PANDORA'S BOX

The Pandorica was a large stone block with strange carvings on the front that obviously made the lock. The surface was rough and gravelly beneath her hand as she touched it. She wondered what could be locked inside there. She had faced so many dangerous creatures that it could be anything. Daleks, Cybermen, Sontarans...

"What do you think is in there?" she asked out loud to the Doctor. He stood beside her examining the box with his sonic screwdriver, a frown on his face as he went through his own list of dangerous creatures. "It could be anything, couldn't it? Daleks, Cybermen, Sontarans..."

"Well considering they're all outside, I really hope not" the Doctor said.

"Could it be Time Lord Technology?" she asked voicing another thought. She had never quite forgotten that Dalek prison that Mickey accidently opened. "An evil Time Lord might be in there"

"I hope not" the Doctor muttered darkly, more to himself than to her. "I've had enough evil Time Lords to last me several lifetimes" he looked over to where the Romans were conversing; somewhere outside Amy and Rory were probably catching up. Even if Amy had no memories of the loyal boy. "How did you end up with Rory?" he asked changing the subject. "Last time I saw him, he was...well pretty much dead and falling into a crack"

"I don't know. Poor sod woke up in Amelia's bed. He was all shaken up because he certainly had memories of dying. Took ages to calm him down properly when the realisation sunk in" the Wolf said frowning slightly. She looked down at the floor and saw River's vortex manipulator. "Where's River? It can't have taken her this long to fly the TARDIS over here. It was only an hour or so walk away"

The Doctor's frown deepened. "She better have not taken a quick detour to Barbados or something like that. Do you think it was wise to trust River with Amelia?"

The Wolf smiled a rather arrogant confident smile. Very smug. "I trust River as much as I trust myself"

"You've only known her for two hours!"

"Really? Feels like I've known her longer than that, you know you really should get to know her. The rate you're going you'll never find out who she really is"

"I hate women" the Doctor grumbled, "They always gang up on me. Sarah Jane and Rose, Donna and Martha, Amy and River and now y-"

A loud clutter interrupted the Doctor. They both turned to see the Roman soldiers facing them, swords on the ground as they held up their hands to them. The fingers were hanging on hinges as a little gun could be seen.

The Wolf summed up the situation in one simple word.

"Shit"

DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW

She was laughing. She felt nauseous and her stomach was all twisted but she was laughing anyway. Laughing to the point of crying, tears ran down her face and she was snorting out snot. The most dangerous creature in the universe was her and the Doctor. Oh how ironic. She continued to laugh, slumping her head forward so her long dark hair would curtain her face. She didn't want the Doctor to see her breakdown.

"It's not that funny" the Doctor said quietly. Finally breaking out of his own inner turmoil.

"It is...it is..." she gasped between giggles. "Only thing funnier than this if it turned out to be my mother!" she choked out before letting out another hysterical laughter. He sat there in silence waiting for her to calm down. He didn't know what to say. In all honesty he never coped well with hysterical women. Eventually the laughter died down into a quiet giggle and then it was completely silent. But the silence never last long with either one of them. They had to start talking immediately before they end up in their own little depressed funk. "What caused the explosion?" she asked.

"I don't know. I considered our TARDISes merging might have done it, but I recall a time when my TARDIS merged with one of my past selves. We prevented any explosion but if it did exploded it wouldn't have been any bigger than Belgium. So it couldn't have been that"

"You don't know. That sort of explosion could have been the cause of it" the Wolf said, "in the right place and time it could send shock waves throughout the universe"

"For some reason it's centralised round Amy. All those cracks seem to be following her"

"And Amelia"

"Two of a kind, those two. They were probably used to trap us both. Use their memories, well actually Amy's...how did you met Amelia, anyway?"

"She was seven" the Wolf said, he could almost hear a small smile though he couldn't see her face. "I just regenerated and crash landed right in her garden. She had a crack and I fixed it. Then the TARDIS had to go and I ran after it, back in five minutes and there she was suitcase ready waiting for me"

"I met Amy just after I regenerated too. Only I just didn't come back until twelve years later"

"I know, Amy told me. That's just typical of you though, isn't it? You always got the dates and places mixed up"

"Not all the time!"

