Meanwhile outside, River held a book out to the Doctor. "I found this," she said, handing it to him. "Definitive work on the Angels. Well, the only one. Written by a madman. It's barely readable, but I've marked a few passages."
The Doctor quickly rifled through the pages of the book. It was a Time Lord skill of his. "Not bad. Bit slow in the middle," he commented. "Didn't you hate his girlfriend? No. No, hang on! Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!" He sniffed the book and River resisted the urge to grimace.
At the same time, Amy, who had watched Alex stare at the video in shock for a few moments, poked her head out of the module. Alex copied her a second later. "Dr. Song?" Amy called. "Did you have more than one clip of the Angel?"
"No, just the four seconds," River answered, too distracted by the Doctor's behavior to really absorb what she had said.
Amy and Alex ducked back in just as the Doctor declared, "This book is wrong. What's wrong with this book? It's wrong!"
Back in the module, the Angel was now staring at them head-on, its hands completely lowered. The girls watched the time stamp in the corner of the screen move from 00:11:28:04 to 00:11:24:23. When they looked back up again, the Angel had moved closer to the camera. Unbeknownst to them, as they stared at the screen in horror, the module door closed and locked behind them.
Outside, River was watching the Doctor curiously. She studied him critically for a moment before saying, "It's so strange when you go all baby face. How early is this for you?"
"Very early," he muttered.
"So you don't know who I am yet?"
"I know you and Alex are rivals in the future. That's a start. How do you know who I am? I don't always look the same."
River examined the Weeping Angels book. "I've got pictures of all your faces. You never show up in the right order though. I need the spotter's guide." She paused and then added, "Plus Alex is with you. Whenever she's around, you're around."
But the last part of River's words barely registered with him. He was caught up on something she had said before that. "Pictures," he mused. He whirled around and grabbed the book out of River's hand. "Why aren't there pictures?"
~Living the Life of Ally~
Inside the drop ship, Amy grabbed the remote she had seen River use and tried to turn the screen off, but it came back on. She tried again and again, but every time she tried to turn it off, it just turned itself back on.
"Just stop, Amy," Alex advised. She was standing just a little ways away, watching the screen apprehensively.
Amy moved to the screen. "But you're just a recording," she said to it. She was almost nose-to-nose with the Angel and this scared her a little more than the fact that she couldn't shut the screen off. "You can't move."
Alex looked down to see an object by her legs. It was a large plug and after following the wires stemming from it, determined that it led to the screen. Maybe pulling the lead out will shut it off, she thought. Bending down, she tried tugging it out, but it was too big for her. "Amy! Come help me!"
Amy looked over and watched for a second as Alex tried to pull the plug out. Then, realizing what she was trying to do, Amy hurried over to her, got on the other side of the plug, and started pulling. They attempted this for a few moments and Alex looked up to the screen to see if they were having any effect on the screen at all. However, she saw the Angel even closer to the camera. The time stamp was still running the same four seconds.
Amy noticed Alex's look of fear and she looked over at the screen as well. Swallowing in fear, she hesitantly called out, "Doctor?"
Alex darted over to the door and pushed up against it. "It's locked!" she cried. She honestly felt like she could burst into tears.
"What?" Amy cried. She got up and tried the door as well. "It wasn't like this a few minutes ago!"
The two turned back to the screen and saw that the Angel's mouth was now open, exposing its sharp teeth. Its hands now had claws and they were raised, prepared to scratch. Alex pressed herself against the wall and Amy grabbed her hand. "Doctor!" they yelled.
~Living the Life of Ally~
The Doctor, however, didn't hear them. He was too busy concentrating on the Weeping Angels book. "This whole book, it's a warning about the Weeping Angels, so why no pictures? Why not show us what to look out for?"
River thought for a second. "There was a bit about images. What was that?"
"Yes!" the Doctor exclaimed. "Hang on!" He rapidly flipped through the book before finding the passage he was looking for. "'That which holds the image of an angel becomes itself an angel,'" he read.
~Living the Life of Ally~
Inside the ship, noticing that there had been no immediate response to their pleas for help, Amy and Alex tried again. "Doctor!" they cried, nervously eyeing the Angel.
~Living the Life of Ally~
"What does that mean?" River demanded. "An image of an Angel becomes itself an Angel?"
~Living the Life of Ally~
Amy and Alex decided to try the door again. Surely it couldn't be locked. "Dammit!" Alex cried, slamming her palm against the door in frustration. She raked a hand through her hair, trying to come up with something else.
