Hello, my lovelies! Ok, so, I'm going to be real with you for a second. I'm SUPER sorry about going MIA for so long? I've had a lot going on with school and friends and a certain band that I love that won't stop releasing content at 3 in the morning. So, I've kinda been procrastinating writing this chapter because I felt like it wasn't good enough? And I really didn't want to disappoint you guys with a shitty chapter. Anyways, I'm here, I'm back. I can't promise I won't go missing again but thank you so much for sticking with this story. Really, I appreciate all of you and your comments make me smile and motivate me to write more. What I can promise though is that very soon there will be many chapters coming your way. After this episode is finished, I have one episode to write (Lazarus Experiment) and then the next 4 episodes (eight-ish chapters) are all fully written (and action packed, my dude, lemme tell you). This chapter is a bit short, but I figured since the last one was 10,000 words and it's been so long, you guys wouldn't mind the short upload. Enjoy the chapter!
Replies to Comments:
Fakira: AHHHH YES THEY DID! I'm glad to be back and thank you for believing in the fact that I won't give up on this story. I'm glad this chapter could bring you a little bit of happiness because you're comments always make me so happy and it's really nice to feel like I'm returning the favor! I hope school will get better for you and that the coming of spring will bring lots of sunshine and flowers your way. And, trust me, I COMPLETELY understand the American Netflix struggle! Hope you have a wonderful day too and enjoy this next chapter.
Pastel-Potatoes: Ahhh thank you so much! I'm really glad you enjoyed the emotional speech/the chapter. I was actually really nervous that that chapter wasn't as good as the others since I had taken such a long break from writing the story, so your words definitely made me feel 100 times better! Hope you enjoy this next chapter!
Whovian-Potter: Hi, I want to say that I really love your username, first of all. Also, thank you, your review was very sweet! I'm glad you like their dynamic, it's one of my favorite dynamics to write and I love being able to share it with others who enjoy it. I'm glad you liked their 'goodbye' too, that episode isn't going to happen for a while, so the Audrey that the Doctor leaves behind and the Audrey in the last chapter are VERY different people and that goodbye scene effects the way Audrey's dynamic with the Doctor evolves for the rest of the story. Hope you enjoy this next chapter!
This was foreign ground for Audrey.
Watching the Doctor walk away filled her with… more than she had felt in a long time. Usually everything was so concealed, even from Audrey herself. She had mastered the art of bottling her emotions up so tightly that she could hardly feel them anymore. More often than not, feelings of happiness or joy had been nothing but echoes of the real thing, heightened by the adrenaline of whatever thrill-seeking activity she was using to feel alive.
There were exceptions, of course, especially now that she was in this universe and feeling all sorts of things she wasn't used to. A pang of sadness when they couldn't save someone, excitement when they could. A wave of happiness when she made a companion laugh, or when the Doctor smiled at her.
Still, it was enough for her to deal with. If something only lasted a fraction of a second, it was easy to retreat back to her façade of feeling nothing.
This was different.
She watched until he disappeared from her view and the only thing echoing in her mind was goodbye, goodbye, goodbye.
He was returning to whatever point in time he came from, facing some danger that seemed inescapable and that she was powerless to stop. She couldn't go with him and be there to stand by his side. Instead, she was forced to stay here in this dark forest with the knowledge that somewhere, sometime, he was suffering on his own.
A flame of unbridled emotion was lit within Audrey, sparking and growing until she was totally encompassed by it.
Forget Weeping Angels, she'd managed to find something she feared more and right now all she wanted was to get back to the Doctor and wrap him in her arms. She knew that it wasn't the same, holding onto this Doctor wouldn't change the fate of the other, but still she wanted nothing more than to see him safe.
What more could she really stand to lose? One universe had taken her innocence, her childhood, and her sanity. Then, this one had taken her family. At the end of all of that, she had one person still reaching a hand out to pick her up from the ruins. She'd been given a best friend who knew how to make her laugh, who knew how to see through all of her masks and find the Audrey underneath. Was the universe really so cruel as to take him away from her as well?
