Flesh and Stone
Everyone was scattered on the ground, struggling to stand in the aftermath of the jump, "Up!" the Doctor shouted, getting up and helping Evy up as well, "Look up!"
"You ok?" River asked, helping Amy.
"What happened?" Amy asked.
"We jumped."
"Jumped where?"
"Up, up, look up!" the Doctor repeated.
"Where are we?"
"Exactly where we were," River smiled.
"No we're not."
"Move your feet!" the Doctor soniced an indentation on the floor.
"Doctor, what am I looking at? Explain."
"Oh, come on, Amy, think!" he stood up, "The ship crashed with the power still on, yeah? So what else is still on?"
They all looked up to see they were standing on the bottom of the ship.
"The artificial gravity," Evy smiled, "Just took one good jump and here we are. Shooting out the gravity globe gave us an updraft."
The Doctor strode over to her, "You are absolutely brilliant!" he laughed, kissing her hard before dropping to the floor to continue his sonicing. Evy laughed as well, kneeling to help him with her own sonic.
"The statues, they look more like Angels now," Octavian commented, staring at the statues below, now with more facial features and sprouting wings.
"They're draining the power from the ship by feeding on the radiation pouring out of the wreckage," Evy explained, "Using it to restore themselves. They'll be a full fledge army within an hour."
The indentation opened up to reveal the inside of the ship just as the lights around them stared going out.
"They're taking out the lights," the Doctor said, "Look at them, look at the Angels. Into the ship, now, quickly all of you!"
He motioned Evy forward and nudged her into the hole, slipping in after her.
"But how?" Amy called, "Doctor!" she peered into the hole to see the Doctor standing straight up.
"It's just a corridor," he told her, "The gravity orientates to the floor. Now, in here, all of you, don't take your eyes off the Angels. Move, move, move!"
Evy walked over to a keypad, sonicing it as Amy, River, and the clerics came through the portal.
"Ok, men, go, go, go!" Octavian called, joining them, "The Angels, presumably they can jump up too?"
The door sealed behind them.
"They're here," the Doctor said, "Now. In the dark, we're finished. Run!"
A large door behind them closed, blocking their only escape
"This whole place is a death trap!" Octavian shouted.
"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."
There was a banging on the door that led to the cavern…the Angels were trying to break in.
"What's through here?" Evy asked, looking at the larger door that had sealed before them.
"Secondary flight deck," River replied.
"Ok," Amy nodded, "So we've basically run up the inside of a chimney, yeah? So what if the gravity fails?"
River ran over to a panel on the wall, trying to bypass the power.
"I've thought about that," the Doctor admitted.
"And?"
"And we'll all plunge to our deaths. See. I've thought about it."
"The security protocols...they're still live," Evy commented, looking at another panel, "It'll be impossible to override them..."
"How impossible?" River asked.
"Two minutes?" Evy looked up at the Doctor who nodded. She got to work, pulling out wires and sonicing.
There was a hum as the engines began to power down a moment, the portal opened and they could see the cavern outside.
"The hull is breached and the power's failing," Octavian stated.
The lights went out for an instant and an Angel's arm could be seen through the portal.
"Sir!" a cleric called, "Incoming!"
"Doctor!" River shouted, "Lights!"
The Doctor rushed over to River, sonicing a panel, the lights came on and they could see an Angel making its way inside. The lights flickered again and now four Angels were inside the corridor with them.
"Clerics, keep watching them," Octavian ordered.
"And don't look at their eyes," the Doctor reminded them, "Anywhere else. Not the eyes. I've isolated the lighting grid. They can't drain the power now."
"Good work, Doctor."
'Doctor…problem,' Evy called in his mind. He knelt beside her and looked at the controls…there was only one way to open the door.
"Yes," he nodded, "Good. Good in many ways, good you like it so far..."
"So far?" Octavian frowned.
"The only way to open the door," Evy began, "Is to route all the power from this section through the door control."
"Good, fine, do it."
"That includes the lights Bishop. All of them. Meaning the lights will go out."
"How long for?"
The Doctor and Evy shared a look before he turned to them, "Fraction of a second, maybe longer. Maybe quite a bit longer."
"Maybe?"
"We're guessing here! We're being attacked by statues in a crashed ship, there isn't a manual for this!"
'Calm down,' Evy called to him silently as she continued working, feeling him getting worked up, getting scared, mostly that there were only four clerics between four Weeping Angels and her. He took a breath, nodding.
"Doctor, we lost the torches," Amy said, "We'll be in total darkness."
"No other way," he sighed, turning to Octavian, "Bishop?"
"Dr. Song, I've lost good clerics today," Octavian turned to River, "You trust this man?"
"I absolutely trust him," River nodded.
"He's not some kind of madman then?" Octavian continued.
River hesitated a moment, "I absolutely trust him," Octavian didn't look pleased, "But I trust Evy as well," Evy looked over at her at that, "And the two of them together…" she shook her head, "They can't be beaten. If they say it's the only way, it's the only way."
Evy nodded and got back to work on the door, the Doctor helping her.
Octavian stepped over to River, speaking quietly to her, "I'm taking your word, because you're the only reason those two are even here. But that only works so long as Evy doesn't know who you are, 'cos without her the Doctor certainly wouldn't help. You cost me any more men, and I might just tell them both. Understood?"
"Understood," River nodded.
Octavian gave her a brief nod and turned back to the Doctor and Evy, "We've got your backs."
"Bless you," the Doctor grinned as Evy put two circuits with wires on the door, "Bishop."
Octavian turned to the clerics, "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, we don't have bullets to waste."
"Amy," the Doctor moved Amy over to a wheel on the door, "When the lights go down, the wheel should release. Spin it clockwise, four turns."
"Ten," Amy nodded.
"No, four," Evy turned to look at her, "Four turns."
"Yeah, four, I heard you."
The Time Lords glanced at each other before turning back to their work. Evy stood near where the door would open, the Doctor by the control panel.
"Ready!" the Doctor called, placing his sonic on the panel.
"On my count then," Octavian swallowed, "God be with us all. Three...two...one!" the lights went out, "Fire!"
The clerics opened fire on the Angels as the Doctor soniced the door. River and Amy tried to pry the door open as Evy stood by the wall, ready.
"Turn!" the Doctor shouted.
"Quickly!" River urged.
"It's opening, it's working!" Amy called.
The door opened and Evy, River, and Amy slipped through.
Evy immediately tore open a control panel on the side of the wall and soniced it, "Ready!"
"Fall back!" Octavian called from the other side of the door.
The clerics moved through, followed by Octavian and the Doctor. As soon as the Doctor was through, Evy stopped sonicing, the door slid shut.
They ran down a similar corridor to another sealed door. The Doctor soniced a higher panel, opening it. The others slipped through, Evy sonicing the controls from the other side.
