Episode: Silence in the Catacombs
Chapter: He Thinks He's So Clever When He Does That [4/6]
Summary: Amy Pond wanted a peaceful outing, just for once. Doctor River Song wanted a lift from her partner in crime. Father Octavian wanted an army to defeat one of the most terrifying monsters in the galaxy. The Master wanted everything to start making sense again. Or the one where legends and statues come to life and the past and the future conspire against Amy and the Master.
Rating: T
"Well, if he thinks he's going anywhere without me, he doesn't know me at all. It's just one Angel, we can deal with it. What is so bad about these Weeping Angels, anyway?" Amy asks out loud, because, other than everything that makes them creepy, they never said why they were so dangerous.
Sure, parading as a statue and attacking while your back is turned is bad, but what makes them so dangerous? What can they do?
Amy scowls – and stiffens. The TARDIS' screen has just turned on, showing a man sitting down to stare into the camera. Slowly, Amy stands up and approaches the controls, because that can't be…
"Oh my God. That's the Doctor," she whispers, because he is.
Pinstriped brown suit, spiky brown hair and brown eyes. He's putting on a pair of reading glasses, which the Atraxi projection didn't show, and he isn't as deadly serious as that one image was, but this is definitely the Doctor. Or, well, one of his faces, anyway. Amy really needs to ask how that works, because, according to all the research Rory and her did these past two years, all of the Doctors are actually the same, it's not an inherited title.
"Yup. That's me," the Doctor onscreen says, and Amy jumps in surprise.
"Oh God! Is this a call? Do you do videocalls now?" she asks, and immediately feels like slapping herself once the words are out.
Of course this is not a call! Your Doctor is somewhere in the TARDIS, and he has a completely different face.
"Yes, I do," he says, and Amy freezes.
"You can hear me. You actually heard that!" she exclaims, grabbing the screen and trying to decide whether she feels shocked or exasperated.
"Yup. And this," he answers once more, and Amy takes a step back to look at the console, trying to see if there's any clue about what is going on here.
"I can't believe it. How is this possible? Did I press something?" she asks, looking at the buttons and levers before focusing on the circular graphs at the bottom of the screen. "Was it you? I mean, there are all these graphics on the screen—"
"Are you going to read out the whole thing?" he asks with a frown, scrunching his nose, and Amy moves away from the screen, startled and fighting down a blush.
"No. It isn't like I can read it anyway," she answers as nonchalantly as she can, before focusing on the matter at hand. "How are you doing this?"
"I'm a time traveler. Or I was. I'm stuck in 1969," he confesses before a woman appears onscreen, cutting him with her protests that they are both stuck there.
Amy is startled by her appearance, but she still notices the TARDIS door opening to let River in. Her first thought is that she forgot to lock the door when they came in, and that she shouldn't do it again. Who knows what could follow?
Her second thought is that it's River, and River knows the Doctor. So, Amy waves her over madly, ignoring her confusion.
"River, come, quick! It's the Doctor, he's calling from 1969. He's stuck there with, huh," she explains quickly before realizing she doesn't know the girl's name, and so she turns to the screen once more while River steps to her side.
"Martha," the Doctor chastises the girl, who steps out of the frame with a 'sorry'.
"Are you two alright?" Amy asks him, because Martha really looked annoyed, and she mentioned something about having to get a job.
Come to think of it, how can an alien get a job on Earth? Are they even on Earth? He said they're stuck in 1969, but it could be 1969 of any other planet, right?
"Quite possibly," the Doctor answers, and Amy winces.
"Oh, that doesn't sound good."
"Doctor? Is that really you?" River asks over Amy's muttered words, frowning in confusion.
"Afraid so," he answers, and River finally grins unabashedly, giving what little they can see of him a once over.
"I like the new look. How many rules are you breaking right now?"
"Thirty-eight," he answers as if it was no trouble, but also disappointed, like they should already know.
Amy is a bit more worried about the 'rule-breaking' part of that, though.
"Wait, what? Should you even be calling then? And why are you calling yourself, won't this break the universe or something?" she asks, waving her hands to vent her frustration, but River chuckles.
"People don't understand time. It's not what you think it is," the Doctor tells them with a grimace, and Amy frowns.
"What do you mean?"
"Complicated," he answers simply, and River snorts.
"It always is."
