Flesh and Stone
Amy looked around from her spot, sitting on the ground, as everyone recovered from the jump.
"Up!" the Doctor shouted as he jumped up, "Look up!"
"You ok?" River turned to help Amy as the Professor pushed herself to her knees.
"What happened?" Amy asked.
"We jumped."
"Jumped where?"
"Up, up, look up!" the Doctor repeated.
"Where are we?"
"Exactly where we were," the Professor told her, looking down at the floor they were standing on intently, examining an indentation she was kneeling beside.
"No, we're not."
"Move your feet!" the Doctor nudged her as he moved to the Professor's side, sonicing the indentation.
"Doctor, what am I looking at?" Amy looked around, "Explain."
"Oh, come on, Amy, think!" he told her, "The ship crashed with the power still on, yeah? So what else is still on?"
Amy looked up to see they were standing on the bottom of the Byzantium, upside down, the Angels down on the ground.
"The artificial gravity," the Professor added, "One good jump, and up we fell. Shot out the grav-globe to give us an updraft..."
"And here we are!" the Doctor cheered, leaning forward a bit to give the Professor a quick kiss before he turned back to the indentation.
"The statues, they look more like Angels now," Octavian remarked as he eyed the half-formed Angels.
"They're feeding on the radiation from the wreckage," the Professor told him, "Draining all the power from the ship to restore themselves. Within an hour, they'll be an army."
The Doctor grinned as the indention opened to reveal the inside of the ship, just as the lights around them started to go out, "They're taking out the lights," he turned to the clerics, "Look at them, look at the Angels," and back to the Professor, "Into the ship, now," he moved her over, helping her down into the hole before shouting back to the others, "Quickly all of you!" and slipping in himself.
"But how?" Amy asked, "Doctor!" she crouched down and peered in to see the duo standing upright.
"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 turned and flashed the sonic over a keypad.
"Ok, men, go, go, go!" Octavian ordered, getting everyone inside, "The Angels, presumably they can jump up too?"
The door closed as soon as they were in, "They're here. Now. In the dark, we're finished. Run!"
A large door behind them rolled closed, blocking the way out.
"Of course," the Professor sighed, for the door to remain open would have been too easy.
"This whole place is a death trap," Octavian grumbled.
"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!" he shouted as the Angels pounded on the outer door and then he noticed they were all staring at him, "Oh, just me then."
The Professor just patted his shoulder, "Don't worry dear, I've got your back."
He blushed, a bit embarassed, and looked around at the door that had closed before them, a distraction, "What's through here?"
"Secondary flight deck," River and the Professor answered.
"Ok…" Amy frowned, eyeing the two women, it was a bit odd to hear them speaking as one, "So we've basically run up the inside of a chimney, yeah? So what if the gravity fails?"
River turned to a small bit of wires, trying to work on the power to the lights.
"We've thought about that," the Doctor told Amy.
"And?"
"And we'll all plunge to our deaths. See. Thought about it."
"The security protocols are still live," the Professor called from where she was crouched by a small fuse box looking thing, trying to break through the controls of the door to open it.
The Doctor nodded, looking over her shoulder, "There's no way to override them, it's impossible."
"How impossible?" River asked.
"Two minutes?" he guessed as the Professor nodded. He crouched beside her, helping her work on it as the engines hummed down, the outer door opening.
"The hull is breached and the power's failing!" Octavian reported. The lights went out and an Angel's arm reached through the hole.
"Sir!" a cleric called, "Incoming!"
"Lights!" Amy shouted.
The Professor grabbed the Doctor's sonic and turned to River's side, flashing the wires. The lights came back on and they could see an Angel crawling in. The lights flickered only a moment before coming back on to reveal four Angels now inside.
"Clerics, keep watching them," Octavian ordered.
"And don't look at their eyes," the Doctor added, "Anywhere else. Not the eyes."
"I've isolated the lighting grid," the Professor reported, turning back to the Doctor again and sonicing the controls there, "They can't drain the power now."
"Good work," Octavian grinned.
"Yes," the Doctor nodded, "Good. Good in many ways, good you like it so far..."
"So far?" Amy frowned.
The Doctor and Professor exchanged a look, before she turned to Amy, "There's only one way to open this door. We'll need to route all the power in this section through the door control."
"Good, fine, do it," Octavian nodded.
"Including the lights. All of them."
"We'll need to turn out the lights," the Doctor sighed, resting his head against the Professor's shoulder a moment.
"How long for?" Octavian asked.
"Fraction of a second," he looked over at Octavian, "Maybe longer. Maybe quite a bit longer. "
"Maybe?"
"We're guessing. We're being attacked by statues in a crashed ship, there isn't a manual for this!"
"And if there was he'd have thrown it in a supernova by now," the Professor added.
"That only happened once!" he retorted.
"Keep telling yourself that," she patted his shoulder, getting back to work.
"But we lost the torches," Amy reminded them, "We'll be in total darkness."
"No other way," the Doctor remarked, "Bishop?"
"Dr. Song, I've lost good clerics today," he turned to River, "You trust these two?"
"I absolutely trust them," she nodded.
"He's not some kind of madman then?"
River blinked, "I absolutely trust them."
"Excuse me," the Doctor turned back to the door, hoping that Octavian would let it go. The Professor smiled at him and continued to help him.
