"Im beginning to get sick of this place," I sighed. We had slowed down to a cautious walk, since we were so close to the clearing.
"Think how she feels," the Doctor remarked from in front, still with a tight grip on my hand reassuringly. I thought of the possibility of seeing her again, and I felt cold air trickle through my spine. "Shes quite a regular."
"How do you know?"
"Oi, this thing is more useful than a piece of metal."
I smirked to myself, but he heard and threw me a weak frown. "Fine! I believe you."
Finally we came to the clearing before the frozen pond, and I could hear only silence. That silence, so distinctive. And the bridge wasn't even in view yet.
"She's close by," I whispered, but he turned and put a finger to his lips slowly, and crouched soundlessly behind a tree. I followed his movements, and the direction of his eyes. The bridge was occupied. We waited silently for movement, but, as we watched, she didn't even blink.
"Ahh," the man next to me breathed, and a sense of realisation settled on his face. Gently, he tugged on my hand and rose again, and lead the way into the space confidently.
"Doctor! What are you doing?" I whispered sharply, but that didn't seem to register with the frozen figure anyway. He continued to gain on her, and we were soon standing on the bridge with her. She didn't flinch.
"I see you've evolved eh? Or at least a sub species, you're hardly as inconspicuous."
"What is she?"
"'She', is a Weeping Angel, although quite different. 'She' belongs to race of beings, although no one really knows where they come from."
"Why isn't 'she' moving?"
His voice turned dark. "Because we're watching."
I waited for further explanation, and looked up at him. His eyes were solidly focused on the woman.
"They're assassins, silent, when no one is looking. But that strength is also their greatest weakness. They become quantum locked, like this, under constant watch."
"So, they can't move...as long as we're watching?"
He nodded in confirmation. "Why did you look away when the boy went missing?"
I thought back to all that time ago, and found it was only 2 hours ago, depending on how long I was unconscious for. Time seemed to go slower with him.
"I heard a voice in my ear."
He nodded again thoughtfully. He let go of my hand, and didn't look at me as he motioned me to watch her with his fingers. "Don't blink."
Its amazing how much you want to do something when you're told you can't.
…
"Yes, quite different. Telepathy? Thats quite new. Efficient, granted. But what exactly is your purpose here? How do you work...why do you need it..."
"Doctor..."
He snapped his eyes round. "Yep?"
Her eyes were still trained on the figure, although they were struggling against dryness. "Simon seemed...hypnotised, when he saw her. He genuinely thought it was his mother."
He looked back at the figure, and backed away from it to stand next to Mia. "So they use it to gain the complete trust of the child. They go willingly. But why is that so important?"
"Maybe they don't intend to hurt them."
He was about to question her words, however logical they seemed, when his eyes flashed with a bright light. The image burned.
"Oi! What was that for?!" he shouted at the woman, for now he could barely call her a statue, and realised she had vanished. He continuously blinked, and checked the girl next to him was still there. Instead, she was a bundle on the floor.
"Mia! You alright?"
Her body felt...heavier. She wasn't responding. Her head was bowed loosely. Had she passed out again? He was about to curse the human weakness again, but then, he heard her breath.
"Ill never get used to women fainting around me," he said, his voice evidently relieved. He tried to set her straight, but she was still so heavy. "Mia? I need your...help..." he forced through his teeth, but he still couldn't lift her.
Another flash invaded his vision, and he felt the figure disappear from his arms. When he opened his eyes again, she was gone.
"No...no no no no NO!" He ranted, and searched frantically from his spot as he shoved his hands over his head in panic. He felt sick when he finally found her.
"MIA! What the – don't move!"
Something was wrong, he felt it even as he said those words. She was staring at him...ever so still. But he sensed her eyes weren't quite on his.
Doctor...so slow...
The voice in his head was so light, it was almost a whisper. Each word was drawn out, slowly, ghostlike, but it was almost hers. Almost.
How do you expect one to move as you see me?
"Let her go," he warned, his voice terrifying and low. "Now."
Why would one? This mind...a treasure a TREAT!
He wished her eyes would blink, just once, but they were frozen wide, wider than any humans should go. Even from this distance, he could see that they were becoming red.
