Author's Note: A couple things. I forgot some important information last chapter. The lore for the Angels I'm using comes directly from Blink. I adore The Time of Angels and Flesh and Stone, some of my favorite episodes, but the way they added to Angel lore made it impossible for Sally Sparrow to still be alive to give the Doctor the file, so the show ignores it's own canon on the regular. The Blink lore is simple and easier to write about. So it's safe to look in an Angels eyes, the images of Angels on camera don't create another Angel. I did mention the Doctor's universe in this fic is slightly off from the TV show.

The other thing is I snuck in a West Wing reference in this chapter and if you catch it we should be friends.

Emerald Green

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Lights Out

"I want those doors locked, right now!" the Doctor shouted, gesturing to the one they'd come through, and the one on the other side of the room.

"You're hardly in charge here," Hendrix said, clearly offended. "You shouldn't be the one giving orders."

The Doctor turned to him. "You brought the Angel here. You said it was helpless. You clearly don't know what this Angel can do, as you fed it energy with your experiments. I don't trust you with the lives of everyone on this station." Molly saw his eyes narrow. "Yes, Senior Scientist Hendrix Ozols. I am in charge here."

She saw Hendrix's jaw set and was worried he would argue. But the fight drained out of him. "We'll lock the doors. Once I've left the room."

"No," the Doctor insisted. "You and Lesedi have to stay together."

"I have to find Reid. I won't leave him out there, exposed."

"Where is he?"

"I sent him to his office, to keep him out of the way during your visit," Hendrix replied quickly.

"He's not there," Lesedi called from the cameras.

Hendrix began backing to the door. "He may be in his quarters, pouting. We don't have cameras in there."

The Doctor shook his head. "No, no, no. I need you to stay here to help Lesedi watch the Angel if it gets in here. We'll find Reid."

"We?" Molly asked.

"You and I. We have to get the TARDIS out of here, and it'll be safer with two of us."

"We have to get us out of here," Molly insisted.

"The plan is to get everyone on the TARDIS and evacuate. We'll report this. See if the Angel can be contained without having to abandon the lab completely."

Molly watched the color drain out of Hendrix's face, and saw Lesedi turn with a look of horror. "We can't abandon the lab," Lesedi said. "All our work…all these years. We can't lose it."

"Then you shouldn't have brought the Weeping Angel here," replied the Doctor, almost bitterly. "I told you, it can't die. It may not be able to be contained. It's too dangerous for anyone to stay here with it on the loose."

"There's more," said Hendrix, but he didn't elaborate.

"What else is going wrong?" asked the Doctor.

"No," Hendrix said, shaking his head. "I mean, there's more. There are more Angels in our storage."

Molly felt choked. It was deadly silent for a few seconds before the Doctor sighed and rubbed at his eyes. "Of course. Of course. It can never be just one of them."

Hendrix sighed, too. "Look. We all need to get off this station as fast as possible. It will take less time for me to go after Reid and you to go get your ship, and then meet back here."

"I'll go with you," said Lesedi.

"Absolutely not," the Doctor began, turning towards her. "I need someone in here to secure the room, so we have a safe place to land and evacuate."

"I've got it," said Hendrix. "I can do this. It shouldn't take long. Reid's quarters aren't far."

"Fine," sighed the Doctor. "We'll go at the same time. Lesedi, you'll blockade the doors. Only open them when Ozols and Reid get back."

"What about you?"

"Molly and I won't need the doors. The TARDIS can disappear in one place and reappear in another."

"Um, Doctor," Molly interrupted. A thought had been slowly burning in her head, and she couldn't hold it back anymore. "The Angels displace you in time."

"Yes. I thought you'd know all about them," he turned to her curiously.

"I do," she said, but her voice shook. "We're…not on a planet. This space station hasn't always been here, in this exact spot. If the Angels displace us in time, and they send us back to before the station was here…" She swallowed. "And sometimes they move you. Kathy Nightingale ended up in Hull. The Angels could also send us to outside the station. So…if they get us…we'll end up outside. In space."

