Plans Change

The

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“Hello, sweetie.”

I turned back, seeing River Song. “Melody? What’s happening? Where are we?”

River sighed. “New York Town, 1939.”

My eyes widened. “Angels Take Manhattan.”

==PC==

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“Marry me.” I said.

River just laughed.

“I’m not kidding.” I admitted. “Melody Pond, marry me.”

River blinked, realization in her eyes. “You’re serious.”

“Melody, I am 251 years old. Will you please do me the honor of being my wife?” I requested again.

River seemed more and more surprised. “Where did this come from?”

“What? I’m not allowed to propose to the girl I have had a massive crush on since I met her?” I asked, walking closer to the blonde. “I love you, River Song. You a brash, flirty, insane, hot chick.” I leaned in. “And that insanity sealed the deal.”

River started to smile. “Same here.”

“I finally realized if I want the person I love, I need to tell them. So, Melody Pond, will you say yes to the girl in the dress?”

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“I’m a rebel.” I winked at my future wife.

She laughed. “Alright.”

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“Morgan Spencer.” I whispered in her ear.

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Melody kissed me.

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==PC==

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I lounged on her couch, reading a book.

“Terra?”

“Present.” I lifted up an arm.

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River held up her journal. “I think my father is in.”

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==PC==

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‘New York growled at my window, but I was ready for it. My stocking seams were straight, my lipstick was combat ready, and I was packing cleavage that could fell an ox at twenty feet.’

Amelia: “Doctor, you’re doing it again.”

The Doctor: “I’m reading!”

Amelia: “Aloud. Please could you not?”

The Doctor: “There’s something different about you, isn’t there?”

Rory: “What’s the book?”

The Doctor: “Melody and Tiana Malone. They’re private detectives in old town New York.”

Amelia: “Melody’s got ice in her heart and a kiss on her lips, and a vulnerable side she keeps well hidden. Tiana is far more reserved. Her heart burns like fire, and her eyes seem as ancient as the sun. She’s got her heart on her sleeve.”

The Doctor: “Oh, you’ve read it?”

Amelia: “You read it. Aloud. And then went yowzah!”

Rory: “Only you could fancy someone in a book.”

The Doctor: “I’m just reading it. I just like the cover.”

Amelia: “Ooo, can we see the cover?”

The Doctor: “No, no, I’m busy. It’s your hair! Is it your hair?”

Amelia: “Oh, shut up. It’s the glasses. I’m wearing reading glasses now, on my nose, see? There you go.”

The Doctor: “I don’t like them. They make your eyes look all liney. No, actually, sorry. They’re fine. Carry on.”

Amelia: “You walk among fire pits, Centurion.”

Rory: “Do I have to come over there?”

Amelia: “You can if you like.”

Rory: “Well, we have company.”

Amelia: “I’ll get a babysitter.”

(Rory and Amy kiss.)

The Doctor: “Oh, do you know, it is so humiliating when you do that.”

Rory: “Coffee?”

Amelia: “Coffee.”

The Doctor: “Can I have a go?”

(The Doctor puts on Amy’s reading glasses.)

The Doctor: “Oh, actually, that is much better. That is exciting.”

Amelia: “Read to me.”

The Doctor: “I thought you didn’t like my reading aloud.”

Amelia: “Shut up, and read me a story. Just don’t go yowzah.”

Amelia: “Why did you do that?”

The Doctor: “I always rip out the last page of a book. Then it doesn’t have to end. I hate endings.”

(He puts the page in the picnic basket.)

The Doctor: “(reads) “As I crossed the street, I saw the thin guy, but he didn’t see me. I guess that’s how it began.”

(Rory is walking back with the coffees past a fountain with cherubs. After he has past it, one of the cherubs is snarling, then it vanishes. A child laughs. It’s giggles make Rory keep looking around.)

The Doctor: “(reads) I followed the skinny guy for two more blocks before he turned and I could ask exactly what he was doing here. He looked a little scared, so I gave him my best smile and my bluest eyes.”

(Amy is playing Pooh sticks off the bridge.)

