Centurion: Epilogues
1996
The box flies into the sky, sending the ceiling crashing all around them. Rory and Amy cling to each other, she sobs into his chest, and they and River stare up into the sky.
It bursts.
Everything changes.
Time is ripped open again, far into the past and all the way into the future.
1941
He awoke with a gasp, as usual, and looked around in a brief moment of confusion. It got dark while he was dead, which was handy for a quick escape, but kind of annoying to wake up to. He sat up, somewhat disgusted to find his hands slipping in a pool of his own blood. Never pleasant.
But the blood meant that he was all the more likely to be marked as 'deceased' instead of 'AWL,' even if nobody had actually witnessed him dying. He could always change the records once he was back in Cardiff, but he had died, for about the fourth time, and he didn't want to be marked as a deserter.
In a sense, Jack was deserting, but fighting alien invaders could be just as bad as fighting Nazis, and he didn't want to run into one of his past selves running around. The Doctor would never forgive him if he created a paradox.
The all-clear siren rang out, making Jack flinch mid-stretch. He had to get going if he wanted to avoid people on their way out of the shelters.
Making a face at the soggy squelching sound, he shrugged his coat onto his shoulders. Pulling out a red-tinted cigarette, he walked quickly down the darkened streets, guided by the light of the stars.
2008
Another earth-shattering kaboom from the creature's powerful tail sent all three of them ducking for cover. It snarled and raged, confused by the humans' apparent disappearance.
"Ianto," Jack called into his earpiece, half teasing singsong and half desperation, "We need that gun over here now."
"We're on our way, sir," Ianto's calm voice replied. "Should be there soon."
"How soon is soon?"
"Three minutes," Toshiko's voice replied. There was a screech of tires through the speaker that made them all flinch. "Maybe five."
"Shit," Jack muttered. "Right, you two stay under cover 'til they arrive. I'll try and draw its fire." He was gone before either of them could protest.
With all the noise from the alien stomping around, Gwen barely heard her phone go off.
"If that's PC Andy again," Owen said, "Tell him to fuck off. The next time he has a 'residential disturbance' he has to take care of it himself."
Gwen rolled her eyes at him. "Yes, love. Listen, I'm a bit busy right now, so if you could just catch me up later... Yes, I'll be back for dinner. Yes, Rhys, I promise!"
The alien's tail smacked the ground again, shaking the whole building. Somewhere in the distance, Jack yelled in surprise or pain.
"It might be an hour or two later than we'd planned though." She smiled as she reloaded her gun, the phone pinned to her ear by her shoulder. "Love you too." She hung up the phone and grinned over at Owen.
Tires screeched somewhere nearby as the Torchwood SUV swung in downstairs. The alien roared back at it.
"That's our cue," Gwen said. Assured that Owen was right behind her, she ran out from behind their shelter and took aim at the alien's turned back. "Let's get this over with so I can go home."
1977
"If they didn't want people going in, they ought to have locked the door," Sarah Jane said simply.
"I imagine they thought the fence, the 'keep out' signs and the vast amount of security would be enough to present the message."
"That wouldn't stop a thief."
"And are you a thief, Miss Smith?"
She smiled at him patiently. "Of course not, Brig, you know me. I just wanted to see what was going on."
"What was going on," Brigadier Letherage-Stewart repeated. "In a history museum storage facility."
"Precisely," Sarah Jane said. After a pause, she added, "Thanks for posting my bail."
"Hmph," he said. "I do wish you would stop using UNIT as your emergency contact. We are not your personal get-out-of-jail-free card."
"Of course not." She gazed out the window, trying not to laugh.
The Brigadier did his best to focus on the road ahead of him, but his eyes shifted back to Sarah Jane more and more the longer she remained silent. "Well?"
"Well what?" she asked innocently.
"Well, what did you find out?" he huffed. "I presume after going to so much effort you have something to show for it."
"Dalek armor."
