Storm: Storm is Brewing

The Eleventh Hour 2

The Doctor raced ahead when Amy slowed Terry – and therefore him - down a little, reaching Rory first as he grabbed the man's phone from him.

Rory started violently as the Doctor checked his phone, and he began to call after the Doctor when the Doctor whirled on him and said: "The sun's going out, and you're photographing a man and a dog. Why?"

The Doctor handed Rory his phone back, while Rory gaped and Terry, then Amy, ran up.

"How do you run in those shoes?" Amy panted, gesturing at Terry's heeled boots, while Rory greeted disconcertingly: "Amy."

"Practice." Terry informed Amy before nodding at Rory. "Hello."

"Hi..." He answered slowly as Amy added: "Oh, hi! Oh, uh, this is Rory," she introduced to the Doctor and Terry, "he's a... friend."

"Boyfriend." Rory corrected with a scoff, but Amy tacked on awkwardly: "Kind of boyfriend."

"Amy." Rory whined, looking at his girlfriend while Terry smiled. They were so awkward and it was cute to see them like this when most of her recent interactions with them had been later in their lives when they were more settled and confident in each other's love.

Of course, the Doctor didn't know this yet and therefore didn't care as he cut in, demanding: "Man and dog. Why?"

He looked between the pair urgently, waiting, while Rory looked back at the Doctor, taking him in fully for the first time. And his jaw dropped.

"Oh, oops..." Terry sighed as she remembered this moment, while Rory gaped: "Oh... my God. It's him."

"Just answer his question, please." Amy interjected, almost begged, but Rory exclaimed incredulously: "It's him, though. The Doctor. The Raggedy Doctor."

"Yeah, he came back." Amy sighed, again looking like she wanted to die of embarrassment. "With... Terry."

She gestured lamely at the petite brunette, while Rory protested, barely glancing at Terry: "But he was a story. He was a game-"

"Man and dog." The Doctor interrupted again, grabbing Rory by the lapels and pulling him close to emphasize his impatience. "Why? Tell me now."

"Sorry." Rory said hastily, before explaining: "Because he can't be there. Because he's-"

"-In a hospital," the Doctor spoke at the exact same time as Rory, "in a coma."

"Yeah." Rory finished lamely, looking extremely unnerved – not that Terry blamed him.

The Doctor, meanwhile, smirked as he said: "Knew it. Multiform, you see?"

He let go of Rory, smoothing down the man's shirt as he murmured: "Disguise itself as anything, but it needs a life feed. A psychic link with a living but dormant," he poked Rory's forehead, "mind."

The man – or rather, Prisoner Zero – started barking at them angrily from where he was still standing across the street, and Rory's mouth parted once more in shock as the Doctor whirled to face the alien.

The alien growled, baring his long fangs, and the Doctor stepped forward with his hands in his pockets, Terry following him while Amy and Rory remained behind.

"Prisoner Zero." The Doctor greeted darkly, as Terry stepped up beside him.

"What?" Rory hissed at Amy. "There's a Prisoner Zero too?"

"Yes." Amy sighed back, while Terry tugged on the Doctor's hand.

She nodded behind them, and he glanced back as one of the Atraxi ships came flying down towards them, the giant eyeball in the middle of the star-shaped ship peering around wildly as it searched for its escaped prisoner.