The sky was full of Weeping Angels. At least, that was what it looked like from the distance they were at. As it was, they no longer looked like ancient, worn down statues; rather, they were beginning to display more angelic characteristics, such as stone wings and terrifyingly beautiful faces. Jay slowly sat up, unable to tear her eyes away from the stone creatures that reached for them from above their heads. She didn't realize that the others were up and moving until the Doctor called her name. "Jay."
She continued to stare. "The ship's artificial gravity field is still powered, isn't it?" she realized. Finally, she looked away, albeit somewhat reluctantly. The Doctor would have gotten them somewhere safe enough for the time being.
The Doctor stood over her, green eyes bright with pride as he extended a hand to her. She took it and let him pull her to her feet. "I shot the gravity globe out to give us an updraft," he said simply, squeezing her hand. He withdrew only to drop into a crouch beside her, and Jay tipped her chin down now to watch as he withdrew his sonic screwdriver from within his tweed coat. He began working on a hatch beneath them, lights gleaming steadily around it.
"The Angels are looking more angelic now," Jay commented, looking over her shoulder. Amy looked pale as she peered up at the Angels, ensuring they didn't move for the time being. Her hair was wild around her face, her red sweater rumpled. Still, at least she was unharmed.
"They're feeding on the radiation from the wreckage." The Doctor's sonic screwdriver flared a bright green as it emanated the familiar buzzing sound. "They're draining all the power from the ship and restoring themselves. Within the hour, they'll–" He broke off when the hatch cracked open at last, lights flickering around them. The Doctor grimaced, glancing up at his companions. "And now they're taking out the lights. Amy, you first, into the ship. All of you, quickly. Jay, watch those Angels."
"On it." Jay craned her head up again as one by one, the others began to crawl into a hatch. Only when Amy had gone through did the Doctor send her in, and she rushed through, flinching when the Doctor clambered in after and sonicked a control panel that slammed the hatch shut. The sound crashed through the air – alongside the sound of something closing further down the steel, metal corridor. Blinding lights blazed overhead.
The Doctor groaned, but bolted past the rest of the group anyways. Father Octavian ordered the clerics to cover them as River, Jay, and Amy rushed after him. Father Octavian was hot on their heels, ensuring that they didn't get too far without defenses.
When they caught up with him, he was raking a hand through his hair, muttering under his breath as he stared at the bulkhead that had shut ahead of them. "It's a death trap," he said aloud. "A death trap, and one with a dead end. Nobody panic."
"Who's panicking?" chirped Amy, breathless from running.
"There's a secondary flight deck through there," River said, squeezing past Jay and Amy to join him. "If we can get through there–"
The Doctor shook his head, glancing over his shoulder when a cleric further down the corridor shouted that the hatch they'd come in through was breached by the Angels. He scowled. "It's impossible – the security protocols are live, and there's no way to override them. Jay, you know ships. Any suggestions?"
Jay blinked once, and then laughed in disbelief. "Err, not really, no. I don't know if you've noticed, Doctor, but this place is a bit out of my time of expertise, and even then, I don't know that much about circuitry. I know a little about a little. How much time would you need to override the security protocols?"
"Two minutes." The Doctor adjusted a setting on his sonic screwdriver. "I've isolated the lighting grid. They can't drain the power now. But there's only one way to open this door, and I'll need to route all the power in this section through the door control."
"So do it," Father Octavian barked over his shoulder.
"All the power," repeated the Doctor, glancing over his shoulder at River. She gave no better alternative, so he added, "Including the lights. All of them. I'll have to turn out all the lights. For a fraction of a second." He paused, then grimaced. Lying would get him nowhere at the moment. "Maybe quite a bit longer than a second."
"Maybe?" squawked Amy with a horrified look, and the Doctor threw her a scowl as he retorted, "We're being attacked by statues in a crashed ship, Amy. There's not a manual for this!"
Jay shifted, shaking out her wrists anxiously. "The flashlights are out though. We'll be in the dark."
"There's no other way."
"Dr. Song," Father Octavian said suddenly, glancing over at her. His blue eyes were sharp, searching hers warily. "I've lost good clerics today. You trust this man?"
River Song lifted her chin. "I absolutely trust him."
"He's not some kind of madman then?"
A pause. "I absolutely trust him."
Father Octavian sighed, and turned to his clerics that remained, giving strict instructions to fire their weapons continuously while the lights were out. Jay saw what he was doing immediately: offering some light while the Doctor worked.
Jay choked on a somewhat hysterical laugh. The Doctor could be a madman if he wanted. He tended to be more often than not. She exchanged a quick look with Amy, who nodded. They both trusted the Doctor in this circumstance. He'd not get them killed on purpose – that was never something he'd do, not with them. She reached out and squeezed his shoulder gently, murmuring, "What do you need us to do, Doctor?"
"Can you hear anything?" he checked, still prying at wires and sonicking various pieces. When Jay shook her head, admitting to herself that the Angels weren't necessarily into psychic communication that would have bled into her abilities, he turned to Amy. "Amy, when the lights go out, the wheel on that bulkhead," he nodded at the door that had closed on them, "should release. Spin it clockwise four turns. River, Jay, make sure you keep eyes on the Angels as best you can. Amy, how many times?"
"Ten."
"No the time for sarcasm, Amy," Jay said with exasperation, and she frowned at Jay in return.
"Four. I heard him." She turned to the Doctor. "Four," she repeated, and he adjusted his sonic screwdriver.
"Ready?" the Doctor asked, pressing the tip of the sonic screwdriver to the wires. "Now!"
The lights went out as soon as the sonic screwdriver began to buzz, and Jay cursed under her breath, terrified as darkness fell. She watched in horror through flashing lights of gunfire as the Angels slowly began to appear, shifting between each flash. Jay found herself pressing into River, who whispered as she continued to stare, "It'll be alright, Jay."
"Says you," whispered Jay back, wondering just who River was to know such things.
"Jay! Help me!" Amy's cry ripped Jay away, and between the pair of them, they cranked the door open. Much to Jay's relief, there was light creeping through. It just barely cracked open with enough room for people to squeeze through, and the Doctor shouted at them to go through. Jay squeezed through first, dragging Amy behind her. River followed suit, and then Father Octavian, and then the clerics. They all ran ahead, through another steel corridor, but Jay hung back. She watched intently until the Doctor squeezed through, too, slamming the bulkhead shut behind him. He hastily spun the wheel in the center of it to lock the door behind them. Only then did Jay look around at the area they stood in.
"Where are we?" Jay demanded, voice echoing around the metallic room. There was various machinery around the room, and lights that flickered here and there. At the head of the room was a massive– "Hold on, this is a flight deck."
"And here's the controls," said River pointedly, drawing the Doctor's attention. He leaped over to join her, sonic screwdriver already in hand.
Amy's brow furrowed when she saw Father Octavian step forward, ordering his clerics to every corner of the room to keep them all protected as he placed some kind of device on the door. He activated it with a soft beep. "What's that?" she asked him.
"Magnetizes the door," he replied. "Nothing can turn that wheel now."
Jay sighed when as if almost on cue, the wheel began to turn again, slowly but surely clunking along. "You just had to open your mouth," she grumbled. "Doctor, there's some other doors – nope, not an option." Her breath left her in a rush as the wheels on the other doors began spinning, too, and the clerics leaped into action at Father Octavian's command. Exhaling softly, she reported, "They've surrounded us."
"Yes, thank you, Jay, very helpful," muttered the Doctor, frustrated. "Now. We need another way out of here, and we have five minutes max to figure one out–"
"Nine minutes is more than seconds," Amy pointed out.
"Five minutes," corrected the Doctor, eyeing Amy closely. "Jay, give Amy a hug. She needs one." Jay shrugged and bumped Amy gently with her shoulder in reassurance when Amy began to look incredibly confused. "Now. This is a galaxy class ship, isn't it? Goes for years between planet falls. So, what do they need?" When no one answered, the Doctor groaned in disappointment. "An oxygen factory."
