Croydon, not out here in the depths of Sussex in the wind and rain with her.

She felt him take her hand and squeeze it. His skin felt so warm against hers, like fire. Looking up at him, into his sad, tired eyes, she smiled. Because Mark was here. She knew everything would be all right.

And then Rebecca Whitaker felt no more worries, no more fears, no more pain. She slipped away into death with her head cradled in her husband's arms.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Amy, Alex, the Doctor, and Rory watched in a respectful silence as Mark released Rebecca from her car and placed her body on the grass a short distance away.

Amy sniffed and wiped the tears from her eyes. "He couldn't save her."

"He never could," Alex said. Unshed tears glistened in her eyes despite her best efforts.

"The Angels just made him believe that," the Doctor added, wrapping an arm around Alex's waist and pulling her into his side. "To serve their own ends."

"So time can't be rewritten?" Amy asked.

"Not without people getting hurt."

"What about the Weeping Angel?" Rory wondered. "Where did that go?"

"It escaped." The Doctor indicated a metal box perched in the hedge by the side of the road a few meters from where the lorry had come to rest. The speed camera reflected the glow of the lorry's warning lights as they blinked on and off.

"But if it's in the speed cameras, it could go anywhere," Rory realized. "We have to find it."

"There's no need."

Alex looked up at him. "Let me guess," she said, in the kind of voice that indicated that she already knew what she was about to say was correct. "That was the Weeping Angel we encountered when we first arrived in 2011. The Angel that was trapped inside the television."

The Doctor nodded. "Exactly, Ally. In a desperate attempt to break the time loop. But by trying to change history, it ends up creating it. A prisoner of its own past."

"But why wait until 2011?" Rory asked.

"Recharging its batteries?" the Doctor shrugged. "And it couldn't send Mark back until he'd received the letter. The letter I imagine they dropped off at Mark's office a couple of days ago."

Another minute passed in silence, then Mark returned. His eyes were raw from tears and his breathing was shallow and weak, as though each inhalation caused him pain.

In the distance, Alex could see the headlights of a car through the trees. The driver that would be the first on the scene, the one who would call the emergency services.

"Come on," the Doctor said, moving his hand up to squeeze her shoulder. "Time we were gone."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Mark was about to leave the office at Pollard & Boyce when his cell-phone rang. He checked the clock. Who would be ringing him at five past eleven at night? He pulled his phone out of his pocket. The caller ID readRodney Coles.

Mark pressed answer. "Hello, yes?"

"Mark, it's, um, Rodney. Rebecca's father." He sounded oddly frail and distant, pausing between his words.

"Rodney. What is it?"

"It. . ." There was a long silence, which was never a good thing. "There's been an accident, Mark. Rebecca has been in an accident. She was driving home to see us when. . ." There was another long silence, leaving Mark listening to nothing but a faint hiss.

Mark swallowed and walked unsteadily over to his desk. He felt like he was standing at the top of a very high cliff, looking down over the edge. "She's all right, though, isn't she? Tell me she's all right."

"I'm sorry, Mark. She's gone. She, um, when they found her, she'd already, they said, she'd already died."

Rebecca was dead. Mark couldn't believe it. Even saying the words in his head, he couldn't believe it. He felt like he was suffocating. His lips were dry, his heart felt as heavy as a ton, and there was a terrible twisting sensation in his stomach. He felt like everything around him was suddenly distant, unreal, like he was watching someone else in a movie. Or a bad dream from which he might wake up at any moment.

But he wasn't going to wake up. Mark talked to Rodney for a couple of minutes, but his mind was elsewhere. The call ended and he sat in silence, looking at the photograph of Rebecca he kept on his desk. The photograph of her sitting on the balcony of their hotel room in Rome, in her summer dress, gazing out into the street, the morning sun shining in her hair, a contented, secretive smile on her lips. The photograph he'd taken the morning after they'd got together.

Mark picked up the photograph, his hands trembling. Rebecca was dead. He'd lost her. He'd never hear her voice again. Mark wanted to scream. He wanted to fall on his knees and beg the heavens, please, take time back. Let me go back just one hour, to before Rebecca was killed so I can save her. Anything, I'd do anything, if you'll just let me go back, and for this not to be now, for this not to be real, for this not to be forever.

Mark held the photograph to his face to try to stop himself from crying, because he knew that once he'd started, he might never stop.

Chapter 20: Touched by an Angel Part 9

Chapter Text

April 16th, 2003

Mark stood at the lychgate, the Doctor, Alex, Amy, and Rory beside him, unnoticed by the mourners at the graveside. The grave had been dug on the edge of the graveyard, in the shade of an old, gnarled yew tree. The pallbearers lowered the coffin into the ground and the vicar spoke the prayer of committal, his solemn, lilting voice carrying through the warm spring air amidst the rustle of leaves and the birdsong.

It was the same vicar who'd conducted the wedding service two and a half years earlier. He was addressing the same people as at the wedding; many of the male mourners were even wearing the same suits. There was Gareth, Mr. Pollard and Mr. Boyce, and Rajeev, Lucy, and Emma. And there were Rebecca's parents, Olivia and Rodney, both looking so tired, so stunned and lost. And there was his mother, dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief.

And there was his younger self. Standing at his mother's side, staring into the grave, tears streaming down his cheeks. Mark could remember standing there as though it was yesterday. He could still feel the grief, like a huge weight pressing down on his chest. But as he remembered it, the day of the funeral had been a cold, grim, overcast day. He hadn't remembered it taking place on a sunny day under a clear blue sky.

The service ended, and Mark turned to the Doctor, Alex, Amy, and Rory, who had stood beside him throughout. Their eyes glistened with tears.It must be strange for them, Mark thought. As far as the Doctor, Alex, Amy, and Rory were concerned, they had only met a few days ago. It must be strange and heartbreaking to travel in time as they do. But maybe not as strange and heartbreaking as it had been for him.

"Enough," Mark said. "Enough. Can I go back now?"

"Not just yet," Alex told him.

The Doctor placed a protective arm around her shoulders. The way he looked at Alex reminded Mark of the way he used to look at Rebecca. "There's one more thing you have to see."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

May 8th, 1993

The guitar riff of 'Two Princes' by the Spin Doctors echoed out of the open doors of the Dunmore hall of residence and into the cool spring evening. Students stretched out on the freshly cut grass with folders of notes and paperback books. Everyone looked so young, so carefree.

Beaming at everyone he passed as though they were old friends, the Doctor led Mark, Alex, Rory, and Amy into the student hall. For Mark, it was an unnerving experience. He'd spent his first year at university living in this building. It was both strange and familiar, as he saw so many details he'd long since forgotten. The posters on the noticeboard gave details of NUS demonstrations, of upcoming gigs, and of the opening hours of the computer center.

A hall party was in progress. From one end of the corridor, the glam jangle of the new Suede album could be heard. They squeezed past the students lining the hall and entered the communal kitchen. There, the Doctor and Alex indicated for Mark to look across the room.

To see Rebecca, leaning against the far wall, paper cup in hand, a sardonic smile on her lips. Her long hair had been dyed black and she wore an American college sweatshirt.

"Speak to her," the Doctor said, adjusting his bowtie with a cheerful waggle.

"Are you sure? Won't I be changing history?"

"As long as you don't tell her any future presidents of the United States, you'll be fine," Alex assured him. She pushed him forwards. "Now shoo. Speak to her."

Mark took a deep breath and walked towards her, feeling as self-conscious as he had when he was a 19-year-old student. Even though he was now 46 years old.

"Hi," he said to Rebecca. "Do you mind if I have a quick word?"

"No, no, not at all." She sized him up and frowned. "Mature student, right?"

"Yeah. Something like that."

"Interesting," Rebecca smiled. "So what was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

Mark told her everything. He was careful to leave out the dates, names, and time-travel, but he told her all about the beautiful girl he'd met and fallen in love with twenty-seven years earlier, who, after several false starts and wrong turnings, he'd made his wife. He told her how happy they'd been together. And he told her how his wife had been killed in a traffic accident, and how, ever since, a single hour hadn't passed without him thinking about her.

Rebecca listened with intense concentration. "She sounds great, this – what was her name?"

"Um, Rebecca, actually."

"Spooky, that's my name." Rebecca grimaced at the contents of her cup. "Though no one calls me that and lives. So how long has it been since she died, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Seventeen years."

"Seventeenyears?" Rebecca repeated in astonishment. "Whoa. Long time."

"Not that long."

Rebecca paused to consider her next words carefully. "Tell me to shut up if I'm speaking out of turn, but, well, everything you've said so far has been about you, about howyoufeel. Haven't you ever stopped to consider what Rebecca would want in all this?"

"WhatRebeccawould want?"

"Would she want you to be miserable for the rest of your life? Would she want you to spend all your time on your own, wishing for what might have been? No."

"No?"

"No. She'd want you to be happy. She'd want you to find somebody else, somebody else who makes you happy. That's what I'd want, if I was her."

"I'm not sure I can."

"You don't know until you've tried. That's an order." Rebecca smiled at him irreverently, her eyes twinkling as she looked up at him and stroked him gently on the cheek. "Do that for me."

Mark stared at her for a second, struck dumb. His cheek tingled. Then he turned back towards the door, where the Doctor, Alex, Amy, and Rory were waiting. "Thanks," he said. "I will."

"Glad I could be of service."

Mark returned to the Doctor and his friends, who looked at him questioningly. Had he got the answer he wanted? Mark nodded.

"You'll always have the time you had with Rebecca," Alex told him. She looked up at the Doctor and Mark could tell she was also talking to him when she said, "No one can take that away from you."

"I know," Mark said. "I know that now."

The Doctor smiled down at Alex and ran a hand through her long brown-blonde hair. "Then I think it's time to say goodbye."

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Bex watched the man leave the kitchen. He seemed like such a lovely guy, so sweet and so sad. It had been strange, speaking to him; it was like they'd known each-other for years. She hoped he'd follow her advice and find someone.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a cry of indignation from the hallway. A young man she'd never seen before stumbled into the kitchen, his neck and t-shirt soaked with red wine. He looked so ridiculous, Bex couldn't help but laugh. "Would you believe it?" he muttered in response to her amusem*nt. "Some stupid bloke in a tweed jacket just banged into me, making me spill red wine all over myself."

"Yeah," Bex said sympathetically. "I can see that."

"My best shirt, this is, you know. Ruined."

"No, you should be able to get it out if you pour hot water through it straight away." Bex indicated the kitchen sink with her cup. "But you have to do it straight away."

The young man sighed and pulled his t-shirt over his head, giving Bex the chance to admire his bare chest. For a skinny little thing, he was surprisingly well-defined.

He put his t-shirt in the sink and ran it under the hot tap. While he tried in vain to remove the wine, Bex studied him. He had short brown hair, gelled into a parting, and wore John Lennon-style glasses. He was quite cute. And there was something strangely familiar about him.

"Hey, have I just met your dad?" Bex asked.

"What?"

"I was just speaking to a bloke who looks just like you, but older."

"Really?" the young man said in surprise. "You'll have to point him out to me." He inspected his t-shirt. "Well, I think I've got most of it out. Thanks." He turned towards her. "I'm Mark, by the way. Mark Whitaker."

"Bex Coles."

"Cool name." Mark looked at her, as though he was about to speak, but no words came. Bex tried not to laugh out loud at his awkwardness. "Um, yeah, er, I don't suppose you fancy, you know, going out some time?"

"What sort of thing did you have in mind?"

"Well, there's this band on at the Whip-Round next week who I've heard great things about. Apparently, they're going to be bigger than Suede or Blur."

"Really? What are they called?"

"Echobelly."

"I shall have to make a note of that, then," Bex remarked. "So you don't have a girlfriend then?"

Mark paused before answering. "No. You?"

"No, and I don't have a boyfriend either."

"So? Do you fancy going to this thing with me?"

"Yeah, why not?"

Bex heard someone coming in and turned to see her boyfriend Dennis McCormack standing in the doorway, dressed, as usual, in a ridiculously formal jacket that showed off just how overweight he was. "Hi, babes. Surprise, yeah?" He glanced at Mark standing at the sink with his shirt off. This puzzled Dennis. "Why haven't you got a shirt on?"

"Red wine," Mark explained.

"Ah, right," Dennis nodded, returning his attention to Bex. "Anyway, turns out the debating society dinner was dead, so I thought, Dennis doesn't do to keep the lady waiting." With that, he kissed her on the lips and attacked her mouth like it was a lick-before-sealing envelope.

When Dennis finally allowed her to come up for air, Bex noticed that they'd been joined by a girl with an unwieldy chest and a severely cut bob of auburn hair. "Hey, Mark," the girl said, giving him a peck on the cheek. "Who are you talking to?"

"Um. This is Bex," Mark introduced. "And—"

"McCormack, Dennis," Dennis supplied, grabbing Mark's hand and pumping it vigorously.

"Aren't you going to introduce me, Mark?" the girl prompted.

"Oh. Yes. This is Sophie, my, um, girlfriend."

"Nice to meet you," Bex said.

"Why haven't you got your shirt on?" Sophie asked Mark.

"Red wine," Dennis explained.

"Well, we can't have you standing around half-naked, can we?" Sophie laughed, taking Mark by the hand. "Come on, I'll find you another shirt." She led him out of the kitchen. Bex watched them go, thinking what a pity it was that Mark had a girlfriend and she had a boyfriend. If they'd both been single, this could have been the beginning of something.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Mark's cheek was still tingling when he stepped back inside the TARDIS. The Doctor danced around the console, flicking switches and, after a few moments, the central column began to rise and fall.

The tingling sensation spread from Mark's cheek across his face and down his neck. It prickled like pins and needles. "Doctor. . ." he called.

The Doctor glanced towards him and recoiled in shock. "Oh my," he breathed, staring at Mark as though there was something wrong with his face.

"What is it?" Mark demanded, touching his cheek. His skin felt odd. Softer, smoother. He turned to Alex, Amy, and Rory, who were all gawking at him in amazement. "What's happening?"

"Amy, Alex, one of you!" the Doctor cried. "Mirror!"

Amy fished a small hand mirror from her coat and handed it to Mark. He lifted it to study his reflection. The face that stared back wasn't that of a man in his late forties. It was the face of a much younger man, a man growing younger all the time. As he watched, the lines around his eyes faded away, his hair grew thicker, and all the gray hairs turned brown.

The tingling continued down his arms to the ends of his fingers. Mark watched as the wrinkles on his hands smoothed away. The sensation spread down to his toes, then faded.

"When Rebecca touched your face, she shorted out the time differential," the Doctor matter-of-factly explained. "She's given you the past nine years of your life back."

"You're the same age now as you were when we first met you," Alex breathed in astonishment. "It'll be like you never spent those years in the past."

"But I can still remember them," Mark told her.

"Oh, they stillhappenedall right," the Doctor grinned. "It's just that you're not a day older, that's all."

Mark returned the mirror to Amy, barely able to believe the truth. He was young again. Well, 37 years old. And all it had taken was one touch from Rebecca's hand.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

October 14th, 2011

It was a cold, drizzly evening, just like the evening when he'd first met the Doctor, Alex, Amy, and Rory. The streets were dotted with puddles and thunder rumbled in the distance. They'd materialized a few minutes' walk from his flat, and just as they were turning into the street, the Doctor ordered them to stay back and keep out of sight. Peering out from behind a recycling bin, Mark soon discovered the reason why.

On the pavement stood a blue police box, and standing at the entrance of the block of flats he could seeanotherDoctor, Alex, Amy, and Rory. The other Alex was wearing the clubbing clothes she'd been in when he'd first met her. He watched as they hurried into the TARDIS. Seconds later, it faded from view with a groaning, wrenching noise.

"Okay, they're gone," the Doctor announced, straightening up and wringing his hands. He turned around and bent down to help pull Alex up from where she'd been kneeling beside him. The group walked the remaining few meters to the path leading up to the entrance. Then the Doctor halted, nearly causing Alex to slam into his back. "Well, this is where we came in, more or less. One week after you were touched by the Weeping Angel."

"One week?" Mark patted his pockets. "Oh. Hang on a minute. . ."

Rory smiled and passed him his house keys. "Been looking after them for you. Say hi to Mrs. Levenson from me, I've been, um, flat-sitting for the last week."

"Right."

"Oh, and you're out of milk. And tea. And bread. And toilet paper."

"Thanks," Mark said, turning to Amy. "Thanks for everything."

"It was a pleasure," Amy said with an affectionate smirk.

"Yeah, certainly made our date-night interesting," Alex laughed, linking arms with the Doctor.

"I swear, I'll make it up to you," the Doctor promised. "A proper one, no danger."

"Yeah," Amy snorted.

"Like that's gonna happen," Rory scoffed in agreement.

Pointedly ignoring them, the Doctor turned to Mark. "Goodbye. And good luck in the, ah, future. Where, fortunately, the rules of time mean that you can dowhateveryou want." He beamed, patted Mark on the shoulder, and turned to go. Rory shook Mark's hand, Amy kissed him on the cheek, and Alex gave him a wink and a smile over her shoulder, her honey-colored eyes turning a calming, soothing, reassuring light green. Then the four of them walked away, back down the street to the TARDIS.

Mark walked up the stairs to the entrance. He paused before slipping the key into the lock, just as he had done before a week ago, nine years ago.

He was back in 2011, but now things would be different. He still owned Harold Jones's property, stocks, and shares. He was still a multi-millionaire. He didn't have to go back to work at Pollard, Boyce & Whitaker, not if he didn't want to. He could do anything he wanted.

The first thing he would do, he decided, would be to go and see Lucy and Emma. He hadn't seen them for years, but he knew they wouldn't mind if he turned up out of the blue and spent an evening talking to them about Rebecca. Not because he wanted to talk about her death or how much he missed her, but because he wanted to remember her and celebrate her life with friends, because the memory of her no longer made him feel sad.

He'd take her advice, Mark decided, and find somebody. But where to look? He didn't have the faintest idea. But it would be fun finding out.

Mark unlocked the door and entered the block of flats, ready to begin the rest of his life.

Chapter 21: Date Night Take Two

Chapter Text

Alex awoke rather slowly. Eyes fluttering, she stretched her arms above her head before rolling onto her stomach and nestling further into the fluffy white covers. She closed her eyes and hummed contentedly. She loved her bed so much. It was so much warmer and fluffier than other beds she'd been in, especially the sorry excuse for a cot she and the Doctor had been forced to use during a week-long stay in a Moroccan jail cell. He'd been attempting to take her to see Grace Kelly marry the Prince of Monaco but, in true Doctor fashion, they'd landed in Morocco sometime in the 1600s. Then he had to go and insult the king and things had snowballed from there.

Speaking of the Doctor. . . Alex smiled against her pillow when she felt a hand running gently along her back. She hummed again and arched into the cool, adrenaline-inducing touch, detectible even through a thick comforter, sheets, and her pajama top.

From somewhere above her, the Doctor let out a deep chuckle. Alex felt the mattress shift as he leaned down and pressed his lips to her ear. "You awake yet, love?" he whispered, grinning against the curve of her ear.

"Mmm-hmm. . ." Alex rolled onto her side so that she was facing him, though her eyes were still closed. She smiled at the feeling of his fingertips stroking her cheek, then running through her hair. "Five more minutes, please," she murmured as she nestled against his chest.

He chuckled again. "Deal," he said, then sealed his promise with a kiss to the top of her head.

Alex thought she would go straight back to sleep and the Doctor would be forced to wake her but surprisingly, she only became more and more alert as the minutes passed. By the time the Doctor started gently tapping on her shoulder, she was wide awake.

She tilted her head back to meet his gaze. "Morning," she smiled.

"Morning," he smiled back. "Although," he added as he tucked some stray strands of hair behind her ear, "there is no such thing as 'morning' on the TARDIS."

Alex rolled her eyes, but the smile was still glued to her face. "Yeah, yeah, time is relative aboard a time machine. I suppose that would explain why I'm not craving breakfast food right now."

"Yes, it's closer to late afternoon for your body clock."

Alex hummed in response. She nestled closer to him and buried her nose against his shirt. She sighed at the familiar scent of his musky cologne. She really needed to ask him sometime where he got it.

The Doctor chuckled and wrapped an arm around her back. "Comfy?" he asked, running his hand across her back.

She arched into his touch. "Yes," she breathed.

"Well, that's a little disappointing. I was going to ask if you wanted to go out and get something to eat."

Alex tilted her head up enough so that she could see his face, but not completely move away from his shirt. "Out? You don't just mean a bite in the kitchen, then?"

He shook his head. "No, I meant out likeout, out. Outside. Like . . . on a date."

Surprised, Alex moved away from his shirt and propped herself up on her elbow. "Really?" she blinked.

The Doctor nodded. His hand moved away from her back and to her cheek, his calloused thumb lightly rubbing the smooth skin over her cheekbone. "What do you think?" he asked softly. "I mean, we don't have to, but since we haven't gone on a proper date yet thanks to the Weeping Angels, I just thought—"

"You thoughtperfectly," Alex beamed. She leaned closer and brushed her lips against his. "Let's do it."

She thought the Doctor would grin and pull her into a deep kiss, but she was only half-right. Instead, he cheered, "Great!" and sprang off the bed, grinning all the while. Despite herself, Alex laughed, which only made the Doctor grin even more. "Get dressed," he told her, "and I'll meet you in the console room in ten."

"Where are we going?" Alex asked as she sat up. "Is it someplace casual or do I need the TARDIS to whip out the ballgowns?"

