The Pandorica Opens: The TARDIS
"Doctor!" Rory shouted, seeing the Doctor going back to examining the Pandorica, "How is that possible? I can't be erased or not born...YOU remember me and Angel did too!"
"Yes, I know that Rory..." the Doctor began.
"She was happy to see me, she gave me a hug," Rory continued, as though the Doctor hadn't interrupted, "But Amy just..."
The Doctor spun around, frowning at him, "Angel hugged you?" he eyed the man, taking a few steps closer to him, nearly in his face, "Why did you hug Angel?"
Rory leaned back, "You hug Amy all the time."
"That's different."
"How? She's your companion, I'm Angel's companion..."
"Yes but...you're..."
The Doctor blinked, taking a few steps back, giving Rory his space as he frowned, why WAS he getting so worked up over the thought of Angel hugging Rory? She hugged plenty of people and Rory all the time...granted he generally felt a deep sense of, well, hatred, for the man being hugged. But...that was normal, wasn't it? She was the last Time Lady, who knew what those other men...like Vincent...might be thinking, what they might try to do? What if they hurt her? What if they took advantage of her? What if they took her away from him?
He shook his head, no, this was RORY they were talking about at the moment. And Rory had Amy, even if Amy didn't remember him, why would he need Angel too? He didn't. Though...he HAD noticed Rory and Angel were very close...closer than he'd ever been with his companions, possibly...possibly even closer than she and Mickey had been (had Mickey been her companion? She'd said she bonded to the TARDIS just after he'd regenerated...). She and Rory did hug an awful lot, and stick together, and talk, and wander the TARDIS together, and...
Why did it BOTHER him SO MUCH that it was Rory she did those things with? Rory was completely right, HE was Angel's companion, she ought to be close to him, worry about him, get to know him. And he DID hug Amy a lot and spend time around her but...he just couldn't help the flash of...something...that always hit him whenever Angel was with another man, that something that made him just want to pull her away and spirit her back to the TARDIS and get them into the Vortex and as far away from the other men as possible.
Even when she'd been with Jack, a part of his mind had been on the men of Torchwood. Granted Jack was her brother, Ianto was as good as her brother given his relationship with Jack, Owen and Rhys were both married to Tosh and Gwen, and Gray was her brother too...thankfully that Captain John person hadn't been there and even if he had...he seemed more fond of Jack than Angel last time they'd met. But still...who knew what sort of men she'd come in contact with and...what if she liked one of them?
Well, that was ridiculous, of course it was. True, Angel liked everyone well enough, but she wouldn't fall for a human...would she? No, no, she wouldn't, no. He swallowed hard, feeling a pit fall into his stomach at the thought of that, what if she had? No, no, that wouldn't happen. It couldn't. Could it? No! He shook his head fiercely, something inside of him...hurting...at the thought of Angel falling in love with someone and leaving.
Which made no sense at all because she'd already said that she was in love with someone from Gallifrey that had been lost.
And that had hurt him too, to hear.
He didn't know why, but...hearing her talk about that man, that wonderful man...that man she just adored (he could tell from her words how much she did), that man she loved, that man she claimed would be the only man she ever loved...it bothered him. He'd ended up in his room after Angel had gone to bed, just...pacing. He hadn't known why, he still didn't, but hearing her talk about that man upset him. He had no claim to Angel, they were friends, mates...STILL he winced at that word...and he cared for her, he wanted her to be happy...
...so why did the thought of her being happy with some random human, or even another alien, upset him so much?
"Doctor?" Rory asked hesitantly, seeing various expressions play across the Doctor's face and starting to grow a bit concerned. The man had fallen quite silent, NOT something he was used to from the Doctor, and it was worrying.
"There are cracks," the Doctor explained, shaking himself out of his thoughts, getting back to Rory's first question, "Cracks in time. There's going to be a huge explosion in the future, on one particular day. And every other moment in history is cracking around it."
"So how does that work?" Rory eyed him, "What kind of explosion? What exploded?"
He was, to be quite honest, slowly growing more and more concerned, especially now, knowing something was going to explode. Because if it was something involving time...the only thing he could think of was the TARDIS. And...if the TARDIS was exploding...
