A/N: Really quick, I know the last chapter ended saying this would be the prequel to LKH, and it is, BUT! I've added MORE than just the Ponds here. I DID say I'd be bringing in the old companions ;)
~8~
Have You Found Her?
The console room of the TARDIS was dark, barely any light on, the TARDIS unnaturally quiet, as solemn and devastated as her Pilots were, feeling the enormous pain her thief and sister felt. The phone rang three times but no one answered, the old box herself barely seeming to have the spirit to move her rotor, the light from it dim, casting an eerie glow around the room. It wasn't right, it made the once vibrant and warm and life-filled room seem cold and empty and dark.
There was a beep as the answer phone picked up, "Oh!" the Doctor's voice echoed through the room, "Blimey, ok…you probably leave a message at the tone or something. Sorry, I wasn't really trying to do this, I was looking for the BRAKES!"
There was a beep, cutting off the oncoming crashing noise that would have inevitably followed whatever attempt the Doctor had been trying for, as the message began to record...
~8~
"Doc!" Jack shouted, a frantic quality to his voice, "Angie?! Answer the phone! Please, pick up! Red and Beaky...they just told us what happened, Angel...Doctor answer the goddamn phone!"
"Jack calm down!" Gwen's voice spoke in the background.
"Calm down? Calm down?! HOW!? Gwen my goddaughter was just kidnapped!"
"I knew we should have stayed there," Gray murmured, guilt saturating his words. Of all of the Torchwood team, he had always been the best at divining what the enemy was up to, seeing other motives, guessing their next moves, but this time...this one time...he failed and now Angel, his sister, was hurting.
"You couldn't have known Gray," Tosh tried to soothe him.
"It's not like you're psy...OW!" Owen cried as a slapping noise was heard.
"Will you watch your words Owen?" Ianto hissed at him, knowing that Angel, the psychic, would be hearing this, and hearing that 'if a psychic had been there it wouldn't have happened' was NOT the best thing to say AT ALL.
"Will all of you shut up?!" Jack cut in.
"Jack if you don't calm down and stop yelling at us I will take my gun and ram it..." Gwen began.
"Guys!" Rhys, of all people, cut in, a soft murmuring sounding, the sound of children playing in the background, Anwen and Tosh and Owen's son, Dylan, with her, "You lot bickering isn't helping any is it?"
There was silence a moment.
"Angie please," Jack whispered, "Answer the phone, please, we just...we want to know if you're ok."
"We're going to find her," Gray promised, "We will."
"We've got Torchwood operating at maximum efficiency," Tosh added.
"We're not gonna stop," Gwen agreed, "We'll work 24/7 if we have to."
"But we'll get her back," Ianto spoke.
"You'll have your little ankle-bit...OW!" Owen shouted again, "Will you stop smacking me?"
"Oi!" Rhys cut in again.
"Look, Ang," Jack was back, "No matter what, we'll get her back, we'll find her again. We won't stop till we do."
"We just wanted you to know, we're here," Gray said quietly.
There was a click as the phone call ended.
~8~
"Angel I am SO sorry!" Mickey cried, "Jack got in touch with Martha and me and..."
"Give me!" Martha took the line, "Angel, Doctor? Are you there? Are they there?"
"No," Mickey sighed, "I got the answer phone."
"...they've got an answer phone?"
"Martha, the call?"
"Right, Angel, Doctor? Are you ok?"
"Look, Jack told us what happened, but don't worry, 'cos we'll get her back, ain't no one going to take my niece and get away with it!"
"My niece too," Martha reminded him.
"But we're here, if you need us, we're here and we're trying."
"Yeah, we've gotten ahold of all our contacts, I've gone back with UNIT and they're all onboard."
"We're keeping an eye out and the second there's a transmission or anything, a blip or something, about Ayla, we'll call you."
"And if you want to stop by, we've both got hugs for the two of you waiting, just...come see us."
"And if not, 'cos, you know, you're probably busy, but...just know that you're not alone, you've got all of us and we won't stop till we find Ayla again. You both made us better, made us stronger, so...you be strong too. We won't give up."
"We won't, we swear, so just...take care of yourselves and don't lose hope, ok?" there was silence, "Ok...bye."
The phone call gently came to a slow beep.
~8~
"Don't you DARE tell me you're alright!" Donna's voice snapped, "Don't you dare try your special sneaky Time Lord code with me Spaceman. 'Cos I know what's happened and if you lie to me I swear I'm gonna hunt the TARDIS down and give you a bigger slap than last time! I know you must be devastated, and I know Supergirl probably isn't feeling all that super..." she trailed off, her voice getting quieter as her rage diminished.
