Author's Note:
Welcome to my second Doctor Who story involving my OC, Avalon Reynolds, and the 11th Doctor. This story will include the entire 6th season rewrite with original chapters thrown in. Unlike the first story where there were two OCs, this story will bump the second OC - Lena Reynolds - to a recurring OC. This will be an eventual OC/11th Doctor pairing story!
Avalon Reynolds will look like Rachelle Lefevre - ginger locks and blue eyes!
Lena Reynolds will look like Bella Heathcote - ashy brown hair and blue eyes!
And, just for fun, the theme song for this story is "Make You Stay" by the Girl And The Dreamcatcher.
Amy Pond and Rory Williams were setting grocery bags on the kitchen counter of their new flat, although Amy was more preoccupied with a book she was reading from, "At the personal intervention of the King, the unnamed Doctor was incarcerated without trial in the Tower Of London..." She'd found the book earlier in the day when she saw certain details of the history looking a bit distorted. She'd bought it and had read more than halfway through it by the afternoon, seeing at which points of history the Doctor was trying to get their attention from.
"OK, but it doesn't have to be him," Rory reminded his wife, "...is there anything about Ava?"
"No, she's staying out of trouble...for once," Amy had to admit that was slightly weird.
She didn't know exactly how long it had been for Avalon and the Doctor since they started traveling together, but she knew it had to have been quite some months now. However long it had been, though, they hadn't heard one situation in which Avalon had gotten into trouble. That...that was shocking news, honestly. For anyone who knew Avalon Reynolds, they could estimate just how long she would last before getting into trouble again. It seemed like the Doctor was actually being a good influence despite the situations he got himself into.
"Two nights later a magical sphere some 20 feet across was seen floating away from the tower, bearing the mysterious Doctor aloft," Amy had continued reading after putting away the groceries.
"Okay, it's him," Rory shrugged, "But as long as Ava isn't mention in any of those, I'm good."
"There's more!" Amy called with a smirk. It seemed like the Doctor had also gotten into some type of German jail and was trying to escape along with some other prisoners...only to get caught.
"Like I said, no Ava, no trouble," Rory strode into the living room after finishing up putting away the groceries.
"It's like he's being deliberately ridiculous, trying to attract our attention," Amy shook her head and followed him, "And aren't you a bit curious about Avalon? Why isn't she there with him?"
"I'm actually thanking the Gods she's not there with him," Rory got comfortable on the couch and turned on the television, his favorite movie on. He didn't even want to think about Avalon going to jail in historical times.
"Are you watching this again?" Amy looked at the television with a face as she closed her book.
"I've explained the jokes," Rory sighed. At the sound of the doorbell, Amy went to go answer, "So what are you saying? Do you really think he's back there trying to wave to us out of history books?" he called.
"Don't know, it's the sort of thing he'd do," she accepted the mail and shut the door.
"Yeah, but why?"
"He said he'd be in touch."
"Two months ago. Who knows how long it's been for him now," Rory shrugged.
"Two months is nothing. He's up to something, I know he is, I know him," Amy set the rest of the mail aside and held a TARDIS-blue colored envelope in her hands.
"What is it?" Rory noticed her go quiet, "Amy?"
"A date, a time, a map reference," Amy turned the envelope over for him to see, "I think it's an invitation."
"From who?"
"It's not signed. Look, TARDIS blue!" Amy waved the envelope around, "I'm gonna go call Lena!"
~ 0 ~
Another envelope landed on a bed, that of the cell of River Song, who picked up the letter and opened it up, smiling as she read the inside. She looked around with a smirk and began preparing for her departure.
~ 0 ~
"Lena! There's mail!" young Gavin Reynolds shouted as he ran towards the kitchen where Lena and their father, Ryland, were eating lunch.
"I got mail?" Lena reached for the blue-colored envelope, "Funny, Avalon usually sends postcards," she looked at her father with confusion.
"Open it up, sweetheart. Maybe this time she wrote something longer," Ryland encouraged her, curious and hopeful that his eldest daughter had finally written something more than just a couple sentences on a postcard. It had been two months (for him anyways) since he let Avalon run off with the Doctor to time travel. Unbeknownst to the others, he hoped that this would keep Avalon safe. He was just glad that she was with someone he could trust and who'd take good care of her.
"What is it, Lena?" Gavin peered over Lena shoulder, "What is it?"
"I think it's invitation from my big brother," Lena began smiling, "Oh, it's been long! I can't wait to see Avalon!"
~ 0 ~
"Miss Williams, this arrived for you," a young man entered a dressing room holding a blue-colored envelope in hand.
Avalon Reynolds looked up from the conversation she was in the middle with...Mary Costa (the voice actress of Avalon's favorite movie - Sleeping Beauty). She'd dropped by for a visit at Mary's house about an hour ago and was in no hurry to leave her idol. Though when she saw the color of the envelope she knew it was probably time to go.
"Thank you," Avalon took the envelope from the servant.
"Who's it from?" Mary curiously asked as she watched Avalon opened the envelope up.
"Probably from the Doctor," Avalon took out the letter and read it, "Funny, he's given references for...Stormcage," she blinked.
"And that's...bad?" Mary made a face as if it were something negative. She barely understood the concept of 'time travel' but she tried her best for Avalon, seeing how close the two had gotten since Avalon had started her travels.
"No, just...peculiar, that's all," Avalon stood up and started putting in the coordinations for Stormcage at the exact time she'd been instructed to in her Vortex Manipulator, "Oh well, gotta run, Mary. Thanks for the lunch," she hugged the blonde woman.
"Anytime, dear," Mary waved and watched the flash of light take over as Avalon disappeared.
~ 0 ~
A yell school bus stopped in the middle of a plain road in Utah. Out of the bus came Rory, Lena and Amy, all carrying backpacks on their backs and dressed casually.
"Thanks!" Amy called to the driver and waved as the bus drove off, turning around with the others.
"Uh! This is it, yeah? The right place?" Lena looked around, "It's a stupid desert," she made a face.
"Nowhere, middle of? Yeah, this is it," Rory nodded, "Who else but the Doctor?"
"Howdy!" they heard from behind. The three turned around to find the Doctor lying on the hood of a 1960's, red, station wagon.
"Big brother!" Lena exclaimed and dashed to go greet him.
"Ha-ha! My baby sister!" the Doctor jumped off the car and hugged Lena, "Oh, and the Ponds! Pond One and Pond Two!" he moved on to hug Amy, "Hello, Ponds, come here!"
"So someone's been a busy boy then, eh?" Amy teased as she hugged him.
"Did you see me?"
"Of course! Stalker!"
"Flirt!"
"Husband," Rory waved a hand with a mock-offense expression.
"And Rory the Roman! Oh, come here!" the Doctor laughed and hugged him.
"Hey, nice hat, big brother," Lena remarked to the hat the Doctor wore on his head.
"I wear a Stetson now, Stetsons are cool," the Doctor smirked about to flick it into position when a gun was fired, making him wince forwards, and blew the hat right off his head.
"Sorry!" the group heard someone shout from across. Avalon quickly passed - or chucked - the gun back to River who stood beside her, and really tried her best not laugh right there and then.
"Avalon," the Doctor turned around, a new expression on his face when he saw her. It was a sad smile but...a smile nonetheless. He dashed for her, almost tripping from how fast he went. "Avalon!"
