Space Bar backroom
"Gentlemen, good news. My agents have procured the exact security software that you requested. The very latest upgrade. I extracted it from the memory of a Judoon trooper. Well, I say extracted. It was quicker to take the whole brain. And to be honest, I don't think he's going to miss it" Dorium, a large blue man, speaks to a cloaked figure.
The cloaked figure holds out its hand for the small box, "Ah, ah, ah. A small matter of payment, I think" Dorium says and the cloaked figure holds out a pouch and he snatches it.
"Delightful. Oh, I do enjoy sentient money, the way it wriggles. You'll find it in the frontal lobe. Should be quite easy, there's not a lot in there. But all this to imprison one child? Oh, I know what you're up to. I hear everything in this place. I even hear rumors about whose child you've taken. Are you mad? You know the stories about the Doctor, the things that woman has done. God help us if you make her angry"
**********
White Room
On Demon's Run, an asteroid modified into a habitation, a baby has been born. His name is Lyall Pond.
"I wish I could tell you that you'll be loved, that you'll be safe and cared for and protected. But this isn't a time for lies. What you are going to be, Lyall is very, very brave" Rory whispers to her baby.
The Eye Patch Lady, Madame Kovarian, steps forward from the line of armed guards, "Two minutes"
Rory just glances at her before she focuses on her baby again, "But not as brave as they'll have to be. Because there's someone coming. I don't know where he is, or what he's doing, but trust me, he's on his way"
**********
Cyberspaceship
Twenty thousand light years away, non-Cybus Industries logoed but otherwise identical cybermen stomps through the corridors.
"Intruder level nine"
"Seal level nine"
**********
White room
"There's a man who's never going to let us down, and not even an army can get in the way"
Madame Kovarian comes to take the baby, "Leave him. Just you leave him. Please leave him! Please, leave him!" Rory cries.
**********
Cyberspaceship
The ship is shaking, "Intruder level eleven"
"Seal levels twelve, thirteen and fourteen"
"Intruder, level fifteen"
**********
White room
Lyall is in a high-tec Moses basket, Rory leans over him as she continues to speak to him, "He has traveled the universe. He has seen places long since passed. And wherever they take you, Lyall, however scared you are, I promise you, you will never be alone. Because this man is your father"
**********
Cyberspaceship
"Prepare to engage"
**********
White Room
"He has a name, but the people of our world know him better"
**********
Cyberspaceship
"As the Boy Who Waited"
A door opens and Andy stands behind it, he speaks to the cybermen inside the room, "I have a message and a question. A message from the Doctor and a question from me. Where is my wife? Oh, don't give me those blank looks. The Twelfth Cyber Legion monitors this entire quadrant. You hear everything. So you tell me what I need to know. You tell me now, and I'll be on my way"
"What is the Doctor's message?" the Cyberleader asks him.
Outside, all the other ships in the Legion explode, Andy stands in front of the mirror so he has everyone attention, "Would you like me to repeat the question?"
**********
London, 1888 A.D.
A horsedrawn cab pulls up and a woman gets out. She references Lady Penelope from Thunderbirds.
"Whoa!" Parker stops the horses.
"Thank you, Parker. I won't be needing you again tonight" The lady dismisses him.
"Yus, my lady"
**********
Vastra's Home
The lady goes into her house and is greeted by her maid, "You're back early, ma'am. Another case cracked, I assume?"
The mysterious lady puts a Samuri sword back on its stand, "Send a telegram to Inspector Abberline of the yard. Jack the Ripper has claimed his last victim"
"How did you find him?"
The lady throws back her hood to reveal that she is a Silurian, "Stringy, but tasty all the same. I shan't be needing dinner"
"Congratulations, ma'am. However, a matter has arisen in the drawing room"
**********
Drawing Room
"It just appeared. What does it mean?" Jenny asks Madam Vastra.
"It means a very old debt is to be repaid" Madam Vastra tells her as she stares at the Tardis, "Pack the cases, Jenny. And we're going to need the swords"
**********
The Battle of Zaruthstra, 4037 A.D.
