Story [Doctor Who] So Much for Manhattan (11/ Amy/ Rory)

So much for Manhattan. As the rain pattered down on Victorian England, Amy wondered why her and her husband had been brought to a place where she couldn’t even get a phone signal.

“Doctor, this doesn’t look like New York.” stated Amy matter-of-factly.

“Excellent deduction skills, Pond.” replied the Doctor with a hint of sarcasm as him and Rory led the way across the cobbled street and into a pub. The sun was beginning to dim, and night would soon be upon them.

A consequence of walking into the establishment was the putrid smell emitting from..somewhere. Amy and Rory grimaced in unison, holding their nostrils as they looked around for the source of the smell - finally seeing it.

“Strax?!” Rory cried. That was impossible. Strax had quite clearly died in front of him at the Battle of Demon’s Run. Travelling with the Doctor meant that Rory regularly saw things he had previously considered to be impossible, but coming back from the grave? That was a new one. Yet here Strax was, standing proud in a tweed jacket covered in horse dung and a tophat that fit his bulbous head perfectly.

“Greetings, girl. I see you’ve come to face your certain doom.” replied Strax, as he brandished a pool cue and pointed it at Rory aggressively. Rory, ever the face of masculinity, exhaled sharply as he jumped behind Amy, defensively holding out a hand towards Strax.

“Relax, Rory. He’s offering you a game of pool, that’s it,” explained the Doctor as he grinned, striding towards Strax with a single pace and slapping him on the shoulder.

“Pool? No, no, hang on, Strax is dead. He died in front of me, remember? I tried to save him.” Rory was finding this incredibly difficult to process. Here he was, dying regularly and waiting for some cataclysmic universe-wide event to be restored back to life; Strax dies once and is instantly revived!

“Madame Vastra and the Earth girl revived me. But I appreciate your efforts, Rory,” Strax explained. “Of course had the roles been reversed I would have faced nil difficulty in restoring you back to life.”

“Don’t worry, Rory’s like a bad rash, he always finds a way back.” Amy joked as she and the Doctor stepped to the bar and began ordering a drink via an overweight, curly-haired barmaid - completely unfazed by Strax.

“Your break or mine?” asked Strax as he walked over to the pool table and slapped it hard with his three-digit hands. The balls began rumbling out of the holding chamber ready to be used.

“This is unbelievable,” complained Rory.

“Very well, I shall commence our battle,” replied Strax.

“Oi Strax! I don’t care what bloody battalion you’re from, that pool table ain’t free. Now cough up or you’re barred.” ordered the barmaid as she handed the Doctor and Amy a pint of ale each, with a third and fourth propped onto the counter for Rory and Strax.

“This doesn’t make any sense.” Rory sighed as he headed over to the counter and had a sizeable sip of the ale.

“Oh use your imagination, Pond,” the Doctor began. “It’s a big universe, full of wonders and delights and advanced technology - that includes medical. Is it so hard to believe that one day the ability to revive a fresh cadaver doesn’t become possible?” asked the Doctor, slurping the ale and then immediately grimacing.

“You don’t know how they did it, do you?” asked Amy smugly. The Doctor said nothing, continuing to drink his ale.

“But now he’s here...in Victorian England, playing pool. And no one’s bothered? Not the barmaid, not the locals. Why isn’t anyone panicking? Spud over there can’t be a common sight.” questioned Rory.

“Listen love, when you’ve seen a lesbian lizard detach the face of the mayor who was secretly a robot working for your very own janitor, you tend to go with the flow.” explained the barmaid, as she headed across the bar to take an old man with white slicked-back hair’s order.

“Okay. I’m going to need more ale.” decided Rory, chugging the pint.

Thunder roared from outside the pub as Rory, now much more loosened up owing to his intoxication, smashed the white ball into the black, pocketing it and winning the game.
“Yes! Earth Nurse 1, Maris Piper 0!” yelled Rory with a hiccup, stretching his arms high to the sky as he stumbled back a step.

“You may want to deal with him, Amy,” suggested the Doctor, who was slyly sonicing in the direction of Strax and glancing at the screwdriver to examine the readings.

“Why me? You got him the first pint,” replied Amy as she glanced at the Doctor, observing the sonic. “Why are we here, Doctor?”

“I thought we could all use a break after Melissa Majoria.” replied the Doctor nonchalantly, continuing to discreetly scan Strax.

“You’re worried about Strax,” deduced Amy.

