"Up, look up!"
Nel groaned, holding her head and feeling a hint of unease roll through her before her eyes snapped open and she grabbed her easel again. A bit of relief returned at having somehow not lost her things in the process of trusting the Doctor but she still jumped when River touched her back.
"Are you all right?"
She nodded hesitantly as Amy spoke the question that was on her lips.
"What happened?"
"We jumped."
"Jumped where?"
"Up. Up. Look up,' the Doctor repeated, scrambling around the place as Nel's eyes went wide.
Smooth metal was under her palms, not the crumbling dirt from the floor of the cavern. Her gaze shifted up as the Doctor said and her head spun a little.
"Where are we?" Amy asked, still confused.
"Exactly where we were."
"No, we're not," Amy argued, but Nel knew they were, slowly rolling onto her backside as she stared at where they had been; the cavern now littered with statues reaching up towards them.
"Move your feet," the Doctor said, startling Nel when he tapped her foot and she hastily shifted them away from the hatch for him to work on.
"Doctor, what am I looking at? Explain," Amy demanded and making him sigh.
"Oh, come on, Amy, think. The ship crashed with the power still on, yeah? So what else is still on? The artificial gravity. One good jump, and up we fell. Shot out the grav globe to give us an updraft, and here we are."
"D-Doctor?" Nel spoke up, eyes still fixed on the statues below them. "The statues have wings 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 quickly, pausing what he was doing to give her pale features a look. "I promise I'll do my best to keep you safe, Nel."
The words weren't as comforting as she'd liked. One alien man versus an army of Angels that could snap your neck or put you back in time didn't seem like the best odds. She held tightly to her easel for a vain sense of comfort as the lights on the ship's hull sparked and shattered.
"They're taking out the lights. Look at them. Look at the Angels. Into the ship, now. Quickly, all of you."
The Doctor slipped in and Nel was scrambling to get in right behind him, nearly taking him out in the process as the gravity reoriented her to the floor—throwing her off balance.
"Whoa there. I got you," he said, steadying her and speaking to Amy who was staring at them in surprise as they were upside-down in her eyes. "It's just a corridor. The gravity orientates to the floor. Now, in here, all of you. Don't take your eyes off the Angels. Move, move, move."
He went over to a control panel and was fiddling with a pen of some sort, drawing Nel's eyes to it as the clerics and others started to climb in the hatch.
"What is that?"
"Sonic screwdriver. Does everything except wood, which I really should get a patch for," he hummed with a smile, glad to see she was interested in it and not entirely focused on the danger just outside. "Think of a sort of Swiss Army Knife, except without the pointy knife bit."
Her brows furrowed but she flinched when there were a couple of loud noises from outside, drawing her fearful gaze back to the hatch as the Bishop headed over.
"The Angels. Presumably, they can jump up too?"
The hatch slid shut and Nel began to move further back in the corridor, concern for her own safety demanding she move as far from the Angels as she could, despite the Doctor having told her to stay close.
"They're here now. In the dark, we're finished."
An alarm blared and the Doctor whipped around as a bulkhead began to close. He spotted a worried Nel on the other side of it, too frightened to move back towards the rest of the group as it closed and cut them off from each other.
"This whole place is a death trap!" The Bishop snapped as the Doctor's mind rushed to get working on the door, concerned as to how this could turn out with Nel trapped alone on the other side.
"No, it's a time bomb. Well, it's a death trap and a time bomb. And now it's a dead end. Nobody panic."
Sparks came down from the closed hatch and he winced.
"Oh, just me then. What's through there?" He asked, pointing to the bulkhead and wishing he could hear Nel through it.
He wasn't sure he'd be able to speak with her from this end either, which put him on edge. She's young. It's too early. She gets scared, she panics like anyone else and when she panics, she runs. I told her to stay close, but she's not used to this yet. Her fear overrode her trust in me. We need to get in there quickly before she runs into more of them on her own.
"Secondary flight deck," River replied, as Amy worried and they got to work trying to get the door open.
