Flesh and Stone: Primary Flight Deck

Octavian moved the hatch away from the outer wall of the primary flight deck, holding it open for them to get in, "Dr. Song, get through, now," he urged, grabbing River's arm and pulling her over, helping her through the hatch, "Doctor?" he looked over, but the man in question was just standing there, looking completely bewildered and shocked, "Doctor?"

"Time can be unwritten…" the Doctor murmured, starting to frown, something about that striking him, hitting too close to home for him to feel comfortable.

~8~

"So let's see," Angel began, far calmer now than she had been only moments ago, looking around at the men gathered near her and Amy, "Crispin, Phillip, Pedro, Marco, Angelo, and Christian right?" she eyed each of them as she tried to get their names correct.

The men were staring at her though, a bit startled by her sudden change in demeanor. She had gone from seeming almost an inch away from ripping their heads off with that golden wall thing...though probably not quite that bad as she was really rather nice...to wanting to get to know their names in mere moments.

"That's right ma'am," Marco nodded, just slightly more cautious around her now.

She'd been perfectly calm earlier, despite the angels surrounding them, comforting that Amy girl, but the second they tried to investigate the light she was literally forcing them back away from it with an almost supernatural power and shouting at them. Now though, he could understand why, she had claimed the crack could erase them from time, they would never have been born, they had been too curious for their own good and she was just trying to protect them. He supposed they really had to thank her for that instead of being wary around her.

"Nice to meet you," she beamed at them.

Amy laughed a bit, just knowing Angel was grinning without needing to open her eyes. She could almost feel the tension and confusion from the men though at Angel's words. She had learned fairly quickly herself that Angel had mood swings from time to time, almost as bad as the Doctor, going from calm to angry or timid to controlling. She'd only needed one portion of an adventure alone with Angel to realize that. The girl wasn't usually like that when the Doctor was around, no, Angel seemed to be almost...quiet and solemn when the Doctor was around, but alone, when it was up to her to protect someone, Angel was determined to do it and a little unpredictable...which was ironic since she was a psychic.

"Oh Marco," Angel added, almost like an after thought, "Can I have your comm. for a moment please?" he nodded, handing it over, "Thank you."

~8~

"It's been happening and I haven't even noticed!" the Doctor breathed, smacking himself on the forehead, wondering if it was possible that Angel had noticed? Had she? He tried to think back to anything she might have said during past adventures but he was coming up with nothing...

"Doctor, we've have to move," Octavian began, trying to usher him over to the hatch.

"The CyberKing! A giant Cyberman walks over all of Victorian London and no one remembers."

"We have to move it!" the Octavian ran over, grabbing his arm, "The angels could be here any second!"

"Never mind the angels," the Doctor yanked his arm away, "There's worse here than ang..."

"Doctor!" Angel's voice cut through on the comm. affixed to Octavian, "Stop rambling, you need to get in the ship, now!"

The Doctor nearly jumped out of his skin at her sudden shout, not having expected it, but looked out into the woods, catching the briefest glimpse of stone before turning and ushering Octavian into the crawl space that led to the ship this time instead. Angel rarely ever gave orders like that, and when she did, he knew that he should listen to her.

He paused a moment, halfway into the hatch, at that thought, Angel giving orders...

~oOo~

"Doctor!" Sarah Jane's voice called out from the second floor, "Angel!"

He looked up, "Oh…" he slowly stood, "She's upstairs…come on!" he turned to Luke when…

"Luke, K9, keep an eye out for the TARDIS," Angel told them, "If you see her popping up give us a shout."

"Orders accepted Mistress," K9 nodded.

"Oh, taking charge are we?" he looked at her, positively beaming, feeling a slight shiver race down his spine at that, at Angel taking command, he really, really liked that, in fact, he really did..."Love it."

~oOo~

He shook his head of the odd...fuzz...that had swarmed in it a moment, needing to focus on the situation, and hurried in after Octavian.

~8~

Amy laughed at Angel's command as she tossed the comm. back to Marco, just imagining the Doctor jumping a mile into the air at the sudden shout.

~8~

Octavian reached out and stopped the Doctor before he could continue crawling into the ship. He glanced at the door the Doctor had soniced closed and back to the ship they could see at the end of the tunnel, River Song already through and rushing about, trying to fix things.

"Doctor…" he began, speaking quietly so that River wouldn't hear them.

