I Didn't Mean It (Doctor Who)

Ch.11: Goodbye Cruel World

Recap:

I hit a set of tracks below the ones we were on, the momentum of the fall rolling me off the edge. I managed to grab the edge of the tracks, dangling above a long drop. I gasped for breath. I slowly looked down, yelping as I saw a giant mass of stone arms that could only be weeping angels reaching up through the darkness, claws outstretched towards me.

~o0o~

"Umm...Doctor...I think I found the angels..." I wheezed shakily. Doctor kneeled down on the tracks above me, peering down.

"Just hang on, Alice! We're coming to get you!" Doctor shouted, "And, I know this is the opposite of what people usually say, but look down! Don't take your eyes off the angels and don't blink! Can you pull yourself up?".

I struggled to haul myself up on the tracks, my arms shaking, like twigs ready to snap. I gave up and shook my head, no. Giving that I had a serious case of asthma, sports and exercise were definately not my thing.

"Stay there! And don't let go!" Doctor ran out of sight on the tracks.

"Kind of hard..." I muttered. My hands were getting clammy, making it harder to hold on, and my arms shook with exhaustion of holding up all my weight. I looked down at the angels, teeth bared at me. I held my feet up a little higher, seeing one set of claws just centimeters from my converse.

"Please help me," I closed my eyes, as if praying.

"Ok here goes nothing," Doctor said as he took a flying leap off the tracks, crashing roughly onto my level of tracks. He coughed, the breath knocked out of him, his recovering body teetering over the edge. River leaped off as well, landing surprisingly on her feet, small gun in hand. Doctor pulled himself up and grabbed my hand, beginning to help me up. I yelped with shock as I felt another force pull me back down.

"Doctor one of them's got me!" I breathed, looking down to see a stone arm reached up above the darkness, hand gripped around my ankle, claws digging into my skin.

"It's okay, it can't move as long as I'm looking at it," Doctor grunting, struggling to keep me up against the angel's hold.

"But what about after that. What do we do then," I looked at him seriously, a small tear rolling down my cheek.

Doctor opened his mouth to say something but closed it, thinking wildly of ideas, but eventually grew still, looking at me with scared eyes. He knew there was nothing we could do. River's gun was too small to destroy all the angels, and the guards had taken away all her others. 

River kneeled down beside the Doctor, looking sadly at me, "I'm so sorry, sweetie.".

I began to untangle my fingers from the Doctor's, preparing to let go. "No, please, don't," Doctor begged me, the sound of tears growing in his voice. I looked into his rounded eyes, reflected with the same fear I felt. My body shook violently, heart pounding.

"Traveling with you was amazing, truly amazing. And I wouldn't have changed a thing," I said softly, voice surprisingly clear.

I slowly let go, feeling more and more hands grab me, pulling me down into the darkness. I couldn't see anything, but I heard movement all around me. I closed my eyes, preparing for whatever they were about to do to me.

My eyes snapped back open as I heard gunshots fire, and the smashing and crumbling of stone falling to the floor. I craned my neck to see a shape of a girl standing in the darkness, the silhouette of a large gun in her hand.

"Who are you?" I murmured, but she was gone as soon as she had come.

"Doctor?" I asked, not seeing him.

"Alice?!" Doctor peeked out over the edge of the tracks. I grinned as I saw Doctor run forward, leaping off of the tracks and landing on the ground next to me. He immediately drew me into a tight hug, not speaking. I buried my face in his shoulder, breathing in his smell. My heart rate slowed, and relief coursed through me.

"Don't ever do that to me again," Doctor said, his voice muffled by my sweatshirt. He released me. His eyes were pink with recent tears, which only made me smile more.

"Was that a tear I saw back there?" I asked, still managing to tease him after all I just went through.

"No! I just...got something in my eye," Doctor lied horribly.

"Pffft. Was that something a tear?" I chuckled.

River jumped off the tracks as well and smiled at the sight of me. Her eyes told me she was glad I was okay.

"Who killed them?" Doctor asked, taking a handful of crumbled stone in his hand and sifting it through his fingers.

"I don't know...I saw...someone. But they disappeared. A woman," I recalled.

I squinted seeing a small staff door in the distance. "Over here!" I said, running toward it.

I looked up, noticing a few people staring down at us from above. "Come down here!" I shouted.

"C'mon, let's help them down," I began to climb up the series of tracks curling around the narrow room. A grabbed a lady's hand and helped her carefully crawl down to the ground, noticing her rounded belly with the promise of a baby. Doctor and River came down with two people each.

"Is that everyone?" Doctor asked. They nodded, at loss for words. I took that as my cue and slowly pushed open the door, blinding white light seeping through. I laced my fingers over my eyes like a shield from the sun as we stepped out.

I lay flat on the ground, breathing in the fresh air and soaking up the fact the I was alive. I reached down for my inhaler and took a long puff, enjoying the fact that I could finally breathe fully.

"Please tell me they're all gone, and that we will never have to do something like that again," I sighed.

Doctor scanned the air with his sonic screwdriver, smiling as he said, "Happy birthday. We just saved Disneyland."

"Can't Disneyland save itself next time?" I groaned.

"My job here is done. Goodbye sweeties," River grinned, and pushed a large button stuck to bracelet on her wrist. There was a flash of blue light and she disappeared.

"I hate it when she does that," Doctor sighed, helping me up, "So, shall we?"

"Shall we...what?" I asked.

"Let's go celebrate your birthday, the right way," Doctor smiled. I grinned and nodded.

~o0o~

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to Alice, HAAAAAAPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! Make a wish!" Doctor screeched, dancing around the TARDIS. I looked at the small candle stuck in a Disneyland churro on a plate in front of me and smiled. The dim candlelight lit up the area all around us in the TARDIS. I closed my eyes tight, scrunching up my eyelids, "I wish this could last forever."