"Casual. Very casual." Alex started to ask another question, but he cut her off. "And before you ask, the Ponds are still in their room and probably will be for some time." The two shared a knowing look. It wasn't exactly a secret that Amy and Rory had an active sex life. Even though it had been a while since their wedding, when it came to physical relations, they were still very much in the honeymoon stage.

"So I have you all to myself then." Alex smirked and her light green eyes twinkled. "Excellent."

The Doctor's cheeks reddened. "Ten minutes," he repeated under his breath as the blush spread to his neck.

Alex giggled as he rushed out of the room. It was nice to know that she could fluster him so much, especially since he did the same to her. After allowing herself another few moments to giggle, Alex got out of bed and went to her closet.

Taking the Doctor's advice to dress casually to heart, Alex pulled on a sleeveless, off-white shirt, a pair of distressed overall shorts, a circular, gold pendant necklace, and a pair of white Converse sneakers. She glanced at one of the watches lying in her jewelry box. Eight minutes to go.

She raced into her bathroom and ran a brush through her hair. Thankfully, it was still pretty straight, so there was no need for her to run the flat-iron through it. The makeup she'd applied for Remel was still sitting on the counter, so she reapplied it: some eyeshadow that accented her eyes, the new mascara and eyeliner she'd purchased shortly before she and the Ponds departed Leadworth for Utah, and some rose powder blush and a pale pink MAC lipstick Lacey had sent over in her last I-miss-you-so-here's-some-stuff-that-I-thought-you-would-like package. Said package had also included a brand-new bottle of Chanel No. 5, which Alex quickly spritzed behind her ears, on her neck, and on her wrists.

Alex examined her reflection. Gorgeous, as usual. She was sure the Doctor would think the same.

She all but ran down the hall to the control room. Right before she reached the doorway, she paused to ruffle her hair a little. An affirmative hum from the TARDIS indicated that it was the perfect level of tousled, guaranteed to make the Doctor's hearts thump a little harder. With a smirk, she dashed into the control room. "I'm here!" she announced. "Ten minutes exactly, right?"

The Doctor, leaning forwards against the console, chuckled. "Right on time," he affirmed. "Impressive, by the way. Until you, I've never met a woman who could get ready likethat." He snapped his fingers on the final word.

"I'm just unique," Alex said modestly, though on the inside, she was all but preening. She raised an expectant eyebrow at him. "So, where are we going?" she asked eagerly.

The Doctor snapped his fingers again. Below them, the TARDIS doors swung open. After giving him a curious look, Alex dashed down the stairs. As she got closer to the doors, she could smell just the faintest whiff of sea brine, followed by the overwhelming scent of Mexican food.

The view outside was incredible. The TARDIS had landed in an alley that opened onto a busy cobblestone street. Tall, tan stucco buildings that housed a variety of shops lined either side of the street. Several colorful awnings hung above the doorways, offering a shady spot from the afternoon sun. Alex studied the shop names and was surprised to find they were in Spanish. Utilizing the education she'd received in her high school Spanish class, Alex managed to pick out a designer sunglasses store, a flower shop, a number of swimwear and beach-supply stores, and even a McDonald's. People drifted in and out of these shops, speaking a variety of languages. Alex caught several speaking Spanish, but many more were speaking English. A group of college-age girls, all wearing sweatshirts with the wordsUniversité Paris-Dauphineprinted on them, wandered past the TARDIS and Alex heard them speaking French. A middle-aged black couple came from the opposite direction, chattering in what sounded a lot like German.

So concentrated on the languages, Alex didn't hear the Doctor stepping up beside her, so she jumped when he put a hand on her back. He laughed and rested his other hand on her shoulder. "Alexandria Locke, welcome to Cabo San Lucas."

Alex's jaw dropped. "This is Cabo?!"

"The more touristy section of it, yes. We're just a few blocks away from Medano Beach."

"Uh-huh," Alex murmured, still caught up in the sight before her. She was always amazed by her first glimpse of a new place. Even if they'd landed in the back alleys next to a bunch of dumpsters, she'd probably still be impressed. She stepped out of the alleyway and onto the street. She could now see all the palm trees planted along the sidewalk, as well as the street vendors selling all manner of different foods, from tamales to hot hogs. They were hawking their wares first in English, then in Spanish. Alex sniffed the air and her stomach growled.

"Please tell me we're eating. All of these smells are making me hungry."

The Doctor shut the TARDIS doors and smiled at her over his shoulder. "Don't worry, Ally," he said as he tucked his key into his jacket pocket. "That was my intention." He glanced around the crowded street. "But not here."

Before Alex could ask him any more questions, he grabbed her hand and led her up the street. When they got to an intersection, the Doctor tugged her to the left, then across the street over to an alley tucked between an upscale shoe store and an ice cream parlor. They swept through several alleys, so many that Alex knew she would never find the way back by herself. Finally, they emerged onto another street.

This street wasn't as populated as the other one. Only a few people wandered past as they stepped out of the alleyway; across the street, an elderly Mexican couple sat on a bench outside what looked like a photography studio. There were palm trees in planters all along the sidewalk and terracotta pots full of native flowers sat outside shop doors. They also appeared to be a lot closer to the beach as the sea brine scent had increased sharply and Alex could hear the gentle rolling of waves.

The Doctor led her down the quiet street to an unmarked building between the photography studio and a travel agency. The only indication the building contained something within was the simple white awning overhead and the mixture of cacti and dahlias planted in terracotta pots on either side of the door. Alex took everything in dubiously, but she trusted the Doctor, so she allowed him to lead her inside.

If the outside of the building was unremarkable, the inside was the exact opposite. Alex's eyes widened and darted around in an effort to take everything in.

They were standing at the side of one very large room, about the size of a small warehouse. The walls were painted in smooth, rich shades of brown and cream and occasionally decorated with mirrors or photos of boats on a rich cerulean sea. The floors were a polished marble with dark blue wicker tables and chairs dotted around. From the high ceiling hung several fans, turning lazily and offering a slight respite from the heat. At one end of the room was a large bar stocked with every kind of tequila ever made. A couple of people sat at the bar-stools. They were all drinking and watching the TV behind the bar, currently tuned onto a telenovela.

What Alex mainly noticed though was that the room directly opened onto a wide patio that was the length of the room itself. Several people were sitting at the wicker tables outside, sipping margaritas and enjoying the ocean-front view. The sound of waves rolling was louder here, and Alex could vaguely hear the chatter of beachgoers and a radio playing an old Ricky Martin song.

"Where are we?" Alex murmured, slightly afraid of speaking any louder.

The Doctor grinned to himself. He had definitely chosen well. "Barriga llena, Corazón Contento. In English—"

"Full stomach, happy heart," Alex translated. At the Doctor's questioning look, she added, "I took Spanish in high school. We learned some Spanish proverbs."

"Good to know," the Doctor smiled, his green eyes sparkling at this new insight to her intelligence. "Anyway, the name may be a cliché, but it's also very fitting. The food here is fantastic and. . ." He abruptly trailed off and his brow furrowed. "Ally, you do like Mexican food, right?" He'd never actually seen her eat it, not even in Rio. Amy wasn't the adventurous type when it came to food, so they’d eaten at restaurants with familiar food during their stay there.

Alex raised an eyebrow at him. "Doc, I'm a quarter Latina." She rolled her eyes in that familiar exasperated but fond way of hers. "Of courseI like Mexican. I can't even tell you how upset I was when Bristol's only Mexican restaurant closed."

He chuckled. "Thank Rassilon, or this would've been awkward."

It was at that moment the bartender, who'd been leaning against the bar watching TV, noticed them. Slinging a rag over her shoulder, she jogged over to them. She was a very pretty young woman around Alex's age with shoulder-length dark brown hair, brown eyes, and pale pink lips. She adjusted the hem of her black scoop-neck tank-top, pulling it up a little as she approached.

"Sorry!" she exclaimed breathlessly. "Have you been waiting long?"

"Just got here," the Doctor assured her.

"Oh, okay, good," she nodded, blinking rapidly. She winced and rubbed her left eye. "Gah, sorry, contact lenses. I hate these things. Well, anyway, as you can see, we're not short of seating. Do you wanna sit at the bar. . ."

"Patio," Alex declared.

The bartender nodded. "Gotcha," she said over her shoulder as she jogged behind the bar and grabbed two menus.

The patio area was populated by a few couples, one group clearly on some kind of business dinner, and a lone man in sunglasses reading a Mexico City newspaper. The bartender led them over to a table up against the railing, offering them a perfect view of Medano Beach. Alex surveyed the scene below her. Even though it was late afternoon, the beach was packed. She could see people tanning, tucked under umbrellas reading, jogging, walking their dogs, and swimming.

The bartender noticed her looking and grinned. "Yeah, the beach is packed this time of day. Little less so at night. I strongly recommend going down there later with a bucket of beers and just watching the ocean. It's great fun!"

"We'll keep that in mind," Alex said, although she had already decided to persuade the Doctor to do just that.

The bartender seemed to have read her mind for her grin became just a bit brighter. "I recommend the Dos Equis. Now, have you two been here before?"

Alex glanced at the Doctor. He sat across from her, studying the thick menu. "He has, but I haven't."

The bartender's grin turned a touch mischievous. "Well, then you've not done the Barriga llena first time ritual! A shot of our best tequila followed by a bite of lemon!" Before Alex could say anything, she'd jogged back to the bar.

Alex turned to the Doctor. He was staring at his menu just a littletoointensely. "Ritual? Forgot to mention that, did you?"

He shrugged, but she could see the corners of his mouth twitching. "Must've slipped my mind."

Alex highly doubted that. "Uh-huh. And have you done this ritual before?"

"Yes, in my ninth incarnation." He wrinkled his nose. "Tasted disgusting. I wasn't much for tequila then."

"Are you now?"

The way his nose wrinkled even further answered that question. He glanced up at her. "You ever have tequila?"

"The cheap stuff at a house party once. We ran out of beer during beer pong, so we switched to this cheap tequila the host found in his parents' liquor cabinet. Then we all had to donate a couple dollars to buy a replacement before his parents got back."

The Doctor blinked at this information. Alex had told him about her past before, though he still found it difficult to believe the beautiful, intelligent, mature young woman before him was once running around drinking, skipping school, contemplating getting tattoos, and trying to pierce her nose. He tried to picture her playing beer pong at a house party. He couldn't visualize it. He admitted this to her.

Alex laughed. "Yeah, I can't believe I did it either. Not really something I'd do now. But Lacey was off with her flavor-of-the-week, and I was bored . . . and trying to impress the guy I liked."

The Doctor's mouth stretched into a wide grin.Ah, now to learn more aboutherromantic past!Only fitting, since she knew all about Rose, Romana, and Sarah Jane. But before he could ask, the bartender was back, carrying a bottle of Casamigos and a shot glass with salt around the rim and a lemon wedge stuck in it.

"Here we are!" she announced cheerfully. She set the shot glass in front of Alex and filled it up with tequila. "Shot, then lemon wedge."

Alex hesitantly picked up the glass. "There a name for this ritual?" she asked, peering at the liquid inside.

The bartender giggled. "Nope! Just a welcoming ritual."

"Lovely." Alex sighed and raised the glass to her lips. "Arriba, abajo, al centro y adentro," she muttered, then knocked back the shot. The tequila burned down her throat and Alex tried not to cough.

"Jesus!" she wheezed, much to the amusem*nt of the Doctor and the bartender. With a little wince, Alex bit into the lemon wedge. It was nice and sour and a poor counter to the harsh tequila. Alex hastily chewed it and swallowed, her lips puckering as she did so.

"Bravo!" the Doctor cheered, clapping his hands. The bartender copied him, a grin lighting up her pretty features.

"Brava!" she echoed. "Some people spit it out or just absolutely refuse to do it."

Alex gave a hoarse cough. "Glad I could beat expectations then."

The bartender chuckled and picked up the shot glass, what remained of the lemon wedge, and the Casamigos bottle. "Okay, you two look over your menus and I'll be back in a few minutes."

Alex watched her go. "She's very cheerful," she observed.

"She is," the Doctor agreed. "Must be new. She wasn't here the last time I was here."

Alex opened her menu to the appetizer section. "When was that? And what's today's date? What year are we in?"

"May 16th, 2011. I wanted to stick to your timeline. And last time I was here was when I was in my tenth incarnation. I came here with another companion. She loved Mexican."

Alex noticed his somber expression and how he was staring off at the water, but not really seeing it. He was clearly lost in memories of whoever this companion was, and Alex got the feeling that it wasn't Rose. He would have specified if so, which meant that this companion was one she had yet to hear about. "Who was she?" she asked softly.

The Doctor was silent. She started to think that he wasn't going to answer when he finally whispered, "Donna. Donna Noble." His dark green eyes clouded with pain and his jaw clenched to the point that a vein was bulging outwards.

Alex picked at a worn corner of her menu. She could tell by the Doctor's reaction to saying her name that Donna had been a dear companion and her departure had not been a calm, pleasant one. She wanted to ask more about Donna, what she'd been like, how she'd helped the Doctor, but one of the great things about their relationship was that the Doctor and Alex knew when not to press the other about something. Now was one of those times.

Instead of satisfying her curiosity, she changed the subject. "What do you recommend here? You're the expert after all."

To her relief, the Doctor eagerly complied, and they were soon discussing different Mexican foods, debating on whether or not to order an appetizer, and if they should order any alcohol. By the time the bartender came back, the melancholic atmosphere Donna Noble's name had created was gone, replaced by the excited, tingling feeling of being on a date with someone you liked above all others. They placed their orders and the bartender dropped off their selected drinks: water for the Doctor and Diet co*ke for Alex.

"So," the Doctor said, taking a sip of water. "Tell me more about this boy you were trying to impress at that house party."

Alex smirked. "Trying to check out the competition, Doc?"

He matched her smirk right back. "Hardly. Just curious. Seems fair, since I've told you all about Rose and Romana and Sarah Jane."

Alex shrugged. "True." She took a quick sip of Diet co*ke. "Okay, so, it was a house party my freshman year of high school. Halloween party, costume mandatory. Lacey and I decided to do a couple's costume. She went as an angel, and I went as the devil."

"I have a hard time picturing you as a devil."

"You're so sweet. It was a good costume though. Lacey said it looked better on me than on her. Skintight red leather jumpsuit, a pair of red high-heels I borrowed from Marigold, a horns headband, and a pitchfork. Oh, and, of course, red lipstick."

The Doctor had to force himself to keep paying attention to her after the words 'skintight red leather jumpsuit'. He tried not to shiver at the mental picture she was painting, but it was a task far easier said than done. "Go on," he said, voice a bit deeper than normal.

Alex's copper-colored eyes twinkled.I knew he'd get affected by that."So, for the first few hours, things were pretty normal. Lacey and I chatted with Jason Isaacs, the one throwing the party, and his girlfriend. Then Lacey's boyfriend at the time, Henry Jacobson, came and Lacey went off with him, so I hung out with people from the drama club. Then one of the members, Piper, pointed out that her cousin across the room was watching me."

She took a sip of her drink. "I'd been crushing on Victor for a while. He was a year above me and was hands down the hottest guy in that grade. Wavy dark hair, dark eyes, and rumor had it, agreatkisser. That night, he was also wearing a devil costume, which was either a coincidence or someone had told him about my costume and he decided to wear the same, as a kind of signal to me.

"At that moment, Jason was calling for people to play beer pong. Most of the people who play beer pong at those parties are the jocks and their girlfriends, but Victor was also playing. He wasn't a jock; he was in the A/V club. He wanted to work for the NSA. So, fourteen-year-old me decides that the best way to get him to notice me is to participate in beer pong, which I'd never played before."

The Doctor snickered around his straw. "And how did that go?" Based on what he'd seen of Alex intoxicated, he had a pretty good idea of what happened.

Alex knew exactly what he was thinking. "I'm sure you can guess. I got drunk.Fast. I sucked at throwing the balls into the cups and the guys on the other team were the star basketball players, so they had great aim. Me and McKenna, the girl playing with me, gotwasted. McKenna threw up in the swimming pool and her sister had to come get her."

"What about you?" the Doctor asked, growing concerned. He knew what could happen to intoxicated girls at parties. He hoped and prayed that Alex hadn't been one of them.

He hadn't realized his hand was clenched around his glass until Alex reached out and gently plucked it from his grasp. Once she'd set it on the table, she laced her fingers through his. A jolt of electricity raced up his arm and his bloodstream became flushed with soothing adrenaline. He looked up and saw Alex's loving gaze staring back at him.

"Nothing like what you're imagining happened to me, Doc," she murmured. She stared straight into his eyes so that he would know she was telling the truth. "I was always careful, and I had good friends. If anyone tried anything, they would've stopped it." She waited until he leaned back in his chair, relieved, before continuing her story.

"Well, I was flat-out drunk and probably would have fallen into the vomit-ridden pool had Victor not come to my rescue. He steered me away from the party into a spare bedroom and made me sit on the bed with my head between my knees while he sent a friend off to get some water. We chatted for a while, talked about the drama club, A/V club, friends and classmates, and when I no longer felt like I was going to throw up, he drove me home."

"Where was Lacey during all this?"

"She came by to check on me." Alex suddenly snorted. "And I think she threatened Victor too, ‘cause she asked to speak to him outside and when he came back in, he looked like he'd seen a ghost."

"Always knew I liked that girl," the Doctor snickered. "Strange that she didn't threaten me first time I met her."

"Maybe she thought Marigold was being hard enough on you."

"Perhaps." He took a sip of water. "So, what happened with you and Victor?"

Alex leaned back in her chair and tilted her face towards the sun. "He drove me home, held my hair while I threw up in the rosebushes, and then he had Piper text me his number so he could ask me out on a date.

"We dated for about a month. It was nice. Went to the movies where he always paid for the popcorn and Red Hots, bowling a few times, and once I ditched a pep rally for the football team and we drove all the way to Louisville where we convinced a bartender that we were newlyweds and got mint juleps on the house." Alex chuckled at the memory. "Like I said, I was wild back then and I liked wild guys."

"You have met me, right?" the Doctor joked.

Alex giggled. "Oh, yeah, good point!"

The Doctor smirked, rather pleased that he fit her type of man. "So what happened with Victor?"

"He came up to me between classes one day and said that it just wasn't working out for him. He said he was sorry, the bell rang, and he left for math class and I to lunch."

She didn't add how un-devastated she felt by the news. Sure, she'd been sad that her time with Victor was over. He was fun, good-looking, and respected her in a way most boys didn't. She would miss making out with him, having him pay for her popcorn and Red Hots, and texting her at 3:00 AM to make sure she was actually sleeping instead of reading ahead for history. But Alex had felt more like she'd just gotten rid of an old sweater; something that was pretty and practical, but not something she could claim to love or adore or cry over when it no longer fit her.

Victor breaking up with her hadn't upset her like it did Lacey. Lacey had ranted and raved, wondering all through their lunch break if there was another girl somewhere in the wings. All Alex had done was shrug and continue to eat her chips while flipping through Lacey's newest issue ofElle.

She was pulled out of her musing by the Doctor saying, "I'm sorry. He was an idiot."

Alex smiled and reached across the table to link her fingers with his. Both shivered at the familiar thrum of adrenaline racing up their arms. "It's fine," she dismissed. "Really." Her eyes turned just a touch impish, but the Doctor could see the overwhelming adoration behind it. "Led me to you, didn't it?"

He smiled a little bashfully. "Yes," he murmured, tracing the lifeline on her palm. His calloused fingertip felt rough and dangerous against her skin and Alex shivered. The Doctor noticed this, and his smile became a bit more smug than bashful.

The moment was interrupted by the arrival of their cheerful bartender. She was carefully balancing their plates on one arm while focusing straight ahead. Alex recognized it as a trick Heather McEntire, the head waitress at Blondie's when she first started working there, taught her:Never look at the food you're carrying. If you do, you risk bumping into stuff or getting so scared it'll fall off and you'll like a moron in front of the customers.

It seemed the bartender had a similar lesson drilled into her as she only looked at the food once it was placed firmly on the table. "Okay! Chicken in a dark red mole sauce for the gentleman, and a chicken chimichanga for the lady!" She glanced at their half-full drink glasses and promptly whisked them off the table. "I'll get y'all refills," she called over her shoulder as she briskly walked back towards the bar.

"You better give her a good tip," Alex said as she cut into her chimichanga. Suddenly, she paused. "Youdidbring money, right?" she asked in a low voice.

The Doctor stared at her, affronted. "Of courseI did, Ally." His tone implied that this was something she should have already known. "While I admit I don't usually travel with money, I knew we'd need some for this outing. It's hardly gentlemanly for you to pay, anyways."

"You know I don't mind paying for stuff myself, right?" While she absolutely loved chivalry, Alex didn't want him to feel pressured to do things she was perfectly capable of doing herself.

He smiled warmly. "I know. But humor me this once, please?"

"So long as you're getting dessert too, it's a deal."

Unnoticed by them, the bartender reappeared with their drinks. Glancing back-and-forth between them, she wordlessly set the glasses down and slipped away, her lips quirked in a small, satisfied smile.

The Doctor chuckled and picked up his newly arrived water. He held it out towards Alex, and she reciprocated by raising her Diet co*ke. They clinked their glasses together as the Doctor said, "Deal."

The time it took to eat their meal seemed like it flew by, but when Alex looked around as the Doctor prepared to pay the check, she saw that the sun was starting to set over the ocean. The sky was a mixture of pink, gold, and orange, and the crowd on the beach had significantly diminished. There were only a few people out there now, mostly consisting of couples heading off for a stroll, teenagers staking out spots for bonfires, and a couple surfers looking to catch one last wave.

