The Time of Angels

We were following my uncle, through a museum that looked like it was inside a medieval church. As we walked The Doctor and I would point at the displays and give our opinion. "Wrong!" said The Doctor as he pointed to an object, "Wrong!" as he pointed to another.

"That one's right," I said, to another object. Then, I walked up to it, and got a better look, "No, my bad… it's wrong."

"I love museums."

"Yeah, great. Can we go to a planet now?" asked Amy, "Big space ship, Churchill's bunker...? You promised me a planet next."

"Amy, this isn't any old asteroid," said Annabelle, "This is the Delerium Archive, the final resting place of the Headless Monks, its the biggest museum ever."

"Your family's got a time machine… What do you need museums for?"

"Wrong!" said The Doctor as he looked at a display, "Very wrong!" then he ran up to a display in the middle of the room, "Oooh, one of mine… One of Teddy's."

"It's how they keep score," Annabelle kind of whispered into Amy's ear.

"Not me…" I said, as I looked up at our companion and my daughter, "Him…" I pointed at my uncle, "But… If I was keeping score… I would be winning…" I smiled and went back to looking at the items. "There's two of mine in here.."

"Your winning?" said The Doctor. " In your dreams…"

"Oh yeah?" I said, as I walked over to him, "Of the 25 museums we've visited to since I started traveling with you. I have had more objects in 17 of them…"

"I thought you weren't keeping score?"

"I'm not…" I said with a smirk. I looked up and saw something that caught my eye. It was a very old box with very familiar looking symbols on it, "Doctor…" I said as I pointed out the box to him. He looked at it, looked at me and then we walked up to it. I looked at the writing, I read it, and I smiled.

"Oh great, an old box," said Amy.

"It's from one of the old starliners," said The Doctor, "A Home Box."

"What's a Home Box?"

"It's like a black box on a plane," explained Annabelle, "except instead of staying with the wreckage of the ship. It flies home with all the flight data."

"So?"

"The writing on it is Old High Gallifreyan," I said, "The lost language of the Time Lords."

"There were days, there were many days, these words could burn stars and raise up empires, and topple Gods," said The Doctor.

"What does it say?" asked Amy.

"Hello, sweetie," said The Doctor in an irritated tone of voice. The next thing I knew, The Doctor used his sonic to smash the glass the Home Box was in, setting off the alarms. He grabbed the box and we ran to the TARDIS.

Annabelle and I put the TARDIS into the Time Vortex, while The Doctor worked on hooking up the home box to the console, "Why are we doing this?" asked Amy.

"Cos someone on a space ship 12,000 years ago is trying to attract our attention," said The Doctor, "Let's see if we can get the security playback working."

Then, grainy black and white security camera footage appeared on the monitor. On the screen was River Song, dressed in a long black dress. She pulled down the sunglasses she was wearing and gave the camera a wink. The picture then changed to River with her back to the camera facing a door.

"The party's over, Doctor Song," said a male voice off screen, "…yet still you're on board."

River turned to face him, "Sorry, Alistair. I needed to see what was in your vault. Do you all know what's down there? Any of you? Because I'll tell you something. This ship won't reach its destination."

"Wait till she runs. Don't make it look like an execution."

River looked at her watch, "Triple-seven, five slash three, four, nine by ten." Us Time Lords looked at each other and we quickly jumped into action, "Zero, twelve, slash, acorn. Oh, and I could do with an air corridor."

"What was that?" asked Amy, "What did she say?"

"Space-Time Coordinates," I said as I typed them into the keyboard on the console.

"Like I said on the dance floor," said River's voice from the monitor, "you might want to find something to hang on to!"

The Doctor let out a "whoop" and ran to the to the TARDIS doors and opened them. He reached out his hand and then all of the sudden River landed on top of him, knocking them both to the floor.

"Doctor?" asked Amy.

"River?" asked The Doctor.

They both stood and watched the ship fly away, "Follow that ship."

"You've got it," I said as Annabelle and I started the process of following the ship.

The Doctor and River joined us at the console. River took her heels off and put them on the handles of the monitor. I was a little surprised at how well River was doing, "They've gone into warp drive, we're losing them! Stay close!" she said.

"I'm trying!" said The Doctor.

"Use the stabilizers."

"There aren't any stabilizers!"

I rolled my eyes, "The blue switches!"

"The blue ones don't do anything, they're just...blue," said The Doctor.

"Yes, they're blue," said River, "They're the blue stabilizers!" she pressed the buttons and the TARIDS becomes stable. "See?"

"Yeah, well, it's just boring now, isn't it?" as he started to pout, "They're boring-ers. They're blue boring-ers."

I looked over at River, "And, that's why I never use them. He loves the feeling of traveling through time and space. The first time I used them, he didn't speak to me for a week."