Amelia: “Beware the yowzah. Do not, at this point, yowz. Doctor? What did the skinny guy say?”

The Doctor just kept looking at the book. “He said ‘I just went to get coffees for the Doctor and Amy. Hello River, Hello Terra.”

==PC==

I smiled. “Hello Nurse.”

“Hello Dad.” River greeted.

Rory looked between us, confused and holding up drinks.

“At least one good thing came out of this.” I shrugged, looking up at River. “The Doctor can’t get any coffee. The last thing my boyfriend needs is more caffeine.”

River snorted. “That’s certainly true.”

Rory: “Where am I? How the hell did I get here?”

River: “I haven’t the faintest idea, but you’ll probably want to put your hands up.”

(Because the man behind him is pointing a gun straight at him. Rory puts his hands up. A big black man walks up behind River.)

“Melody and Tiana Malone?” The man asked.

Rory: “You’re Melody?” He turned to me. “And you’re Tiana?”

(A limousine pulls up.) “Get in.” The burly man ordered.

(More)

Rory: “What is going on?”

“April 3rd, 1938.” I told Rory.

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River: “You didn’t come here in the TARDIS, obviously.”

Rory: “Why?”

River: “He couldn’t have.”

River: “This city’s full of time distortions. It’d be impossible to land the TARDIS here. Like trying to land a plane in a blizzard. Even I couldn’t do it.” River said.

“He’ll just bounce off of it.” I said. “Sorry, manboy.”

Rory: “So how did you get here?”

I held up my manipulator.

Rory nodded. “Ah.”

River: “Vortex manipulator. Less bulky than a TARDIS. A motorbike through traffic. You?”

Rory: “I’m not sure.”

“A weeping angel.”

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==PC==

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I saw the yowzah jar. It was still funny.

River: “Ah. Early Qin dynasty, I’d say.”

Grayle: “Correct. Are you an archaeologist as well as a detective?”

River just gave him her all knowing smile.

Grayle: “Early Qin, just as you say. You’re very well informed.”

River: “And you’re very afraid. That’s an awful lot of locks for one door.”

Rory: “River, I’m translating.”

(Chinese characters resolve themselves into English for Rory.)

River: “It’s a gift of the TARDIS. It hangs around.”

“That yowzah better be for me.” I commented under my breath.

Grayle: “This one. Put him somewhere uncomfortable.”

HOOD 1: “With the babies, sir?”

Grayle: “Yes, why not? Give him to the babies.”

River gave me a warning look. I gave her a reluctant look of acceptance. I didn’t like this, not one bit.

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River: “Hello, sweetie.” “Let’s see, crime boss with a collecting fetish. Whatever you don’t let anyone else see has got to be your favourite. Or possibly your girlfriend.”

(River pulls the curtains to reveal a snarling Angel with manacles and chains on it.)

River: “So, girlfriend, then.”

(River starts tapping on her Vortex manipulator keypad.)

Grayle: “What are you doing?”

River: “Oh, you know, texting a boy.”

Grayle: “These things are all over, but people don’t seem to notice. It never moves while you’re looking.”

River: “Oh, I know how they work.”

Grayle: “So I understand. Melody and Tiana Malone, the detectives who investigates Angels.”

River: “Badly damaged.”

Grayle: “I wanted to know if it could feel pain.”

River: “You realize it’s screaming? The others can hear. Is that why you need all the locks?”

“Melody!” I yelped.

The Angel held my hand.

Grayle: “You’re going to tell me all about these creatures. And you’re going to do it quickly.”

River: “The Angels are predators. They’re deadly. What do you want with them?”

Grayle: “I’m a collector. What collector could resist these? I’m only human.”

River: “That’s exactly what they’re thinking.”

(Then all the lights go out.)

Grayle: “What’s that? What’s happening? Is it an earthquake?”

(The wheezing sound of a struggling Type 40 can be heard, and papers start blowing around.)

Grayle: “What is it?”

“Oh, you bad boy. You could burn New York.” I grinned, feeling relieved but at the same time scared.

