The Time of Angels: The Mortarium

The Doctor made his way down a rope ladder and joined Octavian at the bottom of the main chamber of the catacombs. They turned on their torches and looked around, Amy and River joining them, Angel finishing off the climb despite being in a dress, she knew no one would be looking up her skirt as she climbed, all the men there were of the church and highly professional. She reached the bottom rung and moved to step off, when her boot caught on it and she stumbled back, nearly falling over had someone not jolted forward and caught her.

She gasped as she felt someone grab her, her eyes locking with the Doctor's. She wasn't mid-fall or anything, really had just stumbled and nearly tripped if he hadn't steadied her. But...his arms were still around her, supporting her even though she was still and balanced again, "Thanks," she whispered.

But the Doctor just stared at her, a small yet thoughtful frown on his face as his eyes stared into her own, his breath catching in his throat.

Something that earned a rather narrow glare from River, not that anyone could see in the darkness of the chamber.

Angel frowned, seeing him just...looking at her, not letting her go, in fact...it almost felt like his arms were tightening around her, "Doctor?"

"Right," he shook his head and quickly let go of her, stepping back as well, "Sorry."

What had that been? He wondered about it a moment, he'd been about to let her go, about to just set her upright again and tell her she was welcome for it but...something had stopped him. He'd just felt...warm. There was a warmth that had rushed through him at the sensation of having Angel in his arms. He...couldn't actually remember holding her or even hugging her in this body of his, that was the first time he'd really touched her now that he thought about it. It was...nice...made him feel fuzzy...happy...

He shook his head, no, it was probably just the excitement and danger around them that was making him feel so giddy, "Do we have a gravity globe?" he turned to the men.

Angel eyed him a moment, even more confused about everything than before. She really wished she'd paid more attention in school now, maybe they would have (or had) taught her something that would be useful now. She didn't understand him. At times it was like he couldn't be far enough away from her, both physically and emotionally, but then...there were times like just then where they were close, where they had a moment, and he just...ignored it. Why let himself have it if he didn't want it? She closed her eyes a moment, trying not to let her hopes rise that, perhaps, he still did feel something for her after all.

"Grav globe," Octavian held out a hand. One of the men pulled a sphere out of his pack and handed it to him.

"Where are we?" Amy squinted in the darkness, "What is this?"

"It's an Aplan mortarium," River flashed her torch around, "Sometimes called a maze of the dead."

"And what's that?"

"Well, if you happen to be a creature of living stone..." the Doctor said, kicking the gravity globe up into the air like a football. It stopped at its peak and lit up the cave, showing a large number of statues, "The perfect hiding place."

"I guess this makes it a bit trickier," Octavian sighed as they looked around.

Angel frowned, looking out at the maze, shifting a bit, getting a very, VERY bad feeling about all this.

"A bit, yeah."

"A stone angel on the loose amongst stone statues. A lot harder than I'd prayed for."

"A needle in a haystack," River remarked.

"A needle that looks like hay," the Doctor continued, "A hay-like needle. Of death. A hay-like needle of death in a haystack of, er, statues. No," he grimaced as his thoughts got away from him, "Yours was fine."

"Something's wrong," Angel said quietly, looking at the few statues that were set up around them, "Something's very, very wrong."

She could feel it, looking at them, they were wrong. They were SO wrong. But why? She rubbed her head, the migraine had struck completely now. It was almost like...everything around them was wrong, and it was pushing against her, pressing down on her mind, trying to tell her something she just couldn't quite...grasp yet.

"What is it?" the Doctor looked at her intently, recognizing the tone of her voice, it was a tone he'd come to know meant she should be listened to, because it was important. Not that everything she said wasn't important, Angel's words were always important, Angel was the sort of woman who should be listened to, noticed...

"I don't know…" she admitted with a sigh.

"Well that's helpful," River murmured dryly with a roll of her eyes.

"I just…" Angel looked at her, "I can't quite see it yet. There's too many things that are wrong, I can't single one out. Because it's not one thing," she turned to the Doctor again, "It's everything."

Octavian looked her a moment before nodding his head slowly, "Right…" he turned to his men, "Check every single statue in this chamber. You know what you're looking for. Complete visual inspection. One question, how do we fight it?" he looked at the Doctor.

"We find it, and hope," the Doctor walked off, Amy and Angel following.

River went to follow as well, when Octavian grabbed her by the arm, "He doesn't know yet, and neither does she, do they? Who and what you are? What you did?"

"It's too early in their time stream," she agreed with a smirk.