He stiffened. No. No that couldn't be it, not at all, the TARDIS was NOT going to explode! Angel was in there! Angel was in that box right that very moment and...the Doctor, no matter how oblivious he could be, the man wouldn't just let her, or anyone, walk into that box if he knew there was even the slightest chance that it was about to explode.
Right?
He wouldn't.
Would he?
No, the man wouldn't risk Angel. Not the last of his kind. Not like that.
"Doesn't matter," the Doctor waved him off, though Rory noticed a stiffening of his shoulders.
"Doctor...don't tell me it's the TARDIS that explodes," Rory said, his voice deceptively calm and low, though, if the Doctor had been looking, he would have seen the Roman's hands clenching into fists. He could see the Doctor tense at the words and it told him that the man was very much aware of the danger Angel was in, confirming his own fears that it might just be the TARDIS that exploded.
"I won't then," the Doctor muttered, swallowing hard as he rested a hand to his chest, feeling his hearts tighten at the thought of the TARDIS really exploding. He truly hadn't really thought of it, Angel was just...SO good at fixing the TARDIS and calming the box down whenever it threw a tantrum...he really and truly believed she could do it again...but Rory's concern...it was starting to make him reconsider his earlier thoughts and now he was starting to worry as well.
"Well is it?!" Rory nearly shouted when he didn't answer.
The Doctor glanced back over his shoulder at Rory, "You said not to tell you."
"Doctor!" Rory huffed, "Angel's in there!"
"Yes, Rory," he spun around, storming right up to the man, "I'm well aware of that, thank you! But if anyone, anyone in the Universe, can stop the TARDIS exploding it's Angel. Believe you me, I didn't want to let her go either, but..."
He cut off suddenly, looking away from Rory a moment and then down, thoughtful. Those words...they struck something in him. He hadn't wanted to let her go, he'd grabbed her and everything in him told him not to let her go...but...he couldn't help but feel like there was MORE to it than just letting her go into the TARDIS.
What was it though? Oh it was so frustrating! Angel frustrated him. Well, not Angel exactly, but...things were complicated around her. He constantly found himself saying things and doing things and thinking things around her before he even realized he'd said them or done them or thought them. He'd never felt this before, he didn't understand what it was. And it was incredibly annoying to not know something, especially when it kept happening, especially when he felt like he SHOULD know it, like it was just at the tip of his tongue, the corner of his eye, the edge of his thoughts...and...nothing.
"But what?" Rory asked, trying to be calmer, trying to think about this logically, getting worked up and angry wouldn't help Angel.
"But Angel loves that box," the Doctor continued, looking back at Rory, "She'd do anything to keep something from happening to it. Just..." he patted Rory's shoulder, "Trust her...she'll think of something."
Rory eyed him a moment, knowing that was true. The TARDIS was the last connection Angel had to her family, she'd told him all about them during their talks as she gave him tours of the TARDIS. He knew she'd rather put herself in the line of danger if it meant saving the box, and he did, trust her that is, with his life. Angel really was the only one he could think of that might be able to stop the TARDIS exploding.
"And these crack things?" Rory began, agreeing, for the moment, to let it go, "What exactly did they do to me?"
The Doctor nodded his thanks and turned back to the Pandorica once more, both men sharing a silent understanding that the only way they'd get through this without going mad with worry for Angel, was to keep distracted, "The cracks are everywhere. Get too close and you can alright out of the Universe."
"So I fell through a crack and now I was never born?"
"Basically."
"How did I end up here?"
"I don't know, you shouldn't have. What happened?" he glanced at Rory, "From your point of view, what physically happened?"
"I was in the cave, with you and Angel and Amy. I was dying and then I was just...here, a Roman soldier. A proper Roman. Head full of Roman...stuff, a whole other life. Just here, like I'd woken up from a dream. Started to think it was a dream. You and Angel and Amy and Leadworth. Then today, in the camp, the men were talking about the visitors, the girl with the red hair, the woman in the blue dress, and I thought you'd come back for me. But Amy…she can't even remember me."
"Oh, shut up," the Doctor laughed.
"What?"
The Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out the ring box, tossing it to Rory, "Go get her."
"But I don't understand. Why am I here?"
