Hi! Here is the first chapter. I hope you enjoy.
–Mads
Chapter 1
On Alfava Metraxis, the Doctor felt dread pooling in the pit of his stomach. The crack. The crack from Amy's wall was here. Was it following her? Was it following him?
He jumped forward and scanned the crack with the sonic and frowned.
"Doctor!" River called from behind him, "We're not leaving without you."
"Oh yes, you are. Bishop?"
"Miss Pond!" Octavian called. "Doctor Song, now!"
"Doctor?" Amy called
River grabbed her arm.
"Come on!"
When he was sure they were gone, the Doctor turned his attention back to the sonic.
"What are you?" He scanned the crack again, then inspected the readings. "Oh, that's bad. Ah, that's extremely very not good."
He placed his ear to the wall below the crack and listened. Suddenly, the light behind the crack began to pulse, brighter and brighter. There was a loud cracking noise and then a flash. A woman appeared in front of him, arms folded, covered in dirt. And blood.
She looked at him: eyes wide and eyebrows raised, then glanced around, confused.
"Is this hell? Funny looking hell."
The Doctor frowned. She had a strange accent that he couldn't quite place.
"Who are you?" He asked. "Where did you come from?"
The young woman cleared her throat before answering.
"I was in the courtroom. With the executioner. Am I dead?"
The Doctor chuckled.
"No, nope. Definitely not dead. We might be if we don't get out of here, though. There are weeping angels everywhere."
He held out a hand. She eyed him suspiciously.
"Please. They've done something to my friend, and they'll kill us if we don't move."
She rolled her eyes and reluctantly began to follow him. They stopped, however, when four angels appeared.
"Do. Not. Blink." The Doctor ordered, glancing warily between the angels. He began to climb over the ship's control panel and motioned for the strange woman to follow. He stopped, however, when an angel grabbed hold of his jacket.
"Argh!"
They froze and The Doctor frowned.
"Why are we not dead, then?" he asked, glancing back at the angels. They were all reaching towards the crack, completely distracted.
"Good, and not so good." He murmured, eyeing the angels warily. "Oh, this isn't even a little bit good. I mean, is that it?" He asked, looking between the angels. "Is that the power that brought you here? That's pure Time Energy. You can't feed on that. That's now power, that's the fire at the end of the universe. I'll tell you something else..."
The Doctor slipped out of his jacket, grabbed a hold of the strange woman's arm.
"Never let me talk!"
He tugged on her arm, but she didn't move.
"What– Oh." He looked down to see an angel's hand clamped tightly around her wrist. Before he could react, though, there was a loud snap. He stared at the young woman in shock. Her wrist was hanging limply by her side at an unnatural angle. She looked at him and raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
"Your wrist. What did you do to it?"
She frowned.
"I broke it."
"Why?"
"Angel had it. I had to get out."
He stared at her in shock for a moment, then, remembering where they were, he sighed.
"Come one, we have to get out of here."
They ran into the forest, weaving through the trees until he knew they were safe. Well, safe enough, then he turned to the strange woman.
She looked, by human standards, in her early twenties. She was small, thin and pale with red hair, which was currently matted, and streaked with dirt and blood. Blood, that's right, she was bleeding.
"Are you okay? Where are you hurt? Apart from your wrist, which was completely unnecessary, by the way."
The woman shrugged.
"I got out." She said simply. "It'll heal in a minute."
The Doctor frowned at that.
"Where are you bleeding?"
"Not mine."
"What?"
She rolled her eyes.
"The blood. It's not mine."
Her voice was calm and gentle. Almost too gentle. And that's when it hit him. He jumped back, stumbling slightly as his foot hit a tree root. He pulled the sonic out of his pocket and pointed it at her.
"Stay where you are! Don't come any closer. I'm not afraid to use this."
The corner of the woman's mouth twitched in amusement.
"To what, scan me?" she looked him up and down, and then frowned.
"You're a Time Lord." It wasn't a question. "Huh, figures. Thought there had to be some of you hiding somewhere."
The Doctor glared and continued to hold the screwdriver up.
"The Snatchers died out centuries ago. Millennia. Where have you been hiding?"