He tightened his grip on her arm, all too aware of her past, of what she'd done, of the damage it had caused. And those two, that man had no idea what was coming for him in Utah because of this woman, and that girl...he recognized her now. He DID know of her, hadn't heard Dr. Song mention her once, hadn't been expecting her to be there, but now he knew who she was, what she was, what she could do, what would happen to the Time Lords. He did NOT like that smirk on her face, that pleased smirk that told him she was only all to happy that the knowledge was not with the duo yet. That girl was sweet, everyone knew what would happen to her and the Doctor because of Dr. Song, he would NOT see that come to fruition now.

"Well, make sure they don't work it out," he hissed, "Or not even the Angel will help us."

"I won't let you down," River rolled her eyes, "Believe you me, I have no intention of going back to prison."

"Sir?" a soldier stepped over, "Side chamber. One visible exit."

"Check it out," he nodded, "Angelo! Go with him."

"No!" Angel shouted, looking back at them, having heard him call for Angelo from a short distance away with the Doctor, feeling a flash of fear race through her at the thought of the men going off alone, "Don't go. Trust me. Don't let them go."

Octavian paused, hearing a seriousness in her words. He looked at River questioningly, the rumors of the Angel's talents were well known, but he hadn't experienced for himself how accurate they might be.

River pursed her lips, "Believe her," she said quickly.

Octavian nodded and motioned the soldiers back, to follow them through the maze instead.

~8~

The Doctor flashed his torch in every direction as he walked through the maze, Angel close behind him, though taking the lead when he paused to look at a statue with a scanner. She walked off a few feet ahead, her outline barely visible in the darkness as she looked around.

Amy stopped and looked at the levels above them, all the statues lining the way and rubbed her eye with a finger, finding a little grit on it. She frowned and used her full hand to rub her eye, dark sand and more grit falling through her fingers. Scared, she quickly stopped and looked at her hand...only to find it normal, no sand at all.

"You alright?" River asked as she came up beside her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. So, what's a maze of the dead?"

"Oh, it's not as bad as it sounds. It's just a labyrinth with dead people buried in the walls. Ok," she winced, "That was fairly bad. Right give me your arm," she showed her a syringe, "This won't hurt a bit," and gave Amy a shot.

"Ow!"

"There, you see. I lied. Learned from the very best," she glanced at the Doctor a moment, "It's a viro-stabilizer. Stabilizes your metabolism against radiation, drive burn, anything. You're going to need it when we get up to that ship."

"So...what're they like?" Amy asked her quietly, glancing at the Doctor as well, "The Doctor, in the future, I mean. 'Cos you know him in the future, don't you?"

"The Doctor?" River smiled, happy to talk about HIM at least, "Well, the Doctor's the Doctor."

"Oh, well that's very helpful. Mind if I write that down?"

"Yes, we are!" River called out.

"Sorry, what?" the Doctor called back, taking a reading down on the scanner.

"Talking about you."

"I wasn't listening, I'm busy."

"Ah. The other way up."

The Doctor turned the device over and looked at River, "Yeah."

"You're so his wife," Amy laughed.

River, though, glanced at Angel, before smirking, "Oh, Amy, Amy, Amy! This is the Doctor we're talking about. Do you really think it could be anything that simple?"

"Yep."

"You're good," she spoke, just a tiny bit louder, "I'm not saying you're right...but you are very good, and it's not like he's married," she looked over to see Angel, who had glanced over at them, look away and walk off a little bit further.

Amy frowned, seeing that, realizing that River had done that intentionally, spoken louder so Angel would hear her in particular, not the Doctor. But that didn't make sense, why would River care that Angel knew about her and the Doctor in the future? Angel and the Doctor weren't in a relationship, sure, she'd noticed that Angel seemed a bit...close and...different around the Doctor. She got quiet at the oddest times and looked at him as though...as though he should realize something. She supposed, maybe, Angel did care quite a good deal about the Doctor, but the Doctor, to her, had made it quite clear he was single and unattached, which was excellent for her.

But still, it didn't explain River and how she kept acting around Angel. She knew the Doctor could be oblivious at times, but she'd also seen that River was almost...careful...in how she phrased things around Angel, how she acted, her tones and looks, like she was purposefully trying to keep the Doctor from noticing. But why didn't she like Angel? Angel was so nice, really nice, like Rory. Sweet and nice and caring.

"What about Angel?" she asked.

"What about her?" River shrugged.

"Why don't you like her?"

"Why does everyone always assume I don't like her?" River huffed a bit, as though she'd gotten asked that question a lot.

"Well…do you?" Amy gave her a look, it really was quite obvious that River didn't care for the Time Lady a good deal.

"No," River sighed.

"Why not?"

Before River could answer the sound of gunfire reached them.

The Doctor ran back down to the main chamber, the girls following him, to see a young cleric had fired at one of the statues, "Sorry," he looked down, "Sorry, I thought...I thought it looked at me."

Angel frowned and walked over to the statue, eyeing it intently as Octavian rounded on the boy, scolding him, "We know what the angel looks like. Is that the angel?"

