Death of the Doctor: The Memory Weave
The Doctor looked back, hearing Jo's cry, "Doctor!" Rani called, "Angel!"
"Jo?" he shouted back, "Sarah?"
"They're roasting us!" Clyde yelled.
"Let us out!" Rani pleaded.
He looked back and forth, caught between going back and forward, when Angel reached out and put a hand on his arm, drawing his attention to her in the rather small area, "They would want us to get the kids," Angel told him gently.
He looked at her, seeing her concern for both the children and his former companions and how difficult this was for her to say. But he had to agree, Sarah Jane and Jo were like him in that, they would always want the children safe first and foremost. He nodded, continuing on after the children, following her down the shaft...his eyes on the ceiling and avoiding looking anywhere he shouldn't...
Which was why he nearly ran into Angel when she stopped short, "Rani?" she called, holding a hand to the metal wall, "Clyde?"
"Angel!" Rani gasped, her voice muffled through the wall.
"We're here," Angel reassured her.
"The Doctor too?" Clyde asked.
"Yes, and me!" he agreed, "We won't be a moment!" he added, smiling at Angel for leading them right there...though it faded quickly, seeing Angel frowning at something, "What is it?" he asked quietly, moving to sit back.
Angel looked at him, turning so she was sitting across from him but still before him, and pointed at the wall of the shaft, "There's a lock," she remarked.
He looked over to see a circular device embedded in the wall, a red light on, clearly locked, and he didn't have the sonic to open it, "And we can't use the Vortex," he realized. Not knowing what sort of lock it was, using the Vortex could mean that it would short circuit and unlock...or it would short circuit and remain closed, trapping the children, which was a chance they couldn't take.
Angel bit her lip and eyed the device, "I can't sense if it would work," she murmured, realizing she hadn't had a vision this entire trip but her sensations were still working right but...she just wasn't getting anything, she wasn't sure and she HAD to be sure before doing something like that. She'd reached the same conclusion as the Doctor had, that it could go either way to use the Vortex energy.
She looked over at the Doctor, "Could you break in?" she asked him, "You're brilliant."
He beamed at that praise, it always meant a lot to him to hear others call him clever or brilliant. Amy HAD been right, he did tend to show off a bit but...it was odd, it was like...he WAS showing off but he hadn't really noticed he was. It was like he was trying to impress someone but everyone who was impressed HE wasn't interested in, not in that way. He didn't understand it, but it just kept happening.
And, to hear Angel say he was brilliant, well that made him feel better than when anyone else called him that. It meant so much more to him for some reason, probably because she was a Time Lady. She was, technically, as brilliant as him, or had the potential to be. Not that he thought she was dim! Not at all! No, she was SO brilliant, so amazing and clever in her own way. But being a Time Lady she was aware of all the other brilliant people in the Universe, among their own people even, to hear HER say he was brilliant, well that meant the world to him.
"I think I can," he nodded, "We need to shift around though," he remarked, moving to try and get in front of Angel so he could be closer to the lock while she moved behind him.
"Right," she smiled, pressing herself into the all as she tried to slide to her left to let him get over her.
Unfortunately for them...the shaft was so small that a person going forward wouldn't have been able to turn around. Which meant, in order to pass each other, there was little space between them. And then the Doctor made the mistake of looking up...and froze.
Angel's face was mere inches away from his as he stopped halfway past her. There really wasn't all that much room to pass as it was and he knew Angel was trying to press herself as far into the wall as possible to give him that room. But it wasn't enough. He could feel her breath on his face, warm and yet refreshing, he felt his own breath catch in his throat, their noses were almost touching, barely brushing against each other, the sensation of it sending his hearts racing, and her eyes...her liquid silver eyes...he could see them clearly even in the dim lighting of the shaft. They were...sparkling, beautiful...and just as wide as his were at his sudden stop.
He didn't know what had made him pause, the children were still in danger, but...he couldn't make himself continue, just...stare at her. He'd been passing her, and he'd looked up and, at first, he'd thought it was just the shock of seeing how close they really were that had made him freeze...but now he didn't know. And now he couldn't move, well, he could if he wanted to.
If he wanted to.
Oddly enough, he found that...he didn't. Not at all. It was horribly uncomfortable, his position, but he hardly noticed as he stared into her grey eyes. They were just lovely, SHE was lovely, and close, close enough to...
He jerked back from where he'd been subconsciously leaning in towards her when Clyde banged on the wall, which made him automatically try to stand and whack his head against the top of the shaft before he fell backwards against it, on his side, now in front of Angel as the girl scrambled back a bit, her cheeks flushed red.
"OI!" Clyde shouted, "What's going on out there?!"
"You said you'd be a moment!" Rani reminded him.