She wanted to rage and scream and curse at nothing. She wanted to find whatever higher power had control over their fates and dare them to try tearing them apart.
But she didn't have the time. She didn't have the time to grieve over someone she hadn't lost yet or vow that she would keep him safe. Not when Amy was waiting for her. Not when there were people counting on her to play her part in this escape plan.
All she could do was stand there, alone in an angel-filled forest on some planet she couldn't remember the name of, and let tears roll down her face for the first time in four years.
When Audrey returned to the spot where she had left Amy, she was almost glad that the younger girl couldn't see her. She had tied her hair into a ponytail to hide the fact that it was mussed beyond repair, but the tear streaks on her face were harder to conceal.
The two of them went back to their previous arrangement of sitting silently next to each other as they waited. Audrey couldn't afford to be lost in her thoughts anymore, so she tried to busy herself in the meantime.
She aimed her sonic screwdriver at the dirt, the purple glow projecting shapes onto the ground. It was a copy of the digital map that she had downloaded and distributed to the Doctor, River, and the clerics. Little red dots were displayed on the map, representing each of the devices that she had sent the map to. There were four dots spread out in a deformed square, one for each of the clerics on guard, and then one in the middle for her. The Doctor, River, and Octavian were all represented by small dots that were moving together across the map, almost reaching the Primary Flight Deck.
A sigh of relief escaped her. As long as those dots were still there, still moving, she knew that he was safe.
"So…what's happening?" Amy asked in a bored tone, "Anything happening out there?"
"The Angels are still grouping," Marco replied then he raised his voice to talk to the other clerics, "Are you getting this too?"
"The trees? Yeah," Phillip confirmed.
The lights above them started to flicker, dousing the clearing in pitch darkness for a split second. Audrey was quick to jump to her feet. Amy must've noticed felt the movement because her head snapped in that direction.
"What's wrong with the trees?" Amy asked. The clerics didn't pay attention to her questions and kept conversing with one another. "What is it? What's happening? Tell me. I can't see!"
Audrey knelt down in front of Amy and took her hands in her own. Amy, with her eyes still closed, tilted her head in the direction that she assumed Audrey was in and furrowed her eyebrows.
"They're taking out the trees," Audrey explained.
Amy reeled back slightly, "But that means the lights-"
"Hey, hey, listen," Audrey cut in when Amy's voice turned frantic, "We're going to be okay. I'm going to get you out of her safely. Do you trust me?"
Amy nodded, "Yeah, yeah. Of course, I do."
Audrey squeezed Amy's hand before standing up and moving towards where Phillip was standing. The Angels were frozen in place, some of them with their hands pulling wires out of the trees and others advancing on their group, ready to strike. They got closer each time the lights flickered.
"Angels advancing, sir," Phillip announced.
"Over here again," Pedro said.
"Weapons primed. Combat distance five feet. Wait for it."
"What is it?" Amy questioned, "What's happening? Just tell me!"
Audrey kept her eyes on the Angels as she moved backwards, hands stretched out behind her. She felt her fingertips brush against Amy's sweater and the younger girl's hands came up to hold onto her wrists tightly.
"Here. I'm with you, okay?" Audrey assured her, "You have to keep your eyes closed."
"But what's happening?" Amy asked again.
"The Angels are taking out the lights so we can't keep watching them," Audrey told her. "And…"
Audrey's attention was redirected to a bright light that came streaming out from behind the trees. If she wasn't so curious as to what it was, she might've have been relieved that there was a source of light that the Angels couldn't remove.
"The ship's not on fire, is it?" Marco wondered.
"It can't be. The compressors would have taken care of it," Pedro informed them. "Marco, the Angels have gone. Where'd they go?"
Sure enough, when Audrey looked back to where the Angels had been, there was only an empty space. The clerics reported back one by one, each claiming the same thing. For whatever reason, all of the Angels had disappeared.
