Okay my brilliant peeps. This here is another Doctor/Rose. If you read the summary then you know this story has to do with the Doctor rewriting his past. So, there's lost of cannon, some deviation later after Rose is added in because, come on, you know there would be changes, and lots of spoilers. Title of the Chapter should tell you what episode it's from and, yeah, there you go. :)

The Doctor took readings with the handheld while Father Octavian worked at prying the service hatch off so they could get into the primary flight deck. The Time Lord paid the Father little to no mind because he was too busy trying to work out what Amy had to do with the cracks.

They started the day of her wedding. Amy's time. What could she have to do with an explosion that could rip a whole in universe? No matter how many times he checked with the handheld the reading came out the same.

"Hurry up and open it," River insisted. "Time's running out."

Time's running out?

"What? What did you say? Time's running out," The Doctor asked, glancing at her. "Is that what you said?"

River looked at him, keeping her gun trained ahead. Confusion evident on her face.

"Yeah, I just meant-"

"I know what you meant. Hush," he insisted, his mind working out the possibilities. "But what if it could?"

"What if what could?" River asked in irritation.

He ignored her irritation because that didn't matter, an idea was forming in his mind and that's what mattered.

"Time. What if it could run out?"

"Got it!" Octavian called.

"Cracks. Cracks in time. Time running out. No. Couldn't be. Couldn't be. But how is a duck pond a duck pond if there aren't any ducks? And she didn't recognize the Daleks," the Doctor said, pausing. Time couldn't run out, could it? No, of course it couldn't, but… "Okay. Time can shift. Time can…change. Time can be rewritten…Ah…" Wait. No. It… "Oh." What if? No. There was no way. But…he held up his finger. Time. It flowed to the right in a circular pattern. He traced the pattern with his finger, but what if…he reversed the pattern. Going over the calculations.

"Doctor Song," Octavian called. "Get through now."

The Doctor heard her moving, entering the service hatch, but that was in the background, beyond his thoughts.

"Doctor?" Octavian said. "Doctor?"

Could it? He smiled, feeling hope for the first time since leaving that godforsaken beach. It was possible. More than possible. "Time can be unwritten."

He couldn't believe he didn't see it before. Didn't notice. He leaned his head against the tree. All that time and he hadn't noticed. Hadn't seen. The time that was being unwritten at the moment was bad, really not good.

"It's been happening all around me and I haven't even noticed," he snapped.

People forgot things…important things.

"Doctor we have to move," Octavian insisted.

"The Cyber King! A giant Cyberman walks all over Victorian London and no one even remembers."

"We have to move. The Angels could be here any second," Octavian said grabbing the Doctor's shoulder.

The Time Lord shrugged him off. This was bad, really not good.

"Never mind the Angels! There's worse here than Angels!"

The lights went out. Just for a second, but the Doctor knew when dealing with the Angels a second could be the difference between life and death. Octavian cried out in surprise. The Doctor spun around as the lights turned back on to find Father Octavian trapped by one of the stone creatures. The Angel's arm was around the man's neck.

Dead. Octavian was as good as dead because these Angels weren't simply displacing people in time. They were killing them.

"I beg to differ, sir," Octavian said.

The Doctor pulled his sonic, brandishing it like a weapon, but knowing it would do little to no good against the creature.

"Let him go."

"Well, it can't let me go, sir. Can it? Not while you're looking at it."

"If I stop looking at it, it'll kill you."

He had to do something. Help Octavian somehow. He couldn't let the Angel kill the man.

"It's going to kill me anyway. Think it through. There's no way out of this. You have to leave me."

"Can't you wriggle out?"

Octavian tried to move, but he was stuck fast in the Angel's grasp.

"No, it's too tight. You have to leave me, sir. There's nothing you can do."

The Doctor continued to use his sonic, knowing it wouldn't do any good, but he refused to leave Octavian to his death. There had to be something he could do.

"Sir, there's nothing you can do," Octavian repeated.

Maybe not, but he couldn't leave. If he did…

"You're dead if I leave you."

"Yes…yes, I'm dead. Before you go-"

"I'm not going."

The Doctor pocketed his sonic. It was useless.

"Listen to me! It's important. You can't trust her."

"Trust who?"

"River Song. You think you know her, but you don't. You don't understand who or what she is."

Oh, he understood, more than Octavian knew because River knew the Doctor's name, his true name and there's only one way she could know that. It was something he'd thought about many times since the Library. River was his future and he was being forced into it, but Octavian wasn't talking about that he was speaking about something else. There was concern in the man's eyes, but not for his own death.

