Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or Torchwood, both belong to the BBC and their respected writers. But I do own Gaia! :b
Thank you for the reviews, I'm glad you're liking it.
"Up! Look up!" The Doctor said getting to his feet. He ran over to Gaia and helped her up. "Good idea by the way. Ingenious!" He continued. River meanwhile was helping Amy to her feet.
"You OK?" River asked.
"Fine but what happened?" Amy responded brushing herself down.
"We jumped." River stated, walking over to Gaia and the Doctor.
"Jumped where?" Amy asked confused.
"Up." Gaia said with a smile, watching the Doctor sonic the air.
"Where are we?" Amy asked still confused at the groups current location.
"Exactly where we were." River said.
"No we're not." Amy said putting her hands on her hips, annoyed that no one was explaining it to her.
"Move your feet!" The Doctor said, getting a deservingly whack on the arm from Gaia.
"No need to be rude." She said. The Doctor mumbled an apology and started to sonic the indentation in the floor. Amy looked around, confused at what she was looking for. "Doctor, what am I looking at? Explain." She demanded.
"Oh, come on, Amy, think! The ship crashed with the power still on, yeah? So what else is still on?" The Doctor said.
"The gravity." Gaia stated.
" Yep. The artificial gravity. One good jump," He jumped. "And up we fell. Gaia shot out the grav-globe to give us an updraft, and here we are!" The Doctor said giving Gaia a wink. She blushed a deep crimson. Octavian cleared his throat.
"Doctor. The statues, they look more like Angels now." Octavian said pointing his gun at the angles that were reaching up at the ship.
"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, crouching down and scanning the indentation again. The door then opened and the lights start to flicker.
"They're taking out the lights. Look at them, look at the Angels. Into the ship, now, quickly all of you!" The Doctor said then jumped into the hole. He landed on the floor, which happened to be at a 90 degree angle to hole.
"But how? Doctor!" Amy yelled peering over the edge of the hole. Her hair dangling over her face.
Gaia pulled Amy out of the way and jumped down the hole after the Doctor.
"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 said, helping Gaia to her feet. Everyone jumps in and the Doctor sonics the door shut.
"Ok, where are we?" The Doctor asks spinning round to observe the room that the group had now found themselves in.
"Secondary flight deck." River said, running over to the console at the centre of the room. Amy looked around at the flight deck; it was in major disrepair with exposed wires all over the console. The Doctor quickly followed River over to the console at the centre of the room.
Octavian placed a small device on the door, the angels hammering heavily of the other side.
"Magnetized the door. Nothing could turn that wheel now." He said smugly.
"Yeah?" The Doctor retorted as the previously `magnetized` door, began to turn. Everyone stared at the door in shock.
"Dear God!" Octavian exclaimed, his grip tightening on his gun.
"Ah, now you're getting it!" Gaia said.
"Exactly...You've bought us time though, that's good. I am good with time." The Doctor added, he was currently messing with some of the controls on the desk. The soldiers made quick work of the other door, magnetizing it and buying them more time.
"How long have we got Doctor?" Octavian asked his gun aimed at the door.
"5 minutes max." Gaia replied to Octavian, the Doctor looked up at her with raised eyebrows. Before he could say something Amy spoke.
"Nine." She muttered. The Doctor's head instantly whipped round, as did Gaia's and River's.
"Five." The Doctor enforced.
"Five, right yeah." Amy said, shaking it off.
"Why d'you say nine?" River asked, looking up from the handheld device she had in her hand.
"I didn't." Amy replied looking confused. Although sceptical they brushed it off.
"Okay, we need a way out." River said.
"Yes, ermm..." The Doctor said running his fingers through his hair. Gaia rolled her eyes.
"Oh come on, starship cruiser as big as this. Make port every few months, what's it going to need?" She asked.
"Oh you are brilliant!" River exclaimed.
"I am." Gaia admitted.
"What?" Amy said, asking the Doctor. The Doctor looked just as confused.
"Men!" River said with an eye roll.
"Tell me about it!" Gaia replied. They both laughed as they undid the clamps on the far wall.
"What does every human being need?" Gaia asked, as the wall started to rise.
"Water?" Amy enquired.
"Almost, but no." Gaia replied.
"What then?" Amy asked.
"Of course!" The Doctor exclaimed, as the door opened halfway.
"What?" Amy repeated.
"Oxygen!" Gaia breathed as the forest came into view.
Amy was gobsmacked and her shocked muttered: "Eight."
"What did you say?" Gaia asked not catching what Amy said.
"Nothing." Amy replied confused at why Gaia had asked her that.
"Right, there should be an escape route through there. Scan the architecture , we don't want to get lost in there." The Doctor said to Octavian.
"On it." He replied and proceeded to scan the environment.
"But tree's on a spaceship?" Amy said still not quite believing it.
"Oh more than trees..." Gaia said and then gently prised open one of the trees to reveal a bunch on glowing wires. "Treeborgs."
