A Christmas Carol: Christmas Eves
Kazran, Angel, and the Doctor opened Abigail's pod with a cry of "Merry Christmas!"
"Angel!" Abigail cheered, hugging the woman and smiling at the Doctor, "Hello Doctor! Where to this time?"
"Did I mention, at any point, all of time and space?" the Doctor laughed, leading them to the TARDIS that was stationed in the back of the vault.
Abigail laughed and squeezed Angel's hand, eager for the next adventure, which made Angel smile as well, pleased that she and Kazran were enjoying the trips. She wished she could enjoy them more, but...Rory and Amy were always in the back of her mind, much like with the Doctor she knew, and she was always worried that what they were doing might not be enough. She couldn't lose Rory again, she'd promised herself, nothing bad would happen to the man again, never.
~8~
The trio opened Abigail's pod, all wearing fezzes, "Merry Christmas!"
Abigail laughed and shook her head at the sight of them, even Angel had a fez on, and was holding one she knew was meant for her as well, "Doctor! Angel!"
~8~
The pod door swung open to reveal the trio there, now wearing stripped scarves which Abigail had to admit, seemed to suit their personalities. The Doctor's was an odd patchwork sort of scarf, made of stripes and polka dots, and zigzags and other designs that oddly enough, fit together quite well. Angel's was made of lighter colors, soft pinks and blues and purples, but stitched with a dark TARDIS blue colored string. Kazran's was very refined, made of browns and oranges and whites. She wouldn't know but Angel had found it and insisted Kazran wear the ridiculously long and rather familiar scarf.
Kazran had only nodded sullenly, much like how he was not standing, and hadn't spoken much. Which, of course, had made the Doctor ask him why and pester him till he broke his silence. He explained that his voice had started to crack and he was a bit embarrassed and felt terribly awkward. Angel had just told him that it was natural and that he sounded just fine, that it was nothing to be embarrassed about, even his father's voice had cracked like that in the man's lifetime! Which had cheered him up greatly, made him laugh actually to imagine his father with a high, squeaky, cracky voice.
But they understood and agreed to help him out throughout the night so he wouldn't have to talk much.
"Merry Christmas!" Angel and the Doctor shouted as Kazran offered her a wide smile instead.
"Hello!" she cheered, rushing out of the pod to take Angel's arm as she was accustomed to doing, following the men out of the vault.
The countdown turned to 4.
~8~
A teenage Kazran pulled open the door to Abigail's pod while Angel and the Doctor stood back a bit, just wanting to watch what they both knew was coming. The years had been good to Kazran, and he was rather a handsome young man at the moment. Which had made the Doctor pout and frown when Angel had laughed and hugged the boy, commenting on how grown up he looked, how handsome he'd become, and then kissed him on the cheek! On the cheek! Kissed him!
Angel had just eyed him oddly for his less than warm hello to Kazran, not at all sure why he was pouting or being all moody and broody, much like his old old self had been, Mr. Brooding she and Rose had called him. She was just saying hello to Kazran, actually saying hello and not Jack's version of saying hello. And she kissed Rory on the cheek at times too so there was nothing that should upset him, nothing she'd done any differently than with others. She didn't understand it.
"Merry Christmas!" they cheered, Angel pulled back to the present by the Doctor and Kazran's words.
Abigail's eyes widened as she took in the young man before her, "Kazran!"
Angel laughed lightly at that, seeing Abigail's stunned look, she knew that would happen.
~8~
The Doctor and Angel moved to the controls of the console as soon as they were in the TARDIS, Kazran and Abigail walking a little slower behind them, "You've grown," Abigail continued to stare, unable to take her eyes away from the...young man.
Angel glanced over at them, smiling knowingly before getting back to work. The Doctor watched her, not because he was watching her, no but because he was looking to see if she was putting in the controls correctly yes, and blinked, glancing between her and the 'couple' walking towards them, confused, before he shrugged and got back to helping get the TARDIS ready.
"Yeah," Kazran's cheeks turned pink at the compliment, much like they had when Angel had said the same. But in all fairness, he wasn't used to compliments from women, he couldn't remember ever getting praise from his father either for that matter.