She snorted but didn't say anything. Silence fell and the two were stuck in their own thoughts, the Doctor wondered if he was ever going to get out of this cage. Although admittedly the Pandorica was rather interesting. It seemed to be a mix of many species technology.

"How did you regenerate?" the Wolf asked quietly breaking into his thoughts.

"Bit of a dark question" the Doctor said casually as possible.

The Wolf shrugged as much as she could with her arms held down. "Just curious. This is my fifth body; I've been in my previous one for centuries. I died saving an old man strangely enough. He was stuck in this chamber and if I didn't go in and press the button he would have died of radiation poisoning...or been blown up depending on how long that radiation could have stayed put"

"Same here" he mumbled.

"What?"

"Old man in a radiation chamber. I had to press the button and I did. Because well, he was my best friend's grandfather. It would have killed her to lose him, especially on Christmas day and I don't think her mother would have let me lived anyway if I just walked away. He was so brilliant this man, a soldier that never shot a person. Clean, bright and just plain brilliant. He loved everything, the aliens, the stars, and the technology, probably even me. He made me feel loved, like I was his son...so of course I would have done it for him"

The Wolf frowned. "We both died of radiation poisoning for an old man and then suddenly our TARDIS crashes into Amelia's garden. It's too much the same to be just a coincidence"

"You mean to say we've been manipulated from before we even met Amy?" the Doctor asked, the Wolf nodded and he could barely see it from the corner of his eye. He groaned loudly. "I hate manipulative villains, they're worse than villains that just come out and try to shoot you. A friend of mine just been manipulated recently, his whole life and sanity destroyed from the age eight and onwards just for a chance to destroy everything than let the war kill them. Manipulative villains are probably the most selfish ba-"

The Pandorica had suddenly and unexpectedly open. The pale blue-white light shone upon a desperate fearful face of Rory Williams who was holding up a sonic screwdriver.

DWDWDWDWDWDWDW

It had taken over half an hour to actually calm Rory down. Somehow the real Rory's personality was programmed into an Auton and instead of sending him here to help trap them in the Pandorica he ended up in Amelia's bed. With absolutely no clue with what happened. The Wolf had to applaud the Nestene Consciousness for their good work, Rory had been so realistic that she had no idea he was actually a plastic robot. They had definitely improved their work since the very first and last time she saw them.

She didn't even realise that there was a robot by them the whole time until it was too late. And now Amy was dead. Or almost dead according to the Doctor, apparently she had a faint pulse and the Pandorica can keep her alive for now. Using the vortex manipulator that River Song had left behind, the two of them began to jump back and forth, moving little Amy Pond into the right position to save her future self. So now of course they were running through a museum in the middle of the night with a little girl version of Amy, Amy and robot Rory dressed as a security guard while a fossilized Dalek chases after them.

The Doctor of course cheerfully hopped through all time and space to do all of the things he apparently already did. They were heading up the stairs when two things suddenly happened. One was little Amy suddenly disappeared, her drink left on the floor slowly turning into a puddle. And the second thing was the Wolf suddenly appearing on the top of the stairs, vortex manipulator in her hand before collapsing.

"Oh my god!" Amy half screamed clinging to Rory out of shock.

"Is she..." Rory swallowed hard. "Is she dead? I mean are you...i mean...oh you know what I mean"

The Doctor gave him a pointed look that screamed 'shut up' as the Wolf knelt down beside her. Suddenly the second Wolf shot up and grabbed hold of the Wolf.

"If you want to save everyone you love" the second Wolf hissed into the first Wolf's ear. "Then you got to..." everyone tried to lean in and listen to the second Wolf's instructions but she was whispering so rapidly all they could hear was hissing. She then let go of the Wolf and fell back.

She laid there motionless. Dead. Gone.

As the Doctor and the Wolf ran ahead, Rory draped his security coat over her and Amy whispered a sorry before running to catch up with the others.

