Midnight ⋆ Doctor Who²

61. The Monster At The End Of This Book

AMY POND, NO MATTER THE UNIVERSE, WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR HER FRIENDS. She is fierce in her protectiveness, fiery in her wrath if any harm comes to them. And when it came to the Doctor and Aurora, well, one could only imagine what could happen if harm did come to them.

In this case, she'll have to admit, she's the one who harmed him.

To be fair, Amy did not expect to wake up in a reality like this one. She also didn't expect to know that this wasn't normal. The memories of this reality and another bled together, and if a certain someone hadn't helped her figure it out for herself, she would have clawed her brains out.

Everything and nothing made sense. What she knew was this; she rebranded the Silence. She was in charge of the whole company. Well, co-chief. Co-co-chief. Maybe second in command, but that didn't matter! What mattered were appearances, for the time being.

Hence why she had to knock the Doctor out, back in Churchill's room.

She had to whisk him away, and it was the only way that wouldn't raise suspicions. Also, the fact that his mouth was shut helped.

He stirs in his sleep, on the couch of her train carriage. Amy turns the radio up – they're almost there, there's no time to take a nap.

"The Government has again apologised for extensive radio interference caused by solar flare and sunspot activity..."

The whistle of the train is enough to bring him completely back to his senses. She sees him frown, looking around in utter confusion, because wasn't he just talking to Churchill in the Senate room?

His blurry vision finally focuses on the person in front of him, and his eyes blow wide. "Amy?"

She tries her best not to smile winningly. "Those stun guns aren't fun," she tells him. "I'm sorry. I wanted to avoid a long conversation. You need to get up, though. We'll be in Cairo shortly."

The Doctor seems taken by another matter altogether. "Amy Pond. Amelia Pond from Leadworth, please, listen to me. I know it seems impossible, but you know me." He slowly sits up. "In another version of reality you and I were best friends. We, we travelled together. We had adventures." He stands up as best as he can. She stares as he grabs something on her desk, eyebrow raised. Well, if he wants to be clueless about it, at least he's making it fun! "Amelia Pond, you grew up with a time rift in the wall of your bedroom. You can see what others can't. You can remember things that never happened. And if you try, if you really, really try, you'll be able to..." He realises that he is gesturing with a model TARDIS she built. "Oh." And on the far wall are her sketches – Dalek, Silurian, vampire, Aurora in her pirate gear, Weeping Angel. "Oh!"

Amelia Pond was never like the others, never in a million years. The Universe was poured into her brain.

And she had a winning smile like no other. "You look rubbish."

He grins, thankful to see a friendly face – his best friend, nonetheless. "You look wonderful." He throws her the model TARDIS.

She catches it. "So do you," she ironises. "But don't worry, we'll soon fix that."

She holds up a tweed jacket, paired with a very, very familiar red bow tie. "Oh, Geronimo."

He takes all the time he needs to change and shave. Which is more than they have, but she doesn't have the heart to reprimand him. They are meeting someone of the utmost importance, after all. She has an inkling that he knows what's waiting in Cairo, and it isn't Cleopatra.

Well. Not only.

"Okay, you can turn 'round now." He turns to Amy. "How do I look?"

She lies through her teeth. "Cool."