She frowned. "No they didn't. I was just talking to them. They killed me. Is this hell?" She looked around again. "Is this where we go when we die? Its kinda shit looking. I expected more fire."
The Doctor lowered the sonic slightly, frowning.
"Hell? You came through a crack in space and time. I'm sorry, but your people have been dead a very long time."
Well, he wasn't actually sorry. The Snatchers were a sinister race, raised to kill, who roamed planets in search of lonely victims. He'd heard many stories of them as a child, but they had died out long before he was old enough, or unlucky enough, to encounter one.
Her eyes bore into him. They were calm, to the point where it was unnerving.
"Hmm." she hummed, "Well, they did try to kill me so I guess I should be happy."
The Doctor sighed. This was just what he needed. Who knows how much damage she could do if she was left on her own.
"Look." He tried, finally. "The weeping angels are here. We need to stop them. They've done something to my friend. Come with me, we can talk more later."
She stared at him curiously, then nodded.
"Fine."
They approached River, Amy, and Octavian and his men, in time to hear River lecturing Octavian.
"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. 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?"
The Doctor grinned.
"Oh, yeah."
"I hate you." River said, trying to hide the grin that was forming on her face.
"No you don't. Bishop, the Angels are in the forest."
"We need visual contact on every line of approach." Suddenly, Octavian raised his gun and shouted "Who are you, how did you get here?"
The snatcher rolled her eyes and stepped forward. Octavian waved his gun threateningly.
River and the Doctor looked up. River grinned.
"Edda, sweetie. Nice of you to join us."
Her welcome was met with a confused glare. The young woman, Edda, folded her arms defensively.
"Who the fuck are you?"
A look of surprise flashed across River's face. The Doctor frowned.
"You two know each other?"
The snatcher shook her head.
"Never seen her before in my life."
She turned her attention to Octavian, and smiled sweetly. The Doctor shook his head and stormed towards her, grabbing her arm and dragging her away from him.
"No, no. No. Kill him and I won't help you."
Edda pulled her arm roughly about of his grasp.
"Fine, but touch me again and you'll wake up with all your limbs cut off. And that's if you're lucky."
Her statement received a few raised eyebrows from the clerics, but River didn't seem fazed at all.
The med scanner in River's hand started beeping, bringing them back to the situation at hand.
Amy was laying weakly on a mossy log. River sat beside her and the Doctor took the med scanner and inspected it.
"So, what's wrong with me?" Amy asked weakly
"Nothing." River assured her, "You're fine."
"Apart from the fact that you're obviously dying." Edda added from behind them. River shot her a warning look.
"What? Y'think lying to her is suddenly going to make her not-dying?"
"Right. Amy, Amy, Amy. What's the matter with Amelia? Something's in her eye. What does that mean? Does it mean anything?
"Doctor."
"Busy." the Doctor said, brushing her off.
"Scared!" She countered
"Course you're scared. You're dying. Shut up."
River placed a comforting hand on Amy's shoulder.
"It's okay, just let him think."
"What happened to her?" Edda asked.
"She stared at the Angel. She looked into the eyes of an Angel for too long..."
The Doctor hit his palm against his forehead.
"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." Amy finished.
"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 clamped both hands over his mouth in shock.
"Three." Amy said. Edda raised an eyebrow.
"Three what?"
"They're making her count." River explained.
"Why?"
"Good question!" The Doctor took the communicator out again. "Bob, why are they making her count?"
"To make her afraid, sir." Bob's voice came from the other end.
"Okay, but why? What for?"
"For fun, sir."
Edda laughed. The Doctor let out a cry of annoyance.
"Doctor" Amy begged, "What's happening to me? Explain."
The Doctor sighed. "Inside your head, in the vision centres 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 I do?"
"If it was a real screen, what would we do? We'd pull the plug. We'd kill the power."
"We could knock her out." Edda suggested brightly, but the Doctor shook his head.
"We can't. The Angel would just take over."
"Then what?" River asked, pressing a few more buttons on the med scanner. "Quickly."
"We've got to shut down the vision centres of her brain. We've got to pull the plug. Starve the Angel."