"I think I'm in trouble," Avalon whispered to River as she stepped forwards. She hadn't really meant to shoot the poor alien's hat. She just wanted to shoot beside the alien with a new blaster. But now she was sure to get a scolding from him, Rory and then Lena...
"Ava!" the Doctor surprised her instead by picking her up in a spinning hug.
"Oh, okay," Avalon quickly took the easier road and hugged back. "Nice to see you too," she laughed as she was set back on her feet.
"What's going on?" Lena came up beside them along with Amy and Rory, all finding the reactions of the Doctor slightly weird.
"And what is that?" Amy pointed at the manipulator Avalon wore on her wrist. It sat just above the Doctor's old watch which she had truly kept after winning it from their Christmas bet.
"Like?" Avalon waved her wrist, "Brand new, barely breaking it in."
"Why?" Lena frowned, "I thought you were traveling together..."
"We are," the Doctor nodded, "But I wanted to go to one place and Ava the other, so we compromised."
"By giving her a manipulator?" River raised an eyebrow, even she herself finding that strange for the 'early' days.
"Oh calm down, I've been responsible...ish," Avalon had to add that part after a moment, making the entire group sigh with resignation at their friend, all except the Doctor of course who just smiled at her.
~ 0 ~
The group had relocated to a diner not too far from where they'd been. The Doctor led them inside while being linked arms with Avalon. Lena went up to the counter, eyes already on the menu, "Oh, I want some dessert."
"Me too!" Avalon left the Doctor and hurried up beside her sister, "By the way, can I borrow some money?"
"You didn't bring any money, did you?" Lena turned to her, "Always counting that I'll have some."
"Not true," Avalon threw a thumb over her shoulder, "Rory always has money for me."
Lena scoffed and crossed her arms, "He is not gonna have any mo-"
'I got it," Rory came over with his wallet out, Lena's mouth hanging open in surprise.
"Really?"
"Ava's Ava," was the excuse Rory always used.
Avalon cheekily smiled, "Thanks Rory," she hugged him, "I promise I'll pay you back."
"This is a reward," Rory clarified, "Because you didn't get in trouble like someone..." he shot a look at the Doctor.
"Ha," Avalon stuck her tongue out at the alien.
"I could just tell them what you did in Milan," the Doctor warned as he crossed his arms, smirking when she went quiet.
"What happened in Milan?" Amy stepped over, curious to know what gimmick Avalon had come up with this time.
"Nothing!" Avalon quickly exclaimed, "Absolutely nothing. So, Rory, if you can get my favorite dessert, please? Strawberry-"
"Strawberry milkshake with whip cream, hold the cherry on top, though," the Doctor finished and garnered her attention.
"How did you know that?" she blinked.
"You told me," he shrugged and tugged her away towards one of the booths.
"I did?" Avalon thought for a moment while she slid into an open booth first then the Doctor. "Hm, it's been such a rush I can't even remember that."
"That's what happens when you steal from world-famous designers," River strolled over to them, wearing a smirk on her face as Avalon stiffened.
"How did you-"
"I saw the clothes on a runway...modeled by a one, extravagant ginger woman..." River took a seat in the booth across them, putting her elbows on the table and resting her chin on her hands, "Global thing, newspapers and whatnot."
"You could've said something, then. I went to pick you up in a prison for God's sake! I could've been arrested," Avalon hit the Doctor on the arm, "Thanks for that, by the way. I've never been to an alien prison. Why'd you sent me to pick her up? No offense, River," she quickly glanced at the brunette with a smile.
"None taken," River chuckled..
"She had no manipulator, thought it might be easier on her," the Doctor shrugged, "But I'm more interested in knowing about those clothes you stole?"
"Oops?" Avalon looked at him with a sheepish smile, "I know you said to keep away from trouble but...it was Milan," she whispered so no one would hear, "Fashion capital! I was just dropping in for a discreet visit when, BAM! I met a model, accidentally got her locked in a closet-"
"Accidentally?" River raised an eyebrow.
"Shut up!" Avalon pointed at her, "And then somehow I get branded as a preppy woman-"
"Which you are," the Doctor and River cut in.
"Oi!" Avalon frowned, "Am not. But the designers said I could pass it off and so...voila," she gestured to her clothes.
She wore a light pink dress with white polka-dots, an open beige jacket with three-quarter sleeves and pink flats. She knew it was wrong to steal, especially things that were created by famous people but she hadn't really thought it through at the moment. After the fashion show had ended, she'd been caught by the actual model intended to use the outfit and so without thinking she'd activated her manipulator and flashed out, taking along the clothes with her.
"And after the show ended...you ran with the clothes," the Doctor assumed the last part of the story.
"I didn't run, I used the manipulator," she corrected quietly, "I promise I'll give it back...ish. I just really like it too."
"I think you look lovely," the Doctor smiled softly at her.
"You're not gonna reprimand me like the others?" Avalon blinked, genuinely shocked he wasn't even the least bit angry with her, "Are you feeling well?" she raised an eyebrow, "No alien fever or something?" she even pressed her hand over his forehead to make sure he was alright.
The Doctor laughed and pulled her hand off his face, keeping hold of it for a few extra seconds. "Nothing's wrong. I'm just...happy right now, very happy," his tone had softened like his smile, the latter seeming almost everlasting.
Avalon was momentarily taken aback but in the end she smiled back too. "I'm happy too," she agreed and there was another pause of smiles. "And I can't wait to get back to the TARDIS. Manipulators are fun but I like traveling with my Fairy Tale Man even more."
"Ava!" Rory called from the counter and motioned for her to go get her milkshake.
The Doctor slid out the booth and allowed Avalon to go for her dessert while he took her seat, noticing River's look which consisted of a big smirk, "What?" he frowned as he pulled out a small journal from inside his jacket.
"Can you be more obvious?" she tilted her head, "How far are you?"
"What? What are you talking about?"
River rolled her eyes and set her hands down on the table, "You're from the future," she announced with all certainty about it, "You've got to be, I mean...that-" she discreetly pointed at Avalon, "-was plain obvious. All you needed was to drool in front of her to let her know."
"Shut up," the Doctor rolled his eyes.
"How far are you?"
"...about 200 years," he spoke quietly in case the others returned suddenly, "Don't say a word about it."
"Fine but you may want to dial down the lovey-dovey eyes. Avalon's a smart woman, she'll figure it out and start questioning you," River warned, "And then she'll be freaked out."
"Once she learns what's coming for her she won't even think about some feelings," the Doctor countered. "Your letter didn't cover it accurately, you know."
"Letter?" River repeated with confusion. "I didn't write any letter."
The Doctor stared at her, wanting to figure out if she was lying or not. After everything, he still wasn't completely sure if that was true or not. It bothered him that near his end, he never figured out the secret behind that letter. He would never know who wrote it. Who wrote the letter knowing what was going to happen to Avalon?
"Ew, there's a cherry on my milkshake," Avalon grimaced at the bright, red fruit sitting at the top of the whip cream of her drink, "Rory!" she exclaimed.
"Thank you," Rory passed her and swiped off the cherry, dropping it into his mouth as he and Amy sat with River on one side of the booth and Avalon and Lena with the Doctor on the other.
"So what's happening, then?" Amy immediately questioned the Doctor, "Because you've been up to something."