"Doctor, quickly!" River called.
"Doctor!" Amy shouted.
"I'm holding it!" Evy added.
The Doctor stopped sonicing, running through the door, then Evy stopped sonicing and the door slid shut behind him just like before. He rushed over to her, giving her a quick peck, "Thanks love."
They ran into the room to see it was a flight deck in disrepair, exposed wires all over the console. The Doctor and Evy ran over to one of the controls while River looked at the other.
"Doctor!" Amy shouted as the hatch locked and the wheels on the center door started to spin, the Angels trying to break through. Octavian ran forward placing a device on it, "What are you doing?"
"Magnetized the door," Octavian replied as the wheel stopped, "Nothing could turn that wheel now."
"Yeah?" Evy breathed, not underestimating the Angels.
"Dear God!" Octavian gasped, seeing the wheel start turning again, though slower than before.
"Ah, now you're getting it!" the Doctor said, "You've bought us time though, that's good. We are good with time."
"Doctor!" Amy called again as another wheel on another door began to spin.
"Seal that door," Octavian shouted, "Seal it now!" and another cleric placed a magnetic device on the second floor.
"We're surrounded!" River looked at the third door which also began to spin.
"Seal it, seal that door," Octavian ordered, and it was sealed too, "How long have we got?"
"At the most?" Evy shrugged, "Five minutes."
"Nine," Amy said.
The Doctor looked over at her, "Five."
"Five, right yeah."
"Then why did you say nine?" Evy asked her.
"I didn't."
'Doctor, there's something wrong with Amy,' Evy glanced at him, 'The Angel must have done something more to her when she looked at it.'
'But what?' he asked
"We need another way out of here," River cut in.
"There isn't one," Octavian looked around.
"Yeah, there is, course there is," the Doctor countered, "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 as Evy nodded and smiled at her.
"Of course, what?" Amy asked, "What do they need?"
"Can we get in there?" Octavian asked.
"It's a sealed unit, they had to have installed it somehow," Evy remarked, looking at the wall behind them.
"This whole wall should slide up," the Doctor tried pressing the walls.
"Clamps!" Evy shouted, spotting them, "We have to release the clamps!" she and the Doctor pulled out their sonics and got to work unlocking the clamps.
"What's through there?" Amy asked, "What do they need?"
"They need to breathe," River told her. The wall slowly rose as Evy and the Doctor smiled.
"But that's..." Amy blinked, awestruck at the sight before her, "That's a..."
"It's an oxygen factory," River looked at the lush forest-looking area just beyond the wall.
"It's a forest."
"Yeah, it's a forest, it's an oxygen factory."
"And an escape route," Evy added, "If we're lucky."
"Eight," Amy agreed.
"What did you say?" River frowned.
"Nothing."
"Is there another exit?" the Doctor looked over at Octavian, "Scan the architecture, we don't have time to get lost in there."
"On it!" Octavian stepped into the forest and began to scan, "Stay where you are until I've checked the rad levels."
"But trees!" Amy exclaimed, "On a spaceship?"
"Oh, more than trees, way better than trees," the Doctor said as Evy stepped over to a tree and flashed it with her sonic, looking for something, "You're going to love this."
"Treeborgs..." Evy opened a section of the peat moss to reveal circuitry, "Trees infused with technology. Branches become cables which become sensors on the hull."
"A forest sucking in starlight, breathing out air," he looked around the forest, impressed, "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 spaceship, in a maze," he looked over at Amy, "Have we impressed you yet, Amy Pond?"
Amy laughed, "Seven."
"Seven?" Evy frowned as she and the Doctor made their way back into the flight deck.
"Sorry, what?"
"You said 'seven,'" the Doctor repeated, studying her face.
"No, I didn't."
"Yes, you did," River eyed her, concerned as well.
"Doctor!" Octavian called, running back, "There's an exit, far end of the ship, into the Primary Flight Deck."
"Good, that's where we need to go," the Doctor said.
"Plotting a safe path," Octavian turned back to his scans.
"Quick as you like!" he called back, examining Amy again.
"Doctor?" Bob came over the comm., "Excuse me. Hello, Doctor? Angel Bob here, sir."
"Ah…there you are, Angel Bob," the Doctor spoke into the comm., plopping down into a captain's chair and pulling Evy onto his lap, "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."
The Doctor grinned at Evy, "I made him say comfy chairs!"
"Six," Amy laughed.
Evy stood up as the Doctor got up as well, walking to look at the forest, "Ok, well, enough chat. Here's what we want to know, what have you done to Amy?"
"There is something in her eye," Bob replied.
"What's in her eye?"
"We are."
"What's he talking about?" Amy frowned, "I'm five," everyone stared at her and she seemed to realize what she'd said, "I mean, five. Fine! I'm fine."
"You're counting," River said slowly.
"Counting?"
"You're counting down," Evy reached out and took her hands, trying to tell her calmly what was happening, "From ten. You've been doing it for the last few minutes."
"Why?"
"We don't know."
"Well, counting down to what?"
"We don't know."
"We shall take her," Bob called out, "We shall take all of you. We shall have dominion over all time and space."
"Get a life, Bob," the Doctor retorted, "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 noise.
"Dear God, what is it?" River looked up.
"They're back," Octavian replied.
"It's hard to put in your terms, Dr. Song, but as best I understand it, the Angels are laughing," Bob explained.
"Laughing?" the Doctor frowned.
"Because you haven't noticed yet. The Doctor and his Link in the TARDIS haven't noticed."
Evy's eyes widened as she caught sight of something, "Doctor…" she breathed, "It's the crack."
He turned to see the glowing, white crack high on the wall behind them and ran over to it, Evy as well.
"That's...that's like the crack from my bedroom wall from when I was a little girl," Amy walked over slowly.
"Yes," he agreed.
"Ok, enough, we're moving out!" Octavian ordered.
"Agreed," River turned to face them, "Doctor? Evy?"
"Yeah," the Doctor waved them off, "Fine!" he pulled out his sonic, flashing the crack as Evy stood beside him and looked up at it.
"What are you doing?"
"We'll be right there," Evy called.
"We're not leaving without you!"
"Yes you are," the Doctor glanced back at them, "Bishop?"
"Miss Pond, Dr. Song, now!" Octavian called. River sighed and took Amy's arm, pulling her back to the forest, Amy calling after them.
"So, what are you?" the Doctor pulled the sonic away, looking at the readings, before glancing at Evy, "Oh, that's bad. Ah, that's extremely very not good," he pressed his ear against the wall when Evy laid a hand on his shoulder.
"Do not blink," she breathed.
He turned slowly to see her staring at a group of Angels that had surrounded them. He took her hand and they climbed over the controls, trying to get past the Angels while keeping their eyes on them…only for the Doctor to be grabbed by the back of his jacket collar and Evy on her arm.