Neither saw the second Wolf's hand move ever so slightly.

DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW

The Doctor reappeared on the roof with only River Song and not Amelia. The Wolf felt her hearts drop down to her stomach as she reached out and grabbed hold of the other woman's wrists. Her nails digging into the darker skin, probably going to leave red marks.

"What happened to Amelia?" she snarled. From the corner of her eye she could see Rory take a step back fearfully. She was at her scariest at this moment. Good. "You were supposed to look after her. You're supposed to be good at this!"

"She disappeared" River said softly. Her hands moved out of the Wolf's tight grasp easily and held onto the Wolf's hands, fingers interlocking gently. "The moment the TARDIS began to explode she just disappeared"

"So all of my universe is already gone then" the Wolf whispered. Horror drawing onto her quickly. "They don't exist anymore..."

Her babies. Her companions. Her father. Her brother. Her friends and relatives. They no longer exist.

"But if they're all gone, why are you here?" Rory asked the most obvious question. "I mean...shouldn't you have disappeared if Amelia and your universe is gone?"

"Oh good question, Rory! Being an Auton has obviously made you smarter" the Doctor unintentionally insulted the young man while complimenting him. Amy couldn't help but giggle a little and even River and the Wolf had faint smiles on their faces. "You make an excellent point, magnificent, why is the Wolf still here?"

"Because she's originally from this universe" River answered for the Wolf. The Doctor's eyebrows raised slightly. Two things came to mind, why did River know this and was this why Rose and the Wolf were so close? Because they were both from a different universe. "A few things happened and she ended up stranded on the other universe. So she won't be effected until later, like us" River then turned to face Rory. "I must say the Nestene Consciousness has improved its work. Last time I saw an Auton, their heads came off easily"

"Oh god" the Wolf said remembering it all too clearly, "their heads would melt easily as well"

Rory paled. "You're not going to melt me are you?"

Before anyone can answer -- seriously or teasingly -- the Dalek appeared before them ready to kill.

The running started all over again.

DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW

"Doctor, watch out!"

Rory and Amy turned in time to see the Wolf push the Doctor out of the Dalek's ray. Her hands grabbing at his wrist as she snatches the vortex manipulator off of him. She vanishes in a white blue electricity and they knew exactly what just happened. She was going to die.

River shot at the Dalek. "Run!" she screamed at them. "For god sake, just run!"

They ran towards where the stairs were. Where the Wolf's body would be lying on the stone cold floor with Rory's coat covering her respectfully. Of course River knew that the body wouldn't be there. She knew that the Wolf was going to make it through every obstacle.

The memories were only just coming back.

And she, River Song, will live through anything.

"Check your memory banks" she said smirking, "see what you find under River Song"

Despite its lack of energy the Dalek could project everything that was in the databanks. She had a little feeling that these new Daleks had been receiving upgrades from Cybermen technology. Probably part of that large alliance against her and the Doctor.

Her smirk got smugger and more confident as she saw every single fight she had with a Dalek. From nineteen, young innocent and naive yet so powerful to last year when she was brutal and dangerous as ever.

"Now what do you say?" she asked holding her gun up.

"Mercy" the Dalek said.

"What was that?"

"Mercy"

"Again"

"Mercy!"

She could almost hear the pleading and desperation in the Dalek's voice. She suppressed a shudder as the memory of the very human Dalek, her first ever Dalek, came to mind.

"Daleks don't deserve mercy. Ever" she told it coldly. She then killed it.

DWDWDWDWDWDWDW

They only just made it in time. The Wolf laid there slumping in one of the chairs in the Pandorica her arm was strapped down and she looked weak. Tired. Battle weary. The Doctor ran to her, Amy hot on her heels.

