Welcome to Chapter 32.
Where things continue to get complicated.

He had sensed her early that morning.
Their psychic link had weakened over the years but it was still present.
He was grateful for the fact that when she finally appeared in he and Cassidy's place of dwelling, his human had long left the area.

"So…after all these years, it's nice to see that you have not changed a bit, Karida…"

"Likewise, Iblis. It would truly devalue my mission to learn that you had finally repented for your fiendish ways."

"And what is your mission, sister? It is even your own and not that of our dear father's."

"You have no right to name me as your sister nor the great Archangel Nathaniel as your father."

"And yet I do. There's very little that you can do to me alone, Karida. Leave with your dignity whilst I still offer you the chance."

The young Angel laughed. "Don't humour yourself, Iblis. Do not speak as if you are in a position of strength here. You are weak and it is all too evident….and I did not come alone…"

The other seekers made their appearance, surrounding the Archangel where he stood.

"So Nathaniel continues to poison you all in droves…."

"You do not seem so confident without your precious human plaything to tend to you. Where is she anyway? Are you not going to formally introduce her to your clan…Michael?!"

The Angels laughed cruelly, revelling in their mockery.

"Cassidy Albright is not here. She is far from here. You will not see her again"

"Perhaps it is all the better that she should be spared this spectacle…though, perhaps Iblis, she too would rejoice in witnessing your destruction."

Iblis was silent for a moment before finally speaking again. "You should not speak so confidently. A death sentence does not equal an execution."

"Regardless, Iblis…I am your reaper."

Bound in his quantum-lock, as the first blow was thrown, the Archangel could only allow his mind to focus on her.
Her face.
Her voice.
Her mannerisms.

His first memory of her.

And what would more than likely be his last.

"So Leon cheated on Shauna, then?" Edmund asked between mouthfuls of Vindaloo curry. "Or at least tried to?"

He was talking as if his tongue was about four times too big for his mouth.

Cassidy had warned him not to order the strongest curry on his first go.
She had reminded him that the authentic spices were nothing like the artificial, commercially processed, Aldi-bought occupants of most kitchen cupboards but as always, her pleas fell on deaf, all-knowing ears.

Right now, the sandy-haired young man was turning a ripe, plumish red from the shells of his ears to the slightly protruding vein at the base of his neck and his eyes were starting to glint from the foreboding tears of heat frustration.

His platonic lunch date couldn't help but feel a little bit amused despite the less than pleasant tributary that their conversation had branched into.
"Yes, that's what Petra said anyway," Cassidy remarked, helping herself to another piece of Naan bread.

"Does it sound absolutely horrible to say that I'm not surprised?" Edmund managed to choke out after taking a long gulp of ice water. "I mean, Leon's a fairly friendly chap and he's a good sport for a good laugh but, well, men who know that they're handsome have been known to take liberties that they shouldn't…"

"That's a bit of a generalisation," Cassidy returned, taking Edmund's glass of water and replacing it with her own cup of tea. "Eat hot, drink hot. Cold water will put your tongue into shock," she added in explanation and in response to Edmund's confused expression. "And if that's the case, Ed, then how do you account for your own good looks and winning personality combo?"

"Simple," he smirked, taking a cautious sip of Cassidy's tea. "I have boundless modesty." He sat back in his seat, letting his arms drape over the mahogany rests. "So…I'm assuming that it's not the prospect of Leon cheating on his girlfriend that's got you looking so uneasy…and I'm also going to go ahead and assume that it's not our lack of progress with the dig either. So, what's up, Cass?"

He looked at her over the rim of his glasses, his eyes glinting with the tentative concern that didn't appear in his voice. "Nothing…weird going on with you lately?"

Cassidy's fingers briefly curled around River's note where it was nested safely in her pocket before she answered with a shrug. "I just…uh…well, Petra mentioned something about Leon flirting with Louisa too and uh…" Cassidy felt her heart grow heavy, her eyes becoming very fixed on the bowl of curry in front of her. "I guess I just wondered why she never mentioned it. That's all."

"Mm?" Edmund clicked his tongue thoughtfully, placing the cup back down Cassidy's side of the table. "Wow...that tea trick actually sort of works…" He smiled at her with a kind of gentility that she wasn't used to seeing from him. "And while Petra's great for gossip- about ninety percent of what she says is a lot of airy-fairy bullshit and that's a prime example, right there. Not saying that Leon wouldn't cheat on his girlfriend in a heartbeat but there's not a snowball's chance in hell that Louisa would keep something like that from you." He quirked an eyebrow at her, smirking. "Especially considering she knew all about that revolting crush you have on him..."

