-On the path-
Octavian led the way, gun out, followed by River and Luke, the Doctor trailing a little bit further behind studying his sonic.
"What's that?" River asked him indicating the readout.
"Readings from a crack in the wall."
"How can a crack in the wall be the end of the universe?"
"Here's what I think. One day there'll be a very big bang, so big every moment in history – past and future – will crack." the Doctor detailed.
"Is that possible? How?"
"How can you be engaged 'in a manner of speaking'?" he shot back.
"Well…Sucker for a man in uniform." River smiled in a way that reminded him pointedly of Jack.
Octavian, fed up with them lagging behind, strolled over, "Dr. Song is in my personal custody. I released her from the Stormcage Containment Facility four days ago and I am legally responsible for her until she has accomplished her mission and earned her pardon. Just so we understand each other." He sent a glare Rivers way and started walking again.
"You were in Stormcage?" the Doctor grinned and River rolled her eyes, making a noise of disgust at his amusement.
"What's Stormcage?" Luke asked curiously.
"A prison."
The Sonic beeped again gaining River's attention and keeping her from yelling at the Doctor, "What? What is that?"
"The Date! The Date of the explosion where the crack begins."
"And for those of us who can't read the base code of the universe?"
"Amelia's time." the Doctor said, eyes wide showing her the numbers: 26/06/2010
Back in the forest Amelia sat on the rock, twiddling her thumbs. Fear was still there, but it was lessoning in the face of no increase of danger.
"So…What's happening? Anything happening out there?"
"The angels are still grouping." Cleric Marco told her. He wasn't going to tell her that the lights were starting to flicker because one of the angels – when someone had blinked—had reached into a tree and started to pull at the wires.
"Are you getting this too?" Marco asked.
"The trees? Yeah." Another Cleric replied.
"Here too, sir." A third cleric.
"What's wrong with the trees?" Amelia worried.
"They're ripping the Treeborgs apart," the third Cleric said; Marco felt like throttling him.
"What is it? What's happening? Tell me, please, I can't see."
Marco sighed, he had a sister near her age and damned if he would let his sister go through this, "It's the trees, miss. The trees are going out."
The angels were advancing, taking advantage of the flickering lights and Marco wasn't told how much longer until they reached his group. He started praying under his breath, repeating the revised version of the Lord's Prayer, wishing he hadn't taken this job.
He prayed for the safety of his men. He prayed that Dr. Song would be able to get the Doctor to help them. He prayed that Father Octavian would return and stop the Angels. But what he prayed for, above all else, was that his courage would not fail him and that he would be able to stand and keep that little girl safe.
On the other side of the forest the Doctor stood messing with River's handheld, having input the data from his screwdriver into it. Octavian was exploring the wall with Luke looking for a way in as River stood guard facing the forest, Octavian's revolver in hand.
"It doesn't open it from here, but it's the Primary Flight Deck." Octavian told them finally.
"There's this." Luke tapped a circular clear spot with his foot.
"That's got to be a service hatch or something." Octavian said.
"Well, hurry up and open it! Time's running out." River said.
"What? What did you say?" the Doctor demanded, "Time's running out. Is that what you said?"
"Yeah. I just meant—"
"I know what you meant, hush! But what if it could?"
"What if what could?" River pushed him.
"Time. What if time could run out?" the Doctor said, an animated look in his eyes.
"Got it!" Luke told them as Octavian popped the hatch open.
"Cracks in time, running out…No, couldn't be. How is a duck pond a duck pond if there aren't any ducks?" the Doctor rambled out loud, recalling a conversation he'd had with Amelia while they waited for the TARDIS to finish repairing, "She didn't know the Daleks, but she's from '96. Would she have known them? Ok, time can shift. Time can change. Time can be rewritten!" he concluded, then a dawning horror reached him, "Ah…Oh!"
"Dr. Song, get through, now!" Octavian helped River through the hatch and Luke after, "Doctor? Doctor?"
The Doctor ignored him doing calculations in the air, "Time can be unwritten. It's been happening all over and I haven't even noticed!"
"Doctor, we have to move." Octavian urged him.
"The CyberKing! A giant cyberman walks over all of Victorian London and no-one remembers!"
"We have to move it! The Angels could be here any second!" Octavian yelled putting a hand on the Doctor's shoulder.
"Never mind the angels," the Doctor shrugged away Octavian's hand, "There's worse here than angels!"