"Getting into trouble," Lena added, "I saw it all, big brother. Shame on you," she wagged a finger, making the Doctor smile in amusement.
"I've been running...faster than I've ever run, and I've been running my whole life. Now it's time for me to stop," he looked at them all, though spent a bit more with Avalon, "And tonight I'm going to need you all with me."
"What did you have in mind?" Avalon raised an eyebrow as she took a sip of her drink.
"A picnic! And then a trip. Somewhere different, somewhere brand-new."
"Where?"
"Space...1969."
~ 0 ~
Later in the day, the group moved over to the Powell Lake of Utah (otherwise known as Lake Silencio), setting up a picnic like the Doctor had said. They sat on the edges of the blanket while munching on their snacks placed in the center.
"Salut!" the Doctor toasted with a glass of wine.
"Salut!" went the others.
"So it's actually been a year since you started travelling together, then?" Lena asked just to make sure she'd gotten it right. As far as she knew, Avalon had just joined the Doctor a couple months ago.
"Yup," Avalon grinned. "I'm finally 22 like you Lena!" the two sisters high-fived each other.
"So when are we going to 1969?" Rory wondered as he set his wine glass down.
"And since when do you drink wine?" Amy observed the Doctor as he lifted his glass to his mouth.
"He doesn't," Avalon shot him a look. She knew what would come next, but every time she told him he wouldn't listen.
"I'm 1,103 - I must have drunk it some time," he shrugged and drank the glass...only to spit it back out, "Oh, wine's horrid! I thought it would taste more like the gums."
"Wait a minute," Avalon set her glass down, "1,103? You were 909 before you gave me the manipulator. What? Was I that bad of a companion you left me for nearly 200 years?"
"Complicated," the Doctor tensed at his slip.
"Why?" she grew sadder, "Why was it..." her gaze had wandered up to the dunes where she saw a figure silhouetted against the sun, "...who's that?" she whispered.
"Who's who?" the Doctor began scowling, half-guessing what she was seeing.
"Sorry, what?" she looked at him with rapid blinking eyes, "What's going on?" she looked at the others who were staring at her with a bit of concern.
"You said you saw someone," River looked out where Avalon had been staring at.
"No, I didn't," Avalon playfully rolled her eyes and reached for a piece of grape, unaware of the grim look the Doctor was giving her from beside.
"Big brother, you mentioned the moon," Lena got his attention back.
"Right, the moon," the Doctor tore his gaze from Avalon and looked at the rest, "The moon, look at it! Of course, you lot did more than look, didn't you? Big silvery thing in the sky, you couldn't resist it. Quite right."
"The moon landing was in '69," Amy recalled, "Is that where we're going?"
"Oh, a lot more happens in '69 than anyone remembers. Human beings... I thought I'd never get done saving you."
A pickup truck pulled over behind them and an elderly man stepped out. The Doctor stood up waved with a hand, the older man giving a wave back.
"Who's he?" Lena looked over at the older man, assuming it had to be some other friend the Doctor had picked up in his past.
"Oh, my God!" River had jumped up to her feet at the sight of an astronaut standing in the lake, prompting the others to stand up as well.
"What's going on?" Avalon looked around, feeling like it was some sort of trap. But that couldn't be right, the Doctor was the one who sent the letters. He'd never bring them into a trap!
"You all need to stay back. Whatever happens now, you do not interfere," the Doctor instructed them all, "Clear?"
Avalon opened her mouth to refuse but saw the silhouette up at the dunes again, "Woah..." she blinked, "I...remember that, now. I-I think I've seen it before..."
The Doctor tore her gaze away from the figure, not even bothering to look at it himself, "Ava, you listen to me right now," he set his hands on her arms, "You have to be careful, okay? You should..." he swallowed hard, struggling to say his words, "...you should stay away from me."
"What?" she blinked, surprised at his urgency that had come out of no where. "Why would I do that?"
"Because it's the best thing you could've done," he whispered with genuine regret. "If I could change one thing it's this...you..." he gave her one last look before kissing her forehead and walked for the astronaut.
"What's going on?" Avalon moved after him but River kept her back. She felt something in the pit of her stomach, something warning her to bring the Doctor right back. "But we can't let him...I don't understand." She looked at the others who were on the same page.
"That's an astronaut. That's an Apollo astronaut in the lake," Rory stared in awe at the astronaut now standing on the sand beside the lake.
"Seems a little big, mind you," Lena remarked quietly as she looked.
The Doctor stood in front of the astronaut, solemnly eyeing it, "Hello. It's OK, I know it's you," he spoke quietly, watching the visor raise up, "I know the choices that brought you here...I figured it out."
"What's he doing?" Amy whispered to the others, all of them gathered up as they watched the astronaut raised its arm towards the Doctor.
Then it fired.
"Doctor!" Avalon shouted as he staggered back. She rushed for him again but River kept her back while Rory restrained Amy.
"Avalon, Amy! Stay back! The Doctor said stay back!" River reminded, "Lena, don't you dare move!" she warned the brunette who seemed frozen in horror anyways.
But the astronaut fired again and the Doctor fell to his knees on the floor.
"We have to help him!" Avalon fought River to no avail. "LET GO!"
"You have to stay back!"
"NO!"
The Doctor stood up, his hands glowing with his regenerative energy. He looked over at the group, "I'm sorry," he managed to say before he tilted his head back for the regeneration to begin. The astronaut shot him again and ended it, the Doctor collapsing on the ground without a flinch nor twitch.
River finally let Avalon go and hurried along with the others towards the Doctor, the astronaut making its way back into the lake. River pulled out a handheld device and checked for the alien's vitals.
"River, what's it saying?" Avalon knelt down beside the Doctor, "River?"
River put away the device after reading the device and took out her gun again. She was about to shoot when the gun was snatched off her hands by Avalon who then took to shooting at the astronaut herself, tears building up in her eyes and blurring her vision. Unfortunately, the gun ran out of ammunition and the astronaut was well inside the lake, slowly sinking back down.
"River, he can't be dead. This is impossible," Amy sobbed.
River took back the gun from Avalon and cautiously turned her away from the lake, but not before she caught site of the mysterious figure silhouetted, "What the hell is going on?" Avalon gritted her teeth.
"Whatever that was, it killed him in the middle of his regeneration cycle," River answered, thinking she was asking about the Doctor, "His body was already dead. He didn't make it to the next one."
"No, I meant..." Avalon had looked back at River, blinking rapidly as she forgot once again.
"Maybe he's a clone or a duplicate or something," Lena offered, swallowing hard.
The man from the truck had made his way down to the group holding a gas tank that he set down on the sand, "I believe I can save you some time. That most certainly is the Doctor, and he is most certainly dead. He said you'd need this," he pointed at the tank.
"Gasoline?" Rory studied the tank with confusion.
"A Time Lord's body is a miracle. Even a dead one. There are whole empires out there who'd rip this world apart for just one cell," River sighed, "We can't leave him here. Or anywhere."
"But he can't die," Avalon's tears strolled down her cheeks as she dropped to her knees beside the Doctor's body. "Not him too, he can't..." Her hands shook as she hesitated to touch him. What if he was already cold? Cold like...like he was actually dead. She breathed in heavily. "He's the Fairy Tale Man, he's not allowed to."