“You were right earlier, I don’t know exactly how they revived him. And I’m not sure what effects that will have on his psyche,” explained the Doctor. Through her travels with her childhood friend, Amy had come to accept that everything he did, everywhere he took them was for a reason; even if that reason was rarely ever immediately present. But she appreciated the transparency that seemed to be awarded her the longer she travelled in the TARDIS. Rory meanwhile was having the time of his life, now sat at a table with a group of men of varying ages all simultaneously trying to arm wrestle Strax, who was himself half-cut but still showing no signs of struggling against them.

“It’s useless!” cried a forty-something fellow with a large beard and a lack of teeth, straining so hard his veins bulged in his neck.

“Surrender now, Rick, for the might of my clone batch rests on me. Victory comes naturally to the Sontaran race, even the nurses,” boasted Strax. The men tried their best to overpower Strax but realised the futility, losing as Strax forcefully pushed their collectively placed hands down on the table and winning the arm wrestle. The other men groaned, holding their wrists in pain while Rory simply laughed to himself, flopping his wrist about childishly. He shot up from his seat, stumbling a little, and staggered over to Amy and the Doctor at the bar.

“You know, I don’t think Sontarans are all that bad really,” slurred Rory. Amy frowned, embarrassed by him while the Doctor simply raised his eyebrow and stifled a grin. “And really - if Strax can be this much fun, why don’t we just make friends with all of them?”

“All of the Sontarans?” asked the Doctor.

“Yeah, sure, why not? We’d save so much money on roast dinners if you get my-” Rory hiccuped, chuckling before delivering the punchline. “If you get my peeling.” At once, both Rory and the Doctor cackled in laughter, the latter almost falling off his chair. Amy watched them both, her boys, and wondered why she’d opted out of some time alone in the TARDIS with a bath and some wine.

An hour or so later, Rory had somewhat got more of a grip on his alcohol. Past the point of coherency, granted, but his balance had mostly returned to normal as he walked alongside the Doctor and Amy out of the pub with Strax.

“Thanks for the drinks,” said Amy to the barmaid who nodded back to her. The Doctor, Rory, and Strax were still laughing and muttering jokes to each other. They walked across the street holding newspapers over their heads as the rain continued to pour violently over them. They were a stone’s throw from the TARDIS, and all Amy had to worry about was whether or not the Doctor was going to drink-drive the ship. Come to think of it, she wondered whether it would matter - his flying wasn’t exactly sobering at the best of times.

And then they came.

Out of nowhere, a car pulled up beside them, the flashlights blinding the quartet. Within seconds, three burly, tall Scots got out of the car.

“You’re coming with us,” declared the fattest and tallest one. Presumably the leader.

With one hand, he grabbed Amy by the back of the neck and the other the Doctor. Rory tried to react, rushing to the man and punching him in the stomach, but the blow barely registered. Before Rory could react, another one of the men pushed him square in the chest with both hands - sending him flying to the ground and hitting his head off the curb. Sleeping in the puddle.

“Bad move, puny warriors! I, Strax, of the-” Strax fell to the floor, with the third and final assailant revealed behind him holding a mallet.

“Getting old, didn’t even think to remove the probic vent!” cried the Doctor as him and Amy were carted into the car, but not before the Doctor was able to kick the exhaust pipe forcefully. They were flung into the car, and the three Scotsmen got inside, speeding off in the car and quickly disappearing into the night.

Rory came to some time after, clutching at his head and groaning as all the sensations rushed to him. The pain, the soaked clothes, the cold. Then the gut-wrenching feeling as he realised what had happened.

“Amy?!” he cried as he looked around, jumping to his feet and groaning once more. No sign of Amy, nor the Doctor, but standing in front of him - Strax. “What happened?”

“We were attacked, but revenge shall be ours!” declared Strax as he ran a finger along some oil on the ground. Rory sighed. Out of all the people to have been left with. Actually, maybe it wasn’t so bad. Time for the Sontaran to put his money where his mouth was.

“What are you doing?” asked Rory.

“This streak of oil stretches as far as my eyes can see. Do you know what that means?” asked Strax.

“It’s from the car…” realised Rory. Strax nodded, as he began walking in the opposite direction. Rory tried walking after him, staggering and stumbling once more to the ground. “I can’t tell if I’m drunk or concussed,” Rory got to his feet.

“Rest easy, Rory, I have just the thing for that,” replied Strax, as he strode across to Rory and punched him hard in the gut. Rory grunted as he vomited onto the street. Wiping his mouth, he glared at Strax.
“What the hell are you doing?!”