"Then tell me," the Doctor insisted.

"I've told you more than I should. But, please, you have to go. It's your duty to your friends," Octavian said.

Yes, he knew something and the Doctor was fairly sure what the man was hiding, had been sure since he heard the name. Stormcage. Not a prison for just anyone. It was prison for the most dangerous criminals. Humans and other species who had done the unthinkable. The most heinous crimes and the woman who knew his true name was one of their prisoners.

"Just tell me why she was in Stormcage."

"She killed a man. A good man. A hero to many."

"Who?"

Though he had an idea, a frightening idea, who that was, but he wanted to hear it, no, he needed to hear it.

"You don't want to know, sir. You really don't."

"Who did she kill?"

The Doctor knew, could see it in the man's eyes. Death. His own death.

"Sir, the Angels are coming. You have to leave me."

"You'll die."

"I will die in the knowledge that my courage did not desert me in the end. For that I thank God and bless the path that takes you to safety."

Octavian was a good man and there wasn't anything The Doctor could do to save him.

"I wish I'd known you better," The Doctor said.

"I think, sir, you know me at my best," Octavian replied.

"Ready?"

"Content."

The Doctor sniffled, his eyes brimming with unshed tears. Octavian would die and he couldn't help him. He ran for the hatch and heard the Angel kill the man he left behind. Quickly, he crawled through, closing it as soon as he was inside.

"There's a teleport," River said. "If I can get it to work we can beam the others here. Where's Octavian?"

He turned around as she spoke. River. The woman who was going to kill him.

"Octavian's dead," he snapped, striding across the room to join her. "So's that teleport. You're wasting your time." He snatched her handheld. "I'm going to need your communicator."

He walked over to the other control panel wanting to put as much distance between himself and River as possible. He turned the communicator on and Amy's voice came through.

"Hello? Hello? Please say you're there. Hello? Hello?" she called.

She was afraid and he tried not to think about the creature laying dormant inside of her. A creature that would kill her if she opened her eyes. He held down the button on the communicator.

"Amy? Amy? Is that you?" he asked.

"Doctor?" she inquired in a small, scared voice.

"Where are you? Are the clerics with you?"

"They're gone." Gone? "There was a light and they walked into the light. Doctor, they didn't even remember each other."

"No, they wouldn't," he replied, fiddling with the buttons on the control panel. There had to be something he could do to get out of this. Something other than the only way he could see at the moment.

"What is that light?" River asked.

"Time running out," he replied distractedly. "Amy, I'm sorry. I made a mistake. I should never have left you there."

He fiddled with more buttons. She was on her own and she couldn't open her eyes. There was only one way to get her there and he had to get her there before the time energy reached her.

"What do I do now?"

"You come to us. Primary Flight Deck, the other end of the forest."

"I can't see. I can't open my eyes."

Yes, he knew that, but she didn't have a choice and he hated that, but there wasn't anything he could do about that.

"Turn on the spot."

"Sorry…what?"

"Just do it! Turn on the spot!" He yelled pushing the button on his sonic, holding it up to the communicator. "When the communicator sounds like my screwdriver that means you're facing the right way. Follow the sound."

She wasn't moving. He could feel it. Anger and fear battled a war within him.

"You have to start moving now. There's time energy spilling out of that crack and you have to stay ahead of it."

"But the Angels. They're everywhere."

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I really am, but the Angels can only kill you."

"What does the time energy do?"

There wasn't time for explanations. He needed her to start moving.

"Just keep moving!"

"Tell me!"

"If the time energy catches up with you, you'll never have been born. It will erase every moment of your existence. You will never have lived at all." He paused, knowing how frightening that thought was, which was why he didn't want to tell her, but she insisted. "Now, keep your eyes shut and keep moving."

"It's never going to work," River said.

"What else have you got!" he yelled. He didn't want her there, never wanted her there. The woman who was going to kill him. The last thing he needed was to listen to her stupid remarks when this was the only way he could get Amy there. "River! Tell me!"

A sound, like someone climbing on top of the metal casing outside the room they were in drew his attention.

"What's that?" River asked, fearfully.

"The Angels running from the fire. They came here to feed on the time energy now it's going to feed on them."

He picked up his sonic and pressed the button, pointing it at the communicator.

