"Erm, Doctor?" Rory asked politely as the screen faded to black. "I thought you were meant to be explaining things?"
"I am!" The Doctor replied, indignantly. "It's just a little complicated."
"You don't say." Amy added, still sat on the cold floor of the TARDIS. "This makes the whole Pandorica thing seem simple."
"I don't see what was so complicated." The Doctor rolled his eyes. "An auton Rory was created from your memories, I was tricked in to the Pandorica to stop the TARDIS from exploding, but as I was in the Pandorica I couldn't stop it from exploding, so it did. Auton Rory killed you, future me helped Auton Rory get me out of the box so he could put you in, guard you for a few thousand years in order for young you to let you out again." He paused ever so slightly, bouncing around with each part of the tale, recalling the story effortlessly. "I then used the Pandorica to reboot the universe and bring back everything absorbed by the crack, but was erased in the process. However, because you remembered, and your daughter broke some very important rules of time, you bought me back." He gasped for breath as he finished, leaving Amy and Rory looking at him, bemused.

The Doctor looked at his companions, obviously amused at his recollection of an adventure that occurred years ago. Relatively, anyway. The Time Lord had to admit, that even he wasn't quite sure how the events slotted in to the newly established time line. He'd long since accepted that it probably didn't matter, so he wouldn't spend too much energy on trying to work it out. He'd tried a few times, even mapping it out with some string, but abandoned that idea after managing to tie himself up around the TARDIS console.

He sighed to himself. In the centuries he had spent travelling alone in this incarnation, both prior to his supposed death and afterwards, the Doctor had spent a great deal of time looking for sensible things to do, rather than running head first in to trouble. However, as much as he would have loved to prove otherwise, the Doctor soon accepted the truth that it was running in to things, troublesome or otherwise, that kept him going. Things weren't going to wait around for him to wander past, and they weren't going to come to him, most of the time anyway. Therefore, running towards anything and everything he could find looked like a rather appealing option. The Doctor would be the first to admit that the majority of his travels ended up with him in some kind of danger, but he wasn't the type to stand around just looking. Yes, looking down at the Earth from space was beautiful, but much more exciting when you were plummeting towards it after throwing yourself from a spaceship.

A sudden wave of sadness swept over him, as he realised that it was this attitude that had led to this in the first place. He was staying brave for Amy and Rory, showing them some of the events that had indirectly influenced things, eventually leading to this, but it was a stalling tactic. He'd gotten close to showing them the truth but couldn't quite bring himself to do it, not just yet. Perhaps, he thought it was because once they knew, he couldn't pretend anymore, couldn't hide behind their admiration and image of him. The Doctor mentally scolded himself. Since when had he assumed his friends admired him? River had been right when she had appeared on Demon's Run. He had gotten far too big and noisy, something he had gone to great lengths to correct recently, with varying degrees of success. He may have erased himself from certain parts of history (Doctor who, indeed) but it seemed that psychologically, he still had a long way to go.

"You'll think of something." Amy said kindly, breaking a silence that the Doctor hdn't even noticed had fallen upon them. "You always do."
"Sometimes we do too." Rory added quietly.
"Of course you do." The Doctor beamed. "Who knows how many faces I'd have gotten through if it wasn't for you two."
"In that case, we should probably apologise." Rory replied, a slight smirk on his face.
"Why?"
"We could have helped you got rid of that chin." Rory's smile widened as he saw his wife burst in to a giggle. They were always relaxed with the Doctor, when they weren't running for their lives, but the atmosphere right now had been slightly tense.
"Oi!" The Doctor looked offended. "Don't make me mention the..." He trailed off, catching Amy's eye line and miming a large nose over his own.
"Stop it you two." Amy smiled, before turning to the Doctor. "I mean it though, we'll get through this."

The Doctor returned her smile. He had genuinely gone to them as he had no plan, nowhere to go. The TARDIS had been spiralling out of control, the cloister bell ringing loudly, the engines grinding and moaning. He'd half expected to find himself stranded in the vortex, but unexpectedly the TARDIS had managed to get them to closest thing it had known to a home in the last thousand years or so. The Doctor had spent what felt like days stood at the console, almost trying to nurse it back to health, before he realised he had to go. The Time Lord had almost rushed out of the doors before checking what year he had been thrown in to. The last thing he needed was to run in to little Amelia Pond now, before he was supposed to see her again. Inexplicably, he'd landed in the second decade of the twenty first century, around the same period he'd been picking up and dropping off the Ponds from recently. Before it had all come to an end, of course. Perhaps it was because this period had been a regular destination recently, but the Doctor couldn't help but think there was more to it than that.