“Now you’re just concussed, try to keep up,” explained Strax as he once again turned and continued walking away from the oil streak.

“We’re walking away from the trail, Strax, we need to find Amy and the Doctor!” growled Rory, his patience rapidly deteriorating. Not that he wanted to admit it to the Sontaran, but he did feel a little better. Even if his headache rivaled the pain of the kidney stones he’d suffered as a teenager, and his stomach was sore and bruised from the punch he’d sustained just moments ago; having balance was essential for this rescue mission. If they even could rescue them. If he had the Doctor by his side, he’d have felt certain they could rescue Amy, like they had done when they chased her to Demon’s Run, but with Strax? Who knew how useful the Sontaran would be...he was leading them the wrong way for starters!

“Your feeble legs are in no position to make the journey by foot. We must steal a horse!” explained Strax as he ducked under a gate leading into a courtyard filled with stables. Rory climbed over the gate, careful to avoid some nearby horse dung.

“That explains the smell on you earlier...are one of these yours?” Rory inquired as he followed a confident Strax to one of the stables, where a white horse was standing proudly looking at them both.

“Yes, I have verbally claimed this creature as my own, to ride until its legs give out where I will then devour it,” explained Strax as he began stroking the horse. “I call her Ernesto.”

Ernesto galloped across the streets, the noise soothing Rory as he held onto Strax’s ribs while Strax steered the stallion, laughing out relentlessly as they followed the trail of oil.

“They better not have hurt her,” growled Rory, his mind racing at the thoughts of what his wife could be going through.

“They most certainly have,” began Strax. “But we will take our revenge for the glory of our army,”

“We don’t have an army.”

“Beware of your mutinous talk, Rory. Respect your commander,” ordered Strax as he continued steering Ernesto in the direction of the neverending oil trail, with Rory rolling his eyes behind him.

Amy awoke to find herself suspended in the air, bounded tightly by a rope on each of her limbs. She turned to her side to see the Doctor in the same position, giving her a reassuring smile. In front of them, talking amongst themselves were the three Scotsmen.

“Oi! Mind telling us what your problem is?” asked Amy as she struggled in an attempt to release herself from the rope. The men simply chuckled and carried on playing cards, sat around a small wooden table. She sighed and looked at the Doctor. “Any ideas?”

“Several, but none of them will work without one of my limbs free,” replied the Doctor as he studied the room, the rope, the wooden beam they were connected to, and finally the trio of assailants.

“Tell me your sonic’s got a voice-activated feature,” said Amy hopefully.

“The sonic has a voice-activated feature,” replied the Doctor. Amy looked at him expectantly and he frowned.

“Well?” she said, sighing impatiently.

“You told me to tell you it had one,”

Amy rolled her eyes and sighed. Great, she thought. That bathtub and wine in the ship was the most appealing it had ever been.

“I’ll update it for next time, not that it works on wood,” said the Doctor as he too tried to wriggle free - futile.

“Any chance ye’ could shut up a bit?” asked the leader of the men before shaking his head.

“We’re tryin’ to play here,” added another. “Donnie, deal me in,”

“What is it you want?” asked the Doctor to no reply. He sighed and began blowing raspberries, louder and louder each time. One of the men turned to glare at him, but he carried on incessantly making noise. Donnie the leader, stood up and walked over to the Doctor, towering above him with his bulky frame.

“I said shut up,” growled Donnie.

“Come on, surely you could at least tell us why we’re bound in rope. Listen, fellas, if you wanted an audience for your game you only needed to ask,” said the Doctor, before being backhanded in the mouth. Cracking his jaw and mouthing a sign of pain, he looked back up at Donnie.

“Hush,” Donnie demanded.

“So much for Manhattan…” muttered Amy.

As Rory’s senses began to improve, he noticed a flapping noise coming from underneath Ernesto. Curiously, he peered over the back and saw a small note sticking to the fur. Reaching over with his left hand, but careful not to lose his balance, he grabbed the note and looked at it. The note read ‘WHITECHAPEL MUNITIONS FACTORY - STRAX AND RORY’.

“Strax, do you know where the Whitechapel Munitions Factory is?” asked Rory.

“Of course, I have an excellent adeptness to strategic thinking and planning, and part of that is my memo-”

“Yeah, just head over there for us,” said Rory. Strax looked back at him, and then back in front.

“Very well,” he said as he changed course.

