Chapter 4
She found her room and moved inside, the lights coming up. The carpet was a dark blue and was feather soft. There was a table in the middle of the room and a desk off to one wall. To the other side of the room was a large queen sized bed, in dark red sheets and black pillow cases. There was an armchair to the other side of the room near the closet, in a corner.
There was also a large bookcase built into the wall near her closet. She put her bag in the chair at the table and unzipped it, pulling her wolf blanket out, unrolling it and took the sword that was wrapped inside, putting it back into her bag, zipping it back up, putting the blanket on her bed. She heard a knock on the door and looked over as Rose came in.
"Hey." Rose smiled and looked around the room. "Looks like she remembers you. Your room is really cool," she said, just a smidge of jealousy creeping into her tone. Rose's room was alright, but nowhere near this lavish. "Ange... last time you were with the Doctor," she said hesitatingly. "How long were you with him? Where did you go?" Rose bit her lip, unsure of why she was even asking, but she couldn't help feeling a little left out. Angel could talk with the TARDIS, and understand what all her random groans and creaks meant. Rose couldn't. Her two best friends in the universe apparently had a history she didn't even know about, and she was curious. Angel stood slowly, facing Rose.
"First off, I hear the jealousy in your voice, I am not here to steal the Doctor from you Rose, understand that, I'm here to travel with you two. Now, where we went, I don't exactly remember. We were mostly among the stars, though I did see a supernova and a few new galaxies form and die out. Oh, and if you think my room it cool, check this out."
Angel snapped her fingers, the lights blinking out and a projection of the stars and planets surrounded them, they moved and swayed gently, a comet streaking by every now and then. "I was with him about a year Rose, he was my best friend, he still is."
Rose's cheeks flushed at being so easily read and she looked away.
"I know you're not gonna steal him..." she said in a small voice. "Not that he's even mine or anything," she amended hurriedly. She sighed. "I'm jus' being stupid. He's my best friend too, I guess... but I mean, you can understand the TARDIS, after even all this time, and I still can't." Rose knew she was being childish, but she couldn't help how it made her feel. "I want to be able to, but I jus'..." She shook her head. "Forget it. The stars are cool." Rose gestured half-heartedly to the projections on the walls and ceiling. She got to her feet and started for the door. "Think I'm jus' gonna.. ah.. see where the randomiser's landed us. Come out when you've finished packing." Rose turned away.
Angel moved to Rose, putting her hand on her shoulder.
"Rose, listen to me, you have NOTHING to be jealous about. You and The Doctor are made for each other, you and him may not know it yet, but you two are soulmates. You will be able to understand the TARDIS, if you really listen to her. Every groan and shudder means something different, just the slightest difference could mean 'I'm happy to see you or it could mean stay away, its not safe' understand?"
Rose looked at her friend and sighed.
"Okay, I'll try," she said, nodding. Then her brain caught up with her. "And hey, we are not 'soulmates'," she exclaimed indignantly. She bit her lip uncertainly. "As if he'd even be able to think of me that way...ugh," she groaned. "Angel, this is so complicated! Even if I did... love him," she managed to get the word out, "How could I ever find out if he felt the same? One wrong move," she held up her forefinger for emphasis, "And I'm sent home."
Angel chuckled, hugging her best friend.
"Come on, lets head back to the console room." She moved out with her, closing the door. Rose was so blind. Angel could see that the Doctor and Rose where in love. They walked down to the console room, moving inside, Angel smiling to the Doctor. "So where are we going this time around?"
"Took you two long enough," the Doctor quipped, lounging on the jump seat watching circular gallifreyan spiral across the monitor. He jumped to his feet and made a circle of the console. "Hold on!" The entire ship shuddered, and Rose clung to the support beam surrounding the centre of the room. A loud crash later, and they'd landed. The Doctor grinned. "You're both gonna love it," he said excitedly, seizing one each of their hands and leading them both to the TARDIS doors.
"But Doctor, where are we?" Rose asked, and he paused.
"No idea," he said with a laugh, and pulled open the doors.
Angel was pulled up, the Doctor grabbing her and Rose's hand, pulling them towards the door.