The Doctor stared at her a moment. "No. No. That wouldn't happen."

Molly felt cold. "You're lying."

"I do that sometimes," he replied, then turned back to Hendrix. "Get moving. Don't let them touch you."

"I wasn't planning on it," said Hendrix, and he headed out the door, practically running.

The Doctor turned to Lesedi. "Do you have any spare communicators?"

Lesedi shook her head. "No, we don't use them. We use an intercom system, but it's broken, too. That's some of the parts our mechanic went to pick up."

"Okay. Okay, then." He turned to Molly. "We'll both keep a close eye out. It'll be fine."

"'Fine' is about the last word I'd use to describe any of this." She was surprised she managed to get any words out of her mouth at all. She felt the speed of her breath increasing, warning of a panic attack. There wasn't time. Phoebe, Heather, Olivia, Eleanor, Nina, Ivy, Xyla. The old technique still worked. Not very well, but enough to keep her from screaming and hiding.

The Weeping Angels scared her more than almost anything.

"One of us is going to have to walk backwards," the Doctor said to Molly, as he approached the door out. "So it doesn't sneak up behind us."

"I can do that," she volunteered. "I have – I had – to dance backwards a lot. It won't be a problem."

The Doctor nodded. "I'll hold on to your arm, so we stay together."

"Got it."

He turned to Lesedi. "Remember, barricade the doors as best you can as soon as we're out."

"I will," she promised. "I'll keep an eye on the cameras, too. See if any of the others start moving, though we didn't experiment on them. It won't do much good with you all out there, but at least when you get back, we'll know the situation."

"Good thinking," he said. He hesitated a moment. "Sorry to leave you alone."

Lesedi smiled, though it wavered some. "Don't worry about me. You're the ones going out there with the Angel."

"Right," said the Doctor. He faced the door and took a breath. "Let's go."

Molly turned, and felt the Doctor's hand on her arm, and then heard the doors open. She felt sick, even more so than when she'd actually been sick. But what choice did they have?

Molly swept the halls with her eyes, and down every one they passed. She felt that any moment, any moment at all, they would just die. She would blink and suddenly she'd be surrounded by darkness and stars and her body would turn to ice.

She was thinking too much.

"Doctor," she said.

"Yeah?"

"Talk about something."

"I'm a bit busy, if you haven't noticed."

She sighed. He was right, he had to focus. But staying alone in her mind was just going to make her panic. Maybe miss things. She tried to find something else to occupy her mind, but usually when she felt like this, she turned to Doctor Who. Living an episode wasn't quite the same thing.

Then she thought of another episode where someone was scared. Cold War. Professor Grisenko had encouraged Clara to sing.

It was worth a try.

"I have no friends…no one to see…and I am never invited…"

"What are you doing?"

"What's it sound like?" It came out harsher than Molly meant it, but she felt the terror flowing through her veins. "I'm singing to keep myself calm." She paused. "Is it distracting?"

"No," said the Doctor. "Actually, it's helping me focus. Keep going."

She glanced down another hall at they passed, and then cleared her throat. "Now I am here…talking to you…no wonder I get excited…" She heard the Doctor humming along a little, though she wasn't sure he knew the song. "Your smile and the sound of your voice…and the way you see through me…got a feeling you give me no choice…but it means a lot to me. So I wanna know – what's the name of the game?"

They made it through the second chorus when they arrived back at the airlock. "Ah," the Doctor said. "Problem."

Molly didn't like the sound of that. "What problem?"

"The door."

Of course. "So…we should have borrowed Lesedi's ID before we came here."

"That would have been good thinking."

"We'll have to go back for it."

"Yep. Oh, wait!" She felt the Doctor reach into his coat, and she heard the sonic. "No!" he shouted suddenly. "No, no, no, no, no! Don't do this!"

In a panic, Molly turned her head, but didn't see anything. She turned back around. "It can't get us in?"