He pulled the car to the side of the road and stopped so he could look her in the eye. "You're certain?"
"I was on Skarro, Brigadier. I know Dalek when I see it. It's inactive, of course, but I thought you might want to have a look at it."
The Brigadier looked at her for a moment longer. Then, with a sigh, he pulled the car around in a U-turn, and they rode back towards the museum.
2007
It was nearly three in the morning when Luke finally made it back to his room. He crossed over the mess of clothes on the floor and dropped his book bag next to his bed. Too full to close properly, the books came spilling out.
Luke looked at them wearily from his position leaning against the windowsill. "We still have reading to do," he said.
Clyde, wiping his face with a green towel that had been white before it was handed to him, stopped in front of the open door and stared at him with a mixture of incredulity and longsuffering. "Are you joking? Three days straight of alien ostrich hunting, and you want to study." He shook his head, sending bits of green alien goo from the ostrich eggs splatting against Sarah Jane's walls. "You make no sense, you know that?"
Luke reached down to pick up his book. "I was born in a soda factory and I haven't got a belly button. Some things don't make sense."
"Those things can be explained in one word: aliens. You, on the other hand, want to study. That is absolutely ridiculous."
"As much as I would like to say I disagree," said Sarah Jane, coming up the hall behind Clyde with another towel, "It's a bit late to start your reading now, Luke. Come on, get to bed."
Luke smiled at her. "Yes Mum."
"And you, get in the shower. You can stay the night but I am not having any of that eggy stuff on my sheets."
Clyde scraped a bit of green goo out of his hair and let it dangle in front of Sarah Jane's nose. "What, this? It's harmless!"
Sarah Jane flinched and tried to swipe his hand away, but only succeeded in getting goop on her own hand. "Yes, that!" she laughed. "Come on, shower! Now!"
"It's no fair, I'm always the one getting covered in goo. Here, take some!"
Luke laughed as Sarah Jane wrestled him down the hall. A familiar whirring indicated that K-9 had finally made it up the stairs, even with his low battery, and he followed the two down the hall, leaving neat lines of green goo behind him. The metal dog turned into Luke's room.
"I thought you needed to charge," said Luke.
"Affirmative," said K-9, and he settled next to one of Luke's outlets. "This unit will soon shut down. Are you not sleeping, Master Luke?"
"I will soon," Luke assured him.
The lights on K-9's visor dimmed as he shut down. Luke turned away to look up out of the window. A white light flew up from somewhere in the distance, flaring briefly and disappearing among the stars as the last of the ostrich ships took off on their continuing migration.
"Bed!" Sarah Jane reminded him, striding back down the hall wearing distinctly more green than she had a moment before. "You can read in the morning. And you can make sure Clyde does his, as well."
"Yes, Mum," said Luke. Sarah Jane flipped off his light as she passed, and Luke moved to his bed, still watching the stars twinkle through the window.
1981
Wilf sat leaning back against the stone bench with his eyes closed, letting the sunlight filtering in through the window warm his face. It was lovely. It hadn't been the most exciting excursion, but he had enjoyed it. Museums were always a pleasure, so reassuring in their mixture of facts and wonder.
"Sir?"
Wilf opened one eye to find a security guard leaning over him.
"Excuse me sir, are you quite all right?"
Wilf smiled. "Oh, fine, fine. Thank you."
"You've been sitting here over an hour, sir."
Wilf chuckled. "Well, you know how it is. Getting older, slowing down. I'm just waiting here for my granddaughter to finish exploring."
"I see." The guard straightened up, looking not altogether pleased, but satisfied with the answer. "Very well then. Enjoy your stay."
"Oh, I shall, thank you. And I have been! Have you been down to the Ancient Roman exhibit? Oh, of course you have, you have to look after it. Amazing stuff, isn't it? All those beautiful statues -"
"Yes," said the security guard, looking uncomfortable. "If you'll excuse me, I must return to my duties."