The Doctor, per Alex's request, made sure to give the bartender a good tip. Shehadbeen pretty helpful after all. Rather enthusiastic, but maybe she just really loved her job. He looked around for the woman in question, but she was nowhere to be seen. The space behind the bar was empty even though there were at least a dozen people seated before it, eyes glued to the soccer match on TV.

He managed to catch the gaze of a passing waitress. She was about Alex and the bartender's age with waist-length red hair a couple shades lighter than Amy's. She adjusted the glasses perched on her nose as she approached.

"Can I help you?"

"We're ready to pay only the, uh, bartender isn't here. She was the one taking care of us."

The redhead nodded. "Oh, yeah, we ran out of a bunch of best-selling beer, and she had to run to the store to get some more." She glanced over her shoulder at the growing crowd by the bar. "It's never good to be out of beer on a football night," she said knowingly. She grabbed the checkbook. "I'll take care of this for you."

"Make sure the . . . wait, what is her name, actually?" It felt weird to just keep calling their cheerful, helpful waitress 'the bartender'.

"Most people call her Daffy." The redhead suddenly grinned. "And I'm Liv. Or Livvie. Olivia when it's my mother and she's cross."

The Doctor nodded, though he was barely listening to her.'Daffy'?he thought, bewildered.What kind of a name is that?Looking over at Alex, he could tell she was thinking the same thing.

"We left a tip for her," Alex explained. "Can you make sure she gets it?"

If it was possible, Liv's grin grew wider. "Will do!" she chirped and headed off to the bar.

A few minutes later, the Doctor and Alex were back on the street. There were a few more people out than before; a group of Mexican teenagers had taken the elderly couple's place on the bench and were all laughing animatedly as one guy told a story in rapid-fire Spanish. Several shoppers flittered in and out of various stores and one guy had set up a food booth. He was currently peddling hot tamales and had a steady line of customers.

The Doctor took Alex's hand and led her down the street, closer to the ocean. Normally, Alex's body would have gotten tenser and tenser with each step closer to the massive body of water, her heart racing in memory of the night she lost her parents and nearly her life. But now, with the Doctor's hand firmly intertwined with hers, she felt perfectly fine. Safe, even.

And as she basked in this feeling, Alex realized that she had never felt like this with anyone she'd dated. Not even Victor.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

A few hours later, Alex leaned back against the Doctor's chest and took a sip of her beer. Now that she was into her second bottle, the alcohol was going smoothly down her throat and leaving a rich aftertaste behind.

After leaving the restaurant, the Doctor had led her down to a street just on the perimeter of Medano Beach where there was an excellent ice creamery. Alex had never tasted fried ice cream before, and the Doctor had endeavored to change that. The dessert, fried vanilla ice cream sprinkled with cinnamon, peppermint, and a touch of whipped cream, could best be described as heavenly. Just thinking about it now made Alex crave some more.

After that, they had taken Daffy's advice and gotten a bucket of Dos Equis and headed down to the beach. It was a little more active than before, but still pretty quiet. Bonfires dotted the coastline, one of them just a stone's throw away from where she and the Doctor were seated. The people around the fire were American college students, easily recognized as such by their UCLA sweatshirts. None of them paid the slightest bit of attention to the couple, too engrossed in drinking and stressing about the rapidly approaching end to their spring break.

"This is nice," Alex hummed as she took another sip of beer. It was probably the fifth time she'd said it since they sat down, but itwasnice. It was nice just to lay about, drinking some beer, watching the ocean, talking about anything that came to mind and not worrying about whatever hostile alien was around the corner.

The Doctor made a noise of agreement. While he was usually adverse to sitting around, doing nothing, he really did like just sitting with Alex. He liked sitting beside her, free to touch her whenever he wanted. Her mere presence was intoxicating enough to keep his more restless senses occupied, cataloging her every move and gesture for future reference.

Now, he pulled her even closer to him so that she was fully pressed back against his chest. He leaned back against the sand dune behind him and wrapped his arm around her waist. If she wanted to get up, she'd have to move it; not that she was going to move anytime soon. They both knew that.

The Doctor finished off his beer and tossed it into the small pile at their feet. He grabbed another one from the bucket and expertly snapped off the cap. He took a swig before saying, "I am a bit surprised by how much I'm enjoying this."

Alex tossed her own empty bottle away. "Yeah," she giggled as she scrabbled for the bucket. "Usually you hate sitting still."

"I do," he agreed. "But. . ." He tried to work out what he wanted to say as he passed her a beer. ". . .but with you," he continued, "it's okay." He smiled sheepishly and took another sip of beer. "Not very eloquent, I realize."

"Nonsense," Alex declared. She turned her head enough so that she was looking at him. "I liked how you said it." Once the Doctor smiled, she turned back to face the ocean. She waited until he took another sip of beer before adding, "Makes me wonder what you'd say and how in the bedroom."

She wasn't disappointed. The Doctor choked and let out several coughs. "R-really?" he gasped through another cough.

Though he couldn't see it, Alex smirked. "Really, Doc."

For a few moments, she thought he wasn't going to respond. Then, he leaned down close to her ear. Alex shivered at the feeling of his breath against the sensitive skin. She felt his arm tighten slightly around her while his other hand crept to her chin, tilting it up to where the bridge of her ear brushed against his lips. "I look forward to that day, then," he whispered roughly. Alex felt him grin at the full-body shudder she emitted, as well as the quick kiss he pressed to the top of her ear before leaning back.

"You and me both," she murmured, knowing he would hear her quiet words.

The Doctor responded by kissing the top of her head. Nothing more was said between them as they resumed watching the ocean and finishing off the beers.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Daffy rushed from one end of the bar to the other. In the span of a few seconds, she'd tossed three empty beer bottles into the trash-can tucked beneath the bar, gotten the drinkers new ones, and handed one impatient elderly man his change. He muttered something under his breath and thrust a single peso at her.

"Gracias," Daffy sighed. She went to the other end of the bar where the tip jar sat and tucked the peso inside. There wasn't a lot of money inside, but Daffy knew from experience that she would end up with a little over a hundred pesos by the end of her shift. That's what always happened on football match nights.

Speaking of football. . . A loud groan swept through the restaurant as the América goalie failed to catch the ball. Several curses were uttered, both in Spanish and in English. Daffy glanced up at the screen. The camera was panning across the stadium crowd. The América fans were shaking their heads, looking absolutely miserable, while the rival team's fans were jumping up and down in exhilaration. The América coach called for a time out and as the teams jogged to their respective benches, the screen switched to a toothpaste commercial.

With the temporary interlude, the crowd around the bar broke up. Some went to speak to people at other tables, others went to the bathroom, and some went to the balcony for a quick cigarette. Daffy decided she could use a quick break as well.

She headed out onto the balcony and went to lean against the railing overlooking the beach. She took a deep breath, inhaling the night air. The salty scent of the ocean soothed her hectic nerves. It had always done this to her, the exact opposite of what her mother usually felt when by the ocean.

She lingered there for a few moments before turning around. She peered over at the bar. No one had returned yet and the TV was now showing a promo for tomorrow's episode ofLa Reina del Sur. She could waste a few more minutes.

Daffy surveyed the balcony. Plenty of people had arrived since the soccer game started, wanting to grab a bite to eat. Most were natives, but she did spot a few tourists; there was a group of girls wearing matching University of Ohio sweatshirts, several families, an elderly couple clearly on a retirement vacation, and a group of people in their thirties who were most likely on some kind of corporate retreat, based on their business casual attire.

But one person in particular caught Daffy's eye. He was seated against the rail at the left end of the patio. He was an older man with salt and pepper hair and deep brown eyes surrounded by crow's feet. Despite the fact that he looked to be at least in his late fifties, he still looked rather distinguished and attractive. He was dressed entirely in black: black t-shirt, black jeans, black boots, and a black leather jacket. A pair of black sunglasses rested on the table beside his half-empty water glass. Even though it was dark now and the overhead lanterns only provided a little glow of light, he was attentively reading a Mexico City newspaper and showing no signs that he was straining to do so.

Daffy smirked and headed towards his table. As she got closer, she could feel the slight sense of danger radiating off the man. It was why, despite how attractive he was, no woman had approached him all night. Even now, Daffy was aware of several customers eyeing her incredulously as she passed. She spotted one woman shaking her head and muttering 'stupid girl' under her breath. No doubt they all thought she was an idiot for daring to get within two feet of this man.

But Daffy had known this man for a long time and his aura of danger had never been off-putting to her. Rather, it only intrigued her and drew her in, much to the consternation of her parents.

She plopped down into the vacant chair across from the man. "Good reading, Gramps?" she asked, nodding to the newspaper.

Her grandfather didn't even look up when he said, "How many times must I tell you not to call me that?"

"Only about every other day," Daffy said with a cheeky grin. She propped her chin in one hand and used her other hand to drum her fingers against the tabletop. "Seriously, is that good reading? You've been reading that paper all day and night."

"I find some current political events particularly interesting. They require intense study if they are to be conducive to my business."

"Are youevergoing to tell me what this business of yours is?" It was something that drove Daffy crazy. She couldn't stand not knowing things, something her grandfather knew perfectly well. She suspected he kept his business dealings a secret not because there was anything illegal or morally wrong about them, but just to rile her up by continuously guessing.

Her grandfather finally looked up from his paper. His lips curved into a small smile and his eyes twinkled. They were facial traits that Daffy had only ever seen aimed at her and her mother. "Ah," he said slowly, his North London accent thickening slightly, "but then . . . where would the fun be in that?" He burst out laughing when Daffy scowled at him. The sudden burst of emotion caused several people at nearby tables to jump, which only made him laugh harder.

"You're a sad*st," Daffy declared as she slumped back in her chair. "A total sad*st."

Still chuckling, her grandfather turned back to the newspaper. "So your mother and father have been telling me for years." He paused in turning the page to the sports section. "I will tell you that my business is flexible. It can be stopped with no consequence to me should you decide you want to leave Cabo." He glanced up at Daffy. She was perfectly calm, her facial features showing no reaction to his veiled suggestion.

He sighed. Time to take the bull by the horns then. "We have been here for six months, Daphne. Aren't you quite ready to move on now?"

Daffy rolled her eyes. The act caused her contact lenses to pinch and she winced. "You sound just like Dad. Always wanting to move on after trouble's over, never stop to smell the roses, taste the food, kiss a stranger."

Her grandfather abruptly scowled. "You'll be kissing no one no matter where we travel," he growled. "That boy on Pedra II was quite enough."

"Now you really sound like Dad," Daffy smirked.

Before her grandfather could retort – and going off his scowl he was about to deliver a scathing one – Liv suddenly jumped onto the tabletop beside Daffy.

"Mygod," she groaned, "tonight is justrelentless." She pulled off her glasses and wiped one of the lenses with the hem of her tank-top. "I hate football matches."

"You're English!" Daffy laughed. "That's like saying you hate tea and biscuits."

"Ilikefootball matches," Liv protested, "but only when I'm watching them at home, in my jimjams, with tea and chocolate biscuits." She put her glasses back on. "You know, enjoying it with my creature comforts.Notwhen I'm running all around fetching orders and refilling drinks and trying to convince Mr. Alverez that my arse does not have a 'feel-it-up' sign on it."

"Just think of all the tips you'll get," Daffy said soothingly. "Money you can use to buy chocolate biscuits, fried ice cream, new sundresses. . ."

"Ooh! Speaking of tips. . ." Liv reached into her jeans pocket and pulled out a couple of crumpled bills. "Guess who left you a nice tip."

Daffy's eyes widened. She snatched the money out of Liv's hand. "Whoa. . ." she breathed. "Seriously?"

Liv grinned. "Seriously."

"Did they say anything?" Daffy's voice was full of hope. "You know, about me?"

"No, sorry. Just asked that I make sure you get this." At Daffy's deflated look, Liv gently added, "Daff, you didn't want them to know who you were. You played the part perfectly. Just your regular, friendly neighborhood bartender."

Daffy nodded. "Yeah, I know. It's just . . . I thought they might noticesomething."

Liv considered. "Well . . . they noticed your name. They didn't say anything, but the looks on their faces said they thought 'Daffy' was a stupid name."

At this, Daffy chuckled. "Some things never change. Mom says it's a name you give a duck."

"So does your father," her grandfather remarked. His eyes were back on his newspaper, studying an article about a new art gallery opening on the other side of town. "I can't believe he had money to pay, let alone tip you."

Liv rolled her eyes. "You don't give Uncle Doctor enough credit. He'd never let Aunt Alex pay, especially on their first date."

Daffy nodded emphatically. "Dad treats Mom like a queen. Always has, always will." Her lips curved into a wistful smile. "It was nice to see the beginning of that."

"Sothat'swhy you've insisted on staying here!" her grandfather exclaimed. He shook his head and folded his newspaper so that he could fully concentrate on Daffy. "I knew it had to be more than because of the beach and the food. I didn't bank on it being to spy on your parents' first date."

"Please," Daffy scoffed. "Like you weren't spying the moment you spotted them."

The way her grandfather pursed his lips pretty much confirmed that statement.

Daffy gave a satisfied nod and turned back to Liv. "As I was saying, nice to see the beginning of everything before. . ." Her expression became strained, and she trailed off.

Liv smiled sympathetically. "Before all the sh*t hits the fan?"

"Yes, exactly." Daffy fiddled with the table's napkin dispenser. She'd heard about what happened to her parents in the upcoming months from a wide variety of sources and each time she heard the events, it sent a little pain to her hearts. She hated that her parents, two of the nicest, most caring individuals she'd ever known, had suffered so much. Granted, it brought them even closer together and ensured a few things – like her existence – but it was still upsetting to hear and think about.

Liv, being her best friend, immediately sensed her thoughts. She reached over and patted Daffy's arm. "Come on, Daff," she murmured. "You know a lot of good came out of that craziness and suffering."

Daffy let out a long sigh. "I know. It's just. . ." Her nails drummed the top of the napkin dispenser as she struggled to articulate her messy thoughts. "I wish I couldwarnthem. So they wouldn't be going in blind. And, yes, I know I can't tell them," she added when her grandfather opened his mouth to say just that. "It'd cause a giant paradox, end of the space-time continuum, blah, blah, blah." It was all old hat to her. Her dad had been teaching her about paradoxes since she was in the womb.

"I get it, Daff," Liv said. She fiddled with her glasses, adjusting them so they sat higher on her nose. "Believe me, I wish I could tell my parents about all the sh*t that happened to them." She sighed. "Maybe then some things would be different."

Daffy wasn't sure what to say to that. She and Liv had gone over these concerns countless times before and after a while, you just didn't know what to say that didn't sound disingenuous or like a cliché.

Fortunately, the conversation was forced to come to an end. Liv abruptly straightened to attention. "Table seventeen's waving for their check," she explained as she hopped off the table. "Gotta jet!"

Daffy sighed as Liv bounced away. "I guess I should be going, too." No doubt the soccer match was back on and people had re-congregated around the bar. She pushed her chair back and got to her feet. "Do you need anything?"

Her grandfather flipped to the back of the newspaper. "A pen, if you can find one," he said as he studied a page. "For the crossword. And something to drink. None of that fizz this planet calls alcohol."

"Soda it is then." She started to walk away, only for a sudden pinching feeling to start up in her right eye. "Oh, for God's sake," Daffy groaned. She dug into the bigger-on-the-inside pocket of her shorts and, after pulling out a feather pen, a pack of bubblegum, and a bottle of lavender-scented hand sanitizer, finally dug out a contact lens case. "Rassilon, I hate these things," Daffy groused as she pulled her left contact out.

"But they were necessary," her grandfather remarked, taking the feather pen. He watched as she pulled the right lens out and tucked it into the case. "Your parents would have had collective strokes if they caught sight of your eyes." He raised an eyebrow meaningfully. "Not exactly common, you and your mother's eyes."

"I'm well aware." Daffy tucked the contact lens and other trinkets back into her pocket. She blinked a few times, letting her eyes adjust to their newfound freedom. "Why do you think I got the damn things?" She'd known that if her parents caught sight of her eyes – and, most especially, them changing colors – they would get suspicious. And that would cause a whole litany of problems, the least of which was a possible negative effect to her timeline.

Still, even with the contacts in, she had hoped her parents might have noticedsomethingabout her. A little recognition that she was important to them in the future. With her current travels, she didn't see her parents a lot. She called them regularly, but it wasn't quite the same as seeing them in person, watching her mom and dad flirt, finish each-other's sentences, and generally fussing over each-other like they had since the day they met. Daffy found herself missing her mom's less than stellar attempts at cooking and the incredibly annoying habit her dad had of bouncing into her room to wake her up (at an incredibly early hour, no less). Those were things she'd been eager to leave behind when she started traveling with her grandfather and Liv, but now Daffy longed for burnt brownies and three a.m. wake-up calls.

"You know," her grandfather said, snapping Daffy out of her memories, "I was talking to your mother yesterday and she mentioned something about a little trouble in Dartmoor." While he wasn't looking directly at her, his eyes locked on the crossword puzzle, Daffy knew he was still paying her a great deal of attention.

Daffy tried not to, but she found herself raising an eyebrow anyway. One of her tells that meant she was not just interested, butveryinterested. "What kind of trouble?"

Her grandfather's eyes stayed on the paper. "Didn't specify, but enough to get the attention of UNIT and have them ask for your father."

"And in your opinion?"

"Has to be something incredible to get on UNIT's radar. Needs to be highly dangerous for them to call your parents in." After another moment of examining the paper, he abruptly folded it in half and straightened in his chair. "I propose we take a little vacation."

"A vacation where we get into trouble?" Daffy snorted, but she was smiling as she said it.

"Why, my dear, those are the best kind!" Her grandfather started to give her a bright grin only to suddenly adopt a stern manner. "And donotsay I sound like your father there either or I swear, we'll pack up tomorrow and head for Metebelis Three."

Daffy shivered at the mention of the planet (she absolutelyloathedspiders) but she knew her grandfather well enough to know that his threat was an empty one. "I wasn't going to say anything of the kind," she smiled.

The look on her grandfather's face told her he doubted that. Nevertheless, his bright grin returned. "Excellent! When can we leave?"

"Liv and I will request time off tomorrow. I know some of the newbies have been wanting more hours, so we should get it pretty easily." A loud groan suddenly erupted from the direction of the bar. Daffy glanced over her shoulder. "I really gotta go now."

"Go on," her grandfather said easily, already opening his paper back up. "I'll tell Liv when she comes round. When do you get off?"

"Soon as the game's over."

"How about we get some fried ice cream afterwards? As much as you girls can eat."

Daffy's eyes lit up. Say what you like about her grandfather (and plenty, including her parents, had), but he was exceedingly good to her. He knew that, despite the idea of going to assist her parents, she was still a little upset. He knew perfectly well that when she was upset, like her mother, she ate ice cream. "Deal!" she chirped, sounding very much like her mom when she was excited. "Thanks, Gramps!"

Her grandfather chuckled as she skipped away from the table. "Don't call me Gramps!" he called after her. Even without looking though, Daffy could tell that he was smiling.

As she had expected, all the familiar faces had re-congregated around the bar. They didn't even seem to have noticed her long absence, too fixated on the game. Daffy mechanically began tossing away empties, grabbing new ones, and updating the open tabs on the bar computer. When all of this was accomplished, she started to lean back against the corner of the bar where there was a good vantage point of the TV above, only to quickly straighten when someone tapped her on the shoulder.

"Yes, can I help you?" she asked as she spun around.

The customer was one of the girls from the University of Ohio group. She had long, bleached blonde hair, dark brown eyes, and a cute little button nose. It crinkled as she smiled at Daffy. "Hey, can I get a refill?" She held up a Mic Ultra can. "The waitress seemed pretty busy, so I thought I'd just come up here, if that's all right."

"No problem!" Daffy quickly replaced the empty can and handed it back to the girl with a flourish. "Here you go," she started to say, only to see that the girl's eyes were tightly fixed on hers.

"Wow," the girl breathed. "Your eyes. . . They just changed colors!"

A slow grin came to Daffy's face. At the same time, her eyes turned from light green to dark. "I know," she said easily. "I get it from my mom."

Chapter 22: Good Night

Chapter Text

It was another late night in the TARDIS. The Doctor, dressed to the nines in a white dinner jacket, white dress shirt, black pants, black shoes, and a spiffy new black bowtie, walked down one of the staircases leading into the control room, whistling all the while. He was in a rather cheerful mood, for a couple reasons.

First off, Alex hadn't been having any more attacks. It had been weeks since she had one, and even then, she'd only had two. Even though he was still a little worried about what had caused the attacks in the first place, the Doctor couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief at how they now appeared to be over. He knew it was starting to get on Alex's nerves how he kept fussing over her and checking her with the sonic screwdriver every half hour, but he couldn't help it. He wanted his Ally to be well. And it looked like she was, thank God.

The second reason he was so cheerful was because he and Alex had been growing a lot closer and more intimate in their relationship. No, they hadn't slept together yet (contrary to Amy's persistent beliefs) but recently, their hands had started wandering a bit whenever they made-out. Even though they were taking their relationship slow, their desire for each-other was cropping up and eventually, they'd want to get it out of their systems . . . and on each-other.

The Doctor smirked to himself as he adjusted the euphonium he was carrying. While he was certainly looking forward to that day whenever it came, he did like the regular days where he spent time with Alex, wandering from planet to planet, saving the day a few times in the process. He loved spending time with her, especially now that they were no longer hiding their feelings for each-other.

