"What is going on?" Rory whispered as the three friends sat together inside the limousine that they had been all but forced into.
It had taken some quick talking on River's part to get Terry not shot when the Time Lady had stumbled upon the scene of River and Rory's kidnapping. But Terry didn't feel like it was much of an improvement as they were driven down the dark streets of old town New York.
"This doesn't look like the New York I know." Rory said slowly as he looked out the window.
"That's because it's not." Terry answered. "Today is April 3rd, 1938."
River gave Terry a pensive look from under her hat. "Neither of you came here in the Tardis, obviously. The question is, did you come together or separately?"
"Separately." Terry replied at the same time that Rory asked, "Why obviously?"
River looked at her father grimly. "Because he couldn't have."
She gestured out the window to where they were just passing the Grand Central Station.
"This city's full of time distortions." River explained. "It'd be impossible to land the Tardis here. Like trying to land a plane in a blizzard. Even I couldn't do it."
"Doctor, don't even try it." Terry sighed, knowing he would anyway.
River gave the faintest smirk but it disappeared as Rory asked, "So, I know how Terry got here. How did you get here?"
"Vortex manipulator." River lifted the watch-like machine that was on her wrist to show Rory. "Less bulky than a Tardis. A motorbike through traffic. You?"
"I'm not sure." Rory admitted quietly.
Again, River's eyes flickered over to Terry, who was looking unusually tense.
"Angel, what is it?" River whispered.
But Terry could only shake her head and answer, "Spoilers."
All while in her chest, her hearts ripped slowly to pieces.
The trio walked quietly inside the large, expensive mansion their car had pulled up in front of. Not that they had much choice as they were led rather forcefully into a spacious and well decorated entrance hall. River glanced at the two Chinese vases that were on display at the foot of the grand staircase.
"Ah. Early Qin dynasty, I'd say." River noted.
"Correct." A voice called from the top of the stairs.
They all looked up to see a rotund man with greying hair standing high above. The man, whom Terry knew was called Mr. Grayle, gazed down at River imperiously.
"Are you an archaeologist as well as a detective?
"I'm a bit of everything, really." River replied. "I learnt from the best."
She winked at Terry, who remained expressionless. Mr. Grayle walked down slowly toward the trio. He eyed each of them - his gaze lingering a little longer on Terry - before he looked back at River last and addressed her once more.
"Early Qin, just as you say." Mr. Grayle stated. "You're very well informed."
"And you're very afraid." River answered before she turned and nodded at the front door. "That's an awful lot of locks for one door."
Mr. Grayle glanced at where there were multiple locks and deadbolts built into his front door, and he nodded once. Rory meanwhile had been peering at a side table but he stopped when he noticed that the Chinese characters on the vases on display had changed into English letters.
"River, Terry, I'm translating." He said in confusion.
"It's a gift of the Tardis." Terry explained while River added, "It hangs around."
Mr. Grayle, who had been observing their dynamic, spoke up suddenly. "This one."
He pointed at Rory, who started.
"Put him somewhere uncomfortable." Mr. Grayle ordered.
Terry was very tempted to say something but she said nothing as one of Grayle's men asked, "With the babies, sir?"
Rory raised his brows in confusion but Grayle just smiled.
"Yes, why not? Give him to the babies." He agreed.
River glanced at Terry questioningly, but Terry gave a tiny shake of her head. Rory saw Terry's reaction and so he put up very little fight as he was taken downstairs. Not that fighting would have done much in the current situation.
Terry meanwhile turned to Grayle, her eyes flinty.
"Now, why don't tell us what you need us for, Mr. Grayle?" She suggested in a cool tone.
Grayle smiled and he opened the door to his study.
"Come in, and I'll explain all."
Terry strode in without much protest and River followed. Grayle moved to close the door and Terry nudged River. River glanced over and Terry nodded covertly toward one of the Chinese vases on one of the side tables that littered the room. River also looked at it and she had to hide a smile when she spotted what Terry had seen - one of the Chinese characters translated for their eyes only.
'Yowzah.'
"Hello, sweetie." River murmured, glancing at Terry even as Grayle helped River take off her mackintosh.
Turning to Grayle, River started sensually, "Let's see, crime boss with a collecting fetish."
