To the Stars and Back

by riverofmemories

Tagging along in the TARDIS after being rescued from a situation she was sold into, Jayden O'Connors finds that there's much more to life than expected. When the Doctor's involved, it's full of adventure, other worlds, saving lives, and quite a bit of running. But the clock is ticking, and even a Time Lord from Gallifrey can't help her run forever.

45. The Time of Angels

"Wrong. Wrong. Bit right, mostly wrong."

The Doctor sounded delighted as he spoke, and Jay's lips twitched as she and Amy trailed along behind him, occasionally stopping to peer at various artifacts behind glass. At one point, Jay had paused to study a bit of old stone, frowning deeply at it. It had seemed vaguely familiar, which had worried her. She'd been quick to move on, ignoring the inquisitive looks cast her way.

They'd decided to go to a museum at Jay's hopeful request, and while Amy had initially not been thrilled with the idea of skipping a visit to another planet, she'd quickly found the museum to be interesting – particularly one that was located several thousand years in the future from her own time. The Doctor had been more than willing to take them, too, his green eyes gleaming at the suggestion. Mostly, Jay guessed, because of this: he liked to correct the historians who proudly displayed their findings.

It was nice, Jay thought to herself as she meandered away from her friends, to enjoy a more peaceful visit to some place that was relatively normal. Following her visit to her brother, the Doctor had admitted to her that there was a bit more to the results than he'd been willing to admit in front of Lucas. He'd told her of what Sonya's invention had found regarding the odd viral structures attacking her other cells, and they'd quietly brainstormed theories with Amy occasionally piping up, though all three had come up empty-handed.

So, Jay had passed the information onto Jack during a second, quicker phone call, who'd been thrilled to hear she'd managed to find herself back on the TARDIS but had been troubled by their findings. He'd agreed to pass on the information to those who already knew about her problems, and said he'd hop around and see what he could find out.

"You have people in your court back here, too, just like you always have," Jack had told her.

Jay was eternally grateful for her friend.

Something snagged her attention and Jay perked up. "Doctor," she called, eyes lingering on the old square box trapped within a case of glass. It took her a moment to realize she'd cut into her friends' bickering, and she rolled her eyes as the Doctor gleefully took advantage of the distraction, looking over immediately. "Look at this. The writing on this–"

He came over immediately, abandoning Amy beside what Jay was fairly sure was a robot's head. Amy scowled and scurried after him, not wanting to be left behind. "What is it?" she asked as she joined them, peering at the box.

"Home Box," breathed the Doctor, grinning in a nearly silly manner. He rubbed his hands together, bouncing. "From one of the old starliners. Like a black box on a plane, except it homes. Anything happens to the ship? The Home Box flies home with all of the flight data."

"So?" muttered Amy, unimpressed.

"So," the Doctor retorted, scowling briefly at her. "That graffiti is the lost language of the Time Lords. Old High Gallifreyan."

Jay wasn't blind though. She saw the way his mouth twisted for the briefest of moments, the way he sucked in a small breath as he read what the graffiti said. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously as he rocked back on his heels, as if considering what to do about whatever he'd read. And it was the way he looked over his shoulder, in the direction they'd left the TARDIS, that she asked slowly, "And what does it say, Doctor? Since we can't read the language of the Time Lords."

The Doctor glanced at her, and she could see the gears working in his mind. She glared at him, daring him to try and lie to her, so he didn't. "'Hello, sweetie,'" he said finally, and Jay's breath caught in her chest, eyes rounding with shock.

"Hello, sweetie. And hello, Jay."

Jay rounded on him as he circled the glass box that held the homing device, her eyes sharp. "She's dead."

"The future version of her is dead," replied the Doctor quietly. "Remember? Time doesn't always run in a straight line, Jay." He stopped again, hands on his hips. "I'm going to have to steal it." He didn't seem overly excited about the fact, eyeing the glass and then looking over his shoulder as if determining how fast they'd have to be to get back to the TARDIS.

"Do we get to see what's on it?" said Amy hopefully. She paused, and then asked, "Who's supposed to be dead, by the way?"

Jay recalled a lot about the woman in question. She remembered vividly, running through a library filled with murderous shadows that were out to devour them. She remembered the Doctor, his other face, being scared of them in a way that didn't often happen. She'd only seen him so scared once, when they were in the vehicle on Midnight, unsure if they'd survive whatever clever creature had possessed him for a brief moment. She also distinctly remembered how the shadows had flinched before her.

River Song had known a lot, she realized. A lot about Jay and the poisonous blood in her veins. Maybe even the entirety of what it was.

She opened her mouth to suggest that maybe they should track River Song down, if they could figure out where the slightly less future version of her was. But before she could, the Doctor suddenly grinned at them. "Run!" he said cheerfully, promptly shoving the glass casing off and snatching up the homing device from its velvet cushion. An alarm blared promptly in their ears and Jay had only a moment to gawk at him before they were running, bolting in the direction of the TARDIS.

She heard shouting moments later as Amy, a step ahead of her, yelled, "Why are we doing this?!"

"Someone on a spaceship twelve thousand years ago is trying to attract my attention," the Doctor called back over his shoulder, the box tucked securely against his chest. "They succeeded."

They ran as fast as they could for the TARDIS, the sounds of yelling and footsteps trailing behind them as security attempted to catch them. Unfortunately for them, however, the three had a head start. They reached the TARDIS quickly, and Jay made sure to triple-check the locks as she closed the door hastily, heaving for air. Her heart pounded in her chest, and she painfully shook out her violently tingling wrists.

The Doctor sent the TARDIS into orbit before doing anything else, not wanting to be interrupted. "Let's see if we can get the security playback working…" He began to fiddle with the homebox, muttering to himself as he wired it into the TARDIS console. The TARDIS hummed all around them, and Amy quickly grew bored the longer it took. She began to wander, pacing around. Jay simply dropped into the captain's seat, watching the Doctor's movements with interest. She was trying to understand technology better, but she wasn't quite good enough to help him just yet.

After what seemed like ages, the Doctor gave a triumphant laugh, and an image fuzzed to life on the TARDIS's screen. Jay's heart pounded in her chest as she squeezed between he and Amy to watch it, her eyes widening when she found who she'd expected to see.

The woman on the screen couldn't be anyone but River Song, with her big curly hair and smug smile. She was dressed in a beautiful sparkling black gown, as if she'd been at some fancy evening event. A few men stood with their backs to the camera's position. "The party's over, Dr. Song," said one of the people they couldn't see. "Yet still, you're on board."

River merely hummed, shifting ever so slightly. "Sorry, Alistair," she mused, and a shiver went down Jay's spine. How strange it was to see someone she had watched die, very much alive on a screen in front of their faces. "I needed to see what was on your vault." River paused, suddenly growing serious. There was an edge to her voice when she said quietly, "Do you know what's down there? Any of you? Because I'll tell you something. This ship won't reach its destination."

The man clearly wasn't impressed. "Wait 'til she runs. Don't make it look like an execution."

Keeping her voice a whisper for some reason, Amy asked quietly in Jay's ear, "Who're those guys?"

Jay shrugged, not able to take her eyes off of River as she casually seemed to fluff her curls. River rolled her eyes to peer at the security camera, and then smirked. "Triple-seven-five," she drawled, and the Doctor sputtered, suddenly reeling away from the screen. "Slash-three-four-nine-by-ten," River continued, and the Doctor began to whip around the TARDIS console, inputting things.

"Jay," he called without looking up, "type in the numbers over there, would you?"

Jay went to do as he was told, listening carefully as River finished, "Zero-twelve-slash-acorn. Oh, and I could do with an air corridor, if you don't mind."

"'Acorn?'" echoed Jay, briefly confused, and with an impatient snort, the Doctor nudged her aside to finish. "Doctor, are we…are we picking her up? Those are coordinates, aren't they?"

The Doctor flashed the startled Amy and Jay a wide smile. "Get the doors, would you?" he said, eager for the answers River Song might bring with her, Jay sprinted for them. "Amy, keep your eyes on that screen," the Doctor ordered, pushing the lever that sent the TARDIS rocking into motion. "Tell me when something important happens."

Conversation continued briefly, played by the homebox, and Amy watched intently. Jay fearlessly flung the doors to the TARDIS wide open, careful not to step too close. She hovered by them, staring out at the stars around them. She took just a moment to stop and admire those stars, her eyes gleaming excitedly. "Doctor," she called over her shoulder, "I see a ship!"

"You might want to find something to hang on to," cooed River on the screen, and Amy called for the Doctor. From where Jay stood, she could see a door cracking open in the side of the ship, and she prepared herself clenching a hand around the TARDIS doors' frame in preparation, already leaning out just a little.

As expected, River was sucked into space. Distantly, Jay thought she heard alarms blaring from the ship, as if it were unstable and preparing to crash. Over her shoulder, Jay said hastily, "Doctor, we're too far from her!"

