Terry placed the tray of food she and the Doctor had put together, carefully avoiding the sunflowers Amy had arranged all over the porch table, while the redhead herself sat on a seat across from Vincent's house.
Both of them looked up as they heard the Doctor bound back down the steps from Vincent's upstairs bedroom, and the two women smiled as Vincent himself appeared in the doorway, scruffy and with severe bedhead.
The painter paused in his bedroom doorway, peering down blearily through the bright sunlight and at the strange sight before him.
Terry had taken a seat beside Amy, smiling up at Vincent in greeting as the Doctor strode up beside the short Time Lady, leaning one hand on the table beside her as he stood beside her fondly. Amy herself, meanwhile, sat beaming at the porch table, which was decorated with dozens and dozens of sunflowers arranged in various pots, baskets, crates, and vases.
Vincent blinked in surprise, and Amy called cheerfully: "I thought I'd brighten things up to thank you for saving me last night."
"Ah." Vincent said, looking around at all the flowers, while Amy added meaningfully: "I thought you might like, you know, possibly to perhaps paint them or something? Might be a thought."
Terry chuckled, while Vincent shrugged as he commented while examining the sunflowers: "Yes, well, they're not my favourite flower."
"You don't like sunflowers?" Amy asked in disbelief, her jaw actually dropping in shock, and Vincent corrected: "No, it's not that I don't like them. I find them complex. Always somewhere between living and dying. Half-human as they turn to the sun. A little disgusting."
The Doctor and Amy looked at the sunflowers, seeing his point, while Terry commented lightly: "But, that is what makes them interesting."
She casually nodded at the flowers near Amy, and Vincent nodded as he said slowly, looking at the flowers beside Amy's face thoughtfully: "I suppose you're right; indeed, they are a challenge."
"And one I'm pretty sure you'll rise to." The Doctor answered with a wry grin.
He then added as he waved Vincent down: "But, moving on, there's something I need to show you."
"After breakfast." Terry corrected, and the Doctor added quickly: "Right, after food. And don't worry, I didn't let Terry touch the eggs."
"I messed it up one time." Terry argued, while Vincent blinked again before slowly making his way down towards them.
"Yes, but you managed to blow up the entire kitchen." Amy pointed out, and Terry answered in the most mature manner possible: she stuck out her tongue at the redhead.
After breakfast
The group gathered inside Vincent's house once more, Vincent holding a printout of the Krafayis that the Doctor had printed from his gadget.
"That's him." Vincent confirmed darkly. "And the eyes, without mercy."
"This is a creature called the Krafayis." The Doctor explained. "They travel in space."
Vincent glanced at the Doctor briefly, before looking back at the printout while the Doctor continued: "They travel as a pack, scavenging across the universe. And sometimes one of them gets left behind. And because they are a brutal race, the others never come back."
Amy started in shock, but Terry just listened grimly as the Doctor went on: "So, dotted all around the universe are individual, utterly merciless, utterly abandoned Krafayis. And what they do is, well, kill, until they're killed. Which they usually aren't."
He paused, before adding: "Because other creatures can't see them."
"But I can." Vincent pointed out thoughtfully, and the Doctor agreed: "Yes. And that's why we are in a unique position today, my friend, to end this reign of terror. So, feeling like painting the church today?"
The Doctor settled in a chair as he finished speaking, and Vincent frowned in confusion at the random question.
"What about the monster?" He asked, and the Doctor answered seriously: "Take my word for it: if you paint it, he will come."
There was a beat of silence as Vincent stared at the Doctor and then at Terry, the painter's eyes peering thoughtfully into the Doctor's green and Terry's chocolate brown eyes for a moment.
Terry met the man's gaze confidently, and Vincent took a deep breath.
"Okay." The painter said with a small smile as he rose. "I'll get my things."
"In your own time." The Doctor answered as Vincent began to walk briskly out of the room. "And I promise you, we'll be out of your hair by this time tomorrow."
Terry watched as Vincent paused in the doorway, the painter glancing back at them for a moment, before he disappeared towards his bedroom.