"Doctor, she's got seconds."
"How would you starve your lungs?"
"I'd stop breathing."
"Again, I can help with that."
River hushed her.
"Amy, close your eyes!"
"No. No, I don't want to.
"Good, because that's not you, that's the Angel inside you. It's afraid. Do it. Close your eyes."
After one last anxious glance at the Doctor, Amy squeezed her eye shut. The med scanner changed from red to green, and they all breathed a sigh of relief.
"She's normalising!" River breathed. "Oh, you did it. You did it!" River grinned.
"Sir?" One of the clerics called from the forest "Two more incoming."
"Three more over here."
"Still weak" River said, motioning to Amy, "Dangerous to move her."
"So can I open my eyes now?"
Edda scoffed.
"Sure, if you want the angel to kill you."
"She's right. 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."
Edda rolled her eyes.
"We're exposed everywhere, dickhead."
Octavian's jaw tightened, obviously not amused.
"Doctor, who is this woman? How did she get here?"
"Bishop, not now. But she's right, we're too exposed everywhere. And Amy can't move. And anyway, that's not the plan."
River raised an eyebrow.
"There's a plan?"
"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 and Edda. If anything happens to them, I'll hold every single one of you personally responsible, twice. River, you and me, we're going to find the Primary Flight Deck which is..." He licked a finger and held it up in the air. "A quarter of a mile straight ahead, and from there we're going to stabilise the wreckage, stop the Angels, and cure Amy."
"How?"
"I'll do a thing."
"What thing?"
"I don't know. It's a thing in progress. Respect the thing. Moving out!"
"Doctor, I'm coming with you. My Clerics'll look after your friends. These are my best men. They'd lay down their lives in their protection."
The Doctor glared. "I don't need you."
"I don't care. Where Doctor Song goes, I go."
"What? You two engaged or something?"
"Yes, in a manner of speaking. Marco, you're in charge till I get back."
"Doctor?" Amy called, "Please, can't I come with you?
"You'd slow us down, Miss Pond."
"I don't want to sound selfish, but you'd really speed me up."
"You'll be safer here." The Doctor assured her, "We can't protect you on the move. I'll be back for you soon as I can, I promise."
"You always say that."
"I always come back. Good luck, everyone. Behave." He shot a warming glare at Edda, who rolled her eyes.
"Do not let that girl open her eyes." He motioned to Amy, "And don't let that girl kill anyone." He pointed at Edda, who smirked. "And keep watching the forest. Stop those Angels advancing. Amy, later. River, going to need your computer!"
"Yeah, later."
"Amy" The Doctor said, kneeling down and grasping her hands in his, "You need to start trusting me. It's never been more important."
"But you don't always tell me the truth."
"If I always told you the truth, I wouldn't need you to trust me.
"Doctor, the crack in my wall. How can it be here?"
"And how did I get here, for that matter?" Edda added
"I don't know yet, but I'm working it out. Now, listen, Amy, Remember what I told you when you were seven?"
"What did you tell me?"
"No. No, that's not the point. You have to remember."
Amy frowned.
"Remember what? Doctor? Doctor?"
The Doctor stood up and went to catch up with River and Octavian. He began to input the readings from his sonic screwdriver into River's computer.
"What's that?"
"Er, 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?"
"I don't know. How can you be engaged, in a manner of speaking? How is it that you just happen to know the immortal, murderous entity who just materialised in front of me? These are all good questions."
"Well, for that first one, what can I say? Sucker for a man in uniform."
Octavian rolled his eyes, obviously not happy with her explanation.
"And as for Edda, well, spoilers."
"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."
River glared at him.
"You were in Stormcage?" The Doctor asked, then he looked down as the computer beeped.
"What? What is that?" River asked, motioning to the strange symbols on the screen.
"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?
A moment later, the numbers '26 06 2010' appeared on the screen.
"Amy's time." The Doctor breathed.
Back in the forest, Amy sighed.
"So, what's happening? Anything happening out there?" She called.
Edda shrugged.
"Not really. The Angels are still grouping. Hey, did you see that?" She pointed to one of the treeborgs, which was flickering.
"The trees? Yeah."