"We're his friends. We do what the Doctor's friends always do," River picked up the gas tank, "As we're told."
"There's a boat," Rory saw one at the other end of the lake, "If we're going to do this...let's do it properly."
When night fell, the group watched from the shore of the lake as the Doctor's body burned in the boat Rory had brought from the other side of the lake. The man who had brought the gas tank stayed to help and also watched, and at one point River turned to him in question, "Who are you? Why did you come?"
"Same reason as you," he pulled out a blue-colored envelope from his pocket for her to see. River pulled out her own and looked between them as the man handed her his envelope, "Dr Song, Avalon, Amy, Lena, Rory. I'm Canton Everett Delaware III. I won't be seeing you again. But...you'll be seeing me," he picked up the gas tank and headed back for his truck.
River watched him go for a minute before glancing down at the envelopes and turning to the group, "Four," she said.
"Sorry, what?" Rory blinked, that just came out of the no where.
"The Doctor numbered the envelopes," River held both envelopes for them to see.
~ 0 ~
The group had returned to the diner where River continued her explanation, or theories, about the envelopes, "You got five," she pointed at Amy and Rory, "Mr. Delaware was six, Lena was four, I was three and Avalon was two."
"So?" Lena had to ask, she was all for education and whatnot but not after a makeshift funeral of her big brother.
"So where's one?" River tried making them see the obvious of the envelope's patterns.
"You think he invited someone else?" Rory was beginning to catch on.
"Well, he must have. He planned all of this to the last detail."
"Will you shut up? It doesn't matter," Amy muttered, stopping at a booth as she sulked.
"He was up to something," Lena began to realize as well, "But what? Avalon?" she looked at Avalon who was slightly ahead, distant as was expected, "She's thinking of Mum," Lena whispered to the others.
Avalon could be as brave and bold as she wanted but the one thing that would always defeat her was the topic of death. Her mother's death had scarred her, consequences as big as losing her hope in everything else. She was always afraid of losing people like that because that was the way she'd lost her mother and was constantly afraid she would lose Lena too because of her chronic illness.
"Space 1969, what did he mean?" River relayed for them to think on it with her.
"You're still talking, but it doesn't matter," Amy snapped at them, irritated they were pondering over stupid numbers when their friend had just died.
"Hey," Lena turned to Amy, softly speaking, "If it mattered to my big brother, then it matters to us all."
"He's dead, Lena," Amy shook her head, "Focus on your sister instead of numbers."
"He still needs us, though," Lena looked back at Avalon, happening to catch sight of a blue paper on a nearby table by Avalon, "Look," she rushed for it, holding up another blue-colored envelope with the number '1' in front.
As River ran for Lena, Rory turned to the counter where an employee was, "Excuse me, who was sitting over there?"
"Some guy."
"The Doctor knew he was going to his death, so he sent out messages," River was putting the pieces together, "When you know it's the end, who do you call?"
"Your friends," Lena quickly answered.
"People you trust," Rory rejoined them.
"Number one. Who did the Doctor trust the most?"
As if on cue, the back door of the diner opened and in came the Doctor with a straw in his mouth. While the entire group stared, stunned, he grinned and pointed at them like he hadn't expected it.
"Fairy Tale Man?" Avalon stepped forwards, her face completely dumbfounded.
"Hey! I saw what you did at Milan," he pointed at her with a frown on his face. "That was wrong and you're taking those clothes back."
Avalon blinked. "Wait...what?" she shook her head, "You arm this whole fiasco, tell me stupid things and then...you give us this? What the hell!" She slapped him across the face with all her might.
"Ava!" he stumbled back with a hand over his cheek, "What I do!?"
Avalon was furious and felt like going ahead and giving him more, "You know what it was like to lose my Mum and yet you..." she couldn't even finish her words if she wanted to keep her tears inside. "...telling me to stay away from you..."
"Avalon," River tugged her away before she said something she shouldn't. Knowing the last the Doctor had been a future version allowed her to see much more than the rest of the group.
"How are you here?" Lena just had to ask, more than relieved to see him again but...he had just died and he didn't look anywhere near a ghost.
"I was invited. Date, map reference," the Doctor pointed to his envelope River still held, his other hand still rubbing over his cheek from Avalon's slap. "Same as you lot, I assume, otherwise it's a hell of a coincidence."
"River, what's going on?" Amy sighed. She wanted to go and hug the Doctor as well but she also felt like Avalon in which he needed to be slapped for what he'd done.
"Ask him what age he is," River looked at Avalon, the most affected out of all should get the clarification straight to the face.
"Why?" she shook her head, "I just want to keep slapping him."
The Doctor took a cautious step back for the ginger had quite some strength and he wouldn't like to feel it on his face anymore.
"Just do it," River gave Avalon a sharp look.
She sighed and turned to the Doctor, "How old are you?"
"That's a bit personal..."
"Answer the damn question or I'll slap you again on both sides," Avalon pointed.
"909!"
"That's..." Avalon looked at the others with confusion, "...the same age I left him with 3 days ago."
"Meaning...?" River forced her to keep putting the pieces of it together.
"You're..." Avalon had returned her eyes to the Doctor, "...we've been separated for three days?"
"Yeah," he nodded cautiously, "And I'll take the manipulator back before you hop into the future and take something there too."
"It was an accident," she mumbled quietly as she looked down at her clothes, for some reason wishing he'd compliment the clothes instead of reprimanding her like she'd initially expected.
"So is anyone going to tell me what are we all doing here?" the Doctor looked at the others, seeing them all sharing expressions of concerns and confusion.
"We've been recruited. Something to do with space, 1969, and a man called Canton Everett Delaware III," River explained seeing as the others were still getting it together.
"Recruited by who?"
"Someone who trusts you more than anybody else in the universe."
"And who's that?"
"Spoilers," River sighed, glancing at the others who gave a mere nod.
~ 0 ~
Once the group had returned to the TARDIS and given as much details as possible (without giving any spoilers) to the Doctor, he started rambling on about the year they'd chosen, "969, that's an easy one. Funny how some years are easy. Now, 1482, full of glitches. Now then, Canton Everett Delaware III, that was his name, yeah?" Amy couldn't take it and left for the stairs that would lead under the console, Lena right behind her, "How many of those can there be? Well, three, I suppose," the Doctor continued but noticed River leaving as well. He made a face and looked at Avalon and Rory, "Is everybody cross with me for some reason?"
"I'll find out," Rory pointed and headed off.
Avalon shook her head and moved to follow him, "C'mon, Ava, not you too," the Doctor called after her. She turned around, solemnly staring at him, "What did I do?"
Avalon got to thinking of the last Doctor they'd just seen a couple hours ago and knew that he hadn't been anything but sweet and nice, not one banter ever arose. She wondered if that had been an effort he'd made knowing he'd die. What other explanation was there? If you were to die, you'd repent of everything you'd done, including forgiving the annoying, sarcastic ginger woman he'd allowed into his home. And the fact that he had told her to stay away from him didn't help either. He sounded like it was a warning...and whenever she thought of warnings her mind rushed to that letter she'd gotten a year ago at Amy's and Rory's wedding reception.
"Ava?" the Doctor tried again, not daring to walk closer to her in case she fired another of her deadly slaps.
