Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality
- Because I could not stop for Death by Emily Dickinson
-0-0-
I was still with the ninth Doctor the next morning. I was kind of hoping that I would have jumped in the middle of the night, so that I wouldn't have to deal with him, but when I got to the console room I found he had been silently hoping for the same thing.
Rose stared at the two of us intently as we did our best to pretend the other didn't exist, standing on opposite ends of the console. With her arms crossed, I could tell the blonde wasn't impressed.
"So, where to next? Barcelona? Paris?" The Doctor fiddled around with machines, the TARDIS shaking as he entered in coordinates. "We could go to an amusement park, heard there was a good one on Asgard. Been meaning to check it out. Or we could–"
"Take me home," Rose interrupted, reaching out to balance herself.
The Doctor raised his head in surprise. "What?"
Rose pointed at him. "I ran off with you and didn't even think to tell anyone. I'm sure my mum's going to start getting worried about me. Figure you two-" She pointed over at me and back, "-need to get your problems sorted anyways. I'll go explain everything to her, and meanwhile you two can talk."
"There's nothing to talk about," He argued, and I scoffed.
"Right, so you're just going to keep ignoring me?" I accused him.
"I'm not ignoring anyone!"
"Yes, you are!"
"Oi, that's enough!" Rose interrupted. "I refuse to be in the middle of your lover spat."
"We're not-" "He's not-"
Talking over each other, both the Doctor and I quickly grew quiet when we realized we were saying the same thing. I could feel my body growing hot in frustration. Rose gave us both a look as if to say 'see?', walking over to push the Doctor with her shoulder.
"Come on, just a few minutes back home. I can get some clothes and let her know I might be gone for a bit," She urged. "And you two can settle whatever problems you have with each other."
Realizing the heat was growing hotter, a soft warm feeling in my chest like I had just downed a cup of hot water, I looked down in confusion. My hands were beginning to glow slightly, like there was a light right beneath my skin.
I grimaced. "Yeah, that's not going to happen."
With a sigh, the blonde began to say something until she turned to look at me. Her mouth snapped shut. "Chloe, you're glowing," She said, as if I hadn't noticed.
The Doctor finally looked at me properly for the first time, his face dropping. I thought he was going to say something to me, but he only grabbed Rose's arm and pulled her away from me. I shook my head.
"Yeah, well. Make sure you get the date right," I told him.
I didn't hear him say anything before my view was engulfed in gold. I felt like my stomach dropped, the floor disappearing beneath my feet before it suddenly appeared again. I stumbled forward.
"What are you doing?"
For a second, I thought the voice was talking to me, and I turned around to see who it was. There was nobody there, but parked against a wall was the TARDIS and it's familiar shape relaxed me. I reached out to touch the ship when a familiar voice spoke up.
"This is wrong. In fact-" someone said, footsteps echoing down the hallway "This is wrong too. And that. Wrong. So wrong."
I followed the noise, peeking around a corner. The Doctor -an older regeneration than the one I had just been with- bounced around a bunch of glass cases filled with artifacts. Following behind him looking annoyed was none other than Amelia Pond.
It didn't take me long to realize the situation.
"Wrong. Wrong. Bit right, mostly wrong."
The two zigzagged around the displays, the Doctor barely glancing at some of them before he criticized them. Trailing behind looking bored and slightly annoyed, Amy didn't seem too interested in any of the artifacts either. Neither had yet noticed me.
"Yeah, great! Can we go to a planet now?" Amy said, "Big spaceship? Churchill's bunker? Chloe promised we'd see a planet next."
"I have to agree, a planet sounds a lot funner," I added.
"Funner isn't a word," The Doctor shot back, and Amy jumped in surprise. As he realized that the one who had spoken wasn't his redheaded companion, he spun around to spot me. "Chloe!"
"Oh thank god," Amy sighed, reaching out to drag me towards her. "Tell him we should check out a planet next. There's nothing worse than a boring museum."
"First of all, this isn't just any old asteroid. This is the Delirium Archive, the final resting place of the headless monks, the biggest museum ever." The Doctor paused to wag a finger at Amy, before twirling back around to continue looking around. "Second of all, Chloe told me to come here first. Something I needed to see, she said."
"No, she promised me a planet," Amy insisted, turning to me. "You promised me a planet next."
I raised my hands in surrender. "Actually, I haven't done either of those things yet."
"Wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey!" The Doctor yelled back at us.
Letting out a groan, Amy continued to drag me after the Doctor. Despite her insistence that it wasn't interesting, I still couldn't help but lean over to see the artifacts with interest and curiosity. Some were rusted old human gadgets, and some looked completely alien to me.
Amy dropped my hand when she realized I wasn't moving. "Why do you even need to go to a museum? You have a time machine."
"Very wrong," The Doctor continued, completely ignoring her. "Ooh, one of mine. Also one of mine."
Amy peeked over his shoulder to see what he was so interested in, and even as he moved on to the next case she lingered, realization hitting her. She didn't even notice when the Doctor paused, circling around a particular case and the box it held.
"Oh, I see. It's how you keep score," Amy said.
I moved past her, glancing down at the box that would start the entire adventure. Even though it just looked like a bunch of squiggles to me, I could see the Doctor's eyes narrow as he read the words, exasperation shooting across his face.
