The Wedding of River Song
London 5:02pm 22nd April, 2011...
Not the London we know though, with steam trains running on aerial tracks through the Zurich Re building, cars carried by Covers.
"And it's another beautiful day in London. There are reports of sunspot activity and solar flares causing interference across all radio signals so apologies for that." A newsman said, over the radio.
Noise flies over children playing in Hyde Park.
"Guys, look!" A girl said, happily.
The Noise swoop and the children run to the trees, past the sign 'Noise are vermin. Do not feed.'
A Roman centurion in a chariot waits at the traffic lights and the headline on the Londinium Cotide is...War of the Roses enters second year. On a TV in a shop window is a breakfast television programme.
"So, do you think you can top last year's performance?" Bill Turnbull asked, on TV.
"And can you tell us anything about it?" Sian Williams asked, on TV.
"Well, all we can say is that it involves music happening every day." Tsubasa said, on TV.
"Every minute." Maria said, on TV.
"At every second." Kanade said, on TV. "You don't want to miss the three of us singing together."
"Ooo, we love an idol concert." Sian Williams said, on TV.
"Crowds lined the Mall today as Holy Roman Emperor, Winston Churchill, returned to the Buckingham Senate on his personal Megoliath with Viridi, the Goddess of Nature." A news anchor said, on TV.
(Jared's POV)
Churchill's office...
Winston Churchill is having his blood pressure checked by his Silurian male nurse. Viridi is playing video games on her Nintendo Switch.
"Not too many late nights in Gaul, I hope." Malohkeh said.
"Just the one. I had an argument with Cleopatra. Dreadful woman. Excellent dancer." Churchill said.
"I can tell from your blood pressure."
"What time is, doctor?" Viridi asked.
"Two minutes past five, Goddess of Nature."
"It's always 5:02 PM. No matter what. This is ridiculous. Whether it's daytime or nighttime. Ugh! It's so annoying. It'll always be 5:02 PM. Why?"
"Because that is the time, Goddess of Nature." Malohkeh said.
"And look at the date. It's always April 22nd. Why doesn't it bother you? This is ridiculous."
"The date and the time have always been the same, Goddess of Nature. Why should it start bothering me now?"
"She's right. This has gone long enough. We want to see the Soothsayers. Where are they?" Churchill asked.
"In the Tower, where you threw them the last time." Malohkeh said.
"Get them." Viridi said.
Bedraggled figures in togas and shackles are brought in.
"Leave us." Viridi said, angrily. "We have had enough of your face for one day."
"Tick tock goes the clock, as the old song says. But they don't, do they? The clocks never tick." Churchill said.
"Something has happened to time. That's what the both of you say. What you never stop saying. I can't wrap my head around this."
"All of history is happening at once. But what does that mean? What happened? Explain to me in terms that I can understand what happened to time."
"Okay kids, this is where it gets complicated." I said, smiling. "This story begins with..."
"Some women." The Doctor said.
Disabled spaceship...
Earlier.
"Imagine you were dying. Imagine you were afraid and a long way from home and in terrible pain. Just when you thought it couldn't get worse, you looked up and saw the face of the devil himself." The Doctor said.
"And the face of the devil himself is a pepper pot." I said, smirking. "Hello, Dalek."
"Emergency. Emergency. Weapon system disabled. Emergency." The Dalek said.
The Doctor opens up the top of the Dalek.
"Shut up, will you?" I asked.
"We need some information from your data core. Everything the Daleks know about the Silence." The Doctor said.
The Docks of Calisto B...
A cloaked figure walks through destruction with a hooded figure towards the figure in the stetson, who then steps into a seedy space bar.
"Get Gideon Vandaleur. Now!" I said, angrily.
"Who says he's here?" The barman asked.
I dropped the Dalek's eyestalk onto the counter, "Me. Jared Shay. And that man over there. He's the Doctor."
A short while later, the Doctor and I are at a table. The Doctor is reading Knitting for Girls while I'm listening to the K-On soundtrack when the cloaked figure sits down with him and me.
"Father Gideon Vandaleur, former envoy of the Silence. Our condolences." The Doctor said.
"Your what?" Vandeleur asked.
"Gideon Vandaleur has been dead for six months." I said, sadly.
The Doctor sonicks the figure, which is wearing the same style eyepatch as Madam Kovarian, and it goes rigid, "Can we speak to the Captain, please?"
The small figure in the eye nods and runs.
Teselecta...
"Hello again, the Teselecta time-travelling shape-changing robot powered by miniaturised people." The Doctor said, on the view screen. "Never get bored of that."
"It's been a long time since Berlin." I said, on the view screen. "Where you tried to hurt one of my best friends. Still don't approve of your justice system at all. By the way."
"Doctor, what have you done to our systems?" Carter asked.
"They'll be fine if you behave. Now, this unit can disguise itself as anyone in the universe, so if you're posing as Vandaleur, you're investigating the Silence. Tell us about them." The Doctor said, on the view screen.
"Tell you what?"
"One thing. Just one. Their weakest link."
Calisto B space bar...
A game of chess is in progress, and a Queen is sizzling with voltage.
"Doctor, he's stalling." I said, standing behind the Doctor.
The Doctor's opponent is an alien in an eyepatch.
"I know." The Doctor said, looking back at Jared. "The crowd are getting restless. They know the Queen is your only legal move, except you've already moved it twelve times, which means there are now over four million volts running through it. That's why they call it Live Chess. Even with the gauntlet you'll never make it to Bishop Four alive."
"I am a dead man, unless you concede the game." Gantok said.
"But I'm winning."
"Name your price."
"We want information." I said, sipping on some bubble tea.
"I work for the Silence. They would kill me." Gantok said.
"They're going to kill me and Jared too, very soon. We were just going to lie down and take it, but you know what? Before we go, we'd like to know why we have to die." The Doctor said.
"Dorium Maldovar is the only one who can help you."
"Dorium's dead. The Monks beheaded him at Demon's Run." I said, sadly. "I don't know if he's still where he is in this version of events."
"I know. Concede the game, Doctor, Jared, and I'll take the both of you to him."
Charnel house...
Lots of skulls, some on shelves, some on the floor.
"The Seventh Transept, where the Headless Monks keep the leftovers. Watch your step. There are traps everywhere." Gantok said.
"I hate rats as much as spiders." I said, grabbing the Doctor's hand.
"There are no rats in the transept. But there are spiders."
"Great..."
"The skulls eat them." Gantok said, while the skulls on shelves turn to look at us. "The headless monks behead you alive, remember."