"Nurse! Nurse! Damn it, where's the nurse!" Harcourt calls out.
"He needs help" A woman cries.
Harcourt moves to the woman, "Madame President, I'm sorry, but we have to go now! Those things could be here any second"
A little boy is lying on a bed in the tent. He is very still. A Sontaran warrior enters, "Did somebody call for a nurse?" Strax tends to the boy.
"Will I be okay?" The Boy asks Strax.
"Of course you will, my boy. You'll be up and around in no time. And perhaps one day, you and I shall meet on the field of battle, and I will destroy you for the glory of the Sontaran Empire"
"Thanks, Nurse" The Boy thanks the Sontaran.
Strax leaves, and Harcourt follows him, "Commander Strax. I just have to ask. A Sontaran nurse?"
"I serve a penance to restore the honor of my clone batch. It is the greatest punishment a Sontaran can endure, to help the weak and sick" Strax explains to him.
"Who came up with that one?"
Suddenly they hear the sound of the Tardis materializing, "Tonight, though, perhaps my penance is over. Captain Harcourt, I hope some day to meet you in the glory of battle, when I shall crush the life from your worthless human form. Try and get some rest"
**********
Stormcage
River Wolf is returning from a Regency era Frost Fair, by the looks of his clothes. The alarms are blaring. He picks up the guard's phone, "Oh, turn it off. I'm breaking in, not out. This is River Wolf, back in his cell. Oh, and I'll take breakfast at the usual time. Thank you"
He sees a figure standing in the corridor, dressed up as a pirate, "Oh, are you boys dressing up as pirates now? I thought nobody read my memos"
"Doctor Wolf. It's Andy. Sorry, have we met yet? Time streams. I'm not quite sure where we are" Andy asks him a little hesitant.
"Yes. Yes, we've met. Hello, Andy" River greets him a little distracted.
"What's wrong?" Andy notices his distraction.
"It's my birthday. The Doctor took me ice skating on the River Thames in 1814, the last of the great Frost Fairs. She got Stevie Wonder to sing for me under London Bridge" River tells him dreamily, thinking about the night he spent with the Doctor.
"Stevie Wonder sang in 1814?" Andy asks confused.
"Yes, he did. But you must never tell him" River giggles, shushing him.
"I've come from the Doctor too"
"Yes, but at a different point in time" River points out.
"Unless there's two of them"
"Now, that's a whole different birthday" River smirks.
"She needs you"
River checks his diary, he has his back to Andy, "Demon's Run" He whispers defeatedly.
"How, how did you know?"
"I'm from her future. I always know. Why on Earth are you wearing that?" River mentions to his pirate attire.
"The Doctor's idea" Andy shrugs.
"Of course. Her rules of engagement. Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee"
"Look ridiculous"
"Have you considered heels?" River teases him.
"They've taken Rory. And our baby. The Doctor's getting some people together. We're going after her, but she needs you, too" Andy tells him.
"I can't. Not yet, anyway"
"I'm sorry?" Andy asks confused and irritated.
River steps back inside of his cell and keeps talking to Andy through the bars, "This is the Battle of Demon's Run. The Doctor's darkest hour. She'll rise higher than ever before and then fall so much further, and I can't be with her till the very end"
"Why not?"
"Because this is it. This is the day she finds out who I am" River tells him, looking actually scared.
**********
Space bar
A large blue skinned alien, Dorium, is packing a small case, "Goodbye"
Madame Kovarian sits at one of the tables with one of her men standing behind her, "You appear to be closing down, Dorium. What have you heard?"
"That you pricked the side of a mighty beast, Madame Kovarian, and entirely failed to run. I admire your courage. I should like to admire it from afar"
"We've been waiting a month. She's done nothing" Madame Kovarian points out.
"Do you really think so? There are people all over this galaxy that owe that woman a debt. By now, a few of them will have found a blue box waiting for them on their doorstep, poor devils" Dorium tells her.
"You think she's raising an army?" the man, Manton, asks him.