Amy joined us shortly after, looking between us and then down at the box. Her face pinched in confusion.
"A box? What's so important about a box?" She asked.
"It's from one of the old star liners," The Doctor explained, "A home box."
"It's like a black box," I explained before Amy could ask. "Something happens to the ship and it flies home with the information, that way you don't have to rummage through the rubble looking for it."
Amy nodded slowly. "Okay. So what's so important about it?"
"Nothing," I told her, tapping the glass. "It's just a box. The important thing is what's written on the box."
Straightening up, Amy began to observe the writing more carefully, as if she would suddenly understand what was so important about it. The Doctor explained that it was Gallifreyan, the lost language of the time lords. She reacted to the name.
"Wait, hold on. You're a time lord."
The Doctor nodded, pointing at the symbols burnt into the home box. "There were days, many days in fact, that these words could burn stars, raise up empires, and topple gods."
"What does it say?" Amy said, eyes wide in interest.
The Doctor paused, shooting me a look. "Hello, sweetie."
I let out a sigh, knowing what was going to happen next. Amy, still confused, asked me what was so important about 'Hello, sweetie'. The Doctor grabbed his sonic screwdriver, pointing it at the lock of the case.
"What are you doing?"
Instead of answering, the Doctor told us to run.
After stealing the artifact, alarms began to blare throughout the museum. By the time guards appeared at the end of the corridor to chase us down, the three of us had already made it back into the TARDIS.
"Why are we doing this?" Amy asked as the Doctor began to hook up the box to the TARDIS console.
"Someone on a spaceship 12,000 years ago is trying to attract my attention," He answered, "Let's see if we can get the security playback working."
After a bit of static, the TARDIS monitor suddenly displayed an image. The woman on screen winked at the camera. Amy leaned forward in interest, and the Doctor switched a vial to change the footage to another location, this time of River turning around.
"The party's over, Doctor Song, yet still you're on board."
"Who's that?" Amy asked.
"I needed to see what was in your vault. Do you all know what's down there? Any of you? Because I'll tell you something. This ship won't reach its destination."
The red head looked over at me as if I would answer her questions. Knowing that she would find out soon enough, I just patted her shoulder and moved around so I could see the monitor better.
"Wait till she runs," A voice said off screen, "Don't make it look like an execution."
River, dressed up in a beautiful black dress, glanced down at her watch and began to recite digits. "Triple-seven, five, slash, three, four, nine by ten, zero, twelve, slash, acorn." She pushed up her hair and smirked. "Oh, and I could do with an air corridor."
The Doctor laughed, jumping into action as he began to move around the TARDIS console, twisting levers and pushing buttons as he went. Amy just looked confused, grabbing the scanner as it began to slide.
"What was that, what did she just say?"
"Co-ordinates," The Doctor said with a laugh, ringing a bell.
I walked calmly over to the doors as the TARDIS began to shake, opening the doors as it arrived just in time for River to fly through from outside. I gave her a hand to hold on to so she wouldn't fall, and the Doctor just smiled over at us both. River steadied herself, before turning to me with a wink.
"Thank you, sweetie."
"Doctor?"
"River!"
River ignored both Amy and the Doctor, turning back to look through the doors at the ship now flying away. "Follow that ship!"
Amy observed our visitor as the Doctor did as told, quickly pulling on levers and moving us through space. River was quick to go over and help him, leaving her shoes on the monitor. Amy managed to stumble over next to me as they worked.
"Who is that?" She whispered.
"I'll explain later, now hold on," I said, nearly being thrown away from the railing I was grabbing onto.
"They're going into warp drive," River said, pulling something, "Stay close!"
"I'm trying!"
The two worked on opposite sides of the console, and both Amy and I could only watch as the TARDIS jolted around. Unlike when the TARDIS was materializing from one place to another, actually following behind the crashing ship somehow made the TARDIS's movements more sporadic and rough.
I groaned as I got another bout of dizziness from the sudden jolts. "God dammit, Doctor. Use the stabilizers!"
River laughed as the Doctor sputtered, looking offended. "It doesn't have stabilizers!"
"The blue switches," She pointed out to him. The Doctor pursed his lips, shaking his head.
"The blue ones don't do anything, they're just … blue," He insisted.
"Yes, they're blue," River stated as if she was talking to a child. Exasperated, she leaned over her side of the console to punch the buttons in front of the Doctor. "They're the blue stabilizers."
Immediately it was as if we had landed, the entire room no longer shaking or spinning like it usually would. Amy's jaw dropped in surprise. Finally feeling comfortable enough to let go of the railing, I smacked the Doctor on the arm for ignoring me.
He shot me a look of betrayal in return. "Well, see what you've done? Now it's just boring, isn't it? They're boring-ers. They're blue, boring-ers."
"Boring-ers isn't a real word," I shot back. Amy walked over to the Doctor, looking at River in amazement.
"Doctor, how come she can fly the TARDIS?"
"You call that flying the TARDIS? Ha!" He exclaimed, looking sour. He went over to the captain's seat and flopped down to sulk.
"Oh, now you've hurt his feelings," I said, looking over River's shoulder at the screen. "You find the ship yet?"
"Yes! I've mapped the probability vectors, done a fold-back on the temporal isometry, charted the ship to its destination, and," She hit the last button on the keyboard, "Parked us alongside!"