"Amy, listen to me. I'm sending a bit of software to your communicator. It's a proximity detector. It'll beep if there's something in your way. You just maneuver until the beeping stops…because, Amy, this is important, the forest is full of Angles," he paused, suddenly realizing how frightening that was and that she might very well freeze up at the thought. He sighed. "You're going to have to walk like you can see."

"Well, what do you mean?"

"Look, just keep moving."

"That time energy. What's it going to do?" River asked.

He rubbed his face, more worried about Amy at the moment than anything else.

"Uh…keep eating."

"How do we stop it?"

Stop it. Yes, that was the thing. The thing he had to do and he knew exactly how to do that, but he didn't want to, not after he realized what he could do. That he could change things. It was just an idea at the moment, but it was growing and now…now he wouldn't be able to do it because he wouldn't be there to do it.

"Feed it."

"Feed it what?"

It wasn't fair! After everything, everything he'd been through he let himself hope, let himself believe it was possible and now this!

"A big, complicated, space-time event should shut it up for a while."

"Like what, for instance," River asked suspiciously.

"Like me! For instance!" he yelled, unable to hold back his rage any longer.

All he had to do was make it out of there. Make it out of there and he could change things, but was the universe going to let him? No! Of course not! The universe wasn't fair and with him it'd always been less than fair!

Amy's communicator began to beep, distracting him from his anger, reminding him that she was still out there. Alone.

"What's that?" she asked in a scared voice.

He picked up the communicator.

"It's a warning." He paused to let that thought sink in. "There are Angels round you now." He paused again, hoping she wouldn't freeze up. If she did he wasn't sure what he'd do, go out there and get her most likely, even though he knew he'd be going to his death, but he wouldn't leave her. "Amy, listen to me. This is going to be hard, but I know you can do it. The Angles are scared and running and right now they're not that interested in you. They'll assume you can see them and their instincts will kick in. All you've got to do is walk like you can see. Just don't open your eyes." He knew how afraid she was he just hoped she was listening, was able to do what he asked. "Walk like you can see." The beeping wasn't changing and he knew that meant she wasn't moving. "You're not moving. You have to do this. Now!" She still wasn't moving, she had to move before the time energy caught up with her. He slammed his hand into the console. "You have to do this!"

The beeping began to change. She was moving. He sighed in relief. There was still a chance something would go wrong, but at least she was moving. And then the beeping stopped. He wasn't sure what happened, but he knew the Angles hadn't suddenly left the area…unless. River pushed a button on the console and Amy appeared on the teleporter. River grabbed her before she fell over.

"Don't open your eyes," River said.

The Doctor smiled. She was alive and unhurt. He turned back to his work on the control panel. If he could just get it to work then maybe…just maybe he could get out of this, get them all out of this.

"You're on the Flight Deck," River continued, "The Doctor's here. I teleported you. See?" River looked at him. "Told you I could get it working."

"River Song I could bloody kiss you," the Doctor said, flipping a switch.

He got it working and set the time delay. Now, all he had to do was wait.

"Ah, well, maybe when you're older."

The Doctor glanced at her. If everything went as planned, well, his new plan now that he knew how to get out of there alive, that wouldn't be happening, not in his or her future. An alarm blared through the Flight Deck.

"What's that?" River asked, gazing at the flashing lights in the room.

The Doctor looked up. Oh, that was really not good.

"The Angels are draining the last of the ship's power, which means," he raced over to the door, "the shields are going to release."

At that moment the shields released and the door, which didn't look anything like a door and took up most of the wall, slid up to reveal the army of Angels. First and foremost was an Angel holding a communicator. The Doctor knew exactly who that was. The Time Lord stepped forward.

"Angel Bob I presume?" The Doctor asked.

"The Time Field is coming. It will destroy our reality," the Angel said through the communicator.

As if he didn't already know that, but he had a plan.

"And look at you all, running away. What can I do for you?"

"There is a rupture in time. The Angels calculate that if you throw yourself into it, it will close and they will be saved."

Yep, he'd thought about that, but lucky enough there was another solution. One the Angels wouldn't like, but he never really liked them anyway.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, could do. Could do that, but why?"

"Your friends would also be saved."

"Well, there is that."

River came up next to him, grabbing his arm.

"I've traveled in time. I'm a complicated space-time even too. Throw me in."

He couldn't do that. He knew when she died, had already seen her die.

"Oh, be serious. Compared to me these Angels are more complicated than you and it would take every single one of them to amount to me so get a grip," the Doctor said, gripping his communicator tightly.

"Doctor, I can't let you do this."

"No, seriously, get a grip."