It was too bad Alex needed regular sleep though and couldn't run around with him on his nighttime adventures. After Amy and Rory went to bed, she'd stay up a little while longer with him. She'd often read aloud to him, laughing and giggling at his objections whenever she happened to be reading a sci-fi novel, or they'd just talk. Sometimes, it was about adventures he had gone on, other times it was about some childhood antic she'd experienced back in Bristol, and a few times, it was about Gallifrey. The Doctor had yet to go into depth about his personal life on the planet before he started traveling, but he had told her more about Romana, a few bits and pieces about the Master (before he went crazy) and some stuff about Susan. He was just glad that Alex knew when not to press him on something, like whether he had been married before and how many children he'd had. He was sure he'd tell her eventually, but it wasn't going to be today.

Whenever the two tired of conversation and reading, they'd head into the TARDIS auditorium and watch a movie or two. Alex had been shocked at the size of the room, which boasted a full proscenium stage, an orchestra pit, row upon row of lush velvet chairs and couches, a pull-down movie screen, and a separate room that housed alphabetically-arranged DVDs on shelves along all four walls.

The Doctor rather liked those late nights doing nothing but watching movies or old TV sitcoms. He and Alex would recline on one of the large velvet couches in the exact center of the auditorium. The TARDIS would provide them with popcorn, candy, and drinks, and they would watch whatever one of them picked out, taking a few breaks every now and then to kiss. More often than not, Alex ended up falling asleep before whatever was playing was over, but he didn't mind. Instead, he'd watch her snooze for a little while before hoisting her up and carrying her to her room. He'd put her in bed before joining her and pulling the covers up over them both. He did this quite a bit, sleeping in the same bed as her. Sometimes, like tonight, he'd leave after she'd fallen asleep so he could go and have another adventure or two. Even though he loved wrapping his arms around Alex as she slept, there were times when he needed to combat his restless spirit with another adventure or two.

Tonight had been a movie night. Alex had found a copy of the French version ofBeauty and the Beast,La Belle et la Bête, which she had previously seen in her French class in high school. Luckily for them, the film had English subtitles, eliminating the need for the TARDIS to translate it. Alex had fallen asleep around the time Belle left the Beast to go and tend to her ill father, and the Doctor had carried her off to bed. He had stayed with her for a little while before going off to have a few more adventures.

Tonight's adventures had been a little . . . weird. For starters, River had shown up, which the Doctor hadn't minded, but he knew Alex would when she learned of it. Alex was still a little wary of the woman, which the Doctor understood since, on some level, he was the same way. He mostly used these adventures as a way to keep an eye on River and see how much she knew about him.

It was fairly obvious within the first five seconds of seeing her tonight that this River was a much earlier version than the one who had bitterly admitted that pining after him for so long had been a waste of her time. She’d been flirting at him all night, but now that he was with Alex, he had recognized it and was able to thwart her quite a bit by refusing to respond in a similar manner.

He'd also run into Marilyn Monroe. Again. He winced, remembering the encounter. Unlike the last time they'd met, when Marilyn couldn't wait to dig her nails into him, she looked pretty furious tonight, shooting him glares left and right. He wanted to ask her what was wrong but, not really wanting to risk her slapping him or pulling him into a closet for a quick lip-lock, he refrained.

Now, the Doctor entered the control room, still whistling. He headed down the platform stairs over to the doors. "River!" he called out. "I'll see you later! Tell Marilyn she's too late, she'll have to use the biplane." Thelastthing he wanted to do was give Marilyn Monroe a ride home. "Take care!" He shut the doors and headed back up the platform, digging out his sonic screwdriver as he went. He buzzed it over the euphonium, making it emit a loud sound not dissimilar to someone belching, before pulling down a lever on the console and sending the ship into the time vortex.

"Do you do this every night?" a voice suddenly asked.

"Oh!" the Doctor jumped, whirling around as he hid the euphonium behind his back. Sitting in front of him at the top of one of the staircases was Amy, dressed for bed in a nightgown and bathrobe. "Hello."

Amy smiled at him, but her gaze was currently fixed on his hands. "You're trying to conceal euphonium guiltily. Has that ever been attempted before?"

"What? Oh! This!" He looked down at the instrument. "Oh yeah, it's one of those, um . . . euphoniums."

"Okay. . . So, isthiswhat you do at night when we're sleeping?" Amy raised an eyebrow. She was a bit surprised by this development. She figured he did it every now and then, but not every night. "Have extra adventures?"

"You sound surprised. What did you think I do every night?"

"Snog Alex," Amy said promptly.

The Doctor's face reddened, and he suddenly became very absorbed in getting the euphonium to rest properly on the jumpseat. Amy giggled and snickered a little as she watched him fumble with it, his cheeks and earlobes getting redder and redder as the seconds went on. Finally, once the instrument was settled to his satisfaction, the Doctor turned back around. "Uh, uh . . . well, y-you're . . . you're notcompletelywrong," he mumbled, "but I do other things too!"

"Like have extra adventures?"

"I don't sleep as much as you," he replied, not really answering the question. "I keep busy."

"Doing what?" Amy persisted. "And actuallytellme for once. You're my friend, one of mybestfriends, so tell me what it is you do." She waited a moment for him to say something, but he still seemed to be hesitating. She sighed. Time to pull out the big guns. "Alright. If you don't tell me what it is you do at night, I'll go straight to Alex and tell her that you were out with River and Marilyn Monroe tonight." She knew those two names in the same sentence would throw Alex into a tizzy, something the Doctor, if he was smart, would strive to avoid.

The Doctor somehow kept a smirk from creeping up his face. It was suddenly clear that Alex was trying to keep Amy in the dark about her relationship with him, since the Scot wasn't even aware that he and Alex had talked about River and (mostly) settled their issues with her. Of course, they'd never mentioned Marilyn.

He thought back to when they had first met the actress, at the party they'd attended with Kazran and Abigail. Alex had seemed upset that he was going to marry Marilyn – something that hadn't come to pass, thank Rassilon – but at the time, they were both denying their feelings for each-other, so it was likely he hadn't really registered the fact that she was jealous.

And now, here Amy was, threatening to tell Alex all. He couldn't let that happen. If anything, Alex deserved to hear it from him.

But, seeing that Amy was expecting an answer, he finally sighed and said, "Okay. I just helped out a possessed orchestra at a moon-base, before that I prevented two supernovas, wrote a history of the universe all in jokes, and did a bit of local work in Brixton. Lovely practice, very short-staffed." He paused for Amy's reply but instead she just stared at him. He frowned. "What's wrong?"

Amy stood and walked down the steps. "We're such tiny parts of your life, aren't we?" she observed, a touch of sadness in her voice. "All the friends you make just flicker in and out. You must hardly notice us."

"Amy, you areenormousparts of my life," the Doctor assured her. "And you are all I ever remember."

A little reassured, Amy nodded at his words. But she wasn't completely at ease. There was something else she wanted to talk to him about, something she'd been trying to talk to him about for a while now. "Speaking of which. . ." she said slowly, ". . .my life doesn't make any sense."

"I know," the Doctor murmured.

"That's what I've been trying to talk to you about." Even before she first left the TARDIS, she'd been trying. The first time she tried to broach the subject had been when Rory dropped that thermo coupling and launched them all into a space-time loop, which kind of ruined the intimate chat she'd been hoping for. A couple weeks ago, she tried to bring it up again, but that was when Alex first learned of his nightly adventures with River, and then Amy herself had learned the Doctor and Rory took turns handling her, so that had been out too.

But just a few hours ago, she'd managed to talk to Alex about it. Alex was her other best friend, and Amy knew that if there was anyone who might have an idea on what was going on in her life, it was Alex. Alex had been sympathetic, but even she wasn't quite sure what to say other than 'time can be rewritten'. She'd recommended talking to the Doctor and had advised Amy to wait in the control room for him to come back on one of his nighttime adventures, which he’d mentioned to her earlier he would be doing that night. And thankfully, it had worked.

"I know."

"Like . . . when I first met you, I didn't have parents. Ineverhad parents. And then you did whatever it was you did and rebooted the universe and, suddenly, I . . . had parents. And I'vealwayshad parents. And I remember both lives, in my head, both of them, in my head, and at the same time. Rory remembers both too, but not Alex." Though, considering Alex's mind, that was hardly groundbreaking.

The Doctor nodded, having expected those outcomes. "That's fine, isn't it?"

"But itshouldn'tbe. Why is it fine?"

"Rory was a Roman for 2,000 years."

Amy shrugged this off. "He says he hardly remembers it."

The Doctor smiled slightly, remembering what Rory had told him about his time during those 2,000 years when they were trying to come up with a plan to get the girls back from the Silence. "Ahh, but sometimes you'll catch him just staring. . ." Seeing Amy consider the truth in his words, he went on. "The thing is, Amy, everyone's memory is a mess,lifeis a mess. Everyone's got memories of a holiday they couldn't have been on, a party they never went to, or met someone for the first time and felt like they've known them all their lives. Time is being rewritten all around us, every day. People think their memories are bad, but their memories arefine. The past is really like that."

Amy was silent for a few moments, absorbing this. Finally, she quirked an eyebrow and proclaimed, "That's ridiculous."

The Doctor merely beamed. "Ah, now you're starting to get it!" He quickly stepped around her to another section of the console. "Put your hand here," he directed, tapping a specific instrument with his fingertips before moving on to flick a few levers.

Amy obediently placed her hand on the device. "What is it?"

"TARDIS telepathic circuits."

"What do I do?"

"Nothing. Just relax." He reached over and tugged a lever down before moving over to the monitor beside her. He peered at it. "Your saddest ever memory was at a fairground in 1994," he announced. "Can you remember why?"

"No," Amy said promptly, but then she paused. Actually, now that she really thought about it, there was an inkling of a memory there. "Hang on, did I . . . did I drop anice cream?" Her voice was incredulous. "Thatcan'tbe my saddest memory."

"Remembering ice cream's always sad."

At that moment came the familiar thump of the TARDIS landing. Amy looked around in confusion. "Did we just land? Where are we?"

Instead of answering, the Doctor asked, "What happened after you dropped the ice cream?"

"Nothing, I . . . I cried." But then, another stirring of memory came to her. "No, no, hang on. . . There was a lady and she bought me another one."

"Oh, good for her. What did she look like?"

"She looked like she. . ." Amy smiled as the memory replayed before her eyes. "She had a funny dress, a night dress, she had red hair. Doctor. . ." She looked up, seeing that he was no longer beside her, but down by the doors. "I don't understand.Whyare you doing this? What is the point?"

"The nice lady," the Doctor said, purposefully not answering her questions. "What did she say to you?"

"Cheer up," Amy said flatly. "Have an ice cream."

The Doctor eyed her for a moment, waiting for her to get the point he was trying to make. When she didn't, he elaborated. "Amy, time and space is never, ever going to make any kind of sense. A long time ago, you got the best possible advice on how to deal with that. So! I suggest. . ." He turned around and opened the doors, allowing the sounds of laughter and rides starting up to spill into the control room. ". . .you go and give it."

"Okay, okay," Amy frowned as she made her way down the steps towards him. "So, I ask you a big, important question about life, and you're basically telling me to go and buy myself an ice-cream?"

The Doctor wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "No, Amy, I'm telling you to go and buy us both ice creams," he corrected. "I love fairgrounds."

"I hate you."

He grinned. "No, you don't." He ushered her forwards, out onto the brightly lit fairgrounds. "Do you get scared on ghost trains? I get a bit scared, so is it okay if I hold your hand?"

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

It was only twenty minutes later, long after Amy had given her younger self a new ice cream, that things started to go wrong.

Surprisingly, there were no sudden fires breaking out, the stomping of Cybermen boots, or the robotic voices of the Daleks shrieking "EXTERMINATE!" There wasn't any trickery going on anywhere (unless you counted the fortune-telling booth, which the Doctor knew was a ton of rubbish). Nothing out of the ordinary was occurring. The Annual Leadworth Fair was quite peaceful, like its hometown usually was. People were laughing, kids were running all around carrying cotton candy, and the air reeked of a plethora of fried foods.

No, nothing was going wrong at the fair. It was back in the TARDIS.

The Doctor was standing beside Amy at a small craft stand, watching as she perused several handmade rope bracelets, bottle-cap earrings, and other homemade accessories. The girl behind the counter, a fourteen-year-old in a Girl Scout-type uniform, eyed their attire oddly, but didn’t say anything so as not to ruin a possible sale. The Doctor was just wondering if he had any money stashed in this jacket in case Amy wanted to buy something when a sudden telepathic presence came into his head.

'Thief, you must get back to me now.'

The Doctor frowned. The TARDIS rarely communicated with him like this whenever he was out on an adventure. She only did it in real emergencies, and he couldn't remember the last time a big emergency had happened. 'What is it?What's wrong?'

'It's Ally. She's having an attack in her sleep.'

The TARDIS didn't need to say anything more. Within a split second, the Doctor had grabbed Amy's arm and was pulling her away from the stand. He dragged her along after him as he ran back to the TARDIS, parked in the shadow of a lawsuit-waiting-to-happen Ferris wheel.

"Doctor! Doctor!" Amy cried, tugging on his hand as he continued to force her to run after him. "What's going on?!"

"It's Alex," he said hurriedly. They were ten steps away from the TARDIS, ten steps too far, in the Doctor's opinion. "She's having another attack."

Amy's eyes widened and she immediately pulled away from him. She surged ahead to the TARDIS doors, which had automatically unlocked for this emergency. She sprinted up the steps leading to the platform, the Doctor already a quarter of the way up the stairs leading to the rest of the TARDIS. "I'll wake Rory!" she called to him as he ran down the hall.

The Doctor didn't bother to acknowledge her words, for he could now hear a sound that he truly, truly hated: Alex's bloodcurdling, agonized screams. They seemed amplified as they spilled out from behind her closed bedroom door to the hallway.

The Doctor skidded up to the door and shoved it open. He dove into the room as the door bounced off the wall from the force of its opening, nearly slamming shut. Not that the Doctor noticed. His attention was fully captivated by the terrifying sight before him.

Alex was in bed, writhing around uncontrollably. The duvet had been tossed to the floor due to her thrashing and the white sheets were currently tangled in knots around her legs. Her eyes were tightly shut, and her hands were scratching and clawing at whatever they came into contact with; the sheets, which already had several jagged fingernail marks in them, the nightstand, even her hair. Somehow, Alex had managed to tear quite a few brown-blonde strands out, spilling them onto the pillows, mattress, and the floor. Now, a hand reached up and clutched at her hair as she rolled over onto her back, her legs kicking and fighting against the restraint of the sheets.

"MAKE IT STOP!" she shrieked, tears of pain running down her face and into her mouth as she spoke. "IT HURTS!" A guttural scream tore itself out of her throat, echoing in the otherwise still air of the bedroom.

The Doctor sprang up onto the mattress. He planted his hands on her shoulders and began shaking her forcefully. "Ally, Ally, wake up!" he shouted. "Alex, wake up!"

"Alex!" Rory cried in alarm as he and Amy ran into the room. Rory dropped the ties on his red bathrobe that he'd been trying to work into a knot, and immediately ran to the other side of the bed. He climbed up onto the mattress and began shaking Alex as well. Amy stood off to the side, nervously biting her lip and looking on at her friend in terror.

"Alex, wake up! Wake up!" Rory begged.

"Ally, come on!" the Doctor yelled, his voice cracking as Alex's yells became louder. "ALEX! ALLY, WAKE UP!"

And then, as though some part of her subconscious could hear him, Alex's eyes burst open. They were neon green and hideous, but the Doctor had never been so delighted to see them. Alex continued shaking a little, but her hand dropped from her hair and her legs stilled. She looked around in panic, a hand going up to rest on her chest. She could feel the horrible, terrifying pain she'd been experiencing in her slumber slowly dying away, but that didn't make her feel any better. Then, much to her shame, she burst into tears.

The Doctor quickly settled himself next to her and gathered her up in his arms, pulling her back to rest against his chest. "Shh, it's okay," he soothed, his voice going low as he tried to calm her down. "Shh, love, it's okay, you're fine now, I promise." He planted a kiss to her sweaty brow as Amy and Rory hastily undid the sheet knots around her legs.

Alex clutched onto the Doctor tightly. Her nails, now jagged and torn from tearing at the sheets, dug into the soft fabric of his jacket. She shuddered as more tears fell and dribbled down her cheeks. "It . . . it hurt," she whimpered, her voice slightly hoarse from screaming. "S-so bad. . . It was a p-pain in my chest. . ." Then, as if this was too much for her to acknowledge, she shuddered again and buried her face in the Doctor's neck.

The Doctor rubbed a hand up and down her back, noting how her teal, long-sleeved shirt was plastered to her skin from sweat. "It's alright, love," he murmured into her hair, just as sweat-slicked as the rest of her. "Shh, everything's fine now, I promise."

"We need to get her to the med-bay," Rory said quietly, reminding the Doctor of his and Amy's presence.

Nodding at this statement, the Doctor carefully readjusted Alex a little before getting off the bed and carrying her out of the room. He mentally asked the TARDIS to move the med-bay closer to them, only to see the door directly in front of him swinging open, leading into the white-walled room. Murmuring a thank-you under his breath, he headed inside and placed Alex down on the bed.

While Rory set up the collapsible scanner at the foot of the bed and Amy hurried off to make a pot of tea, the Doctor attempted to pull out of Alex's grasp. But the brunette wasn't having any of it. Her grip on his jacket only grew tighter, and she made a sound of distress when he tried to pull away.

"Shh," the Doctor shushed. He ran a hand through her hair as he dragged a chair over to the bedside with his foot. "I'm not going anywhere, Ally, I promise." He settled into the chair, scooting it forward until it was practically touching the bed. He continued running a hand through Alex's hair while the other went up and grasped one of her own hands. He squeezed it and, after a moment, Alex squeezed back.

For the next several minutes, the Doctor watched Rory scan Alex and Amy bustle around worriedly with a tea-tray. She handed the men cups, but no one was drinking, a first for them in times of crisis. Throughout this, Alex lay wordlessly on the bed, her eyes going back and forth from the ceiling to the Doctor, as though unsure whether or not he was actually here. Every time he caught her glancing at him, the Doctor squeezed her hand in reassurance, though he knew it'd better help if he were holding her.

A minute later, Rory was examining the results. He frowned, his brow furrowing, and he shook his head. "Negative," he announced with barely-concealed frustration. "It says there's nothing wrong with her."

The Doctor swore under his breath and ran a hand through his hair. "Are you sure?" he asked.

"Positive. You can look for yourself if you'd like, but it's negative."

"Are you sure that thing even works?" Amy asked from her position on the other side of the room. She was leaning against the wall, her arms crossed as she skeptically eyed the scanner.

"Yes!" the Doctor cried, outraged, though that was more from the fact that he hadn't considered that possibility himself than anything. "That's a top-of-the-line med-scanner from the planet Gradius. It makes Earth X-rays look like torch beams in comparison. Not to mention, but I updated the software. It should be working perfectly."

Rory sighed and switched the scanner off. "Well, unless you have any other scanners lying about, there's nothing else we can do."

The Doctor closed and rubbed his eyes. "No, there aren't any others." He sighed and clutched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and pointer finger. "You two go on back to bed. There's nothing else we can do."

"You sure?" Amy checked.

"Yes. I can watch her. I do it every night, as you know, Pond."

Amy smiled slightly before pushing off the wall and heading over to the door. "Goodnight," she and Rory said together as they started out the door.

"Night," Alex said quietly.

The Doctor immediately turned to her. "Hey," he murmured, his hand automatically running through her hair again. "You alright now?"

"Physically, yes," Alex replied. "But emotionally and mentally? Not so much."

"That's what I thought." The Doctor stood and put his arms underneath her, ready to lift her again. "We'll just go back to your room so you can—"

"No!" Alex cried in alarm. The Doctor jumped a little at her interruption, and then stared at her curiously, waiting for her to elaborate. Her eyes met his, turning into his own dark green in a split second. "I don't want to sleep, I c-can't, I. . ." She trailed off and shivered. She really didn't want to try sleeping again anytime soon, not after she experienced that awful pain even while deeply snoozing.

"Okay." He moved down and planted a kiss on her forehead, his hands coming up to cradle her face. "Well, what do you want to do? We can do anything at all, love, whatever you want."

"Can we go to the library?" Alex requested. Lying in front of the fire with the man she loved would certainly help her calm down.

The Doctor nodded in agreement and quickly lifted her up and into his arms. Alex frowned a little. "Doc, you know I can still walk, right?"

"Yes, I know," he smiled. But he didn't make a move to put her down and Alex didn't object again.

It was only a short distance to the TARDIS library. Upon entering the room, Alex felt her relaxation level rise. She'd always been comfortable in libraries and this one was no exception. The TARDIS library was huge, at least two football fields long in length. The walls were a dark red that you could just make out in the perfectly dim light coming from the plethora of chandeliers overhead. Tall dark bookcases were a little further along in the room, packed with books in jewel-colored covers. Numerous leather club chairs were scattered around the room, floor lamps and dark cherry-wood desks and tables interspersed among these. On one side of the room was a large stone fireplace, a fire already roaring.

The Doctor carried Alex over to a couch sitting directly in front of the fire. He laid her out on it before motioning to lift her head up so he could sit down. Once he was seated, Alex laid her head back across his lap, her hair spilling over his trousers like a brown-blonde waterfall.

"Comfy?" he asked.

"Very comfy," Alex smiled. She pulled her legs up to her chest. She ran a nail down one of the lines on her teal, black, and white plaid sleep pants, trying not to think about the horrible pain she'd experienced just a little while ago.