"Amy, sweetie, close your mouth. You'll catch flies," I said.
The red head finally shut her mouth with an audible snap, but her eyes remained wide. From behind her, the Doctor shot up from his seat and I leaned against the railings, watching as he stomped over to the monitor with a huff.
"Parked us? We haven't even landed," He said, before he saw that we had indeed landed. He frowned. "It- it didn't make the noise!"
Confused, River asked him what noise he was talking about. The Doctor then proceeded to make a low wheezing noise in close approximation of what the TARDIS sounded like, and I clapped a hand over my mouth to keep from laughing.
"It's not supposed to make that noise, you just leave the brakes on," River informed him. Amy gave the Doctor a knowing look.
"Yeah, well, it's a brilliant noise. I love that noise," He said, definitely pouting. "Come along Pond, let's go have a look."
Amy didn't move, staring intently at River. I sat down onto the now unoccupied captain's chair, and realizing nobody was going with him, the Doctor ran towards the doors by himself. He only paused at the entrance when River called out to him.
"No, wait! Environment checks!"
"Yes, sorry! Quite right. Environment checks." He stuck his head out the door and turned back to us sarcastically. "Nice out."
River ignored him, looking over the information that the TARDIS had provided her on the monitor. "We're somewhere in the Garn Belt. There's an atmosphere. Early indications suggest-"
"We're on Alfava Metraxis, the seventh planet of the Dundra System. Oxygen-rich atmosphere, toxins in the soft band, 11 hour day, and … chances of rain later," The Doctor interrupted. Both Amy and River shared a look.
"He thinks he's so smart when he does that," River said to her mother.
Amy still hadn't gotten past the fact that River had quite literally flown out of nowhere, looking at the strange woman suspiciously. She crossed her arms.
"How come you can fly the TARDIS?" She asked.
The Doctor made his way back to where I was sitting down on the captain's chair. Without hesitation he picked me up and sat down back down, settling me down on his lap as if it was normal. I froze.
River smiled in amusement. "I had lessons from the very best."
"Well, yeah. The best," The Doctor said from behind me.
"It's a shame you were busy that day."
With a huff, the Doctor shifted behind me, his fingers tightening against my waist. At the sudden pressure, the shock of him holding me wore off and I jumped off, causing everyone to look at me in surprise. I coughed, shooting the Doctor a glare.
His eyebrows raised in surprise.
"Right, then." River grabbed her shoes. "Why did they land here?"
"They didn't land," The Doctor watched her pass.
"Sorry?"
He shot out of his seat and quickly dashed after River before she could open the doors. "You should've checked the Home Box- it crashed."
He let her out with a flourish, wildly opening the doors for her to exit and then firmly closing them behind her. Turning back around, he shot Amy a warning look and made his way to the console. As he passed, the Doctor gave me a not so conspicuous once-over.
Amy followed after him with a high head. "Explain! Who is that and how did she do that museum thing?"
"It's a long story and I don't know most of it."
Amy whispered something that I didn't hear, and almost at the same time, both of them turned to look at me, one curious and the other almost calculating. I crossed my arms self-consciously.
"Don't look at me, I'm not telling you anything," I told them. The Doctor flipped a switch, and the TARDIS began to hum.
Amy tilted her head in confusion. "What are you doing?"
"Leaving. She's got where she want to go, let's go where we want to go," He answered.
The two of them began to move around the console as they talked, the TARDIS whirring to life as the Doctor pressed buttons and pulled levers. Despite his eagerness to leave, he never actually took off. Amy didn't seem to notice, crossing her arms.
"Are you running away?" She said with a mocking tone. When he simply nodded, her face dropped in surprise. "Why?"
"She's my future- our future." He shot me a look.
Amy narrowed her eyes. "Can you run away from your future?"
"I can," The Doctor quipped. "I can do whatever I want."
"Oh, isn't that right," I said out loud, thinking about how he ignored me before.
Snapping down a lever loudly, the Doctor suddenly spun around, staring me down. His brows were bunched tightly, creasing his forehead together in what was either confusion or annoyance. Quite possibly both.
"Are you mad at me?" He wondered, moving close enough that he literally looked down at me. I bristled at the action.
"Mad? What reason could I possibly have for being mad," I said sarcastically.
"I don't know, you tell me," The Doctor challenged.
I scoffed. "Right, because you listen to what I have to say."
He reached out to touch my arm, but I twisted away from his reach. I dropped my gaze to the ground in hopes he would just leave me be, but while there was a brief pause, the Doctor didn't move away. Instead, he lowered his voice until only I could hear him.
"I always listen to you," He assured me, trying to meet my gaze even as I stared intently at my shoes. "Please, tell me what's wrong."
"Now you want to listen," I whispered harshly, lifting my head with the intent of glaring at him.
But as two pairs of green met each other, I felt my gut twist. Looking into his eyes made me realize how different they were to the raging blue ones I had dealt with before. It reminded me that what happened to Gwyneth was literally a lifetime ago for him.
I wasn't sure if it made it better or worse.
"Doctor, Chloe. I really don't think this is the time for you to be flirting," Amy complained from behind us.
"I'm not flirting," I protested. She didn't seem to hear me, an idea suddenly hitting her.
"Or actually, maybe you two could stay here while I go and check out whatever's outside. River said something about a spaceship?"