"Okay. so we've basically run up the inside of a chimney, yeah? So what if the gravity fails?"
"I've thought about that," the Doctor said, not elaborating.
"And?"
"And we'll all plunge to our deaths. See? I've thought about it. The security protocols are still live. There's no way to override them. It's impossible," he rambled on.
"How impossible?" River asked, knowing there wasn't much that was impossible to the Doctor.
"Two minutes," he replied as the hatch opened and the lights started to flicker with the Angels entering the ship.
"Doctor? Lights?" Amy breathed, worried herself with the Angels in the corridor now.
The Doctor stabilized the lights and went back to working on the door, except there was a problem.
"Well, there's only one way to open this door. I guess I'll need to route all the power in this section through the door control."
"Good. Fine. Do it," the Bishop demanded.
"Including the lights," the Doctor countered, letting them see the problem. "All of them. I'll need to turn out the lights."
"How long for?"
"Fraction of a second. Maybe longer. Maybe quite a bit longer."
"Maybe?"
"I'm guessing. We're being attacked by statues in a crashed ship. There isn't a manual for this," the Doctor bit back.
"Doctor, we lost the torches. We'll be in total darkness."
"No other way. Bishop?"
The Bishop looked to River. "Doctor Song, I've lost good Clerics today. You trust this man?"
"I absolutely trust him," she said confidently.
"He's not some kind of madman, then?"
She hesitated slightly before repeating herself. "I absolutely trust him and if there's one thing I know, he won't leave Nel behind. She's on the other side of that door right now, so he's going to do everything in his power to get to her because she's scared." River glanced at the Doctor, whose eyes blazed with concern. "And he can't leave her like that for long."
Nel could hear gunfire on the other side of the door and her heart was in her throat in fear. She didn't know what was happening; if the Angels had gotten through, if the Doctor was okay, or if they had no way of getting to her. She wanted to run again. Run as far away from there as she could and as she moved away from the door she found herself faced with three more. She went to the controls of one but didn't recognize any of them. She jabbed at a few buttons but nothing happened and she could feel the panic rolling in again.
She couldn't take it and crouched on the ground, covering her ears and quaking as she tried to calm down. It was too difficult though. Too many things had happened at once and now she was trapped in a ship corridor with no way out. Her one hope in escaping the Angels and surviving had been the Doctor but she'd let her fear overwhelm her into straying too far from him. A brief thought passed through her head. If I'd stayed with him though, I'd be trapped on the other side with the Angels and the soldiers. Yet, her position now wasn't any better. All it would take is the Doctor to be dead on the other side of the door and the Angels to find her. She had no hope, no chance on her own.
Then, a hand touched her shoulder. She jolted away so violently, her head cracked painfully into the bulkhead behind her, blinding her for half a second as her hands cradled the back of her skull. What she'd thought was the touch of an Angel had actually been River. Everyone had made it through somehow, but Nel was still terrified; ears ringing and head aching. It was like someone was screeching in the back of her mind and it was taking everything in her to focus on anything except her wheezing breaths.
River grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to her feet, hauling her through the next door that the Doctor opened before the man himself settled her in a chair and gently held her face. Her eyes were pinched shut though, hands tangled in her messy brown hair, breathing rapid. The Doctor sighed softly and closed his own eyes, focusing on her for a moment before she slowly began to calm. The tight grip on her hair relaxed and she hesitantly opened her eyes, looking at him still with that edge of fear but looking slightly more relaxed. He offered her a small, reassuring smile, lightly patting her cheek.
"Better?"
She nodded slowly before he pointed a stern finger at her.
"I did tell you not to run off," he chided her, making her look away shamefully and grab her easel once more. "Now, please be more careful and let me know if you're getting too overwhelmed, Nel. I mean it this time, okay?"
She nodded shakily and the Doctor stood as the clerics began to reinforce the doors that the Angels were attempting to break through. He moved just past Nel to the controls of the ship and began working on them, occasionally glancing at Nel as she worked on calming down further, though every bang on the doors made her flinch.