They waited a moment, but the Angels didn't do anything.
"So...why aren't we dead?" Evy glanced over at him, seeing a group of Angels by the wall, their arms raised above them towards the crack. She looked over at the Doctor feeding him what she'd seen.
"Good," he nodded, "And not so good. Oh, this isn't even a little bit good," he glanced at the Angels around them, "I mean, is that it? Is that the power that brought you here?" he glanced at Evy, seeing her struggling with her jacket, nodding at him as he continued to talk, "That's pure time energy, you can't feed on that. 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 him talk!" Evy shouted as they pulled themselves out of their jackets and ran, hand-in-hand, into the forest, leaving their coats behind.
They ran as fast as they could, reaching the clerics standing around with Amy curled up on a rock, River examining her. They walked up as River was speaking to Octavian.
"…when the Doctor and Evy 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 to keep that man alive. How on Earth Evy manages to do it on a daily basis I will never know. Now, if they are dead back there, I'll never forgive myself, and if they're alive, I'll never forgive them. And...you and Evy are standing right behind me, aren't you?"
"Oh, yeah," the Doctor smiled.
She turned around to face them, "I hate you!"
"No you don't," Evy countered knowingly before jumping off a log and going over to Amy's side.
"Bishop, the Angels are in the forest," the Doctor warned him before joining Evy.
"We need visual contact on every line of approach," Octavian called to his clerics.
"How did you get past them?" River asked them.
"Found a crack in the wall and told them it was the end of the Universe," the Doctor said.
"What was it?" Amy asked.
"The…um…end of the Universe," Evy answered.
"Let's have a look then!" the Doctor reached out and grabbed the med-scanner in River's hands.
"So…what's wrong with me?" Amy swallowed.
"Nothing," River told her, "You're fine."
"Everything," the Doctor countered, "You're dying."
"Doctor!" River shouted.
"Ow!" he winced as Evy smacked him behind the head, "It's not like if we lie to her, she'll get all better!"
"You didn't have to say it like that," Evy argued, nodding down at Amy who was now crying.
"Oh…right," he seemed a bit ashamed that he'd said it in so blunt a way, "Amy! Amy. What's the matter with Amelia? Something's in her eye. What does that mean? Doesn't mean anything."
"Doctor…" Amy began.
"Busy."
"Scared!"
"Course, you're dying, shut up!"
"Ok, let him think," River soothed, squeezing Amy's shoulder.
"What happened?" he stood up and began pacing, "She stared at the Angel."
"She looked into the eyes of an Angel for too long…" Evy added, thinking.
"Sir!" a cleric shouted, "Angel, incoming!"
An Angel appeared behind a tree.
"And here," a second cleric called.
"Keep visual contact, do not let it move!" Octavian ordered.
"Come on, come on," the Doctor slapped the side of his head. Evy jumped to her feet and grabbed his hands. He squeezed them and looked at Evy, "She watched an Angel climb out of the screen. She stared at the Angel and…and..."
"The image of an Angel is an Angel," Evy replied, "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," he realized, "'Cos as long as our eyes are open, they can climb inside."
"There's an Angel in her mind…" Evy breathed.
"Three," Amy said, "It's coming. I can feel it. I'm going to die!"
"Please just shut up, we're thinking," the Doctor told her, turning back to Evy, knowing that, between the two of them, they could work it out, "Now counting, what's that about?"
Evy grabbed the comm., "Bob, why are the Angels making Amy count?"
"To make her afraid, ma'am," Bob replied.
"Why? What for?"
"For fun."
Evy dropped her arm, letting the comm. fall to the ground, horrified…those Angels were evil.
"Evy, what's happening to me?" Amy asked, "Doctor, explain!"
Evy knelt next to her, putting a hand over Amy's, "There's an Angel trapped in the vision centers of your brain."
"It's like there's a screen," the Doctor added, "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 swallowed.
He started pacing 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 looked up at him, "Quickly!"
"We need to shut down just the vision centers of her brain," Evy replied.
"We've got to pull the plug, starve the Angel," the Doctor nodded.
River looked at the scanner, "She's got seconds."
"Amy, close your eyes!" Evy shouted suddenly.
"No, no, I don't want to," Amy shook her head.
The Doctor's eyes widened, realizing Evy's plan and knelt beside Amy as well, "Good, because that's not you, that's the Angel inside you, it's afraid! Do it! Close your eyes!"
Amy hesitated a moment before closing her eyes. The scanner beeped and then returned to normal, "She's normalizing," River sighed, looking up at Evy with a smile, "You did it! You did it!"
"Brilliant," the Doctor said, kissing her quickly.
"Sir?" a cleric called, "Two more incoming."
"Three more over here," a second cleric said.
River put away her scanner, helping Amy sit up, "Still weak, dangerous to move her."
"So, can I open my eyes now?" Amy asked.
The Doctor sighed, running a hand through his hair before standing up and looking around before back to Amy, "Amy, listen to me. If you open your eyes now for more than a second, you will die. The Angel is still inside you. We haven't stopped it, we've just sort of...paused it. You've used up your countdown. You cannot open your eyes."
Amy stiffened, absolutely terrified.
Evy frowned, she knew the Doctor could be a bit over reactive at times, exaggerating as well, but now was not one of them. And now Amy was scared and frantic, knowing there was an Angel living in her mind that she couldn't fight. The human mind, so fragile…
Without warning Evy crouched down before Amy and butted heads with her.
She fell back with a groan, her eyes snapping shut.
Amy fell back with a gasp, her eyes flying open but nothing happening, she looked around, frantic, "What happened?"
The Doctor was knelt at Evy's side, helping her sit up, a frown on his face, "Why did you do that?" he asked her, holding her head between his hands. He could already feel Evy building walls in her mind, trying to contain the Angel, to starve it more than a simple human mind could by just shutting their eyes. He knew she was also doing it to keep the Angel from infecting him as well through their Link.
"I had a better chance," Evy replied, her face scrunched as she focused on creating a cell for the Angel.
He frowned, "You stupid, stupid girl."
"I'm your Link," Evy grinned at him, "And you're an idiot."
He shook his head at her.
"Doctor?" Amy called, wanting answers, "What happened? Why am I not dead?"
River frowned, realizing what had happened, "She's pulled the Angel from your head and into hers."
"It's in her now?" Amy's eyes widened in shock. She knew that Evy could read minds, Evy had told her herself, but she hadn't thought that the girl could do something like that, pull something from her mind. Though this was probably a special situation.
"Doctor, we're too exposed here," Octavian said, glancing around at the Angels hiding behind a few trees, "We have to move on."
"We're exposed everywhere," he muttered before he looked around at the group, "We can't risk moving Evy and breaking her focus…and anyway, that's not the plan."
"There's a plan?" River asked.
