I hit the hull of the ship with my back. I was expecting the updraft and everything, but I still couldn't get my feet under me in time. Everyone besides the Doctor also seemed to have missed the landing, but thankfully nobody was injured.
Amy sat up and looked around the metal hull we landed on. As everyone began to look up and around to the landscape, she remained confused.
"What happened?"
I glanced up to see the angels reaching up at us from where they remained frozen. The Doctor lifted me off my feet and did a run over to make sure I was okay. I waved him off and he moved to do the same to Amy, helping the red head up.
"Come one, Pond, think. The ship crashed with the power still on, yeah? So what else is still on?"
"The gravity was still on. We jumped up and the artificial latched on to us, pulled us back to the ship," I explained to Amy, "The gravity glove gave us an updraft?"
The Doctor nodded at me with a smile, moving Amy to the side as he soniced the hatch in the floor. The clerics didn't look away from the angels on the ceiling, and father Octavian spoke up in worry.
"Doctor, the statues. They look more like Angels now."
"They're feeding on the radiation from the wreckage, draining all the power from the ship, restoring themselves. Within an hour, they'll be an army," The Doctor explained, just as the hatch opened up. A second later, the lights on the hull of the ship begin to explode. "They're taking out the lights! Look at them, look at the Angels."
Everyone immediately struggled to stare straight up, the clerics pointing their guns at the statues. If the ship's gravity failed for even just a second, we would all plummet down straight into the arms of death, a comforting thought.
The Doctor sat down on the hull, his feet dangling into the open hatch. Amy peeked over the edge and gasped at the straight drop down. Another light went out, and it suddenly got much harder to see the angels above us, some even crawling down from the walls.
"Into the ship, now. Quickly, all of you," The Doctor said. Amy questioned how, just as he dropped down the hatch.
"Doctor!" She screamed.
She dropped to her knees and looked down to where he stood, seemingly with his feet stuck to the walls. I sat down in the same space he had just been in.
"It's just a corridor," The Doctor explained, and I dropped in next to him, head spinning at the sudden shift. "The gravity orientates to the floor. Now, in here, all of you. Don't take your eyes off the Angels. Move, move, move."
The Doctor moved to work at one of the control panels as the others follow, Amy landing next to me swaying. I held out a hand to steady her. River was next, pushing both of us out of the way as the clerics began to drop down one by one.
I couldn't let out a sigh of relief until the last one of them dropped into the ship, and the hatch door closed behind them.
"The Angels, presumably they can jump up too?" Father Octavian asked.
"They're already here," The Doctor pointed out, "In the dark, we're finished."
From behind us, the corridor began to close off with a loud whir. None of the clerics dared to take their eyes off the hatch, but everyone else turned in surprise, the Doctor running to reach the doors before they closed. He didn't make it.
"This whole place is a death trap!" Father Octavian yelled, just as the Doctor slammed into the metal from the momentum he used running.
"No, it's a time bomb," He corrected. "Well, it's a death trap and a time bomb. And now it's a dead end. Nobody panic."
I reached out to pat his shoulder. "Breathe."
"Just me then?" The hatch door began to spark, and the Doctor pointed his sonic towards the door he was leaning against. "Right, what's through here?"
"Secondary Flight Deck," River answered, turning to start her own work on the control panel next to her.
Amy shook her hands nervously. "Okay, so we've basically run up the inside of a chimney, yeah? So what if the gravity fails?"
"I've thought of that," The Doctor assured her.
"And?"
"And we'll all plunge to our deaths. See? I've thought about it," He soniced the edges of the door, grimacing at the results. "The security protocols are still live. There's no way to override them. It's impossible."
"Nothing's ever impossible," I chimed in.
The hatch suddenly slid open to reveal the rock walls outside, and though we couldn't see them, everyone knew the angels were closing in. The clerics shifted back, raising their guns at the opening, and I pushed Amy behind me.
"The hull is breached," Octavian points out, "and the power's failing."
The lights begin to dim before going out completely, and the Doctor was quick to help River at the control panel. For a second, the corridor was plunged into darkness and Amy reached out for my hand just as the lights pulsed back on.
At the opening of the hatch, a stone hand began to reach through.
"Sir, incoming!"
The lights began to flicker, Amy's grip growing tighter each time it came back on, slowly watching the angels pulling themselves through. By the time the Doctor stabilized the lights enough that they stopped going out, there were now three angels locked inside along with us.
