Notes: Told you it would be fast! As usual, I have to fix all of Moffatt's inconsistencies. Did my best with that, next we have the Snowmen!
Chapter 13 – Angels Take Manhattan: Part 2
"Shock. He'll be fine," James decided after checking over the unconscious man on the floor.
"Not if I can get loose," River growled.
"River! Are you alright? Did he hurt you?" he asked worriedly as he rushed to her side. He stopped, frozen in place when he noticed what was holding her.
"I'm fine, James. What has you so worried about me all of a sudden?" she questioned. They had always taken care of each other, but she had never known him to be so jumpy about her safety.
"Sorry, love. Umm, spoilers. I only came here because mum and dad called and told me to. Gave me coordinates from a book to drop you off first, then got here as quickly as I could," he explained.
The moment that the words were out of his mouth, the sound of a sonic screwdriver came from the front door and all of the locks came undone. It burst open and Amy ran through the house in search of her husband.
"Rory? Rory!" Amy called and headed toward the cellar door when she heard his muffled voice calling back.
"Love the form your little TARDIS chose today, Jamie. So where are we now, Doctor Song? How's prison?" the Doctor asked as he strolled into the room where James was trying to figure out how to get his wife free.
"Oh, I was pardoned ages ago. And it's Professor Song to you," she replied.
"Pardoned?" he wondered.
"Mmm. Turns out the people I killed never existed in the first place. Apparently, there's no record of them. It's almost as if someone's gone around deleting them from every database in the universe," River explained.
"Well, what was it they called that thing? The Bad Wolf virus? Took out everything on Earth. Maybe I sent it further than that?" Rose guessed.
"Safer for family that way," the Doctor decided.
"And now no one's ever heard of you. Didn't you used to be somebody?" River teased.
"Weren't you the woman who killed the Doctor and the Bad Wolf?" he countered.
"Enough, you two," Rose interrupted.
"She's holding you very tight," James complained.
"At least she didn't send me back in time," River told him.
"I doubt she's strong enough," the Doctor interjected as he took in the angel's condition.
"Well, I need a hand back, so which is it going to be? Are you going to break my wrist or hers?" River asked.
"You know that I would shatter every angel in the universe for you, my love," James told her and started flicking through the settings on his sonic.
"Are you going to resonate concrete now too?" Rose teased, making the Doctor laugh next to her.
"Hardly concrete, mother. And I'm just going to weaken it a bit while I break it with my hands. Now, what's all this about a book?" James asked while he worked on freeing his wife.
"What book?" River added.
"Your book. Well, from what I can gather, you and Amy will write it. But you haven't written it yet, so we can't read anymore of it," Rose explained. She looked at the publishing information and hadn't noticed before that it was written by Amy Williams and River Tyler. It seemed like they had purposely kept that information difficult to find. The cover hadn't featured the authors' names at all.
Amy and Rory joined them in the sitting room. Rory looked a bit shaken from whatever had happened.
"Is it a new perfume?" the Doctor asked Amy, sniffing her curiously. Amy rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"What's the matter, Rory?" Rose asked, moving to his side.
"I was locked in the cellar with a bunch of little cherub statue things. The guy had tossed me a box of matches and laughed before locking the door, but I had a flashlight in my pocket with my first aid kit. As long as I kept looking at the things, they didn't move. Those things are creepy," he explained.
"Yeah. Not too fond of them myself, and we've got a big one up here," Rose told him.
"Oh my god! River, are you alright?" Rory asked, worried about his daughter.
"She'll be just fine in a moment," James assured him and snapped the thumb off of the angel so that River's hand was free.
They both stepped back from the creature and River used both hands to grasp James' face, kissing him roughly.
"Ok, lovebirds, we need to figure out what to do next, yeah? There's got to be more to it than that. What's with all the time turbulence stuff we had to deal with?" Rose asked.
"Well, if River and I are going to write that book, we'd make it useful, yeah?" Amy suggested.
"We can certainly try. But we can't read ahead, it's too dangerous," River agreed.
"I know, but there must be something we can look at," Amy insisted.
"What, a page of handy hints? Previews? Spoiler free?" the Doctor asked mockingly.
"Chapter titles," Amy replied.
"You're brilliant, Amy!" Rose shouted and flipped over to look at the chapter titles.
"Ok, we're looking for someplace called Winter Quay," Rose told them. She didn't want to reveal to the others anything she had seen about what would happen, just pass along the information that they needed.
"Searching for it," River told them as she used the computer in her Vortex Manipulator to find the address. "It's not that far from here by the look of it. And it does seem to be the centre of the temporal disturbances."
"There's a car out front. Shall we steal it?" James suggested after looking out the front doors into the night.
"She's a bad influence on you," Rose commented.
"Nah, I learned it from dad," he countered with a smile.
They arrived at the apartment building fairly quickly, despite the Doctor repeatedly forgetting that cars drove on the opposite side of the road in America. Rose noticed a few people watching them from the surrounding windows.
"People around here are scared. They know something is wrong, but don't know how to stop it," she told the others.