"We'll think of something," Amy assured her. "Don't worry."
Alex nodded, telling herself to calm down. She took a deep breath and turned back to the screen. However, all thoughts of calming down quickly flew out the window as she saw that an image of a ready to strike Angel was in the room. Based on the squeak she heard behind her, Amy had noticed too.
"Doctor!" Amy and Alex yelled. "It's in the room!"
Outside, the Doctor finally heard Amy and Alex's screams. "Amy! Ally!" he yelled, racing over to the drop ship.
"Doctor!" Amy screamed from inside.
"Are you all right?" the Doctor asked. Well, of course they aren't alright! He snapped to himself. "What's happening?"
Inside, Alex pressed herself against the door in an effort to be heard well. "Doctor? Doctor, it's coming out of the television!"
"The Angel is here," Amy added.
The Doctor soniced the keypad lock. "Don't take your eyes off it!" he called to them. "Keep looking. It can't move if you're looking!" He soniced the lock again but it wouldn't budge.
"What's wrong?" River demanded, coming up beside him.
"Deadlocked," the Doctor bemoaned.
River frowned in confusion. "There is no deadlock."
The Doctor swallowed. "Don't blink, Amy, Ally. Don't even blink."
~Living the Life of Ally~
Inside, Alex and Amy stared at the Angel in the room. "Doctor," Alex called, hoping and praying that he could get the door open.
~Living the Life of Ally~
Outside, the Doctor frantically tried to sonic a small box on the side of the ship. If Amy and Alex died in there because he couldn't get the door open. . . He didn't know what he'd do. Trying not to think about that, he concentrated on the small box.
"What are you doing?" River asked him.
"Cutting the power," he explained hurriedly, not knowing Alex had attempted the same thing. "It's using the screen; I'm turning the screen off." He frowned at the box. "It's no good, it's deadlocked the whole system."
"There's no deadlock!" River protested again.
"There is now!" the Doctor snapped at her.
From inside the ship came Amy's voice. "Help us!" she cried, pleading.
"Can you turn it off?" the Doctor called to them.
"Doctor," Amy called.
"The screen!" the Doctor shouted to them. "Can you turn it off?"
"I tried," Amy replied.
"Try again!" he urged. "But don't take your eyes off the Angel!"
"We're not!" Alex called out.
"Each time it moves, it'll move faster!" the Doctor shouted to them. "Don't even blink!" As he told them this, River had gotten her pistol torch out and was trying to cut through the side of the ship with it.
~Living the Life of Ally~
Amy tried closing one eye at a time while Alex simply stared at the screen, unblinking. She had won her fair share of staring contests in elementary school, so this shouldn't be too hard.
"I'm not blinking!" Amy cried. "Have you ever tried not blinking?" She reached out and felt for the remote control on the table next to her. She grabbed it and tried to turn the screen off, but the same results occurred; the screen just turned itself back on.
"It just keeps switching back on!" Alex told him.
"Yeah, it's the Angel," the Doctor confirmed.
"But it's just a recording," Amy argued.
~Living the Life of Ally~
The Doctor heard Amy's argument about the Angel being just a recording and he sought to correct her. "No, anything that takes the image of an Angel is an Angel." He looked over at River and was surprised to see her aiming her pistol torch at the door. "What are you doing?"
"I'm trying to cut through," River said, pointing out the obvious. "It's not even warm."
"There is no way in," he argued. "It's not physically possible."
"Doctor, what it's going to do to us?" Alex called out from inside. She sounded scared and the Doctor didn't like hearing her sound that way.
"Just keep looking at it!" he urged, ignoring her question altogether. "Don't stop looking!"
"Just tell us!" Amy begged.
The Doctor ignored Amy as well and raced back over to the equipment table where he had left the Weeping Angel book. He rushed back over, flipping the pages quickly as Amy's voice rang out. "Tell me! Tell me!" she tried.
The Doctor finally found a passage he remembered and paled slightly. "Amy, Alex, not the eyes! Look at the Angel but don't look at the eyes!"
"Why?" the girls chorused.
"What is it?" River asked.
The Doctor read the passage aloud for them. "'The eyes are not the windows of the soul. They are the doors. Beware what may enter there.'" His face paled even further as he digested what the Angel was capable of doing to the girls.
~Living the Life of Ally~
Amy frowned, digesting the Doctor's words. She suddenly had a brilliant idea that just might work, as long as she had heard the Doctor correctly. "Doctor, what did you say?"
