Episode: Forest of the Angels
Chapter: Time Can Be Rewritten [1/4]
Summary: Amy Pond wanted to get out of this mess alive and stay with her Doctor. River Song wanted to keep Amy safe and have the Doctor accept her. Father Octavian wanted to complete the mission. The Master still wanted everything to make sense again… until he got the answers to his questions. Or the one where miracles happen, secrets are revealed and people break.
Rating: M
Amy recovers consciousness with a gasp, though she's not sure if she ever lost it to begin with. Still, what other explanation is there for the blackout she just suffered?
One moment, they are on the open area underneath the crashed Byzantium, surrounded by Weeping Angels and with their torches flickering. The next, they're lying on a metal floor, light all around them, with River and the Clerics jumping to their feet and shouting orders and questions all around them.
The Doctor, lying on his back next to Amy, lets out a muffled groan as he grimaces in pain, twitching as if even the slightest movement was painful.
"Up! Everyone, look up!" River is shouting, but Amy pushes herself to sit on her heels over the Doctor, pressing a hand to his forehead while the other rests against the side of his neck.
"Are you alright?" she asks him, trusting the Clerics will keep them safe, and the Raggedy Man's grimace deepens for a moment.
"Never doing that again without the Archangel Network. Ow," he winces, but a deep breath later, he finally opens his eyes to meet Amy's relieved gaze. "What's the verdict? Do I still have all my limbs?"
"Yes, you do," Amy chuckles, taking her hands back when she finally locates both heartbeats and makes sure his temperature is comfortably cool. "What do you need the Archangel Network for? We're talking about the mobile network, right?"
"Mobile," he repeats with a snort, carefully sitting up as the Clerics move all around them. "That's how Saxon was defeated, when a decimated Earth sent a message for a vengeful Archangel to come and turn back time, and you pathetic humans keep using it as a mobile network. You never cease to surprise," he adds with a mocking grin, rubbing his face as he blinks to clear his sight.
"An Archangel defeated Saxon?" Amy asks with a frown, trying to figure out if he's hallucinating or speaking the truth.
He doesn't look alright, somewhat off and eyes unfocused, face pale and breathing more shallowly than normal, as if to keep pain at bay. Knowing how he is, Amy can't discard him having got hurt with whatever he did to get them away from the Angels, adding to his preexisting injuries. One way or another, she can't discard a concussion, which would explain his current symptoms and his babbling nonsense.
Then again, he may not be babbling nonsense. They're dealing with statues that come to life when you're not looking and snap your neck, after all, so she can't just shrug something as a hallucination simply because it sounds too fantastical.
"No, the Doctor defeated Saxon with an alternate timeline, but was too tightly linked to it to see the gun, so Saxon died and I won," he explains with a dismissive shrug that immediately turns into a pained flinch, his hands going back to his temples to rub them, as if chasing away a headache. "Please, tell me I didn't say that out loud," he whimpers, bowing his head, but when Amy hesitates, his shoulders slump with a defeated sigh, knowing the answer. "Never get a gun, Amelia. They only hurt the people you care about, get them killed. I hate guns. And radiation. I hate radiation too and why are we still out here?" he asks, louder this time as he finally uncurls and looks up. "River, Father Octavian, whoever has any idea about how to break into a starliner airlock, get to it already. If you think I can keep the lights stable any longer, you'll be sorely disappointed. For the last moment of your life, that is, because they will get us the moment they go out."
Amy follows his gaze, confused with all his mood swings and the thoughts all over the place – and grabs onto the Raggedy Doctor with a startled gasp.
"What are those Angels doing on the ceiling?!" she asks loudly, making sure to stare at them without meeting their eyes.
"They're not on the ceiling, Amy. I just gave us a boost when you jumped so we landed on the hull of the Byzantium. And, since the ship crashed with its engines running, all systems are still online, including gravity," the Doctor explains with a huff and a bored tone, as if repeating something for the nth time.