"And now you're blushing," Abigail nudged him.
"Sorry."
"That's ok."
"So," Kazran cleared his throat and walked up to the console, "Where this time?"
"Pick a Christmas Eve," the Doctor grinned, holding his arms out wide to indicate the console, "We've got them all right here."
"Actually," Angel called gently, "I think we should let Abigail pick this one," she looked over at the woman.
Abigail beamed at them as they looked at her expectantly, realizing they were going to let her pick, "This one."
~8~
The small group of 'time travelers' walked through the streets of the town that night, Abigail with a hooded cloak on, Kazran with his black jacket and a black bowtie, but Angel still wearing the Doctor's jacket. She'd tried to give it back but he'd just said to keep it till it was warm again. She had thought he might want it back because she kept seeing him glancing at her, at it, and thought he was feeling cold too. But he'd smiled and laughed it off so there she was, still wearing his jacket and...smiling at it. It was warm like him and faintly smelled of him and, sometimes when they stopped for a moment she could close her eyes and almost imagine the Doctor was just...holding her.
She hadn't realized till she'd gone to Torchwood how much she missed things like that, just...little things, a hand hold, a hug. When Jack had taken her hand...she'd honestly been stunned that he had, and it had felt so nice. But it hadn't really hit her till just now though to realize...the Doctor rarely had taken her hand. She could, quite probably, count the amount of times he'd held or taken her hand on one hand. And that hurt, more than she wanted to admit. Because the last him had always held her hand, had given her little kisses on the back of it, and even the him before that had held her hand too. She knew she had the Vortex in her but...him holding her hand always made her feel safe and warm and...loved.
They slowed though in their following Abigail when the woman stopped before the window of a small house, watching the family within, her family. Her sister was handing her husband a drink, "Thank you, darling," the man kissed her which made her smile sadly.
Kazran, Angel, and the Doctor stood back a ways, observing her, all of them sensing this was a moment for her, "Who are they?" Kazran frowned.
"Her family," Angel replied softly, "That woman is her sister."
"We met her once," the Doctor added after a moment, though he sounded a bit...annoyed, "When she was...older."
Kazran nodded and looked back at Abigail, his eyes widening, "Abigail's crying," he noticed.
"Yes."
Kazran looked at Angel and the Doctor, "When girls are crying, are you supposed to talk to them?"
The Doctor shrugged, "How am I supposed to know?"
Angel just gave the Doctor a curious look before nudging Kazran over to Abigail and turning to the Doctor herself, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," he turned, walking off a few feet to give Kazran and Abigail privacy.
"Are you really trying to lie to a psychic?" she asked.
"No."
"Then what's wrong?" she shook her head, "You're in a snarky mood too."
"I'm not snarky."
She nodded, "Well you're very much brooding."
He stopped and turned around to face her, "Brooding?"
Something about that word...
~oOo~
"New New Doctor," he laughed.
"I have to say," Angel opened her eyes to look at him, "I rather like this New New Doctor."
He beamed down at her, reaching out to stroke her cheek a moment before putting a strand of hair that had escaped her clip in the wind behind her ear, "Me too," and then placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.
"Though I must admit, I do miss Mr. Brooding."
"Mr. Brooding?" he asked, incredulous, as Rose let out a giggle, quickly trying to cover it up as he looked between the two of them, "Is that what you two called me behind my back?"
"Oh no," Rose remarked.
"Not ever," Angel added.
They were serious for a moment, before laughing once more.
"Oh yeah, well, would 'Mr. Brooding' do this?" he replied, before reaching out and tickling the two of them.
~oOo~
"Yes," Angel nodded, pulling him from his thoughts, "I travelled with your 9th self Doctor, I know when you're brooding," she reached out to put a hand on his arm, not trusting herself to take his hand and be able to let go later, "What's wrong?"
He sighed and looked at Kazran, realizing he was being childish. The boy was clearly taken with Abigail and he had no right to be cross if Angel kissed him on the cheek. It wasn't like Angel was going to stay there with Kazran, no, the TARDIS was her home. And there was more a chance of her going to stay with Jack than there...which made him wince at the thought of her leaving.