"You've bought us time though. That's good. I am good with time," he rattled on given the doors were still slowly being opened.
"We're surrounded," River informed him as clerics went to go seal the other doors.
"Doctor, how long have we got?" The Bishop questioned.
"Five minutes, max."
"Nine," Amy blurted out then, making the Doctor turn to her with a frown.
"Five."
"Five. Right. Yeah."
"Why'd you say nine?"
"I didn't."
"We need another way out of here," River said as the Bishop frowned.
"There isn't one."
"Yeah, there is," the Doctor countered. "So, I'd appreciate it if we could hold off a bit on the depressing thoughts for Nel's sake. This is a galaxy-class ship. Goes for years between planet falls. So, what do they need?"
River's eyes widened. "Of course."
"Of course what? What do they need?" Amy asked, getting ignored as the Bishop frowned.
"Can we get in there?"
"Well, it's a sealed unit, but they must have installed it somehow," he said, bolting past Nel to a wall nearby and shoving things out of his way. "This whole wall should slide up. There's clamps. Release the clamps."
"What's through there? What do they need?" Amy muttered, getting overheard by River as she checked on Nel.
"They need to breathe. Nel, you might like this," she encouraged, lightly tugging the woman up from her chair. "Hope you've got a good memory."
Nel looked at her in confusion before the wall of the flight deck was lifted, and she and Amy stared at the next section in stunned amazement.
"But that's… That's a…"
"Forest," Nel murmured, thought River corrected her.
"It's an oxygen factory, but yeah. It's a forest."
"And, if we're lucky, an escape route," the Doctor tacked on, bounding over and grabbing Nel by the hand to bring her closer to the forest of mechanical trees. "Impressed yet?"
Nel nodded, stunned before Amy said something.
"Eight."
Nel looked at her with a small frown as River too questioned it.
"What did you say?"
"Nothing."
The Doctor gave Nel's hand a squeeze, reassuring her before letting her go and clapping his hands. "Is there another exit? Scan the architecture, we don't have time to get lost in there."
"On it," the Bishop said bounding in to do as he asked while Nel continued to stare at the trees in fascination.
"They're trees," she breathed. "On a-a ship. A spaceship."
"Oh, more than trees. Way better than trees. You're going to love this. Treeborgs. 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." He bounded back, seeing the obvious amazement on Nel's face and looking at Amy. "Have I impressed you too, Amy Pond?"
Amy laughed. "Seven."
"Seven," the Doctor repeated, moving close to her as she raised a brow.
"Sorry, what?"
"You said, 'seven.'"
"No, I didn't."
"You did," Nel added, confused herself. "A-And you said eight earlier too. Are you… Are you counting down?"
"What?" Amy questioned, lost herself as the Bishop announced an exit further in the ship that he was plotting a course to.
Then, the comm the Doctor had buzzed to life.
"Doctor? Excuse me? Hello, Doctor? Angel Bob here, sir."
"Ah, there you are, Angel Bob. How's life? Sorry, bad subject," the Doctor drawled as he took a seat in the chair Nel had been in.
"The Angels are wondering what you hope to achieve."
"Achieve? We're not achieving anything. We're just hanging. It's nice in here. Consoles, comfy chairs, a forest. How's things with you?" The Doctor joked, hoping to make someone chuckle about it, but Nel was over by one of the trees and had dug up a notepad to sketch things.
The sight made him smile fondly, but he turned his focus back to what the Angel was saying, given his concerns about Amy.
"The Angels are feasting, sir. Soon we will be able to absorb enough power to consume this vessel, this world. and all the stars and worlds beyond."
"Well, we've got comfy chairs. Did I mention?"
"We have no need of comfy chairs."
"I made him say comfy chairs," the Doctor teased with a wiggle of his eyebrows, getting a small smile from Nel that made his hearts soar and a chuckle from Amy before she said something that made him scowl.
"Six."