"There's still movement out there, but away from us now. It's like they're running."
"Running?" Audrey muttered. "Running from what? What are Angels afraid of?"
All of them, save Amy of course, turned their eyes to the bright light. It couldn't be a coincidence that the light had appeared at the same moment the Angels had retreated. Whatever it was, it had to have scared them off. Normally, Audrey would consider that a good thing, but she had a feeling that the Angels weren't easily spooked. Chances are, if they were afraid of something, she should be too.
"Phillip, Crispin," Marco said, "Need to get a closer look at that."
Both clerics nodded and headed off in the direction of the light.
"What are you all looking at? What's there?" Amy exclaimed.
"It's a light, like some sort of…energy," Audrey said, wincing when her eyes started to burn and her stomach felt like it was turning itself inside out, "It's…damn, that's bright."
"Are you alright, ma'am?" Pedro asked Audrey.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I just feel a bit sick is all."
Marco nodded, "I feel it too. The light, it makes you feel weird."
"And you think it scared the Angels?" Amy asked.
"What could scare those things?" Pedro wondered. He was the one asking the question on each of their minds. What could scare something that was already the embodiment of fear itself?
Amy turned back and forth, trying to sense where the light was coming from based on the brightness she could detect through her closed eyelids. Audrey saw the way she stilled once her face was turned in the same general direction of the light with her closed eyes squinting from the brightness.
"What are you doing?" Marco asked Amy.
"Point me at the light," Amy said.
"Amy," Audrey began, "You can't open your eyes. The angel is still in your mind."
"I can't open them for more than a second, that's what the Doctor said. Still got a bit of countdown left," Amy reminded her.
"Ma'am you can't," Marco cut in.
Audrey sighed, "You have to be quick. I'll point you in the direction."
Marco gave Audrey an incredulous look to which Audrey only responded by shaking her head. As much as she cared for Amy's wellbeing, she knew that the redheaded woman was far too stubborn to let this go. It was better to agree to letting her open her eyes for a split second while they were both monitoring her, rather than her go behind their backs to try to sneak a peek and accidently run over her time left.
Finally, after seeing the resignation on Audrey's face, Marco nodded as well, "Very quick."
With their hands on Amy's shoulders, they moved her directly in front of the light. It was a strain on their eyes to look at the light head on, but they were both too concerned about Amy to notice.
"Okay," Amy murmured as she tried to prepare herself. Slowly, her eyes blinked open and she peered through the trees to see the light beyond it.
A sharp intake of breath followed Amy opening her eyes. Whatever she saw in the light caused her eyes to widen and fear to color her face. The next time she spoke, she sounded breathless.
"It's the same shape. It's the crack in my wall."
"Close your eyes, now," Marco demanded.
"It's following me! Audrey, how can it be following me?" Amy asked as she collapsed to her knees. Marco was quick to bend down next to her and force his hand over her eyes like Audrey had done before.
Audrey knelt down on the ground by Amy, wrapping the younger girl in her arms as best she could from the position they were in. Amy didn't make a sound, but her hands came up to grasp at the fabric of Audrey's clothes, holding her in place.
"Are you okay?" Audrey checked.
"Yeah. It was the same shape," Amy replied, "How can it be here?"
"I don't know."
Audrey didn't have the heart to tell Amy that she didn't know what she was talking about. From the way she spoke about it, it seemed like a rather important crack that Audrey was sure was from some adventure she hadn't been on yet. She didn't think that Amy needed to know that she was out of the loop in this situation. Amy was afraid, stuck with her eyes closed, and balancing on the edge of being taken over by an angel in her mind. What she needed was for Audrey to tell her it was going to be okay.
As Audrey comforted Amy, the clerics discussed among themselves whether one of them should head out to get a better look at the light again. It seemed pointless given the fact that two of them were already surveying it. What use was sending another one into an angel-filled forest?