Amy walked up to my uncle and asked, "Doctor, how come she can fly the TARDIS?"

"You call that flying the TARDIS? Ha!" He sat down on the jump seat and started to sulk.

I rolled my eyes and River said, "OK. Teddy's mapped the probability vectors, Annabelle's done a fold-back on the temporal isometry, I charted the ship to its destination, and parked us right along side."

"Parked us?" said The Doctor, as he stood, "We haven't landed."

"Of course we've landed," said River, "I just landed her."

"But it didn't make the noise."

"What noise?"

"You know, the…" The Doctor tried to imitate the sound the TARDIS made during arrival and departure.

I walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. It was time he knew the truth, "It's not supposed to make that noise. You leave the brakes on."

"Yeah, well, it's a brilliant noise. I love that noise. Come along, Pond, let's have a look," The Doctor then turned and headed for the door.

"No, wait! Environment checks," said River.

The Doctor was halfway to the door and he said, "Oh, yes, sorry! Quite right. Environment checks," he walked over to the door and stuck his head out, "Nice out."

I rolled my eyes and walked over to River who was looking at the monitor, "We're somewhere in the Garn Belt. There's an atmosphere. Early indications suggest…"

"We're on Alfava Metraxis, the seventh planet of the Dundra System. Oxygen-rich atmosphere, toxins in the soft band, 11-hour day, and…" he put his head out of the door and said, "chances of rain later."

River looked at Amy, "He thinks he's so hot when he does that."

The Doctor rejoined us at the console, "How come you can fly the TARDIS?" asked Amy.

"Oh, I had lessons from the very best."

The Doctor sat back down in the jump seat got a smug look on his face, "Well, yeah."

River then turned to Annabelle, "You were an excellent teacher." River picked up her shoes, "Right then, why did they land here?" she then headed for the door.

"They didn't land," said The Doctor.

"Sorry?"

"You should've checked the Home Box," he said as he followed her, "it crashed."

River stepped outside and The Doctor closed the door behind her and headed back to the console.

"Explain!" said Amy, "Who is that and how did she do that museum thing?"

"It's a long story and we don't know most of it," said Annabelle.

"Off we go!" said The Doctor as ran around the console preparing for departure

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Leaving, She's got where she wants to go, let's go where we want to go," said The Doctor.

"Are you basically running away?" asked Amy.

"Yep."

"Why?"

"'Cos she's the future, my future."

I rolled my eyes, "You can't run away from your future."

"I can run away from anything I like," said The Doctor, "Time is not the boss of me."

"Hang on, is that a planet out there?" asked Amy

"Yes, of course it's a planet."

"You did promised Amy a planet," said Annabelle

"Five minutes?" pleated Amy.

The Doctor looked at the three of us women then sighed, "OK, five minutes!

"Yes!" said Amy, then she ran for the door.

"But that's all, cos I'm telling you now, that woman is not dragging me into anything!" said The Doctor as we followed her to the door.

We got outside and we saw the ship that we were following crashed into the top of a very large, very old stone structure. It was on fire and there was debris all around, "What caused it to crash? Not me." asked River.

"No," I said, "the airlock would've sealed seconds after you blew it."

"According to the Home Box, the warp engines had a phase-shift," said Annabelle, "There were no survivors."

"A phase-shift would have to be sabotage," said River as she took out a handheld device, "I did warn them."

"About what?" asked The Doctor.

"Well, at least the building was empty. Aplan temple. Unoccupied for centuries." said River as she started to type into the device.

"Aren't you going to introduce us?" asked Amy.

"Amy Pond, Professor River Song." said The Doctor.

River turned to us with a big smile on her face, "Ahhh, I'm going to be a Professor some day, am I? How exciting!" then she chucked, "Spoilers!" Then she turned back and went back to what she was doing.

"Yeah, but who is she and how did she do that?" whispered Amy, "She just left you a note in a museum!" The Doctor just walked away as River walked over

"Three things always guaranteed to show up in a museum," said River, "The Home Box of a category four starliner and, sooner or later, those two," She pointed at The Doctor and me, "It's how they keeps score."

"I know." said Amy as she laughed.

"It's hilarious, isn't it?"

I rolled my eyes and The Doctor came up and behind us and gave a sarcastic laugh, "I'm nobody's taxi service!" He looked at River, "We're not gonna be there to catch you every time you feel like jumping out of a space ship."

"And you are so wrong. There's one survivor. There's a thing in the belly of that ship that can't ever die." My eyes got big, "Now they're listening!" Then she spoke into device, and walked away, "You lot in orbit yet? Yeah, I saw it land. I'm at the crash site. Try and home in on my signal." She held up the device and looked back at us, "Doctor, can you sonic me? I need to boost the signal so we can use it as a beacon."

