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saiilorstars · 3 years

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Falling in Temptation

Previous chapters • Sequel to Stars Dance • Fairy Tale Memoirs (Companion story)

Ch. 25: The Girl Who Waited

Fandom: Doctor Who // Pairing: 11th Doctor x OFC

Chapter summary: Amy gets separated from each other and when the Doctor finally finds a way back, they find a much older Amy Pond waiting for them. Now he has to watch as the little cluster of Ponds (including Avalon herself) decide which version of Amy they should bring back home. It makes the Doctor ask himself if his own relationship with Avalon will one day end up as broken as Amy's and Rory's nearly was.

Taglist: @ocfairygodmother @anotherunreadblog @maaaaarveeeeel @stareyedplanet @perfectlystiles

[If you’d like to be added to this specific OC’s stories/edits, send me a message!]

Can we please meet her? I promise I won't cause trouble?" Avalon was asking, or rather trying to ask calmly. She was trying her best not to look as annoyed as she was. She was currently at the bottom of the console stairs against the rail with the Doctor in front of her, pressing a trail of soft kisses down her neck. She'd succumbed to him quite easily since he'd chosen to keep wearing that dark brown coat she seemed to love so much. He'd figured it out very fast. Now Avalon wasn't complaining one bit about that but she was hoping to use this current moment of pleasure for both to get something she'd been wanting for some time now.

"Jane Austen was and is one of the most renowned writers. And for someone like me, it would be amazing to meet her," Avalon explained with her best soft tone, "I think it's good to get some perspective outside of Zelda. Please, won't you take me?"

The Doctor finally lifted his head to look at her. "That depends..."

"On?"

"We get to make it a date," the Doctor smirked.

"Done and done!" Avalon quickly took the deal, "So we're going, then!?"

"Sure, why not? Haven't seen Janie in a long time."

Suddenly, Avalon's joy faltered and she put a hand on her hip, "No, hold on, you call her...Janie?" she tilted her head, "So you know her then...? And you even gave her a little nickname."

"...so...?" the Doctor did not like where this conversation was headed to.

"So?" Avalon blinked and nearly pouted, "Doctor!"

"This is going bad very fast," the Doctor frowned, mightily confused, "Let's get back to the kissing, I liked the kissing, kissing was fun and peaceful."

"How long have you known this 'Janie'?" Avalon did air quotation marks, "Does she know about me now?"

The Doctor sighed. While it was a bit, or a lot, of fun to see Avalon getting so worked up over a woman he could hardly care less about, he had to stop her before she truly became angry. Last time she stopped talking to him for a week. He pulled Avalon against him and put a finger over her lips, "Ava, I happen to give nearly everyone I know nicknames," he pointed out, "I call Amy 'Pond 1', Rory 'Pond 2', and then I call Lena 'baby sister'. It just so happens that I met Jane Austen and call her 'Janie'. I appreciate Janie, and I love all our friends but it's all friendly I promise."

"But do you know if the writer likes you more than a friend?" Avalon raised an eyebrow, "Cos, she may, you know...and then when we get there...she'll take you away...and then try to kiss you or something."

The Doctor let out a small laughter, "We're friends, that's all!"

"That's never stopped anyone before!"

"Okay, but I have a you now. The only lips I will be kissing are these," he tapped Avalon's lips with a smile, "Now, can we please get over this jealousy scene and return to kissing?"

Avalon playfully rolled her eyes, "Yeah, yeah...but we're going to see Jane Austen, right?"

"What ever you want, love," the Doctor promised as he leaned over to kiss her again. In no time he had Avalon kiss back and resume their moment alone.

"Can you please stop snogging my best friend in front of my wife and I?" came Rory's plead as he and Amy walked in from the downstairs corridor.

The Doctor lightly sighed as he pulled away from Avalon, "Maybe we should go on that date right now..." he offered to Avalon who chuckled.

"Oh no, you're not," Amy shook her head, making the pair look at them, "You two have been blowing us off for your dates for weeks now. We-" she pointed between her and Rory, "-were promised time and space, not 'chuck us out to the nearest planet while you two have dates'."

"We just wanted to be alone," Avalon tried to excuse.

"And do what? Snog all the time? Those are not dates," Rory wagged a finger at them both.

"Don't know they sound like dates to me," Avalon bit her lip and looked up at the Doctor who snickered.

"C'mon guys, I'm happy that you're both doing well in this relationship, but don't you think it's time you co-live with us?" Rory asked and gestured to himself and Amy, "And you know, move away from stage 1?"

"Stage one? What's stage one?" the Doctor made a face and looked at Avalon.

"It's this silly human idea about relationships," the ginger sighed and draped her arms around his neck, "See, stage one is the one where we can't keep our hands off each other. We kiss and kiss, and you know...sometimes...go beyond that."

Rory cleared his throat and gave them sharp looks, "It doesn't always go beyond that."

Amy chuckled at his over-protection and stepped in to continue the explanation, "And stage two is the part where you finally settle down and start co-existing with other people. So, for example, you two could stop this stage one thing and try to coexist with us."

"Is there a stage three?" the Doctor curiously asked.

"That's marriage and you are not getting there yet," Rory answered mightily fast and with a pointed finger at the Time Lord, "Stage 2, stage 2 is perfectly fine."

"Guys, thanks for your input but we're okay," Avalon cut in and leaned on the Doctor for a reciprocated hug.

"We're not trying to push your or anything," Amy clarified their intentions, "It's just...there's a lot more to relationships than kisses."

"Believe us, we know," the Doctor wrapped his arm around Avalon's waist.

Of course he loved the kissing and all but he and Avalon were both on the same page when it came to the point of their relationship. It wasn't fooling around, they loved each other. He had no doubt in his mind that he would give anything to make her happy. Avalon felt the same. It just seemed like Amy and Rory had to be clued in.

"I've got a compromise," the Doctor spoke up, "How about we go to one place altogether and then afterwards, we go have our date?" He ended up looking at Avalon for the answer.

"That sounds good," she nodded, "Anywhere in mind?"

"Has to be amazing," Amy pointed.

"And fun," Rory added.

"Apalapucia!" The Doctor happily declared when the TARDIS stopped. He was really excited to show the Ponds, including his Pond, the gorgeous planet. It would be a leisure trip for them and hopefully a little fun date with Avalon too.

"Say that again?" Amy tilted her head, confused like the others.

"Apalapucia."

"Apalapu...?" Avalon tried to repeat the word but found it was harder than it seemed. "Are you just making up words now? Because we've talked about this."

"Cia," the Doctor tapped her nose, amused at her effort. "Apalapucia!"

"Apalapucia," Rory tried last and got it on the first try. He grinned proudly.

"Apalapucia. What a beautiful word," Amy considered it with a small shrug.