"You think she isn't? If that woman is finally collecting on her debts, God help you, and God help her debtors"
"Why?"
"Colonel Manton, all those stories you've heard about her, they're not stories, they're true. Really. You're not telling me you don't know what's coming?" Dorium asks them in disbelief.
"We're wasting our time here"
"Agreed" Madame Kovarian agrees standing up from her seat.
"The asteroid, where you've made your base. Do you know why they call it Demon's Run?" Dorium asks them, making them stop in shock.
"How do you know the location of our base?"
"You're with the Headless Monks. They're old customers of mine" Dorium rolls his eyes.
"It's just some old saying" Madame Kovarian answers his question.
"A very old saying. The oldest. Demons run when a good woman goes to war"
Kovarian and Manton leave. Dorium is about to leave when he hears the Tardis sound, "No. No, no, please. Not me. You don't need me. Why would you need me? I'm old, I'm fat, I'm blue. You can't need me!"
**********
Demon's Run
Colonel Manton addresses his assembled troops, "She is not the devil. She is not a god. She is not a goblin, or a phantom or a trickster. The Doctor is a living, breathing woman, and as I look around this room I know one thing. We're sure as hell going to fix that"
The troops cheer.
**********
White Room
Rory is watching the rally from her window. Lorna enters, "Sorry. I shouldn't be here. I'm meant to be at the thing. I brought you something. Your child's name in the language of my people. It's a prayer leaf and we believe, if you keep this with you, your child will always come home to you" She shows it to Rory, it's what she was sewing earlier.
"Can I borrow your gun?" Rory asks her.
"Why?"
"Because I've got a feeling you're going to keep talking" Rory turns back to the window, "They're talking like she's famous. The Doctor isn't famous"
"She meets a lot of people. Some of them remember. She's sort of like a, I don't know, a dark legend" Lorna explains to her.
"Dark? Have you met her?"
"Yeah. But I was just a little girl"
"So was my husband, I met her later in life" Rory tells her.
"You two have been with her a long time, then" Lorna points out.
"No. She came back for my husband and I joined them then" Rory explains to her.
"You and your husband must be very special"
"Hey. You can wait a long time for the Doctor, but she's worth it, okay? The thing is, she's coming. No question about it. Just you make sure you're on the right side when she gets here. Not for my sake, for yours" Rory takes the prayer leaf, "Thank you"
**********
Demon's Run
"On this day, in this place, the Doctor will fall" Colonel Manton continues his speech to the troops.
"Hoo Rah!"
"The woman who talks, the woman who reasons, the woman who lies, will meet the perfect answer"
"Hoo Rah!"
Three headless monks stand behind him as he speaks, "Some of you have wondered why have we have allied ourselves with the Headless Monks. Perhaps you should have wondered why we call them Headless. It's time you knew what these guys have sacrificed for faith. As you all know, it is a Level One Heresy, punishable by death, to lower the hood of a Headless Monk. But by the divine grant of the Papal Mainframe herself, on this one and only occasion, I can show you the truth. Because these guys never can be persuaded"
Colonel Manton lowers one Monk's hood. It has no head, just the skin of the neck tied off, "They never can be afraid" A second hood lowered, "And they can never, ever be—"
Before Manton can remove the hood of the third monk it takes it off herself and reveals herself to be the Doctor, "Surprised! Ha, ha! Hello, everyone. Guess who. Please, point a gun at me if it helps you relax"
The army takes aim, except for Lorna. The Monks get their flaming swords ready, "You're only human"
**********
Control Room
Lucas and Dominicus have very sharp swords at their throats, "Go on, resist. I am ever so hungry" Madame Vastra hisses at them.
"Now, dear. Which button controls the lights?" Jenny asks them.
**********
Demon's Run
"Doctor, you will come with me right now" Manton demands after he gets over his shock.
"Three minutes forty seconds. Aurora Pond! Get your coat!" The Doctor shouts and puts her hood back on as the lights go out for a few seconds and when it comes back on the Doctor is gone.
"I'm not a phantom" everyone can hear the Doctor over the speakers.