The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at River's communication device. Then she did a small curtsey.

"Ooh, Doctor!" said Amy in a sassy tone of voice, "You soniced her!"

Annabelle and I started to laugh at Amy's comment when River walked back over, "We have a minute. Shall we?" River opened her purse and took out her diary and opened it up. "Where were we up to? Have we done the Bone Meadows?"

"What's the book?" asked Amy.

"Stay away from it," said The Doctor.

"What is it though?"

"Her diary."

"Our diary." said River.

"Her past is our future," I said, "Because we of time travel. We keep meeting each other in the wrong order."

Just then four columns of swirling dust appeared and out of the dust came four solders in desert camouflage. One of the solders walked up to River, "You promised me an army, Doctor Song."

"No. I promised you the equivalent of an army," said River, "This is Annabelle, Teddy, and The Doctor." The Doctor gave a lighthearted salute. While my daughter gave the solders a proper salute.

The solder shook our hands, "Father Octavian," he shook The Doctor's hand, "sir," he shook my hand, "ma'am," he shook Annabelle's hand, "ma'am."

"You're a Bishop, second class," said my daughter as she looked at rank insignia on Father Octavina's shoulder.

"Yes ma'am."

"What's your status?"

"20 clerics at my command. The troops are already in the drop ship and landing shortly."

Annabelle nodded, "And what's your mission?"

I could tell Annabelle was snapping into soldier mode, it was a hold over from her birth in the progeneration machine on Messaline. Annabelle loved everything that had to do with the military. Every night, I could find her in her room reading a military book of some kind.

"Dr. Song was helping us with a covert investigation," said Father Octavian, "Has Dr. Song explained what we're dealing with?"

"Doctor, Teddy, Annabelle, what do you know of the Weeping Angels?" asked River. My eyes got big again.

With the 11 hour day on the planet, night came soon. A transport ship arrived and the soldiers setup camp. The Doctor, Annabelle, Amy and I followed Father Octavian as we walked through the camp. "The Angel, as far as we know, is still trapped in the ship," he said, "Our mission is to get inside and neutralize it. We can't get through up top, we'd be too close to the drives. According to this," he showed us his handheld device, "behind the cliff face, there's a network of catacombs leading right up to the temple. We can blow through the base of the cliffs, get into the entrance chamber, then make our way up."

"Oh, good." said The Doctor, sarcastically.

"Good, sir?"

"Catacombs, probably dark ones. Dark catacombs, great…"

"Technically, I think it's called a maze of the dead.

"You can stop any time you like," I said.

"Father Octavian?" called one of the solders.

"Excuse me, sir, ma'ams," said Father Octavian. The Doctor waved him off and he left. Us Time Lords started looked some equipment for the mission, laid out on a table.

"You're letting people call you 'sir' and 'ma'am'. You lot never do that," said Amy as she sat down on the table, "So, whatever a Weeping Angel is, it's really bad, yeah?"

"Now that's interesting," said The Doctor, then he looked at Amy, "You're still here. Which part of 'Wait in the TARDIS till we tell you it's safe.' was so confusing?"

"Ooh, are you all Mr Grumpy Face today?" asked Amy.

I rolled my eyes and said, "Amy, A Weeping Angel is the deadliest, most powerful, most malevolent life form evolution has ever produced, and one is trapped inside that ship." I pointed up to the ship.

"We're supposed to climb in with a screwdriver and a torch," said The Doctor, "and assuming we survive the radiation, and the whole ship doesn't blow up in our faces-do something clever which I haven't actually thought of yet. That's our day, that's what we're up to. Any questions?"

"Is River Song your wife?" I rolled my eye's again, "Cos she's someone from your future, and the way she talks to you, I've never seen anyone do that. She's kinda like, you know, 'Heel, boy!' She's Mrs Doctor from the future, isn't she? Is she gonna be your wife one day?"

"Yes. You're right. I am definitely Mr. Grumpy Face today," said The Doctor, as he avoided the question.

Just then River called from the transport, "Annabelle? Teddy? Doctor?"

"Oops! Her indoors!" said Amy

"Father Octavian!" said River, as we started walking toward the transport.

"Why do they call them Father?" asked Amy.

"We're in the 51st Century, Amy," said Annabelle, "The Church has… evolved… Bishop has the same rank as a General in the army in your time…"

We got into the transport and saw River standing by large screen. On the screen, was black and white footage of a Weeping Angel with its back to the camera and hands over its eyes.

"What do you think?" asked River, "It's from the security cameras in the Byzantium vault. I ripped it when I was on board. Sorry about the quality. It's four seconds. I've put it on loop."

