The Doctor paused as he caught sight of the newly-wedded Ponds sitting side by side on the bed meant for one. Grinning, he opened his mouth to say something when Rory opened his mouth to ask a familiar question.

"How long are you going to stay with me?"

A stabbing pain went through his heart as he ducked out of sight. There was a pregnant pause before Amy's answer.

"Forever."

Rory chuckled.

"What else did ya think, you silly man."

"I thought you might run off with... with the next attractive man that came along."

The Doctor heard the thwack of skin against skin, but heard the affection in Amy's voice. "Don't be daft... The only man I ran off with was the Doctor!"

Sliding down against the wall, the Doctor dropped his head into his hands, waiting for his breath to return and his two hearts to stop competing towards the finish line. But he didn't know where or what that was.

"I... I love you..."

Quite right too... Stupid git he was... What a dumb reply. Idiot that he was.

Amy's laughter cut through the blinding resurfacing of his grief. He had to blink to get the blonde girl out of his head. Her smile stayed behind. And wouldn't leave. Clenching and unclenching his hands, the Doctor shook his head, scrambling to his feet and stumbling blindly down the hallway.

Amy looked up. "What was that?"

Moving quickly to the doorway, Rory frowned as he saw the Doctor turn the corner. "It's the Doctor. He doesn't look too good."

"The Doctor? What's the matter with him do you think? Should we follow?"

Before Rory could answer, Amy grabbed his hand and followed after the Doctor on quiet feet. "Is he..." Amy frowned at the strange noises she heard from the Doctor.

"Is he what?" Rory prompted.

Fixing Rory with a serious look, the redhead whispered, "Crying. I think he's crying."

Rory screwed up his face. "Wha-no. There's no way. There's no way! He can't-"

"Hush." She crept closer to the doorway of the open room the Doctor had staggered into. Rory crowded behind her. The long-legged man was hunched up against a wall of a room neither of the Ponds had ever seen. There seemed to be a woman's belongings in the room and the Doctor was clutching a purple shirt in his hands like it was the last lifeline into the pits of hell. Amy frowned.

"What is this?" Rory's voice held the same hushed awe that Amy felt. "What's going on?" An uncomfortable feeling settled in his gut as he watched the strongest, most ingenuitive man he knew break down into frame-wracking sobs. "Amy..." he whispered, wanting to get away and pretend he'd never seen or heard anything.

"No..." his wife replied slowly. "Wait a minute. Wait a minute. I want to know what's going on."

"That's my Amy..." Rory grumbled. "Always needs to know what's going on..."

"Ooh, shut up, you." She turned her attention back to the man in the room.

Listening to his own sobs, the Doctor couldn't help but feel small and pitiful. Rose's loss, her face as she flew towards the white wall where the link between dimensions was closing up shown fresh in his mind. Pete's last minute rescue had assuaged his fears of her being lost forever, just as leaving his second self with her had assuaged his fears of her loneliness. Of course, that hadn't done anything to assuage his own loneliness. Which, of course, only left him feeling painfully sorry for himself, sobbing like a nancy in Rose's old room. He'd left it completely untouched. He'd panicked as the TARDIS had rearranged herself. But the old girl knew him and left the room as is. He hadn't had a good picture of Rose, so he'd gone back in time to take one. It sat propped up on one of the dressers, her smile wide and enthusiastic. Crawling to the dresser, he picked it up and hugged it close, whimpering her name. "Rose... I wish you could see me now... What would you think?" He propped her picture against his knees and wished she could respond. "Would you still think I have really great hair? Would you still laugh at my jokes? Finish my sentences?" Her picture blurred as his tears started afresh. "Dammit!" He slapped her picture down, crying out with instant regret as the glass shattered. He scrambled immediately to the broken pieces, hands trembling as he tried to put them back together. The only result was sliced fingers and more broken sobs. He cursed and shook the glass loose, wiping the blood on his shirt to make sure his fingers were clean before pulling the picture free.

"Amy... Amy, I can't..." Rory breathed, rocking on the balls of his feet. "I can't watch anymore." He pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes, wishing the sinking feeling in his stomach would go away. He was starting to shake himself, and tugged at Amy's sleeve to leave.