"Because you are," he shrugged, before sighing, "The Universe is big. It's vast and complicated and ridiculous, and sometimes, very rarely, impossible things just...happen and we call them miracles, and that's the theory. 900 years, I've only seen one."
"What was it?"
The Doctor blinked, looking in the distance, seeing a faint image of Angel, with brilliant red hair, standing in the TARDIS, bathed in golden and orange energy, before shaking his head, "This one though, this would do me. Now get upstairs, she's Amy and she's surrounded by Romans. I'm not sure history can take it!"
Rory hesitated a moment before turning to go. No. No the Doctor wouldn't let Angel go into a box that was about to explode without knowing she'd be ok in the end. He just wouldn't. Never mind that, Angel wouldn't have gone into the box, knowing it might explode, if she didn't think she'd be ok either, she would NOT risk that baby, not for anything. So she would be fine. She had to be…or Rory would kill him. He would. He'd go down in history as 'the Man Who Killed The Doctor.' He stopped short at that thought before nodding, yes, he would. Angel was so special to him, in such a short time she'd become so important to him, not quite as important as Amy, but really very close. She really was like an older sister who always believed in him and encouraged him and saw how brilliant he was and looked out for him at her own expense. And he found, he would always return the favor, even if it meant looking out for her when it came to the Doctor as well.
Rory nodded to himself and continued on, the Doctor slapping him on the back as he headed out.
~8~
River and Angel hesitated a moment after the TARDIS set down, waiting to see if anything would happen, but all was quiet. Angel turned to the rotor, reaching out to stroke it a moment, "You ok now girl?" she asked, soothing the TARDIS, but she frowned.
This was...not Stonehenge, it wasn't even the same time period as they'd left the Doctor in, but...THIS was where the TARDIS wanted them to go and she had learned ages ago to let a TARDIS do the piloting when it fought for control like the box had. TARDISes were SO alive, something that many other Time Lords had forgotten in their travels, degrading them to just machines that travelled in time and space. But they were conscious, they were aware, and they were foreseeing. If the TARDIS brought them there, it was because there was something outside those doors that they NEEDED to see.
Angel looked over to River as the woman whacked the monitor a few times, but was unable to bring up a picture to see exactly where they were, "Come on," she huffed, turning and heading for the door. She opened it and stepped out, Angel hesitating a moment, glancing back at the console as the TARDIS hummed gently at her, before following.
Neither of them saw the monitor spring to life with the date reading 26/6/2010 or the crack appear in the monitor with a ghostly voice growling, "Silence will fall!"
"Why has the TARDIS brought us here?" River asked as they walked outside, only to see Amy's house before them.
"Because this is where we need to be," Angel replied quietly, "There's something here she wants us to see."
River pulled out her scanner and slowly walked towards the door to the house, when it beeped before they even reached it. They looked over to see what was clearly an alien symbol burned into the grass, "Ok, so something's been here."
Angel looked over to see the door to Amy's house off its hinges and frowned, that was never a good sign in those scary movies Martha and her used to watch. According to Martha, after travelling with the Doctor, horror movies weren't all that scary any longer. It had been...nice, bonding with Martha over horror movies. They would both still get scared and then grab each other's arms, screaming and jumping and then laughing when the Doctor burst in at the sounds of their shouts to make sure they were ok. That was something she loved, all the Doctor's companions were so different in tastes. Rose had loved watching 'chick flicks' as Mickey had called them, romantic movies and things, while Martha was more for the thrill of horror, Donna had comedy down, and Amy...yes, even she and Amy watched movies, though Amy was more for action, given all the running they tended to do...and she did love ogling the men in those movies as well, not that SHE could really see what was so spectacular about them, the Doctor did everything they did with only a sonic screwdriver in hand. It was nice, their personalities were so reflective in the movies they chose. And because of that, she knew that a door literally hanging off its hinges was NOT good at all.
