A/N - We've made it to the double digits! I am so excited for the next chapter! I've got an emotional scene planned that will forever change the relationship between Elise and the Doctor.
Elise watched as Amy paced back and forth.
"What's wrong?" Rory asked her.
"The most beautiful thing you've ever seen?"
"Oh, tell me I didn't really say that."
Amy laughed at his embarrassment.
The first mate and the other pirate started to break down the barricade in front of the door.
"What's going on?" Amy asked them.
"We're not staying here to mollycoddle the boy. The Captain's gone soft. It's time for us to leave," the first mate told her.
Elise and Toby stood up.
"He told you to wait, you dog. He's your Captain, a Naval Officer. You're honor-bound to do as he tells you," Toby said.
"Honor-bound? Do you know what kind of ship this is? Do you know what your father does?" the first mate asked him.
Amy wrapped an arm around his shoulders and stroked the back of his head. "Don't listen to him, Toby."
"We sail under the black flag. The Jolly Roger."
"Liar! He's no wicked pirate!" Toby yelled.
"Oh, you think so? I have seen your father gun down a thousand innocent men."
"Get what treasure you can. I'll meet you in the row boat," the first mate told his fellow pirate.
Toby rummaged around and found a sword. "You're going to remain at your post," he told them.
"I am not playing games with you, boy. You put that down."
"One more step and I'll use this, you blaggard."
Elise admired Toby's bravery.
"You don't know how to fight with a cutlass, boy."
"Don't need to, do I." He swiped down and cut the first mate on the hand.
"No. You little swabber!"
"Congratulations. You made it to the menu. Probably shouldn't go out there now," Amy told him.
"You scurvy ape!" The first mate pulled out his gun.
"Don't shoot. The powder will blow and kill us all," Rory said.
The other pirate took the keys from the first mate's belt. "Mulligan, what are you doing?" he said.
Mulligan left.
"No honor among pirates," Amy said.
The first mate put down his gun and started to rebuild the barricade.
Elise wished she had her sketchbook or something with her. She was bored and wondering what was taking her father and Avery so long.
Toby, who sat next to her, pulled off the medallion around his neck and started to polish it with a piece of cloth.
Suddenly, there was banging on the door.
"Amy! Open the door!" the Doctor yelled.
"Toby, open the door! Toby!" Avery yelled.
Rory and Amy ran to the door to deconstruct the barricade.
The door opened the Doctor grabbed the medallion. He started to breathe on it, quickly clouding the surface. The Doctor ran out of the room with Avery following, leaving Amy, Rory, Elise, and Toby standing there confused.
They soon came back in.
"Now what?" Amy asked.
"Now we wait," the Doctor told them.
"Just wait?" Rory asked.
"Not my most dynamic plan, I realize."
"TARDIS?" Amy asked.
"It's been towed."
"What?"
"Sorry. We might 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, like a mirror. If you go out on deck she'll rise up and attack you," Avery said.
"It's okay. The calm won't last forever," the Doctor told them, "When the wind picks up we'll all set sail."
"Until it does, you have to hide down here."
Avery joined the Doctor and Elise up on deck.
The Doctor was teaching Elise about the stars.
Avery looked up at the night sky.
"It's not one star, it's two. The Dog Star, Sirius. Binary system," the Doctor said.
"I use it to navigate the ocean," Avery told him.
"I've traveled far, like you. Space can be very lonely, and the greatest adventure is having someone share it with you." The Doctor looked down at Elise, who smiled at him. "
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, Henry Avery? Respected naval officer, wife and child at home. How did you end up here, wandering the oceans with a band of rogues?"
"I've set my course now. Nothing I can do to alter it."
"People stared at it for centuries and never knew. Things can suddenly change, when you're least expecting." The Doctor patted Avery on the chest before he and Elise went down to the captain's quarters. The Doctor stopped and looked at the windows he had smashed.
Elise looked at him and then looked at the windows. She got a prickling feeling at the top of her spine.
"Doctor? Elise?" Amy asked, coming up behind them.
"Shush."
"What can you see?"
"Feels like something's out there, staring straight at me."
There was a crash of thunder and then lightning.
"Man the sails!" the Doctor yelled, running up on deck.
Elise and Amy ran after him.
Soon, they were being pelted by rain.
"To the rigging, you dogs! Let go the sails. Avast ye! Put the bunt into the slack of the clews!" Avery yelled.
Amy and Rory ran to a set of ropes and started pulling on them.
"I swear he's making half this stuff up!" Amy yelled.
"Well, we're going to need some kind of phrase book!" Rory yelled back.
The Doctor stood at the wheel, directing the ship.
Elise clung to his legs.
"Toby! Find my coat. My compass is inside it, boy. Heave ho, you bilge rats!" Avery yelled.
"Rats was all I could hear!" Rory yelled back.
Toby came towards his father with the coat when a golden crown fell out and rolled across the deck.
The Siren shot out of the crown and flew up into rigging, before coming down to the deck.
"Don't let her take you!" Avery yelled.
Toby walked towards the Siren with his hand out.
"No!" Avery yelled.
Elise let go of the Doctor and ran towards Toby.
"Elise!"
She grabbed onto Toby as he touched the siren. Elise opened her eyes and found she was in a med bay, much like the one on the TARDIS. She'd only been once. She'd been sharpening her charcoals and sliced her hand open.
The Siren was hooking Toby up to machines as she ignored Elise. The Siren disappeared and a second later, appeared with Rory.
"Rory!" Elise yelled, running towards them.
The Siren turned red when she got near him.