"Doctor?" Manton shouts.
"I'm not a trick"
"Doctor?"
"I'm a monk"
"Doctor, show yourself" Manton shouts at her.
"It's her! She's here! It's her!" The army faces off against the Monks. A shot is fired.
"Weapons down! Do not fire!" Manton tries to control his army but a monk kills a soldier, "No!"
"Do not fire. Nobody discharge their weapon in this room. Nobody! Do not fire!" Manton shouts to get the troops attention. A sonic screwdriver is in use which no one hears.
"Stop. Wait. Listen to me. I am disarming my weapon pack. Monks, I do this in good faith. I am now unarmed. All of you, discharge your weapon packs. The Doctor is trying to make fools of us. We are soldiers of God. We are not fools. We are not fools. We are not fools. We are not fools"
"We are not fools!" the troops repeats what he says.
"We are not fools"
"We are not fools"
**********
Demon's Run
Lorna has left the assembly and found a discarded habit in a corridor. She runs on.
"We are not fools. We are not fools. We are not fools"
Suddenly Silurians beam in to the galleries around the assembly. Some Judoons appear, too. "This base is now under our command" Strax says pointing his gun at Manton.
"I have a fleet out there. If Demon's Run goes down, there's an automatic distress call" Manton points out.
"Not if we knock out your communications array. And you've got incoming" The Doctor tells him still over the speakers.
"Danny Boy to the Doctor. Danny Boy to the Doctor"
"Give 'em hell, Danny Boy" The Spitfires strafe the asteroid's communications array.
"Target destroyed"
"Don't slump. It's bad for your spine" Strax scolds him.
**********
Outside The Airlock
Madame Kovarian's guard have brought Lyall in his sealed-up Moses basket, "Get back in there with the rest of them. Remember, the Doctor must think she's winning, right until the trap closes. I'll take my ship from here"
Lorna has overheard her. "Airlock engaged. Shuttle ready for boarding"
"No" Andy turns up stopping her.
"I have a crew of twenty. How do you expect to gain control of my ship?" Madame Kovarian asks him when the airlock opens. The pirate captain and his young son step out, "This ship is ours, milady"
**********
Control Room
Strax marches Manton in at gunpoint, "All airlocks sealed. Resistance neutralized"
"Sorry, Colonel Manton. I lied. Three minutes forty two seconds" The Doctor tells him.
"Colonel Manton, you will give the order for your men to withdraw" Strax orders him.
"No. Colonel Manton, I want you to tell your men to run away" the Doctor tells him with underlying anger in her words.
"You what?" Manton asks in disbelief.
The Doctor seethes as she explains to him, "Those words. Run away. I want you to be famous for those exact words. I want people to call you Colonel Run Away. I want children laughing outside your door, because they've found the house of Colonel Run Away. And, when people come to you, and ask if trying to get to me through the people I love is in any way a good idea, I want you to tell them your name" she shouts and Madame Vastra hisses in warning.
She takes a calming breath before chuckling, "Oh, look, I'm angry. That's new. I'm really not sure what's going to happen now"
"The anger of a good woman is not a problem. Good women have too many rules" Madame Kovarian points out as she's escorted into the room.
The Doctor turns to her, "Good women don't need rules. Today is not the day to find out why I have so many"
Madame Kovarian stares into her eyes before she speaks to Manton, "Give the order. Give the order, Colonel Run Away"
**********
White Room
Someone is hammering at the door. Rory rummages in a drawer and finds what might be an electric toothbrush, "Who's that? Who's there? You watch it, because I'm armed and really dangerous, and cross"
"Yeah, like I don't know that" Andy points out from the other side of the door.
"Andy? Andy, is that you"
"Yeah, it's me. Look, hang on a minute" It sounds like Andy is trying to sonic his way in.
"They took him. Andy, they took our baby away" Rory tells him sadly.
The door opens. Andy is carrying Lyall, "Now, Mrs Pond, that is never, ever going to happen"
"Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Where's he been? What have they done to him?" Rory rushes to Andy and their baby.