The Time Lady shook her head sadly, while the Doctor murmured as soon as Vincent was gone: "This is risky."
"Riskier than normal?" Amy asked with a frown, and Terry sighed as the Doctor explained: "Well, think about it. This is the middle of Vincent Van Gogh's greatest year of painting."
He made sure he couldn't be heard by Vincent as he continued in a low, but sharp whisper: "If we're not careful, the net result of our pleasant little trip will be the brutal murder of the greatest artist who ever lived."
Amy's eyes widened in shock, while the Doctor paused, before adding darkly: "Half the pictures on the wall of the Musée D'Orsay," he snapped his fingers to emphasize his point, "will disappear."
He leant back as he added flatly: "And it will be our fault."
Amy turned away, stunned, while Terry sighed again as she glanced towards the front door once more. She was confident she and the Doctor could keep Vincent alive through this ordeal, so that wasn't what worried her.
No, she was only saddened by the knowledge that she couldn't prevent the pain of the fragile and sensitive man that was Vincent van Gogh. The lonely man, who would become so filled with desolation, he would choose to end his own life rather than continue to live in a world that would be so cruel as to realize his genius only after he was gone.
Terry and Amy waited on the porch for the Doctor to return from checking on Vincent after the painter took longer than they'd expected.
Amy glanced at her friend, and she asked: "You're awfully quiet."
Terry sighed, exhaling sharply as she ran her fingers absently through her short hair while she answered: "Amy, you know how horrible it feels to be alone."
"Yeah?" Amy said, puzzled, but Terry pointed out: "But you've never truly been alone; you had R-Mels, right?"
"Oh, did I tell you about her?" Amy asked in surprise, and Terry pointed to herself as she reminded: "Spoilers."
"Right." Amy nodded, and Terry continued back to her original topic: "The point is, you were never really alone. It's what helped keep you strong, besides your natural hopeful disposition."
"So?" Amy asked, not understanding, when suddenly they heard Vincent yelling upstairs.
Amy looked up in alarm, while Terry sighed again, shaking her head, just as the Doctor reappeared in the doorway.
Amy dashed up as the Doctor leant on the balcony grimly, and the redhead asked anxiously: "What's happening?"
"We're leaving." The Doctor answered softly, and Amy blinked in shock.
The Doctor turned, moving passed Amy and heading down towards Terry with heavy footsteps as he reminded Amy quietly: "Everyone knows he's a delicate man. Just months from now he'll," he swallowed painfully, "he'll take his own life."
Terry reached up, taking the Doctor's face comfortingly in her hands as he reached her, and he leant down wearily into her comforting touch while Amy remained on the stairs, heartbroken by what the Doctor had said.
"Don't say that." Amy whispered as she stared at her friends beseechingly. "Please."
The Doctor just shook his head, while Terry sighed before her eyes moved to the steps leading up to Vincent's room.
"Vincent?" Terry called softly as she knocked on the painter's bedroom door.
She could hear him sobbing inside, and she steeled herself before calling: "I'm coming inside."
"No… no…" Vincent moaned, but Terry ignored it as she opened the door gently, shutting it quietly behind her once she was inside.
Vincent was curled up in his bed, sobbing and basically an emotional wreck.
Terry sighed quietly, knowing exactly what had set the poor man off, and she said softly as she settled on the edge of Vincent's bed: "Vincent, I'm sorry. I never want you to be alone, and if I could, I'd stop it."
"You don't mean that." Vincent sobbed, twisting in agony amongst his blankets. "And you'll leave, like everyone else, and then I, I!"
"You have no idea how much I mean it when I say that I don't want to leave you, Vincent." Terry said quietly. "The Doctor as well; and you don't know how much it breaks his hearts to know how much pain leaving you alone will give you."
"You don't understand!" Vincent shouted, shooting up and coming right up to Terry's face with a face twisted with pain and anger, his eyes filled with an almost manic hysteria as he yelled at her: "You can't possibly understand, you or your Doctor-!"
