"Come on, pick up!" Rory knew how terrible The Doctor was at answering his phone.

"Rory!" The Doctor's voice yelled excitedly on the other line.

"Doctor, we have an emergency. He's back" Rory had his car parked outside the house. "I'd run in there myself but I think I might need some backup." Just as Rory said that The Tardis materialized across the street. Rory ran up to meet him.

"Ok, I have a plan." The Doctor spun his sonic screwdriver in the air as he explained the situation.

The Master and Amy heard The Tardis materialize. "You're in trouble now." Amy smiled.

The Master rolled his eyes as he loosened his grip on Amy's neck.

Rory ran into the house to see Amy looking pale as she struggled to catch her breath. He could see the strangulation marks on her neck. "Lay a finger on my wife again and I will not hesitate to kill you."

"I've laid a lot more than my fingers. Haven't I, darling?" The Master smiled as he watch Amy fight back tears.

"I'm sorry" Amy whispered as a tear escaped.

"You're fucking sick" Rory's eyes were filled with rage as he took out the sonic screwdriver from his pocket and aimed it at The Master.

"Yes, I am" The Master laughed. "Now I know you won't hesitate to kill me but can you really? How do you know this is going to work, because The Doctor said it would? Has The Doctor ever lied to you before, Rory?"

Rory said nothing but stood firmly in place as he pointed the screwdriver.

"I bet he said you could deactivate me but did he mention that there's a possibility you could end up deactivating yourself as well?" The Master took a step towards Rory.

"Yes, he told me that might happen. I don't care." Rory wouldn't budge.

"Ugh, why am I not surprised?" The Master scoffed. "You just have to play the hero to feel any sense of self-worth. The lengths you'll go to prove you're good enough for her. It's pathetic. You've stood beside her and put up with everything she's done while you secretly hold your self-sacrificing behaviour over her head so she feels compelled to stay with you; even if it's simply out of pity for you. Ever heard of a martyr complex?"

"Shut up!" Rory's jaw tightened. "I know you're trying to break me down and you know exactly how because you've been inside my head. You've seen my thoughts but I've seen yours too. And I'm not going to let you win." Rory flicked the switch on the sonic screwdriver.

Suddenly The Master's body began to melt and a bright light came flying towards Rory but it was diverted when The Doctor appeared with a chameleon arc in hand. The Master was trapped once again and this time he had no physical body to return to.

"Is that it?" Rory looked at The Doctor worried that it had all been too easy.

"Yeah, he's safe and sound in this little watch" The Doctor twirled the watch and put it in his pocket.

"Can't he still come back again?" Amy walked up to her husband and held his hand.

"Hypothetically yes but he'll have to choose a different body as his host. So Rory's safe, you're safe and The Master is never going to bother either of you again." The Doctor started walking towards the door to his Tardis. He wanted to ask them to join him but he was sure they wanted to rest and be with each other alone for a while. "I'll just pop out and leave you to..." The Doctor is cut off.

"You get back here right now." Rory smiled as The Doctor ran back into a group hug. Deep down they all sort of knew it was ending. The time would come when they wouldn't want or need to travel with The Doctor. It wasn't because they didn't love each other but even the wild and rebellious Amy Pond was finding her place in the real world. She wasn't running away from it anymore.

The Master wasn't manipulating Rory's thoughts from within anymore but the things he'd said rang true and they scared him a little. The Master was malicious and he loved to manipulate people with his wit and with his strength. And although Rory wasn't the sort to ask out of malice, he did hold his heroic behaviour over Amy's head.

"Basic fact of our relationship is that I love you more than you love me." Rory cut Amy down with his words. "2,000 years I waited for you." Even when faced with impending death by deranged Dalek he found the time to guilt trip her. He really did believe it was the only way to even the odds and he was so surprised to find that she'd pushed him away not because he wasn't good enough but because she thought he was too good.

"You've always wanted children and I can't have them. I didn't kick you out. I gave you up." Amy was in tears and it was so painful for Rory to watch. "Don't you dare talk to me about standing outside a box, Rory. Because that is nothing compared to giving you up!"

"Amy I.. I don't.." Rory had no words. He tried so hard to be good enough for her that he'd forced Amy to believe she wasn't good enough for him. There was a time he did believe he was better but that was The Master talking. Yet, Rory wasn't as polar an opposite to him as he'd once thought.

What might have pushed some apart actually brought them closer. They confronted each other's darker sides and revealed to each other the ugly parts of themselves that they tried so hard to hide away. But even so they came out the other end side by side and discovered they're so much stronger together than they ever could be apart. That's called marriage.