"Very complicated," the Doctor agrees, and Amy leans back and crosses her arms against her chest.
"Oh, wow, thanks," she deadpans before rolling her eyes. "You're definitely the Doctor. Come on, I'm sure you can find some way to explain it to us primitive humans."
"We might surprise you," River adds with a grin that is both daring and knowing, and the Doctor frowns and shuffles in his seat, licking his lips before lifting his hands.
"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint, it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly… timey-wimey… stuff," he explains, gesturing all the while.
Amy stares.
"Knew it," River purrs, snapping Amy out of her surprise.
"That's not how you usually explain things."
"It got away from me, yeah," the Doctor agrees softly, staring at some point out of the screen.
"Wow, thanks for confirming it," Amy huffs with another eyeroll, and, instead of grinning and quipping right back, like her Raggedy Doctor would, this Doctor just looks at her once more, frowning softly.
"Well, I can hear you."
Amy is about to tell him that she is not stupid, she doesn't need to be treated like a child, but River speaks first.
"How are you doing this? That's not the TARDIS," she asks, and Amy decides to give the Doctor an earful later, because that is a very valid question.
"Well, not hear you, exactly, but I know everything you're going to say," he answers with a small grimace, and Amy's frown goes from annoyed to uneasy.
This is the day for the weirdest things, apparently.
"Is that a Time Lord thing? It has to be, it's freaky," she comments, and River squeezes her shoulder reassuringly with a smile.
"Focus, Amy," he tells her, and, once she nods, they both turn to the screen again. "Why call now, Doctor?"
"Look to your left," he tells them while jerking his head to his right, their left, and they do as told.
There's only the TARDIS door there, the one that Amy forgot to lock and that leads to the outside, to a terraformed planet with six billion humans and the soldiers' camp and—
"… The ship?" Amy asks softly, eyes wide, as she turns to meet River's gaze, full of realization.
"The Angel… You know about the Angel. What do you know about it? Is there anything you can tell us?" she asks the Doctor, no longer smiling and far more worried than before.
"Wait, how can he know about the Angel? He's not our Doctor, he's one of his other faces. Is he from the future? Why didn't he fix it?" Amy asks, confused, and River gives her a sad smile.
"Sometimes, the only thing you can do is nothing," she answers, though that doesn't make sense to Amy.
If all you can do is nothing…
"Then, why is he calling now?"
"I've got a copy of the finished transcript. It's on my autocue," the Doctor tells them, startling them back at the reminder that he's still there, on the screen, before the two women frown.
"Transcript?" Amy repeats, wondering what he is going on about now.
"You can't have the Church's report, you're part of the events," River tells him, half-admonishing and half-impressed, and that makes a lot more sense.
Wait, the Church? That would explain the soldiers calling themselves Clerics, and Father Octavian. The Church as an army, talk about a dystopian future.
"I told you. I'm a time traveler. I got it in the future," he answers as if that was the most natural thing ever.
Which, okay, he is a time traveler, that would make sense. … Why does he keep reminding them of that? Does he really think they're that stupid? Or is it that he can't say much, that he can't elaborate?
"He thinks he's so clever when he does that," River huffs, rolling her eyes, but she's smiling.
"Wait, let me get this straight," Amy interrupts before she can lose track of the conversation again. "You're stuck in 1969 after getting a report of this mess in the future, and you're calling the future, but not that far-off future, to tell us about what for you is the past?"
"Yeah. Wibbly wobbly, timey-wimey," he answers with a grimace, waving a hand as if to shrug the whole confusing thing off like nothing.
But Amy is more worried about something else.
"I was going to follow him, you, when he goes after the Angel. Does something happen to me? Is that why you're calling the TARDIS?"
"Amy…" River warns, though there's also a note of concern in her voice.
"What matters is, we can communicate," the Doctor interrupts, gesturing once more as he tries to get them back to the matter at hand. "We have got big problems now. They have taken the blue box, haven't they? The angels have the phone box."
"The phone box? The TARDIS?!" Amy exclaims, grabbing onto the console as her world sways out of focus.
The Raggedy Doctor is dead-set on keeping Amy in the TARDIS, but this future-Doctor-in-the-past is telling them that the Angels are going to take the TARDIS. Is that why he's calling them? To save Amy?