"I could feel it, you know, that pit in my stomach. I should have known not to leave you," she sighed, "Don't know what I could've done to help, but...I'd still be there. And I AM here. If you need me, I'm here Spaceman, Supergirl, I'll always be here for you, like you were for me. So...go out there, you go out there and you find that baby and you bring her back to meet her old Aunt Donna properly."
She sighed again, "She had to go and get the Doctor's hair though, didn't she? Couldn't be ginger? She'd be the youngest member of Gingers United!" she gave a small laugh, "But...serious now, it'll be ok. I know you don't believe me, I don't believe me either, but...you two...if you stay together, stick to each other, heal each other...you'll be ok. It'll be ok. I can tell..." she sniffled.
"I'm not sure if it's a feeling Angel, or if I'm just hoping but...you both taught me that, to hope. So I'm tellin' ya, you hope and you keep standing strong and you'll find her. I know you will. And when you do...for God sake take that bowtie out of her hair!"
There was a moment of silence before Donna sighed and the phone call ended.
~8~
"Mum? Dad?" Jenny's call echoed through the room, "It's Jenny. Uncle Rory told me about AJ," it was her name for Ayla, her own little name for her little sister. She didn't know if they'd call her Ayla Smith or Ayla Jones or even Ayla Harkness, and she liked AJ better. She hadn't gotten to use it though, "Mum, dad, I...I'm so sorry," she started to cry, her soldier training breaking down, they had lost a daughter, she had lost a sister and even though she'd only gotten to hold the baby a minute at her mother's insistence, wanting to take a picture with her, making her feel more like their daughter that she was in the picture of just them and her and Ayla.
She loved that little girl SO much already!
"I should have been there, I should have seen that the army gave up too easily and just...stayed with you. Some soldier I am," she sniffled, "I could have done something, protected you mum, like you and dad protected me. I'm sorry I let you down. I just...I can't believe this happened. But don't worry, dad'll get her back, and you will too. I've seen you two together, the amazing things you've done. You've saved so many people, me included, and I know you'll save her too."
There was another sniffle, "I'm gonna look for her, Cline can watch the settlement for a while, but I'm gonna look, I'll go to the Judoon and the Sontarans, any soldiers I can think of. I'll get them to help, I am dad's daughter, I can talk them round, and I'm your daughter too mum, I can get them to help. And if you find her before me...call me, please, I'll be there in an instant. I'll help you. Just...call me, please."
Silence.
"I love you," Jenny finished, before a click sounded.
~8~
"Doctor?" Sarah Jane's message picked up, "Are you there? It's funny, I didn't know you had an answer phone. I suppose it's understandable, Angel always answered the phone the second it rang," she trailed off, "I just wanted to say how sorry I am. After all these years, facing aliens, with you and without you, I didn't think this would happen. And that's just it isn't it, this wasn't aliens this time, it was us, it was humans. We always were the trickiest. And I'm so...sorry for that."
She sighed, "You and Angel, you've done so much for us, protected us, saved us...and I know it must hurt that the humans you fought to protect have done this to you, to have made an army and organized for this all to happen. But it's not all of us, it was a small number and the rest of us, all of us, we'll help you. Whatever you need, whatever you need us to do, wherever you need us to go, please...all you have to do is say the word and we'll be there, we'll do it. We made our way through space and time for you once, we'd do it again in a heartbeat."
"I've got Mr. Smith running scans," she added, "He's sent out beacons and messages to every ally we've ever made, asking them for help. And I think they'll give it, they'll watch for Ayla, and they'll spot her. They have to. Not even you could disappear like that Doctor, just...vanish. They're out there somewhere and we're all looking, we'll find her. You always ask us to trust you Doctor, so this time...trust us. Trust me when I say...we'll get her back."
She went quiet a moment, "And please know...I really am truly sorry. Please, let me know if there is anything I can do to help either of you. Goodbye."
The answer phone beeped as the message ended.
~8~
"Doctor?" Amy's voice called.
"Angel?" Rory asked, more frantic than his wife, though sounding a bit more distant, clearly Amy was the one actually on the phone with Rory beside her, "Angel are you there?"
"Can you hear us? Are you ever gonna hear this?"
Rory scoffed, "He didn't know he had an answer phone Amy."
Amy gave a little laugh, "Point taken," before she returned to the message, "How can you be so clever and so completely stupid at the same time?"
"Look," Rory cut in, "If you get this message…please just pick up the phone. Please. We just want to know if you're alright."
"Don't get confused, we're not invisible or trapped in a space ball or something," Amy added, not wanting them to worry and become distracted, they had to be worried enough as it was, "We're just talking on the answer phone. So just pick up the phone. Really, pick up."
"You went to find Ayla," Rory breathed, "Did you find her? We know how much she means to you, she…she means a lot to us as well."