"Don't look at the eyes!" he replied, his voice slightly faint from traveling through the metal wall.
"No, about images," Amy clarified. "What did you say about images?"
"Whatever holds the image of an Angel, becomes itself an Angel!" River answered.
Amy nodded and grabbed the remote. She held it out in front of her, as though it were a weapon. Behind her, Alex straightened up, no longer frightened now that their ordeal of being trapped with an Angel was almost over. "Okay, hold this," Amy said smartly. She watched as the tape loop returned to the beginning.
Alex watched the seconds tick by on the screen. "One, two, three, four!"
Amy pressed the pause button as the tape returned to the beginning. The Angel projection in front of them flickered for a moment before the screen shut down, causing it to disappear. The Doctor burst through the door, the deadlock broken now that the Angel was gone, River just behind him. The Doctor dove to Alex's side, giving her a look-over.
"Are you alright?" he asked quietly.
Alex smiled at him. "Never better. Bit useless though, weren't you? We had to do everything ourselves!"
The Doctor rolled his eyes, but he wasn't really offended. Alex was still her sarcastic, cheerful self. Even an encounter with a Weeping Angel hadn't changed that. Reaching out, he pulled her close to him and kissed her forehead lightly. Alex pressed her nose to his tweed jacket and inhaled his scent. She loved it a lot. The possibility of never being able to smell it again was something she did not want to consider.
The Doctor probably would have held her there for a lot longer had he not remembered that an Angel had nearly attacked her and Amy through a video screen and he needed to find out what to do to stop it. Pulling back, he went over to the screen and started messing with some controls. Alex followed him. Despite all that had happened, she was still very determined to help him defeat this thing however she could. In fact, that near-death experience had actually increased her determination.
"I froze it," Amy breathed, awed at what she had done. "There was a sort of blip on the tape and I froze it on the blip. It wasn't the image of an Angel anymore. That was good, yeah? It was, wasn't it? That was pretty good."
"That was amazing!" River cheered.
"River, hug Amy," the Doctor instructed, preoccupied with the controls. Alex peered over his shoulder, watching him work.
"Why?" Amy asked.
"Because I'm busy and Alex is far too interested in my work to do much of anything." Alex frowned and lightly whacked him upside the head, her eyes not moving away from the controls. He glanced over at her, frowning playfully, before refocusing on the task at hand.
"I'm fine," Amy protested, although she was still a little high on the adrenaline rush she had gotten when she stopped the Angel.
"You're brilliant," River told her, gripping her shoulders.
"Thanks," Amy said, regaining a sense of pride. "Yeah, I kind of creamed it, didn't I?"
"Hey, I helped too!" Alex objected.
"And you," Amy consented.
"So it was here?" River asked, looking at the Doctor. "That was the Angel?"
"That was a projection of the Angel," the Doctor explained. "It's reaching out, getting a good look at us." His face turned grave and he pulled Alex closer to him. "It's no longer dormant."
From outside, there came a loud explosion, followed by a cleric saying, "Last one positive." A second later, Octavian poked his head in. "Doctor? Alex? We're through."
The Doctor took a deep breath before saying, "Okay, now it starts." He pulled Alex along with him out the door, not letting her out of his sight. River started to follow them, but then noticed that Amy wasn't moving. "Coming?" she asked.
"Yeah, coming," Amy confirmed, rubbing at her eye. "There's just something in my eye."
Outside, Alex watched as the Doctor stepped away for a moment to check something. Suddenly, a ferocious pounding started in her head. "Ah!" she cried, stumbling a bit. She closed her eyes and rubbed at her head. "Must be a headache or something," she mused.
River approached her from behind. "You alright?" she asked, her tone revealing concern that Alex didn't think she was capable of. "Feeling a bit under the weather, Ally?"
Alex turned and shot her a look. "I'm fine," she said testily. She figured that River was somewhat concerned about her, but she had a feeling that River wouldn't mind all that much if she suddenly collapsed right here. "And don't call me Ally."
River smiled slightly at her. "Yeah, yeah, I know. You'll only let one person in the whole entire universe call you that, won't you? You only let him call you Ally. The Doctor and his Ally, saving the universe."
"And what does that make you to him?" Alex questioned, deciding not to bother objecting that she and the Doctor weren't a couple. "I mean, clearly you must love him. You wouldn't spend that much time fawning all over him and calling him 'sweetie' if you didn't."