"He's fine. Rory, he's fine. I checked. He's beautiful. Oh God, I was going to be cool. I wanted to be cool. Look at me" Andy starts to cry as he looks at his baby.
"You're okay. Crying pirate with a baby. Definitely cool. Come here, you" Rory drags him into a kiss.
The Doctor turns up and sees them kissing, "Urgh. Kissing and crying. I'll, I'll be back in a bit"
Andy turns to her and orders her in, "Oi, you. Get in here, now. My son. What do you think?"
"Hello. Hello, baby" the Doctor looks to Rory for his name.
"Lyall"
"Lyall? Hello, Lyall Pond" the baby gurgles and the Doctor answers him as if she understood him, "Well yes, I suppose she does smell nice. Never really sniffed her. Maybe I should give it a go. Aurora Pond, come here"
"Doctor" Rory smiles as they hug.
"I'm sorry we were so long" the Doctor apologizes to her.
"It's okay. I knew you were coming. Both of you. My girls" Rory smiles at them.
"It's okay. She's still all yours. And really, you should call her mummy, not big milk thing" the Doctor speaks to the baby again and Rory and Andy share a look.
Finally, Andy breaks the silence to ask her, "Okay, what are you doing?"
"I speak Baby" the Doctor answers.
"No, you don't" Andy denies.
"I speak everything, don't I, Lyall Pond. No, it's not. it's cool" the Doctor says as she straightens her bowtie.
Madame Vastra comes into the room, "Doctor? Take a look. They're leaving. Demon's Run is ours without a drop of blood spilled. My friend, you have never risen higher"
Andy reacts to her words remembering River telling him that the Doctor would rise higher than before then fall further.
**********
Outside The Tardis
Rory carries Lyall out of the Tardis. "Hey, what's wrong?" Andy asks her.
"He doesn't like the Tardis noise. I asked her to turn something off, but it was all, but I don't want to punch a hole in the space-time continuum. Shush" Rory complains to her husband.
"Andy! The Judoon have escorted the Clerics out of the quadrant. Spitfires have returned to their own time. Captain Avery and his men are going. Is he all right?" Jenny asks as the baby continues to cry.
"Yes, he's just crying" Rory tells her.
"Give him to me, human fool. He needs changing" Strax strides over to take the baby from her.
"I just changed him. I think he might need a feed" Rory tells him, holding her baby closer to herself.
"A feed, of course. I'll take care of everything" Strax nods.
"Er, I really don't think you will, actually" Andy butts in.
"I have gene-spliced myself for all nursing duties. I can produce magnificent quantities of lactic fluid" Strax explains before they get interrupted by the Doctor.
The Doctor comes out of the Tardis with a wooden cot that has an orrery dangling over it, "He's not hungry, he's tired. Sorry, Lyall, they're just not listening"
"What's this?" Rory asks her.
"Very pretty, according to your son" The Doctor tells her.
"It's a, it's a cot" Andy points out looking at it.
"No flies on the pirate. Give him here" the Doctor holds out her hands for Lyall and Rory hands him over, "Hey, there we go"
"But where would you get a cot?" Andy asks her confused.
"It's old. Really old. Doctor, er, do you have children?" Rory asks her hesitantly.
"No" the Doctor doesn't look at them, just focuses on Lyall lying in the cot.
"Have you ever had children?"
"No, it's real. It's my hair" the Doctor answers the baby instead of Rory.
"Who slept in here?" Andy asks her softly.
"Doctor, we need you in the main control room" Madame Vastra calls for her.
"Be right there! Things to do. I've still got to work out what this base is for. We can't leave till we know" the Doctor tells them, finally looking at the Pond couple.
"But this is where I was? The whole time I thought I was on the Tardis, I was really here?" Rory asks her, still a little confused.
"Er, Andrew, permission to hug?" The Doctor looks to Andy for permission.
"Be aware, I do have a sword" Andy nods jokingly.
