Song: Don't You Remember by Adele
It took the Doctor some time to snap out of his daze.
"Doctor?!" Clara cried, panic turning her voice high and frantic.
Horror settled in the Doctor's chest, and he cleared his throat and corrected himself. "Clara, if you blink, and even just look away from that angel, you're dead. Understood?"
Clara jerked her wrist in the angel's grip, terror running like a fire through her veins.
"Understood?" The Doctor repeated.
'Understood." she said, surveying this creature. She focused on the blank eyes, and saw the universe held in them. She saw herself reflecting back at her, disheveled hair and pupils dilated with terror. She saw why she was here. She saw who she was here with. And, most importantly, she saw what the doctor was seeing. He saw a poor girl, a stupid damsel in distress. She saw that she was not important. Everything flashed in front of her, lights and colors blurring her vision, words echoing in her ears : "Did you know, in 900 years of time and space, I've never met anybody who wasn't important."
Not important.
Not important.
Not important.
Not important.
"Not important?" The words slipped from her lips like teardrops from aching eyes.
"What?" The Doctor's voice was raw.
"I'm . . . useless."
"Why would you say that?" She couldn't see him, but she could picture the expression on his face.
"We're all so trivial to you, Doctor. All us companions. You leave us one day, and then you never come back."
His voice was soft when he spoke. "Sometimes I don't have a choice."
Her voice was just as quiet. "And sometimes you do." Furious now, she gave her arm a sharp yank. "Now get this thing off of me!" Nodding, the Doctor sprinted towards her and carefully ran his sonic screwdriver up and down her arm.
"Clara, I'm sorry, but I might have to break your wrist." He caught her eye. "Do you think you can do it?"
She gave him a tight-lipped smile. "Doesn't look like I've got a choice, does it?"
"Doctor!" Someone called. Frowning, the Doctor glanced across the field.
"What is it?" Clara gasped, eyes still on the angel. "Who is it?"
"Doctor!" Running up to the Doctor and Clara were a man and a woman. Clara could tell that there was something wrong with them; they seemed to be staggering oddly, as though drunk. As they got closer, she could see them without straining her eyes, and she could tell that yes, they were either drunk or had serious balance problems. The woman, in fact, had what seemed to be a bottle of wine in her hand, and as they continued towards them, she passed it to the man, who took a hearty swig and started laughing.
"Doctor!" Cried the man, embracing the shocked Doctor around the waist. "You're even hotter than she said!"
"Mmm, thank you Jack." Grunted the Doctor, extricating himself from the hug. "Are you drunk?" He asked, inspecting the man-Jack, Clara assumed-up and down. "And River!" He turned to the woman. "I didn't realize you two knew each other."
"Hello sweetie!" River cried, tossing the bottle to Jack, who caught it deftly and drank. "Sweetie, I wish to announce that I'm leaving you for Jack!" She teetered unsteadily, and for a brief moment Clara thought she might fall.
"But don't worry," River said, pressing a finger to the Doctor's lips as he opened his mouth. "I got you a present!" From within the voluminous pockets of her coat, River produced a fez and presented it to the Doctor. But as he reached for it, she seemed to have a change of heart.
"No!" She shrilled, throwing the fez to the ground. "Just kidding!" Almost merrily, she whipped a gun from her jacket and fired, entirely destroying the fez. Jack let out a surprisingly high-pitched giggle, tossed the bottle of wine away, grabbed the Doctor by the bow tie and kissed him passionately. The Doctor sighed loudly, but this resignation quickly turned to bug-eyed horror as Jack peeled off his World War II coat to reveal the fact that he was entirely naked.
"Um, Jack," gasped the poor Doctor.
"Mm?" Muttered Jack.
"I'm sorry to, erm, interrupt you, but I have bigger problems right now."
"Don't worry, Doc, I can fix 'em." Clara stifled a laugh.
"Um, Jack?"
"Call me Captain." The drunken man purred.
"Could you, eh em, remove your hands from my . . ." Clara burst out laughing. " . . . Pants?" River giggled drunkenly.
"Are you sure?" Jack sounded disappointed.
"Yes Jack; I'm quite certain." Jack stepped back, and, catching sight of Clara, smiled.
"Hi, I'm Captain Jack Harkness, and who are you?"
"I'm getting a headache," groaned the Doctor.
"I was only saying hello."
"Girls, girls, you're both pretty." River trilled brightly.
"You bitch!" The Captain cried, spinning towards River.
"Oh! Sweetie, I have news!" River played with the words on her tongue.
"Right now?" The Doctor said plaintively, observing Clara's situation.
"I'm pregnant!" She shrieked, beaming.
"No, you're not." The Doctor snapped, killing her joy.
"Yes, I am," she protested.
"No. River, you are not."
The two bickered with each other, back and forth, River indignant and the Doctor frustrated and irritable. Meanwhile, Captain Jack leaned against a tree and watched Clara through lazy eyes. Clara tried to stop herself, but her eyes kept flicking downward past his waist. When her eyes made another round up to his face, she saw him smiling seductively, eyes locked onto her chest. She sighed loudly.
"Hello!" She cried, losing her patience. River and the Doctor stopped mid-sentence. "I'm stuck here with this . . . Thing, and no one's bothering to help me!" The Doctor cringed, looking guilty, and River appeared the slightest bit chagrined.