"Why are some of them in boxes?" The Doctor asked.
Nice boxes on pillars.
"Because some people are rich, and some people are left to rot. And Dorium Maldovar was always very rich." Gantok said.
The Doctor opens Dorium's box. The blue head sneezes.
"Thank you for bringing us, Gantok." The Doctor said.
"My pleasure. It saves me the trouble of burying the both of you. Nobody beats me at chess." Gantok said, drawing his weapon and moves forward, triggering a trap.
Gantok falls down into a pit of ravening skulls.
"Gantok!" I said, as Gantok gets eaten, then the skulls turn their attention upwards. "Close it!"
The Doctor sonics the pit closed again, "Okay. Okay."
Dorium opens his eyes, "Hello? Is someone there? Ah, Doctor, Jared. Thank God it's you. The Monks, they turned on me."
"Well, we're afraid they rather did, a bit." The Doctor said, sadly.
"Give it to me straight, Doctor, Jared. How bad are my injuries?" Dorium asked.
"Well..." I said, squeezing the Doctor's hand. "It's...um..."
"Ha, ha! Oh, your face."
Churchill's office...
"This is absurd. Other worlds, carnivorous skulls, talking heads. I don't know why I'm listening to you." Churchill said, angrily.
"Same. Like I could feed you to Cragalanche." Viridi said, annoyed.
"Well, in another reality, the four of us are friends." I said, smiling. "Simple, really. Viridi, we haven't met yet."
"And you sense that. Just as the both of you sense there is something wrong with time." The Doctor said.
"You mentioned some women." Churchill said.
"Yes. We're getting to her."
"What are they like? Attractive, I assume."
"One of them is hell, in high heels." The Doctor said.
"And the other, has a short fuse." I said, smirking.
"Tell me more." Churchill said.
Charnel house...
"Oh, it's not so bad, really, as long as they get your box the right way up. I got a media-chip fitted in my head years ago, and the Wi-Fi down here is excellent, so I keep myself entertained." Dorium said.
"We need to know about the Silence." The Doctor said.
"Oh. A religious order of great power and discretion. The sentinels of history, as they like to call themselves."
"And they want us dead." I said, sadly. "Why is that?"
"No, not really. They just don't want you and the Doctor to remain alive." Dorium said.
"That's okay. I was scared for a moment."
"You and the Doctor are men with long and dangerous pasts, but your futures are infinitely more terrifying. The Silence believe it must be averted." Dorium said.
"You know, you could've told us all this the last time we met." The Doctor said.
"It was a busy day and I got beheaded."
"What's so dangerous about our future?"
"On the Fields of Trenzalore, at the fall of the Eleventh, when no living creature can speak falsely, or fail to answer, a question will be asked. A question that must never, ever be answered."
"Silence will fall when the question is asked." I said, sadly.
"Silence must fall would be a better translation. The Silence are determined the question will never be answered. That the Doctor and Jared will never reach Trenzalore."
"I don't understand. What's it got to do with us?" The Doctor asked.
"The first question. The oldest question in the universe, hidden in plain sight. Would you like to know what it is?"
"Yes." The Doctor said.
"Are you sure? Very, very sure?"
"Yeah. We have to know. I have to know if things have changed from what I remember." I said, squeezing the Doctor's hand.
"Then I shall tell the both of you. But on your own heads be it." Dorium said.
Tardis...
"It's not my fault. Put me back. Ow! I've fallen on my nose. Have you got wi-fi here? I'm bored already and my nose is hurting. We all have to die, Doctor, Jared, but the both of you more than most. The two of you do see that, don't you? You know what the question is now. You do see that you have to die." Dorium said, in the box.
Senate room...
"But what was the question? Why did it mean both of your deaths?" Churchill asked.
"Suppose there were men who knew a secret. A terrible, dangerous secret that must never be told. How would you erase that secret from the world? Destroy it forever, before it can be spoken." The Doctor said.
"Well, if I had to kill people. I'd destroy them. Use a Reset Bomb and wipe them out." Viridi said.
"And silence would fall. All the times we've heard those words, we never realised it was our silence, our death." The Doctor said.
"The Doctor and Jared will fall. Why are we here?" I asked.
"This, this is the Senate Room." Churchill said.
"Why did we leave your office?"
"Didn't want a little stroll around this place?" Viridi asked.
"I think we've been running. Why do you have your revolver?" The Doctor asked.
"Well, you're dangerous company, Soothsayers." Churchill said.
There is a single tally mark on the Doctor's arm. I looked down to see a single tally mark on my arm.
"Yes. I think we are." The Doctor said.
"Resume your story." Churchill said.
Tardis...
"Doctor, Jared, please, open my hatch. I've got an awful headache. Which to be honest means more than it used to. It's like some terrible weight pressing down on my..." Dorium said, in the box.
I put Dorium's box down upside down, "Shut up, already, geez."
"Oh. I see." Dorium said.
"Why Lake Silencio? Why Utah?" I asked, looking at Dorium. "Why isn't it somewhere else? In this reality. Like at Atlas or something."
"They're still points in time. Makes it easier to create fixed points. And your deaths are fixed points, Doctor, Jared. You can't run away from this." Dorium said.
"Both of us have been running all our lives. Why should we stop?" The Doctor asked.
"Because now the two of you know what's at stake. Why your lives must end." Dorium said.
"Not today." I said, looking at Dorium. "I'm not dying today. Not ever."
"What's the point in delaying? How long have you two delayed already?" Dorium asked.
The Doctor makes a telephone call, "Been knocking about. A bit of a farewell tour."
"There's things to do, people to see." I said, smirking. "There's always more. In terms of adventures."
"I could invent a new colour, save the Dodo, join the Beatles. Hello, it's me. Get him. Tell him, we're going out and it's all on me and Jared, except for the money and driving." The Doctor said.
"Dorium, the Doctor has a time machine. It's still going on. Living. And the extra adventures. It never stops. For either of us. Even if I'm human. And he's a Time Lord."
"Liz the First is still waiting in a glade to elope with me. I could help Rose Tyler with her homework. I could go on all of Jack's stag parties in one night."
"The SAO survivors are still having adventures in virtual worlds. I could do with some more of that. Helping them out with that. Mami Tomoe is still hosting tea parties with the Puella Magi Holy Quintet. Tsuruno Yui still works at Banbanzai and I have a defender of the Earth discount. I can get all the Chinese food I want. Tsubasa and Maria, they're still having concerts. And I want to watch them all."