"Had," Cassidy corrected him sternly, unable to disguise a slight smile.

"Before I forget to say it to you," Edmund quickly interjected. "I noticed when I was reviewing the paperwork earlier that your apprenticeship is almost up at the Museum. Now because now I'm taking over from our dear, departed Hewitt, I can renew your time period here with you working as my apprentice…but I've noticed that your file has a request interview from Doctor Rosenstock." He grinned at her. "So how about it, then? You headed off to Dublin next year?"

Cassidy swallowed another spoonful of rice. "Mmph…I'm not sure about it, if I'm honest."

"You can always claim a grant if needs be. There are channels for it, you know?"

"No, no…money's not the issue. It's just…moving to Ireland would be a big change. I'd be leaving everything here, that's all nice and familiar to…to well, something I've never had any experience with before."

"Ireland's not all that scary. Rainy? Yes. But not scary."

"It's not the country. It's the whole…moving away…starting all over again. I mean, I've always kind of been a home-bird. I didn't even move out of home for Uni."

"It's only for a year," Edmund mused. "And take it from someone who did actually move out for Uni. No matter how much you love the look of home, some time away from the familiar never hurt anyone…"

"I'll give it some thought," Cassidy mumbled, helping herself to a sip of Edmund's water. "If I'm honest, Ed. The apprenticeship is pretty much the last thing on my mind right now."

"In that case, let's end the topic," he responded airily. "Give your dear co-worker a hand, will you? I'm in need of some advice."

"Oh?"

"Some woman-type advice."

"Oh."

"Do you think it would be weird if I got Alexia a Christmas present? Like, I know we haven't known each other well for very long but like, I think it'd be the right gesture to say…to say…"

"To say: Hi Alexia, you're my secretary whom I've only known for two weeks and you're the only one on the staff I've decided to buy a Christmas present for to communicate some kind of odd school-boyish lusts. Please don't file a lawsuit?"

Edmund sat back in his seat, lacing his fingers, pouting. "It's nothing like that."

"No? True love, is it?"

"…no…but like…I'm getting you a present too. And Richard and Omar. Alexia isn't the only one."

Cassidy chortled slightly, decidedly between two mindsets.
The first groaned that she had more important things on her mind than such trivial, trinket-esque matters.
The second silently revelled at the opportunity to engage with one of her dearest friends in chatter that wasn't related to something maddening or murderous.

A third- rather side-lined- voice may have been present too, mewling something about how the absence of a watcher's gaze could be just as imposing as the presence of it.

But she found that she could silence that voice quite easily with another spoonful of curry-glazed rice and a smile in Edmund's direction.

"I'm flattered. Really, I am."

"You should be. I'm not even your Secret Santa this year."

"While you're on a streak of generosity, do you think that you could give me a hand with something?"

"Providing it doesn't cost me money, blood or my dignity…"

"I need directions," Cassidy told him, lifting a hand to flag down a nearby waitress. "Do you know where Sparrow and Nightingale's is? From what I remembered, it was a kind of DVD rental place but Google can't seem to find it…"

"Sparrow and Nightingale's? It's not a rental place…it's kind of like a vintage, hipster type thrift shop that does old movies, old CDs, all that kind of thing. It's not too far from here actually," Edmund informed her. "It's about ten minutes away. Just walk as if you're headed towards Picadilly Circus and it's about three doors down from the first Tube Station Entrance that you come to." He reached down to his briefcase, not taking his eyes from her. "Why're you headed there?"

"Christmas shopping of sorts," was the only explanation that Cassidy offered before smiling up at the attending server and asking for the bill.

Cassidy made a mental note as she walked to never ever ask Edmund for directions again as long as she lived.
As she briskly slalomed down busy London streets, attempting to navigate the crowd while simultaneously looking for clues as to where exactly she was standing.
She had been walking in a spray of Winter sleet for well over ten minutes and she hadn't come within viewing distance of any form of Tube Station Entrance.

Groaning in exasperation as the rain started to grow heavier, Cassidy frowned and wedged herself into a nearby alcove in a vain attempt to seek shelter amongst similarly disgruntled shoppers.