The lights went out suddenly plunging them into darkness. A shifting noise reached the Doctor's sensitive ears and he whirled as the lights turned out to find Octavian in a choke hold, an angels arm around his neck.
"I beg to differ, sir." Octavian said weakly trying to breathe.
"Let him go," the Doctor ordered scanning the Angel.
"Well it can't let me go, sir, can it? Not while you're looking at it."
"I can't stop looking at it, it'll kill you."
"It'll kill me anyway. There's no way out of this. You have to leave me." Octavian told him.
"Can't you wriggle out?"
"No. It's too tight. There's nothing you can do."
"Angels advancing, sir!" the fourth cleric informed Marco.
"Over here, again." The second said.
"Weapons primed. Combat distance five feet. Wait for it." Marco gave the order.
"What is it?" Amelia stood up, "What's happening, just tell me!"
"Keep your position and, Miss, keep your eyes shut!" Marco warned her as the angels advanced, "Wait!"
A bright light appeared and started to spread, illuminating the whole forest, "The ship's not on fire is it?"
The second cleric turned towards the light, "It can't be. The compressors would have taken care of it." When he turned back to the forest he was shocked, "Marco, the angels have gone! Where'd they go?"
"What? The Angels?"
"This side's clear too, sir!" the third cleric joined the surprise.
Marco pulled up his handheld cautiously, keeping an eye on the forest as long as possible, "There's still movement out there, but away from us now. It's like they're running."
"Running from what?" Amelia asked.
"Phillip, Crispin, we need to get a closer look at that." Marco said and the two clerics jogged off towards the light.
"What are they looking at? What's there?" Amelia was desperate for information.
"It's like…I don't know…A curtain of energy? It's sort of shifting. It makes you feel weird, sick."
"And you think it scared the angels?" Amelia asked trying to move closer.
"What could scare those things?" the other cleric speculated.
Amelia turned nervously towards his voice.
"What are you doing?" Marco asked her.
"Point me at the light."
"You can't open your eyes." Marco said, holding onto her jumper all the same.
"Not for more than a second, that's what the Doctor said. I've still got 3 whole seconds le "
"Miss, you can't." Marco said softly.
"I need to. Please? Am I looking the right way?"
Marco sighed but pointed her in the right direction, "Very quick."
"OK." Amelia opened her eyes and horror and panic sunk in, "It's the same. It's the Crack. The crack in my wall!"
"Close your eyes, now!"
"It's following me! How can it be following me?" Amelia cried falling to her knees.
Marco quickly knelt and supported her, holding his hand over her eyes to force her to close them, "Are you okay?"
"Yes." Amelia said, tears leaking out despite the tightly closed eyes, "It's the same crack."
"Marco, you want me to take a closer look at that?"
"Go for it, but don't get too close, Pedro." Marco replied, making sure Amelia was okay.
"What about the other two? Why not just wait till they come back?" Amelia questioned as she heard the other clerics footsteps fade away.
"What other two?" Marco asked.
"The ones you sent before."
"I didn't send anyone before." Maybe the blindness and terror were starting to affect her mind, her memory.
"Yes, you did. I heard you. Crispin and Phillip."
"Crispin and who?" Marco repeated, "Amelia, there never was a Crispin or a Phillip on this mission, I promise you."
"No, I heard you." Amelia argued, "Before you sent Pedro."
"Pedro?"
"Yeah, before you sent him."
"Who's Pedro?"
"Something happening." Amelia said in fear, "Pedro was here a second ago, and now you don't know him!"
"There never was a Pedro. There's only ever been the two of us here!" Marco assured her.
"No, there were five of us. Why can't you remember?"
"Listen, shh, listen. I need to get a closer look at that light, whatever it is. Don't worry, I won't get too close."
"No, you can't! You mustn't." Amy cried holding tight to his fatigues.
"Here, spare communicator." Marco pulled it out of one of his vest pockets and placed it into her hand, "I'll stay in touch the whole time. I promise."
"You won't. If you go back there you'll disappear, just like the others."
"There weren't any others."
"There won't be a 'you' if you go…"
"Two minutes, I promise." Marco told her as he left.
"Please, just listen to me!" Amy yelled, her voice echoing around the clearing. She'd never felt so alone….
-The Flight deck -
"Sir, there is nothing you can do." Octavian assured the Doctor.
