A/N: Sorry, this is probably the happiest note you'll be getting this chapter I'm afraid, so I really wanted to put it here...this chapter has officially gotten me to 4,000,000 words archived! OMG! I'm so thrilled! I might make it to 5,000,000 by the end of this year! ^-^ And a quick note, I couldn't bring myself to do my 'pyramid' for this chatper (even though it's the end of the 1st episode) so it'll be posted at the end of tomorrow's. And now...onto the story...

~8~

The Eleventh Hour: A New Companion

The door to the bedroom opened and Jeff's grandmother peeked in, making Jeff jump, flushing, embarrassed, "Gran!"

Angel smiled a bit at that, he looked like a child who had gotten caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Mmm...thinking of cookies made her want brownies now, perhaps she should try the brownies Gwen had tried to get her to eat the last time they'd been in the TARDIS, with little slices of oranges on them...

"What are you doing?" his grandmother looked at the Doctor, pulling Angel out of her thoughts.

"The sun's gone wibbly, so right now, somewhere out there, there's going to be a big video conference call," the Doctor murmured, typing away, "All the experts in the world panicking at once, and do you know what they need?"

"You," Angel answered.

He nodded, grinning, "Me. Ah, and here they all are," he smiled, seeing the screen break into parts, quite a few men in each box, "All the big boys. NASA, Jodrell Bank, Tokyo Space Center, Patrick Moore..."

"Ooh, I like Patrick Moore," the old woman sighed dreamily.

"I'll get you his number, but watch him, he's a devil."

"You can't just hack in on a call like that," Jeff spoke up.

"Can't I?" the Doctor asked as he held the psychic paper before the webcam.

"Who are you?" one of the men asked, "This is a secure call. What are you doing?"

"Hello. I know, you should switch me off. But before you do, watch this."

"It's here too," another man called, as the Doctor typed away, "I'm getting it."

"Fermat's Theorem, the proof, and I mean the real one, never seen before. Poor old Fermat, got killed in a duel before he could write it down. My fault, I slept in. Oh, and here's an oldie but a goodie, why electrons have mass. And a personal favorite of mine, faster-than-light travel with two diagrams and a joke. Look at your screens. Whoever I am, I'm a genius. Look at the sun. You need all the help you can get. Fellas, pay attention."

Angel glanced over at the Doctor a moment before making her way to the window and looking out at the sun. She shifted, two different, yet very similar, feelings warring in her. One was concern, worry for Amy and Rory, she didn't like the idea of leaving the two humans alone, heading for the hospital, the location of Prisoner Zero's psychic links, in case Zero decided to return there. That Rory boy...he was nice, shy, and seemed very sweet, he seemed...familiar to her, important, but he also seemed a bit afraid and trying to hide it. She didn't like people being afraid, Amy seemed capable of handling herself, of facing down Zero and aliens and being alright, but Rory...it felt like he'd need some encouragement and...

She got the odd feeling that Amy almost...didn't notice him. Rory, she could tell, was head over heels in love with Amy, yet she seemed, well...rather focused on the Doctor actually. It made her feel uncomfortable, the way Amy looked at him, it...it reminded her quite a lot of how River looked at him. And...to be honest...she was worried as well for another reason.

The Doctor was acting...odd. Much more so than just regeneration or the danger at hand, it...she swallowed, glancing at him, it was disturbing to her that...he hadn't called her his Mate. It was probably nothing though, he HAD just gotten whacked in the head with a cricket bat and now had to deal with aliens about to burn the Earth, that didn't leave much time by way of introductions...

She shook her head and turned to look back out the window, hoping Amy and Rory were alright, she could speak to the Doctor later but right now, the Earth needed them.

~8~

Amy and Rory sped along to the hospital, pulling up outside the building with a screech, before running out of the car and past the main doors.

~8~

The Doctor typed something on the mobile in his hand while Angel sat before the laptop, keeping him up-to-date with what the experts were discussing, Jeff beside her, sitting just a bit too close to her for comfort, making her repeatedly shift to the side a little, "Sir, what are you doing?" one of the men called.

"I'm writing a computer virus," he explained, "Very clever, super-fast, and a tiny bit alive, but don't let on. Why am I writing it on a phone? Never mind, you'll find out. Ok, I'm sending this to all your computers. Get everyone who works for you sending this everywhere. Email, text, Facebook, Bebo, Twitter, radar dish, whatever you've got. Any questions?"

"Who's your lady friend?" Patrick winked at Angel.

Angel just shook her head at him and laughed, "A bit too old for you I'm afraid."

"What does this virus do?" another man questioned.

"It's a reset command, that's all," the Doctor said, "It resets counters, it gets in the Wi-Fi and resets every counter it can find. Clocks, calendars, anything with a chip will default at zero at exactly the same time. But, yeah, I could be lying, why should you trust me? I'll let my best man explain," silence, "Jeff, you're my best man."

"Your what?" Jeff looked up at him.

Angel closed the laptop partway as the Doctor turned to Jeff, "Listen to me. In ten minutes, you're going to be a legend. In ten minutes, everyone on that screen is going to be offering you any job you want. But first, you have to be magnificent. You have to make them trust you and get them working. This is it, Jeff. Right here, right now. This is when you fly. Today's the day you save the world."