"What's wrong with the trees?" Amy asked
"Here too, sir." Pedro called, "They're ripping the Treeborgs apart."
"And here." Phillip called, "They're taking out the lights."
"What is it? What's happening? Tell me. I can't see."
Edda rolled her eyes.
"Oh for gods sake. They're killing the lights, aren't you listening? Angel got your ears too or something?"
Amy opened her mouth, ready to snap at the strange woman, when Phillip called out again.
"Angels advancing, sir."
"And over here again."
"Weapons primed. Combat distance five feet. Wait for it."
"What is it? What's happening? Just tell me!" Amy called out, frustrated.
"Shut up!" Edda snapped.
"Keep your position and, ma'am, keep your eyes shut. Wait."
Edda's eyes snapped up as a bright light flooded through the forest.
"The ship's not on fire, is it?" Marco asked
"It can't be" Pedro replied. "The compressors would have taken care of it. Marco, the Angels have gone. Where'd they go?"
"What, the Angels?"
"This side's clear too, sir."
"Something isn't right." Edda frowned. "Where would they have gone?"
"There's still movement out there, but away from us now. It's like they're running."
"Running from what?"
Edda smiled. She had a funny feeling she knew what they were running from. Or rather whom they were running from.
"Phillip, Crispin, we need to get a closer look at that."
"What are you all looking at? What's there?"
Edda frowned.
"It's a light. It shouldn't make you feel like that, but its weird. It looks like the light I saw before I woke up here."
"It makes you feel weird." Marco added. "Sick."
"And you think it scared the Angels?"
"I'm not sure that's the only thing."
The clerics looked at her for an explanation, but she simply shrugged and shook her head.
Suddenly, Amy stood up.
"What are you doing?" Edda exclaimed
"Point me at the light."
"What, are you insane? You can't open your eyes."
"I can't open them for more than a second, that's what the Doctor said. Still got a bit of countdown left."
"Ma'am. You cant."
"No. You're being an idiot." Edda tugged on her arm, trying to get her to sit down again. "Besides, if you want to die I can help with that. You won't even need to open your eyes."
"I need to see it. Am I looking the right way? I have to be quick."
Edda groaned.
"You know, I'm trying really hard to not kill anyone here, I really am, but you're making it very difficult by being extremely stupid."
She sighed, giving in, and placed a grubby hand on Amy's shoulder.
"There." She said. "Be quick. Very quick."
Amy opened her eyes and stared uneasily at the strange light.
"It's the same shape. It's the crack in my wall."
"Okay, whoop-de-doo. Close your eyes now."
"It's following me! How can it be following me?"
Amy fell to her knees weakly. Almost instantly, Marco was at her side, placing his hand over her eyes and forcing her to close them.
"Are you okay?" He asked after a moment.
"Yeah. It was the same shape."
"Marco, you want me to get a closer look at that?"
"Go for it. Don't get too close."
Edda frowned.
"Don't you wanna wait 'til your buddies get back?"
"What?"
"The guys you sent before."
"I didn't send anyone before."
"Yes you did, we heard you. Crispin and Phillip."
Marco frowned.
"Crispin and who?"
"Doctor Song, get through, now!" Octavian ushered River into the primary flight deck.
"Doctor? Doctor."
The Doctor was still staring at River's computer.
"Time can be unwritten." He said suddenly.
"I assure you, there never was a Crispin or a Phillip on this mission."
"No, I heard you. Before you sent Pedro, you sent Crispin and Phillip"
"Amy, I don't think he can remember them."
"Pedro? Who's Pedro?"
"It's been happening all around me and I haven't even noticed!"
"Doctor, we have to move."
"The CyberKing. A giant Cyberman walks over all of Victorian London and no one remembers. A member of one of the most malevolent species in the universe reappears, years after they were all killed!"
"We have to move it. The Angels could be here any second."
The Doctor scoffed.
"Never mind the Angels. There's worse here than Angels."
The light flickered off, then on again. The Doctor's eyes widened when he saw an Angel's arm around Octavian's throat.
"I beg to differ, sir."
"Let him go." The Doctor said, scanning the angel with the sonic.