"Beautiful word, beautiful world," the Doctor assured, "Apalapucia, voted number two planet in the top ten greatest destinations for the discerning intergalactic traveller."

Avalon made a face at that, "So then how come we're not going to number one?"

"It's hideous," the Doctor declared, "Everyone goes to number one. Planet of the coffee shops. Apalapucia! I give you sunsets, spires, soaring silver colonnades!" he grabbed her hand and led her and the Ponds towards the doors, "I give you..." he threw open the doors to show them an empty white space with a double-set, grey doors across.

"Doors," Avalon finished with him, her head tilted and arms crossed as she studied the new environment.

"Doors," the Doctor was disappointed his little moment hadn't turned out how he planned, "Yes...I give you doors..."

"Oh yeah, definitely better than number one," Avalon remarked as they stepped out.

"Well on the other side of those doors I give you sunsets, spires, soaring silver colonnades," the Doctor said as he walked over to the doors with her and Rory.

"Have you seen my phone?" Amy finished putting on her jacket and remained at the doorway of the TARDIS.

The Doctor stopped and turned around, even more so disappointed no one was really seeing the grandness of the planet. "Your phone phone?"

"Yeah."

"Your mobile telephone? I bring you to a paradise planet, two billion light years away, and you want to update Twitter?"

"Sunsets. Spires. Soaring silver colonnades. It's a camera phone," Amy sighed as he failed to realize the reason for her phone. She wanted to capture it all and he didn't see that? Total clueless alien, that's what he was.

"On the counter, by the DVDs," the Doctor gestured.

"Thank you," she waved and headed inside the TARDIS.

"How do we get in?" Rory was in front of the doors that were locked.

"I don't know, push a button," the Doctor shrugged and pointed to the panel beside the doors which had two buttons, one green and another red.

Rory pressed the green button and opened the doors, revealing another white room with a table in the center and a large, magnifying glass on top.

"OK, so, rain check on the soaring silver colonnades," the Doctor gave up.

"No kidding," Avalon chuckled, "Is this like Sherlock Holmes or something?" she walked to the table and looked at the magnifying glass.

"Hey?" they heard Amy from the other side, the doors had closed after they'd walked into the room, "Hey, it's locked."

"Yeah, push the button," Rory called out. They waited a couple seconds but Amy never came inside, "Where is she?" Rory sighed as he headed for the doors and opened them up. He peered out and still saw no Amy, "Where on wherever we are is my wife?"

"What are you doing?" Avalon asked as the Doctor took a seat at the table, beside her.

"Playing Sherlock Holmes," the Doctor shrugged and pressed a button on the magnifying glass. Immediately, they both saw a blurry picture of Amy through the glass.

"Oh..." Avalon blinked, "...Rory, I think we found her..."

"What do you mean you've found her?" Rory returned to the room and stopped beside them to see his wife through the glass, "Whoa! No, but, she's not... she's not here! I can see her, but she's not here."

"Where am I? In fact, where are you?" Amy seemed to be looking around the glass, also confused.

Suddenly, the door at the other end of the room opened up to reveal a white handbot on the other side. Both Avalon and Rory stood straight and looked at the robot that had no face but did have real hands.

"Its hands..." Avalon pointed, already creeped out. That just wasn't right.

"Hands! Hello. Hands. Handbot with hands, Ava," the Doctor seemed less than concerned with their new guest.

"Welcome to the Twostreams Facility. Will you be visiting long?"

"Er, Doctor. Something's happening," Amy tapped the glass and made the Doctor look down to see the image was fading.

"Amy! Stay calm! Stay still!" the Doctor tried to get the image back.

"I don't think she has much of a choice," Avalon remarked to him, "Where is she?"

"Will you be visiting long?" the handbot asked again and reached for the trio.

" Good question, bit sinister," Rory panicked as the handbot started backing only him, "What's the answer to not get us killed?"

"Because that always works?" Avalon called.

"How about some help, then, Ava?"

"I'd love to...but I have no idea how to stop that," Avalon went after the handbot while the Doctor continued working on the glass, "Plus, have you seen those hands?" She stared at the rubbery-looking hands on the robot.

"Will you be visiting long?"

"And where have you been?" Amy's voice drifted over, sounding a bit irritated, "I've been here a week!"

"A week!?" the Doctor was appalled to hear, "A week?! I'm so sorry! Aha! Same room, different times. Two timestreams running parallel but at different speeds. Amy, you're in a faster timestream."

"Doctor, it's going again!" the ginger cried as the image flickered.

"Will you be visiting long?"

Avalon stepped in between Rory and the robot and kicked it back, "We don't know!" she yelled at it, "Now stay back."

"Come on. Gotcha! There. Stabilized, settled, shh!" the Doctor exclaimed once the image started appearing back on the glass.

"Thank you boyfriend for your help," Avalon called and made the Doctor look up to see her and Rory with the handbot.

"I told you I was coming up with a better label!" He said with a frown.

"Well, next time come help us and I'll remember that!"

"Sorry," he quickly stood up and hurried over to them.

"Why has this got hands?" she hoped she would finally get an answer on those hands. The more she looked at them, the creepier they were.

"Organic skin," the Doctor explained, "Ultimate universal interface, grown and grafted, not born. It's actually seeing with its fingers, scanning the room. But why not just give it eyes?"

"Will you be visiting long?"

"I just answered that stupid question," Avalon rolled her eyes.

"As long as it takes," the Doctor answered then returned to the magnifying glass, "Amy, what exactly did you do?"

"I just, I came in, and I pressed the door button."

"Ah... Amy, there are two buttons," Rory called, "Green anchor, red waterfall. Which one did you push?"

"I pushed the red waterfall," Amy quietly responded.

"Great," Rory rolled his eyes and opened the doors to go retrieve his wife.

"All because you wanted to update Twitter," Avalon joked as she joined the Doctor at the table.

"No, I didn't!" Amy frowned.

The doors reopened and in came Rory, looking confused and a bit irritated, "I pressed Red Waterfall, and she wasn't there!"

"So you can't follow her directly. You know, it's never simple!" the Doctor groaned, "Hear that, Handbot? She just pressed the wrong button. We're aliens, we didn't know," he turned for the robot.

"Statement... rejected," the handbot's two blinking lights on its chest stopped at a red light, "Apalapucia is under planet-wide quarantine. This is a kindness facility for those infected with Chen7."

The Doctor quickly covered his mouth and nose with his jacket's collar, "What?" At the action, Avalon and Rory did the same.

"What's Chen7?" Avalon asked, her voice slightly muffled with her cardigan's sleeve.

"The one day plague."

"What, you get it for a day?" Rory raised an eyebrow.

"No, you get it, and you die in a day."