"So, what is it that's wrong?" Amy asked.
"Let's find out," the Doctor announced and took his wife's hand as they marched up to the front doors.
The place seemed deserted. There was no one around, none of the typical noises one would expect in an apartment building. They roamed the halls, expecting to at least hear a radio or people talking, but there was nothing.
"I don't like it. We shouldn't be here," James announced suddenly.
River looked at him in shock. She had never known her husband to run away from fixing something like this.
"I think you've been playing it safe a little too long lately, sweetheart," Rose teased him. She knew exactly what had him so jumpy over River's safety recently, and this being in her past made it all the more dangerous, but this was their life. He would get back into the swing soon.
"Why would you do that?" River questioned.
"Mum! You know she can't know about that yet!" James whispered harshly to his mother. Looking back to his wife, he smiled weakly and said, "Spoilers?"
"Hopefully that situation doesn't last too long," River commented. She loved the excitement of his life and hoped that when she could finally travel with him all the time, they would keep doing the types of things his parents did.
"Come along, all of you. I think we're expected," the Doctor interrupted when one of the doors swung open.
Inside the room, an elderly man sat in a chair by the window. It was boarded up, but there nonetheless. He looked up at them as they entered and sighed, almost in relief. "It's time then," he told them.
"Time for what?" Rose asked.
"Thirty years ago, I was brought here by the Angels. They roam the halls in case anyone tries to leave. When I walked through that door, I saw all of you and myself. I watched as this me died. Then I was thrown back thirty years to live here. They give us what we need, but we can't leave. They can't risk us not being here for the moment that it started," the man explained.
"The paradox would not only rip a hole in reality, it would destroy their little prison. Once they've established the fact that you will be here to witness your own death, it must happen. And they've been doing this for decades," the Doctor explained.
"I wish we could save you from this," Rose told him sadly.
"I am being saved. It's almost over," he said with a smile and a young man stumbled through the doorway.
"Who? What?" he gasped as he looked at everyone in the room. His eyes locked on the much older version of himself. The elderly man slumped in the chair, his eyes closing as he took his last breath.
Rory ran to his side and checked the man's pulse. He shook his head sadly and looked up at the younger man who had just witnessed it all.
"I don't…" he began, but suddenly vanished, revealing the angel standing directly behind him.
"Alright, everyone keep your eyes on the angel," Rose ordered the group.
"This place is policed by Angels. Every time you try to escape, you get zapped back in time," the Doctor reminded them all.
"So this place belongs to the Angels? They built it?" Amy guessed.
"Displacing someone back in time creates time energy, and that is what the Angels feed on. But normally, it's a one off, a hit and run. If they could keep hold of their victims, feed off their time energy over and over again. This place is a farm. A battery farm. How many Angels in New York?" the Doctor wondered.
"I've been studying them, it's like they've taken over every statue in the city," River told him.
"The Angels take Manhattan because they can, because they've never had a food source like this one. The city that never sleeps," the Doctor decided.
"Wouldn't that be worse for them, though? With there always being people up and about, wouldn't there always be someone watching them?" Rose questioned.
"Ok, I vote for leaving this room," Rory interrupted nervously as he continued to stare at the frozen angel in front of them.
"Seconded," James agreed as he pulled River with him, past the statue and into the hallway.
"There's another out here," River warned as the others joined them.
"Jamie and River, watch the new one. Amy and Rory, watch the one in the flat. Doctor, we need a plan. How do we fix this?" Rose announced, taking control of the situation to keep everyone calm.
"We can't just take people out of here. They've tried to make it so that anyone leaving would create a paradox and bring down Reapers on us all. Therefore, we speak to no one else. We can't learn anyone else's story. That way, we can end this tonight," the
Doctor explained.
"But how do we end it?" Amy asked him again.
"Without destroying every statue in New York, you mean?" James added.
"Two more are coming up the stairs!" Rose warned everyone. "We can't watch all sides here. Time to move."
Rose led them all to the roof. She didn't like the corner they were being backed into, but
there had been more Angels below them in the stairwell and no other way to go. At least from here, they could keep them all in sight.
"Do we have a plan yet? We're running out of options," River commented as they reached the edge of the rooftop.
"You have a future, love. I've seen it. I'm living it and I won't let anything happen to you. Give me that Vortex Manipulator, so I can adjust it to carry all of us out of here," James insisted. He began to sonic the circuitry so that it would carry more than two people, to at least get them off of the roof.
"Right, ok, a paradox would stop them, but it would also stop all life on Earth as the Reapers came to cleanse the wound. We could blow up the building, but if there is anyone left inside, they would be killed as well, if the Angels themselves were even hurt by it," the Doctor rambled as he considered their options.
"At least they wouldn't be able to use this building anymore, but we would have to be sure to evacuate anyone still here," Rose agreed.
"Lucky the Statue of Liberty isn't an angel," Amy joked, trying to ease some of the tension.
"It isn't made of stone. Even if it were, you don't think there isn't always someone looking at it? Especially if it moved," River explained.