"No, sir," the boy bowed his head.

"No, sir, it is not! According to the Doctor, we are facing an enemy of unknowable power and infinite evil. So it would be good, it would be very good, if we could all remain calm in the presence of decor."

"He's right to be on guard though," Angel turned around and stepped over, moving beside the young cleric and putting an arm around him, not liking how he was being yelled at just for being scared. It was natural, he didn't need the shouts, if anything, all he needed was a little reassurance and he'd be ok, "What's your name?" she smiled, "Hold on..." she eyed him, "Something with a B?"

"Bob, ma'am," he answered, looking at her a bit impressed and a bit shocked, "How did you know?"

"She's psychic," the Doctor stated.

Angel's smile fell a bit, hearing him sounding like he was literally just making a statement and not a sweet remark, "And you're a thief," she countered.

"That's a great name though," the Doctor grinned, "I love Bob."

"It's a Sacred Name," Octavian explained, "We all have Sacred Names, they're given to us in the service of the Church."

"Sacred Bob," the Doctor walked over, "More like Scared Bob now, eh?"

"Yes, sir," he nodded.

"It's ok Bob," Angel gave him a small squeeze, making him look at her, not seeing the Doctor's gaze drop to her arm around the boy or eyeing how close together they were standing, "It's natural to be scared," she rubbed his arm, "I'm scared."

"You are ma'am?" Bob blinked at her, startled, neither of them noticing the Doctor frown at that, at the fact that Angel was scared.

That...wasn't right. That wasn't right at all. Angel shouldn't be scared, she should be protected and feel safe and know things would be ok. She should know he'd always be there to protect her, it was his job as her mate...he winced at the word again, he didn't know why he kept doing that, friends looked out for each other.

Angel nodded, "I am, but you know what," she nudged him, "We'll all look out for each other yeah?"

"Yes," the Doctor nodded, cutting in, a bit pleased when the two looked over at him once more and not at each other, "Scared is good. Scared keeps you fast. Anyone in this room who isn't scared is a moron. Carry on!" he turned to head out of the chamber once more.

Angel gave Bob one more small squeeze before stepping away and moving to follow the Doctor.

"We'll be moving into the maze in two minutes," Octavian called out, before looking at Bob, "You stay here. Guard the approach."

"No," Angel turned around, "I told you before Bishop, don't let anyone alone. We all stick together or…"

"Yes, thank you for your opinion ma'am," Octavian sighed, "But I'm in charge of my Clerics, they will do as ordered," he understood she was psychic, but she couldn't see everything, they needed at least one pair of eyes to guard the approach and Bob seemed more reassured at the moment, "Now, keep watch."

Angel frowned, watching as Octavian turned to start down the maze. She looked over at Bob who tried to give her a small smile. She managed to muster one in return, though it fell the moment she turned around. Her hearts were tugging at this, she could insist all she wanted that Bob go with them, but she got the feeling Octavian was a stubborn man and her protests would be ignored until she had a real and true feeling or vision and not just a sense that they should all stay together.

~8~

"Isn't there a chance this lot's just gonna collapse?" Amy looked around as they walked up an upward passage, "There's a whole ship up there."

"Incredible builders, the Aplans," River sighed as they stepped through an archway.

"Had dinner with their chief architect once," the Doctor recalled, "Remember that Angel?"

"Don't remind me," Angel grimaced. She'd gotten stuck between two very chatty Aplans and one of them had rather bad breath. That had been with his 9th self though, far less sweet than quite a few of their other trips, she wasn't surprised he remembered that one. He'd spent half the time making fun of Rose and Jack and how the humans had been trying to keep up with two conversations going at once. At least, until the chief architect had asked him if SHE was his second head, which made him blush. That moment was gone though.

"Two heads are better than one."

"You mean you helped him?" Amy guessed.

"No, he means he literally had two heads," Angel said.

"That book, the very end, what did it say?" the Doctor called to River.

"Hang on," River flipped through the book.

"Read it to me."

"'What if we had ideas that could think for themselves? What if one day our dreams no longer needed us? When these things occur and are held to be true, the time will be upon us. The time of angels.'"

~8~

Bob spun around, hearing a whoosh of air only to see nothing. He tightened his grip on his gun, not seeing the shadow of an angel appear on the wall behind him.

~8~

"Are we there yet?" Amy moaned, "It's a hell of a climb."

Angel opened her mouth to answer, actually knowing why it was built the way it was from that trip, when River beat her to it, "The maze is on six levels representing the ascent of the soul. Only two levels to go."

"Lovely species, the Aplans," the Doctor said, glancing at Angel, "We should visit them again some time."