"Bloody hell," she muttered under her breath, massaging her paling knuckles.
She must not have been as quiet as she had initially hoped because only moments later, a blonde-haired woman echoed the sentiment.

"You're telling me, love. Out Christmas shopping, are you?" the woman asked her, turning her head, her hoop earrings jangling.

"Hm? Uhm…yes…er…no…well…"

"Last minute impulse shopping? Yeah, that's me too. We picked the perfect day, didn't we?"

Cassidy returned the lady's smile. "It would seem so."

"I never know what to get for people and then just when I've picked something out, I spot the perfect gift."

"My mother always said the real fun in gift shopping is the searching. The running around and the comparing and the queuing…"

"Hah, I'm assuming your mum never discovered the wonders of Ebay then?"

"She and I never really learned to trust internet shopping."

"Maybe you both will someday? It's right handy. My own daughter set me up and now the shopping's a breeze."

"…maybe."

The woman's voice adopted a note of concern as she rootled through one of her shopping bags. "Not so close to your mum anymore?"

Cassidy's gaze became fixated on a point on the dampening pavement and her lips curved into a sad smile. "Not as close as I'd like to be."

She could feel her eyes starting to grow a little misty and the corners of her mouth starting to ache. In a desperate attempt to disguise the sudden onslaught of emotion, she plunged a hand into her pocket to retrieve a crumpled tissue and feigned a coughing fit.

The woman must have sensed that a sensitive topic had been touched upon because without missing a beat, she freed a hand from under her shopping bags to offer it to Cassidy. "Jackie Tyler."

The younger woman happily took the older's hand. "Cassidy Albright."

"Sorry if I hit a nerve there. It's just…well, I'm not as close to my own daughter as I'd like to be anymore and…you rather look like her…sorry…" She shrugged, her grin becoming bashful. "Sometimes, I dunno where my filter goes. I just see people and say whatever comes into my head."

"It's alright," Cassidy told her. "I'm not the best when it comes to meeting new people either. Seriously. I'm awful at it. I'd better your daughter would beat me at that in a heartbeat."

"Maybe," Jackie chuckled. "My Rose was always the sort who'd make friends easy. She'd come trailing in the door every day after school with a weird new friend…" The woman's voice became a little melancholy. "Though one day she came home with the weirdest friend of all...and after that, things got complicated…and I stopped seeing her as often. I should've expected it, I s'pose. She was growing up after all."

The younger woman nodded. "I understand." Cassidy experimentally held a hand out from the awning to see if the rain had lightened up. "I doubt that means she loves you any less…my mum used to say that when you see someone less, it just means the time that you do spend with them is that little bit more precious."

"Funny, that," Jackie smiled. "My own mum used to say summit like that. She used to say that time is like the best present that you can give someone because it's the only 'fing you'll never be able to take back. True, innit?"

"Yes. Very true."

"D'you ever wonder what it'd be like to turn back time?" Jackie's eyes wandered up to the clearing sky, the barest slivers of Winter sunlight starting to break through. "I reckon it's some'fing everyone does at some point…"

"I used to."

"Not anymore?"

"I suppose…I don't need to anymore."

"Very wise, you are, Cassidy. I can tell that straightaway."

"Ah…thank you. But I'm not a wise person. I've never really been. Just someone who frequently makes a lot of bad decisions and is constantly learning new ways to fix them." She chuckled. "And well…time travel seems a bit scary to me."

"Jus' like I'm suspected," Jackie insisted. "Very wise, indeed. And from one wise woman to another, blow your own trumpet once in a while dearie or else no one will!" She reached over to give Cassidy a good natured pat on the shoulder before returning her gaze to the heavens. "I'd best head off then. While it's still good…"

Cassidy smiled faintly, giving the sky a second glance. "I'll try to remember that. Yeah, me too actually. Hey, you don't know how I could find my way to Spar-?"

But when the young woman turned around in the alcove, Jackie Tyler had gone.
Disappeared into the streams of pedestrian traffic that traversed the footpath in their coat-laden and umbrella-topped droves.

Feeling that she could do little else and certainly aware that she was running out of time, Cassidy edged her way out into the hoards once more and started making her way down the street ahead.

Fortunately for her, it wasn't long before she came across the shop that she was looking for.