"Hang on," Amy spoke up, "What about the other two? Why not just wait until they're back?"
Pedro was the one who volunteered to go and he left without paying any mind to Amy's question. Marco, however, turned to look at her in confusion.
"What other two?"
"The ones you sent before," Audrey answered.
"I didn't send anyone before."
"Yes, you did. Those two guys…Crispin and Phillip?"
Marco's confusion was only growing, "Crispin and who? There never was a Crispin or a Phillip on this mission, I promise you."
"No, I heard you," Amy argued, "Before you sent Pedro, you sent Crispin and Phillip, and now you can't even remember them. Something happened. I don't know what, and you don't even remember."
"Pedro?"
"No, before you sent Pedro," Audrey clarified.
"Who's Pedro?" Marco asked with a blank face.
It was clear to them now that something else was going. This wasn't just about the Weeping Angels anymore. Between the crack filled with light (that apparently had ties to Amy's past) and the disappearing memories in the cleric's mind, Audrey was having trouble trying to piece everything together. Amy tried to convince Marco that the other clerics were real while Audrey pulled out her sonic screwdriver.
Aiming the sonic at the ground, Audrey pulled up her holographic map again. Instead of the four dots for each of the clerics, there was now only one. The only dot left was Marco's, but that didn't make sense. Even if the other three had been intercepted and killed by Angels, that wouldn't have effected Marco's memory of them. Also, the dots represented their communicators, which would have been left on their bodies. She checked again and again, receiving the same results every time.
"Listen. Listen, I need to get a closer look at that light, whatever it is," Marco declared, ignoring their protests, "Don't worry, I won't get too close."
Amy shook her head, "No. No, you can't. You mustn't."
"Here. Spare communicator. I'll stay in touch the whole time," Marco promised as he handed the girls a communicator he pulled from his pocket.
"Are you stupid?" Audrey asked bluntly. "Clearly, it's more than just a light. Something happened to the others, something that caused you to forget them and for them not to show up on my map. Do you really want to end up like that?"
"There weren't any others!" Marco exclaimed.
"There won't be any you if you go back there," Amy retorted sharply.
"Two minutes. I promise," Marco replied.
By the time Audrey tried to pull him back, Marco was already running towards the light. Audrey hesitated to follow after him. She didn't know what distance was too close to the light and she didn't want to leave Amy here on her own. Instead, she was forced to watch as Marco headed off while both her and Amy called after him frantically.
The Doctor and River had made it safely to the Primary Flight Deck, but the same could not be said about Octavian. When the Doctor had ducked through the hatch and closed it behind him without the other man, it felt as if he was abandoning him, yet he knew there was nothing he could do.
There was a sickening crack that followed the Doctor into the Primary Flight Deck. It made his ears ring and his jaw clench. He closed his eyes for a moment, balling his fists tightly in anger.
"There's a teleport. If I can get it to work, we can beam the others here," River told the Doctor, "Where's Octavian?"
"Octavian's dead," The Doctor responded tightly. "So is that teleport. You're wasting your time. I'm going to need your communicator."
At the announcement of Octavian's death, River's head snapped in the Doctor's direction. She could see the tension on his face that said the events that had occurred outside were not up for discussion, so she didn't bother asking.
The Doctor avoided her glance and tried to focus on the task at hand, which was proving hard to do. He could picture the trust Amy had in him when he left her behind, and the faith in Audrey's eyes because she knew he'd be back for them. There was supposed to be some genius plan he concocted that reunited them all and beat the bad guys. But, if he couldn't save one man, who was within arms reach, how was he supposed to save the girls and the clerics that were across the ship?
"Hello? Are you there? Hello? Hello?" Amy kept trying the communicator to see if Marco would respond.
Audrey had resigned herself to knowing that Marco was surely dead or at least heading in that direction. She couldn't understand why he hadn't just listened to them. Now, she was feeling inadequate and guilty, like she should've saved him somehow.