"Time catches up with us all, Doctor, Jared." Dorium said.
"Well, it has never laid a glove on us! Hello?" The Doctor asked.
Nursing home...
"Doctor, I'm so sorry. We didn't know how to contact you. And we didn't know how to contact Jared either. I'm afraid Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart passed away..." A nurse said.
Tardis...
"...a few months ago. Doctor? Jared?" A nurse asked, her voice over the phone.
"Yes. Yes, we..." The Doctor said.
"It was very peaceful. He talked a lot about you and Jared, if that's any comfort. Always made us pour extra brandy in case you and Jared came round one of these days."
"The last time I saw the Brigadier..." I said, letting out tears. "It wasn't a social call. And it was to save the world..."
"Doctor? Jared? What's wrong?" Dorium asked.
"Nothing. Nothing. It's just." The Doctor said, putting the phone down and taking the Tardis blue envelopes from his pocket.
"It's a long story." I said, taking the ruby red envelopes from my pocket. "Doctor, it's time. We have to do this."
Calisto B space bar...
"Surely the both of you could deliver the messages yourselves?" Vandaleur asked.
"It would involve crossing our own time streams." The Doctor said.
"Best that we don't interfere with it." I said, sadly. "I already messed with my past enough. At the Fall of Beacon."
Teselecta...
"According to our files, this is the end for the both of you. Your final journey. We'll deliver your messages. You two can depend on us." Carter said.
"Thank you." The Doctor said, on the view screen.
Calisto B space bar...
"Doctor, Jared, whatever you think of the Teselecta, we are champions of law and order just as you have always been. Is there nothing else we can do?" Vandaleur asked.
The Doctor leaves with me, then we pop back again with big grins on our faces.
"Actually, thinking about it..." The Doctor said.
"Well, yes." I said, looking at the robot. "I need help with something too."
Senate room...
"Why would the both of you do this? Of all the things the two of you have told us, this we find hardest to believe." Churchill said.
The postman delivers the invitation to the Ponds and Team RWBY. River gets hers, too.
"Why would the two of you invite your friends to see your death?" Viridi asked. "Like, why not die alone?"
"The Doctor and I. We had to die. And we didn't have to die alone." I said, sadly.
Highway...
"Doctor!" Amy said, excitedly.
"Ha, ha! It's the Pond." The Doctor said.
"Hey!"
"Hey, Snow White, Belle, and Goldilocks!" I said, getting into a group hug with the three present members of Team RWBY. "What's up?"
"What's up? You left us." Weiss said.
"Did I? It's been a long couple months. I missed you three though. Seeing you girls younger."
"You worried us. No phone call. Nothing." Blake said. "And you left us envelopes."
"What's that all about?" Yang asked. "And where's Ruby?"
"You'll see." I said, smirking.
Senate Room...
"For me, I had Amy and Rory. The last Centurion and the girl who waited. And Jared had Team RWBY. However dark it got, we'd turn around, and there they'd be." The Doctor said.
Highway...
"Hello, Pond. Come here." The Doctor said.
"So, people have been busy boys then, eh?" Amy asked, looking between the Doctor and I.
"Did you see me and Jared?"
"Of course."
"Stalker."
"Flirt."
"Husband." Rory said.
"Rory the Roman! Ooo, come here." The Doctor said, hugging Rory.
"Hey, nice hat."
"I wear a Stetson now. Stetsons are cool."
Senate room...
"If it's time to go, remember what you're leaving. Remember the best." The Doctor said, looking between Churchill and Viridi.
"Our friends have always been the best of us." I said, happily. "It's why I stuck around Team RWBY for so long."
"Did either of you tell them this was going to happen?" Viridi asked.
"It would help if the both of you didn't keep asking questions." The Doctor said.
There are three tally marks on his arm and three tally marks on my arm now.
"We don't have much time." I said, sadly.
"And these women you spoke of. Did you invite them?" Churchill asked.
"Yes, they were there. River Song came twice. And Ryuko Matoi came once." The Doctor said.
Highway...
"Ruby would wear something like that." Yang said, crossing her arms. "Where is my sister?"
Then someone shoots the cowboy hat off the Doctor.
"Hello, sweetie, darling." River said, looking between the Doctor and I.
Diner...
Ruby Rose was sitting at the diner bored at a table. She fell asleep, and the moment she woke up, she sees, Weiss, Blake, Yang, and I sitting at the same table as her. The Doctor, River, and the Ponds are sitting at another nearby table. The Doctor, River, and I are comparing diaries.
"Right then, where are we? Have the three of us done Easter Island yet?" River asked.
"Er, yes! I've got Easter Island." The Doctor said, flipping through the diary.
"I have it too, River!" I said, landing on the adventure in my TARDIS blue diary. "Now that was a lot of fun."
"They worshipped the Doctor, Asuna, Sinon, and Leafa there. The look on Kirito's face that day. Have the both of you seen the statues?" River asked.
"Jim the fish." The Doctor said, landing on a page in the diaries.
"Oh! Jim the fish. How is he?"
"Still building his dam."
"That giant mech." I said, flipping through another page in my diary.
"Now that, darling, was a hell of a day." River said, flipping through the diary and landing on the page. "We can't get into more detail, now can we?"
"Nope. Because when aren't there any giant robots in history?"
"Sorry, what are you three doing?" Rory asked.
"The three of them are time travellers, so they never meet in the right order. They're syncing their diaries." Weiss said.
"What's going on?" Ruby asked.
"Doctor, you and Jared are up to something." Blake said.
"We've been running, faster than we've ever run. And we've been running our whole lives. Now, it's time for us to stop. And tonight, we're going to need you all with us." The Doctor said.
"Okay. We're here. What's up?" Amy asked.
"We're thinking of a picnic, and then a trip." I said, smiling. "It'll be somewhere different and brand new. I've known about it for years now."
"Where?" Ruby asked.
"Space, 1969." The Doctor said.
(Open POV)
Lakeside...
The picnic.
"Salud!" The Doctor said.
"Salud." Everyone said, at the same time.
Jared gave Ruby a strawberry banana smoothie knowing she can't drink yet.
Senate Room...
"Everything was in place. We only had to do one more thing. We only had to die." Doctor said.
Lakeside...
"So, when are we going to 1969?" Yang asked.
"And since when do you drink wine?" Amy asked.
"I'm eleven hundred and three. I must've drunk it sometime." The Doctor said, while he takes a swig from the bottle and spits it out. "Oh, why it's horrid. I thought it would taste more like the gums."