The Doctor steered the TARDIS closer to River, craning his head to try and see out the doors. Finally, they were close enough, and Jay didn't hesitate to offer her hand. River reached out and neatly snagged it, stepping gracefully into the TARDIS with a smug look on her face. Despite everything she'd seen and been through, Jay thought the fact that she was looking at a woman she'd watched die particularly odd. Still, she seemed just like the River Song they'd seen in the Library.

River's eyes flashed as she whirled on her heel to stare out at the ship she'd escaped from. "Follow that ship!" she barked, and Jay jumped at the sharpness in her tone. Even so, she retreated to the console, looking to the TARDIS for guidance as she began to fly at a high speed, following the ship as River wished. The faster they went, the more the TARDIS rocked, until they were all trying to keep their balance.

Just briefly, Jay glanced at Amy, who made a face as she clung to the captain's seat, refusing to sit down in case they needed to move for some reason. What kind of trouble was this going to get them into?

Jay spun around the console, the TARDIS guiding her movements. Impatient, River came to help, snapping at the Doctor, "They've gone into warp drive. We're losing them. She needs to go faster."

"I'm trying," retorted the Doctor, scowling lightly at her.

River rolled her eyes at him, and then told Jay as the TARDIS violently rocked around them, "Use the stabilizers, they're beside you."

Jay paused, unsure of which one she meant, and the TARDIS flashed a light beside some blue switches as the Doctor grumbled, "There aren't any stabilizers. Those are just blue switches. They don't do anything, they're just blue."

"The TARDIS wants me to press them," pointed out Jay, furrowing her brow. She hesitated only briefly before pressing them, deciding to trust River's suggestion. The TARDIS immediately stopped shaking so violently beneath them, and Jay sputtered, "Doctor, we should have pressed those sooner."

Grumbling, he glared over at her, and then at River. "Yes, well, now it's just boring, isn't it? They're…they're boring-ers, blue boring-ers."

Jay snorted, amused and unsurprised by the Doctor's complaints. He did tend to like his chaos in the TARDIS after all. She withdrew as River took over, seeming to know exactly what the TARDIS needed her to do as the TARDIS chased the ship across space. Even the Doctor stepped back to watch, looking puzzled. Jay went to sit in the captain's seat with Amy instead, and Amy leaned in to ask her, "How can she fly the TARDIS?"

Jay shrugged, gaze trailing River intensely. They'd not really known River Song very well when they'd met her in the Library though River had seemed to know them incredibly well. She'd known Jay's darkest fear, and had even told the Doctor something he'd yet to tell Jay about. Whenever she'd asked, he'd immediately diverted the conversation. "I don't know," she said truthfully. She certainly had no idea how River could steer the TARDIS, though she guessed the Doctor had certainly had to have taught her how.

"I've mapped the probability vectors," called River, and Jay's head spun as she continued, "done a fold-back on the temporal isometry, charted the ship to its destination, and parked us right alongside."

"Parked us?" echoed the Doctor with a frown in her direction. "We haven't landed."

"Of course we've landed," River retorted, rolling her eyes. "I just landed her."

As the pair bickered about the fact that the Doctor apparently left the "parking brakes" on the majority of the time, Jay decided that she was more interested in finding out where they'd gone. "C'mon," she told Amy, hopping to her feet. Knowing immediately what they were up to, Amy followed suit, and the pair ducked past the Doctor and River to go and investigate where they'd ended up. She'd just reached the door, hand residing on the handle, when River noticed.

"Wait!" she called, and the pair looked over their shoulders at them. "Environment checks!"

Jay furrowed her brow, confused. They'd never done environmental checks before. She cast the Doctor a suspicious look as he stomped over to join them, agitated that River apparently knew just as much as he did about driving his ship. He nudged past his friends, ignoring River's suggestion about environmental checks entirely as he pushed the TARDIS door open and squinted at the sky outside. "Oh, look," he said drily, "it's nice out."

Jay sighed, deciding that it was safe enough if the Doctor wasn't making them stay inside. "Come on, Amy," she repeated, ducking around the Doctor in favor of stepping outside. She inhaled softly, breathing in what she found to be relatively fresh air.

Amy looked about as she trailed after Jay, and they took a moment to look around, figuring out where they'd ended up. It was another planet, clearly, with a very rocky, sandy surface. Jay couldn't see a single ounce of green no matter what direction she looked. She put her hands on her hips as the Doctor drawled behind them, clearly trying to impress them all in front of River, "We're on Alfava Metraxis, the seventh planet of the Dundra System. Oxygen rich atmosphere, all toxins in the soft band, eleven hour day, and chances of rain later."

River muttered under her breath as she joined the rest of them, and Jay fought back a grin. It was like looking at another version of the Doctor. Not quite like a literal one, like the first Doctor she'd known, but another Time Lord, perhaps, that wasn't as evil as the Master seemed to have been. They all peered around the beach they'd landed on, the soft rocky sand crunching beneath their feet as the Doctor closed and locked the TARDIS doors behind them. Jay kept an eye out for danger as Amy asked River, "How can you fly the TARDIS?"

"I had lessons from the very best," she said, flashing Amy a warm smile. Jay's lips twitched as the Doctor seemed to preen, smugly grinning at those words – only for River to shatter his pride by calling over her shoulder wryly, "Shame you were busy that day, Doctor." He scowled at her, and Jay stifled a snort of laughter behind her hand that earned her a half-hearted glare, too. "Right then!" River declared, refocusing her attention. "Why did they land here?"

"They didn't land," the Doctor said immediately, and River threw the Doctor a startled look, her dark eyes wide. "You should've checked the Home Box. The ship crashed." River's face paled, and she whirled away, sprinting down the beach. Jay moved to follow her, only to blink in surprise when the Doctor caught her wrist – and promptly hauled her back towards the TARDIS.

"Doctor," began Amy, looking over her shoulder at them. She squawked when she realized they were heading back to the TARDIS. Jay tugged impatiently at her wrist, not appreciating what he was doing. "Hey! Hold on, where are we going? Who is she and how did she do that whole thing with the Home Box?"

"It's a long story," said the Doctor over his shoulder, switching tactics when they reached the TARDIS. He put his hands on her shoulders and steered her inside instead, waiting until Amy was inside to shut and lock the TARDIS doors. "And I don't know most of it. We're leaving. She got where she wanted to go, so let's go somewhere we want to go."

"So…we're running away," said Amy, rolling her eyes.

"We really shouldn't just leave her like that, Doctor," Jay said. She looked back at the locked doors, and the TARDIS seemed to hum in agreement. She didn't fully understand why he wanted to ditch River Song either. Sure, she seemed to know strange amounts about them. She'd clearly met them in the past – or future, whatever it was. It didn't explain why the Doctor was so keen on avoiding River though. "We really shouldn't run away either. It doesn't help anything. And if that ship crashed, maybe there's survivors."

"I can run away from anything I like." retorted the Doctor, and Jay lifted her eyebrows, exasperated. He wasn't a child.

Amy exchanged a swift, smug look with Jay, as if suggesting Watch this! "Here's the thing though, Doctor. That's a planet out there, and you promised me a planet."

She and the Doctor stared at one another for a few moments, as if whoever won their small staring contest would make the decision about running away or exploring a new planet. Finally, the Doctor threw his hands in the air and snapped, "Fine! Five minutes! Five. But that's all, because I'm telling you now, we are not getting involved in anything with that woman!" He lifted his voice to a shout as Amy tore off through the TARDIS doors again. "Do not go to where the crash is!"

Jay's lips twitched. That was like asking fire to avoid oil. "Come on, Doctor," she called as she followed Amy back outside, happily shaking her wrists out. She was still a good distance away from an attack, she thought. She wasn't stupid enough to think that there'd not be any running while they explored a planet with River Song, who Jay decided she should be cautious with, even if she did like River's outlook on a lot of things. She didn't know her; she couldn't, no matter how well River knew them. She'd only met her once.

The Doctor grumbled as he trailed them, locking the doors behind them again. Amy, of course, had beelined in the direction of the smoke piling into the air. The Doctor groaned. "I told her–"

"You should really know better by now. Besides, someone might need some help in there," said Jay, hurrying after Amy. She picked her way swiftly down the beach. Within a few minutes, they'd reached the crash site, and Jay winced at the sight. The ship was in pieces. Its sleek metal body was crumpled and destroyed in some places. Jay didn't see any bodies, but she was sure they were somewhere in the wreckage. This wasn't a crash people survived.

"What caused it to crash?" said Amy, perched atop a particularly large boulder. She'd climbed up to get a better look. Her hands were on her hips, her red sweater stark against the overcast sky. She looked down at the Doctor for an explanation, then at River, who was frowning at the wreckage, too. Apparently, they'd caught up with her.