"It's nothing," he told her, "I'm fine, I promise," he crossed his hearts.
Angel eyed him a moment, seeing that, in his mind, he didn't even know why he was being broody, "If you're sure..."
He nodded, glancing back at Kazran and Abigail, "And I've just had a brilliant idea!" he cheered, turning to run around the house, Angel rushing after him, leaving Abigail and Kazran to their conversation.
"My sister's family," Abigail breathed as Kazran came to stand beside her, "They're so happy."
"They look very poor," Kazran remarked.
"They are very poor. Doesn't mean you can't be happy."
"And then why aren't you?"
Abigail flinched as her brother-in-law closed the curtains, blocking the family from view, not even seeming to notice it was HER standing there, well, why would he? He'd never met her before, she'd been frozen, "Because this is the life I can never have."
"Why not?"
Abigail just took his hand in hers, "I think you're blushing again."
The curtain suddenly was thrust open, the Doctor there, waving at them with Angel in the background, standing by Abigail's sister, "Come in!" he called.
Abigail smiled widely and headed inside.
~8~
The Doctor sat entertaining a little boy who Angel recognized as the father of the two children they had seen in the future. He was trying a card trick with the boy while Abigail sat with her sister, Kazran helping the father decorate, "Pick a card, any card at all," the Doctor held out a fan of cards while Angel sat watching from the window behind the Doctor, though her gaze flickered from the Doctor to the view outside, it was a lovely night.
"Every Christmas Eve?" Abigail's sister whispered to her, though Angel could still hear it, "I don't understand."
"I'm not sure I do," Abigail smiled.
"Memorize the card, put it back in the deck," the Doctor instructed, "Don't let me see it."
"Is this what it looked like last year?" the father called, looking at the stockings he was trying to hang up along the fireplace.
"It doesn't have to be exactly the same," his wife called back.
"I'm starting again. Come on, Kazran, we're starting again."
"That's Sardick's boy, isn't it?" she turned back to Abigail.
"He's not like his father," Abigail insisted.
"His father treats everyone like cattle. One day, that boy will do the same."
"No. He's different."
"The three of clubs!" the Doctor held out the card at the boy, Angel smiled, shaking her head. She didn't need any of her abilities to know that was the wrong card, he was rubbish at card tricks.
"No," the boy replied.
"You sure? I'm very good at card tricks."
"Rule 1," she remarked as she made her way over to sit beside the boy, the Doctor's coat still on despite being inside, "He lies ALL the time," she gave the boy a wink.
The boy laughed and looked at the Doctor, "It wasn't the three of clubs."
"Well, of course it wasn't," he threw away the card, "Because it was the seven of diamonds!" he pulled it from inside his pocket.
The boy looked up at Angel as she asked, "No?"
"No," the boy agreed, that wasn't his card either.
"Oi, stop it, you're doing it wrong," the Doctor grumbled though he smiled seeing Angel beside the boy. He really appreciated that about her, she was so good with children, cared for them as much as he did. That was something special to be found in someone.
"I see him around the town sometimes," Abigail's sister started to whisper again, pulling Angel's attention away, "Never any friends."
"He's got me," Abigail said.
"All those Christmas Eves, you never once came to see us. "
"I'm here now."
"Then stay. Stay for tomorrow, have Christmas dinner with us."
"I can't."
"Well, then," she stood, getting everyone to look at her as well, "Tomorrow's dinner is cancelled, as my sister refuses to attend."
"Isabella..." Abigail shouted, alarmed that her sister would do such a thing, Christmases were the holiday their family always looked forward to.
"Instead..." Isabella reached out and took Abigail's hand, "We'll have it tonight."
"Do you need any help with the food?" Angel asked, standing, "I'm a better cook than I was, I could help."
"Bless you dear," Isabella smiled, nodding her and Abigail over to the small kitchen area.
