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locker_monsterTitle: Echoes (10/10)
Rating: PG
Characters/Pairings: Eleven, Amy, Rory, Amy/Rory
Timeline: Post-"Death of the Doctor" and post-"A Christmas Carol" and pre-"An Impossible Astronaut"
Summary: The Doctor runs into an old enemy, and an old friend, when the TARDIS lands in 18th century Scotland.
Disclaimer: It all belongs to the BBC.
A/N: Once again, a big thank you to my beta
punch_kicker15. You rock!
Chapter One. Chapter Two. Chapter Three. Chapter Four. Chapter Five. Chapter Six. Chapter Seven. Chapter Eight. Chapter Nine.
Deep within the depths of slumber, Amy was vaguely aware someone was poking her, but she was too busy dreaming to take notice.
She dreamed about how she met Rory back in Leadworth and that was one memory that stayed the same no matter the life she remembered. The smell of toffee still made her smile to this day.
Someone stroked her hair.
The dream shifted, becoming more of a recollection. The trek from the Cybership back to Glen Beagan had been an interesting journey. Eight of the kidnapped townsfolk had survived along with Rory and Jamie had brought enough horses to carry everyone back. The climb down the mountain in the pitch dark had been the fun part. Amy must have strangled the poor horse carrying Rory; each time she slipped on some loose rocks she yanked hard on the reins.
They were in another house now as the previous home used as the make-shift hospital was still a mess. Amy chose a cot for Rory and tucked him in like he was battling a bad cold. She had stayed awake for most of the night, hoping he would open his eyes.
As Amy had watched Rory, silently willing him to wake up, she suddenly understood what his plastic self had gone through while guarding the Pandorica. It wasn’t any different from what she was doing now. Hoping and waiting for a loved one to open their eyes so the world would be right again. The agony Rory must have gone through while he lived through the centuries. He had no way of knowing he would make it to the day when they were reunited. It made her love him all the more.
“Amy.”
She opened her eyes, blinking away the sleepy haze still clouding her thoughts. She had seated herself on the floor next to Rory’s cot, resting her arms on the edge so she could lay her head down. Her neck was now sore from lying in such an awkward position and she groaned as she lifted her head.
She came face to face with Rory. He was stretched out on his side and he had been the one stroking her hair. The sun was starting to rise and the light streamed in through the window behind Rory. Amy reached out, tenderly touching Rory on the lips. She felt his breath on her fingertips, assuring her she wasn’t dreaming this.
“Hey.” Rory’s voice was hoarse but he managed a smile. There were small cuts on his face, arms, and chest from where they had removed the tubes from the conversion unit. Amy traced one now with her finger. They were minor, leaving no scars once they healed, but she felt a slight pain looking at them. What a way to start a marriage.
But Rory wasn’t looking at her with anger or disdain. He just smiled and looked at her like she was the most amazing thing in the universe.
Amy leaned forward and kissed Rory on the lips. No matter how many versions of her life were bouncing around her head, this part, travelling with Rory and the Doctor in the TARDIS, was all she needed right now.
It was only a quick trip, moving the TARDIS from the foothills to the hamlet, but the Doctor had wanted Jamie to see the time machine one more time. They walked out across the field, a flaming torch lighting the way.
Jamie strode across the threshold of the time machine, casual as could be, but he came to abrupt halt a few steps in. “What did ye do to the TARDIS?” He looked around, wide-eyed, at the new interior, which was a far call from the modest white room that the Scot was used to.
“I had a bit of an accident. Had to re-model.” The Doctor closed the doors of the TARDIS. “But she’s still the same ship.”
“Aye?” The Doctor led the way up the stairs to the console. “You mean temperamental?”
The Doctor flicked a switch but then he quickly turned around back to Jamie. “Temperamental? That’s no way to talk about the TARDIS.” He went back to setting the controls for a quick spatial jump.
“It’s the truth, Doctor. Ye never landed where ye wanted.”
“‘Never landed’? Never!?” The Doctor rounded around the console, practically putting himself nose to nose with Jamie. “Well, watch this, McCrimmon.” He released the hand brake and the TARDIS was off.
The whooshing sound of the engines was nothing new to Jamie and he regarded the Doctor with a bored look.
“Where did you get that gold dust?” It wasn’t just an attempt to deflect the conversation somewhere else. The Doctor genuinely wanted to know how an unemployed piper had come upon a sac of powdered gold.
“I worked in a gold mine briefly, in Wales. At the time, I kent gold dust was important for a purpose beyond trade but I couldnae told ye why. One night I stole a sac and ran off back to Scotland. I never opened it until a few days ago.”