"Not me," murmured River immediately.

The Doctor clambered up to look down on the wreck with Amy. He tipped his head at the sight of it, frowning. "The airlock would've sealed seconds after you blew it," he told River. "According to the Home Box, the warp engines had a phase shift. No survivors."

Jay noticed that River seemed anything but surprised by this information. In fact, she seemed rather glum. "A phase shift would be sabotage. I did warn them, you know." Ignoring Jay's questioning look, she clucked her tongue and looked out at the space the ship had crashed into. It had hit some kind of ancient-looking building, made of old stones. Now, the stones were shattered and charred, as if an intense fire had built in the ship but died down before they'd all got there. Jay noted that; sometimes, dangerous fumes lingered in the air after a ship burned. "At least the Aplan temple was empty. Unoccupied for centuries."

Amy dropped down from her boulder, and the Doctor followed suit. "Amy Pond," she said by way of introduction to River, who looked delighted. She stuck her hand out and River grinned, shaking it.

"River Song," she answered.

"She left you a note in the museum." Amy frowned, folding her arms as she watched River carefully make her way closer to the ship, typing something on a watch that Jay mused was distinctly like Jack's vortex manipulator. "How? Why?"

Jay's lips curved into a grin and she laughed softly. "It's because we like to visit museums, right?" she said. "The Doctor likes to criticize things, and I like to see what people think is interesting. We go to museums often. And this ship is nice enough with enough loss of life for the Home Box to end up in a museum."

River flashed Jay a smug smile. "Precisely," she said. She tapped at her watch impatiently, irritated with it. "Anyhow, you're wrong, Doctor. There's one survivor in that ship. A thing in the belly that can't ever die." The Doctor snapped his attention to River, who smiled in a secretive manner. Ignoring him, she held her wrist up, showing him the watch-like device she wore. "Doctor, can you sonic me? I need to boost this signal. I've got some friends who are going to join us."

With a huff, the Doctor made his way over to her and begrudgingly snagged her wrist, retrieving his sonic screwdriver from his jacket. As the familiar buzzing sound filled the air, they began to mutter to one another. Jay listened to them half-heartedly, unnerved when she realized River was trying to puzzle out how well they knew her.

How many more secrets to keep from them.

It really was an odd situation, she thought. Just once as they spoke, River's gaze darted to Jay. She seemed almost mournful when she did, and it made Jay uncomfortable enough that she turned her back on River. While she was fond of River's unique way of doing things and the way she handled the Doctor's oddities, she hated that fact. She hated that River likely knew what would happen to her, what the venom from that horrible creature was doing to her body, and simply refused to tell them.

"What are they doing?" asked Amy, picking her way to stand beside Jay. She looked over her shoulder at the pair. Her gaze lingered on a journal that River had pulled from the clutch she kept on her person, wondering how it had fit into such a small bag. "What's that?"

"We've met River before, just once," Jay said quietly. She shuddered at the memory of the Vashta Nerada, of Donna Noble's face plastered on the surface of a mechanical being. "It…it was a rough time." That had been a bad time in general, for they'd gone to the planet Midnight not too long after. "She knew us – well enough that she knew things I hadn't told her. Yet, I suppose." She wrapped her arms around herself. "She won't tell us anything helpful though. About a lot of things. And we watched her…" She trailed off, remembering River's death. "She sacrificed herself for the Doctor. Knocked him out and took his place."

Amy grimaced, looking back at the strange woman they'd rescued from a crashing ship. They'd seemed to have come to an agreement about where they stood, what the other knew. Jay knew the Doctor had likely lied a little, learning more without wanting to hear too much. After all, once they heard it, it was far more likely to happen.

A yelp burst from Jay when a sudden gust of wind nearly blinded her with sand. Amy cursed beside her. The Doctor spun around, immediately on the defensive when he saw four people appear before them. He hurried over to stand beside his companions, and River trailed after him. All four wore camouflaged uniform and Jay certainly didn't appreciate the sight of the guns they carried.

One of them, an older man with a stern face, scowled at the sight of the four people before him. "You promised me an army, Dr. Song," he accused, and Jay realized these must have been the people River was trying to get a hold of. Clearly, he wasn't happy with River though. Her gaze drifted between the pair. Just what was their relationship?

"I promised you the equivalent of an army," corrected River. Her smile was almost cold. Clearly, the pair didn't get along. She spun on her heel, gesturing to the man who'd spoken. "Father Octavian," she drawled. "He has twenty clerics at his command."

The Doctor wrinkled his nose. "I don't like soldiers very much," he said to no one in particular.

Wryly, Father Octavian replied, "I don't like surprises." He let his gaze rest on first the Doctor, and then his friends. Jay guessed he didn't like the three of them at all even. "The troops are already in the drop ship and will join us shortly. Dr. Song was helping us with a covert investigation, and stated that your help would be invaluable. Has she explained what we're dealing with?"

They all shook their heads.

River made a face, displeased that he'd gotten to the point probably far sooner than she'd have liked, as if she thought such a matter would affect what the Doctor decided the three of them would do next. "Doctor," she sighed, "what do you know of the Weeping Angels?"

Jay instinctively flinched, recalling the time she'd spent separated from Martha and the Doctor after stone gray statues with hidden faces sent them back in time and left her stranded. That little particular adventure had ended well enough, but still. Not being able to keep track of creatures that moved as soon as one closed their eyes was terrifying, and there was no guarantee that the Doctor would even be capable of tracking them down should they send them away in time.

"Jay?" whispered Amy as the Doctor reacted similarly. "What are they talking about?"

Jay hesitated to answer. "They're…they're statues, but they're not," she told Amy softly. "And they move when you're not looking. They send people back in time." Her hands clenched into fists. "We've seen them before. The Doctor and a friend of ours got caught unprepared, and I…" She trailed off, remembering the terror that had accompanied having one of her attacks on top of being surrounded by creatures who might send her somewhere else entirely, to a place where she'd be alone again. If not for Sally Sparrow and her friend, she was sure they'd still be stuck. Or worse.

"I don't like this," she said finally, turning to the Doctor. "We should go back to the TARDIS."

The Doctor seemed inclined to agree, glancing at her. "But why was a ship carrying a Weeping Angel?" he murmured, and Jay knew without a doubt what that meant.

They weren't going anywhere.

---

The soldiers that came were surprisingly swift when it came to setting up their camp. Jay watched them all with interest, perched on a wooden shipping crate beside Amy. Amy leaned into her, looking a little tired, but curious. The Doctor had been running this way and that, his green eyes fierce and unreadable as he tried to figure out what, exactly, he was meant to be doing and why River Song had decided they were the best way of dealing with the Weeping Angel.

According to Father Octavian, the Angel was likely still trapped within the crashed ship. He wanted them to get inside the ship and deal with the Angel, prevent it from going anywhere and doing anything. Apparently, they'd have to go up through catacombs to get to where they needed to go.

Catacombs.

Just what they needed when there were Weeping Angels about.

The Doctor ran a hand down his face as he made his way over to check on his friends. He scowled lightly at them. "I told you two to stay in the TARDIS," huffed the Doctor, though Jay thought it was just a front. He hated the Weeping Angels as much as she did, and not even the TARDIS could be entirely safe with them around. "What part of 'wait in the TARDIS' is so confusing?"

"Someone's grumpy," mused Amy in Jay's ear, drawing a hint of a smile to Jay's face. Amy had no sense of self-preservation when it came to annoying the Doctor.

The Doctor's scowl deepened as he glared lightly at Amy. "I'm supposed to climb into that wreckage with my screwdriver and, assuming I survive the radiation and assuming the whole ship doesn't explode, do something I haven't thought of yet. So yes. I'm grumpy."

Amy appeared to consider teasing him some more, but was distracted when River's voice filled their ears, calling sharply, "Doctor?" They followed the sound to the source, finding River waiting impatiently for the Doctor beside a small pod-like ship. She'd changed at some point, going from evening finery to camouflaged clothes that matched those of the soldiers that had come. Jay wondered where the clothes had even come from, though she admitted it was a smart move on River's part. The clothing she'd been wearing was certainly no good in a crisis situation. River made a small gesture. "Father Octavian wants us."

Jay was confident River didn't mean she or Amy, but Jay didn't really care. She hopped to her feet, dragging Amy with her as the Doctor made a beeline in River's direction. "Come on, Amy," she said cheerfully. "Let's go see what they're so excited about."

Amy seemed pleased with the idea of causing some mischief, though Jay made a mental note to ensure they didn't get in the way. Whatever had happened with this Weeping Angel, she didn't want to make it worse. The Doctor threw them another scolding look when they joined them, all four squeezing after Father Octavian into the small pod ship River had been standing beside.