Amy gulps and decides to take a risk, looking around for a moment. River has pulled out a small panel next to an airlock on the metal floor, and she's messing with it to open it, with the Clerics standing all around and looking up. The place looks too bright, but that's because the lights are on the floor, in between the Clerics, who make sure not to step on them. The walls are rock.
And the 'ceiling', now that Amy knows what to look for, does definitely look a lot like the small open area under the crashed Byzantium. Where they had been standing before the Doctor flipped them all upside down.
"How did you do that?" she asks in a whisper, once more looking at the Angels, and the Doctor huffs, as if insulted.
"I told you, I gave you an extra push when you jumped. A lift, actually, but the result's the same."
"How?"
"I'm a Time Lord. I could make the jump without problem, but not you humans. I could have pulled two of you with me, but I wouldn't have been able to sustain the lights at the same time, not until all of you were up here. But you trusted me. And I turned that trust into reality, I used it to meld alternate timelines in which I pulled up different people into one, this one, which resulted in all of you being pulled up at the same time by the energy produced by your belief. Faith and hope and prayer, Amelia. Channeled appropriately, it can lead to miracles," he explains with a mocking but proud grin, and Amy only realizes she's looked away from the Angels when she notices she's staring at him open-mouthed.
"You did what?"
"Unfortunately, the torches and gravity globe fell prey to the Angels. I couldn't keep them and all of you stable at the same time, so bye, lights. I hope it's daytime when we get out, I really doubt the additional torches will last long enough against such an assault," he adds, ignoring her question, with a nonchalant shrug that quickly turns into a snarl. "Are we in yet?!"
"Yes!" River shouts just as the airlock spins open. "Inside, quickly!"
Amy doesn't need to be told twice.
They all file in as fast as possible without breaking the line of sight with the Angels, though there's some tripping and swearing involved when the gravity pulls them to the floor of the corridor, standing at a ninety degrees angle to the ceiling they were stuck on.
"Sir, the statues look more like Angels now," one of the Clerics comments, swallowing nervously, as they move away from the airlock.
"Of course they do," the Doctor scoffs, frowning as if concentrating deeply or fighting off a headache. "They're feeding on the radiation from the wreckage, draining all the power from the sh—" he adds, cutting himself with a hiss as he trips on his own feet. "Run!"
No one thinks it twice, breaking out in a run before they can stop themselves – and barely make it past a bulkhead a bit further down the corridor, with Father Octavian pulling one of his Clerics in when, running backwards as they are, he almost gets stuck on the other side.
"We need to get to a more defensible position!" Father Octavian orders, pulling his Cleric away from the door when something slams loudly into it. "Now!"
"River, move!" the Doctor orders with a snarl, but his voice is chocked.
Amy turns to him, looking away from the bulkhead and the Angels now on the other side, and her breath hitches in her throat.
He's doubled over, leaning heavily against the wall. He looks pale as death, forehead shining with sweat, and his eyes are creased in clear pain. His teeth are bared in a snarl as he glares as best as he can at the bulkhead, and his fists are tightly clenched, with the bandages on the right one looking singed and speckled with orange-red spots.
"Through here, quick! It should be the Secondary Flight Deck," River calls from next to another door, the panel on the wall hanging off as she does something to the cables insides.
"Come on, you," Amy orders, hoisting one of the Doctor's arms over her shoulders as she tries to pull him towards the door, the Clerics guarding them, but he doesn't move.
"No, no, I need contact with the wall, with the cables, I need to keep the seal up, the lights on—" he hisses, pained, with a chocked voice, but there is no way in Hell Amy is going to let him sacrifice himself for them.
"Yeah, okay, do that, but you know, start shuffling back," she tells him as she tugs him towards River once more, but this time, keeps them close to the wall.
And, fortunately, the Doctor does as told, breathing heavily and wincing with every moan of the bulkhead, growing paler while the bandages on his right hand turn darker and more blood-stained.
"In, everyone!" River orders as the door opens with a whoosh, and, not thinking twice, Father Octavian and the Clerics hurry inside. "Doctor, come on!" she adds, still with her hands deep in the control panel, when he stops right next to the entrance.