It had taken the Doctor the last few hours to work out that he needed to Ponds to help him realise that he had to do something, but it appeared that the TARDIS had known that all along. But, they could only help him if they knew the whole story.

"The thing is," He span back to the screen quickly, wiggling his fingers in anticipation, "the story's a bit complicated. Lots of chapters."
"And lots of yous." Amy added, stretching her legs out, before crossing them, preparing for the inevitable story that was about to fill the screen of the visuliser. "Why don't you start from the beginning?"
The Doctor screwed up his lips before answering.
"There are lots of beginnings." He thought it over, his eyes darting from side to side as he tried to put events in an order that made sense. "I know!" He exclaimed suddenly, "Let's see how it all started for me!"

XXXX

"Every society has secrets," the Doctor narrated, as the screen flickerd in to life, showing the surface of a grey desolate planet, "the Time Lords especially. The entire history of Gallifrey is littered with underhand political tinkering and scheming, presidents and cardinals all trying to out do the other, the CIA attempting to undermine the authority of the High Council." The view panned across the grey planet, revealling a magnificent palace, the only feature on the otherwise flat landscape. Two statues stood at the entrance, their high collars and intense stares designed to intimidate. "But all of those things, all of the politics, it was all in plain sight, much less of a secret than everyone liked to think. The Time Lords only really had a few true secrets, and it just so happened that I stumbled accross one of them." He paused as the shape of the TARDIS, in various shades of grey rather than its usual blue, appeared on the screen. "Or at least, that's what I thought at the time."

"Why's it black and white?" Amy asked, not used to the novelty. "Space TV broken down?"
The Doctor shrugged.
"It's a long time ago, this. Quality of the play back degrades." He looked from side to side. "Or at least that sounds feasible."

The TARDIS door opened slowly and two people, a man and a woman, stepped out.
"Where you think we are, Ian?" The woman, Barbara, asked. They'd been travelling with the Doctor for a while now, but she still wasn't used to stepping out on to a brand new place and time with every trip.
"Certainly not Earth." Ian shrugged, with a smile. As much as he enjoyed being able to use his, and Barbara's knowledge from their old lives on their journeys, there was something so much more exciting about a world no other human being knew about, and perhaps never would.

The pair looked over the blank landscape, catching a glimpse of the large castle-like structure in the near distance as the Doctor stepped from the ship, fiddling with his jacket.
"Well then," he too, looked around. "What have we here, hm?"
"Not a lot." Barbara commented.
"Nice to have a bit of a peaceful landing." Ian added. "No one chasing or arresting us."
"Stop over-reacting Chesterson." The Doctor grumbled, ignoring a look from Ian as he got the school teachers name wrong, again. "Looks to be some kind of manufactured, yes, a man made structure over there." He pointed towards to peak of the building, a large domed central tower, dwarfing smaller ones on each side. "Let's go take a look, shall we, hmm?" He pulled his jacket closed, feeling a slight chill in the air, before turning back to the open TARDIS doors. "Susan!"
The young girl rushed out of the ship, flustered. She had a hand on her head, fiddling nervously with her dark hair.
"Susan, what's wrong?" Barbara asked softly, sensing her discomfort.
"Yes child, yes, what is it?" The Doctor reiterated, impatiently.
"Grandfather," she stuttered, "The scanner. I know where we are."

XXXX

"Grandfather!" Rory and Amy exclaimed together, shooting to their feet. Rory soon sunk in to silence, a look of concentration on his face, as if he was trying to work out the implications of the revelation. Amy however, didn't stay so quiet.
"Does River know about this? Wait, is she River's daughter? Am I a Grandmother? And why didn't you tell us before?"
The Doctor put a calming hand on Amy's shoulder, looking her straight in the eye.
"Yes, she does. No, she isn't. No, you're not. And, it's complicated." He paused. "There's a lot I haven't told you." He turned back to the screen. "Mainly because you keep interrupting!"