Avalon walked up to him and surprised him by hugging him. "I'm sorry," came her apology a minute later. She'd been so used to having him around and bantering that she never stopped for a minute to wonder what it would be like to lose him as well, "I'm so sorry for all my remarks, my crimes, I'm sorry. I'm really, really, sorry."
"Where's all this coming from?" the Doctor hugged back, even more concerned for all his friends. "Did you get another letter?"
"No," Avalon pulled away but didn't let him go. "You know that I consider this place and you the safest place I could be at, right?"
A smug smile came to the Doctor's face, making Avalon roll her eyes. "I do try my best!"
"Would you ever ask me to stay away from you?"
"No..." the Doctor looked at her strangely for her words, "...unless you had a pear in your hands."
A chuckle came to Avalon. "Right," she let go of him and stepped back. "Well, I just wanted you to know that I feel safe here, with you. Safe with my Fairy Tale Man. Safe."
The Doctor gave her another look for her repetition. "Ava, you know can tell me anything, right? Cos you remember what happens when you bottle it up, right?"
"Yeah."
"Is there something you want to tell me?"
"...no," she bit her lip, "I'm just reflecting, Fairy Tale Man. I know I have a poor attitude-"
"It's not bad, actually, it's a bit amusing..." the Doctor got to thinking and chuckled.
"I'm rude, though," she repeated what she always heard from everyone else.
"I see it more as you calling me out when I do stuff I'm not supposed to, or say things I'm not supposed to. I don't find that as a 'poor attitude'," but Avalon gave him a look for that, "Okay so maybe in the beginning I did think like that..." the Doctor corrected himself, "But that was before I got to know you better," he smiled, "Now I know that you like to take charge, you're very outspoken, and you do not like it when someone touches you hair."
"Someone's been paying attention," Avalon raised her eyebrows, though smiled in the end.
"Well, we have been traveling for about a year now," the Doctor shrugged, "It's only natural. But seriously, are you okay? Is there something else?" he took a step closer to her.
"No there isn't," she tried to argue and took a step back. She didn't want to somehow break and tell him everything she and the rest of the group had seen earlier.
"You are not a very good liar, do you know that?"
"I'm a very good liar, thank you very much," she made a mock-offended face.
"You're really not," the Doctor shook his head and moved up to her again, taking her head into his hands and looked her dead in the eye, "Because right now I can tell very easily that you cried, and I'd like to know why you're lying about it. What happened, Ava?"
"N-nothing..." she faltered under the Doctor's look.
"Avalon, pl-"
"Avalon," Lena finished coming up the stairs, startling them both, "Sorry...did I interrupt?" Lena sheepishly asked, noticing their closeness with intrigue.
"No, no, we were just talking," Avalon quickly turned to her sister, "What did you need?"
"Nothing," Lena eyed the troubled expression of the Doctor behind Avalon, "Nothing important anyways," she wasn't going to tell Avalon what River had explained to them a couple minutes ago...at least not in front of the Doctor, "So...1969?" she looked at the Doctor with a clean smile as the others began to come up the stairs behind her.
The Doctor turned to the console, seeing Avalon would keep her mouth shut about what ever troubled her and the others, "Time isn't a straight line, it's all bumpy-wumpy..." he began and made a round around the TARDIS, "There's loads of boring stuff, like Sundays and Tuesdays and Thursday afternoons. But now and then there are Saturdays, big temporal tipping points when anything's possible. The TARDIS can't resist them, she loves a party, so I give her 1969 and NASA, cos that's space in the '60s, and Canton Everett Delaware III, and this is where she's pointing," he pushed the scanner to the group and revealed a date.
"Washington DC, April 8th, 1969. So why haven't we landed?" Amy looked around as there had been no noise at all which meant the TARDIS had to be in flight at the moment.
"Because that's not where we're going," the Doctor shrugged.
"Where are we going, then?" Lena frowned, glancing back at River. The woman had made it clear that they should follow what the older Doctor had wanted to do, probably something truly important.
"Home! Well, you three are," the Doctor pointed to her and Amy and Rory, "I'm sure you father wants at least one of their daughter's home. You two," he looked at Amy and Rory, "Off you pop and make babies. Dr Song, back to prison," Me, I'm late for a biplane lesson in 1911, or it could be knitting. Knitting or biplanes, one or the other..." he flopped down on the chair and rubbed his forehead with irritation, "What? A mysterious summons? You think I'm just going to go? Who sent those messages? I know you know, I can see it in your faces," he stared at Avalon, " Don't play games with me. Don't ever, ever think you're capable of that."
Avalon frowned, "Don't you ever talk to me like that."
"You're going to have to trust us this time," River spoke before the two got into an argument of some sorts.
"Trust you?" the Doctor nearly laughed as he stood up and walked over to her, "But first of all, Dr Song, just one thing... Who are you? You're someone from my future, getting that, but who? OK... Why are you in prison? Who did you kill? Hmm? Now, I love a bad girl, me, but trust you? Seriously?" He hadn't forgotten the warning he'd received from Octavian against her. For all he knew, the reason River was in prison was because she murdered Avalon! That thought alone made him shudder. He would never let that happen. He'd rather die first!
"Trust us, then," Amy spoke up, putting an arm around Lena's shoulders.
"Okay," the Doctor turned for them.
"You have to do this, big brother, and you can't ask why," Lena swallowed hard.
"Are you being threatened?" the Doctor guessed as he looked between the two's faces, "Is someone making you say that?"
"No," they answered together.
"You're lying."
"They're not lying," Avalon sighed and cut in between them, "We promise, all of us."
"Swear to me, then," the Doctor challenged, "Swear to me on something that matters."
"La Belle au bois dormant," Avalon pronounced the title of her favorite fairytale - Sleeping Beauty - in perfect French contrary to her attempt the first time she'd heard it from him as a child, "By Charles Perrault."
The Doctor considered her very important story and nodded, "My life in your hands, Ava..."
"Thank you," she sincerely said, finally able to at least dimly smile.
"So, Canton Everett Delaware III!" the Doctor returned to the console to begin their research, "Who's he?"
As they started looking into the mysterious man, they began getting some small details of what could potentially be a problem. There was something about a private meeting Canton had with the president of the United States during 1969, Nixon, and it seemed all too interesting for a fired man to be called upon by the most powerful man in the world. The Doctor had resolved to bring the TARDIS somewhere near the meeting just to overhear some things and observe what was going on. Unfortunately for him, he stepped right in the middle of the Oval Office. It was a good thing he'd left the others inside the TARDIS, which was invisible and would keep them safe while he listened in on a very interesting phone call from a little girl pleading help to the president.
"Should we really allow him to go on his own out there?" Avalon stared hard at the shut doors of the TARDIS, "I mean, he's prone to get himself into trouble!"
"And we'll know," assured River who stood by the console, literally waiting for that to happen.
"I don't think it's right," Avalon declared and began pacing back and forth from the doorway to the console, "I mean, we just saw him die so we should do something to stop it and..."
"It's be a paradox, apparently," Amy rolled her eyes.
"I don't care!" Avalon exclaimed.
"What I said too," Amy nodded.
River shook her head, "We've been over this, and Avalon stop pacing, please. It's giving me a headache."
"I can't help it!"
"Ava, why not take a seat?" Rory offered, truthfully also tired of seeing her pace.