With a slam of his hand over a red button, an entire wall slid up. One the other side, there was a rather thick looking forest, filled with moss and so much green. It was at odds with the steel and metal of the ship around them. Jay breathed a soft sigh of awe at the sight of the forest aboard the ship. "People in my time thought about things like this, but they could never get them to work."
River winked at her as she briskly walked past to peek out into the trees, as if searching for Angels in the trees ahead. "And with the forest comes an escape route, am I right?"
Jay trailed after her, eager to see more of the science and technology behind such a forest, but the Doctor snagged her wrist before she could. "Father Octavian," he called, "scan the architecture. We don't have the time to get lost in there."
"Eight trees?" Amy seemed as amazed as Jay felt about the forest. "On a spaceship?"
"More than eight," the Doctor said with a familiar proud gleam in his green eyes. He flashed Jay a broad smile, adjusting his bow tie as if he were showing off. Jay was confident that's what he was trying to do when he rubbed his hands together with a delighted look and said, "Treeborgs. Trees plus technology. Branches become cables become sensors on the hull. The forest sucks in starlight and breathes out air. It even rains."
Jay stared at him for a moment, and then looked back out at the trees with a churning desire to walk among them in her chest. She bounced impatiently on the balls of her feet. She couldn't wait. "Can we take some of this back with us?" she nearly pleaded, looking back at the Doctor hopefully. "I want to look at it closer when we're not going to be killed by a bunch of Weeping Angels."
The Doctor considered it for half-a-moment, then hastily rushed to a tree. Amy let out a soft laugh as he went to work on prying off a section of a tree, waving off Father Octavian when he protested the Doctor entering the tree line before being cleared to do so. "Seven," laughed Amy, which made Jay snap her head in Amy's direction.
"Seven?" she echoed, arching a brow.
"Sorry, what?" Amy glanced at her with a confused expression. She'd not known she was counting down apparently, which worried Jay all the more after her incident with the supposed stone hand.
"You said seven," said Jay.
"No, I didn't." Amy rolled her eyes.
River studied Amy from where she'd been standing. "Yes," she said quietly. "You did. Father Octavian, where are you at with those scans?"
"There's an exit, far end of the ship. Leads right into the primary flight deck. I'm plotting a safe path now," he replied as the Doctor rejoined his friends, offering the machinery to Jay. She flashed him a grateful smile, even as she anxiously watched Amy out of the corner of her eye. Something was wrong. Very wrong with Amy.
Jay bent her head to the Doctor's under the false pretense that she was asking a question about what he'd given her, even as she turned the bark filled with wires and cables in her hands. "Doctor, Amy–"
"I know." The Doctor's lips tightened in an unhappy grimace. He took the bark back from her after a moment, tucking it into his pocket for later. "Now!" he clapped his hands together, spinning in place. "We need to get to the primary flight deck."
"Doctor? Excuse me? Angel Bob here, sir."
"I hate that they can do that," Amy muttered with a scowl as the Doctor immediately whipped the communicator back out.
Eyeing the forest they needed to get through, more than aware of the slow clunking of Weeping Angels trying to get to the deck they stood on now, the Doctor spoke. "There you are, Angel Bob. How's life?" He paused, a smirk tugging at his lips. "Sorry, bad subject."
Jay sighed in exasperation. The other Doctor had always been cheeky at the worst of times; this one was even worse. "Doctor," she hissed, swatting at him. River shot him a dirty look, too, gently murmuring to Amy about something or another. Amy shrugged River's concern off.
He ignored her scolding, continuing, "It's nice in here, Angel Bob. Consoles, comfy chairs, a forest. How's things with you?"
"The Angels are feasting, sir. Soon, we will be able to absorb enough power to consume this vessel…this world…and all the stars and worlds beyond."
That was reassuring.
Jay sucked in a sharp breath when Amy rocked back on her heels and mused aloud, "Six."
"Enough chat." The Doctor's face grew serious, any sign of laughter vanishing from his gaze. He spun around to face his friend, who immediately looked puzzled by the intense amount of interest that was suddenly directed at her. "Here's what I want to know. What have you done to Amy?"
"There's something in her eye." When the Doctor immediately questioned it, annoyed with the Angels' attempt to mock him with their puzzling choice of words, the Weeping Angel responded with what Jay thought to be pride. "We are."
Jay sucked in a sharp breath, digging through her memories to try and understand what the Weeping Angel meant. She came up empty-handed. When Amy scoffed, Jay told her quietly, "Amy, honestly, you haven't noticed that you've been counting down from ten for the last few minutes?"
"No?" Amy blinked at her, beyond befuddled. "What…what am I counting down to?"
"We shall take her," answered Angel Bob, and the Doctor's expression darkened at the clear threat. "We shall take all of you. We shall have dominion over all time and space. With respect, sir, there's more power on this ship than you yet understand."
Amy flinched, nearly recoiling, and Jay reassured her, "We'll figure it out, Amy. Don't panic. We always figure it out. Right, River?" She looked to River, who glanced over for a brief moment. Something unreadable crossed through River's face, as if she was thinking of something from an entirely different situation. She hid it quickly enough though. Unnerved, and even more so when a sound like nails on a chalkboard filled the air, Jay demanded, "What the hell is that?"
"It's hard to put in your terms, ma'am, but as best as I understand, the Angels are laughing. Because you haven't noticed yet. The Doctor hasn't noticed."
"Doctor, the path–" called Father Octavian over his shoulder. His eyes stretched wide as he took notice of something behind them, and instinct had them all whipping around to look.
Jay anticipated, perhaps, a Weeping Angel. Maybe it had crept through a door unnoticed, or had somehow materialized when they weren't watching. She did not anticipate the sight of a big, glowing crack stretching across the entirety of the wall behind them. It offered a soft, golden glow that sang of…nothing, actually. She could hear nothing from it. Only silence.
Her hand reached out and grabbed the Doctor's arm in a white-knuckled grip. "Doctor," she choked out, drawing his attention to it. He turned to look, too, as did the others in the room. River seemed puzzled by the sight of it; the clerics were clearly scared. How had they not noticed? It was massive! And radiated nothingness, she supposed, contributing their lack of recognition to it.
The Doctor's lips parted, but it was Amy who gasped, "That's…that's the crack from my bedroom wall, Doctor. From when I was five–" Amy grimaced, realizing what she'd done. She amended, "I mean, when I was a little girl."
Amy had explained the entirety of what had happened the night she'd met the Doctor fourteen years prior, when his TARDIS had crashed into a shed in a little girl's back garden. She'd told Jay about the frightening crack in space and time, where Prisoner Zero had come through. Jay glanced at the Doctor, hoping he'd have an answer, but his face was unreadable. He seemed troubled by the sight of that massive crack in the universe.
"Time to go," he said, spinning on his heel. He didn't give them much of an opportunity to ask questions. Rather, Jay found herself being towed along, his hand curled gently around her arm. When they reached the edge of the flight deck, he released her, instead pushing her towards the forest. "Follow Father Octavian. I'll be right with you. River, make sure they stay close. They have a habit of wandering off."
"Hold on," sputtered Jay. "Doctor, there's Weeping Angels–"
"Yes, and you need to go." He flashed her a smile that wasn't reassuring at all. The Doctor gestured to Amy. "Keep an eye on Amy. I'll be right behind you." He pressed a quick kiss to her forehead that wasn't at all convincing. "Two minutes," he murmured against her skin. A shiver went down Jay's spine.
"I'm taking that literally," she said warningly, reluctantly pulling away.
"I'm counting on it," the Doctor replied. "Two minutes. Now go."
Jay took a deep breath and then turned away, trailing behind Amy and River with a scowl on her face. She shook out her wrists as she hurried to catch up, aware of the two clerics that followed to ensure no one was left behind.
If he got himself sent away by a Weeping Angel, she'd kill him herself.
