"Doctor? Can I speak to the Doctor, please?" Comes Bob over the walkie.
"Hello, Angels. What's your problem?" He says pleasantly.
"Your power will not last much longer, and the Angels will be with you shortly. Sorry, sir, but there's something the Angels are very keen you should know before the end."
"Which is?"
"I died in fear. You told me my fear would keep me alive, but I died afraid, in pain and alone. You made me trust you, and when it mattered, you let me down. I'm sorry, sir. The Angels were very keen for you to know that."
"Well then, the Angels have made their second mistake because I'm not going to let that pass. I'm sorry you're dead, Bob, but I swear to whatever is left of you, they will be sorrier."
"But you're trapped, sir, and about to die."
"Yeah. I'm trapped. And you know what? Speaking of traps, this trap has got a great big mistake in it."
"What mistake, sir?" The Angel says but he ignores him. He looks at Father Octavian. "Trust me."
"We have faith, sir."
"Then give me your gun. I'm about to do something incredibly stupid and dangerous. When I do, jump!"
"Jump where?" Father Octavian ask confused.
"Just jump, high as you can. Come on, leap of faith, Bishop. On my signal."
"What signal?"
"You won't miss it." He responds and points the gun at the hull of the Byzanthium.
"Sorry, can I ask again? You mentioned a mistake we made." He hears the Angel say over the walkie.
"Oh, big mistake. Huge. Didn't anyone every tell you there's one thing you never put in a trap? If you're smart, if you value your continued existence, if you have any plans about seeing tomorrow, there is one thing you never, ever put in a trap."
"And what would that be, sir?"
"Me." He grips Kiam tightly and shoots at the Byzantium. As soon as he fires the gun he jumps with all his might and feels himself land hard.
"What happened?" Rose asks as she takes the hand he offers her and he pulls her to her feet.
"We jumped." He says simply. "The ship crashed with the power still on, yeah? So what else is still on? The artificial gravity. One good jump, and up we fell. Shot out the grav globe to give us an updraft, and here we are."
"Doctor, the statues. They look more like Angels now." Father Octavian says.
"They're feeding on the radiation from the wreckage, draining all the power from the ship, restoring themselves. Within an hour, they'll be an army." He sonics the hatch he is standing by and as it opens one of the nearby lights explodes.
"They're taking out the lights. Quickly, all of you into the ship.
"How?" Rose says confused.
He hands her Kiam and then smiles at her. "Like this" He drops through the hatch and lands in the corridor. He holds up his arms and she passes Kiam down to him before dropping through herself.
"Okay, men. Go, go, go!" Octavian says and him as his men jump through as he starts to work on the control panel to the next door.
"The Angels. Presumably they can jump up too?" Octavian says. The hatch closes with another bang and the lights go off as the second door opens.
"They're here, now, run."
"This whole place is a death trap." Octavian says.
"No, it's a time bomb. Well, it's a death trap and a time bomb. And now it's a dead end. Nobody panic." He looks at River as they stand in front of the next closed door, "What's through here?"
"Secondary flight deck." River says.
"What if the gravity fails?" Rose asks him.
"We'll all plunge to our deaths." He continues to sonic the other panel. "The security protocols are still live." He says trying to override them.
Light floods the hall as the outer hatch opens and then they return to darkness.
The lights flicker and there are four Angels standing in front of them.
"Clerics, keep watching them." He gets the lights back on and is relieved for a moment to see the angels still down the hall. "And don't look at their eyes. Anywhere else. Not the eyes. I've isolated the lighting grid. They can't drain the power now."
"Good work, Doctor." Father Octavian says.
"Yes good, but there's only one way to open this door. I guess I'll need to route all the power in this section through the door control."
"Fine. Do it."
"Including the lights. All of them. I'll need to turn out the lights." He says.
"How long for?"
"Fraction of a second. Maybe longer."
"Doctor, we lost the torches. We'll be in total darkness." Father Octavian says.
"No other way. Bishop."
"Okay, Doctor. We've got your back."
"Bless you. Bishop."
"Combat distance, ten feet. As soon as the lights go down, continuous fire. Full spread over the hostiles. Do not stop firing while the lights are out. Shot gun protocol. We don't have bullets to waste." Father Octavian tells his remaining men.
"Rose, when the lights go down, the wheel should release. Spin it clockwise four turns."