"Okay, Bob, enough chat. Here's what I want to know. What have you done to Amy?" He said then, jumping to his feet making Amy suddenly worry herself.
She hadn't noticed anything was wrong this whole time, after all.
"There is something in her eye."
"What's in her eye?"
"We are."
The Doctor's blood ran cold. His eyes drifted to Nel once more, silently wondering if it was the same. If what was happening to her was the same as Amy and what he could possibly do about it if it was.
"What's he talking about? Doctor, I'm five. I mean, five. Fine! I'm fine," Amy said, finally realizing she was saying number now.
"It's like Nel said," the Doctor informed her. "You're counting down from ten. You have been for a couple of minutes."
"Why?"
"I don't know."
"Well, counting down to what?"
"I don't know."
"We shall take her. We shall take all of you. We shall have dominion over all time and space," Angel Bob announced over the comms, making the Doctor flop back in the chair once more.
"Get a life, Bob. Oops, sorry again. There's power on this ship, but nowhere near that much."
"With respect, sir, there's more power on this ship than you yet understand."
A screeching started up and Nel grimaced, dropping her notepad and pencil, and covering her ears as River hurried to her side.
"What's that? Dear God, what is it?" River asked, hanging onto Nel.
"It's hard to put in your terms, Doctor Song, but as best I understand it, the Angels are laughing."
"Laughing?" the Doctor questioned, hearing a chuckle now.
His gaze turned and River hesitantly let Nel go. It was her who was laughing, bringing a hand to her mouth as a wicked sort of grin took over her features. The Doctor was on his feet once more, bristled in anger. It's too early. She's only just got here. How could it already—
"T-The Doctor doesn't know," she chuckled. "The Doctor in the Tardis hasn't noticed."
"Doctor," the Bishop said uneasily, eyeing Nel as the Doctor lifted a hand.
"No, wait! There's something I've… missed." He turned, seeing a large crack in the wall, and rushing towards it as Nel sagged in River's arms.
"That's, that's like the crack from my bedroom wall from when I was a little girl," Amy said as she followed the Doctor.
"Yes. It's quite possibly how an Angel was able to pull Nel into this world."
"Okay, enough," the Bishop snapped. "We're moving out."
"Agreed," River said. "Doctor?"
"Yeah, fine," he replied, not really paying attention as he climbed up to scan it.
"What are you doing?"
"Be right with you," he muttered.
"We're not leaving without you!"
"Oh, yes, you are," he said sharply, giving her a look. "I need you to get Nel out of here. Keep her safe. I'll come after. As you said, I won't leave her on her own."
River hesitated but begrudgingly nodded, pulling Amy towards the forest as she helped Nel along.
"W-What was that?" Nel asked, stumbling only slightly as River helped her through the path into the forest. "What was I doing just then?"
River gave her an uneasy look but quickly turned away when Nel looked at her for answers. "I can't tell you right now. I'm sorry, but it's best if the Doctor explains."
"Explains? I-I've just been dumped in a cavern o-of fictional beings who are trying to kill me and nothing has been explained!" Nel snapped, tugging herself away from River. "I-I don't know who any of you are a-and you say you know me b-b-but I don't… I don't know what to think. Nothing's being explained—"
"Because we're trying to keep you safe, Nel!" River blurted out, grabbing her by her arms and holding her still for a moment. "And I get you're scared. We're all scared right now. It might not look it, but we are and I'm sorry we can't just sit down and talk with you about everything. This is not the time! Do you understand that? If we stop for too long, the Angels will catch us. Is that what you want?"
Nel shrank at her scolding, silently shaking her head.
"Okay." River took a breath, letting her go and trying to calm down herself. "Okay. I'm sorry about everything that's going on right now, Nel, but we can't have you running off or demanding answers that I don't have or that we don't have time to explain to you right now. All right? And I swear to you. I swear that the Doctor will tell you what's happening, but it will take time. Do you understand that?"
Nel nodded, sheepish at her outburst now before Amy spoke up from behind them.