Amy hated the feeling in her head. She felt dizzy and sick and there was something agitating the corner of her eye. She rubbed at it again, even as she stumbled a moment. She was exhausted, she thought. Her skin was clammy, and sweat dotted her head. She wanted to lay down and rest, but she didn't dare. She didn't dare lie down and close her eyes. Something told her not to.
A hand touched her arm. River's gentle, reassuring voice questioned, "Amy?"
"M'four," she slurred, her body swaying. She stumbled again, and this time, she went down. She'd have hit the false earth beneath her foot hard if not for River, who caught her and helped ease her down onto a log nearby. River barked at a cleric to bring her a med scanner, and Jay flew over with a cry of "Amy!"
"Dr. Song," Father Octavian gritted out, "we can't stay here. We've got to–"
"We'll wait for the Doctor," retorted River. She smoothed a hand over Amy's head as she accepted the med scanner from the cleric that handed it to her. "Jay, hold her hand."
"On it." Jay dropped to her knees beside Amy, grasping Amy's hand and squeezing it. Amy could hear the worry heavy in Jay's voice. She would have bet her life's worth of handmade Raggedy Man dolls that Jay was distressed about leaving the Doctor behind for even two minutes. Two minutes that would soon end, Amy was sure.
"Our mission is to make this wreckage is safe," protested Father Octavian, "and neutralize the Angels. Until that is achieved–"
Amy's eyes fluttered as Jay snarled back, "We can't do that without the Doctor. And if you haven't noticed, Octavian, one of our own is apparently down for the count. So if you don't mind…maybe consider shutting up."
Even ill, Amy weakly laughed, squeezing Jay's hand.
River beamed at Jay for a moment before snapping her head around. "Doctor," she greeted, and Amy nearly groaned in relief. The Doctor would help. "The Angels–"
"–are in the forest," finished the Doctor, dropping to sit on the log beside Amy. Father Octavian cursed and ordered his clerics to keep a watch out for the Angels. He flashed Jay a quick, playful smile that Amy knew didn't reach his eyes. "See? Two minutes."
"By the skin of your jacket," Jay replied wryly, referring to the Doctor's missing jacket. She gestured for River to scan Amy, and River went to work. "What'd you do? Donate it?"
"I found a crack in the wall and told them it was the end of the universe."
"What was it?" rasped Amy, hoping the conversation would distract her from the pain that had begun to rack through her head. She wanted so badly to rest. She couldn't though. She simply squeezed Jay's hand with a soft groan.
"The end of the universe." Even River stopped to stare at him. The scanner blared in her hand. She continued to stare as the Doctor peered over River's shoulder. "Let's have a look."
Amy blinked once when River blanched at the sight of the readings on the med scanner. "What's wrong with me?" She rubbed at the corner of her eye, praying the annoying feeling there would go away.
"Nothing," reassured River hastily at the same time that the Doctor mused, "Everything. you're dying."
"Doctor!" sputtered Jay, horrified.
The Doctor cast them a grumpy look that Amy normally would have teased him about. She simply frowned at him for a moment. "If we lie to her," he said sarcastically, "she'll get all better, right? Right. Amy. What's the matter with Amelia? Something's in her eye. What does that mean? Does it mean anything?" He looked to Jay as if she'd have an answer and she sputtered, making a mild gesture with her free hand, confused by why he thought she'd be the one to have a solution or answer.
As the Doctor mulled it over, hand lingering gently on Amy's head, Amy tightened her grip on Jay's hand again and admitted to her friend, "I'm scared."
Jay smiled gently at her. "I know," she whispered, and Amy searched her gaze intently. Jay would know, realized Amy, recalling the black veins that laced Jay's flesh like delicate branches in a tree. Jay tucked some hair from Amy's face fondly with her free hand. "It's alright to be scared, Amy. If you're scared, it means you're alive."
"Is this what you feel like?" Amy couldn't help but ask. She was more than aware of the way River and the Doctor stopped muttering amongst themselves about what to do – more than aware of how they stopped to listen, to watch, as Jay smiled ruefully.
"Always," she said truthfully. "I'm always scared. But like I said. If you're scared, you're alive to keep running from that fear."
"Doctor," River said, gaze lingering on Jay with such sorrow that Amy wanted to try and beg for River to just tell them all what she knew about the future. Amy knew it wouldn't work; River didn't seem the type to tell what she couldn't. "The Weeping Angels said something was in her eye."
"They're in her eye," added Jay with a glance up. "They said the Angels themselves were in her eye."
The Doctor nodded slowly, and Amy could see the gears churning in his head. "She stared at the Angel," he muttered under his breath. "She looked into the eyes of an Angel, didn't she?"
"Yes," Jay said, flinching when a cleric shouted, "Sir! Angel incoming."
"Come on, come on," ranted the Doctor, springing to his feet. He began pacing back and forth in front of them, his hands impatiently tussling his hair as he tried to come up with a solution. "She watched a Weeping Angel climb out of the screen. She stared at the Angel, and…and…"
"The image of an Angel is an Angel," reminded Amy hoarsely.
"A living image in a human mind then," muttered the Doctor, and Jay's reassuring smile faltered, horror flickering over her expression. It frightened Amy further. She'd come to a realization that she didn't share.
"There's an actual Angel in her mind," whispered River, horrified.
Amy choked on a sob. "Three." She tried to stop it, but couldn't no matter how hard she tried.
"The counting," Jay said, glancing up at the Doctor. "Why are they making her count, Doctor?"
The communicator the Doctor had tucked into his pocket crackled to life. "To make her afraid, ma'am," said Angel Bob, voice muffled by the Doctor's pocket. He ripped it out to stare at it uncertainly. "For fun."
A vicious fury flashed over the Doctor's face. It reminded Amy of the anger he'd shown the Daleks, when he'd attacked them, and of the way he'd hollered at them all when he'd realized what was happening to the Star Whale. The darkness that lingered there didn't leave, even after he'd hurled the communication device as hard as he could away from him. He ran his hands down his face. "Doctor, what's happening to me?" whispered Amy, unnerved.
He dropped to crouch beside Jay, who frowned in disapproval at his display of temper. She silently nudged him with her elbow, drawing a brief look of annoyance. Even miserable, Amy rolled her eyes. Obvious.
The Doctor murmured, "Inside your head, inside the vision centers of your brain, there's an Angel. It's like a screen – a virtual screen inside your mind. The Angel is climbing out of it, like the one you saw. And it's coming to shut you off. Jay, what happened?"
"Amy did it." Jay furrowed her brow. "She shut the screen off."
"So we need to turn off the screen. But we can't knock her out. The Angel would take over. We've got to shut down the vision centers of her brain. Starve the Angel." He thought it over for a brief moment – one that was obnoxiously long. He suddenly smacked his head, annoyed. "Of course! Amy, close your eyes!"
The one thing Amy had wanted to do, but couldn't bring herself to. "I can't."
"That's the Angel inside of your head," replied the Doctor. "It's afraid."
Amy snapped her gaze back to Jay, who squeezed her hand again and said, "You can do it, Amy. Close your eyes. I'll be right here with you. I'm not going anywhere, alright?"
Amy hesitated, and then slowly closed her eyes. The med scanner River had been observing beeped again, and River groaned in relief that quickly vanished when a cleric called, "Sir? Two more incoming."
Jay helped Amy sit up, and though she could see nothing, Jay could hear the concern in River's voice as River spoke. "She's still weak. It's too dangerous to move her. Could she open her eyes now?"
"If she opens her eyes for more than a second, she will die. The Angel is still inside. Haven't stopped it, just sort've…paused it. Amy, you cannot open your eyes." The Doctor seemed grim – unsure. He hid it behind a mask of confidence when he spoke again, whirling away from them, "Don't have a plan yet, haven't finished talking. Right! Father Octavian, you and your clerics will stay here and look after Amy. If anything happens to her, I'll hold each of you personally responsible – twice. River, Jay, we–"
"I'm staying with Amy." Jay's voice wavered, as if she wasn't sure about that decision. Amy still squeezed her hand again in gratitude, relieved Jay didn't want to leave her alone. "I promised I would."