"I can't, I can't just sit down and pretend like I didn't see the Doctor die!" Avalon took a breath, her hand absently fiddling over the Doctor's watch on her wrist, "I can't do that, I don't want to..."
Lena hurried up to her twin and put her hands on Avalon's shoulders, "Breathe, Avalon, breathe. I know you're thinking of...Mum," she whispered the word, "But don't worry, okay? This isn't the same thing, it won't be," she assured, Avalon taking a moment to recollect herself.
After a moment, Avalon smiled, "Look at you, making me feel better. He's your 'big brother'."
Lena smiled back and took her hands, "And he's your Fairy Tale Man, important to both of us and the rest. Plus, I think it's about time I did something for you. You always made me feel better, and Gavin, when we were sad."
The moment was interrupted when the TARDIS took a great a shake, nearly knocking the entire group to the floor.
"What was that!?" Avalon rushed up to the console with Lena.
"Every time," River rolled her eyes as she connected some wires to the scanner.
"He said the scanner wouldn't work," Rory reminded with confusion as River worked.
"I know, bless!" she laughed as the scanner wires sparked and the screen came to life, showing the group how the Doctor was being tackled to the floor by the secret agents, his face pressed onto the carpet floor.
"Not that! Ow!" he cried, "River, have you got my scanner working yet?"
Oh, I hate him!" River shook her head.
"No, you don't!" called back the Doctor, probably assuming what the woman was going to say, "River, make her blue again!"
River went around the console flicking switches and pulling levers, succeeding in making the TARDIS visible outside, "Well, we better get out there before he does something else stupid," River headed for the doors with the others behind her.
As River was the first to step out of the TARDIS, she heard the Doctor coquettishly speaking to the agents, "...you think you can just shoot me?"
"They're Americans!" she reminded with a roll of her eyes, her hands in the air to show surrender.
As if that was the magical word, the Doctor stood up from the president's desk with his hands raised, "Don't shoot, definitely no shooting!"
"Don't shoot us either," Lena called as they walked out of the TARDIS, all their hands raised in surrender.
"Very much not in need of getting shot," Rory added and nodded to their raised hands, "Look, we've got our hands up."
"Who the hell are you?" President Nixon demanded while his agents kept him behind for 'safety'.
"Sir, you need to stay back," Canton Delaware instructed the man, but the mysterious group was just too much.
"But who, but who are they? What is that box?"
"It's a Police Box, can't you read?" the Doctor raised an eyebrow, "I'm your new undercover agent, on loan from Scotland Yard. Code name, the Doctor. These are my top operatives, the Singer, the Legs, the Innocent, the Nose, and Mrs Robinson.
"I hate you," River rolled her eyes, meaning it for that one.
"No, you don't!"
"Who are you?" Nixon repeated his question and frankly expected to be answered properly this time.
"Boring question. Who's phoning you, that's interesting," the Doctor pointed out, "'Cause Canton Three is right, that was definitely a girl's voice. There's only one place in America she can be phoning from."
"Where?" Canton challenged the man's supposed intelligence.
"Do not engage with the intruder, Mr Delaware," one of the agents, Peterson, cut in.
"You heard everything I heard, it's simple enough. Give me five minutes, I'll explain," the Doctor assured as he took a seat back on the desk, "On the other hand, lay a finger on me, or my friends, and you'll never, ever know."
"How'd you get it in here?" Canton glanced back at the TARDIS, not at all frightened nor paranoid like the others, "I mean, you didn't carry it."
"Clever, eh?" the Doctor started smirking.
"Love it," Canton smiled.
"Do not compliment the intruder," Peterson repeated and steadied his gun on the Doctor.
"Five minutes?" Canton looked at the Doctor, slightly more inclined to accept than the others.
"Five," the Doctor agreed.
"Mr President, that man is a clear and present danger," Peterson tried to argue when Canton cut him off.
"Mr President, that man walked in here with a big blue box and three of his friends and that's the man he walked past. One of them's worth listening to. What say we give him five minutes, see if he delivers."
"Thanks, Canton!" the Doctor held a thumbs-up to the man.
"If he doesn't, I'll shoot him myself," Canton threw him a warning look that wiped the Doctor's smile.
"Not so thanks..."
"Sir, I cannot recommend..."
"Shut up, Mr Peterson," Nixon looked at Canton, "All right."
"Five minutes," Canton gave the Doctor a go.
"I'm going to need a SWAT team ready to mobilize, street level maps covering all of Florida, a pot of coffee, 12 jammy dodgers and a fez," the Doctor pointed all around the room with utter excitement.
"Get him his maps!" Canton told the other agents.
Later, the entire room was covered in street maps of all sizes with everyone looking at least one of them. Canton and the Doctor stood to one side of the room where the Doctor had a large map on a table in front of them.
"Why Florida?" Canton asked the question of everyone in the room.
"That's where NASA is. She mentioned a space man. NASA's where the space men live," the Doctor paused, "Also... there's another lead I'm following."
"Space Man?" Amy looked at River, both of them and Avalon close by with their own maps, "Like the one we saw at the lake."
"Maybe, probably," River shrugged.
"Please give us a concrete answer," Avalon sighed and looked up, "I know you know what to do but for the sake of timelines you don't say a word about it."
"I'm sorry," was all River had to say about it and returned to her map.
"Thanks for the help," Avalon muttered and turned away, facing the doorway of the room where she saw the same creature on the dunes of the lake, "You..." she immediately gritted her teeth, recalling her theory of those blasted creatures having to do with the Doctor's help. "I saw you..."
"Avalon?" Amy noticed the woman beginning to walk for the doorway, of course then SHE noticed the creature at the doorway, 'Oh my god," she quickly stood up from her seat, "Avalon!" she exclaimed and startled Avalon, as well getting the attention of everyone else in the room.
"Huh?" Avalon turned away from the doorway, blinking rapidly, feeling slightly odd again.
"What's going on?" Lena called from her spot with Rory.
"N-nothing..." Amy shook her head, feeling like an idiot for making a scene with no reason behind, "...funny," she put a hand on her stomach as she started feeling weird.
"Amy, you okay?" Avalon went back to Amy's side.
"Amy, what's wrong?" Rory, concerned, rushed to the women.
"You all right?" the Doctor had to stop and look at the ginger who did seem a bit pale.
"Yeah, no, I'm fine, I'm just...feeling a little sick," Amy assured the others and took a breath.
"Maybe we should get you to a toilet," Avalon suggested and led Amy towards the doorway again, "Excuse me, is there a toilet, or something?" she asked the agent, Peterson.
"Sorry, ma'am, during this procedure, you must remain within the Oval Office."
"Shut up and take them to the restroom," Canton rolled his eyes and waved for them to do as told.
"This way," another agent led the gingers into the hallway.
~ 0 ~
Upon reaching the restroom, Avalon led Amy inside and shooed away the agent that had tried to follow them in for 'safety' reasons. As soon as they entered, though, they saw the creature once again inside the room.
"I keep forgetting," Avalon blinked, once again recalling her previous seeings.
"I saw you before," Amy remembered the office's doorway, "But then I forgot..."
"It does that, apparently," Avalon frowned, "I saw you at their wedding reception. But I forgot. Now it's a year later and you're still here, and you were at the lake - are you following me or...?" she stepped towards the creature.
"Are you serious" Amy looked at her with surprise.
