Midnight ⋆ Doctor Who²

43. The Wrong Time Stream

THE TIME LORDS STARE AT THE SCREEN, TRANSFIXED. An aching feeling rests in Aurora's stomach as she looks at Amy's wrinkled eyes. Late. They're late. Late, late, late. Worse, for Amy, they abandoned her. Look at her eyes! She's been here for so long, it makes her sick.

Rory breathes heavily, standing up. "Amy."

The Doctor is having trouble holding on. "I think the timestream lock might be a bit wobbly," he says.

Aurora turns her wide brown eyes to him. "You think?" He winces.

Amy raises her sword, and Rory immediately shields himself. "No, please. Please."

"Duck." Amy's katana goes straight through a Handbot's head. "Handbots carry a black box in case they go offline. I've changed the cause of termination from hostile to accidental. Easy to reprogram. Used my sonic probe."

All three of them just stare at her, because they have no idea what to do. "Amy."

"Rory."

"Why?"

She kneels next to the Handbot. "Because I've survived this long by making the Handbots think I don't exist. Don't touch the hands. There's anesthetic transfer on the skin. If they touch you, you go to sleep."

Rory softly shakes his head. "But you're still here?"

Amy stands up and turns to him. "You didn't save me."

Aurora feels her hearts break in her chest. "But, this is the saving. This is us saving you. The Doctor and Aurora just got the timing a bit out!"

She shakes her head and looks at the Doctor. "A bit?" she mouths.

"Sorry," he mouths back.

"I've been on my own here a long, long time," Amy says. "I've had decades to think nice thoughts about them. Got a bit harder to stay charitable once I entered decade four."

A lump starts taking place in Aurora's throat. "Forty years?" Rory lets out, in shock. "Alone?"

"Thirty six years, thanks," she corrects, offended.

Rory blinks. "No. Right. I mean, you look great. Really, really."

"Eyes front, soldier." She says it so... emotionlessly.

Rory scoffs, trying to lighten up the mood. "Still can't win then."

"In fact, I think I can now definitely say I hate them." Aurora staggers. "I hate the Doctor and Aurora. I hate them more than I've ever hated anyone in my life, and you can hear every word of this through those ridiculous glasses, can't you?"

She has to walk away. She just has to take a moment and swallow the guilt down, or Aurora is going to explode. Amy. Her best friend. Ames. Hates her.

"Uh..." The Doctor's eyes trail after Aurora. "Yes. Putting the speakerphone on." He walks to the console to do so, standing next to Aurora.

"You told me to wait, and I did," Amy tells them. "A lifetime."

"Amy—"

"You've got nothing to say to me."

"Amy, behind you!" Two more Handbots appeared. Amy throws her katana to Rory and touches the Handbots' hands together. They stop moving.

"Feedback," she explains. "Knocks them out. Learned that trick on my first day."

Rory follows her into an arrivals area as she walks away. "Okay, so we just take the TARDIS back to the right time stream, yeah?" Rory says. "We can stop any of this from happening."