The inside of the small steel capsule was just as tiny. It was fairly empty of anything except for a screen, which River used a remote to turn on, and a table with a few various items atop it. The screen displayed a creature that was rather familiar to Jay, and a table with various things atop of it. She shivered at the sight of its supposedly stone body. Its back was to the camera, gray wings hiding much of it from view. She could still tell its head was bowed, its face hidden with its cupped hands.

"What do you think?" River asked the Doctor, not taking her eyes off of the creature on the screen. She swept her wild, curly hair from her face as she spoke, tying it into place so it wouldn't get in her way. "This footage is from the security cameras in the Byzantium vault. I rigged it when I was on board. Sorry for the quality. Four seconds, all on loop."

"That's definitely a Weeping Angel, right?" Jay checked, glancing sharply at the Doctor. He nodded curtly. He was clearly unhappy about it, and Jay didn't blame him. "I hate it just as much as last time," she muttered, recalling the anxiety that had come with not being able to figure out how to get her friends back on her own. She'd likely still be stuck, waiting on them to show up, if not for Sally Sparrow and her friend.

Father Octavian seemed unsurprised by the Doctor's knowledge of the Angels, but he looked sharply at Jay. "You've encountered them?"

Jay jerked her chin in the Doctor's direction. "With him."

"They were scavengers," the Doctor said. "The ones we saw. Hardly surviving on scraps."

Amy put her hands on her hips, frowning at the image before them. "It really does look like just a statue," she said.

"When you can see it, it does." River glanced at Amy briefly, her expression warming just a fraction. Jay noted that; River seemed to have some affection for Amy. Jay wondered how Amy fit into the future then, how River knew her and her role in everything that would happen. "It was pulled from the ruins of Razbahan at the end of last century. Been in private hands ever since, dormant the entire time."

Jay shivered as she glanced at the Weeping Angel's image again. She hated it. Almost as much as she hated the Daleks. Having had enough, she moved without waiting for the others, ducking out of the pod ship. As if she'd broken a spell placed over those watching the creature, the others all filed out after her, one by one.

"The hyperdrive would've split on impact," said the Doctor aloud as they regathered outside the pod ship. He fidgeted mindlessly with his sonic screwdriver as he considered what to do next. "That whole ship's flooded with drive burn radiation, cracked electrons, gravity storms…deadly. Very deadly."

"To an Angel?" Father Octavian asked almost hopefully.

"Dinner to an Angel," corrected the Doctor. "The longer we leave it there, the stronger it will grow." Something they simply couldn't allow with something like the Weeping Angels. "Who built the temple the wreck crashed into? Are they still around?"

River shook her head. "The Aplans," she told him. "Indigenous life form. They died out four hundred years ago."

Jay wrinkled her nose, the name of the people that had once occupied this planet ringing a bell in her head. "Aplans," she murmured, considering it for a moment. Her gaze snapped to the Doctor when it struck her. "Weren't we going to go see them? You told me they had two heads."

"Two what now?" Amy looked fascinated by the idea.

The Doctor graced them with a bright smile despite the temper he'd been in since River had dragged them into this mess. "We were," he agreed. "Maybe we'll go see them after we're done here."

Father Octavian cleared his throat pointedly, not pleased that they were starting to stray off topic. "The planet was terraformed two hundred years after they died out. There are six billion human colonists here now. And there is now a clear and present danger to the local population."

"That there is." The Doctor rubbed his hands together in thought, furrowing his brow. "Bad as it gets, too. Amy, Jay," he continued, turning to them again despite Father Octavian's impatience to get a move on. "You two should go back to the TARDIS now."

"Absolutely not," Jay said, immediately turning away from him. "Come on, Amy, let's go see if we can find a way to help out around here. River's going to make sure they get us before they go anywhere important – like into the destroyed temple, right, River?"

River laughed softly, delighted with the annoyed look that immediately materialized on the Doctor's face. "Of course," she promised. "I'll come get you as soon as we're ready."

Delighted, Jay winked at the Doctor, earning her an aggravated look. "Then we'll check in regularly," she said brightly. "See you in a bit." Without another word, she spun away, hauling Amy with her. Amy laughed under her breath, drawing a smile from Jay even as she made a note to have a particularly sharp word with Amy about being cautious on this planet.

The Weeping Angels were anything but fun.

---

The Doctor found it hard to drag his attention away from his wandering friends. Every instinct in his body was screaming to drag them away from this place, where a Weeping Angel fed on consumable energy within the belly of a crashed ship. He couldn't manage a single lick of luck when it came to finding a good place to take someone for a singular trip. And to think he'd trusted that museum to have normal, fun to look at things…

River chuckled at the look on his face. Almost fondly, she said, "Jay will be fine. As will Amy. Focus."

The Doctor shot her a rather dirty look. He wasn't happy with her at all. "None of your business," he said in a clipped tone.

"Mhm," River hummed, unimpressed with the attitude. She focused on the situation at hand, waving for him to follow her. The Doctor did so reluctantly. "One of the men found this," she told him as they reached a low set table with various items spread out over it. The Doctor looked at them with interest. River snagged an ancient looking book from the pile and offered it to him. "Definitive work on the Angels. The only one, as far as I can tell. Written by a madman. It's barely readable, but I've marked a few passages."

The Doctor accepted the book and flipped through the pages rather swiftly, pausing only here and there. The language was one even the TARDIS had problems translating – an even more ancient language then. He muttered about the book being slow, still a bit grumpy regarding the fact that his friends weren't actually listening to him.

He paused, then suddenly lifted the book to his nose, taking a good sniff. Nothing. How bothersome.

"Dr. Song!" The Doctor looked over his shoulder when Amy's voice suddenly called out, though he knew she wasn't calling for him. She'd poked her head out of the pod. The Doctor frowned in disapproval. While he was pleased they'd not wandered off, he didn't necessarily want them dancing around the place. Amy's brow furrowed. "Did you have more than one clip of the Angel?"

The Doctor wondered, just briefly, why she'd ask that, but shrugged it off and focused intently on the book River had handed over as she called back a denial to Amy's question. "This book," he muttered, scowling. "It's wrong. What's wrong with it though?" He glanced up at River, expecting an answer. She was staring back at him.

He was unprepared for the warmth in her expression, the softness of her voice when she mused, "It's so strange when you go all baby face," she commented quietly. "How early is this for you?"

As he'd always considered in times like this, the Doctor could lie. This time, however, he decided against it. Whoever Professor River Song was, whoever this River became, they were a part of his future, and he didn't really want to know, to be honest. The only thing he cared about trying to pry out of her was–

"What's wrong with Jay?" he asked just as quietly, and her eyes flashed with sorrow.

"Very early then," she murmured. She searched his gaze for a moment before shaking her head slowly. "Spoilers," she told him almost apologetically, which only served to aggravate the Doctor. He scowled at her. Ignoring the look he gave her, River said thoughtfully, "So you don't know who I am yet."

"How do you know who I am?" retorted the Doctor, still flipping through the book and trying to puzzle it out. "I don't always look the same."

"I've got pictures of all your faces. You never show up in the right order though." River spoke nonchalantly, flashing him a brief grin. "I need the spotter's guide."

It occurred to the Doctor what was odd then about the book. He flipped through it yet again, confirming his theory. "There's no pictures. " He leafed through it, seeking an answer, eyes scanning each page swiftly. "This whole book…it's a warning about the Weeping Angels, so why aren't there pictures? Why not show us what to look for?" River moved closer to peer over his shoulder, and she stopped him after a few moments, making him flip back a few pages. She tapped a section to indicate the bit of text she'd caught there. "'That which holds the image of an angel becomes itself an angel,'" read the Doctor aloud, brow furrowed in deep thought.

Alarm slammed through him.

"Did you have more than one clip of the Angel?"

He jolted upright, whirling around to face the pod ship they'd been in moments before. The door was shut. Ignoring River's confusion, he bolted towards the ship. When he was close enough, he could hear Amy shouting from the inside, fear evident in her voice. He didn't need to hear her to know that Jay was likely within the pod ship, too.

Cursing under his breath, the Doctor tried prying the door open despite guessing that it would do him no good. Sure enough, the door didn't budge an inch. Frustrated, he fell upon the panel next to it, ripping the top portion off and pressing his sonic screwdriver to the wiring. He muttered under his breath, "I told them to stay on the ship. If they'd just listened–"

He was unprepared for Jay to suddenly snarl through the door, "Stop complaining and tell us what to do!"

Admittedly, the Doctor faltered, glancing up at the metal door as River murmured, "What's wrong with the lock?"

Jay shouldn't have heard him, he thought, though he kept that to himself as he answered, "Deadlocked." Louder, he shouted to Amy and Jay, "Don't take your eyes off it! It can't move if you're looking."

"There is no deadlock," said River.

"There is now," he snapped back at her. He turned his attention back onto the panel, frustrated.