"R-River?"
River turned and looked past Nel, lunging for Amy the moment she faltered—skin pasty white. "Amy? Amy, what's wrong?"
"Four," Amy breathed, sagging as River helped lower her to a log on the ground where she laid down.
"Med scanner, now," River commanded sharply.
"Doctor Song, we can't stay here. We've got to keep moving," the Bishop said, handing one over.
"We wait for the Doctor."
"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 bit back as Nel saw someone coming and stiffened only to relax once the person was out in the open. "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, Doctor, you're standing right behind me, aren't you?"
"Oh, yeah," he smirked.
"I hate you," she cursed him with a smile that he returned.
"You don't. Bishop, the Angels are in the forest," he said, giving Nel a reassuring pat on the shoulder when the words frightened her. "Steady."
Nel nodded, taking a breath and gripping her easel tight as he knelt before Amy and River.
"How did you get past them?" River asked, knowing he'd been stopped by the Angels on the way.
"I found a crack in the wall and told them it was the end of the universe."
"What was it?" Amy asked, voice soft and weak.
"The end of the universe. Let's have a look, then."
"So, what's wrong with me?"
"Nothing. You're fine," River soothed before Nel surprisingly spoke up.
"You're dying."
"Nel!" River scolded, but stopped at seeing the half-smirk on her face.
"Nel is right. Or, well…" The Doctor glanced at Nel as well. "The Angel is right, anyway. Right. Amy, Amy, Amy. What's the matter with Amelia? Something's in her eye. What does that mean? Does it mean anything?"
"Doctor?" Amy murmured.
"Busy."
"Scared."
"Course you're scared. You're dying. Shut up," he said, trying to think. "What happened? She stared at the Angel. She looked into the eyes of an Angel for too long…"
More Angels were approaching as the clerics moved to keep an eye on them.
" Come on, come on, come on. Wakey, wakey. She watched an Angel climb out of the screen. She stared at the Angel and, and—"
"The image of an Angel is an Angel," Nel said then, making him snap his fingers at her as she held her head with a wince; brows furrowed in confusion.
"A living mental image in a living human mind. But we stare at them to stop them getting closer. We don't even blink, and that is exactly what they want. Because as long as our eyes are open, they can climb inside. There's an Angel in her mind." He covered his mouth as Amy spoke once more.
"Three. Doctor, it's coming. I can feel it. I'm going to die."
"Please just shut up. I'm thinking. Now, counting. What's that about? Nel? Or, Angel in Nel. Yes, hello, we've already met," the Doctor rattled on, moving over to Nel and scowling down at her as that slow smirk appeared on her face once more. "This isn't like you. Not in the slightest. It's too fast, too quick. Not a weak Angel but a strong, fresh one. Why are they making her count?"
"To make her afraid," Nel hummed, almost enjoying the burn of hatred in the Doctor's face. "Because it's fun. I should try it too. Watch her squirm."
"Yeah, that's enough of you then," the Doctor said with a scowl, reaching up and placing a hand on the top of her head, looking away as she clenched her eyes shut and sagged down onto a stump just behind her.
"Doctor, what's happening to me?" Amy asked. "Explain."
"Inside your head, in the vision centers of your brain, there's an Angel. It's like there's a screen, a virtual screen inside your mind and the Angel is climbing out of it, and it's coming to shut you off."
"Then, what do I do?"
"If it was a real screen, what would we do? We'd pull the plug. We'd kill the power. But we can't just knock her out, the Angel would just take over."
"Then what? Quickly," River said, worried herself.
"We've got to shut down the vision centers of her brain. We've got to pull the plug. Starve the Angel."
"Eyes," Nel breathed, head still in her hands, but drawing the Doctor's attention.
"I'm sorry? What did you say? And who is speaking right now? Nel?"
"E-Eyes reflect images," Nel explained. "If you close your eyes—"
The Doctor's eyes widened. "Then, the Angel can't form its image! Excellent! Amy, close your eyes!"
