To Be Forgotten

Chapter 11 - The Big Bang

The Big Bang, part 1 -

Rory walked into the Pandorica chamber with the sonic screwdriver in hand. He was surrounded by fossils of the species that had locked up the Doctor. He pointed the sonic at the Pandorica, pressed the button and opened it.

"How did you do that?", the Doctor asked.

"You gave me this", Rory held out his sonic.

The Doctor got his sonic out of his inside pocket, "No, I didn't."

"You did. Look at it."

The Doctor touched the sonic in Rory's hand with his own, making sparks appear, "Temporal energy. Same screwdriver at different points in its own time stream. Which means it was me who gave it to you. Me from the future. I've got a future. That's nice. That's not."

He turned to all the fossils, kneeling down to one in particular. Astrid had been dropped by the Romans when they fought against fossilisation. She laid front down on the ground, her head turned to the Pandorica and even though she was not an actual person anymore the distress was clear in her face.

"Never mind putting me in a box and blowing up the universe. They shot my daughter. How dare they?", the Doctor was visibly angry when he touched Astrid's cheek. It was hard as stone and nothing about her budged.

"Yeah. What are they?", Rory asked, trying to divert the Doctor's attention back.

"History has collapsed. Whole races have been deleted from existence. These are just like after-images. Echoes. Fossils in time. The footprints of the never-were", he got up and wiped a single tear that had fallen.

"Er, what does that mean?"

"Total event collapse. The universe literally never happened."

"So, how can we be here? What's keeping us safe?"

"Nothing. Eye of the storm, that's all", he stepped away, noticing that he stood in a pile of dust, exactly where the duplicate of the Oracle had stood, "We're just the last light to go out. Amy. Where's Amy?"

Rory led the Doctor out to where Amy's body laid under a blanket she had earlier been wrapped in, "I killed her."

"Oh, Rory", the Doctor muttered, sonicking Amy.

"Doctor, what am I?"

"You're a Nestene duplicate. A lump of plastic with delusions of humanity."

"But I'm Rory now. Whatever was happening, it's stopped. I'm Rory", he protested.

"That's software talking."

"Can you help her? Is there anything you can do?"

"Yeah, probably, if I had the time", he stepped over Amy.

"The time?", Rory asked angrily.

"All of creation has just been wiped from the sky. Do you know how many lives now never happened? All the people who never lived? My wife and daughter were some. Your girlfriend isn't more important than the whole universe."

Rory punched the Doctor, "She is to me!"

The Doctor got up with a chuckle, realigning his jaw, "Welcome back, Rory Williams!", he exclaimed, "Sorry. Had to be sure. Hell of a gun-arm you're packing there. Right, we need to get her downstairs. And take that look off your plastic face. You're getting married in the morning."

They put Amy inside the Pandorica. Rory watched in worry, "So, you've got a plan then?"

"Bit of a plan, yeah. Memories are more powerful than you think, and Amy Pond is not an ordinary girl. Grew up with a time crack in her wall. The universe pouring through her dreams every night. The Nestenes took a memory print of her and got a bit more than they bargained for, like you. Not just your face, but your heart and your soul."