On the Hands of a Broken Clock

Chapter 7: Fob Watch

Things only go from bad to worse as the night wears on. Sitting in the prison cell, Amy can only catch snippets of the hours-long argument, the Doctor and Rassilon shouting back and forth at one another about the state of the universe, the state of the situation they're in.

One particular moment, after agonizing seconds of silence –

How can you?!

The Doctor, through the Time Loop. He's shouting so loudly at the Time Lords next door that it's coming through to Amy in a blistering headache, making the room spin.

How can you take this one thing away from me?

She wants to desperately to be with him right now, but all she can seem to do is pace around the room, running fingers along the stonework to keep her balance. God. This whole thing is a nightmare. It's worse than a nightmare. She can't even think of a word for it.

This one girl, she's saved my life! The Doctor's still at it. She is the only thing I have!

It's at that point that Amy can't help the tears. She can't ever imagine anyone being that lonely. The Doctor deserves the world, if only someone could give it to him. She can almost picture the Time Lords next door, sitting high and mighty in their council, completely oblivious to the hurt they've caused him.

"You have us?" Rassilon points out. And the Doctor completely loses his mind.

"You ostracised me!"

Like a scene from the most gut-wrenching tragedy ever written.

And as Amy paces around the darkened walls, palm pressed to her forehead, the scenes occurring in the next room aren't much different.

The Doctor, pacing around the floor, getting more flustered with every second that passes. He's staring helplessly up at Rassilon's ruthless gaze.

"Even before the War, I meant nothing to you." He's running out of ways to make them see that. He's bargaining for Amy's life, and he's running out of options, because he knows they're not about to be kind to her. They're not about to be kind to either of them. "Deserters must be executed, that's what you believe." There's only one way out of this. "Why don't you get on with it?!"

He's going to sacrifice himself for her. It's the only thing he can think about. The only thing that will work. It will keep The Time Lords happy, and it'll keep Amy safe, and honestly, if it's all been leading up to this from the very beginning, then he'll gladly walk hand in hand with it. He'd do anything for Amy Pond.

"If you really want to preserve the timeline as it was, with you lot up here on Gallifrey, and one lonely Time Lord out there in the universe; take my life." There's a sort of quiet resignation to his words. The Destroyer of Worlds, finally, sedated. "Take my life, and let her live."

But it's a proposition to which Rassilon says nothing. The Doctor almost charges at him, a man at the end of his tether.

"Come on! Think about it!" He's brushing his fringe from waterlogged eyes and he's thinking, they must be enjoying this. This is his downfall. And they've waited a hell of a long time for it. "Her, in my place! Amy Pond, the last of the Time Lords, Defender of the Earth! I should have seen it coming."

She's always been good at standing up for the things that matter.

But something tells the Doctor that this particular outcome isn't going to be easy, given the way Rassilon is smiling at him. The Lord President's got the aura of a dictator about him now, someone who'll have no problem massacring anyone who gets in his way. He's sitting in the centre of the bench, thin lipped and leering.