"I'm taking your word," Octavian grabbed River's arm, pulling her to the side quietly, "Because you're the only one who can manage this guy…"
River snorted just a bit, "You haven't seen the Professor at work."
"But," he continued, "That only works so long as they don't know who you are. You cost me any more men, and I might just tell them. Understood?"
"Understood."
"Ok," he turned back to the Doctor, "Doctor, we've got your back."
"Bless you," the Doctor nodded, "Bishop."
Octavian turned to his men, ready to take charge when the Professor called out, "Combat distance, ten feet. As soon as the lights go down, continuous fire. Full spread over the hostiles. Do not stop firing while the lights are out. Shot gun protocol, do not waste your bullets."
The clerics looked at her a moment before turning to Octavian, "As she said," he nodded and they moved into position.
The Doctor shot her a little smirk before turning to Amy, "Amy," he moved her to crouch before the wheel on the rolling door, "When the lights go down, the wheel should release. Spin it clockwise, four turns."
"Ten," Amy nodded.
"No, four, four turns."
"Yeah, four, I heard you."
"Ready?" the Doctor stood, placing the sonic at the circuit the Professor had finished, taking her hand as she stood.
"On my count then," Octavian ordered, "God be with us all. Three...two...one!"
The lights went out.
"Fire!"
The clerics opened fire on the Angels while the Doctor, Professor, Amy, and River tried to get the door open.
"Turn!" the Doctor shouted.
"Quickly!" River added.
"It's opening, it's working!" Amy shouted as the door rolled open. Amy and River slipped through, the Professor in the lead with her blaster out and ready in case there was anything hostile on the other side like a defense program for the ship.
"Fall back!" Octavian ordered. The clerics moved through the doorway, followed by Octavian and finally the Doctor. He flashed the door and it rolled shut once more.
The Doctor turned around, only for a pair of lips to press firmly against his own for a moment before they pulled away, "Don't you do that again either," the Professor told him, kissing him once more, understanding, "Never ever."
He gave her a small smile, cupping her cheek, "I'm fine," he repeated her own words.
"Not really the time!" River shouted as the rest of them ran down the hall to another door.
"Yes, right," the Doctor nodded, his smile turning into a smirk, "Finish this later?" he asked the Professor.
"Oh yes," she nodded, taking his hand and pulling him after them.
He quickly soniced the next door open and they all ran in, shutting the door behind them, to see they were in a flight deck, seemingly in a large mess of disrepair, wires sticking up, debris from the crash scattered around. The Professor pulled him to a set of controls, the both of them looking around at the damage as she put her blaster away.
"Doctor!" Amy shrieked as the wheel of the door began to spin quickly. Octavian grabbed a device and set it on the door, stopping the wheel, "What are you doing?"
"Magnetized the door," he replied, "Nothing could turn that wheel now."
"Yeah?" the Doctor scoffed.
The wheel began to turn slower.
"Dear God!" Octavian exclaimed.
"Ah, now you're getting it! You've bought us time though, that's good. I am good with time, the Professor's better."
"Doctor!" Amy shouted as another door's wheel began to spin.
"Seal that door," Octavian ordered, "Seal it now!" a cleric moved to place another magnetic device on it.
"We're surrounded!" River realized as the last door's wheel began to spin too.
"Seal it, seal that door!" a second cleric did the same, "Professor, Doctor, how long have we got?"
"Five minutes, maximum," the Professor told him, eyeing the doors.
"Nine," Amy said.
"Five," the Professor corrected, looking at her curiously.
"Five, right yeah."
"Why d'you say nine?" the Doctor eyed her as well.
"I didn't."
"We need another way out of here," River cut in.
"There isn't one," Octavian remarked.
"Yeah, there is, course there is," the Doctor nodded, "This is a galaxy class ship, goes for years between planet-falls. So," he snapped his fingers, "What do they need?"
"Of course…" River breathed.
"Of course, what?" Amy frowned, "What do they need?"
"Can we get in there?" Octavian wondered.
"It's a sealed unit," the Professor looked at the wall behind them, "But they must have installed it somehow. This whole wall should slide up," she leaned forward and spotted something, "There's clamps. Release the clamps!" the Doctor ran forward, sonicing the clamps to release.
"What's through there?" Amy asked, "What do they need?"
"They need to breathe," River told her as the wall rose up to reveal a lush forest.
"But that's...that's a..."
"It's an oxygen factory."
"It's a forest."
"Yeah, it's a forest, it's an oxygen factory."
"And, if we're lucky, an escape route," the Doctor replied.
"Eight," Amy nodded.
"What did you say?" River frowned.
"Nothing."
"Is there another exit?" the Doctor asked.
"Scan the architecture," the Professor turned to Octavian, "We don't have time to get lost in there."
"On it!" the man nodded, stepping into the forest, "Stay where you are until I've checked the Rad levels."
"But trees!" Amy muttered, still in awe, "On a spaceship!"
"Oh, more than trees, way better than trees," the Doctor grinned, "You're going to love this," he stepped into the forest and opened up a part of the peat moss on a nearby tree to reveal circuitry, "Treeborgs...trees plus technology. Branches become cables, become sensors on the hull. A forest sucking in starlight, breathing out air."