The Doctor ran a hand through her hair, his eyes on hers. He watched as they slowly turned from dark green to copper. Alex's eyes were probably the most attractive thing about her . . . besides her lips, that is. And her legs. . .Don't go there,he mentally scolded himself.Not while Ally's ill.

Alex watched him watching her for a moment before her gaze drifted down to his white jacket. "Go to a party again?" she teased, running a finger over the white satin material.

"Possessed orchestra at a moon-base," he explained. "Also ran into River." Alex merely hummed in response. The Doctor hesitated before adding, "And Marilyn Monroe."

He didn't miss the way Alex tensed up, not in a pained way, but in a jealous-beyond-belief way. Her now topaz-colored eyes turned dark, and she glowered up at the ceiling. "Really?" she spat, her voice tight.

The Doctor winced and continued running his fingers through her hair, hoping that this action might calm her down. "Don't worry, I didn't marry her," he attempted to joke, but Alex didn't even crack a smile. She continued to glare up at the ceiling. Sighing, the Doctor reached down and put a finger under her chin, tilting her head up so that she had no choice but to look directly at him. "Ally, I know that we weren't . . . what we are now when we last met Marilyn but . . . I want you to know that even then, she meant nothing to me. Ireallydidn't want to marry her, I swear."

"I believe you." Alex granted him a small smile. "I do, I really do. It's just. . ." She trailed off. For a moment, the Doctor thought she wasn't going to say anything else, but then she surprised him by heaving herself up into a sitting position, then scooting backwards until she was seated on his lap.

"It's just," she tried again as his arms wrapped around her waist, "I . . . I don't like thinking about you with other women. It . . . it makes my skin crawl and my blood pound just imagining them kissing you or touching you." Alex winced. "You know me, Doc. I get jealous way too easily."

"I know." He reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "But if it helps, I don't like thinking about you with other men either."

Alex burst out giggling. "Oh yeah, you'reverysubtle about that!"

The Doctor couldn't help but chuckle along with her. "Well, you don't have to worry about Marilyn Monroe anymore," he said, placing a hand on her upper thigh as he spoke. Alex did her best to concentrate on listening to him instead of thinking how if the fabric of her pajama pants wasn't in the way, he'd be touching bare skin. "She was delivering a message to me via River. When she saw me. . ." Now it was his turn to wince. "Let's just say she wasn't very happy to see me."

Alex flashbacked to the phone-call conversation she'd had with Marilyn when she was trying to push her away from the Doctor. She bit down on her lip in an effort to keep up an innocent act. "Really?" she said, trying to act surprised.

Luckily for her, the Doctor was too absorbed in remembering his latest interaction with Marilyn to really notice that she knew something he didn't. "Yeah, she kept shooting glares at me every five seconds. Oh! I almost forgot. She asked about you."

Alex bit down harder on her lip. "Oh?" she managed to choke out without laughing. She could just imagine what Marilyn had been thinking in that moment. "What'd she say?"

"'How's Alex?' Although, she more spat it than said it."

That did it. Even though she tried, Alex could no longer hold back her laughter. She burst into a mad fit of snickering and giggling, flopping back over the armrest. The Doctor stared at her, slightly alarmed by this sudden switch in mood. His baffled expression only served to make Alex laugh harder. She clutched her sides as she continued to cackle.

"What are you laughing about?" the Doctor demanded. He then became aware of a fast hum sounding through the walls. It sounded like the TARDIS was having a laugh too. He stared around the room, bewildered. "Seriously, what is so funny?"

Alex rose back up and placed a hand over her mouth to control her laughter. Taking a few deep breaths to calm down, she lowered her hand and smiled at the Doctor. "I know why Marilyn Monroe was so angry at you."

The Doctor's brow furrowed. "You do?"

Alex nodded. She wondered just how he was going to react when she told him about the phone conversation she'd had with the actress. "Yeah. Um, do you remember when Marilyn called the TARDIS phone after we saved Amy and Rory's ship from crashing, and I said I'd handle it?"

"Yes. . ."

"Well, I went in and asked her what she wanted and . . . she said you." She smiled sheepishly. "You can probably guess how I felt about that and so I decided to . . . do something to her."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "What did you do?"

"I . . . may have asked her to be done with you by eleven and when she asked why, I may have told her all that denying we're a couple and flirting with other people was foreplay."

The Doctor's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. "FOREPLAY?!" he shouted.

"Yeah," Alex confirmed quietly. "And that's not all. I also said, and I quote, 'all of that jealousy we get when we see or hear about the other with someone else, it makes the sex that much hotter, steamier, and incredible. My husband comes up with some pretty fantastic ideas'."

The Doctor closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. For a moment, Alex worried he was mad at her and was getting ready to tell her off, but then she saw that his shoulders were shaking and his lips were tightly pursed. He wasn't mad at her. He waslaughing.

"Doc?"

The Doctor pressed his head against the back of the couch. He opened his eyes. They were watery from the tears of laughter threatening to spill over. "I can't believe you told her that!" he gasped out before exploding into a bunch of laughter.

His amusem*nt seemed to be contagious for Alex found herself laughing hysterically alongside him. "Believe it, baby," she said in a wispy voice in an attempt to imitate the bottle-blonde actress. This launched the Doctor into another round of cackling, Alex giggling right alongside him.

"Do you wanna know what she said after I told her all that?" Alex asked once they managed to calm down.

The Doctor took a deep breath before nodding. He just knew that this next part would amuse him just as much, if not more, than the previous parts. "Shoot."

Alex smiled mischievously at him as she repeated, "Ew! That's sick! You people are disgusting! Forget it! Go play your sick games elsewhere!" Sure enough, the Doctor burst out laughing again. Alex continued smiling as she rested her head on his shoulder, watching him cackle.

"I should probably scold you about letting your jealousy get the better of you," the Doctor commented once he managed to calm down again.

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Go ahead then."

The Doctor turned his head so he was properly facing her. He reached out and placed a finger on her nose. "Don't let your jealousy get the better of you," he mock-scolded, punctuating each word with a tap on her nose.

Alex giggled and playfully swatted his hand away. "There's a nice example of the pot calling the kettle black."

He shrugged. "Perhaps."

"No 'perhaps' about it." Alex reached up and tapped his nose as she said, "You get jealous, too."

The Doctor growled lowly in his throat, making Alex want to kiss the living daylights out of him even more than she already wanted to. "Damn right," he agreed as he grabbed her finger and lowered it. He held it in his grasp and studied it with the kind of interest he usually gave life-forms he'd never encountered before. "You should be careful where you tap this," he warned. "Never know what might happen."

Alex arched an eyebrow, sensing that they were now entering high-level flirting. And boy, did she enjoy this kind of flirting. "Like what?" she asked, making her voice sound innocent and naïve, something she knew would drive the Doctor wild.

She wasn't disappointed. In an instant, the Doctor had her finger in his mouth. He sucked at the tip of it as Alex's heart sped up, a fresh load of adrenaline running through her system at wildfire speed. Her eyes darkened as he swirled his tongue along the sides of her finger before abruptly pulling it out of his mouth. "Like that."

Alex didn't bother trying to formulate a witty reply. Instead, she swooped down and pressed her lips to his. This seemed to be the reaction he'd been expecting, for the Doctor's hands immediately traveled to her hips, maneuvering her until she was straddling him. Alex let out a sound similar to a purr at this new movement, the Doctor swallowing it as he forced her mouth open with his tongue.

He swept inside, running it around every inch of her mouth before he pulled back to allow her to breathe. "You know," he smirked as Alex panted, "this isn't really helping you relax."

Alex stopped panting and laughed a little. She settled back until she was seated on her haunches. "Really? Let's see." She tilted her head in consideration. "Relaxing . . . or kissing you for God knows how long?" She smirked. "No contest really."

The Doctor chuckled and pulled her back to his lips. He groaned delightedly as her body melded into his, her lips entwining with his in a slow burn of a kiss, as they allowed the night to pass them by.

Chapter 23: The Doctor's Wife Part 1

Chapter Text

Alex walked down the TARDIS corridors on a mission. Apparently, Amy and Rory had yet to emerge from their bedroom even though she and the Doctor had been up for a little over an hour. Such tardiness was unacceptable with the Doctor, and he had been all ready and willing to charge into the couple's room and drag them out, but Alex had immediately volunteered to do it instead. No doubt she could be a bit more tactful and considerate than the Doctor.

Once reaching the Ponds’ bedroom, she quickly rapped on the door. "Ponds! Up and at 'em!" She leaned against the wall beside the door and waited for a response.

It had been a week since her last attack in her sleep and so far, nothing else had happened. That night, after doing quite a bit of kissing, the Doctor, insistent that she relax, had read to her from the book she'd been reading,Lock and Keyby Sarah Dessen. Alex hadn't objected because she knew he was worried about her. Frankly, so was she. That damn attack was making her nervous about sleeping. She already had a fear of water; she didn't need a fear of sleeping too.

After finishing her book, she and the Doctor had made their way back into the auditorium, where they finished upLa Belle et la Bête, and then moved onto the first season ofSherlock. Alex had fallen asleep a quarter of the way through 'The Blind Banker' and had woken up back in her bed, the Doctor next to her. He had been wide awake, keeping a watchful eye on her as she slept.

In this past week, Alex and the rest of the TARDIS crew hadn't done anything of interest. The Doctor was terrified about getting into some trouble on a planet just when she got another attack and had thus kept their ventures out of the TARDIS few and fairly dull. There had been a long trek through some museums in Athens (which nearly bored Amy and Rory to tears, both of them having a severe aversion to museums), a quick venture into Antarctica (where Rory had been attacked by a penguin, much to the amusem*nt of the others), and a trip to the future to go purchase new filing cabinets for the Doctor's study because 21st century cabinets would never compare to 23rd century ones, or so the Doctor claimed. Frankly, none of the companions saw any differences between the two.

To combat the severe boredom, the companions had taken matters into their own hands by extensively exploring the TARDIS. They'd discovered a room that had a bouncy floor quite like a bouncy house or a trampoline, the TARDIS garden (which was in severe need of management, since there were quite a few kudzu vines threatening to start growing over the back of the door), and even a karaoke bar where Amy and Rory tortured Alex with several awful attempts at ABBA songs.

And in between those escapades, the Ponds tried to help Alex feel better and get over her attack from the other night. Rory had spent quite a few hours in the library, pooling over medical books with the Doctor for some explanation as to Alex's symptoms. Amy's idea of helping was a bit more materialistic. She'd sat Alex down and set to work on her jagged, torn hails. The redhead filed at the nails until they were all smooth and perfectly curved at the top, then proceeded to paint them a nice shade of lilac and do elaborate gold and silver star-like designs on them.

Now, Alex examined them. She didn't usually paint her nails, due to an unfortunate habit of picking and biting at the polish when bored, but so far these nails had gone unscathed, and she was hoping to keep them that way. Amy would have her hide if she saw all her hard work ruined.

Speaking of Amy. . . Alex turned and rapped at the door again, a bit more forcefully than last time. "Amy! Rory!" she shouted. "Hurry up! Do youwantthe Doctor to barge in?"

"Come on in!" Amy called. "We're just trying to figure out a problem."

A problem? Alex co*cked her head in confusion, but couldn't resist adding a cheeky, "Are you decent?"

She could practically feel Amy's exasperation seeping out the thin wooden door. "Oh, just get in here!" she snapped. Alex smirked and ducked into the room.

She looked around as she entered, trying to spot any potential problems that might have attracted the Ponds' attention. There was nothing wrong with the walls, covered in TARDIS blue wallpaper with purple and silver accents. The same went for the dressers, the bookcase, and Amy's vanity. In fact, Alex couldn't see anything that was cause for alarm at all . . . until she turned around and saw Amy and Rory standing at the foot of their bed.

Correction, standing where the foot of their bedusedto be. Instead of the large four-poster oak bed Alex had seen last time she was in here, there was now a large metal bunk-bed pressed up against the wall. It was TARDIS blue with matching sheets and covers on both mattresses, along with two silver pillows on each bunk.

It was surprising to see the bunk-bed . . . but only because this was the first time Alex had seen it since the Doctor told her about his bed reversal. Not that Amy and Rory knew this.

The bed reversal had occurred shortly after the Doctor divulged the weird results of the scans he'd conducted on Amy to Alex. Since neither were sure what was wrong with Amy, Alex had agreed with the Doctor's decision to replace the Ponds' regular bed with something that would deter . . . intimate relations between the couple. It just didn't seem like a good idea to let Amy and Rory keep doing those activities when Amy's scans were going back and forth on whether or not she was pregnant. With Amy's condition up in the air, it was best to keep her away from serious physical activity if there really was something wrong with her; another reason why most of their trips lately had been of the boring variety.

Amy hadn't made it a secret that she wasn't happy about her new sleeping arrangements. The morning after the switch was made, she came to breakfast with a scowl on her face and kept fixing the Doctor with dark glares that he pretended not to notice. Alex was honestly surprised she hadn't complained before now.

Now, Alex relied on all her acting skills. She widened her eyes and allowed her eyebrows to raise and her mouth to fall slightly open. The perfect amount of surprise without overdoing it. "Oh," she said, tilting her head so as to seem like she was studying the bed. "That's . . . not your usual bed. What's it doing here?"

"Thank you!" Amy cried, throwing up her arms. "That thing has been here for weeks! We woke up one morning and Rory almost fell off the top."

"Frankly, I have to wonder how our beds were switched without us waking up," Rory admitted.

Alex gave them what she hoped passed for an exasperated sigh and went over to pat the wall. "Did you do this?" she asked the TARDIS. There came an affirmative sounding hum beneath her fingertips, followed by a fast hum that Alex wouldn't hesitate to call laughter. The TARDIS was amused at her acting antics. Her back to Amy and Rory, Alex gave the wall an impish smile. Another hum/laugh sounded.

"Well?" Amy asked expectantly. "What'd she say?"

Alex thought fast. "The TARDIS did switch the beds, but it wasn't her idea and she's very sorry." She and the Doctor had never actually discussed what they should say if and when the Ponds confronted them, but she figured this was the best lie. It was definitely something Amy would believe.

Sure enough, Amy's eyes narrowed, and she snorted. "I knew it! Iknewit! ItoldRory the Doctor had to be behind it!"

"Hardly 'told'," Rory said dryly. "More likeyelled."

Amy ignored him. Instead, she gave Alex adon't-argue-with-melook. "Go out to the console room and smack your boyfriend for switching all of our beds!" she commanded.

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Okay, first off, the Doctor is not my boyfriend." She grimaced slightly at the word, which didn't fit the Doctor at all. She really had to come up with an official term for him. "And second, my bed wasn't switched."

Figures,Amy thought. "Well, if you can't smack him, I will." And with a determined look on her face, she marched out of the room.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

Unfortunately for Amy, she didn't get a chance to do any smacking. The second she appeared in the control room, the Doctor, most likely having been alerted to her anger by the TARDIS, launched into a jubilant re-telling of his adventure on a planet called Terra Alpha, where it was apparently a law to be happy twenty-four/seven. If you weren't, you were executed by something called a Kandy Man, which the Doctor described as a 'giant, robotic gingerbread man'. Fortunately, the Doctor had managed to escape and solve these problems.

It seemed the Doctor was in a nostalgic mood today because for the past two hours, he'd done nothing but talk about prior adventures. While Amy flittered in and out of the control room, Alex and Rory sat in the jump-seats, listening to the Doctor's gob with varying degrees of interest; Rory mostly bored and disinclined to believe the stories, and Alex interested. Currently though, she was disinterested since the story the Doctor was telling now was one she had lived.

". . .and then we discovered it wasn't the Robot King after all, it was the real one," the Doctor recounted as he walked around the console. "Fortunately, I was able to re-attach the head."

"Do you believe any of this stuff?" Rory asked Amy as she came down the stairs.

"I was there," Amy said vacantly as she headed across the platform over to the stairs that led to the underside of the console.

"As was I," Alex added. She shot a glare at the Doctor. "And I should know, because I distinctly remember getting arrested and locked up because apparently, wearing ripped jeans on Terados is illegal!"

"IsaidI was sorry!" the Doctor cried as he moved over to a section of the console where a small beeping alarm was going off. He peered down at two small flashing red lights. "Oh, it's the warning lights," he announced, tapping at them. "I'm getting rid of those. They never stop!" He then proceeded to kick the console which, while not the most practical thing to do, served to turn the lights off.

Alex was about to laugh at his antics until she caught sight of a whispering Amy and Rory on the stairs leading underneath the console. Her interest piqued, she watched as Amy glanced up at the Doctor before turning back to Rory.

Alex bit her lip. She knew exactly what they were discussing: the Doctor's future death.

To her credit, Alex had done a remarkable job at not thinking about the Doctor's future death for quite a while now. But sometimes at night, she dreamed of the Doctor getting gunned down on the shores of Lake Silencio, though these dreams weren't as horrifying as the one she'd had the night they defeated the Silence. The Doctor being mad at her for some small infraction she could handle. Being blamed for his death? No.

But again, to her credit, she hadn't thought or dwelled on the Doctor's impeding death. Alex had done her best to rationalize the whole event as best as she could. When he died, the Doctor was 200 years older. His death, from his point of view, probably took place long after she died. While not exactly a pleasant thought, it was certainly better than wondering if he died while she was still alive, leaving her all alone.

In the end though, Alex had told herself not to dwell on it because there wasn't anything she could do to prevent it, try as she might to come up with something. She just had to enjoy the time she had with the Doctor because when it came down to it, it was all she had.

But before she could really contemplate that final thought, there came a knocking at the TARDIS doors.

The four members of the TARDIS crew spun around to eye the door apprehensively. "What was that?" Amy demanded nervously as she and Rory walked backwards up the steps to the platform.

"The door," the Doctor replied, stating the obvious. He walked down to the door while Alex leapt up from the jumpseat and joined Amy and Rory at their new spot by the railing. "It knocked."

"Right. . ." Rory said slowly. "We are in deep space."

"Very,verydeep," the Doctor affirmed.

Another series of knocking rang out.

"And somebody really wants to get in," Alex observed. She reached up and pulled her sonic necklace charm out from underneath the collar of her long-sleeved white shirt, paired with skinny jeans, flat black suede boots, and large silver hoop earrings. She gripped the TARDIS charm, ready to use it in case something malevolent was behind the door.

The Doctor reached out and slowly opened the door. His eyes widened when he saw a small white cube floating before him. "Oh, come here," he beamed, his voice almost breathless with awe. "Come here, you scrumptious little beauty!"

Amy and Rory turned to look at Alex, who had reddened slightly at the name. The Doctor had, in fact, called her that once when he was trying to get her out of the library and to the control room. But this time, the lucky recipient was an inanimate object.

The companions watched the Doctor reach out to grab the cube, only for it to fly right past him and into the TARDIS. It swung past Amy, Rory, and Alex, who all yelped and ducked as it went by, and then back over to the Doctor, hitting him right in the chest and knocking him to the floor.

"Doctor!" Alex called to him. She peered over the railing to see if he was okay.

Rory's attention, however, was focused on the glowing cube on the ground. "A box?" he said skeptically.

"Doctor, what is it?" Amy asked.

The Doctor grabbed the cube and held it carefully in both hands as he popped back up. "I've got mail!" he cried cheerfully. Within an instant, he had shut the door with his foot and was running up to the console, the cube cradled in his hands and held close to his chest as though it were his firstborn son or something.

Alex rushed over to him and eyed the object. "What is it, Doc?" It had to be something very important for the Doctor to be so ecstatic.

"Time Lord emergency messaging system," he explained as he began setting the coordinates with one hand. "In an emergency, we'd wrap up thoughts in psychic containers and send them through time and space." He turned to beam wildly at Alex. "Anyway, there's a living Time Lord still out there! And it's one of the good ones!"

Alex's expression froze. She knew she should be happy for the Doctor that another member of his race was still alive, but she couldn't help but worry that he might be getting his hopes up too soon. For all they knew, this message had been sent before Gallifrey was destroyed by some poor solider requesting the Doctor's help in battle. "You said there weren't any other Time Lords left," she gently reminded him, hoping that this might help him think a bit more realistically.

"There are no Time Lords left anywhere in theuniverse," the Doctor corrected. "But the universe isn't where we're going." He held the cube up to her eye-level so she could examine it. "See that snake?" he said as Amy and Rory came round to look at the cube too. Sure enough, there was a picture of an Ourobouros printed on the side of the box. "The mark of the Corsair.Fantasticbloke! He had that snake as a tattoo in every regeneration. Didn't feel like himself unless he had the tattoo. Or herself, a couple of times." He tossed the cube to Amy, then whirled around to the other side of the console. "Ooh, she was abadgirl!" he remarked as he threw down a lever.

All of a sudden, the TARDIS jolted forwards. Sparks flew off the console as the time machine barreled through the time vortex at a speed it probably wasn't meant to be going at. The companions were thrown onto the console. Alex grabbed at a lever she was pretty sure didn't actually work and clung for dear life. Amy and Rory did the same beside her.

"What is happening?!" Rory shouted over the roar of the TARDIS engines.

"We're leaving the universe!" the Doctor whooped, the only one of them seemingly unaffected by the TARDIS's more-than-usual chaotic flying.

"How can you leave the universe?!" Amy cried.

"With enormous difficulty! Right now, I'm burning up TARDIS rooms to give us some welly." He reached over and flicked a few switches and pressed a few buttons. "Goodbye swimming pool! Goodbye scullery! Sayonara, squash court seven!" He slammed another lever down, sending another burst of sparks upwards. Alex yelped as a spark landed dangerously close to her face. The TARDIS jolted again, this time backwards, and Alex was thrown back into a jumpseat. She closed her eyes and gripped the underside of the chair, praying that this ordeal would be over soon.