"It's a planet," I corrected, walking around the Doctor.
Amy's face lit up. "Really?!"
She turned to look behind me, but I purposely resisted doing the same. The time lord sighed, and he must have given the go ahead because a second later she squealed in happiness. Amy was already halfway out the TARDIS by the time I began to walk towards the doors with the intention of leaving, not wanting to be alone with the Doctor.
I still wasn't ready to deal with it yet.
"Chloe-"
"Forget about it," I told him, following Amy out.
Smoke was the first thing that hit me. It rose in large clouds from the wreckage, the sound of crackling metal still reaching us even at the bottom of the cliff where the temple stood. The TARDIS doors closed as the Doctor joined us outside.
River looked up at the crashed ship with curiosity. "What caused it to crash? Not me."
"Nah, the airlock would've sealed seconds after you blew it. According to the Home Box, the warp engines had a phase shift," He glanced over at Amy. "No survivors."
"A phase shift would have to be sabotaged. I did warn them."
The Doctor nodded, then paused. "About what?"
"Well, at least the building was empty," She continued, "Aplan temple. Unoccupied for centuries."
I resisted the urge to correct her. The Doctor passed by me with only a side glance, moving to stand next to his companion. Amy was still giddy about being on a planet and meeting River, although not formally as she so gleefully pointed out.
"Aren't you going to introduce us?"
The Doctor pursed his lips, pulling her over to gesture them to each other. "Amy Pond, Professor River Song."
River gasped and turned to look at him in surprise. Almost immediately the Doctor realized his mistake, the regret spreading across his face.
"I'm going to be a Professor one day, am I? How exciting," She purred.
"Spoilers," I found myself saying. River laughed, giving me a wink.
"Yeah, but who is she and how did she do that? She just left you a note in a museum," Amy whispered, trying to get some more information. The Doctor only shushed her.
"She knew he was bound to end up at the museum," I told her, feeling a breeze brush by. I rubbed my shoulders.
"It's how he keeps score," River said, and I managed a weak smile as Amy laughed.
The Doctor gave his own sarcastic laugh, twisting around to wiggle a finger in River's face. "I'm nobody's taxi service. I'm not going to be there to catch you every time you feel like jumping out of a spaceship."
"Maybe not," She agreed, "But she will."
I blinked in surprise as they all turned to look at me in unison. I pointed at myself in confusion even though it was clear they were talking about me, and the Doctor frowned, looking defeated.
He began to walk back towards the TARDIS, obviously done with the conversation.
"There's one survivor," River called out, nodding towards the crash, "There's a thing in the belly of that ship that can't ever die."
The Doctor stopped in his tracks, looking over at us in curiosity. River just smiled back at him, turning towards Amy knowingly.
"Now he's listening."
As her communicator started beeping, River began to walk away from us to talk to the clerics. Amy and I walked back to where the Doctor was, still staring up at the ship with curious eyes, probably wondering what was inside it. He could never resist a mystery.
"Doctor, can you sonic me?" River raised her communicator. "I need to boost the signal so we can use it as a beacon."
The Doctor grudgingly did, pointing it at her without looking and twisting it to enhance the signal. River gave a small curtsy and Amy took the opportunity to tease the Doctor, to which he shot her an annoyed look.
She must have sensed there was still tension between the two of us, because Amy gave us both some space and rocked back and forth on her heels. After only a minute, River returned with her blue journal, flipping through the pages. If she noticed anything was off, she didn't mention it.
"Well, we have a minute. Shall we?" River looked up at the Doctor. "Where are we up to? Have we done the Bone Meadows?"
Amy leaned over in interest. "What's the book?"
"Stay away from it," The Doctor warned.
"What is it though?"
"Her diary."
"Our dairy," River corrected, shooting me a smile as I decided to join them.
I ignored the Doctors warning and moved to read over her shoulders, surprised when she didn't stop me. There were a couple of adventures that I recognized, and even more that looked completely unfamiliar. She stopped on a page labeled Pandorica, the next page holding a sketch of what looked like Elvis.
"Her past, my future," The Doctor continues, "Time travel. We keep meeting in the wrong order."
"Like Chloe?" Amy asks.
I raised an eyebrow, looking over at the Doctor to see how he answered. He grimaced, looking up at the sky as he thought of what to say.
"No, not quite. But yes, if it makes it easier to understand. Exactly like Chloe … except less random. And without the uncontrollable time jumping. And she doesn't already know the future, so no. Nothing like Chloe." The Doctor rambled.
Amy turned to me curiously. "Why don't you have a diary, then?"
I wrinkled my nose at the idea. "I don't do diaries."
Amy was going to comment on it, but then four small tornadoes suddenly appeared from behind, catching everyone's attention. River went to greet them, and one of the soldiers stepped forward. He didn't look very happy.
"You promised me an army, Doctor Song," he said as his other soldiers looked around.
"No, I promised you the equivalent of an army," She corrected, taking a step to the side. "This is the Doctor."
The Doctor gave a mocking salute. The Clerics turned to him in surprise. "Father Octavian, sir. Bishop, second class. Twenty clerics at my command. The troops are already in the drop shit and landing shortly. Doctor Song was helping us with a covert investigation."
"Has Doctor Song explained what we're dealing with?" Father Octavian continued.
