Amy Pond

"Amy? Doctor? What just happened?" I open my eyes to the sound of Rory's voice, expecting to be greeted by the sight of a burnt and ravaged TARDIS. The pristine console room that greets my eyes is the last thing that I am expecting.

"Basically I woke us up. Blowing up the TARDIS was like a nice bucket of ice cold water to our dreaming minds. I'm sure that you two have a lot of catching up to do; you're confused, traumatized, and scared. Why don't you go to bed and sleep it off, I'll just get rid of the spores that caused this big mess." A smile is plastered on the Time Lord's face as he speaks, but he hasn't met my eyes once during his entire spiel. I open my mouth to question him, when Rory cuts me off.

"What are spores? Doctor, what's going on? Where's the Dream Lord, is he gone?" My fiancée rattles off questions nervously, his head swiveling as he searches for our enemy. I decide not to interrupt, as I want to hear the answer to his queries as well.

"Oh, right, explanations, sorry. Basically the telepathic spores caused my dark side to come out and torment us in a collective dream. The Dream Lord was me, all the traits, thoughts, and feelings that compose a side of me that I'm not proud of. Both worlds were a dream, a figment of the imagination. We're perfectly safe," The Doctor paused his speech as he pressed a button on the console, smiling in satisfaction. "Now that I've released the trapped spores from my ship."

I nod silently, pondering the Doctor's words in my mind. Both of those realities, wait, no, dreams, had seemed so real. They had both been examples of two lifestyles I had wanted to experience, and I both had seemed so perfect. Sure I wasn't ready to settle down and have a family just yet, but- wait. What did the Doctor mean, "The Dream Lord was me,"?

"What do you mean, you're the Dream Lord? You said that no one hated you as much as he did. Doctor, you don't hate yourself, do you?" My heart stops beating when he looks up at me, remorse and certainty in his ancient orbs. He doesn't speak, but for once I can read exactly what he's thinking from his expression. I gasp and shake my head disbelievingly, pulling my hero into a hug.

He seems to melt into my arms for a moment, but his body is tense before I can blink. My brow furrows as I rub his back reassuringly, once again confused by his actions. I pull away from him, training my stare on his face. He looks away ashamedly, fiddling with the cuffs of his tweed jacket.

"Doctor, why?" I ask simply, the look on his face shattering my heart. He opens his mouth to respond, but his gaze hardens and he turns away from me, his hands ghosting over the controls. Rory looks at me confused, concern written on his face for the man standing before us.

"Never mind that, I'm taking you two home until I can confirm that the TARDIS is stabilized," The Doctor's voice is clipped and tight, and his fingers are already dancing over the console. Rory and I stiffen at his words, our jaws dropping in protest.

"What do you mean, you're taking us home? You just told us that the TARDIS was perfectly fine!" I'm surprised at the opposition in Rory's voice, as he would usually jump at the chance to go home.

"Yes, well I lied. Get use to it, you can't trust me!" The harsh tone laced into the Doctor's reply causes me to take a step back. I place my hands on my hips and stride towards him, determined to figure out his change in attitude. The TARDIS shifts suddenly before I can get to him, and Rory catches me under the arms before I hit the ground. A slight trace of worry and guilt flash in the Doctor's eyes, but they're gone the moment he realizes that I'm fine. He turns away from us and walks quickly towards the doors of the TARDIS.

"Doctor what are you doing, you promised me that we'd go travelling! You can't take us home, I don't want to go back! I waited for you for so long; you're not leaving me again!" My last statement stops him dead in his tracks, but he doesn't turn to face me.

"I'll be back within a week," He opens the doors slowly, motioning for Rory and I to follow. We stand our ground stubbornly, and I feel a flash of pride towards my husband. I'm finally rubbing off on him.

"I haven't got all day, get out of the-"The Doctor is stopped mid-sentence as a hand roughly clamps a rag over his mouth. His eyes widen in legitimate panic, begging for Rory and I to help him. Within seconds they roll backwards sickly, his body slumping into the arms of his attacker. I jump to action at the sight of my Doctor so still, rage consuming my mind. I can feel Rory move behind me, but the world stands still as the Doctor's assailant places a knife to his neck. I stop mid-stride, my arm shooting out to restrain Rory. I can feel bile rising in my throat, and my mind is whirring at a hundred miles an hour.

The man holding the limp form of the Doctor reaches into the Time Lord's pockets, retrieving his sonic. I remain still as he brandishes the intergalactic screwdriver purposefully, locking the doors of the TARDIS with the touch of a button. The moment the pair is out of sight I race forwards, banging on the blue doors of the space ship as hard as I can. Tears have already began their decent down my face, my shoulders shaking as I attempt to reach my Raggedy Man.

"Open up, can't you see I'm trying to get to him!" I wail desperately, aiming all of my emotions at the telepathic time machine I call home. The ship doesn't respond, and the only thing preventing me from kicking the wall is the comforting presence of my husband who has wrapped his arms around my shaking form. He turns me around, meeting my gaze. Puddles of fear and worry are present in his blue eyes, but an even bigger pool of determination seems to swallow them up.

"Don't worry Amy, we'll get him back, I promise." I nod feebly in agreement with his words, piecing my pride together. I've never reacted to anything like this before in my life, but something about the demeanor of the Doctor had chipped away my defenses. Why had he been so sad?

"Then what's the point of you?"

The words echo throughout my mind loudly. My words. Words that I had said to the Doctor before he had willingly killed himself for me.

"We've got to find him Rory," I whisper dejectedly, my mind generating thousands of things that could be happening to the Doctor. "I need him. I need him so much."