River crossed her arms. "Hardly matters," she replied, her voice cool and a bit resentful. "And it's not for lack of trying, I can assure you."
"Who are you, River?" Alex demanded. "I mean, clearly you and I are arch enemies and I can already see why. But who are you to the Doctor?"
River seemed about to respond when the Doctor, who had noticed them talking and wanted to avoid a double homicide, called out, "Alex! Hurry up! You're going to love this!"
Alex kept her gaze on River for one more moment before abruptly turning on her heel. "What is it, Doctor?" she asked as she walked away. "This better be something enjoyable!"
~Living the Life of Ally~
Alex shimmied down the rope ladder, feeling the tingle of heat in her back as the Doctor helped her down. His hands were on her hips, staying as far away from her butt as possible. Apparently, her comment on Starship U.K. had resonated with him. What she didn't know was that the Doctor had been trying very hard not to look at that particular asset of hers as she had been climbing down and nearly failing.
As soon as her feet were on the ground, Alex looked at her surroundings. She was in a cave, the air dank and cool. The cave seemed to be divided into levels as she could spot statues rising up towards the crashed ship.
The Doctor looked at Octavian, who had just climbed down along with his clerics. "Do we have a gravity globe?" the Doctor asked.
Octavian turned to one of the clerics. "Grav globe," he ordered. The cleric took a sphere out of his pack and handed it to him.
"Where are we?" Amy asked, having just now climbed down. She peered out into the darkness. "What is this?"
"It's an Aplan Moratorium," River explained. "Sometimes called a Maze of the Dead."
Amy looked at her, startled by the name. "What's that?"
"Well, if you happen to be a creature of living stone. . ." The Doctor trailed off, turning to Octavian and grabbing the gravity globe from him. He kicked it up into the air where it lit up, a blue glow cast all around the cavern. ". . .the perfect hiding place," he finished.
The group looked around at all the statues. Alex grimaced. How are we supposed to find one Weeping Angel in the middle of all these statues? It was then that she noticed the statues were chipped and old-looking, bits of them having fallen off. Oh, that makes it easier then, Alex thought, encouraged. The Angel from the ship was full formed and looked healthy whereas these statues looked like they had been thrown off a cliff and hit by a train.
"I guess this makes it a bit trickier," Octavian remarked, intimidated by the amount of statues in front of them.
"A bit, yeah," the Doctor agreed.
"A stone Angel on the loose amongst stone statues," Octavian said. "A lot harder than I'd prayed for."
"A needle in a haystack," River commented.
Alex felt her frustration level rise. Honestly! It wouldn't be that hard to find a full-form Weeping Angel amongst a bunch of ruined statues.
"A needle that looks like hay," the Doctor added to River's expression. "A hay-like needle of death. A hay-like needle of death in a haystack of, er, statues." He grimaced at what he just said. "No," he said, turning to River, "yours was fine."
"Right," Octavian sighed. "Check every single statue in this chamber. You know what you're looking for. Complete visual inspection. One question; how do we fight it?"
The Doctor had a determined look on his face. "We find it, and hope." He walked off deeper into the cave. Alex started to follow him, when she noticed that Octavian had pulled River aside and was having what appeared to be a serious conversation with her. Alex strained to hear them but all she caught was ". . .too early . . . time stream . . . well make sure they don't work it out . . . won't let you down . . . back to prison."
Alex frowned and moved off after the Doctor. What does Octavian not want us finding out? She mused as she went after the Doctor. Because it's clearly about me and the Doctor, I'm sure of it! Okay, that sounds a bit conceited. Focus, Alexandria! Okay, whatever it is, we can't know about it because it's too early in our time steam. But evidently, it has something to do with River being in prison. Alex groaned. Oh, great! I'm looking for a deadly Weeping Angel in a cave with a convict!
Her groan had attracted the attention of the Doctor, who headed over to her. "You okay?" he asked.
"I'm fine," Alex dismissed, deciding not to let him know what she had heard Octavian and River discussing. The Doctor already didn't trust River; God knew what he would do when he learned she was a convict seeking a pardon! Or whatever she was here for.
Behind her, she heard River ask, "You all right?" Alex whirled around to see Amy standing behind her, looking a little confused, River beside her. Seeing that her friend was alright, she turned to examine a crumbling statue but continued to listen to them.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Amy assured her. Her flashlight settled on Alex for a moment as she waved it around the cavern. "So, what's a Maze of the Dead?"