"We should've gone to number one," Avalon mumbled.

"There are 40,000 residents in the Twostreams Facility. Please remain in the sterile areas. Visiting hours are now," the handbot lowered its hands and put them together, transporting away and leaving trio in the room

Slowly, everyone lowered their jackets, the Doctor being the first to heave a heavy sigh, "Sterile area, I'm safe."

Amy smacked the glass from her side and made everyone look back, "What about me!"

"Chen7 only affects two-hearted races like Apalapucians," the Doctor explained and calmed her nerves.

"And Time Lords, apparently," Avalon added.

"Yeah, like me. In that facility, I'm dead in a day," the Doctor didn't want to think about that and instead focused on their friend, "Time moves faster on Amy's side of the glass. Amy, you said you'd been here a week. What did you eat?"

Amy shrugged, "Nothing. I wasn't hungry."

"No, because Red Waterfall time is compressed. That's the point. The Time Glass syncs up the timestreams for visits. You could be here for a day, watch them live out their entire lives."

"And watch them grow old in front of your eyes? That's horrible," Rory made a face and shook his head.

"No, Rory, it's kind. You've got a choice. Sit by their bedside for 24 hours and watch them die, or sit in here for 24 hours and watch them live. Which would you choose?" the Doctor didn't wait for an answer as he picked up the glass.

"Doctor!?" they heard Amy shout in distress, "Doctor, don't leave me!"

"We're here, Amy," the Doctor was holding the glass where they could all see the frantic ginger, "We're right here."

"Where are you?" she looked around, "Am I looking at you?"

"Turn left, just a fraction," he instructed, "Bit more, stop. That's it."

"Eye to eye?"

"Eye to eye to eye."

"Hello," Rory waved once Amy was looking straight at them.

"Amy, I'm taking the Time Glass back to the TARDIS. Like satnav, I'll use it to get a lock, then smash through, using the TARDIS to get you out," the Doctor explained while using the sonic on the glass, "Until then, you're on your own."

"What are you doing?" Avalon asked him.

"Locking onto Amy. Small act of vandalism, no-one'll mind."

"Mm, yes, and how many times has that actually been the truth?" Avalon made the question only a mere second before an alarm went off, "Oh, look at that..."

The Doctor knew there was no time to waste and so explained to Amy what she needed to do, "Amy, I need you to go into the facility just for a bit. Find somewhere safe and leave me a sign. Remember, you're immune to Chen7, but don't let them give you anything. They don't know you're alien. Their kindness will kill you. Now go!"

Amy hurried to the door of her room and pressed the button, looking back at the glass just as they opened for her, "Rory, I love you. Now, save me. Go on."

As soon as Amy was gone, the trio ran back into the TARDIS to go and save her. The Doctor put the time glass into the console, "This is locked onto Amy permanently. Play the signal into the console, the TARDIS'll follow it," he explained to the others while attaching a cable to the glass. Unfortunately, as soon as he did that, smoke spewed from the console. The Doctor ignored it and pulled out a tool chest from underneath, "Now then, I know you're in here. Um... erm.. Haha!" he pulled out black-rimmed glasses and put them on, "How do I look?"

"Ridiculous," Avalon and Rory answered simultaneously.

At that point, the Doctor felt like the remark 'they are so family' would've been good, if only Avalon knew.

"Glasses are cool," he said instead and put the glasses on Rory, "Oh, yes. Hello, handsome man."

"Oh, hello," Rory gave a small wave.

"Uh, Rory..." Avalon pointed to the large monitor behind them where the Doctor was visible, clearly the glasses being the camera filming it.

"Rorycam!" the Doctor cheered.

"Conceited," Avalon spat, "You think you're so handsome..."

"Funny cos about an hour ago you weren't telling me otherwise," the Doctor sent her a smug smile. Avalon straightened up, clearly no words in mind to respond back which only made the Doctor's smug smile widen with triumph, "So, we're breaking into the Twostreams," he turned for Rory, "Now, I can't go in, the Chen7'll kill me on the spot. You will be my eyes and ears."

"Rory-cam," Rory nodded, "Rescue Amy. Got it."

"We'll be in and out, no problem," Avalon added.

"N-n-n-n-n-no," the Doctor promptly turned to her, "I specifically left your name out. You won't be going either."

She raised an eyebrow, "And why not?"

"Dangerous."

"My name," she pointed at herself with a smile.

"Ah, no your name is Avalon Harm-"

"Don't finish that," Avalon pointed at Rory, "You know I despise that name. Now I'm going and that's that."

"But-" the Doctor went to argue but Rory cut in and pointed for the console. They could figure out what they were going to do after they set into Amy's timestream place.

It was no surprise that the TARDIS would put up some kind of fight as they tried crossing timestreams. But in the end, the box finally allowed them to land in the correct timestream.

Rory stepped out of the TARDIS with the glasses on and the time glass on a belt worn across his body, "Red Waterfall! We made it," he cheered and looked around the gallery room.

Inside the TARDIS, Avalon was trying to get herself out there to help Rory but the Doctor was refusing to let her arm go. No matter how strong she was, she just wasn't stronger than him.

"I can go help," Avalon argued with him, "C'mon!"

"Ava, I would feel much better if you stayed here with me," the Doctor pleaded to her to rethink this, "Stay here, yeah?" he tugged her closer to him and wrapped an arm around her waist.

Avalon heaved a big sigh and looked at him, "Hey, we've spent an awful lot of time together lately. This is serious and my friend's out there, on her own. Let me go help."

"Rory's going to help and we can help from here," the Doctor gestured to the console.

"Okay, look," Avalon decided to try something else, perhaps the one thing that could make him understand, "Last time we went on a trip, all of us, Amy took the bullet for me and saved me from becoming a wooden doll. She's in trouble now and it's my turn to save her. You understand that, right?"

The Doctor of course understood that. Amy had told him about the reason why she'd become a doll in the first place; it would've been Avalon if Amy hadn't intervened and she was not going to let her granddaughter suffer.

"I'll be sure to make up for this later, okay,?" Avalon assured and leaned up, "With lots of kisses here and there," she smirked as she made her promise, even giving him a previous of her kisses to make her point.

"I hate that you have this power over me," the Doctor sighed with resignation. No, actually, he did not hate it. Who would hate to be kissed by her? Not him!

Avalon smiled in triumph, trying not to seem as smug as she really was, "Don't know what you're talking about," she kissed him a second time, "Gotta run," and she planted a third kiss which became a bit deeper than the last two, "Woah," Avalon blinked with a partial daze, "Gotta run...ish..." she shook her head and recollected herself, "Rory!" she called as she ran out.

Rory had been busy looking at the different collections the planet had in the gallery room, "Managed to convince him, huh?"