"Is everything ok?" Santiago added.
Angel looked at the Doctor who was staring at her with wide eyes, his own cheeks flushed, and shook her head, "Yes!" she called to the children, "We're fine, the Doctor's um..." she swallowed, shaking her head again, "He's working on the lock."
"Right, yes," the Doctor muttered, pulling his gaze away from Angel as he turned and scrambled to the lock, thankful for the distraction.
What on Earth had that been about?!
...and why did he suddenly feel irritated with Clyde for banging on the wall?
~8~
"Exactly as predicted," Tia remarked as she watched the two dots on the screen reach the four stuck in the boiling room, "Given the choice between saving the world or saving the children. The Doctor and his Mate go the wrong way."
She turned away from the computer as Sarah Jane and Jo were hauled in by the Shansheeth. Jo was thrown into the room, stumbling to look back at Sarah Jane as the woman caught sight of Tia.
"Oh!" Sarah Jane glared, "I didn't trust you, Colonel, from the moment I met you!"
Jo turned around, her mouth dropping open at the sight of the TARDIS behind Tia as she stood at a control panel in the middle of the room, "Like I care," Tia scoffed, "Frankly I've never met anyone so staggeringly pious in all my life. Now then…" she pushed a button and the doors behind them shut and locked, "The chamber's sealed off. The Doctor would need half a ton of dynamite to get through that."
"The TARDIS!" Jo breathed, turning to Sarah Jane, "I never thought I'd see it again."
"That's what this is all about. The TARDIS and you. Place them in the Memory Weave!"
The Shansheeth pushed Sarah Jane and Jo forward, shoving them into what looked like examination boards, and strapping them in standing.
~8~
The Doctor frowned in concentration as he worked on getting the small lock on the wall to go from red to green. He rubbed his head a moment before tweaking something, "And…release!" he grinned as the light turned green and the door slid open into the room.
"Blimey!" Clyde stepped up, looking at the Doctor intently, "You really have changed faces haven't you? I couldn't see you before I was too busy swapping..."
"Oi!" Rani cut in, "We're still cooking back here."
"Where's my Gran?" Santiago tried to look behind him.
"Right, yes, sorry, uh," the Doctor said, "She's in danger…so we better…uh," he moved to turn but found it a bit difficult, "Can't turn 'round."
"Shuffle backwards," Angel called from behind him, already working on shuffling backwards. They had barely managed to swap places when they'd reached the door way so she knew, when the time came to head back, they'd need to work out another way to do it besides hopping into the room to turn around and risk that UNIT woman locking them in there too.
"Oh, yes, right, brilliant," he smiled at her over his shoulder and he did just that, shuffling back after Angel as Clyde, Rani, Santiago, and the Groske followed.
"Even your eyes are different!" Clyde eyed him, "It's weird cause I thought the eyes would stay the same…can you change color or are you always white?"
"No, I can be anything."
"And is there a limit? I mean, how many times can you change?"
"507."
Angel shook her head at that as Clyde nodded, "Oh…"
"12 times Clyde," Angel corrected, knowing the Doctor was just saying that jokingly to try and put Clyde off questioning them. She rather liked when people asked questions, she knew she asked more than enough of them, and it was always wonderful when children asked questions because it meant they wanted to know more about the topic. And regeneration was one thing she actually knew answers too, like questions about the TARDIS, oh she could talk about that old box for ages!
"So...that means there'll be 13 different yous in the end?" Rani worked it out.
"12 regenerations, 13 incarnations," Angel nodded, glancing over her shoulder to make sure they were still going the right way.
"That's so cool," Santiago murmured, Clyde and Rani nodding in agreement.
~8~
"Hang on then, tell us," Sarah Jane looked at Tia as a metal band was placed around her head, "What exactly does the Memory Weave do?"
"'Cos I warn you darling, the memory's going at my age," Jo glared, trying to shake her head as another metal band was placed on her head as well.
"You need remember only one thing," the head Shansheeth replied.
"And what's that?" Sarah Jane frowned.
"The TARDIS key."
"The Weave takes the memory out of your head," Tia checked Sarah Jane's restraints, perhaps adding a bit more force to them, tightening them just a little more than necessary, "And makes it real. This device can build a physical key out of your thoughts."
"And then we will have access to the TARDIS!" the Shansheeth turned to look at the box, touching it longingly, "The most miraculous machine in creation will be ours."
"No…" Sarah Jane gasped.
~8~
Rani and Santiago helped the Groske out of the vent when the Doctor heard the machine starting up, "It's started!" he breathed.
"This way!" Angel shouted, rushing down the hall, the others following her lead.
~8~
"No!" Jo yelled, "You can't!" but Tia just ignored her, tightening her restraints as well, as tight as Sarah Jane's, "Ow!"