"Bring her back, or I'll come and get her."
You truly are slow, Doctor. Ice is not as strong as I.
"Then bring her back."
Would you risk your eyes from one?
"Then I'll wait." He warned again through his teeth.
Ones body is warm, Doctor. This ice will not wait for us.
He gave her the darkest look he could muster under the pressure, and began a slow walk around the frozen pond, perhaps to find the shortest route to her, not once taking his eyes from her. Soon enough he found that she'd managed to land slap bang in the middle. Damn it.
"Why do you take children then," he asked impatiently, and sat on a fallen tree next to the frozen water.
Why do you not seem to care about your friend?
"I asked first."
The girl, still sitting, chuckled a husky laugh. Children have imagination. Such as our world needs. You have the power of limitless travel, Doctor. Many cultures. Such richness.
"So why do need this woman?"
Her mind is a wonderous place, Doctor. So many alley ways, such corners. Such colour...oh, how must you see her! Oh, so short a time with her...you should care for her still.
"So you're just a scavenger. Picking innocent people up and using them with no thought for them. What happens to them then?" he spat angrily.
What happens to your friends, Doctor? Isn't that essentially just what you are? Picking innocent people up and using them...to relieve your own loneliness. What happens to them?
"What happened to your planet?"
Excuse me?
"Your planet. What happened?"
The girl sat, dumbfounded, restless eyes frowning and searching continuously, as though the answer floated before her in the wind. I don't understand.
"You speak of loneliness and of creativity. But you, your race, is as old as time itself. Why now? Why so bored, all of a sudden? You've had thousands, MILLIONS, of years for a change, and you choose now."
Is all of your work guess work?
"On occasion. But pieces of the puzzle sometimes fit too well for ignorance."
You seem only to have one.
"Oh, really?"
He stood, still focused on her keenly. He threw his hands into his trouser pockets and lowered his eyes, so he was watching her beneath his eyebrows. "You're recolonising aren't you?"
That silenced her, if only for a few seconds.
"Not just with humans, oh no. You've taken all children in this area. Even the birds; why birds? And another thing how do you explain your arrival? All this way...just to take a few children and a young woman with a better mind...it's too much to piece together."
You're killing time, Doctor.
He was perfectly aware of that. He could hear the seconds tick with each pair of heartbeats. At least he was aware she was still in there.
"You're mind control isn't complete. Why not?"
Excuse one? It is at it's ultimate.
"Possibly, but it's not total mind control. She's battling, right? Shes stronger than the average child's mind; but you haven't had to develop it, because that's the only mind you aim for."
Jibberjabbering, Doctor, She reminded him. Her voice was slightly more normal now. But her words were not unfamiliar. She was fighting against it...She was becoming stronger, too.
Pray, continue. This child will simply give in, and her mind will be filled to each corner until she cannot escape one's power. You forget? One is pure energy; I can escape. You gain nothing, Doctor, by your delay.
"I'm delaying your escape from my sight. And while your mind control keeps her subdued to a degree, the moment that ice breaks...survival instinct kicks in. Its far too strong."
You place too much faith in her, Time Lord...
"Get out..." a strained voice forced. It wasn't his own, or even the thing in her head. It was clearly...
"I said...g-get-t o-out..."
"NOW!" She roared. He pictured fire flaring from her lips, but image was far too fearsome to laugh at. A small thing like her could still be terrifying, even without the ghost like voice. He couldn't believe how happy he was to see her again.
…
I felt my eyes ping back like a spring, and pain shot through them with a fiery flash. They blinked continuously without my conscious decision, and when I opened them, they seemed to be misty. I was also heaving in the air, also without really knowing, as though my body had been deprived of air for a matter of minutes. Like i'd been drowning.
Mist was gushing from my mouth, too much to be simple cool air. Too thick.
"Mia?!" A familiar voice shouted desperately, and the familiarity was disconcerting. "Hmm?" Just then I realised how numb my legs were.
"Don't move! I'm just...er...Dont move!" He warned, using his hands forcefully to convey his point. He was testing the ice before me with his foot, and shot it away when it creaked.