"Move, you stubborn alien!" Amy shouts practically in his ear, but he doesn't even flinch, too busy clawing at the wall and snarling down the corridor, his eyes so crinkled in pain that she's not sure he can see anything anymore.
River and Amy exchange a look over his head, worry and fear in their eyes, before River goes serious. Catching up on her plan just a second later, Amy nods.
"One!" Amy shouts, wrapping herself more tightly around the Doctor's middle.
"Two!" River adds, tweaking something in the panel that makes it spark even as she shuffles a step away.
"And three!" they shout in unison as River jumps at them and Amy pulls.
They fall on a pile in the room, where hands immediately grab onto them and drag them further inside just before the door slams closed on their legs.
"Secure all entrances!" Father Octavian orders after slapping a device over the wheel on the door, and two of the Clerics who pulled them inside leave to follow his orders while the third helps Amy and River get off the Doctor.
"Idiots! The lights!" the Doctor hisses sharply but weakly, glaring up at Amy and River through one barely open eye, but doesn't move from his position on the floor, gasping for breath and trembling in pain.
"I'll isolate the system," River tells them, squeezing Amy's shoulder before rushing off to the console on the opposite side of the room.
"Help me get him comfortable," Amy asks the Cleric, who nods and carefully pulls the Doctor up and to one of the chairs, into which he slumps with a pained groan, almost boneless. "What the Hell did you do, Raggedy Man? What was that?" Amy asks as she takes a small first aid kit from her belt, hesitating at all the stuff in it before she grabs a gauze pad and dabs at his forehead.
The lights flicker before stabilizing, and the Doctor lets out a sigh and finally relaxes.
"I've isolated the lighting grid. They shouldn't be able to drain the power now," River tells them from the controls, but other than give Amy a questioning and worried look, she doesn't step away from the consoles, moving to something else.
"They won't," the Doctor croaks, lifting his head up slowly, as if even that slight movement pained him, to look around the room. "The ambient radiation will be enough, now that they're here. But they'll still try to get through those doors."
And, right on cue, the wheel of the door they came through jerks with a moan of metal.
"That's impossible. The door is magnetized, nothing could turn that wheel," Father Octavian lets out with horror in his voice, and the Clerics guarding the other two doors take a step back when their wheels turn as well.
"Oh, to be young and innocent," the Doctor scoffs, pushing Amy's hand away – and stands up, wobbling for a moment before regaining his stability. "We have five minutes, thanks to your magnetizers, so don't fret. River, this is a galaxy class ship, isn't it?"
"Yes, it is. It's through that wall over there, I'm trying to release the clamps," she answers, still busy with whatever she's doing at the controls, and Father Octavian and the Cleric not guarding a door immediately rush to the wall River nodded at, pushing the cabinets away from it.
"What are you talking about? What's in there?" Amy asks, looking from the tired Doctor slowly recovering some color as he smirks, and the focused River.
"This ship can go years between planet falls, Amy. And humans need to breathe," the Doctor answers softly as the wall slowly slides up.
Amy gapes.
"It's a forest," she whispers after a couple blinks, staring incredulously at the trees and moss and rocks now in front of them.
"It's an oxygen factory. And, if we're lucky, our escape route," River answers this time, taking out her portable computer as she walks into the forest with Father Octavian by her side. "I'll check the architecture so we don't get lost."
"The rest of you stay where you are until I check the rad levels," Father Octavian adds, taking a tiny computer of his own as he follows River further in.
"Trees. On a spaceship," Amy repeats, staring at the Doctor with an incredulous smile, and he huffs softly in amusement as he leans against the console. "Maybe you should sit down again," she adds, all awe replaced by worry once more as she grabs his shoulders when he sways.
"We should take a look at that hand too, Sir," the Cleric not on guard duty adds, retrieving Amy's first aid kit and joining them as he nods at the Raggedy Man's bandaged hand.
The bandages are practically burnt through now, if not covered in bloodstains, and Amy barely holds back a curse as she notices it.