~8~
They were all sitting around a table, the Doctor at one end with the father at the other, Abigail and Kazran on one side while Angel, Isabella, and the boy sat on the other, all of them about to pull party crackers, "Three!" the Doctor counted down, "Two! One! Pull!"
Angel grinned widely, thinking about Rose and the time the Doctor regenerated and how they'd done the same thing. The only thing different really was that instead of finding a pink hat in the cracker, the little boy pulled an 8 of hearts from his, "How did you do that?" he turned to the Doctor, unfolding his card to see it.
"Your card, I believe," he grinned smugly.
"No!"
"Oh, shut up!" the Doctor pouted.
"It was the ace of spades," Angel leaned over to tell him.
"How did you know?!" the little boy's eyes widened with surprise.
"Psychic," the Doctor muttered, looking over at her.
"Thief," Angel countered.
But the Doctor frowned, seeing her clutching something in her hand, "Did you win?" he asked, nodding at it.
She looked down, "Yeah," and unfolded the little bit of paper to reveal it was a dark blue 'crown.'
"So what's wrong then?" he asked her, starting to frown at how she was looking at the hat sadly. He'd thought that might bring a smile to her face, a real happy smile and not a sad one but...it seemed he hadn't mustered it again. He didn't know why that was bothering him so much, that she wasn't quite enjoying this trip or that the little things he was trying weren't working. Even when he'd given her his coat she'd seemed more shocked than happy at first, "And don't you try lying either," he pointed a warning finger at her.
She did smile at that a bit, "I just..." she held up the crown, "It reminds me of our first Christmas with Rose."
He nodded, recalling that, the pink hat Rose had gotten out of it, "Well that's ridiculous," he told her, taking the hat, "This is blue," he smiled, putting the hat on her head for her, "Rose's was pink," he paused, his hands still near her head as he took a moment to look at her, "You look better in blue than pink," he murmured softly, a single hand reaching out to brush a lock of hair behind her ear as she blinked at him, him just...staring...
"Er, Merry Christmas!" Kazran toasted suddenly, feeling very awkward to be surrounded not just by people but poor people, HAPPY people.
The Doctor nearly jolted away from Angel at the sudden shout, looking around before quickly lifting his glass to join in the "Merry Christmas!" everyone gave.
Abigail took Kazran's hand under the table, a concerned look on her face as she eyed the Doctor and Angel...she'd noticed their little moment earlier and now...there was a flash of terrible sadness in Angel's eyes, though it was gone...no, hidden...as she turned to join the toast as well.
~8~
"Best Christmas Eve ever!" Abigail hugged the Doctor as they stood back in the ice vault.
"Ah!" he hugged her back, "Till the next one."
"I look forward to it," Abigail moved to hug Angel too, "Now I'd like to say goodnight to Kazran."
"Of course," the Doctor nodded, but just kept standing there, "Well, on you go," he added when they just said nothing. They looked at him, and he looked back for a moment, before it hit him, "Oh! Oh, yes, right! Sorry, I'll, um, we'll go, then," he looked at Abigail, "Good night," and then Kazran, "Good luck...night! Good night!" he backed away into a pod, quickly turning to stop if falling over, "Sorry," and walked away.
Angel just shook her head at him, "Sweet dreams," she added to Abigail before walking after the Doctor.
"Doctor!" Kazran shouted, rushing over. Angel laughed stepping back, knowing what the boy was going to talk to the Doctor about, the man-to-man conversation he'd want to have. She looked at Abigail who was subtly ushering her over.
"Angel," Abigail began softly, reaching out to take the girl's hand, squeezing it lightly as she held it, "Are you alright?"
"Of course," she smiled, "I'm fine."
Abigail shook her head slowly, she could see it even better up close, the sort of smile she was giving, the sad smile, the one where you tried to keep it to yourself so as not to worry someone else, well that wouldn't work on her. The Time Lady had been so kind to her, so warm and welcoming and considerate, having given her the choice of this last Christmas Eve, she just wanted to return the favor, "You're sad."
"No, I'm not," Angel continued to insist, though her gaze turned away from Abigail, a clear sign she was lying. She glanced at Abigail again to see her clearly unbelieving stare and sighed, that was why she didn't lie, she was terrible at it. And she didn't like it.
