Centurion: 1996
1996 - Rory Williams
She had bounced all through the queue, impatient to get inside for reasons she wouldn't have been able to describe. With her ticket in hand, she tore away from her hapless aunt, who tried in vain to both keep up and see something of the exhibits. The girl proved too hard to keep track of though, and she disappeared into the crowd. Amelia was too confident of herself, once she'd ventured beyond the watchful eye of her aunt, oblivious to the idea that somebody else might be watching her.
Neglecting his duty for the first time in 1,894 years, Rory Williams was not guarding the Pandorica. His eyes were fixed on the tiny little girl even as she clambered into the off-limits area to hide in the fake plants.
Had he ever been that small, he wondered? He must have been, because he definitely remembered Amelia spending most of his childhood being annoyingly larger than him. And now, to his adult eyes, she looked so small and...lonely, even in her excitement at the Pandorica.
He wondered if she missed him. Probably not. She had never known any little boys named Rory Williams, because he had been erased from time. Whatever memories the other Amy, his Amy, had had of him, they were locked away in the box. Little Amelia would have no idea.
Rory pushed aside the thoughts. It was no use going down that path again; he'd had nearly 2000 years to get over his existential crisis. Centurion, security guard, or Rory Williams, he'd done his job to protect the Pandorica. Amelia coming to the museum, hiding in the Pandorica's exhibit, his exhibit, had to mean something.
He watched her for a while longer, barely even seeing the rest of the throng of patrons. Eventually, he turned away, secure in the knowledge that she was safe and unseen by anyone else. Rory trusted her to know what she was doing, even at seven years old.
The rest of the day passed in an agonizing blur. He went about his regular duties, which was even more mind numbing than usual, and made sure nobody else in the security team checked on the Pandorica too thoroughly, which was easy. They all tended to leave the box to him.
At closing time, he watched Auntie Sharon search low and high for Amelia. Despite his guilt, knowing full well where the girl was, and seeing the distress of the woman who was, for years, practically his own aunt, he said nothing. Proud Sharon didn't ask for the help of the team. She left; perhaps thinking Amelia had gone home without telling her. Maybe she would call the police when the huge house was even more empty than usual.
He went through the motions of closing without thinking. Since he worked the night shift (and the morning shift, and the day shift), he said goodnight to the rest of the staff. He tried to be as casual as he could, not rushing as he got his torch and did the usual rounds.
The Pandorica was always his last stop, where he would likely spend the night, watching. Tonight, he stopped in the entryway. Voices rang out from the next room, where the box had always sat, silent and waiting. A childish one asking a question, and then one painfully, painfully familiar.
He stood, frozen, out of their sight. After all this time... what was he supposed to do? He hadn't even seen it open. She would be there, alive, perfect, and he would have no idea what to say to her.
A third voice piped up after a brief moment of quiet.
"EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!"
What? That wasn't supposed to happen.
A fourth voice. Again, painful in familiarity. Muttering, unclear echoes, followed by "Come along, Ponds!"
Well that was supposed to happen. Still, trouble was trouble, and after 2000 years of sitting around, it was time to get some use out of his 'new' body beyond frightening museum owners into keeping his employment.
It wasn't his most brilliant plan, but it would do.
"What's going on?"
The Doctor shouted something at him, maybe at the Dalek, but Rory paid him no mind. He knew what he was doing. Probably.
"INTRUDER UNARMED," the Dalek said, and that seemed as good a cue as any.
"You think?" he asked, and opened fire.
Chapters:
Prologue: 102 - An Auton
1941 - The Lone Centurion
1977 - A Security Guard
1981 - Security
2007 - Luke Smith
2008 - Gwen Cooper
2009 - Donna Noble
1996 - Rory Williams
Epilogues