Author : Nemainofthewater

Title : Divided

Disclaimer : I don't own anything, it all belongs to the BBC.

He ignores it at first.

Tells himself that it can't exist, that it doesn't exist.

And with his wonderful wife, in his normal, boring, utterly fantastic life, it's easy to convince himself that this is the case. That he hadn't lived 2000 years, and that he couldn't remember all of them. He locked his memories behind a steel door and threw away the key.

Because, the Lone Centurion scares him. The Lone Centurion is unstoppable, like a force of nature. He will endure any pain, any torture, any wound if he knows that it will save those he loves. He will wait millennia for just a glimpse of his love's face. He will kill for her.

But this isn't who he wants to be. He is merely Rory Williams, slightly daft but good natured, who has loved the same girl since he saw her with scabbed knees sticking her tongue out at him.

Then the Doctor came, and he is rushed into danger and adventures and dies. (Several times in fact. It has come to the point that he is tempted to seek out Jack Harkness just so that he would have someone to relate to. Of course, he probably wouldn't remember him as they met in an alternate universe.)

It starts happening. Wherever he looks he sees ghostly memories overlaying the scenes (a women smiles at him, and he has to remind himself that it is not the Egyptian slave girl his father owned. That that life never existed. He still flinches at the merest hint of fire and when the power went out on one of their various dangerous adventures, he doesn't light a candle. He just huddles there until the lights come on again. He can still remember the incredible heat as he dragged her from the fire.)

He has reactions that aren't his own. Sometimes, his spine straightens at the smallest hint of command in a man's voice. He handles a sword with ease, and he has to stop himself from barking out orders in soldier's latin in stressful situations. (Which, to be blunt, are most situations travelling with the Doctor.)

He knows that it would be easy to fall into his old life: like slipping on a pair of old, comfy shoes. But he doesn't. He stays Rory Williams, doting husband for her sake, desperately trying to keep the door that hides his memories shut in his mind. (Despite this, he slips up numerous times. He can only thank the TARDIS for her translation circuits as he finds himself speaking latin for the fourth time, cursing silently as he catches the Doctor's knowing gaze.)

But when Amy is captured, he doesn't hide it anymore. He retreats to a safe part of his mind, and watches as Rory disappears, and the Centurion is left. As he kills anyone and everyone who gets between him and his wife.

If there is one thing that both Rory and the Centurion can agree on, it is that they will do anything to keep her safe.

(He dons the armor and faces the cyberman for a hint of her whereabouts. He is fearless for what is life without her? And when he finds her again, and, holding their baby, Rory slips out, the Centurion lurks closer than ever, door completely unbarred now. This is the price he would pay for her safety. And he would pay it every time.)