"Don't dismiss the Doctor's experience." Terry told Vincent softly, unaffected by Vincent's emotional outburst. "He's much older than you think – but you've guessed it, haven't you?"
Vincent blinked, startled out of his unstable rage as Terry went on calmly, her eyes filled with understanding: "I know you realized how old the Doctor and I really are when you looked into our eyes earlier."
Vincent stared at her tearfully, and Terry continued gently: "You think the Doctor can't possibly understand the pain that true loneliness brings because he's got me and Amy; but the truth is, no-one understands that better than he does."
Vincent sniffed, while Terry informed him: "The Doctor has found and lost more people dear to his hearts than you've been alive – and each time, it wears him down and sometimes," she swallowed thickly as she remembered the Doctor's pain, "sometimes it becomes too much. Sometimes, the world just seems so bleak and there doesn't seem anything left worth living for."
Vincent nodded, but Terry said gently: "But even after years, decades, and longer; the Doctor has always found hope. It can be big or it can be very, very little, but there are joys and life in the world around us that can keep us strong; it's just our choice whether we embrace that hope or not."
Vincent stared at her again, his tears slowing, as Terry continueds softly: "It's not easy – no-one knows that better than me or the Doctor. But, when things get difficult, please remember: the sadness doesn't last forever. There… is, and always will be, hope."
She looked Vincent straight on, meeting his eyes as she finished: "Even in the darkest of nights, the stars are there; they're just hidden from our view for the moment."
Vincent's breathing had calmed down, and though his eyes were red-rimmed and bloodshot, they were clear as he stared at Terry silently for a long moment.
"The Doctor called you 'angel'." Vincent murmured at last, and Terry nodded. "He said that it was the only name that suited you."
"It's just a nickname." Terry told him quietly. "I'm no angel; just a person who knows too well how it feels to be alone and hurting, Vincent."
Vincent remained silent for another beat, before he sighed.
"Perhaps." He said as he slowly got to his feet. "But, I think that that was what I needed; not some angel, nor a doctor… but perhaps, the Doctor and his angel."
Terry's lips twitched in a sad smile. She wasn't sure she deserved such words, but she stood silently with Vincent as the painter straightened bravely once more. He picked up his things determinedly, and Terry held out his straw hat silently.
Vincent took it with a nod of thanks, placing it on his head as the pair walked out and down to where the Doctor and Amy were waiting inside the house.
The two looked up in surprise when they saw Vincent, the Doctor turning away from where he'd been examining 'Prisoners Exercising', and Terry just gave them small smiles as Vincent stood upright in the doorway.
"I'm ready." He told Amy and the Doctor, his voice strong once more. "Let's go."
"What did you?" Amy asked as she walked beside Terry while they all trailed down the road towards the church.
Each of them were carrying some art equipment as Vincent led the way, while the Doctor brought up the rear behind the two women as Amy and Terry followed Vincent.
"I was just honest." Terry answered softly as she watched Vincent's back. "And I held out a hand to help him in a way that I knew he'd understand."
"That's it?" Amy asked, frowning, but Terry answered gently: "That was it, and that was all that he needed; all we ever need. For 'kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see'."
Amy's face became thoughtful, and Terry added: "That was said by Mark Twain."
Amy nodded, before looking up to where Vincent was. Terry nudged her friend, nodding to Vincent as well as she murmured: "Go on, then; I know you've been dying to."
Amy looked at Terry, before she nodded and she hurried up to talk with Vincent while Terry fell back to walk in step with the Doctor. He watched Amy catch up to Vincent, before he said telepathically: "Well done, angel."
"I didn't do it." Terry corrected. "We all did. Your helping hand, my conviction, and Amy's understanding; that was what Vincent needed from each of us to soldier on."
The Doctor nodded silently; there was no need for words. Shifting the art utensils in his hands, the Doctor took Terry's hand in his own and the pair walked hand-in-hand in mutual understanding.
As they caught up, they could hear Amy and Vincent's conversation, where Vincent was telling Amy firmly: "I'm good now. If Amy Pond can soldier on, then so can Vincent Van Gogh."
