Flesh And Stone - Part Three

Of all the times Amy had to wake me up, it had to be at this time. My back facing the crack and my friends, I tried desperately not to panic and to my surprise, I succeeded.

"Amy, we're time travelers. We see the world differently now. It's no use trying to convince Marco that Crispin, Phillip, or Pedro were here. I don't know how Bob remembers them though," I said, glancing at Bob before facing the trees again.

"But something's happening, Ginny. Pedro was here a second ago and now Marco can't even remember him," Amy argued.

"There never was a Pedro. There's only ever been the four of us here," Marco near yelled. He sounded like a little kid trying to convince people he'd seen Santa Claus.

"No. No, there were seven of us. Why can't you remember?"

"Listen. Listen. I need to get a closer look at that light, whatever it is. Don't worry, I won't get too close. Bob, you're in charge until I return."

"Yes, sir," Bob said.

"No. No, you can't. You mustn't," Amy pleaded.

Marco got something out of his pack and handed it to Amy, "Here. Spare communicator. I'll stay in touch the whole time."

"You won't, because if you go back there what happened to the others will happen to you."

"There weren't any others."

"They're won't be any you if you go back there."

"Marco, she's right. You shouldn't go back there. You saw what it did to Ginny. It could do anything to you, kill you even," Bob added.

Marco thought for a moment before rising from the ground, "Two minutes. I promise."

With that, the Cleric walked away from our frightened trio, right into his erasing.

"Please just listen to me!" Amy pleaded one last time, "Ginny, stop him!"

"Amy, I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do. I wish there was, I really do, but I can't save him," I said, sorrow in my voice.

We sat there in silence for minutes that seemed like hours. I tried to count all the branches on the treeborg in front of me; I lost count at seventy-nine. Meanwhile, Amy was trying to get the communicator to turn on in ways varying from holding it to her ear like a cell phone, to stubbornly smashing it against the log. Eventually, Bob took it from her and turned it on.

"Those things are too expensive to break. I hardly have the credits to pay for a Shuttle home from here," he said, earning a laugh from me.

"At least it takes a lot for them to break. My iPhone only had to fall on its side in order to shatter and need replacement," I said, but was soon after shushed by a worried Scot.

"Hello? Are you there? Hello? Hello?" Amy whispered into the communicator.

"I'm here. I'm fine. Quite close to it now," Marco's voice replied.

"Then come back. Come back now, please."

"It's weird looking at it. It feels really-" The Cleric's last words were replaced by static. He was gone.

"Really what? Hello? Really what? Hello? Hello?"

"He's gone, Amy," I said bitterly, "I'm sorry."

She didn't listen to me and kept trying, "Hello? Please say you're there. Hello? Hello?!"

Then, in our darkest moment, we heard just the voice we needed.

"Amy? Ginny? Which one of you is that?" the Doctor asked.

I laughed breathlessly, "Oh thank goodness!"

"Doctor?" Amy called.

"Where are you? Are the Clerics with you?" he asked.

"Bob's the only one left. The rest of them walked into the Crack. It's gotten bigger," I said, "I should've listened and gone with you."

"Don't say that, Parks. You knew it was going to happen, and you still stayed behind. I knew nothing I had to say would persuade you to do anything else. But I made a mistake. I should've never left you, Amy, or Bob there."

"Well, what do we do now?" Amy asked.

"You come to us. The Primary Flight Deck, the other end of the forest," the Doctor said.

"What if we get lost on the way?" I asked, "Amy's okay with two people who can see, so we don't need to worry about that."

"Turn on the spot."

"Sorry, what?" Amy asked.

"Just do it. Turn on the spot. I'm sending a signal to Ginny's screwdriver. It'll sound more sonicy when you're facing the right way. Follow the sound."

Suddenly, my screwdriver began making a really wonky sound. I rose from the log, turned just a bit, and soon the sound was back to normal.

"You all have to start moving now. There's Time Energy spilling out of the crack and you have to stay ahead of it," the Doctor said.

I slowly began leading us through the forest, Amy behind me and Bob watching our backs.

"But the Angels, they're everywhere," Amy said.

"I'm sorry, I really am, but the Angels can only kill you."

"What does the Time Energy do?"

"Just keep moving!"

"Tell me."

The signal to my sonic stopped, "If the Time Energy catches up with you, you'll never have been born. It will erase every moment of your existence. You will never have lived at all," then it started back up and Amy took my hand, "Now, keep your eyes shut and keep moving."

We made it a few feet away from the log when there was a loud clanging echoing through the forest.

"What's that?" Bob asked.

"Remember earlier when Marco said the Angels were running?" I said.

"Yeah."

"There's your answer."

The communicator started beeping, followed by the Doctor's voice, "Amy, listen to me. I'm sending a bit of software to your communicator. It's a proximity detector. It'll beep if there's something in your way. You just maneuver until the beeping stops because, Amy, this is important. The forest is full of Angels. You're going to have to walk like you can see."