"Keep looking, just not at their eyes. Anywhere else. Not the eyes. I've isolated the lighting grid – they can't drain the power now," he said.
"Good work, Doctor," Father Octavian breathed in relief.
"Yes. Good, good, good. Good in many ways. Good you like it so far," The Doctor rambled, pushing past me so he could move to the panel on the other side.
"So far?" Amy questioned. She had yet to let go of my hand.
"Well, there's only one way to open this door," The Doctor said, frustrated, "I'll need to route all the power in this section through the door control."
"Good. Fine. Do it."
"Including the lights. He has to turn off the lights," I pointed out.
"How long for?"
The Doctor observed the angels carefully. "Fraction of a second. Maybe longer. Maybe quite a bit longer." He ran his hands down his face in worry, eyes darting around as he thought about it.
"At least 3 seconds," I confirm, wincing.
"Doctor, we lost the torches," Amy pointed out. "We'll be in total darkness."
"No other way. Bishop."
Father Octavian turned to River, who was already staring at him with a straight face. "Doctor Song, this man, the girl … do you trust them?"
"I absolutely trust them."
"So, they're not just mad, then?"
She paused. "I absolutely trust them."
The Doctor began to work on the doors, and Father Octavian leaned in to whisper something to River. She hissed something back, and while I was sure he couldn't hear them, the Doctor paused as if he could. Our eyes met, and he gave me a tight smile.
Father Octavian finally stepped back, aiming his gun at the angels.
"Ok, Doctor. We've got your back."
"Bless you, Bishop," The Doctor said, grabbing a loose cable.
"Combat distance, ten feet. As soon as the lights go out, continuous fire. Full spread over the hostiles. Do not stop firing while the lights are out. Shotgun protocol, we don't have bullets to waste."
The Clerics moved into position with their guns ready, all of them serious. The Doctor pulled me over to the door, and told me to spin the wheel 4 times as soon as I could. Amy followed him around as he prepared everyone.
"What do I do?" She asked, looking nervous.
He squeezed her shoulder. "Help Chloe with the door." He then moved to the panel, giving one last pause. "Ready?"
Father Octavian took a deep breath. "On my count, then. God be with us all. Three, two, one, fire!"
I was blinded by the sudden lack of light. Almost immediately, the wheel unlocked so both Amy and I could get the door open just enough to slip through. I pushed Amy through first as gunfire continued on before us.
The moment I was through, the Doctor ushered everyone else, the clerics falling back one by one until everyone was on the other side except for him. There was a short corridor to the secondary flight deck, and both Amy and I waited as they began to close.
I held my breath as the Doctor dodged inside, just a second before the doors slammed behind him. As everyone began to relax, there was a sudden thump against the door, and the wheel started to rapidly turn open.
"Doctor!" Amy yelled.
I dropped into the free chair with a sigh, ignoring the panicking soldiers. Father Octavian placed a magnet on the door proudly, looking smug as the wheel stopped turning. Amy asked what he was doing, and he turned back to us as if it was obvious.
"Magnetized the door. Nothing could turn that wheel now."
"Wanna bet?" I asked, spinning the chair around in circles. And then, the door began to turn again, although a lot slower than before.
"Dear God!" Father Octavian exclaimed.
"Yeah, now you're getting it. Bought us time, though, that's good. I am good with time," The Doctor said, continuing to fiddle with the console. Next to me, River also began to look over the controls.
"Seal the other door!" I called out.
When both doors were fully sealed and magnetized, the clerics dropped their weapons and moved in closer to the center of the room. There was no other obvious exit, angels waiting for us on the other sides of those doors.
"We're surrounded," River pointed out.
"Yes, thank you. We hadn't realized," I mumbled to myself, feeling my adrenaline finally going down. My heart wasn't beating as fast anymore and I could finally take actual deep breaths.
"Doctor, how long have we got?" Father Octavian asked.
"Five minutes, max," The Doctor replied.
"We need another way out of here," River said again, looking at me for guidance. I groaned, getting out of the chair regrettably.
"Wall!" I yelled, gesturing wildly towards the wall behind us. The Doctor smiled knowingly, and he bounced forward and kissed me on the top of my head.
"Yes! Brilliant."
"Wait, what?" Amy looked confused, and the Doctor turned to her with waving arms.
"This is a galaxy ship. Goes for years between planet falls. So, what do they need?"
River looked up as it hit her. "Of course."
"Of course what? What do they need?"