Amy knew what that promise meant to Jay, and she appreciated Jay's company all the more for it.
"Are you sure?" the Doctor questioned quietly. "Any–"
"Nope." Amy felt Jay's body shift, as if she were shaking her free hand pointedly. "I'll be fine. You're coming back." It was said almost threateningly, as if she was daring him to not. Almost, Amy thought, as if she were daring the Doctor to prove himself.
Daring him to prove that he could be trusted to come back.
"Doctor," urged River. "We need to get going."
"And I'm coming with you," argued Father Octavian. "Where Dr. Song goes, I go."
The Doctor sounded puzzled. "Are you two engaged or something?"
"Or something," muttered River with some disgust.
"Right." The Doctor heaved a heavy sigh. "Clerics, here with Amy and Jay. River, Father Octavian, you and me, we're going to find the primary flight deck which is…that way, a quarter mile straight ahead. We'll stabilize the wreckage, stop the Angels, and cure Amy."
"How?" demanded Amy, wanting to get a move on the "cure Amy" part.
"I don't know yet, it's a thing in progress. Respect the thing. Now. Good luck, everyone. Behave. Do not let that girl open her eyes, and keep watching the forest! Stop those Angels from advancing. Amy, Jay, see you later!"
Jay called after him, "You better!"
"Is he gone?" whispered Amy after a few heartbeats, and Jay leaned into her, squeezing her hand.
"Yes," admitted Jay quietly, uttering a shaken breath. She rose to her feet. "Amy, I'm going to go see if one of those clerics will lend me something to communicate with – just in case the Doctor needs us. I'll be right back, okay? I won't be more than a few steps away."
Amy believed her. It didn't make her feel any better when Jay released her hand and walked off to do just that. She fidgeted anxiously, twisting her fingers in her lap and ensuring that her eyes were firmly shut. It was horrible, she found. The instinct to open them was incredibly tempting, especially when she heard the creaking and shuffling of leaves beneath feet close by. "Jay?" she whispered.
A pair of hands took hers, big and warm and familiar. "Amy," murmured the Doctor, and Amy furrowed her brow. Why had he come back? He was always off in a rush. He never came back. "You need to start trusting me," he said quietly, only confusing her further. "It's never been more important."
"But you don't always tell me the truth," complained Amy, huffing softly.
"If I always told you the truth, I wouldn't need you to trust me," he pointed out. The Doctor chuckled softly, and Amy could have sworn there was some pain in his voice. She wanted to ask, but before she could, he said, "Remember what I told you when you were seven?"
"No," said Amy. "What did you tell me?"
The Doctor's hands tightened almost painfully around hers. "No, that's not the point. You have to remember–"
"Doctor?" Jay called, startled, and he pulled away.
"Remember what?" muttered Amy, bewildered as he left her to consider just what he meant. "Doctor, remember what?"
Jay had been in the midst of coercing a reluctant cleric – the one in charge for the time being, Marco – she'd approached into giving her his spare communications device when she'd glanced over to check on Amy and saw the Doctor crouched in front of her. She studied the pair. Something was off, she just couldn't put her finger on it. Palming the communications device she'd managed to acquire with a final plea, Jay cautiously made her way over, head tipped to the side as she listened.
The Doctor had a song.
Her eyes narrowed a fraction as she called, startled, "Doctor?" He'd never had a song. Not one that he allowed her to hear, anyways. Everyone had a song – some just unknowingly played it louder, like Donna or Amy. Those with special fates, as she liked to think of them. They were all different and unique.
He snapped his head up and looked over his shoulder at her. Amusement flickered there, accompanying such a deep sadness as he rose to his feet, leaving Amy to mutter in confusion to herself. He strode over with a hint of a smile. The Doctor paused only once to look over his shoulder at something; when Jay peered over, too, there was nothing to be seen. He stopped a few inches from her, close enough that Jay had to tip her head back to study his face.
Something wasn't right, not with the Doctor and certainly not with whatever was happening. Too scared to ask, however, she simply asked, "I thought you were going with River and Octavian to the primary flight deck."
"I am." A rueful smile twisted his lips.
"Well," said Jay, "you don't have to worry so much." She showed him the communications device she'd gotten from the cleric. "We can keep in touch while you're working. I can keep you updated on Amy, and you can tell us how it's going stopping the Angels."
The Doctor took it from her for a moment, twirling it in his fingers. His expression softened. "I'll come back," he told her quietly, even as he handed it back to her. "You have to trust me to come back."
Something about that made her frown. "I trust you. Just…sometimes…it's hard to forget. That you broke the promise the first time." Jay couldn't help but reach out and tweak the old, ragged bow tie he wore, guilty. Her attention lingered on it, on the familiar tweed coat that seemed a little extra frayed at the edges. Something was wrong–
The Doctor caught her hand and drew her attention back to what he was saying rather than his bowtie. "I have to go," he said, squeezing her fingers and looking over his shoulder again. "Try and remember," he told her again. "I will always come back." That odd song began to swell louder, but Jay hardly noticed. Rather, she was too focused on the way the Doctor suddenly drew her hand up and pressed a tender kiss to the inside of her wrist. Jay's lips parted and the communications device tumbled from her fingers in shock.
"Doctor," she said just as softly, voice a little unsteady, "what's wrong? What is it?"
"Remember," he reminded her quietly, squeezing her hand one more time.
Shaken and a little flustered, Jay pulled her hand free and stooped to grab the communications device, hoping to hide her uncertainty with what had just happened. When she straightened, however, the Doctor was gone. The song had vanished, too.
"Doctor?" Jay repeated, but it was as if the Doctor had simply vanished before her very eyes.
A call of her name had her whirling around. She hurried back to where Amy was waiting for her. She looked around one more time. The Doctor was nowhere to be found..
"'Remember,'" she whispered to herself as she settled beside Amy, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "What was that supposed to mean?"
"Jay?" questioned Amy, but Jay simply shook her head. She grimaced, realizing Amy couldn't see her action.
It was only then that Jay realized what had been so strange.
When he'd first left them, he'd not been wearing his jacket.
The forest was ominously quiet except for their footsteps. The Doctor disliked it rather immensely. He'd much rather have had Jay and Amy alongside him. He didn't trust River Song, and he had yet to figure out just how he felt about Father Octavian. Or something to Dr. River Song, whatever that meant.
Even he was a little out of breath at the pace they were keeping up. They had to reach the primary flight deck as quickly as possible, because he got a bad feeling about the glow of the crack that they'd left behind. Almost more of a bad feeling then from the Weeping Angels that were so desperately trying to kill them all.
Again.
A loud beeping caught his attention and the Doctor hastily checked his pockets. The device he'd managed to somehow keep around for emergencies beeped again and again until he finally yanked it out. He stopped to check it. River and Father Octavian faltered when he did, and River frowned at the sound. "What's that?"
"Readings from the crack in the wall," replied the Doctor, not tearing his eyes away from the small machine he'd used. He ignored River as she peered over his shoulder. He still couldn't figure out how to feel about River Song, who presented so many different dangers for him. His gaze slid briefly to her, wondering not for the first time what she knew about so many questions he had. She met his gaze sharply, and he knew those answers weren't going to come. Not yet, at least.
He was, admittedly, a little cross about it.
"One day," the Doctor continued, "there'll be a very big bang, so big every moment in history – past and future – will crack."
"Is that possible?" questioned River with a frown. "How?"
"How can you be 'or something?'" retorted the Doctor.
Father Octavian answered truthfully, which the Doctor was pleased about and admittedly surprised. "Dr. Song is in my personal custody. I released her from the Stormcage Containment Facility four days ago, and I am legally responsible for her until she had accomplished her mission and earned her pardon. Just so we understand each other, Doctor."