XXXX

"Where are we Susan?" Ian asked calmly, as the Doctor stepped towards her, recognising a look of fear in her eyes.
"Are you sure child? Absolutely sure?"
"Yes." Susan whimpered. "I ran a scan on that building over there." She pointed. "The materials, the structure, they all match. And there's statues. It's them, it's the.."
The Doctor cut her off quickly.
"Then we must go." He turned towards the TARDIS, before hesitating. "Yes, must go." He looked back to Susan. "Did you check for life signs child?"
She nodded.
"None. On the whole planet. Just us four." She looked at her Grandfather, then back to Ian and Barbara, who appeared to deliberately be giving them some space. "But we still have to go. It's too dangerous."
"Quite." The Doctor nodded thoughtfully, arguing with himself within his own head. "But we must wonder, yes, wonder why exactly we are here, out of everywhere in the entire universe."
"Doctor," Ian eventually asked. "Just where are we? And what's that building?" He looked to Susan. "And why are you so afraid of it?"
"Nevermind all that." The Doctor snapped, before turning back to Susan. "We need to use this opportunity, a chance to take a look around, You know it's highly, yes highly irregular for a palace like that to be out here on a planet such as this. They may be up to something, and we must find out what, yes, just what it is." He saw the fear in her eyes. "They may have already found us, Susan. It may have even been them, them who bought us here. If that's the case, yes if it is they already have us, so what's the harm in looking round, hm?"

The Doctor didn't wait for a response, instead he closed the TARDIS doors firmly, and made off towards the large structure. Ian followed, as Barbara put her arm around Susan gently, reassuring her.
"What's the matter?" She asked softly. "Who are 'they'?" She waited for Susan to respond, but the Doctor interrupted instead.
"If you must know," he replied, his tone very sharp, "'they' are our people."

XXXX

"You've never told us just why you're running away." Ian said, breaking the silent walk that the four of them had undertaken for the past half an hour. "You don't strike me as the type to run away, Doctor."
"Who said we are running away, hm?" The Doctor grumped. "There are many reasons for leaving ones home, Cherrerton."
"Like being kidnapped in a time travelling police box." Ian commented, quietly, before speaking up again. "Anyone could tell Susan isn't happy about being here." He continued. "It's obvious you're running from something."
"Let's just say our people have a different view, yes a different view of how our gifts should be used than I do, hm. Susan's just worried about me, that's all."
Ian looked back at her, still in Barbara's arm, and was unconvinced. Through everything, he had never seen Susan that afraid of anything before.

"Here we are!" The Doctor exclaimed, as they reached the foot of the two statues, each standing around seven foot tall. They stood either side of a large archway, the only visible entrance to the building, each one held a large staff in one hand, slightly taller than the figures themselves. Their robes, though made of stone, were incredibly detailed, with intricate patterns etched in to them.

The Doctor gestured to Susan to join him, allowing her to take his arm. "There's nothing to be afraid of child." He looked down in to her wide eyes, his tone changing. "I promise."
Forcing a smile, she took her Grandfather's hand and stepped forward with him, past the two statues. As she did, she couldn't help but feel that the stone men were watching her.

Ian and Barbara stood together, not sure what to make of how the Doctor was behaving. They had seen him put everyone at risk before, just to satisfy his own curiosity, but he had changed so much since then. Neither of them could believe that he would intentionally put Susan in danger again. Nodding to each other, they followed the Doctor and Susan, passing between the two statues. However, they didn't make it very far.

Before Ian could take another step, each statue had swung its staff in front of him, blocking their path entirely, Both statues had lowered their gaze, now staring adamantly at the pair of teachers. On hearing the grinding of moving stone, Susan rushed back to the makeshift barrier created by the stone weapons, separating the four of them.
"They won't let you past, no, not you." The Doctor stated, matter of factly. "I'm rather surprised they let us past in fact. Never assumed anyone who wasn't meant to would ever find it, probably, hm." He muttered. "Arrogance. Yes, pure arrogance."
Ian and Barbara looked to each other with a smile sharing a silent joke, before they stepped back from the statues, and they lifted their weapons again, clearing the path once more.
"What do we do?" Barbara asked, although she feared she knew the answer.
"Do as you wish, yes as you wish." The Doctor replied, his gaze on the staircase in front of him, rather than his companions and the bare planet behind him. "I'm going inside. Susan?"
The young girl looked to her school teachers, then to her Grandfather. It was true that she didn't want to go inside, but could she leave him to go in alone? She already knew there was no point trying to talk him out of it.
"Go with him." Barbara mouthed silently to her, as Ian nodded in confirmation.
"We'll see you back here."
"Yes, yes, indeed." The Doctor replied, un-interested as he started to make his way up the staircase, Susan following close behind him.