Several bumps and jostles later, it was. The TARDIS landed with a heavy thump, nearly causing everyone to fall to the floor. Once the time machine settled, Alex cautiously loosened her grip on the chair and opened her eyes.

The Doctor, seeing her new position, hurried over to her side. "Ally, are you alright?" he asked as he pulled her out of the jumpseat. He cradled her face, checking for any injuries.

Alex smiled broadly at him. "I'm fine, Doc." She placed her hands on top of his, her eyes turning from chocolate brown to his own dark green. "Really."

The Doctor matched her smile back. He was just about to lean in and kiss her when Amy's voice rang out. "Okay, okay," she breathed, brushing hair away from her face. "Where are we?"

The Doctor frowned slightly at Amy interrupting themagain but answered her question anyway. "Outside the universe," he replied, his lips curving into a grin as he was reminded of their reason for being here. "Where we've never, ever been."

Right at that moment, all the lights in the TARDIS started to dim.

Rory frowned at the ceiling. "Is that meant to be happening?"

The Doctor scrambled away from Alex over to the console. He frantically worked a few controls, but nothing happened. "The power . . . it's draining. Everything's draining! But it can't . . . that's . . . that's impossible!"

Alex looked around worriedly as the room darkened completely. The only light now came from the cube which, in the chaos of the last few minutes, had fallen and wedged itself between two levers on the console. Alex reached out to grasp the railing, trying to feel the TARDIS's familiar humming. But there was nothing, nothing at all, not even a faint vibration.Oh God, it's like the Dream Lord all over again,she thought, remembering the reality where the TARDIS had been essentially dead. But this time, she wasn't under the influence of psychic pollen. This was real.Which is much, much scarier.

"What is that?" Rory asked.

"It's as if the Matrix, thesoulof the TARDIS, has just vanished." The Doctor stared at the central column, the familiar green light no longer glowing in the glass structure.

Alex frowned and crossed over to him. "But where would it go?" she wondered. "Surely it couldn't just vanish!"

The Doctor merely shrugged. "No idea."

Well, isn't that reassuring,Alex snidely thought, but she managed to catch her tongue before she could actually say that.

"Well, where exactly are we then?" Amy asked as Alex snatched her turquoise trench-jacket from its place on the jumpseat and put it on.

The Doctor looked at her and beamed maniacally. "No idea!" he said cheerfully. He took hold of Alex's hand and tugged her along behind him as he bounded down the stairs. "Let's find out!"

Upon reaching the doors, the Doctor held out his hand to get the others to pause. He'd never been outside the universe before – no one had, to his knowledge – and he wasn't about to risk landing Alex – and Amy and Rory – in some horrible danger because he wasn't careful. Ever so carefully, he opened the door and peered out. Seeing no approaching armies or hideous pink blob monsters, he gripped Alex's hand and led her outside.

The outside of the universe didn't look like much to Alex. They were currently in what looked like a large quarry/junkyard. Piles of discarded trash, household objects, and futuristic looking items were scattered around for as far as the eye could see. Not to mention, but the placestunk. It reminded Alex of the Southern Bristol High School locker rooms she'd been forced to use back in ninth grade gym. Both places reeked of the overwhelming scent of sweat and B.O.

"So what kind of trouble's your friend in?" Amy asked as the group ventured into the junkyard.

"He was in a bind . . . a bit of a pickle," the Doctor said vaguely. "Sort of distressed."

Alex rolled her eyes. "You know it wouldn't kill you to say that you don't know, right, Doc?"

"I said I didn't know something not five minutes ago!"

"Whatisthis place?" Rory questioned before Alex could come up with a reply. He stared disdainfully at a pile of rubbish. "The scrapyard at the end of the universe?"

"Outsideof," Alex corrected, earning her an approving nod from the Doctor.

"How can we be outside the Universe? The Universe is . . . everything."

The Doctor stepped away from Alex to wrap an arm around Rory's shoulders. He led the man back towards the TARDIS, Alex following along at his heels. Amy stood a small distance away, peering inside an old washing machine with the help of an equally old spatula. "Imagine a great big soap bubble," the Doctor instructed, "with one of those tiny little bubbles on the outside."

"Okay. . ."

"But it's nothing like that." The Doctor patted him on the shoulder while Rory just rolled his eyes and Alex shook her head.

The Doctor ignored them, instead stepping over to the TARDIS to run a hand along the wooden door. Like Alex, he couldn't feel any humming or vibrations. "Completely drained!" he bemoaned. "Look at her!"

"Wait!" Amy called out from her place by the washing machine. "So, we're in a tiny bubble universe, sticking to the side of the bigger bubble universe?"

Still caught up in examining the TARDIS, the Doctor absently answered, "Yeah." A moment later though, he realized what Amy had said. "No! But if it helps, yes."

Alex rolled her eyes in a slightly exasperated, slightly fond manner. The Doctor barely gave straight answers on anything. But he wouldn't be the man she loved if he didn't. Stepping up to him, she ran a hand over the POLICE PUBLIC CALL BOX sign. She bit her lip worriedly. It was so weird not feeling the TARDIS's presence. Alex had grown so used to it that to not feel it anymore. . . It was rather disconcerting. Not to mention alarming. "Do you think you can fix her?" she asked.

The Doctor shrugged, trying not to let her see how bothered he actually was. He forced himself to focus on the positive side of things. "This place is full of rift energy," he revealed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her into his side.

"Like the rift in Cardiff you told me about?"

"Not on as big a scale as that one, but similar. She'll probably refuel just by being here. Now, this place." Keeping his arm around her shoulders, the Doctor led Alex away from the TARDIS. He reached down and picked up a pebble, only to drop it a moment later. "What do we think, eh?"

"Gravity seems like it is on Earth," Alex deduced, nodding to the pebble on the ground. She bounced up and down a few times to test this further, then grinned when she was proven right.

The Doctor chuckled. "Lovely testing of your hypothesis, love." He surveyed the junkyard. "Air's breathable, but it smells like. . ."

"Armpits!" Amy blurted.

"Armpits."

"I was going to say it smelled like my ninth-grade gym locker room," Alex commented, "but that works too."

"What about all of this stuff?" Rory wondered. He looked around at all of the random items, then poked at what appeared to be a makeshift lantern hanging from a pole on a tent constructed out of several towels and blankets. "Where did this come from?"

"Well, there's a rift," the Doctor explained. "Now and then, stuff gets sucked through it. Not a bubble, aplughole! The Universe has a plughole and we've just fallen down it."

"Thief! Thief!" The group whirled around at the new voice coming from somewhere off in the distance. "You're my thief!"

At that moment, a woman came barreling towards them. She was wearing a tattered light blue Victorian style dress with brown lace-up boots. Her long black hair was piled up on top of her head, giving her an exotic, mysterious look. But what Alex mainly noticed about the woman was that as she was running, she had an arm outstretched, pointing straight at the Doctor.

"She's dangerous!" another voice cried out, this one belonging to an old woman who was chasing after the first one. Struggling along behind her was a man in an old Confederate Army uniform. "Guard yourselves!"

Probably good advice, but by that point the younger woman had already reached the Doctor. Alex jumped aside as the young woman practically pounced on the Doctor. "Look at you!" she cried, putting her hands on his shoulders. "Goodbye! No, not goodbye, what's the other one?" And before the Doctor could even try to come up with a reply, the woman pressed her lips to his.

"Doctor!" Alex shouted, though whether in jealousy, worry, or a combination of both, she didn't know. She darted forwards, about to drag the woman off the struggling Time Lord, but the old man in the Confederate Army uniform beat her to it.

"Watch out," he warned, a little too late, as he tried to pull the woman off. "Careful, keep back from her." Finally, with the combined efforts of the older man and the squirming Doctor, the woman was pulled away. She laughed crazily as she was yanked back, hardly bothered by this new development.

"Welcome, strangers," the old man greeted, though he didn't sound very welcoming. "Lovely. Sorry about the mad person."

The Doctor wiped his mouth and ran a hand through his disheveled hair. He eyed the woman warily as Alex hurried up to him. "Are you okay?" she murmured. She reached up to cradle his face, checking him for any injuries he might have gotten during the kiss-attack.

"Fine, love," the Doctor assured her. He gave her a brief smile before turning back to face the still-laughing woman. "Why am I a thief?" he demanded. "What have I stolen?"

"Me," the young woman replied. "You're going to steal me, you have stolen me, you are stealing me. Oh, tenses are difficult, aren't they?" Her head swiveled around to look at Alex. "You're very intelligent, Ally. Which one's right?"

Alex gawked at her. "How did you know that name?" she demanded. How could this woman know the Doctor's nickname for her? It was impossible, not to mention worrisome. Seeing Alex looking rather perturbed – not to mention feeling that way himself – the Doctor hastily tugged her behind him, putting himself between her and the mad woman.

"Oh, oh, we are sorry, my dove," the old woman apologized. "She's off her head." She stepped forward and shook the Doctor's hand, then Alex's. "They call me Auntie."

"And I'm Uncle," the old man said, shaking their hands as well. "I'm everybody's uncle. Just keep back from this one." He nodded his head at the young woman. "She bites!"

"Do I?" the young woman said, titling her head in consideration of this new fact. Then she grinned. "Excellent!" And with that, she lunged at the Doctor and bit his ear.

"Hey!" Alex cried as she sprinted over and, with the help of Uncle, dragged the crazy woman off the Time Lord.

"Ow! Ow!" the Doctor hollered, clutching his ear in pain. As though she were a doctor being paged, Alex rushed back over to him. She stood up on tiptoe, putting her hands on his shoulders for balance, and examined his ear. Fortunately, the bitey mad woman hadn't broken the skin. The worst he would have was a bruise. Ever so gently, Alex leaned in and lightly kissed the bridge of his ear.

The Doctor smirked at her. "Thanks, love," he murmured.

Alex gave him a soft smile. "Anytime, Doc."

So caught up in their little moment, neither of them noticed the bitey mad woman smiling broadly at them, almost . . . approvingandpleased. "Biting's excellent," she commented to the startled Amy and Rory, unintentionally pulling the Doctor and Alex back into the present. "It's just like kissing, only there's a winner." She turned to Alex and winked at her. "As I'm sure Ally knows, right, Ally?"

Alex withered back from her. How this woman knew so much about her, she had no idea, but it was really starting to creep her out. It was kind of like when she and the Doctor first met Madame Marie back in Savannah, but eerier and without the previous reassurance of a helpful person.

As the Doctor tugged Alex back behind him, Uncle sighed. "So sorry. She's doolally."

"No, I'mnotdoolally," the young woman protested. "I'mmmmm . . . I'mmmmm . . . it's on the tip of my tongue!"

"Is the word you're looking for 'mental'?" Alex muttered. The Doctor shot her ayou're-not-helpinglook and elbowed her just to make sure she got the point to be quiet.

Suddenly, the mad woman gasped. "Oh! Sorry, Ally, but I've just had a new idea about kissing! Come here, you!" She immediately scrambled towards the Doctor. The now-terrified Time Lord responded to this by snatching Alex's hand and running to hide behind Amy and Rory, Alex shielded behind him as an extra precaution. In front of him, Amy and Rory held their arms out in defensive positions, successfully keeping the crazy woman from getting any closer.

Auntie rushed to pull the young woman back. "No!" she cried. "Idris, no!"

"Oh, but now you're angry," the woman now identified as Idris said to the Doctor. She blinked. "No, you're not. You will be angry. The little boxes will make you angry."

"Sorry?" the Doctor frowned. Curiosity getting the better of him, he gently pushed past Amy and Rory to better face Idris. Alex followed along behind him, still clutching his hand. "The little what? Boxes?"

"How did you know about that?" Alex again questioned. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she tried to figure this woman out.

But instead of giving her an answer, Idris started laughing. "Your chin is hilarious!" she cackled, reaching out to cup the Doctor's chin. Alex frowned and, with a wary look on her face, used her thumb and pointer finger to grab the sleeve on Idris' dress and move her hand away. Once it was far away from the Doctor, she let go, allowing Idris' hand to drop to her side.

Alex expected Idris to try grabbing the Doctor again since she seemed so fond of him, but the mad woman surprised her by instead turning to Rory. "It means the smell of dust after rain."

Rory frowned. "What does?"

"Petrichor."

"But I didn't ask!"

"Not yet," Idris smiled, "but you will."

Okay. . . This was getting really weird. Alex shot an anxious glance at the Doctor. She was pretty sure the woman didn't mean them actual harm, unless you counted her kissing-attacks on the Doctor as harm, but her haphazard spouting of random stuff was really creeping Alex out. She knew she shouldn't feel that way if Idris couldn't help it, which she suspected was the case, but all the same, it was making Alex uncomfortable.

"No, no, Idris," Auntie cautioned, seeing Alex's distressed expression. "I think you should have a rest."

"Rest," Idris mused, glancing briefly at Alex. To Alex's surprise, Idris sent her a brief apologetic look before turning and walking over to a nearby wheelbarrow. "Yes, yes. Good idea. I'll just see if there's an off switch." And just like that, her eyes closed and she toppled forward. Rory and the Doctor hastened to catch her before gently placing her in the wheelbarrow.

"Is that it?" Uncle asked. "She dead now? So sad."

Funny, you don't sound very sad,Alex thought, giving the man a critical look. She carefully appraised him. There was something off about him, him and Auntie both. Examining him, Alex noticed that his eyes looked quite younger than the rest of him and were slightly uneven.

She eyed Auntie. She couldn't see much of the woman's actual body due to it being hidden by several skirts and shawls, but she could see that one of Auntie's arms was a bit more muscular than the other.

That couldn't have happened naturally.Alex looked over at the Doctor. He was so hopeful about there being other Time Lords here, but Alex wasn't so sure. Not that she was about to tell him that. He might assume she was jealous about having another Time Lord around, someone he could easily fall in love with and spend more time with than her, a human. The last thing they needed to do here was start fighting. They needed to focus and figure out what was going on here, because somethingwasgoing on here. Alex could feel it.

"No, she's still breathing," Rory reported.

Uncle flinched slightly, like he was unhappy about this. "Nephew," he called to someone standing on the sidelines, "take Idris somewhere she cannot bite people."

The Doctor turned to see who this new arrival was. "Oh, hello!" he greeted.

The companions turned to see who he was talking to and about jumped out of their skin. The new arrival, an alien, stood right about at the Doctor's height. It had a brown, almost light-bulb shaped head with a bunch of tentacles coming out from where a mouth would normally be. It was dressed in a dark-blue jumpsuit with black gloves. In its hand was a small sphere, which Alex could see was connected to a tube that ran up underneath the creature's tentacles.

"Doctor, what is that?!" Amy yelped.

"Oh, no, it's all right," the Doctor assured her. "It's an Ood. Ood's are good. Love an Ood! Hello, Ood! Can't you talk?" He nodded to the sphere in the Ood's hand which, upon further examination, he could see was cracked. "Oh, I see, it's damaged. May I?" Once the Ood nodded, the Doctor opened the top of the sphere. "Might just be on the wrong frequency."

"Nephew was broken when he came here," Auntie informed him. "Why, he was half dead. House repaired him. House repaired all of us."

Alex frowned at her. "Repaired?" she repeated. Could that vague term explain why one of Auntie's arms was bigger than the other and why Uncle's eyes looked younger than the rest of him?

But before she could try and ask, the Doctor recapped the top of the sphere. The object suddenly started glowing green, and the sound of voices began spilling out of it. The air was suddenly filled with the voices of men and women all calling for help.

A male voice sounded out above the others. "If you are receiving this message, please help me! Send a signal to the High Council of the Time Lords on Gallifrey! Help! I'm still alive! I don't know where I am. I'm on some rock-like planet—"

And suddenly, the message stopped. Nephew had shut the sphere off. Alex nervously studied the Doctor. Much to her alarm, he looked rather shaken and distressed. Alex couldn't help but feel the same. All those voices. . .Something bad happened here,she thought.I just know it did.She tentatively rested her hand on his shoulder, letting him know she was there.

"What was that?" Rory asked, breaking the silence. "Was that him?" He pointed at Nephew.

God, I wish it was,Alex thought.

The Doctor shook his head. "No, no." He felt horribly disturbed and fretful after hearing the Corsair's voice, along with all those other Time Lords and Ladies calling out for help. So many voices. . . There was no way so many people could be here! He would have sensed it by now and vice-versa. "It's . . . uh, picking up something else. But that's . . . that's not possible. That's . . . that's. . ."

He whirled around, inadvertently knocking Alex's hand off his shoulder, and gave adon't-mess-with-melook to Auntie and Uncle. "Who else is here?" he demanded. "Tell me. Show me. Show me!"

"Doctor," Alex hissed. She reached out and grabbed his arm, pulling him back so he couldn't advance any further on Auntie and Uncle. Once he was by her side, she placed her hands on his shoulders and looked him straight in the eye. "Youneedto calm down."

The Doctor stared into her currently topaz-colored eyes for a moment before letting out a long breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. He felt his tense muscles relax at her touch. He closed his eyes, feeling weary all of a sudden. His head dropped down to rest against Alex's.

"Thanks, love," he murmured. He honestly had no idea how he'd ever managed to go for so long without Alex by his side. Now that she was with him and was his . . . girlfriend, as much as he hated that particular term, he couldn't imagine ever being without her again. He knew such an intense attachment would make it all the more harder for him when she was forced to leave, but at this moment in time, he truly didn't care. Now, he leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of her head, silently thanking her once again for keeping the rage he hid deep within him under control.

They might have stayed like this for a while, lost in their little moment as they were notorious for doing, until someone cleared their throat. The two reluctantly turned away from each-other and looked around for the source of the interruption. They both glanced at Amy for a moment, to which the redhead shot them a baffledwhat-did-I-dolook, before looking further and seeing Auntie eyeing them oddly. She was the source of the throat-clearing.

"Just what you see," she said now, still giving them a weird look, like she didn't understand love or something. She gestured to herself and Uncle. "Just the four of us, and the House. Nephew, will you take Idris somewhere safe where she can't hurt nobody?"

"The House?" the Doctor repeated.

"What's the House?" Alex asked.

"House is all around you, my sweets," Auntie grinned. She pointed to the ground. At the same time, Uncle started jumping up and down. "You are standing on him. This is the House. This world. Would you like to meet him?"

"Meet him?" Rory repeated, shocked that such a thing could be possible.

"We've love to," the Doctor and Alex answered together.

"This way," Uncle guided, gesturing for them to follow him down a path. "Come, please. Come."

As the TARDIS crew followed him, Amy jogged up so she was right next to the Doctor. "What's wrong?" she whispered. "What were those voices?"

"Time Lords," the Doctor revealed. He turned so that he was looking at Amy, Rory, and Alex all at once. "It's not just the Corsair. Somewhere close by, there are lots and lots of . . . Time Lords."

Alex frowned. While she really wanted another member of the Time Lords to be alive for the Doctor's sake, she just couldn't see any being here. She watched the Doctor continue to follow Auntie and Uncle, his stride determined. Suddenly, Idris' bizarre words replayed in her mind.The little boxes will make you angry.

She shuddered. For the Doctor's sake, she hoped that she and Idris were wrong.

Chapter 24: The Doctor's Wife Part 2

Chapter Text

"Come, come, come," Uncle said impatiently as he ushered the TARDIS crew into his, Auntie, Nephew, and Idris' home. They were now in what looked like a decrepit spaceship that had long ceased to work properly. Piles and piles of random junk were cluttered all around the room.

It's like aHoardersepisode in here,Alex observed.

She watched Uncle guide the Doctor over to a grate on the far side of the room. Alex followed him, eyeing the grate curiously. Underneath it, something was letting out a green glow. "You can see the House and he can look at you," Uncle was explaining as she approached.

"I see," the Doctor nodded. He knelt down to examine the grate. Alex did the same next to him.

"The asteroid's sentient?" Alex guessed.

Auntie nodded in confirmation. "We walk on his back, breathe his air, eat his food. . ."

"Smell its armpits," Amy quipped under her breath.

At that moment, Auntie and Uncle stiffened, just like Alex had back in Savannah when she was being possessed by victims of the Soulisases. "And do my will," a heavy male voice spoke through their mouths. The Doctor and Alex jumped up, the Doctor immediately pushing Alex behind him in case the asteroid tried to do something harmful through Auntie and Uncle's bodies. "You are most welcome, travelers."

Amy inched back a half-step. "Doctor . . . that voice," she said nervously. "That's the, um, asteroid talking?"

"Yes." He knelt back down by the grate. Alex stood behind him, keeping her eyes fixed on Auntie and Uncle. "So, you're like a . . . sea urchin," the Doctor deduced. "Hard outer surface, that's the planet we're walking on. Big, squashy, oogly thing inside, that's you?"

"That is correct, Time Lord," House confirmed.

"Ah. So you've met Time Lords before?"

"Many travelers have come through the rift, like Auntie, and Uncle, and Nephew. I repair them when they break."

Break?Alex wrinkled her nose in confusion.What doesthatmean?But before she could try and ask, the Doctor inquired, "So there are Time Lords here, then?"

"Not anymore, but there have been many TARDISes on my back in days gone by."

"Well, there won't be any more after us," the Doctor said as he rose. "Last Time Lord. Last TARDIS."

"A pity. Your people were so kind. Be here in safety, Doctor. Rest. Feed if you will." Auntie and Uncle shifted a little and looked at each-other. The trance was over.