But River didn't seem the least bit disturbed as she strode towards the door, Angel rushing after her as they proceeded in and walked around the house. Angel paused at the base of the stairs though, looking up them a moment before slowly making her way along them, River frowning as she followed behind, letting Angel take the lead just for the moment. Angel walked along the hall, bringing them to what was most certainly Amy's room. They paused, looking at Amy's childhood Raggedy Doctor dolls, one or two resembling Angel as well, though far fewer than the Doctor, cartoons pinned up on the walls of adventures she wanted to have with the Doctor and his box as a child. There were whales like Shamu flying in the sky, and pirates on a ship, her standing beside a man with ginger hair with the two of them painting on easels, and quite a few others that brought a smile to Angel's face.
She turned to see a children's book on Roman Britain, a soldier prominently on the cover, "River look at this," she held it up.
River walked over from where she was scanning Amy's cupboard, her eyes widening as she recognized the Roman on the front as the commander she had spoken to in the encampment. She looked over to see another book on Pandora's box, "And this…" she breathed, "Oh no…"
~8~
Amy was sitting on a log outside, staring at the stars and the lingering ships, with a blanket wrapped around her when Rory found her, "Are you ok?" he asked.
"Did the Doctor send you?" Amy rolled her eyes, "I'm fine, he just fusses."
"You got a blanket. That's good," he nodded, "Who gave you that?"
"One of the fellas."
"Which one?" he looked back at the camp, eyeing a few of the more...flirty...men suspiciously.
"Just one of them. Does it matter?"
Rory looked at her curiously, the Amy he knew, well...the one from before the Dream Lord incident, would have given him a detailed description of which man it was, complete with hair and eye color and height and possible amount of muscles...but the Amy from after the Dream Lord...to her men were just men, no distinction except for him. He smiled a bit, maybe...maybe it meant, somehow, that Amy DID remember him a little.
"No, no. Forget him, it. Forget it."
"What's your name?"
"I'm...Rory," he trailed off, seeing her stiffen, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing. It's just..." she eyed him intently, "Not what you expect Romans to be called. What's it short for? Roranicus?"
"Yeah," he studied her face, a frown coming to his own, "You're crying…"
Amy blinked and put a hand to her face to wipe away the tear, startled she was crying again and hadn't even noticed.
~8~
"The TARDIS, where is it?" the Doctor called into the comm. as it beeped and he'd heard River and Angel call out, "Hurry up!"
"Don't raise your voice, don't look alarmed, just listen," River called back quietly.
~8~
"Hey, what's wrong?" Rory eyed Amy, seeing more tears coming to her eyes as another expression made its way onto her face, one that was NOT sadness.
"Nothing," Amy cried, starting to laugh, "It's like...it's like I'm happy," she shook her head, still smiling, though seeming very confused, "Why am I happy?"
~8~
"They're not real, they can't be," River continued, "They're all right here, in the story book, those actual Romans, the ones I sent you, the ones you're with right now. They're all in a book in Amy's house, a children's picture book."
"What are you even doing there?" the Doctor cried with a frown, his hearts starting to race, if they were at Amy's...then there was a chance they were there on the 26th of June...and that was the SAME day the TARDIS exploded!
"It doesn't matter. The TARDIS went wrong..."
"She didn't go wrong," Angel cut in, "Doctor, the TARDIS knew, she knew it was some sort of trap, she was trying to warn you by showing us this."
"Doctor, how is this possible?"
"Something's trying to use Amy's memories against him..."
"Yes, I got that," River nearly snapped, making the Doctor wince, he understood that it was a stressful situation, but there was no need to be snippy, "But how?"
"You said something had been there," he cut in, not wanting them to start fighting, not that he thought Angel would start a fight, but...well...she'd been a bit of an odd mood lately, he'd noticed sometimes she'd be calm then scared, happy then frightening, just...all over the place really. It reminded him very much of himself at times, he could be rather random in his own mood swings too.
"Yes, there's burn marks on the grass outside, landing patterns."
"If they've been to her house, they could have used her psychic residue. Structures can hold memories, that's why houses have ghosts. They could've taken a snapshot of Amy's memories. But why?"
"Doctor, who are those Romans?"
"Projections. Or duplicates."
"But they were helping us. My lipstick even worked."
"They might think they're real. The perfect disguise. They actually believe their own cover story, right until they're activated."
"Doctor…" Angel came on again, making him stiffen at the slight tremor in her voice, "Rory…there's a picture of him here too, with Amy, dressed as a Centurion..." she sighed, "I'm sorry Doctor, I didn't even sense it..."
