Rose was sitting next to Amy. Marco had gone off to check on that light, which was similar to the crack in Amy's wall, although the girl thought it was the same crack, but of course it couldn't be. Although, Rose wasn't entirely sure what it was. All she knew was that for some reason it affected her. Looking at it made her mind feel like it was burning and, more than that, it made her feel empty and cold like she was in the dark, like she was in the dark alone, it felt like what she assumed dying would feel like.

"Where is he? Shouldn't he have checked in by now?" Amy asked, panicking.

"You've got the communicator," Rose said as calmly as she could.

She reached out, taking Amy's hand.

"Oh. Right." Amy picked up the communicator. "Hello? Are you there? Hello? Hello?"

"I'm here. I'm fine. Quite close to it now," Marco said.

"Then come back. Come back now, please."

"It's weird looking at it. It feels really-"

And then there was a bit of static and nothing. He was gone. She wasn't sure if the Angels got him or if it had something to do with that light.

"Really what? Hello? Really what?"

"Amy," Rose said, trying to calm her down.

"Hello? Hello? Hello?"

She gave the girl's hand a squeeze.

"Amy, it's all right."

"Please say you're there. Hello? Hello?"

"Amy? Amy? Is that you?" the Doctor said through the communicator.

Rose sighed in relief. Not only sure his voice would calm Amy down, but knowing that he could get them out of there.

"Doctor?" Amy asked.

"Where are you? Are the Clerics with you?" he inquired.

"They've gone. There was a light and they walked into the light. Doctor, they didn't even remember each other."

"No, they wouldn't."

So, he figured out what was going on. That was good, though she'd like to know, but that could wait until he got to them.

"What is that light?" the girl asked.

"Time running out," he said. Wait. What? Time running out? How could time run out? "Amy, I'm sorry, I made a mistake. I should never have left you there. Where's Rose? Is she there? Is she with you?"

"Yeah, she's here, but, what do we do now?"

"Both of you will have to come to us. The Primary Flight Deck, the other end of the forest."

Come to him? That wasn't going to be easy, especially with all those Angels out there and the fact that neither one of them could see.

"I can't see. I can't open my eyes," Amy protested.

"It's a good job Rose is there then," he said.

About that…

"But she can't see either."

"Sorry?" he asked in concern. "What do you mean, she can't see? Why can't Rose see? What's happened to her?"

She heard him go from concerned to panicked, which was bad, really bad. If they were going to get out of this that couldn't happen. She took the communicator from Amy.

"Doctor? Doctor, are you there?" she asked.

"Rose? Yes, I'm here, what happened? Why can't you see?" he asked and, yes, she could definitely hear fear in his voice.

"It's fine. I'm fine. Really. Don't worry about me."

"Tell me what happened!"

"It's the light. I can't look at the light."

"Why?"

Concern. Definitely concern, but at least that was a few steps down from panic.

"As long as I keep my eyes closed I'm fine. Look, I know you're worried, but we need to get to you. I'm not hurt. I really am fine. I just can't open my eyes. Now, how do we get there?"

"Take Amy's hand and stand up," he said.

She could hear the frustration in his voice, that bit of anger beneath the surface, but there was nothing for it. They needed to get through the forest as quickly as possible.

She took Amy's hand with her free one and they both stood up.

"What now?" she asked.

"Turn on the spot. When the communicator sounds like my screwdriver that means you're facing the right way. Follow the sound."

She turned, slowly, until the noise sounded like his sonic.

"Okay, got it," she said.

"All right, Amy, you need to get directly behind Rose. Put your hand on her shoulder."

"Why?" Amy asked, frightened and Rose could tell she didn't want to be doing any of this. Didn't want to be walking through the forest blindly, but it couldn't be helped.

"Just do it! You have to start moving now!" he yelled.

"Doctor!" Rose chastised.

Amy was upset and scared. Hell, she couldn't open her eyes because there was an Angel inside of her mind. If she did she'd die. He didn't have to yell at her.

"Rose, there's Time Energy spilling out of that crack and you two have to stay ahead of it."

Time Energy? Like the Time Energy she'd taken inside herself to save him? Well, what could it do? Was that what was responsible for making Marco forget about the other Clerics?

She felt Amy take her shoulder from behind. She was trembling slightly and Rose felt sorry for her. An Angel inside her mind and now walking blindly through a forest.

"But how are we going to get out of here? The Angels are everywhere?" Amy asked as Rose started moving forward.

"I'm sorry, I really am, but the Angels can only kill you."

Hang on. What did that mean?

"Doctor, what do you mean? What does the Time Energy do?" Rose asked.

"Just keep moving!" he insisted.

"Doctor, tell me what it does," Rose demanded.

"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, tell Amy to keep her eyes shut and both of you keep moving."

"I'm right here. I can hear you just fine," Amy snapped.

So, the Time Energy erased people? Made it so they never existed? That must be why Marco didn't remember the other Clerics. That was definitely worse than death.

"Rose, 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, Rose, this is important." He paused and she could almost feel the tension hanging in the air. "The forest is full of Angels. Both of you are going to have to walk like you can see."

"What does that mean?" Amy asked.

"Look, just keep moving."

The communicator beeped.

"What's that?" Amy asked.