That was definitely not something the Doctor expected to hear. He stared briefly at River, who pressed her lips into an unhappy line. "You were in Stormcage?" A beep interrupted River before she could even speak, and the Doctor found himself delighted as he studied his sonic screwdriver – well, he admitted, more akin to concerned than delighted. "The date of the explosion," he told River. "Where the crack begins."
June 26th, 2010 read the time.
Earth time, the Doctor realized.
And not just Earth time, but Amy's.
"Sir," Father Octavian suddenly said, dragging the Doctor's attention from the device he stared at. He glanced up. "The primary flight deck's just behind those trees."
Without hesitation, the Doctor broke into a sprint, eager to get in. The sooner he got this sorted out, the sooner he could get Amy and Jay to safety and figure out what to do about the Weeping Angel in Amy's eye. He stopped before the firmly shut metal wall, grumbling about it. A quick scan from his sonic screwdriver told him it would be pointless to try the main door. "Right," he muttered. "Not good."
"There's got to be a service hatch," River murmured, whirling on Father Octavian. "Hurry up and find it. Open it. Time's running out."
The Doctor whirled around, staring at River. "What did you say?" he demanded. "'Time's running out.' Is that what you said?" River sputtered, unsure of how to respond to that as Father Octavian went to work. "I know what you meant. Hush! But…what if it could?"
"Doctor!" shouted Father Octavian from a few feet away. He indicated a cracked door. "Got it!"
He scarcely heard the man. The Doctor tapped the device against his forehead, muttering to himself. "Cracks in time, time running out…couldn't be…Okay, time can shift. Time can change. Time can be rewritten." He spun around, looking in the direction he'd come from, ignoring River when she shouted for him to come on. "Time can be…unwritten." He scrubbed his hand down his face, remembering how Amy had forgotten Daleks, which should have been virtually impossible, seeing as they'd kidnapped the entire Earth during her lifetime.
He'd made a mistake, a grave mistake. He'd left Amy in that forest, where the crack was likely now climbing through. He'd left Jay. Dread swallowed him whole and he used his sonic screwdriver to scan the area they'd come through. It wasn't likely, he realized. It was happening now. He had to get them out of there, to safety.
A hand grabbed his shoulder, ripping him around. "Doctor," barked Father Octavian. "We have to go," he said urgently, jerking his chin in the direction of the hatch he and River had managed to open. River was long gone, likely working on finding out what good the primary flight deck could do for them. "The Angels could–"
"Never mind the Angels!" The Doctor swatted Father Octavian's hand aside, determined. "There's worse here than Angels–"
The lights snapped off, and the Doctor whirled around with a curse, realizing that maybe something worse than the Weeping Angels could wait until he had his friends in a safer location than the middle of forest full of Weeping Angels, but paused as the lights snapped on. Guilt spiraled in his gut at the sight of Father Octavian trapped with an Angel's arm around his throat. The man's gun had tumbled to the ground beneath him, miraculously not firing in the process. Clearing his throat nervously, Father Octavian whispered, "I beg to differ."
Cursing himself for his stupidity, the Doctor immediately searched his pockets. He ripped his sonic screwdriver out and scanned the Angel and Father Octavian, hoping against hope he hadn't just caused the death of yet another person on his watch. The guilt only grew as he shoved a hand through his hair, gritting his teeth. "I can't do anything. If I look away, it'll kill you."
"It'll kill me anyway." Determination flashed across Father Octavian's face. "There's no way out of this. You have to leave me."
The Doctor huffed a breath of frustration. This was his fault – all his fault. "Can't you wriggle free?"
"Listen to me." Father Octavian desperately tried to shift, as if to give him at least a little extra room with which to be comfortable before he was inevitably killed, and the Doctor took a breath to try and steady himself. It didn't work. "You can't trust her." When the Doctor furrowed his brow, bewildered, Father Octavian said fiercely, "River Song. You think you know her, but you don't. you don't understand who or what she is."
That old curiosity sparked and the Doctor studied him. "Then tell me," he said simply. He hated not knowing.
Father Octavian gave the smallest shake of his head. "I've told you more than I should. Now, please. You have to go."
"Just tell me why she was in Stormcage," coaxed the Doctor, hoping to get at least something on River Song. She knew so very much about him, about Jay – things that could very well help him puzzle out what might help Jay escape the death that seemed to be waiting for her, if not something worse. It would be nice to have something to use against her, to force her into telling him.
"She killed a man," he admitted quietly. "A good man. A hero to many." The lights threatened to dim just so, and the Doctor flinched, fully expecting Father Octavian to be dead, right before his eyes. They remained on, however. "Please, sir. I will die in the knowledge that my courage did not desert me at the end. For that, I thank God and bless the path that takes you to safety."
"You know, you remind me of someone I once knew, Father Octavian. His name was Rickston. Wealthy man. We met him aboard the Titanic."
Jay hadn't liked Father Octavian. The Doctor knew it as well as he knew that he possessed two hearts. He wished she was with him to see this side of the man who apparently had many hidden away. He seemed like a good man, with good intentions. Perhaps his method of keeping his clerics alive wasn't the kindest, but the Doctor thought he meant well.
"I wish I'd known you better," admitted the Doctor.
Despite the fear written clear across Father Octavian's face, he smiled a little. "I think you know me at my best, sir."
After a moment of ensuring that Father Octavian was truly prepared for the death he would face, the Doctor gave him one final look, and then darted away, shouting, "River! I'm going to need your communicator!"
He flinched at the sound of a neck snapping beneath stone hands.
"Any word from the Doctor?" checked Amy, nudging Jay with her elbow, and Jay murmured a denial.
"You would have heard if there had been, Amy," Jay added with a soft snort. "But no." She raked a hand through her short blonde hair, scanning the trees. She flinched violently when the lights suddenly flickered. Her heart skipped a beat as a distant memory of a voice taunted, "Who turned out the lights?"
"What's wrong with the lights?" barked Jay, voice trembling.
"Lights? What's wrong with the lights?" echoed Amy anxiously.
"It's the trees," called a cleric. "They're ripping the trees apart. They're taking out the lights."
Incredibly nervous about that, Jay rose to her feet, tugging Amy with her. She kept Amy close as Marco ordered, "Weapons primed. Combat distance five feet." Not what either girl wanted to hear, but she supposed they didn't have much of a choice at the moment. While Jay didn't normally like having so many guns around, let alone when they wouldn't do much good against what was trying to kill them, they were better than nothing which was what Jay and Amy had. Nothing but a radio to try and contact nobody with.
"What's happening?" snapped Amy, turning her head back and forth as if she could try and figure it out with her ears.
Jay swallowed thickly and whispered to her friend, "It's the Angels, Amy, they're here. And they're tearing apart the trees to take out the lights." Even from where they stood, she could see one, stone hand shoved deep into a tree. She didn't take her eyes off of it, even when the lights flickered and revealed it to have a fistful of cables when they came back.
"What the hell is taking the Doctor so long?" Amy seethed, tightening her hand around Jay's. Jay didn't know if she could try and get Amy to run. Not with Amy blind. Not that it would do them much good against Weeping Angels, but they could certainly try.
The lights flickered again, and the Angels crept closer. Jay sucked in a sharp breath. They were so, so close now.
Just as the Weeping Angels were reaching out to touch the first of the clerics, however, a bright, beautiful light filled with an equally as beautiful song flared brightly beyond the trees. They all threw up their hands and turned their faces away so as to not be blinded. Jay blocked the light with a hand, trying to squint past it. "Is that the Doctor?" she muttered to herself. Had he gotten some kind of light going? But then…that song…
"The Angels have gone," one of the clerics suddenly gasped. "Where'd they go?"
Jay looked, and sure enough, there were no Angels to be found. They'd fled. Jay got the feeling that maybe she and Amy ought to flee, too. She tightened her grip until Amy winced in pain. "All of them?" called Jay.
"All of them," reported Marco with a glance around. "It's like…it's like they're running."