Rory struggled not to shift nervously. Like Alex, he felt rather uneasy about this place. There was just something . . . not right about it. "We're not actually going to stay here, are we?"

"Well, it seems like a friendly planet," the Doctor remarked. He snaked an arm around Alex's waist, pulling her into his side. "Literally."

Alex sighed, resigned. She knew they wouldn't be going anywhere until the Doctor found the Time Lords . . . or what was left of them. "Mind if we look around a bit?" she asked Auntie.

"You can look all you want," Auntie beamed. "Go. Look." She hobbled her way over to Amy and placed her hands on the redhead's face. "House loves you."

The Doctor eyed her hands. Now that he was looking at them, he noticed that one of them was a bit bigger and meatier than the other. Not wanting to let anything on, he clapped his hands enthusiastically. "Come on then, gang! We're just going to, uh, see the sights." He rewrapped his arm around Alex's waist and together, they led Amy and Rory out of the room.

They had just started walking down a narrow corridor when the Doctor and Alex heard a voice calling out to them. Alex frowned. It was faint, but it sounded a lot like Idris to her. Beside her, the Doctor came to a halt, Alex stumbling a little since his arm was still around her waist.

"Shush, shush, shush!" he ordered Amy and Rory as they came to a stop behind him. But the sound, whatever it was, had stopped. Still frowning a little, the Doctor and Alex resumed walking.

"So . . . as soon as the TARDIS is refueled, we go, yeah?" Rory asked hopefully.

"No," the Doctor corrected, turning to face them. "There areTime Lordshere. I heard them and they need me."

Amy frowned a little. "You told me about your people, and you told me what you did," she gently reminded him. Well, he hadn't so much told her as she’d walked in on him and Alex discussing the Time War, but that was a mere technicality.

"Yes, yes, but if they're like the Corsair, they're good ones and I can save them."

"And then tell them you destroyed all the others?"

"I can explain," the Doctor insisted. "Tell them why I had to." He moved his arm away from Alex and turned to continue down the corridor, but Amy's next words stopped him in his tracks.

"You wanna be forgiven."

The Doctor's shoulders slumped. She was right. He wanted to be forgiven desperately for that terrible act. Even though he had Alex's reassurances that what he did was for the greater good, he still felt the need for a member of his own race to forgive him. He didn't think Alex would ever understand his desperate need for that, no matter how hard she tried. "Don't we all?" he sighed.

Alex looked at him sorrowfully. She knew she would never be able to fully get him over the guilt he felt in destroying the Time Lords, no matter how hard she tried. She just hoped after this adventure when things went wrong – because thingsalwayswent wrong with the Doctor – he wouldn't be even more depressed.

Amy also looked at him pityingly, wondering if there was anything she could do to try and help. Deciding to take the bull by the horns, she asked, "What do you need from me?"

The Doctor turned back around and patted his jacket. "My screwdriver," he answered, causing Alex to narrow her eyes at him in suspicion. "I left it in the TARDIS. It's in my jacket."

"You're wearing your jacket," Rory pointed out.

"My other jacket."

Rory scoffed. "You have two of those?"

"Okay, I'll get it," Amy jumped in, raising a hand as a signal to Rory to shut up. "But Doctor, listen to me. Don't get emotional because that's when you make mistakes."

The Doctor smirked at her and saluted. "Yes, boss."

"Call my phone when you reach the TARDIS," Alex directed.

Amy nodded in agreement. "Alex, Rory, look after him," she told them before disappearing around a corner.

"Rory, look after her," the Doctor ordered.

"Yeah," Rory nodded, before scrambling back down the corridor to catch up with Amy.

Alex waited until she was sure he was out of earshot before whirling around on her heel. "Tell me something, Doc," she demanded, fixing him with a withering look. "Why did you send them away? And don't use that stupid sonic screwdriver excuse on me. I felt it earlier when we were making out." She paused and then an impish glint appeared in her eyes. "Unless it was somethingelse."

The Doctor's face reddened enormously at her implication. "Er . . . uh, well, no!" he stuttered nervously. "Not that that's never. . . I mean, no!" His eyes widened and he slapped a hand over his mouth to keep from blurting out something that could be potentially embarrassing for him and Alex both.

But instead of getting angry like he expected, Alex merely laughed. "Oh, Doc, you are so adorable when you're flustered." She stood up on tiptoe and removed his hand from his mouth before leaning in to give him a peck on the lips. Once she had done that, she settled back on her feet and wrapped her hands around the back of his neck. "But seriously, Doctor, why did you send them away?"

"For the same reason I would've sent you with them. Keep in mind, Ally, Time Lords looked down on humans. In fact, they were even banned from Gallifrey at one point. I have to make sure that if there are Time Lords here, they're the good kind who like humans." He paused, considering his words. "Or at the very least tolerate them."

Alex nodded slowly. That made sense. She couldn't argue with that. "Okay. But why didn't you send me away, too?"

The Doctor smirked at her. "Because you never listen to me when I send you off. You would've just snuck along behind me which wouldn't really work. I can always sense when you're nearby."

"And me with you," Alex smiled. Right now, a rush of adrenaline was running through her system, keeping her energy level up as she touched him.

Still smiling at her, the Doctor brushed a strand of hair away from her face. Their eyes closed and they leaned in close. Soon they were close enough to where they could feel each-other's breath on their faces. But just as they were about to press their lips together, Alex's phone started belting out the chorus to Rascal Flatts' 'Life is a Highway'.

The Doctor let out a low growl as he pulled away from Alex. "Always with the interruptions," he grumbled as Alex fumbled with her Blackberry. "I really need to invent that companion muzzle."

"Then Amy would be calling to yell at you about it," Alex countered. She pressed the answer button, then the speaker button. "Hi, Amy," she greeted. "You're on speaker."

"Hey, we're here," Amy told them. "Screwdriver's in your jacket, yeah?"

"Yeah, it's around somewhere," the Doctor lied, pulling out his sonic. "Have a good look." He waited until Alex ended the call before pressing a button on the sonic screwdriver that remotely locked the TARDIS doors.

Alex raised an eyebrow at him as she tucked the phone back in her jacket pocket. "You know Amy's gonna be pissed when she finds out, right?"

"Don't remind me. Come on, Ally." He held out his hand. Alex immediately took it, and they continued down the corridor.

The corridor extended on a little further before leading into a large room cluttered with more junk, though not as much as there’d been in the first room of the spaceship. Alex surveyed the dimly lit room as the Doctor led her around.

"Come on," he called. "Where are you? Where are you all? Where are you?" Not gleaning anything, he closed his eyes, using his superior brain to better sense the Time Lords. A moment later, he opened his eyes. He had caught a faint voice. It was too faint to make it out, but he was pretty sure it was a Time Lord and that they were somewhere nearby.

Still pulling Alex along, he went over to a curtain made from a patchwork blanket. Pushing it aside, he found himself staring at a small cabinet. Echoing out from inside it were muffled voices, distantly requesting help.

The Doctor's brow furrowed as he frowned at the cabinet. "Well, they can't all be in here," he commented, trying to push back the feeling of dread coming over him. Beside him, Alex worried her bottom lip. She had a good idea what was in that cabinet, and she knew it wouldn't comfort the Doctor at all.

Alex nervously watched the Doctor open the cabinet. She could feel her heart break for him when she saw what was inside. There were at least ten of those glowing emergency distress cubes. Voices spilled out of all of them, the original owners of the cubes all sounding panicked and scared.

"Please, do you read me?"

"Structural integrity failure. Damage to dimensional stabilizer. . ."

"If you can hear, come and help. . ."

Alex stiffened at the sound of footsteps behind them. She looked out of the corner of her eye. It was Auntie and Uncle.

"Just admiring your Time Lord distress signal collection," the Doctor lowly murmured, catching sight of them as well. His voice was dark, his muscles were tensed, and a rage was building within him like magma before it burst out of a volcano. "Nice job. Brilliant job. Really thought I had some friends here, but this is what the Ood translator picked up. Cries for help from thelong dead."

He whirled around, fixing Auntie and Uncle with a narrow-eyed glare. Alex backed away a few steps, knowing that she probably wouldn't be able to calm him down in this situation. He had just been tricked into thinking a few members of his race were alive. And for a man like the Doctor, that was the cruelest trick of all, one that would never be forgotten or forgiven.

"How many Time Lords have you lured here the way you lured me?" he demanded. "And what happened to them all?"

"House, House is kind," Auntie stuttered. "And he is wise—"

"House repairs you when you break!" the Doctor snapped. He strode forwards, forcing Auntie and Uncle to back up. "Yes, I know! But how does he mend you?" He whipped out his sonic and waved it over Uncle. "You've got the eyes of a twenty-year-old."

"Thank you," Uncle said dumbly.

The Doctor shook his head. "No, oh no, I mean it literally. Your eyes are thirty years younger than the rest of you." He quickly reached up and knocked Uncle's hat off, exposing a small blue ear on one side of his head. "Your ears don't match, your right arm is two inches longer than your left, and how's your dancing?! ‘Cause you've got two left feet!"

"Patchwork people," Alex breathed, speaking for the first time since the Doctor began his angry rant.

The Doctor bitterly nodded in agreement. "You've been repaired and patched up so often, I doubt there's anything left of what used to be you." It was then as he was putting his sonic away that he caught sight of Auntie's large arm. "I had an umbrella like you once," he remarked, grabbing hold of it.

"Oh, now, it's been a great arm for me, this," Auntie said, tilting it slightly. As she did, a large tattoo revealed itself. It was of a snake eating its own tail, an Ourobouros.

The Doctor and Alex stared at it in horror. "The Corsair," they breathed.

"He was a strapping big bloke, wasn't he, Uncle?"

"Big fellow," Uncle agreed.

"I got the arm, and then Uncle got the spine and the kidneys."

"Kidneys," Uncle nodded along.

But the Doctor's disposition had darkened even more, if that was possible, at the revelation of what had happened to his friend. The Corsair had beentorn apart, parts of his body used as spares for these. . . Well, not even properly people anymore! His skin crackled and popped with anger, and he knew it would be only a few seconds before he exploded. "You gave me hope, and then you took it away," he seethed. "That's enough to make anyone dangerous. God knows what it will do to me. Basically. . . RUN!"

Within an instant, Auntie fled the room in terror. Uncle, however, lingered in the doorway. "Poor old Time Lord," he mocked. "Too late. House is too clever." And then he was gone.

The Doctor merely stared at the spot Uncle had just vacated, like he was trying to incinerate it with his eyes. Alex cautiously stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Doctor?" she murmured.

The Doctor closed his eyes and leaned back into her touch. "Oh, Ally," he sighed. He felt a wave of sadness and despair wash over him.

Sensing this like it was normal, Alex immediately spun him around and engulfed him in her arms. "I'm so sorry, Doctor," she whispered in his ear, standing on tiptoe to reach.

The Doctor placed his own arms around her, cradling her to him. He lifted her slightly so she didn't have to strain herself in reaching his nearly six-foot height. He didn't say anything. Her compassion and sympathy were enough. He felt so alone, even in the most crowded of rooms . . . but with her, he never felt like that. He felt like he had someone on his side, someone who would do anything for him, someone he would do the same for.

Needing her even closer to him, he lifted Alex up more, maneuvering her legs around his waist. He kept his arms at the base of her back so she wouldn't lose her balance. "Ally," he said again, pulling back slightly so he could look her straight in the eye. Her eyes were currently copper but were slowly turning chocolate brown. "Why didn't you try and calm me down a few moments ago?"

Alex smiled bashfully at him, a look she was not used to giving anyone. Then again, this wouldn't be the first time the Doctor brought out new desires and feelings in her. "I didn't think I'd really be able to stop you," she admitted. "And. . . I don't think I really wanted to." Her eyes narrowed in anger, the chocolate brown irises menacing as they tightened into little slits. "Theytrickedyou, Doctor. Honestly! Of all the nerve to use your own hopes against you. . . I'm surprised I didn't go after them myself."

The Doctor stared at her in shock for a moment, but then he suddenly pulled her back towards him and captured her lips. Alex let out a startled squeak of surprise but hastened to comply with her love's sudden turn in mood. The kiss was hard and fast, the Doctor forcibly prying Alex's mouth open as she clutched his shirt collar in delight. His fingers dug into her waist, pulling her even tighter against him as he ran his tongue inside her mouth. Alex's legs gripped him tighter, as though she were trying to keep him in one place forever.

Suddenly, they broke apart. Alex breathed heavily as the Doctor watched her. For once, he had managed to activate his respiratory bypass system in time. A few seconds later, Alex regained her breath. "Wow," she marveled, panting a little. "Not that I'm complaining, but what was that for?"

He smiled at her and reached up to tuck a stray piece of brown-blonde hair behind her ear. "Just . . . being you. The one person who will constantly defend me, stick up for me, no matter what happens. The one person I'd do just about anything for. The most precious thing in the universe."

Alex smiled and blushed at his description, but a small part of her mind couldn't help but think of very similar words spoken at a certain lakeside.You are the most precious thing in the universe to me, love, and I do not want to see you hurt.

But before she could dwell on that for too long, her phone suddenly started belting out "Life is a highway and I wanna drive it all night looooonnnnggg!" Very reluctantly, she hopped down and dug the phone out of her pocket. She glanced at the Caller ID. "Uh-oh," she cringed before answering it and putting it to her ear. "Hello?"

"Put your boyfriend on the phone," Amy growled.

"Somebody's in trouble," Alex sang to the Doctor. He shifted slightly, knowing he was about to talk to a very pissed-off Scot. Alex lowered the phone and pressed the speaker button. "’Kay, go ahead, Ames."

"No sonic screwdriver," Amy announced without preamble. "Also, the doors seemed to have locked behind us. Rory thinks there's a perfectly innocent explanation, butIthink you lied to us!"

"Time Lord stuff," the Doctor weakly defended. "Needed you out of the way."

"What, we're not good enough for your smart new friends?"

"Not like that, Amy, I swear," Alex jumped in.

"Hey, you're in on this too!"

"No, I'm not!"

"The boxes will make you angry," the Doctor mused, effectively cutting off the girls' squabble.

Alex paused, her mouth hanging open as she was about to retort something to Amy. She co*cked her head, thinking over these words.Wasn't that what Idris said?She flashed back to that strange conversation outside.The little boxes will make you angry.Alex's eyes widened and she whirled around to look at the Doctor. "How could she have known that?"

"What are you two talking about?" Amy questioned.

"Stay put!" the Doctor ordered her. "Stay exactly where you are!"

"We don't have much—" But Amy was cut off as the Doctor snatched the Blackberry and ended the call.

"Come on!" the Doctor cried. He tossed the phone to Alex, who just barely managed to catch it as it hit her chest, before grabbing her hand and leading her off down a corridor.

"How could she have known that?" Alex wondered as they hurried down the hall. "Do you think she's a psychic like Madame Marie?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Won't know until we talk to her." He looked around for a moment before pulling Alex down a left-hand corridor. It led straight into a large room that was, like everywhere else, packed with junk and knick-knacks. But the one difference from the others was that there was a nice big cage on one side of the room. A certain Victorian-dress wearing, biting woman was currently sitting inside.

"How did you know about the boxes?" the Doctor demanded as he and Alex strode in. He planted himself in front of the cage, pausing only to make sure that Alex was safely behind him. Even though Idris was currently in a cage, that still didn't make him any less wary of her.

Alex got up on tiptoe to peek over his shoulder. "You said they would make him angry, and they did. How did you know that?"

But if Idris was startled by their sudden entrance, she did a good job at hiding it. She was seated on a bench, eyes closed. It looked to Alex like she was meditating. "Ah, it's my thief," she sighed in what sounded like worship. She opened her eyes and smirked at the suspicious couple. "And his Ally," she beamed upon catching sight of Alex.

Alex tensed at the name but didn't snap at her. The Doctor narrowed his eyes and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Just like when she did it to him, his touch relaxed her muscles almost in an instant. "Who are you?!" he barked.

"Hmmm. . . It's about time."

"I don't understand. Who are you?"

"Do you not know me?" Idris blinked. She looked over at Alex and frowned in what appeared to be confusion. "Eitherof you? Just because they put me in here?"

"They said you were dangerous," the Doctor reminded her.

"Not the cage, stupid!" Idris rose and walked over to the hexagon-styled door. "In here!" She placed her hands on either side of her face. "They put me inhere. I'm the—" She paused. The Doctor and Alex raised their eyebrows at her. "Oh, what do you call me? We travel. I go. . ." And then out of her mouth came the sound of the TARDIS materialization noise.

The Doctor and Alex's eyes widened at the familiar grinding, groaning sound. "The TARDIS?" they gawked.

"Time And Relative Dimension in Space," Idris recited. "Yes, that's it. Names are funny. It's me!" She smiled broadly at them. "I'm the TARDIS."

"No, you're not!" the Doctor shouted. He started to pace across the room, barely able to believe what he'd just heard. There was no way this woman could be the TARDIS! It was impossible! "You're a bitey, mad lady. The TARDIS is up and downy stuff in a big blue box!"

"Yes, that's me," Idris declared, causing the Doctor to abruptly stop his pacing. Alex simply stood still, her gaze going back and forth from the Doctor to Idris like she was watching a tennis match. "A Type 40 TARDIS. I was already a museum piece when you were young, and the first time you touched my console, you said—"

"I said you were the most beautiful thing I had ever known," the Doctor finished. He stared into space, completely and totally dumbstruck. This wasn't possible. Itshouldn'tbe possible. Was itreallypossible?

Alex pursed her lips slightly, feeling her jealousy automatically rev up, even though that was the last thing she wanted. Honestly! She really had to work on this jealousy trait of hers. This was way past ridiculous. She couldn't, shouldn't, be jealous of theTARDIS, for Christ's sake! The TARDIS had more of a claim on the Doctor, having traveled with him and suffered his piloting for 900 odd years.

Idris smiled a little, noticing that Alex had stiffened at the Doctor's words. "Of course, that sentence is completely invalid now," she remarked. The Doctor and Alex whirled around and stared at her in confusion. "Now that you know Ally, I mean.She'sthe most beautiful thing you've ever known,right?" She gave the Doctor a pointed look.

The Doctor smiled almost shyly, confirming without any words that she was right. "Yeah," he murmured, casting an admiring look at Alex. "Definitelythe most beautiful thing I've ever known." Alex blushed and bit her lip, turning away in embarrassment as her heartbeat sped up in excitement.

Idris smiled, feeling rather pleased with herself. "Now that we've established that, let's get back to the story." She looked at the Doctor. "And then you stole me. And I stole you."

"Iborrowedyou," he protested.

Idris rolled her eyes and snorted. "Borrowing implies the eventual intention to return the thing that was taken. What makes you think I would ever giveyouback?"

Alex stared at her in amazement. "You're really the TARDIS?" she breathed.

"Yes."

"MyTARDIS?" the Doctor checked, still unable to believe this insane claim.

"MyDoctor andhisAlly. Oh! We have now reached the point in the conversation where one of you opens the lock."

The Doctor contemplated her. Even though Idris had spouted off very specific and personal information, he still didn't feel completely comfortable around her. Those kiss-attacks of hers had made sure of that. Not to mention, but the most precious thing in the universe was standing just a few steps away from him, and he'd be damned if he let the TARDIS hurt his Ally in one of her wildfire mood-swings.

After a few more seconds of consideration, he nodded to himself. He stepped forward, putting a hand in his jacket pocket to pull the sonic screwdriver out. But before he could even grasp it, Alex let out a loud sigh and rolled her eyes. "Honestly," she muttered as she pulled her necklace charm out from the collar of her jacket. She aimed it at the lock. A second later, the topaz in the charm lit up, a familiar buzzing rang out, and the cage door was unlocked.

Idris made her way out while the Doctor grabbed Alex's wrist and pulled her behind him. Alex rolled her eyes at the movement but complied. Standing up on tiptoe, she watched over the Doctor's shoulder as Idris came to a halt in front of him.

For a moment, she simply stared at him. "Are all people like this?" she wondered.

The Doctor and Alex frowned. "Like what?" they asked together.

Idris smiled at their simultaneous speaking, but answered, "So much bigger on the inside. I'm. . ." She huffed and turned away, clearly frustrated. "Oh, whatisthat word?! It's sobig, so complicated. It's sosad."

"But why?" the Doctor questioned, trying to get back to the problem at hand. "Why pull the living soul from a TARDIS and pop it in a tiny human head? What does it want you for?"

"Oh, it doesn't want me," Idris dismissed, walking back towards them. She proceeded to sniff the Doctor's collar before moving on behind him and fingering strands of Alex's hair.

Alex gently batted Idris' hands away. "How do you know?"

"House eats TARDISes."

The Doctor looked up from where he had been self-consciously sniffing his collar. "House what? What do you mean?"

"I don't know. It's something I heard you say."

"When?"

"In the future."

"House eats TARDISes?"

"There you go," Idris nodded. She put a finger over his mouth. "What are fish fingers?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Alex questioned right as the Doctor asked, through his covered mouth, "When do I say that?"

"Any second."

"Of course!" he cried in realization. He pushed Idris' hand away and began to pace. "House feeds on rift energy and TARDISes are bursting with it and not raw . . . lovely and cooked, processed food. Mmm, fish fingers."

Alex rolled her eyes again. Trust the Doctor to get off topic by thinking about the disgusting food combination he loved.

"Do fish have fingers?" Idris wondered.

"But you can't eat a TARDIS," Alex interjected. Her brow furrowed. "At least, I don'tthinkso. . ."