"Uh, yes," Avalon flashed a smile and closed the TARDIS doors.

"Dare I ask how?"

"Um...I don't think you want to know," Avalon fixed part of her hair and walked up to him.

Rory sighed, "This is just too weird sometimes."

Avalon rolled her eyes, "So then, Doctor, how do we find Amy?" She looked at the glasses.

"Rory, switch the Time Glass on and sonic it," came the Doctor's voice, "I'll send a command to the screwdriver. Amy's here somewhere. If I can just get a lock on her. I wonder what happens if we mix the filters?" Rory pulled out the Doctor's sonic and held the time glass in front of him and Avalon. As soon as the sonic finished on the glass, they all saw dozens of people in a blurred image, all milling about.

"And there they are. 40,000 time streams overlapping. Red Waterfall isn't one time stream. It's thousands," the Doctor informed as the two companions stared in awe.

"Are they happy?" Avalon frowned, wondering if being locked in a facility could be better than dying.

"Oh my Ava," the Doctor sighed, "Trust you to think of that. I think they're happy to be alive. Better than the alternative."

Rory lowered the glass in time for he and Avalon to catch a person running towards them, dressed in armor and with a katana aimed at them. They barely had time to process when the person knocked them both down.

"We come in peace!" Rory found no other words coming to mind, "Peace, peace, peace, peace!"

"Yeah Rory, cos that's gonna work!" Avalon rolled her eyes and sat up, flicking the katana at his throat, "Nice sword..." she had to remark.

"Ava!" Rory scolded. Leave it to her to praise a weapon being used against them. River Song was definitely her mother.

"I waited," the person finally spoke.

"Sorry, what?" Avalon looked up, half irritated with the scold.

"I waited for you," the person repeated and pulled the katana away. "I waited!" she pulled off her helmet to show herself. It left both Rory and Avalon quite stunned.

"Oh my..." Avalon's eyes widened at the sight of a much older Amy.

Rory's mouth had fallen open and while he tried to put his thoughts into a coherent sentence, all that came out were stammers. "A-Amy..wh-what's..."

"Doctor, what the hell is going on?" Avalon found it easier to ask the question.

Unfortunately, all that came out of the Time Lord was, 'Er..." He had no idea how he could've messed this up.

"Amy," Rory stood to his feet and helped Avalon, both still staring at the older ginger.

"I think the time stream lock might be a bit wobbly," the Doctor finally said something coherent.

"You think?" Avalon snapped.

Amy drew her sword to strike and scared the two. "No, please!" Rory pulled Avalon behind him, "Please!"

"Duck," Amy ordered and immediately the two did, allowing her to sink her sword through a handbot's head behind them. She put away her sword and moved over to the handbot, bending down beside it and pulling out a small, black box, "Handbots carry a black box in case they go offline. I've changed the cause of termination from hostile to accidental. Easy to re-program. Using my sonic probe."

"Amy," Rory called again, his voice quiet.

"Rory," Amy didn't spare even a glance as she worked.

"Amy!"

"Rory!"

"Oh for goodness sake, why are you doing that?" Avalon pointed to the box Amy held.

"I've survived this long by making the Handbots think I don't exist. Don't touch the hands. Anaesthetic transfer - if they touch you, you go to sleep."

"But you're still here?" Rory asked.

Amy stood up, staring at them both, "You didn't save me," she bluntly said and strode off.

"But this is us doing the saving," Avalon called as she and Rory hurried after her, "The Doctor just got the timing a bit out!"

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

"40 years alone?" Rory asked in horror.

"36 years," Amy made a face, "Thanks..."

Avalon elbowed Rory and gave him a look, making him realize his error, "No. Right, I mean... you look great. Really. Really."

"Eyes front, soldier."

"Still can't win then, eh?" Avalon tried to humor them but it didn't work.

"In fact, I think I can now definitely say I hate him. I hate The Doctor," Amy declared with certainty, "I hate him more than I've ever hated anyone in my life." She leaned closer to Rory, but not for him. She was looking directly into his glasses. "You can hear every word of this through those ridiculous glasses, can't you, Raggedy Man? You told me to wait. And I did. A lifetime."

"Amy..." the Doctor began but he didn't get to finish. Lately, he seemed to be getting everything wrong with the Ponds. He tried his best to keep them out of harm's way and yet something always happened to them. Last time, all three of them had been captured inside a fake dollhouse with killer dolls. Before that, they'd been chased around by the Scream. It was beginning to take a toll on him.

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

"Behind you!"

Amy turned to see two handbots closing in on them. She tossed her staff to Rory, ducked and put the handbots hands together, deactivating them. "Feedback. Knocks them out. Learned that trick on my first day," and once again, she made to leave.

They went out to an outer corridor and tried catching up with Amy who didn't even look back at them, "OK, so we just take the TARDIS back to the right time stream, yeah? We can stop any of this happening," Rory tried to reason, Avalon giving a small nod though she wasn't very sure about anything now.

"We locked on to a time stream, Rory. This is it," the Doctor regretted informing him.

"But this is wrong," Avalon frowned at the situation.

"Incredibly wrong," Rory added.

"I got old, Rory, what did you think was going to happen?" Amy rolled her eyes, assuming the worst from them.

"Hey!" Rory was not about to have that and so grabbed Amy's arm and forced her to stop and look back, "I don't care that you got old! I care that we didn't grow old together. Amy, come on, please."

"Don't touch me. Don't do that," she gave the order but didn't sound so sure of it as she left.

"This isn't you," Avalon made a face and went after her, "This isn't our Amy!"

"36 years, three months, four days of solitary confinement, Avalon," Amy stopped in front of some doors and turned to them, "This facility was built to give people the chance to live. I walked in here and I died. Do you have anything to say? Anything, Doctor?"

"Where did you get a sonic screwdriver?" the Doctor decided to question, only irritating her more.

"I made it. And it's a sonic probe!"

"You made a sonic screwdriver?" Rory blinked.

"Probe!"

"Give it up, Amy, you're not winning that one," Avalon had to advise as they entered the temporal engines room.

They followed Amy through a curtain she clearly made and found a small, isolated room where a Handbot stood at the corner. Rory stopped and forced Avalon as well when he saw the robot, "Oh!"

The handbot turned to them and allowed them to see a makeshift smiley face drawn where its face should be. Amy went across the small room, "Don't worry about him. Sit down, Rory."

Avalon giggled as both Rory and the handbot sat down, "You named the handbot after Rory?" she asked.

"Needed a bit of company."

"So, he's like your..."

"Pet."

"Somehow that's not making it better."

Amy pulled out a tube of lipstick and opened it up, meanwhile the other two studied the handbot, "Is it safe?" Rory asked.

"Yep. I disarmed it."