"No. No, I don't want to," Amy murmured.
"Good, because that's not you, that's the Angel inside you. It's afraid. Do it. Close your eyes."
She forced her eyes shut and the med scanner calmed as River breathed a sigh of relief.
"She's normalizing. Oh, you did it. You did it."
"We both did," the Doctor grinned as Amy was sat up on the log. "Feeling better, Nel? Headache?"
"A bit," Nel muttered, her head propped up on a hand that rested on her knees.
"She's still weak. Dangerous to move her," River informed the Doctor as she removed the med scanner from Amy's arm.
"So, can I open my eyes now?" Amy questioned as the Doctor explained things to her.
"Amy, listen to me. If you open your eyes now for more than a second, you will die. The Angel is still inside you. We haven't stopped it, we've just sort of paused it. You've used up your countdown. You cannot open your eyes."
"Doctor, we're too exposed here. We have to move on," the Bishop called out, making him roll his eyes.
"We're too exposed everywhere. And Amy can't move. And anyway, that's not the plan."
"There's a plan?" River questioned.
"I don't know yet. I haven't finished talking. Right! Father, you and your Clerics, you're going to stay here, look after Amy. If anything happens to her, I'll hold every single one of you personally responsible, twice. River, you, me, and Nel, we're going to find the Primary Flight Deck which is—" He lifted a finger. "A quarter of a mile straight ahead, and from there we're going to stabilize the wreckage, stop the Angels, and cure Amy."
"How?" River asked.
"I'll do a thing."
"What thing?"
"I don't know. It's a thing in progress. Respect the thing. Moving out!"
River, Nel, and the Doctor ended up joined by the Bishop as well as they trekked through the forest. Nel was walking between River and the Doctor as he fiddled with the Bishop's computer.
"What's that?" River asked as the device emitted a jumble of noise.
"Uh, readings from a crack in the wall."
"How can a crack in the wall be the end of the universe?"
"Don't know, but here's what I think. One day there's going to be a very big bang. So big every moment in history, past and future, will crack."
"Is that possible? How?"
"How can you be engaged, in a manner of speaking?"
"Well, sucker for a man in uniform," she joked, but the Bishop stepped over and explained properly.
"Doctor Song's in my personal custody. I released her from the Stormcage Containment Facility four days ago and I am legally responsible for her until she's accomplished her mission and earned her pardon. Just so we understand each other."
"You were in Stormcage?"
"What's Stormcage?" Nel asked, though her grip remained tight on her easel and her eyes scanning the trees uneasily.
"Space prison," the Doctor replied, making Nel glance at him and River in uncertainty before the computer chirped once more.
"What? What is that?" River questioned.
"The date. The date of the explosion, where the crack begins."
"And for those of us who can't read the base code of the universe?"
The Doctor got it translated and even Nel grew curious enough to look over at it. "Amy's time."
26 06 2010 was scrawled across the screen and Nel spoke up.
"2010?"
"Sorry, bit out of time for you still, I'm sure," the Doctor replied. "You were… 2020?"
Nel shook her head. "2032."
"Right. Close."
The lights flickered then, immediately putting Nel back on edge as the Doctor placed a hand on her shoulder.
"We need to hurry. The Angels are messing with the trees."
"What does that mean?" Nel asked, worried what the response she would get.
"It means, they're taking out the lights. Come on. Keep up."
Nel was tugged along by him and they soon reached the outer door for the next flight deck they were trying to reach. River stood guard, gun raised, as the Doctor fiddled with the computer and the Bishop tried to see how they could open the door. Nel simply sat on the step the Doctor had pushed her onto, curled around her easel uneasily.
"It doesn't open it from here, but it's the Primary Flight Deck. This has got to be a service hatch or something."
"Hurry up and open it. Time's running out."
"What? What did you say? Time's running out, is that what you said?" The Doctor questioned River.
"Yeah. I just meant—"
"I know what you meant. Hush. But what if it could?"
"What if what could?"