"Why me?"

"It's your bedroom. Now go, go, go!" he ran out of the room, Angel getting up and following after.

Jeff opened the laptop, "Ok, guys, let's do this," he started typing.

"Oh, and delete your internet history," the Doctor popped back in before taking off again, running out of the house with Angel and looking around.

"This way," Angel called, leading him off.

~8~

Rory talked with the other nurses while Amy stood a few feet away on her mobile, "Something's happened up there, we can't get through," Rory told her as he walked over.

"Yes, but what's happened?" Amy asked as she redialed.

"I don't know. No one knows. Phone them."

"I'm phoning them. Doctor? Oh, Angel, we're at the hospital, but we can't get...oh!"

"What did she say?"

"Look in the mirror," she turned to see herself in police garb, "Ha ha! Uniform!" she put her hair up and picked up the phone again, "Are you on your way? You're going to need a car."

~8~

The Doctor drove a fire engine merrily down the way, "Don't worry!" he shouted as Angel held the phone up, "I've commandeered a vehicle!" he reached out, about to turn the siren on when he noticed Angel frowning and looking at the phone in her hand, "What is it?" he asked.

She blinked and shook her head, looking up at him, "The Wi-Fi," she began.

"What about it?" he frowned.

She paused, looking back at the phone, Luke Smith had said something about Sarah Jane making up a story that the Wi-Fi had gone mad and caused hallucinations when the Master changed all the humans. And now, just then, the Doctor talking about how he'd made something that got into the Wi-Fi...she couldn't help but feel like...there was something more to it.

"I don't know," she admitted, "I just...this virus," she held up the phone, "You hacked into the Wi-Fi and put a slightly living virus in there, so, technically, someone else could too..."

"Yes, and?"

"What if...what if the Wi-Fi hacked into someone instead?" she wondered, "What if there was a living thing in the Wi-Fi?"

He looked at her a moment before laughing, "Something living in the Wi-Fi?" he shook his head, grinning as he turned the siren on.

Angel looked at him a long while, a bit...hurt. Only a tiny bit though, the last him (and she really DID need to stop comparing the two) would have believed her, no matter what, and she knew that her thoughts that something could invade the Wi-Fi were out there even for them. She'd spoken of some ridiculous moment before and he'd laughed yes, but he'd gone along with it, he'd humored her. Perhaps this Doctor just needed a bit more proof, like...a solid vision or a real and genuine feeling instead of her mind getting ahead of her.

Still...her gaze returned to the phone in her hand, she couldn't shake that feeling though.

~8~

Rory and Amy stepped out of a lift to see the corridor was a mess, gurneys and tables overturned, scrubs and utensils littering the floor. A woman stood there in the middle of the hall, holding the hands of her two daughters, "Officer," she called.

"What happened?" Amy asked as they approached.

"There was a man. A man with a dog. I think Dr. Ramsden's dead. And the nurses."

Amy quickly phoned the Doctor, "Are you in?" Angel answered.

"Yep. But so's Prisoner Zero."

"You need to get out of there," the Doctor called.

Rory turned from Amy to the woman as she spoke again and he noticed it was one of the girls speaking but with the mother's voice, "He was so angry. He kept shouting. And that dog, the size of that dog, I swear it was rabid," Amy and Rory backed away, "And he just went mad, attacking everyone. Where did he go, did you see? Has he gone? We hid in the ladies."

"Oh, I'm getting it wrong again, aren't I?" the mother asked, "I'm always doing that. So many mouths," they opened their mouths to reveal the teeth of Prisoner Zero.

"Oh, my God!" Rory gasped.

"Amy?" the Doctor yelled, "Amy, what's happening?" Rory and Amy ran down the corridor and into one of the wards, closing the doors behind them and sliding a broom through the handle, "Amy, talk to me!"

They backed away from the doors, to the center of the ward as Amy lifted the phone, "We're in the coma ward. But it's here, it's getting in."

"Which window are you?"

"What, sorry?"

"Which window?"

"That one!" Angel shouted on the other end, "First floor, left, fourth from the end."

"Yeah," Amy replied.

Just then Zero broke through, the three 'women' walking in, "Oh, dear. Little Amelia Pond. I've watched you grow up. 12 years, and you never even knew I was there. Little Amelia Pond, waiting for her magic Doctor to return, but not this time, Amelia," the mother opened her mouth to reveal the teeth when Amy's phone beeped.

She opened it to see 'Duck!' and heard the wail of a siren from outside before she pushed Rory to the ground as a ladder from the fire engine broke through the window. The Doctor climbed in and joined them, "Right!" he grinned, hopping off, "Hello! Am I late?"

"No," Angel shook her head, following him in, "Three minutes to go."

He nodded, "So still time."

"Time for what, Time Lords?" Zero looked at them.

"Take the disguise off. They'll find you in a heartbeat. Nobody dies."

"The Atraxi will kill me this time. If I am to die, let there be fire."

"Ok. You came to this world by opening a crack in space and time. Do it again, just leave."

Angel frowned, "She didn't open the crack, did you?"