"Yeah, it's an Angel," said The Doctor, "Hands covering its face."

"You've encountered the Angels before?"

I nodded, "Once, on Earth, a long time ago. But those were scavengers, barely surviving."

"It's just a statue." said Amy.

"It's a statue when you see it," said River.

"Where did it come from?" asked The Doctor.

"Oh, pulled from the ruins of Razbahan, end of last century. It's been in private hands ever since, dormant all that time."

"There's a difference between dormant and patient," I said.

"What's that mean, it's a statue when you see it?" asked Amy.

"The Weeping Angels can only move if they're unseen," said River, "So legend has it."

"No, it's not legend, it's a quantum lock," said Annabelle, "If any living creature looks at it, the Angels literally ceases to exist. They turn to stone. The ultimate defense mechanism."

"What, being a stone?" asked Amy.

"Being a stone...until you turn your back."

I followed The Doctor, River and Father Octavian out of the transport. "The hyperdrive would've split on impact," said The Doctor, "The whole ship will be flooded with radiation, cracked electrons, gravity storms, deadly to almost any living thing."

"Deadly to an Angel?" asked Father Octavian.

"Dinner to an Angel," I said, "The longer we leave it, the stronger it will grow. Who built that temple? Are they still around?"

River picked up her handheld and said, "The Aplans. The indigenous life-form. They died out 400 years ago."

"200 years later, the planet was therefore," said the Father, "Currently there are six billion human colonists."

"You lot, you're everywhere! Like rabbits! My family'll never get done saving you."

"I'm fine with that," I said.

"Me too," said The Doctor with a smile.

"Sir, if there is a clear and present danger to the local population…" said Father Octavian.

"Oh, there is. Bad as it gets. Bishop, lock and load!"

"Verger, how we doing with those explosives? Dr. Song, with me."

"Two minutes," said River to the Father. Then she looked at The Doctor and I, "Sweeties, I need to speak with you."

"Anybody need me?" asked Amy, "Nobody?"

"Just hang tight," I said, "We won't be long."

Us Time Lords followed River back over to the table. Once we were there River took out a book and showed it to us, "I found this. Definitive work on the Angels. Well, the only one. Written by a madman, it's barely readable, but I've marked a few passages."

The Doctor quickly read through the book, "Not bad," He handed the book to me an I read through it as quickly as The Doctor, before handing it to Annabelle, who did the same, "Bit slow in the middle," continued The Doctor, "didn't you hate his girlfriend? No, hang on, wait, wait!" He took the book back from Annabelle and sniffed the book.

"Dr. Song?" called Amy from the Transport, "Did you have more than one clip of the Angel?"

"No, just the four seconds," said River.

"This book is wrong!" said The Doctor, "What's wrong with this book, it's wrong."

"Oh, it's so strange when you two go all baby-face," said River as she pointed at my uncle and me, " How early is this for you two?" she looked at her diary.

"Very early."

"So you don't know who I am yet?"

"We have our suspicions," I said, "But, How do you know who we are? We don't always look the same."

"I've got pictures of all your faces," said River, "You never show up in the right order though. I need the spotter's guide."

"Pictures? Why aren't there pictures?" said The Doctor, "This whole book - it's a warning, about the Weeping Angels. So why no pictures? Why not show us what to look out for?"

"There was a bit about images," said River.

"Yes! Hang on…" The Doctor started flipping through the book again, " 'That which holds the image of an angel becomes itself an angel.'"

"What does that mean?" asked River, "'An image of a Angel becomes itself an Angel.'"

Just then it dawned on me what it meant, "Oh my god…" I turned and saw the door to the Transport was closed, "AMY!" Then I ran to the transport, with my family and River close behind.

I got to the door and heard Amy call, "Doctor!"

"Are you all right? What's happening?" I asked.

"Teddy, it's coming out of the television. The Angel is here."

"Don't take your eyes off it!" I said, as The Doctor took out his sonic and pointed it at the keypad, "It can't move if you're looking," I continued.

"What's wrong? It's deadlocked." said The Doctor.

"There is no deadlock," said River as she tried to override the controls.

"Don't blink, Amy!" I said, "Don't even blink!"

"Teddy!" shouted Amy.

I ran to a small box and opened it I pointed my sonic at the wiring inside, "What are you doing?" asked River.

"I'm trying to cut the power," I said, "If we turn off the screen, it won't be able to use the screen…. Ugh…" I grunted in frustration, "The Angel's deadlocked the whole system."

"There's NO deadlock."

"Well, there is now!"

"Help me!" said Amy

"Amy!" said Annabelle, "Can you turn the screen off?"

"I tried."

"Try again but don't take your eyes off the Angel."

"I'm not!"