"It even rains," the Professor walked over to her and put her arm around the girl, "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 spaceship, in a maze. Have we impressed you yet, Amy Pond?"
Amy chuckled, "Seven."
"Seven?" the Professor frowned, dropping her arm as the Doctor joined them on the flight deck.
"Sorry, what?"
"You said 'seven,'" the Doctor studied her face.
"No. I didn't."
"Yes, you did," even River agreed.
"Professor!" Octavian called, "There's an exit, far end of the ship, into the Primary Flight Deck."
"Good," the Professor called back, "That's where we need to go."
"Plotting a safe path."
"Quick as you like!" the Doctor added as he continued to study Amy.
"Doctor?" Angel Bob came over a comm., "Excuse me. Hello, Doctor? Angel Bob here, sir."
The Doctor grabbed the comm. and sat down on a chair, taking the Professor's hand as he did so, absently playing with her fingers as he spoke to the Angel, "Ah. There you are, Angel Bob. How's life? Sorry, bad subject."
"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 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 laughed, smiling at the Professor who shook her head fondly at him, pulling her hand out of his to run her fingers through his hair gently, making him smile as well.
"Six," Amy laughed.
The Professor frowned and snatched the comm., "Here's what I want to know, what have you done to Amy?"
"There is something in her eye," Angel Bob replied.
"What's in her eye?"
"We are."
"What's he talking about?" Amy frowned, "I'm five," everyone looked at her and she seemed to realize what she'd said, "I mean, five. Fine! I'm fine."
"You're counting," River remarked.
"Counting?"
"You're counting down," the Professor nodded, "From ten. You have been for a couple of minutes."
"Why?"
"Don't know," the Doctor told her quietly.
"Well, counting down to what?"
"Don't know."
"We shall take her," Angel Bob cut in, "We shall take all of you. We shall have dominion over all time and space."
The Doctor took the comm. back and sat once more, "Get a life, Bob. Oops, sorry again. There's power on this ship, but nowhere near that much."
"With respect, sir, there is more power on this ship than you yet understand."
There was a loud, horrible screeching above them.
"Dear God, what is it?" River gasped.
"They're back," Octavian looked up.
"They're laughing," the Professor remarked, analyzing the noise.
"Laughing?" the Doctor looked at her.
"Because you haven't noticed yet," Angel Bob replied, "The Doctor AND Professor in the TARDIS haven't noticed."
"Doctor!" Octavian called.
The Doctor stood up, "No, wait, there's something...we've..."
"Missed?" the Professor breathed, her eyes wide as she looked at something over his shoulder.
He looked at her a moment before slowly turning to see a glowing crack in the wall above the center door. They exchanged a glance before running towards it.
"That's..." Amy swallowed, scared, "That's like the crack from my bedroom wall from when I was a little girl. "
"Yes," the Doctor nodded.
"Ok, enough, we're moving out!" Octavian commanded.
"Agreed," River nodded, "Doctor? Professor?"
"Yeah," he waved her off, flashing the sonic across the crack as the Professor held up a hand to the energy, "Fine!"
"What are you doing?"
"We'll be right with you," the Professor told her.
"We're not leaving without you!"
"Oh," the Doctor scoffed, "Yes, you are."
"Bishop?" the Professor called.
Octavian nodded, "Miss Pond, Dr. Song, now!"
River grabbed Amy's arm and pulled her to the forest, but the girl struggled, "Doctor, come on! Professor!"
"So, what are you?" the Doctor muttered as they left, looking at the readings on his sonic, "Oh, that's bad. Ah, that's extremely very not good."
"And even worse…" the Professor added, hearing a whoosh of wings. They looked back to see they were now surrounded by Angels, "Do not blink," she warned him as they slowly began to climb over the controls to get out when they were grabbed by the back of their jacket collars.
"Why are we not dead then?" the Doctor asked after a few moments of the Angels not attacking. He glanced over his shoulder to see the other Angels had their hands up at the crack, "Good, and not so good."
"Oh, this isn't even a little bit good," the Professor countered.
"Is that it? Is that the power that brought you here?" he asked the Angels.
"That's pure time energy, you can't feed on that," she warned them.
"That's the power, that's the fire at the end of the Universe. I'll tell you something else..." there was a loud rumbling, "Never let us talk!"
The two of them, sans jackets, took off into the forest, hand-in-hand.
~8~
"We wait for the Doctor and the Professor," they heard River shout as they ran through woods.
"Our mission is to make this wreckage safe and neutralize the Angels," Octavian reminded her, "Until that is achieved..."
"Father Octavian, when the Doctor or the Professor are in the room, your only mission is to keep them alive long enough to get everyone else home. And trust me. It's not easy. Now, if they're dead back there, I'll never forgive myself, and if they're alive, I'll never forgive them. And…you're standing right behind me, aren't you?"
She turned around just as they jumped onto a log behind her.
"Oh, yeah," the Doctor grinned.
"I hate you!" River glared.
"You don't."
"Bishop, the Angels are in the forest," the Professor reported as they made their way to Amy's side where she was lying down on a rock, a med-scanner wrapped on her arm.
"We need visual contact on every line of approach," Octavian turned to his clerics.
"How did you get past them?" River asked as they crouched down by Amy.
"Found a crack in the wall and told them it was the end of the Universe," the Doctor replied.
"What was it?" Amy asked, her voice filled with tears.