"Sparrow and Nightingale," she read aloud, examining the shopfront and mentally reminding herself never to take directions from Edmund again, she made her way inside.

A door chime heralded her arrival but no one seemed to be at the main desk to welcome her. She took the opportunity to have a look around, immediately curious at the sight of row upon row of DVD stands. A closer examination of the titles revealed that they were all quite old titles too.
There weren't just DVDs either. There were video cassettes too.
And books.
And ornaments.

The whole place had the disjointed feel of an Xtravision outlet that had been crossbred with an antiques dealership.
The warmth was quite welcoming in lieu of the early December chills but the musty scent reminded her far too much of work and that she needed to be back there as soon as possible.

The shop wasn't very big so it didn't take her long to do an entire lap of the place, (having picked out a DVD for herself in the process). River Song was nowhere to be seen and the longer she spent looking around, the longer Cassidy began to feel uneasy.

She looked at her watch.

It was five minutes past the hour.
How did she even know that the message she had seen had been from River?

What proof did she have of that?
How did she know that this wasn't some kind of trap that had been set up for her?
She needed to start being more careful…

"Can I help you?"

Cassidy jumped slightly at the appearance of a lanky young man from behind one of the shelves.

"Gah, didn't mean to scare you," he apologised, putting down the box that he had been carrying. "Anything I can help you with today?" He spotted the DVD in her hand. "Ah, you need someone to ring this up. Not a bother." He took the case from her hand and beckoned for her to follow him over to the cash register. "Ever seen this one before? It's really good. I can quote it word for word." He grinned. "You're not one of our regulars, are you? I'm Larry by the way. Larry Nightingale."

"Cassidy Albright," she returned, fumbling for her purse and trying to still the quivering in her fingers. "Nightingale, hm? That's a really interesting name. Who's the Sparrow, then?"

"Sally," the attendant informed her. "My girlfriend. Well. My fiancée now, I guess."

"Oh, congratulations," she bade him, handing him the equivalent of the price tag on the front of the cover. "Going to have a Christmas wedding?"

"Oh no. I suggested it but Sally wouldn't have it at all. Rightly so, probably. I mean, Sally's the brains of the operation. Of the shop and the relationship…"

Larry continued talking as he packaged the DVD into a brown paper bag for her.
Cassidy wasn't really listening though.
For the first time, she noticed that the message on his t-shirt read as:

"The Angels have the Phone Box."

Eventually, Larry caught sight of her expression and followed her stare.
"Oh, the t-shirt? Do you like it? It's a custom job, actually."

"Is…is that a quote from something?"

"Bit of a private joke actually. Kind of the reason that Sally and I met." He handed her the package and a receipt. "So, is there anything else that I can give you a hand with?"

"…yes, actually. I know this might sound odd but did someone named River Song happen to come in here earlier?"

"River Song?" Larry looked confused for a moment and then shook his head. "No, sorry, Miss. Can't help you there. Was she supposed to get something for you? Or leave something for you?"

"No…she just said she'd meet me here and there's no sign of her."

"Ah, I see. Well, if someone by the illustrious name of River Song does pop in later, I'll be sure to let her know that you stopped by. Want me to take a number or a message?"

"Uh…no, thanks. She knows how to contact me and…" Cassidy shrugged. "I wouldn't know what to say to her anyway."

She said her goodbyes and stepped back outside, feeling a little concerned for what was going on, paranoia creeping over her like crawling ivy- taking a hold of her skin and clinging to her as it grew and fed.

That was, until, someone grabbed her by the elbow and pulled behind a nearby brick-wall. She stumbled, tripping over a fallen dustbin and trying to maintain her balance before sinking to the sullied, soddied ground in a clumsy defeat.

"Hello there, Cass. Good to see you got my message."

Slightly winded and rather damp, Cassidy looked up to see the beaming silhouette of Professor River Song. Unsure as to whether she felt more disgruntled or relieved, she staggered to her feet.

"…I did. What do you want me t-?"

River placed a finger over her lips, inciting a few unpleasant memories and silencing her at the same time.

"Listen up, lady. I don't have very long so I need you to pay attention. First off, the Doctor doesn't know about this."

Cassidy's lips flexed beneath her touch as she tried to speak. "Know about what?"

"About you and about I. About you being here with me. About me being here at all. And about the fact that you're currently living in sin with quite a very volatile new housemate."