"No," Zero said.

"Somebody did," the Doctor argued.

"The cracks in the skin of the Universe. Don't you know where they came from?" she tilted her head, the girls with her, "You don't, do you?" she looked between them, "Either of you?" she grinned, speaking in her daughter's voice, "The Doctor and the Angel in the TARDIS don't know," she sang, "Don't know, don't know!" and then her voice returned to normal, "The Universe is cracked. The Pandorica will open. Silence will fall."

Angel took a step back with a wince as images flashing in her mind...

…the Doctor turned around to look at a large crack in the back of a ship above a locked door…

…a stone box sat in a dark room with green glowing etchings carved into it in circular patterns…

…a pale creature with a large head and no mouth dressed in a black suit reached out, electricity around it…

Angel pressed her hands to her head, feeling it start to throb. This had happened before, she knew, such a long time ago, in the hospital with Martha, she'd heard 'burn with me' and then heard it again on the ship with the killer sun. She knew what this had to mean, the events...they were a long way off. But...she got the feeling that what she'd just seen, were a VERY long way off, farther than she'd seen between the hospital and the ship, much farther.

She swallowed hard as she looked up, slowly lowering her hands, oh she didn't like this. She didn't like it at all, bad things always happened when she stepped foot in a hospital. The Doctor always said she was his good luck charm...but she really believed it to be the opposite when hospitals were involved, she was NEVER lucky when it came to them. First with Albion Hospital, with Jamie, then New Earth, and Cassandra, then Royal Hope Hospital, the Judoon trying to suffocate everyone, and now this? She probably should have stayed outside with the fire engine, that way, the Doctor's plan was sure to go smoothly.

Now though...she could only guess that something was going to go wrong. That was just her luck in a hospital...

There was a clicking sound, pulling her out of her thoughts.

The Doctor looked up at the wall behind Zero, "And we're off! Look at that," he pointed at it, "Look at that!" the clock now read 0:00, "Yeah, I know, just a clock, whatever. But do you know what's happening right now? In one little bedroom, my team are working. Jeff and the world. And do you know what they're doing? They're spreading the word all over the world, quantum fast. The word is out. And do you know what the word is? The word is zero. Now, me, if I was up in the sky in a battleship, monitoring all Earth communications, I'd take that as a hint. And if I had a whole battle fleet surrounding the planet, I'd be able track a simple old computer virus to its source in, what, under a minute?" he pulled the mobile from his pocket, "The source, by the way, is right here," a bright light flared through the windows, "Oh! And I think they just found us!"

"The Atraxi are limited," Zero stated as the Atraxi started searching their floor of the hospital, "While I'm in this form, they'll still be unable to detect me. They've tracked a phone, not me."

"Yeah, but this is the good bit. I mean, this is my favorite bit. Do you know what this phone is full of? Pictures of you. Every form you've learned to take, right here. Oh, and being uploaded about now. And the final score is, no TARDIS, no screwdriver, two minutes to spare!" he spread his arms, "Who da man?" there was silence, "Oh, I'm never saying that again! Fine."

"Then I shall take a new form."

"Oh, stop it, you know you can't. Takes months to form that kind of psychic link."

"And I've had years," her form glowed and…

"Amy!" Angel whirled around, catching Amy just before she fell, laying her gently to the floor as the Doctor rushed over.

"No!" he knelt down, "Amy?" he put a hand to her face, "You've got to hold on. Amy! Don't sleep! You've got to stay awake, please."

"Doctor?" Rory looked up at Zero.

He turned to see Zero looking just like him, "Well, that's rubbish. Who's that supposed to be?"

"That's you," Angel whispered.

"Me?" he turned to her, "Is that what I look like?" she nodded.

"You don't know?" Rory asked, confused as to how someone could not know what they looked like.

"Busy day," he stood, "Why me, though?" he faced Zero, "You're linked with her. Why are you copying me?"

"I'm not," Zero stated, stepping out from behind the Doctor...as little Amelia, "Poor Amy Pond. Still such a child inside. Dreaming of the magic Doctor she knows will return to save her. What a disappointment you've been."

"No," Angel called, looking at Zero with a frown even as she held Amy's hand so the girl wouldn't be scared, "That's not it...she's not dreaming about you because of that, she's..." she looked at Amy and back at the Doctor, "I think she can hear you!"

The Doctor ran back to Amy, "Amy, don't just hear me, listen. Remember the room, the room in your house you couldn't see? Remember you went inside. I tried to stop, but you did. You went in the room. You went inside. Amy…dream about what you saw."

"No!" Zero screeched, "No...no!" it glowed, transforming into the eel-like creature once more.

"Well done, Prisoner Zero," the Doctor turned to it, "A perfect impersonation of yourself."

"Prisoner Zero is located," the Atraxi stated, shining the light in, trapping it in the beam, "Prisoner Zero is restrained."

"Silence, Doctor," it spat, "Silence will fall," and it slowly faded away.

There was a blast of air outside as the ship left, the Doctor running to the window a moment, looking out, before dialing on the mobile.