Alex heard River moving stuff around in her pack. "Oh, it's not as bad as it sounds," River said calmly. "It's just a labyrinth with dead people buried in the walls." Alex turned on her heel to stare at River with an abashed expression. Amy also seemed shocked, as she had stiffened and her eyes had widened considerably.
"Oh, that's all?" Alex asked sarcastically. "That makes me feel so much better!"
"Okay, that was fairly bad," River conceded. "Right, give me your arm." She reached out and gently pulled Amy's arm over. From her pack, she took out what looked like a large gun with a needle sticking out the end. Alex's eyes widened as she watched River aim it towards Amy's arm.
"This won't hurt a bit," River promised. She injected the needle into Amy's arm and Alex winced as Amy let out a cry of pain.
River smirked slightly. "There, you see? I lied. It's a viro-stabilizer. Stabilizes your metabolism against radiation, drive burn, anything. You two are going to need it when we get up to that ship." She pulled the needle out of Amy's arm and headed towards Alex. "Right then, Ally, your turn."
Alex gritted her teeth as the needle dug into her arm and she hardly missed River's slight look of triumph as she kept the needle in her arm. Must be a little victory for her, causing me pain, Alex thought. Still, at least it protects me. I suppose I have to give her some leeway.
"So, what's he like?" Amy asked as River began to put the device back in her pack. She looked over at the Doctor, who was attempting to scan something with a scanner. "In the future, I mean. Because you know him in the future, don't you?"
River shifted slightly. "The Doctor?" She hurriedly shoved the viro-stabilizer back into her pack, an obvious attempt to avoid the question. "Well, the Doctor's the Doctor!"
Yes, that's very helpful, Alex thought, rolling her eyes.
Amy seemed to feel the same way. "Oh. Well, that's very helpful," she remarked, her voice full of sarcasm. "Mind if I write that down?"
River smiled and glanced over at the Doctor, who was still attempting to scan the wall. "Yes, we are," she said loudly.
"Sorry, what?" he asked.
Alex snickered a little as River said, "Talking about you."
"I wasn't listening," the Doctor argued. "I'm busy." But Alex knew he had been listening intently to them. He was just as curious about River Song as she was.
"Ah," River said, not believing him. Then, noticing the device in his hand, she instructed, "The other way up!" The Doctor reluctantly turned the portable computer around, a sheepish expression on his face.
"Yeah," he commented slowly, seeing his mistake.
"You're so his wife," Amy murmured.
Alex coughed again. Oh, God, Amy, shut up! She thought.
River, noticing her discomfort, smiled slightly and said in a coy voice, "Oh, Amy, Amy, Amy. This is the Doctor we're talking about. Do you really think it could be anything that simple?"
Amy smiled. "Yep."
River sighed and flashed her flashlight around the cavern. "You're good," she observed. "You aren't exactly right, but you are very good."
Alex couldn't stand listening to River's jabber anymore and went over to the Doctor's side. "Find anything, Doc?"
"Not so far," the Doctor admitted. "And don't call me Doc."
"You call me Ally," Alex reminded him. "Why can't I call you Doc?"
"Difference is. . ." The Doctor trailed off, unable to come up with a reasonable explanation why Alex couldn't call him that. He shrugged and went back to examining a statue. "Oh, and I've been meaning to ask; why am I the only one you don't object to calling you Ally?"
Alex shrugged. "I don't know. I guess it's okay coming from you." Alex refused to believe that her strong attraction to the Doctor was the reason that she let him call her by a nickname she had grown up hating.
The Doctor didn't say anything, but inside he was quite thrilled. It just didn't seem right when somebody else called Alex Ally. Whenever someone else did it, it was as though they were mocking her and teasing her. With him, he thought it was cute and suited her. But that's it, the Doctor told himself. I cannot - will not - get involved with her!
"So who is River exactly?" Alex questioned.
The Doctor tensed and jolted up. "Uh, I'm not really sure," he admitted.
"Well, she's clearly from your future, judging by her diary and the fact that she likes you to think you and her are involved romantically at some point." Alex's voice dripped with venom and she crossed her arms, glaring at a statue.
The Doctor sighed. "Hopefully, we aren't."
Alex stared at him. "You really hope so?" she asked, trying to keep the hopefulness and eagerness out of her voice.
"I do," he confirmed. He leaned closer to her and whispered in her ear, "To be honest, I just can't trust her. There's something about her. . ."
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Alex agreed, thinking back on the conversation she had overheard between River and Octavian. You have no idea how much you cannot trust her, Doc.