"Leave the hand be, it won't go anywhere," the Doctor scoffs, pulling it back as Amy reaches for it. "Now, the trees are treeborgs, biotechnological trees connected to the hull—"
"Shut up and let me look at that!" Amy cuts as she reaches for his arm again, wrapping her hand tightly around the forearm armor to tug the bandaged hand back in sight—
And the Doctor cuts himself with a chocked scream, curling around his hand with a pained grimace when Amy releases it in surprise, jerking away.
"Doctor!" River calls, rushing back to their side, while Father Octavian stays where he is, computer still in hand. "Sweetie, talk to me, what's wrong?"
"You call me that one more time…" the Raggedy Man hisses, glaring at River from where he's still curled around his injured hand, and River lifts her hands with a relieved smile.
"And you'll throw me into the event horizon of a collapsing galaxy or age me to the second of my death and suspend me in time. Or you might get inventive. Yes, I know, sorry for the slip," she finishes for him, smiling still despite her words, while Amy and the Cleric gawk.
"I hate you," the Doctor huffs, still glaring, but straightening once more.
"No, you don't," River answers calmly as she extends a hand. "Let me see that hand."
But the Doctor doesn't take the offer, simply looking away from River and undoing the bandages himself, scowling like a child who has been forced to do his homework instead of playing. River deflates, her smile turning sad, and Amy puffs herself up indignantly.
"Can you be any more of an asshole? We're just trying to help!" she protests, hands on her hips, but he doesn't even look up.
"What help can you be? Do you know the kind of power needed to keep that bulkhead sealed and the lights stable, Amy? I had to channel the drive burn radiation to do it, and that? Definitely not enough to kill a Time Lord, especially not when armored, but by Omega's Holy Hands, it hurt. And do you want to know something else about drive burn radiation?" he asks mockingly, though he drops the tone as he finally gets rid of the last strip of burnt and bloodied bandage to lift his hand so they all can see. "It burns."
And it did. Amy remembers the damage to the hand from this morning, even if it feels like ages ago, when he'd stepped out of the machinery to go take a shower after his encounter with the Daleks. She remembers the pinkish stretches of new skin covering most of his thumb and index fingers, as well as the part of palm connecting them, the back of the hand and wrapping around the wrist and most of the inside and half of the outside of his forearm. She can't see the forearm now because of the armor, but the scars on the hand are a violent red with speckles of scorched black skin, and all his fingernails are blackened as if someone had slammed a hammer on them.
"It'll heal," the Doctor tells them after a moment, reaching for a clean swab of gauze from the first aid kit the Cleric still holds so he can wipe the blood off the burns. "They won't impair mobility and strength, if we get to the TARDIS on time, but it'll definitely scar."
"The scars on his right hand," Amy whispers under her breath, remembering that conversation with River outside the TARDIS, before the Clerics arrived, and turns to the older woman. "You said your Raggedy Man has scars on his right hand," she adds, wide-eyed, and River gives her a tight-lipped smile that looks more like a grimace instead.
"Did she now?" the Doctor asks threateningly, too vibrant amber-green eyes fixed on River and completely still, the blood-stained gauze held over the injury in a white-knuckled grip. "It appears congratulations are in order, Doctor Song. As it turns out, you actually know me from my future," he adds, the last sentence accompanied by a humorless smirk, and Amy grimaces, realizing that, instead of trusting River further after that confirmation, the Doctor is now even more wary and hostile instead. "Now find us a way through that forest so that I can get to whatever made me think associating with you was a good idea," he orders not without a cutting dose of sarcasm in his words, before turning away dismissively as he reaches for the clean bandages and starts to wrap his hand.
"I can't wait to see that," River answers softly with another sad smile, and, when Amy opens her mouth to reassure her or chastise the Doctor, River puts her hand on her shoulder and squeezes reassuringly. "It's alright. We both know how much of an idiot he can be. Let's focus on getting out now, alright?" she asks Amy softly, and, with a huff, Amy nods.
As soon as River rejoins Father Octavian, Amy rounds on the Doctor.
"Seriously? She's trying to help, you know," she scolds, hands on her hips once more, but he doesn't look up, carefully bandaging each and every finger.