"Time. What if time could run out?"
Nel wasn't sure what the Doctor was trying to get at as the Bishop announced he'd opened the hatch. The Doctor wasn't listening though, lost in thought.
"Cracks. Cracks in time. Time running out. No, couldn't be. Couldn't be. But how is a duck pond a duck pond if there aren't any ducks? And she didn't recognize the Daleks. Okay, time can shift. Time can change. Time can be rewritten. Ah. Oh!"
"Doctor?" Nel muttered, questioning him, but the Bishop urged them along.
"Doctor Song, get through now."
"Nel first," she said, making Nel jump before hastily nodding and gathering her things.
Nel shoved them through first and climbed in right after with River on her heels. They waited for the others and River started working on the controls, trying to see what she can do.
"River?"
"Yes, Nel?"
"Are we safe here?" Nel asked, looking around at other doors in uncertainty.
"More safe than we are out there," River replied, giving her a glance to make sure she wasn't about to run.
The Doctor would kill her if she let Nel run off now. Said man hurried through the hatch, shutting it behind him and drawing Nel's attention as River spoke to him.
"There's a teleport. If I can get it to work. we can beam the others here."
"Where's the Bishop?" Nel asked, earning a sorrowful look from the Doctor for a brief moment before he turned his gaze to River, who'd stopped what she was doing to eye him as well.
"Octavian's dead," he said bluntly, quickly going to the controls himself. "So is that teleport. You're wasting your time. I'm going to need your communicator."
Nel looked between the two in uncertainty before a voice cracked over the comm the Doctor had.
"Amy? Amy? Is that you?"
"Doctor?"
"Where are you? Are the Clerics with you?" He asked, worried.
"They've gone. There was a light and they walked into the light. Doctor, they don't even remember each other."
"No, they wouldn't," he murmured.
"What is that light?" River asked, curious and worried herself.
"Time running out. Amy, I'm sorry, I made a mistake. I should never have left you there," he apologized to her.
"Well, what do I do now?"
"You come to us. The Primary Flight Deck, the other end of the forest."
"I can't see. I can't open my eyes."
The Doctor started to lead her through the forest with his sonic, explaining that she needed to hurry because not only were there Angels in the forest, but the crack was spreading, swallowing up everyone and everything in its path.
"If the Time Energy catches up with you, you'll never have been born. It will erase every moment of your existence. You will never have lived at all," he said seriously, growing more frantic the longer he spoke until he forced himself to calm. "Now, keep your eyes shut and keep moving."
"It's never going to work," River commented, making him whip around to her with a furious shout.
"What else have you got, River! Tell me!"
Nel shifted uneasily at the Doctor's shouting, her movement catching his gaze and making him shrink a little. He couldn't be frightening her now. If he scared her off here, her whole future could be ruined. His future could be ruined.
"Sorry," he muttered before there was the sound of clanging echoing around them.
"What's that?" River asked as Nel shifted closer to them, eyeing the ceiling in fear.
"The Angels running from the fire. They came here to feed on the Time Energy, now it's going to feed on them," the Doctor replied, lifting the comm once more to give added directions to Amy.
"That Time energy, what's it going to do?" River asked when he'd finished with Amy.
He rubbed at his face, struggling to think. "Uh, keep eating."
"How do we stop it?"
"Feed it."
"Feed it what?"
"A big, complicated space-time event should shut it up for a while."
"Like what, for instance?"
"Me?" Nel questioned quietly, wondering if this was why they'd been so nice to her up until now.
A trick to use her, in the end, to save themselves. Save the world, perhaps but ultimately their own lives. The Doctor understood this and hastily shook his head.
"No. No. Not you. Never you, Nel. You're far too important to—" He cut himself short, shaking his head and only keeping his temper because Nel was scared. "I meant me. I'm trying to think up an alternative, but right now, we don't have many options."