"How?" Avalon wondered just as they both saw the hands of the handbot chopped off.

"Oh, you...disarmed it," Rory slowly said, feeling a bit off about that.

Amy changed her mind on the lipstick and put it away, "Oh, don't get sentimental, it's just a robot. You'd have done the same."

"I don't know that I would have," the Doctor spoke up again, making Amy spin around and look at the glasses.

"And there he is - the voice of God. Survive. Cos no-one's going to come for you. Number one lesson. You taught me that."

"Is that really all I taught you?"

"Don't you lecture me, blue-box man flying through time and space on whimsy. All I've got - all I've had for 36 years - is cold, hard reality. So, no, I don't have a sonic screwdriver because I'm not off on a romp. I call it what it is - a probe. And I call my life what it is... Hell."

"Amy Pond, I am going to put this right," the Doctor assured, "You said you learned from an Interface. Can I speak with it?"

"Doesn't work in here," Amy informed then checked her watch, "2:23, the garden'll be clear now," she looked at Avalon and Rory, "Stay or go?"

"We're coming with you," Rory stood up and looked at Avalon for her opinion.

"Definitely," the ginger agreed with a nod.

"Then try not to get killed. Or do. Whatever," Amy tried to seem casual as she left, "When I first came here, I had to trick the Interface into giving me the information, but I've reprogrammed it now. It'll tell me anything except how to escape."

"You hacked it?" Rory raised an eyebrow, "That's genius!"

"Sorry to interrupt that beautiful moment," the Doctor cleared his throat, "But temporal engines have a regulator valve, which has to be kept from the main reactor or there's feedback. Interface, where's the regulator?"

"The regulator valve is held within."

"Ah! Oh, very, very "ah!" Interface, I need to run through some technical specifications. Rory, give me to Amy a minute."

"Here you go," Rory pulled off the glasses and moved to put them on Amy but the ginger refused.

"Amy just do it," Avalon sharply looked at her.

With a huff, Amy took the glasses and put them on, "They look ridiculous," she frowned.

"That's what we told him," Rory sighed, "Still, anything beats a fez, eh?" Everyone laughed but once Amy abruptly stopped, so did Avalon and Rory, "What is it?" he asked.

"I think that's the first time I've laughed in 36 years," Amy quietly acknowledged.

Avalon sadly looked between her friends, knowing they must have been thinking about the time they had lost. She sighed and touched Rory, ending their moment, "We should leave them...you know, to let them work?"

"Yeah, yeah," Rory nodded and walked out with her.

They wandered through the garden Amy had led them in through and took a look around, both wondering if this was where Amy had spent some time in...on her own.

"You don't...you don't blame the Doctor for this, do you?" Avalon felt the need to ask Rory as they walked.

Rory felt the concern in Avalon's tone and didn't want her to worry, "No...no," he sighed and put an arm around her shoulders, "He is never on time."

"Hm, 14 years," Avalon smiled lightly.

"Mhm," Rory nodded and they both chuckled.

"I just...don't want to have problems between the people I really care about," Avalon sighed. "And right now, Amy is really mad at the Doctor. I don't know who to defend first."

"Avalon…" Rory suddenly stiffened when he spotted a handbot coming towards them.

"Do not be alarmed, this is a kindness," the handbot said just like the others had.

Rory pulled Avalon behind him and backtracked together.

"Do not be alarmed, this is a kindness," the handbot said just as it touched Rory's face with its hand.

"Rory!" Avalon cried as he fell to the ground. "Oh great!" She looked up to see the handbot that would surely be going after her now.

Amy arrived in time to stop the handbot. She cut its head off with her sword and looked between the two, "Rory?" she knelt beside him.

"Glasses," Rory pointed.

Amy stood up and turned away, "You stupid..."

"You saved us," Avalon smiled at her.

"Don't get used to it," Amy muttered.

Rory stood up and studied Amy for a moment, specifically her eyes, "Have you been crying? A little bit?"

"Shut up, Rory," Amy tried to order but her voice was far too weak for that.

"You have, haven't you?"

"Woman with a sword. Don't push it."

"OK, so here's the plan," the Doctor spoke up, "Time is always a bit wibbly-wobbly, but in two streams it's extra wobbly," in the meantime he spoke, Amy handed the glasses back to Rory, "I've worked out how to hijack the temporal engines and then fold two points of Amy's timeline together. We're bringing her out of the then and into the now! Amy, I just need to borrow your brain a minute, it won't hurt, probably - almost probably...and then, Amy Pond, I'm going to save you."

Amy stared into the glasses, her eyes narrowing, confusing Rory and Avalon. One would think she'd be ecstatic that they'd found a way to truly save her. "No," she took out her probe, "Time's up, Handbots coming!" And she hurried out, leaving Avalon and Rory to follow.

~ 0 ~

Amy was striding back towards her secret hiding place in the engine rooms, doing her best to ignore the pleas of everyone who wanted to 'help' her.

"Amy, you've got to help us help you. I need you to think back 36 years ago. Amy? Amy!?" the Doctor was the primary insistent one to talk to her.

Without a word, Amy went inside the engine rooms and left Avalon and Rory outside. Avalon noticed several smudges on the doors and walked up to them, "Funny...if I didn't know any better I would say this is...lipstick," she glanced back at Rory questioningly.

Rory moved over and lifted the time glass to the doors, allowing them to see a message in red lipstick Amy had left for them. Rory sighed, "You told her to leave us a sign. And she did. And she waited. Oh, Amy."

Avalon opened the doors and went inside, marching straight to Amy, "Okay, why won't you help yourself? You wanted us to save you but look at you?"

Amy shook her head, still refusing, "He wants to rescue Past Me from 36 years back, which means I'll cease to exist. Everything I've seen and done dissolves, time is rewritten."

"But that's...that's good, isn't it?" Even Rory was confused about her attitude. Being rescued meant that she wouldn't have to go through the solidarity she'd been forced into.

"I will die," Amy enunciated slowly for them, "Another Amy will take my place, an Amy who never got trapped at Twostreams, who grew old with you, and she, in 36 years, won't be me."

"But you'll die in here," Avalon scratched her head. "Isn't that...isn't that better?"

"Not if you take me with you. You came to rescue me, so rescue me."

"Leave her and take you?"

"We could take this Amy with us, easy, but if we do, our Amy has to wait 36 years to be rescued," the Doctor warned in case they actually decided to go with that.

"So I have to choose - which wife do I want?" Rory took a small breath, already knowing that couldn't and wouldn't end well.

"She is me," Amy pointed to herself, "We're both me."

"You being here is wrong. For a single day, an hour, let alone a lifetime. I swore to protect you...I promised."

Amy didn't say a word and instead went inside her small room, leaving the two to think about it.