Everyone turned to look at the wall I had pointed to. All of the other clerics looked just as confused as Amy, but Father Octavian seemed to be on the same wavelength as the Doctor and River, because it hit him a second later.
"Can we get in there?" he wondered, gesturing to the wall.
"Well, it's a sealed unit, but they must-have installed it somehow," The Doctor walked the length of the wall, pushing things away and then kneeling down next to the edges. "Aha! There's clamps."
"Release the clamps," I encouraged.
"What's through there? What do they need?" Amy shook her head in confusion as she watched the Doctor unlock the clamps.
River stepped forward to squeeze her shoulder. "They need to breathe."
The wall began to slide up, and I let out a breath of amazement at the sight. The Doctor bowed in an exaggerated fashion, and I couldn't help but let a laugh slip out of me.
"But that's … that's a …" Amy walked forward in just as much amazement as me.
"It's an oxygen factory."
For all intents and purposes, it looked as if there was an actual forest in front of us. The trees were covered in moss, the ground littered with leaves and it seemed to stretch on for miles. It wasn't until you glanced upwards at the metal sky, and realized there were wires connected to the top of the tree branches, that the illusion was shattered.
Amy let out her own laugh in disbelief. "It's a forest."
"Yeah, it's a forest. It's an oxygen factory," River repeated.
"And if we're lucky, an escape route," The Doctor pointed out. "Is there another exit? Scan the architecture, we don't have time to get lost in there."
River doubled back to the console. "On it!"
"Stay where you are until I've checked the Rad levels," Father Octavian called out as he walked to the edges of the forest.
I nudged Amy slightly. "So, what do you think?"
"Those are trees," She said, looking at me with wide eyes. "On a spaceship?"
"Well, dinosaurs are better," I muttered.
"What?"
"But it's more than just trees. You're going to love this. Treeborgs," The Doctor said, pulling at the tree to show the robot wires below, "Trees plus technology. Branches become cables become sensors on the hull. A forest sucking in starlight, breathing out air. It even rains. There's a whole mini-climate. This vault is an ecopod running right through the heart of the ship. A forest in a bottle on a spaceship in a maze. Have I impressed you yet, Amy Pond?"
I rolled my eyes. "God, you are such a show off."
"And you," He picked me up to spin me around, and I let out a small yelp until I felt dirt crunch under my feet. The Doctor then pulled me into a hug. "You are amazing."
"Well, yeah," I patted his back awkwardly. "Right. What did I do?"
Father Octavian interrupted his reply. "Doctor, there's an exit, far end of the ship, into the Primary Flight Deck."
The Doctor let me go with another kiss to my forehead, sliding over to see what the bishop had found. As the two began to talk about the safest path to get out, River popped up next to me.
"He knows what you did back there, saving those men," She nodded towards where the clerics stood, relaxed but still attentive. "We all do. They owe you their lives."
We both watched as one of the men, Phillip I was sure, whispered something to Marco. The two laughed slightly, looking for the first time like the young men they were and not just soldiers. I smiled to myself.
"Right! Okay, so here's the plan-" The Doctor began, spinning around to face us again.
His eyes glanced up to something above our heads, and he paused, pushing past us. I turned to see what he had seen. From beside me, Amy gasped as she too looked up to the wall above the doors, where she could see a crack forming on the bulkhead.
From the crack a golden light began to glow.
"Doctor-" Father Octavian began.
The entire room shook as the crack widened.
I hissed. "Oh fuck, I knew I was forgetting something."
"Language!" The Doctor called, grabbing a bench and rolling it over to the crack. Amy followed him in confusion.
"That's, that's like the crack from my bedroom wall from when I was a little girl."
The room began to shake wildly, nearly throwing me off my feet. "Doctor, we have to go," I said to him, but he just waved me off.
"Yeah, agreed."
River rushed over. "What are you doing?"
The Doctor climbed up onto the bench he had grabbed, and I reached out to steady it as it began to roll with the shaking of the ship. Father Octavian began to usher the clerics out towards the forest, only pausing to yell back for us.
"Doctor-"
"I'll be right with you," He insisted, scanning the crack.
I turned to Amy and River, both who were still waiting with us. "Go on, we'll be there in a second."
Neither of them moved, until the clerics urged them to hurry. River gave me a fierce look and a promise that we'd get out as soon as possible, leading Amy away. When the group disappeared behind the foliage of the forest, I turned back to the Doctor impatiently.