"Ssh! Wait!" She waved his hand away, eyes glued to the Doctor, horrified by this display of rampant pain and emotion. "Who's this Rose woman? What about River?" She chewed on her nail, torn between the need to know and the need to get out of this man's raw emotional pain. "Rory. Rory, I need to know. I need to. I just..."

"I understand... But how?"

Amy shook her head, her heart breaking for the man who'd saved her. She knew there had been something deep hiding with this man, but she hadn't known what. Apparently, this was it. "Would River... Nevermind." She shook her head. Couldn't ask her. Not besides the fact that they had no way of contacting her. "The main computer!"

"The main-Amy! We don't know how it works!"

"I've watched the Doctor enough times," she hissed defensively. "Let's go." She sprang to her feet and scampered past Rory, grabbing the shoulder of his shirt as she went. He grunted and scuttled after her.

"So. How does this thing work?" Rory asked, all skepticism and doubt as he stood back with arms folded across his chest.

"Shut it!" Amy was punching buttons and keys in the engine room. With a shriek of frustration, she growled at the computer, "I just want to know about Rose!"

"Rose Tyler," the computer said quietly in a warm voice. "Defender of the Earth."

"What?" Amy exclaimed quietly.

"You're dead, officially, back home. So many people died that day and you've gone missing. You're on a list of the dead," the voice continued.

"What's going on?" Rory muttered. "What-Amy!" He grabbed her shoulder and whirled her around to see the ghostly image of a blonde on a beach, her mascara running down her face.

"Here you are. Living a life day after day. The one adventure I can never have."

"Am I ever gonna see you again," the blonde, apparently Rose, sobbed.

"You can't," the voice said, though the words sounded more like "I'm sorry."

"What're you gonna do?"

"Oh, I've got the TARDIS. Same old life. Last of the Time Lords."

"The Doctor?" Rory muttered.

"Can't be," Amy mumbled, staring at the girl. "Can it?"

"On your own?" the girl continued. Tears continued down her face. There must have been a reply, because she continued, "I lo- I love you."

"And I suppose... if it's one last chance to say it... Rose Tyler..." Th e tenor murmured, thick with affection.

And then her image faded away, leaving Rory and Amy speechless. "Oh God..." Amy was the first to speak. "It was the Doctor. It was him. But it-"

"It didn't sound a thing like him though. Speech patterns different, all his word emphases different; it's all different."

"But it is him! I know it! it has to be! Who else is the "Last of the Time Lords?"

"Well..." Now Rory sounded uncertain. "Then it has to be him. There's no other explanation."

But the computer wasn't finished. A variety of odd photos crossed the screen. They all had the girl, Rose, in them. However, in some of them, was a tall man with brown hair and a suit, easy smile on his face. Amy spotted the sonic screwdriver poking out of one pocket in one picture. "God, he was in love with her."

"Well, yeah..."

Amy threw a sharp look at Rory.

"What? I'm not daft. It's obvious. He's nutters for her. Or was. But she's apparently not here anymore."

"But she's not dead."

"No..." Rory said slowly, still thinking. "She's in another universe, I guess. Because she's obviously still alive."

Understanding dawned for Amy. "So she's still alive, but he can never see her again! She's lost to him! Forever!"

Rory nodded slowly, pain covering his features. "He's lost the woman he loves and can never see her again."

Amy moved closer to Rory, scooting against his chest, gaze held on her feet. With Rory's arms around her, she knew he understood that she was grateful. She was grateful she had him. She wouldn't be able to live without him. She started to cry.

"Aww... Amy... Come on. Don't cry, Amy. I love you."

"I... I know! But he never said it!" Amy blubbered. "The recording ended before he could finish saying it. Rory, he's hurting so bad! And we can't even do anything about it!" Burying her head against her husband's shoulder, his arms squeezing her felt like a good form of penance for prying too deep. What a broken man he was... Deprived of everything-a normal life, day after day, like he'd said.

"He's got us, hasn't he?" Rory murmured into her hair. "The least we can do is be good mates and always have his back, can't we?"

Amy nodded. "We have to."

-~o0O0o~-

The Doctor had cried the last tears he was able to cry. For now. After placing Rose's picture on the dresser, he promised himself he'd get a new frame. And wouldn't break it this time. Then he crawled into Rose's bed which still, thankfully and horribly, still smelt of her and fell into a light fitful sleep full of Rose's laugh and the Pond's intimate voices together, sharing love and life the way only two people who loved one another could.