"Rory..." the Doctor began.

"This is your fault!" the human spat.

"Rory!" Avalon was disappointed he went back on his word, "You promised..."

"I'm sorry Ava but it is," Rory huffed and spoke to the Doctor, "You should look in a history book once in a while, see if there's an outbreak of plague or not."

"That is not how I travel," the Doctor snapped.

"Then I do not want to travel with you!" Rory pulled off the glasses and threw them to the ground.

Avalon was torn between the two sides but even more so angry with Rory. "You said you wouldn't blame him! How…" She shook her head. "If you haven't noticed, it's a pretty big universe with millions of different problems. It is impossible to know what the current state of a planet is all the time."

"36 years, Avalon, 36!" Rory pointed to the closed curtains. "She spent 36 years on her own!"

"And you think I'm not as upset as you are? I love Amy! But this wasn't anyone's fault! It's like when you blamed yourself for accidentally shooting Amy after the Pandorica opened."

"That's different," Rory sighed, really not in the mood to argue with her as well. He was too confused and angry, a horrible combination that he was aware of.

"Yeah, cos it was you. You didn't mean to do it, you didn't know who you were, it was impossible. What's happened here was also impossible."

"Ava, Rory," the Doctor called again, sounding like he was giving a test, "Is the time glass still on?" he asked them, "If the link's still active, I think I can hear Amy. Our Amy."

Rory slowly lifted the time glass in front of the small room of Amy and saw none other than the young Amy through the glass, sobbing quietly to herself, "Oh, Amy," Rory entered the room still holding the time glass. He went straight to the present Amy and knelt down to where she sat, "Look me in the face and say you won't help her."

Amy did as told and looked him in the eye, "I will not help her."

"Oh yeah?" Avalon couldn't believe that was her friend and was not going to stand for it, "Alright, then," she gently pushed the time glass up in front of Rory's face where the young Amy was sobbing to herself, "Look us in the face and say that again," she challenged Amy.

"Rory? Rory is that you?" the young Amy turned from the wall, "Rory, where are you?"

Rory used the sonic on the time glass and allowed the young Amy to see them through the glass, "Same place as you - and a bit ahead."

The present Amy peered into the glass, "I remember this," she mumbled.

"But who's she?" the past Amy studied herself, "There's no-one else here, but... me."

Rory handed the glass to the present Amy and took Avalon out with him, hoping the two Amy's could get on the same page to allow for some type of plan.

"You realize what's gonna happen in there, right?" Avalon quietly asked him.

"What?" Rory looked at her with concern.

"Two Amy's, in one place, well sort of...there is going to be some shouts and colorful words."

Rory shared a smile with her, "She's not you."

"Hey, River's her daughter and she's got some colorful vocabulary, she had to have gotten it from somewhere," Avalon pointed out, "And let's face it, you don't have that."

"Shush, Ava," Rory mockingly-scolded her.

"Ha, in other words, I win the argument," Avalon said with pride, making him (and managing) chuckle.

Suddenly, Amy stepped out of the room, "I'm going to pull time apart for you," she looked at Rory. Avalon stepped away as the two couples hugged and kissed, "OK, Doctor, Twostreams is back on air. Right, OK, so this is big news, this is temporal earthquake time. I am now officially changing my own future. Hold on to your spectacles. In my past, I saw my future self refuse to help you. I'm now changing that future and agreeing. Every law of time says that shouldn't be possible."

"Yes, except sometimes knowing your own future is what enables you to change it, especially if you're bloody minded, contradictory and completely unpredictable," the Doctor nearly had a chuckle.

"Oh so you meant Amy," Avalon laughed.

"Well actually my mind drifted to you," the Doctor said and ended her laugh right there and then.

Avalon crossed her arms and glared at the glasses, "Terrible danger you're getting yourself into, Fairy Tale Man."

"Anyways, back to crossing time streams?" Amy cleared her throat and ended the ensuing argument. She led them out to the outside corridors, "I'm trusting you to watch my back, Rory."

"Always. You and me, always," Rory nodded with assurance.

"Hey, and me," Avalon waved a hand, making them chuckle.

"Cos here's the deal... you take me too in the TARDIS. Me too," Amy turned to them, ending the amusing moment.

"But that means that there'll be two of you, permanently, forever," Rory realized.

"And that way we both get to live."

"But two Amy's together..." Avalon couldn't quite wrap her mind around that. By all logic, that couldn't very well work.

"Can that work?" Rory asked the Doctor.

"I don't know, it's your marriage."

"Doctor!"

"Perhaps, maybe, if I shunted the reality compensators on the TARDIS, re-calibrated the doomsday bumpers and jettisoned the karaoke bar, yes, maybe, yes. It could do it. The TARDIS could sustain the paradox."

Avalon remained quiet at that, he was lying. He had to be. She may not be some Time Lord or that big of a genius but she wasn't stupid either. Paradoxes could not be sustained unless you had a paradox machine, and she wasn't aware the Doctor had one.

"Right. Amy..." Rory put on the glasses and saw the young Amy, "And Amy. The wife and the wife, right."

"That won't get confusing," Avalon remarked quietly.

"OK, Amy - Past Amy – stand by the door. Future Amy, you too," the Doctor ordered, "Future Amy, can I borrow your sonic scr... probe?"

Amy sighed, "It's a screwdriver," she handed it over to Rory then went to the doors.

Rory used the sonic on both Amy's then returned it to her.

"Rory, sonic it, double our power. Amy Now, you're our link to Amy Then," the Doctor continued on with the instructions, "We need to get a signal through. That signal will be a thought. Amy Now and Amy Then, share a thought. Something so powerful that it can rip through time. Rory, sonic the plinth front. Inside you'll find three levers and a jumble of wiring. That's the regulator valve. After we've rebooted, you have ten minutes to get back to the TARDIS. Pull out the red and green receptors, re-route blue into red and green into blue. Leave red loose and on no account touch anything yellow. Come on, Rory. It's hardly rocket science. It's just quantum physics."

"Does he ever stop for air?" Rory made a face to Avalon.

"Eventually," Avalon mumbled with a smirk.

"Eugh," Rory pretended to shiver and continued with his work. No grandfather should ever have to hear that.

"Now the lever," the Doctor called, "Throw them in order! Amys, start thinking the most important thought you've ever had. Hold it in your head and do not let it go! Lever one."

Rory pulled the lever and immediately the two Amy's started to think of one common thought.

"She's doing the Macerena," Rory blinked.

"Aww..." Avalon smiled, knowing exactly the importance of that dance.

"Our first kiss," Rory whispered.

"Lever two, Rory," the Doctor ordered, "Lever three."

Rory pulled the levers and made the time glass shattered. Little by little, the young Amy appeared across them.