"Are you done yet?"
He pulled back the sonic screwdriver. "Oh, that's bad. That's very not good."
The Doctor placed his ear against the metal of the bulkhead, almost missing the whoosh as the doors opened from the sides. I spun around and caught a dozen angels frozen, surrounding us.
"Uh oh."
Turning at my voice, the Doctor took in the statues. He jumped down from the bench next to me, eyes flickering from side to side.
"You should have left," He scolded me, guiding the two of us gently past the angels. "Don't blink."
I stared at the angels in front of me, the Doctor watching from behind as he pushed me forward. The moment my feet touched the soft dirt of the forest floor, I felt my foot slide under me, and I tumbled to the ground.
The Doctor turned to grab me as I fell, but an angel snatched the back of his jacket before he could. I flipped onto my back to stare at the only angel still facing us. The other statues were now all reaching towards the crack and the golden glow that emitted from it, its heat close enough that I could feel it on my skin.
"Chloe, get out of here," The Doctor urged me.
I stumbled to my feet, only to catch myself on his arm as pain flared up through my ankle. I hissed. Still maintaining eye contact with the angel behind him (not in the eyes, never in the eyes), I began to walk backwards.
"I don't think this is going to work for long," I told him.
"You're going to fall again," He hissed, "I'll be fine, now go."
I paused for a second, my eyes trailing from the angel to the Doctor's face. His eyes were serious, and he looked worried, but I couldn't help but feel he was more worried for me than his own safety. I smiled slightly.
"You better not die."
Even with my foot still aching, it was easier to rush into the forest facing forward. I didn't make it very far before the Doctor caught up to me, his jacket now missing, and used his help to move as quickly as we could to the group.
Amy was the first to spot us. "Doctor! Chloe!"
"Bishop, the Angels are in the forest," The Doctor called out.
Still leaning heavily on his arm to ease the strain off my foot, I couldn't quite see River, but I heard her gasp when I stumbled, wincing in pain. She was quick to appear in front of me, offering up a hand on my other side to help me down a mossy step.
"What happened to you?" She asked, shooting the Doctor a glare. "Did you do something?"
"He didn't do anything," I reassured her.
River helped me down onto a bench so that she could take off my shoe, prodding at my ankle gently. The Doctor kneeled down next to her, giving my knee a reassuring squeeze.
He smiled tightly. "You okay?"
I gave him a small nod, only wincing when River pressed up against a tender part of my ankle. He frowned, eyeing my foot with a contemplative look. As if knowing what he was thinking, River suddenly looked up and gave him a warning gaze.
"How did you get past the angels?" she wondered.
"I found a crack in the wall and told them it was the end of the universe," He mumbled.
"What was it?"
"The end of the universe."
One of the clerics suddenly raised his gun. "Sir! Angel incoming."
"And here," Called out another.
The Doctor got to his feet at their calls, and I followed his gaze to the trees, seeing angels reaching out from in between the branches. Amy noticed as well and tensed besides me. I reached out to grab her hand, both needing her comfort and willing to offer my own.
River gently let my foot down, shaking her head. "It's definitely sprained. You shouldn't put any more pressure on it."
"Doctor, we're too exposed here. We have to move on," Father Octavian called out.
"We're too exposed everywhere," The Doctor argued, "And Chloe can't move. That's not the plan, anyways."
"Oh, there's a plan?" River wondered with raised brows.
"I don't know yet. I haven't finished talking."
Amy cracked a smile. The Doctor jumped up onto higher ground, spinning around to observe the angels that were in the trees. He clapped his hands.
"Right! Father, you and your Clerics, you're going to stay here, look after Chloe while River, Amy and I find the Primary Flight Deck which is-" He licked his finger and held it up for a few seconds, turning to the right. "-A quarter of a mile straight ahead, and from there we're going to stabilize the wreckage and stop the angels."
"And how exactly do you plan on doing that?" River asked, cocking a brow.
"I'll do a thing."
"What thing?"
The Doctor huffed. "I don't know. It's a thing in progress."
"Respect the thing!" I called out at the same time he did. I had my own thing to do, after all.
The Doctor caught my eye and winked, and I smiled. Even though my ankle was throbbing in pain, I felt much better knowing that everything would be okay from here on out. He called out for everyone to move, but Father Octavian quickly stopped him.
"Doctor, I'm coming with you. My Clerics'll look after Miss Wheelock." At the look of doubt the Doctor made, Octavian stood taller. "These are my best men. They'd lay down their lives to protect her."