"Yeah, well, I was just joking. This is plenty scary already," Amy replied, rolling her eyes.
River screamed as she began to lose her balance. They had kept all of the large Angels in sight, but a little gargoyle had climbed up over the side of the building and had a hold on her jacket.
"No! It can't! The baby!" James shouted.
River gasped and her eyes went wide as she looked at him.
"This cannot be permitted," Rose announced suddenly, her voice commanding and otherworldly. "My pack must be protected."
The golden glow of the Bad Wolf encapsulated the area, as the statues around them turned to dust. The building itself then disappeared as well, leaving the time travellers, as well as a few confused people from the apartment building, standing in an empty lot. As the golden light left Rose's eyes, she started to collapse and the Doctor dove to catch her before she could hit the ground.
James moved to embrace his wife as well, realizing just how close they had come to losing their future together. He refastened the Vortex Manipulator on her wrist, cursing himself for ever taking her escape from her to begin with.
"Really?" River asked him, tears in her eyes.
James closed his eyes and nodded. He hadn't meant to let that slip, but he had been terrified of not only causing a paradox and losing his wife, but their future child as well. He had always found it comforting to know that her future was fine because he knew her on the other side, but his impending fatherhood had made him feel far less secure about their looping timelines. He hadn't actually crossed her past in quite a while, so he was a bit out of practice.
"Rose! Darling, can you hear me?" the Doctor called frantically as he checked her over.
She mumbled, "Just a few more minutes, Doctor."
He squeezed her tightly in relief, making her grumble a bit before opening her eyes. Rose sat up suddenly to look around and make sure everyone was safe.
"You incredible woman! That always scares me to death," her husband sighed into her hair as he held her close.
"Thank you, Rose," River called to her.
"Not sure what I did, but as long as everyone is safe, I'm happy," she called back.
"Is it over now? Can we go home?" Amy questioned, avoiding eye contact with the confused apartment residents. They seemed to be scattering, now that the Angels were nowhere in sight.
"Sort of. You and your daughter have a book to write, and the publisher is in New York," the Doctor informed her.
"So we have to stay here? Can't we write it at home and just mail it or something?" Amy asked.
"Well, the publishing date isn't back here. We can go closer to your proper timeline. Back enough so that it's there when I bought it, though. And that means that it would be safer if you weren't in London, where you might meet yourselves. Bit of a working vacation?" Rose told her.
"Don't we need to worry about money? Not exactly a vacation," Rory complained.
"Do we ever worry about money, Rory?" Rose said, rolling her eyes. "Come on, we'll get you what you need set up before we drop you off."
James' mobile started ringing.
"Hello, love. What's up?" he answered.
Whatever he heard from his wife over the phone made him go pale, suddenly. "What? Yes! Yes, I'm on my way! Oh my god, of all the times," he rambled nervously before turning the phone off and looking to his parents. "Could you please take care of all the loose ends on this one? It seems that I'm needed elsewhere."
"Sure thing, sweetheart. You be sure and visit us as soon as you three are up to it," Rose told him as she hugged her son goodbye.
"Yes! Yes, oh my god," he gasped and roughly kissed River before running back toward his TARDIS.
River chuckled as she watched him go. "He could have let us drive him back there."
"Nah, he probably needs to run off a bit of nervous energy anyway. It won't make him arrive any later," the Doctor commented. "Let's get all of you set up to close this little time loop then."
Back in the TARDIS, Rose pulled the paper from her pocket that the Doctor had torn from the book. On it was an address. Rose set up Amy and Rory with a nice little house in the suburbs, quite close to where they had accidentally landed after bouncing off of their target year earlier.
"Seems a bit big for just the two of them, doesn't it? Their house in London isn't that big," the Doctor argued.
"Well, River will be visiting for a while to help with that book. And then, there's the baby to consider," Rose told him.
Amy elbowed her in the side, making her wince.
"Why would the baby be staying with them? She'll have a lovely room on her parents' TARDIS," he protested.
"Not River's baby, you numpty. My baby," Amy told him finally.
"Oh! That's what it is! I knew there was something. Hormonal changes because you're pregnant!" he exclaimed happily.
"Was wondering when you'd figure it out," Rose laughed. "Our family just keeps on growing."
He laughed and kissed her hair before piloting Amy, Rory, and River to their new house.
#########
James landed back outside the house where he had dropped off his wife when this adventure began. Knocking on the door, he was a bit surprised to see Amy answer it. A rather pregnant Amy.
"What?!" he gasped.
"Come on in, she's upstairs," she informed him. "We can explain it all later. For now, your wife needs you."
James stumbled up the small staircase to find River. She was in active labour, and Martha Jones was there to monitor her and the baby.
"What are you doing here?" he questioned.
"Couldn't have just anyone at the birth of your alien baby, could we?" Martha teased. "The others will come by later. Didn't want to overwhelm River while she's busy."
"Yes. Of course," James agreed and dove to take his wife's hand as another contraction started. "Have you decided on a name yet, love?"
"Yes," River sighed, once the contraction subsided. "Clara. Clara Rose Tyler."