"We have seen so much of death," the head Shansheeth lamented, "The Shansheeth have presided over infinite funerals. We see the pain and the suffering again and again and again but with the TARDIS we can stop this. We can intervene, to prevent the loss of life on the universal scale."
"You want to stop death?" Sarah Jane frowned.
"It is a noble quest. To halt the endless, endless weeping."
"And change the whole of history! That's why creatures like you can't have time machines 'cos you'll wreck the entire Universe! Everything, all things, must die," Sarah Jane added, repeating the wise words of a dear friend.
"What did I say?" Tia sighed, "Pious."
"Oh yeah?" Sarah Jane glared, "Well I'd rather be pious than vile! What do you get out of this plan?"
"A bigger horizon Miss Smith. The Shansheeth can take me to the stars because there is nothing left for me here on Earth," Sarah Jane eyed her as Tia's expression grew more forlorn and...sad, "Not anymore," she said in a whisper, before shaking her head and spinning back to the aliens, "Accelerate the Weave!"
The Shansheeth hit a button and Sarah Jane and Jo cried out in pain...
~8~
Angel ran down the hallway, right to the door where the women were screaming, "They're in here!"
The Doctor ran past her and pulled on the handles only to find it locked, "Oh they've sealed it off!" he banged on it, "Jo, Sarah can you hear me?"
~8~
"They want the key!" Sarah Jane shouted, hearing him, "They've got the TARDIS and a Memory Weave!"
"Too late," Tia spat, "Full activation!"
"Concentrate think of the key," the Shansheeth commanded.
~8~
The Doctor looked around, "Try and find a way in!"
They all turned to do as he said but there was little to look at, it was just a hallway, barely a fire extinguisher in sight, "There's nothing!" Santiago replied, "We're gonna need a bulldozer!"
"I've got the original here you can have it if let them go!" the Doctor shouted through the door.
~8~
"You let the Doctor inside this room and he will destroy us," Tia told the Shansheeth, "We got his companions, even the Angel would want to stop us! Keep going!"
"Think of the TARDIS," the Shansheeth repeated. Sarah Jane and Jo struggled but they found themselves thinking about the TARDIS, about their times in it with their Doctors, "The key, remember the key!"
"Fight it Sarah Jane!" Jo shouted, "Try to think of something else."
"I can't!" she yelled.
"Neither can I!"
~8~
"It's not shifting!" Clyde called as he tried to batter down the door with the fire extinguisher.
~8~
"The memories coalesce!" the Shansheeth cried joyfully as an orange light shot out of Sarah Jane and Jo's foreheads, meeting in the middle of the room and forming a small ball of light, the key forming, transparent, in the middle, "The key! It takes shape!"
"Don't!" Jo struggled, "Don't!
"I can't stop!" Sarah Jane breathed.
~8~
"What do we do Doctor?" Clyde looked at him, "What do we do?"
"Yes…" the Doctor realized something, "Because…the Shansheeth are making them remember."
"I know!"
Angel blinked, "Oh my God!" she started to laugh, seeing the plan in his head though she knew he would think she was just working it out herself, "That's brilliant!"
"We do the same," he explained to the children as he turned and tapped in a code on a panel, "Opening comms.. Yes! Sarah, Jo, can you hear me?"
~8~
"The key!" Sarah Jane gasped, staring in horror as she watched it grow more solid, "It's almost ready!"
"Listen to me both of you," he told them, "I want you to remember."
"We are doing it," Jo reminded him, "That's the trouble."
"No, no, no, I want you to remember everything. Every single day with me. Every single second."
"What's he doing?" Tia's eyes widened.
"Because your memories are more powerful than anything else on this planet. So think of them Sarah, remember them Jo. But properly, properly. Give the Memory Weave everything. Every planet, every face, every madman, every loss, every sunset, every scent, every terror, every joy, every Doctor. Every me."
"I remember," Sarah Jane smiled as she thought back to her adventures with the Doctor both old and new, discovering the War, meeting Angel, saving the world with her as well.
"No!" Tia cried, seeing the levels rising on the control panel.
"Memory Weave overloading," the computer stated.
"I remember!" Jo laughed, replaying her own times with the Doctor in her mind as well, oh what wonderful times they were.
"We need that key!" Tia glared, "What is happening?" the key started to fade, "What is happening?"
"Initial target lost," the computer announced.
"The device is overloading," the Shansheeth replied, he and two others rushing to the controls, trying to shut it down, "Too many memories. Too many!"
"Reverse it!" Tia glared, "Bring that key back!"
~8~
Angel turned to the kids, "Rani, Clyde, Santiago, help them! It's not just about the Doctor, think of all the adventures you've had with them too!"