"The sun, it's back to normal, right?" Rory looked between the Doctor and Angel, "That's…that's good, yeah? That means it's over," Angel nodded, knowing that sometimes humans just needed some sort of answer to feel reassured, as Amy slowly woke up, "Amy? Are you ok? Are you with us?"

"What happened?" she groaned.

"He did it. The Doctor did it."

"No, I didn't," the Doctor shook his head.

"What are you doing?" Rory asked, eyeing him with the phone.

"Tracking the signal back. Sorry, in advance."

"About what?"

"The bill," he held the phone to his ear, "Oi, I didn't say you could go! Article 57 of the Shadow Proclamation. This is a fully established, level 5 planet, and you were going to burn it? What? Did you think no one was watching? You lot. Back here. Now!" he tossed the phone to Rory and grinned, "Ok, now I've done it," he turned and strode out of the room.

Angel sighed and got up going after him, this new him was very big on striding out of places with no warning wasn't he?

Amy quickly got up to follow them, Rory rushing after her calling, "Did he just bring them back? Did he just save the world from aliens and then bring all the aliens back again?"

The Doctor walked down the corridor, the trio following, "Where are you going?" Amy shook her head.

"The roof," the Doctor said, "No, hang on," he turned and entered a room, a changing room, sifting through the clothes lying there, tossing away what he didn't like.

"What's in here?"

"I'm saving the world," the Doctor remarked, "I need a decent shirt. To hell with the raggedy. Time to put on a show!"

"You just summoned aliens back to Earth," Rory said, "Actual aliens," the Doctor pulled off his old clothes, "Deadly aliens, aliens of death, and now you're taking your clothes off...Amy, he's taking his clothes off."

Amy just smirked, clearly enjoying watching him do so.

"Turn your back if it embarrasses you," the Doctor shrugged.

"Are you stealing clothes now? Those clothes belong to people, you know," he sighed and turned around, looking over at Amy, "Are you not you going to turn your back?"

"Nope," she grinned.

Angel laughed, walking over to the girl and turning her around, linking her arm through the ginger's to keep her facing the wall.

Rory shot Angel a relieved smile, having felt more than a little awkward with his girlfriend watching another man undress...but then he frowned, noticing something, "Angel what happened?" he turned, gently taking her arm. She was standing between her and Amy, Amy to her left with him on her right, and he could see a red cut on her arm, it was quite small, more like a scrape than anything, but still...it looked like it stung.

"What?" she looked over, and down at her arm, "Oh..." she blinked, she hadn't even really noticed, "It's fine Rory, it's just a scratch..."

Rory shook his head though, his finger gently tracing the area around the cut but not on it, "Come on," he tugged her to the door, Angel taking Amy with her as her arm was still linked with hers, "There's a first aid kit on the wall I can clean it with."

"Rory really, it'll be fine," she had to smile though at his concern, he was SO a nurse...

And then she blinked, a thought striking her.

Rory, RORY, the NURSE.

Oh Lord! Oh, oh, oh, she started beaming! She knew it! She just KNEW it! She'd always felt, more and more surely, that her next companion would be a man, a nurse, with an R name...RORY! Oh she was buzzing, oh that was excellent! She knew the Doctor had plans of asking Amy to be his companion, how brilliant would that be if Rory was hers?! They could take both humans with them! Rory and Amy, in the TARDIS, together, oh that would be wonderful!

So pleased was she in her thoughts that she hadn't even noticed that Rory had succeeded in pulling her out of the room with Amy and was already working on dabbing at her scratch with a small bandage. So excited was she...that she hadn't even noticed the Doctor hadn't noticed she was hurt.

~8~

The Doctor walked out onto the roof of the hospital, now wearing a long-sleeved pink shirt, brown trousers with braces, and a number of ties of different styles draped around his neck. He made his way over to the Atraxi ship, Amy and Rory standing back a bit while Angel stood between the two groups off to the side a bit.

"So this was a good idea, was it?" Amy hissed, "They were leaving."

"Leaving is good," the Doctor replied, "Never coming back is better. Come on, then! The Doctor will see you now."

The eye popped out of the ship to hover before them and scanned the Doctor, "You are not of this world."

"No, neither is Angel," he pointed back to her as she was scanned as well, "But we've put a lot of work into it," he examined a tie and turned back to show them it, "I don't know. What do you think?"

"Is this world important?"

"Important?" he turned back to the eye, "What's that mean, important?" he threw the tie over his shoulder and Rory caught it, "6 billion people live here, is that important? Here's a better question. Is this world a threat to the Atraxi?" he threw another tie back, towards Amy, "Well, come on. You're monitoring the whole planet. Is this world a threat?" he paused, looking down at the last two ties hanging around his neck, one a long, average tie, and the other a bowtie.

He stared at the tie, an itching in his mind...

~oOo~

"You have to promise me something."

"Anything," he said automatically.

She shook her head, amused, "Whenever you regenerate next, and it had better be a good long while from now," she added, making him laugh, "Swear that you'll keep the tie," she reached out and gently started to tug it out of his suit.

"Ok," he nodded, though he was frowning in an adorably cute/confused way, "Can I ask why?"

She smiled, "Imagine how hard it would be to do this with a bowtie," she quipped, pulling him down gently by said tie to kiss him deeply, feeling him smiling in return into the kiss, pulling her closer as he wound his arms around her, deepening the kiss even more.