"I'm here. I'm fine. Quite close to it now," Marco replied after a moment. Audrey's ears perked up at the sound of his voice.
Maybe there was still time to save him.
"Come back, Marco. You've seen enough of it. Getting any closer won't make you understand where it came from, it'll only make you dead," Audrey urged.
Marco continued on as if he hadn't heard her, "It's weird looking at it. It feels really-"
"Really what?" Amy questioned. "Hello? Really what? Hello? Hello? Hello?"
Audrey let out a sigh of frustration and kicked a rock that was sitting by her foot. It flew through the air and smacked against a tree with a resounding thud. Of course, she hadn't been able to convince him or save him from his own curiosity. After all, who was she kidding? She couldn't save anyone.
"Please, say you're there. Hello? Hello?" Amy continued.
There was a buzz of static before a new, familiar voice broke through the communicator, "Amy? Amy? Is that you?"
"Doctor?" Amy cried out in relief.
Quickly, Audrey and Amy were huddled as closely as they could be around the communicator, eagerly listening for another sign of the Doctor on the other end.
"Where are you? Are the Clerics with you? What about Audrey?"
"I'm here," Audrey said, "But the Clerics are… they're gone."
"There was a light and they walked into the light. Doctor, they didn't even remember each other," Amy said.
"No, they wouldn't," The Doctor replied. It sounded like he had turned away from his communicator and was conversing with someone in the room with him. Whatever he was saying was too low for them to hear for a moment before he turned back to address them once more, "Amy, Audrey, I'm sorry, I made a mistake. I should never have left you there."
"Just tell us what we need to do, Doctor," Audrey responded evenly.
"You come to us. The Primary Flight Deck, the other end of the forest."
"I can't see. I can't open my eyes," Amy reminded him.
"It's okay, Amy. I'll guide you," Audrey promised.
"What if something happens to you like it happened to the clerics?" Amy asked and Audrey stayed silent for a moment.
If something did happen to Audrey, Amy would be all on her own and wouldn't know how to get to the Doctor. Even if Audrey sent a copy of the ship's map to Amy's communicator, Amy wouldn't be able to look at it in order to get there. As if they were on the same wavelength, the Doctor spoke up.
"Turn on the spot," The Doctor directed.
"Sorry, what?" Amy asked.
"Just do it. Turn on the spot," The Doctor repeated. "When the communicator sounds like my screwdriver, that means you're facing the right way. If you lose Audrey, follow that sound. But, girls, you have to start moving now. There's Time Energy spilling out of that crack, and you have to stay ahead of it."
"What're we going to do about the Angels?" Audrey asked.
"I'm sorry, I really am, but the Angels can only kill you," The Doctor said. His words struck a foreboding chord with both of the girls. They had already pieced together that anything that scared an Angel was pretty dangerous, but what did he mean all the Angels could do was kill them? What was worse than that?
"What's the Time Energy do?" Amy questioned.
"Just keep moving!" The Doctor shouted.
"Doctor!" Audrey growled out in irritation, "What does it do?"
"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," The Doctor snapped.
Suddenly, the desperation in the Doctor's voice took on a new meaning. He wasn't just urging them along because it was dangerous. It was more than that. Audrey knew he was thinking about each of their lives and, in Audrey's case, how many centuries she was supposed to live out with him. She knew it must've felt like hell being on the other side of the ship, feeling helpless to save them, and knowing they were facing such a grave danger on their own. It was exactly what she had felt when she watched the older version of the Doctor walk away from her.
"Okay," Audrey replied weakly, "Okay."
"Now," The Doctor began harshly before trying to reign his emotions and appear calmer for their sake, "Audrey, don't let Amy open her eyes and make sure you two keep moving."
It was silent on the Doctor's end for a moment. Audrey wasted no time leading Amy in the direction of the Primary Flight Deck. One hand was interlocked tightly with Amy's and the other was using her map to lead the way.