The Doctor brings Rory in to a hug, "At all times. You were on the Tardis, too. Your heart, your mind, your soul. But physically, yes, you were still in this place"
"And when I saw that face looking through the hatch, that woman looking at me"
"Reality bleeding through. They must have taken you quite a while back. Just before America" The Doctor explains to her.
Andy breaks them up, "That's probably enough hugging now. So her Flesh avatar was with us all that time. But that means they were projecting a control signal right into the Tardis wherever we were in time and space"
"Yeah, they're very clever" The Doctor nods in agreement.
"Who are?" Rory asks.
"Whoever wants our baby" Andy tells her.
"But why do they want him?" Rory asks frustrated.
"Exactly" the Doctor nods.
"Is there anything you're not telling us? You knew Rory wasn't real. You never said" Andy points out.
"Well, I couldn't be sure they weren't listening"
"But you always hold out on us. Please, not this time. Doctor, it's our baby. Tell us something. One little thing" Andy begs of her.
The Doctor thinks a little before finally saying, "It's mine"
"What is?" Rory asks confused.
"The cot. It's my cot. I slept in there" she answers their questions from earlier before she walks away to join Madame Vastra.
"Oh, my God. It's the Doctor's first stars" Andy chuckles as he picks at a misshapen star.
"He's—" Rory wipes Lyall's dribble with the prayer leaf.
"Drop your weapons. State your rank and intent. I found it listening at the door" Strax points his weapon at someone. It's Lorna, with her hands up in surrender.
**********
Control Room
"You've hacked into their software, then?" The Doctor asks as she moves into the room.
"I believe I sold it to them" Dorium tells her.
"Ooo. So what have we learned?"
"That anger is always the shortest distance to a mistake" Madame Vastra tells her.
"I'm sorry?" the Doctor questions.
"The words of an old friend who once found me in the London Underground, attempting to avenge my sisters on perfectly innocent tunnel diggers" Madame Vastra reminds her.
"Well, you were very cross at the time"
"As you were today, old friend. Point taken, I hope. Now, I have a question. A simple one. Is Lyall human?" Madame Vastra asks her.
"Sorry, what? Of course he is. Completely human. What are you talking about?" the Doctor asks completely confused.
"They've been scanning him since he was born, and I think they found what they were looking for" Dorium explains to her, showing her the scans on the screen.
"Human DNA" the Doctor points out.
"Look closer. Human plus. Specifically, human plus Time Lord" Madame Vastra reveals to her.
"But he's human. He's Andy and Rory's son" the Doctor points out utterly confused.
"You've told me about your people. They became what they did through prolonged exposure to the time vortex. The Untempered Schism" Madame Vastra reminds her.
"Over billions of years. It didn't just happen"
"So how close is he? Could he even regenerate?" Madame Vastra asks her.
"No, no. I don't think so"
"You don't sound so sure" Madame Vastra points out to her.
"Because I don't understand how this happened" the Doctor snaps.
"Which leads me to ask when did it happen?"
"When?"
Madame Vastra sighs, "I am trying to be delicate. I know how you can blush. When did this baby begin?"
The Doctor blushes, crossing her arms, "Oh, you mean"
"Quite"
"Well, how would I know? That's all human-y, private stuff. It just sort of goes on. They don't put up a balloon, or anything" the Doctor stumbles over her words in embarrassment.
"But could the child have begun on the Tardis in flight, in the vortex" Madame Vastra asks her.
"No! No! Impossible! It's all running about, sexy fish vampires and blowing up stuff. And Rory wasn't even there at the beginning. Then she was dead, then she didn't exist, then she was plastic. Then I had to reboot the whole universe. Long story. So, technically the first time they were on the Tardis together in this version of reality, was on their w—" the Doctor trails off as she comes to a realization.
"On their what?" Madame Vastra asks her.
"On their wedding night" the Doctor whispers.
**********
"It doesn't make sense. You can't just cook yourself a Time Lord" The Doctor argues.
"Of course not. But you gave them one hell of a start, and they've been working very hard ever since" Madame Vastra tells her.
"And yet they gave in so easily. Does this not that bother anyone else?" Dorium points out to them.