"Now you know why I don't drink, Doctor." Jared said, sitting in between Ruby and Weiss. "More bitter than coffee."
"Eleven hundred and three? You were nine hundred and eight the last time we saw you." Amy said, looking at the Doctor.
"And you've put on a couple of pounds. I wasn't going to mention it." The Doctor said.
"I spent months at Remnant. And what happened at Atlas and getting there was..." Jared said, frowning.
"What happened at Atlas?" Weiss asked.
"Is it important?" Blake asked.
A strange figure is silhouetted on the skyline. Ruby and Amy spot it.
"Who's that?" Ruby asked.
"What? Do you see something?" Yang asked. "Ruby?"
"What are you talking about?"
"What did you see? You said you saw something." Rory said.
"No, I didn't." Amy said.
"Oh yeah, the moon. Just look at it. Saved due to Symphogear stopping a part of it from crashing into the Earth." Jared said, laughing a little. "But we did a lot more than looking at it back then. That big, silver planet up in the sky. We couldn't resist going to it, now could we?"
"The moon landing was in 69. Is that where we're going?" Rory asked.
"Nope, a lot more happened in 1969 than anyone remembers."
"Human beings. I thought I'd never get done saving you." The Doctor said.
A truck pulls up nearby and W Morgan Sheppard gets out. The Doctor and Jared waved to him.
"Who's he?" Amy asked.
"I don't know." Ruby said, sadly.
"Oh, my God." River said.
Two figures in NASA spacesuits are standing up to their knees in the lake.
"You all need to stay back. Whatever happens now, you do not interfere. Clear?" The Doctor asked.
"Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, I don't want any of you interfering in this. No team attacks, nothing." Jared said, looking over at Team RWBY. "This is one moment in time that I can't change. That none of us can."
The Doctor and Jared go to meet the figures, who have stepped out of the water.
"That's an astronaut. That's an Apollo astronaut in a lake." Rory said.
"Yeah." Amy said.
"Hello. It's okay. I know it's you." The Doctor said.
"Same here. I know it's you." Jared said, frowning. "No need to worry."
The astronauts raise their gold plated visors.
"Well then." The Doctor said. "Here we are at last."
"I can't stop me killing you." Ryuko said, holding her scissor blades.
"Someone is controlling the Life Fibers within me." Senketsu said.
"You're not supposed to control it, Ryuko, Senketsu." Jared said, looking between the girl and the suit. "This has to happen."
"Run."
"We're trying to break free of the Silence's control. But we can't." Ryuko said, annoyed. "Damn it. It's too strong."
"It's okay, you two. This is where I die. And it's where the Doctor dies too. This is a fixed point in time. This must happen. It always happens. Don't worry, you won't remember this." Jared said, smiling. "Look over there."
"That's Team RWBY. But why bring them here?" Senketsu asked, it's voice coming out of Ryuko's shirt.
"The hell is your problem!" Ryuko said, angrily.
"Making them watch. Are you sure it's a good idea?"
"Positive. I don't hate you two. Never have. Huh. It's weird saying that to you, Ryuko. Senketsu. This is inevitable. I forgive you two, no matter what. Even if you had to say goodbye to each other."
"Please, my love, please, please just run with Jared!" River said, worried.
"We can't." The Doctor said.
"Time can be rewritten."
"Don't you dare. Goodbye, River."
"See ya, Ryuko, Senketsu." Jared said, sadly.
The Doctor and Jared winks, then shuts their eyes. They bow their heads.
"What are they doing?" Yang asked.
One of the astronauts shoots the Doctor and the other stabs Jared with two blades.
"Doctor! Jared!" Amy said, terrified.
"Amy, Ruby, stay back!" River said.
River and Rory are holding back Amy, as Weiss and Blake are holding back Ruby. And again with what the two astronauts did before.
"I have to help Jared!" Ruby said, trying to break free of Weiss and Blake's grip on her arms.
"The Doctor and Jared said stay back! You have to stay back!" River said, angrily.
"No! No! Doctor!" Amy said, worried.
Regeneration energy starts to flow from the Doctor's hands.
"Jared!" Ruby said, letting out tears.
And Jared's blue Aura shows on his body, as he is slowly healing.
"I'm sorry." The Doctor said.
One of the astronauts shoots the Doctor again just as the regeneration starts properly.
"Me too, I'm sorry. Team RWBY..." Jared said, sadly.
While the other astronaut lets the blades sink into Jared's body deeper. The blue Aura heals him for a bit before failing. The Doctor and Jared don't die this time.
"Hello, Sweetie, darling." River said, looking between the Doctor and Jared.
"That was one hell of a close call." Ryuko said, smirking.
"The hell have you three done?" Jared asked.
"Well, I think I just drained my weapon systems." River said.
"And I had enough willpower to help Ryuko stop you from dying." Senketsu said, it's voice coming out of Ryuko's spacesuit.
"But this is fixed. This is a fixed point in time." The Doctor said.
"Fixed points can be rewritten." River said.
"No, they can't. Of course they can't. Who told you that..."
Everything dissolves into white.
Senate room...
"Well? What happened?" Viridi asked.
"Nothing." Jared said, sadly.
"Nothing? That's it? Nothing?"
"Nothing happened. And then it kept happening. Or, if you'd prefer, everything happened at once, and it won't ever stop. Time is dying. It's going to be five oh two in the afternoon for all eternity." The Doctor said.
"It's like a needle stuck on a record." Jared said, frowning. "Or a meme stuck in a loop."
"A record? Good Lord, man, have you never heard of downloads?" Churchill asked.
"Said Winston Churchill."
"Gunsmoke. That's gunsmoke. Oh, I appear to have fired this." Churchill said.
The Doctor has a spear, "We seem to be defending ourselves."
"I don't understand." Churchill said.
"The aliens that lead the Silence. I fought them once or twice. Felt like ages ago since what happened in Atlas. The aliens, well, they're memory-proof." Jared said, holding Ebb and Flow in dual pistols mode.
"What does that mean?" Viridi asked, holding her staff.
"You can't remember them. The moment you look away, you forget they were there."
Four tally marks on the Doctor's arm and there are four tally marks on Jared's arm.
"Don't panic. In small numbers, they're not too difficult." The Doctor said.
But the Doctor's other arm and Jared's other arm are covered in marks. They are hanging from the ceiling in a big cluster.
"You had to say it!" Jared said, annoyed.
A grenade rolls in. The Doctor knocks Churchill and Jared knocks Viridi down.
"He jinxed us, didn't he?" Viridi asked.