"I'm sorry," Elise told her. Elise stepped back and the Siren calmed down.
The Siren floated off to somewhere else.
A few minutes later, the doors to the med bay opened.
"Daddy!" Elise yelled, running towards him.
"Elise!" The Doctor caught her in his arms. "You're okay." He placed several kissed on her hair before he put her down.
"McGrath! He's one of my men," Avery said.
"He's still breathing," Amy observed.
"My entire crew is here. Toby!"
Amy spotted Rory. "Rory!"
"Toby!" Avery said, running over to his son.
"The TARDIS!" the Doctor yelled. He ran towards the plastic sheeting and threw it aside. He'd never been happier to see the big little blue box.
"We have to get him out of here," Avery said.
"Wait," the Doctor told him. He scanned Toby with his screwdriver. "His fever's gone." He walked over to Rory and scanned him.
"He looks so well," Amy said.
"She's keeping him alive. His brain is still active, but all its cellular activity is suspended. It's not a curse, it's a tissue sample," the Doctor told her, "Why get samples of people you are about to kill?"
"Help me get him up."
The Doctor started to unhook Rory from the machines.
They started beeping rapidly.
"She's coming," the Doctor said.
Rory was starting to wiggle around on the metal bed.
The Doctor, Amy, Avery, and Elise hid behind some monitors as the Siren floated in. As she sang her song, Rory went back to sleep.
"Anesthetic", the Doctor realized.
"What?" Amy asked.
"The music. The song. So she anesthetizes people and puts their body in stasis."
The Siren floated over to Toby.
Avery stepped out with his gun raised.
"Avery, no!" the Doctor yelled.
Avery fired his gun and the Siren turned red like when Elise had tried to come near Rory.
The Siren advanced on Avery until the Doctor sneezed. The Siren produced a beam of fire between her hands as she came towards the Doctor.
Amy held Elise back from running over to him.
"Fire. That's new. What does fire do? Burn? Yes. Destroy? What else? Sterilize! I sneezed. I've brought germs in." The Doctor pulled out a handkerchief. He sneezed into it before throwing it on the floor.
The Siren blasted it with fire.
Amy used this distraction and ran to Rory. The Siren started going towards Amy now.
"Amy, stop. 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."
"She's not a killer at all, she's a doctor!"
Amy stopped messing with the Rory's tubes and the Siren returned to her normal state.
"This is an automated sick bay," the Doctor said, "Its teleporting everyone on board. The crew are dead, and so the sick bay has had nothing to do. It's been looking after humanity whilst it's been idle. Look at her. A virtual doctor able to sterilize a whole room."
"Able to burn your face off," Amy reminded him.
"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. Oh, sister, you are good."
Amy reached for Rory and the Siren turned red again.
"She won't let us take them," Avery said.
"She's keeping them alive, but she doesn't know how to heal them," the Doctor explained.
"I'm his wife, for God's sake. Why can't I touch him?" Amy asked.
"Tell her, Amy. Show her your ring." The Doctor grabbed Amy's hand. "She may be virtual but she's intelligent. You can't do anything without her consent. Come on. Sophisticated girl like you. That must be somewhere in your core program."
"Look, he's very ill, okay? I just want to look after him. Why won't you let me near my husband?" A tear fell from Amy's eye and the Siren cocked her head to side.
The Siren held out her hand and a circle of light appeared around it.
"Consent form. Sign it. Put your hand in the light. Rory's sick. You have to take full responsibility," the Doctor told her.
Amy did and the Siren disappeared. Amy turned off Rory's life support and he immediately started gasping for breath.
"He can't breathe. Turn it back on," the Doctor said.
She did and Rory went back to sleep.
"What do we do? I can't just leave him here."
"He'll die if you take him out," Avery said.
"Rory? Rory, wake up," Amy cooed, stroking his hair.
"Where am I?" Rory asked.
"You're in a hospital. If you leave, you might die," the Doctor told him.
"But if you don't, you'll have to stay forever," Amy added.
"You're saying that if I don't get up now...?" Rory asked.
"You can never leave."
"The Siren will keep you safe," the Doctor said.
"And if I come with you?" Rory asked.
"Drowning, on the point of death."
"I'm a nurse."
"What?" Amy asked.
"I can teach you how to save me."
"Whoa. Hold on."
"I was drowning. You just have to resuscitate me."
"Just?"
"You've seen them do it loads of times in films. CPR. The kiss of life."
"Rory, this isn't a film, okay? What if I do it wrong?"
"You won't."
"Okay, what if you don't come back to life? What if...?"
"I trust you."
Amy looked at the Doctor who was walking over to Avery. "What about him? I mean, why do I have to be the one? Why do I have to save you?"
"Because I know you'll never give up. I know you can do this. Of course, if you muck it up I am going to be really cross. And dead."
"I'll see you in a minute."
The Doctor looked at Amy and nodded. He ripped off the restraints and Rory started gasping for breath.
Amy and the Doctor lifted him up and carried him into the TARDIS.
Elise walked over to Toby and Avery. "Goodbye Toby," she said. She leaned down and placed a kiss on his hair.
"Take care of him," Avery said.
Elise nodded, knowing he was talking about her father. Elise entered the TARDIS as Rory started coughing up water.
"Amy. Amy, you did it. You did it!" Rory told her. He sat up and they hugged.
The Doctor smiled and walked up the stairs to the platform. "Did you say goodbye?" the Doctor asked Elise.
She nodded.
"Don't feel like talking?"
Elise shook her head.
The Doctor sighed internally. He missed the days when Elise was loud and outspoken. He hoped she found her voice soon.