Amy spoke up again and the Doctor continued to try and help her, holding his breath as he clung to the comm, hoping beyond hope that she was okay but when he stopped hearing the comm giving off signs that she was moving his hope faltered. Then, River rushed to a spot nearby and caught Amy, who she'd managed to teleport onto the flight deck.
"Don't open your eyes. You're on the Flight Deck. The Doctor's here. I teleported you. See? Told you I could get it working."
The Doctor felt a wave of relief. "River Song, I could bloody kiss you."
"Ah, well, maybe when you're older," River joked, only for an alarm to blare.
"W-What's that?" Nel asked, worried once more.
"The Angels are draining the last of the ship's power, which means the shield's going to release," the Doctor said, making Nel turn to him in shock.
"But doesn't that mean—" She cut herself short when the bulkhead separating them from the forest outside lifted, revealing a horde of Angels.
"Angel Bob, I presume," the Doctor mused as Nel backed up against the controls and grabbed hold of the railing tightly.
"The Time Field is coming. It will destroy our reality."
"Yeah, and look at you all, running away. What can I do for you?"
"There is a rupture in time. The Angels calculate that if you throw yourself into it, it will close, and they will be saved."
The Doctor hummed. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Could do, could do that. But why?"
"Your friends will also be saved."
"Well, there is that."
River looked at the Doctor in concern. "I've traveled in time. I'm a complicated space-time event too. Throw me in."
"Oh, be serious. 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," he barked.
"Doctor, I can't let you do this!"
"No, seriously, get a grip," he urged, nodding towards Nel's hand on the railing. "Nel's got it."
River looked at Nel's white knuckle grip on the railing and understanding dawned on her. "Oh, you geniuses."
Nel turned to her in surprise at that, but the angel spoke once more, drawing their attention to them as River got Amy to hold tight as well.
"Sir, the Angels need you to sacrifice yourself now."
"Thing is, Bob, the Angels are 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. Or to put it another way, Angels, night, night."
An alarm blared announcing that gravity was being turned off and the group was pulled off their feet as the Angels were getting sucked into the crack. Once the crack closed, the power drain was stopped and they were slowly placed back on their feet. Nel sagged to the floor though, stunned as the Doctor cackled and bounded around before holding out his arms.
"Ah-ha! Problem solved! Quick thinking there, Nel. Nearly forgot about the gravity for a minute."
Nel blinked hard, shuddering from the adrenaline rush. "N-No problem… S-Sorry, what just happened?"
"All in due time, Nel. now, let's get out of this place, shall we?"
River had returned to wherever she'd been brought from and the Doctor turned to Nel, smiling as he saw her staring out at the ocean waves crashing lightly against the beach. Her death grip on her easel had been released and it lay resting up against the boulder she was perched on right beside her duffle bag of art supplies. In her hands was her little sketch pad, a smearing of pencil already marring the page as she worked. The Doctor came up behind her and looked over her shoulder at it, smiling at the little box she'd sketched into the scene.
"You know," he said, making her shoulders hunch up but not affecting her pencil scratching. "It's about time we head out, Nel. There's plenty of room in the Tardis for you to paint if you'd like."
Nel stopped, glancing at him. "Tardis?"
He hummed with a nod, reaching down and tapping at the box she'd drawn. "My ship."
"It's a box."
"Yes, well, I promise it's far more impressive on the inside." He reached down, scooping up her things and offering her a hand. "Would you like to see?"
Nel hesitated. "I don't know why I'm here."
His smile faltered. "I know."
"Something… Something strange keeps happening. Something I don't understand."
"Yes…"
"Will you tell me? Will you explain everything?"
"I can't," he finally said, voice solemn. "Not everything, but I will tell you what I can because you deserve to know… because… because I need you to trust me, even when I'm not the same man you're meeting now."
Nel glanced down at her sketchpad for a moment before closing it and tucking it away, looking back up at him and taking his offered hand. He relaxed as he helped her to her feet, squeezing her hand with a small smile.
"Nel Adkins," he hummed, leading her to the blue Tardis doors and pushing them open as he brought her in. "Welcome to the Tardis."