"The end of the Universe."
"Let's have a look then," the Professor took the med-scanner from River.
"So…" Amy asked, "What's wrong with me?"
"Nothing," River reassured her, "You're fine."
"Everything, you're dying," the Doctor countered, looking at the scanner with the Professor.
"Doctor!"
"Yes, you're right, if we lie to her, she'll get all better! Right. Amy! Amy. What's the matter with Amelia?"
"Something's in her eye…" the Professor muttered, thinking.
"What does that mean? Doesn't mean anything."
"Doctor…" Amy breathed.
"Busy."
"Scared!"
"Course, you're dying, shut up!"
"Ok, let them think," River soothed her.
The Doctor stood up and started pacing, "What happened? She stared at the Angel, she looked into the eyes of an Angel for too long..."
"Sir!" a cleric called, "Angel, incoming! "
"And here," another added.
"Keep visual contact, do not let it move!" Octavian ordered.
"Come on," the Doctor slapped his forehead, "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," the Professor's eyes widened, turning to him, "A living image in a human mind."
"We stare at them to stop them getting closer…"
"We don't even blink and that's exactly what they want!"
"'Cos as long as our eyes are open, they can climb inside."
"There's an Angel in her mind."
The Doctor slapped a hand over his mouth in horror. A cleric or two quickly glanced over at their tennis match of words though River seemed far too used to it.
"Three," Amy breathed, "It's coming. I can feel it. I'm going to die!"
"Please just shut up, we're thinking," the Doctor told her before turning to the Professor, "Now counting, what's that about?" he picked up the comm., "Bob, why are they making her count?"
"To make her afraid, sir," Angel Bob replied.
"Ok. But why? What for?"
"For fun, sir."
The Doctor glared at it and threw the comm. away, only for it to be blasted by the Professor mid-toss. He nodded to her in thanks as she put her blaster back.
"What's happening to me?" Amy asked, "Explain!"
"Inside your head," the Professor told her, putting a hand on her head, absently stroking her hair to calm her, "In the vision centers of your brain, there's an Angel."
The Doctor crouched beside her, "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?" Amy begged.
The Doctor stood up again, "If it was a real screen, what would we do, we'd pull the plug. But we can't just knock her out, the Angel would take over!"
"Then what?" River asked, "Quickly!"
"We've got to shut down the vision centers of her brain," the Professor realized, "We've got to pull the plug, starve the Angel."
River glanced at the scanner, "She's got seconds."
"How would you starve your lungs?" the Doctor asked.
"I'd stop breathing."
"Amy, close your eyes!" the Professor turned to her.
"No, no," she shook her head, "I don't want to."
"Good," the Doctor knelt down, "Because that's not you, that's the Angel inside you, it's afraid! Do it! Close your eyes!"
Amy hesitated a moment but closed her eyes, the scanner beeped and returned to normal, green, safe readings.
"She's normalizing," River sighed, "You did it! You did it!"
"Sir?" a cleric called, "Two more incoming."
"Three more over here," another reproted.
River put the scanner away, "Still weak, dangerous to move her."
The Professor moved, helping Amy sit up, "So, can I open my eyes now?" the girl asked.
"Amy, listen to me," the Doctor told her, kneeling down before her, "If you open your eyes now for more than a second, you will die."
The Professor put an arm around her, "The Angel is still inside you. We haven't stopped it, we've just frozen it for the moment."
"You've used up your countdown. You cannot open your eyes."
"We're too exposed here," Octavian called, "We have to move on."
The Professor shook her head, "We're exposed everywhere and Amy can't move."
"And anyway, that's not the plan," the Doctor stood.
"There's a plan?" River moved to sit by Amy as the Professor got up as well.
"Don't know yet, I haven't finished talking."
The Professor rolled her eyes, "Father, you and your clerics will stay here, look after Amy..."
"If anything happens to her," the Doctor added, "We'll hold each of you personally responsible, twice. And trust me, you do not want the Professor coming after you," he leaned forward to whisper, "She can be right scary when she wants to be."
The Professor just shook her head, getting back to point, "River, you and the Doctor will go find the Primary Flight Deck..."
"No," the Doctor cut in, "No, River and the Doctor will not," he turned to her, "You're coming too."
"Doctor," she shook her head, "I should stay here and help protect Amy..."
"No," he cut in again, "You are coming with me."
"Don't make me pull rank on you," she said jokingly, but the Doctor was beyond joking.
"To hell with rank!" he shouted, causing almost everyone but the Professor to jump. He swallowed hard and took a breath, reaching out to cup her cheeks in his hands, "I need you with me, please."
"Doctor..."
"Minimize distractions," he told her softly, leaning his forehead against hers, "That's what you were taught right?" she frowned, confused, but nodded, "I won't be able to focus on anything, knowing you're out there, with the Angels in the forest too. Knowing I'm not there to watch your back," he stroked her cheek, whispering, "I don't trust them to protect you," he knew she could look out for herself but that didn't change the fact that he wanted to be the one protecting her so she wouldn't have to protect herself, it was his job as her Bonded to keep her safe.
She looked him in the eye, seeing the truth there and knew, it would be the same for her. She had an idea who River was, but that did nothing to tell her who the woman was to them. And not knowing much about the woman...how could she really trust her with the Doctor's safety? The truth was, she didn't trust anyone but herself to keep him safe, to have his back.
