Calling All Angels
A short prequel to "Angels and Ministers of Grace"
Sally Sparrow ran quickly down the dark, dank London streets. Something had marked her. Something had made her out and was after her. Something dark and mysterious, yet well known to her. Something darker than the two things she was helping and that was saying something.
Slung over her shoulder was a courier bag carrying very specific instructions for a very specific man. A man she trusted more than anyone except that big lug she called her husband. A man she loved more than anyone else except her Larry. A man she had only met in person once. But despite that, a man who had saved her life and helped her understand just how much she loved Larry. And because of that she swore she would help if the opportunity ever presented itself again.
As she rounded the next corner, she gasped and kept her eyes open. There it was-the thing that was following her; the thing that had filled so many of her nightmares- the Angel. The Weeping Angel. She knew next to nothing about them except what The Doctor had told her: Don't blink, don't turn your back and don't look away. And she certainly kept that in mind now. This one was larger than the others she had encountered. Bigger, in every sense of the word. His face was snarled as he held is arms in the air, waiting for what he thought would be easy prey. Or was it a her? Sally could really never be sure. Whatever the case, she backed away at a slow, steady pace- winking one eye then the next.
"Sally!" The familiar voice cried out. All at once, Larry overtook her, put his arms around her and gazed upon the Angel. "Hurry now, we haven't much time. My cars just down the way." The two of them kept their eyes on the Angel as the backed down to the cross street. "Now Sally, stay here a moment. It'll be just a moment. I'm gonna get the car. Don't blink, Sally!"
"Didn't plan on it, love." She tried to laugh but it was quickly muffled by the stutter of her fear. "Make it quick though. Things not the prettiest to look at."
"Neither am I, but that doesn't stop you." He shouted as he ran towards the car.
"Damn it. I love you, you stupid fat man." She smiled. Larry always did that too her. Even after the incident, the small things that got to her. The bills, the angry customers at the shop, the expired milk. He always had a way of disarming her when she needed it the most. Sure he wasn't the most attractive man in the world. But he was absolutely the only man she ever wanted to be with.
Sally heard the tires screech as Larry backed the car quickly down the street. He opened the passenger door. "Quick Sally, get in!" Sally backed away with more haste this time, keeping her eyes on the Angel even as she fastened her safety belt. She kept her gaze on it even as Larry sped away as fast as he could.
"You sure this is going to work."
"The only way it will work is if we try. I read about it. Causality time loop is what they call it. Things are gonna keep changing unless they change back. We only know about it because we've been stuck in one before. And since we can't change it, we must tell the only man who can."
"Alright, alright. Don't get in a twist about it. I wasn't talking about the plan. I was talking about trusting…those things."
"Those things are the only things we can trust. They're the only things that haven't tried to kill us."
"Right. Still creepy looking things though."
"Yeah, well…that didn't stop me from trusting you." She smiled at him.
"Oi!" He said.
Sally smiled that sweet smile at him, dropping his guard like it always did. "Yeah. I am a bit creepy looking, aren't I?"
"Well the first time we met you weren't wearing any pants. You pervert." She teased him coyly. It was surprising to her. Even in dangerous moments, she still loved to flirt with and tease her husband. "Oi, here we go." She pointed at the alley-way ahead. "Stop just short. Remember he needs warning."
"Right." Larry pulled the car over and put it in park. "Sweetie, you forgetting something?" He chided softly as Sally was about to dodge to the alley.
"What?"
"Can't rightly tell him what to do without instructions, can we?"
"Right!" She exclaimed, eyes wide with embarrassment as they always did. "Sorry." She walked towards the car to grab the courier bag, avoiding his winners smile. "Don't look at me like that, you could've grabbed it."
"You know, darling, don't ever get a job as a secretary. You'd be absolute rubbish." He joked.
"Hey, watch it." She said, retrieving the bag. "Come on." They walked cautiously up to the alleyway. "It's alright. It's just us. It's Sally and Larry, remember? We're your friends." Two scratching sounds let them know he understood. "Right now, we're coming through so don't…y'know…do that thing." With that Sally and Larry walked down the alley. Their before them stood the two hulking figures. Silent. "Right." Sally pulled the instructions out of her bag. "Now, these are for the Doctor."
"If my research was right, he was spotted sometime in the nineties, Rio." Larry chimed in.
"Now, we all know how important this is. So we're trusting you. And you're trusting us. And we're all trusting him. Get this to him. Help him. Fix this. Now, me and Larry over there are going to close our eyes. You do your thing. And don't…y'know." She gulped and sighed uneasily. "Right. Anyways. Larry, love. Count of three."
"I'm with you love."
"One two three!" She said quickly enough to not feel the fear that came along with it. Larry took a deep breath, raised his chin and closed his eyes.
The older Angel moved towards Sally. He briefly considered feeding on her, but his better senses took hold and he grabbed the papers from Sally's hand. He looked back at the younger Angel who had covered his eyes. This was going to hurt. It always did. But they needed to spring the plan and go into action. He moved back to the younger Angel and closed his eyes. Communicating the only way they knew how, they both reached for each other.
It was over in a moment. The sound was made and Sally opened her eyes to see the two Angels gone. She ran back to Larry as the cracks in the sky got bigger.
"I really really hope this works." She cried into his chest as they held each other.