"Each time it moves, it'll move faster," said The Doctor, "Don't even blink."

"I'm not blinking! Have you ever tried not blinking?" said Amy. The Doctor and I continued work on cutting the power in the transport. A few moments later Amy replied, "It just keeps switching back on!"

"Yeah, it's the Angel," said The Doctor.

"But it's just a recording."

"No, anything that takes the image of an Angel is an Angel," I said.

"What are you doing?" asked The Doctor to River.

"I'm trying to cut through," I looked and she had a small blowtorch pointed at the side of the ship, "It's not even warm."

"There is no way in, it's not physically possible."

"Doctor!" called Amy, "What's it gonna do to me? Teddy? Annabelle?"

"Just keep looking at it," said Annabelle, as she tried to comfort her friend, "Don't stop looking!"

"Just tell me. Just tell me. Tell me!"

The Doctor ran for the book River had about the Weeping Angels and ran back. He went up to the door next to Annabelle and he sat down, "Amy, not the eyes. Look anywhere but don't look at the eyes."

"Why?"

"What is it?" asked River.

"'The eyes are not the windows of the soul, they are the doors. Beware what may enter there.'"

"Doctor, what did you say?" asked Amy.

"Don't look at the eyes!" he said.

"No, about images, what did you say about images?"

"Whatever holds the image of an angel, is an angel," said River.

"OK... Hold this. One, two, three, four…"

Just then the door unlocked, Annabelle threw open the door and ran to hug her friend, I was close behind. The Doctor ran over to the screen and unplugged it, "I froze it!" said Amy, "There was a sort of blip on the tape and I froze it on the blip. It wasn't the image of an angel any more. That was good, yeah? It was, wasn't it? That was pretty good."

"That was amazing!" said Annabelle.

"Once again, you've outsmarted three Time Lords," I said, "When we get back to the TARDIS I'm going to run a scan to make sure your not really a Time Lord."

"River, hug Amy," said The Doctor, as he continued to work.

"Why?" asked River.

"Cos I'm busy." he said as I rolled my eyes.

"I'm fine." said Amy.

"You're brilliant!" said River as she gave Amy a hug.

"Thanks, Yeah. I kind of creamed it, didn't I?" said Amy, very confidently.

"So it was here? That was the Angel?"

"That was a projection of the Angel," said The Doctor, "It's reaching out, getting a good look at us. It's no longer dormant."

Just then we heard an explosion from outside, we ran to the door and saw Father Octavian walking toward us, "Doctor! We're through!"

The Doctor looks at all of us in the transport, "OK. Now it starts."

We climbed down a rope ladder into the maze of the dead. When we reached the bottom, a soldier handed all of us a flashlight. Once we were all there The Doctor asked, "Do we have a gravity globe?"

"Grav globe," said Father Octavian to one of the soldiers. The soldier took a large sphere from his pack and handed it to the Bishop.

"Where are we?" asked Amy, "What is this?"

"It's an Aplan mortarium," said River, "Sometimes called a maze of the dead."

"And what's that?"

"Well, if you happen to be a creature of living stone…" said The Doctor, then he kicked the gravity globe like a soccer ball and it few into the air, stopped, and lit up the cave showing a large number of stone statues, "the perfect hiding place."

"I guess this makes it a bit trickier," said Father Octavian.

"Just a bit," I said.

"A stone angel on the loose amongst stone statues. A lot harder than I'd prayed for."

"A needle in a haystack," said River.

"A needle that looks like hay," said The Doctor, "A hay-like needle. Of death. A hay-alike needle of death in a haystack of, er, statues. No, yours was fine." I just shook my head.

"Right," said Father Octavian, "Check every single statue in this chamber. You know what you're looking for. Complete visual inspection. One question - how do we fight it?"

"We find it, and hope," said The Doctor as he walked of Amy, Annabelle, and I followed.

We moved to an upward passage and start examining statues. The Doctor was trying to use River's handheld device to get some readings. Annabelle and I were shining our flashlights around trying to find the Angel. Amy was a bit behind us rubbing her eye. Then River came up to her, You all right?

"Yeah, I'm fine. So, what's a maze of the dead?" asked Amy.

"Oh, it's not as bad as it sounds. It's just a labyrinth with dead people buried in the walls. OK, that was fairly bad. Right give me your arm. This won't hurt a bit."

"Ow!"

"There, you see. I lied. It's a viro-stabilizer. Stabilizes your metabolism against radiation, drive burn, anything. You're going to need it when we get up to that ship."

"So what are they like? In the future, I mean. Cos you know them in the future, don't you?"

"The Doctor, Teddy, and Annabelle? Well, The Doctor's The Doctor. Teddy's Teddy, and Annabelle's Annabelle."