She nodded, "River, you, and I will head to the Primary Flight Deck," he smiled, giving her a soft kiss before pulling away as she looked around, "Which is..."
He licked his finger and held it up to test the air, "A quarter mile straight ahead."
The Professor sighed at him, "We'll stabilize the wreckage, stop the Angels, and cure Amy."
"How?" River asked.
"We'll do a thing," the Doctor shrugged.
"What thing?"
"Don't know, it's a thing in progress. Respect the thing. Moving out!"
"Professor, I'm coming with you," Octavian stepped up, "My clerics can look after Miss Pond. These are my best men, they'd lay down their lives in her protection."
"We don't need you," the Doctor told him.
"I don't care. Where Dr. Song goes, I go."
"What?" he glanced between them, "You two engaged or something?"
"Yes, in a manner of speaking. Marco, you're in charge till I get back," he started off, River following.
"Sir!" Marco nodded.
"Doctor...Professor..." Amy called, "Please, can't I come with you?"
"You'd slow us down, Miss Pond," Octavian called.
"I don't want to sound selfish, but you'd really speed me up."
"You'll be safer here," the Professor told her, putting a hand on her own, "We can't protect you on the move. We'll be back for you soon as we can. I promise."
"You two always say that…"
"We always come back," she stood up.
"Good luck everyone," the Doctor called as he took the Professor's hand, "Behave. Do not let that girl open her eyes. And keep watching the forest. Stop those Angels advancing. Amy, later!" he tapped her on the head, "River, going to need your computer…"
And with that, they headed off.
"Yeah," Amy sighed, "Later."
~8~
Octavian led River, the Doctor, and the Professor through the forest when River's computer beeped in the Doctor's hand.
"What's that?" River looked over.
"Readings from the crack in the wall," the Professor told her.
"How can a crack in the wall be the end of the Universe?"
"Here's what we think," the Doctor looked at her, "One day there'll 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 smirked.
"Dr. Song is in my personal custody," Octavian marched over, "I released her from the Stormcage Containment Facility four days ago and I am legally responsible for her until she has accomplished her mission and earned her pardon. Just so we understand each other."
"You were in Stormcage?" the Professor eyed her a moment when the device beeped again.
"What?" River looked down at it, avoiding the answer, "What is that?"
"The date!" the Doctor grinned, "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 Professor blinked as the date appeared at the bottom, 26/06/2010, "Amy's time."
~8~
The Doctor was still looking at the readings as they stood before the outer hull of the Primary Flight Deck. Octavian was looking for a way in while River and the Professor stood guard, their weapons ready, not that it would really help against the Angels, but both women felt safer having them out.
"It doesn't open it from here," Octavian muttered, "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," River called.
The Doctor looked up, startled, "What? What did you say? Time's running out, is that what you said?"
"Yeah. I just meant..."
"I know what you meant," he rolled his eyes, before turning to the Professor, "But what if it could?"
"What if what could?" River asked.
"Time," the Professor muttered, "What if time could run out? Is that the question?"
"Got it!" Octavian called, opening a small tunnel.
The Doctor nodded, "Cracks in time, time running out..."
"But…it couldn't be," the Professor shook her head, frowning, deep in thought.
"How is a duck pond a duck pond if there aren't any ducks?" he countered, asking a question only those who could speak Doctor would be able to understand.
She nodded slowly, seeing his point, "And she didn't recognize the Daleks!"
"Ok, time can shift."
"Time can change."
"Time can be rewritten."
"Dr. Song, get through, now," Octavian called, ushering River in though the two aliens were oblivious, "Professor? Doctor?"
"Time can be unwritten…" the Professor breathed.
"It's been happening and we haven't even noticed!" the Doctor shouted.
"We have to move!" Octavian turned to them.
"The Cyberking," the Professor recalled, "A giant Cyberman walks over all of Victorian London and no one remembers."
"We have to move it! The Angels could be here any second," he put a hand on the Doctor's shoulder but he shrugged it off.
"Never mind the Angels," the Doctor shook his head, "There's worse here than Angels!"
The lights went out a moment and they spun around to see an Angel with its arm around Octavian's neck.
"I beg to differ, sir," he gasped out.
The Doctor flashed the sonic at it, "Let him go!"
"Well, it can't let me go, sir, not while you're looking at it."
"We can't stop looking at it, it will kill you," the Professor reminded him, slowly putting away her blaster, useless against stone.
"It'll kill me anyway. There's no way out of this. You have to leave me!"
"Can't you wriggle out?" the Doctor asked, hopeful.
"No, it's too tight. There's nothing you can do," they were reluctant to move, "Sir, ma'am, there's nothing you can do."
"You're dead if we leave you," she shook her head.
"Yes, yes, I'm dead. And before you go..."
"We're not going!" the Doctor insisted.
"Listen to me. It's important! You can't trust her."
"Trust who?"
"River Song. You think you know her, but you don't. You don't understand who or what she is."
"Then tell us," the Professor eyed him, wanting confirmation for her theories.
"I've told you more than I should. Now, please, you have to go. It's your duty to your friends."
"Then tell us why she was in Stormcage."
"She killed two people, two good people, heroes to many."
They tensed.
"Who?" the Doctor asked.