~oOo~

Before he shook his head at the...something...whatever it was...it had gone too quickly for him to really grasp what it was that had struck him about the tie. He frowned down at it, unable to help but feel like...like he'd made a promise about the tie...before he shrugged and tossed the long tie back to Rory as well, going with the bowtie.

Angel, who had been watching him curiously, frowned, shifting a bit...she could admit that ties, real ties, just didn't seem to fit the new him, they really didn't, so she couldn't blame him for tossing it away in favor of the bowtie but...it was like there was something more to it...like...the tie didn't fit him, but like it was more than just a tie...

The Atraxi created a projection of the Earth with scenes from history, "No."

"Are the peoples of this world guilty of any crime by the laws of the Atraxi?" he added.

"No."

"Ok. One more. Just one. Is this world protected? Because you're not the first lot to come here," as he spoke the projection showed the Cybermen, the Daleks, the Racnoss, Ood, Sycorax, a Sontaran, a Sea Devil, Reapers, the Hath, the Vashta Nerada in spacesuits, and more, "Oh, there have been so many! And what you've got to ask is...what happened to them?"

The projection shifted to his first incarnation as he turned away from it to take a tweed coat from Rory, flipping through all of them as Angel smiled at them, right to his tenth...

When he walked through it, "Hello. I'm the Doctor. Basically...run!"

The Atraxi flew back to the ship and raced off as Amy laughed.

The Doctor felt something in his pocket and reached in, pulling out the TARDIS key glowing. He looked over to Angel who smiled and they took off.

"Is that it?" Amy kept her gaze on the sky, "Is that them gone for good? Who were they?" she looked around to see the Doctor and Angel were nowhere to be seen.

~8~

The Doctor and Angel ran out the front of the hospital and across the lawn, Angel leading the way, right back to Amy's. They ran into her back garden to see the TARDIS looking blue as ever with a small St. John's Hospital sticker on the door beside the white instruction panel.

The Doctor beamed, "Ok! What have you got for us this time?" he opened the doors and looked around, amazed, "Look at you!" he breathed, "Oh, you sexy thing! Look at you!"

Angel laughed, stepping in and looking around at the glass floor around the console, the grilling gone, and an upper and lower walkway, stairs leading off to the hallways instead of a gantry, "Oh you're just beautiful," Angel smiled, lightly stroking the rotor as the TARDIS hummed...

But her smile fell when she heard the sound, it didn't sound...happy...but more...resigned and sorrowful, like it was regretting something about to happen. Her frown deepened when the Doctor moved to touch a lever and the TARDIS sparked at him, making him snap his hand away.

He winced, "Sorry about the mess," he called to the box, thinking it was lingering irritation on the TARDIS's part over the destruction his regeneration had caused.

"Come on girl," Angel patted the console, "Let's see what you've got!"

The Doctor nodded, pointing at her, and they ran around the console, powering the box up, disappearing...

~8~

...just as Amy and Rory ran back to the yard.

Amy closed her eyes, remembering that time years ago when she was little and waiting for the TARDIS, hearing the wheezing fade and smiled.

~8~

Amy woke up one night, hearing the TARDIS returning and jumped out of bed. She ran to the window, looking out to see the box back in her garden and grabbed her dressing gown. She ran out of the house, in her gown and slippers to see the Doctor and Angel standing outside the TARDIS, though Angel was a few feet away from it, looking at the flowers growing in the garden.

"Sorry about running off earlier," the Doctor said, "Brand new TARDIS, bit exciting. Just had a quick hop to the moon and back to run her in. She's ready for the big stuff now."

"It's you," Amy breathed, "You came back."

"Course we came back. We always come back. Something wrong with that?"

"And you kept the clothes."

"Well, I just saved the world, the whole planet, for about the millionth time, no charge. Yeah, shoot me! I kept the clothes."

"Including the bowtie."

"Yeah, it's cool. Bowties are cool."

Angel laughed as she saw him tweak his bowtie, she was sad to see the tie go, she really was, but, she supposed, she could admit that the bowtie did suit him...

"Are you from another planet?" Amy looked at him closely.

"Yeah," he smiled, "Angel is too."

Amy nodded, "So are you and her like…"

"No!" the Doctor shouted, flustered, as Angel froze, "No, we're not. NO. Just friends."

"Ok..." Amy eyed him oddly at his sudden outburst, not seeming to notice Angel look at him in confusion.

"So what do you think?"

"Of what?"

"Other planets. Want to check some out?"

"What does that mean?"

"It means...well, it means...come with us."

"Where?"

"Wherever you like."

"All that stuff, the hospital, the spaceships, Prisoner Zero..."

"Oh, don't worry. That's just the beginning. There's loads more."

"Yeah, but those things, amazing things, all that stuff..." she suddenly scowled, "That was two years ago!"

"Oh, oh! Oops."

"Yeah."

"I told you," Angel said, her voice quiet as she stepped closer, her gaze on the Doctor, frowning in concern, "It only need a quarter turn this time."

"So that's..." the Doctor winced.

"14 years!" Amy shouted.