"Trees plus technology." The Doctor agreed and began to examine the wires. "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. It is an eco-pod running through the heart of the ship. A forest in a bottle, on a space ship, in a maze. Have I impressed you yet?" The Doctor rambled and Amy chuckled at his rambling.
"Seven." She muttered.
"Seven?" Gaia questioned.
"What?" Amy asked.
"You said seven." The Doctor added now studying Amy's face.
"No I didn't." Amy responded.
"Yes you did." River argued and a silence fell over them as each of them contemplated the situation they now found themselves in.
"Doctor! There's an exit, far end of the ship, into the Primary Flight Deck." Octavian said breaking the silence.
"Good that's where we need to go." The Doctor replied.
"As quickly as possible." Gaia added for good measure. Octavian nodded in reply and got to work mapping out a route on his device.
"Until then..." The Doctor began and then sat down on one of the chairs in the room; he has his arm around Gaia's waist so as he falls he pulls Gaia down with him. She squeals in shock as she lands on top of him.
"Not funny." She retorts whacking the Doctor's arm from around her waist. Everyone laughed at the pair, even Octavian managed to crack a smile.
"Six." Amy muttered again and everyone froze. "What?" She asked, wondering why everyone had just stopped.
"Amy you just said six." Gaia replied, now sitting on the Doctor's lap totally oblivious to his arm still around her waist.
"No I didn't."
"Yes you did. You've been doing it for a while, counting down. But counting down to what?" The Doctor asked himself.
"What are you talking about? Doctor, I'm five." Amy stuttered. "I'm five... I'm fine." She finished but with not as much conviction as the beginning of her sentence. The Doctor just raised his eyebrows. Before anyone else can say anything an awful screeching sound fills the ship and causes everyone to cover their ears.
"What's that?" River yelled.
"No idea, but I've missed something. What have I missed?" The Doctor asked himself standing up and spinning on the spot. He stopped in the direction of the door. "Oh."
"That's... that's like the crack from my bedroom wall from when I was a little girl." Amy said terrified.
"What crack?" Gaia asked but before she can see it the Doctor puts his hand over her eyes.
"No, you can't see it." He said.
"Why not?" The Doctor's silent for a bit as he contemplates on what word to us and, with an eye roll, gives in to the inevitable.
"Spoilers." The Doctor said and can hear River chuckle behind him. "Just keep your eye closed, I'm going to remove my hand." The Doctor said softly and removed his hand from Gaia's face.
"Ok, enough, we're moving out!" Octavian ordered and the few remaining clerics piled out into the forest.
"Agreed, Doctor?" River called.
"Yeah, fine. I'll be right with you." The Doctor replied and climbed onto a few boxes and started to scan the crack with his screwdriver. He heard River mutter a few words under her breath and he cracked a smile.
"Come on." River said to the 2 other women. She grabbed Gaia's hand and led her into the forest with the clerics, Amy not far behind.
Walking through the forest, Amy's pace sudden slowed and she started to sway a little. "Amy, what's wrong?" River asked. Amy was getting paler by the second and she slowly made her way to the floor, curling up on a rock.
"Four." She muttered.
"Med-scanner!" River asked one of the clerics and they oblige.
"Dr Song, we can't stay here, we've got to keep moving." Octavian urged.
"We wait for the Doctor." Gaia retorted for River, she was sitting cross legged on the floor her eyes still closed. "Can I open my eyes yet?" She asked; she gets ignored.
"Our mission is to make the wreckage safe and neutralise the Angels. Until that is achieved..." Octavian began but River quickly cut him off.
"Father Octavian, when the Doctor is in the room, your 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?" River said smiling looking up from the med-scanner.
"Yep!" The Doctor said cheerfully, bounding past River to look at Amy.
"I hate you." River retorts at exactly the same time Gaia asked: "Can I open my eyes?" The Doctor replied swiftly to both questions.
"No you don't and no you can't." He then turned to Octavian. "Angels in the forest Bishop." He reports and Octavian quickly got his clerics into position.
"So what's wrong with me?" Amy asked softly.
"Nothing, you're fine." River tried to reassure her, the Doctor cuts that method down.
"Everything, you're dying." He said and Gaia sucked in a breath. If Amy dies here then River's never born...
"Doctor!" River argued.
"Yes, you're right, if we lie to her, she'll get all better! Right." The Doctor responds, now going into deep thought.
"Three." Amy said all energy drained.
"The image of an angel is an angel..." Gaia pondered. It then clicks for the Doctor.
"Amy close your eyes." He said.
"No I don't want to." She replies.
"Good, because that's not you, that's the Angel inside you, it's afraid! Do it! Close your eyes!" The Doctor urged. Amy hesitates but finally closed her eyes and everyone lets out a sigh in relief as River states that she was normalising. The Doctor told Amy that she had to keep her eyes closed.