Clyde rushed to the door, "Think of us Sarah Jane! Remember Maria and her dad. And all the stuff we did. Like the gorgon."
"And the clown!" Rani called, "And the zodiac. And the Mona Lisa!"
~8~
"All of it!" Sarah Jane grinned, remembering her adventures with the children, "All of it!"
"Just think Gran!" Santiago yelled, "All the countries you've been to!"
"Every country in the world," Jo beamed, imagining them all, all their beauty, all the things she'd accomplished in them.
Sparks started to shoot from the Weave, "Weave starting self-destruct."
Sarah Jane's restraints opened, releasing her, "We've broke a circuit!"
"I can't get out!" Jo struggled, her own restraints only partially free. Sarah Jane shoved her way out off her harness and ran over to the woman.
"I've got you!" she tugged on Jo's straps, undoing them.
~8~
"Now we're in trouble," the Doctor backed away from the door, "The Weave's going to blow up…and we can't get them out."
"What?" Rani's gaped, spinning around to face him, that was NOT good at all!
~8~
"You can't escape!" the head Shansheeth cried, "We need the key!"
"Weave now entering detonation phase," the computer warned.
"I can't unseal the door!" Tia called from the computer, "The power line's gone!"
Sarah Jane and Jo ran over to the door, Sarah Jane whipping out the sonic lipstick and trying it...only to find it was dead, "We've drained it…" she banged on the door, "Doctor! Angel! We can't get out!"
~8~
"I can't open it," the Doctor murmured through the door, resting his head against it in sorrow.
"No sonic screwdriver," Sarah Jane realized.
"It's inside the TARDIS."
"And we can't get in 'cos, guess what? We stopped ourselves from getting the key…oh that was clever…"
Angel stepped back from the door, shaking her head as she looked down, feeling tears in her eyes. She didn't want them to die, they didn't deserve that. Those two brilliant women…
The Doctor flinched, hearing the sound of the technology and controls exploding within, "I just want to say," Jo called, "I'm so glad I saw you again. I waited all this time and it was worth it. Every second."
"Doctor, Angel, all of you," Sarah Jane began, and Angel's hearts broke hearing the tears in the woman's voice, "You'll look after Luke for me please?"
And then she decided.
Sarah Jane and Jo would not be dying today, not if she had anything to say about it.
But what could she do? How could she help? She wasn't the Doctor, she wasn't clever and good with locks and science and math and so many other things that could undoubtedly save the two women but...
She looked up, her eyes wide, she could do something else...she wasn't clever no, but she was psychic, she had the Vortex in her! Her mind started to race as she thought back to how she had teleported in, using the device to help…but...it hurt, yes, so that had to mean she had used something of the Vortex to do it! She knew she wasn't ready to teleport like that, across ten thousand light years or anything. She had the potential to wield such power, but it would take time to build up her strength and endurance to the point where she could access the Vortex's whole power without being forced to regenerate…it took time, energy and practice…but she wasn't looking at teleporting that far...she just had to make it to the other side of a door!
And she knew, she could do it. And even if she couldn't, she had to TRY. She had to try her hardest because she NEEDED to do it, for them.
She closed her eyes tight and focused as hard as she could, feeling the power of the Vortex rushing inside her and pulled it to the surface.
Rani gasped, looking at her, having seen a flash of gold out of the corner of her eye. Her gasp drew all their attention as they turned to see Angel encased in a swirl of golden energy before disappearing from view.
"Angel!" the Doctor shouted, his hearts nearly leaping out of him in fright at what had happened. The last times she had teleported like that...it hadn't been good, it hadn't ended well for her and he was terrified of what had happened, of where she had gone...and then he noticed, then he saw...there was a golden light coming from under the door to the locked room and he realized exactly what Angel was doing. He spun to the Groske, "How much time have they got?!"
"Big bang?" the little alien shrugged, "10 seconds?"
The Doctor turned and grabbed the kids, pulling them away from the door...
~8~
Sarah Jane and Jo spun around, seeing a gold light appear behind them, squinting against it as it grew brighter and brighter...until Angel appeared in the middle of it, the energy of the Vortex swirling around her...before it disappeared abruptly.
Angel stumbled forward, nearly falling to her knees had the two women not leapt forward and grabbed her arms, steadying her. She used that opportunity to grab onto them, to keep them close, clutching their hands and not letting them go, "Hold on tight," she warned them, squeezing their hands and closing her eyes once more, sucking in a gasp of air as she focused once more despite how terribly she was shaking.
She knew she wouldn't be able to teleport them all out of there, she'd barely made it in by herself. Her head was pounding, her vision was blurring, she could barely keep herself standing, and she was panting, but she HAD to do something! She had to, she'd come this far, she couldn't let the women be harmed now...