"Still, she knows you in the future. And you two sound like the best of friends."
Alex giggled a little. "Yeah, before you know it, we'll be doing each-others hair and gossiping about boys." She rolled her eyes. "I try to push her off a cliff in the future!"
"Yes, I heard." The Doctor snickered in spite of himself, just imagining River terrified at the prospect of being pushed off a cliff by Alex. The sight was almost too ridiculous to imagine, let alone one day experience.
"How many times do you think we'll see her?" Alex asked him.
"I don't know. Probably a lot though. She did say you were in her diary quite a bit." The Doctor smiled. "That means I'll get to keep you around for a while."
"Good, because I don't plan on going anywhere any time soon," Alex replied. She refused to say that she would stay with him forever. After hearing Rose's tale, she didn't want to tempt fate and end up in a parallel universe with a human clone of this Doctor. Or something like that.
"So, found the Weeping Angel yet?" Alex asked.
"Not yet," the Doctor answered. He crouched down to examine another statue. "Actually, I keep feeling like there's something weird with these statues. Something not normal, something that shouldn't be here." He whirled around and looked at her critically. "Ally, your mind sees past things that try to trick it. Tell me; do you see anything wrong with these statues?"
Alex hadn't noticed anything wrong with the statues. As far as she could see, they were just a bunch of old and crumbling statues. They actually reminded her of the statues you saw in Ancient Greek temples. But before she could say any of this to the Doctor, there came the sounds of gunfire. BANG! BANG! BANG! The Doctor, his eyes wide, grabbed Alex's hand and they raced back to the group of clerics, Amy and River just two steps behind them. Once they had reached the main group, they saw that one cleric had shot up a statue that was most certainly not the statue they were looking for.
"Sorry, sorry," the young cleric said nervously. "I thought. . . I thought it looked at me."
Octavian glowered at him. "We know what the Angel looks like," he reminded the cleric. He nodded at the banged-up statue. "Is that the Angel?"
"No, sir," the cleric answered.
"No, sir, it is not," Octavian affirmed. "According to the Doctor, we are facing an enemy of unknowable power and infinite evil, so it would be good, it would be very good, if we could all remain calm in the presence of decor!"
Alex frowned at Octavian. The cleric couldn't help it if he was scared and nervous. What they were dealing with practically required it. Wanting to shut Octavian up, she walked over and said softly, "What's your name?"
"Bob, ma'am."
"Ah, that's a great name," the Doctor chimed in. "I love Bob."
"It's a Sacred Name," Octavian explained. "We all have Sacred Names. They're given to us in the service of the Church."
"Sacred Bob," the Doctor commented, trying it out. He looked at the cleric with sympathy. "More like Scared Bob now, eh?"
"Yes, sir," Bob admitted.
"Ah, good. Scared keeps you fast." The Doctor reached out and pulled Alex closer to him. "Anyone in this room who isn't scared is a moron." He looked around at the clerics before ordering, "Carry on!"
Octavian turned back to Bob. "We'll be moving into the maze in two minutes. You stay with Christian and Angelo. Guard the approach."
Alex smiled slightly. "Just have faith," she whispered to Bob. Bob nodded and walked off, his face set in determination.
Alex and the Doctor led the way into the maze. There were even more statues here, cluttering the space along the cave walls. The Doctor's arm was around Alex's waist, keeping her close to him with a tight, but gentle grip. Alex had an arm wrapped around his back, her hand resting on his right shoulder. Out of the two of them, nobody could tell who was more scared and for whom.
Octavian watched them. "I've heard the stories," he said quietly to River. "I never quite understood the connection that was described until now."
River made a non-committal sound. "Yeah, they've always been like that," she admitted quietly. Her voice was tinged with regret and sadness and jealousy, but Octavian decided not to comment on it.
Amy gazed up nervously. "Isn't there a chance this lot's just going to collapse?" she asked. "There's a whole ship up there!"
"Incredible builders, the Aplans," River commented, doing her best to reassure the young girl.
"Had dinner with their Chief Architect once," the Doctor added. "Two heads are better than one."
"What, you mean you helped him?" Alex guessed.
"No, I mean he had two heads," the Doctor corrected. But as he was speaking, part of his mind was thinking something over. "That book, the very end, what did it say?" he called to River. His sudden change in topic puzzled Alex and Amy, but River didn't seem to find anything off about it. She pulled the book out and flipped to the page the Doctor had requested.
"Hang on," she said, flipping.