"Yeah! We're her Aunt Amy and Uncle Rory! We love that little girl."
"So much," Rory agreed, "It's crazy how much we care about her already."
"And we know you're worried. River wouldn't tell us anything about her, if she even knows about her," she sighed, "River...Doctor...River is our daughter. But how does that even work? I'm not pregnant and..."
"That's not really the point of the call Amy," Rory reminded her, a note of warning in his voice that likely had made Amy wince, remembering who had JUST been pregnant with a girl of her own.
"Right," Amy sighed, "Look…we're both worried so please, phone us back when you know something. Anything."
"Please Doctor, please," Rory said softly, "Angel means a lot to me and...I just...I want to know that she's alright."
"So call, ok? Alright bye."
"Bye."
The phone clicked off as the message ended.
~8~
The Doctor bowed his head as he stood in the dark TARDIS console room, leaning heavily on the console, his eyes tightly closed as he hunched over, listening to the various messages that played. He had been lucky, that HE had been the only one to hear them when they were made. He knew they all meant well, they were family checking in, offering help and sympathy and hope...but they were spaced out. They kept calling, they kept bringing it up with each and every call, it was a reminder that Ayla had been taken, that they'd come so close and lost even more. He was thankful Angel wasn't there to hear them.
He wasn't sure if it was her sensations or her intuition that had her not in the room when the calls came in...but whatever it was, he was grateful for it. He'd rather it be HIM to hear it than her. Things were...not good. Not good at all. He was shaking at the moment, feeling the utter pain and torment his Mate was in as she tried (and failed) to get some sleep as he'd ordered since she hadn't been getting much of it recently, neither had he really. They just...they weren't doing well. It hadn't gotten better, it hadn't lightened at all, nor would it ever he knew, it just got worse, day after day, knowing what had happened and not knowing what to do. Every single day was a knife in their hearts, every moment just...pained.
Their daughter was gone, taken by their enemies, ripped out of Angel's arms when she was at her weakest. And they had been searching for her ever since, what felt like endless searching, searching they would never every stop until they found her again. But every time, every lead, every stop, every hope was just...crushed, time after time because...
No, they hadn't found her.
The TARDIS wasn't bonded to Ayla, it couldn't find her through space and time like it could when the emergency programs were activated to protect the Pilots. Trying to search the whole of space and time in the entire Universe...not even the TARDIS could see that specifically. The Universe was a BIG place, space and time even bigger, even more complex, even more infinite. To find one person in the whole of all space and time...it was impossible. But they tried, they tried so hard, they just...they wanted her back, their daughter, their baby girl.
Angel had tried as well, everything she could think of to find Ayla, but she couldn't see that far despite the girl being closer to her than anything in her hearts save him. There was nothing she could sense or see or feel that helped. She didn't have any feelings about any planets, about any tips, about any random buttons or locations or anything that might point them to where Ayla was. And that killed her. She had always been the one to get them exactly where they needed to go, and she was failing. Psychics couldn't see everything, she couldn't see where Ayla was, she couldn't sense the girl's future...which had terrified them to think, maybe she couldn't sense their baby's future because...because she didn't have a future.
They refused to think that.
Ayla had to be out there, she had to be alive, they had to find her, they just...they HAD to. This was truly the most devastating thing they had ever encountered, worse than Angel seeing her sister killed before her or him forgetting her, worse than him having to time-lock the planet only to have the Daleks continue to return. Truly the worst thing ever. And they were scared, they were truly, truly scared of what the Silence and Kovarian would do to their daughter, what she would be used for, what weapon she might become if...if she even survived whatever that process would be.
They refused to think that too.
He shook his head and looked at the console, then up at the rotor as the TARDIS hummed sadly around him, in what was probably a sad, apologetic, disappointed way. He knew the box was likely upset with herself that she couldn't be more help. But he'd seen it in Angel's mind, the TARDIS hadn't known if he'd remember, the Silent that had been in there, the one that had made him forget Angel...it had had a slight effect on the TARDIS in that sense. As he had been ordered to forget her and had, the TARDIS hadn't been able to see if he'd remember because, in his mind, under the Silent's suggestion, he really hadn't remembered, everything had been blocked and no one had broken through a Silent's power yet.
He let out a breath and made his way around the console once more, flying the box into the Vortex again, trying to find another lead, another planet to look into, another people that could help. He just...he HAD to do this, HE had to find Ayla. He had already failed his Mate in forgetting her, he had failed his daughter in not being able to protect her, he had failed the TARDIS in letting River anywhere near them...he couldn't fail this too.
This was the only way he could make it up to them all and to himself.
He just...he wanted his family to be whole again, he just wanted his daughter back.