Moments later...there was a massive explosion…
~8~
The doors to the room were blown off their hinges and into the hallway, fire shooting out after it, the Groske having dashed away only moments before it happened. The Doctor peeked around the corner, eyeing the debris a moment before it hit him what had just happened. He leapt up and ran for the room, the children following...only to stop short at the sight beyond.
Angel was standing between the women, gripping their hands so tightly they could see her knuckles turning white, her eyes scrunched tight in concentration, a pained expression on her face, as a wall of gold shimmered around the three of them, crackling with energy. The Doctor quickly walked over to it, eyeing what looked like a sphere encasing them for only a moment, before he reached out and pressed a hand against the wall.
"Angel," he whispered, frowning as he saw her shaking within the sphere, "You can let go now."
Angel opened her eyes with a gasp, this time unable to support herself, even with the help of Sarah Jane and Jo, and slumped to the floor, taking the women with her, both of whom were completely stunned at what had just happened. They landed in a huff, the women exchanging a look before bursting out with joyful laughter, hugging Angel between them, the Time Lady seeming just as surprised as them that they had actually made it.
She let out a breath though and closed her eyes, feeling tears within them, it had worked, they were ok, ALL of them were ok, all four of them. She smiled, laughing as Sarah Jane and Jo smushed her between them in a large bear hug she was all too happy to return in earnest, not even seeing the Doctor watching on with a fond, awed smile.
~8~
"Attention!" Mr. Smith called as he opened himself up from the false fireplace of Sarah Jane's attic at the sound of the TARDIS wheezing, "Temporal Flux escalating in this vicinity," the TARDIS materialized, "The TARDIS has landed."
The doors opened and Clyde stepped out with his overnight bag in his hand, "Whoa!" he stopped short, "It's Bannerman Road! It's like everything moved. I'll never get used to that…" he wandered off as Rani stepped through with Santiago.
"Mr. Smith!" she walked over to it, "You're in big trouble. Those Shansheeth were bad!"
Mr. Smith had scanned the 'eulogy' that the Shansheeth had prepared as invitation to the Doctor's funeral, had given them a short history of the alien species earlier. According to him, the Shansheeth were being truthful and implied they had no reason to doubt the message that was being given about the death of the Doctor and Angel.
"It transpires, Rani, that you encountered a rogue element," it replied as Santiago stopped and stared at it, "And the Wide Wing of the High Shansheeth Nest sends apologies."
Santiago laughed, "No way! On top of everything else you've got a talking computer!? That is it. I'm giving up."
~8~
Angel smiled, absently flicking some controls, as Jo strolled around the console, "Still the same old TARDIS," Jo said with a wide grin, "Doesn't matter what's changed. Still smells the same…" she took a deep breath, "Nope. Gotta say goodbye or else I'd stay with you forever. Besides I probably couldn't keep up anymore. Get you into trouble with the Time Lords."
The Doctor looked down a bit at that, knowing that it wasn't Jo's fault for bringing them up, she didn't know about the War, before clearing his throat, "Yeah, Angel and I had probably better go…you know me, stuff to do."
"It's daft though because we were both saying," Sarah Jane looked at him, "We had this theory that if, you ever died, we'd feel it somehow, we'd just know. That's silly isn't it?"
"I don't know. Maybe not, 'cos between you and me, if that day ever comes I think the whole Universe might just shiver," he paused a moment, looking at them, "Boo!"
Sarah Jane and Jo jumped before laughing. Jo walked over to him and gave him a big hug while Sarah Jane made her way around the console to Angel, "I'm going to tell you what I told Rose," she said to Angel quietly, "Find me..." she pulled her into a tight hug, "If you need to, one day. You can come to me," she pulled away a bit, "Both of you," her gaze flickered down to Angel's stomach.
"Thank you Sarah Jane," she whispered, hugging her once more before letting her go to hug the Doctor as she gave Jo a small hug as well.
She loved that about Sarah Jane. That woman was just...so understanding and so...intuitive herself. She had noticed the difference between her and the Doctor, had noticed her bump, and hadn't said a word of it to the Doctor. She knew Sarah Jane as taking everything into consideration and not rushing in or overreacting. It was one reason she had ultimately decided to tell Sarah Jane, if she had told Jack or anyone else everything that happened...he'd go after the Doctor. They'd hit him or punch him or try to kill him and she didn't want that, not at all. She didn't even know, for sure, what had happened, whether it was his fault or not and she didn't want him to get hurt if it had been something else...like River.
She doubted even Martha or Donna would react well or calmly to it, Donna, she knew, would slap the Doctor ten ways from Sunday for what he'd done to her 'sister.' Sarah Jane though, she was calm, she had so much more experience in dealing with aliens and strange occurences. She was cautious and thought things out, she gathered every bit of evidence she could before coming to a conclusion or taking action. She was SUCH a journalist!