"Get out" the Doctor ordered. "Get out and let me do it instead. It's too dangerous for you to even try it"

She snorted; a dark smile flittered across her face. "So you think you'd take over. No" she shook her head, "the universe needs you more than me and besides, I'm very confident in myself. I can make it out alive"

"You're going to send yourself flying into an exploding TARDIS. You'll either shatter into tiny little pieces that you're stupid mind can't comprehend or you're going to be forgotten. Erased out of existence. Lost in the darkness"

"Very pretty speech" the Wolf said. Her eyes were shut; she truly was exhausted by it all. "It seems...that she'll never get to exist either then. Susan...no me. No children. No Susan. Of course without me there would be a lot less in this universe, arrogant thinking isn't it? If you remember Susan after all of this. Then you know I'm still alive. Still exist somewhere"

Amy snatched the Wolf's hand and squeezed it tightly. "Please don't do this" she pleaded. "Amelia wouldn't want you to sacrifice yourself. She would have wanted you to live, to continue doing what you do. Not just blow yourself up. Please don't do this!"

Tears were dribbling down her face and the Wolf brushed some of them away. "Amelia won't be here if I don't do this" the Wolf said sadly. "Besides, I think she's truly gone. All that time and space, all that energy and dreams...they do the most strangest things. Just like Rory over there...he should have killed us all by now but he won't because somehow he's Rory Williams"

Amy shook her head. "You're not making any sense!"

"You'll understand one day" the Wolf said grinning slightly. It looked like Amy's fiery temper was about to kick in but River pulled the girl away. Rory stood there looking upset and confused. Like he didn't know what to do. And the Doctor remained at her side glaring at her. Willing her to get out and let him take over. "I know I'll survive this" she told him. "Just like you know you will"

"Amelia's not here" he pointed out in a low whisper. "She can't save you"

"I can save myself. After all I created myself, didn't I?" she remembered so many words she said at those times. Most would be complete nonsense right now in this situation; she leaned as far as she could and whispered into his ear. "I am the Bad Wolf" she pulled back and she felt tears burning in her eyes at the Doctor's horrified expression. Now he knew. "It was fantastic as it lasted" she said, one tear rolling down. She'd be damned if he saw another. "Now GO! GO I TELL YOU!"

He stumbled back and everything went bright. A flash of colours and golden white light and the wind was whipping in her face and she felt tears and hair flying everywhere and she couldn't help but scream. In joy and fear all at the same time.

Then everything went black.

DWDWDWDWDWDWDW

She walked through time like a ghost.

She can't quite remember where she landed. But it was the TARDIS and the Doctor was in his tenth body, dancing and laughing and there she was in her hoodie looking so innocent. No one could really see her. They might have seen something from the corner of their eyes but they could never really see her.

She went backwards and forwards continually. Trying to find her way home. Sometimes she was convinced she went sideways too. Just because it was weird enough to happen to her. She saw the Doctor old, young, happy, sad, angry and frightened. She was there when he was human John Smith falling for Joan Redfern. Her hearts didn't break but she empathized with Martha Jones. She influenced John Smith's dreams in hopes he'd work it out somehow.

She kept walking.

She watched the Doctor and Jack banter all over again while she laughed merrily between them. She watched Jack die and come back. Jack could almost see her but then he wouldn't. Once he turned round to face her when she called his name...but she vanished before he actually saw her. She saw her Mum a few times, Mickey, Donna, and Sarah Jane. She saw things that the Doctor did by himself and the many new people he should have but didn't invite.

She walked through the TARDIS when Susan was in it. She followed the small black haired teen down corridors, trying to reach out to her, to hold her one last time. It was a cruel thing for the universe to do, to hang the one thing she wanted to touch more than anything in front of her but to never let her have it. But she got to see how wonderful Susan had become in all those years of absence. Such a beautiful and intelligent wonderful young woman. She was proud of her granddaughter.

She found Amy Pond sleeping on her suitcase once. And strangely enough she was allowed to touch the little girl. She picked her up and took her back to bed, tucking her in and telling her a story about the golden wolf lost in time. She then disappeared and was once again forced to watch one of the most painful memories in her life. The day she fell into the void only to be caught by her father.