"Well, it can't let me go, sir, can it? Not while you're looking at it."
"I can't stop looking at it, it'll kill you."
"It's going to kill me anyway. Think it through. There's no way out of this. You have to leave me.
"Can't you wriggle out?"
Octavian tried, but was unsuccessful.
"No, it's too tight. You have to leave me, sir. There's nothing you can do."
"Oh god." Edda placed a hand to her forehead.
"Something's happening. Pedro was here a second ago and now you can't even remember him."
"There never was a Pedro. There's only ever been the three of us here."
"No, there were six of us. Why can't you remember?"
Marco turned to Edda
"Listen, I need to get a closer look at that light, whatever it is. Don't worry, I won't get too close."
"If you go back there the same thing is going to happen to you."
Marco handed Amy the spare communicator.
"I'll stay in touch the whole time."
Amy shook her head furiously.
"You won't, because if you go back there what happened to the others will happen to you."
"There weren't any others!"
"There won't be any you if you go back there!" Edda snapped.
Marco sighed.
"Two minutes, I promise."
He placed a hand on her shoulder. Edda tensed and then, without warning, she twisted his arm away, which let out a loud crack, before slamming her fist into the side of his face.
Marco yelled in pain.
"Never touch me." She hissed.
Marco fumbled at his side, brought out his gun and pointed it towards her.
"Guys?" Amy called "Guys, what's happening?"
"Your little friend is insane." Marco spat, still clutching the gun with shaking hands. "She tried to kill me."
"I didn't try to kill you, idiot. I punched you." Edda took a step forward and Marco's fingers twitched.
"Stay back."
She rolled her eyes and stepped forward again. Marco pulled the trigger.
The bullet lodged itself in Edda's side. She looked down to see blood seeping out of it. She rolled her eyes.
"Thanks. That's rather inconvenient. At least my clothes were already bloody. Now..." she stepped forward again, and Marco fired the gun another three times. She rolled her eyes again.
"Oh for fuck's sake."
She lunged forward, tackling Marco and grabbing the gun from his grip. She pointed it at him, hands on the trigger.
"Goodnight."
She probably could have just shot him once, but she always liked to make sure. Plus, she was bored. And confused.
She shot him six times. Then kicked him, just for good luck.
"Edda? Marco? What was that?"
"Marco's dead. He was an asshole and he was going to die anyway."
Edda made her way back to the rock and slumped down beside Amy.
"God, bullets hurt."
Back outside the primary flight deck, the Doctor watched Octavian sadly.
"Sir, there's nothing you can do."
"You're dead if I leave you."
"Yes. Yes, I'm dead. And before you go–"
"I'm not going."
"Listen to me, it's important. You can't trust her."
"Trust who? Edda?"
"River Song. You think you know her, but you don't. You don't understand who or what she is.
"Then tell me. Who is she? How does she know Edda?"
"I've told you more than I should. Now please, you have to go. It's your duty to your friends."
"Just tell me why she was in Stormcage."
"She killed a man. A good man. A hero to many. And betrayed someone he cared about."
"Who?"
"You don't want to know, sir. You really don't."
"Who did she kill? What did she do?"
"Sir, the Angels are coming. You have to leave me."
"You'll die."
"I will die in the knowledge that my courage did not desert me at the end. For that I thank God, and bless the path that takes you to safety."
"I wish I'd known you better."
"I think, sir, you've known me at my best."
"Ready?"
Octavian nodded.
"Content."
With one last look at Octavian, the Doctor dove through the hatch, closing it behind him.
"There's a teleport." River said when she heard him. "If I can get it to work. We can beam the others here." She looked up. "Where's Octavian?"
"Octavian's dead. So is that teleport. You're wasting your time. I'm going to need your communicator–"
He was cut off by a loud gunshot, followed by several more. He and River exchanged glances, then the Doctor let out a cry of frustration.
"This is exactly what I need right now."
"You don't know it was her."
Six more gunshots sounded and he glared.
"Okay, probably her."
"How do you know her?"
"Spoilers."
The Doctor slammed this hand on the teleport, making River jump.