"That's not-" She heard him make a sound, almost like a growl in frustration. "The TARDIS extended its forcefield out."

"What?"

"I…" he started, then sighed. His voice held a defeated note when he spoke again, and it made Molly's heart clench with dread. "After my encounter with them, when I was with Martha, I set it up so that if the TARDIS was unlocked, and it sensed an Angel presence, it extended its forcefield out so the Angels couldn't get to it."

"No, no, no…" Molly's voice dropped low. "Please don't tell me we can't get to it."

"We can't get to it."

She turned her head again. "What was the original plan to get back in?"

"It's on a timer," he explained. Then his voice dropped, too. "Twenty-four hours until it drops."

"A day?"

"I never leave her unlocked. I never expected to be outside it when this happened," the Doctor explained. "I always thought I'd already be inside and able to move her and lower the shields. But the guns distracted me, and I…I forgot to lock her."

Molly's head was spinning. "What do we do?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "We go back to the lab. Regroup."

"Should we try to find Beckett and Hendrix?"

"We should see if they already made it back, and if not, we should find them on the cameras first."

Molly nodded. "At least Lesedi can see that we couldn't get in."

"I'll have to explain about the forcefield," the Doctor sighed.

"Well, let's head back, then," Molly said.

They turned, so the Doctor was walking forward again, and began back for the main lab. Molly tried to calm her heart. They'd done this once before, already, and got away without spotting the Angel. Could they do it twice? It seemed impossible.

But she did feel a little less hyperaware, which was good. She'd always found that she missed things when she was focusing so much on not missing them. Leaving her mind open let her come up with solutions. Though what solution she could think of that the Doctor couldn't, she wasn't sure.

Feeling calmer without the tightness of her muscles when hyperaware, she realized she recognized the pattern of the hallways, if not the plain white and silver walls. This had been the direction they walked when Lesedi showed them the collection and experiments. Down a hall beside her was one of them.

The Doctor stopped so suddenly she bumped into him, and what little calmness she'd found disappeared. "Is the Angel ahead of us?"

"No," the Doctor reassured her. "That hallway. The experiment in it."

Molly took two seconds to glance down the hall, though she knew what he was referring to. "Yeah?"

"You see it, don't you?"

Molly opened her mouth to explain that she saw it out of the corner of her eye, when she realized what he meant. "Yeah. Okay. I see it. But how?"

"I'll probably have something figured out by the time we get there."

Molly felt some relief when she realized she could finally see a few steps ahead of them. "Would the Angel know the forcefield is up?"

"I don't think so."

"And it would assume the TARDIS is locked?"

"Yes, but-" He stopped suddenly. "Oh! Yes." She felt his head turn slightly. "Remind me to give you a compliment on your quick thinking when we're out of this."

She was surprised to find herself smiling. "I won't forget."

"We just need to get back and get the card," said the Doctor.

They inched their way forward, quickly checking each hall, but the Angel never appeared. They got back to the lab, and Lesedi opened the door before they could knock.

"The Angel is on Level Five," Lesedi said, her voice sounding exhausted. "Which is…"

"Which is?" the Doctor prompted her.

"Where we're keeping the other Angels."

The Doctor walked to the cameras and scanned them. "It may try to restore the others. I don't know if it will be successful or not. I doubt it has enough spare energy to share. I don't even know if they can share." He looked over at Lesedi. "They've never been experimented on?"

"No, never." Lesedi turned to Molly. "You couldn't get in without an ID, right?"

"Yeah," said Molly. "One of us probably should have thought of that."

Lesedi slipped the chain lanyard holding her ID around her neck, and held it out. She nodded towards a computer behind her. "I want to get you both registered in the system. It will be easier to track you if you hit a camera's blind spot. Won't take more than a minute."

"You can't use that to see Reid?" Molly asked.

"No. I can't see him. I think he must be in the private quarters level, where there are no cameras or trackers, for privacy."

Molly nodded and Lesedi fingerprinted them into a machine as the Doctor explained the situation with the forcefield.