"You're dead if I leave you." the Doctor warned him."
"Yes, yes, I'm dead. And before you go."
"I'm not going!"
"Listen to me. It's important! You can't trust her." Octavian said desperate to get his information across
"Trust who?"
"River Song. You think you know her, but you don't. You don't understand who or what she is."
The Doctor didn't feel like admitting to Octavian that he was nowhere near understanding who or what River song was even on a good day anyway; "Then tell me."
"I've told you more than I should. Now, please, you have to go. It's your duty to your friends, to your little girl."
"Just tell me," the Doctor said, ignoring the little girl comment for the moment, "Why was she in Stormcage?"
"She killed a man, a good man, a hero to many."
"Who?"
"You don't want to know, sir. You really don't."
"WHO did she kill?" the Doctor repeated forcefully.
"Sir, the angels are coming. You have to leave me."
"You'll die." the Doctor said.
"I will die in the knowledge that my courage did not desert me at the end. For that, I thank God and bless the path that takes you to safety."
"I wish I'd known you better." the Doctor said honestly, regretting his actions.
"I think, sir, you know me at my best."
"Ready?" the Doctor asked, tears in his eyes.
Octavian closed his eyes and whispered a quick prayer for the safety of his family, the Doctor and even Dr. Song, "Content."
The Doctor took a deep breath and dodged around Octavian, telling himself that the cracking noise he heard was his imagination as he dove into the service hatch, closing it behind him.
"There's a transmat!" River said eagerly, "If I can get it to work, we can beam the others here. Where's Octavian?"
"Octavian's dead, so is that transmat. You're wasting your time. I'm going to need your communicator." He said, taking it from her suddenly limp grip.
-
"Hello, are you there? Hello? Hello?" Marco heard his communicator go off, Amelia's scared voice coming through softly.
"I'm here. I'm fine. I'm quite close to it now." Marco told her, if it wasn't so scary he'd be amused at how worried she was for him. He made a mental note to give his sister an extra big hug once he got back home. Octavian usually was good about letting them visit with their family when a mission was over. He'd take her somewhere nice…Maybe skating, she liked skating.
"Then come back! Come back now, please?"
"It's weird looking at it…"
He had a sister. Or did he? Everything was getting fuzzy, maybe he should turn back. But something was urging him on further. The light was like a sirens call drawing him in. Closer and closer, it urged him. He tried to turn back, but he was feeling dizzy and sick now, "It feels really…."
Marcos last thought as he was pulled into the light was of the little girl he should have protected.
"Really what? Hello? Really what? Hello? Hello? Please say you're there! Hello? Hello!" Amelia's voice came franticly through the communicator.
"Is that you?" the Doctor's voice joined hers on the communicator.
-Primary flight deck-
"Doctor? Is that you?"
"Yes. Where are you? Are the Clerics with you?"
"No…They've gone." Amelia sniffled trying not to cry again, "There was a light and they walked into the Light. They didn't even remember each other, Doctor."
"No, they wouldn't." the Doctor closed his eyes thinking.
"What is that light?" Luke asked him.
"Time running out." the Doctor pressed in the button on the communicator again, "Amelia, I'm sorry. I should never have left you there."
"Well, what do I do now?" Amelia asked him.
"You come to us. Primary Flight Desk, other end of the forest."
"She can't see, Doctor!" Luke said worriedly, "She can't open her eyes!"
"I know that," the Doctor said using his Sonic on the communicator, "Turn on the spot."
"What?" Amelia said through the communicator.
"Just do it. Turn on the spot! Now, when the communicator sounds like my screwdriver, you're facing the right way. Just follow the sound."
He heard shuffling noises that indicated she was turning, but then the noises stopped.
"You have to start moving now."
Silence.
"Amelia, there's time energy spilling out of that crack and you have to stay ahead of it!"
"But the Angels, they're everywhere." Amelia whispered in fear.
"I'm sorry, I really am, but the Angels can only kill you."
"Doctor!" River gasped looking up from her work on the transmat in shock.
"What does the Time Energy do?" Amelia questioned, he could hear the shuffling noises that told him she was starting to move.
"Just keep moving!" He ordered.
"Tell me!"
"If the time energy catches up with you, you'll never have been born! It will erase every moment of your existence. You will never have lived at all. Now, keep your eyes shut and keep moving!"
"It's never going to work." River said desolately.