He hated Weeping Angels.

---

They'd not intended to start a situation. At least, Amy chose to believe that. Maybe they shouldn't have gone into the locked pod without making sure it was safe first, but she wasn't about to admit that aloud. Her heart thundered in her chest as she watched the flickering tape anxiously. Between her and Jay, who was glaring so sharply at the stone angel that Amy could practically feel the daggers herself, they'd managed to not blink or look away without first warning each other.

It didn't really matter.

In fact, it didn't do anything at all.

The tape that River had sworn there was only one of flickered again, and the Angel seemed to step closer. Amy understood Jay's fear then, and why she'd been so nervous since the Weeping Angels had first been brought up. Jay had been trying to explain it all when they'd first realized the danger they were in, and Amy wished she'd been paying closer attention.

Grappling on the small table littered with various supplies, Amy found the remote that River had used to initially switch the clip on. "Okay," said Amy uncertainly, "maybe we can turn it off?" She pointed the remote at the screen and hit the off button. It flickered – and when it came back on, the Angel had moved. Jay cursed aloud, flinching violently. "Right, right, that didn't work, err–"

The Doctor didn't help either, telling them with a muffled voice behind the deadlocked door, "Each time it moves, it'll move faster. Don't even blink!"

"I know the rules," barked Jay, her eyes as wide as saucers. Her voice was a vicious bite. She was furious, though Amy wasn't sure who she was angrier with: the Angel, the Doctor, or herself. Amy guessed the latter when she muttered under her breath, "Never should've come in here. Never should've left the damn TARDIS…"

Ignoring their matching levels of irritation, Amy focused on the Weeping Angel again and dared to try switching the screen off. She jumped and Jay yelped when it flicked back on, the Angel a step closer and out of the screen, baring what looked like sharp teeth at them. "Amy," seethed Jay in a high-pitched screech, and Amy wailed back, "I'm sorry, I was just trying! Doctor, if we switch the screen off, it comes back on!"

The Doctor was quiet for a moment longer than she would have liked before he admitted, "It's the Angel. Anything that takes the image of a Weeping Angel is a Weeping Angel." His voice became muffled again as he spoke to someone. Amy guessed it to be River, simply by the biting tone of his voice. He wasn't fond of River Song, though Jay seemed alright with her. There were a lot of tales Amy needed to coax Jay to tell her apparently.

Amy called for the Doctor again, but he didn't answer. "Don't panic," reassured Jay uncertainly when Amy turned to her with frantic eyes. "Just…stare at it for a moment, would you? I need to blink."

"Staring," reported Amy, shuddering as she stared at the Angel's face. Its eyes seemed to radiate malice, as stony as they were. She couldn't seem to tear her eyes from its own for a moment. This was far worse than the Daleks or even the frightening behavior of the people aboard the Star Whale. They'd had semblances of control in those situations. Amy knew without a doubt as Jay began rubbing her eyes, cursing shakily under her breath, that they were most certainly not the ones in control now.

"Amy!" The Doctor's voice nearly made her jerk around, frightening her. She saved it just in time, keeping her gaze locked on the Weeping Angel even as she tried to twist towards the unmoving door. "Look at the Angel, but don't look at the eyes. The eyes aren't the windows of the soul – they're doors. Tell Jay."

"I heard," said Jay wryly, though she seemed as bewildered as Amy by the Doctor's instructions.

Amy blinked and cursed under her breath. The Angel had moved again, a whole step closer. They must have blinked at the same time. Anxious, she considered whatever options they had – and suddenly perked up, noticing that the numbers on the screen looped. If they could erase the image of the Weeping Angel, then there wouldn't be an Angel at all. Hopeful, she snagged the remote, whispering under her breath, "One…two...three…four." On four, she tried to turn the screen off again.

Jay gasped when the image vanished, replaced instead by static. She laughed breathlessly as the image turned off entirely. A moment later, the door was thrown open and the Doctor burst through it, frantically looking between the two women who'd been trapped inside. Amy didn't miss how his attention lingered a little longer on Jay as she furrowed her brow and shook out her wrists.

Amy was too proud of herself to tease him for it as he began investigating the monitor, as if ensuring the Angel wasn't going to show back up. Instead, she told them proudly, "I froze it. There was a blip on the tape, and I turned it off on the blip. That was good, yeah? I did pretty good."

Grinning as she went to stand closer to Amy, Jay said, "Good thinking." She wasn't fooled by Amy's proud declarations though. She wrapped an arm around Amy and gave her a tight squeeze, murmuring in her ear, "I think we're okay now. It won't come back. For now."

Amy hugged her back, pride falling way to the shaken feeling in her chest. She let loose an uncertain breath as she pulled back entirely and ran a hand through her red hair, asking the Doctor as River watched him closely from where she stood in the doorway, "Was that really the Angel?"

"It was a projection," the Doctor corrected, stashing his sonic screwdriver in his jacket as he studied the screen with a puzzled, unhappy look. "It reached out to get a good look at us. It's not dormant like it was for all those years. You're both alright?" He glanced over his shoulder, checking on them again.

Amy nodded; Jay flashed him a faint, unhappy smile. "Just fine," she reported, shaking her wrists out again. The Doctor looked less inclined to believe her than Jay likely wanted, but it wasn't the Doctor's response that caught her attention. It was River's. River was looking at Jay with such sadness that it worried Amy. Why would she be so worried about Jay when she stood right there, condition or not?

A sudden blast made them all jump. Cheers followed it. Peeking outside to see what had happened, River reported, "They're through, Doctor."

The Doctor ran his hands down his face, anything but happy about this. "Right. Now it starts. Come on." He began ushering his friends out of the podship, and they both went willingly. River led the way. As they walked, Amy wrinkled her nose at an itch that formed behind her eye. She rubbed at it, grimacing, and when the Doctor asked if she was alright, Amy shrugged.

"I'm fine," she said. "There's just something in my eye."

---

Jay looked down into the nearly pitch-black hole in the stone ground and almost blanched. Her skin crawled as she recalled running down nearly as dark corridors made of stone and slicked with a venomous slime that had seeped into her skin and might now be killing her. Her breath caught in her throat, she glanced over her shoulder. Amy was helping River cheerfully lug over a bunch of ropes and such. The Doctor was acquiring what he called a gravity globe from Father Octavian, muttering to him. Pinching the skin between her thumb and forefinger, Jay looked back at the hole with no small amount of anxiety.

"You don't have to come with us." The Doctor's voice caught Jay off guard. She jumped, wondering just how long she'd been staring at it. Now, there were ropes down into the pit. Amy and River were gathering at the edge on the other side with a few others, including Father Octavian. It was just she and the Doctor standing there cluelessly now, and even then, it was only her who was truly clueless.

Jay peered at the Doctor's face, searching his green gaze before looking back at the pit again. "I have to come," she said, though uncertainty was clear in her voice. "Maybe the Angels won't like me much either. Like the Star Whale, and the others. Maybe I can help."

"You don't have to do anything," the Doctor replied quietly. "You can go wait in the TARDIS if you want. No one would fault you for it."

He'd like that, she thought wryly, if she did what he'd been trying to convince them to do since they'd gotten there. She exhaled softly. "I want to come," she amended. "I know Amy will be there. Someone has to help keep an eye on Amy while you're figuring things out, right? And I know that the creature that took me isn't down there. You trapped it, right? Whatever you did to it, it can't be down there. So I'll be alright."

When he didn't respond right away, Jay looked at the Doctor again. She was briefly puzzled by his bewilderment. It struck her then that he hadn't even thought that she was remembering the nightmare creature that still crept through her dreams sometimes. Jay bit her lip, admittedly a little hurt that he might not have thought of such a thing bothering her, and then plastered a smile to her face. "I'll be fine," she repeated. "It's not a Dalek. It's not the Master. It's a singular Weeping Angel. Between us and River and Amy and the rest of them, we'll be just fine."

The Doctor opened his mouth to speak, but Jay hastily strode towards Amy and River before he could. "Come on," she called over her shoulder, voice a little rough. "Things to do, Doctor!"

"You could look a little less excited," River was telling Amy when Jay joined them, amused with Amy's excited bouncing. "There is danger, you know."

"That's what makes it exciting," said Amy with sparkling eyes.

"She's new to the TARDIS," Jay said to River, ignoring the squawk of annoyance Amy fired at her.

River studied Jay knowingly for a few moments, which unnerved Jay just a little more than the pit itself did. She gently took her shoulder in hand and gave it a light squeeze before perking up as Father Octavian began ushering his men down into the pit. "Let's go, shall we?" she said.

Jay let River go first, trusting her to take care of anything that might be waiting at the bottom. She took a deep breath before going next, refusing to let Amy go before her. She wanted to make sure it was safe for them before Amy rejoined her after the situation with the podship.