"Clearly not," Evy replied, jokingly turning her head towards River's voice, "And I thought you knew the Doctor?"
River smiled and shook her head even though Evy couldn't see it.
"I don't know yet," the Doctor stated, ignoring Evy's words, "I haven't finished talking."
Evy sighed, "You go and figure out what to do," she told him, "Leave a soldier or two and I'll stay here," she reached out, taking the Doctor's hand in her own, instinctively knowing where it was, "I'll be fine."
He looked at her hard for a moment, clearly not liking the idea of leaving her alone and defenseless, but there was little he could do. He spun around to face the clerics, "Right! Father, you and your clerics will stay here, look after Evy. If anything happens to her…and I mean anything," he began seriously, "I'll hold each of you personally responsible, twice, and I guarantee you, the Angels will be the least of your worries compared to me," the clerics actually looked quite scared at the coldness and threat in his voice. But then the Doctor grinned and turned to River, "River, Amy, you two and me, we're going to find the Primary Flight Deck which is..."
"Did he just lick his finger and hold it up?" Evy asked as the Doctor did just that. She was amused despite the Angel trying to fight her in her mind.
"Yes I did," he answered her, "And a quarter mile straight ahead," he knelt down before her, "We'll stabilize the wreckage, stop the Angels, and cure you."
"How?" Amy called.
"I'll do a thing," he answered, not looking away from Evy, practically waving her off.
"What thing?"
"I don't know," he snapped, "It's a thing in progress. Respect the thing!"
Evy reached out and placed a hand on his arm, he was very angry right now and it was all directed not at her, but at Amy. He was blaming her for the Angel being in his Link's mind, and she would be damned if she let him blame her actions on someone else.
He sighed, sensing her thoughts, but he couldn't help it. His Link was in danger and his instinct was to lash out at the thing that put her in that situation…even if it was a friend, "I'll find a way," he promised her softly.
"You don't have to tell me," she smiled reassuringly, "I have faith in you Doctor."
He smiled at her, brushing a strand of hair from her face. He leaned forward...
"That won't get the Angel out of my mind," she said, sensing him near her mouth, thinking back to the time she'd pulled the star out of him.
"I know," he reassured her, before kissing her deeply, pouring his promise that she would be alright into it. He pulled back moments later, leaving the both of them breathless. He kissed her forehead for good measure before standing, "Moving out!"
Octavian stepped forward, "Doctor, I'm coming with you. My clerics can look after Evy. These are my best men, they'd lay down their lives in her protection."
"I don't need you."
"I don't care. Where Dr. Song goes, I go."
"What?" he looked over at River and then back to Octavian, "You two engaged or something?"
"Yes, in a manner of speaking. Marco, you're in charge till I get back."
"Sir!" Marco nodded as Octavian headed off with River.
The Doctor glanced at River and Octavian and to Amy and back to Evy, hesitating, not wanting to leave her, especially not like this.
"I'll be fine," Evy said, sensing his turbulent emotions, "You can't protect me on the move, I'd only be a distraction."
He sighed and walked over to her, taking her hands in his own one more time, "I'll be back for you soon as I can. I promise."
"I know," she rested her forehead against his a moment.
"I always come back," he kissed her forehead, "Like you said, I can't run from you…I can only run towards you," he took a breath before standing, "Good luck everyone. Behave. And keep watching the forest. Stop those Angels advancing. And take care of her."
"With our lives sir," Marco swore.
The Doctor nodded and walked off, striding past Amy who had waited for him. The ginger watched as he disappeared through the bushes before looking back at Evy who was sitting there, on a rock, looking far calmer than Amy ever could. She sighed, looking down as she turned to follow after the Doctor. She had only stepped past a tree or two when she nearly ran into him.
"Doctor!" she gasped, stumbling back in shock.
"Amy," he shook his head, tugging at the cuff of his coat, "You need to let go. You need to move on. You need to start trusting Evy, trusting me, trusting us, the two of us, it's never been more important."
Amy swallowed and looked away, not wanting to talk about it, "Doctor, the crack in my wall, how can it be here?"
He frowned, seeing the change in topic, but let it go, "We don't know yet, but we're working it out. Now, listen. Remember what we told you when you were seven?"
"What did you tell me?"
"No, no...that's not the point. You have to remember."
And with that he turned and walked off through the bushes.
"Remember what?" she called for a moment, before walking after him, "Doctor? Doctor!"
"Over here Amy!" River shouted.
Amy pushed through a bush to see the Doctor holding a device as Octavian led him and River through the forest. She frowned, seeing the Doctor sans coat, "What happened to your coat?" she asked.
"Angels took it," he replied, not looking up from the device.
"There are Angels here?" she spun around, frantic.
"We know there are Angels in the forest," River reminded her.
Amy looked at them, confused…but then there was a beeping noise from the Doctor's device.
"What's that?" River asked.
"Readings from a crack in a wall," the Doctor replied.
"Doctor, how can the crack in my wall be the end of the Universe?" Amy asked.
"Here's what I think," the Doctor snapped, annoyed that people were asking him such stupid questions when they had a job to do, "One day there'll be a very big bang, so big every moment in history, past and future, will crack!"
Amy flinched at his tone.
"Is that possible?" River asked, seemingly unperturbed by his reaction, "How?"
"How can you be engaged in a manner of speaking?" the Doctor asked, just a bit easier.
"Well...sucker for a man in uniform."
"Dr. Song is in my personal custody," Octavian walked over to them, "A contact had her released from the Stormcage Containment Facility four days ago and into my custody. 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 Doctor asked as the machine beeped again.
"What?" Amy asked, "What is that?"
"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?" River asked.
The date shifted on the device, reading 26/06/2010.
"Amy's time," the Doctor breathed.
"My time?" Amy frowned.
"Yes your time!" the Doctor turned to her, "What part of that confused you?"
Amy's eyes widened at his snap but he just strode past her, following after Octavian.
~8~
Evy sat on the rock in the middle of the forest clearing, just focusing on locking the Angel away, but also orchestrating a bit of a twist on the situation…there was no way she was going to let the Angel lie about in her mind without using it to its full potential.
"The Angels are still grouping," Marco called, having taken it upon himself to alert her to the goings on while she sat there. He glanced at another cleric, "Are you getting this too?"
The lights started to flicker.
"The trees?" a third cleric spoke, "Yeah."
"Here too, sir," a second cleric agreed, "They're ripping the Treeborgs apart."
"Not just that," Evy replied, "They're not just taking out the lights, they're feeding on the power of it as well."
"How do you know the lights are going out?" Marco called.
"The Angel trapped in my mind. I was very careful to tap into its mind as well. The Angels have a shared mind, I can see their plans as well."
"And? What are they planning."
"Just be ready. They're going to use the flickering to advance."
And so they did.