He lifted his communicator enough for her to see, but she wasn't paying attention.

"You're not going to die here!"

"No, I mean it. River, Amy, get a grip."

River glanced down, finally noticing the way he was holding the communicator.

"Oh, you genius."

She released him and hurried back to Amy.

"Sir, the Angels need you to sacrifice yourself, now."

That was definitely not going to happen because now…now he had something to live for. A woman, but not the one behind him with Amy. Someone else. Someone he thought was lost, but she was about to be found. All he had to do was make it out of there and he was determined to make sure that happened. He smiled.

"Thing is, Bob, the Angels are draining all the power from this ship, every last bit of it, and you know what? I think they've forgotten where they're standing. I think they've forgotten the gravity of the situation or to put it another way Angels…Night, night."

He turned around and grabbed hold of the bar at the bottom of the control panel while the gravity failed and all the Angels fell back into the crack.

-0-

They were out. The Angles were gone. They fell into the crack, causing it to close. And now he found himself, once again, standing on some godforsaken beach. He hated beaches.

River was flirting with him. He didn't trust her, knew what she'd done. No one had actually come out and said it, but he knew. He'd seen it in Octavian's eyes.

"What now?" he asked, walking around to stand in front of River.

"The Prison ship's in orbit. They'll beam me up any second. I might've done enough to earn a pardon this time. We'll see."

He was thinking. Thinking about River and who she was. The woman who was going to kill him, but also the woman who knew his name. She saved him, him and Donna and all the rest back at the Library. Would that change if he did what was planning? Would he die? Would Donna die? He didn't know, couldn't know.

He turned, facing her.

"Octavian said you killed a man."

River's smile faltered.

"Yes, I did."

And there it was. He could see it in her eyes as well.

"A good man," he said.

Guilt filled her eyes.

"A very good man. The best man I've ever known," she whispered.

He knew the answer, could see it, but he had to ask.

"Who?"

She laughed. The guilt vanishing, making him wonder.

"It's a long story, Doctor. Can't be told. Has to be lived. No sneak previews. Well, except for this one. You'll see me again quite soon. When the Pandorica opens."

He smiled. Smiled because there was something she didn't know. All of this was about to change because he was about to retrieve something, someone he thought lost forever, lost to him at least. He let her go to save her, but he needed her to save him. To save all of them.

"The Pandorica," he laughed. He leaned close, whispering in her ear. "That's a fairytale."

She laughed.

"Doctor, aren't we all?" Yes, they were and all fairytales deserved a happy ending. "I'll see you there."

Maybe, maybe not.

"I look forward to it," he replied.

"I remember it well."

He laughed. That might very well change. He turned around and walked away, stopping to gaze at the ocean while Amy said her goodbyes. Amelia Pond. The girl with the fairytale name. Maybe the universe was trying to tell him something.

"Bye River," Amy said.

"See you, Amy," River replied.

A beeping sound emanated from her handcuffs.

"Oh, I think that's my ride."

He turned back, knowing that he might very well never see her again.

"Can I trust you, River Song?"

"If you like, but where's the fun in that?"

Then she teleported and he turned back, gazing at the ocean once again. Left with his thoughts and his plan. It was dangerous. He knew that, but the day he walked away he realized, too late, the mistake he made. He thought he could go on without her, that he could be happy knowing she was safe, knowing she would have a normal human life, but he wasn't. One more shall die, Doctor. The words that haunted him ever since leaving the Crucible. The words that forced him to make the biggest mistake of his life because he was so afraid that Caan was talking about her. So, he let her go to save her, but by letting her go he drove a sliver of ice into his heart. He could feel it. Changing him. Not all at once, not like regenerating, but slowly, a bit at a time and he knew what that change meant, what it heralded because he'd seen the result in that courtroom so many years ago when he was put on trial and he realized who the other man was, he couldn't let that happen, wouldn't let that happen. Rose was the only one who could melt that sliver of ice. The only one who could save him, save them all.

He knew there would be a price. The universe always demanded a price, but he had to pay it, no matter what that price was because he couldn't pretend anymore. Couldn't go on with that sliver of ice piercing his heart and the coldness it radiated. He needed her, knew he wouldn't be whole until he had her back. Amy came up to him then, drawing him out of his thoughts.

"What're you thinking?" she asked.

"Time can be rewritten," he said, a smile creeping across his lips.

Standard Disclaimer.

Thank you to all my brilliant readers!

If you have time reviews are always welcome...and pie. :)