The Doctor and Amy continued wriggling around, yielding no results. With a sigh, Amy’s head sunk to the ground - beaten. She had faith that Rory was on his way for her, as he had been when Madame Kovarian and her religious fanatics had kidnapped her, but how would he find her? Although, she’d thought the same back then too - devoid of faith in a place filled with it. He’d pulled through then, albeit not before she’d had Melody.

River.

No, she thought to herself. Not now. She’s fine. In fact, she’d probably rescue us right now. She doesn’t need me feeling sorry about her.

“Hey, Amy, don’t worry. We’ve been in tougher spots than this,” said the Doctor.

“And just how are we gonna’ get out of this one?” asked Amy.

“Easy. Our very own lone centurion,” began the Doctor. “And the Sontaran nurse, can’t be forgetting him.” the Doctor peered over to see whether the Scotsmen were listening, and leaned in as close as he could before whispering “I kicked the exhaust pipe on our way into the car, if they’re moderately smart and mostly sober, the oil trail will lead them straight to us.” explained the Doctor.

Her confidence restored, she began chuckling. The Doctor watched her, wondering what the play was as the Scotsmen noticed her laughing and instantly became offended by it. Donnie stood up and stepped over to them.

“What? What are you laughing about, sweetheart?” asked Donnie, in a tone that was much more sinister than his wording suggested.

“I’m just thinking about how stupid you’re going to feel when my husband gets here,”

“Wait - that freak was your husband?” asked one of the other Scotsmen.

“No Gareth, you doofus. She means the pale, skinny one.” explained the third.

“I don’t know if you remember, ginge, but he folded like a deck of cards when Douglas pushed him. Hit his head off the curb pretty hard too.” chuckled Donnie as Amy glared at him.

“No one’s coming for you both, so you better get used to it,” added Gareth.

Rory and Strax strolled into the closed munitions factory, looking around in case of danger. Aside from the occasional rat skittering across the hard flooring, they were the only lifeforms around. Strax pulled out a flashlight from his tweed jacket pocket and passed it to Rory.

“Why have I got to carry it?” asked Rory.

“In case we’re snuck upon, so I can protect us,” replied Strax.

“Hey I’m not sure whether you have any memories of your past life but I fought the Headless Monks too. Killed a few as well. I’m just as capable at protecting us as you are, right?”

“Sure.” replied Strax overly-sarcastically as he looked expectantly at Rory to illuminate the room for them. Rolling his eyes, Rory activated the flashlight and began flashing it around the room, trying to find anything that could offer a clue as to why they had been summoned there. Was it the people who had taken Amy and the Doctor? Surely not. He may have been drunk at the time, but even then it was clear as day that they were thugs - hired to do a job, not in charge. Who was behind this? Had the Doctor already figured it out? Questioning whether he and Strax were walking into a trap, or whether they were on a goose chase that the Time Lord had already figured out, Rory felt the familiar thoughts of insecurity seep into his thought patterns. Continuing to look around with Strax, he thought back to when he’d first met the Doctor - dashing, unkempt, alien, yet everything Amy was drawn to in a way she had never been with him. He’d moved past the thoughts of jealousy, the dark concerns of infidelity between the two of them when they’d travelled alone together, but that lingering idea that he had something to prove remained. The worst part was that the Doctor couldn’t even be blamed for any of it. He’d been nothing but supportive of the two of them, even redirecting Amy back onto Rory himself when she’d been unfairly secretive about things or a little too flirtatious.

“Over here,” whispered Strax as he waddled in the direction of a small crate sat on the flooring of a walkway above. Rory followed, his mind still on other things. I’m going to save you, Amy. He thought. Every time you need me to. He pondered his life and psyche before the Doctor had flown into their life, back when he believed love was about those quiet moments and that big, grand gestures were strictly for cinema romance. Yet since travelling in the TARDIS, it seemed like everything in life relied on big, grand gestures. He wasn’t sure how long he could keep up with that pace, always longing for a nice, simple life filled with routine and control. Maybe that wasn’t even what he wanted any more? His current lifestyle certainly didn’t reflect that.

“What is it, Strax?” he asked, re-focusing on the here-and-now. Strax kicked open the crate, and Rory lit it up with the flashlight to reveal a strange, alien gun, grenades, a blunted but sturdy wooden sword and a map of London with a circle closing around a minuscule area.

“Weapons,” hissed Strax with a twisted lust in his voice.

“More importantly a map,” added Rory as he grabbed it, concentrating on it. “Who would give us this? Why?” he asked.