Boom, and soldiers enter.
"Yup..." Jared said, sadly.
"Go! Go! Go! Keep the Silence in sight at all times, keep your eye drives active." A soldier said.
"Who the devil are you? Identify yourselves." Churchill said.
"Pond. Amelia Pond." Amy said.
"Tachibana. Hibiki Tachibana." Hibiki said.
"No! Don't shoot or fire spells!" Jared said, smiling. "They're on our side. It's okay."
Amy and Hibiki are wearing eyepatches.
"No. No, Amy. Amy, why are you wearing that?" The Doctor asked.
Amy shoots the Doctor and Hibiki knocks Jared out with her fist.
Railway carriage...
Jared wakes on a couch, looking up at a ceiling fan. There is the sound of a train whistle.
"The Government has again apologised for extensive radio interference caused by solar flare and sun spot activity." A newsman said, over the radio.
"Hibiki?" Jared asked.
"Sorry about knocking you out. I wanted to avoid a long conversation." Hibiki said, frowning.
"You have to get up." Miku said, cooking something in the kitchenette. "We're about to reach Cairo."
"Hibiki Tachibana, Miku Kohinata, please, listen to me. I know it seems weird, but you know me. In another world, the both of you know me. In another world, we worked together. We defeated Noise. We had adventures and went to concerts. The concerts had Tsubasa Kazanari and Maria Cadenzavna Eve. Hibiki Tachibana, Miku Kohinata, you two couldn't admit to each other that you were in love. You saved each other's backs time and time again. If you can try to..." Jared said, gesturing with a model Durandal. "Oh."
And on the far wall are sketches Hibiki and Miku drew of Carol, Finé, the Alchemists, the Autoscorers, the Bavarian Illuminati.
"Oh." Jared said, smiling.
"You look awful." Hibiki said.
"The both of you look wonderful."
"You too." Miku said, walking over to the closer. "Don't worry. We'll soon fix that."
Miku held up a hoodie and jeans. The hoodie design consisted of loads of rose petals and snowflakes.
"Oh. Ice Flower." Jared said, grabbing the hoodie and jeans.
A little later, shaved and dressed.
"Okay. you can turn around now. How do I look?" Jared asked.
"Cool." Miku said.
"Really?"
"Yeah. That outfit suits you."
"Cool office. It has a bit of a home-y feel to it. A kitchen too. Why do you have a home and kitchen train car? Don't know about the eye patches."
"They're not eye patches. Time has gone wrong." Hibiki said, happily. "Some of us have noticed. A team of us is working on it. You'll see."
"And you have a kitchen, living room and office on a train. That is so cool. Can I have one? I want one. Ooo, maybe I can have a train!" Jared said, excitedly.
"Man, I've missed you!" Hibiki said, hugging Jared.
"Hugging and missing? You would normally hug Miku or Chris. Speaking of Chris. Where is she?" Jared asked, looking around.
"Chris?" Hibiki asked.
"Yeah..."
"One of my best friends. Chris." Hibiki said, getting a drawing from her desk. "That's her, right? I don't know where she is. I can't find her. But she's one of my best friends."
"Apparently." Jared said.
"We have to keep doing this." Miku said, frowning. "Writing, drawing, and cooking. It's hard to remember things."
"It's not your fault, you two. Time has gone wrong. Remember why?"
"You were by the lake. According to Ruby."
"Lake Silencio, Utah. I died with the Doctor."
"But then you didn't. We remember that event two different ways. Despite not being there!" Hibiki said, happily.
"Two different versions of the same event. They were happening at the same time. Time split wide open. Look at what happened. All of history happening at once." Jared said, letting out a sigh.
"Does it really matter? Can't we stay like this? Kanade is back with Tsubasa. And they're singing with Maria."
"Time isn't just frozen. It's disintegrating. It will spread far and wide. And all of reality will fall apart."
A soldier enters. Guess who.
"We're about to arrive. Get ready. Eye drives need to be activated as soon as we leave the train." Chris said.
"Thanks for reminding me." Hibiki said, smiling.
"You'll forget. So put on your eye drive, Hibiki." Miku said.
"Hi." Jared said, looking at Chris.
"Hello." Chris said.
"Commander Yukine. Someone reliable." Hibiki said, grabbing Miku's hand. "Couldn't live without her as much as my sunshine."
Jared compares her to her sketch, and laughs. Chris leaves.
"No way." Jared said, leaning against the wall.
"Are you okay?" Miku asked.
"Hibiki, you can find Chris. You have the willpower to reunite with Miku. It can't be that hard."
"I've been trying to find all my friends. And I only found Tsubasa, Maria, Shirabe, and Kirika. There's' Kanade and Serena too."
"Hibiki Tachibana. You're impossible, y'know that. With your god killing fists."
"How are you older? Time isn't passing. Why are you aging?" Miku asked.
"Time's still passing for me. Every boss has a weak point. I'm that. I'm what's wrong with it."
"How come?"
"I'm still alive. And so is the Doctor."
The train crosses a viaduct into a pyramid with a Stars and Stripes on the side and the title Area 52.
(Jared's POV)
Storage area...
"You have to put it on, gentlemen." Rory said.
"What's the eye patches for?" I asked.
"They're not eye patches." Miku said.
"They're eye drives." Chris said. "They communicate directly with the memory centres of the brain."
"They're like external storage to a hard drive." Hibiki said, smiling.
"Only thing that works on them. Because no living mind can remember these things." Amy said.
"The Silence." Rory said, as the Silence is held in individual tanks filled with liquid. "We've captured over a hundred of them now, all held in this pyramid."
"Yeah. We've encountered them before. Always wondered what they looked like." The Doctor said.
"Well, put your eye drive on and you'll retain the information, but only for as long as you're wearing it." Amy said.
"The Silence have human servants. They all wear these." I said, grabbing Hibiki's hand. "That's still horrible to think about."
"They'd have to." Chris said.
"This way." Rory said, and the Doctor and I put the eye drives on. "They seem to be noticing you and Jared."
"Yeah, they would." I said, squeezing Hibiki's hand.
"So why aren't the human race killing the Silence on sight any more?" Hibiki asked, looking at me. "You had us kill them on top of the Noise we usually deal with."
"That was another reality. What are the tanks for?" I asked.
"They can draw electricity from anything. It's how they attack. The fluid insulates them. And I really don't like the way they're looking at you and Jared." Rory said, looking at the Doctor.
"Me too." Miku said, letting out a sigh.