"What do you mean, 'angels'?" River asks instead, but her hand is back on Amy's shoulder, squeezing both to reassure her and to bring her back to the present, away from thoughts about her possible death.
"Creatures from another world," he answers solemnly, and River scoffs.
"I meant the plural," she retorts, and Amy snorts before she can stop herself, focusing back on the question after a moment.
"Are there more than the one in the clip?" Amy asks, frowning again as her amusement is replaced by dread.
"Only when you see them."
Amy and River exchange confused looks, before River's expression turns pained and Amy's fills with realization. After all, didn't she think it was weird the Doctor would dull things as much, especially if he has everything and knows Amy has traveled with him?
"What can you tell us?" River asks, calm and solemn, and Amy knows they've both arrived at the same conclusion.
The Doctor can only say so much, just like Amy when they met Churchill. She could have told him they would win the war, but maybe by knowing that, Churchill would have relaxed and something would have changed, making them lose instead.
There's only so much the Doctor can reveal, and they'll have to make do with that.
"The lonely assassins, they used to be called. No one quite knows where they came from, but they're as old as the universe, or very nearly, and they have survived this long because they have the most perfect defense system ever evolved. They are quantum-locked. They don't exist when they're being observed. The moment they are seen by any other living creature, they freeze into rock. No choice. It's a fact of their biology. In the sight of any living thing, they literally turn to stone. And you can't kill a stone," he explains, giving them the abridged and disturbing-theory-free version of what they learnt in the drop ship, likely in case he missed something then or the report he got wasn't as complete about what they know and don't know. "Of course, a stone can't kill you either. But then you turn your head away, then you blink, and oh yes it can."
"That's why they weep," Amy adds with a nod, putting all the facts together with what they learnt in the ship, and realizing this is the first time someone outright said that the Angels kill people.
It was very much implied, but no one had actually said it before.
"That's why they cover their eyes. They're not weeping. They can't risk looking at each other. Their greatest asset is their greatest curse. They can never be seen," the Doctor corrects, and Amy rolls her eyes but doesn't interrupt, even if River smiles the same he thinks he's hot when he does that smile as before. "The loneliest creatures in the universe. And I'm sorry. I am very, very sorry. It's up to you now," he adds, frowning and serious, and Amy perks up again.
"Does that mean I get to help? How?"
"Amy, we can't," River protests, looking worried, but Amy won't sit in the TARDIS, knowing the Angels are going to take it, and leave the Raggedy Man all alone.
"The blue box, it's my time machine. There is a world of time energy in there they could feast on forever, but the damage they could do could switch off the sun. You have got to send it back to me," the Doctor explains, and Amy's eyes widen.
Just how does the TARDIS function, anyway? What powers her, which could do so much damage?
"Send it back? Not bring it to you?" River points out, and Amy freaks out.
She's supposed to be in the TARDIS when the Angels take it, or, at least, that's how it happened the last time—the last time for that Doctor, that is—and whatever happened was so horrible that he is now risking calling his past-future-whatever self to change history.
"Doctor, what happens to me?!" Amy exclaims, grabbing the screen – and the Doctor straightens with a frown.
"Aaand that's it, I'm afraid. There's no more from you on the transcript, that's the last I've got," he tells them, leaning forwards once more while taking off his glasses. "I don't know what stopped you talking, but I can guess. They're coming. The angels are coming for you. But listen, your life could depend on this. Don't blink. Don't even blink. Blink and you're dead. They are fast. Faster than you can believe. Don't turn your back, don't look away, and don't blink. Good luck."
The image freezes on the last word and, a moment later, the screen goes black.
Slowly, River grabs Amy's arms and pulls her away from it, from the graphics returning to it to spin lazily like usual.
"It'll be alright, Amy," she tells her with a reassuring smile, though there's the tiniest hint of apprehension in her eyes, as she rubs her upper arms. "Just don't turn your back and don't blink if you see an Angel."
"And don't you forget it."
Amy screams, jumping and slamming her hip on the console painfully, while River whirls around with a gun in her hand, aiming at whoever sneaked up on them – and pulling it up, finger slipping off the trigger in a second, when they see it is the current Doctor standing at the mouth of the lower corridor.
