There the angel stood, reading a book, when suddenly her entire being turned to stone. It was irritating, and she waited to be able to move before she pulled out a notebook and got down a few words before she turned to stone again. She was glad that her clothes, a dark hoodie, white t-shirt, and dark grey pants with dark brown boots that went under her pants, didn't turn to stone, her notebook staying paper too. It'd suck if they did turn to stone, if she were being honest. Way harder to remain un-petrified Suddenly she wasn't stone anymore, and she jotted down the rest and held it out towards the people freaking out over her presence.
"Please don't stare, I'm trying to read… That's new," A man muttered, and his red-headed companion scoffed.
"You said they were psychopathic murderers that sent you back in time!" The red-head replied, turning to get an explanation. As both had their backs turned, the angel quickly started jotting more down, so that they'd leave her in peace. Suddenly she was petrified, and the man walked over, reading over her shoulder.
"Yes, most are, but I'm hard-pressed to care about those losers, I just want to read. Also, bewc? What is that?" The man asked, confused. The angel was irritated, but stood, for he hadn't blinked yet, and the ginger was staring too.
The ginger walked up, reading, before sighing.
"She turns to stone when we can see her, right? She probably didn't have time to finish writing, Doctor."
The man hummed, looking at the angel closer before nodding.
"Donna, they don't have genders, they're psychopathic killers. Get behind me so it can finish writing. You'll be facing me so that if I get put back in time you'll still have a chance at getting back to my TARDIS." The Doctor said, and the angel moved quickly. This was her chance! She ripped the paper and made it about halfway out of the room before she froze once more. The angel mentally cursed, over and over.
"Also, beware the Vashta Nerada. They can't eat me, but I'm pretty sure they can eat you. Now if you'll excuse me, I want to read in peace," the man read aloud, before Donna snatched the paper.
"You left out a part! "You half-witted twat, Weeping Angels have genders just like Time Lords and humans, so you can go rip your ego a new one, bastard. I like Donna, she seems less bigoted. Racist." Oh. What're Vashta Nerada?" Donna finished, and the Doctor looked away from the angel for just a moment.
When he looked back, the angel was mid-backpedal, almost next to them and pointing at the moving shadows, a new note in her notebook. Donna read it aloud.
"That's Vashta Nerada, my friend. They're here, and deadlier than my kind, I suggest you run." Donna looked confused, but then the Doctor yelled "Run!" and they were off, the angel reading behind them, following them around.
"Come on!" The Doctor shouted, shaking the doors, which were locked.
"What, is it locked?" Donna asked, panicked. The angel looked over to see the shadows advancing.
"Jammed. The wood's warped." The Doctor said back, and the angel shook her head, irritated. The angel slammed through the doors, sliding across the floor as stone. The two unpetrified humanoids stood for a moment, shocked, before rushing in and blocking the door with a book. That gave the angel enough time to stand up to jot down more things, before being petrified and ignored for the floating camera. When their eyes were off her, the angel waved cheerily at the camera, having been there for long enough that the Library knew her.
"Oh. Hello. Sorry to burst on you like this. Okay if we stop here for a bit?" The Doctor asked, and the camera dropped. The angel rolled her eyes, and grabbed the shoulder of the Doctor, who jumped and twisted away, sonic pointed at her. The angel felt hurt, even though she couldn't quite move, notebook extended.
"You, you didn't put me back in time? What sort of angel are you?" The Doctor mused, and the angel's feelings of hurt reverted to annoyance. What a bastard, she thought. "Oh, what's this? A note? … Why are more humans arriving here, Time Lord, did you bring more into danger? What? There's more people here!?" The Doctor ran around a bit, going in a bit of a circle, before rushing over to the security camera.
The entirety of that silent and quick conversation went unnoticed by Donna, who spoke soon after, "What is it?"
"Weeping Angel."
"No, I mean that round thing."
"Oh. Security camera. Switched itself off," The Doctor offered, sonicing the camera.
"Oh, yeah, he is a bit rude, isn't he?" Donna said in reply to what the angel wrote, doing her best not to look at the angel. She could watch the angel's arms, since they were entirely covered, with gloves covering her hands. She watched as the angel wrote quickly, making sure to not look at her face, the only uncovered part of the angel.
The Doctor looked up, before standing up fully, looking worried but assertive.
"Donna, step away from the angel." He took a tentative and threatening step forward, and Donna looked confused.
"Why? She helped us! I don't see anything wrong with her."
"Donna."
"She's not hurting us, Doctor."
"Donna, she's just biding her time, please."
"Fine, but I still don't think she's dangerous. Anyway, are we safe here?"
"Of course we're safe. There's a little shop," the Doctor started, before the camera flipped open, "Gotcha!"