~8~
Amy was standing against the outside of the Primary Flight Deck, hugging herself, as Octavian looked for a way in and River stood guard. The Doctor, who had yet to even look at her properly, was going over some other readings on the device.
"It doesn't open it from here, but it's the Primary Flight Deck," Octavian said, "This has got to be a service hatch or something."
"Hurry up and open it, time's running out," River replied.
"What?" the Doctor looked up, "What did you say? Time's running out, is that what you said?"
"Yeah. I just meant..."
"I know what you meant," he snapped, "Hush! But what if it could?"
"What if what could?"
"Time. What if time could run out?"
"Got it!" Octavian called.
~8~
"Angels advancing, sir," the third cleric called out.
"Over here, again," the second one added.
"Weapons primed," Marco ordered, "Combat distance five feet. Wait for it!" Evy tensed, sensing the Angel struggling in her mind to get out the closer the Angels came, "Keep your position and, ma'am, keep your eyes shut!"
"Yes, I know," Evy grumbled. She wasn't some human who needed to rely on just her sight. She was well aware of what was going on via her other senses.
"Wait!" Marco called as a bright light appeared behind them and spread, "The ship's not on fire, is it?"
"It can't be," a second cleric argued, "The compressors would have taken care of it."
"The Angels are gone!" Evy shouted, standing up, startled.
The soldiers shifted, looking around, "Where'd they go?"
"This side's clear too, sir," the third cleric reported.
"They've gone to the light," Evy replied, turning to face the direction of the light. She didn't need to see it to know it was there. A crack in time that big, big enough to draw away the Angels, she could just sense.
"There's still movement out there, but away from us now," Marco agreed, checking his device, "Phillip, Crispin, need to get a closer look at that..."
"No don't!" Evy shouted.
But the clerics ignored her, heading towards the light.
~8~
"Cracks in time, time running out..." the Doctor muttered, "No, couldn't be. How is a duck pond a duck pond if there aren't any ducks? And she didn't recognize the Daleks! Ok, time can shift. Time can change. Time can be rewritten. Ah! Oh!" he rubbed his head in pain, "I wish Evy were here…she could figure this out…"
River watched him, concerned as he grew more irritable and tense, before ushering Amy inside. In this state of mind, the Doctor was bound to lash out much worse than he had been…Amy didn't deserve that…
~8~
"It's like, I don't know...a curtain of energy, sort of shifting," Marco tried to describe the crack to Evy, "Makes you feel weird, sick."
"It's like the crack in the wall of the ship, but bigger?" Evy suggested.
"Yeah. Scared them pretty bad."
"What could scare those things?" the second cleric asked.
"That crack," she warned them, "Is a separation of space and time that isn't meant to be torn. The energy in there is dangerous. You shouldn't have sent the other two out there."
"What other two?" Marco asked," I didn't send anyone out there."
"Marco, you want me to get a closer look at that?" the second cleric asked, seeing the sense in investigating.
Marco nodded, "But don't get too close. She says it's dangerous, it's dangerous."
"No!" Evy shouted, "You can't. Before, you sent Crispin and Phillip to go look and now they're gone."
"Crispin and who?"
Evy frowned…they'd been absorbed by the light…and now another cleric was headed towards it.
~8~
"Dr. Song, get through, now," Octavian ordered, helping River through the hatch and turning to the Doctor, "Doctor? Doctor?"
He watched, concerned, as the Doctor did calculations in the air, "Time can be unwritten…" he mumbled.
~8~
"Ma'am, there never was a Crispin or a Phillip on this mission, I promise you," Marco said.
"Right…" Evy nodded slowly, of course he wouldn't remember. The crack, it wasn't just space and time, it wasn't just the end of the Universe, it was also leaking time energy…enough to erase anyone who got caught in it from existence. Crispin and Phillip had never been born. She swallowed hard, knowing she was going to regret this, "And how's Pedro doing?"
"Pedro?"
"Never mind."
This was not good.
~8~
"It's been happening and we haven't even noticed!" the Doctor shook his head, realization on the horizon.
"Doctor, we've have to move," Octavian stepped up.
"The CyberKing! A giant Cyberman walks over all of Victorian London and no one remembers."
"We have to move it!" Octavian called, "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. There's worse here than Angels!"
The lights went out and the Doctor spun around to see an Angel had its arm around Octavian's neck, "I beg to differ, sir."
He flashed the Angel with the sonic, "Let him go."
"Well, it can't let me go, sir, not while you're looking at it."
"I can't stop looking at it, it'll kill you."
"It'll kill me anyway. There's no way out of this. You have to leave me!"
"Can't you wriggle out?"
"No. It's too tight. There's nothing you can do."
~8~
"Listen, ma'am," Marco said after a moment, "I need to get a closer look at that light, whatever it is. Don't worry, I won't get too close."
"No, Marco," Evy grabbed his arm as she felt him step past her, "You don't understand. That crack bleeds time energy, you get caught and you won't exist. You won't be born. It's why you don't remember Pedro or Crispin or Phillip, they were never born."
"There was no Pedro, Crispin, or Phillip," he said softly, fearing she had lost her mind, "Here, spare communicator…" he pressed it into her hand, "I'll stay in touch the whole time."
"Yeah, right," she scoffed.
"Two minutes, I promise," and then he left.
Evy's shoulders sagged as she was left alone.
~8~
"Sir, there's nothing you can do," Octavian argued.
"You're dead if I leave you," the Doctor said.
"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?"
"River Song. You think you know her, but you don't. You don't understand who or what she is."
"Then tell me."
"I've told you more than I should. Now, please, you have to go. It's your duty to your friends, to your Link."
The Doctor swallowed hard at that, Evy…
"Just tell me why she was in Stormcage?" he asked.
"She killed a man, a good man, a hero to many. Nearly killed someone else as well before she stopped."
"Who?" he frowned, already fearing and guessing the answer.
"You don't want to know, sir. You really don't."
"Who did she kill?"
"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 and back to your Link."
The Doctor smiled softly at that, "I wish I'd known you better."
"I think, sir, you know me at my best."
"Ready?" the Doctor took a breath.
Octavian closed his eyes, "Content."
The Doctor nodded and made a mad dash for the hatch, climbing through and closing it behind him. He stood up quickly to find himself in the Primary Flight Deck, River at the controls with Amy standing beside her. He stalked over to a second control panel.
"There's a teleport!" River told him, "If I can get it to work, we can beam the others here. Where's Octavian?"
"Octavian's dead, so is that teleport," he replied grimly, "You're wasting your time. I'm going to need your communicator," he didn't wait for a reply before taking it, "Evy?" he called into it, not wanting to speak to her in her mind and distract her efforts to continue to trap the Angel, "Are you there? Are you alright?"
"I'm here," Evy replied, he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Where are you? Are the clerics with you?"
"No. They've gone."
His jaw tensed, "I'll kill them."