He hoped she'd say yes, despite the bad breath of that one bloke, she'd seemed to have had a lovely time. She'd been laughing and smiling and curious and excited and just enjoyed herself. He felt like she wasn't so much at the moment. She hadn't really in the museum either. Perhaps he'd let her pick the next trip, let her pick somewhere she wanted to go. It really...bothered him...to see her so...quiet and...sullen. Quite a lot really. He wanted to see her smiling and happy and laughing, like her old selves, like how she was before he'd regenerated too he recalled. He felt a bit...worried that she was so sullen because of him, because of the new him that he was.

Was he someone she just...didn't like? Was it his personality? His appearance? His...bowtie? He hoped not, he loved his bowtie, bowties were cool. He didn't think it was him, she seemed to like him well enough when they met Amy, but he did see she was a bit more down than she used to be. And it tugged on his hearts to see her like that. Yes, he'd let her pick the next trip, that would certainly cheer her up quite a lot, it was like how the companions cheered him up.

"I thought they were all dead?" Amy shook her head.

"So's Virginia Woolf. I'm on her bowling team and Angel's her alternate. Very relaxed, sort of cheerful. That's having two heads. You're never short of a snog with an extra head."

"Doctor, there's something," River cut in, "I don't know what it is..."

"Now you know how I feel," Angel remarked, eyeing the statues closely as though trying to place it.

"Yeah, something wrong," the Doctor agreed, "Don't know what it is yet either, working on it," he turned to continue on, "Then they started having laws against self-marrying and what was that about? But that's the church for you. Erm, no offence, Bishop."

"Quite a lot taken, if that's alright, Doctor," Octavian replied as they stepped into a passage, a narrow one that was filled with statues in a row to the side, "Lowest point in the wreckage is only about 50 feet up from here. That way."

"Church had a point, if you think about it," Amy joked, "The divorces must have been messy."

Angel suddenly stopped and looked at a statue as it hit her, "Oh my God…"

"What's wrong?"

"Oh!" the Doctor's eyes widened in realization as he too looked at the statue.

"Oh my God…" River repeated, "How could we not notice that?"

"Low level perception filter, or maybe we're thick."

Angel swallowed, it was neither, the Doctor had proved she could see past perception filters when they'd tried to stop the Master. They weren't thick because the Doctor was brilliant, and...and so was River. And she was trying to be clever herself. No...it was something else, it was like there were so many statues that they just...didn't notice, like there were too many that they crowded around in her head and made it fuzzy and hard to see just one thing wrong.

"What's wrong, sir?" Octavian looked over.

"Nobody move," the Doctor took charge, "Everyone stay exactly where they are. Bishop, I am truly sorry. I've made a mistake and we are all in danger."

"What danger?"

"The Aplans," River began.

"The Aplans?"

"They've got two heads."

"Yes, I get that. So?"

"The statues don't," Angel finished, staring at the statue before her, one head.

"Everyone, over there!" the Doctor gestured to a space in the back of the passage, away from the statues, "Just move, don't ask questions, don't speak," everyone moved to the open spot, "Ok, I want you all to switch off your torches."

"Sir?" Octavian gaped.

"Just do it," they turned off their lights, so only his, directed at a statue's face, was on, "Ok. I'm going to turn off this one too, just for a moment."

"Are you sure about this?" River whispered.

The Doctor, however, looked at Angel instead, almost seeming to the others as though he wanted her go-ahead first.

"Only for a second," she told him warningly.

He nodded and quickly switched his torch off and back on. The statues in front of them were now all facing them.

"Oh, my God!" Amy stared as the Doctor ran ahead, "They've moved."

They followed the Doctor, looking at the statues lining their way to the ship, "They're angels," the Doctor murmured, "All of them!"

"But they can't be," River argued.

"Clerics, keep watching them," the Doctor backtracked to see all the angels they had passed on the way up were moving forward, towards them, "Every statue in this maze, every single one, is a Weeping Angel. They're coming after us."

~8~

Bob crept forward quietly, following a noise he'd heard, when he spun around at another, screaming as the angel attacked.

~8~

Angel shivered violently, looking back at the way they'd come, feeling a pit drop into her already twisting stomach, something had happened.

"There was only one angel on the ship," River turned to the Doctor, sounding desperate that he believe her that she'd never put him danger like this, "Just the one, I swear."

"Could they have been here already?" Amy frowned.

"The Aplans," Angel realized, looking up, "What happened to them, in the end?"

"Nobody knows," River replied.

"We know," the Doctor looked around.

"They don't look like angels," Octavian commented, eyeing one on the ground reaching out for them, its face distorted, no wings.

"And they're not fast," Amy agreed, "You said they were fast. They should have had us by now."

"They're dying," Angel said, eyeing the angel, feeling just...a tiny bit of empathy for the statue, it must be a cruel fate to slowly die from the inside out, well, she would know wouldn't she? It had happened to her more often than she'd like to recall, "Becoming shapeless stones," she glanced around, "They've been here for centuries, trapped, with no one to feed on."