Cassidy opened her mouth to speak again but River placed a second finger over her lips. "No time to chat. Keep listening. I'm not as disapproving as sweetie is but from here on out, if you're dealing with the Lonely Assassins in any number, you'll need to be more careful. I know that things get difficult when feelings get in the way of sense but you've got to keep a cool head on your shoulders…"

"Feelings? I don't-…"

The number of fingers over Cassidy's lips increased to three, effectively causing her eyes to widen.

"No need to be coy, Cass. We've all been there. Now, I've got a little present for you." She took Cassidy by the hand and produced an odd looking device from her pocket. It appeared to be a kind of bulky, black watch. "Whenever you leave the house, you'll have to wear this…" River strapped it on to Cassidy's wrist, adjusting it so that it was tightly clamped down. "This is a dimensional transporter. Very interesting little trinket. Basically a maverick time traveller's best friend. Just input the date and time and co-ordinates and off you go.
Unlike most time travelling devices, it's not a case of wiring it to be a constant vortex manipulator, constantly draining energy- instead you set it to make a certain number of journeys and add on more as you need them. This one is equipped for exactly four journeys. Got that? Four. Now, this is important.
You will need all four of these journeys at some point in your future. These will take you forward and back in time but be careful. One wrong move and you could be stuck in the wrong time zone.
It's the fatal flaw of this device. The killswitch, if you will. To make sure that users keep their transporter topped up, the manufacturer added quite a formidable feature. Once the device runs out of journeys, it locks the user in the time zone that they've landed in. Remember that, Cassidy.
It locks them in. It doesn't matter after that if you've got a TARDIS or a Delorean or all the natural time travelling powers in the world- your field of time consumption will be so drastically altered that you'll never be able to leave that time zone. Ever."

"Wh-?!"

Four fingers clamped down over her lips.
"Four journeys, Cass. Four. Remember that." River Song glanced around. "Sorry about the delay in our little rendezvous here but I had to make doubly sure that your darling Michael wouldn't be hot on our tails."

Cassidy wriggled her head free of River's grasp. "How could you be so certain that Michael wouldn't be here today? In fact, why-?"

"Because you told me he wouldn't."

"What? When?"

River produced a red notebook from the knapsack on her back. "When I read this book. The book that you wrote." She ran her finger along the seam, rippling the pages. "Three hundred and twelve pages, hand-written, back to front, detailing you and your Weeping Angel's adventures from the very start. All dated. All written by you. Future Cassidy."

Cassidy leaned forward to take a hold of the book but River held it out of her reach, cocking an eyebrow.

"Can't let you do that, Cass. Spoilers." She tucked the book away again. "All you need to know for now is that you'll write this book someday and then you'll give it to the Doctor."

"That's all I need to know?! What about why I'll need this thing? This dimensional transporter thing?"

"Spoilers, dearie."

"River, that time when I showed you around the Museum…you said that you thought I was smart."

"I still do."

"So please don't leave me in the dark about this. "Spoilers" is not a good reason to keep someone out of the loop if their life might depend on it and I'm going out on a limb here and guessing that if you're here and we're having this conversation then my life is, in fact, in danger."

River sighed. "I can't tell you what to do with that transporter because if I do, you could make the active decision to avoid getting involved in the situation for which the transporter will be used and this thing needs to happen." The professor took a hold of her forearm. "Cassidy. You're going to have to start understanding that all time is connected. Tiny decisions you make right now can have absolutely detrimental effects on the future. True, time isn't linear but it is also extremely sensitive."

"I'm sorry, I just- oddly enough- am a still a bit of a novice when it comes to time travel."

"Then you're just going to have to trust me….trust me and trust Michael…"

"Michael?"

"This is where things start to get complicated, Cassidy," River told her, gently placing a hand on both of her shoulders. "This is the point where things begin to change."

"Things are already pretty complicated...and I've only barely gotten used to things as they are; change is the last thing that I need right now."

"No one ever said that this would be easy. You're just going to have to roll with the punches for now…and you two need to rely on each other to get through it all. You know that. He knows that. What the two of you have right now is what's going to determine how this conflict with Michael's tribe ends."

"What we have? River, Michael and I…there's nothing between us but a lot of hatred and some very, very unhealthy obsession…"

"Have you considered what's going to happen when this is all over and there's nothing to force the two of you to work together anymore? Do you think he'll just leave you alone?" River leaned in closer to her. "Do you think you'll be able to leave him alone?"