"Ten." Rose says.
"No, four. Four turns."
"Yeah, four. I heard you."
"Ready!" As the lights go out the Clerics start shooting. He continues to work on the panel. "Turn," he tells rose.
"It's working. It's opening." Rose says happily. They get the door open enough to squeeze through and he yells at the troops to fall back as he makes sure Rose gets through and then the rest. He squeezes himself and Kiam through and then closes the door. They run down another short corridor and go through the door. He runs to the controls and starts to sonic them as thumps sound on the door and the wheel on it starts to turn.
The door stops as Father Octavian puts a device on it. "Magnetized the door. Nothing could turn that wheel now."
"Yeah?" He says simply and hears the wheel start to turn again.
"Dear God!"
"Ah, now you're getting it. You've bought us time though. That's good. I am good with time."
"Doctor, how long have we got?" Father Octavian asks.
"Five minutes, max." He says.
"Nine." Rose says.
"Five." He says looking at her.
"Five. Right. Yeah." She says absently.
"Why'd you say nine?" He asks concerned.
"I didn't." She tells him. He continues to stare at her until he hears River say.
"We need another way out of here." River says.
"There isn't one." Father Octavian tells him.
"Yeah, there is. Course there is. This is a galaxy class ship. Goes for years between planet falls. So, what do they need?" He smiles.
"Can we get in there?" Father Octavian ask him.
"Well, it's a sealed unit, but they must have installed it somehow. This whole wall should slide up. There's clamps. Release the clamps."
The wall slides up to reveal a forest. He sees the amazement in Roses eyes and smiles. He loved the wonder she still felt even after everything she had seen.
"It's a forest." She says quietly, walking over to take his hand.
"Yeah, it's a forest. It's an oxygen factory." River says.
"And if we're lucky, an escape route." He says kissing Rose on the head.
"Eight." She says.
"Is there another exit? Scan the architecture, we don't have time to get lost in there." He tells Father Octavian.
"On it. Stay where you are until I've checked the Rad levels."
"But trees, on a space ship?" Rose says.
"Oh, more than trees. Way better than trees. You're going to love this. Treeborgs. Trees plus technology. A forest in a bottle on a space ship in a maze."
"Seven." She says with a smile.
"Seven?" He asks
"Sorry, what?" She says confused.
"You said seven." He tells her.
"No. I didn't." She insists.
"Yes. you did." River agrees with him.
"Doctor, there's an exit, far end of the ship, into the Primary Flight Deck. Plotting a safe path now."
"Quick as you like." He tells him.
"Six" Rose says.
He lets go of Rose's hand and picks up the walkie. "Bob"
"Yes"
"Here's what I want to know. What have you done to Rose" He asks feeling his anger rising again.
"There is something in her eye." Bob says.
"What's in her eye?" He says angrily.
"We are."
"What's he talking about? Doctor, I'm five. I mean, five. Fine! I'm fine."
"You're counting." River says.
"Counting?" Rose asks.
"You're counting down from ten. You have been for a couple of minutes."
"Why?"
"I don't know." He wraps his arm around her pulling her to him.
"Well, counting down to what?" She asks
"I don't know." He tells her
"We shall take her. We shall take all of you. We shall have dominion over all time and space." The Angel says.
"There's power on this ship, but nowhere near that much." He tells The Angel.
"With respect, sir, there's more power on this ship than you yet understand."
"You haven't noticed yet, sir. The Doctor in the Tardis hasn't noticed." The angel taunts him.
"Doctor." Father Octavian says.
"There's something I've missed." He looks around and sees a crack in the bulkhead above the entrance. "That can't be," He says.
"What is it." Rose asks him.
He hands Kiam over to her and then goes over and scans the crack with his sonic. "Two parts of space and time that should never have touched."
"Okay, enough. We're moving out." Father Octavian says.
"Yeah, fine." He comes over and takes Kiam back from Rose and walks into the forest with Rose and River following behind. He was confused about The Angels' statement about the power. The power that he had scanned was raw Time Energy, emanating from a fire at the end of the universe. The Angels couldn't feed on that.
"Doctor" He hears River say behind him and turns around to see Rose laying on a mossy tree trunk.
"Rose" He runs over to her and kneels down. "Rose what's wrong?"
"Four." She says weakly.
"Med scanner, now." River says and hooks it up to Rose's arm.