"I saw the way you looked at the Doctor," she told Angel quietly, "Does he know?"
Angel looked at her a moment before nodding, deciding it couldn't hurt, they only saw Abigail once a year, and...the woman was being so understanding, she was so understanding that she couldn't help but want to get it off her chest, at least a bit, "Yes, he does…or, he did…he's forgotten," she blinked, feeling tears in her eyes but she held them back, she was NOT going to cry anymore, she had to be stronger than this, "And I can't even tell him. Memory loss is a delicate matter, but…he doesn't even know he's forgotten, not really."
It was her greatest fear, to tell him of the baby, or even of the Mating, and have him completely disagree with her, to deny everything. It was one thing to hear it waved off as a passing remark, it was another to say it, out loud, and then have him completely, flat-out deny it to her face. That would break her hearts. She didn't think the Doctor would be that cruel, to hurt her like that, but then again...she hadn't ever thought he would be the cause of her hurt.
And right now...he was.
Abigail nodded, squeezing her hand again, reading between the lines that it was more than just feelings that had been forgotten, "I'm sorry."
"Me too," she swallowed but then noticed Kazran heading over, "Good luck with Kazran."
~8~
"I, er, I think she's going to kiss me," Kazran muttered to the Doctor the moment Angel was far enough away to not hear him, the girl going to speak with Abigail.
"Yeah, I think you're right," he pushed him towards Abigail.
"I've never kissed anyone before," Kazran ran back to him, "What do I do?"
The Doctor put an arm around Kazran's shoulder, "Well...try and be all nervous and rubbish and a bit shaky."
"Why?"
"You'll be like that anyway. Make it part of the plan."
"Is that what you did when you kissed someone?" Kazran asked.
"Who said I kissed someone?" the Doctor glanced at him, stiffening.
"Well then how would you know?" Kazran shook his head, "...have you kissed someone?"
"Well, yeah," the Doctor scratched the side of his face, "Sure, yes, loads of people."
Kazran eyed him, seeing him frowning, "You don't look like it was good..."
~oOo~
And then, very suddenly, 'Rose' pulled his face towards her and planted a large kiss right on his lips.
Angel's eyes widened in shock at the sudden and very uncharacteristic move.
When 'Rose' finally pulled away he looked very shocked and she was slightly breathless, "T-terminal's this way," she breathed, walking off.
He blinked, before rounding to face Angel, who had turned to look at 'Rose,' frowning. His hearts were beating in his chest at the thought of what Angel might be feeling about that kiss. He'd just asked her to agree to be his Mate and then kissed another woman in front of her! Mind you, she had kissed him, but still…if this destroyed the chance he had with Angel…he honestly didn't know what he would do.
He...he'd never felt this way about any woman before, just the thought that he might lose Angel because of this...it terrified him...
~oOo~
"No," he murmured, "I don't suppose it was good..." he shook his head, recalling how...wrong...it had felt to kiss Rose or Martha or Amy...just wrong, SO wrong, and looked at Kazran, "But that'll be different for you," he cheered, pushing Kazran off once more, "Off you go, then!"
But Kazran resisted, "What, now? I kiss her now?"
"Kazran, it's this or go to your room and design a new kind of screwdriver. Don't make my mistakes. Now, go!"
Kazran sighed and turned back to Abigail just as she squeezed Angel's hand and the other woman turned to walk past him, patting his shoulder as she went. He stood before Abigail awkwardly...till the woman reached out and pulled him into a kiss.
~8~
Older Kazran smiled at the photos, looking at all their trips, all the places that the Doctor and Angel had taken him and Abigail to on those Christmas Eves. New York, Paris, Australia, and then he came across one of California 1952 and his smile faded...
~8~
Abigail was standing by the pool of a Hollywood mansion, dressed in a period white gown, unhappy despite the cheerful music and famous people wandering around. She just stared at the water with a sorrowful look on her face, which was how Kazran found her, "Abigail! Are you coming back? The Doctor is going to do a duet with Frank and Angel's holding him to it or else he has to eat this odd concoction of pickles and mayonnaise she's been nibbling on and…" he trailed off, seeing the tears in Abigail's eyes, "Abigail? What's wrong?" he took her hands in his.