"What else can we do?" asked Lesedi. "Stay in here until the shields are down?"

"I don't trust that the Angel can't get through one of those doors," said the Doctor. "Molly and I have an idea."

"What is it?"

"Do you think you could stop one of the spinning mirrors in an exact right place?"

Lesedi frowned as she thought. "No. Not me, anyway. Reid might be able to. He runs that experiment the most."

Molly glanced at the cameras. "Has there been any sign of Reid at all?"

"Not yet," said Lesedi. "Hendrix went straight for his quarters, but there aren't cameras there, so I don't know what happened. Before you got here, I saw him pass by the airlock. He opened the door, but must have felt the forcefield. I guess he was looking for you." She paused to look at the cameras again. "I think he's headed back to double check Reid's office. But he's not there, either."

The Doctor's face looked a little paler. "You don't see Reid at all?"

"No. I still think he might be in the private quarters somewhere," said Lesedi. She turned to the Doctor and looked confused at the way he seemed frozen in fear, but then her eyes widened. "You think…you think the Angel already got him, don't you?"

"I hope not," breathed the Doctor. "Until we're certain, there's always hope."

Lesedi swallowed hard, then nodded. "How are you going to get the Angel into the room?" Back to business.

The Doctor dug around in his pocket for a moment, and then pulled out a bronze key, slowly spinning on a string. "With this. Key to the TARDIS. It'll want to feed on the energy the TARDIS puts out, and I don't think it will realize there's a forcefield. Even if it does, it may try to wait it out. It's been patient for this long, after all. It'll care more about the TARDIS than us."

"So we think it'll go after the key," Molly added.

"Okay," said Lesedi. "I'll do my best to freeze it into place."

"Only if it gets there before we get back," the Doctor replied. "My reflexes are excellent; I should be able to do it."

Molly tried not to laugh, and appreciated the brief levity in the horrific situation. "I wouldn't go as far as to say 'excellent'."

"Enough out of you," the Doctor said, and he patted her on the head as he turned to go back towards the door. "Let's get this done."

Molly nodded and followed, and Lesedi got the door open for them. They left the room the same as they had before, back-to-back. Molly kept her eyes wide open, trusting that they'd be safe this time around even less than she had been the first time. Her heart rate slowed; her breath came steady. The calm feeling settled into her bones.

That's what scared her most.

"I might have to sing again," she whispered to the Doctor.

"Talk to me instead," the Doctor suggested.

"I thought you needed to focus?"

"I think the silence is more distracting just now."

"Okay. What should we talk about?"

The Doctor thought about it for a moment. "How are you doing?"

Molly raised her brows. "How am I doing?"

"You know. With the potentially being ejected into deep space thing. Seeing as you're already scared of space. I remember you said something about being terrified of not being able to fight and just floating away forever."

His words made a chill run through her. "Well. I was doing okay."

"Don't worry. The pressure would kill you within a few seconds. You wouldn't float away for very long. Barely even enough time to freeze."

"You're not being reassuring," she bit back, a little more venomous than she meant. But the fear was creeping up her chest again, to choke her. She needed that calm to stay alive.

"Sorry," he said. "I just thought it'd help to know you wouldn't be floating away-"

"Yeah. I got it. Thanks." She scanned the area around them. "Let's change the subject."

He was quiet, but Molly didn't have enough time to come up with a new subject before he spoke again. "So, excited to be getting home soon? You know, if we don't die horrible deaths."

Excited. No, she definitely wasn't that. But she didn't want him to feel guilty about deciding it was time for her to go home, either. She needed to find a balance – especially seeing as any attempt to lie would be blatantly obvious coming from her. "Right now, I'm more concerned about the 'horrible deaths' bit," she said. Then she paused, trying to think of a way to answer his question. "Being home will be…interesting, after all this." She winced for a moment, realizing how see-through that was. 'Interesting' was always code for 'bad, but I don't want to say it'.

"I'm sure," the Doctor replied, not seeming to understand the code word. "After traveling through space and time, you see everything differently. Could be you'll find your world all the more interesting now."