"Maybe you're just not as sharp as you think," River commented.
"Or maybe it's just a very deep cover then," the Doctor reminded River, defending Angel a bit.
He knew that girl wouldn't have biased herself into believing Rory was really back to the point where she missed that. Though...he had to admit there was a tiny part of him that thought she might have done that, that she was just so glad he was back that she'd not noticed he wasn't really back. That was a thing with Visionaries on Gallifrey, they were never meant to interact much, to form a social bond or even create any sort of relationship with anyone, not even friendship, to remain unbiased. It was a lonely existence, one he was rather glad Angel hadn't been subjected to. He saw her with the companions, she was just brilliant and she was just...too special to be confined to such a fate.
"They are physically real...till activation."
~8~
"What's the matter?" Rory frowned, kneeling before Amy, concerned.
"Nothing," Amy shook her head, reaching out with a hand to caress his face, "I don't know why I'm doing that."
"It's me," he breathed, daring to hope, if there was one thing Angel had given him it was hope, hope that he could be this incredible person she saw him as, hope that that incredible man might be someone worth remembering, just...hope in everything, "Amy, please...it's me."
~8~
"It's a trap, Doctor," Angel repeated, more firmly than before, more sure, "They used what Amy knew to make something up for you to investigate, they used her to get to you!"
"Why?" the Doctor shook his head, "Who'd do that? What for? It doesn't make sense," he frowned, hearing the TARDIS start to shake and shudder, "River? Angel? What's happening?!"
"I don't know!" it was River this time.
"It's the engines," then Angel.
"Doctor, there's something wrong with the TARDIS. Like something else is controlling it."
"You're flying it wrong," he stated.
"She's actually flying it right," Angel told him, defending the woman despite everything, and the last thing they needed was the Doctor shouting about how they needed to pilot the box right when they were instead of helping them work out what was going on!
"Where are you? What's the date reading?" he closed his eyes, praying he was wrong in his assumption.
"It's the 26th June, 2010."
The Doctor's eyes widened, his hearts pounding now as his knuckles turned white with how tightly he was holding the comm., "You need to get out of there now! Angel! Any other time zone, just go!"
"We can't break free!" River shouted.
"Well, then, shut down the TARDIS. Shut down everything!"
"I tried!" Angel gasped, sounding scared which made his hearts beat all the faster, his chest tightening as his mind started to go fuzzy in fear...
And then...an eerie voice rasped, "Silence will fall…silence will fall!"
~8~
Amy pulled her hand away from Rory's face and stood," But I don't know you, I've never seen you before in my life."
"You have," Rory told her, standing with her, "You know you have. It's me."
She backed away, "Why am I crying?"
"Because you remember me. I came back!" he reached out and took her hands, Amy letting out a breath at the (somehow) familiar sensation, "You're crying because you remember me."
~8~
"Someone else has got control of the TARDIS!" Angel told them, "Someone else is flying her. We can't pilot her!"
"But how?" the Doctor shouted, "Why?"
There was a sudden high-pitched whine, making the Doctor cover his ears.
Unnoticed, behind him, the Romans dropped into a bent forward position, as were the Romans outside, save Rory, who fell to the ground, fighting it.
"Listen to me," the Doctor called again, "Angel just land anywhere. Emergency landing, now. Please you've got to get out of there! River, there are cracks in time, Angel and I've seen them everywhere, and they're getting wider," the Romans straightened behind him, "The TARDIS exploding is what causes them, but we can stop the cracks ever happening if you both just land her!"
"It's not safe," River argued, "And the TARDIS seems cross with me at the moment. It won't let me touch the controls."
The Doctor opened his mouth to answer, to tell Angel to talk to the TARDIS...when a light started to shine on his face...the Pandorica was starting to open, two sides sliding away from the closest corner to the cavern entrance. He lowered the communicator in wonder, "Well, now. Ready to come out, are we?"
The Romans turned in unison and lifted their right hands in front of them as though holding guns...
~8~
The Romans outside started walking towards Stonehenge but Rory resisted, "No! No, please, no! I'm not going. I'm Rory!"
Amy watched, her eyes wide, not knowing what was happening.