"River, I am trying my hardest to stay calm. But I need to know how it is you are acquainted with the last of the most dangerous entities that has ever walked the fabric of time and space. And I need to know now."
River rolled her eyes.
"Oh stop being so dramatic. She told you she was being executed before she appeared here, yes? Doesn't that mean she did something wrong in their books? Refused to kill someone or something? I mean, they didn't exactly have many morals so there aren't many things she could have done to upset them."
The Doctor's glare softened slightly, then he remembered that he just left her there, with Amy, and heard at least ten gunshots go off.
He pointed the communicator at her.
"If Amy is hurt, or dead back there, it's on you."
Amy gripped the communicator anxiously. She was standing what she hoped was a reasonable distance from the murderous woman, but with her eyes closed it was difficult to tell. She pressed the button on the communicator and spoke into it.
"Hello? Are you there? Hello? Hello?"
"Amy? Amy? Is that you?"
She breathed a sigh of relief.
"Doctor!"
"Where are you? Are you all right? Are the Clerics with you?"
"They're gone. Some of them, there was a light and they walked into the light. Doctor, they didn't even remember each other."
"No, they wouldn't. And the others?"
"Umm..." Amy trailed off.
"Dead!" Edda called over brightly.
Tried to swallow the lump that was forming in her throat.
"Amy, are you okay? She hasn't done anything to you, has she?"
"N-no, I'm fine."
"Amy, if she's making you say something, tell me."
Edda groaned loudly from where she was standing, over by one of the trees.
"I can control myself, you know." She spat.
"Yeah?" The Doctor called from the other end "It doesn't seem like it. Amy, I'm sorry, I made a mistake leaving you there with her."
"Well what do I do?"
"You come to us. The Primary Flight Deck, the other end of the forest."
"I can't see! I can't open my eyes."
Edda rolled her eyes and stepped forward.
"I can help you."
"Take my hand."
The Doctor tensed when he heard Edda's voice and opened his mouth to object. River stopped him.
"Trust me." She said, placing a hand on his arm, "She's not going to hurt her."
The Doctor glared.
"What other options to we have? Let Amy blindly stumble through the forest? Think about it."
He let out a sigh of defeat. He held the communicator close to his mouth and spoke into it threateningly.
"Edda, if you do so much as lay a finger on her, there will not be a place in universe for you to hide. I will tear through every solar system looking for you and when I find you, I swear–"
"Okay, okay! Chill out. You're wasting time. There are Angels everywhere, you know."
Beside him, River chuckled. The Doctor scowled.
"Amy, when the communicator sounds like my screwdriver it means you're going the right way. You have to start moving. There's time energy spilling out of that crack, and you have to stay ahead of it."
"But the angels, they're everywhere." Amy said shakily.
"I'm sorry, I really am, but the Angels can only kill you."
Both women frowned.
"Well, that's comforting for me. Not sure about your friend here. So what does the time energy do?"
"Just keep moving!"
Edda rolled her eyes.
"Just tell us."
"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. Now, both of you keep moving. Amy, keep your eyes shut."
Edda lead Amy slowly across the uneven forest floor, making sure to warn her about rocks and sticks that were laying about.
They were all quiet for a while, the only noise was the shuffling of leaves, and then Edda called out.
"Amy, there's a root there, make sure you–"
She was cut off when Amy tripped over a half-buried tree root, letting out a cry as she fell to the floor blindly.
"Shit."
"Amy?" The Doctor called "Amy? What's happening has she done something?"
"I haven't done anything, dickhead. She fell over."
Edda glanced around warily. Most of the angels were still moving towards the light, but a few had their heads turned in their direction." then knelt down and grabbed Amy's arm.
"Amy, you need to get up. They're looking at us."
"Edda, Amy, what's happening?"
"Doctor? They're looking at us. Doctor!"
There is a flash of light and suddenly they appeared on the flight deck. River grabbed Amy and tried to comfort her.
"Don't open your eyes." She said. "You're on the Flight Deck. The Doctor's here. I teleported you. See?" she turned to the Doctor, grinning. "Told you I could get it working."
"River Song, I could bloody kiss you."