The opposite was more likely to be true, she thought. Her world would be all the more bland, boring, plain. She could already feel the constant existential crisis coming on. How did she go back to job interviews and taxes and grocery shopping and paying rent after all of this? To being forever limited to one place, one time?

"Could be," she agreed. That wasn't an out and out lie; there was always the possibility that she'd see things differently, no matter how much she doubted it.

"And you can…you know, do human things. Work a job again, if you like. Make more friends than just me and the TARDIS."

"Yeah. The best friend slot is already taken, but it might be nice to get to know more people." She needed something to say that made her sound genuinely excited that wasn't a lie. She was failing at avoiding making him feel guilty for sending her home. "I'll get to actually spend some actual time in London. Maybe I'll find a little theater that needs ballet dancers."

"That would be good for you," the Doctor said, though his voice lacked enthusiasm. "You could perform again."

"Yeah. That would be nice." It would be nice. Not a nice as traveling with the Doctor, but it would satisfy a dream.

"It'd be good for you," he repeated.

She needed to talk about something else. She was running out of ways to sound grateful to go back, when she didn't feel that way at all. "And what are you going to do without your best friend?"

"The TARDIS is my best friend," he corrected her, his voice holding some dry, teasing humor. "I'll do what I've always done. We've talked about this."

"I know, but-"

"Yes, I know," he cut her off. "Don't travel alone. I'll see what I can do." He paused. "Maybe I'll convince Lesedi to come with me."

Sharp jealousy. It confused her, but she didn't want to explore why it had come upon her so violently. "She seems nice," she said, the same words she'd told a crush who told her they were dating someone else.

"Clever, too."

"And adaptable, after changing her focus so quickly."

"Exactly. That's an important trait for traveling on the TARDIS," he replied. "But she may prefer to continue her studies. Besides…she's no Molly Quinn."

Molly was glad he couldn't see the grin that spread across her face, despite the peril they were in. "I know. Hard to live up to me."

"That it is."

"Still," Molly said, returning to a more serious tone. "I'm glad you're already thinking about the next Companion."

She thought she felt the muscles in his back tense, and was worried a moment that he'd spotted the Angel. "Or maybe I'm just saying Lesedi so you'll get off my back."

She knew she should be upset by that, but she wasn't sure if she felt worried, or felt relief. It was easier to deflect. "I'm kind of stuck on your back right now."

"Right," he laughed, with no real energy behind it.

By then, they'd made it to the room with the mirrors. The Doctor swiped the card along the wall, then rested a hand on her shoulder. "I'll put it in place. Wait here."

Molly waited, holding her breath, watching the hall where it opened on the other corridor. Behind her was a dead end, so at least she didn't have to worry about one coming up behind her.

The Doctor only took a few moments before he was back. "Okay. Now we go back to the lab and wait."

Something came around the corner then, and Molly jumped before realizing what it was. The Doctor spun around, clearly expecting to see a Weeping Angel already on its way, but both he and Molly breathed a sigh of relief when they saw it was Hendrix.

"Thank Mars you're still alive," he said. "I haven't been able to find Reid. I checked his quarters, his office, even the airlock. There's no sign of him." He seemed to feel genuinely ill as he added, "I think he's dead."

"Is there anywhere else he might be? Anywhere at all?"

Hendrix shook his head, and then closed his eyes. "Doctor-"

And then Hendrix was gone, and instead Molly found herself face to face with a Weeping Angel.

"He's dead," Molly gasped, and she fought to keep her eyes open despite the tears gathering. "Oh, no. He's dead."

She felt the Doctor touch her arm. "Stay with me, Molly. You can feel this later. Now, we have to get out."

"How? It's headed straight for the key, and it's blocking the only exit! I'm guessing it'll try to eliminate us first. How do we get around-"

"Look at it. Don't blink. I'm going to turn away for a moment to see if I can find another way out."