"And are you coming to protect me? Because I assure you it's unnecessary," The Doctor said.
"I don't care. Where Doctor Song goes, I go."
Amy sat down next to me, drawing my attention away from their conversation. She gave me a small smile, even if it didn't quite seem to reach her eyes. Her hand reached out as if to touch my leg, but she pulled it back just as quickly when she realized it was shaking.
I didn't comment on it.
"How are you feeling?" She asked softly, "I know you don't like to be left behind."
"I really don't mind," I told her honestly. "It makes my plans a little easier."
Amy tilted her head to the side, narrowing her eyes. "Plans?"
"Amy!" Both of us looked up towards the Doctor, who was waving the red head over. She turned back to me with her mouth open, but she was cut off. "Come on!"
She rolled her eyes. "Coming!"
Amy quickly got up and gave me a wave before she joined the others, and I watched as the group of four slowly made their way into the forest, feeling my heart beating quickly. For the first few seconds after they left, all I could hear was an uneasy quiet that should never come from a forest, which was usually filled with life.
When then the trees around us began to dim, and the clerks raised their guns towards something I could not yet see, I took a deep breath. Bishop Bob was the first to notice me getting up.
"What are you doing ma'am? You shouldn't be walking."
"Then get over here and help me," I told him, holding out an arm so he could support me better. "It's not safe here. We need to head towards the Flight Deck."
The other bishops hesitated, even as Bob helped me move slowly in the right direction. Marco moved to stop him.
"I'm sorry ma'am, but we have our orders," He insisted.
"Angels advancing, sir," Phillip called out.
"Over here too," Crispin chimed in.
Marco moved away, aiming his own gun towards the tree's to our right. From where I was standing, I could now see a group of 4 or 5 angels reaching out through the dark, all of them slowly inching forward as the tree's around them began to go out.
"Weapons primed. Combat distance five feet," Marco called out, and Bob tightened his hand around my waist. "Wait for it."
I held my breath, almost all my weight being supported by Bob, and almost dropped in relief when a burst of light flooded through the edges of the trees. The clerics all turned to look in confusion, momentarily forgetting the threat they were facing.
"The ship's not on fire, is it?"
"It can't be," Pedro insisted, lowering his gun. "The compressors would have taken care of it." A pause, and suddenly he was turning in his spot. "Marco, the Angels have gone. Where'd they go?"
Sure enough, the angels on our side were clear as well. I found myself staring at the bright light, feeling a pull to draw me in closer, even knowing it was dangerous. I forced myself to look away.
"We need to go, now," I urged the clerics.
"We need to get a closer look at that," Marco argued, his eyes also drawn to the light.
"Hey, stop it!" I snapped at them, forcing the others to look at me. "If you go towards that light, you will be erased from this world. Never born, nobody will ever remember you existed. Do me a favor and listen, okay? We need to get to the Primary Flight Deck."
Finally, Marco nodded his head. "Okay, I trust you ma'am. This way."
Marco took the lead, and with the other clerics behind, we began our trek through the woods. It didn't take me long to realize that there was a problem with our plan, and it became obvious to the others as well when Marco paused to look back and saw how far we were lagging behind.
Even with Bob's help, there was no chance all of us were going to be able to make it quick enough. Knowing that the teleporter would eventually be turned on, and that it would be much easier to teleport 1 person versus 6, I urged the others to go ahead.
"I can't do that ma'am, the Doctor-" Marco tried to explain, but I cut him off.
"When you get there, tell River to fire up the teleport. You can use that to get me there."
It was Bob who spoke up this time. "We still can't leave you alone ma'am, it's far too dangerous for you on your own."
"Well then you can stay with me," I told Bob, nudging his side lightly. "And you can call me Chloe."
His face lit up. "Okay, Chloe."
-0-0-
"Chloe? Chloe, are you there?"
I grabbed the communicator from Bob. "Doctor? I'm here."
"Where are you? Are the clerics with you?" He asked hurriedly.
"They went on ahead, to get away from the, uh … time explosion thingy?" I muttered, breathing heavily as I had to hop over a small cliff in the terrain. "They should have gotten there by now."
There was a pause from the other side. "They left you alone?"
"I told them too. But Bob's still here with me, he's giving me a hand."