"Losing their image."

"And their image is their power," the Doctor nodded, "Power. Power!"

"Doctor?"

"Don't you see? All that radiation spilling out, the drive burn. The crash wasn't an accident, it was a rescue mission, for the angels. We're in the middle of an army and it's waking up."

"We need to get out of here fast," River stated.

"Bob, come in, please," Octavian grabbed the comm., needing to get all his men together, "Bob, come in!"

"It's Bob, sir," Bob replied, Angel looking sharply over at the comm. as something...struck her, "Sorry, sir."

"Bob, all the statues are active. I repeat, all the statues are active!"

"I know, sir."

The Doctor took the comm., "Bob, Sacred Bob, it's me, the Doctor. Where are you now?"

"I'm talking to my..." Octavian frowned.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, shut up!"

"I'm on my way up to you, sir, I'm homing on your signal," Bob added.

"Well done, Bob. Scared keeps you fast, told you, didn't I?"

Octavian rounded on Angel, "If we had men back there we would have been warned about this!"

"Don't be an idiot," the Doctor snapped at Octavian, moving to come stand between him and Angel, his shoulders tense, his eyes narrowed at the man, something inside him not liking the man yelling at her like that, something inside him wanting to shove the man back from her.

"If you had left men back there they would be dead too," Angel shot back.

Octavian blinked, "What do you mean 'too?'"

Angel's eyes widened, having not even realized she'd said that, before turning to the Doctor, realizing the truth of her statement, "The angels...they don't usually leave you alive, do they?"

The Doctor looked down at the comm., one man couldn't possibly keep his eye on all the angels down there, "Bob…tell me, how did you escape?"

"I didn't escape, sir," Bob answered, "The angel killed me."

"What do you mean 'the angel killed you?'"

"Snapped my neck, sir. Wasn't as painless as I expected but it was pretty quick, so that was something."

"But…that's not how the angels kill you, they displace you in time. Unless they needed the bodies for something."

Angel looked at Octavian, who appeared to be in shock, "I told you not to leave him there."

"If you're dead, how can I be talking to you?"

"You're not talking to me, sir," Bob explained, "The angel has no voice. It stripped my cerebral cortex from my body and reanimated a version of my consciousness to communicate with you. Sorry about the confusion."

"So when you say you're on your way up to us..."

"It's the angel that's coming, sir, yes."

"No way out."

"Then we get out through the wreckage," Octavian determined, "Go!"

"Go, go, go! All of you run!"

"Doctor?" Amy shouted as he ushered them on.

"Yes, I'm coming, just go, go, go!" Amy and River turned to leave with the Clerics, leaving the Doctor, Angel, and Octavian, "Called you an idiot. Sorry."

"At least we managed to save Christian and Angelo," Angel mumbled, though it didn't make her feel better at all.

"Yes," Octavian agreed grimly, "But when you've flown away in your little blue box, I'll explain that to Bob's family."

"It's his own fault," Angel muttered as he stormed off, "I warned him."

"I know," the Doctor sighed, putting a hand on her shoulder a moment, squeezing it, wanting her to feel better since Octavian had nearly seemed like he was blaming her when, really, he HAD ignored her warning not to leave Bob alone, before picking up the comm., "Angel Bob, which angel am I talking to? The one from the ship?"

"Yes, sir," it answered, "The other angels are still restoring."

"Ah, so the angel is not in the wreckage. Thank you," he turned and ran along a passage with Angel, stopping short when they saw Amy standing there, "Don't wait for us, go, run."

"I can't!" Amy yelled, Angel stopping by her side as the Doctor ran back to see what had happened, "No, really I can't."

"Why not?"

"Look at it. Look at my hand. It's stone!" the hand gripping the rail beside her was stone...as she gazed on it at least.

~8~

River, Octavian, and the Clerics arrived in an open chamber where they could see the bottom of the ship crashed through the roof, "Well," Octavian remarked, "There it is, the Byzantium."

"Well, it's got to be 30 feet," River added, "How do we get up there?"

"Check all these exits," he ordered his men, "I want them all secure."

~8~

The Doctor examined Amy, flashing a torch in her eyes as Angel stood behind him, looking at the girl's normal hand...well, normal to them at least, "You looked into the eyes of an angel, didn't you?" he guessed.

"I couldn't stop myself," she frowned, "I tried."

"Listen. It's messing with your head. Your hand is not made of stone."

"It is. Look at it!"

"It's in your mind. I promise you. You can move that hand. You can let go."

"I can't, ok? I've tried and I can't. It's stone."

The light of the torch flickered, "The angel is gonna come and it's gonna turn this light off, and then there's nothing I can do to stop it. So do it, concentrate, move your hand!"

"I can't."

"Then we're all going to die."

"You're not going to die."