River turned to the Doctor and asked, "Doctor, what do you know of the Weeping Angels?"
-0-0-
It was dark by the time the clerics set up camp.
The set up took less than an hour, but the sun in the sky had begun to set after only a few minutes. The Doctor pointed out that the planet's days passed by quicker than those on earth when Amy asked, and right after he told us to go wait in the TARDIS.
Neither of us listened.
"So, what's the plan," Amy asked, still trailing behind the Doctor.
"The Angel, as far as we know, is still trapped in the ship. Our mission is to get inside and neutralize it. We can't get through up top, we'd be too close-"
As the Father droned on, I drifted away from the Doctor and towards the edges of the camp, where a couple of clerics were charging up the catacombs walls to blow an entrance into the temple. I drank from the bottle I had been given as I took in the large stone structure, the top half now nothing more than burning rubble.
"It's a real tragedy, isn't it?"
I startled at the sudden voice, trying not to inhale the water in my mouth when one of the clerics joined me in looking up at the burning ship.
I swallowed roughly. "Yeah, I guess so."
He shifted his gun to the side so he could hold out his hand. "Phillip. It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am."
"Oh, you too," I shook his hand. "I'm Chloe, but I have a feeling you already knew that."
"I've heard many stories about you. You and the Doctor," He confirmed.
"All good things I hope."
Phillip laughed at that, giving me a reassuring nod. He told me how stories of the Doctor were like fairytales growing up, because the adventures described were so insane and impossible that nobody imagined it could ever be real.
"I'm sure most of them were made up," he explained, "Just the stray imagination of a bunch of kids. But I don't doubt now that a couple were real. All those insane and impossible things, and somehow he made them real."
"What about me?" I wondered, tilting my head. "What kind of stories have you heard about me?"
Phillip frowned, as if he thought that I would have already known. "Well every story of the Doctor includes you, Ma'am. They all end the same way after all. The Doctor and the gol-"
From somewhere behind me, I heard the Doctor yelling out for me. I gave Phillip an apologetic look at having to interrupt his sentence, but he waved me away with a smile.
It took me a second to figure out where Amy and the Doctor were, but when I finally spotted them, neither of them noticed me approaching.
The Doctor had his back turned to me so he couldn't see me coming. Amy was facing my direction, but her attention was focused on the time traveler beside her as he dropped his head with a sigh.
"Yes, you're right," The Doctor grumbled. "I'm definitely Mr. Grumpy Face today."
"Yes, you are," I said.
The Doctor spun around in surprise. "Chloe, there you are! Where have you been?"
"Doctor! Chloe!" River suddenly called out. "Father Octavian?"
Choosing not to answer him, I moved past him to where River was waiting, knowing he would follow. Amy jumped down from the table she had been sitting on and walked quickly to catch up.
"Why do they call him 'Father'?" She wondered.
"He's their bishop, they're his clerics. It's the 51st century, the Church has moved on." The Doctor explained as he jumped into the drop ship.
River had a video of the Weeping Angel playing when we got there, and I grimaced. Knowing that the video was just as likely to kill me as an actual Weeping Angel, I grabbed the remote and turned it off as soon as I could. Everyone turned to look at me in confusion.
"What was that for?" River asked.
"The image of an angel becomes an angel,"I warned, pushing hair out of my face. "That video would have turned into an actual angel, so do me a favor and get rid of it."
While River and The Doctor shared a wide-eyed look with each other, Amy just tilted her head. "I don't understand, what's so bad about a statue?"
"It's only a statue when you see it," River explained.
The Doctor was fiddling with the screen, thankfully not turning it back on, but he glanced over his shoulder. "Where did it come from?"
"Oh, pulled from the ruins of Razbahan, end of last century. It's been in private hands ever since. Dormant all that time. "
"There's a difference between dormant and patient."
Amy nudged me. "What do they mean, it's a statue when you see it?"
"Weeping Angels can only move if you're looking at them. They're fast, so fast that they can get you the moment you blink, and because they turn to stone when you look at them there's no way to fight back against them," I said, "They're the most dangerous creatures you'll ever meet."
An image of Amy and Rory jumping off a building appeared in my head.
Amy seemed skeptical, but after a glance at the Doctor for confirmation, she looked appropriately uncomfortable. "So that's what we have to go looking for?"
"There's no 'we' anything. You two are staying here," the Doctor interrupted, pointing his sonic screwdriver at us.
"Right, because that's going to happen," I shot back.
He let out a sigh, and even River gave me a look of confusion. There was an explosion from outside and the clerics began calling out for the Doctor. Neither he nor River said anything as they left, and Amy gave me a mischievous grin before following.
I glanced up at the ceiling and prayed we would all make it out alive. I had a feeling we would need it.
-0-0-
I had never been a big fan of caves, or any dark places in general. Down in the catacombs, I couldn't help but feel trapped by the large amount of statues surrounding us on all sides, especially knowing what they really were.
When the lights went up, my nerves got worse.
It was like stepping into an upside down football stadium, a giant half globe hanging above our heads, each row filled with old statues that were cracking and broken. Weeping Angels on the brink of death.
"A stone Angel on the loose amongst stone statues. A lot harder than I'd prayed for," Father Octavian said.
"A needle in a haystack," River added, looking around with wide eyes.