A/N: D': I know this chapter's pretty short :( Since it's a mini-sode/prequel the promised 4,000 words minimum thing doesn't apply, but it IS about 2500 words longer than it originally was though ;) I just really wanted to add in the other companions, I can't believe NONE of them would have still had the TARDIS number and that they wouldn't call up and try to reach out to the Time Lords after finding out what happened :( And I know this is a bit Angel-lite, but I wanted to take a little look at the Doctor's thoughts about it all since we've seen so much of Angel's angst :)
Not much fluff here, I know, but it IS coming ;) And we'll see Angel's thoughts on the Silence being the cause of the Doctor's amnesia very soon along with the Ponds reactions to/an explanation of River :)
Also, this'll might be the last chapter to submit any questions you might have that you want me to answer if we hit 1000 :) I'll probably announce next chapter which question will be answered then :)
And, last note, I've updated my profile to include a link to the transcripts for Supernatural for any who are interested :) Originally I was going to put up the three sites I had used and offer the few episodes I did myself...but then, as I was trying to find the sites again, I stumbled on a link that has seasons 1-8 of Supernatural as transcripts. So it's up if anyone needs it :)
Some notes on reviews...
I can't say when, it'll actually have a bit to do with River though ;)
I can't say if Angel and the Doctor will be there when Ayla dies :( We'll have to wait and see :)
Lol, yup, Angel will forget. She will forget everything. She will forget forever and not that long at all }:) And that's all I can say about that ;)
That's cool that you had a sneaking suspicion, as Angel would probably say, trust yourself ;)
The voice that made him forget was a Silent on the ceiling of the TARDIS giving him an order as he looked at it, so when he turned away the post-hypnotic suggestion kicked in ;)
Oh the Doctor is the furthest thing from River's 'uncle' in this story...at least to her }:) It's all about perception. Since Rory isn't biologically related to Angel, River can (and will) argue all she likes about that and, I think, enjoy reminding her father that he's not really Angel's brother :( And there'll be a twist for the Ponds that'll make her see the Doctor even less like an uncle as well. We'll actually see a bit of that very soon :)
I'm gonne zip my lips about Ayla's death and her ultimate fate }:) But I can promise Angel won't Mary-Sue this and forgive completely. I can say she WILL forgive him in that it really and honestly wasn't his fault that he forgot her, he was 'under the influence' of the Silent's command and she's seen first hand herself as well that it can't be fought very well and can't be helped. But she won't forget what happened as a result of it. She won't forget how distant he was, how close he got to River, how badly she felt of herself because of all she didn't know about why it happened. She may forgive him, but she will never forget what happened because of it and it will have a lasting impact on her :( They'll have a lot of issues to resolve. There will be fluff in working them out, but there will still be tensions :)
Rory and Amy still have a few more 'words' to share with their daughter, no worries there ;)
It's very confusing isn't it? We'll just have to wait and see how it plays out and is explained :) I can say it'll make MUCH more sense when we actually get to it and the saga continues ;)
Lol, thanks! I completely missed the 'on,' I went back and fixed it. And no worries, correct away, I really want the chapters to be the best version of them they can be so fixing mistakes definitely helps on that :)
I can't say if Ayla will return. She will be mentioned quite a bit, and we'll see just what River knows about her very soon along with just what River might be :) She could be human, given that Amy and Rory aren't pregnant at the moment, but then again...she might just be conceived later in the TARDIS, time travel and all. Or...she might be conceived human and taken by the Silence and manipulated with some...Time Lord DNA...to be part Time Lord. Or she might be something else entirely lol :) I'm not answering straight only because we'll be finding out in a few short days what with LKH next and all the truths that were learned in the actual episode ;)
Oh the Doctor will have his day with River, no worries :) We've still got his Oncoming Storm moment to come ;) Amy and Rory are more...stunned and confused at the moment, they don't understand how River is possible, but we'll see more of that in LKH ;)
That's great! I'm glad the stories were able to get you a little more into DW ^-^
I think I'm slowly becoming evil...and that's how/why I do this to you }:) Lol, no, just kidding, I really don't know. I think it's just...you need harsh times to appreciate the good times. We had SO MUCH FLUFF to start that we needed something drastic to really look at how good it was and how great it'll be in the future. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger and it's always darkest before the dawn would be a good way to describe this story and the last story :)
It's definitely a bit sadder yup :) But the fluff will be coming back, no worries ;)
That's a great question, I've added it to the list ;)
Lol, I can't say when the oncoming storm moment will happen, I want it to be a surprise ;) As for Angel's amnesia, I'm zipping my lips on that too, so we'll have to wait and see how it happens :) But I can say there will be quite a bit of fluff before and after that moment ;)