"It's a warning. There are Angels round both of you now. Rose, Amy, listen to me. 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 either one of you. They'll assume you can see them and their instincts will kick in. All you've got to do is walk like you can see."

Rose started forward, moving away from the beeping, but a moment later Amy tripped behind her and went down.

"Amy? Amy, where are you?" she asked.

"Down here," Amy said down and to her left.

Rose crouched down, feeling around for the girl.

"Where? Where are you?"

"I'm here," Amy called a bit further to her left, she moved toward Amy's voice. Her hand connected with what she hoped was Amy's arm. "Is that you? Is that your hand?"

"Yes, now come on."

She stood up, pulling Amy with her and in the next moment she had that tugging sensation that she usually felt when she teleported. Then someone was hugging her.

"It's me, Rose," the Doctor said.

"Doctor?" she asked.

"I teleported you both," River said. "See? Told you I could get it working."

She smiled into his shoulder. They were safe, away from the Angels and the Time Energy.

"River Song. I could bloody kiss you."

"Ah, well, I think I'll pass, but I'm sure Rose wouldn't mind a snog."

Sorry…what?

"Yes, well, you're all right now," the Doctor said, helping Rose off the teleporter. "Now, what's going on with your eyes?"

"It's not my eyes, it's the light," she said.

"We're inside the primary flight deck, the light from the Time Energy isn't in here."

She knew what he was asking, but the feeling that crack gave her, the pain and the feeling of death, of dying, it was still fresh in her mind. She cracked her eyes a bit. No pain. No burning sensation. She opened them more. He was staring at her in concern.

"Doctor, they're going to be here soon," River warned.

"Yes. Right," he said, leading Rose over to one of the consoles.

An alarm began to blare through the flight deck.

"What's that?" Rose asked, looking around in worry.

"The Angels are draining the last of the ship's power, which means the shield's going to release." He put Rose's hands on a bar at the bottom of the console. "Close your eyes," he said as the wall began to slide up. She closed her eyes. "Hold on, tight as you can, and don't let go."

He placed a kiss on the side of her cheek and then he was gone, moving across the room. She could hear him, hear his footfalls.

"Angel Bob, I presume," he said.

"The Time Field is coming. It will destroy our reality," Angel Bob replied.

"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. But why?"

"You're friends would also be saved."

"Well, there is that."

"Doctor, don't you dare!" Rose yelled. "I'll throw myself in before I let you do that!"

"Oh, be serious, Rose. Compared to me these Angels are more complicated than you."

"The Angels have calculated that Rose Tyler will also seal the rupture in time."

"How's that?" the Doctor asked and she could hear the surprise in his voice, but she was thinking about what the Angels said.

"See, it'll work. Throw me in!" she yelled.

"Sir, one of you must enter the Time Field," Angel Bob said.

"River, don't let him do it!" Rose called.

"Rose, get a grip," the Doctor said.

She heard movement and almost opened her eyes, but River's voice stopped her.

"Doctor, I can't let you do this," the woman yelled.

"No, seriously, get a grip," he said.

"River, don't you dare let him do it!" Rose called.

"No, I mean it. Rose, River, Amy, get a grip."

"Oh, you're a genius," River said. She heard someone hurry toward her. "Its fine, he's not going to, but hold on and don't let go," River whispered. Then she was gone, probably over to Amy.

"Sir, the Angels need one of you to sacrifice yourselves 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. Night, night."

Then the Doctor was beside her and she felt like the floor was turned straight up. Her feet went out from under her, but she clung to the bar.

-0-

Rose walked over to River while the Doctor talked to Amy. The woman was restrained by a pair of handcuffs. The Doctor told her what he learned about River from Octavian before the Bishop died. It was hard for her to believe. Granted, she didn't know the woman very well, but murder? It didn't fit. Rose relied on her instincts and all of them told her River wasn't like that. If she killed someone then there was a reason, a good reason, had to be.

"So, back to…" she began.

"Prison, yeah," River replied. Rose raised her brow. "I know you two. He tells you everything. You're the only one he does that for. Rule one never applied to you."

"Rule one?"

"The Doctor lies." River glanced up. "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 had all the answers. Rose learned a few things, but she knew she hadn't even scratched the surface.

"Father Octavian told the Doctor that you killed a man," she said.

A pained look crossed the woman's face. Not only regret, but a deep sadness, haunted even.

"Yes, I did," River said.

"Why?"

River laughed, which she found quite odd.

"It's a long story, Rose. 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 the Pandorica opens."

"The Pandorica," the Doctor said from behind, making Rose jump because she didn't hear him walk over. "Ha! That's a fairytale."

"Aren't we all?" River asked, raising her brow. "I'll see you there."

"We look forward to it," the Doctor said.

"I remember it well."

"Bye, River," Amy said walking over to stand next to the woman.

"See you, Amy." Her cuffs beeped. "Oh, I think that's my ride."

River was beamed away in a whirl of sand. Rose turned around. The Doctor was standing near the water's edge, staring out into the horizon. She walked over to him and took his hand.

"What're you thinking?" she asked.

He turned his head, catching her gaze.

"Forever," he said, giving her a smile.

"Forever," she repeated, grinning.


Standard Disclaimer.

Thank you to all my brilliant readers!

If you have time reviews are always welcome. :)