"Oh, well that's very helpful. Mind if I write that down?"

Then, River called out, "Yes, we are."

"Sorry, what?" said The Doctor.

"Talking about you."

"I wasn't listening, I'm busy."

"Ah. The other way up."

The Doctor turned the device the other way around and looked over at River, "Yeah." I just shook my head.

"You're so his wife," said Amy.

"Oh, Amy, Amy, Amy!" said River, "This is the Doctor we're talking about. Do you really think it could be anything that simple?"

"Yep."

"You're good. I'm not saying you're right... but you are very good." said River as she and Amy joined the rest of us examining the statues when we heard gunfire. We ran back down to the main chamber. One of the young clerics had fired his weapon at one of the statues.

"Sorry. Sorry, I thought... I thought it looked at me." said the cleric.

"We know what the Angel looks like. Is that the Angel?" asked Father Octavian.

"No, sir."

"No, sir, it is not! According to the Doctor, we are facing an enemy of unknowable power and infinite evil. So it would be good, it would be very good, if we could all remain calm in the presence of decor."

Annabelle walked up to the young cleric, "What's your name?"

"Bob, ma'am."

Annabelle smiled, "That's a very nice name. It's nice to meet you, Bob."

"It's a Sacred Name," said Father Octavian, "We all have Sacred Names, they're given to us in the service of the Church."

"Sacred Bob," said The Doctor as he walked over, "More like Scared Bob now, eh?"

"Yes, sir," said Bob.

"Good," said Annabelle, "Scared keeps you fast. Anyone here who isn't scared is a moron." Then she looked over at Father Octavian, "Carry on."

"We'll be moving into the maze in two minutes," said Father Octavian, "You stay with Christian and Angelo. Guard the approach."

We moved back to the upward passage, "Isn't there a chance this lot's just gonna collapse?" asked Amy, "There's a whole ship up there."

"Incredible builders, the Aplans," said River.

"We had dinner with their chief architect once," said The Doctor, as we walked, "Two heads are better than one."

"You mean you helped him?" asked Amy

"No," I said, "He means the Aplans had two heads."

"That book," said The Doctor to River, "the very end, what did it say?"

"Hang on," said River as she got the book out of her backpack.

"Read it to me."

"'What if we had ideas that could think for themselves? What if one day our dreams no longer needed us? When these things occur and are held to be true, the time will be upon us. The time of Angels.'"

We continued walking then Amy asked "Are we there yet? It's a hell of a climb."

"The maze is on six levels representing the ascent of the soul," said River, "Only two levels to go."

"The Aplans are a beautiful species," I said, "We should visit them again some time."

"I thought they were all dead?" asked Amy.

"So's Virginia Woolf," said The Doctor, "I'm on her bowling team. Very relaxed, sort of cheerful. That's having two heads. You're never short of a snog with an extra head."

I kept looking around at the statues and the more I looked at them the more I felt uneasy about something, "Doctor, there's something wrong here…"

"Yeah," he said, "I'm getting the same feeling. Don't know what it is yet either, working on it. Then they started having laws against self-marrying and what was that about? But that's the church for you. Erm, no offence, Bishop."

"Quite a lot taken, if that's all right, Doctor," said Father Octavian. We walked into a narrow passage lined with statues. "Lowest point in the wreckage is only about 50 feet up from here. That way."

"Church had a point, if you think about it," said Amy, "The divorces must have been messy."

The Doctor stopped and looked at a statue, "Oh…"

"What's wrong?" asked Amy.

I walked up to the Doctor and looked at the statue he was looking at, then I thought about what we had been talking about, "Oh…"

"Exactly," said The Doctor.

Annabelle walked up and looked at the statue, "Oh…"

"How could we not notice that?!" said River as she realized what was going on.

"Low level perception filter," said The Doctor, "or maybe we're thick."

"What's wrong, sir?" asked Father Octavian.

"Nobody move," said Annabelle, "Everyone stay exactly where they are. Bishop, I am truly sorry. We've made a mistake and we are all in danger."

"What danger?"

"The Aplans," said River.

"The Aplans?" asked Father Octavian.

"They've got two heads," I said.

"Yes, I get that. So?"

"So why don't the statues?" asked The Doctor.

"Everyone, over there," I pointed to a spot where there weren't any statues, "Just move, don't ask questions, don't speak." Everyone moved, then I said, "OK. I want you all to turn off your flashlights."

"Ma'am?" asked Father Octavian.

I rolled my eyes, "Just do it."

Everyone turned off their flashlights except for The Doctor, "OK. I'm going to turn off this one too, just for a moment." he said.

"Are you sure about this?" asked River.

"No."