She reached out to comfort the Doctor but he didn't see her or feel her as he walked past. And she stood there silent, not sure what to do or where to go. Whether she should follow or not. Before she made a decision on where to go before she got pulled through another time, the sound of the TARDIS could be heard behind her.

She grinned as she felt the wind blowing her hair all over her face and she turned to find the TARDIS standing there in all of it's blue glory. She laughed and opened it, after fumbling with her chain where her rings and key remained after all of this time.

Inside the Doctor stood there in the most ridiculous over the top tuxedo with top hat and all. "Oh no, that won't do. You better of having a shower and take a look in my magic wardrobe for something better. You look like you're off to a funeral not a wedding"

"Amy and Rory?" she asked.

"In their beds at home dreaming pleasant dreams before their big day. Amy is going to wake up with parents tomorrow, all because of you. You, Rose Tyler are magnificent" he was about to hug her but she stepped back. His arms went limp and he looked rather hurt. "Rose?"

She shook her head. "I don't want to be called that" she said. "I haven't been Rose Tyler in centuries. I'm not the girl you remember. I've been married, I've been a mother, a grandmother and I've seen so much. I've killed and destroyed. I'm not...just please call me the Wolf. It's not like I call you by your real name, is it?"

He strangely enough looked understanding about all of this. "You're still magnificent and look like you're dressed for a funeral. Go put something brighter on!" he began to move round the console. "We got a wedding to go to"

DWDWDWDWDWDWDW

Amy sat there with tears rolling down her face. It was her wedding day, everyone she loved was there and she finally had Rory to herself legally. She was a little peeved that the Doctor seemed to vanish in thin air but she had hope he'll appear during the dancing. She thought she saw someone familiar when Rory gave her the blue book. Said some woman gave it to her. She only opened the first page and the writing was in a language that she never seen before and there was a little wolf face drawing on the first page.

And she suddenly started to cry. She turned to look at Rory and he had a tear or two rolling down his cheeks.

"Why are we crying?" she asked.

"I don't know..." Rory said wiping his tears away. "Because we're happy and overjoyed at being married?" she raised a skeptical eyebrow and he shook his head. "Stupid idea...we're not happy are we?"

"Something's missing" Amy whispered quickly. "It's not the Doctor because he'll be here...sooner or later. Probably later knowing him. But it's someone else. I know her, I just...i can't remember..."

Her Dad got up and started his speech and she remembered how much she had missed him for some strange reason. She remembered an argument she never had and suddenly she was standing up telling her Dad to shut up.

"Something is missing...a friend of mine..."

"Oh god not this again" her aunt moaned.

"No. It's not the Raggedy Doctor" Amy said shaking her head. "It's someone else...someone equally important. A girl lost in time with secrets that rival the Doctor's. She's all golden and predator like...she's the Wolf! I remember her now. I remember the Wolf! Wolf I remember you!"

Everyone looked slightly embarrassed but Rory stood up beside her, slipping his hand into hers, as always the faithful boyfriend. "I remember you too!" he shouted.

And then the TARDIS appeared. Everyone looked stunned, too shocked to even move and Amy scooped up her dress and jumped over the table to greet the Doctor and hopefully the Wolf too.

The door opened and the Doctor grinned. "Hello everybody. Sorry for being late but I had to find my date. She got a little lost" he pulled something out from behind him and there was the Wolf dressed in a simple purple dress and smiling happily.

She hugged Amy and Rory. "Oh congratulations"

The Doctor used his sonic screwdriver on the TARDIS to send it outside to clear space on the dance floor. "I don't know about you but I only came here for the dancing"

"Do you have the moves or not?" the Wolf said teasingly.

"Oh I have the moves all right" the Doctor said arrogantly.

Twenty minutes later the Wolf and Amy were leaning against each other laughing hysterically at the Doctor's terrible dancing while Rory struggled to keep a straight face.

DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW

"I don't understand" Amy said when she finally cornered the Wolf in the girl's toilets. "What ever happened to Amelia Pond?"