Grayle: “What does that mean?”

River: “It means, Mister Grayle, just you wait till our husband gets home.”

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Amelia: “Rory? Rory? Rory?”

The Doctor: “Sorry I’m late, honey. Traffic was hell. Shock. He’ll be fine.”

“Not if I can get loose.” I growled.

The Doctor: “So where are we now, Doctor Song? How’s prison?”

River: “Oh, I was pardoned ages ago. And it’s Professor Song to you.”

The Doctor: “Pardoned?”

River: “Mmm. Turns out the person I killed never existed in the first place. Apparently, there’s no record of him. It’s almost as if someone’s gone around deleting himself from every database in the universe.”

The Doctor: “You said I got too big.”

River: “And now no one’s ever heard of you. Didn’t you used to be somebody?”

The Doctor: “Weren’t you the woman who killed the Doctor?”

River: “Doctor who?”

“Not getting any younger.” I said in a sing song tune.

The Doctor ran to my side, his hand automatically reaching for my hip. “Hello Terra.” The Doctor purred in my ear. “And might I say, that yowzah is always for you.”

I smirked, bashfully smiling. He liked the outfit. I was hoping he would. My body leaned into his touch, just oh so still in a honeymoon phase. Whichever relationship, our’s or River’s, it was unclear. Maybe both. “Thought it would impress you.”

“I’m always impressed by you.” The Doctor said, giving me a flirty smile. “Made to New York, surrounded by weeping angels, stopped a mob boss, and all because of a vase. Have I impressed you?”

“Totally and completely.” I flirted. The Doctor smirked, smug.

The Doctor looked up at my wrist. “She’s holding you very tight.”

Terra: “She also didn’t send me back in time.”

The Doctor: “I doubt she’s strong enough.”

I nodded. “Well, I need a hand back, so which is it going to be? Are you going to break my wrist or hers?” The Doctor frowned, and knew it still had to be broken. “Oh. Alright then.”

“I’m sorry.” The Doctor said. “Amy read it in a book, and now I have no choice.”

The Doctor: “You see?

River: “What book?

The Doctor: “Your book. Which you haven’t written yet, so we can’t read.”

River: “I see. I don’t like the cover much.”

“That’s cause it’s not me, right?” I teased. River’s smile told me ‘yes’ though her eyes said ‘my mother is in the room shut up’.

Amelia: “But if River’s going to write that book, she’d make it useful, yeah?”

River: “I’ll certainly try. But we can’t read ahead, it’s too dangerous.”

Amelia: “I know, but there must be something we can look at.”

The Doctor: “What, a page of handy hints, previews, spoiler free?”

“Chapter titles.” Amelia suggested.

The Doctor grinned. He opened the book, going to the beginning of the book. He read down the list of chapter titles.

“He’s in the Cellar!”

“Gimme!” Amelia said, before running out to cellar.

I paused, though, to hear the Doctor read the last chapter.

River: “Doctor? Doctor, what is it? What’s wrong? Tell me. Doctor? Doctor, what is it, tell me. Okay, I know that face. Calm down. Calm down! Talk to me. Doctor!”

“No! Get her wrist out.” The Doctor yelled. “You get her wrist out without breaking it!”

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“If I can do this, I can change everything else too!” I pleaded. “Please River, just please!”

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I was right. It did hurt.

==PC==

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Amelia: “So, is this what’s going to happen? We just keep chasing him and they keep pulling him further back?”

River: “He isn’t back in time. I’m reading a displacement, but there are no temporal markers. He’s been moved in space, not in time, and it’s not that far from here by the look of it.”

The Doctor: “You got out.”

Amelia: “So, where is he?”

The Doctor: “Well, come on, come on, come on, where is he?”

River: “If it was that easy, I’d get you to do it.”

The Doctor: “How did you get your wrist out without breaking it?”

Terra: “You asked, I did. Problem?”

The Doctor: “You just changed the future.”

“My job, manboy.” I said, trying to keep my wrist out of hand reach.