He knew he shouldn't say this, he and River had a deal, she would help in exchange for no future knowledge being shared with the Doctor or Angel, but...that girl, he knew it, could feel it in his bones, she'd just saved his life. She had told them to get into the ship, and he'd seen the angels peeking from behind the trees, he wasn't stupid, he could work out what would have happened. That angel would have gotten him, likely killed him, if not for Angel's warning. If not for that girl, he'd be dead, he was not going to leave that debt unpaid, anything he could do to help her, to warn her and the Doctor of what was coming without breaking his vow, he'd do. He just had to be subtle and hope the Doctor would pick up on his warning.

"Listen to me. I have something important that needs to be said."

"Not really the best ti…" the Doctor tried to continue on.

But Octavian yanked him back, firm, "You can't trust her."

"Trust who?" the Doctor's eyes narrowed, his mind immediately going to Angel, immediately making him defensive against Octavian. HE knew Angel better than anyone, and he would not be told not to trust her! Angel was the most trustworthy woman in the Universe, the things she'd done for him, lived through, fought for, she was incredible and genuine and beautiful and he would not have some man who hadn't even seemed to have heard of her telling him Angel wasn't to be trusted when the man didn't know her and if he thought he knew her better than him he'd...

"River Song," Octavian elaborated, making the Doctor blink and stare at him a moment, looking slightly embarrassed, "You think you know her, but you don't. You don't understand who or what she is."

"Then tell me," he said.

He could tell there was something...more about River Song. She was a mystery, he loved mysteries and puzzles, she was challenging and interesting, but she was unknown as well. There was something in him curious about her, but equally (though a bit more) wary of her as well. Like...something was trying to warn him away from her, something deep that didn't want him to get any closer to the woman, sadly he'd never been good at listening to that voice in his head that told him not to do things. But he could tell Octavian was cautious of the woman as well, and he knew HER at least, so, for now, he'd listen.

"I've told you more than I should," he muttered before turning to crawl in.

The Doctor pulled him back this time, "Just tell me...why she was in Stormcage?"

He looked at the Doctor a long while, solemn, before sighing, "She killed someone, someone very special, a hero to many they said."

"Who?" he frowned, stiffening at the look the man was giving him. He could already guess who it was.

"You don't want to know, sir. You really don't."

"Who did she kill?"

Octavian just turned and crawled out into the ship, they'd been too long, River would start to get suspicious soon if she didn't see them.

The Doctor watched him go, a pit in his stomach, it was him wasn't it? He shook his head, he couldn't be sure, he couldn't abandon River now when she would need help getting the others there, he couldn't avoid her if he didn't know exactly what for. He wasn't THAT rude. He followed after Octavian, standing up inside the ship to see River standing by the controls.

"There's a teleport!" River called, working away, "If I can get it to work, we can beam the others here."

"That teleport's dead," the Doctor told her, "I don't need to be Angel to tell that you're wasting your time. I'm going to need your communicator."

River shot him a sour look but tossed her scanner/comm. to him anyway.

~8~

Amy nearly fell off the rock when she jumped as the comm. crackled to life and the Doctor's voice called out, "Hello! Doctor to Clerics, you there?"

"Doctor?" Marco answered, pulling out the comm..

"Where are you? Are you still in the clearing?"

"Yes sir. We're here. The angels have fled though, we don't know if they're going to return or not. There's a light, Angel said it was a crack, and they fled. "

"Doctor," Angel stood slowly and took the comm., "The crack…I know why it's making me feel sick. It's bleeding Time Energy."

"Are you certain?" the Doctor asked, serious.

"Yes."

"What is that light?" they heard River ask.

"Time running out," he replied to her before getting back to them, "I'm sorry. I should never have left you all there."

"What are our orders sir?" Marco took the comm. back.

"You come to us. Primary Flight Deck, other end of the forest," there was a sound of the sonic in the background, "I've sent you the path, just follow it, quick as you can. You have to start moving now though. If there's Time Energy spilling out of that crack, you have to stay ahead of it."

"What if the angels come back?"

"I'm sorry, I really am, but the angels can only kill you."

"What, exactly, does the Time Energy do?" Marco asked as Angel helped Amy to her feet, Crispin coming to help steady her on the other side as they started moving.

"Just what I told you," Angel cut in, "If the Time Energy touches you for even a moment, you're lost. It will consume you and eat away at your entire life, you'll never have been born."

"She's right," the Doctor agreed, and they could hear a strain in his voice, like that knowledge was alarming him, "It will erase every moment of your existence. You will never have lived at all. Now, tell Amy to keep her eyes shut and keep moving!"

~8~

"It's never going to work," River remarked dryly as she twisted a few wires together.

"What else have you got?!" the Doctor shouted, angry and terrified for some reason he didn't understand.