"I have something to tell you," she whispered, her voice breaking.
"A bad thing?"
"A very bad thing."
He swallowed, squeezing her hands as he prepared himself, "What is it?"
"The truth."
~8~
The Doctor popped his head around a bush near the pool, wearing a white evening jacket with his tie undone, looking around frantically as though to avoid someone, only to end up spotting Abigail and Kazran kissing by the pool, "Guys, we've really got to go quite quickly!" he dashed past the hedges and towards them, "I just accidentally got engaged to Marilyn Monroe…" he looked over at them, revealing a lipstick smudge on his cheek and walked over, "How do you keep going like that? Do you breathe out your ears? Hello?" he knocked Kazran on the head lightly, "Sorry, hello?" and then Abigail, but they continued, "Guys, she's phoned a chapel, there's a car outside, this is happening now! I need to get out of here! I CAN'T marry her!"
"Yoo-hoo!" Marilyn called from across the pool.
"Yoo-hoo!" he called back before turning around, his eyes wide in horror, in absolute terror, "Guys?!"
"Doctor?" Angel appeared, walking past the hedge he'd just come from, dressed in a beautiful white halter dress that flowed to the floor with a TARDIS blue sash falling from her shoulder to her hip and matching gloves on.
"Angel!" he shouted, his hearts racing at the sight of her, SO thankful she'd turned up. He needed all the luck he could get at escaping the irate blonde that would be Marilyn Monroe. He ran right for her, "Thank God! We need to get to the TARDIS quick!"
She was the only one he trusted to get him out of this without running into Marilyn.
But Angel just frowned, confused, "Doctor what's hap…"
"No time, just go!" he grabbed her arm and pulled her past the hedge, "Run!"
Just then, Kazran and Abigail broke apart, "What are we going to do?" he breathed, both of them with tears in their eyes now.
"There is nothing to be done," she frowned.
~8~
Kazran escorted Abigail into her pod as the Doctor tested his half of the sonic on a small fish, Angel though was watching Kazran closely with a small frown, she could just tell something bad had happened while she had lost the Doctor and then helped him get back to the TARDIS, "Good night, Abigail," Kazran breathed.
"Good night, Kazran," she returned, her voice breaking with tears which made Angel frown even more to hear.
They slowly let go of each other's hands and backed away, Kazran closing the door as Abigail shook her head.
The Doctor walked over, cheerful and completely oblivious to the solemn look on Kazran's face, "There we go. Another day, another Christmas Eve. We'll see you in a minute, eh? I mean, a year."
"Doctor..." Kazran cut in, "Listen, why don't we leave it?"
"Sorry, leave what?"
"Oh, you know. This. Every Christmas Eve, it's getting a bit old."
"Old?"
"Well, Christmas is for kids, isn't it? I've got some work with my dad now, I'm going to focus on that. Get that cloud belt under control."
"Sorry," the Doctor frowned, "I didn't realize we were boring you."
"Not your fault. Times change," he walked away.
"Not as much as I'd hoped," the Doctor sighed before running after him, Angel just walking to stand before Abigail's pod, eyeing the woman though her gaze kept getting pulled to the number '1' on the door, "Kazran!" the boy stopped and turned around, "I'll be needing a new one, anyway. What the hell..." he gave him half the sonic, "Merry Christmas. And if you ever need me, just activate it. I'll hear you."
"I won't need you," Kazran muttered with a bit of a bite to his words.
"Kazran…" Angel began soflty, turning to look at him as he looked up at her, "What's wrong? Something happened..."
Kazran just shook his head and turned, walking off, "What about Abigail?" the Doctor called.
"I know where to find her," he shouted back over his shoulder, not stopping till he'd stormed out of the room, shutting and locking the door to the vault behind him, his eyes red from tears.
~8~
Older Kazran turned around to see Abigail's portrait had been replaced by his father's once more.