"So? The road to Hell is paved with good intentions, Amelia. Do you know how much blood has been spilled 'trying to help'?" he asks with a scowl, glaring at the bandages but not focusing on them. "'Trying to help' is what got you here, what got us here. Every time I 'try to help' it ends in death. Don't hold up much hope."
Amy stills, whatever answer she had been preparing vanishing like mist under the sun.
"Every time I 'try to help' it ends in death."
That's terrifyingly specific. But even more so is the tone in which it was spoken. Calm, nonchalant, unbothered.
The very same tone Amy would use to say the sky is blue.
"Time Lord, there's an exit, far end of the ship, into the Primary Flight Deck," River calls before Amy can think past that, catching their attention. "We're plotting a safe path now."
"Good. Hurry up," the Doctor calls back, tying the bandages and flexing his fingers with a small grimace, glaring at the tiny splotches of orange-red that taint the white at the movement.
A radio crackles and they all tense.
"Doctor? Excuse me? Hello, Doctor?" a voice calls through the radio, and Father Octavian quickly joins them once more to hand it over to the Raggedy Man. "Angel Bob here, Sir."
"Get lost. I've nothing to say to you," the Doctor answers before tossing the radio back to a stunned Father Octavian, who manages to catch it with a bit of a fumble.
"Seriously?" Amy hisses at him, but the Doctor turns around, frowning softly and – is he sniffing?
"The Angels are wondering what you hope to achieve," comes out of the radio as if the Doctor hadn't spoken, but he just rolls his eyes and starts to prowl around the room, glaring at the walls as if he was looking for something, shaking his head and blinking every now and then as if dizzy. "Doctor, Sir?"
The Doctor snarls and rounds on them, closing the distance with two long steps that make Amy and the Cleric move back while Father Octavian tenses, but the Time Lord just snatches the radio back.
"What are you lot doing? Oh, forget about me, you know exactly what I want, and it's to leave this disgusting place. But what in Skaro's radioactive flames are you bunch of rock-brained idiots doing?" he hisses into the radio, glaring at the door they came through, and Amy exchanges a startled and confused look with the Cleric.
What is he talking about?
"I'm afraid I don't understand the question, Sir."
"You're tangling space and time up, shredding it and stitching it like a blind monkey. What for? What are you planning to achieve with that?" he snarls, but while there's only anger and threat in his voice there's also fear in his eyes.
"That is not the Angels' doing, Sir."
"Then whose is it?"
"You haven't noticed yet, Sir? The Doctor in the TARDIS hasn't noticed."
And the most awful screeching echoes from all around them.
"Oh my God! What is that noise?!" Amy exclaims, jumping in surprise and stepping closer to the Doctor, who bristles like a startled cat.
In fact, Amy could almost swear he hisses too, but she can't be sure with all the noise.
"It's hard to put in your terms, Miss Pond, but as best I understand it, the Angels are laughing," Angel Bob answers, as calmly as any other time, and Amy gulps before recovering her cool.
"Maybe they should have it looked at, I think they need some honey for their throats," she quips, and this time she's sure the Doctor snorts at her back.
"Weeping Angels laugh, and that is what you have to say?" he asks and, when she feels him shift, she turns to meet his amused gaze. "I knew I liked you for a reason."
"And here I thought it's because I give you food every time you drop by my place," she huffs, straightening self-importantly, and the Raggedy Man's smirk widens into a smile. "You're just like a stray cat. Maybe I should call you Mittens next."
Instead of laughing as expected, though, the Doctor's amusement vanishes in a blink as he rounds on the wall opposite the forest.
The metal of the bulkhead over the entrance starts to sizzle and light up, glowing softly, and Amy grabs the Raggedy Man's arm even as the Clerics step closer to them, all of them now staring at it.
"Is it them?" Amy whispers, trying very hard not to blink, no matter how much the light makes her eyes itch.
"It's worse," the Doctor answers just as softly, and Amy tightens her grip—
The light concentrates into a jagged line and starts to push apart, and Amy freezes.