"Rory. She worried the baby would have a time head. She said that" the Doctor remembers her conversation with her.
"Only you would ignore the instincts of a mother" Madame Vastra sighs.
"Or the instincts of a coward. This is too easy. There's something wrong" Dorium pressures.
"Why even do it? Even if you could get your hands on a brand new Time Lord, what for?" the Doctor asks confused.
"A weapon?" Madame Vastra suggests.
"Why would a Time Lord be a weapon?" the Doctor asks even more confused.
"Well, they've seen you" Madame Vastra scoffs a little.
"Me?" the Doctor whispers softly in disbelief.
"Mister Maldovar, you're right. This was too easy. We should get back to the others" Vastra and Dorium leaves.
"Me?" the Doctor whispers distractedly. She thinks back to the warehouse in 1969.
"I'd say he's human, going by the life-support software. He climbed out of the suit, like he forced his way out. He must be incredibly strong" River tells her.
Suddenly, Madame Kovarian appears on the screen, "I see you accessed our files. Do you understand yet? Oh, don't worry, I'm a long way away. But I like to keep tabs on you. The child, then. What do you think?"
"What is he?" the Doctor asks her coldly.
"Hope. Hope in this endless, bitter war"
"What war? Against who?"
"Against you, Doctor"
**********
"A child is not a weapon!" the Doctor shouts, still a little shaken that all of this happen because of fear of her.
"Oh, give us time. He can be. He will be"
"Except you've already lost him, and I swear I will never let you anywhere near him again" the Doctor promises.
"Oh, Doctor. Fooling you once was a joy, but fooling you twice the same way? It's a privilege"
The Doctor comes to a realization as she rushes out of the room, "Rory. Rory"
**********
Outside The Tardis
The fight is on as the Doctor runs. Madame Kovarian appears through a hatch behind Rory, who holds Lyall close to herself.
"Demons run when a good woman goes to war. Night will fall and drown the sun, when a good woman goes to war. Friendship dies and true love lies, night will fall and the dark will rise, when a good woman goes to war"
"Rory!" the Doctor shouts as she runs as fast as she can.
"Demons run but count the cost. The battle's won, but the child is lost"
"Rory!"
"Wakey, wakey" Madame Kovarian whispers.
"Rory!"
Lyall suddenly goes splat in Rory's arms, "Andy? Andy! Andy!" Rory shouts in distress as she stares at the cloth where her baby just was.
The Doctor is behind a locked door, she shouts as she struggles with her sonic screwdriver, "Rory, he's not real! Lyall, he's a Flesh avatar. Rory!"
The Doctor runs in. Everything is quiet, "Rory! Rory"
"Yeah, we know" Andy tells her quietly.
The Monks are dead, and Strax is wounded, "It's strange. I have often dreamed of dying in combat. I'm not enjoying it as much as I'd hoped"
"Come on, Strax. Don't give up" Andy encourages him.
"It's all right. I've had a good life. I'm nearly twelve" Strax tells him.
"Listen to me. You'll be back on your feet in no time. You're a warrior"
"Andy, I'm a nurse"
The Doctor goes to where Jenny is comforting Rory, "So they took him anyway. All this was for nothing"
"I am so sorry" the Doctor says as she moves to hug her but Rory backs away from her making the Doctor stop.
"Rory, it's not her fault" Jenny points out to the grieving mother.
"I know. I know" Rory nods, knowing this but she's vulnerable right now.
"Doctor, there's someone who wants to speak to you. Her name is Lorna. She came to warn us" Madame Vastra leads her to Lorna who is sitting leant up against the wall. Lorna is also dying.
"Hey. Hello" the Doctor greets her as she kneels next to her.
"Doctor" Lorna smiles.
"You helped my friends. Thank you"
"I met you once, in the Gamma Forests. You don't remember me" Lorna tells her.
The Doctor lies to her to not disappoint her in her last moments, "Hey, of course I remember. I remember everyone. Hey, we ran, you and me. Didn't we run, Lorna?"
