fic: the time is out of joint (doctor who; amy, river, rory)
the time is out of joint
Doctor Who ; Amy, River, Rory ; PG ; 1000 words ; spoilers for 6x13 ; no content notes ; title from Hamlet ; also at the AO3
Amy wakes up in another life.
On the 22nd of April, time grinds to a halt.
Amy has already lived through the 22nd of April once, at a lakeside in Utah as a witness to the murder of her best friend, a friend who then reappeared, younger and oblivious. Then she lives past that, both through strange adventures across time and space and back home again on Earth. After the Doctor leaves, spring turns to summer turns to autumn until a whole year passes before time catches up with her again, pulling her back to a day she tries hard to forget.
Time stands still on the 22nd of April, and Amy wakes up in another life. A life where her parents never leave Scotland, a life where she never meets a boy called Rory and a girl called Mels. A life where nothing makes sense and it is always two minutes past five in the afternoon.
Other people don't see it. They don't know that the time is meant to change, that clock hands ought to move. And much as Amy loves herself a Roman, she knows they aren't supposed to be walking the streets, their expressions a little lost.
She has a job and a flat and an ordinary life, in an impossible world that no one else seems to be paying attention to.
She draws all the time. In dull team meetings and over solitary dinners she sketches out endless pictures of faraway worlds and distant stars. They start off as dreams, but eventually she realises that they're memories from a world when time passed and seasons changed and people grew old and died in the natural way of things. Except when they didn't. She remembers her friend, the Doctor, and how he died and didn't die both at the same time, the moment when everything changed. She remembers standing beside her husband, a man she loves although she can't remember his face, and a woman who was somehow, impossibly her daughter.
She keeps drawing.
---
River is sitting on the steps outside her flat when Amy gets home. She stops short in surprise.
"Does it ever bother you that your life doesn't make any sense?" River asks.
"All the time," Amy says, and River looks relieved as they go inside.
Amy tells River what she remembers, and River helps her fill in the gaps. She says she's got a plan, that the Doctor was wrong and he doesn't have to die, and she's working on something that's going to make everything right.
"I'm not sure I can do this on my own," River admits.
Amy knows she's not used to seeing her like this, very young and a little uncertain. "I'll help," she promises. "Of course I will. You're my daughter."
River nods. "I know what we need to do first."
---
They find Kovarian in a fortress in Italy, slipping past the Roman legion defending her with ease. Kovarian puts up a fight, but it's two against one and she doesn't stand a chance. The corridors are quiet when they lead her out again, bundling her into the back of their truck, and Amy worries that it was almost too easy, but it doesn't matter. They have what they came for.
Amy doesn't talk to the prisoner. The loathing in her chokes her speech, and she can't afford to be distracted from the mission by a personal vendetta, no matter how justified. She lets River do the talking, and watches as River slowly figures out the eye drive, until one day Amy wears hers for the first time and suddenly she can remember the Silence, the creatures that have haunted her dreams for months with no form or shape. The nightmares grow worse now that she knows what they look like.
River travels to Egypt and gets them a pyramid. Amy has to admit it's pretty cool. They start travelling around the world, and whispers spread. Soldiers and scientists come and meet their train when it stops, saying that they've heard this is the place to be for those who believe that there's something wrong in the world.
Amy interviews them all in her office, with the strange, broken world speeding by her windows. She separates the opportunists from the true believers, looking for both commitment and understanding.
Captain Williams is one of her easiest recruits. His military record is exemplary, with multiple commendations, and when Amy talks to him she finds him quiet and determined, filled with a sense that something is wrong and he can help fix it.
River gets an odd look on her face when Amy passes over his file, later, but she doesn't say anything, just nods her agreement.
In a matter of months, Williams is heading up the whole military division. He's the one who first hears word of the Doctor, imprisoned by the Emperor in London, and he and Amy and River sit and sketch out their strategy for breaking the Doctor free. He'll be staying behind to watch over their prisoners in the pyramid, but he's not comfortable sending any of his team into a dangerous situation without approving the plans himself.
He catches up with Amy just before he goes.
"Ma'am?" he calls out, running up to her.
"Yes, Captain? Is there a problem?"
"No, no problem." He hesitates. "Good luck."
Amy smiles. He looks almost nervous, which isn't like him. "Thank you. We'll be back in no time."
He salutes, she returns it, and then she goes to catch up with River as they start their rescue mission.
---
On the 22nd of April, at two minutes past five, Amy stands on top of a pyramid and watches her daughter marry her best friend, in a world that disintegrates as time starts to move again.
She wakes up to find herself back at home. The clock reads quarter past two in the morning, and she knows three things to be true. Her family is safe, the Doctor is dead, and the universe is once again as it should be. She stares up at the ceiling, and doesn't get back to sleep for a long time.
In the morning, she hears on the radio that they've spotted a freak meteor shower hurtling close to Earth. Amy smiles to herself, and puts a bottle of wine in the fridge.