"She's right," the Doctor confirmed, pulling himself back to the topic at hand. "It would destroy you, unless . . . unless. . ."

"Unless," Idris jumped in, "you deleted the TARDIS matrix first."

The Doctor snorted in disbelief. "So it deleted you?"

"But House can't just delete a TARDIS consciousness. That would blow a hole in the universe. So, he pulls out the matrix, sticks it in a living receptacle, and then it feeds off the remaining Artron energy. . ." Idris broke off into a gasp. "You were about to say all that," she realized, pointing to the now horrified Doctor. "I don't suppose you have to now."

Alex whirled around on the Doctor. "You sent Amy and Rory there!" she shrieked.

"They'll be eaten!" the Doctor exclaimed. Alex quickly handed him her phone, the number to the TARDIS already dialed. He lifted it to his ear and used the other hand to snatch Alex's hand and pull her off. "Amy! Amy! Rory!"

The duo raced through the halls, the whole spaceship seeming like a complex maze now that their friends' lives were on the line. But finally, they made their way out into the junkyard. Just as they did so, Amy answered. "Get the hell out of there!" the Doctor ordered the moment she picked up.

"Doctor, something's wrong!" Amy called.

"It's House, he's after the TARDIS! Just get out, both of you!"

"We can't! You locked the door, remember?"

"But I've unlocked it!"

"You stupid well haven't!"

By this point, the Doctor and Alex had reached the TARDIS. Much to their horror, the light in the windows was going out.

"Doctor, I don't like this," Amy fretted.

Neither do we,Alex thought as she frantically buzzed her sonic necklace over the door. The Doctor had mentioned during one of their sonic lessons that he had programmed her sonic to open the TARDIS doors whenever needed, a skill that didn't seem to be working now. Alex growled and stepped back. She watched the Doctor try snapping his fingers, same as he did the night she and Amy left with him, but that wasn't working either.

"Open!" the Doctor shouted at the doors.

"Doctor?"

"Open this door!"

Alex sprinted over and started banging on the doors. "Amy! Rory!" she yelled.

But it was no use. A familiar green glow gleamed out from behind the windows and a moment later, the TARDIS vanished.

Alex stumbled back into the Doctor's arms. He held her tight against his chest with one arm while he used the other one to work the phone. "Amy? Amy, can you hear me?" he called, but there was no answer, only static.

"They're gone," Alex whimpered. "House took them." She shuddered and stared at the spot the TARDIS had just vacated. There was no telling what a sentient being like House would do to Amy and Rory when it realized they were on board. She bit her lip worriedly as her mind went crazy, thinking up all sorts of horrible and disastrous scenarios that could be going on right now.

The Doctor disconnected the call and handed the Blackberry back to Alex. "Okay, right," he babbled. "I don't . . . I really don't know what to do. . ." He abruptly smiled. "That's a new feeling."

Alex promptly whacked him across the back of the head. "FOCUS!" she screamed at him. "Our friends have been taken by a malevolent asteroid and our only means of transportation was hijacked!" She grabbed him by his jacket lapels and shook him. "You're the Doctor! THINK of something!"

The Doctor grabbed her hands and gently lowered them. He winced, feeling them shake and tremble in anger and fear. Alex was incredibly loyal to those she deemed worthy of it, and after him, Amy and Rory were at the top of the list. And now they had been taken. Of course she was angry and wanted to go after them. "I will, Ally," he promised, his voice both gentle and firm. "I promise. But you need to help me and you're no use to me when you're angry. So calm down."

Alex nodded, knowing she was getting really pissed off. She got like that whenever someone was hitting on the Doctor or when her loved ones were in danger. But the Doctor was right. She wasn't any help being all angry and seething. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. She even started counting down from twenty. Right at 'eleven', she felt her heart rate calm. "Okay," she whispered. "I'm good."

The Doctor smiled at her and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "Good girl," he murmured. "Now, come on." He grabbed her hand and led her back to the spaceship.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

"It's gone," the Doctor announced without preamble as he and Alex marched back into the spaceship.

Idris looked up from the makeshift seat she'd settled herself on. "Eaten?"

"Hijacked," Alex corrected. She sat next to her while the Doctor paced in front of them.

"Butwhy?" he lamented.

At that moment, Auntie and Uncle came walking in. They were both wrapped up in blankets. "It's time for us both to go, Uncy," Auntie remarked as she toddled towards a chair. "Together."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, go?" the Doctor bellowed. "What do you mean 'go'? Where are you going?"

"Well, we're dying my love." Auntie said this like it was completely normal. "It's time for Auntie and Uncle to pop off."

"I'm against it," Uncle confided, seating himself on a crate.

"It's your fault, isn't it, sweets? ‘Cause you told House it was the last TARDIS. House can't feed on them if there's none coming, can he?"

"So now he's off to your universe to find more TARDISes."

"It won't," the Doctor said flatly, his arms crossed.

"Oh, it'll think of something," Auntie smiled. A split second later, she abruptly stiffened and fell to the side.

Alex gasped while the Doctor ran over to Auntie and began running the sonic screwdriver over her. Next to him, Uncle stood. "Actually, I feel fine," he remarked, only to fall over as well.

"Not dead!" the Doctor shouted as he hopped over to Uncle. "You can't justdie!"

Alex was about to go over and examine Auntie and Uncle as well, but Idris suddenly grabbed her hand and jerked her up. "We need to go where I landed, Doctor, quickly."

"Why?" the Doctor and Alex questioned.

"’Cause we are there in three minutes. We need to go . . . now!" Idris started for the doors, pulling Alex along behind her in an identical manner to how the Doctor did it. But they only got a few feet before Idris suddenly stopped and bent over. "Ow!" she cried, clutching her side in pain.

"What's wrong?" Alex asked in alarm.

Idris turned so that she was facing both Alex and the Doctor. "Roughly how long do these bodies last?"

In response, the Doctor and Alex scanned her with their sonics. Alex examined the results. She blinked and stared at her necklace. She knew she should have seen it coming, but it was still a shock.

"You're dying," the Doctor breathed once he looked at the results of his scan.

"Yes, of course I'm dying," Idris huffed. She snatched the sonic screwdriver. "I don't belong in a flesh body! Could blow the casing in no time." She shot him a mild glare when he frowned sadly at her. "No, stop!" she snapped. "Don't get emotional. Hmm," she mused, tilting her head. "That's what the orangey girl says. You're the Doctor. Focus."

"On what?" he shouted. "How? I'm a madman with a box without a box!" He seized the sonic and tucked it back in his jacket pocket. "I'm stuck down the plughole at the end of the universe on a stupid old junkyard—" He cut himself off. Alex studied him. His eyes were wide in realization. "Ooh. . ."

"What?" Alex asked. What did he realize that she didn't? "What is it?"

"I'm not."

"Not what?" Idris questioned.

"Because it's not a junkyard." The Doctor beamed at them. "Don't you see? It's not a junkyard!"

It's not?Alex thought. "Well then, what is it?" she demanded.

"It's aTARDISjunkyard! Come on!" The Doctor clapped his hands, still grinning away, and bounded up to Alex. He grabbed her hand and started to lead her off, only to stop and spin back around. "Oh, uh, sorry," he said to Idris. "Do you have a name?"

"700 years, finally he asks," Idris remarked dryly.

"But what do I call you?"

"Don't you call me . . . 'sexy'?"

The Doctor blinked and cast a nervous look at Alex. Her only reaction to the name had been an eyebrow raising, though he had no doubt that jealousy trait of hers was flaring up inside her. "Only when we're alone," he whispered, even though Alex was standing right next to him.

Idris glanced at Alex. "Oh, yes, well, didn't you once call me—"

"It's fine," Alex sighed. Her jealousy had reared up a little bit at the name, but it was mostly tempered by the knowledge that the TARDIS seemed to really support her relationship with the Doctor. "He's known you longer anyway." Then, a lightbulb flashed in her head. "And I have a name for you as well!" She grinned and grabbed the Doctor's hand, dashing off with him as she called over her shoulder, "Let's go, Gorgeous!"

The Doctor grinned while Idris laughed and hastened to catch up with them. "Gorgeous?" he repeated, arching a playful eyebrow at Alex.

Alex smirked. "What, you can call your time machine a name and I can't?"

"Point taken," he chuckled as he lifted their entwined hands to plant a kiss on her knuckles.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

A few minutes later, they reached the top of a small hill. It was a perfect spot, for it allowed the trio to look out upon the dreary wasteland before them.

"A valley of half-eaten TARDISes," the Doctor murmured, staring out at the landscape. The whole valley was completely cluttered with rusting and broken-down structures made out of anything from metal to wood. Some were huge, the size of a New York City skyscraper, and others were about the size of the police telephone box exterior of the TARDIS. All in all, the scene oozed feelings of overwhelming sadness and death. He turned to Idris and Alex. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I'm thinking that all of my sisters are dead," Idris replied, her voice vacant and sad. She stared at the valley, her eyes full of pain. "That they were devoured and that we are looking at their corpses."

"Ah, sorry, no, I wasn't thinking that. . ."

"No. You were thinking you could build a working TARDIS console out of broken remnants of a hundred different models."

Alex looked up at him and grinned. "And you don't care that it's impossible."

"Nothing is impossible, love," the Doctor smiled down at her. "Just very unlikely. And Rory and Amy need me."

"They needus," Alex corrected, linking her arm through his.

"Right." He felt a little thrum run through him at the thought of him and Alex being a team. They always had been, he knew, since the day they met, but it was nice to get confirmation of it. Together, they were truly unstoppable. "So yeah, we're going to build a TARDIS."

Chapter 25: The Doctor's Wife Part 3

Chapter Text

But building a TARDIS console out of bits from a hundred other models was harder than any of them realized.

Understanding that she would just get in the Doctor's way since she had no idea what any of the TARDIS remnants were, Alex had relegated herself to sitting on a piece of old TARDIS wall and watching the Doctor run all around the place like a toddler on a sugar-high. He seemed to be right in his element, rooting and sifting through piles of bits and bobs until he found the thing he wanted.

Idris was a few feet away, examining a piece of tech. Alex had tried to get her to sit down because of her rapidly decaying condition, but she had refused, citing she better help the Doctor with this complex task less he blow a temper tantrum, something the Doctor had, predictably, taken offense to.

Alex turned her head and watched the Doctor bend down and run along a line of junk. Evidently, he was looking for something specific. His brow furrowed as he went, ultimately coming to a stop next to Alex. "Eureka!" he cried, his eyes focused on the section of wall Alex was sitting on.

"What?" Alex said, glancing down at it.

The Doctor winced when he saw her. "Oh, Ally! You're sitting here. . ."

"It's fine," she assured him, shifting off the wall and into a standing position.

"Thanks, love." The Doctor reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a large chain coil and looped it around the top of the wall. Once that was accomplished, he grasped the free end of the chain and began pulling the wall behind him.

"Do you need any help?" Alex asked, watching as he slowly made his way over to Idris. That wall couldn’t be very easy to move around.

"I'm fine!" he called back. He really didn't want her to do anything strenuous, just in case, Rassilon forbid, she had another attack.

Idris glanced at him. "Bond the tube directly into the tachyon diverter—"

"Yes, yes. Ihaveactually rebuilt a TARDIS before, you know! I know what I'm doing!"

You'restillrebuilding her,Alex thought, thinking of the numerous repairs to the console and circuitry she'd seen the Doctor make.

Idris seemed to be thinking the same thing for she said, "You're like a nine-year-old trying to rebuild a motorbike in his bedroom. And youneverread the instructions."

"Ialwaysread the instructions!" the Doctor huffed.

"Manual in a supernova," Alex reminded him. She smiled innocently when the Doctor shot her a glare.

Idris nodded in agreement. "There's a sign on my front door. You have been walking past it for seven hundred years. What does it say?"

"That's not instructions!" the Doctor scoffed.

"There's an instruction at the bottom. What does it say?"

"Pull to open."

"Yes, and what do you do?"

"I push!" he growled, partly in irritation and partly from the strain it was causing him to lug a twelve-foot wall.

"Every single time," Idris grumbled. "Seven hundred years! Police box doors openoutthe way."

The Doctor threw down the chains and stalked over to Idris. His expression was black as a thundercloud. "I think I have earned the right to open my front doors any way I want!" he snapped.

Idris, not at all perturbed by his anger, merely stared at him. "Your front doors? Have you any idea how childish that sounds?"

The Doctor started to storm off. "You are not my mother," he grumbled over his shoulder.

"And you are not my child."

Alex started forwards, hoping that she could calm the Doctor down, when he suddenly spun around and started back towards Idris. "You know, since we're talking, with mouths, not really an opportunity that comes along very often, I just want to say, you know,you," he pointed at Idris, making her lean back, "have never been very reliable."

"And you have?" Idris said doubtfully.

"You didn't always take me where I wanted to go." He turned and started to walk away again, but Idris' next words stopped him dead in his tracks.

"No, but I always took you where youneededto go!" Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at Alex.

There had been so many times over the last seven hundred years that she wanted to take her Thief to his Ally earlier than planned. After he left the Original Flower to stay with David on Earth, after the Piper and the Astrophysicist's minds were wiped of their memories of her Thief, after the Arrogant One was killed, after her Thief's violent regeneration into his sixth incarnation. . . So many horrible times where all she wanted to do was introduce her Thief to his Ally and watch the young woman effortlessly charm and cheer him up. But it wasn't to be. The timeline could possibly rupture and besides, no matter how tempted she might have been, sheneverwould have risked her Thief's Ally being around at the same time as the Time Lords.

Unseen by the Doctor and Alex, Idris shivered. No, the pompous Time Lordsneverwould have tolerated Alex. If they found out what she was. . .

Idris shook her head. No, she couldn't dwell on such horrible thoughts.

The Doctor, meanwhile, was dwelling on Idris' words. "You did," he murmured.

And it was true. The TARDIS had always taken him to places and times where he needed to sort out trouble, regardless of whether that was where he intended to go or not. And she led him places for his own good, too. He hadn't even wanted to go to Earth after the Time War, but she had spontaneously landed them there, right in London, where he’d learned about and began investigating the Nestene invasion, meeting Rose Tyler in the process. And now that he thought about it, he was sure it wasn't completely an accident that he was twelve years late the first time around with Amy. If he hadn't been late, he would have left with Amelia and never met Alex. That was something he would never change, no matter if it benefited Amy or not.

He smiled and whirled around. "Look at us, talking! Wouldn't it be amazing if we could always talk, even when you're stuck inside the box?"

"But you know I'm not constructed that way," Idris reminded him. "I exist across all space and time, andyoutalk and run around and bring home strays."

"Hey!" Alex snapped, light green eyes flashing.

"Sorry, I wasn't referring to you." But before she could go on, Idris' knees buckled and she lurched forwards, nearly toppling to the ground until the Doctor caught her.

"You okay?" he asked worriedly while Alex rushed over. She placed a hand on Idris' shoulder to help steady her.

Idris clutched her side. "Once of the kidneys has already failed." She shook her head. "It doesn't matter. We need to finish assembling the console."

"Using a console without a proper shell. . ." The Doctor trailed off and whistled.

Alex's brow furrowed. "That's not safe, is it?"

"This body has about eighteen minutes left to live," Idris informed her. "The universe we're in will reach absolute zero in three hours. Safe is relative."

The Doctor had already turned back to the wall. "Then we need to get a move on, eh, old girl?"

Idris gave him a small smile and bent down to resume gathering tech pieces, her hand still clutching her side. Alex decided to help her. She knelt beside Idris and sifted through technical pieces, laying aside whatever attracted her attention or looked important.

She had a pretty good pile going when the slicing in her chest started.

"AH!" Alex dropped a thermo coupling and placed her free hand over her heart. It was beating rapidly, too rapidly to be healthy. She gritted her teeth and shut her eyes, tears of pain already leaking out. It felt like someone was slicing into her chest with a knife, and not just any knife either; more like the sharpest one ever created.

The Doctor and Idris spun around at her yell. "Ally!" the two cried. As the Doctor hurled his wall down and scrambled over, Idris lowered Alex to the ground. Alex promptly curled up into a tight fetal position, hoping that it would somehow lessen the pain in her chest. It didn't work.

The Doctor dove down next to her and placed a hand on her head while the other one withdrew his sonic screwdriver and ran it over her. He eagerly examined the results when they came up, only for a Gallifreyan swear word to fly out of his mouth. "NOTHING?!" He let out another curse. How could there benothing? There was obviouslysomethingwrong with Alex. Anyone could see it!

"Doctor," Alex choked out through her gritted teeth. She stifled a sob, feeling the pain retract slightly, only to come back in what felt like a marginally stronger force. As if that wasn't enough, another strange feeling started up.

Her organs felt like they were shifting. It was a feeling Alex had long forgotten about, but now remembered with vivid clarity. She'd felt like this the day the Doctor rescued her and Amy from the Silence. She'd been strapped to that chair and had just assumed the weird sensation was a product of that. She hadn't felt like this since that day, so she never brought it up. She never thought it might be connected to her mysterious pain attacks.

Alex let out a strangled gasp. Invisible fingertips were touching her lungs, at first gently prodding, but then squeezing. The hands forced something around them, something that felt like a very thick rope.How am I not choking?Alex thought as she struggled to keep from panicking.

The invisible fingertips abruptly left her lungs and traveled to her heart. Alex could feel it beating frantically and she wondered whether she might be having a heart attack. She'd never heard invisible fingertips on the heart being a symptom but there was a first time for everything.

She shuddered and felt tears rolling down her cheeks. They were no longer tears of pain, she knew, but ones of fear. "Doc-Doctor," she sniveled, "th-there's. . ."

"Yes, love?" He ran a hand through her hair in the hopes that the familiar action might comfort her. "Yes, Ally, what is it?"

Alex struggled to get the words out. "There's something inside me. I-I can feel it, something touching my lungs, m-my. . ." Her body shook and when she spoke again, it was on a sob. "My heart!"

This new information in mind, the Doctor scanned her again. This time, he was somewhat prepared for the 'no illnesses/diseases found'. He blew a raspberry and muttered something uncomplimentary under his breath.

With nothing else to do, the Doctor put the sonic away and gathered Alex in his arms. He cradled her to him, taking great care not to touch her chest or any part of her upper body. Alex sank back against him and turned her head into the crook of his shoulder.

The Doctor felt his own eyes watering at the feeling of tears staining his shirt and seeping through the fabric to his skin. He inwardly cursed whatever was making his Ally's body tense and tighten with pain and causing her to cry. He gently rubbed her back, not sure what else he could do other than be beside her.

He looked at Idris. She was regarding Alex worriedly. "Please," he begged as Alex's hand gripped his jacket lapel. "Tell me you know what's wrong with her. Tell me how to stop her from going through this."

But Idris shook her head, apology written all over her face. "She's a fixed point," she reminded him. "The strongest one I've ever seen next to Captain Cheesecake."

Jack, presumably,the Doctor guessed. He sighed and nodded. He should have expected that. He'd been investigating Alex's timeline for a while, and he still couldn't see anything except a bright golden light that blinded him when he tried to get closer. It was rather disconcerting, especially since the TARDIS, the most powerful timeline reader in the universe, couldn't tell why Alex was a fixed point either.

A startling thought came to mind.Are Ally's attacks the reason why she's a fixed point?He stiffened, his arms tightening around the now limp Alex. She let out a squawk, but he barely heard her. That thought. . . It made a lot of sense and it didn't reassure his worries about Alex any.

"Doctor!" Alex pushed against his chest as she struggled to get out of his suddenly tight grasp. Shoving his arms away, she hauled herself to her feet. Idris quickly jumped up and placed a steady hand on her shoulder.

The Doctor bounced up as well. "Ally, please, sit down," he urged, maneuvering her over to a pile of rubbish that acted as a makeshift bench. He forced her down and once she was seated, kneeled before her.

"Doctor, why does this keep happening?" Alex sniffled, no longer bothering to try and hide her tears. Big fat teardrops dribbled down her cheek. The Doctor wiped them away with a handkerchief he found in his pocket.

He sighed and reached out to finger a few strands of her hair. "I don't know," he murmured, feeling a wave of self-hatred for not knowing wash through him. "But I will find out, Iswear. In the meantime, just sit here and rest, okay?"

Alex sniffled again but nodded. "Alright," she agreed, absently fingering the Doctor's handkerchief as she did so. She reached up and wiped at her running mascara, only to wrinkle her nose in sudden disgust.

"What's wrong?" the Doctor asked anxiously.

"This smells like mothballs," Alex complained. She lowered the handkerchief to her lap and eyed it disdainfully. "Seriously, what do you keep in your pockets?"

The Doctor laughed heartily. She was alright. For now, at least. Still chuckling, he rose and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "Stay," he gently ordered. He turned to look at Idris, who’d been silently observing them with a small smile on her face. "Watch her for me?" he asked.

Idris didn't even hesitate. "Don't I always?" She smiled and sat down beside Alex, the most precious thing in the universe to her Thief.

~The Pros and Cons of Silence~

A short while later, a structure that resembled a TARDIS control room had been mostly constructed. It consisted of three separate walls latched together with a roof overhang above the console. The console reminded Alex of a smaller version of the big TARDIS console, for it was cluttered like the original with various bits and bobs that didn't look as though they should be there, such as a whisk and a child's keyboard.

Let's hope this thing actually works,she thought as she slowly got to her feet and headed over to the makeshift contraption.

"You'll need to install the time rotor!" Idris called to the Doctor.

Alex glanced over her shoulder to see the Doctor dragging a large glass tube with red machinery inside it in their direction. "Do you need help?" she asked as he got closer.