"Too late. They all went to examine the crack. Doctor…it's bleeding time energy, there's no memory of them left to kill."
"What?" River asked, "What is that light?"
"Time running out," he sighed, closing his eyes tightly as he spoke into the comm., "Evy…I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I should never have left you there."
"It's alright," Evy told him, "I'll find a way to get back to you. You're not the only one who can't run."
He smiled softly at her promise, "We're in the Primary Flight Deck, other end of the forest."
"Well…I can't see so you'll need to send me some clues to help me there. You'll have to sonic the communicators from your end to get me to that point."
"Turn on the spot," he called to her as he soniced the comm., "When the communicator sounds like my screwdriver, you're facing the right way. Follow the sound," he listened as the whirring sound on the communicators rang faster till it sounded just like the sonic.
"Perfect!" she called.
"Evy…you have to start moving now," he half begged, "You have to stay ahead of the time energy."
"On my way."
"Just keep moving," he whispered. His hearts were beating rapidly, his veins felt like they were coursing ice water as he listened intently to the comm., he was terrified.
"What about the Angels?" Amy asked.
"The Angels can only kill her," he swallowed hard, his hands clenching around the communicator, "But the time energy…"
"What does the time energy do?"
"If the time energy catches up with her," he began, forcing himself not to look at Amy, unsure of how his temper would react, "She'll never have been born," Amy gasped, "It will erase every moment of her existence. She will never have lived at all. And let me tell you something, Amelia Pond," he glared at her, "If she gets caught by the time energy, I will never forgive you!"
"It's never going to work," River told him.
"What else have you got?" he shouted at her, turning all his fury on both her and Amy, "River, tell me! Huh? Amy? Nothing? That's what I thought! Humans!"
"Hey, hey, hey," Evy's voice spoke gently over the communicator, the Doctor had been clutching it so tightly he'd been holding it on, "Shh…Doctor, everything will be fine," he just turned away from River and a startled, tearful Amy, to lean against the controls, "Trust me, we can do this, I'll be fine. In no time at all, I'll be back with you, in the flight deck, in your arms, again," he let out a shuddering breath, as though he were barely holding back a sob, and pressed the communicator to his forehead as though it were Evy's head he were resting it against, "And we'll be off in the TARDIS," she laughed, "Remember? Angels are nothing compared to what I'm coming home to."
The Doctor smiled to himself, recognizing the words they'd used to the scared passengers when they'd gotten stuck on San Helios in that bus.
~8~
River walked over to Amy who was sitting down against the wall, her knees pulled to her chest, arms around them as she sniffled, trying not to cry at the Doctor's harsh words or fierce glares.
"Hey," River sat down next to her.
"Why's he being like this?" Amy asked her.
River sighed, "It's a natural reaction for Time Lords and Ladies, especially when their Link is in danger. They just…lash out at whatever they perceive as the thing that put them in danger. For him…" she nodded up at the Doctor, "That's you. Because the Angel was in your head, and now it's in Evy's. He can't see that it was Evy that did it, only that it happened because of you."
Amy was silent, absorbing that.
"There was one time…" River began, her eye on the Doctor to make sure he wouldn't hear her, "Evy was in danger and the Doctor thought it was my fault. He wouldn't even talk to me…and the look on his face…" she trailed, "It actually gave me nightmares. It wasn't till Evy came back, and he saw she was safe and sound, that he started to act like himself again. I had no idea what was going on or why he'd been like that. I actually considered not going on adventures with him, till Evy sat me down and explained it to me. He felt bad afterwards and apologized, but it won't ever stop him from reacting like that if she's in danger."
River patted Amy's knee before pushing herself up and getting back to the teleporter.
~8~
The Doctor wiped his eyes quickly on his sleeve and pressed his sonic to the communicator again, "I'm sending a bit of software to your communicator. It's a proximity detector. It'll…"
"Beep if something's in my way," Evy finished, "I just maneuver till the beeping stops."
"Yeah," he said softly, before looking at the shield of the ship where a clanging had sounded, "And Evy…the forest is full of Angels."
"So I'll walk like I can see."
The Doctor smiled a bit more, "That's my girl."
"That time energy," River asked, seeing he was in a bit of a better mood after speaking to Evy, "What's it going to do?"
"Keep eating."
"How do we stop it?"
"Feed it."
"Feed it what?"
"A big, complicated, space-time event should shut it up for a while."
"Like what, for instance?"
"Like me, for instance!" he shouted once more, getting frustrated, he was trying to listen for the detector on the comm., "If it'll keep Evy safe, I'll do it!"
River glared at him, heading back to the teleport, "You can't do that to Evy, it would destroy her."
"Last resort," he muttered to himself.
There was a high-pitched beeping from the communicator.
"What's that?" Evy asked.
"It's a warning," he turned back to the communicator, tensing, "There are Angels round you now. This is going to be hard but I know you can do it."
"The Angels are scared. I've been monitoring them through the one in my mind…they're running. They're not interested in me. They'll assume I can see them and their instincts should kick in. All I have to do is walk like I can see."
He shut his eyes, "Just don't open your eyes. You can do this. You can do this…" he kept murmuring it over and over as if he were trying to convince himself more than her.
"Doctor," Evy's voice cut through his repetitions, "Your lack of faith in me is disturbing."
He smiled to himself, listening intently as the communicator beeped quickly, then slow, then fast, then slow…his hearts were beating rapidly again…every time the speed increased.
Suddenly they heard a grunt as Evy fell to the ground.
"Evy!" he shouted, "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. But I can't feel the communicator around me…it's too far away to reach…if I try to find it, the Angels will realize I can't see them...and if I try to get up..."
"And walk into one of them…" the Doctor finished, before smacking his head, "Think, think, think!"
"I've got it!" River shouted.
He ran over to the panel, looking down at her work, "How'd you do that?
"Evy taught me more than just how to trick you Doctor," River smiled.
"Brilliant!"
~8~
Suddenly Evy felt herself being sucked from the forest floor and deposited on cold metal. She fell into a pair of strong arms and her lips immediately sought another pair, kissing furiously. She pulled away, very satisfied with the Doctor's current stunned state and blank thoughts. But it lasted only a moment before his brain kicked into gear again.
"How did you know it was me?" he asked her, helping her to stand.
"As though you would let anyone else save me," she smiled at him.
He laughed. River had been about to teleport her here but he'd nudged her out of the way and done it himself. She knew him so well.
"Welcome to the Flight Deck," River said, stepping up to help Evy, "Amy's here as well…" Amy ran forward before River could even finish speaking, hugging the other woman despite the semi-angry look the Doctor was giving her.
"I'm so glad you're alright," Amy whispered to the girl, before pulling away.
Before anyone could say anything else an alarm suddenly blared.
"What's that?" River looked around.