"I'm not soldiering on." Amy answered with a light scoff. "I'm fine."
"Oh, Amy." Vincent answered gently as he glanced at the young redheaded woman beside him. "I hear the song of your sadness. You've lost someone, I think."
"I'm not sad." Amy protested, but Vincent pointed out softly: "They why are you crying?"
The Doctor and Terry watched silently as Amy lifted a startled hand, wiping her eyes in amazement and confusion.
"It's all right." Vincent told Amy gently as Amy stared at her tearstained hand in confusion. "I understand."
"I'm not sure I do." Amy admitted quietly, staring at the tears she wasn't sure why she'd shed.
The Doctor decided he should intervene, and he interrupted loudly: "Okay. Okay. So, now, we must have a plan."
"Since when do you have a plan?" Terry joked, and the Doctor wagged his finger at her as he answered: "Hush now, planning in progress! When the creature returns-"
"Then we shall fight him again." Vincent interjected grimly, and the Doctor raised his brows as he said: "Well, yes, tick."
He mimed ticking off a list, before he pointed out: But last night we were lucky. Terry could have been killed; as could have Amy. So this time, for a start, we have to make sure at least I can see him too."
"And how are we meant to do that, suddenly?" Amy asked sarcastically, and Terry answered: "The Doctor had a fantastic godmother."
"Exactly." The Doctor nodded, while patting the box he'd placed his rear-view mirror gadget into. "My excellent, if smelly, godmother gave this to me as a present. I forget what occasion it was for, but this will be the answer to our invisible problem..."
The Doctor trailed off, and Terry's face became solemn as they saw a funeral procession coming towards them from the village.
"Oh no." Vincent murmured as the four of them stopped. "It's that poor girl from the village."
They moved to the side of the road, making way for the procession, and all four of them bowed their heads in silent respect as a small coffin was carried passed. Terry sighed at the loss of the young life, her heart heavy as she watched the posy of sunflowers on the coffin wave slightly in the wind.
Once the procession had passed them completely, the group moved once more, heading for the Auvers church.
"You do have a plan, don't you?" Amy whispered to the Doctor as they walked, and the Doctor answered easily: "No. It's a thing. It's like a plan, but with more greatness."
"Please tell me you have a plan, angel." Amy sighed as she turned to look at the petite brunette beside the Doctor.
"Oh, I do." Terry answered as they walked. "It's called Plan D, in case the Doctor's 'thing' fails, and his attempts at plan A through C don't work."
"Oi." The Doctor complained, while Amy's lips twitched into a half-hearted smile.
Auvers Churchyard
Terry watched Vincent set up his easel and chair in silence as the painter readied for a long day of painting, while the Doctor checked: "And you'll be sure to tell me if you see any, you know, monsters."
"Yes." Vincent agreed. "While I may be mad," he glanced at the Doctor, "I'm not stupid."
"No. Quite." The Doctor answered before adding softly as Vincent turned back to his canvas: "And, to be honest, I'm not sure about mad either. It seems to me depression is a very complex-"
"Sh." Vincent hushed him, and the Doctor stopped talking to stare at the painter in surprise.
Vincent pointed at his as yet blank canvas, explaining quietly: "I'm working."
His eyes were focused on the church, staring at it intently before he even began sketching anything, and Terry watched in awe while Amy smiled excitedly.
"Well, yes." The Doctor said in surprise. "Paint."
A smile of his own began to form on his face, and he crowed delightedly: "Do painting!"
Vincent began working, continuously looking between the church and his canvas, and Terry shot the Doctor a look as he began rambling: "I remember watching Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel. Wow! What a whinger. I kept saying to him, 'look, if you're scared of heights, you shouldn't have taken the job then'."
"Sh!" Amy hissed, but the Doctor ignored her as he went on enthusiastically: "And Picasso. What a ghastly old goat; do you remember him, angel? Though, you might not have done him yet."
Vincent's eye twitched and Amy continued to look annoyed while Terry shook her head as the Doctor continued: "Well, I tell you, I kept telling him, 'concentrate, Pablo. It's one eye, either side of the face'."