Luckily, it seemed safe enough. By the time the Doctor, last down the rope, rejoined them below, Jay was confident there was nothing – at least, for the time being. She didn't expect that peace to linger for much longer.

And it certainly didn't, for when River lifted a flashlight to peer around the cavern they found themselves in, Jay nearly jumped out of her skin with a wheezed gasp, her heart racing thunderously in her chest, for there were statues everywhere. They were old and worn, but when they were seeking a Weeping Angel, it wasn't something she was entirely thrilled to be confronted with.

Chuckling affectionately, River reached out to tap one. "These aren't Angels, I don't think," she told Jay.

Jay grumbled, scowling. "What the hell are these then, because holy hell, that isn't what we need right now."

"Well, it's an Aplan mortarium," replied River. "Sometimes called a maze of the dead."

"A what?" muttered Amy, very much not pleased with the sound of that. Jay happily wound her fingers with Amy's, squeezing them comfortingly – almost as much for herself as for Amy. Jay took a deep breath to try and steady herself a little more as they began walking forward, weaving through the statues that littered the moratorium. Jay didn't like any of them.

"Let's find a Weeping Angel among a bunch of stone statues," muttered Jay sarcastically, shaking out a wrist. "Easiest thing you could have needed us to do, Doctor."

He threw a half-annoyed, half-amused look over his shoulder at her. "I said–"

"If you say you offered to let us stay in the TARDIS one more time," threatened Jay, "I'm going to slap you."

Clicking her tongue and waving off their bickering with a roll of her eyes, River said, "Finding a needle in a haystack is hard, but not impossible. We'll just have to be careful."

"Right then," said Father Octavian, turning to the soldiers that had come down into the catacombs with them. "Check every single statue in this chamber. You know what we're looking for. Complete visual inspection."

That was going to take forever, thought Jay grimly. She eyed a statue close by with a furrowed brow. Something wasn't right – she could feel it. She'd felt it since they'd first started meandering through the statues, since they'd first descended into the Maze of the Dead. Not only did they feel off, but there was something she could almost recall, something dancing on the tip of her tongue regarding the statues themselves. But it didn't come, and she was distracted when Father Octavian waved River over to talk with her, scowling lightly.

The Doctor, impatient, paced this way and that, peering at other nearby statues. Amy watched him for a few moments, rubbing at something in her eye with a huff of annoyance, and Jay glanced questioningly at her. Amy waved her silent question off and called, "Doctor?" He abandoned the statues immediately to join them. "What is a Maze of the Dead?"

Jay got the feeling the question was more so to distract him while the clerics did what they needed to, and it made her want to laugh. She couldn't help feeling that Amy could read the Doctor a little better than even she could in that regard.

The Doctor, still impatient, fiddled with his sonic screwdriver, twirling it between his fingers. "It's a labyrinth," he told her. "With people who've died buried in the walls." His gaze darted to something over her shoulder, narrowing slightly, and a moment later, Amy yelped, ripping her arm free of River's grip. She gawked at River, who smiled impishly, a device of some sort in hand. It looked like a syringe of some kind, complete with a wickedly sharp needle.

"Viro-stabilizer," she chirped. "Stabilizes your metabolism against radiation, drive burn, the likes. You'll need it when we get up to that ship."

Uncertainty flickered through Jay as she eyed the viro-stabilizer, unsure if she wanted it anywhere near her. River turned to her, intent clear, and Jay shied away instinctively, recoiling. "Doctor–"

Without looking at either of them, still twirling his sonic screwdriver, he said, "River, don't."

River frowned severely at him. "She needs it, too. Regardless of all that." She made a mild gesture, indicating Jay's condition, and the Doctor simply shook his head, though there was some uncertainty now in his expression. "Doctor," argued River with a small huff, "there's radiation for sure, and who knows what else up there in the ship. She's going to need it. Radiation feeds a lot of things." Her expression softened as she glanced at Jay. "I wouldn't force the point if I didn't think it was absolutely necessary, Jay."

Jay didn't know if she believed that or not and stepped closer to the Doctor, but she realized she might have made a mistake in that regard when he turned to Jay with a semi-guilty expression. Her lips pursed, Jay gritted out, "No. I don't care if I get radiation poisoning. I'm not doing another needle right now." She'd just gotten through letting him take who knew how much blood from her for testing, and while she knew she was being a little ridiculous, she didn't want another damn needle in her arm.

Maybe she really should have gone back to the TARDIS to wait.

"It's just a needle," pointed out Amy with a frown, and Jay simply shook her head. Amy didn't get it. Nor, did she think, anyone else. Not even the Doctor seemed to understand the way her entire being seemed to flinch away from the mere idea of being injected with anything. It had nothing to do with what Jay did or didn't want. She knew she needed the shot River was offering; something in her simply didn't care.

The Doctor studied her for a moment, and then stepped close, speaking quietly to Jay and Jay alone. "Things like what we might come across in that ship will do more immediate damage then what's happening to you."

Jay couldn't say she cared much at the moment. Still, when the Doctor held a hand out for the viro-stabilizer and River hesitantly handed it over, she knew exactly what he was going to say, and she was immediately annoyed with him for it. "Trust me?" he said quietly, showing her the device so she could study it a little closer.

"That's cheating," she grumbled, taking the device. She looked it over, studying the mechanisms that fired the injection into one's skin. "How do we know this isn't going to react poorly with what I have going on?" she added.

Without a word, the Doctor scanned her and the device with his sonic screwdriver, lips quirking when she cursed under her breath at the way he diverted the suggestion entirely. "It won't," he confirmed, taking the viro-stabilizer back. "Amy, distract Jay."

Amy sputtered at the sudden job she'd been given, not sure how to do so as he impatiently waited for her to get a move on, and Jay snorted when Amy, not able to come up with anything better, asked, "You have friends from before, right? You said you'd talked to one the other day. What were they doing?"

Jay choked on a startled laugh, coughing softly to clear her throat. "Jack," she clarified to the Doctor, and even River inclined her head, seeming to recognize the name. The Doctor's face twisted with annoyance at the mere mention of Jack's name, which drew an interested look from Amy. She loved finding anything that pestered the Doctor, Jay had come to realize, which Jay thought was great when the Doctor was being a nuisance.

"Jack's…exploring," said Jay, swallowing thickly when the Doctor lined up the viro-stabilizer. She lifted her gaze to study the ceiling of the large cavern they stood in. She felt her stomach churn. "He's been bouncing around time and space, I guess. He wanted to meet up soon," she added with a glance at the Doctor.

The Doctor scowled. "No," he told her, even as Jay snorted.

"He doesn't like Jack much," Jay continued, voice quavering somewhat. "He's a good friend though. He – ow!"

"Done!" The Doctor beamed at her as if he'd not just caused a sharp inch of pain in her arm. Jay rubbed the spot with a scowl on her face, admitting it hadn't been nearly as bad as she'd made it out to be. She grumbled at him for a few moments before snapping her head around with a breathless sound of shock when the loud cracking of gunfire filled their ears. Instinctively, she stepped closer to Amy and the Doctor, who both froze. River stepped closer to all of them, eyes sharp as they looked in the direction the gunfire had come from.

When nothing happened, they cautiously picked their way through the cavern. No one said a word, and the Doctor led the way. Amy looked more curious than worried about what they might find, and Jay made note of that. She'd keep an eye on her if danger broke out.

"–looked at me," a young man was admitting to Father Octavian when they finally found the source of the gunfire. He looked sheepishly at the ground as Father Octavian gave him a rather frustrated, annoyed glare. "Sorry, sir."

Father Octavian pointed at the statue the man had shot at, scowling. "We know what the Angel looks like. Is that the Angel?"

"No, sir," said the man – no more than a boy, really, thought Jay. He was incredibly young. Younger than her, even.

"According to the Doctor, we are facing an enemy of unknowable power and infinite evil," scolded Father Octavian. He was rather stern – too stern, to a young man who was likely on his first mission. "It would be very good if we could all remain in the presence of decor, would it not?"

"Yes, sir." The man ducked his head, face bright red in humiliation, and Jay huffed, eyes narrowing at Father Octavian. He wasn't unlike–

Jay's eyes narrowed into angry slits. He wasn't unlike the horrible man they'd met aboard the Titanic, now that she thought about it. Rickston had been just as rude to everyone around him. While she was sure that Father Octavian was merely trying to keep everyone under his command alive, she didn't appreciate the way he was doing it. Keeping power through humiliation and force wasn't a good way of doing so.

"You know," she drawled, unable to help herself, "you remind me of someone I once knew, Father Octavian." Her voice was a deadly calm, and she felt something dark and ugly start to rise in her chest – something she found she wasn't entirely sure she liked, but at the same time…

She did. She liked that ugly feeling, and she didn't like Father Octavian, not one bit.

The little voice that often whispered in the back of her head liked that feeling, too.