"What else have you got?" the Doctor shouted, flipping the button so Amelia couldn't hear him, "River, tell me!"
"I've got to help her." Luke said pacing back and forth, terrified, "I should be helping her."
"You need to stay here, Luke." the Doctor told him.
"I should be with her!" Luke yelled.
"Luke, you need to calm down." River told Luke, "The Doctor and I will get her; you don't have any reason to run out there."
"She's my charge, I promised to watch her." Luke worried.
"She's his sister too; you'd think that'd count." The Doctor said absently working at sending the communicator the newest update.
"WHAT?" River and Luke both yelped.
"Oh, did I say that out loud?" the Doctor frowned, "Well, it's step-sister anyway."
Whatever River was going to say was drowned out by a loud clanging noise followed by what sounded like all the air being sucked out of the ship.
"What's that?"
"The Angels running from the fire; they came here to feed on the time energy. Now it's going to feed on them." the Doctor said, flipping the radio back on he calmed his voice, "Amelia, listen to me. I'm sending a bit of software to your communicator. It's a proximity detector."
"A what?"
"It'll beep if there's something in your way. You just maneuver till the beeping stops. You need to do this Amelia, because this? This is very important." He took a deep breath and rested his forehead against the communicator, beating himself up mentally for leaving her behind, "The forest is full of Angels."
"No!" Luke yelled and moved to the opening they'd come through as if to go get her, but the Doctor hauled him backwards by his shirt in a quick grab that River barely saw.
"You're going to have to walk like you can see."
"What do you mean?" Amelia asked.
"Look, just keep moving." the Doctor told her trying to keep Luke in place.
"Luke, you're broadcasting." River told him wincing and rubbing her temple, "You've got to work on that."
"I've got to get her." Luke said dashing for the service hatch again only to be thwarted by the Doctor locking it with the Sonic.
"You're not going anywhere, Luke. You're staying here where it's safe." the Doctor ordered him.
"Safe?" River scoffed.
"Safe-r." the Doctor corrected himself, "You want to help? Just…Help River with the transmat."
Luke frowned and River winced again. The Doctor rolled his eyes, "Luke, if your mother heard that language she'd wash your mouth out with soap, now stop broadcasting."
"That Time Energy, what's it going to do?" River asked the Doctor as Luke started working in earnest.
"Er, keep eating." the Doctor said fixing the console.
"How do we stop it?"
"We feed it."
"Feed it what?"
"A big complicated space-time event should shut it up for a while." the Doctor said, absently tugging at his hair deep in thought sending it up in worst tuffs.
"Like what, for instance?" River queried a sinking feeling in her stomach.
"Like me, for instance!" he bellowed, making River flinch back.
A high-pitched beeping sounded suddenly through the flight deck, echoing off the walls.
"What is that?" River asked.
"It's a warning. The angels are all around her now." the Doctor closed his eyes and breathed deep; flipping on the communicator he calmed himself once again, "Amelia, listen to me. This is going to be hard but I know you can do it. There are angels all around you, but they're scared.
They're running and survival instincts are kicking in. They'll assume you can see them; all you have to do is walk like you can see. Just DON'T open your eyes. Walk like you can see."
He waited, listening, but didn't hear any movement.
"You're not moving, you have to do this!" He told her sternly.
-
Amelia shivered in fear. She hated the dark, hated keeping her eyes shut. She was all alone and trying to nudge her way along the path without falling. Next time she'd have to see if the TARDIS had any shoes her size that had Velcro. Even the shoes she had on now were about a size too big, but they were all she had besides her wellies. She held the communicator out in front of her listening to the beeps. It was kind of like the bats they had on TV. Echo-locators? Echo-Cating? Something like that…
It started beeping more rapidly and she turned towards the right to avoid it, but it only got louder and faster. She slowly edged her way forward again turning the other direction.
It took her three attempts to find her way.
About three steps into the new 'safe' path she felt her shoelace get caught under her other shoe. When she realized what she'd done it was too late and she fell, sprawling in the dirt. The communicator slipped from her hand when she fell.
"No." Amelia cried reaching for it, but all she felt was dirt, "Doctor! I can't find the communicator, I dropped it! I can't find it. Doctor!" She yelled still searching in the dirt.
Almost as if they sensed her weakness the Angels came to life, turning slowly to study the girl whose back was to them.