“Terra. What number are we at?” The Doctor asked, out of nowhere

I gulped. Should I lie? “21.” Damn. I couldn’t lie to him, could I?

The Doctor was a bit shocked at that. No. No, that was outright horror. His eyes were wide in shock, as if I just pulled out a knife coated in my own blood. “You mean-”

“I mean a month ago I lost my virginity to you.” I smirked, giddy. His horrific expression softened into one of a kicked puppy. I had just kicked that puppy, dear Story. “It was fun.”

River: “It’s called marriage, honey. Now, hush, I’m working.”

The Doctor: “She’s good, have you noticed? Really, really good.”

River: “Ah, wherever it is, it’s within a few blocks. There’s a car out front. Shall we steal it?”

The Doctor: “Show me!”

“Gah!” I whimpered, holding my wrist in my other hand.

The Doctor: “Okay, when all those numbers on both units go to zero, that’s when we’ve got a lock, okay? It’s how we find Rory.”

Amelia: “Got it.”

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The Doctor: “Why did you lie to me?”

“Rule Three When Traveling With the Doctor.” I whimpered, my wrist hurting like crazy. “Never let him see the damage.”

The Doctor: “It must hurt. Come here.”

I shook my head, pulling away from him. The Doctor came closer, and grabbed my hand. To stop any pain, I let him hold it. “Don’t.” I pleaded. “I’ll be fine.”

“Terra.” He said, the word a plea. How was it that he could make my name mean so many different things?

“Doctor.” I said, trying to say everything. ‘I’m not backing down.’

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Terra: “No. No. No, stop that. Stop that. Stop it!”

The Doctor: “There you go. How’s that?”

(He kisses Terra’s hand.)

Terra: “Let me check.”

(She slaps his face.)

Terra: “That was a stupid waste of regeneration energy. Ah told ya never to save that glowin’ hand at me again! You just threw away your days.”

The Doctor: “Terra-”

“No!” I snapped, going outside. “You embarrass me.”

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Amelia: “Okay, why did you lie?”

River: “Rule Three, never let him see the damage. Rule Four, never ever let him see you age. He doesn’t like endings.”

The Doctor: “Got it. He’s at a place called Winter Quay. The car, yes? Let’s go.”

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==PC==

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River: “Why would they send him here? Why not zap him back in time, like they normally do?”

The Doctor: “We’ll know that when we know what this place is.”

Amelia: “Winter Quay.”

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==PC==

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Amelia: “Rory?”

River: “He’s close.”

Amelia: “Rory!”

(Apartment 802)

Amelia: “Rory!”

Rory: “Amy.”

River: “Doctor, look at this. Why is it smiling?”

(The Doctor seems the nameplate by the door - R Williams.)

The Doctor: “Amy. Rory!”

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The Doctor: “Get out of here! Don’t look at anything. Don’t touch-”

Amelia: “Who’s that?”

(An old man in the bed. He points at them, very 2001 A Space Odyssey.)

OLD Rory: “Amy. Amy, please. Amy, please. Please.”

Amelia: “Rory? He’s you.”

OLD Rory: “Amy.” (Old Rory dies.)

Rory: “Will someone please tell me what is going on?”

The Doctor: “I’m sorry, Rory, but you just died.”

“I consider this a norm.” I admitted.

The Doctor: “This place is policed by Angels. Every time you try to escape, you get zapped back in time.”

Amelia: “So this place belongs to the Angels? They built it?”

The Doctor: “Displacing someone back in time creates time energy, and that is what the Angels feed on. But normally, it’s a one off, a hit and run. If they could keep hold of their victims, feed off their time energy over and over again. This place is a farm. A battery farm. How many Angels in New York?”

River: “It’s like they’ve taken over every statue in the city.”

The Doctor: “The Angels take Manhattan because they can, because they’ve never had a food source like this one. The city that never sleeps.” (Slow heavy footsteps outside the window.)

Rory: “What was that?”

The Doctor: “I don’t know. But I think they’re coming for you.”

Rory: “What does that mean? What is going to happen to me? What is physically going to happen?”