"They'll kill the lights."

The light flickered off a moment as the angels moved closer, the Doctor looking at it over Amy's shoulder, keeping his eye on them as Amy spoke, "You've got to go, you know you have. You've got all that stuff with River and that's all got to happen. You know you can't die here!"

Angel closed her eyes tightly a moment before looking down at her hand, rubbing her thumb and forefinger together as a golden energy grew between them. She had thought to use it against the angels in the transport unit, but they fed on energy, the Vortex would be like a 7-course dinner to them, but she might be able to help snap Amy out of this.

"Time can be rewritten, it doesn't work like that," the Doctor murmured as the lights flickered again, Amy turned to look back at the angels over her shoulder, "Keep your eyes on it. Don't blink."

"Run!"

"You see, I'm not going, I'm not leaving you here."

"Neither am I," Angel agreed.

"I don't need you to die for me," Amy said, "Do I look that clingy?"

"You can move your hand," the Doctor insisted.

"It's stone."

"It's not stone!"

"Those people up there will die without you. If you stay here with me, you'll have as good as killed them."

"Amy Pond..." he began, when he noticed the golden sparks growing between Angel's fingers and grinned, "You are magnificent. And I'm sorry."

"It's ok. I understand. You've got to leave me."

"Oh, no, we're not leaving you, never. I'm sorry about this," he looked at Angel who slapped Amy's hand with her own, sending a spark of the golden energy into the girl's hand, stinging her, making Amy snap her hand back with a gasp, "See, not stone. Now run!"

"You shocked me!" Amy accused Angel, and then the Doctor, "You made her shock me!"

"Yep and you're alive."

"I've got a mark!" she rubbed the red patch of her skin, "Look at my hand!"

The Doctor pulled her behind him, Angel pulling her out of the room, "Yeah, and you're alive, did I mention?"

"Blimey, that hurt!"

"Alive. All I'm saying."

And they turned and ran, "The statues are advancing along all corridors," they heard a Cleric report as they got closer to the chamber, "And, sir, my torch keeps flickering."

"They all do," Octavian replied.

"So does the gravity globe," River added.

"Clerics, we're down to four men. Expect incoming."

"Yeah, it's the angels," the Doctor shouted as they ran in, "They're coming. And they're draining the power for themselves."

"Which means we won't be able to see them."

"Which means we can't stay here."

"There are more incoming!" a Cleric reported.

"Any suggestions?" River turned to him.

"The statues are advancing on all sides and we don't have the climbing equipment to reach the Byzantium," Octavian added.

"There's no way up, no way back, no way out. No pressure, but this is usually when you have a really good idea."

"There's always a way out," he murmured as the lights flickered off again, more angels in the passageways, blocking them, "There's always a way out."

"Doctor?" Bob came over the comm., "Can I speak to the Doctor, please?"

"Hello, angels. What's your problem?"

"Your power will not last much longer, and the angels will be with you shortly. Sorry, sir."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"There's something the angels are very keen you and your Angel should know before the end."

"Which is?" the Doctor frowned as Angel frowned at whatever the message was, neither of them noticing he hadn't corrected Bob for calling her his Angel.

"I died in fear."

"I'm sorry?"

Angel closed her eyes at that, she understood all too well how that felt, she'd felt the same in the TARDIS when she'd died last time.

"You told me my fear would keep me alive but I died afraid, in pain, and alone. You both made me trust you, and when it mattered, you let me down."

"What are they doing?" Amy asked River quietly.

"They're trying to make him angry," River replied, her lips pursed as she saw the Doctor watching Angel closely, seeing the concern in his expression, how his grip on the comm. was turning white and starting to shake as he saw the hurt reflected on her face, clearly more affected by how upset Angel was than what Bob had directed at him.

"Anger is always the shortest distance to a mistake," Angel said softly. The Doctor eyed her carefully as she opened her eyes and met his gaze for a moment before looking up at the gravity globe.

"I'm sorry, sir," Bob spoke again, "The angels were very keen for you both to know that."

"Well then, the angels have made their second mistake because I'm not going to let that pass," the Doctor said into the comm., making Amy frown at the subtle tremor of anger in it, glancing back and forth between him and Angel as he stared at her intently, not looking away as he spoke, "I'm sorry you're dead, Bob, but I swear to whatever is left of you, they will be sorrier."

"But you're trapped, sir, and about to die."

"Yeah, I'm trapped. Speaking of traps, this trap has got a great big mistake in it. A great big, whopping mistake!"

"What mistake, sir?"

The Doctor pulled his attention away from Angel to look at Amy, "Trust me?"

"Yeah," she nodded.

He turned to River, "Trust me?"

"Always," was her instant reply.

Then to back Angel, "Angel?"

"Would I still be here if I didn't?" she countered with a small sad smile.