"Well, what do you mean? Ginny and Bob are guiding me. Why do I have to walk like I can see?" Amy asked.

"Look, just keep moving."

Before we could even take one step, we were suddenly surrounded by Weeping Angels.

"Oh great," I squeaked, then took a breath to calm down, "Amy, we're okay. Just keep hold of my hand."

"What is it?" she asked.

"There are Angels around us, ma'am," Bob said.

"But it's okay. We're watching them so that they can't move. We just have to lead you out of here," I added quickly, "We're going to be okay."

We took several careful steps around the Angels as we journeyed on to the Primary Flight Deck. Bob was escorting Amy out of the pile when I glanced around to make sure that they hadn't moved. Strangely, from the moment we were surrounded to the moment we got out, not one of them had moved an inch. Passing it off as the Angels freezing each other, I turned around, and would've joined Amy and Bob if something cold and stony hadn't wrapped tightly around my ankle.

"Amy!" I screamed, "It's got me! Help!"

I tried to wriggle my leg out, but it wouldn't budge. I was trapped. Amy and Bob rushed towards me, panic clear in the only pair of open eyes available.

"Ginny, what's wrong?" Amy asked.

"I'm gonna give you clearance because you're temporarily blind, but my ankle's being held hostage by a freaking Weeping Angel!"

"Oh my god. What do we do?! Doctor? What do we do?" Amy was screaming into the communicator.

"Ginny, don't panic. We'll get you out of this," Bob told me.

"I know that but how is that supposed to keep me from panicking?!"

"Ginny, can you get your foot out?" the Doctor asked.

"No. I already tried that."

"Are there any other Angels trying to trap you?"

"No."

"Is there anything around you that can break stone?"

"I would say Bob's gun, but the bullets might ricochet and kill us."

There was silence on the other end of the communicator for several seconds, "Ginny, I am so sorry, but there's only one way you can get out of there, and it's going to hurt quite a bit."

"I have to break my ankle, don't I?"

"I'm afraid so. Your bones will be loose enough to slip out of the Angel's grasp. We can mend them as soon as we get back onto the TARDIS."

I didn't say anything for a moment. I was too busy trying to let the fear pass by.

"Ginny, you're going to have to be very brave. If not for me, then for you."

I took a deep breath, "When we get back to the TARDIS, can we have a day to relax before the next adventure?"

The Time Lord laughed, "Whatever you want, Parks. You just have to get here, which'll be easy now that River has the teleport working."

"Thanks, Doc." I handed the communicator back to Amy, "So, anyone know how I should best do this?"

"I'd try falling on your side. That might work," Bob offered.

"Okay."

Shaking like a leaf, I took several deep breaths and closed my eyes.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Amy asked.

I shook my head, "I don't want to at all, but its my only chance at escape," I stammered. I took one more breath, then twisted into a plummet.

The moment I heard the cracking of my bones, I screamed in agony. I think I might've broken it too much. Tears were streaming out of my clenched eyes as the rest of my body hit the ground. The pain was amplified when Amy and Bob pulled my foot out of the Angel's grasp, causing me to scream louder.

"Ginny, are you okay?" Amy asked. I couldn't stop shaking and my heart was racing. I tried to speak, but the words just wouldn't get out of my mouth. On top of it all, everything around me was spinning, but only enough to throw me off.

"She's having an emotional shock. Nothing fatal, she's just really scared," Bob explained, then looked to me, "Ginny, I need to pick you up so we can get to the Flight Deck. If you understand me, blink once," I blinked once, "Great. I'm going to lift you off the ground now."

Bob then proceeded to gather me into his arms and pick me up. Thankfully, the pain had slightly lessened compared to its opening explosion. Suddenly, there was a bright flash of blue light, followed by a tingly sensation all throughout my body.

"Ginny Parks, I could bloody kiss you!" the Doctor exclaimed, causing my eyes to shoot open.

"Maybe you could save the kissing for River? I'm way too young for you," I muttered, wincing a bit, "A hug would be nice though."

"That would be more appropriate. The ginger if you please, Sacred Bob?"

The Cleric then carefully shifted me into the Doctor's waiting arms, who gently placed me in a chair to examine my foot.

"A nice even break. Shouldn't be hard to heal at all," he said, buckling straps around my arms, shoulders, and waist, "You know what's going to happen, so this might be a bit easier for you."

"Thanks," I said. An alarm blared in the Flight Deck.

"What's that?" River asked.

"The Angels are draining the last of the power which means the shield's going to release," right as the Doctor said this, the bulkhead began to rise into the ceiling, revealing the whole army of restored Weeping Angels, one with a communicator at the front, "Angel Angelo, I presume."

