"'They say there's a man. They say he's travelled through time itself and seen things you couldn't dream of. And they say that sometimes he needs help. Sometimes he needs his old friends. They say that if you find the lonely angel with the blue box waiting for you on your doorstep…say a prayer, because that might be the last time you see your normal life again.'" Sam closed the blue book and looked up at Dean. "That's it. That's the only thing in all of these that describes him."
Dean groaned, rubbing his eyes. "Man, you're kidding me, right? I've never even heard of this Doctor person before, let alone met him and been friends with him."
Sam sighed. "Then why did we see the box, Dean? I mean, if not because of that, then what?"
Castiel interrupted in his usual frank manner. "Perhaps it's a sign that this 'Doctor' is a person you'll meet in the near future, like a prophecy or—"
"—or an omen," Sam finished. He dug around in the enormous stack of dusty volumes for another book. Dean caught a glimpse of the cover and gagged.
"'Omens and What They May Bring'? Really, Sam? That book's for, like, elementary school kids playing a prank on their teacher, not something like this!"
"And you would know that how, exactly?" Sam asked, not taking his eyes off the pages he slowly turned. Cas smiled peacefully, watching the TV play a commercial about hamburgers.
"So, uh…what did the Post-it note say again?" Dean asked, sinking his teeth into a hamburger. He and Sam looked up when they heard an unfamiliar voice issuing from Cas' mouth.
"'If you're reading this, you're probably a friend. Or not a friend. Possibly a long-dead enemy come back to kill me, as that does seem to happen a lot. Anyway, if I don't know you yet try researching me. That tends to help. The Doctor.'"
"Damn, Cas. That's some scary crap you got going on there," said Dean.
"Doctor, why did we have to come to America? It's my birthday! I want foreign planets, big birthday cakes, not…well, this." Amy sighed and leaned back against the red booth, sipping idly from her soda glass.
"Oh, we'll only be here a mo. I'm just waiting for…ah. Good." The Doctor peered out a window of the diner, beaming.
"What is it?" Amy asked, turning to see what he was staring at. "Oh! Well, I suppose America's not all bad," she said, raising her eyebrows at one of the men near the TARDIS. "Who is he?"
"A friend. Well, not yet. He will be a friend. Name's Dean. He and his brother Sam. Oh, and Castiel's here too! Lovely fellow, although he can be a bit doubtful. You haven't met them yet. You will have in about an hour, though. Well, they'll be meeting me as well. Time travel—never really works in the right order. Right—that's our cue." the Doctor stood up, shrugging his tweed jacket on.
"Wait, what? What do you mean, 'that's our cue'?" Amy stood as well, tossing a twenty-pound note onto the table and following her friend out of the small diner and onto the busy main road. The three men were gone, and the Doctor was just slipping inside the TARDIS. Amy let out a frustrated noise and hurried over to the blue box, tugging her skirt down a bit.
"Doctor, where are we going? And who were those men?"
The Doctor ignored the first question. "They're friends, like I said. Future friends. Definitely not enemies, though. Well, I say definitely…"
"Okay, I get it! A lot of people don't like you. What about the other question? Where are we going?"
"I can't tell you. If I do tell you it might rip a hole in the fabric of the universe. Er, sorry."
Amy glared at the incessantly goofy man. "You are kidding, right, Doctor? It. Is. My. BIRTHDAY!"
"I know, I know. But we just need to be there for a little while and then we'll celebrate!"
"Ugh, fine. But I had better be getting a big cake." Amy sat down on one of the glass steps, chin resting in her palm. The Doctor, a few feet away, leaped about pressing buttons and pulling random levers.
"Ah, here we are. We'll be reaching our destination shortly. Meanwhile—hold on!"
Amy grabbed onto the gleaming gold railing as the TARDIS dematerialised with its trademark wheeze.
"So, em…why can't you tell me where we're going?" she asked, pursing her lips.
"I can't tell you that either." The Doctor grinned a little guiltily.
"Doctor! Can you tell me anything?" Amy demanded.
"Um…I can tell you that it'll be fun! And there will be a lot of running, so wear good shoes. Also we might get shot at, but I suppose that's an occupational hazard." He laughed and then coughed, trying to look serious. "Anyway, we're here. Would you…like to go see?"
"Um, sure. If it means we're that much closer to actually celebrating my birthday." Amy poked the Doctor hard in the ribs and left, leaving the doors of the TARDIS ajar.
"Amelia Pond, you are…impossible," the Doctor muttered. Then he grinned and followed her outside. He found Amy a few feet away, looking both really freaked out and really excited.
"Where are we?" she whispered, looking around. "What kind of garden is this?"
They were surrounded by an enormous maze built solely out of hedges, but Amy could see a towering estate over the top of it. Birds twittered, flying around and around until they turned into barely more than brightly coloured blurs. A thick, bright green layer of grass covered the ground. "Welcome, Amy, to the Maze of Knightaven. Lovely, isn't it? Come on. Let's go find Dean and the others."
Amy gazed around in wonder, a grin playing about her mouth. "This is so amazing!" she said. "But…why are we here? There's definitely more of a reason than my birthday, isn't there?"
"Why does there have to be a reason other than your birthday?" the Doctor asked.
"I'm not stupid, Doctor. Just tell me. Besides, I might be able to help!"