The man glanced at her, entirely confused, and she told him simply, "His name was Rickston. Wealthy man. We met him aboard the Titanic."

The Doctor reeled around, immediately concerned. "Jayden," the Doctor said in a forced, almost chipper voice. "Why don't you and Amy go look at that statue over there. Seems a little different than the others, doesn't it? River, you go, too." He snagged Jay's shoulders and steered her towards a statue at random. Jay craned her head to glare at Father Octavian, her eyes like glaciers, and the Doctor hissed under his breath, "Don't punch people with guns."

"He deserves it," argued Jay under her breath.

"Doesn't mean you should do it."

"Why are we whispering?" whispered Amy, not entirely sure why they were being sent to look at a statue. River didn't bother to listen to the Doctor's instruction, even looking delighted with the situation at hand and how it had confused Father Octavian. He leaned in to mutter to her, and she smiled wider.

"Statue," the Doctor said pointedly before whirling on his heel. "What's your name?" he asked the man who'd shot at the statues.

"Bob, sir," said the man hesitantly, glancing at Father Octavian, who nodded. "Bob."

"Great name. I love that name," the Doctor praised, drawing a hesitant smile to Bob's face.

As the Doctor reassured the frightened soldier, Jay reluctantly chose to focus her attention on the statue as told, grumbling under her breath. Amy, still confused, glancing over her shoulder at Bob and the Doctor before asking, "Jay, what happened with the Rickston guy?"

"He was a complete and total jackass and had no empathy for people who were dying around us," said Jay seriously, wanting to elbow Rickston in the face all over again. She thoughtfully shook out her curled fist. "I elbowed him in the face. I think I broke his nose."

Amy cracked a grin, which reassured Jay somewhat as that dark, ugly feeling faded away to the back corners of her mind. She wasn't the only one thinking such thoughts. She huffed out a soft breath before asking Amy, putting her hands on her hips, "What do you think about it? There's something weird about the statues – all of them. I can't put my finger on it though."

"Just looks like a statue to me," said Amy with a shrug, glancing around at the other statues around them. She was briefly distracted when Bob left to continue inspecting the area with his fellow clerics.

Jay racked her brain. "We talked about visiting the Aplans once," murmured Jay, furrowing her brow. It was there, right on the tip of her tongue and just out of reach. What had the Doctor said to her? "Or twice," she amended, tapping her forehead gently with a knuckle. She let her gaze trace the statue before her with frustration.

It hit her like a face full of bricks, and her voice rose to a high-pitched, distressed call of "Doctor!"

"Weren't we going to go see them? You told me they had two heads." He'd told her that several times, in fact.

And none of the statues had a second head.

"Doctor!" Jay barked his title, darting away from the statue. He immediately turned all of his attention back on her, yelping when she latched onto his tweed coat and gave him a little shake. She searched his green eyes with a ferocity that seemed to alarm him a little. "We were going to go see the Aplans," she breathed, eyes round. "Remember? And then we got distracted, but Doctor, they had two heads."

His confusion lingered for a few more moments before understanding dawned and he immediately looked around, searching the sea of statues that supported only one head each. "Oh," he realized faintly. "Oh."

"Oh," agreed Jay anxiously, her knuckles white with the force she gripped the Doctor's jacket.

"Oh?" echoed River. "What is it?"

"Nobody move," the Doctor said quietly, shooting River a sharp look that silenced her. She looked mildly annoyed, but she only put her hands on her hips, waiting for an explanation. Amy took on an unnerved appearance, biting her lip as she edged over with care despite the Doctor's instructions. Gently, he began prying Jay's hands from his jacket, squeezing her fingers once in apology. "Low level perception filter, maybe," he told her. "Must be why we didn't notice sooner – that, or we're thick. Likely the first option." Jay was rather good at seeing past perception filters on occasion, after all.

"What's wrong, sir?" sighed Father Octavian impatient.

The Doctor rubbed his hands down his face and then looked around sharply again. "Right. I've made a mistake. I'm truly sorry, Bishop, but we're all in terrible danger."

"What danger?"

"The Aplans," said Jay faintly. "They had two heads. So why don't the statues?"

Silence fell as Father Octavian realized the severity of the situation at hand. River's face went white as she echoed, "Oh."

"Oh," agreed the Doctor. "Don't ask questions, just move. Over there, that alcove right there." He pointed towards a shallow dip in the cavern walls, pointedly shooting Amy a warning look when she opened her mouth to start asking questions.

Slowly, but surely, the group did as he said. Father Octavian ordered a few clerics under his command back and they helped to keep an eye out as they walked. One of the clerics chose to stick closer to Amy and Jay, which made Jay feel a little better despite knowing that the gun he held would be rather uesless against a creature of stone.

Grumbling as she picked her way shakily through single-headed statues, Jay seethed, "Next time we go after a crashing ship, let's not choose the one with Weeping Angels involved, Doctor. First, the Daleks, now the Weeping Angels. I swear to the stars above, if the Master shows back up next, I'm going to kill you myself."

The Doctor ignored her muttered threats and whirled around to face the sea of statues when they reached the small alcove made of sandy-colored stone, searching them for any sign of movement. "I want you all to switch off your torches. River, give me yours." Jay snorted in disbelief when they hesitantly did as they were told. "I'm going to turn this one off, too, for just a moment."

Jay wound her fingers through Amy's. "This is a bad idea, isn't it?" whispered Amy, and Jay nodded.

"A really bad idea."

The Doctor waited for everyone to settle before switching his flashlight off, and when he turned it back on, they all reacted similarly. Some recoiled from the creatures that had all twisted in their direction while Amy gave a soft gasp. Jay said nothing; she only flinched, having expected it. "They moved," whispered Amy in horrified awe.

"They're all Angels," said River. She sounded dazed for a moment before she snapped her head towards the Doctor, curly hair flying around her face. "There was only one Angel on the ship. Just the one, Doctor, I swear."

"Could they have been here already?" suggested Amy, and the Doctor didn't answer, instead muttering his own questions about how the Aplans had died out. Jay had a good guess that involved the apparent potential thousands of Angels surrounding them.

"They don't look like angels." Father Octavian studied them closely, frowning to himself.

"And they're not as fast as the ones we saw last time, Doctor," Jay pointed out. She let her eyes dart from Angel to Angel. "The last time we saw them…well, they should have caught us by now, shouldn't they?"

The Doctor seemed as puzzled as they were for the moment. He twirled the flashlight in his fingers as he thought over the situation at hand. "They're dying," he said aloud, "losing their form. They must have been here in the Maze for centuries, starving, eroding away…and their image is their power…power!" He suddenly shouted the word, making them all jump. "The ship! All that radiation spilling out the drive burn. The crash of the Byzantium wasn't an accident. It was a rescue mission."

And the apparent army of Weeping Angels were now waking up, thought Jay wryly, anxiously shaking out her wrists. The Doctor cast her a quick, questioning glance, and she shook her head. Nothing yet. Though, if he kept gifting her surprises like shots and Weeping Angels, that was likely to change.

"We need to get out of here – fast," said River grimly. She exchanged a swift look with Father Octavian, who nodded and pressed a button on the communicator he carried.

"Come in," he said sharply. "Any of you, come in."

The connection crackled in the silence that fell, making them all nervous. The cleric sticking close to Jay and Amy – Jay thought he'd quietly introduced himself as Marco, though she might have been wrong – shifted with an anxious, worried look on his face. The other clerics were likely friends of his, though he'd never say as such. None of them would with Father Octavian close by.

It was a long, tense few moments before a voice they all recognized answered. "It's Bob, sir. Sorry, sir." Amy exhaled softly beside Jay, relief written over her expression – until Bob added, "Angelo and Christian are dead, sir. The statues killed them."

The Doctor had snatched the communicator from Father Octavian in an instant. "Sacred Bob," he said urgently despite Father Octavian's demand that he give the communicator back, "it's me, the Doctor. Where are you now?"

Bob reported, "I'm on my way, sir. I'm homing in on your signal."

"Good, well done," the Doctor praised. "Told you, didn't I? Scared keeps you fast. Your friends, Bob – what did the Angels do to them?"

"Snapped their necks, sir."

Jay frowned at that statement. "Doctor," she said, "that's…they never just killed anyone. They always–"

"Displace you in time," finished the Doctor, nodding in agreement. He frowned, concerned then. "And they don't leave you alive." Suspicion flickered across his already dreadful expression as he said quietly, "Bob, how did you escape?"

"I didn't escape, sir. The Angel killed me, too. Snapped my neck. Wasn't as painless as I expected, but it was pretty quick, so that was something."