"Girls, listen to me," The Doctor's voice came back after a minute, "I'm sending a bit of software to your communicator. It's a proximity detector, it'll beep if there's something in your way. You just maneuver till the beeping stops because, Amy, this is important. The forest is full of Angels. Audrey might be able to see them, but you can't and they will be able to sense that. You're going to have to walk like you can see."
The Doctor let out a sigh that told them he was aware of just how ridiculous and hopeless this all sounded. It hardly matter much though, because Audrey didn't plan on letting Amy out of arm's reach.
"Well, what you mean?" Amy asked.
"Look, just keep moving," The Doctor replied and he was gone again.
A few minutes passed with the two of them stumbling along the darkening forest and anticipating an Angel at every corner. There was no word from the Doctor and neither of the girls could find anything to say, so they walked in silence for the most part.
All of the sudden, the lights overhead went out. When they came back on again, they were surrounded by Angels on every side. One of the Angels had a hand outstretched and it was only inches from touching Audrey's forehead. She focused her stare on that Angel in specific, feeling herself holding her breath as she waited for one of the other Angels to attack.
"What's that?" Amy questioned as a beeping noise sounded from the communicator.
"It's a warning. There are Angels round you now," The Doctor said.
Audrey cleared her throat, "Yeah. All around us."
In the Primary Flight Deck, the Doctor lowered his head into his hands and River snuck glances at him every now and then.
"Audrey, listen to me," The Doctor started soothingly, "This is going to be hard but I know you can do it. The Angels are scared and running, and right now they're not that interested in you. They'll assume both of you can see them and their instincts will kick in. All you've got to do is walk like you can see and make sure Amy doesn't open her eyes."
The sound of ruffling could be heard through the Doctor's communicator. It sounded like Audrey was guiding Amy through the maze of Angels around them but he couldn't be sure.
"Doctor," Audrey said. The crack in her voice when she said his name made a shiver run down his spine, but nothing could compare to the feeling he felt at the next words that came out of her mouth, "I'm scared."
River couldn't conceal her surprise. Her eyes darted over to the communicator and then to the Doctor, silently asking if she had heard Audrey correctly. When the color drained out of the Doctor's face, she knew that she had.
His hands curled in on themselves, nails leaving sharp imprints on the delicate skin of his palms. He had taken these two bright young women, promised to show them the stars, and shown them pain and fear instead. Audrey, a woman who never let anyone see her break, was out there, afraid and in danger, because he had failed her.
"I know, I know. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have left you there, but you have to keep moving."
Audrey took a deep breath to collect herself before releasing the button the communicator that allowed the Doctor to hear her. When she was sure he couldn't, she raised her voice so that Amy could hear her.
"Amy, I'm going to watch them and you're going to take the communicator and get to the Primary Flight Deck," Audrey instructed. It was a tiny miracle that she had managed to keep her voice steady and calm when she felt like her emotions were clawing at her throat to escape.
"The Time Energy will get you-"
"No, it won't. I'll leave before that happens. Just go," Audrey said.
What she meant was: I know. It's okay, it's worth it to me. Please, just get there safely.
She hadn't planned on letting Amy out of her sight, but she knew there was no way these Angels would let them walk away. Audrey couldn't do much, but she could watch them long enough to make sure Amy got to safety.
Amy nodded, knowing there was no arguing with Audrey, and began to thread her way through the Angels, using the communicator's beeps as a guide. Audrey fought every instinct in her body that was telling her to watch Amy and make sure she got away safely, instead she focused every last bit of her attention on the Angel in front of her.
Finally, Amy moved so far away that Audrey couldn't hear her footsteps anymore. She was almost positive that, had she looked, Amy would've been out of sight as well.
The relief of the moment, however, only lasted so long. From behind her, Audrey began to hear to sound of grinding stone and she knew it was an Angel behind her. With a gulp and a fleeting prayer to whatever higher power there could be, Audrey closed her eyes and waited for the cold embrace of the Weeping Angel.