~8~
"Doctor, we're down," River said as the TARDIS thumped.
"I've landed her," Angel added.
"Ok," he shook his head, bringing the comm. up again, "Just walk out of the doors..."
"...to shut down the engines."
"Right," he smiled, he should have known Angel would work out what to do, even if she wasn't psychic, TARDISes were HER strength, "Just get out of there," he swallowed, "Please Angel...just get out..."
"Got it!"
"We're going," River agreed.
"Run!" he yelled, turning towards the Pandorica, dropping the comm. so he could use both hands to examine the box.
~8~
River and Angel ran to the TARDIS doors.
~8~
The fingers of the Romans dropped down to reveal guns underneath as they marched towards the Doctor, who was sonicing the box, too distracted to notice them.
~8~
River tried to open the doors but they wouldn't budge, she grunted and grabbed the communicator out of Angel's hands, "Doctor! Doctor! I can't open the doors!"
~8~
As the Doctor went to pick up the communicator...when he spotted the Romans advancing, "Amy!"
~8~
Rory struggled against the programming, against the commands running through his head, looking at Amy with tears in his eyes, needing to fight it for her, "Listen to me, you have to run. You have to get as far away from here as you can! I'm a thing. I'll kill you. Just go! Please, no," he hunched forward, shaking his head, shaking in his efforts, "I don't want to go. I'm Rory! I'm...I'm..."
"Williams," Amy breathed, "Rory Williams from Leadworth. My boyfriend," she knelt down and held him by the shoulders, "How could I ever forget you?"
"Amy, you've got to run. I can't hold on, I'm going..."
"You are Rory Williams and you aren't going anywhere ever again."
She didn't need to be Angel to know that, she was not ever going to let anything take Rory from her again.
~8~
"Doctor!" River shouted as Angel ran back to the controls to try and open the doors from there, "I can't open the doors! Doctor, please, I've got seconds!"
Angel closed her eyes a moment, all about River wasn't it? She wondered, briefly, if River even knew SHE was pregnant, if she knew of a child in the future? If there even was a child in the future? She shook her head, no, she needed to focus on getting the three of them out alive right now.
~8~
The Doctor was dragged away by two Roman soldiers, led away from the Pandorica, "Plastic Romans. Duplicates, driven by the Nestene Consciousness, eh? Deep cover, but what for? What are you doing? What's in there, eh? What's coming out?"
~8~
River ran a jumper cable from the console and attached it to the main doors, Angel watching cautiously before a small frown made is way onto her face as she looked down at the controls.
...Rory screamed as a blast fired from his fingers, striking Amy, who fell backwards...
...the Doctor sat in the Pandorica, the sides closing, sealing him in...
...the stars in the night's sky exploded, casting the Universe into darkness...
She closed her eyes, and she knew, River's plan wouldn't work. She swallowed hard and began to work on controls of her own.
~8~
The two solders faced the Pandorica, the Doctor between them, facing the other way, "The Pandorica is ready," a soldier called.
"What, you mean it's open?" he frowned.
"You have been scanned," a Dalek reported, "Assessed. Understood. Doctor," he looked over his shoulder to see the White Dalek, the Red and the Yellow appearing beside it.
~8~
"The ring," Amy said, crying, "Remember the ring? You'd never let me wear it in case I lost it."
"The Doctor gave it to me."
"Show it to me. Show me the ring."
"Amy..."
"Come on! Just show it to me!"
With shaking hands, Rory took out the box and opened it.
~8~
The Doctor faced the Daleks, still being restrained, "Scanned? Scanned by what, a box?"
"Your limits and capacities have been extrapolated," a Cyberman replied.
The Doctor looked around and a Cyberman appeared, three Judoon and three Sontarans on either side of it and two others.
"The Pandorica is ready," the Sontaran reported.
"Ready for what?" he demanded.
"Ready for you," the White Dalek stated.
The Doctor looked over his shoulder to see a chair with restraints inside the box amongst the advanced technology. He tried to pull away but the soldiers pulled him forward with ease.
~8~
"There it is," Amy smiled, seeing it, "You remember. This is you. And you are staying."