It wasn't just that he was worried for his friends and the men protecting them, it went so much deeper, so deep that…he was actually scared by the intensity of it. If he thought it was bad trying to get through the ship with the angels behind him, it was nothing compared to right now. His hearts were beating so loudly he could hear them in his head, feel them against his ribs, his whole body felt numb, with tiny prickles all over him, his mouth was dry, his hands were in fists, his mind was both racing in fear and yet sluggish in how to help. He felt like he couldn't breathe as his chest constricted painfully. All because of who was trapped in the forest with the angels. He shot a glare at River, who was really being quite useless in getting Angel and the others back to him safely.

"River, tell me!"

There was a loud bang and whoosh that drew their attention up.

"What's that?" Octavian frowned.

"The angels running from the fire. They came here to feed on the Time Energy. Now it's going to feed on them."

~8~

"Clerics listen to me," the Doctor's voice came back over the comm. as they walked through the woods, cautious, Marco glancing at Angel as she semi-led the way without a scanner, keeping track to make sure they were following the right path as they went, "I'm sending a bit of software to your communicator. It's a proximity detector. It'll beep if the angels are around, even if they're hiding, in case Angel misses anything. I'm sorry, but the forest is full of angels, they're heading back towards the ship so just keep moving."

~8~

"That Time Energy, what's it going to do?" River wondered.

"Did you not hear what Angel said?" he scoffed, "It will erase you from time."

River rolled her eyes, "Yes, I got that thanks," she said slowly with a huff, "But how? The crack in the ship wasn't large enough to be seen from the forest."

"That's because it'll keep eating," he muttered, focusing on the wires and controls before him, needing something to help get the others safe.

"How do we stop it?"

"Feed it."

"Feed it what?"

"A big complicated space-time event should shut it up for a while."

"Like what, for instance?"

"Like me, for instance!" he snapped, growing frustrated with her constant questions that were in no way helping him think or calm down or get whatever he was trying to make fixed faster! Angel was in danger, and Amy and the other humans, and she was just...questioning him at every turn when he wanted them back! He wanted them beside him, he wanted them safe, he wanted her safe from the Time Energy, he wanted to get them away from the angels!

He shot one final look at River and turned back to his project, whatever it was.

~8~

There was a high-pitched beeping on the comm. that made the forest group all pause and look at it, concerned, "Sir?" Marco called.

"It's the warning," the Doctor replied, "The angels are close," the Clerics looked up, spotting hints of stone peeking out of the trees, a few angels staring at them, "The angels are scared and running and right now they're not that interested in you. You just have to hurry, keep them in sight, but hurry."

The Clerics readied their guns, walking as quickly as they could through the forest, Amy between Angel and Pedro now, till they reached a section that was almost entirely dark, no light, just a stretch of blackness, "Doctor," Marco called, "We can't go on. There's no light at all, we can't see for how far for and our torches won't help…"

"I can try to make some light," Angel offered, but she bit her lip as she did so, unsure if it would work. She had been able to do it in the ship, but she'd had wires there, she'd been able to concentrate, she wasn't sure if she'd manage it while walking.

"We can't risk going in it," Marco shook his head, seeming to sense the same thing, it would be deadly if they made it in halfway and then she failed to keep the light going.

"Marco!" Angel gasped suddenly when she looked at him, pointing behind them where the angels had come out of the trees, now surrounding them.

"Doctor! We're surrounded!" he shouted, the angels closing in each time they spun around to try and keep them in sight, all of them being forced closer together...

And suddenly...

They disappeared in a bright white light, only to fall to the ground in a heap of the primary flight deck floor.

"Don't open your eyes," River warned, pulling Amy from Angel's hold, checking on her, "You're on the Flight Deck, the Doctor's here. I teleported you," she glanced back at the Doctor with a smirk, "See? Told you I could get it working."

"River Song, I could bloody kiss you," the Doctor beamed, feeling so relieved that the others were back, that all the Clerics were alive and Amy was well and Angel was ok.

River glanced at Angel, seeing her wince and look away sharply out of the corner of her eye, and smirked, winking at the Doctor, "Maybe when you're older."

"What's that?" Amy asked as an alarm went off.

"The angels are draining the last of the ship's power, which means...the shield's going to release!" the Doctor stated as the shield to the forest opened. The Clerics rushed into a line, preparing their guns at the army of angels before them.

"Positions!" Octavian ordered and the men fell to a knee, aiming at the statues, keeping them in sight.

The Doctor stepped up, "Angel Bob, I presume."

One of the angels holding a comm. spoke, "The time field is coming. It will destroy our reality."

"Yeah, and look at you, all running away. What can I do for you?"

"There is a rupture in time. The angels calculate that if you throw yourself into it, it will close and they will be saved."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Could do, could do that. But why?"