XXXX

"There's nothing, no nothing to be afraid of, Susan." The Doctor said, comfortingly. "You saw yourself, there's no one here, hm."
After ascending the staircase and entering through a grand door, the pair had found themsleves in a large maze of corridors, winding impossibly around each other. The Doctor was annoyed with himself that he hadn't expected it. Once his society had discovered the secret of dimensional transcendenality, they didn't stop at just using it for their time ships.
"I know, it's empty." Susan nodded. "But even so, I'm still scared." She paused, nervously. "And so are you."
"Nonsense child!" He snapped. "I am nothing of the sort. No, nothing of the sort."
"Then why can't you say their name?" She challenged him. "All this time, since we left, you've never mentioned them."
"No need to." The Doctor shrugged defensively. "That was our past, yes, all in our past, No need to dwell on it, is there, hm?
"We may have plenty of time to dwell, if we can't find our way out soon." Susan sighed. "What is this place anyway?"
"An outpost perhaps." The Doctor pondered. "But an outpost seems rather redundant without anyone inside it, does it not?

The Doctor and Susan continued down the endless corridors, the young girl paying close attention to the busts that lined the wall. There were some she couldn't place, but she recognised most of them as important figures from the history of their society. She knew there was much more history than she was aware of, but even still was amazed by the sheer amount of figures emblazoning the walls.

It wasn't until after a few more minutes that Susan noticed something. Amongst the hundreds of faces immortalised along the corridor, four were repeated at regular intervals, all together, standing in the same order.
"Grandfather!" Susan exclaimed. "Who are they?"
"Hm?" The Doctor turned his attention to his granddaughter, having ignored the statues in favour of trying to find a way out. "I don't recognise any of the faces." He paused. "Although that doesn't really mean much with our people, does it?"
"They must have been important." Susan pondered, placing her hand on a bust of a female, wearing a grand circular headdress. Moments later she jumped back as the statue was engulfed in a golden glow. However, the aura subsided almost as quickly as Susan's hand left the stone.

"Most intriguing." The Doctor muttered, leaning close to the statues. "Did it hurt child? When you touched it?"
"No, Grandfather." Susan shook her head. "It was just a shock, that's all."
"Then let's try it together." The Doctor instructed, placing his hands above two of the busts, and indicating for Susan to do the same. "It may just be our way out of this place."

Together, both the Doctor and Susan placed a hand on each of the statues, each one lighting up with a different glow. After a few moments, the gold, green, purple and silver auras subsided, followed by a familiar screeching noise of temporal displacement as the pair faded from the corridor.

XXXX

"Materialisation circuits embedded, yes, built in the statues!" The Doctor exclaimed as they reappeared in a new room. The walls matched the design of the corridors, but felt much newer, much fresher, and much more alive.
"Grandfather!" Susan cried out with glee as she took in their new surroundings. Across the room were two small yellow specks, darting around in all directions. "Flutterwings!" She ran towards them, the small creatures circling her.
"I thought I'd never see one of these again." She smiled.
"It seems we've discovered the purpose of this place, doesnt it? Hm?" The Doctor said thoughtfully, as he crouched to the ground, slowly approaching a small rodent like creature. It sniffed at the Time Lords hand with its long nose, looking at him with big eyes. "I've not known a tafelshrew anywhere but," he paused, stopping himself from using the word 'home'. "And they were becoming rare there too. I'd imagine it's some kind of sanctuary." He watched as the creature scampered off to join another of its species.

Susan had turned her attention to a small pool set in to the floor of the camber, two small golden fish cutting through the clear water.
"Yaddlefish!" She smiled, thinking of the one she had once kept as a pet, before noticing the small bird hopping towards her feet, it's bright plumage spread out behind it. "And a trunkike!" She turned to the Doctor, her euphoria fading slightly. "But why are they here?"
"To preserve them, I'd imagine, to keep them from extinction." The Doctor replied. "Our culture isn't known for caring too much about anything but themselves, but there are a few who believe the other lifeforms from our planet should be revered just as much as we should be." As he finished, his eyes fell on the back of the room, a trail of silver leading down the middle of the room to a raised plinth, flanked on either side by two statues. They were identical to the pair that had greeted them outside of the structure in everything but height, standing only slightly taller then the Doctor himself.