She strode about the room while Terry placed herself near the back corner of the study, where an annex was covered by a thick gold curtain. Terry leaned almost casually against the wall, drawing River's interest even as the blonde feigned interest in Grayle's desk.
"Whatever you don't let anyone else see has got to be your favourite." River continued, looking back at Grayle before she strode up to the curtain. "Or possibly your girlfriend."
River drew back the curtains, only to jump slightly back when she saw the snarling Weeping Angel that stood on the other side.
"So, girlfriend, then." River said rather sassily as she looked back at Grayle before she wandered about the room.
Terry meanwhile straightened up and she noted the manacles and chains around the Angel. Judging the distance of the chains with her eyes, Terry didn't move even as she heard River tapping on her Vortex manipulator.
"What are you doing?" Grayle demanded warily.
"Oh, you know, just taking notes." River answered as she hit send on the message she'd written for the Doctor. 'Yowzah'. River would never be caught dead saying that word if not for the current situation; and the Doctor would know that. Just as he would know her message was a signal - a beacon - for him to follow into 1938 New York.
Grayle still looked suspicious but Terry drew his attention as she asked, "So. Scary statue in your study. Either you have the strangest fetish on the planet and need help, or there's more to this story."
River glanced at Terry again, trying to figure out what was preying on her mind, but she looked back at Grayle as he explained, "These things are all over, but people don't seem to notice. It never moves while you're looking."
"Oh, I know how they work." River interrupted impatiently.
But Grayle surprised her. "So I understand. Melody Malone, the detective who investigates Angels."
River frowned as she examined the Angel, noticing the cracks in its face and body.
"Badly damaged." She noted thoughtfully.
"I wanted to know if it could feel pain." Grayle replied. River's eyes narrowed.
"You realise it's screaming?" She pointed out. "The others can hear."
River turned around and stared at Grayle as realisation dawned. "Is that why you need all the locks?"
Grayle answered by switching off the lights, only for a second. At the same time, River was startled as she was pushed aside in the dark. The lights switched on a second later and River stared in horror while Terry looked up menacingly at the Angel that now had her wrist in a tight hold.
"I thought there was something strange about you. You and your gold eyes." Grayle murmured as he stared at Terry and then back at River, who looked outraged. He didn't care.
"You know about those creatures as well. More importantly, you knew I had one - although I'll admit, I have no idea how." Grayle admitted.
Terry didn't answer. Instead, she just looked back at him evenly over her shoulder, her movements limited because of how the Angel was holding her wrist. Grayle advanced on the two women, ignoring the way River's posture had become hostile.
"You're going to tell me all about these creatures. And you're going to do it quickly." He demanded.
Terry's gaze darkened. "You should know, Mr. Grayle. I am not someone you want to make your enemy."
Grayle just smiled grimly. "Funny. I was going to say the same thing to you."
He leant back and looked at River. "I'm waiting. And you don't want that. It would be all too easy to have that thing slowly kill your friend."
River's lips thinned but she finally spoke. "The Angels are predators. They're deadly. What do you want with them?"
Grayle shrugged. "I'm a collector. What collector could resist these? I'm only human."
"That's exactly what they're thinking." River answered ominously.
Suddenly, the lights started to flicker. Only this time, it made Terry's lips curl into a dangerous smirk while Grayle looked around in a panic.
"What's that?" The man looked around wildly as the whole room started to shake while a faint wheezing sounded. "What's happening? Is it an earthquake?"
River was also smirking now. She could only imagine what the Doctor's expression would be when he saw what Grayle had done to Terry and she hoped Terry wouldn't hold the Doctor back too much from teaching the smarmy man a lesson.
"What is it?" Grayle shouted as papers started to blow all around as a result of the Tardis spinning through space and time toward them. He ran out into his entrance hall but to no avail. "What is happening?!"
"I told you, Mr. Grayle," Terry replied darkly. "You don't want me for an enemy."
The Tardis finally materialised and landed with a thud in the entrance hall, breaking a China vase in the process. Grayle meanwhile passed out in his doorway from the shock of seeing the Tardis appear - or perhaps it was at the destruction of a priceless artefact.
"Oh, that's unfortunate. I was hoping for more pain." River pouted as she peered down at Grayle's prone form on the ground.