"A needle that looks like hay," The Doctor corrected, "A hay-like needle. Of death. A hay-like needle of death in a haystack of, uh, statues. No, yours was fine."
Noticing that Amy had begun to wander down the rows of statues, I quickly reached out to pull her back towards me. She shot me a curious look.
"What?"
"Don't wander off," I whispered to her, glancing around wearily.
Who knew how long it would take before the angels would have enough energy to move. Even though I knew what was going to happen, my short time with the Doctor showed that things could change and that nothing was set in stone.
Literally.
If I wanted everyone to be safe, I would have to keep them together.
"Right. Check every single statue in this chamber," Father Octavian said to his clerics, "You know what you're looking for. Complete visual inspection."
I felt my heart jump into my throat as the clerics began to walk in opposite directions. None of them were paying attention or even looking at each other, too involved in their own tasks.
"Work in pairs!" I shouted out to them, and Father Octavian gave me a look. I shrugged. "Always a good idea to have someone watch your back."
To my surprise, he actually gave the order back to the clerics, and they quickly paired up to do their inspection. I nearly let out a sigh of relief.
Father Octavian turned to the Doctor. "One question, Doctor. How do we fight it?"
"We find it, and hope," The Doctor said, moving along and flashing his torch across the faces of statues.
River and Amy trailed after him, and not wanting to be left alone, I quickly followed. I held the borrowed torch closely, turning around every once in a while to stare down the statues we had already passed. The others didn't say anything about my odd behavior, but I caught the glances both River and the Doctor kept shooting at each other.
We made it through an entire row of statues before Amy suddenly yelped, and I turned around to see River pulling back with an injector gun in her hand, shrugging innocently.
"I lied," She told Amy.
Waving me over, I allowed River to take my arm and administer a shot, only wincing at the sudden pinching sensation. I rubbed the skin instinctually, even though the pain quickly begun to wear off.
Amy, still rubbing her own arm, spoke up. "You and the Doctor, how do you know each other?"
"He's an old friend," River explained, shooting me a wink.
"Have you known him long?"
"My whole life."
I smiled knowingly, even though Amy just seemed to get even more confused. From in front of us, I spotted the Doctor fiddling with an electronic device, spinning it around and pretending as if he wasn't listening in. River noticed as well.
"Yes, we are!" She called out.
The Doctor nearly dropped the device. "Sorry, what?"
"Talking about you," She clarified.
"I wasn't listening," The Doctor lied, "I'm busy."
Amy raised an eyebrow at that, and River had a smirk pulling at the sides of her mouth. She pointed her flashlight down to the device in his hands.
"The other way around."
Caught in the act, the Doctor flipped the device around and realized that she was right. From beside me, Amy crossed her arm and turned to River almost accusingly.
"Are you his wife?" She asked.
River raised her brow. "Amy, this is the Doctor we're talking about. Do you really think it could be anything that simple?"
Amy dropped her arms. "No, you're right." She gave me a look. "Nothing with you two is ever simple."
I blinked, mouthing 'you two' to myself. I was about to ask her what she was talking about when suddenly the sound of gunfire sounded out. The Doctor was the first to react, taking off running with the rest of us not far behind him.
As we reached the main group, I was relieved to find Bob okay, if a little scared. He looked around at the group of people forming sheepishly.
"Sorry, sorry. I thought … I thought it looked at me."
"We know what the Angel looks like. Is that the Angel," Father Octavian asked condescendingly.
Bob looked down, "No, sir."
"No sir, it is not. According to the Doctor, we are facing an enemy of unknowable power and infinite evil, so it would be good, it would be very good, if we could all remain calm in the presence of décor," Octavian said in anger.
I stepped between the two clerics, feeling as if I had to protect Bob from the accusations, knowing that he hadn't imagined anything. "Hey, he's just scared. That's not a bad thing."
The Doctor backed me up, looking away from the angel he had been observing. "That's right. Scared is good. Scared keeps you fast. Anyone in this room who isn't scared is a moron." He gave Father Octavian a heavy long look. "Carry on."
"Actually," I grabbed the Doctor's hand to keep him from walking away, needing the support. He looked as surprised as I felt at the sudden action, but I didn't let go. "I think from now on, everyone should stay together."
Octavian narrowed his eyes. "It's going to be impossible to find that angel if we don't split up."
I bit my lip to keep from telling him the truth, because I knew the moment he found out that the catacomb was full of Weeping Angels, he'd make all of us leave. I couldn't risk it. There was an entire civilization not that far off who would be in danger if someone didn't stop the Angels.
"Please, just trust me," I urged.
"And why should I do that?"
The Doctor moved next to me. "No offense, Father Octavian, but when Chloe says something, it's in everyone's best interest to listen to her."
He squeezed my hand in reassurance, and I almost felt like crying. This was what I had wanted so badly back when we were dealing with the Gelth – For the Doctor to back me up, not argue against me. Why couldn't he have done this before?
What had changed so much between then and now that he finally trusted me?
"He's right," River said, reaching out to touch my shoulder. "I've seen what happens when people don't listen to her warnings, and it usually ends up with someone dead."
Father Octavian turned to me, still halfway behind the Doctor, and he stared me down intensely. "Is that a threat?"
"That's a promise," I breathed, trying not to look away. "So for the safety of everyone, listen to me. Make sure nobody leaves the group."