"At your reception, it told me something weird. Then ig was at the lake...and it was looking at me," Avalon gritted her teeth, this time keeping her gaze locked on the creature, "The Doctor died, and it was there again...and it was looking at me. Why!?" she nearly shouted it.
They heard a toilet flush and a blonde woman came out of a stall and headed for the sink, never noticing the creature standing behind.
"Get back! Stay back from it!" Amy waved the woman come over and away from the creature.
The woman turned for the creature and screamed before laughing, "Oh, my God, what is that, is that a mask? Is that a Star Trek thing? Ben, is that you?"
"It's not a joke," Avalon snapped, "Get back from it, now!"
The woman turned around to them, forgetting the creature, "Back from what, honey?"
"That!" Amy pointed behind and made the woman look back again.
"Oh, my God, look at that. Is that a Star Trek mask? Ben, that's gotta be you. Hang on, did I just say all that?"
"Please, just get over here," Avalon motioned.
"Back, honey? Back from what?" the woman had turned around again, Avalon groaning with frustration. The lights began flickering and so the woman looked around, "Oh, those lights. They never fix them."
"Look behind you!" Amy exclaimed, also growing irritated but was more afraid than Avalon.
"Honey, there is nothing..."
The creature reached out for the woman with its arm and mouth open. As the woman turned to look at the creature only to be shot with electricity and disintegrate.
"What the hell was that for?" Avalon snapped, "It's not like she was going to say anything, she couldn't even remember you!"
"How does that work? We can only remember you, while we're seeing you, is that it?" Amy put the pieces together as she took out her camera-phone, "Why did you have to kill her?"
"Joy. Her name was Joy," the creature spoke for the first time.
"Good, you know the name, that makes it better," Avalon rolled her eyes, "Now you answer us, why are you following us?"
"Your name is Avalon." Avalon stepped back when the creature pointed at her, "We have found you again..."
"You said that the last time..." Avalon recalled and felt a new pang of fear course through her.
"And your name is Amelia," the creature then pointed at Amy, "You will tell the Doctor."
"Tell him what?" Amy swallowed hard, still stunned it knew hers and Avalon's identity apparently.
"What he must know. And what he must never know."
"How do you know about that?"
"Know about what?" Avalon frowned.
"Tell him," the creature ordered and Amy pulled Avalon out the restroom.
The agent awaiting on the other side noticed the frantic expressions on their faces, "Are you OK?"
Both gingers looked at each with confusion, Avalon noticing the phone Amy held, "What's that?" she pointed at it.
"It's my phone," Amy blinked, unsure why she had it out.
"Well no duh it's your phone," Avalon rolled her eyes, "I meant why'd you have it out?"
"I have to tell the Doctor," Amy mumbled, something pushing her to talk to him even more now.
"Tell him what, ma'am?" the agent eyed both women with confusion.
"Sorry. I don't know why I said that..." Amy put away her phone and shook her head.
"This way..." the agent motioned for them to follow him.
"I feel like..." Avalon tried to say, something niggling in her mind but couldn't quite place her finger on it. She shook her head and forgot all about it as she went to follow the agent with Amy.
As they returned to the office, they saw the president going over to answer the ringing phone on his desk, the Doctor excitedly babbling on about the map he had in front of him.
"You, sir, are a genius," Canton praised the alien with impression.
"It's a hobby," the Doctor accepted it.
"Oi, instead of being cocky, focus on the phone call," Avalon pointed to the president who was awaiting instructions by the phone.
"Mr President, answer the phone," Canton turned to the president.
Nixon held up the phone and took the call, "Hello. This is President Nixon."
"It's here! The Space Man's here. It's gonna get me. It's gonna eat me!" cried the terrified, little girl through the line.
The Doctor urgently grabbed his jacket and ushered the group towards the TARDIS, "There's no time for a SWAT team, let's go! Mr President, tell her help's on the way. Canton, on no account follow me into this box and close the door behind you."
"What the hell are you doing?" Canton called and rushed after them. As the doors shut behind him, he came to a complete halt when he saw the room inside.
The Doctor had already begun preparing them for de-materialization and was explaining to the group the whereabouts of the little girl, "Jefferson isn't a girl's name, or her name either. Jefferson Adams Hamilton...
Avalon blinked, not expecting to be called upon, "Um...surnames of three of America's founding fathers?"
"Lovely fellas, two of them fancied me," the Doctor tried to joke with her but she was too engulfed in trying to keep the thoughts of his death out of her head, "The President asked the child two questions. Where and who are you? She was answering where. Now where would you find three big historical names in a row like that?"
"Where?" Amy asked then gave Avalon a discreet look from the Doctor. That ginger needed to get herself together or the Doctor would figure it out!
"Here! Come on!" the Doctor ran for the doors and was stopped by Canton who was still taking the mysterious box in.
"It's er..."
"Are you taking care of this?" the Doctor looked over to Rory, figuring it was true as they were together. Without an answer, he continued out the doors with the others.
" Where are we?" Lena crinkled her nose as they stepped out into a warehouse of some sort. It was dirty and messy and quite frankly, it had a unique smell of some sort.
The Doctor had gone up to a desk and plopped down, picking up a small American flag, "About five miles from Cape Kennedy Space Centre. It's 1969, the year of the Moon. Interesting, don't you think?"
As Amy turned on a flashlight, Avalon took a couple steps away from them to look through the clutter, "Why would a girl be here?" she made a face at how dirty some of the things were.
"I don't know. Lost, maybe," the Doctor tried to guess, eyeing River picking up the phone on the side of the desk, "The President asked where she was and she did what any lost little girl would do. She looked out the window," he stood up and gestured to the window, peering through the blinds to see the three street names in sight.
"Streets," Amy realized, "Of course, street names!"
"The only place in Florida - probably all of America - with those three street names on the same junction, and, Ava, you've got that face on again."
"Hm, what face?" she turned from the table she'd been looking through.
"The 'he's hot when he's clever' face," he smirked.
"Oh, really?" Avalon raised an eyebrow, beginning to smirk back, "Well you've got that stunned face again cos I'm just too bloody gorgeous."
'What?' Amy mouthed to Lena and River, completely confused.
River just held up a hand to stop them from interrupting, a soft smile on her face as she looked over to the pair.
The two ended up laughing and the Doctor led Avalon away to explore. Over their travels, the people they'd met had started to assume they were a couple. To further the teases between each other they would make small remarks like that and would end up laughing like it was nothing.
"Egotistical Fairy Tale Man," Avalon playfully pushed him.
"Conceited singer," the Doctor countered.
River had went behind them and felt the need to point out an immediate danger. The last thing she wanted was for danger to harm them while they were distracted with their flirting, "You realize this is almost certainly a trap, of course."
"I noticed the phone, yes," the Doctor agreed.
"What about it?" Avalon looked back at River, curious what they knew.
"It was cut off. So how did the child phone from here?"
"OK. But why would anyone want to trap us?" Amy dreaded the answer as she knew it wouldn't be god at all.
"Don't know. Let's see if anyone tries to kill us, and work backwards," the Doctor declared and brought them into a new area of the warehouse where an operating table was located in.
"Now why would a little girl be here?" Lena blinked with horror, "What were they doing with her!?"
River moved up to the table and took a general observation of the instruments and components around, "It's non-terrestrial, definitely alien, probably not even from this time zone."