"You don't want to know, sir," he looked at them meaningfully, "You really don't."
"Who did she kill?" the Professor repeated, a pit forming in her stomach.
"Ma'am, the Angels are coming. You have to leave me."
"You'll die!"
"Then 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 both to safety."
"I wish we'd known you better," the Doctor told him softly.
"I think, sir, you know me at my best."
"Ready?"
He closed his eyes, "Content."
The Doctor took the Professor's hand and they ran for the hatch, sliding in and closing it behind them, sonicing it shut.
"There's a teleport!" River shouted as they crawled into the deck, "If we can get it to work, we can beam the others here," the Professor ran over to her side to help when River noticed, "Where's Octavian?"
"Octavian's dead," the Professor muttered, getting to work.
"So is that teleport," the Doctor called, "You're wasting your time. I'm going to need your communicator," he grabbed River's comm. and flashed the sonic across it.
"Hello?" they heard Amy call, "Hello? Please say you're there. Hello? Hello!"
"Is that you?" the Doctor replied.
"Doctor?"
"Where are you? Are the clerics with you?"
"They've gone. There was a light and they walked into the light. Doctor, they didn't even remember each other."
"No. They wouldn't."
"What is that light?" River asked the Professor quietly as they worked.
"Time running out," she remarked, solemn.
"Amy," the Doctor continued, "I'm sorry. We should never have left you there."
"Well, what do I do now?" Amy asked.
"You come to us. Primary Flight Deck, other end of the forest."
"I can't see! I can't open my eyes."
"Turn on the spot," the Doctor ordered as he soniced the comm..
"Sorry, what?"
"Just do it. Turn on the spot. When the communicator sounds like my screwdriver, you're facing the right way. Follow the sound. You have to start moving now. There's time energy spilling out of that crack and you have to stay ahead of it."
"But the Angels, they're everywhere."
"I'm sorry, I really am, but the Angels can only kill you."
"What does the time energy do?"
"Just keep moving!"
"Tell me!"
The Professor walked to his side and took the comm., seeing him struggle, she always had been better at stating facts, however grim they might be, "If the time energy catches up with you Amy, you will never have been born. It will erase every moment of your existence. You will never have lived at all."
The Doctor nodded his thanks to her before taking the comm. back, "Now, keep your eyes shut and keep moving!"
"It's never going to work," River told him as the Professor joined her back at the teleport.
She truly wasn't trying to downplay his intelligence or his plan, but, in all her experience, whatever the Professor was working on…typically worked better, faster, and before the Doctor's and now with the two of them working on it…
"What else have you got?" the Doctor shouted at her, "River, tell me!"
"There's no need to get so shouty," the Professor scolded him lightly.
He rounded on her as well, still quite loud, "I am NOT shou…"
The Professor spun around, "Don't you dare yell at me Theta!" she snapped, though her words were far from English.
His eyes widened as he recognized the tongue only they could understand. He took a breath, realizing how he was acting and who he was acting out towards, "I'm sorry Kata," he murmured in response, "I'm just...worried..."
Neither noticed the small smile on River's face.
The Professor nodded and walked over to him, taking the hand not holding the comm., "This will work," she reassured him, in English, "I was able to fix your air scooter after you let the Corsair try to fly it, and that was in shambles. I can fix the teleporter with one hand tied behind my back, which, incidentally," she held up her healing hand with a soft smile, "It seems I shall have to do now."
He nodded, starting to smile back, when a loud whoosh and clank sounded above them.
River looked up, alarmed, "What's that?"
"The Angels running from the fire," the Professor told her, getting back to the teleporter, "They came here to feed on the time energy. Now it's going to feed on them," she glanced at the Doctor, "Tell Amy to keep moving, we can scoop her up from anywhere on the ship but she needs to get away from the Angels."
He nodded and picked up the comm., "Amy, listen to me. I'm sending a bit of software to your communicator. It's a proximity detector. It'll beep if there's something in your way. You just maneuver till the beeping stops. Because, Amy, this is important. The forest is full of Angels. You're going to have to walk like you can see."
"Well, what do you mean?" Amy asked.
"Look, just keep moving."
"That time energy, what's it going to do?" River turned to the Professor, already knowing the Doctor was in a mood again.
"Keep eating," she sighed.
"How do we stop it?"
"Feed it something."
"Feed it what?"
"An immensely complex space-time phenomenon should snap it shut for a bit."
"Like what, for instance?"
The Professor hesitated a moment, "Like us," she glanced back at the Doctor.
Before River could make a remark about that not happening, a high-pitched beeping echoed through the flight deck.
"What's that?" Amy called, her comm. being the source of the noise.
"It's a warning," the Doctor turned back to the comm., "There are Angels round you now. Amy. listen to me. This is going to be hard but I know...you can do it. The Angels are scared and running and right now they're not that interested in you. They'll assume you can see them and their instincts will kick in. All you've got to do is walk like you can see. Just don't open your eyes. Walk like you can see," there was silence a moment, "You're not moving. You have to do this. Now."
They listened intently as the beeping sped up and slowed down a few times before there was a thud and a grunt.
"Doctor, I can't find the communicator!" Amy gasped, "I dropped it! I can't find it. Doctor! Doctor...Doctor! Doctor…"
"Got it!" the Professor slammed her hand down on a button and a white light filled the room, Amy appearing within it.