"Doctor…" She stood up, forgetting the communicator at the sound of stone grinding having terrified her. As she stood she turned unknowingly coming face-to-face with one of the Angels as it reached for her.
A cool burst of air seemed to wrap around her, and lights burst so bright she saw it with her eyes closed tight. Instead of pain like she expected and the stony grasp of an angel, warm arms encircled her holding her close.
"Don't open your eyes." River told her, holding her tight, "You're on the Flight Deck, the Doctor and Luke are here."
"We transmatted you." Luke said.
"Told you we could get it working." River said smugly.
"River Song, I could bloody kiss you!" the Doctor proclaimed hugging Amelia.
"Ah well, maybe when you're older."
An alarm sounded loudly over the Doctors laugh, blaring like a fire siren almost.
"What's that?" Luke asked.
"The Angels are draining the last of the ship's power, which means…The shield is going to release!" he pushed Amelia back behind him again, transferring her hand from his to Luke's.
As he did so the shield to the forest opened up slowly revealing an Army of Angels standing facing all of them, frozen in place with menacing snarls on their faces.
The Doctor stepped forward, "Angel Bob, I presume."
"The Time Field is coming. It will destroy our reality." Angel Bob's disembodied voice echoed.
"Yeah, and look at you, all running away. What can I do for you?"
"There is a rupture in time. The Angels calculate that if you throw yourself into it, it will close and they will be saved."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Could do, could do that," the Doctor nodded along to Angel Bob's statements, "But why?"
"Your friends would also be saved."
"Well, there is that."
River stepped forward from her place guarding the children and grabbed the Doctors arm to get his attention, "I've travelled in time. I'm a complicated space/time event, too. Throw me in."
"Oh, be serious! Compared to me, these Angels are more complicated than you and it would take every one of them to amount to me, so get a grip."
"Doctor, I can't let you do this!"
"No, seriously, get a grip."
"You're not going to die here!"
"No, I mean it. River, Amelia, Luke, get a grip."
Understanding dawned, "Oh, you genius!" River hurried back to Amelia and Luke.
"Sir, the Angels need you to sacrifice yourself now."
"Thing is, Bob, the Angels are draining all the power from this ship, every last bit of it. And you know what? I think they've forgotten where they're standing. I think they've forgotten the gravity of the situation, or to put it another way, Angels…"
"You hold on tight and don't you let go of anything." River told Amelia , placing her hands on one of the handles of the panel, "Luke, no matter what, hold on."
Luke nodded and grabbed on, hooking his arms around it just in case he needed a free hand as River grabbed the handle on the other side of Amelia.
"Night-night." the Doctor smirked, leaning backwards at the last second to get a handhold.
The alarms stopped blaring and suddenly everything seemed to tilt. The Gravity had finally failed.
'We'll all plunge to our deaths, see? I've thought about it.'
The Deck turned on its side and they were left holding on for dear life, vertical to the crack now. The angels, unable to hold onto anything as long as the Doctor was watching them were sent tumbling backwards into the light making it burst bright for a moment before it closed completely.
"Night-night." the Doctor repeated.
-
"Ah, bruised everywhere." Amelia complained. She wasn't sure where the Doctor had produced the blanket she was wrapped in from, but she was grateful for it.
"Me too." Luke said.
"Me three!" the Doctor joined the whining.
"You didn't have to climb out with your eyes shut."
"Neither did you, I kept saying: 'The angels all fell into the time field, the angel in your memory never existed, it can't harm you now'."
"River said to be careful though." Amelia pointed out, "And why do I remember it? If it never existed once it went into the crack. Marco didn't remember the others."
"You're a time traveler now, Amelia. It changes the way you see the universe forever. Good, isn't it?" the Doctor asked, secretly proud she'd remembered the Clerics name. It didn't matter how important you were , if you were a traveler or stationary, if someone saved your life you were duty bound to remember them.
"And the Crack, is that gone too?" Luke said.
"Yeah, for now. But the explosion that caused it is still happening….somewhere out there, somewhere in time." He stared off into the ocean for a moment before breaking out of his thoughts, "Excuse me a moment, Luke if something happens to Amelia I'll forget who you are to me and find a mud pit somewhere!" he yelled back walking over to River, ignoring the giggles from Amelia and the gulp of fear from Luke.
"You…me…handcuffs." River rolled her eyes and held out her hands which were encased in a very familiar pair of handcuffs, "Must it always end this way?"