Cassidy's stomach started to churn uncomfortably, her face heating up. "Of c-…of course I will. Do you really think I'd hunt down a psychopathic alien who wants to enslave me?"

"Because you haven't hunted him down before?"

"I had to-…"

"Did you? Did you, really? Because it seems to me like all you did was involve yourself in a conflict that solely concerned Michael. Did you really have any proof that the other clan members would have gone after Abbie again? Or anyone else connected to you for that matter?"

"Well…no…but I couldn't exactly take that chance. I c-!"

"And a "psychopathic alien who wants to enslave you|?" Are you certain that that's who Michael really is? Are you certain that his feelings towards you haven't changed at all in your time together? That he doesn't care about you?" River folded her arms, smirking faintly. "He's tore through time for you. Broke the laws of his species for you. I could tell that he had it bad from the moment he rushed into unknown danger to save you. I had you at gunpoint. Just a woman holding a gun…and I can say I've never seen or heard a Weeping Angel so frightened…"

A huge lump had formed in Cassidy's throat as uneasy echoes of that morning's conversation echoed in her pounding ears. Her brow furrowing, she took a step away from River, uncontrollable venom entering her voice. "Look, River, I'm really thankful for your help but with all due respect- you don't know what you're talking about. You don't know Michael the way I do. Whatever I've written in that book or whatever I'm going to write in it, doesn't change the fact that right now, this minute, I'm pretty certain that nothing that Angel has done so far has been for my benefit."

Professor Song regarded her with a steely gaze for a moment, her light smirk never fading.
"…do you really think he wouldn't do just about anything to ensure that you weren't harmed? He's had plenty of opportunities to let you die and oddly…despite how much hassle you give him…he hasn't."

"He…he think he owns me."

"And it's a little strange, don't you think, that Michael would allow his "possession" to wander around the streets unsupervised? Certainly seems a little strange considering he supposedly doesn't listen to you, trust you or have any concern at all for your feelings…"

Cassidy's shoulders slumped, the cold, dampness of the winter air finally starting to permeate her skin as her body trembled. "I…I…what are you implying?"

"I'm not implying that you should forgive him anyway. Not that. Not at all," River told her, examining her nails absent-mindedly. "What I'm implying is that perhaps you should re-assess why Michael had done certain things he's done…and maybe ask yourself the lengths that Archangel would go to, to avoid seeing you dead…."

Cassidy's legs had begun to quake as her ears drank in the words that were quite literally the furthest from what she wanted to hear. She opened her mouth to speak but River quickly clasped a gloved hand- all five fingers- over Cassidy's lips.

"He's lost you before. He's seen you die before. He knows that he couldn't go on- couldn't fuel his desire for revenge- if he didn't have you to look forward to at the end…and even then…" River dropped her voice to a bare whisper. "…why has he changed towards you? Why would he care about your well-being?" She leaned in closer, their noses only centimetres away. "Why would he let you walk the city alone at such a crucial time in this conflict? Surely with his brethren at large, he'd only want to protect you? Keep you close?"

Cassidy's eyes widened as a new realisation dawned on her.
What if he knew that she would be safer away from him?

Seemingly satisfied, River stepped back, giving Cassidy's chin one last chuck. "Be brave. You're a smart woman. A resourceful woman. A strong woman. Now…just be brave." She winked. "And take it from a girl who knows…giving into your feelings isn't always such a bad thing from time to time."

And in a bright, violet flash, River was gone.

Cassidy clapped a hand to her mouth to still a breathy cry.
She might have been a little more amazed at the sight of the woman disapparating in front of her if it hadn't been for the heavy sense of dread that fell over her.

She needed to return home as soon as possible.

A loud clunking noise sounded out from somewhere beneath the TARDIS console and the lights began to flicker and fade.
Clara gripped the guard rail, desperately trying to retain her balance.

"Doctor? What's going on? Have we lost power or something?"

The Doctor rounded the panels, looking increasingly confused. "No…no lost power. Not that. No. The TARDIS should have taken us directly to Abbie's location based on the co-ordinates it's been given…now she's spliced."

"Spliced?"

"Stuck between two time-zones! Caught in a timey-wimey snow-drift if you will. Not good. Not good, at all." He slammed down on a nearby lever, pumping it several times and seemingly restoring the lights with each bobbing of the handle.