The communicator was silent for a while, while Bob carefully helped me over a tree root. There was a sudden warping noise, and Bob gasped. I turned around to see what had spooked him just as the communicator came back to life, the Doctor's frantic voice reaching me.
"Chloe?"
I squeezed Bob's shoulder. "Yeah?"
"The other clerics are here, but the Flight Deck is surrounded by angels. I don't think you and Bob are going to be able to make it through there."
Bob helped me move backwards as I focused on the angels behind us. "Right. I guess this is a good time to mention that the angels have caught up?"
"It should be fine. The angels are also running, they shouldn't be interested in either of you."
"Miss?" Bob had stopped moving, his shoulder pressed against my back. "There are angels in front now."
"River is working on the teleporter, she should be able to get you two here soon." He assured me, and there was a pause. "Chloe, don't blink."
I snorted. "Right. I was totally planning on blinking surrounded by Weeping Angels."
"Don't get smart with me."
I brought the communicator up to my mouth to give him a sarcastic comment about intelligence, but suddenly the ground under my feet turned uneven and I stumbled into somebody's arms.
The Doctor pulled me close, his arms tightening around me. "You're okay, I got you."
"Bob! What about Bob?"
"Working on it," River told me, pressing a button. There was a flash of light, and then Bob was stumbling into River's arms the same way I assumed I had.
At the sight of all the clerics alive and well in the room, I nearly cried. The Doctor didn't seem to mind when I pressed my face back into his chest and continued to hold onto him. Bob let out a loud sigh, thanking River profusely.
"You're welcome," She told him, and then I assumed she did something based on the way the Doctor's chest began to shake with laughter. "Told you I could do it."
"River Song, I could bloody kiss you."
"Ah well, maybe when you're older."
The moment I pulled away from the Doctor, Amy was pushing her way in between us to hug me herself. When I sniffed loudly, she pulled me away at arm's length and frowned at my red eyes.
"Are you crying?"
The Doctor snapped his head around, but alarms began to blare, saving me from the embarrassing explanation I was about to give. The clerics all raised their guns, looking around wearily.
River grabbed both Amy and I by the shoulder. "What's that alarm?"
"The angels are draining the last of the ship's power, which means the shield's going to release." He said, just as one of the walls dropped down to reveal the forest we had just made it out of.
A group of Angels stood in front of the forest, and The Doctor swiftly moved in front of us as if to block their view.
"The Time Field is coming," A voice rang out, sounding suspiciously like Father Octavian.
The remaining clerics all dropped their weapons and looked at each other in shock, and I realized then that there was someone missing. Even though I knew it was a possibility, I still bowed my head in horror.
The Doctor's back was rigid, and although I couldn't see his face from the back, I had a feeling that he wasn't very happy about the stolen voice.
"You stole his voice to state the obvious? What exactly is your plan here?"
"There is a rupture in time. The Angels calculate that if you throw yourself into it, it will close, and they will be saved."
I reached out to grab the Doctor's hand, mostly just to reassure myself that he wasn't actually going to do that. He squeezed back. "Yeah, yeah. Could do that, but why would I?"
"Your friends will also be saved."
"Well, there is that."
"I've traveled in time," River objected, stepping up next to the Doctor. "I'm just as much of a complicated space time event. Throw me in instead."
"Oh be serious," The Doctor pushed her away, dropping my hand. "Compared to me, these Angels are more complicated than you, and it would take every one of them to amount to me, so get a grip."
I turned around, and began to gesture for the others to hold onto the railings. River continued to argue with the Doctor, pleading with him not to kill himself, but he just gave her a knowing look.
"I mean it, River. Get a grip."
"You're not going to die here!"
"River," I called out, showing her how the others were already bracing themselves against the Flight Deck in various places. Her face lit up in realization. "Get a grip."
"Oh, you genius," She breathed.
"Sir, the Angels need you to sacrifice yourself now," The Angel continued. If the statues could move, I imagine that they would be fidgeting nervously at the uncertainty.
"Thing is, Angel, you're draining all the power from this ship. Every last bit of it. And you know what? I think they've forgotten where they're standing. I think they've forgotten the gravity of the situation." I snorted at his cheesy joke, and he turned around to wink at me. His hand came up to grab the same railing I currently held onto. "In other words, night night."
-0-0-
"You, me, handcuffs. Must it always end this way?" River wondered, raising her hands to show us the cuffs she was wearing.
I laughed, pulling her in for a hug if only to reassure myself that she was still there. Even with the loss of Father Octavian weighing on my mind, the fact that I managed to save 7 people's lives made me almost giddy.