I turned of my flashlight for a split second and all the statues that were in front of us, looking in different directions, where now all facing us. The Doctor ran ahead, as the rest of us turned our flashlights back on "Oh, my God! They've moved." said Amy.

We then ran after the Doctor, "They're Angels. All of them!

"But they can't be." said River.

"Clerics, keep watching them," said The Doctor as he ran back to where we just were. Annabelle, Amy, River and I followed him. When saw the Angels have moved forward, "Every statue in this maze, every single one, is a Weeping Angel. They're coming after us."

We caught back up with Father Octavian and the clerics and River said, "There was only one Angel on the ship. Just the one, I swear."

"Could they have been here already?" asked Amy.

"How did the Aplans die out?" I asked.

"Nobody knows." said River.

"We do now," I said.

"They don't look like Angels." said Father Octavian.

"And they're not fast," said Amy, "You said they were fast. They should have had us by now."

"They're dying," said I said, "Losing their shape. They must have been down here for centuries, starving."

"Losing their image."

"And their image is their power," said The Doctor, "Power. Power!"

"Doctor?"

"Don't you see? All that radiation spilling out, the drive burn. The crash wasn't an accident - it was a rescue mission, for the Angels. We're in the middle of an army and it's waking up."

"We need to get out of here fast," said River.

Father Octavian got on his radio, "Bob, Angelo, Christian, come in, please. Any of you, come in!"

Just then Bob's voice came over the radio, "It's Bob, sir. Sorry, sir."

"Bob, are Angelo and Christian with you? All the statues are active. I repeat, all the statues are active!"

"I know, sir. Angelo and Christian are dead, sir. The statues killed them, sir."

The Doctor took the radio from Father Octavian, "Bob, Sacred Bob, it's me, the Doctor. Where are you now?"

"I'm talking to my…" started the Bishop.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, shut up!"

"I'm on my way up to you, sir, I'm homing on your signal." said Bob.

Annabelle went over to The Doctor and took the radio, "Well done, Bob," she said, into the radio, "I told you… Scared keeps you fast. Bob, What did the Angel do to your fellow clerics, Bob?"

"Snapped their necks, ma'am."

The Doctor took the radio from Annabelle, "That's odd," said The Doctor, into the radio, "That's not how the Angels kill you, they displace you in time. Unless they needed the bodies for something."

"Father Octavian took the radio from The Doctor, "Bob, did you check their data packs for vital signs? We may be able to initiate a rescue plan."

The Doctor took the radio from Father Octavian, "Don't be an idiot! The Angels don't leave you alive!"

Annabelle took the radio from The Doctor, "Bob, keep running, but tell me, how did you escape?" she asked into the radio.

"I didn't escape, ma'am," said Bob, "The Angel killed me, too."

"What do you mean the Angel killed you too?"

"Snapped my neck, ma'am. Wasn't as painless as I expected but it was pretty quick, so that was something."

The Doctor took the radio from Annabelle, "If you're dead, how can we be talking to you?"

"You're not talking to me, sir," said Bob's voice, "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."

"So when you say you're on your way up to us…"

"It's the Angel that's coming, sir, yes."

"No way out."

"Then we get out through the wreckage. Go!" shouted Father Octavian.

"Go, go, go. All of you run!" shouted Annabelle.

"Doctor?" asked Amy

"Yes, I'm coming, just go, go, go!"

Amy and River left with the clerics. Only us Time Lords and Father Octavian remained, "Called you an idiot," said The Doctor, "Sorry, but there's no way we could have rescued your men."

"I know that, sir," said the Bishop, "And when you and your nieces have flown away in your little blue box, I'll explain that to their families." then he walked off.

Annabelle took the radio from The Doctor, "Angel Bob, are you the Angel from the ship?

"Yes, ma'am," said Angel Bob, "The other Angels are still restoring."

"Ah, so the Angel is not in the wreckage. Thank you." Then, us Time Lords ran out of the chamber.

We saw Amy stopped and I said, as we ran past, "Don't wait for us, run!"

"I can't!" she said, we stopped, turned around and went back to her, "No, really I can't."

"Why not?" asked The Doctor.

"Look at it. Look at my hand. It's stone!"

We looked down at her left hand. She was holding onto a hand rail and it was not made of stone. The Doctor started to quickly examine Amy. He flashed his flashlight in her eyes, and he asked, "You looked into the eyes of an Angel, didn't you?"

"I couldn't stop myself. I tried." she said.

"Amy, listen," I said, "It's messing with your head. Your hand is not made of stone."

"It is. Look at it!"

"It's in your mind," said Annabelle, "I promise you. You can move that hand. You can let go."

"I can't, OK?" said Amy, "I've tried and I can't. It's stone."