Rory's hand opened, revealing the gun, "No..." he groaned, but fired anyway, Amy gasped, falling back as she was shot, "No. No!"
~8~
River connected the wires as the TARDIS continued to spark and explode around her.
Angel winced, taking a breath as she continued to work, she knew what would happen if the TARDIS exploded, she could feel it profoundly in her what was happening on Earth, she had seen it. The Doctor being led to the Pandorica...Amy...Rory...the Doctor could save them, she knew, but he'd need time.
And she had always been very good with time...
But there was only one way to give him enough of it...
~8~
Silurians, Hoix, and Roboforms joined the growing number of the Doctor's enemies as he was walked towards the prison.
~8~
River shoved down a crank, causing sparks to fly out of the console.
Angel looked up as the TARDIS hummed angrily, more at her than River, working out what she was planning, "I'm sorry," she whispered to the box, for what it would mean for both of them. She put her hand on her stomach, "I'm SO sorry..."
~8~
The Doctor's enemies watched, grinning widely, triumphant, as he was forced up to the box.
~8~
Rory sobbed, holding Amy's limp and unmoving body in his arms.
~8~
The Doctor was forced into the chair, the clamps placed around his wrists and ankles, a large yoke coming down over his shoulders. His enemies stood, gloating, "You lot, working together, an alliance...how is that possible?" he asked.
"The cracks in the skin of the Universe," the Dalek started.
"All reality is threatened," the Sontaran finished.
"All Universes will be deleted," the Cyberman reported.
"What?" he frowned, "And you've come to me for...help?"
"No," the Sontaran glared, "We will save the Universe from you!"
"From me?"
"All projections correlate," the Cyberman nodded, "All evidence concurs. The Doctor will destroy the Universe."
"No, no, no. You've got it wrong."
"The Pandorica was constructed to ensure the safety of the alliance."
"A scenario was devised from the memories of your companion," a Dalek stated.
"A trap the Doctor could not resist," the Sontaran grinned.
"The cracks in time are the work of the Doctor. It is confirmed."
"No," he shook his head, "No, no. Not me, the TARDIS. And I'm not in the TARDIS, am I?"
He closed his eyes, realizing the horrible truth, ANGEL was in the TARDIS...he could only pray that she'd be able to stop it...if she could stop it then all of them would realize this was pointless and go back to fighting each other...or try to kill him...but probably fight each other and give him a chance to get away.
"Only the Doctor can pilot the TARDIS."
It wasn't true at all, Angel could too, but all those enemies, only a handful had ever met her and for all they knew, maybe she DIDN'T know how to pilot the TARDIS. HE hadn't even known she was bonded to the box till a few months ago.
"Please, listen to me!"
"You will be prevented."
"Total event collapse! Every sun will supernova at every moment in history. The whole Universe will never have existed! Please, listen to me!"
"Seal the Pandorica," the Cyberman commanded.
"No! Please, listen to me! The TARDIS is exploding right now! Listen to me!"
But the box slid shut...
~8~
River opened the doors to the TARDIS...only to see a stone wall, "No…" she breathed, stepping back.
"River…" Angel called, River looked up, "I'm sorry."
She hit a button down on the console and River's eyes widened. "No! Don't you d…"
And then she was gone, teleported out, a moment before the TARDIS exploded, taking Angel with it...
~8~
Rory wept, holding Amy, not even noticing the stars exploding into supernovas around him...
To be continued...
A/N: I did promise a twist about the TARDIS and Pandorica and Angel. She's IN the exploding TARDIS! -gasp!- And...as a Time Lady...well...I don't think River noticed the loop, so Angel... :( So here's a question...why did Angel do that?! Why send River out if she was able to work the teleports? Why do that to herself, to the baby?
...what will happen to the baby as a result?! O.O
SO many questions...I suppose we'll have to wait till tomorrow to find out }:)
But I do hope you liked the little glimpse into the Doctor's thoughts and Rory :) I have to say, the Big Bang was one of my favorites to write :)
Also, for anyone who's read my Supernatural trilogy, I'm about ready to make the video for that, but I don't think I have enough clips to make 3 separate videos :( So I just wanted to ask if there was any one particular song that you think fits to Sam/Michelle's relationship. I'm sort of blanking on a good one so I'm open to suggestions :)
Some notes on reviews...