Realisation didn't so much as hit me...it just crept up. "Doctor...why am I on...am I on the...?"
"Don't panic!"
Don't panic, he says. Flailing about like a panicked octopus. I began to let my autopilot take control, and watched my hands spread out over the floor before me.
"Can't your magic screwdriver do anything in these situations?!" My words came out harsher than intended, but I felt I needed to let him know I was ok, that I was Mia again. As I carefully adjusted my body to lay flat down on the ice, he smirked nervously. "Not unless you want it to open the ice."
I shimmied over the ice delicately, and heard something creak far beneath. "Doc-"
"Shh...its alright...," He whispered. I looked up to find his feet on the ice, hand outstretched. He flexed his fingers keenly. "Gently..." he mused, and edged his own feet closer in, closer...
"Don't take your eyes off me...she might still be..."
I grabbed his hand and he tore me away, faster than any human could move, faster than the ice had chance to swallow us into the ice cold water. I didn't even realise we were back on the solid, crunchy grass until I heard it beneath my boots. He let me fall back to my feet, but his warm arms stayed in place.
"Thanks..." I forced through chattering teeth, but I was too numb to be cold. But at least it seemed to be gone from my mind. I understood now what that mist was pouring from my mouth.
"Did you see anything? While she was in there...did you find anything out? Did she tell you anything?"
His arms loosened from me, and he looked at me head on. His eyes were wide and curious, but dangerous simultaneously.
Thankfully some feeling was returning, and my coat began to feel warm and snug again. Inhalation didn't hurt so much any more. I trained my mind back, but I found images flash by that I never wished to recall.
"Yeah...a flash of light...it burned."
"Go on."
I ignored the brooding settling in his eyebrows and concentrated instead on making my voice sound unaffected. "Images flashed, like...fire. It was dark...night...but the fire. There wasn't any sound, but I got the jist. I felt it...
One felt it, Doctor...
"Mia. Mia come back to me," he ordered, and gripped my upper arms. I felt a pain in my eyes, but I couldn't shout out. I was frozen as I heard someone else's words move my lips.
The fire...
"What fire?" his distant voice asked calmly, the desperation simmering quietly beneath.
One has heard stories, Doctor. Time Lord. He who saves worlds once lost in the void...he who spares the lives of those once taken...The fire...Doctor...
As I heard my- her words, slow and haunting and despairing, I finally heard the sounds of the images I was shown. The screams filled my head, the souls who simply burnt, unmoving as solid stone as their own watched in horror. I knew, somehow, what they were feeling, locked while my body channelled the voice of another.
Why not save us, our world, Doctor?
The Doctor, I noticed, hadn't answered for a while, and I waited in suspended silence, just as she did. I didn't even try and fight against her.
"I'm...I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry."
As he said those words, I felt the pressure in my head subside, and it suddenly felt roomy. My limbs felt warm again in their sleeves, I felt the wool of my mittens against my hands, my hair brushing gently around my face as the wind picked up. A veil of colourlessness seemed to fold away, and again I was greeted by the image of the man I'd been itching to hug and tell it was going to be ok. His guilt ridden face looked up to the stars.
"They can't blame you."
He peered down quickly, and found my beside him, and grinned like the erratic man he was. Still, I wasn't fooled, and he soon realised as it slid from his lips. "No, but theyre right. I've saved planets. Why didn't I save them?" he mused, his tired voice trailing away as he peered up to the sky again. I thought for a moment over his question. "Not everyone can be saved. It would seem you can't, anyway. But...a single man can't save an entire planet..."
He gave me a smug look, and I saw that arrogant genius glittering away in his eyes.
"...Can he?"
"Well," he began modestly, pulling a face like it was no big deal. He shrugged and sniffed flippantly, like it was just another day at the office for him. An image struck me, and I deteriorated into a fit of giggles. There he was, a seemingly average handsome man, travelling around space in a suit and a blue box. It was absurd.
"What?" He wined, and I paused only to breath and catch his childish irritated expression, and burst out laughing again. I didn't know whether it was the image itself or the nights events that made me laugh so much, or whether my nerves were still alight and flaring away.