Gaia rather lost track of the conversation from then and the next thing she knew, the Doctor, River and Octavian had run off to the Primary Flight Deck to ensure a way through leaving them both behind with their eyes still closed. Gaia had heard the Doctor leave, but another man come walking over from a different direction and stopped in front of the girls. "Amy. You need to start trusting me, it's never been more important." The man said, it turned out to be the Doctor, much to Gaia's surprise.
"But you don't always tell me the truth." Amy retorted.
"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?"
"I don't know yet, but I'm working it out." Gaia could hear the whine of the sonic screwdriver, but it was too far away to be from the Doctor in front of them. "Now, listen. Remember what I told you when you were seven?"
"What did you tell me?" Amy asked but the Doctor doesn't reply; he's now crouched in front of Gaia.
"I know it's a bit early for you, but I don't care." The Doctor began. "I love you, always will and always have." Then before Gaia can reply he's kissing her. It amazing, his soft lips on hers is something Gaia can't even begin to describe. He tastes of cinnamon and honey and Gaia could quite easily have his lips stuck to hers permanently. But in a matter of seconds it's over and he's run off, leaving Gaia breathless.
"Okay..." She breathed.
"Doctor?" Amy called but got no reply.
"He's gone." Gaia said softly to Amy. Amy nods.
"Gaia... ermm, how come you don't, y'know, remember the Doctor?" Amy asked tentatively.
"I don't get what you mean."
"Well, I mean, like, recently. You didn't seem to recognise me in the Tardis."
"Well that's because I've just met you, theoretically."
"Theoretically? Never mind, what do you mean only just met me? You've known me since I was 7 and..." Gaia cut Amy off.
"I may do, but not now. I'm probably a little younger than the Gaia you've met. It's all timey-whimey."
"Timey-whimey. You sound like the Doctor." Gaia laughed at Amy's comment. "So, you're actually a few years younger than the Gaia I've already met?" Amy confirms.
"Yep."
"He's still full of surprises." Amy sighed and Gaia agreed.
Roughly an hour later after this conversation Gaia, the Doctor, Amy and River are stood on the beach where they arrived. They Angels had been vanquished and Gaia and Amy have been allowed to open their eyes. Currently, hovering a mile above the planet's surface is a prison ship, ready to take River away.
"You, me... handcuffs. Must it always end this way?" River joked.
"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. We'll see."
"Octavian said you killed a man."
"Yes. I did. A good man. A very good man. The best man I've ever known."
"Who?"
"It's a long story, Doctor, can't be told. It has to be lived. No sneak previews. Well, except for this one: you'll see me again quite soon, when the Pandorica opens."
"The Pandorica, ha! That's a fairy tale."
"Oh, Doctor, aren't we all? I'll see you there." River joked; she then turned to Gaia, who in turn stepped forward.
"By sweetie, enjoy `Utopia`." River said and before Gaia could respond, leant in and kissed her.
This shocked Gaia as much as the Doctor's kiss had. River's kiss is fierce and passionate unlike the Doctor's which had been soft and smooth; River tastes of cherries and bubblegum and Gaia's tempted to open her lips and gain access to more of these delicious flavours. She hadn't had a kiss like this since her husband back on Starnet and she can't help but admit she could get use to being kissed by both the Doctor and River.
The shocked gasps of Amy and the Doctor brought her back to reality as River broke the kiss. But before Gaia could say or do anything in response, River pressed a button on Gaia's exposed Vortex manipulator, causing her to disappear in a crack of light.
Gaia landed rather unceremoniously on a grating floor, cheeks still flush and the taste of cherries still on her lips. "Oh she's good." Gaia said with a smile and slowly got to her feet. She was in the Tardis judging by the walls, the 10th Doctor's Tardis.
"Gaia?" A voice called and Gaia whirled around to find Martha Jones staring at her jaw on the floor.
"Oh, hello." Gaia replied, taking an experimental step forward. Satisfied that she wasn't going to fall over, she walked over Martha.
"But... how did you get in here?" Martha asked shocked.
"Vortex Manipulator, nasty rides." Gaia replied.
"I can imagine." A voice called from the other side of the rotor. The 10th Doctor peered around it. "Oh hello by the way!" He said with a grin. Gaia rolled her eyes.
"Hello." Gaia replied. "If I might ask, where are we?"
"You don't know where you are?"
"Well I got rather ermm... distracted and someone put the coordinates in and sent me on my way."
"Must have been some hell of a distraction." Gaia smiled, he lips till tingling from River's kiss. Kissed twice on the same day, by 2 people from her own personal future... interesting.
Before Gaia could retort to the Doctor though there was an almighty crash on the side of the Tardis sending them flying into the vortex.
"What was that?" Martha yelled, holding on to the railings for dear life.
"I dunno." The Doctor replied. "We're rocketing through, 100 million, 100 billion..." The Doctor yells but his voice is drowned out by the sound of the Tardis. With an almighty crash they land and the Doctor's instantly on his feet. "Year 100 trillion," he mutters. "End of the universe."