"Ma'am, I'm sure it's nothing, but I should really check this out. They haven't been this active in a while. You two, upstairs. Check all the tank seals. Then the floors above. Get everyone checking. Symphogear, you should check too." Rory said, looking between Hibiki, Miku, and Chris. "Call your friends too. We need all the help we can get. From the Symphogear wielders."
"Right. Let's go." Hibiki said, happily,
"Okay..." Miku said, running off with Hibiki and Chris.
"Slow down, you dummy!" Chris said, annoyed.
"Sir." A soldier said.
"You go ahead, Ma'am." Rory said.
"Thank you, Captain Williams. Doctor, Jared, this way." Amy said.
Tsubasa, Shirabe, Kirika, Maria, Kanade, and Serena ran out of a room and down the hallway to head up the stairs.
"That was all nine Symphogear wielders. Captain Williams. He seems like a nice guy. What is his first name?" I asked.
"Captain. Just through here." Amy said.
"Just give us a moment. Just need to check something, Ma'am." The Doctor said.
The Doctor and I go back to Rory.
"This is kind of important." I said, sadly.
Amy speaks into a hidden microphone on her lapel, "We're in. They're on their way."
"The loyal soldier, waiting to be noticed. Always the pattern. Why is that?" The Doctor asked.
"Sorry, sir?" Rory asked.
"Your boss, you should ask her out on a date. She loves you. I know she does. I know you like her too. Come on. That's what she said." I said, smirking.
"Really, sir. What did she say?"
"Isn't it kind of obvious that she does?"
"What exactly did she say?"
"She said that you were a Mister Hottie-ness, and that she would like to go out with you for texting and scones." The Doctor said.
"You really haven't done this before, have you?" Rory asked.
"No, I haven't. Jared has." The Doctor said.
"See you in a moment, gentlemen." Rory said.
"Yes. Yes."
"Come on, Doctor, Jared. Time for you to meet some old friends." Amy said.
"Attention all personnel." Rory said.
Control room...
"Attention all personnel. Please check all assigned containment units." Rory said, over the speaker.
A girl wearing armor and has red hair is watching a screen.
"You're right." Pyrrha said. "Their presence in the building."
"It caused the loop to extend by four seconds." Jaune said, grabbing Pyrrha's hand.. "Well, nearly."
The clock now reads 05:02:57, 58, 59.
"Hi, honey. I'm home. And I brought your darling." The Doctor said.
"And what sort of time do you call this?" River asked.
"A hell of a bad time." Ryuko said, angrily. "That's what."
"Ryuko. Calm down." Senketsu said, it's voice coming out of Ryuko's shirt.
I looked around to see Teams RWBY and JNPR there with Ryuko Matoi.
"Found your batshit friends." Ryuko said. "Why does everyone around here talk so much?"
"The death of time. The end of time. The end of us all. Oh, why couldn't the both of you just die?" Kovarian asked, and she's tied to a chair.
"We did our best, Madame Kovarian. But the Doctor and I. We showed up. In the end." I said, smirking.
"You just can't get the psychopaths these days. Love what you've done with the pyramids. How did you score all this?" The Doctor asked.
"Hallucinogenic lipstick. Works wonders on President Kennedy. And Cleopatra was a real pushover." River said.
"Hello. Ruby. Jaune." I said, looking between two of my best friends. "It's weird seeing Team RWBY and JNPR back together like this."
"Tell me about it." Jaune said. "I get to see Pyrrha again."
"Even though I died." Pyrrha said, squeezing Jaune's hand.
"You know you can keep this up forever." Ruby said, looking at me.
"Why should I?" I asked, crossing my arms.
"Everyone that died is still alive."
"Oh, they're flirting. Do I have to watch this?" Kovarian asked, looking between the Doctor and River.
"It was such a basic mistake, wasn't it, Madame Kovarian. Take a child, raise her into a perfect psychopath, introduce her to the Doctor and Jared. Who else was I going to fall in love with? That being the Doctor of course. And who else was I going to make my best friend? It would obviously be Jared." River said.
"It's not funny, River. Reality is fatally compromised. Tell me you understand that." The Doctor said.
"Dinner?"
"I don't have the time. Nobody has the time, because as long Jared and I are alive, time is dying. Because of you and Ryuko Matoi, River Song."
"Because I refused to kill the man I love. And Ryuko refuses to kill someone like her." River said.
"Oh, you love me, do you? Oh, that's sweet of you. Isn't that sweet. Come here, you." The Doctor said.
"Come on, Ryuko!" I said, running up to Ryuko. "Let's get into a group hug. You, me, and Senketsu."
"Get them!" Weiss said.
Soldiers grab the Doctor and I.
"I'm not a fool, sweetie. I know what happens if we touch." River said.
"Like hell am I gonna let you die." Ryuko said.
The Doctor grabs River's arm and I hug Ryuko tight.
"Get off us. Get them off me and Ryuko! Doctor, Jared, no. Let go of me and Ryuko! Please Doctor, Jared, let go!" River said.
"It's moving. Time's moving!" Yang said.
05:03 and counting.
"Get them off us! Doctor! Jared!" River said.
"Let go! Don't you see we're trying to save you?" Ryuko asked.
"I'm sorry, River. It's the only way." The Doctor said.
"It's not the only way." Senketsu said.
"It really is." I said, frowning.
We flash back to the lakeside, then the soldiers pull the Doctor and I off.
"Cuff the Doctor." River said.
"Kyoko, latticework barrier!" Blake said.
A bunch of red chains surrounded me.
"Sorry about having to do this." Kyoko said, coming into the view. "But you don't see how important you are."
"Oh, why do you always have handcuffs? It's the only way. The five of us are the opposite poles of the disruption." The Doctor said.
"If we touch, we can short out the time difference. It can begin again." I said, smiling.
"And Doctor, I'll be by a lakeside killing you. And Ryuko will be by a lakeside killing Jared." River said.
"And time won't fall apart. The clocks will tick. Reality will continue. There isn't another way."
"I didn't say there was, darling."
In the storage area, a Silence puts its hand onto the glass of its tank, and it begins to crack. Captain Williams and Tsubasa Kazanari notices liquid dripping through to a lower level.
"Doctor, there are so many theories about you and I, you know." River said.
"Idle gossip." The Doctor said.
"Archaeology."
"Same thing."
"Am I the woman who marries you, or the woman who murders you?"
"I don't want to marry you."
"I don't want to murder you."
"I don't want to murder Jared." Ryuko said.