The Doctor: “The Angels will come for you. They’ll zap you back in time to this very spot, thirty, forty years ago. And you’ll live out the rest of your life in this room, until you die in that bed.”

Rory: “And will Amy be there?”

The Doctor: “No.”

Amelia: “How do you know?”

The Doctor: “Because he was so pleased to see you again.”

Rory: “Okay. Well, they haven’t taken me yet. What if I just run? What if I just get the hell out of here? Then that never happens.”

The Doctor: “It’s already happened. Rory, you’ve just witnessed your own future.”

River: “Doctor, he’s right.”

The Doctor: “No, he isn’t.”

River: “If Rory got out, it would create a paradox.”

(Still the slow heavy footsteps.)

Amelia: “What is that?”

River: “This is the Angels’ food source. The paradox poisons the well. It could kill them all. This whole place would literally unhappen.”

The Doctor: “It would be almost impossible.”

River: “Loving the almost.”

The Doctor: “But to create a paradox like that takes almost unimaginable power. What have we got, eh? Tell me. Come on, what?”

Amelia: “I won’t let them take him. That’s what we’ve got.”

Rory: “Whatever that thing is, it’s getting closer.”

The Doctor: “Rory, even if you got out, you’d have to keep running for the rest of your life. They would be chasing you for ever.”

Amelia: “Well, then. Better get started.”

(She opens the apartment door. There is an Angel outside.)

Amelia: “Husband, run!”

(Amy and Rory run past the Angels. The lights flicker.)

Amelia: “Up!”

Rory: “What good’s up?”

Amelia: “Better than down!”

(More)

==PC==

(More)

Rory: “I always wanted to visit the Statue Of Liberty. I guess she got impatient.”

(Rory runs to the opposite edge, behind Amy’s back.)

Amelia: “What? What is it, what?”

Rory: “Just keep your eyes on that.”

Amelia: “Is there a way down?”

Rory: “Er, no. But there’s a way out.” (Rory climbs up onto the ledge.)

Amelia: “What are you doing? Rory, what are you doing?”

(Amy turns around and goes to him.) Amelia: “Rory, stop it. You’ll die.”

Rory: “Yeah, twice, in the same building on the same night. Who else could do that?”

Amelia: “Just come down, please.”

Rory: “This is the right thing to do. This will work. If I die now, it’s a paradox, right? The paradox kills the Angels. Tell me I’m wrong. Go on, please, because I’m really scared. Oh, great. The one time you can’t manage it. Amy, I’m going to need a little help here.”

(Rory takes Amy’s hand and puts it on his chest.)

Amelia: “Just stop it!”

Rory: “Just think it through. This will work, this will kill the Angels.”

Amelia: “It’ll kill you too.”

Rory: “Will it? River said that this place would be erased from time, never existed. If this place never existed, what did I fall off?”

Amelia: “You think you’ll come back to life?”

Rory: “When don’t I?”

Amelia: “Rory.”

Rory: “And anyway, what else is there? Dying of old age downstairs, never seeing you again? Amy, please. If you love me, then trust me, and push.”

Amelia: “I can’t.”

Rory: “You have to!”

Amelia: “Could you? If it was me, could you do it?”

Rory: “To save you, I’d do anything.”

(Amy gets up on the ledge next to Rory.)

Amelia: “Prove it.”

Rory: “No, I can’t take you too.”

Amelia: “You said we’d come back to life. Money where your mouth is time.”

Rory: “Amy, look.”

Amelia: “Shut up. Together, or not at all.”

(More)

The Doctor: “What the hell are you doing!”

Amelia: “Changing the future. It’s called marriage.”

(Gazing into each others eyes, Amy and Rory fall off Winter Quay.)

The Doctor: “Amy! Amy!”

(Balls of energy gather and flicker around the roof.)

River: “Doctor! What’s happening?”

The Doctor: “The paradox. It’s working! The paradox is working!”

(More)

==PC==

(More)

Rory: “Where are we?”