"Your friends would also be saved."

"Well, there is that."

River stepped over to him, seeing Angel about to open her mouth, no doubt to offer herself instead and, while she would love nothing more than to let Angel throw herself into the crack (especially since the Vortex would make her even more of a complicated event), she was NOT about to let the girl make herself seem so selfless first. She knew the Doctor would say no, not even because his personality wouldn't let others sacrifice themselves for him but because, despite what she was about to say, she knew she couldn't compare to the complexities of either the Doctor or Angel. So there was no harm in making this offer, it wouldn't be taken up anyway, and it would make her seem a little more perfect...well, that and she really didn't want the Doctor to throw himself into a crack, "I've travelled in time. I'm a complicated space/time event too. Throw me in."

"Oh, be serious!" he scoffed, "Compared to me, these angels are more complicated than you and it would take every one of them to amount to me, so get a grip."

"Doctor, I can't let you do this."

"No, seriously, get a grip."

"You're not going to die here!"

"No, I mean it. River, Amy, Angel, Clerics, get a grip!" he put his hand on a railing on the side of the controls.

"Oh, you genius!" River breathed, beaming at him, before running over to Amy, only to see Angel already helping the girl grab onto something so she turned and quietly told the Clerics the plan as well.

"Sir, the angels need you to sacrifice yourself now," Bob stated.

"Thing is, Bob," the Doctor began, "The angels are draining all the power from this ship, every last bit of it. And you know what? I think they've forgotten where they're standing. I think they've forgotten the gravity of the situation. Or to put it another way, angels..."

"Just hold on tight Amy," Angel whispered to her, grabbing a handle beside her, "And don't let go!"

"Night-night," the Doctor smirked.

The gravity failed due to the loss of power and the Doctor causally turned to grab a handle himself. The deck turned on its side as they all hung on for dear life, the Doctor wincing as he twisted from the suction...

~oOo~

"Shouldn't be too bad for us but the Daleks and the Cybermen are steeped in Void Stuff. Are you ready?" he stepped back to the left side of the room, pulling Angel with him as Rose took the right.

After that whole fiasco with her running off to the Sphere Chamber and him getting transported to Pete's World...feeling that strain on the Mating bond...never again. He was not about to let her go, not now, not when this danger was looming. No, she was staying with him, in his arms, where he could protect her.

"So are they," Angel remarked, looking out the window as the Daleks flew towards them.

"Let's do it!" he called. They ran to the levers, pushing them upwards before hurrying back to the Magnaclamps.

"Online."

The area was filled with the white light once more, a strong wind sweeping out of it, sucking things in. The Daleks flew through the window, smashing through the glass as they were pulled in, back to the Void. Rose, Angel, and him held tight to the clamps, struggling.

"The breach is open!" he shouted, trying to shield Angel as much as he could from the force of the Void with his body, "Into the Void! Ha!"

~oOo~

The Doctor twisted, checking to see if Angel and Amy were alright, seeing that Angel was holding onto the bar, one of her hands over Amy's, helping the girl hold on as they were sucked at. He looked back at the crack to see the angels pulled into it.

There was a burst of light and the crack snapped shut, the Clerics cheering at their victory.

~8~

Amy was sitting on a rock, back on the beach not even an hour later, wrapped in a blanket Angelo had given her, while the Doctor stood next to her, "Ah, bruised everywhere," she moaned.

"Me too," he agreed.

"You didn't have to climb out with your eyes shut."

"Neither did you, Angel told you you didn't have to. She was right. The angels all fell into the time field. The angel in your memory never existed. It can't harm you now."

"Then why do I remember it at all?"

"You're a time traveler now, Amy. Changes the way you see the Universe forever. Good, isn't it?"

"And the crack. Is that gone too?"

"Yeah, for now. But the explosion that caused it is still happening...somewhere out there, somewhere in time," he looked out at the ocean before glancing back to see Angel, as he had been doing quite a bit since she'd wandered off away from him, quietly talking to River before heading over with Amy.

~8~

"What do you want?" River asked as she waited for the prison ship to pick her up when Angel approached her slowly, eyeing the Time Lady with disdain and irritation.

Angel eyed her a moment, not as taken aback by her words than she might have been had River not been so short with her the entire time, "Why do you hate me so much?" she had to ask, it was bothering her. It bothered her that she might have done something so terrible to River Song in the future (her future at least) that the woman couldn't even let it go when dealing with a past her.

River looked at her sharply, saying nothing for a moment before her gaze flickered to the Doctor speaking with Amy, "No one ever stood a chance with him because of you."

Angel was silent a moment, "It doesn't look that way from here."