The Doctor clapped his hands loudly, drawing everyone's attention back to him. "Right. New rule, no wandering off. Does anybody have a problem with that?" He paused for just a second, but nobody objected. He smiled. "Great. Now come along, Pond!"
Father Octavian stared me down intently as I turned back around and walked away. Soon, the others followed suit, all together. The walk was incredibly awkward and tense at first, until Amy broke the silence. She nervously eyed the structure we were walking under with weariness.
"Isn't there a chance this lot's just going to collapse? I mean, there's a whole ship up there."
"Incredible builders, the Aplans. We'll be fine," River reassured her.
"Had dinner with their Chief Architect once. Two heads are better than one," The Doctor chimed in.
Amy raised her brows. "What, you mean you helped him?"
"No, I mean he had two heads," The Doctor corrected, pausing in his search to give Amy a look, as if it had been obvious.
We all moved carefully as a group on our way towards the wreckage. I was thankful to see that even as they did their job of locating the angels, none of the clerics moved out of sight of one another like I asked.
From my place at the tail end of the group watching their backs, I realized that the Doctor was placing himself at my side more often than not, despite the fact that he should have been leading the entire time. It wasn't like him, and I knew it was because he wanted to talk to me.
So when he suddenly grabbed my hand to stop my movement, holding us back long enough for the others to move out of hearing range, I let him.
"Chloe, we need to talk-"
"I'm not mad at you," I interrupted him. The Doctor faltered, giving me a confused look. I clarified, "Before, you asked me if I was mad at you. And I'm not. I was, before, but I realized it wasn't right for me to be mad at something that you probably don't even remember doing."
His lips puckered together like he tasted something bitter. "No matter how long it's been, there's no excuse for whatever it is I've done. You are the most important person in my life, Chloe. I would trust you with my life. And if I have, in any way, made you feel otherwise, I am truly sorry."
Looking into his eyes, I could see the sincerity to his words. He looked at me the same way one would look at an old friend, not just a stranger stuck in their life. I glanced down to where he had grabbed my hands in his, and squeezed them gently.
"You're right," I whispered.
"Hmm?"
We were standing close now, with the Doctor once again towering over me. Unlike before, I felt much more aware of his presence, the dwindling gap between our faces as he leaned in to hear me better. And past his face I could see the bouncing lights from the group's torches moving farther down the walls.
I pulled away quickly. "Come on, Doctor. We're going to get left behind."
Still holding his hand, I began to drag him towards the group, keeping a close eye on the statues around us. Noticing my change in demeanor, the Doctor didn't comment on my tighter than normal grip, or how quickly I walked until we finally caught up to the group, letting out a sigh of relief.
We managed to make it up 5 levels before I started to get breathless. I had never been much of an active person, but if I was going to be hanging around the Doctor for long then I was sure that would change. Thankfully, it seemed like I wasn't the only one feeling it.
"Are we there yet? It's a hell of a climb," Amy sighed.
"The maze is on six levels representing the ascent of the soul," River explained, "Only one more level to go."
The Doctor hummed. "Lovely species, the Aplans. We should visit them sometime."
We passed by a hole in the cave walls that gave a view to the rest of the catacombs, the levels below us still full of unmoving statues. I stared intently at as many as I could see, all of them facing the same direction.
They were all facing me.
With a shiver, I quickly moved passed, walking quickly until I was next to Amy. The redhead was still processing the Doctor's statement with confusion.
"I thought the Aplans were all dead," She pointed out.
"So is Virginia Woolf, but Chloe and I are on her bowling team," He drawled, pausing to shoot me a glance. "Sometimes."
I smiled. "I didn't even know you could bowl. Figured you'd probably trip over your legs if you tried, walking around like a drunk giraffe all the time."
The Doctor turned away with a pout and continued as if he hadn't heard me. "They're all very relaxed, those Aplans, sort of cheerful. Well, that's having two heads, of course. Never short of a snog with an extra head."
River stared intently at one of the statues. "Doctor, there's something. I don't know what it is-"
"Yeah, there's something wrong. Don't know what it is either. Working on it," The Doctor continued, "Of course, then they started having laws against self-marrying. I mean, what was that about? But that's the Church for you. Er, no offense, Bishop."
"Quite a lot taken, if that's all right, Doctor. Lowest point in the wreckage is only about fifty feet up from here. That way." Father Octavian led the group, the others still scanning the statues on either side as we passed them by.
Amy swung hers around nonchalantly. "The Church had a point, if you think about it. The divorces must have been messy."
Almost instantly the Doctor stopped walking, staring intently at one of the statues. Then he looked over at me, and I nodded in confirmation. He quickly spun on his feet, flashing from statue to statue rapidly as realization dawned on him.
"Oh."
Amy turned around in confusion. "What? What's wrong?"
"Oh," River whispered, suddenly as panicked as the Doctor, "How could we not have noticed that?"
"Low-level perception filter, or maybe we're thick."
"Doctor, what's wrong?" Amy asked.
"Nobody move! Nobody move, stay exactly where you are," He yelled.
I grabbed Amy's hand and pulled her close. "It's the statues. It's why I warned you all not to wander off."
"What about the statues?" One of the clerics asked.