He grinned and finally turned to Octavian, "You lot, trust me?"

"Sir, two more incoming!" a cleric warned.

"We have faith, sir," Octavian nodded.

"Then give me your gun," he held out a hand and Octavian handed it over, "I'm about to do something incredibly stupid and dangerous. When I do..." he jumped, "Jump."

"Jump where?"

"Just jump, high as you can. Come on, leap of faith, Bishop. On my signal."

"What signal?"

"You won't miss it," he aimed the gun up.

"Sorry, can I ask again?" Bob began, "You mentioned a mistake?"

"Oh, big mistake," he said into the comm., "Huge. There's one thing you never put in a trap, if you're smart, if you value your continued existence, if you have any plans about seeing tomorrow, there is one thing you never, ever put in a trap."

"And what would that be, sir?"

"Me!" and then he fired at the gravity globe, making it explode...

To be continued...

A/N: I suppose now we know why Angel's smile was so sad in the Sneak Peeks :( She's got to trust that it'll be ok, that the Doctor will remember her one day and that's why she's still there, that's why she's still with him. I can say though, there will come a point where Angel might strongly consider and even plan to leave the TARDIS, but we'll have to see why }:)

On another note. Yesterday I was listening to the Enchanted soundtrack...and all I could think about was that Giselle reminds me SO much of Angel lol. So kind and innocent and even when someone's trying to kill her she's just trying to see the good in them but when she's hurt she's deeply hurt :) Lol, now I'm picturing Rachel Weisz dressed in Giselle's gown and River dressed as Narissa. Oh boy...and sleep deprivation kicks in lol :)

But you guys made it to the sneak peek! Woo! Time for a tiny hint of the Rory love to come :)

~8~

The Doctor and Amy jumped up and down excitedly while Angel shook her head at them, when Rory ran up.

"Rory!" Angel cheered, rushing over and hugging him tightly, startling the boy a moment at the sudden move though he automatically hugged back, feeling a bit…relieved that someone had hugged him after that experience, it was…really, it was just what he needed.

Angel pulled back, "Are you ok?" she asked him, looking him over to see if he'd been hurt.

Rory smiled, "I'm fine," he laughed, touched that she was worried about him, the Doctor and Amy had seemed a bit too excited just then to notice him…though, now that he thought about it, they'd gone a bit silent…

~8~

Awww, Angel and Rory are so sweet :) Poor Doctor and Amy, silence is never good (lol, like what I did there? :)) There is SO much more to that scene but I wanted to give a tiny little look into a small moment between them :) Just imagine the reactions to a tiny little hug like that ;)

Some notes on reviews...

I'm sorry if you're unhappy/bored with the way the story's going :( But it IS labeled under angst so you sort of need to expect it'll be packed with pity and 'bitching' and depression and sorrow lol :) Angel's trapped in a situation where she feels inferior and unable to help her Mate, she's going to struggle with it and fear things won't be ok, I think people always feel like it will never be ok when you lose someone you love. I can say though that Angel will discover something about herself in Vampires of Venice that will change her outlook on quite a few things and that she will come away from the TW crossover a stronger person. There will also be more lightness and the appearance of jealous/protective/possessive Doctor when Rory comes aboard and then more angst because Angel does lose Rory (and believe me she was going to be depending on him for something UBER important) and we still have Jack to get to and quite a few more episode-twists and another major-twist to come. I understand if you don't want to stick it out to the end and see what happens with the Doctor's memory loss, I think the story's going this way to show how deceptive and clever and subtle River can be at utterly tearing Angel down while also showing how badly the entire situation is affecting Angel (both will play a HUGE role in a later episode of this series and more in Series 6) so it sort of needs to be like this. I don't do anything or emphasize anything without a bigger reason behind it :) But I will never fault anyone for not continuing to read a story if their interest fizzles out. It's natural and it happens to everyone :)

It might have gone for Angel, but I think it might have known she was alien and that Time Lord minds (even if Angel's not as clever as others) are stronger. And, Angel was on the ground at that point, didn't have the best angle to look into its eyes at :) I can say that I'm thinking TL4 or 5/8 will end up with the angel in her. And I feel like River wouldn't have been overly concerned if Angel started stumbling around the forest and I didn't want to make her that obvious in her dislike of Angel :)

Lol, good spotting! I'm definitely trying to show that, subconsciously, the Doctor is noticing Angel and is possessive of her more and more, (-cough-DreamLord-cough-) ^-^ It's definitely on purpose and will start to pop up more and more as we go...especially when Rory gets there ;)