River just smiled, pleased, "Good."

Angel frowned, eyeing her, that smile, that pleased smile...it was...it was the sort of smile that someone wore when something was going right. When something they did was working. She swallowed, but...it couldn't be that could it? River couldn't have had anything to do with the Doctor forgetting could she? How would she even know it worked?

"You know," River continued, tilting her head as she eyed Angel critically, as though trying to see what was so...impressive about her and failing to find it, "You should have married him when you had the chance."

Angel's eyes widened in alarm, "You know about that?" it had been a private moment between him and her, with Donna and Lance there, how could River know?!

"You'd be surprised what I know," she smirked, "What he's told me," she glanced at the Doctor, "What he will tell me," she gave Angel a pointed look, "There are rumors, you see, that I'm the woman who marries the Doctor."

Angel let out a breath, feeling her hearts stop, her body start to shake and grow cold.

River gave a small laugh at that, seemingly pleased with the reaction, "You might want to dig out the Dampening Bracelet," she added, very much enjoying how much wider Angel's eyes could go, the fear and worry in them, "Believe you me, what's coming...not even you would be able to bear."

Angel swallowed hard at that, feeling as though all the air had been sucked out of her, like she'd been punched in the gut. She couldn't breathe.

What did that mean for her and the Doctor in the future? What did it mean for the Doctor and River? Was that...was that why he'd forgotten her? She had always feared that the Doctor who had asked her to Mate had rushed into it, he was so different from his old old self, so happy and eager and...he'd asked her almost out of nowhere. She'd been terrified that it was just an effect of the regeneration, making him happy and making it so sudden. She'd managed to bury that in the back of her mind, a fear that had only briefly manifested in her thoughts, that...if he regenerated again...what if he just...was the same, what if he suddenly felt differently about her.

What if he regretted Mating to her?

It would explain why he was so distant and different. What if, in his very very very last moments, he truly regretted Mating to her and was doing all he could to block their bonds so that he would be as free as he could be to be with someone better suited for him than her?

Someone like River.

She closed her eyes, feeling like she was going to be ill or faint and tried to shake her head of those thoughts.

It couldn't be.

The Doctor, just before he'd died, had never been closer to her, why would he suddenly regret it? How would his regret even block the bonds so completely? It didn't make sense! And...River's smirk. Did River somehow have a hand in what happened to him? She knew intimate details about the Doctor, about her even, and she knew about the Dampening Bracelet, if she knew about it...what else did she know? If she knew how it worked, if...if she'd managed to get her hands on it in the future...the woman was brilliant. She wouldn't put it past River to somehow be able to use the abilities of the bracelet to affect the Doctor. But how? They had only seen River in the Library, the Doctor had been fine, he'd been acting off since before they met River again.

She just...didn't know...

She took a breath, trying to calm down, trying to push the bile back down, when River spoke again, "You, me...handcuffs," Angel opened her eyes to see the Doctor and Amy had walked over, River now smirking at him playfully, a far different smirk than the one she'd just been bestowed with. River held out her cuffed hands at him, her smirk turning to a sly grin, casting a small victorious look at Angel, "Must it always end this way?"

"What now?" the Doctor asked as Angel backed up to stand by Amy, not wanting to be near River at the moment.

"The prison ship's in orbit. They'll beam me up any second. I might have done enough to earn a pardon this time. We'll see."

"Octavian said you killed someone."

"Yes. I did."

"Someone special."

"To some."

"A hero."

"I suppose."

"Who?"

"It's a long story, Doctor, can't be told. It has to be lived. No sneak previews. Well, except for this one...you'll see me again quite soon, when the Pandorica opens."

Angel stiffened, the Pandorica...it just kept being brought up. It was too much of a coincidence.

"The Pandorica, ha!" the Doctor though, didn't seem to feel the same, "That's a fairytale."

River smiled, "Oh, Doctor, aren't we all? I'll see you there."

"I look forward to it," he grinned.

Angel winced and closed her eyes, the annoyance was gone now. It seemed the adventure, the excitement, how the woman had rescued them, had allowed River just enough time to become...interesting...to the Doctor instead of annoying.

"I remember it well," River smirked as he chuckled and walked away.

"Bye," Amy murmured, "River."

"See you, Amy," River agreed, not giving a goodbye to Angel, as the handcuffs beeped, "Oh! I think that's my ride."

"Can I trust you," the Doctor eyed her, "River Song?"

"If you like, but where's the fun in that?" she laughed as the teleport was activated, carrying her away.

The Doctor turned and looked out at the ocean, thoughtful, "What are you thinking?" Amy looked at him.

"Time can be rewritten," he sighed.