"Don't open your eyes," River ran to the girl's side, catching her as she stumbled, "You're on the flight deck, the Doctor and Professor are here. She teleported you," she threw a smirk at the Doctor, "She did tell you she could get it working."
He grinned widely and turned to his Bonded, "I could bloody kiss you!"
"No complaints from me," she smiled.
He moved to do just that, when an alarm blared. He dropped his forehead onto her shoulder at the interruption.
"What's that?" River looked up.
The Professor pushed the Doctor away a bit to look at the readings on the control panel, "The Angels are draining the last of the ship's power, the shield's going to release."
The shield to the forest opened up and they were confronted by a large number of Angels standing just before the blinding light of the crack, one holding a comm..
"Angel Bob, I presume," the Doctor stepped forward with the Professor, eyeing that particular Angel.
"The time field is coming," Angel Bob stated, "It will destroy our reality."
"Yeah, and look at you, all running away. What can we do for you?"
"There is a rupture in time. The Angels calculate that if you or the Professor throw yourself into it, it will close and they will be saved."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Could do, could do that. But why?"
"Your friends would also be saved."
"Well, there is that."
River stepped up to them, "I've travelled in time. I'm a complex space-time phenomenon, too. Throw me in."
The Professor shook her head, her eyes still on the Angels, "Compared to us, these Angels are more complicated than you and it would take every single one of them to amount to either of us. So get a grip."
"Professor, I can't let either of you do this!"
"No," the Doctor turned to her, "Seriously, get a grip."
"You're not going to die here!"
"No, we mean it," the Professor told her, grabbing the bar behind her, "River, Amy, get a grip."
River's eyes widened, "Oh, you geniuses!" she ran over to Amy.
"Sir, ma'am, the Angels need you to sacrifice yourselves now," Angel Bob called.
"Thing is, Bob," the Doctor leaned back, his hand casually grabbing the same bar, "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..."
"You hold on tight," River put Amy's hand on a bar as well, grabbing it, "And don't you let go for anything."
"Night-night," the Doctor grinned just as the gravity failed. They gripped the handle as the Angels fell straight into the crack, all of them, gone in a blink of an eye, before the crack disappeared.
~8~
Amy sat on a rock, wrapped in a blanket, as the Doctor and Professor stood beside her, "Ah, bruised everywhere."
"Us too," the Doctor remarked, his arm making its way around the Professor's waist.
"Speak for yourself," the Professor grinned smugly, not having a scratch or bruise on her, save for her bound hand.
"You didn't have to climb out with your eyes shut," Amy countered.
"Neither did you, as we kept telling you. The Angels all fell into the time field. The Angel in your memory never existed therefore it can't harm you now."
"Then why do I remember it at all? Those guys on the ship didn't remember each other."
"You're a time traveler now, Amy," the Doctor smiled, "Changes the way you see the Universe forever. Good, isn't it?"
"And the crack, is that gone too?"
"Yeah, for now. But the explosion that caused it is still happening...somewhere out there, somewhere in time," he looked out at the ocean, before turning and walked with the Professor over to where River was leaning against a rock.
"You, me...handcuffs," she held out her wrists in cuffs, "Must it always end this way?"
"Back to the prison ship then?" the Professor smiled softly.
"It's in orbit," she nodded with a sigh, "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 two people," the Doctor began, eyeing her meaningfully.
"Yes. I did. Two good people. Two very good people," her expression grew sad, "The best I've ever known."
"Who?" the Professor asked, just a bit anxious, already with a sneaking suspicion as to who those two people were.
"It's a long story," she shook her head, "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!" the Doctor laughed, "That's a fairy tale."
River laughed as well, "Oh, Doctor, aren't we all? I'll see you there."
"We look forward to it then," the Professor smiled as the Doctor pulled her close, wrapping both arms around her, hugging her back to his chest. Whatever was to come with this River Song, they would face it together.
"I remember it well."
"Bye River," Amy called, stepping forward slightly.
"See you. Amy," the cuffs beeped, "Oh! I think that's my ride."
"Can we trust you River Song?" the Doctor asked.
"If you like, but where's the fun in that?" she laughed and was teleported away in a swirl of sand.
The Doctor sighed, pulling his arms away from the Professor to take her hand, turning to look at the ocean once more.
"What are you thinking?" Amy asked, seeing their contemplative looks.
"Time can be rewritten," the Doctor murmured.
~8~
The Doctor stood at the console, piloting, while the Professor was somewhere in the TARDIS putting the Home Box away in the Hallway of Hs, much like the Chest of Cs.
"I want to go home," Amy told him suddenly from her spot sitting on the jump seat. She'd been rather quiet and thoughtful since they'd left the beach, watching him intently.
"Ok," he said quietly, slightly upset.
She smiled and jumped up to his side, "No, not like that! I just…I just want to show you something. You're running from River. I'm running too."
~8~
The Doctor and Amy sat on Amy's bed, the TARDIS back in the corner of the room, waiting for the Professor, who had gotten a bit upset at his placement of quite a few 'H' items and was quickly reorganizing them. They were taking the time to stare up at Amy's wedding dress, hanging on her closet door.
"Well!" he laughed.
"Yeah," she nodded.
"Blimey!"
"I know. This is the same night we left, yeah?"