'No, stop it. No. No. Olivia! Help me!' The Doctor grimaced at the words scrolling across the mini screen.
"Oooh, I'm sorry. I really am. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," the Doctor muttered, feeling bad for the camera, and setting it down, "It's alive."
"You said it was a security camera."
"It is. An alive one." The Doctor replied with the air of someone who had to answer such ridiculous questions all his life.
'Others are coming. The library is breached. Others are coming. Olivia, save them.' Scrolled across the screen of the security camera, Donna and the Doctor paying attention to the security camera. The angel takes the book she was reading and sat at the desk that was in the circular room. She put the book so that if anyone were to look at her, they wouldn't be able to see her face, and continued reading.
"Others? What's it mean, others? And who's Olivia?" Donna asked, and the angel looked up, groaning. It sounded more like a rumbling of stone and scraping chairs. She quickly jotted down a question and showed it to Donna.
'What did Cal the security camera say?' The angel asked, Cal being crossed out, and Donna hummed.
"It said "Others are coming", and asked for Olivia to save them. Are you Olivia?" Donna asked, and got a thumbs up, another groan making its way out of Olivia the Weeping Angel.
"What does it mean others? Is it the humans you were talking about earlier?" Donna asked, and the Angel reasserted her thumbs up.
"Why is it asking you to save them?" The Doctor asked, getting an American bird.
"I don't think she likes you much," Donna commented.
"Yes, thanks Donna, real helpful. Tell me, now. Why is it up to you to save them?" The Doctor asked, striding forward towards the angel.
'Racist, I'm not saying shit to you.' The angel wrote, and the Doctor rolled his eyes.
"Oh, come on, now's not the time."
"Doctor, she does have a point. You've been nothing but rude to her, and she saved us." Donna muttered, backing up. The Doctor ran up.
"Don- no, wait, no." He called, grabbing her and pulling her towards him.
Donna made a sound of surprise, "Oi- Hands!" She snapped, irritated, slapping his arms away. The Doctor paid no mind.
"Shadow, look."
"What about it?"
"Count the shadows," The Doctor recounted, voice slightly faded.
"One, there. There's only one shadow." Donna said, voice also faded.
"Yeah, but what's casting it?" He said slowly, before jolting into semi-excitement, "Oh, I'm thick! Look at me, I'm old and thick. Head's too full of stuff. I need a bigger head!" He yelled, running towards a darkened corridor before pausing. The light was flickering.
"The power must be going," Donna said, looking down the corridor.
"This place runs on fission cells, they'll outburn the sun."
"Then why is it dark?"
"It's not dark," The Doctor replied in a testy tone, Donna looking back. She saw the absence of the shadow and froze. She slowly reached back and tapped the Doctor's arm.
"That shadow… It's gone."
The Doctor looked at the area, face showing his dismay and starting panic.
"We need to get back to the TARDIS- not the angel, but you and I."
"Why?" Donna asked.
"Because that shadow hasn't gone, it's moved." The Doctor replied wisely, like he was a teen telling a scary story to a five year old.
It's silent for a moment, the only sound being a statue, not the angel, repeating the phrase "Reminder: Olivia, save them. Reminder: Olivia, save them." over and over. Said angel groaned loudly, chair-scraping stone-moving sounds at the maximum.
"What's that sound?" Donna asked, looking around. The Doctor looked slightly smug, just under the panicked expression.
"Your friend's making that noise. Still think she's okay? She's laughing." He said, not able to dodge the gloved hand hitting him upside the face. With a fist. He stumbled to the side, holding his face. The angel then proceeds to furiously write in her notebook.
'Groaning. I was groaning. Because I don't particularly feel like trying to save a bunch of bigoted pricks who don't trust me as far as they can throw me. I'm usually over a ton, when I'm fully stone, which means not at all.' The angel fumed, Donna looking slightly sympathetic and the Doctor glaring at the angel.
Suddenly a door slammed open, and a familiar presence made itself known in the group of six spacemen. Olivia perked up, waving rapidly at her favorite almost-human. The almost-human waved back, chuckling.
The almost-human walked forward, stopping in front of the Doctor. She adjusted the tint of her spacesuit, and River Song was revealed.
"Hello Sweetie, hello Queen Olive." River bowed to Olivia before turning back to the Doctor.
"Get out." The Doctor demanded.
"Doctor…" Donna said, getting ignored.
"All of you. Turn around, get back in your rocket and fly away. Tell your grandchildren you came to the library and lived. They won't believe you."
The angel scoffed, still livid but knowing to keep the book in front of her face. It was the sound of a chair clattering to the ground, or of a stone being thrown at a wall and bouncing off. The Doctor spun to face her.
"You, stop it. I know how to make it so you can never move again. That punch was pushing it enough." He scolded her, River looking confused.