~8~

The Doctor was at the console, Angel somewhere in the wardrobe trying to see if there was another belt she could find, perhaps a bit longer. She was rather slim but the last bet had been on its last hole and, she'd noticed recently, a bit tight.

Amy sat on the jump seat before him, her arms crossed, "I want to go home," she said.

"Ok," he breathed quietly.

She shook her head, smiling, and jumped up over to him, "No, not like that! I just…I just want to show you something. You're running from River. I'm running too."

~8~

The TARDIS sat in a corner of Amy's bedroom, a surprising feat to be managed as Angel hadn't been in the room to help the Doctor pilot, still somewhere in the wardrobe, while the Doctor and Amy sat on Amy's bed, looking at her wedding gown hanging on her closet door.

"Well!" he smiled.

"Yeah!"

"Blimey!"

"I know. This is the same night we left, yeah?"

He looked at his watch, "We've been gone five minutes."

Amy leaned over and picked up a ring box, opening it to show him the engagement ring, "I'm getting married in the morning."

He took the box, "Why did you leave it here?" he looked at the ring almost...wistfully...as though there were a time he'd proposed but had no ring, but that was ridiculous. The only wife he had was a civil friend on Gallifrey who had died in the war.

"Why did I leave my engagement ring when I ran away with a strange man the night before my wedding?"

"Angel too."

"You really are an alien, aren't you?"

"Who's the lucky fella?"

"You met him."

"Ah, the good looking one or the other one?" he mimed a large nose.

"The other one."

"Well, he was good too."

"Thanks."

"Angel seemed to like him."

Amy eyed him, "Then what's that frown for?"

"What frown?" he looked at her, blinking owlishly.

"You frowned when you said Angel liked him."

"No I didn't."

Amy rolled her eyes and shook her head at him, "So...do you comfort a lot of people on the night before their wedding?"

"Why would you need comforting?"

"I nearly died. We were alone in the dark and I nearly died. And it made me think."

"Well, alone with Angel. But yes, that's natural. I think sometimes. Well, lots of times..."

"About what I want. About who I want. You know what I mean?"

"Yeah..." he smiled, but then shook his head, "No."

"About who..." she gave him a pointed look, "I want."

"Oh, right, yeah..." he tried to follow, only to shake his head again, "No, still not getting it. "

"Doctor, in a word, in one very simple word even you can understand..." and then she proceeded to climb on top of him.

The Doctor quickly pushed her away and clambered over the foot rail of the bed, nearly falling to the floor in his scramble, "Uh...you're getting married in the morning!"

Amy just got up and walked around the bed, her eyes on him, like a lioness hunting her prey, "The morning's a long time away," she pushed him against the TARDIS, "What are we going to do about that?" she started to pull his braces down.

"Listen to me," he pulled the braces back up, "I'm 907 years old. Do you understand what that means?" he pushed her back.

"It's been awhile?"

"No. No. No! I'm 907, and look at me. I don't get older, like Angel, she's nearly 801, we just change. You get older. I don't, and this can't ever work," he pushed her away once more, his back to the TARDIS.

"Oh, you are sweet, Doctor. But I really wasn't suggesting anything quite so...long term..."

And then she kissed him.

He pushed her away instantly, "But you're human! You're Amy! You're getting married in the morning!" and then his eyes widened in realization, "In the morning."

"Doctor?" she pulled back a bit.

"It's you. It's all about you. Everything. It's about you."

"Hold that thought!" she turned and laid down seductively on the bed.

"Amy Pond...mad, impossible Amy Pond. I don't know why, I have no idea, but quite possibly the single most important thing in the history of the Universe is that I get you sorted out right now."

"That's what I've been trying to tell you!"

He just pulled her off the bed though, "Come on!"

"Doctor," she cried, flirty.

The Doctor just pushed her into the TARDIS before looking at her clock as it changed from 11:59 6/25 to 12:00 6/26.

"Doctor?" Angel called. He turned around to see her walking down the steps, a frown on her face, no belt on though, "What's wrong?"

"Off we go!" he told her, running to the console, "We've got a fiancé to find."

"What?!" Amy's eyes widened.

And then the TARDIS took off.

A/N: "Why do you hate me so much?" "No one ever stood a chance with him because of you."

Time can be rewritten though, do you get the impression it might be being rewritten as Angel and River spoke? Hmmm... }:)

What did I say? Little bit of hope...and then crush it to pieces moments later }:) I'm evil ^-^ But at least we got 2 more theories about what might have happened. Did the Doctor regret the Mating? Did River have something to do with it using Dampening Technology? We'll have to wait and see }:) And we got two memory-flashes as well! Woo! Well, the Doctor didn't seem to remember them...but still, 2! :) But poor Angel, River really knew JUST what to say to put doubts in Angel's mind about the future, while also not revealing anything solid didn't she? Evil, evil, River. Psycho River...so mean :(

But...2 things to cheer you up...