"You don't know where we are? That's new, never expected to ever hear those words EVER come out of your mouth Doc." She smirked at him, moving out with him and Rose. The planet they had landed on, the sky was a light purple, the grass was a deep deep orange, and in the sky, were three planets, the closest one was like Saturn with its rings clearly visible, the second planet was much farther away.
There were three distinct suns in the sky, one near the horizon and two parallel with each other. In the distance was a large mountain range, and beyond that, was an ocean. "Woah, look at this place."
Rose's jaw dropped at the strange and beautiful view before her.
"This place is incredible," she breathed, keeping the Doctor's hand in her own and giving it a squeeze. He looked down and smiled at her.
"Shall we go explore then?" he suggested, and the three of them moved away from the TARDIS, wandering over the sunset-orange grass. Rose ran her fingers over the longer strands that had grown into waist high patches and with a whoop, went ahead and skipped a few steps.
"I love this," she said happily, jumping on the spot. "There's so much that exists that we can't even imagine, and yet it's here!" The Doctor chuckled softly at his companion, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets.
"Rose, stay close; we don't know if there's natives around," he called ahead, and she waved a hand absently, still gazing at the sky filled with unfamiliar planets and early twilight stars.
Angel chuckled, walking next to the Doctor.
"She reminds me of how I was when I discovered a new world Doc, you remember that? You could hardly keep me in place." She laughed. "You even threatened to put me on a leash." She had her hands in her duster pockets, watching Rose ahead of them, also keeping an eye on the large forest to the right of her. "I never did thank you for saving my life Doctor. Thank you for giving me a second outlook on life." She smiled to him gently. The Doctor chuckled in turn at the memory.
"Oh I remember; you needed a leash," he defended. "You wouldn't sit still; you were even worse with running off than she is," he said with a grin, nodding towards Rose who was crouched beside a large multi-coloured flowerbed. "And believe me, she's pretty bad. Saved my life a good few times though." He looked at Angel. "It was no problem, Angel," he answered with a genuine smile and a nod. The Doctor looked her in the eyes. "You stayed alright after we... parted ways? No more attempts?" Angel shook her head.
"No, no more attempts, promise Doc." She moved with him towards Rose. "Let me ask you this Doctor, what is Rose to you? Is she a companion like all the rest or is she different?" She looked at his face and smirked, 'Oh hes got it bad for this girl' she thought.
The Doctor was startled into silence by the question.
"Well she's... Rose," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "She's brilliant; very bright, though doesn't reckon she is; brave too. When we first met she saved my neck after knowing me less than 24 hours. Definitely could do better with not runnin' off like a five-year-old, but can't do much about that..." he rattled off, unwilling to dive too much into the question. "Why d'you ask?" he said, turning the query around. "What 'ave you two been gossiping about; honestly, you're like two kiddies at the playground." He shook his head exasperatedly.
"Oh, no reason." She smiled to him, walking towards Rose, seeing the multicolored flowers. She also thought she saw a flash out of the corner of her eye, turning her head, seeing nothing. She sniffed the air slightly, turning. The next thing she knew, there was a large…very smelly alien running…..no…..charging at them. He was a dark maroon color and had a good two feet on Angel. "Doc! WE'VE GOT INCOMING!"
The Doctor reacted quickly, grabbing Angel's wrist and taking off towards Rose.
"Rose, get moving," he shouted, and Rose spun around on her haunches, a look of confusion crossing her features. She jumped to her feet and ran towards the safety of the huge trees, and the Doctor and Angel quickly caught up with her. "Faster, Rose," he muttered, dropping Angel's arm in favour for Rose's, to keep her speed up. He glanced over his shoulder; the alien was gaining. The Doctor was pulling Rose along but she couldn't go any faster; she was shorter than both the Doctor and Angel. "Keep going, we're almost there," he spurred her on, urgency in his voice.
Angel growled, running alongside the Doctor when she stopped, pulling her collapsable staff from her pocket and…turned to face the large alien, pressing a button on the staff and it shot out. She growled at it, it stopping and reared up, roaring at Angel, who…..roared back, twice as loud, that getting Rose and the Doctor's attention, making them stop and look back.