"Doctor." Terry interrupted at last, and he turned to her, humming questioningly: "Hm?"
"Be quiet." Terry told him, refraining from telling him to shut up and let Vincent work, like she wanted to, to spare his feelings.
Several hours later
Terry sighed as she leaned back on her hands, staring up at the sky as though praying for patience.
Night had fallen by this time, and Terry counted the stars that dotted the inky black sky as she fought back her annoyance: annoyance and Amy's constant scolding; at the Doctor's inability to sit still (was just ten minutes before he fidgeted really so much to ask for?); and at the Krafayis that refused to show its face.
Honestly, though, she was probably most annoyed at herself for not telling the Doctor he could just come by Vincent's painting at night if he wanted to catch the Krafayis. Then she could have saved them all from the throbbing headaches each of them currently nursed.
Amy was standing between Terry and Vincent, the redhead's arms folded tightly across her chest, while the painter continued to studiously paint despite the hours of whining, fidgeting and scolding between the Doctor and Amy, and on occasion Terry.
The Doctor, meanwhile, had curled into a ball on the side, sulking.
"Is this how time normally passes?" He complained petulantly. "Really slowly. In the right order."
"Yes, Doctor." Terry answered with a sigh. "This is how time passes for the regular person – where you actually have to wait for something to happen."
"Well I don't like it!" The Doctor retorted crossly as he got up and started pacing fiercely. "If there's one thing I can't stand, it's an unpunctual alien attack!"
"I know, but there's nothing you can do about it." Terry sighed as she too got up, and the Doctor turned to face her as he insisted with a frown: "Yes, but there's something not right. I can't quite put my finger on it-"
"There." Vincent interrupted sharply. "He's at the window."
Instantly, the other three straightened up, all turning to Vincent as the Doctor demanded: "Where?"
"There, on the right." Vincent answered, pointing to the area with his paintbrush.
It was the exact spot where they'd seen the beast peering out of the window in the painting at the Musée, and the Doctor murmured: "As I thought. Right."
He stood up and began to run for the church, calling over his shoulder: "I'm going in; angel, come on."
"Well I'm coming too." Vincent growled as Terry started after the Doctor.
She paused, and turned with the Doctor to Vincent as the painter started to get up, and the Doctor exclaimed: "No! You're Vincent Van Gogh. No."
"But you're not armed." Vincent protested, not seeing what the problem was, but Terry corrected: "Yes he is."
"What with?" Vincent asked incredulously. "You?"
"No; do I look like a weapon to you?" Terry answered, rolling her eyes while a shadow flitted across the Doctor's face.
However, he simply added in agreement as Vincent continued to look at them skeptically: "Exactly; not to worry though. I have overconfidence, this," he patted his gadget box, "and a small screwdriver. I'm absolutely sorted."
"And I am armed with plan D." Terry added lightly as Vincent stared at them like they were daft. "Though, just in case, I also have a plan C."
"That doesn't make sense." Vincent protested, but Terry patted his arm as she answered: "Yes it does, you're just not seeing it."
"… And people called me mad." Vincent muttered under his breath, while the Doctor was saying: "You don't need a plan C – I just have to find the right crosactic setting, and stun the beastie with it. Sonic never fails."
"Except on wood." Terry observed, while Vincent looked confused and Amy shook her head.
"Just don't try." The redhead advised her fellow ginger, while the Doctor wagged a finger at Terry as he said: "Oi, don't dis the sonic! Anyway, Amy."
He turned to the redheaded companion next, pointing his finger at her sternly this time as he said firmly: "Only one thought, one simple instruction - don't follow me and Terry under any circumstances."
"I won't." Amy answered without missing a beat.
Terry refrained from rolling her eyes while the Doctor gave Amy another stern look before he took Terry's hand and ran towards the church.
"You do know she'll follow us anyways." Terry noted as they ran, and the Doctor answered: "She might not."
"Since when do they listen to your orders to stay put?" Terry pointed out, and the Doctor couldn't reply to that.