"That's got to be the Doctor, right?" Amy asked Jay with some uncertainty, not sure she believed her own suggestion.
Jay didn't know, but she didn't say as such. When Marco ordered two clerics to go investigate the light, she called, "Be careful!" It didn't seem like the best idea to chase after a light the Weeping Angels were running from, but then she didn't think she could have really stopped the clerics from going.
Amy suddenly stamped on Jay's foot, making her yelp and glare at her. Amy huffed right back at her. "Tell me what's going on!"
"Sorry. Um…" Jay looked back at the light, trying to figure out how to describe it, but Marco saved her from having to.
"It's like…a curtain of energy, sort of shifting," he told Amy warily, never once tearing his dark eyes from the light. "Makes you feel weird. Sick." Jay praised Marco silently; that was a fairly good way of describing the light that washed over them.
"It has a song," added Jay softly, listening to it. "The song is…unlike anything I've ever heard, which is probably not a good thing, Amy."
Amy began shuffling around, frowning. "Turn me towards it," she demanded, and Jay was already shaking her head. As if sensing the movement, Amy retorted, "I can't open my eyes for more than a second. That's what the Doctor said, right? Means I've still got a little bit of a countdown left."
"Ma'am–" protested Marco, likely thinking the trouble he'd be in.
Jay flashed him a reluctant smile. "I'll take the blame," she promised.
Amy would do it whether they wanted her to or not. They might as well help her with it. She took Amy's shoulders and carefully turned her in the right direction. She squeezed Amy's shoulders. "Alright, be quick, Amy. If you die, the Doctor's going to be very upset with the both of us."
Amy snapped her eyes open – and dread surged across her face. "It's the crack in my wall," she whispered, and Jay slammed her hand over Amy's eyes, forcing her to close them again. Amy shook against her as she choked out, "Jay, it's following me. How can it be following me?"
"I don't know," whispered Jay, alarmed by the realization that the crack they'd seen in the secondary flight deck had apparently grown. "Right now, I think we need to consider moving away from it though. It seems to be getting bigger, Amy."
"Oh, that's going to make me feel better," Amy sputtered, looking downright terrified, and Jay winced lightly. Oops.
"Marco," said the cleric eyeing the trees for Weeping Angels, you want me to get a closer look at that?"
"Go for it. Don't get too close."
As the cleric took off for the light, Jay snapped her head towards Marco, her heart missing a beat. Something was very, very wrong with this. "Hold on," she said uncertainly, "what about the other two clerics that just went? Shouldn't he wait until they get back and let us know what's going on further that way?" What if they'd run into Weeping Angels? What if the crack was more than just a crack with a glowing light? It seemed to be heading in that direction as it was.
"What other two?" echoed Marco, puzzled. He looked between her and Amy when Amy blanched, realizing what Jay was saying. "What are you talking about? I didn't send anyone before. It's just been the four of us, miss."
"No, no, there were more," insisted Amy hoarsely. "Before you sent him, you sent two others, and now you can't remember them. Something happened and you don't remember?"
Jay felt sick when Marco became exasperated, snapping, "I don't know what you're talking about! It's only been the three of us!"
"Oh, my God," whispered Jay, whirling around to face the light. She felt sick to her stomach. "Amy, we…I think we should go. I think we need to follow the Doctor wherever he went. This is bad. Really, really bad."
"No, no, not with the Angels in the forest." Marco looked between them, unnerved by their behavior. Jay snatched Amy's hand, clasping it tightly in hers. "Listen," he said, "I need to get a closer look at that light, whatever it is. I won't get too close."
"No." Amy's voice hitched in terror. "You can't. Jay, please–"
"I'm not going anywhere, I'm staying with you." It would be a cold day in hell before Jay followed any of the clerics into the light that was apparently making them vanish into thin air and forget each other. "And this is an absolutely terrible idea, Marco, really. Please don't."
"Look, I gave Jay the spare communicator," Marco told them, nodding at the device still clutched so tightly in Jay's hand. "I'll stay in touch the whole time I'm gone. I'll only be a few minutes. I promise."
Jay barked out a laugh. "I've heard that one before," she muttered, but Marco ignored her. Instead, he started off into the trees, and Jay fought the urge to throw her hands up in complete frustration. She hated when people didn't listen to a word they tried to tell them. Taking a deep breath, Jay spun to face Amy, squeezing her hand as she lifted the communicator and pressed the button that opened the connection between them. "Hello?" she tried.
It was a few minutes before they finally got a response. "I'm here," replied Marco, much to their shared relief. Amy heaved a faint sigh, running a hand down her face. "I'm quite close to it now."
Amy held her hand out and Jay pressed the communicator into it. Lifting it to her mouth, eyes still firmly shut, Amy muttered into it, "Then come back."
"It's weird looking at it," mused Marco. "It feels really–"
The communication broke off and Jay's heart sank. She wrapped an arm around Amy and leaned into her, mourning the men who had decided not to listen. They seemed like good people, those clerics. She hoped they were alright, wherever they had gone though logic told her definitely otherwise.
Regardless, they were now alone, in a forest full of–
"–you?"
A new voice crackled to life over the radio and Jay snatched it back, a smile creeping over her lips. "Doctor!" Amy laughed in disbelief, wiping at her eyes as if they bothered her, and Jay gently bumped her in reassurance.
"Where are you? Are the clerics with you?"
"No," said Jay, looking about for Angels. Nothing at the moment. "They went towards that light. Doctor, whatever that thing is, it's not good. They couldn't remember one another as they went."
"No," the Doctor said quietly, "they wouldn't. Right. Jay…Amy…I'm sorry, I should have never left you there. You're going to have to come to us. Primary flight deck, at the other end of the forest."
Why? Jay wanted to demand, frustrated with him. What did he now know that they didn't? She clenched her jaw, frustrated. Instead, deciding she'd throttle him for this later, she groaned, "Fine. Which way do we need to go?"
"Whoever's holding the radio, turn." Jay glanced at Amy. As if feeling her gaze, Amy gave a little shrug and gestured to her eyes. Jay was the only one of the two that could see. So, sighing softly, Jay slowly spun in a circle until a familiar buzzing filled the air. She blinked once. "When the communicator sounds like my screwdriver, you're facing the right direction. Follow the sound. You have to start moving. Now."
"Why?" Jay finally demanded as she wound her fingers through Amy's and began tugging her carefully along, following the sound of the sonic screwdriver. "Doctor, what is the crack that you saw? Amy says it's the exact same one as from when she was a child, when you two met." She wished she'd been there, if only to understand a bit more about the crack. "The one Prisoner Zero went through."
"Time energy is spilling out of that crack, and you two must stay ahead of it."
"But there's Angels everywhere," commented Amy warily.
The Doctor's voice sounded rather quiet and full of self-loathing then. "I know. I'm sorry, I really am, but they can only kill you. If that light catches up with you…if you get caught by the time energy, then you'll never have been born. It will erase every moment of your existence. You will never have lived at all. Now, keep moving! And don't let Amy open her eyes, Jay."
Jay sputtered. "Bossy," she muttered before tugging Amy forward. "C'mon, Amy." She kept one hand tight on Amy's and the other equally as tight on Amy's hand. As they walked, Jay kept a sharp eye out for Weeping Angels, her heart racing in her chest. She ensured the sonic screwdriver's sound was loud and clear with each step she took, hoping and praying that they wouldn't run into anything made of stone.
Her hopes were short-lived. "Jay, Amy, listen to me." When Jay sighed and confirmed they were, walking confidently through the trees as she did so, the Doctor continued. "I'm sending some software to your communicator. It'll beep if there's any Angels around. If you run into any, Amy's going to have to pretend she can see. She has to."
Jay stopped dead in her tracks when the lights suddenly flickered overhead and the communicator beeped. "Oh, no," she whispered.
Amy's head turned towards her. "Oh, no?" she echoed. "What do you mean 'oh, no?'"