She was surprised however when Terry answered savagely, "Oh, that can be arranged."
River looked at Terry, finally wary again. But they were interrupted as Amy burst out of the Tardis.
"Rory? Rory?" Amy cried. She started up the stairs, continuing her search for her husband. "Rory?"
"Angel?" The Doctor's voice called. "Sorry I'm late. Traffic was hell-"
He broke off when he reached the study door and saw Terry trapped against an Angel. Instantly, the Doctor's joking facade dropped and he dashed over, pushing River in the process - to her annoyance.
"Hey." River complained but the Doctor was too busy sonicing the Angel.
"Not enough strength left to send anyone back in time." The Doctor muttered before he looked back at Terry. "I suppose I could say you got lucky, but somehow I don't think it's luck."
Terry shook her head. The Doctor's lips thinned.
"I suppose then you also know that we'll have to break your wrist to get you free?" The Doctor asked.
Terry nodded while River protested, "Wait, really? Why do you have to break Terry's wrist?"
"Because Amy read it in a book, and now I have no choice." The Doctor answered crossly. He turned back to where Amy was now standing in the doorway of the study, having been unsuccessful in finding Rory.
"You see?" The Doctor blamed the redhead, who ducked her head apologetically.
"Sorry, angel."
"No, don't be, Amelia." Terry replied tightly, unable to quite conceal her emotions at seeing the redhead.
The Doctor picked up on it at once and he examined Terry with a frown.
"Angel? What is it?"
But Terry pointedly looked at River as the blonde asked in a puzzled tone, "What are you talking about now? What book?"
"You write a book in your future." Terry explained, barely able to control herself enough to speak in a relatively normal voice. It didn't seem to quite fool either the Doctor or River but Terry ploughed on as though she didn't notice. "But it's based on what's happening now, so we can't read it."
"Except Amy already read the portion about Terry's wrist, so now it's fixed time." The Doctor explained with another grumpy glower toward the redhead.
"Hey, I said I was sorry!" Amy exclaimed.
"And I already said it's fine." Terry said firmly while River picked the Doctor's pocket.
"Huh." River stared down at the cover of her future book, which showed a busty blonde in a revealing trench coat and dark fedora hat that was pulled down over almost all of the character's face except for her bright red lips which smirked above a smoking gun barrel. "I don't like the cover much."
"Really? I'm surprised I didn't realise it was you as soon as I saw Amy reading it." The Doctor answered, only to get a sharp elbow in the ribs. "Ow!"
"Anyway." River went on as if she hadn't abused the Doctor's poor bones. "How does this help us get Terry free?"
"It doesn't." Terry replied shortly. "But if you're as clever as I know you are, you would do whatever you could to make the book as useful as possible."
River's eyes gleamed. "Of course. We can't read ahead, it's too dangerous. But-"
"A page of handy hints, previews, spoiler free?" The Doctor chimed in.
"Don't steal my ideas." River complained but the Doctor had already reclaimed the book from the blonde and was flipping through to the front pages.
"Chapter titles." He muttered, placing his finger along the list of chapters. Down he read - 'Chapter 7, The skinny guy and my angel; Chapter 8, Julius Grayle; Chapter 9, Calling the Doctor; Chapter 10, The Roman in the Cellar; Chapter 11, Death at Winter Quay'.
"He's in the cellar." The Doctor informed Amy, who instantly held out her hands demandingly.
"Gimme!" She called and the Doctor tossed the redhead his sonic. Amy dashed off toward the cellar first, desperate to find her husband.
"River, go with her." Terry urged. River looked suspicious but she followed her mother while the Doctor turned back to Terry while still scanning through the rest of the chapter titles.
"Now, angel, to get you out of here-"
The Doctor broke off as his eyes landed on the final chapter in the book. Terry didn't need to look to know what he had finally seen: Chapter 12, Amelia's Last Farewell.
"Amelia…" The Doctor said slowly in his mind, looking at Terry. "You called her Amelia earlier. You knew."
Terry met his stare head on. "Of course I did."
The Doctor's face contorted with anger, betrayal, despair and desperation. Terry felt compelled to add softly, "Theta, you know that all things, even good things, have to end at some point. Amy and Rory are human, even if it wasn't now, sooner or later they would be old and-"
"No." The Doctor turned away angrily, physically rejecting the idea. "No, you're wrong. There must be another way, you just haven't thought of it. A way to change the future."