"All right. If we don't meet with the Winchesters and Castiel, then…something bad will happen. Like, really bad."
"Really bad how?" Amy asked, following him as he led them out of the winding maze.
"Um…Weeping Angels bad?"
Amy stopped in her tracks. "Weeping…Angels."
The Doctor smiled guiltily. "Er…yes. Sorry."
"You cannot be serious. Doctor, please tell me you're kidding, please." Amy was crying now, tears slowly tracing her pale cheeks.
"Hey. Hey, Amy, it's okay, I won't let them hurt you." The Doctor held out his arms and Amy hugged him.
"What are they doing here?" she murmured, hiccoughing slightly.
"I…don't know. But the Winchesters and Castiel, they can help. They fight demons, you know. I swear, Amy, nothing bad will happen to you."
Amy nodded and sniffled a bit. "Yeah, all right. But if we split up, I'm going with whoever looks like they can cleave someone in half. Unfortunately, it's probably not gonna be you."
"Right. Let's go. They should be waiting for us by now, but if not we can jump back in the TARDIS and go forward an hour."
"Um, where exactly are we going?" Amy asked.
"Well, there's a big house with housey things inside and we've got to go in there to find them."
"Okay, let's get to it then!" Amy began to skip away, choosing a random direction and using it as her guide. When she realised that the Doctor wasn't following her, she stopped. "Er, you coming?"
The Doctor grinned. "It's not that way, Amy."
"Cas, where the hell are we?" Dean asked, turning around. They were standing in the middle of a large cobblestone driveway (which seemed a bit pointless to him). There was an enormous house—more of a mansion, really, or an estate—in front of them and around it he spotted several large green hedges.
"The Maze of Knightaven. Come—I expect he'll be here already."
Sam furrowed his brow. "Wait, shouldn't we scan for EMF or something? What if it's dangerous?"
Cas smiled. "Because his…vehicle, as you would say, would probably break your EMF scanner. And it's most definitely dangerous. Let's go."
Dean shrugged and followed the trenchcoat-clad angel. Cas led them around the house and into what could only be described as a labyrinth. Well, not into it exactly, but you get the gist. Waiting for them were two people. One was a rather queer-looking fellow, with a maroon bowtie and a tweed jacket and trousers that didn't really seem to fit him all that well. The other was a girl, although I suppose woman might describe her a bit more accurately. She was extremely pale and had orangey-red tresses spilling down her slim shoulders. She appeared somewhat provocative, in heeled black boots and a miniskirt and leather jacket, but Dean smirked appreciatively (and not in a creepy way).
"Ah, hello, Castiel, Dean, Sam!"
Amy raised her eyebrows appreciatively. "Hi," she said, smiling prettily.
"Hey there," Dean said, extending a hand and grasping her own. "I'm Dean Winchester."
The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Stop it!"
"Just saying hello," Dean replied defensively. "I expect you're the Doctor."
"Yes!" the Doctor said, and straightened his bowtie reflexively. "This is Amy Pond."
"Doctor, why did you call us here?" Castiel asked, breaking up Dean and Amy's eyesex. (I mean, what?)
The Doctor smiled. "Ah, yes! I suppose you read up on me? Well, you should know what I dabble—well, more than dabble, really—in."
"Yeah, and what's that? Dressing like a complete douchenozzle?" Dean asked. Sam elbowed his brother.
"Er, no. I fight monsters. Well, I say fight. I mainly just talk and, well, run."
Amy laughed at that. "Way too much running. But I suppose it does keep me in shape."
"Yes, we have researched you sufficiently," Castiel said, squinting slightly. "But why have you called us here?"
"Well, I figured since you three sort of specialise in weird, you could maybe help me out. It's a species called…the Weeping Angels. Or, if you're looking for nicknames, the Lonely Assassins. Bit ironic, but there you are."
"What exactly are Weeping Angels?" Sam asked, noting with worry that Amy's slender hands were now balled into fists, so tightly furled that the knuckles had turned pure white.
"Stone angels," said the Doctor, ignoring the snort that escaped from Dean, "that move when you're not looking. Extremely dangerous. One touch and they transport you to a different time. The only psychopaths in the universe to kill you nicely."
"You're kidding, right? Statues? Hasn't anyone tried to, I dunno, smash them?" Dean asked.
The Doctor sighed. "They're only stone when you're looking. As soon as you blink, or turn away, they aren't stone anymore. The only real way to defeat them is to force them to look at each other. They can't move, can't attack, because they can't blink."
Amy was fidgeting slightly and Sam furrowed his brow. "Are you okay, Amy?"
"Mm? Oh, yeah, yeah. I, um, I'm fine. I've seen them before, that's all." She smiled, but it was clear that she was hiding something. Sam, being obsessed with gallantry, resolved to find out the problem as soon as possible.
"Where exactly are the angels located?" Castiel asked, voice catching slightly on the word angels.
"Well, as far as I know, they're inside the big house. Don't let it fool you, though. It's enormous, and inside are multiple trapdoors, illusions—walls pretending to be doors, vice versa—and the angels will use that to their advantage. It's like…imagine being at Hogwarts, for example."
Amy grinned at the Doctor's Harry Potter reference. "Basically," she summed up, "don't die."
Castiel turned to her, meeting her gaze with his intense blue eyes. "That would be for the best," he agreed.