Oh there's way more to River than we see, I can't wait till her story plays out. I hinted here, that River's crime will be seen as much worse in the future, for quite a few reasons we'll have to wait to see :) 1969 was one of my favorites too, especially because of Dallas lol :) Oh Rory will SO react to Angel in the Big Bang/Pandorica, she'll definitely be that important to him :) That is a brilliant quote! I love it and it's so true to this story :) IF the Doctor remembers, I think he'll have a lot of trust to earn back from Angel ;) I think I just like DW and get excited, I feel like, if I really love an OC and a twist to a story I'll write so many chapters just to get to it. There's epic twists to come and I think, after the Angel dying twist, I was so excited to get to it that I just wrote and wrote and wrote to reach it. I just like thinking about how an OC can change things and that's usually my inspiration :)

Lol, I think a few people want to punch her too :) That was a BIG thing that I wanted River to do when she appeared, just almost chip away at Angel's confidence. She was just blossoming in The Next Doctor and to be confronted with River (I think more so because the Doctor doesn't remember he's Mated to her) just really gets to her. She still has lingering fears of who River is and how close she is to the Doctor and how it happened :( But I can say that there will be something in Vampires of Venice and TW crossover that changes Angel's outlook and helps her try and stand on her own :) We'll have to see exactly what's happened to the Doctor, I can say, by the end of the story I think Angel will probably have thought of nearly everything so it'll just be a matter of time to see which one is right :) I can say there'll be a line River gives in the end of Flesh and Stone that might give everyone hope...and then crush it moments later }:)

We don't know if it is his fault or not just yet }:) I can say that Angel will come up with one particular theory in a few episodes that she will feel is the most realistic and sensible explanation that...might just make it his fault ;) But I won't say what :) Oh Rory will be huge in this story! I really can't wait for him :) I think River's more nasty to her for two reasons, the first being she knows Angel won't fight back so it makes it easy for her to vent her frustrations and feel better about herself, and that she hates how sweet Angel is, she hates that Angel won't get mad or hate her or shout at her (I think, in her mind, she's hoping Angel will snap and the Doctor will see and be turned off by Angel's attitude and harsh words or something) :)

She might start dying with him in LKH...unless, by then, she's been too badly hurt and too weak to stop herself from using the bracelet }:) I can say that Angel will certainly realize just how awesome Rory is right from the start :)

Lol, I'm glad you're all caught up and liking the stories so far :) I think, to Angel, telling the Doctor about the cracks will just make him more obsessed/worried about them and it's almost like...what's the point in closing one or two when they just keep popping up everywhere? You can cut weeds down but they'll still grow if you don't get the roots. To her, I think she feels finding out the source of the cracks would be a better way to worry about them, like the cause of it is still out there and opening more cracks, so many cracks that stopping one or two won't make a difference. And I also think she doesn't want to be around them any longer than necessary, they make her feel ill :( I'm glad you like the TARDIS being a bit cross with River and the Doctor, I find it funny too :) Lol, maybe the TARDIS explodes because River's piloting her...though that might be a bit extreme lol :)

She had a similar theory in that she was afraid that River was someone close to the Doctor because he forgot who SHE was, and that seeing him in the Library (remembering who she was) was what set River off because she was seeing her man being sweet to someone else. Similar, but not exactly the same :) I like your theory too though :) It'll be something she sees him do/say in another room and wants to storm in there and slap him for it :) Oh it'll be a very complex relationship for the Pond family because of River's dislike of Angel and Angel being Rory's Pilot, maybe even more so than in the show lol :) Oh Rory will want to do quite a few things to the Doctor when he finds out ;) I don't think there's anything wrong with you at all, I got chills writing that scene :)

Angel will ask River why she hates her so much lol, but the response won't quite be that (but sort of close in a way ;))

I almost sort of hated writing River like that, but I just kept reminding myself, 'psychopath, she's a psychopath for 20+ years of her life,' made it a bit easier :) I'm not saying when/if he remembers, my lips are sealed about that ;) All I can say is there'll be plenty of twists for the Pandorica/Big Bang episodes :) Lol, Angel had a theory that maybe she was erased from time and it was echoing back to the Doctor (like he couldn't be Mated to her if she was never born) but we won't find out for sure :)

You're very welcome! :) I'm glad I could help a little :) I sort of feel it's like being pen pals too :) I always love responding to questions and things in reviews :)

Thank you so, so, SO much! I'm really glad you're enjoying the stories ^-^ I just try my best to make the characters believable, realistic, and relatable, while also giving them unique relationships so it's good to know I've managed it :) I'm glad you gave Evy a chance and ended up liking her too and now Angel as well :) And there is no shame in a happy dance, I legitimately do a little happy dance in my head for every single review and then squeal a little when I throw in a twist and get to see everyone's reactions/thoughts to it :) I definitely really wanted to show Angel's relationship progressing with the Doctor and really starting to build up a solid foundation of friendship first, lol I do think I'm trying to kill the readers a bit with the twist for this story though, I'm evil :) But thank you very much, I'll definitely do my best to keep the stories and twists going strong ^-^