"Ah," She smirked, "Well, maybe when you're older." She glanced at Edda, who was standing a few metres away with her arms folded.
"You okay?"
The woman scoffed.
"Of course."
A moment later an alarm began to blare.
"What's that?" River asked.
"The Angels are draining the last of the ship's power, which means the shield's going to release."
The doors opened, revealing a line of angels.
"Angel Bob, I presume." The Doctor addressed one of the angels.
"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 one your friend fell through. The Angels calculate that if you throw her into it, it will close and she will be gone– the universe saved and the rupture sealed."
The Doctor glanced at Edda.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Could do, could do that. But why?"
"Your friends will also be saved."
The Doctor gave a small nod.
"Well, there is that."
River placed a hand on his arm.
"Don't you dare. I've travelled in time. I'm a complicated space-time event too. Throw me in."
"Oh, be serious. Compared to her, or even me, these Angels are more complicated than you, and it would take every one of them to amount to us, so get a grip."
"Doctor, I'm not letting you do this."
"No, seriously, get a grip."
"You don't know her yet! I'm not going to let you kill her."
"No, I mean it. River, Amy, Edda, get a grip."
River paused for a moment.
"Oh, you genius." She breathed.
"Sir, the Angels need you to sacrifice her."
"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..."
The monitor beside them started beeping, showing 'Gravity failing' in large letters.
River placed Amy's hand on the handles of a console module and motioned to Edda to hold onto something.
"You two hold on tight and don't you let go for anything."
"Night, night!" The Doctor called, as the gravity failed. The spaceship began to tilt and the angels tumbled backwards into the forest, disappearing into the crack, before the crack finally closed.
They were sitting on a beach. Amy was on a rock, wrapped in a blanket, and the Doctor sat beside her.
River Song was standing a few metres away from them, surrounded by clerics, a pair of handcuffs on her wrists. Edda watched the woman curiously. She had known her name and, unlike the Doctor and Amy, she didn't seem to be afraid of her.
She cautiously made her way over to her and the woman smiled.
"You need some new clothes." She said, motioning to the Edda's bloodstained sleeves, "I think this is the grubbiest I've ever seen you."
Edda frowned.
"Who the heck are you? I've never seen you before. How do you know me?"
River sighed.
"It's a long story. The Doctor will explain. Prison ship's in orbit, they'll be here to pick me up at any moment."
Edda frowned.
"I don't think the Doctor likes me. Or Amy for that matter. I'm not sure why. I didn't try to hurt them or anything."
She looked down and fiddled with the corner of her bloody shirt. She didn't mean to make people not like her. She didn't like seeing them mad.
"Why are you in prison?" she asked. River smiled at her.
"It's a long story."
"Did you kill someone too?"
River smiled.
"Spoilers."
They stood in silence for a while, until the Doctor approached them. River grinned at him.
"You, me, handcuffs. Must it always end this way?"
"What now?" The Doctor asked.
"The prison ship's in orbit. They'll beam me up any second. I might have done enough to earn a pardon this time." She smiled. "We'll see."
"Octavian said you killed a man."
River nodded sadly.
"Yes, I did."
"A good man."
River nodded again.
"A very good man. The best man I've ever known."
"Who?" Edda asked, intrigued.
River laughed and shook her head.
"It's a long story. Edda. It can't be told, it has to be lived. No sneak previews. Well, except for this one. You'll both see me again quite soon, when the Pandorica opens.
"Ha!" Edda laughed loudly, making them both jump. "The Pandorica? That's a fairytale."
River laughed heartily.
"Oh Edda, Aren't we all? I'll see you there." She smiled at the Doctor, who smiled in return.
"I look forward to it."
"I remember it well."
Amy approached them shyly.
"Bye, River."
"See you, Amy." River smiled, then looked down as her handcuffs began to beep. "Oh, I think that's my ride."
"Can I trust you. River Song?"
River laughed.
"If you like. Ha, but where's the fun in that?"
A few seconds later, River beamed away in a swirl of sand. The Doctor stood, motionless for a moment, deep in thought.
Amy stepped forward.
"What are you thinking?" She asked softly.
"Time can be rewritten."
I hope you enjoyed!
–Mads