"Oh, Amy!" Rory exclaimed.

Amy glanced to her older self and blinked, "Oh, my God."

Rory ran over and hugged Amy, both incredibly happy. Avalon watched and smiled with true joy, though she became a bit sad for the older Amy, and soon it was the same story for the young couple.

"Sorry..." Rory quietly said.

"Hello," the older Amy greeted.

"Hello," the young Amy waved.

"I don't know what to..." they both began but stopped when they realized both of them were talking at the same time.

"Weird," Avalon and Rory whispered.

"OK, this is weird. Right, just stop doing that," the two ginger became defensive, and irritated.

"How about Amy One speaks first?" Rory suggested.

Both gingers turned on him, "Which one's Amy One?"

"Oh, wrong move," Avalon made a face.

"I am," both gingers argued, "No, I am! Rory! Rory, just stop doing that!"

"Both of you shut the hell up!" Avalon yelled and succeeded in quieting them down.

"Ah!" Rory hissed as the glasses started sparking.

"Oh. Rory, Rory, take the glasses off. You're getting temporal feedback," the Doctor called to him as Rory threw the glasses to the floor, "Whoa! Calm down, dear! Ava, Rory, Amy, we've created a massive paradox and the TARDIS hates it. She's self-phasing, trying to get out of here. What's nasty Amy done to you? Just calm down, dear. Hang on in there. Ava, Rory, you've got eight minutes left. I'm sorry, you're on your own now."

"We're not on our own," Avalon tried to look at the positive side, "There's Rory and me and...two Amy's," she made a face, "Yeah, maybe this is bad."

"We're not on our own," Avalon looked around, "There's Rory, and...two Amys," she made a face, "Okay yeah, this can go bad real soon."

"Do not be alarmed," handbots appeared.

"Incoming!" Rory exclaimed as several more robots appeared for them.

'With me," the present Amy handed her younger self the staff.

"I don't get one?" Avalon frowned with disappointment.

"Absolutely not!" Both Amys immediately declared, flinching Avalon.

"Okay, freaky how you both do that," she mumbled as Rory took her to their positions.

"Amy, Kate Hayler, year ten hockey," called present Amy.

Young Amy immediately got the idea, "Go for the shins!" she smashed the handbot's shins and flipped the robot over on its back.

"Rory!" Avalon cried as a Handbot appeared in front of her, "We need weapons!" she kicked the handbot back.

"They're cutting off the Departure Gate. We can't get back to the TARDIS," Rory had glanced back the way they'd come in as he tried battling out his own handbot.

"Side door!" present Amy offered, "We'll go behind them!"

~ 0 ~

As they made their way down the staircase, the two Amys had started a conversation that didn't end so well...

"Think you're coming with us, just like that?" younger Amy was demanding an answer, and fast, from her older self.

"Yeah, just like that."

"Rory, talk to her!" young Amy looked at Rory who was ahead of them, with Avalon.

"Now, ladies..." the man began but Avalon cut through, heavily annoyed with the argument.

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Avalon shouted, "You sound like snobbish children!"

"Oi!" both Amys frowned at her, 'Don't talk to me that way, I'm your-"

"Amy," Rory had caught where the sentence was ending and stopped running, giving each of his wives sharp looks.

Avalon noticed the little looks shared between all three, and it surprised her more that the disagreement had vanished and a common agreement had appeared, "What? What is it?"

She received no such answer and was instead pulled away, continuing their route for the TARDIS. Soon again, the disagreements had risen up between the two Amys.

"Where are you going to live?" young Amy was asking her older self.

"Not with you, don't worry. I'll go travelling. Pop back for Christmas, maybe Easter."

"Amy, you always say, cooking Christmas dinner, you wish there were two of you," Rory tried to humor but it seemed not to be working.

They followed the older Amy up to a room with shut doors. She used the sonic on the doors to get it open.

"Why can't we just teleport inside?" Avalon curiously wondered.

"It's not a teleport, it's a time jump."

"They can't shunt within the same timestream," young Amy said.

"Yes," her older self agreed.

"The TARDIS is in the Gallery," Rory reminded as they finally entered the room.

"Gallery closed."

The older Amy ran up to a table in the center and pressed the buttons, "Controls are stuck. They've locked them from outside."

"Well can't you unlock them?" Rory raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, give me a minute and your cutest smile," she winked just as Rory smiled, "That's the one."

"Can you stop flirting with me?" he cleared his throat, "You're old enough to be..."

"I've known you my whole life. How many games of Doctors and Nurses?"

"Eugh," Avalon shivered as she went up to them, "Now I get why you do that with the Doctor and I. Totally, completely, unnecessary."

Suddenly, all the doors of the room opened up to reveal handbots, "Do not be alarmed. This is a kindness."

Older Amy chucked her staff to young Amy while Rory tried using the sonic on the controls, eventually pressing the correct button and opening the doors to the room the TARDIS was in. Older Amy took lead with her sword and staff to use on the handbots they came across with. Everyone else made a run across the room while pushing several more handbots out of their way.

"Go! I've got your back!" Older Amy shouted to them as she took care of more handbots.

Young Amy was touched by a handbot on the face and gave a shout as she fell to the floor. Upon seeing that, Rory ran over to her, with the Mona Lisa portrait, and rammed it on the handbot's head, successfully shutting it down. He then picked up Amy and started running again.

"Is she okay!?" Avalon followed after him as they headed for the TARDIS.

"Hopefully!" Rory kicked the TARDIS doors open and rushed inside. He set her down on the floor just as the Doctor came over to check on her.

"It's just an anaesthetic. She'll be fine," he quickly stood up and ran for the doors, making eye contact with present Amy. She knew what he was going to do and so dropped her weapons and charged across the room for the TARDIS. The Doctor willed himself to shut the doors, "I'm sorry," he breathed as he locked it.

"What are you doing?" Rory stood up angrily.

"I lied to her, Rory," the Doctor confessed, looking at the door where present Amy had arrived and was pounding on it to be let inside, "There can't be two Amys in the TARDIS. The paradox is too massive."

"She'll die!" Rory shouted.

"Technically, she wouldn't," Avalon slowly stood up, quietly rubbing her arm, "I mean, if time is rewritten then technically she'll never have existed."

"But she happened!" Rory couldn't stop shouting, "She's there!" he violently pointed at the door.

"No, she's not real," the Doctor brought himself to say it.

"She is real, let her in!"

"Look, we take this Amy, we leave ours. There can only be one Amy in the TARDIS. Which one do you want?" the Doctor grabbed Rory and put him in front of the doors, his hand over the latch, "It's your choice."

"This isn't fair," Rory spat, "You're turning me into you."

"Your choice, Rory..."

"I, er.." Rory faced the doors, his mind going blank for a second.