"So, what's wrong with me?" Rose asks.
"Nothing. You're fine." River says at the same time he says. "You're dying."
"Doctor!"
"Sorry." He lets go of Kiam and ruffles his hair. "What's the matter with Rose? Something's in her eye. What does that mean? Does it mean anything?"
"Doctor, I'm scared" Rose says weakly.
"I know," He gently strokes her head. "You looked into the eyes of the Angel too long."
"Sir! Angel incoming." One cleric calls out.
"And here." Another one says.
"Keep visual contact. Do not let it move." Father Octavian says.
"She watched an Angel climb out of the screen." He says softly, more to himself than anyone else. "She stared at the Angel and," He pauses.
"The image of an Angel is an Angel." Rose says.
"A living mental image in a living human mind. But we stare at them to stop them getting closer. We don't even blink, and that is exactly what they want. Because as long as our eyes are open, they can climb inside. There's an Angel in her mind." He says sadly.
"Three. Doctor, it's coming. I can feel it. I'm going to die."
"No you're not Rose. You need to be strong. Now counting what is that about." He picks up the walkie. "Bob, why are they making her count?"
"To make her afraid, sir."
"Why? What for?"
"For fun, sir." With that statement he throws the walkie hard against a tree and watches satisfied as it breaks. He turns his attention back to Rose. "The angel is inside your head. It's trying to climb out and shut you off."
"Then what I do?" She ask him.
"If it was a real screen, what would we do? We'd pull the plug. We'd kill the power. But we can't just knock her out, the Angel would just take over." Suddenly it hits him. "Rose, close your eyes."
"No. No, I don't want to."
"Good, because that's not you, that's the Angel inside you. It's afraid. Do it. Close your eyes." He says softly and watches as she squeezes her eyes shut. He looks at River.
"She's normalizing. Oh, you did it. You did it."
"Sir? Two more incoming."
"Three more over here."
"Still weak. Dangerous to move her." River says.
"So, can I open my eyes now?" Rose asks.
"Rose, listen to me. If you open your eyes now for more than a second, you will die." He chokes on the last word. "The Angel is still inside you. We haven't stopped it, we've just sort of paused it. You've used up your countdown. You cannot open your eyes." He says softly.
"Doctor, we're too exposed here. We have to move on."
"We're too exposed everywhere. We need to get to the Primary Flight Deck." He stands up and sonics the area. "Which is a quarter of a mile straight ahead, and from there we're going to stabilize the wreckage, stop the Angels, and cure Rose."
"How?" River asks.
"I don't know yet." He leans down and gently scoops Rose up holding her.
"Doctor, it's dangerous to mover her."
"I'm not leaving her. Now please take Kiam's hand and follow me." He says to River and watches her sigh and then lean over and takes Kiam's hand. He smiles and sets off.
He hears Father Octavian give his men the order to stay back and watch the Angels.
They reach the flight deck and Father Octavian sets to work finding a way to open it. "There has got to be a service hatch or something." Father Octavian says. "Got it."
He watches River and Kiam go in and then sends Rose in after them.
Father Octavian looks at him. "A second Doctor."
He nods.
"Listen to me, it's important. You can't trust her."
"Trust who?"
"River Song. You think you know her, but you don't. You don't understand who or what she is." He turns and looks at the ship when he turns back the Angel is standing there with his arm around Father Octavian's throat.
"Let him go." He tells the Angel.
"Well, it can't let me go, sir, can it? Not while you're looking at it." Father Octavian says.
"I can't stop looking at it, it'll kill you."
"It's going to kill me anyway. Think it through. There's no way out of this. You have to leave me."
"Can't you wriggle out?" He asks hopefully. He didn't want to be responsible for another death.
"No, it's too tight. You have to leave me, sir. There's nothing you can do."
"You're dead if I leave you."
"Yes. Yes, I'm dead. And before you go"
"I'm not going." He says simply.
"Doctor Song is in my custody from Stormcage. Now, I've told you more than I should. Now please, you have to go. It's your duty to your friends."
"Just tell me why she was in Stormcage?"
"She killed a man. A good man. A hero to many."
"Who?" He ask curious.
"You don't want to know, sir. You really don't."
"Who did she kill?" He asks again.
"Sir, the Angels are coming. You have to leave me." Father Octavian says.
"You'll die." He says softly.