"Pop your helmets, everyone. We've got breathers." She spoke.
"How do you know they're not androids?" A female spaceman asked.
"Because I've dated androids, and they're rubbish. Here, Liv, take my helmet. That book is for reading, not masking." River said, tinting her helmet and handing it over. Olivia quickly plopped it on her head. Static was heard, before River's comm spoke in a regal and feminine voice.
"Thank you. I told you, the translation is irrelevant. I wish to be called Olivia Marshall, or, if you must, Olivia Queen." The angel spoke through the comm, and River smiled that secretive smile of hers.
"Who is this? You said we were the only expedition. I paid for exclusives," a male spaceman asked, walking up to River. A gentle but haunting laugh went through the comm system.
"I lied, I'm always lying. Bound to be others." River said as an explanation.
"Miss Evangelista, I want to see the contracts," the same male spaceman said, and another spaceman started shifting around.
"You came through the north door, yeah? How was that, much damage?" River asked.
"No, I made sure the library was safe. I got your message a bit too early, though. I've been here since its creation," the angel spoke through the comms, voice blocking out that of the Doctor's.
"-ea. Hang on, did you just say expedition?" The Doctor finished, glaring at the tinted suit of the angel for a second.
"My expedition, I funded it." The spaceman who spoke all times previous spoke once more, voice irritated. The angel wondered why he was so talkative.
"Oh, you're not, are you? Tell me you're not archaeologists," the Doctor whined.
"Got a problem with archaeologists?" River said, looking highly amused. Olivia felt empathy for River, knowing what she'd go through soon. She was just as amused until she found out that the Doctor genuinely didn't know nor recognize her. Then she pretended that he wasn't her Doctor, just someone who held the name. And faces. And personality. The angel frowned when she realized she missed half the conversation.
"- personal everything. You need to sign these contracts agreeing that your individual experience inside the library are the intellectual property of the Felman Lux Corporation." The female spaceman from before, the one who didn't speak yet, said, handing out the papers to Olivia, Donna, and the Doctor, the latter two who seemed pleasant and Olivia who had been silent in thought.
Nevertheless, all three ripped them in half at the same time and threw the pieces away. The female spaceman looked unsure, walking away. The irritating and talkative man from before stepped forward.
"My family built this library, I have rights."
"You have a mouth that won't stop-" River started.
"- Oh, come off it, I've been in this library since its creation, I have more rights-" Olivia interjected, both then proceeding to turn to the Doctor.
"- You think there's danger here?" They both spoke at the same time, turning to the Doctor.
Donna spoke up, "That was cool and creepy." Was all she managed to get out before the Doctor started speaking.
"Something came to this library and killed everything in it. Killed a whole world. Danger? Could be." He snarked, bringing a fond half-smirk to both River's and Olivia's faces, before both smirks fell.
"That was a hundred years ago. The Library's been silent for a hundred years. Whatever came here's long dead," River started.
"Ah, no, actually." Olivia said at the same time the Doctor spoke.
"Bet your life?"
River smiled at the Doctor, "Always." Her mischievous smile stayed when he gave her a once-over and strode off.
The talkative man, Lux, apparently, argued momentarily with Other Dave, the one sealing the door like the Doctor told him to. The Doctor grabbed a torch and continued moving, making a sassy quip as he strode back towards the center of the room.
The Doctor flashed the flashlight into the shadows of a few different corridors and shadows, seemingly looking for something.
"Almost every species in the universe has an irrational fear of the dark. But they're wrong, because it's not irrational. It's Vashta Nerada," the Doctor explained to Donna, who had walked with him.
"What's Vashta Nerada? Olivia mentioned it earlier…" Donna asked, getting an irritated glance for bringing up Olivia.
"Yes, well, Olivia's a psychopathic killer, we can't exactly trust her. It's what's in the dark. It's what's always in the dark," He muttered to Donna, only Olivia with her enhanced hearing hearing what he said to Donna.
Olivia slouched, having a harder time separating the Doctor from his future self now that River was there. Olivia looked away, tears streaming down her face as she walked to the opposite area of the room. Who knew the man she looked up to hated her so much in the beginning, before he knew her. She was irritated that she missed more dialogue, and hissed, River ignoring it and continuing to speak.
"-tly I am. Anita, unpack the lights. Other Dave, make sure the door's secure, then help Anita. Mister Lux, put your helmet back on, block the visor. Proper Dave, find an active terminal. I want you to access the library database. See what you can find about what happened here a hundred years ago. Pretty boy, angel queen, you're with me. Step into my office," River ordered, and Olivia walked over to where River is, pulling out her notebook. A private conversation was in order.
"Probably I can help you," The Doctor told Proper Dave, and Olivia sighed. This just sounded like a normal sigh, for it was over the comms.