The might of human memory still amazed the Doctor. It could bring back people erased from time or destroy complex machines. Memories could even linger in a mind when they weren’t meant to be there.
“Nothing is ever forgotten, Jamie, just misplaced.”
The TARDIS executed a smooth landing; no jolts or shudders. The Doctor smiled at Jamie and he raised his eyebrows, inviting his friend to speak.
“Are ye sure we’re in the right place?” Jamie looked around at the unfamiliar console room, looking for some hint that they weren’t on another planet. The Doctor could see the Scot still wasn’t used to the re-design but he was taking it in stride, as he had always done when confronted by things beyond his understanding.
The Doctor reached for the scanner above the console and swung it around so Jamie could see the image displayed on the screen. Glen Beagan, with the early morning light striking the homes, greeted them on the monitor.
“See. Right where I said we’d be.”
“Aye, but wasna it still dark when we took off?”
The Doctor’s smile faltered slightly. Jamie made no effort to hide his. “All right, no one’s perfect. But we’re still in the right place and the right time.”
Jamie looked back up at the scanner. The house that had burned down last night was just a shell now and some of the homes they could see had broken windows and doors. It would awhile before life returned to normal in the hamlet. This fact wasn’t lost on Jamie and the mirth in his expression evaporated.
“I want to thank ye, Doctor,” said Jamie. “Ye–”
“Don’t need to thank me,” interrupted the Doctor, finishing Jamie’s sentence for him. “You saved everyone here well before I stumbled along.”
Jamie looked away briefly, trying to deflect the praise. “Then I mean to thank ye for everything else.”
The Doctor didn’t want appreciation for this achievement either, but he couldn’t bring himself to explain that the Time Lords were gone. Some things were better left unsaid. “Do you miss it?” he asked instead. This line of questioning wasn’t any less awkward, but he wanted to know. Were his friends better off without him, living quieter lives?
“Now that I can remember it all, ye mean?” Jamie considered his own question for a moment. “Aye, I do miss it. I miss Victoria, and Zoe, and Ben and Polly. I miss ye and yer daft ways. I miss keeping ye out of trouble. I’d travel again with ye if ye asked, but I’ve made a life here for myself. I have no regrets, Doctor.”
It was everything the Doctor wanted to hear. His friends moved on, but they never forgot him or the things they learned while travelling the stars. “So what now? Glen Beagan still needs a laird.”
They started for the doors. “Yer right, but it’s not me. That was never me.”
“Perhaps Morag would be up for the job.”
Outside in the hamlet, the townsfolk were beginning to rise. A few paused to stare at the blue box that had suddenly materialized in the centre of their settlement, but as they had been attacked by metal men only hours earlier the TARDIS wasn’t much of an oddity for them. The Doctor hung back and watched Jamie greet his neighbours. The Scot made friends wherever he went. He may not have been a leader but he certainly knew how to rally the troops.
A thought dawned on the Doctor. “Jamie, I have something you’d like.” He ducked back into the TARDIS without offering any explanations. Running across the room, he went to the alcove just off to the side of the console. Opening the battered sea chest, the Doctor threw aside various odds and ends until he found what he was looking for. By the time he ran back to Jamie, Amy and Rory had emerged from the home that was housing the recovering townsfolk. Rory leaned against Amy for support as they walked, but there was no other indication that he was under the weather.
“You’re joking, right?” asked Rory as they approached. He nodded his head at the object held in the Doctor’s hands.
“Why would I be joking? Bagpipes for a piper. What’s wrong with that?” He handed the instrument to Jamie and it gave a slight wheeze as some of the air in the sac escaped through some unseen hole. “You always meant to patch these up.”
Jamie handled the bagpipes as though the Doctor had handed him a bomb. Not that he wanted to throw it away, but he handled the instrument very carefully. “I havnae seen one of these in a long time.”
The Doctor didn’t doubt that. The English had banned bagpipes along with weapons after Culloden. “It’s yours. A parting gift.”
“Thank ye, Doctor.” Jamie transferred the bagpipes around to free his right hand and more air was squeezed from the sac.
Amy laughed. “Sounds like a sick goose.”
The Doctor clasped Jamie’s hand and they exchanged a hearty handshake. Jamie then turned to Amy and Rory. “Keep an eye on this one, aye?” He jerked his thumb at the Doctor. “He cannae stay out of trouble.”
“Oh, we know,” said Amy with a knowing smile.
They waved their good-byes as they re-entered the TARDIS. Before he closed the doors, the Doctor’s last glimpse of Jamie was of the Scot arranging the bagpipes so they were in the proper playing position, a wide smile cutting across his face.