"Ah yes, sorry Clara." Sheepishly, the Doctor slunk over to Clara, turning his eyes to the sky at the sight of the still-naked Captain Jack. Cautiously, he got a grip on Clara's forearm, and Clara grit her teeth in preparation.
"What are you doing?" Joan of Arc had left behind her prayers and was watching the Doctor and Clara with a faintly horrified expression. "Do not harm my angels!"
"Joan, I'm sorry, but they're assassins, and they will kill us all without a second thought, so please come with me."
"No!" Joan cried furiously and shook off the Doctor's attempts to take hold of her arm. "I won't-" Catching sight of something behind the Doctor, she gasped and went pale. River's eyes widened. Jack froze where he was picking up his jacket. The Doctor turned.
There, standing silhouetted against the dying sunlight was one of the Silence, its otherworldly appearance petrifying against the countryside setting.
"River," The Doctor spoke softly, not taking his eyes off of the creature before them. "I'm going to move towards the TARDIS, very slowly. Now you remind me that I have to come back for a reason."
"Yes, sweetie." Thankfully, River sounded serious, and everything was going well.
"Doctor!" Clara shrieked, and forgetting, he turned to her. Too fast.
Something clanged as it slammed into his skull, and he immediately crumpled, catching sight only of a weeping angel with its hand clenched around nothing before he fell unconscious.
The Doctor awoke lying on a hard wooden pew. He sat up gingerly, finding a throbbing ache spreading through his head where whatever-it-was had hit it. River smiled at him sadly. "Hello, sweetie." The Doctor groaned and rubbed his head, the events slowly coming back to him. Something. . . something important. He'd turned, something had hit him, and . . . Clara!
"Clara!" River's expression went bleak and sad, her hands white-knuckled on the edge of the pew.
"She's gone." This time it was not River who spoke, but Jack, who leaned against the wall-thankfully fully clothed-rubbing his head and looking slightly sheepish. At the Doctor's horrified expression, he winced and turned away, revealing a blue bruise spreading across his cheek.
"Where is she? Where am I?" he panicked. He tried to sit up, but was stopped by River.
"We're in a church, Sweetie." River looked a bit guilty as well, although not so much as Jack. She smiled, though it was more like a grimace.
"Sweetie... where have I heard that before? Oh, you! River! It's all coming back..." furious, he threw off River's hand and stood shakily. Frowning, he squinted at Jack. "Who hit you?"
Jack winced again and jerked his chin in River's direction. "She was somewhat displeased when I hit you." He paused. " You know, with the shovel." The Doctor searched his mind, but there was a vast, gaping space where some of his memories should have been.
"I don't remember that."
Jack snorted. "Well, it was a blow to the head. That's probably why you can't remember."
River shot him a look laced with venom.
"Any who," The Doctor clapped both hands, "Let's go ahead and grab the TARDIS,"
River's mouth turned down at the corners. "Ah, sweetie, you see . . ."
"The TARDIS is gone." Jack sounded a bit put off, and he directed a grouchy look at River as he brought a hand to his bruised cheekbone.
"Gone!?" The Doctor's voice rose an octave.
River's mouth opened, and what she would have said will never be known, as the TARDIS materialized at that very moment, with its characteristic vworp sound.
River's brows rose, Jack let a blurting yell and staggered back, and the Doctor sighed with relief. To his surprise, though, the door swung open. A young blonde woman appeared, squinting around, her brow wrinkling in confusion as she surveyed the area. She was followed by another blond, and a brown-haired young man who also looked perplexed.
"Rose!" Jack cried and rushed forward to embrace the first woman.
"Sally Sparrow!" The Doctor smiled broadly at the second woman. "And Larry Nightingale!"
Something, Jack decided, was not entirely right about this. Rose had returned, and the Doctor hadn't paid her any mind.
"Doctor," he said carefully, still holding Rose, from whose eyes the light had dimmed. "It's Rose."
The Doctor let out an exasperated sigh. "I'm a time traveler, Jack. I'm sure I've explained this to you-"
"Doctor," That was River, who looked a little mystified, and a little like she was trying to figure something out. "You've known Rose for a long time. She used to travel with you."
"River, I don't-"
"Doctor, it's me." Rose had freed herself from the Captain's arms, and was staring at the Doctor with an emotion akin to shock. "I'm back."
Jack frowned. "When we first met, you traveled with her, remember? World War II? The Blitz?"
"I remember the Blitz, you, and World War II, but I don't remember . . . Rosalie was it?"
Inside Rose, something clean and sharp and brittle snapped. Never in her wildest dreams had she anticipated her reunion with the Doctor like this. Not only was he a different person, but he no longer recognized her. Without meaning to, she made a small, hurt sound, and Jack stepped forward to rest his head against her shoulder and loop his fingers through hers.
"You don't remember me?" Her voice was rough, going hoarse and ragged on a sob.
The Doctor stared at her, and the blank confusion in his eyes only made it hurt worse.
"If you don't mind me asking, what-what was our relationship like?"
Rose bit back an aching sob and grit her teeth. "You-" She choked, wiped her eyes. "You loved me." Her voice had gone soft, wrapped in flannel.
The Doctor froze, gaping at her with wide eyes. "I . . . I loved you?" Unable to speak, she nodded. At that, he seemed to crumble, and he slid bonelessly to the pew and buried his head in his hands.
"I'm sorry, Rose." His voice was muffled. "I don't remember loving you."