"Susan." The Doctor said fearfully, "Susan, child, by my side." He ushered his granddaughter closer to him, but keeping his eyes locked on the two stone figures. Their high collars formed halos over their heads, their hands clasped together covering their faces.
"Grandfather?" Susan stuttered. "It can't be? No, it can't be!"
"Hush child." The Doctor responded kindly, not moving. "It would appear that the myths were true, yes, true after all. Atleast partly."
"But why are they here?"
"You know the stories Susan." The Doctor quickly gave her a sideways glance. "A punishment of sorts I would imagine."
"So they're gaurds then?" The young girl was puzzled. "But guarding what?"
"Only one way, yes, one way to find out, isn't there hm?" The Doctor straightened his coat. "Remember, there's nothing to say that these Angels were ever really one of our people, no, no evidence at all. They may just be statues, just stone, put here to feed on the fear the stories bred within us." The Doctor paused. "That said, do keep looking them both, won't you child?"

The Doctor and Susan stepped up to the alter, where a silver box sat, it's edges highlighted with gold. A small latch sat on the front emblazoned with the circular Seal of Rassilon, tempting the Doctor to flip it open.

Inside, the box was lined with red velvet. As he peered in, checking that Susan still had sight of the two figures, the Doctor at first assumed the box was empty, before noting a small round object that had rolled to one corner.
"What is it?" His granddaughter asked nervously, anxiously trying not to blink.
The Doctor picked the object up carefully between his fingertips, studying it intently.
"It's a seed, yes, a seed." He said, eyes wide. "I've not seen one of these for years." He stood back, slightly shocked.
"Grandfather?"
"When I was young, our planet was full, yes full of these. Pymaligion trees." He stared forward sadly. "The leaves were the most brilliant crimson," he reminisced. "When the light from the suns hit them.." He trailed off. "Anyway, that was a long time ago. They are all gone now. Yes, all gone, not a trace." He rolled the seed around in his hand. "Apart from this one."
"What happened?" Susan asked, shocked by her Grandfather's reaction. "Where did they all go?"
"Destroyed." He replied, placing the seed back in to the box and closing the lid. "Our society destroyed them." He held the box tightly under his arm. "So they won't have any need for it, will they, hm?" He nodded in agreement with himself as he stepped back to make sure the pair of statues were within his sights. "We, however, yes, we could do with some plants on board." He looked to Susan, catching her looking longingly at the small pool and the yaddlefish.
"I'm afraid we can't, child." He said kindly. "This," he gestured to the box, "is different, it's just being preserved for the sake of preservation."
"And the animals aren't?" She questioned.
"No." The Doctor shook his head. "Pay attention, Susan. There are only two of each of species, yes, only two. This place was designed to ensure that these creatures survived, no matter what happens to our people. We can't stand in the way of that, can we? Hm?
"Oh." Susan sighed. "You're right." A small smile spread across her face. "At least I got to see them again. I thought I never would."

The Doctor put his arm around her, comfortingly.
"You must always remember, Susan, that no matter how dark the universe may be, there will always be a speck, yes even a single speck of light out there, waiting to be found."
She smiled back at him, trying to ignore the hiding statue that she knew had to remain within her gaze. Slowly, the Doctor began to lead her backwards, checking over his shoulder a few times to make sure they didn't step on any of the rare creatures in the room. After a few minutes, during which Susan was relieved to see the statues hadnt moved an inch, they finally reached the spot where they had first arrived in the room.
"So how do we get out Grandfather? That corridor was just an endless maze."
"Let's see, shall we, hm?" He smiled knowingly as they stepped on to the square of floor they had materialised on, before fading away with a rasping groan.
The room faded from Susan's vision as she was pulled from one place to another, before reasserting itself for a few seconds. Although she didnt have time to take it in, she was sure that one of the statues had moved its hands, and for that tiny moment before she vanished for good, was glaring at her with cold stone eyes.

XXXX

Moments later the Doctor and Susan found themselves transported just behind the archway that they had entered earlier. Neither of them could tell exactly how much time had passed, but looking down the staircase, it appeared that Ian and Barbara had decided to meet them back at the ship instead. The Doctor chuckled to himself.
"What is it Grandfather?"
"I imagine poor Cherreson is trying to find a way in to the ship as we speak." He paused. "I should probably give him a key. Perhaps one each, just in case. Yes, perhaps the time has come to trust them, hm?"

Susan smiled as she and the Doctor headed down the staircase, towards the two statues. She had been so intimidated by them earlier, but that seemed foolish now. Their recent travels had bought back so many memories of their flight from their home planet, always looking over her shoulder fearing the worst. The other statues hadnt helped matters either, for years her kind had been told the stories of the Weeping Angels, and how they came into existence. Everyone assumed it was some kind of fairy tale, but it seemed there was an element of truth in it after all. However, seeing the flutterwings and the other creatures again had reminded her, if only for a short time, that the universe wasn't such a dark place afterall. And, of course, there was so much more to see.