"I will die in the knowledge that my courage did not desert me at the end. For that I thank God, and bless the path that takes you to safety."
"I wish I'd known you better."
"I think, sir, you know me at my best."
"Ready?" He asks even though he is not ready to leave the man.
"Content."
He takes his eyes off the angel and dives through the hatch closing it behind him.
"Where's Octavian?" River asks.
"Octavian's dead." He answers her.
"What was the crack in the other room," Rose asks him. He looks towards Rose who is sitting on the floor holding Kiam to her, her eyes still closed tightly.
"Time Energy."
"That Time Energy, what's it going to do?" Rose asks.
"Er, keep eating."
"How do we stop it?" River asks him.
"Feed it."
"Feed it what?"
"A big, complicated space time event should shut it up for a while." He tells River.
"Like what, for instance?"
"Like me, for instance!" He says in a cold voice. He puts his head down and stays motionless thinking until an alarm starts beeping.
"What's that?" Rose asks.
"The Angels are draining the last of the ship's power, which means the shield's going to release." As he says this the door opens to reveal a group of Angels.
"Angel Bob, I presume." He says to the one standing in front.
"The Time Field is coming. It will destroy our reality."
"Yeah, and look at you all, running away. What can I do for you?"
"There is a rupture in time. The Angels calculate that if you throw yourself into it, it will close, and they will be saved." The Angel tells him.
"Yeah, could do that, but why?"
"Your friends will also be saved." The Angel says.
"Well, there is that. Kiam come to Daddy. River please get me Rose's coat."
"I've traveled in time. I'm a complicated space time event too. Throw me in." River says.
"Oh, be serious. Compared to me, these Angels are more complicated than you, and it would take every one of them to amount to me, so get a grip." He holds his arms down not taking his eyes off the Angels and picks up Kiam and reaches back with his free arm to take Rose's coat. He ties the child to his chest.
"I mean it. River, Rose, get a grip."
"Oh, you genius."
"Sir, the Angels need you to sacrifice yourself now."
"Thing is, Bob, the Angels are draining all the power from this ship. Every last bit of it. And you know what? I think they've forgotten where they're standing. I think they've forgotten the gravity of the situation. Or to put it another way, Angels, Goodbye." He loops his arm through a handle on the Console and grabs tightly to Kiam as the Gravity fails. He looks over and sees Rose and River also holding on tightly. He looks down and sees the Angels fall through the forest and disappear in to the crack. The crack closes behind them.
-DW-
They are back on the beach and he is standing by Rose who is wrapped in a blanket with Kiam.
"Ah. Bruised everywhere." Rose moans.
"Me too." He says thinking how nice a long shower would feel.
"You didn't have to climb out with your eyes shut." She says.
"Neither did you. I kept saying. The Angels all fell into the Time Field. The Angel in your memory never existed. It can't harm you now." He says exasperated.
"Then why do I remember it at all?"
"You're a time traveler, Rose. It changes the way you see the universe, forever."
"And the crack, is that gone too?"
"Yeah" He still wasn't sure what had cause the crack in the first place and was wondering if the would find more.
He kisses Rose and then heads over to River. She is standing in handcuffs a little ways away.
"Must it always end this way?" She asks as he gets nearer.
"What now?"
"The prison ship's in orbit. They'll beam me up any second. I might have done enough to earn a pardon this time. We'll see."
"Octavian said you killed a man." He says.
"Yes, I did." She says.
"A good man." He questions.
"A very good man. The best man I've ever known."
"Who?"
"It's a long story. Doctor. It can't be told, it has to be lived. No sneak previews. Well, except for this one. You'll see me again quite soon, when the Pandorica opens." She says.
"The Pandorica. Ha! That's a fairy tale." He says with a smile.
"Doctor, aren't we all? I'll see you there." She smiles back at him.
"I look forward to it."
"I remember it well." He narrows his eyes at her statement.
"Bye, River." Rose calls out.
"See you, Rose. Bye Bye Kiam. Oh, I think that's my ride." She says as a ship approaches.
"Can I trust you. River Song?"
"If you like. Ha, but where's the fun in that?" She disappears in a whirl of sand.
He walks over and helps Rose stand up.
"What are you thinking," She asks him.
"How showers are more fun with two," He says and laughs at the grin that crosses her face. "Come on." He grabs one of Kiam's hands and she grabs the other and they head back to the Tardis.