Wilfred waved him off with a look of mock urgency. "Go on, go! Hurry, before I get started on something else. You don't want to be stuck here listening to an old man prattle on. Somebody could be stealing a T-shirt from the gift shop at this very moment! Hurry!"
The guard did indeed hurry off, at just short of a run, doing his best to look important. He disappeared around a corner.
Wilf chuckled and leaned back again, happy enough with the sunlight for the moment. He only opened his eyes at the echoes of Donna's footsteps.
"There you are!" he called happily, practically jumping out of his seat. "What took you? Shame on you, leaving an old man waiting by himself, dying of hunger."
"You're hungry?" Donna mocked. She put her hands on her hips and leaned forwards, looking very nearly intimidating despite her size. "I had to walk all the way back from the top floor, because you were too tired to go with me!"
"Oh, you poor thing," Wilf said with a laugh. "All right, what do you say we visit the snack bar before we head home though."
"Mum's cooking lunch for us," Donna said pointedly.
"You're quite right," Wilf replied. "We'd better find an actual restaurant, then."
Donna's glare broke into a smile despite her best efforts. Wilf offered her his hand, and they walked down the hall to the gift shop exit.
2009
Donna left the house rolling her eyes at her mother's voice. It was cold out, but she didn't risk going back in for her gloves. Then she'd just be stuck in there, arguing again. She'd heard it all before, criticism after criticism after criticism.
What she needed was some peace and quiet. Something positive. So she headed up the hill to find her grandfather.
Wilf looked up from his telescope and smiled as she approached. Donna couldn't help smiling back.
"What're we looking at?" she asked him.
He offered her a thermos of lukewarm tea. "Stars, of course!" Wilfred laughed.
"Well obviously," Donna said, rolling her eyes. She took a sip from the thermos and looked up at the sky, scattered with bright pinpricks of light. "I meant in particular."
"Oh nothing really," Wilf said. "Keeping an eye out for spaceships."
For a moment, his face twisted into an expression of horror at what he'd said, but Donna was still gazing up at the sky and didn't notice.
"Well wouldn't that be nice," she said. "Have some aliens take us away to go on a proper adventure. Away from this boring old place."
"Well," Wilfred said, searching for a way to change the subject. "I think there's plenty of adventure down here, too."
"I suppose," said Donna, and she looked down with a smile at her ungloved hands. "And I've even got someone to whisk me away on my adventure."
"Speaking of which, what're you doing out here? Thought you and yer mum were making plans."
"She's making plans," Donna said, scowling. "And pointing out all my mistakes. I'm just trying to retain a little bit of hold on the plans for my own wedding."
"She's just happy for you. Your mum loves you, you know."
"Oh, I know." Donna sighed. "But I had to get out, and I'm not going back in there for a good hour."
"Fair enough."
"I had to leave Shaun behind. He was too slow."
"Can't blame you. Once your mother gets in one of those moods, it's every man for himself. He still wants to marry you when you get back, that's how you know you've got yourself a good one."
They both laughed. Donna lay down in the short grass, staring up at the sky as Wilfred went back to fiddling with his telescope. She raised her hand up to the light, and the diamond on her ring shone with the light of a million stars.
2010 - Rory Pond
"Something old," Amy says, "Something new. Something borrowed. Something blue."
Rory follows her out when she runs after the Doctor again. He has a feeling there's going to be a lot of that in the future (and past, and alternate timelines and whatever time-space exists that he hasn't figured out a word for yet), but he doesn't really mind.
They share a glance when the Doctor 'dismisses' them, and he lets her lean out of the open box and shout good-bye to their world, with all its stars back in its sky. They take up stations at the console, and while the Doctor pulls his levers and pushes his buttons, Amy stares up at the TARDIS' column. Rory looks at her, and he can see the whole universe in her eyes.
After 1,894 years of waiting, there are stars in the sky, people and monsters and creatures to see, and hope returned to the world.
Even so, he knows he will spend the rest of his life protecting her.
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