"That's—That's like the crack from my bedroom wall from when I was a little kid," Amy finally manages to say, kind of expecting to hear that terrifying Prisoner Zero has escaped, even though the other half of her brain is telling her that the Doctor already sorted that out.
The Raggedy Man pulls his arm out of Amy's grip and, using one of the wheeled boxes the Clerics pushed away from the forest wall as a stool, examines the crack from closer up.
"It is," he confirms, wide-eyed yet also intent, after some sniffing and much head-twisting, but never touching the crack. "Two parts of space and time that should have never connected. But what is it doing here?"
"Clerics, Time Lord, we found a path!" Father Octavian calls, and Amy twists around to see River hop back to her side while the Clerics join their commander. "We have to move out."
"Yes, sure, go. I'll catch up later," the Doctor answers after a brief look back, immediately returning his attention back to the crack.
"But—"
"River, get Amy out of here. If anything happens to her before I catch up to you—"
"Insert worst threat I can think of right now, and disregard it because it will be ten times worse, I know," River answers, grabbing Amy's arm but not trying to move her. "Are you sure you'll be alright?"
"No. Now, move!" he barks and, before Amy can protest, River finally pulls her away.
"No, we can't leave him! River, we can't!" she protests, but River's grip is far stronger than she anticipated.
"I know, Amy, I do. But the longer it takes us to leave, the later he'll go back to examining that crack. And the more he delays on finding whatever he's looking for, the closer the Angels will be. So, the sooner we get out of his focus, the sooner he'll join us," River explains, but her eyes are tight with worry and fear.
Amy takes a couple deep breaths and one last look over her shoulder as they catch up to the Clerics, but she can no longer see the entrance to the forest.
"Right. Yes, of course, you're right. And it'll be alright. I mean, you know him from the future and he has just met you, so that means he'll definitely make it out alright so you two can meet again. Nothing to worry about," she finally manages to say, though, mostly, Amy's trying to reassure herself.
River's pained look doesn't go away.
"It doesn't work like that. Time can be rewritten. He can die here and he will never get the chance to know me," River whispers, and Amy stumbles on a root in surprise. "Are you alright?"
"But you remember him, right? That has to mean he's still alive, he can't be dead!" Amy protests, grabbing the arm River used to catch her tightly, but when the older woman hesitates, Amy stops in her tracks. "No, we have to wait for him, make sure he's alright."
"Miss Pond, Doctor Song, there's no time for that," Father Octavian orders from a bit further ahead, with the Clerics standing with their backs to them to keep an eye on the forest for any incoming Angels. "Our mission is to make this wreckage safe and neutralize the Angels. Until that is achieved—"
"Father Octavian, when the Doctor's in the room, your one and only mission is to keep him alive long enough to get everyone else home," River interrupts, strong and firm and with enough certainty to immediately mute the Bishop. "And trust me, it's not easy. Now, if he's dead back there, I'll never forgive myself. And if he's alive, I'll never forgive him. And… Please, someone tell me he's standing right behind me," she adds, her voice going soft with her last sentence.
As one, Father Octavian and Amy look back, towards the Flight Deck, while River stands tense, holding her breath.
Amy's breath hitches as her grip on River's arm tightens.
"The Angels are here," she whispers, voice strangled, and River's exhale sounds almost like a sob.
"Keep looking at them. I'll guide you," River finally says before resuming her walk, an arm around Amy's waist and the other resting against her back, so that she's almost hugging her to her side and they can walk more securely despite Amy going backwards.
"Let's move, men. We need to get to that control room as soon as possible," Father Octavian orders as they catch up to him, with Amy trying really hard to keep looking at the two Angels she can see behind the tree trunks. "And may God be with us."
AN: So, I did mention the Master's focus at the Academy was military, didn't I? There you have it, his improvisations are a lot less "updraft from blowing up a gravity globe" and more "let's jump the Hell out of here". Good thing he has River there to help, or I can imagine him just throwing Amy over his shoulder and running away as fast as he can, leaving the Clerics behind as a distraction.