"Angel!" Rose cried, starting towards her friend but the Doctor wrapped his arm around her torso, holding her back. "Angel, come on!"
"What is she doing? She's gonna get herself killed," the Doctor muttered desperately. They stood there completely still, watching the exchange between Angel and the alien. She looked so small compared to it, and it roared at her. Angel had managed to produce a spear as long as her body from god knows where, but Rose flinched anyway, her fingers digging into the Doctor's arm that was still holding her.
Angel snarled at the large beast, who went back down on all fours, snarling, going to charge again. She backed up, readying her staff as the alien charged again, she held her ground and when the alien reared up to slash at her with its claws, she ducked at the last minute, stabbing it in the chest. It roared out in pain, swiping Angel across the chest, sending her flying. She hit a tree trunk and slid down to the ground. She didn't move.
The alien tore the spear out of its chest and snarled, moving to Angel. She wasn't moving. The alien sniffed her and snarled, rearing back to slash her to bits…. when the sound of ripping clothing was heard, a pair…of black wings coming from…Angel's back. That's not all that had changed, she now had claws, and scales covering parts of her body. Angel…..the TRUE Angel, was awake.
Rose stared in horror as the alien swiped her best friend into a tree, and she didn't move.
"Ang-" Rose started to scream, but the Doctor hand quickly covered her mouth, muffling the rest of Angel's name. He began pulling Rose, his arm curled around her stomach, towards the trees.
"Rose, don't fight me!" he hissed in her ear. "We're gonna help her but first -" A huge tearing sound interrupted him, and Rose stopped struggling. Her eyes were locked on the creature that had sprung from Angel's body, the thing that must have killed her at some point and taken over because surely that couldn't be her best friend, that couldn't be Angel. Rose's terror sent her staggering backwards, into the Doctor and her knees simply gave out, sending her to the ground for a split second until the Doctor quickly pulled her up again.
"Shh, shh," the Doctor murmured into her ear. "Don't... move."
"What's it done to Angel?" she whispered, horrified at what she saw but unable to look away.
Angel's eyes snapped open, they were…a golden color now. She stood slowly, the alien backing up quickly, Angel snarling, tackling it to the ground, the wound in Angel's chest was healed, not even a scar remained. She snarled, slashing her claws across the alien's face, opening it up like a filet. The alien howled in pain, she slashing her claws across its chest before it kicked her off.
She slid across the ground, coming to a stop just in front of The Doctor and Rose. Her wings flapped a bit before she charged the alien again, it slashing her stomach deep and she yowled in pain, snarling and punched the alien under the chin, sending it up and then crashing down. It stirred, standing and charged Angel, who jumped…. spun quickly and…..lopped the alien's head clean from its shoulders, with just her wings alone.
The alien fell to the ground, dead, blood starting to pool under him as his head rolled away. Angel held her stomach, wincing as she bent down, picking up her staff. She pressed the button on the staff, it collapsing back to its original size. She looked back at Rose and The Doctor.
Rose froze in place, but the Doctor slowly moved forward, arms outstretched. Rose could hear him murmuring softly to the creature as he approached it; it resembled... Rose couldn't even think of anything to compare it to. It had large black wings, but the rest of its shape looked almost... human.
The Doctor laid a hand on Angel's shoulder, holding his gaze steady as her golden eyes flicked towards him.
"Angel," he whispered. Not a question. Claws had replaced her fingernails and scales rippled up her arms.
The Doctor turned and wordlessly held out a hand to Rose, gesturing for her to come over. Rose stayed rooted to the spot; she couldn't move even if she wanted to, her legs just wouldn't move. She stayed completely still, save for her trembling hands, just staring at what Angel had become, until finally the Doctor went back to her and took her shoulders. "Rose, it's Angel," he said softly, looking her in the eyes. Rose shook her head dumbly, tears threatening.
"It can't be," she whispered, watching Angel, her best friend. "It can't. What is she?"
Author Note : So sorry about the delay guys, Thanksgiving and work kicked my butt. Thanks for sticking with me