"Read it to me," the Doctor ordered.
"'What if we had ideas that could think for themselves?'" River read. "'What if one day our dreams no longer needed us? When these things occur and are held to be true, the time will be upon us. The time of Angels.'"
Alex allowed the words to sink in as they continued on, the Doctor's arm still wrapped around her and vice-versa. The words sounded maniac and didn't make much sense, but she knew enough to know that whatever they meant, it wasn't good.
~Living the Life of Ally~
"Are we there yet?" Alex complained. They had been walking for about twenty minutes and it seemed like they would never reach the damn ship. How big is this cave anyway? This hiking is even more torturous than ninth grade gym!
"It's a hell of a climb," Amy added in agreement with Alex.
"The Maze is on six levels, representing the ascent of the soul," River explained, rolling her eyes a little at the girls. "Only two levels to go."
"Glad I'm not an Aplan," Alex muttered.
"Lovely species, the Aplans," the Doctor commented. He had removed his arm from her waist a little while back after being completely assured that she wasn't disappearing anytime soon, but he still kept her close to his side. Alex hadn't moved a step away from him and for that he was grateful. "We should visit them some time."
"I thought they were all dead," Amy frowned, confused.
Alex sighed. "Amy, what do we travel in? Oh, yeah, a time machine!" Amy nodded, having gotten that straight in her head again.
"So is Virginia Woolf," the Doctor argued to Amy's comment. "I'm on her bowling team. Very relaxed, sort of cheerful. Well, that's having two heads of course. You're never short of a snog with an extra head."
"Okay, you're talking about the Aplans, right?" Alex joked.
River looked around the cave nervously. "Doctor, there's something. I don't know what it is."
The Doctor looked worried too and Alex felt something click in her brain. Wait, did he say the Aplans had TWO heads? She looked around at the statues. They only had one head.
"Yeah, there's something wrong," the Doctor agreed. "Don't know what it is yet, either. Working on it."
"Doctor," Alex said, trying to get his attention.
But he had just begun to ramble, something he did when he needed to distract others so he could think. "Of course, then they started having laws against self-marrying. I mean, what was that about? But that's the Church for you." He paused and cringed slightly as he realized what he had just said. He turned to Octavian, who looked mildly put out. "Er . . . no offence, Bishop."
"Quite a lot taken, if that's all right, Doctor," Octavian said coolly. He looked up at the trail ahead. "Lowest point in the wreckage is only about fifty feet up from here. That way."
As the group continued to walk on, Amy thought about the Doctor's comment about self-marriage. "The Church had a point, if you think about it," she told him. "The divorces must've been messy!"
Alex would have laughed at Amy's joke, but she needed to get the Doctor's attention. "Doctor!" she cried, placing a hand on his arm.
The Doctor immediately sensed the nervousness in Alex's voice. He could also hear worry and concern and he simply wanted to make all of it go away. He wanted - no, needed - to hear that cheerfulness and optimism and not all those negative emotions. "Alexandria?" he looked down at her. "What is it?"
Alex gulped slightly. "The Aplans have two heads, right?"
The Doctor wondered where she was going with this, but decided to let her keep going. Interrupting would only stall them. "Yes," he said slowly.
Alex looked around apprehensively at the statues and then realized that River was listening in as well. "And remember how you asked me if there was anything off about the statues, like you had sensed?"
Dread filled the Doctor and he placed a grip on Alex's shoulder. "Yes," he confirmed, his voice now giving away the fear and dread that was settling inside him.
"Well, if the Aplans built this temple and if they had two heads . . . then why don't the statues?"
The Doctor's eyes widened and he pulled Alex close to him, away from a statue just behind her. "Oh," he realized, his hearts beating faster than he ever thought possible.
Amy watched them. The Doctor seemed suddenly possessive of Alex and was keeping her tightly pressed to him, like he was trying to shove her inside of him. That could only mean something bad was happening. "What's wrong?" she asked them.
River quickly caught on and stared at a statue with absolute horror written all over her face. "Oh." Her face paled significantly and she steadied her flashlight to keep from dropping it.
"Exactly," the Doctor said grimly, now pressing Alex face-first into his chest. He could feel her tense underneath his fingertips and he vowed to get her and Amy out of here alive.
"How could we have not noticed that?" River questioned.
"Low-level perception filter, or maybe we're thick." The Doctor wanted to smack himself. How could he have been so stupid? I should have seen past it! Alex noticed!