~8~
Kazran, now slightly older, in his early twenties, stood before his father, dressed in somber black as had become his custom, his hair slicked back as they drank champagne, standing in front of the isomorphic machine, "Another Christmas Eve, Kazran," his father grinned, "But a very special one. It's complete. Look at it. Sound waves. As simple as that. We can control the clouds, the fog, the fish..."
"Why do we want to control the fish?" he couldn't help but ask.
"People are cattle. If you want to control cattle, you need to control their predators," he eyed the frown on his son's face, "What's the face for? Look what I'm giving you. The sky, and everything beneath it. Only you and I can control this. This planet is ours!"
"Excuse me, Father," Kazran swallowed, setting down his glass and walking out of the room, heading for his bedroom. He paused a moment in his doorway before going straight to his desk and opening a drawer and, inside, was the sonic. He took it out and stared at it a moment before feeling the hairs on the back of his neck rise.
He turned to see the Doctor standing in the window, Angel a few feet behind him. He stormed over, the Doctor leaning down with a smile on his face. He glanced over at Angel, who was watching him sadly, knowingly, before he closed the curtains and walked back to the desk, dropping the sonic into the drawer and slamming it shut, swearing to himself he would never open that drawer again.
~8~
Older Kazran opened the dusty drawer and pulled out the sonic, pressing it against his cheek in memory...when the phone rang, startling him.
"Yes, what?" he answered with a snap, slipping the sonic into his dressing gown pocket, "Oh, Mr. President, we've been through this! It's not going to crash on my house, so what's it got to do with me?" he rolled his eyes, "Yes, I know. 4,003. As two very old friends of mine once took a very long time to explain...life isn't fair."
He hung up and looked at the pictures scattered at his feet, all of them featuring a smiling Abigail. He pulled the sonic from his pocket just as a green hologram of Amy appeared before him, "Hello!" she called.
"Who are you?" he demanded, jumping back from her, "What are you doing here?"
"Didn't think this was over, did you?" she smirked, putting her hands on her hips, "I'm the Ghost of Christmas Present."
A/N: I just want to start by saying, I know that not everyone will like my OCs, and that's ok. But I don't really believe very strong langauge is needed to convey those feelings in a review because really, it's fine if you don't like Angel or the story lol, I won't be angry or anything about it. Still, I know everyone expresses themselves in different ways, so I just want to say to each his own about that :)
Now...onto the chapter...awww the Doctor doesn't like kissing other people! :) ...I wonder if the River event will happen in DOTM...hmmm... }:) But yay! Angel told someone else about what happened, sort of. And Abigail's only got one day left, but still...Abigail reminds me a bit of Angel so I could see her noticing and being concerned :)
Did you like the little moment with the 'crown' though? Or the Doctor being irritated with the 'older' teenage Kazran? ;) I can't believe this episode will be over tomorrow! O.O That means there's only 2 more chapters after that so...the 25th will be the last day of ATF! Oh boy! Time flies!
And now...we have a sneak peek! Woo! :)
~8~
"It's the sort of thing he'd do," Amy called back, walking into the room with a stack of mail.
"Yeah but why?" Rory shook his head, neither of them seeing the Doctor dancing on screen, "I mean, Angel's gonna have to get him out of all that, and she shouldn't have to deal with all that stress."
Amy looked at him curiously, "You know you make a lot of comments like that."
"What?"
"Angel. How she should relax or slow down or something. Do you know something?"
He shook his head quickly, "Nope, just saying. It can't be easy to have to watch the Doctor all that time. And we probably don't even know half of what he's gotten up to."
~8~
Aww, Rory! ^-^ I really wanted to put this as the sneak peek, just so we get a hint of what Amy knows and how Rory is about Angel and the Doctor and their adventures :) I can say that in this saga, the moments where the Doctor is 'waving at them through history' will be the 2 months the Ponds are on Earth and not during the near 200 year gap :)
Also, Recollections should be updated at some point today. Sorry for the wait! :)
Some notes on reviews...