The light from the flashlight started to flicker. "The Angel is gonna come and it's gonna turn this light off, and then there's nothing we can do to stop it," said The Doctor, "So do it, concentrate, move your hand!"

"I can't."

"Then we're all going to die."

"You're not going to die."

"They'll kill the lights."

The light flickered and I could see the Angles moving closer to us, "You've got to go, you know you have," said Amy, "You've got all that stuff with River and that's all got to happen. You know you can't die here!"

"Time can be re-written," I said, "it doesn't work like that." the light flickered again and Amy turned to look at the Angels behind us, "Keep your eyes on it. Don't blink."

"Run!"

"We're not going," said Annabelle, "and we're not leaving you here."

"I don't need you lot to die for me!" said Amy, "Do I look that clingy?"

"You can move your hand," I said.

"It's stone."

"It's not stone!" said The Doctor.

"Those people up there will die without you," said Amy, "If you stay here with me, you'll have as good as killed them."

"Amy Pond, you are magnificent. And I'm sorry."

"It's OK. I understand. You've got to leave me."

"Oh, no, I'm not leaving you, never. I'm sorry about this." The Doctor bit her hand and she screamed and moved it, "See, not stone. Now run!"

"You bit me!"

"Yep and you're alive."

"I've got a mark! Look at my hand!" she said as she showed it to me.

"Yeah, and you're alive!" said Annabelle as she pulled Amy behind her.

"Blimey, your teeth! Have you got space teeth?" Amy asked The Doctor.

"Alive. All I'm saying." said The Doctor as we ran to catch up with Father Octavian, River and the clerics.

We caught up with them under the Byzantium, "Clerics, we're down to four men. Expect incoming," we heard Father Octavian say.

"Yeah, it's the Angels," said Annabelle as we walked in the chamber, "They're coming. And they're draining the power for themselves."

"Which means we won't be able to see them."

"Which means we can't stay here."

"There are more incoming!" said Father Octavian.

"Any suggestions?" asked River.

"The statues are advancing on all sides and we don't have the climbing equipment to reach the Byzantium," said Father Octavian.

"There's no way up, no way back, no way out. No pressure, but this is usually when one or more of you has a really good idea."

"There's always a way out," said The Doctor as he started to think. The lights flickered again and when they came back on, the Angels were closer, and blocking our way out, "There's always a way out."

"Annabelle? Can I speak to Annabelle, please?" asked Angel Bob.

Annabelle walked over to The Doctor and he handed her the radio, "Yes? What do you want?"

"Your power will not last much longer, and the Angels will be with you shortly. Sorry, ma'am."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"There's something the Angels are very keen you should know before the end."

"And what's that?"

"I died in fear."

"What?"

"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."

"What are they doing?" asked Amy.

"They're trying to make her angry," said River.

"I'm sorry, ma'am," said Angel Bob, "The Angels were very keen for you to know that."

"Well then, the Angels have made their second mistake because I'm not going to let that go," said Annabelle, "I'm sorry you're dead, Bob, but I swear to whatever is left of you, they will be sorrier."

"But you're trapped, ma'am, and about to die."

"Yeah, I'm trapped. But, this trap has got a great big mistake in it."

"What mistake, ma'am?"

Annabelle looked at me, "Do you trust me, Mom?"

"Of course." I said.

"Doctor?"

"Yes," he said

"Amy?"

"Yeah." she said.

"River?"

"Always," she said.

"Father Octavian, do you and your clerics trust me?"

"Sir, two more incoming!" said one of the clerics.

"We have faith, ma'am," said Father Octavian.

"Then give me your gun," said Annabelle. Father Octavian gave her the gun, Annabelle inspected the gun to make sure it was loaded "I'm about to do something incredibly stupid and dangerous. When I do jump."

"Jump where?"

"Just jump as high as you can. On my signal."

"What signal?"

"You won't miss it." she pointed the gun toward the bottom of the Byzantium.

"Sorry, can I ask again? You mentioned a mistake?" said Angel Bob.

"There's one thing or in this case three things you never put in a trap. If you're smart, if you value your life, if you want to see tomorrow, there is something you never, ever put in a trap."

"And what would that be, ma'am?"

"A Time Lord…" Then Annabelle fired the gun and the gravity globe over our heads exploded…

To Be Continued…

A/N: I would like to wish Debby Ryan, who plays Teddy in this portion of this story, a happy 21st birthday. When writing this chapter, I thought it would make more sense to have Annabelle be the one to shoot out the gravity globe. Right now, I'm not sure if River is still going to be The Doctor's wife. I've got an idea kicking around in my head about what I want to do and the more I think about it the more I like it. So, we'll see what happens with that. As always, please send me your thoughts in the review box below. If you're not comfortable with that then just Follow and Favorite.