“Would you really call that a gift?” Rory asked Amy as they headed up the steps to the console. “I don’t know if I should be happy or sad for those people.”
“Watch it, that’s my heritage you’re dissing,” said Amy, but she playfully nudged Rory in the side.
The Doctor listened to their banter and felt a small smile tug at his lips. “Right, you two.” He clapped his hands together and followed the pair up to the console. “Let’s have another go at Edinburgh.” He started the preparations for take-off.
Rory grimaced. “I think I’d need a shower first.” He sniffed his hoodie and wrinkled his nose. “And a change of clothes.”
The Doctor sniffed the air and he frowned. “Actually, you both could.”
Amy’s eyebrows shot up. She glanced over at Rory and stared at him expectantly. “I think you smell great,” he said quickly, stumbling slightly over his words. He gestured to the set of stairs leading out of the console room and hurried up them before he could say anything else.
Amy lingered, watching the Doctor work the controls. The time rotor sprang to life, carefully rising and falling in time with the sound of the engines. “Do you think Jamie will be all right?” she asked.
The TARDIS slipped into the Time Vortex, spinning off towards the future. The Doctor fingered a random button as he considered Amy’s question. “He’s a survivor.”
Seeming resigned to the fact that she wouldn’t be getting a better answer, Amy walked off to find her own change of clothes.
“You all leave in the end.” It wasn’t a complaint or a lament from the Doctor. He spoke it more as warning for Amy and as a reminder to himself. It was the nature of life aboard the TARDIS. No matter how much someone wanted to stay, something always pulled them away. He knew Amy and Rory weren’t going anywhere any time soon, but after seeing Sarah Jane and Jo again, and now Jamie, he was reminded of the inevitable heartache that happened on both sides.
Amy had paused at the foot the stairs. The Doctor could see her distorted form through the glass of the time rotor. She looked back at him. “Maybe we do, but you won’t forget us.” It was a reassurance as much as it was a light-hearted threat. Amy didn’t mean just her and Rory; she meant everyone who had passed through the TARDIS’ doors.
Her footsteps retreated up the stairs, leaving the Doctor with the sounds of the engines as his only company. After a moment, he smiled to himself. No one was ever forgotten, as long as a memory of them lived on.
Rating: PG
Characters/Pairings: Eleven, Amy, Rory, Amy/Rory
Timeline: Post-"Death of the Doctor" and post-"A Christmas Carol" and pre-"An Impossible Astronaut"
Summary: The Doctor runs into an old enemy, and an old friend, when the TARDIS lands in 18th century Scotland.
Disclaimer: It all belongs to the BBC.
A/N: Once again, a big thank you to my beta
punch_kicker15. You rock!Chapter One. Chapter Two. Chapter Three. Chapter Four. Chapter Five. Chapter Six. Chapter Seven. Chapter Eight. Chapter Nine.
Deep within the depths of slumber, Amy was vaguely aware someone was poking her, but she was too busy dreaming to take notice.
She dreamed about how she met Rory back in Leadworth and that was one memory that stayed the same no matter the life she remembered. The smell of toffee still made her smile to this day.
Someone stroked her hair.
The dream shifted, becoming more of a recollection. The trek from the Cybership back to Glen Beagan had been an interesting journey. Eight of the kidnapped townsfolk had survived along with Rory and Jamie had brought enough horses to carry everyone back. The climb down the mountain in the pitch dark had been the fun part. Amy must have strangled the poor horse carrying Rory; each time she slipped on some loose rocks she yanked hard on the reins.
They were in another house now as the previous home used as the make-shift hospital was still a mess. Amy chose a cot for Rory and tucked him in like he was battling a bad cold. She had stayed awake for most of the night, hoping he would open his eyes.
As Amy had watched Rory, silently willing him to wake up, she suddenly understood what his plastic self had gone through while guarding the Pandorica. It wasn’t any different from what she was doing now. Hoping and waiting for a loved one to open their eyes so the world would be right again. The agony Rory must have gone through while he lived through the centuries. He had no way of knowing he would make it to the day when they were reunited. It made her love him all the more.
“Amy.”
She opened her eyes, blinking away the sleepy haze still clouding her thoughts. She had seated herself on the floor next to Rory’s cot, resting her arms on the edge so she could lay her head down. Her neck was now sore from lying in such an awkward position and she groaned as she lifted her head.
She came face to face with Rory. He was stretched out on his side and he had been the one stroking her hair. The sun was starting to rise and the light streamed in through the window behind Rory. Amy reached out, tenderly touching Rory on the lips. She felt his breath on her fingertips, assuring her she wasn’t dreaming this.