"They all have one head. The Aplans had two," I told him, wincing at the sudden harsh look they all gave me. "They're weeping angels. All of them."
River shook her head in disbelief. "There was only one Angel on the ship. Just the one, I swear."
"Could they have been here already?" Amy suggested.
The Doctor paused, turning to point his torch at Father Octavian. "The Aplan's, how did they die out?"
"Nobody knows," River said, but she too already seemed to get it.
"Well, we know."
There was a moment of silence, a thick second of dread where everyone moved closer, flashlights bouncing off stone faces rapidly as everyone began to realize how much trouble we were in. Amy's hands shook from next to me, and I just pulled her closer.
"They don't look like angels," said Father Octavian, and Amy added, "And they're not fast. You said they were fast."
"It's because they were dying," I explained, feeling nervous energy bouncing under my skin. I was desperate to move things along and get away from the statues still surrounding us. "The Angel crashed the ship to save them. It was a rescue mission, and now they're feeding off the fuel for energy."
The Doctor clapped his hands in understanding. "The Power! The radiation, spilling out, the drive burns. We're in the middle of an army! And … it's waking up."
"We need to get out of here fast," River said.
"Through the ship," I explained, pointing up. "We need to get through the ship."
The Doctor turned to look at me in confusion. "What? Why?"
"The Angels are coming after us. We won't be able to leave the way we came, so we're going to have to get through the wreckage-" I began to explain.
The Doctor took off running back to the opening I had passed by before, River and Amy following him quickly. The statues that had once all been staring at me were now beginning to crawl towards us, some closer than others.
He breathed out in frustration. "No way out."
"No, it's okay. There's an exit on the ship, if we can just get there we'll be okay," I promised.
The Doctor grabbed me by the shoulders, squeezing them tightly. "Are you sure? Chloe, you have to be absolutely sure about this, because if you're not-"
"I'm sure," I assured him.
"Right, okay."
The four of us ran back to the clerics, and we were barely given time to slow down before the Doctor explained the situation to them. Despite his insistence, none of the soldiers moved until Father Octavian gave them the go ahead.
"Come one, let's go."
The Doctor urged everyone before him, dragging me along behind him as we made our way back to the group. The lights on his torch began to flicker just as we reached a large opening with multiple corridors around us. Marco backed away from one of them.
"There are statues on all the corridors. There's no way out," He told the group. "And sir, my torch keeps flickering."
"They all do," Father Octavian noticed.
As if to confirm his thoughts, the lights flickered simultaneously, shadows from the statues creeping along the rock walls. Amy snuck closer to me in fear as the lights went out again, and suddenly the shadows were angels at the end of the corridor, reaching out towards us.
"It's the Angels," The Doctor said, pushing me back. "They're coming. And they're draining the power for themselves."
"Which means we won't be able to see them," Octavian pointed out.
"Which means we can't stay here," The Doctor responded.
Octavian pointed his torch back up to the Byzantium. "The statues are advancing on all sides and we don't have the climbing equipment to reach the Byzantium. How are we supposed to get through it?"
River stepped towards me, not the Doctor, in worry. "Please tell me you have a plan."
"Good plan, great plan," I assured her. I quickly realized that without any victim's voices to steal, the angels would have no way to communicate with us. I gave the Doctor a forced smile. "No time for a speech, unfortunately."
"What?"
I reached out for his hand. "Do you trust me?"
"With my life."
There was no hesitation, no second guessing, no questions involved. I smiled, genuinely this time, and squeezed his hand before turning to where Amy and River stood behind us. Both looked confused.
"Trust me?"
"Yeah." "Of course."
Father Octavian was already looking at me, even as all the other clerics refused to take their eyes off of the approaching angels. Sacred Bob, very much alive, was shaking. I felt my eyes soften at the sight, directing my next question not at the Bishop but at him.
"Do you trust me?"
The young man glanced at me out of the corner of his eyes, then at Octavian. The Bishop didn't say anything.
Bob blinked slowly. "Back there, when I saw the statue move. It was an angel, miss?" I nodded. "And when you told us to stay together, it was to keep us safe." This time it wasn't a question, but I nodded anyway.
"What would have happened if we hadn't done what you asked?"
I couldn't find it in myself to answer him, knowing that it was certain death. River winced and from behind me the Doctor inhaled deeply. Bob understood immediately, finally taking his eyes off the angels and looking at me properly.
"You saved my life, miss. I trust you."
With a nod from Father Octavian to assure me that it was okay, I asked Bob for his gun. He gave it to me easily. I quickly held the weapon out to the Doctor, who took it from me with slow understanding.
"You probably have a better aim than me," I explained.
He paused, looking confused, but one look up had him smiling. "Oh, you're brilliant."
The Doctor kissed me on the forehead, pointing a finger at the others. He looked almost giddy. "I'm about to do something incredibly stupid and dangerous. When I do, I want you lot to jump!"
"Jump where?"
"Just jump, high as you can. Leap of faith, Bishop. On my signal," He said. Father Octavian looked frustrated.
"What signal?"
I rolled my eyes. "Count of three, okay? Then you jump."
Everyone nodded in understanding, and the Doctor pointed the gun up at the gravity globe. I made sure to keep a close eye on the angels that were still closing in, the lights flickering slightly.
"Ready?"
I nodded, bending my knees in preparation. "One, Two-"
"Three."