She swallowed hard. "Wait. Keep looking." She blinked a few times, to clear the tears from her eyes, and then shut them for a few seconds. She took a breath. "Okay," and opened her eyes.

Molly felt him move away, and though he didn't put out enough body heat for her to feel, she still felt colder as she heard him walk down the hall. She heard the buzz of the sonic, and quickly turned her focus back to the Angel. She found herself grateful that while rewatching Weeping Angel episodes, she'd sometimes test to see how long she could keep her eyes open for. 45 seconds. She counted the seconds in her head.

At 30, she shouted, "Doctor, I'm going to blink involuntarily in a few seconds. I need you to look back!"

"Okay," she heard him say. "Okay…blink!"

Again, she blinked her eyes a few times, and kept them shut long enough to feel the dryness leave her eyes. "Opening," she said, and did so. The heard the Doctor turn and get back to what he'd been doing, and started counting again.

One, two, three… She decided to examine the Angel, a way to stare while keeping her mind busy. The white-grey stone felt more threatening now that this monster was off a TV screen and here in front of her. Eleven, twelve, thirteen… There were porous parts of the stone, and it made Molly wonder if they were always like that, or if it came with age. If they were as old as the universe, why did they look like statues from Earth? Were they always angels? Blink seemed to imply they weren't. Twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four… The fingers outstretched. The narrowed eyes that were angry even when it didn't move. Those sharp teeth were barely visible past the stone mouth. Thirty, thirty-one, thirty-two…

"I've found it!" the Doctor shouted behind her.

"I need to switch!" she shouted back.

"I've got it. Blink!"

She repeated her earlier gesture, and then said, "Eyes open. What did you find?"

"A ventilation system, wide enough for us to crawl through. It's locked up pretty well, but I might be able to get it open." His voice had sounded enthusiastic at first, but as he spoke it got softer in a way that made her chest hitch. She waited for the bad news, and it didn't take long. "But I'll need more power than the sonic has. I'll have to drain it from this part of the station. And…"

"Turn out the lights," Molly sighed. "Like in Flesh and Stone?"

"Flesh and Stone?"

"Byzantium."

"Oh. Yes. Like Byzantium." The only sound Molly could make in return was a frustrated groan. The Doctor replied, "Yeah. Not happy about it, either. You need to back up to the end of this hall. I'll watch, too."

Molly crossed her fingers, a gesture that was maybe immature for the situation. But the fear was acute. She remembered the nightmares. These were her two worst fears in one moment: The Weeping Angels, and the threat of being ejected into space.

She found the strength to move backwards, one careful step at a time. But it took her too long, and she blinked, and then suddenly there were five more Angels in front of her. "Doctor!" she shouted.

"Oh." She felt his hands on her shoulders as he took a few steps and got her to the end of the hall. "I suppose they're active, too, then."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to blink, I don't know how it happened," she said, the words coming very quickly. "I won't blink again."

"It's okay. I must have, too," the Doctor reassured her. "We'll just continue to switch off every thirty seconds."

"What about when the lights are out?"

"I'm going to flicker them. Couple seconds off, a few more seconds on. I'll do the work while they're off. We'll hold them back when they're on."

The Angels were thirty or so feet away. "Will that be enough time to keep them away from us?"

"No, it's completely impossible," the Doctor replied. "I need you to try to stay calm anyway. We don't have the time."

She felt chilled. "Are you kidding me?"

"No."

"Are you kidding me?"

"Good job staying calm," the Doctor said dryly. "Molly, this is our best shot."

She felt her whole body shaking, and bile in her throat. The only time she remembered being so afraid was in that basement. Even when she knew she was about to be shot, she hadn't been this sick with fear. She could almost feel her lungs unable to draw in oxygen, the cold sharper than knives all over her skin, the weightless floating in the void.

The Doctor was right. They didn't have a choice. "Are you looking?" she asked, her voice tight.

"Yes."

She covered her face with her hands, and screamed, one long, loud wail of terror. She swallowed, and lowered her hands, her eyes still closed. "Okay. I'm opening my eyes."