“Hey.” Rory’s voice was hoarse but he managed a smile. There were small cuts on his face, arms, and chest from where they had removed the tubes from the conversion unit. Amy traced one now with her finger. They were minor, leaving no scars once they healed, but she felt a slight pain looking at them. What a way to start a marriage.
But Rory wasn’t looking at her with anger or disdain. He just smiled and looked at her like she was the most amazing thing in the universe.
Amy leaned forward and kissed Rory on the lips. No matter how many versions of her life were bouncing around her head, this part, travelling with Rory and the Doctor in the TARDIS, was all she needed right now.
It was only a quick trip, moving the TARDIS from the foothills to the hamlet, but the Doctor had wanted Jamie to see the time machine one more time. They walked out across the field, a flaming torch lighting the way.
Jamie strode across the threshold of the time machine, casual as could be, but he came to abrupt halt a few steps in. “What did ye do to the TARDIS?” He looked around, wide-eyed, at the new interior, which was a far call from the modest white room that the Scot was used to.
“I had a bit of an accident. Had to re-model.” The Doctor closed the doors of the TARDIS. “But she’s still the same ship.”
“Aye?” The Doctor led the way up the stairs to the console. “You mean temperamental?”
The Doctor flicked a switch but then he quickly turned around back to Jamie. “Temperamental? That’s no way to talk about the TARDIS.” He went back to setting the controls for a quick spatial jump.
“It’s the truth, Doctor. Ye never landed where ye wanted.”
“‘Never landed’? Never!?” The Doctor rounded around the console, practically putting himself nose to nose with Jamie. “Well, watch this, McCrimmon.” He released the hand brake and the TARDIS was off.
The whooshing sound of the engines was nothing new to Jamie and he regarded the Doctor with a bored look.
“Where did you get that gold dust?” It wasn’t just an attempt to deflect the conversation somewhere else. The Doctor genuinely wanted to know how an unemployed piper had come upon a sac of powdered gold.
“I worked in a gold mine briefly, in Wales. At the time, I kent gold dust was important for a purpose beyond trade but I couldnae told ye why. One night I stole a sac and ran off back to Scotland. I never opened it until a few days ago.”
The might of human memory still amazed the Doctor. It could bring back people erased from time or destroy complex machines. Memories could even linger in a mind when they weren’t meant to be there.
“Nothing is ever forgotten, Jamie, just misplaced.”
The TARDIS executed a smooth landing; no jolts or shudders. The Doctor smiled at Jamie and he raised his eyebrows, inviting his friend to speak.
“Are ye sure we’re in the right place?” Jamie looked around at the unfamiliar console room, looking for some hint that they weren’t on another planet. The Doctor could see the Scot still wasn’t used to the re-design but he was taking it in stride, as he had always done when confronted by things beyond his understanding.
The Doctor reached for the scanner above the console and swung it around so Jamie could see the image displayed on the screen. Glen Beagan, with the early morning light striking the homes, greeted them on the monitor.
“See. Right where I said we’d be.”
“Aye, but wasna it still dark when we took off?”
The Doctor’s smile faltered slightly. Jamie made no effort to hide his. “All right, no one’s perfect. But we’re still in the right place and the right time.”
Jamie looked back up at the scanner. The house that had burned down last night was just a shell now and some of the homes they could see had broken windows and doors. It would awhile before life returned to normal in the hamlet. This fact wasn’t lost on Jamie and the mirth in his expression evaporated.
“I want to thank ye, Doctor,” said Jamie. “Ye–”
“Don’t need to thank me,” interrupted the Doctor, finishing Jamie’s sentence for him. “You saved everyone here well before I stumbled along.”
Jamie looked away briefly, trying to deflect the praise. “Then I mean to thank ye for everything else.”
The Doctor didn’t want appreciation for this achievement either, but he couldn’t bring himself to explain that the Time Lords were gone. Some things were better left unsaid. “Do you miss it?” he asked instead. This line of questioning wasn’t any less awkward, but he wanted to know. Were his friends better off without him, living quieter lives?
“Now that I can remember it all, ye mean?” Jamie considered his own question for a moment. “Aye, I do miss it. I miss Victoria, and Zoe, and Ben and Polly. I miss ye and yer daft ways. I miss keeping ye out of trouble. I’d travel again with ye if ye asked, but I’ve made a life here for myself. I have no regrets, Doctor.”
It was everything the Doctor wanted to hear. His friends moved on, but they never forgot him or the things they learned while travelling the stars. “So what now? Glen Beagan still needs a laird.”