He checked his watch, "We've been gone five minutes."
Amy leaned over to the ring box set on her bedside table and opened it, "I'm getting married in the morning."
"Why did you leave it here?" he frowned, taking the box.
"Why did I leave my engagement ring when I ran away with a strange man the night before my wedding?"
"And the Professor," he nodded, completely missing the meaning of her words.
Amy eyed him a moment, "You really are an alien, aren't you?"
"Who's the lucky fella?"
"You met him."
"Ah, the good looking one or the other one?" he mimed a big nose.
"The other one."
"Well, he was good too."
"Thanks. So, do you comfort a lot of people on the night before their wedding?"
"Why would you need comforting?"
"I nearly died. I was alone in the dark and I nearly died. And it made me think."
"Well, yes, natural. I think sometimes. Well, lots of times...mostly about the Profes..."
"About life," Amy cut in quickly, "About love, about what I want. About who I want. You know what I mean?"
"Yeah..." he started to nod, before shaking his head, confused, "No."
"About who..." she looked straight at him, "I want."
"Oh, right, yeah..." and again, "No, still not getting it."
"Doctor, in a word, in one very simple word even you can understand..." she turned and tried to crawl on top of him.
He quickly pushed her away and clambered over the foot rail, "Uh...you're getting married in the morning!"
"The morning's a long time away," she walked around the bed and pushed him back against the TARDIS, "What are we going to do about that?" she slipped one of his braces down.
"Listen to me," he pulled it back up, "I'm 907 years old. Do you understand what that means?" he pushed her away.
"It's been awhile?"
"No. No. No! I'm 907, and look at me. I don't get older, I just change. You get older. I don't, and this can't ever work," he pushed her away again, backing into the edge of the TARDIS.
"Oh, you are sweet, Doctor. But I really wasn't suggesting anything quite so...long term," she moved to kiss him.
"But you're human!" he shoved her back, "You're Amy! The little girl from five minutes ago. You're getting married…I AM married!"
Amy sighed, "She doesn't need to know Doctor. I realized, life's too short to have regrets, and I certainly know I'd regret not knowing you…" she stepped forward again.
He shoved her away harshly, "But I would regret it if I ever betrayed the Professor, my wife, Amy. She's my wife. SHE is my wife. My WIFE. Something you're going to be to some very lucky man in the morning…" and he blinked, "In the morning."
"Doctor?" she frowned, confused and just a tinge hurt/embarrassed/sad…
"It's you. It's all about you. Everything. It's about you."
"Hold that thought!" she grinned suddenly, moving to lie seductively on her bed.
"Amy Pond..." he shook his head, "I don't know why, I have no idea, but quite possibly the single most important thing in the history of the Universe is that I get you sorted out right now."
"That's what I've been trying to tell you!" she grinned excitedly, a tingle running down her at the thought that she might have just corrupted him a bit. It had taken her quite a while of thinking before she decided to try this, to try and express to the Doctor what she felt. She knew she should feel terrible, knowing what she did, that he was married to the Professor, that she was about to get married herself, but neither the Professor nor Rory ever had to know, it would be their little secret. It was just...he was the Doctor! He was...she couldn't describe it. He was always a part of her life even when he wasn't there, since she was a child, she was always thinking about him, longing for him to come back for her, imagining him returning and the adventures he would take her on, granted the imagining had gotten a bit more...heated...as she grew older. But to just have one night with him, to see if he was everything she'd thought and dreamt of...how could she let the opportunity pass? Her life had nearly ended only moments ago, her emotions were a mess, her heart pounding, and she didn't want to die not knowing...and now, now it seemed like it was about to happen...
But instead, the Doctor just yanked her off the bed, "Come on!"
"Doctor!" she called, still flirty.
The Doctor just shoved her into the TARDIS and glanced at the clock as it turned to midnight, 6/26, before shutting the door.
A/N: I've been waiting for The Vampires of Venice for ages (the Doctor and Professor in Venice, can you imagine the fluff?)! I added a short little, mostly dialogue, scene in the beginning between the Doctor and Professor that I think you'll enjoy :) And a small confrontation between Amy and the Professor later on in the chapter. I feel like, even though Amy now knows the Doctor and Professor are married, she would still try for the Doctor. She's been obsessing over him for 14 years and clearly focused on him more than the Professor. And there ARE people out there who go after married men even when they know they're married. I figure, if she was about to try and seduce the single Doctor on the night before her own wedding to Rory, then it wouldn't be too far of a stretch for her to try and seduce the married Doctor as well. That scene in the show really didn't sit right with me, because I felt like it was obvious that Rory loved her, and she was willing to do that to him, the man she was going to marry, for a one night stand with an alien (at least that's what I interpreted the scene to be attempting to lead to). I know her emotions were high and she'd been in a life/death situation, but still...that's why Amy isn't my favorite Companion even though she did get over it eventually and forms a best friend relationship with the Doctor.
And I really had to add in the, 'you're the little girl from five minutes ago' line to the whole Doctor/Amy awkwardness. I feel like, with the Doctor's age and his first meeting with Amelia and the fact that he's with the Professor, in this story, that's how he sees her.
Just a quick note on River Song, yes, she will still be Amy and Rory's daughter :) As for who she is to the Doctor (and Professor)...hmmm...not saying :)