Amy slapped a hand over her mouth, horrified, and Jay took her other hand with a sympathetic squeeze. Jay bit her lip hard, a heavy feeling in her chest. They'd seen Bob only minutes ago, and because they'd been oblivious fools, he was now dead. The sheepish, humiliated man had died without a chance to lift his confidence, and it almost made her dislike Father Octavian all the more. Only the sheer grief that appeared on Father Octavian's face at the realization that yet another of his men were dead lessened the dislike.

The Doctor pressed his forehead against the communicator, eyes screwed tight. Self-loathing was clear in his expression before he forced it away, trying to puzzle a way out for all of those that were left. "If you're dead, how can I be talking to you?" he said warily.

"You're not. The Angel has no voice. It stripped my cerebral cortex from my body and re-animated a version of my consciousness to communicate with you. Sorry about the confusion."

Somehow, Jay was reminded of the Library and the Vashta Nerada. "So…when he says he's on his way to us…"

"It's not Bob coming, it's the Angel," said the Doctor, whirling around to count those of them that were left. He skimmed over each of them, lingering briefly on his companions with a guilty expression that made Jay roll her eyes. He was likely thinking over how he should have tried much, much harder to get them to stay behind.

"We need to go," said Jay.

The Doctor turned to Father Octavian. "Do you know another way out of here?"

Father Octavian nodded. "Up through the wreckage," he told him. He turned to his clerics, who did their best to hide their fear and began giving them instructions.

Amy, on the other hand, while trying to put on a brave face, was definitely scared. "I didn't want this much danger," she admitted to Jay, who snorted softly. She ought to have known better by this point. They always found this much danger.

After a small muttered conversation between the Doctor and Father Octavian, the Doctor whirled around to speak with them. "Jay–"

"I'm fine." She shook one of her wrists out, flashing him a brief, wicked smile that she used to hide her own uncertainty. "No risk. Not yet, at least." It wouldn't be long though, if they kept up as they had been. "Amy, you can let go of me now. Might make it easier to run, to be honest."

When the Doctor turned to Amy, she said, "I can't."

He furrowed his brow, utterly bewildered. Jay turned to her, too. "What do you mean?" she demanded.

"I can't," insisted Amy, frustration in her voice. She looked to the hand that held Jay's, frustrated. "It's my hand, Doctor, it's stone."

Jay's jaw dropped. "Amy, it's really not." She looked at Amy's hand herself, and found it to be entirely made of flesh.

The Doctor stared at Amy in disbelief. Of course this would happen at a time like this. "You looked into the eyes of an Angel, didn't you?" Amy flushed, answer enough to his question, and the Doctor threw his hands up in exasperation. "I told you not to! Listen to me, Amy. It's messing with your head."

Amy flashed him a nasty look. "It's not. Look at it!"

"It's in your mind, Amy," he told her. "Jay, take the torch." He passed her the flashlight, and she held it awkwardly in her free hand, not sure what else to do with it.

"You can move your hand," added Jay soothingly. She wiggled her fingers pointedly, shifting Amy's with her own. "See?"

"I can't," Amy insisted, voice rising in desperation. She looked distressed, trying to get them to understand, even as the others began to move, vanishing from where they'd been standing. Only River lingered for a moment, and the Doctor waved her onwards despite her reluctance. "It's stone."

He exchanged a quick look with Jay, who said hastily, "I didn't look in its eyes. I promise."

"You better not have," he said a little crossly before withdrawing his sonic screwdriver. He did a quick scan of their clasped hands, and then showed Amy the sonic screwdriver as if it would tell her anything at all. "The Angel will come," he told her quietly, "and it's going to turn this light off, and then there's nothing I can do to stop it. Nothing Jay can do. Nothing anyone can do. You can't run like that, not through small corridors. So concentrate! Move your hand."

Amy, frustrated with him and herself, shouted, "I can't!"

As if to back up the Doctor's words, the flashlight in Jay's hand suddenly flickered, and her face went white. She squeaked when she saw the statues peering at them, having moved very quickly. "Doctor–"

"I know." He didn't take his gaze off of Amy, who looked near tears as she stared back at him, willing him to understand that what she saw was reality.

Jay glanced between them and then, not knowing what else to do but knowing she was utterly terrified of the Angels getting any closer. She made her decision and acted swiftly. She swept their clasped hands up and bit the back of Amy's hand as hard as she could. Instinctively, Amy squawked and ripped her hand away, clutching it with a shocked, betrayed look that might have made her laugh at any other time. "See?" she barked, rolling her eyes. "Not stone. Can we run now?"

The Doctor couldn't help but laugh at the annoyance Amy wore as she showed him the mark Jay had left on the back of her hand. "Yes," he confirmed, taking Amy's wrist and towing her along. Jay didn't need to be told twice, darting ahead of them.

They caught up quickly enough with the others. It wasn't good news. The Angels kept turning the flashlights they all carried on and off, as if they were stealing even that power. Jay could tell with one look in the Doctor's direction that it wasn't good.

River touched Amy's shoulder as she rubbed her bitten hand. "Alright?"

"Jay bit me," muttered Amy accusingly, and Jay grinned widely at her.

"At least my teeth are clean."

The Doctor looked among those present and then over his shoulder in the direction they'd come. "If those lights go out, we can't see them. We can't stay here."

"Two incoming!" one of the clerics suddenly reported just after the lights had flickered yet again.

"The statues are advancing and we don't have the climbing equipment to reach the Byzantium." Even Father Octavian was beginning to look nervous.

River's sharp eyes turned on the Doctor, and she gritted out with a semi-forced smile, "There's no way up, no way back, no way out, Doctor. No pressure, but this is usually when you start having really good ideas."

He gave her a dirty look, shoving a hand through his hair and tussling it as if it would help him think. It sent a soft pain through Jay's heart. Doctor or not, it very much reminded her of a face he no longer wore. Bob's voice broke through his focus, however, crackling right through the communication device the Doctor still carried. "Can I speak to the Doctor, please?"

The Doctor paused only momentarily before lifting it to his mouth. "Hello, Angels."

"Your power will not last much longer, and the Angels will be with you shortly. There's something the Angels are very keen for you to know before the end," added Bob, and Jay's stomach twisted at the certainty in the Angels' stolen voice. "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."

The Doctor flinched as if he'd been struck by a flying bullet, his gaze darting guiltily to Jay. She pressed her lips into a hard line, wondering if the Weeping Angels had somehow read their minds, if they knew of things they hadn't told them. The Doctor had done the very same thing before, to her, when he'd promised to never leave her behind without a warning. When that promise had mattered, he'd let her down, too.

"You're trapped, sir," the Angel told him. "And about to die."

Jay exhaled softly and glanced over her shoulder, looking among those present. The clerics were still looking scared, though they did their best to hide it. Father Octavian was unreadable. River's clever gaze darted between those present, debating, and Amy simply watched her, searching her eyes with a trusting look.

As if she thought Jay could get them out of this mess.

Jay flexed her fingers, ignoring the pins and needles.

The Doctor looked skyward, to the top of the caverns they were stuck in, muttering to himself as he tried to think of anything that would get them out of the general area. He paused suddenly, and then grinned. His attention returned to Jay as he spun to face her entirely. "Trust me?"

Jay furrowed her brow, confused as to what he'd come up with. Still, she took the offered hand and nodded. "Always," she said fiercely.

"Father Octavian, I need your gun," the Doctor said, whirling on Father Octavian. He looked to River, who nodded sharply and told him, "Give him the gun."

Reluctantly, Father Octavian gave it to the Doctor, who looked up again. Jay followed his gaze, trying to get an idea as to what he was planning. All she could see was a cavernous ceiling – and the bottom of the ship they'd been trying so hard to get to. "When I say, jump! High as you can."

"Jump?" echoed Amy.

He didn't bother to ensure they all understood. He simply grinned as he lifted the gun, aiming it right at the ship's hull, tucking the communication device safely in his jacket pocket. The crack of a gunshot split the air, followed immediately by the Doctor's shout.

"Jump!"

---

An update! :D I got VERY inspired by the new 60th anniversary special. Of course, now I'm re-assessing some things to figure out how to include it, because one, DONNA, and two...excuse my language, but I fucking adore the Meep. I love him. It's like a cross between a furby and a gremlin, and it might be my favorite thing in all of Doctor Who right now.

On another note...regarding some notes I've received, I want to lightly explain that this fic, while I love sharing it with people, is primarily for my enjoyment. I'm not trying to make a big deal of things, just stating this as a gentle reminder. With that in mind, I've begun rewriting it! Not a whole lot will change, but my writing's improved and as time has gone on, I've noticed a few things that make tiny plot holes, so I'm trying to adjust them. I very much look forward to sharing future chapters with everyone though, especially now that I can look forward to including the Meep.

Thanks to reviewers (savethemadscientist, Lizverse, MystiYew, izhetbean, and DannieLawman1995!), as well as those who favorited and followed, and up next...OOFTA the future Doctor situation. I've been waiting.