"I mean oh, no," retorted Jay shakily as the lights dimmed and flashed once more before going out entirely for a moment. When they came back on, there were several Weeping Angels surrounding them. Jay's heart skipped a beat as she hastily glanced among them. "Amy, turn your head just a little to the right." She lifted the communicator to her mouth. "Doctor, there's…there's five of them. Right here with us. They're frozen, and they don't know that Amy can't…you know." She had no idea if the Angels could understand them and wouldn't risk it.
She felt a tremble of fear rush down Amy's body. "Oh, no," whispered Amy.
Jay could hear the frustration in the Doctor's voice. She knew it wasn't directed at them. "The Angels are scared and running. Right now, they're not all that interested in you. They'll assume Amy can see them and their instincts will kick in. As long as they believe you can see them, you should be alright. Amy, don't open your eyes. Just walk like you can see. You can do this. Both of you."
Amy hesitated and the Doctor made them both jump when he shouted through the communicator, "You have to do this!"
"Okay, Mr. Grumpy, calm down," snapped Jay. "You're not helping with that tone."
Trying to hide her fear behind humor, Amy mused, "You sound like my Aunt Sharon."
"I don't think I want to sound like your Aunt Sharon," Jay replied shakily as she began guiding Amy with great care through the Weeping Angels that had surrounded them. She swallowed thickly as she ducked around a stone arm that had reached out for them before being locked into place by their eyes. She took a small breath to steady her nerves. "Amy, did I tell you what happened last time we saw the Weeping Angels?"
"A little." Amy flinched when Jay's hand suddenly pulled from hers and instead touched her head, guiding her beneath the same arm she'd just moved around. Jay kept her gaze locked onto the Angels behind them, ensuring they couldn't move.
"There was this really nice girl," Jay said. "Sally Sparrow. She and her friend helped me get the Doctor and our friend Martha back after the Weeping Angels sent them to some other time. They helped me find the TARDIS, and we ended up sending it back to him. I would have been toast without those two."
"Too bad we don't have two extra sets of eyes right now."
"Would have been – Amy, stop!" Jay yelped when Amy almost smacked straight into an Angel's arm. Amy recoiled instinctively, tripping backwards, and gasped as she hit the ground. Jay bit her lip hard, worried. She shifted her gaze back and forth, but as she did so, she noticed minute shifts.
They were starting to realize that Amy couldn't see them.
Jay felt sick as she blindly reached down to try and grab Amy's arm. "Doctor," she said shakily into the communicator, "we have a problem starting to develop!" When he didn't answer, she shouted, "Doctor!"
Jay grasped blindly at the space she'd spotted Amy, not daring to look down so she could actively grab her, only to realize that the space she should have occupied was empty. "Amy?" Jay whispered, stomach twisting with fear. "Amy, are you there?"
Amy was gone.
And Jay found herself alone with several Weeping Angels that had realized the very same thing.
"Told you I could get it working," cheered River as a bright flash erupted before their eyes. Having made it into the primary flight deck, she'd been working desperately on a teleport as the Doctor tried to figure out what to do about the Weeping Angels. A shaken Amy had appeared in that flash, and she clutched River's shoulder with a gasp. "Don't open your eyes, Amy, you're on the flight deck, and the Doctor's here."
"Doctor!" Jay's voice cried through the radio the Doctor had tracked down. He was pleased to have found several extras in the primary flight deck, if only because he felt keen on throwing each and every one against a wall when he realized that while Amy was safe, he was still missing a companion who was now alone in what might have been the universe's most dangerous forest at the moment.
The Doctor steered Amy out of the way so River could work on the teleport again as Jay said anxiously, "For the love of everything in the sky, please tell me Amy is with you and not some other time."
"Safe and sound," promised the Doctor. "River's working on you next."
"Sooner rather than later, if you don't mind."
An alarm began blaring and the Doctor whirled on his heel as Amy, eyes still shut, anxiously looked this way and that. "Doctor, what is that? What's that sound?"
"River, get Jay here now." The Doctor threw her a glare, then whirled around to track down a panel he'd seen briefly. "Amy. Eyes still shut?"
"Yes. Doctor, what was that?" Amy's voice sharpened with some fear, and she gave him a rather nasty look. It was quite impressive actually, that she could manage that.
The Doctor glanced at her for just a moment out of the corner of his eye before furiously ripping at the panel he'd found. Much to his relief, it came off immediately. He began ripping at wires, determined. "The Angels are draining the last of the ship's power. We need to get Jay here before they do. River–"
"I'm working on it," she barked over her shoulder, eyes flashing irritably in his direction. "Stop distracting me."
Jay's voice crackled over the connection. "The lights are flickering again."
Frustrated, the Doctor did exactly as he'd thought of doing: he threw the communicator, focusing on the wires as it broke on the floor across the flight deck. He needed to focus. One thing at a time, he decided, one thing at a time. First, the power. If he could keep the power going until River managed to get Jay there, then he'd be able to focus entirely on the next problem: the Angels and the crack that was potentially going to swallow them all whole.
For one moment, just one single moment, the Doctor wondered if he might have to say goodbye to yet another companion who'd promised to stay.
"Got her!" cried River as light flashed and Jay materialized beside her, heaving for air. She stumbled, knees buckling. River caught her with a gentle smile. "I've got you, Jay. You're safe."
Jay's voice shook as she rasped, "You…you got kinda close there. A little too close for comfort." She closed her eyes, resting her head briefly on River's shoulder, and then scanned the room they were in with narrowed eyes. The tension in her shoulders eased when she spotted Amy, and the Doctor immediately abandoned what he'd been doing to stride over.
The power could shut off now, he decided as he wrapped Jay in a tight hug. Jay gave a hoarse laugh as she wrapped her arms around him in return. Pulling back, the Doctor gave her a beaming smile. "Right," he said, "the power's gone, so! That means…" The wall beside them suddenly slid open, the lights dying. He shielded his eyes against the blinding light that replaced them, spiraling out from a crack in time and space. Standing in front of the wall that had disappeared were countless Weeping Angels. The Doctor stared hard at them all. "Shield's released. Right. Well. This is going to be fun. Angel Bob, I presume," he said, nodding at the one in front of them.
Jay shivered beside him when Angel Bob's voice filled the air. "The time field is coming. It will destroy our reality."
"Yeah, and look at you," the Doctor retorted smugly. "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, could do that. But why?"
"Your friends would also be saved."
"Ah. Yes. Well, there is that, isn't there?" The Doctor winced, rubbing his hands together anxiously. That was a shockingly good point towards throwing himself into a crack in time and space, convincing it to close. It would ensure Amy and Jay were safe. And River, he supposed, though he had yet to decide how he felt about the strange woman that was apparently becoming a regular in his life. River, who had traveled through time and space, too. And Jay. And–
And the power on a ship that traveled through space was failing, which meant everything that made that ship work was failing, too. The Doctor paused, a beaming smile breaking out across his face as River urged, "Doctor, I've traveled in time. I'm a complicated event, too. Throw me in."
She seemed oddly willing to sacrifice herself for them far too quickly, the Doctor thought as he whirled around to face the three women who'd climbed through the Byzantium with him. "Oh, be serious. Compared to me, that's nothing. These Angels are more complicated than you and it would take every single one of them to amount to me, so get a grip."
"Doctor," protested River, frustrated with him, but he spun away.
"I mean it, River. Get a grip," he said hastily over his shoulder as he took Jay's hand. She blinked once at him in confusion as he dragged her over to the locked hatch that he and River had crawled through to get into the room. Quietly, he murmured to Jay, who craned her head to keep her eyes on the Weeping Angels, "Hold onto this and no matter what you do, don't let go." His hearts missed a beat. The last time he'd done something like this, Rose Tyler had been swept into a parallel universe. He hoped something similar didn't happen now.
"I don't know what's happening, but my hands, Doctor." She wiggled her fingers in his direction, frowning. "Not too bad, but they're not the strongest when it comes to stuff like that."