Not exactly switched them :) I more took the personalities (or aspects of them) that I felt they'd have with Angel appearing when she did. Like...without falling in love with the Doctor, I truly think Rose had the potential to be the greatest friend anyone could have :) With River...it never made sense to me that she went from a complete raging psychopath who was poisoning people and threatening humans to just giving up ALL her lives like that (when I turned the volume up very high, I heard the Doctor say 'she's a bad girl' in River's ear so it's not like he whispered any great confessions of love to her that would change her mind, to me at least), so I'm keeping more true to her psychopathic nature :) They're sort of opposite personalities if you base it on the Academic Series though, but it's more just what I feel they'd be based on when Angel appears :) But I'm glad you like the story so much :) I wish I could update more too, darn work/school lol :)
I can say that Angel will, at one point, have quite a firm stance against River, however, that sort of confrontation I can't see happening (from what I've written) till Series 8 (or the 50th depending on if River's in it), just because I feel like it needs to be the right moment and it just hasn't quite happened yet. But it WILL happen eventually :) As for the Doctor, we'll just have to wait and see ;) I can say that one of Angel's theories will be crossed off by the end of this series :)
Yup, they're both in the TARDIS...or they WERE both there ;) I hope you liked the little twist of it being JUST Angel that's in there. And sadly she did not stop it or get out herself, but the reason why she did it will be revealed shortly though :)
I know, I was shocked to see we were at another sneak peek too ^-^ Oh the Doctor's very much concerned, and he'll be even more noticing of her in the Big Bang episode :) Lol, the Doctor in the last chapter was a bit more worried about the Pandorica yeah, that was mostly because his thoughts were in this chapter, once he starts to realize that there really IS a possibility that Angel won't be able to stop the explosion ;) I'm not sure if 11 will kiss her, we'll have to wait and see about that ;) Oh Utah and the 'wedding' will be BIG chapters, I think it'll depend on whether River really kills Angel at the lake or if it's more of a figurative killing...or perhaps she still kills the Doctor and, in so doing, 'kills' Angel too? So many possibilities :) I think, Rory would be concerned, at some point, when he realizes what the Mating means for Angel if the Doctor dies ;)
I can say that we'll find out that one of Angel's top theories on why he has amnesia will be crossed off by the end of this series ;) So we'll be getting closer to finding out what happened :)
We'll have to see about the wedding chapter. I can say that it'll have a different title, but River Song will still feature in it. So...for all we know, it could be the Honeymoon of River Song or something else }:)
I can say that River will be semi-decent to her :) The River we saw in the Library, right at the end, seemed to come to terms with something, and we know that the Name of the Doctor will feature a post-Library River ;) So it'll be interesting to see how she acts around Angel then :) Lol, I hope you enjoy the rest of the story ;)
I think the Professor would be Wonder Woman, Angel would (of course, lol) be Supergirl ;), and Evy would be Batgirl. Mostly because I think the Professor's just a great strong woman and a good warrior, Angel's just...strong, stronger than she might realize, and Evy is very technologically savvy and gadgets and keeping up with the boys :)
Thank YOU! I'm glad you like the stories so far ^-^
Lol, I can say there'll be a time where someone (besides Rory) punches the Doctor, but I won't say if it's Jack or not :)
In terms of the plan for Angel, I've actually been following the original plan pretty closely :) Apart from the minor semi-scare about possibly stopping the story at Series 4, I've been following what I've had planned for her pretty well :)
I might dare, but then again, I might not :) I can say that...I'm fairly certain that regeneration would kill the baby :( Mostly because Angel's already having a difficult pregnancy and facing more dangers than she should, and regeneration energy is dangerous and deadly and I can't see it 'healing' the baby but more harming it :( So we should keep our fingers crossed that she won't regenerate }:)
Hmm...I'm not sure if I'm like any of my OCs or Time Ladies :) I'm definitely not as smart or flirty or confident as the Professor, nor as tech-savvy and sarcastic and take-charge as Evy, I don't think I'm as nice as Angel (given how evil I'm being to her lol). I actually can't really see much of myself in them, they're just awesome and I'm just little old me :)