-- This entry has
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Doctor Who ; Amy, River, Rory ; PG ; 1000 words ; spoilers for 6x13 ; no content notes ; title from Hamlet ; also at the AO3
Amy wakes up in another life.
On the 22nd of April, time grinds to a halt.
Amy has already lived through the 22nd of April once, at a lakeside in Utah as a witness to the murder of her best friend, a friend who then reappeared, younger and oblivious. Then she lives past that, both through strange adventures across time and space and back home again on Earth. After the Doctor leaves, spring turns to summer turns to autumn until a whole year passes before time catches up with her again, pulling her back to a day she tries hard to forget.
Time stands still on the 22nd of April, and Amy wakes up in another life. A life where her parents never leave Scotland, a life where she never meets a boy called Rory and a girl called Mels. A life where nothing makes sense and it is always two minutes past five in the afternoon.
Other people don't see it. They don't know that the time is meant to change, that clock hands ought to move. And much as Amy loves herself a Roman, she knows they aren't supposed to be walking the streets, their expressions a little lost.
She has a job and a flat and an ordinary life, in an impossible world that no one else seems to be paying attention to.
She draws all the time. In dull team meetings and over solitary dinners she sketches out endless pictures of faraway worlds and distant stars. They start off as dreams, but eventually she realises that they're memories from a world when time passed and seasons changed and people grew old and died in the natural way of things. Except when they didn't. She remembers her friend, the Doctor, and how he died and didn't die both at the same time, the moment when everything changed. She remembers standing beside her husband, a man she loves although she can't remember his face, and a woman who was somehow, impossibly her daughter.
She keeps drawing.
---
River is sitting on the steps outside her flat when Amy gets home. She stops short in surprise.
"Does it ever bother you that your life doesn't make any sense?" River asks.
"All the time," Amy says, and River looks relieved as they go inside.
Amy tells River what she remembers, and River helps her fill in the gaps. She says she's got a plan, that the Doctor was wrong and he doesn't have to die, and she's working on something that's going to make everything right.
"I'm not sure I can do this on my own," River admits.
Amy knows she's not used to seeing her like this, very young and a little uncertain. "I'll help," she promises. "Of course I will. You're my daughter."
River nods. "I know what we need to do first."
---
They find Kovarian in a fortress in Italy, slipping past the Roman legion defending her with ease. Kovarian puts up a fight, but it's two against one and she doesn't stand a chance. The corridors are quiet when they lead her out again, bundling her into the back of their truck, and Amy worries that it was almost too easy, but it doesn't matter. They have what they came for.
Amy doesn't talk to the prisoner. The loathing in her chokes her speech, and she can't afford to be distracted from the mission by a personal vendetta, no matter how justified. She lets River do the talking, and watches as River slowly figures out the eye drive, until one day Amy wears hers for the first time and suddenly she can remember the Silence, the creatures that have haunted her dreams for months with no form or shape. The nightmares grow worse now that she knows what they look like.
River travels to Egypt and gets them a pyramid. Amy has to admit it's pretty cool. They start travelling around the world, and whispers spread. Soldiers and scientists come and meet their train when it stops, saying that they've heard this is the place to be for those who believe that there's something wrong in the world.
Amy interviews them all in her office, with the strange, broken world speeding by her windows. She separates the opportunists from the true believers, looking for both commitment and understanding.
Captain Williams is one of her easiest recruits. His military record is exemplary, with multiple commendations, and when Amy talks to him she finds him quiet and determined, filled with a sense that something is wrong and he can help fix it.
River gets an odd look on her face when Amy passes over his file, later, but she doesn't say anything, just nods her agreement.
In a matter of months, Williams is heading up the whole military division. He's the one who first hears word of the Doctor, imprisoned by the Emperor in London, and he and Amy and River sit and sketch out their strategy for breaking the Doctor free. He'll be staying behind to watch over their prisoners in the pyramid, but he's not comfortable sending any of his team into a dangerous situation without approving the plans himself.
He catches up with Amy just before he goes.
"Ma'am?" he calls out, running up to her.
"Yes, Captain? Is there a problem?"
"No, no problem." He hesitates. "Good luck."
Amy smiles. He looks almost nervous, which isn't like him. "Thank you. We'll be back in no time."
He salutes, she returns it, and then she goes to catch up with River as they start their rescue mission.
---
On the 22nd of April, at two minutes past five, Amy stands on top of a pyramid and watches her daughter marry her best friend, in a world that disintegrates as time starts to move again.
She wakes up to find herself back at home. The clock reads quarter past two in the morning, and she knows three things to be true. Her family is safe, the Doctor is dead, and the universe is once again as it should be. She stares up at the ceiling, and doesn't get back to sleep for a long time.
In the morning, she hears on the radio that they've spotted a freak meteor shower hurtling close to Earth. Amy smiles to herself, and puts a bottle of wine in the fridge.
-- This entry has
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