"And I don't even know you." I said, looking at Ryuko. "Not completely. We don't have a full out bond yet."
"We only met in a hotel."
Amy, Ruby, and Weiss feel drops of water on their heads.
"This is no fun at all." I said, crossing my arms.
"It isn't, is it?" Ryuko asked.
"What do we do now?" Senketsu asked, it's voice coming out of Ryuko's shirt.
"Doctor, Jared, what's that?" Amy asked.
"The pyramid above us. How many Silence do you have trapped inside it?" The Doctor asked.
"None. They're not trapped. They never have been. They've been waiting for this, Doctor. For you and Jared." Kovarian said.
"They're out! All of them." Rory said.
And the soldiers and the Symphogear wielders are getting slaughtered.
"Hibiki..." I said, sadly. "Girls..."
Rory, Blake, and Yang bars the door.
"No one gets in here! Ma'am, my men and Symphogear out there should be able to lock this down. We have them outnumbered." Rory said.
"And you're wearing eye drives based on mine, I think. Oops." Kovarian said.
"What do you mean?" Ruby asked.
Electricity surges through Kyoko's eye drive. She screams.
"Kyoko!" I said, running over to Kyoko. "Someone. Help her!"
"This is too much!" Kyoko said, worried.
Soldiers and Team JNPR are being affected, too.
"She's dead." Ruby said, looking at Kyoko's body.
The Doctor's eye drive and my eye drive tries to zap us.
"Eye drives off now. Remove them." I said, looking at my friends.
Amy takes the Doctor's eye drive off him, and Blake takes my eye drive off me, but then their own powers up.
"The Silence would never allow an advantage without taking one themselves. The effects will vary from person to person. Either death or debilitating agony. But they will take you all, one by one." Kovarian said, and her eye drive starts to zap. "What are you doing? No, it's me. Don't be stupid. You need me. Stop it. Stop that!"
"Ryuko, River, we could stop this right now, the four of us. With the Doctor." I said, looking between Ryuko and River.
"Get it off me."
"Ruby, tell her." Weiss said.
"We've been working on something. Just let us show you and the Doctor." Ruby said, looking at me.
"There's no point. There's nothing you can do. My time with Jared is up." The Doctor said.
"We're doing this for you!" Amy said, angrily.
"Then people are dying for me. I won't thank you for that, Amelia Pond, Ruby Rose."
"Get it..." Kovarian said.
"Just let us show you." River said.
"Please. Captain Williams, how long do we have?" Amy asked, looking at Rory.
"Er, a couple of minutes." Rory said.
"That's enough. We're going to the Receptor Room right at the top of the pyramid. I hope you're ready for a climb." River said.
River, the Doctor, Ryuko, Team RWBY, and I left the room. I looked down at the dead corpses of Team JNPR.
"Why did you girls agree to this plan?" I asked. "It is pretty reckless."
"Reckless is our middle name." Ryuko said, her hand on her hip.
"I helped!" Ruby said, happily.
"I never thought I'd see it. My family. And someone I met a while ago. Helping each other out." I said, smiling.
"That's what friends are for." Senketsu said, it's voice coming out of Ryuko's shirt.
"We're here for you." Weiss said. "We are family after all."
"Thanks. Everyone." I said, happily. "Is the plan up there still the same?"
"You'll find out." Ruby said.
Amy leaves, taking one last look back. Rory fights the pain to keep his gun hand steady as three Silence break through the door.
"Rory Williams, the man who dies and dies again. Die one last time and know she will never come back for you." The Silence said.
Amy lets loose a machine gun at the Silence, "Come on, you. Up you get. You all right?"
Amy takes Rory's eye drive off.
"Amy, help me." Kovarian said, as her eye drive is hanging off.
"You took my baby from me and hurt her. And now she's all grown up and she's fine, but I'll never see my baby again." Amy said.
"But you'll still save me, though. Because they would, and you'd never do anything to disappoint your precious Doctor and Jared."
"Ma'am, we have to go, now." Rory said.
"The Doctor and Jared are very precious to me, you're right. But do you know what else they are, Madame Kovarian? Not here." Amy said, putting Kovarian's eye drive back in place. "River Song didn't get it all from you, sweetie."
Amy takes Rory's arm and they leave as Kovarian starts screaming.
"So, you and me, we should get a drink some time." Amy said.
"Okay." Rory said.
"And married."
"Fine."
Receptor room...
Open to the sky, where the cap of the pyramid should be.
"What's this? Oh, it's as timey-wimey distress beacon. Who built this?" The Doctor asked.
"I'm the child of the Tardis. I understand the physics." River said.
"But that's all you've got, a distress beacon." I said, looking at River. "Seriously? That's the same plan I remember you going with! I thought it would be more magical. Not full of science!"
"I've been sending out a message. A distress call. Outside the bubble of our time, the universe is still turning, and I've sent a message everywhere. To the future and the past, the beginning and the end of everything. The Doctor and Jared are dying. Please, please help." River said.
"River! River, this is ridiculous. That would mean nothing to anyone. It's insane. Worse, it's stupid. You embarrass me." The Doctor said.
"We barricaded the door. We've got a few minutes. Just tell them. Just tell them, River." Amy said.
"Those reports of the sun spots and the solar flares. They're wrong. There aren't any. It's not the sun, it's the both of you. The Doctor and Jared. The sky is full of a million, million voices saying yes, of course we'll help. The both of you have touched so many lives, saved so many people. Did you think when your time came, you'd really have to do more than just ask? You two have decided that the universe is better off without you, but the universe doesn't agree." River said.
"River, no one can help me and Jared. A fixed point has been altered. Time is disintegrating." The Doctor said.
"I can't let you die."
"But I have to die."
"Shut up! I can't let you die without knowing you are loved by so many, and so much, and by no one more than me."
"River, you and I, we know what this means. We are ground zero of an explosion that will engulf all reality. Billions on billions will suffer and die."
"I'll suffer if I have to kill you." River said.
"More than every living thing in the universe?"
"Yes."
"River, River, why do you had have to be this? Melody Pond, your daughter. I hope you're both proud." The Doctor said, looking over at Amy and Rory.
"I'm not sure I completely understand." Rory said.
"We got married and had a kid and that's her." Amy said, motioning towards River.
"Okay." Rory said.
"Amy, uncuff me now. Okay, I need a strip of cloth about a foot long. Anything will do. Never mind." The Doctor said, taking off his bow tie. "River, take one end of this. Wrap it around your hand, and hold it out to me."
"What am I doing?" River asked.