"What now?" The Doctor wondered.
"The prison ships in orbit. They'll beam us up any second. I might have done enough to earn a pardon this time. We'll see."
Bob and Phillip called me over to where the other clerics were waiting, pulling me away from River and the Doctor. I limped over on my still sore ankle, my throat closing up with emotion when I took in the group of men. Men that I saved.
"We wanted to thank you, Ma'am," Pedro said, holding out a hand for me to thank. "It was a pleasure to meet you."
I bypassed his hand and went straight for a hug, and none of the others objected when I did the same to them. "All of you have long and wonderful lives, you hear me? You deserve each and every happy moment that you experience from now until forever."
The men shared amused looks, wishing me well themselves before they were beamed up. I realized I didn't get to say goodbye to River, but I would be able to see her again anyways. I wondered if the clerics being alive would change a lot from here on. I wondered if it even mattered.
The Doctor pulled me out of my thoughts when he grabbed my hand gently. "Come on, it's time to go."
I gave one last look to the smoldering ruins of the Aplan temple before following him into the TARDIS, where Amy was waiting for us. She was leaning against one of the railings and I moved to join her. As the Doctor piloted us back to the time vortex, she spoke up softly.
"I want to go home."
Even with his back to us, I could see the way he deflated. "Okay."
"Not like that," Amy assured him with a smile, joining him at the console. "It's just .. I want to show you something. You're running from your future, and so am I."
As the TARDIS landed, she grabbed the Doctor's hand and offered up the other one to me, but I shook my head. "You too go ahead."
"You sure? I feel like you deserve to know too," Amy said, already moving towards the doors.
"Ah, I already know. Time travel, timey whimey," I explained, pushing off from the railings. "I'm actually kinda hungry, so I'll just get something to eat. Leave you to it."
"Right."
Amy walked out into her room, but the Doctor paused. I waved him off, already making my way down the halls, and whatever he had been about to say could wait until after. I didn't turn back to see him reaction.
The TARDIS kitchen was stocked somehow, making me wonder if she always had food on hand or if the Doctor had to go shopping for food. The idea made me giggle as I made myself a sandwich.
I had gotten halfway through when the TARDIS started humming loudly, and the lights in the room flickered like they were trying to get my attention. I paused, sandwich halfway up to my lips.
"What's wrong?"
The room began to shake, not as hard as it would in the console room, but enough for me to realize that we were in flight again. I brought the rest of my meal with me as I made my way back down the halls and to where the Doctor was indeed piloting the ship again in a frantic manner.
Amy was the first one to spot me, giving me a tight smile. "Hey."
"Hey yourself," I said, finishing off the rest of my snack in one bite.
With my mouth full, I couldn't ask the Doctor what he was doing (not that I didn't already know), but my raised eyebrows did the trick. He avoided my gaze, but answered nonetheless.
"I decided to give Amy a bit of an early wedding present. Pick up her fiance, take them on a trip somewhere, together. Preferably alone."
"I told you, you don't have to do that," Amy piped up.
The Doctor didn't listen to her, and he left the TARDIS in a hurry as soon as it landed. I swallowed my food, holding up my finger when Amy opened up her mouth to say something.
"Is this because you tried to kiss him?" I wondered.
Amy raised her chin at me. "And if it is?"
"Well, it's none of my business," I said, raising my hands, "But don't you think it's a little disrespectful to your future husband if you go around making out with random alien boys the night before your wedding?"
She had the decency to look guilty. I didn't get to say anything else as the Doctor popped back in, his shirt covered in confetti. Rory wasn't with him.
"Wrong party."
I reached up to pick a piece of confetti out of his hair as he passed, and the Doctor slowed down to a stop next to me instead of continuing on. I looked up at him in confusion. He glanced back at Amy, and then down at me, reaching out to grab my arm.
"Chloe, about what happened-"
"Again, it's none of my business," I interrupted.
He ran his thumb across the back of my wrist. "Right, of course. Still too young."
"What?"
The Doctor let me go and took a few steps back, as Amy gave me a wide eyed look from where she stood. I realized then that I was running hot. A look down at my skin confirmed I was once again glowing.
I didn't get to say anything before I was jumping from this time to the next.
-0-0-
What if we had ideas that could think for themselves?
What if one day our dreams no longer needed us?
When these things occur and are held to be true, the time will be upon us
The Time of the Angels