He changed into armor of all things, which looks like it's made of some kind of leather-wood material. It's fairly simple, the chest plate made of one continuous piece that arcs over the pectorals but just drops in a straight line to his waist—are Time Lords just never fat, or is that an incentive not to be?—with a round collar and three ridges going down it from neck to waist, right in the middle. He has shoulder pads too, just big enough to protect his shoulders and upper arms but not oversized, like with rugby players, made of one single piece and attached to the chest by one round metallic piece each, engraved with a swirly figure eight over a less detailed infinite symbol. A belt is around his waist, with some pouches attached to it over his hips. His forearms are covered by the same armor, with an accompanying curved piece over the elbow, while his boots seem to be made of three conjoined pieces, one being the foot, the other the lower leg, and the last being the knee. There's also a holster on his right thigh, but Amy can't be sure of whether it is actually filled or not due to it being a closed piece of rectangular dark cloth-like material.
The armor is red, with details in gold, like the ridges of the chest plate, the clasps of the shoulder guards and a band around each wrist. The clothing underneath, made of the same material but with a leatherier feel, is black, the exception being the gold detailing on the collar, covering his throat. He has a cape too, attached to the shoulder pad clasps and thrown back at the moment, also black but with the hood full of swirly gold designs.
Regardless of how impractical or unbending the armor seems to be, he climbs up the steps to the controls without problem or stiffness, as if he was clad in sweatpants and a hoodie instead, so she assumes it is some kind of strong but bendy alien material they don't have on Earth.
Amy swallows the remnants of her shock and looks him over again, trying to figure out what the pouches or holster are for.
"I didn't know you wore armor," River comments with a breathy voice, pocketing her gun, and the Raggedy Man – the Time Lord merely spares her a look.
"Amy, I'll lock the TARDIS when we leave, as a precaution. You know where everything is, or you can just explore if you're bored. The kitchen is well-stocked, so you'll find no issues there. If I'm not back by tomorrow, the TARDIS will take you home, five minutes after we left," he explains as he fiddles with the controls, not even glancing at her as he does so.
"But—"
"River, tell Father Octavian I'll be out in a minute. Make sure they are truly well-equipped."
"Raggedy Man, I'm coming too," Amy interrupts before he can continue ordering them around, but he doesn't even look up as he finishes adjusting the controls.
"No, you are not. This is a Weeping Angel we're dealing with. They are extremely fast, and I won't have you be caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. This was a 'thank you' trip, Amelia. You are not supposed to risk your life in those," he answers calmly, finally turning around to meet her eyes, and while he doesn't feel fully alien, he doesn't feel fully human either.
He's still the Raggedy Doctor, though, so Amy doesn't back off.
"And you are not supposed to save humans from their own stupidity, yet here you are. I am not staying in the TARDIS, Raggedy Man. I'm going to watch your back, whether you want to or not. I'm not going to let you get hurt if I can do something to stop it. And if you try to lock me in here, I will find a way out. The TARDIS has helped me before, don't think she won't again," she protests, and, as if agreeing with her, the lights grow stronger for a moment before dulling to their normal glow.
"Eventually, the Angel will make its way here. The TARDIS is too tempting a target to ignore. Amy will be safer with us than all on her own, especially if, like all your other companions, she doesn't really follow the 'no wandering off' rule," River adds, lifting a bundle Amy hadn't noticed she'd brought with her inside, but which looks like a uniform much like hers. "I'll keep an eye on her, protect her with my life."
"And what makes you think I would trust you over my own TARDIS?" the Raggedy Man scoffs, sneering down at River. "You won't be able to protect her, you won't have time. The Angel will end you faster than this," he adds with a snarl, snapping his fingers with his last word.
The TARDIS doors open.
Startled, all three turn to them, but there's no one on the other side.
"Well, at least I won't just let Amy walk away," River drawls with a grin, and Amy has to put a hand over her mouth to muffle her laughter at the Raggedy Man's dismayed expression.
"Whose side are you on?" he hisses at the TARDIS, before huffing and storming to the door, pulling his cape to the front to cover his armor. "Alright, but be out in two minutes or I leave you both here!"
Amy squeals and hugs River tightly before the older woman pushes the bundle in her hands.
"We're going to change the future. We're going to go with the Doctor, and live, and then we'll be able to pick up the other Doctor in 1969. Right?" Amy asks, clutching the uniform to her chest, and River smiles widely.
"Yes, Amy. We will."