"The Time Field is coming. It will destroy our reality," Angel Angelo said.

"Yeah, and look at you all, running away. What can I do for you?"

"There is a rupture in time. The Angels calculate that if you throw yourself into it, it will close, and they will be saved."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Could do, could do that. But why?"

"Your friends will also be saved."

"Well, there is that."

Before the Doctor could say anything else, River stepped up, "I've traveled in time. I'm a complicated space time event too. Throw me in."

"Oh, be serious. Compared to me, these Angels are more complicated that you, and it would take every one of them to amount to me, so get a grip," the Doctor said.

"Doctor, I can't let you do this."

"No, seriously, get a grip."

"You're not going to die here!"

"No, I mean it. River, Amy, get a grip!"

River didn't need to be told a fourth time to understand what he meant, "Oh, you genius."

"Sir, the Angels need you to sacrifice yourself now," Angel Angelo said.

"Thing is, Angelo, the Angels are draining all the power from this ship. Every last bit of it. And you know what? I think they've forgotten where they're standing. I think they've forgotten the gravity of the situation. Or to put it another way, Angels," he paused, hearing the alarm blare again, "Night, night."

With that, the artificial gravity kicked the bucket, sending the Angels tumbling through the air while we stayed safe, either hanging on for dear life or trying not to swivel out of a chair. Once the last Angel was gone, everything somehow went back to normal. The gravity was restored, as if the Crack spat back the power of the ship from the Angels.

"Okay, I wasn't expecting that to happen," the Doctor said, letting go of the bar and unbuckling the many straps on my chair, "Did all of that by any chance heal your ankle?" I tried standing up and nearly fell in response, "I thought so. Come along, Parks," I was hoisted onto the Doctor's back again, just like when we were being fired at by Daleks, "Trouble seems to gravitate to you, doesn't it?"

"It's not like you're any better. You seem to be a magnet to danger," I said.

"You've got a point there."

"Now, how exactly are we supposed to get out of the Byzantium without any climbing gear?"

"I don't know."

"We could use my Beamer," Bob chimed in. Everyone turned to face him.

"What's a beamer?" Amy asked.

"Emergency teleport to the dropship. I was saving it in case we needed a way out of the Mortarium."

"Sacred Bob, you are brilliant," the Doctor said.

Once we were within the ten-foot range of the Beamer, Bob pulled a release switch, and suddenly we were right next to the TARDIS.

"Right. First order of business," the Doctor announced, strolling into the TARDIS and down a corridor without the others, "I need to take care of that ankle."

We made several turns before entering a small white room with a green crescent moon painted on the back wall; this must be the Infirmary. I was then deposited in a chair similar to those at a Dentist's office, with a built in nose-mask thingy and a canister of what I could only assume was some kind of space-age laughing gas. The Doctor soon returned with several bits of medical equipment, some of which looked rather menacing. I confess, I was slightly frightened.

"Before anything else, I should probably tell you what's going to happen. I'm going to put you in a repairing splint that will set your foot out while simultaneously sending nanogenes to any bones you fractured. It should only take maybe fifteen minutes to activate and an hour after that for the bones to be fully repaired."

I looked him dead in the eye, "Will it hurt?"

"Only if we don't use that," he pointed to the canister, "I assume you've already guessed what it is?" I nodded slightly, "Good. Now, are you ready?" I nodded again, "Okay. Go ahead and lean back and try to relax."

I closed my eyes as I fell back against the headrest, thinking happy thoughts as I felt the mask being placed over my nose. Something began to hiss and soon, I felt myself slacken, my thoughts grew harder to articulate, and I liked it. Everything turned to mush as I succumbed to my dreams.

What felt like mere seconds later, I woke up in my bedroom, still pretty out of it. The lights were dimmed and my bed was no longer lofty, which I was rather sad about. I liked the lofty bed. It made me feel like I was in a bird's nest of blankets and pillows. I tried sitting up, only to be gently pushed back down into my cocoon of blankets.

"Back to sleep, Ginny. It's only been half an hour," the Doctor said.

"But I'm not tired!" I whined, eyelids drooping to disprove my point, "Ignore this," I pointed to my eyes, "My body doesn't know what it is. I think its rebelling against me."

He laughed, "If you say so," he pondered for a moment, "Did I ever tell you about planet Spectrum?"

I lazily shook my head.

"Well, every decade or so, the water and plant life on Spectrum change color, like a rainbow. The last time I went, the oceans were lavender purple, and the grass was deep crimson. On the turning of each century, though, the Huetints who inhabit Spectrum throw a year-long festival in honor of all the colors in the universe, some of which you haven't even seen yet."

As he told his story, I could feel my head colliding with my pillow, eyes barely able to stay open. The Doctor noticed this and tucked the blankets around me like I was a child, all the while continuing his story. I think he was talking about rainbow zebras when I fell asleep for good.