"Alright, then. Turning out the lights."

Molly didn't have a chance to process what those words truly meant, that the monsters ahead of them would move towards them and they didn't know how much time they had, before the hall went dark.

She heard the sonic, and saw the green glow on the floor, but it wasn't enough to light the Angels. There was a loud, metallic screeching sound, and at least the darkness meant it was okay that she'd shut her eyes when she jumped at it. The Doctor spoke as he worked, "One, two, three." And the lights came back on.

One of the Angels, the first Angel, she thought, was halfway through the ripped-open door towards the key. The others had moved forward, but not far. Maybe only three feet. She relayed this to the Doctor.

"I'll look. Close your eyes." She did so, and then heard him say, "They're definitely moving slower than they should be. They probably couldn't get enough energy to be back at full strength."

"So, we'll be able to get the vent open in time?"

"Oh. Well, yes."

"Is that true?"

"No. But believe it anyway. I'm going to turn back and prepare for the next step."

"Eyes open," she replied. She heard him doing something with the sonic again, and she kept her eyes locked on the Angels.

"Lights out," he said, and the lights went out again. "One, two, three." And back on.

The Angel in the doorway to the key had only moved a fraction of an inch. Afraid of the mirrors, she figured. The other Angels had only moved a couple of feet. A thought occurred to Molly, and she chuckled. From behind her, the Doctor asked, "What could possibly be funny right now?"

"It's like the worst game of Red Light, Green Light ever."

She heard him make a sound that was almost laughter, and then the sonic again. "Ready for another round?"

"Nope," she said. "Let's do it."

Lights off. One, two, three. Lights on. The Angels were becoming uncomfortably close. While the Angel headed for the key still seemed hesitant to enter the room, the others had made it another five feet. A few had their eyes covered. Two of them already had their hands outstretched.

Molly's stomach twisted. "Are you almost done?"

"Not quite."

"We're kind of on a literal deadline here."

"I know. Switch."

Molly closed her eyes, and tried to take a calming breath. It helped, some. Her mind seemed to have settled on mild panic, and let the usual emergency calm take the place of the nearly blinding terror. She wouldn't die, or she would. She didn't have much control over it. "Switch."

"Lights off." One, two, three. On.

The Angels were now well over halfway to them. Molly leaned back, as though it would do any good. The calm she'd thought she had was slowly leaving her already. "Doctor…" Her voice shook, and her vocal chords froze. There were more words she wanted to say, words of farewell. Last words. But she couldn't settle on which ones to use.

She felt him take her hand a squeeze it. "I know." Though she couldn't put her own feelings into words, she felt that he really did understand them. "Switch."

Eyes closed. Eyes open. Lights off. One, two, three. Lights on.

They all had their hands stretched out, now. She didn't trust glancing back to see if the other Angel had gotten to the key yet.

And then the Angels were another foot forward. "Doctor!" she shouted.

"I'm going as fast as I can!"

"They moved! I was looking at them, and they moved!"

"You must have blinked without realizing. Switch."

She closed her eyes. "I didn't. I swear I didn't."

"You must have," she heard him say.

She panicked when she heard the sonic and opened her eyes, but the Angels were still in place. "Are you still looking at them?"

"Yeah."

Then the vent was behind him. "…were you scanning me?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Switch."

She kept her eyes locked on the Angels, all her focus on keeping them open. "Why did you scan me?"

"No time," the Doctor said. "Lights out."

She groaned, sure this was the last time she'd see light at all. The hall went dark. One. Two. Three. The lights went on, and a stone finger was reaching towards her, only a foot away. "That's it," she breathed. "If the lights go out again, that's it."

Behind her came the shift of metal. "I got it!" the Doctor shouted. "The vent is open. We just-"

"…Doctor?" Why had he stopped speaking? Molly reached behind her, and almost fell to her knees.

The Doctor was gone.

Author's Note: The song Molly sings is The Name of the Game by ABBA. It's sort of my Doctor/Molly ship song.