The Doctor ignored the question and the pain that came along with it, "What now?"
"Well, the prison ship's in orbit. They'll beam me up any second. I might have done enough to earn a pardon this time. We'll see." River smiled hopefully.
"Octavian said you killed a man." the Doctor said bluntly.
Rivers smile faltered, "Yes. I did. A good man. A very good man. One of the best men I've ever known."
"Who?"
"Oh, that's a long story, Doctor, and it can't be told. It has to be lived. No sneak previews. Well, except for this one: You'll see me again, quite soon when Rome falls."
"Soon for me, or soon for you?" the Doctor countered, wondering if she was planning something.
"For you, of course," River grinned, he was catching on quickly.
"I'd never go to Rome, Rome's boring. All fighting, conquering, 'kill the Christian'-y…Though they were the greatest military machine in history."
"Would you prefer we met at the Pandorica?" River suggested with a smile.
"The Pandorica, ha!" the Doctor laughed and leaned forward to whisper smugly, "That's a fairy tale."
"Oh, Doctor, aren't we all?" River laughed, "I'll see you in Rome."
"I look forward to it."
"I remember it well."
The Doctor shook his head and chuckled as Amelia and Luke walked over.
"Bye, River." Amelia said.
"See you, Amelia." The handcuffs started beeping, "Oh! I think that's my ride."
"Bye, " Luke echoed.
"Can I trust you, River Song?" the Doctor inquired, tilting his head and studying River.
"If you like, but where's the fun in that?" She laughed as the same whirlwinds Luke had seen earlier scooped her up in the transmat.
"What are you thinking?" Amelia asked after a few moments of silence.
"Time can be rewritten." the Doctor said softly. After a few seconds he seemed to snap out of it, but he didn't lose the stupidly happy smile,
"Amelia, where are your shoes?"
"I lost them when I transmatted." Amelia blushed, "They were too big."
"Then why were you wearing them?"
"I didn't have any others!"
"Oh, what am I going to do with you?" the Doctor shook his head and laughed before leaning down quickly and scooping her up over his shoulder.
Amelia yelped and laughed, "Doctor, put me down!"
The Doctor spun in place quickly making her laugh harder, "Sorry? What was that? I didn't quite get that!"
Luke followed the two back to the TARDIS, thinking hard on what he wanted to do.
"Alright then, where to next? Anywhere you want, any time you want, bar anywhere where you have to breathe underwater." the Doctor proclaimed, dropping Amelia down into the jump seat.
Luke frowned and finally made a decision, "I want to go home."
The Doctor and Amelia both frowned.
"OK." the Doctor said quietly.
Amelia hopped off the jump seat, ditching the blanket in the process and hugged Luke tightly, "I don't want you to go."
"Amelia, I have to." Luke told her, "I've been here a while, but I need to go home. I miss my mum and my friends."
"I'm your friend too!" Amelia tried to coerce him into staying, "And I need you."
"No you don't, you've got the Doctor." Luke assured her.
The TARDIS landed quietly – for once – in Luke's bedroom. Luke and the Doctor both stepped out.
"I'm sorry, Doctor." Luke said once he made sure no one was home.
"No, Luke, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have ever put you in a situation like that." the Doctor replied, hugging the teen.
"Thank you, though. For taking me. For showing me everything." Luke smiled, "I've just got one question."
"What's that?" the Doctor asked, pausing with one foot inside the TARDIS.
"What did you mean she's my sister?"
The Doctor looked around the room quickly as if assuring himself that no one was there, "Your mum and I are married. Well, only on the Lost moon of Poosh, which isn't actually lost any more. So that makes you my step-son."
"Oh. Does that mean you've decided to keep Amelia?" Luke guessed.
"Shhh, don't tell anyone. And if your mother asks you weren't babysitting. I took it upon myself to make up for 15 birthdays."
"I'm only one!" Luke laughed.
"Well, why ever would I know that?" the Doctor winked and climbed back inside the TARDIS, shutting the door. As the TARDIS disappeared into the air, Luke shook his head.
It had been fun visiting all those places, meeting Churchill, River; seeing the Daleks up close without getting hurt. Museums, space stations and slightly intelligent fungi he was certain shouldn't have been growing in a tea kettle.
Looking at his alarm clock Luke was surprised to see only about 5 minutes had passed, as promised.
He'd think about how awesome that was later, for now all he wanted to do was sleep.