She knew that Sarah Jane would wait till everything had been discovered and worked out. She knew how tricky memory could be, how detrimental the wrong word or the wrong suggestion could be at the wrong time. Trying to force someone with amnesia to remember could be devastating to them and she understood that. She also understood how hard it was for HER to deal with, how she was keeping the baby from the Doctor for a reason, even if Sarah Jane didn't know what that reason was. She trusted her, and she understood, and she also realized...
It wasn't any of her business.
Not to sound mean, but Sarah Jane understood that it was her life, her baby, her Mate, and her decision about what to do. She would want to help, of course she would! But she knew there was a reason behind her holding off on speaking to the Doctor about it. Namely it was her promise to the Universe, she'd give him up if she could keep the baby. To her, that meant...do nothing. That meant let it happen if it happened and if not, accept it. If he remembered that would be the most wonderful gift ever, but...the baby had to be her main concern at the moment. And even not knowing of her promise to the Universe, Sarah Jane had grasped that there WAS a reason behind her actions around the Doctor and her decisions regarding him.
Sarah Jane had done what she truly needed, offered her help if she should want it. And that meant so much to her to have. Not someone insisting she do one thing or another. Not someone taking it upon themselves to do something for her. But just someone who could see that, for now, she was doing ok and that she was trying her best to work it out herself and get the whole story first. And someone who was offering her support when the time came that she couldn't continue how she was or it got to be too painful.
Sarah Jane was truly remarkable.
~8~
"Oh, but you should see Japan," Santiago was saying to Rani and Clyde, "It's like 80 percent forest. It goes on for as far as the eye can see. It's endless. And..."
He cut off when they heard the TARDIS doors open and turned to see Sarah Jane and Jo step out, Jo closing the doors behind her before she ran over to Sarah Jane's side, all of them watching as the TARDIS disappeared with a wheeze.
~8~
Santiago stood at the end of Sarah Jane's drive, looking down at the perfectly normal suburban street, "It's exactly like you said," he looked back at Rani, "You live over there and you're…"
"Just down there on the left," Clyde nodded as Santiago walked back over to where they were standing by a car.
"You save the world and you just come home."
"Thing is, maybe you could do with a bit of that," Rani remarked, "See, we're fighting the Slitheen and the Trickster and you're fighting oil barons and factories. But at the end of the day, who is waiting for you?"
"I think you should start another protest mate," Clyde agreed, "Except this time at your mum and dad. Or they might find that relations with Santiago get decidedly chilly," Rani laughed as Santiago shook his head, "Let's pretend I never said that."
"That was horrific."
"I'm ashamed of myself."
"You're right though," Santiago looked at them, "Yeah. I think it's time we made some changes."
They looked over at the sound of Jo and Sarah Jane laughing as they walked over, "Oh you," Jo looked at Clyde, "Oh you!" she hugged him, "You're so beautiful!" and gave him a kiss on each cheek, "And so gorgeous," she looked over at Rani, "And you!" she walked over to her, "You're so willowy!" she cupped the girl's face, "Yes you are. Do you know? You are sensational!" and she pulled her into a hug as well, "And you!" she looked at Santiago, "You are so handsome!" she ruffled his hair, "And we are so late. Come on, we're off to Norway by hover craft. Should be fun."
"Easier said than done," Santiago remarked.
"Bye everyone," Jo smiled and looked at Sarah jane, "Oh Sarah Jane," she walked over and hugged the woman tightly, "Find yourself a fella."
"Oh…" Sarah Jane nodded and stepped back with an amused smile.
"Hang on, wait a minute guys, where did I leave my glasses?" Jo looked around, trying to spot them...only to see everyone gesturing to her head, "What?" she put her hand on her head to feel them resting atop her hair and burst out laughing, "Oh, head! Naturally!" she turned and got into the car, "Bye!"
"Bye," Sarah Jane waved.
"See you later," Rani added. They waved as Santiago got in as well and turned to walk back to lean on Sarah Jane's car, watching them leave, "Do you think there's lots of Jo Grants out there? You know like, the Doctor's old companions."
"I do a little search sometimes…" Sarah Jane admitted.
"What?" Clyde eyed her, "Do you Google TARDIS?"
"Oh it works. I mean, well, I can't be sure but…there's a woman called Tegan in Australia fighting for aboriginal rights. There's uh, Ben and Polly in India running an orphanage there. Oh, there was Harry, oh I loved Harry. He was a doctor, he did such good work with vaccines. He saved thousands of lives. Oh, and there's a Dorothy something…she runs that company 'A Charitable Earth,' she's raised billions. And this couple in Cambridge…both professors, Ian and Barbara Chesterton. Rumor has it they've never aged, not since the sixties," she shrugged playfully, "I wonder," she laughed and turned to wave at Jo and Santiago as the car pulled away.