The Doctor: “Back where we started. You collapsed the timeline. The paradox worked. We all pinged back where we belong.”

Rory: “What, in a graveyard?”

Amelia: “This happened the last time. Why always here?”

The Doctor: “Does it matter? We got lucky. We could’ve blown New York off the planet. I can’t ever take the TARDIS back there. The timelines are too scrambled. I could have lost you both. Don’t ever do that again.”

Rory: “What did we do? We fixed it. We solved the problem.”

The Doctor: “I was talking to myself.”

(More)

River: “It could do with a repaint.”

The Doctor: “I’ve been busy.”

River: “Does the bulb on top need changing?”

The Doctor: “I just changed it.”

River: “So. Rory and Amy, then.”

The Doctor: “Yes. I know, I know.”

River: “I’m just saying. They’re going to get terribly bored hanging round here all day.”

Rory: “Doctor.”

The Doctor: “Ha!”

Rory: “Look, next time, could we could just go to the pub?”

The Doctor: “I want go to the pub right now. Are there video games there? I love video games.”

River: “Right. Family outing, then.”

“Rory, get back in the TARDIS, now.” I ordered.

“But-”

“Now!” I barked. My eyes went back to the area behind Rory. The Angel would be there any second.

“Terra, what’s wrong?” Amelia asked. “He’s fine.”

“What about the Angel that sent him back to 1938?” I asked. “What happened to that one? It existed in this time, so it wasn’t have been killed during the Paradox. It wants revenge.”

“You’re talking like you know it’s coming.” Amelia said.

I growled. “Rory, get to the TARDIS now!”

“Doctor, Terra’s-RORY!”

(More)

River: “Where the hell did that come from?”

The Doctor: “It’s a survivor. Very weak, but keep your eyes on it.”

Amelia: “Where’s Rory?”

(The Doctor sees Rory’s gravestone - aged 82.)

The Doctor: “I’m sorry. Amelia, I’m so, so sorry.”

Amelia: “No. No, we can just go and get him in the TARDIS. One more paradox.”

The Doctor: “Would rip New York apart.”

Amelia: “No, that’s not true. I don’t believe you.”

River: “Mother, it’s true.”

The Doctor: “Amy, what are you doing?”

Amelia: “That gravestone, Rory’s, there’s room for one more name, isn’t there?”

The Doctor: “What are you talking about? Back away from the Angel. Come back to the TARDIS. We’ll figure something out.”

Amelia: “The Angel, would it send me back to the same time? To him?”

The Doctor: “I don’t know. Nobody knows.”

Amelia: “But it’s my best shot, yeah?”

The Doctor: “No!”

River: “Doctor, shut up. Yes. Yes, it is.”

The Doctor: “Amy.”

Amelia: “Well, then. I just have to blink, right?”

The Doctor: “No!”

Amelia: “It’ll be fine. I know it will. I’ll be with him, like I should be. Me and Rory together. Melody?”

The Doctor: “Stop it. Just, just stop it!”

Amelia: “You look after them. You be a good girl, and you look after them.”

The Doctor: “You are creating fixed time. I will never be able to see you again.”

Amelia: “I’ll be fine. I’ll be with him.”

The Doctor: “Amy, please, just come back into the TARDIS. Come along, Pond, please.”

Amelia: “Raggedy man, goodbye!”

I took a deep breath, trying to hold in my emotions.

(More)

“You could have done something!” The Doctor snapped.

*SLAP*

I fell to the ground, reaching up to my cheek. It stung, horribly. I hissed when I touched it. There was a sharp pain on the back of my head.

Reaching back to it, I felt I had landed on Amelia and Rory’s grave. It hurt so much. I looked up the Doctor, to see if what happened really did.

The Doctor was looking down at his hand like it betrayed him. His green eyes were large, filled with a whole other type of heartbreak.

He just slapped me. Good. I deserved it. I couldn’t save the Ponds.

“Doctor! The Angel!” River yelled.

I screamed as I felt the Angel grab me.

“TERRA!” The Doctor screamed.

The manipulator activated. I jumped away.