The Doctor muttered under his breath. Of course they weren't. "Then use your arms," he said rather rudely, and she huffed at him, but did as she was told. They didn't have time for him to be patient and get them to realize what he was saying, not anymore. He pressed a quick, apologetic kiss to her head before sprinting over to the nearest thing he could hold onto: a chair. He was pleased to see that River seemed to have understood what he meant and was whispering urgently to Amy, wrapping her hand around a railing on the wall.
"Sir," said Angel Bob, and when he looked back, he was relieved to find the Weeping Angels hadn't moved any closer. "The Angels need you to sacrifice yourself now."
The Doctor only grinned at the Weeping Angels. "I think you've forgotten the gravity of the situation, Bob," he mocked. He could practically feel the Weeping Angels' confusion as he felt the shift in the air. The last of the power had finally been devoured.
It wasn't a gradual shift. It was a violent one. One moment, they stood on their feet. The next, the world was upside down. The Doctor held on as tightly as he could to the seat he'd found, gritting his teeth as he turned his head. He watched the Angels topple backwards into the crack that was now below them, vanishing into the beautiful yet deadly golden light waiting for them. He dared to check on his friends. Amy looked terrified but determined as she clutched the railing River had found for her; Jay had her arm hooked through the hatch's wheel, terror blanching her face white. She'd never been good with heights.
After what seemed like ages but was really only a few seconds, the light vanished. The crack had closed, and the Doctor, dangling by one hand, cautiously fished his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket. The last thing he wanted to do was drop it at the moment. He pointed it at the control panel at the center of the room. The tip lit green and buzzed loudly in the gasping silence, and he was proud when the gravity turned back on.
It would hold on long enough for them to at least climb out of the crashed Byzantium, even with the power gone. He hoped.
There were matching yelps as unexpectedly, everyone tumbled to the floor of the primary flight deck. The Doctor popped upright, fixing his bowtie. "Everyone alright?" he checked. "Jay? Amy? River?"
"I'm going to kill you sometime," muttered River as she clambered to her feet, throwing him a half-hearted glare over her shoulder.
"No, you won't." The Doctor smirked and hurried over to help a gasping Amy to her feet. She patted his arm breathlessly, relieved that everything appeared to be over for the time being. "You can open your eyes now, Amy. The Angels are gone."
"I think I'll wait a bit," she told him, which made Jay sputter a breathless laugh as she staggered over to join them, accompanied by a rather amused River. River looked fondly at the pair of women before turning a sly look onto the Doctor, and the Doctor couldn't help but wonder just what good man Dr. River Song had apparently murdered.
Every inch of Amy's body ached and she groaned softly, wrapping the blanket Jay had dragged out of the TARDIS for her tighter around her body. It felt heavenly in comparison to the rock she sat on. Jay, looking tired but content to be outside on a beach again, leaned against the rock Amy had chosen to sit on, while the Doctor conversed with a cleric nearby. Likely telling him what had happened in the Byzantium to all those who were now gone. Well, to Father Octavian, since no one else seemed to remember the missing clerics. No one else but them, who could only remember because of their time traveling habits, which Amy was eternally grateful for.
"You could have opened your eyes sooner," chided Jay with a snort.
Amy waved her off, rolling her eyes. "You weren't the one with an Angel in your eye."
"Yeah, and neither were you by then." Jay bumped her playfully with her elbow. "Why do you think River's got handcuffs on by the way?" she asked, and Amy squinted at River as the Doctor meandered over to speak with her. The Doctor's face was serious, but River seemed amused with something he was saying. "Should we go find out?"
"Absolutely." Amy hopped up from her rock, and together, the pair made their way towards the Doctor and River. "Hey!" Amy called when they were close enough, and the Doctor glanced back. His lips twitched at the exhaustion written across Amy's face. "Don't start," Amy grumbled. "Jay's already made fun of me for it."
The Doctor huffed when River chuckled, her eyes gleaming with laughter and amusement. Rather than protesting against what he was or wasn't going to do, the Doctor glanced at the handcuffs on River's wrist as they beeped. River beamed, though Amy could tell there was some unhappiness on her face as she mused, "I think that's my ride. See you."
"Bye, River," Amy said with warmth. She quite liked River Song. She wasn't sure what it was, but she thought she felt a particular fondness for her. She wondered if River felt the same when River threw her a soft smile in response.
Jay shifted, and Amy wondered if she even realized that the Doctor moved as she did, as if in tune with Jay's movements. "River," she said warily, "are we going to see you again?"
"Oh, most certainly." Something flickered across River's face, unreadable. The Doctor opened his mouth, and River smirked. "Can't be told, Doctor. It has to be lived. But you'll see me again – quite soon, actually. When the Pandorica opens."
"The Pandorica?" The Doctor snorted almost mockingly. "Fairy tale."
"Aren't we all?" River winked, and then vanished in a beam of light. She'd been transported to whatever her ride was meant to be, thought Amy, furrowing her brow. None of what River had said made much sense to her, nor did it seem to make much sense to Jay, who turned a tired, expectant look on their driver.
"What's the Pandorica?" demanded Jay, her gaze locked on the Doctor's face as if scanning it for lies.
The Doctor fussed for a few moments with his bowtie, as if trying to organize his thoughts. Finally, he said, "It's an old fairy tale the Time Lords often told," he said quietly. Amy leaned in with an interested look; it wasn't often the Doctor spoke of his people or the things they'd known. "A warrior…goblin…whatever they wanted to call it appeared. A trickster of sorts. The trickster was imprisoned in the Pandorica."
It wasn't as much an explanation as Amy would have liked, but she was pleased enough with it. It was more than she'd expected, that was for sure. Shrugging off the old tale and choosing to move on, Amy asked, "Can we go to a new planet that doesn't involve stone angels trying to kill us now? Actually, could we go anywhere like that?"
Jay couldn't seem to help the laugh that left her. She affectionately wrapped an arm around Amy's shoulder and leaned her head briefly against Amy's. "It's not always running," she promised, then amended with a wince, "most of the time."
Amy could only sigh, even as the Doctor began leading them towards the TARDIS, which stood a good distance away on the very beach she'd landed on. Over his shoulder, the Doctor called, "Well, what about music then? Can't run from music, or you'd be avoiding the best part."
"Music?" Jay perked up, keenly interested, and the Doctor beamed at her. Amy couldn't help but shake her head at the pair as they ducked into the waiting TARDIS. "Hold on, Doctor, where's my treeborg?"
The Doctor winced. "I left it in my jacket. Which is...probably as lost as the Weeping Angels right now." He seemed incredibly disappointed about it.
They were bigger idiots than Amy herself had been when she'd first realized Rory had feelings for her. Their friend Mels had pointed it out, and she'd been entirely oblivious up until then. She glanced between them, amused. If they just admitted everything, then it would have been so much easier for them. Dancing around like this would get them nowhere.
Amy suddenly frowned as the Doctor launched into a half-rant about some planet he was keen on taking them to. She missed Rory, she realized almost glumly. As fun as the adventures with the Doctor and Jay had been, she was starting to miss him more and more, wondering if he'd have enjoyed these little trips, too. Besides, the crack had admittedly frightened her. How could a crack from her childhood bedroom's wall be following her through time and space?
Wrapping her blanket a little tighter around her shoulders, Amy opened her mouth to ask if maybe, just maybe, they could bring Rory along. She hesitated, however, when she realized that if she invited him, she'd have to reveal what she'd left behind.
And Amy wasn't sure she was quite ready to admit to that just yet.
Been on my streak again for sure! Record timing for updates! Next time, we're doing an original chapter again before we delve into some fun vampires and the episodes I've been waiting for since I first started writing this all those years ago: Silurians. ;) Throwing some fluff in with the original before some crazy angst that'll be fun.
Thanks to reviewers (madiygeek, Lizverse, SiennaHertz, savethemadscientist, and andre-papushi!) as well as those who favorited and followed!