"As you're told. Now, we're in the middle of a combat zone, so we'll have to do the quick version. Captain Williams, say I consent and gladly give."
"To what?" Rory asked.
"Just say it. Please." The Doctor said.
"I consent and gladly give."
"Need you to say it too, mother of the bride."
"I consent and gladly give." Amy said.
"Now River, I'm about to whisper something in your ear, and you have to remember it very, very carefully, and tell no one what I said." The Doctor said, whispering something very short. "Look into my eye." He waves at River from the eyeball of the Teselecta. "I just told you my name. Now, there you go, River Song. Melody Pond. You're the woman who married me. And wife, I have a request. This world is dying and it's my fault, I dragged Jared and his friends into all this, and I can't bear it another day. Please, help me. There isn't another way."
"Then you may kiss the bride." River said.
"I'll make it a good one." The Doctor said.
"You'd better."
"Ryuko, Senketsu." I said, walking over to Ryuko Matoi. "Look closely at me."
Ryuko looked at me in awe and was shocked by what she saw, "Okay, let's fix this. You, me and Senketsu."
"Yeah." I said, happily. "Us three, together."
"Let's save the world." Senketsu said, it's voice coming out of Ryuko's shirt.
"Bye." Ruby said, sadly.
"See ya." Yang said.
"It was nice seeing you." Blake said.
"I hope we can see each other again someday." Weiss said.
I ran over to Ryuko and hugged her as she was wearing her Kamui. The clock starts moving forward as we go to a white-out and flashbacks of the events at the lakeside when the Doctor and I died and was cremated.
"And you are forgiven. Always and completely forgiven." The Doctor said, his voice in my head.
The steam railways and cars on balloons vanish from London. The Covers go away.
"Tick tock goes the clock, they gave all they could give. Tick tock goes the clock, now prison waits for River." The children said, nearby.
(Open POV)
Garden...
Amy is sitting at the patio table looking up at the night sky. There is a flash of light nearby.
"Heard there was a freak meteor shower two miles away, so I got us a bottle." Amy said, sadly.
"Thank you, dear." River said, smiling.
"So where are we?"
"I just climbed out of the Byzantium. You were there. So young. Didn't have a clue who I was. You're funny like that. Where are you?"
"The Doctor and Jared are dead."
"How are you doing?"
"How do you think?"
"Well, I don't know unless you tell me." River said.
"I killed someone. Madame Kovarian, in cold blood." Amy said, frowning.
"In an aborted time line, in a world that never was."
"Yeah, but I can remember it, so it happened, so I did it. What does that make me now? I need to talk to the Doctor and Jared, but I can't now, can I?"
"If you could talk to them, would it make a difference?"
"But they're dead, so, so I can't."
"Oh, Mother, of course they aren't."
"Not for you, I suppose. You're seeing the younger versions of them running around, having adventures."
"Yeah, I am. But that's not what I mean." River said, happily.
"Then what do you mean?" Amy asked.
"Okay. I'm going to tell you what I probably shouldn't. The Doctor and Jared's last secret. Don't you want to know what the Doctor whispered in my ear? And don't you want to know what Ryuko saw when she looked at Jared?"
"The Doctor whispered his name."
"Not his name, no."
"Yes, it was. He said it was."
"Rule One?"
"The Doctor lies. And Jared does lie too. But Team RWBY. How do they fit into the equation?"
"Oh, they fit in so well. Team RWBY and Jared. They had to lie to General Ironwood for a while. So Jared got some idea from them. And when it comes to lying." River said, looking at Amy. "So do I, all the time. Have to. Spoilers. Pretending I don't know you're my mother, pretending I don't recognise a space suit in Florida."
"What did the Doctor whisper in your ear? And what did Jared show Ryuko?" Amy asked.
"Oh, those men. They're always one step ahead of everyone. Always a plan."
"River, what did the Doctor tell you? And what did Jared show Ryuko? River."
Rory gets home to see Amy and River hugging and dancing around the garden.
"Hey. What?" Rory asked.
"They're not dead. They're not dead." Amy said, sadly.
"Are you sure, River? Are you really, properly sure?"
"Of course I'm sure. I'm the Doctor's wife. And I'm Jared's best friend." River said, smiling.
"Yes! And I'm the Doctor's..." Amy said, her eyes widening. "...mother in law."
"Father dear, I think Mummy might need another drink."
"Yes. Yes." Rory said.
Charnel house...
Dorium's box is being returned to its pedestal by cloaked figures.
"Who's carrying me? I demand to know. I'm a head, I have rights. I want my doors open this time. I demand that my doors are open." Dorium said, when one of the figures opened his door and turned to leave with the other figure. "Is it the both of you? It is, isn't it. It is the two you, I can sense it. But how did the both of you do it? How could you two possibly have escaped?"
The Doctor removes his cloak, "The Teselecta. A Doctor in a Doctor suit."
Jared removes his cloak, "A robot from the time of the STL. Basically, the same robot that Akihiko Kayaba took over. I used that. Rena Minami and Sayaka Miki stored their magic into a pendant I created."
"In other words, Jared was able to control the robot in the comfort of Kirito and Asuna's home in ALFheim Online." The Doctor said, as Jared grabbed his hand.
"Yup. I was able to eat tea and cakes. Basically everything. Was able to control the robot."
"Time said we had to be on that beach, so Jared and I dressed for the occasion. Both of us barely got singed in those boats."
"So both of you are going to do this? Let them all think you're dead?" Dorium asked.
"It's the only way, then they can all forget us. Jared and I got too big, Dorium." The Doctor said.
"We were a bit too noisy. Especially me. I brought a lot of people together twice. It's time for us to step back into the shadows." Jared said.
"And Doctor Song, in prison all her days?" Dorium asked. "Her covering for Ryuko Matoi."
"Her days, yes. Her nights? Well, that's between her, Jared, and me, eh?" The Doctor asked.
"So many secrets, Doctor, Jared. I'll help the two of you keep them, of course."
"Well, you're not exactly going anywhere, are you?" Jared asked.
"But, Doctor, Jared, you're fools nonetheless. It's all still waiting for the both of you. The fields of Trenzalore, the fall of the Eleventh, and the question." Dorium said.
"Goodbye, Dorium." The Doctor said, as he is walking away with Jared. "Let's go."
"Right." Jared said, squeezing the Doctor's hand.
"The first question. The question that must never be answered, hidden in plain sight. The question you've been running from all your life. And the question Jared has been keeping secret for you all this time. Doctor who? Doctor who? Doctor Who."