Lol, sort of touched a little bit on why she won't tell him about the baby here. I think she's just terrified that he'd deny the baby was his :( It's like...she can handle him denying the Mating and his feelings for her but if he flat-out said the baby couldn't be his it would just break her :(
I think I've only slightly managed to convince people not to punch the Doctor...but I can say events will be coming where the punching feeling might come up again ;) But I agree, it's turned more hopeful :) That's a very interesting theory, it may or may not involve the pregnancy making him forget, I think one or two people might have commented on that being a cause of the amnesia, we'll have to see though :) He'll get a bit sweeter I think, things will happen that he doesn't realize he's doing, like here with the crown ;) I think Angel's a bit confused yeah, like the things in the Doctor's head are so jumbled and racing and scattered that when she just catches a trace of a thought something else pushes it away so, at times, she doesn't really know what he's thinking :) I think I'd die of happiness if Matt ever read my stories and decided to act them out or something :) I actually saw a quote by Matt a while ago, that his interpretation of the Doctor is that he's so energetic and rushing about and being ridiculous because if he stopped and had time...he'd hang himself from the guilt of all the blood on his hands. I think that really comes across in his performance, like you see it whenever he's not running around, that look in his face like he's just so tired and weary and guilty :( But I love him when he's happy :) I get what you mean about the pairing, it's like he leads them into danger and she just makes sure that nothing dangerous actually happens :) But as for Abigail, my interpretation was she was dying from a disease so we'll have to see if Angel's strong enough to heal something like that when Abigail is so close to death when they work out what's wrong :) I think Angel chose him for a little more than just his care, compassion and love of children :) He's a good man deep down and I think the fact that she sees all of him, the good and bad, and sees how much he tries to be better is also a big part of it :) I don't think Angel would fall for someone who was more caring, compassionate, guilty, and fond of children than the Doctor. There's more to her love for him than just that, like she said after Bracewell, he's probably the first and only man she'll ever love so there wouldn't really be a competition for the Doctor either :) And no worries, I love any sort of length review :)
I don't think that's weird at all, I think a lot of people would like to steal Angel away and bring her family along :)
Yup, you're right, the counting Angel did was the near 2000 years in how many times the TARDIS exploded :)
Abigail definitely noticed something is up with the Doctor and Angel, she struck me as the sort to notice that and want to help or at least offer comfort :) I can say though that Kazran will actually have a little advice for the Doctor as well ;)
Abigail IS a Mary Sue isn't she? Lol, you're right, if the writers of DW have no problem writing one, why should other writers :)
I was definitely going for that when I first mentioned the shark-drawn carriage ride ;) I wanted it to be a very romantic thought and then to get this, where it happens but it's just...not the same. I wanted that sort of...disappointment...to really be felt by the readers because I think that's what Angel's feeling as well. Everything she thought it would be, it wasn't :(
I'm not sure if there were any specific people who inspired my TLs. The most I could say is that my mother might have inspired the inner strength of the Professor. She was diagnosed with Breast Cancer and beat it so she's the strongest person I know :) My sister's definitely the one who 'wears the pants' in relationships and she always puts her boyfriend in his place when he's being rude or things so that might be a tiny bit of Evy. And Angel was dedicated to my Grandmother who always made me feel better when I was scared and things so there's a little of that in her :) Oh I haven't forgotten the Disney ;) I can say that I do have a couple lines in future chapters, no worries :)
Lol, you can jump in if you'd like, River might put up a fight though so be careful :) Oh I think the siblings will go after the Doctor if he doesn't remember and they find out about it ;) But the challenge is still going yup. It'll be going and open up until the Doctor actually remembers so there's not telling when it'll close ;)
Thanks :) I get that not everyone will like an OC, but I do think there's a politer way to go about saying so lol :) But thanks! I'm glad you like her and are excited for what's coming :)
The chapters are usually updated every day at around...6:40-50ish am EST :) I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far ^-^
That's fine if you don't like Angel or the story, it's cool. You're not the first to remark that it might be better for the baby to not exist. And I do think that if it died Angel would be devastated. I know not everyone will like the story or the OCs, and that's fine. That's your opinion and I respect that, to each his/her own :)