"14 years since fish custard. Amy Pond, the girl who waited, you've waited long enough."

"When I was a kid, you said there was a swimming pool and a library, and the swimming pool was IN the library."

"Yeah. Not sure where it's got to now. It'll turn up. So...coming?"

"No!"

"You wanted to come 14 years ago."

"I grew up."

"Don't worry. We'll soon fix that," he snapped his fingers and the TARDIS door slowly opened, bathing Amy in a warm orange glow as she entered slowly, looking around, while the Doctor walked over to the console.

Angel cast a glance at Amy before walking over to the Doctor, really, really needing to talk to him.

"Doctor…" Angel began quietly, "Is something wrong?"

"What do you mean?" he looked up at her.

"You said we were friends."

"Yeah?"

"…is that it?" she started to tremble a bit, a rather large pit forming in her stomach.

"Yeah?"

"But…I'm your Mate."

"Yeah, of course you are," he smiled, "We're mates, good friends. Why?" he laughed a bit...though his laughter soon died out when he saw the look on her face, like her world had just fallen apart in the most devastating way, and he couldn't, for the life of him, figure out what he could have said that was so bad as to get a reaction like that from her, Angel was always smiling and she loved all her friends dearly, "What's wrong?"

Angel just stared at him a moment longer, taking a peek into his mind, not that he even seemed to notice it, before she blinked and looked away, oh God...no...this couldn't be happening...

"Nothing…" she shook her head, looking down, her voice breaking, trying desperately to keep the tears that had filled her eyes from falling at what she saw in his mind. She swallowed hard, "Can…can you pilot the TARDIS for a bit, I just…I want to go..." she winced, shaking her head again at the words, no, she needed a better excuse to leave, to get out of there, she couldn't...she couldn't stand there and...she took a breath, throwing out the first thing she could think of, "Check on my room…make sure it's still there."

"Sure," he nodded slowly, worried about her, "Of course I can," he hoped his room was still standing too, "Go on!" she nodded and slowly walked off and out of the room. He watched her go, a little concerned but turned to Amy when Angel had disappeared around a corner to the halls, "Well...anything you want to say? Any passing remarks? I've heard them all."

"I'm in my nightie," Amy blinked.

"Oh, don't worry. Plenty of clothes in the wardrobe. And possibly a swimming pool. So...all of time and space, everything that ever happened or ever will..." he smiled up at the rotor, "Where do you want to start?"

"You are so sure that I'm coming," Amy smirked at him, making her way to the console.

"Yeah, I am."

"Why?"

"'Cos you're the Scottish girl in the English village, and I know how that feels."

"Oh, do you?"

"All these years living here most of your life...and you've still got that accent. Yeah, you're coming."

"Can you get me back for tomorrow morning?"

"It's a time machine. I can get you back five minutes ago," he patted the console, and it sparked...making him pull his hand away, "Or Angel can, yes, she definitely can," he muttered, frowning at the box, though he was sure it was just that HIS regeneration had damaged the old box, that had to be why it wasn't angry at Angel at the moment, "Why, what's tomorrow?"

"Nothing. Nothing. Just...you know, stuff."

"Alright, then. Back in time for 'stuff,'" he looked over as a new sonic extended from the console's surface, "Oh! A new one!" he tested it, seeing the green light on the end, "Lovely," he patted the console tentatively, relieved when it didn't spark, "Thanks, dear."

The TARDIS just hummed, sounding almost like the box was trying to tell him he'd only gotten a sonic with great reluctance on the box's part. He shrugged, he was never really good at understanding the TARDIS, he'd have to ask Angel what the box was humming about later.

"Why me?" Amy shook her head.

"Why not?"

"No, seriously. You are asking me to run away with you in the middle of the night. It's a fair question. Why me?"

"Me and Angel," he reminded her, "And I don't know. Fun. Do I have to have a reason?"

"People always have a reason."

"Do I look like people?"

"Yes."

"Angel and I've been knocking around on our own for a while, our choice, but I've started talking far too much, I think it's giving her an earache."

"You're lonely?" Amy eyed him, "That's it? Just that?"

"Just that. Promise," he brought up the monitor, seeing a line on it that looked like the crack in Amy's wall.

"Ok."

He turned the monitor off, "So, are you ok, then? 'Cos this place, sometimes it can make people feel a bit...you know."

"I'm fine. It's just...there's a whole world in here, just like you said. It's all true. I thought...well, I started to think that maybe you were just like a madman with a box."

"Amy Pond, there's something you'd better understand. It's important, and one day your life may depend on it. I am definitely a madman with a box. Ha ha! Yeah," she laughed, "Goodbye, Leadworth. Hello, everything!" he hit a button and the TARDIS dematerialized, both of them holding onto the console with a cheer.

~8~

Angel slid down the door of her room as it shut behind her as she felt the TARDIS take off. It was not the room she had shared with the Doctor ever since he'd asked her to be his Mate oh so long ago. She shook her head and curled in on herself, her hearts breaking as a sob burst out of her. She understood now, why the TARDIS had been so sad, had hummed so sadly, when she'd told the box to remove her room, when she'd believed she wouldn't need it anymore. The room was the same, exactly the same, the TARDIS had archived it instead of deleting it, because...she knew...the box had known that it would be needed again.