They started for the doors. “Yer right, but it’s not me. That was never me.”
“Perhaps Morag would be up for the job.”
Outside in the hamlet, the townsfolk were beginning to rise. A few paused to stare at the blue box that had suddenly materialized in the centre of their settlement, but as they had been attacked by metal men only hours earlier the TARDIS wasn’t much of an oddity for them. The Doctor hung back and watched Jamie greet his neighbours. The Scot made friends wherever he went. He may not have been a leader but he certainly knew how to rally the troops.
A thought dawned on the Doctor. “Jamie, I have something you’d like.” He ducked back into the TARDIS without offering any explanations. Running across the room, he went to the alcove just off to the side of the console. Opening the battered sea chest, the Doctor threw aside various odds and ends until he found what he was looking for. By the time he ran back to Jamie, Amy and Rory had emerged from the home that was housing the recovering townsfolk. Rory leaned against Amy for support as they walked, but there was no other indication that he was under the weather.
“You’re joking, right?” asked Rory as they approached. He nodded his head at the object held in the Doctor’s hands.
“Why would I be joking? Bagpipes for a piper. What’s wrong with that?” He handed the instrument to Jamie and it gave a slight wheeze as some of the air in the sac escaped through some unseen hole. “You always meant to patch these up.”
Jamie handled the bagpipes as though the Doctor had handed him a bomb. Not that he wanted to throw it away, but he handled the instrument very carefully. “I havnae seen one of these in a long time.”
The Doctor didn’t doubt that. The English had banned bagpipes along with weapons after Culloden. “It’s yours. A parting gift.”
“Thank ye, Doctor.” Jamie transferred the bagpipes around to free his right hand and more air was squeezed from the sac.
Amy laughed. “Sounds like a sick goose.”
The Doctor clasped Jamie’s hand and they exchanged a hearty handshake. Jamie then turned to Amy and Rory. “Keep an eye on this one, aye?” He jerked his thumb at the Doctor. “He cannae stay out of trouble.”
“Oh, we know,” said Amy with a knowing smile.
They waved their good-byes as they re-entered the TARDIS. Before he closed the doors, the Doctor’s last glimpse of Jamie was of the Scot arranging the bagpipes so they were in the proper playing position, a wide smile cutting across his face.
“Would you really call that a gift?” Rory asked Amy as they headed up the steps to the console. “I don’t know if I should be happy or sad for those people.”
“Watch it, that’s my heritage you’re dissing,” said Amy, but she playfully nudged Rory in the side.
The Doctor listened to their banter and felt a small smile tug at his lips. “Right, you two.” He clapped his hands together and followed the pair up to the console. “Let’s have another go at Edinburgh.” He started the preparations for take-off.
Rory grimaced. “I think I’d need a shower first.” He sniffed his hoodie and wrinkled his nose. “And a change of clothes.”
The Doctor sniffed the air and he frowned. “Actually, you both could.”
Amy’s eyebrows shot up. She glanced over at Rory and stared at him expectantly. “I think you smell great,” he said quickly, stumbling slightly over his words. He gestured to the set of stairs leading out of the console room and hurried up them before he could say anything else.
Amy lingered, watching the Doctor work the controls. The time rotor sprang to life, carefully rising and falling in time with the sound of the engines. “Do you think Jamie will be all right?” she asked.
The TARDIS slipped into the Time Vortex, spinning off towards the future. The Doctor fingered a random button as he considered Amy’s question. “He’s a survivor.”
Seeming resigned to the fact that she wouldn’t be getting a better answer, Amy walked off to find her own change of clothes.
“You all leave in the end.” It wasn’t a complaint or a lament from the Doctor. He spoke it more as warning for Amy and as a reminder to himself. It was the nature of life aboard the TARDIS. No matter how much someone wanted to stay, something always pulled them away. He knew Amy and Rory weren’t going anywhere any time soon, but after seeing Sarah Jane and Jo again, and now Jamie, he was reminded of the inevitable heartache that happened on both sides.
Amy had paused at the foot the stairs. The Doctor could see her distorted form through the glass of the time rotor. She looked back at him. “Maybe we do, but you won’t forget us.” It was a reassurance as much as it was a light-hearted threat. Amy didn’t mean just her and Rory; she meant everyone who had passed through the TARDIS’ doors.
Her footsteps retreated up the stairs, leaving the Doctor with the sounds of the engines as his only company. After a moment, he smiled to himself. No one was ever forgotten, as long as a memory of them lived on.
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Date: 2013-07-24 10:47 pm (UTC)*HUGS*
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