“We have been challenged,” suggested Strax as he pocketed the grenades and picked the gun up, licking his lips while examining it.

“Yeah, or we’re walking into a trap and those weapons are defective.” countered Rory.

“Where’s your sense of optimism, lassie?” asked Strax with a dead seriousness in his voice. Pronouns really weren’t his strong suit.

“I’m just covering all possibilities. From the looks of the map, the Doctor and Amy are in a warehouse just a few minutes away from here.”

“We must ride for this warehouse at once. Victory shall be ours!” declared Strax as he enthusiastically began heading down the walkway and out of the munitions factory. Rory followed, questioning who was behind all of this, and what would be lying in store for them at the aforementioned warehouse.

“Pond’s taking his time, isn’t he Pond?” said the Doctor with a bored sigh.

“It’s a big city,” replied Amy. “He’ll come for us.”

“I hope so. I thought my wristwatch was tight! This rope...worse than a Dalek!” complained the Doctor. Something was sticking out to him. The Scotsmen hadn’t bothered to ask for a ransom, to anybody. Not that there really was anybody in this time period to ask. They seemed like they’d finished their job. Was it really that simple? Transport him and Amy to this warehouse and then just wait? There was no effort on their part to take him and Amy’s things. They just wanted to play their card game and...wait. They were clearly thugs. Who was behind all of this? Thought they’d have shown their face by now. To gloat if nothing else.

“Alright, I gotta’ take a leak. No cheatin’,” warned Gareth as he stood up and walked out of the warehouse. Donnie and Douglas took the chance to light up a cigarette each. As the smoke slowly wafted over in the direction of the Doctor, he blew it away with his mouth. Amy looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

“You’re worried about cigarette smoke? With everything else going on?” asked Amy begrudgingly.

“What’s the point of having a respiratory bypass system when you don’t take care of it?” countered the Doctor.

“Sure, I just think we should be focusing on the more important matters,”

“Such as?”

“Such as - one’s gone. It’s two v two, now’s the perfect time for a cunning plan. Come on. I know you’re cooking something up in that brain of yours,” said Amy, half-certain, half-hoping. Before the Doctor could reply, a large explosion went off some meters away from the warehouse. They both looked for the source of the noise as Donnie and Douglas worriedly got up from their seats, pulling out their pistols.

“Gareth?!” screamed Donnie. “That you?”

No reply came.

“Now’s really the time to untie me, big man,” said the Doctor. “This sounds like a crisis, I’m great in a crisis - ask anyone. Tell them, Amy.”

“Oh yeah, crisis shmisis to the Doctor,” replied Amy.

Donnie half-glanced at them before waving them away dismissively. He began slowly walking to the exit of the warehouse, Douglas still frozen on the spot, before another grenade went off followed by a loud grunt and the sound of someone falling over.

“Gareth?” screamed Donnie again. “Answer me, laddie, for chrissakes!”

“Oh dear. Seems like this time you’ve been creeped up on.” said the Doctor.

“Shut the hell up or I’ll remove your tongue for ye’!” snarled Douglas as he waved the pistol at the Doctor.

In walked Strax, holding a gun that the Doctor immediately recognised to be a Sea Devil weapon. Before Donnie could shoot, Strax shot at his weapon with pristine accuracy, disarming him. Douglas prepared to shoot before from out of the shadows -

Rory! Brandishing a wooden sword and hitting him across the head with it. Douglas turned around in anger, and Rory’s eyes widened as he realised he was now in trouble. As Douglas raised his arm to attempt to shoot him, Rory used the sword to hit the gun out of his hand, swiping again at him before the weapon was caught in Douglas’ hand.

“Oh no,” said Rory as he began stepping backward, advanced upon by Douglas who was waving the sword like a madman.

Meanwhile, Strax walked to Donnie, slowly pulling out the handcuffs from his pocket with his free hand and passing them to him.

“Put them on, puny human,” ordered Strax, but Donnie shook his head from side to side defiantly. Strax raised the weapon so that it was aiming towards Donnie’s head, and the Doctor’s eyes widened.

“No - Strax - don’t!” cried the Doctor.

Strax aimed the weapon just above Donnie’s shoulder and shot not at the villain, but at the rope binding the Doctor’s hands to the horizontal beam above him. With his hands-free, the Doctor reached into his pocket, pulled out the sonic screwdriver, and soniced at the handcuffs Donnie was holding - which instantly shot up and attached around his wrists. Trying to step forward, he fell over as his legs were still bound and he groaned as he hit the ground with his face.