"The Angels are draining the last of the ship's power, which means...the shield's going to release!" the Doctor said, putting his arm around Evy and walking over to the shield as it raised, revealing the forest and a large number of Angels, "Angel Bob, I presume?" he eyed an Angel holding a communicator.
"The time field is coming," Bob said, "It will destroy our reality."
"Yeah, and look at you, all running away. What can I do for you?"
"There is a rupture in time. The Angels calculate that if you throw yourself into it, it will close and they will be saved."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Could do, could do that. But why should I? You endangered my Link."
"Your friends would also be saved. Your Link as well."
"Well, there is that…"
"I've travelled in time," River stepped up, seeing him actually seeming to consider it, "I'm a complicated space/time event, too. Throw me in."
"Compared to us," Evy began, seeing the Doctor's plan, "The 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," the Doctor finished.
"I can't let you do this," River said, actually stunned that Evy seemed to be agreeing to this.
"No, really, get a grip," Evy told her.
"Neither of you are going to die here!"
"No, we mean it," the Doctor told her meaningfully, "River, Amy, get a grip," he placed Evy's hand on a bar sticking out of one control panel.
"Oh, you genius!" River's eyes widened as she ran to Amy and pulled her over to the second command station.
"Sir, the Angels need you to sacrifice yourself now," Bob called.
"Thing is, Bob, the Angels are draining all the power from this ship, every last bit of it," the Doctor said, "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..." he glanced over at River and Amy who were holding onto the handles of their panel, "Night-night!"
The gravity suddenly failed from the loss of power, the Doctor simply wrapping an arm around Evy, holding her close as he grabbed onto a handle himself. The deck turned on its side, the four of them hanging on for dear life as all the Angels were sucked back into the crack. There was a burst of light and the crack closed.
The backup power came on, restoring the gravity.
Evy laughed as her feet touched the floor again and the first thing she did was pull the Doctor into a kiss. When they pulled away the Doctor stroked her face, smiling as he looked into her hazel eyes, "I missed those big beautiful eyes," he remarked.
She smiled as well, "I missed seeing that handsome face."
"Your eyes are open!" Amy shouted, her eyes wide in fear and concern as she stared at Evy.
"Don't worry Amy," the Doctor replied easily, draping an arm around Evy's shoulder, "The Angels fell into the time field which means the one in her mind never existed."
"Come on," Evy said, "Let's get out of here and back to the beach."
The Doctor and Evy stepped out of the room, River and Amy watching after them.
"What did I say?" River smiled, glancing at Amy, "Back to himself yeah?"
"Yeah," Amy nodded a bit sadly, still hurt.
"Oh, Amy!" the Doctor popped his head back in, "Sorry for being so snippy with you before…you as well River. Didn't mean to yell, but well…" he cleared his throat, "Are we ok?"
Amy smiled, "Yeah," she nodded, "Yeah, we're ok."
"Always," River agreed.
"Right then," he nodded as well, "Once more unto to the beach!"
~8~
Amy was sitting on a rock on the beach, a blanket wrapped around her while Evy and the Doctor stood next to her, the Doctor's arm wrapped around Evy's waist.
"How do you feel?" Evy asked.
"Ah, bruised everywhere," Amy replied.
"Us too," the Doctor nodded.
"If all the Angels fell through the crack, why do I remember it at all?" Amy asked. She could understand the Doctor and Evy, being aliens, but her, a human? "Evy, you said those guys on the ship didn't remember each other."
"But Amy, now you're a time traveler," Evy smiled, "It'll forever change the way you see the Universe."
"Good, isn't it?" the Doctor added.
"And the crack," Amy asked, "Is that gone too?"
"Yeah, for now. But the explosion that caused it is still happening...somewhere out there, somewhere in time."
"We'll be right back," Evy said, noticing River standing against a rock.
They walked over to her and she smirked over at them, "You, me...handcuffs," she held up her encased wrists, "Must it always end this way?"
Evy's smile faded, recalling how it really would end...but she shook her head out of her thoughts, "What'll happen now?"
"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," the Doctor said, "Nearly killing someone else as well."
"Yes," she nodded slowly, "I did. A good man. A very good man. The best man I've ever known. And his wife, a remarkable woman."
"Who?" Evy asked, unable to shake the small tendril of fear that had coiled in her gut.
"It's a long story. 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 fairytale!"
"Oh, Doctor, aren't we all?" River laughed as well, "I'll see you there."
"Then we'll look forward to it," Evy smiled.
"I remember it well," River replied, nodding goodbye as they stepped back.
"Bye River," Amy walked up.
"See you Amy," River nodded, when the handcuffs 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, teleporting away in a swirl of sand.
The Doctor sighed, turning to look at the ocean, wrapping his arm around Evy's waist once more as she leaned against him.
"What are you thinking?" Amy asked them.
"Time can be rewritten," he replied as they walked over to the TARDIS. Evy unlocked it with just a stroke of her finger, stepping in with them and heading to the console with the Doctor. They began to prepare the TARDIS for entering the Vortex as Amy sat down on the jump seat, just watching.
"Can you handle this?" Evy asked the Doctor, "I feel like I need a shower."
He laughed, "Go on!" she really was a sight, covered in dirt, twigs in her hair, grass stains on her clothes. She smiled, giving him a quick peck before running off to their room.
Amy waited till she had gone before speaking, "I want to go home."
"Ok," he said quietly.
"No, not like that!" she jumped up and walked over to the console, "I just…I just want to show you something. You're running from River. I'm running too."
'Is that alright with you?' he asked Evy.
'Fine by me,' she called back.
"Alright," he said, putting in the coordinates.
~8~
The Doctor was sitting on the edge of Amy's bed next to her, staring at her wedding gown hanging before them as Evy finished up with her shower.
"Well!" he breathed.
"Yeah," Amy 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 and picked up a red ring box with her engagement ring in it, "I'm getting married in the morning."
He took the box and looked at it, "Why did you leave it here?"
"Why did I leave my engagement ring when I ran away the night before my wedding?" Amy asked as though it should be obvious.
"Yeah," he nodded, curious.
Amy laughed, "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 asked, miming a bit of a large nose.
"The other one," Amy replied, almost offended.
"Well, he was good too."
"Thanks," she said, waiting a moment before turning to face him, "So, do you comfort a lot of people on the night before their wedding?"
"Why would you need comforting?"
"I had a deadly Angel stuck in my head for a bit. I nearly died. And it made me think."
"Well, yes, natural," he nodded, "I think sometimes. Well, lots of times...Evy says that's not always a good thing but I tend to disa…"
"About what I want," Amy cut him off, "About who I want. You know what I mean?"
"Yeah," he nodded, before shaking his head, "No."
"About who..." she gave him a meaningful look, "I want."
"Oh, right, yeah..." he nodded again, before shaking it, "No, still not getting it."