She stared at the ceiling, letting her head fall back against the door, banging it quite hard really but unable to truly feel it, she just felt...numb. Completely numb. And cold. That was why the TARDIS had been trying to keep her back, keep her close. She and the TARDIS shared a special bond, she'd always had a bond with every TARDIS she'd been around, but THIS one...this one was special. She knew the old box was fond of her, she could always feel it, the box loved her as much as she did the old girl. All the sparking around the Doctor, the trying to throw him out, the pained humming to keep her back...the TARDIS knew what had happened to the Doctor. The box had clearly been angry with him, was still angry with him, but had been trying to protect HER from it, from this...heartsbreak she was feeling.

It hadn't worked. Because she'd run off after the Doctor, unable to leave him with Zero on the loose and the other aliens about to destroy the planet. He'd needed help, and so she'd gone after him. And she'd had to experience the new him.

The Doctor had been acting odd during the entire adventure and, at first, she'd just assumed it was him adjusting to a new set of characteristics, a new personality or that it was his head feeling a bit weird from getting whacked with a bat…but it was more than that and it had started long before Amy had hit him. It was the way he treated her, running off without her, not holding her hand, how he'd barely even glanced at her, like he was ignoring her just a little, cut her off at times and not even with kisses...and the way he looked at her when he did notice her, like the sparkle she'd always seen in his eyes was just...missing…

And then what she'd seen in his mind...or what she hadn't seen...it tore her apart.

She never ever thought it would be this bad though. She never ever thought this would happen, not ever. She winced, that was a lie...in a way she'd known it was coming, some part of her had seen it. She felt like she couldn't breathe, her hearts aching painfully...the exact same feeling, only so many times worse, as when she'd woken up after she and the Doctor had finished the Mating process. And she knew...THIS was what her dream she couldn't remember had been about.

She dropped her head onto her knees and wept, because there was little else she could do. She should have known, she should have realized, he'd said it himself, the first thing he'd said to her as his new self and the worst part was he didn't even seem to realize...but that was just it, wasn't it?

He'd regenerated…

And he'd forgotten that they were Mated.

He'd forgotten her.

A/N: Before I say anything else and before you entirely and completely freak out, PLEASE (at some point either now or after you read the A/N but before possibly reviewing) check this out, I swear it just might blow your minds...and make you REALLY truly freak the freak out...if you think your hearts and minds can handle it...look at Hearts to Hearts, chapter 11, The Shakespeare Code: All the World's a Stage, just after the Doctor remarks that Lilith's naming won't work on him. I'm really hoping you all are like, '...what? -goes to check- ...OMG! O.O -vein twitches in head- What? What?! WHAT! -dies-' How's that for a prophecy? }:D

(and now one really quick note before I talk about this chapter. The next chapter will be the Meanwhile Mini-sode, according to the stats, the mini-sode chapters seem to be skipped over at times, I'm not saying read them if you don't want to, but I am saying that there will be events in them that will reference the twist and the Doctor and his reaction to it that might be worth a read, the Doctor is...interesting...when Angel isn't there by his side...)

Now, we can move onto this chapter...if you're still alive after the TSC moment that is...

Those last three words killed me to type.

Poor, poor Angel to go from SO happy she found Rory to this. You all thought he forgot the TARDIS was crashing, didn't you? Some suspected there was more to that line than it first appeared. You're right, always more to it with me }:) But I'm sorry to say, it'll only get worse for her }:D Nothing in my Sneak Peek drabbles pointed to this did they? }:) (they were SO hard to pick out because of it) It's a rather big twist, very sudden, probably the only one I'll pull with no lead up to it, however I wanted it to be jarring and to try my hand at writing a twist that I could explain retroactively :) Angel's stuck with this life-changing thing, and now she has to work out what happened and why it happened and if she can do anything about it (and she will try all she can, but really? She said it right to his face and well, we saw what happened). There will be quite a few theories on her part but none of them will come close to the real truth :) And we will find out very soon specifically what the Doctor remembers and doesn't.

This will also explain how badly 11 piloted the TARDIS (to me, worse than his past selves in never ending up where he wanted to go), she's THAT cross with him that things just keep getting messed up, but there will still be reasons behind the trips she takes them to. And...I can say there's more to the TARDIS's anger in trying to throw the Doctor out at the beginning, but it'll be a while before we find out what that is.

I can promise you now, we'll see more of the Doctor's views on this semi-(yet very specific as you'll find)-amnesia, how he sees his life/past, if he notices he's forgotten something (like Angel fears he hasn't), his reactions around Angel (around her with other men or River). I can promise that the Mating is still there, Angel can still hear him and feel him, but something is just...keeping him from doing the same it appears (he didn't hear her calling him before). And I can say there will be little things popping up with the Doctor that he won't understand (because he doesn't remember) but we'll have to wait and see what they are (he won't be completely unfeeling of Angel). I CAN promise that the ~oOo~ (I'm sure you guessed are snippets of things he's forgotten) will be in every single actual episode of DW (maybe even in the mini-sodes) where he doesn't remember Angel's his Mate (sometimes more than one of them, but I won't say how many episodes that will be). I feel I should say, he remembers who Angel is, but NOT who she is to him as Angel implied just now, what that means for everything he felt for Angel we'll have to see. That will be seen in later chapters as Angel works it out. We'll see more and more of the Doctor just...knowing and feeling something's wrong...but as for whether he'll remember or not...well...