“Get ‘im, Rory!” exclaimed Amy, as her husband successfully ducked and evaded several swipes from the sword Douglas was using. Douglas gave a deranged smile as he paused for a moment, studying the best way to attack Rory before swiping for him and getting close. Rory successfully dodged the swipe, but left himself open, sustaining a headbutt from Douglas that knocked him to the floor. As Douglas raised his boot ready to attack, Strax appeared from behind, hitting him over the back of the head with one of the stools that the Scotsmen had been sitting on.

“Thanks.” said Rory as he got to his feet. Strax nodded, turning back to the Doctor and Amy and heading over to them with Rory.

“Took you long enough,” the Doctor said to them both as he untied the ropes around his legs. Rory headed over to Amy, using the wooden sword to cut the ropes around her arms and then untying the ones around her legs.

“Sorry it took so long,” began Rory before Amy immediately embraced him, hugging tightly as Rory closed his eyes and sighed in relief.

“Now then, let’s find out who these fellas were working for,” said the Doctor as he headed over to an unconscious Donnie and searched in his pockets, finding nothing but spare change and a pack of cigarettes.

“Nothing?” asked Amy. The Doctor shook his head, before walking over to Douglas and checking his pockets too, again finding nothing. A clapping sound began ringing out, and the Doctor along with the others turned to see Madame Vastra and Jenny walking into the warehouse with smiles on their faces.

“Well done Strax,” said Madame Vastra, placing a hand on his shoulder and squeezing it lightly. He looked confused, as did the Doctor, Amy, and Rory.

“Wait a minute - you did this?” asked Rory.

“Had to see if Strax was able to be trusted, sir,” explained Jenny in that over-enthusiastic, Cockney twang.

“And we couldn’t have been let in on this little test?” asked Amy with a raised eyebrow.

“We had to give the illusion of genuine danger, to provide us with accurate results. But we could reimburse you for any trauma you’ve faced?” offered Vastra.

“What are we going to do with old money?” pointed out Rory.

“Probably be worth quite a lot in your time period, sir. For collectors an’ all that.” countered Jenny.

“What were you testing for?” asked the Doctor.

“Violent tendencies, damage to his psyche. Slowed-down motor skills. Revival is not perfect as I’m sure you’re aware, Doctor. For Strax to assist me and Jenny we needed to know he hadn’t been damaged by the process.” explained Vastra.

“That’s why you left us the gun in the factory,” Rory realised.

“Precisely. We wanted to see whether he’d use lethal action when there was chance not to,” replied Vastra. “And you didn’t, well done,” said Vastra as he turned to Strax.

“It was simply because I craved a challenge, Madame Vastra. I could still kill everybody in this room in a single stroke if I needed to,” replied Strax, to which Vastra sniffed at.

“I’m sure you could try, sir. But the purpose of this test was to assess whether you’ll make a good addition to our dealings, and you passed!” said Jenny.

“Let that now be the end of it,” concluded Vastra as she beckoned the others to follow before walking out of the warehouse with Jenny.

“So the whole thing was a fake?” said Rory.

“Orchestrated, Rory.” the Doctor corrected him. “I doubt these had any idea what the true purpose of the test was,” he said as he turned towards the two unconscious Scotsmen on the ground.

“They will be paid for their role,” Vastra simply called out as her and Jenny got onto their horses, a sleek, black carriage attached by ropes to them. The Doctor, Amy, Rory, and Strax got in as Vastra and Jenny began steering the horses out of the courtyard. As the horses left, Amy could see Gareth lying unconscious on the ground just outside the warehouse.

As Amy watched the streets of Victorian England pass behind her on her journey back to the TARDIS, she thought about her recent adventures, everything from Demon’s Run, Melody, and how long she would want to keep travelling with the Doctor. Back when she’d first started travelling with him she never dreamed of giving it up, but lately she had thought about slowing down a little, if not for her own sake’s but for Rory’s - who clearly wanted a calmer, more ordinary life. Perhaps she could speak to Rory about it, and think of a way they could curb the addiction to this lifestyle. Then again, surely another few months of travelling wouldn’t hurt, would it?

Besides, the Doctor hadn’t even taken her to Manhattan yet, she had a feeling that would be one of her best outings yet…

 

This was very good.

I really enjoyed reading an epic Doctor Who adventures with these characters, and I thought you had a very good grasp of their mannerisms, speech, and reactions to situations.