"That'll be us one day," Clyde remarked.
"Still out there," Rani agreed, "Fighting."
"Echoes of the Doctor," Sarah Jane smiled, "All over the world. With friends like us, and Angel watching out for him, he's never going to die is he?"
They smiled and waved as Jo and Santiago drove off around the corner.
"Now, come on you two," Sarah Jane put her hands on their shoulders, leading them back to the house, "I have some research to do."
"About what?" Rani asked, always excited to help.
"Memory loss," Sarah Jane said, her smile fading.
She hadn't had a clue what she could do or say to help Angel. If it really was as the girl said, and she had no reason to doubt Angel given the Time Lady had a direct connection to the Doctor's mind, and the Doctor's memories really were just...gone...then she doubted anything she could say to him would have helped bring them back. And it hurt, terribly, to see the sad look in Angel's eyes, to see how much she had changed from that confident woman she'd regenerated into. She hadn't seen Angel often since the Earth had been stolen, but she remembered Angel when she'd regenerated, she'd been so confident and strong, she'd seen it in just those few moments with her and then when she'd seen her after her almost-wedding, and just looking at her now she'd KNOWN that wasn't the same Angel, that something had just...worn her down, chipped away at her. And she'd wanted to help, so badly, but she didn't know how. So she'd promised, she'd sworn to herself, she'd find a way to help. She'd do all she could to learn about memory loss so that the next time she saw the Doctor, she could try to help bring them back.
It was the least she could do for Angel.
Though...she was sure she should keep exactly what she'd learned to herself for now, if she told Jack about what happened...well, all the hope she'd felt at the Doctor never dying would be dashed, because Jack would find a way to kill him permanently.
~8~
Angel frowned in her sleep, a fine layer of sweat on her brow, her face scrunched in pain as she tossed and turned, a nightmare plaguing her, more like a series of nightmares…
'…human beings…I thought I'd never get done saving you…'
…the Doctor stood before an astronaut, his head bowed as the astronaut raised its arm and fired at him twice…
'…I'm sorry…'
…the Doctor threw his hands out, regenerating, just as the astronaut fired again…
'…NO!…'
…the orange swirl immediately faded and the Doctor fell to the ground, unmoving…
"No..." she murmured, panting...
'…who and what are you?…'
…the wounded, pale, thin alien with no mouth, wearing a black suit, looked up…
'…Silence Doctor. We are the Silence. And Silence will fall!…'
She winced, her head twitching to the side...
…the Doctor stood before the scanner, running a pregnancy test on Amy that flashed positive/negative…
'…you can't tell him. It's his future…'
She fisted her sheets, shaking...
…Amy stood before the Doctor as Rory slowly backed away from her…
'…no you're not, you haven't been here for a long, long time…'
…the Doctor stood before Amy, holding the sonic out at her before activating it, a white pile of goop falling to the floor in her place…
She twitched, tears falling from her closed eyes...
'…the child…is not a weapon!…'
…a severe woman with a metal eye patch smirked…
'…she will be…'
…Amy sat hidden behind a crate in the dark of a factory warehouse, holding a baby to her, protecting it when it suddenly turned to white goop in her arms…
'…Rory," Amy breathed, trembling as she stared at the empty cloth in her hands, screaming heartbrokenly, "RORY!…'
Angel woke with a gasp, flying up in her bed, her hearts racing, her head pounding. She put a hand on her stomach and one on her head, wincing as the dream replayed itself over and over, leaving her trembling and panting for breath. It had been a scattering of images and words…but with it came a sense of dread…this was by far the most violent, disjointed dream she'd had of the future. But…most of the dreams she'd had of it, she'd been able to change. And she knew…
She was not going to let the Doctor die.
She was not going to let Amy or Rory lose their child.
No matter what, she would change it, she would save them…she had to.
To be continued...in...A Fallen Angel!