"… Good point." He conceded grudgingly as they reached the church doors.
Terry dropped the subject as the Doctor stopped to open his box, pulling out the rear-view mirrored-gadget from within. She continued to glance around warily as the Doctor quickly strapped the gadget on, holding the mirror part up so that he could see it before he switched the machine on and led the way to the church doors.
The Doctor opened the door with a creak, peering inside cautiously before he led the way inside. Terry stayed close, keeping a sharp eye on both the Doctor and the mirror as the Doctor tilted the mirror around so that he could look around the whole area while he and Terry crept towards the window where Vincent had seen the Krafayis.
As they entered the chapel, slowly approaching the window, Terry glanced around as she heard the Krafayis growl from somewhere nearby.
"Theta." She called urgently in her mind, and he answered grimly: "I know."
The Doctor tilted the mirror so he could see the window in it… only to find it empty. Just to be sure, he glanced around as he pointed his sonic at the window area, but the sonic came up with the same reading: empty.
"Damn, he's moved." The Doctor muttered, and Terry's eyes widened as she saw something move in the corner of the rear-view mirror, coming from the window right next to the one they were standing beside.
"Doctor!" She yelled as she grabbed him out of the way, just as the Krafayis swung its talons at them.
It missed them, thanks to Terry pulling the Doctor down and out of the way, and the Doctor yelled at her as he swung the rear-view mirror around so he could see the Krafayis: "Run!"
"Yeah, so run!" Terry yelled back at him, grabbing his hand and pulling him along with her as they broke into a sprint down the chapel.
"Whoa!" The Doctor called, tugging Terry around in a full circle as he saw the Krafayis try to jump ahead of them.
Terry skid around, scrambling with the Doctor as they tried to run in the opposite direction, when Terry yelped as something whooshed passed her ear and the Doctor cried out as something smashed the mirror on his gadget.
"Oh!" He gasped, when Terry yelled: "Come on!"
She pulled him with her as she ran for the chapel doors, only to almost run headlong into Amy as the redhead appeared around the corner.
"Doctor! Angel!" Amy cried as she screeched to a halt, while Terry and the Doctor let out surprised yelps.
"Argh! I thought I told you-" The Doctor cried, when Terry said urgently: "Not now, we can talk about it later. Hide!"
"In here!" The Doctor ordered as he pulled open the doors to a wooden confessional, and the trio climbed in quickly, the Doctor and Terry squeezing in on one side while Amy hid on the other side of the narrow booth.
They had just shut the doors behind them when they heard something grunt nearby, followed by sniffling as the Krafayis clearly tried to sniff them out. Literally.
"Absolutely quiet." The Doctor whispered to Amy, and Terry said urgently in her mind: "Theta, we're not safe here – the Krafayis will hear us."
"Not if we're very, very quiet." The Doctor countered, but Terry answered seriously: "Amy won't be."
It was then that the Doctor realized Amy's breathing was incredibly loud, the redhead still breathing heavily from running while she listened intently to the sound of the Krafayis's footsteps outside the confessional.
"Amy-" He began in a very hushed whisper, but she interrupted as she noted: "He's gone passed."
It was as she finished speaking that the wood on Amy's side of the confessional suddenly tore open, the Krafayis having smashed it in its search for the trio.
Amy screamed in utter terror, while the Doctor muttered under his breath: "I guess he heard us."
"SH!" Terry ordered him in their minds, but it was too late and the Krafayis's clawed feet smashed on their side of the confessional this time.
The Doctor quickly pulled Terry into his arms, shielding her bodily as he muttered: "That is impressive hearing he's got."
"Glad you're impressed, given our less than impressive chances of survival." Terry shot back as the Krafayis started to tear at the confessional, shaking the wooden box as it did.
"I think I'm ready for plan D, angel." The Doctor cried as the Krafayis's beak tore into the wood right by the Doctor's head, and Terry answered: "There's still hope that plan B will work out."
"What are you talking about?!" Amy yelled as the confessional shook violently, when they heard Vincent's voice yell: "Hey! Are you looking for me, sonny?"