"Doctor, in a word, in one very simple word even you can understand..." Amy said, before practically trying to climb on top of him.
He pushed her away quickly and clambered over the rail at the foot of her bed, "You're getting married in the morning! And I've got a Link!"
Amy, undeterred, just stood and walked around her bed, "The morning's a long time away…" she pushed him back against the TARDIS, "What are we going to do about that?" she pushed one of his braces down.
"Listen to me," he pushed her back, slipping his brace back up, "I'm 907 years old. Do you understand what that means?"
"It's been a while?"
"No! No! No! I'm 907, Evy's 883, and look at us. We don't get older, we just change. You get older. We don't, and this can't ever work," he pushed her away again.
"Oh, you are sweet, Doctor," Amy stepped forward, pushing him against the TARDIS again, "But I really wasn't suggesting anything quite so...long term," she leaned in and managed to place her lips on his…
"I've got a Link!" he shouted, pushing her back, wiping his mouth for good measure, completely furious at what she had done. No one except Evy was allowed to kiss him. His mind briefly flashed to what he would do if anyone tried that with Evy…he'd kill them.
"She doesn't need to know," Amy said, going in for another kiss but he ducked away from her. She turned about to try again but froze at the force of the glare he was sending her, even worse than the ones he'd given her in the flight deck.
"She's not just my Link," he nearly growled at her, "She's my life. I will not hurt her, I will not betray her. Ever!"
Amy looked down, ashamed at her actions. She sighed and moved to sit back on her bed, her back to the TARDIS. The Doctor watched her a moment, his glare never fading.
"I sort of figured that," she admitted after a moment.
He took a few very deep, only slightly calming, breaths, before moving to sit next to her on the bed, albeit with much more space between them than before. Neither noticed the door to the TARDIS opening or Evy step out, having sensed the Doctor's panic and anger and saw what Amy had done in her mind before rushing out, but it seemed like it was under control for now.
"I just…" Amy began again, "I want someone to look at me the way you do Evy."
The Doctor frowned, "How's that?" he wasn't aware he looked at Evy in any one way.
"Like she's the most beautiful person in the world," Amy answered, she'd seen it. Every time they looked at each other, that sparkle he had when he just glanced at the woman. He may not see it, but everyone else did, "Like she IS your world."
The Doctor blinked. Did he really look at Evy like that all the time? Yes, his hearts told him, he did, how could he not? She really was his entire world.
Evy smiled softly. She'd seen that look before on another person. She'd seen it very clearly whenever Rory looked at Amy, the girl herself just didn't see it...yet. She would have to do something about that.
"Well then," Evy said from behind them, smiling softly, all her anger at Amy trying to seduce her Link forgotten, "Why don't we find someone who does? Like this fiancé of yours?"
"Evy!" Amy shouted, standing up, and backing away from the woman, a bit frightened that she would attack her. She'd seen plenty of possessive women in her life, and if the Doctor's reaction to people around Evy and to what had happened just then was anything to go on, Evy would be furious with her.
"It's alright Amy," Evy waved her off, "I'm not mad."
"You're not?" both she and the Doctor asked.
Evy laughed at them, "The Doctor is mine," she said simply, "I have no doubts about it," she smiled softly at the Doctor, proud that he had defended their relationship, "And I know he wouldn't betray me."
"No I wouldn't," he agreed, going over to her. He put his arms around her, pulling her to him, "Not ever."
"Neither would I. So…there's nothing to worry about."
He smiled softly at how forgiving and understanding his Link was, "Right…so, off to Amy's fiancé!" he announced, pulling a laughing Evy into the TARDIS, a still slightly shocked Amy following along just as the clock in her room ticked to midnight, June 26th.
A/N: A few notes...
Hmm...why does Octavian think the Doctor wouldn't help River without Evy's insistance that he do so? Why does Octavian think that, whatever River's done, Evy shouldn't know? I guess we'll find out...but I'll say this, that event and the one Octavian talks about while in the grip of the Angel are not the same. In this story, what Evy shouldn't know is not because of TWORS, it'll be found in Let's Kill Hitler :) Let's just say...we all know that all is well in the end of Series 6, but this particular event in LKH is one that would make anyone think River is not on the Time Lord's most-favorite list. And...what's this? There's another small change in a line given by Octavian (besides who River killed) that will have something to do with the twist in TWORS and beyond. Did you spot it?
River and handcuffs eh? I have to say, my little twist for TWORS will explain the origins of the cuffs she always seems to have :) I hope this also helped explain River in the Library. I know that in TWORS River appears coming from just after this adventure, but that will not be happening in this story, I have a twist for the end of that episode that unfortunately gets rid of that little moment. But either way, I think the timeline for River (at the end of the Confidential episode) said that this was, so far, her last official onscreen adventure before the Library. Can you imagine her going from seeing Evy and the Doctor like they are here to how they acted in the Library? I really wanted to play up their closeness so that it's more obvious why River had such a hard time recognizing Evy in the Library. I mean, here the Doctor hardly leaves her side, he's terrified that she's in danger, and the way he acts when she really is in danger...vastly different to how he was in the Library wasn't he? Which reminds me, did anyone catch what new habit the Doctor has picked up whenever he sits down?
This Evy is clearly very different than her 10th incarnation. I imagine her to have regenerated into a mature, secure, confident woman whereas her 10th self was always a bit uncertain, especially about the Link, and so used to hiding parts of herself or keeping a distance. She's not jealous or angry with Amy because she is confident in the Doctor, she trusts him, and the Link is stronger than ever so she KNOWS what he feels and thinks as well. I wanted to go a different direction with Evy than the Professor (who wanted to kill Amy), this Evy is secure in the knowledge that the Doctor is hers, no matter what or who tries to get them apart it won't work. She will have lingering thoughts on this in the next chapter though, as will Amy.
And...this is just the start of things that will change in Series 5 with Evy there. One of the reasons that I created Evy was from my Academic Series, wondering what I could have done different with the Professor, namely in episodes such as this one, Amy's Choice, Hungry Earth/Cold Blood, and others. So here we'll start to see minor changes in the story.
I hope it was believable the head butt managed to take the Angel from Amy to Evy. I sort of feel like doing that, at least in The Lodger, pushed the information from a Time Lord to a human, but to do that the mind had to be open to the Time Lord. So, in a way, you could push or pull information to or from someone. Coupling that with Evy's ability to read/project/connect with the human mind, I figure she might be able to pull the Angel out. Loved the Doctor's reaction to the whole mess :)
BTW! Dinosaurs on a Spaceship...got lots of things planned for the Lunar Cycle for that one :) Just have to say...someone wants a dinosaur, won't say who :) And I LOVE Rory's dad!
Next chapter...Evy helps Rory get even, we learn what the bet with Casanova was, and the Doctor gets corny in a very sweet way.