The Doctor was nearby some crates and was already rummaging through them, "Which is odd, because... look at this!"
"It's Earth tech, contemporary," River concluded.
"Very contemporary. Cutting edge. This is from the space program!"
"And aliens stole it?" Avalon guessed.
"Apparently," the Doctor popped on a space helmet over his head.
"Why? If you can make it to Earth, why steal technology that can barely make it to the moon?"
"Maybe cos it's cooler," the Doctor lofted the visor, ridiculously excited, "Look how cool this stuff is!"
Amy looked less than amused, "Cool aliens?"
"Well, what would you call me?"
"An alien," Avalon passively remarked as she moved for River.
"Oi!"
"That's not what your stories said," River nudged Avalon with a small smirk.
"Oh c'mon how did you read my stories?" Avalon ignored her blush and pouted. River just winked with a laugh and returned to her work. Avalon huffed, but discreetly cast a glance towards the Doctor while he went to greet Canton and Rory. She blushed deeper and quickly looked away, focusing on whatever was in front of her.
Amy took the distraction of the Doctor with Canton and Rory to get closer to River, "River..."
"I know what you're thinking," River cut her off without even looking at her.
"No, you don't."
"You're thinking if we can find the Space Man in 1969, and neutralize it, then it won't be around in 2011 to kill the Doctor."
"So why aren't we looking harder?" Lena had been watching River work around the operating table with reluctance ans found it strange seeing how much River always claims she loves the thrill and danger.
"Because it doesn't work like that, Lena," River looked up at her, "We came here because of what we saw in the future. If we try and prevent the future from happening, we create a paradox."
"Time can be rewritten," Avalon turned for them, joining the conversation.
"Believe me, there are just some things that can't be rewritten, no matter how much you'd like to," River took a long breath and sadly looked back at the table components.
Amy was less than prone to believe all that, "Says who?"
"Who do you think?" River scoffed and followed a cable with her flashlight, coming up to a manhole cover, "What's this? Doctor! Look at this," she pushed the cover aside as the Doctor walked to her.
"So where does that go?" he watched her scan the hole.
"There's a network of tunnels running under here."
"Life signs?"
"No, nothing that's showing up," River put away her scanner and moved to climb down the hole.
"Those are the worst kind," the Doctor made a face, "Be careful."
"Careful?" River scoffed, "Tried that once, ever so dull."
"Maybe someone should come with you," Avalon offered, peering from the other side down to the darkness, "Never know what could be roaming there..."
"No!" River nearly yelled upon hearing the suggestion, managing to make Avalon jump on her spot, "You go search for there with Amy and Lena."
"But-"
"Go!"
Avalon blinked with surprise and anger, then headed off towards Amy and Lena, muttering certain things under hear breath. The Doctor watched her go with a sense of irritation, "You didn't have to be so rude about it," he scolded River, "She's already so..."
"She's not coming down here, you're supposed to be looking after her, remember?"
"How do you know about that?" the Doctor became suspicious.
"I'm from the future, how do I know about everything?" River rolled her eyes and laughed, resuming her climb down.
A while later, the Doctor had noticed the small incident and was about to go and talk to Avalon when River had popped out of the hole again, looking out of breath.
But just like that, she calmed, "All clear. Just tunnels, nothing down there I can see. Er, give me five minutes, I want to take another look round."
"Stupidly dangerous," the Doctor remarked to her.
"And your point would be...?" River smirked and went back down.
"Rory, would you mind going with her?" the Doctor turned to the human nearby.
Rory eyed the hole with distaste, "Yeah, a bit."
"Then I appreciate it all the more," the Doctor clapped Rory on the back and watched human sulky walk for the hole.
"Hang on, River, I'm coming too," poor Rory started climbing down the ladder.
Finally, the Doctor was able to go to the twins, deciding to start with Avalon on account of how strangely she was behaving today. While the ginger was sorting through a crate, he quietly moved closer to her from behind.
"If you try any of your little sneak-up-tactics on me I'll kick you right here and now," Avalon warned without looking back.
"How do you do that!?" the Doctor stood beside her with endless intrigue.
"Same way my mum caught me when I was kid," Avalon glanced at him, "I'm a woman, I've got eyes on the back of my head."
"Thinking a lot more of your mother today, you know," the Doctor tried to be casual about it, "Any...specific reasons..."
Avalon let go of what she was doing and turned to him, "It doesn't matter." She certainly wasn't going to tell him about the death she witnessed. "Just drop it, Doctor."
"I just want to help," the Doctor softly said, her snappish tone not at all offensive to him. It had been quite some time since she used that kind of tone with anyone. Something wasn't right and he needed to know in order to fix it and make her happy again.
"Yeah, well, I'm sorry," Avalon returned to her rummage through crates, preferring to occupy her mind with anything that wasn't his death at the lake. "I get moody sometimes. Nothing you can do anything about it."
"Hey," he reached for her hand, stopping her from moving away, "I'm the fairy-tale man, I can do anything, remember?"
Avalon looked at him for a minute, though once again saw him dying at the lake and had to look away before she teared up, "Not this time," she whispered and took her hand away.
The Doctor didn't like her reaction and was going to keep insisting when they heard the little girl calling from another room, "Help me!" she cried, "Help! Help me!"
Canton pulled out his gun, "It's her!" he rushed after the calls of the girl.
Avalon took off as well in an attempt to avoid further questioning from the Doctor. As Amy and Lena went to follow, Amy stopped and doubled over in pain.
"Amy!" Lena stopped beside the ginger while the Doctor ran to them.
"Amy? What's wrong?"
Amy supported herself between Lena and the Doctor, "I need to tell you something!" she looked at the Doctor.
"Doctor!" they heard Canton call.
"It's important. It's really, really important," Amy insisted.
"Doctor! Quickly!"
"What, now?" the Doctor pulled both women towards the calls of Canton, slightly worried he hadn't heard anything from Avalon for a good while. He found Canton on the floor of another section of the warehouse, unconscious, "Canton! Canton, are you OK?"
"Is he all right?" Lena looked around for her missing sister, "Avalon!" she called.
"Just unconscious. Got a proper whack though," the Doctor observed.
"Doctor, I need to tell you something," Amy kept insisting, taking the opportunity that Lena had gone for Avalon, "I have to tell you now!"
"Not a great moment, Amy," the Doctor gave her a sharp look.
"No, it's important, it has to be now!"
"Help! Help me!" they heard the little girl getting closer, "Help me!"
"Doctor... I'm pregnant," Amy finally said, leaving the Doctor more than surprised.
"It's the astronaut!" Avalon came running through, completely out of breath, Lena behind her, "It's the..."
The Doctor stood just as the astronaut came to sight behind the twins, "Here, now!" he ordered the twins and they quickly ran over.
"That's it," Amy realized, "The astronaut!"
The astronaut raised its hand, making Amy think it would attack. She turned for Canton's gun and missed the astronaut lifting it's visor to reveal she was the little girl calling for help.
"Help me!" the girl cried.
"Get down!" Amy ordered as she stood up with the gun.
Avalon realized what Amy intended to do, "No, Amy!"
"What are you doing!?" the Doctor's eyes widened as Amy turned, ready to shoot.
"Saving your life!" and Amy fired the gun at the astronaut, only seeing it was a little girl after she'd fired.