"She said "pretty boy, with her" Doctor." She spoke through Proper Dave's comm only.
"Pretty boy, with me, I said!" River ordered, and the Doctor looked back, confused. Donna leaned down, looking directly at the Doctor.
"Oh, I'm pretty boy?" The Doctor asked Donna, and pointed to himself.
"Yeeess! ooh that came out a bit quick," Donna said to herself. The Doctor stared for a moment, face full of confused judgement.
"Pretty?"
"Meh." Donna shrugged, and the Doctor tilted his head in an "eh" way before striding towards Olivia, who had been shamelessly eavesdropping, and River, who had been shuffling through her things. The Doctor leaned against the table, staring at River with his glasses on. He cleared his throat, and River glanced up.
"Thanks, you two." River said.
"For what?" The Doctor asked.
"The usual. For coming when I call."
"Oh, that was you?"
"You're doing a very good job, acting like you don't know me. Both of you. I'm assuming there's a reason."
"A fairly good one, actually."
'Yeah.' Olivia wrote, showing it to River.
"Okay, shall we do diaries, then? Where are we this time? Er, going by your face, I'd say it's early days for you, yeah? So, er, crash of the Byzantium. Have we done that yet? Obviously ringing no bells. Right. Oh, picnic at Asgard. Have we done Asgard yet? Obviously not. Blimey, very early days, then. Whoo, life with a time traveller. Never knew it could be such hard work. Look at you. Oh, you're young." River Song asked, moving on whenever she saw the blank look and shrug the Doctor and Olivia gave her respectively. She looked into his eyes and looked amazed.
"I'm really not, you know." The Doctor said, an amused twist to his lips. It fell as soon as River started advancing, putting her hand on the side of his face.
"No, but you are. Your eyes. You're younger than I've ever seen you, and Liv, you're still using comms, so this must be early for you too." River spoke, awe and amazement filling her voice, softening it.
"You've seen me before, then?"
'I learn how to speak instead of using comms?' Olivia showed the written question to River the same time the Doctor asked that question, and River looked afraid and sad at the same time.
"Doctor, Liv, please tell me you know who I am," River pleaded.
"Who are you?" The Doctor asked. River looked heartbroken, but still hopeful when she turned to Olivia. Olivia shrugged, writing something down and shaking the book she'd been carrying around and reading.
'I've read of you and the Doctor from my future diary, after I got your summons, but haven't actually met either of you yet. I have pictures and recognize your presences though.' River and the Doctor both read it, looking alarmed at the fact that Olivia read her own future's diary.
It was snatched from her hands, and River threw it in with her own, taking out a newer, but practically identical book that had blank pages and shoved it into Olivia's hands. She was shocked. That was the first thing she wrote about. And it just happened, eons after she read it. It was rather surreal.
Still, Olivia couldn't help but feel like she broke a very intense and emotional moment, ruining it forever. She didn't mind, she was a Weeping Angel, she messed with time for fun.
A phone's dialing sound started ringing loudly, alerting everyone. The Doctor used the excuse to walk away, despite wanting to know more.
River kept Olivia back.
"What did you read? You aren't supposed to know your own future, you could've just messed something up." River demanded, the Doctor's voice drifting over the ringing for a moment.
'I only read what I allowed myself to. I read about my first meeting, leaving out the painful emotions given by the Doctor being so racist towards me when I wrote it, apparently, then another handwriting wrote about you and another, different from the first handwriting wrote about the Doctor, then my handwriting once more spoke of our relationship, how it was all set up, and what the presences of you and the Doctor felt like, to the most minute of details. Then it told me not to read past the page, which held an image of both you and seventeen versions of the Doctor.' Olivia explained, 'I didn't really read my future, just read how we were friends and how I met you two.'
River looked at Olivia sadly then walked past her, going to watch what the Doctor was doing. Olivia stayed where she was, glancing at her book. She slowly pulled out a pen, and got to work writing down her experiences so far. She didn't know why she wrote the entire thing in third person, though. Still doesn't.
She then decided to hand her diary to River, to write down what their friendship was like in the future, and a few other details about river. Then, she decided to hand the book to Donna, with River inputting some details, to write about the Doctor, and River spoke of the Doctor and Olivia's relationship while she wrote it down, before spending her time writing everything she could on their aura's or presences, what they felt like, and finally she sketched a small photo of both of them while they were distracted.
She sighed before writing down for her past self not to go past that page. She's very irritated, about that. She's so curious about what she'd have written on her adventures with the Doctor and River.
Then, lastly, she wrote down what really happened, instead of just giving general ideas. She wondered if she should continue writing in third person about her experiences, and ultimately decided that it would depend on the adventure.
If you'd kindly excuse her, she has an adventure to be a part of, and she already must've missed quite a bit, for Donna has gone missing.