"But…I don't understand. It's never gotten stuck like that before. How could it get caught between two time-zones if Abbie's in the one place at the one time?"

"She isn't," the Doctor said grimly and in the tone that Clara dreaded hearing, running the sonic screwdriver around the monitor. "According to the TARDIS…there are two different Abbies…two distress signals…"

"Two Abbies?" Clara shakily jogged over to the panel, examining the dual screen as the TARDIS whirred to life once more. "How could there be two Abbies? Like two different Abbies from different points in time calling out for help simultaneously?"

The Doctor stood up straight, pulling a yellow, polka-dotted handkerchief from his jacket pocket and feverishly dabbing his forehead. "No…like two beings are calling out for help simultaneously…and one of them is the real Abbie and the other is the thing trying to convince us that it's the real Abbie…"

Clara looked up at him, shaking her head. "And what is…the thing? An Angel?"

"We have no way of telling."

"Which one is the real Abbie?"

"We have no way of telling."

"I was afraid you were going to start repeating yourself."

Clara watched as the Doctor pulled out the psychic papers and examined the little girl's message once more, his thumb tracing the shaky crayon lines. After a tense silence, she placed her hand over the Doctor's on the console.

"We have to do something…we can't just sit here…"

The Doctor nodded slowly, his voice slowly falling into the timbre that signalled impending danger. "There's only one thing we can do."

He flipped her hand over and squeezed it in his.

"We're going in blind, aren't we?" Clara said, returning the squeeze before releasing him.

The Doctor looked at the monitor once more and placed his hand back over the starting lever. "…we're going in blind."

Swallowing and gathering his mettle, he pulled back the lever, the TARDIS lights burning as the engines surged back to full power. In the wake of the electric fires, the Time Lord's eyes glowed with the fearfulness of a mortal but the determination of a god.

"Geronimo."

Cassidy's fingers were shaking from the cold as she forced the key into the front-door lock.
Or at least, she wanted to convince herself that it was because of the cold.

Her encounter with River had left her entire body partially aching and partially numb from the pure, unfiltered shock of the experience.
Considering that she had expected to walk away from Professor Song with a renewed sense of comfort or relief, she now felt more uneasy than ever regarding her situation.

Beneath all of her unspooled, unravelled confusion, Cassidy choked backwards on the fear of River simply having provided an unwitting mouthpiece for all of the insecure, ignored voices at the back of her mind.

Standing over a precipice, her breath held and her eyes stinging, Cassidy craved the comfort of something familiar.

No.
She needed it.
Depended on it.

She needed to talk to Michael and to remind herself why she hated him.
She needed to remind herself that he didn't deserve excuses or empathy or emotion spent on him.
She needed for him to play the role of the villain that he'd always been.

Her ears longed for his accusative and aggressive, condescending and cutting voice as she made her way on to the landing.
"Hey. I'm home! Work ended early and I didn't fancy hanging on around the Museum. You'd better not have broken anything again...that curtain rail is going to take forever to repair…"

The Archangel made no reply but as Cassidy's eyes travelled along the half-lit hallway, she noticed that one of the muslin curtains that hung over the glass panels in the sitting room doors were starting to flutter.

"Have you broken a window or something? Seriously?"

Still no reply.

Her heart starting to rocket in her chest, resounding in her ribcage and threatening to bring bile to her throat, Cassidy made her way over to the door, shrugging her coat and bags to the floor.

"Michael?" She raised her voice slightly. "Where are you?"

Behind the white gauze of the curtain, she could see the blurry rise of his silhouette and felt a brief surge of relief.

"Ah…there you are. What's gotten into you?" she said with a faint smile as she clasped the handle and opened the door. "Why so qu-…hm?"

The door grated against the wooden floor, caught on something.
A piece of stone.
A piece of jagged, grey, pearly stone.

Her head shaking and her own breath, a hurricane in her ears, the archaeologist looked up slowly, pushing open the door fully.

"M-Michael? Wh-…?"

Cassidy's voice was stolen from her throat as the wind vanished from her lungs and the blood drained from her face.
It took the first few shards of shaken, shocked silence before the young woman realised what she was looking at.

Then Cassidy Albright screamed.
Cassidy Albright screamed as she had never screamed before.

Hope you've enjoyed. Next chapter will be up very soon.