A/N: Oh. Dear. God. The Doctor still hasn't remembered! But did you like that little scene in the vents? ;) I think he almost kissed her! ^-^ Clyde has the worst timing doesn't he? :)
I have to wonder though...what will happen next? I'm buzzing to show you :) As for the title of the next story...well, teaser + title = }:D Just remember...'kill' can mean a world of different things }:)
As for this chapter though, I know a few of you wanted Sarah Jane to say something to the Doctor, I did too, but as I was writing her she just kept holding back from doing that. And I think her thoughts at the end sort of explain that, she really didn't know what to say. It must have been a shock to find out he'd forgotten someone as important as Angel and to find out the memories are literally missing, well, what could she say to help bring back the memories? And she also struck me as the sort to try and get the whole story first and go from there so she needed to do a bit of research too :) But she offered Angel a place to stay/go! Awww :) I think it's sort of good that, for now, Angel hasn't taken her up on it, we sort of need Angel there in TIA/DOTM because Rory needs to see first hand and for a full adventure how River treats Angel so he can speak to her about that ;)
I also added in the part that talks about the 507 vs. the 12 regenerations thing. Mostly because I've been asked about it a few times in the past, answering with how RTD intended for it to be a joking remark and how he had to publicly tell people it was a joke to shut Clyde up and NOT literal because of the reaction to it. So I thought I could put it in the actual chapter this time to sort of clear that up :) Until the writers actually say in the show or have the 13th Doctor just regenerate again, I'm going to stick with the 12 regenerations/13 incarnations thing :)
And I just want to finish this note off with...thank you. Thank you all SO MUCH! To everyone who has ever read/reviewed/favorited/followed/anything this story, you have no idea how much it means to me to know you're enjoying the story. You guys are the reason I write and keep writing and without you the story wouldn't be where it is. This is officially my longest story at over 460,000 words (which, I think, from what I've seen, makes it the 5th longest DW story in general on this site) and my most reviewed story ever! I STILL can't believe we made it to 1,000. That is literally a dream come true for me and I am just so touched that you all made it possible. I really count myself to be one of the luckiest writers on this site to have such amazing people reading the stories, I truly believe I have the best readers ever. So I just want to say thank you, I love you all so much!
Some notes on reviews...
It's very possible that the Doctor could remember at the start of Series 6/the next story :) All I said was he wouldn't in my Series 5 story so any time after that is fair game, we'll just have to wait and see ;) But yup, she offered Angel a place to stay :)
That's awesome! I hope you have fun at your game! :) Lol, I get confused myself with it, football being a sport in America that almost never involves feet while soccer is almost nothing but feet. We should petition to have it switched, call football soccer and soccer football (in America) :)
I think Sarah Jane is her 'get down to the bottom of it' self yup :) It's like she's travelled more with the Doctor than Angel so she feels a tiny bit closer to him, she'd want the full story before she got too mad at him, which is a nice way to look at it :)
Lol, I'm sorry that you're freaking out. But just think, anyone out there who doesn't like you isn't worth your time, because YOU are amazing! And you deserve better :) As for the next title, it's definitely not a happy sounding one ;)
I've already written out the Impossible Astronaut (and Series 7 lol) but I won't say what'll happen in Utah :) I can say though that I do have one or two future Time Lady stories where that is a VERY really possibility ;)
Donna is just SO awesome like that :) Lol, I think it's a bit of foreshadowing too, she got a tiny bit of Angel's intuition in this saga and she was saying something odd that made no sense and then later turned out to be true :) And the Silurians did have dinosaurs on their ship in DOAS, so it's possible the ones in the Center of the Earth also have dinos somewhere too :)
I've seen 'Now You See Me' and I thought it was pretty good :) I think the older companions would be more on the Doctor's side or at least want to get the whole story since they know him better. Angel's just made a large impact on the newer companions :) I can't wait for Series 6 and 7 too and yup, he definitely still cares for her safety quite a lot ;) I think it'll depend on what stage in the pregnancy Angel's at that would define his reaction. Like if she's still pregnant or giving birth or already had the baby elsewhere or lost the baby or is losing the baby, so many different reactions lol :)
Lol, I saw that episode, and SO got the reference :) It's awesome when DW pops up in other shows, like Family Guy or the Simpsons or Futurama :) I love spotting them :)
I don't think they'd debate it, mostly because Angel goes by 'Angela Jones' so she would probably stick to that as her last name :) Jack does have a way to contact her, he can call the TARDIS at any time he wants just like Angel can call him any time she wants (like she's done a few times already) :) I can say that I have something similar already written out about Angel being there for Rani/Luke/Clyde, Luke's already in University here, but Clyde and Rani still have time :) It's more a passing comment though :) I'm not sure if I'd be able to make that an actual chapter in this story, mostly because it's following the episodes more and that the TARDIS-POV spin-off would be more for the adventures from the TARDIS's POV and I'm not planning a spin-off of original adventures since I'm sort of doing that already with Recollections :( But(!) there IS one point in Series 7 that I can definitely bring it up as a past adventure and spend a few paragraphs talking about it! So keep an eye out! ;)
I love all those names :) I really don't think I'd be able to choose, though I DO like Alienbusters ;)
Thanks! I'll be sure to pass on the hug ;)
And a very Happy Birthday to zelda123118! I hope you have a brilliant day! ^-^