RORY! We just have 1 more chapter (the second Meanwhile one where we see Angel discover the Doctor/Amy kiss! -gasp!-) and then we get Rory! And...I'll be posting on my tumblr today the cover for the 4th Time Lady story (the tentative cover at least) at around 11am(EST) :)

In other news...oh wow! You guys are halfway to the teaser for Series 6(!) and we're not even halfway through the story yet! I don't think that's ever happened before! That's awesome :) And you're also halfway to the next sneak peek :) Yay!

One final note, the next chapter of Recollections will be up later today and not at the same time as this chapter. It WILL be up today, just in a few hours :)

Some notes on reviews...

Nope, didn't remember :( I try to be vague when answering about whether he will/won't/when/if he'll remember and not give away a specific yes he will/no he won't, just to keep the suspense going :) He definitely cares about Angel yup, I think he sees her powers as a part of her so thinking about how useful it would be to have her around giving him warnings is more him meaning he wants her around, because her powers are her and she is her powers sort of thing :) There will be a moment coming up, quite a few, where Angel is in danger/slightly or possibly hurt and he reacts because he does care about all the people who travel with him :) As for whether Angel will be the one below the earth, all I can say is that Angel will have a very BIG role in that episode, especially with Elliot :) I like those theories, it could be Amy's memory since (when she meets them) he denies they're Mated/together and it seems she will spend the entire story thinking that, so when she remembers them back into existence she's remembering them not being together...but then again, Angel still remembers :) It could be their lives being rewritten because of someone being erased too, you never know :) It could be the Silence as well, though they don't technically appear till Series 6, we'll have to wait and see :) I can say that Angel's own 'most likely' theory is going to be coming up in an episode very soon :)

Yup the next chapter will be the Meanwhile in the TARDIS chapter before Vampires :) We'll have to see whose horse she'll be on or if she'll have her own, I can see River going to extremes to make sure that Angel has her own horse to avoid that, but we'll have to wait and see :) I think Angel will be more devastated than angry, her reaction to Rory's death and Amy's own amnesia will be heart breaking :'( I have all the chapters prewritten, I mostly just go through and edit them to add more detail every day. Split up, originally, each chapter is (on average) about 3,000 words to start, I promised to bump that up to at least 4,000 and have been averaging about 5,000 so far :) It's not too bad, I usually get to work about an hour early so I manage to get through half the chapter then, and then I work on the rest during lunch which helps leave time at the end of the day to give it one more read through (about an hour) to compare it to my other Series and make sure it's not to matchy-matchy (I really want them all to be different) and about another hour to answer the reviews (love that hour! :)). Which usually gives me a little time to write Merlin (and now Torchwood all over again lol) :) I'm ok though, yup, no pressure or anything. I think, once I get TW taken care of...again...I'll be a bit less stressed since I only have about...2 weeks to get that done and it was epically long before it was deleted :( But I love writing so that makes up for it :)

I think the Doctor would probably work out how to get her to remember fairly quickly really. I think he'd be in shock, then heartbroken, then determined to get her back. He always was the more openly possessive one, much like with the Mating instinct, the men were more aggressive and reactive, while the women were more calm and thoughtful and emotional. I could see him working out, within an episode or two, how to get her memories back (if they even still existed). And I think Angel would trust him if he said that they were Mated, even with the 'he lies' thing, because 'he doesn't lie to her.' Even though Angel doesn't lie in general, the Doctor always struck me as the less trusting of the two, Angel will trust anyone unless they give her a reason not to (like a feeling) but the Doctor is more wary of people in general and I feel like he'd need more proof than Angel going on faith. I don't think it would reach the point of the Dampener for him, since he'd probably get her memories back quickly. He really is the more clever of the two (scientifically/knowledge speaking, not just being brilliant in other things) :)

Lol, I think a lot of people will want to punch him, Jack would probably be first in line though...or cut Mickey/Rory for the honor :)

I agree, Angel can be scary when she wants to be. But I can say there's definitely a reason behind her reaction to the Clerics wanting to look at the crack that we'll find out at the end of Vampires :)

I'm not sure, originally Mickey wasn't in the TW crossover, but now that I have to rewrite it, you never know :)