The Uber-Moffat has just been pulled }:)

And there are plenty more to come, probably not as uber-Moffat-like as this one though ;)

And now, since I know I will likely be hunted down for this...I have one last thing to say, just one thing...BYE! -runs for dear life-

Some notes on reviews (being typed from a super-secret/secure/undisclosed location)...

It is sort of like him wanting her to see what it's like being with a different person, isn't it, lol that was unintentional :) Oh the Angel/Rory friendship will be an EPIC part of the saga and the relationship that develops between them is just touching :') Today is the final chapter of the Eleventh Hour yup :) As for how I write the stories, I pre-write everything, I really try not to post anything if I haven't gotten all of it (or a very, VERY large portion of it) written out first. I have this phobia of becoming an author who abandons a story in the middle and I feel, having it all written out and editing it heavily before I post helps me keep going. I do a lot of editing before I post a chapter to incorporate things and add more detail but it's largely pre-written :)

I can say Angel will be affected by the end of the Pandorica episode, but it might not be in the way you expect :)

Angel will cry because of the Doctor (which was devastating to write because his whole thing was to protect her from everything). I can say that, there will be quite a few tears to come, but...Cold Blood. O.M.G. THAT episode literally ripped my heart out to write the end of, and that was for Rory (and a bit of the Doctor). But we'll see quite a bit of emotion in (for this series) Victory of the Daleks, Vampires of Venice, (Cold Blood of course), Vincent and the Doctor, and Big Bang. I won't say what sort of emotions, good, bad, surprising, but they'll be the more emotional ones :)

Oh yes, romance is not one of the genres for this particular story ;)

The bond between them hasn't been broken, nope, but their bond will be in trouble I can say that }:) Angel might do something particularly drastic in Beast Below... }:)

I felt doubly awkward about the chapters, first to write them then to proof them. Good catch at how he's not adding that Angel's his Mate :) Oh big brother Jack will be appearing in this story, I won't say when till we get closer :) ...though I will hint that the relationship Angel will have with Rory might spark her need to see Jack -wink wink-

The romance might just be more about Amy and Rory, but I'm not making any solid promises :) I was holding off about exactly why it's angst till this chapter :) I'm sure you can guess why it'll be angsty now, poor Angel :( But I swear, if you thought her angst here is bad...wait till Vincent and the Doctor and Cold Blood. I can say that Angel won't be as ignored as in this episode, it really was the running around and Zero and regeneration, but now that things have calmed down it won't be quite as bad. A few people have noticed/guessed the twist, but I can say the part that I'm not sure if people noticed can be found right at the start of my last A/N (about the Shakespeare Code), THAT one is the one that might really get to people in an 'OMG I CAN'T BELIEVE SHE/LIZZE DID THAT!' way (at least I hope lol) :) The theory is very good, not quite what's going on though :) We'll have to see just how the Doctor might feel about Angel (beyond his 'we're mates, good friends' thing) but I'll say you might want to read the next chapter when it comes out, the mini-sode for just a teeny tiny bit of relief. I can say they don't break up...because there's no official break up, it's just...a big old mess that no one knows what's going on in. The Doctor didn't officially end anything, and Angel has no way to bring it up to him, not really, but officially, no break up :) Imagine how much harder that will be for Angel to bear, knowing that }:)

Lol, I can't quite see Angel punching the Doctor, but I CAN say that the Doctor (and Amy!) WILL be bothered by how close she and Rory will get ;)

Thanks for pointing that out about the rose thing, I checked but I couldn't find 'throne' anywhere, just thorn, but thanks! :) Oh yes, the 'his Angel friend' was a big thing, especially how the Doctor didn't correct her, and even cut Angel off from correcting them. I tried to make it seem like he was just amused by the 'cartoons' thing but really...he just wasn't correcting them :) I can say we'll see some fluff, but likely not the fluff you might be hoping for :)

I can say that 11 will be just as expressive, maybe even more so than my other stories, but it'll be a while before we see it...and even then I won't say expressive towards who }:)

Lol, oh yes, the chocolate twist has happened. I can promise at least...2 strawberry twists and quiet a few vanilla twists to come as well :) Also, just to answer the question from ATOTL, I'm hoping, if Clara dies in the show, that it'll be in a way where (as a Time Lady) she can regenerate and that would be the moment she becomes more like an OC and leaves the Doctor/Evy to travel with J (so that I don't have to tweak the episode too much). If she doesn't die but just pulls a Martha and decides to leave, I would probably have her regenerate soon after in an adventure with J to return to the OC ideal :) The Doctor/Evy would see it as an ending, like...their son's Link nearly died because she was travelling with them and they can't be responsible for that and would want her to be with J from then on sort of thing (by then I also see LJ reaching the 'girls are gross' stage so he'd be ok with Clara going off) :)