"It's a low-level perception filter," Alex answered, oblivious to the Doctor's mental blaming. She wished she could have told them sooner, but it wasn't like she knew there was a perception filter on the statues since she saw past them straight away.
River sighed. "I'm not surprised you could see past it," she commented sadly. To Alex, it almost sounded as though she were sorry for her. Why is she sorry for me?
Octavian, however, was oblivious to their lamentations and guilt. He stared at them nervously. "What's wrong, sir, ma'am?"
"Nobody move," the Doctor ordered, his arms tightening around Alex. "Nobody move. Everyone stay exactly where they are. Bishop, I am truly sorry. I've made a mistake and we're all in terrible danger."
"What danger?" Octavian demanded, not liking the Doctor's tone and the fact that he, River, and Alex had been feeling incredibly guilty about not seeing something that they should have.
"The Aplans," River said, hoping that would get through to him.
But Octavian still didn't get it. "The Aplans?"
"They've got two heads."
"Yes, I get that. So?" God, why doesn't he get it?! Alex thought wearily. She kept herself as close as possible to the Doctor. She knew that he could protect them. He just had to. He was the Doctor, for crying out loud!
"So why don't the statues?" Alex said. She saw the Bishop's eyes widen as he finally realized what was going on.
"Everyone, over there. Just move. Don't ask questions, don't speak." The Doctor led the group over to an alcove where there were no statues. He gently removed Alex from her grip on his clothing and placed her directly behind him. He wanted her to be safe and protected, just in case. . .
The Doctor gulped, thinking about his plan. It was incredibly stupid and would probably earn him a slap or a lecture from Alex later, but he had to be sure. If what Alex had said was true, and if what he now saw was true, then they were in grave danger. "Okay," he began, "I want you all to switch off your torches."
"Sir?" a cleric protested. Alex was pretty sure his name was Marco.
"Just do it," the Doctor shot back. Alex watched, frightened, as one by one, each cleric switched their flashlight off until the only beam left was from the Doctor's own light. Well, that's new, she thought. I haven't been frightened since that one night when I was five. And it was true. Though Carla had sometimes lost her temper when drunk or stoned, Alex had never been scared. She always knew it would pass and whenever it did happen, she would just close herself off somewhere with a book and wait for everything to end. But she couldn't do that now. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. The only option was to face the monsters.
"Okay, I'm going to turn off this one too, just for a moment." Alex felt a hand grip hers and she knew without looking that it was the Doctor's, trying to reassure her.
"Are you sure about this?" River's voice sounded timid and fearful, something Alex hadn't thought her capable of up until that point.
The Doctor stared straight-on at the statues in front of them. "No." With that reassuring answer, the light clicked off but a split second later, it was back, revealing the horrifying truth to the realization they had all had. The statues had moved, now closer to them than they had been.
"Oh my God," Amy cried, "they've moved!"
The Doctor tore back down the passage they had come from, and despite her fear, Alex followed him. She needed to know more about these creatures. Knowledge was supposed to protect a person, wasn't it? If that was the case, then knowledge about these creatures would certainly help her.
The statues were definitely Angels all right. Alex spotted several that had moved. One was even on its knees, an arm outstretched, as though it was asking for help. Alex almost would have pitied it had she not realized what it truly was.
"They're Angels!" the Doctor shouted to the rest of the group. "All of them!"
"But they can't be!" River protested.
Alex rolled her eyes. "Use your eyes, River! They've moved!" Honestly, she was getting so sick of this woman. . .
"Clerics, keep watching them!" The Doctor reached over and grabbed her hand. "And you, go back with the rest. It's not safe!"
"Absolutely not!" Alex argued, yanking her hand out of his grasp and crossing her arms. "I'm not leaving you alone with them!" She gave him her best glare, one that had made teachers shudder and made sleazes apologize when they grabbed her ass in the crowded school hallway.
The Doctor knew it was coming, but it was still effective. It's like looking in a mirror, he thought absently. Groaning, he admitted defeat by calling out to the rest of the group, "Every statue in this Maze, every single one, is a Weeping Angel. They're coming after us."
A/N: Another chapter down! Glad to see you all are liking and also curious about the relationship between River and Alex. Like I said, their relationship with each-other is interesting. River seems sorry for Alex at points, doesn't she? Wonder why that is... :)
Thank you to rycbar15, ElysiumPhoenix, and HopieCC for reviewing and thanks to those who followed/favored this story. Please review everyone! I love hearing how you like the story and what you think could be improved in it. See you tomorrow!