I think River is jealous of her in a way :) I think it's almost like how Angel sees River as brilliant and clever and brave and a good match for him, River sees Angel's goodness and kindness as something the Doctor wants in his life and a good match for him as well. I think that's a great description of River, she's very cunning, very verycunning in how she is around them, one way with the Doctor and another with Angel, sort of endearing herself to him and driving Angel away in the other. No worries, I agree, I sort of wanted her to be more subtle than Rose (in the Academic Series), but much more 'going for the kill' in other ways, whereas Rose was openly mean and harsh even around the Doctor and others, River is slightly more controlled and careful in how she acts and what she says and the looks she gives Angel, she says things that will really strike at Angel and get to her, but that other's won't notice :) Oh I think the Angel/Rory friendship will possibly even surpass the Doctor/Amy friendship ;)

Lol, is it bad that I'm sort of happy about being hated and loved at the same time? :) We'll have to wait and see though just what happens after the cracks close :)

I'm glad you liked Angel here :) But nope, River wasn't (at least not intentionally) fond with the psychic remark, I picture it as a more bitter 'of course she would know...grumble, grumble, grumble' way :) I like how Amy had that little revelation moment too where she realized she'd done the same thing as River. I think, sometimes, you need to be faced with someone who does what you do but in a more extreme way to realize you do it too and try to change :) And the fact that Angel saved Amy in a way will definitely be something River is all too aware of in a later episode ;) There's definitely a reason behind Angel's little take charge moment with the Clerics, her reaction to them in danger and her protectiveness will make more sense by the end of Vampires ;) I'm not sure about the Rory/OC, I can't see him being invited or, if he was, him going through an adventure and just comparing Amy to the OC (who actually notices him and cares about him (at that point in Amy's timeline)) and then wanting to leave and Amy being huffy or something. It really was more of an idea I thought up before we got the resolution in their relationship at the end of Amy's Choice, so I didn't think too much on it after that episode :)

We'll have to wait and see if future Angel might have had anything to do with the Doctor not saying anything :) For all we know...the Doctor might be the only one to enter the crack ;)

I like take-charge Angel too :) She's definitely a bit peeved when no one listens to her when she's just trying to protect them. In a way, I think it's almost because the Doctor and River aren't there that that side of her came out. Like...without the constant reminder of the Doctor forgetting her and taking charge himself, and without River and her little digs, she could be the one in charge with the most knowledge. It was HER job, at that point, to keep them safe, and they were about to put themselves in danger :) I felt bad for them being erased too, that was why I wanted her to stop them, I felt like...they didn't ALL have to be erased to get the point that the crack erased people from time, it just got a little repetitive at the end :( But yay Angel! You saved them! :)

Hmm...I think River definitely has a 'I want him all to myself' love for him, not sure if it's because he's useful, I think there's more to it than that. There's probably some sort of obsession going on as well :)

Yup, River had to teleport Angel along too :) I could see her doing that if it was just the two of them, tricking the Doctor into thinking it was just one she could save. Unfortunately, if the angels killed Angel the Doctor would die as well, so in a way I also can't see her doing that too. It's like...she did all that just to get the Doctor and then he dies. I'm not even sure she'd be able to use any dampening tech (since she's aware of it) because the Clerics/Octavian probably gave her everything she had with her and only allowed her the diary so she wouldn't even have that to make sure he lived. I don't think Angel would ever go dark though, she really is just sweet and, like the Doctor once said, has no wish for power or desire for revenge or a darkness in her like he has :) We'll have to see how the Doctor reacts to River if he remembers, for all we know, River might have a justified reason for treating Angel as she does :) I can't see River getting nicer, nope, mostly since her timeline is reversed. I see it as, going backwards, closer to the thing that she's angry with Angel for, so it's like, each time we see her the anger/hate is fresher and fresher. I see her being nice the closer she gets to the Library actually (but there's a twist as to why :)) I can't quite see Angel doing that, she might be hurt but I can't see her being that closed off and cold to him if he remembered and apologized, I think, at that point, she'd just want her Mate back. I think she'd forgive him (depending on what the reason behind his amnesia is) but I don't think she'd be able to forget or put the events of his amnesia behind her all that easily. I can say she won't unload in that fashion, yelling at someone in anger and fury, at least not about this. There is a moment in TW where she argues a bit firmly with someone, but not in anger :) Oh the Dream Lord will certainly have a soft spot for Angel (and Rory) and a severe dislike of the Doctor (and Amy) ;) We'll have to see how the finale of Series 6 plays out to see how Angel reacts to River. I can't really see Angel going ballistic though, I think it would really take A LOT for Angel to reach that sort of anger, and she'd know what the Doctor was planning and that it would work so River's attempts to stop it probably wouldn't mean anything to her. I can't wait for Rory either, he and Angel really have just the best relationship :)