The Doctor returned to young Amy and Avalon, checking the unconscious ginger a final time before heading for the console. Avalon tried touching him but he shook her off, not wanting to face her after what he'd done.

"Rory? Please," present Amy put a hand on the window of the door, making Rory do the same, "The look on your face when you carried her. Me. Her. When you carried her away, you used to look at me like that. I'd forgotten how much you loved me. I'd forgotten how much I loved being her. Amy Pond, in the TARDIS. With Rory Williams."

"I'm sorry, I can't do this," Rory declared and moved to turn the latch open.

"If you love me, don't let me in," Present Amy surprised him with the request, "Open that door, I will, I'll come in. I don't want to die. I won't bow out bravely. I'll be kicking and screaming, fighting. To the end."

"Oh, Amy. Amy, I love you," Rory took a long sigh, knowing he would have to listen t her request.

"I love you too. Don't let me in," present Amy pleaded, "Tell Amy, your Amy, I'm giving her the days. The days with you. The days to come. The days I can't have. Take them, please. I'm giving you my days."

Rory let go of the latch and stepped away from the door, "I'm so, so sorry..."

With that, the Doctor de-materialized the TARDIS from the planet. They had moved Amy to one of the chairs by the console and checked to make sure there was nothing wrong with her. She would just be sleeping for a bit more.

"Did you always know it would never work? Saving both Amys?" Rory asked the Doctor, the two sitting on the staircase looking after Amy.

"I promised you I'd save her and there she is. Safe," the Doctor patted the man's shoulder.

"Yeah, there she is," Rory had to agree on it.

As they stood up, Amy began waking up. The Doctor headed for the corridors to give them some time. Avalon was coming out from the corridor with a blanket for Amy.

"Hey," she tried to greet him in an attempt to start a conversation with him since he was seemingly trying to avoid her.

The Doctor mumbled a 'hey' back but moved around her and continued his way to the corridors. She looked down for a moment then walked towards Rory, getting the surprise to see Amy awake...and questioning for her older self.

~ 0 ~

Later in the night, Avalon crawled out of her bed and grabbed a white blanket to drape over her shoulders. She hadn't slept very well, mostly because she didn't really feel tired, but it was more to the day they had. She hoped that perhaps something to drink could do the job. Of course a normal person would go for a tea...Avalon went with a strawberry milkshake. She had a nice pink milkshake in front of her, topped with whip cream but absolutely no cherry on top. Just as she was about to take a sip, the Doctor entered, unaware she was in there.

"Hey," she decided to greet him again and managed to surprise him.

"You're...not supposed to be awake," the Doctor eyed her suspiciously, seeing the blanket still over her yet a brand new milkshake in her hands.

"I wasn't tired," she shrugged, "Insomnia, remember?"

"Right..." the Doctor looked to the side. She would still think it was insomnia and not that tonight was one of those nights she didn't need the rest.

"You want some?" Avalon slid her glass to him, "It's strawberry."

"What? No cherry?" he eyed the glass.

"Eugh, I don't like them," she crinkled her nose at the thought of a cherry on her drink. "It just ruins the milkshake."

He smiled at her, making a mental note for future references. It would go under the same list that involved never giving her anything with fish.

"Fairy Tale Man, are you mad with me?"

"What? Never!"

"Then why are you avoiding me?"

"I'm not-"

"Please don't waste time in denying what is so clearly true," Avalon sighed again and looked down, "I know perfectly well when people are avoiding me and you, sir, are doing it."

The Doctor knew she was thinking of the people in Leadworth who tried their best to avoid her at all costs and on no account did he ever want her to think he was one of them. "Okay, so maybe I didn't want to talk...but it wasn't because you did something," He took a seat next to her. "It was because of what I did."

"What you YOU did?" Avalon raised an eyebrow and straightened up, "And what exactly was that? Cos I think I missed it."

"What happened today...I...it's a bit complicated to forget," the Doctor sighed, "Especially when it's my fault."

"No," Avalon reached for his hand, "It's so not your fault. You didn't mean for any of this to happen."

"Well my little accident caused Amy to live 36 years in solitary, nearly made you and Rory die and-"

"What is the point in thinking of what happened and could've happened when it's all over?" Avalon raised an eyebrow, "We're okay now, don't bother yourself with that stuff."

"That 'stuff' is important to me," the Doctor frowned, "One little error and bam, Amy's dead. Or one little slip and oh look, Rory just got squashed. Lena did good in leaving, honestly."

"And me? What, you think I should've left too, then?" Avalon urged him to answer then groaned when he just looked away from her. "This is not happening," she mumbled to herself as she stood up and promptly moved over to sit on his lap, her arms around his neck. "I thought you never wanted me to leave..." she forced him to look at him with a hand under his chin.

"I don't," the Doctor quickly clarified, "But I can't help worrying what could happen to you." His mind kept flashing him bits and pieces of his profile he had from the Teselecta. Each day brought him closer to his supposed death day and because he still had all the Ponds with him, it meant he would be dragging them to that day as well. He couldn't do that to Avalon. If the Silence and Kovarian did manage to kill him then he would at least make sure she was okay. If he was dead, then they would finally let her and the rest of her family live in peace. That was the only bit of peace he could find in all that mess, but right now he still had Avalon and he didn't want to lose her. So what was he supposed to do? He brushed his hand against her cheek. "Ava, I love you. I would never want to leave you." Want being the operative word. He would never want to leave her, but if it ever came down to her safety and their relationship...he would choose her safety in a heartbeat. It was what he promised Rory, after all.

"Doctor, I know that you feel guilty about what happened but...it wasn't your fault. You can't go around blaming yourself for everything bad that happens. That's unfair."

"I can't help it," the Doctor admitted. "You are my responsibility-"

"No, we're not. We choose to travel with you. We choose to explore and whatever consequences there are. It's about time you start realizing that and I'm gonna make sure that you do."

"Yeah, what are you going to do?" The Doctor looked at her with a small, amused, smile.

"Well, for starters," she reached for her milkshake on the table and took a sip. She then offered him some. "It's therapeutic."

The Doctor laughed. "Right." He moved the straw over to his side and drank from it. "It really needs a cherry though."

Avalon crinkled her nose. "Absolutely not! Unless you want to be single again. Go on, take another drink. I'll make more but you have to stay around so I can keep reminding you that nothing was your fault."

The Doctor wouldn't argue against having that type of night with her. He just knew that it wouldn't matter what she said to him because he would always want to keep her and her grandparents safe.

#ocappreciation #doctor who #dw #11th doctor #fd: doctor who #11th doctor imagines #dw imagines #doctor who fics #doctor who imagines #11th doctor fics #dw fics #oc: Avalon Reynolds #fic: falling in temptation

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