"Theta-"
"No!" The Doctor shouted, turning back to Terry with stormy green eyes. "You saw this coming and you did nothing to stop it. You did nothing, and in doing so, you allowed these creatures to grow so powerful they could trap all of us. This, all of this, is because of you. Because you chose to let it happen instead of stopping it like you should have."
Terry reared back in shock before her own anger began to bubble as the Doctor continued with a final shout while he strode out of the study.
"And if they die, it will be because of you!"
The Doctor ran to the cellar in time to see Amy about to enter into the darkness, searching for her husband amongst the small cherub statues.
"Rory?"
"No!" The Doctor grabbed Amy and dragged her back quickly into the lighted corridor. "They're Angels. Baby Angels."
"Oh, of course." River growled as she realised the Doctor was right.
Amy however had other concerns. "Did they get Rory? Did they take him?"
The Doctor's answering look was grim. "Yes. I think so, yes."
Amy's face crumpled. The Doctor took her hand comfortingly while River watched, suspicion back in her eyes. He ignored her look. Instead, the Doctor led them back up into the entrance hall.
"So, is this what's going to happen?" Amy asked as they reached the top of the stairs. "We just keep chasing him and they keep pulling him further back?"
"He isn't back in time." River answered as she tapped into her vortex manipulator and read the results of her search. "I'm reading a displacement, but there are no temporal markers. He's been moved in space, not in time, and it's not that far from here by the look of it. But before we can go look for him-"
River whirled on the Doctor suddenly.
"Where is Terry and what did you do?"
The Doctor drew back in surprise at first and then his anger returned. But before he could say anything, Terry's voice called out.
"He threw a tantrum like a child, as usual."
The trio turned to see Terry striding out of the study, her arms hanging loosely at her sides.
"As for Rory, he's at Winter Quay."
Terry saw the Doctor jerk as he recognised the name from River's book. She nodded.
"We have to hurry." Terry informed them. "On the bright side, it's only a few blocks away. And there should still be a car out front that we can steal. River, if you will do the honours?"
"Always." River smiled although her eyes drifted to Terry's wrist. They lingered there for a moment too long, but at Terry's look, River said nothing. Instead, she led Amy out with her while the Doctor slowly approached Terry.
"You got out."
"I did." Terry nodded and the Doctor glanced at her wrist.
"How?" He asked.
"You don't want to know." Terry replied as she started to walk out behind River and Amy.
She gasped however when the Doctor caught her by the arm and moved her broken wrist.
"Doctor-" Terry broke off as the Doctor's hand glowed against hers. Almost instantly, Terry's wrist was healed.
"I'm sorry." The Doctor murmured, lifting Terry's hand to his lips. He pressed a soft kiss against her wrist. "I didn't mean what I said earlier. I was just angry."
"And afraid." Terry murmured, still somewhat annoyed. But she knew the Doctor better than anyone and so she turned her hand to softly embrace his cheek. "I know. And you know I love both Amy and Rory just as much as you do. But you can't hold onto them forever. Just as we couldn't hold onto Rose or Martha or Donna. Sometimes, things have to end. And you have to read the last page."
The Doctor's eyes grew infinitely older. It was also clear to Terry that he hadn't yet put together the hint she'd given him. She hadn't been able to stop herself. Just as she knew he would figure it out soon. Just in time.
They were out of time anyway as River called from outside, "Hurry up, you two!"
The Doctor and Terry looked at each other before they turned. Taking each other's hand, they hurried out the front door.
"Finally." River grumbled although she cast another critical eye on Terry's wrist. Seemingly satisfied, she pulled them out of the drive only seconds after the Doctor shut his car door behind him.
Terry saw a mother and son statue watching them drive off from afar. But she said nothing, not even when she looked a moment later to find the status gone. Just as she hadn't said anything when the Doctor had left the front door to Grayle's mansion ajar when he'd rushed out. If she couldn't stop what was coming for her friends, she wasn't about to stop what was well deservedly coming for the monster cosplaying as a man.
After all, despite what her friends might call her, she was no angel.