The Wolf paused at applying her mascara and looked at Amy's reflection directly in the eye. "It's very complicated. I haven't quite worked it out myself. For some reason you two kept swapping minds and it's physically not possible for that to happen but..."

"But?"

"Amy, you grew up with a crack in your wall. Your dreams and memories spilt out into the entire time and space and all of time and space slipped into your head. I imagine that Amelia Pond, my Amelia, was a figment of you. Your desire to travel with the Doctor, for him to rescue you from this life probably brought me to her in the first place. Your aunt was very confused you know? When I spoke to her and told her off, she was unaware that her niece was even living with her. I think the real Amelia Pond in that universe never left Scotland"

"So where is she now?" Amy asked. "Your Amelia" she clarified.

The Wolf grinned and stood up. She tapped Amy's temple. "In there back where she belongs. You have all of her memories and knowledge buried right in there somewhere. And you know what? The two of you will be fantastic, Rory doesn't know what he's getting"

Amy grinned back. Tears were still in her eyes. She didn't quite understand why she was so emotional but she threw herself onto the Wolf and hugged her tightly anyway. "I love you. You're the coolest mother figure in all of time and space"

The Wolf hugged her back. "Love you too, kid" she teased knowing Amy would hate being called kid. "Come on, let's get back out there. I'm pretty sure that the Doctor is getting angsty and is about leave without us"

Amy laughed. "Typical Time Lord"

DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW

They got out in time to see River tormenting the Doctor by refusing to say anything about his future. So it was nothing new for Amy though she found it amusing. The Wolf couldn't help but laugh causing River to turn and wink at them.

"Now then before I go" River said digging into her pocket and pulling out what looked like a mint, "sorry darling but retcon is a bitch" she handed the mint to the Wolf. "Causes the worst headache when the memories come back as well. That Dalek had it coming to him"

"I take it the explosion shook things up causing you to remember?" the Wolf said slipping the retcon into her mouth.

"Yeah. Take care now darling, don't let that one over there do something stupid" she hugged Amy. "You too Pond, make sure none of them do anything stupid and take care of your husband. You don't find men like him just anywhere. He's one in a billion"

She then disappeared.

"You...wha...you..." the Doctor looked a bit like a fish with the movements his mouth was making. "You...she...same...what?"

Amy giggled and Rory, who just appeared in time to see River leave, smirked. "Oh Doctor, really. Who else would know your own name other than me?" the Wolf said rolling her eyes. "I told you before. I trust her as much as I trust me"

"How?" the Doctor finally got out. "How did you know it was you?"

The Wolf shook her head disapprovingly. "Doctor if you can't recognise yourself, then you're a pretty crap Time Lord aren't you? After all you can't mess the timelines too much or it'll cause paradoxes"

"I...but...she...you...Argh!"

"I don't think he likes the teasing" Amy staged whispered.

"Tough luck then. I'll never stop teasing him, I got too much blackmail over his head" the Wolf said smirking. She then staggered. "Oh bugger...bloody retcon..." she grabbed hold of Amy's shoulders. "Right then, I'm not going to remember a thing when I wake up so don't mention it. After all spoilers" the Doctor groaned loudly. "Oh shut up, you. So hopefully I'll see you when I do wake up and don't have too much fun without me. In fact why don't you let the Doctor get to grips with all of this while you go off and have your wedding night? I'm sure the TArrrr..."

Darkness consumed her and when she wakes up she knew she wasn't going to remember a thing. She'll probably kick up a fuss and worry and panic. Probably even slap the Doctor at one point. But in the end she's here. With the Doctor and two fantastic humans. She'll be doing the same old thing only probably less depressed and more happy.

The truth, she thought to herself as she felt someone catch her (probably the Doctor or Rory), is a very dangerous thing. And she was lucky that it didn't destroy everything in it's wake. She was lucky that the Doctor accepted this though she suspected deep down he'll always have problems about whom she is and who she'll become.

She felt like she just opened a more complicated Pandora's Box. One where she'll never know when true disaster and turmoil will strike.

Author's Note: to be concluded in The Last Song. Stay tuned!

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