Lorna dies before she could answer her. The Doctor lowers her head in sorrow, "Who was she?"
"I don't know, but she was very brave" Madame Vastra tells her.
"They're always brave. They're always brave" the Doctor whispers dejectedly.
"So, what now? They'd almost certainly have taken him to Earth. Raise him in the correct environment" Madame asks her as they walk back to the Tardis where the others are.
"Yes, they did. And it's already too late" the Doctor tells her.
"You're giving up? You never do that"
"Yeah, and don't you sometimes wish I did?" the Doctor asks her before there is a flash of lightning and River appears before the Tardis.
"Well then, soldier. How goes the day?"
"Where the hell have you been? Every time you've asked, I have been there. Where the hell were you today?" the Doctor seethes as she angrily strode for River.
"I couldn't have prevented this" River shakes his head sadly.
"You could have tried!" the Doctor shouts.
"And so, my love, could you. I know you're not all right. But hold tight, Rory, because you're going to be" River tells Rory before focusing on the Doctor again.
"You think I wanted this? I didn't do this. This, this wasn't me!" the Doctor stutters in her anger.
"This was exactly you. All this. All of it. You make them so afraid. When you began, all those years ago, sailing off to see the universe, did you ever think you'd become this? The woman who can turn an army around at the mention of her name. Doctor. The word for healer and wise woman throughout the universe. We get that word from you, you know. But if you carry on the way you are, what might that word come to mean? To the people of the Gamma Forests, the word Doctor means mighty warrior. How far you've come. And now they've taken a child, the child of your best friends, and they're going to turn him into a weapon just to bring you down. And all this, my love, in fear of you" River tells her.
The Doctor has calmed down slightly, now she is more silently angry, "Who are you?"
River looks a little scared before he slips on his playful mask again and rushes to the cot, "Oh look, your cot. Haven't seen that in a very long while"
The Doctor rushes after him and grabs his wrist to stop him, "No, no, you tell me. Tell me who you are"
"I am telling you. Can't you read?" River mentions to the cot. The Doctor looks to something on the cot before she realizes what River was telling her. The Old High Gallifreyan on the cot is what Rory and Andy focuses on because that's the only thing they can see from where they are standing.
Now she has calmed down completely. She looks at River in a new light and whispers, "Hello"
"Hello" River smirks.
"But – but that means" the Doctor stutters.
"I'm afraid it does"
"Ooo. But you and I, we, we, we, er" she points between before she makes kissing noises to indicate that they have kissed, several times.
"Yes" River grins.
The Doctor is getting all excited with anticipation, "How do I look?"
"Amazing"
"I'd better be"
"Yes, you'd better be"
The Doctor turns to the other occupants of the room, "Vastra and Jenny, till the next time. Rory and Andy, I know where to find your son, and on my life, he will be safe. River, get them all home"
"Doctor!" Rory says to get her attention but the Doctor is now on a mission.
"No! Where are you going?" Andy asks her but the Doctor takes down the forcefield around the Tardis and goes inside, "No!"
The Tardis dematerializes, Rory turns on River, "Where's she going and what did you tell him?"
River looks up from where he was smiling at the cot, "Rory, you have stay calm"
Rory picks up a gun and points it at River, "Tell me what you told the Doctor"
"Rory, no. Stop it!" Andy tries to stop her.
"It's okay, Andy. She's fine. She's good. It's the Tardis translation matrix. It takes a while to kick in with the written word. You have to concentrate" River tells them.
Rory focuses on the high old Gallifreyan but nothing happens, "I still can't read it"
"It's because it's Gallifreyan and doesn't translate. But this will" River holds up the prayer leaf, he hesitates a moment before placing it in Rory's hand, "It's your son's name in the language of the Forest"
"I know my son's name"
River explains to her, "Except they don't have a word for Pond, because the only water in the forest is the River. The Doctor will find your son, and she will care for him whatever it takes. And I know that" The Tardis matrix finally kicks in and Pond gets translated to River and Lyall to Wolf, "It's me. I'm Lyall. I'm your son"